“Margaritner” folk song and dance ensemble has a very short history. Recently the ensemble left for Diyarbakir and performed a concert for the hidden Armenians living there. The interview conducted by “Hayern Aysor” with the Artistic Director of “Margaritner” Ensemble Samvel Galstyanis about that.

– Mr. Galstyan, why did it become necessary to create this ensemble?

– The members of our ensemble are the students of the Yerevan KomitasState Conservatory; they are particularly Margarita Shaninyan’s and my students. Today there are wonderful ensembles in Armenia; they are known to me – “Akunq”, Maratuk”, “Karin”, etc.; however we have another mission. “Margaritner» has been established by efforts of the students, who study our songs and dances, and have an opportunity to manifest those within the ensemble.

– I wonder, how did the cooperation with the Ministry of Diaspora generate?

– Just spontaneously; we were going to go to Prague to participate in an international festival. We referred to the Ministry requesting financial assistance. We were told at the Ministry, that on June 29, an event would be organized at St. Kirakos Church in Diyarbakir, and, as we were going to go on bus, they suggested having a stop at Diyarbakir to perform a concert.

We left and… returned very much excited and inspired, as we met people, who were Armenians, for about 100 years, only by their roots. Now it seems that things went back to the way they were (again the wheel wants to go round own axle); they are returning to our origins, our religion, they change their names, restore their Armenian surnames.

– Mr. Galstyan, would you, please, share your impressions with our readers?

– In Diyarbakir we were met very well; we stayed there for 3 days. In the evening of the first day, a huge crowd of people was gathered in theSt. Kirakos Church yard, led by His Eminence Archbishop Aram Ateshian, General Vicar of the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople. Something very fascinating happened there; all were singing Armenian songs sitting in the churchyard under the candle lights. As an Armenian and an artist, I understood that it is impossible to defeat our people, our spirit, our belief, our nature. About 99 percent of the Armenians could not speak Armenian, but the Armenian spirit was alive.

Next day, in the morning, Liturgy was served; in the second half of the day, there was christening, that is, several people of Armenian origin returned to the Armenian Apostolic Church and accepted the Christian Chrism and Cross. Shant, one of our musicians also was baptized at St. Kirakos Church.

After that our concert was performed; it lasted for about two hours. Especially for the residents of Tigranakert we had prepared wedding, ritual songs and dances of Balu and Tigranakert, which were performed fascinatingly. While the people gathered wouldn’t understand Armenian, they danced with us the dances of Tigranakert in the same way, which was very much encouraging for us.

In the evening, the wedding ceremony of a couple residing in Diyarbakir took place. Notwithstanding that they were married for 20 years, they had made up their mind to be baptized and to get God’s blessings at St. Kirakos Church.

At the end of the day, about 300 people were gathered around the dinner table; they were people for Tigranakert arrived from various countries of the world, thus,returning to the place of birth of their ancestors on the occasion of the celebration of St. Kirakos. That table was not denoting food, or a matter of being satiated, but rather an Armenian gathering, which was very much symbolic for me.

– Today about 50 Armenians living in Diyarbakir are in Armenia participating in “Ari Tun” program of the Ministry of Diaspora. I wonder, if you have met them in Diyarbakir.

– Yes, I had an interesting meeting in Armenia, as if we here relatives. They wouldn’t understand Armenian, and we couldn’t understand Turkish, but the call of the blood would suffice to feel and understand each other.

Not only in Diyarbakir had we performed a concert. The Ministry of Diaspora proposed us to go also to Dersim, where also hidden Armenians are living, named Alevins. We gave a performance in the main park close to the municipality, where about 600 spectators were gathered, I think all of them Armenians. Something fascinating happened there. We had a minivan and some food supply – our traditional Armenian lavash and cheese. At the end of concert, when we were getting prepared to leave, the local Armenians asked for lavash and cheese and tasted it like a relic – communion. When I saw this, I gave all our food to them and told them to take it home and taste it with their family members. You know what happened? As if the world belonged to them.

– Actually, you were able to bridge quite close but still faraway worlds.

– Here the reason was not the culturelanguage, but rather the call of the blood. Language has nothing to do, the spirit is the core. I am sure that they have a strong will and they will learn Armenian. There are many people alike in Turkey. I think that when such a large crowd of people was gathered at Hrant Dink’s funeral, the majority were hidden Armenians and they simply shocked Istanbul. It is not important that we are Armenians, given our surname or name, being a Christian or Muslim. The core is the identity, the Armenian roots. I think that this dynamics will expand.

After very much exciting concerts performed in Diyarbakir and Dersim, we continued our trip to Prague. 35 countries were participating in the international festival held in Prague. «Margaritner» was recognized as the best ensemble bearing the national legacy and it was rewarded with the title of the European Champion and was granted Golden Medal. Next day, with the support of the Ministry of Diaspora, we performed for the Armenian community, in the hall of the main library of Prague. It was a nice event.

In the close future, we have another invitation to participate in the World Festival to be held on August 22-30.

In conclusion, I would like to thank the Ministry of Diaspora, particularly the Minister Hranush Hakobyan, the Chief of Staff Firdus Zaqaryan, who is my good friend. After we were back from the tour, the Minister received and thanked us. And when I told her the story about lavash and cheese, she was touched. I think that the Ministry of Diaspora has adopted a very important mission. Here I would like to recall one story – when Andranik’s fighters were mobilizingArmenians going from one village to another; they were telling that they were looking for Armenians – one Armenian for one gold coin. Today the Ministry of Diaspora is doing the same – it wants to bring back the hidden Armenians who had lost their nationality, identity and religion, and to return them to their religion, language, culture – an essential work.

I would like to thank also the Ministry of Culture, ARF-D Bureau, which also provided financial assistance to us.

Interviewed by Lusine Abrahamyan