Organized by the “Pakin” Literary Magazine, a reading from “Martyrdom for life 2: Brother, just a sip of water” (Aghparig, ap meh chour”) took place on Wednesday, February 9, 2011, at 7:00 PM, at the editorial offices of “Pakin.”
Seta Krikorian, the Associate Editor of “Pakin” Literary Magazine, said eyewitness accounts depicting the horror of an entire generation exist in Apelian’s volume, which is an important work of documentation. It contains raw materials for future literature.
Ms. Krikorian said the meeting is the first of many in the upcoming year and that this time around, the number of attendees is very encouraging.
Mr. Apelian said there are 17 eyewitness accounts in the first volume and 23 in the second. Mr. Apelian confirmed there are many ethnic Armenians in Syria and elsewhere, who have become Kurds, but are proud of their Armenian identity, despite being displaced from an Armenian society. Those Armenians encounter identity problems, since they are both Armenians and Kurds at the same time and both societies have difficulties in accepting them.
Mr. Apelian also spoke about the process of collecting eyewitness accounts and of his experiences and difficulties on the way, as well as the reaction of the people he encountered. He expressed hope to reach up to 100 accounts by the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. On this occasion, he called everyone who has corresponding acquaintances to share their information with him.
The author added that besides the translation of the volume into Arabic, he dreams of seeing the volume translated into Turkish, as well.
Afterwards, the audiences read excerpts from the volume “Brother, just a sip of water,” and the author answered their questions.