At a public meeting of Armenians with the Mayor of Newton, Massachusetts, at least a decade past, Peter stood up and stated, " If it weren't for the Turks, not one Armenian would be alive today."
Needless to say, the statement stirred up a hornet's nest, to use an inept metaphor, but Peter knew of what he spoke, and soon a newspaper reporter approached to learn from Peter what only Peter (at least in that room) could admit. Many a "Good Turk" had put their lives at risk to save Armenian lives. Peter would always remember the Mutasarrif (Mayor) of Marash who promised his Uncle that he would do what he could to save the Armenians of Marash. . . . and he did . . . until one day, the Mutasarrif disappeared and was never heard from again.
(See tomorrow's blog post for a link to the newspaper article that resulted from the interview.)
Friend Helene commented yesterday evening (without ever having read this blog post) that her grandmother often told her that their family would never have survived had it not been for two Turks who had helped to save their lives!
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