Armenian families from Tirbesiye, who heard the stories of the genocide from family elders, opened their doors to the ANF on the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. After offering painted eggs, cookies and candies left over from Easter, they spoke about the genocide.

Iskender Sabri migrated to Dirbesiye in Rojava after the hardships the family endured in Derik, Mardin. From there, he moved to Tirbespiye.

“ALMOST 1 MILLION ARMENIANS WERE MURDERED IN DEIR EZ-ZOR”

Sabri said:

“Our family was called the Dadogils in Derik, Mardin. My grandfather lost his whole family in an Ottoman massacre and fled to Syria on his own. First he arrived in Dirbesiye. Then he moved to Tirbespiye and settled there.

April 24 is the day when the people massacred in Merge (a region between Heseke and Deir ez-Zor) are remembered. Close to 1 million Armenians had been murdered there. We used to hold memorials every year in Merge, called Xevset Ermen in Arabic, but after terrorist groups like ISIS emerged, people started to commemorate the dead in their own towns. We hold ours in Qamishlo.

We all attend these memorials. Men of the church, the people, everybody attends and we carry out our religious rituals. We have a place of worship in Merge too. People from all around come to Merge, from Beirut, from Egypt, from Armenia, Iraq, Turkey, even Europe. Everybody would come together on that day and then everybody would return. That is the true location of the Armenian Genocide.”

“LET’S UNITE”

Iskender Sabri concluded with:

“I celebrate Easter for all Armenians. We must all stand united. When we visit the locations of massacres on April 24, when we saw the bones of our murdered relatives, our hearts would break and we would cry. We must stand united against massacres and be comrades to each other.”