Armenian mass killings: 'What happened in 1915 should be acknowledged' - BBC News

Yervant Bostanci was born in Diyarbakir, at the Southeast of Turkey, which was also used to be called Dikranegerd by the Armenian community, whom were more than half of the population at early 19th century. Most of the family members of Bostanci's grandparents were killed in 1915. His grandfather and grandmother were made to get married to continue the offsprings. Like many other Armenians, who survived from, what Armenians call "genocide." Unlike most of the surviving Armenian families in Diyarbakir his grandparents told him about what happened to their own family. "When my grandfather started telling what he witnessed, everything he saw his eyes used to flickr. He would start crying. Then I would cry. I'll never forget that flickering eye," he says. Bostanci loved music. He decided to be a musician when he was 4 years old. He quit school to play cumbus (a local mandolin with a metal body) at weddings. At his young age he was a well known local musician at his hometown. Following an insult and threats that he received after a concert he left Diyarbakir and moved to California. He lived there for 21 years bore he moved back in 2013. Now he is one of the two dozens of Armenians living in the city. Diyarbakir's current population is more than 1,5 million.
Bostanci is today teaching oud to younger generations. He says music is his language. "Hatred only curves people, we have to love each other. We have to listen. But what happened in 1915 should be acknowledged."
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