Letter to My Beloved

By Rakel Dink, Translated by Fatma Muge Gocek

"The Armenian Weekly", Volume 73, No. 4, January 27, 2007

Read Jan. 23 in front of her husband’s coffin in Osmanbey Istanbul. Other transcripts of her eulogy exist, yet have removed all religious references. Below is the most accurate transcript, taken from the Bianet news site and translated by Fatma Muge Gocek.

“I was chosen to be the spouse of my chutak [violin]. I am here today full of immense grief and dignity. My children, my family, you and I are very mournful. This silent love bestows upon us some fortitude. It enables us to experience within us a sorrowful contentment. In the Bible Johannah 15:13, it is stated that there is no greater love than people giving up their life for the sake of their friends.

My dear friends, today we send off half of my soul, my beloved, the father of my children and your brother. We are going to actualize a march without any slogans and without showing any disrespect to those around us. Today we are going to generate immense sound through our silence.

Today is the beginning of the day when the [darkness of the] gorges rise into brightness.

Whoever the assassin may be, whatever his age may be, either 17 or 27, I know that he was once upon a time a baby. My brothers and sisters, one cannot accomplish anything without first questioning the darkness that creates an assassin from such a baby...

My brothers and sisters, it was Hrant’s love for honesty, for transparency, for his friends that brought him here. His love that challenged fear made him great. They say “He was a great man.” I ask you, “Was he born great?” No! He too was born just like us. He did not come from the heavens; he too was [created] from earth. A body that rots just like ours! But what made him great was his living spirit, his deeds, his style, and the love in his eyes and his heart. It was what he did, the style he chose, the love in his heart that made him great.

A person does not become great naturally; it is through his deeds that he becomes great… Yes, he became great because he thought great things and pronounced great words. You, too, all thought great things by coming here. You talked great through your silence; you, too, are great.

But do not let this suffice. Do not be content with this much alone.

He marked the birth of a new era in Turkey today and you have all been his seal. With him changed the headlines, dialogues and bans. For him, there were no taboos or forbidden topics. As it is stated in the Scriptures, it all sprung from his heart. He paid a great price. Futures for which great prices are paid can only be accomplished through loving Hrants, believing in Hrants—not with hatred, insults, by holding one blood superior to another. This rise is only possible if one sees and respects the other as oneself, if one assumes to be the other.

They separated him from the heaven of his home he had created with the help of Jesus. They made him spread his wings to the eternal celestial heavens. They made him spread his wings to the celestial heavens before his eyes tired out, before his body had the chance to age, before he could become sick, before he could spend enough times with his loved ones.

We too shall come, my beloved. We too shall come to that matchless heaven. Love and love alone enters there. Love and love alone that is superior to the speech of humans and angels, to prophecy, to mastery of all the mysteries, to faith that moves mountains, to almsgiving one possesses, even to giving up one’s body to flames—[only that love] will enter that heaven. There, we shall live together forever in true love. A love that is not jealous of anyone, a love that does not covet the property of anyone else, a love that does not murder anyone, a love that does not belittle anyone, a love that holds one’s brother and sister more dear than oneself, a love that abandons one’s own allocation, a love that demands the rights of one’s brother and sister. A love that is found in the Messiah. And a love that has been poured onto us.

Who could forget what you have done, what you have said, my beloved? Which darkness could erase them? Who could have what has happened and what is happening forgotten? Could fear have them forgotten? Could life? Could injustice? Could the temptations of the world? Or could death have them forgotten, my beloved? No, no darkness is capable of having them forgotten, my beloved.

I, too, wrote you a love letter, my beloved. Its cost was dear to me, too, my beloved. I owe it to Jesus that I was capable of penning this, my beloved. Let us give His due to Him, my beloved. Let us give back everyone their due, my beloved.

You departed from those you loved. You departed from your children, your grandchildren. You departed from those hear who came to send you off. You departed from my embrace. You did not depart from your country."