Plus tri

Ararat smo prvi put videli, na jednom od prethodnih putovanja iz Jerevana, glavnog grada Jermenije.

Beli vrh se nalazio na svemu, od farmerki, majica, preko etikete čuvenog konjaka pa sve do nacionalnog grba. Zbog toga smo teško razumeli zašto nije dozvoljeno Jermenima da idu u pohode na svoju svetu
planinu. Očigledno da delimično poznavanje istorije nije bilo dovojno da razumemo sve događaje u podnožju Ararata. Ratovi, ubistva, proterivanje, genocid pratili su vekove i da Ararat može
da priča, verovatno bismo teško mogli da razumemo šta su ljudi spremni da učine jedni drugima. I danas, većinski narod koji živi u podnožju Ararata ne čine Turci, već Kurdi, koji su kao nepriznati narod preživeli strašna vremena, čiji se tragovi još uvek mogu naći u razrušenim selima na granici sa Iranom, ali i u običnom razgovoru sa domaćinima. Poštujući naše prijatelje iz Turske, ovom knjigom svakako ne želimo da otvorimo teška pitanja stradanja, ali ipak ostaje nejasno zašto jedan čitav narod nema pravo na ono što svi ostali smatraju osnovnim pravima. Čak i samo spominjanje Ararata kod Turaka izaziva u najmanju ruku nerazumevanje, odnosno momentalno ispravljanje imena u tursko Agri Dagi, što u prevodu
znači planina bola i što u odnosu na sve rečeno i te kako ima smisla. Prvu ispravku u izgovaranju smo naučili u hotelu, kraj aerodroma u Istanbulu, gde smo prespavali na putu u Dogubajazit. Ljubazni
vlasnik hotela je bio iskreno iznenađen našim pohodom. Pošto nas je ispravio u izgovoru rekao je i da je Džejms Irvin, nakon leta na Mesec, jedva čekao da se vrati na Zemlju i istraži nešto što mu se iz vasionskog broda činilo da je ostatak Nojeve arke. Iako nije bilo moguće da proverimo tačnost priče, zadvoljili smo se Irvinovim potpisom na slici Apola 11 na Mesecu, na zidu iznad recepcije. Čini mi se da smo otišli na spavanje sa većim uzbuđenjem nego ikad. Išli smo u pohod na planinu, a u stvari smo želeli da istražimo isto što i Irvin. Nismo mogli ni da pretpostavimo da ćemo naći nešto više.

Uvod iz knjige Pogled sa Ararata

♥

We first saw Ararat from Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. The white mountain peak was on everything, from jeans, T-shirts, and labels of the famous cognac to the national coat of arms. Therefore it was difficult to understand why the Armenians are not allowed to go climbing on their sacred mountain. It is obvious that our humble knowledge of the history was insufficient to understand all the events that had taken place
at the foot of Ararat. Wars, murders, persecutions, and genocides followed the centuries, and if Ararat could talk, we would hardly be able to understand what people are prepared to do to each other. Today, the majority of people who live at the base of Ararat are not the Turks but the Kurds, who are unrecognized as a nation. They have experienced terrible times. Traces of atrocity can still be found not only in the ruined villages on the border with Iran, but in ordinary conversation with the locals. Respecting our friends from
Turkey, this book certainly does not want to open difficult questions of misery, but it remains unclear why one entire nation has no right to what are considered fundamental rights for everyone else. Even simply mentioning the name of Ararat to a Turkish person causes at the least misunderstanding or an immediate correction of the name to “Ağrı Dağı”, which means “mountain of pain.” Given all that has been written of Ararat, its Turkish moniker makes perfect sense. We were first corrected in our pronunciation at a hotel
close to the airport in Istanbul, where we spent the night before traveling to Dogubayazit. The friendly hotel owner was honestly surprised by our expedition. After he corrected our pronunciation of the mountain name, he said that James Irwin, after his flight to the moon, was eager to return to Earth and to explore something that, from his spaceship, seemed to be the resting place of Noah’s ark. Although it was not possible to verify the accuracy of the story, we were satisfied to see Irvin’s signature on a picture of Apollo 11 above the reception. It seems to me that we went to sleep that night with greater enthusiasm than ever. We went for a hike on the mountain, but we wanted to go exploring, just as Irwin did. We could not have guessed that we would discover something more.

Preface from the book A view from Ararat