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The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak

The Armenian Genocide, alias the Armenian Holocaust, is a 1915 massacre that was

aimed at getting rid of Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire in Turkey. The numbers of the

people killed during the event varies between sources; however, most historians agree that

approximately two million Armenians lived in the Ottoman Empire during the time of the

massacre (Anderson 483). Nevertheless, the Turkish government has denied responsibility for

the event. In fact, the Turkish Historical Society, in an official government report, referred to the

slaughters of Armenians, which occurred between 1914 and 1918 as relocations that were

associated with some unforeseen incidents (Tunca 56). Fundamentally, The Bastard of Istanbul

is a 2006 novel by Turkish bestselling author Elif Shafak; it is set in the United States and

Turkey and although it is fictional, it confronts Turkeys violent past, particularly at the time the

Armenian Holocaust. The books main characters include Asya, a nineteen-year-old Turkish

woman, and the Kazanci sisters who all cohabitate in an extended household in Istanbul. Zehila,

the youngest of the sisters and Asyas mother, runs a tattoo parlor. The other sisters include

Banu, a clairvoyant, Feride, a hypochondriac, and Cevriye, who is a widowed high school

teacher. Inherently, the Kazancis have an estranged brother who lives in Arizona with his

Armenian daughter called Armanoush. One day, Armanoush secretly flies to Istanbul in search

of her family roots, meets her relatives, and becomes quick friends with Asya. It is during this

time that a secret is uncovered, which ties them to the deportations and massacres that occurred
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during the 1915 Armenian Holocaust. Intrinsically, most of the details of the killings are revealed

through the conversations of Asya and Armanoush, as the two discuss identity, memory, the

Turks ignorance of the massacres of Armenians during the 1915 Holocaust, and whether it is

possible to shake off the truth (Tunca 55). In essence, The Bastard of Istanbul is aimed at

illuminating the true horrors of the Armenian Holocaust, which the Turkish government has

turned a blind eye to over the year.

Notably, Shafak is focused on exposing the hypocrisy of her people, Turks, towards the

Armenian Holocaust. The initial trace of this agenda is depicted through Armanoush.

Interestingly, Armanoush is the daughter of an American mother and an Armenian mother, but

she was raised by a Turkish stepfather named Mustafa. She feels that Mustafa is not telling her

the truth about what happened to Armenians in Turkey in 1915, and she decides to fly to

Armenia to discover the truth for herself (De Waal 55). When she gets to Istanbul, she introduces

herself as the grandchild of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide, but admits that she has been

brainwashed to deny that the genocide ever existed due to being raised by Mustafa, a Turk.

Fundamentally, Shafak exposes an inherent disparity in memory of the events that

occurred in the Ottoman Empire during 1915, particularly between the Turks and the Armenians

(De Waal 69).. Seemingly, the Turks have no recollection of the alleged massacres that occurred

during the 1915 Holocaust (De Waal 78). In fact, the only evidence of the murders is the

memory of Armenians whose ancestors were survivors of the genocide. Shafak used the traces of

the genocide in the testimonies of these Armenians to expose the truth of the Armenian Genocide

of 1915.

Essentially, the gap in memory regarding the Armenian Holocaust is exemplified by

contrasting how Asya and Armanoush understand the matter. Having been raised in the diaspora
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by a Turkish stepfather and an American mother who harbors a loathing for her Armenian ex-

husband, Armanoush has been brainwashed by the Turkish accounts of the Genocide.

Nevertheless, she surprisingly is very aware of her heritage as well as the horrifying details of

the 1915 Holocaust, which are often recounted by the Armenians in diaspora. On the other hand,

Asya, an Armenian bastard who lives in Istanbul, is seemingly rather uninformed about the true

details of the Armenian Holocaust. Inherently, this is demonstrated when she tells Armanoush,

Genocide is a heavily loaded term. It implies a systematic, well-organized, and philosophized

extermination. Honestly, I am not sure the Ottoman state at the time was of such a nature. But I

do recognize the injustice that was done to the Armenians. I am not a historian. My knowledge is

limited and tainted, but so is yours (Sharaf 261). Growing up in Turkey, she is mostly exposed

to the Turkish denials of the massacres, and she is very knowledgeable in Turkish culture

more than she is in Armenian practices. Clearly, the Armenians who were deported during the

1915 Genocide hold on to the pain of the alleged massacres, whereas those who remained in

turkey have become brainwashed by the reality of their hosts (Turks), and do not share such an

intense bitterness against Turks.

On arriving to Istanbul, Armanoush tells the Kazancs On April 24, a Saturday, at

midnight, dozens of Armenian notables living in Istanbul were arrested and forcibly

taken to police headquarters... They were kept in the headquarters without an explanation until

finally they were deported either to Ayash or to Chankiri.... The ones taken to Chankiri were

killed gradually. My grandpa was among this group (Shafak 161). However, at first, are not

even aware that Armanoush is referring to the Turks as the perpetrators of these evil actions.

Inherently, this exposes the Turkish government for concealing the truth from the countrys

inhabitants. Fundamentally, it has hidden the truth so well that most of the Armenians who still
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reside in Turkey are unaware of the massacres that were committed against their ancestors by the

Ottoman Empire (Bazyler and Shah 251). Nevertheless, the memory of Armenians is so

articulate that it raises no doubts that the genocides of 1915 occurred against Armenians who

resided in Turkey at the time.

Armenians in the diaspora are unified by the truth of the injustices that were committed

against them during the Armenian Holocaust. Referring to some of the Armenians in diaspora,

Armanoush says, they would never want the Turks to recognize the genocide. If they do so,

they would pull the rug out from under our feet and take the strongest bond that unifies us. Just

like the Turks have been in the habit of denying their wrongdoing, the Armenians have

been in the habit of savouring the cocoon of victim hood (Shafak 263). Essentially, this

statement demonstrates that the Armenians in diaspora are united by a common loathing for

Turks because of the evils they committed against their people during the Armenian Holocaust.

According to Shafak, the truth of the Armenian Genocide lies in the memory of the

Armenians in diaspora, which is intact. Those who remained have been forced to adopt the

Turkish version of the truth, which is distorted. Correspondingly, Sharaf implies some sort of

collective hysteria that has occurred among the Armenian community in Turkey (Tunca 78).

Seemingly, they have been exposed to the denials of Turks for so long that they now believe

their accounts of the Armenian deportations to be true. Moreover, the government has

brainwashed the Armenians living in Turkey by overloading them with truckloads of Turkish

culture, which makes them to forget their own one. For instance, when Armanoush arrives in

Istanbul, she is shocked by the fact that Asyas mother wears short miniskirts, which is more

about Turkish culture than it is part of Armenian tradition. Essentially, Sharaf seems rather

committed to forcing the Turkish government to confront the rot in the country regarding the
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manner in which it handles the Armenian Holocaust. In such a manner, she helps Armenians

seek justice for the harms that the Ottoman Empire did to their ancestors at the time of the

Armenian Genocide.

In conclusion, the main agenda of Sharafs The Bastard of Istanbul is exposing the role

that the Turkish Empire played in the deportation and massacre of Armenians during the

Armenian Holocaust. The Turkish government has denied killing Armenians during the time;

correspondingly, this has caused collective hysteria in the country and residents have either

forgotten or ignored the crimes of the Ottoman Empire against Armenians. Nevertheless,

Armenians who are in diaspora are committed to remembering the evils committed against them.

In fact, the history of their persecution binds them. Sharaf provides their memory of the

Armenian Genocide as the truth as well as proof of the rot of the Turkish government.

Seemingly, Sharaf blames opposing views about the Armenian Genocide of 1915 on

collective hysteria, which has been created through the Turkish governments tendency to

recount inaccurate accounts of the events to the citizens. Effectively, Sharaf believes it is about

time that the Turks accept that they wronged Armenians by deporting and killing them

unlawfully. She hopes that doing this will allow the victims to gain justice. In such a manner, she

bases her fictional novel on true historical events of the Armenian Holocaust in order to raise

awareness about the matter and present her argument. Overall, Sharafs novel provides insight

into the truth of the events that occurred during the Armenian Genocide.
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Works Cited

Anderson, Margaret Lavinia. "Genocide of Armenians: Through Swedish Eyes The Armenian

Genocide: Evidence from the German Foreign Office Archives, 19151916." Holocaust

and Genocide Studies 29.3 (2015): 483-488.

Bazyler, Michael J., and Rajika L. Shah. "The Unfinished Business of the Armenian Genocide:

Armenian Property Restitution in American Courts." South Western Journal of

International Law. 23 (2017): 223-279.

De Waal, Thomas. Great Catastrophe: Armenians and Turks in the Shadow of Genocide. Oxford

University Press, 2015.

Sharaf, Elif. The Bastard of Istanbul. Viking Adult, 2006.

Tunca, Daria. Postcolonial Gateways and Walls. Brill, 2016.