A Syrian Cypriot activist: Adi Atassi… Sevgul Uludag 00 357 99 966518 00 90 542 853 8436 He is an artist, a painter and a photographer, an activist… His family, the famous `Al Atassi`, have always had a big role to play in Syria since the 16th century… His relatives were presidents, foreign ministers, ruling elites of Syria and the family had a long tradition of sending their children abroad for education purposes… I meet him back in June 2012 when we start our workshop on `missing persons` for young artists from the two sides of the dividing line in Cyprus. It is extremely difficult to convince some of the Greek Cypriot artists to participate in such a workshop, everyone is very busy but we continue anyway – at the suggestion of Daphne, an artist from Limassol, the mother of our friend Nicos Triminikliotis I find Adi Atassi, the Syrian Cypriot who has spent half his life in Syria, the other half in Cyprus. He is 50 years old and only through his help we manage to find two Greek Cypriot artists: Sophia Hadjipapa and Simone, to participate in our workshop on `missing persons`. It is not easy, I understand, for some Greek Cypriot artists, to sit together with Turkish Cypriot artists and try to tackle together such a humanitarian issue as `missing persons` - we would visit mass graves in both sides of the island, we will look at what sort of crimes both sides have committed, therefore it is not easy unless you are totally independent to dwell on such a course… But I never lose hope and for me numbers don't mean anything: What's important is the first step and to set a role model for the future. Even though some Greek Cypriot artists might have felt a lot of caution when they heard about what we were about to do, I am sure that in the coming years, they will come round and do similar activities, making it NORMAL to sit together and talk about things that hurt us both… Adi Atassi has no doubts when I tell him about the workshop where we would have relatives of `missing persons` from both sides testify to what they have gone through, where we will take them together in burial sites in both sides where people had been murdered and hidden, where they would have all the material that they would need that we would provide and where they would paint or sculpt in the end, to reflect something that has not been reflected yet: Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot artists thinking together about `missing persons`, facing the real history together, trying to make sense of what we have lost in the past 50 years, reflecting on the feelings of the relatives with `missing persons`, whether they are Turkish Cypriot or Greek Cypriot, seeing the humanitarian side of all this and facing the human pain, rather than trying to `compete` for whatever reason. Adi Atassi comes from pain, his country is in turmoil, one of his uncles was removed from power by father Esad in Syria and put in prison, Esad replacing him and a psychological terror campaing started against the whole Al Atassi clan. As a young boy, Adi would find himself opposing the new regime and not quite sure what might happen to him if for instance, he would go to the army to do his `military service`. Adi would meet a Greek Cypriot young girl, would get married with her, would leave Syria 25 years ago and then start to live in Cyprus. But living in Cyprus would mean getting stuck here since he would not be able to go back to Syria and he would encounter a lot of discrimination when some Greek Cypriots would learn that no, he's not Christian but a Moslem… `It took a lot of years for them to realize that being a Moslem did not mean that I was a Turk!` he would explain to me… Some Greek Cypriots would put a lot of pressure on him to change his name and his religion, give up being a Moslem and being Adi, to become a Christian so that he would have a much easier life and a good job in Cyprus. But he would refuse… `Not that I am a religious person but in principle why should I be forced to change my religion?` he would say and refuse… During the workshop about `missing persons` that we have organized, Adi would sit there and listen, Adi would come with us to the mass graves and take photographs, Adi would visit the homes of both Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot relatives of `missing persons` and listen to them with his heart… `In Syria, the number of missing persons is more than 75 thousand` he would explain to me. `There are some suspicions that some of them might have been kidnapped for the sale of their organs…` As I would get to know him, I would realize that he is never idle: He would go to Madrid or Cairo, he would be in demonstrations or busy collecting aid for the thousands of refugees fleeing the border for safety… The war in Syria would take its toll on Adi but he too, would never be hopeless, he would do everything he could to help the refugees… `We ordered 3 thousand boots for children…` he would tell me after a trip to the refugee camps on the border with Turkey and Syria… `I cannot describe to you how the situation is in those camps… They need everything… They need bread, they need clothes, they need milk, they need blankets… They need cornflakes, canned food, diapers for babies… They need shoes and boots… We ordered 3 thousand boots for children, plastic boots but still boots… Because when they left their country it was summer time and now it's winter and they are barefoot still… We need help…` He would travel to get and distribute the boots in the refugee camps and as one of the very active organizers of `Union of Syrians Abroad` together with his friends, he would work in this nonprofit humanitarian organization in order to help the Syrians in the refugee camps to survive… This 50 year old activist, who spent his first 25 years in Syria and the next 25 years in Cyprus, a painter, a photographer who comes from a family with three presidents and many known leaders who had led Syria in the past is now struggling for the survival of his people and he can understand what we have gone through in Cyprus since his people is going through hell now… Syria is burning and Adi who comes to our workshops and sits with us and listens to the pain our people have been going through needs our support now to help the children in the refugee camps, the children who had to flee the war in order to survive in life because as Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots we all know and have the experience of what being a refugee is… Those of us who want to contact him for more information can call him at +357 99 877387 or through his e-mail: adiatassi@primehome.com to see how we can help… 1.1.2013 Photo: Adi Atassi with refugee children (*) Article published in POLITIS on the 20th of January 2013, Sunday. |
No comments:
Post a Comment