The Righteous Turks, a very long silence

The Boghossian Foundation commemorates the Armenian genocide of 1915 with an evening dedicated to the Righteous Turks. The documentary The Righteous Turks, a very long silence tells the story of the Turks who, faced with orders to massacre, decided to disobey, often at the risk of their own lives. Descendant of an Armenian family saved by the Righteous, the narrator and director Romain Fleury, goes in search of these forgotten heroes to exhume these stories of mutual aid from both sides of the tragedy.

For over a century, Turkey refuses to acknowledge its responsibility in the genocide and the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1917. This denial has left in oblivion the handful of Turkish men and women who chose to save Armenian lives. Simple shepherds, soldiers, or officials of the Ottoman Empire, these Righteous disobeyed the orders to massacre.

The documentary tells the story of Romain Fleury’s journey in Armenia, in search of other families who, like his own, owe their lives to Turks, and then in Belgium, where he continues his research and encounters, until he reaches Turkey, where the descendants of the Righteous talk about their family stories.

The screening of the documentary will be followed by a debate moderated by Gaïdz Minassian, with the directors of the documentary Laurence d’Hondt, Romain Fleury, and Grégoire Jakhian.