ARMENIAN VOICES IN TURKISH BESTSELLERS: CASE STUDY OF AHMET ÜMİT’S NOVEL “FAREWELL, MY BEAUTIFUL HOMELAND”

Abstract

Over the past thirty years, the dissolution of boundaries between high literature and mass‑market fiction has given rise to a unique “middle‑class” prose in Türkiye. Detective writer and journalist Ahmet Ümit is widely regarded as one of the leading figures of this literary trend. This article examines how the Armenian theme is reflected in one of A. Ümit’s most popular detective novels “Farewell, My Beautiful Homeland” (2015). In the novel, author portrays the formation, development, and eventual decline of the Young Turks Movement within the broader context of early 20th‑century Ottoman life, seeking to understand the causes of the Empire’s collapse. Among the many issues A. Ümit addresses are the Armenian Genocide and mass deportations, presented, however, not in his own voice, but through the words of one of the characters of the novel – Arshak Boghossyan.