Ordu bids farewell to Armenian siblings
Eyüp Serbest - ORDU
The last citizens of Armenian origin living in the northern province of Ordu, 90-year-old doctor Dikran Toraman and his 86-year-old pharmacist sister Ardem Toraman have lost their lives within two days.
Their neighbors held a ceremony in the mosque and buried them in tears as they have “helped the poor families for years without expecting anything in return.”
The Armenian Patriarchate also held a ceremony for the sibling in the church in Istanbul’s Feriköy neighborhood.
Neighbors took the body of Dikran Toraman, who had chronic illnesses and died at his home on Oct. 27, to a mosque as there was no Christian clergyman in Ordu.
Ardem Toraman was also at the funeral, who did not want to return home after her brother’s burial and settled in a hotel in the city center.
However, a day later, on Oct. 28, it was revealed when she was hospitalized that she had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. Despite all the interventions, she died after her brother.
The residents of the neighborhood paid their last respects to Armen Toraman this time, where they held a funeral for Dikran Toraman the day before.
The siblings were buried side by side in Çakalçıkmaz Cemetery in Ordu.
Armenian Patriarch of Türkiye had a prayer for them at Surp Vartanats Church in Feriköy on Oct. 30.
The statement made by the patriarchate following the death of the last two Armenian siblings in Ordu said, “We are saddened to hear that doctor Dikran Toraman and his sister, pharmacist Ardem Toraman, who lived in Ordu and are well-known to the people of the city, passed away. Our condolences to the family and friends.”
“We also express our condolences to their Muslim compatriots in Ordu who know them and have good neighborly relations with them,” it added.
Dikran Toraman was born in 1932 as the first child of coppersmith Mıgırdiç Toraman, who had his daughter Ardem Toraman in 1936.
After graduating from high school, Dikran Toraman graduated from Istanbul University’s Faculty of Medicine and his sister Ardem from Istanbul University’s Faculty of Pharmacy.
The duo, whose education expenses were covered by their neighbors, left Ordu for the first time for university and returned immediately after graduation.
While their father opened a pharmacy for his daughter, one of the five pharmacies in the city at that time, Dikran Toraman started to work at Ordu State Hospital.
They went from village to village on the back of donkeys and examined the children for free. The only rule for the two of them was “no money is taken from the poor,” according to their neighbors.
Dikran Toraman worked as a doctor for Orduspor, the city’s football club, for 25 years without any charge.
According to Ottoman-era population records, over 12,000 Armenians were living in Ordu.
