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PENNINGTON: THERE IS WILLINGNESS AMONG MANY PEOPLE IN TURKEY TO TALK MORE HONESTLY ABOUT THE PAST
PanARMENIAN.Net
26.06.2008 14:59 GMT+04:00
Reconciliation is an extremely important issue in my view for both
Turkey and Armenia for the future of both countries and for the
stability in the region, according to Mr Joseph Pennington, the
U.S. Charge d'Affairs in Armenia.
"I've worked now for many years of my career in both of those
places and so I have a real personal interest in this issue. And we,
you know the United States for a long time has supported increased
cultural, social ties, the ties we call people-to-people contacts
between Turks and Armenians," Mr. Pennington said in an interview
with PanARMENIAN.Net.
"And just as an example, tomorrow night I am going to open a
performance at Komitas Hall of the Bosporus Quartet of Istanbul. The
Komitas Quartet performed in Istanbul last week. And it is one
example. There are many projects like that that we support and
will continue to support. We think that those kinds of contacts -
conferences, exchanges, academic debates and so on, they help to
break down barriers and ultimately help to push the political process
forward. And we also continue to work at the levels of governments
to try to encourage the two sides to take steps to overcome their
differences. And we certainly hope that in the not-too-distant future
there will be some progress at that level as well," he said.
Asked to comment how Turks treat Armenians and what's their attitude
toward the 1915 events, Mr. Pennington said, "I first worked in
Turkey from 1995-1998, so back 10-13 years ago, and I can say that
the difference between those years and now in terms of this debate
is very clear. I think there is a much greater willingness among
many people in Turkey to talk more honestly about the past and look
at those events more openly. And if you look in the Turkish media,
you see a quite lively debate about Armenia and about Turkey and
Armenia. And it's part of an overall opening in Turkey in terms
of activating civil society and democratization. Of course, there
are also problems, and we saw the convictions under article 301 in
Turkey for a number of years and certainly there are still people
who don't want to have this discussion and people who tragically
were willing to resort to violence against Hrant Dink when he spoke
about it. But I can tell you that I met with Hrant in the last week
that I worked in Turkey back in 2006 and Hrant's approach was that
the most important thing that we - all of us - Armenians, Turks and
international community...Hrant was convinced that by improving that
relationship, that would encourage a greater and more honest look at
the past. And so that's the direction that we try to work in."
PanARMENIAN.Net
26.06.2008 14:59 GMT+04:00
Reconciliation is an extremely important issue in my view for both
Turkey and Armenia for the future of both countries and for the
stability in the region, according to Mr Joseph Pennington, the
U.S. Charge d'Affairs in Armenia.
"I've worked now for many years of my career in both of those
places and so I have a real personal interest in this issue. And we,
you know the United States for a long time has supported increased
cultural, social ties, the ties we call people-to-people contacts
between Turks and Armenians," Mr. Pennington said in an interview
with PanARMENIAN.Net.
"And just as an example, tomorrow night I am going to open a
performance at Komitas Hall of the Bosporus Quartet of Istanbul. The
Komitas Quartet performed in Istanbul last week. And it is one
example. There are many projects like that that we support and
will continue to support. We think that those kinds of contacts -
conferences, exchanges, academic debates and so on, they help to
break down barriers and ultimately help to push the political process
forward. And we also continue to work at the levels of governments
to try to encourage the two sides to take steps to overcome their
differences. And we certainly hope that in the not-too-distant future
there will be some progress at that level as well," he said.
Asked to comment how Turks treat Armenians and what's their attitude
toward the 1915 events, Mr. Pennington said, "I first worked in
Turkey from 1995-1998, so back 10-13 years ago, and I can say that
the difference between those years and now in terms of this debate
is very clear. I think there is a much greater willingness among
many people in Turkey to talk more honestly about the past and look
at those events more openly. And if you look in the Turkish media,
you see a quite lively debate about Armenia and about Turkey and
Armenia. And it's part of an overall opening in Turkey in terms
of activating civil society and democratization. Of course, there
are also problems, and we saw the convictions under article 301 in
Turkey for a number of years and certainly there are still people
who don't want to have this discussion and people who tragically
were willing to resort to violence against Hrant Dink when he spoke
about it. But I can tell you that I met with Hrant in the last week
that I worked in Turkey back in 2006 and Hrant's approach was that
the most important thing that we - all of us - Armenians, Turks and
international community...Hrant was convinced that by improving that
relationship, that would encourage a greater and more honest look at
the past. And so that's the direction that we try to work in."