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THE FUTURE OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS DISCUSSED
armradio.am
02.10.2008 17:34
The Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS)
today convened a foreign policy roundtable to consider all aspects of
the future of Armenian-Turkish relations. The meeting brought together
leading analysts, policy specialists, public and political figures, NGO
representatives, members of the press, as well as a group of students
and teaching staff from Istanbul's Bilgi and Fatih Universities who
are visiting Yerevan on the invitation of the Civil Society Institute.
Welcoming the audience with opening remarks, ACNIS research
coordinator Syuzanna Barseghian underscored the imperative of
reaching new agreements, based on mutual interests, toward normalizing
Armenian-Turkish relations.
"Our current relations are more emotional and less rational and
therefore many issues seem irresolvable. And the objective of such
discussions is to reveal the whole potential for partnership and its
resources which, I believe, can serve toward historical reconciliation
and building of the best common future," Barseghian said.
The day's first speaker, director Haik Demoyan of the Armenian
Genocide Museum-Institute, reflected on the media's role in the
normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations. According to him, the
media coverage of this extremely sensitive topic needs a serious
methodological adjustment and it is not a coincidence that certain
demands periodically were made of20the media as to their method of
covering the events of war and genocide. "The media have a great
import and specifically in the process of reconciliation.
They either can play a negative role and cause problems and hinder the
reconciliation process, or be a part of it," Demoyan said. And as case
in point, he made note of the compulsion to use quotation marks when
using the term genocide and to refer to the Armenian Genocide as "the
events of 1915," the deliberate dissemination of false information,
and the taking of comments out of their general context and presenting
as separate information.
In his turn, deputy dean Å~^ammas Salur of the Department of Political
Science of Istanbul Fatih University looked at the historiographical
phases and the changes in the modern historiography of Turkey. "Even
though the Turkish-Islamic synthesis in history writing has some
canonical views, and especially a staunch defense against the
transformation and liberalism in Turkish policy, the 1980s have
brought a more dynamic cultural atmosphere to Turkey," Salur noted,
also adding that through serious discussions regarding the talks
with the European Union, a new type of history writing is emerging
in Turkey. According to the speaker, this new type is more tolerant
toward others and--albeit difficult to be accepted by a large part of
the public--even accepting of others as equal citizens, "and history
writing is evolving toward that end," Salur argued.
The day's final speaker, Ambassador Ara Papian, director of the
Modus Vivendi Social and Scientific Research Center, delved into the
unclaimed pages of Armenian-Turkish relations. He presented those pages
against the backdrop of the de jure boundary between Armenia and Turkey
that was determined, at the turn of the 20th Century, by US president
Woodrow Wilson's Arbitral Award. As stated by Papian, this document
was signed and sealed on November 22, 1920 and officially entitled:
"Decision of the President of the United States of America respecting
the Frontier between Turkey and Armenia, Access for Armenia to the Sea,
and the Demilitarization of Turkish Territory adjacent to the Armenian
Frontier." Pursuant to the Arbitral Award, the title and rights
of the Republic of Armenia were recognized on the provinces of Van,
Bitlis, Erzerum, and Trebizond of the former Ottoman Empire. "President
Wilson's binding and irreversible Arbitral Award went into force the
day it was reached and remains in effect to this day," Papian asserted.
The roundtable discussants also included students Erman Bakırcı,
Emel Guner, and Cagla Gur from the Department of International
Relations of Istanbul Bilgi University; students Kevser Kandaz,
Umit Kurt, Mustafa Ozdemir, and Zafer Ozkan from the Department
of International Relations of Istanbul Fatih University; director
Artak Kirakosian of the Civil Society Institu te; Ruben Mehrabian
from the Armenian Center for Political and International Research;
coordinator Armen Aghayan of the "Defense of Liberated Territories"
social initiative; director-announcer Gayzag Palanjian of "The Road
for the Enhancement of Armenia-Diaspora Relations" television program
in Los Angeles; journalist Gayane Arustamian; and several others.
--Boundary_(ID_mmLG3WzbyfmurBXtDwNSmw)--
armradio.am
02.10.2008 17:34
The Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS)
today convened a foreign policy roundtable to consider all aspects of
the future of Armenian-Turkish relations. The meeting brought together
leading analysts, policy specialists, public and political figures, NGO
representatives, members of the press, as well as a group of students
and teaching staff from Istanbul's Bilgi and Fatih Universities who
are visiting Yerevan on the invitation of the Civil Society Institute.
Welcoming the audience with opening remarks, ACNIS research
coordinator Syuzanna Barseghian underscored the imperative of
reaching new agreements, based on mutual interests, toward normalizing
Armenian-Turkish relations.
"Our current relations are more emotional and less rational and
therefore many issues seem irresolvable. And the objective of such
discussions is to reveal the whole potential for partnership and its
resources which, I believe, can serve toward historical reconciliation
and building of the best common future," Barseghian said.
The day's first speaker, director Haik Demoyan of the Armenian
Genocide Museum-Institute, reflected on the media's role in the
normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations. According to him, the
media coverage of this extremely sensitive topic needs a serious
methodological adjustment and it is not a coincidence that certain
demands periodically were made of20the media as to their method of
covering the events of war and genocide. "The media have a great
import and specifically in the process of reconciliation.
They either can play a negative role and cause problems and hinder the
reconciliation process, or be a part of it," Demoyan said. And as case
in point, he made note of the compulsion to use quotation marks when
using the term genocide and to refer to the Armenian Genocide as "the
events of 1915," the deliberate dissemination of false information,
and the taking of comments out of their general context and presenting
as separate information.
In his turn, deputy dean Å~^ammas Salur of the Department of Political
Science of Istanbul Fatih University looked at the historiographical
phases and the changes in the modern historiography of Turkey. "Even
though the Turkish-Islamic synthesis in history writing has some
canonical views, and especially a staunch defense against the
transformation and liberalism in Turkish policy, the 1980s have
brought a more dynamic cultural atmosphere to Turkey," Salur noted,
also adding that through serious discussions regarding the talks
with the European Union, a new type of history writing is emerging
in Turkey. According to the speaker, this new type is more tolerant
toward others and--albeit difficult to be accepted by a large part of
the public--even accepting of others as equal citizens, "and history
writing is evolving toward that end," Salur argued.
The day's final speaker, Ambassador Ara Papian, director of the
Modus Vivendi Social and Scientific Research Center, delved into the
unclaimed pages of Armenian-Turkish relations. He presented those pages
against the backdrop of the de jure boundary between Armenia and Turkey
that was determined, at the turn of the 20th Century, by US president
Woodrow Wilson's Arbitral Award. As stated by Papian, this document
was signed and sealed on November 22, 1920 and officially entitled:
"Decision of the President of the United States of America respecting
the Frontier between Turkey and Armenia, Access for Armenia to the Sea,
and the Demilitarization of Turkish Territory adjacent to the Armenian
Frontier." Pursuant to the Arbitral Award, the title and rights
of the Republic of Armenia were recognized on the provinces of Van,
Bitlis, Erzerum, and Trebizond of the former Ottoman Empire. "President
Wilson's binding and irreversible Arbitral Award went into force the
day it was reached and remains in effect to this day," Papian asserted.
The roundtable discussants also included students Erman Bakırcı,
Emel Guner, and Cagla Gur from the Department of International
Relations of Istanbul Bilgi University; students Kevser Kandaz,
Umit Kurt, Mustafa Ozdemir, and Zafer Ozkan from the Department
of International Relations of Istanbul Fatih University; director
Artak Kirakosian of the Civil Society Institu te; Ruben Mehrabian
from the Armenian Center for Political and International Research;
coordinator Armen Aghayan of the "Defense of Liberated Territories"
social initiative; director-announcer Gayzag Palanjian of "The Road
for the Enhancement of Armenia-Diaspora Relations" television program
in Los Angeles; journalist Gayane Arustamian; and several others.
--Boundary_(ID_mmLG3WzbyfmurBXtDwNSmw)--