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TURKEY'S RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS HEAD MEETS ARMENIAN ACTING PATRIARCH
armradio.am
30.11.2011 12:10
The head of Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate, Mehmet Gormez, met
with the acting Patriarch of Turkish Armenian community, the Hurriyet
Daily News reports.
Gormez said he was honored to welcome Archbishop Aram Ateshyan as
a guest of the directorate. It is not right to classify people as
either minorities or majorities, he said. "We are the children of
a common civilization, history and culture. Identities cannot be
defined with numbers."
Ateshyan said the word "minority" should be put to one side and
added that Turkish and Armenian people had lived together in shared
territories for centuries as members of two different religions
and communities.
"Even though some circles have caused disturbance in this country,
it is time that we left that aside and returned to the good old days,"
he said. "There are no Armenian, Greek Orthodox or Syriac people, only
children of the same soil," Ateshyan said in reference to who is a
"minority" in Turkey.
armradio.am
30.11.2011 12:10
The head of Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate, Mehmet Gormez, met
with the acting Patriarch of Turkish Armenian community, the Hurriyet
Daily News reports.
Gormez said he was honored to welcome Archbishop Aram Ateshyan as
a guest of the directorate. It is not right to classify people as
either minorities or majorities, he said. "We are the children of
a common civilization, history and culture. Identities cannot be
defined with numbers."
Ateshyan said the word "minority" should be put to one side and
added that Turkish and Armenian people had lived together in shared
territories for centuries as members of two different religions
and communities.
"Even though some circles have caused disturbance in this country,
it is time that we left that aside and returned to the good old days,"
he said. "There are no Armenian, Greek Orthodox or Syriac people, only
children of the same soil," Ateshyan said in reference to who is a
"minority" in Turkey.