Tweet
TURKISH, ARMENIAN JOURNALISTS WANT BORDER OPENED
Today's Zaman
June 3 2012
Turkey
A group of Turkish and Armenian journalists traveling through Turkey,
Armenia and Georgia between May 24 and June 6 in order to gain
first-hand insight into their neighbors say that the closed border
between Turkey and Armenia is negatively affecting relations between
the two countries, advocating the opening of the border.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with
Azerbaijan after Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of
Azerbaijan in 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Arsen Kharatyan from Voice of America has told Today's Zaman that
the closed border is a symbolic issue. "The day we stop reaching each
other's countries via other countries, both societies will understand
each other more closely. Passing through Georgia to Armenia shows
that every level of relations is mediated by third parties," said
Kharatyan, adding that constructive, sincere and honest dialogue on
both the government and civil society level would contribute positively
to the future of relations.
The group of 15 journalists visited six locations in Turkey: İstanbul,
Malatya, Kayseri, Cappadocia, Ankara and Kars. The group then traveled
to Armenia, where they are spending a week visiting cities and villages
across the country, including Gyumri, Goris, Sevan and Yerevan.
The Turkey-Armenia Media Reporting Bus Tour is organized by the
Global Political Trends Center (GPoT) of İstanbul Kultur University,
in partnership with the Yerevan-based Eurasia Partnership Foundation
(EPF), as part of the Support to Armenia-Turkey Rapprochement (SATR)
project and is funded by the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID). The tour aims to establish a network for future
reporting on Turkish-Armenian relations.
"If someone wants to understand the present, he or she must deal with
the past and perceive it with their own eyes, rather than hearing it
from the outside," said Kharatyan, adding that the tour was a journey
of self-discovery for the journalists.
When asked his assessment of possible future relations between
both countries in the future, Kharatyan replied that currently the
discussions between Turkey and Armenia were stuck on the level of
intellectual discourse, adding that sustainable peace could only be
achieved by maintaining honesty between the nations. "I hope there will
be a time in our lives when we openly have many discussions. I agree
with Turkish officials that we have to solve this problem instead of
leaving it to our children," said Kharatyan.
Speaking to Today's Zaman, Andranik Ispiryan from the Yerevan-based
news agency News.am stated, "The border between Turkey and Armenia is
the only closed border in the 21st century," suggesting that closed
borders prevent relations from improving between the countries.
"I believe the closed border affects relations negatively, not only on
the diplomatic level but also on the societal level," said Ispiryan,
proposing that if the border were open the two societies would have
an opportunity to learn about the culture of the other nation, which
would also help to reduce misconceptions on both sides.
Agreeing with Ispiryan, Zafer Opsar from the Bursa-based news portal
Bursaport.com told Today's Zaman that the closed border does not
contribute positively to relations between the countries, adding that
both sides would benefit from the opening of the borders.
"I am hopeful for the future, and I believe our trip will contribute
to the future of relations. But I think the word 'genocide' blocks the
development of relations. Both countries can overcome the problems by
empathy only," he said, adding that the tour was of great importance
in improving relations.
"Journalists are the voice of the public. We [Turkish and Armenian
journalists] have the opportunity to observe the neighboring country
without the involvement of third parties," said Opsar.
Susae Elanchenny, representative of GPoT, told Today's Zaman that the
goal of the tour was to facilitate Turkish and Armenian journalists'
understanding of their neighboring countries and peoples. "Given
the current impasse in official relations, I believe that the media
can play a particularly important role in moving the normalization
process forward," said Elanchenny.
"Of course, we [GPoT] don't expect to solve the entire issue on this
two-week bus tour with these 15 journalists, but I believe that thanks
to civil society projects, like this one, the biases, stereotypes
and misunderstandings that hinder dialogue are decreasing and will
hopefully only further decrease in the future," she added.
Speaking about the closed border, Varya Meruzhanyan, representative of
EPF, told Today's Zaman that before the borders can be opened people on
both sides will need to make an effort to open their mental borders,
stating, "We are hopeful that this bus tour will serve as a small
step towards achieving that goal."
She also added that with the current deadlock in official relations
between the nations it is important that people from both countries
continue to receive information about the other.
From: A. Papazian
Today's Zaman
June 3 2012
Turkey
A group of Turkish and Armenian journalists traveling through Turkey,
Armenia and Georgia between May 24 and June 6 in order to gain
first-hand insight into their neighbors say that the closed border
between Turkey and Armenia is negatively affecting relations between
the two countries, advocating the opening of the border.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with
Azerbaijan after Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of
Azerbaijan in 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Arsen Kharatyan from Voice of America has told Today's Zaman that
the closed border is a symbolic issue. "The day we stop reaching each
other's countries via other countries, both societies will understand
each other more closely. Passing through Georgia to Armenia shows
that every level of relations is mediated by third parties," said
Kharatyan, adding that constructive, sincere and honest dialogue on
both the government and civil society level would contribute positively
to the future of relations.
The group of 15 journalists visited six locations in Turkey: İstanbul,
Malatya, Kayseri, Cappadocia, Ankara and Kars. The group then traveled
to Armenia, where they are spending a week visiting cities and villages
across the country, including Gyumri, Goris, Sevan and Yerevan.
The Turkey-Armenia Media Reporting Bus Tour is organized by the
Global Political Trends Center (GPoT) of İstanbul Kultur University,
in partnership with the Yerevan-based Eurasia Partnership Foundation
(EPF), as part of the Support to Armenia-Turkey Rapprochement (SATR)
project and is funded by the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID). The tour aims to establish a network for future
reporting on Turkish-Armenian relations.
"If someone wants to understand the present, he or she must deal with
the past and perceive it with their own eyes, rather than hearing it
from the outside," said Kharatyan, adding that the tour was a journey
of self-discovery for the journalists.
When asked his assessment of possible future relations between
both countries in the future, Kharatyan replied that currently the
discussions between Turkey and Armenia were stuck on the level of
intellectual discourse, adding that sustainable peace could only be
achieved by maintaining honesty between the nations. "I hope there will
be a time in our lives when we openly have many discussions. I agree
with Turkish officials that we have to solve this problem instead of
leaving it to our children," said Kharatyan.
Speaking to Today's Zaman, Andranik Ispiryan from the Yerevan-based
news agency News.am stated, "The border between Turkey and Armenia is
the only closed border in the 21st century," suggesting that closed
borders prevent relations from improving between the countries.
"I believe the closed border affects relations negatively, not only on
the diplomatic level but also on the societal level," said Ispiryan,
proposing that if the border were open the two societies would have
an opportunity to learn about the culture of the other nation, which
would also help to reduce misconceptions on both sides.
Agreeing with Ispiryan, Zafer Opsar from the Bursa-based news portal
Bursaport.com told Today's Zaman that the closed border does not
contribute positively to relations between the countries, adding that
both sides would benefit from the opening of the borders.
"I am hopeful for the future, and I believe our trip will contribute
to the future of relations. But I think the word 'genocide' blocks the
development of relations. Both countries can overcome the problems by
empathy only," he said, adding that the tour was of great importance
in improving relations.
"Journalists are the voice of the public. We [Turkish and Armenian
journalists] have the opportunity to observe the neighboring country
without the involvement of third parties," said Opsar.
Susae Elanchenny, representative of GPoT, told Today's Zaman that the
goal of the tour was to facilitate Turkish and Armenian journalists'
understanding of their neighboring countries and peoples. "Given
the current impasse in official relations, I believe that the media
can play a particularly important role in moving the normalization
process forward," said Elanchenny.
"Of course, we [GPoT] don't expect to solve the entire issue on this
two-week bus tour with these 15 journalists, but I believe that thanks
to civil society projects, like this one, the biases, stereotypes
and misunderstandings that hinder dialogue are decreasing and will
hopefully only further decrease in the future," she added.
Speaking about the closed border, Varya Meruzhanyan, representative of
EPF, told Today's Zaman that before the borders can be opened people on
both sides will need to make an effort to open their mental borders,
stating, "We are hopeful that this bus tour will serve as a small
step towards achieving that goal."
She also added that with the current deadlock in official relations
between the nations it is important that people from both countries
continue to receive information about the other.
From: A. Papazian