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Orange County Register (California)
May 19, 2012 Saturday
UC Irvine students and staff push for peace
BY STEPHANIE WELDY, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Community members and UC Irvine students and staff came together last
Tuesday for an open forum about the Olive Tree Initiative's inaugural
trip to Armenia and Turkey.
The Olive Tree Initiative, which was founded in 2007, is a group of
about 65 UCI students and faculty members that works to promote open
discussion and education about global conflicts and challenges.
Members took a 10-day trip to Armenia and Turkey from March 24 to
April 3 in an effort to bring more understanding to themselves, to
people living in the local community, and to those in the conflicting
countries by exploring the historical tensions between Turkey and
Armenia.
Tensions between the two date back to as early as the 11th century,
when Armenia lost its sovereignty to various countries, including
Turkey.
Armenians say that in the early 20th century, 1.5 million Armenians
were killed in a genocide at the hands of the Turks - something the
Turkish government denies. Whether the term "genocide" is accurate to
describe the events of the early 20th century is also an ongoing issue
between Armenia and Turkey.
During the Armenia-Turkey trip, the group of nine students, three
professors and two board members spoke to politicians, academics, and
journalists, among others, in both countries.
They worked to initiate open discussions while looking at both sides
of the issue. The open discussion continued during last week's event.
Nearly 100 people attended the discussion at UCI to hear from eight of
the nine students who took part in the Olive Tree Initiative's
Armenia-Turkey project.
Aysha Ruya Cohen, a 2010 graduate of UCI and a former president of the
Turkish Student Association, said that when she came to study at UCI
she was upset by what she called insensitive campaigns that were
implemented by the Armenian Student Association.
Cohen heard about the Olive Tree Initiative while she was interning at
the university. She joined the group in hopes of finding more
constructive and open dialogue about Turkey and Armenian history and
relations.
"I think that the trip helped me to understand both perspectives
whether you're coming from the Armenian point-of-view or the Turkish
point-of-view or the outside, unaffiliated point-of-view," Cohen said.
Student Syuzanna Petrosyan, who is a fourth year student at UCI,
joined the Olive Tree Initiative to get a better understanding of the
changing dynamics in Turkey. Petrosyan found the trip to be
eye-opening.
"One of the groups that we met that was the most shocking for me was
The Apology Campaign, which is a group of academics that has
officially apologized to the Armenians for their suffering. It shows
how much farther they have gone while the government remains immobile
when it comes to this issue. That was a big surprise for me,"
Petrosyan said.
After the eight students spoke of their experiences with the Olive
Tree Initiative and of their time abroad, the audience was invited to
voice their opinions and to ask the participants questions.
The students who were part of the Armenia-Turkey trip said they were
satisfied with the depths they were able to explore and with the
understanding they gained from the experience.
"It was beyond my expectations. It has opened our eyes and softened
our hearts," Serhat Nazim Avci, a graduate student at UCI, said of the
trip.
Daniel Wehrenfennig, the director of the Olive Tree Initiative, said
that the mission of the group is to gain an understanding about the
causes of hostilities and to move forward through candid discussions.
"What we did tonight is one of the main things we should do,"
Wehrenfennig said, ".
..get together, and talk about things. We are very civil in
conversation, and we just really push education first. Our main
vehicle is experiential education."
The award-winning Olive Tree Initiative is planning events and
presentations on its trip and findings for both the community and
other universities.
The group has expanded to other UC campuses including Los Angeles,
Berkeley, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz, and is in the process of
developing chapters in other national and international campuses.
The organization is planning future trips in the hopes of creating and
extending more awareness on global challenges, which include
Armenian-Turkey relations and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
For more information on the OTI visit olivetreeinitiative.org
May 19, 2012 Saturday
UC Irvine students and staff push for peace
BY STEPHANIE WELDY, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Community members and UC Irvine students and staff came together last
Tuesday for an open forum about the Olive Tree Initiative's inaugural
trip to Armenia and Turkey.
The Olive Tree Initiative, which was founded in 2007, is a group of
about 65 UCI students and faculty members that works to promote open
discussion and education about global conflicts and challenges.
Members took a 10-day trip to Armenia and Turkey from March 24 to
April 3 in an effort to bring more understanding to themselves, to
people living in the local community, and to those in the conflicting
countries by exploring the historical tensions between Turkey and
Armenia.
Tensions between the two date back to as early as the 11th century,
when Armenia lost its sovereignty to various countries, including
Turkey.
Armenians say that in the early 20th century, 1.5 million Armenians
were killed in a genocide at the hands of the Turks - something the
Turkish government denies. Whether the term "genocide" is accurate to
describe the events of the early 20th century is also an ongoing issue
between Armenia and Turkey.
During the Armenia-Turkey trip, the group of nine students, three
professors and two board members spoke to politicians, academics, and
journalists, among others, in both countries.
They worked to initiate open discussions while looking at both sides
of the issue. The open discussion continued during last week's event.
Nearly 100 people attended the discussion at UCI to hear from eight of
the nine students who took part in the Olive Tree Initiative's
Armenia-Turkey project.
Aysha Ruya Cohen, a 2010 graduate of UCI and a former president of the
Turkish Student Association, said that when she came to study at UCI
she was upset by what she called insensitive campaigns that were
implemented by the Armenian Student Association.
Cohen heard about the Olive Tree Initiative while she was interning at
the university. She joined the group in hopes of finding more
constructive and open dialogue about Turkey and Armenian history and
relations.
"I think that the trip helped me to understand both perspectives
whether you're coming from the Armenian point-of-view or the Turkish
point-of-view or the outside, unaffiliated point-of-view," Cohen said.
Student Syuzanna Petrosyan, who is a fourth year student at UCI,
joined the Olive Tree Initiative to get a better understanding of the
changing dynamics in Turkey. Petrosyan found the trip to be
eye-opening.
"One of the groups that we met that was the most shocking for me was
The Apology Campaign, which is a group of academics that has
officially apologized to the Armenians for their suffering. It shows
how much farther they have gone while the government remains immobile
when it comes to this issue. That was a big surprise for me,"
Petrosyan said.
After the eight students spoke of their experiences with the Olive
Tree Initiative and of their time abroad, the audience was invited to
voice their opinions and to ask the participants questions.
The students who were part of the Armenia-Turkey trip said they were
satisfied with the depths they were able to explore and with the
understanding they gained from the experience.
"It was beyond my expectations. It has opened our eyes and softened
our hearts," Serhat Nazim Avci, a graduate student at UCI, said of the
trip.
Daniel Wehrenfennig, the director of the Olive Tree Initiative, said
that the mission of the group is to gain an understanding about the
causes of hostilities and to move forward through candid discussions.
"What we did tonight is one of the main things we should do,"
Wehrenfennig said, ".
..get together, and talk about things. We are very civil in
conversation, and we just really push education first. Our main
vehicle is experiential education."
The award-winning Olive Tree Initiative is planning events and
presentations on its trip and findings for both the community and
other universities.
The group has expanded to other UC campuses including Los Angeles,
Berkeley, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz, and is in the process of
developing chapters in other national and international campuses.
The organization is planning future trips in the hopes of creating and
extending more awareness on global challenges, which include
Armenian-Turkey relations and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
For more information on the OTI visit olivetreeinitiative.org