Tweet
I SEE THAT PEOPLE WANT SOME SORT OF CHANGE
Karine Ionesyan
15:29 26/02/2013
Story from Lragir.am News:
http://www.lragir.am/index.php/eng/0/interview/view/29096
Interview with Burcu Becermen, Turkish citizen who was in Armenia
during the 2013 presidential election
As I know this is not the first time you are in Armenia. How many times
have you already been here and why did you decide to come during the
presidential elections this time?
I have been to Armenia more than 10 times. The first time I came it was
in 2009. This time I was here because I was also a member of a group
of Turkish journalists, because every year the Hrant Dink foundation
organizes this program as our countries don't have good relations
and the media coverage is quite problematic in Turkey. We can't get
the best news across the borders and we really want to bring people
together. And we do it every year and we decided it is a good moment
to come to Armenia during the elections because otherwise it won't
be so much understood in Turkey. I also think it would be interesting
for journalists to see Armenia during the election time.
Were our election results as unpredictable for Turkish journalists
as for Armenians?
I was very surprised because we came to Armenia previously in May
when you had parliamentary elections and before coming I read what
was happening with elections in Armenia. We were not sure whether to
come or not as we didn't understand what Paruir Hayrikyan was doing. I
didn't expect any other oppositional candidates to receive more votes.
But now I am quite surprised with the results. Actually we met Raffi
Hovannisian for several times last year and this year. I know his
story, I know his parents. I also know his approach to issues about
Armenia and what he thinks about relations between Turkey and Armenia.
I know what he feels about the Genocide. I know his views on democracy
and human rights. Ha had a very dynamic election campaign, we saw
his photos in the buses, we saw him in public and with people.
I also talked to many other people about how they feel about the
elections. Maybe there are people who voted for Raffi Hovannisian
because they really wanted him and perhaps some people voted for him
because they don't want the current one. But what I see is that people
want some sort of change. Neither Armenia, nor Turkey is the best
democratic country we know, but now there is the spirit of revolution
when you talk to people who want that. I think this is a good moment
for Armenia.
Maybe now we could talk a little about the Armenian Genocide then
continue with the elections. During your visits you saw some
differences between two nations, and I'm sure you had a lot of
contradictory feelings as you are one of those in Turkey who recognizes
the Armenian Genocide.
It is a very strong emotional experience. I think we are working in
the right direction and I think that there is a lot of progress. But
definitely there is a great asymmetry in terms of feelings and in
terms of knowledge. The thing is that when people come here they meet
local people. They can see that everyone has a family story about
Genocide so this is not something that people are talking from high
above as a political thing and it is just a human history, it is a
part of their family. For Turkish people this is an experience to
understand why Armenians still feel the pain. After World War I we
had also Turkish Muslim people coming from the Caucasus, Balkans to
Turkey. They also bore a lot of pain. So they always compare this
pain with the Genocide pain. They get a better understanding. It is
difficult but now people in Armenia know that we can commemorate the
Genocide in Istanbul and there are more and more people doing that.
You know Jemal Pasha and his grandson, who was a very prominent author
in Turkey, he wrote a book, which is called "1915: Armenian Genocide".
And I am really optimistic. It will take time but we can talk and
that is important.
Can you give a general picture of Turkish election so we can compare
it with the Armenian one?
It is difficult because in Turkey you can see more campaign,
more marches, and more meetings. In Armenia things were quiet even
during the parliamentary elections. We have different societies and
ideologies. We are going to have very interesting 2-3 years in Turkey.
We have local elections, parliamentary and presidential elections. In
Turkey we have a parliamentary system but our current prime minister
issued willingness to shift to presidential system to become the
first elected president of Turkey.
And what about democracy during Turkish elections? Are there similar
problems like those in Armenia?
No, we always have domestic issues. You would see on the mainstream
TV's the advertisement of the government and, of course, you also
have the opposition. We have asymmetry in Turkey: like there are
political parties that benefit from the state budget for their election
campaign, but there are others which can't do that, such as the Peace
and Democracy party, the pro-Kurdish party, because they didn't enter
into the parliament as a party.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Karine Ionesyan
15:29 26/02/2013
Story from Lragir.am News:
http://www.lragir.am/index.php/eng/0/interview/view/29096
Interview with Burcu Becermen, Turkish citizen who was in Armenia
during the 2013 presidential election
As I know this is not the first time you are in Armenia. How many times
have you already been here and why did you decide to come during the
presidential elections this time?
I have been to Armenia more than 10 times. The first time I came it was
in 2009. This time I was here because I was also a member of a group
of Turkish journalists, because every year the Hrant Dink foundation
organizes this program as our countries don't have good relations
and the media coverage is quite problematic in Turkey. We can't get
the best news across the borders and we really want to bring people
together. And we do it every year and we decided it is a good moment
to come to Armenia during the elections because otherwise it won't
be so much understood in Turkey. I also think it would be interesting
for journalists to see Armenia during the election time.
Were our election results as unpredictable for Turkish journalists
as for Armenians?
I was very surprised because we came to Armenia previously in May
when you had parliamentary elections and before coming I read what
was happening with elections in Armenia. We were not sure whether to
come or not as we didn't understand what Paruir Hayrikyan was doing. I
didn't expect any other oppositional candidates to receive more votes.
But now I am quite surprised with the results. Actually we met Raffi
Hovannisian for several times last year and this year. I know his
story, I know his parents. I also know his approach to issues about
Armenia and what he thinks about relations between Turkey and Armenia.
I know what he feels about the Genocide. I know his views on democracy
and human rights. Ha had a very dynamic election campaign, we saw
his photos in the buses, we saw him in public and with people.
I also talked to many other people about how they feel about the
elections. Maybe there are people who voted for Raffi Hovannisian
because they really wanted him and perhaps some people voted for him
because they don't want the current one. But what I see is that people
want some sort of change. Neither Armenia, nor Turkey is the best
democratic country we know, but now there is the spirit of revolution
when you talk to people who want that. I think this is a good moment
for Armenia.
Maybe now we could talk a little about the Armenian Genocide then
continue with the elections. During your visits you saw some
differences between two nations, and I'm sure you had a lot of
contradictory feelings as you are one of those in Turkey who recognizes
the Armenian Genocide.
It is a very strong emotional experience. I think we are working in
the right direction and I think that there is a lot of progress. But
definitely there is a great asymmetry in terms of feelings and in
terms of knowledge. The thing is that when people come here they meet
local people. They can see that everyone has a family story about
Genocide so this is not something that people are talking from high
above as a political thing and it is just a human history, it is a
part of their family. For Turkish people this is an experience to
understand why Armenians still feel the pain. After World War I we
had also Turkish Muslim people coming from the Caucasus, Balkans to
Turkey. They also bore a lot of pain. So they always compare this
pain with the Genocide pain. They get a better understanding. It is
difficult but now people in Armenia know that we can commemorate the
Genocide in Istanbul and there are more and more people doing that.
You know Jemal Pasha and his grandson, who was a very prominent author
in Turkey, he wrote a book, which is called "1915: Armenian Genocide".
And I am really optimistic. It will take time but we can talk and
that is important.
Can you give a general picture of Turkish election so we can compare
it with the Armenian one?
It is difficult because in Turkey you can see more campaign,
more marches, and more meetings. In Armenia things were quiet even
during the parliamentary elections. We have different societies and
ideologies. We are going to have very interesting 2-3 years in Turkey.
We have local elections, parliamentary and presidential elections. In
Turkey we have a parliamentary system but our current prime minister
issued willingness to shift to presidential system to become the
first elected president of Turkey.
And what about democracy during Turkish elections? Are there similar
problems like those in Armenia?
No, we always have domestic issues. You would see on the mainstream
TV's the advertisement of the government and, of course, you also
have the opposition. We have asymmetry in Turkey: like there are
political parties that benefit from the state budget for their election
campaign, but there are others which can't do that, such as the Peace
and Democracy party, the pro-Kurdish party, because they didn't enter
into the parliament as a party.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress