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"THE ARMENIAN IDENTITY HAS BEEN DEMONIZED IN TURKEY FOR A LONG TIME"
March 26 2013
According to Mustafa Edip Yılmaz, the editor of international
political news at Zaman, a Turkish daily newspaper, personal
initiatives in Turkey are at the civil society level, and it is not
the sentiment shared by the government.
* Mr. Yılmaz, the parties may mention different reasons for the
failure of the process of normalizing the Armenia-Turkey relations,
but I would like you to assess it in the context of the Turkish Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's "Zero Problems With Neighbors Policy." What
is the reason for Turkey's starting the process of normalizing the
Armenia-Turkey relations and then blocking them, in your opinion?
* I think that the government realized that in reality, everything was
harder to implement than they had thought before that. They realized
that it was hard to normalize the relations with Armenia and open the
border at the same time. Basically, it later turned out that it was
an initiative that needed greater effort and courage. Now the issue
is whether there is a possibility of starting the process anew. I
think that such a thing will hardly happen in the near future, because
four years ago when the protocols were signed and ought to be signed,
there was very strong international support. Whereas today we don't
see such support from the international community.
* The attitude of the Azeri government toward the possible
normalization of the Armenia-Turkey relations has been rather obvious
starting from the process of the Armenia-Turkey protocols to Turkish
President Abdullah Gul's congratulations to Serzh Sargsyan after the
presidential election. How will you explain this phenomenon?
* Azerbaijan is an irreplaceable ally for Turkey in the region.
Therefore, I don't think that Turkey's attitude toward this whole
conflict will change, unless, of course, there is mutual understanding
between Armenia and Azerbaijan. We should remember that the closing
of borders is not the reason for the conflict; it is a result of
the conflict.
* Besides political processes, one can notice a change in the sentiment
among intellectuals in Turkey toward Armenia and the Armenian people,
in general. Do you, as a representative of an information agency,
sense those changes?
* Let me say that we can notice a really big improvement in this area.
Today there are many individuals in Turkey who do some things on
their own initiative; for example, they initiate that process of
"apologizing" to Armenia. Certainly, one must not forget that these
initiatives are individual and are completely at the civil society
level; it is not the sentiment shared by the Turkish government.
However, we surely have to objectively see and notice a difference
between the government and if not the whole society, at least, some
parts of it. If I may say so, the Armenian identity has been demonized
in Turkey for a long time, to such an extent that when one was called
"son of an Armenian," it was considered as an insult. I am absolutely
against such approaches. We don't choose our nationality, and it is
not the factor that one can or cannot be proud of. I for one don't
see any difference between Kurds and Turks, as far as human values
are concerned.
EMMA GABRIELYAN
Read more at: http://en.aravot.am/2013/03/26/153207/
© 1998 - 2013 Aravot - News from Armenia
From: Baghdasarian
March 26 2013
According to Mustafa Edip Yılmaz, the editor of international
political news at Zaman, a Turkish daily newspaper, personal
initiatives in Turkey are at the civil society level, and it is not
the sentiment shared by the government.
* Mr. Yılmaz, the parties may mention different reasons for the
failure of the process of normalizing the Armenia-Turkey relations,
but I would like you to assess it in the context of the Turkish Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's "Zero Problems With Neighbors Policy." What
is the reason for Turkey's starting the process of normalizing the
Armenia-Turkey relations and then blocking them, in your opinion?
* I think that the government realized that in reality, everything was
harder to implement than they had thought before that. They realized
that it was hard to normalize the relations with Armenia and open the
border at the same time. Basically, it later turned out that it was
an initiative that needed greater effort and courage. Now the issue
is whether there is a possibility of starting the process anew. I
think that such a thing will hardly happen in the near future, because
four years ago when the protocols were signed and ought to be signed,
there was very strong international support. Whereas today we don't
see such support from the international community.
* The attitude of the Azeri government toward the possible
normalization of the Armenia-Turkey relations has been rather obvious
starting from the process of the Armenia-Turkey protocols to Turkish
President Abdullah Gul's congratulations to Serzh Sargsyan after the
presidential election. How will you explain this phenomenon?
* Azerbaijan is an irreplaceable ally for Turkey in the region.
Therefore, I don't think that Turkey's attitude toward this whole
conflict will change, unless, of course, there is mutual understanding
between Armenia and Azerbaijan. We should remember that the closing
of borders is not the reason for the conflict; it is a result of
the conflict.
* Besides political processes, one can notice a change in the sentiment
among intellectuals in Turkey toward Armenia and the Armenian people,
in general. Do you, as a representative of an information agency,
sense those changes?
* Let me say that we can notice a really big improvement in this area.
Today there are many individuals in Turkey who do some things on
their own initiative; for example, they initiate that process of
"apologizing" to Armenia. Certainly, one must not forget that these
initiatives are individual and are completely at the civil society
level; it is not the sentiment shared by the Turkish government.
However, we surely have to objectively see and notice a difference
between the government and if not the whole society, at least, some
parts of it. If I may say so, the Armenian identity has been demonized
in Turkey for a long time, to such an extent that when one was called
"son of an Armenian," it was considered as an insult. I am absolutely
against such approaches. We don't choose our nationality, and it is
not the factor that one can or cannot be proud of. I for one don't
see any difference between Kurds and Turks, as far as human values
are concerned.
EMMA GABRIELYAN
Read more at: http://en.aravot.am/2013/03/26/153207/
© 1998 - 2013 Aravot - News from Armenia
From: Baghdasarian