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Today's Zaman, Turkey
Jan 26 2014
Diaspora Armenians seek Turkish citizenship
26 January 2014 /TODAY'S ZAMAN, Ä°STANBUL
Representatives of the Armenian diaspora have asked for citizenship
from the Republic of Turkey on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the
tragic events of 1915 that led to the relocation of the Armenian
population from Anatolia by Ottoman Turkey during World War I, the
Taraf daily reported on Sunday.
In a meeting held in Ankara over the weekend, a number of diaspora
Armenians suggested applying for Turkish citizenship. `Those who would
like to have Turkish passports should be provided with identification
cards,' Armenians said in a conference called `Looking at Hrant Dink's
murder from the perspective of 2015,' held jointly by the Ankara
Freedom to Thought Initiative and the National Congress of Western
Armenians (NCWA).
Arakadz Akhoyan and Sevag Arstruni, deputies from Armenia, George
Aghjayan, a scholar from the Armenian community in the US, along with
Nazmi Gür, Ä°smail BeÅ?ikçi and Fikret BaÅ?kaya from the pro-Kurdish
Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) took part in the meeting.
Participants discussed steps to be put forward by Turkey on the 100th
anniversary of the 1915 tragedy and said that the citizenship rights
of non-Muslims should be restituted so that they can obtain Turkish
passports.
`Those who wish to return to their historical territories should be
allowed to come back. Ottoman-era property records should be open and
accessible to everyone, as well as military archives. The presidential
palace, once the house of the Kasapyan family, and the Atatürk mansion
in Trabzon should be given back to the [Armenian] Kabayannis family,'
meeting participants were quoted as saying by the Taraf daily.
The participants demanded that the aims of a Prime Ministry-affiliated
organization called The Foundation for the Struggle Against Baseless
Allegations of Genocide (ASÄ°MED) be abandoned. `Activities that aim to
reject the genocide must be brought to an end and allocation [toward
those aims] from the budget of the Prime Ministry must be repealed in
2014. Properties that have been seized by the state should be returned
to their previous owners,' the participants of the meeting concluded.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-337665-diaspora-armenians-seek-turkish-citizenship.html
From: A. Papazian
Jan 26 2014
Diaspora Armenians seek Turkish citizenship
26 January 2014 /TODAY'S ZAMAN, Ä°STANBUL
Representatives of the Armenian diaspora have asked for citizenship
from the Republic of Turkey on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the
tragic events of 1915 that led to the relocation of the Armenian
population from Anatolia by Ottoman Turkey during World War I, the
Taraf daily reported on Sunday.
In a meeting held in Ankara over the weekend, a number of diaspora
Armenians suggested applying for Turkish citizenship. `Those who would
like to have Turkish passports should be provided with identification
cards,' Armenians said in a conference called `Looking at Hrant Dink's
murder from the perspective of 2015,' held jointly by the Ankara
Freedom to Thought Initiative and the National Congress of Western
Armenians (NCWA).
Arakadz Akhoyan and Sevag Arstruni, deputies from Armenia, George
Aghjayan, a scholar from the Armenian community in the US, along with
Nazmi Gür, Ä°smail BeÅ?ikçi and Fikret BaÅ?kaya from the pro-Kurdish
Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) took part in the meeting.
Participants discussed steps to be put forward by Turkey on the 100th
anniversary of the 1915 tragedy and said that the citizenship rights
of non-Muslims should be restituted so that they can obtain Turkish
passports.
`Those who wish to return to their historical territories should be
allowed to come back. Ottoman-era property records should be open and
accessible to everyone, as well as military archives. The presidential
palace, once the house of the Kasapyan family, and the Atatürk mansion
in Trabzon should be given back to the [Armenian] Kabayannis family,'
meeting participants were quoted as saying by the Taraf daily.
The participants demanded that the aims of a Prime Ministry-affiliated
organization called The Foundation for the Struggle Against Baseless
Allegations of Genocide (ASÄ°MED) be abandoned. `Activities that aim to
reject the genocide must be brought to an end and allocation [toward
those aims] from the budget of the Prime Ministry must be repealed in
2014. Properties that have been seized by the state should be returned
to their previous owners,' the participants of the meeting concluded.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-337665-diaspora-armenians-seek-turkish-citizenship.html
From: A. Papazian