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TURKISH-ARMENIAN CONCERT CANCELED DUE TO THREATS
Debbie Lehmann
The Brown Daily Herald, RI
April 9 2007
A Turkish-Armenian concert scheduled for Friday was canceled on
short notice after the Armenian musicians and the president of the
Armenian Students Association received threats from members of the
Armenian community.
ASA and the Turkish Cultural Society organized the concert, titled
"The Armenian Composers of the Ottoman Period," to promote dialogue
between their communities. The concert was dedicated to Hrant Dink,
a Turkish-Armenian journalist who was assassinated in January outside
his newspaper office by a Turkish nationalist who later confessed
to the killing. Dink had been a target of nationalist anger for his
articles about the mass killings of Armenians by Turks in 1915 that
many have called a genocide.
A member of TCS, who requested anonymity because of the sensitive
nature of the situation, told The Herald the groups started talking
about co-sponsoring the event roughly six months ago after members of
TCS wrote a column in The Herald that touched on historical relations
between Turks and Armenians. The two groups then began discussing
the need for joint events to encourage conversation, according to
the TCS member.
The TCS member wrote in an e-mail to The Herald that the Armenian
musicians and the president of the ASA did their best to resist the
"warning messages" they received. However, he wrote that "the situation
got serious," and the musicians, followed by the ASA, withdrew from
the event. The musicians and the ASA are now "in a very difficult
position against some parts of their community," he wrote.
Ruben Izmailyan '09, president of the ASA, said he was disappointed
the event was canceled but declined to comment further.
TCS is also "very sorry the event did not happen," the member wrote
in his e-mail.
"For people who had issues, I think that the appropriate response
was not to attend, instead of forcing it to cancel," he wrote. "I
think this was an honest effort on both sides aiming at nothing but
to enjoy common music and food and make friends regardless of views
on the past."
The member went on to write that he finds it "illogical" that people
in both the Turkish and Armenian communities asked the other side to
change its views before considering dialogue.
"I thought dialogue was about talking, negotiating and persuading
each other," he wrote. "There is a clear contradiction."
Still, efforts to plan the event were not entirely useless, the
member wrote. TCS received messages of support from both Armenians
and Turks. One Armenian woman did not hear about the cancellation and
still came from Cape Cod for the concert. In addition, TCS members went
out to dinner and engaged in conversation with an Armenian medical
student at Brown, who also came to the concert without knowing it
had been canceled.
TCS members have a wide range of views about Armenian-Turkish
relations, the member wrote, but they agree that "healthy, constructive
dialogue is needed for a solution." TCS will continue to look into
ways to create this dialogue, the member wrote.
"Now, I am convinced that bringing open-minded, reasonable people of
both sides together is the solution," he wrote. "If not, those people
would not be so afraid of it."
http://media.www.browndailyherald.com/m edia/storage/paper472/news/2007/04/09/CampusNews/T urkishArmenian.Concert.Canceled.Due.To.Threats-282 9725.shtml
Debbie Lehmann
The Brown Daily Herald, RI
April 9 2007
A Turkish-Armenian concert scheduled for Friday was canceled on
short notice after the Armenian musicians and the president of the
Armenian Students Association received threats from members of the
Armenian community.
ASA and the Turkish Cultural Society organized the concert, titled
"The Armenian Composers of the Ottoman Period," to promote dialogue
between their communities. The concert was dedicated to Hrant Dink,
a Turkish-Armenian journalist who was assassinated in January outside
his newspaper office by a Turkish nationalist who later confessed
to the killing. Dink had been a target of nationalist anger for his
articles about the mass killings of Armenians by Turks in 1915 that
many have called a genocide.
A member of TCS, who requested anonymity because of the sensitive
nature of the situation, told The Herald the groups started talking
about co-sponsoring the event roughly six months ago after members of
TCS wrote a column in The Herald that touched on historical relations
between Turks and Armenians. The two groups then began discussing
the need for joint events to encourage conversation, according to
the TCS member.
The TCS member wrote in an e-mail to The Herald that the Armenian
musicians and the president of the ASA did their best to resist the
"warning messages" they received. However, he wrote that "the situation
got serious," and the musicians, followed by the ASA, withdrew from
the event. The musicians and the ASA are now "in a very difficult
position against some parts of their community," he wrote.
Ruben Izmailyan '09, president of the ASA, said he was disappointed
the event was canceled but declined to comment further.
TCS is also "very sorry the event did not happen," the member wrote
in his e-mail.
"For people who had issues, I think that the appropriate response
was not to attend, instead of forcing it to cancel," he wrote. "I
think this was an honest effort on both sides aiming at nothing but
to enjoy common music and food and make friends regardless of views
on the past."
The member went on to write that he finds it "illogical" that people
in both the Turkish and Armenian communities asked the other side to
change its views before considering dialogue.
"I thought dialogue was about talking, negotiating and persuading
each other," he wrote. "There is a clear contradiction."
Still, efforts to plan the event were not entirely useless, the
member wrote. TCS received messages of support from both Armenians
and Turks. One Armenian woman did not hear about the cancellation and
still came from Cape Cod for the concert. In addition, TCS members went
out to dinner and engaged in conversation with an Armenian medical
student at Brown, who also came to the concert without knowing it
had been canceled.
TCS members have a wide range of views about Armenian-Turkish
relations, the member wrote, but they agree that "healthy, constructive
dialogue is needed for a solution." TCS will continue to look into
ways to create this dialogue, the member wrote.
"Now, I am convinced that bringing open-minded, reasonable people of
both sides together is the solution," he wrote. "If not, those people
would not be so afraid of it."
http://media.www.browndailyherald.com/m edia/storage/paper472/news/2007/04/09/CampusNews/T urkishArmenian.Concert.Canceled.Due.To.Threats-282 9725.shtml