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PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Center for National and International Studies
75 Yerznkian Street
Yerevan 0033, Armenia
Tel: (+374 - 10) 52.87.80 or 27.48.18
Fax: (+374 - 10) 52.48.46
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
Website: www.acnis.am
October 1, 2008
ACNIS Explores the Prospects of Armenian-Turkish Relations
Yerevan--The Armenian Center for National and International Studies
(ACNIS) today convened a foreign policy roundtable to consider all
aspects of the future of Armenian-Turkish relations. The meeting
brought together leading analysts, policy specialists, public and
political figures, NGO representatives, members of the press, as well
as a group of students and teaching staff from Istanbul's Bilgi and
Fatih Universities who are visiting Yerevan on the invitation of the
Civil Society Institute.
Welcoming the audience with opening remarks, ACNIS research
coordinator Syuzanna Barseghian underscored the imperative of reaching
new agreements, based on mutual interests, toward normalizing
Armenian-Turkish relations. "Our current relations are more emotional
and less rational and therefore many issues seem irresolvable. And the
objective of such discussions is to reveal the whole potential for
partnership and its resources which, I believe, can serve toward
historical reconciliation and building of the best common future,"
Barseghian said.
The day's first speaker, director Haik Demoyan of the Armenian
Genocide Museum-Institute, reflected on the media's role in the
normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations. According to him, the
media coverage of this extremely sensitive topic needs a serious
methodological adjustment and it is not a coincidence that certain
demands periodically were made of the media as to their method of
covering the events of war and genocide. "The media have a great
import and specifically in the process of reconciliation. They either
can play a negative role and cause problems and hinder the
reconciliation process, or be a part of it," Demoyan maintained. And
as case in point, he made note of the compulsion to use quotation
marks when using the term genocide and to refer to the Armenian
Genocide as "the events of 1915," the deliberate dissemination of
false information, and the taking of comments out of their general
context and presenting as separate information.
In his turn, deputy dean Þammas Salur of the Department of Political
Science of Istanbul Fatih University looked at the historiographical
phases and the changes in the modern historiography of Turkey. "Even
though the Turkish-Islamic synthesis in history writing has some
canonical views, and especially a staunch defense against the
transformation and liberalism in Turkish policy, the 1980s have
brought a more dynamic cultural atmosphere to Turkey," Salur noted,
also adding that through serious discussions regarding the talks with
the European Union, a new type of history writing is emerging in
Turkey. According to the speaker, this new type is more tolerant
toward others and--albeit difficult to be accepted by a large part of
the public--even accepting of others as equal citizens, "and history
writing is evolving toward that end," Salur argued.
The day's final speaker, Ambassador Ara Papian, director of the Modus
Vivendi Social and Scientific Research Center, delved into the
unclaimed pages of Armenian-Turkish relations. He presented those
pages against the backdrop of the de jure boundary between Armenia and
Turkey that was determined, at the turn of the 20th Century, by US
president Woodrow Wilson's Arbitral Award. As stated by Papian, this
document was signed and sealed on November 22, 1920 and officially
entitled: "Decision of the President of the United States of America
respecting the Frontier between Turkey and Armenia, Access for Armenia
to the Sea, and the Demilitarization of Turkish Territory adjacent to
the Armenian Frontier." Pursuant to the Arbitral Award, the title and
rights of the Republic of Armenia were recognized on the provinces of
Van, Bitlis, Erzerum, and Trebizond of the former Ottoman Empire.
"President Wilson's binding and irreversible Arbitral Award went into
force the day it was reached and remains in effect to this day,"
Papian asserted.
The roundtable discussants also included students Erman Bakýrcý, Emel
Güner, and Çaðla Gür from the Department of International Relations of
Istanbul Bilgi University; students Kevser Kandaz, Ümit Kurt, Mustafa
Özdemir, and Zafer Özkan from the Department of International
Relations of Istanbul Fatih University; director Artak Kirakosian of
the Civil Society Institute; Ruben Mehrabian from the Armenian Center
for Political and International Research; coordinator Armen Aghayan of
the "Defense of Liberated Territories" social initiative;
director-announcer Gayzag Palanjian of "The Road for the Enhancement
of Armenia-Diaspora Relations" television program in Los Angeles;
journalist Gayane Arustamian; and several others.
Founded in 1994 by Armenia's first Minister of Foreign Affairs Raffi
K. Hovannisian and supported by a global network of contributors,
ACNIS serves as a link between innovative scholarship and the public
policy challenges facing Armenia and the Armenian people in the
post-Soviet world. It also aspires to be a catalyst for creative,
strategic thinking and a wider understanding of the new global
environment. In 2008, the Center focuses primarily on civic education,
democratic development, conflict resolution, and applied research on
critical domestic and foreign policy issues for the state and the
nation.
For further information on the Center call (37410) 52-87-80 or
27-48-18; fax (37410) 52-48-46; email [email protected] or [email protected];
or visit www.acnis.am
Armenian Center for National and International Studies
75 Yerznkian Street
Yerevan 0033, Armenia
Tel: (+374 - 10) 52.87.80 or 27.48.18
Fax: (+374 - 10) 52.48.46
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
Website: www.acnis.am
October 1, 2008
ACNIS Explores the Prospects of Armenian-Turkish Relations
Yerevan--The Armenian Center for National and International Studies
(ACNIS) today convened a foreign policy roundtable to consider all
aspects of the future of Armenian-Turkish relations. The meeting
brought together leading analysts, policy specialists, public and
political figures, NGO representatives, members of the press, as well
as a group of students and teaching staff from Istanbul's Bilgi and
Fatih Universities who are visiting Yerevan on the invitation of the
Civil Society Institute.
Welcoming the audience with opening remarks, ACNIS research
coordinator Syuzanna Barseghian underscored the imperative of reaching
new agreements, based on mutual interests, toward normalizing
Armenian-Turkish relations. "Our current relations are more emotional
and less rational and therefore many issues seem irresolvable. And the
objective of such discussions is to reveal the whole potential for
partnership and its resources which, I believe, can serve toward
historical reconciliation and building of the best common future,"
Barseghian said.
The day's first speaker, director Haik Demoyan of the Armenian
Genocide Museum-Institute, reflected on the media's role in the
normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations. According to him, the
media coverage of this extremely sensitive topic needs a serious
methodological adjustment and it is not a coincidence that certain
demands periodically were made of the media as to their method of
covering the events of war and genocide. "The media have a great
import and specifically in the process of reconciliation. They either
can play a negative role and cause problems and hinder the
reconciliation process, or be a part of it," Demoyan maintained. And
as case in point, he made note of the compulsion to use quotation
marks when using the term genocide and to refer to the Armenian
Genocide as "the events of 1915," the deliberate dissemination of
false information, and the taking of comments out of their general
context and presenting as separate information.
In his turn, deputy dean Þammas Salur of the Department of Political
Science of Istanbul Fatih University looked at the historiographical
phases and the changes in the modern historiography of Turkey. "Even
though the Turkish-Islamic synthesis in history writing has some
canonical views, and especially a staunch defense against the
transformation and liberalism in Turkish policy, the 1980s have
brought a more dynamic cultural atmosphere to Turkey," Salur noted,
also adding that through serious discussions regarding the talks with
the European Union, a new type of history writing is emerging in
Turkey. According to the speaker, this new type is more tolerant
toward others and--albeit difficult to be accepted by a large part of
the public--even accepting of others as equal citizens, "and history
writing is evolving toward that end," Salur argued.
The day's final speaker, Ambassador Ara Papian, director of the Modus
Vivendi Social and Scientific Research Center, delved into the
unclaimed pages of Armenian-Turkish relations. He presented those
pages against the backdrop of the de jure boundary between Armenia and
Turkey that was determined, at the turn of the 20th Century, by US
president Woodrow Wilson's Arbitral Award. As stated by Papian, this
document was signed and sealed on November 22, 1920 and officially
entitled: "Decision of the President of the United States of America
respecting the Frontier between Turkey and Armenia, Access for Armenia
to the Sea, and the Demilitarization of Turkish Territory adjacent to
the Armenian Frontier." Pursuant to the Arbitral Award, the title and
rights of the Republic of Armenia were recognized on the provinces of
Van, Bitlis, Erzerum, and Trebizond of the former Ottoman Empire.
"President Wilson's binding and irreversible Arbitral Award went into
force the day it was reached and remains in effect to this day,"
Papian asserted.
The roundtable discussants also included students Erman Bakýrcý, Emel
Güner, and Çaðla Gür from the Department of International Relations of
Istanbul Bilgi University; students Kevser Kandaz, Ümit Kurt, Mustafa
Özdemir, and Zafer Özkan from the Department of International
Relations of Istanbul Fatih University; director Artak Kirakosian of
the Civil Society Institute; Ruben Mehrabian from the Armenian Center
for Political and International Research; coordinator Armen Aghayan of
the "Defense of Liberated Territories" social initiative;
director-announcer Gayzag Palanjian of "The Road for the Enhancement
of Armenia-Diaspora Relations" television program in Los Angeles;
journalist Gayane Arustamian; and several others.
Founded in 1994 by Armenia's first Minister of Foreign Affairs Raffi
K. Hovannisian and supported by a global network of contributors,
ACNIS serves as a link between innovative scholarship and the public
policy challenges facing Armenia and the Armenian people in the
post-Soviet world. It also aspires to be a catalyst for creative,
strategic thinking and a wider understanding of the new global
environment. In 2008, the Center focuses primarily on civic education,
democratic development, conflict resolution, and applied research on
critical domestic and foreign policy issues for the state and the
nation.
For further information on the Center call (37410) 52-87-80 or
27-48-18; fax (37410) 52-48-46; email [email protected] or [email protected];
or visit www.acnis.am