New museum an example of ethnic harmony

NTV MSNBC, Turkey
Dec 6 2004

The Prime Minister said that every artefact on display showed the
unity of the society.

December 6 – A new museum in Istanbul shows how everyone in Turkish
society had co-existed in peace, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
said on Sunday.

Speaking at the opening ceremony for the Surp Pirgic Armenian Hospital
Museum in the Istanbul suburb of Yedikule, Erdogan said that museum
was a symbol of the harmony in Turkish society.

“As the children of this country, we have co-existed in peace for
centuries. Our literature, architecture, humanitarian values, trade,
songs and cuisines have intermingled,” Erdogan said.

The hospital, established by the Armenian community 172 years ago,
during the reign of Sultan Mahmud II, had been renovated by the
Armenian Foundation as a museum after closing its doors as a medical
facility.

The Prime Minister thanked the Armenian citizens for their
contributions to Turkey, saying that the Armenian community was an
indispensable part of the society.

“Let us see how the message given here will be reflected to the world,”
he said. “We will continue developing humanitarian values in the
light of universal criteria. Long live our unity in these territories.”