PanArmenian News
Feb 9 2005
ARMENIANS SHOULD RETURN TO TURKEY AND DEMAND EXPLANATION FOR
MASSACRES OF 1915, TURKISH BUSINESSMAN CONSIDERS
09.02.2005 14:11
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Senior officials in Turkey want direct dialogue
with Diaspora Armenians. However, they need confidence and trust,
which is currently absent, Turkish-Armenian Business Development
Council (TABDC) Co-Chairman Kaan Soyak says in his article published
in California Courier. In his opinion, Armenians must realize that
the Turkish people are exactly the same as the Armenian people, since
they are like twins in their behavior and in their way of thinking.
“Many of my Armenian and Turkish friends’ ancestors used to live
together in the same hometowns. Turkey is the motherland of Armenians
and Turks, where they lived together for centuries”, Kaan Soyak
writes. “Today, the soil is crying and waiting for Armenians to come
back, talk with the local people and live in peace. I know
Armenian-Americans will not move back to Anatolia and start a new
life there. But, why don’t they consider visiting the land they once
shared with Turks for centuries and re-energize themselves? Perhaps
we can all work together to bring our common land back to its
glorious days”, he continues. The more Armenians get involved at all
levels of discussions with Turks, the more they will be able to help
the Turkish public learn about the contributions of Armenians in the
past. According to Sayak, the absence of Armenians from Turkey to be
a loss in our quality of life. “Armenians should go back there and
tell all the Turks about their story; explain to them the suffering
of their families; and ask openly the reason why so many innocent
people were killed in 1915. This is the hard road that we need to
take to prepare the environment for our two governments to take the
politically difficult steps forward”, he says. “The Armenians’
hesitation for dialogue helps benefit third parties who don’t care
about our region and are only pursuing their own agendas and personal
interests under the guise of reconciliation between Armenians and
Turks” the article notes.