Belmont Citizen-Herald, MA
Feb 17 2005

Talk about Turkish-Armenian reconciliation
Thursday, February 17, 2005

Perhaps no entity in recent years has occasioned so much comment in
the Armenian community as TARC, the Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation
Commission. It is difficult to find anyone without strong opinions on
the subject – yet the actual participants have kept a low profile and
the exact nature of their discussions is largely unknown to most of
the public.

David L. Phillips, who served as chairman of the commission,
will discuss his experiences in a lecture entitled “Turkish-Armenian
Reconciliation: Lessons Learned from TARC,” on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 8
p.m. at the Center and Headquarters of the National Association for
Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR), 395 Concord Ave., Belmont.

Phillips is the first member of the commission to write
extensively about the experience of shaping and participating in the
Turkish-Armenian reconciliation process in the newly published
“Unsilencing the Past: Track Two Diplomacy and Turkish-Armenian
Reconciliation.” The book will be on sale and available for signing
by the author on the evening of the lecture.

In his first lecture to the Boston-area Armenian community,
Phillips will offer a unique insider’s account of the ups and downs
of establishing a dialogue between Armenians and Turks: the
obstacles, accomplishments, and prospects for the future. A
question-and-answer period and refreshments will follow the lecture.

Phillips is senior fellow and deputy director of the Center for
Preventive Action at the Council of Foreign Relations and Director of
the Peacebuilding Program at American University, as well as a
visiting scholar at Harvard University and an analyst for NBC News.
Previously, he was a senior advisor to the U.S. State Department and
the United Nations.

Admission to the event is free (donations appreciated). The
NAASR Bookstore will open at 7:30 p.m. The lecture will begin
promptly at 8 p.m. and interested parties are strongly encouraged to
arrive early as space is limited and a large turnout is anticipated.

For more information call 617-489-1610, e-mail hq@naasr.org, or
write to NAASR, 395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02478.