IUSY Istanbul meeting adjourns

22.06.2005 16:47

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – IUSY (International Union of Socialist Youth) Black
Sea Area Cooperation meeting adjourned on June 18 in Istanbul, Turkey,
ARF Youth Office reported.

Black Sea Area IUSY member organizations from Georgia, Russia,
Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Bulgaria, Moldova, Serbia, Sweden
etc. were participating in the meeting. The title of the conference
was “We all are Minorities”.

The Armenian Youth Federation delegation to the meeting consisted of
four members: Karen Mnatsakanyan and Zinavor Meghryan (Armenia),
Talline Tachdjian (France) and Khatchik Mouradian (Lebanon).

On June 18 the delegates were broken into working commissions. The AYF
delegation members participated in the “Self-determination Right and
Minorities” and “Minorities and Wars” commissions. In both
commissions, the AYF delegates raised the Artsakh and Armenian
Genocide issues. The Artsakh issue spurred debates between the
Armenian and Azeri delegates.

At the closing of the conference, the representative of the ARF made a
separate speech. He said in part, ” In your speeches you stressed the
fact that this conference was very well organized and you thanked the
hosts for that. For us, the AYF delegation, the success of this
conference has yet another dimension. Our organization is
participating in an event in Turkey for the first time, 90 years after
the Armenian genocide, which the Turkish government denies and
falsifies to this day.

We spoke freely and openly about the Armenian genocide and they were
good listeners, I would like to thank our hosts for their openness to
discussion. Currently, there is a movement in Turkey that calls for
challenges the state’s view regarding the Armenian genocide. The time
has come for Turkish youth not only to be tolerant when this issue is
raised, but also to join forces withthat movement and help Turkey face
its history. Dialogue has started but the road to reconciliation
starts at the crossroads of truth.”

Following his speech, booklets on the Armenian Genocide and Turkish
denials were distributed to the audience, causing the protests of the
Turkish delegates.

The meeting was officially closed by IUSY General Secretary Enzo
Amendola.

AYF delegates returned to their countries on June 21. The delegates
from Armenia will conduct a news conference On June 23 at 1 p.m., at
the Congress hotel in Yerevan.