CONFERENCE ON TURKISH-ARMENIAN RELATIONS OPENS TODAY AT ISTANBUL U.

Hurriyet, Turkey
March 15 2006

A conference on Armenians which has been in the works for a year
is opening today at Istanbul University. The “New Approaches to
Turkish-Armenian Relations” conference will include 70 academics from
Turkey and abroad, and is expected to witness sharp clashes between
people of varying viewpoints.

The opening of the conference will be marked by a 45 minute concert
given by the Kadikoy Surp Takavor Armenian Church Choir. Speaking about
the aim of the conference, Istanbul University Professor Safak Ural,
who also helped organize the conference, said “If we can’t explain
the problem in Turkish-Armenian relations to our own people, then we
won’t be able to explain it to anyone. And in order to explain it,
we have to discuss every angle of the matter. This is possible only
by gathering differing viewpoints on one platform, and approaching
the discussion within the framework of certian objective criteria.”