R. SUNY: ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS CAN BE NORMALIZED WITHOUT GENOCIDE RECOGNITION

PanARMENIAN.Net
15.03.2007 14:22 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Recognition of the Armenian Genocide by scholars,
the general public, and even officially by governments is an important
step towards clearing the air that fouls relations between Armenians
and Turks, Armenia and Turkey, Professor of Social and Political
History of the University of Michigan Ronald Grigor Suny stated
to the PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. He said, efforts to prevent such
recognition only pollutes the atmosphere and makes progress in
improving relations more difficult. "But this does not mean that
official recognition of the Genocide by one or another government
should be a prerequisite for discussion, negotiation, or other kinds
of relationships. Armenian-Turkish relations can be normalized without
official recognition. Indeed, relations can lead to recognition rather
than the other way round," Suny noted. At the same time he thinks
that opening the Armenian-Turkish border would be a very useful first
step to improving relations between the two neighboring countries,
it would help the economies of both countries. "Trade can have
positive political and social effects. Armenia’s official position
on Turkish membership in the EU is a sound and correct one: Turkish
membership will aid democratization in Turkey and therefore improve
the situation for Armenians in Turkey and relations between Turkey and
Armenia. However, at the moment Europe is reluctant to open itself to
Turkish membership, particularly given the dismal human rights record
in Turkey, the repression of the Kurds and other non-Turkish peoples,
the murder of Hrant Dink, and the persecutions of Orhan Pamuk, Elif
Shafak, and other intellectuals. Turkish democracy and membership in
the EU go hand in hand, and as they develop, Turkish-Armenian relations
will also be affected positively," Professor Ronald Suny underscored.