Today’s Zaman. Turkey
March 16 2007

Sarafian praises Erdoðan as `a man of peace’

British-Armenian historian Ara Sarafian acknowledged that there have
been positive developments in Turkish-Armenian relations in past
years and praised Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan for
"opening the door for a solution to the problem."

Turkey and Armenia have no formal ties and the border gate between
the two countries has been closed for more than a decade. Ankara says
relations will not be normalized unless Armenia stops supporting
diaspora efforts to win international recognition for the alleged
genocide and withdraws its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian
enclave in Azerbaijan that has been under Armenian occupation since
the last decade.

Erdoðan proposed last year establishment of a joint committee of
academics to study events of the World War I years, but Armenia
declined the offer.

According to Sarafian, "some powers in Turkey" prevent Erdoðan from
doing more. "He is a man of peace, but he is restricted in changes he
can initiate," he said in an interview with private Cihan News Agency
in London, complaining that there are ultranationalist circles in
Turkey, while Erdoðan is a liberal man respecting common sense.

"Erdoðan is leading efforts to renovate a Christian church, although
he has an Islamic past. This is very interesting and pleasing," he
said, referring to the government’s plans to reopen the Akhtamar
Church in eastern Anatolia later this month following an extensive
renovation. Several members of the Armenian diaspora have been
invited to attend the opening.

"I believe Erdoðan is part of the solution. Frankly, I think Erdoðan
has done everything that the Armenian diaspora could have expected of
him. The diaspora should now take more positive steps," he said.

Sarafian also said 90 percent of Armenian artifacts were destroyed
and called for government work to restore and protect the remaining
10 percent.