ROBER HATECHIAN: THE APOLOGY TO ARMENIA STIRRED A HURRICANE IN TURKEY
Anna Nazaryan
"Radiolur"
19.12.2008 18:00
On December 8, after a 3 hours interruption, between 11 a.m. and 2
p.m, the website posting the petition of the Turkish intellectuals
who apologize to Armenians "for the Great Catastrophe of 1915" erased
the 73 pages on which the names of 13,315 signatories brought together
in three days were registered.
Editor-in-chief of the "Marmara" newspaper Rober Hatechian told
"Radiolur" today that the website brought about a hurricane in
Turkey. The statement of a Turkish MP that the creation of the website
was tolerated because President Abdullah Gul’s mother is Armenia
also attracted great interest. "All this burst like a bomb. However,
all the convictions are addressed to that Deputy."
Currently Turks are actively trying to check the truthfulness of the
Deputy’s words. Before that, Gul’s Press Service issued a statement
saying that President’s words on the events of 1915 were incorrectly
quoted. "My words were presented incorrectly. Besides, the issue of
Armenian origin has become a sort of swearword," Gul’s statement reads.
Last evening discussions on the issue were launched on all Turkish
TV channels. Rober Hatechian’s impression is that the facts of those
apologizing to Armenians are more grounded.
Today Turkish Army General20Metin Gurak joined the initiative of "We
expect an apology." He said the initiative of apologizing to Armenians
"is wrong and will create harmful consequences."
On Wednesday, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said he neither
accepts nor supports the campaign. He added the campaign offers no
other benefit than "stirring up trouble, disturbing our peace and
undoing the steps which have been taken."
According to Rober Hatechian, the hurricane will continue for another
few days, since tonight the CNN Turk will air the second part of
"The Sorrow of the Society; 1915; Turks and Armenians," which will
attempt to answer some questions. In particular, it will turn to the
question of how the Armenian and Turkish peoples, who lived together
on the lands of Anatolu became enemies, how the Turkish took the
decision to exile the Armenians, which became the milestone of the
break of relations.
The film introduces the views of famous intellectuals, historians,
artists and researchers on the matter.