STUDENTS TO SET AN EXAMPLE

Hurriyet
Feb 17 2009
Turkey

ISTANBUL – In an attempt to break stereotypes between the countries,
university students have organized a Turkish-Armenian dialogue camp,
held in the central Anatolian city of NevÅ~_ehir.

The camp’s objective was to make acquaintances between Turkish and
Armenian university students to overcome existing prejudices between
the two nations. Eighty university students from Turkey and 20 from
Armenia spent a week in a hotel in Urgup, an important tourism center
of the Cappadocia region, the Dogan news agency reported yesterday.

The project was initiated by the Turkish University Students’
Approaches (Turkiye Universiteleri Ogrenci YaklaÅ~_ımları) and was
also sponsored by the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation,
or TESEV, the Helsinki Citizens Assembly and daily Agos.

Ideas for solution

The camp held art workshops, concerts, panel discussions and
meetings. At the end of the camp, participating students released a
joint statement which read, "We are disturbed by the fact that the
Turkish and Armenian communities, which have been living together
for centuries, are alienated and have turned against each other due
to both sides’ polices regarding the 1915 events."

"We believe that relations between these two sister nations should be
founded on the basis of peace and friendship and not on the dilemma
of deportation or genocide. This is only possible by getting together
through projects and campaigns, which we believe will develop quickly
with the active participation of young people," read the statement.

"The dialogue between Turkish and Armenian students will pave the way
for ideas toward a solution. Our dialogue camp will be the first step
in this process," it read.

Meanwhile another step for Turkish-Armenian dialogue came from the
Higher Education Board, or YOK, which issued permission for the
opening of a second Armenian Culture and Literature Faculty, daily
Hurriyet reported.

YOK had earlier approved the opening of such a faculty at NevÅ~_ehir
University. The second faculty will be opened at Erciyes University
in the central Anatolian city of Kayseri.

Deputy Rector of Erciyes University Professor Metin Hulagu said the
faculty will start admissions for the 2009-2010 term if the faculty
could hire academic staff within two months. NevÅ~_ehir University
rector, Professor Fliz Kılıc, had earlier said the Armenian Culture
and Literature Faculty was not operational due to their inability to
find Armenian-speaking academics. Professor Hulagu objected to this
and said: "Did they put an advertisement in the paper or did they
ask YOK for staff? They did not follow the proper procedure."