ARMENIAN RADIO OF TURKEY SPEAKS "WRONG" DIALECT
armradio.am
10.04.2009 13:58
The new radio station launched by the Turkish Radio and Television
Corporation, or TRT, on April 2 is using the Eastern Armenian dialect
in its broadcast, used mainly in Armenia, Hurriyet Daily News reports.
The rest of the world’s Armenian communities, including the one in
Turkey, use Western Armenian, also called "Askharhapar." While the two
dialects cannot be described as totally unintelligible to each other,
different uses of the same words and accents make most communication
between the speakers of the two dialects very problematic in the least.
The difference between the Western and Eastern Armenian dialects is
one of the forthcoming subjects on the agenda of the newly founded
Ministry of Diaspora of the Armenian Government.
Turkey’s Chief Negotiator to the European Union Egemen BagıÅ~_
expressed surprise at the situation last Friday night and said he
will investigate.
When told most local Armenians did not understand the broadcasts,
BagıÅ~_ said: "I hadn’t a clue. This is the first time I have heard
this. Perhaps TRT could only find news presenters speaking this
dialect, I just don’t know. But I will look into it."