ARMENIANS OF TURKEY LIVE IN ATMOSPHERE OF FEAR AND MISTRUST
/PanARMENIAN.Net/
11.06.2009 18:08 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian community of Turkey faces numerous problems
requiring quick solution, Ruben Melkonyan, specialist in Turkic
philology and expert at the Noravank scientific-research center,
told to journalists on June 11 in Yerevan.
"More than a half of Armenian schools, short of Armenian language
teachers, closed in Turkey over the last 30 years. Besides,
indifferent state of health of Constantinople’s patriarch of the
Armenian Apostolic Church, Archbishop Mesrop Mutafian also creates
problems for the Armenian community. Appointment of a new patriarch
is very urgent for the community," Armenian expert said, adding that
there are already candidates for the post of spiritual leader of the
Armenian community in Turkey.
According to Ruben Melkonyan, Armenians of Turkey treat improvement
of Armenian-Turkish relations with care, and with optimism at the same
time. "Armenians of Turkey regard themselves to be citizens of Turkey
and only then to be Armenians. They are obliged to prove every day,
they are exemplary citizens of that country. Besides, they live in
the atmosphere of fear and mistrust," the expert said.