THE AWAKENING OF "HIDDEN ARMENIANS" MAY COME TRUE
Aysor
Sept 18 2009
Armenia
"If the diplomatic ties are established and the border is reopened then
Armenians which hide their identity, the so-called "hidden Armenians",
may awake," said at today’s meeting with journalists Ruben Melkonyan,
a turkologist.
As he forecasts the "hidden Armenian’s awaking" may become the positive
development coming true in the context of Armenian-Turkish relations.
Mr. Melkonyan also touched upon the total number of Armenians living
in Turkey, noting that circulating quantity of 4 million Armenians
in Turkey is not realistic. More realistic number is 1-1.5 million.
Note that data of 1-1.5 million Armenians is provided by Armenian
Patriarchate in Istanbul.
Speaking about relations between Armenian and Turkish intelligentsia,
Mr. Melkonyan said that there were communications with Turkish
intelligentsia; however, those of Turkish are strained.
According to Mr. Melkonyan, the issues concerning both sides are
closed for Turkish and even banned. These things explain tension
inside Turkish intelligentsia.
"The very small part of Turkish intelligentsia which has courage
to call a spade a spade and not to avoid historical reality, is
communicating with Armenian intelligentsia."