TURKISH, ARMENIAN INTELLECTUALS TO MEET FOR CLOSER DIALOGUE

armradio.am
02.04.2010 14:53

Turkish and Armenian intellectuals will meet in Ankara on April 24
and 25 to discuss the events of 1915 and attempt to improve dialogue
between the two nations in an event organized by the Ankara Freedom
of Thought Initiative.

"We believe the problem between the two nations will be solved
only by dialogue," Sait Cetin, a writer, human-rights activists and
one of the organizers of the forum, told the Hurriyet Daily News &
Economic Review.

"Matters that concern us in the first degree are being discussed in
the capitals of the world because we cannot manage to talk [about
them] ourselves. The sincerity of the West is arguable, and Turkey
has an attitude of denial," Cetin added.

Participants in the forum will talk about the events leading up to
the 1915 killings, as well as their political implications. Topics of
discussion are set to include "The Armenian issue from a historical
perspective," "From [the Committee of] Union and Progress to
Kemalism – official ideological denial and termination of the issue,"
"The Turkification of the capital" and "The Armenian issue: How to
handle it?"

Writer Temel Demirer underscored the importance of such dialogue in
order to ensure a more peaceful future, saying that the official
ideology in Turkey has tried to cover history up. "We, as Turkish
intellectuals, want to face the truth," he told the Daily News in
an interview.