A. SHAKARYAN SAYS TURKISH INTELLECTUALS CAN HIGHLY CONTRIBUTE TO THE CHANGE OF ALL THE TURKISH PEOPLE

ARMENPRESS
APRIL 26, 2010
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, APRIL 26, ARMENPRESS: Turkish intellectuals can highly
contribute to the change of all the Turkish people, specialist
of Turkish studies Artak Shakaryan said today at a meeting with
journalists. According to him, about 500 intellectuals of Turkey
gathered April 24 not only in Taksim Square, Istanbul, but also
visited Haidar Pasha Square, where Armenian intellectuals were killed
in 1915. According to A. Shakaryan, as a result of the analyses of the
articles of the Turkish journalists, it turned out that the authors of
the articles condemn Ankara for bringing forward the issue on Nagorno
Karabakh settlement as a precondition in Armenian-Turkish relations.

According to him, one of the Turkish historians noted in his speech
delivered in Kurdish that Turkey must apologize to the Armenians for
committing genocide; it must apologize to Kurds, who it has made to
become an accessory to that crime, and to Turks, who it has cheated
for such a long time.

But in A. Shakaryan’s opinion, those intellectuals mainly struggle
not for recognition of the Armenian Genocide, but against the Turkish
authority. They chant they are against fascism. "In any case, Turkey
has greatly changed. By saying Turkey I mean Istanbul; organization
of similar rallies in the West is impossible," the specialist of
Turkish studies stressed.

The regulation process of Armenian-Turkish relations, according to A.

Shakaryan, will be frosted for several years and will be restored only
after the presidential elections of Armenia in 2013. He said that
parliamentary elections will be held in 2011 in Turkey, a growth of
the nationalism level is also expected.

"In 2015 the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide will be
celebrated as well. Yerevan, Ankara, Washington, Moscow and Paris
will do their best to have improved protocols in 2010," A. Shakaryan
pointed out.