ARMENIAN, TURKISH INTELLECTUALS TO MEET IN ANKARA ON APRIL 24
Azg Daily
April 2 2010
Armenia
According to Hurriyet daily, Armenian and Turkish 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, said.
"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 in a March 22 e-mail interview.
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 a
phone interview.
Cetin said the event had originally been planned to take place Jan.
19, the anniversary of the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink, but the group had difficulty finding a suitable location
in Ankara for that date.
"Actually, it is good that [the meeting] coincided on this date," he
said, referring to April 24, the date on which Armenians commemorate
the genocide, the source reports.
"We are going to present a perspective as different as we can for
Ankara and Yerevan on the solution of the historical problems,"
Cetin added.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
