Ankara simulates public dialogue with Armenia ahead of genocide centennial - expert
16.12.2014,
11:27
A simulation of a public dialogue with Armenia is Ankara’s state policy ahead of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, deputy dean of Oriental studies department of the Yerevan State University Ruben Melkonyan said on the air on Sputnik-Armenia radio channel.
YEREVAN, December 16. /ARKA/. A simulation of a public dialogue with Armenia is Ankara’s state policy ahead of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, deputy dean of Oriental studies department of the Yerevan State University Ruben Melkonyan said on the air on Sputnik-Armenia radio channel.
There is no inter-state dialogue, and all Armenian initiatives were stopped due to non-constructive Turkish policy, Melkonyan said as quoted by Novosti-Armenia.
Instead, there is a dialogue simulation that is a key component of the Turkish state policy, he said.
Turkey keeps saying the dialogue between the countries is on, using different terms like “secret”, “silent” or “public” diplomacy, and etc, and this simulation gets support grants, the expert said.
According to Melkonyan, it is the Turkish propaganda that benefits the best from all the grant programs ahead of the genocide centennial.
The Armenian society should be aware of the reality and should not be misled by allegations about drastic changes taking place in Turkey that refer to Hasan Jemal’s book for instance, the expert said.
On December 11, Yerevan hosted a presentation of the Armenian version of the book “1915: The Genocide of Armenians” authored by Hasan Jemal, the grandson of one of the masterminds of the genocide Jemal pasha. The publishing and dissemination rights for the book belong to “Hrant Dink” foundation.
“One should not forget there are 77 million people living in Turkey, and don’t forget Jemal and the ones like him never get votes in elections and do not enjoy support from the society. It is now 12 years the country has been ruled by a man who says “Sorry, but some even say I am Armenian”. They are the ones dictating the policy”, Melkonyan said.
In August 2014, the then-premier of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a televised interview that he was being slandered by the opposition saying he is Georgian or Armenian.
“They called me Georgian, and even worse – they called me Armenian”, Erdogan said.
Official Ankara broke up the diplomatic relations with Armenia and closed the border in 1993, in support of Azerbaijan in Karabakh conflict. Another factor of tensions between the two countries is the process of the international acknowledgement of the 1915 Armenian genocide in Ottoman Empire. –0--
