TURKISH SOCIETY HAS FORMED A NEGATIVE IMAGE OF ARMENIANS
/PanARMENIAN.Net/
07.08.2009 19:25 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Turkish society has formed a rather negative image
of Armenians, and the problem has very deep roots. Turkish society’s
negative attitude to Armenians is worsened by official ideology and
relevant school curricula,’ Turkish studies expert Ruben Melkonyan,
lecturer at YSU Turkology chair, told today a news conference.
Answering journalists’ question as to what steps Turkey’s Armenian
community makes to improve the situation, the speaker noted that
Turkish-Armenians did not make any steps to improve the distorted
image of Armenians, despite being good citizens of that country.
Any Turkish-Armenian taking a tough stance will first of all become a
target for Turkish society and state system, Melkonyan said, referring
to "Agos" daily’s Editor-in-Chief Hrant Dink’s assassination by a
Turkish nationalist on January 19, 2007.
The Armenian community in Turkey is in a grave condition and fears to
raise the issue of its national identity, the expert said. "That’s
because primate of Armenian Apostolic Church in Constantinople is
seriously ill, and Archbishop Aram Ateshyan who replaces him lacks
enough charisma to unite Turkish-Armenians," Melkonyan said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
