Anadolu Agency (AA), Turkey
January 28, 2015 Wednesday
Armenians ‘on the street’ want normalization: PM aide
Davutoglu’s chief advisor sees 2015 as a chance for both peoples to
renew ties and look forward.
ERBIL
The Armenian state and community are more ready than the Armenian
diaspora to reestablish relations with Turkey, according to the chief
advisor to Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
Etyen Mahcupyan – who is also an Armenian-origin Turkish journalist
and author – was speaking to The Anadolu Agency exclusively on the
sidelines of a panel he attended recently titled “Turkey, Kurds and
Kurdish Regional Government” organized by the Middle East Research
Institute in the Iraqi Kurdish capital Erbil.
“First, the psychology has to change and a mutual habit of looking to
the future together must be developed. This year is a significant
chance for that,” he said.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of 1915 events what Armenia
calls “genocide” and the Battle of Canakkale that took place in the
district of Gallipoli, which marked a turnaround in favor of the Turks
against the Allies during World War I.
– “Turkey-Armenia relations can be treated”
Mahcupyan said that the bilateral relations between the two
neighboring countries will ease from now on, and “healing and
rehabilitating steps” could be more easily taken if 2015 could be
utilized.
“If reciprocal steps are taken in 2015, they may serve as a remedy for
Turkey-Armenia relations,” he said.
The PM’s advisor argued that it sounds harsh when Armenia speaks as a
state, but there is no such attitude by the Armenian people when you
talk with them on the street.
“It is the same as what you see on the streets in Turkey. People want
to warm towards each other and be drawn together,” he added.
Mahcupyan spoke of a “longing” between the two peoples, who are the
children of the same culture, listening to the same music and reading
the same books.
“Actually, both sides are ready to get into contact. But we are in a
national world where there are borders and states, which makes the
issue a little bit formal. When it becomes formal, themes such as
equality and bargaining are also included, and they all cause
alienation,” he said.
He also touched upon the invitation that Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan sent to his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan for the
Canakkale battle memorial to be held between April 24 and 25 in
Turkey.
The advisor noted that the invitation was sent to the whole world and
Armenia was not excluded, adding that there were also a number of
Armenians who died during the Battle of Canakkale.
“If Armenia has a spiritual bond with the Armenians who lived in the
past, then it concerns them, too. It may yield positive results if
there is attendance by Armenia, even symbolic,” he said.
– “Better to take steps on a social level”
Mahcupyan said he believed sincere and open relations are needed at
the end of the day.
“I never think it will bear good results if you push it too much on a
state level. You need to get down to the level below the states. It is
much more significant to do what is necessary at the social level. It
must be done via informal channels,” he said.
He gave the example of women’s movement in both countries which he
said can pay mutual visits and make mutual gestures and even issue
joint declarations as “such acts better suit the zeitgeist.”
“It could be a solution to mobilize women’s movements as we men are
always the ones who wage the wars,” he said.
Mahcupyan also hailed the message issued last week by Davutoglu to
commemorate the slain Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, where he
described Dink as an “invaluable Anatolian intellectual who, without
compromising either his Armenian heritage or his loyalty to Turkey,
sought to help find the ways and means through which Turks and
Armenians may build a common future.”
The advisor stressed the importance of 2015 saying there will be
numerous activities throughout the year that Turkey would like to
organize and assist, saying they must become concrete through a
decision mechanism.
“The basis must be increasing the human relations. It is better to
realize any kind of projects that could intensify and intertwine human
relations in 2015,” he said.
Relations between Turkey and Armenia have historically been poor
because of incidents that took place during World War I. The Armenian
diaspora and government describe the 1915 events as “genocide” and
have asked for compensation.
Turkey officially refutes this description, saying that although
Armenians died during relocations, many Turks also lost their lives in
attacks carried out by Armenian gangs in Anatolia.
Ankara has also long been calling for Armenia and its historians to
make a joint academic research and study into the archives of both
countries.
In April 2014, President Erdogan – at the time prime minister –
offered condolences for the Armenian deaths that occurred in 1915 – a
first for a Turkish statesman.