Armenian, Turkish Intellectuals to Meet on April 24

Intellectuals from Turkey and Armenia are set to gather in the Turkish capital on the anniversary of the 1915 killings of Armenians during the last days of the Ottoman Empire, reports Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.

The meeting is set to occur at a time when the historic normalization process between the two countries has stalled.

Turkish and Armenian 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 Çetin, a writer, human-rights activists and one of the organizers of the forum, told Hürriyet.

“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,” Çetin added in a March 22 email interview.

Participants in the forum will talk about the events leading up to the Armenian Genocide, as well as their political implications. 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.

When asked about possible reactions, Demirer added: “I do not blame people who say the genocide did not happen. If there is such a thing called freedom of speech, everybody should show respect to each others’ freedom of expression.”

Çetin 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 commemoration day for victims of the Armenian Genocide.

“We are going to present a perspective as different as we can for Ankara and Yerevan on the solution of the historical problems,” Çetin added.

In addition to Çetin, Demirer and Zarakolu, the 20 scheduled attendees include Sevan Nişanyan, an academic, linguist and writer; Professor Baskın Oran, a political scientist; and Khatcig Mouradian from the US-based Armenian Weekly.

According to Çetin, the discussions at the forum will not be limited the events of 1915, but will also include what happened before and after, as well as contemporary reflections on the subject.