One of most informative presentations in the Workshop on Turkish-Armenian Relations organized by the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) in ?stanbul on May 26-27 was given by Mehmet Dikkaya, a lecturer at Kafkas University in Kars.
Although at the end of his presentation, which relied on concrete data, Dikkaya concluded that he is optimistic with regard to the normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia, I do not think that I can have the same level of optimism based on the data he provided in his presentation.
As you might remember, Turkey was one of the first countries to recognize Armenia's independence on Dec. 16, 1991, sending humanitarian aid to this country after its declaration of independence.
Despite this, diplomatic relations between the two countries could not be established. Certainly, for Turkey, there were justifiable reasons for this. These reasons can be listed as follows: the anti-Turkish phrases in Article 11 of Armenia's declaration of independence; unacceptable phrases in Article 13 of Armenia's constitution; a symbolic reference to Mount A?r? in Armenia's state coat of arms; Yerevan's insistence on not recognizing the Kars and G
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
