Güncelleme Tarihi:
The Tashnaks have set ‘genocide’ as precondition for the development of bilateral relations between
To what degree Armenians' claims of genocide should be a determining factor in Turkish – Armenian relations remains an open debate in Yerevan, the TDN reported, citing discussions between young Armenians, both radicals and liberals.
Unless the 1915 incidents are recognized as "genocide" the Armenian nation would not favor a dialogue with
In 2005, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan took a first step towards resolving the issue by proposing a joint commission of historians launch an investigation and publish their conclusions, but the proposal was rejected by
However Aren Manukyan, a liberal Armenian Manukyan disagreed. “I am an Armenian too. And ‘genocide' definitely gives me as much pain than it gives them. Tashnaks should give up using the issue of ‘genocide' for their own benefit. They have no right to exploit such a sensitive issue," he said.
Manukyan was critical of the strongly nationalist party the Tashnaks' current stance.
“Tashnaks do not want the borders between
"
“But there is one thing that
"If Gul had not come, no such demonstration would have taken place. As the world's attention focused on us, we wanted to take the ball and remind the world once again about the issue of genocide," he said regarding the demonstration Tashnaks held during Gul's arrival to
TASHNAK NOT REFLECTIVE OF ARMENIANS
Manukyan disagreed with Saxatelyan, saying the Tashnaks' demonstrations did not reflect Armenian citizens' general attitude. Even many of those who voted for the Tashnak party have decided to end their support, he said.
“They organized a demonstration simply for the sake of organizing a demonstration. Their purpose is just to cause tension. Indeed, holding demonstrations have become the life and soul of the Tashnak party,” he said.
Manukyan says
He said historical documents on the “genocide” do exist in libraries in various parts of the world, but disagreed with the idea that a commission of Turkish and Armenian historians should conduct collaborative studies on the issue.
“All archives in different parts of the world can be opened to Turkish researchers. If they want, they can peruse all of them. And we can help them in any way possible. If that happens, they will see the facts. In fact, they are already aware of that,” said Manukyan.
Gul paid last week a landmark visit to
However there are no diplomatic relations between the two countries, as
The border between the two countries has remained closed since 1993, when
Photo: AP