Findings of 200 interviews on the “Present-day Problems of the Armenian-Turkish Conflict” discussed
(Read the media coverage of the event also in Armenian and Russian)

1. Is Turkey a friend or an enemy?, Radiolur, 14.04.2009
2. Armen Ayvazian: Armenian And Diasporan Figures Are Discontent With Policy Carried On By Armenia To Turkey, Noyan Tapan, 14.04.2009
3. Psychologist Albert Nalchajian: Turks Have Always Distinguished Themselves By Aggressiveness, Noyan Tapan, 14.04.2009
4. Turkey, Armenia Agree on ‘Road Map’ for Normalizing Relations, Michael Heath, Bloomberg, 23.04.2009

Is Turkey a friend or an enemy?

From March 12 to April 10 “Ararat” Center of Strategic Research conducted a survey among scientists, professors, public figures and journalists to find out their attitude towards the establishment of the Armenian-Turkish relations and opening of the border. It turned out
that there are many concerns.

Director of the “Ararat” Center Armen Ayvazyan said: “The interstate developments between Armenia and Turkey today counter Armenia’s interests. When the football diplomacy was just starting, I warned
many times that Turkey could in no way contribute to the settlement of the Karabakh issue, because Turkey often guides Azerbaijan in its different anti-Armenian activities. Therefore, the trilateral meetings are simply absurd.”

YEREVAN, APRIL 14, NOYAN TAPAN. The surveys conducted in Armenia and Diaspora by the Ararat strategic center are evidence that considerable part of Armenian scientists, experts, public figures is
too discontent with the policy carried on by the Armenian authorities to Turkey. Center Director Armen Ayvazian mentioned at the April 14 press conference. According to him, the participants of the survey held between March 12 to April 10 were asked three questions on three concrete subjects.

96% respondents gave “an extremely negative answer” to the question of how do you treat the fact of showing the film on the genocide allegedly organized by the Armenians in Turkey. Asked whether after R. Erdogan’s statements Armenia should continue the rapprochement policy, 61% respondents gave a negative answer. And 81% respondents gave a negative answer to the question of how do you treat the invitation of RA government to Turkey to take part in the construction of a new nuclear power plant. A. Ayvazian said that some of the respondents considered that invitation a manifestation of Armenian officials’ humor.

According to the Ararat head, today Armenia’s authorities make mistakes endangering country’s future. The first mistake, according to A. Ayvazian, is that “the authorities do not perceive Turkey as it is, as an enemy.” The second mistake is that Armenia’s leaders name Turkish officials and Azerbaijan’s leader “a normal person,” while it is by Azeri President’s order that Armenian monuments are destroyed in that country. And the third mistake, according to the political scientist, is disregarding the opinions of “non-court” Armenian experts.

Noyan Tapan
Apr 14, 2009

YEREVAN, APRIL 14, NOYAN TAPAN. In order to solve the problems in the Armenian-Turkish relations in favor of Armenia we should take into account some important ethnic-psychological factors, which, however, are disregarded by Armenian political figures. Albert Nalchajian, a senior lecturer, the Chairman of the Center for Psychological Studies, expressed such an opinion at the April 14 discussion. According to him, before establishing relations with the Turks and dealing with them
we should first of all form an idea about the image of a Turk. “It is wrong to judge about the Turks from their European style of dressing and their appearance: they have always distinguished themselves by aggressiveness. Today they are quiet outwardly, but indeed are guided by malicious thoughts,” the psychologist said.

A. Nalchajian proposes the Armenian authorities:

1. Not establishing diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey
higher than consular relations,

2. Not involving the Turkish businessmen and state in Armenia’s
strategic programs,

3. In no way assisting Turkey’s striving for joining the European
Union,

4. Encouraging Armenian producers and contributing to export of
Armenian goods,

5. In every way possible increasing country’s military strength,

6. Stopping destructive activity of sects in the whole territory
of Armenia,

7. Accelerating settlement of liberated territories and integration
with NKR,

8. Announcing “persona non grata” all foreign figures, who entering
Armenia try to agitate and act in favor of Turkey and Azerbaijan,

9. Stopping the so-called “football diplomacy” that once more permitted
to disclose the real intentions of the Turks,

10. Strengthening national education at Armenia’s schools and
universities.

April 23 (Bloomberg) — Turkey and Armenia agreed on a “road map” to normalize relations, the Foreign Ministry in Ankara said after reconciliation talks between the neighbors who share a bloody history and whose border is shut.

The negotiations, mediated by Switzerland, “have achieved tangible progress and mutual understanding,” the ministry said in a statement late yesterday. The announcement came as Armenia marks the anniversary of the alleged genocide in 1915 of 1.5 million of its people by Turks in ceremonies tomorrow.

Efforts at reconciliation between the two nations have gathered momentum since President Abdullah Gul traveled to Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, in September, the first visit to the country by a Turkish head of state.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said yesterday she was “very encouraged by the bold steps” being taken by Turkey and Armenia to reconcile with each other and with their “painful past.”

Steps toward “normalizing relations and opening their borders will foster a better environment for confronting that shared, tragic history,” Clinton said in comments to the House Foreign Affairs Committee in Washington.

The government in Yerevan has accused Turkey of genocide against Armenians in the latter years of the Ottoman Empire, which preceded modern Turkey. The Turkish government says massacres took place in the context of clashes that related to Armenian groups supporting Russia against Turkey during World War I.

Ottoman Archives

Turkish officials insist the killings weren’t orchestrated by the Ottoman government and Gul has proposed opening Ottoman archives to international scholars to try to resolve the dispute.

The French parliament supported the Armenian view that the killings amounted to genocide. The lower house of parliament approved a resolution in 2006 making it a crime to deny that genocide was carried out against Armenians living in what is now Turkey in 1915.

The U.S. says declaring the killings as genocide would hurt relations with an important ally.

Ties have been further strained by a conflict between Armenia and Turkey’s ally, Azerbaijan. While Turkey recognized Armenia’s independence in December 1991 as the Soviet Union collapsed, it shut the frontier in 1993 to protest the government in Yerevan’s support for ethnic Armenians in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave in their fight for independence from Azerbaijan. A cease-fire has held since 1994.

Road Map

The Foreign Ministry said Turkey and Armenia “have agreed on a comprehensive framework for the normalization of their bilateral relations in a mutually satisfactory manner,” according to the statement on its Web site. “In this context, a road map has been identified.”

Most Armenians oppose their government’s efforts to improve relations with Turkey, the Istanbul-based Hurriyet newspaper reported a week ago, citing a survey by the Ararat Stratejik Merkezi research center.

Sixty-one percent of respondents to the poll said they were against closer ties with Turkey, Hurriyet said. Only 11 percent said they support the government’s current policy, the newspaper reported, without giving further details of the study.

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