Armenians of Turkey live in atmosphere of fear and mistrust

June 11, 2009 - 19:08 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian community of Turkey faces numerous problems requiring quick solution, Ruben Melkonyan, specialist in Turkic philology and expert at the Noravank scientific-research center, told to journalists on June 11 in Yerevan.



"More than a half of Armenian schools, short of Armenian language teachers, closed in Turkey over the last 30 years. Besides, indifferent state of health of Constantinople's patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Archbishop Mesrop Mutafian also creates problems for the Armenian community. Appointment of a new patriarch is very urgent for the community," Armenian expert said, adding that there are already candidates for the post of spiritual leader of the Armenian community in Turkey.



According to Ruben Melkonyan, Armenians of Turkey treat improvement of Armenian-Turkish relations with care, and with optimism at the same time. "Armenians of Turkey regard themselves to be citizens of Turkey and only then to be Armenians. They are obliged to prove every day, they are exemplary citizens of that country. Besides, they live in the atmosphere of fear and mistrust," the expert said.
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