Armenians have superficial knowledge about Turkey

PanARMENIAN.Net - "Turkish schools begin their classes with a prayer which contains Atatürk's well-known slogan saying, 'I am happy to be a Turk'," Lecturer at YSU Turkology chair Ruben Melkonyan told a news conference in Yerevan.



In a multi-national state like Turkey, such slogan sounds very chauvinistic and pursues assimilatory goals, Melkonyan said, adding that a law firm in Diarbekir has applied to the Constitutional court with a request of declaring the oath anti-constitutional. Armenian expert attached special importance to that, considering that such kind of protests may help Turkey overcome existing taboos.



Mr. Melkonyan also finds that Turkish state's ideology sometimes escalates to nationalism. «In that context, border opening and establishment of ties can be considered effective tools for eliminating such taboos,» he stressed.



Establishment of Armenian-Turkish ties may cause crisis in Turkish society, with ethnic identity being a key issue, Melkonyan finds. «Opinions in Turkish society vary, but I am deeply convinced that the radical position is prevalent,» Armenian expert said, noting that Armenians have superficial knowledge about Turkey, and take a very soft and incautious approach to border opening.