Armenians and Turks Should Sit at Bargaining Table and Try to Cast Light at Events of 1915
March 6 at 16:00, the CMI hosted a press conference by participants of the workshop Caucasus Neighborhood: Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Georgians and Turks Seen by Each Other. The workshop was held in Yerevan on March 5 in the framework of the Turkey-South-Caucasus Initiative launched by the Istanbul and Tbilisi offices of the Heinrich Böll Foundation and supported by Yerevan-based Caucasus Media Institute. The workshop was the final event in a series of meetings and discussions that started on March 2 in Tbilisi and brought together non-political non-governmental actors from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. Participants of the Yerevan workshop included Kubilay Özmen from Anadolu Kültür, Istanbul; Ulrike Dufner, Director, Heinrich-Böll-Foundation, Istanbul; Ayşe Tütüncu pianist, composer, arranger and music teacher from Istanbul; Naime Kardaş from women's organization in Diyarbakir; Ozcan Yurdalan, photographer with NAR-Group; Semahat Sevim from Heinrich-Böll-Foundation, Istanbul; Nino Lejava, Programme Coordinator, Heinrich-Böll-Foundation, Tbilisi; Lascha Bakradze, Historian, Georgian Cinema Center, Tbilisi.
"The richness our cultures helps us to better understand each other. Our peoples cooperate in many fields including music, literature, photography art, etc.," says Ulrike Dufner. "Armenians have bright and original music. I studied Komitas's art and we often perform Aram Khachaturyan's works," pianist Ayşe Tütüncu said when asked by PanARMENIAN.Net reporter to comment on Azerbaijan's statements that the Armenian music is completely borrowed from Turks and Azeris. When touching upon the numerous common grounds the Turkish guests underscored that they represent NGOs and express their personal viewpoint on the issues the Armenian journalists are interested in.
"We visited the Memorial to the Armenian Genocide victims. Certainly, the killing of such a great number of people arouses regret. I think Turkey and Armenians should sit at the bargaining table and try to cast light at the events of 1915," photographer Uzcan Yurdalan said. He denied that " I do not represent our state here. I am a photographer only. As far as I know our delegation is not the first to have visited Tsitsernakaberd," he told PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.
The purpose of the workshop was to identify ways of cultural cooperation and project ideas for the 2006 Caucasus Cultural Festival. Discussion centered on the possible contribution of cultural activities to conflict resolution in the region, possible topics and target groups for such cultural activities, and the effect of similar experiences in the past. The Turkey-South-Caucasus Initiative was launched in 2005 by the Tbilisi and Istanbul offices of the Heinrich Böll Foundation. The first meeting was held in October 2005 during the Caucasus Cultural Festival in Kars, Turkey. At that meeting, NGO representatives, artists and intellectuals from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey
"The richness our cultures helps us to better understand each other. Our peoples cooperate in many fields including music, literature, photography art, etc.," says Ulrike Dufner. "Armenians have bright and original music. I studied Komitas's art and we often perform Aram Khachaturyan's works," pianist Ayşe Tütüncu said when asked by PanARMENIAN.Net reporter to comment on Azerbaijan's statements that the Armenian music is completely borrowed from Turks and Azeris. When touching upon the numerous common grounds the Turkish guests underscored that they represent NGOs and express their personal viewpoint on the issues the Armenian journalists are interested in.
"We visited the Memorial to the Armenian Genocide victims. Certainly, the killing of such a great number of people arouses regret. I think Turkey and Armenians should sit at the bargaining table and try to cast light at the events of 1915," photographer Uzcan Yurdalan said. He denied that " I do not represent our state here. I am a photographer only. As far as I know our delegation is not the first to have visited Tsitsernakaberd," he told PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.
The purpose of the workshop was to identify ways of cultural cooperation and project ideas for the 2006 Caucasus Cultural Festival. Discussion centered on the possible contribution of cultural activities to conflict resolution in the region, possible topics and target groups for such cultural activities, and the effect of similar experiences in the past. The Turkey-South-Caucasus Initiative was launched in 2005 by the Tbilisi and Istanbul offices of the Heinrich Böll Foundation. The first meeting was held in October 2005 during the Caucasus Cultural Festival in Kars, Turkey. At that meeting, NGO representatives, artists and intellectuals from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey
