Turkish mass media works under restrictions

PanARMENIAN.Net - The mass media in Turkey, including the Armenian-language press, works under certain restrictions, Ara Kochunyan, editor-in-chief of Zhamanak Istanbul-based Armenian-language newspaper, told a news conference in Yerevan.



"We do not use the term 'genocide' in our newspaper not because we deny this fact. This is a very sensitive issue in Turkey. Our newspaper publishes various versions of the 1915 events and the readers make conclusions," he said, adding that terminology is given a back seat in the issue.



"The Armenian community of Istanbul is in an awkward position. On the one hand, we are Turkish citizens. On the other hand, we are the heirs of the victims of the 1915 events, when several dozens of thousands of people was all that has remained from a 200-thousand Armenian community. We have to keep it in mind," Kochunyan said and added, "Each editor has his "inner censor."



Zhamanak was based in 1908 and is one of a few Armenian-language newspapers in the Diaspora.