CONFERENCE DEVOTED TO ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS

On October 28 in “Noravank” Foundation was held a conference on “Armenian-Turkish relations” participated by guests and foundation co-workers. The conference was organized on the occasion of Fethiye Chetn’s republication of the book “Grandmother.” The book was first published in 2006 (translated by the “Noravank” Foundation expert, senior lecturer of Yerevan State University’s Department of Turkology, PhD Ruben Melkonyan). The conference was honored by the participation of Fethiye Chetin and the brother of “Akos” newspaper’s chief editor Hrant Dink – Yervand Dink.

The Foundation Director G.Harutyunyan briefly represented how the idea of the book came true, than Ruben Melkonyan introduced the honorable guest Fethiye Chatin. The latter one mentioned that she was very surprised to find out that her grandmother, Hranush, was an Armenian, which made her make a tour into the past and find the world-spread relatives. In the end Fethiye Chetin, who is a lawyer by profession and at the same time the lawyer of Hrant Dink’s family, took the pen and wrote this exciting story.

She also mentioned about great changes in Turkey. According to her in her country are discussed such problems which nobody deared to voice in the past, there are also braked taboos, in particular - Armenian ones. The author of the book thinks that hostility between Armenian and Turkish nations is conditioned by their not knowing each other.

By the end of the meeting the conference participants asked a lot of questions to the author of the book which witnesses about the subject’s up-to-datedness and great interest to it.