Bundestag decision can positively affect civil society development in Turkey

YEREVAN, JUNE 21, ARMENPRESS. The Bundestag decision (Genocide vote) can positively affect civil society development in Turkey which will directly influence Armenian-Turkish reconciliation. After the Bundestag decision caused an interesting public resonance in Turkey, Deputy Dean of Yerevan State University’s Faculty of Oriental Studies Ruben Melkonyan told on June 21. Director of Analytical Centre on Globalization and Regional CooperationStepan Grigoryan shared the mentioned opinion, stating that public opinion is of great significance for the development of Armenian-Turkish relations and preserving interactions on a public level is very important.

“We should have no expectations from Turkish official levels, it is just necessary to go on with interactions on public and scientific levels. There are contradictions over the Armenian Genocide among the Turkish society. There are people in Turkey who admit that the Genocide took place, and it is necessary to cooperate with them”, “Armenpress” reports Stepan Grigoryan saying.

“After Ahmet Davutoğlu‘s resignation the Bundestag vote was the most challenging thing for Turkey’s foreign policy. Awareness of the Armenian Genocide rose after being recognized by the Bundestag. That decision includes a very important point – the Armenian Genocide must be introduced in school text books and be presented as a universal evil deed”, Ruben Melkonyan said.

According to him, there are no hopes for Armenian-Turkish reconciliation in the visible future since the Turkish president pursues a strategy of aggravating confrontations in our region.