Pan-Turkic change or a drop in the sea?
"Turkish society is undergoing serious changes and this is an irreversible process," said today Turkish expert, member of the "Apology Campaign" initiating group Chengiz Aktar during an international conference on "Building Awareness of the Armenian Genocide in Turkey".
The conference was organized by the "Yerkir" Union and the Caucasus Institute Foundation.
In his speech on "Formation of a Policy on Remembrance in Turkey", Aktar spoke in detail about the changes taking place in Turkey and brought up the renovation of three Armenian churches as an example.
Writer, political commentator for "Yeni Shafak" newspaper Ali Bayramoghlu mentioned that their main purpose is to have Turkey recognize the Armenian Genocide and restore friendly ties between the Turks and Armenians.
However, according to turkologist Ruben Melkonyan, the changes presented by his Turkish colleagues only exist in small layers. "These are modest changes. There is a need to talk about them, but it is wrong to present them as pan-Turkic," Melkonyan told "A1+".
Touching upon the "Apology Campaign", the turkologist recalled that nearly 20,000 participants are mainly former and current left-wing socialists who have always been members of the opposition in Turkey. "With that said, I think this is just a drop in the sea for Turkey, which has a population of 75 million," said Melkonyan.
Ruben Melkonyan also said the mentioned changes are definitely favorable for the Turkish authorities since they show plurality as it seems.
