Democracy and Development Media Neighbors About each Other
Turkey – Armenia Dialogue
Even as the governments of Armenia and Turkey attempt to normalize relations, there are many outstanding issues between the two peoples which must be addressed in order to facilitate and sustain such normalization. Today, information and knowledge about each other range from the nonexistent to reinforced stereotypes to misperceptions. The real picture, including efforts by segments of each society to overcome and transcend psychological, historic and other barriers, is absent from the public debate in both societies.
The Civilitas Foundation Armenia-Turkey Dialogue, in partnership with the Hrant Dink Foundation, will attempt to minimize the information and knowledge gap within the young, educated, professional segments of both societies through a variety of programs in each country, with the clear purpose of working towards mutual understanding.
Listening To My Neighbor
The amazing speed with which attitudes and information about each other is changing is reflected in each country’s press. However, the other country and society remains ignorant of these developments because of the language barrier. This program will enhance awareness and understanding of the thinking, perceptions, fears and expectations of by each society of the other. The Civilitas and Hrant Dink Foundations will collaborate to select, translate and offer for publication press articles about each other that have appeared in the print media of the other country. Articles about Armenia and Armenians in the Turkish press will be translated into Armenian and made available to Armenian publications. Armenian articles about Turkey and the Turkish people will be translated into Turkish and made available to Turkish publications. Both sets of articles will also be translated into English for the international community.
The pilot phase of the project will run for three months starting September 1, and is supported by the Eurasia Partnership Foundation.
Click here to access the web site of the project with the translations.
Our previous question was: "Do you believe that free elections (one where even an incumbent can be defeated) can change a country?" Opinions were mostly divided. Of those who answered the question, 53% thought that such elections could bring positive change to the country; 43% thought they could not. Around 4% did not have an answer. |
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Sharistan Melkonian is a director at the Armenian Volunteer Corps (AVC), a non-profit that helps skilled Armenian Diasporans come to Armenia to work and live, while at the same time, helping them transition from one society into another by facilitating their placements into schools, non-profit organizations, churches, and the business sector. |
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Vartan Oskanian's interview with Gala TV in the city of Gyumri regarding Armenia-Turkey relations, Nagorno Karabakh, and Armenia's economy.
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The overall objective of the project is to improve access to water for the population of remote villages in the region of Meghri. The specific objectives of the project are to restore and reconstruct the underground water supply system of wells and tunnels (chaheriz) in Alvank and Shvanidzor villages and to train and develop the necessary local capacity for continued further maintenance of the system.
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