Karen Ghazaryan
Public Radio of Armenia
Turkey is actively pretending to be changing and is taking illusionary steps in preparation for the Armenian Genocide centennial in 2015, expert of Turkish studies Gevorg Petrosyan told reporters today. According to him, Armenian Etyen Mahcupyan’s appointment as Adviser to the Turkish PM also fits into this framework.
“I think those are superficial steps and there have been no changes on a deeper level. The purpose is to create an illusion of positive changes in Turkey ahead of 2015,” the expert said.
It’s obvious that Turkey is doing everything possible to reach the target, and is even resorting to falsifications and dissemination of misinformation towards this end. An evidence of this was Charles Aznavour’s imaginary interview to the Turkish press. This is an obvious demonstration of the Turkish propaganda ahead of 2015.
“This was a propaganda step, a manipulation attempt, a misinformation that contained certain messages peculiar of the modern Turkish authorities. Through such an “interview” Turkey tries to manipulate its own society and create a positive image of Turkey on the international arena, and it partly succeeds in doing so,” Petrosyan said.
The refutation of this “interview” reached us, but didn’t reach the world, at large. This way of action is no news to us, and Turkey will continue to take similar steps in the future, he added.
As for the anti-Armenian statements of Turkish officials, the expert said those are meant for domestic use to win votes.
Referring to reinforcement of the Republicans’ positions at the US Congress, Gevorg Petrosyan said “this weakens the Armenian lobby, as the number of pro-Armenian Congressmen decreases.”
The expert added that what Armenians need ahead of 2015 is legal action, not just recognition, as the latter does not imply elimination of genocide consequences or reparation.
“We should concentrate our efforts on solving the issue on the legal level. I think spending our resources, time and attention on international recognition is not correct,” he said.
