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Prospects for Reconciliation: Theory and Practice Proceedings of the International Workshop, Yerevan, 27 November 2010 Prospects for Reconciliation: Theory and Practice Proceedings of the International Workshop, Yerevan, 27 November 2010 Edited by Hranush Kharatyan-Araqelyan and Leyla Neyzi Content Leyla Neyzi, Introduction............................................................................................................................. 7 Hans-Jochen Schmidt, Summary of Remarks Made at the Opening of a DVV-Conference Dedicated to “Adult Education and Oral History Contributing to Armenian-Turkish Reconciliation”................................................... 10 Elazar Barkan, Reconciliation beyond Subjective Histories: Comments on Historians and Conflict Resolution...... 12 Hans Gunnar Adén, Cultural Identities: Stumbling-Blocks on the Way to Reconciliation? ................................. 20 Harutyun Marutyan, Can Collective Memory of Genocide Lead to Reconciliation? A View from Yerevan.............. 24 Alexander Iskandaryan, Armenia-Turkey Reconciliation: Motives and Impediments........................................... 39 David Hovhannisyan, Process of Normalization of Armenian-Turkish Relations: The Official and Societal Dimensions................................................................................................................................................ 47 Yeghishe Kirakosyan, Armenian-Turkish Reconciliation: the Reality and Possibilities (A Legal Perspective)......... 54 Diba Nigar Göksel, Reconciliation Initiatives: Emerging Patterns in Turkey........................................................ 70 Hasan Samani, Association for Historical Dialogue and Research (AHDR) and Reconciliation through History in Cyprus....................................................................................................................................................... 79 Evren Ergeç, Creating Global Understanding on Peace among Young People through Youth Work..................... 87 Garegin Chugaszyan, Old Conflicts and New Media: The Role of New Media in Reconciliation .......................... 95 Seda Grigoryan, A View from Inside: The Clash of Theory and Practice within................................................ 107 4 Ismail Keskin, Nor & Eski and History for Life................................................................................................ 111 Leyla Neyzi, Oral History as a Tool for Reconciliation? Remembering Armenians in Contemporary Turkey........... 118 Hranush Kharatyan-Araqelyan, On some Features of Armenian-Turkish Joint Memories of the Past.................. 126 Matthias Klingenberg, Vanya Ivanova, The History Network of dvv international............................................ 139 Hranush Kharatyan-Araqelyan, The Summing up of the Workshop “Prospects for Reconciliation: Theory and Practice”..................................................................................................................................................... 156 5 Introduction Leyla Neyzi The workshop “Prospects for Reconciliation: Theory and Practice” took place on November 27, 2010 in Yerevan, Republic of Armenia. It was organized under the auspices of the two-year project “Adult Education and Oral History Contributing to Armenian-Turkish Reconciliation,” funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and implemented by dvv international, Anadolu Kültür (Turkey) and “Hazarashen” Armenian Center for Ethnological Studies (Armenia). As part of this project, university students from Armenia and Turkey attended a summer camp in Dilijan, Armenia, where they were trained in the methodology of oral history and became acquainted with one another’s society and culture. Students then took part in an oral history research project in Turkey and Armenia on memories of a shared but painful past, the results of which were published in a book entitled, “Speaking to One Another: Personal Memories of the Past in Armenia and Turkey,” co-authored by Professor Leyla Neyzi from Sabancı University in Istanbul and Profes- sor Hranush Kharatyan-Araqelyan from Yerevan State Linguistic University. This research also resulted in a traveling exhibition curated by Önder Özengi from Turkey and Taron Simonyan from Armenia, which traveled to several cities in Turkey and Armenia. The project included a camp in Antakya, Turkey, where students developed joint projects with the aim of contributing to reconciliation. Students from Armenia and Turkey also traveled for a study trip to Berlin to learn from Germany’s experience in dealing with the past. The main objective of the international workshop was to share the results of the project, to discuss the contribution of adult education and oral history to Turkish-Armenian reconciliation, and to make possible an exchange of experiences among Armenian, Turkish and international academics and practitioners in the fields of reconciliation, oral history and adult education. The workshop was planned so as to make the proceedings available in book form. This international workshop was extremely timely: in the past few years, there has been an immense change in rela- tions between Armenia and Turkey, with a deepening rapprochement between the two societies. While the Armenian Genocide was publicly silenced in Soviet Armenia, it remains officially unrecognized in contemporary Turkey. While these events occurred nearly one hundred years ago, their memory continues to be transmitted from generation to generation and continue to affect the present in both societies. After a silence of over eighty years, the events of 1915 have become both a topic of international political and social discourse and the core issue in political negotiations between Armenia and Turkey. However, while the last decade has been witness to a number of initiatives that aim to normalize Armenia-Turkey relations, the suspension of the protocols has slowed down the rapprochement process. The differences in the approaches of multiple stakeholders to the past and the present are widely known. Although 7 Leyla Neyzi the will to start a dialogue is much appreciated, it remains difficult to find a common ground by which to address the past and discuss the present. In the absence of a solution on the level of national politics, the workshop sought to determine if and how reconcili- ation could be achieved on the societal level. Given a long history of violent conflict and a lack of communication, the peoples of Armenia and Turkey have different perceptions of one another and different expectations concerning reconciliation. How have the steps towards rapprochement and civil initiatives in particular, affected the relations be- tween the two neighboring societies? In our oral history research, we have been particularly interested in how local communities, families and individuals remember (and forget), narrate, and interpret the past in the context of the present, and how oral history and memory studies can contribute to dialogue and reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey. The participants of the workshop explored what role memories of the shared past and of violence play in both societies, how a dialogue about the past can contribute to a process of reconciliation between the two countries, and by what means such a dialogue can be conducted in practice. The first panel of the workshop, “Between the Past and the Present,” dealt with more theoretical issues including ana- lytical concepts and questions of context. It broadly centered on four topics: the role of the past for reconciliation; the concept of truth; options for establishing a shared account of the past; and the political climate within and between Ar- menia and Turkey in which such processes are taking place. How to acknowledge suffering and injustice was a central theme. However, it was also deemed worthwhile to look at the positive aspects of the common past, which spanned centuries. The main questions/topics for the panel included the following: How does the state “silence” history? How does this affect the ways the past is remembered? How does silence, forgetting and fear affect the discussion of con- flict resolution? How should historiography and oral history/memory studies be included in the reconciliation process? How is it possible to acknowledge (conflicting) public opinion without recreating hostilities? How may different societies construct history, the present and their relations to one another differently? How may reconciliation processes proceed in tandem with democratization? Apart from governmental initiatives and the work of the private sector, a number of projects have been carried out by civil society organizations in order to foster Armenian-Turkish reconciliation. The second panel of the workshop, “Civic Initiatives,” aimed at sharing the experiences of organizations from both countries, as well as other examples from different parts of the world. The discussions were structured around ongoing and completed reconciliation projects, with specific attention given to targeting and incorporating young people. The participants presented their experiences in regard to the following issues: How is the experience of the two peoples with memories of a violent past expressed in various cultural products? How do these cultural products shape public discourse? What are the main challenges Turkish-Armenian projects face during the collaboration process? What is their main contribution to the reconciliation process, and what new issues and/or

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