Berlin group to discuss Germany’s role in events of 1915

Berlin group to discuss Germany’s role in events of 1915
Sunday, October 24, 2010

VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Germany’s Henrich Böll Stiftung will organize a conference in Berlin next year to examine the country’s role in the 1915 events in Eastern Anatolia as part of the Ani Dialogue project, a larger attempt to foster closer relations between Turkey and Armenia.

“We are aiming to do what has not been done yet and be able to openly discuss Germany’s role in World War I,” Ulrike Dufner, the Turkish representative of the German foundation, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review last week.

Germany turned a blind eye to events in the region in World War I although the German parliament only openly confirmed the country’s role in the 1915 events in 2007, she said.

The foundation further plans to hold a session in Turkey regarding the outcome of the Berlin event in the future as well.

Dufner is also the project coordinator of the Ani Dialogue project, in collaboration with the Caucasus Institute in Armenia. The project welcomes participants from both Turkey and Armenia, but is only open to people under the age of 35.

The foundation representative said there were hundreds of applications for the project and added that the team was examining each one carefully. The young people that take part in the project will hold meetings on different topics such as cultural heritage, education, science, the environment, media, democracy and human rights.

Dufner said both countries would host 25 young people from the other country.

“We want to reach young activists with our projects. Our purpose is to create a civil consciousness in the youth,” she said, adding that they wanted to bring together Turkish and Armenian historians but they had to abandon that aspect of the project, fearing possible reaction.

Although the protocols signed in October 2009 by the countries have been frozen and the communication process has been terminated, Dufner remains very hopeful about the future.

"It is true that the relations have been frozen. But this is only a natural process. Think back to how the things were three years ago and compare it with today. That is how we should be seeing things,” she said.

Organizers hope the Ani Project will be long-lasting, Dufner said, adding that next year they would invite the youth of both countries together for activities related to music.

Inspiration from Ani

Referring to the title of the project, Dufner said, "Ani was the capital of the Armenian kingdom and it has symbolic value for the Armenians."

Dufner said her biggest dream was to see the renovation of the Ani ruins – located on the border between Turkey and Armenia – and their transformation into a peace bridge.

"I do not see a reason why we could not do that,” Dufner said, adding that the project was particularly important for her because she was born on the western side of the Berlin Wall. “I know what it feels like to be behind walls and be unable to cross the borders. The pain of the deprivation behind the walls is beyond explanation.”