A debate devoted to Turkey’s “minority code” was held Tuesday in Yerevan to address the country’s discriminatory policies in relation to the minority groups.
The participants – journalists and experts specialized in Turkey affairs – focused particularly on the situation of Turkish-Armenians, agreeing unanimously that the country’s attitude towards ethnic minorities hasn’t changed since the 1900s.
It comes after the Turkish-Armenian publication Agos last week that the identity documents of the Turkish minorities are given secret codes under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. The figure for the Armenians is two.
Lilit Gasparyan, a journalist and Turkish studies specialist attending the debate, said Turkey is the kind of state which has always pursued discriminatory policies in relation to its minority members. “The Ministry of Education said this is not an encryption, but rather a measure to facilitate the minority children’s admission to schools. That’s just ridiculous and unacceptable,” she said, adding that the country’s stance on the minorities continues to remain the same.
“The so-called codification is one of the trump cards we can use, but no one has addressed the topic now that a week has passed [since the publication of the article]. Had such a revelation been made in Germany, that would entail a change of regime,” Gasparyan continued.
Addressing the topic, the political analyst Ara Papyan blamed the foreign ministry for being inactive despite having possibility to react in a prompt manner. “Wouldn’t Turkey have used that to organize the Armenian massacres? If Turkey fails to fulfill international commitments to people, I doubt whether it will not in relation to other states,” he said.
Aris Nalcin, a news director of the IMC TV channel who joined the debate through Skype, said the Turkish Interior Ministry had to confirm the minority codes after the government failed to take timely measures to settle the problem.
As for the Armenian community’s response, he said the older generation is greatly concerned over the revelation. “It turns out, actually, the documents give a secondary role to the Armenians in Turkey,” he said.