By:Hambersom Aghbashian
Ali Bayramoğlu (b. 1956) is a Turkish writer and political commentator. He is a columnist in the Turkish daily newspaper Yeni Safak, writing from a liberal pro-Islamic viewpoint. He has campaigned against ultra-nationalism, militarism 
and restrictions on Islamic political parties in Turkey, and in favor of greater recognition of, and accommodation with, the Kurdish population of Turkey, and a break with what he sees as Ottomanist tendencies which prevent Turkey from moving forward on issues such as the Armenian genocide.(1)
Ali Bayramoglu is a journalist specialized in social movements in Turkey, and was a Senior lecturer in the political and administrative studies in Marmara University in Istanbul, then a lecturer at Istanbul Kültür Üniversitesi. He wrote a thesis about the role of the army in the Turkish political life. He was also a political commentator in several Turkish daily papers before joining the daily Yeni Safak. In 2005 he published “Les laïcs et les religieux face au processus de democratisation”, research conducted for TESEV, published at the editory house The Foundation for economical and political studies about Turkey.(2)
According to ” thegurdian”, Dec. 7, 2008, Academics and writers in Turkey have risked a fierce official backlash by issuing a public apology which reads: “My conscience does not accept the insensitivity showed to and the denial of the Great Catastrophe that the Ottoman Armenians were subjected to in 1915. I reject this injustice and for my share, I empathize with the feelings and pain of my Armenian brothers. I apologize to them.” Breaking one of Turkish society’s biggest taboos, the apology comes in an open letter that invites Turks to sign an online petition supporting its sentiments. The contents expose its authors – three scholars, Ahmet Insel, Baskin Oran and Cengiz Aktar, and a journalist, Ali Bayramoglu – to the wrath of the Turkish state, which has prosecuted writers, including the Nobel prize-winning novelist Orhan Pamuk, for supporting Armenian genocide claims.(3)
On March 15, 2011, Ali Bayramoğlu participated in ” BUILDING AWARENESS OF TURKISH SOCIETY REGARDING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE” international conference in Yerevan where he moderated one of the panels where ” Turkey’s Denial of the Armenian Genocide. History, Current Trends, Prospects “, ” Developing a Policy of Memory in Turkey” and other issues were discussed.(4)
During his talk in the conference on the ‘I Apologize’ campaign, Ali Bayramoğlu stressed that recognition of the genocide is not enough; relationships must be repaired and the political and cultural connections between Turks and Armenians must be mended.(5)
According to www.demotix.com “Activists gathered together at Taksim Square in Istanbul to commemorate ninety-eighth anniversary of the Armenian genocide. Journalist Ali Bayramoglu was among the participants.”(6)
——————————————————————————————————————————————
1-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Bayramo%C4%9Flu
2-http://www.recon-project.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=28&Itemid=159&lang=en
3- http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/dec/08/armenian-genocide-turkey-apology-petition
4- http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CD8QFjAD&url=http
5- http://crrc-caucasus.blogspot.com/2011/03/conference-summary-building-turkish_24.html
6- http://www.demotix.com/photo/1991389/armenians-and-supporters-commemorate-armenian-genocide
also Published on
Nor Or, May 15, 2014