Debate on state of democracy in Turkey

Описание: (3 Mar 2007) SHOTLIST
1. Wide pan over panel
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Mensur Akgun, Foreign Policy Director, Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation:
"In order to recognise the history you need a discussion. You need to understand things and you need a discussion and with a resolution like this, if you give a verdict you are telling people you don't have to discuss, just accept what I am saying to you and this is the verdict. That means you don't want them to discuss in fact. So this is not a democratic act in fact and you cannot create a democracy with an undemocratic act from outside."
3. Wide shot of panel
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Etyen Mahcupyan, Director, Democratisation programme, Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation:
"We are in a deep struggle of democratisation, of fighting for individual freedoms or fighting for a Turkey which has its place in the West or in the humanitarian world. Of course the ones who are opposing it will use every opportunity to keep Turkey where it is now or take it back, be it the Armenians question, be it the Cyprus question, be it the Kurdish question, be it Islamic question."
5. Mid shot of panel
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Dilek Kurban, programme officer, Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation:
"You know, I think the issue is not so much, what legal term the diaspora Armenians or international community wants to use in addressing the issue, but the fact that they come up with a legal term to name it."
7. Wide shot of panel
STORYLINE
Members of an influential Turkish think-tank met in New York City on Friday to discuss the state of democracy in their country, and its bid to become a full member of the European Union.
Leading thinkers from the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation, or TESEV, met at the George Soros-funded Open Society Institute.
TESEV is a non-profit think tank based in Istanbul that conducts independent research into policy and works towards further democratisation in Turkey.
Among the items they discussed was a resolution - Number 106 - which the United States House of Representatives may consider, on the mass slaughter of Armenians by Turks during World War I.
The mass killings and expulsions of between 600,000 and 1.5 million Armenians took place between 1915-1917, and many historians and nations have acknowledged it as the 20th century's first genocide.
The House resolution would officially recognise the deaths of Armenians in Turkey as "genocide".
The Armenian issue is one that has come up recently in discussions about Turkey's possibly becoming a full-fledged member of the European Union.
Speaking on the possible resolution, Mensur Akgun, the foreign policy director of TESEV, said that history had to be accepted.
"In order to recognise the history you need to have a discussion. You need to understand things and you need a discussion," he said.
But Akgun said the resolution hampered debate on the issue.
"With a resolution like this, if you give a verdict you are telling people you don't have to discuss, just accept what I am saying to you and this is the verdict. That means you don't want them to discuss in fact. So, this is not a democratic act in fact and you cannot create a democracy with an undemocratic act from outside," he said.
Many issues concerning Turkey's past have come up recently, with some debate on whether Turkey should admit its past perceived wrongs.
Etyen Mahcupyan, director of the democratisation programme at TESEV, said many people who continually brought up such issues were only trying to hold Turkey back.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...