Today is the anniversary of the tragedy of 1915, when the Ottoman officials forced thousands of Armenians to emigrate from the east to the south of the Empire, arguing that they were collaborating with the invading Russian army, resulting with the death of many of them.
I believe that the discussion about the word of genocide is unnecessary. We should just remember the innocents who died because of a failure of their state. And we should look forward.
But how can you look forward with a partner who built her own national myth over this big tragedy that they misleadingly politicized? Can you see what happen in Armenia and in Turkey now?
In Turkey, there is a healthy, democratic debate about the issue. Whether you call it genocide or not, you're safe. Thousands of Turkish Armenians enjoy the same rights with ethnic Turks. Thousands of Armenian illegal immigrants work in Turkey without a reaction that we are seeing in Western Europe.
And what about Armenia? They keep educating their children to hate Turks. Their diaspora is the official apparatus of the institutionalized hate. "Turkey and Azerbaijan will always be our enemies," said 22 year-old graduate Grigor Kafalian, an Armenian born in Lebanon.
And in Yerevan, it's not safe for me to walk there again, as they burn Turkish flags and the pictures of the Turkish statesmen. Should Turkey change or should Armenians change? You choose.
