YEREVAN—Young Armenians need to have more profound knowledge of the Armenian Genocide, an expert in Turkish studies, Artak Shakaryan, has told Tert.am.
Shakaryan says students who travel abroad are ill prepared to explain the history of the Armenian Genocide to people who are willing to learn. “It is important that higher schools give deeper knowledge of the period, especially to students who intend to continue their education abroad,” Shakaryan said.
“Turkey has been implementing its denial policy since the 1970s. Their only task is to educate generations so that they believe that their forefathers did not commit genocide against Armenians. Rather, ‘it was Armenians that committed genocide against Turks.’ But we have no such agenda. Our children know the truth at school.”
Asked whether Turkey’s denial policy is as successful now as it was in the 1970s, Shakaryan said, “Globalization and the Internet help young people know about alternative opinions. But an alternative opinion is difficult to disseminate among a 70-million-strong population, especially if people grow up amid this denial policy.
“A change has taken place in society as compared with the past. Evidence thereof is frequent use of the term ‘genocide,’ especially by the press. But it would be wrong to say that the people are resisting the policy of denial because, when Turks admitting the Armenian Genocide are mentioned, they are 2 to 3 percent of the population.”
Education-education-education…true, we need to be educated ourselves first, then we have to educate whoever is ready to learn, third we have to be educate general public through social and mass media….
well said L. Nalbadnyan. Totally agree with you.
They should come to Sacramento. Pentecostal Armenians in Sacramento forbid the teaching of the genocide to Armenian youth.