Bridging the Divide: Taking Stock of Turkish-Armenian Relations

The bridge over the Akhurian River

In response to the ongoing conflict and lack of dialogue between Turkey and Armenia, the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV), a Black Sea Trust (BST) grantee, has carried out an assessment of civil society initiatives aimed at improving Turkish-Armenian relations. The Turkish-Armenian conflict has resulted in closed borders and limited relations, though there have been many efforts in recent years to change this dynamic. Dr. Burcu Gültekin Punsmann, senior foreign policy analyst at TEPAV, in cooperation with Esra Çuhadar, assistant professor with the Department of Political Studies of Bilkent University, conducted as research to gain an overall picture of success factors and areas needing more attention, and the result is the book Reflecting on the Two Decades of Bridging the Divide: Taking Stock of Turkish-Armenian Civil Society Activities.

“The Turkish-Armenian past is a violent one,” said Dr. Punsmann. “Many initiatives have attempted to heal this broken relationship, and this project was aimed at encouraging the reflective self-analysis of the practitioners.”

The study looked at 64 initiatives that have taken place over the last three years, examining general trends and points of convergence or divergence of views. The resulting book highlights the success of these initiatives in the transference of ideas to the policymaking level, and their impact on the process of normalization and reconciliation between the two countries.

Also considered is what needs to be done in the future to implement projects more effectively. Two workshops took place in Ankara and Istanbul in the middle of the project, allowing civil society representatives from Turkey and Armenia to meet and discuss common challenges made clearer from the research.

Punsmann said that the main problem faced by the organizations involved was a lack of impact at the political level. “There is a disconnect between what’s happening on the ground and the effect this has on policymakers,’’ she explained. ‘’Some of the practitioners involved in these initiatives hadn’t even had this in mind.’’

Punsmann said she also believes there is an urgent need to increase the impact of these initiatives in Turkey in particular, with more advocacy work required to raise public awareness, as Armenia remains in danger of being overlooked in the Turkish consciousness.

Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, director of GMF’s Ankara office, says that BST decided to support this project due to an obvious need for more research on the impact of Turkish-Armenian rapprochement projects. “This assessment shows us what has made these projects successful or not successful, and gives a clear idea of what needs to be done in the future.’’

The Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey is a non-partisan, non-profit think tank based in Ankara. For more information on TEPAV, visit www.tepav.org.tr/en.

Civic Participation

The $23,500 grant will help establish the course as part of a “Languages for Peace” program, which will also see the university offering Greek, Russian, Arabic, Farsi, and potentially Kurdish.

The course, to be taught by an Armenian doctoral candidate, is primarily aimed at business people, representatives of the media and NGOs, and post-graduate students specializing in regional studies. Dr. Mustafa Aydin, university rector and professor of international relations, says teaching people regional languages can act as a means of enhancing cooperation and cultural exchange – particularly important in the case of Armenia, which currently has no diplomatic ties with Turkey.

Currently, Kadir Has is the only university in Turkey planning to offer Armenian as a language option. “Many universities offer English, but English is already widely spoken in Turkey,” says Serdar Dinler, director of the university’s Lifelong Learning Center. “There are 8-9 million [people in the] Armenian diaspora around Europe, and most would have a basic knowledge of Turkish, whereas Armenian is barely known here.”

“Turkey is becoming a focal point in the region and now has more extensive relations with its neighbors than ever before,” Dinler says. “We had 3% trade with neighbors 10 years ago; now we have 40%. It is important that we also develop cultural ties.”  

The university is seeking partners for the other languages to be offered. Armenian instruction will commence this fall, and interest is already proving to be strong.  Kadir Has is a private university established in 1997 and named for its founder, a businessman and automotive magnate.  

BST is a grantmaking initiative promoting regional cooperation and good governance in the wider Black Sea region.  

Free Thought University

WWW.AZADFIKIR.ORG

BAKU – The Free Thought University (Azad Fikir Universiteti) in Azerbaijan became the first recipient of the USOSCE Ambassadorial Award for Freedom of Expression over the Internet. Ambassador Ian Kelly of the US Mission to the OSCE presented the award to university representative Vugar Salamli on Nov. 27.

The university is an initiative of the OL! Azerbaijan Youth Movement, which received a grant from the Black Sea Trust for the project. GMF and BST were also among the first international donor organizations to support the youth movement when its founder, Adnan Hajizade, was one of two Azerbaijani youth leaders, along with Emin Milli, arrested last summer.

The thrust of Azad Fikir is to involve youth in events organized around topics usually left out of higher-education curricula in the country, and to bring participants in contact with prominent public figures whose critical views are not usually welcome in universities. The forum also gives students from different universities and organizations a chance to meet and network. As of June 2010, Free Thought University had held around 100 interactive lectures, seminars, discussions, and other events since September 2009.

Lectures at the university are grouped in six categories – Human Rights, Democracy, Global Politics, Economics, Social Studies, and Philosophy, with Media being a late addition – and multimedia excerpts from lectures and seminars are available on the website, www.azadfikir.org.

The USOSCE presented its first annual Ambassadorial Award for Freedom of Expression over the Internet to Free Thought University in keeping with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s focus on freedom of expression over the internet. The award is designed to recognize the accomplishments of an individual or NGO that has made significant, sustained and innovative use of the internet to promote democratic reforms, civil society, independent media, human rights or the rule of law.

Black Sea Young Reformers Fellowship

HTTP://WWW.BSYR.ORGThe Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation supported the recently launched Black Sea Young Reformers Fellowship program, spearheaded by the Sofia based Institute for Regional and International Studies (IRIS). This project is an effort to support reformist thinking and reformist activities across the region of the Black Sea through identifying and encouraging like-minded, reform-oriented, influential young policy-makers, civil servants and civil society activists at national level from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. This network hopes to become a force of change and to be in a position to influence policies and propel institutional and societal changes toward more accountability and transparency in the area. The ultimate goal is movement toward European-style democracy. Much will depend on a shared vision in the Black Sea region. The Black Sea Young Reformers Fellowship hopes to contribute to developing a positive vision that is shared across the Black Sea countries.

On April 15-18 in Varna, Bulgaria IRIS hosted the Fellowship’s inaugural seminar entitled, “Security, Development and Regional Cooperation in the Black Sea Area”. The conference was organised by the Institute for Regional and International Studies in Sofia in partnership with the Centre for Applied Policy Research at the University of Munich. The event brought together young prospective politicians, civil servants and analysts from the civil society sector of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. In a series of plenary sessions and workshops, the fellows discussed their views on institutional development, democratization, regional security and cooperation around the Black Sea. They discussed ways to overcome the existing problems and suggest how the European Union can assist those processes. The conference also set the foundation of an active network among young Black Sea leaders and between them and their EU counterparts who will eventually be in position to influence policy decisions both in the countries of the region and the EU. As Ognyan Minchev, director of the Institute for Regional and International Cooperation (IRIS) stressed in his opening remarks, the primary challenge for Black Sea countries is to develop closer ties across the region. This will require that the Black Sea countries act more pro-actively to raise EU interest and involvement in their regional and domestic affairs. An important gateway should be the processes of democratization that are ongoing in the region, which should peak EU attention and interest in “serious political investment”, as one of the participants put it during the debate.

The fellows will convene again in Berlin, Germany later this fall. The workshop will focus on possible ways the EU can support reformist thinking and institutional democratisation in the Black Sea region. Discussions will draw heavily on the conclusions of the first conference and the inter-conference period – the suggestions, experiences and written work of each of the individual participants and his/her specific country background and the policy issues identified by the issue groups and the online presentations.

Civil Development Agency – Rustavi, Georgia

Since spring 2009, Civil Development Agency (CiDA) is implementing a Civil Participation Project (CPP) funded by Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation. The project intends to contribute to the improvement of the capacity of local government and civil society organizations (CSOs) as well as to build mechanisms through which the CSOs will be able to communicate and /advocate the needs and interests of the community and monitor the local government’s performance.

Along with the capacity building of local civil society organizations and ensuring their active participation in the decision- making process, CiDA managed to create a pattern of positive and mutually beneficial cooperation with the Rustavi city self-governing bodies.

Within the project it established a Civil Consultation Council that seeks and receives information about the activities of any particular government office, its budget spending records, and past, current, and planned projects. Apart from this, the local government officials, including the mayor of Rustavi, agreed to publish and distribute reports on performed activities and organize monthly public information sharing meetings at CiDA media centre.

To keep the population informed and abreast of the latest developments in the city, the project issues informational newsletter Self-Government Messenger providing Rustavi population with information on current and planned activities of local government and analytical articles.

In addition, CiDA collected, systematized, and published an electronic version of legal acts adopted by the local municipality and city council. The handbook became the only source of reference for local government bodies and representatives of the civil society. The Civil Participation project staff reviews and monitors the application of these legal acts by the different departments of the local government and regularly provides recommendations to the local government bodies on the improvement of practices related to their appliance.
The results yielded by the Civil Participation project showed the local government representatives and the civic activists the need of for continued cooperation within the established framework and urged CiDA to continue such activities in the future. The success of the project helped CiDA to attract additional funding and cover the whole region of Kvemo Kartli, of which Rustavi City is the administrative center.