I guess I really don’t get this one. What is the point of calling the ARF for “dialogue” with Turkey? It sounds to me to be another probing by Turkey and it’s supporters to weaken the leading and most politically active Armenian organization. If I was the ARF, I would decline the offer and send my list of desires for normalization of relations. If they can’t comprehend the list (which a normal person should be able to, but until now, Turkey had made it a point not to), then the communicative problem is theirs.

GIBRAHAYER
e-magazine
Tue, 22 Feb 2005

INVITED TO TURKEY
* Soyak calls Dashnaktsoutiun to Turkey for dialogue
* Describes the party and its leaders as very serious and sensible with a negative image in Turkey.

Turkish businessman Kaan Soyak, called on the ARF Dashnaktsoutiun on Monday to engage in "dialogue" with Turkey.

"I seriously invite them to Turkey for a dialogue. If Dashnaktsoutiun agrees to engage in a dialogue with Turkey, I promise you that I will do my best to organize it," Kaan Soyak, one of the two co-chairmen of the Turkish-Armenian Business Council (TABC), told a news conference in Yerevan.

Soyak failed to elaborate about the subject of his proposed talks, saying only that they could yield "serious results." He also said he thinks Dashnaktsoutiun is not as fiercely anti-Turkish as many Turks believe.

"In Turkey, the Dashnaktsoutiun party has a negative image," Soyak said. "But if you ask for my opinion, I would describe the party and its leaders as very serious and sensible."