Turkish, Armenian NGOs join forces in İstanbul to boost mutual relations

During the opening speech, Yusuf Tuncil, the president of the Lake Van Environment Association, said that they had invited Armenian representatives of NGOs to Turkey. “We aim to develop mutual respect, tolerance, peace and cooperation between our two countries,” Tuncil said in his address, underlining that they were not pursuing political interests for their gathering.

İsmail Gürol Uğurlu, the chairman of an association of Manisa residents, pointed out that Turkish President Abdullah Gül had visited Armenia, where he and Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan watched their countries’ football teams play in a World Cup qualifying match in September 2008. “Following Gül’s visit to Armenia, we thought about what we could do to further develop friendly relations between Armenia and Turkey. We decided to invite representatives from Armenian NGOs to Turkey,” Uğurlu stated.

Andranik Arshakyan, the director of the Association of Unions Compatriots, also spoke at the event. Stating that the event would go down in history, Arshakyan pointed out that it would set a precedent for further events between Turkey and Armenia. Arshakyan added that they are also planning to invite Turkish representatives of NGOs to Armenia in the coming months as they work for public diplomacy.

Today`s Zaman