On August 20-27, 2018, 24 young people aged 18-25 representing France, Germany, Turkey, and Armenia, reunited in Vanadzor and Yerevan for implementing the second phase of the four-national exchange program launched in November, 2017. The project is organized by the Marseille-based organization “Une Terre Culturelle” with the participation of Centre Français de Berlin (French Center in Berlin), AFS in Istanbul, and the Vanadzor-based “Peace Dialogue” NGO
The
project under the headline “Rethinking - Cooperating - Sharing” is part of the
actions financed by the European Erasmus Plus program and the French-German
Youth Office (Ofaj) within the context of the 100th anniversary of the end of
World War I. The aim of the French-German institution launched on termination
of WWI was to facilitate the reconciliation of and to promote durable
peacebuilding activities between the conflict-affected nations torn apart for
decades.
It
has become a habit for Ofaj to finance bilateral and multilateral French-German
projects since history constantly repeats itself, and the interrelated
histories of Armenia, France, Germany, and Turkey are no exception to this
rule. They are riddled with a lot of conflicts and troubles that are still
actual nowadays.
These
national and political visions give a negative image to the “Others”. And this
is also due to the poor or missing direct communication and relations between
the bearers of different cultures. And it seems that the situation is not going
to improve in the near future. Actually, we live in a period when our societies
tend to isolate, and nationalistic thoughts and ideologies are spreading at a
high speed.
This
is predominantly why it was vital for young students and volunteers from the
mentioned four countries to meet with the common objective of overcoming this
deplorable situation and establishing sound communication and cooperation
between young people of these countries. The idea was not only to evoke and
rethink together on historical facts often perceived differently across
countries, but also to develop new relations and perspectives among the young
people for a better future together.
For
this purpose, the six young people from each country and their teamers used
simple methods generated within the Ofaj-supported projects in the course of
over 55 years to deal with narratives and history dispassionately, to listen to
each other, to establish an intercultural dialogue in the atmosphere of mutual
respect, to reconsider their way of seeing the “Other” and “History”, to
cooperate and develop a common future, and finally, to share their experience
with a wider audience.
In
fact, visiting a place as symbolic and meaningful as the Armenian genocide
memorial with young Turks is not an easy thing to do. It cannot just be
improvised especially in the context of ever-changing societies and
information.
We
have had an opportunity to live this week in the middle of the Caucasus in an
incredible period for Armenian society… Three months ago the government was
swept away by a revolutionary wind of change, without violence but with a great
determination. The changes, originated with the “marches” organized in all the
Armenian cities, towns, and villages aiming to put down the corrupt
governmental systems, are still underway, and in Vanadzor we have had a chance
to see the civil society protagonists standing at the roots of the movement.
This interaction and this proximity gave us the impression of being privileged
witnesses and even proud actors in these realities...
