Vahram Ter-Matevosyan: We Should Develop a New Strategy of Working with Armenian MPs in Turkey

• 06.08.2015, 16:50
•  Region,  World,  Interview

"Armedia" IAA presents an exclusive interview with a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Oriental Studies at the National Academy of Sciences, historian Vahram Ter-Matevosyan.

- How will you assess the process of elections in Turkey?

- I think these elections were very important for a number of reasons. For the first time since 1999 Turkey is going to have a coalition government. This is going to significantly change the ruling party’s priorities. For years Erdogan believed that he was the ultimate personality in Turkey, accordingly he ruled the country the way he preferred. What happened yesterday can be called vote of no-confidence; the Turkish society - about seven million people, voted against Erdogan’s political ambitions.

Of course, all the political parties, movements in Turkey will draw their lessons, because what happened in Turkey is going to have significant implications in Turkey and beyond. A new political landscape is emerging in Turkey. The pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party is going to be the first game changer in the whole process. They are very well positioned to voice those questions that they previously were not able to push forward, because of limitations concerning their representation in the Parliament of Turkey. Now they are represented in the Parliament of Turkey as a political party and they are consolidated political force to come up with many issues that were not previously heard by the legislative body of Turkey.

- Three Turkish-Armenians have been elected in the Turkish parliament. Does it speak about already occurred changes in the country’s politics and what to expect in the future?

- My perspective on this question differs. These newly elected Armenian MPs are Turkish citizens and they are also members of respective political parties. We should take them into account and develop a new strategy how to work with them. All of those MPs are really very important members of their community, some of them are very young, energetic people and they know very well the problems of the Armenian community. At the same time they are integral voices of their political parties.

Margar Yesayan has been very active on many important issues concerning Armenian Genocide, Armenian-Turkish relations. Garo Paylan belongs to pro-Kurdish party and he seems to be a proponent of leftist ideas. Selina Doğan, a young lawyer, seems to be very educated person and she knows Armenian.

To conclude we are to state that it is a good start. However, we should not be too enthusiastic. Instead we should be quick to learn how to work with these three people. I don’t think there will be much change in their actions, especially in case of Markar Yesayan. However the two other Armenian MPs, who represent opposition, can come up with interesting ideas that can have their impact on the way Turkey views Armenian question.