Advisor to Turkish prime minister Etienne Mahchupian, commenting on Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s invitation addressed to Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan, had said that Armenians were also killed in this Battle, and attending the celebration incurs form Armenia’s interests. In this respect, Aravot.am talked with Ruben Melkonyan, who mentioned that one should understand Etienne Mahchupian’s political description to interpret his statements. “It is clear that Etienne Mahchupian was appointed an Advisor to Turkish Prime Minister due to this very description, a person who is Armenia only by the surname, and a person who openly announces that first of all he is a citizen and official of Turkey and serves the interests of Turkey. Naturally, Etienne Mahchupian’s statement is a statement of an ordinary Turkish official, which should incur from the interests of this state.”
Mr. Menkonyan mentioned that Etienne Mahchupian supports the left-wing ideology for many years, whose national identity is subordinated. “It is probably strange for him to comprehend the counsel of April 24, and whether it is possible for the Armenian official to attend an invented and fabricated celebration on April 24, the Centennial of the Dardanelles battle. Hence, I think that Etienne Mahchupian’s statement shows that he does not realize and is not familiar with the Armenian perceptions and approaches the issue one-sidedly – from Turkish viewpoint.”
The Turkologist believes that this is not the case when Armenia should make a move to meet Turkey, which will contribute to the establishment of relations between the two parties. “This is clearly the case when the Turkish authorities have invent a pretext to divert the international attention from the Armenian genocide issue. This is one more campaign trick indicating their move to meet Armenia.”
Ami CHICHAKYAN
Read also
