A group of six journalists from Turkey visited Armenia between December 8th and 10th, 2018 as part of the Turkey-Armenia Journalists’ Dialogue Programme, organised by the Hrant Dink Foundation within the framework of the programme Support to the Armenia-Turkey Normalisation Process (ATNP) funded by the European Union under the Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace (IcSP) and the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the Bridge Funding for ATNP.
In the 10th year of the programme, which aims at strengthening ties between journalists from Turkey and Armenia and contributing to the establishment of direct and accurate means of exchanging news sources, journalists from Turkey from five different media outlets visited Armenia for covering the pre and post-election processes around the Snap Parliamentary Elections, which took place on December 9th, 2018.
Sedat Ergin: Armenia has passed a very important treshold on the transition to an actual democracy. |
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Journalists from Anadolu Agency, Hürriyet, BBC News Turkish, T24, Medyascope.tv paid their first visit to Armenia. They had the opportunity to know more about the political system, recent political developments, media landscape in Armenia as well as the regional developments through various meetings and roundtables. During the first roundtable discussion, the journalists from Turkey met with the representatives from leading public and private media outlets, such as Armenian Public TV, Aravot Daily, Epress, Chai-Khana, EVN Report ve Media Initiatives Center, discussing the role of media and social media during the Velvet revolution and beyond.
Şirin Payzın: We have had the opportunity to practice journalism in all terms and followed the elections with every aspect. |
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During the second roundtable discussion with the representatives from civil society organisations and political activists, the participants discussed the root causes that led to the change in the political environment in Armenia as well as the role of the civil society organisations. The participants also touched upon the possibilities for dialogue with Turkey and the expectations of developments in the regional context, taking into account the democratic developments in Armenia.
Thanks to the meetings with various media outlets such as Public Radio of Armenia and Civilnet, the journalists met with their colleagues in Armenia, learned about Turkish language broadcasts in Armenia and have exchanged views on the possible joint ideas for cooperation between the media outlets in Armenia and Turkey.
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Işın Eliçin: I believe that if there will be a change in the relation between the two countries, it will be through establishing ties and bridges between the people. |
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The journalists met the Vice-President of Armenian National Congress (ANC), Levon Zourabian, and the Head of Foreign Commission of ANC, Vladimir Karapetyan, as well as the International Secretary of Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun, Giro Manoyan. During both of the meetings, the overview of the political developments in Armenia, starting from the time that Armenia got the independence from Soviet Union, as well as the perspectives and the expectations of the respective political parties from the current developments and the snap parliamentary elections were evaluated. Through these meetings, the group also learnt about the geopolitical situation, foreign policy directions of Armenia and discussed the future prospects of Armenia-Turkey relations.
Özge Özdemir: [In Armenia] People made their choices for further democratisation, human rights and further liberalisation. |
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On the Election Day, the journalists also made news and live coverage from the polling stations, including the one where the Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan went to cast his vote. On the third day of the programme, the journalists had a meeting with the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Zohrab Mnatsakanyan. At the same time, one of the journalists took part in the press conference held by the Acting Prime Minister Pashinyan for the foreign media.
Manşeti Komşuda Atalım! Aralık 2018 - Ermenistan
During the programme, the group also met with some of the fellows of Turkey-Armenia Fellowship Scheme and learnt about their experiences during the time they spent in the neighbouring country.
As part of the three-day visit, the group also made excursions to Cafesjian Center for the Arts and Vernissage.
From the Press
Ermenistan halkı erken seçim için sandık başında, Anadolu Agency, 09.12.2018
Ermenistan'da gücünü pekiştiren isim: Paşinyan, Anadolu Agency, 10.12.2018
'Türkiye ile ilişkilerin ön koşul olmadan normalleşmesine hazırız', Anadolu Agency, 11.12.2018
Ermenistan'da gündem seçimler; Paşinyan T24'e konuştu, T24, 10.12.2018
Ermenistan'da yeni bir sayfa: “Devrim değil evrim”, T24, 12.12.2018
Kadife Devrim ve ötesi..., T24, 13.12.2018
Güne Bakış: Ana Haber Bülteni - Konuklar: Ayşen Uysal, Işın Eliçin, Medyascope.tv, 10.12.2018
Dünyanın Gidişi (15): Ermenistan’da Nikol Paşinyan ile yeni dönem, Medyascope.tv, 11.12.2018
Erivan izlenimleri (1) - Araştırmacı gazeteciden başbakan olur mu?, Hürriyet, 12.12.2018
Erivan izlenimleri (2) Paşinyan Ermenistan’daki yolsuzluk ekonomisini yıkabilecek mi?, Hürriyet, 13.12.2018
Erivan izlenimleri (3) İlişkilerde normalleşme uzak bir bahara kaldı, Hürriyet, 13.12.2018
Erivan izlenimleri (4) - Ter-Petrosyan’la 28 yıl sonra yeniden karşılaşınca..., Hürriyet, 14.12.2018
Impressions on Yerevan: How can an investigative journalist become prime minister?, Hürriyet Daily News, 13.12.2018
Ermenistan'da bir muhalefet lideri nasıl 'devrimin' yüzü oldu?, BBC News Turkish, 15.12.2018
This activity took place as part of the programme
Support to the Armenia-Turkey Normalisation Process
supported by the European Union and
the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the Bridge Funding.
