Traces of millenia old Armenian presence in Arguvan area could still be seen in local ethno-cultural landscape
Democratisation Panel at the Arguvan Festival Source: http://www.bolsohays.com/ 07/07/2003 A panel called �Democratisation and Multiculturalism� was held during the �Arguvan Song Festival� where accordingly Turkey was not able to maintain its multicultural structure and problems stemming from this were still evident. Within the �Arguvan Song Festival� held for the first time in the Arguvan county of Malatya, a panel was organised in the Arguvan Comprehensive Lyc�e where Journalists Oral Calislar, Zeynep Oral and the Editor in Chief of Agos Newspaper Hrant Dink took part. The first to come to word in the panel was Oral �alislar who said that Arguvan had been a place where Kurds, Turks, Sunnis and Alevis were living in harmony for hundreds of years and that this is heartening. �In Arguvan, Turks and Kurds, Sunnis and Alevis live in a multicultural setting. So it is possible to live side by side.� Turkey had a very rich and multicultural past according to �alislar but this structure was not continued and later disintegrated. As a consequence of developments in the social movements, the definition of democracy was also changing and that the most important issue facing democracies was human rights and �alislar added: �Whenever themes such as minority rights, Kurdish language are mentioned this preconception comes to the forefront in Turkey: They resort to these in order to divide us, they come up with something called minority rights. That is to say we were not able to improve and extend democracy.� In his speech, Hrant Dink raised the problems of the Armenians saying that in the last century the Armenian population and number of churches were steadily decreasing. �When my ancestors were banished from their homeland there were Kurds and Alevis around them. They (Armenians) left their children to their neighbours, because they thought they would return.� Translation: E.Y.
