Dialogue Across an International Divide: Essays Towards a Turkish-Armenian Dialogue

Dr. Akçam, who has been one of the foremost proponents of dialogue between Armenians and Turks, enumerates in the first essay of his book the five fundamental taboos on which the Turkish Republic was established: 1) There are no social classes in Turkey; 2) There are no Kurds in Turkey but only “Mountain Turks;” 3) Turkey is a secular, western type of society, and any discussion of Islamic values and Islamic culture is disallowed; 4) There is no such thing as an Armenian genocide; and 5) Since the Armed Forces of Turkey became the guardians of these taboos, any discussion of the non-democratic impact of the Armed Forces upon the Republic, likewise became a taboo subject.

 
One by one, each of these taboos is gradually fading. The issue of the Armenian Genocide, however, is more difficult than any of the other taboos, because it strikes at the very foundation of the establishment of the Republic. He explains that the absence of dialogue between Armenia and Turkey, and the lack of open discussion and recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey are fundamental obstacles to the process of the democratization of Turkey.