• News/Talk
  • Music
  • Entertainment

Bridging the Turkish Armenian Divide

Listen to this Story
Larger view
Border Map
Enlarge This Image

Congress is considering a resolution officially recognizing the Armenian genocide, but some are afraid that a statement like this will damage relations with Turkey. In Boston, one Armenian-American has been working to foster dialogue between the Turkish and Armenian communities. Independent Producer Keith O'Brien has this story.

Notes from producer Keith O'Brien

Before doing this piece, I knew very little about the tensions between Turks and Armenians, other than that they existed. What surprised me is not necessarily how strong these tensions are - hatred is a powerful force - but how the members of this dialogue group had overcome this hatred to a certain extent.

While this might seem to be a good thing, not everyone agrees. The people who spoke to me for this piece did so at the risk of incurring the wrath of their own countrymen for being too sympathetic to the other side. They often chose their words carefully and I can hardly blame them. Who wants to be criticized for making an effort to find a little peace and understanding?

Comments

  • Comment | Refresh

  • Post a Comment: Please be civil, brief and relevant.

    Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. All comments are moderated. Weekend America reserves the right to edit any comments on this site and to read them on the air if they are extra-interesting. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting.

      Form is no longer active

     

    You must be 13 or over to submit information to American Public Media. The information entered into this form will not be used to send unsolicited email and will not be sold to a third party. For more information see Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Download Weekend America

Weekend Weather

From the January 31 broadcast

Support American Public Media with your Amazon.com purchases
Search Amazon.com:
Keywords:
 ©2015 American Public Media