Purpose:
Through both private and public dialogue, this project aims to help improve relationships between communities or countries with relationships long-stalled following violence. This Track Two approach includes utilization of interactive problem solving where other formal diplomatic channels may not be an option or as a supplement to formal diplomatic efforts. The project's initial focus has been the Armenian-Turkish relationship.
Background:
Since 1915, Armenian and Turkish societies have constructed at least two, often mutually exclusive, historical narratives regarding the events surrounding the massacre of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Yet most scholars concur with Raphael Lemkin's characterization of these events as genocide.
Nevertheless, fundamental disagreement over what precipitated these events and how best to characterize this episode have paralyzed relations between both communities. The lack of mutual understanding has had profound economic, political, and social consequences for both the Turkish and Armenian states, their peoples, and perhaps for the entire south Caucasus.
Despite these realities, there are important individuals and groups in both communities who desire reconciliation and see possibilities for creating it.
The Inter-Communal Violence and Reconciliation (ICVR) Project has sought to engage both communities proactively to ensure forward progress in reconciliation through dialogue processes that respect both communities.
Projects to Date:
The ICVR Project has held two problem solving workshops to help promote the process of Turkish-Armenian reconciliation.
Problem Solving Workshops are used to provide an informal forum where unofficial representatives of the parties to a conflict can engage in problem solving. Since meetings are private, participants can communicate without the implication that they are recognizing or legitimizing one another's claims or that they will be held publicly accountable for what they say during discussions.
The workshop offers participants the opportunity to accomplish specific goals:
- Joint analysis of the causes of the conflict
- Mutual identification of the needs and fears underlying the causes
- Consideration of how broadly to address both societies' sets of needs and fears
- Joint identification of the constraints against doing this; and, finally
- Development of specific steps for taking the learning from the workshop back into the respective communities
On November 16, 2009 the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, the University Committee on Human Rights Studies and the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy jointly sponsored an event entitled "Armenian-Turkish Reconciliation: Routes Through Empowerment." The event was held at Harvard University's Weatherhead Center for Government and International Studies and drew a standing-room-only crowd in the 150 seat Tsai Auditorium. Featured speakers were:
- Hasan Cemal, a journalist, writer, and the grandson of Cemal (Djemal) Pasha, one of the three "Young Turk" heads of the last Ottoman government during the period 1915-1919;
- Yektan Turkyilmaz, a doctoral candidate in cultural anthropology at Duke University. Mr. Turkyilmaz has done archival research in Armenia (View a copy of his written speech here)
- Asbed Kotchikian lectures in Political Science and International Relations at Bentley University. His academic foci are the history and current day relations in the South Caucasus where has regularly spends time, as well as organizing efforts for peace building and understanding among nations of that region. (View a copy of his written speech here)
Click here to view the video recording of the event. The handout from the event which includes the three short articles by Hasan Cemal along with the introduction by Pamela Steiner, may be downloaded by clicking here. The document appears exactly as it was for those attending the November 16 event.
On November 17, 2009 a small, off the record meeting with Hasan Cemal was held.
Co-Directors of ICVR: