Ruşen Arslan, Kadir Süleyman Kaçan, İsmail Beşikçi and Hrant Kasparyan, who are members of İsmail Beşikçi Foundation,were supported with the Turkey-Armenia Travel Grant to visit Yerevan for sharing their experience in oral history projects with different organizations, as well as for organizing panel discussions.
Ismail Besikci
“It is important to understand Armenia and Armenians, therefore travel to Armenia is meaningful.”
Rusen Arslan
“During my visit I have witnessed the positive impacts of the restoration of the Armenian Church in Diyarbakır and the Armenian ‘Welcome’ greetings at the entrance of the city of Diyarbakır which brought to life while old Major of Diyarbakır, Osman Baydemir, was in the office. Especially, Turkish people and the Turkish state have a greater role in normalizing the relations between two countries. No one would like to carry the burden of the 1915 trauma for another century. As a legacy to our grandchildren we should leave friendship instead of enmity. I hope that the centennial of the Armenian genocide will contribute to this purpose.”