“Do You Really Wish to Live Peacefully with the Turks, or Has Turkish Intelligence Done Its Job?” — Raffi Aslanyan

Lawyer and former Yerevan City Prosecutor Raffi Aslanyan shared the following on his Facebook page:

“During a flight from Athens to Munich, I met a renowned German professor who teaches at several universities across Germany, the Czech Republic, and Turkey. As one of the world’s leading experts on Turkic studies, he has an exceptional command of the history of the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey, as well as their political and historical priorities.

He has translated several works by Orhan Pamuk and co-authored, among other publications, a book titled ‘The Turkic Languages and Cultures of the Soviet Union and Its Successor States.’

As a matter of fact, he was a fascinating interlocutor who also knew a great deal about the Armenians. At one point, with a half-smile, he asked me: ‘Do you, as a nation, truly wish to live peacefully with the Turks—or has Turkish intelligence already done its job?’

I understood the implication of his question but chose not to answer directly. Instead, I asked him: ‘And what do you think?’His response was sharp: ‘Of course you can—but only in the same way as the Armenians currently living in Turkey do.’

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In my view, the subtext of his question was this: Are you, as a nation, really that naïve, or has the enemy’s intelligence service simply appointed your leadership for you?

These words come from a man who is not Armenian—someone who knows the Turks intimately, understands their objectives, and, at least outwardly, acts as a Turkish lobbyist. Yet some of our compatriots continue to live in illusions. As for the leader of our state, I won’t even comment—because I cannot rid myself of the suspicion that everything he does has been preplanned and ordered from the very beginning.”