On June 4-5 the round table “The Role of Media at the Current Stage of Armenia-Turkey Relations: Dividing Societies or Bringing Them Together” was held in Yerevan. The event was organized by Yerevan Press Club and Eurasia Partnership Foundation under the project “Support to Armenia-Turkey Rapprochement”, supported by USAID, and was attended by representatives of media, NGOs from Armenia and Turkey.
The round table discussions focused on the present political context – the national elections cycle in Armenia, new trends in Turkish politics, and their implications for the bilateral relations. Issues of freedom of speech, the perspectives of improving the media coverage on Armenia-Turkey thematic were also tackled. The results of monitoring the coverage of Armenia-Turkey relations by Armenian and Turkish media, administered by Yerevan Press Club and Faculty of Communications at Izmir University of Economics, were introduced to the round table participants.
On June 4 the Annual Journalism Award Ceremony was held. The Award was established in end-2010 under the YPC and Eurasia Partnership Foundation project to encourage Armenian and Turkish journalists, who report on the neighboring country and Armenian-Turkish relations. The 2012 winners were nominated by the jury, listing: Gevorg Ter-Gabrielian, Country Director of Eurasia Partnership Foundation; Aram Abrahamian, Chief Editor of “Aravot” daily; Gayaneh Abrahamian, correspondent of “ArmeniaNow” online media and EurasiaNet.org; Sylvia Tiryaki, Deputy Director of Global Political Trends Center of Istanbul Culture University; Mustafa Karaalioglu, Editor of “Star” newspaper; Yavuz Baydar, columnist of “Zaman” newspaper; as well as the laureates of the 2011 Award – Eduard Mkhitarian, Film Director of “GALA” TV company of Gyumri, and Kadri Gursel, the Foreign Affairs Editor of “Milliyet” daily (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, May 13-19, 2011 and July 8-14, 2011).
The winners of 2012 Award are: from Armenia – Lilit Gasparian, special correspondent of “Yerkir Media” TV company in Istanbul, for the film “The Citadel of the Fortress” telling about the Armenian schools in Istanbul; from Turkey – Hilal Kaplan, columnist of “Yeni Safak” newspaper, for the articles “Our Glorious History and the Truth” and “Armenia – the Diaspora of Anatolia”.
