In remembrance of the Armenian genocide in Turkey that began in 1915, Southern Connecticut State University President Mary A. Papazian sat down with a Turkish human rights activist Osman Kavala to discuss Turkey’s present day state, Southern News reported.

“Turkey today is not the Turkey of 100 years ago,” said Papazian, “and so it’s important for us outside to begin to understand what some of these changes are, what some of the tensions are and what might emerge for it all.”

Kavala, for his part, stated that an indication of the change in Turkey was the restoration of Armenian churches. The human rights advocate noted that for a while, these churches were not attributed to Armenians. The word “Armenian” had not even been on the signs until the government proposed the idea a few weeks ago.

Kavala is the Chair of Anadolu Kültür, a non-profit organization. As a human rights advocate, he encourages the developing relationship between Turkey ands its neighbors in Greece and Armenia in regards to cultural diversity.