Under the conditions of Diaspora we have forgotten about the relations between Armenians and Turks, Atom Egoyan, the famous Canadian Armenian film director, who has first visited Turkey, told Istanbul-based Armenian newspaper ‘Agos.’

According to him, the history has interrupted the Armenian-Turkish relations, and we have frozen up in that moment.  “Here I noticed that the relations are developing and are viable due to the dialogue. We want the countries we live in to know about our sufferings. But today I see that the precise statement by Pope Francis, resolutions of the German, Austrian and Belgian Parliaments are not enough to put pressure. The problem is inside Turkey. If the Diaspora has no ties with the society here, it will appear out of the process,” he said. The film director said he didn’t want to go against his decision not to visit Turkey: “However, here I saw a change, a light, and got to know incredible people,” he said.  

Referring to the large rallies in Istanbul, the participants of which cried: “We are all Hrant,” Egoyan said: “After the assassination of Hrant Dink, thousands of people took to the streets crying “We are all Hrant, we are all Armenian.” We thought they were saying: “We acknowledge Genocide,” but they were actually saying: “We are Hrant, since we want freedom of expression.” We’ve got used to considering everything in one dimension. Now we understand that there is a community that deserves our attention and that only as a result of this community’s mentality change can we overcome our fears.”

Egoyan also expressed confidence that the focal point of Turkey’s policy will one day change, and this will happen only as a result of pressure from the community.