Anthony, we totally agree then. diaspora Armenian

I don't admire Turkey for anything, we have plenty of Turks in Belgium and although problems with this minority occur not that often I do not like or dislike them. Just note that this bridge is built not by the Turkish government as such but by a benevolent organisation which also tried to bring Israelis and Palestinians closer togeter. Not everything should be linked to the genocide that's all. Israel is often blamed for running a holocaust economy, Armenia should be prudent not to make the same mistake. No sensible man in Europe, Russia or the US denies that the young Turks tried to wipe out the Armenians. It is just time to settle things and to recognise positive events as is the building of this bridge.

Anthony, I agree with you that it is a positive step for everyone. I also agree with you that sometimes things are exagerated, such as the music example you mentioned... But your comment sort of hints that you admire Turkey for its steps towards reconciliation as if they are not guilty and they are just sacrificing to meet the Armenians half way. They are re-writing the history and ignoring their bloody past just because Armenians are a minority in the area... they are not teaching their childrens about the history and what they did in 1915 and before...in this way they are cutting the link between us and our ancestors who lived there for thousands of years,this is a crime on its own. Our grand parents lived in what is now eastern Turkey, where are their possessions? where are their houses?...for someone denying all that, do you still admire them? do you want to live now as a minority in Turkey? i bet you can't survive one day in Turkey as an Armenian/Greek or Kurd(a year ago Kurdish language was illegal,imagine someone telling you that you cannot speak French in Belgium...)this is the bare minimum they can do, which is re-opening the border that Turkey closed due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict...can't you see that Turks are strangling Armenia and trying to bring them to submission?... if you are a Belgian, and as a relatively small country in the region, would you accept Germany (or the world powers) to wipe out the facts of Belgian invasion and atrocities by the Nazis? so, part of your ancestors were wiped out but no one knows how... We are where we are because there is an unsettled score since 1915, they thought we will all die and no one will mention us, just like Hitler thought, but we survived and we want justice to our ancestors...

This is a genuine step of Turkey to take. As a Belgian I sometimes read articles on this website and while understanding that the past left wounds, I sometimes find the critique on Turkey exagerated. For example recently, I read someone criticising the notion of Turkish music. He or she claimed that there is no such thing as Turkish music since it would constitute a mix of Greek, Armenian, Arab and Jewish music. Of course! Every music must be deemed a mix of influences of other cultures and countries. Eva Riva's song is no exception. On topic: I hope that commentators to this article won't see anything "bad" in the building of this bridge. It is highly symbolic and indeed may establish the beginning of less rivalry between the two countries. That's what Europeans and most likely the vast majority of Armenian citizens want.