I totally agree with Aravelk. Turkish people (and politicians) wants to move on. The feelings in Turkey have very much changed. I.E. everybody (in your community) talked about the savage killing of Hrant Dink, the Turkish newspaper writer. I wonder why nobody is mentionning the hundreds of thousnds of Turkish people who have walked side by side with the Dink family to show their support and solidarity. Positive attitude from both side will open discussions. After all this is what you want to open discussions on the 1915 events.

"Those simpletons that have the illusion that Turks can upgrade themselves from "Homo Erectus" status to "Homo Sapiens" will be permanently disappointed" This type thinking is completely meaningless. Turkish businessmen have left Armenian businessmen far behind with their huge export business with nearly every country in the world! It will take time for relations with Armenia to become fully normal. For decades Turkish history books and Turkish media have described Armenia as an enemy. But today's Turkey's leaders have made an important start. Who could have imagined the President of Turkey in Armenia only a few years ago?

Those simpletons that have the illusion that Turks can upgrade themselves from "Homo Erectus" status to "Homo Sapiens" will be permanently disappointed. Davutoglu is a Turk is a Turk is a Turk? what do you expect?

John good job, I like what you had to say. You were very honest and straight to the point. I give Sarkisyan a lot of credit as well. The man is trying very hard to create a better future for the two nations while putting his own neck on the line every single time. He is also exposing Turkey for who they really are. He is proving to the international community that Turkey can not be trusted and their word, signature, etc. The Turkish leaders have no honor or self respect. In my opinion the Turks and Azeri’s have no intention to make peace with Armenia. On the contrary, they want to eliminate Armenia from the map and unite their two states. How can the very people that took our lands, deny the killings of our ancestors, blockade our borders, and support our enemy both by providing training and weapons want the good for us. It is time Armenians all around the world realize that we have no allies, our very people both in and out of Armenia are our only allies. We need to be united, determined, and relentless for our motherland. We have to show the world that our will can't be broken and that our hearts are as big as anyone’s. We have been through hell and back but we have managed to pull through and we will get out of this mess as well. I encourage all my brother and sisters to have love for our homeland; remember our brave ancestors’ game their lives to hold on to what ever was possible. Recently our brothers and fathers gave their lives to take back what our ancestors failed to get. Now it is up to us to hold on to what ever we have and make sure it prospers. I encourage all of you to visit Armenia (Artshak) and talk to the families there. They will tell you the sacrifice they made for our people to simply live in our own land and how they are ready to sacrifice again. The people I meet in Artshak were the bravest I ever meet. Kids and grandparents were willing to take up arms and protect themselves and not let 1915 happen again. History should teach us, don’t trust anybody especially a Turk. As our defense minister stated “If you want peace, prepare for war” because so as you guard is down they will attack and no country or stupid document will hold them back.

Bravo John! You said it!

Very well put, I have read John Hughes for years now and do wish he puts his insight more often and definitely wish outside eye is continued as well. Well said but this whole situation will never end. I wonder what is Turkey's aim and what was Turkey's aim when they proceeded to get the ball rolling on the protocols because reconciliation definitely does not seem to be any intention of theirs. The day after the protocols were signed, Turkey blatantly set pre-conditions so what is Turkey really up to?

From David Boyajian's "Ship of Fools: Turkey and the European Union": Serious reforms were first attempted during Ottoman Turkey's Tanzimat (Reorganization) period of 1839 to 1876. Pushed by Europe, Turkey declared measures, quickly proven ineffective, to safeguard the rights of its subjects, including Armenians. A Turkish constitution was then declared in 1876 but suspended, along with parliament, just two years later. Article 61 of the Treaty of Berlin, signed in 1878 by the European powers, Turkey, and Russia, guaranteed the safety of Ottoman Armenians but was dead before the ink dried. Turkish "reforms" reached new levels in the 1890s with massacres of hundreds of thousands of Armenians. In 1908 came the "reformist" Young Turk party. Inspired by European ideals, it pledged liberty, equality, and fraternity. "Reform" culminated in the cataclysm of 1915. Turkey's next European-inspired "reformer" was Kemal Ataturk, who all but finished off the country's remaining Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian Christians, not to mention thousands of Muslim Kurds. He seized historical western Armenia, which Europe had promised to Armenians, and attacked the just-reborn Armenian Republic while Europe looked on. Ataturk's "reformist" legacy endures to this day: Genocide denial, the blockade of Armenia, and 80 years of military coups, human rights abuses galore, and even massacres, all tolerated by Europe. Today comes yet another collection of Turks pledging European-approved "reform." This too will end in disaster if history is any guide. Given Europe's wretched record regarding Armenians, there is little evidence that the EU will ever restrain Turkey against Armenia.

Well said John! It's becoming clear to many more people that Turkey had no intention to open its border with Armenia when it signed the protocols, and probably thought that it could prolong this process as long as it took so as to prevent the Obama administration from recognizing the genocide.

john, i think i could have a beer or two with you next time i am in yerevan. nice job sticking (pun intended) it to him. assoglu indeed. any relations to christopher hitchens by chance?