Speaking to One Another

Since August 2009 dvv international has been implementing a project with the aim of contributing to the Turkish-Armenian reconciliation process. The project is financed by the German Federal Foreign Office.

After a century of conflict and lack of dialogue, this project aims to build bridges between Turkey’s and Armenia’s populations through adult education, intercultural exchange and oral history research.

In 2009 a youth camp for students from both countries was organized in Armenia to train young people in the methodology of oral history. In 2010 a second joint camp in Turkey empowered young people to develop and implement small-scale student projects of their own in teams. The oral history research that was carried out within the framework of these activities formed the basis of the publication “Speaking to one Another: Personal Memories of the Past in Armenia and Turkey” and a travelling exhibition on the joint past of the two communities.

The main partners of the project are Anadolu Kültür, a local NGO working in the sphere of culture and the arts in Turkey and the Centre for Ethnological Studies “Hazarashen” and the Armenian Actors Union in Armenia. The oral history research is directed by Dr. Hranush Kharatyan-Arakelyan from the Yerevan State Linguistic University named after V. Brusov and Dr. Leyla Neyzi from Sabancı University in Istanbul.

Exhibition
		Speaking to One Another Exhibition travels to Paris, France Speaking to One Another travelled to Paris from November 15th to November 29th. The exhibition took place on the Peniche Anako. The opening was a great success; the boat welcomed more than 120 people.
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Workshops
		Local History Workshop in Gyumri, Armenia, 2012 Between 16-29th of April, 2012, twenty students from Armenia and Turkey (ten from each) met in the city of Gyumri in Armenia in order to carry out joint activities.
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