According to the March 5 edition of the English-language "Turkish Daily News," there is a Turkish language and literature center in Yerevan, Armenia- of all places, at Yerevan State University.
According to the TDN, 100 undergraduate students, 25 master's students and four PhD students are enrolled in the program, which was started by Istanbul-born Hrachya Acharyan in 1943.
Vercihan Ziflioglu wrote the TDN story in which depratment chair Alexander Safaryan, who has in the program since 1986, said that he thinks Turkish and Armenian linguists should engage in joint studies at the university level.
Safaryan said that such a joint effort took place with the Middle Eastern Technical University in Ankara in 2002 but turbulent diplomatic realtions have stopped such ventures for the time being.
Safaryan said there was an interest in Turkish literature in Armenia, particularly the works of Turkey's most well-known novelist Orhan Pamuk.
Safaryan added that hsitoric disputes (Turkey and Armenia have a well-documented dispute over violent conflicts that took place in eastern Turkey in 1915) should not prevent cultural and intellectual exchanges:
"I am a linguist, not a historic. My area of specialization is the Turkish language and culture. I have never conducted any studies of the 1915 killings and therefore it is not my area of specialization."
Student Susanik Zakaryan, 21, told the TDN that she visited Istanbul for two weeks, and she felt that Turkish youth did not have enough information about Armenia and that learning Turkish could help her foster better communications with Turkish people her age.
Tense diplomatic relations between Yerevan and Ankara were also the reason why student Nareg Zulayian, 19, enrolled in the Turkish studies program.
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