ARMENIA & TURKEY PANEL GETS MIXED REVIEWS AMONG LOCALS.

Byline: Helen Gao Staff Writer

GLENDALE - Armenian-Americans expressed mixed feelings Tuesday over the creation of an international reconciliation commission designed to improve relations between their homeland and Turkey - neighbors divided by nearly a century of conflict and hatred.

Made up of 10 private individuals from Armenia, Turkey, Russia and the United States, the commission's goal is ``to promote mutual understanding and good will between Turks and Armenians, and to encourage improved relations between Armenia and Turkey.''

Arpi Vartanian, acting executive director of the Armenian Assembly of America, based in Washington, D.C., sees the commission as a groundbreaking step. ``Turkey and Armenia are neighbors. Right now they are not communicating. This is going to open the line of communication and hopefully the border,'' she said.

Turkey broke off diplomatic relations and closed its border with Armenia almost a decade ago after a war started between Armenia and the Turkish ally of Azerbaijan.

``This absolutely moves things forward. People have to understand Armenia and Turkey are in the same region of the world. One cannot grow without the other,'' Vartanian said.

Others, however, are troubled by the fact that the commission will not deal with the long-standing dispute between Armenia and Turkey regarding the validity of the Armenian Genocide.

By most historical accounts, Ottoman Turks systematically killed 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1923. To date, the Turkish government denies a genocide took place, saying both sides suffered losses during a civil war.

Although he is in favor of a more open dialogue, Levon Marashlian, a history professor at Glendale Community College, disagrees with omitting the genocide from the commission's agenda.

``I would be in favor of this commission if its goal is to establish good relations between Armenia and Turkey based on historical truth and justice,'' he said. ``But according to the information that has come out, it seems like the goal is not to talk about the veracity of the genocide.''

Marashlian, who was the first Armenian-American scholar to travel to Turkey in 1990 for a conference on the Armenian Genocide, believes the past has to be dealt with before moving forward.

``How can Armenia say, 'Let's forget the past,' when the past is directly connected to Armenia's present and future,'' he said.

The genocide, Marashlian said, is the reason why there are more Armenians living outside than inside Armenia and why it's an impoverished nation.

Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee, shares Marashlian's view.

``If there is going to be durable improvement in relations between Armenia and Turkey, it's got to be predicated on the recognition of the genocide at the outset,'' he said.

Vartanian and others hope that good will and understanding fostered by the commission will eventually lead to acknowledgment of the genocide by the Turkish government.

The New York Times News Service contributed to this story.