According to Armenian media reports, Armenia’s leading business association and three civic groups signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on April 28 to work together in enhancing contacts between Armenian and Turkish societies with a view to supporting normalization efforts between the two countries. The MOU was signed by the Eurasia Partnership Foundation, the Armenian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the Yerevan Press Club (YPC) and the International Center for Human Development. At a joint press conference, the organizations stated that they will coordinate their projects and work together to further develop Turkish-Armenian relations. Various civil society organizations in Turkey and Armenia have supported the political dialogue between the two countries, which led to the signing of two protocols in October 2009. However, the governmental track has since stalled. According to Boris Navasardian, the YPC chairman, the NGO coalition will propose ways of kick-starting the process.
In a separate development, religious leaders from Armenia and Azerbaijan have called for a peaceful resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, during a landmark meeting in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku. The call came as the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Garegin II, made his first-ever trip to Azerbaijan today, joining a gathering of some 200 religious figures from around the world. Garegin II was invited by Azerbaijan's longtime Shi'a Muslim leader, Sheikh ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade, and Russian Orthodox Church leader Patriarch Kirill. The three met on the sidelines of the gathering and later issued a joint declaration pledging support for efforts by Yerevan, Baku, and international mediators to end the conflict over the disputed region.
"It is vitally important not to allow a return to military ways of solving contentious issues," the leaders said in a statement released after their meeting. "With our peace efforts, we will be sustaining people's hopes for the elimination of existing divisions, barriers, and animosity, for war, if it is continued, will have no end."
The Turkish Coalition of America, in support of civil society efforts that contribute to dialogue, announced an Armenian American Scholarship Program in October 2009. Currently, two Armenian-American students and two Armenian students have received the TCA scholarship to study in Turkey.
