'We do not know how many Armenians live in Turkey'

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"All our main issues remain unsolved."

"We do not know how many Armenians live in Turkey."

"The 23.5 Site of Memory looks at the life of Hrant Dink, the stories of the Agos newspaper, and the past of the Armenian society in Turkey.

"Hate speech is becoming more widespread on social media, while it is on the decline in the press." 

"KarDes is a mobile application designed as a personal tour guide for users who wish to discover the multicultural legacy of İstanbul."

IPS Communication Foundation/bianet is holding meetings with non-governmental organizations working in the fileds of human rights, gender equality, women's and LGBTI+ rights, migrants/refugees, ecology, rights of the disabled, law and media. 

The second meeting was held with the Hrant Dink Foundation. 

Yasemin Korkmaz, Atom Şaşkal, Katia Arslan, and Nayat Karaköse from the Hrant Dink Foundation participated in the meeting. They detailed the work carried out by the foundation and talked about the issues that concern the Armenian society in Turkey. 

"All major issues remain unsolved"

"We do not know how many Armenians live in Turkey," says Nayat Karaköse, the coordinator of the 23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory. 

"All major issues remain unsolved," she adds. Noting that the press could report on all these problems, she says she wishes that the media would do more work in relation to the problems and the rights of minorities. 

 23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory

Karaköse explains that the 23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory was founded four years ago, in the room which was the office where Hrant Dink worked in the Agos newspaper before he was murdered in front of the newspaper on December 19, 2007. 

"We can say that 23.5 is the first site of memory established in Turkey," she says. The site of memory opened its doors on April 23.5, 2019 [see below].

The center looks at the life of Hrant Dink, the stories of the Agos newspaper, and the past of the Armenian society in Turkey on the one hand, and highlights the murder, the background of the murder, and the legal struggle waged after the murder on the other hand, as Karaköse describes it. 

"This is a venue of hope, a venue of transformation, a venue of research because it contains archives, and a venue of dialogue, interaction, and a venue for thinking and producing together," she says. 

Hate speech on social media

Yasemin Korkmaz was the one to talk about the project of the foundation on "Hate speech on social media and artificial intelligence."

Reminding the participants that they have carried out a study on hate speech in the press in the past, she said that their target in the new project was to be able to identify hate speech on social media immediately and to collect data about it. 

Korkmaz observes that hate speech is becoming more and more widespread on social media, while it is on the decline in the press. 

"Hate speech was mostly used against the migrants/refugees and LGBTI+ during the election period," she says. 

Multicultural legacy of İstanbul with KarDes

KarDes, is a mobile application designed as a personal tour guide in Turkish and English languages for users who wish to discover the multicultural legacy and multilayered fabric of Istanbul, as it is described in its website. 

Atom Şaşkal, the coordinator of the Cultural Legacy project introduced the KarDes program.

"We are trying to uncover the stories of the people who are not seen, who are not heard on this land that we live in," says Şaşkal and describes the program as one that focuses on the cultural heritage of the non-Muslims. 

"The reason is that the non-Muslims are being overshadowed by the official history," he says. 

The locatons in İstanbul have been included in the application first, and locations in İzmir and Ankara were added later. 

Şaşkan informs that the application offers the users a personal tour guide in Turkish and English languages, either physically, while they walk through these locations or digitally, so anyone in any part of the world who wish to discover this multicultural legacy can use it. 

(HA/PE)