Dialogue group welcomes Biden's recognition of Armenian Genocide

Opening the Mountain Dialogue Group, a local community dialogue group in San Francisco Bay Area, US, has welcomed US President Joe Biden's statement recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

Burcu Tung, the co-facilitator of the group, said they recognized the importance of Biden's move and noted: "The Armenian Genocide has been largely invisible in Turkey, whose denialist policies continue to marginalize the remaining Armenians and other ethnic and religious groups in the region."

Biden's statement on April 24 Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day "came at a time in which the US is reckoning with its own colonial and genocidal history as well its history of the enslavement of African peoples," the group noted.

The Opening the Mountain Group says it has been bringing Armenians, Turks, and other ethnicities together for the past 15 years to encourage cross-cultural dialogue and reveal the different histories of the diverse peoples of Turkey.

The group was established after the assassination of journalist Hrant Dink, an Armenian of Turkey, in 2007.

Since then, more than 90 Armenians and Turks have met in each other's living rooms to participate in sustained dialogue, the group said in the statement.

"Listening to each other with open hearts"

"Our members are committed to listening to each other's stories with open hearts and minds," said Ojig Yeretsian, the group's founder and co-facilitator.

"Our process acknowledges the wounds of intergenerational conflict and genocide. We believe that inter-ethnic cycles of hatred can be disrupted with nonviolent civil conversations grounded in active listening.

"As Opening the Mountain, we hope this moment encourages others across the world to engage in difficult and honest conversations on historical events that continue to have repercussions for many individuals and communities today."

Yeretsian also welcomed Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Garo Paylan's law proposal on April 24 for the recognition of the genocide. "For this end, we applaud Garo Paylan for introducing a measure to recognize the Armenian genocide to Turkey's parliament," she said. (VK)