Ragıp Zarakolu, Turkish activist, one of the founders of the Human Rights Association in Turkey, publisher of several books on the Armenian Genocide and on Kurdish issues, convicted several times for his advocacy and defense of the freedom of expression, visited Civilitas together with a group of Armenian writers and other guests, including the authors of the “Dialogue on the Armenian Taboo” published in France, Michel Marian and Ahmet Insel.
The guests were visiting Armenia within the framework of a week-long book fair in Yerevan.
Mr. Zarakolu met with the founder of Civilitas Vartan Oskanian. The director of Civilitas Salpi Ghazarian welcomed the guests and talked about the importance of literature in strengthening civil society.
Mr. Zarakolu talked about the difficulties he had gone through in Turkey trying to confront the state propaganda and overcoming the existing taboos in Turkey.
He also talked about the positive changes the society underwent in recent years in reconciling with the past and facing the difficult issues on national minorities.