“We do not forget our history. We, the “Armenian Navy Band” members do
not have any enemies. We go to play in Turkey, as well as other
countries. Whatever I say here is translated in Turkish there because
if you want something to end you have to let it out, talk and state
what it is that bothers you and let the other tell his side of the
story. Otherwise, we can just keep it locked up inside and then that
just gets worse. The Turks have written a book in order to defend
themselves. They have written that the Armenians remain centuries old
enemies for them. The children in schools, who have never even seen or
said hello to an Armenian, look at the Armenians as enemies. Aside from
that, the Armenian schools in Turkey also teach students with those
history books. The Armenian teacher goes to the school, uses that
history book and teaches the children that we are a bad people. Can you
imagine? Then that same child has to walk out in the street with that
knowledge. How can he face the world when everyone is considered his
enemy? The Turks broadcast programs with the same propaganda every day.
Any nation who has an issue to solve, it should speak in public. They
just go from here to there, close doors, and then say whatever they
feel like depending on how much they get paid for saying that. To me,
that is a shame to all humanity. I have lived through all that. I have
been beaten up for months while serving in the army just because my
name is Arto. I have lived through it, not seen. That is a totally
different story and I have talked about that in Turkish media. You have
to express all that and not just say that the other side is the one
guilty. What guilt does the child from the opponent’s side have? What
has he done? They either call each other Turk or Armenian, thus
becoming enemies. What is this?” said Arto Tunchboyadjyan during an
interview with “168 hours”. Nowadays he still travels to Turkey for
concerts, so we were interested in knowing whether or not there still
are similar issues. “It can happen here and there. They instill the
word enemy in the brains of everyone. Not every Turk is bad. You have
to greet each person without knowing that person. How will you know
what kind of person he or she is by nationality?”
