Traces of millenia old Armenian presence in Arguvan area could still be seen in local ethno-cultural landscape
	Democratisation Panel at the Arguvan Festival Source: http://www.bolsohays.com/ 07/07/2003 A panel called “Democratisation and Multiculturalism” was held during the “Arguvan Song Festival” where accordingly Turkey was not able to maintain its multicultural structure and problems stemming from this were still evident. Within the “Arguvan Song Festival” held for the first time in the Arguvan county of Malatya, a panel was organised in the Arguvan Comprehensive Lycée where Journalists Oral Calislar, Zeynep Oral and the Editor in Chief of Agos Newspaper Hrant Dink took part. The first to come to word in the panel was Oral Çalislar who said that Arguvan had been a place where Kurds, Turks, Sunnis and Alevis were living in harmony for hundreds of years and that this is heartening. “In Arguvan, Turks and Kurds, Sunnis and Alevis live in a multicultural setting. So it is possible to live side by side.” Turkey had a very rich and multicultural past according to Çalislar but this structure was not continued and later disintegrated. As a consequence of developments in the social movements, the definition of democracy was also changing and that the most important issue facing democracies was human rights and Çalislar added: “Whenever themes such as minority rights, Kurdish language are mentioned this preconception comes to the forefront in Turkey: They resort to these in order to divide us, they come up with something called minority rights. That is to say we were not able to improve and extend democracy.” In his speech, Hrant Dink raised the problems of the Armenians saying that in the last century the Armenian population and number of churches were steadily decreasing. “When my ancestors were banished from their homeland there were Kurds and Alevis around them. They (Armenians) left their children to their neighbours, because they thought they would return.” Translation: E.Y.