Ruben Safrastyan: Halacoglu's dismissal has nothing to do with Armenian-Turkish relations

PanARMENIAN.Net - Head of the Turkish Historical Society (TTK) Prof. Yusuf Halacoglu was removed from the office on July 22.



According to Hurryiet daily, this removal is conditioned by the Turkish leadership's intention to open a new page in relations with Armenia.



However, Dr. Ruben Safrastyan, Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies at the RA Academy of Sciences, told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter that Halaconglu's dismissal has nothing to do with the Armenian-Turkish relations. "There is an opinion that Halacoglu was removed from the post he had occupied for 15 years because the ruling AKP wants to have a reliable person as the Association head. His name is already known. It's professor and poet Ali Birinci," he said.



Earlier, Aram Hambarian, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America, said that Yusuf Halacoglu issues a public statement every few weeks, every one of which proves, after the minimum of research, to be untrue. "Halacoglu is a combination publicity-hound and serial liar," he said.