Head of Turkey's state-funded Turkish Historical Society (TTK) Prof. Yusuf Halacoglu offered to give $20 million aid for the classification and opening of the Armenian archives in the U.S. city of Boston. Halacoglu who spoke to Hurriyet said that the Armenian archives in Boston included very important documents regarding the tragic events of 1915 and about the 500,000 Armenians who – he claims - currently live in Turkey with changed identities.
Hurriyet quoted Halacoglu as saying, "The Armenians had said that they don't have money to sort through and categorize the archives, and therefore they cannot open them. I openly told them, 'We can give you the money needed and open those archives', but they did not respond to my offer". Halacoglu said that he had spoken about his proposal with members of U.S. Congress and journalists, as well as two Armenian historians Ara Sarafian and Hilmar Kaiser. He said that the opening of the archives in Boston would launch a real debate on the issue and added, "This would directly open a debate over their genocide claims. Armenians are aware of this and they are doing their best not to come to the table".
Turkey has been urging Armenians to open the archives in Armenia and in the U.S. for objective historians to study and evaluate the incidents of 1915.
Source: Hurriyet, Turkey, May 20, 2008
