A hundred years after the Armenian Genocide, we – a group of mostly young people from Turkey, Armenia and Germany – travelled in autumn 2015 to Gyumri, Aragatsotn, Etchmiadzin and Yerevan in the Republic of Armenia. 
We entered homes and spoke with people about the past. We inquired about the history of their families and their neighbourhoods. We were curious about their current situation and their aspirations for the future. While welcoming us warmly, our hosts often interviewed us back: they were curious about our backgrounds, our stance on history and about what we were doing. The visitors from Turkey were asked if they recognized the Genocide and what we could and would do for a real reconciliation, including recognition and asking for forgiveness.
We set down our impressions, emotions and the knowledge gained on our journey in this Road Magazine. We composed our articles while all these experiences were still fresh and unprocessed within us, while we were all travelling and working together, while we were interacting among our group and with the people in the places we visited, while we were re-discovering ourselves and those around us.
Originally, our journey was planned as an overland trip from Istanbul to Yerevan, following the routes of the Genocide. From Haydarpasha train station, where Armenian intellectuals were sent to their deaths on April 24th at the beginning of the Armenian Genocide, the journey was supposed to trace the routes of the deported intellectuals to the concentration camps of Ayash and Cankiri. From there we wanted to move to Dersim, Varto, and Agri in the Eastern, or Kurdish, part of Turkey, which is historically also known as Western Armenia. Covering the distances that some of the survivors had to cross to get to safety in what was then the Russian Empire (until 1917) and later the First Republic of Armenia (1918–1920), we wanted to travel to Armenia through Georgia. In Armenia, Gyumri, villages in the Aragatsotn province, Etchmiadzin and Yerevan were all on our route.
But unfortunately the restart of armed conflict between the Turkish army and the PKK and IS terrorism prevented us from travelling safely through the region as planned. The land of Anatolia, which had seen so many killings, deportations and suffering in the past, is again witnessing bombings, exile, blood and tears. In response to the regrettable cancelation of the journey through Turkey, the participants from Turkey tried to find Anatolia in Istanbul in spring 2016 and shared their impressions with their Armenian friends in an appendix to the Road Magazine. Despite the severe deterioration of security and mutual relations we have witnessed in the entire region during the last months, we have resolved to continue working together, thus holding on to our belief that only dialogue and mutual cooperation can overcome the past and current crisis.
The journey and the Road Magazine were conceived within the framework of the project Acting Together, funded by the German Foreign Ministry and implemented by DVV International and its partner organisations, “Hazarashen”, the Centre for Ethnological Studies in Armenia, and in 2015 Tarih Vakfı (History Foundation) in Turkey. The aim of the project is to build bridges between the peoples of Turkey and Armenia through adult education, journalism, oral history and art.
We are cordially grateful to all the individuals and families who hosted us and shared with us their painful but powerful memories and thoughts, which constituted the core of this publication. We hope this magazine can stimulate an open and sincere dialogue between our peoples and societies.
Yours,
Acting Together team
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Acting Together project in pdf format on DVVI website:
https://www.dvv-international.de/fileadmin/files/Inhalte_Bilder_und_Dokumente/News/2017/DVV_International_Acting_Together_Roadmag_2015-16.pdf
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The Name of the Book: Birlikte Hareket Etmek / Գործելով միասին / Acting Together
Publishers: DVV International
Publication Date: 2015-2016
Softcover: 196
Dimensions: 22 x 31.2 cm
Supporters:
DVV International
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
