“When I first started to interview the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation process, I can tell you how unwilling particularly the Turks were in engaging any kind of dialogue. When Track Two was announced it broke the ice and unleashed a whole series of projects involving civil society groups of the two countries. And today I am especially pleased to see in this hall a new generation of both Armenians’ and Turks’ who will be the next to develop these projects. I would like to know what each of you is going to do to change the course of the history and that in that endeavor you will use as guide and information the story told in the pages of the book “Unsilencing the Past”- said the book author David Phillips during his book presentation on 4th February 2010, in Ani Plaza hotel, Yerevan.

David Phillips, who led public diplomacy initiatives in Turkey and the Caucasus as the chairman of Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Committee in 2001-2004, presented the Armenian translation of his book “Unsilencing the Past”.

The book embraces Dr. Phillips’ inspiring ideas on conflict resolution via Track Two diplomacy. The book presents the experience and the lessons learned from the initiatives of Armenian-Turkish Track Two diplomacy in 2001-2004. The Turkish-Armenian conflict has lasted for nearly a century and still continues to poison their relations in attenuated forms. Contact was taboo before the author brought the two sides together to explore ways of overcoming their historical enmity. His lively account of the difficult discussions makes this book a fascinating reading.

The translation was published by the ICHD and Eurasia Partnership Foundation with support of USAID. Participants of the Track Two Diplomacy, Armenian state officials, representatives of international organizations and NGOs attended the book presentation.