Armenian peace activist to cross Turkey with 44 wolves

As the debate over the closed border between Turkey and Armenia intensifies with the recent talk of normalizing relations, an Italian-Armenian also waits for a green light from the Turkish authorities to enter Turkey.

Ararad Khatchikan is not interested in visiting his distant kinsmen in any Turkish village, nor in making small-scale trade agreements with Turkish vendors. Instead, his sole aim is to carry a peace message to the peoples on both sides of the Turkish-Armenian border with 44 Siberian wolves that he has trained for sleigh races.

Each wolf will carry a white flag as a symbol of peace, the Armenian peace activist told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review for the third Postcard from Armenia. “My family has endured great suffering but nobody would benefit by [being] trapped by the past. The fighting must end. Let me pass from the border in the name of friendship and peace,” he pleaded.

Khatchikan said his biggest dream is to reach the outskirts of Mt. Ağrı, or Ararad in Armenian, after getting a visa from Turkey. “Ağrı or Ararad, it does not matter at all,” he said, adding: “I will be proud of carrying the name of that holy mountain for all my life. None of us get to choose their identities and relations. We are all one and equal. We are all brothers.”

Khatchikan said that although he is a member of the Armenian diaspora, he can assess the recent developments between Turkey and Armenia more moderately. “It will be a mistake, if we [associate] the Armenian diaspora with just its radical wing. There are people who see matters with a more moderate outlook. We can [help] our societies engage in dialogue through those people,” he said.

Khatchikan said he had made the first official application for his peace project through the Turkish Embassy in Rome in 2007, but then decided to delay it. “[Armenian daily] Agos Editor-in-Chief Hrant Dink fell victim to an assassination in Istanbul while my negations were ongoing with the Turkish authorities. I got confused, so I shelved it.”

Khatchikan was born in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan to an Armenian father and Italian mother. His family fled Turkey during the 1915 killings of Armenians and sheltered in Khartoum before resettling in Italy. For years, Khatchikan attended various peace activities in several countries alongside his Turkish friends, but he never visited Turkey. His recent visit to Armenia was also his first trip to the tiny country. While visiting Khor Virap Monastery, which is only few meters away from the Turkish border and has the best view of Mt. Ağrı, Khatchikan said: “This is a magical view. Turkey is just a few kilometers away and that is unbelievable.”

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In our fourth Postcard from Armenia, two senior Armenian editors will share their thoughts on the recent thaw between Turkey and Armenia and its potential implications.