Bilkan said the foundation is ready to open a Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Center in Armenia as soon as two protocols on normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations are ratified in the parliaments of the two countries. But he said he would not wait for the protocols to be ratified if Armenian officials give permission for the cultural center to be opened. “I would open the center today if they allow it and would not wait for the protocols,” he told the Anatolia news agency on Friday.
Ruling out the impossibility of opening a center in Armenia, Bilkan said Turks are not ashamed of their history and they have nothing to hide. He said it is pointless in foreign policy to define countries with terms such as “friend” and “enemy” and they can easily build a relationship with Armenia.
The Yunus Emre Foundation is planning to open centers in neighboring countries and has already done so in Skopje, Cairo, Tirana and Sarajevo. The next location is Moscow, and Bilkan said they are preparing to launch the facility in Moscow very soon. The foundation also plans to open branches in Astana, Damascus and Athens. Bilkan also added that they have already tentatively agreed with China to open a cultural center in Beijing and that there are plans for cultural centers to be opened at six universities in the US.
