Political Scientist: Today`s Armenia will always remind Turks of  their complex past

ArmInfo.Why is it that  in Iran, Christian culture and churches are treated with  respect, while in Turkey, churches are either destroyed or converted  into mosques? Political scientist Stepan Danielyan posed this  question.

On his Facebook page, he noted, in particular, that the reasons are  important, especially in the current geopolitical context. Iran's  rich cultural, civilizational, and religious heritage is of great  significance. Iran does not have an inferiority complex regarding its  past. Iranian civilization did not begin with Islam, nor does it end  with it. Nations with a rich culture also respect other cultures,  especially those that developed on their territory, considering them  part of their civilization. In Iran, not only is such historical and  cultural heritage respected, but state care  is also provided.

Turks, however, have an inferiority complex regarding their past, and  the reason is clear. "The modern Turkish nation is a melting pot that  has absorbed the heritage of other peoples who created cultures and  civilizations on its territory. Turks are a melting pot of converts,  and the heritage of these peoples reminds them of their own identity  complexes. Today's Turks became Turks only thanks to Islam and  through it. If you remove Islam, then nothing will remain under it -  emptiness. Other cultures are "old bones kept in a vault" that must  remain there, buried, so as not to remind them of the past of the  Turks. This is why in Turkey they hate the heritage of these peoples,  turning churches into mosques as symbols of victory over the past of  this territory. Ataturk tried to turn Turks into a civilized nation,  but this raised many questions, the search for answers to which  destroyed the identity of the Turks. Over the past decade, many  churches, most of which were turned into museums, have again turned  into mosques. Today's Armenia, whatever you call it, even the "real"  one, will remind them of their complex past, and no matter what we  do, they will continue to hate us. The reason for the hatred is not  us, but their history, which they are trying to forget.