Turkish specialist Ruben Melkonyan today stated that when it comes to Turkish-Armenian relations community-based encounters are pivotal and provide the opportunity for common folk on both sides to meet and develop a better understanding of their neighbors. He noted that Turkish society must  has an awareness of the historical past in order to deal with segments of Armenian society, adding that this level of familiarity with the past is lacking on the part of the Turkish public, which leads to a denialist outlook on many issues. "Turkish society is segmented when it comes to relations with Armenians. First, there is the extremist, nationalist segment. Second is that segment which is disinterested and without a strong orientation either way. Finally, there is the segment that is positively inclined towards improving relations with Armenia and Armenians. These however comprise a tiny minority, stated Mr. Melkonyan. He went on to say that for the Turkish public, the opening of the border and establishment of relations could have positive as well as unforeseen consequences. 'Particularly, there is the ethnic identity crisis. Erdogan himself spoke of this. Turkish society is mostly dominated by an extremist approach. Our society, as well, is governed by a superficial approach. In reality we aren't familiar with Turkey and do not understand them. The history of Turkey after the genocide isn't covered all that well in our schools and even our experts don't have a good grasp of what the consequences were for Turkey in terms of its formation," Mr. Melkonyan said. He continued by saying that the Turkish media, contrary to that in Armenia, is quite active when it comes to the issue of Turkish-Armenian relations and that the Turkish media, whether pro-government or opposition-based, is quite similar in its stance. "This has a positive influence on Turkish society and results in a much more steadfast public opinion regarding Turkish-Armenian relations. He said that there are two main opinions regarding whether or not President Sargsyan should visit Turkey this fall - some say he should go and some say he shouldn't. Both have merit according to the expert. "However, when we approach the issue from another perspective then the speech given by President Sargsyan during his meeting with the Serbian president had a series of 'messages" to the government of Turkey; that an understanding was reached during prior talks. President Sargsyan directly reminded Turkey about them and called on Ankara to fulfill its promises. Turkish analysts are now arguing that Gul cam to Armenia without preconditions and that Sargsyan was the one who raised preconditions. However, Gul made to statement regarding his visit to Armenia until the last day and came in the context of the Russian-Georgian war."