On Oct. 25, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu appointed an unexpected name as his “top adviser” in political matters: Etyen Mahcupyan, a prominent public intellectual of Armenian descent.
This was widely seen as a wise decision, because Mahcupyan, with his newspaper column and regular TV appearances, has been one of the most sophisticated defenders of the Justice and Development (AKP) government in the midst of many crude attempts. The inclusion of an Armenian voice in the top echelons of the Turkish government was also seen as a prudent decision on the eve of the centennial of the ethnic cleansing of Armenians from Anatolia in 1915.