April 24 marks the 97th anniversary of the massacre and deportation of around 1.5 million Armenians living in the then Ottoman Empire. Widely considered by many historians as well as the parliaments of several countries to be an act of genocide, the issue remains an emotive one.

Yet, while recent attempts to officially normalize relations and resolve historical grievances between Armenia and Turkey have faltered, the situation has been changing slowly in other areas, and not least in terms of civil society activity.

Indeed, in recent years there has been more open discussion and debate in Turkish society, as well as in its media, about the events of 1915 than ever before. While Turkey still denies the charge of genocide, that change is nonetheless unprecedented as one Turkish tweep commented....