Tensions between Turkey and Armenia have manifested themselves before in many forms, but, now, some ultra-nationalist numismatists have come up with a brand-new cause for alarm -- the new symbol for the Turkish lira, they claim, is pretty much the inverted symbol of the Armenian dram.
The resemblance, far-fetched as it may sound, was also detected inside Armenia itself, where, as in many other small countries, there is sometimes an eagerness to trace various things around the world back to Armenia. One Armenian blogger, no doubt with thoughts of former Armenian-populated territory that's now part of Turkey in mind, even called the new lira design a Freudian slip on the part of the Turks.
The voice of reason came from the designer of the Armenian dram, Karen Kamendarian, who told Mediamax he'd already discussed the similarity with some concerned Turks on Facebook. The design of the Turkish lira symbol is clearly based on the Latin letters "t" for "Turkish" and "l" for "lira," he asserted, and its two intersecting lines are also sported by the Mongolian tugrik and the euro as well as the dram.
But amidst the jingoistic shouting on either side, don't expect anybody necessarily to listen.
Giorgi Lomsadze is a journalist based in Tbilisi, and author of Tamada Tales.
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