Glendale police Officer John Balian is back from Istanbul, Turkey, the land of his birth. The Armenian-American Police Department spokesman spent a breezy three week vacation in Turkey, driving around in a rented Fiat with his dad. Balian grew up speaking Turkish and Armenian, with a couple other languages mixed in there. With animosity against Turkey running high because of its continued denial of the Armenian Genocide, it's sometimes forgotten that Turkey is still home to a sizable Armenian population.

Balian was born in Turkey and spent the first 6 years of his life there, going to an Armenian school affiliated with a church. His early years were spent in a middle class suburb of Istanbul called Green Village, and his father worked as an auto parts wholesaler. He remembers that his grandmother lived in front of the Bosphorous, and he remembers going out in a wooden rowboat to fish.

Armenians in Turkey talk less about the genocide than Armenians living elsewhere, Balian said. Given the Turkish government's hostility to any discussion of the genocide, Armenians in Turkey tend to reserve their discussions about the genocide to conversations with friends. Economically and socially, Armenians have been able to thrive in Turkey. But there is still descrimination, especially in government employment.

"In Turkey, you can't even be a parking checker unless you're a Turk," Balian said.

While vacationing in Turkey, Balian was able to meet family members he had never seen before. He said his Turkish relatives are prospering, with one cousin having been featured in magazines for her work as an interior designer. And Turkey is becoming more modern and continuing to orient itself toward Europe, Balian said. On one street in a tony part of town, Balian counted eight Starbucks in a quarter mile stretch. People wear the latest styles, and the streets are not totally empty when the sun sets during Ramaddan. Balian would like to see Turkey be more open to the neighbor on its eastern border: Armenia.

"My (hope) is one day to see the borders of Armenia and Turkey open up, so both countries can prosper," he said.

Still, there are twice weekly flights between Yerevan, Armenia, and Istanbul, Turkey, and on a personal level citizens from the two countries are interacting, even if the two nations stand politically opposed.