A joint study by Armenian and Azeri sociologists shows that the people in both countries would support more concerted efforts by their governments to normalize relations and move toward settlement of territorial disputes. The study was designed to determine the possibilities for reconciliation among the people of the two countries.
The Society for Armenian Studies (SAS) held its annual meeting in the Palais des Congrès in Montreal, Canada, in conjunction with the Middle East Studies Association's(MESA) Conference (November 17-21, 2007).
The highlight at the Montreal conference was a panel sponsored jointly by the SAS and the Turkish Studies Association dedicated to the memory of slain Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.
The session titled "On Hrant Dink and Turkish-Armenian Relations" was organized by the presidents of the two associations, Professors Richard Hovannisian of UCLA andAndras Riedlmayer of Harvard. The panel attracted an overflow audience of more than 200 academics, including specialists in Turkish and Armenian studies as well as colleagues from other fields.
After remarks by both organizers, Dr. Hratch Tchilingirian of Cambridge University spoke on "Hrant Dink before Hrant Dink: Armenians in Turkey." He was followed by Dr. Fatma Müge Göçek of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, who discussed "Hrant Dink and Turkish-Armenian Dialogue." The third panelist was Professor Levon Zekiyanof Ca’ Foscari University in Venice, who assessed "Hrant Dink’s Innovative Approach to Armenian-Turkish Relations. Its Context, Challenge and Prospects."
The final presentation was by journalist Etyen Mahçupyan, who now edits Hrant Dink’s newspaper Agos, with his reflections on "Agos and the Hrant Dink Foundation: Looking at the Future."
The panel was filled with deep emotion and was received enthusiastically by the large, mixed audience.
School of African and Oriental Studies, University of London
DEMOGRAPHIC POLICY& ETHNIC CLEANSING IN THE LATE OTTOMAN PERIOD
Lecture by Dr. Taner Akçam, University of Minnesota Chair: Dr Hratch Tchilingirian, University of Cambridge
Tuesday, 4 March 2008 at Brunei Gallery, SOAS, University of London
Project for Armenian & Turkish Studies PATS) and Armenian Studies Group (ASG)
Dr Taner Akçam teaches (since 2002) in the History Department of University of Minnesota and is an authority on the late Ottoman and modern Turkish history. He has authored ten scholarly works on history and sociology, as well as numerous articles in Turkish, German and English. His most recent publications include From Empire to Republic: Turkish Nationalism and the Armenian Genocide (Zed, 2004); A Shameful Act: the Armenia Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility (Metropolitan, 2006) and most recently ‘Ermeni Meselesi Hallolunmustur’: Osmanli Belgelerine Göre Savas Yillarinda Ermenilere Yönelik Politikalar (Istanbul, 2008).
Window View of the Armenian Church, Volume IV, Number 3, 1994
The Witness of the Armenian Church in the Diaspora
A Conversation with ARCHBISHOP ARAM KESHISHIAN, Moderator of World Council of Churches and Prelate of the Armenian Church in Lebanon
By Hratch Tchilingirian
Archbishop Aram Keshishian, as Moderator of the Central and Executive Committees of the World Council of Churches, has the highest position within the structure of WCC. The General Assembly of WCC convenes every seven or eight years. The Assembly elects the Central Committee, comprised of 168 members, a Moderator and two Vice-Moderators. The Moderator, the two Vice-Moderators and the General Secretary are the four officers of WCC. Archbishop Keshishian is the author of several books, among them Witness of the Armenian Church in a Diaspora Situation; Concilliar Fellowship; Orthodox Perspective on Mission.
The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire: A History of the 'Blue Book'
By David Miller
The British Parliamentary ‘Blue Book’ on The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire (Misc 31 Cmnd 8325, HMSO 1916) is the largest single source of information on what happened to the Turkish Armenians in 1915-16. As such, it provides a focus of controversy between those who claim that it provides evidence of genocide, and those who maintain that because the Blue Book was wartime propaganda, its contents are not to be trusted. Ninety years after publication, the Blue Book is key to the question of whether the massacre and deportation of the Armenians was the result of a deliberate policy of extermination, or the unintended consequence of measures taken against the threat of foreign invasion and civil unrest.
[Patmutyun Aghvanits. History of Aghvank (Caucasian Albania) by Bishop Makar Parkhutaryan]
Vagharshapat, 1902
[see entire book in PDF version]
This book is the first volume of two studies by Bishop Makar Parkhutariants about Karabakh, which provides valuable historical and ethnographic information about the region. Barkhudariants lived in the 19th century and was originally from Karabakh. He writes about his extensive travels in the regions of historical Aghvank and Artsakh, providing detailed description of the people, their customs, rituals, monuments of historical value , etc. The second volume of his work, the Land of Aghvank and its Neighbours: Artsakhwas republished in 1999 by Vem in Yerevan.
Mikhail Gorbachev, Memoirs. New York and London: Doubleday, 1996.
THE KARABAKH EXPLOSION [pp. 333-340]
In February 1988 the population of the Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous oblast (which was 85-per-cent Armenian) of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic demanded that it be made a part of the Armenian Soviet Social Republic. A resolution was passed by the oblast Soviet and immediately supported by thousands of people at demonstrations and meetings in Armenia. These demonstrations were carried out in an organized way, without excesses. The marches carried large posters supporting perestroika and glasnost. Law-enforcement agencies only maintained order, without taking stronger measures—anyway, there was little they could have done against this sea of people.
The decline of “Armenian education” in Bulgaria and its consequences on preservation of identity is a constant concern of Bulgarian Armenian community leaders. They point out that at least two generations of Armenian Bulgarians have been virtually or completely assimilated due to the closure of Armenian schools during Communism.