RUBINA PEROOMIAN,

Associate Researcher, Department of near Eastern Languages and Cultures, UCLA

“The Armenian Genocide in Literature, Perceptions of Those who Lived Through the Years of Calamity

LECTURE DATES TBA:

Peter Cowe and Richard Hovannisian

ALL LECTURES WILL BE AT 6:30 PM IN HUMANITIES GATEWAY 1010 UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC | FOR MORE INFORMATION EMAIL MHKANDA@UCI.EDU

Armenian History at UC Irvine, Looking Ahead to 2013 Established in 2007, Armenian History at the University of California, Irvine offers undergraduate courses in ancient and modern Armenian history. The program also sponsors quarterly public lectures aimed at bringing the history and cultural topics surrounding modern day Armenia to the broader Orange County community. On December 16th, founding supporters of Armenian History, Dr. Garo Tertzakian and Mrs. Sylvie Tertzakian, hosted their annual fundraiser for Armenian History and raised over $20,000 to support continued course offerings within the Humanities. This marks the fifth year Armenians from the Orange County community gathered to raise funds in support of the growth of Armenian history at UCI. Also made possible through generous gifts to the program, the 2012 Armenian History Lecture Series, included lectures by Richard Hovannisian on “The Changing Landscape of Historic Western Armenia: Reflections on a Journey into the Past,” Talinn Grigor on “Dolling-up Yerevan Avant-garde Urbanism in Post-Soviet American Politics,” Houri Berberian on “Connected Revolutions: Armenians and the Russian, Ottoman and Iranian Revolutions of the Early Twentieth Century,” and “The Karabakh Conflict From Ceasefire to Safarov” with Levon Marashlian. This year’s course offerings in ancient and modern Armenian history continued to see strong student enrollments and the winter 2013 offering in Modern Armenian History should be no exception. Celebrated Armenian historian and professor emeritus of Armenian and Near Eastern History at UCLA, Richard Hovannisian, will join the faculty as a Distinguished Visiting Lecturer. Professor Hovannisian shared that he is “excited to witness Armenian studies developing at UCI and I am pleased and honored to be a part of that process and to have the opportunity to interact with students and faculty on the Irvine campus.” On January 17, 2013, the Armenian History Lecture Series kicks off with “The Armenian Genocide in Literature, Perceptions of those who Lived through the Years of Calamity” with Rubina Peroomian. Peroomian is an associate researcher at the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at UCLA. She has been a lecturer of Armenian language, literature and history and the Armenian Question at UCLA, University of Laverne, and Glendale College. Armenian History will also welcome a lecture by S. Peter Cowe, professor of Armenian language and culture at UCLA, in early 2013; and Giusto Traina, professor of Roman history at the Paris-Sorbonne University, will lecture on “Tigran the Great, King of Kings” on May 28, 2013. Traina is currently involved in long-term research about ancient Armenia.

Media contact:

Emily Stone

Humanities Development Office, UC Irvine

eestone@uci.edu

(949)824-1605

December 26, 2012 | 14:46

December 26, 2012 | 20:22

11:20, 29 December, 2012

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS: With its external and internal policies of 2012 Turkey once again failed to be included in the numder of world leading countries. Armenrpess concludes the most important events in Turkey’s domestic and foreign policy platforms.

As French Senate accepted the bill on criminalization of Armenian Genocide denial on January 2012, Turkish politicians and journalists reacted hysterically to this event. They continue speaking about sanctions by Turkey, which experts do not consider serious. The law was surrounded by Turkish threats and aggressive declarations. Therefore, after the law was considered to be unconstitutional by French Constitutional Council Turkey started to speak about “the new page for French-Turkish relations”.

In March 2012 Turkey appeared in another hilarious situation this time related to the symbol of Turkish lira. Central Bank of Turkey publicized the new symbol of that country’s currency – lira, the symbol of resembles that of the Armenian dram and appears to be its inversed version. Of course the negative response of political figures, economists, artists assured that the symbol was the initials of Erdogan.

Continuous vandalism against Armenian historical and cultural monuments was also not the best characteristic of Turkey. Despite a progress in the return of property to minorities Turkey keeps to destroy and disrespect Armenian churches and monument.

Turkey has numerously been condemned by international community for the violation of freedom of speech and human rights abuses. The absence of basic freedom caused a number of arrested journalists leaving China and Iran behind. Different international organizations and dailies have refereed to above-mentioned problem calling Turkey “world’s biggest prison for journalists.

“Big Kurdistan” remains to be a global issue for Turkey. Turkish-Kurdish clashes have especially strained during 2012.  During last 12 months Kurdistan Workers’ Party has initiated more than 1000 military actions in Kurdish populated regions casing the death of thousands of people.

Turkish war against Syria

Turkey’s Parliament authorized military operations against Syria and its military fired on targets there for a second day after deadly shelling from Syria killed five civilians in a Turkish border town. For its part, Syria admitted it was responsible for the shelling that killed five people in Turkey and formally apologized for the deaths, a top Turkish official said. For its security Turkey requested from NATO “Patriot” missiles for their “security”.

A group of people from the Halkevleri Association lie in a row wearing shrouds in front of the Parliament building in Ankara to protest the Uludere tragedy. (Photo: Cihan, Ebubekir Atmaca)
28 December 2012 / TODAYSZAMAN.COM İSTANBUL,

Friday was the first anniversary of the death of 34 Kurdish civilians killed near the Iraqi border in the town of Uludere, Şırnak province, in an airstrike by Turkish jets. Commemorative events were held near the site of the tragedy at a time when no significant result has been reached in the investigation into who ordered the strike.

Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Gültan Kışanak, Mardin independent Ahmet Türk, Diyabakır Mayor Osman Baydemir, various BDP deputies, representatives of civil society organizations as well as public figures and artists gathered in Gülyazı, an Uludere village where most of those killed in the airstrike were from, in the early morning hours. Speeches and mournful eulogies in Kurdish were recited at the event, which went on under tight security, as security forces let visiting groups gradually into the village.

Families of the victims greeted the visitors in the morning. Black flags were put up on some walls in the village. Slogans praising the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) were heard during the event, which started with a visit to the graves of those who died in the airstrike. A prayer ceremony was held for the victims following the Friday prayer.

In a speech made during the commemoration, BDP Co-chair Demirtaş said those responsible for the airstrike still had not been identified. Demirtaş said everything that needs to be said on the incident has been said and written, and claimed that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had given the order for the airstrike. “The only thing that remains to be done is for Erdoğan to apologize and accept his responsibility for the massacre. What remains missing now is the confession from Erdoğan that says, ‘I was the one who ordered the airstrike over the phone. I apologize for this and I accept responsibility’.”

Demirtaş spoke outside a tent set up in Uludere, a town named Roboski in Kurdish, to welcome visitors. He recounted the words of Uludere’s district governor, Naif Yavuz, who “knew everything” about the Roboski strike: “The first day we talked to the Uludere district governor, a Kurd from Muş, he told us, ‘We have all the evidence, it will not be covered up. We are waiting for the inspectors to arrive. Everything is clear as day.’”

Demirtaş continued: “Since that day, the Uludere district governor hasn’t talked. Where is this evidence? Who is it entrusted with?” He also said the Şırnak Police Department had given similar assurances, saying all evidence concerning the airstrike had been secured. Demirtaş said that intelligence led the Air Force Commander, Chief of General Staff and Prime Minister to order the airstrike based on the belief that there was a senior PKK member among the smugglers.

“For them, the civilians involved were not of any concern. They ordered the airstrike so they would be able to kill a single PKK member. The prime minister has personally done this. The information that civilians were among them was given. And it emerged after the massacre came to light that there was not a single PKK militant among them. Those who died are the children, the youth of Roboski. What do you think they have been discussing for a year? They are trying to hide the facts,” the BDP co-chair exclaimed.

Mardin independent deputy Türk called on both Turks and Kurds to stand united in the fight against racism. “Let’s leave behind the pains of the past and not create new ones,” he

December 27, 2012 | 03:04