On Sunday, March 17, 2019, the Educational Committee of the Armenian
Apostolic Church of Crescenta Valley in cooperation with ARF “Zavarian” Gomideh
will host a lecture on the “Armenians in the Late Ottoman Empire and Modern
Turkey” presented by Ara Sarafian. The lecture will begin at 1:00 p.m., after
the conclusion of Divine Liturgy, at the Prelacy “Dikran and Zarouhie Der
Ghazarian” Hall (6250 Honolulu Ave, La Crescenta, CA 91214).
This presentation will cover the recent publication by the Gomidas Institute of
population statistics (and their relevance) for some 4000 Armenian-populated
places in the immediate pre-Genocide period (Armenians in Ottoman Turkey, 1914:
A Geographic and Demographic Gazetteer by Sarkis Y. Karayan) and what Armenian
life is like there now, specifically in Dikrangerd at Christmas this year.
Ara Sarafian is the director of the Gomidas Institute of London, which has been
at the forefront of Armenian Genocide studies for almost 30 years. At the core
of its work are a number of seminal works, as well as other activities engaging
the Armenian Genocide and its legacy in modern Turkey. He has an M.A. in
history from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.
Among its book publications are English translations of Armenian texts related
to the Armenian Genocide. Gomidas has published Talaat Pasha’s report on the
Armenian Genocide and a critical edition of “The Treatment of Armenians in the
Ottoman Empire, 1915-1916”, commonly known as the Blue Book (originally
published in 1916 by British historians Lord James Bryce and Arnold Toynbee),
as well as a Turkish edition of the book. The Gomidas Institute has also
published the memoirs of former US Ambassador to Armenia John Evans and it has
collaborated with the Hrant Dink Foundation.
We invite our parishioners and the greater community to attend Divine Liturgy and
the presentation to follow. The event is free of charge to the public. There
will be a reception at the end of the program.