By Edvin Erdi Minassian, wrote on his Facebook page
We are very excited and proud to welcome Pakrat Estukyan as the Primary Keynote Speaker to Los Angeles and have the honor to present him with the 2020 Hrant Dink Medal .
Don’t miss the 13th Commemoration of Hrant Dink at OIA on Sunday the 19th of January at 6pm .
Pakrat Estukian was born in 1953 in the Rumelihisar district of
Istanbul, from Armenian Genocide survivors’ parents, who found refuge in
the historic Armenian districts of Constantinople,
Rumelihisar and Samatia.
Estukian’s childhood passed on Feridiyye
Street in Taksim District. He attended first the nearby Esayan and
Sakizaghachi Mkhitarian, then the Getronagan Colleges. For many years he
was involved in biological astronomy, always keeping the connection
with literature alive. His stories, all of which were woven from
pan-Armenian materials, were published in the city’s periodicals. A
selection of these stories was first translated into Turkish and then
translated into Armenian under the names “Armenian Hikayeler” and
“Bandukht Song”. He is part of the editorial staff of the Agos
newspaper, working as editor-in-chief and columnist for the Armenian
pages of the newspaper.
For the Art TV channel, in partnership with
the editor of the Greek newspaper “Aboevmatin”, Mikhail Vassiliatis,
since November 2017, he has been preparing a weekly newsletter with
content on weekly city and town events. He performs weekly for the “Ayp
FM” radio station in Paris and Radio Agos with “Aghik Radio” station in
Istanbul. He also works as a columnist for the daily “Özgürlükçü
Demokrasi”.