book Archives

Armenian Genocide book shortlisted for Dayton Literary Peace Prize

September 21, 2017 By administrator

Armenian Mirror-Spectator – Dawn Anahid MacKeen’s book, The Hundred-Year Walk: An Armenian Odyssey, is a finalist for the prestigious Dayton Literary Peace Prize in nonfiction. She is one of 12 authors shortlisted in nonfiction and fiction for the award, which recognizes the power of literature to promote peace and reconciliation.

Inspired by the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords that ended the war in Bosnia, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize is the only international literary peace prize awarded in the United States. The prize celebrates the power of literature to promote peace, justice, and global understanding. This year’s winners will be honored at a gala ceremony in Dayton on November 5.

The other finalists include Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Underground Railroad, and J.D. Vance’s best-selling Hillbilly Elegy.

“At a time of great uncertainty in the world, this year’s finalists reveal how we got to this point and offer powerful lessons on how we can heal, reconcile, and build a better world,” said Sharon Rab, co-chair of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation. “Now more than ever, we need to celebrate authors who dare to explore the impact of war, exile, racism, and economic inequality and, more importantly, endeavor to offer hope in these tumultuous times.”

The Hundred-Year Walk tells the courageous story of MacKeen’s grandfather, Stepan Miskjian, one of the few to survive the massacres in the Deir Zor region of present-day Syria. Miskjian left hundreds of pages detailing his survival, which MacKeen, an investigative journalist, used to reconstruct his life and death march. She then retraced his steps across Turkey and Syria. The book alternates between the two accounts. Miskjian believed he’d lived in order to tell the world about the atrocities. “Being a witness to that satanic pogrom, I vowed it as my duty to put to paper what I saw,” Miskjian wrote in his notebooks.

Both the New York Post and Outside declared the book a “must read.” It was also awarded best biography by the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and longlisted for the Chautauqua Prize. It’s beginning to be taught in universities and high schools. “I’m so honored that many students and readers are learning about the genocide for the first time through my grandfather’s story,” MacKeen said. “Education is the reason why I spent a decade on this book.”

Turkish publishing house releases Armenian Genocide book “As the Poppies Bloomed” in Turkish

September 8, 2017 By administrator

The Turkish Aras publishing house has published the Turkish-language edition of the Armenian Genocide novel As the Poppies Bloomed (Gelincikler açarken) by Los-Angeles based Syrian-Armenian writer Maral Boyadjian, Ermenihaber reports.

The novel tells the story of young lovers Anno and Daron, who fall in love as their Armenian village, Salor, comes under increasing threat by Turkish authorities in the period leading up to the Armenian Genocide. The couple wants to marry and continue life in their homeland, but they are unprepared for the dangerous secret Daron’s father keeps or the dark days ahead.

Maral Boyadjian paints a timeless love story against the backdrop of one of the most dramatic tragedies of the early twentieth century – the Armenian Genocide. Unforgettably touching, As the Poppies Bloomed reveals a beautiful and heart-wrenching tale of love, loss and hope of two young Armenians who face seemingly insurmountable odds while the land of the sultans breaks apart and World War I rushes toward them along with the greatest massacre the world had ever known.

Born in Aleppo, Maral Boyadjian moved to Los Angeles, U.S. together with her family as a child. In 2011-2014, she paid visits to Van, Bitlis, Mush, Shenik and Sasun, the fatherland of her grandparents, survivors of the Armenian Genocide, for the first time. Boyadjian’s novel As the Poppies Bloomed was published in the U.S. in 2015.

A book presented in Berlin on the responsibility of Germany in the genocide of the Armenians

June 10, 2017 By administrator

book , Berlin on the responsibility of Germany genocide , Armenians At the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Berlin was presented the book “Das Deutsche Reich und der Völkermord and den Armeniern” (German Reich and the Armenian Genocide), which contains numerous articles on the role of Germany during the genocide of the Armenians. The subject became relevant after the vote of recognition of the genocide of the Armenians by the German Parliament on 2 June 2016 and especially the assertion in the Bundestag text of Germany’s “share of responsibility” during the genocide. Even if the vote created Turkey’s anger, this recognition of Germany’s responsibility as an ally of Turkey during the genocide is of paramount importance and opens up new avenues of study on genocide.

What did Germany know about the crimes of 1915? It turns out from the German and foreign press reports of the time of the facts that Berlin was not ignorant of the mass massacres and the deportation of the Armenians. The historian Kristin Pchikkoltz, who has researched the German archives, asserts that the German government understood the necessity of the deportation of the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire and knew that these deportations carried out by the Young Turks meant annihilation Of the Armenian people. “Germany had a large network of consulates in the Ottoman Empire, whose agents regularly informed Berlin of the situation of the Armenians and not only during the First World War, but even before that. The German government knew how difficult the Armenians were and how explosive the situation was, “ says the German historian.
At the presentation of the book, Rolf Hosfeld, director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Berlin, stated that on 7 July 1915 the German Ambassador had returned from Constantinople to Berlin. The diplomat then wrote that the will of the Turkish leaders was the elimination of the Armenian nation in the Ottoman Empire. He also asserted that German diplomats at the time had very fairly presented what was later termed genocide. He recalled that the German parliamentarians had not only described the term “genocide” as having occurred in the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1916 but had also accepted the responsibility of Germany, which was the ally of Turkey . The German deputies also considered that Berlin had done nothing to save the Armenians from massacres and deportation.

Krikor Amirzayan

Turkish Imam Gulen charter school abuse in US subject of new expose

May 15, 2017 By administrator

Lawyer Robert Amsterdam in the middle says book detailing Gulen movement school fraud and abuse in the US due out this July

Report By Anatolia news, We have to emphasize here that Anatolia also is piece-mouth of Erdogan

Lawyer Robert Amsterdam says book detailing Turkish imam Gulen school fraud and abuse in the US due out this July,

NEW YORK

The way the group blamed for last year’s coup bid in Turkey also abuses and exploits the U.S. charter school system is the subject of a new book-length expose.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, lawyer Robert Amsterdam said the book about the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and its ringleader Fetullah Gulen, called the “Empire of Deceit,” should come out this summer.

FETO and the U.S.-based Gulen are accused by Turkey of being behind the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which martyred 249 people and left some 2,200 injured. It is also accused of infiltrating educational and other institutions both in Turkey and worldwide for its own ends, including subverting the state.

Amsterdam’s book is set to detail how FETO has exploited the U.S. charter school system to illegally funnel money to its leadership, fraudulently provide jobs to its followers, and discriminate against students.

“The story of Gulen in America, it will be a really shocking expose of Gulen’s abuse of the American charter school system, and the American taxpayer. It is the first of a series of books we’re going to be putting out about Gulen,” said Amsterdam, the founding partner of Amsterdam & Partners, a law firm investigating the Gulen’s movement’s activities.

“I am the writer, along with my staff. Many of us want to remain anonymous because many of us have been threatened, including myself. We’re negotiating with the publisher because we’re still just finishing the book and it’s only the first volume and our hope [for publication] is July,” he added.

“We have come to believe that the Gulen’s organization is a major security threat to mankind, not just the U.S. or Turkey,” he said, adding that the law firm’s investigation took it to 26 of the 50 U.S. states.

“It’s really quite shocking, the level to which the Gulenists have managed to exploit the American taxpayers, engaged in systematic criminal activity,” Amsterdam explained. “It is almost beyond the imagination to believe that a foreign organization could penetrate the U.S. this way.”

‘No limit to what Gulen could do’

Amsterdam said that Gulen’s movement controls around 70,000 students in 162 U.S. charter schools across the United States through front companies.

“There’s no limit to what Gulen could do in the U.S. especially under [former] President [Barack] Obama. Gulen’s political donations — he donates everywhere, but he had a real leaning to Obama and the Democrats, now he’s hiring every Republican,” he said.

According to Amsterdam & Partners’ website, the FETO-affiliated Harmony Public Schools in Texas has engaged in widespread abuse of the U.S.’ H1B visa program, misappropriation of public funds, and discrimination against certain students and families.

According to a fraud complaint the law firm filed with the Texas Education Agency on July 11, 2016 — just days before the defeated coup — Harmony, financed by over $250 million in U.S. federal and state tax money annually, hired a firm called Charter School Solutions (CSS) for $44 million to manage its buildings and properties.

But the complaint alleges that CSS, far from being an independent company, was actually managed by a Harmony employee.

“For the purpose of new buildings to be rented by Harmony schools, an additional $18.4 million was paid to CSS,” said the law firm’s statement, calling the financial malfeasance “shocking”.

Amsterdam & Partners filed a formal complaint in May 2016 against Harmony, urging Texas to conduct a full investigation based on a widespread pattern of fraud, discrimination, and abuse in the Harmony network.

According to the law firm, Harmony operates seven charter school districts serving 46 charter campuses in Texas and has links to FETO.

FETO is headed by Gulen, who runs a network of schools and commercial enterprises around the globe, including Harmony in Texas.

In the months since the coup, Turkey has been trying to root out FETO supporters based in Turkey, as well as encourage governments worldwide to do the same.

Turkey has also submitted extradition documents to Washington, pressing for Gulen’s return to Turkey to face justice for organizing the coup and other offenses.

*Reporting by Betul Yuruk and Mustafa Keles; Writing by Satuk Bugra Kutlugun.

Source: http://aa.com.tr/en/americas/feto-charter-school-abuse-in-us-subject-of-new-expose/816545

“If NATO were being established today, Turkey would not be eligible to join”

March 21, 2017 By administrator

By Aline Ozinian

We talked to David L. Phillips, the Director of the Program on Peace-building and Rights at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights, about the developments around the triangle of Turkey-US-Middle East by way of his recent book “An Uncertain Ally: Turkey under Erdogan’s Dictatorship”.

David L. Phillips is the Director of the Program on Peace-building and Rights at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights. Phillips has served as Foreign Affairs Expert and Senior Adviser to the US Department of State during the administrations of Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama. Writing for Huffington Post about Kurdish question, Turkish politics and fighting ISIS, Philips worked as an adviser in the internationally known think-tank Atlantic Council and as an adviser to the White House concerning Middle East Balkans. In the past, he issued reports for AKP government for the solution of Kurdish question.

We interviewed Phillips to discuss Turkey’s current political situation and foreign policy approach, the US-Turkey relations under Trump administration, US security interests regarding Kurdish unity and the future of the Artsakh (Karabakh) conflict and Turkey-Armenia relations.

What are your thoughts regarding today’s Turkey? How would you explain what is happening in Turkey right now?

If NATO were being established today, Turkey would not be eligible to join. President Tayyip Erdogan has revealed his true face as an Islamist who is anti-American, anti-European and who undermines NATO. NATO is more than a security alliance. It is a coalition of countries with shared values. More journalists are jailed today in Turkey than any other country. Recent events during which legitimately-elected members of the parliament were arrested, denied free speech, and deprived of other rights are indicators of Turkey’s departure from the democratic mainstream. Using ministers for partisan political lobbying is not welcome in Europe.

What was the motivation for the changes inside the AKP (after 2007)?

Erdogan used his electoral mandate from July 22, 2007 to consolidate his power, attack the judiciary and target Turkey’s secular elite. The election put Turkey on the path to the dictatorship that it is today.

How would you describe the relations between US-Turkey today? What are your predictions about future relations?

US-Turkey relations are at a low point. Erdoğan demands that the US extradites Fethullah Gülen. This is a legal, not a political decision. Also, Turkey demands that the US abandons the Syrian Kurds who are proven fighters against ISIS. The Pentagon wants to continue US security cooperation with the Kurds over Erdoğan’s strident objections.

What kind of political changes should we expect from the Trump administration regarding Turkey?

It’s too soon to tell. When Trump and Erdoğan talked on February 8, they avoided contentious issues like Trump’s Muslim travel ban and Turkey’s crackdown after the coup. Vice President Mike Pence heralded a “new era” in US-Turkish relations. The rhetoric has changed, but substantive differences still exist.

Why has Turkey become “An Uncertain Ally” for America? Is Turkey’s Kurdish policy the only reason?

Turkey’s rapprochement with Russia raises concerns about its response in the event that Russia attacks Ukraine, Poland or the Baltic States. About 140,000 Turks have been arrested or dismissed after the failed coup of July 15, which gutted the Turkish Armed Forces. Targeting Kurdish civilians is a war crime for which Erdoğan should be held accountable. Armenians were victims of genocide. Armenians know better than anyone the wrath of Turkey and the duplicity of its leaders.

What about Kurds? You have spent some time in Iraqi Kurdistan. What do they think and expect from Turkey?

Iraqi Kurds have extensive cooperation with Turkey, including energy transport from oil and gas fields in Kirkuk and Suleimania to the port of Ceyhan. Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan are both antagonistic towards the PKK. When it comes to fighting ISIS, Kurdish unity is critical.

How important are the Kurds and the “Kurdish question” for Turkey’s democratization process?

There are about 20 million Kurds in Turkey. However, their political and cultural rights are systematically denied. A dozen members of parliament from the pro-Kurdish HDP are in jail. Kurdish mayors have been arrested or fired. Local community leaders with the KCK are targeted and imprisoned. Turkey cannot be a democracy unless Kurds are fully enfranchised. Instead, Kurds are victimized. A recent report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights described mass killings and deportations, despite Turkey’s effort to cover up facts on the ground by denying access to UN investigators.

Do you have doubts about Turkey’s eligibility as a NATO member?

I propose that the North Atlantic Council establish a Compliance Review Committee to evaluate the performance of NATO members when it comes to democracy and human rights. If a NATO member receives a failing grade two years consecutively, their membership should be suspended. In addition to Turkey, Hungary is also a country of concern.

What do you think will happen after the “April Referendum” in Turkey? In May, what kind of Turkey should we expect?

A majority of Turks will vote “no”, rejecting Erdoğan’s executive presidency. However, Erdoğan will steal the vote and declare victory. Constitutional reform establishing a dictatorship has been Erdoğan’s project for years. There is no way he will lose the vote. Instability and social conflict will ensue.

Turkey has been a geopolitically important country for both Europe and Caucasus. Turkey has a huge influence on Azerbaijan, and as you know, Azerbaijan continues to break the ceasefire agreement on a daily basis. How will Turkish political uncertainties affect the region, especially in regard to the Azerbaijan-Artsakh (Karabakh) conflict?

Turkey will seek to change the Minsk Group by insisting on an expanded role for itself or by trying to shift mediation from the OSCE to the UN. Turkey is a party to the conflict and cannot play a constructive role in mediation. The Minsk group has proven ineffective, but at least it has prevented a spiral of deadly violence from which Azerbaijan and Turkey would seek to benefit.

For many years, you made efforts for Turkish-Armenian reconciliation and opening borders without preconditions. What do you forecast for future relations between Turkey and Armenia?

The Protocols provide a path forward. Turkey should ratify the Protocols, enabling normal travel and trade and enhanced diplomatic cooperation. Erdoğan does not share my view. His idea about reconciliation is to humiliate and abuse Armenians. Reconciliation is a process not an event. Turkish and Armenian civil society should expand their interaction and explore areas for cooperation. We have already seen progress when people get together and can relate in human terms, independent of their governments.

Source: Agos

LOS ANGELES: Richard Hovannisian’s Van and Bitlis-Mush Volumes Published in Turkish

January 11, 2017 By administrator

Two of Professor Richard G. Hovannisian’s volumes, ‘Armenian Van’ and ‘Armenian Bitlis & Mush’, were recently published in Turkish by Aras Publishers in Istanbul.

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Two of Professor Richard G. Hovannisian’s volumes, Armenian Van and Armenian Bitlis and Mush, were recently published in Turkish by Aras Publishers in Istanbul.

Both volumes, edited by Hovannisian, are from the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) international conference series “Historic Armenian Cities and Provinces,” begun by Hovannisian in 1997. Aras Publishers plans to translate all 14 volumes in the UCLA series into Turkish, the most recent of which, was released in 2016 by Mazda Publishers under the title, Armenian Communities of the Northeastern Mediterranean: Musa Dagh-Dört-Yol-Kessab.

Contributors to the Van and Bitlis-Mush volumes discuss the political geography and dynastic history and culture of the two regions from antiquity to the 20^th century; their art and architecture; classical historians and colophons; interactions with foreign powers; tribulations under Ottoman rule; their role in Armenian liberation movements; their fate during the Armenian Genocide and self-defense in World War I; and their presence in modern literature.

The two volumes were released to the public in Istanbul on Nov. 9-10, 2016, during an international conference on Van sponsored by the Hrant Dink Foundation. During his keynote address, Hovannisian reflected on growing up in the San Joaquin Valley of California among the immigrants and survivors from Van, Bitlis, and Mush. He then assessed the multifaceted information and insights gained from the 70 oral history interviews that he and his students at UCLA conducted with natives of the city and numerous villages of the province of Van.

Aras Publishers is currently translating the third volume in the UCLA series, Armenian Tsopk/Kharpert.

Hovannisian on the Road

Hovannisian continued his active schedule in the fall of 2016. Arriving in Boston from Istanbul on Nov. 12, 2106, he was honored, along with Professor Nina Garsoian, for his contributions as a pioneer of Armenian studies in the United States at the 60^th anniversary gala of the National Association for the Advancement of Armenian Studies (NAASR).

On Nov. 19, 2016, he spoke at the Kessab Educational Association’s annual “Perpoor” night hosted by Dr. & Mrs. George Apelian in Thousand Oaks.

With daughter Ani Hovannisian Kevorkian, he was in Stockholm, Sweden on Nov. 26-27, 2016, at the invitation of the Federation of Armenian Associations, to present his most recent volume on the Northeastern Mediterranean communities, with short film segments by Ani. They then traveled to Oslo for an evening with the small but active Armenian Cultural Association of Norway.

On Dec. 8, 2016 Hovannisian spoke in Chicago under the auspices of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), Armenian Bar Association, and Armenian International Women’s Association (AIWA).

Presentations continue in early 2017 with lectures at Abril Bookstore in Glendale, Calif. in cooperation with the Chork-Marzban (Dort-Yol) Compatriotic Union on Jan. 26, Fresno State University on Jan. 27, South Florida University and Sourp Hagop Church in Tampa, Fla. On Feb. 13-15, several presentations in Beirut and Cairo on Feb. 23-March 4, and the Armenian Institute in London on March 18.

Hovannisian is the author of Armenia on the Road to Independence, the four-volume history The Republic of Armenia, and has edited and contributed to more than 35 books, including The Armenian Genocide in Perspective; The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times; Remembrance and Denial; Looking Backward, Moving Forward; The Armenian Genocide: Cultural and Ethical Legacies; as well as many others. A member of the UCLA faculty since 1962, he was the first holder of the Armenian Educational Foundation Chair in Modern Armenian History, which is today renamed in his honor, and is presently an adjunct professor at USC, advising the Shoah Foundation on its Armenian Genocide testimony collection.

Source: http://armenianweekly.com/2017/01/09/hovannisian-published-in-turkish/

Richard Hovannisian to present book on Turkey’s Armenian communities

January 7, 2017 By administrator

Dr. Richard Hovannisian, Professor Emeritus of Armenian and Near Eastern History at UCLA , will present a talk on his newly published book “Armenian Communities of the Northeastern Mediterranean: Musa Dagh-Dört Yol-Kessab ” on January 27, in the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium, on the Fresno State campus, Massis Post reports.

The presentation is the first in the Armenian Studies Program Spring Lecture Series that is supported by the Leon S. Peters Foundation. The Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Association of Fresno is a co-sponsor for this event.

“Armenian Communities of the Northeastern Mediterranean” focuses on the history, economic, cultural, educational and political developments among the Armenians in Musa Dagh, Dört Yol, and Kessab. It also presents the thriving Armenian communities of Beylan and Antioch and the onetime Armenian villages in the Ruj Valley and those near Latakia.

Prof. Hovannisian will explore dramatic episodes in Armenian history and the heroism of the rugged and sturdy people who lived and defended these communities and, in the case of Kessab and a single village in Musa Dagh, continue to endure there. The presentation will also examine the fraudulent transfer of the Sanjak of Alexandretta to Turkey in 1939 and the three-month occupation of the area by the al-Nusra front in 2014.

Dr. Richard G. Hovannisian is Professor Emeritus of Armenian and Near Eastern History at UCLA, President’s Fellow at Chapman University, and Adjunct Professor of History at USC to work with the Shoah Foundation on testimonies of survivors of the Armenian Genocide. He received a Ph.D. in history from UCLA and was a member of the UCLA faculty since 1962, where he organized both the undergraduate and graduate programs in Armenian history and served as the Associate Director of UCLA’s Center for Near Eastern Studies for two decades. Professor Hovannisian is a founder and six-time president of the Society for Armenian Studies (SAS), and a member of a number of editorial boards, scholarly organizations, and civic organizations.

Dr. Hovannisian has given more than 2,500 university and community lectures in 48 countries and has participated in numerous teacher workshops and international forums and media events. He has published more than 30 volumes on Armenia History and culture and seven other books on Near Eastern history, society, and culture. In addition, he has edited and contributed to fourteen volumes in the UCLA conference series, “Historic Armenian Cities and Provinces.”

Copies of “Armenian Communities of the Northeastern Mediterranean,” as well as other publications in the “Historic Armenian Cities and Provinces Series,” will be available the night of the lecture.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

Help Armenian intellectuals Book “CINEMA OF ARMENIA” by Professor Siranush Galstyan

December 22, 2016 By administrator

By Wally Sarkeesian

Great christmas gift

This book is the first English language study of Armenian cinema. It is divided into twelve chapters, followed by an appendix on animation.
Chapter 1 explores the birth of cinema in Armenia in 1899 with a screening in Yerevan and provides the setting for the following survey.

Chapter 2 is dedicated to the founder of the Armenian cinema, Hamo Beknazaryan, whose work represents an entire era not only of Armenian but also in Soviet cinema, since his name stands alongside those of Eisenstein, Pudovkin, Dovzhenko, and other great filmmakers.

Chapter 3 concerns other works created during the silent period in Armenia.

Chapter 4 discusses the processes of Armenian cinema in the Stalin era, broadly covering the period from 1930 to 1959. New filmmakers appeared on the stage during those years. The role of the short film genre is mentioned, as well as films that were shelved by Soviet censorship.

Chapter 5 analyzes the most significant films for the subsequent rise of Armenian cinema as well as musical films.
Chapters 6 and 7 are devoted to prominent filmmakers, Sergei Parajanov and Artavazd Peleshyan, subjecting their works to theoretical and morphological analyses. read more…

To Purchase: http://www.mazdapublishers.com/book/an-overview

Availability: In stock
Published: 2016
Page #: xviii + 242
Size: 7 x 10
ISBN: 978-1568593029
plates, appendix, bibliography, index, notes

Siranush Galstyan
Professor Siranush Galstyan received her degree from the Yerevan State (the former Yerevan State Polytechnic Institute) in 1991. In 1999 she graduated from the School of History of Cinema, Theory and Film Criticism at the Yerevan State Institute of Theater and Cinema. In 2008, she completed her doctoral thesis “Metaphors, Symbols and Allegory in Armenian Cinema,” at the Institute of Arts in the Academy of Sciences of Armenia in Yerevan. Since 1995, she had been contributing critical and theoretical articles to various newspapers and magazines in Armenia. Some of her work has also been published abroad. Beginning in 1999, she has lectured on the History of Film at the Yerevan State Institute of Theater and Cinema and, since 2002, at the Yerevan State University. She has been a member of the FIPRESCI since 2000 and the Union of Cinematographers of Armenia since 2007. She has also participated as FIPRESCI jury member at different film festivals.

Video-Interview, Armenian Cinema Book Overview, with Prof. Bournoutian

A journey to old Yerevan of the 20th century through the book by Karine Khalatyan

September 22, 2016 By administrator

karine-khalatyan Unremitting modernization is the phenomenon of Yerevan, yet it has come to the systematic disadvantage of the city itself. This is not about the last 25 years, although mistakes had been made even before that. Today, not a single right thing is done in the city construction and architecture, architect Karen Babayan said today during a presentation of the book “Old Yerevan in Armenian classic stories and memories of the 1920-1940s” by Karine Khalatyan.

Babayan noted that Yerevan still preserves its phenomenon of being a multilayered city, yet the current generation sees and notices little of those layers.

“Architects are keeping on suggesting different projects of destroying those layers. They gather, discuss. Sometimes, the matter refers to major funds, where they could gain more money. The city is the only one that gets poorer, yet books are published about it,” Babayan said, exemplifying the book authored by Khalatyan.

The book presentation was held at Avetik Isahakyan Museum-House. It comprises memories about Yerevan, its residents, their daily routine through the works of renown Armenian writers, such as Aksel Bakunts, Stepan Zoryan, Vahan Totovents, Derenik Demirchyan, Gurgen Mahari and many others.

“This book is about my love and dedication to the motherland, to my Yerevan. It has been written with great inspiration. There are works that were translated years ago. I decided to compile them and publish a book, which also contains new translations,” Karine Khalatyan told Panorama.am.

She next emphasized that such books educate to love the city are designed for those who want to learn about Yerevan, its image, people, and traditions.

“Yerevan is revealed through artistic expression in the book,” the author stressed, also announcing her future plans of completing the second book about Yerevan.

Raoul Wallenberg Foundation unveils English version of Genocide ebook

September 13, 2016 By administrator

raoul-wallenberg-foundation The Raoul Wallenberg Foundation presents the ebook “Armenian Genocide. The silenced extermination”, an English version of the original in Spanish by the Argentinian author, Sulim Granovsky, the Foundation said in a statement.

Edited and published by the foundation in 2010 (Spanish ebook format), the research focuses on the tragic events that took place in 1915. As all the works that comprise the RWF Digital Library, this new ebook is freely accessible to all.

Sulim Granovsky comments on his creation in his own words: “Six hundred years of peaceful coexistence had elapsed within the empire, where Armenians shared in managing finance, business and the exports. Most of the buildings in Constantinople were built by Armenian architects. The main mosques were also the work of Armenian architects. Armenian officials advised the Turkish hierarchy. However, it was a false peace, because a series of vicissitudes anticipated the end of the precarious harmony, prior to the 1915 Genocide. In just a couple of years since 1895 Abdul Hamid, the Red Sultan, named after his bloodthirsty intentions, unleashed the annihilation of 300,000 Armenians. During the Hamidian era “any Muslim had permission to test the sharpness of his sword on the neck of an Armenian Christian.” Hamid’s murderous instinct was somewhat selective: he ordered the massacre of the Armenians in Anatolia, particularly if they had links to political parties and religious missions that could pose a threat to his regime because of the strong influence they had over the people. Truth is that in 1908 the rising movement of the Young Turks had overthrown Hamid, generating the support of the Armenians. However, the charm did not last long, because in the course of secret meetings of the Union and Progress Party, the Young Turks resolved that the Armenians were internal enemies of the Turkification process and should be persecuted and annihilated. The Interior Minister, Talaat Pasha, considered that, since the Armenians “had lost the right to life in the Ottoman Empire”, not a single bullet should be wasted in a holy war and, therefore, they should be killed with knives or drowned in the Euphrates. And this was what was done.”

A recent initiative by the Raoul Wallenberg Foundation in connection with a special chapter dedicated to Turkish and Kurdish rescuers who, scattered around the Ottoman Empire, reached out to save Armenians during the 1915 Genocide. The exclusive research, assigned to and conducted by Professor Taner Akcam, renowned scholar who chairs the Armenian Genocide Studies at Clark University (Worcester, Massachusetts), comprises 73 pages. The work was originally edited in Turkish and later translated into English, Armenian and Spanish. So far, 180 individuals have been identified as rescuers, and the Foundation is still working to unveil further cases.