Fikret Baskaya: Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The #ArmenianGenocide

September 17, 2015 By administrator

Fikret Baskaya

By: Hambersom Aghbashian

Fikret Baskaya, is a Professor of Economic Development and International Relations and the founder and chairman of the “Turkey and Middle East Forum Foundation”. He is the author of several books and articles on development economics. He also wrote a regular newspaper opinion column. Dr. Baskaya was imprisoned from March 1994 to July 1995 under Article 8 of Turkey´s Anti-Terror Law for writing a book titled “The Bankruptcy of [the] Paradigm”.
On June 1, 1999, Prof. Fikret Baskaya published an article entitled “A Question of History?” in the daily newspaper Özgür Bakis, in which he questioned the viability of the Turkish state’s approach towards the Kurdish problem following the arrest of Abdullah Öcalan.
As a result, he was indicted under the same article of the Anti-Terror Law for “disseminating separatist propaganda through the press”, and was sentenced to 16 months’ imprisonment and a fine on 13 June 2000. He was released from prison in June 2002 after serving one year. He was finally acquitted in 2005. (1)
A day after journalist Hrant Dink’s murder on 19 January 2007, writer Temel Demirer read a press statement in central Ankara, saying that the journalist had not only been killed for being Armenian, but also because he had spoken of an “Armenian genocide.” He continued saying “There is a genocide in our history, it is called the Armenian genocide……”. The statement was signed by Fikret Başkaya, İsmail Beşikçi, Yüksel Akkaya, Mehmet Özer, Necmettin Salaz, Ahmet Telli and more than forty other Turkish intellectuals.

(2) Writer Dr. Fikret Baskaya, journalists Barcin Yinanc, Ahmet Altan of Radikal Newspaper, Ali Bayramoglu of Yeni Safak newspaper, Orhan Kemal Cengiz, Mustafa Aykol, Cengiz Candar, Ismail Besickci, Baskin Oran, Yavuz Baydar, Ayse Gunaysu, Zeunep Tozduman, and many others , criticized the government for not dealing with the Armenian Genocide.

(3) In December 2008, two hundred prominent Turkish intellectuals released an apology for the “great catastrophe of 1915”. This was a clear reference to the Armenian Genocide. The text of the apology was “My conscience does not accept the insensitivity showed to and the denial of the Great Catastrophe that the Ottoman Armenians were subjected to in 1915. I reject this injustice and for my share, I empathize with the feelings and pain of my Armenian brothers and sisters. I apologize to them.” Fikret Baskaya was one of the prominent Turkish intellectuals who signed the apology.

(4) According to “http://armenians-1915.blogspot.com”, On April 24, 2010, as genocide commemoration events were being held one after the other in different locations in Istanbul, a groundbreaking two-day symposium on the Armenian Genocide began at the Princess Hotel in Ankara. The conference did not simply deal with the historical aspect of 1915; for the first time in Turkey, a substantial part of the proceedings was dedicated to topics such as confiscated Armenian property, reparations, and the challenges of moving forward and confronting the past in Turkey, etc . . Sait Cetinoglu, Mahmut Konuk, Fikret Baskaya, Baskin Oran, Ismail Besikci, Ragip Zarakolu and many others participated and had expressed their ideas. (5)
According to “The Armenian Observer” editorial, “As We See It”, June 9, 2013, by Prof. Osheen Keshishian, “After almost a century of silence, dying the past few decades, some Turkish historians, writers and journalists have seen the light and have become much more vocal and have come out to correct Turkish history, some cautiously and other more abrasively, starting a movement to write unwittingly the facts, the truth of their history, which was altered and disoriented, and to seek justice for the Armenians, the Kurds, and Assyrians.” Fikret Baskaya is listed as one those intellectuals who had the courage to write about those issues. (6)
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1- http://www.englishpen.org/campaigns/dr-fikret-baskaya/
2- http://bianet.org/english/minorities/105355-writer-demirer-on-trial-for-armenian-genocide
3- www.thearmenianobserver.com, 9 June 2013
4- http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=200_prominent_Turks_apologize_for_great_
5- http://armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2010/05/3068-minutes-of-ankara-symposium-on.html
6- http://www.thearmenianobserver.com/?p=1822

Australia’s New Prime Minister a Strong and Vocal Supporter of #ArmenianGenocide Recognition

September 15, 2015 By administrator

Newly elected Prime Minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull

CANBERRA—The Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC Australia) has welcomed the election of Malcolm Turnbull as the new Prime Minister of Australia.

Turnbull challenged sitting Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, for their party’s (LIB) leadership in a spill that took place on Monday night in Parliament House. By winning the Liberal Party leadership, Turnbull immediately became Prime Minister-elect, and will be sworn in on Tuesday.

Turnbull, a longtime friend of the Armenian-Australian community, has been a strong and vocal supporter of Armenian Genocide recognition by the Parliament of Australia. On November 23, 2013, in his capacity as Shadow Minister for Communications and Broadband, Turnbull addressed the House of Representatives in an impassioned speech calling for the formal recognition of the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian genocides.

“They [ANC Australia Advocacy Week delegation] are assembled here, as we are, to lament what was one of the great crimes against humanity, not simply a crime against the Greeks, the Assyrians and the Armenians but a crime against humanity—the elimination, the execution, the murder of hundreds of thousands of millions of people for no reason other than that they were different. This type of crime, this sort of genocidal crime, is something that sadly is not unique in our experience,” Turnbull said.

He added: “We must own up to it. We must recognize it for what it is.”

He also called on the Republic of Turkey to acknowledge the genocidal crimes of their predecessors, the Ottoman Empire, to pave the way for reconciliation into the future, and live up to their multicultural past.

Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of Australia, Vache Kahramanian, wrote to the Prime Minister-elect congratulating him on his election as Australia’s 29th Prime Minister.

“We welcome the election of Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister of Australia. His strong track record on Armenian related issues has been formidable and we look forward to continuing this strong relationship,” Kahramanian said.

“We also congratulate Tony Abbott on his service as Prime Minister Australia.”

ANC Australia has sought a meeting with the newly elected Prime Minister to discuss a wide range of issues important to the Armenian-Australian community.

Concerts on Armenian Genocide Centennial held in Tokyo

September 15, 2015 By administrator

Aram Khachaturyan Trio gave concerts in Tokyo on September 7-11 as part of the events commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The events were sponsored by the Armenian embassy in Japan and Culture Ministry of Armenia, according to the press service of Armenian Foreign Ministry.

On September 8 the trio performed in Lutheran Ichigaya Center, followed by a concert in Tokyo’s famous Suntory Hall on September 11.

Hundreds of Japanese citizens, Japan-based diplomats and representatives of the Armenian community attended the concerts, during which works by Aram Khachaturyan, Arno Babajanyan, and Pyotr Tchaikovsky were performed.

Source: Panorama.am

Armenian Genocide survivor remembered for deep faith, power to forgive

September 13, 2015 By administrator

Armenian Genocide survivor

In this file photo, Armenian Genocide survivor Yevnige Salibian poses for a photo with her grandchildren Vaughn Bahadarian, Aykienne Kiledjian and Brielle Bahadarian (l-r) following a memorial service and the unveiling of a Armenian Genocide monument at the Ararat Home of Los Angeles on March 12, 2015. Salibian died Aug. 29, 2015 at the age of 101

By Susan Abram, Los Angeles Daily News

he was 7 years old when she and her family made a midnight escape by horse-drawn carriage.

They were headed to Syria, to find a safe haven away from the mass killings and the death marches.

Almost a century later, Yevnige Aposhian Salibian could still clearly recount the events of the Armenian Genocide. The family survived what eventually led to the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians. But the sounds and voices and pain of that time never left Salibian.

“When I used to look out of our door, I would hear people crying,” she told a Daily News reporter in March. “I would hear mothers, fathers, children saying, ‘I’m hungry, I’m thirsty.’”

And she remembered the sound of whips.

“The Turkish general would crack his whip, and he would say, ‘You! You! You! Get out of here!’”

Yet because of her Christian faith, she also believed in the power of forgiveness.

“She went through the genocide, through so many wars,” said Searan Kiledjian, Salibian’s granddaughter. “She was able to love her enemies.”

Salibian, who was recognized this year as one of the last of the Armenian Genocide survivors and who was a resident at the Ararat Home of Los Angeles in Mission Hills, died Aug. 29, 2015. She was 101.

“When you met her, you couldn’t help but realize how personable she was,” Kiledjian said. “She loved to share her life story, but she also loved hearing other people’s stories. She was able to connect with people quickly, and she made them feel special.”

Born in Aintab, Turkey, on Jan. 14, 1914, Salibian was the oldest of seven children. After her family’s escape into Syria, they later continued on to Lebanon, where Salibian graduated from the Armenian Evangelical School for Girls in Beirut. At age 21, she married Rev. Vahram Salibian.

Salibian was a devout Christian and she joined her husband to minister to refugees, orphans, to the disabled, to students and in churches. They raised their six children —Armine, Araxie, Norair, Shoushan, Hrag Sam and John — while serving in various Armenian Evangelical churches and established a new one in Dora which still remains.

Salibian’s faith never wavered, Kiledjian said, even when, as a 13-year-old, she lost her mother. Then as a mother herself, her eldest son Norair was killed at age 17 in a bus accident, along with 21 of his high school classmates.

Salibian and her husband later left Lebanon in 1976 when the civil war broke out. They settled in San Jose, where they continued their ministry in the community. Vahram Salibian passed away in 1995 and years later, Salibian moved into the Ararat Home, a retirement community in Mission Hills. There, she prayed with residents and staff, led Bible studies and devotionals, encouraged residents there, “making everyone laugh with her sharp wit and humor,” Kiledjian said.

“I think that whenever she would hear their stories and difficulties and challenges, she would always encourage them, not just sympathize but empathize,” Kiledjian said.

This year marked the centennial of the start of the Armenian Genocide, and Salibian was able to share her story with many people during various events, from Mayor Eric Garcetti to Kim Kardashian.

“I think that God kept her alive for the centennial season to tell the story but also for the opportunity to bring reconciliation,” Kiledjian said. “It was because of her faith and how God had loved her that she was able to love and forgive.”

Salibian is survived by five children,11 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren. Many of them now serve as missionaries, pastors and chaplains.

Funeral services were held in San Jose, but plans for a memorial service for December in Los Angeles are underway. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Ark of Hope, c/o Christian Aid. All proceeds will go directly to needy Armenians of all ages in Yerevan and surrounding villages. Contact Christian Aid at 434-977-5650 or mail checks payable to Christian Aid Mission, to P.O. Box 9037, Charlottesville, VA 22906. Please include giving code 464ARK, or reference Ark of Hope stating the gift is in memory of Yevnige Salibian.

Fatih Akin’s Film THE CUT Opens September 18th in NY & LA

September 12, 2015 By administrator

THE CUT

Directed by Fatih Akin (Head-On, The Edge of Heaven, Soul Kitchen)

Written by Fatih Akin and Mardik Martin (Mean Streets, New York, New York, Raging Bull)

Starring Tahar Rahim (A Prophet)

Opens in New York (Lincoln Plaza and Landmark Sunshine) and Los Angeles (Sundance Sunset Cinema, Laemmle Playhouse 7 and Laemmle Royal Theatre) on September 18th followed by a national rollout

THE CUT is Fatih Akin’s epic drama about one man’s journey through the Ottoman Empire after surviving the 1915 Armenian genocide. Deported from his home in Mardin, Nazareth (A Prophet’s Tahar Rahim) moves onwards as a forced laborer. When he learns that his daughters may still be alive, his hope is revived and he travels to America, via Cuba, to find them. Co-written by Armenian screenwriter, USC professor and Martin Scorsese collaborator Mardik Martin (Raging Bull, Mean Streets, New York, New York)THE CUT was an official selection of the Venice and Film Festival, and opens on Friday, September 18 in NY and LA followed by a national release. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide.

One night, the Turkish police round up all the Armenian men in the city, including the young blacksmith, Nazaret Manoogian, who gets separated from his family. Years later, after managing to survive the horrors of the genocide, he hears that his twin daughters are still alive. Determined to find them, he sets off to track them down, his search taking him from the Mesopotamian deserts and Havana to the barren and desolate prairies of North Dakota. On this odyssey, he encounters a range of very different people: angelic and kind-hearted characters, but also the devil incarnate.

One of his generation’s most influential European directors, German-Turkish filmmaker Fatih Akin was born in Hamburg to Turkish immigrant parents. His 2004 breakthrough film Head-On, a Hamburg-set love story between two young self-destructive Turks in revolt against tradition, won the Berlin Film Festival’s Golden Bear, The European Film Award and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Next came Akin’s documentary about the music scene in Istanbul, Crossing the Bridge – The Sound of Istanbul, followed by The Edge of Heaven, winner of the 2007 Cannes Film Festival’s Best Screenplay; New York, I Love You, the compilation film for which he directed an episode; the comedy Soul Kitchen, winner of the Venice Film Festival Special Jury Prize; and Polluting Paradise, a documentary about environmental damage in the Turkish village of his ancestors. THE CUT is Mr. Akin’s final film in his trilogy about “Love, Death and the Devil” following Head On and The Edge of Heaven. THE CUT’s production designer is Academy Award winner Allan Starski (Schindler’s List.)

French-Algerian actor Tahar Rahim won two Césars for Most Promising Actor and Best Actor for his breakthrough role in Jacques Audiard’s A Prophet. He has worked with Chinese director Lou Ye (Love and Bruises), Scottish director Kevin MacDonald (The Eagle) as well as Belgian director Joachim Lafosse’s (Our Children). Rahim was most recently seen by US audiences in Asghar Farhadi’s The Past.

“THE CUT is a genuine, hand-made epic, of the type that people just don’t make anymore. In other words, a deeply personal response to a tragic historical episode, that has great intensity, beauty and sweeping grandeur. This picture is very precious to me, on many levels.” — Martin Scorsese

OPENS IN LA ON FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18

SUNDANCE SUNSET CINEMA

8000 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA. 90046
(323) 654-2217
For Tickets and More Information

LAEMMLE ROYAL THEATRE
11523 Santa Monica Blvd.
West L.A., CA 90025
(310) 478-3836
For Tickets and More Information

LAEMMLE PLAYHOUSE 7
673 E Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena, CA. 91101
(310) 478-3836
For Tickets and More Information

Q&As with Armenian-American screenwriter Mardik Martin Opening Weekend at all theaters!
See theater websites for details.

Engin Akarli Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide

September 10, 2015 By administrator

By: Hambersom Aghbashian,

Dr.Engin Akarli, is a professor of modern Middle East studies at Brown University, Rhode Island, USA. He is one of the Turkish scholars who publicly acknowledge the Turkish extermination campaign against the Armenians. Especially in light of recent events, he cautions against interpreting genocide itself in racist terms. Professor Akarli studied economics at Robert College, Turkey, (BA degree in 68), Southeast European history at University of Wisconsin (MA degree in 72), and Middle East history at Princeton (MA degree in 73, and Ph.D degree 76). He taught at Bosphorus University in Istanbul (1976-83), Yarmouk University in Jordan (1983-89), and Washington University in St. Louis (1989-96) before joining Brown University. He held research fellowships at Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (1985-86), and at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton (2003-04), then at the Islamic Legal Studies Program of Harvard Law School (2005-06). He taught courses in economic history of the world and the Middle East and wrote on Ottoman demographic, fiscal and political history earlier in his career. His later works explore the history of geographical Syria under Ottoman rule. His book on Ottoman Lebanon in 1860-1920 won the Best History Book Prize of the Missouri Historical Society. Currently, he works on themes related to the legal history of the region. (1)(2)

A PBS program hosted Dr.Engin Akarli. He was asked about the Armenian Genocide and his answer was : “We have to put things in their appropriate historical context; yes, these things happened…, ” and as an answer to (off- screen filmmaker’s question): What are these things? He said: “Genocide, okay? The genocide, in the sense, that attacks against a distinctive, specific part of the population. In this sense, that’s what I understood of genocide. It happened. We need to face it, to understand why it happened, under what circumstances it happened, and what are its moral implications, what does this event tell us about the times, what does this event tell us about great power politics, problems of nationalism in this part of the world, there are many issues that this particular sheds light on.” (3)
“aghet1915.wordpress.com” wrote the following under the title “Recognition of the Armenian Genocide”: “The fact of the Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman government has been documented, recognized, and affirmed in the form of media and eyewitness reports, laws, resolutions, and statements by many historians, states and international organizations.” It listed the names of the Turkish historians who have recognized the Armenian Genocide. Halil Berktay, Taner Akçam, Murat Belge, Ahmet Insel, Ercin Kursat Ahler, Ali Ertem, Engin Akarli, Koray Caliskan, Dilek Kurban, Yunus Tuncel, Ugur Ümit Üngör and many others are mentioned in the list. (4)
In response to Michael Gunter’s review of ” The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey: A Disputed Genocide ” book by Guenter Lewy, Joseph Kechichian wrote: “the book and the reviewer pose serious problems.” Among those points he mentioned that “Guenter Lewy has placed himself in the forefront of a parallel campaign to promote directly and indirectly and with remarkable zeal, the ‘official’ Turkish line of denial of the Armenian Genocide. This is more significant when one consider that a host of Turkish historians, free from the shackles of the official line, are not only refusing to deny the Genocide, but in one way or another are also recognizing the occurrence.” Then he mentions Fatima Muge Gocek, Hilal Berktay , Engin Akarli, Selim Deringil and Taner Akcam as examples with quotations. As for Engin Akarli he mentioned that Akarli concludes that the relevant facts ” invite the term Genocide”. (5)
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*PBS : The Public Broadcasting Service is an American public broadcaster and television program distributor. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, PBS is an independently operated non-profit organization and is the most prominent provider of television programs to public television stations in US, distributing series such as NOVA, Sesame Street, PBS NewsHour, Masterpiece, Nature, American Masters, Frontline, and Antiques Roadshow.

1- http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Engin-Akarli/207445638
2- http://www.brown.edu/Departments//Modern_Greek_Studies/people/facultypage.php?id=10074
3- http://www.tallarmeniantale.com/PBS-Armenian-survival.htm
4- https://aghet1915.wordpress.com/recognition/
5- http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/30069560?uid=3739920&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid

From Armenian Genocide To Kurdish Rebels, Turkey Is A Nation In Denial

September 10, 2015 By administrator

Anti-PKK protests in Ankara

By Worldcrunch

ISTANBUL — One of the most distinguishable qualities of Turkey’s Sunni Muslim majority is their penchant for jumping. Jumping one step forward from where they’re supposed to be, jumping one paragraph below the one they should actually read, jumping just clear of the matter they should consider or the historical issue at hand.

They can’t, for example, discuss Armenian genocide. Because it’s not possible to talk about the period when the genocide was planned and practiced. They always jump to what happened after because that is where Armenian acts of revenge can be found. They rationalize the mass organized slaughter and deportation of people from their homeland by saying, “but, but…” and talking about “Armenian gangs” and their actions. Somehow, though, there is never consideration for how and why these gangs were formed in the first place.

I start with Armenian genocide because I don’t think the handling of the Kurdish issue is isolated from that. In fact, I don’t think any issue in Turkey is isolated from that. This is our national style.

The objection, “but the PKK!,” the acronym for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, comes the second the Kurdish issue is mentioned. This is how the majority and the government rationalizes dealing with and talking about this persecuted minority. Because the PKK considers murder part of politics. The PKK kills people and does things that many supporters of equal citizenship and civil rights for Kurds find deplorable.

Denying the facts

But most of the people who blindly hold anti-Kurd views and who fail to consider why there is a militant faction of Kurds simply don’t want to accept the truth. They would have to do something about if they accepted the truth. They would have to share life in this country with the Kurds as equal citizens, an idea that disturbs them. The Sunni majority doesn’t want to lose its dominance.

What are these unacceptable truths that make them jump?

First: The truth that the Kurds are oppressed in this country. Why should they be oppressed? Why is this an unchangeable situation? The majority doesn’t have an answer. Neither does the state. “It is like that. You will be oppressed. Who will we oppress if not you?”

Second: The majority of Kurds consider the PKK the “armed organization of the Kurds.” There is a bond between them that can’t be severed by speaking about the crimes and wrongdoings of the PKK, no matter how justified the criticism. The majority and the state have burned their villages, which only further convinces these people that they should have an armed organization.

Am I going too far? Excuse me if I go back to the Armenian genocide again. Memories from that time push a threatened and oppressed people to prioritize how they can survive. Most of the surviving Armenians who managed to escape were from areas where they could arm and defend themselves.

Can the Kurds, who were siding with the oppressors back then, forget this? What do the state’s actions regarding Kobane, Tal Abyad and Carablus tell the Kurds? The message is clear: “We can have you killed for our own benefit. We can turn a blind eye to your women being kidnapped and sold as slaves. We can take your land from you.” For those who might have doubts, check to see that Qandil is being bombed again.

Turkey’s self-created monster

The Kurdish belief that they need an army is a direct consequence of actions by both the state and the Sunni majority more generally. Because too many Kurds who tried to create change through politics and not arms wound up dead or in jail.

Burning down villages and forests were important counter-guerrilla methods of the state in the 1990s. These methods alone must have gained the PKK a few thousand militants. This also caused domestic migration and created a poor and angry young generation in the cities. This message from the Turkish government was, “I can burn your village. I can burn your forests. I can kill your cattle. You will not make a peep. You will move to the ghettos of the city and become beggars, street vendors and porters.” The Kurds preferred to make a peep. Is that so strange, so unexpected?

Read the full article: From Armenian Genocide To Kurdish Rebels, Turkey Is A Nation In Denial
Worldcrunch – top stories from the world’s best news sources

Los Angeles Armenian Genocide memorial tree project underway

September 9, 2015 By administrator

The Los Angeles City Council Tuesday approved funding for the Armenian Genocide Memorial Tree Project, spearheaded by Councilmember Paul Krekorian and with the aim of planting 100 pomegranate trees across city parks and in each of the 15 council districts to mark the centennial of the Armenian Genocide.
The first pomegranate tree was planted earlier this year at City Hall on April 23 during LA’s commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Asbarez reports.
“Los Angeles has unquestionably taken the lead in showing solidarity and standing on the side of justice
and recognition for the Armenian people,” said Councilmember Krekorian. “This project will serve as a living genocide memorial and symbol of the Armenian people’s history as we commemorate the centennial anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.”

“Anyone who comes to City Hall or travels throughout our city will see the pomegranate trees, which will continue to flourish as the Armenian community has. It will stand as a sign of hope, rebirth, and survival,” added Kerkorian.

Krekorian, chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee, represents Council District 2, which includes North Hollywood, Studio City, Valley Village and other communities in the east San Fernando Valley. His website is cd2.lacity.org, where you can sign up for news updates.

source: tert.am

Release of a book in Persian “Confessions. Turks and Kurds speak of the Armenian Genocide “

September 6, 2015 By administrator

Iran has just been published in Persian (Iranian) book Isak Younanessian, member of Hay Dat Committee (Armenian Cause) “Confessions. Turks and Kurds speak of the Armenian Genocide. “ According to the site Akunq.net the book consists of two parts. The first is a condensed presented the denial policy of Turkey about the Armenian question and the Armenian Genocide. In the second part, the book includes the statements of Turkish intellectuals and Kurds on the Armenian genocide. It evokes much the statements of Hasan Cemal (Djemal) the grand-son of Cemal Pasha, one of the leaders of the Committee of Union and Progress responsible for the genocide of the Armenians. The book also discussed the positions of dozens of Turkish or Kurdish personalities recognizing the Armenian genocide.

Krikor Amirzayan

Books dedicated to Armenian Genocide Centenary on display at Moscow Book Fair

September 2, 2015 By administrator

Genocide, Book

Armenia will present books dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide at the Moscow International Book Exhibition-Fair, RIA Novosti reported.

More than 400 publishing houses from 30 countries are participating in the fair that opens on Wednesday in pavilion No 75 of VDNKh exhibition center.

Serbia, Iran and Armenia are the special guests this year. Poetry recitations and concerts of musical groups representing national cultures of Serbia, Iran, and Armenia are scheduled to take place in the area adjacent to the pavilion.