Click Here to Listen Armenia, Bishop of Gloucester

In this special edition of the programme, marking the 100th anniversary of the mass killings of hundreds of thousands of Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire, Religious Affairs Correspondent, Caroline Wyatt explores what the events mean for Armenians living here in Britain.

Twenty-two countries officially recognise the 1915 massacre as genocide. The Turkish government maintains that while it was a great tragedy, it was not genocide. We debate the issues with the Armenian Bishop Vahan Hovhanessian, Geoffrey Robertson QC and Professor Ayhan Aktar.

We hear the story of journalist Meline Toumani, who grew up an American Armenian but moved to Istanbul to get to know the country and its people as a way of understanding what happened to her community.

Bob Walker charts the history of the UK’s Armenian community, visiting the first Armenian Church in Britain, Holy Trinity Armenian Church of Manchester, which opened its doors on Easter Day in 1870.

Caroline shares a meal with an Armenian family in London to learn about how the mass killings of Armenians 100 years ago still has an impact on 3 generations of the same family.

Also in the programme: the new Bishop of Gloucester, Rachel Treweek, talks to Caroline about what she hopes to bring to the role as the first woman diocesan Bishop in the Church of England and the first woman bishop to sit in the House of Lords later this year.

Producers:
Amanda Hancox
Carmel Lonergan

Contributors:
Bishop Vahan Hovhanessian
Geoffrey Robertson QC
Professor Ayhan Aktar
Meline Toumani
Ven Rachel Treweek
Mohammed Shafiq.