On Sunday, March 17, 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), reports Asbarez.acom
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.