VAN

Vazken Davidian made a presentation at “Van and the Region” conference organized by Hrant Dink Foundation and tried to provide an insight to the relationship between Ottoman Empire and Ottoman Armenians in a time of complicated ideological transformations. Here is a broad summary of the presentation by Davidian, who says that “The Figure of the Beggar from Van personified the economic wretchedness and misery of Ottoman Armenia on the streets and the hans [slums] of the imperial capital.”

Mehmet Polatel, PhD candidate in Boğaziçi University, gave a presentation titled as “Demographic and Socioeconomic Outcomes of Hamidian Massacres in Van” in “The Social, Cultural and Economic History of Van and the Region” conference organized by Hrant Dink Foundation. We talked to Polatel focusing on his presentation.

“The Social, Cultural and Economic History of Van and the Region” conference organized by Hrant Dink Foundation was held in Anarad Hığutyun building on November 11 and 12. We talked to Dr. Yektan Türkyılmaz, who was the keynote speaker of the conference, about Van's importance in Armenian and Ottoman history.