VARDUHI BALYAN

A series of events were organized as part of the 1000th week of Saturday Mothers' gathering in Galatasaray Square. One of them was the screening of a movie directed by Zelal Buldan, who was born on the day her father Savaş Buldan was killed. In the film 'About My Father: Catharsis', the director deals with her father, the silence that prevails at home due to her father's grief, and the search for ways to talk about the unspoken with her mother Pervin Buldan.

Trying to build a bridge between Armenia and Turkey with his photography, Umut Vedat tells about his works appealing to the peoples of both countries and projects in Tbilisi.

Meline Anumyan from Research Center for Studies of Western Armenians' Problems published her study on Lom (Bosha) people in Artvin and Rize. Visitng Artvin and Rize on November 2016, Anumyan's work is based on Lom people's current way of life and perception of their identities. We talked to Anumyan about Lom people who are unknown by many people.

The documentary titled “Bees without Borders”, which was shot in the villages along Turkish-Armenian border, tells the story of beekeeping activities on the both sides of the border. The difficulties that these people on different sides of the border experience are almost the same and they all dream about opening of the border. Coşkun Aral, Müge Aral and Batuhan Tunçer tells about the document.

Known for his researches on Caucasus and his book on Karabakh conflict titled “Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan through Peace and War”, author and journalist Thomas de Waal's recent book “Great Catastrophe: Armenians and Turks in the Shadow of Genocide” has been published in Turkish by Iletişim Publishing. By way of his book, we talked to de Waal about the current developments in Caucasus.

Hrant Dink Foundation's Turkey-Armenia fellowship program sponsored by the EU encourages the professionals from the neighboring country to form cross-border cooperation networks since 2014. Armen Ohanyan (Hayastantsi), Maria Yeghiazaryan and Artsrun Pivazyan, who came to neighboring Turkey for new experiences thanks to the fellowship program, shared their experiences.

The discrimination that Stephan Yepremyan has been subjected for trying to maintain his culture and the torments that Hangül Özbey went through because of her Kurdish and Armenian identity reveal the suffering caused by being an Armenian of Diyarbakir.

Last week, Armenian United National College is opened in Beirut. Prominent figures of Armenian society, religious leaders and Lebanese Minister of Education were present at the opening ceremony of the school, which is of major importance for Lebanese Armenians.

Life is much harder for the refugees who are faced with the prejudices of the society. And when there is also an illness involved, it is not hard to imagine the extent of the challenges. The young man, whom we call Haig, left Syria because of the war and he is suffering from the aggravated victimization. He is a refugee and HIV positive.

We spoke to author and scriptwriter Manuel Keşişian about the situation of Armenian community in Aleppo, which has been affected by the attacks of the last week.