VARTAN ESTUKYAN

“Dance is the hidden language of the soul, of the body.” Martha Graham

Art at the Zero Point, formed by a group of artists, most of whom are from Antakya, opened an exhibition on the damage caused by the earthquakes in Antakya and the current state of the city. The exhibition, hosted by Gallery KUB in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany, opened on Saturday, September 7.

It is revealed that 250 Jews in Turkey have moved to other countries recently. Though the number of migrated Armenians hasn't risen that much, they also think about migration.

Emre Can Dağlıoğlu made a presentation titled as “September 12th Regime and the Re-Shaped Identity of Armenians in Turkey” in “Critical Approaches to Armenian Identity in 21st Century: Vulnerability, Resilience, and Transformation” conference. We talked to him about his presentation and coup’s effects on the Armenian identity.

Prof. Dr. Taner Akçam, in his recent book, published the memoirs of Naim Bey, who played an important part in the historiography of the Armenian Genocide and whose existence had been denied. With this book, Prof. Akçam responded the claims and broke a new ground in the historiography of the Armenian Genocide.

Journalist Hayko Bağdat's passport was seized by police officers, when he arrived at the airport on the evening of August 6.

As part of the purge that was started after the coup attempt, Ari Hergel, who has been working as a guitar teacher in İSMEK (Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Art and Vocational Training Courses), is fired.

Speaking to the police during the ID check in Istanbul Atatürk Airport, Richard Demirci said that he is an Armenian from France and he ended up being deported. Police officers asked, “You speak Turkish. How come you are not Turkish?” He is prohibited from entering Turkey with an exclusion order.

After the Armenian Genocide resolution was passed, German government also recognized what happened in Namibia as genocide. We talked to Prof. Jürgen Zimmerer from Hamburg University, who has been studying Herero Genocide.

Fresno city of California has a historical significance for Armenian people. The city was the first stop of the mass migration to the US after the genocide. However, it hosted Armenians before 1915. Though there are 50.000 Armenians in Fresno today, there had been more Armenians living in the city in the past. In 1976, Armenian Studies Program was launched in Fresno State University. We spoke to Barlow Der Mugrdechian, who has been working as the director of this program for 8 years, about Fresno and its importance for Armenian people.