LIFE

The exhibition “70TK: From Tatavla to Kurtuluş” will be open until 1 October. We met with its curator Dr. Banu Pekol, to talk about the project.

As part of his first overseas trip, US President Donald Trump went to Israel after Saudi Arabia. He visited Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, where he met religious leaders.

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.

In an excavation work in Harput province of Elazığ, a 165-years-old Armenian inscription is found. It is thought to be a tombstone and deciphering works continue.

Croatian Goran Blažević began a journey for drawing attention to the problems of the refugees. In this 5-month journey from Jordan to his homeland, Blažević follows the route that refugees use for going to Europe. Blažević is in Turkey in these days.

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.”

Ali Yamaş and Bülent Erdem are engaged in caving. They have a cave research group called “Obruk” (sink-hole). We wanted to talk to two experienced cavers about the works in this field. However, we found ourselves talking about the underground cities in Turkey. They say that there are many underground cities that were built by Christian peoples especially between 6th and 11th centuries.

3000 kilometers along the Caucasus mountains, three countries and a long way passing through them... Transcaucasian Trail Association (TCTA), a Washington-based initiative, embarked to build one of the longest hiking routes in the world. The association is working with local partners for this hiking route, which is planned to pass through Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. They want to improve ecotourism, create an exciting route for the hikers and provide a different perspective to Caucasus countries which seem like they will never come to terms because of the border conflicts. We talked to Vahagn Vardumyan, a member of Armenia team, about the project.

This time, Berge Arabian fills our hearts with his dearest mother Markrit Arabian. This is the story of love, compassion and affection between a mother and a son.