Video | Gomidas Institute

A Precarious Armenia: : The Third Republic, the Karabakh Conflict, and Genocide Politics

Book release with a presentation by Dr. Gerard Libaridian regarding his work A Precarious Armenia: The Third Republic, the Karabakh Conflict, and Genocide Politics (London: Gomidas Institute, 2023) and hosted by Ara Sarafian on 2 July 2023.

On The Road To Ayash

In this video, Gomidas Institute Director Ara Sarafian uses Ottoman and Armenian records to trace the last steps of a group of Armenian political prisoners who were arrested in Constantinople (Istanbul) on 24 April 1915, sent to Ayash prison, and then murdered. In April 2012 Sarafian visited Ayash with a Turkish journalist who wrote a two page article in Radikal. This film is about his recent visit.

Seeking Zabel Yessayan - An Interview with Dr. Nanor Kebranian

A fascinating interview with Dr. Nanor Kebranian on the occasion of her latest work, Zabel Yessayan On the Threshold: Key Texts on Armenians and Turks as Ottoman Subjects, (London: Gomidas Institute, 2023). The interview explores Zabel Yessayan's place in modern Armenian and Ottoman literature, including the current state of scholarship on her work, and such thematic issues Ottoman women's rights, race, and love across communal divides.

Soghomon Tehlirian and the Assassination of Talaat Pasha - Notes from the German Archives

An illustrated presentation by Osik Moses followed by a panel discussion with Carla Garapedian, Bedo Demirdjian, and Ara Sarafian. This is a seminal presentation that maps out German archives and other materials related to the assassination of Talaat Pasha and its aftermath in Berlin, 1921.

The Armenian Genocide: Looking Back, Moving Forward

The Armenian Genocide is no longer a silent issue in Turkey. The Kurdish awakening over the last 30 years has led to major changes in the political landscape of that country. Kurdish leaders today, as well as millions of others, acknowledge the participation of Kurds in the genocide of Armenians and seek to make amends. (This film is largely based on materials from Diyarbakir between 2012-13).

Sharing the Burden:Armenian Massacres Helped Shape U.S. Foreign Policy: Laderman

Armenian Massacres Helped Shape U.S. Foreign Policy: Laderman

Panel Reviews "U.S. Humanitarian Intervention” Then and Now

Prof. Charlie Laderman and his pathbreaking work, "Sharing the Burden. The Armenian Question, Humanitarian Intervention, and Anglo-American Visions of Global Order,” (OUP), 2019, were a topic of discussion among leading scholars working on the Armenian Genocide. Hosted by Ara Sarafian and Vincent Lima, this was an "In Conversation” session of the Gomidas Institute on 2 September 2020. Prof. Laderman was joined by two other distinguished guests, Prof. Vicken Cheterian, (University of Geneva and Webster University, Geneva) and John Evans, former US ambassador to Yerevan. The panel discussion is now available online. 

Opening with an illustrated presentation, Prof. Laderman touched on three critical points which framed the debate that followed.
   1. The little-known 1896 Congressional resolution protesting against the massacre of 100,000 Ottoman Armenians under Abdul Hamid II. This was a major milepost in US foreign policy and reflected important shifts in US politics, including an interest in the "Armenian Question” as it was known at the time.
   2. The Armenian Genocide of 1915 and United States efforts to save the victims during the killings or their aftermath. These efforts included the creation of Near East Relief by an Act of Congress (1918), as well as intense debates around the possibility of the United States assuming a mandate for an independent Armenian state (1920). 
   3. The 2019 Congressional resolution affirming United States recognition of the Armenian Genocide and calling for "education and public understanding of the facts of the Armenian Genocide, including the role of the United States in humanitarian relief efforts…” The inclusion of "education and public understanding" in the resolution was seen as a significant opportunity. Serious engagement with scholars like Prof. Laderman who put the Genocide in the context of evolving U.S. foreign policy can be an important way of taking full advantage of the resolution.
   Laderman’s discussion covered US domestic politics (and the position of senators, presidential candidates and presidents, such as Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Warren Harding), imperial rivalries and alliances (mainly between Great Britain and the United States), and the impact of a devastating world war.
   The discussion that followed touched on the UN Genocide Convention of 1948 and developing case law; the duty of states to act in genocidal and pre-genocidal cases for purposes of prevention or punishment; third party intervention and differing victimisers’ and victims perspectives; the persecution of Armenian, Assyrians, Yezidis and Kurds in the Middle East today; Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide and its failure to oppose the 2019 Congressional resolution; the political significance of the latter resolution and the opportunities it presents lobbyists for future action; and the lessons one can draw from the failure of the United States and others to protect Armenians in a more successful manner between 1895 and 1923. 
   All participants thanked Prof. Laderman for his work as a critical reference for our understanding of the Armenian Question, humanitarian intervention, and Anglo-American visions of global order circa 1900-1923.

National Identity, Diaspora, and Space of Belonging: An Armenian Perspective

Rethinking Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora. How is our understanding of Armenia and the Armenian diaspora changing? What are some of the critical challenges ahead? Dr. Vahagn Vardanyan, a political geographer, introduces his latest work to new audiences. This recording was made with the release of his book on 8 Dec. 2021, National Identity, Diaspora, and Space of Belonging: An Armenian Perspective.

A Brief History of Nirze Village of Gesaria

Book Release and Discussion (31 July 2021): "Bringing the Village Back to Life" with Gerard J. Libaridian and Harry Parsekian, hosted by Ara Sarafian. In this presentation, we discuss the English translation of Senekerim Khederian's work, A Brief History of Nirze Village of Gesaria (originally published in Armenian, Boston, 1918) as a historical source on Armenians in the Gesaria [Kayseri] region of Turkey.