Conference entitled “Legacy of the Armenian Genocide 100 years later” held in The Hague
From March 6 to March 7, a conference, entitled “Legacy of the Armenian Genocide 100 years later” was held at the Institute for Global Justice in The Hague. The conference was organized by the National Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies (NIOD) of the Netherlands, Institute for Armenian Studies at the University of South California and Centennial Project Foundation.
The Conference kicked off on March 5, with a discussion and screening of a film “Grandma’s Tattoos” at the Humanity House of The Hague. Main speech was delivered by Dr. Ronald Suni and Dr. Ugur Umit Ungor made remarks.
On March 6-7, during the conference well-known scholars and researches delivered speeches, in which they discussed consequences of the Armenian Genocide from different perspectives and those lessons, that need to be learned in order to prevent future acts of genocide. Prominent lawyer Geoffrey Robertson touched upon the issues of law and policy, Associate Dean of George Washington University Susan Karamian reflected on the issues of acts of genocide at the international courts, Nolwenn Guilbert and Sun Kim, who worked at International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, presented research on recognition and reparation, Najwa Nabti, University of Arizona, talked about impunity of sexual assaults against Armenian women during the Armenian Genocide and consequences, lawyer at International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, President at Centennial Project Foundation Aleksis Demirchyan observed issues on failure of judicial systems.
Doctor Anthonie Holslag at the University of Amsterdam, editor of “Agos” newspaper Ferda Balancar, Esra Elmas from Istanbul Bilgi University and Ayda Erbal from New York University reflected on the cultural expressions of the Armenian Genocide, and the history and current situation of coverage of the Armenian Genocide by the Turkish media and in the Turkish society, real image and tendencies in the political and public circles. Expressions of the Armenian Genocide in the movie shooting were discussed by Dr. Lisa Siraganian, Southern Methodist University, and Dr. Marie-Aude Baronian, University of Amsterdam.
On March 7, Professor Hannibal Travis, Florida International University, Professor Levon Chorbajian, University of Massachusetts Lowell and Dr. Seyhan Bayraktar, University of Zurich, observed intentions and denial issues. Role of the Armenian Genocide in the militarization issues in the XX century was touched upon by Dr. Ugur Umit Ungor, Utrecht University. In the context of the Armenian Genocide, demographic and statistical research issues were touched upon by Dr. Yaqoob Biyak, International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Methodology of lecturing on acts of genocide was presented by Joyce Sahyouni, Collège Durocher Saint-Lambert, Quebec, and Dr. Barlow Der Mugrdechian, California State University, Fresno, discussed expressins in the Armenian literature. Cultural heritage and denial issues were reflected on by Dr. Nanor Kebranian, Columbia University and Dr. Eugene Sensenig-Dabbous University of Notre Dame.
