PRESS RELEASE
Armenians and the Left
P.O. Box 1066
New York, NY 10040
Contact: Karine Birazian
Tel: 917 428 1918
Email: karine@armeniansandtheleft.com
Web:

Balakian and Berktay to Speak at "Armenians and the Left" Symposium

On Saturday, March 31, 2007 in Cambridge, Mass., Professors Peter
Balakian of Colgate University and Halil Berktay of Sabanci University
in Istanbul will head a panel discussing `Armeno-Turkish Relations:
Pitfalls & Possibilities Following Hrant Dink’s Assassination.’ The
event will cap off a day-long "Armenians and the Left" symposium
devoted to a range of contemporary issues. Earlier panels will address
other vital themes: `The Media and Social Injustice in Armenia’ and
`Environmental Politics in Armenia.’

The symposium is co-sponsored by Harvard University’s Center for Middle
Eastern Studies and will be held at the Center for Government and
International Studies at Harvard University.

For more information, please visit:
ium.htm

The recent assassination of Istanbul-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was
reported worldwide and has had significant repercussions on Turkey’s
internal reform movement as well as on Armeno-Turkish dialogue.
Prominent academic figures will analyze what the future now holds on
these issues. Major sub-themes will include an examination of Turkish
right-wing nationalism and the assassination’s impact on efforts to
gain official acknowledgement of the 1915 Armenian Genocide.

In a separate panel, investigative journalist Edik Baghdasaryan from
Yerevan, Armenian Weekly Editor Khatchig Mouradian, and Professor of
Communications, Gayane Torosyan of SUNY-Oneonta will discuss the
structure and functioning of Armenia’s media today, focusing on 1) the
media’s role/effectiveness in reporting on corruption/social ills, and
2) the way in which media are organized (ownership patterns,
monopolies, censorship issues, etc.). Steve Kurkjian of The Boston
Globe will also provide his perspective on the issue.

A third panel will feature Jeffrey Tufenkian, President of `Armenian
Forests’ NGO and Ann Shirinian-Orlando, US Representative for Greens
Union of Armenia, who will discuss prospects for developing an
environmental movement in Armenia. The panel will be moderated by Jeff
Masarjian, Director of the Armenia Tree Project. Specific topics
include 1) coalition-building strategies on environmental issues; 2)
prospects for reforming mainstream public/private policies toward the
environment; 3) Looming environmental issues that must be dealt with
(illegal deforestation, depletion of urban green spaces, industrial
mining, nuclear energy and the need for alternative energy resources).

"Armenians and the Left" organizes conferences, lectures and discussion
groups that take a critical look at, and offer progressive analyses of,
a range of subjects pertinent to the Armenian people’s political, social
and economic situation within a global context. These public forums
explore alternative ways of understanding Armenia’s predicament besides
the conventional, state-centered approaches and examine how Armenian
activists can build coalitions with other dispossessed groups and
progressive movements.

The first "Armenians and the Left" conference was held in New York and
Boston in April of 2006 and was jointly hosted by the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (ARF) in the Eastern United States and the
Nation Institute (publishers of The Nation magazine). The conference
opened up numerous essential topics and critical perspectives, many of
which rarely figure as priorities in the mainstream agenda of
Armenian-American politics, such as globalization, American militarism,
human rights in Armenia, reparations, women and political power,
Armeno-Turkish dialog, etc….

"Armenians and the Left" is a project of the Central Committee of the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Eastern United States.

For more information please visit