PRESS RELEASE
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)
395 Concord Ave.
Belmont, MA 02478
Tel.: 617-489-1610
E-Mail: hq@naasr.org

HRANT DINK COMMEMORATION
TO FEATURE PROMINENT SPEAKERS

The first anniversary of the murder of Istanbul Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink will be marked on Friday, January 25, at 7:00 p.m., at the
Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America, 3325 North
Glenoaks Blvd., Burbank, CA 91504. This special event will feature
talks by Prof. Taner Akçam of the University of Minnesota, Prof.
Richard G. Hovannisian of the University of California, Los Angeles, and
Stephen A. Kurkjian, formerly of the Boston Globe.

The evening’s program is co-sponsored by the Organization of Istanbul
Armenians of Los Angeles, the Armenian Educational Foundation Chair in
Modern Armenian History at UCLA, and the National Association for
Armenian Studies and Research, and will take place under the auspices of
the Western Diocese, His Eminence, Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate.
Simon Acilacoglu, President of the Organization of Istanbul Armenians,
will give opening remarks and Abp. Derderian will offer closing remarks
and a prayer. There will be a musical performance by Salpi Kerkonian
(flute) and Sosi Kerkonian (harp). Edvin E. Minassian, Esq., Vice
President of the Organization of Istanbul Armenians and Treasurer of the
Armenian Bar Association, will serve as Master of Ceremonies.

One Year After: Possibilities and Difficulties

The murder of Hrant Dink, the Turkish-born Armenian founder and editor
of the newspaper Agos and passionate advocate of Turkish-Armenian
dialogue, stunned and horrified the world and prompted an unprecedented
demonstration of hundreds of thousands taking to the streets of Istanbul
waving signs saying "We Are All Hrant Dink" and "We Are All Armenian."
The brutal slaying of the peace-loving, reconciliation-oriented Dink
underscored both the possibilities and the difficulties of
Armenian-Turkish dialogue and reconciliation efforts.

His prosecution under Turkey’s Article 301 for "insulting Turkishess"
and the subsequent prosecution of his son, Arat, for the same "crime"
raise serious questions about free speech in Turkey and have dramatized
the difficulties faced by journalists in a country seeking entry into
the European Union.

To mark the first anniversary of his death, a program has been organized
that will not only pay tribute to this courageous man but also bring
together a group of speakers who are well qualified to put both his life
and his untimely and tragic death in some meaningful perspective.

Profiles of Featured Speakers

A pioneer among scholars of Turkish origin, Prof. Taner
Akçam is the author of A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the
Question of Turkish Responsibility, a groundbreaking study that makes
extensive, unprecedented use of Ottoman and other sources largely
unexamined in English-language works, as well as From Empire to
Republic: Turkish Nationalism and the Armenian Genocide, Dialogue Across
An International Divide: Essays Towards a Turkish-Armenian Dialogue, as
well as numerous other books and articles in Turkish, German, and
English. Akçam, a close friend of Hrant Dink, will discuss his final
conversations with Dink which took place only two weeks before his
death.

Prof. Richard G. Hovannisian is the holder of the Armenian
Educational Foundation Chair of Modern Armenian History at the
University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of the
four-volume history The Republic of Armenia, Armenia on the Road to
Independence, and has edited and contributed to more than twenty books
including The Armenian Genocide in Perspective; The Armenian Genocide:
History, Politics, Ethics; The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern
Times; Remembrance and Denial; Looking Backward, Moving Forward; The
Armenian Genocide: Ethical and Cultural Legacies; and six volumes on
historic Armenian cities and provinces. He recently co-chaired a
special session on "On Hrant Dink and Armenian-Turkish Relations" at the
Middle Eastern Studies Association 2007 Annual Meeting in Montreal. He
will reflect on Hrant Dink’s legacy now and in the future

Stephen A. Kurkjian recently retired from the Boston Globe
after a career of more than thirty-five years at the paper during which
he won three Pulitzer Prizes and more than twenty other regional or
national awards for his investigative reporting. The Globe’s Washington
bureau chief from 1986-1991, he had previously been a founder and the
head of the Globe’s Spotlight investigative team. He is a member of
NAASR’s Board of Directors and serves on its Executive Committee. In
January 2007 he traveled to Istanbul to witness and cover the funeral of
Hrant Dink and its aftermath. He presented his initial report in a
Globe feature and in a talk at NAASR in February 2007, following up with
a lengthy article in the AGBU Magazine in April. He has continued to
follow the murder investigation and related developments in Turkey and
will give an updated report and personal view.

More information on the Hrant Dink commemoration may be
obtained from NAASR by calling 617-489-1610, e-mailing hq@naasr.org, or
by writing to NAASR, 395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02478; by contacting
the AEF Chair at hovannis@history.ucla.edu, or by contacting the OIA by
calling 818-342-6378 or writing to Organization of Istanbul Armenians,
19726 Sherman Way, Winnetka, CA 91306. The Western Diocese can be
contacted at 818-558-7474 or info@armenianchurchwd.com.