PRESS RELEASE
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)
395 Concord Ave.
Belmont, MA 02478
Tel.: 617-489-1610
Contact: [email protected]
CENTENARY OF ADANA MASSACRES
TO BE MARKED WITH SYMPOSIUM AT NAASR
The 100th anniversary of the Adana Massacres will be marked with a
special symposium entitled "The Adana Massacres of 1909: Legacy and
Perspectives," on Thursday, May 7, at 7:00 p.m., at the National
Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) Center, 395
Concord Avenue, Belmont, MA.
The Adana Massacres of April 1909 took the lives of more
than 20,000 Armenians in the province of Adana and elsewhere in
Armenian-inhabited areas of the Ottoman Empire. In addition to the
appalling loss of life and property, the massacres were a bitter blow to
the Armenians who had expressed such optimism at the Young Turk
Revolution of 1908. Many see in these massacres an indication of what
was to come in the genocide of 1915.
The NAASR symposium will bring together four scholars who
will present their research on various aspects of the terrible events of
a century ago.
Aram Arkun, former co-director of the Krikor and Clara
Zohrab Information Center in New York City and editor of Ararat
Quarterly will speak on "Armenian Self-Defense During the 1909
Massacres: The Case of Dörtyol (Chorkmarzban)"; Dr. Bedross Der
Matossian of the Department of History, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, will present "Revisiting the Adana Massacres of 1909:
Revolution, Power, and Violence"; Dr. Dikran Kaligian, author of the
recently-published Armenian Organization and Ideology Under Ottoman Rule
1908-1914, will discuss "Impact of the Adana Massacre on ARF-CUP
Relations"; and Dr. Lou Ann Matossian, program director of the Cafesjian
Family Foundation, Minneapolis, and eastern U.S. community news editor
of the Armenian Reporter, will speak about "Missionary Witness: The
Christie Family Papers on the Cilician Massacres of 1909."
More information on the Adana symposium may be had by
calling 617-489-1610, e-mailing [email protected], or writing to NAASR, 395
Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02478.