ARPA INSTITUTE
18106 Miranda St., Tarzana CA 91356 . PHONE/FAX (818) 881-0010
26/1 Vazgen Sagsyan Str., Yerevan 0010, Armenia. Tel: (374 2)545538
Jointly with
UCLA Armenian Educational Foundation Chair in Modern Armenian History
Present : Panel Discussion/Seminar
"The Armenia-Turkey Protocols,
Pros & Cons"
Thursday, December 17, 2009 @ 7:30PM
Merdinian Auditorium
13330 Riverside Dr., Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
Panelists: Prof. Richard Hovannisian (Moderator), Hon. Grigor Hovhannisyan
, Consul General of Armenia, Dr. Razmig Shirinian, and Dr. Joseph
Kechichian
Directions: On the 101 FY Exit on Woodman, Go North and Turn Right on
Riverside Dr.
Abstract: The normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations is a natural
and necessary goal, but the road to that goal may have desirable and
undesirable implications for independent Armenia and the Diaspora. It may
impede or lead Turkey to move closer to recognizing its moral and material
responsibilities, and may even affect the formulation of policies involving
the Armenian Genocide. Analysis of the political and economic advantages
that the Protocols may provide will be addressed and the potential threats
to Armenia’s security, survivability and ethnic identity they may present
will be discussed, The question, whether Armenian chrono-politics has
yielded to the current geopolitical reality, disrupting the prospects of a
balanced development course for Armenia, will be addressed. The political
and legal implications of the Armenian-Turkish Protocols will also be
considered, focusing on obligations that Yerevan may have to assume as it
absorbs its latest commitments.
(Moderator) Dr. Richard G. Hovannisian is Professor of Armenian and Near
Eastern History and the AEF Chair in Modern Armenian History at the
University of California, Los Angeles. From 1978 to 1995, he was Associate
Director of the G.E. von Grunebaum Center for Near Eastern Studies. He has
been on the UCLA faculty since 1962, where he organized the undergraduate
and graduate programs in Armenian and Caucasian history. Dr. Hovannisian is
the author or editor of numerous books on the Republic of Armenia; the
Armenian Genocide; historic Western Armenian cities and provinces; and
Armenian and Near Eastern societies and culture. Richard Hovannisian is a
Guggenheim Fellow and founder and six-time president of the Society for
Armenian Studies. Honorific medals and encyclicals for the advancement of
Armenian studies have been bestowed on him by His Holinesses Karekin I and
II of the Holy See of Echmiadzin, and Karekin II and Aram I of the Great
House of Cilicia, as well as by the Republics of Armenia and Artsakh.
(Panelist) Hon. Grigor Hovhannisyan was born in 1971 in Yerevan. In
1992 he graduated from the department of Arab Studies at the Yerevan State
University (YSU); he holds an MA degree from the Fletcher School of Law and
Diplomacy, Tufts University (MA) and has received training in numerous post
graduate programs, notably at the Haigazian University of Beirut. From 1994
to 2006, Mr. Hovhannissian held responsible positions with the secretariat
of the United Nations in a number of countries, including the Great Lakes
region of Africa, the Republic of Congo (Zaire), Israel, the Palestinian
territories, and Lebanon. From 2006 to 2008, he headed the `Shushi Revival’
fund and taught Middle East politics at the YSU. In January 2009. Mr.
Hovhannissian was appointed advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Armenia and since February 2009 serves as Consul General of the Republic of
Armenia in Los Angeles. He is fluent in English, French, Arabic and
Russian.
(Panelist) Dr. Joseph A Kéchichian is the editor of the Journal of the
Society for Armenian Studies, a syndicated columnist based at Gulf News in
Dubai, as well as the Honorary Consul of the Sultanate of Oman in Los
Angeles. He is also an author of various publications, including Faysal:
Saudi Arabia’s King for All Seasons (2008), Power and Succession in Arab
Monarchies (2008), Political Participation and Stability in the Sultanate of
Oman (2005), The Just Prince: A Manual of Leadership (2003), Succession in
Saudi Arabia (2001), and Oman and the World: The Emergence of an
Independent Foreign Policy (1995). The author of numerous chapters in
edited books and in refereed journals, his most recent essay is on `Armenia
and the Gulf States: Foreign Policy Fundamentals and Choices,’ in Marat
Terterov, ed., Russian and CIS Relations with the Gulf States: Current
Trends and Economic Dynamics (2009), pp. 113-146. He is a past president of
the Society for Armenian Studies.
(Panelist) Dr. Razmig B. Shirinian received his Ph.D. in Political Science
from the University of Southern California. He has published two
books: Politics
of Transnational Minorities: Social Welfare and Human Settlements (English)
and Contemporary Political Thought (Armenian) and numerous articles. Dr.
Shirinian has taught political science at the California State University
(CSU), Northridge, CSU, Fullerton; Cal-Poly, Pomona; and the University of
La Verne. He is currently a professor at the College of the Canyons. He is
a founding member and president of Scholars for Scientific, Educational, and
Cultural Development, Inc. (SSECD), a charitable non-profit organization
that aims to work with scholars in developing countries.
For more Information Please call Dr. Hagop Panossian at (818)881-0010 or
e-mail at [email protected], or Prof. Richard Hovannisian at
[email protected]