GENOCIDE MUSEUM DIRECTOR HAYK DEMOYAN DELIVERS LECTURE ON MUSEUM ACTIVITIES AND ON ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS

Gibrahayer
March 19, 2010

Press release by The Committee of the Kalaydjian Foundation – 16
March – On Saturday the 13th of March, the Director of the Armenian
Genocide Museum in Yerevan Hayk Demoyan, gave the Armenian Cypriot
community a detailed and highly informative lecture on the history and
activities of the Genocide Museum and on the possible consequences
of the Armenian-Turkish Protocols signed last year. The lecture,
which also included a slide-show presentation of photographs and
newly-acquired material, took place in front of around 120 community
members and was organised by the Kalaydjian Foundation under the
auspices of His Eminence Archbishop Varoujan. The event was attended
by the Armenian Representative Vartkes Mahdessian, by representatives
of all political parties and organisations, and by the former Assistant
Secretary General of the UN Benon Sevan, amongst others.

In his speech Demoyan listed the various milestones in the history
of the Armenian Genocide Memorial and Museum at "Dzidzernagapert" in
Yerevan, and explained that a large-scale expansion of the Museum’s
facilities is planned in the near future, which will allow for a
better and more effective display of recently-acquired material. He
also stated that numerous foreign heads of state had visited the
Museum in recent years and signed the Visitors Book. Hayk Demoyan
also stressed the importance of the Museum’s new "Bedros and Aram
Kalaydjian Collection", which comprises rare books, original period
postcards and newspapers, maps and other items that relate directly
to the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923 and which was acquired by the
Museum during the last two years. These items will officially be put
on display next month and it is the Museum’s intention to send them
abroad as a temporary exhibition entitled "The Armenian Genocide:
Frontpage Coverage".

Demoyan then expanded his speech to include the subject of the
Protocols that were signed by Armenia and Turkey last autumn. He
stressed that the Protocols do not call for the creation of a
commission tasked with examining whether the Genocide actually took
place or not. The Armenian Government’s position on this, he said,
has always been very clear, namely that any commission formed as a
result of the Protocols would deal solely with the consequences of
the Genocide and how those consequences can be overcome.

Recently published books by Hayk Demoyan were also presented to the
Armenian community. The lecture then concluded with a question and
answer session and was followed by a cocktail reception.