On March 28, The Institute of World Politics hosted an event entitled The Armenian Genocide: A Century of Sorrow, which was co-sponsored by Mastrapa Consultants and Political Developments Research Center. The event served as a symposium in light of the 100th year anniversary of the historical persecution of Armenian Christians by Ottoman Turks.
The event began with introductory remarks by Vilen Khlgatyan, Vice Chairman of the Political Developments Research Center. Gregory H. Stanton, Ph.D, the President of Genocide Watch, gave some remarks on “The Common Tactics of Denial: A Comparison of the Armenian and Rwandan Genocides,” followed by Marek J. Chodakiewicz, Ph.D., Professor of History and holder of the Kosciuszko Chair in Polish Studies at IWP, who discussed “The Armenian Paradigm.”
The next panel included Kate Nahapetian, Government Affairs Director at the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), who discussed “Examining the Armenian Genocide under International Law: Justice and Accountability,” and Tania C. Mastrapa, Ph.D., the founder of Mastrapa Consultants, who gave remarks on “The Confiscation of Ethnic Minority Property by the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic: Potential Scenarios for Delayed Transitional Justice.”
Then Steven Oshana, Executive Director of A Demand for Action spoke about “The Annual Turkey Pardon: A Failed Policy of Denial and Why It’s Time to Reexamine the US Relationship with Ankara,” and Vilen Khlgatyan discussed “Turkish Foreign Policy: Married to the West, but Beds the East.”
A documentary on Turkey, the Legacy of Silence, directed by Anna Benjamin & Guillaume Clere, was presented at the event.
Activist and writer Raffi Bedrosyan concluded the symposium with remarks on “The Hidden Armenians of Turkey: New Realities in Turkish-Armenian Relations on the Eve of the Genocide Centennial.”