From Empire to Republic: Turkish Nationalism & the Armenian Genocide

Date/Time: 04/06/2004 12:00 am

The Middle East and Middle Eastern American Center presents
Friday June 4, 2004, 6:30-8:30 pm
a talk and book signing with
Taner Akcam
From Empire to Republic: Turkish Nationalism & the Armenian Genocide
Co-sponsored by the Zoryan Institute (Toronto)
Books will be available for purchase
This event is free and open to the public
Donations are welcome
Elebash Recital Hall
The Graduate Center, CUNY, 365 Fifth Avenue (at 34th Street)
Middle East & Middle Eastern American Center 212-817-7570
memeac@gc.cuny.edu http://web.gc.cuny.edu/memeac
Subway: B,D,F,N,R,Q,PATH 34th St. at 6th Av. then one block east
1,2,3,9 34th St. at 7th Av. then two blocks east
A,C,E 34th St. at 8th Av. then three blocks east
6 33rd St at Park Av. then one block west
event flyer: http://web.gc.cuny.edu/memeac/flyers/TAkcam.pdf
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Dr. Akcam will examine the relationship between Turkey’s transition
from Ottoman Empire to Turkish Republic in the opening decades of the
20th century, the Armenian Genocide of 1915, and the process of
democratization in Turkey today. He will analyze the socio-political
and historical factors behind that complex and crucial history, and
provide a framework for understanding Turkish nationalism and its
on-going relationship to the Armenian Genocide. Contextualizing the
long-term development of Turkey and the reasons for Turkish silence
and denial regarding the Armenian Genocide, Akcam will discuss the
role of the Armenian Genocide in the process of democratization in
Turkey today. Through an exploration of the obstacles to dialogue, he will
offer some hope for reconciliation between the Turkish and
Armenian communities.
Taner Akcam is currently Visiting Associate Professor in the
Department of History, University of Minnesota. He was born in the
province of Kars-Ardahan in the northeast of Turkey and became
interested in Turkish politics at n early age. In 1977 he settled in
Germany s a political refugee. Akcam received his Ph.D. from Hanover
University with a dissertation titled, Turkish Nationalism and the
Armenian Genocide: On the Background of the Military Tribunals in
Istanbul Between 1919 and 1922. He has since published five books and
half a dozen articles on the topic in Turkish and German. From Empire
to Republic was published in March 2004 by Zed Books, London.