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Balakian and Berktay to Speak at "Armenians and the Left" Symposium

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  • Balakian and Berktay to Speak at "Armenians and the Left" Symposium

    PRESS RELEASE
    Armenians and the Left
    P.O. Box 1066
    New York, NY 10040
    Contact: Karine Birazian
    Tel: 917 428 1918
    Email: [email protected]
    Web: www.armeniansandtheleft.com

    Balakian and Berktay to Speak at "Armenians and the Left" Symposium

    On Saturday, March 31, 2007 in Cambridge, Mass., Professors Peter
    Balakian of Colgate University and Halil Berktay of Sabanci University
    in Istanbul will head a panel discussing `Armeno-Turkish Relations:
    Pitfalls & Possibilities Following Hrant Dink's Assassination.' The
    event will cap off a day-long "Armenians and the Left" symposium
    devoted to a range of contemporary issues. Earlier panels will address
    other vital themes: `The Media and Social Injustice in Armenia' and
    `Environmental Politics in Armenia.'

    The symposium is co-sponsored by Harvard University's Center for Middle
    Eastern Studies and will be held at the Center for Government and
    International Studies at Harvard University.

    For more information, please visit:
    www.armeniansandtheleft.com/AATL2007/sympos ium.htm

    The recent assassination of Istanbul-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was
    reported worldwide and has had significant repercussions on Turkey's
    internal reform movement as well as on Armeno-Turkish dialogue.
    Prominent academic figures will analyze what the future now holds on
    these issues. Major sub-themes will include an examination of Turkish
    right-wing nationalism and the assassination's impact on efforts to
    gain official acknowledgement of the 1915 Armenian Genocide.

    In a separate panel, investigative journalist Edik Baghdasaryan from
    Yerevan, Armenian Weekly Editor Khatchig Mouradian, and Professor of
    Communications, Gayane Torosyan of SUNY-Oneonta will discuss the
    structure and functioning of Armenia's media today, focusing on 1) the
    media's role/effectiveness in reporting on corruption/social ills, and
    2) the way in which media are organized (ownership patterns,
    monopolies, censorship issues, etc.). Steve Kurkjian of The Boston
    Globe will also provide his perspective on the issue.

    A third panel will feature Jeffrey Tufenkian, President of `Armenian
    Forests' NGO and Ann Shirinian-Orlando, US Representative for Greens
    Union of Armenia, who will discuss prospects for developing an
    environmental movement in Armenia. The panel will be moderated by Jeff
    Masarjian, Director of the Armenia Tree Project. Specific topics
    include 1) coalition-building strategies on environmental issues; 2)
    prospects for reforming mainstream public/private policies toward the
    environment; 3) Looming environmental issues that must be dealt with
    (illegal deforestation, depletion of urban green spaces, industrial
    mining, nuclear energy and the need for alternative energy resources).

    "Armenians and the Left" organizes conferences, lectures and discussion
    groups that take a critical look at, and offer progressive analyses of,
    a range of subjects pertinent to the Armenian people's political, social
    and economic situation within a global context. These public forums
    explore alternative ways of understanding Armenia's predicament besides
    the conventional, state-centered approaches and examine how Armenian
    activists can build coalitions with other dispossessed groups and
    progressive movements.

    The first "Armenians and the Left" conference was held in New York and
    Boston in April of 2006 and was jointly hosted by the Armenian
    Revolutionary Federation (ARF) in the Eastern United States and the
    Nation Institute (publishers of The Nation magazine). The conference
    opened up numerous essential topics and critical perspectives, many of
    which rarely figure as priorities in the mainstream agenda of
    Armenian-American politics, such as globalization, American militarism,
    human rights in Armenia, reparations, women and political power,
    Armeno-Turkish dialog, etc....

    "Armenians and the Left" is a project of the Central Committee of the
    Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Eastern United States.

    For more information please visit www.armeniansandtheleft.com
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