Dr. Richard Hovannisian makes presentation on Western Armenia

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Armenian Church of the Holy Ascension hosted Dr. Richard Hovannisian’s presentation on the people and culture remaining in historic Western Armenia for more than 50 attendees from New York and Connecticut earlier this month, the Armenian Weekly reports.

Dr. Hovannisian opened with Smyrna and showed a brief video, which was a collage of old photos and footage of life up to and including the burning of Smyrna in September 1922. Smyrna was a port for much trade and was in the vanguard: In as early as the 1840′s the Armenians in Smyrna had a newspaper, something relatively unheard of in the Ottoman Empire. A discussion of many of the provinces of historic Western Armenia followed.

Near the end of Hovannisian’s June 2013 trip to Turkey, his group headed north to the Black Sea into the mountains in search of the Hamshens. The video of the discussions with the Hamshen people was intriguing. The video footage of the interactions with some of the last few remaining Armenians in Dikranagerd/Diyarabkir was enlightening and humorous at times.

Hovannisian is UCLA emeritus professor of Armenian and Near Eastern history and has authored or edited more than 20 books. He sold and autographed some of his books after the presentation and Q&A session in the church hall.