Vahram papazyan biography channels

The original interview, conducted by Vartan Estukyan, was published in Agos in Turkish on January 7, 2024 and translated to English for the Armenian Weekly by Vural Özdemir. Estukyan is a journalist at Agos who reports on culture, art, music, human rights and current politics.

Hangardz Independent Theater Ensemble, founded by a few young Armenian actors from Istanbul, debuted on World Theater Day in 2018 with their play “Mer Çunetsadzı İrarmov Kıdnenk” [Let’s Find in Each Other What We Don’t Have] at the Synergy World Theater Festival in Serbia. Hangardz’s new play, William Saroyan’s “My Heart’s in the Highlands,” debuted for audiences in 2023. The group, which continues to stage the play, is preparing for its first tour of “My Heart’s in the Highlands” in 2024. Vartan Estukyan spoke with Yeğya Akgün, co-founder of the Hangardz Independent Theater Ensemble, about Hangardz and the current state of Armenian theater. 

Vartan Estukyan (V.E.): What gap does Hangardz fill in Armenian theater, the theater of the Istanbul Armenian community and the theater life in Istanbul?

Yeğya Akgün (Y.A.): Hangardz is an independent theater ensemble founded by a group of professional Armenian theater artists who gathered around a shared dream five years ago, with the will to perform theater in their native language, Western Armenian, and to reflect universal theater values along with their local motifs and colors. The theater ensemble was founded under the name ‘hangardz’, meaning ‘suddenly’, which conveys how we embarked on this journey.

When we look at the Istanbul Armenian community’s theater life in the last 20 years, I do not think it would be wrong to talk about a theater life led by amateur groups established within associations and schools or using the stages of these schools or associations. However, when we examine the much earlier history, it is possible to situate Armenian theater in a place opposite to this narrow area. To put it m

Special to the Armenian Weekly

Last week, while criticizing Israel and the United States on President Trump’s recent recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated with great conviction, “There has never been any genocide, holocaust, massacre, ethnic cleansing, or torture in our [Turkish] history.”

He said this without even batting an eye…

This wholesale denial of historic facts regarding the treatment of minorities by the state is nothing new, but with each act of denial, history keeps repeating itself with sickening regularity—the massacres of Armenians were followed by the massacres of Greeks, Assyrians, Alevis, and Kurds.

This article will focus not on the denial of genocide, but on the denial of the very existence of the Armenians and the many contributions they have made in the country.

In a previous article (“The Untold Stories of Turkey: An Armenian Island on the Bosphorus“), I had touched upon how a single family of Armenian architects, the Balyans, had shaped the skyline of Istanbul, particularly along the Bosphorus, with their creations of palaces, mansions, military barracks, and mosques. Although revered and respected as Royal Architects during Ottoman reign, their Armenian identity was denied by the Republic of Turkey and they were referred to as the Italian Balianis by official tour guides until the early 2000s.

Even more famous than the Balyan family, an architect living in the 16 century, Mimar (architect) Sinan (1489-1588) has left his mark all over the Ottoman Empire. He built 92 mosques, 55 schools, 36 palaces, 48 hamams (bathhouses), three hospitals, 20 inns, 10 bridges, six water channels, and hundreds of other government buildings—almost all of them still standing after five centuries. His masterpieces are the Suleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul and Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, which are both registered UNESCO World Heritage sites.

The average Turk knows Mima

Ethnic group in Lebanon

Ethnic group

Armenians have lived in Lebanon for centuries. According to Minority Rights Group International, there are 156,000 Armenians in Lebanon, around 4% of the population. Prior to the Lebanese Civil War, the number was higher, but the community lost a portion of its population to emigration.

Lebanon experienced a significant migration of Armenian refugees primarily between 1918 and 1920, seeking sanctuary from the Armenian genocide carried out by Ottoman authorities. These refugees established Bourj Hammoud, a suburb east of Beirut, in the site of what was then a swampy marshland. Another wave of migration occurred in 1939, as refugees fleeing the Turkish annexation of Alexandretta founded the town of Anjar in the Beqaa region. The Armenian population gradually grew and expanded until Beirut (and Lebanese towns like Anjar) became a center of Armenian culture. The Armenians became one of Lebanon’s most prominent and productive communities.

Armenians in Lebanon strive to balance their Lebanese identity with ties to their homeland, keeping a distance from sectarian divisions. In areas like Bourj Hammoud and the coastal area northeast of Beirut, they maintain Armenian-language media and political parties. While most adhere to the Armenian Apostolic Church, there are also Armenian Protestants and Catholics.

History

Armenians first established contact with Lebanon when Tigranes the Great conquered Phoenicia from the Seleucids and made it part of his short-lived Armenian Empire. When the Roman Empire established its rule over both Armenia and ancient Lebanon, some Roman troops of Armenian origin went there in order to accomplish their duties as Romans. After Armenia converted to Christianity in 301, Armenian pilgrims established contact with Lebanon and its people on their way to Jerusalem; some of whom would settle there.

In the year 1250

Barlow Der Mugrdechian is the Berberian Coordinator of the Armenian Studies Program and Director of the Center for Armenian Studies at Fresno State. He was appointed to the position in August of 2008.

Der Mugrdechian was named in 2008 as the editor of The Armenian Series  at The Press at California State University, Fresno. Armenian titled books in a variety of disciplines will be published in the Series.

Der Mugrdechian was honored as the "Man of the Year" by the Knights and Daughters of Vartan at a Banquet on March 30, 2019. The award was in recognition of his leadership of the Armenian Studies Program and for his service to the Armenian community.

Der Mugrdechian was the recipient of the "Aurora Mardiganian" medal bestowed by the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute in 2023.

The Armenian Series of the Press, under the general editorship of Der Mugrdechian, has published 20 volumes, including its most recent works, "Death Marches Past the Front Door: Clara and Fritz Sigrist-Hilty: Swiss Eyewitnesses to the Armenian Dante-Inferno in Turkey (1915-1918) by Dora Sakayan, "Western Armenian Music: From Asia Minor to the United States" by Hachig Kazarian; "In Front of the Eyes of the World: The Memoirs of Setrak Timourian "The State of the Art of the Early Turkish Republic," ; "A Woman of the World: Armen Ohanian, The "Dancer of Shamakha," by Vartan Matiossian and Artsvi Bakhchinyan; "From My Life and Thoughts: Reflections on an Armenian-American-Journey," by Dr. Dennis Papazian; "Captive Nights: From the Bosphorus to Gallipoli with Zabel Yessayan,"  and  "Misak Medzarents: The Complete Lyric Poems," tr. by Dr. James Russell; "The Armenians of Musa Dagh: From Obscurity to Genocide Resistance and Fame, 1843-1915, by Dr. Vahram Shemmassian,"  "Armenian-American Sketches" by Bedros Keljik; "Armenians and Kurds in the Late Ottoman Empire," edited by Ümit Kurt and Ara Sarafian; and "The First Republic of Armenia (