News

Arshak Abelyan Staff Writer The foundation of the new Republic of Turkey in 1923 presented a new challenge to the Armenian community in Turkey. The question was how Armenians and other non-Muslims should be defined under the new Republic. Dr. Ohannes Kılıçdağı, 17th Kazan Visiting Professor of Armenian Studies during the Fall 2020 semester, presented his second lecture of three ...

Fresno State News Special to Hye Sharzhoom For Breanna Aivazian, a chance to save money on college by living at home felt like a gift to her future self. Aivazian is just one among dozens of Fresno State alumni this fall who have landed new jobs teaching English and language arts at area high schools. Aivazian teaches freshmen and juniors ...

Sara Beberian Staff Writer “The least you can do is let it not be in vain,” said Karine Shamlian. “You feel responsible for who we are as a people.” Shamlian understands the terrors her grandmother, Genocide survivor Asdghig Tetezian Alemian, underwent and strives to preserve Armenian culture and traditions to honor her. Alemian, however, is not the only Armenian to ...

Staff Report The Society for Armenian Studies (SAS) Executive Council held a meeting on November 11, 2020 to choose its new Executive officers for 2021. Bedross Der Matossian (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) was re-elected as SAS President. Also elected were Vice-President Dzovinar Derderian (American University of Armenia); Secretary Nora Lessersohn (University College London); Treasurer Barlow Der Mugrdechian (California State University, Fresno); ...

 Benjamin Kirk College of Arts & Humanities Every year, about 50 to 60 students receive a scholarship from Fresno State through the Armenian Studies Program. Awards range from $1,000 to $2,000. A total of more than $70,000 in scholarship and grants from endowments are given to Fresno State to aid students interested in the language and history of Armenian. To ...

  Sara Beberian Staff Writer “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?” Armenians have been plagued by this haunting 1939 question from Adolf Hitler for many years. The Armenian Genocide is an open wound in the hearts of Armenians all around the world. Over 100 years later, Armenians still suffer from Turkey’s denial of their “crime ...

Dustin Vartanian Staff Writer “There remained no legal document that defines the Patriarch and specifies the rights and responsibilities of the Patriarch and also specifying the rules of Patriarchal elections. This would become problematic in future elections for the Patriarch of Istanbul. When elections get complicated, there are no set processes and the Turkish government exerts great influence,” stated guest ...

Dr. Ohannes Kılıçdağı Special to Hye Sharzhoom Armenians who survived the Genocide and continued to live in Turkey have not attracted much attention from diaspora communities until recently. Only in the last decade or so have some young academics such as Hrag Papazian and Christopher Sheklian conducted some research on the Armenian community of Turkey. The reasons for this neglect ...

Dustin Vartanian President What would you like to accomplish as an officer? I want our members to feel how I did when I first got involved in ASO. When I first got involved, I established a great group of friends and I always looked forward to every event we had. My goal is to make everyone feel as welcomed as ...

  Carina Tokatian Staff Writer “The ghosts, the people from our Armenian past, the things they endured, the unprecedented suffering and losses they bore, as well as their will to overcome—all of that shaped our outlook and our lives” stated Jack Chavoor, a May 2020 graduate of Fresno State’s MFA Creative Writing Program. Since the very beginning of his thesis, ...