The Danish Institute for International Studies, DIIS, in cooperation with University of Southern Denmark, SDU, has the pleasure of inviting you to a conference on
The Armenian Genocide:
The First European Genocide of the 20th Century
– Facts and Future Consequences
18-19 May 2005, 09.00-18.00
Danish Institute for International Studies
Main Auditorium
Strandgade 71, ground floor, 1401 Copenhagen K
Background
24 April 2005 marks the 90th anniversary of the beginning of the Armenian genocide. During World War I more than one million people were murdered in the Ottoman Empire, present day Turkey, and a corresponding number were driven away.
The Armenian genocide was the first genocide of the 20th century which partly took place on European ground, was executed by a partly European power, and was directed mainly against a people regarded as European. The genocide was an attempt to modernize and homogenize an empire through mass murder, ethnic cleansing, and forced assimilation.
It stands as one of the first, largest, and most well-documented examples of exterminatory projects of the last hundred years, a period that counts examples like the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide, and the ongoing Sudanese conduct in the Darfur province.
On this occasion, the Department of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS), in cooperation with University of Southern Denmark, will hold an international conference on the Armenian genocide, where researchers from Armenia, Turkey, Canada, USA, Great Britain, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark will discuss a range of historical and topical subjects:
- The Armenian genocide as precursor and prototype of 20th century genocide
- Other victim groups of genocide and persecution in the Ottoman empire from 1914-1922, for instance the Greek and Assyrian minorities
- The rich documentation of the Armenian genocide in Scandinavian and German archives and eyewitness accounts
- The denial of the Armenian genocide in comparison with the denial of other genocides and crimes against humanity in the 20th century
- Modern Turkish and Armenian identity in light of the Armenian genocide
Furthermore, at a public event in Politikens Hus on 19 May 2005 at 16.00, an expert panel will debate the question of what role the lack of official Turkish recognition of the Armenian genocide should play in Turkish accession to the European Union.
Practical Information
The conference will be held in English.
Participation is free of charge, but registration is required by e-mail including name, title and organisation to or by following this link no later than 15 May 2005 at 12.00 noon.
Please await confirmation by e-mail from DIIS for participation.
For more information on the conference itself, please contact Eric Markusen, Senior Researcher, at , or Peter Steenberg, Research Assistant, at .
Programme
Wednesday, 18 May 2005
09.00-09.30: Registration and Coffee
09.30-09.45: Welcome and Introduction
Per Carlsen, Director, Danish Institute for International Studies
Uffe Østergård, Head of Department, Department of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, DIIS
09.45-10.30: Keynote Address
Eric Markusen, Department of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, DIIS
10.30-10.45: Break
10.45-12.15: Panel One: The Armenian Genocide as Precursor and Prototype of 20th Century Genocide
Donald Bloxham, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Dominik Schaller, University of Zürich, Switzerland
12.15-13.30: Lunch break
13.30-15.00: Panel Two: Other Victim Groups and Perpetrators of Genocide in the Ottoman Empire, 1914-1922
Mark Levene, Parkes Institute, University of Southampton, United Kingdom
Mogens Pelt, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Ugur Üngör, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
15.00-15.15: Break
15.15-16.30: Keynote Address
Taner Akcam, University of Minnesota, USA
16.30-16.45: Break
16.45-18.15: Panel Three: German and Scandinavian Documentation of the Armenian Genocide
Wolfgang Gust, Hamburg, Germany
Artsvi Bakhchinyan, State Museum of Literature and Art, Yerevan, Armenia
Matthias Bjørnlund, Copenhagen, Denmark
Thursday, 19 May 2005
09.30-10.00: Registration and Coffee
10.00-11.30: Panel Four: The Denial of the Armenian Genocide in Comparison with the Denial of Other Genocides
John Torpey, Institute for European Studies, University of British Columbia, Canada
Ton Zwaan, Netherlands Centre for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, The Netherlands
11.30-13.00: Lunch break
13.00-14.30: Panel Five: Modern Armenian Identity and the Role of the Genocide
Alexander Agabalian, Armenian Culture Centre, Denmark
Michael Westh, Copenhagen, Denmark
Stephen Feinstein, Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, University of Minnesota, USA
Ruben Safrastian, National Academy of Sciences, Armenia
14.30-15.00: Closing comments
16.00-18.00: Public event at Politikens Hus: The Relationship between Turkish EU Membership and Turkish Recognition of the Armenian Genocide
Uffe Østergård, Department of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, DIIS
Mehmet Ümet Necef, Centre for Middle East Studies, University of Southern Denmark
Harry Hagopian, Campaign for Recognition of the Armenian Genocide, United Kingdom
Etyen Mahcupyan, Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation, Turkey |
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