Professor Ruben Safrastyan on the Genesis of the Program of the Armenian Genocide

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YEREVAN, Armenia – On March 18th, 2015, the American University of Armenia (AUA)’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences hosted a public lecture on “The Genesis of the Program of the Armenian Genocide,” with speaker Professor Ruben Safrastyan. The event was part of the 1915 Centennial series at AUA.

The lecture focused on the non-historical side of the predisposing factors of the Armenian Genocide. Professor Safrastyan suggested looking at genocide from a different perspective, namely as a study, implying a view of genocide as a phenomenon that is capable of taking diverse forms of representation.

Professor Safrastyan discussed in detail the essence of genocide, reflecting specifically on the establishment of pro-genocidal politics in the Ottoman Empire. He commented that it is of great importance to grasp the potential for conducting genocide within the politics of a particular state, which, according to him, had been present in the Ottoman Empire since the end of the 1800s.

Professor Safrastyan is the Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies at the Armenian National Academy of Sciences (ANAS). His areas of specialization include Turkish, Ottoman, Genocide and Regional Studies.  He is also the founding editor of the Academic Periodicals The Turkic and Ottoman Studies and Contemporary Eurasia. He is a member of the Public Council of Armenia and Chairman of Commission of Religion, Diaspora, and International Integration.

Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia and affiliated with the University of California. AUA provides a global education in Armenia and the region, offering high-quality, graduate and undergraduate studies, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting public service and democratic values.

Professor Ruben Safrastyan on the genesis of the program of the Armenian Genocide