Ara Sarafian

Ara Sarafian (Armenian: Արա Սարաֆեան) is a British historian of Armenian origin. He has an M.A. in history from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor,[1] received under the tutelage of Ronald Grigor Suny.[2]

Sarafian is the founding director of the Gomidas Institute in London, which republishes English translations of Armenian texts related to the Armenian Genocide.[3] He edited a republication of the The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, 1915-1916, commonly known as the Blue Book (originally published in 1916 by British historians Lord James Bryce and Arnold Toynbee).[4]

Research

Sarafian conducted demographic research in the Turkish Prime Minister's Ottoman Archives in the 90's, together with Hilmar Kaiser.[5]

In February 2007, Sarafian accepted the suggestion of the then-chairman of the Turkish Historical Society, Yusuf Halaçoğlu, to discuss "what happened on the Harput Plain" and "how many people died" during the deportations.[6][7]

A month later, Halaçoğlu announced that Sarafian has declined to carry out the study,[8] and added that Sarafian "was disturbed by the institute’s initiative to study the archives of Tashnak, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation".[9]

References

  1. ^ Maroot, Matthew (December 1997). "Sarafian Speaks on Kharpert Massacres". Hye Sharzhoom (California State University, Fresno) 19 (2). http://armenianstudies.csufresno.edu/hye_sharzhoom/vol19/dec60/massacres.html. Retrieved 2008-08-30. "Ara Sarafian received his M.A. in History from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor" 
  2. ^ Lima, Vincent (2008-01-07). "The Next 1.5 Million: A Panel Discussion on Armenian Studies in the United States". Armenian Forum (Gomidas Institute) 1 (1): 95–101. http://www.gomidas.org/forum/af1c.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-01. "The history chair, occupied until recently by Ronald Grigor Suny, has produced two scholars, Ara Sarafian and Vincent Lima." 
  3. ^ Tataryan, Hakop (October 2003). "Ara Sarafian Discusses Genocide Memoir To the Desert". Hye Sharzhoom (California State University, Fresno) 25 (1). http://armenianstudies.csufresno.edu/hye_sharzhoom/vol25/oct03/sarafian.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-30. "Ara Sarafian, an archival historian specializing in the late Ottoman Period, is one of the founders of the Gomidas Institute located in London, England. The Institute republishes English translations of works originally written in Armenian by those who experienced the Armenian Genocide first hand, materials that ordinarily would be cumbersome to obtain for present-day historians." 
  4. ^ James Bryce, Arnold Joseph Toynbee, Arnold Toynbee (2000). Ara Sarafian. ed. The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, 1915-1916 : Documents Presented to Viscount Grey of Falloden by Viscount Bryce. Taderon Pr. ISBN 0953519155. http://net.lib.byu.edu/~rdh7/wwi/1915/bryce/. 
  5. ^ Kaiser, Hilmar (2007-04-24). "The Ottoman Archives: A Personal Look Back at the Past and the Future". Armenian Weekly 73 (16). http://web.archive.org/web/20070517172746/http://www.hairenik.com/armenianweekly/gin042107_021.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-01. 
  6. ^ Guvenc, Duygu (2007-02-22). "Turkish and Armenian historians are meeting at last". Turkish Daily News. http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=66749. Retrieved 2008-08-30. 
  7. ^ "Armenian historian accepted suggestion of Turkish counterpart on joint work". PanARMENIAN.Net. 2007-02-22. http://www.panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=21194. Retrieved 2008-08-30. 
  8. ^ "Sarafian bows to diaspora pressure, says Halaçoğlu". Today's Zaman. 2007-03-10. http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=105034. Retrieved 2008-05-30. 
  9. ^ "TTK President Halaçoğlu responds to Sarafian's claims". Today's Zaman. 2007-03-17. http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=105731. Retrieved 2008-05-30.