Fatih Gökhan Diler

Fatih Gökhan Diler

Tracing the children's books that raised “Armenia of Kurds”
Asia and Africa collection of British Library in London offers books that tell a story of Kurdish language and culture that is not widely known. More than hundred works in Kurdish, especially children's books, that were published in Soviet Armenia in Cyrillic, Armenian and Latin alphabets have come to light again thanks to cataloging efforts of Michael Erdman, library's curator of Turkish and Turkic languages.
12 May 2017
“We believe that Trump will support Christian autonomous region in Iraq”
Chair of American Mesopotamia Organisation David William Lazar actively worked in Donald Trump's presidential campaign and was on the advisory committee for the American MidEast Coalition for Trump. Lazar answered our questions concerning the situation of Christian minorities in Iraq and Syria and US policies for Middle East and migration that changed with Trump administration.
29 March 2017
Towards the end in the struggle of genocide monument in Switzerland
Swiss Court dismissed the last objections concerning the Armenian Genocide monument that is planned to be built in Geneva.
22 March 2017
“Both Nazism accusation and Hitler comparison are wrong”
Israeli scholar Efrat Aviv's work titled “antisemitism and anti-Zionism in Turkey from Ottoman era to AKP”, which she was working on since 2012, is published as a book recently. Teaching at Middle Eastern Studies Department of Bar Ilan University, Aviv also presented the extensive survey that she conducted for the book published by Routledge Publishing to the readers and researchers. We talked to Aviv about antisemitism in Turkey.
20 March 2017
Accusation of embezzlement in a settlement relating to the Armenian genocide
It is claimed that two lawyers have illegally used the compensation gained in a class-action lawsuit over survivor benefits from the Armenian genocide. State Bar of California launched an investigation.
9 February 2017
Armenians of Turkey having started a new life in Armenia
Issue of migration preoccupies many people in Turkey as the political atmosphere gets increasingly tenser. In a time like this, we wanted to get together with Armenians of Turkey who migrated to Armenia, the closest and most distant neighbor, during the hard periods of recent history and report their first-hand accounts. These people, who told about their lives with a great sincerity, revealed human's power and hope of starting over.
27 December 2016
Warning for minority rights in EU 2016 Progress Report
European Commission released 2016 Progress Report, which includes severe criticisms against Turkey. Released on November 9, the Report is considered as the most negative report about Turkey so far.
10 November 2016
Syriacs joining the Mosul operation demand “autonomous region”
Lawyer Erkan Metin is contact with the region and following the developments closely. We talked to him about Syriacs' role in the Mosul operation, the current situation and the criticism in the statement of Platform Turbadin (Syriac Intellectuals and Activists Discussion Group).
28 October 2016
Germany cancels the concert in commemoration of the genocide
“Aghet” concert in commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, which was planned to be performed in Istanbul, is canceled by German Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
27 October 2016
Turkish President invited to the concert in memory of genocide
Dresden Symphony Orchestra will perform “Aghet”, which is composed on the occasion of the centennial of the Armenian Genocide, in Turkish Embassy to Germany on November 13. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is invited to the concert.
23 October 2016
“'Alevis to the grave, Christians to Beirut' is still a common slogan”
Working in various international human rights associations, Harout Ekmanian made a presentation in "Critical Approaches to Armenian Identity in 21st Century". Being an Armenian from Aleppo, Ekmanian follows the war in Syria as an observer in order to record the violations of rights and war crimes. We talked to Ekmanian about Syria, focusing on the Armenian community in Aleppo, which he knows very well.
17 October 2016
Ankara breaks off the cultural ties with Europe over genocide
Turkey, with a unilateral decision, left the “Creative Europe” program, which supports the culture and media sectors in Europe. The negotiation is started with the officials from European Commission in order to organize Turkey's withdrawal from the program starting from June 1, 2017. This decision is initiated by Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
6 October 2016
The truth behind the "Armenian spies" story
For about 2 weeks, a story titled as "Armenian spies in Turkey are revealed" has been circulating, but the information included in the story is not confidential. The information is just a part of visa applications to Armenia.
9 September 2016
Will the genocide witness orphanage be a holiday camp?
A holiday camp project in Lebanon caused debates due to the sentimental value of the region. The planned location of the luxury holiday site is the coastal Biblos town in Beirut and the region also includes a cemetery, school and orphanage which belong to genocide survivor Armenians and known as “Bird's Nest”.
2 September 2016
Shoah Foundation's genocide collection is available now
Shoah Foundation indexed the testimonies about the Armenian Genocide and added them to the visual history archive of the foundation. Project manager Manuk Avedikyan tells about the project.
19 August 2016
Koç University: seized embryos are safe
Koç University Deputy Chief of Medicine Özgür Tezcan answered Agos' questions.
28 July 2016
"You let us through the border but afterwards you just turned us adrift"
We talked to Syrian immigrants with different professions about the debate on Turkish citizenship. They all want to acquire Turkish citizenship because it would make their lives easier. However, they don't know whether they comply with the criteria of "being a useful and qualified person", declared by President Erdoğan. They are also disturbed by the hate speech against them.
14 July 2016
“Bundestag's resolution may open the eyes of many Germans, including those of Turkish origin”
We addressed two questions to two people, historian and former editor of Der Speigel Wolfgang Gust and historian Eric Weitz from City University of New York, who have been researching German complicity to the Armenian Genocide for many years.
17 June 2016
“With an unrestrained access to the archives in Ankara, we can gain a much better understanding of German responsibility”
We talked to Hilmar Kaiser, one of the prominent researchers who work on the Armenian Genocide, about Bundestag's resolution and Germany's responsibility. Kaiser said: “It was not 'the Ottoman Empire' or 'Turkey' or 'the Turks' or 'the Kurds' who killed the Armenians. Let us identify the culprits and praise the rescuers.
17 June 2016
“Lepsius believed that 1915 would cause a moral disaster also for the Germans”
Works of German theologian Lepsius, who sent reports to German politicians for warning them during the Armenian Genocide, revealed the fact that German officials had known the massacres but they hadn't done anything for preventing them. Director of Lepsius House Rolf Hosfeld talked about the influence of Lepsius' works on German society's current recognition and Germany's responsibility in the Armenian Genocide.
10 June 2016
Anzacs tell about 1915
Held captive by Ottoman army, Anzac soldiers reveal rather unknown aspects of the Armenian Genocide through their journals. In the stories that came to light thanks to the studies of New Zealander historian and journalist James Robins, experiences of Anzac soldiers who witnessed the genocide are told. This interview of Robins is about his studies that reach from 1915 to the present.
12 May 2016
Balakian: There are echoes of mass violence coming from the past
Receiving Pulitzer Prize for Poetry with his book of poems “Ozone Journal”, Balakian spoke to Agos on various topics from literature to politics.
6 May 2016
Vahram Ter Matevosyan: "Armenia can trust only itself"
After 4-day conflict between Azerbaijan and Karabakh forces, many questions emerged about the developments in the region. Can these developments transform into a full-fledged war? What are the positions of Turkey and Russia in these developments? What do western countries and diaspora think? We asked these question to Vahram Ter Matevosyan from Yerevan based American University of Armenia. Ter Matevosyan said, "Aliyev, with the Turkish endorsement, turned the solution down. Now, we are back to the same vicious circle."
15 April 2016
Armenian Assembly of America: “No one in Artsakh, Armenia or the Diaspora wants war"
“The Armenian Assembly of America (AAA), as one of the largest Armenian advocacy groups in the United States, is engaged in serious work with the U.S. executive and legislative authorities to counter attempts to disturb peace and renew hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh,” told Arpi Vartanian, Regional Director of the Assembly to Agos. Vartanian also underlined the importance of peace for the region and said: We want the world to recognize Nagorno Karabakh, and its right to self-determination. We want the people of Artsakh to live in peace, free from the rule of Aliyev.
15 April 2016
Armenian Hanife's Kurdish grandson narrates
25 March 2016
What happened to two churches in Bursa?
Privately-owned Armenian Catholic Church and French Church which belongs to General Directorate for Foundations (VGM) has similar fates, but what is currently happening to them is different.
2 March 2016
Cem Özdemir: Germany's agenda is not Erdoğan's to determine
Germany Parliament (Bundestag) is discussing the Armenian Genocide motion.
25 February 2016
Armenia is the birthplace of wine
Ian Tattersall and Rob DeSalle from American Museum of Natural History, with their book “A Natural History of Wine”, re-write the history of wine. They start from the cave in Armenia and trace the thousands of years of history of the techniques that are used even today.
13 February 2016
Demanding peace is harder in the country
Arın Gül Yeniaras, a member of the lawyers’ group that is formed for providing legal support for “Academics for Peace”, said: “Some of the universities started investigations on their own. Almost all academics are subjected to psychological violence; their doors are marked or they are threatened directly.”
4 February 2016
Armenian world toward 2115
With the initiative of Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, "Armenians in 2115: Strategic Directions for the Twenty-First Century" report is released.
27 January 2016
What does French court's 'genocide decision' mean?
A case referred to French Constitutional Court was widely covered in Turkish media, after some Turks and Armenians became parties to the case. We talked to Philippe Kalfayan, international law scholar and former Secretary General of International Human Rights Federation.
13 January 2016
Half of the US doesn’t “recognize” the genocide
According to the research that is carried by Zogby Analytics, only the 35% of the Americans knows about the Armenian Genocide.
19 November 2015