Varduhi Balyan

“The burden of the unspoken rests on our shoulders”

A series of events were organized as part of the 1000th week of Saturday Mothers' gathering in Galatasaray Square. One of them was the screening of a movie directed by Zelal Buldan, who was born on the day her father Savaş Buldan was killed. In the film 'About My Father: Catharsis', the director deals with her father, the silence that prevails at home due to her father's grief, and the search for ways to talk about the unspoken with her mother Pervin Buldan.

Developing empathy through becoming acquainted

Trying to build a bridge between Armenia and Turkey with his photography, Umut Vedat tells about his works appealing to the peoples of both countries and projects in Tbilisi.

24 February 2017

Lom or Bosha people from past to present

Meline Anumyan from Research Center for Studies of Western Armenians' Problems published her study on Lom (Bosha) people in Artvin and Rize. Visitng Artvin and Rize on November 2016, Anumyan's work is based on Lom people's current way of life and perception of their identities. We talked to Anumyan about Lom people who are unknown by many people.

13 February 2017

May bees without borders set an example to people

The documentary titled “Bees without Borders”, which was shot in the villages along Turkish-Armenian border, tells the story of beekeeping activities on the both sides of the border. The difficulties that these people on different sides of the border experience are almost the same and they all dream about opening of the border. Coşkun Aral, Müge Aral and Batuhan Tunçer tells about the document.

7 February 2017

Armenian-Turkish relations by a “historian of the present”

Known for his researches on Caucasus and his book on Karabakh conflict titled “Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan through Peace and War”, author and journalist Thomas de Waal's recent book “Great Catastrophe: Armenians and Turks in the Shadow of Genocide” has been published in Turkish by Iletişim Publishing. By way of his book, we talked to de Waal about the current developments in Caucasus.

3 February 2017

Fellows knowing and introducing Turkey by producing

Hrant Dink Foundation's Turkey-Armenia fellowship program sponsored by the EU encourages the professionals from the neighboring country to form cross-border cooperation networks since 2014. Armen Ohanyan (Hayastantsi), Maria Yeghiazaryan and Artsrun Pivazyan, who came to neighboring Turkey for new experiences thanks to the fellowship program, shared their experiences.

Armenians of Diyarbakir longing for Surp Giragos

The discrimination that Stephan Yepremyan has been subjected for trying to maintain his culture and the torments that Hangül Özbey went through because of her Kurdish and Armenian identity reveal the suffering caused by being an Armenian of Diyarbakir.

21 December 2016

United National College in Beirut

Last week, Armenian United National College is opened in Beirut. Prominent figures of Armenian society, religious leaders and Lebanese Minister of Education were present at the opening ceremony of the school, which is of major importance for Lebanese Armenians.

5 December 2016

A resilient refugee in need of support

Life is much harder for the refugees who are faced with the prejudices of the society. And when there is also an illness involved, it is not hard to imagine the extent of the challenges. The young man, whom we call Haig, left Syria because of the war and he is suffering from the aggravated victimization. He is a refugee and HIV positive.

21 October 2016

Armenians in Aleppo in trouble

We spoke to author and scriptwriter Manuel Keşişian about the situation of Armenian community in Aleppo, which has been affected by the attacks of the last week.

Humanitarian aid from Armenia to Aleppo

The attacks against the Armenian neighborhoods in Aleppo have recently increased and Armenia decided to send humanitarian aid to Syria. The first plane carrying the aid arrived at Latakia.

Artists in diaspora demand justice in Armenia

Many Armenian artists and intellectuals living in diaspora came together under a platform called “Justice Within Armenia” and launched a campaign for criticizing the anti-democratic practices in Armenia. So far, more than 2,600 people have supported the campaign.

29 September 2016

Kurdish textbooks in Armenia

Students in the regions densely populated by Kurds have textbooks in Kurdish now. Kurdish students in 1st to 12th grades will receive education in their mother tongue.

27 September 2016

Being a Syrian Armenian in Istanbul

There is only one Syrian Armenian in Istanbul that I know. Though I know him for one and a half year, I couldn't have managed to learn about his story. And once I learned about it, I thought that his story should be shared.

3 September 2016

Armenian and Azerbaijani people came together for peace

6 Azerbaijani and 4 Armenian people came together in Eskişehir and talked about peace and common life without a third party. Varduhi Balyan witnessed this important and touching meeting, spoke to participants and told about her own story. In the hope of more meetings like this...

Free little libraries in Yerevan now

Turkish-Armenian dialogue in Switzerland

In Caux town of Switzerland, Armenian, Kurdish and Turkish participants discussed the Armenian Genocide, their common past, current situation and ways of reconciliation. As part of “Just Governance for Human Security” conference, people from Armenia, Turkey, Lebanon, Spain and Netherlands discussed historical problems among Armenian, Turkish and Kurdish people, and ways for resolving those problems today.

Armenian courts keep still about the femicides

After the brutal murder that was committed in Armenia a few days ago, the country started to discuss violence against women and the attitude of police forces and the courts toward femicides.

"Building bridges is up to Turkey"

We talked to Ruben Safrastyan, the Director of Armenian National Academy of Sciences Institute of Oriental Studies, about Pope Francis' visit to Armenia, in the framework of the normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia.

Agreement of 5-hour-long ceasefire along Karabakh-Azerbaijani border

It is stated that an agreement for stopping the clashes on the northern and southern regions of Karabakh-Azerbaijani border between 15.00 and 20.00 local time is made. In 5 hours, both sides will search for the soldiers who were killed during the clashes.

Child abuse everywhere

While child abuse is currently on the agenda of Turkey, another report about child abuse came from Jerusalem. With the child abuse happened in early '90s, Jarankavorats Armenian School in Jerusalem drew attention.

Balances might change in Caucasus

The embargo against Iran is lifted. What does this mean for Armenia, which is in economical and commercial cooperation with Iran? We tried to answer this question with Caucasus Institute Director Aleksander İskandaryan.

27 January 2016

Femicides are also at serious level in Armenia

Volodya Muradyan, who murdered his wife Diana 3 years ago stabbing her 21 times in front of her children, sentenced to 3 years in prison. Member of 'Society Without Violence', Sona Hovakimyan talked about Diana case and domestic violence in Armenia.

“Virtual College” introduced in İstanbul

Yervand Zoryan, the founder and the director of Armenian Virtual College (AVC), which is sponsored by Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), visited Istanbul.

23 December 2015

Armenia said “yes” to constitutional amendments

With the referendum held on November 6, Armenia said yes to a controversial constitutional amendment.

7 December 2015

“Tension between Turkey and Russia would affect Armenia in a negative way”

We talked to Caucasus Institute Director Alexander Iskandaryan about the influences of the crisis between Russia and Turkey.

30 November 2015

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