Nina Katchadourian's Sorted Books Project

Read the titles of the books from top to bottom. Fun, isn't it?

The process is the same in every case: culling through a collection of books, pulling particular titles, and eventually grouping the books into clusters so that the titles can be read in sequence, from top to bottom.

Nina has a lot of other projects on her website, including maps as seen on moss, crossdressing animals, renovated mushrooms, and much more.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, she is of Swedish-Finnish and Turkish-Armenian-Lebanese descent.

Here are the links: Sorted Books Project and Nina Katchadourian's Home Page

Genocide-Deniers Crash Book Reading

Day One: Let's attack Armenians. Day Two: This.

As a first-time author, Margaret Ajemian Ahnert hoped that her appearance at a Barnes & Noble store here would draw attention to her new book, "The Knock at the Door," which deals with the Armenian genocide.

"Someone in the middle of the back of the room stood up and said, 'That's not so,' " Ahnert said. "Five or six men started to pass out fliers of denial. I thought, oh, my goodness sakes, it's like Holocaust deniers. I was completely taken aback."

Mary Occhino, who was in the audience, said some of the people were shouting, "This is a lie, this is a lie, this never happened."

How is it that you can't deny the Holocaust without being made a complete and ignorant fool, but when the topic of the Armenian Genocide comes up, people shrug, look around, and suggest that it is open to many interpretations? We have to change that.

It seems these rogue Turks and their anti-Armenian attitudes are everywhere. I'm not so much surprised by their perpetual idiocy anymore, but I must admit a modicum of admiration for their relentless stupidity. To go to such lengths to fight a losing battle is amazing!

And here is the book, if you're curious: The Knock at the Door

Source: International Herald Tribune

New York Times Review of Taner Akcam's Genocide Book

Ever hear of Taner Akcam? You should have, because he is considered one of the first Turkish academics to accept and openly discuss the Armenian Genocide. The New York Times published a review of his book, "A SHAMEFUL ACT: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility." Here is a snippet:

...a Turkish blast against this national denial. A historian and former leftist activist now teaching at the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota, Akcam is often described as the first Turkish scholar to call the massacres genocide, and his impressive achievement here is to shine fresh light on exactly why and how the Ottoman Empire deported and slaughtered the Armenians.

He directly challenges the doubters back home, basing his powerful book on Turkish sources in the old Ottoman script — including the failed Ottoman war crimes tribunals held after World War I. Although he bolsters his case with material from the American, British and German archives, he writes that the remaining Ottoman records are enough to show that the ruling party’s central committee "did deliberately attempt to destroy the Armenian population."

I encourage all of you to read the review, if not the book. Whether or not you agree with the rest of his book, the fact that a Turkish academic can stand up against 90+ years of deliberate denial is admirable.

Note, you can access the New York Time article only if you register. However, you are free to use a service such as BugMeNot.com to get a working login without registering.

Source: New York Times

Matenadaran's Manuscript Mistreatment

The Matenadaran Institute of Ancient Manuscripts - known simply as Matenadaran - contains some of the most important manuscripts in the world. However, some of the most fragile manuscripts may be in danger.

Eleven activists of art and science have sent an open letter to the President Robert Kocharyan with an appeal to ban sending valued illustrated Armenian parchment manuscripts for exhibition in France.

“These are treasures that are untouchable; they should not be transported, exposed to temperature changes, should not be exposed to unjustified risks, and the government of the Republic of Armenia is not competent to make such a decision, because those treasures belong to the Armenian nation, so exporting them from Armenia means risking their existence,” says Levon Chookaszyan, the head of the Yerevan State University UNESCO Chair of the History of Armenian Art.

“It was a miracle the manuscripts have survived 1700 years and have lived up to our days. We don’t have the right to endanger them,” he says.

They have good reason to worry: the same article mentions that works by Arshil Gorky were lost in a plane crash and paintings by Martiros Saryan burned on a ship.

Why not just send them reproductions?

Source: ArmeniaNow

Turkish People Don't Know History

It seems that Turks have no access to unbiased information about the Armenian Genocide:

“I do not know how many Armenians died in 1915 – half million, three or five. There is nothing written in Turkish manuals of history about it,” according to Co-chair of the Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council Kaan Soyak.

Turks started to speak about the tragedy of 1915 not long ago. “When Armenian President Robert Kocharian touched upon the subject in the UN our people started to speak of it as well. In my opinion, the trouble is that we do not contact. Armenians should know that Turkey wants to know her own history,” Soyak emphasized.

Do realize that this individual has political and business purposes for his comments, though I don't doubt that what he's saying is true. Turks believe they were killed by Armenians; also, their government imprisons anyone who takes a non-official stance, that is, anyone who believes in the Genocide.

Perhaps we should educate Turkey by donating some books. Actually, given that 15% of Turks are unable to read, maybe an audio CD may be more appropriate.

Source: PanArmenian