11.02.2025


On February 6, a presentation and discussion of Avedis Hadjian’s book Secret Nation: The Hidden Armenians of Turkey (I.B. Tauris, 2018) took place at the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute. Before the event began, Edita Gzoyan, the Director of the Museum-Institute, greeted the attendees. Shushan Khachatryan, Head of the Department for Documentation and Research on the Victims and Survivors of the Armenian Genocide, then introduced the speaker.

Avedis Hadjian presented his book, which is made up of 32 chapters, each dedicated to a specific geographic and cultural region: Sasun, Commagene, Diyarbekir, Taron, Karin, Sebastia, Asia Minor, Kharberd, Van, Cilicia, the Black Sea, and Hamshen. The author conducted his research using interviews and oral history methods, traveling to these regions and engaging with individuals and families who, due to the Armenian Genocide, had either lost their Armenian identity but still retained some memory of their roots, or those who still identified as Armenians—including some who were hidden Christian Armenians.

The author presented unique photographs, each accompanied by the story behind it. At the end of the presentation, he responded to questions from the audience.

Avedis Hadjian studied journalism at the University of Salvador in Buenos Aires and earned a master’s degree from the University of Cambridge in England. He has worked as a journalist and is currently a PhD candidate at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris.