14.06.2025


This week at the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, three academic lectures were held, presented by experts specializing in genocide studies, addressing international law as well as the historical, legal, and humanitarian aspects of the Armenian Genocide.

On June 7, Dr. Artur Simonyan, a researcher at the Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (IOS) in Regensburg and invited senior researcher at the AGMI’s Legal Studies Department, delivered a lecture titled “Post-Soviet Policy in the History of International Law.” The presentation covered the main phases of the formation and development of international law, focusing particularly on its interpretation and methodology of application in the post-Soviet space. Dr. Simonyan noted that after the collapse of the Soviet regime, legal thought in the region primarily adopted Eurocentric approaches without adequately integrating them into the local legal culture and political realities. According to him, this methodological dependency has often led to one-sided modernization of legal systems, overlooking the possibilities for reinterpreting the Soviet legal legacy.

On June 11, Professor Keith David Watenpaugh, founding director of the Human Rights Studies Program at the University of California, Davis, gave a lecture entitled “The Armenian Genocide and American Humanitarianism.” He presented the humanitarian responses of the United States during the Armenian Genocide, with a particular focus on programs implemented in the Near East, their objectives, and the key actors involved.

On June 12, Dr. Annika Törnén from the University of Basel delivered a lecture titled “The Escape Route through Dersim during the Armenian Genocide.” She provided a detailed analysis of how that region became a place of refuge for thousands of Armenians during that period.