CONFERENCE DEDICATED TO ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TAKES PLACE AT AMSTERDAM UNIVERSITY

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 19, ARMENPRESS:A conference dedicated to the Armenian genocide took place on December 18 at Amsterdam University during which Turkish well-known intellectual Taner Akhcham delivered a speech. Matso Hakhvedian, the chairman of the “April 24” task group and Federation of Dutch Armenian Organizations, told Armenpress that the Turks and Azerbaijanis who were present at the conference tried to disturb the event and adopted policy of denial but T. Akhcham managed to prove by serious and grounded arguments that Armenian genocide really took place. The intellectual presented “Shameful Deed. New Facts of Armenian Genocide” work which was translated into Dutch and will be released in May 2007. Akhcham presented the documents he had found which prove the forced displacement of Armenians, “Pan-Turkism” policy of the Ottoman Empire. Dutch professor, scientist in Turkish studies Erik Zyurcher said that what happened in the beginning of the 20th century may at present be described as genocide. The conference was conducted with the efforts of Dutch Humanistic Television, Amsterdam University and Institute of Holocaust and Genocide.