Reading to remember: YSU presents a dozen books on Genocide
“These books summarize the grief and sorrow and the scream of anger of the Armenian people,” said YSU Rector Aram Simonyan (right).
In 2010 the YSU allocated $28 million (about $75,000) for publishing activities, due to which, according to YSU Publishing House director Perch Stepanyan, more than 200 books in Armenian studies have been published.
Stepanyan says that there has been rather a casual attitude to the works of foreign authorities addressing the subject of the Armenian Genocide, and that is why next to the works by Armenian authors -- such as Stepan Poghosyan’s “History of the Armenian Genocide” (1-3 volumes), Hrachik Simonyan’s “Following the Paths of the Liberation Struggle”, Vahan Baibourtian’s “History of the Ottoman Empire”, Styopa Petoyan’s “Turks About Turks” (1st volume) and a number of other authors’ books -- now there are also the books “Armenian Testament” and “Armenian Tree” by Spanish author Gonzalo Guarch.
The translator of the Spanish author’s books Mary Sukiasyan says Guarch devoted all his life to studying ethnic wars and when he learned about what suffering Armenians had had to go through, he decided he would write those books.
“Translation and publication of such books is very important, because there are a lot of countries where they still have no idea about what happened in the Ottoman Empire in 1915-16 and before that, and Guarch, as a foreigner, sheds a new light on those events,” says Sukiasyan.
YSU Rector Simonyan also expressed his satisfaction with what he described as reviving love towards books and reading in Armenia and said the University’s Publishing House has had its contribution to this.
The YSU rector said the university has always highlighted the importance of publishing books of Armenological significance and making them available to the public, that’s why some of these books have already found their place at the website of the YSU Institute for Armenian Studies in the Virtual Armenian Studies and Information section (www.armin.am).
“These and other books related to Armenian studies published by the YSU within a very short period of time will find their place on the website, which means that they will become more accessible to readers,” says YSU Virtual Armenian Studies and Information Department head Mher Hovhannisyan.