April 13, 2011

On Thursday March 31st 2011, Dr. George Bournoutian, Professor of East European and Middle Eastern Studies at Iona College , New York , delivered an informative and revelatory lecture entitled “1823 Russian Survey of Karabagh as a Proof of Armenian Presence in the Region” at AGBU’s Alex Manoogian Cultural Centre in Toronto .

Over 120 people had gathered to hear the ever popular professor’s presentation. Dr. Bournoutian presented findings from his research on Karabagh, most notably highlighting evidence indicating that there was a strong Armenian presence in Karabagh prior to 1828. Dr. Bournoutian subsequently explained that some historians deliberately deleted references to this Armenian presence in historical texts, and that these doctored versions of record books were subsequently sent to universities in the U.S. , Canada and Europe . Until recently, there has never been statistical information on the population of Karabagh prior to 1828. The availability of this new data allowed attendees of Dr. Bournoutian’s lecture to gain a greater understanding of the Karabagh situation all the while serving as a reminder that one must always be critical of the information he or she reads. Moreover, the lecture underscored that it is vitally important to learn more about the history of the region of Karabagh in order to improve our comprehension of the political tensions concerning this geographical area.