Ara Sarafian

Ara Sarafian is an archival scholar specializing in late Ottoman and modern Armenian history. He received a B.A. in Russian studies and politics from the University of Wales, Swansea, and an M.A. in history from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he was a Ph.D. candidate. He is the director of the Gomidas Institute, London, and served as co-editor of Armenian Forum: A Journal of Contemporary Affairs.

He is a frequent visitor to Eastern Turkey, especially Van, where he organizes specialised academic tours. For more information please contact info@gomidas.org.uk 

Among his publications are

Days of Tragedy in Armenia: Personal Experiences in Harpoot, 1915-1917

The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, 1915-1916 : Documents Presented to Viscount Grey of Falloden by Viscount Bryce (Uncensored Edition)

United States Official Records On The Armenian Genocide 1915-1917

United States Diplomacy On The Bosphorus: The Diaries Of Ambassador Morgenthau 1913-1916

Diaries of a Danish Missionary: Harpoot, 1907-1919

A Time to Act: What will become of Varak Monastery after the recent earthquake in Van?

Jan 22, 2012: Ara Sarafian raises the alarm over the historic Armenian site near Lake Van that was damaged by the recent tremor and is now in danger of collapse.  more...

Talaat Pasha’s Black Book documents his campaign of race extermination, 1915–17

Mar 13, 2009: A handwritten black book that belonged to Mehmet Talaat Pasha, the Ottoman minister of interior in 1915, was published in facsimile form in the end of 2008. It is probably the single most important document ever uncovered describing the destruction of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915–17. The Black Book draws on Ottoman sources no longer available to answer many questions about what those sources showed. Historian Ara Sarafian studies the document.  more...

Hacking History IV: The Museum of Kars

Jan 09, 2009: When Ara Sarafian planned a trip to four Turkish museums in October 2008, he expected an "Armenian-friendly" experience. He knew that the Museum of Van, with its anti-Armenian section had been closed down for some time, and the church on Aghtamar Island had been renovated. What he found, in fact, was that the museums still represented some of the worst aspects of "old Turkey": intolerance, prejudice, and aggression. His report from Kars concludes a series of four reports.  more...

Study the Armenian Genocide with confidence, Ara Sarafian suggests

Dec 18, 2008: Historian Ara Sarafian discloses the substance of an interview he granted to Hurriyet Daily News on the subject of Armenian Genocide scholarship.  more...

Hacking History III: The Archaeological Museum of Van

Dec 11, 2008: Historian Ara Sarafian visits the Archeological Museum of Van as part of his tour of museums in Turkey. The tour is prompted by a desire to see whether the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has started to acknowledge the Armenian civilization that once flourished in the territory covered by the museums.  more...

Hacking history II: Erzurum Archaeological Museum

Dec 01, 2008: It’s an era when Fethiye Çetin’s book on discovering her Armenian roots has been reprinted in several editions in Turkey. But a conservative Turkish establishment continues to slight, marginalize, and vilify Armenians as a matter of course. Historian Ara Sarafian decided to visit four museums in Turkey to see whether these state institutions acknowledge and contextualize Armenian history. He reports this week from the Erzurum Archeological Museum.  more...

Hacking history I: Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, Ankara

Nov 22, 2008: It’s an era when Fethiye Çetin’s book on discovering her Armenian roots has been reprinted in several editions in Turkey. But a conservative Turkish establishment continues to slight, marginalize, and vilify Armenians as a matter of course. Historian Ara Sarafian decided to visit four museums in Turkey to see whether these state institutions acknowledge and contextualize Armenian history. He reports this week from the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara.  more...