Historian Ara Sarafian to present new book about Van of 1915

VAN 1915 is an account of an epic struggle that took place in Ottoman Turkey during WWI. As Ottoman authorities moved to destroy Armenians (in what came to be known as the Armenian Genocide of 1915), many Armenians organized their self-defense by barricading themselves in towns and villages and fought back. The greatest battle took place in the city of Van, where over 30,000 Armenian civilians survived and were rescued by the advancing Russian armies. Author A. Do (Hovhannes Ter Martirosian) personally investigated the events in question and described many incidents in their harrowing detail.  The book was published in Armenian in 1917. This is the first English translation of that work and includes a new introduction and over 50 maps and illustrations.

ARA SARAFIAN is a historian specializing in the late Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey. He is a founding director of the Gomidas Institute in London, and has edited and written critical introductions to several of the institute’s publications.