ANTELIAS, Lebanon — Taner Akçam, author of A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility, visited the Armenian Catholicosate at Antelias on January 3. He has been one of the first Turkish intellectuals who through his publications and lectures has stressed the necessity of the official recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the Turkish Government.
Akçam was visiting associate professor of history at the University of Minnesota and in 2008, he was appointed to the Chair of Armenian Genocide Studies at Clark University, Worcester, Mass. Four years ago, when Catholicos Aram I was invited to lecture at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University in Minnesota, Akçam expressed the desire to visit the Catholicosate of Cilicia.
The Turkish historian’s visit lasted five days when he gave lectures and met Armenian intellectuals as well as university students. His first lecture was on Monday, January 4 at 7 p.m. at the Catholicosate, titled “The Turkish Recognition of the Armenian Genocide and Turkish National Security.”
