With summer in full swing, over 500 AGBU youth and young professionals are preparing for the AGBU World Games in Beirut, Lebanon, from July 21 - 27. Hotels for the World Games are already sold-out and a week of games, conferences, festivities and sightseeing await AGBU guests who will be arriving next week to a city famed for its vibrant Armenian community.

Recently, AGBU's European visibility has been substantially augmented through a number of grassroots initiatives and projects that appeal to a wide cross-section of European Armenians. In addition to a first of its kind European conference for Armenian young professionals that attracted individuals from 15 European countries, AGBU was part of the recent effort to distribute clear information about the Armenian Genocide to half a million Parisian high school students.

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Paris High Schools Distribute Armenian Genocide Circular to 500,000 Students

Paris – In May 2006, 500,000 high school students and 80,0000 teachers and government officials of the French Ile-de-France region, which represents the Paris metropolitan area, received an informative brochure about the Armenian Genocide written by the Regional Council of Ile-de-France in cooperation with the Coordination Council of Armenian Organizations in France (CCAF-Paris). Emphasizing that the history of the Armenians is part of the history of France, the four-page color document, entitled “Genocide of the Armenians,” was written by historians Philippe Videlier of CNRS in Lyon, Claude Mutafian, and Raymond Kevorkian, the Director of AGBU's Nubarian Library in Paris.

The brochure's content was tailored to the region's high school students and included the crucial facts and lessons of the Armenian Genocide. Intended for use as an educational tool, teachers have been using the materials during classroom discussions on the topic. The document illustrates the context of the Ottoman Empire at the time, the situation of the Armenian population on the eve of the Genocide, the tragic decision to eradicate the Armenian population by the Young Turk government, the creation of concentration camps, the role of the Young Turk Central Committee, and the criminal Turkish trials that followed (1919-1920). It also includes a brief history, complete with photos and maps, of the forced Armenian exile, and presents an overview of the Armenian diaspora and realities faced by Armenians in present day Turkey. ....

First of its Kind European Training Seminar for Young Armenians
Investing in the next generation, AGBU broke symbolic ground in Brussels, Belgium, with its first training and networking seminar for European youth from April 29 to May 2, 2006, entitled “Project Exchange and Development Seminar for Young European Armenians.” Promoting the grassroots efforts of young Armenians, AGBU in sponsorship with the Council of Europe welcomed 38 talented community organizers from 14 European countries (Armenia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom) to participate in a unique peer-to-peer exchange within a dynamic, facilitated learning environment. ...

YP Boston Walk-a-Thon Raises $3,000 for Karabakh Repopulation Project
On June 4, 2006, AGBU Young Professionals of Boston sponsored its inaugural Walk-a-Thon raising over $3,000 for the furnishing of a new secondary school in the village of Norashen, which is located in the Hadrut region of Karabakh. With twenty walkers participating, the five-mile trek began at the Massachusetts State House on Beacon Hill and ended at Harvard Square in Cambridge. ...

JULY Calendar of Events

From New York to Beirut, AGBU is shining bright during the hot summer months. Visit this month's online calendar for the complete roster of Centennial events.