The ASAM Governing Board decided that the Institute for Armenian Research should not only study the Armenian question and relations between Turkey and Armenia, but also the crimes against humanity and war crimes as stipulated in the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Within this framework, the crimes of genocide, which took place in the 19th and 20th centuries as well as the crimes against humanity and war crimes committed against the Ottomans from the beginning of the 19th century to the founding of the Republic of Turkey will be examined.

Because of the enlargement of its area of research, the Institute has been renamed as the ‘Research Institute for Crimes against Humanity’ (IKSAREN in Turkish) as of January 1, 2006.

IKSAREN will continue to study the Armenian question and relations between Turkey and Armenia, and to publish Review of Armenian Studies and the “Ermeni Araştırmaları” (Armenian Research) journals. About a year later, it is hoped to publish another journal on genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

In this issue of the Review of Armenian Studies, the first article, entitled “Facts and Comments”, is on the latest developments regarding Armenian question and Turkish-Armenian relations in the second half of 2005.

In his article entitled “The Tale of the European Parliament’s 1987 Resolution Entitled ‘Political Solution of the Armenian Question”, Retired Ambassador Pulat Tacar, who was the Turkish Permanent Representative at the EU in 1987, writes about the conditions of emergence and acceptance of this resolution, which is still valid and could be a significant obstacle in front of Turkish accession to the EU.

Clinic Psychologist and ASAM Political Psychology Expert, Sevinç Göral, examines a neglected psychological aspect of Armenian question in his article entitled “Turkish Armenian Issue: Victimization and Large-Group Identity”.

Salih Sılay Koçer, analyses the impact of Nagorno-Karabagh problem on Nakhichevan with special references on its social and economic implications in his article, “The Impact of Mountainous Karabagh Conflict on Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan”

In his article entitled “Threatened Or Threatening?: Two British Consular Reports Regarding The Condition Of Non-Muslim Communities in İzmir And Aleppo” Mustafa Serdar Palab?y?k examines the status of the Christian communities in the Ottoman Empire in the mid-19th century with reference to British consular reports.

The disputed conference called “Ottoman Armenians during the Fall of the Empire: Scientific Responsibility and Democracy Problems” was postponed and then held in İstanbul Bilgi University in September 2005. This conference and some others organized as a reaction to it are reviewed in the ‘Conferences’ part of the journal.

Eurasian Strategic Research Center (ASAM) has established an Award for Studies Against Humanity and this award was first presented to American scholar Prof. Guenter Lewy.

This issue also includes a book review by Kamer Kas?m, on the Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Committee. This book was written by David Phillips and entitled “Uncilencing the Past: Track Two Diplomacy and Turkish- Armenian Relations”

With best wishes…

ARTICLES

Ömer Engin LUTEM

Pulat Tacar

Sevinç Göral

Salih Sılay Koçer

Mustafa Serdar Palabıyık

Prof. Guenter Lewy

Kamer Kasım