BECAUSE THEY ARE ARMENIAN

Born in Istanbul, sociologist, feminist activist, and pacifist Pinar Selek was falsely accused of a bombing that never took place in 1998. Since then, she has been entangled in a legal ordeal emblematic of the repression faced by intellectuals in Turkey. Exiled in France since 2011, she published Le Chaudron militaire turc- Un exemple de production de la violence masculine (Des Femmes-Antoinette Fouque, 2023) where she examines the mechanisms of militarization in Turkish society and Parce qu’ils sont arméniens (Liana Levi, 2023), an essay in which she reflects on her relationship with the Armenian genocide. She recounts what it means to grow up reciting slogans proclaiming national superiority, being surrounded by fearful classmates, walking through Istanbul where Armenian names have been erased from shop signs, and being part of far-left movements that had embraced denial. This sensitive – at times self-critical – testimony condemns the dead ends of violence and explores the transformations of collective activism.
Hosted by: Chloé Leprince, journalist at France Culture.

Free admission, subject to availability.