On 7-8 October 2016, Istanbul hosted the international conference entitled “Examinational Approaches to Armenian Identity in the 21^st Century: Vulnerability, Resilience, Transfiguration”. The conference was organized by the Hrant Dink Foundation and Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society and held under the auspices of Lisbon’s Calouse Gulbenkian Foundation and the Consulate of Sweden in Istanbul, as reported Hamazkayin Armenia to Hayern Aysor.

The conference gathered Turkish, Armenian and other professionals and public figures from Turkey, Lebanon, Armenia and other countries such as Khachik Tololyan and Rubina Pirumian (USA), Hrach Chilingirian (London), Razmig Panossian (Lisbon), Meguerditch Meguerditchian, Vatche Papazian and Anita Toutikian (Beirut), Harutyun Marutyan and Suren Danielyan (Armenia) and Mourad Zankara, Penar Karakilcik and Ararat Shekerian (Turkey).

The conference was launched with opening remarks by Chairman of the board of the Hrant Dink Foundation Raquel Dink and Chairman of Hamazkayin Central Committee Meguerditch Meguerditchian. The conference was generally described in the first speech entitled “Bewilderment of Identities in Modern Rhetoric” by Armenian American professor Khachik Tololyan.

The conference ended with a press conference entitled “Modern Application-Future Directions” and moderated by intellectual Karin Karakashli. Among the participants were Director of the Armenian Communities Department of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Razmig Panossian, member of the Hamazkayin Central Committee Vatche Papazian, sociologist and professor Arus Yumul and Director of the Central Armenian School Silva Kouyoumdjian-Markosian.