Simon Maghakyan

Last month marked the 20th year since the destruction of Djulfa. This erasure shaped my work, but in 2025 I prioritized parenthood over commemoration, translating a poem with my 5-year-old son. In the end, that was my way of remembering. My essay in @TIME time.com/7362424/armeni…

The film for which he is being prosecuted, “Aurora’s Sunrise,” can be watched on PBS here: pbs.org/pov/films/auro…

On Yeghishe Charents’ 129th anniversary, Weekly contributor Theo Maarten van Lint revisits the poet’s voice and his vision of a reborn Armenia through a new translation by Simon Maghakyan. armenianweekly.com/2026/03/13/a-p…

More than two dozen genocide scholars from universities and research institutions in the United States and Europe issued a joint statement on Friday calling on the Armenian government to reinstate Edita Gzoyan, saying her removal threatens the international standing of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute and raises concerns about academic independence. The statement followed remarks by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who said he had personally instructed Gzoyan to submit her resignation after her conduct during last month’s visit by U.S. Vice President JD Vance at the Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex. “We, the undersigned, express deep concern over the recent and troubling developments at the Armenian Genocide Museum Institute in Yerevan,” the scholars said, adding that Gzoyan had resigned “reportedly under pressure from the government rather than by free choice.” The signatories said Gzoyan had strengthened the institute’s global academic reputation through archival expansion, international conferences, and scholarly publications, and warned that political interference in its leadership would discourage cooperation with researchers abroad. Pashinyan said that Gzoyan’s presentation to Vance of books related to Artsakh, and her references to anti-Armenian pogroms in Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku, contradicted Armenia’s foreign policy line. “I was the one who asked the director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute to submit a resignation letter; it was done on my instruction,” Pashinyan said at a government briefing. “I considered giving a book about Artsakh to Vance to be a provocative act that goes against the government’s policy.” Museum staff have protested the move, and genocide historian Raymond Kevorkian, along with several other board members, resigned in protest. The statement was signed by: Prof. Bedross Der Matossian, professor of history and Hymen Rosenberg Professor in Judaic Studies at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln; Prof. Elyse Semerdjian, chair in Armenian Genocide Studies at the Clark University; Prof. Armen Marsoobian, professor of philosophy at Southern Connecticut State University; Prof. Keith Watenpaugh, professor of human rights studies at University of California, Davis; Prof. Melanie Schulze Tanielian, associate professor of history at University of Michigan; Dr. Simon Maghakyan, faculty member at University of Oxford; Dr. Boris Adjemian, director of Bibliothèque Nubar; Mr. Marc Mamigonian, director of academic affairs at National Association for Armenian Studies and Research; Prof. Vahé Tachjian, Armenian studies chair at Saint Joseph University of Beirut; Prof. Houri Berberian, professor of history at University of California, Irvine; Prof. Henry Theriault, vice-chair of National Association for Armenian Studies and Research; Prof. Ronald Grigor Suny, professor emeritus at University of Michigan and University of Chicago; Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian, Armenian studies coordinator at California State University, Fresno; Prof. Lori Khatchadourian, associate professor at Cornell University; Dr. Hilmar Kaiser of University of Bern; Mr. Michael Bobelian, adjunct professor at Columbia University and Baruch College; Prof. A. Dirk Moses, professor at City College of New York; Prof. Hervè Georgelin of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens; Mr. Gregory Aftandilian, senior professorial lecturer at American University; Prof. Julien Zarifian of University of Poitiers; Prof. Fatma Müge Göçek of University of Michigan; Prof. David Gaunt of Södertörn University; Prof. Tessa Hofmann, formerly of Free University of Berlin; Dr. Talar Chahinian of University of California, Irvine; Prof. Samuel Totten of University of Arkansas. The scholars said Gzoyan should be reinstated immediately and warned that leadership decisions at the institute should be based on academic qualifications rather than political considerations.

BREAKING: Trump and Israel are dropping bombs on an Armenian neighborhood in Tehran — putting at risk one of the oldest Armenian communities in the world, with roots in Iran stretching back centuries.

Glad to see this innovative summer program in Armenian Studies offered by @NAASR1955. If you know high school students or recent grads interested in Armenian Studies (who also want to be taught by Harvard & MIT faculty), let them know of Nexgen 2026. #program-identity" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">naasr.org/pages/summerpr…

BREAKING: In the midst of war, the street sign marking Armenian Genocide Square in Haifa has been vandalized and torn down

Tehran's St. Sarkis Armenian cathedral

@SiskaHolwerda @Cambridge_Uni Thank you

@simonforco @Cambridge_Uni Excellent work! I still can’t believe how on earth it’s possible that Azerbaijan has ruined so much world heritage, committing cultural genocide and got away with it. Azerbaijani First Lady Aliyeva even was UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador from 2004 until 2022.

🆕 My first book (a @Cambridge_Uni Element) is now out open-access! Sovereign Heritage Crime: Security, Autocracy, & the Material Past offers a brief intro to a new theoretical framework on state-sponsored cultural erasure: cambridge.org/core/elements/…

@SonjaDahlmans @Cambridge_Uni Thank you!

@simonforco @Cambridge_Uni Thank you for sharing, Simon. Congratulations, important achievement.

@anoush_ft @Cambridge_Uni @CambridgeUP Thank you!

@simonforco @Cambridge_Uni Bravo! Congratulations to you @simonforco and to @CambridgeUP for this important contribution 👏

Today is Int’l Mother Language Day. Last year I translated into English the most famous Armenian poem (by Yeghishe Charents) with my 5-year-old son. My TIME essay on heritage and parenthood, published last month, explains why time.com/7362424/armeni…

@HovhanNaz Yes but their initial field work (sound gathering) was done in Goghtn, and the letters were tested out at Amaras, so pretty close to current geographic borders.

Armenian is obviously a native script, but Mashtots invented it outside both historical and modern Armenia, most likely in/around Edessa (modern Urfa).

The world's largest human rights organization, @amnesty, calls the unjust conviction/lengthy sentence of @RubenVardanyan_ and other Armenian political hostages in Azerbaijan "nothing short of a travesty." amnesty.org/en/latest/news…

Absolutely shameless. And some unscrupulous fools and charlatans will STILL come to Pashinyan’s defense and claim we are overreacting.

In a major escalation in its assault on the world's oldest national church, Armenia's gov't has launched an (absurd) criminal case against the Catholicos (the Armenian Pope), preventing his int'l travels, including for the upcoming bishops' synod in Europe azatutyun.am/a/katoghikosi-…

Enlisting a pedophile to help deny a genocide may not be the flex Davutoglu thinks it is. Sheesh.

For 1,700+ years, the Church has sustained Armenian identity worldwide. Its self-governance must be respected. At this critical moment, Armenia needs de-escalation, dialogue, and unity — not deeper division. Full statement here: mediamax.am/en/news/societ…

@DalrympleWill The first Trump admin also used the phrase “Armenian Genocide” once while trying to discredit Black Lives Matter (then said it was not a recognition!) asbarez.com/white-house-pr…

"White House deletes JD Vance’s social media post referring to Armenian genocide. US vice-president’s post marks first time Trump administration used the word to describe the massacres" theguardian.com/us-news/2026/f…

Vice President Vance’s office deleted this tweet that broke with administration policy in its acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide. 1/