During the March-October 2023 application periods, the Turkey-Armenia Travel Grant received a total of 154 applications from both countries. We are delighted to announce that throughout this time period, with the support of the European Union, the Hrant Dink Foundation offered travel grants to a total of 28 individuals - 13 from Armenia, 15 from Turkey - for their visits to the neighbouring country with a specific purpose and programme.

Individuals and groups which have already completed their projects in the neighbouring country with the support of the Travel Grant are as follows:

Rıza Oylum and Nöyfel Tak from Istanbul, a director and cameraman, received the support of the Turkey-Armenia Travel Grant to visit Yerevan for filming their documentary on Yervant Demirci – a blacksmith born in Mardin, Turkey, and a 4th generation Genocide survivor. The documentary will cover Yervant Demirci's life in Turkey and Armenia.

Nyree Abrahamian, Jeremy Dalmas and Gohar Khachatryan from Yerevan, producers of the podcast “Country of Dust” received the support of the Travel Grant to visit Istanbul and Hatay (Vakıflı village) for producing a series of audio documentaries on how the earthquake in the beginning of 2023 has impacted the region. The interviews started in Istanbul with individuals who were displaced from Hatay.

Arek Suzme, a student from Pangalti Mkhitaryan High School from Istanbul, received the support of the Travel Grant to visit Yerevan and Gyumri as part of “Discover Armenia” summer camp of AGBU and the Pan Armenian games.

Melisa Ferahyan from Istanbul received the support of the Travel Grant to visit Dsegh village – the birthplace of prominent Armenian writer Hovhannes Tumanyan for participating in the Tumanyan International Storytelling Festival as a Western Armenian storyteller and workshop leader.

Mahir Özkan, a Hemshin language revitalization activist from Istanbul, received the support of the Travel Grant to visit Dsegh village to participate in the Tumanyan International Storytelling Festival to read some of his stories in Hamshen Armenian and talk about the Hamshen language, traditions, and the challenges Hamshens face in contemporary Turkey.

Ceren Çilek, a PhD student of History at Marmara University and Azaduhi Kurtlukaya, a librarian from Surp Pırgiç Hospital, both from Istanbul, received the support of the Turkey-Armenia Travel Grant to visit Yerevan to search and study the yearbooks of Surp Pırgiç Hospital at the National Library of Armenia missing from the hospital library.

Ali Karakaya, a student from Yeditepe University in Istanbul, received the support of the Turkey-Armenia Travel Grant to visit Yerevan to conduct research at Cultural and Social Narratives Laboratory in Yerevan on colonial trauma narratives in the national literatures of Armenia, Turkey, Russia, and Ukraine.

Ani Tadevosyan and Zaruhi Harutyunyan from Yerevan, journalists from Epress.am received the support of the Travel Grant to visit Istanbul to collect reports and conduct interviews with representatives of the Armenian community on the political and especially the post-election situation in Turkey.

Anna Ter-Saakova, Ashkhen Minasyan, Vladimir Sukiasyan and Lilit Andriasyan, independent researchers from Yerevan, received the support of the Travel Grant to visit Istanbul to conduct in-depth interviews with different social groups of Armenians as part of their study on the experience of discrimination of minority ethnic groups focusing on two subgroups: Armenians in Russia and Armenians in Turkey. The results of the study will be presented at Lsaran conference 2024 and Armenian National Youth Forum 2024.

Kurtuluş Baştimar from Eskişehir, an award-winning author whose book “A Farewell to Freedom” will be translated into Armenian, received the support of the Travel Grant to visit Yerevan to follow up with the translation-publication process of the book with Actual Art publishing house, as well as to meet members of the Armenian Writers' Union, including Kurdish writers for a discussion about the first Kurdish novelist Arab Shamilov (Erebe Shemo) and his works. Additionally, he held meetings with relevant stakeholders regarding the production and screening of his film project “Ararat's Exiled Daughter”.

Lilit Sargsyan from Vagharshapat and Nensi Mkrtchyan from Yerevan, as national representatives of the Erasmus Student Network, received the support of the Travel Grant to visit Ankara to attend the General Assembly Meeting of the Erasmus Student Network where important topics related to the organisation’s activities were discussed and voted.

For further questions, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The 2023-2024 Travel Grant is conducted within the framework of the programme
“Support to the Armenia-Turkey Normalisation Process: Rapid Responses" funded by the European Union.