The latest gathering in the Hrant Dink Foundation’s “Ancestral Journeys: Reflections on Land and Belonging” series, launched in June 2025, took place on Monday, November 2, 2026, from 16:00 to 18:00 at the Hrant Dink Foundation Anarad Hığutyun Building. Professor Emeritus Arlene Voski Avakian delivered the talk “Embracing My Ancestral Home,” moderated by Aylin Vartanyan Dilaver.
Within the series’ themes of discovery, reunion, and ancestral journeys, Avakian shared how she learned about the Armenian genocide in 1954, at the age of 14, when her grandmother Elmas Tutuian told her some of what she had experienced in 1915, and how she came to carry the charge to “tell the world.” She spoke about her journey from trying to escape the knowledge of her family history, to accepting it, and eventually to integrating it into her identity.

Almost two decades after the 1992 publication of her memoir Lion Woman’s Legacy, which centers on Elmas’ story and its impact on her life (Turkish translation: Aras Yayıncılık, 2020), the book brought Avakian to the Hrant Dink Memorial Workshop on Gender and Ethnicity in the Former Ottoman Lands. That first visit to Turkey, the many that followed, the relationships she built, and joint projects, especially a book of conversations with Ayşe Gül Altınay and Fethiye Çetin, changed her life. Elmas’ story and its impact on Avakian are also the subject of a forthcoming documentary.
Drawing on Hrant Dink’s words, “Every Armenian is a document,” the series continues to explore the significance of understanding history through survivors’ lived experiences, and how their memories are revitalized and passed on to new generations through their descendants.

We Welcome Your Stories

This conversation series is part of a broader dialogue about ancestral journeys and the profound connections between past and present. If you are an Armenian living abroad who has undertaken or is planning an ancestral journey, we would be honored to hear your reflections and experiences. Your stories of discovery, reunion, and belonging contribute to the collective memory that Hrant Dink spoke of - each narrative adding depth to our shared understanding of heritage and home.

We invite you to share your own journey with us. Please reach out through This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to connect and explore how your story might enrich this ongoing conversation.