TORONTO, September 12, 2002 -- Greek Ambassador to Canada Leonidas T. Chrysanthopoulos will be at York University on Thursday, September 26, to launch his book, Caucasus Chronicles: Nation-Building and Diplomacy in Armenia, 1993-1994 (Princeton and London: Gomidas Institute Books, 2002).
Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan has called the book "a compelling, first-hand account of a crucial period in the formation of an independent Armenia." Egoyan’s controversial new film Ararat, which opened the Toronto International Film Festival, is a study of the process of writing history through the story of an Armenian genocide perpetrated by the Turkish army in 1915. Turkey has denounced the film as propaganda.
Chrysanthopoulos, who has also served as Greek consul general in Istanbul, chronicles his experiences as the first ambassador of Greece and representative of the presidency of the European Union to an independent Armenia. His assignment there was viewed as a golden opportunity for Greece to rebuild "an alliance as old as history."
An Orthodox Christian country, Armenia was incorporated into Russia in 1828 and the USSR in 1920. Both Armenia and Azerbaijian attained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. As the Soviet Union collapsed, Russia, the European Union and the United States vied for control in the Caucasus and a bloody war ensued in the Armenian populated enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijian. After a cease-fire in May 1994, Armenian forces held Nagorno-Karabakh and a significant portion of Azerbaijian proper.
Chrysanthopoulos tells the inside story of these perilous years, revealing for the first time a suspected plot against Armenia at the same time as Boris Yeltsin was battling hardliners in Moscow in the failed coup d’état of October 1993. He provides insights into the workings of the highest levels of the Armenian government and the thinking of the individuals running it.
The book launch will take place on Thursday, September 26, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in Vari Hall, lecture theatre C, York University, Keele campus, 4700 Keele St. Ambassador Chrysanthopoulos is hosted at York by the Canadian Centre for German and European Studies, the Consulate General of Greece, The Hellenic Heritage Chair in Hellenic Studies, the Department of History, and the York-U of T Institute for European Studies.
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For further information, please contact:
| Dr. Thomas W. Gallant | Susan Bigelow |
| Hellenic Heritage Foundation Chair in Hellenic Studies | Media Relations |
| Department of History | York University |
| York University | 416-736-2100, ext. 22091 |
| 416-736-2100, ext. 30415 | sbigelow@yorku.ca |
| tgallant@yorku.ca |
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