April 16, 2002

WASHINGTON, DC — The Armenian National Institute (ANI) announced this week the completion of a multi-year effort to research the French national archives for documents relating to the Armenian Genocide.

With the advice of ANI Academic Council member Claire Mouradian, scholar Vahé Tachjian conducted a comprehensive search collecting thousands of documents on the Armenian Genocide at the French diplomatic, military and consular archives, including accounts written by French military and civilian officials, as well as missionaries.

The search of the French records covered documents from 1895 to the early 1920s, thus including sources about the 1895-1896 massacres and the 1909 massacres in Cilicia. This search also located testimony on the genocide dating from 1919 when the Allied forces entered Constantinople and collected testimony about accused war criminals.

"As a result of this effort, we have been able to shed new light on a number of important issues. This research was significant. We believe there is even more to be discovered in the archives of private businesses, diplomats and missionaries who were personally witnesses of the Armenian Genocide," Dr. Mouradian said.

Claire Mouradian, who has served on the ANI Academic Council since the founding of the Institute, is a researcher at the Center for the Study of the Russian, Soviet and Post-Soviet World (National Center for Scientific Research and School of Advanced Social Science Studies). She is the author of several books including Armenia: The History of a Soviet Republic from Stalin to Gorbachev and serves on the Editorial Board of Review of the Modern and Contemporary Armenian World. She is a member of the Commission on the Publication of French Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Armenian National Institute is dedicated to the study, research, and affirmation of the Armenian Genocide. Visit its Web site at www.armenian-genocide.org.