NAASR/Gulbenkian Series to present webinar on Artsakh refugees in Armenia
The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) will host a webinar with Antranig Kasbarian and Gegham Stepanyan, titled “Demography, Politics, Resettlement: Artsakh’s Refugees in Armenia Today,” on Friday, August 22, 2025, at 12:00 p.m. (Eastern) / 9:00 a.m. (Pacific).
The program will be presented under the auspices of the NAASR / Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Lecture Series on Contemporary Armenian Issues, and can be accessed online via Zoom (Registration: http://bit.ly/45rWhSD) or YouTube (www.youtube.com/c/ArmenianStudies).
For some 30 years, significant efforts and resources were devoted to assisting the Armenians of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabagh) to build secure and prosperous lives. The violent expulsion in 2023 of all Armenians from the region, however, resulted in a massive exodus to the Republic of Armenia and the dissolution of the Artsakh Republic. The ensuing refugee crisis has necessitated a shift in focus toward resettlement, livelihoods and social integration as Artsakh’s Armenians build new lives. We will hear about some of the challenges and successes from two experts well-positioned to share their insights.
Dr. Antranig Kasbarian holds a Ph.D. in geography from Rutgers University, where his dissertation was entitled “We Are Our Mountains: The Geography of Nationalism in the Armenian Self-Determination Movement, Nagorno-Karabagh, 1988-1998.” He is a former editor of the Armenian Weekly and has served the Armenian-American community in various capacities over four decades. He continues to publish and lecture on topics pertaining to Armenia, Transcaucasia and especially Artsakh. Professionally, Antranig serves as Development Director of the New York-based Tufenkian Foundation, pursuing charitable and strategic endeavors in Armenia and for Artsakh.
Gegham Stepanyan has served as the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Artsakh Republic. He defended human rights during the Artsakh blockade and ethnic cleansing, submitting over two dozen reports to the international community, while documenting Azerbaijan’s criminal policies. Now based in Yerevan, he continues to raise awareness and advocate for the rights of people forcibly displaced from Artsakh, and since June 2024 has served as an independent national expert on refugee issues for UNDP Armenia.
For more information about this program, contact NAASR at hq@naasr.org.
