The lecture will address the official and unofficial treatment of Armenian heritage sites — active and “abandoned” alike — in Turkey since the early 2000s, tracking the transformation of Erdogan’s history-related politics, and exploring the ongoing mass looting of Armenian properties. Seeking preservation prospects, the lecture will assess the agency of state and non-state stakeholders alike, from Armenian pilgrims to Kurdish stewards and looters.

Dr. Simon Maghakyan is a political scientist who researches heritage and security. He is the 20th Kazan Visiting Professor in Armenian Studies at California State University, Fresno, a Community Scholar at the University of Denver’s Korbel School of International Studies, and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Oxford. Previously, he was affiliated with Tufts University, the University of Colorado, Denver, and Cranfield University, where he earned a PhD in Defense and Security, focusing on heritage crime. His practical experiences range from founding Heritage Intel consultancy to spearheading Colorado’s capitol genocide memorial. His publications include a Hyperallergic exposé of Nakhichevan’s cultural erasure, acclaimed as “groundbreaking” by Forbes and “rock-solid” by The Guardian. His analyses have been featured by the BBC, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Time. His forthcoming book, Sovereign Heritage Crime: Security, Autocracy, and the Material Past, is a critical heritage studies element of Cambridge University Press.