On April 24, 1915, Young Turks, the ruling government of the Ottoman Empire, began arresting, deporting, and murdering Armenian intellectuals and community leaders, leading to what became the Armenian genocide. In recognition of this tragic anniversary, Ron Suny wrote a reflection piece for Agos, "Recognizing the Impossible Past: 106 Years After the Armenian Genocide."
For the first time, an American leader, President Biden, acknowledged this chapter in history as genocide, affirming what many in the global Armenian community have known and recognized for many decades. Following this important acknowledgment—and rebuff from Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan—Professor Suny followed up with a second article, "Moving beyond the Black (and Dark) Spots of History."
Ronald Grigor Suny is the William H. Sewell Jr. Distinguished University Professor of History at the University of Michigan, Emeritus Professor of Political Science and History at the University of Chicago, and Senior Researcher at the National Research University – Higher School of Economics in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The grandson of the composer and ethnomusicologist Grikor Mirzaian Suni and a graduate of Swarthmore College and Columbia University, he taught at Oberlin College (1968-1981); as visiting professor of history at the University of California, Irvine (1987); and Stanford University (1995-1996). He was the first holder of the Alex Manoogian Chair in Modern Armenian History at the University of Michigan (1981-1995), where he founded and directed the Armenian Studies Program, now the Center for Armenian Studies.
