Armenian, Kurd Appointed to Endowment Council

July 15, 2014

The Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund was established to support projects that commemorate and recognize the experiences of all of the ethno-cultural communities affected by Canada’s first national internment operations of 1914 to 1920.

The Endowment Council … is pleased to announce the appointment by the Board of Directors of The Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko of two new members to the Endowment Council effective July 1, 2014 – namely, Dr. Sima Aprahamian, to serve as the representative of the Armenian National Committee of Canada, and Mr. Suleyman Güven, as the representative of the Kurdish community.

July 15, 2014

The Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund was established to support projects that commemorate and recognize the experiences of all of the ethno-cultural communities affected by Canada’s first national internment operations of 1914 to 1920.

The Endowment Council … is pleased to announce the appointment by the Board of Directors of The Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko of two new members to the Endowment Council effective July 1, 2014 – namely, Dr. Sima Aprahamian, to serve as the representative of the Armenian National Committee of Canada, and Mr. Suleyman Güven, as the representative of the Kurdish community.

Dr. Aprahamian, who holds a Ph.D. degree in anthropology (1989, McGill University), is a Research Associate at the Simone de Beauvoir Institute at Concordia University. Her current research is entitled Narratives of Displacement. At the Simone de Beauvoir Institute, she has taught many courses including Introduction to Women’s Studies, Women’s Organizing & Resistance Across Cultures, Women, Science & Technology. She has also developed and co-taught courses on Anthropological Theory and Field Research. She has numerous publications and has organized several academic events and conference panels. She has presented many papers in peer reviewed international conferences as well. She has conducted field research in Lebanon, Armenia and Canada.

Mr. Güven, a Kurdish Alevi from the Dersim Province of Turkey, arrived in Canada in April 1991 as a refugee. He is the editor of Yeni Hayat, a Canadian-Turkish/ Kurdish newspaper; the Acting Vice President of the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada for the past three terms; and the founder of the Toronto Kurdish Community Centre. Mr. Güven received awards from the Toronto Refugee Affairs Council (TRAC) in April 2000 and the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada in 2008 and is the subject of a book Our Friendly Local Terrorist (published in 2010), dealing with his story and his struggle.