Professor Constantine Hatzidimitriou Named Director of the AHIF Center for the Study of Human Rights and Hellenism The American Hellenic Institute Foundation (AHIF) is pleased to announce that Professor Constantine Hatzidimitriou has accepted the appointment as Director of the AHIF Center for the Study of Human Rights and Hellenism.
The Center will promote the study of the Greek people's struggle to survive and preserve Hellenic culture from the early modern period to the present. Within this broad spectrum, special attention will be paid to the twentieth century destruction and ethnic cleansing of Anatolian Hellenism; Greece's record of courage and sacrifice against totalitarianism and fascism during the World Wars; and the Cypriot struggle for freedom and justice. The Center will also examine the human rights situation in Turkey, Albania, and other countries and related issues such as the persecution of the Kurds, Armenians and others.
Eugene T. Rossides, President of AHIF, stated: Dr. Van Coufoudakis, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne, Indiana and Chairman of the AHIF Foundation for Hellenic Studies, commented on Professor Hatzidimitriou's appointment as follows: It is an honor to be associated with Gene Rossides, Dr. Van Coufoudakis and the AHI because they have consistently stood for and promoted the rule of law, American democratic values and high academic standards. A Center whose mission will be to make the American public more aware of Hellenism's long struggle to survive against invaders, hostile neighbors, and genocide is long overdue. As recent events in the Balkans and Near East have shown, U.S. foreign policy and public opinion must take the historical development and experiences of these regions into account in order to be effective. Most Americans, even many in high office, have no knowledge of Hellenism's modern struggles to preserve itself and to promote western values of individual human rights and political freedom in the region. The Center will seek to set the record straight and make this information known to a wide audience through an aggressive program of education and outreach that utilizes objective data that will conform to the highest standards of the American academic community. Particular attention will be paid to the publication of official U.S. government documents which illuminate this neglected history." |
Professor Constantine Hatzidimitriou Named Director of the AHIF Center for the Study of Human Rights and Hellenism
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