YEREVAN. - The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute today hosted the presentation of the monograph “Armenian Sports and Gymnastics in the Ottoman Empire” by the Institute’s Director Hayk Demoyan.  Parallel with it, the temporary exhibition bearing the same name also kicked off.

The book presents the activity of the first Armenian gymnastics clubs and includes around 600 photos.

The book also tells how the Young Turks followed the activity of the Armenian sportsmen, fearing that they may lead the Armenians.

For this reason, the Turks considered the scout movement as destructive for the basis of their country.  “The Minister of Internal Affairs Talaat [Pasha] wrote a letter to Enver [Pasha] in 1914, mentioning that the marches of the Armenian scouts posed a threat to the country, and thus should be dealt with by the Ministry of War, and not the Internal Affairs Ministry,” Hayk Demoyan said.

Family members of the Ottoman sportsman and photographer Grigor Jololian, whom Demoyan met in France, contributed to the book publication and exhibition organization.  His heirs decided to donate all their collection to the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute.

The book hasn’t been put up for sale yet. By the end of the year, it will also be published in Russian, English and Turkish.