Quick Facts
Biography
Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte (born Anna Astvatsaturova in 1978) is an Armenian-American writer, lecturer and activist. She authored Nowhere, a Story of Exile and lectured extensively about the plight of Armenians in Azerbaijan in the context of human rights and international law as well as defending the political rights of the Armenians in establishing autonomy in Nagorno-Karabakh and was instrumental in the State of Maine's 2013 resolution recognizing the independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. In 2015, she was elected member of the Westbrook Maine City Council.
Early life
Turcotte was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, the daughter of two artists. She fled with her family due to the 1990 Pogrom of Armenians in Baku, and spent three years in Armenia as refugee before coming to the United States in 1992. Her family was placed in Wahpeton, North Dakota where she became a U.S. Citizen in 1997.
Education
She studied at the University of North Dakota and received degrees in English & Literature and Philosophy & Religion, along with a minor in Russian Language and Literature. She received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Maine School of Law in Portland, Maine in 2003. After graduating from law school she worked as a clerk at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands.
Career
Astvatsaturian Turcotte has written and lectured extensively across the United States, including on Capitol Hill, and European Parliament on issues of human rights, international law, as well as Anti-Armenianism.
She advocated and worked to support the State of Maine's 2013 resolution recognizing the independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. She has discussed Azerbaijani aggression and the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh with members of the Congress and the European Parliament. Astvatsaturian Turcotte is an advisory board member of the non-governmental organization Americans for Artsakh.
In 2015, Astvatsaturian Turcotte spoke at TedX Grand Forks about her experiences as a refugee and human rights activits. On November 3, 2015, Anna Turcotte won the election to Ward 3 of the Westbrook Maine City Council. She received 64% of the total vote, unseating incumbent Paul Emery.
Publications
In 2012 she published her first book, Nowhere, a Story of Exile, which was based on childhood diary entries she kept as her family faced the ethnic violence in Baku during the Nagorno-Karabakh War. She began translating the entries into English at the age of 14. The account further described her life in Armenia as a Baku refugee. Her book was a first-person account of the Anti-Armenianism in Azerbaijan and Baku pogrom of the Armenians.
Awards
Astvatsaturian Turcotte was awarded the Mkhitar Gosh Medal of Honor from the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and the Nagorno-Karabakh Gratitude Medal from Nagorno-Karabakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan in 2013. In 2014, she was awarded Vahan Cardashian award by the Armenian National Committee of America - Western Region.