By Emine Ozcan

ISTANBUL (BIA News Center) — NedimSener, a reporter for the daily Milliyetnewspaper who published a book aboutjournalist Hrant Dink’s murder, faces up to28 years in jail after police officers filedcomplaints against him.

The book, titled The Dink Murder andIntelligence Lies, deals with the police andnational intelligence officers who havebeen accused of negligence in Dink’s 2007

murder. They are accused both of havingprior knowledge of murder plans and ofpreventing the solving of the case with mis-leading evidence and fake documents.

“I published the incidents of negligenceof these three important intelligence insti-tutions of the state in the Dink murdercase, giving names,” Sener said. “I haveproven that fake documents were prepared.Documents marked as classified and con-taining lies were published in the book.”

Following the publication of the book,several police officers who filed criminalcomplaints against the writer: Ramazan

Akyürek, then chief of police in Trabzonand still in office as police intelligence unitchief, Ali Fuat Yılmazer, then police intelli

see DINK, page 4

Baroness Caroline CoxVisits Nagorno

Karabagh RepublicSTEPANAKERT (Arminfo) — A delegation led byVice Speaker of the House of Lords of theBritish Parliament, Baroness Caroline Cox,recently visited Nagorno Karabagh.

This is Cox’s 67th humanitarian visit toKarabagh.

President Bako Sahakian received the guestson June 8. Cox said that she was impressed withthe progress in Karabagh, asking Sahakian totell her about the present situation.

Sahakian reportedly told Cox that the interna-tional recognition of the independence ofKarabagh was just a matter time and the sus-tainable development of democratic values isongoing.

Swedish ForeignMinister Rejects Claim

For RecognizingArmenian Genocide

STOCKHOLM (PanArmenian.Net) — SwedishForeign Minister Carl Bildt has once again reject-ed the Liberal People’s Party parliamentarian’srequest to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

“Politicians do not face the task of adoptingdecisions that may change the course of histori-cal developments,” CNN Turk quoted theSwedish diplomat as saying.

Bildt added using the term would impede theactivities of the group dealing with the study of“historical developments.”

French MP VisitNagorno Karabagh

STEPANAKERT (Radiolur) — Chairman of theFrench-Armenian Friendship Group FrancoisRochebloine visited Nagorno Karabagh last weekat the invitation of the Speaker of NKR NationalAssembly, Ashot Ghulyan.

Greeting the French Deputy at the NationalAssembly, Ghulyan noted that Rochebloine hadalways been a friend of Karabagh and supportedtheir struggle for independence.

Rochebloine, who was paying the third visit toNKR, said he was pleased by the progress thecountry is making, emphasizing the necessity ofsharing information about Nagorno Karabaghwith the international community.

INDEXArmenia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 3Arts and Living . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Community News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Mirror- SpectatorMirror- SpectatorTHE ARMENIAN

Volume LXXIX, NO. 48 Issue 4092

JUNE 13 , 2009

$ 2.00

ComposerHonored

See page 12

INSIDE

The First English Language Armenian Weekly in the United States

NEWS IINNBBRRIIEEFF

Priest FoundDead atChurch inJerusalem

JERUSALEM (AFP) — A 34-year-oldpriest was found dead on Tuesday at theChurch of the Holy Sepulchre inJerusalem, where most Christians believeJesus was crucified and buried, officialssaid.

The cleric, thought to be an Armenian,was found at the bottom of a flight of stairsand appears to have fallen, a policespokesperson said.

“The priest fell down and passed away,”Micky Rosenfeld said. “His death was notthe result of a criminal act.”

The Holy Sepulchre, considered by mostChristians to be their faith’s holiest site, isuneasily shared by six denominations,including Greek Orthodox, Armenians andRoman Catholics.

“The Armenians are in a state of shock,”said Father Fergus Clarke, the seniorFranciscan monk at the church, who spokewith the dead man’s colleagues shortlyafter the incident.

“They tried to revive him but unfortu-nately it was too late,” he said.

Tensions among the various denomina-tions are not uncommon, erupting mostrecently last November when a brawl brokeout between Greek and Armenian monksafter a mass at the church.

MORE THAN SPORTS ATACYOA SPORTS WEEKEND

Van Dyke’s‘Deported’Has FirstReading inWatertown

By Nancy KalajianSpecial to the Mirror-Spectator

WATERTOWN, Mass. — The firstpublic reading of Joyce Van Dyke’snew play, “Deported,” a dream play,took place recently at the new CharlesMosesian Theater at the ArsenalCenter for the Arts. Some audiencemembers noted the appropriateness ofholding this special event inWatertown, a community that foryears has welcomed immigrants, espe-cially Armenians who were deportedfrom the Ottoman Empire around theturn of the century.

see VAN DYKE page 14

WASHINGTON — Secretary of StateHillary Clinton met with Turkish ForeignMinister Ahmet Davutoglu last week at theDepartment of State for a “comprehensivediscussion” that included the proposed“road map” for establishing relationsbetween Turkey and Armenia.

“I have been very encouraged by theprogress that has been made and by thecommitment of the governments involved,”Clinton said during a joint press confer-ence.

“We are supportive, but it is up to theTurkish and Armenian governments andpeople to realize the great opportunity thisposes,” she added. “The normalization ofrelations not only continues what I haveseen from the Turkish Government, whichis a desire to actually solve problems, and I

applaud that, but we think it will bringgreat benefits to the region.”

Clinton also addressed the NagornoKarabagh peace talks, which continued thisweek, saying, “We believe that a lot ofprogress has been made in a relativelyshort period of time to resolve issues thatare of long standing.”

Davutoglu expressed similar hope thatthe talks would yield results.

“We are very optimistic,” he said. “Wewant to achieve a prosperous, peacefulCaucasia. And in that sense, we are fullycommitted to our normalization processwith Armenia, and also, we are fully com-mitted and we are ready to work togetherwith the United States and other co-chairsof Minsk Group for the resolution ofArmenian-Azeri issues.”

Clinton, Turkish FM Discuss‘Road Map’ in Washington

Journalist Faces 28 Years for Dink Book

Members of the Armenian Church Youth Organization of America(ACYOA) gathered in Palisades, NY, May 21 to 25 for a weekend ofsports, fun and spiritual awareness. See pages 10 and 11 for completecoverage.

S A T U R D A Y, J U N E 1 3 , 2 0 0 9 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R2

ARMENIA

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News From Armenia

Corrections Two errors appeared in a reviewof a new book by Teryl Asher,The Peoples of Ararat.In the story, which appeared inthe May 23rd edition of theMirror-Spectator, MaeDerdarian, the author of a reviewon the book, was mistakenlyreferred to as the author of thebook in one sentence. Also, inanother sentence, she was incor-rectly referred to as Mary, notMae.In addition, an article thatappeared in the May 30 editionof the Mirror-Spectator incor-rectly identified the hometown ofviolin contest runner-up HaigHovsepian as Needham.Hovsepian is from Belmont,Mass. We regret the errors.

By Karine Kalantarian

YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — PresidentSerge Sargisian considers a supposedlyindependent inquiry into the March2008 post-election violence in Yerevan,which he helped to launch last fall, tohave been a failure, his spokesman saidlast week.

The Fact-Finding Group of Expertshas been effectively paralyzed for thepast month by mounting tensionsbetween its pro-government and pro-opposition members. Its non-partisanchairman, Vahe Stepanian steppeddown last week, citing the wrangling.Two other group members chosen byArmenia’s governing coalition have alsoeffectively terminated their involvementin the inquiry.

The five-member group was set up bySargisian last October with the aim ofcollecting information that would shedmore light on the causes of the March 1,2008 clashes between opposition pro-testers and security forces. The opposi-tion Armenian National Congress(HAK) and Zharangutyun party eachnamed one member of the group. Thestate human rights ombudsman, ArmenHarutunian, picked the fifth member,Stepanian.

Stepanian and the group’s two pro-government members caused a stir inearly May when they went on a two-week vacation, forcing a temporary sus-pension of the Western-backed inquiry.The group resumed its work on May 17only to suspend it again two days later.

Its rival members have publicly tradedbitter recriminations since then.

“Time has shown that having beennominated by political forces, membersof the Fact-Finding Group have unfortu-nately failed to rid themselves of theirpolitical agendas and to act as trulyindependent experts,” Sargisian’s presssecretary, Samvel Farmanian said. Hesaid this fact has in effect led to “the fail-ure of the group’s activities” and makesits existence “controversial.” He did notspecify whether that means it will be for-mally disbanded by the president soon.

The Armenian opposition has alreadyaccused the authorities of deliberatelysabotaging the probe to prevent furtherembarrassing revelations about theirbloody suppression of oppositiondemonstrations sparked by the disputedpresidential election of February 2008.In its first and so far only report sub-mitted to parliament in late April, theFact-Finding Group disputed the officialversion of the death of Captain HamletTadevosian, one of the two police ser-vicemen killed in pitched battles withopposition protesters who barricadedthemselves in central Yerevan.

Tadevosian was apparently the firstcasualty of the fierce clashes that alsoleft eight civilians dead. According tothe Armenian law-enforcement authori-ties, he was killed by an explosive devicethrown by one of the protesters. Thegroup’s report, signed only byStepanian and the two pro-oppositionmembers, cast doubt on this assertion,saying that investigators failed to prop-erly examine the officer’s body, clothesand flak jacket.

Sargisian Deems UnrestProbe a Failure

YEREVAN — The Hayastan AllArmenian Fund recently congratulatedall the winners of the 2008 President’sPrize, including academics VahaknDadrian and Wolfgang Gust, who wereawarded the prestigious prize for theircontributions to the study of theArmenian Genocide as well as efforts tosecure its worldwide recognition.

Gust received the President’s Prizefor his groundbreaking research ofGerman state archives pertaining to the1915 Genocide. His landmark 2005study, The Armenian Genocide Duringthe First World War: Documents fromGerman State Archives, reveals thedeep-rooted relations between imperialGermany and the Ottoman Empire dur-ing the first part of the 20th century,particularly as documented in the secretcorrespondence of the German consuland ambassador in Istanbul with theTurkish government.

Gust’s 675-page volume includes 218secret and top-secret telegrams, lettersand communiqués, most of which havenever been published previously.

A renowned journalist and scholar,Gust has long been dedicated to thestudy of the Genocide. An Armeniantranslation of his first work related tothe subject, 1993’s The ArmenianGenocide: The Tragedy of the OldestChristian Nation, was published inArmenia in 2002. In recognition ofGust’s achievement, Karekin II,Catholicos of All Armenians, bestowed

on him the St. Sahag and St. Mashtotsmedal in 2001.

Dadrian, who has devoted his entirecareer to the study of the Genocide,received the President’s Prize not only forhis past achievements but ongoingresearch within his field. Currently servingas director of genocide research at theZoryan Institute, Dadrian is the author ofnumerous pioneering studies on theGenocide, German complicity, Turkishdenial, parallels between the Genocideand the Holocaust and related topics.

The special category of thePresident’s Prize, Valuable Contributionto the Recognition of the Genocide, wasinstituted in 2005. The prize includes acertificate of achievement, a medal anda monetary award in the amount of$10,000. To date, nine scholars and pub-lic figures, including four Armenians,have received the President’s Prize inthis category.

Ara Vardanyan, executive director ofthe Hayastan All Armenian Fund, said,“It’s a great honor to acknowledge someof the most accomplished scientists,scholars and artist of our time, andespecially to be able to express our grat-itude to those who have contributed somuch to the field of Genocide recogni-tion. The Hayastan All Armenian Fundis extremely proud of its role as orga-nizer and coordinator of the President’sPrize competitions and awards cere-monies. We look forward to continuingto build on this tradition, thanks to thesupport of the Boghossian Foundation.”

Established in 2000 by theBoghossian Foundation, the President’sPrize promotes excellence in theArmenian arts, sciences and Genocide-

recognition efforts. It also includes thePresident’s Youth Prize, which awardsyoung talents in various fields.Administered by the Hayastan AllArmenian Fund, the juried annual prizeis bestowed on recipients by the presi-dent of the Republic of Armenia, duringa rewards ceremony held at the presi-dential residence. This year the prizewas awarded to 21 individuals, forachievements in one of nine categories.Nearly 600

MatenadaranManuscriptsDigitized

YEREVAN (Armenpress) — About 600manuscripts kept at the MatenadaranInstitute of Ancient Manuscripts, havebeen digitalized, according to Directorof Matenadaran Hrachya Tamrazyan.

“Digitalization of manuscriptsrequires long-lasting work, but we did itwith great speed,” Tamrazyan said.

Tamrazyan added the plan is to putthe project on the Internet. A newdepartment of the school is also in theworks, which will be four times largerthan the present building.

Wolfgang Gust

Vahakn Dadrian and Wolfgang GustAmong Winners of President’s Prize

Vahakn Dadrian

S A T U R D A Y, J U N E 1 3 , 2 0 0 9 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R 3

ARMENIA

By Siranuysh Gevorgyan

YEREVAN (ArmeniaNow) — When ArgamBabayan and Nelly Movsisyan walk the streettogether, many passers-by turn around tocheck them out. The teenagers dressed inblack and pink attract attention with theirhaircuts with a front fringe closing one of theireyes and eyes heavily painted in black.

Babayan and Movsisyan, both 18, are repre-sentatives of emo (short for “emotional”) cul-ture — a popular youth movement mainly inthe United States and Europe, with a wideInternet community.

“Emos,” as some refer to themselves, initiallyused to be defined as fans of emo rock, but theterm has been adapted to a wider culturallifestyle. Emos are usually 12-18-year-olds; theywear either black or pink clothes, tight jeans, fin-gernails painted in black and listen to groupssuch as Tokyo Hotel, AFI and Avril Lavine. Emobegan to take hold in Yerevan in 2007.

“The real emo must have a very expressiveappearance and only a few would dare to dressemo style here,” Babayan explained.

Babayan, 18, is believed to be the only “emoboy” in Yerevan. He does not contend thatthere aren’t other emo boys in the city, too,but he has yet to see one because he says oth-ers are afraid to go out dressed in emo fashion.

“I am not afraid; I dress like this all the time,and I do not want to change myself,” Babayansaid. “However, when I walk in the street folkscan insult me any time. They point at me, theysay that I am a girl, or they ask whether I ama boy or if I am gay.”

Emo teenagers say that there are about 20-25 emos in Yerevan; however only five of thempresent themselves as such in public.

Besides emos, there are small groups ofgoths, punks, Satanists and other youth move-ments in Yerevan.

Those opposed to the lifestyle claim emoteenagers believe they must commit suicideonce they are 18-years old. There have been nosuch deaths reported in Armenia.

“Sometimes we are simply very, very sad,and then we may become unruly,” said NellyMovsisyan, who adopted the culture at 16, butwhose family disapproves.

Babayan, who has problems especiallywith his father, once took an overdose ofaspirin after fighting with him, but woke

up the next morning healthy. “I do not understand why my father does

not accept me the way I am,” he said. “I do notdo anything wrong, I do not smoke, I do notdrink alcohol, I do not take narcotics.”

“Now he does not live with us, he lives withhis second wife in Echmiadzin after my moth-

er’s death. But when he comes to Yerevan, healways provokes (fights) with me. And then Iwant to leave home,” he added.

Now Babayan lives with his two sisters. Heworks nightshift at a plastic bottle productionplant. Babayan said he got the job with greatdifficulty.

“I worked in a supermarket, and one day myboss came and told me to cut my hair the nextday and only then come to work. And withoutsaying anything I simply quit the job,”Babayan said.

Movsisyan’s father is more tolerant. Shesays her father works in Russia and some of

his friend’s kids are also emos.The two meet often, going for walks in

downtown Yerevan.“When nobody understands you, you try

to find someone who would entirely under-stand you,” Babayan said. “I am very happythat we met.”

Argam Babayan and Nelly Movsisyan are happy to find “somebody who understands.”

‘Emo’ Yerevan Teens Challenge Society

By Tom Vartabedian

GUMRI, Armenia — The sound of music is alive and well insidethe Tigranyan Institute.

Talented children are playing their instruments behind closeddoors while parents gather, wait, listen and hope.

Inside the main auditorium, a young diva is exercising hervoice before an audience that includes Sebouh Apkarian, artisticdirector and conductor of the famed KOHAR SymphonyOrchestra and Choir.

He’s there like he always is, scouting new talent and lendingencouragement. You can’t miss him. He’s the gentleman in the frontrow with snow-white hair listening attentively and taking notes.

Obviously, he likes what he sees in this young nightingale.“He’s very supportive to the youngsters who know that being

in a program with KOHAR and traveling around the world to

perform would be the ultimate,” said Kayane Manougian. “Theyall want to make a big impression.”

Twenty-one years ago, a devastating earthquake sent tremorsand shock waves through Gumri and Spitak, claiming some58,000 lives.

The children here are too young to remember but continu-ously hear the stories, not like Manougian who experienced thetragedy first-hand and lived to tell about it.

“I was at home with a newborn child when the earthquakestruck,” she recalls. “I ran out into the street and saw buildingstoppling over. Two minutes can lead to a lifetime of tragedy andhardship. Many of my closest friends were lost. Every time Ithink about it, I’m devastated.”

Like so many others, Manougian pitched in, helping those inneed and rebuilding her city in the aftermath.

The 80-year-old Tigranyan Institute was among the casualties,left in ruins. Life was uncertain and recovery slow. But they weredetermined. Trailers served as temporary classrooms amid therubble along Abovian Street.

“For six years, we worked out of a fallout shelter, then movedinto a building with no heat,” Manougian traced back. “Winterswere severe. For 15 years, the school operated like that. Peoplewere poor. Homes were devastated. The ultimate sacrifice wasalways being made.”

Today, the institute boasts some 390 students between theages of 7-15 and 75 instructors, housed in an adjacent buildingthat once served as a factory. The lyrical sounds of youngsoloists are mingled with instruments that conserve theArmenian heritage and sustain its national character.

Not all are traditional pieces. A certain emphasis is placed onsuch Armenian instruments as the kanoun, duduk and tar.Choreography is another staple.

As concertmaster and first violinist of the KOHAR Orchestra,the 49-year-old Manougian also serves as a role model for thesestudents. It’s more than music here but a way of life. Throughperformance, careers are established and money is earned —resources that are currently scarce in Armenia.

A nominal tuition is assessed for those who can afford it.Assistance is also met through government circles. The faculty ispaid, however slight. Instruments are provided.

Students attend normal school elsewhere, then matriculate herefor further education. It makes for a long, but productive day.

Among the notable groups is YerezArt, a troupe of youngsingers who have visited the US and will do so again this fall.

“We prepare them for the conservatory,” said Manougian.“Many have succeeded and carried the name of Gumri to promi-nence. That we like to see. My students mean the world to me.Without them, I am very lonely.”

N. Tigranyan Music Institute is enjoying a renaissance after beingdestroyed by an earthquake 21 years ago in Gumri.

Gumri Music School Recovers after Earthquake

Principal Kayane Manougian takes charge of 390 students and75 instructors in addition to being concertmaster with the KOHARSymphony Orchestra.

TOM VARTABEDIAN PHOTO

TOM VARTABEDIAN PHOTO

S A T U R D A Y, J U N E 1 3 , 2 0 0 9 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R4

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International News

DINK, from page 1gence unit manager and now Istanbulintelligence unit chief and MuhittinZenit, the police officer who wasresponsible for police informant ErhanTuncel, who is now accused of encour-aging Ogün Samast to kill Hrant Dink.

Sener faces 28 years imprisonment.He stands accused of “targeting peopleinvolved in anti-terrorism campaigns,revealing classified information, obtain-ing classified information, violating thesecrecy of these communications, andattempting to influence the judiciary,”

according to court documents.“What they are trying to punish is

the basic procedure of journalism, find-ing and publishing documents, findingout who are the public officials whohave responsibility in Hrant Dink’s mur-der,” Sener said.

“It is very strange that the Trabzongendarmerie command’s staff accusedof negligence is facing up to two yearsimprisonment in a trial at the Trabzon2nd Criminal Court of Peace, while noone from the Trabzon police force,which has also been described as negli-

gent, is being tried,” he added.The Istanbul 11th Heavy Penal Court

is dealing with one of the cases againstthe journalists, in which he faces up totwenty years imprisonment. The courthearing is on 26 June. The Istanbul 2ndCriminal Court of First Instance is deal-ing with a second case, where a sentenceof up to 8 years is being demanded. Thehearing was scheduled for June 10.

The 28 years that Sener faces areeight years more than the possible termfor Samast, who is being tried forDink’s murder.

Journalist Faces 28 Years for Dink Book

Monument to Sayat NovaUnveiled in Tbilisi

TBILISI (PanArmenian.net) — For more than a century, Tbilisi has beenholding the Rose Festival dedicated to Armenian poet and bard Sayat Nova.

This year, the festival was celebrated in June. The ceremony was attend-ed by Armenian and Georgian Foreign Ministers.

Within the frameworks of celebrations, a monument to the poet wasopened near Sourb Gevorg (St.George) Armenian Church, notfar from his grave.

The monument was created byGia Djapridze and Kakha Koridze.

Haroutyun Sayadyan was bornin Tbilisi in 1712 to a family of apoor immigrant from Aleppo. Atage 20, he set out to travel anddid so for seven years. As to whatcountries exactly he visited, itremains a mystery. He returnedto Tbilisi with the pseudonymSayat Nova, which in the Hindulanguage means “king of psalms”or “lord of music” (according toHovhannes Toumanyan). Rumorsabout the talented musician wereimmediately spread all over the town. For more than 10 years, Sayat Nova wasa court musician and conductor of a court ensemble. However, later in life, hefell victim to a royal intrigue. The king ordered him to enter into a religiousorder. Sayat Nova was renamed Stepanos and joined Haghpat Monastery’sfraternity (on the Georgian border). He stayed there till the end of the war,together with a fierce eunuch Aga-Mohammed-khan from the TurkishKadjara royal house, which ruled the Persian throne. In 1795, the 83-year-oldmonk was found murdered in Sourb Gevorg Armenian Cathedral. Sayat Novawas buried below the northern wall of the church.

The monument dedicated to SayatNova

Armenia,AzerbaijanSatisfiedWith FreshSummit

By Aza Babayan

ST. PETERSBURG (RFE/RL) —Armenia and Azerbaijan reported furtherprogress towards the resolution of theNagorno Karabagh conflict after a meet-ing of their presidents held here June 4.

Presidents Serge Sargisian and IlhamAliyev spoke one on one for about two-and-a-half hours before and after beingjoined by their foreign ministers andthe US, Russian and French mediatorsco-chairing the Organization forSecurity and Cooperation in Europe(OSCE) Minsk Group. It was their fifthface-to-face encounter in one year.

Neither president made any publicstatements after the talks. Sargisian’soffice issued only a written statementsaying that the meeting took place “ina constructive atmosphere.”

“The parties agreed to move forwardin the negotiating process,” the state-ment said. It added that they instructedtheir top diplomats and the mediatorsto continue their efforts to narrowYerevan’s and Baku’s disagreementsand to prepare for yet anotherArmenian-Azerbaijani summit.

“Although we cannot talk about abreakthrough or substantial progresstoday, the parties are moving forwardand have agreed to continue negotia-tions,” Foreign Minister EduardNalbandian told journalists.Nalbandian’s Azerbaijani counterpart,Elmar Mammadyarov, gave a similarlypositive assessment of the talks.

“What we heard today [from the pres-idents] is creating a basis for the con-tinuation of our work,” Mammadyarovsaid. He said he believes that the SaintPetersburg talks were more productivethan the previous Aliev-Sargisian meet-ing held in Prague a month ago.

According to the mediators, duringthat meeting Aliev and Sargisianbridged some of their differences onbasic principles of a Nagorno Karabaghsettlement proposed by the troika. TheMinsk Group’s US co-chair, MatthewBryza, has repeatedly spoken of “signif-icant progress” made in Prague.

Bryza said last week that the Armenianand Azerbaijani leaders are unlikely toiron out all of their disagreements on “ahandful of remaining principles” in SaintPetersburg and will therefore need tohold more talks “relatively quickly.”“Based on their conversation in Prague, Ido believe that a breakthrough can hap-pen at Saint Petersburg and/or shortlythereafter,” he said.

By Aza Babayan

MOSCOW (RFE/RL) — FormerPresident Robert Kocharian is poised tobe appointed to the board of directorsof a leading Russian corporation thatcontrols Armenia’s largest mobilephone operator.

The Moscow-based holding companyAFK Sistema said in a statement lastThursday that Kocharian is among 13individuals nominated to its new gov-erning board to be elected by share-holders on June 27. VladimirYevtushenkov, the current board chair-man who holds a controlling stake inthe company, was quoted as voicingsupport for Kocharian’s candidacy, sug-gesting that its endorsement by theshareholders is a foregone conclusion.

A spokeswoman for Sistema, YuliaBelous, said last Friday that the compa-ny management took into accountKocharian’s extensive experience ininternational relations and his “goodknowledge of CIS markets.” She said theformer Armenian leader is also respectedby the Russian business community.

Belous made clear that Kocharian,who ruled Armenia from 1998-2008,

will not have to relocate to Moscow asthe Sistema board normally meets onlytwice a year. Nor will the new positionplace any limitations on his politicalactivities at home, she said.

Kocharian’s office in Yerevan couldnot be reached for comment.

With a market capitalization of $29billion, Sistema is Russia’s leading pub-licly-listed financial corporation withextensive interests in telecommunica-tions, energy, banking, mass media andother spheres. Its key asset is MobileTeleSystems (MTS), Russia’s largestmobile phone company.

MTS paid in September 2007 $430 mil-lion to buy a 80 percent stake in theLebanese-owned company K-Telecom thatfounded and runs Armenia’s largest wire-less network, VivaCell. K-Telecom had wonits operating license in an essentially confi-dential tender held by the Kocharian-ledgovernment in late 2006.

Opposition politicians and mediahave for years alleged that Kocharianand members of his family have a majorstake in VivaCell. But they have notoffered any documentary proof of theclaim.

According to Belous, the Sistemaspokeswoman, Kocharian does not ownany shares in the Russian giant.

Kocharian Set to Sit onRussian Company Board

BOSTON (CapeCodNews.com) — TwoHarwich High School students testified beforethe Joint Committee on Education Tuesday insupport of H.S 463, an Act concerning genocideeducation. MacKenzie Hamilton and AndieRamirez, members of Harwich STAND(Students Taking Action Now Darfur), arguedwhy the state needs to increase its commitmentto genocide education, in order to help preventfuture catastrophes.

About a dozen members of STAND traveledto the State House in Boston to support thecause and to lobby their representatives.

Below are the statements of MacKenzieHamilton and Andie Ramirez, and the state-ment of Emily Cunnigham of CardinalSpellman, delivered as a panel before the JointCommittee on Education Tuesday afternoon at1 p.m.

Testimony of MacKenzie Hamilton:Good afternoon, my name is MacKenzie

Hamilton and I’m a recent graduate of HarwichHigh School here to testify in favor of HR 463.

As Elie Wiesel, genocide survivor and authorof Night once said, “Education in the key to pre-venting the cycle of violence and hatred thatmarred the 20th century from repeating itselfin the 21st century.”

Time and time again, we hear quotes like,“Never Again,” but more and more, victims notso much of the Holocaust, but of Bosnia,Rwanda, and Darfur are being forgotten. Peopledo not realize that during the three and a halfmonth Rwandan genocide that the number800,000 stands for real people: 333 per hour,five per minute slaughtered, tortured, raped,and hacked apart. People do not realize that400,000 dead and 2.5 million driven from theirhomes represents a majority of the pre-geno-cide population of Darfur. In schools, we areneglecting human rights issues to prepare stu-dents for standardized tests. Testing may beimportant, but the lives of innocent civiliansalso need to hold importance in our society. AsSamantha Power stated so eloquently in herbook, A Problem from Hell, “Time and again,decent men and women choose to look away.We have all been bystanders to genocide.” It istime for you to make your own decision. Willyou look away, or will you do what you can forour mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters inDarfur?

Children are the most valuable resource wehave. The only way we can end such atrocitiesis to educate our children, and teach them tocare, and that what they think matters. Weneed to teach them to act politically, socially,and stand up for what is right.

Three years ago, my school formed a chapterof Students Taking Action Now: Darfur, the stu-dent-led division of the Genocide InterventionNetwork. Dozens of students in my school haveworked to raise money in any way they could.We’ve held numerous concerts to generate fundsfor relief, fasted to raise money for refugee pro-tection, made presentations teaching the conflictin history classes, and helped start a school forrefugee students in Chad. Their students havesomething to teach us. They wish to teach ushow fortunate we are. They wish to teach uscourage in the face of hardships, starvation, andsorrow. They wish to teach us that as we sit inthese cushioned seats with our Sunday Best on,and shoes on our feet, that there are millions outthere that are starving and without any sem-blance of schooling. With all of our resources, wehave our own responsibility. Not only do we havea responsibility to protect, but we have a respon-sibility to teach our own students to think

beyond themselves.We’ve been to Washington, DC, and lobbied

our representatives. We’ve been here in Boston,to lobby our legislators to divest from Sudan.We’ve organized ourselves to combat genocide.We’ve set our list of priorities. Human life first.I’ve witnessed children in my school as youngas 14 calling Representative Delahunt to ask forhis help. We’ve done our part, and will contin-ue to do so, but now it is time for you to act. Nobickering over a couple of dollars for materialsfor schools, no arguing over whether this atroc-ity is or is not genocide, no looking away,because Africa is too far away, and we don’t

think we can help. As I speak, women are beingraped, men are being killed, and children aredying of hunger in Darfur. This is real, and thismust be addressed now.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have done ourpart, and now it’s time that you do yours. Whatyou can do as legislators is to pass HR 463. Todate, only 9 out of our 50 states have any sem-blance of Genocide Education in their curricu-lums, and only California and New Jersey havefunded mandates. We cannot let children fin-ished their high school careers with only awarped view of the Holocaust and blank staresat the words, “Armenia,” “Bosnia,” and,“Rwanda.” I can think of few things moreimportant to teach than humanity and ‘goodwill to men.’ We need to tell our children thetruth—the world is not a perfect place, andthere is so much that we take for granted; wehate doctor’s appointments, while millionsaround the world would do anything for ade-quate medical care; we won’t eat our mother’saparagus, while millions more are malnourishedstarving around the world; we cry over a threeweek relationship, while there are a hundredthousand women being raped in Sudan.

These children have the capacity and right tolearn. We cannot close their eyes any longerand shelter them from what is truth to hun-dreds of millions of people around the world.We also cannot teach just the Holocaust andleave it at that. We need to give the children thematerial and resources with which they caneducate themselves and fight for what is right.

Testimony of Andie Ramirez:Hi, my name is Andie Ramirez I’m a junior at

Harwich high school. I’ve been a member ofSTAND for two years and I became interestedin STAND my sophomore year after hearingtwo genocide survivors speak. Their storiesmade me realize that we need to help, and weneed to take action.

In my remarks I’d like to focus on the amend-ment we are proposing to HR 463. We areproposing that in Section 1, paragraph one, toreplace the words “any one such genocide may”with “at least two genocides should” so that thesentence will read: “Case studies of at least twogenocides should be used to demonstrate theconcept of genocide.”

“Genocide isn’t just an awful thing that hap-

pened once, it’s something that has happened,and is still continuing to happen to this presentday. Through the education of not one, but mul-tiple genocides, children will realize that geno-cide is a current issue, and one that must bestopped.” - Andie Ramirez

As the bill stands now, it only requires thatschools teach one instance of genocide, andthat is not likely to change anything. This isbecause every high school in Massachusettsmost likely teaches about the Holocaust, butthat is certainly not enough. For current andfuture generations to understand the gravity ofgenocide, they must be educated on present day

atrocities in Rwanda, Darfur, Burma, Congoand elsewhere, as well as the Holocaust. Thepast and present genocides must be connected,not only will this make history real, it will cre-ate a force against the unlawful exterminationof millions of innocent people. Genocide isn’tjust an awful thing that happened once, it’ssomething that has happened, and is still con-tinuing to happen to this present day. Throughthe education of not one, but multiple geno-cides, children will realize that genocide is a cur-rent issue, and one that must be stopped. Soplease consider this amended language.

Our bill faces another difficulty because itmandates $50,000 in spending by theDepartment of Education. Our numbers comeupon the advice of the legal representatives ofthe Telling History Project and the Children’sFund for Creative Education. Our legislation isnot unprecedented, as other specific educationprograms are funded individually, and at amuch higher cost. Funding could provideteacher trainings, more detailed guides and cur-ricular materials, and the spread of such mate-rials and knowledge to middle and high schoolsthroughout the Commonwealth. However, iffunding is not attainable at this time, I urge youto move the bill forward without it, to findanother way of giving this bill teeth and sub-stance, or of delaying the funding until a moreeconomically feasible fiscal year.

Another possible objection might be to anadditional mandate on the Department ofEducation. This legislation is by no meansintended to infringe upon a teacher’s right tocreativity within his classroom, but to dismiss,glaze over, or provide a one sided perspectiveon the deaths of millions of innocent civilians isto create holes in a child’s history education sogreat that they distort the very fabric of the cur-riculum. We hope you will see the value of thisin improving the education of all our students.

Testimony of Emily Cunningham to theJoint Committee on Education,

June 9, 2009Regrettably, everything I know about geno-

cide, I did not learn in school.My interest in the history of genocide began

during my freshman year of high school whenthe situation in Darfur started to make head-lines. I was outraged at the atrocities that were

being committed under the complacent eye ofthe world’s most powerful governments, at theignorance and indifference of my friends andfamily toward the situation, but mostly at myown ignorance when I began to learn moreabout the genocide in Darfur and realized thatit was not an isolated incident, nor was it thefirst genocide that had taken place since theNazi Holocaust. Where had my history teachersfailed me?

I began to research and develop an addition tothe current curriculum framework that wouldintegrate genocide education in an effective way.In my research, I came across a similar effort

made over ten years ago. TheMassachusetts Legislatureand Governor enactedChapter 276 of the Acts of1998, a law directing theDepartment of Education tomake recommendations oncurricular materials andresources related to teachingabout genocide and humanrights. The result was TheMassachusetts Guide toChoosing and UsingCurricular Materials onGenocide and Human Rights.

Said Commissioner ofEducation David Driscoll, “Itis important that studentsacquire knowledge aboutgenocide and human rightsissues to deepen their under-standing of both past andcurrent events.”

Why then is this docu-ment hidden within thedepths of the Department ofPrimary and SecondaryEducation’s website? Whyhave several high schoolteachers I have interviewed

with a vested interest in genocide and humanrights education had no idea of its existence?Why do we continue to inadequately teach ouryouth about one of the most gravely importantissues facing humanity today? This guide is afirst step in recognizing the need for genocideeducation in schools, but I am here from theperspective of a student to tell you that yourwork is not done.

I have identified five improvements thatcould be made to the existing frameworkswhich I believe this bill will help to implement.

1. Curricular materials need to be genocidespecific. In the existing frameworks and supple-ments, there is no mention of the definition ofgenocide, or the Genocide Convention. Slavery,human rights issues, war casualties, and geno-cide are lumped into a single document, but inorder to address each topic correctly, they mustbe acknowledged, approached, and taught dif-ferently.

2. There is no mention of US involvement orlack of involvement in any curriculum frame-work or supplement.

3. There is a strong tendency of teachers torely on the chronology, dates, facts, and figuresrather than to address the underlying causes ofgenocide and the common threads which con-nect such atrocities of the past and present.

4. Curricular recommendations and materialsmust be kept up to date. There is no mention ofCambodian genocide, the Kurdish Genocide,the Darfuri genocide or the slaughter of theKaren people of Burma.

5. Finally, this bill needs funding. Though itmay be difficult in a time of economic crisis, Iurge you to think of the money spent onteacher trainings, conferences, and outside cur-ricular materials in terms of an investment inour future. In fact, our request is a drop in buck-et of the Department of Education’s near fivebillion dollar budget.

The lessons, stories, and common threadsamong the Holocaust, Cambodia, Rwanda,Bosnia, Burma, and Sudan should echo fromthe blackboards and lecterns of every middleand high school across our Commonwealth. Ifnot, for what have these millions upon millionsof innocent mothers, fathers, and children diedover the past century?

The members of STAND raised more than$2,000 in December for genocide relief.

S A T U R D A Y, J U N E 1 3 , 2 0 0 9 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R 5

NATIONAL NEWS

For Your Internal News of Armenia

Log on towww.AZG.am

In English, Armenian, Russianand Turkish

STAND members speak in favor of an increased commitment to genocide education Harwich High student, AndieRamirez, seated in the center at the microphone, addresses the Joint Committee on Education in Boston Tuesday. Thecommittee is chaired by Cape Cod’s State Senator Rob O’Leary on right with hand on his cheek. (Photo courtesy ofJohn Dickson.)

Harwich High Students Testify on Beacon Hill about Genocide Education

6 S A T U R D A Y, J U N E 1 3 , 2 0 0 9 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R

Community News

Mer DoonContinues its

Mission of HopeECHMIADZIN — “I often ask myself how my future looks, growing up with no

family and not knowing where I will live. I studied carpet weaving while in theorphanage, quickly falling in love with it and becoming an expert. With this I willbe able to work and earn a living, but still I have no place to live. I would like tobe one of your children at Mer Doon and feel the warmth of family love.”

The aforementioned words were expressed byAni, who, before becoming a member of theMer Doon family, grew up in Gamo (GavarOrphanage). Today, three years later, she sharesher feelings of hope for the future and appreci-

ation for her newly-found family. To quote Ani, “I am so happy to be in Mer Doon.I came here November 11, 2006. Here I feel love and attention. I lack free timebecause I am busy learning English, French and Russian, studying at a local uni-versity, and of course, weaving beautiful rugs. I would like to thank you all.”

see MER DOON, page 9

Lilit in the kitchen at the Mer Doon facility

In DowntownAmesbury,New BusinessIs Booming

By Pamela Canning

AMESBURY, Mass. (Amesbury News) — Aperiod of reduced economic activity. That is thedefinition of recession, which we are remindedof daily. But the country’s current financialwoes don’t appear to be scaring new business-es from opening up in downtown Amesbury.Whether it’s jewelry, clothing or a coffee shop,new ideas and new energy are becoming a real-ity in this eclectic town.

Just ask Aram Zemanian of ZemanianJewelers.

In January 2008, Zemanian moved his busi-ness from the Jewelers Building in Boston to 40Main St. here. Asked why he chose Amesbury,he responds with enthusiasm.

“I began thinking of the North Shore andstarted checking out Amesbury, which is an up-and- coming town,” he says. “The town is sim-ply beautiful.”

A grandson of two grandfathers who sur-vived the Armenian Genocide, his work ethic issimple.

“Honesty and trust is needed in my business. Ido all of my work in house and have built a workarea enclosed in glass so that the customer cansee what I am doing,” he said. “I understand thatit takes a while to build up trust.”

“Many of my Boston clients have followed meto Amesbury and they enjoy coming here andwalking around,” he adds. “A playground isneeded in the town. I see many mothers walk-ing with their children and it would be nice tohave a central place to meet.”

Another new business owner, Nancy White ofReal Bodies Clothing from Bali, started herbusiness in 1998 in Milford, NH, and moved itto Amesbury in December 2008.

Real Bodies Clothing from Bali is just that:the designs are made for a normal-sized womenand they are made in Bali. White frequents Baliat least once a year to check on her crew.

“We make all of our clothes and have evenmade fabrics when needed,” White said.

“We batik many of our creations, and eachimage on our pieces symbolizes something sig-nificant,” she adds. (Batik is a fabric designprocess using wax and dyes.)

“As soon as I drove into Amesbury I realizedwhat an amazing town it was,” White said.

“Amesbury has really chosen me. I was toldAmesbury was looking for a women’s clothingshop and I was just drawn here,” she added.

White believes strongly that businesses can-not only survive but can thrive collectively dur-ing this time.

“I stand by the motto, ‘Live Free or Die.’Working together, supporting each other in acollaborative way, is what I am all about,” Whitesaid.

Deb Pagley, owner of the gift shop ParkPlace and also president of the AmesburyDowntown Business Association, makes it veryclear why businesses are opening up inAmesbury.

“The owners of the buildings, being rented,are offering fair and reasonable rents,” she says.“I left Newburyport three years ago because therents became too high and it was clear I wasbeing pushed out.

“Businesses also feel they are on the fringe ofsomething big here in Amesbury,” Pagley adds.“We are a family and we are not being smoth-ered by chain stores.”

Pagley notes that if a consumer spends 10percent of his or her annual total budget intheir hometown, the businesses will be able tosustain themselves.

AIWA to HonorOlga Proudian

BELMONT, Mass. — The life of Olga Proudianwill be celebrated, “Roasted and Toasted”Friday, June 26 at 7 p.m. at Holy CrossArmenian Catholic Church.

Proudian is one of the three founders of theArmenian International Women’s Association(AIWA) who teamed up with Eva Medzorianand Barbara Merguerian in 1991 to form anorganization aimed at addressing the criticalconcerns of Armenian women worldwide. Theyvisualized an organization that would workindependently from political and religious affili-ations and they were successful in solidifyingtheir vision.

Proudian served as past president of theAIWA board of directors and vice-president incharge offundrais ing .She was bornin Bucharest,Romania, andraised in cen-tral Europeand the MiddleEast, raisingfour children.

As founderand presidentof theP o r t l a n d ,Maine AllianceFrançaise, sheen t e r t a ineddignitaries andartists from theFrench ambas-sador to Charles Aznavour. Proudian hasserved on the board of directors of theArmenian Children’s Milk Fund and theCambridge/Yerevan Sister City Association.AIWA is establishing the Olga ProudianScholarship Fund to honor her as a foundingmember of AIWA. The event, on June 26, willfeature food and entertainment, with reserva-tions available through AIWA.

Panel on Social ServiceIn Armenia at NAASR

BELMONT, Mass. — Ten professionalsocial workers from Armenia will partici-pate in a panel discussion on “SocialServices in Armenia: Challenges andOpportunities,” on Thursday, June 25, at7:30 p.m., at the National Association forArmenian Studies and Research(NAASR) Center, 395 Concord Ave. Theevent will be co-sponsored by theCambridge-Yerevan Sister CityAssociation (CYSCA) and NAASR.

The visiting Armenian social workers,in the US on a training program spon-sored by the Cambridge-Yerevan SisterCity Association and funded by theUnited States Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID), will reflect onconditions in their field in Armenia.Social services are relatively new inArmenia, begun only since independence,having been virtually non-existent duringSoviet times. The participants will dis-cuss social needs in Armenia, how theyare addressed by the government, therole performed by NGOs and challengesthey face in the future.

The panel discussion will be in Englishwith portions in Armenian with Englishtranslation.

Admission to the event is free (dona-tions appreciated). The NAASR book-store will open at 7 p.m.

More information about the panel dis-cussion is available by e-mailinghq@naasr.org.

Olga Proudian

By Julie Ashekian

A break during gardening

DALLAS and GUMRI — Life in Gumri is afar cry from Texas for Jason Paul Kazarian.But when the opportunity arose to fill thevacant executive director position at theGumri Information Technologies Center(GITC/GTech), he accepted it without hesita-tion. Moving 5,000 miles away from his homecountry provided quite the lifestyle changefor Kazarian, both professionally and person-ally. But the vision and goals he had for GITCprompted his move and have remained hispriority. Each day for him at GITC — a com-petitive post-graduate IT institution — varies.

On Mondays, he teaches a class for stu-dents working on their thesis projects andhelps them with the organization of theirpapers including the format, thesis, thesischapters, and gives overall guidance to the 20students so they can graduate on July 14.Kazarian also makes it a point for himself totravel out of Gumri into Yerevan to do devel-opment work and build partnerships betweenthe IT industry and GITC. There he frequent-ly visits the FAR office. He also spends histime writing grant proposals and findingsources of revenue, in addition to supervisingGITC’s employees.

Founded in August 2005, GITC promotesthe IT industry, drives the formation of an ITinfrastructure and promotes employmentopportunities in this area devastated by themajor earthquake in 1988. GITC has gradu-ated about 50 young adults. In exchange fornearly free training, students commit to

remain in the Gumri region for two years fol-lowing graduation.

The cultural differences between Armeniaand the United States are ones Kazarian hasobserved while living in Gumri. “The waywomen and men engage with each other issimilar to the US in the 1950s,” saidKazarian. “The women’s lib movement hasn’ttaken full effect, although it seems it’s goingto happen with the current generation whoare 25 and under. I’m seeing a modern mind-set in some of them,” he said, noting thatGumri is a mix of eastern and western cul-tures. “It’s interesting to look at our studentsbecause they have a provincial mindset.

“Gumri has a population of 150,000 peopleand there’s a prevailing village mentality,”said Kazarian, who has a bachelor’s and amaster’s degree in computer science.

Moving across the world naturally posesmany challenges and obstacles to completeeven the simplest tasks. “There’s not an openmarket for rental property,” said Kazarian,who had to hunt for a place to live when hefirst moved to Gumri.

“Something as simple as finding a place tolive is basically done by word of mouth.”

He compared Gumri to most Europeancities where it’s very compact. Kazarianwalks 20 minutes to work every day and does-n’t need a car to get around, as it’s easy to geteverywhere on foot. Originally fromCalifornia, Kazarian lived the last 14 years inTexas. He has been in software developmentfor about 25 years and spent three years inindustrial education in technical topics suchas telecommunications and software develop-ment.

Prior to joining GITC, he worked six yearsas an independent contractor for multiplecustomers and owned a boutique IT compa-ny.

Kazarian’s vision for GITC is three-fold. Hewants to modify the curriculum so that thereare no prerequisites to complete beforeenrolling in GITC, other than earning adegree from a public institution. He wouldalso like to hire local Gumri-based full timefaculty, which both reduces expenses andimproves the quality of student life. “Now wehave instructors who commute from Yerevanand come once a week,” said Kazarian.“There is no opportunity for students to

interact with their teachers. Having our ownfaculty will also make it easier for students toget help on projects and homework assign-ments during the week.”

He sees GITC moving from an academicmodel to a vocational and certification modelof training, which is more job-focused andwill be more beneficial to students who don’twant a college degree but want to work in atechnical discipline. “The vision is goingtowards that direction. We are targeting peo-ple that don’t have those kind of resourcesand are being ignored by the rest of the edu-cational community,” said Kazarian.

In addition, Kazarian wants GITC toengage with more Americans, in particular,American-Armenian companies and haveGITC students perform outsourcing and offshoring work for them. “We need to buildbridges with these companies who are mov-ing in that [off shoring] direction, especiallywith the recession we have going on in theUS,” said Kazarian.

“Armenia is an optimum market for gener-ating wealth through intellectual property.Salaries paid for talented technical specialistsare reasonable, even when compared withChinese and Indian markets. Dozens of com-panies are engaged in hardware and softwareproduct development for export, includingNational Instruments and Virage Logic.Some organizations, Epygi and Synopsys toname just two, are betting the entire compa-ny’s future on Armenian based talent — andwinning. GITC is becoming a bridge to Gumrifor companies like this and many others. Iwould love to see this opportunity - GITC,explored and supported by, especially, younggeneration of Armenians from Diaspora.”

Kazarian is indeed enjoying his position atGITC and living in Gumri. Two of his favoritethings in Gumri are the weather, which hesaid is comparable to Denver, and the health-ier food, including the locally grown organicfruits andvegetables.

Gumri, located 75 miles outside of Yerevan,is the second largest city in Armenia, andhas made substantial progress since it washard hit with the earthquake in 1988. Thecalamity took the lives of 50,000 people andinjured scores of others. “One of the bigchanges is the amount of construction sinceI was here in December 2006 to today. There

are buildings popping up everywhere. I’veseen three or four multi-story buildings go upin spaces that were vacant in a little over twoyears. Earthquake-wise, they’re rebuildingthe original Armenian Church, and the pro-ject is coming along. There have been a lotof changes. It doesn’t look anything like itdid, five, or even two years ago.”

There are many things Kazarian wants toaccomplish as executive director of GITC,including starting a full-time faculty, hopeful-ly with the participation of DiasporanArmenians. “I wish I could encourage peoplein the IT industry who want to become edu-cators to come and teach at GITC,” saidKazarian. “If we had half a dozen people whowould be willing to move here for a year ortwo, we would have a cutting edge educa-tional institution. We would like to have peo-ple from the diaspora to come here and dosomething different than a typical nine-to-fivejob.”

Kazarian’s friend from Texas, KenMaranian, participated in FAR’s YoungProfessional’s Trip to Armenia in the summerof 2006 and had an incredible experiencethat he shared with Kazarian once hereturned to Texas. Kazarian was interested inMaranian’s experience with GITC and con-tacted FAR to start volunteering and teach-ing part time. “When I came back and toldmy parish about the trip and how wonderfuland promising it was, Jason got in touch withFAR and started teaching there,” saidMaranian. “We’re really proud of him.”

Patrick Sarkissian, one of the founders ofGITC, said he is proud of having JasonKazarian as the executive director of GITC.“As a fellow American-Armenian, I am amazeby Jason’s sacrifice and dedication. As a col-league from the IT industry — I am impressedwith his talents and capabilities,” saidSarkissian. “He is bringing western businessethics and culture to GITC.”

While there may have been no hesitance onKazarian’s part when he assumed the execu-tive director position at GITC, the staff wasconcerned whether he would be able toadjust to the realities of life and culture inGumri. Those concerns, however, eventuallyfaded. “We thank God Jason is with GITC,”said Amalya Yeghoyan, deputy executivedirector of GITC. “Students admire him, eventhough he is a tough and very demandingteacher, and the staff owes him a lot for anincredible learning curve we have gonethrough under his leadership. Jason is anexcellent example of what a Diasporan-Armenian could do in Armenia.”

“Jason is helping the young talents in anarea devastated by the earthquake to regainhope for a better future,” said Sarkissian.

S A T U R D A Y, J U N E 1 3 , 2 0 0 9 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R 7

COMMUNITY NEWS

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Entertainment Fridaysand Saturdays

A Diasporan in Armenia: Jason Paul Kazarian of Texas Discovers Gumri

From Festive Fraternity HouseTo Peaceful Home-Away-from-Home for Patient Families

BOSTON — Children’s Hospital Boston willsoon be welcoming patient families into its newpatient family home, The Yawkey Family Inn atChildren’s Hospital Boston, located at 241Kent

St. in Brookline. For more than a year,Children’s Hospital has been transforming anold Victorian, former fraternity house intohome-away-from-home for patient families.

Today, the hospital offered a first glimpse intothe new home and celebrated with the individ-uals, foundations and companies that con-tributed donations and in-kind gifts for thehome’s renovation.

“Safe and convenient housing that provides ahome-like environment helps families focus onwhat’s most important: nursing their sick chil-dren back to good health,” said James Mandell,

MD, Children’s Hospital CEO. “We’re gratefulto the generous benefactors and companieswho helped make this home a reality for ourpatient families.”

The renovated home will feature 22 bed-rooms, shared bathrooms, common areas,kitchen, dining area, playroom, garden as wellas space for staff.

Gifts from two organizations will offer fami-lies a comforting place to stay during their chil-dren’s hospitalization. The Yawkey Foundationsawarded a $3 million gift to support the newhome. The Family Inn Foundation, a long-termpartner of the Yawkey Foundations, whose mis-sion is to provide grants that impact youth, fam-ilies and the underserved, donated its indepen-dently-operated Family Inn patient family homeproperty on Sewall Avenue in Brookline to thehospital. Created 25 years ago with the supportof Jean Yawkey, who was dedicated to helpingthose most in need, the Family Inn has provid-ed much needed accommodation for out-of-town patient families. To honor the legacy ofthe Inn and its founders, the organizations havebeen designated named sponsors of the newYawkey Family Inn at Children’s HospitalBoston.

The Next Generation Developers Task Force,a group of young real estate developers andbusinesspeople, rolled up their sleeves and used

their talents and social and professional net-works to move the renovation forward andfundraise for the project and endowment. Eachcommittee member brought his or her ownexpertise to the project.

“Our Task Force members have shown tremen-dous commitment and passion for this home,”says Douglass Karp, Task Force chairman.“We’ve worked on all aspects of the projectincluding contractor negotiations, landscaping,permitting, marketing and fundraising. We hopeour work inspires young professionals and othersto make a contribution to this wonderful andcomforting place for families.”

The hospital continues to fundraise to coverthe renovation costs and future endowment forthe home. For more information or to donate,visit www.kentst.org.

Children’s Hospital Boston Next GenerationDevelopers Task Force Members include: PaulBernon, Jeff Bilezikian, Ben Fischman, DaveGerzof, Douglass Karp, Alex Leventhal, MichaelLorber, Roy MacDowell III, Todd MacDowell,Susan Mulder, Daniel Rottenberg, Kathleenand Pat Scanlon, Jason Weissman and RobertZuker.

Children’s Hospital Boston Opens Door of New Yawkey Family Inn

8 S A T U R D A Y, J U N E 1 3 , 2 0 0 9 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R

COMMUNITY NEWS

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WATERTOWN (Watertown Tab) — OnTuesday, students in Anahid Yacoubian’sArmenian class translated a document abouta memorial ceremony for Alan Hovhaness, arenowned composer who had Armenianroots.

Yacoubian was pleased with the translationjunior Hagop Keshishyan read aloud.

“That was good,” she said. “There weren’tany mistakes, but I probably have to checkthe spelling.”

As the Armenian language program pre-pares to mark its 40th anniversary in theWatertown school district next school year,its teachers hope that it will continue formany more years.

They said the public school program —which is one of a kind in New England — is avaluable resource to students of Armenianheritage as well as other students interestedin learning a language and culture of impor-tance to the town.

“It teaches culture, it teaches history andpride in your ethnicity,” said Siran Tamakian,who teaches an Armenian class for levels 1and 2.

An estimated 30 percent of Watertown res-idents are Armenian or of Armenian heritage,said Sharistan Melkonian, chairperson of theWatertown-based Armenian NationalCommittee of Massachusetts. In the mostrecent Census, 8.2 percent of residentsclaimed Armenian ancestry.

Students in Yacoubian’s class, which con-sists of levels three and four, confirm theclass is worthwhile.

All of those in attendance Tuesday werebrought up speaking Armenian at home. Butthey didn’t necessarily learn how to speak itperfectly, or to read and write it.

“It’s my main language and I want to knowhow to speak it, and I want to write it cor-rectly,” said sophomore Meghri Ishakian.

Junior Ani Moushigian, president of theschool’s Armenian Club, said she fears shewould forget the language without the class.

There are 13 students in Yacoubian’s class,and 15 students in Tamakian’s class. Thenumber of students taking Armenian is lower

than it was decades ago, with the program nolonger at the middle school level, saidYacoubian, who has taught Armenian in theschool district since the program’s inceptionand is now semi-retired.

The language used to be taught in the EastJunior High and the West Junior High.

Also, the school district no longer has abilingual Armenian/English program thatincludes social studies instruction, and therehasn’t been a recent influx of Armenians aswas the case in the 1970s, for example.

But the program is still popular enough forit to merit inclusion in next year’s budget.About the same number of students hassigned up for the two classes for next year asthis year.

“We’ve got smaller classes for other cours-es,” said School Committee ChairpersonTony Paolillo. “As long as we maintain somesemblance of interest in it, we’ll continue toprovide it.”

But according to Superintendent StevenHiersche, interest might not be enough tosustain the program in future years.

“There’s not any intention I see in thefuture to get rid of the program, but the real-ity is if the school’s fiscal state doesn’t getbetter, almost anything is on the table [forcuts],” he said.

The program’s main cost is the two teach-ers’ salaries, he said.

Yacoubian was not asked to return nextyear in an effort to save the district somemoney, he said. Hiersche wasn’t sure howmuch that would save. Another reason she,and other semi-retired teachers are not beingasked to return next year because of the stateretirement system “clamping down on a lot ofopportunities that retirees can do,” Hierschesaid.

Yacoubian said she hopes her replacementwill help keep the Armenian program strong.She emphasized that the Armenian Club issimilarly valuable. It holds bake sales ofArmenian food to raise money for seniorscholarships, and introduces students out-side the Armenian classes to Armenian cul-ture.

Jeff and Nancy Bilezikian

Armenian Program Nears 40th Year

MER DOON, from page ?Growing up in an orphanage in Armenia

while approaching the age of 18 can create seri-ous concerns for a young person. At the age of18, children are required to leave their orphan-age. Like Ani, once they leave their orphanagehome, there is no place to live and nowhere tocall home. One can imagine the fear and anxi-ety caused by this uncertainty.

Originally 11 young women made up theMer Doon family. Four of those young ladies

have married and the entire Mer Doon familywas witness to each beautiful Armenian wed-ding. Two of the young women are nowmothers and raising their own family. Welook forward to the addition of four youngladies leaving orphanages, and who will soonjoin the Mer Doon family.

Located in Echmiadzin, Mer Doon has earnedthe reputation of being a respectable and well-organized program and often enjoys visitationsfrom guests worldwide. The visitors enjoy spend-

ing quality time with the girls,and on occasion enjoy a deli-cious meal prepared by them.Sam Chapootian and his motherof New York recently visited MerDoon. Sam Chapootianexpressed the following heart-warming and emotional experi-ences while at Mer Doon:

“This place was incredible forme because without this facility,where would these girls be,where would they have goneand how would they have doneit? Ticko Karapetyan, (presidentof Mer Doon NGO) is such adynamic individual. She keepsthe girls intact making surethey do the best they can on aneducational level. Mer Doon isimpeccably clean. This programis really, really important. MerDoon allows these youngwomen to experience life. Wespend money on everythingelse… I believe we have to startwith the youth.”

Springtime is a busy time atMer Doon. The building has alarge garden, which producesvegetables, herbs, fruits andnearly everything necessary to prepare meals.Because the garden is so valuable, the girlshave become expert gardeners and cooks. Inaddition to maintaining the garden, the girlsdisplay a myriad of other talents such as mak-ing jewelry, crocheting, baking, creatingarrangements using fruits and vegetables, and

making beautiful greeting cards.Collectively, the girls, along with the Mer

Doon staff, created their own Christmas deco-rations which adorned Mer Doon inside andout. In fact, the Municipality of Echmiadzinthought they were so beautiful that they award-ed them the first prize in their competition forthe third consecutive year.

Mer Doon has accomplished much during itsshort existence. Its mission has proven thatthese beautiful young ladies have achieved theNGO’s goal (and theirs) of becoming healthy,mature and productive members in their home-land of Armenia. They realize living at Mer

Doon is only possible because of individualswho truly want to help Armenia’s less fortunateyouth by affording them a chance for a mean-ingful life.

The following comments were received froma donor. “All those individuals involved in theestablishment and ongoing maintenance of theMer Doon program deserve kudos for the self-less devotion to the needs and welfare of theyoung women living in the beautiful Mer Doonfacility. The loving care and concern beingextended to these individuals serve as shiningexamples of what can be accomplished whenArmenians of goodwill put their minds andsouls to filling a void that is not being ade-quately filled by a nation that is beset with somany pressing problems and needs. Time is ofthe essence. It’s up to Armenians in the diaspo-ra to render the financial support the Mer Doonprogram must have for the continuation of itsgood works, and to maintain its viability.Should we lend our financial support? Ofcourse we must.”

Tax deductible donations may be made to:Our Home-Mer Doon, Inc, c/o Julie Ashekian,President, 84 Ellsworth Blvd., Kensington, CT06037-2728.

S A T U R D A Y, J U N E 1 3 , 2 0 0 9 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R 9

COMMUNITY NEWS

Lucine in the Mer Doon garden

Mer Doon Continues its Mission of Hope

A newly-married copule plants a tree at the Mer Doon yard.

Trees are attended to by Ani at Mer Doon.

The Armenian Cultural Foundation presents

Her Excellency Marie L. YovanovitchUnited States Ambassador to the

Republic of Armenia

Community MeetingFriday, June 19, 20097:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Armenian Cultural Foundation441 Mystic Street

Arlington, MA 02478 Free and Open to the Public

For information: Ara GhazarianEmail: acf.hmh@verison.net • mail to: acf.hmh@verison.net

Phone: (781) 646-3090

S A T U R D A Y, J U N E 1 3 , 2 0 0 9 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R10

MM EE TT RR OONewYork

NEW YORK — The Eastern Diocese membersof the Armenian Church Youth Organization ofAmerica (ACYOA), gathered Memorial Dayweekend, May 21-25, at the IBM DolcePalisades Center in Palisades, NY, to take partin the organization’s 64th annual GeneralAssembly and Sports Weekend.

As part of this year’s Diocesan theme of“Vocations: The Call to Serve,” young peoplelearned about steps they can take to helpstrengthen the ranks of the priesthood in theArmenian Church.

A total of 80 delegates and observers —including close to 20 members of the clergy —attended the General Assembly, on May 21-22.

Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate ofthe Diocese of the Armenian Church ofAmerica (Eastern), shared with delegates hispersonal story of entering the seminary at thePatriarchate of Jerusalem and encouragedyoung people to think about ways they canserve their church and people.

“The priests and the pastors among us areone way that God makes his presence known tohis children,” he said. “Time and again, throughcourage and moral conviction, priests made thedifference in ensuring the survival and advance-ment of our people.”

The Primate also thanked the ACYOACentral Council and members of the youthorganization for their continued involvement inthe Armenian Church.

“Our church is blessed by your faithful pres-

ence and active embrace,” Barsamian said.“Tomorrow you are going to take the leadershiprole in our Diocese.”

Also addressing the assembly was the Rev.Hovnan Demerjian, pastor of St. HagopArmenian Church in St. Petersburg, Fla.Demerjian spoke about the importance ofremaining open to God’s call and working withothers to respond to it.

“Calling is a bit like falling in love,” he said,explaining that everyone has the potential to“fall in love with God.”

“As Christians, we are called more to a way oflife than a job,” he added. “A way of life whichoverrides all jobs and relationships, and under-pins those.”

The Rev. StepanosDoudoukjian, director of voca-tions at St. Nersess Seminary,introduced a group exercise inwhich delegates discussedhow they might encouragetheir friends, relatives, andeach other to find their voca-tion, and what steps can betaken to encourage potentialseminarians.

Among the suggestionswere proposals to establish ashadow program for youngmen to work with priestsacross the Eastern Dioceseand to increase trainingoptions for acolytes and dea-cons at the parishes.

“I think the breakout sessionon vocations was extremelyeffective,” said Talin Hitik, vicechair of the ACYOA CentralCouncil. “It was interesting tohear in those small group ses-sions what other young menhad to say on their thoughtsabout entering the priesthood.”

Six New Chapters This Year

During the remainder of the meeting, mem-bers of the ACYOA Central Council delivered anorganization-wide report, highlighting the suc-

cess of activities such asthe Armenia ServiceProgram, the summer pil-grimage to the HolyLand, participation inthe international ACYOmeeting at the MotherSee of Holy Echmiadzin,the blood drives orga-nized at local chapters tocommemorate the 20thanniversary of the 1988earthquake in Armeniaand the Pan-NorthAmerican Retreat held inthe fall with the Westernand Canadian Dioceses.

Other accomplish-ments include the contin-ued expansion of theYoung Adult LeadershipConference, which marked

its 10th anniversary last March, and the launch-ing of the Mission Service Project, which givesACYOA members the opportunity to assist withthe training of altar servers and choir singers atthe mission parishes.

In the past year, the ACYOA saw the additionof six new chapters, bringing the Diocesan-widetotal to 23 chapters.

Delegates at the assembly also heard JenniferMorris, youth outreach coordinator at theDiocese, speak about Diocesan Summer Campprograms, where many ACYOA members serveas counselors. Julie Hoplamazian, CollegeMinistry facilitator at the Diocese, highlightedresources available to college students andyoung professionals.

Delegates reviewed the findings of the audit-ing committee, approved a new budget for2010, and passed a proposal to publish and dis-tribute an annual report prior to future assem-blies. They thanked the Primate and theACYOA Executive Secretary Nancy Basmajianfor their support of the organization’s initia-tives.

During the traditional Primate’s Luncheonon Friday, Barsamian presented all delegateswith a personalized copy of the Diocese’s newly-published Armenian Canon Bible, which con-tains the entire canon of scriptural books con-sidered authoritative in the Armenian Church,in English translation.

Central Council members also announced the

recipients of five service awards. Deacon Sarkis Altunian, of St. Sarkis Church

in Dallas, received the “Fr. Haroutiun DagleyAward” in recognition of his many contribu-tions to various ACYOA programs.

The Very Rev. Daniel Findikyan, dean of St.Nersess Seminary, was presented with the “Fr.Haigazoun Melkonian Award” in honor of hisleadership and dedication to the youth of theArmenian Church.

Laurie Odabashian received the “SamNersessian Award,” given to individuals whodisplay the Christian values of love, patience,humility, and understanding.

Lydia Kurkjian received the “GregoryArpajian Award” for her leadership and contri-butions to the Armenian Church.

“The Chapter ‘A’ Award,” given to the best all-

around chapter, went out to St. John’s Churchof Detroit, Mich.

Annual Elections

Delegates elected members to the CentralCouncil, and the Nominating and Auditing com-mittees.

Danny Mantis, Lydia Kurkjian, and AraJanigian were elected to the Central Council,and Danielle DerAsadourian was re-elected tothe organization’s governing body.

The new Central Council was blessed by thePrimate after Sunday’s Divine Liturgy.

Alex Derderian, of St. Sahag and St. MesrobChurch in Wynnewood, Pa., will serve as chair;Talin Hitik, of St. Gregory Church in Chicago,as vice chair; Lydia Kurkjian, of St. Gregory theEnlightener Church in White Plain, NY, as sec-retary; Danny Mantis, of St. Mesrob Church in

Racine, Wis., as treasurer; DanielleDerAsadourian, of St. James Church inEvanston, Ill., as chapter relations coordinator;Gervork Vartanian, of Sts. Sahag and MesrobChurch of Providence, RI, as programmingcoordinator; and Ara Janigian, also of Sts.Sahag and Mesrob in Providence, as public rela-tions coordinator.

Elected to the Nominating Committee were:Jonathan Dadekian (Watervliet, NY), HarryKezelian (Detroit, Mich.) and ArthurSabounjian (Framingham, Mass.). Arpi Paylan(Evanston, Ill.) will serve as the alternate.

Elected to the Auditing Committee were:Raffi Gulbenk (Trumbull, Conn.), GeorgeMacarian (Boca Raton, Fla.) and AndrewPiligian (Framingham, Mass.). Nick Bazarian(Washington, DC) will serve as the alternate.

“This year’s General Assembly was a greatsuccess,” said incoming Central Council chairAlex Derderian. “It’s always inspiring to seeyouth who are this dedicated that they are will-ing to take time out of their personal schedule,to take time away from school, and to come andhelp run the organization that is so importantto all of us.”

The General Assembly was chaired by DannyMantis, with Arthur Sabounjian serving as vicechair. Lorie Odabashian served as secretary,and Ara Janigian and Krikor Javardian wereappointed the sergeants-at-arms. Rev. TateosAbdalian and Rev. Yeprem Kelegian assisted asparliamentarians.

Next year’s General Assembly and SportsWeekend will take place in Watertown, Mass.The assembly voted to hold the 2011 gatheringin Charlotte, NC.

ACYOA Members Discuss Vocations inChurch at Annual Assembly in NY

Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Eastern Diocese, addresses ACYOA delegates at the General Assembly.

Delegates vote on a proposal to publish and distribute an annualreport prior to future assemblies

Delegates work in small groups to brainstorm vocations ideas.

A delegate at the ACYOA General Assemblyreviews the auditing.

S A T U R D A Y, J U N E 1 3 , 2 0 0 9 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R 11

MM EE TT RR OONewYork

Armenian MedicalWorld Congress toTake Place in NewYork July 1-4

By Florence Avakian

NEW YORK — Several notable Armenianleaders in the medical field will participate inthe Armenian Medical World Congress at NewYork’s Hilton Hotel, July 1-4.

Dr. Raymond Damadian, who captured worldattention as the inventor of the MRI, is amongthe speakers on Friday, July 3, detailing currentMRI innovations. His work also involved collabo-rating in the development of an MRI-compatiblepacemaker. He has won numerous awards,including induction into the National InventorsHall of Fame in 1989. Many world experts andscientists believe that he should have won aNobel Prize in 2003 for his invention of the MRI

Lord Ara W. Darzi, Minister of Health ofGreat British, is one of the world’s leading sur-geons at the Imperial College London where heholds the Hamlyn Chair of Surgery. He special-izes in minimally invasive and robot-assistedsurgery, and has pioneered many new tech-niques and technologies. He was awarded aknighthood by Queen Elizabeth II for his ser-vice to medicine and surgery, and subsequentlyelevated to a peer in 2007. He will speak at theCongress on health care delivery in GreatBritain on Thursday, July 2, and on roboticsurgery on Friday, July 3.

Dr. Hagop S. Akiskal, a noted psychiatrist, isbest known for his research on temperamentand bipolar disorder (manic depression). Heserved as the senior science advisor at theInstitute of Mental Health from 1990 to 1994,before going to the University of California SanDiego where he currently is a professor of psy-chiatry. He is regarded as one of the currentleading conceptual thinker in the area of bipo-lar sub-typing. He is scheduled to speak at amorning symposium on Saturday, July 4.

Dr. Vicken Pamoukian, a prominent vascularsurgeon at Lenox Hill Hospital in New YorkCity, is experienced in all areas of complexendovascular surgery, including thoracic,abdominal aneurysms, as well as carotid, periph-eral and renal stenting. He will be among thespeakers in a group discussion on Friday after-noon, July 3, covering various topics on surgicalsubspecialties.

These medical professionals are among themany doctors, their families and interested lay-men who will attend the Armenian MedicalWorld Congress July 1-4, hosted by theArmenian American Health ProfessionalsOrganization (AAHPO), at New York’s elegantHilton Hotel.

Scheduled are plenary sessions onComparative Health Care Systems, Innovationsin Medicine, and symposia on Tele-Medicine,and Diaspora Issues, as well as a Sub-Specialtyday on July 1 covering such topics as anesthe-sia, dentistry, mental health, nursing, ophthal-mology, pediatrics, and physical therapy.

Notable attendees include the health ministersof Armenia and Karabagh, the rector of YerevanState Medical University, the director of theNational Medical Library of Armenia, as well asArmenia’s Minister of the Diaspora, and co-chair-man of the Armenian Congressional Caucus, Rep.Frank Pallone, among many others.

In addition to the medical symposia and meet-ings, the four-day special event will feature a din-ner cruise on a luxurious yacht on Thursday,July 2, and a gala banquet in the Hilton Hotel’smain ballroom on July 4 where Darzi, and thefather and son humanitarian and MedicalOutreach team of Nazar Nazarian and Dr.Levon Nazarian will be honored. Also of greatinterest will be a bus trip to the MetropolitanMuseum of Art to view a magnificent Khachkaron loan from Armenia.

Reservations must be made. For additionalinformation and reservations, visitwww.aahpo.org/amwc09

NEW YORK — More than 250 participantsarrived at the IBM Dolce Palisades Center inPalisades, NY on the evening of Friday, May22 for the launch of this year’s ACYOASports Weekend.

In addition to athletic competitions, whichwere held at the nearby St. LawrenceCommunity Center and at the newly-builtEducation and Recreation Center at St. LeonArmenian Church in Fair Lawn, NJ, the pro-gram featured a film festival, guest speakers,dance workshops conducted by the AntranigDance Ensemble and a virtual athletics tour-nament using the Wii videogame technology.

On Saturday, May 23, Eric Hachikian spoke

to participants about his documentary,“Voyage to Amasia,” which was inspired bythe life of his late grandmother, HelenShushan. The film tells the story ofHachikian’s family during the ArmenianGenocide and incorporates a piano trio com-position Hachikian performed at CarnegieHall in 2005.

Linda Yepoyan, executive director ofBirthright Armenia, encouraged young peo-

ple to volunteer in Armenia, describing theopportunities available at various business,government, and cultural centers throughoutthe country.

On Saturday evening, ACYOA memberstraveled to Manhattan to hear the music ofRobert Chilingirian at the Hudson Terrace.

On Sunday, May 24, the Rev.StepanosDoudoukjian celebrated the Divine Liturgy,with Archbishop Khajag Barsamian presid-ing.

The Very Rev. Daniel Findikyan, dean of St.Nersess Armenian Seminary, delivered theday’s sermon, reminding participants ofChrist’s love and forgiveness and asking themto help share the Good News with otherArmenians.

“Too many people just have not heard theword of God,” Findikyan said, stressing that

it’s all the more critical to ensure the preser-vation of the Armenian Church by training anew generation of young men to serve aspriests in the Armenian-American community.

As sports competitions drew to a close onSunday, ACYOA members gathered for a ban-quet to honor the weekend’s champions andto applaud the many people who workedhard to organize this year’s events.

Following a farewell brunch on Monday,May 25, ACYOA members departed for theirhome parishes.

The weekend was organized by a region-al committee, co-chaired by Alex Derderianand Lydia Kurkjian. Other committee mem-bers include Deanna Cachoian-Schanz,Talar Camcikyan, Michael Givelekian, JimIshkhanian, Anita Jayawant, Alex Lerian,Jon Pelaez, Vrej Pilavdjian, ChristineRoyland, and Aleen Tovmasian. The Rev.Fr. Shnork Souin served as the spiritualadvisor, and Maria Derderian as the advi-sor-at-large.

More than Sports at ACYOA Sports Weekend

Archbishop Khajag Barsamian delivers hisblessings to the young participants.

The newly-built Education and Recreation Center at St. Leon Armenian Church in Fair Lawn, NJ, welcomed Sports Weekend participants.

Participants play table tennis as part of Sports Weekend activities.

A chess competition underway at the ACYOA Sports Weekend.

A dance workshop conducted by the AntranigDance Ensemble

12

Arts & LivingT H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O RS A T U R D A Y, J U N E 1 3 , 2 0 0 9

AlanHovhanessHonored inArlington

By Anahit TokatlyanSpecial to the Mirror-Spectator

ARLINGTON, Mass. — On Sunday May 17,the Alan Hovhaness CommemorativeCommittee, friends and fans of the late com-poser gathered together at Whittemore Park tohonor his successful life and unveil a memorialplaced in there in his honor. The memorial hadbrought forward many distinguished guests tospeak about Hovhaness, some residents ofArlington that had known him for years, musi-cian friends and members of the clergy that hadworked with him.

The unveiling ceremony began in the lateafternoon. The first speaker was Robert Mirak,the chair of the committee. Mirak spoke aboutthe efforts toward a commemoration forHovhaness. It began about a decade ago, in2000, when Hovhaness died. ThisCommemorative Committee was put togetherwith the sole aim of finding a way to honorHovhaness for all his philanthropic and artisticworks.

Hovhaness was born and raised in Arlington;he was 4 when he wrote his first composition.He went on to study at the New EnglandConservatory of Music in the 1930s and duringthis time he studied the music of Armenia,Greece, Egypt and India. He continued his edu-cation in this genre by playing the organ at St.James Armenian Church in Watertown.

Following Mirak’s opening speech there werea slew of other speakers who had worked withHovhaness or were close friends with him. Rev.

Nicholas M. Kastanas from the St. AthanasiusGreek Orthodox Church in Arlington thankedall the people in the community as well as thetown of Arlington for helping make the monu-ment become a reality. He gave his blessing toHovhaness’s memory and for those who wereinvolved in these efforts. There was a proclama-tion made by Kevin Greeley of the ArlingtonBoard of Selectmen, who talked about how hehad planned the logistics of the monument andspoke of Hovhaness’s past, ending with “Wewere blessed to have this superlative artist asour own.”

In the midst of many great speakers was agood friend of Hovhsness’ Martin Berkofsky, agreat pianist that knew Hovhaness professionally

see HOVHANESS, page 14

Atom EgoyanExploresGenocide inNew Exhibit

TORONTO (CTV Toronto) — AtomEgoyan has two Oscar nominations and aCannes Film Festival award.

But his latest project, “Remains to BeSeen,” was a new art exhibition showingin Toronto.

Produced under the umbrella of theInternational Institute for Genocide andHuman Rights Studies in Toronto, themulti-media show, which ran through thefirst week of June, aimed to raise the pub-lic’s awareness about genocide.

Featuring work from 16 artists acrossNorth America, Egoyan said the show atToronto’s Lennox Contemporary got to thecore of what human genocide really means.

“It’s one thing that a journalist’s piececan do. But an artist’s work can piercethe heart in a different way,” saysEgoyan, 48.

“In the case of genocide there’s beensuch a history of denial about that,” theCanadian director said.

Delving into the subject matter in2002’s “Ararat,” Egoyan’s movie wasloosely based on the Siege of Van duringthe Armenian Genocide of the early 20thcentury, an event that is denied by thegovernment of Turkey.

That film explored the specific impactof that historical event. It also examinedthe nature of truth and its representationthrough art.

As Egoyan says of “Ararat,” “I wasn’tso much talking about the historic event,but rather how that denial had created atransmission of trauma from one genera-tion to another.”

That tragedy holds deep personalmeaning for Egoyan and his wife, actressArsinée Khanjian

The pair are supporters of The ZoryanInstitute of Canada.

Together with The Zoryan Institute forContemporary Armenian Research andDocumentation in Cambridge, Mass., thisnon-profit research institute is devoted toscholarly research that documents, stud-ies and disseminates material related tothe life of the Armenian people in therecent past and the present within thecontext of larger world affairs.

In 2003, the couple launched the“Atom Egoyan and Arsinée KhanjianFund” to support the Zoryan Institute’sGenocide and Human Rights UniversityProgram.

The after-effects of genocide are clearlyevidenced in the works by UlyssesCastellanos, Joyce Lau, Steven Loft,Katie Pretti, Shannon Scully, VeronikaSzkudlarek, Bill Wolff and Arie Galles.

“It’s a non-propagandistic kind ofshow,” said artist and educator Galles,who was born in 1944 in Uzbekistan andraised in Poland.

Galles’s contributions to this show arebased on aerial photography taken dur-ing the Second World War. But eachartist’s entry, he said, explores the inten-sity of what it is to be involved or witnessa genocide.

“These works have incrediblestrength,” says Galles, who appeared withEgoyan on Canada AM. “Any genocidedoes not happen in a Martian landscape.It happens on this earth. The horror isthat humanity can perpetrate it on thisincredibly beautiful blue marble we areflying on.”

An ArmenianTroubadour in YerevanYEREVAN — His name is simply Samuel, and he ekes out a living as a modern-

day troubadour in Armenia.He roams the streets of Yerevan, performing a variety of instruments and playing

to a crowd. Rich or poor, young or old, it doesn’t matter. The city is his audience —and it isn’t always kind. Like Sayat Nova,the music comes from his heart andlends a certain credence to the heritage.Samuel takes a lot of pride in that.

Unlike Sayat Nova, he gets bouncedaround from one street corner to the next by the police who constantly interrogatehim for a license. He has none.

He can be found almost every afternoon strumming a tune in front of a tinychapel called Soorp Katoghike at — of all places — Sayat Nova Street. One momenthe’s playing the saxophone and clarinet. Then the duduk and zourna. Often, he’llbring out an accordion or guitar and sing along with the music. About the onlyinstrument he doesn’t play is Sayat’s lute.

Despite the constant rigmarole, and adverse weather conditions occasionally,Samuel would have it no other way.

“Those who have jobs work all day and are not always happy,” the 53-year-oldsaid. “I bring pleasure to myself and others, not so much for the money as the art.But the money helps.”

Though the streets are his business, he doesn’t live there. Samuel is married withfour children and rents a modest apartment. He served as a major in the militaryand fought in Karabagh before retiring with 25 years service.

A graduate of Moscow University, he holds a degree in business. He’s been a wan-dering minstrel since 1996.

“My father is God,” he’s quick to say, when pressed for a surname. “Every day isa new experience on the streets but music speaks everybody’s language. I commu-nicate with every listener without ever saying a word. It’s universal.”

Pedestrians stop and lend an ear. Others scamper along without paying notice.Cameras click. One or two have the audacity to stand beside him for a photo.

A day’s offering brings in about 3,000 drams ($10). But it’s a full day and blow-ing into an instrument for eight hours at a time can raise havoc with your heart.People drop in coins but once in awhile, Samuel gets lucky.

Some unconscious tourist with one drink too many may mistake a 10,000-dramnote for 1,000. Then, he strikes it rich and earns as much as a professional wouldmake in one week at the Yerevan Opera House.

A 19-year-old daughter belongs to the Tatoul Altounian Song and DanceEnsemble. She performs as a diva and does 15 difference dances each concert.According to Samuel, she earns under $100 a month.

see TROUBADOUR, page 13

A troubadour plays his douduk in front of Soorp Katoghike Church in Yerevan.

TOM VARTABEDIAN PHOTO

By Tom Vartabedian

Robert Mirak speaks. (Anahit Tokatlyan photo)

YEREVAN — The National Library ofArmenia, the largest and most importantlibrary in the Republic of Armenia, has issueda call for donations of all recent books pub-lished in the diaspora. In 2012 it will be cele-

brating 500 years of printing in Armenian,and will be preparing many different pro-grams and exhibitions. For this purpose, ithopes to fill in gaps in its collections.

The National Library of Armenia is the

equivalent of the Library of Congress in theUnited States. It is the storehouse of thewealth of the Armenian people’s knowledgeand creativity. It holds copies of books pub-lished worldwide from 1515 until the present,

as well as periodicals, works of music, art andother items. At present, its holdings number6.5 million items. Thus, it is the largestlibrary of Armenian works in the world. Italso is a center for scientific, cultural, infor-

mational and educational activities. By donat-ing books to the National Library, this allowsArmenians not only in Armenia but also inother countries to become aware of and haveaccess to authors. It will allow study of theseworks and will contribute to the internation-al reputation of their authors.

The Armenian National Library enjoysgood working relations with the greatlibraries of the world, as well as with manyorganizations, Armenological centers andindividuals. This gives it the opportunity tointroduce Armenian books and culturearound the globe, and of course, in exchange,receive many valuable publications frommany countries. Nonetheless, Armenian orforeign language Armenological publications

dealing with Armenian history, literature, cul-ture and other relevant topics are issued in somany different countries and places that theydo not always reach the homeland. This is aserious shortcoming for the library, its read-ers, and of course, for publishers andauthors. Therefore, the National Library asksfor donations.

The library is looking for any publications,whether they might be books, magazines,newspapers, maps or albums. The address is:National Library of Armenia, Yerevan375009, Teryan 72, Director Davit Sargsyan.For further information, see www.nla.am,which has an English language variant, oremail Alisa Adamian, director of exchangesand foreign relations, at armnatlib@mail.ru.

13S A T U R D A Y, J U N E 1 3 , 2 0 0 9 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R

ARTS & LIVING

TROUBADOR, from page 12“Dancers don’t make that much money in

Armenia,” he said. “They do it for the art. I hurtvery much inside because I’m a street musicianand earn more than a professional dancer.”

Although his favorite pieces are classicalArmenian and folk, Samuel offers a diverserange. He’ll alternate works by Gomidas andKhatchaturian with Louis Armstrong andBennie Goodman. You can’t miss him. He’s theone with the big, puffy moustache, red sweat-shirt and jeans — and that look of Armeniaetched across his face.

It reminds you somewhat of Saroyan’s “MyHeart is in the Highlands,” in which an agingbugler shows up at the front steps of anArmenian home and performs for the localcrowd. In return, the bugler receives food.

“God spared me in the war,” he says. “I feelI owe Him my life and my purpose. Being astrong Christian, this chapel is my favoritestop. I feel close to God here. My musicbrings joy to others. It reaches the heart —mine and theirs.”

The way Samuel sees it, he’s helping theeconomy of Armenia. On weekends when hecanvasses Vernisage — the popular outdoor

shopping district — he switches to Armenianinstruments and plays where they’re being sold.He’ll explain the duduk to curious outsiderswho might make a purchase.

He’ll take requests. You want Groong, he’llplay that. Or Stranger on the Shore. No trans-lation needed here. The toe-tapping is part ofhis ritual.

There are times when two or three of thesemusicians will come together and perform amini-concert on the streets. Of course, thatattracts the authorities even greater.

Once, they approached Samuel and tookaway his instrument. He begged for it back.They finally showed some compassion andreturned it, but only after he threatened toreport them to Serge Sargisian.

“Listen,” he said. “The president is my goodfriend and I’ll take this matter up with him. Ifyou don’t want a reprimand, please give backmy clarinet.”

They returned it with a grumble.What will tomorrow bring for the Armenian

troubadour?“I’ll wait to see what God brings,” he says. “A

good day? A bad day? But a day of music alwaysmakes a better day.”

An Armenian Troubadour in Yerevan

ARLINGTON, Mass. — Jazz singer DatevikHovanessian and her trio from New York willbe performing a benefit concert for theArmenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry(ABMDR) June 27 at the Armenian CulturalFoundation (ACF).

The concert, titled “Jazz for Life,” will cele-brate the launch of the registry’s Stem CellHarvesting Center in Yerevan, which opened

officially on April 28. The only center of its kindin the region, the ABMDR Stem CellHarvesting Center recently passed the secondphase of inspections by the EuropeanFederation of Immunogenetics and will soon bethe only accredited facility in the area.

A pre-concert wine reception will be hostedby Rubina and Kegham Varjabedian. For tick-ets, visit www.amarasonline.com.

BIRMINGHAM,Mich. — HagopianWorld of Rugs branch in Birminghamwill host a book release on Friday, June 19 at 7 p.m. The public is invit-ed to meet local author Lori (Kalajian) Wagner at the official launch ofher newest book, Bachik, the Birthday Kiss, pictured above.Bachik, the Birthday Kiss is a one-of-a-kind Armenian/English book,featuring rich original paintings. I t is an interactive book that engagesyoung and old in its self-translating mingling of the two languages.Wagner will be reading from this children’s book that affirmsArmenian culture and family as well as signing limited edition copiesavailable for sale at the event. An Armenian blessing is part of theevening’s activities and refreshments will be served. More informa-tion on the book is available at www.affirmingfaith.com.

National Library of Armenia Calls for Donations of Books Published outside Armenia

Datevik Concert to Benefit Bone Marrow Registry

HOVHANESS, from page 12and personally. Berkofsky spoke about whatkind of person Hovhaness was, describing himas “steadfast, innovative, dependable and reli-able.” He recounted their trips up MountMonadnock together and used mountains as ametaphor in describing the different milestonesin his life. Berkofsky spoke about Hovhaness’slife in Seattle with his wife and that is where his

breakthrough Mysterious MountainSymphony was written. In addition, from 1966to 2000, when he died, he was the composer forthe Seattle Symphony Orchestra. Berkofsky fin-ished with thanking the town of Arlington forallowing the monument to be erected.

The last speakers were clergymen from St.James’s Armenian Apostolic Church. FatherArsen Barsamian and Rev. Arakel Aljalian

spoke about all the great help Hovhaness hadgiven the church, and about his great talents.Hovhaness wrote a composition just for St.James which is played every year during Lent.They were both thankful for having Hovhanessbe a part of the church in such a memorableway.

When the time came to unveil the monu-ment, everyone gathered round. Aljalian gave ablessing and then they unveiled the bronzeplaque that was placed on rock in the

Whittemore Park. The plaque read: “In Honorof Alan Hovhaness 1911-2000 World renownedprolific 20th century Armenian American com-poser, Arlington Public Schools Alumnus ‘Of allthe arts, Music is the art to raise the soul aboveall earthy storms.’”

The unveiling was followed by a concert atthe Arlington Town Hall. The concert had dif-ferent musical acts, such as the Arlington HighSchool Madrigal Singers, the Arlington HighSchool Honors String Orchestra, pianistsBerkofsky and Ani Hovsepian and a few others.Most of the pieces played were compositionsdone by Hovhaness and some were by otherartists that composed music in the same genresd Hovhaness. The played famous pieces byHovhaness, including Symphony Number 11,Opera 186, Dawn on Mountain of Initiationand Armenian Rhapsody Number 3. The per-formances were exceptional and would havemade Hovhaness proud.

Hovhaness was a wonderful composer, goodfriend and community role model. He had awonderful talent that he honed and perfectedwith education and experience. The unveilingof the monument brought together friends andfans of his from Arlington and Watertown tocelebrate his achievements. His friends spokegreat words of him; his life was full of manygood people, different places and lots of music.The monument is a great way to remember allhe had done, and now everyone that passes bywill be able to learn of him and his memory willbe passed on forever.

VAN DYKE, from page 1The staged reading was part of the New

Voices @ New Rep, a program of staged read-ings through the New Repertory Theatre thatintroduces audiences to emerging playwrightsand new works by established writers.“Deported” is based on the story of two womenfriends, Van Dyke’s maternal grandmotherElmas Boyajian, and Martin Deranian’s mother,Varter Nazarian Deranian, who were deportedtogether from Mezireh.

The process into writing the script was madeclearer after sitting down for a chat one after-noon with Van Dyke and director Judy Braha.“It’s been over two years (in the making). Theplay started in the past in the 1900’s and goesinto the future,” Van Dyke shared of the play’sgrowth over the past two years. Judy Braha con-tinued, “We worked over two years with 10

actors with no script and no story at first. Weknew it was going to be about the ArmenianGenocide and survivor stories. Questions cameup such as, ‘Why do people choose to tell orwithhold their stories? How does this choiceaffect the community?’ After listening to oralhistories (mostly those collected by BethelCharkoudian and in the archives of theArmenian Library and Museum of America[ALMA]), the actors took on their character.The actors were fascinated with the interviewsand what they were going through.”

Playwright Van Dyke gives credit toCharkoudian. “She put a buzz in my ear to doa play based on the perspective of an inter-viewer…People tell their stories. I’m very excit-

ed…it’s epic theatre covering over 100 years,”shared Van Dyke. Improvisational actors’ work-shops were held that would eventually affectthe characters’ development and script, influ-enced by stories they experienced fromArmenian genocide survivors as documentedby photographs, documents, memoirs, conver-sations and personal memories. Deranian was atreasured resource, providing an enormousamount of information affecting the play.

After a workshop performance at BostonUniversity in February, the play was revised.After this most recent reading in Watertown,the play will undergo another revision.

Following the reading in Watertown, a paneldiscussion ensued featuring director Judy Braha,Dr. Martin Deranian (author, dentist and facultymember of Tufts University School of DentalMedicine), Mariam Stepanyan, (executive direc-tor of ALMA), Ruth Thomasian (executive direc-tor of Project SAVE Armenian PhotographArchives) and Tina Sajonian (Boston Universitystudent and president of the BU ArmenianStudents Association). “You allowed us to be wit-nesses,” said Deranian. “What value does it haveto keep it for myself?” he stated.

“Unless we can pass them on to the next gen-eration, the stories will be lost,” saidThomasian.

Audience members interacted with the pan-elists after the public reading. Some expresseda desire to continue the dialogue and share theconnections they felt the play had with theirown stories and memories, including, surpris-ingly, those with non-Armenian roots.

Thomasian said she feels the play encom-passes “a reflection of memory that was quiteastounding…there’s a powerful message aboutthe effects of genocide on relationships.”

Braha said she feels the play brings up hopesand dreams of reconciliation and recognition.“The Turkish diplomat in the play is one of myfavorite characters; he’s a contemporary manwho wants to bring communities together.Characters of every stripe are in this play —Kurds, Turks, Armenians, Americans, Jews,Christians, Muslims — (with the) possibility of abetter world,” remarked Braha. “We didn’t wantto depress everyone with a play about geno-cides but with the resiliency of cultures andthriving. Instead of staying in separate corners,people can get together.”

There’s some dancing in the play, includingan authentic Mezirah village dance asresearched and choreographed by Apo Ashjian,founder and artistic director of the Sayat NovaDance Company. “Apo was great and put a lotof thought in it to making it historically cor-

rect,” said Van Dyke.

Van Dyke said she is thrilled that the play willbe included in the Breaking Ground Festival ofNew Play Readings at the Huntington Theatrein Boston on the evening of August 3. A web-site will soon be created as a way to reach outto friends of the project.

A graduate of BU’s playwriting program, VanDyke is currently a Huntington TheatreCompany Playwriting Fellow and a MacDowellColony Fellow. Her play, “The Oil Thief,” per-formed last year at the Boston Playwright’sTheatre, just won a prize for Outstanding NewScript at the recent 27th annual Eliot NortonAwards Ceremony held in Boston. “A Girls’War,” her first play, had a recent extended runin San Francisco.

14 S A T U R D A Y, J U N E 1 3 , 2 0 0 9 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R

ARTS & LIVING

From left, Joyce Van Dyke and Judy Braha tak-ing a quick break after public viewing ofDeported/ a dream play.

Van Dyke’s ‘Deported’ Has First Public Reading in Watertown

NANCY KALAJIAN PHOTO

The Arlington High School Honors String Orchestra

Composer Alan Hovhaness Honored in Arlington, Mass.

The Alan Hovhaness Commemorative Committee members unveil the memorial plaque.

JIRAIR HOVSEPIAN PHOTO

JIRAIR HOVSEPIAN PHOTO

SSEEPPTTEEMMBBEERR 2266 —— RRiicchhaarrdd HHaaggooppiiaann,, HHaacchhiigg KKaazzaarriiaann,, JJaacckkCChhaalliikkiiaann,, MMaall BBaarrssaammiiaann,, RRoonn TTuuttuunnjjiiaann aanndd PPaauull MMoooorraaddiiaannwwiillll ppllaayy iinn WWeesstt HHaarrttffoorrdd,, on Saturday. Details will follow. Dancewill start at 6 p.m. and end at midnight. The event has been movedto a smaller venue. Make reservations.

JJAANNUUAARRYY 1166--2233,, 22001100 —— JJooiinn AArrmmeenniiaannss wwoorrllddwwiiddee oonntthhee AArrmmeenniiaann HHeerriittaaggee CCrruuiissee XXIIIIII 22001100. Sailing onSaturday. To San Juan, PR, St. Thomas and Grand CaicosIslands on the Costa Atlantica. Prices start at $679 per per-son. Contact TravelGroup International 1-866-447-0750, ext102 or 108. Westcoast: Mary Papazian (818) 407-1401;Eastcoast: Antranik Boudakian (718) 575-0142.

JJUUNNEE 1144 —— SStt.. JJaammeess AArrmmeenniiaann FFeessttiivvaall//AAnnnnuuaall PPiiccnniicc..Save the date.

JJUUNNEE 1155 —— TThhee GGrreeggoorr yy HHiinnttiill iiaann MMeemmoorriiaall GGoollffTToouurrnnaammeenntt;; This year remembering Jane Talanian.Sponsored by Holy Trinity Armenian Church of GreaterBoston, Marlborough Country Club, Marlborough. Golferslimited to 128 players. Player’s fee is $175, which includeshospitality, lunch, dinner, green and cart fees andprizes/gifts. Tournament and tee sponsorships available.New this year: beginner’s golf clinic at $75 per person,includes one-hour clinic teaching golf basics, dinner and gift;golf clubs available. Deadline for tournament and clinic reg-istration: June 3. For further info., contact the church officeat (617) 354-0632 or e-mail office @htaac.org. For a regis-tration form, log onto www.htaac.org/announcements.

JJUUNNEE 1177 —— VVaarr ttaann OOsskkaanniiaann:: ““SSppeeaakkiinngg ttoo BBee HHeeaarrdd:: AASSttaatteessmmaann LLooookkss BBaacckk,,”” at Bentley University’s LaCavaCenter in Waltham. Co-sponsored by the NationalAssociation for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)and the Bentley Department of Global Studies. ContactNAASR at (617) 489-1610 or hq@naasr.org for more info.

JJUUNNEE 2200 —— FFrriieennddss ooff AArrmmeenniiaann CCuullttuurree SSoocciieettyy presentsthe 58th Annual Armenian Night at the Pops, featuring theyoung, award-winning cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan.Symphony Hall, Boston. For more information, call (617)484-0125 or visit www.FACSBoston.org.

JJUUNNEE 2255 —— PPaanneell DDiissccuussssiioonn,, ““SSoocciiaall SSeerrvv iicceess iinn AArrmmeenniiaa::CChhaalllleennggeess aanndd OOppppoorr ttuunniittiieess,,”” with visiting profession-als from Armenia. Co-sponsored by the Cambridge-YerevanSister City Association and NAASR. At the NAASR Center,395 Concord Ave., Belmont. Contact NAASR at (617) 489-1610 or hq@naasr.org for more info.

JJUUNNEE 2266 —— AArrmmeenniiaann IInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall WWoommeenn’’ss AAssssoocciiaattiioonnhhoonnoorrss ccoo--ffoouunnddeerr OOllggaa PPrroouuddiiaann wwiitthh aa ““TTooaasstt aannddRRooaasstt”” on Friday, 7 p.m., at Holy Cross Armenian CatholicChurch, Atinizian Hall, 200 Lexington St., Belmont. For moreinfo. and reservations, contact Alisa Stepanian at asteoani-an@aol.com or (617) 501-1215.

JJUUNNEE 2277 —— AArrmmeenniiaann YYoouutthh FFoouunnddaattiioonn 3355tthh AAnnnniivveerrssaarryyDDiinnnneerr--DDaannccee,, featuring John Berberian Ensemble. CrownePlaza, 1360 Worcester St., Natick. Cocktails, 6:30 p.m.Dinner, 7:30 p.m. Donation, $100. Silent auction. For reser-vations, call Shooshan (508) 842-3562 or Susan (781) 449-1412.

JJUUNNEE 2277 —— AArrmmeenniiaann CChhuurrcchh aatt HHyyee PPooiinntt,, WWoommeenn’’ss GGuuiillddpresents a fashion show with original designs by FarrahDerderian and fellow graduates of Laselle College. Also fea-turing Vintage Wedding Gowns. Saturday, 1-4 p.m. at theRose Ballroom, Days Hotel, 159 Pelham St., (Exit 47 off Route93), Methuen. Refreshments will be served. Donation, $20.Contact Barbara (978) 685-4945 or Bea (978) 686-3715.

JJUULLYY 1133 —— AALLMMAA’’ss FFii fftthh AAnnnnuuaall SSppoorr ttss RRaaff ffllee HHoossttss ““FFiinnaallIInnnniinngg”” RReecceeppttiioonn. The Armenian Library and Museum ofAmerica (ALMA) will host a “Final Inning” Reception prior tothe prize drawing for the fifth annual sports raffle. Raffleparticipants will have the opportunity to meet Boston Globesportswriter Tony Massarotti, meet a surprise sports celebri-ty, enjoy ballpark snacks and beverages, purchase last-minute raffle tickets and watch the prize drawing, which willbe done by Massarotti and the surprise sports celebrity, 6:30to 7:30 p.m. in ALMA’s Contemporary Art Gallery. To pur-chase raffle tickets or to see a detailed list of the packagesthat are offered this year, visit www.almainc.org.

JJUULLYY 2200--2244 —— SStt.. JJaammeess AArrmmeenniiaann CChhuurrcchh VVaaccaattiioonn BBiibblleeSScchhooooll.. The Armenian Church Around the World. 10 a.m.-2p.m. Arts and crafts, music, activities, games and sports.Learn more about the Bible and the Armenian Church bytraveling with us around the world to Jerusalem, Armenia,New York and more. For children entering grades K-5.

Deadline to register is July 1. Space is limited. For registra-tion forms or info., e-mail info@sthagop.com or callYeretzgin Natasha Aljalian at (617) 923-8990.

AAUUGGUUSSTT 88 —— SSaavvee tthhee DDaattee.. TThhee AArrmmeenniiaann CChhuurrcchh ooffCCaappee CCoodd presents their annual dinner and dance at St.George’s Greek Cultural Hall, Route 28, Centerville. Music byGeorge Righellis. For more info., call (508) 477-1725.

AAUUGGUUSSTT 2200--3311 —— SStt.. JJaammeess AArrmmeenniiaann CChhuurrcchh PPiillggrriimmaaggeettoo tthhee HHoollyy LLaanndd.. Itinerary will include visits to Biblical andHistorical Sites, including the Armenian Quarter, St. JamesArmenian Monastery, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Tombof Christ, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Garden of Gethsemane,Mount of Olives, Galilee, Dead Sea, Jericho, Jordan Riverand Masada. For more information about the trip, call theSt. James church office at (617) 923-8860 or e-mailinfo@sthagop.com.

SSEEPPTTEEMMBBEERR 11--1155 —— AArrmmeenniiaann HHeerriittaaggee TToouurrss 22000099.. Fully-escorted tour to Armenia flying with Air France fromWashington, New York and Boston. Marriott ArmeniaHotel, from $2,890 plus tax per person based on doubleoccupancy. Visiting sites: Yerevan City tour, museums, KhorVirap, Noravank, Areni, Haghbat, Sanahin, Lake Sevan,Dilijan, Echmiadzin Cathedral, Sardarabad, Tsaghkadzor,Garni and Geghart and more. Optional excursion:Karabagh tour — three days and two nights. For info, contact Maro Asatoorian, ACAA representative at (301)340-1011, e-mail asatoorian@msn.com visitwww.AcaaArmenianTours.com.

SSEEPPTTEEMMBBEERR 1188 —— SStt.. JJaammeess HHyyee CCaafféé.. Delicious Armenianfood and fellowship. Children’s activities will be provided.465 Mt. Auburn St., Watertown. Friday, 6:30 p.m. Parties ofsix or more are encouraged to make reservations by callingthe St. James church office at (617) 923-8860, no later than5 p.m. on September 17.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 33 ——SSeeccoonndd SStt.. JJaammeess PPaarriisshh RReeuunniioonn aanndd kkeeff,,hosted by the St. James ACYOA Seniors. Saturday, 8 p.m.-1a.m. at St. James Armenian Church. Charles MosesianCultural and Youth Center, Keljik Hall. 465 Mt. Auburn St.,Watertown. Featuring Bob Raphalian (oud), Leon Janikian(clarinet), Harry Bedrossian (keyboard and vocals), KennyKalajian (guitar) and Leon Manoogian (dumbeg). $25 perperson. Tables of 10 may be reserved with advance pay-ment. For tickets, contact Melanie Khederian at (617) 694-1057 or at mkhederian@gmail.com. All proceeds to benefitthe 2010 ACYOA General Assembly and National SportsWeekend hosted by St. James ACYOA.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 99,, 22001100 —— 3300tthh AAnnnniivveerrssaarryy cceelleebbrraattiioonn ooff tthheeAArrmmeenniiaann IInnddeeppeennddeenntt RRaaddiioo ooff BBoossttoonn.. Please markyour calendar. Details to follow.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 1100 —— TTeekkeeyyaann CCuullttuurraall AAssssoocciiaattiioonn —— MMhheerrMMeeggeerrddcchhiiaann TThheeaattrriiccaall GGrroouupp PPrreesseennttss ““WWhhoo KKiilllleeddTThhee EEaasstteerrnn DDeennttiisstt??”” A Masquerade Party in Baronian’s1860s Istanbul. A Murder Mystery Dinner Theater preparedby Harout Chatmajian. Assyrian Orthodox Church of theVirgin Mary, 644 Paramus Road, Paramus. Saturday, at 8p.m. Donation, $60; BYOB; dress code (optional); 1860sattire and mask. For tickets, call Marie Zokian (201) 745-8850, Noushig Atamian (718) 894-5878, Maro Hajakian(201) 934-3427 or Missak Boghosian (212) 819-0097.

NNOOVVEEMMBBEERR 77 aanndd 88 —— TTeekkeeyyaann CCuullttuurraall AAssssoocciiaattiioonn MMhheerrMMeeggeerrddcchhiiaann TThheeaattrriiccaall GGrroouupp pprreesseennttss WWiillll iiaammSSaarrooyyaann’’ss ““MMyy HHeeaarrtt’’ss iinn tthhee HHiigghhllaannddss..”” A Bilingual Play inThree Parts. Original direction by Tamar Hovanissian.Reenactment directed by Harout Chatmajian. Details to follow.

JJUUNNEE 1188 —— TThhee SStt.. VVaarr ttaann YYoouunngg PPrrooffeessssiioonnaallss wwiillll hhoosstttthheeiirr ffiirrsstt WWiinnee aanndd CChheeeessee rreecceeppttiioonn of the summer onThursday, at 6 p.m. Entrance is $10 with advance reserva-tion and $15 at the door. The event will take place on theplaza of St. Vartan Cathedral, located at 630 Second Ave.For more info., contact Rachel Goshgarian atrachelg@zohrabcenter.org or Taleen Babayan attaleenb@zohrabcenter.org or (212) 686-0710.

JJUUNNEE 1144 —— SSttss.. SSaahhaagg && MMeessrroobb AArrmmeenniiaann AAnnnnuuaall PPiiccnniicc..70 Jefferson St., Providence. Noon-dusk. Armenian foods:losh kebab, shish kebab, chicken kebab and kheyma. Music,featuring Jason Naroian and his Ensemble.

JJUUNNEE 2200 —— AArrmmeenniiaann SSttuuddeennttss’’ AAssssoocciiaattiioonn ooff AAmmeerriiccaa,,IInncc.. 9999tthh AAnnnnuuaall CCoonnvveennttiioonn MMeeeettiinngg,, Saturday, 11 a.m.ASA National Office, 333 Atlantic Ave., Warwick. Tel.: (401)461-6114; Fax: (401) 461-6112 or e-mail headasa@aol.com.

S A T U R D A Y, J U N E 1 3 , 2 0 0 9 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R 15

ARTS & LIVING

NEW JERSEY

The Mirror-Spectator has a new Calendar Policy:The Mirror-Spectator is now accepting all calendaritems for free. All items may be sent to mirro-rads@aol.com. Due to the anticipated shortage ofspace, items may be edited to fit the space.

FLORIDA

CC AA L E N D A RL E N D A R

MASSACHUSETTS

NEW YORK

On Friday,June 19, USAmbassadorto theRepublic ofArmenia,Marie L.Yovanovitch,pictured here,will take partin a“CommunityMeeting” atthe ArmenianCulturalFoundation,441 MysticSt., Arlington,Mass., from7-9 p.m. Theevent is freeand open tothe public. Formore info.,contact AraGhazarian atact.hmh@verison.net or call(781) 646-3090.

CONNECTICUT

RHODE ISLAND

16 S A T U R D A Y, J U N E 1 3 , 2 0 0 9 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R

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Other than the editorial, views and opinionsexpressed in this newspaper do not necessarilyreflect the policies of the publisher.

NTHE ARMENIAN

Mirror-Spectator

By Edmond Y. Azadian

ince April 24 of this year, Obama bashing hasbecome a national sport in the Armenian pressworldwide. President Obama had pledged to theAmerican-Armenian community to recognize theGenocide, upon his election as president of theUnited States, yet on his first Martyrs’ Day state-ment he failed to fulfill his pledge. Adding insult toinjury, he reduced aid to Armenia, although as a

continuing policy of reduction that was working its way for manyyears during the Bush administration.

The big guns in the Armenian press turned against the presi-dent. Our respected columnists resorted to extremes in charac-terizing this non-fulfillment of his pledge. Some groups on theWest Coast even picketed fundraising banquets featuring askeynote speaker President Obama.

The condemnation is in unison and uniform throughout thecountry, and beyond, so much so that any opposite view or ananalytical approach could be interpreted as a sacrilege.

However, I would like to stop and ponder, because politicalprocesses are not football games, whose conclusion is instanta-neous and black and white.

Having said that, I do not intend to play the devil’s advocateeither, because the jury is still out on the Obama pledge and per-formance, and rash conclusions could prove to be unwise.

A political game involves give and take; Mr. Obama promisedto recognize the Armenian Genocide, in return, perhaps, for oursupport for his candidacy. Now that we know President Obamathus far has not kept his pledge, we need to analyze our side ofthe bargain.

To question Mr. Obama’s morality would not be fair as he stat-ed in Ankara, in the presence of the Turkish leadership, that heis on record on his Genocide stand and that he has not changedhis position. He further took the Turkish leadership to task,when he gave a speech at the Turkish parliament calling theTurkish government to come to terms with its ugly history.There was no dearth of topics or problems for the president tochoose; but he took the opportunity to remind us of his moralstand on this complex and painful issue. So much for his moral-ity in politics; we know that the two always don’t mix, like oil andwater.

Coming back to the use or non-use of the word “genocide,” wemay detect in that speech Samantha Power’s handwriting, whomost probably had crafted the president’s speech, which had notavoided all the facts around the act of genocide. She had triedto hide behind a precedent, created by Pope John Paul II, whenhe visited Armenia. He was the one to first transliterate thephrase “Medz Yeghern” to avoid using the word “genocide”;while he was not a politician, he was supposed to have the moralcourage to call a spade a spade.

Samantha Power is too valuable to be lost to the Armenians,with all apologies to our friend David Boyajian, who called forher resignation. Ms. Powers was in Obama’s inner circle, duringthe election campaign, when she had a public fall out withHillary Clinton and resigned as a result of pressure. Obama’sfirm hand brought her back into the center of power, and it istoo early to count her out as a person who reneges on her prin-ciples.

We still have three more years of the Obama administration topush him to deliver on his pledge, and all the reminders, all theprodding, albeit, sometimes very harsh and naïve, will have theirrole to play.

We still have an uphill battle to have HR252 Resolution pass.It is very apparent that the president will keep his moral highground, making us believe that he will sign the resolution whenit hits his desk, yet the dirty work will be carried out by the leg-islators who will fail to garner enough votes to approve the res-olution, saving the president another show down with theArmenian lobby.

When we come to judge the president for his action or inac-

tion, we must consider the political context of the issues, and theconcrete factors determining his conduct.

It is more the rule than exception that pledges of candidatesare always different from the pledges of elected officials.President Reagan may be counted among the exceptions.

When a president is elected, cabinet members are replaced,political favors are dispensed to the supporters. But rank andfile, analysts, career diplomats remain in place to analyze politi-cal situations and to chart a course on every single issue ofimportance to the country. Of course, in our case, Secretary ofState Hillary Clinton’s past dealings with the Turkish lobbyinggroups may have played their role too in the Genocide issue.

Our press and our lobbying groups boast of a 1.5 million-strong American-Armenian community. Yet Obama’s well-cali-brated election machinery knew better than we did, that whatpercentage of that force we could mobilize and what portion ofthat mobilization could be translated into actual votes. Besidesall niceties, they knew the exact weight of our political clout inthe country.

Let us be honest and acknowledge that a large group ofArmenians are not politicized. We also may hate to admit thatsome Armenians are so bigoted that the skin color of the candi-date was enough for them to vote against him. Others failed tolend their support dogmatically, not to tarnish their Republicancredentials. Therefore, in the political arena, we may bark but wecan seldom bite.

On the policy balance of the US government, the Armenianfactor is weighed against Turkey’s strategic importance, at a timewhen a policy change was charted to bring the war in Iraq to endand withdraw the US forces out to Afghanistan through theTurkish territory. At that very delicate point, when Ankara wasexerting tremendous pressure on the Genocide issue, the presi-dent had to choose between his strategic priorities and somedomestic concerns. Of course, the balance tipped in favor ofTurkey, which in its turn, had snared the Yerevan government tosign on a fictitious “Road Map,” which reinforced Ankara’s hand.

As far as foreign aid is concerned, the US administration willderive its conclusions, based on relative importance of Armeniaversus Turkey’s strategic value, as well as Baku’s oil wells. Weshould not forget that today Turkey has more leverage on theWest than during the Cold War period because it can count onMoscow’s support and the solidarity of the Islamic world.Therefore, we may draw our own conclusion — what doesArmenia represent in the strategic balance of the region versusTurkey and Azerbaijan and then swallow the bitter pill that ourvoices are not heard in Washington or elsewhere, in the majorcapitals of the world.

Therefore, the conclusion is that we have to politicize themasses, to be able to deliver them to the highest bidder, at anygiven election. Could any candidate in the US renege on his/hercommitment to any Jewish lobby?

Armenia, on the other hand, is divided internally. It lacks nat-ural resources, and its strategic importance does not measure upto that of its neighbors. We cannot do too much to enhanceArmenia’s strategic relevance, but we can work harder to becomea relatively important political factor in this country to make ourvoices heard. It is absurd in the realm of politics to believe thatany power will support us because our cause is just. Power talks,as money talks.

Before making assumptions, and raising our hopes, we need tofigure out our strengths and our assets, so that we may have thetrue assessment of our potentials, which will eventually deter-mine our realistic expectations.

Unfortunately, besides our desires, there are other political fac-tors, which will shape our cause. Mr. Obama was elected to runthis country, based on its priorities. In the course, he may haveto scrap many of his pledges, which he made to different groupsduring his election campaign. One casualty may also be ourcause.

But we cannot rush to judgment. There are three more yearsto mobilize and to muster clout, to make an impact onWashington politics.

In the meantime, Obama bashing is not politics.

Limits of Obama BashingCOMMENTARY

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S

COMMENTARY

By Rev. Arsen Barsamian

Fire destroys when it is out of control, butwhen placed under proper restraint, it can bevery beneficial such as its usage in a blow-torch for welding of metal objects, in the puri-fying of metals such as gold, for cooking, etc.

Down through the centuries, Armenian homeswere destroyed and family life terribly disrupt-ed by the ravaging fires caused by conquerorsand evil-doers, but the people learned to putthe fires of life to good use for their survival byrebuilding while continuing to contributetowards the advancement of the human raceand civilization by their intellectual inquisitivenature in seeking better ways and methods to

do things. Together with this came the needfor restraint in the budgeting of time, wealthand energy by a resolute will that formed aremarkable character that persevered by themercy of God.

During my priestly ministry there was aneed to further my knowledge in regard to ourstory, the story of the people of Armenian

see HISTORY, page 20

April 24: Through the Fires of History

S A T U R D A Y, J U N E 1 3 , 2 0 0 9 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R 17

High-Ranking Obama OfficialRefuses to Acknowledge theGenocide

President Obama continues to disappoint the Armenian-American community. After breaking two promises in a row onkey Armenian issues — not acknowledging the ArmenianGenocide and proposing reduced US aid levels to Armenia —he appoints Philip Gordon Assistant Secretary of State forEuropean and Eurasian Affairs.

Dr. Gordon, a former Director of the Brookings Institution— a think-tank partially funded by Turkish sources — has writ-ten several pro-Turkish books and articles. He has been anopponent of congressional acknowledgment of the ArmenianGenocide and a critic of Greek Cypriot leaders rather than theoccupying Turkish forces. Gordon served in the Clinton admin-istration as Director for European Affairs at the NationalSecurity Council. During the last presidential campaign, heserved as head of the Europe team in Obama’s group of for-eign policy advisers.

During his confirmation hearing by the Senate ForeignRelations Committee at the end of March, Gordon wasgrilled by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) on his views onArmenian and Cypriot issues. Several senators pointed outthat Gordon’s answers contradicted President Obama’s

campaign promises. Little did the senators know that a fewweeks later the president himself would not keep his wordon these issues! Senator Menendez submitted over two-dozen questions, which were to be answered by the nomi-nee in writing after the hearing.

Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) wrote a scathing letter to Gordonon April 7, expressing his dismay that the nominee, during hisconfirmation hearing, had used the word “tragedy” to refer tothe Armenian Genocide. Senator Ensign demanded to know ifGordon’s position on the Armenian Genocide was consistentwith those of President Obama, Vice President Biden andSecretary of State Clinton all of whom, as senators and presi-dential candidates, had strongly acknowledged the ArmenianGenocide. Furthermore, referring to the early termination ofthe career of US Ambassador to Armenia John Evans for say-ing Armenian Genocide, Senator Ensign asked if Gordonwould “discourage ambassadors or other Foreign Service per-sonnel from using the term ‘Armenian Genocide.’”

Senator Ensign, not satisfied with Gordon’s answers, sur-prised everyone by placing a hold on his nomination, tem-porarily blocking his approval by the full Senate. However, justas surprisingly, Senator Ensign lifted his hold, paving the wayfor Gordon’s Senate confirmation.

In the meantime, Gordon answered in writing all 28 ques-tions sent to him by Sen. Menendez, even though his respons-es were evasive and non-responsive. Regardless of the natureof the question, he mindlessly repeated the same answer overand over again, using just about every word in the dictionary,except “Armenian Genocide,” to describe the mass killings ofArmenians.

Only one of Gordon’s answers was particularly revealing, ashe put the blame for the Armenian Genocide on the “officialsand soldiers of the Ottoman Empire,” thus inadvertentlyacknowledging that it was a state-sponsored genocide. Here isthe verbatim text of that particular exchange:

Senator Menendez: “Who was responsible for the death of

over 1.5 million Armenians during WWI?”Philip Gordon: “This administration, like those before it,

does not deny the facts — 1.5 million Armenians were mur-dered, starved, or deported by civilian officials and soldiers ofthe Ottoman Empire, some of whom were sentenced to deathfor committing these crimes. The United States mourns thisterrible chapter of history and recognizes that it remains asource of pain for the people of Armenia and of Armeniandescent, and all those who believe in the dignity and value ofevery human life.”

Gordon also disclosed to the Senate Foreign RelationsCommittee that the Brookings Institute had received a total of$700,000 from the following Turkish sources 2006-2008:

— $200,000 from the Turkish Industrialists andBusinessmen’s Association;

— $190,000 from Sabanci University;— $150,000 from the Eksiogullari Group (construction com-

pany);— $100,000 from the Dogan Yayin Holding Company (media-

entertainment conglomerate);— $30,000 from Nurol Construction and Trading Company;— $30,000 from Hedef-Alliance Holding (pharmaceutical

company).A large number of pro-Turkish officials, such as Philip

Gordon, can be found throughout the American government.Some of these Turkophiles are leftovers from the cold war era.Others, motivated by personal gain, serve in the governmentfor a while, and then go to work at Washington Think Tanks,some partially funded from Turkish sources, or end up as lob-byists for Turkey.

Armenian-Americans will continue to face great resistance intheir lobbying efforts from pro-Turkish elements inWashington — regardless of which party is in power and whois president — unless they can expand their political influencebeyond Congress into the Executive Branch, Think Tanks andthe media.

My TurnBy Harut Sassounian

COMMENTARY

By David Babayan

The Nagorno Karabagh conflict isindeed one of the most difficult conflictsto settle in modern history. It touchesupon a bunch of political, legal, economic,ecological and other issues that hinder set-tlement prospects. The most difficult hin-drance, however, is ethno-politicalspecifics of Azerbaijan, a factor that pene-trates all spheres of life cementing impos-sibility of coming to a common denomina-tor both for the parties to the conflict andfor the involved and interested actors.

Azerbaijan consists of three closely-intertwined layers: historical, ethnic andpolitical. Let us briefly consider them.

The historical layer touches upon his-torical aspects of creation, formation anddevelopment of the Azerbaijani state. Thepresent-day Azerbaijan appeared on theworld map only at the end of May 1918,following the collapse of the RussianEmpire. For the first several days of itsexistence it was called the East CaucasusMuslim Democratic Republic. The nameitself signified the creation of the firstdemocratic Muslim state in the world.However, several days later the authoritiesof this new state followed the advice of theOttoman Empire and changed the nameAzerbaijan.

Nobody knows how this state and theentire Caucasian region would have devel-oped had the advice been rejected. Thename “Azerbaijan” was never applied toany part of the Southern Caucasus.Azerbaijan was a historical and adminis-trative region in Iran bordering SouthCaucasus. The Ottoman Turks wanted tocreate a Pan-Turkish state, and theSouthern Caucasus, together with north-ern Iran, became the most strategic link toconnect the Ottoman Empire with CentralAsia, the cradle of Turkish civilization.

To make their claims more legitimate,the Ottomans created a secondAzerbaijan, so that if there were two enti-ties with the same name then logicallythey should unite. Moreover, theOttomans wanted to have a common bor-

der with their new surrogate state andAzerbaijan started to claim as much terri-tory as possible, including Karabagh,Zangezour, the Sevan Region, Ararat val-ley together with Yerevan and large por-tions of Georgian territories. TheKarabagh issue emerged exactly as aresult of this process.

But the Turks were defeated during theFirst World War and the Bolsheviks whogained control over the South Caucasianregion decided to preserve the name“Azerbaijan” for multi-purpose geopoliti-cal usage. Azerbaijan was the first and,until the 1930s, the only Muslim republicin the Soviet State and the Kremlin usedthis fact to debilitate positions of imperialpowers such as Great Britain and Francein their Muslim colonies from the MiddleEast to India. This is why Soviet authori-ties satisfied Azerbaijani territorial claimsto the maximum possible extent and gaveit Karabagh and Nakhichevan in theirentireties, more than half of Zangezourand some territories of Georgia.

From the Bolshevik perspective it wasgeopolitically expedient, since Azerbaijanbecame the banner of Communist revolu-tion in the Muslim world. Azerbaijan wasalso a very convenient leverage for exer-cising pressure on Iran.

In the 1930s, the international geopolit-ical situation changed and Azerbaijan asan offensive component of Soviet geopoli-tics became one of the most vulnerablesegments of the Communist state, espe-cially in the strategic region of SouthernCaucasus. Azerbaijan was the only repub-lic in the former USSR whose name wasnot derivative from an ethnic group. Forexample, Armenia was derivative fromArmenians, Ukraine from Ukrainians, etc.In contrast to other Soviet republics,Azerbaijan was made up of dozens of eth-nic groups of Turkish, Caucasian, Iranianpeoples as well as Armenians, Russians,Georgians and Jews. Around 55 percent ofthe population was made up of Turkish-speaking peoples who were officiallycalled the Turks of Soviet Azerbaijan.

In 1933 Hitler came to power inGermany and it became clear that globalwar was imminent. Taking into considera-

tion traditionally close ties betweenGermany and Turkey and the 1918 eventsin the South Caucasus, the Soviet Uniondecided to form a new Azerbaijani nationsince it was very dangerous to have an eth-nic group called Turks of Azerbaijan whocould easily ally themselves with Turks ofTurkey.

The logic was simple and geopoliticallyexpedient. The new nation – theAzerbaijanis became a melting pot digest-ing different ethnic Muslim groups with anaim to generate a sense of distinct histori-cal, cultural and political background fromthe Turks of Turkey. This was another cru-cial transformation both in the Caucasusand in the history of the Karabagh issue.As a result, many ethnic groups suddenlyevaporated in Azerbaijan. The Kurds, theTalishes, the Tats, the Avars, the Lezginsand many others together with Turkishpeople formed a single nation – theAzerbaijanis.

This transformation had rampant politi-cal consequences. The Soviet Union solvedseveral geopolitical issues, even though itfaced new challenges. The most importantwas swapping internationalism withnationalism. In Soviet Azerbaijan, a multi-ethnic state, a micro Soviet Union in theCaucasus, people of different ethnic back-grounds lived together on the basis ofinternationalism. But they suddenly foundthemselves in a state that renounced thisideology and switched to nationalism.

The Kremlin, nevertheless, gainedgeopolitical dividends. First of all, itformed a new nation distinct from theTurks of Turkey. The new nation was total-ly dependent on the central Soviet author-ities. This new nation had to somehowlegitimize its existence, so history startedto be re-written, with any sign of interestin the history or culture of any ethnicminority and any signs of non-Azerbaijaninational self-awareness suppressed.

The process of forming a new distinctAzerbaijani nation has not been complet-ed. Of course, some ethnic groups, such asIranian Tats, whose number is estimatedto be close to two million people, were suc-cessfully assimilated into a singleAzerbaijani nation. Especially since the

collapse of the Soviet Union, they startedto be perceived as belonging to theTurkish national identity. Other ethnicgroups which have not been completelyassimilated border their brethren in neigh-boring countries. These groups areCaucasian-speaking Lezgins and Avars innorthern areas of present-day Azerbaijan,who border their compatriots in RussianDagestan and Iranian-speaking Talisheswho live in southern parts of Azerbaijanand border their brethren in Iran.

The combined territory of these threenations constitutes almost 22 percent ofAzerbaijan and around a quarter of itspopulation. Azerbaijan lives in a situationof permanent fear that at any momentthese groups may embark on a path of self-determination, thus disintegratingAzerbaijan as a state.

Moreover, historical, ethnic and politicalfactors generated a new mentality in theelite political circles of Azerbaijan. Forthem, the only way to preserve their stateintegrity is suppression. Compromise andcooperation in such states are replaced byconflict and confrontation. They perceiveNagorno Karabagh as the main threat totheir existence.

Azerbaijan cannot recognize the inde-pendence of Nagorno Karabagh becauseother nations may embark on the samepath. Autonomy is even more dangerousto Azerbaijan than independence, becauseother ethnic groups may claim autonomytoo, which is pregnant not only with itspossible evolution to independence, butalso officially tears apart the Azerbaijanisas a nation. This is why for Azerbaijanthere is only one solution to the NagornoKarabagh conflict — Karabagh withoutArmenians.

Then what is the way out? There is onlyone solution: continuous development andstrengthening of the Armenian statehoodboth in Armenia and in Karabagh. Any gapin Karabagh’s present-day security andstrategic balance with Azerbaijan mayhave unpredictable consequences for theentire Armenian people.

(David Babayan is a Stepanakert-basedpolitical analyst.)

Ethno-Political Specifics of Azerbaijan and the Karabagh Conflict Settlement

S A T U R D A Y, J U N E 1 3 , 2 0 0 9 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R18

COMMENTARY

WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR

To the Editor:My good friend Nubar Dorian asked

whether church unity has been “forgot-ten, abandoned and totally petrified” inhis column “Still Time to DoctorWounded Church” in the June 8 issueof the Armenian Mirror-Spectator.Unfortunately, this is in fact the case inmost church communities in NorthAmerica. We seem to have fallen asleepand become tired of the issue.

The real question to be asked is thereason why. We seem to be more inter-ested in what is happening everywhereelse in the world rather than whatexists in our own backyard. Sure, thefuture of Armenia is important. So isthe Genocide issue, to mention just twoof the subjects that fill the pages of ournewspapers and hours of conversation.But nowhere do we hear any more ofthe scandal within our own midst. Twooverlapping and competing churches,schools, bishops, dioceses (prelacies),resulting in the spending of millions ofdollars in waste and duplication. And itis not only the money that is important.There is also the small matter of churchcanons and traditions that absolutelyforbid duel jurisdictions in the samegeographical location.

But unfortunately we go on acceptingthis without complaint or even notice.The new generation has no idea whythe situation exists. They just assume itis the normal practice. Well, someonemust take responsibility for this — us.You and I together have the duty tospeak up. First and foremost, it is theduty of the church leadership, layper-sons and clergy together. ChurchAssemblies take place and not a singleminute is spent on the outrageous divi-sion in the church structure. In fact, theopposite is true. We invite representa-tives of the Diocese and Prelacy to eachother’s Assemblies and exchange mean-ingless and dishonest greetings to eachother like strangers from separateworlds.

How scandalous this really is. Thanksto Nubar Dorian and a few others, theunity of the church in America will notbe buried or otherwise forgotten.Someday people will wake up anddemand action. Let us hope we will seeit soon.

—— MMiicchhaaeell HHaarraattuunniiaannFormer Chairman of the Prelacy

Unity CommitteeGlen Head, NY

To the Editor:Our feeling of being guilty of naiveté

in expecting President Obama to dowhat he knew to be the right thinghurts us as much as our disappoint-ment in the result. What did we expect?Obama is, after all, a politician who bydefinition is a person dedicated to expe-diency. When the time came to fulfillhis promise of calling the fate of theArmenians of Turkey genocide heweighed the consequences.

On one side, he would cause prob-

lems with an important ally, while, onthe other hand, he would only be dis-appointing a minor ethnic group, who,he figured, should be used to it by now.

Going forward, our best strategy is toget the Congressional resolution passed,which is more likely to happen becausemembers of congress are not as hung upon geopolitical considerations as the pres-ident. And, once the ice is broken, thepresident’s declaration will have lessimpact and not as controversial.

––BBeerrggee TTaattiiaann

To the Editor:I am one of the many US citizens

demanding that President Obama’s geno-cide specialist, Samantha Power, resignher National Security Council post.

Last year, Power told us to trust her— that Obama would definitely fulfillhis campaign promise to explicitlyacknowledge the Armenian genocideon April 24. He did not. Americans’trust in both Power and Obama wasclearly misplaced.

I would like to believe that Power didadvise the President to use the ‘G’word; but since he didn’t keep hispromise, her only option is to transpar-ently resign by publicly declaring to thepress that the president’s policy is total-ly contrary to the truth, to her convic-tions, to her belief, and will harm hermoral reputation and authority as a his-torian if she were to stay as the presi-dent’s advisor.

Short of resignation, Power is not tobe trusted any more as an honest writerand should be considered a hypocritenot deserving the prize she received forher book A Problem from Hell, Americaand the Age of Genocide. Notice, too,that Power has not given the Americannation and specifically the Armeniannation the courtesy of an explanationsince April 24.

To express our outrage with Obamaand Power, all Americans and those cit-izens of Armenian descent should senda barrage of letters, e-mails and makephone calls constantly.

I know that a diligent, conscientiousand enormous work is being done byArmenian Organizations — this is notenough. We need to put on much morepressure, each and everyone of us. Bystaying passive, we are telling Obamaand Power that it’s fine for them tobreak their promise to acknowledge theGenocide.

Armenian Americans are also, ineffect, saying that it’s fine for theadministration to oppose theCongressional Genocide resolution,whose prospects are worse than at anyprevious time.

If Power does not resign, she is com-plicit in Obama’s refusal to properlycharacterize the Armenian genocide.What will her excuse be? That, like aconcentration camp guard, she is justfollowing orders?

The right thing for Samantha Poweris to resign and return to academic lifewhere she may once again speak freelyand honestly on the ArmenianGenocide and all genocides.

—— KKaammeerr MMiinnaassssiiaannWatertown, Mass.

Power Should Resign for Her PartIn Obama Not Using ‘G’ Word

Obama Weighed the Consequences

Looking in Our Own BackyardLETTERSParliamentary Elections in Lebanon

And the Armenian CommunityUnlike any other country, Armenians are important players in the Lebanese parliamentary elections.

It is true that Armenians have taken representation in the legislatures of Argentina, Cyprus, Hungaryand Russia, but nowhere are they as important as in Lebanon. Because of the sectarian makeup ofthe electorate and the legislature, the Armenian community in Lebanon becomes a major political fac-tor in Lebanon.

Pre-election campaign had started almost two years ago, and finally it came to its conclusion onSaturday, June 7. All the precincts voted the same day, breaking away from the traditional staggereddates. The Lebanese president, Gen. Michel Sleiman, had vowed free, fair and transparent elections.

During the election, two major power blocs were facing each other. On one hand, was the “March14” coalition, headed by billionaire Saad Hariri. This blocis a moderate political grouping with Westward orienta-tion. Opposing this group was the “March 8” coalitionheaded by Hezbollah, supported by Iran and Syria.

The Armenian political parties were also allied withthese two blocs, thus the ADL (Ramgavar) and Hunchak parties joined the March 14 coalition head-ed by Hariri’s Moustakbad party. The coalition also included “Lebanese forces” and the Phalangistparty. All these groups stood for Lebanese sovereignty and independence. On the other hand the ARF(Dashnak) party allied itself with March 8 group, which included the Hezbollah party, Amal movementand General Edmond Aoun’s party.

It was an open secret that this election campaign was fueled by huge amounts of cash supplied, onthe one hand, joined by Iran and Syria to, Hezbollah, and on the other hand by Saudi Arabia throughHariri. Every election in any country involves money, with the sole difference that in the Lebanesecase, the neighboring countries pour in the cash.

It was apparent early on that the Armenian community would have a major role. Even the New YorkTimes acknowledges that fact. Indeed in the May 26 issue of the Times, the Middle East correspondentRobert Worth had played up the ARF role in the elections. Also, on the very last day, polls predicteda slight edge for the Hezbollah coalition, which included the ARF. However, the election results dis-proved all predictions.

To justify hopes pinned on the ARF, the leadership exerted mighty efforts, and worked on manyfronts. Thus to involve the participation of the Lebanese expatriates in the election, the party dis-patched its candidates to the US to recruit potential voters. Centers and churches under ARF controlbecame election-buying concession stands. Many Armenian expatriates, who had not seen Lebanonsince their departure, fell to the temptation of free rides and accommodation and they jumped on theARF bandwagon to vote for the Hezbollah coalition. On this occasion the principal of the FerrahianSchool in Los Angeles John Kossakian announced: “The participation of the worldwide Lebanese-Armenians reveals a new world system, which in itself is a victory.”

Little did he care that philosophy could not apply to a citizen who had abandoned his country andhad never returned there for any reason.

Here, there is also a delicate issue, which cannot be overlooked. This initiative to lure US residentsor citizens to Lebanon to vote for the Hezbollah coalition could not jibe well with the policies of thiscountry. At worst, this was a political adventure that the ARF took, regardless of the consequences tothe individuals involved or to the Armenian community as a whole.

All factors within Lebanon were used and abused by the ARF leadership. Even the church was notspared and the Holy See at Antillias became a willing partner to the ARF drive, undermining its statureas the spiritual center of the entire community.

Under the pretense of forming the “Armenian Parliamentary bloc” the ARF leadership tried to lureother Armenian political parties to come under its sway. But the ADL and the Hunchak parties wereprudent enough to avoid that trap. That was a blow to the Dashnag presumptions to represent theentire Armenian community. That presumption was particularly crucial for the party leadership toimpress Armenia, where the ARF Ministers had quit the ruling coalition and the ARF had lost in theYerevan Municipal elections.

There were some sad casualties to the Dashnag ploys in Lebanon. One of the casualties was Mr.Arthur Nazarian, a member of the Nazarian clan, bulwark of the AGBU community in Lebanon, sincethat organization was established in Lebanon in the early 20th century. It is rumored that Nazarianhad spent $1 million to buy his seat on the ARF slate. He was the first one to break the family tradi-tion politically. By luring a political ham, like Nazarian, the ARF leadership believed falsely that it couldwin over the AGBU camp in Lebanon. Fortunately, the AGBU leadership in that country kept itselfaway from that political deal.

In an effort to sow discord in ADL ranks in Lebanon, the ARF leadership used one Mike Kharabian,a self-anointed “ADL leader.” For reasons known only to himself, Kharabian tried to switch the ADLparliamentary candidate from the Hariri bloc to the Dashnak Hezbollah bloc. Thanks to the vigilanceof the ADL District Committee in Lebanon, Kharabian’s solo game failed. Otherwise, today the ADLwould have been in the defeated camp of Dashnak Hezbollah. We cannot overemphasize the leader-ship and prudence of Dr. Avedis Dakessian, the chairman of the ADL District Committee, in steeringthe party in the proper course and away from the Kharabian-Dashnak adventure. On the other hand,Kharabian’s betrayal of the local party policy lead to Hagop Kassandjian’s resignation as the ADL can-didate. Kassandjian had represented eminently the ADL and the Armenian community during his lasttwo terms as a member of the Lebanese parliament. He was replaced by Jean Oghassapian, while con-tinuing to conduct the election campaign successfully.

It is a sad commentary that the campaign rhetoric was not kept on a dignified level. The speechesby the ARF leaders and especially its candidate Hagop Pakraduni were sometimes below the belt, rem-iniscent of the Cold War-era. The ARF exhorts the slogan “one nation, one homeland,” but most of thetimes it confines itself to “one nation” in scope.

If we discount the outside bribes and money lavishly spent on the elections, Lebanon witnessed themost open and transparent election in its history. The Armenian ghetto in Bourdj Hammoud and thecommunity in the capital breathed a sigh of relief after these elections.

Here below is the picture of the election results:In Beirut’s Second Precinct Sebouh Kalpakian (Hunchak) and Arthur Nazarian, were elected with-

out opposition, as per Doha agreement.In Beirut’s First Precinct the “March 14 coalition” representative Jean Oghassapian (ADL) and Serge

Toursarkissian (Armenian Catholic Community) were elected.Hagop Pakradouni (ARF) was elected from the Metn precinct, without opposition.Shant Chinchinian was elected from the Zahle precinct representing the “March 14” coalition.Thus, four Armenian members of the parliament were elected on March 14 state and two Armenian

members were elected on the ARF Hezbollah state.Perhaps it is most opportune to borrow some statements that appeared in the Aztag daily, the ARF

organ, about these elections.“On June 7, the Lebanese Armenians earned their rights through their ballot.“All our citizen participated, because our struggle is for them to have a strong presence in Lebanon.“We will vote for the future generations, so that they may live in free and sovereign Lebanon.”

By Hagop Vartivarian

S A T U R D A Y, J U N E 1 3 , 2 0 0 9 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R 19

COMMENTARY

By Helene Pilibosian

In order to visualize what a genocide islike, notably the Armenian Genocide anddenial thereof by responsible or irresponsibleparties, verbal images as pictures that willdescribe the situation can help. It is said tobe impossible to convey the particulars of thetortures and murders that took place toexterminate the Armenians in 1915 on thepretext that they were traitors to the Turkishstate.

A few typical excerpts from what has beenwritten by people who went through thisdeportation as children and were haunted bythose memories for the rest of their lives willsuffice. The following is an excerpt from thebook Bloody Desert by Hagop Kouyoumjian,who lived in Philadelphia until his death in1961. It was translated from the Armenian byHagop Sarkissian for the 50th anniversaryspecial issue of the Armenian Mirror-Spectator, which I edited:

Many starved people fainted and were ahindrance to the soldiers walking in the tentcity. One day they gathered such personsand, though they were not dead, threw theminto a ditch especially dug for the purpose.

Sometimes when passing by that ditch, Istopped and looked at live bodies of adultsand children piled upon each other. Iwatched them bring new half-dead bodiesand throw them upon the bodies still livingand breathing. Shaken by the blows of thethrown bodies, some opened their eyes andtried to free bare arms or feet from beneatha fallen body, but they did not have thestrength... When the ditch was filled, the sol-diers covered it with the soil and opened anew ditch for victims fallen every day. Butthose who died were the lucky ones...

The tired and exhausted caravan was readyto sleep when screams and cries were heard.The Turks had come out to hunt in the lightof the moon with their beastly passions andwere searching for the freshness looking of abody, no matter how young it was. Theyplunged their claws into tender brides andyoung girls. The rest was blood and death.

The victims cried and resisted; some clungto their parents, but the iron fists separatedmother and daughter. Many were draggedaway by the hair. And the hellish feast started.

The soldiers dismounted and one of themgrabbed the beard of a clergyman and drewhim away. The second soldier helped tothrow him on the ground with his rifle buttand sat on him. At the same time he drew adagger and holding the beard, cut one side ofthe face and threw it in the air. The other sol-dier, following the example of his friend, didthe same to the other side of the face.Surprisingly, the clergyman did not utter aword as a sign of pain; only the word ‘God’could be heard through his teeth.

“Now call your God as much as you want,”said one of the soldiers with a diabolicallaugh. The other soldier fired his gun. Theskull of the clergyman turned to pieces ofbone and scattered through the air like bro-ken glass.

“The soldiers gave permission to the crowdfollowing us to start the massacre.Thousands of them fell upon us. Some usedtheir swords and, holding the hair of theirvictims, cut their heads off and threw themaway. Others used iron-headed sticks tocrush the skulls and smashed bones. Somecame with axes and hit all around them, cut-ting an arm here, a leg there. Any ingeniousone placed children in a row and passed hisspear through their bellies. Some saved theirguns and ended the lives of their victims bystabbing and kicking them. Others tied awoman’s hands and feet and cut her topieces. Other beasts slept with dead womenand satisfied their souls. If there were nomore of living, many killed the dead oncemore, and again and again tortured them,seeking some life in them. Those who werenot satisfied with death, drank the blood ofthe wounded.

By a miracle I was buried beneath a pile of

bodies and thus saved from the massacre.The following excerpt is from the book

They Called Me Mustafa: Memoir of anImmigrant by Khachadoor Pilibosian, myfather’s autobiography and translations ofsome of his writings, which I co-authored andedited. A brief excerpt of his experiences dur-ing the deportation and his subsequent slav-ery to Kurds who had kidnapped him givesan indication of his sufferings.

Some of these Turks forced themselvesinto Armenian homes to capture any maleover 15-years old. These acts lasted until lateat night. Then the Turks arrested these malesand imprisoned them in the Armenianchurch. They also went to the homes andarrested the males they found there, thoughthere were not too many because a largenumber of them had already been called toserve in the Turkish Army. Those who resist-ed were taken to the church after beingseverely beaten.

The husbands of my two aunts and twoyoung sons of one of them were in thechurch. That night I took bread and cheeseto them. The stern-faced guard scolded mesaying, “Those inside do not need bread.” Ireturned home crying. [The church wasburned with the prisoners inside.]

I can never forget going through a valleywith a group one day and seeing hundreds ofhuman bodies scattered all around. Theymust have been killed no more than a day ortwo before. Among them were many teenageboys.

The gendarme ordered us to follow him. Ina little while we reached a place where deadbodies were scattered, and he handed us therope and told us to pull the bodies into theriver. While doing what we were ordered todo, one of the tortured young boys said soft-ly, “Boys, take it easy. I am not dead yet.” Itwas too dark to notice his wounds or his con-dition, so we left him alone and pulled someof others away. After pulling about 15 bodiesto the river, we were exhausted and could notdo any more.

As I approached one of the merchants andate a couple of bunches of grapes, I felt twoheavy arms winding around my body. I wasthen picked up and carried away from thecrowd. My kidnappers started to climb thehills as I screamed, trying everything to getaway without success as my kidnapperwarned me that he would kill me if I did notbehave. I cried loudly and often, thinkingthat my sisters still were waiting for some-thing to eat and would probably starve todeath.

And he lived among the Kurds for fouryears during which time he was often beatenand almost killed. When he heard the WorldWar I had ended, he took off and walkedfrom those mountains to Aleppo, where hereceived help.

Aurora Mardiganian wrote about thedeportation and especially about the suffer-ings of women in her book, The Auction ofSouls, after she was safely in America. Beloware brief excerpts from this book:

I think there were more than 200 womenwhose minds gave way under this suddenimpulse, stirred by the crazed widow of thepastor.

Those who were in charge of us could notunderstand at first. They thought there wasa revolt. They charged among us, swingingtheir swords and guns right and left, evenshooting point blank. Many were killed orwounded hopelessly before they understood.Then the guards were greatly amused, andlaughed. “See,” they said, “that is what yourGod is — He is crazy.” We could only bow ourheads and submit to the taunt. Some of thewomen recovered their senses and were verysorry. Those who remained crazed the zap-tiehs turned on to the plains to starve todeath. They would not kill an insane person,as it was against their religion.

I tried to conceal myself when the littleparty of Kurds came near. But I was too late.They took me away, with a dozen of the girlsand young wives this band had caught. Theycarried us on their horses across the valley,over the hills, and into the desert beyond.

There they stripped us of what clothes stillwere on our bodies. With their long sticksthey subdued girls who were screaming, or ifthey resisted — beat them until their fleshwas purple with flowing blood... When theKurds were tired of mistreating us they hob-bled us, still naked, to their horses. Each girl,with her hands tied behind her back, was tiedby the feet to the end of a rope fastenedaround the horse’s neck. Thus they left us —neither we nor the horses could escape.

As the regiment closed in, thousands of thewomen, with their babies and children in theirarms, scrambled up the cliffs on either side ofthe narrow pass, helped by their men folk,who remained on the road to fight with theirhands and sticks against the armed soldiers.

But the zaptiehs accompanying the partysurrounded the base of the cliffs and kept thewomen from escaping. Then the KasabTabouri killed men until there were notenough left to resist them. Scores of menfeigned death among the bodies of theirfriends, and thus escaped with their lives.

Part of the soldiers then scaled the cliffs towhere the women were huddled. They tookbabies from the arms of the mothers andthrew them over the cliffs to comrades below,who caught as many as they could on theirbayonets. When the babies and little girls wereall disposed of this way, the soldiers amusedthemselves awhile making women jump —prodding them with bayonets, or beating themwith gun barrels until the women, in despera-tion, jumped to save themselves. As they rolleddown the base of the cliff, the soldiers belowhit them with stones or held their bayonets sothey would roll on them. Many women scram-bled to their feet after falling, and these thesoldiers forced to climb the cliffs again, only tobe pushed back over.

The Kasab Tabouri kept up this sport untilit was dark.

The women and girls who were left were tobe sold into Turkish harems for the highestprices on condition they would accept Islam.It seemed then that civilization was totallyabsent, except in the minds of the defenselessArmenians… Word from Talaat Pasha:“Anything you do to the Armenians willamuse me.”

Four Armenian towns were able to with-stand the onslaught of the Turks with ammu-nition that had been smuggled in to them.These were in Zeitoun, in Deurt Yol, villageson the mountain of Musa Dagh inAlexandretta, of which Franz Werfel wrotehis great novel The Forty Days of MusaDagh, and in the city of Van in the provinceof Van, of which Dr. Clarence D. Ussher wrotehis eyewitness account An AmericanPhysician in Turkey. The battles were cleverand heroic, but the Armenians ultimatelylost, though the people who fought themwere rescued. An excerpt from Dr. Ussher’sbook follows:

Why had not the Armenians emigrated ingreater numbers to escape this oppressionand fear of massacre? The Turkish govern-ment would not permit them to emigratewithout first renouncing their citizenshipand inheritance rights in Turkey, selling alltheir possessions and promising not to

return. Passports would not be issued to mentrying to return. Armenians are passionatelyattached to their native lands and to theirancient traditions. Property has passed fromfather to son for generations.

The supply of ammunition was small.Jewelers, tinsmiths, coppersmiths and black-smiths set to work to increase it, turning outwith the primitive tools at their command2,000 cartridges and case bullets day. AnArmenian professor, graduate of anAmerican university, made smokeless pow-der. Unskilled labor built walls and dugtrenches, often under fire. Women made uni-forms and other garments for the soldiersand cooked for them. The normal schoolband marched about the city playing militaryairs when the fighting was heaviest. Evenyoung boys did their bit, and a big bit it was,too.

The following is an excerpt from an articleI wrote as part of a series titled “ADL — TheLiving Ideology” published in the ArmenianMirror-Spectator of June 15, 1963. It is onlya summary of the vast and complicated storyof the Armenians in historic Armenia.

From 1375 to 1920 the Armenian peoplewere subjected to the tyranny of the TurkishEmpire. It was not until the latter part of the19th century when the ideas of freedom infil-trated from Europe, that the Armeniansmade an organized attempt at liberation.Conditions were unbearable in TurkishArmenia. An Armenian could expect no jus-tice by law, he was treated with utmost con-tempt and derision by the Turkish people,and if he tried to gain freedom by any revo-lutionary activity or even possessed a gun,he was instantly and without question killed.

The Armenian Democratic Liberal Partywas formed under those conditions withinspiration from the minds of men such asMgrditch Portukalian, who preached libera-tion from France in his newspaper Armenia.In Van, Mgrditch Terlemezian-Avedisian ledthe Armenagan Party, the first branch of thepresent ADL, in the preparation for democ-ratic ideals and the use of arms to defendthose ideals. He led the resistance to the mas-sacre of 1896, but was killed later in anambush as he and others were leaving thecountry under a promise of safe conduct.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federationwas formed under the same circumstancesand for the same purposes but with some-what different views of actions that were nec-essary. These groups produced heroes andmartyrs and were the beginning of the pre-sent Armenian political organizations.

In the present Armenian diaspora, formedafter the tragedy of 1915, there are activeand thriving communities of Armenians withmany outstanding individuals and achieve-ments, proud of national heritage, but notforgetting the painful history that broughtthem to where they are and tried to disposeof their ancient civilization.

(Helene Pilibosian is a prize-winning poetand former editor of the Armenian

Mirror-Spectator. She is now working onher memoir.)

Details of the Armenian Genocide Are Necessary

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Notice to Contributors

By Robert Fisk

There will be no Islamic Republic of Lebanon.Nor will there be a pro-Western Lebanese repub-lic. There will, after yesterday’s vote — for theHezbollah-Christian coalition and for the secularSunni-Christian alliance — be a government of“national salvation” in Beirut, run by an ex-armygeneral-president with ever-increasing powers.

Washington would have preferred that SaadHariri, son of the assassinated ex-prime minister,came out with a clear win. But out of the shad-ows will come the same crippled, un-healable

Lebanon; delightful, unworkable, poor oldLebanon, corrupt, beautiful, vanity-prone, intelli-gent, democratic — yes, definitely, democratic—and absolutely outside our powers to reform.

The electoral system — a crazed mixture of sec-tarianism, proportional representation and “list”fixing — means that no one ever really “wins”elections in Lebanon, and yesterday was no dif-ferent. The “anti-Syrian” parties — the Sunnis,the Druze, half of the Christian community —made sure that their votes prevented a Hezbollahtakeover, while the huge Shia vote “forHezbollah and the Amal party and the Christianswho follow the lead of the raving Christian ex-general20Michael Aoun” made certain there

would be no clear win for America’s friends inthe country.

But the president, who under Lebanon’sunwritten constitution must be a ChristianMaronite, will be able to fashion some kind of“central bloc” by midday today — or so allLebanon hopes — which will include Hezbollah,the forces of anti-Syrian Sunni Islam, the Druzeand even the Christians. The latter, always theirown worst enemies in Lebanon, albeit a minori-ty, will ironically be more powerful than everbecause their president is one of them.

Lebanon deployed up to 60,000 troops andarmed police to control the ballot boxes and, totheir considerable credit, not a single gun-battleappears to have broken out. Given the personalnature of some of the contests — this is a highlytribal society whatever the modernity of Beirutand its suburbs — this was quite an achievement.Driving around the capital, I found only good-natured checkpoints, handing me papers of can-didates’ names for whom I should vote, bothChristians and Muslims, in the same list. If theywore blue hats, they were for Hariri. If they woreyellow hats — and there were conservative ShiaMuslim women without scarves — they were forHezbollah. If they dressed in orange, they weretrying to win votes for Aoun.

The Lebanese, a very shrewd people, havebeen reading the foreign press and listening tothe BBC, Al-Jazeera, even Fox News. They knewthat for foreigners “the ajnabi” there was onlyone story: Lebanon becomes a finger of Iran orSyria or it remains in America’s hands. More dan-gerously, the Israelis would be able to claim it

was a “terrorist” state if Hezbollah won. But thenthe Israelis would claim it was a “terrorist” stateif even one minister was a member of Hezbollah.They will have their way.

By last night, it looked as if the spread of par-ties would win a share of the vote equal to theirnumbers; that the Shia Muslims would have thelargest group of MPs but without a majority, thusallowing Lebanon’s power-sharing system to set-tle back into its old ways. Why should we worry?Yes, it is corrupt. Tens of thousands of Lebaneseflew home to vote — you can’t vote abroad inLebanese elections — so who paid their fare?Who has $30 million to spend on air fare?

To be a modern state, Lebanon must de-con-fessionalize. Its president — currently the ex-gen-eral Michel Sleiman — should be elected on meritrather than religion. Its prime minister, whomust be a Sunni Muslim, should be elected onmerit. But the moment you take away these priv-ileges, Lebanon will cease to be Lebanon —because its very identity is sectarian.

Lebanon is a tiny country, just over 4,000square miles in size, and it is very definitelyMuslim (60 per cent of its four million populationare Muslim), but it has 18 religious sects whichinclude the descendants of the poor ArmenianChristians who, naked and beaten, draggedthemselves here after their genocide at the handsof the Turks in 1915. The Assyrians came thisway. So did the Persians, Romans, Crusaders,Mamlukes, Arabs and Ottomans. And theAmericans, of course, And the Israelis.

The election will probably have “united” thepoor old Lebanese yet again. In what cauldron,we can only wait to find out.

(This article originally appeared in theIndependent.)

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HISTORY, from page 16ancestry. In this story I found a remarkable rela-tionship between them and their God thatenabled them to persist despite unbearablehardships. Like a magnetic force, I kept beingdrawn, to the date, April 24, 1915, a date simi-lar to the phrase President Franklin D.Roosevelt said of December 7, 1941 at theonset of World War II, as being a “day ofinfamy.” This may be due to the fact of my beinga first-generation offspring of parents who weresurvivors of that horrific tragedy known to usall as the Armenian Genocide. At first it was theday and year, April 24, 1915 and the period ofWorld War I, 1914-18. Then I began to envisionit as part of the overall diplomacy of the geopo-litical world from 1850-1922. Years later itexpanded to being a part of the larger picturecovering our entire ancient past beginning inthe epic era of legendary figures until the pre-sent day. All of our history seemed wovenaround, not so much on the year 1915, but con-densed to one single day in our long and illus-trious history…April 24, a day that embracedwithin it the entire history of the Armenian peo-ple. There were exceptions, such as the con-quests of Dikran (Tigranes) the Great and alsothe eras of the Bakraduni and later theReubenian dynasty of Cilicia Armenia, but onthe whole, Armenians were not masters of theirpolitical destiny. They had to learn out of neces-sity to accommodate themselves to given situa-tions of the day be it under the reign of one oranother foreign ruler. Some such as theArshakuni of the Parthian dynasty in ancientPersia became Armenianized and played a cru-cial role in the shaping of the Armenian char-acter during their control for nearly 400 years(AD 66-AD 421) especially in regard to ouracceptance of Christianity as a state religion.Armenians survived while others passed on intooblivion. I believe the reason for their survivalcan be seen in the stories taught at first by trav-eling troubadours and later to the children aspart of their education. In these stories, somefolklore and others historic, a deeply-hiddensecret was kept. As the saying goes, one needs“to read between the lines” to understand howthis came about. Consistently there appears ahigh moral standard based on helping theunderprivileged and also a desire for freedom todetermine one’s own destiny; a freedom thatrequired a need to sacrifice for it to be continu-ally enjoyed. These emanated from a marriagethe people had with their Supreme Being, amarriage that even the forces of nature and theimmediate environment participated.

The stories begin with two legendary figuresHayk Nahabed (Patriarch) and Torq Ankegh(ugly/or from the province of Ankegh). Withthese two the stage was set for the others to fol-low. Directly or indirectly, the importance of thefamily unit underlies the unity of all of thesestories. It should be understood that the cen-terpiece of the family is the husband and wifeand also the parent and children relationshipbut enlarges to include the church and fellow-members of one’s faith, relatives and friends, co-workers and classmates, fellow citizens andthose sharing a common nationality and lastbut not least, all members of the human raceregardless of who they may be. The implicationwas that a sacred bond, a marriage betweenGod and man extended to include all humanseverywhere with each other. The crystallizationof this process culminated with the apostolicpreaching of the Good News of salvation in the

name of Jesus Christ. Armenians were ready forthis evangelical message which brought them toa full spiritual maturity with their acceptance ofthe Christian faith.

In the stories of Hayk, the great-grandson ofNoah, he and his family, the Haykazouns wereliving in bondage in the land of Chaldea underthe hand of a tyrant, named Bel who is men-tioned in the Old Testament (Is. 46:1; Jer. 50:2where he is referred to as Nebo; and Bar. 6:40;Dn. 14:2-21). He is regarded there also as atyrant. Hayk yearns for a freer life for himselfand his family and leads the Haykazouns up theMesopotamian Valley to the land of his forefa-thers known as Urartu or Ararat. Bel follows inpursuit with his giants with the intent of bring-ing them back to Chaldea to serve him. Haykand the Haykazouns resist and win a great bat-tle over the forces of Bel killing him during theconflict.

The story of Torq Ankegh, (regarded by somehistorians as the great-grandson of Hayk) isabout a man possessing supernatural powers,such as that of a god in human form. Torq wasthe defender of the oppressed and victims ofinjustices. When he heard of the sufferings ofthose living in the regions of Pontus by a bandof plundering marauders, he rushed to theirdefense. When the marauders heard of Torq’scoming, they immediately took flight in boatsover the open sea. When Torq arrived he beganto pluck huge boulders from the side of nearbymountains and hurled them in the direction ofthe fleeing ships causing a great sea storm.Many of the ships sunk with only a few of themarauders able to escape allowing a gratefulpeople to return to their homes to live a morenormal life once more.

Whether or not, these stories are true, they domanifest the character of the Armenian peopleand the value they held in regard to home andfamily life. Every succeeding generation learnedfrom them as how to conduct their lives in mak-ing the most of their God-given talents to escapeentrapment by the temptations and allurementsof life. The past taught them to invest their limit-ed but precious resources and time for the essen-tial aspects of life centered on family life, thatheartbeat of a nation’s existence.

As we near the centennial commemoration ofthe Armenian Genocide in 2015, the discipledemonstrated by our most recent forefatherscan serve as guidelines for us in our prepara-tions in remembrance of this tragic historicalevent to reveal not only to our own people butto the public-at-large of the positive contribu-tions Armenians have made to civilizationsfrom earliest of times to the present even dur-ing times of great hardship. All of this is attest-ed by proven archeological discoveries. In addi-tion to the efforts presently pursued for recog-nition of the Armenian Genocide, a new avenueshould begin to enlighten all of these positivecontributions and accomplishments. Their mes-sage is as relevant today as it was in ancienttimes: a message of survival of the home andfamily. Like the celebration of Vartanantz whenan historic event is still celebrated despite thedefeat on the battlefield because of the victoryfound in its moral message, the lessons sur-rounding the tragedies of April 24 can lead thepresent and future generations to a higher andmore productive life as we continue to livethrough the ongoing fires of history.

To learn more of Reverend Barsamian’sworks (DVDs and writings) go to the website atarmenianexperience.net.

April 24: Through the Fires of History

Lebanese Voters Prevent Hezbollah Takeover