ANCA Endowment Fund President Ken Hachigian

Volunteers, Supporters, and Media Gather for Kick-off Reception and Press Conference in Support of National Grassroots Campaign

WASHINGTON—Representatives from a broad range of Armenian American organizations and media joined ANCA Endowment Fund supporters on February 2nd to launch a series of community activities leading up to the “ANCA Telethon 2012″ that will be held in May of this year. The ANCA Telethon 2012 effort was kicked-off at a special press conference and reception held at the Glendale Hilton.

ANCA Endowment President Ken Hachikian was joined by His Eminence Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate of the Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and telethon committee members Steve Artinian, Vanna Kitsinian Der Ohanessian, Esq. and Dr. Vicken Hovsepian in presenting the vision for ANCA Telethon 2012. Speakers discussed details about its broadcast reach and programming, and insights into innovative new ideas to engage an unprecedented level of community participation in this fundraising and community-building drive.

ANCA Telethon 2012 will be aired nationally on May 20 on a variety of broadcast, cable and digital channels and showcased online at www.ancatelethon.org from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. EDT (2 p.m. to 8 p.m. PDT).

“We’re very encouraged by the launch today of ANCA Telethon 2012 with an energetic turnout by so many Armenians – from all across our diverse and vibrant community – who share a common commitment to the Armenian Cause,” said ANCA Endowment President Ken Hachikian. “In the coming days and weeks, we look forward to engaging activists and supporters throughout all fifty states as we expand the grassroots power, respect, and influence of our community in the nation’s capital and in hometowns across our great country.”

The ANCA Endowment Fund supports a broad range of educational, youth, and civic programs that give voice to the views and values of the Armenian American community, strengthening our presence in the American civic arena, and empowering pro-Armenian stakeholders with the information and resources they need to take on the powerful forces aligned against the Armenian nation.

The first two ANCA Endowment Fund telethons, held in 2006 and 2009, raised over $4.5 million for Armenian American educational, youth, and civic programs. Both programs touched a common emotional chord, speaking directly to the devotion to the Armenian Cause that rests in the hearts of Armenians from across the U.S., regardless of organizational or political affiliations.

The Telethon Logo

Countless organizations, volunteers, churches, community leaders, local ANCAs, performing artists, Members of Congress, and state legislators from across the nation participated in the telethons, contributing to their enormous success. Both telethons featured several documentaries that highlighted various ANCA programs and numerous results the ANCA Endowment has achieved over the years, largely through its volunteer and grassroots network.

Rep. Frank Wolf

Rep. Judy Chu

Members of Congress Asked to Mark Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku Pogroms; Reaffirm Support for Nagorno Karabakh

WASHINGTON–U.S. Representatives Frank Wolf (R-VA) and Judy Chu (D-CA) marked the anniversary of the Sumgait and Baku pogroms by speaking out this week in the U.S. House of Representatives in condemnation of Azerbaijan’s aggression and ongoing threats against Nagorno Karabakh, reported the Armenian National Committee of America.

Armenian Americans and pro-Armenian stakeholders from across America have encouraged Members of Congress to publicly condemn Azerbaijani aggression and openly defend the independent Republic of Nagorno Karabakh’s freedom. An ANCA action alert in support of Congressional statements is available on the ANCA website:

http://www.anca.org/action_alerts/action_disp.php?aaid=60930141

In his remarks, Rep. Wolf noted that, “Shortly after the break-up of the Soviet Union, Armenians in Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh endured great hardship, including pogroms in Sumgait (February 1998), in Kirovabad (November 1988) and in Baku (January 1990),” and went on to quote a recent alarming report from Bloomberg News that, “Azerbaijan is buying up modern weaponry to be able to regain control of the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.” “Such acts of aggression,” stressed the Virginia legislator, “would have a devastating impact.”

Congresswoman Chu, in her speech, reminded her colleagues that, “Between 1988 and 1990, the Armenian population was the target of racially motivated pogroms in Azerbaijan. Hundreds of Armenians were murdered and more wounded during three violent attacks in Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku.” She added that she remained concerned that, “the sentiments that sparked this violence still remain,” and that Azerbaijan is building up its arsenal to renew its aggression against Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

The full text of Rep. Wolf’s and Rep. Chu’s remarks are provided below.

Background
From 1988 to 1990, the Armenian population in Soviet Azerbaijan was the target of racially motivated pogroms against Armenians in the cities of Sumgait (February 27-29, 1988), Kirovabad (November 21-27, 1988) and Baku (January 13-19, 1990).

At the time, Members of Congress condemned these premeditated and officially-sponsored attacks against Armenian civilians and passed amendments and resolutions demanding respect for the democratic aspirations of the people of Nagorno Karabakh.

These pogroms set the stage for two decades of aggression by Azerbaijan, during which it launched and lost a war against Nagorno Karabakh, and later used its oil wealth to buy a massive military arsenal that its leaders, to this day, vow to use to renew their attempts to conquer a Christian people that has lived on these lands for thousands of years and, after great challenges, has flourished in freedom from Soviet oppression for more than 20 years.

A detailed ANCA overview of Azerbaijani aggression against its Armenian population in Sumgait, Kirovabad and Baku as well as concrete ways Congress can assist in the peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict can be viewed here:

http://anca.org/assets/pdf/misc/sumgait_baku_factsheet.pdf

Text of Congressman Wolf’s Statement

REMEMBERING THE NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT
Congressional Record
Wednesday, February 1, 2012, page E110

Mr. WOLF: Mr. Speaker, in 1994 I was part of a delegation, organized by Christian Solidarity International, that visited Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.

In Nagorno-Karabakh I saw horrible conditions: doctors operating without anesthesia using only a stiff dose of cognac; land mines planted by the retreating Azeri army which resulted in injury and amputation of limbs of women and children as well as soldiers and people living in hazardous partially bombed-out apartment buildings in the cities and in lean-tos among the debris of demolished villages.

Upon my return, I urged Congress not to forget the long-suffering people of Nagorno-Karabakh And I rise today to do the same.

In 1921, Joseph Stalin, then the commissar for nationality affairs in the Transcaucasia Bureau of the Communist Party, declared Nagorno-Karabakh to be an autonomous region controlled byAzerbaijan as part of his divide and rule strategy. Historically, the majority of the population in Nagorno-Karabakh has been Armenian and the people have always had close ethnic, religious and familial ties with Armenia.

In the years leading to the breakup of the Soviet Union, the Karabakh Armenians petitioned in 1987 for inclusion of Nagorno-Karabakh in the state of Armenia In 1991, they petitioned for independent state status. To date, the situation remains unresolved.

Shortly after the break-up of the Soviet Union, Armenians in Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh endured great hardship, including pogroms in Sumgait (February 1998), in Kirovabad (November 1988) and in Baku (January 1990).

A January 19, 1990, New York Times article described the Baku pogrom as a “massacre.” That same article also pointed to the violence in 1988, when, “armed Azerbaijanis rampaged through the town of Sumgait and slaughtered 32 people, mostly Armenians”

These horrific acts of targeted violence are as deplorable today as they were more than two decades ago. Tragically, tensions remain high in the region. A January 16 Bloomberg article reported that, “Azerbaijan is buying up modern weaponry to be able to regain control of the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region quickly and with few losses should peace talks with neighboring Armenia fail, President Ilham Aliyev said.”

Such acts of aggression would have a devastating impact. It is critical that the U.S. works toward a lasting, peaceful and democratic solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Text of Congresswoman Chu’s Statement

ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIAN POGROMS

Ms. CHU: Between 1988 and 1990, the Armenian population was the target of racially motivated pogroms in Azerbaijan. Hundreds of Armenians were murdered and more wounded during three violent attacks in Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku.

Though the ethnic cleansing programs occurred over 20 years ago, they were atrocious acts of cruelty. We cannot forget them. I worry the sentiments that sparked this violence still remain in the Nagorno-Karabakh. Just last month, Azerbaijan began buying up weapons to regain control of the region. The President of Azerbaijan declared this is, “not a frozen conflict, and it’s not going to be one.”

America must remain committed to a peaceful and democratic resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, not one that relives the past.

Last week Clinton said US recognition of Genocide would be "Dangerous"

WASHINGTON—The lead authors of the Armenian Genocide Resolution, H.Res.304, Robert Dold (R-IL) and Adam Schiff (D-CA), are leading a bipartisan effort to secure Congressional signatures on a letter urging Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to renounce her recent public mischaracterization of the Armenian Genocide as a “historical debate,” reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

A “Dear Colleague letter” currently being circulated by Representatives Schiff and Dold calls upon their colleagues in the U.S. House to join with them in co-signing a letter “asking Secretary Clinton to “disavow” her “historical debate” remarks, which she made at a public Town Hall meeting, and properly recognize the Armenian Genocide.  The two legislators stressed in this correspondence that the “historical debate” argument has long been a talking point pushed by the Government of Turkey and other genocide deniers, who seek to muddy the waters by claiming that we in Congress must stay our hand in order to avoid undermining history’s settling of the truth.  This is an intellectually unsupportable argument.  There is no historical debate about the nature of the slaughter of the Armenian people – in fact Raphael Lemkin, who coined the word “genocide,” was thinking of the Armenians when he created the term – and our own National Archives contain all the documentary evidence that Secretary Clinton could ever need.”  They also noted that: “By embracing the idea of an historical debate, the Secretary has taken a position at odds with her past positions and the positions of President Obama and Vice-President Biden.  It is a position much closer to that of the Turkish government than that of any other senior U.S. diplomat in recent memory and it undermines our efforts to focus attention on genocides and other mass human rights violations elsewhere.

The letter to Secretary Clinton notes that her, “historically inaccurate description of the Armenian Genocide as an open question, in addition to the offense it represents to Armenian Americans and other victims of genocide, provides American encouragement to the Republic of Turkey in its shameful campaign of denial.”  It also reminds the Secretary that in 2006 she joined with President Obama – then a U.S. Senator – in writing a letter explaining to President Bush that the Armenian Genocide was a “systematic and deliberate campaign of genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire in 1915. . .  The victims of the Genocide deserve our remembrance and their rightful place in history. . . .It is in the best interests of our nation and the entire global community to remember the past and learn from these crimes against humanity to ensure that they are never repeated.  The sign-on letter also quotes Senator Clinton’s public statement in 2008 when, as a Senator and candidate for the presidency, she affirmed that: “[T]he horrible events perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire against Armenians constitute a clear case of genocide,” and that “[o]ur common morality and our nation’s credibility as a voice for human rights challenge us to ensure that the Armenian Genocide be recognized and remembered by the Congress and the President of the United States.”

To encourage your U.S. Representative to sign the Schiff-Dold letter, please complete the action alert.

AYF's new campaign

The Armenian Youth Federation is dedicating 2012 to the Armenian Freedom Fighter (Azadamardik), announced the organization’s Western US Central Executive Thursday. As part of its multi-faceted campaign, the AYF will be organizing a series of events and activities aimed at raising awareness about Artsakh’s liberation struggle and supporting the freedom fighters who made it possible.

“With this year marking the 20th anniversary of the heroic liberation of Shushi, it is important for us to honor the sacrifices made to defend our people and homeland,” said AYF Executive Director Serouj Aprahamian. “Without the brave men and women who put their lives on the line, there would be no independent Artsakh today.”

A central component of the year-long effort will be raising money to send to veterans of the war in Armenia still suffering from combat injuries. Due to neglect from the authorities, many of those wounded or disabled in the line of service remain in dire need of medical care and assistance.

“Unfortunately, the heroes who paid the highest price for Artsakh’s freedom are today in the greatest need of our assistance,” said David Arakelyan, Chair of the AYF Central Executive. “We as Diasporan youth have a responsibility towards them and we must show our appreciation for their sacrifice.”

Local fundraisers and events will be held throughout the year to finance assistance to as many veterans as possible. A successful Holiday Breakfast held by the South Bay AYF in December was the first such event and will be followed by various others, including a large-scale benefit concert due later in the year.

The AYF has also launched a website for the campaign (www.withoursoldiers.com), which will soon feature educational material, online videos, profiles of freedom fighters, a donation portal, and details about upcoming community events.

Given the almost daily threats of renewed hostilities from Azerbaijan and regular gunfire across the ceasefire line, the AYF will also be engaging in grassroots activism aimed at ensuring Artsakh’s security. Through action alerts and advocacy efforts, it will seek to work with the entire to community to push more strongly on the cause of Artsakh.

Founded in 1933, the Armenian Youth Federation is the largest and most influential Armenian-American youth organization in the United States working to advance the social, political, educational, and cultural awareness of Armenian-American youth.

Garen Yegparian

BY GAREN YEGPARIAN
It’s time to address some advances that Turks have made in their propaganda machinery and efforts. What started with the likes of Tall Armenian Tale,” a mess of a website, is now far more sophisticated, because of serious money being poured in.

An example of money talking is an outfit called Turkish Cultural Foundation (Turk Kultur Vakfi) with offices in Boston, Istanbul, Sonoma, and Washington, DC. I’ve only recently become aware of it in any substantive way, though it was founded January 1, 2000 according to their website. They’ve been sending out slick newsletters advertising their lectures (most seem to be in Turkey). What’s insidious about this is the “we’re just an American group promoting cultural awareness” tack adopted by the group. The deviousness of this is obvious given the office locations cited. But it sure looks good and creates access to people’s hearts and minds. Worse, it is very difficult to counteract, for all the same reasons, much like the heinous “Anatolian” festival in Orange County last October, about which I’d written (see “Occupation, Liberation”). Also interesting is the subtle embrace of their murderous Ottoman past with the use of a logo that is almost identical to that empire’s “tugra,” or seal. See the accompanying pictures.

In tandem with this progress is the ever increasing participation by Turks on Armenian websites/blogs, if comments posted to my articles are any indication. On one hand, we should thank the Turks for driving up the number of hits on our newspapers’ websites, enabling them to charge more for advertising. But there is a downside. Many of our folks respond, quite extensively and aptly, to the blather posted by these Turkish agents. Unfortunately, this eats up precious time on our side. It might be better to engage these Turks selectively. Those comments that are well written, insidious, or even genuine outreach/curiosity, should be addressed. The bulk of the Turkish comments, though, are beneath contempt, and should be met with one person posting a terse, barely one-sentence-long dismissal, and nothing else. The time saved is better expended posting on Turkish sites and causing THEM to spin their wheels, with lengthy, frothing “rebuttals” to our comments.

Another very dangerous form of Turkish “free speech” and propaganda has landed on American shores in the form of the Gülen movement. Muhammed Fethullah Gülen (usually conveniently omitting his first name to not stir up anti-Islamic sentiments) is the ideological head of the movement, though he actively “dissociates” himself from it organizationally. He fled to the U.S. under the pretext of seeking medical treatment, but probably to avoid arrest in Turkey. At the time, his Islamicism had not yet carried the political day in the form of the AKP, now in its third term of governing Turkey. This movement has been very adept at establishing Turkish themed charter schools in many states of the U.S. The money received from these schools makes its way to Turkey and Gülen’s pockets (some contend he is a billionaire) through a Medusan tangle of legal entities, as he is encamped in a huge compound in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains. Some of this vile network may be starting to fray (more on this another time), but meanwhile, these schools are training a generation of kids (and future voters) in baseless Turco-philia.

We must be alert to these dangers on the public relations front and pre-empt, undercut, them, not respond to them which just serves to strengthen the Turks’ framing of issues and falls into the trap of playing their game with their rules, rather than ours. If you notice such activities and perfidy, report it to the ANCA, your favorite Armenian news source, or any other appropriate entity.

Eulmesekian and Grenier (center) with Glendale Library officials

A Collaborative Effort by the Filmmaker Eulmessekian and the Poet Grenier

BY TALAR CHAHINIAN

Artistic collaboration is a productive site where perspectives can meet and reshape each other, generating new imaginings for the artists involved. A film and poetry event sponsored by the Glendale Public Library and Abril bookstore on November 13, 2011 did just that, offering far more than a mere exchange between the featured artists, filmmaker Hrayr Anmahouni Eulmessekian and poet Arpine Konyalian Grenier. The attendees could not have anticipated that it was they, as spectators and audience members, who would become key contributors to the collaboration, and in fact, that it was their own reading – and interpretation – practices that would be featured as the evening’s performance.

Whether willingly or reluctantly, audience members were caught in a struggle to extract meaning from the simultaneous viewing of Eulmessekian’s film, Bruitage and reading from Grenier’s volume of poetry, The Concession Stand: Exaptation at the Margins. The task was made challenging by the fact that the film was not structured according to a plot, dialogue or linear narrative; and the poetry featured an abundance of references and abstract images. Provided with little direction and no obvious context, audience members were left to project meaning onto the works of art by drawing on their own experiences and memories. The result provided all of us a fascinating glimpse into the trans-cultural exclusions in our own tendencies vis-à-vis cultural memory – in other words, we realized how our own diasporic cultural memory subtly reinforces certain interpretations and exclude others.

The flyer advertising the event claimed that the mutual explorations of the filmmaker and the poet seek to create “a wisdom that comes from cultural memory and its subtractions.” Even in this depiction, specifying which cultural memory or whose cultural memory is being referred to would be mere conjecture, since neither work offers an explicit reference. But there is even more to the issue of cultural memory – although it can be understood as a general, more universal category, I would like to argue that the event at Abril bookstore questioned the fundamental assumptions underlying the universality of the concept; when experienced in conjunction with each other, Bruitage and The Concession Stand: Exaptation at the Margins critique Armenian diasporic memory’s singularity and exclusivity, particularly with regard to its omission of a hybrid, transnational understanding of culture.

Indeed, no culture in the world develops in isolation and without exchange with other cultures. Of course, this exchange is more pronounced in the context of diaspora, wherein a dispersed culture operates within a different, majority culture. Armenian diasporic culture, which consists of transnational communities operating across multiple majority cultures, clings to a singular cultural memory in an effort to preserve what it considers to be “purely” Armenian and under threat of assimilation. Although Anmahouni and Grenier live and produce in the United States, both artists come from Beirut, Lebanon. Drawing from the polyglot environment of their past, they highlight diasporic memory’s missing trans-cultural context, searching for a more fluid and inclusive depiction – an alternative archive – of the self within and against that collective memory.

In Hrayr Anmahouni Eulmessekian’s 2006 film, Bruitage (running time 58 min.), the camera zooms in, out, and across a series of black and white photographs at a slow, deliberate pace. The moving image is accompanied by an audio track consisting of “incidental” or “background” sounds that loosely correspond to the images. For instance, in the film’s introductory sequence, a recording of natural, outdoor noises accompanies images of nature. There is no visible foreground, making it difficult to decipher the context of the photographs and locate their content – to understand what they “mean.” Without a clear physical or cultural referent, the grainy, close-up images seem reference-free and invite interpretation; or more accurately, they invite projection of meaning based on personal experience and memory.

When people begin to appear in the photographs, the content becomes more legible – an urban space, in the 50s or 60s, probably in the Middle East. Yet even that context is too feeble to provide a clear meaning: the people photographed are too distant; we still see no foreground; no faces and, therefore, no stories. When people finally emerge in the background, they are accompanied by language in the audio track. But a certain distance remains here, too – just as the faces of the people in the photographs are out of reach, so are the words of the languages being spoken. The spoken word comes to us muffled, layered by noises and voices from multiple directions, and often dubbed by the sound of a musical instrument. Although we can recognize a mélange of languages – Armenian, Arabic, Turkish – we cannot determine exactly what is being said.

The audio track of the film, Bruitage, is precisely what its French title suggests – the artificial reconstruction of natural noises and sounds that accompany the action in films, television, or theater. The convergence of these “incidental sounds” or background noises and the shots of the moving image in the background provide the conceptual framework of the film. During the discussion following the event, we learned that the images shown in the film come from family photographs taken in pre-civil war Lebanon. The camera’s zooming effects, along with familiar incidental, background noise, have helped us arrive at the deep background of family portraits and family histories.

“Deep background” is a journalistic term referring to information offered by a source that may not be included in the article but that nevertheless enhances the journalist’s understanding of an event. By stripping away everything but the deep background of family photographs, Eulmessekian’s Bruitage forces us to confront the multi-cultural, trans-national, and hybrid context of our diasporic familial experiences, and in turn, our diasporic cultural memory. What we see and hear on the screen are the “subtractions” that diasporic memory makes in order to preserve that which it calls Armenian. Eulmessekian suggests that just as in the journalist’s understanding of the event, “deep background” or context is vital to one’s “telling” of the self, and thereby, one’s narrating of cultural memory. In the case of the Armenian diaspora, cultural memory must be understood not as a static and purified entity but as a multi-faceted and dynamic product of encounters between more than one “culture,” between foreground “content” and background “context.” A more essentialist, less fluid understanding of cultural memory that ignores the interaction of these dynamic forces risks constricting a diasporic culture’s progress and production, especially in a transnational setting.

The exploration of faceless images and wordless sounds in Eulmessekian’s Bruitage parallels the work of poet Arpine Konyalian Grenier. In The Concession Stand: Exaptation at the Margins, Grenier seeks to explore what lies behind the word.
Reading selections from her poetry over the presentation of Bruitage, Grenier offered yet another interpretive platform for the audience, another potential layer of context. Her lines of poetic prose, bearing an arbitrary relationship with the film, provided no opportunities for interpretive closure, either for their own meaning or the film’s. Much like Eulmessekian’s work, Grenier’s words evoke the audience’s diasporic cultural memory and foreground its subtractions. In other words, she focuses on the fluid or adaptable features of identity to remind her audience of what rigid and nationalist formulations of identity exclude.

Grenier claimed that “identity, like money, is utilized then.” Grenier’s intentionally cryptic statement critiques the process of collective identification (the figurative selling and buying of a singular form of identity) by dismantling its established markers (such as language and religion) and celebrating its fluidity. Elsewhere, Concession Stand, a collection that consists of eight poetic essays, develops this critique regarding the commodification of identity through a two-tier discussion of language. On the macro level, her essays are concerned with problematizing language as a system by which we ascribe meaning to the world around us. On the micro level, her commentary on language problematizes the possibility of a “mother tongue” in a transnational setting and leads to her critique of rigid conceptualizations of identity in the Armenian diasporic context.

The presentation of Grenier’s poetry at the Abril event confronts its audience with the dangers of over-emphasizing cultural identity, to the detriment of a culture’s dynamism. Her poetry also suggests that culture and cultural identity are not found or given, but constructed. “As an Armenian American poet,” Grenier writes, “I attempt to undo this process by constructing (not describing) a space at the edge of meaning whereby identity is released back to its neutral non-zero field” (47). In many ways, this is precisely Eulmessekian’s task, providing a bridge for the effective collaboration on display at the Abril event. Bruitage and The Concession Stand: Exaptation at the Margins, though fashioned independently, both draw our attention to the exclusion of the broader, trans-cultural context of Armenian diasporic memory and identity. Performed together, particularly in an Armenian setting, the works compel audience members to re-examine the exclusions in their reading and interpretation practices, the subtle subtractions of their cultural memory.

In that sense, in her poetic writings, and in particular its presentation during the Abril event, Grenier critiques the commodification of identity in the context of an increasingly globalized world; likewise, she brings attention to the often reductive formulation of identity in the Armenian diasporic context, suggesting it leads to essentialism. In a future article, I will explore more closely Grenier’s collection of published essays in The Concession Stand and elaborate on her discussion of language and identity.

Talar Chahinian holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from UCLA and lectures in the Department of Comparative World Literature at Cal State Long Beach. You can reach her or any of the other contributors to Critics’ Forum at comments@criticsforum.org. This and all other articles published in this series are available online at www.criticsforum.org. To sign up for a weekly electronic version of new articles, go to www.criticsforum.org/join. Critics’ Forum is a group created to discuss issues relating to Armenian art and culture in the Diaspora.

Director Nigol Bezjian in Bourdj Hammoud with CNN

BOURJ HAMMOUD, Lebanon (CNN)—Film director Nigol Bezjian was born in Syria, raised in Lebanon and studied in the United States, but nowhere does he feel more at home than in Little Armenia. (Watch the segment on CNN).

Little Armenia is the vibrant Bourj Hammoud neighborhood of Beirut. Bourj Hammoud was developed mainly in the 1930s by Armenian refugees who arrived in Beirut after massacres of Armenians in 1915 and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Armenians and many historians refer to the massacres as genocide, but Turkey has always denied there was a genocide of the Armenian population.

Bezjian, 57, director of the 1992 film “Chickpeas,” took CNN on a tour of his favorite parts of Bourj Hammoud, taking in a family restaurant, bookshop, church and art gallery, where he catches up with colleagues.

He said: “If you ask me what I am, I would tell you I’m Armenian.

“Bourj Hammoud has played a significant role especially after 1950s — this is where the Armenian patriotism was born … Armenian literature took root again.

“Armenian culture was reborn here in a way.”

As he walked down the bustling streets, Bezjian shook hands with people he knew. “This is the thing I like, you run into people and friends without planning,” he said.

In an Armenian bookstore, he said: “When I come here, I see lots of acquaintances and friends from all different walks of life, I directly connect to my people and I get lots of inspiration from them.”

In 2003, Bezjian made a documentary called “Muron,” named after the consecrated mixture of oil, flowers, and scents used in various rituals in the Armenian Church.
Armenian culture was reborn here in a way
Nigol Bezjian

Visiting a church Bourj Hammoud, he said: “Muron is basically used to consecrate icons and also for baptizing, and I wanted to see how this was made.

“When they do a new one what remains from the oil is mixed in the new one so in a way the Muron that is made today is directly connected to what was made in year 301. This sense of continuity is very important.”

Bezjian said he is not religious, but loves the church for the silence it provides from the noise of the streets outside.

“Church has always played a central role in preserving the Armenian identity and culture,” he added.

Bezjian takes CNN to an Armenian radio station where the news is read in Armenian and where he is a regular guest.

Ending his tour in a restaurant called Baroud run by a father and son, Bezjian ponders the question of identity.

“In this part of the world people don’t talk about identity so much, it’s a given. Identity is North American invention … who am I? You are who you are.”

Seto Garabedian of TrikTrak.ca

ORANGE COUNTY—The Armenian Revolutionary Federation “Armen Karo” Social Committee has organized a “Khrakhjank” celebrating the 91st anniversary of the Febraury Revolt of 1921. The celebration will take place on Saturday, February 18 at 8 p.m. at Gugasian Hall in Orange County and will feature Armenian patriotic and revolutionary songs performed by Karnig Sarkissian.

“We are excited to have Karnig back in his hometown of Orange County performing for such an important occasion,” said committee Chairwoman, Zepur Ohanessian stated. “The community has always supported such events and this time we are seeing an incredible demand as people realize that Karnig in OC always makes for a spectacular night!”

The organizing committee has also made special arrangements for Setrak Garabedian to be present and stream the entire night online via his internet radio station, www.TrikTrak.ca, which had more than 2 million visitors last month alone. He will also be playing Armenian music prior to Karnig Sarkissian’s performance and will conduct brief and impromptu live interviews with some of the attendees, including representatives of the various Armenian Organizations.

“We’re excited to broadcast live and have Setrak, a former AYF Western Region Central Executive member be with us for the night,” ARF “Armen Karo” Gomideh member, Giro Donabedian said. “Setrak’s presence has created an enormous buzz among current and former AYF members throughout Southern California who plan to attend and have an AYF reunion creating a perfect scenario to celebrate the February Revolt with Karnig!”

When the committee contacted Garabedian to discuss streaming the evening’s festivities, he immediately agreed and said, “I’m excited to come back to Southern California, stream the entire night, and celebrate the February Revolt with all my friends while listening to Karnig!”

“I’ve had the honor of serving on the AYF Central Executive with Setrak, who has always remained involved in our organizations and has set an example for future generations,” ARF “Armen Karo” Gomideh Chairman, Garo Madenlian stated. “I’m looking forward to spending an amazing night with our former and current AYF members, and our entire community as we celebrate the importance of the February Revolt.”

For tickets and reservations, or to be a sponsor, please email feb18event@yahoo.com or contact the organizing committee at (714) 839-5858.

Visit the Facebook event page.

February Revolt was a popular uprising against the Soviets in 1921, supported by the ARF’s Committee for the Salvation of the Fatherland and spearheaded in Zangezour by General Garegin Njdeh, who later founded the AYF in America. For more information see the Haytoug article.

www.TrikTrak.ca is the premiere internet radio station founded by Setrak Garabedian in early 2011 with a variety Armenian & international music program and weekly interviews dealing with subjects concerning the Armenian Daispora.

Co chairs and moderators of the workshop, Medea Kalognomos and Annette Zarian

Participating students represented GUSD’s four high schools, Glendale High School, Hoover High School, Crescenta Valley High School, and Clark Magnet High School. The workshop was the initial meeting for a newly-launched program by CASPS called “Yes, I Can.”

The pilot program, “Yes, I Can” brought together GUSD sophomores identified by their counselors as lacking in motivation and not meeting their academic potential. The students were bused from their individual schools to the Western Prelacy of the Armenian Church in La Crescenta. Moderators for the day, co-chairs, Medea Kalognomos and Annette Zarian, were joined by Laura Atoian in presenting students with ideas to motivate them while dealing with the challenges of high school. Throughout the day, students participated in games, activities, and lectures. Zarian focused the attention of the students on the importance of having the right attitude – an attitude that says, “Yes, I Can.”  Students then worked in groups to identify challenges they faced in high school and discussed ways to deal with these. Atoian asked students to look deeper into their own attributes, aptitudes, and attitudes as she presented them with a “formula for achievement.”  As they ate lunch, students also listened to Dr. Zareh Baghoomian, a local dentist, who graduated from GUSD. Dr. Baghoomian spoke of his own experiences in high school and the importance of setting goals and following through with them. After lunch, students participated in self-esteem building exercises led by Kalognomos. Students left for the day after setting academic goals for themselves for the next semester.

Encouraged by many of the positive evaluations of the workshop by the students, CASPS members and/or volunteers are working to provide mentoring, tutoring and other services as needed for participating students during the course of their high school years. Through close contact with students and their parents, CASPS hopes to attain its goals of being a positive force in the life of these students, helping them reach their academic potential, and seeing them become productive citizens of our community.

Rep. Adam Schiff

Rep. Howard Berman

WASHINGTON—Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-CA), lead sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution, and Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, met with Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, Thursday to discuss the bilateral relationship between the United States and Georgia and to ask the president to focus more attention on the Armenian region of Samtskhe-Javakheti, which borders the Republic of Armenia.

Economic opportunity, education, and development in Samtskhe-Javakheti have lagged behind that of predominantly Georgian areas of the country.

During the meeting in the U.S. Capitol, President Saakashvili expressed a willingness to work with Schiff and Berman to direct more resources to Samtskhe-Javakheti and said that he would fully support additional American assistance to the region.

“I was very pleased with the discussion we had with President Saakashvili,” Schiff said. “He was unhesitating in expressing support when we asked for additional efforts to aid Armenian-Georgians.”

“I will continue to fight for the fair treatment and equal rights for the ethnic Armenian community in Georgia,” said Howard Berman, the Ranking Member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a longtime champion of Armenian causes.

President Saakashvili has been in Washington for several days meeting with a variety of senior American officials, including President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and congressional leaders.

An ongoing dialogue between the Armenian National Committee of America and the Georgian government—both in Tbilisi and via Georgia’s Ambassador in Washington—is exploring ways to expand the Georgian-Armenian partnership to include broader direct Georgian and Armenian investments and also increased U.S. assistance to promote job-creation in the Armenian-populated Samtskhe-Javakheti (Javakhk) region of Georgia.

“The Embassy of Georgia, in support of our government’s material commitment to economic development for our citizens in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region and throughout all of our Republic, looks forward to working with our friends in the U.S. Congress and the Administration and with all American civil society stakeholders – including, of course, with the Armenian American community – in encouraging the targeting of U.S. assistance to meet Samtskhe-Javakheti’s urgent job-creation, infrastructure, technical, and humanitarian needs,” stated Georgia Ambassador to the U.S. Temuri Yakobashvili.

“We look forward, in cooperation with Ambassador Yakobashvili and Georgian government officials, to broadening the longstanding ties that have existed between the Georgian and Armenian peoples through greater Georgian government investment in the economic development of Samtskhe-Javakheti and by collectively supporting a robust U.S. aid package for Georgia that includes targeted assistance to this heavily Armenian populated region,” stated ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian.

ANCA has worked closely with members of Congress, USAID and others in the administration to explore U.S. assistance opportunities in Javakhk, including public-private partnerships, which would offer material incentives for broader international investment in the region.

Aronian during last week's tournament in the Netherlands

YEREVAN (ArmRadio)—Armenian Grandmaster Levon Araonian, in an open letter on Thursday, warned the World Chess Federation (FIDE), he would not be able to take part in the federation’s World Championship tournament if it is held in Azerbaijan.

Bulgaria and Azerbaijan have submitted bids to FIDE, which Federation Internationale des Echecs in French, to host the next World Championship Tournament.

“I learned from the media that the Chess Federations of Azerbaijan and Bulgaria had submitted an application on holding the Candidates Tournament of World Championship,” said Aronian in his letter to FIDE Chairman Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.

“I’d like to inform you that the general atmosphere in Azerbaijan and the continuous tensions between our countries make my participation in such a high-level tournament in Azerbaijan impossible,” added Aronian.

“An important event, such as the Candidates Tournament, requires peace of mind and special concentration. No circumstances, if they are not chess-related, should prevent the grandmaster from demonstrating all of his skills. Unfortunately, at this moment no Armenian can find favorable or adequate psychological atmosphere in Azerbaijan, whereas that is something absolutely necessary. In my opinion, all the participants should be in equal conditions, which is impossible in the event the tournament is held Azerbaijan. Security guaranties and any kind of additional support cannot be a remedy,” explained Aronian.

“Taking into account the aforementioned considerations, I would like to inform you that I would be delighted to take part in the Candidates Tournament in any other country. However, my participation in the candidates tournament in Azerbaijan has to be excluded,” said Aronian.

Just last week, Aronian, currently ranked no. 2 in the world, won first place at the prestigious Tata Steel Tournament in Wijk aan Zee, closing in on the world’s no. 1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway.

Geragos (left) is pictured here with Phil Angelides, Brian Kabateck and Vartkes Yeghiayan (far right)

BY MARK KELLAM

LOS ANGELES (Glendale News Press)—After months of legal wrangling, a multimillion-dollar legal dispute involving a compensation fund for descendants of Armenian Genocide victims has hit another snag: more than 1,700 of the 13,500 claims cannot be found.

In U.S. District Court on Monday, attorney Roman Silberfeld said 1,766 claims “cannot be accounted for” after 41 boxes of claims were moved from the offices of attorneys Mark Geragos and Brian Kabateck to a neutral location at the Loyola Law School.

Silberfeld said he has documentation that the fund’s administrator, Glendale resident Persagh Kartalian, transferred 51 boxes of insurance claims at one point, but Silberfeld isn’t sure of their destination. It now appears that 10 of the boxes are missing.

As part of an earlier agreement between the two sides, all claims of more than $15,000 will be audited for possible inaccuracies. Originally, Silberfeld’s client, Glendale-based attorney Vartkes Yeghiayan, wanted all of the claims made to a compensation fund set up by France-based insurer Axa S.A. checked for discrepancies.

Silberfeld asked Kabateck to double-check the offices to see if the missing claims can be found.

If they don’t turn up, Silberfeld requested that Kartalian be asked what he did with the files.

U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder ordered a deposition with Kartalian to answer questions about the administration of the compensation fund. The attorneys have already spent about 12 hours with Kartalian, questioning him in an informal setting.

Now a formal deposition will be conducted, which can last up to four hours, Snyder said.

Silberfeld said he can do it in less than the maximum time.

“We now have some specific questions for him,” he said.

Kartalian has also been ordered to turn over all records, including electronic, about the fund.

“He undertook this obligation and he’s going to have to follow it through,” Snyder said.

She also agreed with Silberfeld’s request for Pacific Western Bank to send him images of the backs of checks that have been sent to claimants to make sure they have been cashed properly.

Kabateck decried not knowing about the missing claims or request for the images of the backs of checks until about 45 minutes before the hearing.

Geragos, Yeghiayan and Kabateck were on the same legal team that in 2005 brought a lawsuit that resulted in Axa’s compensation fund, which was set up to pay claims that it failed to compensate descendants of Armenian Genocide victims who bought policies between 1875 and 1923.

The next hearing on the matter is scheduled for April 2.

The Anonymous "Operation Armenian Genocide"

BY NANORE BARSOUMIAN
From The Armenian Weekly

The “hacktivist” (activist hackers) group “Anonymous” recently released a new video announcing Operation Armenian Genocide, which threatens attacks against Turkish and U.S. government websites if they fail to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

“…And to the Turkish government: In 1915, The Turkish killed millions of Armenians. Now you have to pay for your actions. Nearly two million people were killed by the Turkish including children and women and yet you still deny the existence of the genocide… This is a warning to you. We will start targeting Turkish government websites until the genocide is confirmed,” read the altered voice on the YouTube clip uploaded on Jan. 25.

The message also threatened to engage in cyber-attacks against official U.S. websites if the genocide is not recognized by “next year.” It is unclear whether the deadline is April 2012 or April 2013.

“Every four years in the United States, every official who wants to be a president tells the Armenian people that they will confirm the existence of the Armenian Genocide. However, the U.S. has not yet confirmed it. If this occurs next year, we will start targeting U.S. official websites. Operation Armenian Genocide, engaged,” continued the voice.

The clip ended with the group’s slogan, “We are anonymous. We are legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.”

It appears the video was prepared before Jan. 23, when the French Senate passed a bill criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide. “Your protest against France won’t help. The French Senators will pass the bill and they are supported by hundreds of historians,” declared the voice in the clip, adding, “You will not join the European Union and never will.”

The video announced both the launch of Operation Armenian Genocide and Operation Anti-ACTA (the acronym for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which deals with intellectual property rights and includes measures against the production and distribution of counterfeit products, generic medicine, and online piracy). Opponents argue the agreement infringes on individual rights, including free speech and the right to privacy, and would lead to an increase in border searches and screenings of person electronic devices such as laptops and iPhones. An earlier draft of the agreement said internet providers would give authorities information on individuals suspected of copyright infringement without a warrant, and that governments could shut down websites engaged in piracy.

According to a thread on a Russian-language blog post, Operation Armenian Genocide (#OpArmGenocide, as it is also called on sites such as Twitter) was “shelved” to focus on Operation ACTA and Operation Megaupload, and it is unclear when it will re-launch.

On Jan. 27, however, the official website of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs was briefly offline. The Armenian Weekly could not independently verify that it was due to Anonymous action, although some sources claimed it was.

The creator of the video may be of Armenian origin, since s/he states, “Germany is still paying Jewish people for their actions and now it’s time for Turkey to give back our land and pay us for our loss.”

Anonymous has no leader, but is made up of internet users who work collectively towards a certain goal while maintaining anonymity. Anyone can become a member of Anonymous and propose actions; it is up to each member to support or oppose any suggested operation.

In 2011, Anonymous went after Turkish government websites in retaliation for measures preventing Turkish citizens from accessing websites such as YouTube. Turkish authorities had initially set up the ban because of the presence of videos offensive to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s memory.

In a previous operation, Anonymous attacked websites belonging to the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Universal Music Group, among others, in protest of the shutdown of the movie-sharing website Megaupload in January, and the arrest of four of its staff.

During the Arab Spring uprisings, Anonymous targeted Tunisian, Egyptian, and Libyan government websites in solidarity with the protesters. The group has a string of operations under its belt, including Operation Intifada, in response to Israel’s alleged involvement in cyber-attacks against Iran; Operation Syria, in support of the 2011 Syrian uprising; Operation India, against corruption in the country; Operation Blackout, in retaliation of the Stop Online Piracy Act in the U.S.; and Operation Avenge Assange (part of Operation Payback), in response to companies terminating their services to WikiLeaks.

Anonymous hackers have also released e-mails, passwords, and private information of individual targets, including police officers who were believed to have used force against protesters in the Occupy movement.

The proposed boundaries of the Valley districts

The Armenian National Committee of America-San Fernando Valley chapter issued an appeal to the community Wednesday urging community participation in a hearing regarding redistricting of Los Angeles City Council districts.

Below is the appeal from the ANCA-San Fernando Valley chapter:

The ANCA-San Fernando Valley West needs your help. Please attend the next redistricting hearing at Pierce College this Saturday and make your voice heard!

Saturday, February 4, 2012, 11:00AM
Pierce College: The Great Hall
6201 Winnetka Avenue, Woodland Hills, CA 91367
(Please arrive 1 hour early to fill out a speaker card. Space is limited)

Every 10 years, a redistricting commission redraws the City Council boundaries. Their decision affects our immediate community including Ferrahian, our Church, sister organizations and residences.

Instead of combining our Armenian communities in the Valley, the new map splits the large Armenian community and weakens our voting power. The commission has already published initial draft maps that are not acceptable to our community. They are proposing that Encino and Sherman Oaks be joined with Silver Lake, Hollywood and Los Angeles . This is unacceptable.

Attend the next hearing this Saturday and if you are willing, fill out a speaker card and let the commission know:

• That you are against the draft maps
• The Armenian Community of the West Valley should not be divided.

The Prelate during Divine Liturgy in Fresno

Western Prelate Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian celebrated Divine Liturgy and delivered his message at Holy Trinity Church in Fresno on January 29 on the occasion of the 111th anniversary of the church. Parish Pastor Rev. Fr. Vahan Gosdanian and deacons assisted at the altar.

Prior to the sermon, the Prelate gave thanks to Almighty God for granting the blessed day together to celebrate Divine Liturgy the 111th anniversary of the parish. Reflecting on the Pontifical Visit of His Holiness Catholicos Aram I to the Church and Sunday School in October of last year, the Prelate noted that His Holiness places a great deal of importance and priority to educating our youth and providing them with the necessary knowledge and tools to develop their unique Armenian Christian identity, and that we are all called to do the same, for our youth are the future leaders who will continue in our path and that of our forefathers, which is why we must instill and root in them our faith, values, and heritage from a young age so that they are fully prepared to take the lead.

Given that it was the eve of the Fast of the Catechumens, the Prelate gave a brief background on the fast, which is observed only in the Armenian Church.

The sermon was on the day’s Scripture reading from the Gospel of John which told of one of the most dramatic miracles in the earthly ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus walking on water in the midst of a dark and stormy sea.

Speaking on this passage, the Prelate noted the following; “We all face storms in our lives. The nature of our storms may vary, but there is none among us who hasn’t at some point in his or her life been faced with a difficult and trying situation. In the midst of it all, we need to remain strong and hopeful, for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is always with us. Rather than feel overwhelmed, helpless, and alone, we need to weather our storms with faith and turn to God to lead us to shore. God sees our troubles, and when we come to the place where we stand in awe of His power and His plan, the storms will cease to frighten us. We all need our Savior, and the good news is that He is here. We need only to lift our eyes and hear Him whisper in His reassuring voice, “Do not fear, it is I.” He will bring us safely to shore.”

The Prelate then once again congratulated the parish on their 111th anniversary, commended the servants and volunteers for their service and contributions, and urged the faithful in attendance to actively participate in the mission of our church and in our community life so that together we can overcome any and all obstacles that may arise.

Following the Divine Liturgy, the Prelate presided over the 111th anniversary banquet, hosted by the Pastor and Board of Trustees. Executive Council member Bill Sahatdjian participated in the Liturgy and Banquet.

Approximately 200 guests were in attendance.

Sunday School Superintendant and Master of Ceremonies Sato Sanikian welcomed the guests. After the singing of the American and Armenian national anthems, she invited Fr. Vahan to deliver the invocation.

Prelate with Annual Service Award recipients

Three parishioners, Levon Baladjanian, David Sarabian, and Patty Torosian were presented the Annual Service Award for their dedication and vast contributions to Holy Trinity Church, while Krista Parnagian received the Youth Leadership Award for her contributions.

Bill Sahatdjian was then invited to deliver his remarks, followed by Fr. Vahan, who invited the Prelate for his message and benediction.

The Prelate spoke of the importance of serving our Church and communities, saying, “As Christians, we are all called to serve; it is our Lord’s example and it is our duty. As followers of our Lord Jesus Christ, each and every one of us is called to serve God and also our Church through which our faith and heritage is preserved. Through our service we are glorifying God and building up our church and local communities.” He commended the service and devotion of the four honorees and expressed hope that they are an example for others to follow in their footsteps and become active participants in our church and community life. The Prelate also commended the Pastor, Delegates, Board of Trustees, sponsors, and all the faithful who unrelentingly and tirelessly serve for the advancement of the parish, blessed the memory of all past servants who are no longer with us, and concluded saying, “As we celebrate the 111th anniversary of Holy Trinity Church, let us pledge to renew and strengthen our commitment and devotion serving God and the Armenian Apostolic Church, and to preserving and promoting our faith and our heritage for generations to come.”

The luncheon also included a performance by the Sunday School, a video presentation of the church’s endeavors, and remarks by representatives from the Ladies’ Aid, Trinity Guild, and Men’s Society

The event concluded with the singing of the Cilician anthem.

On Saturday, January 28, the Prelate met with the parish Pastor, Board of Trustees and Delegates to discuss issues concerning the parish.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy

PARIS—French President Nicolas Sarkozy will immediately submit a new draft of a law punishing denial of the Armenian genocide if France’s top judicial body rejects it, two ministers told AFP Wednesday.

“The president told us in cabinet that he would immediately submit a new draft if there is a rejection by the Constitutional Council” of a bill approved recently by the French parliament, said one of the ministers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, reported AFP.

Another minister said Sarkozy had also criticized those in cabinet who had opposed the bill, saying they “did not see past the ends of their noses.”

He said a rejection of the bill by the Constitutional Council could open the door to questioning a law that penalizes denial of the Holocaust.

After being approved by the National Assembly and Senate, the law was put on hold Tuesday after politicians opposed to the legislation demanded that its constitutionality be examined.

Two separate groups of French politicians who oppose the legislation – from both the Senate and the lower house – said they had formally requested the Constitutional Council examine the law.

The groups said they each had gathered more than the minimum 60 signatures required to ask the council to test the law’s constitutionality.

The council is obliged to deliver its judgment within a month, but this can be reduced to eight days if the government deems the matter urgent.

Despite government backing of the law, at least two ministers, Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire, had spoken out against the bill.

“French President Sarkozy could have signed, and turned into a law, the bill that criminalizes the denial of genocides [including the Armenian Genocide], but he preferred to wait until the statutory deadline, and this enabled for the bill’s opponents to get active and appeal to the Constitutional Council,” said a statement political affairs office of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Bureau.

There are three options that the Constitutional Council could consider in addressing the Genocide bill.

The Council could rule that the resolution as approved is consistent with the constitution and thus pave the way for a presidential signature. The Council could determine that portions of the bill are not consistent with the French Constitution. In case, the bill will be returned to the National Assembly, to amend it and make it consistent with the Constitution. This option could cause problems, since the National Assembly will go on vacation, in one month, to prepare for the presidential elections.

A third option would be to find the resolution entirely unconstitutional, in which case Sarkozy would have to re-introduce the matter in the National Assembly and the process would begin anew.

The president cannot sign the bill until the Constitutional Council reaches a decision.

Syunik Governor Suren Khachatryan

Preferential Treatment for Armenia’s Oligarchs and their Entourage

BY NANORE BARSOUMIAN
From The Armenian Weekly

In November 2011, Syunik Governor Suren Khachatryan (aka “Liska”) physically attacked businesswoman Silva Hambarzumyan in the lobby of the Marriot Hotel in Yerevan. He was reportedly angered over her accusations that he stole over 100 million drams ($258,000) worth of equipment from her gold mine. The media quickly picked up the story, as the attack happened in a public space, involved two high-profile individuals, and had as eyewitnesses Republican Party MPs Samvel Sargsyan and Khachik Manukyan.

This was not the first time the Syunik governor or other members of the ruling elite were accused of physically attacking citizens. In 2001, an intoxicated Georgian-Armenian was viciously beaten to death in a bathroom stall by then-President Robert Kocharian’s bodyguard, Aghamal Harutiunyan, during a jazz concert in Yerevan’s Poplavok cafe. The victim, Poghos Poghosian, had been imprudent enough to “insult” the president by greeting him with, “Hello, Rob!” (short for Robert). The bodyguard received a mere probation for his crime, as the court rejected the key witness account of British citizen Stephen Newton. Unfortunately, these crimes are not exceptions, and they have not escaped the attention of foreign diplomats.

A set of U.S. Embassy cables originating from the embassy in Yerevan paint a disturbing reality of beatings and murders at the hands of powerful figures or members of their entourage. U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, for instance, wrote of a brawl that took place in a Yerevan discotheque in Octeber 2008 that was allegedly “prompted” by a nephew of President Serge Sarkisian’s. It resulted in serious injuries, and the loss of an eye for one of the men involved.

Unrestrained violence has even permeated state institutions; the cables and various news reports tell of beatings and murders that happen at the hands of the police and army officials, and often go unpunished. Numerous cables chronicle instances of attacks against human rights activists, journalists, and ordinary citizens, in addition to media censorship and intimidation.

The May 2007 death of restaurant owner Levon Gulian troubled U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Joseph Pennington because the victim perished when he plunged to his death—head first—out of the window of a police station where he was being interrogated. According to his family, Gulian voluntarily went to the police to give his account as a witness to a crime, but ended up dead. A proper investigation has never been carried out, and his injuries are left unexplained. Pennington wrote that the government counsel provided a “fantastic scenario” of how Gulian fell head first, and not on his feet—as he should have if he had willingly jumped down 25 feet. Pennington followed that case closely, sending a number of cables with updates on the investigation.

Jaw-breaker
In May 2008, Pennington cabled another report that described how Governor Khachatryan had allegedly “viciously beat” a teenager who was unlucky enough to have fallen into a skirmish with the governor’s son. After the news spread, the governor’s supervisor, the minister of territorial administration, looked into the affair and found no misconduct.

In April 2011, the governor allegedly beat a 12-year-old boy and broke his jaw. The boy’s family did not report the attack out of fear, wrote Aravot newspaper at the time. Pennington noted that the incident was not a first for Khachatryan or his family. Khachatryan “de facto reigns over Syunik as a feudal lord,” he wrote, adding, “in 2007, the governor’s brother reportedly attempted to rape a girl at broad daylight in a supermarket.”

Soon after, Aravot printed a retraction stating they had wrongly identified another child as the victim, and that the real victim was 16 years old. The newspaper further stated that the family, fearing Khachatryan, did not wish to be identified, and had not taken the boy to a hospital, deciding instead to rely on the expertise of a physician they knew. It also stated that the victim’s house was under surveillance by thugs working for the governor.

According to Pennington, soon after these news reports were published, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsian ordered his deputy prime minister, Armen Gevorkian (who also serves as minister of territorial administration), to look into Aravot’s report. Gevorkian formed a special commission; after first meeting with the misidentified 12-year-old boy and X-raying his jaw, he finally met with the real victim and found there were no outer signs of injuries. Pennington noted that weeks had passed since the incident occurred, and the commission did not X-ray the jaw of the actual victim. Again, the commission found no wrongdoing on the part of the governor. Instead, they found that the teenager had hit the governor’s son, and that Aravot’s reports were flawed.

A month after sending the cable, Pennington authored another one stating that a direct source (identified in the report but protected here for his safety) confirmed the governor’s attack. The teenage victim was the son of one of the Board members of the Goris Teachers’ Union. Apparently, the governor’s son had made advances toward a girl on the street, and the teenager had intervened. The governor reportedly called the teenager to his office, to reprimand him for daring to hit his son. The teenager showed no remorse. Angered, the governor hit him, drawing “excessive” amounts of blood from his nose. Khachatryan then offered the boy a napkin, but the latter pushed it away. Furious, he then “viciously” beat the teenager.

The source also revealed that the governor had forbidden area hospitals from giving aid to the injured teenager. Thus, his family was forced to drive him to a hospital four hours away in Yerevan. According to the source, all the residents of Goris knew of the incident.

“Syunik’s governor has a long-standing, well-deserved reputation as a thug who rules the distant southern province with an iron grip,” wrote Pennington. “The ability of key figures—governors, mayors, generals, oligarchs, as well as their sons, bodyguards, and retainers —to beat up or even kill ordinary citizens with impunity remains both a human rights blot and cause for ongoing public anger at the entrenched elites.”

According to a 2004 U.S. Embassy cable authored by U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission in Armenia Vivian Walker, Khachatryan was appointed governor of Syunik province by Kocharian. Some regarded Khachatryan’s and others’ appointments to key government positions as payoffs for their support in the 2003 elections. In both the 1998 and 2003 presidential elections, Syunik province cast the most votes for Kocharian. Formerly an auto mechanic and a parliamentarian, Khachatryan entered the political scene during the Karabagh War, serving as a commander to military units in Goris. “Some claim that the Khachatryan family considers the province to be their de facto personal fiefdom,” wrote Walker, who added that according to media reports, Khachatryan has been “linked” to “violent incidents” in Goris since 1996. In March 2004, two of the governor’s nephews faced criminal charges for murdering a local man, Walker noted.

Settling scores on the streets of Yerevan
Two years earlier, a set of murders in Armenia prompted then-U.S. Embassy Chargé d´Affaires Anthony Godfrey to send a cable to Washington to express his alarm. “Oligarchs and thugs have taken to settling scores on the street in greater numbers in the last few months, and high-profile assassinations and murder attempts are on the rise in Armenia,” he wrote in a cable dated Oct. 18, 2006.

He mentioned how in June 2006, 26-year-old (31 by other accounts) Sedrak Zatikian, a Yerkrapah (Karabagh War veterans’ political movement) leader, was gunned down in broad daylight while driving his car. The shooting also claimed the life of a bystander. Zatikian was “wealthy, relatively powerful, and notorious,” wrote Godfrey. His notoriety was established in 2004, after he assaulted the nephew of influential parliamentary deputy, Hakob Hakobian (aka “Ledi Hakob”). Zatikian hid from police for months, avoiding prosecution, but later reconciled with the Hakobians. Police arrested one of Hakobian’s nephews in connection with the murder, but only charged him with illegal arms possession.

According to recent news reports, Hakobyan’s 33-year-old nephew, Stepan Hakobyan (wanted since Zatikyan’s murder), was apprehended in December 2011. Two others, Ashot Hakobyan, 43, and Arayik Yeghiazaryan, 40, were also arrested.

Murder in Etchmiadzin
In 2008, Pennington penned his outrage at an incident involving yet another father and son. This time, the son of retired army general and parliamentary member Seyran Saroyan was accused of participating in the murder of Sepuh Karapetian, 23, from Echmiadzin in March of that year. The murder was allegedly ordered by the retired general who was enraged that his son, Zarzand, had received a knife wound during a fight with three young men. The wound was inflicted by Karapetian’s friend, allegedly in self-defense, according to a Hetq interview with an anonymous friend present at the scene. The fight reportedly broke out when the three tried to stop Zarzand’s unwelcome advances towards a young woman. Upon learning about the fight, the general reportedly ordered his son to seek revenge.

According to reports cited by Pennington, Zarzand, a relative (rumored to be the general’s father), and eight of the general’s bodyguards participated in locating the three youth, savagely beating them, and murdering Karapetian. “According to Karapetian’s anonymous friend, when the 23-year-old’s body was found, it showed signs of torture. Karapetian’s shoes and socks had been removed and his feet beaten to a pulp; the deceased’s legs had turned white from repetitive blows; and his hands had been pierced by a sharp implement in the manner of a crucifixion,” wrote Pennington.

In the end, a distant relative of the general, Arayik Saroyan, was charged with premeditated murder, but third-party sources were unable to verify whether the relative had been present at the time of the murder. Pennington noted that according to a Hetq report, Zarzand was also involved in a hit-and-run that left a 10-year-old boy dead and another crippled in 2007.

“This and other similar incidents in recent years reinforce the impression of many ordinary Armenians that there is a class of well-connected individuals and oligarchs here who, along with their families and security details, can rob, kill, and maim with impunity,” wrote Pennington. “We customarily hear reports several times per year of influential generals or oligarchs, or their families or retainers, being involved in violent altercations with average citizens unlucky or imprudent enough to get in their way. Such incidents are routinely swept under the carpet… It is precisely incidents such as these that deepen Armenians’ feelings of helpless rage that there is a class of wealthy and thuggish regime supporters who are effectively free to maim and kill ordinary citizens with impunity.”

Unfortunately, some of the very same individuals whose actions shocked the authors of these cables are still terrorizing the streets of Armenia. Khachatryan made headlines yet again in recent weeks after he allegedly threatened the wellbeing of an environmental activist. An even-handed judiciary must emerge that acts not as the pawn of the rich and powerful, but as an institution that guards the rights of all Armenian citizens. Crimes must be punished, regardless of the depth of the criminals’ pockets or their familial relations.

Carl Bardakian (center) coached the Los Angeles team to victory during the Pan-Armenian Games last August

YEREVAN (ArmeniaNow)—Carl Bardakian, a former NCAA Division I assistant basketball coach, will lead Armenia’s men’s national team in preparations for next summer’s FIBA European Division C Championship, it emerged on Tuesday.

The Basketball Federation of Armenia (BFA) said it had appointed its United States representative as the team’s head coach. Bardakian coached at Cleveland State University, and led the Los Angeles men’s team at the latest Pan-Armenian Games in Yerevan last August.

The BFA said it hoped the 41-year-old coach from Los Angeles would succeed in “gathering the best Armenian basketball players and achieving positive results.”

Speaking to ArmeniaNow from Los Angeles, Bardakian said he was “honored and grateful” for the opportunity granted to him by the BFA.

“President Hrachya Rostomyan and Vice-President Souren Zohrabyan have been tremendously supportive. Together, we have entered new groundbreaking territory. Our goal of uniting the best players from Armenia and the Diaspora to compete in FIBA Europe is on the verge of becoming a reality. There is no turning back,” said Bardakian.

Tom Odjakjian, an Associate Commissioner of the Big East Conference, said of the appointment: “There is no one more passionate about the growth and success of Armenian basketball than Carl Bardakian. No one waves the flag more proudly, or supports and promotes Armenia basketball more energetically. When I think of Armenian basketball, I think of one thing – Carl Bardakian.”

And Van Nuys’s Mike Danielian, a club SG MTV/BG 93 Wolfenbüttel guard playing in Germany, said: “Coach Bardakian tirelessly worked to make this dream become a reality for us. I am fully committed to playing for Armenia this summer.”

Armenia will apply to compete in the FIBA Europe Division C Men’s Basketball Championship, July 2-7, 2012. Upon acceptance by FIBA Europe, Armenia will compete against Scotland, Wales, Malta, Moldova, Andorra, Gibraltar and host country San Marino.

Carla Garapedian of the Armenian Film Foundation with Steven Spielberg

LOS ANGELES—The USC Institute of Armenian Studies’ Leadership Council will honor the USC Shoah Foundation Institute, established by legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg, for championing the Armenian Genocide Digitization Project, at a gala banquet to be held on April 15 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

The Shoah Foundation Institute, established by Steven Spielberg in 1994, has been part of the USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences since 2006.  Its Visual History Archive contains nearly 52,000 video testimonies of survivors and other witnesses of the Holocaust; it is one of the largest archives of its kind in the world.

The goal of the USC Institute of Armenian Studies’ Leadership Council is to bring together digital copies of all of the collections of interviews with Armenian Genocide survivors and eyewitnesses, essentially creating what may become the largest archive of Genocide eyewitness interviews. With the USC Shoah Foundation Institute’s support of the Armenian Genocide Digitization Project, the interviews will be indexed, preserved and made available to scholars, students and researchers via the institute’s Visual History Archive. The J. Michael Hagopian/Armenian Film Foundation archive of nearly 400 filmed eyewitness testimonies will be the first collection in the Armenian Genocide Digitization Project.

In addition to honoring the USC Shoah Foundation Institute on April 15, the USC Instiute of Armenian Studies’ Leadership Council also will salute the late humanitarian Armin T. Wegner and the late Armenian Film Foundation founder and documentary filmmaker J. Michael Hagopian.

A German with a doctorate in law, Wegner served as a volunteer medic during World War I. Witnessing the massacre of Armenians in 1915, he took the haunting photographs that today stand as a reminder of the heinous crimes of the Ottoman Turks. His work documenting the horrors of the Armenian Genocide and, subsequently, his open letter to Adolf Hitler denouncing the persecution of the Jews has made him a human rights hero.

Hagopian’s first filmed interview with a witness to the Armenian Genocide was with Wegner, in 1966.  

With the attempted annihilation of the Armenian people being the first major genocide of the 20th century, the Armenian survivor and eyewitness interviews are significant to the scope of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute’s Visual History Archive. The USC Shoah Foundation Institute is beginning to work with partners around the world to expand its archive with existing and new testimony collections from survivors and witnesses of other genocides, including the genocides in Rwanda and Cambodia.

The USC Institute of Armenian Studies’ Leadership Council continues to play a primary role in bringing together and enhancing the Armenian community. There will be further announcements about the upcoming April 15 gala, to be held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, in the Armenian press.

About the USC Institute of Armenian Studies
Working in close collaboration with the local Armenian American community, the USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences in 2005 launched the USC Institute of Armenian Studies.

The USC Institute of Armenian Studies is a multidisciplinary academic center with a mission of promoting scholarship and activities in a wide spectrum of fields, from dance, music and the arts to politics, literature and community affairs. A center for the study of issues confronting Armenians everywhere, the institute concentrates on offering guidance and solutions to those who live in Southern California. The Armenian Studies Institute has organized symposiums and sponsored public events such as academic lectures, exhibits, concerts and other programs about Armenian history and culture.

Supported by a Leadership Council, the USC Institute of Armenian Studies provides internships, scholarships and counseling for students with an eye toward training the next generation of community leaders.

Approximately 1,000 Armenian American students attend USC each year.

About the USC Shoah Foundation Institute
Established in 1994 by Steven Spielberg to collect and preserve the testimonies of survivors and other witnesses of the Holocaust, the USC Shoah Foundation Institute maintains one of the largest video digital libraries in the world: nearly 52,000 video testimonies in 32 languages and from 56 countries.

The USC Shoah Foundation Institute is part of the USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences; its mission is to overcome prejudice, intolerance, and bigotry—and the suffering they cause—through the educational use of the institute’s visual history testimonies.

Working within the university and with partners around the world, the USC Shoah Foundation Institute advances scholarship and research, provides resources and online tools for educators, and disseminates the testimonies for educational purposes. In addition to preserving the testimonies in its archive, the institute is working with partner organizations to help document the stories of survivors and other witnesses of other genocides. 
About Dr. J. Michael Hagopian (1913-2010) and Armenian Film Foundation
Born in the Kharpert province of Historical Armenia, J. Michael Hagopian survived the Turkish extermination of 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 and dedicated his life to the visual documentation of the Armenian Genocide. In all, his work encompasses nearly 400 interviews of survivors of and witnesses to the Armenian Genocide and 40 years of research. He was the catalyst for the establishment of the Armenian Film Foundation in 1979.

Dr. Hagopian holds a doctorate in international relations from Harvard University and an undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley. He also completed two years of graduate work in cinema at USC.

In his 97 years, he wrote, directed and produced more than 70 educational and documentary films that collectively won more than 160 national and international awards, including two Emmy nominations for the writing and production of The Forgotten Genocide.

Dr. Hagopian himself is the recipient of numerous honors, including Jewish World Watch’s “I Witness” Award in 2008. In 2006 he was presented with the Armin T. Wegner Humanitarian Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Arpa Foundation for Film Music and the Arts. The Armenian National Committee honored him as Man of the Year twice, in 1984 and in 2000.

Patients are cared for in Armenia Fund-renovated hospital

YEREVAN–Armenia Fund this week announced the completion of extensive renovations at the Nephrology and Dialysis departments of Yerevan’s St. Gregory the Illuminator (Surb Grigor Lusavorich) Hospital.

Made possible by a donation to the Fund’s Toronto affiliate by a generous benefactor, this vital project was part of a series of sponsor-inspired grant projects implemented during 2011.

The chairman of the Fund’s Toronto affiliate, Mkrtich Mkrtichian, commented on the completion of the St. Gregory Hospital project, announcing his community’s ongoing commitment the united effort of rebuilding the Armenian homeland.

“We are extremely gratified by the fact that the Armenian community of Toronto is doing its utmost to be of assistance to our sisters and brothers in the homeland,” Mkrtichian said.

The renovated premises, encompassing a total area of 1,120 square meters, includes eight patient rooms, a cafeteria, two offices, and new restrooms. The building’s power and water systems have also been replaced and a central-heating system has been installed. Both upgraded departments have been fully operational since mid-December.

Dr. Razmik Pandunts, who heads the Nephrology and Dialysis departments, had high praise for the quality of the upgrades as he conveyed his gratitude a few weeks after the hospital reopened its doors.

“Without a doubt, our staff has been delighted to work in such beautifully renovated facilities. This new environment is also having a visibly positive effect on our patients,” Dr. Pandunts exclaimed.

The Nephrology and Dialysis departments are devoted to the study, diagnosis and treatment of kidney disease in Armenia — an affliction that took the lives of nearly 1000 people last year. The facility employs a staff of 36, including six doctors and 30 nurses. Today some 55 patients receive treatment at the two wings, which together have the capacity to serve up to 80 patients at a time.

Developing the healthcare infrastructure of Armenia is important to improving the overall standard of living in the country.  In addition to this focus on health and medicine, is our holistic approach to nation development also includes an ongoing commitment to enhancing social welfare, cultural development, and strategic infrastructure.

Some of the other projects we’re currently working on include the complete renovation of the third and fourth floors in Yerevan’s Nork Retirement Home and the renovation of Shushi’s Center of Education and Culture in Artsakh.
To follow Armenia Fund’s ongoing projects, visit us on the social web at Facebook, Twitter, or Youtube.

Elizabeth Petrosyan

LOS ANGELES—Little Armenia resident, Elizabeth Petrosyan, a 2011 VISA USA National Qualifier, will be competing with more than 200 gymnasts from around the world at the 2012 LA Lights Tournament on Friday.

Also competing will be seven gymnasts from the National Federation of Armenia. They are: Lilit Khechoyan, Luiza Papazyan, Alita Abgaryan, Karine Khachatryan, Armine Papazyan, Anyuta Sedrakyan and Mari Buchakhchyan.

Sponsored by Los Angeles School of Gymnastics (LASG) and sanctioned by the International Gymnastics Federation (IGF), the 2012 LA Lights Tournament of Champions is the nation’s largest and most prestigious gymnastics event.

2012 LA Lights will take place from February 3 to 5 starting at 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Helen Bernstein High School (1309 N. Wilton Place) in Los Angeles as more than 200 top gymnasts from USA, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Armenia, China and Canada will participate in this event.

Some of the top gymnasts include Liubov Charkashyna (who will compete in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games and the 2011 World Championship Bronze Medalist), Melitina Staniouta (who will compete in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games and ranks #6 on the 2011 World Champion List), Aliaksandra Narkevich (who will compete in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games and ranks #14 on the 2011 World Champion List), Anna Bessonova (2008 Olympic Bronze Medalist) as well as LASG gymnasts Heather Chan, Shirley Gon-Gibbs and Elizabeth Petrosyan (2011 VISA USA National Qualifiers).

“This event is the largest multi-level competition in the world, drawing top gymnasts from around the globe and culminates in a dramatic awards ceremony and gymnastics celebration,” said Tanya Berenson, general manager of LASG.  “Given this is an Olympic year, all gymnasts are gearing up for their top performances to date.”

LA Lights 2012 is the first and only event in the U.S. and one of only 12 in the gymnastics global community to be approved by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). Recognized by the International Olympic Committee and its officials as the oldest of international sport federations, FIG is the supreme authority on international gymnastics.

The LA Lights Tournament of Champions serves as the primary route for major international tournaments including the World Championship and the Olympic Games.

LASG, the nation’s leader in the gymnastics industry, is headed by executive director Alla Svirsky – a four-time Olympic Coach and a USA Gymnastics Inductee to the Hall of Fame.  After years of dedication, coach Svirsky pioneered rhythmic gymnastics into the United States through the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. This was the first sanctioned Olympic Games for rhythmic gymnastics and Svirsky was acclaimed as the first Olympic coach for the sport.

About Los Angeles School of Gymnastics (LASG)
LASG, an Olympic-quality training center, is a nonprofit corporation, is considered among the top training facilities in the country, which has been training Los Angeles youth since 1975. Led by four-time Olympic coach Alla Svirsky, LASG has provided thousands of young athletes with quality gymnastics instruction and has produced several Olympians and internationally-ranked athletes. Visit www.lagymnastics.com.

About 2012 L.A Lights Rhythmic Gymnastics Invitational
LA Lights is one of the largest rhythmic gymnastics events in the nation. Sanctioned by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) and USA Gymnastics Federation, the tournament hosts hundreds of the world’s most diverse and competitive athletes in rhythmic gymnastics, including world champions from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, USA, and many more. Visit www.lalightsmeet.com for more information.

Assemblymember Fuentes

SACRAMENTO—The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region welcomed the introduction of Assembly Concurrent Resolution 96, introduced by California Assembly Member Felipe Fuentes (CA-AD-39-D-Arleta).  The resolution commemorates the massacres of Armenians in Sumgait, Kirovabad (present-day Ganja), and Baku, Azerbaijan on the anniversary of the massacre in Sumgait (February 1988) and calls on the legislature to remember the victims of massacres and oppression of Armenians in Azerbaijan, many of whom barely survived the atrocities and ended up as refugees in the United States, including California.

“I am honored to lead the State Assembly in commemorating the massacre of Armenians in Azerbaijan nearly 25 years ago,” said Fuentes. “The Armenian people have demonstrated throughout history that they are true survivors. They have faced persecution and genocide and yet they have once again flourished and have become an integral part of our community in California. We stand together today to acknowledge the atrocities of the past so that we do not repeat them in the future.”

The resolution, which should be adopted before the anniversary, on February 27, of the Sumgait massacres, provides the broader context of the issue and how the massacres were part of the widespread, anti-democratic backlash faced by the ethnic Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh when they voted for independence when the Soviet Union fell.

The Soviet Azerbaijani state and subsequent Republic of Azerbaijan brutally responded to Armenians’ call for self-determination, both within and beyond Nagorno Karabakh in Azerbaijan.

With hundreds of thousands fleeing Azerbaijan in the last decade of the 20th Century, many found refuge in California.

“This resolution resonates both from the American and Armenian perspective.  As a country founded on the principle of self-determination by people seeking a better life and often escaping persecution in the ‘Old World,’ the United States and its history is an inspiration to the Armenians of Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh,” said Armen Garabedian, chairman of the ANCA-WR’s California State Affairs committee.  “It has become a safe haven and home for those fleeing the massacres in Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku as well as an inspiration to those who stayed behind to shape a more secure and democratic future there.”

Hundreds of Armenian families who survived the massacres ended up in towns across California including those in the San Francisco, Sacramento, Central Valley, Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego County areas.  Many of these survivors have put down roots in the state and are giving back to the communities in which they live as established and young professionals.

Those interested in learning more about the resolution and participating in the community’s commemoration activities in the State Capitol should contact the ANCA-WR at (818) 500-1918.

The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.

The French Senate

PARIS (AFP)—France’s new law punishing denial of the Armenian genocide was put on hold on Jan. 31 after politicians opposed to the legislation demanded that its constitutionality be examined.

Turkey reacted furiously last week when the Senate approved the law which threatens with jail anyone in France who denies that the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turk forces amounted to genocide.

President Nicolas Sarkozy’s office brushed off angry threats of retaliation by Turkey and vowed to enforce the law within a fortnight.

But on Jan. 31, two separate groups of French politicians who oppose the legislation–from both the Senate and the lower house of parliament–said they had formally requested the constitutional council to examine the law.

The groups said they each had gathered more than the minimum 60 signatures required to ask the council to test the law’s constitutionality.

“This is an atomic bomb for the Elysee (Sarkozy’s office) which didn’t see it coming,” said deputy Lionel Tardy, who said that most of the 65 signatories from the lower house were, like him, from Sarkozy’s UMP party.

The council is obliged to deliver its judgment within a month, but this can be reduced to eight days if the government deems the matter urgent.

Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan immediately welcomed the development.

“I hope the constitutional council will do what is necessary,” said Erdogan, while Gul said he was “not expecting the French from the very beginning to let their country be overshadowed” by the genocide law.

France has already officially recognized the killings as a genocide, but the new law would go further by punishing anyone who denies this with up to a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros ($57,000).

Erdogan last week denounced the law as “tantamount to discrimination and racism” and warned that his Islamist-rooted government would punish Paris with unspecified retaliatory measures if Sarkozy signed it into law.

Ankara has already halted political and military cooperation with France and was threatening to cut off economic and cultural ties.

Trade between the two states was worth 12 billion euros ($15.5 billion) in 2010, with several hundred French businesses operating in Turkey.

Armenia hailed the passage of the bill through the French Senate, with President Serge Sarkisian writing in a letter to Sarkozy: “France has reaffirmed its greatness and power, its devotion to universal human values.”

Around 20 countries have officially recognized the killings as genocide.

Amnesty International has criticized the French law, saying it would violate freedom of expression.

ARF Bureau member Mario Nalbandian

YEREVAN (ARF Press Office)—The Council of the Socialist International met in San José, Costa Rica from January 23 to 24 hosted by the National Liberation Party (PLN), bringing together more than 170 leaders and delegates from 60 social democratic, labor and socialist parties from around the world. Among them was Mario Nalbandian, Armenian Revolutionary Federation Bureau Member and Co-chair of the Socialist International Committee for the CIS, the Caucasus and the Black Sea countries.

The Council’s agenda included the current financial crisis and climate change, key questions in the concerns of the global social democratic movement today as well as the strengthening of the Socialist International, as the organization approaches its XXIV Congress this year.

As stated in the SI’s press release “following the conclusion of a constructive debate on the global economy, a resolution of the Council was adopted unanimously, outlining the priorities of the organization at this juncture and in the medium to long-term, to redress the world economy in line with the objectives of recovering real growth, increasing employment, achieving stability and overcoming the sovereign debt crisis and its harmful effects in the rest of the economy. The document argues in favor of the redesign of global financial institutions, the effective regulation of the financial sector, new instruments for development and sustainable growth, addressing the eurozone crisis beyond austerity, and increasing competitiveness while defending social protection and investment in green growth”.

Furthermore, the Council approved a statement on the freedom of speech and independence of the judiciary in Turkey, supporting the SI member parties in that country and condemning the arrests of the BDP members and the suit against the leader of the country’s main opposition People’s Republican Party (CHP).

The ARF representative addressed the audience and held various meetings with delegates discussing issues of concern for the Armenian people.

ARF is the only one among the CIS countries to hold a full SI membership status. Its youth and women branches are also full members in IUSY and SIW respectively. ARF Bureau member Mario Nalbandian serves as Co-chair of the Socialist International Committee for the CIS, the Caucasus and the Black Sea countries and ARF member Maria Titizian as Vice President of the organization.

Statement On Freedom Of Speech And Independence Of The Judiciary In Turkey
The Turkish judiciary has taken the deplorable decision to launch a probe against Mr. Kemal Kılıcdaroğlu, the leader of Turkey’s main opposition People’s Republican Party (CHP). The public prosecutor asked for the revocation of Mr. Kılıcdaroğlu’s parliamentary immunity in order to charge him with ‘attempting to influence a fair trial’ and ‘insulting public servants on duty’ following remarks Mr. Kılıcdaroğlu made after a visit to two elected CHP MPs, Mr. Mustafa Balbay and Mr. Mehmet Haberal, who have been held in pre-trial detention for several years as suspects in the Ergenekon case.

This move by the public prosecutor is the last part of a long term of oppression on any dissenting voice since 2007. The list comprises students demanding free education to environmental activists struggling against hydroelectric power plants in the Black Sea region. In Turkey there are currently over 3500 web sites banned by court ruling. According to the Progressive Journalists’ Association there are currently over 60 journalists in prison. In addition tens of elected officials of the BDP are being detained as part of the notorious KCK trial that has been going on since 2009. Following the referendum of 12 September 2010, supported by many in Europe, which claimed to make the judiciary more independent and its composition more representative, the judiciary only became more linked to the government. Regrettably, the separation of powers is no more in Turkey: the judiciary branch has been seized by the executive branch.

Freedom of expression is a basic value in democratic societies and any act against this freedom is unacceptable for the socialist, social democrats and progressive forces around the world.

The Turkish government should respect freedom of speech and the independence of the judiciary and protect democratic values and human rights in Turkey.

Valerie Boyer is the author of the bill

BY VACHE THOMASSIAN

All that makes existence valuable to any one depends on the enforcement of restraints upon the actions of other people.
–John Stuart Mill (On Liberty)

Last week, the French Senate approved a bill that, in effect, makes it a criminal offense to deny the genocide committed by Ottoman Turks against Armenians. Predictable Turkish “outrage” has included threats to recall its Ambassador to France, restrict trade between the nations, and a move to deport Armenian laborers from Turkey.  The legislation has also aroused public debate about the freedom of speech and expression as it relates to genocide denial.  While the law should be applauded as a milestone in punishing an ongoing genocide, some are misrepresenting it as a violation of a universal right. 

The purpose of the law (as stated by the French Senate;  translated into English), “aims to punish those who have publicly made an apology for, trivialized, or denied crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes…or [crimes] recognized by France.”

This bill is written in the same spirit as the Gayssot Act,  enacted in France in 1990.  The Gayssot Act responded to “revisionism” by individuals who justified their writings by their (perceived) status as historians, who challenged the existence of the Holocaust.  To the French government these revisionist arguments constituted a contemporary form of anti-Semitism that warranted a limitation of the freedom of speech in France.  The law has since been challenged and upheld, by the United Nations Human Rights Committee, as a necessary restriction of expression “intended to serve the struggle against racism and anti-Semitism.” ¹

The committee’s judgement  mentioned Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as justification for upholding the law.  Article 19 of the Covenant states that “Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference, and everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression…[however,] the exercise of these rights carries with it special duties and responsibilities [and] may therefore be subject to certain restrictions [which are] provided by law and are necessary for respect of the rights and reputations of others; [and] for the protection of national security or of public order.” 

In recognizing the legality of the Gayssot Act, the Human Rights Committee acknowledged the duality of “the freedom of speech and expression” as both a right and a duty.  Free speech is only a right as far as it does not infringe on rights of others to be free from assaults on their dignity.  Moreover, free speech carries with it the duty to act responsibly and with respect to others and to society as a whole.

These laws highlight differences between European and American value systems and resulting legal responses.  While the United States prides itself on being a protector of individual liberties², European countries place a higher onus on the inviolability of human dignity.³ For this reason, denialist speech is not understood to be a right, rather it is seen as an indefensible form of racism.

Regardless of geographic location, it is absurd to think that societies exist today or should exist, which place no boundaries on speech and expression (consider laws that prohibit child pornography, advertising cigarettes to kids, or exposing state secrets).  So the question is not whether to place limits, rather the question is where to place the limits. 

Even in the United States, considered the bastion of liberty, the concept of free speech has never been absolute.  US courts have agreed that not all speech is protected speech.  Unlawful speech, under the United States Constitution, includes defamation, perjury, incitement and several other categories.

 
Unlawful Speech (under the US Constitution)
Defamation: False statements about another person, which causes harm to that person. 
Perjury: False statements made during a judicial proceeding while under oath to speak the truth.
Incitement: Speech that is intended to cause an immediate breach of the peace. 

To better understand where the limits to speech and expression should be, the question that must be asked is, “Does the speech in question further or hinder our society’s most fundamental values/goals?”  While it is said, “truth emerges from the clash of ideas,” governmental intervention is necessitated in many instances. 

In American society, we value dignity and aim to protect it from untruths; therefore we punish defamation because it spreads lies, which hurt people’s reputation and honor.  We value due process, a truthful historical record and honesty; therefore we punish perjury because false testimony becomes a part of court transcripts that can be used to unjustly convict (or acquit) others.  We value peace and lawfulness; therefore we punish incitement because instigating illegal activity is dangerous.

Genocide is understood to be a crime against all of humanity, and it remains society’s obligation to punish it and prevent its recurrence.  In order to do so, a strong message must be sent that recognizes historical facts and simultaneously condemns their distortion.  This is important, not to “prove” the history to the perpetrators, but to safeguard the education of future generations, and to isolate and discredit the revisionists. 

The International Association of Genocide Scholars has stated, “The single best predictor of future genocide is denial of a past genocide coupled with impunity for its perpetrators.”  Since denial is the last phase of genocide, Turkey represents a continual threat to Armenia’s national security (not to mention the safety of its minority populations) as an unrepentant human rights violator, and a threat to the international community through its audacious state-sponsored denial campaign and political bullying.  Steps, such as those taken by France, should be adopted without cowering to threats of reprisal, implicit⁴ or explicit⁵, from the Turkish government.

The notion that today’s Turkey is organically and voluntarily coming to terms with its past, and should therefore be left to its own devices is dangerously misguided.  If not for international condemnation, resulting from decades of global activism, the Armenian genocide would be a non-issue relegated to the annals of history.  Moreover, Armenian genocide-related human rights violations continue to this very day in Turkey, from the failure to investigate state culpability in Hrant Dink’s murder, to the arrest of Ragip Zarakolu, to the calls for new deportations.  Therefore, it is justifiable and reasonable for the international community to condemn Turkey through their legislative bodies. 

External pressure and international isolation have finally led to discussion about the genocide inside of Turkey.  However, as long as the government of Turkey continues its current policies, these measures will remain necessary to raise the issue, for the sake of the victims, their descendants, Turkish citizens, and the international community at large. 

Notes
1. In 1993 Holocaust-denying “academic” Robert Faurisson challenged the legality of the Gayssot Act.  He claimed the law curtailed his right to freedom of expression and academic freedom in general, guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ratified by 67 nations, including France: 1980; Turkey: 2003; Armenia: 1993; United States: 1992).  The United Nations Human Rights Committee found that Faurisson was convicted for “violating the rights and reputations of others” and ruled that the Gayssot law was a necessary restriction of his expression “intended to serve the struggle against racism and anti-Semitism.”

2. Seen in the Bill of Rights, most notably in the First Amendment’s protection of free speech and press.

3. Seen in Article 1 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union;  Article 4 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man;  Article 1 of The Constitution of Germany

4. Concerning the well-being and safety of the remaining Armenian communities within Turkey today

5. Concerning threats from the Turkish government to severe political ties, trade relations, and military cooperation with countries that condemn the Armenian genocide and its denial

Vaché Thomassian is the Chairperson of the ARF “Shant” Student Association, Editor of Haytoug magazine, and a member of the executive board of the Loyola Law School Armenian Law Students’ Association.

Harut Sassounian

BY HARUT SASSOUNIAN

For nearly a century, Turkey’s leaders have tried to hide the monstrous crime of the Armenian Genocide by covering up what really took place in the killing fields of the Syrian desert, then part of the Ottoman Empire. The powerful Turkish state has committed its considerable financial and diplomatic resources to the nefarious cause of genocide denial.

Turkish leaders do not seem to realize that as they deny and lie, and vainly proclaim their innocence, they actually help publicize their dastardly act to an incredulous worldwide audience.

Furthermore, even though today’s Turkish officials were not the ones who committed the genocide of 1915, they foolishly associate themselves with their criminal predecessors, thus making themselves accessories after the fact by lying about it and concealing the evidence.

With each passing day, the Turkish leadership is further submerging itself in a mire of its own making. Let’s take a closer look at its sordid behavior in the French government’s decision-making process.

Over ten years ago, when the French legislature was adopting a law recognizing the Armenian Genocide, the Turkish government used its usual bag of tricks in a failed attempt to undermine that effort. After the Parliament and Senate recognized the Genocide, Pres. Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Lionel Jospin on January 29, 2001, signed the following law: “France publicly recognizes the Armenian Genocide of 1915.”

Even though the French law had made no mention of Turkey or the Ottoman Empire as perpetrator of the Genocide, Turkish officials exhibited a guilty conscience by their exaggerated claims of innocence; hence identifying themselves as the culprits in this heinous crime, while no one was pointing a finger at them.

The long arm of the Turkish state interfered in French domestic affairs once again in 2006, when lawmakers in Paris attempted to establish a penalty for those violating the law passed in 2001, applying the same sanctions to those denying the Holocaust. Regrettably, the French government succumbed to Turkish threats and hysterics and blocked the measure, until the Senate finally approved it on January 23, 2012.

The French public is now facing yet another egregious attempt of foreign interference in their domestic issues. The Turkish Union of Chambers of Commerce and Commodity Exchanges hired a French lobbying firm last week to pressure legislators into filing a legal challenge to the law banning denial of genocides recognized by French law — the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide. So much for Turkish threats to boycott French companies!

Pres. Sarkozy has 15 days from January 23 to sign the new law, unless 60 members of the French Parliament and Senate act first by petitioning the Constitutional Court to rule on its legality. The Turkish Ambassador, contravening a foreign diplomat’s mandate not to meddle in French domestic matters, has used all possible means of pressure and “inducement” in a desperate attempt to secure the necessary 60 signatures.

The Turkish government may be making a serious mistake by assuming that the court will necessarily find the new law to be unconstitutional. Turkish officials could be undermining their own interests should the court decide that the law is constitutional, thereby precluding any future legal challenges from Turkish denialists who would be arrested for denying the Armenian Genocide, once the law goes into effect.

In recent days, Turkey’s leaders have made utterly ridiculous statements about the new law. Prime Minister Erdogan accused France of following “the footsteps of fascism.” How can the leader of a country that is one of the biggest violators of human rights dare to blame France for fascism? Pres. Gul jumped into the fray by accusing France of “limiting freedom of expression.” Has the Turkish President checked his own country’s jails where dozens of journalists are languishing for months without trial for simply writing articles critical of the government? Has he read Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code — “insulting Turkishness” — which bans all public references to the Armenian Genocide? Foreign Minister Davutoglu may have gotten it right when he complained that the French law is an attempt to “Nazify Turkey,” except that this is being done not by France but by his own government which continues to associate itself with the crimes of a now defunct Ottoman Empire.

The most laughable statement, however, was made by Turkey’s brash Minister of European Affairs Egemen Bagis during his recent visit to Switzerland. He dared Swiss authorities to arrest him for denying the Armenian Genocide, since Switzerland, similar to France, has a law banning genocide denial. Minister Bagis is fortunate that he cannot be arrested or prosecuted because of his diplomatic immunity. Nevertheless, he could and should be expelled from Switzerland as persona non grata!

The group at the GenEd-HigherEd party

HACKENSACK, NJ—A diverse mix of students and community leaders, celebrated the establishment of GenEd-HigherEd on the evening of January 7 at Sayat Nova Restaurant in Hackensack, NJ. GenEd-HigherEd is a new division of The Genocide Education Project which endeavors to facilitate lectures, exhibits and courses on the subject of genocide, particularly the Armenian Genocide, on college campuses.

 ”It is such a pleasure to see such an outpouring of support from so many committed people for the GenEd-HigherEd “launch” event,” said GenEd-HigherEd director James Sahagian.

The first course to be sponsored by GenEd-HigherEd is planned for fall, 2012 at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. The Center for Genocide Studies, Human Rights and Conflict Resolution (CGHR) at Rutgers is led by the current president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), Professor Alex Hinton. Hinton and two associate directors of the center, Nela Navarro and Tom LaPointe, were in attendance for the GenEd-HigherEd kick-off celebration. The center has already sponsored several lectures, films and other programs on the Armenian Genocide. Khatchig Mouradian was recently named Project Coordinator of the center’s Armenian Genocide Program. Mouradian is the editor of the Armenian Weekly newspaper and a doctoral student at Clark University.

“I am happy to be part of the CGHR family and I look forward to leading the Armenian Genocide Program here at Rutgers,” said Mouradian. “Our goal is to help develop further Armenian Genocide studies in the U.S. through research, courses, conferences, and public lectures.”

More than 100 attendees celebrated at the Christmas party, dancing to the live entertainment by Jaq Hagopian and Garo Gomidas, and enjoying traditional Armenian food. Sahagian gave the audience a background of Armenian studies at Rutgers University. He discussed the goal of having the Armenian Genocide taught every semester on Rutgers’ Newark and New Brunswick campuses as an “essential chapter of human history which cannot be forgotten. If one is to study human rights and genocide in modern times, one must study the Armenian Genocide.” He said, “The Armenian Genocide Program at the Rutgers’ Center for Genocide Studies, Human Rights and Conflict Resolution has already educated hundreds on the Armenian Genocide. With a successful capital campaign and development of the GenEd-HigherEd division, thousands more will be educated in the future at Rutgers and elsewhere.”

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is among the oldest colleges in the United States. Originally founded in 1766 as Queens College, Rutgers currently maintains 3 campuses in New Brunswick, Newark and Camden, New Jersey. It has more than 40,000 undergraduate and approximately 15,000 graduate students enrolled, making it the largest university in the New York Metropolitan area.

The Genocide Education Project is a nonprofit organization assisting educators in teaching about human rights and genocide, particularly the Armenian Genocide. GenEd develops and distributes instructional materials, provides access to teaching resources and conducts educational workshops. Information about The Genocide Education Project can be found at www.GenocideEducation.org. Further information on the GenEd-HigherEd can be obtained by e-mailing: highered@genocideeducation.org.

Harry and Cheryl Nadjarian and family (2008)

Osko and Yeran Karagossian (2003)

Hacop and Hilda Baghdassarian (2008)

Garbis and Maida Bezdjian and family (2002)

Varant and Hoori Melkonian (2000)

Anto Baghdassarian and Apo Saghdejian (2010)

Mher and Satig Der Ohanessian (2008)

Vahan and Nora Bezdikian (2005)

Joe and Nvair Samuelian (2000)

Ashkhen Pilavjian (2003)

Vicken Gulesserian, Jack Nakkashian and Hrair Bederian (2007)

BY PATTYL APOSHIAN KASPARIAN

I gazed at the tweed black and white jacket eyeing the three shiny silver buttons inscribed with the storied double C’s.  I felt the brilliant heaviness that envelops you like armor as I delicately wore the jacket I’ve seen featured on the inside covers of glossy magazines. Nonchalantly glancing at the price tag, I smiled at the salesperson and slipped the jacket back on its velvet hanger.

It doesn’t stop with a designer jacket. We all have obsessions. Better yet, we have wants that carry a hefty price tag.  From the newest Ann Demeulemeester button down to a box of fresh Cohiba cigars to adding another Patek Philippe watch to a cherished collection, we can count endless ways to spend money.

I’ve come to realize that no consumer purchase or paid experience can make one stand taller, feel younger and more beautiful than to make a difference in the life of others.  A philanthropist is a person who gives money or things of value (time, talent, resources) to help the betterment of others.  Philanthropy revitalizes people.  I’m at my happiest when I’m productive and involved with an organization that works to advance the Armenian Cause on all grounds.

In our organization, philanthropy is not defined merely by the number of zeroes behind a donation. The Armenian Cultural Foundation places its highest value on its human capital.  It goes above and beyond signing on the dotted lines.  Our supporters donate money, time, proficiency and passion.

The reason why hundreds of thousands of Armenians continue to embrace our organization is because our human capital does not rotate like Baskin Robbin’s Flavor of the Month.  Our volunteers and donors have been an integral part of our organization for years.  They are permanent, long life partners at our side, fighting the good fight.  Year after year, we are embraced by the individuals we turn to for support.  Day after day, we test the emotional endurance of our grassroots.  Minute after minute, we are secured in the thoughts, actions and reactions of every individual who has been shaped with our values and mission.

I’ve realized how even the smallest contribution is a vital part of the fundraising landscape.  Seeing people of various financial levels continue to make annual donations reaffirms the importance of our past accomplishments, present efforts and future objectives.

Participation of any concentration allows individuals to register their support.  Sometimes, it’s not giving up our wants like a new pair of Brian Atwood pumps.  It may be as simple as skipping the salon color appointment and making it a “girl’s night in” to save $60 and make a small but significant donation.

Steering an efficient and successful course in today’s world is very different than it was ten or even five years ago. Despite the push back and economic storms of our times, we continue to grow and secure more successes.

And this, my dear friends, we owe to our donors and volunteers.

It’s not the most glamorous word or the most beautiful.  You can’t add an accent to it and make it sound more flirtatious.  But it’s the one word that has the most meaning—Thank you!

Foreign minister Eduard Nalbandian

YEREVAN, ANKARA (Combined Sources)—“If Turkey really wants to contribute to the resolution of the Karabakh conflict, it should stay as far as possible from the process,” said Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian in an interview with local television channels, after his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu urged France’s removal from the OSCE Minks Group co-chairmanship.

Claiming a biased posturing by France, Davutoglu said that when the French Senate passed a bill criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide, it lost its objectivity in the Karabakh conflict resolution process.

“These are senseless statements. The bill adopted by the French Senate is not directed against any concrete country,” said Nalbandian, who said the more actively Turkey denies the Genocide, the more countries will come to recognize it.

“When Turkey says that only Armenians speak of genocide, it is the same as saying only Jews speak about the Holocaust,” Nalbandian said, reminding that is has been recognized by more than 20 countries and international organizations.

When asked how the French bill would affect Armenia-Turkey relations, Nalbandian said that Turkey should respect the agreements it has signed, as a basic principle of international relations, referring to the failed Turkey-Armenia protocols.

“One thing is clear: Turkey cannot keep the border closed forever, it cannot sign agreements and refuse to ratify them,” said Nalbandian.

Nalbandian also denied that there were secret talks taking place between Turkey and Armenia to address the protocols issue.

“There are no secret, or non-secret—neither direct, nor mediated—talks under way today with Turkey. This [such talks] will be possible when Turkey is ready to take some practical steps,” added Nalbandian.

On Thursday, while visiting Lithuania, Nalbandian fiercely criticized Turkey’s rhetoric after the passage of the resolution by the French Senate.

“Turkey’s extremely accusatory reaction to France, its accusatory reaction to all those countries that have recognized the Armenian genocide, its offensive and provocative statements about the Armenian people and the Armenian Diaspora formed as a result of the genocide … attest to a state policy of [genocide] denial,” Nalbandian said in Vilnius, the capital Lithuania.

“This is a very dangerous phenomenon,” Nalbandian said. “And it proves the necessity and importance of the law adopted by France. “That decision should be backed by other countries so that new crimes against humanity cannot be committed.”

Speaking at a joint news conference with Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Audronius Azubalis, Nalbandian also insisted that the French law will not hamper further efforts to normalize relations between Armenia and Turkey. “Everyone knows that if there is anybody hampering the normalization it’s Turkey itself, he said.

Azubalis stressed the need for Turkey to address the 1915 Genocide, which Lithuania’s parliament recognized in 2005. “Sooner or later, history will knock on the doors of the present and we will have to open them,” he said, according to an Armenian Foreign Ministry statement. “We must confront history, we must evaluate events of the past in an open, clear and honest manner.”

“Those who say that history should be left to historians are wrong,” Azubalis was reported to add. “Distrust and problems in bilateral relations will persist until we settle scores with the past.”

Sevag Sahin Balikci

ISTANBUL—New testimony on Friday revealed that the death of a Turkish-Armenian soldier who was fatally shot on April 24 was racially motivated, reported the Sabah newspaper.

After Private Sevag Sahin Balikci was shot on April 24 last year, other members of this unit, stationed in Batman province, and other officers testified that Balıkci was shot accidentally when he was “joking around” with a close friend, Kivanc Agaoglu.

However, according to the story published in the Sabah daily on Friday, one of the privates who witnessed the incident changed his testimony, which will likely change the course of Agaoglu’s trial.

According to Sabah, the revised testimony was given in December by Halil Eksi, who served in the Turkish Army at the same time as Balikci.

“Kıvanc pointed his rifle at Sevag and pulled the trigger. His family had asked me to testify in his favor,” Eksi said indicating that Agaoglu’s family pressured him into giving false testimony.

“I was told by suspect Kivanc and his family, especially his uncle, to testify in his favor. On the day of the incident, we were installing chain-link fencing around the station under orders from our commanders. As we did our work, at some point, Kivanc Agaoglu unlocked his rifle’s safety and directed it at our other friend Sevag Sahin. And he fired the rifle. Sevag Sahin was wounded. I do not know why Kivanc fired at Sevag,” testified Eksi.

After the publication of the report, the Second Air Force Command Military Tribunal in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır ruled to hold the trial immediately rather than in March as witness Eksi altered his testimony.

“The witnesses were freed from pressure when they were discharged [from military service]. Perhaps they are doing some soul-searching. It is hard to tell,” lawyer Cem Halavurt, who represents Balıkci’s family in court, told the Hurriyet Daily News.

“We are going to file a criminal complaint about Agaoglu’s sister and uncle and open a new lawsuit. Kıvanc runs the risk of getting arrested in this trial, and that is what we are going to request,” Halavurt said, adding that Friday’s hearing was going to be a critical one.

The witness could change his testimony yet again, Halavurt said, adding that they were determined to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights if the matter cannot be resolved in Turkey.

“It would not be right to connect or draw a parallel between the cases of [Balıkçı and murdered Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink]. The common point of intersection between the two cases, however, is that they are both racially motivated murders,” said Halavurt, who also represented the Dink family in court.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahemt Davutoglu

ANKARA—A French bill criminalizing denials of Armenian genocide is designed to “Nazify” Turkey and push it out of Europe, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said while slamming the European Union for failing to denounce the motion, reported the Hurriyet Daily News.

“The basic aim here is to Nazify the Turks, in a sense to confine it to somewhere other than European culture. We’ll not let this happen,” Davutoglu told CNN Turk on Jan. 27.

He also said he was disappointed by the silence of the EU, citing in contrast the clear attitude of the U.S. administration against the French “genocide denial” law.

If any candidate country to the EU had implemented such a law, the union would have raised the issue, included it in its progress reports and made its removal a precondition of entry, Davutoğlu said, adding that Turkey expected the EU to impose sanctions on France.

Davutoğlu also had a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Jan. 28 to thank her for her statement disapproving of the French bill. The two also discussed the latest developments in the Middle East and Davutoglu’s upcoming trip to Washington, diplomatic sources said.

Clinton told a State Department gathering on Thursday that the French law was affront to free speech and added that the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the US “opens a dangerous door,” saying the Genocide is an historical and not political issue.
Meanwhile, Turkey has reviewed a number of military projects with France, and bilateral military cooperation has been reduced to a minimum due to the bilateral strain, said Turkey’s defense industry undersecretary, Murad Bayar.

“There are one or two ongoing projects that are at the completion phase. We will start no new important project,” he said but added that there could be some joint projects with other countries that feature French contribution.

Defense Minister Ohanyan said Armenia enhancing its military capability

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)—Armenia is successfully implementing a five-year government plan to modernize its armed forces with long-range weapons and other hardware, the country’s two top military officials said over the weekend.

“We have been enhancing our military capacity with arms acquisitions in recent years,” said Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian. “One of the main directions of our reforms is a switch to strategic defense planning, which includes a program of developing weapons and military equipment.”

“According to that development program, every year until 2015 we will be acquiring new weapons that will be long-range and very precise. They will enable us to achieve the objectives set for the army,” he told journalists.

The still unpublicized program was approved by President Serzh Sarkisian’s National Security Council in December 2010. Officials said at the time that it envisages, among other things, the acquisition of long-range precision-guided weapons. The types, quantity and source of those weapons remain unknown.

Colonel-General Yuri Khachaturov, chief of the Armenian army’s General Staff, also spoke of an ongoing military build-up in separate comments to journalists at the Yerablur military cemetery in Yerevan. He said the military is planning more arms acquisitions for the coming years but did not elaborate.

Armenia demonstrated at least some of its long-range weapons for the first time during a military parade in Yerevan last September. Those included Russian-made 9K72 surface-to-surface ballistic missiles, known in the West as Scud-B, and S-300 surface-to-air missiles.

Designed for the Soviet army in the 1960s, Scud-Bs have a firing range of up to 300 kilometers, putting virtually all strategic facilities in Azerbaijan within their reach.  The Armenian military was thought to have possessed them since the late 1990s.

The parade also confirmed its possession of more short-range but precise Tochka-U ballistic missiles with a NATO reporting name of SS-21 Scarab-B. Azerbaijan also demonstrated Scarab-Bs during its own military parade held in June.

The shows of force highlighted an intensifying arms race between the two nations. Over the past decade Azerbaijan has spent billions of dollars in oil revenues on a massive military build-up which it hopes will eventually help it to win back Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenia – A screenshot of state television footage of Armenian troops test-firing S-300 surface-to-air missiles, undated

Armenia is seeking to stay in the race with close military ties with Russia that entitle it to receiving Russian weapons at discount prices or even free of charge. A new Russian-Armenian defense agreement signed in August 2010 commits Moscow to helping Yerevan obtain “modern and compatible weaponry and (special) military hardware.”

Speaking to RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) in February 2011, Ohanian said that his forces received “unprecedented” quantities of modern weaponry in 2010 and will continue the build-up in 2011.

Ohanian and Khachaturov, who both played major roles in the 1991-1994 war with Azerbaijan, laid flowers at Yerablur on Saturday as part of official ceremonies marking the 20th anniversary of the official establishment of the Armenian Armed Forces.

“I’m very happy that we have held on to what we gained 20 years ago and we keep doing that well,” said Khachaturov. “We have changed. We have become a tough army. We have gained a lot of new weaponry. But our main wealth is our young officers.”

Aronian holds up his prize in Netherlands

WIJK AAN ZEE, The Netherlands—Armenian chess player Levon Aronian, currently ranked no. 2 in the world, won first place at the prestigious Tata Steel Tournament in Wijk aan Zee on Sunday, closing in on world no. 1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway.

Aronian secured first place with 9 points, a full point ahead of Carlsen, Taimur Radjabov (Azerbaijan), and Fabiano Caruana (Italy).

He has shared first place at Wijk aan Zee twice before, in 2007 with Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria) and Radjabov, and in 2008 with Carlsen. His victory this year, a full-point ahead of the rest of the field, is testament to his brilliant performance at the tournament.

Aronian, 29, has registered a number of top tournament victories in recent years and has cemented his position as one of the top chess players in the world today. He also led Armenia’s national team to victories in the Chess Olympiad (2006 and 2008) and in the World Team Championships (2011).

Held since 1938 under different names, the Tala Steel Tournament boasted the participation of 11 of the world’s top 20 chess players. This year, the tournament set a record in terms of the average rating of the participants.

Below are the final results.

The results

The Orange County community celebrates French Senate resolution

BY HAGOP BADOLIAN

Every Friday at the Armenian Center is a family night. However, on Friday, January 27, was not just an ordinary family night. As Armenians around the world were celebrating the French senate’s historic vote that criminalizes the denial of the Armenian genocide, the Armenian Center Committee wasn’t about to pass up this opportunity to bring the community together and celebrate this momentous event as well.

In preparation for the event, the announcement was e-mailed to all sister organizations, the committee’s list of supporters, and posted on Facebook. There was a great turnout. A group of AYF members arrived at the Armenian Center and decorated patio area with balloons and banners that represented the colors of France and Armenia’s flags. The committee decided to start the event after guests enjoyed a delicious meal and the badanees finished their meeting.

Hagop Badolian made the opening remarks and stressed that on our quest to seek justice and recognition of the Armenian Genocide, we are confronted with governments’ political and financial interests. However, we cannot give up as we have come a long way. He stated that it is essential to support the various committees in the community and support their events as they will ensure that our struggle will continue and expand.

The attendees then watched a video compilation arranged by Giro Donabedian that showed the viewers the atrocities during the genocide, the many unfulfilled promises made by U.S. presidents, and ended with our latest victory in France.

Garo Madenlian emphasized the fact that as Armenians we are passed the period of mourning for our loss. He stated that we are also beyond the stage of seeking justice. We are now on the offensive, he said, and we will fight relentlessly for recognition of the Genocide and demand reparations for the insurmountable losses our nation has suffered, including the return of our lands in Eastern Turkey. Madenlian recognized the hard work that our supporters have put forth throughout the years under the direction of the Armenian National Committee members around the world and especially in France.

The event ended with popping of champagne bottles. One could hear cheers of victory resonating in the room and the fire in everyone’s eyes to continue our struggle until justice is served.

Catherine Yesayan

BY CATHERINE YESAYAN

EDITOR’S NOTE: Following the passage of the French Senate bill criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide, the author submitted a timeline, which reflects her disappointment at President Obama for not honoring his campaign pledge to recognize the Genocide.

April 25, 2009 11 a.m.– I am checking my emails. The subject on one of the email reads: “Obama Betrays Armenians.” Since yesterday, I’ve received a half a dozen emails on the same subject. Armenians have rallied to continue their efforts to make U.S. congress officially recognize the long awaited acknowledgement of the “Genocide” So, I hear…

BEFORE THAT – same day 9 a.m. – I pick up the weekend issue of our local newspaper, the Glendale News-Press, and the front-page article with big bold letters says: “Obama’s words rebuked,” I read the whole article. “Armenians are disappointed… Obama danced around the language.” The Armenian communities from “sea to shining sea” are outraged and a firestorm is soon to be ignited. Was the promise a feel-good campaign rhetoric? I am thinking…

BEFORE THAT Politifact.com, the Obameter website, questions Pres. Obama’s integrity, having concluded that he had broken his promise on the Armenian Genocide – one of the 511 campaign promises that the website keeps track of. People are watching…

BEFORE THAT Mom calls and says, “It is April 24th, are you watching the TV? – President Obama is on.” just barely, I get to hear the last few sentences. He sympathizes with Armenian cause. “Nothing can bring back those who were lost in the “Meds Yeghern.” He uses the Armenian phrase “Meds Yeghern” which translates into “The Great Calamity” evading using the term “genocide” to describe the atrocities of Ottoman Turks to eradicate Armenians from their homelands. His statement falls short from his pledge. So, I hear…

BEFORE THAT – April 6, 2009 – during a press conference in Ankara, a journalist asks Pres. Obama if he is going to stand firm on his campaign promise. Obama answers: “My views are on the record and I have not changed views.” The reporter presses him about not using the term “genocide.” And he maneuvers around the topic without using the word “genocide.” I am anxious to see, on April 24th, how he is going to recognize the “Genocide” a promise he had made to the Armenian community during his presidential campaign. I am thinking…

BEFORE THAT – November 4, 2008 – I am watching on TV, the sea of crowd at Chicago’s Grant Park, welcoming the newly elected president Obama. I share tears of joy with Oprah, Jesse Jackson and the whole crowd. I am witnessing the unfolding of a new era in the American History – a ripple that will forge new relations and softens the socioeconomic conflicts at the International stage. And the world watches…

BEFORE THAT – January 19, 2008 – as a presidential candidate and as a senator, Obama, makes a promise to American-Armenian community and pledges that he would officially recognize the “Genocide.” Armenians are hopeful and passionately support Obama… So, I hear…

BEFORE THAT – March 7, 2006 – the ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, is recalled by President Bush’s Administration, back to Washington. He had referred to Armenian massacre of 1915 in Ottoman Turkey as “Genocide.” Armenians protest. They are asking John Evans to come back. So, I hear…

BEFORE THAT – April 24, 1995 – I am driving my kids, ages 21, 16, 10, to Montebello, California, where Armenians have erected a memorial monument for the Genocide. I want, us, to be part of the 80th anniversary commemoration service. So, I drive…

BEFORE THAT – April 24, 1965, Tehran. We are gathered, a crowd to the capacity, in the playground of St Mary’s, Armenian church and the connecting high school. I am 16, I hear the priest conducting a mass for the ravished souls of Armenians massacred 50 years ago in Turkey. So, I hear…

BEFORE THAT – August 22, 1939 – on the eve of his murderous attack against Poland, Hitler makes an address to his chief military commanders. He finishes his remarks by saying “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?” 10 million people are wiped out by Nazis. And the world watches.

BEFORE THAT – March 15, 1921 – Soghomon Tehlirian, in broad daylight and in the presence of many witnesses assassinates Talat Pasha, the architect of the Armenian Genocide. It takes the jury slightly an hour to acquit Tehlirian. The trial, taking place in Germany, influences Rafael Lemkin, a Polish lawyer to coin the term “Genocide”

BEFORE THAT my ancestors living in Ottoman, Turkey, are slaughtered by Turkish Militia or are evacuated community by community and marched to their deaths in the deserts. And the world watches.

BEFORE THAT – on April 24, 1915, Talat Pasha orders the arrest and persecution of all the Armenian leaders, bankers, professors, doctors, lawyers and many business professionals, in Constantinople and masterminds the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians. And the world watches the first ethnic cleansing of the 20th century.

Clinton's letter pledging Genocide recognition during 2008 presidential bid

Secretary of State Dismisses Genocide as “Historical Debate” in Public Comments to State Department Staff

WASHINGTON—The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) sharply criticized remarks by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who Thursday dismissed the murder of 1.5 million Armenians as a “historical debate,” and argued that U.S. affirmation of this crime would open a “dangerous door.”

“The Obama-Biden Administration – with Secretary Clinton’s latest remarks – continues to dig itself deeper and deeper into a hole of complicity in Turkey’s genocide denial,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.

“It’s a sad spectacle to see Secretary Clinton hiding behind cynical appeals to scholars – the overwhelming majority of whom have already spoken forcefully against Turkey’s denials of the Armenian Genocide – to divert attention from President Obama’s, Vice President Biden’s or her own promises to properly recognize this crime and, more broadly, to divert attention from the White House’s failure to meet its moral obligation to stand up against a foreign government’s veto of our defense of human rights,” continued Hamparian.

Secretary Clinton’s comments came in response to a question, posed at a January 26th “Town Hall Meeting on the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review,” regarding U.S. affirmation of the Armenian Genocide in the context of the recent French Senate adoption of anti-genocide denial legislation.

Secretary Clinton explained, “I think it’s fair to say that this has always been viewed, and I think properly so, as a matter of historical debate and conclusions rather than political. And I think that is the right posture for the United States Government to be in, because whatever the terrible event might be or the high emotions that it represents, to try to use government power to resolve historical issues, I think, opens a door that is a very dangerous one to go through.”  Secretary Clinton argued that, “we need to encourage anyone on any side of any contentious historical debate to get out into the marketplace of ideas.”

“The Secretary’s unfounded and offensive reference to ‘historical debate’ in regards to the Armenian Genocide only emboldens the denials of the Turkish Government – which, just today, again took steps toward deporting Armenians,” continued Hamparian, referencing news emanating from Turkey of plans for a revisions to its immigration policy that would effectively target Armenian immigrants for expulsion from the country.

Senator Clinton: “As President, I will recognize the Armenian Genocide”
Secretary Clinton’s remarks are diametrically opposed to her statement issued almost four years ago, to the day, as a Senator. In this statement, she boasted that she was “alone among the Presidential candidates” to have been a cosponsor of the Armenian Genocide Resolution and pledged “as President, I will recognize the Armenian Genocide.”  The statement went on to stress that: “Our common morality and our nation’s credibility as a voice for human rights challenge us to ensure that the Armenian Genocide be recognized and remembered by the Congress and the President of the United States.”

President Obama and Vice-President Biden made equally clear and unequivocal statements regarding the U.S. affirmation of the Armenian Genocide during their years in the Senate and as candidates for the White House. “America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian Genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides. I intend to be that President,” said President Obama in a January 19, 2008, campaign statement.  Senator Biden explained his support for pending Armenian Genocide legislation to the LA Times Editorial Board in May 2007, as follows: “I support it, and the reason is simple: I have found in my experience that you cannot have a solid relationship with a country based on fiction. It occurred. It occurred.”

Secretary Clinton a Phone Call Away for the Turkish Lobby
During her tenure as Secretary of State, public records show that she has discussed State Department policy on Turkey and specifically on the Armenian Genocide on several occasions with former Democratic House Minority Leader and current Turkish Government lobbyist Richard Gephardt.  According to the Department of Justice Foreign Agent Registration filings, Gephardt spoke to Secretary Clinton just days prior to a pending House vote on the Armenian Genocide Resolution on December 17, 2010, and had a series of calls with her as well as Vice-President Biden, Secretary of Defense Gates, and National Security Advisor James Jones on “U.S.-Turkey relations” and “Transcaucasus relations” on the days leading up President Obama’s trip to Turkey in 2009.

In September, 2011, former Minority Leader Gephardt, who supported Armenian Genocide affirmation during his years in the House, renewed a lucrative $1.3 million contract for continued representation of the Government of Turkey through July, 2012.  That sum includes payment to subcontracting lobby firms including Dickstein Shapiro, which has former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert on staff representing Turkey’s concerns.  In December, 2011, an additional $100,000 was added to the annual contract – the increase signed on the day of House approval of the “Return of Churches” resolution (H.Res.306), calling on Turkey to return thousands of confiscated Christian Churches to their rightful owners.

Secretary of State Clinton has not yet met with representatives of the Armenian American community, despite repeated calls by the ANCA and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) for her to meet with a broad-based and representative leadership group to discuss a range of community concerns, including affirmation of the Armenian Genocide.

Community members attend the ARF Day Celebration

GLENDALE—“During its more than 120-year history, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation has worked and will continue to work firmly rooted in its ideological principles,” said Avedik Izmirlian, chairman of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Central Committee of Western US. Thus, with the motto of “For the People and With the People,” the ARF Western United States marked the party’s 121st anniversary on Sunday, January 22, with a capacity crowd at the Glendale High School auditorium.

The ARF believes that “the survival of a nation is reliant, first and foremost, in its people’s belief in an ideal and its willingness to fight for that ideal in the name of victory,” added Izmirlian, who was the keynote speaker at the celebration.

ARF CC Chairman Avedik Izmirlian

In his assertive presentation, Izmirlian also touched on the need for regime change in Armenia, rejecting any sort of bargaining by what he called the “discredited government officials” with the ARF on the eve of the upcoming parliamentary elections.

“The priority for the ARF is the national interests and the well-being of the people,” said Izmirlian. “For the ARF regime change is essential, with complete and fundamental ouster of the current ruling elite.”

Izmirlian placed a special emphasis on the Western Region Armenian-American community saying that as the most populous Armenian entity outside of Armenia, this community must become more organized and urged organizations to become active in maintaining and strengthening the atmosphere of cooperation.

“Only a strong, united and self-sufficient community can effectively the Armenian people and the homeland, as well as cooperate with the Armenian state,” said Izmirlian.

Attending the celebration were Western Primate Archbishop Hovnan Derderian; Western Prelate Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian; head of the Armenian Evangelical Church of North America, Father Joe Matossian; the Rector of St. Gregory Catholic Church Very Rev. Fr. Krikor Chahinian; representatives of the Catholicosate Central Executive Council, the Prelacy Executive Council; ARS, Hamazkayine and Homenetmen regional executives, as well as representatives of the Social Democratic “Hunchakian Party,” the Armenian Democratic League (Ramkavar Party), the AGBU and educational, cultural and compatriotic organizations.

With the drum-beat of the Homenetmen marching band, the scouts ushered in the Armenian tri-color, the US and ARF flags, as Payla Kevorkian sang the ARF anthem “Meshag Panvor.”

The program began with the singing of patriotic songs by the ARF Badanegan (junior) organization chorus, whose members were clad in red, blue and orange t-shirts. Under the leadership of Avedik Mikaelyan, the chorus presented several patriotic songs, setting the festive mood for the celebration.

The masters of ceremony were Sanan Haroun and Raffi Bedrosian of the Armenian Youth Federation Western US, who in their bi-lingual opening remarks, quoting important figures in ARF history, ushered in the evening’s message and sense of national pride.

Two video presentations during the celebration highlighted the community’s work in pursuit of the Armenian Cause, as well as the AYF’s activities, focusing on the organization’s effort in Armenia and Artsakh.

Davit Arakelyan of the AYF CE

The AYF message was conveyed by the organization’s chairman, Davit Arakelyan, who announced that the AYF has declared 2012 the year of the freedom fighter. In his remarks he explained that 20 years after the heroic battles in Artsakh, those who risked their lives for our nation’s liberation are still not provided with basic needs for survival.

Arakelyan said that the AYF is undertaking several educational projects, to sensitize the community about this issue and through various fund-raising events the AYF aims to assist in the betterment of the lives of the freedom fighters.

“We call on the community to join this effort and support this important undertaking. It is through such programs that our organization can attain the trust of our people,” said Arakelyan.

“The ARF must look at its past and renew its oath—the pledge by the founders of our party—to always be dedicated to our people, our ideals and our national principles,” added Arakelyan.

The Hamazkayine “Ani” Dance Troupe took part in the cultural portion of the program, which included performances by Karnig Sarkisian and the “Cilicia” Chamber Orchestra. At the conclusion of the evening singers Souren Mktrchyan and Rima Karapetian joined the orchestra in a rendition of “Ariunot Trosh,” which was met with a standing ovation, thus capping off a successful celebration.

Hrant Dink

ANKARA (Hurriyet Daily News)—The State Audit Board (DDK) of the Turkish Presidency has determined that certain documents went missing while others were tampered with in the case of Hrant Dink, the Turkish-Armenian journalist murdered in 2007 in front of his newspaper office in Istanbul.

The DDK will be bringing up a number of contentious issues in an upcoming report, including a notice provided to the gendarmerie by instigator Yasin Hayal’s brother-in-law, Coşkun İğci, in July 2006, which indicated that Hayal would make an attempt on Dink’s life.

Gendarmerie officials, however, had claimed the intelligence in question was only provided to them after Dink’s assassination.

Another claim that is expected to make its way into the report concerns an SMS message sent by Tuncay Uzundal to Erhan Tuncel, which was also brought up in court by Prosecutor Hikmet Üsta, allegedly indicating that Hayal was asking for 7.65 mm caliber shells.

The SMS message was altered at the police headquarters in the Black Sea province of Trabzon and the part where Hayal was asking for shells was deleted, according to allegations.

An investigation may subsequently be launched against certain public servants once the report gets published, according to the daily Cumhuriyet.

Former claims were directed at former Istanbul Governor Muammer Güler as well as the Istanbul Police Department’s Intelligence Director Ahmet İlhan Güler.

Accordingly, the Trabzon chief of police sent a report to the Istanbul Police Department to warn of an assassination against Dink, but the intelligence head Ahmet İlhan Güler did not take it seriously. Attempts to investigate Güler after the murder have been blocked.

The DDK’s report will also include sections about other administrative proceedings pertaining to the trial, as well as a series of objections that were raised by Turkey’s Telecommunications Directorate (TİB) regarding phone and camera records from the crime scene.

Prof. Taner Akcam

The following interview with Prof. Taner Akcam, the Robert Aram, Marianne Kaloosdian and Stephen and Marion Mugar Chair in Armenian Genocide Studies at Clark University, appeared in Le Monde on Jan. 7. The interview was conducted by Guillaume Perrier. Below is the interview in English.

LE MONDE: What is your opinion, not about the genocide denial law itself, but about the effects it can have on the debate among intellectuals and civil society in Turkey?
TANER AKCAM: As the saying goes, there’s no such thing as bad publicity. Although, in the short run, the French law has been very negatively received in Turkey, I believe that in the long run, the effect will be positive. Within its own borders, Turkey can try and continue to suppress, and muzzle, and deny the truth, but internationally there will be continual reminders (such as the French law) of an issue that Turkey must confront and ultimately resolve.

Even if one opposes this legal initiative, it shows that Turkey cannot escape by sticking its head in the sand. For this reason, the French initiative cannot be considered as a simple “law” in the technical sense of the term for France. For better or worse, it has become part of the international campaign to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

Turkey’s hysteria, and anger, and temper tantrums will pass and some of the negative developments that have occurred will be quickly forgotten. What will remain is the heavy reality of a very serious unresolved problem. Such an outcome will, I expect, support the position of those intellectuals who assert that confronting and remembering history is strongly connected to the creation of a democratic society.

Regardless of France’s ultimate aims or intentions, Turkish society and its educated classes are once again reminded that we need to resolve this very fundamental issue. Some may object that “this should have happened some other way,” but if you don’t solve your problems on your own, often enough someone else will force a solution on you. That’s the way it’s always been in this world.

Everyone has to realize this basic fact: On the subject of 1915, Turkey has followed a politics of purposeful amnesia and delaying tactics. Turkey has swept the issue under the rug, buried it and pretended it didn’t exist, all in the hopes that everyone’s memory would be short and the whole thing would be forgotten. This is what they’ve been doing for about a hundred years.

Every year after April 24th, the commentary in most of the daily newspapers is something along the lines of “Whew, great, we got through another year of this.” With 2015 approaching, the tactic is the same. They know the subject is going to be brought up, especially abroad, and everything is geared towards getting through 2015 with the least amount of damage. That’s why there’s so much anger towards France’s law. Turkey is angry at being reminded. Such memory is a ghost that has haunted them for decades.

I’ve been dealing with the Armenian Genocide topic for many years now, but when it comes up with other Turkish intellectuals, I’ve always sensed a certain lack of interest, as if to say, “Where’d you come up with this problem, anyway? Don’t we have enough issues to deal with?” For them the subject has always seemed a bit unreal, inauthentic, and imposed from the outside.

My international colleagues speak of my “courage” to pursue this subject in the face of “threats and dangers” from Turkey. However, that has never really been my problem. My biggest challenge was loneliness. I have had a hard time trying to explain the significance of 1915 even to my closest friends in Turkey. In 1997, I wrote an essay titled, “Walking around like a leper in my own country.” That’s how I felt—like a leper, a pariah. It wasn’t a matter of “fear” and “courage.” What bothered me the most was their indifference, their lack of interest, and the resulting alienation and loneliness I felt.

When I’d depart from Turkey, since my flight usually took off at around 5 T.A.:m., I would stay up all night talking with Hrant Dink. Every one of those conversations revolved around our loneliness. We felt that no one seemed really interested in understanding and listening to us. The question that we most often struggled with was, “How can we reach our friends and acquaintances so that they see just how important this subject really is?” One of Hrant’s biggest challenges was isolation. In the end, his alienation by and from us, Turkish intellectuals, was a contributing factor in his murder.

Hrant’s death was a turning point. Turkish intellectuals took more interest in the events of 1915. We began to understand that 1915 has even more to do with today than with the past. Gradually, the connection between democracy-building and human rights, on the one hand, and remembering and confronting history, on the other, became clearer and more acceptable across a broader swath of Turkish society.

The civil-democratic activism that coalesced after Hrant’s death played an important role in this change. However, this emergent opposition is still lacking in strength. I believe that we still need much more external pressure. That is where the French law comes in.
LE MONDE: Do you think international pressure is positive or negative on Turkey? Don’t you fear it will lead Turkey to a more nationalist, defensive approach?
T.A.: I am reminded of an incident on Jan. 4 or 5, 2007. The prosecutor’s office at Sisli, in an effort to put pressure on Hrant’s legal defense, had targeted me for investigation because of an article in which I’d used the word “genocide.” After giving the prosecutor my statement, I headed over to the Agos newspaper office. Hrant and I were chatting. As in the past, he was criticizing France’s initiatives.

“Stop, Hrant,” I told him. “If France weren’t taking this initiative, no one here would be holding a microphone to your mouth. Don’t forget,” I added, “the only reason people know who you are is because France keeps up this business with the law. If people outside the country weren’t doing this you’d have a lot of trouble finding anyone willing to listen to you.”

“You’re right,” he admitted. “The only time it’s remembered is when there is outside pressure.”

This is something that the West needs to realize. It just isn’t possible to change Turkey’s position regarding the subject of 1915 based solely on internal democratic opposition. Turkish democratic and civil society activists don’t possess that kind of strength. The assassination of Hrant Dink is evidence of this weakness. Today, there’s a very genuine activist movement that goes by the name “Friends of Hrant” that has gained significant public support in Turkey, yet Hrant’s real murderers still roam the country freely.

Those countries that condone and enable Turkey’s politics of denial for their own economic, political, and strategic advantage should understand one thing: “Denial” is a structure. To understand why Turkey continues to deny what happened in 1915, you should compare it with the racist regime of South Africa: The institutions, system, and mindset of apartheid were established upon racial differences, and the denial of genocide is similar. By denying what happened in 1915, Turkey reproduces the institutions, social relations, and mindset that created 1915.

Genocide denial goes beyond the defense of a former regime whose institutions and mindset were realized as genocide in the past. Denial also fuels a politics of continuing aggression, both inside and outside Turkey, against anyone who opposes the denialist mentality. This is why Hrant Dink’s actual murderers are still at large. This is why attacks are organized against Armenians and their memorials in Europe. This is why in America campaigns of hate and hostility are organized against me and other intellectuals.

What should be clear to everyone is this: In Turkey, genocide denial is an industry. It is also a state policy of primary importance. The National Security Council, Turkey’s highest constitutional authority, established in 2001 a Coordinating Committee for the Fight Against Baseless Claims of Genocide. All of the important ministries, including the Armed Forces, are represented on this committee, which is chaired by the vice prime minister. I repeat: Denying the genocide is one of the most important national policies of the Turkish state. You need to realize that you aren’t just confronting a simple “denial,” but you’re up against a “denialist regime.”

As long as Turkey continues this state policy of genocide denial through its institutions, relations, and mentality, Ankara will be sensitive to external pressure. In fact, this pressure should be increased. What happened in Libya and Syria needs to happen in Turkey also, with regard to genocide denial, even if the content and scope of the pressure are different.

If the West is serious about democracy in the Middle East, it cannot build democracy by supporting a denialist regime. Historical denial, both as institution and mindset, is probably the greatest stumbling block to peace and democracy in the Middle East. Why do Christians, Kurds, and Arabs in Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq feel intimidated by Turkey? Why aren’t they keen on Turkey’s intervention for democracy and human rights? Because they see, in today’s denialist regime of Turkey, the Unionists’ mentality that committed crimes against them in the past.

The South African regime didn’t collapse from internal pressure alone. The support of international public opinion was also very important. As long as the West allows Turkey’s denialist politics to continue, genocide denial will go on.

We are faced with the huge issue of how to prevent mass murders and genocides in today’s global community. To that end, the space for genocide denial in the international arena must be narrowed and ultimately eliminated. Turkey’s denial policy should be reconsidered within this perspective of prevention of genocide in the global world.

Yes, it’s always possible that external pressure may have negative consequences. History provides examples of this. We must remember not to go to extremes. If we take the position that external pressure is always bad, we play into the hands of dictators who would like nothing better than to perpetuate their crimes with impunity. The apartheid regime of South Africa, Latin American dictatorships, and the repressive Arab regimes have all taken this attitude. On the other hand, if we say, “It doesn’t matter what’s going on internally, we’re going to impose change from the outside,” the most disgraceful example is the invasion of IraLe Monde: So we need to stay away from either extreme. Instead of asking, “Yes or no to external pressure?”, we should be asking, “What kind of external pressure?”

The refusal to exert pressure is another position to be avoided. For example, the West (especially the U.S. and UK) have created their own kind of “external pressure” model based on their own calculations. For the sake of perceived economic, political, and military strategic interests, they turn a blind eye to a denialist regime. Their refusal enables Turkey to swagger, bully, and threaten other countries. This must stop. Turkey will not give up its denial policy without external pressure.

Actually, what I want is in Turkey’s best interest. In the end, what outcome could be better than the creation of a society that respects democracy and human rights and that confronts its history without shame? I have a hard time understanding what could possibly be negative about creating external pressure towards this end.

Opponents will counter that external pressure is not motivated by a desire to bring democracy to Turkey. They will say that the West exerts pressure in order to limit Turkey’s power. Is there a grain of truth in this outlook? Of course there is, but the remedy is simple: Don’t let others limit you. If you don’t want them to use your faults against you, then correct those faults so they can’t. Do your homework. No country has ever been hurt by democracy or respect for human rights.

I’m pushing 60 years of age, and by now, I’m sick and tired of these “external pressure” arguments. In the 1980’s, Turkey’s military regime was supported for the same reason and thousands of people were killed, tortured, or thrown in jail. Turkish generals were like the West’s spoiled brats, killing as they pleased. They hated any kind of pressure, didn’t want anyone “meddling in their internal affairs.” The same game is being played over the “denial of history.”

Moreover, the really important question isn’t even “What kind of external pressure?” We must ask how this external pressure will establish a healthy and positive relationship with the internal democratization process. The biggest problem right now is incompatibility and lack of harmony. Positive communication channels must be created between Turkey’s domestic, democratic opposition and the world beyond its borders. Real dialogue has yet to be established between internal and external activist groups that must unite in order to change the denialist regime. Looking at France, I can say that what we have here is a dialogue of the deaf.

I can’t say whether France’s indifference to Turkey’s democratic opposition has anything to do with it, but the nationalist leanings of Turkish intellectuals definitely play a role in this futile dialogue between parties who cannot hear each other. A very significant majority of Turkish intellectuals still views any foreign initiative with a great deal of suspicion and doubt. This attitude feels so natural to them that unfortunately they have no idea that it springs from a deep well of nationalist tendencies.

Turkish national identity has from the beginning been defined in opposition to the “terrible West that wants to meddle with our internal affairs from outside.” Undoubtedly, when one looks at the history of Ottoman Turks, one can hardly claim that the West played a positive role. However, the damage done by the West was not limited to meddling with the Ottomans for colonialist self-interest. On the contrary, the West committed a great error in not having interfered enough. A whole series of Western interventions against the Ottomans throughout the 19th century were critically important in the formulation of what we now call international law. In other words, we need to re-examine the idea that “all external pressure is wrong.”

During Turkey’s bid for European Union membership, Turkish intellectuals and the society, in general, softened their stance against “foreign interference.” Turkish society understood that outside pressure, especially by the European Greens or some of the other left wing parties, was not motivated solely by malice. In fact, it was accepted as a positive influence. The same kind of acceptance must be generated towards the concept of genocide recognition.

In today’s globally connected world, the whole idea of “external” and “internal” is very problematic. We must create a global awareness of genocides and their prevention without making these distinctions of “external” and “internal.” Genocide denial and the struggle against it are part of global democracy and human rights. You can’t speak of it as “external.” Recognition is an issue relevant to all of humanity.
LE MONDE: Since you published a Shameful Act, it opened a door in Turkey, there’s been an evolution on the 1915 issue in Turkey. How do you see the debate in Turkey? What’s your opinion about the different initiatives that have appeared recently [April 24 commemorations, the ozur diliyoruz campaign, the conference in Diyarbakir]? Do you hope for eventual recognition of the genocide from Turkey?
T.A.: Turkey’s domestic opposition should be taken more seriously. A group of individuals are in the thick of an honorable struggle that truly deserves more respect. Although Hrant Dink’s death was a turning point of sorts, they still don’t receive enough international support or interest. No one’s asking them, “How are you doing? What do you need?”

Even if the draft bill in France came to be as the product of differing interests, even if it is disregarded, I wish those working for the law in France would ask Turkish grassroots activists what they think of such an initiative. I would like to see this as a starting point for dialogue. This channel of communication hasn’t been opened and should be built as soon as possible.

A major reason the “bridge” hasn’t been built is the complete lack of interest outside of Turkey, particularly by the Armenian Diaspora, in Turkey’s growing democratization. Indeed, despite the pro-democracy movement’s positive aspects and successes, the struggle within Turkey will get nowhere on its own. The “denial coalition and industry” can’t be changed by domestic pressure alone, but it can be defeated if—and only if—the internal opposition joins forces with a harmonious and balanced external pressure.

Dialogue between Turkey’s civil activists and the worldwide struggle for “genocide recognition” is urgently needed. One reason it has yet to be initiated is the decades-old mutual prejudices about ethno-religious and other social attributes. Also, Turkey’s civil activists have yet to appreciate the significance of genocide recognition within their own democracy struggles. While Turkish activists perceive international demands for genocide recognition as distractions or obstacles to their own agenda, a large portion of the diaspora fails to appreciate the strong bond between genocide recognition and democracy-building in Turkey. If anything, they tend to belittle and underestimate this process.

However, I don’t want to lay too much blame on either side. In truth, the issue goes beyond mutual perceptions of malice or benevolence. An even deeper problem is actually that the sides are struggling for disparate goals.

Genocide recognition, in essence, is about justice, not freedom of expression or thought. A democratic or free society, such as France or the U.S., may still have unresolved historical injustices, for example towards Algeria or Native Americans. Turkish civil society still believes that its own problems are due to limitations on the freedom of thought. Other goals, such as justice and confronting history, are dismissed as unaffordable luxuries or deferred to some imaginary future. Hence the negative reaction to demands for simple truth and justice.

This is the dilemma that must be surmounted. Justice and confronting history can be achieved only with the establishment of a free and democratic society. The campaign for “truth and justice” and the movement for “freedom and democracy” are not mutually exclusive, nor should they result in confrontation. Quite the contrary, they are, and ought to to be, inseparable goals. The demands of the diaspora and Turkish society must be brought together. The duty to build bridges between foreign and domestic civil activism is the most urgent thing right now.

Garen Yegparian

BY GAREN YEGPARIAN

Turkey’s chest thumping, arrogant, threats against France, over the anti-denial legislation that passed both houses of the French legislature, betray Turkey’s inherent weakness, stemming from its refusal to come to terms with and atone for its past misdeeds, and the Armenian Genocide isn’t its only transgression against humanity.

Much like an adolescent whose body is big but whose brain still doesn’t know what to do with it, Turkey is thrashing about, lumbering bewildered, and trying to find its way and place in the international community.  An just like its youthful human analog, it hasn’t yet learned that being straightforward will help it progress.

Does anyone recall Turkey being quite this loud in its knee jerk, denial-policy-based reaction before?  Was it this intense a decade ago with France’s recognition of the Genocide?  How about the UN’s acceptance of its special rapporteur’s findings about the Armenian Genocide?  Or the U.S. House of Representatives’ passage of Armenian Genocide resolutions?  Or the U.S. arms embargoing arms to Turkey over its invasion and occupation of Cyprus?  Or the decades long farce of the EU keeping Turkey as “always a bridesmaid never a bride”?

The reason Turkey is so voluble and strident in its reaction is its self-perception as being in a much stronger position than it used to be.  And there’s some truth to this.  Its economy has been growing rapidly (though some argue unsustainably).  Its population exceeds that of every European country except Russia and Germany (though a quarter of that is actually Kurdish).  It has had relatively better governance for a decade now.  It feels young, strong, and surging.  It has all the attributes that coupled with immaturity, overweening pride, and insecurity lead to bullying.

So it’s clear that bigger can mean badder.

That’s why it is an insoluble mystery to me why that same lesson is not applied by many in society to another institution that is a manifest example of “bigger-badder”.  I refer to those who reflexively defend large corporate interests.

Corporations are set up as vehicles for conducting business to make money.  That is their primary purpose (with the exception of those organizations that incorporate as a legal necessity, even though their purposes are charitable or civic).  When an organization gets big, it unavoidably becomes less personal, and the money making impetus becomes the sole organizing theme and unifying factor.  So far this is not a problem.

But, as with any human endeavor, there are costs and tradeoffs.  The efficiencies that accrue to big companies enable them to get ever bigger, and with their financial prowess, deform the functions of their surrounding societies, bending them to better suit their purposes.  This happens at a cost to the individual citizens of these societies, usually impinging on their freedoms and voice in governance.

The only way to counterbalance this deformation is through control, limitation, of corporate activity.  A single citizen is clearly not up to such an onerous task.  That’s where the citizenry’s representative, the government, comes in.  It is the only agent capable of counterbalancing corporate power.

However, big government can be just as effective a choker of individual liberty as any money-addled corporation.  So citizens must be aware of and involved in their government, otherwise, “clookhuh g’arneh, g’erta” (it will run amok).  As paraphrased from a 1790 speech by John Philpot Curran in his “ Speech Upon the Right of Election”, “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty”.

Corporations of course, act to subvert the only power able to check theirs, so citizens must be doubly vigilant.  A current example of this awareness/engagement requirement is the effort now underway to restore corporations to what they rightfully are, legal constructs that exist based on the government’s permission.  Two years ago, in its “Citizens United” decision, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively granted “personhood” to corporations, a huge threat to every human citizen.  Now, many are out to remedy this abomination.

Big Turkey is bad.  Big Corporations are bad.  “Citizens United” is bad.  Please explore this issue and get involved in taking back your government and powers as a citizen.

Participants at a workshop led by Maral Chalian

BY RITA HINTLIAN

GLENDALE—Armenian Relief Society of Western U.S.A. (ARS-WUSA) members converged in Desert Hot Springs for a seminar from January 20-22, 2012, with most of the 60 members traveling from Los Angeles County and some from Fresno and San Diego. 

Apo Boghigian, Editor of the Asbarez Armenian Newspaper in Los Angeles, was quick to point out the spirit of charity that distinguishes the ARS mission from other organizations. He urged ARS members to not underestimate their strength and to jump into solving societal problems head on. As editor, Boghigian emphasized the importance of public relations, and encouraged ARS members to find the interesting stories to hook the readers to the important programs and accomplishments of the ARS.

Maral Chalian, Associate Director of Major Gifts and Planned Giving at Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles and a member of the ARS Maro Chapter, shared her insights regarding fundraising from her experience at the hospital and KCET. She advocated a strategic approach to maximize fundraising potential from identification to cultivation, solicitation and stewardship. Seminar participants worked in small groups on how to approach dream projects, and presented their findings to all the attendees. Chalian observed that the same theme dominated the presentations.

Garo Moumdjian, a historian who is a consulting expert on the Middle East for federal agencies, provided another perspective on strategically accomplishing aims. His presentation concerned leading the ARS in such a way that as younger members join the organization, they are also prepared to eventually smoothly transition into leadership. He advocated changing the leadership pyramid into a circle and utilizing new technology. Moumdjian’s exercise for the participants was to come up with the top three challenges that the ARS faces and to develop a course of action to resolve one of the issues.

A team from World Vision Global Center led by Dr. Jean Bouchebel helped to strengthen ties with the ARS. Phyllis Freeman, National Disaster Director at World Vision, presented disaster readiness. She explained disaster readiness objectives, disaster basics, and how to plan flexibility into disaster responses. Freeman’s first-hand experiences and the World Vision way of planning for specific time-periods according to the needs of a community were insightful.

ARS-WUSA Regional Executive Chairperson, Dr. Nyree Derderian, MC’ed the seminar, presenting the speakers with certificates of appreciation, and thanking everyone for their participation.

The ARS-USA Regional Executive’s Educational Committee conducted a quiz bowl as a team-building exercise. The participants enthusiastically answered questions, and the hall erupted into the “Erepouni” song, when the answer to one of the questions was “Erepouni.”  Arous Melkonian, Chair of the Educational Committee was pleased with the turnout and excited with the peculiar way that ARS members met the challenges throughout the windy weekend.

“Seminars such as this motivate and better equip our members to learn new practices and overcome any challenges in our changing times,” said Asdghig Chitilian, Chairperson of the Seminar Organizing Committee.

The ARS of Western USA, established in 1984 and with a regional headquarters in Glendale, has 27 chapters and over 1,500 members in 5 western states. The ARS operates a Social Services Division, a Child, Youth, and Family Guidance Center and funds numerous youth programs, scholarships, and relief efforts. For further information, please visit www.arswestusa.org or call 818-500-1343.

Activist Yervand Azatian is presented a scholarship from Glendale ANC chairman Berdj Karapetian

GLENDALE—The Armenian National Committee of Glendale welcomed local supporters, activists, elected officials, and community leaders for its 8th Annual Armenian Christmas Celebration on Wednesday, January 11 at the K&M Karamanoukian Glendale Youth Center. The event gave guests an opportunity to learn about some of the organization’s achievements in the past year and meet the newly appointed ANCG Board of Directors.

Executive Director of ANCG, Elen Asatryan, who served as the Mistress of Ceremonies for the evening opened the program by thanking those present for their continuous support of the Armenian National Committee – Glendale Chapter and for working with the organization on the common goal of bettering the City of Glendale and was followed by Father Komitas Torrosian from the Western Prelacy who delivered the invocation. 

Newly elected Chair of ANC Glendale, Berdj Karapetian, took stage to introduce the 2012-2013 Board of Directors, Garrett Atamian, Hilma Balaian, Lena Bozoyan, Pierre Chraghchian, David Gevorkyan, Zareh Movsessian, Kevork Talatinian and discussed some of the structural changes to take place within the organization in the coming months, including obtaining input from city leaders, local organizations and community members about issues of importance as well as the establishment of various working sub-committees.   

“The Christmas Celebration provides us the opportunity to continue our tradition, bring old friends and new acquaintances together, and brighten the lives of others.” stated Karapetian.

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Consecutively, members of the ANCG governing body distributed certificates to the 2011 ANCG Internship Program graduates Sepan Beglaryan, Patil Derderian, Anoush Djbashian, Tadeh Gharib, Sipan Ghazarian, Celine Khalafian, Shant Seraydaryan, whille Chair Karapetian presented two local students, Carla Kekejian and Yervand Azatian, with $500.00 scholarships from the ANCG Youth Activist Scholarship Fund.

ANC Glendale also used the Annual Christmas Celebration to collect store packaged toys.   Over 200 items will be delivered to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and the Glendale YWCA in the coming week.

Guests included Council Members Ara Najarian and Rafi Manoukian, Glendale City Manager Scott Ochoa,  Glendale Police Chief Ronald DePompa, Glendale Fire Chief Harold Scoggins, Members of GUSD Board of Education: Greg Krikorian, Nayiri Nahabedian, Joylene Wagner and Christine Walters, GCC Board of Trustees Anita Gabrielian, Armine Hacopian, Vahe Peroomian and Tony Tartaglia,  GCC President Dr. Dawn Lindsay, GUSD Superintendent Dr. Richard Sheehan, City & GUSD Department heads and staff, city commissioners, representatives from community based organizations such as the Armenian Bar Association, ACF Glendale, ANC Western Region and Burbank, ARS Sepan Chapter, Glendale Historical Society, Glendale Community Foundation, Glendale YMCA, Glendale YWCA, Homenetmen Ararat Chapter  League of Women Voters, Neighborhood Legal Services, St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic Church and others.

ANC Glendale advocates for the social, economic, cultural, and political rights of the city’s Armenian American community and promotes increased civic participation at the grassroots and public policy levels.

Clinton at the 2010 QDDR town hall

BY ARA KHACHATOURIAN

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday said the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the US “opens a door that is a very dangerous one to go through.” This is the same Hillary Clinton who, four years ago, pledged that she would recognize the Genocide as President of the United States.

Responding to a question from a participant of a Town Hall Meeting on Thursday, who asked why the US does not recognize the Genocide, Clinton characterized the Armenian Genocide as an historical issue and not a political one.

“I think it’s fair to say that this has always been viewed, and I think properly so, as a matter of historical debate and conclusions rather than political. And I think that is the right posture for the United States Government to be in, because whatever the terrible event might be or the high emotions that it represents, to try to use government power to resolve historical issues, I think, opens a door that is a very dangerous one to go through. So the issue is a very emotional one; I recognize that and I have great sympathy for those who are just so incredibly passionate about it,” Clinton told the audience.

“But I think the free market of ideas, the academic community, the open architecture of communication that is even greater now than it was in the past, are the proper fora for this kind of engagement, and that’s where I hope it is worked out. And eventually, people will have their own conclusions, which needs to be respected, but we need to encourage anyone on any side of any contentious historical debate to get out into the marketplace of ideas. Muster your evidence, put forth your arguments, and be willing to engage, and that’s what I think should happen on that too,” added Clinton who received a round of applause from the audience.

She also took time to respond to a question from the same person on Monday’s passage of the French Senate resolution criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide.

“…One of our great strengths is we do not criminalize speech. People can say nearly anything they choose, and they do, in our country. And so other countries, including close friends and allies like France, have different standards, different histories, but we are, I hope, never going to go down that path to criminalize speech,” explained the Secretary of State, who seems to have forgotten that there are succinct laws against hate speech in the US, under which people can be prosecuted.

Clinton's letter in 2008 (click to enlarge)

Exactly four years ago this week, then Sen. Clinton had this to say: “I believe the horrible events perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire against Armenians constitute a clear case of genocide. I have twice written to President Bush calling on him to refer to the Armenian Genocide in his annual commemorative statement and, as President, I will recognize the Armenian Genocide. Our common morality and our nation’s credibility as a voice for human rights challenge us to ensure that the Armenian Genocide be recognized and remembered by the Congress and the President of the United States.”

This is, by far, one of the more patronizing statements coming out of the Secretary of State, and the Obama Administration. Her statement today calls into question whether the US has ceased to be “a voice for human rights” or has the definition of that principle changed since Barack Obama took office three years ago. Or, how did the Armenian Genocide, about which she wrote to President Bush become “a dangerous door” in a matter of four years?

Her statements indicate that the US government is beholden to a foreign government—Turkey—in its policy making and is really not an advocate for human rights worldwide but a willing participant in a systematic and calculated campaign of lies that continues to stain Turkey as a citizen of the civilized world.

“The Obama-Biden Administration – with Secretary Clinton’s latest remarks – continues to dig itself deeper and deeper into a hole of complicity in Turkey’s genocide denial,” said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America.

“It’s a sad spectacle to see Secretary Clinton hiding behind cynical appeals to scholars – the overwhelming majority of whom have already spoken forcefully against Turkey’s denials of the Armenian Genocide – to divert attention from either President Obama’s, Vice President Biden’s or her own personal promises to properly recognize this crime and, more broadly, to divert attention from America’s failure to meet her moral obligation to stand up against a foreign government’s veto of our defense of human rights,” continued Hamparian.

“The Secretary’s unfounded and offensive references to ‘historical debate’ in regards to the Armenian Genocide only embolden the Turkish Government – which, just today, again took steps toward deporting Armenians,” concluded Hamparian.

The Obama Administration’s latest ploy to massage this ridiculous message is laughable at best and devoid of any credibility. Its defense of Turkish interests at any cost, goes counter to the international community’s conventional wisdom and makes US policymakers seem backward in their approach to human rights issues.

This latest statement by Clinton should not elicit anger, but rather it should further call into question this administration’s ability to effectively lead.

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan (Photo by Nanore Barsoumian)

BY NANORE BARSOUMIAN
From The Armenian Weekly

ISTANBUL–Turkey is set to amend a law that aims to rid the country of illegal workers. Many view this move as retaliation against Armenians, in light of the new bill criminalizing Armenian Genocide denial in France.

Different estimates in Turkey put the number of Armenian citizens in the country at as low as 10,000 and as high as 100,000. Many of them are women, and they are employed in low-skill jobs.

“This country, which Mark Levene called ‘the Genocide zone,’ throughout its history has made it a habit to deport, expel, and relocate innocent people as retaliation and punishment for things they did not do, or have no connection to at all,” human rights advocate Ayse Gunaysu told the Armenian Weekly Editor Khatchig Mouradian.

The amendment to Law No. 5683 on Residence and Travel of Foreign Subjects will be ratified on Feb. 1. In the past, people from the region migrated to Turkey on tourist visas, finding employment and becoming illegal workers. After a few months, they would leave and reenter the country on a new tourist visa (a process called “visa runs”). The workers hailed mostly from countries such as Georgia, Azerbaijan, the Ukraine, Indonesia, and Armenia. The new system will force migrants to stay out of the country for 90 days between two entries. Authorities are set to strictly enforce the new law, penalizing visa overstays and runs.

However, the amendment allows for employees who wish to keep their workers to pay a salary of TL 1,330 ($744), and an insurance premium, reported Bianet.org. The minimum wage in Turkey is TL 701 ($392), and it is unlikely that an unskilled worker will make significantly more than that.

Back in March 2010, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan hinted at retaliation against Armenian migrant workers if Genocide resolutions were passed in foreign parliaments. In a discussion about Genocide resolutions in the U.S. and Sweden, he told the BBC’s Turkish Service that of the 170,000 Armenians living in Turkey, only 70,000 are Turkish citizens. “We are turning a blind eye to the remaining 100,000… Tomorrow, I may tell these 100,000 to go back to their country, if it becomes necessary.”

It appears the French bill was the last straw for Erdogan’s government. On Jan. 25, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters that “Turkey’s response to the adoption of the bill had long been decided.”

President of the Migrants’ Association for Social Cooperation and Culture Sefika Gurbuz called the law a “threat to Armenians,” reported Bianet.

Meanwhile, Gunaysu characterized Turkey’s response a “black comedy.” “The ongoing blackmail and threats  against France is itself proof of guilt as well as a manifestation of lack of dignity and self-respect, despite—of course—pathetic demonstrations of national pride,” said Gunaysu.

Gunaysu, who is a member of the Committee Against Racism and Discrimination of the Human Rights Association of Turkey, pointed out the country’s history of deporting innocents peoples. In 1915 the Young Turk regime began its systemic deportations of Armenians as a main tool to rid the Eastern provinces of a native population. “They still tell lies that it was because treacherous Armenians, whereas hundreds of thousands of Armenians were not engaged in any political activity whatsoever,” said Gunaysu. Then it was the turn of Turkey’s Kurdish and Greek populations. “The republican period is full of Kurdish deportations, especially in 1938 during and after the Dersim massacres,” she said. “In 1964, the Turkish government expelled 40,000 Anatolian Greeks, forbidding them to bring along any personal belongings over 20 kg and $20,  as a retaliation against Greece in connection with the Cyprus issue—a deportation which is still terribly painful in the memories of these people.”

Gunaysu added, “The mindset from which this policy of retaliation originates is racist, inhuman, and brutal.  The rulers of Turkey have once more proven that [the government] still follows the same path as that of  their  predecessors  back in 1915 and all along the history of the Republic.”

A sitting of PACE

STRASBOURG, France—The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on Thursday adopted a declaration calling on Turkey to recognize the “Armenian, Assyrian, and Pontic Greek genocides,” reported the press office of the Heritage Party.

The document also draws attention to “the persistent scourge of impunity in Turkey,” as a result of which basic freedoms are being violated, especially those of journalists, broadcasters and publishers.

Presented by Heritage Party delegate to the PACE Zaruhi Postanjyan, the document also stresses that reforms in Turkey are not sufficient to deal with basic human right violations in that country.

“The Criminal Code and the Anti-Terrorism Act continue to seriously impede freedom of expression in Turkey. The provisions of these pieces of legislation have been applied to disproportionately limit freedom of expression, including that of journalists, broadcasters and publishers,” the documents pointed out.

“The amendments adopted so far by Turkey have not been sufficient to deal with the root causes of violations of the right to freedom of expression found by the European Court of Human Rights. We express our particular concern about the use of civil and criminal defamation provisions and invite public figures to refrain from initiating defamation proceedings which have serious effects on media freedom,” asserted the document.

“Recalling notably the murder of Hrant Dink, advocate of the freedom of expression, we urge the authorities to step up efforts to effectively protect journalists from violence and intimidation,” urged the document.

“We are concerned about the continuous denial of the Genocide of Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians (Syriacs) by the Turkish authorities and the use of Article 301 of the Criminal Code for criminal persecution of journalists and writers,” said the document. “We strongly condemn the continuous violations of their international obligations by the authorities of Turkey.”

The PACE also adopted another document, again introduced by Postanjyan that relates to Armenia’s environmental crisis and Teghut in particular. It notes: “We strongly condemn the continuing violations of the international obligations of the Armenian government and we demand that all decisions regarding the Teghut mining exploitation be considered invalid.”

The joint letter submitted to parliament leadership

YEREVAN—The parliamentary faction of Prosperous Armenia, a partner in the coalition government, on Thursday joined the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and the Heritage Party in calling for a 100-percent proportional electoral system, a change proposed by the latter two parties last month.

In a written application, the three parliamentary factions, appealed to the Parliament Speaker and the Chairman of the State and Legal Affairs Standing Committee of the Parliament.

In a joint announcement in December the ARF Supreme Council of Armenia and the Heritage Party Executive Committee proposed the removal of the single-seat constituency component for parliamentary elections and adopting a 100-percent proportional representation system.

The current law distributes 90 of the 131 parliament seats on the proportional (party) system, while the remaining 40 parliament members are elected through single-seat constituency.

The two parties said the joint announcement was the culmination of collaboration between the two parliamentary opposition forces on election reform that started in 2008.

The two parties said they proposed the change after assessing the importance of the upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for May 2012 and the need to expand the political parties’ responsibility in the elections process.

The two parties insisted that the extension of the proportional representation to the entire parliament will create safeguards against voter fraud. The two parties also argued that in a proportional system voter intimidation and vote buying would be curtailed, contending that currently the majority of the single-mandate seats are held by wealthy pro-government individuals.

The statement said that if the government accepts this demand then it will demonstrate that it is serious in its pledge to ensure proper electoral conduct, as it has voiced on numerous occasions.

Soon after the joint declaration, ARF leader Armen Rustamyan said the ball was in the government’s court, explaining that the authorities stand to benefit if the current system remains.

He added that the single-seat mandate is the government’s way of isolating the opposition from the parliament and gives the authorities an uneven advantage in the electoral process.

A rejection by the authorities of the opposition proposal, Rustamyan said, would demonstrate that the current leadership does not want reform and would like to ensure its continued hold on the country through voter manipulation.

He explained that a government rejection would isolate the authorities from the rest of the country.

The two parties called on forces within and outside of parliament to support this initiative.

At the time, the Armenian National Congress welcomed the effort calling it an “important and necessary step toward ensuring the legitimacy and transparency of the elections.”

Last week, ARF parliament member Artsvik Minasyan said that there were constitutional obstacles to reforming the electoral system in Armenia, explaining that Armenia’s Constitution did not have provisions on either proportional or single-seat constituency election systems.

Hovaness Toumanian's house in Tbilisi

YEREVAN (Combined Sources)—A great-granddaughter of legendary Armenian author Hovanes Toumanian told a government delegation on Thursday that the Tbilisi residence of the author has a buyer, thus halting an effort by a Georgian-Turkish joint venture to turn the house into a hostel for Turkish migrant workers.

Irma Safrazbekyan told Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan that the buyer of the house was willing to donate the house to the Armenian community in Tbilisi on the condition that it would be turned into a cultural center. Also attending the meeting were Armenia’s Minister of Culture, Hasmik Poghosyan, Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarch Kocharyan and the chairman of Armenia’s Writers’ Union Levon Ananyan.

After the sale of the house, Armenia’s Foreign Ministry will initiate dialogue with Georgia to transfer the house to the Armenian community, said the Prime Minister.

Last month, the Union of Armenians in Tbilisi sounded the alarm by issuing an announcement.

“The historical building was transferred to a businessman back in the 90s. The businessman put the apartment on sale, and the ‘GeoTuran’ Turkish-Georgian joint venture is going to purchase the apartment to turn it into a hostel for Turkish workers. Company’s management has even asked poet’s great-grandchild Alina Tumanyan, who lives in the second part of the building, to sell her territory also, but she refused to,” the statement said.

At a press conference late last year, Safrazbekyan complained about the fact that Armenia did not purchase the home when it had the chance.

The sale to the Georgian-Turkish joint venture has prompted the Armenian government to send a delegation, headed by the chairman of the Armenian Writers’ Union, Levon Ananyan, to Tbilisi.

Ananyan said that the market price for the 120 square meter apartment is around $70,000.

Employees of GeoTuran visited Alyona Tumanyan, the poet’s great-granddaughter who owns a part of the house and proposed that she sell them to the company as well. She refused.

Burbank ANC scholarship winners

BURBANK, CA— On January 9, 2012, local elected officials, city staff, community leaders and residents gathered at the Burbank Armenian Center for the Armenian National Committee of Burbank’s (ANCB) Annual Christmas Celebration. The event gave guests an opportunity to meet the organization’s newly elected Board of Directors and learn about ANCB’s plan of action for 2012.

Annette Kargodorian, who served as the Mistress of Ceremonies for the evening kicked of the program with a short history game about Armenian Christmas followed by an overview of the organization’s goals for 2012.

“We are very pleased with the event’s turnout,” stated Silva Kechichian, ANC Burbank Chair.  “For decades, ANCB has organized the Armenian Christmas celebration to provide an avenue through which community leaders and members can meet their local legislators’ representatives, city council members, school board members, and city officials, while having an opportunity discuss issues of concern to the community in a casual setting.  We look forward to holding the event in our new center next year” added Silva Kechichian.

This was all topped off with the unveiling and distribution of the ANCB Rebirth Humanitarian Scholarship Fund made possible by Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center in partnership with Woodbury University through which four students were awarded a total of $2,500 in scholarships.  The scholarship signifies the re-birth of 200 Armenian religious, political, and intellectual leaders who were arrested in Istanbul (Constantinople) on April 24, 1915 and systematically murdered, thereby leading to the first genocide of the 20th century.

Recipients of the scholarships included Woodbury University students Eliza Donikyan, $250; Grigor Khachikyan, $500; Vergine Touloumian, $750; and Robert Asaturyan, $1,000.

Armond Aghakhanian who helped establish the scholarship fund stated, “It is about a future where mankind can live in peace and harmony regardless of their religion, color, ethnicity or beliefs…..a future that has learned from its past”.  An appreciation plaque was presented to the Glendale Memorial Hospital for their generous donation.

Armenian National Committee of Burbank advances the social, economic, cultural, and political rights of the area’s Armenian American community and promotes increased Armenian American civic participation at the grassroots and public policy levels.

Hundreds of toys collected by Fresno AYF chapter

BY KNAR KAHKEJIAN 

FRESNO—Christmas is a time for family, friends, love, and happiness. For most of us who are fortunate enough to live in the United States, many can recall vivid childhood memories filled with toys that we had wished for from Santa.

Unfortunately, for every person that can account for one such memory, there’s a child, in Armenia, that has experienced an entire childhood, let alone Christmas, without these extravagant presents. Although we experience poverty here in the States, it will never come close to the poverty experienced in many cities throughout Armenia. Toys are not a necessity, they’re a luxury. Most children cannot even play with soccer balls, dolls, or put together puzzles because their families simply cannot afford it. Then there are those living in orphanages. What about their childhood? Why should they not experience being a kid and be given the opportunity to play?

This is where the Diaspora steps in. For the past four years, the AYF Fresno “Kevork Chavoush” chapter has worked relentlessly to reverse the process of “growing up” for many underprivileged children living in Armenia, Artsakh, and most recently added, Javakhk. There was no excuse as to why these kids should have a Christmas without toys. Thus, the Toy Drive was born, whose purpose is to send new, unopened toys to less fortunate children in Armenia.

Starting early December 2011, the Fresno AYF chapter put on their annual Toy Drive and collected toys all throughout the Central Valley. Many local businesses agreed to have a box placed at their location to help with the collecting of toys. The chapter even received monetary donations to purchase toys on behalf of the donors. Once the Toy Drive was complete, there was a total of 350 plus toys collected. It’s amazing to see people reaching out and donating, although economically, most people are going through a rough patch.

The AYF Fresno “Kevork Chavoush” chapter would like to personally thank everyone for all their help, donations, and time given for the sake of the Toy Drive. It was a very successful event and we hope to double that number in the future. If you would like to help our chapter next year by placing a donation box in your place of business, or even by donating toys, please contact us at (559) 696-8358. We’ll keep your information ready and handy for the forthcoming Toy Drive.

Townhall meeting on Sunday

GLENDALE—The French Senate passage of an anti-genocide denial measure and U.S. House adoption of a resolution urging Turkey to return Christian churches will be the topics discussed at a special Town Hall meeting this Sunday January 29 at 1 p.m., hosted by the Armenian National Committee of America Western Region (ANCA-WR) at St.
Mary’s Church Hall, in Glendale CA.

The event will spotlight two recent victories in the international campaign to secure justice for the Armenian Genocide, including recent Congressional adoption of a measure calling on Turkey to return stolen church properties to their rightful owners, and this week’s French Senate vote to criminalize genocide denial.

Speaking at the event will be Harut Sassounian, publisher of the California Courier newspaper and dedicated advocate of the Armenian Cause. Joining him will be William Bairamian, executive director of the ANCA-WR. Other guest speakers will also address the audience.

Admission is free but because of the limited capacity of the hall, attendees are encouraged to arrive early since entry to the event will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

For questions, the ANCA-WR may be contacted at 818-500-1918.

The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.

The ARF Youth were among those who celebrated the French victory

YEREVAN, PARIS, ISTANBUL—There was a festive mood outside the French embassy in Yerevan as Armenians celebrated the passing of a French law making it illegal to deny that the Armenian Genocide.

Many expressed their gratitude to France and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose party first proposed the bill. Sarkozy also received a letter from Armenia’s President Serzh Sarkisian.

“Today France has reaffirmed its greatness and power, its devotion to the universal human values,” said Sarkisian in his letter. “This day is exceptional for all those, who are struggling for the protection of human rights, for the condemnation and prevention of the crimes against humanity.”

“I thank you for your personal commitment, for your invaluable input which made possible the adoption of the law criminalizing the denial of genocides. I convey to you these words of gratitude and wish you new and greater achievements for the benefit and the best future of France and the French people,” said Sarkisian in his letter addressed to Sarkozy.

Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian said the French decision was important for history: “This day will be written in gold, not only in the history of friendship between the Armenian and French

peoples, but also in the annals of history for the protection of human rights worldwide, and will further consolidate the existing mechanisms of prevention of crimes against humanity.”

All political groups in Armenia, whether in government or opposition, have welcomed the decision made by the French Senate on Monday night after more than seven hours of debate.

The French ambassador to Armenia, Henri Renaud, was warmly received by the crowd outside the embassy, where many shook his hand and patted him on the back.

A student outside the embassy said he was there to express his gratitude: “Today we are together in front of the French embassy in Armenia to thank the French people, who, without putting economic

interests first, adopted the law that will invigorate the relationship between French and Armenian people.”

Waving flags, and chanting “merci,” the crowd outside the embassy also brought banners and postcards saying “France is the Protector of Historical Justice” and “France is our Friend.”

The two Catholicoi also welcomed Monday’s decision.

His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians wrote to Sarkozy to express his gratitude on behalf of the Holy See of Etchmiadzin.

His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, issued a statement, in which he said that the action by the French Senate would assist Turkey to correct its historical record.

“France is opening the road for Turkey to correct its historical record. The vote of 23 January 2012 reminds us of the event during the Armenian Genocide when the French Navy evacuated some of our people and brought them to Lebanon to avoid the fate of their brothers and sisters. The vote is a continuation of France’s historical commitment to human rights,” said Aram I.

“Through this historical vote, France is assisting Turkey to join those courageous countries that have set a process for reconciliation: Germany’s admission of the Holocaust, the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Rwanda’s Gacaca Process, Serbia’s admission of the Srebrenica Genocide, Canada’s admission of the Genocide of the Aboriginal people,” added Aram I.

“This is an opportunity for Turkey to give up its negationist language, to cease calling countries committed to human rights as ‘irresponsible’ and to begin a new courageous journey of correcting its historical records and engaging in a reparation process,” concluded the Catholicos.

In an interesting footnote a couple from the northwestern Akhurik village named their baby boy, born on Wednesday, Sarkozy in honor of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The parents expressed their gratitude to the president after the French Senate passed on Monday a bill that outlaws the denial of genocide including the Armenian Genocide in the early 20th century. The bill that sets the country on a collision course with Turkey is yet be signed by President Sarkozy.

The boy has already received his birth certificate with his name, Sarkozy Avetisyan.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan

ANKARA, BAKU—Official Turkey and Azerbaijan voiced condemnation over Monday’s passage by the French Senate a bill that criminalizes the denial of the Armenian Genocide.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking at his party’s congress Tuesday, said that Turkey regarded the French Senate’s Jan. 23 approval of a bill criminalizing the denial of Armenian genocide claims as “null and void.”

Erdoğan said Turkey had previously warned France against the “mistake” of passing the bill and added that the government hoped France would make amends for the mistake.

The Turkish prime minister called on “right-minded” members of the French Parliament and French intellectuals to oppose the bill and said the approval of the law was outright racism and destroyed free speech.

It is up to citizens of France to judge French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his associates, Erdogan said.

“Those who fall silent against such measures [such as the approval of this law] will be turning a deaf ear to the footsteps of approaching fascism in Europe,” Erdogan said.

Erdoğan said the Turkish government was waiting patiently for the legal process in France to run its course before it would share its plan of action against the law with the public.

Official Baku also chimed in by denouncing the French decision.

“The Republic of Azerbaijan deplores the law adopted by the French Senate to criminalize the denial of the ‘Armenian genocide’ and expresses strong protest over this,” the foreign ministry in Baku said in a statement.

The move was “against the principles of democracy, human rights, freedom of speech and expression”, the statement said.

Hrant Dink

ISTANBUL—Turkey’s top judicial council ordered an investigation of the judge and prosecutor in the recently concluded Hrant Dink murder case on Wednesday after they publicly clashed over the verdict.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) said an investigation has been launched into Eryılmaz and Usta after publication in the media of several news articles

concerning their statements about the Dink case. It was not immediately clear whether they face any legal sanctions, Today’s Zaman reports.

Ending the five-year trial, the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court sentenced suspect Yasin Hayal to life imprisonment for his role in the 2007 killing of Turkish-Armenian journalist Dink, but acquitted 19

defendants charged with being part of a terrorist group, sparking outrage among the family’s lawyers as well as politicians and intellectuals who say the murder was part of a bigger conspiracy that involved state bureaucrats.

In remarks published soon after the ruling, the presiding judge of the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court, Rustem Eryılmaz, said while he personally cannot deny the murder was well-organized, the evidence submitted to the court was not sufficient to issue a ruling that it was an organized crime.

Prosecutor Hikmet Usta swiftly responded to the judge’s statement, saying in a two-page long petition as part of his appeal of the Jan. 17 verdict that there was plenty of evidence to establish the murder was the result of efforts by an organized criminal group.

President's brother, Levon Sarkisian

YEREVAN (A1-plus)—Armenian businessman Edmond Khudyan demanded compensation of $7 million in court, as much as he invested in Armenia before his involuntary bankruptcy.

The businessman said he has been swindled and cheated out of millions of dollars while engaging in commercial enterprises in Armenia and blames the financial fraud on Serzh Sarkisian’s brother, Levon.

At the Criminal Court of Appeal Edmond Khudyan Wednesday demanded that those involved in the financial fraud be exposed and punished.

In 2005, the Diaspora businessmen founded Arin Capital & Investment LLC and developed a high-rise building at 33 Mashots. Before finishing the construction, some of the flats had been sold to 17 Diaspora

Armenians.

His partner and contractor was Vladislav Mangasryan, unofficial owner of VERM, VMG, KAMAR companies. In 2007, Edmond Khudyan had appointed Eduard Yesayan, as director of the company. Eduard

was his long time friend.

In 2010, Vladislav Mangasryan, and EdikYesayan mutually decided to sell the flats and pocket the money without Khudyan’s knowledge. Later they claimed that it was done to save the company from

bankruptcy, for everybody’s benefit.

Since then E. Khudyan placed several lawsuits against the parties to return stolen properties and to bring them to justice but those efforts have been unsuccessful.

Harut Sassounian

BY HARUT SASSOUNIAN

Turkey’s leaders have been threatening France for months with various reprisals should the French government pass a law making it illegal to deny the Armenian Genocide.

Ignoring Turkish threats and blackmail, the French Parliament adopted a bill on December 22, 2011, criminalizing denial of the Armenian Genocide. The Senate followed suit on January 23, 2012, with a vote of 127-86, after a 7-hour debate. The new law, to be signed soon by Pres. Sarkozy, carries a one year jail term and a fine of $60,000 for anyone denying the Armenian Genocide. Every single member of the French legislature, even those voting against the bill, stated that they had no doubt whatsoever about the facts of the Armenian Genocide.

The hour of truth has now arrived. One wonders if Turkey’s leaders have the courage to carry out their bombastic declarations. We would like to ask them two questions:
1. Are you all talk and no action or, as the saying goes, is your bark worse than your bite? 2. Will you be taking short-term face-saving measures or more serious and permanent steps?

Unlike a month ago, the Turkish public will not be satisfied if the Ambassador is withdrawn, only to be sent back in two weeks. Also, Turks may not be too impressed by Prime Minister Erdogan’s announcement that he would no longer visit Paris.

While Turkish officials are recovering from the shock of the French vote, we wish to offer some tips on how Turks can make a bad situation even worse. In its fury, the Turkish government may take retaliatory measures not only against France, but also all countries that have recognized the Armenian Genocide. Such extreme, irrational, and self-defeating actions would contribute to Turkey’s isolation and hurt its own interests. Below are suggested ideas on how Turkey could settle scores with France and other perceived adversaries:

1. Withdraw the Turkish Ambassador from France and do not send him back until the French government renounces its acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide and the newly adopted French bill.
2. Expel the French Ambassador from Turkey and shut down the French Embassy.
3. Break all economic, military, cultural, and political ties with France.
4. Collect all French products such as chocolates and wines from store shelves throughout Turkey and dump them in the sewer; and ban French fries and French kissing!
5. Cancel all Turkish Airlines flights to French cities and do not allow Air France flights to Turkey. Place similar restrictions on French ships.
6. Prohibit teaching of French in Turkish schools and shut down private French schools in Turkey.
7. Forbid access to all French websites.
8. Discontinue Turkey’s efforts to join the European Union, in view of the expected submission of similar measures on genocide denial to all 26 EU member countries.
9. Cancel Turkey’s membership in the Council of Europe because in 1987 the European Parliament recognized the Armenian Genocide.
10. Withdraw from the United Nations because in 1985 the UN Human Rights Commission adopted a report recognizing the Armenian Genocide.
11. Ban all Turkish official visits to France.
12. Expel all French citizens from Turkey and demand that all Turkish citizens immediately leave the territory of France.
13. Do not allow French tourists and businessmen to enter Turkey.
14. Shut down French automobile factories in Turkey, causing the unemployment of thousands of Turkish workers.
15. Rename all French streets in Turkey to Algerian and North Korean names.
16. Adopt a resolution by the Turkish Parliament accusing France for the so-called Algerian “genocide.”
17. Deport all citizens of Armenia working illegally in Turkey. Deprive them of all food and water during their long march from Istanbul to Armenia or, even worse, to the Syrian desert!
18. Withdraw all private and public Turkish funds from French banks.
19. Blacklist all French books, movies, newspapers and TV programs in Turkey.
20. Arrest French citizens in Turkey in retaliation for Turks imprisoned in France for denying the Armenian Genocide.

The French Senate’s decision is part of the high price the Turkish government has been paying for the past 100 years for its persistent denial of the Armenian Genocide and the heinous crimes committed by its Ottoman predecessors. Until Turkey acknowledges its guilt and restores the Armenian lands and properties to the descendants of Genocide victims, it will continue to face serious challenges from other countries and will be denied a place in the family of civilized nations.

One of the first published Bibles

BY FLORENCE AVAKIAN

NEW YORK—It was an extraordinary evening of revelation on Dec. 1 as Dr. Levon Avdoyan unveiled the large trove of Armenian treasures in the Library of Congress, where he serves as “specialist” of the Armenian and Georgian areas. Entitled “To Know Wisdom and Instruction,” his talk covered 500 years of Armenian printing and a history of the Armenian collection at the Library of Congress. Starting on April 19, an exhibition of the collection of Armenian manuscripts and printed books will be open to the public for five months.

It was also an evening of appreciation as Michael Haratunian, the longtime chair of the Columbia University Armenian Center’s Board of Directors, was honored. Following a warm welcome to the enthusiastic audience of more than a hundred by the current chair of the Armenian Center, Mark Momjian, a special tribute was accorded by Board member Dr. Nicole Vartanian to Haratunian, who was presented the first edition (1934. of Franz Werfel’s The Forty Days of Musa Dagh.

In his remarks of gratitude, Haratunian recounted the rich tradition of the Armenian Studies program at Columbia, starting with the announcement of the Armenian chair in 1979 by then-Columbia President McGill. Dr. Nikit and Eleanora Ordjanian raised it to a permanent endowment at Columbia College with Kevork Avedisian funding with a million dollar donation to the chair of Armenian studies. This was followed by Sarkis Agopian funding the Armenian collection, Suren Fesjian funding the publications, and Krikor and Clara Zohrab Liebman providing full tuition for Armenian graduate students, currently totaling millions of dollars.

Avdoyan was introduced by Armenian Center Board member Lola Koundakjian, who related his impressive background that includes a doctorate in ancient history and Armenian studies from Columbia University under Professors Nina Garsoian and Morton Smith; joining the Library of Congress in 1977, and becoming its specialist for ancient classical history, and Byzantine and Medieval studies in 1982; and finally its area specialist for Armenia and Georgia in 1992. Avdoyan is also the author of the entire illustrated guide of the Library of Congress’ Near East collection, as well as of many scholarly monographs and articles.

Armenia in world’s largest library
Entitled “To Know Wisdom and Instruction: The Armenian Literary Tradition at the Library of Congress,” the exhibition will open on April 19 and will use the Library of Congress’s Armenian collection to illustrate the Armenian literary tradition. “Yerevan itself will celebrate the 500th anniversary of the printing of Armenian books in 2012,” he said.

The Library of Congress was founded in 1800 to serve the U.S. Congress, but evolved into the national library, he said. It is the oldest cultural institution in the federal government, and comprises three huge buildings, and a huge campus for motion pictures and recorded sound with 155 million items and an estimated 560 miles of shelves. “And more than 60 percent of the material is not written in English,” he added.

Due to various political and economic conditions, the publication of Armenian books could not begin in the homeland, but started in the diaspora as a result of the fall of Cilician Armenia in 1375 A.D., he explained. “Armenian was the second Middle Eastern language to be published, Hebrew in 1472 being the first.” In 1512, Jacob the Sinner opened the press in Venice and published five printed books. And in America, although the first printed books by Armenians started in the 19th century by the various Biblical societies for missionary work abroad, the first work in Armenian for Armenian Americans was published in 1888.

The first massive collection of Armenian works at the Library of Congress took place in the late 19th century. It continued with “dribs and drabs” until 1948, when the “Committee for the Armenian Collection,” created by Arthur H. Dadian and including the legendary scholar Dr. Sirarpie der Nercessian, grew from some 250 to 6,000 items in the Armenian language collection. By 1992, when Avdoyan was appointed Armenian Specialist, the collection had grown to 7,000 items. “Today,” he said, “there are estimated to be from 40,000 to 45,000 Armenian works.”

Using a PowerPoint presentation, he showed pages of the oldest gospel book printed in 1321 A.D.; the 1487 Verin Noravank Gospel with its gorgeous pigmentation; the Bible of Mkhitar of Sivas (1733.; the ecclesiastical fabric dedicated to St. Karapet in 1741; and documents and posters from the Near East Relief. There were also 1,859 photos of Armenian cotton cultivation from Paris; a photo of Lady Azgapetyan, who in 1919 was the first woman to represent Armenia at the World Suffragettes’ Conference in Paris; and even an item of firefighting in Armenia.

He noted that that there are no photos from the time of the Armenian Genocide, but there are several from before and after the catastrophe. Also in the collection are many Armeno-Turkish books, including the 13-volume diary of Tavit Adamian, who survived the genocide and immigrated to Boston. There is also a letter in the Alexander Graham Bell Archives describing the massacres in Adana in 1909, as well as Talat Pasha’s note of thanks to U.S. Ambassador Henry Morgenthau for hosting a dinner on the eve of the genocide, and the many telegrams from Morgenthau to the State Department.

“The Library of Congress has the largest map repository in the world,” including the first published map of Yerevan published in 1920 before the fall of the First Republic, he said. Rare books abound at the Library of Congress, Avdoyan revealed, including the Book of Prayers from Krikor Naregatsi (1763.; a collection of stereographic images; a manuscript of astrology; postal stamps; Verk Hayastani, the first novel of Khachadour Abovyan (1959.; and a huge collection of memorial books by immigrants who wrote about their homeland.

Start of digital area
From the time of the Book of Fridays to the period of publication in the current Republic of Armenia, the presses have always remained active, he pointed out. “We’re at the start of the digital area,” he said, adding that only 10 percent of the Library of Congress is digitized. In response to a question asking what sorts of collection should be digitized, he made several suggestions, including the need for primary documentation on the First Republic of Armenia.

ALL ASA to hold silent protest Thursday

LOS ANGELES—On Thursday, January 26 California universities will be hosting simultaneous silent protests on their respective campuses. Demonstrations, coordinated by The Confederation of All-Armenian Students Associations, will take place at UCLA, USC, UCSD, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, UC Riverside, UC Berkeley, Loyola Marymount University, Occidental College, Cal State Northridge, Cal State Los Angeles, and Glendale Community College. Members of the Armenian Youth Federation and ARF Shant Student Association will also participate.

The Stain of Denial, as the events is titled, aims at educating the greater campus community about the Armenian Genocide and the ensuing denial campaign by the government of Turkey. The ASA’s have partnered with various on-campus organizations to protest the continuous repression of justice. On the heels of the passage of legislation criminalizing Armenian Genocide denial in the French Senate, we demand that the government of the United States, like France, can stand up to empty political bullying from Turkey and properly condemn the Armenian Genocide. The United States, following the French example, should continue the fight against genocide denial and reject Turkey’s gag rule.

Students, faculty, and community members are invited to commemorate the memories of the millions killed in the Armenian Genocide and to take action for recognition of the atrocities. Please contact the Armenian Student Association nearest you or visit the Web site for information.

Classified as the first genocide of the 20th century, the Armenian Genocide claimed the lives of 1.5 million people and forced the dispersion of Armenians throughout the world. The Republic of Turkey, descendants of the Ottoman Empire, have led a denial campaign in an attempt to stave off responsibility, setting a cyclical precedent for the repression of justice.The United States, under political pressure from Turkey, has refused to acknowledge the events by its rightful classification. As Armenian-Americans, we believe that politics and humanity need to be held in separate realms. Genocide is a punishable crime and ignorance on the part of other countries further encourages the tactics of denialists.

The Confederation of All- Armenian Student Associations is a league of Armenian college student organizations that promote communication and collaboration amongst the constituent organizations. All-ASA provides a forum through which organizations can announce events, publicize activities, and share ideas regarding the Armenian college community. The formulation of All-ASA events and programs are run through a series of committees, hosted by individual constituent organizations.

Thousands of French-Armenians gather in front of the French Senate

PARIS—The French Senate passed the bill criminalizing the denial of the Armenian genocide today, despite threats and bullying from the Turkish state. The bill passed by 127 votes against 86.

The bill, drafted by member of French General Assembly Valerie Boyer, renders denial punishable with a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros ($58,000).

“Today’s courageous vote by the French Senate shines the spotlight across the Atlantic, on American policymakers, who, for far too long, have let Ankara block U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide,” said Armenian National Committee of America Executive Director, Aram Hamparian.

“The growing international pressure on Turkey and, closer to home, the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by 42 U.S. states, highlight that President Obama, who promised as a candidate to recognize the Armenian Genocide, has allowed a foreign country to impose a gag-rule on U.S. recognition of this crime against humanity,” added Hamparian.

“We mark this occasion by urging President Obama to honor his pledge to recognize the Armenian Genocide and by calling on the U.S. House leadership to allow a vote on the Armenian Genocide Resolution, H.Res.304,” continued Hamparian.

“This day will be written in gold not only in the history of friendship between the Armenian and French peoples, but also in the annals of the history of the protection of human rights,” said Armenia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edward Nalbandian, reported Reuters.

During the proceedings, members of the French Senate spoke powerfully and vocally in support of the bill. They noted that the bill is not directed against any specific country, and that it is merely an effort to honor the memory of genocide victims and struggle against hate speech.

On the other hand, those who opposed the bill did so on the grounds of opposing memorial laws in general, and noted that the French Senate is not a courthouse and is not a place to legislate history.

The Senate first voted to confirm the constitutionality of the bill. The Senate also voted down four proposed amendments.

French-Armenian intellectuals and artists—including Charles Aznavour, Serge Avedikian, Simon Abkarian, and Levon Sayan—had issued a call to the French Senate to pass the bill.

Thousands of French-Armenians gathered in front of the Senate building to express support for the bill. The Armenian crowd on the other hand, was singing Armenian national and revolutionary songs and celebrating (see video).

Turks abandon their protest outside the French Senate building

Nearby, a Turks crowd had gathered. More than an hour before the voting, however, the crowd started to disperse. The Turkish newspaper Radikal, ran an article on its website titled, “The Turks went home, the Armenians have started celebrating,” in reference to the mood of the crowds during the hour leading up to the vote.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had urged the French Senate on Jan. 20 not to pass the bill, noting that it would constitute “a black stain on France’s intellectual history.”

“We will always remind them of that,” added Davutoglu.

In turn, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that he may not visit France again if the Senate passed the bill, reported Hurriyet Daily News.

On Jan. 18, a French Senate committee had rejected the bill, but the committee’s decision was not binding and today’s vote proceeded as scheduled.

The bill’s passage did not come as a surprise, as both the Left and the Right in France had expressed support for it.

On Dec. 22, the French General Assembly had approved the bill, prompting Ankara to withdraw its Ambassador from Paris, only to return a few weeks later.

France adopted a bill officially recognizing the Armenian genocide in 2001.

Presidents Aliyev, Medvedev and Sarkisian during Monday talks in Sochi

SOCHI (RFE/RL)—The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan pledged to intensify their efforts to agree on the basic principles of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict after fresh talks hosted by their Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on Monday.

In a joint statement with Medvedev issued in the Russian city of Sochi, Serzh Sarkisian and Ilham Aliyev said “they expressed readiness to accelerate the achievement of an agreement on the Basic Principles of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement.” In that regard, they stressed the importance of switching to discussions on a comprehensive peace accord based on those principles.

The statement did not say, however, that Aliyev and Sarkisian narrowed their differences on the framework peace deal drafted by Russia, the United States and France under the aegis the OSCE Minsk Group.

According to the Interfax news agency, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists after the trilateral meeting that there is still “a whole series of issues that remain to be agreed” before the conflicting parties can sign a document on the basic principles. Lavrov said the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders agreed that they need to “move away from maximalist positions” in order to ensure further progress in the peace process.

Aliyev and Sarkisian were reportedly close to achieving a breakthrough at their previous face-to-face talks with Medvedev that took place in another Russian city, Kazan, last June. Prospects for a near-term solution to the Karabakh conflict have dimmed since then.

The two presidents also discussed but apparently failed to reach a final agreement joint investigations of deadly ceasefire violations in the conflict zone which have been proposed by the U.S., Russian and French co-chairs of the Minsk Group. Their joint statement said that the mediators were instructed to “continue this work” on concrete procedures for such investigations.

The Sochi summit highlighted Russia’s central role in the Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiating process that has been publicly praised by the United States and the European Union. Medvedev has organized a dozen Aliyev-Sarkisian meetings during his four-year presidency.

In a separate meeting with Aliyev held earlier on Monday, Medvedev insisted that these talks have been “useful” despite the lack of concrete agreements reached to date. “I hope that this kind of contacts will continue in the future,” he said in televised remarks.

The trilateral statement similarly spoke of “progress” in the Russian-mediated negotiations. It also said that Aliyev and Sarkisian called for continued mutual visits by Armenian and Azerbaijani intellectuals and other prominent public figures.

According to Lavrov, they asked Moscow to continue to arrange such “humanitarian ties.” “Dmitry Medvedev certainly agreed,” he said.

Dr. Israel Charny

In an op-ed piece entitled “A Moral Israel Must Recognize the Armenian Genocide,” published in the Jerusalem Post Magazine Sunday, Dr. Israel Charny says “Israel must put an end to this charade and fully recognize the Armenian genocide.”

“And for us Jews and Israelis, there are added meanings: One Israeli Professor at Bar Ilan University once characterized the Armenian genocide as a ‘dress rehearsal for the Holocaust.’ We also know that Hitler explicitly built on the precedent of the Armenian genocide when he went after us Jews,” says Charny.

Read Israel Charny’s entire Jerusalem Post op-ed piece.

Hayk Demoyan

BY HAYK DEMOYAN

The landmark decision made by the Lower House of the French Parliament on criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial provoked an impressive and harsh reaction from Turkish political circles illustrated the aggressive tone  in their rhetoric. Indeed, the French law with all chances to be affirmed by Senate sounds like an anathema for Turkey, a country which desires to ascribe itself a new role and activities as a regional power with ambitious projects.

Once again the Turkish leadership faced enormous humiliation and reacted very nervously realizing that the French bill may create a domino effect for new recognitions of the Armenian Genocide and criminalization of the denial of the Turkish atrocities committed during the WWI. Ankara’s disappointment is doubled since the state-sponsored denial campaign and face-saving proposal for establishment of the commission of historians are in limbo.

Thus, as a substitute, Ankara has launched a new campaign of sympathy which is intent on putting forward such or similar proposals from the mouths of foreign leaders. Despite the fact that the very idea of the commission of historians and accusation that Armenia has territorial claims from Turkey is already proven to be a bluff, some leaders in order to please panicked Turkish officials willingly became victims of Turkish tricks. It is especially bizarre that the Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey states “the historians would then contribute to discussions with their findings”, (Swissinfo, December 26, 2011). It is clear that Turkey wants to take from dead protocols what is desired, and avoid the unpleasant responsibilities. The idea fix of the Turkish side is to make Armenian Genocide a subject for endless debates at the same time ignoring historical facts and academic findings on the subject, which has long concluded  that Armenian Genocide is a classical example of state organized genocide, a statement made primarily by Rafael Lemkin, a Jewish lawyer who coined the term genocide and gave legal explanations to it back in 1944, thus paving the way for Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

Recently Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that the main obstacles to Turkey to become “one of the world’s most powerful states is that it can’t face up to its past, history, taboos and fears” (Asbarez, November 23, 2011). Like a mantra Turkish leaders and government-associated intellectuals do not stop dealing with its own past via a common practice called – escaping from the truth via denying what happened. The very idea of the commission of historians which is clearly political rather than academic offer is intended to be a trap, striving to receive the rejection of the Armenian side, and at the same time to get a positive stance towards this idea from the world. This goes hand in hand with nervous attempts of the Turkish side to blame on victims for committing mass killings of Turks, a trick, which is very common approach in almost all genocidal crimes and attempts to justify perpetrators.

On November 23, 2011, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while referring to the Dersim killings of Kurds back in 1930s, said “the most tragic incident of our near past.” While apologizing for Dersim killings Ankara consciously or not slightly linked itself with the Armenian Genocide since many of those who were massacred in Dersim and surrounding territories were Armenian survivors of the Genocide (committed by Young Turks and Kemalist forces between 1915-1922), who found refuge among friendly Kurds. Another shocking confession by the Turkish prime minister: “…It is a disaster that should now be questioned with courage. The party that should confront this incident is not the ruling Justice and Development Party [AK Party]. It is the CHP, which is behind this bloody disaster, who should face this incident and its chairman from Tunceli.” (www.eurasianet.org, November 23, 2011). Leaving aside political connotations of the statement one could say that while criticizing the Republican People’s Party (RPP) led by Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, Erdogan again points to the Armenian Genocide crimes as well, since many leaders who joined Kemal Ataturk’s team were members of the Ittihadist party, and directly were involved in decision making and perpetration of the Armenian Genocide. Moreover, during the Dersim crimes the RPP was the sole party in the country, as was Ittihad ve Terakki during the WWI when the Genocides against Armenians and other Christian subjects of the Ottoman Empire were being committed.

I would like to set a symbolic roadmap for the Turkish side on what should be done before rising the issue of necessity of the discussion of the Armenian Genocide and better preparation for discussion of unpleasant and intentionally hidden pages of the Turkish history.

Hence I do hope that the following tips could be very useful to follow:

1. It is an urgent need to revise the Kemalist heritage in the social and intellectual debates, especially in terms of lifting a Soviet-like ban on discussion of historical events and censoring memory;

2. It is urgent to eliminate Procrustean Article 301 of the Turkish Criminal Code on insulting the Turkish nation and give a real chance for Turkish academicians, journalists to express their opinions freely, with no fears of being punished for their opinions and judgments;

3. To enable Turkish and foreign researchers to conduct their studies freely, it is strongly suggested that Ankara open the Turkish archives fully, among them the archives of the General staff, declassifying those materials which are related to the hearings of the Turkish military courts in 1919-1922, which sentenced the main criminals responsible for perpetration of the Armenian Genocide to death;

4. It is necessary for Turkey to take real measures for the prevention of further destruction of cultural monuments of Armenian heritage or erasing the cultural markers under the pretext of their restoration. One more important gesture would be welcomed if Ankara orders the removal of Turkish flags from Armenian monuments, especially from those churches which were turned into military depots;

5. It is strongly suggested that the hatred and xenophobia against the Armenians and national minorities living on the territory of Turkey be removed from the Turkish textbooks. It is important also to cease any politically motivated denial campaign in Turkish schools;

6. Stop the financial activities in hiring scholars to deny the Armenian Genocide and while doing so denying the inseparable part of the Turkish history—the Armenian Genocide is not only part of Armenian history and memory, but also that of Turkey;

7. Accept internationally recognized and scholarly accepted definition for “tragic events of 1915” and recognize the crimes committed by Turkey in the past as Genocide and cease all attempts to deny it;

8. Consider the Armenian Genocide, as well as genocidal activities against other indigenous people of Anatolia, such as Greeks and Assyrians, as a shameful page of Turkish history and be ready to apologize without any reservations and semantic exercises;

9. While recognizing and apologizing for the committed genocidal crimes, Turkey must be ready for elimination of the consequences of genocide committed and undertake necessary measures to prepare Turkish society for such developments;

10. It would be a great step for Ankara to deal with the Armenian Genocide issue while accepting the following motto with four important notions: RECOGNITION, CONDEMNATION, APOLOGY AND ELIMINATION OF CONCEQUENCES OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE.

In the end I would like to suggest several proposals on possible commissions which could be useful to and will enable Turkey to face with its own history. The following proposals would be important for further reconciliation of the Turkish society with its own history and memory instead of solely focusing on the questionable Turkish-Armenian commission of historians. Let Turkey set commissions in following areas:

a. Turkish-Armenian, Turkish-EU and Turkish-Syrian commissions on border issues;

b. Turkish-Cypriot commission on war crimes of the Turkish armed forces in Cyprus in 1974;

c. Turkish-Greek commission on compensation of Greek victims of the state organized pogroms of 1955 in Istanbul;

d. Turkey-NATO commission on training of Azerbaijani officers on the territory of occupied Northern Cyprus;

e. Jewish-Turkish commission on forcible exile and violation of the rights of Jews of Thrace in early 1930s;

f. Turkish-Kurdish commission on compensation as a result of forced resettlement of Kurdish citizens;

g. Turkish-Armenian commission on the elimination of the consequences of the Armenian Genocide

Is that enough until the centennial of the Turkish Republic in 2023? I think it is more than enough…

Hayk Demoyan is director of the Armenian Genocide Museum and Institute at Dzidzernagapert

ANC Glendale members with City Manager Scott Ochoa

GLENDALE—During his first week as the newly appointed Glendale City Manager, Scott Ochoa met with the Armenian National Committee of Glendale Board of Directors on Monday, January 9 in an effort to officially introduce himself and share his vision and expertise as well as to acquaint himself with the organization’s mission, programs and issues of concern to the Armenian American community.

“Mr. Ochoa brings a fresh perspective along with a wealth of knowledge and experience in city management and community development, We were very pleased with the outcome of our first meeting and look forward to working him to better serve the Glendale community for years to come,” stated Executive Director, Elen Asatryan.

During the meeting, ANC Glendale representatives presented an overview of the organizational structure and discussed ongoing programs hosted by the local chapter including voter registration and civic engagement initiatives, free after-school tutoring for low income youth, internship and volunteer programs, free legal clinics, it’s recent food distribution that served over 300 families during the holiday season, the Path to College forum series as well is its involvement in various city committees and public policy matters. Mr. Ochoa discussed his background, philosophy and management style in addressing city and community issues.

“The strength of Glendale is its diversity. The strength of the Armenian community rests with its proud heritage, its culture, and its history of community involvement and advocacy. The ANC plays a crucial role in preserving this tradition of action on behalf of the community. Equally important, the ANC is demonstrating its commitment to serving not only the Armenian community, but the Glendale community overall,” stated Glendale City Manager, Scott Ochoa.

Ochoa began his public service career working for the City of Monrovia as an intern 1993, while in his senior year at Claremont McKenna College. After graduating from CMC with a Bachelor of Arts in Government in 1993, Ochoa earned a fulltime position with the City. He continued to work for Monrovia during the day while pursuing a Master’s Degree at the USC School of Public Administration at night. In 1996, Ochoa earned his MPA with an emphasis in public sector entrepreneurship.

In March 2004, Ochoa was appointed by the Monrovia City Council as Monrovia’s new City Manager. During his tenure, Monrovia continued its aggressive economic development program, worked to balance quality of life issues with fiscal constraints and development pressure, and he has restructured the organization to meet the challenges of the rapidly changing business environment.

Ochoa was joined by Community Relation Coordinator, Zizette Mullins. Representing the ANC Glendale were Chair Berdj Karapetian, members od the Board of Director, Garrett Atamian, Hilma Ballain, Lena Bozoyan, Devid Gevorkyan, and Kevork Talatinian, Executive Director Elen Asatryan.

The Armenian National Committee – Glendale Chapter defends the rights, advances the interests, and promotes the well being of the city’s Armenian American community and promotes increased civic participation at the grassroots and public policy levels.

Musurlian interviews veteran anchor Tom Brokaw

BURBANK—Veteran Broadcast Journalist Peter Musurlian won two Golden Mikes Saturday night, January 21 at the 62nd Annual Golden Mike Awards, organized by the RTNA, the Radio & Television News Association of Southern California.

The event was held at the Universal City Hilton and was attended by hundreds of working radio and television journalists from media markets all around Southern California.

Musurlian, who is the Station Manager & Senior Producer for The Burbank Channel, won for shooting and editing a feature story on the making of Burbank’s Centennial Rose Float. He also wrote and narrated the piece.

Since 2002, Musurlian has won 10 Golden Mikes, in seven different categories, including: documentary, serious reporting, business reporting, entertainment reporting, videography, editing, and producing the show Burbank Magazine, which he created in 1999.He’s also be nominated for four Los Angeles Area Emmys.

The big honorees at the event were NBC’s Tom Brokaw, who was given the Broadcast Legend Award and KCRW’s Warren Olney, who was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

You can find out more about the Radio & Television News Association of Southern California at: www.rtna.org.

The Fugitive-Deem partners

Fugitive Studios Entertainment invests in Deem Communications and Signs Partnership Agreement to Boost Entertainment Industry in Armenia

YEREVAN—US-based Fugitive Studios Entertainment and Deem Communications in Armenia signed a long-term partnership agreement to cultivate the entertainment industry in Armenia. Since 2006, Deem Communications has earned a reputation as a producer of quality entertainment events such as concerts, performances and festivals. Fugitive Studios Entertainment seeks to invest in the entertainment sector that will attract international celebrities and artists to perform in Armenia.

In recent years more companies have endeavored introducing international artists such as Joe Cocker, Placido Domingo and Lara Fabian to the public in Armenia. The market is clearly demonstrating a need for such events.   According to Raffi Niziblian, the Founding Director of Deem Communications, the market is ripe for this fruition both in Armenia and in the neighboring countries. “Armenia is at its infancy in the field of entertainment. I am excited about this opportunity. We hope that this partnership will help establish Armenia as a regional entertainment mecca. I look forward to collaborating with such an innovative company as Fugitive Studios.” said Niziblian.

In 2010 and 2011 Deem Communications collaborated with Fugitive Studios Entertainment to produce two highly anticipated concerts with Serj Tankian of System of a Down in Armenia. The concerts were supported by the Prime Minister of RA and were financially backed by local sponsors seeking to associate their brands with these high profile events. Award winning visual effects artist and Artistic Director of Fugitive Studios Entertainment, Roger Kupelian said: “We are proud to be investing in a company with a proven record in the entertainment and media industry, a sector that we have wanted to develop in Armenia for some time now”.  In addition to film credits that include Lord of the Rings Trilogy and the new Men in Black 3, Roger Kupelian is currently working to bring the Vartan Mamikonyan epic and East of Byzantium to the silver screen and has recently published a graphic novel entitled War Gods.

Besides the development of a middle class segment that possesses the disposable income to attend international performances and concerts, a new trend among the younger audience has been developing as well. This new generation with a more global appeal will be more receptive and demanding of the entertainment industry. The industry will gradually become more competitive and will ultimately be regulated and more established.   With the intention to incorporate best practices of entertainment business, Fugitive Studios Entertainment and Deem Communications are anticipating to be the frontrunners and unfold a number of groundbreaking international projects for the enjoyment of the Armenian public in 2012.

About Fugitive Studios
Established in 2006, Fugitive Studios Entertainment was created by Roger Kupelian and his partners as a way to bring East of Byzantium and similar independent projects to quality widespread release, in a variety of media. Having honed its expertise by also producing quality visual effects and development work for mainstream entertainment, as well as a series of music videos for System of A Downʼs frontman, Serj Tankian, Fugitive Studios Entertainment is now focusing on bringing the series of Kupelianʼs graphic novels to a wider audience.

About Deem Communications
As a comprehensive creative agency Deem Communications practices innovative communications methodologies of international stature by delivering quality marketing, advertising, media, PR, design and event management services for those who value time and money. Since its inception in 2006, Deem Communications has worked with wide range of local and international organizations to enhance their corporate communication. Over the years, the Agency has presented international cutting edge projects, world-famous artists and music bands to the Armenian public.

Louisa-Aghajanyan

SOFIA, Bulgaria (Tarlani)—Armenia’s Louisa Aghajanyan, 51, won Miss Grandma Universe2012 beauty contest held Sunday, head of the World League Beauty and Fashion, “Miss & Mister World” International Organizational Committee Ashot Khachatryan announced.

Khachatryan explained that grandmothers from various countries participated in the contest, which was held in three rounds: National Costume Show, Talent and Cooking, and Evening Gown Show.

Armenian grandma from the city of Alaverdi won the contest. Louisa Aghajanayan is a teacher-choreographer and has three children and two grandchildren.

A scene from last weekend's ARS Winter Wonderlan

GLENDALE—Nearly 6,000 children, parents, and visitors gathered at the Armenian Relief Society of Western USA’s (ARS-WUSA) Winter Wonderland on January 14-15, 2012, at St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic Church.

The main draw of the two-day event was the snow area, which featured a slide and play space for children.  Hundreds waited in line to experience the wonder of snow in Glendale!  Several carnival-style attractions, including a Ferris Wheel and Super Slide, also offered great fun for enthusiasts. The venue came alive with children running from one ride to another in anticipation of their next thrill-seeking experience.

“I can’t wait to play in there!” exclaimed Arek, 5, and the sentiment was clearly the same for all the children, whose eyes appeared to gleam with excitement.

People also gathered indoors where children’s game booths and vendors lined the church hall. Onlookers delighted in the wide variety of festival foods served by volunteers as song and dance performances offered ongoing entertainment.

Reflecting on the event, Dr. Nyree Derderian, Regional Executive Chairperson, remarked “Once again, the ARS turned its attention to the younger generation and succeeded by introducing the ARS in a different way to the public.”

Erebouni Dance Group, Holy Cross Armenian Church Dance Group (Montebello), Krounk Dance Studio, and Kilikia Art Studio participated in the dance portion of the program. Song performances were performed by Gevorg Chakmanyan, Varuhi Shahinian, Roberta and Alla Arevyan, Sarkis Tamazyan and Vahe Gharibyan of Hamazkayin’s Barouir Sevag Chapter’s “Daron” choir, and the Ararat Charter School choir.

Volunteers worked tirelessly to ensure the success of this event, which was the first of its kind for the ARS-WUSA. Proceeds from Winter Wonderland will go to the ARS-WUSA’s ongoing local and international programs benefiting individuals and communities most in need.

The late Kevork Aslanian

BY PATTYL APOSHIAN KASPARIAN

Liza. Sako. Alan. Ara.  The list goes on. We all live in Southern California– some married, some single.  Some soccer moms.  Some superstars.  We’ve changed addresses, jobs and even hair styles. We have different lifestyles, sophistications, accreditations, titles and careers.  Yet, we are friends forever.

There is a bond so mature and so rooted that even 15 years of new memories and additional friends can’t erode. Some experiences and friendship just don’t disappear.

At 18, I signed up for the only trip my parents would allow me to participate in without a parent chaperone—the 1997 AYF World Jamboree in Armenia.  It was my opportunity to savor the pleasures of irresponsibility and let loose.  No concern to strengthen my moral backbone or second thought to financial wherewithal. I was not responsible for anyone or to anyone. At that time, I thought my trip was just an entertaining getaway to escape the routine summer life in L.A.

Years later, I comprehended the true importance of spending a month with 50 of my AYF brothers and sisters.

After an incredible experience, we came back to mainstream reality but promised to keep the same energy alive in L.A.  Best friends forever, right?  Well –life took over.  College, graduate school, marriage, kids. You know the story.  I chose to maintain close ties with several of my travel companions—some daily, others annually.

Fast forward 15 years.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that an individual in possession of a vast fortune must want a newer, younger companion.  You know the archetype: a flashy, high-maintenance former beauty contestant with a younger, cooler contact list.  Same goes with friends.  Who’s this year’s model?

With every phase in our lives, we meet new people—classmates, colleagues, neighbors,  friends of friends. We select the best of the best and form a new immediate circle.  We dine at the hippest restaurants and toast our perfect life—or so it is said– with expensive champagne.  It’s the chosen circle also known as this year’s model.

And then, when you least expect it, you’re hit with a hard reality check.  Recently, the extended Armenian Cultural Foundation family lost a devoted and loved friend. Significantly, my AYF jamboree friend lost his father.  As hundreds of mourners collected to pay their respects for Kevork Aslanian, Hayrig, I was emotionally drained as I saw a great majority of my AYF Jamboree friends from 15 years ago present to support our older brother, Sako Aslanian. More than 500 mourners stood outside St. Garabed Church in the arctic cold to bid farewell to a loved father of three and a friend to many. I remained immobile but a whirlpool of emotions stirred inside. I watched as mourners hugged one another and wiped back tears. More family and friends stood across the street as the casket delicately wrapped in the bright red party flag was taken away.

I knew Hayrig as a humble and happy man—a man who often avoided the limelight.  I never sat in meetings with him, but he was the first to greet me at any event.  He was cherished in many circles as a generous, devoted and ethnocentric man.  More importantly, he went above and beyond to raise and support his family—giving me a true friend for life.
Some people are born lucky. Others discover luck throughout their lives.  I have not experienced either one—rather, I have been blessed with the right circle of friends.  Better yet, I have had the opportunity to experience the feeling of belonging that only comes from being a part of an organization that treasures and respects its most valued assets—one another.

There’s no way we will get the summer of 1997 back.  Those days are over but the residual is seen, felt and experienced every day.  I am confident that my Armenian Cultural Foundation friends will be at my side on the darkest of days.  We are all guilty of moving on—changing up to this year’s model. After all, life’s helm often takes you where you never thought you’d go.  However, knowing that my base is rooted amongst the most genuine of people who share the same values and vision is an unparalleled feeling.

This article is dedicated to Kevork Aslanian, Hayrig, and all our fathers and mothers who made the right choice with great sacrifice to secure our future.

Bruce Fein

BY NANORE BARSOUMIAN
From The Armenian Weekly

Bruce Fein is a familiar name in the Armenian American press, having time and again represented Turkish-American interests inside U.S. courtrooms in cases such as Schmidt vs. Krikorian; the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) vs. the University of Minnesota; and Guenter Lewy vs. the Southern Poverty Law Center. He is a resident scholar at the TCA, and one of two leading attorneys at the Turkish American Legal Defense Fund (TALDF), established by the TCA in 2008. He had previously served as “adjunct scholar” and general counsel at the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA). His latest gig, however, is a position as senior legal advisor to Republican presidential contender Ron Paul. The appointment has surprised some who are aware of Ron Paul’s expressed distaste of “special interest” and lobby groups. However, Fein’s close ties to Ron Paul date back at least to the candidate’s 2008 campaign when Fein spoke at Paul’s “Rally for the Republic.”

An odd match
On Aug. 25, 2011, Fein was appointed senior legal advisor of the Ron Paul 2012 Presidential Campaign.

“Bruce Fein’s participation adds to our campaign’s already intellectual heft, enabling us to more broadly engage the conversation about constitutionality, civil liberties, and the dangers to national security of an increasingly interventionist foreign policy,” said campaign chairman Jesse Benton.

Ron Paul has been a prominent voice against interventionist foreign policy in all its manifestations, including the interference of “special interests” in U.S. foreign policy. As a Congressman, Paul criticized the existence of hyphenated Americans (i.e., Armenian-Americans and Turkish-Americans) as groups that sometimes pursue “special interests.” Back in 2008, Ron Paul laid out his reasoning for refusing to support the Armenian Genocide Resolution bill in a speech before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, finding “disadvantages” in “stirring the pot,” and advocating for neutrality.

“One of my long-term goals has always been to strive for eliminating hyphenated Americans. I don’t like the idea that we have so many groups that are hyphenated. So they have lobbyist groups that serve the interests of this group of Americans against another group of Americans. Then you have foreign lobbyists come in, and foreign governments, and representatives—one government over another. Truly, if we had a republic, we wouldn’t be dealing with this kind of a problem being brought up constantly over many, many years…” he said, arguing that the bill did not serve U.S. interests or the cause of peace.

Five years before that, in 2003, prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Paul had blasted Turkey for “demanding billions for its cooperation with our war efforts,” which he described as “blackmail” and a “blatant shakedown [that] gives new meaning to the term ‘ally.’” (See http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul78.html)

Hence the surprise when Fein was welcomed into the Ron Paul camp. On top of his involvement with Turkish-American groups, Fein is one of two principals at the Lichfield Group, which is a public advocacy organization. His wife, Mathilde, is the other principal. Fein spends a significant portion of his professional life as an advocate for special interests.

FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds refers to Fein as a “foreign agent-lobbyist” and “the greatest threat to the Ron Paul camp to date,” in one of many articles she has written on the matter. After providing a list of Fein’s client states, banks, and corporations, she noted, “The Turkish clients paid Bruce Fein $500,000 in less than two years for him to represent their interests. How much is the Ron Paul campaign willing to pay Bruce Fein in order to surpass Turkey’s client value to Fein?”

Ron Paul

Edmonds, who is also the founder of the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition, retrieved deleted information from the Lichfield Group website, where Fein et al. advertise their “connections” with the Justice Department, State Department, and Central Intelligence Agency.

“Whether a client is a giant corporation handcuffed by ill-conceived United States government policies or a foreign government anxious to influence the decisions of Congress, the president, agencies, the judiciary, or state governments, the Lichfield Group is armed with the skills and contacts indispensable for success,” read the group’s site.

The Lichfield Group also offers “writing services” for newspaper op-eds and letters to the editor, and boasts “connections” with leading newspapers such as the New York Times, the Washington Times, and the Wall Street Journal.

As the TCA’s resident scholar, Fein has penned a number of articles attacking the veracity of the Armenian Genocide in publications such as the Huffington Post (“Recommendations for the Armenian Diaspora,” May 8, 2009; and “Lies, Damn Lies, and Armenian Deaths,” June 4, 2009), the Washington Times (“Tawdry Genocide Tale,” Sept. 2, 2007; and “Armenian Crime Amnesia?” Oct. 16, 2007), and the San Francisco Chronicle (“Armenian Genocide Measure is Misguided,” Oct. 21, 2007).

Ironically, Fein has also worked on behalf of a group that asserts that the Sri Lankan Tamil people were victims of genocide during the long and bloody civil war on the island nation of Sri Lanka.

The money trail
In discussing the TCA and Fein’s work with the coalition, it is necessary to introduce Turkish American entrepreneur Yalcin Ayasli, who invested a large sum of money in founding the TCA, the parent organization of the TALDF. Ayasli was the biggest individual political donor in the 2008 election cycle in the U.S., donating a whopping $424,050 to politicians in both the Democratic and Republican parties, reported the Nashua Telegraph in January 2011.

In 2010, Ayasli, who currently resides in Nashua, N.H., was the 12th most generous political donor in the country. The Telegraph noted that “while the Ayaslis’ donations have tipped toward Republicans recently, a closer look suggests their giving has nothing to do with partisan politics, but rather is aimed toward advancing Turkish-American relations and the interests and image of Turkey in the United States.”

According to the newspaper, “Yalcin Ayasli and groups he supports helped lead the countercharge against bringing the Armenian Genocide Resolution to a vote during the closing days of the 111th Congress.”

In 2007, Ayasli founded the TCA, and donated around $30 million to the organization from his Hittite Microwave Corporation stock. The company, which he founded in 1985 in Chelmsford, Mass., was reported to be worth more than 1.2 billion in 2008, with millions in revenue deriving from government defense contracts. Ayasli is also a founding trustee of the Turkish Cultural Foundation (TCF).

The Telegraph further reported that the TCA became “the third-largest sponsor of Congressional travel, spending $545,710 to send five members of Congress and 80 staffers to Turkey since May 2009.”

Up until recent months, the TCA, TALDF, and TCF shared an office suite at 1025 Connecticut Ave., which the TALDF still lists as its office headquarters in Washington, D.C. The TCA and TCF continue to share an office in Concord, Mass., at 48 Jonas Brown Circle, and an office in Washington, D.C., at 1510 H St. NW, Suite 900. Interestingly, all three organizations share the same Washington, D.C. phone and fax numbers.

According to a U.S. Embassy cable released by WikiLeaks, the TCA also “works closely” with the U.S. Azeris Network. The latter “calls on its members to email their government representatives to change U.S. policies regarding the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict,” wrote U.S. Embassy Charge d’Affaires Donald Lu from Baku, adding, “The organization also campaigns against any recognition on a state or federal level of the Armenian ‘genocide.’”

The Ayaslis have also supported Ohio’s Republican Congresswoman Jean Shmidt, who was challenged by Armenian American David Krikorian in Ohio’s second district congressional race in 2008. Schmidt later sued Krikorian for accusing her of accepting “blood money” from the “Turkish lobby.” Bruce Fein, along with his TALDF co-counsel David Saltzman, represented Schmidt in the suit. The House Ethics Committee determined that Fein and Salzman’s legal services, for which Schmidt was not billed and which ran to some $500,000, “constituted an impermissible gift.” The committee found that the TCA had been paying Fein and Saltzman’s legal fees. Schmidt was ordered to pay back the full amount. Schmidt was not reprimanded because of her “apparent lack of knowledge of this arrangement.”
***
Here’s a man at the center of a web of sticky special interests, now sitting by the side of a presidential candidate who expressly despises much of what Fein advocates. Ron Paul’s strict non-interventionist stance most likely suits the TCA: inaction only reinforces the status quo of denial and the suppression of justice for the Armenian Genocide. Ron Paul’s followers praise his record of consistent principled votes in Congress. But his association with Bruce Fein raises some serious questions.

Editor’s Note: Ron Paul 2012 Campaign was asked for an explanation in regard to Fein’s appointment as senior legal advisor, given his track record. As of the publication of this writing, there has been no response.

President Sarkozy at Dzidzernagapert during his visit to Armenia in October

PARIS—French President Nicolas Sarkozy this week sent a letter to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urging reason and restraint in regards to a bill that would criminalize the denial of the Genocide and is to be considered by the French Senate Monday.

In his letter, Sarkozy outlined that France has dealt with its own past, and urged Turkey to follow suit by using reason. He also said that Turkey would be responsible for taking any steps that could damage bilateral relations.

In his letter, Sarkozy said the bill is “in no way aimed at any state or people in particular” and is intended to “protect the memories of members of our society who have been carrying along with them for a very long time the feeling of denial of what their ancestors went through and to heal their wounds inflicted a hundred years ago.”

“France has admitted the very bitter truths–its responsibility in the sale of slaves, its role in sending to death camps Jews living in France. In 2007, I myself condemned the atrocity of the French colonization in Algeria and spoke about the pains of the Algerian people,” explained Sarkozy in his letter.

“I hope we can make reason prevail and maintain our dialogue, as befits allies and friendly countries,” Sarkozy wrote.

“I want you to know that extreme steps, in connection with this bill, will harm relations between the two countries, and the responsibility will fall upon the party that has taken those steps,” Sarkozy said in his letter.

While Erdogan or his office did not comment on the letter, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was quick to reject Sarkozy’s overture.

“We expect (President Nicolas) Sarkozy, his party, and the French Senate to respect European values before anything else. Those who exploit history will themselves suffer from this exploitation,” Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said in televised remarks.

“We invite each French senator to stop for a while and think beyond all political interests,” Davutoğlu told the press.
 
“If the bill passes, it will remain as a black stain in France’s intellectual history. And we will always remind them this black stain,” he said.

Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of France, Hratch Varjabedian told Asbarez that leaders of Sarkozy’s Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) and the opposition Socialist party have expressed their support for the resolution ahead of Monday’s vote.