Hrant Dink BirthdayMarked

ISTANBUL (PanARMENIAN.Net) — The birthdayof the assassinated founding editor of Agosweekly, Hrant Dink, was marked on September15. He would have turned 55.

Dink was assassinated on January 27, 2007, ashe was walking out of his office here, by aTurkish national. Several people have gone ontrial for the murder, yet no one has been con-victed of it. More details are emerging however,making it clear the murder was not a random actby a fanatic, but possibly with the complicity ofsome persons in power.

After Dink’s assassination, Nobel Prize laure-ate, novelist Orhan Pamuk, left Turkey.

According to the Istanbul city administration,one of the streets adjacent to the newspaperoffice will be named after Dink.

Israeli Authorities RescindDeportation Move

JERUSALEM — The Israeli Ministry of Interiorhas rescinded its decision to deport twoArmenian seminarians at St. James Seminaryinvolved in a fracas with a Jewish youth who hadspat on them.

The seminarians, who had been held by theIsraeli police, were set free “without any priorconditions” and allowed to return to theArmenian Patriarchate, St. James sources said.

The seminarians, Narek Hovannesian andDavid Harutunian, had arrived in Jerusalem ayear ago to enroll at St. James and prepare forthe priesthood.

The decision to deport the two seminariansevoked sharp protests not only among the city’sChristians but abroad as well.

The police had initially arrested the two semi-narians and detained them pending an appear-ance in court, but had changed track the nextday and informed the Patriarchate that the mat-ter had been referred to the Interior Ministry,which had decided to deport the two.

Azerbaijan Violates NKRCeasefire

STEPANAKERT (ArmInfo) — Azerbaijan violatedthe ceasefire on the contact line with the armedforces of Nagorno Karabagh (NKR) onSeptember 14 and 15, the NKR Defense Ministryreported.

Azerbaijan fired from small caliber weaponsand sniper rifles at the positions of the NKRDefense Army in the southeastern, eastern andnortheastern directions, the Defense Ministrysaid. After the Karabagh divisions returned fire,the shooting stopped, the ministry spokespersonsaid.

INDEXArmenia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,3Arts and Living . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 17Community News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Mirror- SpectatorMirror- SpectatorTHE ARMENIAN

Volume LXXX, NO. 9 Issue 4103

SEPTEMBER 19 , 2009

$ 2.00

Little HeartsSee page 6

INSIDE

The First English Language Armenian Weekly in the United States

NEWS IN BRIEF

NEW YORK — AuthorMichael Bobelian’s first book,Children of Armenia: AForgotten Genocide and theCentury-Long Struggle forJustice, which focuses on theaftermath of the ArmenianGenocide, was recently pub-lished by Simon & Schuster.

Bobelian spoke this weekabout his book, the thrust of

which, he said, is finding out why the world forgot about theArmenian Genocide very soon after the events.

“Most of my book focuses on the aftermath of the Genocide. Thatis an era no one has written about, neither in historical nor journal-istic circles, so it made it very challenging because I had no books torely upon to act as a guidepost. But it also made it fascinatingbecause no one had written about it. I got to see original materialand look at it in a way no one has before. I covered comprehensive-ly the legislative battles, the [Kourken] Yanikian trial and its impact,and the 1965 demonstrations that began the modern Armenian cam-paign for justice.”

see BOBELIAN, page 15

Collective Amnesia in Wake ofGenocide Topic of New Book

By Taleen Babayan and Alin K. GregorianMirror-Spectator Staff

Sargisian toMeet ArmenianParty LeadersOn Turkey

YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — PresidentSerge Sargisian will meet leaders ofdozens of Armenian political parties onThursday to discuss his controversialfence-mending agreements with Turkey, aspokesman said on Monday.

The meeting will be part of “internalpolitical consultations” which Ankara andYerevan have agreed to undertake beforesigning two protocols on the normaliza-tion of bilateral relations next month.

According to Samvel Farmanian, thepresidential press secretary, formal invita-tions to discuss “the current stage of thenormalization of Turkey-Armenia rela-tions” with the head of state have beenextended to the heads of all political par-ties active in the country. “This will bethe third thematic consultation convenedby President Sargisian in this format,” hesaid in a statement.

The previous two meetings, held inNovember and March, focused on theNagorno Karabagh peace process and theArmenian government’s efforts to copewith the effects of the global financial cri-sis respectively. They were attended bynearly 50 party leaders mostly loyal toSargisian.

Both meetings were boycotted by themain opposition Armenian NationalCongress (HAK). Farmanian said that thepresidential administration has again sentout invitations only to the leaders of theparties making up the alliance. The HAK’stop leader, Levon Ter-Petrosian does notformally head any of those parties.

see LEADERS, page 20

BILBAO, Spain (Panorama.am) — Armenian Grand Master LevonAronian won the Grand Slam Masters Chess tournament here, lastweek. In the final round, Aronian and opponent Sergey Karjakinended in a draw.

Aronian led the tournament with 13 points; Alexander Grishchukhad 8 points and occupied the second horizontal, Karjakin had 7points and Aleksey Shirov, 3 points.

NEW YORK — A delegation of ADLDistrict Committee of US and Canada visit-ed the newly-appointed Ambassador of

Armenia at the United Nations, GarenNazarian, on Wednesday, September 11, atthe headquarters in Midtown Manhattan.

The delegation was headed by PapkenMegerian, co-chairman, Hagop Vartivarian,chairman of Press Committee, KrikorSalbashian, chairman of Armenagan-Hovsepian chapter of New York, and Vartan

Ilandjian, vice chairman of the chapter.On behalf of the Ramgavar Party, Megerian

welcomed the ambassador and offered theparty’s help andservices to thee m b a s s y .Va r t i v a r i a nexpressed thegood wishes ofall ADL newsmedia of theworld, especiallyin these tumul-tuous days,when there ared i s c u s s i on sabout the rela-tions of Turkeyand Armenia.Va r t i v a r i a nspoke also aboutthe factionsinside the partyand gave

Nazarian an account of the situation.Nazarian thanked the delegation for this

visit and reiterated that the ADL has been asupporter of successive governments inArmenia, no matter who is in power. He saidthat he is happy to see that the ADL press isvery supportive of the initiation of the dia-logue between Armenia and Turkey.

Krikor Salbashian, Vartan Ilandjian, Ambassador Garen Nazarian,Papken Megerian and Hagop Vartivarian,

ADL Welcomes New ArmenianAmbassador at United Nations

Levon Aronian Wins Chess ‘Grand Slam’

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

ARMENIA

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““IItt mmoossttllyy rreessuullttss ffrroomm yyoouutthh’’ss ppoooorr kknnoowwlleeddggee oofflliitteerraattuurree,, aass ddrraammaattuurrggyy aanndd ffiillmm pprroodduuccttiioonn rreeqquuiirreeaa rriicchh bbaacckkggrroouunndd iinn lliitteerraattuurree,,”” hhee ssaaiidd..

TThhee sseelleecctteedd ffiillmmss wwiillll bbee ssccrreeeenneedd iinn tthhee MMoossccoowwCCiinneemmaa HHoouussee,, aass tthhee AArrmmeenniiaann NNaattiioonnaall CCiinneemmaaCCeenntteerr iiss uunnddeerrggooiinngg rreeppaaiirrss..

PPaarrlliiaammeenntt AApppprroovveess TTaaxx PPaacckkaaggee

YYEERREEVVAANN ((AArrmmeennpprreessss)) —— TThhee ssiixxtthh sseessssiioonn ooff tthheeppaarrlliiaammeenntt kkiicckkeedd ooffff tthhiiss wweeeekk,, wwiitthh aann aaggeennddaawwhhiicchh iinncclluuddeedd mmoorree tthhaann 111100 iissssuueess.. TThhee ffiirrsstt ffoouurr--ddaayy sseessssiioonn iinncclluuddeess 8800 iissssuueess,, 1122 aaggrreeeemmeennttss aarreepprreesseenntteedd ffoorr rraattiiffiiccaattiioonn..

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BBeeffoorree tthhee vvoottiinngg ddeeppuuttyy ffiinnaannccee mmiinniisstteerr SSuurreennKKaarraayyaann pprreesseenntteedd tthhee iimmpplleemmeenntteedd cchhaannggeess wwhhiicchhwweerree ddoonnee aass aa rreessuulltt ooff mmaannyy ddiissccuussssiioonnss..

TThhee bbiillll ccllaarriiffiieess tthhee ccoommmmiittmmeennttss ooff tthhee ttaaxx rreepp--rreesseennttaattiivvee:: tthhee llaatttteerr wwiillll hhaavvee aa rriigghhtt oonnllyy dduurriinnggtthhee ddeelliivveerryy ooff rreeaaddyy--mmaaddee pprroodduucctt ttoo ccoonnttrrooll tthheepphhyyssiiccaall vvoolluummee ooff tthhee pprroodduucctt,, tthhee ssaallee pprriiccee aannddoonnllyy ddooccuummeennttss ccoonnnneecctteedd wwiitthh ssaallee..

““TThhaatt iiss ttoo ssaayy tthhee ttaaxx rreepprreesseennttaattiivvee wwiillll nnoott eenntteerrtthhee pprroodduuccttiioonn pprroocceessss,, hhee wwiillll nnoott kknnooww pprroodduuccttiioonnsseeccrreettss aanndd nneeiitthheerr pprroodduuccttiioonn pprroocceessss.. TThhiiss iiss tthheemmaaiinn cchhaannggee oovveerr wwhhiicchh wwee hhaavvee ccoommee iinnttoo aaggrreeee--mmeenntt,,”” tthhee ddeeppuuttyy mmiinniisstteerr ssaaiidd..

AArrmmeenniiaann PPrreessiiddeenntt SSeerrggeeSSaarrggiissiiaann RReecceeiivveess

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TThhee pprreessiiddeennttiiaall pprreessss ooffffiiccee ssaaiidd tthhaatt uuppoonn ggrreeeett--iinngg tthhee rreennoowwnneedd ccoommppoosseerr,, SSaarrggssiiaann ssaaiidd:: ““FFoorr mmeeiitt iiss aa ggrreeaatt hhoonnoorr ttoo mmeeeett yyoouu —— oonnee ooff tthhee bbeelloovveeddssoonnss ooff oouurr nnaattiioonn,, wwhhoo hhaass aa ggrreeaatt iinnvveessttmmeenntt iinn tthheewwoorrlldd mmuussiicc ooff tthhee sseeccoonndd hhaallff ooff tthhee 2200tthh cceennttuurryy..IItt iiss tthhaannkkss ttoo iinnddiivviidduuaallss lliikkee yyoouu tthhaatt oouurr nnaattiioonn hhaassbbeeccoommee mmoorree rreeccooggnniizzeedd iinn tthhee wwoorrlldd.. AArrmmeenniiaannsslloovvee yyoouu aanndd aarree pprroouudd ooff yyoouu..””

LLeeggrraanndd ttoolldd tthhee pprreessiiddeenntt aabboouutt hhiiss iimmpprreessssiioonnssffrroomm tthhee vviissiitt ttoo AArrmmeenniiaa..

““EEvveerryy ttiimmee wwhheenn tthheerree iiss aann ooccccaassiioonn ttoo vviissiittAArrmmeenniiaa iitt sseeeemmss II rreettuurrnn ttoo mmyy eetthhnniicc rroooottss..AArrmmeenniiaann mmuussiicc iiss cclloossee ttoo mmyy hheeaarrtt aanndd iitt ff lloowwss iinnmmyy vveeiinnss,,”” LLeeggrraanndd ssaaiidd..

TThhee PPrreessiiddeenntt ooff tthhee RReeppuubblliicc aawwaarrddeedd LLeeggrraannddwwiitthh AArrmmeenniiaann MMeeddaall ooff HHoonnoorr..

YYeerreevvaann BBrraannddyy CCoommppaannyyMMaaiinnttaaiinnss LLaasstt YYeeaarr’’ss

OOuuttppuutt YYEERREEVVAANN ((AArrkkaa)) —— TThhee YYeerreevvaann BBrraannddyy CCoommppaannyymmaannaaggeedd ttoo mmaaiinnttaaiinn llaasstt yyeeaarr’’ss pprroodduuccttiioonn oouuttppuutt ooff44 mmiilllliioonn lliitteerrss aanndd ttoo iinnccrreeaassee iittss pprrooffiitt bbyy 1144 ppeerr--cceenntt uupp ttoo 1177 bbiilllliioonn ddrraammss dduurriinngg FFYY 22000099 ddeessppiitteetthhee gglloobbaall eeccoonnoommiicc ccrriissiiss,, eexxeeccuuttiivvee ddiirreeccttoorr ooff tthheeccoommppaannyy AArraa GGrriiggoorryyaann ssaaiidd rreecceennttllyy..

GGrriiooggrryyaann ssaaiidd eexxppoorrtt aaccttiivviittiieess hhaavvee aallssoo bbeeeennmmaaiinnttaaiinneedd ffrroomm tthhee llaasstt yyeeaarr aanndd eevveenn aa ssmmaalllliinnccrreeaassee hhaass bbeeeenn rreeccoorrddeedd..

TThhee iinnccrreeaassee iinn pprrooffiittss aalloonngg wwiitthh uunncchhaannggeedd pprroo--dduuccttiioonn aaccttiivviittiieess wwaass rreeccoorrddeedd mmaaiinnllyy bbeeccaauussee ooffcchhaannggeess iinn ffoorreeiiggnn ccuurrrreennccyy rraatteess..

News From Armenia

By Hasmik Smbatian

YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — Carrying ban-ners and chanting “No concession toTurkey!” the protesters also demandedthat the Armenian government acceptspecific amendments to the two proto-cols put forward by the nationalistparty.

Fifty of them camped outside theArmenian prime minister’s office inYerevan’s largest square, while 24 oth-ers began a collective hunger strike out-side the nearby Foreign Ministry build-ing. The hunger strike will have a large-ly symbolic character, with participantssaying that they and otherDashnaktsutyun members will taketurns in refusing food for two days.

“We demand that the governmentabandon plans to sign the Turkish-

Armenian protocols,” one of the pro-testers said. “We hope that our authori-ties have retained a little commonsense.”

“We demand our lost homeland,” saidanother. “We demand that they don’tbetray our feelings for the lost home-land.”

It was an apparent reference to a keyprovision one of the protocols that com-mits Armenia to explicitly recognizingits existing border with Turkey.Dashnaktsutyun is also stronglyopposed to the planned formation of aTurkish-Armenian panel tasked withstudying the 1915-1918 mass killingsand deportations of Armenians in theOttoman Empire.

Police officers at the scene did notattempt to impede or end the protestwhich Dashnaktsutyun leaders said willlast until the end of a six-week periodset by the authorities in Ankara and

Yerevan for “internal political consulta-tions” on the highly sensitive matter.Vahan Hovannisian, a Dashnaktsutyunleader, claimed that unlike their Turkishcounterparts, Armenia’s leaders havestill not initiated such discussions inearnest.

“Unfortunately what is happening inTurkey is not happening in Armenia,”Hovannisian told journalists. “There hasbeen no [official] discussion at any level.That certainly arouses our discontent.We are concerned that they are tryingto keep the society away from politics.”President Serge Sargisian had sched-uled to meet with the leaders of dozensof Armenian political parties and dis-cuss with them his policy towardsTurkey on Thursday (after Mirror-Spectator press time). Hovannisian con-firmed that he and otherDashnaktsutyun leaders were planningto attend the meeting.

Dashnaks Stage More ProtestsAgainst Turkey-Armenia Deal

YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — Oppositionleader Raffi Hovannisian continued toavoid on Monday any public statementson bitter infighting within hisZharangutyun (Heritage) party thatflared up a week ago following his mys-terious decision to resign his parliamentseat.

Three senior Zharangutyun figureswere expelled from the party ranksSeptember 9 after they accused theparty’s nominal chairman, Armen

Martirosian, of foul play and secret col-laboration with the Armenian authori-ties. Martirosian and his allies, whichdominate Zharangutyun’s decision-mak-ing board, have rejected the accusa-tions. They also claim that the dissi-dents acted on orders issued by boththe government and the country’slargest opposition alliance led by formerPresident Levon Ter-Petrosian.

The turmoil broke out two days afterthe announcement of Hovannisian’sdecision to quit the National Assembly.Neither he, nor other party officialshave given a clear explanation for thesurprise move yet. A party spokesmansaid on September 7 that theZharangutyun leader will explain hismotives in the coming days.

Hovannisian did not return toArmenia from a trip abroad as ofMonday evening, according to someindividuals close to him. Just when hewill be available for comment remainedunclear.

It emerged over the weekend thatHovannisian sent on September 9 a let-ter to the board members in which he issaid to have expressed dismay at the

deepening rift within his party. The tworival camps made conflicting claimsabout further details of the letter.

According to Zoya Tadevosian, one ofthe expelled board members, the US-born popular politician wrote that he is“tendering the last resignation of mypolitical life and leaving the party.” ButHovsep Khurshudian, theZharangutyun spokesman allied toMartirosian, described that as “disinfor-mation.”

“Raffi Hovannisian remains a memberof Zharangutyun,” Khurshudian said.He at the same time refused to disclosethe content of the letter, saying that itwas meant for the party leadership andis therefore “not subject to publication.”

Hovannisian, 50, relocated toArmenia from California with his familyin 1990 and served as the newly inde-pendent country’s first foreign ministerin 1992. He founded Zharangutyun in2002 and remains its de facto top leaderdespite holding no formal positions inthe party leadership at present.

Tadevosian said Hovannisian’s letterhas made her and other expelled mem-bers reconsider their initial decision tocollect signatures in support of an emer-gency congress of the party. She saidthey will now urge supporters to leaveZharangutyun “en masse.”

Tadevosian, who makes no secret ofher warm rapport with Ter-Petrosian’sArmenian National Congress (HAK),also reiterated on Monday that she willnot step down as a member of theCentral Election Commission (CEC) rep-resenting Zharangutyun. UnderArmenian law, the party is entitled tonaming one member of the CEC and allother lower-level electoral bodies byvirtue of being represented in theNational Assembly. However, it can notrecall and replace those election offi-cials at will.

“Those who will sit on district elec-tion commissions are my friends,”claimed Tadevosian. “They are notgoing to obey the party calledZharangutyun.”

Khurshudian insisted, however, thatmost of those commission members areloyal to the current party leadership.Stepan Safarian, another party figureclose Martirosian, said Zharangutyunwill initiate legal amendments thatwould enable it to sack Tadevosian.

The infighting is also likely to loseZharangutyun two of its seven seats inthe 131-member parliament. One of the

ousted dissidents, Vartan Khachatrian,is a parliament deputy, while another,Movses Aristakesian, is next in line fortaking up the seat left vacant byHovannisian.

Armenian CentralBank Again CutsKey Lending Rate

YEREVAN (Reuters) —Armenia’s Central Bank cut itsrefinancing rate by 25 basis pointsto 5 percent on Tuesday, as stabi-lizing inflationary pressuresenable it to focus on helping thecountry weather the global finan-cial crisis.

“The Central Bank board hasdecided to cut the refinancing ratein line with financial markettrends which will promote eco-nomic activity without threaten-ing price stability,” the bank saidin a statement.

Armenia is feeling the impact ofrecession in its close economically Russia. Lower inflation hasallowed Armenia to pursue a poli-cy of monetary easing from April.Prior to that, the central bankfloated the dram currency tosecure a $540 million standbyloan from the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) in March, atthe time raising the refinancingrate by 100 basis points to 7.75percent.

The Central Bank says it seesannual inflation at 4 percentplus/minus 1.5 percentage points.In August, consumer prices rose3.5 percent year-on-year, at thelower end of the regulator’s fore-cast range.

Central Bank governor ArturJavadian told Reuters in July thatArmenia’s economy would likelycontract 7-8 percent in 2009. Theforecast was between the bank’sprevious estimate of a 5.8 percentcontraction and the 9.5 percentslump forecast by the IMF in lateJune.

GDP contracted 18.5 percent inJanuary-July in comparison with10.6 percent growth in the sameperiod last year.

Raffi Hovannisian

Opposition Leader Still Silent on Party Turmoil

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

ARMENIA

YEREVAN — Berge Setrakian, president ofthe Armenian General Benevolent Union

(AGBU), visited Armenia in earlySeptember to meet several Armenian offi-cials.

While there, Setrakian met with Karekin II,Catholicos of All Armenians, ArmenianPresident Serge Sargisian, Prime MinisterTigran Sargisian, Foreign Minister Edward

Nalbandian and Diaspora MinisterHranush Hakobyan.

On September 4, Setrakian met withSargisian at the presidential office, withissues raised regarding the proposed proto-cols between Armenia and Turkey.

“We know that the authorities in Armeniaface a difficult path as they endeavor to buildnew relations with Turkey without imposedpreconditions,” Setrakian said. “We alsobelieve the government of Armenia sharesour serious concerns about the sincerity ofTurkey, given its historic anti-Armenian poli-cy that has continued to the present time.”

Setrakian reportedly reiterated AGBU’sfundamental stand that internationalrecognition of the Armenian Genocideshould transcend and not be sacrificed forany immediate diplomatic consideration.He also said that no protocol should pre-condition normalization of relations by anyterms of concession involving theKarabagh conflict.

Earlier in the week, Setrakian met withDiaspora Minister Hakobyan, discussingupcoming meetings and events that aim tobring together the diaspora and homeland,

including a global Armenian leadershipassembly slated to take place in Yerevan nextyear and an initiative to assemble Armenianintellectuals.

AGBU President Berge Setrakian met with Armenian President Serge Sargisian at the presidentialoffice on September 4.

AGBU President Visits Armenia, Meets President SargisianJudo Diplomacy:Armenian OrganizersRaise Flag, Play AnthemFor Azeri Judokas

By Georg Khachaturyan

YEREVAN (ArmeniaNow) —Azerbaijan’s flag was raised five timesand their national anthem played once inthe Armenian capital over the weekend aspart of a pledge made by the host partyahead of the European junior judo cham-pionships in Yerevan (September 11-13)that for the first time drew five partici-pants from neighboring Azerbaijan, acountry with which Armenia has been ina state of undeclared war since the 1991-1994 conflict in Nagorno Karabagh.

Armenian authorities reported nomajor incidents during the champi-onships and said all necessary securityhad been provided to the 15 members ofthe Azerbaijani delegation that alsoincluded coaches, doctors and medicalpersonnel.

Five Azeri athletes won a total of fivemedals, including one gold and one silver,finishing seventh in overall team compe-tition. Team Armenia, meanwhile, man-aged one gold and two bronze medals,finishing ninth in the competition won bythe team from Ukraine.

“Judo can also become a means for dia-logue between the two peoples,” saidAzerbaijani judo team head coachAghayar Akhunzade at a press briefingon the first day of the competitions.“Sport is not politics. Let politics remainpolitics.”

The Azeri delegation’s representativeconfirmed that security was provided at ahigh level.

Meanwhile, the Sports Ministry ofArmenia denied information reported bysome Azeri media that the minivan trans-porting the Azeri delegation to the sportcomplex had the flags of Georgia,Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh on it.

Armenia and Azerbaijan are known fortheir troubled relations in sports afterthe collapse of the Soviet Union and thebloody war in Nagorno Karabagh. Theunresolved conflict still remains a majorobstacle for athletes of one country to bepresent at sporting events hosted by theother.

Security concerns have also doggedsporting events involving Armenian andAzeri sportsmen held on neutral ground.

In January 2006, Armenia’s soccerchampion Pyunik refused to play Baku’sNeftchi in the semi-final of theCommonwealth of Independent StatesCup in Moscow to forestall possible clash-es in the stands between Armenians andAzeris, who are known to have large eth-nic communities in the Russian capital.

Later that year, an Armenia vs.Azerbaijan match in the Under-19European championship qualifying grouptournament in Cyprus turned violentafter some of the partisan ArmenianCypriot crowd overreacted to unsports-manlike behavior, obscene gestures andconstant provocations by several Azeriplayers who climbed the protective fenceto step onto the field. Play stopped forhalf an hour and resumed only afterpolice intervention.

Those incidents led European football’sgoverning body, UEFA, to cancel twoEuro-2008 qualifiers between the twocountries’ senior teams planned forSeptember 2007 in Baku and Yerevan.

Also in 2007, however, a 15-memberteam of Armenian wrestlers participatedin the world championships in Baku. TheArmenian delegation then acknowledgedthe high level of security provided tothem. Also, the organizing party thenraised the Armenian tricolor at the award-ing ceremony after an Armenian wrestlerwon a bronze medal.

By Karine Ionesyan

YEREVAN (ArmeniaNow) — An avant-gardeensemble was met with mixed reactionMonday night in the latest installment of OpenMusic Fest, the seven-week series of open-airconcerts that has brought together a widevariety of styles to the Armenian stage.

More accustomed to intimate settingsinside, Boxhead Ensemble, from the US, per-formed its first outdoor concert in its 15-yearhistory.

Boxhead had come to Armenia to composeand record film score for the first Americanmovie “Here” that has been shot in Armenia,concluding production last week. The movie isa love story of an American cartographer vis-iting Armenia and a Canadian-Armenianpainter, an undiscovered country for both theAmerican and the Armenian.

Aware of this planned visit, Open MusicFestival, launched on July 30, decided to inviteBoxhead also to perform as part of the festi-val.

“We are sure that both during the concertand during the few days that this ensemblewill be here, they will manage to get to knowArmenia so that they can make the rightmusic for my film,” said “Here” directorBraden King before the concert.

A documentary lasting about two hours wasshown during the concert. The film presentedArmenia the way it is seen by an American. Itwas also a film about the shooting of “Here.”Simultaneously, the improvisational perfor-mance was a fusion of avant-garde, withArmenian folk music – Armenian tar, violin,guitar, drums.

Boxhead singer Jessica Kenney accompa-nied the film with vocals: “We were creatingright on the stage, creating one single musicthat knows no specific ethnicity; it belongs toeveryone.”

But a majority of the audience appearedunsatisfied with the concert and the video.OMF creator and National Chamber Orchestraof Armenia principal conductor AramGharabekian described the concert as a “blue-print.”

One spectator was heard complaining that

Armenia was presented (in the documentary)only as poor children and elderly people. Butthe author of the documentary, AvaBerkovsky, said: “I don’t think that I present-ed the country only with negative stuff. I sim-ply showed the people I had dealt with.”

The director of “Here” feature film acknowl-edged that the sequences in his film are quitedifferent – besides misery he also presentsArmenia with its beautiful mountainous land-scape. But he wasn’t unsatisfied withBerkovsky’s work.

“I love Armenia very much, since here,unlike the United States, there is somethingto say and still many films that haven’t beenmade. What is gloom for you is beautiful to

me. There is life here,” said King. Narek Nersisyan, 21, one of 20 Armenian

actors involved in “Here,” played the tar dur-ing the concert, which was attended by about400, most of whom left during the perfor-mance. He said that the Armenian audiencewas in fact unprepared for listening to suchmusic.

“Only a narrow specialized audience shouldhave come here, an audience that would notbe afraid to see and hear Armenia through theeyes [and ears] of a foreigner,” said Nersisyan.

Eight days of Open Music Festival and threeconcerts still remain. The next performer willbe mezzo-soprano from Italy Anna MariaCurie with the “Memories from Italy.”

Boxhead Challenge: Sour Reaction to Avant-Garde Ensemble’s Gig in Yerevan

MOSCOW (RFE/RL) — Armenia will nothave a permanent military presence in Russiaas part of its involvement in a Russian-domi-nated rapid reaction force comprising troopsfrom five former Soviet republics, a top offi-cial in Moscow said recently.

An agreement on the formation of theforce, officially called the CollectiveOperational Reaction Forces (CORF), was for-malized in June during a summit of theCollective Security Treaty Organization(CSTO), a Russian-led military alliance. Twoof the CSTO’s seven member states, Belarusand Uzbekistan, refused to sign the agree-ment because of major disagreements withMoscow.

Citing an unnamed official at the CSTOheadquarters in Moscow, the RussianRegnum news agency reported last monththat under the terms of the deal, Armeniawill be able to open two military bases in theRussian North Caucasus. The official wasquoted as saying that the “limited contin-gent” would be stationed in the Krasnodarregion and the restive Muslim republic ofDagestan to primarily ensure “the security of

the transport infrastructure” in the area.The Armenian government has not explicit-

ly denied the information so far. But NikolayBordyuzha, the CSTO secretary general,insisted on September 3 that Moscow andYerevan have not even negotiated on the pos-sibility of Armenian troop deployment in thementioned area.

“Armenia is a party to the agreement onthe Collective Operational Reaction Forces(CORF) and has set aside army units and spe-cial forces from national security and internalaffairs bodies for that purpose,” Bordyuzhatold Armenian journalists in a video confer-ence from Moscow.

Bordyuzha said those forces would be nor-mally based in Armenia. The CORF woulduse them only “in cases where there is a needfor their involvement in carrying out a con-crete military task,” he added.

The Russian military is expected to con-tribute by far the largest contingent of theCORF. Officials in Yerevan have yet to speci-fy the number of Armenian soldiers andother security personnel that it will committo the NATO-style force.

Armenian Troop DeploymentIn Russia Denied

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

INTERNATIONAL

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International News

ANKARA (RFE/RL) — TurkishForeign Minister Ahmet Davutogluopened on September 11 consulta-tions with his country’s top politicalleaders on the draft agreements envis-aging the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations.

Ankara and Yerevan publicized thetwo agreements on August 31 andpledged to sign them after six of“internal political consultations.” Thetwo protocols have to be ratified bythe parliaments of the two nationsbefore they can come into effect.

“We aim to brief all political par-ties, institutions and civic bodies onthe protocols that will be signed,”AFP news agency quoted Davutogluas telling reporters after meetingTurkish parliament speaker MehmetAli Sahin.

Davutoglu added that he also askedfor meetings with the leaders ofTurkey’s two largest opposition par-ties represented in parliament. “Wewant to hold the briefings before par-

liament returns from summer recessin October,” he said.

Both opposition parties have saidthat they will continue to oppose theestablishment of diplomatic relationsbetween Armenia and Turkey andreopening of their border before a res-olution of the Nagorno-Karabakh con-flict that would satisfy Azerbaijan.One of them, the NationalistMovement Party, has slammed theWestern-backed agreements as aTurkish “surrender” to Armenia.

Turkey’s governing Justice andDevelopment Party (AKP), which con-trols the majority of parliament seats,has yet to formulate its position onthe protocol ratification. Its leader,Prime Minister Recep TayyipErdogan, has repeatedly stated inrecent months that Ankara will notnormalize ties with Yerevan as longas the Karabagh conflict remainsunresolved.

Many politicians and pundits inYerevan predict that Erdogan’s’ gov-

ernment will block or delay the par-liamentary endorsement of the proto-cols if the presidents of Armenia andAzerbaijan fail to achieve a break-through in their peace talks in thecoming months. Some Turkish com-mentators have likewise suggestedthat their ratification is contingent ona Karabagh deal.

Both the US and the EuropeanUnion have welcomed the Turkish-Armenian agreements and stressedthe need for their speedy implemen-tation. “We urge Armenia and Turkeyto proceed expeditiously, according tothe agreed framework as described intoday’s statement,” a US StateDepartment spokesman said lastweek.

The protocols’ ratification by theArmenian parliament is widely seenas a forgone conclusion. Both theRepublican Party of President SergeSargisian and its two junior coalitionpartners, which enjoy a comfortableparliament majority, have voiced theirunequivocal support for the deal.

The opposition, including theArmenian Revolutionary Federation(ARF), have denounced the protocols.

BEIJING (Xinhua andPanArmenian.net) — An agreement onproviding technical-economic assis-tance to Armenia was signed with theChinese government on September11 in the Trade Ministry of China.

A day prior, Armenian ForeignMinister Eduard Nalbandian visitedthe Chinese Institute of InternationalStudies (CIIS) to deliver a speech onArmenia’s foreign policy. During hisvisit to China, Nalbandian also visitedArmenian Embassy in Beijing to con-duct a working discussion with diplo-matic staff representatives. He alsomet with Armenian students.

Armenia is very interested in thecomprehensive development of itsfriendly relationship with China in allpossible fields, Nalbandian said herelast week.

“During the negotiations in Beijing,I had a chance to discuss ways to fur-ther strengthen and deepen coopera-tion in bilateral format and multilat-eral frameworks,” said Nalbandian,who was in China for a five-day offi-cial visit.

“The first records about anArmenian presence in China date tothe second century,” Nalbandian said,“ In the times of the Great Silk Road,which passed through Armenia,Armenian merchants were playing anactive role in bridging East andWest.”

Armenia became independent in1991 and China was among the firstcountries that recognized Armenia’sindependence and among the firstones to open an embassy in Armenia.

“We are proud of our enduring andtime-tested friendship,” Nalbandiansaid.

He said Armenia and China main-tained a high-level political dialogueat the level of highest leadership. Thetwo countries had similar or closepositions on the international scene.

“Cooperation between the parlia-ments is also on the rise,” he said,adding there was a solid legal base forbilateral relations.

The two countries implementedmany joint economic projects,Nalbandian said, noting Chinese com-panies participated in the moderniza-tion and reconstruction of Armenianenergy sector, such as mining, partic-ularly copper-molybdenum extraction.

In north China’s Shanxi Province,Armenia and China jointly built achloroprene rubber producing plantand the construction would be com-pleted this autumn, he noted.

The absence of direct flightsbetween Armenia and China has hada certain negative impact on econom-ic relations. Nalbandian said he wasglad that Armenia’s national air carri-er Armavia intended to establish adirect air connection with China.

Apart from economic cooperation,the two countries work together on awide range of sectors from educationand science to IT, healthcare andsport.

“Cultural exchanges between us areintensifying, in November Armeniawill host Chinese cultural days, andwe are planning to organizeArmenian cultural days in China,” hesaid.

On the occasion of the 60thanniversary of the People’s Republicof China, Nalbandian conveyed thecongratulatory message of theArmenian President Serge Sargisianto the Chinese people.

During his visit, Nalbandian metwith Chinese Vice President XiJinpingand had “substantial” and “very pro-ductive” discussions with his Chinesecounterpart Yang Jiechi.

Eurovision to AnnounceDecision on Azerbaijan Inquiry

OSLO (RFE/RL) — Eurovision has concluded an investigation intocharges that Azerbaijani officials harassed people who voted for theArmenian entry in May’sEurovision Song Contentand will soon decidewhether to sanctionAzerbaijan.

Svante Stockselius, theexecutive supervisor of theEurovision Song Contest,told RFE/RL’s AzerbaijaniService on Friday thatEurovision’s ReferenceGroup — which consists ofeight members — has metin Oslo and made a deci-sion regarding Azerbaijan.

The decision will be sentto the EuropeanBroadcasting Union’s Television Committee, which will announce its decisionon Azerbaijan in the coming days. Stockselius said Azerbaijan could becleared of the charges or it could be found to have violated Eurovision rulesand either fined or banned from participating in the contest for up to threeyears.

The Reference Group is made up of delegates from Russia, Serbia, andNorway — the last three winners of the Eurovision contest — along withSpain, Holland, Ireland and two members from Sweden.

Rovshan Nasirli, a 25-year-old Azerbaijani, was called to Azerbaijan’sNational Security Ministry on August 12 to explain why he voted for anArmenian song in the Eurovision Song Contest, which was held in Moscowin May.

The officials told Nasirli that his vote for Armenia was a matter of nation-al security and asked him for a written explanation before releasing him. Hesaid the ministry had a list of a few dozen other Azerbaijanis who voted forthe Armenian entry by sending a text message from their mobile phones.

Eurovision’s Svante Stockselius

Armenia to Strengthen Relationship with China

Turkish FM Discusses Armenia Deal in Parliament

By Emil Danielyan, Tatevik Lazarian

By E.J. Schultz

SACRAMENTO (Sacramento Bee) — Fresno isrevitalizing a downtown neighborhood. Lemooreis planning a sports complex. Clovis is poised toput up 17 houses for first-time homebuyers.

But those projects — and countless others inthe Valley — might be delayed or even halted asa result of the vote last month by state law-makers to take more than $2 billion in localredevelopment money.

Legislators approved the raid reluctantly, say-ing they had few other options to help close a$24 billion budget gap that had brought thestate to the brink of insolvency.

The state’s 397 redevelopment agencies —which use property tax dollars to upgradeblighted neighborhoods — will lose $1.7 billionthis year and $350 million in 2010-11. None ofit will be paid back.

The California Redevelopment Associationplans to file a lawsuit to stop the raid, which it saysis unconstitutional and could cost the state thou-sands of construction and other jobs statewide.

“It’s ironic that the governor and legislatorstalk so much about economic stimulus, andthen they turn around and eliminate the state’sbest economic stimulus program,” said JohnShirey, executive director of the association,which represents agencies.

The 32 redevelopment agencies in Fresno,Tulare, Madera and Kings counties stand tolose more than $35 million in the next two fis-cal years, according to estimates.

The Fresno Redevelopment agency will losethe most — about $8.1 million over two years;that includes $6.7 million this year, or abouthalf of what the agency planned to spend onprojects and debt payments.

“It’s going to be particularly difficult for thedowntown, where the needs are great and therevenues are modest,” said Marlene Murphey,the agency’s executive director.

Possibilities include delaying the restoration offive century-old homes. The homes, at SantaClara and N streets, are scheduled to be movedto an adjacent lot as part of the planned revivalof the downtown neighborhood, rechristenedOld Armenian Town. Other projects in perilinclude street and sidewalk improvements onGolden State Boulevard. The upgrades aredesigned, in part, to lure new businesses to town.

Fuel runs outSmaller cities also will feel the pinch.In Madera, the redevelopment agency is “one

of the few mechanisms to provide an economicstimulus,” said Jim Taubert, executive directorof the Madera Redevelopment Agency; but, thestate is “basically taking away the gasoline.”

The city’s biggest redevelopment initiative isa 300-space parking lot for a planned court-house. Work probably will move forward onthat, despite the loss of $2.5 million this yearfrom its $7 million budget, Taubert said; but,there might not be money left for other pro-jects, such as making curbs and streets wheel-chair accessible.

The Clovis Community Development Agencywill have to give up $1.7 million from a budget of$3.4 million. Among the projects in doubt is a

planned 17-unit subdivision at Ashlan andFowler avenues geared for first-time homebuyers.

“This project is at risk,” said Tina Sumner, thecity’s interim community and economic develop-ment director. “We will be working very hard topull all the pieces together; but, it’s a problem.”

In Lemoore, officials are worried about asports complex they’ve been planning for yearsin partnership with the West Hills CommunityCollege District. Athletic fields, a gymnasiumand an aquatic center would be shared by col-lege students and city residents.Redevelopment money would cover up to $5million of the roughly $30 million multiphaseproject, said Jeff Briltz, the city manager andexecutive director of the LemooreRedevelopment Agency.

“We need to step back now before we makethat kind of commitment and make sure wehave the funds to support it,” he said. Theagency, which has an annual budget of $8.7 mil-lion, stands to lose nearly $2.9 million over twoyears to the state.

Tax money divertedRedevelopment agencies have been a major

force since 1952, when voters approved “taxincrement financing.” Under the mechanism,agencies plan upgrades for blighted neighbor-hoods and keep all new tax revenues generatedby rising property values.

The agencies are not universally loved, howev-er. Because the agencies keep new tax revenues,it means less for counties and other taxing dis-tricts. About $5 billion a year is now diverted.

“Redevelopment agencies have been bleedingpublic schools, counties and special districts for

years,” Orange County Supervisor Chris Norbysaid in an essay published recently in a politicalblog called Fox & Hounds.

From 1989 to 2006, Fresno County lost near-ly $40 million in tax revenues kept by redevel-opment agencies, according to a report by thestate controller. But county administrator JohnNavarrette said he doesn’t have a problem withthe agencies because “they’ve taken on areas ofblight and they’ve improved it.”

State lawmakers have eyed redevelopmentmoney before. In September, the Legislatureapproved taking $350 million. But SacramentoSuperior Court Judge Lloyd Connelly ruled themove illegal because it reallocated agency taxdollars “for purposes unrelated to“ agencies’communities and projects.

Lawmakers said they wrote the current billmore carefully. The legislation, ABx4 26, redis-tributes the tax dollars from each agency toschools serving students living in the agency’sboundary.

The shift does not mean schools will get moremoney than they are owed under education laws.It just means that more of the state’s school fund-ing obligation will come from property taxes,instead of the general fund. That, in turn, will freeup money for other state programs.

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

NATIONAL NEWS

For Your Internal News of Armenia

Log on towww.AZG.am In English, Armenian, Russian and Turkish

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Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Send Letter To NKR President

WASHINGTON — US Representatives FrankPallone Jr. (D-NJ) and Mark Kirk (R-IL), co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus onArmenian Issues, sent the following letter toNagorno Karabagh President Bako Sahakyan,congratulating him on the country’s 18th inde-pendence anniversary:Dear President Sahakyan:

We are writing to congratulate the people ofthe Nagorno Karabagh Republic, Artsakh andyou on your 18th anniversary of independence.This historic day represents another importantmilestone in Nagorno Karabagh’s path to free-dom. On September 2, 1991 the people ofArtsakh declared their intention to build a freeand democratic state, and they have been stead-fast in this mission.

Nagorno Karabagh Republic, Artsakh hassuccessfully promoted democracy and the rightto self-determination. Your continued efforts toadvance theses principals in the face of manychallenges are admirable. We remain committedto supporting the restoration of Artsakh’s war-torn economy, strengthening its democracy andcreating a solid foundation for continued devel-opment and prosperity.

For the past 18 years, the Nagorno KarabaghRepublic, Artsakh has firmly upheld the uni-versal values of freedom, peace and democracy.We appreciate your ongoing contribution toregional stability and assure you of our contin-ued dedication to Artsakh’s security and devel-opment.

We have stood with you along your path toliberty and we continue to join you in the callfor formal international recognition of yourindependence. We look forward to the daywhen we can join you in celebration of the flagof an independent Artsakh proudly flying incapitals all over the world

Sincerely,Frank Pallone Jr.

Mark S. Kirk

BURBANK, Calif. — Three bills authored byAssistant Majority Leader Paul Krekorian (D-Burbank) recently passed the Senate and nowhead back to the Assembly for a final votebefore landing on the governor’s desk. The billswill increase consumer protections, public safe-ty and healthcare efficiency administration.

Assembly Bill 1319 will protect consumerswithout inhibiting businesses who act in thebest interest of their clients. It requires talentservices claiming to hold “auditions” or claim-ing that successful artists have used their ser-vice maintain supporting proof that the claimsare true; in turn, that proof must be made avail-able to law enforcement for inspection andcopying.

The bill also promotes consumer protec-tion by requiring that all artist contractsinclude a clear notice of cancellation andrefund procedures while prohibiting automat-ic renewal of terms without the artist’s affir-mative assent. The act will also curb bait-and-switch business practices by prohibiting tal-ent services from requiring clients to pur-chase photographs, websites and other pro-motional materials as a condition for usingthe talent service or for obtaining preferen-tial treatment from the talent service. TheSenate floor vote was 24-10.

AB 530 arms city attorneys and prosecutorsin the cities of Los Angeles, Long Beach,Palmdale, San Diego, Oakland and Sacramento

with the authority to bring unlawful detaineractions against weapons and drug offenders.This bill will also help landlords who are intim-idated from bringing eviction proceedingsagainst tenants engaged in drug-related crimesand illegal possession of weapons or ammuni-tion on the premises. The vote was 39-0

Approximately 1.6 million Californiansreceive their health benefits from federally reg-ulated “Taft-Hartley” health plans. AB 952 willprovide Taft-Hartley plan administrators withthe data they need to administer those benefitssmoothly and efficiently, but preserveCalifornia’s strong patient privacy protectionsand ensure that benefit data is not misused.The vote was 38-0.

Three Krekorian-Backed Bills Pass Senate

Budget Grab Costs Valley Redevelopment Projects $35 Million

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Community News

Little HeartsTwo Armenian Americans Create Documentary

About Child Protection in Armenia

By Simone Paklaian and Alexa Sapah-Gulian

NEW YORK — We are both high school students who live in Connecticut andspend the summers on Cape Cod, where we work at Eulindas, a local ice creamshop. But this summer wasn’t like the past 10 we’ve spent at the Cape. This sum-mer we made the decision to go to Armenia during a portion of our break, workat the Child Protection Center, and then create a documentary about it to devel-op global awareness.When we first heard about the Child Protection Center, which is run by the

Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR), we felt that the work being accomplished wasvery important and we decided to get involved.Through our research, we learned that this was a one-of-a-kind center in

Armenia, which is responsible for protecting abused children on a short-term basisuntil long-term plans can be set. It is a program that originated in conjunction withthe Yerevan Police Department, which, in earlier days, routinely picked up aban-doned children off the streets and placed them in facilities — facilities that didn’taddress the long-term needs of the children.This Child Protection Center program fills that void by not only providing for

the physical needs of the children, but also by addressing their psychologicalsee DOCUMENTARY, page 7

Although Alexa and Simone fell in love with all the children, they formed a veryclose bond with these two young sisters. They promised to make sure that theyhave them as two Godmothers from America always watching over them throughthe rest of their lives.

Walk of Life2009 to BeHeld October 3LOS ANGELES — The Armenian Bone

Marrow Donor Registry (ABMDR) will hold itsannual walk-a-thon on Saturday, October 3, atthe Verdugo Park in Glendale.The annual event aims to raise awareness of

the ABMDR’s work and give attendees thechance to join the donor registry.“The walk-a-thon provides a wonderful

opportunity to support a cause that affectseveryone, especially those of Armeniandescent,” said Dr. Frieda Jordan, president ofthe ABMDR Board of Directors.Expected to draw hundreds of participants

from all age groups, the event will feature foodand live entertainment.Mariette Keshishian and Dr. Evelyn

Baghdassarian of the ABMDR are coordinatingteams of students from local public schoolswith the help of Daniel Baghdassarian, a stu-dent at La Canada High.Armenian schools will also have a strong

presence. The Chamlian and Mesrobian schoolsare already onboard, with their respectiveteams posted on the ABMDR site(www.abmdr.am). Garbis Bartanian, a scienceteacher at Mesrobian School, is educating stu-dents about stem cell transplantation andgenetics through a series of special talks. Dr.Baghdassarian noted that individuals of anyage can start their own walk-a-thon team orjoin an existing one through the ABMDR site.Walk of Life 2009, which is chaired by

Armond Aghakhanian of the ABMDR, hasreceived considerable corporate and local-gov-ernment support. The event’s main sponsor isthe Glendale Memorial Hospital, represented atthe walk-a-thon by Arpine Kestenian. Othersponsors include the Glendale City Council andBank of America. The latter has contributed$1,000 to the walk-a-thon and pledged to matchall funds raised by Bank of America employees.Jordan said that other sponsors can still join

in and will receive ABMDR recognition as walk-a-thon supporters.“We will be walking to save lives,”

Baghdassarian said. “At this very moment thereare patients who are in desperate need of a bonemarrow donor, so this is the time to help.”Throughout the event, volunteers will regis-

ter potential donors after conducting a quickand simple screening, which involves taking asaliva sample with a swab. “By joining theABMDR, participants will also become part ofthe National Marrow Donor Program, to helpany and all individuals who are in need of abone marrow transplantation,” Baghdassariannoted.“The ABMDR has become a genuinely pan-

national project around which Armenianseverywhere continue to rally,” said FimiMekhitarian, one of the registry’s donorrecruiters. “Our upcoming walk-a-thon is a vital-ly important event not only because it will cele-brate community activism and wellness, butfunction as a great conduit to further boost thelife-saving mission of the registry.”For more information visit abmdr.am.

Rakel Dink toSpeak in CentralCaliforniaFRESNO — Rakel Dink, the widow of Hrant

Dink, the co-founder of Agos weekly who wasassassinated two years ago, will speak here onFriday, October 2, and Saturday, October 3 at 7p.m. in the sanctuary of the First ArmenianPresbyterian Church (FAPC), 430 South FirstSt. Admission is free and open to the public andeach evening will conclude with a fellowshipreception in the adjacent church hall.The October 2 presentation will primarily be

in the Armenian language and the October 3presentation will primarily be in the Englishlanguage. Each of the talks will be preceded bya screening of the acclaimed European docu-mentary, “Hrant Dink: Mercy and Truth HaveMet Together.” The October 2008 motion pic-ture is a production of Net for God, part of theChemin Neuf Community of Lyons, France.A native of Malatya, Hrant Dink grew up in the

Gedikpa Armenian Orphanage of Istanbul and theTuzla ArmenianChildren’s Camp ofMarmara. At thecamp, Dink first metRakel Fbasan, aKurdish-Armenian ofthe Varto clan. Thecouple married at thecamp some eightyears after their firstmeeting and eventual-ly had three children.After Dink stud-

ied zoology atIstanbul University and completed his militaryservice obligation, he opened the Beyaz AdamBookstore with his two brothers. He and Rakellater assumed management of the Tuzla Campwhen the longtime administrator, HrantGuzelian, was imprisoned.In the Lenten Season of 1996, Dink and oth-

ers started Agos weekly, the only newspaper inthe Republic of Turkey to be published in bothArmenian and Turkish. As the founding editor-in-chief, Dink focused on Turkish-Armenianrelations, the need for democratization of thenation, and the rights and roles of minoritycommunities in Anatolia.Prosecuted three times for allegedly deni-

grating Turkishness under the Penal Code,Dink was featured in Carla Garapedian’s 2006Genocide documentary, “Screamers.” OnJanuary 19, 2007, he was assassinated as hereturned to the Agos editorial offices. Four dayslater, more than 100,000 citizens marched inhis funeral procession, with many carryingsigns reading, “We are all Armenians; We are allHrant Dink.”Since his death, Rakel Dink has spoken at

home and abroad about her husband’s idealsand aims, her enduring Christian faith and thepressing need for greater justice in the land ofher birth. Appearing before Turkish judicialauthorities, she prayed for mercy for her hus-band’s killers “with the love and justice of JesusChrist, one who knows and sees all.”Founded on July 25, 1897 by 40 immigrants

from Marsovan and Trebizond, FAPC is a multi-generational congregation of 400 drawn fromthe Old and New Worlds. The theme of the con-gregation for 2009 is “Nothing is impossiblewith God.” Rakel Dink’s visit is part of the con-gregation’s Thanksgiving Season focus on thepersecuted church worldwide.Rev. Mgrdich Melkonian is senior pastor of

the host church; Rev. Aren Balabanian is theassociate pastor; Shant Barsoumian, M.Div. isthe pastoral intern; and Elder Thomas Bulger ischair of the Committee on Missions. The boy-hood church of authors William Saroyan andA.I. Bezzerides, FAPC is a member congrega-tion of the Presbyterian Church (US) and theArmenian Evangelical Union of North America.More information about Rakel Dink’s Fresno

visit is available by visiting www.fapc.net.

Rakel Dink

Scenes from last year’s Walk of Life.

Alexa and Simone help the children act out through play, as Mira Antoyan, directorof the center, looks on.

DOCUMENTARY, from page 6issues and long-term prospects. Instead of plac-ing them in orphanages, the Center looks to re-unite them with their families, where and whenappropriate, or to a loving foster home as a bet-ter solution.Since this program first started more than 10

years ago, it had grown to the point that theCenter’s Hotline and National Referral Networkhas brought in more children that are in des-perate need of a second chance than the origi-

nal police efforts did. Since the program wasstarted, it has helped over 6,000 children, mostof whom are between 4- and 16-years-old.So when the time came, we boarded the

plane in New York that was bound for Armenia,unaware of what to expect. Though we hadbeen thoroughly briefed on paper, neither of uscould have been prepared for what we wouldexperience. We were picked up from the airportin Yerevan by Garnik Nanagoulian, FAR’s exec-utive director, and some of the in-country staff.We were told that we would be going to theChild Protection Center for our first day ofwork the next day.The following morning we drove through the

streets of Yerevan in awe of our surroundings.

We had never been to Armenia and it was dif-ferent from anything we had pictured. Both ofus could not wait to arrive at the Center.Though nervous, we walked into the buildingconfident. We were greeted by ExecutiveDirector of the Child Protection Center Dr.Mira Antonyan, and we began our day.Her enthusiasm and passion for the center

instantly calmed our nerves and she began togive us a tour of the facility. Initially it was dif-ficult for us to communicate with the children

because of our inability to speakfluent Armenian. They soon under-stood, however, and began to workwith us and accepted our lack ofperfect verbal communication. Butwhat we did realize is that commu-nication comes in different forms.A laugh, hug, high-five or smileenabled us to connect with thechildren on a level that speakingwould not allow us to reach. Wesoon found ourselves anxious toreturn to the center and be withthe children that we had come toknow so well after a day.Once we knew the children a lit-

tle better, and had become familiarwith how the center was run, we were able tointerview a few of them and hear more of theirstories for our documentary. In addition totheir individual stories, we were able to accom-pany the FAR caseworkers around the countryas they conducted follow-up interviews withfamilies who had already benefited from thecenter.We also got involved as children were

brought into the center, and initially evaluatedfor admission. In one case, we were heartbrokento see two young brothers, 5- and 8-years-old,brought in by the police because they had beenwandering the streets for the last week afterbeing abandoned by their mother.Although that was shocking, what surprised us

even more was their quick rebound. After beingadmitted to the center, they were cleaned up,given new clothes and within a few hours werealready involved in playingwith the other children.While the psychological wounds of being sep-

arated from their mother will probably take agreat deal of time to heal, at least outwardly itwas a step in the right direction.During all of these interactions, we were

both concerned that their life stories were toopersonal to share and that they would holdback. But we were surprised to find that theywere more than willing to share their back-ground with others.These children and families told their stories

with sincerity. Everyone in the room could tellhow comfortable the children felt around usbecause even though we came off as adults, wehave the hearts of children as they do. We bothfound the stories of their broken families anddifficult childhoods devastating, but it showedus how much the Child Protection Center hadreally changed their lives for the better. They allseemed truly happy there and we were sothankful that we could experience a portion oftheir lives with them.As the days went on, we grew more attached

to each child and developed a personal connec-tion with them. We knew them all by name, and

they knew us, too. Whether it involved workingin the kitchen and serving them their meals, let-ting them act out by painting, singing or danc-ing, or by just simple play, we were always greet-ed with ample amounts of hugs and kisseseveryday. It was nearly impossible for us toleave. Our final day, they followed our car outof the facility and would have come with us ifwe had let them.When we spoke to Mira the next day, she told

us they were asking for us. This made our

departure from Armenia bittersweet and moredifficult than we both anticipated.We boarded the plane home with a very dif-

ferent mindset. We both had bags full of pic-

tures and gifts from the children and thesewould serve as constant reminders of the smallthings that make them happy in life.This experience made us realize that we take

everything we have for granted, and the simplicityof a laugh or a smile should be able to fulfill ourneeds, as it did for these little boys and girls. Wewill both have their smiling faces etched in our

memories. Though theywill grow up and find hap-piness on their own, we hope we changed theirlives as much as they changed ours, even if theydid only know us for a short amount of time. Wecould not have asked for a better experience inArmenia, and though the pictures will fade, ourmemories will last a lifetime.For more information on FAR or to send

donations, write to 630 Second Ave., New York,NY 10016; http://farusa.org; e-mailpress@farusa.org.

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COMMUNITY NEWS

JAMAICA PLAIN, Mass. — A group of residents from the ArmenianNursing & Rehabilitation Center in Jamaica Plain enjoy a late sum-mer outing in the neighboring Larz Anderson Park. A five-star facil-ity according to ratings by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid(CMS), the Armenian center was found to be deficiency-free after itsannual inspection by the State Department of Public Health in May2009.

In preparation for the documentary, the two girls accompanied the FAR caseworkers to interview theparents of children that were helped by FAR’s Child Protection Center.

Two Armenian-Americans Create DocumentaryAbout Child Protection in Armenia

From left, Simone Paklaian, US Ambassador MarieYovanovitch, Randy Sapah-Gulian, Alexa Sapah-Gulian.

Simone Pakalian and Alexa Sepah-Gulian meet-ing with Mira Antoyan, the director of FAR’sChild Protection Center in Armenia

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

COMMUNITY NEWS

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Michigan Hye BeatBy Betty Apigian Kessel

The Silence of the CricketsDETROIT — “I didn’t tell you this before,” I said to my husband Bob. “A couple of

nights ago I had a horrible dream.”“What was your dream about and why didn’t you tell me about it sooner?” He wait-

ed for my reply as I labored to relive it all over again.“It was terrible, it was frightening. It was just horrible. I kept getting captured and tor-

tured by the Turks. I would succeed in escaping but then they would capture me andthe fear and torture would start all over. It just went on and on until I finally woke up.Robert asks, “Where did this happen to you, where was it taking place?”“In present day Turkey.” I replied somberly as tears splashed down my cheeks. And

tonight at midnight I had to live the Genocide all over again. Sue Kapagian called to tellme author Peter Balakian was on the Charlie Rose program, so I watched it and now Iam coming to bed having to rethink the horror of the Genocide like I do most days ascorrespondence pours in about Armenian affairs.”We are fortunate to have someone like Balakian to represent the Armenians so elo-

quently on national television. He is credible. He has credentials, He is a scholar and ahistorian, a well known writer and a PhD holder. He has written a best-seller book whichappeared on the New York Times list. I feel insignificant next to him but I have a self -imposed mission to accomplish to expose the Turks and do my part to inform peopleand keep the Armenian Spirit alive.Balakian is discussing his new book, Armenian Golgatha, the English translation

done by him and Aris Sevag, of Peter’s great-uncle Rev. Grigoris Balakian’s memoirs ofthe 1915 Genocide. He explained to Charlie Rose all the madness perpetrated on theArmenians by the Turks, how they used every inhumane method of killing our people.I watched Rose’s face to see what kind of response he would have to all this mad brutal-

ity but he kept his professional composure as he listened. Balakian: “They even used farmimplements to do their dirty work.” He told of them killing over one million Armenians in1915, that the town crier would alert everyone in the villages to meet in the town centerand the announcement would be that the Armenians had to leave their homes immediate-ly.Few escaped, most were killed as they were put on death marches to Der Zor. Long

lines of women, children and old men became a tangle of rags, thirst and disease underthe raging sun. Two hundred thousand more were killed in Der Zor.“Bob, we live, I live while they died a horrible death. How am I supposed to feel —

happy or guilty?”“You should feel happy. You are alive and living in a free country. Your parents lived

in freedom. You have grandchildren to nurture. People look forward to your column.”“No I cannot let it go. It’s the terrible injustice that is yet to be acknowledged by the

United States government and by those Turks! I live while my family was slaughtered.How does that work? How is it figured out, how is it decided who lives and who dies inthis world and by which method their lives are ended. Humans are still barbarians.”Balakian told Rose Hitler made that statement just seven days before his invasion of

Poland, you know the one Bob. Hitler said “Who remembers the annihilation of theArmenians?” Charley Rose listened intently asking how if affects modern day Turkey andPeter told him it does not bode well for them because it is a pretty well accepted con-cept that they did commit genocide against the Armenians and that they are spendingmillions to deny it. That stain will prevent them from ever becoming the democratic soci-ety they wish to be conceived as and it is a factor against them for joining the EuropeanUnion.It’s a cut that will not heal for me until the deniers admit their fault. How difficult

could it be for the world to shun Turkey until they admit their crime? For me with mynon-political savvy it seems quite simple to do.I would say, “Look Turkey, almost the whole world knows you for what you are, com-

mitters of Genocide of the Armenians. That is how we perceive you. Get over it. Admitit, apologize and the sun will still come up tomorrow and we can get on with our lives.You can stop spending millions of dollars to deny the Genocide. You can stop draftingover-the -hill, fat-cat American politicians and lobbyists to your beck and call and put thatmoney towards rebuilding the villages and churches you destroyed in Historic Armenia.That would be a gracious, humanitarian move on your part.”“How can God allow such things to happen to people? I fear God because I am not

supposed to question him.”“You question him all the time. Where are you going?”“I have work to do. You go back to sleep.”The windows are open. It is a warm quiet summer evening. I can hear the crickets

chirping loudly. I do not hear the cries of terror and violence from those experiencingthe Genocide in Van, Moush, Sepastia and Keghi. I do not hear the hopeless pleading ofHaig Nahabed’s ancestors begging for mercy from God.I do know this: I will forever condemn the Ottoman Turks. I will forever castigate the

present Turkish government which was established on the blood and bones of my ances-tors. I refuse to cave in and become a non-committed Armenian.The chirp of the crickets grows quieter and the pitiful pleas of my ancestors grows

louder. The impact of all this is written on my face. Am I, an Armenian woman, becom-ing extinct even as I sit and write these words in the middle of the night? Will justiceever prevail over politics, greed and commerce?

(Betty Apigian Kessel’s column appears courtesy of the Armenian Weekly.)

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — On Saturday, October3, the Armenian American Health ProfessionalsAssociations will present a dinner dance testi-monial at the Hyatt Regency Hotel inCambridge, honoring Massachusetts state Rep.Peter J. Koutoujian of Waltham, in recognitionof all his many political and leadership accom-plishments for the residents of Massachusettsand his dedication to the Armenian cause andcommunity.Several key speakers will honor Koutoujian

that evening, including John Auerbach, com-missioner, Massachusetts Department of PublicHealth; James Kalustian, president, ArmenianHeritage Park; Dr. Myron Allukian Jr., DDS,MPH, past president, American Public HealthAssociation and Dan Delaney, director, Office ofLegislative Affairs, Massachusetts Departmentof Public Health.The associations of professionals collaborat-

ing to honor Koutoujian consists of the follow-ing: the Armenian American Pharmacists’Association (hosting); the Armenian AmericanMedical Association; the Armenian AmericanDental Society and the Council of ArmenianAmerican Nurses. This gala event includes acocktail hour, dinner, music and dancing toEddie K to round out the festivities, which is

open to the public.Tickets and reservations, which are on a first-

come, first-serve basis, can be made by contact-ing Ara Demirjian at arademirjian@rcn.com.

State Rep. Koutoujian to Be Honored byProfessional Organizations

State Rep. Peter Koutoujian

HAVERHILL, Mass. — On Sunday August 23,the Armenian Church at Hye Pointe (mergedparishes of Holy Cross in Lawrence and St.Gregory’s in Haverhill) held its annual churchpicnic on the beautiful grounds of theAmerican Legion Farm. The festivities beganwith services performed by the church ddea-cons on the picnic grounds. The picnic atten-dees enjoyed an excellent traditional Armeniancuisine prepared by the cooking crew. TheWomen’s Guild’s bakery table offered Armeniandesserts.Music for the event was provided by Hye

Pointe’s own seven-piece Jason NaroianEnsemble, with guest vocalists Haz Essegianand Rickie Naroian. The church raffle had a$500 grand prize as well as gift certificates toarea restaurants and boutiques.Representatives from the Haverhill Cultural

Council were present to gain a better under-standing and insight into Armenian music andits culture.The church building committee displayed a

banner with the architectural design of the newchurch complex. Pictures showing the siteprogress as well as the building’s foundationwere displayed for all to see. A church informa-tional mailing list and pledge brochures wereavailable for those wishing to contribute to thenew church.The picnic drew attendees from the

Merrimack Valley, Metro-Boston, NewHampshire, and Southern Maine.For more information about the church, write

to the Armenian Church at Hye Pointe, PO Box8069, Ward Hill MA 01835 or visitwww.hyepointechurch.org.

— Robert Serabian

Picnickers enjoyed the event.

More than 600 Attend Hye Pointe Picnic

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COMMUNITY NEWS

GENEVA, Switzerland — Archbishop VickenAykazian, legate of the Eastern Diocese andpresident of the National Council of Churches,took part in a series of meetings with the WorldCouncil of Churches (WCC) from August 23 toSeptember 3. The meetings involving Christianleaders from around the world convened at theWCC’s world headquarters here.The sessions began with the meeting of the

Executive Committee from August 23 toAugust 25. The committee discussed the elec-

tion of the World Council of Churches generalsecretary as well as other issues and topics thatwould be brought to the floor during the sub-sequent Central Committee meeting.Accompanying Aykazian to the WCC Central

Committee meeting from August 26 to

September 2 was Yeretzgin Paula Devejian,Internet Development director at the MotherSee of Holy Echmiadzin.The Central Committee elected a new gener-

al secretary for the World Council of Churches:Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit, who has served as theGeneral Secretary of the Norway Council onEcumenical and International Relations since2002. The committee also expressed its grati-tude to outgoing General Secretary Rev. Dr.Samuel Kobia.

The committee votedto hold the next GeneralAssembly in Busan,South Korea. Aykazianwas elected to theAssembly PlanningCommittee. The WCC’sGeneral Assembly is heldevery seven years, thelast one was in Brazil in2006. The 104th meet-ing will take place in2013.Also during the

Central Committeemeeting, Aykazian gavea report about the geno-cide in Darfur. The com-mittee drafted a state-ment urging the govern-ment of Sudan “toassume full responsibilityfor the protection of itscitizens,” and “to allow

uninterrupted humanitarian assistance to reachall suffering people in Darfur.”The WCC Central Committee also issued a

series of statements on violence againstwomen in the Congo, the protection of reli-gious minorities in Pakistan, the Israeli-

Palestinian conflict, caste-based discrimina-tion in India, anti-Christian violence andother issues.“This was a productive meeting for all

members of the WCC,” said Aykazian. “I amparticularly hopeful that our statement onthe genocide in Darfur will help bring moreattention to this tragedy.”“This meeting of the committee was impor-

tant in setting the direction of the organiza-tion for the next several years. In addition toelecting a new General Secretary to lead theorganization, serious work has been startedon examining the working structure and

methods of communications,” said Devejian.“Keeping in mind the goal of unity of thechurches, new ideas and methods within theWCC can have a positive effect and influenceon the ecumenical dialogues that are takingplace between the individual churches.”The next Executive Committee meeting

will be held in February in Geneva. TheCentral Committee will next meet in 2011.The Armenian Church has been a member

of the WCC since 1962. The council consistsof 349 churches, denominations and churchfellowships representing more than 110 coun-tries and territories worldwide.

Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, the Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit and Yn.Paula Devejian at the World Council of Churches meetings in Geneva,Switzerland. The Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit was elected to serve as theorganization’s new general secretary.

Archbishop Aykazian Represents Armenian Church at WCC Meetings

Archbishop Vicken Aykazian with other participants at the World Council of Churches meetings heldin Geneva, Switzerland

ADVERTISE IN THE MIRROR-SPECTATOR

SOLD OUT

By Rose Maljanian

Mer Doon (MD) is the epitome of a commu-nity of committed people coming together andmaking a truly meaningful impact on as manylives that may have otherwise been full of a life-time of struggle and pain. MD, meaning Our

Home, supports young people during the veryimportant years between the time they mustleave the orphanage and set out on their ownto lead healthy and productive lives as adults inthe Armenian community.MD, located in

Echmiadzin, opened itsdoors in 2006 and is pro-viding an unique familyenvironment for its resi-dents, as well as the oppor-tunity to pursue highereducation and vocationalcareers. MD is meeting alargely unmet need inArmenia to break the cycleof dependency for theseyoung girls.As you enter MD, you

immediately sense the com-bined atmosphere of loveand support with disciplineand hard work created bytheir truly giving house-mother and executive direc-tor, Tigranoohi Karapetyan.Not only does Tigranoohiprovide the right atmos-phere for the young women to flourish, but alsoprovides a program that teaches importantskills as well as opportunity to further their

education at the local universities. The youngwomen share rooms, chores and a passion forbeing the best they can as housemates, craftpersons, students and eventually wives andmothers of their own families.The crafts they produce — carpets, hand-

made- jewelry and cards — are second to none.The culinary delights they prepared whichincluded a full meal from soup to dessert and

coffee along with carvedfruit displays were those ofexpert chefs. Their profes-sional and sophisticatedserving style was incrediblyunassuming and thus evenmore appreciated. We trulyenjoyed this most deliciousmeal prepared by the girls,as well as sharing colorfulconversation and laughter.For most of our family groupconsisting of grandparents,parents and teenagers, thiswas our first visit to Armeniaand as you might guess, theconversations are alreadyfocused on going back in2010. Upon reading andhearing about MD and itsexcellent reputation and mis-sion in Armenia, we thoughtit would be a good experi-ence, especially for ouryoung family members, tovisit MD. This was made pos-sible and prearranged by

Tigranoohi Karapetyan, MD president inArmenia, and Julie Ashekian, MD president inthe US.Most importantly, we felt the exchange of

friendship and appreciation for each otherbetween Tigranoohi and the young women andour families will not be forgotten. It was a very

special thing to witness firsthand the strengthof these young women. With all odds againstthem, they greet each day with cheerfulnessand a commitment to succeed not only forthemselves, but also to exemplify what MDstands for. Through their commitment and suc-

cess they keep alive the opportunity for otheryoung women to live at MD and benefit fromthe gift of a future.It is no wonder why we want to continue to

support MD and ask everyone we meet to dothe same…

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COMMUNITY NEWS

Resident Lusine displaying her handmade jewelry crafts

A Visit to Mer Doon

Bidding farewell to guests

Resident Lilit explaining the art of rug weaving

US young visitors with Mer Doon residents.

2nd St. James Parish Reunion and Kef

Hosted by the St. James ACYOA Seniors

Saturday, October 3, 2009

8 p.m. - 1 a.m.

St. James Armenian Church Charles Mosesian Cultural and Youth Center Keljik Hall 465 Mt. Auburn St., Watertown MA Featuring Bob Raphalian (Oud), Leon Janikian (Clarinet), Harry Bedrossian (Keyboard and Vocals), Kenny Kalajian (Guitar) and Leon Manoogian (Dumbeg). $25 per person. Tables of 10 may be reserved with advance payment. For tickets contact Melanie Khederian at (617) 694-1057 or at mkhederian@gmail.com. All proceeds to benefit the 2010 ACYOA General Assembly and National Sports Weekend hosted by St. James ACYOA.

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NEW YORK — On Tuesday, September 8,Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of theDiocese of the Armenian Church of America(Eastern), hosted an ecumenical gathering atthe Diocesan Center to welcome two recently-installed religious leaders: Archbishop TimothyDolan, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of NewYork, and Metropolitan Jonah Pauffhausen, theOrthodox Church in America’s archbishop forWashington and New York, and Metropolitan ofAll America and Canada.Leaders of the Roman Catholic, Eastern

Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox churchescame together at St. Vartan ArmenianCathedral for a prayer service, commemoratingthe Nativity of the Mother-of-God, which isobserved on September 8, followed by a recep-tion to honor Dolan and Pauffhausen.Guests received a brief tour of the cathedral

and had an opportunity to engage in a discus-sion at the Diocesan Center and to share theirvisions for the continuing mission of theancient Christian traditions in today’s world.“Whether we pray to her as Theotokos,

Asdvadzadzin, Our Lady, Bogoroditsa — or inany of her numerous names — all of us look toSt. Mary as something more than an object tobe venerated: she is, most of all, a Mother to beloved,” Barsamian said. “Among the ancient,apostolic Christian churches, this has been ourprofound feeling and witness for centuries. Andindeed, our common adoration of St. Mary isone of the things that makes us a unified fami-ly.”Demetrios, Primate of the Greek Orthodox

Church in America, delivered the invocation. Hethanked Barsamian for organizing the day’sprogram and congratulated Dolan andPauffhausen on their new positions.Dolan was installed as the 10th Roman

Catholic Archbishop of New York on April 15.Pauffhausen was installed as the leader of theOrthodox Church in America on December 28,2008. Demetrios also emphasized Mary’s faith and

endurance in the face of many hardships,including the inhospitable conditions surround-ing Christ’s birth, the years she spent with herfamily in exile, and the witness she bore to the

afflictions of her son later in life.“It’s an ordeal of tremendous magnitude, and

she went through that,” he said, adding that

Mary’s story is “the superb example of sufferingand being patient under all circumstances.”The lesson is an important one in today’s

world, where Christian values often come underattack, Demetrios said.Dolan and Pauffhausen spoke about the warm

relationship among the ancient Christian church-es in New York City, and in America generally.“It just strikes me that this great New York

community that all of us are honored to servepastorally is a reflection of the universalchurch,” said Dolan. “We see people of everylanguage and background so beautifully repre-sented in this room today.”“To me, it is so important that we be united

in our proclamation of the Gospel of JesusChrist,” Pauffhausen said.William Cardinal Keeler, a long-time friend of

the Eastern Diocese who has visited Armenia inthe past decade, also addressed the gathering.Barsamian presented Dolan and Pauffhausen

with carvings of Biblical scenes hand-crafted inArmenia. He also presented Dolan with a pec-toral cross and Pauffhausen with a panagia onbehalf of Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch andCatholicos of All Armenians.Bishop David, the General Bishop and

Patriarchal Exarch of the Coptic OrthodoxArchdiocese of North America, presented thetwo honorees with icons.

At the conclusion of the afternoon meeting,Metropolitan Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim, leaderof the Syriac Orthodox Church of the EasternUnited States, delivered a benediction askingGod to bless and guide Dolan and Pauffhausen,

and thanking Him for the opportunity to gath-er in a spirit of brotherly love.Also in attendance were Archbishop Celestino

Migliore, tthe Vatican’s permanent observer tothe United Nations; John Myers, the RomanCatholic archbishop of Newark, NJ; ArchbishopZacharius, leader of the Ethiopian OrthodoxChurch of America; Bishop Manuel Batakian,Apostolic exarch for Armenian Catholics in theUnited States; as well as representatives of theAntioch Orthodox, the Russian Orthodox, theBulgarian Orthodox and the Serbian Orthodoxchurches.“It is a wonderful, hopeful sign that these

brotherly gatherings have become more frequentin recent years,” Barsamian said. “After all, wehold the deepest things in common. We all comefrom ancient, apostolic churches. We all repre-sent ‘Old World’ traditions, transplanted in theNew. And we all strive to keep faith with thegreater, timeless truths, while trying to advanceand renew our traditions for modern living.”Also representing the Eastern Diocese at

Tuesday’s event were Archbishop VickenAykazian, legate of the Diocese and president ofthe National Council of Churches; Very Rev.Haigazoun Najarian, Diocesan vicar; Very Rev.Souren Chinchinian; Rev. Mardiros Chevian,dean of St. Vartan Cathedral and Rev. TateosAbdalian, director of the Mission ParishProgram at the Diocese.

Archbishop Khajag Barsamian presents Metropolitan Jonah Pauffhausen with a carving of a biblicalscene hand-crafted in Armenia.

Archbishop Barsamian Welcomes Catholic Archbishop Dolan andOrthodox Metropolitan Pauffhausen to NY, at Ecumenical Gathering

Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Metropolitan Jonah Pauffhausen, Archbishop Timothy Dolan and Archbishop Demetrios at St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral

Religious leaders on the steps of St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral, where a prayer service was heldTuesday commemorating the Nativity of the Mother-of-God

Archbishop Khajag Barsamian presentsArchbishop Dolan with a pectoral cross onbehalf of Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch andCatholicos of All Armenians.

Archbishop Khajag Barsamian presentsArchbishop Timothy Dolan with a carving of aBiblical scene hand-crafted in Armenia.

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FAR and USAIDCollaborate onBringing DrinkingWater to Armenia’sArarat RegionNEW YORK — Two years of digging,

building and constructing have brought anew source of life to another corner ofArmenia. Like arms outstretched, drinkingwater now flows through new and refur-bished pipelines, bringing life to the homesof more than 100,000 residents in theArarat region.This is the culmination of the results of

the Artashat Water Supply Project, whichthe Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR)worked on in collaboration with theArmenian government through the help ofa $3.16 million grant from the US Agencyfor International Development (USAID).Construction crews restored two existing

reservoirs and added an additional one,bringing the entire system’s reservoircapacity to 8,000 cubic meters, up from theprevious 4,000. And almost 50 kilometersof pipeline now pump water to residents,eliminating the unsafe and inefficient needto extract water from local wells.On August 26 in the village of

Qaghtsrashen, Karekin II, the SupremePatriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians,blessed the new system, which will not onlychange the lives of the people in Artashatand its neighboring towns, but will alsobring further economic development toregions outside Yerevan. Karekin II; Archbishop Khajag

Barsamian, president of the Fund forArmenian Relief and Primate of theEastern Diocese; Marie L. Yovanovitch,US ambassador to the Republic ofArmenia; Hovik Abrahamian, speaker ofArmenia’s National Assembly and otherclergy and dignitaries extolled the bene-fits of collaboration and unity to over-come barriers. “For us, today’s ribbon-cutting is an

example of the obstacles that can be over-come and the great goals that can beachieved through collaborative effort, intel-ligent use of resources and expertise, andan atmosphere of mutual trust and open-ness,” Barsamian said.The impacts of this project are already

visible. The seemingly interminable lines ofpeople waiting to gather well water thatonce snaked along the region’s roads areno more, and the appreciation and new-found strength of Artashat’s people is abun-dantly clear.One of those people is Gayane, who lives

in the village of Shahumyan and exudes abroad smile because her life has been trans-formed through this project. She and herhusband no longer have to travel toArtashat in the bitter cold of winter or theoppressive summer heat to get their water;plus, her washing machine, which she pur-chased five years ago and which has sincesat unused in her house, now has a pur-pose. For the first time in 20 years, Julieta, also

of Shahumyan, can now drink clean waterin the comfort of her home. Unable toaccess potable water for years, she and herhusband had at one point even tried to selltheir home with the hope of buying a newone with better access, but with no success.When they first heard the news of the pro-ject, they were skeptical. Today, she canhappily wash her dishes at home with freshspring water. She extends her blessing toall of those involved in the project.“May their lives be as long as the water,”

she said. For more information on FAR orto send donations, write to 630 SecondAve., New York, NY 10016 or visitfarusa.org.

NEW YORK — A total of 92 students, com-prised of 50 from the junior class of AGBUManoogian-Demirdjian School in CanogaPark, Calif., 34 seniors of the AGBU MarieManoogian School in Buenos Aires,Argentina and eight juniors from AGBUHigh School-Pasadena, made two-week pil-grimages to Armenia this summer. TheCalifornia schools’ trips began in the latterpart of June and ended in early July, whilethe Argentinean school’s occurred in lateJuly and early August.All three groups visited major historic and

cultural landmarks throughout the country,including the reconstructed temple of

Garni, the medieval monastery of Geghard,the Sardarabad monument, the ancientKhor Virab monastery, Lake Sevan andHoly Echmiadzin. Other sites taken in bystudents from one or two of the groupswere the Dzidzernagapert (Fortress of theSwallows) Armenian Genocide Monumentand Museum; the military cemetery

Yerablur; the house-museums of literarygreats Yeghishe Charents and HovhannesToumanian; the Matenadaran ManuscriptRepository in Yerevan; the fort of Amberd;the monastery of Sanahin; St. Hripsime andSt. Gayane churches, as well as the ruins ofZvartnotz near Echmiadzin.The juniors from the two AGBU high

schools in California also visited the AGBUChildren’s Center in Nork, a district ofYerevan, where they were treated to animpressive performance of song, dance andacrobatics by its students. The juniors fromManoogian-Demirdjian High School metwith the Georgian president and were inter-

viewed by a local radio station. In addition,they visited the Orran Center for impover-ished children in Yerevan. Seniors of MarieManoogian High School visited the AGBUArmenian Representation offices, met thelocal staff and became acquainted withAGBU activities in Armenia. While there,students met AGBU scouts from Beirut and

Iraq, who had arrived in Armenia to attendAGBU Camp Antranik. The two groupsspent the whole afternoon together, sharingtheir thoughts and impressions, and form-ing bonds that were based on their commoncultural identity. The trip for the graduating seniors of

Marie Manoogian was made possiblethrough a number of fundraising eventsorganized by the school, students and theirparents at the AGBU Center in BuenosAires throughout the year. These includethe renowned Friday-evening, and the morerecently instituted Saturday-evening,Armenian dinners, which are prepared bythe school’s parents and served by thesenior class. These events are attended byBuenos Aires’ Armenian and non-Armeniancommunities and have become anentrenched tradition in the city, ensuringthat Marie Manoogian students, regardlessof their financial conditions, will be able toexperience firsthand the sights and soundsof the Armenian homeland.

Pasadena students ventured all aroundArmenia to see some of the famous historiclandmarks.

AGBU High School Students from Los Angeles, Buenos Aires Visit Armenia

Manoogian-Demirdjian School students tour the grounds of Sardarabad.

AGBU Marie Manoogian School of Buenos Aires students meet with AGBU scouts who were alsoin Armenia during the month of August.

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

JerusalemOdyssey

PART 4

By Arthur Hagopian

(Arthur Hagopian, former press officerof the Armenian Patriarchate ofJerusalem currently residing in Australia,has returned from a brief visit to the OldCity of Jerusalem after a 15-year hiatus.Here, in the fourth of a series of articles,he tells of his encounter with KhaderKhano, the first native-born Assyrian tobe ordained priest in over 100 years).

JERUSALEM — It is early in the day inthe Old City of Jerusalem, and virtuallyno one is up and around. It will be sometime before the serenity of its streets andalleys is disturbed by the tread of heavyfeet and the babble of many voices.

After an abbreviated breakfast of ka’ek(the elliptical breadroll cocooned insesame seeds) and falafel, I stand beforethe ornately decorated gate of Deir El Sir-yan, the Syriac or Assyrian Convent of St.Mark.

I have come here filled with an unusu-al expectation: to hear a language firstspoken in this part of the world 2,000years ago by a man who changed the his-tory of the world.

The gate is open, and I step in. In theghostly, candlelit semi-darkness punctuat-ed by velvety clouds of billowing incense,the sound of the priest intoning theLord’s prayer, echoes across the nave, anastringent but soothing balm.

“Avvon d-bish-maiya, nith-qaddash shim-mukh,” (our father, who art in heaven,hallowed be thy name).

This is Aramaic, the lingua franca fromthe times of Jesus of Nazareth, stillvibrantly alive in the liturgy of the Syriacchurch, faithfully preserved down the cen-turies to the present day.

I listen rapt to the modern reverbera-tions of the ancient tongue, feeling thehaunting inflections of the guttural, mel-lifluous singing penetrate into the con-sciousness and overwhelm the soul, tak-ing the imagination back through timeand space, to hover within the presence ofthe man from Galilee.

“Tih-teh mal-chootukh,” (thy kingdomcome).

They are the same words uttered two mil-lennia ago by the man who preached thatthe kingdom of God is within ourselves.

It is a lesson Khader Khano takes tena-ciously to heart.

The service over, we are sitting in thesecretariat, which is being manned by thisearnest 21-year-old deacon who is actingfor Archbishop Mar Sweiros Malki Muradduring his absence abroad.

Within the space of weeks, Khano willbe making history of his own when he isordained celibate priest, the first time inover 100 years a Holy Land native-bornaspirant is invested with the habit by theSyriac church.

The occasion has spawned widespreadjubilation among the local Christianchurches, particularly in Bethlehemwhere a sizeable community of Khano’scompatriots are gearing up for the cere-mony.

For centuries, St. Mark had languishedin relative obscurity, its visibility andaccessibility hindered by its uninviting

see JERUSALEM, page 14

AGBU to Pay Tribute toEmil Kazaz Nov. 6–8

LOS ANGELES — This fall, the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU),Southern California District Committee, in recognition of Emil Kazaz’s artisticgenius and outstanding contribution to the Armenian culture, is hosting a tributeto honor him, as well as exhibit his latest works.

The exhibition will take place November 6 to 8 at the AGBU Alex ManoogianCenter, 2495 E. MountainSt., in Pasadena.

The tribute, scheduledto take place on Saturday,November 7, will feature

speakers Shahen Khachatryan, an art historian and author from Armenia, and JoeLewis, a renowned artist, author and educator from New York. The artistic pro-gram will feature concert pianist Vatche Mankerian and tenor Bakur Kalantaryan.

Both events are open to the public. The exhibited works will be provided by theAirian Dome of Fine Art,through its founder andpresident, Monet Airian,who represents the artistworldwide, and the paint-ings will be available tothe public at specialprices to raise funds forthe AGBU’s cultural, edu-cational, youth-orientedand mentorship pro-grams in SouthernCalifornia. The portion ofthe sales amount desig-nated and provided as adonation to the AGBUwill be deductible forincome, gift and estatepurposes.

Kazaz is versatile andhis roots matter. But hisroots, alone, certainlydon’t define him. Howcan a man so colorful, soraw, so dramatic, so real,so unique, be put into abox. There is a darknessin his works that hauntsthe viewer. Yet color and depth scream out, too. Lewis, dean of the School of Artand Design in New York State College of Ceramics, states, “His themes are a blend

see KAZAZ, page 14

Emil Kazaz

Cellist NarekHakhnazaryan toPerform DebutRecital at GardnerMuseum

By Ara Arakelian

BOSTON — Narek Hakhnazaryan, the youngcellist who made an impressive debut with theBoston Pops Orchestra at the Armenian Nightat the Pops earlier this year, will appear in arecital at the Tapestry Room of the IsabellaGardner Museum in Boston.

The concert, scheduled to take place onSeptember 27 at 1:30 p.m., is part of the muse-um’s Sunday Concert Series. Hakhnazaryanand his collaborative pianist, Noreen Polera, willperform Schumann’s Fantasiestuke;Beethoven’s Sonata for Piano and Cello in A-Major; Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise; a seldom-heard work by the legendary cellist MstislavRostropovich, as well as the great D-MinorSonata by Dmitri Shostakovich.

Currently an Artist Diploma Candidate at theNew England Conservatory of Music,Hakhnazaryan is the winner of the 2008 covet-ed Young Concert Artists InternationalAuditions. In October of 2008 he made hisdebuts in Carnegie’s Zankel Hall in New Yorkand in Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater inWashington, DC, to critical acclaim. “He pro-duces powerful and colorful sound in all regis-ters, and flashes all the virtuoso’s tricks withinsolent ease…” wrote the Washington Post,while the New York Times praised his “intensefocus and expressive artistry.”

Hakhnazaryan is also the laureate of severalinternational competitions, including First

Prize in the 2006 Aram KhachaturianInternational Competition, First Prize in the2006 Johansen International Competition forYoung String Players, and Fifth Prize at the2007 Tchaikovsky International Competition inMoscow. He has received scholarships from theRostropovich Russian Performing Arts Fundand has performed in Russia, Germany, Italy,Austria, France, Great Britain, Greece andCanada.

Born into a family of musicians — his father isa violinist and his mother a pianist —Hakhnazaryan attended the Sayat Nova Schoolof Music, studying with Zareh Sarkisyan. At theage of 12, he began his studies at the MoscowConservatory of Music with Alexey Seleznyov.

Tickets for this concert can be obtained fromthe Gardner Museum Box Office or by visitingwww.gardnermuseum.org. Tickets may also bepurchased at the front entrance of the GardnerMuseum, 280 The Fenway.

By Aleen L. Khanjian, Esq.

“Angel on the Horse,” 2007

Narek Hakhnazaryan

KAZAZ, from page 13of sensual mysticism and provocative introspec-tion — beauty, love and valor prevail.” It is thisbreadth of creation that makes you stop andrealize how someone so grand thrives in anartist’s haven like Los Angeles.

As Lewis says, “Kazaz straddles the creativephilosophies of two world cultures, East andWest, bodied in constant flux.”

Kazaz was born in 1953, in Gumri, Armenia.As a man, and as an artist, it is apparent thathis work irresistibly possesses the authenticityof one of Armenia’s oldest cities, and yet it alsocompletely encompasses the indescribably hipnature of Los Angeles. This does not come asa surprise, seeing as Kazaz’s youth is definedby an inevitable nest of creativity. His fatherwas a cobbler and his mother worked at thelocal theater. Kazaz credits his mother withintroducing him to drama and to ornatedetails, which play out in his pieces.

Kazaz has undeniably lived out an artist’sdream. The young Emil Kazaz began to sculptand study sculpture at the age of 7. At the ageof 12, he attended the Mercurov Art School. At15, he was accepted to the Terlemezian ArtSchool. By 19, he graduated from college inYerevan, and was admitted to the Academy ofFine Arts, which he completed in 1979. Thatsame year, his daughter, Sate, was born. In1980, as his art took wings, his very legendmanifested in our very own City of Angels.

Since then, Kazaz has worked continuouslycreating bronze sculptures, oil paintings andmixed media art. He has exhibited his workcountless times in Europe, Asia, North and

South America. He is the recip-ient of the Lorenzo Medicimedal from Italy’s FlorenceBiennale 2003 and the GrandeLorenzo il Magnifico (Medici)Prize in Sculpture fromFlorence Biennale 2007. Hisconstant success as well as hisMedici medal in sculpture gaveKazaz the opportunity toestablish even deeper relation-ships with the greatest gal-leries and museums of theworld, thus bringing his workto the broadest of world mar-kets.

Henrik Igityan, the art criticand founder of the Museum ofContemporary Art in Yerevanand an admirer of Kazaz’s art,once said, “They often askEmil the question: Who do youconsider yourself to be, whatmedium do you prefer? Hisanswer is natural and simple. ‘Iequally cherish all visual arts.It’s like asking whether oneprefers air, water, or earth. I am a painterwhen I paint. I am a draftsman when I draw. Iam a sculptor when I sculpt.’ Emil has oncetold me, ‘I have nothing more to ask from God,he has given me everything I have ever dreamtof.’ And I, in my turn, have nothing to add tothis.”

Just recently, the Academia Gallery andAirian Dome of Fine Art presented the suc-

cessful “New Era” exhibition of Emil Kazaz atthe Academia Gallery in Yerevan, Armenia.Hundreds of people, including the generalpublic, prominent artists and art critics, thepresident of the National Assembly, the chan-cellor of Yerevan, and the mayors of Yerevanand Gumri, attended the exhibition on open-ing night — an event that received greatacclaim and wide media coverage.

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ARTS & LIVING

WENTWORTH GALLERYPresents

GEVORGThe Armenian Artist Who conquered the

Heart of Americans

Saturday, October 10, 2009

2:00-9:00 PM

Woodfield Shopping Center5 Woodfield Shopping Center,Schaumburg, IL 60173

Phone: (847) 995-1190

“Self Portrait,” 2008

JerusalemOdysseyJERUSALEM, from page 13

external architectural disposition. But allthat changed with the 1948 discovery of theDead Sea Scrolls in the salty caves ofQumran by an itinerant Bedouin sheep-herder. Through circuitous and mysteriousroutes under the gathering clouds of warbetween Arab and Jew, the scrolls finallyreached Jerusalem and were kept for a briefspell in the convent of St. Mark, before sur-facing on the shores of an astounded world.

Khano’s ordination may not count as acomparably momentous eventuality, butthere is no mistaking the euphoria that hasgripped the Syriac church, for this too isanother milestone in the glorious history ofthese proud descendants of the Babylonians.

The Syriacs of the Holy Land are betterknown by the Arabic appellation “Sir-yan,”but in other parts of the world they also referto themselves as Ashourayeh, Ashouri orSuryoyo.

Traditionally, the Syriac church used toreplenish the ranks of its clergy from theyouth of Ashouri colonies in neighboringArabic countries, particularly Iraq. But thepolitical upheavals unleashed by the 1967Six-Day War forced that gateway to close.

Khano bubbles with scarcely concealedenthusiasm, caught up blissfully in the gen-tle breeze of faith and conviction.

“I have thought very hard and very longover my decision to become a priest, and Ihave found that there is nothing more impor-tant to me than to serve God in this way,” hetells me.

“All the books I have read, all the lessonsI have studied have prepared me just for this.I have no other interest in life other than tobecome a priest.”

He will be ordained in Bethlehem but willcome back to serve, under his new name,Father Boulos (Paul) at St. Mark, which wasthe first Christian edifice ever built any-where, according to a sixth century inscrip-tion unearthed in 1940. This was the houseof Mary, mother of John, called Mark, theEvangelist. The church boasts a portrait ofthe Virgin Mary reputedly painted by St.Luke the evangelist.

Alas, the monastery compound, located atthe periphery of the Armenian Quarter, isthe last remaining enclave left to the SyriacOrthodox Church, which has lost everythingelse in the city. It is now home to a handfulof clergymen, their sharp decline paralleledby the attrition in the number of members inthe Syriac community.

Only years after its erection, the churchwas destroyed by Titus when he conqueredthe city, only to rise phoenix like from itsashes, and to be rebuilt, over and over again,the last time a century and a half ago.

I take my leave of Khano and a short timelater, I am in Bethlehem to meet SalibaTawil, a member of the Bethlehem Syriaccommunity. We are old friends.

We sit for lunch at Abu Ely’s restaurant. Afew feet away, the monstrous security wallIsrael has erected, glares at us menacingly.

Tawil is a career educator, with a wide-ranging interest in community affairs. He hasbeen instrumental in furthering negotiationsfor a twinning agreement betweenBethlehem and the French city of Grenoble.

Like all members of minority groups, he iszealous in his pursuit of the aim to see hischildren gain and retain a mastery of theirnative tongue. And like them, he is worriedabout assimilation and the loss of ethnicidentity.

But he also has a pragmatic turn of mind.“We are all destined to live here together

in the Holy Land,” he says.His fondest wish is for his children to grow

and appreciate not only their ethnicity, butalso the wider world community.

And he believes the only way this can beachieved is when peace reigns in the land.

AGBU to Pay Tribute to Emil Kazaz Nov. 6–8

PARAMUS, N.J. — Noted author and Teaneck-native Peter Balakian, who has written exten-sively about the Armenian experience, willspeak at Bergen Community College onThursday, October 8, at 6 p.m.

The program, arranged by the college’sPeace, Justice and Reconciliation Center andthe Center for the Study of InterculturalUnderstanding, brings the nationally recog-nized author and scholar to Bergen to discussthe struggle of the Armenian people in the late19th and early 20th centuries as well as theirhistory, poetry and literature.

There are 1.5 million people of Armeniandescent living in the US, according to the USCensus for 2000. More than 8,300 ArmenianAmericans live in Bergen County.

Balakian serves as the current Donald M. and

Constance H. Rebar Professor of theHumanities and director of creative writing inColgate University’s English department. Hewas also the university’s first director of itsCenter for Ethics and World Societies.

Balakian won the PEN/Albrand Prize for hismemoir, Black Dog of Fate, which earned NewYork Times Notable Book honors. He was therecipient of a 1999 Guggenheim Fellowship, a2004 National Endowment for the ArtsFellowship and the 2005 Raphael Lemkin Prizefor his book, The Burning Tigris: TheArmenian Genocide and America’s Response.

His address will take place in the MosesFamily Meeting and Training Center(Technology Education Center room 128) atthe College, 400 Paramus Road, Paramus, NJ.Seating is limited and reservations are sug-

gested. Contact Keith Chu atkchu@bergen.edu to make a reservation.

The Peace Justice and Reconciliation Centerprovides educational experiences, exhibitions,dialogues and forums on the issues of war,genocide and social justice. Additionally, thecenter aims to develop skills in conflict-resolu-tion through interdisciplinary study. The cen-ter’s philosophy is that peace can be promoted,and that cultural conflicts can be reduced.

The Center for the Study of InterculturalUnderstanding promotes a greater understand-ing and appreciation of diverse culturesthrough better communication and critical-thinking skills. Originally introduced at the col-lege as the Center of International Study in1979, the CSIU is committed to the study ofdiversity and global issues.

Author Peter Balakian to Speak at Bergen Community College October 8

BOBELIAN, from page 1“The Genocide was widely acknowledged

while it was taking place. There was huge inter-national relief sent to help,” he said. “There waswide press coverage.”

“By the 1940s, 1950s, much of the world hadforgotten. The world had moved on.. How doesthat happen?”

After 1923, he said, and the Treaty ofLausanne, the chapter became closed, as far asthe world was concerned.

Bobelian also looked at Hitler’s famousquote, often quoted by Armenians or thoseseeking affirmation of the Genocide, in whichhe justifies going through with the JewishHolocaust, suggesting it would be forgotten,since “who today remembers the Armenians?”

He explained, “Armenians look at the quoteof Hitler, and they look at that as a symbol ofthe costs of impunity in regard to punishing theperpetrators of the Genocide. But it can belooked at in another way: how this event, whichwas so well-known, and inspired this huge inter-

national aid movement, disappeared from theworld’s consciousness so quickly. By the mid1960s, outside of the Armenian world, itbecame ‘the forgotten genocide.’ How did theArmenians allow it to happen? There was a longera of public silence during which Armeniansallowed the Genocide to disappear from thepublic’s consciousness.”

It was only in 1965, he said, where there wasa collective wake-up call, with massive demon-stration in New York, Los Angeles, Beirut,Paris, Athens, Moscow and Yerevan, which with100,000 participants, had the bragging rightsto be the largest.

And why that year? “It is a big mystery. It wasthe 50th anniversary, a round number. By1965, in the diaspora, the survivors’ childrenwho were leading those demonstrations, hadeconomic and personal security. They madetheir political voices heard,” he explained.

“In Soviet Armenia, it was the first steps of anationalist movement,” he noted, adding thatthere, the Armenians had the freedom toexpress their nationalism in art and culture.

“In America and Europe, the student move-ment and the anti-Vietnam movement was start-ing,” he said. “It was just a perfect storm in 1965.”

The first book to talk about the Genocide,Bobelian said, was British-Armenian journalistMichael Arlen’s A Passage to Ararat. He added,the first Genocide museum in the world wasonly erected in Yerevan in 1995. “The survivorswere severely traumatized and they wererebuilding their lives. Many of them wereorphans. At 18, they would leave orphanagesand start families. If you took the time to dothings about the Genocide, it would cost you alot,” he added.

“Armenians lacked political power and a politi-cal voice,” he said. Adding that we should not for-get that the perpetrators of the Genocide had pur-posely killed off the community leaders. “It is dif-ficult in that context to have a political voice.”

“In the 1950s, Armenians in the US startedto participate in American politics. They weretreating it as a Cold War issue, with Tashnags

versus non-Tashnags. The question was ‘are youfor or against Soviet Armenia?’”

The Armenian newspapers, he said, debatedonly that issue; they seldom wrote about theGenocide.

For research, Bobelian said that he looked toestablished historians such as Vahakn Dadrian,Richard Hovannisian, Taner Akçam, and otherhistorians who have covered the genocide era.But most of those books really come to an endby the mid to late 1920s. He said, “Much of myresearch was mostly primary research since Ihad no books to rely upon. Some of the thingsI read were lots of Armenian-American papers.I interviewed many Armenian advocates, bothfrom this era and leading advocates in the1960s and 1970s. I also did a lot of research atthe National Archives, which allowed me to getan understanding of the US position on theGenocide issue, not just in the 1920s andPresident Woodrow Wilson’s era, but all theway through the present day. I also did a lot ofFreedom of Information Act requests againfrom the US government and retrieved files notavailable in the archives, so they needed to gothrough a security clearance. The last place Ilooked was the presidential libraries, which hada great deal of information about legislativeefforts in dealing with Armenian Genocide res-olutions that were proposed in Congress sincethe 1970s.”

He continued, “The hardest part actually wasin writing about the Genocide itself. I spentthree or four months reading personal accountsof survivors. When you read stories about par-ents choosing which child lives, which childdies, mothers taking their children’s lives out ofmercy, and you wonder about the predicamentthese people were in. Looking at my daughter,who was just a few months old at the time, itwas hard to absorb. After that, I was able tomaintain a detached outlook needed forresearch.”

The lack of a homeland, he said, only com-pounded this paralysis by the Armenians to getthe Genocide issue front and center. The Jews,he said, through having a homeland, were ableto put up the Yad Vashem memorial, as well asto have the Adolf Eichmann trial, both of whichwere able to put the Holocaust on the map. Henoted that around the 1960s, the Holocaustwas seldom spoken of.

He added, “I touch upon the political parties,especially in the early sections of the bookwhere I feel like they had much greater impacton Armenian history and world events. Butmostly I try to write through individuals andnot through the parties. For instance, I writeabout Simon Vratsian, the last prime minister ofthe first Armenian republic that came to an endin 1920. He’s a member of the ArmenianRevolutionary Federation, so I try to writeabout him and not the party that he was a mem-ber of.”

Bobelian said he wants Armenian readers tolearn about their recent history, especially thebeginnings of the recognition movement. “Wehave inherited not only the scars of theGenocide but a campaign for justice from previ-ous generations. We deserve to know the ori-gins and evolution of this campaign.”

For non-Armenians, he added, “I want themto appreciate why this still matters. A lot of peo-ple I ran into while writing this book would askme why Armenians still persist since it’s been

almost a 100 years since the Genocide tookplace. I want them to understand and appreci-ate that it still matters. Even today, these issuesof denial and impunity resonate not only forArmenians but for genocides across the world.Finally, there are very few moments of socialjustice that have lasted this long and span theworld.”

For more information about Children ofArmenia, please visitwww.childrenarmenia.com.

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Collective Amnesia in Wake of Genocide Topic of New BookAuthor Michael BobelianTo Discuss New Book onGenocide Recognition

BELMONT, Mass. — Author and jour-nalist Michael Bobelian will discuss hisnewly-published book, Children ofArmenia: A Forgotten Genocide and theCentury-Long Struggle for Justice(Simon & Schuster), on Thursday,October 8, at 8 p.m., at the NationalAssociation for Armenian Studies andResearch (NAASR) Center, 395 ConcordAve. This will be Bobelian’s first talk inthe Boston area.

From 1915 to 1923, around 2 millionArmenians were driven from their ances-tral homeland and some 1.5 million ofthem were killed. While there was an ini-tial global outcry and a movement to aidthe “starving Armenians,” the promise tohold the perpetrators accountable wasnever fulfilled and a curtain of silencesoon descended on one of the worstcrimes of modern history.

The grandson of Genocide survivors,Bobelian struggled to rationalize how anevent as widely reported as the ArmenianGenocide could fade from public con-sciousness. What role did America’snational self-interest play in helpingTurkey evade public accountability? Whydid decades of silence pass before a newgeneration of activists arose who wouldrenew the fight for justice?

Based on years of research and person-al interviews, Bobelian’s groundbreakingChildren of Armenia is the first book totrace this post-Genocide history andreveal the events that have conspired toeradicate the “hidden holocaust” fromthe world’s memory and the story of theArmenians who struggled to seek redressin the face of recalcitrant perpetratorsand an indifferent world.

Bobelian is a graduate of the ColumbiaGraduate School of Journalism. A lawyerand journalist, he has written forForbes.com, American Lawyer and LegalAffairs magazine and has been featuredon NPR’s Leonard Lopate Show. He livesin New York with his wife and daughter.

Children of Armenia will be on sale thenight of the lecture and available for sign-ing by the author.

Admission to the event is free. Moreinformation about the lecture is availableby e-mailing hq@naasr.org.

St. James Book ClubBegins its Third Year

WATERTOWN, Mass. — St. James ArmenianChurch will begin the third year of its BookClub on Thursday, September 24, at 7:30 p.m.in the St. James Armene and VeronicaTarvezian Hall, 465 Mt. Auburn St.

The Book Club features books of all genres,attendees of all ages, diverse perspectives andopinions, and enthusiastic and interesting dis-cussions of the selection. The first St. JamesBook Club selection of the 2009-2010 year isSnow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See.Light refreshments are served.All are welcome to attend. Those interested in

attending, joining the book club or sharing asuggestion for a book can contact YeretzginNatasha Aljalian at aljalian@comcast.net.

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

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SSEEPPTTEEMMBBEERR 2222 –– OOCCTTOOBBEERR 2277 —— MMiicchhaaeell BBoobbeelliiaann,,aauutthhoorr ooff CChhiillddrreenn ooff AArrmmeenniiaa,, published by Simon &Schuster, will participate in a series of readings and booksignings. This groundbreaking book is the first to chroniclethe aftermath of the first genocide of the 20th century,recounting the Armenian struggle for justice in the face ofsilence and denial. For more info.,www.childrenarmenia.com.

• September 22 — 6:30 p.m., at UC Berkeley, 223 Moses Hall,Berkeley, Calif.

• September 23 — 7:30 p.m., at the Skylight Bookstore, 1818N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, Calif.

• September 24 — 7:30 p.m. at the AGBU Alex ManoogianCenter, 2495 E. Mountain St., Pasadena, Calif.

• September 29 — 7 p.m., at the Glendale Public Library, 222E. Harvard St., Glendale, Calif.

• October 1 — 7 p.m., at the Fresno Public Library (Fig GardenBranch), 3071 West Bullard Ave., Fresno, Calif.

• October 18 — 4 p.m., at the Ararat-Eskijian Museum, 15105Mission Hills Road, Mission Hills, Calif.

• October 27 — 7 p.m. at Chaucer’s Bookstore, 3321 State St.,Santa Barbara, Calif.

NNOOVVEEMMBBEERR 77 —— AArrmmeenniiaann PPrrooffeessssiioonnaall SSoocciieettyy HHoonnoorrssDDrr.. VVaarr ttaann GGrreeggoorriiaann as their Professional of the Year.Sheraton Universal, Los Angeles. Tickets: $150.

NNOOVVEEMMBBEERR 88 —— SSaayyaatt NNoovvaa DDaannccee CCoommppaannyy ooff BBoossttoonnttrraavveellss ttoo CCaalliiffoorrnniiaa to present its dynamic “Power inRhythm” performance at Glendale High School Auditorium,1440 E. Broadway, Glendale. For tickets, contactwww.itmyseat.com.

SSEEPPTTEEMMBBEERR 2255--2277 —— KKeeff TTiimmee HHaarr tt ffoorrdd..• September 25 — Friday, 10 p.m. at the Shish Kebab House

of Afghanistan, LaSalle Road, West Hartford, $25, after 9p.m./$15 (cabaret fee) included with dining prior to 9 p.m.,featuring Harry Bedrosian, Mal Barsamian, Kenny Kalajian,Jason Naroian.

• September 26 — Saturday, 6 p.m.-12 a.m. at the WestHartford Meeting and Conference Center, 50 S. Main St.,West Hartford. $40/$25 (17 and under). Kef Time All-StarBand, featuring Richard Hagopian, Hachig Kazarian, JackChalikian, Mal Barsamian, Ron Tutunjian and PaulMooradian.

• September 27 — Sunday Kef! 12 p.m. at the new Shish Barand Ultra Lounge, 904 Farmington Ave. West Hartford. $25.Cash bar. Featuring the Mal Barsamian Ensemble with JoeKouyoumjian, Harry Bedrossian, Harold Hagopian and RonTutunjian. Hotel accommodations: Homewood Suites Hotel,2 Farm Glen Blvd. (860) 321-0000. Ask for special Kef Timerate, $99 per night. Includes breakfast. For info., e-mail gary-hov@aol.com or leave a voicemail for Gary at (860) 690-5959.

SSEEPPTTEEMMBBEERR 1199--OOCCTTOOBBEERR 1100 —— WWhhiissttlleerr HHoouussee MMuusseeuummcceelleebbrraatteess AArrsshhiillee GGoorrkkyy. Preview Party, September 13,Parker Gallery, donation, $50 per person; $35 for members.Event features a premiere of works by Gorky, as well as thecuisine and music of his Armenian homeland. For reserva-tions, contact Whistler House Museum of Art, 243Worthern St., Lowell, call (978) 452-7641 or e-mail jdy-ment@whistlerhouse.org. Exhibit opens on Wednesday,September 16, 11 a.m. Admission, $5, adults. Public recep-tion, Saturday, September 19, 2-4 p.m. On Saturday,October 10, at 6 p.m., an original play will be performed byRegina Eliot Ramsey about Willem De Kooning and Gorky.

SSEEPPTTEEMMBBEERR 2200 —— CCeelleebbrraattiinngg 1155 yyeeaarrss ooff GGrreeeenniinnggAArrmmeenniiaa Regional event honoring Armenia Tree Project.Sunday.

SSEEPPTTEEMMBBEERR 2211 —— SStt.. SStteepphheenn’’ss AArrmmeenniiaann SScchhooooll//AACCEECC1144tthh AAnnnnuuaall GGoollff OOuuttiinngg. Framingham Country Club.$170 includes golf, lunch, dinner and contests. For info.,contact Astor, (781) 326-5764.

SSEEPPTTEEMMBBEERR 2244 —— FFrriieennddss ooff HHoollyy TTrriinniittyy 11000000 CClluubb —— 2299tthhAAnnnnuuaall FFaallll DDiinnnneerr aanndd DDrraawwiinngg, 6:30 p.m., Thursday,Charles and Nevart Talanian Cultural Hall, Holy TrinityArmenian Church, 145 Brattle St., Cambridge. Donation:$7.99 for delicious losh kebab dinner. Tickets on sale atdoor. Lottery drawing at 8 p.m. for regular monthly prizesplus five additional cash prizes. “One-Time” numbers will besold at the dinner. Special offer: Buy four numbers for thenight and get the fifth free. For more info., contact the HolyTrinity Church Office at (617) 354-0632 or e-mailoffice@htaac.org.

SSEEPPTTEEMMBBEERR 2266 —— SSmmiitthhssoonniiaann MMuusseeuumm DDaayy OOffffeerrss FFrreeeeAAddmmiissssiioonn ttoo AArrmmeenniiaann LLiibbrraarryy aanndd MMuusseeuumm ooffAAmmeerriiccaa,, Watertown. Visit www.almainc.org. Select theCalendar page and click on Smithsonian Museum Day todownload your Museum Day Admission Card. Attendeesmust present the Museum Day Admission Card to gain freeentry. Each card provides museum access for two people.The museum is open 1-5 p.m.

SSEEPPTTEEMMBBEERR 2288 —— FFiirrsstt AAnnnnuuaall SSttss.. VVaarr ttaannaannttzz GGoollffTToouurrnnaammeenntt and outing, Butter Brook Golf Club, Westford.$150, includes golf, cart, prizes, reception and awards din-ner. 1 p.m., shotgun start. Dinner only, $35. Proceeds tobenefit Sts. Vartanantz Youth Scholarship Fund. Contact Araat (978) 251-4845, Steve at (978) 808-2820 or e-mail:StsVGolf@earthlink.net.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 22 —— JJaazzzz NNiigghhttss @@ AALLMMAA wwiitthh AArrmmeenn DDoonneelliiaannTTrriioo at Armenian Library and Museum of America,Watertown. Donelian (piano), David Clark (bass) andGeorge Schuller (drums) will perform music from their latestalbum “Oasis.” The concert begins at 8 p.m. in ALMA’sContemporary Art Gallery; museum doors open at 7:30p.m. Tickets $15 (includes one complimentary glass of winefor 21+). ALMA members, students and JazzBoston mem-bers (with proper ID) pay $10. Visit www.almainc.org or call(617) 926-2562 to preorder tickets/make table reservations.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 33 —— BBrraatt ttllee BBoouuttiiqquuee aanndd SSppaarrkkss SStt.. CCaafféé —— AAFFaallll FFaaiirr featuring specialty gift and food items, sponsoredby the Women’s Guild of Holy Trinity Armenian Church ofGreater Boston, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Saturday. Charles andNevart Talanian Cultural Hall, 145 Brattle St., Cambridge.This new event will feature a variety of specialty vendors sell-ing gifts and gourmet food. There will also be a Children’sCorner with activities and items for children. Admission isfree. For further info., contact the Holy Trinity Church Officeat (617) 354-0632 or e-mail office@htaac.org.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 33 —— AArrmmeenniiaann AAmmeerriiccaann PPrrooffeessssiioonnaallss GGaallaaBBaannqquueett aanndd DDaannccee Honoring Massachusetts state Rep.Peter Koutoujian of Waltham. 6 p.m., cocktail hour. Dinnerwith music and dancing with DJ Eddie K. Hyatt RegencyHotel, Cambridge. For information and tickets, contact AraDemirjian at (617) 974-8343. Sponsored by the followingassociations: Armenian American Medical Association,Armenian American Dental Society, Armenian AmericanNurses Association, Armenian American Bar Association(Law Society) and hosted by the Armenian AmericanPharmacists’ Association.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 33 —— SSeeccoonndd SStt.. JJaammeess PPaarriisshh RReeuunniioonn aanndd kkeeff,,hosted by the St. James ACYOA Seniors. Saturday, 8 p.m.-1a.m. at St. James Armenian Church. Charles MosesianCultural and Youth Center, Keljik Hall. 465 Mt. Auburn St.,Watertown. Featuring Bob Raphalian (oud), Leon Janikian

(clarinet), Harry Bedrossian (keyboard and vocals), KennyKalajian (guitar) and Leon Manoogian (dumbeg). $25 perperson. Tables of 10 may be reserved with advance pay-ment. For tickets, contact Melanie Khederian at (617) 694-1057 or at mkhederian@gmail.com. All proceeds to benefitthe 2010 ACYOA General Assembly and National SportsWeekend hosted by St. James ACYOA.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 44 —— CCeelleebbrraattiioonn ooff AArrmmeenniiaann IInnddeeppeennddeenncceeDDaayy ((NNeeww RReeppuubblliicc)) by the Lowell ARF, 1 p.m., Sts.Vartanantz Armenian Church, 180 Westford Road, NorthChelmsford; complimentary dinner and program; DavidBoyajian will be recognized for his years of dedicated serviceto the No Place for Hate campaign and will offer an update.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 77 —— AArrmmeenniiaann CCuullttuurraall FFoouunnddaattiioonn,, BBooookkPPrreesseennttaattiioonn, 441 Mystic St., Arlington, 7:30 p.m. Anevening with author, scholar and political activist MurielMirak-Weissbach on her thought-provoking and ground-breaking work Through the Wall of Fire, Armenia-Iraq-Palestine: From Wrath to Reconciliation, examining the fateof the orphans in the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide,Iraqi and Palestinian children after decades of war anddeportations and search for a path to reconciliation. Theevent is free and open to the public followed by a receptionand book signing. For more info., call ACF at (781) 646-3090.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 88 —— MMiicchhaaeell BBoobbeelliiaann,, aauutthhoorr ooff CChhiillddrreenn ooffAArrmmeenniiaa, will participate in a reading and book signing. 7p.m. at NAASR Bookstore, 395 Concord Ave., Belmont,Mass. This groundbreaking book is the first to chronicle theaftermath of the first genocide of the 20th century, recount-ing the Armenian struggle for justice in the face of silenceand denial. For more info., www.childrenarmenia.com.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 1155 —— HHuummaann RRiigghhttss iinn AArrmmeenniiaann HHiissttoorryy,, aa lleecc--ttuurree bbyy PPrrooff.. SSiimmoonn PPaayyaasslliiaann,, at 7 p.m. at the ArmenianLibrary and Museum of America, Watertown. Payaslian,Kenosian Chair in Modern Armenian History and Literature atBoston University, discusses the development of human rightsin Armenia within a long historical perspective and contendshuman rights values and customary practices require centuriesof development. For more info., visit www.alamainc.org. Theevent is free and open to the public.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 1177 —— SStt.. JJaammeess 6622nndd AAnnnnuuaall BBaazzaaaarr.. 10 a.m.-9p.m. Armenian food, shish kebab, chicken kebab, loshkebab, kheyma and eetch. (served from 11 a.m.-8 p.m.)Armenian delicacies and pastries. Boereg, manti, yalanchi,porov kufteh, tourshi, choereg, cream and nut khadaif,bourma, baklava and more. Booths and vendors includingthe country store, Armenian items, attic treasures, jewelryand spa vendors, candy sale. $100 raffle. (Only 350 sold.Purchase by September 30 to be entered in a $500 specialearly-bird drawing. Grand prize: $5,000; second-fourthprizes: $1,000. Fifth-eighth prizes: $500) and $2 raffle.Silent auction including art from Armenia and Jerusalem,jewelry, gift certificates and sporting events. St. James’Mosesian Cultural and Youth Center, 465 Mt. Auburn St.,Watertown. For info., call (617) 923-8860.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 2233 && 2255 —— AArrmmeenniiaann FFeessttiivvaall,, AArrmmeenniiaann CChhuurrcchhooff OOuurr SSaavv iioouurr,, offering the most delicious shish, losh andchicken kebab on char-broiled grills. Freshly-made kheyma,kids meals available, raffle/prizes, beer and wine. The bestauthentic Armenian baked goods, country store, music andfun for the entire family. Friday, October 23, 5-9 p.m., andSunday, October 25, 12-5 p.m. Cultural Center, 34 BoyntonSt., Worcester. (508) 756-2931.

NNOOVVEEMMBBEERR 66 —— WWiinnee TTaassttiinngg,, 77--99 pp..mm.. SSttss.. VVaarr ttaannaannttzzAArrmmeenniiaann CChhuurrcchh, 180 Old Westford Road, Chelmsford.Tickets: $30 per person (before October 24) $35 thereafter.Includes brief wine presentation, appetizers and wine.Contact Carol Hildebrand (978) 618-6982 or e-mail stswine-tasting09@gmail.com.

NNOOVVEEMMBBEERR 66 —— JJaazzzz NNiigghhttss @@ AALLMMAA ww iitthh SStteevveeTTaasshhjjiiaann’’ss CCllaassssiicc GGrroooovvee at Armenian Library andMuseum of America, Watertown. ClassicGroove returns tothe stage, performing an exciting range of jazz favorites inALMA’s Contemporary Art Gallery. The concert begins at 8p.m.; museum doors open at 7:30 p.m. Tickets $15(includes one complimentary glass of wine for 21+). ALMAmembers, students and JazzBoston members (with properID) pay $10. Visit www.almainc.org or call (617 926-2562 topreorder your tickets/make table reservations.

NNOOVVEEMMBBEERR 66 —— ““TThhee GGoollddeenn VVooiicceess ooff OOppeerraa,,”” featuringYeghishe Manucharyan, Victoria Avetisyan and YelenaDudochkin with Tatyana Dudochkin, piano. Celebrate 2009Armenian Cultural Heritage Program. Sponsored by HolyTrinity Armenian Church and Choir of Greater Boston. Friday,8 p.m. Longy School of Music, Edward M. Pickman ConcertHall, 27 Garden St., Cambridge. Tickets: $25 per person. Theprogram will include favorite arias, duets and romances,including Verdi, Puccini, Rossini, Tigranyan, Abrahamyan,

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On October 2, the Armenian Libraryand Museum of America (ALMA) willhave its Jazz Nights @ ALMA, with theArmen Donelian Trio, at 8 p.m. inALMA’s Contemporary Art Gallery, inWatertown. For more info., call (617)926-2562 or visit www.almainc.org.Pictured above is Donelian.

Rimsky-Korsakov and others. For further info., contact theHoly Trinity Church Office at (617) 354-0632 or e-mailoffice@htaac.org.

NNOOVVEEMMBBEERR 66--77 —— SStt.. SStteepphheenn’’ss AArrmmeenniiaann AAppoossttoolliiccCChhuurrcchh,, 5533rrdd AArrmmeenniiaann BBaazzaaaarr.. Friday and Saturday, 10a.m.-9:30 p.m. Armenian Cultural and Educational Center,47 Nichols Ave., Watertown. Lamb, losh and chicken kebab,kheyma, kufta and yalanchi. Meals served from 11:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Takeout available. Armenian pastries, gourmet,soujoukh, arts and crafts, books, tapes, art sale, children’sgames. Auction starts at 7 p.m. Also raffles, sports ticketsand much more.

NNOOVVEEMMBBEERR 77 —— FFiillmm SSccrreeeenniinngg ooff ““HHoovvee”” pprreesseenntteedd bbyytthhee AArrmmeenniiaann LLiibbrraarryy aanndd MMuusseeuumm ooff AAmmeerriiccaa, 65 MainSt., Watertown, at 2 p.m. Olympia Dukakis stars in this mov-ing tale about two Armenian women whose friendship isdeeply affected by an encounter with the past and the pow-erful, unresolved legacy of the Armenian Genocide. Co-starShirleyann Kaladjian and Director Alex Webb will attend thescreening. Admission is $8. ALMA members pay $5. Visitalmainc.org.

NNOOVVEEMMBBEERR 2211 —— SSaayyaatt NNoovvaa DDaannccee CCoommppaannyy ooff BBoossttoonnsponsors the popular and beloved singer Alla Levonyan ofArmenia in a live concert. Save the date. Details to follow.

DDEECCEEMMBBEERR 44 —— JJaazzzz NNiigghhttss @@ AALLMMAA ww iitthh YYuulliiaaMMuussaayyeellyyaann QQuuaarr tteett at Armenian Library and Museum ofAmerica, Watertown. Musayelyan (flute), Fernando Huergo(bass), Franco Pinna (drums) and a pianist conclude the 2009concert series with original compositions and arrangementsthat infuse folk rhythms from Argentina, Armenia and othercultures. The concert begins at 8 p.m. in ALMA’sContemporary Art Gallery; museum doors open at 7: 30p.m. Tickets, $15 (includes one complimentary glass of winefor 21+). ALMA members, students and JazzBoston mem-bers (with proper ID) pay $10. Visit www.almainc.org or call(617) 926-2562 to preorder tickets/make table reservations.

DDEECCEEMMBBEERR 44 aanndd 55 —— TTrriinniittyy CChhrriissttmmaass BBaazzaaaarr,, HHoollyyTTrriinniittyy AArrmmeenniiaann CChhuurrcchh, 145 Brattle St., Cambridge.Friday, 3-9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Save the date.Details to follow. For info., contact Holy Trinity Church Officeat (617) 354-0632 or e-mail office@htaac.org.

DDEECCEEMMBBEERR 55 –– SSeeccoonndd AAnnnnuuaall BBrreeaakkffaasstt wwiitthh SSaannttaa.. 1100aa..mm.. SStt.. JJaammeess AArrmmeenniiaann CChhuurrcchh,, Charles MosesianCultural and Youth Center, Keljik Hall. 465 Mt. Auburn St.,Watertown. Tickets must be purchased in advance, andinclude breakfast, time and photos with Santa, and a specialgift for each child. Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for chil-dren, 1-12 years old; $15 for children under 1-year-old.Payment must be received to reserve your space. ContactMark Janian at (617) 875-3671 or Markhj77@yahoo.com ore-mail stjamesbreakfastwsanta@yahoo.com for tickets.Tickets will also be available in the St. James church officeand during Fellowship Hour on Sundays. Call Tina Kurkjian at(781) 727-3643 or e-mailst.jamesbreakfastwsanta@yahoo.com to include a greeting,ad or photo of one’s child in the Christmas Greetings Book.

FFEEBBRRUUAARRYY 2277--2288,, 22001100 —— AArrsseennaall CCeenntteerr ffoorr tthhee AArr ttssssppoonnssoorrss tthhee SSaayyaatt NNoovvaa DDaannccee CCoommppaannyy ooff BBoossttoonn.The production will be performed for two nights at theCharles Mosesian Theater, 321 Arsenal St., Watertown.

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

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 1100 —— TThhee AAGGBBUU AAlleexx aanndd MMaarriiee MMaannooooggiiaannSScchhooooll 4400tthh AAnnnniivveerrssaarryy Celebration Dinner Dance, fea-turing the opening of the new High School BuildingExpansion. 22001 Northwestern Highway, Southfield. Horsd’oeuvres and school tours, 7-7:45 p.m. Ribbon-cutting cere-mony, 8 p.m. Strolling dinner and open bar to follow. Musicprovided by Arthur Apkarian. Donation, $50. Advance tick-ets only. Reservations by September 30: Linda DarianKaribian (248) 932-5282 or school office (248) 569-2988.

NNOOVVEEMMBBEERR 1199 —— SSooiirreeéé MMuussiiccaall,, ffeeaattuurriinngg vv iioolliinniissttHHeennrriikk KKaarraappeettiiaann aanndd hhiiss qquuaarr tteett, 7 p.m. BloomfieldTownship Library Hall. Reception to follow.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 77 —— MMiicchhaaeell BBoobbeelliiaann,, aauutthhoorr ooff CChhiillddrreenn ooffAArrmmeenniiaa,, published by Simon & Schuster, will participate ina reading and book signing. 7 p.m. at the Books andGreetings Bookstore, 271 Livingston St., Northvale, NJ. Thisgroundbreaking book is the first to chronicle the aftermathof the first genocide of the 20th century, recounting theArmenian struggle for justice in the face of silence anddenial. For more info., www.childrenarmenia.com.

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

NNOOVVEEMMBBEERR 1155 —— ““OOnnee NNaattiioonn,, OOnnee CCuullttuurree,,”” aa ccuullttuurraallffeessttiivvaall uunnddeerr tthhee aauussppiicceess ooff DDrr.. HHrraannuusshh HHaakkoobbyyaann,Republic of Armenia Minister of Diaspora, organized byHamazkayin Eastern USA Regional Executive, featuring AllaLevonian from Armenia and Babin Boghosian & Ensemblefrom Los Angeles, with the participation of Antranig DanceEnsemble of AGBU, Akh’tamar Dance Ensemble of St.Thomas Armenian Church, Yeraz Dance Ensemble of St.Sarkis Church, NJ, Hamazkyain Nayiri Dance Group andArekag Children’s Choir and Dohl Group. Sunday, 4 p.m.Felician College, 262 S. Main St., Lodi, NJ. Donation:$75,$50, $35, $25. For more info. or tickets, contact Haazkayinat (201) 945-8992 or paradon2009@gmail.com.

SSEEPPTTEEMMBBEERR 2266 —— ““EEvveenniinngg uunnddeerr tthhee SSttaarrss”” aatt SStt.. NNeerrsseessssSSeemmiinnaarryy – 150 Stratton Road, New Rochelle. Join in forthis cocktail and hors d’oeuvres benefit reception at $100per person. A great opportunity to learn about and supportSt. Nersess Seminary. RSVP at stnersess.edu or call (914)636-2003.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 1155 —— MMiicchhaaeell BBoobbeelliiaann,, aauutthhoorr ooff CChhiillddrreenn ooffAArrmmeenniiaa,, will participate in a reading and book signing. 7p.m. at the Zohrab Center, 630 Second Ave., New York, NY.This groundbreaking book is the first to chronicle the after-math of the first genocide of the 20th century, recounting

the Armenian struggle for justice in the face of silence anddenial. For more info., www.childrenarmenia.com.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 2244 —— AAGGBBUU NNeeww YYoorrkk SSppeecciiaall EEvveennttssCCoommmmiitttteeee ((NNYYSSEECC)) presents — AGBU Performing Artists inConcert. A benefit for the AGBU Performing Arts FellowshipProgram, showcasing the talents of 12 Armenian youth,under the artistic direction of Hrant and Kevork Parsamian,all of whom have benefited from AGBU’s scholarship assis-tance toward their studies in performing arts. Curtain time8:30 p.m. Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, 154 West 57thSt., New York City. Tickets, $65. For tickets and info., call(212) 319-6383, ext. 124 or visit www.carnegiehall.org.

JJAANNUUAARRYY 1155,, 22001100 —— OOnn tthhee ooccccaassiioonn ooff iittss 2200tthh aannnniivveerr--ssaarryy,, tthhee FFuunndd ffoorr AArrmmeenniiaann RReelliieeff will honor and thanka lifetime benefactor to the global Armenian community, Dr.Edgar Houspian. Dinner and Program at Cipriani Wall StreetNew York City, 7 p.m. Info. at (212) 889-5150 and far@farusa.org.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 33 —— TThhee SSoocciieettyy ffoorr OOrrpphhaanneedd AArrmmeenniiaann RReelliieeff((SSOOAARR)),, IInncc.. FFoouurr tthh AAnnnnuuaall CCoommpplliimmeennttaarryy CCoocckkttaaiillRReecceeppttiioonn. The Village Hall, (Spread Village) in Wayne. Acultural evening featuring the Ararat Dance Ensemble; come-dienne Lory Tatoulian, vocalists, artists and rugs. 5-10 p.m.For additional info., contact George S. Yacoubian, Jr. at(610) 213-3452 or gyacoubian@soar-us.org.

SSEEPPTTEEMMBBEERR 2266 —— AAuuttuummnn CCoonncceerr tt –– ““RRiissiinngg SSttaarrss,,”” fea-turing Kate Norigian (soprano), John Paul Norigian (piano),Timothy Aznavourian (guitar/vocal) and David Griego (flute).Presented by the Cultural Committee of the Sts. Sahag andMesrob Armenian Church as part of its annual Classical andArmenian music; presentation of the art works of Dr. AraSadaniantz. Egavian Cultural Center, 70 Jefferson St.,Providence. 7 p.m. Donations, $10. Refreshments.

NNOOVVEEMMBBEERR 2288 —— PPrroovviiddeennccee AACCYYOOAA hhoossttss tthhee AAnnnnuuaallHHoolliiddaayy KKeeff,, featuring an All-Star Band. Jason Naroian, LeonJanikian, Kenny Kalajian, David Hoplamazian, JoeKouyoumjian and more. For individual or table of 10 reser-vations, call Kevork Vartanian at (401) 419-1052 or AraJanigian at (401) 486-8495 or Sevan Janigian at (401) 533-4147 or contact providenceacyoa@gmail.com.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 33 —— MMiicchhaaeell BBoobbeelliiaann,, aauutthhoorr ooff CChhiillddrreenn ooffAArrmmeenniiaa,, published by Simon & Schuster, will participate ina reading and book signing. The Armenian Bar Associationmid-year meeting in Toronto, Canada. This groundbreakingbook is the first to chronicle the aftermath of the first geno-cide of the 20th century, recounting the Armenian strugglefor justice in the face of silence and denial. For more info.,www.childrenarmenia.com.

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

ARTS & LIVING

PENNSYLVANIA

NEW YORK

MICHIGAN

NEW JERSEY

The Mirror-Spectator has a new Calendar Policy: TheMirror-Spectator is now accepting all calendar items forfree. All items may be sent to mirrorads@aol.com. Due tothe anticipated shortage of space, items may be editedto fit the space.

RHODE ISLAND

CANADA

WATERTOWN — On October 2, the ArmenDonelian Trio will kick off the concert series atthe Armenian Library and Museum of America(ALMA) titled Jazz Nights @ ALMA. The con-cert series features Armenian jazz musicians onthe first Friday of every month for the remain-der of the year. Each concert starts at 8 p.m. inthe Contemporary Art Gallery. Museum doorswill open at 7:30 p.m..

Called “a pianist with a crystalline touch, buta penchant for avant gardism” (New YorkTimes), Donelian will play a set of original com-positions with David Clark (bass) and GeorgeSchuller (drums).

Donelian recently made his musical mark inGreece, where he taught and performed as a2009 Fulbright Senior Specialist at IonianUniversity in Corfu and Nakas Conservatory inAthens. He has also taught and performed inSwitzerland, Austria, Holland and Israel sincethe start of the year. Donelian’s career alsoincludes collaborations with jazz legends suchas Sonny Rollins, Chet Baker, Paquito D’Rivera,Mongo Santamaria and Billy Harper.

On November 6, Steve Tashjian’s Classic Groovewill take the stage to play renditions of jazz balladsand standards. Classic Groove features Tashjian

(woodwinds), Paul Dillon (drums), Lee Lundy(bass), Gretchen Bostrom (vocals), Kevin Magarian(guitar) and Face (keyboards). Their upcoming per-formance will make the group’s third appearancein the Jazz Nights series.

The Yulia Musayelyan Quartet will concludethe 2009 series on December 4 with a combi-nation of original compositions and arrange-ments, using folk rhythms from Argentina,Armenia and other cultures.

“Part of the repertoire of this group evolvedfrom the exploration of my Armenian heritage,”says Musayelyan. “When I first heard the soundof Armenian folk music, I found to my surprisethat this spirit was also coming from within; Ibegan to transcribe folk tunes and playing themon the flute.” Her performance with FrancoPinna (drum), Fernando Huergo (bass) and apianist will showcase the constant evolution ofnew sounds generated from a combination oforiginal melodies, jazz improvisation andextended techniques.

Ticket price includes a complimentary glassof wine for those 21 and over. For more infor-mation about the Jazz Nights @ ALMA concertseries or to watch past Jazz Nights @ ALMAvideos, visit almainc.org/calendar_jazz.html

‘Jazz Nights @ ALMA’ ReturnsOct. 2 with Armen Donelian Trio

AArrttiisstt HHeejjiinniiaann UUnnvveeiillss PPaaiinnttiinngg DDeeddiiccaatteedd ttooSSeepptteemmbbeerr 1111 aatt MMaassss.. SSttaattee HHoouussee

BOSTON — As part of ceremonies being held across the Commonwealth of Massachusettsto commemorate the eighth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, state Rep. Peter J.Koutoujian was honored to host a local artist of Armenian descent at the State House to dis-play his artworkreflecting an immi-grant’s view of theevents that tookplace that day.

Varoujan unveiled“Missing Stripes,”the centerpiece of hisnew collection titled“Colors of Liberty” ata reception organizedby Peace of Art, anon-profit education-al organization, andsponsored byKoutoujian. Thework depicts LadyLiberty in front ofseven stripes of theAmerican flag withtwo missing, symbol-izing the TwinTowers.

(On September 10, the Armenian GeneralBenevolent Union (AGBU) released a state-ment on the Protocols to be adopted by thegovernments of Armenia and Turkey. Wereprint the statement below, in its entirety.)

On August 31, 2009 the Ministry of ForeignAffairs of the Republic of Armenia, togetherwith the Swiss Federal Department of ForeignAffairs and the Turkish Ministry of ForeignAffairs, jointly produced two documents of pro-tocol concerning the establishment of diplo-matic relations between Armenia and Turkeyand the development of bilateral relations.These documents provide details on the initialsteps to be taken for the normalization of rela-tions, the establishment of consular represen-tation, and the opening of the current borderbetween the two countries.

This marks a significant moment in the his-tory of relations between the Armenian andTurkish peoples. It presents major ramifica-tions for both the government of the newlyindependent Republic of Armenia and theArmenian nation worldwide. The Armenianpeople in both the homeland and the diasporahave followed these negotiations with greatinterest and concern.

We recognize the great geopolitical chal-lenges faced by Armenia — its concern for itsnational security, the need to improve itsaccessibility and communication links vital toits economic development, the desire to par-ticipate in regional programs of political andeconomic cooperation. All of these objectivesmotivate the Armenian government to be pos-itive and sincere in its approach to these nego-tiations and to adopt a pragmatic policy withregard to Turkey. However, as practical as sucha policy may be, it should not be implementedat the expense of the fundamental and historicrights of the Armenian people. We believe theofficial governmental authorities in Armeniaare both the administrators of the state andthe guardians of its future. Therefore, theymust be guided by pan-national goals and aspi-rations in making these difficult and far-reach-ing decisions.

The documents establishing diplomatic rela-tions between Armenia and Turkey touchdirectly or indirectly upon the enduring issues

of the Armenian Genocide and our territorialdemands. We understand the importance forthe Republic of Armenia to have normal diplo-matic relations with neighboring states, includ-ing Turkey. We also believe that justice for thesacred Armenian Case and the internationalrecognition of the Armenian Genocide shouldtranscend and not be sacrificed for any imme-diate diplomatic consideration.

The start of negotiations between Armeniaand Turkey has been favorably encouraged bythe international community. The sole oppo-nent to this dialogue between Armenia andTurkey has been the country of Azerbaijan.For almost two decades, Turkey has joinedwith Azerbaijan in the blockade of Armeniadue to the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict.

In the past, Turkey has used the unresolvedNagorno-Karabagh conflict as justification forits refusal to pursue a separate rapprochementwith Armenia. This current effort to normalizerelations between Armenia and Turkey shouldnot be pre-conditioned by any terms of con-cession involving the Nagorno-Karabagh con-flict. The people of Nagorno-Karabagh havealready clearly expressed their will to live freelythrough their exercise of the sacred right ofpeoples for self-determination.

This is a rare moment of opportunity forTurkey. It must show that it is ready to moveforward in earnest. If it falters, hesitates orwithdraws, it will expose itself to the reproachof the international major powers and thoseregional nations which are fostering this rap-prochement between Armenia and Turkey.

As this bold diplomatic initiative movestoward normalized relations between the twocountries, Turkey will find itself subjected toeven greater international scrutiny. To justifyits membership in the European Union,Turkey will be under pressure to fulfill itsinternational commitments. It will becomemore exposed and accountable to world publicopinion. It will be forced to adhere to princi-ples of human rights and democratic rule andto cooperate with its neighboring countries.

We know the authorities in Armenia face adifficult path as they endeavor to build newrelations with Turkey without imposed pre-conditions. We also believe the government of

Armenia shares our serious concerns aboutthe sincerity of Turkey, given its historic anti-Armenian policy that has continued to the pre-sent time. We commend their initiative andlend our support in their efforts to find a justand fair outcome in the building of goodneighborly relations between Armenia andTurkey, while safeguarding the historic claimsand rights of the Armenian People.

The Armenian General Benevolent Unionhas been steadfast in serving the Armenianpeople for more than a century. It has been aleading voice for the desires and aspirations ofthe Diaspora. AGBU unwaveringly adheres toits time-honored policy of supporting thehomeland, safeguarding the rights of theArmenian nation, and promoting the historicand cultural legacy of our people.

On this occasion, we appeal to all Armeniansto face the challenges of this historicalmoment, in collaboration with the governmentof the Republic of Armenia, with wisdom,national unity and the spirit of cooperationamong our people.

Armenian General Benevolent UnionCentral Board of Directors

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

Established 1932

An ADL Publication

EDITOR

Alin K. GregorianASSISTANT EDITOR

Thomas C. Nash

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Taleen Babayan

ART DIRECTOR

Marc Mgrditchian

PRODUCTION

Dilani Yogaratnam

COPY EDITOR

Rose Muggeridge

CONTRIBUTORS:Elizabeth Aprahamian, Dr. HaroutiuneArzoumanian, Edmond Azadian, Prof.Vahakn N. Dadrian, Diana DerHovanessian, Philip Ketchian, KevorkKeushkerian, Arsen Noubar Mamourian,Moorad Mooradian, Sonia Kailian-Placido, Harut Sassounian, Mary Terzian,Hagop Vartivarian, Naomi Zeytoonian

CORRESPONDENTS:

Armenia - Hagop AvedikianBoston - Nancy KalajianPhiladelphia - Lisa Manookian

Contributing Photographers: Sarkis Bahar,George Bogosian, Jacob Demirdjian, HarryKoundakjian.

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

NTHE ARMENIAN

Mirror-Spectator

By Kevork Marashlian

he ARF Eastern Region Central Committee ofUSA, following orders from their headquarters inArmenia, issued a statement on September 13denouncing the protocols announced on August31 by the foreign ministers of Armenia andTurkey for the normalization of diplomatic rela-tions between Turkey and Armenia.

The statement notes that while the Central Committee agreesthat Armenia and Turkey “must take steps to normalize rela-tions,” any protocols between the two neighboring countriesmust be free of preconditions that are dangerous to Armenia’snational interests.

The Armenian government and President Serge Sargisian havealways announced that Armenia’s relations with Turkey must befree of any preconditions. After signing the Protocols, the presi-dent and the Foreign Minister of Armenia reiterated that the pro-tocols do not include any preconditions.

At the same time, the ARF statement urges its members to bepresent and protest against the Armenian Government during arally if front of the Republic of Armenia’s Permanent Mission tothe United Nations, in New York.

You read it right, in front of the Armenian Mission, and notTurkish Mission or the United Nations headquarters itself.

The protest is organized by the Armenian Youth Federation(AYF) on direct orders from the Central Committee.

In addition, the statements mentions that the Central

Committee will lead a national delegation to meet inWashington, DC with Armenian Ambassador to the UnitedStates Tatoul Markarian to present and discuss the ARF positionon the protocols.

This last gesture is the right thing to do. Every body and everyorganization is untitled to its opinion. The difference betweenpeople and organizations is the way of expressing their opinions.

If you live outside the Republic of Armenia, and you are anArmenian, you do not protest and rally against your governmentand the people of your motherland in this way, in order to givethe mistaken idea that the Republic of Armenia and its leadersare traitors. You do it by protesting to the ambassador personal-ly, in this case, United Nations Ambassador Garen Nazarian. Mr.Nazarian, who was installed recently, was not even informed offi-cially by the ARF about its plans.

Meanwhile, a delegation of ADL District Committee met withAmbassador Nazarian on September 9 at his office in New York,and discussed the organization’s concerns with him.

For many years, the ARF was one of the coalition partners ofthe Armenian government in Yerevan. Since last April, they havedecided rightfully to come out and work as opposition party.

As an opposition party, the ARF is well within its rights toprotest against the government of Armenia in Armenia.

But, have you ever seen Republicans organize protests againstPresident Obama and the White House in Paris or London?

This is the first time Armenians are protesting Armenians. Ihope it will be the last.

(Kevork Marashlian is the executive secretary of ADL districtCommittee of Eastern US and Canada.)

ARF Actions Against ArmenianGovernment in America Are Wrong

COMMENTARY

Copying for other than personal use or internalreference is prohibited without express permis-sion of the copyright owner. Address requests forreprints or back issues to:

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T

COMMENTARY

L E T T E R S

Statement of AGBU Central Board Of Directors on RecentDraft of Protocols to Be Considered by Armenia and Turkey

Thanks, but Just toClarify…To the Editor,

Thank you for printing my piece on“Hellenism or Ottomanism” in your issue ofAugust 22. I hope your readers found it useful.

But I am not the author of At History’sCrossroad: The Making of the ArmenianNation. I wish the author of that book all thebest. Myself he ain’t! My most recent produc-tion was the paperback edition of Visions ofArarat: Writings about Armenia.

I much enjoy your paper, especially EdmondAzadian’s contributions. His thoughtful world-view is always interesting, and deserves thefullest attention.

Faithfully,Christopher J. Walker

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

COMMENTARY

Turkey and Azerbaijan Try toUndermine Appointment ofCanadian-Armenian Judge

Turks and Azerbaijanis, probably at the instigation of theirgovernments, have attempted to undermine the recentappointment of Canadian-Armenian Aris Babikian as aCitizenship Judge, responsible for making decisions withregard to applications for Canadian citizenship.

In making the appointment, Jason Kenney, Canada’sMinister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism,described Babikian as an individual who has been “veryinvolved in immigration, citizenship, social services, culture,human rights and multicultural issues in his community. Hehas served as Executive Director of the Armenian NationalCommittee of Canada, and been a member of the Ontario FilmReview Board and the Canadian Ethnocultural Council. Mr.Babikian was awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal andthe Ontario Volunteer Service Award. He speaks English,Armenian, Arabic, Turkish and Greek.”

Canadian-Turkish and Azeri organizations immediatelylaunched a vicious hate campaign against Judge Babikian,writing letters to the minister of citizenship and the prime min-ister protesting his appointment.

Day.az, an Azeri news website, called Judge Babikian a

racist, chauvinist and an extremist. Stating that his appoint-ment is “unacceptable” and “of serious concern to theAzerbaijani and Turkish communities of Canada,” the Azeriwebsite made the ridiculous claim that “Babikian had accessto all sectors of the Canadian political establishment due tothe power and money of the Armenian community, particu-larly the Dashnaks.”

The website attacked the Canadian government for having rec-ognized the Armenian Genocide and disparaged Minister Kenneyfor being selected ANC’s “Man of the Year.” The Azeri site madethe baseless charge that any Canadian journalist who dared towrite against Armenians would jeopardize his career.

Bizim Anadolu, a Canadian-Turkish monthly newspaper,also targeted Judge Babikian in its July 2009 issue, calling him“a hard-line Armenian political lobbyist [who] has displayedbias and hatred towards Turks, has been against dialogue andreconciliation, and clearly does not possess the cross-culturalsensitivity that is a prerequisite for the appointment of a citi-zenship judge.”

Reacting to these Turkish attacks, Canadian political fig-ures, journalists, leaders of ethnic communities and NGO rep-resentatives wrote letters of commendation to the minister ofcitizenship and the prime minister in support of Babikian’sappointment.

The most unexpected defense of Judge Babikian came froma liberal Canadian-Turkish newspaper, Yeni Hayat, which pub-lished a lengthy editorial on August 27, countering the defam-atory Turkish and Azeri attacks against him.

Yeni Hayat wrote that Judge Babikian was being subject-ed to “an orchestrated campaign of character assassination,intimidation, lies, innuendo, misinformation and propagan-da [which] was launched in certain Canadian-Turkish mediaoutlets, mirroring similar campaigns in Azerbaijan andTurkey.”

Yeni Hayat highly praised Babikian’s “cross-cultural, civic,human rights, educational, multicultural, civic projects, plus

his service record, voluntarism, and contribution to the enrich-ment of the Canadian civil society should suffice as convincingrebuttal to this vicious, immoral, unethical and mendaciouscampaign. Everyone who has had the opportunity to workwith and to know Judge Babikian will attest that he is a manof integrity, honesty, sincerity, moderation and a firm believerin peaceful coexistence. The accolades he has received frommany governments and NGOs are testimony to the man’s highmoral standing and commitment to making Canada a wel-coming place to everyone regardless of religion, color, race orany other differences.”

Yeni Hayat pointed out that Babikian “always made a dis-tinction between the Turkish people and the Turkish govern-ment.” He is “cognizant that the Turkish government and aminority of ultra-nationalists are out of touch with their civilsociety’s thinking when it comes to the Armenian Genocide.”

The Turkish newspaper deplored that these “ultra-national-ists, with the help and support of foreign elements, have takenover the Canadian-Turkish community and are trying to radi-calize the community and sow the seeds of hatred againstother communities in Canada.”

It appears that the Turkish government, just as it has donein a number of countries around the world, has been financ-ing ultra-nationalist Turkish groups in Canada in order toexport genocide denialism, silence its foreign critics, andcounter the political activities of the

Armenian community. In this particular case, Turkey’s longarm, with Azerbaijan’s backing, has sought to reach all the wayinto Canada to undermine the appointment of a qualifiedCanadian-Armenian Judge.

Ankara and Baku have no right to interfere in the Canadiangovernment’s internal decision-making on judicial appoint-ments.

Instigating Turkish and Azeri immigrants against Canadian-Armenians could have dire consequences for which Turkeyand Azerbaijan would bear full responsibility.

My TurnBy Harut Sassounian

By Maria Lewytzky

In May 2007, in his effort to put history in itsproper perspective, Sen. Ted Kennedy votedthat the president should accurately acknowl-edge the Armenian Genocide of the early1900s. While the Turkish government alongwith its lobbyists were opposed to the passingof the US Armenian Genocide resolution by theUS House Committee on Foreign Affairs in2007, S. Res/H.Res.106, Armenian GenocideResolution, was passed by a vote of 27-21. Thisresolution was cosponsored by Kennedy. Thatsame year Kennedy urged Venezuela to re-opendissident radio and TV stations in May 2007. Hevoted yes, on ending the Vietnam embargo; no,on strengthening the trade embargo againstCuba; and no, on limiting NATO expansion toonly Poland, Hungary and the formerCzechoslovakia in 1998. He voted to limit thePresident’s power to impose economic sanc-tions; no, on capping foreign aid at only $12.7billion, and yes on enlarging NATO to includeEastern Europe. His Senate record speaks foritself and provides a glimpse at a Senator whobelieved in democratic ideals and principles,fought for checks and balances on the executivebranch and against embargos that he deemedwere ineffective (even given that his brotherPresident Jack Kennedy had expanded theCuban embargo.) Speaking in 2007, he said:

“I believe the idea of isolating Cuba was amistake...It has been ineffective. Whatever thereasons and justifications may have been at thetime, now they are invalid.”

And even while he regularly sparred withPresident Ronald Reagan, as the featuredspeaker at a forum sponsored by the RonaldReagan Presidential Foundation and Library in2007, he praised Reagan for his aggressivestance toward the Soviet Union that resulted insecuring a better resolution to the Cold War.While there were certainly abstract differencesthat led both to have different views of theworld around them, Kennedy found thatReagan’s interest to win a point with a foe, did-n’t lead to a rhetorical style that was con-temptible or that contained personal attacks.Reagan, to Ted Kennedy, was not a loose can-non in the face of opposition.

“He was always a good friend and a graciousfoe. He wanted to defeat his opponents, but notdestroy them.”

Even so, Sen. Ted Kennedy was very activeon supporting a nuclear freeze and in 1982 pro-posed a nuclear freeze resolution to halt thenuclear arms race. He also actively opposed theStar Wars program. The author of the“Hydrogen Molecular Ion” who later becamepart of the Manhattan Project and the father ofthe first atomic bomb that was built in LosAlamos, New Mexico, Edward Tiller had a verydifferent perspective that year.

“I hope [the nuclear-freeze movement] willnot become an important force. I hope moresense will prevail. If the nuclear freeze goesthrough, this country won’t exist in 1990. TheSoviet Union is a country that has had totali-tarian rule for many hundreds of years, andwhat a relatively small ruling class there mightdo can be very different from what a democrat-ic country can decide to do. The rulers in theKremlin are as eager as Hitler was to get powerover the whole world. But unlike Hitler they arenot gamblers. If we can put up a missile defensethat makes their attack dubious, chances arethey will never try the attack. We can avoid athird world war, but only if strength is in thehands of those who want peace more than theywant power.”

Even though he wanted to limit the use ofsanctions as an instrument of foreign policy, in1985, after a visit to South Africa, he intro-duced legislation to impose economic sanctionson South Africa. According to RandalRobinson, a renowned anti-apartheid activist,and currently a professor of human rights lawat the Dickinson School of Law at Penn StateUniversity, “What we did that resulted in theoverriding of Ronald Reagan’s veto — the firsttime in the 20th century that a foreign policyveto of a sitting president had been overriddenby the Senate — that could not have happenedwithout Ted Kennedy. He was not just a majorforce, he was the essential, he was the indis-pensable force.”

Ted Kennedy’s vision of a just society didn’tend at the American border.

When he spoke about the Iraq invasion, hewas apprehensive.

“In Iraq, we have acted nearly alone, and weare paying a terrible price,” Kennedy said. “Wecan and sometimes must defend democracy byforce, but we cannot impose it by force.Democratic principles are universal, but democ-racy must find its champions within each coun-try’s culture and tradition.”

While conservative columnists had a field day

calling the American left morally bankrupt as aresult of Ted Kennedy’s public statements aboutIraq and specifically about the Abu Ghraib scan-dal — “We are the most hated nation in theworld,” said Ted Kennedy, “as a result of this dis-astrous policy in the prisons” — now they seehim as a good compromiser, pragmatic and arealist. Ted Kennedy was a bipartisan.

Speaking to the Council on Foreign Relationsin 2004 on the Iraq issue, he conjured up JohnAdams:

“The nation is engaged in a major ongoingdebate about why America went to war in Iraq,when Iraq was not an imminent threat, had nonuclear weapons, no persuasive links to alQaeda, no connection to the terrorist attacks ofSeptember 11, and no stockpiles of weapons ofmass destruction.

Over two centuries ago, John Adams spoke elo-quently about the need to let facts and evidenceguide actions and policies. He said, “Facts arestubborn things; and whatever may be our wish-es, our inclinations, or the dictates of our pas-sions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evi-dence.” Listen to those words again, and you canhear John Adams speaking to us now about Iraq.“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may beour wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates ofour passions, they cannot alter the state of factsand evidence.”“

And in order to respond to the discreditingand the quickness to label Kennedy as a sena-tor acting and speaking against American inter-ests, Ted Kennedy gave a speech at JohnsHopkins’ Paul H. Nitze School of AdvancedInternational Studies in Washington DC that isa perfect example of his steadfast belief in thefreedom of expression and his belief that thedecision about war and peace is not one to bemade in a back room on Capitol Hill.

“I have come here today to express my viewthat America should not go to war against Iraqunless and until other reasonable alternativesare exhausted. But I begin with the strongestpossible affirmation that good and decent peo-ple on all sides of this debate, who may in theend stand on opposing sides of this decision,are equally committed to our national security.

The life and death issue of war and peace istoo important to be left to politics. And I dis-agree with those who suggest that this fatefulissue cannot or should not be contested vigor-ously, publicly, and all across America. When itis the people’s sons and daughters who will riskand even lose their lives, then the people

should hear and be heard, speak and be lis-tened to.

But there is a difference between honest pub-lic dialogue and partisan appeals. There is a dif-ference between questioning policy and ques-tioning motives. There are Republicans andDemocrats who support the immediate use offorce — and Republicans and Democrats whohave raised doubts and dissented.

In this serious time for America and manyAmerican families, no one should poison the pub-lic square by attacking the patriotism of oppo-nents, or by assailing proponents as more inter-ested in the cause of politics than in the merits oftheir cause. I reject this, as should we all.”

Although 34 radio stations have been forcedoff the air in Venezuela at the beginning ofAugust under circumstances that are beingdebated and discussed, while licensing issuesare being cited, Senator Kennedy tried to keepRadio Caracas Television (RCTV) open. It wasclosed in 2007 and since then it has beenreported that independent stations have beenthreatened with greater frequency.

Finally, on the issues of the Cuban embargo,while President Nixon and Henry Kissingerwere able to frame Cuba within a cold war con-text with enough success to win over much ofCongress, Sen. Ted Kennedy prominentlyvoiced that the embargo was an “outdated andunrealistic” approach. He suggested that Chinaand Cuba were more analogous.

Ted Kennedy never apologized about his lib-eral values on domestic issues and foreign mat-ters. According to insider Jay Doherty, an oldfriend of Ted Kennedy’s, Ted Kennedy workedhard at his job and he was aggressive at main-taining his friendships. Although he wasattacked for his views that government has aresponsibility to improve the lives of its citizens,he always believed in human rights and keptthis belief at the core of his arguments whetherthey be on domestic or foreign issues. He foundcruelty and anti-democratic crackdowns a callto action. He defied conventional wisdom whenit came to nuclear attacks, and he took politicalrisks that many would not take, ones that mightbe considered taboo or too soft. Ted Kennedychallenged the reigning orthodoxy when it mat-tered most, when there were only prevailingdynamics and alternatives were discouragedand seemed few and far between.

(This article originally appeared in the SanFrancisco Examiner newspaper on August 28.)

Ted Kennedy Extended Social Justice Ideals beyond American Borders

TBILISI (IWPR) — Some Armenian villagersmay have to slaughter cows they cannot affordto feed, now that Georgian border guards havedecided their traditional grazing lands areGeorgian territory.

Georgian officials declined to comment onthe situation, but some Armenian politicianssaid the August 25 move by their counterpartsin Tbilisi was unjustified and illegal.

“I could not collect hay. I have 11 cattle, andwhat will I feed them with this winter?” askedNvard Shahbekian, a resident of the village ofBavra, which lies on the border between thetwo South Caucasus countries.

She has calculated that she will need 20 tonsof hay to feed her livestock, and could now haveto buy the feed at $80 a ton.

“What can I do? I don’t have this money,”Shahbekian said. “Even if I am going to be shot,I must collect my own hay.”

The villagers said the Georgian border guardshad suddenly set up a checkpoint betweenthem and their fields, and threatened to finethem 2,000 liras ($1,200) if they passed it,although Georgian officials were not available

to confirm this.Shahbekian’s cattle, and those of her neigh-

bors, are hostages to legal uncertainty surround-ing the precise limits of the two countries.

Armenia and Georgia set up a joint commis-sion more than a decade ago to oversee thedemarcation of their border, but as the Bavravillagers’ struggle makes clear, problems remainsince 30 percent of the border is yet to beagreed on.

Experts say both sides are guilty of definingthe border to serve their own purposes.

“There have been cases when, according tothe Georgian authorities, the Armenian sidehas itself unilaterally moved the border, there-fore until the delimitation is finished and thereis an agreement between the government at thelevel of foreign ministers, who head the com-mission, the territorial resolution will not befinal,” said Sergei Minasian, an analyst at theCaucasus Institute in Yerevan.

The Armenians say the location of the borderis laid out in a deal signed between the twothen-Soviet republics in 1921, and amendmentsto it agreed over the next two decades.

“According to these amendments, the landsof Bavra in particular are worked by Armenianfarmers living in the village. Apart from this,they have certificates of the privatization of thisland,” said Shirak Torosian, a member of theArmenian parliament from the rulingRepublican Party and chairman of the Javakhorganization, which campaigns for ethnicArmenians who live in southern Georgia.

However, Georgian politicians source theirclaims from a 1947 map, which awarded theland to them.

“Now the Georgian border guards see theactions of the Armenian villagers as a violationof the border, and bring in the 1947 map, whichsupposedly agreed that this territory is part ofGeorgia, but this is doubtful, since in that diffi-cult time, when the Second World War wasongoing, it is unlikely that the border could besurveyed,’” Torosian said.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry confirmedthat the border delimitations were ongoing, andhad been on the agenda when Georgia’s foreignminister visited Yerevan on September 5.

Both the Georgian Foreign Ministry and theborder guards in Tbilisi refused to comment onthe situation in Bavra.

“Between two young states, in which theprocess of institution building is ongoing andthe demarcation of the border is not finished,

such incidents can occur, but the situation isunder control and will be regulated,” said DavidDarchiashvili, a member of the Georgian parlia-ment.

“The demarcation of the border is not com-pleted, like with Azerbaijan, but the situation isbeing stirred up by a few irresponsible web-sites,” he added. “I am sure that soon all will bemade clear at a diplomatic level. This can all beregulated if goodwill is shown.”

Seventy percent of Armenia’s exports gothrough Georgian territory, which is almost itsonly outlet to the outside world since its bor-ders with Azerbaijan and Turkey remain closed.

President Serge Sargisian raised the issue ofGeorgia’s Armenian population in an address todiplomats on September 1, saying his govern-ment needed to support their compatriotsabroad.

“I think, that steps towards recognizingArmenian as a regional language of Georgia,the registration of the Armenian ApostolicChurch, and the preservation of Armenian mon-uments in Georgia would only help thestrengthening of Armenian-Georgian relations,and a deepened atmosphere of mutual trust,”he said.

Meanwhile, the villagers of Bavra like ValerikMargarian, were contemplating a winter with-out livestock.

“I have four cows and three sheep, and if Icannot gather hay to feed my stock this winter,then I will have to slaughter them, and thenwhat will I live on?” Margarian said.

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LEADERS, from page 1Some of Ter-Petrosian’s close associates

have harshly criticized key provisions of theTurkish-Armenian protocols publicized onAugust 31. The HAK’s official reaction to thedocuments, contained in a September 1 state-ment, was more positive though. Ter-Petrosianis expected to comment on the matter in detailduring an HAK rally in Yerevan scheduled forthis Friday.

Another major opposition force, theZharangutyun (Heritage) party, has condemnedthe Turkish-Armenian deal. Its spokesman,

Hovsep Khurshudian, said that Zharangutyunhas yet to discuss and decide whether to attendThursday’s meeting. Its top leader, RaffiHovannisian, was present at Sargisian’s firstmeeting with party leaders but boycotted thesecond one.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation(Dashnaktsutyun), another vocal opponent ofSargisian’s Turkish policy, will likely send itsleaders to the upcoming meeting.Dashnaktsutyun is expected to circulate onTuesday specific amendments which it believesmust be made in the draft protocols.

Sargisian to Meet Armenian Party Leaders on Turkey

BRUSSELS (Reuters) — Talks between worldpowers and Tehran on Iran’s nuclear programwill likely be in Turkey, the chief Western nego-tiator said Tuesday, while urging Iran torespond positively to US engagement in theprocess.

“I think very likely it will be Turkey,” EU for-eign policy chief Javier Solana, who has headedthe Western negotiating effort with Iran, toldreporters in Brussels when asked where theOctober 1 talks would take place.

Solana said Western policy remained “twintrack” — to offer incentives to Iran to abandon anuclear program the West suspects is aimed atproducing nuclear weapons, while holding outthe threat of further sanctions. But he said nowwas not the time to talk about fresh sanctions.

“At this point in time we are going to try toenter into negotiations,” he said. “Let’s talkabout that.”

Iran has agreed to wide-ranging talks with sixworld powers but has ruled out discussing itsnuclear activities, which it says are for peacefulgeneration of electricity.

The United States and the European Unioninsist Tehran’s nuclear efforts must be the focusof the talks, the first on the issue since July2008.

Solana, who has been representing the sixpowers — the United States, France, Germany,Britain, China and Russia — in long-runningefforts to resolve the row with Iran, was cau-tious when asked how much he thought thenew talks could achieve.

But he urged Tehran to take advantage ofstepped-up US engagement in the talks processunder the administration of President BarackObama.

“I always intend to try and achieve as muchas possible in the negotiations. But it is not thefirst time we meet. We know each other well,”he said.

“There are some things that are new: theAmericans will be present in a formalized man-

ner; that is new, and I think that has to be eval-uated positively by the Iranians.”

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman BurakOzugergin confirmed Turkey had offered tohost the meeting. “We are entering a criticalperiod that should be used wisely,” he said.

Turkey, a predominantly Muslim NATO mem-ber and close US ally that is also looking toexpand economic and energy ties with neigh-boring Iran, said earlier this year it was tryingto bridge US-Iranian differences.

A senior Iranian official said Monday Iranwould not negotiate on its “sovereign right” tonuclear energy but, if that were recognized, Iranwas ready to discuss any issue at the talks,including ways of upholding non-proliferationglobally.

Monday, a senior US official called Iran’sagreement to enter talks an “important firststep,” but the White House said Iran wouldshow its failure to meet international obliga-tions if it stuck to its refusal to discuss itsnuclear program.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman JiangYu welcomed Iran’s decision to enter talks as“an important step,” adding:

“The relevant parties should use this oppor-tunity to further enhance diplomatic efforts, topush forward the meeting in order to get posi-tive results, and to resume talks and negotia-tions.”

The head of the International Atomic EnergyAgency said on Monday Iran’s continuedrefusal of IAEA access to clarify intelligencematerial suggesting Iran illicitly researched howto design a nuclear weapon was unacceptable.

EU foreign ministers discussed the Iraniannuclear issue on Monday evening, and FinnishForeign Minister Alexander Stubb said moresanctions would be needed if talks did not suc-ceed.

He said these should come from the UnitedNations, but if that were not possible, the EUshould act unilaterally.

Iran Nuclear Talks Likely in Turkey: EU’s Solana

New Georgian Border Splits Armenian Villagers from LandsBy Naira Melkumian, Yeranuhi Soghoian and Nana Mamagulishvili