INSIDE

NEWS IN BRIEF

Smile for The Camera

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INDEXArmenia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6Arts and Living . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Community News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-8

Mirror- SpectatorMirror- SpectatorTHE ARMENIAN

Volume LXXXXI, NO. 12, Issue 4654

OCTOBER 3 , 2 020

$ 2.00

The First English Language Armenian Weekly in the United States Since 1932

Biden Calls on TrumpAdministration to

Demand Turkey StayOut of Conflict

WASHINGTON (Public Radio of Armenia) — USpresidential candidate Joe Biden has called on theTrump Administration to demand from Turkey tostay out of the Karabakh conflict.

“With casualties rapidly mounting in and aroundNagorno-Karabakh, the Trump Administrationneeds to call the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijanimmediately to de-escalate the situation. It mustalso demand others — like Turkey — stay out of thisconflict,” Joe Biden said in a Twitter post.

The eruption of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakhruns the risk of escalating into a larger regionalconflict, Joe Biden said on September 27.

“I am deeply concerned by the outbreak of hos-tilities in Nagorno-Karabakh and call for urgent de-escalation, restoring the ceasefire, and a resump-tion of negotiations between Armenia andAzerbaijan,” Biden said.

“The United States should be pushing for moreobservers along the ceasefire line and calling forRussia to stop cynically providing arms to bothsides, while reviewing our own security assistanceprograms to ensure no military capabilities arebeing repurposed for offensive means,” he added.

He called on the Trump administration to step upits diplomatic efforts, together with fellow OSCEMinsk Group co-chairs France and Russia, to seek apeaceful resolution and to support confidence-building measures.

Armenian GM LevonAronian Calls forDonations amid

Azerbaijani assaultYEREVAN — Chess Grandmaster Levon Aronian

has called on friends to make donations for amidongoing Azerbaijani offensive against the ArtsakhRepublic and Armenia.

“Dear friends, as you probably know Armeniaand Nagorno-Karabakh are under assault byAzerbaijan and Turkey. Many of my friends aregoing to defend our borders and support our troopsin order to protect our people and our motherland.Any help can be essential for my country now. I askyou to join our campaign and support our nation bydonating to the funds mentioned below. Thank youfrom the bottom of my heart,” Aronian said in aFacebook post.

For transfers in USDJPM Chase Bank N.A., New YorkSWIFT code: CHASUS33Beneficiary’s Bank: Acc. No: 001-1-010782Central Bank of the Republic of ArmeniaSWIFT (BIC) code: CBRAAM22Beneficiary: Acc. 103003241157

Armenia under AttackRecent bellicose rhetoric by Azerbaijani and

Turkish public figures turned into acts of aggressionon the morning of September 27, as Azerbaijaniarmed forces, violating the terms of the ceasefire,launched a massive attack along the line of contact, pri-marily the Artsakh-Azerbaijani border. Despite Armenia’s pow-erful retaliation, there are Armenian military and civilian casu-alties. Hundreds are reported wounded and 16 killed. The pop-ulations of Armenia and Artsakh (Karabakh) have been mobi-lized and martial law has been imposed. Volunteer battalions

are heading towards the border, as the homeland is indanger.

Therefore, the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party(ADL) Supreme Council condemns, in no uncertainterms, the Azerbaijani aggression, and expresses its

solidarity with the people of Armenia and Artsakh.The mobilization in Armenia must take place also in

the diaspora, and encourage the volunteer movement, heal thewounded, and support the Armenian people in Artsakh andArmenia. Mobilization in the diaspora must lead to massiveprotests in front of Azerbaijani and Turkish official institutionsand diplomatic offices, massive news coverage to sensitize

see STATEMENT, page 6

APPEAL FROM THE ADL SUPREME COUNCIL

Casualties Mounting onBoth Sides

YEREVAN (Combined Sources) —Armenia said on September 29 that aTurkish F-16 fighter jet entered its airspacefrom Azerbaijan and shot down anArmenian warplane during continuing hos-tilities in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Armenian Defense Ministry said theincident occurred during Azerbaijan air andartillery strikes on military and civilian tar-gets in the Gegharkunik province. (Seerelated editorial on page 18.)

According to Ministry SpokeswomanShushan Stepanyan, Azerbaijan’s Su-25warplanes and Turkish Bayraktar attackdrones were engaged by Armenia air-defense units while carrying out the strikesin the morning.

Stepanyan said that a Su-25 plane fromthe Armenian Air Force flew to the area tosupport those units only to be shot downby a Turkish F-16 jet. The plane’s pilot waskilled as a result, she said in a statement,adding that the incident occurred inArmenia’s airspace, 60 kilometers from theAzerbaijani border.

“Turkey is carrying out a direct aggres-sion against Armenia,” another Armenian

military official, Artsrun Hovannisyan,wrote on Facebook.

Ankara denied downing the Armenianjet. Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry also dis-missed the Armenian report.

Turkey deployed several F-16s in

Azerbaijan ahead of joint Azerbaijani-Turkish military exercises held in August.Subsequent news reports said theyremained in Azerbaijan after the end ofthe drills.

see ATTACK, page 3

Ambassador NersesyanComments on CurrentAzerbaijani Attacks onArtsakh

By Aram Arkun Mirror-Spectator Staff

WASHINGTON – Ambassador VaruzhanNersesyan, the representative of theRepublic of Armenia to the United States,discussed on September 28 the ongoingAzerbaijani aggression against Artsakhwhich began on Sunday, September 27. Henoted that its scale is much larger than theApril 2016 clashes and that given the reck-less nature of the dictatorships in Baku andAnkara, it is not possible to predict whetherthe violence might spread to the territory ofthe Republic of Armenia.

When asked what was the cause of thiscrisis, Nersesyan responded, “I would say it

see AMBASSADOR, page 2

Attack on Artsakh: First-Person Account STEPANAKERT — On September 27, a

peaceful Sunday morning, residents andtourists alike in Artsakh awoke to theboom of artillery fire and the eerie buzz ofAzeri drones.

This cacophony marked the start of a full-fledged attack, as Azeri howitzersopened fire along the entire line of contact, shelling multiple settlements includingStepanakert, Artsakh’s capital. In the wake of the renewed attacks, the ArtsakhMinistry of Defense brand-ed the Azeris aggressorsand murderers at a pressconference at 11 a.m. TheMinistry of Defense report-ed that Azeri artillery firehad struck arms cachesand other military targets.They reported 10 civiliancasualties, including onechild, and called on everyable-bodied man to fight.

For people in Artsakh,the escalation in hostilitieswas marked by confusion,fear and uncertainty. By quarter past seven, the cool morning air in Stepanakert

see ARTSAKH, page 3

Turkey, Azerbaijan LaunchAttack on Artsakh, Armenia

A female Armenian soldier

By Mateos Hayes Special to the Mirror-Spectator

A man comforts an injured child.

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Artsakh PresidentAwards 26 Servicemen

PosthumouslySTEPANAKERT (Panorama.am) — Artsakh

Republic President Arayik Harutyunyan onSeptember 29 signed decrees on awarding.According to the decree, 21 servicemen and tworeservists were posthumously awarded with the “ForService in Battle” medal for bravery shown duringthe defense of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic stateborder.As the Information department at the President’s

Office reported, by another decree by the president,three servicemen were awarded with the “ForCourage” medal for personal bravery and courageshown in the course of the military and combatactions.

Robert Kocharyan HeadsTo Artsakh

YEREVAN (Panorama.am) — Armenia’s secondPresident Robert Kocharyan is leaving for Artsakh,head of the former president’s office ViktorSoghomonyan told Aysor.am.“Today, the enemy has again unleashed a war

against Artsakh. With the explicit military and polit-ical support of Turkey, Azerbaijan tries to resolvethe Karabakh conflict through military means,”Kocharyan said in a statement on Monday.“It is not time yet to speak of the reasons for such

a cynical behavior by Azerbaijan. Our sacred duty isnow to protect the motherland. All of us should con-sider ourselves as a soldier of the Defense Army, stayready, united and once again, as it happened in 1992-94, destroy the enemy by a combined force. I am con-fident, the Armenian forces, unanimously backed bythe world-spread Armenians are capable to protectthe Republic of Artsakh and secure a victory” theformer president added.

Armenian StudentsTriumph at

International OlympiadIn Informatics

YEREVAN (Panorama.am) — A team of Armenianschoolchildren won a total of 4 medals at the 32ndInternational Olympiad in Informatics (IOI).•11th-grader Emil Kostanyan from the Artashes

Shahinyan Physics and Mathematics SpecializedSchool and 12th-grade student Samvel Andreasyanfrom Quantum College won silver medals.•10th-grader Arayi Khalatyan and 11th-grader

Alexander Abelyan, both from Quantum College,took bronze medals, the Ministry of Education,Science, Culture and Sport reported.The 32nd IOI, involving 343 contestants from 87

countries from all over the world, was held onlinefrom September 13 to 23 due to the COVID-19 pan-demic.

Protest Outside UNOffice in Yerevan Calls

For JusticeYEREVAN (Panorama.am) — Dozens of citizens

protested outside the UN in Office in Yerevan onSeptember 29, calling for the international commu-nity to stop putting the parties of the Karabakh con-flict on equal footing.The participants noted that the Armenian people

once again showed their unity and spiritual strengthin the face of the aggression of the enemy.“The new war unleashed by Azerbaijan and Turkey

came once again to prove that the Armenian peopleis the only guarantor of its security. We should relyon our strength as the international communitykeeps silence. The international organizations havetheir work and responsibilities they have numerous-ly voiced from different tribunes. However, they havenot provided the unbiased assessment of the devel-opments, while the statements and appeals of falseparity between the parties embolden Azerbaijan toundertake more cynical actions.

News From Armenia

AMBASSADOR, from page 1as a very calculated attempt on the partof Azerbaijan and Turkey.” He empha-sized the premeditated nature of theattack, citing several supporting factors.He said, “This is a very well-prepared actof aggression against NagornoKarabakh. Azerbaijan has recently accu-mulated enormous amounts of militarysupplies and weapons and conductedlargescale war drills just weeks ago withTurkey.” (See related editorial on page18.)

He pointed to a false flag operationwith an historical parallel, declaring,“In preparation for this war, Azerbaijancarried out the same maneuver con-ducted by Adolf Hitler in 1939 prior toinvading Poland. Germany staged afalse attack by Poland againstGermany. Right now, Azerbaijan’s pres-ident, Ilham Aliyev, according to thissame logic, before its own attackaccused Armenia of concentratingforces along the Azerbaijani border.This is a completely false narrative.”

In further support of this, asNersesyan reported during the July2020 clashes, he noted that Azerbaijanhas openly disregarded and refused theproposal of the cochairs of the OSCE[Organization for Security andCooperation in Europe] Minsk Group toestablish a mechanism to monitor cease-fire violations and discover which partyis responsible each time. Nersesyan said,“The fact that Azerbaijan has refusedthis vociferously and continuously, andArmenia and Nagorno Karabakh haveagreed to it, is a key piece of evidencethat shows that Azerbaijan is attempt-ing to avoid its responsibility for thisceasefire violation and the concomitantcrimes of attacks on civilian infrastruc-tures and the people of NagornoKarabakh.”

Not only has Azerbaijan declined toaccept such monitoring but, Nersesyansaid, in preparation for this attack, itspresident and leadership in general havebeen publicly denouncing the activitiesof the OSCE Minsk Group in general,calling them meaningless and useless,and proclaiming that Azerbaijan mayresort to force at any time to carry outits will.

Connecting the dots, Nersesyan con-cluded, “The current attacks are noth-ing but the implementation of adecades-long policy of aggression onthe part of Azerbaijan. It is on therecord and the responsibility cannot beavoided.”

Another secondary factor is the seem-ingly deliberate timing of the attacks.They were begun during the relativeinactivity of the weekend. Furthermore,Nersesyan said, the international com-munity is very busy right now withmany issues. Here in the US there isalso a presidential election forthcomingwhich may distract attention from inter-national affairs.

Some international organizationsand media have followed the usualpractice of condemning the fightingwhile avoiding pointing out whichparty initiated it. Nersesyan said thatwhile it is diplomatic practice to main-tain balance, sometimes artificially so,“the international community knowsvery well which party launched thisattack.” There are also some interna-tional statements directly condemn-ing the Azerbaijani aggression, suchas that of the Organization ofAmerican States issued on September27, along with various members ofthe US Congress.

Nersesyan said that the Armeniandiplomatic services have gotten feed-back in private communications con-firming that in general the internation-al community is aware of the responsi-

bility of Azerbaijan in this situation.

Turkey’s Role

Nersesyan said, “Turkey plays anextremely dangerous role in this situa-tion. It is Turkey which is instigatingthis conflict. This time the people ofNagorno Karabakh are not just fightingagainst Azerbaijan. They are fightingagainst Turkey, and Turkish-sponsoredISIS mercenaries. The latter have beenbrought into Azerbaijan with Turkishhelp and right now are fighting againstthe people of Karabakh.”

Turkey has deployed military person-nel and advisors in Azerbaijan who arenow fighting against Karabakh, he said.It promised to open a military base inAzerbaijan, which at present is basicallyoperational, with Turkish F-16 fighteraircraft, said Nersesyan. Meanwhile,Turkish-made drones are flying overKarabakh’s airspace, and some havealready been shot down.

Armenia has been warning the inter-national community about Turkey’sarming of Azerbaijan and encouragingthe latter to attack for some time now

through diplomatic and other channels,Nersesyan said. He explained Turkey’smotivation: “It is not a secret that mod-ern-day Turkey, following some illusionsof Neo Ottomanism, has been conduct-ing a reckless policy in the entireregion, not only in the South Caucasusbut in the Mediterranean, in Syria, inNorth Africa and specifically in Libya.Turkey right now is pursuing a goal ofpromoting its interests in the SouthCaucasus, of projecting power boththrough Azerbaijan and directly. Mostlikely this is a calculated attempt todestabilize the South Caucasus andimplement certain policies in theregion.”

The International Community

Nersesyan said, “Of course, we arelooking for the international communi-ty, including the United States, to con-demn first of all the perpetrators of theviolence and to force Turkey to stay outof this conflict, and of course these arethings on which we are working withinour dialogue with the United Statesgovernment.”

He stressed the importance of theinternational mediation of the MinskGroup, and said, “We need to work with-in the format of the OSCE Minsk Groupcochairs to work out a mutually accept-able solution such as what the PrimeMinister of Armenia has proposed, asolution acceptable for the peoples ofArmenia, Nagorno Karabakh andAzerbaijan.” More immediately, he said,“We hope the international communitysteps in, condemns the Turkish andAzerbaijani aggression against NagornoKarabakh, and forces these two coun-tries to stop the violence againstKarabakh. The cochairs are working onthis but this is an extraordinary situa-tion and the international community

needs to undertake much more forcefulaction.”

Along with the aggression against theborder, the Azerbaijan government hasunleashed cyberattacks againstArmenian government and nongovern-mental websites as well as someArmenian media sites and emails.Nersesyan said that this is not disrupt-ing fundamental activities, whetherdiplomatic or public relations. It maycreate minor delays and issues but dam-aged websites are quickly restored.

The US and US Armenians

There was a statement last week bythe US State Department warningAmericans to stay away from Armenia’sborder regions. Nersesyan said, “Thefact that the US issued a warning obvi-ously speaks for itself, indicating thatthere was certain information about thelooming crisis.”

Nersesyan said, “We are always verymuch appreciative of the US role as oneof the cochairs of the OSCE MinskGroup from the beginning and through-out the course of the conflict, alongside

the Russian Federation and France.Yesterday, the State Department madeits position clear when it issued a state-ment, which is positive. It calls upon anythird-party external forces not to inter-vene, and I think that it is clear towhom that message is directed.”

US Deputy Secretary of StateStephen Edward Biegun has called theforeign ministers of Armenia andAzerbaijan. Nersesyan said that the con-versation with Armenia’s foreign minis-ter was very constructive. He said, “Weknow that the US government is takinga lot of steps and we appreciate it a lot.”

As far as what US Armenians aredoing, Nersesyan said, “I thinkAmerican Armenians are already doinga lot, and I don’t have to tell them any-thing. The community here has alwaysbeen at the forefront of political andhumanitarian support to Armenia andArtsakh. We have been receiving somany calls from American Armenians,and we are inspired by this. Worldwide,the Armenian diaspora stands behindArmenia and Artsakh and we are proudof it.”

Ultimately, Nersesyan concluded,“Armenia is a guarantor of NagornoKarabakh’s security and the safety ofthe people of Karabakh is paramount.Armenia and Karabakh reserve theright to take all necessary measures todefend themselves and enforce theirright to live peacefully on their ancestrallands. All possible measures have beenattempted through diplomacy. Armeniaand Karabakh are committed to thepeace process. However, if we areattacked and left with no other way, wewill undertake all necessary measuresmilitarily, first, to defend the lives of thepeople of Karabakh, and, if the attacksdo not end, to force the violence tostop.”

Ambassador Nersesyan Comments on Recent Crisis on the Armenian-Azerbaijani Border

Ambassador Varuzhan Nersesyan

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ARTSAKH, from page 1became filled with the haunting drone of Azeriunmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), and the shat-tering thunder of Artsakh’s artillery and anti-aircraft guns.

Holiday goers such as Lucy Vartevanianreported that her hotel room windows shookwith each instance of artillery fire, as air raidwarnings blared, and civilian vehicles spedthrough the city flashing their hazards andhonking their horns. She assumed it was atraining exercise. “I initially thought the shoot-ing was part of a training exercise,” sheexplained, “but as the booms got louder, andwarning sirens went off, I soon understood thiswasn’t just practice.”

Lucy and her husband ultimately opted tomake their way back to Yerevan despite a lackof information: “We were concerned as we did-n’t know if the roads would be blocked or theborder closed.”

Nevertheless, the decision to leave proved tobe well-timed, as the situation continued todeteriorate.

“I am convinced this was a malicious andwell-planned attack by Azerbaijan,” she added.

Less than an hour following the attack, thecity became a hive of frenetic activity as columnsof military vehicles left Stepanakert for the bor-der and ambulances zoomed across the city.

Leaving Togh

Perched in the picturesque valleys of Hadrutprovince, Togh is a village with a rich history,sporting remnants of architecture from thetime of the Karabakh melikdoms. Locatedaround 60 kilometers from the Azeri border, itis today one of the centers of wine making inArtsakh, with Kataro wineries being basedthere. Founded and run by the Avetissyan fam-ily, Kataro has experienced significant successand expansion.

Kataro has begun to host students from EVNWine Academy, who hope to gain insight fromthe internships into the winemaking business.Two such interns are Arpi Soukiassian andLoucine Sahakian, who were forced to fleewhen hostilities began: “We had been workingall night harvesting and processing grapes, and

only got to bed by 4 a.m. The night had been sopeaceful, but I woke up around 7:15 becausemy bed was shaking from the shooting, and Ismelt gunpowder. We also heard drones thatwere bombing,” Sahakian stated.

In the days leading up to the attack, villagersin Togh had come to believe that an assault wasimminent: “We heard that the army had gone todanger readiness level 1 (the highest level ofreadiness), because masses of Azeri tanks andartillery guns had been spotted moving to theborder. It seemed that something was going tostart,” Soukiassian explained.

Once the shooting began, the intern’s landla-dy implored them to leave Togh. “We packedwhat we could in 15 minutes and jumped in thecar. Our wine maker, Andrenik Manvelyan, alsotold us to leave. We didn’t even have time to payour landlady,” added Sahakian.

After arriving in Stepanakert, the two internsresolved to head for Goris and decide whetherto return to Artsakh from there. But upon call-

ing people in Togh, they found that the situa-tion was far from resolved. Manvelyan reportedthat most of the men working at the winery hadgone to fight, leaving around half of the grapesunharvested. To make matters worse, the shoot-ing and shelling has only continued: “Our land-lady said they are still being bombarded, andthat it is awful,” Sahakian noted.

To help cope with the influx of refugees,Loucine and Arpi volunteered for a food andclothing drive in Goris. “We saw it as crucial todo whatever we can to help,” explainedSahakian.

Martial Law, National Mobilization

As martial law and national mobilization aredeclared in both Armenia and Artsakh, it isclear the situation is far from de-escalation.Azeri howitzers continue to bombard commu-nities throughout Artsakh, includingStepanakert. As of this writing, 13 civilian casu-alties and 16 military casualties have beenreported on the Armenian side.

As part of national mobilization, scores ofambulance brigades from all over the countryhave been dispatched to Artsakh, and manypatients are being transported to Yerevan tohelp Artsakh cope with an influx of woundedsoldiers, reported to be 200 as of September 28.The national mobilization has thus placed animmense burden on highways leading intoArtsakh, which have also had to cope with aninflux of military traffic, and an exodus ofrefugees trying to get out of harm’s way. Thecrowding was especially evident at Armenia-

Artsakh border crossings, where lines of carsstretched back hundreds of meters.

In Yerevan, the atmosphere was one of fer-vent patriotism. Scores of motorists put largeArmenian flags on their vehicles inscribed withmessages of solidarity for troops in Artsakh.

Near Yerevan’s Circus, a large digital screenproudly proclaimed “GOD PROTECT OURTROOPS” in national colors, and as columns ofarmy transports left the city for Artsakh, theywere greeted by motorists honking their hornsand pedestrians cheering.

Attack on Artsakh: First-Person Account

An elderly woman in a basement in Artsakh serving as a bunker

An Artsakh soldier in the trenches

Armenia’s Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan, left, meets with his Artsakh counterpart JalalHarutyunyan

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s wife Anna Hakobyan, right, visits with a family in a bunker.

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ATTACK, from page 1Stepanyan said that multiple Turkish jets took off from an air-

field in Gyanja, Azerbaijan’s second largest city located severaldozen kilometers from northern Karabakh, to protect theAzerbaijani warplanes and drones during their raids on Armenia.

Armenia until now has refrained from formally requesting mil-itary aid from Russia or the Russian-led Collective TreatyOrganization (CSTO), of which Armenia is a member.

The CSTO is a military alliance between Armenia, Russia,Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgzystan and Tajikistan, its charter stip-ulates that member states are bound to protect one another ifanyone of them gets attacked.

Asked by ARMENPRESS whether or not the organization hasdiscussed the Azeri shelling of civilian settlements in the territo-ry of the Republic of Armenia, CSTO spokesperson VladimirZaynetdinov said discussing the matter requires an officialrequest from Armenia.

“In order for this issue to be discussed in the CSTO, it is nec-essary for Armenia to apply to the CSTO with a relevant request.The CSTO Secretariat hasn’t yet received such request,” he said.

War Launched on September 27

In the early hours of September 27, the Azerbaijani militarylaunched a massive cross-border artillery attack on Artsakh,including on civilian settlements. Civilian settlements are stillunder bombardment, including the capital city of Stepanakert.

A total of 84 servicemen were killed and nearly 120 werewounded in Artsakh from the Azerbaijani attack (as of presstime).

Armenia and Artsakh have both declared a martial law andmobilization.

According to the latest data, Azerbaijan lost 790. The Artsakh side has destroyed a total of 6 Azerbaijani attack-

ing helicopters, 50 UAVs, 85 armored equipment including tanks,82 vehicles and 1 aircraft.

The situation has even brought together opposing forces inArmenia.

Former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan, who served as Chief

of the General Staff of the Armed Forces in 2008, has headed toArtsakh to lend his support.

Gunners of the Artsakh Defense Army have destroyed attack-ing Azerbaijani tanks with mortars, Armenian Defense Ministryspokesperson Artsrun Hovhannisyan said on social media.

“Our gunners are virtuosos,” he said. “Destroying tanks withmortars, check.”

The Azeri shelling of civilian settlements resulted in the deathsof four civilians so far in Artsakh.

The Human Rights Defender of Artsakh Artak Beglaryan saidthe citizens were killed by Azerbaijani artillery and loitering muni-tions strikes.

Two women aged 59 and 79, one man aged 24, and one childaged 9 were killed in the attack, he said. The civilians were killedin Martuni, Hadrut and Martakert.

More than 30 other civilians, including women and children,are wounded.

Defense Ministry spokesperson Shushan Stepanyan saidAzerbaijan is firing the TOS-1A heavy artillery system in somedirections.

“The deployment of TOS, Smerch and other large caliber sys-tems changes the scale and logic of the military operations, ele-vating it to a new level,” she said, warning that the Armenian mil-itary is forced to deploy heavy weapons systems that inflictgreater destruction.

“At this moment the Defense Army units are decisively repellingall enemy offensive attempts, inflicting heavy losses to manpowerand equipment,” Stepanyan said.

Vardenis Attack

Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan issued astatement over the Azerbaijani shelling on the villages inArmenia’s Vardenis town, Gegharkunik province.

“From early morning the villages of Vardenis of Armenia’sGegharkunik province are being shelled by the Azerbaijani side.The data of this moment show that the civilian population isunder obvious targeted shelling.

A civilian has been killed, which has been confirmed by the offi-cial sources, urgent inquiries of the Human Rights Defender.

The Azerbaijani military bombarded military and civilian infra-structures, including the targetedstrikes on civilian population in theArmenian town of Vardenis whichresulted in one civilian being killed,the Armenian Foreign Ministry saidin a statement.

Preplanned Attack

Foreign Minister of ArmeniaZohrab Mnatsakanyan sent a letteron September 28 to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, presentingthe large-scale aggression unleashedby Azerbaijani against Artsakh, aswell as the current situation causedby it, the Armenian foreign ministrytold Armenpress.

In his letter the Armenian FM pro-vided information about the cases ofdeliberate targeting of Artsakh’s civil-ian population and infrastructures bythe Azerbaijani armed forces, their

provocative actions with the use of var-ious caliber weapons.

Touching upon the disinformationflows spread by the Azerbaijani side, the Armenian FM noted inparticular: “The aggression has been pre-planned, and the state-ments of the Azerbaijani side about the alleged counterattack areabsolute lie. Azerbaijan has never hidden its strategic goal of solv-ing the Nagorno Karabakh conflict with the use of force, by con-stantly keeping the tension along the line of contact and theArmenian-Azerbaijani state border”.

The Armenian FM expressed his deep concern over Turkey’sunconditional unilateral support to Azerbaijan and its aggression.Strongly condemning the Azerbaijani aggression, ministerMnatsakanyan stated that the provocative actions aimed at vio-lating the ceasefire are not only gross violations of the interna-tional humanitarian law, but are also fraught with the danger ofturning into a large-scale regional war.

Mnatsakanyan criticized Azerbaijan’s provocative behavior onnot following the UN Secretary-General’s call for global ceasefire.He stated that the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan bearsthe full responsibility of the consequences of aggression.

The FM said as guarantor of the security of the Artsakh peo-ple Armenia will take all necessary measures to protect theinalienable rights of the Artsakh people and will provide an ade-quate response to the Azerbaijani aggression.

Nagorno Karabakh people’s right to self-determination is aninseparable part of the conflict settlement, and with the power ofthis right the people of Artsakh should have an opportunity todetermine their status without any restrictions.

The Foreign Minister reaffirmed Armenia’s commitment to theexclusively peaceful settlement of the conflict.

The letter will be circulated as a document of the UN General

Assembly’s 75th session and as a document of the SecurityCouncil.

Prime Minister Pashinyan has called on volunteers to fight.The Armenian Defense Ministry said that thousands of people

across Armenia have already volunteered to fight in Karabakh. Itsaid Karabakh Armenian forces do not need such assistance yet.

“The dictatorial regime of Ilham Aliyev has once again resort-ed to hostilities,” Pashinyan said in a televised address to thenation later in the day. “It’s a war against the Armenian people.It’s a war against our independence, freedom and dignity.”

“The Armenian people are ready for that war because they havealways been conscious of the fact that the Armenophobia andhatred with which the Azerbaijani dictatorship has for decadesbeen feeding its people could not lead to any outcome other thanwar,” he said.

Pashinyan also blamed Turkey and its “aggressive behavior forthe outbreak of hostilities. “I call on the international communi-ty to use all its levers to keep Turkey from any possible interven-tion which would further destabilize the situation in the region,”he added.

Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan issued, meanwhile, a writtenappeal to the nation accusing Azerbaijan of launching a large-scale offensive along the “line of contact” around Karabakh andsaying that Baku will be “strictly punished” for that.

“As a guarantor of the security of Artsakh (Karabakh), thearmed forces of the Republic of Armenia are prepared to provideany assistance to ensure the security of Artsakh’s population,”said Tonoyan.

“This adventure will have severe consequences for the enemy,”he added. “Our response will be tougher than ever before.

The Azerbaijani military claimed to have launched a “coun-teroffensive operation” in Karabakh in response to what it calledArmenian shelling of Azerbaijani villages. The Armenian side dis-missed the claim.

Pashinyan Speech

In a heartfelt speech, Pashinyan said, “I want to express my pridein the situation we have today. I would like to touch upon only onenuance when it comes to living for the sake of the homeland, dyingfor the sake of the homeland. We do not die, we are not ready to diefor death, we are ready to die for life, for living, because there is noneed to die for death. There is no need to take any initiative there.Our enemies can do it themselves. Here is what we have to do, thisis what we have to say. This is very important.

Turkey, Azerbaijan Launch

An Armenian soldier

Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan

Artsakh forces destroy an Azerbaijani tank.

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“We must understand that we are dealing with a very deeplyprepared attack. It’s not a one-off attack, it’s very powerful. We allneed to understand. We need to know that we do have casualties,and the adversary has many more casualties. We have equipmentlosses, the opponent has equipment losses, much more. And thisis an evolving situation, we must stand firm.

He added, “I salute all the organizations and individuals of theDiaspora who work with the same intensity as us to solve thisproblem. Many issues need to be addressed here. And I am gladthat the Parliament of the Republic of Armenia is unanimous inthis mood, this will, this process.”

“It is impossible to defeat us. It is impossible to defeat us,

because the victory, the victory of the Artsakh war, which wentthrough defeats, which went through losses, but which in the endwas crowned as a victory, that victory flows in our veins, that vic-tory is in our consciousness. That victory is our backbone, that vic-tory is our identity. That is why it is impossible to defeat us.”

And he conclude, “Long live the Armenian Army, Long liveArtsakh, Long live Armenia! Long live the victory that we willbuild together, every minute, every second, shoulder to shoulder,mind to mind.”

World Alarmed

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan phoned RussianPresident Vladimir Putin shortly after the report.

The Kremlin said Putin expressed “serious concern at the con-tinuing hostilities” in the conflict zone and stressed the “urgentneed” to halt them and take “measures to de-escalate the crisis.”

Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov noted that Russia is inconstant touch with Yerevan, Baku and Ankara and urged Turkeyto do everything to convince the conflicting sides to cease the fire.

“We call on all countries, especially our partners, such asTurkey, to do everything so that the conflicting sides will ceasethe fire and return to the peaceful settlement process of the con-flict”, Peskov said.

He added that they are also in touch with their partners of the

OSCE Minsk Group, adding that the Co-Chair countries shouldtake a responsible position for solving the situation in NagornoKarabakh.

The United States on Sunday called for an immediate halt todeadly hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh and warned “external par-ties” against participating in them.

“The United States condemns in the strongest terms this esca-lation of violence,” Morgan Ortagus, the spokeswoman for theU.S. State Department, said in a statement.

She said U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegunphoned Armenia’s and Azerbaijan’s foreign ministers “to urgeboth sides to cease hostilities immediately, to use the existing

direct communication links betweenthem to avoid further escalation, and toavoid unhelpful rhetoric and actionsthat further raise tensions on theground.”

“The United States believes participa-tion in the escalating violence by exter-nal parties would be deeply unhelpfuland only exacerbate regional tensions,”added Ortagus.

It was not clear if she referred toTurkey, which has stepped up diplomat-ic and military support for Azerbaijan inrecent months.

Ortagus also urged Baku and Yerevanto “return to substantive negotiations assoon as possible.” “As a Co-Chair of theOSCE Minsk Group, the United Statesremains committed to helping the sidesachieve a peaceful and sustainable set-tlement to the conflict,” she said.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeourged Armenia and Azerbaijan to cease

hostilities, Reuters reports.Pompeo said during a visit to Crete that he had discussed the

clashes in talks earlier with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias.“The foreign minister and I addressed the conflict in Nagorno

Karabakh where both sides need to stop the violence and workwith the Minsk Group co-chairs and return to substantive negoti-

ations as quickly as possible,” he said.U.S. President Donald Trump said later on Sunday that

Washington is closely monitoring the developments in theKarabakh conflict zone.

“We have a lot of good relationships in that area,” Trump toldreporters. “We’ll see if we can stop [the hostilities.]”

The two other Minsk Group co-chairs, Russia and France, alsovoiced concern at the most large-scale fighting in the Karabakhconflict zone in years. Similar statements were issued by theEuropean Union.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke with hisArmenian and Azerbaijani counterparts by phone earlier on

Sunday.Pashinyan had a telephone conversation with French President

Emanuel Macron.He expressed deep concern over the current situation and its

further aggravation. In particular, it was stressed that Azerbaijanis resorting to provocations to launch military operations in thedirection of the state border with the Republic of Armenia. Hestressed the need for a strong biased-aggressive stance of Turkeyto stop the possible intervention of that country.

President Macron expressed deep concern over the current sit-uation and said that further escalation of tensions was unaccept-able. He considered it necessary to take all measures to stop thehostilities and defuse the tension. He stressed the need to inten-sify the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to restorepeace in the region.

France said it would call for talks among the ‘Minsk Group’ -which is led by Russia, France and the United States and mediatesbetween Armenia and Azerbaijan - to try to resolve an escalatingconflict between the two South Caucasus countries, Reutersreports.

“We will trigger in the coming days a co-ordination of the MinskGroup to clear up what happened, who is responsible and find away out,” an official at Macron’s office told Reuters.

Pashinyan had a telephone conversation with the President ofthe Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.

Prime Minister Pashinyan spoke in detail about the situation onthe line of contact between the Karabakh and Azerbaijani armedforces. Nikol Pashinyan expressed deep concern over the hostili-ties unleashed by Azerbaijan, which are aggression againstNagorno Karabakh. He considered inadmissible the further devel-opment of escalation, the involvement of extra-regional forces in it.

Vladimir Putin has expressed deep concern over large-scale hos-tilities. The Russian President stressed the need to make the nec-essary efforts to prevent further escalation of the conflict and thecessation of hostilities.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bacheleturges to immediately end the fighting in the Artsakh-Azerbaijanline of contact.

“I am concerned about the resumption of hostilities along theline of contact in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone and urgean immediate end to the fighting. I am deeply disturbed by thereported loss of civilian lives and injuries, as well as damage tocivilian property and infrastructure.

I call on all sides to respect international human rights law andinternational humanitarian law, in particular by ensuring the pro-tection of the civilian population and people placed hors de com-bat, and by preventing damage to essential civilian infrastructure”,the statement said.

Pope Francis has prayed for peace in the Caucasus region asfighting erupted anew Sunday between Armenia and Azerbaijanover the disputed separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh.Armenia said a woman and a child were killed in the area byshelling from Azerbaijani forces and Azerbaijan’s president saidhis military has suffered losses.

Francis said during his Sunday Angelus address that he waspraying for peace between the two countries, urging them to themto “accomplish concrete deeds of goodwill and fraternity” to reacha peaceful solution through dialogue.

(Azatutyn, Armenpress and the official governments ofArmenia and Artsakh contributed to this report.)

Attack on Artsakh, Armenia

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in consultations

A Martuni resident looks at the destruction to his house.

A bus was bombed in Vartenis, Armenia

Tank belonging to the Artsakh Defense Forces

(COURTESY OF ARMENPRESS)

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YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — A Yerevancourt allowed investigators late on Friday,September 25 to arrest Gagik Tsarukyan,a wealthy businessman leading the oppo-sition Prosperous Armenia (BHK), on votebuying charges rejected by him as politi-cally motivated.

His lawyers described the ruling as “ille-gal” and “unfounded,” saying that it wasordered by the government.

Tsarukyan also condemned it as heheaded to a prison in downtown Yerevanlater in the evening. He was greeted byseveral dozen supporters outside theprison building.

Tsarukyan, whose party has the secondlargest group in the Armenian parliament,again claimed to be persecuted by theauthorities when he spoke to journalistsin the morning. “If Tsarukyan’s arrestimproves the plight of the people, then Ihave no problem,” he said sarcasticallybefore attending a court hearing on thearrest warrant sought by the NationalSecurity Service (NSS).

The tycoon was taken into custody justover three months after the parliamentdominated by Prime Minister Nikol

Pashinyan’s allies lifted his legal immuni-ty from prosecution and arrest. The NSSclaimed that he “created and led an orga-nized group” that bought more than17,000 votes for the BHK during parlia-mentary elections held in 2017.

Tsarukyan strongly denies the accusa-tions. He and his party maintain thatPashinyan ordered the criminal proceed-ings in response to the BHK leader’s callsfor the government’s resignation.Pashinyan and law-enforcement authori-ties deny that the case is politically moti-vated.

A Yerevan judge refused to allowTsarukyan’s pre-trial arrest on June 21.Armenia’s Court of Appeals overturnedthat decision on July 8, ordering a lowercourt to hold new hearings on the matter.

Defense lawyers said the investigatorskept pushing for Tsarukyan’s arrestdespite producing no proof that theirclient has pressured witnesses or obstruct-ed the NSS investigation otherwise overthe past three months. “This is simplyabsurd,” one of them, Yerem Sargsian,told journalists.

Sargsian and the other lawyers linked

the arrest warrant to an anti-governmentrally which will be held by the BHK andtwo other opposition parties in Yerevanon October 8.

Representatives of the BHK, theArmenian Revolutionary Federation(Dashnaktsutyun) and Hayrenik partysaid on Thursday that the rally will goahead even if Tsarukyan is taken into cus-tody. They said they will demand the hold-ing of snap parliamentary elections.

The NSS said that it has also indicted atotal of 14 individuals, among them twoformer BHK parliamentarians, and ques-tioned 162 others as part of the probe.

The BHK was part of Pashinyan’s firstcabinet formed following the “VelvetRevolution” of April-May 2018. The primeminister fired his BHK-affiliated ministersin October 2018, accusing Tsarukyan ofsecretly collaborating with the country’sformer leadership toppled in the revolu-tion.

Addressing senior BHK members onJune 5, Tsarukyan accused the govern-ment of mishandling Armenia’s coron-avirus crisis and failing to mitigate itssocioeconomic consequences.

The Artsakh DeadThe Artsakh Defense Ministry has been releasing

the names of the men and women of the ArtsakhArmed Forces who lost their lives during Azerbaijan’sattack.

Below is the list of 84 servicemen and women whodied on Sunday.

Arzumanyan Hasmik Smbatovna, born in 1985Vardanyan Lernik Aregovich, born in 1978Minasyan Georgy Levaevich, born in 1979Khachatryan Hovik Levaevich, born in 1990Mnatsakanyan Ashot Kolyaevich, born in 1979Harutyunyan Agsen Andranikovich, born in 1997Mardiyan Arsen Garikovich, born in 1999Galstyan Ruben Mnatsakanovich, born in 2000Torosyan David Mkhitarovich, born in 2001Filiposyan Taron Hrayrovich, born in 2000Mayis Makarovich Grigoryan, born in 2001Khlgatyan Garnik Edgarovich, born in 2001Sahakyan Eric Smbatovich, born in 2001Margaryan Karen Vahramovich, born in 2000Ohanyan David Edwardovich, born in 2000Sasun Grenik Nersisyan, born in 2002Khoren Yura Khachatryan, born in 1983Armen Nikolay Grigoryan, born in 1984Yuri Hayk Aghasaryan, born in 2001Garik Aram Achemyan, born in 2002Gevorg Marzpet Galoyan, born in 2001Gurgen Vardan Abrahamyan, born in 2001Gor Hrant Yaravyan, born in 2002Hovhannes Onik Apozyan, born in 2000Aren Karen Hovhannisyan, born in 2002Haykaz Ashot Beglaryan, born in 2000Eric Roma Gabrielyan, born in 1979Gurgen Eduard Hayrapetyan, born in 1988Arthur Slavik Movsisyan, born in 1981Vazgen Loni Mikhaelyan, born in 1998Tigran Suren Aghbalyan, born in 2001Karen Azat Gorgyan, born in 2000Vahe Sasha Gasparyan, born in 2000Sargis Armeni Sargsyan, born in 2002Harutyun Artashes Ghazaryan, born in 2000Aram Artashes Simonyan, born in 2001Narek Volodya Harutyunyan, born in 2001Aghasi Hakob Gorgyan, born in 2000David Karen Badalyan, born in 2001Hayk Avetik Grigoryan, born in 2001Alex Grima Martirosyan, born in 2001Georgi Kamo Babayan, born in 2001Shant Sargis Tovmasyan, born in 2000Henrik Gurgen Hakobyan, born in 2002Arman Arthur Khachatryan, born in 2001Narek Arayik Sargsyan, born in 2001Artashes Rubik Gharibyan, born in 1999Mher Ashot Hovakimyan, born in 2000Nikolay Mikael Haykyan, born in 1972Arman Lernik Poghosyan, born in 1992Aghasi Vrezh Mikaelyan, born in 1992Smbat Hmayak Mazmanyan, born in 1998Harutyun Karapet Keshishyan, born in 1986Samvel Gagik Marukyan, born in 1998Vahe Haykaz Mirzoyan, born in 2000Hovhannes Oleg Eliseev, born in 2001Aram Samvel Grigoryan, born in 2000Ashot Armen Ghaltakhchyan, born in 2001Yuri Karen Hovsepyan, born in 2000Ashot Meyva Avanesyan, born in 2000Samvel Sargis Amiryan, born in 1996Vanush Vahram Harutyunyan, born 2000Eric Tigran Hovsepyan, born 2002Narek Samvel Sargsyan, born in 2001Zhora Karen Gorgyan, born in 2001Arsen Sargsis Sargsyan, born in 2001Khachatryan Arman Armeni, born 2001Samvel Norayr Harutyunyan, born in 2000Vahagn Vardan Takhmazyan, born in 2001Hovhannes Zohrab Chobanyan, born in 2002Tigran Meruzhan Hakobyan, born in 2000Grigor Rashid Manucharyan, born in 2002Tigran Manvel Zoroyan, born in 2002Eric Arthur Khachatryan, born in 2002Hakob Benik Zargaryan, born in 2002Sosik Garik Ghazaryan, born in 2002Ashot Avetik Karamyan, born in 2002Irina Lavrent Musayelyan, born in 1979Avag Grisha Melikyan, born in 1978Andranik Gevorg Movsisyan, born 1987Vahagn Ashot Sargsyan, born 1975Dmitry Sergey Ispiryan, born 1987Volunteer Robert Armen Petrosyan, born in 1992

Armenia under AttackSTATEMENT, from page 1world public opinion, and a call to action for statesmen and legislators around the world friendly to the Armenians.

Fellow Armenians! The Armenian homeland is in danger and our appeal has to alert every Armenian, even in the remotestcorners of the world.

Armenians around the world must be mobilized in support of the armed forces of Artsakh and Armenia. It is incumbentupon the representatives of the Armenian government, diplomatic corps and news media to alert the world that the unre-pentant country of Turkey, in collusion with its “brotherly nation” of Azerbaijan, is about to complete the unfinished geno-cide against the Armenian people that began in 1915.

After surviving the horrors of history, the Armenian people finally managed recently to attain an independent homeland,along with a free Karabakh.

Enough is enough! Armenians will not allow themselves this time around to become victims of atrocities nor to let theirhomeland be overrun by Turkish and Azerbaijani bands.

ADL Supreme Council

Gagik Tsarukyan with his supporters

Court Sanctions Tsarukyan’s Arrest

Boston September 27, 2020

Vartkes KourouyanSecretary

Dr. Hratch KouyoumjianChairman

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Monte Melkonian CyberArmy Leaks AzeriGovernment Emails

YEREVAN (Panorama.am) — The Armenian hack-ers’ group calling itself the Monte Melkonian CyberArmy has hacked data from several Azerbaijani gov-ernmental emails, the group said in a message onsocial media.“The obtained documents directly prove that some

Azerbaijani websites and web pages are funded andmanaged by the Government of Azerbaijan. All thementioned websites and pages focus exclusively onspreading anti-Armenian information, asArmenophobic calls distinguish them,” said the mes-sage, adding the leaked data come as another proofof the Azerbaijani aggression.It also reminds that all social networks in

Azerbaijan continue to be blocked to keep the pub-lic’s attention focused on these websites and pages.

Facebook RemovesRussian-Backed Accounts

Working againstArmenia

MOSCOW (PanARMENIAN.Net) — Facebook saidon Thursday, September 24 that it had removed sev-eral hundred fake accounts linked to Russian mili-tary intelligence and other Kremlin-backed actorsinvolved in previous efforts to interfere in the poli-tics of several countries, including Armenia.The largest network in the latest removal, which

spanned 301 groups, pages and accounts, was linkedto Russian military intelligence services, Facebooksaid. US prosecutors have accused military intelli-gence of being behind Russia’s alleged 2016 electioninterference.“We removed 214 Facebook users, 35 Pages, 18

Groups and 34 Instagram accounts for violating ourpolicy against foreign or government interferencewhich is coordinated inauthentic behavior on behalf ofa foreign or government entity,” the company said.This activity originated in Russia and focused pri-

marily on Syria and Ukraine, and to a lesser extenton Turkey, Japan, Armenia, Georgia, Belarus, andMoldova A small portion of this activity focused onthe UK and the USThe people behind this campaign posted in many

languages including English, Ukrainian, Russian andArabic as they tailored their activity to each audi-ence. They frequently posted about news and currentevents, including the Syrian civil war, Turkishdomestic politics, geopolitical issues in the Asia-Pacific region, NATO, the war in Ukraine, and poli-tics in the Baltics, Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine,Russia, Belarus, and the US.

World Premiere ofAvetisyan’s ‘Gate to

Heaven’ to Take Place inMoscow

MOSCOW (Panorama.am) — The world premiere ofthe film “Gate to Heaven” by Jivan Avetisyan willtake place at the Moscow International Film Festivalon October 1-8, the National Cinema Center ofArmenia reports.The film will be screened as a part of its official

non-competition program, the source said.The center shared an in-depth conversation with

director Avetisyan, whose films have won many inter-national awards and are favored not only in Armeniabut also abroad.“Gate to Heaven” centers on Robert Stenvall, a

European journalist, who returns to Artsakh in 2016to cover the April Four-Day War. During his time inArtsakh, Stenvall meets Sophia Martirosyan, a youngopera singer and daughter of missing photojournalistEdgar Martirosyan, whom Robert left behind in cap-tivity in the village during the fall of Talish in 1992.The film features Tatiana Spivakova, Sos Janibekyan,and Naira Zakaryan in lead roles and its Armenian andArtsakh premiere took place in 2019.“Gate to Heaven” is a co-production of Armenia,

Lithuania. Finland, and France.

International News

By Muriel Mirak-Weissbach Special to the Mirror-Spectator

BERLIN — At the Luisenkirchhof cemetery in Berlin-Charlottenburg, large, imposing structures stand in solemncommemoration of genocide victims. These are the Altars ofRemembrance, dedicated to the memory of the more than 3million Christian genocide victims in the Ottoman Empire.They are the Armenians, Pontic Greeks and Syrian Orthodoxwho were massacred. The altars are the work of thePromotional Society for the Ecumenical Monuments forGenocide Victims of the Ottoman Empire (FÖGG), whichplans commemorative events several times a year.

September 12 and 13 marked the Day of the OpenMonument, organized by the German Foundation forProtection of Historical Monuments and the SenateAdministration for City Development and Ecology. On thefirst day, Prof. Tessa Hofmann, President of the FÖGG, led atour through the ecumenical monuments, and on the secondday a ceremony was held in honor of the victims of the Iznikmassacres of 1920. Dr. Stefan L. Toma, a priest from theChristi Himmelfahrt Greek Orthodox community in Berlin,laid a wreath and offered prayers. At the end, the names ofthe families were read.

In her presentation, Hofmann reviewed the tragic historyof the massacres in August and September 1920.

“We know the city of Iznik in the ancient region ofBithynia by its Greek name Nicea,“ she said. “According tohistorical accounts, here, not far from the capital Byzantium,or Constantinople, two ecumenical councils were held, in the4th and 8th centuries. The cathedral of Hagia Sophia, wherethe second Nicene Council took place, was converted to amosque on Erdogan’s orders in 2011. In 1920 it was thescene of crimes perpetrated by Kemalist nationalists.

“One hundred years ago, in 1920, the Bithynian districtsBursa (in Greek Prussa), Iznik, as well as the Yalova penin-sula and the city of Izmit were terrorized by a group ofKemalist irregulars under the command of a certain officer,Cemal Bey. Cemal was also responsible for the massacre onAugust 27, 1920.“

Hofmann cited contemporary documentation from theEcumenical Patriarch of Constantinople that summarizedthe situation in the Nicene diocese as follows: “This districthad for a long time been terrorized by Turkish and especial-ly Laz bands. Robberies in the very streets, raids intoChristian communities and abductions of Christian notableswere none but too frequent.“

The violence escalated and on August 27, hundreds ofGreek Orthodox inhabitants of Iznik were massacred byTurkish irregular bands. Their bodies were thrust down wells,others burned and piled up outisde the town. Women wereraped on the altar of the town‘s church, which was thendestroyed. Another massacre took place at the end ofSeptember. The Greek High Commissioner estimated there

were 600 victims.Hofmann quoted from an interview with one survivor,

Thomas Anastasiadis. “For 75 days the chettes [Tr. çeteler] hadblocked off the Greek neighborhood of Nicea. Nobody couldleave. They had placed objects barring the four exit gates ofNicea. The entire town was closed in. On the 14th of August,on the eve of the feast of the Virgin Mary, the day on whichour church celebrated, the chettes gathered all the Greeks ofNicea, 87 families, and led them out of Lefke Kapusu [Gate toLevke], eastwards, to the pastures. There they were all slaugh-tered with German bayonets. They threw the bodies inside acave and burnt them. They didn’t spare the church either; theydestroyed it. They raped women on the altar. Twenty days afterthe slaughter, the Hellenic Army entered the town and stayedfor 3 days and left. They did not retaliate on the local Turkswho were not to blame for what happened.“

A further eyewitness report came from Stathis Lolosidis,who had taken refuge behind a bush. He was able to see howgirls and women were raped before being killed with knives.“From my family,“ he reported, “they killed my wife Olga, mymother Sofia, my brother Kostas and my child Sofia. I hadno one else.“

The testimony of a member of the Greek army, HaralamposPliziotis, depicted the dimensions of the massacre. He andhis company walked around the city in search of victims, andfound body parts strewn about everywhere. “Anyone whohad witnessed the massacre had fallen into a state of deliri-um,“ he wrote. Wells were filled with bodies, as were caves.Dizzied and sickened by the sight, the men went into theGreek quarter, “that was incredibly quiet, and then went tothe church of Saint Sophia, an old Byzantine church, but wecould not tell whether it was a church or a barn.“

The last report cited by Hofmann was that of a British offi-cer who visited the ruins of the city in October. He confirmedthat “the entire Greek population of Iznik had been massa-cred“ in late August and the end of September, before theGreeks captured the city. He estimated the number of victimsat “130 families, or 400-500 men, women and children.Djemal Bey is considered responsible for this massacre.“ Headded that the church in Iznik, built in 332 A.D., “wassmashed to smithereens, only the walls remained standing.“Reportedly people had been massacred inside the church.

When one reads accounts of such massacres, with the esti-mated numbers of persons killed, one must not lose sight ofthe fact that behind each number is a discrete, unique, irre-placeable human being. In closing her remarks, Hofmannmade reference to information that one survivor, ThomasAnastasiadis, provided on the victims. She read from hisreport, “the Greek war correspondent Konstantinos Faltaitsassembled a list of the victimized families from Iznik, whosenames and numbers we will now read out, as a reminder andcommemoration.”

There followed the names of the deceased, family by fami-ly: The Nikolaos Anastasiadis family, 7 people, SavvasAnastasiadis; 2; Savvas Psomas; 6; Efthimios Psomas; 6;Pavlos Raptis; 13; Phillip Raptis 6….

Berlin Commemorates VictimsOf Iznik Massacres 1920

FO� GG Commemoration Laying a Greek wreath

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GarroNanikianPreserving ArmenianRoots in the CongoBy Artsvi Bakhchinyan Special to the Mirror-Spectator

In Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with a population of12 million inhabitants, a handful of Armenians live.

During the period when the country was colonized by Belgium (1908-1960), very fewArmenians lived and worked there. Veterinarian Hovhannes Mahdessian served in theCongo’s colonial government for ten years before being repatriated in 1947. Several build-ings were built in Congo by the design of French-Armenian architect Kevork Arsenian (1898-1980). Mateo (Megerdich) Margosian was called the “cigar baron” of Congo. Among theCongolese were followers of the Armenian Apostolic Church - in the 1960s, a group of con-verts came to Holy Echmiadzin for ordaining and after they organized the Armenian Churchof Zaire. In 1984 according to a statistics there were 100 Armenians in Congo. Today theirnumber is less, but the Armenians living in Congo are always in touch with each other. Inaddition to those from the Middle East, there are also those born from the marriages ofFrench-Armenian and Belgian-Armenian businessmen and local women...

My conversation is with one of them — young businessman Garro Nanikian. The son of anArmenian father and Bantu mother, Garro studied at the Protestant University of Congo,manages the SCS Company, which is engaged in the development of professional sports. Thishandsome young man is known in Kinshasa as the organizer of boxing and other martialarts competitions, and for some time he presided over the Armenian community of Congo...Dear Garro, what is the sports arena like in Congo and what is your role in it?We live in a country that promotes sports. The sports arena in Congo was really satisfac-

tory until COVID slowed down activities. In fact, since the advent of social media and the fallin the price of sports channels, the Congolese have become more involved in sports thanever before. In fact, since the spreading of social network and downward of price sport chan-nel contents Congolese people are more involved in sport than past years. Currently I am afight sport promoter and I play a role as boxing matchmaker for Police of DRC.For about 15 years I have been interested in the history of Armenian presence in Africa,

particularly, in Eastern and Western, Central and South Africa. As far as I can see, thefirst generation is consisted hardworking businessmen and entrepreneurs from MiddleEast. What was the case of your family?

My father, Berge Nanikian, is from Lebanon, who was established here within the frame-work of the UN stabilization program known as Monusco’s first mission in Congo. He thenran a business in Congo for many years, managing the firm UPHARCO. Now he is retired.He has many children: Jessica, Jo, Krikor, Antioche, Didier, Legite, Karin, Laetitia, Anthony,Catherine, Andreah, Olga, Jumelle... all of them are Nanikians and they all work in differentfields of Congo life.A half-Armenian, half-Nigerian young lady living in Yerevan once said that she is being

considered too dark-skinned in Armenia and too light-skinned in Africa. Do you share heropinion?

This is a problem that is facing metis people everywhere. It is something that some peo-ple make you feel with their attitude. If people do not make you feel that you will not feelthat.Usually the new generation do not know from what part of Armenia their ancestors

hailed. What about you?

I have an idea but not in detail. I am more connected with my family from my mother’sorigin. I keep contact with my father’s family as well.Do you have you any idea how many Armenians reside in Congo and what their main

occupations are?We were able to find out that six Armenian families live in Congo. Some Armenians come

to work temporarily. Armenians work in the Congo in various fields: construction, insurance,administration, mining and trade. They are united on the “Armenian Community of Congo”Facebook group. They are mainly from Lebanon and Syria.What kind of Armenian events have you organized in Kinshasa?When I was the president of the Armenian community in Congo, I organized a communi-

ty meeting. Kinshasa Armenians celebrate birthdays and weddings together; they make greet-ing and farewell parties for compatriots that work in Congo for a while. Thanks to my effortsas well as those of Valéry Safarian, president of the Armenian-Belgian Chamber of Commercein Congo, Armenian-Belgian professional boxer Alex Miskirtchian, the former EBUFeatherweight Champion, competed in Kinshasa twice: he defeated Congolese boxing cham-pion Bilindo Eseko.You speak several languages, including Lingala. What about Armenian?I am learning Armenian, I know some words. I learn some things from Lebanese-

Armenians living in Congo, but I study more by myself, through online courses, as well asfrom Armenian songs.You have visited Armenia once – how would you describe your experience?Very fine, I loved it very much. I made new friends. I admired Yerevan and Garni. It was in

May 2017. I was invited to participate in a meeting initiated by the “Belgium-Armenia”Chamber of Commerce in Yerevan with the participation of businessmen from Armenia,Belgium and Congo. Armenia is a colorful country that succeeds to marry the traditional tothe modernity. It was a wonderful experience.I congratulate you again with the birth of your daughter, Hayastan Maria. While in

Armenia many people give their children non-Armenian names, and you call your daugh-ter Hayastan.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) — Turkey is sendingSyrian rebel fighters to support Azerbaijan inits escalating conflict with neighboringArmenia, two Syrian rebels have said, as Ankarapledges to step up backing for its ally.

The clashes over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh are the heaviest since 2016, withreports of dozens of deaths and hundredswounded.

Armenia’s ambassador to Moscow said onMonday that Turkey had sent around 4,000fighters from northern Syria to Azerbaijan andthat they were fighting there, an assertiondenied by an aide to Azerbaijan’s PresidentIlham Aliyev.

Armenia also said Turkish military expertswere fighting alongside Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijan denied the reports. Turkey did notimmediately comment, although senior officialsincluding President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whohas increasingly been flexing Turkey’s militarymuscle abroad, have promised support forBaku.

The two fighters, from Turkish-backed rebelgroups in areas of northern Syria under

Turkish control, said they were deploying toAzerbaijan in coordination with Ankara.

They declined to be named because of thesensitivity of the issue. Reuters could not inde-pendently verify their accounts.

“I didn’t want to go, but I don’t have anymoney. Life is very hard and poor,” said a fight-er who had fought in Syria for Ahrar al-Sham, agroup that Turkey has supported.

Both men said they had been told by theirSyrian brigade commanders they would earnaround $1,500 a month – a large wage forSyria, where the economy and currency havecollapsed.

The fighter said he had arranged his assign-ment with an official from the Turkish-backedSyrian National Army (SNA) in Afrin, a regionof northwest Syria seized by Turkey and itsSyrian rebel allies two years ago.

A spokesman for the SNA, an umbrella groupof Syrian rebel groups backed by Turkey, didnot respond to a request for comment.

The other fighter, from the SNA-affiliatedJaish al-Nukhba militia, said he had been toldnearly 1,000 Syrians were set to be deployed toAzerbaijan. Other rebels, who also declined to

be named, gave figures of between 700 and1,000.

The two men, who spoke to Reuters lastweek, said they expected to be despatched onSept. 25, to guard facilities but not to fight.Reuters was not able to contact them onMonday to confirm their location.

Hikmat Hajiyev, a foreign policy aide to AzeriPresident Ilham Aliyev said it was “completenonsense” to say Syrian fighters were comingto help his country: “Our armed forces havemore than enough personnel and reserveforces.”

In recent years, Turkey has projected growingpower abroad with incursions into neighbour-ing Syria and Iraq, and military support for theinternationally recognised government in Libya.

Turkey has repeatedly said it is also ready toprovide support to Azerbaijan, with which it hasstrong historical and cultural ties and runs jointenergy projects.

Defense Minister Hulusi Akar attended jointmilitary drills in Azerbaijan in August, andErdogan used his speech to the United NationsGeneral Assembly last week to accuse Armeniaof attacking its neighbor.

Concern that Turkey could get moreinvolved in the conflict helped drag its cur-rency to a record low against the dollar onSeptember 28.

Mustafa Sejari, a senior Syrian rebel, did notconfirm the deployment of fighters toAzerbaijan but said Turkey was the “only hope”left for opponents of Syrian President Basharal-Assad, who has retaken most rebel-held landin Syria with Russian and Iranian support.

“Our alliance with (Turkey) takes differentforms and is truly a common fate,” he said. “Idon’t rule out at all Turkey becoming a strate-gic choice for Syrian youths.”

Turkey has already used Syrian fighters tohelp block an assault on the Libyan capitalTripoli earlier this year by General KhalifaHaftar’s eastern-based Libyan National Army,backed by Russia among others.

Their use in Syria would create a third the-atre for Turkey’s regional rivalry with Moscow,which has a military base in Armenia, considersit a strategic partner in the South Caucasus,and supplies it with weapons. It has not com-mented on the reports of Syrian fighters beingsent to Azerbaijan.

Turkey Deploying Syrian Fighters to Help Azerbaijan, Two Fighters Say

9

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

Gratitude inAction

Aurora to Kick off Global Events on October 19 in New York City

NEW YORK — The Aurora Humanitarian Initiative is happy to announce thelaunch of “Gratitude in Action,” a series of celebrations planned to mark itsfifth anniversary. The series will kick off on October 19 with a live event broad-cast at 7:00 pm local time from the New York Public Library in New York City,where the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative was launched in 2015 by NoubarAfeyan, founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering, Vartan Gregorian, Presidentof the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and Ruben Vardanyan, impactinvestor and social entrepreneur.Hosted by well-known American journalists and anchorpersons David

Ignatius and Judy Woodruff, the October 19 event will feature special inter-views with Vartan Gregorian, member of the Aurora Prize SelectionCommittee, Aurora Humanitarian Initiative co-founder and president of theCarnegie Corporation of New York, as well as virtual performances by cellistYo-Yo Ma and jazz musician and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. During the event,the Aurora Prize Laureates and Humanitarians will be honored, with specialawards and grants to be announced. This virtual event invites supporters and partners from around the globe to

tune in online and be part of this important gathering of thought leaders andhumanitarians as they set the course for future Aurora impact. With respect tothe global reach of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, within the next few daysafter the New York City event, audiences across the world will be able to watchrepeat airings of the event in Spanish, French, Russian and German. TheArmenian version is to be broadcast on Armenia TV on October 20, at 6 p.m.Yerevan time (GMT+4).Additional events within the “Gratitude in Action” anniversary celebrations

are set to take place in London, Moscow, Yerevan and other world capitals andwill be announced in the coming months. On March 10, 2021, the series willculminate with an ecumenical liturgy in one of the cathedral churches in NewYork City, held to commemorate those who fell victim to the COVID-19 pan-demic and to recognize everyone who made an important contribution to sup-port the vulnerable.The “Gratitude in Action” event series is set to raise funds from internation-

al contributors in order to increase the impact and reach of the AuroraHumanitarian Initiative and help continue the efforts of the Aurora PrizeLaureates and the community of unsung heroes putting themselves at risk tosave others.For more details about the event on October 19, visit auroraprize.com.

Fall Semester BeginsWith a Student fromThe Western DioceseARMONK, N.Y. — St. Nersess Armenian

Seminary began its fall semester on August 24.“We are happy to welcome back our seminariansand two new students who will study for servicein the Armenian Church,” remarked the Rev.Mardiros Chevian, dean.This year, the seminary has welcomed a new

student from the Western Diocese. DeaconGaren Hamamjian grew up in Los Angeles andattended St. Leon Armenian Cathedral inBurbank. He graduated from UCLA with anundergraduate degree in Middle EasternStudies, focusing on the Abrahamic Religionsand Armenian Studies.“Even though I had visited St. Nersess in the

summer of 2015 and 2016, I did not know whatto expect of the academic and spiritual life. Thispast month I already feel that St. Nersess hastransformed me as I have become inspired by thestudents and faculty every day. They know exact-ly what I need both mentally and spiritually andmake sure that I am given the right tools to con-tinue my journey to the priesthood,” commentedHamamjian. “Though I am far away from home,they have made me a part of their family, andnow St. Nersess feels very much like home. Ihave been challenged in ways that I did notexpect. I know that St. Nersess will be guidingme to become a humble and devoted servant ofGod, his people, and the Armenian ApostolicChurch,” he continued.Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate of the

Western Diocese, had this to say about Dn.Garen: “Garen is a fine young deacon of theWestern Diocese, whose dedication has beenexceptional. He has responded to God's call toenter the journey to priesthood with compas-sionate love, and I trust that he will be an out-standing American-born Armenian priest in thelife of our Church. Surely, St. Nersess is thesacred ground to train young students tobecome devout servants of Christ our Lord.”The seminary also has welcomed Arman

Shirikyan who will be following the St. Nersessthe Great for Late Vocations program. This pro-gram prepares men who seek ordination to theholy priesthood of the Armenian Church as asecond or late vocation. Arman resides with hisfamily in Massachusetts and is under the guid-ance of Fr. Khachatur Kesablyan at the Sts.Vartanantz Armenian Church in Chelmsford. Hewill take his classes remotely and travel to theseminary monthly.There are five students who are studying at St.

Nersess, including Julia Hintlian, a doctoral stu-dent at Harvard University who has returned toSt. Nersess for a full academic year of study andresearch. In addition, there are four part-timestudents studying both remotely and on campus.While all the students are engaged in course-

work during the academic year, seminarians arealso required to spend their summers in educa-tional programs, including: participating in aClinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program,working at a Diocesan or AGBU summer camp,and studying at Holy Echmiadzin or theArmenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Followingtheir graduation, they spend a full year at theMother See of Holy Echmiadzin to completetheir studies. Go to www.stnersess.edu for moreinformation.

USC ThorntonFriends of ArmenianMusic AnnounceScholarship AwardsLOS ANGELES — The University of

Southern California (USC) Thornton Friends ofArmenian Music announced the recipients forthe Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 scholarships.Each year scholarship awards are presented tostudents of Armenian descent enrolled n theUSC Thornton School of Music.Irene Sassounian, president of the USC

Thornton Friends of Armenian Music, reportedthat in 1984 the organization established theUSC Friends of Armenian Music ScholarshipFund, thanks to the generous donation of thelate Mrs. Arshag Dickranian. Additionally, thescholarship endowments have been augmentedwith the Daughters of Vartan, Helen Mardigian,Audrey Babakhanian Gregor, Anne Mills, SedaMarootian and Rose Ketchoyan ScholarshipAward Endowments.The Board of Directors are proud to recog-

nize the following recipients of the scholarshipawards. The amounts of the scholarships vary.

Saro Babikian, Classical Guitar, received theUSC Friends of Armenian Music Scholarship;the USC Friends of Armenian Music RoseKetchoyan Endowed Scholarship, and the USCFriends of Armenian Music Seda MarootianEndowed Scholarship.

Bardy Minassian, Classical Guitar, receivedthe USC Friends of Armenian Music AudreyBabakhanian Gregor Endowed MusicScholarship; and the USC Friends of ArmenianMusic Daughters of Vartan EndowedScholarship.

Liza Monasebian, Vocal Arts, received theUSC Friends of Armenian Music HelenMardigian Endowed Scholarship.In past years, these talented Armenian musi-

cians and singers would be showcased and pre-sented at major concerts, music lectures, semi-nars, symposiums, and other ongoing projects.During these difficult and uncertain times dueto the Covid-19 pandemic, the Board ofDirectors have postponed events featuringthese talented artists until there are opera-tional changes and less restrictions.

Dn. Garen Hamamjian

Judy Woodruff David Ignatius

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

LOS ANGELES — Armen Hampar, a pillar ofthe Western Diocese, a devout Christian, a lov-ing and compassionate husband, father andgrandfather died on September 24, surroundedby members of his family. He was 88.Referring to Armen Hampar’s rich legacy,

the Diocesan Primate stated, “Today, theWestern Diocese lost one of its outstandingpillars who has carried in his heart and soul

the vision of the founders of this Diocese. Inthe words of Maya Angelou, his loss is com-pared to “a great tree, whose fall makes rockson distant hills shudder.” We lost an extraor-dinary man with an exceptional love and ded-ication for the Armenian Church, whosedeparture from this world orphaned this 93year-old institution.” As a young man, Hampar followed in the

footsteps of his parents by being immersed inthe life of Holy Martyrs Armenian Church ofthe Eastern Diocese where he served withthe utmost love as member of the ParishCouncil. The parish flourished through hisinvaluable contributions and he set a stan-dard through his selfless service. His passionto serve carried over to the Western Dioceseand his God-pleasing endeavors benefited St.Peter Armenian Church in Van Nuys. For decades, he dedicated his time and sup-

ported the mission of the Armenian HolyApostolic Church. At the Western Diocese, hewas a Diocesan Grand Benefactor. Beginningin 1987, Hampar served at the highest levelof the Diocese, as a member of the DiocesanCouncil. He served as the Chairman of theDiocesan Council from 1989-1991 and from2010-2013. Mr. Hampar was the Chair of theCathedral Building Committee, overseeingthe successful construction of the decades-long awaited Cathedral of the WesternDiocese. He was an esteemed member of theEndowment Fund helping to expand reli-gious, cultural, national, and youth activitiesof the Diocese within the Armenian commu-

nity. His involvement in the Armenian-American

community was truly commendable. Foryears, he was a Board Member of AraratHome. On March 30, 2003, Hampar received the

St. Gregory the Illuminator Medal, the high-est honor conferred upon a member of thelaity by Pontiff of the Armenian ChurchKarekin II, Supreme Patriarch andCatholicos of All Armenians in recognition ofhis generosity and support of the mission ofthe Armenian Apostolic Church. His loyaltyto the church was vividly expressed throughhis ardent support of the StewardshipProgram. His compassionate spirit and his desire to

strengthen the Armenian Holy ApostolicChurch, earned him the love and respect ofthe Diocesan clergy, his fellow parishionersand the entire faithful community. With hishumble service and compassionate personali-ty, he set an example for the young genera-tion and his children who continue theirinvolvement in the life of the ArmenianApostolic Church.

By Alex Hanson

HANOVER, N.H. (Valley News) — VarujanBoghosian, the puckish artist who mined thecastoffs of material culture to assemble worksboth powerful and whimsical, died Monday,September 21, at his home in Hanover. Hewas 94.He had suffered a broken hip last week and

died of complications from his injury, hisdaughter, Heidi Boghosian, said onSeptember 22.Critical and scholarly responses to

Boghosian’s work often described him as amagician, able to combine seemingly disparateelements into compositions both beautifuland possessed of historical weight. He wasalso part magpie, gathering materials fromjunk shops, flea markets, magazines and liter-ature, as well as and from friends who spotteditems and sent them to him.“When I walk into the studio, the material

dictates where I go,” Boghosian told theValley Newsin 2015, when he had exhibitionsat the Currier Museum of Art in Manchesterand at BigTown Gallery in Rochester, Vt.His work included assembled sculpture and

two-dimensional collages and is part of thecollections of major museums, including theMetropolitan Museum of Art and the Museumof Modern Art in New York, the HoodMuseum of Art at Dartmouth and thePhiladelphia Museum of Art, which exhibited“Varujan Boghosian: Master Manipulator,”one of his last major shows, in 2018.

Born in 1926 to Armenian immigrant par-ents in New Britain, Conn., Boghosian servedin the Navy in World War II and went to col-lege on the GI Bill, earning bachelor’s andmaster of fine arts degrees from YaleUniversity’s School of Art and Architecture.He was married to Marilyn Cummins in 1953.She accompanied him on a stay in Rome, on aFulbright Grant, not long after they were mar-ried. She died in 2007.He held several teaching positions since

1958, and first taught at Dartmouth in 1968.From 1982, until his retirement in 1995, hewas the George Frederick Jewett Professor ofArt at Dartmouth.Although his work bore the influences of a

wide range of artists and writers, Boghosianwas a movement of one. His income fromteaching allowed him to remain independentof the art world, and he followed his owninterests. His influence on art in the UpperValley was substantial, however, as assem-blage became a kind of house style, workedover by a number of skilled practitioners.When he spoke with the Valley News in

2015, Boghosian had made 200 collages overthe previous two years. He kept workingthereafter, but had slowed down in recentmonths, his daughter said. His younger sisterand only sibling, Hasmig Boghosian Sillano,died a few months ago, and he was depressed.He was in pain after his injury, Heidi

Boghosian said, but he held on to his impishsense of humor. “On his deathbed, in his half-consciousness, he was still winking and crack-ing jokes” with visiting friends. “The whimsi-cal humor was with him to the end.”

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Armen Hampar, with his wife Nora and Archbishop Hovnan Derderian

Armen HamparBeacon of Faith for Western Diocese

Varujan Boghosian, Noted Artist, Dartmouth Professor, 94OBITUARY

11S A T U R D A Y, O C T O B E R 3 , 2 0 2 0 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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St. James 73rd Annual

NEW YORK — In a riveting online discussion,Dr. Roberta Ervine of St. Nersess Seminaryoffered viewers a fresh look at one of the mostfamous parables in Scripture, under the provoca-tive title, “And You Shall Love: Being a Samaritanon the Road Less Taken.” Ervine’s talk was part of the “Live Sessions”

series of online broadcasts, presented by theEastern Diocese of the Armenian Church ofAmerica as a feature of its new educational ini-tiative, Vemkar. Some 50 viewers from localparishes throughout the Diocese took part in theevent broadcast on Wednesday, September 23,2020. In an insightful “close reading” of Jesus’ para-

ble of the Good Samaritan, and its dramatic set-ting of a dialogue between Jesus and an unnamedquestioner, Dr. Ervine explained that many gospelstories are so familiar that people underestimatehow deep and complex they are. Thoughtful reap-praisals of such stories, however, can reveal newdepths and areas to explore — which may evenoverturn long-held notions. Her analysis of the Good Samaritan placed spe-

cial emphasis on the way key terms had beentranslated and understood in classical Armenian.One consequence of this approach, she said,would be to render the term typically translatedas “neighbor”(in English editions) as “compan-ion” (based on the Armenian term used, unger). She led listeners on a consideration of each of

the characters involved in the passage, which isfound only in Luke’s gospel. These included notonly the figures in the story—the man left beatenon the road, the priest and Levite who pass himby, the Samaritan who rescues him, and theinnkeeper who tends to the man’s recovery—butalso the figures of Jesus as the teller of the story,and the “student of law” whose question aboutinheriting eternal life prompts the dialogue. Like all of the recent Live Sessions, this talk

went forward under the theme of Vemkar’sinaugural education module, “Christ asHealer” — a theme well-suited to adiscussion of the parable of theGood Samaritan. Ervine’s conclusions drew on the

Armenian patristic traditions sur-rounding the parable. “TheArmenian fathers saidthat Jesusen t rus t st h e

wounded and bleeding to our care,” she said,explaining that each facet of the story of the

Good Samaritan parallels a role towhich Christians are

called. “We arethe ques-

tioner. We are the audience. We are the woundedman; we are the Samaritan. We are the inn, andwe are the innkeeper.” The Eastern Diocese’s Communications direc-

tor Christopher Zakian moderated a lively ques-tion and answer session, which allowed Dr.Ervine to build on some of the insights in her

talk. To watch a recording of Ervine’s

presentation on theVemkar.us website.

Dr. Roberta Ervine (St. Nersess Seminary)offered online viewers a fresh look at one of themost famous parables in the Bible during aSeptember 23 “Live Sessions” broadcast overthe Zoom platform. The Live Sessions series ispresented by the Eastern Diocese of theArmenian Church of America as part of its neweducational initiative, Vemkar.

‘Vemkar Live Session’ Sheds New Light on a Familiar Parable

Left to right: Avo Markarian, Ara Babayan, Sevan Deirbadrossian, Consul General Dr. ArmenBaibourtian, Mayda Kuredjian, Kevork Keushkerian and Khatchig Nahabedian

Tekeyan California Delegation CongratulatesArmenia on Independence Day

GLENDALE — On Friday, September 25, a delegation from the Tekeyan CulturalAssociation of the United States and Canada (TCA) paid a visit to the Consulate General ofthe Republic of Armenia in Los Angeles, located in Glendale. The delegation, composed ofrepresentatives from the TCA Pasadena-Glendale, Los Angeles and Metro Los Angeles chap-ters, the TCA Beshgeturian Board, and TCA West Coast Executive Secretary MaydaKuredjian, congratulated the Consul General of Armenia in Los Angeles, AmbassadorArmen Baibourtian, on the 29th anniversary of the independence of the Republic ofArmenia. The delegation conveyed its support and best wishes for the continued progressand prosperity of the homeland. The Tekeyan Cultural Association delegation mentionedsome recent programs that were held, which aim to fulfill the organization’s mission to pre-serve the Armenian culture and heritage in the diaspora, while also promoting cultural,spiritual and educational ties with Armenia. The delegation expressed its readiness to coop-erate in future endeavors with the Consul General.

12

A Legend ofKef MusicPasses On

By Harry Kezelian III Special to the Mirror-Spectator

BOSTON — By now, most readers of theMirror-Spectator, particularly those who live inthe Boston area have heard that oudist andsinger Harry Minassian passed away this June.Amongst all the other bad news of the year2020, the Armenian community lost a greatartist. His obituary was duly noted in our paper

and tributes have appeared in social media andother Armenian publications. This writer never had the chance to speak

with Minassian in person, and only saw him per-form once — briefly. Therefore, to try to do jus-tice to Harry Minassian’s memory, this writercontacted multiple musicians, friends, and fam-ily members to gain perspective on the life of atruly remarkable artist in the history of theArmenian-American community.

The Consummate Live Kef Performer

The first thing to say about Harry Minassianis that he was a consummate entertainer. Morethan one fan attested to the fact that more thanalmost any other Armenian kef musician, hehad a seemingly innate ability to get a crowdgoing. Harry Minassian was an extremely tal-ented and sensitive oud player. In fact, he tooklessons from the legendary Udi HrantKenkulian himself, and was one of the fiveAmerican-born Armenians to receive the title of“Udi” (oud master) from Udi Hrant in 1969. Hewas also a singer who played oud as he sang.His vocals seemed to hang in the air like a kindof mist which intoxicated his audiences.Somehow intense and gentle at the same time,his knowledge of Turkish as well as Armenianmeant that he was able to put feeling into thelyrics that he was singing and make the audi-ence feel them too, whether they understoodthe language or not. Although many artistssing and play the oud at the same time, Harry’sability to do so was fluid and natural. Minassianwas the Fred Astaire or Bing Crosby of kefmusic — he performed at the highest level ofartistry, and made it look easy.I spoke with one fellow musician who asked

him to play at his wedding due to his renownedability to work a crowd. The groom had to askHarry in advance about how extensive his“Armenian set list” was because Harry was oneof the last holdouts of the Armenian musicianswho still performed predominantly in theTurkish language. Harry, always the gentleman,graciously handled the request to sing only inArmenian, but this was rather atypical for him.His agility with the Turkish language and hisadherence to that repertoire is of course notunusual for Armenian-American kef musicians

see LEGEND, page 14

T 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, O C T O E R 3 , 2 0 2 0

Arts & LivingThe O’LearyTheory: Arthur Makaryan BringsInteractive Theater to the

Masses

By Christopher Atamian Special to the Mirror-Spectator

NEW YORK — Theater and opera director,producer and artistic director, young créateurextraordinaire, Arthur Makaryan is part of asmall and hopefully growing coterie ofArmenian-born artists who are taking their tal-ents to the world stage. Makaryan holds directing degrees from no

less than Columbia University, La Sorbonneand the Yerevan State Institute of Theater, andfollowed up on his studies with a 2017-18Opera Directing Fellowship at the JuilliardSchool. His most recent credits include direct-ing the pilot of “Oedipus” at the ArmenianNational Opera, “Broken April” at LenFestCenter for the Arts at Columbia, and theSimulacrum multimedia opera at 3LD Art andTechnology Center, also in New York City. His“Hamlet Machine” has toured in Armenia,Russia, Lithuania, Moldova, France and the US(off-Broadway) and “Black Garden” had its per-formances in Paris at Théâtre de l’Opprimé andat The Tank NYC.At his production company, ArtéMakar

Productions, Arthur strives to push technolog-ical barriers forward, taking theater one stepfarther than “traditional” immersive theater.Working with Associate Artistic DirectorTamara Sevunts, techno whiz Hayk Mikayelyanand branding guru Derek Kopen, ArtéMakarProductions was founded in order to “activatethe imagination by reinventing storytellingthrough emerging mediums of art.”The company explores complex topics and

embraces all forms of technology. Makaryan and Sevunts have been collaborat-

ing since they first met in 2016: ”We like toexperiment and transcend the traditional limi-tations of performing arts,” Makaryan explains:“We combine the virtual and the physical, cre-ating experiences where people can travelbetween their devices and their physical sur-roundings. We want to push our audience fur-ther in directions they never thought theywould go.” This of course begs the question ofwhere theater ends and where film and inter-active gaming begins. Some might argue thattheater was meant to be seen the way theGreeks originally did — in the round — and theway we have more or less, though in a more

see MAKARYAN, page 13

Vogue’sArmenian Touch

Photographer Liana Grigoryan Creates Her Own Pages in the

Famous Magazine

LOS ANGELES — Imagine the color blue on blue and on another blue. Does itsound tricky? Not for Liana Grigoryan. By using a palette of bold colors and unex-pected backdrops she is able to create a simple art piece or, as she likes to call it,a fine art photograph, to land straight in the pages of Vogue or Cosmopolitanmagazines. But the path she chose was never easy. And there she is in my virtu-al interview room, simple and down to earth, looking just like an old friend frommy neighborhood, wearing a T-shirt with Minnie Mouse and a big smile on her

face. She is from Yerevan, a fellowalumna of the Caucasus Instituteand the last class of DocumentalPhotography Studies led byfamous photographer RubenMangasaryan. As an immigrant, the “American

dream” wasn’t really a dream forLiana. All her relatives lived inEurope. She never even thoughtabout moving to the US until oneday her friends convinced her toapply with them for the DiversityImmigrant Visa program commonlyknown as a “green card lottery.”Liana was the only one among herfriends who won. Even though she arrived in the

US on her birthday in 2013, shewasn’t greeted with celebrations.Instead many challenges awaitedher before she could see the fire-works years later. Being an experi-

enced video editor helped her find a job at a local Armenian TV station. Then shestarted to work as a photographer in weddings. “I was all alone, new in a big city. Everyone tried to convince me that a pho-

tographer can only earn money by shooting special events like weddings,” sayssee PHOTOGRAPHY, page 16

Liana Grigoryan

By Ani Duzdabanyan-Manoukian Special to the Mirror-Spectator

Poster of The O’Leary Theory (Design by VilyamKarapetyan)

MAKARYAN, from page 12rigid form, watched it ever since the Victorianera. Makaryan is unfazed by such notions:“We don’t make technology the central pointof what we do, but rather use it in service ofthe story.” September 2020 was meant tomark the company’s official launch: then theCOVID-19 pandemic hit. Zoom became a wayof life. But this didn’t faze the young cre-ators: “True to our nature,” explains Sevunts,“we embraced the change and simply pivotedour launch online.”Which brings us to Makayran’s current pro-

ject, the highly interactive “The O’LearyTheory,” which combines technologicalchange with a classic topic in theater — thefamily drama. The audience watches fromhome and as the improvised action unfolds,helps to make decisions for the actors: “Howare families experiencing difficult times deal-ing with current circumstances? What are thesteps that they take to come together and bea support system for one another? That wasthe initial idea that started this story,”explains Makaryan: “A family that once epito-mized the American dream and then fell fromgrace…Trying to reconcile past decisions. Theaftershock of suppressed trauma. The ability,

or not, to face reality. We created a spacewhere storytelling becomes a democratic toolwhere the audience has control.” As Makaryan notes elsewhere, working

with actors in such circumstances requires anew form of commitment, as they are literal-ly inviting the audience into their homes:“We must treat these new realities with careand ensure everyone feels comfortable andsupported in order to make sure we arerespecting their privacy...Theatre is not just abuilding: it’s also the people who cometogether. But how do you bring peopletogether when you’re not allowed to do so inperson? That was the challenge that was putin front of us.” “The O’Leary Theory” then, is an attempt

to unite people and create a virtual buildingwhere everyone together can experience asense of unity. The production fuses uniqueapproaches to acting, directing and design,and lets the audience decide on the show’soutcome! The show is being billed as “cut-ting-edge, interactive, improvisational and on-line: quite a mouthful for the average viewer,and exciting as well. And thanks to HaykMikayelyan, who creates “thinking machines”in order to give people an idea of what may

lie beyond our current technological capabil-ities, the experience should be a fun one forall involved. The story is simple enough. Led by family

patriarch Jerry, the ill-fated O’Leary family once

had a hit reality TV show, “The O’LearyTheory.” After the show is cancelled, Jerrybecomes estranged from his three children,Gary, Rhea and Condon, and from a wife whohas mysteriously disappeared. Jerry’s career isover and his life is in shambles. Until now thatis, several years later, when a producer appearsin order to revive the show. Now Jerry mustconvince his children to return and shoot a testepisode. To add spice to the theatrical sauce,his wife suddenly reappears out of nowherewith a startling revelation. Can Jerry and hisfamily pull off a successful test episode withoutfalling apart emotionally? Will the producerdeliver on his promise? And who exactly isresponsible for a newly revealed crime from thepast? Makaryan cleverly casts the audience asproducer, to judge whether or not “TheO’Leary Theory” deserves a second chance.Sitting in their living room or bedroom seats,the audience’s job then is to prompt familymembers, stir the pot, and deliver a dramaticfamily reunion. And as the audience decides thecontent of the show, the question becomes: dothey fully realize the consequences of the choic-es they make? “The O’Leary Project” stars James Beaman

as Jerry O’Leary and world-renowned NicoleAnsari as his wife Eva. The three children areplayed by the equally talented Alex Marz,Tamara Sevunts and Oliver Prose. Not your usual night out at the theater?

Certainly not! And that’s precisely the point.So whether you are an immersive theaterneophyte, a devotee of traditional theater inthe round or a lover of all things technologi-cal, join ArtéMakar Productions for itsOctober 2nd premiere and help create yourown play. It may be the first time that you,along with the actors, create your own play,but if Arthur Makaryan has anything to dowith it, it certainly won’t be the last.For more information about ArtéMakar

productions, visit https://artemakar.com/

(Christopher Atamian will regularly take alook at an Armenian writer, filmmaker, fineartist or performer and bring their uniquetake on the world to Armenian Mirror-

Spectator readers. You can reach ChristopherAtamian at the following addresses: Email:

catamian@gmail.com; Facebook:facebook.com/Christopher.atamian; Instagram:atamianchristopher; Twitter: @CatamianChris)

13T 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, O C T O B E R 3 , 2 0 2 0

ARTS & LIVING

Arthur Makaryan Brings Interactive Theater to the Masses

Arthur Makaryan (Design by Vilyam Karapetyan)

14 T 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, O C T O B E R 3 , 2 0 2 0

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LEGEND, from page 12of his generation, but it was Harry Minassian’sspecialty, and this fact makes a lot of sense ifone knows something about his background.

Immigrant Beginnings

Harry Minassian was born on February 6,1937 in Brighton, Mass. and grew up inWatertown. His parents, Hagop Minassianand Vehanoush (Karamanian) Minassian,were both from the region of Kayseri(Gesaria) in Central Turkey. The Kayseri areais known to history as Cappadocia, andthough lying outside the boundaries ofHistoric Armenia, is full of ancient, medievaland modern Armenian history. It was aregion inhabited by Armenians, Greeks, andTurks until the Armenian Genocide of 1915. His mother, Vehanoush, was born in the city of

Kayseri itself, where the Armenian communitywas Turkish-speaking, and his father, Hagop, wasfrom the outlying village of Nirze, where the peo-ple spoke both Turkish and Armenian. WhenHarry Minassian was a child, along with hisbrothers Nazareth and Louis, Turkish was spo-ken in the home, as this was the language thefamily was most comfortable with, while

Armenian was spoken outside the home.One of Minassian’s earliest musical mentors

was also a native of Kayseri — Hagop Avakian, alocal oud player and singer in Watertown whogave Harry some of his first lessons on theinstrument. Avakian, along with Arto Boghosianof Constantinople on the violin, had formed aband called the Boston Ardziv Orchestra thatperformed locally. Like many of the earlyArmenian immigrant bands in the US, much oftheir repertoire was sung in Avakian’s nativeTurkish. (As an aside, Arto Boghosian’s brotherwas the well-known comedic actor EdwardBoghosian of New York, writer/singer of theoriginal Sood Eh, Sood Eh in the 1940s.) Hagop Avakian’s grandson, Ken Maranian of

Texas, shared that although Harry did takelessons from Avakian, he soon surpassed histeacher. Later, Harry also studied with the famed blind

artist Udi Hrant Kenkulian of Istanbul — theacknowledged all-time Armenian master of theoud — who travelled to the US on an almost year-ly basis from 1950 to 1963 and mentored manyyoung musicians in this country. In 1969, Harry Minassian was one of the five

young oud players whom Hrant chose to bestowwith a diploma (marked with Hrant’s thumbprint in red ink) and the right to be referred to as“Udi.” The others were Charles “Chick”Ganimian of New York, George Mgrdichian ofPhiladelphia, Richard Hagopian of Fresno, andJohn Berberian of New York. With HarryMinassian’s passing, only Hagopian andBerberian remain with us.

Maranian also reminisced about house partieswith his grandfather Hagop Avakian playing oud,others playing mandolin and other instruments,where in an atmosphere of family members andfriends that hailed from Turkish-speakingArmenian communities such as Kayseri, Marashand Aintab, Turkish was the language of conver-sation and especially of song. Harry Minassian was a part of this scene and

transmitted that atmosphere to the stage in hisperformances.

From Armenian Youth Dances to Nightclub Gigs

Around 1950, teenage brothers Carl (oud andvocals) and Nick (dumbeg) Zeytoonian startedthe Orientales Band in Watertown. Aaron (dumb-eg) and Ara (clarinet) Der Marderosian joinedthem, as did Berj Krikorian (percussion andvocals). They decided they needed a second oudplayer and invited young Harry Minassian intothe band. Like the Vosbikians, Barsamians, and so many

other American-born Armenian bands of thatera, the Orientales filled the need for ethnicdance music at Armenian-American youthevents. With two oudists who were both vocalists

(Carl usually sang in Armenian, and Harry usu-ally sang in Turkish), two dumbegs, a clarinetand the other vocalist, Berj, who usually playedthe tambourine, they gained popularity in theNew England area. Richard Samoorian, who later was ordained an

Armenian Apostolic priest as the Very Rev.Ghevont Samoorian, hung around the band,acted as a consultant and music arranger, andoccasionally played piano. Around 1954 the Orientales produced 6

recordings on 78-rpm discs, including a chiftetelli oud solo by the 17-year-old Minassian in thestyle of Udi Hrant, and in 1956 they played themassive Armenian Church Youth Organizationof America (ACYOA) Convention and GeneralAssembly in Washington, D.C.Joe Zeytoonian (younger brother of Carl and

Nick), himself an accomplished oudist, confirmedthat Turkish songs were still acceptable at thesetype of community events in the 1950s, but cer-tainly “toned down” compared to their preva-lence in the ethnic nightclub environment of thetime.

Expanding Musical Palate

At around the same time, Harry drifted fromthe band and began playing gigs in Boston’s eth-nic nightclub scene. In many ways he was a traditionalist (and was

considered as such later in life) but he was alsoan innovator, especially for the time. Master oud-ist John Berberian shared his memories of thisperiod, both personal and historical: “It wasabout 1961 when I first heard Harry play. He was

playing with Gary Alexanian on dumbeg andGeorge Righellis on guitar. The trio was then bet-ter known as ‘Harry, Gary, and George.’ Theirsound was unique and unlike what I was used toin New York. For one thing, it was the first timeI heard a guitar played in the ensemble, whichgreatly added to the rhythm and chords. Thatsound led me to introduce the guitar into myband in New York. Harry played with many finemusicians and could be heard almost every nightof the week at a different venue in New England.In fact, when I dated my wife who was fromMassachusetts, it was not unusual for me to takeher to listen to Harry three times in one week. Itseemed like an explosive time for our musiceverywhere.”This oud and guitar trend which was started

primarily by Harry Minassian, spread toArmenian groups throughout the coun-try; guitarists that were usually ofGreek descent were brought intoArmenian-led bands; such asManny Petro of the KefTime Band (RichardHagopian’s cross-coun-try group) or NickKenis of the Hye-Fyes (fromProvidence). Unlikethe Armenians, theGreeks had beenusing guitar intheir folk music forpossibly a hundredyears and had devel-oped their own styleof rhythmic-harmonicaccompaniment toMediterranean/MiddleEastern melodies. Andwith a Greek guitar player,the Armenian groups couldincorporate more Greek repertoireand vocals, which added to their appealfor the clientele of the era’s ethnic nightclubs.

Vinyl Standouts and Mamma

Minassian’s first album, released in 1966, was“Near East Enchantments.” The album, featuringMinassian, Alexanian, Righellis, Lebanese-American violinist Freddie Elias, and clarinetistCarnig Mikitarian, exemplified the New EnglandNightclub sound heard on other albums of theera, with almost all Turkish songs. But Minassianwas not just an artist focused on the repertoireof the past. As the Armenian estradayin genredeveloped in Lebanon with Adiss Harmandian’shit song Dzaghigner in 1968, Harry kept up withthe music coming out of the Middle Eastern com-munities. His second album, “Exciting Moods ofthe Middle East,” released in 1973, featured thefirst ever Armenian-American recording ofHarmandian’s worldwide hit Karoun Karoun,which had been released earlier that year andhas since become a modern Armenian classic.The album, which featured the late dumbegartist Roger Krikorian as well as clarinetist SteveVosbikian, Sr., was a tour de force for Minassianand one of the best examples of his style andrepertoire. Kicking off with the Armenian patri-otic tune Herosneri Genatze and including the

latest songs being popularized by Harmandian inBeirut (Karoun Karoun, Noune, and Akh ImYar), the album also included the recent song outof Turkey, folk-rocker Baris Manco’s DaglarDaglar (Mountains, Mountains), which became asignature song for Minassian. Harry wasn’t the only Armenian who took

notice of the song — Lebanese-Armenian singerMaxim Panossian released his Armenian lan-guage version of the tune in 1977 as AchkesJampout Ge Sbaseyi.A prominent place in the album was given to

the nostalgic-romantic Turkish folk song HerSabah Her Seher, originally popularized by UdiHrant and to this day closely associated withHarry Minassian. The irresistible danceablity ofthis song captured on a record Minassian’s live

performance style which had generations danc-ing tek bar (Armenian solo dancing). Finally, theunforgettable ballad Mamma closed out the firsthalf of the album. It is with the song Mamma that we fully under-

stand the relationship to the Turkish languageand Turkish songs that Harry Minassian andmany of his generation had. This song, whichwas a Turkish translation of Charles Aznavour’shit La Mamma, was often sung by Minassian inlive performances, especially when his own moth-er was in the audience. Minassian was devoted tohis mother Vehanoush, a Genocide survivor fromthe Armenian community of Kayseri, and hesang this song to his mother in her native lan-guage, which like most Armenians from Kayseri,happened to be Turkish. This was so emotionalfor her that she would rush the stage at the endof the song and start kissing her son. It was emo-tional for the audience as well, to the point whereMamma (“Annem” in Turkish) became known asone of Minassian’s signature songs long after his

continued on next page

A Legend of KefMusic Passes On

Left to right: Harry Minassian, Freddie Elias, George Righellis; bottom: Gary Alexanian El MoroccoNightclub, Boston 1958

left to right: Gary Alexanian, Harry Minassian, Carnig Mikitarian, George Righellis at the JumboLounge in Somerville, 1958

Harry's first solo record circa 1954

15T 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, O C T O B E R 3 , 2 0 2 0

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FRESNO — The Armenian StudiesProgram, CineCulture and the Center forCreativity and the Arts present a discussionwith filmmaker/producer StephanieAyanian, on her film “What Will Become ofUs.” The Zoom webinar will take place onFriday, October 9, at 5:30 p.m. The long shadow of the Genocide creates

a burden for young Armenian Americansthat discourages them from taking up theirculture. “What Will Become of Us” followssix Armenian Americans — famous and oth-erwise — as they navigate the 100th anniver-sary of the Genocide, forging identities forthe next 100 years. How can ArmenianAmericans honor their past, while unshack-ling themselves from its trauma?Those who would like to view the film

online before the presentation, betweenOctober 2-9, can contact Prof. Barlow DerMugrdechian, barlowd@csufresno.edu, toreceive a screening code.Ayanian holds an MFA in Film and

Media Arts from Temple University. Sheco-owns storyshop, an independent pro-duction house for creative media. Herfilm, “Kinderwald,” screened on the clos-ing night of the Slamdance Film Festivalin 2014 and was an Official Selection ofthe Munich International, SeattleInternational, and Napa Valley film festi-

vals. Previously, Ayanian worked as asenior producer/director for Penn StatePublic Broadcasting. The discussion with Stephanie Ayanian

will be held as a Zoom Webinar, and regis-tration is required. Use this link to register:bit.ly/whatwillbecomeofus. The lecture willalso be streamed on the Armenian Studies

Program YouTube channel at bit.ly/armeni-anstudiesyoutube.For more information about the lecture

please contact the Armenian StudiesProgram at 278-2669, visit our website atwww.fresnostate.edu/armenianstudies, orvisit our Facebook page at@ArmenianStudiesFresnoState.

Discussion with Filmmaker Stephanie Ayanian on ‘What Will Become of Us’

Stephanie Ayanian

Stephanie Ayanian filmingin Armenia

from previous pagemother had passed on.Minassian’s third album, released around

1981, was self-titled and became known as “TheWhite Album.” In this recording, accompaniedby Hachig Kazarian on the clarinet and RogerKrikorian on dumbeg, Minassian showed hismature, developed style, performing with impec-cable ease several works by Udi Hrant such asSiroon Aghchig and Srdis Vra Kar Me Ga andTurkish favorites like Kadife and Gelin Gelin. Thealbum also included the moving Bir IhtimalDaha Var, another of Minassian’s signaturesongs. John Berberian, joined by a group ofother musicians, played it in a posthumous trib-ute to Minassian on the “Echoes of Kef Time”

Armenian segment of the Boston radio show“Grecian Echoes” with Meleti Poulioupoulos,one of many Harry Minassian tributes that effer-vescently began to flow across social media andelsewhere after his death.

A Legacy of Music, Family and Friends

Despite Minassian’s three great albums,Armenians, particularly those in New England,really knew him from his live performances, andnot from his LPs. Ask any kef music fan who hasseen Harry Minassian live and you will hearnothing but praise and “rave reviews.” Many ofhis fans recorded his performances on cassetteor video, and many of these videos have nowbeen made available on the internet.

Incidentally, the Armenian song most associ-ated with him was performed live countlesstimes but was never on any of his albums: AkhAnoush. This beautiful 10/8 melody combinesthe aspects of an Armenian line dance and a loveballad, sung in Western Armenian. “Akh Anoush,Anoush, Anoush / a bit of sugar, a bit ofalmonds / you are named after sugar, I guess /but you are sweeter than sugar.” Minassian’s legacy as a musician and a

human being was described to me by his son,Gary Minassian: “My dad would practice theoud always. He was a perfectionist. He had agreat gift; when he started playing peoplewould jump up and start dancing…as far ashim being my dad…he was simply the best.Always there when you needed him; a caring

and loving husband to my mom [GailMinassian]. My dad never had a bad word tosay about anyone. He was always kind andapproachable. My dad also passed on histeaching from Udi Hrant to JosephKouyoumjian and Zaven Donabedian.” Fellow oudist John Berberian gave as good a

summary as anybody: “Harry was not only a col-league but one of my best friends. I will alwaysremember Harry for the gentleman he was, themusic he shared and the friendship we hadtogether. I will miss him greatly!”Minassian will be missed by not only his loving

family and friends but his many fans. Hoghetetev ulla, Udi Harry. May you rest easy, as easyand relaxed as your music made us feel – andjust as memorable.

Harry Minassian with close friend and fellow oud player John Berberian on violin, ShirazRestaurant, Watertown, 2015

Harry Minassian playing at the Watertown AMVETS Hall in the 1970s with John Madanian, BobbySohigian, and singer Onnik Dinkjian playing tambourine

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PHOTOGRAPHY, from page 12Liana, remembering the beginning of her careerwith a smile. The photos turned out great withvery specific details that only a professional doc-umental photographer could add. But that wasn’t what Liana wanted. “I didn’t

touch the camera for three years. It was hard. Ineeded to work, improve my English and findan apartment to live in,” she says, sharing hermemories for a sure plan for success. Lianastarted to attend Glendale Community Collegeand, not unexpectedly, a photography class wason her schedule. “I had the camera again in my hands. I need-

ed a marketing plan: to be able to make moneyand invest it later in my dream.” She started towork like a regular photographer by doingphoto sessions for children and family, includ-ing maternity photos. Liana’s next move was in fine art photography,

through which she met with different profession-al models for her projects. “My first model was

Emily. She is such a sweetheart. I am still work-ing with her,” relates Liana with significant grat-itude in her tone. Emily’s mother was a big sup-port. She was the one who introduced Liana todifferent professional models. Work within that setting gave her the oppor-

tunity to apply to special projects with the bigplayers in the fashion world. Liana’s seven pho-tos were immediately accepted to Vogue’s“Inner Peace” project. In her photos, pink flow-ers represented the hope for the inner peacethat everyone should achieve one day. Liana was in the right place: she started to

work with the agencies like Elite LA, one of thehuge player in the fashion world with locationsin Paris, New York and Milan. Liana started tobuild her portfolio. With make-up artists, hairdressers and stylists, she had a whole teamworking with her. From Vogue toCosmopolitan, her work ranged from specialprojects to commercials. “It’s a very difficult and long process. You can

apply 100 times but your work can only beaccepted once. It’s important to make the deci-

sion for submission before starting it. There areset standards for each publication. You shoot theidea in the way that is acceptable to the maga-zine. For example, Vogue likes things to be asnatural as possible; I might not even have amakeup artist on the set. For this magazine, themost important part is the idea,” shares Liana. Despite the challenges, she loves working for

the fashion magazines, “It’s team work. It does-n’t matter how talented you are. You can neverachieve big things when you work alone.” COVID-19 had its impact on the world of pho-

tography as on everything else. Liana’s next bigproject, “Armenian Women in the US,” is notcomplete yet. It became one of the most impor-tant projects for her. It all started in the collegeclassroom where the Pulitzer-Prize-winningphotographer of the LA Times, ClarenceWilliams, assigned Liana to take photos ofArmenian women for a special project. “I presented two different ideas to him, but

he rejected both of them. All the other students

started to work on their projects but me. Mr.Williams wanted me to work on something spe-cial. He didn’t even know what he was draggingme into,” Liana laughs. And she went to

Armenian kitchens, businesses, judge’s officesand so many other places for this unprecedent-ed photography project to present Armenianwomen in every domain. “It’s not going to be

only in California, but in many states. That’swhy it’s called Armenian women in the US,”explains Liana about her post-pandemic plans. Via the computer screen I can’t see her apart-

ment but by exploring her character, a questionis tugging at my mind: “Is everything in yourapartment set like a picture?”She thinks for a second without glancing

back at the room, like she knows exactly whereeverything is. “Yes, that is so true! My coffeetable is my favorite spot in my apartment. Mycoffee could get cold but I need to arrange thetable the way I want it to be. Or for example, ifI work for several hours on the computer, Imight just move a flower next to it so I can havethe right setting.” She even spotted the move-ment of the sunlight in her room. Around fouro’clock in the afternoon, the shadows are verymuch visible and she can see a picture slowlyforming in the room. “I will just bring a vaseand put it in the shade of the curtain, and thatwill make my picture complete.”Liana is a huge self-critic. She never stops

learning and evolving. “That’s what makes megoing,” she laughs whole-heartedly. And then she is a Libra. The balance comes

after an inner fight for self-fulfillment, followedby self-confidence concerning a dream that stillneeds to be attained.

Photographer Liana Grigoryan Creates Her Own Pages in Vogue Magazine

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17

OCTOBER 7 — 10am Celebrating WhatUnites Us! A virtual cooking series, a col-laboration of City of Boston Age-FriendlyBoston, OLDWAYS and Friends of ArmenianHeritage Park to keep us connected, comingtogether. NATIVE AMERICAN CUISINE ChefSean Sherman member of the OglalaLakota tribe Cookbook author, The SiouxChef Indigenous Kitchen - 2018 JamesBeard Award for Best American Cookbook;co-founder, The Sioux Chef.com - 2019 JamesBeard Leadership Award. To register via Zoom,email hello@ArmenianHeritagePark.org

OCTOBER 17 — St. James 73rd AnnualTake-Out Bazaar - Delicious ArmenianFood and Pastries. $100 Raffle. Online SilentAuction. Pre-order curbside pickup only. Toorder meals and pastries, visitwww.stjameswatertown.org/bazaar start-ing on October 1st, or call the Churchoffice. St. James Armenian Church – 465Mt. Auburn St., Watertown. For more infor-mation contact 617.923.8860 orinfo@sthagop.com.

DECEMBER 5-6 — SAVE THE DATE. Trinity’s2020 Christmas Bazaar. Saturday,December 5 & Sunday December 6, 2020.Holy Trinity Armenian Church of GreaterBoston. 145 Brattle Street, Cambridge MA02138. Questions? 617 354-0632

MASSACHUSETTS

CalendarThis original and savory recipe is courtesy of “Kevani

cooking with minor adjustments” by Salpy's InternationalKitchen. Discover signature recipes created by the amazingSalpy Rozario herself, and “an incredible selection of inter-national recipes adapted, tried, and tested with minor ormajor adjustments.”

INGREDIENTS:4 large eggs1/2 cup oil1/2 cup plain white yogurt2 cups flour200 gm (7 ounces) akkawi or halloumi cheese (found inmost Middle Eastern markets)3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese1/2 teaspoon black pepper1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper1/2 teaspoon baking soda1/2 teaspoon sugar1/4 cup milk2 teaspoons baking powder1/2 teaspoon salt (if cheese is salty, do not add salt)1 medium onion, chopped2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley20 pitted olives (green or black), slicedSesame and nigella seeds, optionalServes 8-10.

PREPARATION: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, sugar and baking soda. Set aside.In a stand mixer bowl, using the whisk attachment, beat the eggs, add to the oil and yogurt, and beat until well incorporated. Gradually

add the flour and mix until it becomes a smooth batter. Add the remaining ingredients, and stir until well combined. Pour batter into a greased and floured Bundt cake pan. Top with sesame or nigella seeds, if desired. Bake for about 45 minutes or until

a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.For this recipe, go to:<https://www.facebook.com/SalpysInternationalKitchen/> https://www.facebook.com/SalpysInternationalKitchen/

Recipe Corner by Christine Vartanian

Cheese Beureg Cake

Online DiscussionOf Documentary onVahe Oshagan to BeHeld October 7BOSTON — Hamazkayin Armenian

Educational and Cultural Society-BostonChapter and the National Association forArmenian Studies and Research (NAASR) willpresent an online discussion of “Vahe Oshagan:Between Acts,” a documentary film by HrayrEulmessekian, on Wednesday, October 7, at 3p.m. (ET). The discussion will feature HrayrEulmessekian, Taline Voskeritchian and KarenJallatyan.The film infuses the traditional documentary

with visual, sound-text, and scholarly interpre-

tations of Oshagan’s poetry and prose. It fea-tures readings and commentary by Oshagan ofhis own poetry, as well as analyses by well-known literary critics Krikor Beledian, KrikorChahinian, Marc Nichanian; and electroniccompositions by Ohannes Salibian.“Vahe Oshagan: Between Acts” is available

for viewing online:https://youtu.be/Gp9sHY1hzoo. It will not beshown during the October 7 program andshould be viewed in advance.The discussion will be livestreamed on

YouTube or via Zoom.To view live on YouTube, no registration is

required. Go to NAASR’s channel at the start of theprogram or watch afterwards if you missed it:https://www.youtube.com/c/ArmenianStudies. To attend on Zoom registration is required.

Zoom attendees can submit written questionsvia Zoom which will be asked as time permits.Zoom Registration link:https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regis-ter/WN__4kEUN5LSOGJFNxXMh-dog. For more information contact NAASR at

hq@naasr.org.

Book Dedicated to MartyredPoets Launched in GermanyPOTSDAM, Germany — On September 18 the Lepsiushaus in

Potsdam hosted a book launch of the volume, Todesvision. EineHommage an die ermordeten Dichter Armeniens (1915-1945) (Visionof Death. Homage to Armenia’s Murdered Poets (1915-1945)). The poems were translated from Armenian by Dr. Gerayer

Koutcharian and rendered poetically into German by Prof. TessaHofmann (pictured below and at right). Dr. Roy Knocke of theLepsiushaus, introduced the new publication, and Hofmann readselections to an appreciative audience. Photos by Ulrich Rosenau.

— By Muriel Mirak-Weissbach

Vahe Oshagan

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COMMENTARY

Established 1932

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EDITOR

Alin K. Gregorian

ASSISTANT EDITOR

Aram ArkunART DIRECTOR

Marc Mgrditchian

SENIOR EDITORIAL COLUMNIST:Edmond Y. Azadian

CONTRIBUTORS:Florence Avakian, Dr. HaroutiunArzoumanian, Philippe Raffi Kalfayan,Philip Ketchian, Kevork Keushkerian,Harut Sassounian, Hagop Vartivarian,Naomi Zeytoonian

CORRESPONDENTS:

Armenia - Hagop AvedikianBoston - Nancy KalajianLos Angeles - Taleen BabayanBerlin - Muriel Mirak-Weissbach

Contributing Photographers:Jirair Hovsepian

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The Face of the New War in KarabakhEDITORIAL

By Edmond Y. Azadian

It has been very obvious to even the untrained observer whatPresidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ilham Aliyev were plan-ning in the Caucasus by holding their extensive military exer-cises in July and August in mainland Azerbaijan and theNakhichevan exclave by moving state-of-the-art military hard-ware to the theater. The action was certainly better document-ed by military observers and planners in the region.

In addition, Aliyev’s vitriolic attacks on Armenia andErdogan’s criticism from the United Nations’ stage that Armeniawas a destabilizing factor in the Caucasus were the veneer ofwar preparations that were in the offing. (See related stories onpage 1.)

As war broke out on September 27, Turkey and Azerbaijanaccused Armenia of starting the conflict. However, in these daysof technological warfare, the major powers, through their satel-lites, have been constantly monitoring the hot spots around theglobe. Thus, the truth is not hard to find.

Writing in Al-Monitor, Amberin Zaman stated: “The emergingconsensus is that Azerbaijan most likely instigated the attackafter receiving assurances of military support from Turkey.”

Laurence Broers, Caucasus program director at the London-based think tank Chatham House, added that “an intentionalbut limited aims operation on the part of Azerbaijan aimed atrecovering territories [and] consolidating [a] more advantageousnew ceasefire, packaged as a military win.”

For his part, President Erdogan confided that since theOrganization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)Minsk Group of mediators, led by Russia, France and the US,had failed to resolve the conflict formore than 30 years, Azerbaijan “hadto take matters into its own hands,whether it likes it or not.”

The hostilities between Armeniaand Azerbaijan had been simmeringfor a long time and observers havebeen questioning why the flare-uptook place at this particular time.

There are many analyses and spec-ulations about the timing; one factorcertainly was the erosion ofPresident Aliyev’s autocratic rule.Junior had inherited his petro-empirefrom his father, Heydar, in 2003, andwas preparing to cede power to hisincreasingly powerful wife and vicepresident, Mehriban, at a time ofsocial and political unrest in all thecountries created from the ashes ofthe former Soviet Union, fromKazakhstan to Armenia, fromUkraine to Belarus. That develop-ment would certainly impactAzerbaijan socially, where journalists,leaders of the Lezki and Talish ethnicgroups, have been rotting in jails,while a silent divide was brewing as a result of the Pashayev andAliyev clans. (His wife hails from the Pashayev clan.)

All these developments have weakened Aliyev’s rule andbrought him to the conclusion that any gain in a war withArmenia would restore some vigor to his rule, while whippingup nationalistic fervor amongst his constituents.

The timing of the war may also have depended on PresidentErdogan rather than Aliyev, who no longer seems to be in thedriver’s seat in Azerbaijan. Erdogan himself has been locked instalemates with Russia in Syria and Libya. Therefore, Erdoganneeded a new bargaining chip to negotiate with PresidentVladimir Putin to alter the overall configuration of Russian-Turkish relations, particularly after US Secretary of State MikePompeo rebuked Erdogan.

President Erdogan has deployed his warships in Cypriot andGreek territorial waters this summer and challenged all thecountries angered by his arrogant posturing. He was even at log-gerheads with the leader of fellow NATO member, France,whose president, Emmanuel Macron, issued a harsh condemna-tion of his actions.

President Donald Trump was busy with his reelection cam-paign and could not help Erdogan, his favorite friend in theregion. Therefore, Pompeo, worried at the prospect of a split inthe NATO structure, visited Cyprus earlier in September. Verylittle came out of his contacts with the leadership of EasternMediterranean countries. But it sufficed for him to utter a fewwords publicly, that the US remains “deeply concerned” aboutTurkish activities in the Eastern Mediterranean, to haveErdogan to pick up and move and play the peacemaker, wooingthe parties he was bullying to sit at a negotiating table.

Therefore, failing in the Eastern Mediterranean, Erdogan

moved back to his backyard in the Caucasus for some mischief.Although Mr. Pompeo reacted angrily when Mr. Erdogan tried

to cause a split within the NATO family, his behavior may becompletely different when Turkey decides to foment problems inRussia’s soft underbelly, particularly at a time when the Kremlinis looking over its shoulder at the fate of Belarus, wonderingwhether it is going to go the way of Ukraine, to become a west-ern bastion at its front door.

Turkey is in Azerbaijan to counterbalance the Russian mili-tary base in Armenia and next-door Iran. Both countries areAmerica’s adversaries. Any damage that Ankara can incur therewill be considered a favor by the West. Therefore, by threateningArmenia, Ankara will be sending a message to Moscow.Erdogan’s spokesman. Ibrahim Kalin, has blamed Armenia forthe war. AK Party Spokesman Omer Celik has added that“Armenia is playing with fire and endangering regional peace.”

Many countries have issued generic statements by calling forrestraints by the parties. In spite of the similarity of the state-ments, each country has its own policy and particular interests.For example, President Macron of France has expressed “deepconcern.” President Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, hasadvised avoiding “further undesirable escalation of the situation.”The US has called for “immediate halt to the deadly hostilities.”US State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus specificallywarned against “external parties’ participation.” The referencemay be about Turkey, but most probably refers to Russia.

Russia’s current neutral stance regarding Armenia andAzerbaijan will by necessity come to come to an end and it willnot particularly favor Armenia, but aim to guard its strategicassets in the region. Turkey has held on to a century-old maliceagainst Armenia, first towards its own citizens and now itsneighbor. But that is beside the point, since Ankara is planning

to send a message to Moscow by weakening Armenia, where aRussian military base is located. Therefore, the counter messagewould be helping Armenia in this war to crush Azerbaijan sig-nificantly, thereby shaking the soil under Erdogan’s feet inAzerbaijan.

There is no doubt that Armenia and Azerbaijan, although theyhave their specific grievances, are pawns in the hands of greaterpowers. As far as Armenia is concerned, the 30-year standoffwith Azerbaijan has proven one thing: a half-won victory is arecipe for renewed warfare down the road.

Only a definitive victory will convince Azerbaijan that it doesnot need Karabakh as a perpetual casus belli with Armenia.

Despite Azerbaijan’s huge arsenal of modern weaponry,bought from Israel, Ukraine, Belarus and other countries,Armenia has the technological edge to score a decisive victory.But the equation may change when Turkey decides to becomea major participant in the war.

On Tuesday, September 29, reports indicated that a Turkishmilitary F-16 jet had shot down an Armenian air force SU-25 jetover the territory of the Republic of Armenia. This demonstratesTurkey’s active participation in the war and puts into play theobligation for action of the Collective Security TreatyOrganization.

Arayik Harutyunyan, president of Artsakh, stated that “ourforces are fighting against Turkey.” Mr. Erdogan and his sup-porters have all confirmed that they are supporting Azerbaijan100 percent.

In view of this flagrant participation, the Armenian side hasmissed a superb opportunity to use the Genocide card.Armenia’s leadership had the full coverage globally in main-stream news outlets.

continued on next page

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

COMMENTARY

19

My TurnBy Harut Sassounian

Armenians Should Unite AgainstTurkey’s And Azerbaijan’s JointAttack on Artsakh

A massive attack was launched against Artsakh byAzerbaijan with the direct participation of Turkey and IslamicJihadist mercenaries in the early hours of Sept. 27, 2020.

The Azeri/Turkish side not only attacked Armenian mili-tary forces, but also peaceful civilians in various villages andStepanakert, the capital of the Republic of Artsakh.Ominously, Turkish F-16 Air Force jets operated in the warzone after several threatening remarks against Armenia byTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

As we write this article on Monday (Sept. 28), the battlescontinue. We hope that France, Russia, and the United Stateswill intervene and stop the bloodshed. So far 370 Azeri sol-diers, including Lieutenant-Colonel Mehman Miraziz, havebeen killed. Mais Barkhudarov, an Azeri Major General waswounded and captured by the Armenian forces. In addition,81 foreign Islamist Jihadist mercenaries have been killed.Eighty four Armenian soldiers were killed and more than100, mostly civilians, wounded. Turkey, which transported alarge number of these Islamist terrorists to Azerbaijan, haspromised to pay them thousands of dollars a month. It isembarrassing that Azerbaijan and Turkey with their ownhuge militaries are too cowardly to use their own soldiers andare importing mercenaries from Northern Syria. Hopefully,these hired terrorists will suffer the same fate as the AfghanMujahideen and Chechen mercenaries who were brought toAzerbaijan in the 1990’s to fight against the Armenian forces.Many of them were killed in battle and the rest left Azerbaijanseeing the cowardly behavior of Azeri soldiers. In addition,Armenian forces have destroyed Azerbaijan’s four helicopters,

36 tanks and armored vehicles and 27 drones, includingthose purchased from Israel and Turkey.

Russia and the United States issued statements calling fora ceasefire and return to the negotiating table. Significantly,the U.S. State Department announced that “participation inthe escalating violence by external parties would be deeplyunhelpful and only exacerbate regional tensions.” This was anindirect call to Turkey not to meddle in the Artsakh conflict.However, the United States government should go beyondmere words and sanction both Turkey and Azerbaijan by notproviding any weapons or foreign aid to either of them. Inaddition, we are seeing the same meaningless statement urg-ing both sides to cease fire without condemning the partythat started the attacks, which is always Azerbaijan. I am cer-tain that the United States and Russia know full well whostarted the attacks.

I am sure most Armenians realize that at this critical timewhen the lives of the populations of Armenia and Artsakhare at risk, they should refrain from continuing their per-sonal or partisan disputes. This is no time to engage ininternal disagreements. The priority is to deter the commonenemy. We should all rally around the government ofArmenia. Similarly, Diaspora Armenians should set asidetheir petty disputes and join ranks. I know many Armenian-Americans have been engaged in supporting the differentcandidates in the upcoming U.S. presidential elections andFacebook is full of their heated comments. I urge everyoneto take a break from these political disputes and rallyaround Armenia and Artsakh. We are facing much largerand more powerful enemies, Azerbaijan and Turkey. Onlyour united effort and smart tactics can protect us to avoidthe reoccurrence of the Genocide.

Even though I am not a military expert, I have some com-mon sense suggestions to Armenia’s leaders. This is not a par-tisan issue. I had made the same suggestion to Armenia’s pre-vious and current governments, regrettably to no avail. Iwould like to remind our political leaders in Armenia thatthey should immediately declare that they will postpone allnegotiations until such time that Azerbaijan and Turkey stopfiring on Armenia and Artsakh. How can one carry out peace-ful negotiations when the other side is holding a gun to yourhead? Armenia should declare to the world that we are forpeaceful negotiations; however, it is not acceptable thatAzerbaijan keeps firing while supposedly negotiating. What

kind of negotiation is that? One can either fight or talk, butnot do both at the same time. If the negotiations are inter-rupted, Azerbaijan is the one that will be the loser becausethat is the only way that it hopes to arrive at mutual conces-sions. It is in Azerbaijan’s interest to stop firing and startnegotiating. The international community will only blameAzerbaijan for the interruption of the peaceful negotiations.By not placing such a reasonable condition on negotiations,Armenia is in fact is encouraging Azerbaijan to continue fir-ing on Armenia and Artsakh, costing the lives of many youngArmenian. No more negotiations unless Azerbaijan stopsthese continuous attacks.

The other suggestion I have is that we should never tell theenemy where we would or would not attack. After thespokesman of the Azeri Defense Forces threatened in Julythat Azerbaijan could attack the Armenian Nuclear powerplant, I was dismayed to hear an Armenian official state pub-licly that Armenia would never attack civilian targets inAzerbaijan. There was no need to make such an announce-ment. Let the enemy guess what you would or would not doin case of war. If Armenia thought that by making such anannouncement it will gain praise from the international com-munity, it is sadly mistaken. War is not the time to play Mr.Nice Guy. The world respects only strength. Rights and goodbehavior do not count. Let Azerbaijanis worry that Armeniacould attack their dams, pipelines, oil fields and civilian pop-ulations. We do not need to announce whether we couldattack such targets or not. Azerbaijan had no hesitationattacking Stepanakert this week, why should we announcethat we have no interest in retaliating on similar Azeri tar-gets?

Finally, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan just announcedthat the possibility of Armenia recognizing Artsakh’s inde-pendence is “on the table and needs to be reviewed.” This isa welcome announcement. Pashinyan already had announcedin Stepanakert last year that “Artsakh is Armenia, period.”The previous Armenian government had also declared that ifAzerbaijan attacks Artsakh, Armenia would then recognizeArtsakh’s independence. It is high time that Armenia takesuch a decision which would be an appropriate response tothe Azeri/Turkish attack on Artsakh.

I urge all Armenians around the world to united and defendthe homeland in whatever way they can against its enemies,Azerbaijan and Turkey.

By Amberin Zaman

ISTANBUL (Al-Monitor) — As renewed fighting betweenArmenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed enclave ofNagorno-Karabakh enters its second day, the question ofwhy now is looming ever larger, amid fears of a full blownconflict in the Caucasus that could draw in Russia andTurkey.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement onSeptember 28 that Turkey already had a “direct presence onthe ground” and that Turkish military experts were “fight-ing side by side” with Azerbaijani forces that were usingTurkish weapons and aircraft.

Armenian officials have also accused Turkey of trans-porting thousands of Syrian mercenaries to Azerbaijan, asit has done to Libya. An aide to Azerbaijan’s president,Ilham Aliyev, rebutted the assertions as nonsense today.

But two Syrian rebel fighters quoted by Reuters said theywere “deploying to Azerbaijan in coordination with Ankara”and had been told by their brigade commanders that theywould earn $1,500 per month. Similar descriptions of thealleged recruitment effort circulated on Twitter and werereported by The Guardian as well.

Turkey has riposted with its own claims that Armenia isdeploying Kurdish militants from the outlawed KurdistanWorkers Party and Syrian mercenaries of its own.Azerbaijan has, in turn, accused Russia of sending largenumbers of weapons to Armenia, where it maintains a basenear the Turkish border in Gyumri. While none of these alle-gations can be verified, the emerging consensus is thatAzerbaijan most likely instigated the attacks after receivingassurances of military support from Turkey.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed hissupport for Azerbaijan today, saying that Armenia mustimmediately end its occupation of Azerbaijani territories. Hecalled Armenia, a country of 2.9 million versus Turkey’s esti-mated 84 million, “the biggest threat to peace in theregion.”

The current conflagration, he said, offered an opportuni-ty for Azerbaijan to seize back Nagorno-Karabakh. “Recentdevelopments have provided an opportunity for all influen-tial countries in the region to introduce realistic and fairsolutions,” he said. “We hope that this opportunity will be

utilized.” More ominously, Erdogan noted that since theMinsk group of mediators led by Russia, France and theUnited States had failed to resolve the conflict for almost 30years, Azerbaijan “had to take matters into its own handswhether it likes it or not.”

Armenia has begun a general military mobilization andboth countries have declared martial law. Azerbaijan hassealed its airspace to all flights except from Turkey. Dozensof people including civilians have been reported killed andhundreds wounded on both sides. Armenian Prime MinisterNikol Pashinian said, “We are on the brink of a full scale warin the South Caucasus.” He blamed Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Russia, the United States and NATO have all called for animmediate cessation of hostilities, as has Iran.

Turkey and Azerbaijan are bound by strong ethnic andhistorical ties, which saw Turkey send weapons and militaryadvisers to Azerbaijan in the early 1990s when the war overNagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-majority enclave insideAzerbaijan, was in full swing. Reflecting the public mood,the main political parties in the parliament, with the excep-tion of the pro-Kurdish bloc, signed a joint declaration indefense of Azerbaijan today.

Turkey is the main export route for Azeri oil and naturalgas. Azerbaijan’s state oil company, SOCAR, is the biggestforeign investor in Turkey. Yet despite all the talk aboutbeing “one nation, two states,” the reality is more complex.Azerbaijan, though ethnically Turkic, is mostly Shiite.“Turkey uses ethnicity and language while Iran uses reli-gion to promote their agendas in Azerbaijan and then youhave the Azerbaijani intelligentsia, who are all Russianspeakers,” said Cavid Aga, an Ankara-based analyst whomonitors the conflict. “The truth is that most Turks knowvery little about Azerbaijan,” he told Al-Monitor.

Culturally speaking, Anatolian Turks arguably have morein common with Christian Armenians who fled to Armeniafrom Turkey than they do with the Azeris in Azerbaijan. Butsuch nuances get lost in the warmongering rhetoric spew-ing from Baku, Ankara and Yerevan alike.

The intensity and scale of the current round of fightingdoes suggest advance planning by Azerbaijan to upend thestatus quo, cemented since 1994, when it lost Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding territories, and that favorsArmenia.

see WAR, page 20

Turkey Backs Azerbaijan AgainstArmenia as War Looms over Caucasus

from previous pageThis column has referred a few times earlier to this issue.

Hitler’s statement, “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihila-tion of the Armenians,” could have been proven true had it notbeen for the Nuremberg Trials and the Jewish effort to render theissue into a universal pain which could be — and has been — usedpolitically. Thanks to a concerted effort globally by the Jews, theworld community has been sensitized to the issue.

Mr. Erdogan knows the impact of the issue much better thanour current leadership in Armenia. He realizes full well that mod-ern-day Turkey is very vulnerable when the Genocide issue ispoliticized. Therefore, he has taken the pre-emptive strike by per-sonally setting up a special committee to deny the Genocide. Onecan only wonder when the enemy resorts to defense against thismost potent political weapon and Armenia’s leadership does nottake the initiative to warn the world community that the unre-pentant perpetrator of the Genocide is threatening to complete acrime it began in 1915.

When Turkey considers Armenia a hindrance for its plans toachieve a pan-Turanic empire, it means that the Armenian peoplehave to be dislodged from their current habitat to allow the real-ization of that grand dream.

Currently, Armenians are fighting not only Azerbaijani soldiersand Turkish military forces, but also jihadists imported from Syriaby Turkey. Ankara hired and used Islamic jihadists first to empow-er former ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, and after his assas-sination, it used them in Iraq against the Kurds and in Syria andLibya against the Russians and the local peoples. It was reportedthat 4,000 mercenaries have been sent to Azerbaijan to fightagainst Armenians.

The Azerbaijani leadership dismissed the news as “nonsense.”But the Guardian and Reuters published their interviews withthose hired guns.

It has become a method of modern warfare for Turkey to hiremercenaries and send them to different battlefields as canon fod-der, earning them a place in heaven and good money for their sur-vivors. The practice has enjoyed such acceptance that even the USwas tempted to use them by hiring the Kurds in Syria, pit themagainst ISIS and then abandon them.

Armenians live in a most dangerous neighborhood where majorpolitical empires cross or crash. They have survived all adversities;this is not their last battle. Armenia and Artsakh are mobilizedand Armenians around the world are raising the alarm. The ene-mies are watching to measure the volume of support that the dias-pora can supply and the political clout that it can generate todesign their own strategic planning.

It does not only take courage and technology to win the war butalso worldwide solidarity that Armenians must generate and man-ifest.

The Face of the New War in Karabakh

20 S A T U R D A Y, O C T O B E R 3 , 2 0 2 0 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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The Vahan Tekeyan School, founded in 1951, was damaged by the August 4 explosion in Beirut. It primarily serves a low-income segment of the Armenian community and al-

the Covid-19 pandemic. Now it is trying to reopen for the fall semester.

WAR, from page 19Laurence Broers, Caucasus program director atthe London-based think tank Chatham House,noted via Twitter that the clashes could be “anintentional but limited aims operation [on thepart of Azerbaijan] aimed at recovering territo-ries [and] consolidating [a] more advantageousnew ceasefire, packaged as a military win.”

Firdevs Robinson, a London-based specialiston Turkey, the Caucasus and Central Asia, con-curred.

“In Azerbaijan, the loss of significant part ofthe country’s territory has been a festeringwound for decades but the pressure from thepublic has been growing in recent years,” shetold Al-Monitor. “With the Minsk group largelyineffective in recent years, and the UnitedStates distracted with its presidential race, andthe Europeans battling the pandemic, the tim-ing of this latest escalation makes perfectopportunistic sense,” she added. It remains tobe seen just how far Azerbaijan will go and howfar Turkey will back it.

Pressure on Aliyev intensified when clasheserupted along Azerbaijan’s international borderwith Armenia in July, killing at least 16 people.Thousands of people took to the streets ofBaku demanding the government declare warand wrest back Nagorno-Karabakh along withother lost territory.

“The prevailing sentiment in Azerbaijan nowis that 'Turkey is behind us and told the[Azerbaijani] government: Do as you must,’ andthat is the reason the government decided toact,” Aga, the Ankara-based analyst, contended.“Nagorno-Karabakh is an existential issue forAzerbaijanis across the political spectrum. Theybelieve Turkey can help win it back andErdogan is extremely popular in Azerbaijan.”

For Armenians and their brethren in the dias-pora, Nagorno-Karabakh is every bit as existen-tial if not more, as it's closely bound up with thetrauma of the genocidal slaughter of more thana million of the Ottoman Empire’s Armenian

subjects in 1915. Many wound up in Syria andnow around 25,000 have sought refuge inArmenia since the start of the civil conflictthere in 2011. Should the allegations ofTurkish backed Sunni Syrian mercenariesbeing carried to Azerbaijan to fight theArmenians prove true, this would be a furthercruel twist.

Against this background most Armenians seethemselves as not just fighting Azerbaijan but

Turkey as well. “President Erdogan’s discourse,such as his tweets that Turkey and Azerbaijanare ‘one nation, two states’ and that ‘theTurkish nation with all its capabilities, today asalways, stands with its Azerbaijani brothers’only serve to reinforce that dominant percep-tion,” said Khatchig Mouradian, a lecturer inMiddle Eastern, South Asian and AfricanStudies at Columbia University.

Turkey has no diplomatic ties with Armeniaand its borders with its eastern neighborremain sealed in solidarity with Azerbaijan. A

brief period of rapprochement saw emergenceof Armenian Genocide discussion, which waslong criminalized, and a flurry of biculturalactivity promoted by Turkish philanthropistOsman Kavala.

But hopes of a lasting thaw faded whenErdogan scrapped Swiss-brokered protocols tonormalize relations with Armenia soon afterthey were signed in 2009.

He reportedly succumbed to pressure from

Azerbaijan. In doing so, he forfeited Turkey’schance to broker peace between Armenia andAzerbaijan by removing landlocked Armenia’sincentive to make concessions in exchange foropen borders with Turkey. Kavala has been injail since November 2017 on trumped-up ter-rorism charges. Hate crimes against Turkey’s60,000-strong Armenian minority are on therise.

Like many experts, however, Mouradianbelieves that Erdogan’s hawkish rhetoric onArmenia is tied to Turkey’s aggressive postur-

ing in Libya, Syria and the easternMediterranean, where it’s been forced to backdown in the face of Russian countermoves andthreats of sanctions from the European Union.“Facing major economic challenges domestical-ly, and forced to recoil from adventures in theMediterranean, Erdogan is pinning hopes onsome Azeri success for which he can take cred-it,” he told Al-Monitor.

Erdogan’s trashing of the Minsk process maywell point to an even riskier gamble. A Westerndiplomat speaking not for attribution to Al-Monitor said that by fomenting instability inRussia’s hinterland, Turkey aims to create“greater symmetry in its relations withMoscow” to “create an Astana-like process forKarabakh” that will bolster its hand in its deal-ings with the Russians elsewhere. The diplomatwas referring to the mechanism through whichTurkey, Iran and Russia pursue their oftenclashing interests in Syria through mutual ifbegrudging accommodation. The prospect offreezing out France and the United States frommediation efforts should prove attractive toMoscow, or that anyway may be Ankara's cal-culation.

Turkey may also be hoping to benefit eco-nomically by selling more military hardware toAzerbaijan and win better terms for its gas andoil imports. Nothing is that straightforward,however, warned Robinson, and Turkey couldwalk away empty handed. "Yet another short-sighted, half-baked military adventure, especial-ly when it involves coming face-to-face withRussia, in its historical backyard, will be noth-ing like playing power games in Syria or Libya,”she said. “It might be useful to remember thatPresident Aliyev is a pragmatic leader. His coun-try has close ties with Russia and Azerbaijanbuys arms from Israel. When forced to choosebetween the real regional power — Russia andthe one with ambitions to become one — we canguess which direction he will take.”

Turkey Backs Azerbaijan Against Armenia as War Looms over Caucasus

For Armenians and their brethrenin the diaspora, Nagorno-Karabakh

is every bit as existential if notmore, as it's closely bound up with

the trauma of the genocidalslaughter of more than a millionof the Ottoman Empire’s Armenian

subjects in 1915.