YEREVAN (Combined Sources) — Duringhis first visit to this nation, FrenchPresident Nicolas Sarkozy urged Turkey torecognize the 1915 Armenians Genocide bythe Ottoman Turk government, thusthrilling Armenians worldwide and rilingthe Turkish government.“The Armenian Genocide is a historical

reality. Collective denial is even worse thanindividual denial,” Sarkozy said Thursday,October 6 in Yerevan.“Turkey, which is a great country, would

honor itself by revisiting its history likeother countries in the world have done,”Sarkozy added.Sarkozy also hinted that Turkey’s refusal

to recognize the Genocide would forceFrance to change its law and make suchdenials a criminal offense. “If Turkey doesnot do this, then doubtless we will have togo further,” he said without elaborating.Sarkozy urged Armenia to continue

efforts towards normalizing relations withTurkey and finding a durable peace with itsother neighbor, Azerbaijan.On the second day of his visit to Yerevan

as part of a broader South Caucasus tourthat also included stops in Baku and Tbilisi,Sarkozy urged the parties to the protracted

Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict overNagorno-Karabagh to resolve their differ-ences by peaceful means.“I have told the president of Armenia to

continue his way towards peace withAzerbaijan, which meets the interests ofboth countries,” Sarkozy said at a jointpress conference with his Armenian coun-terpart.France is one of the three countries

along with Russia and the United States

jointly heading the Minsk Group of theOrganization for Security and Cooperationin Europe (OSCE) that spearheads interna-tional efforts to broker a solution to theNagorno-Karabagh conflict.Sarkozy traveled to Baku later on Friday

to carry a similar message of peace beforevisiting Georgian capital Tbilisi on the lastleg of his South Caucasus tour.Speaking about the Karabagh conflict in

see SARKOZY, page 20

Catholicos ArrivesIn US

ECHMIADZIN — On October 7, Karekin IISupreme Patriarch and Catholicos of AllArmenians, arrived in the US to pay a pontificalvisit to the Eastern Diocese of the ArmenianChurch of North America.During the visit, he held meetings with the

benefactors of the Mother See of HolyEchmiadzin to discuss their current projects.The Armenian pontiff was accompanied by

Rev. Aris Tonoyan, a member of the Brotherhoodof the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin.

Italian TownRecognizes Armenian

GenocideCERCHIARA di CALABRIA, Italy (Aysor.am) —The town council of the town Cerchiara diCalabria voted to recognize the ArmenianGenocide on September 24. It is the sixth townin Italy to recognize the Armenian Genocide thisyear.In April, the Armenian Genocide was recog-

nized by the following town councils of Italy: SanGiorgio, Padova Province, Bolano, La SpeziaProvince, Sermide, Province Mantova, Dorgali,the Province of Nuoro and Isola del Liri inFrosinone Province.A total of four provinces and 59 towns of Italy

have recognized the Armenian Genocide, theMinistry of Foreign Affairs press office said.

Armenia’s DefenseMinister Fires SeniorOfficers over Accident

YEREVAN (tert.am) — Armenia’s defense minis-ter has fired senior military officials over theincident during military exercise that claimed alife.A source close to the Defense Ministry said

that upon his return from Brussels on October 7,Seyran Ohanyan signed a decree firing severalhigh-ranking military officers, including the com-mander of the Baghramyan Education Camp,over the incident.Several other high-ranking military officers

were reprimanded.The accident took place at around 6 p.m. on

October 3 when a vehicle in a military convoy hitthe roadside mound, lost control and slipped offthe road, killing one conscript and injuring sixothers.It comes a week after Ohanyan said during a

visit to a military unit in Nagorno-Karabagh thatnon-combat deaths in the army are unacceptableand that those in charge will be strictly punishedin accordance with the law.

INDEXArts and Living . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Armenia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Community News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 4

Mirror- SpectatorMirror- SpectatorTHE ARMENIAN

Volume LXXXII , NO. 14, Issue 4208

O C T O B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 1

$ 2.00

Showing‘The Way’

page 13

INSIDE

The First English Language Armenian Weekly in the United States

NEWS IN BRIEF

By Lowell Bergman

MIAMI (PBS Frontline) — SarkisSoghanalian, the Lebanese-born armsdealer who sold weapons to rebels andautocrats, including Saddam Hussein,died of natural causes on Tuesday,October 4, in Miami. He was 78.Featured in the 1990 documentary,

“The Arming of Iraq,” Soghanalianspoke candidly about how, with secretsupport from the US government, hebecame the former Iraqi dictator’s majorarms supplier during the peak of theIran-Iraq war. Once fabulously wealthy,with a vast fleet of jet cargo planes andhomes in a dozen countries includingluxury villas in Miami and Palm Springs,and a horse ranch in Fort Lauderdale,he died virtually broke, his family insists.

see SOGHANALIAN, page 6Sarkis Soghanalian

Sarkis Soghanalian: Cold War‘Merchant of Death’ Dies in Miami

ArmeniaRemembersSteve JobsYEREVAN (ArmeniaNow) — Apple fans

mourning the death of company founderSteve Jobs last week gathered at the Applestore here, to express their condolences.Jobs died on Wednesday, October 5 inCalifornia.

“Since early this morning numerousApple users and ordinary citizens havebeen calling the store to express their con-dolences over Steve Jobs’ loss; everybody isshocked by his untimely death,” the Applestore representative Edik Mardoyan said.Jobs, passed away at the age of 56, of pan-

creatic cancer. He was the adopted son ofPaul and Clara (Hakobyan) Jobs, ofMountain View, Calif.A private funeral took place on Friday,

October 7. Apple will hold a special memo-rial in his honor on October 19 at the com-pany headquarters in Cupertino, Calif.He leaves a wife and four children.

Steve Jobs

During Visit to Armenia SarkozyUrges Ankara to Admit Genocide

Many people turned out to see the French president during his first visit to the nation.

YEREVAN (ArmeniaNow) — From anunderdog that trembled at the sight of vir-tually any opponent and often played any-thing but soccer, Armenia has transformeditself into a legitimate object of Union ofEuropean Football Associations (UEFA)respectability.The latest victories achieved by Armenian

players this week as part of an ongoing UEFAEuro-2012 qualifying campaign may havecome as a surprise to outside observers, but

anyone who has watched the rise of com-mencing coach Vardan Minasyan’s team willsee a great effort and work as the well-appliedformula behind the success.The statement by Armenian Football

Federation (FFA) President RubenHayrapetyan before the start of the cam-paign, that Armenia would seek to qualifyfor European Championship finals, wastaken with considerable skepticism by local

see SOCCER, page 2

Soccer: A Cinderella Story Goes on for Armenia

YEREVAN — Since 2011, the VahanTekeyan School in Berdzor (Artsakh)has been included on the list of benefi-ciaries of Tekeyan Centre Fund ofArmenia, and, like the other fourTekeyan Schools in Armenia (Yerevan,Gumri, Garpi and Stepanavan), it hasbeen participating in all the projects of

the fund. The school was named threeyears ago after Vahan Tekeyan throughthe efforts and contributions to theteachers of TCA Board ofAdministrations of USA and its chair-man, Maro Bedrosian.On September 19, the chair of

Tekeyan Centre Fund, Vartan

Ouzounian, who had arrived in Yerevanon the occasion of the 20th anniversaryof Tekeyan Centre, left for Artsakh tovisit Berdzor School No. 1, now namedfor Vahan Tekeyan.In his welcoming speech, Ouzounian

warmly congratulated the Tekeyan Schoolon the new academic year. The chairmanwished the pupils a successful year andnew achievements, and he wished theteaching staff great enthusiasm to do theirimportant and patriotic duty.On behalf of Tekeyan Centre Fund,

Ouzounian praised the teachers’ out-standing contribution to the develop-ment of the Armenian nation, and hethanked them for educating genera-tions in very difficult conditions and forperforming their mission with highsense of responsibility.Principal Anahit Kosakyan thanked

Ouzounian for supporting all Tekeyanschools. Various projects of the fundand Tekeyan Cultural Association ofUnited States and Canada inspire notonly Tekeyan schoolchildren but alsoteachers and help to make friendshipand to unite all Tekeyan members in abig family, she said.During his visit to school, Ouzounian

inquired about the school’s achieve-ments and successes as well as the prob-lems. In fact, the school faces many prob-lems that should be solved urgently.Ouzounian walked around the school

and saw its terrible state (i.e. the leak-ing roof, destroyed staircases and floor,no asphalt road to school and the mostimportant issue: no running water).According to the teachers, the school

library needs to be enriched (there is alack of dictionaries, encyclopedias andliterature). The school also needs labo-ratory equipment that will enable chil-dren to make chemical, physical andother experiments.Ouzounian promised that Tekeyan

Centre Fund would do its best toimprove the Berdzor School.On the same day, the chairman visit-

ed another school in Artsakh, a schoolin the village of Vank, to make a com-parison. Fortunately, not all schools inArtsakh are in terrible state.

RRoommaanniiaa DDeevveellooppiinnggRReellaattiioonnss wwiitthh AArrmmeenniiaa

YYEERREEVVAANN ((MMeeddiiaammaaxx)) —— RRoommaanniiaa iiss iinntteerreesstteedd iinnddeevveellooppiinngg rreellaattiioonnss wwiitthh AArrmmeenniiaa bbootthh oonn aa bbiillaatt--eerraall bbaassiiss aanndd wwiitthhiinn tthhee EEUU aanndd NNAATTOO,, RRoommaanniiaa’’ssAAmmbbaassssaaddoorr ttoo AArrmmeenniiaa KKrriinnaa PPrruunnaarriiuu ssaaiidd tthhiisswweeeekk aatt aa pprreessss ccoonnffeerreennccee hheelldd iinn tthhee NNAATTOOIInnffoorrmmaattiioonn CCeenntteerr..PPrruunnaarriioo ssaaiidd tthhaatt tthhee ttwwoo ccoouunnttrriieess’’ pprreessiiddeennttss

hhaavvee hheelldd nniinnee mmeeeettiinnggss oovveerr tthhee ppaasstt 2200 yyeeaarrss..TThheerree hhaavvee aallssoo bbeeeenn nnuummeerroouuss mmeeeettiinnggss ooff ffoorreeiiggnnaanndd ddeeffeennssee mmiinniisstteerrss ooff AArrmmeenniiaa aanndd RRoommaanniiaa..““AArrmmeenniiaann aanndd RRoommaanniiaann DDeeffeennssee MMiinniissttrriieess

mmaaiinnttaaiinn ggoooodd rreellaattiioonnss.. AAtt oonnee ttiimmee,, RRoommaanniiaaooffffeerreedd AArrmmeenniiaa ssuuppppoorrtt iinn eellaabboorraattiioonn ooff MMiilliittaarryyDDooccttrriinnee aanndd tthhee pprroocceessss ooff rreeffoorrmmiinngg tthhee mmiilliittaarryybbuuddggeett aanndd mmiilliittaarryy sseerrvviicceemmeenn ttrraaiinniinngg,,”” ssaaiidd tthheeaammbbaassssaaddoorr..PPrruunnaarriiuu ssaaiidd tthhaatt aann eevveenntt ddeevvootteedd ttoo tthhee 2200tthh

aannnniivveerrssaarryy ooff tthhee eessttaabblliisshhmmeenntt ooff ddiipplloommaattiicc rreellaa--ttiioonnss bbeettwweeeenn AArrmmeenniiaa aanndd RRoommaanniiaa wwiillll bbee hheelldd iinnBBuucchhaarreesstt oonn DDeecceemmbbeerr 1177..

PPrreemmiieerr RReecceeiivveessLLeebbaanneessee SSppeeaakkeerr

YYEERREEVVAANN ((NNooyyaann TTaappaann)) —— OOnn OOccttoobbeerr 44,, PPrriimmeeMMiinniisstteerr TTiiggrraann SSaarrggiissiiaann rreecceeiivveedd LLeebbaanneesseeSSppeeaakkeerr NNaabbiihh BBeerrrrii..GGrreeeettiinngg tthhee gguueesstt,, SSaarrggiissiiaann eexxpprreesssseedd ccoonnffii--

ddeennccee tthhaatt BBeerrrrii’’ss vviissiitt ttoo AArrmmeenniiaa wwoouulldd ggiivvee aanneeww iimmppeettuuss ttoo tthhee ddeevveellooppmmeenntt ooff rreellaattiioonnssbbeettwweeeenn tthhee ttwwoo ccoouunnttrriieess iinn ddiiffffeerreenntt ddiirreeccttiioonnss..SSaarrggiissiiaann nnootteedd tthhaatt mmuuttuuaall eeccoonnoommiicc rreellaattiioonnss,,eessppeecciiaallllyy ttrraaddee cciirrccuullaattiioonn vvoolluummeess ddoonn’’tt ccoorrrree--ssppoonndd ttoo tthhee lleevveell ooff AArrmmeenniiaann--LLeebbaanneessee hhiigghh--lleevveellppoolliittiiccaall rreellaattiioonnss..TThhee ttwwoo mmeenn ccoonnssiiddeerreedd lliigghhtt iinndduussttrryy,, pphhaarrmmaa--

cceeuuttiiccaallss,, jjeewweellrryy aanndd ttoouurriissmm iinn tthhee ff iieellddss ooffpprroossppeeccttiivvee ccooooppeerraattiioonn..BBeerrrrii ssaaiidd tthhaatt iinn tthhee nneeaarr ffuuttuurree LLeebbaannoonn’’ss pprreess--

iiddeenntt,, pprriimmee mmiinniisstteerr aanndd ffoorreeiiggnn mmiinniisstteerr wwoouullddvviissiitt AArrmmeenniiaa..

AArrcchhiitteecctt IIssrraaeellyyaann’’ssHHoouussee IIss DDeemmoolliisshheedd ttooMMaakkee RRoooomm ffoorr HHootteell

YYEERREEVVAANN ((PPaannAARRMMEENNIIAANN..NNeett)) —— TThhee hhoouussee ooff aawweellll--kknnoowwnn AArrmmeenniiaann aarrcchhiitteecctt,, RRaaffaaeell IIssrraaeellyyaann,,ddeessiiggnneerr ooff tthhee SSaarrddaarraappaatt ((11996688)) aanndd MMootthheerrAArrmmeenniiaa ((11995511)) ccoommpplleexxeess,, iiss bbeeiinngg ddeemmoolliisshheedd..IIssrraaeellyyaann’’ss hhoouussee,, llooccaatteedd iinn SSaarryyaann SSttrreeeett,, wwaass

ccoonnssttrruucctteedd bbyy tthhee aarrcchhiitteecctt hhiimmsseellff iinn 11995544,, wwiitthhmmaannyy ooff tthhee ddeeccoorraattiioonnss ccaarrvveedd bbyy hhiiss oowwnn hhaanndd..AAccccoorrddiinngg ttoo rreeppoorrttss,, aa hhootteell ccoonnssttrruuccttiioonn oonnssiittee

iiss ppllaannnneedd.. AArrcchhiitteecctt SSaarraatt PPeettrroossyyaann ssttaatteedd,, tthheeccoonnssttrruuccttiioonn ooff aa hhootteell hhaass nnoott bbeeeenn eennvviissaaggeedd bbyyYYeerreevvaann MMuunniicciippaalliittyy zzoonniinngg pprroojjeecctt,, aanndd ccoonnssee--qquueennttllyy,, rruunnss ccoouunntteerr ttoo iitt..AArrcchhiitteecctt AArrsseenn KKaarraappeettyyaann,, ssaaiidd,, ““YYoouu ccoouulldd

ccoouunntt tthhee bbuuiillddiinnggss rreettaaiinniinngg tthhee mmeemmoorryy ooff tthheeoolldd cciittyy oonn oonnee hhaanndd.. WWiitthh IIssrraaeellyyaann’’ss ccoonnttrriibbuuttiioonnttoo AArrmmeenniiaann aarrcchhiitteeccttuurree,, hhiiss hhoouussee wwaass mmoorree tthhaannwwoorrtthhyy ooff pprreesseerrvviinngg.. TThhee bbuuiillddiinngg ccoouulldd bbee ttuurrnneeddiinnttoo aa mmuusseeuumm,, iinnsstteeaadd ooff aannootthheerr ffaacceelleessss hhootteell..YYeerreevvaann iiss ttuurrnniinngg iinnttoo aa cciittyy wwiitthhoouutt mmeemmoorriieess..””

LLaakkee SSeevvaann LLeevveell RRiisseeCCrreeaatteess EEccoo PPrroobblleemmss

YYEERREEVVAANN ((nneewwss..aamm)) —— TThhee lleevveell ooff LLaakkee SSeevvaann iiss11,,990000..3344 mmeetteerrss aass ooff SSeepptteemmbbeerr 11,, dduuee ttoo wwhhiicchhpprroobblleemmss hhaavvee rriisseenn wwiitthh rreessppeecctt ttoo cclleeaanniinngg tthheellaakkeesshhoorree’’ss ffoorreesstt--ccoovveerreedd uunnddeerr--wwaatteerr aarreeaass,, nnootteessAArrmmeenniiaann MMiinniissttrryy ooff NNaattuurree PPrrootteeccttiioonn.. TThhee llaarrggeeaammoouunntt ooff oorrggaanniicc mmaatteerriiaall,, wwhhiicchh hhaass rreemmaaiinneedduunnddeerr wwaatteerr,, iiss ppoolllluuttiinngg tthhee wwaatteerr.. NNuummeerroouuss ccoonn--ssttrruuccttiioonnss aanndd iinnffrraassttrruuccttuurree,, wwhhiicchh hhaavvee lliikkeewwiisseerreemmaaiinneedd uunnddeerr wwaatteerr,, aarree ccaauussiinngg sseerriioouuss pprroobb--lleemmss,, ttoooo..NNoonn--ppuurriiffiieedd wwaasstteewwaatteerr iiss ssppiilllliinngg iinnttoo tthhee llaakkee,,

cchhaannggiinngg tthhee llaakkee’’ss bbiiooddiivveerrssiittyy aanndd sseevveerreellyy rreedduucc--iinngg iittss ssttoocckk ooff ffiisshh.. AAnndd rreedduuccttiioonn iinn tthhee nnuummbbeerrooff ffiisshh ssppeecciieess hhaass rreessuulltteedd iinn aann iinntteennssiivvee aaccccuu--mmuullaattiioonn ooff oorrggaanniicc mmaatteerriiaall iinn tthhee llaakkee’’ss eeccoossyyss--

News From Armenia

S A T U R D A Y, O C T O B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 1 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R2

ARMENIA

SOCCER, from page 1specialists and the media. But less thantwo years down the road a reverse situ-ation has emerged when cautious state-ments by soccer functionaries aboutthe chances of qualification are alreadytaken as an expression of modesty.The Friday spectacle at Yerevan’s

Republican Stadium, in which Armeniahumiliated FYR Macedonia 4-1 — thefifth victory for the team as part of theongoing qualifying tournament andthird in a row — laid to rest skepticalattitudes that still existed after similarlyspectacular displays against establishedEuropean teasm such as Slovakia.During the match, President Serge

Sargisian and other leaders of the coun-try couldn’t check their emotions andjumped for joy like teenagers in theirVIP section, as did 15,000 ticket-buyingfans. After the victory, a rare outbreakof football fever spread in spontaneousjubilant scenes in Yerevan, with peopledriving around in cars, waving nationaltricolors, singing and dancing.Hayrapetyan could not check his emo-

tions, either. “This is one of the happiestmoments of my life. Beautiful soccer,goals, excitement in the field — this wasmy dream. Now it came true,” said theofficial who took over soccer affairs inArmenia in the early 2000 when evendraws were few and far between for thebadly underperforming team.A whole generation of young players

like Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Gevorg

Ghazaryan, Edgar Manucharyan,Karlen Mkrtchyan, Yura Movsisyan andothers have risen since then to give thenational team an entirely new qualityand vigor it had lacked before.Ahead of Tuesday’s 10th and final

match in Euro-2012 qualifying Group Bagainst the Republic of Ireland inDublin in which Armenia needs a win togo into playoffs coach Minasyan says hewon’t break his rule, which is “takingone step at a time.” (The game is takingplace after press time.)“We are still on our way. We don’t

have the task of qualifying from the

group by all means, our task is to raisethe quality of our play,” said Minasyanin an interview with online sport portalArmsport.am. “Before the game I askthe players not to pay too much atten-tion to the passions and remain focusedon our path and keep going.”The modest comments of the coach

are unlikely to lower expectations of theArmenia fans for whom TV screens andcomputer monitors will serve as umbili-cal cords to Team Armenia when maybe— just maybe — there will be no mid-night struck on this ArmenianCinderella.

Soccer: A Cinderella Story Goes on for Armenia

Soccer fans rejoice after the team’s latest win.

YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — Oppositionleader Levon Ter-Petrosian ended late onSaturday more than weeklong nonstopdemonstrations staged by his ArmenianNational Congress (HAK) in LibertySquare despite failing to secure any con-cessions from the government.Addressing thousands of supporters ral-

lying there, Ter-Petrosian said the HAKleadership has decided to “temporarilystop” the protests because it believes thatthey have already served their purpose.“The current activation of the popular

movement has made more visible anddeepened cracks within the governmentcamp as well as the already existing wide-spread public distrust and contempttowards it,” he claimed, presenting astatement adopted by the bloc.The announcement provoked cries of

discontent from sections of the crowd thatdemanded that the round-the-clock sit-incontinue until the administration of Pres-ident Serge Sargisian agrees to call earlypresidential and parliamentary elections.Ter-Petrosian rejected the objections.

“As I said, the success of our struggledepends only on discipline and theunconditional execution of decisions bythe congress leadership. He who doesn’tbehave in this way helps SergeSargisian,” he said, prompting applausefrom other demonstrators.The HAK set up a tent camp in Liberty

Square on September 30 in hopes ofstepping up pressure on the Armenianauthorities. It at the same time offered toresume talks with Sargisian’s rulingcoalition without preconditions.Ter-Petrosian’s bloc previously made

their resumption conditional on therelease of an opposition activist arrestedin August.Coalition representatives have made

clear that they will not negotiate withthe HAK until the “illegal” protests areover. In another sign of its self-confi-dence, the Sargisian administration hasstill not responded to another, more far-reaching offer made by Ter-Petrosian.Ter-Petrosian also announced that the

HAK will hold its next rally on October 28.

Ter-Petrosian Ends Nonstop Protests

Vartan Ouzounian, fourth from left, standing, and guest with teachers and students

Tekeyan Centre Chair Ouzounian Visits School in Artsakh

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

INTERNATIONAL

MMiisshhaa AAllooyyaann WWiinnss GGoollddFFoorr RRuussssiiaa iinn BBaakkuu

TToouurrnnyyBBAAKKUU ((PPaannAARRMMEENNIIAANN..NNeett)) —— AArrmmeenniiaann bbooxxeerrMMiisshhaa AAllooyyaann ((5522 kkgg)),, rreepprreesseennttiinngg RRuussssiiaa aatt BBaakkuu--hhoosstteedd AAIIBBAA WWoorrlldd CChhaammppiioonnsshhiippss ssccoorreedd aa vviiccttoo--rryy vveerrssuuss AAnnddrreeww SSeellbbyy ooff WWaalleess ttoo wwiinn tthhee ggoollddmmeeddaall aatt tthhee cchhaammppiioonnsshhiipp..DDaavviidd HHaayyrraappeettyyaann ((4499 kkgg)),, aallssoo rreepprreesseennttiinngg

RRuussssiiaa,, wwoonn tthhee bbrroonnzzee mmeeddaall..

KKuuwwaaiitt AAsskkss ffoorr SShhaarreeIInn IIrraann--AArrmmeenniiaaRRaaiillrrooaadd PPrroojjeecctt

TTEEHHRRAANN ((FFNNAA)) —— KKuuwwaaiitt’’ss ffiinnaannccee mmiinniisstteerr vvooiicceeddhhiiss ccoouunnttrryy’’ss eeaaggeerrnneessss ttoo hhaavvee aa sshhaarree iinn aa rraaiillwwaayyccoonnssttrruuccttiioonn pprroojjeecctt wwhhiicchh wwoouulldd lliinnkk IIrraann ttooAArrmmeenniiaa.. ““OOuurr ccoouunnttrryy bbeelliieevveess tthhaatt tthhee ttrraannssppoorrttaattiioonn

sseeccttoorr iiss ooff mmuucchh iimmppoorrttaannccee,, aanndd tthhaatt ccoonnssttrruucc--ttiioonn ooff IIrraann--AArrmmeenniiaa rraaiillwwaayy wwoouulldd sseerrvvee tthhee iinntteerr--eessttss ooff KKuuwwaaiitt aanndd AArrmmeenniiaa,,”” tthhee KKuuwwaaiittii mmiinniisstteerrssaaiidd iinn aa jjooiinntt pprreessss ccoonnffeerreennccee wwiitthh tthhee AArrmmeenniiaannddeeppuuttyy pprriimmee mmiinniisstteerr iinn YYeerreevvaann.. TThhee AArrmmeenniiaann ddeeppuuttyy pprriimmee mmiinniisstteerr mmeennttiioonneedd

tthhaatt KKuuwwaaiitt hhaass aallssoo vvooiicceedd iittss iinntteerreesstt iinn ppaarrttiiccii--ppaattiinngg iinn tthhee NNoorrtthh--SSoouutthh CCoorrrriiddoorr CCoonnssttrruuccttiioonnpprroojjeecctt aass wweellll.. AAccccoorrddiinngg ttoo eeaarrllyy eessttiimmaatteess,, $$22 bbiilllliioonn ooff iinnvveesstt--

mmeenntt iiss nneeeeddeedd ffoorr tthhee ccoonnssttrruuccttiioonn ooff tthhee IIrraann--AArrmmeenniiaa rraaiillwwaayy.. TThhee WWoorrlldd BBaannkk aanndd tthhee AAssiiaann DDeevveellooppmmeenntt

BBaannkk hhaavvee aallrreeaaddyy vvooiicceedd iinntteerreesstt iinn tthhee pprroojjeecctt.. TThhee ttoottaall lleennggtthh ooff tthhee rraaiillwwaayy iiss 554400 ttoo 556600 kkiilloo--

mmeetteerrss oonn IIrraanniiaann tteerrrriittoorryy aanndd 448800 kkiilloommeetteerrss iinnAArrmmeenniiaa.. FFeeaassiibbiilliittyy ssttuuddiieess ccaammee ttoo aann eenndd eeaarrlliieerr tthhiiss

yyeeaarr.. AArrmmeenniiaann TTrraannssppoorrtt aanndd CCoommmmuunniiccaattiioonnss

MMiinniisstteerr MMaannuukk VVaarrddaannyyaann ssttaatteedd llaasstt OOccttoobbeerr tthhaattddiissccuussssiioonnss ooff tthhee pprroojjeecctt aarree mmoovviinngg ffoorrwwaarrdd sstteepp--bbyy--sstteepp;; tthhee ff iirrsstt sstteepp bbeeiinngg tthhee ffeeaassiibbiilliittyy ssttuuddyy aannddaann aasssseessssmmeenntt ooff tthhee ff iinnaanncceess nneeeeddeedd.. MMeeaanntt iimmee,, RRuussssiiaann TTrraannssppoorrtt MMiinniisstteerr IIggoorr

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eedd bbyy MMaarriieettaa GGyyuullzzaaddyyaann aanndd TTiiggrraann NNaazzaarryyaann..

International News

LONDON (Guardian) — A conservativemember of parliament who sits on thecommittee that scrutinizes the securityservices is being paid £6,000 ($9,400) ayear by a pro-Azerbaijan lobby group.Mark Field, member of parliament

(MP) for the Cities of London andWestminster, has joined the advisoryboard of the European AzerbaijanSociety. Azerbaijan’s government hasbeen criticized this year by the ForeignOffice and Amnesty International for tor-turing protesters campaigning for politi-cal reforms. Labour MPs have ques-tioned whether Field’s new job is appro-priate, given the sensitive nature of thework of the intelligence committee.Field, 46, is the youngest ever member

of parliament to serve on the committee,which reports directly to 10 DowningStreet and oversees the UK’s intelligenceand security services.The committee is unique because it

consists of nine parliamentariansappointed by — and reporting directly to— the prime minister. It has greater pow-ers than a select committee of parlia-ment, being able to demand papers fromformer governments and official adviceto ministers, both of which are not opento select committees. His new advisoryrole began in June. He is also the chair-man of the all-party group for Azerbaijan.Field flew to Azerbaijan to meet senior

Azeri politicians in May on a five-day tripthat cost around £3,500 ($5,500) and inJuly 2010 he spoke in the country’s cap-ital, Baku, at a NATO conference.In March Prince Andrew met Field at

Buckingham Palace and asked for sup-port in parliament and Whitehall for

British investment in Azerbaijan.The European Azerbaijan Society was

launched in November 2008 to promoteAzerbaijan to international audiences,according to its website.Tale Heydarov, a 26-year-old business-

man whose father is one of Azerbaijan’sministers, is the society’s main funderand director.A former student at the London

School of Economics, he has beendescribed as the “Abramovich ofAzerbaijan” after pouring millions ofpounds into his local football team —including £1 million ($1.5 million) a yearin wages to recruit the former Englandcaptain Tony Adams as manager.Azerbaijan is ruled by the authoritari-

an president Ilham Aliyev and, accordingto the Foreign Office, the country’shuman rights record is poor. Journalistsin the country have been harassed andjailed, opposition candidates disqualifiedand voters intimidated.In March Amnesty International called

upon Azerbaijan’s authorities to endtheir crackdown on activists preparingfor a protest inspired by recent events inthe Middle East and north Africa.Detainees said they had been water-boarded and threatened with rape whilein police custody.A spokesman for the Foreign Office

said human rights remained a crucialissue in the country. “We and the EUhave raised our concern over the slowprogress in improving human rights inAzerbaijan on many occasions. Theseconcerns still exist.”The society has increased its profile in

Westminster over the past year. It pro-

vides secretarial services for the all-partyparliamentary group on Azerbaijan,which has 20 members.It has organized high-profile meetings

and receptions at all three of the mainparty conferences.The society also founded

“Conservative Friends of Azerbaijan”this year, which has 25 Tory parliamen-tarians as members. Robert Halfon, mem-ber of parliament, is vice chair and ChrisPincher, member of parliament, is trea-surer. Other members include the deputyspeaker Nigel Evans and the 1922Committee chairman, Graham Brady.Approached this week, Field said it

was “absurd” to claim that he should nothave taken up his new position. He saidhe had met Heydarov on a couple ofoccasions.“The reason that I have been out there

[to Azerbaijan] on two occasions isbecause the country is trying to developits financial services sector. There is noquestion of a conflict of interest,” he said.“I have signed the Official Secrets Act

and I will not be divulging any secrets tothe Azerbaijan government or anyoneelse connected to any of the other orga-nizations or all-party committees I aminvolved with. It would be absurd andwould be quite improper to think thatanyone on the security and intelligencecommittee could not have any other out-side interests,” he said.A spokesman for the society said the

Heydarovs were not its only funders andit was an independent organization,entirely separate from the Azerbaijangovernment.John Mann, the Labour member of

parliament for Bassetlaw, said: “Thisshows how wrong it can go when anmember of parliament takes a secondjob. It is an obvious conflict of interest.”

UK MP on Intelligence Committee Paid by Azerbaijan Lobby Group

By Rajeev Syal and Solomon Hughes

BEIJING — The 32nd InternationalCosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2011),hosted and organized by the Institute ofHigh Energy Physics and the ChineseAcademy of Sciences, was held August11 to 18. Following the tradition of pastconferences, the ICRC 2011 dealt with abroad range of topics covering cosmicray physics, gamma-ray astronomy, solarphysics and high-energy phenomena inthe atmosphere. Armenia’s delegation from the

Cosmic Ray Division (CRD) of theArtem Alikhanyan National Laboratory(Yerevan Physics Institute) includedBagrat Mailyan, Romen Martirosov andLevon Vanyan, who reported on theresearch being con-ducted at the CosmicRay Division.Bagrat Mailyan, a

recent PhD recipient,presented two paperson CRD’s research:“ T h u n d e r s t o r mG r o u n dEnhancements (TGE-s)” detected at CRD’sAragats research sta-tion and “The energyspectra of the thunder-storm correlated elec-tron and gamma rayfluxes measured atAragats.” Both talksdescribed researchinto the new field of

gamma rays generated within theearth’s atmosphere by thunderstorms.Romen Martirosov’s talk was titled,

“Energy spectrum and mass composi-tion of primary cosmic radiation in theregion above the knee from theGAMMA experiment.”Vanyan discussed “Simulations of the

Relativistic Runaway ElectronAvalanches (RREA) in the thunder-clouds above the Aragats SpaceEnvironmental Center (ASEC).”

Medical Diagnostic ConsortiumIn Armenia

In further news about physics inArmenia, on September 2, a memo-

randum was signed betweenArmenia’s National Center ofOncology (NCO), the Institute ofInformatics and Automation Problems(IIAP), the Institute of PhysicalResearch (IPR) and the ArtemAlikhanyan National Laboratory(AANL) represented by their respec-tive directors: H.M. Galstyan, V.G.Sahakyan, A.V. Papoyan and Prof.Ashot Chilingarian. AANL’s director Chilingarian, in his

opening remarks, presented develop-ment perspectives for medical diag-nostic systems; namely radioactive iso-tope production for scanners and dig-ital X-ray image detectors for diagnos-tic imaging.Galstyan, citing the importance of

medical physics research being doneat the AANL, outlined the necessity ofupgrading currently used X-ray diag-nostic devices with modern digitalimaging systems.Clinical tests of the detector are to

be performed at the National Centerof Oncology, using scintillation crys-tals which are grown in Armenia’sPhysical Research Institute. A memorandum was signed con-

firming the intention of jointly devel-oping a 3D digital image registrationsystem for mammography. A newly-formed working group of representa-tives from participating organizationswill prepare a development proposalwithin two months.

Levon Vanyan (left) and Alexander Lidvansky (right) at theBeijing Cosmic Ray Conference

Young CRD Scientists at InternationalCosmic Ray Conference in China

$40,000 Raised forArmenian Virtual CollegePARIS — From August 4-7, AGBU FOCUS was

in Paris for its sixth biennial celebration withclose to 400 participants, from 25 countries.Since this year’s affair marked the first timeFOCUS took place outside North America, thelocation attracted new energy and faces fromeven more countries than ever before.Tailor made for young professional Armenians

from around the globe, FOCUS is the world’slargest gathering of its kind. The four-day gath-ering was headquartered at Hotel Lutetia.The FOCUS 2011 Paris committee was

chaired by Aurélie Deyirmendjian, who helped toorchestrate the festivities and all its thrills. “Wewere all very excited to welcome for the first timeso many Armenian young professionals in Paris.They arrived from all over the world. From HongKong to Argentina, Denmark to Egypt and evenMexico, and it was great that everybody had theopportunity to exchange views and experiences,”she said.“It was great to see many members of the

Parisian-Armenian community join us in ourefforts to make FOCUS 2011 into a unique expe-rience. Everyone contributed their own personaltouches to the events, which resulted in a trulyoriginal weekend. The outpouring of support bynumerous donors and sponsors allowed us torealize our vision and for this we are grateful.FOCUS was a fantastic opportunity to mobilize,gather, surprise and unify Armenian young pro-fessionals, while raising funds for a great cause,”Deyirmendjian said.Through pre-event fundraising efforts, the

FOCUS Committee in Paris and New York wasable to raise $40,000 for AGBU’s ArmenianVirtual College program. The state-of-the-art

school is an unique online resource that allowsstudents of all ages from around the world totake credited classes or audit courses inArmenian language, history, culture or music.Offered in six, soon to be seven, languages —Eastern and Western Armenian, English, French,Spanish, Russian and in the near future Turkish,the school shares with FOCUS a global vision tounify Armenians and reach out to communitieseverywhere.First initiated in 2001, FOCUS was created not

only to unite alumni of AGBU’s various youthprograms but to bring together young Armenianprofessionals from all walks of life to share theirperspectives on a variety of important issues.The weekend also showcases the notable contri-

butions and achievements made by AGBU’s high-quality programs that appeal to Armenians of allages. Over the years, this affair has become themost highly-anticipated event with more than2,500 participants, setting a standard for othergatherings of its kind and cultivating a new gen-eration of AGBU members.

The Weekend Begins

FOCUS 2011 kicked off on Thursday, August4 with the networking evening known asPerspectives. Guests arrived at Crystal Lounge inthe city’s Eighth arrondissement to listen to amoderated discussion about the greater role thecommunity can serve in the outside world. Thetopic quickly transformed into a lively debate.Friday’s daytime program was dominated by

custom city tours allowing smaller groups theopportunity to discover Paris. From visits to theArmenian landmarks of Paris, including theKomitas monument in Yerevan Park and theArmenian cathedral, to French-Armenian fashionboutiques, perfumeries and restaurants, partici-pants enjoyed the sights and sounds of the citywith the help of local French-Armenian guides.“It was a unique experience, particularly at

Francis Kurkjian’s perfumery, to see other suc-cessful Armenians. As a young entrepreneur andbusinesswoman, it was inspiring and very specialto meet with him,” said Ani Minassian, who orig-inally hails from Los Angeles, but currentlyresides in New York.Friday night, hun-

dreds of people traveledto the 1979 Club in theSecond Arrondissement,which offered a windowinto the city’s hip andof f - t he -beaten -pathnightlife. FOCUS also serves as

the setting for theYoung Professionals(YP) Assembly, wherethe worldwide leader-ship of 17 YP Groupsand YP Partners from10 countries (Armenia,Bulgaria, Canada,England, France,Germany, Lebanon,Russia, United ArabEmirates and the US) convened Friday to discusscollaborative efforts and establish groundworkfor continued future success. A testament to theongoing growth and popularity of the YPNetwork, more than 40 attendees participated,representing the largest and most diverse atten-dance for the AGBU YP meeting ever.“This was my first time attending FOCUS and

the YP Assembly, and I was excited to representYP Boston,” said Irina Nanagoulian. “Listeningto the presentations during the Assembly wasboth stirring and inspiring. I particularly enjoyedlearning more about the vast efforts and dedica-tion of the YPs across the globe.”The meeting included sessions on professional

development, community outreach, sustainabili-ty and the development of new regional andglobal initiatives. Presentations were conducted

by YP Liaison Kim Yacoubian, Sarine Karajerjianfrom YP Lebanon, Aurélie Deyirmendjian fromYP Paris, Lilly Grigorian from YP Los Angeles,Aline Markarian from YP Greater New York andGayane Ghardyan from YP Yerevan. Also pre-senting were members of the AGBU StrategicAdvisory Council, who provide guidance andassistance to AGBU youth programs and tookthe opportunity to hear the ideas of YP leaders.

Elegant Highlights

Saturday began at Galerie Matignon, wheretwo art exhibitions, one by French-Armenianartist Jean Jansem, and another by photograph-er Antoine Agoudjian, welcomed guests toFOCUS on Art. The displays offered an opportu-nity for visitors to discover Armenian culture andspeak to the son of Jansem, who offered insightsinto his father’s work and welcomed questionsfrom attendees.The show raised proceeds for this year’s

FOCUS-highlighted cause, the Armenian VirtualCollege, through the sale of artworks. Unbeknownst to gallery goers, the daytime

activity was only a taste of the elegance to follow.When FOCUS guests arrived at Saturday night’sgala, they were impressed with the Old Worldcharm of the Cercle de l’Union Interalliée, a for-mer Napoleonic-era home that has since becomea private club in the Faubourg-Saint-Honoréneighborhood. A few steps away from the Frenchpresidential residence, Elysées Palace, the venuesurrounded by a lush park invited guestsexplored to the sounds of Armenian instrumentsand an ambience reminiscent of a 1920s cabaret.Special displays encouraged people to explore

the grounds of the Parisian villa. They weretransported during the course of the eveningfrom one surprise to the next, including a maca-roon-making workshop, a pop-up photo studio, ati’punch island and a cabaret performance.The festivities continued with entertainment

by a local disc jockey, DJ Kourken, who enter-tained the crowds.

Bonds of Friendship

On the final morning, guests came togetherone last time for a Sunday brunch at Alcazarrestaurant in Paris’s Sixth Arrondissement. Thegathering was an opportunity for everyone to saytheir goodbyes with promises to reconnect atfuture gatherings.To date, pre-event fundraising efforts for all six

FOCUS weekends have raised more than$200,000 for AGBU programs, including thethree AGBU-funded Children’s Centers inArmenia, the American University of Armenia’s

Digital Library, the New York Summer InternProgram, the Generation Next MentorshipProgram of Southern California, Camp Nubar inupstate New York, the organization’sScholarship Program, the Hye Geen PregnantWomen’s Centers and now the Armenian VirtualCollege.Aided by AGBU offices in Paris and New York,

the group of 15 volunteers who worked on thecommittee were FOCUS Committee ChairAurélie Deyirmedjian, Gary Aharonian, CarolAghajanian, Sabine Bachian, AlexiaDeyirmendjian, Grégory Guerguerian, VanessaKetchedjian, Vadim Krisyan, Sandrine Muradian,Angelina Najarian, Rafi Papazian, StéphanePetrossian, Geraldine Seuleusian, AchrenVerdian, Tamar Wartabetian and FOCUS coordi-nator Lusiné Kerobyan.

S A T U R D A Y, O C T O B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 1 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R4

INTERNATIONAL

Argentina Celebrates ArmenianAnniversary with Food and Music

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Clarin) — Armenians say that the secret of Armenian foodis in the capable hands of its women and the success of its dishes is due to the commit-ment and attachment to tradition. Last week, thousands of people came to the Avenida deMayo to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the independence of the Republic of Armeniaand the 100th anniversary of the AGBU Buenos Aires chapter.The event brought together different generations of descendants of Armenian immi-

grants. There were children of Armenians, such as Alice Berberian, who worked sellingcookbooks, and even grandchildren, such as Natasha, a girl of 10 who came to Avenida deMayo accompanied by her grandmother and mother, eager to sample the food that hergreat-grandmother had made.Celebrate Buenos Aires, the segment of the city government which pays tribute to the

communities that form Argentina, organized a concert by the Symphony Orchestra of theCity, conducted by Santiago Chotsourian, with the Armenian composer Ara Gevorgyanand his orchestra of traditional instruments also performing. Another guest was the min-ister of culture of Armenia, Hasmik Poghosyan, who was received by his counterpart ofBuenos Aires, Hernán Lombardi, to publicize the activities of the Buenos Aires WorldBook Capital. In 2012, Yerevan, Armenia will hold the same title.

Buenos Aires City Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Santiago Chotsourian, performed forthousands of spectators.

AGBU FOCUS 2011 Welcomes over 400 to Paris

YP groups and partner committees convened for the AGBU Young Professionals conferences.

Guests enjoyed a private exhibition and tour of artwork by Jean Jansemhosted by his son, Jany Jansem, held at Galerie Matignon.

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

Community News

Richmond ArmenianFestival Dishes out FoodAnd Fun to Kick-Start FallRICHMOND, Va. — The Armenian community here held their 53rd annual food

festival September 15 to 18 outside of St. James Armenian Church. Consideringthat there is only a small number ofArmenians living in the area, the size of thefestival is impressive.

The festival included Armenian folk music,provided by the Hye Keys. Perouz Manougianand Paul Mardigian are the two leaders of the

seven-member band. Children from the St. James Armenian Dancers gave folk danceperformances. Jewelry, crafts and arts, largely from Armenia, were displayed and soldat a booth, and information on Armenian history was posted on a tent wall.

The main focus was food, of course. Cheese and spinach böregs, kebab, thefamous “Hye burger” (a mixture of ground sirloin and lamb with spices), rice pilaf,string beans, hummus and stuffed grape leaves (dolma) were accompanied byArmenian coffee, Kotayk Armenian beer and Armenian red, white and pomegran-ate wines, along with soft drinks. Desserts included paklava, bourma, simit andkourabia cookies.

John Baronian, the senior member of the Planning Committee for the festival,moved to Richmond in the 1930s from Detroit as a young boy. He explained that 53years ago, when the festival was started, it was held indoors as seated dinners:“Originally it was the Women’s Guild that started it in a small kitchen. I was involvedas I was on the Parish Council of the church. The ladies ran it until I became chair.As the festival grew, we decided to have a food festival committee instead of just theWomen’s Guild committee, but the ladies are still the backbone of it.”

The first three or four years, the festival only was intended for Armenians, but,Baronian explained, “when I got involved I had a small advertising agency andstarted advertising. This was in the 1960s. Our main purpose was to getArmenians better known in the Richmond community.”

Virginia native Chuck Ashjian handles the programming and advertising for thefestival. He said that the festival expanded further to an outdoor format (in 2006)partly in order to meet the financial needs of the parish: “I was on the ParishCouncil for a number of years, and looking at our budget deficit, we needed to do

see RICHMOND, page 7

Lantos Foundation toHonor HumanitarianPaul Rusesabagina

WASHINGTON — The Lantos Foundation forHuman Rights and Justice said that Rwandanhumanitarian Paul Rusesabagina will be the2011 recipient of the Lantos Human RightsPrize. The formal presentation of the award willtake place here on November 16.

Rusesabagina is widely hailed as a hero of the1994 Rwandan genocide. As a hotel managerduring the time of the conflict, Rusesabaginawas able to provide shelter to 1,268 people,both Hutus and Tutsis, ultimately saving themfrom certain death. His efforts were chronicledin the 2004 Academy Award-nominated film“Hotel Rwanda” and his autobiography, AnOrdinary Man. Today, Rusesabagina continueshis efforts for truth, reconciliation and sustain-able peace in Rwanda and the Great Lakesregion of Africa through his work as presidentof the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation(www.hrrfoundation.org)

“We are so proud to award this year’s LantosPrize to Paul Rusesabagina. I was raised on theidea that we are all our brothers’ keepers, andPaul is the living embodiment of that idea,” saidKatrina Lantos Swett, president of the LantosFoundation. “My father, Rep. Tom Lantos, sur-vived the Holocaust in one of RaoulWallenberg’s safe houses and understood alltoo well that the actions of one man can changethe arc of one’s life story. Nearly 50 years later,Paul Rusesabagina’s heroic efforts to shelterthose in harm’s way changed the life stories ofmore than 1,200 Rwandans. We look forward tohonoring his historic humanitarian actions.”

The Lantos Foundation established theLantos Human Rights Prize in 2009 to honorand bring attention to heroes of the humanrights movement. It is awarded annually to anindividual or organization that best exemplifiesthe foundation’s mission, namely to be a vitalvoice standing up for the values of decency, dig-nity, freedom and justice in every corner of theworld. The prize also serves to commemoratethe late Lantos, the only Holocaust survivorever elected to the US Congress.

Former recipients of the Lantos Prize includethe Dalai Lama and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel.

Academic ConferenceTo Discuss Issues ofRestitution, ReparationAfter Genocide

WORCESTER, Mass. — The Strassler Centerfor Holocaust and Genocide Studies at ClarkUniversity is sponsoring an interdisciplinaryconference, “Beyond The Armenian Genocide:The Question of Restitution and Reparation inComparative Review,” organized by TanerAkçam, the Robert Aram and MarianneKaloosdian and Stephen and Marion MugarProfessor of Armenian Genocide Studies. Theconference is presented in partnership with theBelmont-based National Association forArmenian Studies and Research (NAASR) andEric Weitz, the Arsham and CharlotteOhanessian Professor at the University ofMinnesota. NAASR’s participation is supportedby the Ethel Jafarian Duffett Fund.

The conference opens on Thursday, October27, at 7:30 p.m. with a public keynote address inTilton Hall on the Clark University campus. JohnTorpey, professor of sociology at the GraduateCenter, CUNY, will give the opening address, “AComparative Perspective on Reparations forHistorical Injustices.” Torpey is the author ofMaking Whole What Has Been Smashed: OnReparations Politic (Harvard University Press,2006). “Reparations,” says Torpey, “can be sym-bolic, such as apologies or the creation of memo-rials and museums. They can also be economic,such as financial compensation to individuals orcollectivities, or material redress, such as settle-ment of the land claims of indigenous peoples.These measures can reflect cultural or legalclaims to reparations or both.”

The conference continues throughout the dayon Friday, October 28, with a series of panels forparticipants and invited guests. Leading schol-ars will examine questions of post-conflict jus-tice in a comparative review of the ArmenianGenocide, the Holocaust and the NativeAmerican Genocide. The participants will con-sider different aspects of compensation includ-ing the return of stolen art and artifacts; therestitution of personal and communal propertyand how post-war agreements and treaties shapediscussions about compensation. The Holocaustcase offers a model for restitution and repara-tion that has achieved significant success butalso frustrating disappointments and delays.The Native American case provides a valuableexample of the importance of pursuing justice athome and for all peoples. Discussions about theArmenian case will consider why efforts tosecure compensation emerged so late and theinfluence of developments in securing justice forvictims of the Holocaust.

Turkish recognition of the ArmenianGenocide has been an enduring goal ofArmenian communities at home and interna-tionally. Yet, the political, financial and legal con-sequences that might emerge in the wake ofrecognition have not been fully articulated.Recently, scholars and lawyers have pursuedconcrete efforts to secure reparation, restitutionand compensation; they are proceeding inde-pendent of groups lobbying governments toacknowledge the Genocide. These initiativesdemonstrate that the pursuit of justice throughfinancial means can progress without necessari-ly resolving the complicated politics of Genociderecognition.

Recent court cases against American andFrench insurance companies have resulted inreparations and they have given encouragementto newly filed lawsuits in the US. These devel-opments demonstrate that financial redress forthe Armenian community may be possible on abroader scale. New lawsuits addressing theft ofartifacts, properties and bank accounts havebeen filed against the Turkish government andprivate Turkish companies. They seek compen-sation for both individual and collective losessuffered during the genocide.

For more information, contact the StrasslerCenter for Holocaust and Genocide Studies(chgs@clarku.edu) or NAASR (hq@naasr.org).

One booth featured Armenian gifts

House of Armenia IsEstablished in Calif.

GLENDALE, Calif. — An all-inclusive,Armenian-American Organization, House ofArmenia, dedicated to the Armenian Diaspora ofSouthern California has been established. TheHouse of Armenia is a non-profit California cor-poration with the vision of promoting the profileof Armenia and Armenians in the diaspora aswell as advancing the rich cultural heritage ofArmenians worldwide. The House of Armenia isin the process of applying for a tax-exempt statusas a non-profit public benefit corporation. “TheHouse of Armenia will continue to blossom asindividuals and organizations collectively takepart in this noble mission” said Sinan Sinanian,chairman of House of Armenia. “This is a uniqueopportunity for the Armenian-AmericanCommunity of Southern California and its orga-nizations to embrace and share resources for thecommon excellence of our diaspora.”

In an effort to showcase the presence ofArmenia and its rich cultural heritage, amongits first steps, the House of Armenia hassecured a permanent location in the very heartof the Armenian-American community. “Thepresence in the heart of Armenia’s emergingcapital in the diaspora is our biggest and mostpowerful step forward,” said GrigorHovhannissian, consul general of the Republicof Armenia in Los Angeles. “We salute the ener-gy and vision of those who have implementedand established the House of Armenia and ourvery best wishes for this organization to serveand exemplify Armenia in the heart of allArmenian-Americans of our diaspora.”

By Aram ArkunMirror-Spectator Staff

St. James Armenian Dancers dazzle young audience members.

SOGHANALIAN, from page 1Capable of negotiating in eight languages,

Soghanalian was a Lebanese citizen ofArmenian descent, who proclaimed he was alsoa “patriotic American.” For several decades, hehad a close working relationship with the CIAand US military intelligence services. But even-tually, these relationships soured when hisweapons sales began running counter to USpolicy. Nor did he pay taxes on his arms-dealing:documents show that by the late 1990s, he hadaccumulated a massive IRS judgment nearing abillion dollars.

In his heyday, Soghanalian forged a closealliance with the Reagan administration, partic-ularly with the office of then-Vice President

George Bush. That alliance snapped when theUS went to war with Iraq in 1991, and he wasprosecuted for the sale of helicopters to Iraqduring its war with Iran. Soghanalian alwaysinsisted that his sales to Iraq were done withWashington’s not-so-secret blessing.

Soghanalian also supplied Saddam with bil-lions of dollars in weaponry from France,Brazil, Chile and Austria, in violation of aUnited Nations arms embargo. All this wasdone with the knowledge of the US govern-ment, according to Soghanalian, whose testi-mony was corroborated by officials interviewedfor the documentary.

Publicly, the US maintained it obeyed theUnited Nations embargo of the combatants in

the Iran-Iraq war. But privately, Washingtonwanted Iran’s theocratic regime to be blud-geoned by the eight-year conflict with Saddam.

Like so many other things aboutSoghanalian, he was not what he seemed. Therotund gunrunner was also a philanthropist,donating generously to Armenian earthquakevictims. He professed to be a staunch anti-com-munist, yet he had no qualms about turning tothe Soviets to provide weapons for theChristian militias in Lebanon’s civil war. Duringthe Falklands War he armed Argentina withFrench-made Exocet missiles used to sink aBritish cruiser. He later acknowledged he“regretted” that transaction, saying it happenedbefore war broke out with Great Britain.

Soghanalian was finally sentenced in 1993 tosix-and-a-half years in prison for conspiring tosmuggle 103 combat helicopters to Saddam,breaking the UN embargo. He wound up havinghis sentence reduced to two years by tradingintelligence on the secret location in Lebanon’sBekaa Valley where the Iranians and theHezbollah were printing counterfeit US $100bills. Known as “Supernotes,” these $100 billswere so authentic-looking that they weredeemed a threat to US national security.

Soghanalian landed in trouble again with US

authorities when he was indicted in 1999 for wirefraud and held without bail. His sentence wasreduced to 10 months after US authorities inter-vened on his behalf claiming he had provided“substantial assistance to law enforcement.” Aspart of the deal, Soghanalian turned over to USofficials details of a sale of 50,000 AK-47 assaultrifles he made in 1999 to the former Peruvianintelligence chief, Vladimir Montesinos, an erst-while American ally, that ended up with leftistColombian rebels. Soghanalian was allowed toleave for Amman, where he had close ties withthe Jordanian monarchy.

Soghanalian traded information for favorsfrom the US government for decades. He main-tained an ongoing relationship with the FBIafter he became estranged from the CIA.Overweight and in poor health, Soghanalianfinally returned to Miami to be with his family.At first, he was held in custody, but as his healthworsened, leaving him crippled, he was allowedto stay with his family.

“He lived large and he played hard,” says hisformer attorney, Mark Geragos, who defendedhim in the Peruvian arms-running case. “Until Imet him, I never believed one-half of 1 percentof the things he was supposed to have done.But they all turned out to be true.”

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Nevair Shahdanian, neeGulbenkian, died on Monday, September 26.She was 98.

She was predeceased by her husband of 41years, Hampartzoum (Harry) Shahdanian andher brother, Dr. V. Richard Gulbenkian ofEuclid, Ohio, and Pompano Beach, Fla. She issurvived by her son, John LawrenceShahdanian, Esq. and his wife ,Ustinjya, of OldTappan, NJ, and her daughter, Bonnie LynnFitch and her husband, Clyde J. Fitch, of LasVegas; five grandchildren, John Lawrence

Shahdanian II, Esq. and his wife Kelly Ann,Diana Shahdanian Cascone and her husband J.Scott Cascone, Mark Harry Shahdanian, JamesAndrew Fitch and Thomas William Fitch andsix great-grandchildren, John LawrenceShahdanian III, Alexander Richard Shahdanian,Gabriella Michelle Cascone, Nora RoseCascone, Sofia Ann Cascone and LaurenMaggie Shahdanian.

Shahdanian’s knack for story-telling was leg-endary, as were her skills as a cook and seam-stress. Shahdanian was an amateur artist, sculp-tor, poet and pianist, and was an avid tennisplayer into her 80s. She worked many years asa legal secretary.

Shahdanian was a member of Holy CrossArmenian Church, New York, where she was acharter member and officer of the Holy CrossLeague and was the superintendent of theSunday School for several years. She was amember of the Order of the Eastern Star inWestchester, NY, and a Sister of SeranoushChapter of the Daughters of Vartan, in SouthFlorida.

The daughter of Gulabi Gulbenkian andEmma Turabian Gulbenkian, she grew up inOhio and moved to Washington Heights, NY,when she got married.

Later, she was a resident of Larchmont, NY,Brookfield, Conn. and Boynton Beach, Fla.,before moving to Las Vegas to live with herdaughter.

Donations in lieu of flowers may be made tothe Daughters of Vartan through her son, JohnShahdanian, 1051 Westwood Ave., Old Tappan,NJ 07675.

6 S A T U R D A Y, O C T O B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 1 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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Harry SenanianWATERTOWN — Harry Senanian died on

October 6. He is survived by his wife, Joyce; chil-dren, Laurene (Senanian) Allen of NewHampshire, Lisa (Senanian) Leger of Walthamand David Senanian of Waltham; grandchildren,Kimberly (Allen) Holman of Boston, JenniferAllen of Boston and New Hampshire, MadelineLeger of Waltham, Nathalie Leger of Walthamand niece Kohar (Karlozian) Zakarian ofBraintree and nephew Vahe Karlozian ofWatertown. He also leaves family members inCanada and Lebanon.

Funeral arrangements were made by theBedrosian Funeral Home, Watertown. A memo-rial service will be held on Sunday, October 16,at 2 p.m., at First Armenian Church, 380Concord Ave., Belmont.

Donation in Senanian’s memory may bemade to the First Armenian Church.

Nevair Shahdanian, 98

Sarkis Soghanalian: Cold War ‘Merchant of Death’ Dies in Miami

ALTADENA, Calif. — Under the guidance of science teacher Ivette Babikian, the fifth-grade class at Sahag Mesrob Armenian Christian School (SMACS) here, adopted a cara-cal at Yerevan Zoo in Armenia.

Given a choice of six animals, the students voted for the slender, long-legged, short-tailed, muscular cat, with a most conspicuous feature — long black-tipped ears. Caracalsare known for being the fastest of all the small cats. This is one of the reasons the fifthgraders voted for adopting the caracal. Twenty-two students gathered the money need-ed to sponsor this animal.

The SMACS fifthgraders are now theproud parents of one ofYerevan Zoo’s caracalsfor next year. Theynamed their caracal,Havatk (“faith,” inArmenian), since theyhave faith that more ani-mals at the zoo will besponsored and helped.

Eager to meet Havatkat the Yerevan Zoo(www.yerezoo.com) oneday, they are happy fornow to consider Havatkan honorary member oftheir class.

The children of the fifth-grade class at Sahag Mesrob Armenian Christian School

Sahag-Mesrob Students Adopt Wild Cat at Yerevan Zoo

A caracal is marked by its speed and long ears

S A T U R D A Y, O C T O B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 1 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R 7

COMMUNITY NEWS

A PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY

THROUGH

WESTERN ARMENIA AND

THE ARARAT 11 CLIMB

Experience the adventure, perils and exhilaration as The Ararat 11 travel from Armenia to Turkey to climb the summit of Mt. Ararat.

Witness the beauty of Western Armenia as captured by Hrair Hawk Khatcherian during prior and subsequent visits including the historic Badarak performed at the Church of Holy Cross on Lake Van's Akhtamar Island.

Climbers Saro Hartounian and Seth Setrakian will also be available to share their personal experience.

Hawks most recently published book, Yergir 2, will be available for sale.

Date: Friday, Oct. 21St Time: 8:00 pm

Place: ST LEON ARMENIAN CHURCHCharles & Grace Pinajian Youth Center

12-61 Saddle River Rd Fair Lawn,NJ Call Shoghig Chalian for more Information***201-803-0240

St Leon Armenian Church &

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ST. JAMES ARMENIAN CHURCH 2011 ANNUAL BAZAAR!

Friday, October 14, 2011 (10 a.m.- 9 p.m.) Saturday, October 15, 2011 (10 a.m.- 9 p.m.)

ARMENIAN FOOD, DELICACIES & PASTRIES! (Served from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.)

Shish Kebab, Chicken Kebab, Losh Kebab, Kheyma and Eetch! Boereg, Manti, Yalanchi, Porov Kufteh, Tourshi, Choereg,

Cream & Nut Khadaif, Bourma, Baklava & more!

BOOTHS AND VENDORS! Including the Farmer’s Market, Silent Auction, Armenian Items, the popular Attic Treasures,

and vendor booths, including the fun photo booth!

St. James Armenian Church 465 Mt. Auburn St., Watertown, MA 02472 (617) 923-8860 info@sthagop.com

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RICHMOND, from page 5something to improve the situation in order tokeep a fulltime priest here. A few of us gottogether and came up with a plan and suggest-ed that we take it outside since the Greek andLebanese festivals were successful outdoors.”

When the festival moved outdoors, Ashjianfelt “business picked up and our name is outthere in the community as far as a quality festi-val. More people know what an Armenian is. Weestimate we have around 7,000 people on aver-age go through during a four day period.” Thenumbers of visitors have increased annually,with the exception of this year due to poorweather. Six or 700 people can be seated out-doors with tents and an outdoor stage, andmany more wander about on foot.

Food preparation begins months before the

event. The Women’s Guild starts meeting week-ly in late June or early July. The men start work-ing on the chicken and pork kebab from themiddle of August for four or five weekends,coordinated by the efforts of PlanningCommittee member Rob Norris.

Lilly Bouroujian Thomas, involved for manyyears in the past through the Women’s Guild infood preparation, became the fifth member of

the festival committee last year and serves asthe link between the festival committee and theWomen’s Guild.

Leiza Bouroujian became part of thePlanning Committee six years ago whenthe festival expanded into an outdoorfunction. She is involved in the f inancialside of operations. Bouroujian feels thatthe festival has had an important impacton Richmond’s non-Armenian communi-ty: “I think Richmond is really hungryfor these types of events, cultural aswell as food. The media gave us a lot ofattention, so that really helped us grow,and I think that people just love themusic, food, wine and the environmentin general. Richmond is not as diverse asother parts of the country but they are

looking for thesekinds of culturalact ivit ies and thatreally helped us. Itbrings a lot of atten-tion to Armenians.”Bouroujian pointedout that unlikemany other EastCoast-Armenian fes-tivals, the Richmondone “attracts non-Armenians, and infact, most of thepeople that attendare non-Armenians.”

St. James ArmenianChurch has only 500members. Thus, what is

impressive is that this small community is ableto find 50 to 60 volunteers during the four-dayevent, as well as during the preceding months,20 to 25 women to work in the church baking,and eight to 10 men to work on meat.

To find out more about the festival, seewww.armenianfoodfestival.org, and follow theTwitter handle @ArmenianFoodRVA forupdates next year.

Richmond Armenian Festival Dishes outFood and Fun to Kick-Start Fall

DENVER, Colo. — Colorado’s investment inArmenians began as news of the ArmenianGenocide filtered back to the RockyMountain High state as it was taking place.Leaders in the community, motivated by astrong desire to help Armenians, establishedColorado’s Near East Rescue Committeethen. Colorado’s dedication to this tragic his-torical backdrop remains firm today. EveryApril for the last decade, Colorado’s GeneralAssembly has affirmed the ArmenianGenocide. Governors from both parties issuecommemorative proclamations. A consecrat-ed Khachkar designed by Western Slope(Congressional District 3) architect, VaroujHairabedian, is further testament toColorado’s commitment to commemoratingthe Armenian Genocide. It is an exclusive trib-ute officially installed on Colorado’s StateHouse grounds.

Colorado’s Congressional Delegationincludes seven House members, as well as, ofcourse, two senators. The efforts of RockyMountain Hye Advocates (RHMA) have result-ed in five House members backing theArmenian Genocide resolution, [H.Res.304];five Armenian Caucus members and onemember on the Freedom of ReligionResolution H.Res. 306. This April, RMHAsolicited Delegation Commemoration state-ments. Both senators and five House mem-bers released testimonials to RMHA.

Within this highly-positive environment,Rep. Scott Tipton (R-Third District) has oth-erwise distinguished himself. A first termmember of Congress, the New York Timesheadlined his victory: “The Tea PartyTriumphs in Rural Colorado” (November 3,2010).

Prior to his election to Congress, Tiptonserved one term in Colorado’s StateLegislature. For two April votes he joined hiscolleagues in unanimously adopting resolu-tions commemorating the Armenian

Genocide. However, upon reaching Congress,his position took another direction.

P o p u l a t i o nnumbers shouldbe influential. TheUnited StatesCensus reportsTipton’s District 3is home to moreAmericans ofArmenian descentthan those ofTurkish descent.

Campaign con-tributions may bep e r s u a s i v e .Tipton’s current financial report offers a pos-sible nexus as it records significant contribu-tions from two member corporations of theAerospace Industries Association (AIA). AIAactively lobbied Congress on behalf of theTurkish government’s effort to thwart anadoption of the Armenian Genocide resolu-tion.

Tipton has generated repeated press cover-age over ethical snafus in his brief time inoffice — less than a year. A recent Denver Postarticle questioned his ethical equilibrium:“…Tipton criticized for ‘missteps.’” The mostrecent ethical lapse forced the Congressmanto write an apology to the House ethics com-mittee.”

Tipton is Colorado’s only delegation mem-ber who has failed to counterbalance hisTurkish Caucus membership by co-sponsor-ing the Armenian Genocide resolution. RockyMountain Hye Advocates’ Pamela BarsamBrown reported that she was personallyadvised by Tipton’s chief of staff that hewould not co-sponsor H.Res. 304 (October 5).

Further, Tipton is the only Colorado Housemember of Congress who has failed to take apositive position on current issues of interestto his American-Armenian constituents.

Rep. Scott Tipton

Colorado’s Congressional District 3 CreatesControversy on the Armenian Genocide

The Hye Keys band

By Philip P. Ketchian

The history of Mount Ararat abounds withaccounts of explorers and adventurers takingup the challenge of scaling its fabled summit.Absent, however, are any signs of abatement inthe interest and the controversy surroundingits first ascent that would dog Prof. FriedrichParrot and Khatchadur Abovian to the end oftheir days, as evidenced by Edward Peck’s arti-cle, “Ararat: Another Controversial FirstAscent,” published in the British AlpineJournal (2002, Vol. 107, pp. 207-215). I wouldlike to take this opportunity to introduce someadditional information that may inject someclarity into the subject from sources that existonly in the Russian and the Armenian lan-guages. It will be seen that the long-forgottenaccount of the Russian adventurer Spassky-Avtonomov confirms Parrot’s successful pio-neering first ascent of the peak.

As is well known, it was only on their thirdattempt on October 9 (September 27, by theOld Style Julian calendar), 1829, that Universityof Dorpat (presently Tartu, Estonia) physics pro-fessor, Friedrich Parrot, and KhatchadurAbovian, together with two Armenian villagersfrom Agori on Mt. Ararat, Hovannes Aivazianand Murat Boghossian, as well as two Russiansoldiers, Alexei Zdorovenko and MatveiChalpanov, successfully ascended the westernsummit of Mt. Ararat at 16,854 feet (5,937meters) above sea level.

Parrot had met Abovian at Echmiadzin, theseat of the Armenian Church, where he wasemployed as a clerk and translator to thecatholicos, the head of the Armenian Church.

Parrot’s report of the successful ascent wasfirst published on October 30 in the Russian-language weekly, Tiflis Chronicles. The fullaccount of the expedition appeared in his book,Reise zum Ararat in 1834, translated intoEnglish in 1845 as Journey to Ararat.

In his book, Parrot writes that the controver-sy was given credibility by an article appearingin 1831 in the Tiflis Chronicles in which “… aman belonging to the educated European pub-lic, a man of merit in his way ... was the first tocast a stone against me, and in a published com-mentary to insist on the impossibility of the factasserted by me.” Parrot did respond in writingto the charges in the Tiflis Chronicles and alsoinitiated an action to take sworn depositionsfrom the members of his summitting party andfrom the Agori village chief Stepan Khojiants,who had accompanied Parrot on his unsuccess-ful second attempt a week earlier where theyhad reached a respectable altitude of 16,028feet, and where they had erected a woodencross bearing a lead plaque.

The deposition from Melik Stepan Aga(Stepan Khojiants) was taken on October 24,1831. His statement was mostly inconsequentialto the matter at hand, since he did not partici-pate in the third attempt. However, his second-hand comments on the cross erected during

the third attempt being placed “…in respect todistance not higher than the first,” was onlypartially correct and contributed to setting anegative spin. That cross was deliberately notplaced on the actual summit pyramid byAbovian, but somewhat lower in a location to bebetter observed from Agori.

Villager Murat Poghossian was questionedthree days later. He stated, “We were not on thevery summit, and could not get there, becausefurther on there is no snow lying, but only ice;and besides, the steepness of the slope allowsno further progress.” This statement reaches usafter being translated from Armenian intoRussian, into German and finally into Englishand is what doubters cling to as proof of theirarguments. Nevertheless, it appears thatAivazian was uncomfortable with the turn ofevents but reluctantly concurred withPoghossian. Hovannes Aivazian’s deposition issaid to be “simply confirmatory of his com-rade’s.”

Be that as it may, Abovian had noted in hisdiary that some days following the successfulascent, Aivazian and Boghossian hadapproached him to voice their concern regard-ing the disbelief and harassment that they werebeing subjected to by some officials and clergy-men for claiming to have climbed to the sum-mit. They also mentioned being concerned fortheir safety, insisting that if this continued, theycould be pressured to renege on the truth ifthey did not receive adequate protection from

the authorities. It is not clear whether Abovianrelated these concerns to Parrot, although itappears not. Thus the stage had been set forwhat eventually occurred.

The two Russian soldiers Zdorovenko andChalpanov, however, were under no such pres-sure and did confirm the fact of reaching thesummit. On November 2, 1831, Chalpanov stat-

ed, “I was, in fact, with Professor Parrot on thetop of Mount Ararat in the month ofSeptember, 1829.” Zdorovenko’s statement was“…exactly similar in all points to that givenabove.”

Ultimately, it is Abovian’s statement that is ofprime importance to the matter at hand, for he

continued on next page

8 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 1 5 , 2 0 1 1

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A sketch by Parrot of Ararat and Echmiadzin

Ararat ReduxAbovian, Prof. Parrot and First Ascent

Ararat Reduxfrom previous pagewas highly intelligent and educated, as well asthe one in a position to provide the authoritieswith a credible and factual account of theevents of the day. Abovian presented himself atthe courthouse in Dorpat, where he was study-ing, on August 30, 1831. Asked whether hehad personally been on the summit of Araratwith Parrot on October 9, 1829, Abovianemphatically answered, “Yes.” To the secondquestion, asking from where the expeditionstarted, Abovian responded that they had setout from the Monastery of St. Jacob, which waslocated at an elevation of 6,375 feet, andreached the top of the summit on the followingday. Another question asked was at what timethey had been on the summit; to whichAbovian replied, “In the afternoon.” Finally, hewas asked what they had done on the summit.Abovian related that he had erected a crosswhile Parrot, standing on the very top of thepeak, took measurements with his scientificinstruments. It is, however, unclear whyAbovian’s official deposition was not includedin Parrot’s Reise zum Ararat in 1834, for theywere both in Dorpat and had close personalrelations at the time. He thereby missed anopportunity to put an end to the quibbling thatwould follow. Abovian’s deposition was eventu-ally published in St. Petersburgische Zeitungin 1835.

Soon after the climb, Abovian would writeabout the final push as follows:

“We had been mercilessly suffering such var-ious difficulties that when the pinnacle of themountain appeared not far from us, each oneof us, one after the other, headed in that direc-tion, not taking any notice at the moment ofany difficulties and not considering theirexhaustion, they were hurrying and hasteningto see the spot desired by so many. It appearedas if we were winging up the slope to the sky,toward where the summit was. Our hopelesslegs and wobbly knees had gained momentumand were soaring upward, toward the astonish-ing aerie. Wonders came to view, in addition toour joyous desires that led us to rejoice,towards the birthplace of the entire world. Oursouls were enveloped with happiness and wereovercome by unimaginable gaiety; we began torun about in this and that direction to view thelower-lying valleys and ridges. One was amazedby the height of the mountain, the other wasattempting to observe faraway places, andwords of gratitude and blessing were pouringforth in our dialect from their mouths.”

Abovian’s first and repeat ascents of Ararat,in addition to his subsequent first ascent of13,435 ft. (4,095 meters) Mt. Aragats while

accompanying University of Munich’s Prof.Moritz Wagner, firmly establish him as thefather of Armenian mountaineering. Afterreturning to Armenia from his university stud-ies in Dorpat, Abovian established himself as aprogressive educator and the premier nationalman of modern letters.

Parrot had met the young KhatchadurAbovian at Echmiadzin. It is interesting thatlater in 1844 Abovian also accompaniedHerrmann von Abich, a professor of mineralo-gy at the same University of Dorpat as Parrot,to Ararat. They made three unsuccessfulattempts together, having been turned back byviolent storms just short of the summit. Duringone of the attempts, they erected a cross shortof the summit. The following year, however,Abich, accompanied by Peter Sharoyan, a stu-dent of Abovian’s, and two other Armenianguides, was successful in ascending the easternsummit. One of his guides was SimonSarkisian.

Abovian was, nevertheless, destined to suc-cessfully ascend Ararat once more. This timehe did it together with the Englishman Henry

Danby Seymour and Simon Sarkisian onSeptember 30, 1846. Sarkisian was a survivorof the 1840 Agori avalanche and would summitfor the third time with the massive 68-memberexpedition organized by the Russian Armytopographer, Col. Iosif Khodzko, in 1850. Hisfourth attempt at ascending was in 1878, whileguiding another Englishman, George PercivalBaker. This time the now 90-year-old Sarkisianwas forced to turn back short of the summit.Baker continued on to successfully ascend thepeak on August 7.

It is also of interest that a dozen years laterAbich’s cross was discovered by the

Englishmen Maj. Robert Stuart and WalterThursby on their way up to the summit onAugust 14, 1856. Three of their companionshad summitted two days earlier. “About 1,200feet from the summit, we came upon an oakcross that had been fixed by Professor Abich,”Stuart wrote. He speculated, “Professor Abichmade several attempts, but failed in all, as isproved by the position of the cross…” Notbeing familiar with the history of the moun-tain, Stuart mistakenly assumed that they werethe first.

To shed more light on the matter one mustseek out the Russian and Armenian sources.One such invaluable source is an article by E.G. Weidenbaum, “Greater Ararat: and Attemptsto Climb Its Summit,” published in theTransactions of the Caucasus Branch of theImperial Russian Geographic Society (vol. xiii,1884). According to Weidenbaum’s account,one year after Parrot’s ascent, Ivan Shopen,the chairman of the Incomes and PropertiesDepartment of the Province of Armenia,expressed doubts concerning the veracity ofParrot’s announcement of reaching the summit

of Ararat. Thus we learn the identity of Parrot’sprinciple tormentor, whom he had described as“… a man belonging to the educated Europeanpublic, a man of merit in his way — one who onaccount of his long residence in those coun-tries possesses undoubted claims to confidencein his local knowledge.”

Weidenbaum also mentions Karl Kokh, anoted botanist, who was personally acquaintedwith both Parrot and Shopen. Kokh opinedthat “jealousy was the principle reason forShopen to question the veracity of Parrot’sstatements, in view of the fact that he himselfhad made two attempts at climbing Ararat, and

both times experienced total failure.” He con-tinues to say that Shopen’s portly body washardly suited for such an endeavor, in contrastto the athletic build of Parrot.

Another such skeptic was the postmaster ofYerevan, Artem Kalantarian. He was to houndAbovian into agreeing on a wager to climbArarat once again to prove it possible. Beforethat could take place, regrettably, one day inApril of 1848, Abovian left his home and mys-teriously disappeared. No trace of him has everbeen found.

In any event, the most conclusive evidence ofParrot’s achievement is to be found buried inthe pages of a book by Kozma Spassky-Avtonomov, The Ascent of Ararat, published inMoscow in 1839. Spassky-Avtonomov’s wasonly the second expedition to successfully sum-mit Ararat in 1834. His account also dispels themistaken notion of most chroniclers thatSpassky-Avtonomov may have only ascendedthe lower eastern summit pyramid or even notreached the summit at all. As a matter of fact,he climbed both summits. In that endeavor hewas fortunate to be assisted by two Armenianguides from Agori, Hovannes Aivazian whohad also accompanied Parrot on his successfulthird attempt and proven so helpful to him, andYeghdar Ghougassian. The Armenian village ofAgori was situated at an elevation of approxi-mately 4,000 feet above sea level at the base ofthe Agori Gorge on the northern slope of themountain. This was prior to 1840 when a pow-erful earthquake violently shook the mountain,triggering a catastrophic avalanche that totallydestroyed the village and the monastery, andburied all its inhabitants under a massive layerof rock and ice. I believe that the Turkish nameAgri Dag for Mt. Ararat is derived from thename of this Armenian village.

Aivazian confidently guided them to whereParrot had bivouacked on the first night oftheir third attempt. The following morningAivazian directed them to the cross on thedome plateau that Parrot had erected at 16,028feet, the high point of his second attempt. Thetrio continued to climb atop the snowcaptoward the eastern summit pyramid, which theysoon successfully ascended. Following a relax-ing lunch break in the saddle between the twosummits, they headed toward the western sum-mit. As the climbers ascended the higher west-ern summit pyramid, Aivazian suddenly shout-ed out to Spassky-Avtonomov that this waswhere Parrot had stood. Thereby promptinghim to write, “for myself at least, it became clearwhy the guide Aivazian initially had stated tome that the professor had not been on the sum-mit, but later began to insist that he had been;he, as all Agori residents, considered the mainsummit of Masis (Armenian for Ararat) to be theeastern peak. Therefore, for Aivazian the pro-fessor had not been on Masis, when he hadbeen only on the western peak.” The easternsummit is a mere 50 feet lower than the truewestern summit; however, Agori villagers and,in fact, all observers from the north side of themountain view the closer eastern pyramid to bethe higher of the two due to the trick played byperspective on observers some 14,000 feetbelow. Having seen the mountain from thenorth, I too had been under that impression.But my July 19, 2003, successful summiting upthe southern route with a British expeditiondispelled the confusion and also exposed me toArarat’s unique beauty and the spell it castsupon its admirers.

A mere five years had separated the first twoascents. Spassky-Avtonomov had been fortu-nate to share the able services of Parrot’s guideAivazian, who was a participant and eyewitnessof both successful summit ascents. His sponta-neous, unsolicited declaration atop the truesummit must be accepted as proof positive thatParrot and his party did indeed summit Araratin 1829. The proof had been there for all to see,but inaccessible to most chroniclers on accountof the rarity of Spassky-Avtonomov’s text.

It is my firm belief that this informationshould lay to rest any lingering questions anddoubts surrounding Parrot’s truly spectacularachievement, for his ascent was one of the high-est of any human to date.

(Philip Ketchian is a retired physicist, whoclimbed Mount Ararat with a British

Expeditionary Group and his wife, ElsaRonningstam Ketchian, in July 2003.)

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

COMMUNITY NEWS

Since its inception in 2001, TCA’s ‘Sponsora Teacher’ program has raised over $477,750and reached out to 3,700 teachers andschool workers in Armenia and Karabagh.

� Yes, I want to sponsor teachers in Armenia and Karabagh to continuehelping them to educate the children, our future leaders. I would like to havethe teacher’s name and address.

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Make check payable to: Tekeyan Cultural Association – Memo: Sponsor a Teacher 2010Mail your check with this form to:

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A sketch by Parrot of Ararat and Echmiadzin

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — More than 300 guestsattended the Bridge to Future Gala at theGrand Del Mar Resort on Saturday, October 1,raising $200,000 for a new church campus inSan Diego.

The gala was chaired by Kathy Kassardjianand organized by the Trust Fund Committee ofSt. John Garabed Armenian Church, led by Rev.Datev A.K. Tatoulian.

The event featured Archbishop HovnanDerderian, Primate of the Western Diocese ofthe Armenian Church of North America, as theguest of honor, and Mark Geragos, Esq. as theguest speaker. Distinguished dignitaries andofficials were Archbishop Vatche Hovsepian, for-mer Primate of the Western Diocese; HranushHacobyan, minister of the diaspora for theRepublic of Armenia; Grigor Hovhannissian,consul general of the Republic of Armenia inLos Angeles; Brian Bilbray, US House ofRepresentatives (California’s 50th District) andhis daughter, Brianna; Mel Millstein, represen-tative for City Councilwoman Sherri Lightner;Joe Kellejian, deputy mayor of the city ofSolana Beach and Fr. Nerses Hayrapetyan.

The evening began with guests treated tochampagne and appetizers, donated by Ani’sBest Gourmet Delights, and a silent auction.

Inside the elegantly-appointed ballroom, StevenKradjian opened the evening by welcomingguests and dignitaries: “We are here — each ofus — to do our part as God may use us, toembrace our children in love and enthusiasmfor an Armenian Church and community centerunlike any our region has seen, for the future ofall Armenian families in San Diego.”

The event’s program included the singing ofthe American and Armenian national anthemsby acclaimed soloist Anahit Nersesian, accom-panied by Alex Mirolyan; opening remarks andprayer by Archpriest Datev Tatoulian; an officialwelcome by Gala Chair Kathy Kassardjian; thepresentation of a congressional proclamationby Rep. Brian Bilbray; a live auction and a mes-sage by Hacobyan.

Kassardjian shared, “On behalf of tonight’sorganizing committee, I would like to welcomeyou to the Bridge to the Future’s Gala Dinnerand Dance celebration. Tonight’s event wouldnot be possible without the dedication of my co-chair, Ani Lanuza, and a very hard-workingcommittee. We have a God-centered vision. It’sa vision to bring us all together and build a newchurch campus. God is the foundation of ourproject but you, my dear guests, are the cor-nerstone.”

Geragos stated, “I am flabbergasted that thereare this many Armenians in San Diego andimpressed by the magnitude of this event. We arehere to raise money for a new church campus,and I am happy to do what I can to help youreach that goal.” After his speech, Geragos circu-lated the room encouraging guests to donate gen-erously and sign pledge cards.

The guest of honor, Derderian, greeted thepacked room of supporters with a heartfelt mes-sage:

“Tonight, we are celebrating the living mis-sion of the Armenian Apostolic Church. We arelaunching a new milestone in the life of theArmenian community of San Diego with theimplementation of a larger church complex tobetter serve the community. You haveembarked on a challenging journey.Throughout this journey, your Christian faithwill be your source of spiritual energy and inspi-ration in guiding you to complete this glorioustask. You will secure the sanctity and be

enlightened by the mighty and glorious pres-ence of our church,” said Derderian.

The funds raised at the gala support the firstphase of the Bridge to the Future campaign,whose goal is to raise a total of $2 million forconsulting, planning and permit expenses aswell as final land acquisition. Since the pur-chase of 14 acres of land by the Trust Fund in2008, more than $600,000 (including the pro-ceeds from the October 1 event) has beenraised in donations and pledges for the FirstPhase. The property is located at 13860 ElCamino Real in San Diego.

To make an online donation, go towww.stjohngarabedtrust.org. To make a cashdonation, establish a bequest, donate a vehicle,contribute securities or real estate, transferownership of an insurance policy, or create anendowment, contact Gary Takessian, TrustCommittee Fundraising chair,takessiang@yahoo.com. All contributions aretax-deductible.

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

COMMUNITY NEWS

San Diego Armenians Raise $200,000 at Memorable Bridge to the Future Gala

Guests enjoyed the reception.

Guests helped raise $200,000 for the new church in San Diego.

Fr. Nerses Hayrapetyan, Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Alan Yaghdjian, Jack Hachigian, NinaHachigian and Ani Lanuza

Mr. and Mrs. Jack Kalaydjian, Archbishop Vatche Hovsepian and Mark Geragos

11S A T U R D A Y, O C T O B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 1 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R

COMMUNITY NEWS

CHICAGO — On Saturday, September 17, 45individuals, representing a cross-section of theChicago-Armenian community came together tosupport the mission of Birthright Armenia.

In an elegant party room at NAHA, a hotspotrestaurant owned by cousins Carrie and MichaelNahabedian, guests enjoyed live Armenian musicby the Hye Vibes Band, wine bar, hors d’oeuvresand presentations by local area alumni. Ani MaralGrigorian of Racine, Wis., and Sarah Wilkinson,who traveled to Armenia to perform communityservice under the sponsorship of Birthright in2011 and 2004 respectively, shared short anec-dotes about what the experience meant to them,

and how it changed their perspectives, affectedtheir professional goals, and strengthened theirArmenian identity. Wilkinson told the group ofattendees, “I climbed down into St. Gregory’s pitat Khor Virab, listened to the extremely movingSharakan music being sung down there, and forthe first time in my life, I truly felt and became anArmenian.”

A silent auction table, with unique items such

as artwork from Armenia and signed WhiteHouse memorabilia only added to the fun andsuccess of the evening. “The evening’s goal wasto raise awareness and contributions, and wesucceeded on both fronts. The Chicago com-munity can now proudly say that they helpedsend another five young diasporan adults ontheir life-changing experience to Armenia,”shared Linda Yepoyan, executive director of thenon-profit organization, based in Philadelphia.

“Our heartfelt thanks go out to the BRBrigade members Christina Markarian, GretaDoumanian, Ric Gazarian and numerous otherindividuals within the community who were

instrumental in getting the word outto others about our work in Armeniaand the event itself. Without their onthe ground volunteer support, thisnight would have not been possible,”she added. “This fundraiser will be anexcellent example to share with thenumerous other brigades we are hop-ing to establish city by city across theUS.”

Christina Markarian, who chairs thebrigade in Chicago, sums up whatmotivated her to take on volunteerwork with Birthright Armenia, “WhenI went to Armenia in 1992, I stayed forfive months and I believe the extend-ed stay produced a more meaningfulexperience for me. I am so excitedabout Birthright Armenia because itcreates and funds the opportunity foryoung people to travel to Armenia andstay for a longer duration.”

Birthright Armenia’s mission is tostrengthen ties between the homeland and dias-poran youth by affording them an opportunityto be a part of Armenia’s daily life and to con-tribute to Armenia’s development throughwork, study and volunteer experiences, whiledeveloping a renewed sense of Armenian iden-tity. For more information, or to make an onlinedonation, visit www.birthrightarmenia.org.

Mark Gavoor on oud

Birthright Armenia’s Chicago ‘Brigade’ Launches Itself with Community Event

Birthright Armenia participants from the summer 2011,Crystal Densmore and Ani Grigorian, were eager to sharestories about their experiences with attendees.

Attendees bid on the silent auction table items.

WASHINGTON — On Friday, September 23,the “Pride and Honor Flight” organizationinvited a group of World War II veterans to visitthe World War II Memorial here. Within thisgroup of veterans were six Armenian Americanveterans: Nick Derderian, Carl Kalayjian,George Keurajian, Jack Kojamanian, LeeLaktzian and Harry Kems.

Prior to leaving from the DetroitMetropolitan Airport the group was given t-shits displaying the American flag, which iden-tified them as WWII vets. In addition, OaklandCounty Executive L. Brooks Patterson suppliedthe group multi-colored WWII Veteran’s pins,which they wore along with the t-shirts.

The group left Detroit at 7 a.m. and arrived

in Baltimore several hours later. Upon arrival,they were met by approximately 100 sailors,WAVES and naval officers, all clad in whiteuniforms. Each thanked the veterans for theservice they had rendered the country. It wasa heart-warming reception. After fraternizingwith them for a brief period, they group board-ed a bus and headed to the WWII WarMemorial. The memorial was beautiful andbreathtaking. There were water fountains andhuge columns with plaques representing everystate.

Later in the afternoon, the group was invitedto a sumptuous meal at an elegant restaurant —again compliments of the Pride and HonorFlight Organization.

On the return trip, to their surprise, familymembers and friends had taken time to secret-ly write notes of appreciation to them. Thesenotes were distributed to everyone via a “mili-tary mail call.” Reading the notes of thanks,was a humbling experience and provided anunforgettable closure to the day.

For those readers who do not have a histori-cal knowledge of the Armenian AmericanVeterans of Detroit here is a brief history. In1946, a small group of Armenian military vet-erans joined together to form an organizationto honor Armenian American Veterans (AAV)

by building a memorial meeting hall. This cadreof men in the AAV organization wanted a build-ing of their own and, more importantly, tohonor their fallen comrades. Once a decisionwas made to build the facility, they immediatelystarted to raise the necessary funds. After yearsof arduous solicitations, there building wasgoing to become a reality.

Fourteen years of fund-raising culminated insecuring enough money to purchase a parcel ofland. At the same time, St. John’s ArmenianChurch was aware of AAV’s efforts. The churchsurprised them by granting a large piece of landon church property — a location that would bemore accessible to the youth of the Armeniancommunity. This offer on the part of the church

was gratefully accepted. In the meantime, theoriginal property purchased increased in valueand was sold for a handsome profit. The pro-ceeds from that sale became a financial windfallfor the new building.

Some time around 1960, several members ofthe AAV persuaded the organization to includea recreational center in the building plans inaddition to the meetings facilities. The idea ofconstructing a small gym for the youth wasreadily accepted by the AAV members and theArmenian community. With the addition of therecreation center, funds became more readilyaccessible. Construction for the new buildingbegan in 1961 and was completed the followingyear. It was so successful the St. John’s eventu-ally built a new building with a full-size regula-tion basketball court.

Over the ensuing years attrition has depletedthe ranks. The few who remain were rewardedon September 23 by paying tribute to fallencomrades in arms and having the opportunityto view the WWII Memorial. The AAV thanksthose who sponsored this event as well as all ofthe “Pride and Honor” flights. Also, they wishto extend deep gratitude to L. Brooks Pattersonand his staff for providing members with WWIIVeteran’s pins.

— Dr. Harry Kems

American-Armenian Veterans of Michigan visiting World War II Memorial Washington DC, from left,Nick Derderian, Dr. Harry Kems, Lee Laktzian, Jack Kojamanian, Carl Kalaian; seated center,George P. Keurajian

‘Pride and Honor Flight’ TakesDetroit Veterans to Washington

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

MM EE TT RR OONewYork

NEW YORK — From June 25 to August 5, 21interns from four countries — Canada, Russia,Syria and the United States — came together toparticipate in AGBU’s Yerevan Summer InternProgram (YSIP). For the fifth consecutive year,YSIP has allowed diasporan Armenian collegestudents to connect with their cultural heritagewhile working and participating in a program ofcultural, social and professional activities.Participants develop closer ties with theirhomeland and a better understanding of theirroots.

Participating students spent their summerinternships at a number of leading institutionsand organizations throughout Yerevan, includ-

ing ArBes Medical Center, Armenian Center forContemporary Experimental Art, Azg dailynewspaper, Deem Communications, Global SPCLaw and Consulting, Hetq Online, LragirOnline, the Republic of Armenia FinanceMinistry, St. Nerses the Great Hospital,Storaket Architectural Studio, United NationsDevelopment Program and Yerevan HospitalsNo. 1 and 8.

This year’s AGBU Yerevan SummerInternship Program was supervised by YSIPcoordinator Anna Aghajanian and activitiescoordinator Aline Zorian. The students werehoused at a private residence in Yerevan duringtheir six-week stay.

In addition to gaining professional experi-ence, the interns also participated in numerouscultural activities, attended weekly Armenian-language and folk-dance classes, visited historicmonuments and got acquainted with the pro-grams carried out by AGBU throughoutArmenia and Karabagh. Interns had the oppor-tunity to meet with a number of Armenian polit-ical and social figures, including the Republic of

Armenia’s Diaspora Minister HranoushHakobian, Defense Minister Seyran Ohanianand former Foreign Minister of Armenia (andcurrent chairman of the Heritage party and par-liament member) Raffi Hovannisian. YSIP par-ticipants also met with young Armenian entre-preneurs, including Hayk Vardanyan, the co-founder of Wise Business LLC, and GeorgeTabakian and Talar Kazanjian, two Diasporan

Armenians who have both moved to theirhomeland and are currently running successfulbusinesses in the country.

The offices of the AGBU ArmenianRepresentation and Armenian Virtual College(AVC) hosted the YSIP participants for an intro-ductory presentation and a video chat withYervant Zorian, the chairman of the uniqueonline school.

This year’s participants also spent threeunforgettable days in Karabagh, touringStepanakert, Shushi and Gandzasar. Duringtheir time in Karabagh, they were treated to aperformance by the students of the NaregatsiArt Institute in Shushi.

On July 24, interns visited the AGBUAntranik Scout Camp in the Lori region ofArmenia and spent an unforgettable day withArmenian scouts from all around the world.YSIP students were also given the uniqueopportunity to attend a performance of“Anoush” at the Armenian National Opera andBallet Theatre. This year’s group also took partin a unique scavenger hunt activity, togetherwith Birthright Armenia volunteers. Togetherthe groups were divided into several teams and

sent to explore the Armenian capital in an effortto create camaraderie and familiarize them withthe city and its residents.

On August 3, before the conclusion of thesix-week program, a farewell reception washeld at the Yerevan Museum of Folk Art, inhonor of the interns, YSIP staff, intern super-visors and AGBU staff. The evening celebrat-ed the once-in-a-lifetime journey experiencedby YSIP and their unforgettable summerexperiences.

“No matter what you expect, you will bewrong. Armenia and YSIP will impress youfrom day one to the day you have to leave,” saidSamuel Armen, who was a 2011 participantfrom the United States.

Fellow YSIP intern Nicole Saglamer, also ofthe United States, shared Armen’s enthusiasmabout her summer. “Being an AGBU intern forthe past six weeks has made me understandwhat it really means to be a DiasporanArmenian. I have acquired an even greater affin-ity towards my Armenian heritage and identityand know now for sure that coming back toArmenia to support and help my homeland is ahuge passion of mine,” she said.

YSIP participants during their visit to the monastery of Geghard

2011 AGBU Yerevan Summer Intern Program Creates Bonds

YSIP participants having lunch in a village outside of Garni

By Taleen Babayan

TEANECK, N.J. and YEREVAN — In an effortto continue to contribute to the improvement ofthe healthcare system in Armenia, the ArmenianAmerican Health Professional Organization(AAHPO) organized its first medical mission thattook place in conjunction with the ThirdInternational Medical Congress in Armenia lastsummer.

During the month of July, AAHPO members vis-ited hospitals and clinics throughout Armenia —ranging from Hospital #8 in Yerevan to the ArmavirMedical Center, 30 miles outside the capital.

The mission allowed participants to becomefamiliarized with and gain a better understandingof the medical system in Armenia. Components ofthe program included direct patient care, learninghow the healthcare system in Armenia functionsand networking with local physicians. Returningto the US, AAHPO members concluded that twoareas most in need are medical training and theallocation of resources.

“I found the doctors to be knowledgeable butlacking the medical technology we use here inthe US,” said pediatrician Dr. Garbis Baydar, whonoted that there is not a single MRI machine inthe entire country.

One highlight of the mission was when thegroup visited a new 60-bed, pediatric hospital inYerevan, which provides both general pediatricand intensive care. While there, the head of theNeonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care Units pro-vided the AAHPO group with a detailed tour of

the hospital and its laboratories, and each mem-ber met with doctors in their fields of specialty.

“The doctors in Armenia know the capabili-ties of Western medicine but they just don’thave the resources,” said gastroenterologist Dr.Greg Koobatian. “They don’t have the tools todo more advanced things such as endoscopicultrasounds.”

While participants in the medical mission sawthe limited resources in the hospitals in Yerevan,they saw even more of a disparity in the rural vil-lages. Two other Armenian humanitarian organi-zations, including the Fund for Armenian Relief(FAR) and the Children of Armenia Fund (COAF),worked with AAHPO to allow them access intohospitals and clinics in the rural villages.

In one of the hospitals they visited, theylearned that only one ambulance covers theneeds of six villages, some of which are up to halfan hour away.

“Some of the villages weren’t as affected by themedical system,” said Dr. Alicia Demirjian, a pedi-atric infectious disease doctor. “It was a strikingdifference, but it was important to see these kindsof things.”

While it became evident that vast changes needto be made to the healthcare system in Armenia,something as basic as continuing medical develop-ment is a positive first step.

“If the doctors in Armenia could receive con-tinuing medical education, it will have a highimpact on the medical system,” said Demirjian.

To this end, AAHPO has been working with FARto help train physicians in Armenia through theContinuing Medical Education Program (CME),which brings doctors throughout Armenia to

Yerevan for one month of intensive training.“AAHPO’s support of the Continuing Medical

Education Program is helping doctors inArmenia learn new techniques, treatments andmedications,” said Koobatian. “This approach ismore efficient than sending doctors over from theUS for a week or two for patient care.”

Reflecting on their time in Armenia visitingvarious hospitals and clinics and meeting withhealthcare professionals as well as patients, par-ticipants are happy they were part of the missionand are looking forward to building on the rela-

tionships they developed while there. They alsoinvite other healthcare professionals to join theinitiative.

“I encourage every Armenian healthcare pro-fessional to pitch in,” said Baydar.

“AAHPO is doing a great job in making a con-nection between Armenians in the diaspora andin Armenia,” added Koobatian. “I hope going for-ward we are able to make more of an impact.”

AAHPO is hosting a gala fundraiser onSaturday, October 15, at the Marriott Glenpointein Teaneck, NJ.

Group photo of AAHPO medical mission participants

AAHPO Members Complete First Medical Mission in Armenia

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Arts & LivingS A T U R D A Y, O C T O B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 1

David Alexanian Shows‘The Way’ with Estevez

And SheenNEW YORK — “The Way,” a new, heart-warming family film, is written and direct-

ed by Emilio Estevez, and produced by David Alexanian and his company, ElixirFilms. Now showing in most theatresfrom coast to coast, the film is the storyof a life-changing trip bonding a fatherand his son, and emphasizes the differ-ence between the life we live, and thelife we choose. It stars Estevez’ own

father, Martin Sheen, whose California life is transformed during a trek.When Sheen, a well-to-do ophthalmologist, hears that his only son (played by

Estevez) has died during a storm in the Pyrenees while hiking along the famed Wayof St. James, also known as the Camino de Santiago, he flies to France. To betterunderstand himself and his bohemian son from whom he has been estranged, andto complete his son’s journey, he decides to make the pilgrimage himself, a trek ofhundreds of miles from France to Spain.

Using his son’s gear, he starts out picking up a motley group of trekkers, includ-ing an overweight Dutchman (Yorick van Wageningen), a surly chain-smokingCanadian (Deborah Kara Unger), and an Irish author (James Nesbitt) suffering fromwriter’s bloc, all of whom hope to find a way out of their personal dilemmas. Alongthe way, Sheen quietly scatters his son’s ashes.

Though there isn’t much insight on how the grouchy Sheen is changed by theodyssey, the film does afford some hints at healing through arguments as well asfriendship with his teammates (all fine actors) and hilarious moments with the localvillagers on the journey, especially an innkeeper who alone puts on a side-splittingshow acting out a conversation between a man and a woman.

Probably the most impressive parts of the film portray the history, culture andpicturesque panorama of the countryside, Sheen’s moving, understated perfor-mance and the character development of the other three lead actors. There is alsothe spiritual element, especially when the four pilgrims finally reach their destina-tion at the Spanish cathedral where St. James is reputed to be buried.

Producer Alexanian grew up in Pennsylvania and has been involved with film andtheatre production for more than 10 years. He is especially fascinated with subjectsof geographical and inspirational journeys. He co-founded Elixir Films with his sis-ter, Alexis Alexanian.

His association with “The Way” started in 2008 when writer and director Estevezasked him to produce it after attending Alexanian’s 2007 production of “Long WayDown.” Both Estevez and Alexanian flew to Spain and journeyed on the Caminode Santiago de Compostela ancient trek. Along the way they hired crew and castfrom the local population, and worked on the production.

However, “The Way” was not the first of Alexanian’s films. In 2001, he filmed EricBogosian’s one-man show, “Wake Up and Smell the Coffee,” for the IndependentFilm Channel. He has also filmed “The Good Thief” by Conor McPherson at a runin a Los Angeles theatre, and the 2003 production of “Where the Red Fern Grows.”

This was followed in 2004 with “Long Way Round,” which he directed and pro-duced. It was the 20,000-mile motorcycle journey of Ewan McGregor and CharleyBoorman from London to New York through Europe, Kazakhstan, Mongolia,Siberia, far eastern Russian and North America.

He recalls that his mother was terrified of motorcycles, when he was growing up.“I used to sneak out to ride dirt bikes against her stern warnings,” he says. Workingwith his sister, Alexis, he became the head of Elixir Films, and has instilled that loveof motorcycles into films, such as “Long Way Round” and “Long Way Down” whichhe produced in 2007.

“Long Way Down” details a ride from the Northern tip of Scotland, downthrough Europe, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania,

see THE WAY, page 17

From left, Sonja Magdevski, Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez and David Alexanian atthe Chicago International Film Festival in August

Jack Kevorkian’sPaintings Go onSale in New York

NEW YORK (Daily Mail) — He was nick-named “Dr. Death” for helping dozens of peo-ple commit suicide in the 1990s and spenteight years in prison for second-degree mur-der.

Now, the late Jack Kevorkian’s paintings,writings and iconic blue sweaters are beingsold in an auction in New York this month.

Many of the 20 paintings by the patholo-gist, who died in June aged 83, depict deathor dying, and are often intended to provokeor disturb.

One of those up for auction is titled“Genocide” and features a bloody head beingdangled by the hair and held by the hands oftwo soldiers.

One wears a German military uniform fromWorld War II and the other a Turkish uni-form from World War I to depict the masskillings of Armenians and Jews during World

I and World War II, respectively.Kevorkian painted the frame with his own

blood and wanted to have a skeleton with anIV flowing through it next to the painting,according to Suburban Detroit art galleryowner Anne Kuffler.

Kuffler, who had previously exhibited thepathologist’s work, put him off the idea how-ever.

“He said: ‘I want to show how horrible it is,I want people to be upset by it,”’ she said.

“I said: ‘If you haven’t portrayed it in yourpainting, then you haven’t succeeded.’”

The gallery owner revealed there hadalready been interest in the paintings up forauction.

Kuffler, who sells signed and numberedlithographs of six of his works for $500apiece, said she was offered $100,000 for oneof his original paintings in 1994 and believesthe value of work would have increased sincethen.

Kevorkian’s lawyer, Mayer Morganroth,said he didn’t know the value of the collec-tion but most of the proceeds will go to thedoctor’s sole heir — a niece — and the charityKicking Cancer for Kids.

Morganroth said the timing was right tosell the items, since there was interest fromseveral auction houses and the broader artworld, as well as a desire to settle the estate.

Many of the paintings have been hangingat the Armenian Library and Museum ofAmerica in Watertown, Mass., which also hasa collection of his compositions and writings.

Kevorkian was also a keen musician andcomposer.

“I think the legacy is showing the manyfacets of him and his capabilities,”Morganroth said. “He was a multi-talentedman.”

By Florence AvakianSpecial to the Mirror-Spectator

Balakian toSpeak atColumbia

Genocide Expert Frieze alsoTo Address Memory and

Genocide

NEW YORK — The Department ofMiddle Eastern, South Asian and AfricanStudies (MESAAS), Columbia University,in conjunction with the Armenian Centerat Columbia University and the NationalAssociation for Armenian Studies andResearch (NAASR) presents two eventsopen to the public in conjunction withthe on-going graduate seminar,“Memories of the Armenian Genocide: AnExploration through Memoir, Literatureand the Arts.”

A public reading and talk by writer andpoet Peter Balakian will take place onTuesday, October 25, at 7:35 p.m.Balakian’s talk is titled, “TheTransmission of Trauma AcrossGenerations: Literary Memory and theArmenian Genocide.” The talk will takeplace in room 501 of Schermerhorn Hallon the campus of Columbia University(116th Street and Broadway). Balakian isthe Donald M. and Constance H. RebarProfessor of the Humanities, Professor ofEnglish and director of Creative Writingat Colgate University. He is the author ofmany books including the memoir, BlackDog of Fate, winner of PEN/AlbrandPrize for Memoir, Burning Tigris: TheArmenian Genocide, America’sResponse, winner of the Raphael LemkinPrize and a New York Times Best Seller,and co-translator of Grigoris Balakian’sArmenian Golgotha: A Memoir of theArmenian Genocide 1915-1918. Hisbooks of poems include Ziggurat andJune-tree: New and Selected Poems,1974-2000.

On Thursday, November 3, at 7:35 p.m.,Dr. Donna-Lee Frieze of DeakinUniversity in Melbourne, Australia, willpresent a talk titled, “Silence, Memoryand Sacred Drama: Ravished Armenia inthe Memorialization of the ArmenianGenocide.” The talk will take place inroom 501 of Schermerhorn Hall,Columbia University. There will be ascreening of the short surviving fragmentof the film, “Ravished Armenia,” in con-junction with the talk.

Frieze has taught a graduate unit ongenocide studies for 10 years at DeakinUniversity. In 2009 she was joint consult-ing scholar for a conference on RaphaelLemkin and sole consulting scholar for asix-month exhibition on Lemkin, both atthe Center for Jewish History in New YorkCity. She is part of a research team pub-lishing a history of the Jewish HolocaustCentre in Melbourne and is the editor ofLemkin’s autobiography (Yale UniversityPress, forthcoming).

Both talks are in conjunction with anon-going Columbia University graduateseminar, “Memories of the ArmenianGenocide: An Exploration throughMemoir, Literature and the Arts,” taughtby Armen T. Marsoobian, Nikit andEleanora Ordjanian Visiting Professor ofArmenian Literature, Columbia Universityand professor and chair of the PhilosophyDepartment at Southern ConnecticutState University in New Haven. For moreinformation about these events and theseminar contact am3766@columbia.edu.

ADAM BIELOWSKI PHOTO

“Genocide” by Jack Kevorkian

TENAFLY, N.J. — Each Monday and Fridayevening, a rehearsal here is filled with thesounds and dance steps from the mountainsand plains of Armenia. Who’s stomping andmaking this ruckus? A group of New York/NewJersey youth of Armenian descent ages rangingfrom Kindergarten through post-college grads.

The imagination of these 120 dancers, maleand female, is captured through the passionand dedication of founder, artistic director andchoreographer of the Shushi Armenian DanceEnsemble, Seta Paskalian-Kantardjian.

The Shushi Armenian Dance Ensemble wasfounded in 1992 by Seta Paskalian-Kantardjian,a Cresskill resident, who had directed the groupfor 20 years, all on a volunteer basis. Throughthe medium of dance, she instills Armenianidentity and pride in these youth while alsoexposing diverse audiences to Armenian her-itage through the arts.

She says, “Armenian dance is part of myessence It’s who I am. I find no greater joy inlife than sharing my talent and passion forArmenian music and dance with each genera-tion for the past 20 years.”

Throughout its two-decade history, Paskalian-Kantardjian has led the Shushi ArmenianDance Ensemble and produced concerts anddance performances all over the world, acrossEurope, the Middle East, North America(including the White House) and of course theRepublic of Armenia. The group will concludethe 20-year celebration with a trip to SouthAmerica with performances in Buenos Aires,Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay in July2012.

On October 30, the Shushi Armenian DanceEnsembly will celebrate its 20th Anniversary byperforming in an event, “Independence,” dedi-cated to the 20th anniversary of the indepen-dence of Armenia and Karabagh. With 150 per-formers, including vocalists and musicians fromArmenia, Los Angeles and New York accompa-

nying the young dancers. The October 30 eventwill be held at Felician College in Lodi.

In spite of dark periods within their history,most prominently the Genocide of 1915,Armenians all over the world continue to striveto perpetuate their identity and their culture.Shushi’s celebration of the independence of

Armenia and Karabagh is a testimonial to thedrive of our New York/New Jersey youth tokeep their history and lineage alive.

For further information, photos and videoprofiling Shushi Armenian Dance Ensembleand its upcoming Independence event, visitwww.shushidance.org.

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T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R

ARTS & LIVING

S A T U R D A Y, O C T O B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 1

Shushi Dance Ensemble Makes History Come Alive through Dance

Senior members mesmerized the crowd as they perform to the choreographed Im Love, Im Love celebrating the 15th anniversary of the ensemble at theOpera House in Yerevan on July 3, 2008.

Hosted by the AGBU AYA Aleppo chapter and Friends of the Citadel of Aleppo, Shushi performed atthe historic Citadel (Pert) with more than 4,000 audience members, including 200 AGBU boy andgirl scouts.

Shushi Dance Ensemble members performed to a sell-out crowd in White Plains, NY on March 27,2010, sponsored by St. Gregory Armenian School of White Plains.

15T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R

ARTS & LIVING

S A T U R D A Y, O C T O B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 1

WINCHESTER, Mass. — The home of Raffi and Nina Festekjian was the venue for a fundraiserfor YerazArt on Saturday, September 24. The gathering raised about $17,000, with the attendanceof 75 guests.

After a performance by several members of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Nicole Hajjar,chair of the YerazArt board, gave an overview of the organization’s goals and philanthropic efforts.

In previous years, along with supporting individual musicians, money was spent to bring to theUS a group of young musicians from Armenia, so that they could get experience performing indiverse venues. This year, the YerazArt board has decided to send the funds raised to young musicstudents there who are eager to pursue higher education in Armenia. In fact, she said, the annualtuition cost of the education of a young opera singer and a young pianist, has been fully subsidizedby YerazArt.

In addition, she said, the Brutyan School in Gumri, also known as School No. 4, received a set

of new musical instruments from YerazArt. Similarly, the Karakeravan Art School received an oud,guitar and kanon.

The group has been able to cultivate young musicians. Hajjar announced one young pianist, AleksandrIradyan, 20, has been accepted to the graduate program of the Florida International University. YerazArtwill pay for the schooling. Another recipient of funds is Nara Avetisyan, who has been admitted to theCleveland Institute of Music, to study with Prof. Sergei Babayan. She will receive $4,000 annually fromYerazArt’s Anais Afeyan Foundation, started by Noubar and Anna Afeyan.

The Executive Board of YerazArt includes Anna Afeyan, Nina Festekjian, Vahe Ghahraman, AvakKahvejian, Sargis Karapetyan, Sylvie Zakarian Meguerditchian, Seza Seraderian, Apo Ashjian andYeghishe Manucharyan.

For more information about the group, visit www.yerazart.org.—— AAlliinn KK.. GGrreeggoorriiaann

YerazArt Event Raises $17,000 for Young Musicians

From left, Michele Semourian, Julia Mirak Kew and Mary Ellen Margosian

From left, Nicole Hajjar, Lisa Sedrakian and Katrina Menzigian

Clarinetist Tom Hill and Raffi Festekjian

Board Chair Nicole Hajjar speaks as Dr. Viken Babikian looks on.Anna Afeyan, left, with Katrina Menzigian

From left, Nicole Hajjar, Boston Philharmonic associate principal cellist Velleda Mirangias, principalviolist Lisa Suslowicz and Nina Festkjian

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

ARTS & LIVING

Poet Derimejian’s Latest Effort PublishedIn Both Armenian and English

ARLINGTON, Mass. — On Saturday, October 8, at the Armenian Cultural Foundation,the Armenian Independent Broadcasting of Boston presented the English and Armenianeditions of the latest book by poet Avik Deirmenjian, Gleam of Hope.

Deirmenjian, who resides in Lexington, writes in Armenian; his poems express defiance,love of the homeland and longing for Ararat, as well as celebrating love, justice and faith.He is published in most Armenian newspapers in the diaspora, and lately, he has been gain-ing exposure in Armenia.

Garbis Zerdelian made the opening remarks. Master of ceremonies was RoubenSourenian. Tatoul Sonentz has translated the poems by Deirmenjian capably. Performingat the event were mezzo-soprano Victoria Avedisian, pianist Levon Hovsepian andElizabeth Der Mesrobian.

At the end, a ceremony of kinetson or book-blessing ceremony took place and the authorsigned copies of his book for the public.

Avik Deirmenjian during the signing

FRESNO — Dr. Sebouh Aslanian will speakabout his new book, From the Indian Ocean tothe Mediterranean: The Global TradeNetworks of Armenian Merchants from NewJulfa, at 7:30 p.m., on Friday, October 21, in theGrosse Industrial Technology Building, Room101, on the Fresno State campus.

Aslanian’s presentation is the second of theFall 2011 Armenian Studies Program LectureSeries and is co-sponsored by the Departmentof History and the Armenian StudentsOrganization at Fresno State.

Drawing on a rich trove of documents,including correspondence not seen for 300years, Aslanian will explore the emergenceand growth of a remarkable global trade net-work operated by Armenian silk merchantsfrom a small outpost in the Persian Empire.Based in New Julfa, Isfahan, in what is nowIran, these merchants operated a network ofcommercial settlements that stretched fromLondon and Amsterdam to Manila andAcapulco. The New Julfan Armenians werethe only Eurasian community that were ableto operate simultaneously and successfully inall the major empires of the early modernworld — both land-based Asian empires andthe emerging sea-borne empires — astonish-ingly without the benefits of an imperial net-work and state that accompanied and facili-tated European mercantile expansion duringthe same period.

This book brings to light for the first time thetrans-imperial cosmopolitan world of the NewJulfans. Among other topics, it explores theeffects of long-distance trade on the organiza-tion of community life, the ethos of trust andcooperation that existed among merchants andthe importance of information networks andcommunication in the operation of early mod-ern mercantile communities.

Aslanian received his PhD (with distinction)from Columbia University in 2007. He is theRichard Hovannisian Term Chair of ModernArmenian History (established by the Armenian

Educational Fund) at the department of historyat UCLA. He has taught at the department ofHistory at CSULB as an assistant professor inthe fall of 2010 after serving a year at CornellUniversity as a Mellon Foundation Postdoctoralfellow in world history.

Aslanian specializes in early modern worldand Armenian history and is the author ofnumerous articles in peer-reviewed journalssuch as the Journal of World History, theJournal of the Social and Economic History ofthe Orient, the Journal of Global History andDiaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies.His book, titled From the Indian Ocean to theMediterranean: The Global Trade Networks ofArmenian Merchants from New Julfa, Isfahan,1605-1747, was recently published by theUniversity of California Press. It was selected bythe Committee of the California World HistoryLibrary as the first book to appear in their newseries, “Author’s Imprint,” that celebrates andrecognizes “exceptional scholarship by first-time authors.”

Admission is free to the lecture.

Dr. Sebouh Aslanian to SpeakAbout his New Book at Fresno

Books

Inspired by friends who adore Mexican fla-vors, Christine Datian decided to reinventtraditional Middle Eastern tabbouleh withSouthwestern spices. After substitutingcilantro for parsley and adding peppers,cumin and chili powder, she knew she had aunique dish that was quick and easy tothrow together. “If you’re working, you cando a lot of prep before, when you do havetime,” she says. Datian recommends buyingpre-chopped vegetables from the grocerystore for a fast weeknight meal. If necessary,one can even soak the bulgur overnight.

IInnggrreeddiieennttssThree-fourths cup uncooked bulgur One-and-one-fourth cups boiling water One-and-one-half teaspoons extra-virginolive oil One cup chopped fresh cilantro One cup vertically sliced red onion Three-fourths cup diced, seeded tomato Half a cup of sliced green onions Half a cup of diced yellow bell pepper Half a cup of chopped peeled avocado One-fourth cup diced, seeded and peeledcucumber One-fourth cup (one ounce) crumbledqueso fresco One-fourth cup extra-virgin olive oil Two tablespoons fresh lemon juice Two tablespoons fresh lime juice Two teaspoons diced, seeded, jalapeño pepper Three-fourths teaspoon dried oregano Half a teaspoon salt

One-fourth teaspoon ground cumin One-fourth teaspoon ground red pepper One-fourth teaspoon paprika One-fourth teaspoon chili powder One-fourth teaspoon freshly ground blackpepper One-eighth teaspoon ground allspice One garlic clove, minced Dash of hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)

PPrreeppaarraattiioonnCombine bulgur, one and one-fourth cupsboiling water and one and one-half teaspoonsoil in a medium bowl; cover and let stand 20minutes. Drain bulgur through a fine sieve;place bulgur in a medium bowl. Add cilantroand remaining ingredients; toss well.

Spicy Southwestern TabboulehChristine Datian’s Recipe Republished from Cooking Light

Dr. Sebouh Aslanian

By Tom Vartabedian

BILLERICA, Mass. — Growing up in thefoothills of Armenia, with Ararat beckoning hercall, Knarik Nerkararyan spent her younger dayslistening to the music of Lusine Zakaryan, hop-ing one day to emulate the talented soprano.

The diva’s lyricism made such an imprint onthe young teenager’s life, hardly a day went bywhen she didn’t persist in her dream.

“Keep in mind that it was the Communistera,” recalled Nerkararyan. “No lights. No fuel.No freedom. There were no recordings of her tobe found anywhere. Would I ever have the voiceto follow her as a singer?”

Two years later, at Soorp Hovhaness Churchin Yerevan, Zakaryan was performing solo whenthey were reunited, shortly before the singer’sdeath.

“It was the last time I had any connectionwith her,” added Nerkararyan. “Because of hervoice and the way she could interpret Armenianspiritual music, it changed my life.”

Nerkararyan held true her promise tobecome a star in a similar galaxy. She graduat-ed with honors from Komitas Yerevan StateConservatory with a master’s degree in vocalarts and classical singing.

In 2006, she received a scholarship to continueher studies in America. Two years later, shereceived another master’s degree in vocal perfor-mance from Azusa Pacific University in California.

In 2007 and 2008, Nerkararyan was grantedAGBU scholarships as a gifted young Armeniansinger and wound up taking second place at theLos Angeles International Liszt Competition forVocalists.

She has introduced audiences to Armenian

medieval spiritual music and performed leadroles in many prominent operas, including thatof Mimi in Puccini’s “La Boheme” only this yearafter winning the American Educators of ItalianOrigin United 41st Annual Opera Auditions.Also this year, she was applauded at an AGBUPerforming Artists Concert at Carnegie Hall.

A most recent appearance found her singingthe role of Tatiana in Tchaikovsky’s “EugeneOnegin.”

These days, she lives in Billerica and con-ducts the choir at St. Gregory Church in NorthAndover, where she arrived three months ago.Her voice fits the operatic mode and gives thecongregation a reason to attend Holy Badarak.

“I want to break down the barriers thatchoirs are just for old people,” she points out.“Hopefully, I can recruit some new voices andget younger singers involved.”

Nerkararyan is combing the area in search ofa teaching position at some school or conser-vatory. If concerts and recitals come her way,more power to the performer. She’s prepared totake the quantum leap toward stardom.

The image of Zakaryan still persists but itshares the heart with Hasmig Hatsagortsyan,her voice teacher from Armenia and soloist withthe Yerevan State Opera Company. As foranother role model apart from her heritage,that would be Mirella Freni, an Italian sopranowho sings an exquisite Mimi.

Knarik leaves the professional photographyto her fiancé, Mardo Kevorkian, who operates astudio in Lexington.

“I find the Merrimack Valley to be most wel-coming,” she says. “The church has erased anystrange feelings and opened doors to new rela-tionships. My goal is to reach out to people withthe power of music. It changes my mood andbrings hope, faith and goodness to others.”

Singer Nerkararyan a Stranger in Paradise

S A T U R D A Y, O C T O B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 1 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R 17

ARTS & LIVING

NNOOVVEEMMBBEERR 1199 —— TThhee AArrmmeenniiaann EEyyeeCCaarree PPrroojjeecctt wwiill ll hhoolldd iittssnniinntthh AAnnnnuuaall NNeewwppoorr tt GGaallaa,, hhoonnoorriinngg GGoovv.. GGeeoorrggeeDDeeuukkmmeejjiiaann,, on November 19, 6:30 p.m., at the Balboa Bay Club,Newport Beach. For info and reservations, call (949) 675-5611.

TThhee AArrmmeenniiaann CCuullttuurraall AAssssoocciiaattiioonn ooff AAmmeerriiccaa,, IInncc.. pprreesseennttss::AArrmmeenniiaann HHeerriittaaggee CCrruuiissee XXVV.. Leaving January 21, 2012. 15thAnniversary Celebration. For more info, visitwww.ArmenianHeritageCruise.com.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 2200 —— TThhee KK.. GGeeoorrggee aanndd CCaarroollaannnn SS.. NNaajjaarriiaann,, MMDDLLeeccttuurree oonn HHuummaann RRiigghhttss.. Endowed Public Program of ArmenianHeritage Park. Faneuil Hall, Boston. 7 p.m. Keynote speaker, PaulRusesabagina, human rights activist; US Presidential Medal ofFreedom (2005); president and founder, The Hotel RwandaRusesabagina Foundation; author, An Ordinary Man, Penguin 2006.The Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation was founded in 2006by Rusesabagina, the real life hero of the acclaimed film “HotelRwanda.” Portrayed by Don Cheadle in the film, Rusesabagina savedthe lives of more than 1,200 people during the Rwandan genocideand has been honored internationally for his heroism. CharlieClements, executive director, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy,Harvard Kennedy School of Government will introduceRusesabagina.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 2222 —— FFaallll HHaarrvveesstt BBaazzaaaarr,, nnoooonn--88 pp..mm..,, FFiirrsstt AArrmmeenniiaannCChhuurrcchh,, 380 Concord Ave., Belmont. Great food, fun and the mar-ketplace. Lamb, beef, chicken and losh kebab dinners grilled fresh allday with pilaf and salad, enjoy in our Fellowship Hall or packed forhome. Yalanchi, cheese boreg and falafel. Home made manti, kufte,choreg, string cheese packaged for the freezer. Handmade pastries,dried fruits, nuts. Marketplace includes books, children’s items, “attictreasures” and more. Handicamp ramp and MBTA train and bus line.For info, visit www.FACBelmont.org or (617) 484-4779. All welcome.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 2277 —— ““AA JJoouurrnneeyy ttoo HHiissttoorriicc AArrmmeenniiaa,,”” by Ed and MaryAnn Kazanjian. Andover Library Memorial Hall, 2 North Main St.,Andover, 6:30 p.m. Admission free. Presented by the MerrimackValley Lodge of the Knights of Vartan (www.knightsofvartan.org).Contact Vahan at kovlodge35@gmail.com.

NNOOVVEEMMBBEERR 44--55 —— AAnnnnuuaall BBaazzaaaarr ssppoonnssoorreedd bbyy AArrmmeenniiaann AAppoossttoolliiccCChhuurrcchh aatt HHyyee PPooiinnttee,, 110 Main St., Haverhill, Friday, 12-8 p.m.;Saturday, 12-7 p.m. Armenian cuisine served all day. Pastry table,Country Store, Gift Basket Raffles and Raffles for cash and prizes. Formore info, visit www.hyepointechurch.org or call (978) 372-9227.

NNOOVVEEMMBBEERR 66 —— PPrreevviieeww ooff ““DDeeppoorr tteedd// AA DDrreeaamm PPllaayy,,”” a new playabout the Armenian Genocide, with award-winning playwright JoyceVan Dyke, director Judy Braha and actors reading scenes from theplay that premieres next March in Boston. Armenian Library andMuseum of America, 65 Main St., Watertown, 3-5 p.m. Free andopen to the public.

NNOOVVEEMMBBEERR 1111 —— TThhee KKnniigghhttss ooff VVaarr ttaann AArraarraatt LLooddggee NNuummbbeerr 11aannnnuuaall cceerreemmoonnyy at the Renaissance Waterfront Hotel on LongWharf, Boston, Friday. Guest speaker, Primate of Artsakh,Archbishop Pargev Martirossian. Reception, 7 p.m.; dinner, 8 p.m.Man of the Year is Aurelian Mardiros, Community Leader Award toRegistrar Rachel Kaprielian and the Faithful Knight Award to JohnPeterson.

NNOOVVEEMMBBEERR 1122--1133 —— SSaavvee tthhee ddaattee.. AADDAAAA FFoouurr tthh AAnnnnuuaall BBoossttoonnAArrmmeenniiaann FFiillmm FFeessttiivvaall.. Fresh Pond Cinemas, Cambridge. Seewww.armeniandrama.org.

NNOOVVEEMMBBEERR 1177 —— PPaarr ttyy aatt tthhee OOtthheerr PPaarrkk!! BBeenneeffiitt ffoorr tthheeAArrmmeenniiaann HHeerriittaaggee PPaarrkk EEnnddoowwmmeenntt.. Fenway Park, Boston.Advance reservations only. For details and reply form, visitwww.ArmenianHeritagePark.net.

NNOOVVEEMMBBEERR 1199 —— HHoolliiddaayy KKeeff,, featuring Richard Hagopian, and hisKef Time Ensemble. Saturday, 8 p.m.-1 a.m. Adults, $45, students,$25. UMass Lowell Conference Center, 50 Warren St., Lowell, (978)934-6920. Cash bar only. Mezza, coffee, dessert. For info, call Mike(978) 682-3946 or Richard (978) 374-0687.

FFEEBBRRUUAARRYY 1111,, 22001122 —— TThhee AArrmmeenniiaann SSiisstteerrss’’ AAccaaddeemmyy 3300tthhAAnnnniivveerrssaarryy GGaallaa,, Saturday, at the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel,Boston. Additional details to follow.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 2211 —— SStt.. LLeeoonn AArrmmeenniiaann CChhuurrcchh && TTeekkeeyyaann CCuullttuurraallAAssssoocciiaattiioonn pprreesseenntt AA PPhhoottooggrraapphhiicc JJoouurrnneeyy TThhrroouugghh WWeesstteerrnnAArrmmeenniiaann aanndd tthhee AArraarraatt 1111 cclliimmbb,, 8 p.m. St. Leon ArmenianChurch Charles & Grace Pinajian Youth Center, 12-61 Saddle RiverRoad, Fairlawn. For info, call Shoghig Chalian at (201) 803-0240.

NNOOVVEEMMBBEERR 1133 —— SStt.. SStteeppaannooss AArrmmeenniiaann CChhuurrcchh WWoommeenn’’ss cclluubbiinnvviitteess yyoouu ffoorr aann AArrmmeenniiaann ccoonncceerr tt bbyy tthhee AARREEKKAAGG CChhiillddrreenn’’ssCChhooiirr,, conducted by Vago John Ohanyan. Following church services,1184 Ocean Ave., Elberon. Thanksgiving Lunch will be served.Tickets: $30, adults; $10, children, 10 and under. Call Linda Patruno(732) 449-5249, Norig Buchakjian (732) 929-0776.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 2222 —— TThhee CChheellsseeaa RRoooomm pprreesseennttss HHoovvnnaanniiaann AAlluummnnii &&FFrriieennddss ffaallll nniigghhtt oouutt.. Music by special DJ Finesse. 22 W 23rd St.,New York City. For advance tickets, call Bernard Y (201) 741-9196 orShant M (201) 362-6617. Proceeds will be donated to the HovnanianSchool.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 2288--3300 —— TThhee aannnnuuaall ssyymmppoossiiuumm wweeeekkeenndd ooff tthheeWWoommeenn’’ss GGuuiilldd CCeennttrraall CCoouunncciill.. At the St. Vartan ArmenianCathedral Complex and Diocesan Center, New York City. For infor-mation, contact Rita Oscherician at (201) 398-0153 or margheri-ta@optonline.net.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 3300 —— SShhuusshhii AArrmmeenniiaann DDaannccee EEnnsseemmbbllee ooff SStt.. VVaarr ttaannCCaatthheeddrraall,, New York City, presents Independence celebrating the20th anniversary of Armenia’s “Independence.” Twentieth anniver-sary of Karabagh and 20th anniversary of the Shushi ArmenianDance Ensemble. 150 Performers. 5 p.m., Felician College, 262 MainSt., Lodi. Donation: $100, $50, $40, $30 and $25. For tickets, callMarie (201) 745-8850, Sossy (201) 779-9007, Diocese (212) 686-0710. Purchase tickets online at www.shushidance.org.

MMAAYY 1199,, 22001122 —— HHMMAADDSS GGaallaa DDiinnnneerr DDaannccee.. Details to follow, June25. HMADS 30th Commencement Exercise at 8 p.m., Kalustyan Hall.

CALIFORNIA

FLORIDA

NEW JERSEY

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

On October 27, Ed and Mary Ann Kazanjian,pictured above, will give an illustrated presen-tation, titled “A Journey to Historic Armenia,”at the Andover Library Memorial Hall, 2 NorthMain St., Andover, Mass. at 6:30 p.m., pre-sented by the Merrimack Valley Lodge of theKnights of Vartan. Admission is free. For info,contact Vahan at kovlodge35@gmail.com.

NEW YORK

MASSACHUSETTS

ADAA Boston FilmFestival to TakePlace Nov. 12-13

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The fourth annualArmenian Dramatic Arts Alliance (ADAA)Boston Armenian Film Festival will take placeat the Fresh Pond Cinemas, on November 12-13. The event aims to provide a forum for theworks of new Armenian filmmakers.

This year’s line-up includes more than 10films from around the world, beginning with aninteresting new film by French-Armenian film-maker, Serge Avedikian, called “Dogs ofIstanbul,” a follow-up to his short film last year,“Barking Island.”

From fellow French-Armenian filmmakerLevon Minasian comes the award-winning shortfilm, “The Piano,” a charming look at a 13-year-old in Leninakan (Spitak) who longs to play apiano that doesn’t fit in her tiny home.

Comes Chabazian, a filmmaker fromBelgium, presents “Ici Bas” (Down Here), anabstract look at life in Armenia.

From South Africa, ADAA presents ShareenAnderson’s “Charents: In Search Of MyArmenian Poet.” This full-length film exploresthe life and works of one of Armenia’s best-loved poets, Eghishe Charents, througha literary travelogue from Armenia to the poet’sbirthplace in Kars, Turkey.

“Son of the Olive Merchant” is a charmingfilm by Mathieu Zeitindjioglou, who travels toTurkey on his honeymoon with his Polish wifeto confront Genocide denial.

The Film Festival Committee this yearincludes Roset Atinizian, Samuel Vartan andAlfred Demirjian. The films were curated byJanice Keuhnelian and Bianca Bagatourian.

The 2011 ADAA Film Festival is sponsoredby Roy Shahan and John Vigen Der Manuelian,in memory of Manuel, Armenouhy, Armane(Aghababian), Takouhi (Chorbajian), KennethShant Der Manuelian.

For more information on the festival, visitwww.armeniandrama.org. For tickets, call theFresh Pond Cinemas.

THE WAY, from page 13

Malawi, Zambia, Namibia and ending inSouth Africa, covering virtually the wholeAfrican continent.

Following the completion of the $5-million

production of “The Way,” Alexanian againflew to South Africa and directed and pro-duced a documentary film with the sons ofthe legendary singer Bob Marley, when theytraveled across the country during the 2010FIFA World Cup. The film depicted them

playing with local musicians and organizing acharity concert in Soweto which promotedMarley’s legacy of African Unity. Titled“Marley Africa Roadtrip,” a six-part serieswhich was completed in August, the docu-mentary will be aired in November.

Entertainment Fridaysand Saturdays

Alexanian Shows ‘The Way’ with Estevez, Sheen

18 S A T U R D A Y, O C T O B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 1 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

By Edmond Y. Azadian

France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy is a different kind of polit-ical animal, capable of any and every controversial political move.During his tenure as his country’s interior minister, his harshtreatment of France’s Muslim immigrant population was severe-ly criticized, yet it helped to boost his popularity and catapulthim to the office of president. Equally controversial was his pol-icy of packing up the Roma people and shipping them to theircountries of origin.

Less than a year ago, Mr. Sarkozy was offering warm accoladesto Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi and today he is on the forefront ofthe NATO bombing raids trying to unseat his erstwhile friend.

Last week he was on another mission to the Caucasus. He wason a whirlwind tour of Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Hislongest stay in the region was in Armenia, perhaps thanks to thediplomatic skills of Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian andCharles Aznavour, the latter accompanying him on the trip. That,in itself, was a message to the region.

We have to remember that following the war between Russiaand Georgia, he was designated by the West to rush to Tbilisi insupport of the Georgian position.

He also conducted shuttle diplomacy between Moscow andTbilisi to salvage whatever was possible in that relationship.

Of course, Abkhazia and South Ossetia could not be reinte-grated back into the Georgian territory, but the latter was solid-ly won for the West. Today, the West has a strong strategic posi-tion in the Caucasus thanks to Saakashvili.

Incidentally, Armenians have every reason to complain aboutthe Georgian government’s policy with regard to the minorities,but the West has touted it as a showcase of economic recoveryfor the rest of the region to emulate if they wish prosperity. Andcontrary to all adverse publicity, Mikheil Saakashvili has appar-ently stemmed corruption overnight.

All these developments set the stage for the upcomingchanges in the Caucasus. Vladimir Putin’s announced comebackin Russia, with its anticipated strong-handed tactics for tightercontrol of the region, make this spectacular visit to the region bya major world leader seem like a pre-emptive strike by the Westin order to make inroads in the region.

The fact that Sarkozy spent more time in Armenia than in theother Caucasus countries was a message to half a millionArmenian voters in France, who had been hurt more than oncebefore by him. First, during his presidential campaign he hadpromised to appoint Patrick Devedjian the interior minister;instead, he named him the head of Sarkozy’s conservative Unionfor a Popular Movement Party, a rather powerless post. The

other offense by Sarkozy was his direct intervention in order tostop in its tracks the Genocide Resolution, which was headedtoward approval by the French Senate, after sailing through theparliament.

Now comes the bittersweet comeback when Sarkozy, standingin the heart of Yerevan, makes a spectacular statement about theArmenian Genocide, of course without any reference to his ear-lier position. Indeed a historic statement which is quoted below:

“Collective negation is a more serious problem than an indi-vidual problem, unless Turkey follows the example of other greatnations in recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Before year’send, France will take serious steps, including the criminalizationof Genocide denial.”

He also evoked the historic ties between Armenians andFrance, which had lent a helping hand to the survivors after theGenocide. Of course it was not the opportune moment to remindhim that France directly contributed to the slaughter and expul-sion of the Armenians when it abandoned Cilicia, after draftingArmenians into the Armenian Legion to be used as canon fod-der during World War I.

Sarkozy also reiterated his position regarding Turkey’s plansto join the European Union:

“My position has not changed in this case and will not change.Situated in Asia Minor, Turkey has a great role to play for Franceand for the world. Turkey is a bridge between Europe and Asia.It has a great role but that role is not in the European Union.”

He also made a reference to the intolerable policy of closedborders in the 21st century.

Ankara has been angered by Sarkozy’s statements and hasdecided to lodge a protest through a special delegate. There is noword of severed diplomatic relations or canceling arms contracts,which have proven to be empty threats in the past.

Of course, more current issues on the table were lost in themedia shuffle: the economic agreements, France’s interest inrehabbing the atomic energy plants, the Karabagh issue and sev-eral others.

President Sarkozy certainly had his uphill re-election bid athome on his mind when he planned this trip to the region, withrising discontent about his economic policies.

By the same token, he has taken center stage in Europe, incooperation with Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, trying tohelp the economies of failing European countries.

Besides the euphoria he created in Armenia, Mr. Sarkozy’svisit certainly helped President Sargisian’s election plans. A veryuncertain future reigns in Armenia regarding next year’s parlia-mentary elections and 2014 presidential election.

Thus, President Sarkozy’s tour of the Caucasus, other thanbeing self-serving, sent many messages in many directions, ofwhich Armenia will be one of the beneficiaries.

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By Fazel Hawramy

In 1991, a 30-year-old woman was sworn inas a parliamentarian in Turkey’s NationalAssembly. After reciting the oath of allegiance,she added a sentence in her own language. As aresult, she was removed from the building,stripped of her parliamentary immunity andsentenced to 15 years in prison. Her name wasLeyla Zana, Turkey’s first Kurdish female mem-ber of parliament.

She served 10 years of her prison sentenceand, last Saturday, Zana — now a diminutive 50-year-old woman — entered Turkey’s grandnational assembly as a Kurdish member of par-liament again. During the time she was inprison, not much had changed for those tryingto represent Kurds in Turkey. Even today, teach-ing of the Kurdish language in primary and sec-ondary schools is not allowed.

In its second congress in Ankara last month,Zana’s party — the Kurdish Peace andDemocracy Party (BDP) — produced an eight-point roadmap that centered around the democ-ratic rights of Kurdish people, including the cul-tural, linguistic and civil and political rights that

the Kurdish population of Turkey need tobecome equal citizens of the state. The denial ofKurdish identity through assimilation and con-tinued repression of successive Turkish govern-ments lies at the heart of the Kurdish question,which has gone unresolved for more than 90years.

In recent months, the Turkish prime minister,Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has been given a hero’swelcome in the Middle East for standing up forthe rights of downtrodden Arab people and pro-moting Turkish democracy as a model for Arabsocieties.

Back home, the civil rights of 20 millionKurds in Turkey have been gradually eroded.The EU acknowledges this is “a serious causefor concern” in a country where more than3,000 Kurdish activists are in detention. The EUhas called on Turkey this week to bring its jus-tice system into line with international stan-dards and amend its anti-terrorism legislation.

On Tuesday, under the same anti-terrorism leg-islation, more than 120 members of the BDP,including the party’s deputy leader, were arrested.

So sensitive is Turkey to anyone acknowledg-ing the plight of the Kurds that the novelist andNobel laureate Orhan Pamuk was charged andtried for “public denigration of Turkish identi-

ty,” after mentioning in a 2005 interview that“30,000 Kurds and a million Armenians werekilled in these lands and nobody but me daresto talk about it.”

Challenging Turkey’s approach to theKurdish question and other human rightsissues within the country is all but impossible.The International Press Institute has expressed“serious concern” at the continued imprison-ment of at least 64 journalists and namedTurkey as the country with the “highest num-ber of journalists in prison in the world” — sur-passing Iran and China.

In the west, coverage of the Kurds in Turkeyis limited to the activities of the PKK — an orga-nization that was set up in 1978 by a group ofKurdish and non-Kurdish university studentswho decided to take up arms and resist theassimilation policy of the Turkish state.

This conflict has continued for 27 years, cost-ing the Turkish economy about $300-$400 bil-lion. More than 30,000 Kurds have lost theirlives and the economy of the Kurdish region inthe South East of the country is in tatters, leav-ing thousands of Kurdish youth unemployed.

Many people in Turkey, who are tired of thisfutile war in the Kurdish region, hoped that the

continued on next page

Suppressing Kurdish Identity Has Failed:Turkey Must Take a New Approach

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COMMENTARY

President Sarkozy Says‘Tseghasbanoutyoun,’ A WordObama Has Yet to Utter

Flying to Armenia, French President Nicolas Sarkozyconfided to his top aides last week: “I am going to toss alive grenade!” He was revealing his readiness to act firmlyif Turkey continued to deny the Armenian Genocide.

Shortly after arriving in Yerevan, President Sarkozycourageously declared before journalists assembled at theArmenian Genocide Monument: “The Armenian Genocideis a historic reality that was recognized by France.Collective denial is even worse than individual denial.”When asked if France would adopt a law to prosecute thosewho deny the Genocide, the French president stated: “IfTurkey revisited its history, faced its bright and dark sides,this recognition of the Genocide would be sufficient. But ifTurkey will not do that, then without a doubt it would benecessary to go further.”

As presidential candidate in 2007, Sarkozy promised tosupport the Senate’s adoption of a law criminalizing denialof the Armenian Genocide. The French Parliament hadalready approved such a bill in 2006. Yet, despite hispledge, President Sarkozy’s ruling party blocked the bill’sadoption last May. While the French government banned

denial of the Holocaust in 1990, it did not take a similaraction on the Armenian Genocide, even though France hadrecognized it in 2001.

French-Armenians were incensed by Sarkozy’s betrayal.Singer Charles Aznavour publicly warned him that hewould lose the support of 500,000 French-Armenians innext year’s presidential elections. Last month, theArmenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) of Franceendorsed the probable presidential candidacy of SocialistFrancois Hollande after he promised that his party, whichhad recently gained the majority of seats in the Senate,would vote for the bill banning denial of the ArmenianGenocide. Hollande is currently far ahead of Sarkozy inopinion polls.

During his visit to Armenia last week, President Sarkozyconveyed several important messages: He reassuredArmenians of his intent to keep his initial pledge on theGenocide denial bill; warned Turkey to stop denying theArmenian Genocide and indicated his clear sympathy forthe Armenian position on Artsakh (Nagorno Karabagh).

The French president’s trip to the three Republics ofthe Caucasus was clearly lopsided in favor of Armenia —where he stayed overnight, while spending only threehours in Azerbaijan and Georgia. His brief stops in thesetwo countries were simply an attempt to display a sem-blance of impartiality. Sarkozy’s first ever visit toArmenia was filled with festive events and dramatic ges-tures of friendship — planting a tree in memory ofArmenian Genocide victims; laying a wreath at theGenocide Memorial, where he wrote in the Book ofRemembrance — “France does not forget;” warningTurkey to acknowledge the Genocide by the year’s end;uttering the Armenian word “tseghasbanoutyoun”(genocide) which President Obama has declined to use;lighting a candle in Echmiadzin; rejecting Turkey’smembership in the European Union and opening the

Aznavour Museum overlooking Mt. Ararat and donatinga priceless Rodin statue to the Republic of Armenia.

Finally, a world leader has dared to put Turkey’s bullyingrulers in their place. Turkish Foreign Minister AhmetDavutoglu reacted angrily by telling the French presidentto confront his country’s colonial past and not to teachTurkey a history lesson. Azerbaijan’s President, IlhamAliyev, gave a cold shoulder to the French leader during hisvisit to Baku. An aide to Aliyev declared that his countrydoes not share Sarkozy’s views on the Armenian Genocide.Davutoglu’s condescending words against France couldwell incite the French Senate into adopting the newGenocide law.

French Armenians are now in a win-win situation. Bothleading presidential candidates are committed to support-ing not only the law criminalizing denial of the ArmenianGenocide but also backing other pro-Armenian initiatives.No matter which one of the two candidates wins in nextyear’s French presidential elections, Armenians stand togain!

However, given politicians’ long trail of broken promises,French-Armenians should not trust their word. Theyshould make it clear to both candidates that Armenianswould support whoever helps pass the genocide denial billbefore next April’s presidential elections. It would be idealif both candidates instructed their party’s Senators to votefor the bill now, leaving the French Armenian communitywith the pleasant dilemma of choosing between two sup-portive candidates in the presidential elections.

French-Armenians and American-Armenians may want toreverse the long-established but failed approach of sup-porting candidates first by trusting their promises, hopingthat they would come through after the election. The newstrategy should be: Once the president is elected and car-ries out his promises, only then the community wouldreward him with its support.

My TurnBy Harut Sassounian

By Benon Sevan

It is truly disheartening to read the ongo-ing negative reports and columns in somenews outlets in the diaspora and Armeniaregarding the current political, economicand social conditions in the Republic ofArmenia, as well as the constant efforts bycertain personalities and political parties todenigrate the government of Armenia andits record.

Of all the hundreds of negative reports, isnot there at least a single positive develop-ment to report on? Contrary to the ongoingpolitically motivated negativism, there areindeed many successes and improvementsachieved in Armenia, which deserve to becongratulated and encouraged. One getstired of reading what is being said by allthese so-called pundits, rabble-rousers,including self-serving former governmentofficials pursuing their own personal agen-da to bring about a regime change notthrough the ballot box but through encour-aging a mob culture. Unfortunately, what wehave been witnessing is indeed tragic withthe potential of dire consequences to thestability of the young Republic that recentlycelebrated its 20th anniversary.

No country has become democratic rightaway. It is categorically wrong and naive tomeasure democracy in Armenia, whichgained its independence only 20 years ago,with the same measuring stick used fordemocracies in other countries, such asFrance, the United Kingdom and the UnitedStates, which took centuries to reach theircurrent stage of democracy. I ask all thosewho have adopted a negative attitude toread history. It was not the Armenians whoinvented the guillotine; it was not theArmenians who hanged their opponentsfrom the Tower of London; and it was notthe Armenians who practiced slaveryand/or segregation based on color or race.How long did it take for some of Europe’sdemocracies to give their women the rightto vote?

In as much as one can understand the

impatience and frustration expressed withregard to the current situation in Armenia,we have no alternative but to be patient.One cannot simply bring about democracythrough legislation alone; nor can it beimported or imposed through the barrel ofthe gun or by rousing the mob. We mustfully bear in mind our history: over 70 yearsof communist rule, preceded by about twoyears of a most fragile independence and byover five centuries of Ottoman rule.

We simply cannot divorce ourselves fromthe burden and dire consequences of havinglived under occupation for so many cen-turies. Regardless of our impatience anddesire to witness a truly democratic state ofArmenia, we have no alternative to beingpatient, because it takes time to developdemocracy, economic and social develop-ment and civil society, as well as true demo-cratic reforms. We need to develop, amongother things, political maturity, change ofmentality and outlook, which take time andcannot be achieved through legislationalone. Nor can they be achieved through themob.

Undoubtedly, the Republic of Armenia,similar to many other countries, has its ownshare of serious difficulties, compounded bythe current political and economic crisis anduncertainties worldwide and its geographi-cal location in a rather dangerous neighbor-hood, blockaded by Turkey and Azerbaijanand with an ambiguous relationship withGeorgia. Undoubtedly, there is much to bedesired with regard to the prevalent politi-cal, economic and social conditions inArmenia. There are, among others, corruptpractices, inconsistencies in the applicationof the justice system, as well as poverty andunemployment that forces many Armeniansto emigrate. Are these conditions uniqueonly to Armenia? How about the currenthigh unemployment figures and the deteri-orating social conditions in some of thestrongest democratic states as well as theirfinancial difficulties requiring massive bailouts, and facing possible defaults?

It is long overdue for Mr. Levon Ter-Petrossian, the first president of theRepublic of Armenia, to stop his corrosive

activities pursuing his personal agendathrough endless rallies to bring about aregime change. He should look into the mir-ror and remember what went on during hisown administration and should review hisown record and legacy before throwingstones at others. Some of the current prac-tices, which he has been so critical of, start-ed during his own administration. Mr. Ter-Petrossian, if you want to become the nextpresident of the Republic of Armenia, orga-nize yourself peacefully and put your candi-dacy during the next election. Let the peo-ple decide who should be the presidentthrough their ballots. Stop your divisive anddestructive actions, calling constantly fordemonstrations, which might get out ofhand with very serious consequences.

Irrespective of the negativism prevailingamong certain circles, both within Armeniaand the diaspora, Armenia has indeed a con-siderable number of talented and fully com-mitted professionals, both within the gov-ernment, the ministries and the private sec-tor, as well as in different segments of thesociety. We should recognize and give cred-it where it is due for all the progress beingmade. We should all unite and spare noeffort in supporting and encouraging themto speed up the development of democraticinstitutions, as well as strengthening theeconomy and raising the living standards.

In conclusion, I appeal to all political lead-ers, political pundits and the media, both inArmenia and the diaspora, to refrain fromany action that may incite violence. I shouldalso like to appeal to all my compatriots toconcentrate their efforts and energiestowards the strengthening of the youngRepublic. All Armenians should unitebecause we complement each other; our sur-vival as Armenians is truly inter-dependent.The strengthening and the security as wellas good governance, economic and socialdevelopment of the Republic of Armeniashould be the primary objective of all of us,above all other interests.

(Benon Sevan is the former under-secre-tary-general of the United Nations. He lives

in Cyprus.)

Turkey Must Take a NewApproachfrom previous page

result of this year’s general election for both theKurdish BDP and Erdogan’s AKP would offer anopportunity to make serious progress towards solv-ing the Kurdish question. But the refusal ofErdogan’s government to let the five Kurdish mem-bers of parliament imprisoned on trumped-up ter-rorism-related charges to take their seats in parlia-ment was a serious setback.

In return, and under enormous pressure from theKurdish electorate,

BDP was left with no option but to boycott theparliament. Not long afterwards, 13 Turkish soldierswere killed and seven wounded in a suspicious firewhich was blamed on the PKK. The PKK, which isusually quick to take responsibility for the opera-tions it carries out, denied any involvement butTurkish journalists who are scared of being thrownin prison for “treason” if they question the militaryversion of events ignored the PKK denial andblamed it on the organization anyway.

Turkish bombs started raining down on IraqiKurdistan and in the Qandil mountains where thePKK fighters are based. Ironically, while Erdoganwas demanding an official apology from Israel forthe flotilla incident in 2010, in which nine Turkishcitizens were killed, Turkish planes dropped a bombinside Iraqi Kurdistan, hitting a car carrying sevencivilians, in violation of international law. All the pas-sengers, including four children under the age of 12,were burnt to death instantly. AmnestyInternational called on Turkey to investigate thekillings, but, unsurprisingly, no investigation hasbeen launched.

It should be clear to current Turkish leaders thatthe nine decades of militaristic policies in suppress-ing and denying Kurdish identity have failed. Turkeymust realize that the Kurdish question requires amore nuanced approach. Leaders in Europe shouldput more pressure on Turkey to deal with the sys-temic discrimination that fuels Kurdish support forthe PKK.

If negotiations between Kurdish parliamentariansand the Turkish government are to have a chance ofsuccess, the Turkish government and the PKK needto declare an immediate ceasefire. The AKP govern-ment should engage with the Kurdish political par-ties and the PKK’s current leadership in order tomake progress towards solving the Kurdish ques-tion. Ending this conflict and affording equal rightsto all its citizens should be a precondition forTurkey’s membership of the EU.

(This commentary originally appeared in theOctober 6 issue of the Guardian.)

Excessive Negativism and Constant AttacksJeopardize Armenia’s Development

S A T U R D A Y, O C T O B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 1 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R20

SARKOZY, from page 1Yerevan, Sarkozy stressed that Armenians andAzerbaijanis must continue their negotiationsas part of the OSCE Minsk Group and that it isboth nations that need peace.

Sarkozy also urged Armenia to continue itsefforts on a rapprochement with Turkey thateffectively ground to a halt last year, with both

sides blaming each other for the failure. Francewas one of the states that supported the nor-malization effort.

The French presidentsaid that if Turkey didnot make this “steptowards reconciliation,”he would considerproposing the adoptionof a law criminalizingdenial of the killings asgenocide.

Still, Sarkozy notedthat “it is not up toFrance to give an ulti-matum to anyone.”

“I do not mention anytime limits because Ihope that the Turkishsociety and leadershipwill respond appropri-ately. In any case, Ithink that all this willtake place during mytime in office,” saidSarkozy, whose firstterm as French president expires in 2012.

France recognized the Armenians Genocideback in 1998 as its parliament passed a corre-

sponding bill.Sarkozy angered Turkey ahead of his election

in 2007 by backing a law aimed at prosecutingthose who refused to recognize the massacresas genocide.

The French lower house of parliament laterrejected the measure, infuriating the French-Armenian community, estimated at around

500,000 people.

Furious Turkish Response

Turkish Foreign Minister AhmetDavutoglu described the Frenchpresident’s comments as “politicalopportunism” aimed at gainingvotes from French-Armenians atelections. “Unfortunately wheneverthere are elections in Europe, thistype of opportunism arises,”Davutoglu said.

He added France had no right tocriticize Turkey because of thecountry’s colonial past.

In 2004, then-President JacquesChirac told Turkey it would have torecognize the mass killings as geno-cide if it wanted to become a mem-ber of the EU, insisting the Frenchwould otherwise vote Turkey out ina referendum.

Visit to Georgia

Seeking to portray himself as apeacemaker during the three-nationtrip, Sarkozy — who brokered thedeal to end the 2008 Georgia-Russiawar — told thousands of cheeringGeorgians that Moscow was stillintimidating its defeated neighbor.

“France sees Russia as its friend, asa strategic partner. But to restore con-fidence, threats, intimidation, threatsand attempts to destabilize (the situa-tion) are fully unacceptable,” he told

the receptive Freedom Square crowd.

Georgia accuses Russia of violating the peaceagreement by not pulling its troops back to pre-war positions and “occupying” the rebelprovinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia,which Moscow recognized as independentstates after the 2008 conflict.

In comments likely to irritate the Kremlin,which says its troops in the provinces are thereto protect them from Georgia, Sarkozy saidRussia must withdraw its forces and fulfill its“word and honor.”

“Against all strategic logic and contrary toundertaken commitments, significant militaryforces are still stationed and were reinforced atyour (Georgia’s) door, on the other side of thedividing lines,” he told the flag-waving crowd.

Using firm language that echoed the recentsplit with the Kremlin over action in Libya andSyria, Sarkozy said that Russia must stop theSoviet-era practice of bossing sovereign territo-ries that once answered to Moscow.

“Everyone must admit that the Soviet Uniondoes not exist anymore and that a policy ofspheres of influence is not intended to succeedit,” he said, adding that Georgia should be able toexpress its aspirations to join the EU and NATO.

(Reports from the Associated Press, AgenceFrance Presse, Globe and Mail, Reuters and

France Urges Ankara to Admit Genocide During Visit to Armenia

President Nicolas Sarkozy was greeted by President Serge Sargisian upon his arrival in Armenia onOctober 7.

President Nicolas Sarkozy planted a tree at the ArmenianGenocide Memorial in Yerevan.

From left, Charles Aznavour, President Nicolas Sarkozy and PresidentSerge Sargisian

President Nicolas Sarkozy, left, and PresidentSerge Sargisian visited the Armenian GenocideMemorial in Yerevan