Saturday  June 28, 2008                                              

• Armenians For Obama Participates in Major LA Obama Event

• House and Senate Members Castigate U.S. Diplomats' Dance Around Genocide

• Genocide Recognition Still on Armenia Foreign Policy Agenda

 Tuesday  June 24, 2008                                               

• Boston Genocide Memorial Park Gets Green Light

• Community Gathers for an Evening of Poetic Reflection with AYF Zartonk

• Sen. Menendez Cross-Examines Ambassadorial Nominee For Armenia

 Saturday  June 21, 2008                                             

• HOUSE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE GRILLS ASSISTANT SECRETARY FRIED

• ANCG Celebrates Unparalleled Year of Grassroots Activists

• ANCG Selects Summer 2008 Interns

• California AYF Members Urge Sen. Boxer to Confront Genocide Denial

Wednesday  June 18, 2008                                               

• House Committee Grills Amb. Fried On Blockade, U.S. Complicity In Genocide Denial

 Wednesday  June 18, 2008                                             

• Obama Reaffirms Commitment to US Genocide Recognition

 Monday  June 16, 2008                                                   

• Aravot Interview with John Kossakian (PDF Armenian)

• US Recognized Armenian Genocide In 1951, World Court Document Reveals

• Turkish Diplomat Says Obama Will Flip-Flop On Armenian Genocide

• Longtime ARF, ANC Leader Richard Darmanian Passes Away

 Thursday  June 12, 2008                                                 

• Swedish parliament refuses to recognize Armenian Genocide

• Feinstein Introduces Bill to Stop Deportation of Fresno Valedictorian

• ARS Iraqi Relief Fund Surpasses $100,000 after Raffle

Tuesday  June 10, 2008                                                    

• Hundreds Gather in Glendale for Armenians and Progressive Politics

• Genocide Denier Faces Opposition From Nation's Largest Women's Political Organization

Friday  June 6, 2008                                                        

• Turkey Spends Millions to Cover Up Armenian Genocide

• "Red Dog Howls" Captivates Audiences with Searing Story of Genocide

Thursday  June 5, 2008                                                    

ARMENIAN WRITERS ASSOCIATION LITERARY EVENING

Monthly literary evening of the Armenian Writers Association of California (AWAOC), sponsored by Glendale Public Library, will

take place at 7-9 PM, on Thursday, June 5 2008, at the Auditorium of the Library, 222 East Harvard St, Glendale, CA 91205.
Writer Seyran Zakarian will read his works. Writer Armen Donoyan will present literary report. There will be general free discussion and exchange of opinions.
Proceedings will be in Armenian.

Admittance is free.
Email: awaoc@yahoo.com.

Monday  June 2, 2008                                                      

ANC GLENDALE
"Take a Friend to Red Dog Howls"
June 8, 2008
El Portal Theater
5269 Lankershim Blvd
North Hollywood, CA 91601
3:00pm

For more information contact ANC-Glendale at 818.243.3444

• Senator Jack Scott to Make Keynote Speech

• Henrietta Movsessian to Receive "Youth Activist of the Year" Award

6/28/2008

Armenians For Obama Participates in Major LA Obama Event

LOS ANGELES--Armenians For Obama joined political leaders and fundraisers earlier this week at US Senator Barack Obama's first major event in Los Angeles since he became the presumptive presidential nominee for the Democratic Party.
The fundraiser, held on Tuesday at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, drew together political leaders and Hollywood stars and provided an opportunity for Senator Obama to learn more about the 500,000 Armenian Americans who live and work in and around the City of Angels.
In his remarks to those in attendance, the presidential candidate emphasized the urgent need to change the environment in Washington. He also stressed the importance of unity not only within the Democratic Party but for the nation as a whole, emphasizing that we all have common goals and common dreams for ourselves and for our world.
"We were pleased to be part of a successful event for Senator Obama," commented Armenians for Obama Chair Nora Hovsepian. "The Armenian American community looks forward to being there every step of the way for Barack Obama as he makes his way to the White House. It is energizing that so many Republicans, Democrats and Independents in our community have united to support Senator Obama. We are enthusiastically looking forward to Senator Obama becoming President Obama next year," Hovsepian added.
"In my discussion with Senator Obama tonight, I emphasized the moral strength of his position on the Armenian Genocide and ending the twin Turkish and Azeri blockades of Armenia. He reassured me that he is committed to these issues and expressed gratitude for our support in the Armenian-American community," she commented.
Earlier this week, Obama submitted questions on the Armenian Genocide to Marie Yovanovitch, President Bush's nominee to be U.S. Ambassador to Armenia. The Senator serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which must confirm Yovanovitch before she can assume her post in Yerevan.
According to the Associated Press, the gala fundraiser in Los Angeles included the participation of big-name directors and other celebrities, including actors Samuel L. Jackson, Dennis Quaid and Don Cheadle, models Heidi Klum and Cindy Crawford, singer Seal, and boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard. Also on hand were Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am, who has created two music videos for Obama during the primary season - including one called "Yes We Can" that set music to clips from his speeches and became an Internet sensation.
Individuals interested in learning more about Senator Obama's record on Armenian American issues and how they can help get him elected President are encouraged to visit www.armeniansforobama.com.
The ANC-PAC endorsed Senator Obama for President earlier this year and is gratified that he is now the presumptive nominee. The ANC-PAC is a non-partisan federally registered political action committee established to support campaign committees for Members of Congress who share the values of the Armenian American community.
The ANC-PAC is at the forefront of efforts to ensure that the voice of the Armenian American community is clearly heard in our nation's capital. The ANC-PAC continues a century old tradition of Armenian Americans engagement on the public policy issues facing national political leaders, both in the U.S. Congress and the White House. For more information, you may logon to www.ancpac.org.

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Genocide Recognition Still on Armenia Foreign Policy Agenda

YEREVAN (Combined Sources)--Armenia will continue to seek international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, Armenia's Foreign Minister said in a press conference on Friday.
Sarkisian's statement does not mean that Armenia will no longer work to have the Armenian Genocide recognized by foreign governments and parliaments, Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said.
“The genocide issue remains on our agenda,” he said.
“Armenia has repeatedly stated and continues to state that we are ready to establish relations with Turkey without any preconditions,” said Nalbandian. “We are also ready to discuss all issues of interest to the two countries after the establishment of diplomatic relations and opening of the border.”
In a press conference Friday, Sarkisian's spokesman Samvel Farmanian explained that president's position and policy on Armenian-Turkish relations are known and have not changed.
He said, however, that Sarkisian is not against any study even of the obvious facts and widely recognized events, but such a study cannot call into question the reality of the facts.” He went on to say that the creation of such commission will make sense only after the Turkey establishes diplomatic relations and drops its blockade.
Otherwise the entire venture may become another way for Turkey to distort the facts and postpone the normalization of relations, he said, stressing that there should be no closed borders in the 21st century, as they are detrimental to regional security and stability.
The idea of setting up such a commission was floated by Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a 2005 letter to then Armenian President Robert Kocharian who rejected this proposal.

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House and Senate Members Castigate U.S. Diplomats' Dance Around Genocide

BY HARUT SASSOUNIAN

In two important hearings last week, Members of Congress sharply criticized the Bush administration's shameful dance around the term Armenian Genocide.
The first hearing, held on June 18 by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was on "The Caucasus: Frozen Conflicts and Closed Borders," while the second, held the next day by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, considered the confirmation of an ambassadorial nominee for Armenia.
In the House hearing, Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried addressed the Armenian Genocide issue by urging Turkey "to come to terms with a dark chapter in its history: the mass killings and forced exile of up to 1.5 million Armenians at the end of the Ottoman Empire." Following his testimony, Secretary Fried was questioned by more than a dozen House members.
During a heated exchange, Rep. Diane Watson (D-CA) asked Secretary Fried to comment on State Department policy of instructing staff not to use the term Armenian Genocide. Secretary Fried dodged the question by stating that "the United States and the President have never denied any of the events." Cong. Watson then asked, "Why does the United States not recognize that it was genocide?" Secretary Fried failed to answer her repeated questions, prompting Cong. Watson to exclaim in exasperation: "Was it genocide? Yes or no?" She finally ended her line of questioning by saying: "It is clear that I am not going to get an answer to my question."
Cong. Ed Royce (R-CA) then reminded Secretary Fried about U.S. Ambassador Henry Morgenthau's eyewitness accounts of the Armenian Genocide. Secretary Fried, in a rare moment of candor, responded by saying that Amb. Morgenthau's reports were "stark, stunning and sadly accurate and that the intent was not to move people in a peaceful way."
Cong. Adam Schiff (D-CA) further pressed Secretary Fried by asking him if he would describe "the mass killings of Armenians as a genocide." Fried answered: "This administration and the President's policy is not to use that word, although I want to be clear, we have never denied the historical facts of the mass killings, murders, forced exiles and brutality that occurred in those years as a matter of historical fact."
The most dramatic moment of the hearing came when Cong. Joseph Knollenberg (R-MI), the Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, prefaced his remarks by saying: "I want to start by taking a moment to remember the 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide."
The next day, during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on her nomination, Marie Yovanovitch said she was sympathetic to the plight of Armenians who "were driven out of the Ottoman Empire," since her own parents had fled the Nazis during the Holocaust. She said she understood "from personal experience that the events of the past can haunt the present and that individuals, born a generation or more after apocalyptic events, seek recognition of the injustices of the past." Unfortunately, Amb. Yovanovitch does not seem to be aware that Armenians no longer "seek recognition," but "justice" and "just compensation" for their genocide era losses.
However, Amb. Yovanovitch emphasized that "the U.S. government recognizes and deplores the mass killings, ethnic cleansing, and forced deportations that devastated over one and a half million Armenians at the end of the Ottoman Empire. The United States recognizes these events as one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century -- the 'Medz Yeghern' or Great Calamity, as many Armenians refer to it. The Administration understands that many Americans and many Armenians believe that the events of the past -- that I have referred to -- should be called 'genocide.' It has been President Bush's policy, as well as that of previous presidents of both parties, not to use that term."
Despite her sympathetic words, Amb. Yovanovitch's above statement has three problems: 1) Her usage of "Medz Yeghern" is a clever ploy to avoid saying Genocide. If she insists on using Armenian terminology, it would have been more preferable to say: "Haygagan Tseghasbanoutyoun" (Armenian Genocide); 2) Instead of saying "many Armenians," she should have said either "Armenians or "all Armenians" believe it was genocide; and 3) It is not true that it has been the policy of "previous presidents of both parties," not to use the term Armenian Genocide. Amb. Yovanovitch must surely know that Pres. Reagan mentioned the Armenian Genocide in his 1981 Presidential Proclamation.
During the question and answer period, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) grilled Amb. Yovanovitch who nervously ducked all attempts to make her say Armenian Genocide. She repeatedly stated that the President and the State Department are the ones who set the policy on how to characterize the Armenian "events."
Witnessing Amb. Yovanovitch's awkward answers -- dictated by her superiors -- Sen. Menendez could not help but make the following harsh observation: "It is a shame that career Foreign Service Officers have to be brought before the Committee and find difficulty in acknowledging historical facts, and find difficulty in acknowledging the realities of what has been internationally recognized;. It is amazing to me that we can talk about a million and a half human beings who were slaughtered, we can talk about those who were raped, we can talk about those who were forcibly pushed out of their country and we can have presidential acknowledgments of that, but then we cannot call it what it is. It is a ridiculous dance that the Administration is doing over the use of the term genocide."
Several Senate Foreign Relations Committee members, after the hearing, submitted written questions to Amb. Yovanovitch. The Committee is expected to make a decision shortly on her nomination based on her oral as well as written responses.  
Regardless of whether the Senate approves or rejects Amb. Yovanovitch's nomination, the real culprits here are her State Department and White House bosses who have abandoned all sense of shame in order to cater to a two-bit foreign power that has been allowed to muzzle the leaders of this great country. Our only hope is that in the upcoming presidential elections, along with Pres. Bush, we will see the departure of all those who have lied to the public for the sake of temporary political gain, thus undermining American core values and principles.

6/24/2008

Sen. Menendez Cross-Examines Ambassadorial Nominee For Armenia

WASHINGTON--Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) castigated the Bush Administration's policy of Armenian Genocide denial on Thursday dramatically pressing U.S. Ambassadorial nominee to Armenia Marie Yovanovitch regarding the Administration's refusal to properly characterize Ottoman Turkey's systematic destruction of its Armenian population as a genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of America.

The Associated Press, in an article today entitled "Nominee Refuses to Call Killings Genocide," noted Senator Menendez's "intense questioning" and the "prosecutorial style" of his inquiries during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing. The AP article, which was also carried by MSNBC and other media outlets, quoted ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian as saying, after the hearing, that, "we were troubled by Ambassador

Yovanovitch's refusal to offer any meaningful rationale for the Administration's ongoing complicity in Turkey's denials."

Sen. Menendez, who had placed two consecutive holds on previous ambassadorial nominee Dick Hoagland for denying the Armenian Genocide, meticulously questioned Yovanovitch by presenting historical State Department documents from the time of the Genocide and comparing those statements with her opening remarks.

"The US government--and certainly I--acknowledges and mourns the mass killings, ethnic cleansing and forced deportations that devastated over one and a half million Armenians at the end of the Ottoman Empire," said Yovanovich in her opening testimony. Following these remarks, Sen. Menendez presented the nominee with several documents quoting U.S. Ambassadors to the Ottoman Empire Henry Morgethau and Abram Elkus, and other U.S. diplomats who served in the region at the time of the Armenian Genocide and documented the destruction of the Armenian population.

Juxtaposing the eyewitness accounts of these U.S. officials with the definition of the crime as outlined by the U.N. Convention on the Punishment and Prevention of the Crime of Genocide, Sen. Menendez asked whether the President's annual April 24th remarks, Yovanovitch's prepared statements, and her responses regarding U.S. diplomatic reporting matched the U.N. Convention, to which the U.S. is a party. Amb. Yovanovitch sidestepped this question, stating instead that it is the President and the State Department who set the policy of defining historic events. In her testimony, she publicly confirmed that "It has been President Bush's policy, as well as that of previous presidents of both parties, not to use that term."

Sen. Menendez responded, "It is a shame that career foreign service officers have to be brought before the Committee and find difficulty in acknowledging historical facts, and find difficulty in acknowledging the realities of what has been internationally recognized." He went on to state, "And it is amazing to me that we can talk about millions, a million and a half human beings who were slaughtered, we can talk about those who were raped, we can talk about those who were forcibly pushed out of their country, and we can have presidential acknowledgements of that, but then we cannot call it what it is. It is a ridiculous dance that the Administration is doing on the use of the term genocide. It is an attempt to suggest that we don't want to strain our relationships with Turkey... I believe acknowledging historical facts as they are is a principal that is easily understood both at home and abroad. So while the Administration believes that this policy benefits us vis-a-vis our relationship with Turkey, I think they should also recognize that it hurts our relationship elsewhere and it tarnishes the United States' history of being a place where truth is spoken to power, and acknowledgment of our failures of the past make us stronger, not weaker; recognizing the evils of the past do not trap us, but they set us free."

The complete exchange between Sen. Menendez and Amb. Yovanovitch
can be watched on the ANCA website at:
http://www.anca.org/press_releases/press_releases.php?prid=1516

"We join with Armenian Americans across the nation in thanking Senator Menendez for his courage and determination in holding the Bush Administration accountable for its deeply flawed policy of enabling Turkey's denial of the Armenian Genocide," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "Today's Senate hearing with Ambassador Yovanovitch, much like yesterday's testimony before a U.S. House panel by Assistant Secretary Fried, confirms the sad reality that our government has allowed a foreign nation to impose a 'gag rule' on America's right to speak truthfully about the Armenian Genocide."

"We look forward to carefully reviewing Ambassador Yovanovitch's responses to the written questions that will be posed by Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in order to get a fuller understanding of her ability to effectively represent U.S. interests and American values as our Ambassador to Yerevan," added Hamparian.

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) who chaired the confirmation hearing concurred with Sen. Menendez, noting that "there is no question in my mind, that facts speak for themselves, and what happened was genocide... In Armenia we need an ambassador... who understands the historical facts, and has the historical facts correctly stated." Sen. Cardin also questioned Amb. Yovanovitch on the recent elections in Armenia and urged the Ambassadorial nominee to Austria to help secure Austria's support for Turkey's membership in the European Union.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) released a statement to coincide with Amb. Yavanovitch's confirmation hearing, noting her outrage at the firing of former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans for speaking truthfully about the Genocide.

"It is bad enough that Armenians everywhere have to endure a U.S. President who refuses to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide despite earlier promises to the contrary. But Armenians were also recently forced to witness the dismissal of a career U.S. diplomat, Ambassador John Evans, who expressed his personal view that it is long past time that the United States call one of the greatest events of deliberate mass murder in the 20th century by its rightful name--genocide... I could not agree with Ambassador Evans more."

Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) has submitted a set of questions for the record in which he reaffirmed the importance of recognizing the killing of 1.5 million Armenians from 1915 to 1923 as genocide.


The full text of Amb. Yovanovitch's testimony is provided below.
 
Testimony of Marie L. Yovanovitch
Ambassador-Designate to Armenia

June 19, 2008
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
 
Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. I am honored by the confidence that President Bush and Secretary Rice have shown in me by nominating me for the post of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia. If confirmed, I pledge to build on my 22 years of service to our country to protect and defend American interests in the increasingly vital region of the South Caucasus.
Only in the United States would it be possible for someone like me--a first generation immigrant to the United States--to appear before you as an Ambassadorial nominee. My father fled the Soviets and then the Nazis. My maternal grandfather escaped from Russia after the revolution and raised his family in wartime Germany, where my mother grew up stateless.  My parents brought me to this country in search of a safe harbor, a harbor that provided freedom and opportunity, dignity and respect.
The United States offered our family a second chance, just as so many Armenian-Americans received a second chance in our country after they were driven out of the Ottoman Empire. In no way do I want to equate my own family history with that of Americans of Armenian heritage here in the United States. But I do wish to convey that I understand from personal experience that the events of the past can haunt the present and that individuals, born a generation or more after apocalyptic events, seek recognition of the injustices of the past.
The U.S. government--and certainly I--acknowledges and mourns the mass killings, ethnic cleansing, and forced deportations that devastated over one and a half million Armenians at the end of the Ottoman Empire. The United States recognizes these events as one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century, the "Medz Yeghern" or Great Calamity, as many Armenians refer to it. That is why every April the President honors the victims and expresses American solidarity with the Armenian people on Remembrance Day.
The Administration understands that many Americans and many Armenians believe that the events of the past that I have referred to should be called "genocide." It has been President Bush's policy, as well as that of previous presidents of both parties, not to use that term. The President's focus is on encouraging Turkish citizens to reconcile with their past and with the Armenians. He seeks to support the painstaking progress achieved to date.
President Bush believes that the best way to honor the victims is
to remember the past, so it is never repeated, and to look to the future to promote understanding and reconciliation between the peoples and governments of Armenia and Turkey. A key part of that effort is to end Armenia's isolation in the region by encouraging normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey and the opening of their land border. The Armenian government has requested that we facilitate this process. It will not be easy nor will it likely be quick, but there are some hopeful signs. President Bush believes that normalization can and should be achieved. The result would be an improvement in the life of every Armenian.
If I am confirmed, my priority would be to support the efforts of the United States in working towards regional stability by facilitating Armenian-Turkish relations and a peaceful settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan.  Armenia is isolated from its second largest neighbor, Turkey, and every year scores of soldiers die along the line of contact with Azeri forces in Nagorno-Karabakh. The status quo in both situations is unacceptable, a deterioration unthinkable and clearly not in U.S. or regional interests.
Some progress has been made in both areas recently. Success would bring security to Armenia and great economic opportunities. This is a goal worth pursuing, and, if confirmed, I would give it my utmost attention--not only by supporting government-to-government discussions--but by promoting people-to-people contacts and partnerships, and other cross-border and regional initiatives. Contact begins to build trust, and trust is the necessary first step to reconciliation and conflict resolution.
Promoting good governance in Armenia is also a key U.S. goal. The conduct of the recent presidential elections and their violent aftermath in which ten individuals died were deeply disturbing. The path towards democracy is rarely fast or smooth. Our aim is to help the Armenian government and the Armenian people restore democratic momentum and to renew their own stated mission of moving forward to become a country where government institutions are fully transparent and accountable and where rule of law is accepted by all.
It is important that the Armenian government support an independent, objective, and inclusive investigation into the fateful events of March 1 and release those who have been held on politically-motivated charges. It is important that the judiciary becomes truly independent. It is important that freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, and freedom of expression are fully protected. It is important that the Armenian authorities show the will to move forward with a reform program that is responsive to the legitimate desires of the people and that inspires public confidence in the country's political and economic processes.
We are looking at how our democracy programs can be more targeted--better supporting civil society, watchdog organizations, the independent media, and development of the internet. Our programs will continue to focus on anti-corruption efforts and strengthening the rule of law.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Agreement in 2006 demonstrated our belief that Armenia was fulfilling MCC's required criteria in the three broad areas of ruling justly, investing in people, and economic freedom. MCC is a performance-based program for governments that demonstrate commitment in these areas. In Armenia, the MCC Compact is a poverty-reduction program that focuses on building roads, improving the irrigation infrastructure and training farmers. The program will eventually benefit 750,000 people, 75 percent of whom live in rural areas.
This is an important program, and we have urged the new Armenian government to act quickly to improve its standing in the 9 of 17 indicators that it currently fails. The U.S. government is committed to assisting Armenia in this process, but it is up to the Armenian government to take the necessary steps, so that the Compact program could continue.
The Armenian economy has seen great success and double-digit growth over the last six years.   Our assistance programs--through technical assistance to improve the regulatory and legislative framework, through strengthening of the private sector, and through training in many sectors of the economy--have contributed at least in part to this success.
Over the last four years, Armenia has contributed to global security by providing peacekeepers in both Kosovo and Iraq. In fact, the size of Armenia's contingent in Kosovo was doubled just last week.  By supporting Armenia's defense sector reform and greater cooperation with NATO, we enhance Armenia's ability to assist in peacekeeping operations and to work with coalition forces o combat global terrorism and make the world a safer place.
Armenia remains committed to over flight and landing rights for U.S. military aircraft and has worked to improve its capacity to combat both money laundering and terrorism financing.  These are efforts we have strongly supported. Our assistance for Armenia's work to strengthen its borders and combat illegal trade in arms, weapons of mass destruction, drugs, and people is important to regional stability.
Our relationship with Armenia is broad and deep, both on a bilateral level and between our peoples.  The United States was among the first to recognize Armenia's independence, and the first to establish an Embassy in Yerevan.  Over the past seventeen years, the United States has provided close to $2 billion in assistance and materially improved the lives of millions of Armenians. While challenges remain, we expect our partnership will continue to strengthen, and that we will continue to cooperate in all areas.
Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee, if confirmed, I will do everything in my power to ensure that U.S. interests are promoted and protected, that the bilateral relationship flourishes, and that Armenia's isolation ends and regional stability is enhanced.
 
Thank you.

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Boston Genocide Memorial Park Gets Green Light

WATERTOWN (Combined Sources)--Rep. Peter Koutoujian and the Armenian Heritage Foundation (AHF) announced Friday that plans to develop a park memorial recognizing victims of the Armenian genocide on the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway have been formally approved by the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority Board.
The park proposal presented by the AHF will now proceed with final design and construction. The public process and approval is the result of an eight-year campaign to design a park to commemorate immigrant groups who migrated to the Boston area as well as acknowledge those ancestors who sought refuge from the Armenian Genocide.
The inclusion of the genocide memorial has been a source of heated debate for years, with city planners raising concerns about politicizing the greenway with a bevy of monuments and memorials to various historical causes.
But the agreement reached Friday will create a memorial sculpture that recognizes the contributions of all immigrant groups and makes special mention of the mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I.
“For eight years, we have worked to make this moment a reality. This park would not have been possible without the support of the Armenian-American community, the residents of the North End, and the leadership of Governor Deval Patrick,” said James Kalustian of the Armenian Heritage Foundation. “Thanks to years of hard work and commitment from our community, this park and its significance was realized and fully supported by the Patrick Administration.”
“As a member of the Armenian-American community, I am truly honored to be a part of this historic endeavor,” said State Representative Peter Koutoujian, who was the original proponent of the park. “My grandparents came to America from Armenia in search of a better life. This park will serve as a beautiful dedication to their experience and the experiences of all immigrants who helped to make the city of Boston--and our nation great.”
The Armenian Heritage Park, a gift to the City of Boston and the Commonwealth from Massachusetts Armenian-Americans, is for all to enjoy. The Park is consistent with key themes of the Greenway: to acknowledge the history of Boston as a port of entry for immigrants worldwide, and to celebrate those who have migrated to Massachusetts shores and contributed to the richness of American life and culture.
The park, which is near Christopher Columbus Park in the North End, will include a labyrinth of grass and granite stone with a single jet of water at its center. It will also feature a 16-foot-diameter reflecting pool.
The proposed wording on the sculpture reads, in part: "Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have offered hope and refuge for immigrants seeking to begin new lives. . . . The sculpture is offered in honor of the one and one-half million victims of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923."
"May it stand in remembrance of all genocides that have followed, and celebrate the diversity of the communities that have re-formed in the safety of these shores."
The Armenian Heritage Park will be constructed at no expense to the taxpayer, and cared for and maintained in perpetuity.

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Community Gathers for an Evening of Poetic Reflection with AYF Zartonk

La Crescenta, CA--About a hundred young Armenians gathered Friday night at the La Crescenta Armenian Center for a night of music and poetic reflection during the third annual Open Mic Night, hosted by the Crescenta Valley 'Zartonk' chapter of the Armenian Youth Federation.
The evening's event, entitled “Speak Your Mind,” has become a tradition in the fast growing Armenian community of La Crescenta and featured performances by a dozen community members, and up and coming Armenian-American artists.
MCed by Zartonk's very own comedic duo, Artem Aghourian and Shant Bairian and set to the energetic tunes of live DJ music by Zartonk's Shahan Kazanchian, the grass-roots concert was held in a dimly lit hall decorated with artwork and photography chronicled the Armenian Cause.
The event showcased originally composed music, poetry recitals, stand-up comedy, and traditional, patriotic, and opera vocal performances in Armenian.
The Open Mic Night kicked off with an opera performance of Komitas' Groong by Talin Nalbandian. Following the 15-year-old choir singer was Siana Kay and then Aubriana Labrae, each singing their own originally composed pop and R&B numbers. The Kambourian brothers, Avo and Armand, played an acoustic set of Britney Spears songs, which evoked laughter and participation from the audience, while Payla Kevorkian, who appeared on stage with her keyboard throughout the evening, sang an originally composed love song.
The poetry of Bedros Tourian and Barour Sevak was brought to life by a passionate Garen Kazanc following the showing of intermission video, which showcased AYF Youth Corps members rebuilding a community center in Karabakh last year.
Kazanc's Armenian poetry set the tone for 14-year-old Alex Pilibos student Hoory Minoyan, who dedicated her performance to the martyrs of Lisbon 5, whose sacrifice for the Armenian Cause, she said, was very close to her heart.
The night's second intermission featured two short films produced by Avo Kambourian. The first, titled “Gotta Catch Me was a light comedy centered around a game of tag between friends, while the second a more serious showing, titled, “Homeland,” followed an unexpected and supernatural conversation on the issue of repatriation between a Karabakh War veteran living in America and the disappointed ghost of his fallen comrade in arms.
The final showcase of the event included spot-on impersonations of  Persian-Armenian parents by Ajmin Baghramian, star of My Big Fat Armenian Family, a new film parody on the lives of Armenian families in the Diaspora. Bedik Atmajian sang Armenian revolutionary music, while duet performances by Lara Panossian and Viki Tavitian, and Sanahin and Nair Balian showcased the surreal sounds of Armenian folk. Nare Garibian recited a poem she had written about her fateful encounter with an Armenian living in the Turkish occupied Western Armenian town of Arabkir, while acoustic guitarist Raffi Semerdjian performed a repertoire of original music he wrote during his stay in Armenia.
The night concluded with a surprise performance by Lara Panosian who, in complete costume, performed a riveting traditional Armenian dance number for an audience that shortly after, walked outside to see a vibrant supersized mural of the words “Speak Your Meetk” spray-painted by Osheen Rostami.
“Since we started the Zartonk Open Mic Night in 2006, it has grown to become an open forum for the community to gather and express themselves artistically, emotionally, and intellectually,” said Zartonk Chairperson Sanan Shirinian.
“It wasn't easy organizing the event, but it was worth it, because today's youth are in desperate need of a fun environment to experiment and share their interpretations of our heritage," added Zartonk Social Committee Chair Nayree Kodaverdian. “Events like this help us as Armenian youth hold onto our culture in American society."
"The Open Mic night is one of the most unique opportunities for young Armenians to express themselves artistically through whatever means they choose, commented AYF-WR Central Executive member Vache Thomassian. "Its amazing to see the talent of our membership in so many diverse forms."
Last year's open mic night featured, among others, a riveting performance of Armenian folk music by “Las Vegabond Girls,” the passionate prose of a young Armenian faced with the threat of white genocide, and solo guitar performances of songs from the day's of the Karabakh Movement, and a song commemorating the Genocide by Armenian Rapper Armin.
 

6/21/2008

ANCG Celebrates Unparalleled Year of Grassroots Activism

Glendale, CA - The Armenian National Committee -Glendale Chapter held its Annual ANCG Banquet at Brandview Collection in Glendale on Thursday, June 5th. The evening celebrated the dynamic role of ANC Glendale, its new programs, its collaborative efforts and honored individuals and organizations which through their leadership, have contributed to the Armenian-American Community in the City of Glendale.
 
The list of honorees featured ANCG Leadership Award Recipient Mr. Alec Baghdasaryan, ANCG Friend of Hai Tahd Award Recipient Ms. Zizette Ayad, ANCG Community Service Award Recipient Officer John Balian, Organization of the Year Recipient Davidian & Mariamian Educational Foundation, and Ms. Henrietta Movsessian, who received the ANCG Youth Activist of the Year Award. The Honorable CA State Senator Jack Scott delivered the keynote speech, while Mr. Willam Bairamian acted as the evening's Master of Ceremonies.

Attracting over three hundred supporters and activists, the Banquet gave community members and public officials the opportunity to learn of ANCG's major accomplishments and allowed for individuals to show their support and appreciation. The annual event also featured a DVD presentation, a silent auction as well as the spring 2008 ANCG Internship Program participants, Ara Karamian and Tamar Thomassian.

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ANCG Selects Summer 2008 Interns

Glendale, CA - The Armenian National Committee- Glendale Chapter announced this week the ANCG Summer Internship Program participants Nare Kupelian, Talar Malakian, Greg Mirza-Avakyan, and Tatev Oganyan.
 
Nare Kupelian, a senior at Glendale High School, has contributed greatly to her school and community through various organizations. She has been involved in the Associated Student Body at Glendale High school, serving as Vice-President last year and Director of Finance this year.  She has also served as the President of the Student Senate and the Historian for the Parent Teacher Student Association. Having worked on several local, state, and national election campaigns, Kupelian has shown much interest in the political field. Last summer, Kupelian participated in a lauded Congressional Seminar in Washinton D.C. Next year, she will attend the Eleanor Roosevelt College at the University of California, San Diego. to study Political Science/ International Relations with an emphasis in Pre-Law. During the internship, Kupelian's work will have an emphasis on community affairs.
 
Talar Malakian, currently a sophomore at Crescenta Valley High School, has been involved in various community projects and school events. She is involved in the Armenian Club, Crescenta Valley Lady Falcon Basketball, and The Falcon Award Scholarship Committee. Malakian is currently the captain of her Homenetmen Shant A division girls' basketball team. Using the skills acquired from many years of basketball, she stands in as assistant coach to young students at the Armenian Sisters' Academy. Talar Malakian, whose focus will be in public relations, hopes to use the valuable skills attained from the internship program as a way to give back to the Armenian-American community in Glendale, CA.

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California AYF Members Urge Sen. Boxer to Confront Genocide Denial During

U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Confirmation Hearing

Los Angeles, CA – Initiated in the days leading up to the Senate confirmation hearing for ambassador-designate Marie Yovanovitch, the Armenian Youth Federation Western Region (AYF) has launched an innovative campaign using YouTube video messages to encourage U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) to ask President Bush's nominee frank questions about the Armenian Genocide.

Sen. Boxer and her colleagues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will consider Yovanovitch's nomination to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Armenia on June 19th, at hearings scheduled for 2:15pm EDT. The previous ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, was fired by President Bush for speaking honestly about the Armenian Genocide.

"It is vital that the voice of Armenian American youth in California be heard by Senator Boxer on this human rights issue," stated AYF Central Executive Chairman Caspar Jivalagian. "We must be certain that the next U.S. Ambassador to Armenia acknowledges the acts of 1915 as Genocide and we believe our video messages will accurately and effectively convey our expectations," he added.

Advocacy efforts by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) to "End the Gag Rule" on the Armenian Genocide have included web faxes, a national postcard campaign to Members of Congress, and an extensive ad campaign on key Congressional websites, including The Hill, CQPolitics, and Politico. The ads are currently running on RollCall.com. The video messages prepared by the AYF add a new dimension to the grassroots efforts of the Armenian American community.

On March 28, 2008, President Bush nominated Amb. Marie L. Yovanovitch to serve as America's next Ambassador to Armenia. President Bush's previous nominee as U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, Richard Hoagland, was subject to two legislative holds by U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and was ultimately withdrawn by the Administration, following the nominee's statements denying the Armenian Genocide.

As the Yovanovitch confirmation hearing approached, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Barack Obama restated his commitment to U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide. In a letter to ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian, Senator Obama wrote, "I share your view that the United States must recognize the events of 1915 to 1923, carried out by the Ottoman Empire, as genocide. . . We must recognize this tragic reality. The Bush Administration's refusal to do so is inexcusable, and I will continue to speak out in an effort to move the Administration to change its position."

A sampling of links to video messages sent by AYF members to Senator Boxer is provided below:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=69OTtzh3bZI
http://youtube.com/watch?v=hf2Z0K6Bexs
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kiElQMQu12Q
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kwv_Cnht_CY
http://youtube.com/watch?v=nEj77v73E3A
http://youtube.com/watch?v=oH7aBnsn4CI

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

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HOUSE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE GRILLS ASSISTANT SECRETARY FRIED ON

ARMENIA BLOCKADE; U.S. COMPLICITY IN GENOCIDE DENIAL

WASHINGTON, DC – House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) led a two hour hearing today that included over a dozen members of Congress questioning Assistant Secretary Dan Fried on the U.S. policy of complicity in Armenian Genocide denial, Turkey’s blockade, and Azerbaijan’s escalating threats of war, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

“We want to thank Chairman Berman for this excellent opportunity for members of the Foreign Affairs Committee to exercise oversight over a deeply flawed set of U.S. policies toward Armenia and Armenian American issues – most notably the Administration’s policy of complicity in Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide, its lack of any meaningful steps to lift Turkey’s blockade of Armenia, and its effective silence in the face of escalating threats of war by an increasingly well armed Azerbaijan against the people of Nagorno Karabagh.”

Berman opened the hearing stating, “I’d like to start with one of the most puzzling and problematic matters: the Turkish blockade of Armenia, in place since 1993. It’s a punishing policy that holds the Armenian economy back and enormously increases the cost of much of Armenia’s trade with other nations.” He continued noting that “It’s baffling why Ankara would want to pursue this land blockade, which also harms the economy of eastern Turkey, and is therefore clearly contrary to its own interests.”

The Chairman’s statement and questions were followed by powerful remarks and in-depth inquiries by Armenian Genocide Resolution lead author Adam Schiff (D-CA), Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) as well as Committee members Brad Sherman (D-CA), Diane Watson (D-CA), Ed Royce (R-CA), and Jim Costa (D-CA), among others.

6/19/2008

House Committee Grills Amb. Fried On Blockade, U.S. Complicity In Genocide Denial

WASHINGTON--House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) led a two hour hearing today that included over a dozen members of Congress questioning Assistant Secretary Dan Fried on the U.S. policy of complicity in Armenian Genocide denial, Turkey's blockade, and Azerbaijan's escalating threats of war, reported the Armenian National Committee of America.
"We want to thank Chairman Berman for this excellent opportunity for members of the Foreign Affairs Committee to exercise oversight over a deeply flawed set of U.S. policies toward Armenia and Armenian American issues 's most notably the Administration's policy of complicity in Turkey's denial of the Armenian Genocide, its lack of any meaningful steps to lift Turkey's blockade of  Armenia, and its effective silence in the face of escalating threats of war by an increasingly well armed Azerbaijan against the people of Nagorno Karabakh."
Berman opened the hearing stating, "I'd like to start with one of the most puzzling and problematic matters:  the Turkish blockade of Armenia, in place since 1993.  It's a punishing policy that holds the Armenian economy back and enormously increases the cost of much of Armenia's trade with other nations."  He continued noting that "It's baffling why Ankara would want to pursue this land blockade, which also harms the economy of eastern Turkey, and is therefore clearly contrary to its own interests."
“Why hasn't the State Department--which opposes the land blockade 's spoken out more forcefully on this matter--Certainly it's in our interest to diminish Iran's influence among its neighbors, not to enhance it. Ambassador Fried, I'm hoping you'll lay out for us the steps our government has taken and is taking to convince our ally Turkey to end, once and for all, this counter-productive practice of closed borders,” added Berman.
“And by no means is Turkey Armenia's only problem in the region. I'm deeply concerned by the series of increasingly bellicose statements made over the past year about Nagorno-Karabakh by senior Azerbaijani officials, as well as the steady increase in Azerbaijan's defense budget as that nation acquires more oil wealth. The serious breakdown earlier this year in the 14-year-old cease-fire has been widely blamed on Azerbaijani provocations. Mr. Ambassador, how do you see this situation, and what is the status of negotiations over Nagorno-Karabakh?” questioned Berman.
The Chairman's statement and questions were followed by powerful remarks and in-depth inquiries by Armenian Genocide Resolution lead author Adam Schiff (D-CA), Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) as well as Committee members Brad Sherman (D-CA), Diane Watson (D-CA), Ed Royce (R-CA), and Jim Costa (D-CA), among others.
Follow asbarez.com for expanded coverage of this hearing and read Berman's opening statement below.
Opening Statement by Chairman Howard L. Berman at hearing, “The Caucasus: Frozen Conflicts and Closed Borders” Between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea lie the countries of the Caucasus's Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Due to disputes that have festered over the course of many years, there are enough compelling questions involving these three countries and their neighbors to occupy us all day long. During the course of this hearing I'd like to focus on the frozen conflicts affecting economic and political integration in the region, and how U.S. foreign policy is responding to them.
I'd like to start with one of the most puzzling and problematic matters: the Turkish land blockade of Armenia, in place since 1993. It's a punishing policy that holds the Armenian economy back and enormously increases the cost of much of Armenia's trade with other nations.
The land blockade is also, quite possibly, illegal, as it seems to breach Turkey's undertaking in the 1922 Treaty of Kars to keep its border-crossings with Armenia open. And it violates the spirit of the World Trade Organization, of which both Turkey and Armenia are members.
It's baffling why Ankara would want to pursue this land blockade, which also harms the economy of eastern Turkey, and is therefore clearly contrary to its own interests. It's no secret that many Turkish businessmen, especially in the east, have been lobbying for lifting the land blockade.
It also seems manifestly contrary to the strategic interests of Turkey, which purports to be a solid member of the Western alliance. Without an outlet to Turkey or Azerbaijan, Armenia is forced to rely on its connections to two of Turkey's historical rivals, Russia and Iran 's and given how antithetical the Iranian regime is to the secular, modern Turkish government, it seems odd that Ankara would want to undertake any actions that will enhance Tehran's influence in Yerevan.
Furthermore, the land blockade has done absolutely nothing to persuade Armenia to alter its policies on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue's the ostensible cause of the land blockade in the first place. Nor is there any prospect that it will do so. Armenia has demonstrated its resolve to support the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkey is more likely to win influence with the Armenian government if it pursues a policy of good-neighborliness than if it slams the border closed.
Why hasn't the State Department's which opposes the land blockade's spoken out more forcefully on this matter? Certainly it's in our interest to diminish Iran's influence among its neighbors, not to enhance it. Ambassador Fried, I'm hoping you'll lay out for us the steps our government has taken and is taking to convince our ally Turkey to end, once and for all, this counter-productive practice of closed borders.
And by no means is Turkey Armenia's only problem in the region. I'm deeply concerned by the series of increasingly bellicose statements made over the past year about Nagorno-Karabakh by senior Azerbaijani officials, as well as the steady increase in Azerbaijan's defense budget as that nation acquires more oil wealth. The serious breakdown earlier this year in the 14-year-old cease-fire has been widely blamed on Azerbaijani provocations. Mr. Ambassador, how do you see this situation, and what is the status of negotiations over Nagorno-Karabakh?
Turning to Georgia, in recent weeks, we've seen increasingly aggressive Russian behavior toward the region of Abkhazia: Moscow has established official ties with the separatist government there, issued passports and citizenship to its residents, dispatched a Russian jet to down a Georgian reconnaissance craft, and deployed railway troops to the region under dubious pretenses.
It was dispiriting to hear the new Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, dismiss offers of foreign mediation of this conflict during his first official meeting in early June with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvilli. Although the United States and the European Union expressed support for the Georgian President's peace initiatives during their recent summit in Slovenia, follow-up efforts by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and your deputy Matt Bryza to encourage peace talks have garnered little traction. Mr. Ambassador, what steps will this Administration take in the coming months to help prevent further escalation of this conflict? And do you support calls for the Russian-dominated CIS peacekeeping force to be replaced by a neutral EU contingent as one means of mitigating the conflict?
And finally, I'd like to address an issue with long-term implications for U.S. foreign policy throughout the region: the prospect of democratization and political development in the South Caucasus. Lately in the wake of elections in the region, there has been a worrying trend of large-scale protests and forceful police reaction. This explosive combination has the effect of silencing the opposition and strengthening ruling political regimes in a region that is still struggling to establish its democratic credentials.
Last fall, the Georgian government imposed a sweeping state of emergency following demonstrations by thousands of protesters over a government that appeared out of touch with the people. Armenia experienced violent clashes that left eight people dead following March presidential elections. And Azerbaijan could suffer a similar fate during its presidential elections in October, as the government is already cracking down on the media and opposition.
Mr. Ambassador, we would welcome your assessment of the democratic prospects of these countries, which are of such great strategic importance to the United States. Given unstable regimes and considerable political acrimony, what is the potential for fostering sustainable dialogue on a multi-party, parliamentary level? I would also be grateful if you could address the question of how the U.S. administration is holding these governments accountable for human rights abuses, while at the same time working to achieve lasting peace between them.
It's a tall order; we don't have all the time in the world to address all the matters we'd like to today, so I'm going to stop at this point and turn to my colleague and friend Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking member of the committee, for any comments she may wish to make.

6/18/2008

Obama Reaffirms Commitment to US Genocide Recognition

WASHINGTON--With the Senate Foreign Relations Committee set to consider U.S. Ambassador to Armenia nominee Marie Yovanovitch at a confirmation hearing on Thursday, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama restated his commitment to U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of America.

In a June 16 letter to ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian, Sen. Obama wrote "I share your view that the United States must recognize the events of 1915 to 1923, carried out by the Ottoman Empire, as genocide... We must recognize this tragic reality. The Bush Administration's refusal to do so is inexcusable, and I will continue to speak out in an effort to move the Administration to change its position."

Sen. Obama went on to cite his concerns about the firing of former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Marshall Evans in 2006 for speaking truthfully about the Armenian Genocide. "I was deeply disturbed two years ago when the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia was fired after he used the term "genocide" to describe the mass slaughter of Armenians. In a letter to the Department of State, I called for Secretary Rice to closely examine what I believe is an untenable position taken by the U.S. government."

On March 28, 2008, Pres. Bush nominated Amb. Marie L. Yovanovitch to serve as America's next Ambassador to Armenia.  The ANCA has spoken to Committee members about the value of carefully questioning Amb. Yovanovitch on the many issues she will face as the U.S. envoy in Yerevan, among them the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, Turkey and Azerbaijan's ongoing blockades of Armenia, and the need for a balanced U.S. role in helping forge a democratic and peaceful resolution to the Nagorno Karabagh conflict.  These efforts have been supported by extensive on-line outreach and a national postcard campaign to key Senate Foreign Relations Committee members.

President Bush's previous nominee as U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, Richard Hoagland, was subject to two legislative holds by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and was ultimately withdrawn by the Administration, following the nominee's statements denying the Armenian Genocide. The ANCA led the Armenian American community campaign opposing Hoagland's nomination, stating that a genocide denier could not serve as a credible and effective U.S. spokesperson in Armenia.

Individuals will be able to watch the Senate confirmation hearing live on June 19 on Horizon Armenian television and online at the ANCA website.

Senator Obama's Letter To ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian

Dear Kenneth:

Thank you for sharing with me your thoughts on the upcoming confirmation hearing for the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia. I appreciate having the benefit of your perspective on this important matter.

I share your view that the United States must recognize the events of 1915 to 1923, carried out by the Ottoman Empire, as genocide. As you know, this resulted in the deportation of nearly 2,000,000 Armenians, of whom 1,500,000 men, women, and children were killed.

We must recognize this tragic reality. The Bush Administration's refusal to do so is inexcusable, and I will continue to speak out in an effort to move the Administration to change its position.

I was deeply disturbed two years ago when the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia was fired after he used the term "genocide" to describe the mass slaughter of Armenians. In a letter to the Department of State, I called for Secretary Rice to closely examine what I believe is an untenable position taken by the U.S. government. A copy of that letter is enclosed for your review.

You may rest assured that I will keep your priorities in mind as I consider relevant matters before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. I hope that you will stay in touch in the days ahead.

Sincerely,
Barack Obama
United States Senator

6/16/2008

Longtime ARF, ANC Leader Richard Darmanian Passes Away

FRESNO--Longtime community activist and the founder of the Armenian National Committee of Fresno Richard Darmanian died Tuesday. He was 81.
Darmanian was a member of Fresno's Armenian Revolutionary Federation  Soghomon Tehlirian chapter for more than 60 years. He also served on the ARF Western US Central Committee. In 1984 he opened the Armenian National Committee (ANC) office in Fresno and served as ANC Central California Director for more than 15 years.
"The ANC mourns the loss of our dear friend and colleague Richard Darmanian," stated ANC-WR Chairman Vicken Sonentz Papazian, "Richard embodied the best of Fresno Armenians, from his love of nation and dedication to the Armenian Cause to his understated yet unyielding pride in his family and heritage.  He will be dearly missed."
Darmanian was born on November 21, 1926, in Sacramento, California. He moved to the Central Valley at an early age. He graduated from Caruthers High School in 1944, and earned his BA in History, and Masters in Guidance & Counseling from Fresno State College.
He started his teaching career at Roosevelt High School in Fresno in 1952. He taught mathematics, history, and government. He also served as counselor and Dean of Boys at Roosevelt High School. He was appointed Assistant Principal of Edison High School in 1969, and Principal in 1972. He was assigned as Principal to Hoover High School in 1979. Mr. Darmanian served as District Administrator in the Division of Instruction with responsibility for the district's high schools from 1984 to retirement in 1988. He also chaired the California State Accreditation Commission Visiting Committees to seven high schools throughout the state.
Darmanian became a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation in 1950. He served several terms as member of the Regional Executive Committee, and the Central Executive Committee. He also served as Regional Secretary of the American Committee for the Independence of Armenia (Armenian National Committee) from 1952 to 1970.
Darmanian was a founding member of the Armenian Community School of Fresno in 1976, and served as chairman of the Board of Education for six years. Mr. Darmanian served as chairman of the Armenian Community Council of San Joaquin Valley for many years. He also served on April 24th Commemorative Committee, and as chairman of the commemorative activities on several occasions.
Darmanian has been a member of the Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church for many years, and on the Board of Trustees for several years, and served as member of the Executive Council of the Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of North America from 1988 to 1998. Mr. Darmanian was appointed to the Education Council of the Armenian Schools under the jurisdiction of Western Prelacy in 1990, and 1994.
Darmanian served as Executive Director of ANC Central California from 1988 to 1996. He is also a member of the California State University Fresno Armenian Studies Advisory Board, a member of the Fresno Convention Center, and a member of the Redevelopment Agency PAC. Mr. Darmanian has also been a long time member of the Exchange Club in Fresno.
He married Armon Mamigonian in 1949. Richard and Armon have six children; Aram, Charlotte, Margaret, Christine, Suzanne, and Marian. Richard and Armon are blessed with seven grandchildren.

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Turkish Diplomat Says Obama Will Flip-Flop On Armenian Genocide

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US Recognized Armenian Genocide In 1951, World Court Document Reveals

BY HARUT SASSOUNIAN

While President Bush and several of his predecessors have avoided characterizing the organized mass killings of Armenians in 1915 as genocide, it has recently come to light that 57 years ago the United States government officially recognized the Armenian Genocide in a document submitted to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), also known as the World Court.
This half a century old reference to the Armenian Genocide was discovered by Prof. William A. Schabas who posted it on the website "PhD Studies in Human Rights," on June 4, 2008. Prof. Schabas, a world-renowned expert on genocide and international law, is director of The Irish Center for Human Rights at the National University of Ireland, Galway.
This document, filed by the Government of the United States with ICJ, is included in the May 28, 1951 ICJ Report titled: "Reservations to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide."
The specific reference to the Armenian Genocide appears on page 25 of the ICJ Report: "The Genocide Convention resulted from the inhuman and barbarous practices which prevailed in certain countries prior to and during World War II, when entire religious, racial and national minority groups were threatened with and subjected to deliberate extermination. The practice of genocide has occurred throughout human history. The Roman persecution of the Christians, the Turkish massacres of Armenians, the extermination of millions of Jews and Poles by the Nazis are outstanding examples of the crime of genocide."
This is a very significant statement as it was made by the American government of that time with the sole intent of telling the truth, without taking into account any political or other considerations. Neither Armenians nor Turks had lobbied for or against the U.S. statement. In other words, it was simply made on the basis of historical facts.
How different is the situation today when the White House readily caves in to threats and pressures from the Turkish government to prevent the House of Representatives from passing a commemorative resolution on the Armenian Genocide!
Now that this critical filing by the United States government before the International Court of Justice has been discovered, it is no longer necessary to exert excessive efforts to try and reaffirm the facts of the Armenian Genocide by the U.S. Congress, particularly since the House of Representatives adopted Resolutions 247 and 148 in 1975 and 1984 respectively, to commemorate the Armenian Genocide.
Furthermore, there is no particular reason to insist that the next President of the United States acknowledge the Armenian Genocide since President Ronald Reagan, back on April 22, 1981, issued Presidential Proclamation Number 4838 which stated: "Like the genocide of the Armenians before it, and the genocide of the Cambodians which followed it - and like too many other such persecutions of too many other peoples - the lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten."
Of course, should an elected official issue a statement reaffirming the facts of the Armenian Genocide, such an acknowledgment would be most welcome by Armenians worldwide. On the other hand, should a public official either deny or refuse to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, Armenian-Americans would have good reason not to support his or her election.
Regardless of whether one agrees with Pres. Reagan's politics, most people acknowledge that he was a man of principle. His successors - Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush - failed to display such moral leadership. During their presidential campaigns, they misled voters by pledging to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, and broke their promises after the election. These three recent U.S. presidents went far beyond not keeping their word; they did everything in their power to prevent the adoption of congressional resolutions on the Armenian Genocide. The names of these infamous denialists should be etched in perpetuity on a special "Wall of Shame," so future generations will not forget their reprehensible behavior.

On the basis of the official statement submitted by the Government of the United States to the World Court in 1951, combined with the two House resolutions adopted in 1975 and 1984, Pres. Reagan's 1981 Proclamation, and resolutions adopted by more than forty U.S. states and hundreds of U.S. cities, Armenians should now classify the United States among the more than 20 countries that have officially recognized the Armenian Genocide.

All those who claim that the United States has not recognized the Armenian Genocide are misrepresenting the U.S. government's clear record on this issue

6/12/2008

Swedish parliament refuses to recognize Armenian Genocide

On June 12, 2008, the Swedish parliament, with a vote 245 to 37 (1 abstain, 66 absent), rejected a call for recognition of the 1915 genocide in the Ottoman Empire. On June 11, a long debate took place in the Swedish Parliament in regard to the Foreign Committee report on Human Rights, including five motions calling upon the Swedish Government and Parliament to officially recognize the 1915 Armenian Genocide, head of the Armenian Associations of Sweden Vahagn Avedian told PanARMENIAN.Net.
In its answer (2007/2008:UU9), a majority consisting of the ruling alliance parties together with the Social Democrats (opposition party) proposed rejecting the motions, whereby the Green (Miljöpartiet) and the Left (Vänsterpartiet) parties announced their reservations, forcing the Parliament to have a debate in the main chamber before the proposal was voted on.
The argumentation for why recognition should be rejected was based on four main assumptions: “no particular consideration regarding the Armenian situation has ever been in form of an UN Resolution, either in 1985 or any other occasion; the Committee understands that what engulfed the Armenians, Assyrian/Syrians and Chaldeans during the reign of the Ottoman Empire would, according to the 1948 Convention, probably be regarded as genocide, if it had been in power at the time; there is still a disagreement among the experts regarding the different course of events of the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. The same applies to the underlying causes and how the assaults shall be classified; [in regard to the development in Turkey] in the time being, it would be venturesome to disturb an initiate and delicate national process.”

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ARS Iraqi Relief Fund Surpasses $100,000 after Raffle

GLENDALE--The Armenian Relief Society United Iraqi Relief Fund announced that the committee has raised $100,000 through a successful raffle.
The Fund, which works with the participation and the blessing of the Western Prelate and Primate, as well as the leaders of the Evangelical and Catholic communities, introduced 10,000 raffle tickets at $10.
During a special dinner-banquet held at the ARS Western Regional headquarters last month, the drawing of the raffle was held.
Speaking at the event was chairperson of the committee Varant Melkonian, as well as Regional Executive chairwoman Sonia Peltekian and Vice-Chairwoman Seta Khojayan. All speakers expressed their gratitude to the community for heeding the ARS's call and taking part in this effort, which will provide much-needed assistance to Armenian community of Iraq.
The winning raffle numbers are: 29816, 26955, 30572, 25431, 28805, 31387, 32962, 25157, 32231, 27041, 33006, 29610, 27129, 28294, 26160, 29331, 32577, 26605, 30753 and 30132.
Individuals who have not claimed their prize may contact the ARS office at 818.500.1343.
 

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6/12/2008

Feinstein Introduces Bill to Stop Deportation of Fresno Valedictorian

FRESNO -- Bullard High School valedictorian Arthur Mkoyan, whose family faces deportation to Armenia, got the graduation gift he was hoping for Tuesday, as Senate leaders introduced a bill that would allow his family to remain in the United States at least temporarily.
A big smile spread across Arthur's face when he learned of the bill shortly after graduating at the Save Mart Center in Fresno.
"It's amazing. I was just hoping. I just had faith," Arthur, 17, said.
Arthur, a 4.0 grade-point-average student, drew national media attention after his story first appeared in The Bee. A Chicago band that sings about immigration issues even wrote a song about him. Despite several television cameras focused on Arthur at the graduation ceremony Tuesday, the graduation went on as normal. None of the speakers mentioned Arthur's plight.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement ordered Arthur and his mother to leave the United States by late June and return to Armenia, a country Arthur hasn't seen since he was 2. His 12-year-old brother, who is a citizen because he was born in the US, has no choice but to leave with Arthur and his mother if they're deported, the family has said.
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced a private bill late Tuesday on behalf of Arthur, who was accepted to the University of California at Davis for the fall semester. The bill would grant permanent legal residency to Arthur and his mother and father.
"This is a family that has deep roots in the community and has worked hard," Feinstein said. "The children have excelled in school. So I am introducing a private bill to ensure that they can stay in this country."
While Arthur's case and others like it often attract widespread sympathy, some argue that private bills are bad policy. Steven Camarota with the Center for Immigration Services in Washington, D.C., which favors immigration curbs, said immigration laws must be enforced before individual exceptions are made. Camarota, who did not know the details of Arthur's case, said immigrant children "often suffer for the transgressions of their parents."
Arthur's family, who entered the United States on tourist visas, fled the former Soviet Union and has been seeking asylum since 1992. Arthur's father, Ruben Mkoian, ran a general store and worked as a sergeant in the equivalent of a department of motor vehicles, according to a federal court summation of the family's claims. Mkoian refused a bribe to register stolen vehicles and reported a co-worker who took a bribe, the family told the federal court. He was then "subjected to attacks."
Mkoian's application for asylum was rejected. Mkoian, who spells his name differently from his son, appealed to the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The court rejected his appeal, saying he didn't demonstrate that Armenian officials would be unwilling to protect him or that he would be tortured if he returned to Armenia. Mkoian is being held at a detention center in Arizona.
Feinstein's bill now means Arthur's family will get a reprieve.
Once a private bill is introduced, the author alerts the chair of the Senate immigration subcommittee--currently Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. The immigration subcommittee chair will then ask immigration authorities for a report on the individual. Under standard practice, immigration authorities will freeze in place any deportation procedures once they hear from the immigration subcommittee. This has the effect of blocking deportation, even if the private bill never becomes law.
Getting bills passed to avoid deportations are an "uphill battle," said Scott Gerber, a spokesman for Feinstein. But "we're going to work to see that it is passed."
Private bills are tricky. They rarely pass, but they can still have clout.
As long as the bills are reintroduced each congressional term, they protect the named individuals from deportation.
Since January 2005, congressional records show, members of the House and Senate have introduced 301 private bills. Some of these have been duplicates, carried over from one Congress to another. Many, although not all, of these private bills deal with immigrants and refugees.
Only one of these private bills, though, was passed by Congress and signed into law.
At the Mkoyans' two-bedroom apartment Tuesday morning, the family already had begun packing their possessions into boxes in case the family's efforts to remain in this country failed. Neighbor Bobbie Blackwell walked in with a big cake that read "Congratulations Arthur."
Three of Arthur's friends also showed up at the apartment to lend support.
"Everybody thinks it's dumb. Everybody agrees he should stay," said 18-year-old Max Rosendahl, a fellow Bullard High School senior.
Friends, teachers--even Reps. Jim Costa and George Radanovich--wrote letters to Feinstein's office in support of the family's case.
Before the family learned of Feinstein's bill, Arthur's mother, Asmik Karapetian, said she was having second thoughts about allowing Arthur to tell his story.
She said the stress of not knowing their fate and having the family's personal affairs publicized caused her to lose sleep--and lose weight.
Hours later, when she learned that Feinstein had introduced a bill on the family's behalf, her tired, dark eyes brightened again and she smiled.
 

6/10/2008

Hundreds Gather in Glendale for Armenians and Progressive Politics

GLENDALE--Amid a period of declining social consciousness, Glendale became host to a historic forum over the weekend, as renowned intellectuals and activists from around the world joined over 200 hundred socially conscious activists for a two-day symposium exploring modern issues of social justice and progressive politics.
The event was the first of its kind on the West Coast and the 5th in a series organized by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. One of California's progressive radio stations, KPFK 90.7 FM (Radio Pacifica) and the Armenian Cultural Foundation cosponsored the event, which brought together renowned progressive artists, intellectuals and activists from South America, the United States, and Armenia for a critical examination of modern social issues afflicting Armenians and the wider global community. The symposium also featured a number of the personalities heard on Pacifica Radio.
"The purpose of the conference is to raise social consciousness," said organizing committee member Razmig Shirinian during his opening remarks Friday night. "Our organization [The ARF] was founded 118 years ago upon revolutionary, nationalist, socialist, and democratic ideals...and we must remind ourselves and the people that social and critical thinking is necessary--that we should never give up our ideals...and our fight for basic rights and social justice."
The topics discussed were not the type that would soon be covered by CNN or Fox News. The issues discussed traced the gamut from the war in Iraq and art's role in raising social consciousness to women's rights, socio-economic conditions in Armenia, the local labor movement and corporate influence in the media, all the while presenting them in both an Armenian and global perspective.
Art and Social Consciousness
Over 200 people attended the opening of the symposium at the Glendale Public Library on Friday, where the topic of "Raising Social Consciousness Through Art and Music" was discussed. Moderated by California State Assemblymember Paul Krekorian, Friday's panel included the host of KPFK's "Pocho Hour of Power," internationally renowned political cartoonist, and journalist Lalo Alcaraz; author, playwright, actor, director, and painter Vahe Berberian; and host of KPFK's "Beneath the Surface" program, antiwar activist, independent journalist and performance poet Jerry Quickley.
The emotional pendulum swung between the bitter comedy of Alcaraz who described his experiences drawing a nationally syndicated Latino themed cartoon strip to the politically charged and emotional poetry of Quickley who described his experiences living and documenting the events that took place in Baghdad during the first three days of the US led invasion. Art is a reflection of the times, was Berberian's message as he underscored the political nature of art and the innate power of the artist to affect change in people's lives simply by becoming who he or she is.
The conference took on an even more urgent tone as it continued into its second day at Glendale Community College where a packed room turned out for the all-day event, which featured four different panels.

Women's Issues/Feminism
The first panel on "Women's Issues and Feminism" discussed gender equality, highlighting the disadvantaged life conditions of women in Armenia and the Diaspora.
Gohar Shahnazaryan, a Dr. in Sociology at Yerevan State University and visiting scholar at the Institute of Slavic, Eurasian and East European Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, traced the woman's role in Armenian society from its ancient and progressive roots to its modern challenges. Lena Bozoyan, a longtime community activist and former Vice Chair of the Glendale Commission on the Status of Women, shared her observations regarding women's issues from the perspective of an immigrant, sharing her own extensive experience in promoting women's issues in the Armenian Community in Southern California. While writer Nancy Agabian, spoke of her experiences working with local women in Armenia to publish a creative writing anthology, which gave women a space to discuss the various challenges they face in every day life. Moderating the panel was Glendale Board of Education Member and CSULA's School of Social work instructor Nayiri Nahabedian.

Social & Democracy Issues in Armenia
The day's second panel painted a broad picture of the evolving socio-economic conditions in Armenia through a dynamic discussion of various issues ranging from poverty, to individual and human rights, and the development of democracy in Armenia.
The panel featured Dr. Armineh Arakelian, Head of the Resource Building Institute in Democracy, Governance and Elections and International Lawyer and Political scientist, Dr. Khatchik Der Ghoukassian, a professor of International Relations at the Universidad de San Andres in Argentina and a visiting professor at the American University of Armenia, and Glendale College History Professor Dr. Levon Marashlian. Moderating the discussion was Dr. Markar Melkonian, a professor of philosophy at Cal State Northridge.
Covering the current social problems facing a vast majority of the country's population, the panel highlighted how Armenia's blind implementation of unfettered Neo-liberal capitalism provided fertile ground for post-election protests and upheaval. An emotional discourse was opened at the close of the panel where activists and panelists alike, spoke of the dire need for a truly democratic and socially conscious Armenia.

Local Labor and Social Issues
The third panel brought to the fore local labor issues, and examined a number of social problems facing Southern California's Armenian and non-Armenian immigrant populations.
Roger Waldinger, an expert on international migration and a distinguished professor of sociology at UCLA, presented the demographics of the Armenian immigrant community and laid the foundation for a discussion on immigrant issues by union organizer Ty Hudson and Emma Oshagan, the founder and Chair of the Armenian American Mental Health Association of California. The topics of discussion covered in the panel ranged from a discourse on the psychological impact of Armenian immigrant life in the US to an overview of the economic exploitation of low wage immigrant workers. Moderated by award-winning writer and senior litigation attorney Aram Kouyoumdjian, the panel also included a discussion by Hudson on the recent successes of an intercommunity boycott that forced the Glendale Hilton to negotiate union rights and fairer wages for its primarily Armenian, Latino and Philippino workforce.

Media Democracy and Reform
The final panel, which centered on "Media Democracy and Reform," showcased various viewpoints on how corporate control of media continues to skew, under-cover, and misrepresent social issues. Moderated by former Asbarez English Editor Maral Habeshian-Dabandjian, the panel included, KPFK personality and LA City Environmental Commissioner Maria Armoudian, the legendary journalist and media reform activist David Barsamian, and longtime ANCA media strategist Zanku Armenian.
Armoudian kicked off the panel by providing a historical background on the fluid nature of an American media that began as propaganda and eventually neutralized to sell ads. Armenian discussed the present challenges the Armenian Community faces in educating the mainstream on its issues, and posited possible strategies currently being implemented by the Armenian National Committee as it seeks to redefine the media balance in America. Meanwhile, Barsamian, who is the host and founder of Alternative Radio, one of the most popular progressive talk shows in the nation, accused the media of being the ideological enablers of a political and economic system that has not only exploited and devastated Armenia but also much of the developing world. He pointed to the five major corporations that control what Americans here and see, and explained their influence as a type of tacit censorship, preventing journalists from bringing up issues such as the murder of over 1 million Iraqis in an illegal war.
Despite the seriousness and gravity of the topics discussed during the conference, the air was filled with optimism as both panelists and attendees exchanged and discussed their opinions and ideas. If opinions and heritage were the common thread among attendees, that's where the similarities stopped as the audiences of both days were a diverse cross section of the community.
For those two days, individuals from all walks of life--community activists and business owners to public officials and parents, students and young professionals--came out to participate in a conference on progressive politics in the Armenian community. The event was an experiment to create dialogue regarding concepts and strategies that go beyond the conventional politics.
The West Coast Armenians and Progressive Politics conference was organized by a special organizing committee of the ARF Western US. The committee began putting together the symposium several months ago as a result of successes in similar conferences organized in 2006 and 2007 by the ARF Eastern US and ARF Argentina. According to the organizers, the goal of the conference was to create a forum for Southern California's Armenian American Community to discuss and debate progressive politics and social issues.

Genocide Denier Faces Opposition From Nation's Largest Women's Political Organization

6/10/2008

"Red Dog Howls" Captivates Audiences with Searing Story of Genocide

Kathleen Chalfant, one of the theater's most celebrated actors, stars in the World Premiere of Alexander Dinelaris' searing new play, “Red Dog Howls,” which premiered on May 14 at the El Portal Theatre for a strictly limited five week engagement. The play ends its run on June 13. “Red Dog Howls” also stars Matthew Rauch and Darcie Siciliano, and is directed by Michael Peretzian. “Red Dog Howls” is produced by Gang of Five-New York and Leo Lauer.
    The play tells the story of Michael Kiriakos, a young man who is forced to confront his family's most terrible secret, in order for him to move forward with his own life. After his father dies, he discovers a box of letters from his grandmother Rose, whom his father had told him was long dead. Michael finds her, and as they establish a relationship, Rose begins reveals the truth about Michael's family: that he is Armenian, not Greek, and that his family, like many Armenians, was destroyed by the Turks in the early part of the century.
    As they become closer, Michael's wife's pregnancy advances and events begin to collide. The play climaxes when Rose tells him the final secret, a dark sacrifice that has cursed the family ever since. Once he learns the truth, Michael realizes he must summon all his strength to end the curse once and for all.
    Tickets for “Red Dog Howls” are available online at www.reddoghowls.com or www.elportaltheatre.com and by phone at (818) 508-4200. For group sales please call (818) 508-4200. The El Portal Theatre is at 5269 North Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood.
    Playwright Alexander Dinelaris was nominated for two Drama Desk awards in 2003 for his work on the book and lyrics for the Off-Broadway hit “Zanna Don't.” He also worked on the screenplay for the next film by producer director Alejandro Gonz?lez-I??rritu, Academy Award nominee for “Babel” and producer of “21 Grams”.
    The play is directed by Michaeil Petetzian, whose previous works include “Phil and Mac” by David Briggs for Los Angeles Actors' Theatre, the West Coast Premiere of “Talking With” by Jane Martin for the Mark Taper Forum Taper Too, a staged reading of Truman Capote's “One Christmas” for the Taper, and “A Christmas Memory,” broadcast for many years on KCRW FM (NPR).
    Horizon Television's Ani Tatevosyan caught with Dineralris, Petetzian and Lauer at a recent press screening. Below is the interview.

Ani Tetevosyan: What was the inspiration for the play?
Alexander Dinelaris: I was raised by my Armenian grandmother, Vartouhi Afratian She raised me alone without my parents until I was 6 or 7 years old. So, I grew up, very much in the Armenian culture. But, as I got older and she passed away, the culture difted away from me, because there was nobody else to carry it on. As I went and thought about my grandmother more, and I started to write plays, I had one in me; My grandmother had a story that was very secretive to her, and I wanted to write a play that would do her honor, as essentially my mother and the Armenian culture that I grew up in.
A.T.: What is the message to the audience?
A.D.: I think the play--in the end--is really about putting the pain of our pasts, whether it's Armenian or any other culture in the world, to sleep--to rest, and carrying with us the strength and the lessons of our ancestors. For me, I tied it to the Armenian culture, because of my grandmother. I don't think this play is for the Armenian people; I think the Armenian people know their own story--knot the Genocide. They know their own personal family stories; This play goes out to non-Armenians, to tell the story very strakly of what happened to the Armenian culture, because so many people who aren't Armenian don't know about the Armenian Genocide, the Armenian people or the culture. So, I think I wrote this play for my grandmother, and for my family, and for the Armenians that I knew and loved, to say this happened. Pay attention! So far, all the non-Armenians who have seen the play, come back and say %u218After I saw it, I went on the internet and looked it up;I never knew about this;' That's the best thing for me.
A.T.: Is this your first play?
A.D.: This is my fourth play. I have two another play that are headed for Broadway. This is my newest play; And my most personal--I think. We wanted to start out here in Los Angeles because, if you're gonna write about a play about Armenians, you have to start in Los Angeles. So, we took a chance, because it's not a big theater audience out here. We took a chance to be here, because I own that to the people--to the Armenian people.
A.T.: What drew you to this project?
Michael Petertzian: Both of my parents were born in Turkish Armenia. We grew up in New Jersey--in the countryside and never really had any connection, other than with my parents being Armenian. There was always something that they didn't want to talk about. They never wanted to answer our questions about that. So, I grew up thinking there was something wrong; Something they didn't want to talk about. They're both gone now, and I never heard the stories. Except, I went to visit my uncle, and he told me stories about my father and my mother--the stories that they did want to talk about. So, this play, for me, is going back and finding out what is it that they didn't want to talk about. I used to think, maybe, it was some kind of humiliation about losing their country; As I heard the stories my uncle told me, I realized that they were the ones that were allowed to live; And, they didn't want to talk about it. Perhaps, they felt guilty; My mother would get a phone call from the utility company that was perhaps past due, she'd get very nervous, the accent would get very thick; I would think to myself %u218What was she worried about?' I didn't realize it at the time; Maybe, she thought they were going to send her back. So, in this play, when Michael, the lead character is going back to discover his roots, for me that's exactly what I was doing in directing this play. To find out what it was my parents did not want to talk about.
A.T.: Why did you choose this play?
Leo Lauer: I never knew anything about the Armenian story, until I read Alex's play. And when I read, it not only touched me as an Armenian story, but a story of a family, and a mystery, and about my own parents. We knew we had to do it. That was the beginning of it. After you read that, you start going to research that; You start to understand; You say why isn't this world being heard? I'm not Armenian, so for me it was: %u218Why isn't this story being told?'
A.T.: How did you get here with it?
L.L.: We said, if we're going to tell the story where is it going to start? We started to research a little more and we thought we had to come to Los Angeles; We had to come to Glendale; We had to come to North Hollywood; And, that's why we're here.
 

6-10-2008

Turkey Spends Millions to Cover Up Armenian Genocide

Early this year, the Toronto District School Board voted to require all public high school students in Canada's largest city to complete a new course titled "Genocide: Historical and Contemporary Implications." It includes a unit on the Armenian genocide, in which more than a million Armenians perished in a methodical and premeditated scheme of annihilation orchestrated by the rulers of Turkey during and just after World War I.
The school board members each soon received a letter from Guenter Lewy, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Massachusetts, rebuking them for classifying the Armenian genocide in the same category as the Holocaust. "The tragic fate of the Armenian community during World War I," Lewy wrote, is best understood as "a badly mismanaged war-time security measure," rather than a carefully plotted genocide.
Lewy is one of the most active members of a network of American scholars, influence peddlers and website operators, financed by hundreds of thousands of dollars each year from the government of Turkey, who promote the denial of the Armenian genocide -- a network so influential that it was able last fall to defy both historical truth and enormous political pressure to convince America's lawmakers and even its president to reverse long-held policy positions.
Lewy makes similar revisionist claims in his 2005 book The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey: A Disputed Genocide and in frequent lectures at university campuses across the country. Speaking at Harvard University in March 2007, he chalked up the ghastly Armenian death toll to "bungling misrule," and stressed that "it is important to bear in mind the enormous difference between ineptness, even ineptness that had tragic consequences" and deliberate mass murder. "Armenians call the calamitous events of 1915-1916 in the Ottoman Empire the first genocide of the twentieth century," he said. "Most Turks refer to this episode as war time relocation made necessary by the treasonous conduct of the Armenian minority. The debate on what actually happened has been going on for almost 100 years and shows no signs of resolution."
But it's not only Armenians calling the slaughter a genocide, and there is no real debate about its essential details, according to the vast majority of credible historians. Although Lewy's brand of genocide denial is subtler than that of Holocaust deniers who declare there were no gas chambers at Auschwitz, it's no less an attempt to rewrite history.
"The overwhelming opinion of scholars who study genocide -- hundreds of independent scholars, who have no affiliations with governments, and whose work spans many countries and nationalities and the course of decades --is consistent," the International Association of Genocide Scholars stated in a 2005 letter to the Turkish government.
 "The scholarly evidence reveals the following: On April 24, 1915, under cover of World War I, the Young Turk government of the Ottoman Empire began a systematic genocide of its Armenian citizens -- an unarmed Christian minority population. More than a million Armenians were exterminated through direct killing, starvation, torture,
and forced death marches. The rest of the Armenian population fled into permanent exile. Thus an ancient civilization was expunged from its homeland of 2,500 years."

Double Killing
Despite this clear consensus of experts, Turkey exerts political leverage and spends millions of dollars in the United Turkish president Abdullah Gul warns of severe repercussions to the relations between the United States and Turkey if the "Armenian allegations are accepted." States to obfuscate the Armenian genocide, with alarming success even at the highest levels of government. Lobbyists on the Turkish payroll stymied a Congressional resolution commemorating the genocide last fall by convincing lawmakers to reverse their stated positions. Even President Bush flip-flopped.
Revisionist historians who conjure doubt about the Armenian genocide and are paid by the Turkish government provided the politicians with the intellectual cover they needed to claim they were refusing to dictate history rather than caving in to a foreign government's present-day interests.
 "This all happened a long time ago, and I don't know if we can know whether it was a massacre or a genocide or what," said U.S. Rep. John Murtha (D-Penn.) after changing his vote. "The last thing Congress should be doing is deciding the history of an empire [the Ottoman empire] that doesn't even exist any more," said President Bush.
But experts in genocide saw things quite differently.
"Denial is the final stage of genocide," says Gregory Stanton, president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars. "It is a continuing attempt to destroy the victim group psychologically and culturally, to deny its members even the memory of the murders of their relatives. That is what the Turkish government today is doing to Armenians around the world."
Last year, the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity issued a letter condemning Armenian genocide denial that was signed by 53 Nobel laureates including Wiesel, the famous Holocaust survivor and political activist. Wiesel has repeatedly called Turkey's 90-year-old campaign to cover up the Armenian genocide a double killing, since it strives to kill the memory of the original atrocities.
He was hardly the first. As long ago as 1943, law professor Raphael Lemkin, who would later serve as an advisor to Nuremburg chief counsel Robert Jackson, coined the term "genocide" with the Armenians in mind.
Stanton, a former U.S. State Department official who drafted the United Nations Security Council resolutions that created the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, spoke this April at a United States Capitol ceremony honoring victims of the Armenian genocide -- a ceremony held four months after the bill to commemorate the slaughter was shot down.
"The U.S. government should not be party to efforts to kill the memory of a historical fact as profound and important as the genocide of the Armenians, which Hitler used as an example in his plan for the Holocaust," Stanton said before an audience that included three survivors of the Armenian genocide and more than 100 representatives and senators.

Infiltrating the Academy
Efforts to kill the memory of the Armenian genocide began while carrion birds were still picking over corpses in their desert boneyards, with Turkey issuing a first official statement assuring the world at large that no atrocities had occurred. Turkey's primary strategy for denying the Armenian genocide since then has shifted from blanket denial to disputing the death toll to blaming the massacres on Kurdish bandits and a few rogue officials to claiming the Armenians who died were enemy combatants in a civil war.
Turkey began intervening in the U.S. on behalf of denying the genocide in the 1930s, when Turkish leaders convinced the U.S. State Department to prevent MGM studios from making a movie based on the book The Forty Days of the Musa Dagh because it depicted aspects of the Armenian genocide.
In 1982, the government of Turkey donated $3 million to create the Institute for Turkish Studies, a nonprofit organization housed at Georgetown University that pushes a pro-Turkey agenda, including denial of the Armenian genocide. Three years later, in 1985, Turkey bought full-page advertisements in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Washington Times to publish a letter questioning the Armenian genocide that was signed by 69 American scholars. All 69 had received funding that year from the Institute for Turkish Studies or another of Turkey's surrogates like the Ankara Chamber of Commerce, a quasi-governmental agency in Turkey's capital city.
The Institute for Turkish Studies has since received sizable donations from American defense contractors that sell arms to Turkey, including General Dynamics and Westinghouse. Turkey continues to provide an annual subsidy to support the institute. In 2006, the most recent year for which tax records are available, the institute awarded $85,000 in grants to scholars. Its chairman is the current Turkish ambassador to the U.S., Nabi Sensoy.
The first unassailable evidence of the extent of the Armenian genocide denial industry's reach in academic circles arrived in 1990 in an envelope addressed to Robert Jay Lifton, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at the City University of New York's Graduate Center and John Jay College. It contained a letter signed by Nuzhet Kandemir, who was then Turkey's ambassador to the United States, protesting Lifton's inclusion of several passing references to the Armenian genocide in his prize-winning book The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide.
"It is particularly disturbing to see a major scholar on the holocaust, a tragedy whose enormity and barbarity must never be forgotten, so careless in his references to a field outside his own area of expertise," Kandemir wrote. "To compare a tragic civil war perpetrated by misguided Armenian nationalists, and the human suffering it wrought on both Muslim and Christian populations, with the horrors of a premeditated attempt to systematically eradicate a people is, to anyone familiar with the history in question, simply ludicrous."
There was nothing out of the ordinary about Kandemir's letter. Academics who write about the Armenian genocide were then and still are routinely castigated by Turkish authorities.
What Lifton found intriguing, however, was a second letter in the envelope, which the Turkish ambassador had included quite by accident. It was a memo to Kandemir from Near East historian Heath Lowry, in which Lowry provided Kandemir with a point-by-point cheat sheet on how to attack Lifton's book, which Lowry chummily referred to as "our problem."
Lowry at the time was the founding director of the Institute for Turkish Studies. He resigned that position in 1996 when he was selected from a field of 20 candidates to fill the Ataturk Chair of Turkish Studies at Princeton University, a new position in the Near Eastern Studies department that was created with a $750,000 matching grant from the government of Turkey.
Prior to joining the Princeton faculty, Lowry had never held a full-time teaching position and had not published a single work of scholarship through a major publishing house. As a result of that and of what The Boston Globe described in 1995 as his work as "a long-time lobbyist for the Turkish government," his appointment sparked a firestorm of controversy. A protest group called Princeton Alumni for Credibility published a petition decrying Lowry's appointment that was signed by more than 80 leading scholars and writers, including Kurt Vonnegut, Arthur Miller, Cornel West, Joyce Carol Oates and many historians and experts in genocide.
Peter Balakian, the director of Colgate University's Center for the Study of Ethics and World Societies and the author of The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response, called Lowry "a propagandist for a foreign government."
Speaking at a 2005 symposium at Princeton commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, Balakian posed a rhetorical question: "Would a university want someone who worked with a neo-Nazi group to cover up the Holocaust on their faculty?"
The relationship of Turkey to U.S. scholars promoting Armenian genocide denial is similar to that of the oil industry to fringe climatologists who dispute the reality of global warming. The cause and effect relationship is murky. It's impossible to know for sure if they're making the claims to get the money or getting the money because they make the claims. And many of those who receive money from the Institute of Turkish Studies do little or nothing to support the government's version of what happened to its Armenian minority.
But a number of them certainly seem to, including Justin A. McCarthy, a professor of history at the University of Louisville. McCarthy claims that death tolls attributed to what he calls "this imaginary Turkish plan" are grossly exaggerated and resulted from justifiable wartime self-defense actions triggered by traitorous Armenians conspiring with Turkey's enemies.
McCarthy also points out that Armenians massacred Turks on at least one occasion before the "so-called Armenian genocide." In other words, they had it coming. "The question of who started the conflicts is important, both historically and morally important," McCarthy declared in a 2005 speech before the Turkish Grand National Assembly. "In more than 100 years of warfare, Turks and Armenians killed each other. The question of who began the killing must be understood, because it is seldom justifiable to be the aggressor, but is always justifiable to defend yourself."
He continued: "If those who defend themselves go beyond defense and exact revenge, as always happens in war, they should be identified and criticized. But those who should be most blamed are those who began the wars, those who committed the first evil deeds, and those who caused the bloodshed. Those who began the conflict were the Armenian nationalists, the Armenian revolutionaries. The guilt is on their heads."

Enforcing the Turkish View
In France and Switzerland, it's a crime to deny the Armenian genocide. In Turkey, it's a crime to affirm it.
Enacted in 2005, Article 301 of the Turkish penal code makes it illegal for any citizen or resident of Turkey to give credence to the Armenian genocide. Numerous journalists and scholars have been prosecuted for "denigrating Turkishness" under that statute, beginning with Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk, who was charged for stating, "A million Armenians were killed in these lands." Turkish-Armenian newspaper editor Hrant Dink was prosecuted three times for criticizing the Turkish government's longstanding policy of denying the Armenian genocide.
Where the law failed to silence Dink, bullets succeeded. He was gunned down in front of his central Istanbul office last January by a Turkish ultranationalist. Footage and photos later surfaced of the assassin celebrating in front of a Turkish flag with grinning policemen.
Dink's friend and ideological ally Tanner Ackam, a distinguished Turkish historian and sociologist on the faculty of the University of Minnesota's Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, attended Dink's funeral in Turkey, despite the considerable risk to his own life. Ackam, a leading international authority on the Armenian genocide, was marked for death by Turkish ultranationalists following the November 2006 publication of his book, A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and The Question of Turkish Responsibility. The book is a definitive history based in large part on official documents from Turkish government archives.
"It would be better for world peace and truth if sewer germs like you were taken off the planet," went one of the dozens of anonymous threats Ackam continues to receive in Minnesota. "Pray that the devil takes you away soon because otherwise you'll be living a hell on earth. ; Who am I? You're going to find out, Tanner, you're going to find out."
Turkish ultranationalists have, in effect, targeted many other people who, like Ackam, affirm the genocide. Several of their websites include home addresses, phone numbers and photos of these scholars. Genocide deniers often disrupt Ackam's lectures. In November 2006, a gang of Turkish ultranationalists attacked him at a book signing at City University of New York.
"Denial of the Armenian genocide has developed over the decades to become a complex and far-reaching machine that rivals the Nazi Germany propaganda ministry," says Ackam. "This machine runs on academic dishonesty, fabricated information, political pressure, intimidation and threats, all funded or supported, directly or indirectly, by the Turkish state. It has become a huge industry."

Convincing Congress
Academia is one of two major American fronts in Turkey's campaign to kill the memory of the Armenian genocide. The other is Congress.
As the only Muslim-dominated country in a troubled region to call the U.S. and Israel its allies, Turkey wields significant political influence that it uses to prevent the U.S. from joining 22 other nations in officially recognizing the Armenian genocide as a historical fact.
In 1989, the U.S. State Department released archived eyewitness accounts that, according to State Department officials, showed that "thousands and thousands of Armenians, mostly innocent and helpless women and children, were butchered." That same year, a bill commemorating the genocide was introduced in the U.S. Senate. But Turkey responded by blocking U.S. Navy ships from entering strategically important Turkish waters and by declaring a ban on all U.S. military training operations on Turkish territory. The bill quickly evaporated.
Last September, the matter came up again. The U.S. House Foreign Relations Committee voted to bring a nonbinding resolution to the floor of Congress condemning the mass murder of Armenians by Ottoman Turks, placing the death toll at 1.5 million, and labeling the killing a "genocide."
This time, Turkey responded by recalling its ambassador to the United States and forecasting dire repercussions. "In the case that Armenian allegations are accepted, there will be problems in the relations between the two countries," warned Turkish President Abdullah Gul.
"Yesterday, some in Congress wanted to play hardball," said Egmen Bagis, foreign policy advisor to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "I can assure you, Turkey knows how to play hardball."
The next day, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack apologized to Turkey on behalf of the United States by issuing a statement expressing "regret" for the committee's actions, which, he cautioned, "may do grave harm to U.S.-Turkish relations and to U.S. interests in Europe and the Middle East."
Defense Secretary Robert Gates added his opposition to the resolution and pointed out that 70 percent of the air cargo sent to U.S. forces in Iraq and 30% of the fuel consumed by those forces is delivered via Turkey. President Bush, perhaps forgetting his campaign promise in 2000 to push for official recognition of the Armenian genocide if elected president, also came out against the resolution.
While Turkish officials made threats, lobbyists paid by Turkey delivered money to congressmen in the form of campaign and political action committee donations. Louisiana representative Bobby Jindal (a Republican who's now Louisiana's governor) and Mississippi representative Roger Wicker (now a Republican senator representing that state) both dropped their sponsorship of the resolution and began speaking against it -- but only after receiving around $20,000 each from former congressmen Bob Livingston, a Republican, and Richard Gephardt, a Democrat, who now work for lobbying firms contracted by Turkey to oppose any recognition of the Armenian genocide.
In 2000, while still in office, Gephardt had declared that he was "committed to obtaining official U.S. government recognition of the Armenian genocide." In 2003, he co-sponsored a resolution placing "the Armenian genocide" in the company of the World War II Holocaust and mass deaths in Cambodia and Rwanda that was voted down after a Turkish lobbying blitzkrieg.
Since leaving office and accepting a $1.2 million-a-year contract to lobby for Turkey, the former House majority leader has experienced a profound change of heart. "Alienating Turkey through the passage of the resolution could undermine our efforts to promote stability in the theater of [Middle East] operations, if not exacerbate the situation further," he wrote in an E-mail to the International Herald Tribune. Last fall, as part of his efforts to help torpedo the symbolic Armenian genocide resolution, Gephardt escorted Turkish Ambassador Nabi Sensoy to meetings with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders.
Bob Livingston, whose firm has been paid more than $12 million by the Turkish government since 1999, also pitched in. As part of the lobbying effort last fall that U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), one of the sponsors of the resolution, called "the most intense I've ever seen," Livingston shepherded Turkish dignitaries from office to office on Capitol Hill.
As another part of that campaign, the government of Turkey took out full-page advertisements in major American newspapers calling upon the members of Congress to "support efforts to examine history, not legislate it." The ads featured a testimonial from Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice -- "These historical circumstances require a very detailed and sober look from historians" -- that implied that historians have yet to seriously study the Armenian genocide.
More than 100 supporters of the resolution reversed their positions, and H.R. 106 was voted down.
The government of Turkey has since continued to call for a "historian's commission" of scholars to "study the facts of what happened in 1915-1923." The proposed committee is marketed as a high-minded quest for truth and reconciliation, a long overdue arbitration of disputed history, and a chance to finally give equal weight to both sides of the story.
But as the saying goes, a lie isn't the other side of any story. It's just a lie.
"When it comes to the historical reality of the Armenian genocide, there is no 'Armenian' or 'Turkish' side of the question, any more than there is a 'Jewish' or 'German' side of the historical reality of the Holocaust," writes Torben Jorgensen, of the Danish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. "There is a scientific side and an unscientific side -- acknowledgment or denial."
 

Monday June 2, 2008

Senator Jack Scott to Make Keynote Speech

Glendale, CA - The Armenian National Committee - Glendale Chapter announced recently that Senator Jack Scott will deliver the keynote speech at the ANC-Glendale Chapter Banquet, while GHS student, Henrietta Movsessian will receive the "Youth Activist of the Year" award.  The event is set to take place on Thursday, June 5, 2008, 6:30pm at Brandview Collection in Glendale, CA.
"We're extremely honored to have Senator Scott as this year's keynote speaker," stated Artin Manoukian, Chairman of ANCG. "Senator Scott has been a longtime leader on issues impacting Armenian-American constituents in California's 21st State Senate District and empowering people to improve their communities. We're looking forward to having him speak to our community and share his life experiences prior to his change in careers," added Manoukian.
For many Armenian Americans, Senator Scott's signature piece of legislation was Senate Bill 1657, which was passed in 2002 and established a California international trade and investment office in the Republic of Armenia. The signing of Senate Bill 1657 in 2002 was the culmination of a three-year grassroots effort by over ten local ANC chapters to establish formal trade relations between the Republic of Armenia and California.
 

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GHS Student, Henrietta Movsessian to Receive "Youth Activist of the Year" Award.

Henrietta Movsessian, who will be the recipient of the "Youth Activist of the Year" Award, has left a stellar mark through her involvement at school and in the community.  She currently serves as the Glendale Unified School District Student Board Member; the President of the Associated Student Body at Glendale High School; the President of the Student Senate and Gateway Advisory, a member of the National Honor Society, in addition to being part of the Varsity Cross Country and Varsity Track and Field teams for three years.