Armenian Church of Atlanta June 2007

In This Issue • Happy Father’s day Solemn Divine Liturgy • Mother’s Day Picnic ELEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME and Badarak • What comes after Isaiah 1:1-15 Romans 6:12-23 recognition Mathew 12:1-8

• Armenian Names Sunday June 17, 2007 • ACOA Buidling 11:00 am at Hye Doon Fund-Raffle Tickets • Graduation News Celebrant

• Birth Very Rev. Fr. Zaven Yazichyan Announcements (from St. Thomas Seminary at • Well Wishes St. Paul – Minnesota) • Sympathy

• Wanted Ad 9820 Coleman Road • Next Month’s Roswell, GA 30075 Events

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Armenian Church of Atlanta

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Mother’s Day Picnic and Badarak A Message from the Ladies Guild Chairperson:

Mother’s Day Picnic was a huge success!! Thanks to everyone who attended and all of the community members who donated food, helped set up, grill and clean. A special thank you goes out to all the members of the women’s guild who worked so hard in preparing for this event. In addition, the following individuals deserve recognition for their help in making the picnic a great success:

Food donations: Thanks to Kevork and Shoghig Terzian, Jamil and Araxi Murad, Ara Ohanian, Anita and Vahik Ismailian, Khodaverdian Family, Vahram KASARCIYAN, Violet Terzian, Talin Major, Vera Nercessian , Joyce Keyfer and Nairi Bournazian. Grilling: Thanks to Sahin Corluoglu,Vahagen Khodaverdian and Vania Aghajanian for grilling the delicious Kabobs. Raffle tickets: Thanks to Serina Vartanian for the well prepared raffle tickets. Raffle prizes: Thanks to all those who donated the raffle prizes: 1- Bangle Bracelet donated by Luxor Jewelry 2- Black and White Custom hand painted Portrait donated by Vera Nercessian 3- Gift certificate for two Facials at De Spa donated by Nairi Bournazian 4- Two Pewter Plates donated by Jilda Kilbacak from GoldTech Jewelers 5- Two Necklaces donated by Ani Tascioglu 6- Wine Gift Basket donated by Khodaverdian Family Mother’s Day Presents: Many thanks to Sevtap Corluoglu for the wonderful Mothers Day presents that were given to all mothers. DJ: Thanks to Sevag Terzian for providing the music. Piñata: Thanks to Nadine Kassabian, the kids had a blast.

A special thank you goes out to Mari Avedissian for waking up at 6 a.m. to reserve the picnic area and decorating it. And last but not least, the picnic would not have been a success without Murat Corluoglu’s tireless efforts and mobile bar.

Thanks again for everyone’s continued help and support. Please stay tuned for more details for another picnic coming in September. The Women’s Guild is on summer break during June and July. Please help your PC board members during the summer when called upon. Have a wonderful summer!

Sincerely yours, Talar Torossian ACOA Women’s Guild Chairperson

Manuk, Mark and Greg Mari, Talar & Sevtap

Murat & Araxi

Mari Avedissian & Mariam Topchyan playing backgammon at Mother’s Day Badarak A symposium asks what comes after recognition Armenian Reporter, May 12, 2007- From the community section by Lory Tatoulian

GLENDALE, Calif. -- On Monday May 7, 250 people gathered at the Glendale Public Library to attend a special symposium titled, "If The is Recognized, What Does the Armenian Community Expect Next?" The event was organized by the Armenian Professional Society, one of whose many goals is to bring vibrant programs, thinkers, and speakers to the public arena. The evening's program brought together a panel of five guests: Ben Charchian, Mark Chenian, Levon Marashlian, Harut Sassounian, and Hovann Simonian. The colloquium was moderated by Hrair Dekemejian, professor of political science at USC and author of many books.

During the forum each panelist was allotted eight minutes to present his articles and opinions on the matter. The range of thought and abstracts varied from legal resources to a more opinion-oriented discourse. Ben Charchian, an attorney representing the law firm Vartkes Yeghiayan and Associates, spoke first. Charchian's presentation focused on how the courts can be used to go beyond Genocide recognition. "The court system is an excellent means to get reparations from companies. These are companies that unduly profited because of the Armenian Genocide. The law firm of Vartkes Yeghiayan settled two major lawsuits regarding reparations; one was with AXA, the other with New York Life. Yeghiayan's law firm believes in being active now, not waiting for Genocide recognition. Charchian explained: "These companies issued life insurance policies to before the Genocide. After the Genocide they breached their contracts, didn't pay the beneficiaries of those who were murdered during the Armenian Genocide. We have to attend to these lawsuits." This is contract law, he said, "and the Genocide is a background issue."

Yeghiayan's law firm is systematically preparing to file many more lawsuits against companies to gain reparations. Charchian believes that the power of the court will be the conduit through which success can be achieved. "The courts listen to these issues on common law, breaching of contract; those are the way they decide,. We need to go after these companies now. The good news is we don't have to wait until Genocide recognition, we are actually getting reparations as these two companies show." Charchian also expressed his views on the courts' limitations. He have the example of Deutsche Bank's presence in Western during and after the Genocide. Deutsche Bank looted the accounts of Armenian patrons' assets after the Genocide, he said. In addition, the bank used Armenians who survived the death marches as slave laborers to construct significant portions of the Berlin-Baghdad railways.

Next in line on the panel was entrepreneur and community activist Mark Chenian, vice president of an investment firm in Beverly Hills. Chenian is also serves on the Steering Committee at USC's Institute of Armenian Studies. Chenian began by reworking the question and posing one of his own. He asked "What direction will the Armenian community take if and when the Genocide is recognized?" Chenian presented a series of suggestions. "Armenians fundamentally have to change their thinking from relying on others into self-reliance. We need a core of legal scholarship. We should recruit top-notch students to study the constitutional private law and combine the students with revered scholars and then be allowed to claim our case within the sphere of human rights, international law, genocide, and other related war crimes." Chenian continued a litany of his admonitions, one being that all Armenians should not only have a sophomoric understanding of the Genocide, but be able to expand the scope of their knowledge and understand it with scholarly insight.

Levon Marashilian began by expressing many of his viewpoints "'s recognition of the Armenian Genocide is not anywhere around the corner. If there were no financial or territorial consequences for Turkey to worry about, recognition would be easier." Marashlian teaches at the local community college here. He has written many newspaper articles on the Armenian Genocide. Marashlian said that many Armenians wish to have recognition but feel it is no longer realistic to gain back territory or financial compensation. "Recognition without justice is nowhere near enough. Justice is essential for Armenia's survival and prosperity as a country. Without justice Armenia has a very dark future. The purpose of the Genocide was to eliminate Armenia as a factor from the region forever. Armenia now is a landlocked country with little resources. If it weren't for the Genocide, there would be about 25 million Armenians living there today. Justice for the Genocide is the only way Armenia can become a country you can be proud of. The Armenians who say that compensation is out of the picture are willingly condemning Armenia to remain in its current state." Marashlian's closing statements were echoed with favorable applause form the audience.

Harut Sassounian, a community activist and prolific writer, has written many articles on the Armenian Genocide. He is the publisher of the California Courier and his other roles include serving as the vice president of the Lincy Foundation and president of the United Armenia Fund. In his opening remarks, Sassouinian declared "The Armenian Genocide is already recognized. The whole world already knows that there was a genocide." He continued, "countries and presidents around the world for years have recognized the Genocide. President Reagan recognized it in 1981. We have to get out of the victim mentality, and instead be self-assured and demand our rights. We have to get on the offensive and take the initiative. The Turkish government has not officially recognized the Armenian Genocide; that's their problem. They know its true; we know its true. It would be in their interest to recognize it." He went on to explain that if Turkey continues to deny the Genocide, they it will continually have to pay the price with aversive public opinion on a global scale. "Our dream is not for Turkey to recognize the Genocide. An entire civilization was annihilated, our ancient lands were taken from us. We need the return of the looted assets of the Armenian nation."

The last guest on the panel to speak was doctorial candidate Hovann Simonian. He is co-author of the book, Troubled Waters: The Geopolitics of the Caspian. He also recently published a book about the Hemshin people living in Northern Turkey who were forcefully converted to Islam about 300 years ago. Simonian's presentation was more linear. "The type of compensation Armenian should ask for is private restitution. People should be able to ask for either the return of their private property or monetary compensation. The Armenian Church can likewise ask for all its churches ands monasteries back. That can be negotiated."

The program continued with a dialogue session of questions and answers with the audience. Academic cadences and sheer concern mixed throughout the evening, with audience members exploring insightful solutions to this most pressing issue.

You Know You're Armenian When...... *Your last name ends in '-ian' or '-yan' *You make coffee in a saucepan. *You call an older person you've never met before "uncle", aunty" *You do all the housework and cooking if you are female. *Your relatives alone could populate a small city. *Everyone is a family friend, or somehow related to you. *You always try moving out of home but always end up returning. *You are a hard core carnivore *Instead of cooking a meal for 4 you cook for 10. *When you have a dinner party there is enough food to last for the next 2 months. *You fight over who pays the dinner bill. *You're about to leave someone's house and you end up having another hour long conversation at the door *You ask your dad a simple question and he tells you the story of how he had to walk miles to get to school. *No one ever seems to call ahead of time to say they are coming for a visit. *Getting somewhere two hours late is considered getting there 'On time' *Getting somewhere on time is considered getting there early. Those Strange Sounding Armenian Family Names Most Armenian names end in "ian" or "yan," meaning the "son of," but some Diaspora Armenians have changed these endings to blend in their host societies. Today in Turkey "oglu" often replaces "ian," while Russian Armenians may change the endings to "ov"; e.g., Gary Kasparov, Serge Parajanov. A name ending in "ian" is not always exclusively Armenian, since "ian" ending can also be occasionally found in names in Irish, Persian, English, Philippine and some other cultures. Armenian last names generally fall into five specific categories.

Aristocracy The ancient Armenian aristocracy ("Nakharar" class) was derived from Parthian-Persian stock and many of their names ended in "uni" or "ooni." Most of these families were destroyed over the centuries but some still survive today; e.g., Sasuni, Rshtuni.

Parent Many Armenian names are derived from the first names of an ancestor; e.g. Davidian, "son of David," Stepanian, "son of Stepan," or Krikorian, "son of Krikor/Grigor." Until the 19th century,virtually all first names had a religious origin, so most of those last names are also religious.

Geography Some last names are based on geographic origin and end in "lian" (Turkish) or "tsian" (Armenian). Typical examples are Sivaslian "from Sivas," Urfalian "from Urfa" and Vanetzian "from Van." These names were typically given to an immigrant who migrated from a different region of Armenia. Obviously everyone living in Marash would not call himself or herself "Marashlian".

Occupation Most last names were taken from the professions of an ancestor. These names frequently originated with the tax collectors who needed to identify all individuals for tax purposes. Typical examples are Najarian "son of a carpenter," Arabian "son of a wagon/teamster," and Vosgerichian "son of a goldsmith." Many of these occupations are not Armenian, since the tax man(typically a Moslem Turk, Persian, Arab, etc.) would use his own native word for the occupation; e.g., the name Boyajian is based on the Arab/Turkish term "boyaji" "one who dyes."

Trait The most confusing and curious names are those based on some trait of an ancestor. Typical examples are Topalian "son of the cripple," Dilsizian "son of the tongueless one," or Sinanian "son of the spearpoint." Many of the origins of these names are unclear unless one understands the original context. As an example, Dilsizian indicates that an ancestor had his tongue cut out by the Turks for using the , while the term "Sinan" was a slang term applied to somebody either with a very erect military-like carriage or who was "hung like a horse."

Some of these traits are not physical, but rather reflect personality or social status; e.g., Melikian "son of the king or Harutunian "son of the resurrection." The name Harutunian could be based on an ancestor named Harutune (so-named because he was born around Eastertime), or adopted by a convert to Protestantism to show his status as a "born-again Christian."

Many last names today have been shortened or modified to aid pronunciations by non-Armenians; e.g., the name Mugerditchian/ Mkrtichian" becomes "Mugar," "Husseniglian",becomes "Hewsen," and Samourkashian" becomes "Samour." These abbreviated names often drop the ian" ending, and are not immediately identifiable as being Armenian to an outsider.

The name categories of Occupation and Trait can differ significantly between Eastern Armenians and Western Armenians, since the eastern names often have Persian, Georgian or Russian roots, while the western names may have Turkish, Arab, or Greek roots. Names with the prefix "Der" or "Ter" show that one of the ancestors was a "Der Hayr" a married parish priest), a position of great social status among Armenians; e.g., DerBedrosian, TerPetrosian.

The study of Armenian Names is a fascinating exercise since virtually every aspect of the culture is reflected in names.There have been extensive studies of Armenian names in the Armenian language, but little has appeared in English and many Armenians (born outside of Armenia) do not understand the significance of their own names. Be the Winner of the $5000 Raffle

Enter the first ever ACOA BIG Raffle today for your chance to win $5,000. This is the biggest prize offering from ACOA ever. For only $100, you get a chance to win this big prize. Only 200 tickets will be sold, don't miss out on your chance to WIN! Here is how it works:

Buy One or More Tickets & Enter Now. Yes, I want a chance to win $5,000 and help out ACOA Building Fund at the same time. Please send me ____ tickets for the 2007 FIRST ACOA BIG RAFFLE at $100 each. Name: ______

Address: ______City/State/Zip+4______

Phone: Day (_____)______Evening (_____)______

Email Address: ______--PAYMENT BY CHECK Mail this form with payment to: Armenian Church of Atlanta - 9820 Coleman Rd, Roswell GA 30075

Congratulations Graduates

Alex Avedissian, Baret Kilbacak, Diana Terzyan and Mihran Tascioglu are four of this year’s High School graduates in Alpharetta. We would like to congratulate them on this major accomplishment and wish them success on their journey through higher education. We are very proud of you. May God’s blessings be with you always.

Sherrie Elaina Demirjian received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Auburn University on May 8, 2007. Sherrie successfully completed her Preceptorship at Bay Shore Animal Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida and is planning to establish her practice there in small animal and exotic animal care. Sherrie is the daughter of Edward Demirjian of Madison, Alabama.

Congratulations to all!

Alex Avedissian Baret Kilbacak Diana Terzyan

Birth announcement It’s a Boy….. On May 14th, 2007 at 5:34 pm, Vardges & Margarit Ter- Hovhannisyan became the proud parents to a wonderful baby boy, Edward Vardges Ter-Hovhannisyan. Edik was born at 8 lbs 14 oz (4 kg) and 21 in (53.3 cm). The proud parents, Grandparents and Edik are doing wonderfully. Our congratulations and best wishes are extended to the entire family.

Get Well Wishes We extend our get well wishes to Kristen Kabbenjian who is recovering at home after her stay at St. Joseph Hospital.

We wish Talin Major a speedy and complete recovery from her recent surgery. She has returned home from the hospital and where she is resting.

Our well wishes and prayers are with you and we look forward to seeing your smiling faces soon. With Sympathy

We offer our Deepest Sympathy to Hovaness & Kristen Kabbenjian for the loss of their beloved Mother & Mother-in-Law, Lucintak Kabbenjian who passed away on March 3, 2007 in Nazareth.

Mrs. Kabbenjian is survived by her five children and their families: Araxi and Joseph Bezdjian in San Francisco, CA; Sona Kabbenjian in Nazareth, Israel; Hovanness and Kristen Kabbenjian in Atlanta, GA; Sossi and Hagop Garabedian in Los Angeles, CA & Dikran and Hermin Kabbenjian in Raleigh, NC. Please know that you are in our hearts and prayers.

Wanted Ads Margarit (Maga) Khachatryan is looking for an experienced nanny who will be taking care of a 7 week old baby boy from 9 am to 6 pm during the week. The start date is around July 1st. The family lives in Marietta/Smyrna area. References are a must. Please send email to: [email protected] or call 678 427 9112 and ask for Maga.

Next Month’s Events Divine Liturgy- July 15