SEPTEMBER 10, 2011 MirTHE rARoMENr IAN -Spe ctator Volume LXXXII, NO. 9, Issue 4203 $ 2.00 NEWS IN BRIEF The First English Language Armenian Weekly in the United States Darchinyan Defends Karabagh Celebrates 20th Anniversary IBO World Title in Armenia Of Declaration of Independence YEREVAN — Vic Darchinyan defended his International Boxing Organization (IBO) ban - tamweight world title against South African Evans STEPANAKERT (RFE/RL) — President Mbamba here on September 4. Serge Sargisian led thousands of people on Judges awarded Darchinyan the unanimous-deci - Friday in a march through Stepanakert sion victory after 12 rounds. that marked the 20th anniversary of The bout marked the first time a professional Nagorno-Karabagh’s declaration of inde - world boxing championship match has been staged pendence from Azerbaijan. in Armenia. The crowd, also comprising Catholicos Karekin II, the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and Possibility of Genocide Karabagh’s entire political leadership, gath - Recognition in Israeli ered in the main town square and marched to a monument to the victims of the 1991- Knesset Increases 1994 war with Azerbaijan. Sargisian and the other dignitaries laid YEREVAN (Armenpress) — The Armenian commu - flowers at the memorial and an adjacent nity in Israel is looking forward to the discussions cemetery where hundreds of Karabagh of the resolution on the recognition of the Armenians killed in the fighting were laid to Armenian Genocide, at the Israeli Knesset expected rest. A Karabagh honor guard marched there in October. Hakob Sevan, head of the Armenian during the ceremony in tribute to the dead. Cause Office in Jerusalem, said the Knesset is on The bitter war, which left an estimated summer break currently. 30,000 people dead on both sides, began Armenian President Serge Sargisian (center) leads a march in Stepanakert that marks the “The discussion will take place in October but we three months after the legislative council of 20th anniversary of Nagorno Karabagh’s declaration of independence from Azerbaijan. are in touch with the members of the Education the former Nagorno-Karabagh Commission which will discuss the issue and are Autonomous Oblast declared the mostly aware of the developments. Some members of Armenian-populated territory an indepen - began on Thursday, with Nagorno local residents. Sargisian attended and Knesset, political figures, intellectuals are raising dent republic on September 2, 1991. Karabagh President Bako Sahakian hand - delivered a speech at the ceremony. the issue on their personal initiative,” he said. Official celebrations of the anniversary ing awards to military personnel and other see INDEPENDENCE, page 16 Speaking about the possibility of recognition of the Armenian Genocide, Sevan said the chances have increased recently. “I think today Israel will try to use the Armenian Cause for exerting pres - sure on Turkey,” he said, stressing that the recent Soccer Win changes in the policy of Israel relating to the Sparks Jubilant Armenian cause are turning points. Scenes in Yerevan Nagorno-Karabagh Surge in Tourism STEPANAKERT (RFE/RL) — Authorities in By Elina Chilingarian Nagorno Karabagh say the number of foreign tourists visiting the region jumped by almost 50 YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — Hundreds of peo - percent in the first half of this year, following a sim - ple poured into Republic Square on ilarly sharp rise recorded in 2010. Tuesday, September 7, to celebrate yet “More than 3,000 foreigners visited Nagorno another impressive victory of Armenia’s Karabagh in the first half of 2011, a 49-percent national soccer team that gave it a real increase from the same period of 2010,” the chance of qualifying for the 2012 European Foreign Ministry announced. Football Championship. The official figures do not include residents of Armenia crushed Slovakia 4-0 in the Armenia. Slovak city of Zilina to earn its fourth vic - According to the statement, citizens of 24 coun - tory in eight matches played in Group B of tries visited the territory this year, notably the Euro 2012 qualifying over the past year. It United States, France, Russia and Iran, which have was also the team’s most convincing and sizable Armenian communities. The “Ground Zero Cross,” composed of steel columns from the World Trade Center important away win to date. The statement also spoke of a growing tourist towers that were forged in the shape of a cross by the intense heat underground influx from more farther-flung places such as which fused them together Vartan Minasian, the team’s 37-year-old coach, hailed the “fantastic” performance Japan, China and New Zealand. of his players, mostly aged under 24, It said the forthcoming reopening of the territo - against a nominally stronger side that did ry’s sole airport will “greatly facilitate” tourism. well in last year’s World Cup. “I am very Remembering 9-11 proud of my team,” Minasian said at a news conference. NEW YORK — I got up late that day and was taking the express bus to work in see SOCCER, page 3 INSI DE midtown Manhattan from Forest Hills in Queens. When the first plane crashed into the North Tower (Building One) of the World Trade Center (WTC), nobody knew what had happened. We By Aram Arkun thought it might be an accident. We saw the second Salute to Mirror-Spectator Staff crash from a distance and realized that it had to be much more than an accident. One person had a radio Armenia and searched for news. As we approached the Midtown Tunnel, the bus was stopped and made to turn around by the authorities. page 11 Manhattan was being isolated and all traffic into the heart of the city was halted. This was unprecedented and we began to worry about the scale of the danger tak - ing place. Some became scared of what might happen next. On the trip back, we could see the smoke billowing from the towers, and the collapse of the South Tower of the WTC. When I eventually made it back home, my wife, who at that time was INDEX not working, was in tears, not knowing what had happened to me. Her sister-in-law Arts and Living ...... 10 had called from Moscow, saying she heard that buildings were collapsing in New Armenia ...... 2, 3 York, and asked how we were. I rushed to the television to see the footage of the The members of the Armenian national soc - Community News...... 5 Editorial ...... 14 cer team celebrate after handily — and collapse and learn more about what was going on. International ...... 4 continued on page 7 shockingly — defeating Slovakia, with a score of 4-0. 2 S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 10, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR ARMENIA News From Armenia Yerevan Denies 2008 Vote Rigging

wrote to the US State By Irina Hovhannisyan Department. New Arrests Expected in “Did they [US offi - Connection with Murder cials] set up the YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — The precincts?” Azarian Of Aghasi Abrahamyan Armenian authorities strongly denied said. “Did they count on Tuesday a senior US diplomat’s the ballots? Did they YEREVAN (Armenpress) — Materials are being pre- reported claims that the February 2008 tabulate the election pared in connection with the murder of conscript presidential election was rigged in favor results to make such Aghasi Abrahamyan and new arrests are expected, of Serge Sargisian. statements?” military prosecutor Gevorg Kostanyan said at a Garegin Azarian, the chairman of the “There were viola - news conference this week. “It is not only a crime Central Election Commission (CEC) tions during the elec - but an immorality. The fact that a crime has been who administered the disputed vote, tions,” he said. committed is extremely condemnable,” he said. said that Joseph Pennington, the for - “Nobody denies that. The military prosecutor noted that from the very mer US charge d’affaires in Yerevan, But just because Garegin Azarian, chairman of the Central Election beginning the case received great attention. “I have cited no concrete facts to back up the there were violations Commission personally visited the scene and assumed the oper- claims in a March 2008 cable disclosed doesn’t mean the elec - ative, multi-sided and full examination of the case. by WikiLeaks late last week. tion results were The situation in this respect is dynamic, the num- According to the CEC, Sargisian rigged. Those are different things.” cratic standards. “One should simply ber of accused and arrestees will increase,” swept to a landslide victory with almost Galust Sahakian, a deputy chairman read the OSCE report on the elections Kostanyan said. 53 percent of the vote, while his main of Sargisian’s Republican Party of and see that no such thing is written The forensic examination of Abrahamyan’s body opposition challenger, former President Armenia (HHK), likewise denied mas - there,” he said. found evidence of violence on his body. On that Levon Ter-Petrosian, came in a distant sive vote rigging. “Those are gossips, The State Department distanced itself day, the conscript was taken to a hospital, uncon- second with only 21.5 percent. empty talk,” he said. “If it’s up to from the OSCE-led monitoring mission’s scious, and later died. Pennington suggested in the leaked WikiLeaks to decide who was elected largely positive verdict, describing the bal - document that in fact Ter-Petrosian gar - and who wasn’t, I don’t think that’s lot as “significantly flawed.” Armenia’s Capital to nered between 30 and 35 percent of respectful towards our society.” Armenian election monitors also votes and should have qualified for a Azarian also argued that Western alleged serious fraud. Ter-Petrosian and Host Digitec Expo 2011 run-off against Sargisian. “Mounting election observers mostly deployed by his opposition movement went further, evidence … has called into question the the Organization for Security and accusing the authorities of falsifying YEREVAN (news.am) — The Armenian capital will government’s claim that Prime Minister Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) con - election results to formalize a handover host the seventh annual DigiTec Information and Serge Sargisian won a legitimate first- cluded that the presidential ballot was of power from outgoing President Telecommunication Technologies Expo, October round majority on February 19,” he held “mostly in accordance” with demo - Robert Kocharian to Sargisian. 7-9. The event is organized under the auspices of Prime Minister Tigran Sargisian, the Union of Information Technologies Enterprises said. The exhibition will bring together representatives of innovative engineering companies, such as Bitlis- Mayor Assures MEN, Pegasus Logic, Olymp Engineering, Ovak Armenian Civil Service ‘Still Technologies, Project Integration, Rafa Solutions, Parliament over Innovative Solutions and others. Under Patronage Pressure’ A number of events, including ArmRobotics Kiosk Closures (Armenian Robots Open Championship show) and YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — Ministers not rare — where representatives of a DigiTec Job fair, will be held within the framework YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — and other senior government offi - particular ministry made every effort of exhibition. Representatives of Yerevan’s municipal cials continue to aggressively lobby to make one candidate pass the tests administration assured parliament on for patronage appointments of new because that’s what was instructed Friday that Mayor Karen Karapetian civil servants connected with them by their minister or a regional gover - Armenians, Germans will scale back the ongoing closure of or their political parties, the head of nor,” said Badalian. He did not name Discuss Technology commercial kiosks across the capital a body overseeing Armenia’s state those officials, though. that has provoked angry protests by bureaucracy said on Tuesday. Badalian also complained that civil YEREVAN (armradio.am) — Armenian German con- their owners. Manvel Badalian, chairman of the servants are still frequently forced to sultations on the control of dual-use technology Karapetian’s deputy, Taron State Council on Civil Service, join one of Armenia’s three govern - were held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Markarian, and other senior municipali - claimed to have resisted such pres - ing parties or do so in order to August 29. ty officials met with representatives of sure, saying that job competitions please their bosses affiliated with The Armenian delegation comprised representa- the parliament factions to explain administered by the body are fair those parties. “When there are con - tives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry Karapetian’s highly-controversial efforts and objective. tests for vacant posts, as a rule, we of Defense, the Ministry of Economy, the National to regulate street trade. “I am the head of an independent see among contest participants Security Service, the States Revenue Committee Stepan Safarian, a senior deputy body,” Badalian said. “My position is members of a party with which the and the Center for Nonproliferation Studies. from the opposition Zharangutyun not lower than that of a government head of that agency is affiliated,” he The German side was represented by the delega- party, said that they pledged to submit member. I excluded and continue to said. tion of Germany’s Federal Office for Economy and documents explaining the wisdom of exclude a [successful] official pres - The official already voiced such Export Control, which is authorized to control the those efforts and specifying the criteria sure.” complaints at a May 2010 meeting of dual-use item technology. for the selection of small shops subject “There may be requests. But the Prime Minister Tigran Sargisian’s to demolition. biggest pressure comes from friends, cabinet. “Our parties seem to be More importantly, Safarian said, they neighbors, relatives, former class - becoming employment centers,” he Farm Fishing Spurs insisted that the process will affect only mates,” he said. said. Economy, Depletes Water those kiosks that are located in the city An Armenian law adopted in 2002 Representatives of the ruling center. The number of such properties mandates the selection of ministry Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) Resources will be reduced from 266 to 190, he personnel and other civil servants on and its two junior coalition partners, said. a solely competitive basis that takes Orinats Yerkir and Prosperous YEREVAN (ArmeniaNow) — The government of According to the mayor’s office, some into account their professional quali - Armenia, denied any involvement in Armenia is satisfied with the development of the 900 of over 3,000 kiosks operating in fications, rather than political views the alleged practice at the time. country’s fish-breeding industry, which is a good Yerevan have been shut down since the or affiliations. Badalian’s council, Badalian on Tuesday also urged incentive for economic growth and export. beginning of the year. Karapetian formed by the president of the repub - civil servants not to resign and thus However, the water resources of the Ararat Valley claimed last month that they either lic, is tasked with holding job con - forego legal protection after disputes are being depleted, thus as a consequence, drinking lacked valid government licenses or tests, evaluating civil servants’ per - with their superiors keen to get rid and irrigation water springs in Ararat and Armavir were located on “central streets” and formance and protecting them of them. He said such instances are a provinces are drying up. “interfered with the normal work of the against arbitrary dismissal. regular occurrence in Armenia. At the same time, fish breeding keeps increasing. city.” “Recently we had an unpleasant “There is nothing we can do in these According to the agriculture ministry data, in 2010 The state human rights ombudsman, case — unfortunately such cases are cases,” he added. some 5,430 tons of fish were produced and this Karen Andreasian, disputed that claim, year that number is expected to reach 7,000. saying that at least some of those clo - The farms operating in the Ararat valley siphon sures were illegal. He urged kiosk own - pro-government Prosperous Armenia Several dozen kiosk owners who 800 million cubic meters of water, which has led to ers to continue to fight for their busi - Party (BHK), expressed hope that the gathered outside the parliament build - the drying up of artesian springs in the highlands. nesses. municipality will come up with a mutu - ing in Yerevan were unconvinced, how - Simon Andreasyan, Ararat province’s Hovtashat Safarian, whose party is strongly ally acceptable solution. “I think we will ever. “They are just taking a break so community leader, says as a result of the farms, 110 opposed to the mayor’s actions, sug - manage to find a solution,” Zohrabian that we stop protesting and gathering,” out of Hovtashat’s 130 springs have dried up. Thus, gested that the municipality seems to said. one woman said, dismissing he says, villagers are unable to work the 1,730 have softened its stance in the face of “It is important to maintain the city’s Karapetian’s assurances. acres of the village’s 2,570 acres of arable land and the criticism. “Given that the number of external appearance, but it is even more “They have repeatedly promised only 500 heads of livestock now remain out of the kiosks [slated for closure] has been cur - important to protect the rights of small that they won’t touch this or that initial 1,300. tailed, it can be said that there is some and medium-sized businesspeople who kiosk only to summon their owners change,” he said. manage to meet their socioeconomic and say that it’s now their turn,” said Naira Zohrabian, a deputy from the needs with small shops,” she said. another owner. S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 10, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR 3 ARMENIA Paros Lighthouse Foundation’s Shelter/Women’s Center Opens

PTGHOUNK, Armenia — The Paros Lighthouse Charitable Foundation celebrated the grand opening of its shelter/women’s center in the village of Ptghounk in the Armavir region. This impressive facility is the first of its kind in Armenia. Special guests from around the world, Armenian government officials and NGO repre - sentatives attended the opening ceremony on July 2. Very Rev. Barthev Gulumian blessed the altar in the prayer room as well as the staff and residents a few days following the event. The building is the achievement of California resi - dents, Zuhrab and Seta Ghazarian, who have been inspired to serve their homeland by their humble wish to fulfill God’s work. The Ghazarians have constructed the center to assist pregnant girls, abused mothers and their

Paros grand opening with Zuhrab and Seta Ghazarian and other dignitaries

story of abuse and tragedy. Armenia, they are often a forgotten sector of Other programs include weekly Bible Study. As part of a program helping the elderly, once society, especially the ones who don’t have An in-house gynecologist and therapist provide Sewing is one of the skills the residents learn. a week, senior citizens from nearby villages are grown children to care for them. Most stay hun - more vital services. The gynecologist works five picked up by the foundation’s van and driven to gry. The organization has compiled a list of days a week and gives free check-ups to women babies, feed the elderly, offer Bible study classes the center where they receive a three-course, needy elderly from five local villages in the from the surrounding villages. Seta Ghazarian for people in the surrounding community and, home-cooked meal in the dining room. Armavir region. In addition to providing a explained that “50 percent of the women have with local clergy, perform the sacrament of Holy Seta Ghazarian noted, “In the US, seniors healthy meal, every week they receive basic living gynecological problems” that require hospital Baptism in the Armenian Church. Fifteen rooms receive Social Security and Medicare. Here in essentials. care. An in-house therapist is available to counsel safely house and feed neglected mothers with the shelter residents and women from the nearby their babies as well as pregnant women. In addi - villages. These services and treatments, including hospital stays, are offered free of charge. Zuhrab and Seta Ghazarian have been provid - ing assistance to the poorest of the poor in Armenia since 2000. For more information and to donate, visit www.parosfoundation.org.

Armenian Chess Players Rewarded For World Championship Win The elderly receive nutritious meals. YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — Armenia’s leading chess players will receive 7.5 million drams tion, the complex accommodates the founda - ($20,400) each for their victory in the 2011 tion’s administrative offices, medical exam World Chess Team Championship, the govern - rooms, dental office, restaurant-style kitchen, ment announced on Thursday. reception hall and sewing and computer training Prime Minister Tigran Sargisian again con - centers. All services are provided free of charge. gratulated Armenians on the “glorious victory” The shelter is currently home to three as his cabinet allocated 45 million drams in teenage mothers and their babies. Each of The new center award money to the national Chess Federation. these young women relates a heart-rending The federation headed by President Serge Sargisian will distribute the sum to the five grandmasters and their coach Arshak Petrosian who represented Armenia in the championship held in the Chinese city of Ningbo last month. The prestigious title was contested by the Historic Soccer Win Sparks Frenzy in Yerevan national teams of the world’s 10 leading chess nations, including Russia, Ukraine, India and SOCCER, from page 1 the early hours of Wednesday. The success will further heighten expecta - Azerbaijan. The shock win moved up the Armenians to “This impressive victory wasn’t sensational tions from the national team ahead of its last The Armenian team led by Levon Aronian, third place in the group standings with 14 but the score was,” Slava Sargsian, a veteran two qualifiers. Armenia will play Macedonia in the world’s third highest ranked chess player, points, three behind leaders Russia, who drew football commentator, said. Yerevan on October 7. dominated throughout the 12-day tournament, zero-zero with Ireland in Moscow earlier on “It was a fantastic game,” agreed Senik Yura Movsisyan netted in the 57th minute winning five games and drawing the four oth - Tuesday. Ireland, which is second on 15 points, Karapoghosian, another commentator. “In my after the Slovak defense failed to clear a corner ers. will host Armenia in Dublin on October 11 for view, the second half [of the Slovakia game] was kick for his fourth international goal. Henrik The Armenian players received a hero’s wel - the final and possibly decisive game of the qual - the best 45 minutes of play in the [post-Soviet] Mkhitaryan added the second with a low, long- come upon their return home. Thousands of ifying campaign. history of Armenian football.” range shot in the 70th that took Slovak goal - people greeted them at a late-night ceremony Armenia already beat Slovakia 3-1 keeper Jan Mucha by surprise. organized in Yerevan’s Liberty Square and in Yerevan last October, an unex - Gevorg Ghazaryan scored 10 minutes before broadcast live by state television on July 28. pected result that marked the begin - the end and substitute Artur Sarkisov finished The team mostly consisted of players who ning of its best-ever performance in the Slovaks off in injury time. won two consecutive world Chess Olympiads in Euro and World Cup qualifiers. With two more games to play, Slovakia is 2006 and 2008. Those victories earned them The victory sparked jubilant fourth in Group B with 14 points. Armenia is domestic stardom comparable to the popularity overnight scenes in the capital, with third, also on 14 and three behind leader of the world’s leading athletes. hundreds of fans converging on Russia. Ireland is second on 15 points. Chess has been one of Armenia’s most popu - Republic Square to wave national The members of the Armenian team are: lar sports ever since Tigran Petrosian, a Tbilisi- flags, chant “Armenia!” and dance. Roman Berezovsky, Sargis Hovsepyan, Karlen born Armenian, became a world champion in Scores of cars honking their horns Mkrtchyan, Artur Edigaryan (Artur 1963. The country currently boasts one of the circled the sprawling square in the Yuspashyan, 90), Marcos Pizzelli (Edgar largest per-capita numbers of chess grandmas - meantime Manucharyan, 73), Gevorg Ghazaryan, Yura ters in the world. The ecstatic crowd was reportedly Movsisyan (Artur Sarkisov, 85), Hrayr Mkoyan, Sargisian has actively promoted the ancient joined and praised by Ruben Armenia’s Valeri Aleksanjan battles with Slovakia’s Filip Valeri Aleksanyan, Henrik Mkhitaryan and game while in office. Earlier this year, his gov - Hayrapetian, chairman of the Holosko in Zilina (AFP photo) Levon Hayrapetyan. ernment decided to make chess a mandatory Armenian Football Federation, in (AP contributed to this story.) subject in primary schools. 4 S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 10, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR INTERNATIONAL International News Turkey Suspends Military Ties with Israel

Baku Is Balking at ANKARA (Guardian) — Turkey has although his office later said he was was perceived by Israel as punitive Eurovision 2012 pursued its diplomatic offensive referring to military and defense harassment. Passengers were ques - against Israel by confirming it is sus - trade, not overall trade between the tioned for up to two hours and some Organization pending defense industry contracts two countries, worth $3.5 billion last were strip-searched. and threatening further sanctions, year. Erdogan told reporters he planned YEREVAN (PanARMENIAN.Net) — Azeri officials after that country’s refusal to apolo - The UN investigation, chaired by to visit Cairo next week, and might go are experiencing difficulties with the organizing gize for the deaths of nine activists on the former New Zealand Prime from there to Gaza. “We will make our body of the Eurovision 2012 song contest. The board the Mavi Marmara 14 months Minister Geoffrey Palmer, concluded final decision after consulting with 2012 edition of the contest will take place in ago. that Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza our Egyptian friends,” he said. Azerbaijan, the country of the winning song. The Turkish prime minister, Recep was justified but it had used “exces - The Turkish prime minister would “Currently, the European Broadcasting Union Tayyip Erdogan, said he was consid - sive and unreasonable” force when it be guaranteed an emotional welcome (EBU) is discussing reserve variants,” chairman of ering a trip to Gaza next week, where stopped a flotilla of aid ships by Gazans, who see him as a champi - the Armenian Public Television and Radio Council he would be assured of a hero’s wel - approaching the Palestinian enclave on of their cause. Erdogan has been Aleksan Harutyunyan told journalists in Yerevan. come. He repeated a warning that in May 2010. strongly critical of Israel’s blockade of “As to our participation in Eurovision 2012, the Turkish naval vessels would step up The much-delayed report was pub - the Gaza Strip and condemned its Armenian delegation is waiting for security guar- activity in the eastern Mediterranean. lished on Friday after months of deli - three-week military assault in 2008-9. antees from the European Broadcasting Union, as Since the release last week of the cate negotiations between Israel and A visit would make Erdogan the first Azerbaijan’s semi-guarantees are not enough,” he Palmer report of the UN investigation Turkey on the wording of a proposed world leader to officially visit Gaza said. into Israel’s deadly assault on the Israeli apology for the deaths of nine since Hamas took control more than Ell/Nikki from Azerbaijan, who received the Gaza-bound Turkish vessel, Turkey activists — eight Turkish citizens and four years ago. highest number of points from voters and juries has expelled Israel’s ambassador, a Turkish-American — and the pay - Alon Liel, a former senior Israeli from the 43 countries participating in this year’s plunging relations between the two ment of compensation to their fami - diplomat who served in Ankara, said: edition of Eurovision, managed to gather 221 countries to a new low. Erdogan has lies. Israel in the end refused to apol - “Israel and the US will do everything points altogether - followed by Raphael Gualazzi also promised to lobby in support of ogize, triggering fresh Turkish anger. possible to stop a visit. [Erdogan] will from Italy with 189 points and Sweden’s Eric Palestinian attempts to win recogni - Israel’s ambassador and other be received there as a god.” Saade who collected 185 points. tion as a state at the UN later this senior diplomats in Ankara have been Erdogan could attempt to persuade Armenia’s Emmy did not reach the final with the month. ordered to leave by Wednesday, and Egypt to downgrade its relations with song, Boom Boom. Speaking to reporters in Ankara on diplomatic status has been downgrad - Israel during his visit, Liel added. Tuesday, Erdogan said: “Trade ties, ed to the lowest level. “Turkey may be ready to invest a lot WikiLeaks Gets to military ties, defense industry ties, we On Monday dozens of Israelis were of money and effort in building Egypt Problem of Javakheti are completely suspending them,” detained at Istanbul airport in what as a regional ally.” Armenians TBILISI (arminfo) — WikiLeaks has published sever- al secret dispatches of American diplomats about the UN War Crimes Court Jails problem of Armenians of Javakhk and Georgia in general. A report containing the details of the meet- ing of Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan, head of the Georgian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, with US Ambassador to Georgia John Tefft, on June Ex-Yugoslav Army Chief 16, 2009, says that the bishop singled out three important issues for the Armenians of Georgia: the THE HAGUE (AFP) — A UN war possibility of using Armenian as an official language crimes court sentenced ex-Yugoslav army at the local level; the creation of opportunities of chief Momcilo Perisic to 27 years in jail education for the ethnic Armenians and the return on Tuesday for helping the Bosnian Serb of disputed church property. army murder and persecute Bosnian For his part, the US ambassador promised to dis- Muslims including at Srebrenica in 1995. cuss the given issues with the Minister for His sentencing sparked mixed reac - Reintegration Temur Yakobashvili. Another dis- tions in the Balkans, with Serbia calling patch, dated September 29, 2009, says that the rep- it excessive and Bosnia too lenient. resentatives of the local authorities and non-gov- Perisic, 67, the Yugoslav army’s high - ernmental organizations of Akhaltsikhe and est-ranking officer, was found guilty of 12 Akhalkalaki of Samtskhe-Javakheti region were of 13 counts of war crimes and crimes optimistic about their future in Georgia, but against humanity, including at expressed their concerns over maintenance of their Srebrenica, scene of Europe’s worst cultural and language heritage. wartime atrocity since World War II, as Most of the 300,000 ethnic Armenians in Georgia well as the shelling and sniping of the live in these two towns situated at the south of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo during its infa - central part of the country. mous siege from 1992-95. Momcilo Perisic (l) at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in The Hague. He is the first official from the Ex-Ambassador of Belgrade-controlled Yugoslav republic to be convicted for crimes committed in extermination at Srebrenica, said howev - Perisic’s lawyer Gregor Guy-Smith said Georgia: We Don’t Want Bosnia. Belgrade has always denied any er the former general “could not have Tuesday his client was disappointed with involvement in the war in Bosnia. foreseen” that the Bosnian Serb army the judgment, saying he would appeal. Armenian Churches Bakone Moloto, presiding judge at the would exterminate Muslims after the UN- YEREVAN (PanArmenian.Net) — WikiLeaks whistle International Criminal Tribunal for the protected enclave fell. Yet after learning blowing website released February 26, 2010 cables former Yugoslavia, said Perisic knew the of the massacre he still provided support on a meeting with a former ambassador of Georgia Bosnian Serb army’s actions “encom - for the Serb troops. Armenian Ambassador to Armenia, Georgy Tabatadze, addressed by ex- passed grave crimes against the civilian “You kept providing assistance to the Hands Credentials to ambassador of US to Armenia, Marie Yovanovitch, population”. VRS for months after being informed of to the US Department of State. Yet the former chief-of-staff gave per - the VRS’s enormous massacre in Czech President Yovanovitch cites Tabatadze’s statement refer- sonnel, officers, weapons and logistical Srebrenica,” the judge said. ring to a conflict between the Armenian Apostolic support to the Bosnian Serb army, the Prosecutors in March asked for life PRAGUE (Armenpress) — The and Georgian Orthodox Churches over Armenian VRS, as well as the self-proclaimed imprisonment against Perisic, a close col - Armenian ambassador to the Czech churches located in Georgia. Republic of Krajina’s army (SVK), know - laborator of Serbian strongman Republic, Tigran Seyranyan, handed his “We don’t want the churches. Everyone knows ing it would be used to wage war and Slobodan Milosevic who died in his credentials to President Vaclav Klaus, they are Armenian churches,” Tabatadze said. “Yet commit crimes against civilians. Hague detention cell in 2006. the Ministry of Foreign Affairs press it would only be fair to the Georgians to receive In 1994, the Yugoslav army supplied Perisic is the only senior Yugoslav offi - office reported. other churches in return.” He specifically pointed more than 7,500 shells and over 25 mil - cial to be sentenced before the court for Congratulating the ambassador on out non-operating “Georgian” churches in northern lion infantry bullets. the Srebrenica massacre after Milosevic, the appointment, Klaus said he is Armenia currently on the state registry with the Judges found Perisic guilty on four also implicated in the mass killings, died pleased with the friendly relations Government of Armenia. Tabatadze noted that charges at Srebrenica, where some 8,000 mid-trial. between the two countries. He voiced while there are no ethnic Georgians in that area Muslim men and boys were murdered The 18 other defendants for their role hope that the newly-appointed ambas - who would use the churches, it is the principle of after the UN-protected enclave was over - at Srebrenica are mainly Bosnian Serbs sador will contribute to the reinforce - reciprocity that matters. “In future, Georgian run, as well as the 44-month sniping and including former army chief Ratko ment of Czech-Armenian cooperation. Orthodox church could establish monasteries shelling siege of Sarajevo. He was also Mladic, the court’s most-wanted man Seyranyan expressed his gratitude for there,” Tabatadze said, according to the cables. sentenced for his role in the shelling of until his arrest in May. the kind reception and expressed his Earlier, however, Georgian historians refused to Zagreb by Croatian Serbs in May 1995. Judge Moloto said that although readiness to exert efforts for the devel - recognize the presence of Armenian churches on Perisic “was aware that the VRS was Perisic had a “collaborative relationship” opment of multi-sided relations. the territory of Georgia. conducting a campaign of sniping and with Mladic and substantially helped his During the conversation they shelling during the siege of Sarajevo”, operations, “the evidence does not estab - touched upon Armenian-Czech econom - the judges said. lish that he exercised effective control ic cooperation, the settlement of the Moloto, clearing Perisic on a count of over him.” Karabagh conflict and regional issues. S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 10, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR 5 Community Ne ws

Armenian Pleads Armenian Genocide Guilty in Medicare Museum-Institute Fraud Case Director Joins

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (The Brunswick News) — Genocide Education After being flown from Los Angeles to stand trial in federal court in Brunswick, an Armenian man Project accused of laundering money for phony medical supply businesses, pleaded guilty Monday. SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — The Genocide Sahak Tumanyan, 43, pled guilty in US District Education Project (GenEd) added Dr. Hayk Court to one count of conspiracy to launder Demoyan, director of the Armenian Genocide money in an $8 million Medicare fraud scheme Museum-Institute in Armenia, to its Advisory that involved Brunswick Medical Supply, a fake Board. business at 1603 Gloucester St., and other bogus “We look forward to strengthening our businesses in Savannah, Macon and other cities. From left (back): Talin Yacoubian, Lisa Kalustian, Richard Mushegain, Margaret partnership with the Armenian Genocide US Attorney Brian Rafferty alleged the false Mgrublian, Aline Maksoudian, Joyce Stein, James Melikian and Bryan Ardouny; Museum-Institute, working together to devel - businesses were stealing Medicare information (front), Dr. Ronald Suny and Dr. Norman Naimark op accessible and relevant instructional mate - from doctors and patients and then making false rials to ensure that the lessons of the claims for medical goods that never existed. Armenian Genocide are not forgotten,” said As a part of a plea offer from Rafferty, the Raffi Momjian, executive director of the charge against Tumanyan’s wife, Hasmik Genocide Education Project. Tumanyan, 38, was dropped. Assembly Hosts Book Beginning with a 2010 visit to the Hasmik Tumanyan originally faced the same Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute by count as her husband on a 10-count federal GenEd’s education director, Sara Cohan, the indictment. Presentation by Suny two organizations have shared information The Tumanyans were rearrested after making regarding effective approaches to teaching bond because prosecutors said they tried to flee students about genocide in the classroom, back to Armenia before their trial. And Naimark through the museum experience and ways to Sentencing for Sahak Tumanyan will happen at expand teaching of the Armenian Genocide a later date. He faces a maximum of 20 years in fed - both in Armenia and US. eral prison and up to $500,000 in fines, according WASHINGTON — The Southern California Regional Council (SCRC) of the “Our collaboration with the Genocide to First Assistant US Attorney James Durham. Armenian Assembly of America hosted a book presentation on August 27 at the Education Project represents an intersection Along with the Tumanyans, nearly 40 federal University Club of Pasadena, featuring Dr. Ronald Suny and Dr. Norman Naimark. of our mutual mission to raise awareness witnesses had been scheduled to fly to Naimark and Suny provided an overview and described the genesis of their within the international community about Brunswick. recently-published book, A Question of Genocide: Armenians and Turks at the the first genocide of the 20th century and to The lead defendant in the case, Arthur End of the Ottoman Empire . Both discussed how the project grew out of the help ensure that the next generation has Manasarian, 49, pleaded guilty August 4 to one Workshop on Armenian and Turkish Scholarship (WATS). Also edited by Fatma learned about this crime against humanity,” count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud Muge Goçek, the just-released volume includes contributions by more than a stated Demoyan. and another count of aggravated identity theft. dozen specialists. Demoyan has been director of the Manasarian is also awaiting sentencing. He In his presentation, Naimark noted Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute since faces 12 years imprisonment, more than that the scholarship on the Armenian 2006. He received his PhD from the Institute $500,000 in fines and possible restitution when Genocide had dramatically progressed of Oriental Studies at the National Academy he is sentenced. in the last three decades. In the pref - “The Also charged are two other Armenians, ace, Naimark states that “after reading Gegham Sargsyan, 56, and Khoren Gasparian, these contributions, which represent 27, who are hiding in Armenia and Russia, the ‘state-of-the-art’ in the field, no presentation according to Durham. scholar could contend that there was Toni R. Lowery, 27, of Savannah was charged not genocide in the Armenian case.” in an original indictment, but his case was The purpose of the book, Naimark indi - offered a fresh dropped in December. cated in his presentation, was to The case is believed to be part of a nationwide explore the root causes and factors crime syndicate that has fleeced Medicare of that led to the Armenian Genocide. perspective on $163 million, according to US Attorney Edward Suny recalled his first experience J. Tarver. with WATS and the challenges therein. As he notes in the book, “while there the causes of are certainly many Turks who deny the Genocide...there are also Turks, many of them intellectuals and scholars, who Feds File Charges in ATM are trying under very difficult political the Armenian conditions, to rethink their own histo - Fraud Case ry, even the history of the Ottoman mass murders of the Armenians.” Genocide.” OAKLAND, Calif. (San Francisco Chronicle) In addition to discussing WATS, — Two alleged Armenian gang members arrest - –Lisa Kalustian Suny provided the context for the ed by Pleasant Hill police with guns, hundreds book and, also having just returned from a nearly two-month visit to Turkey, Dr. Hayk Demoyan of cloned debit cards and more than $56,000 in expressed his sense that more and more people recognize the tragedy of the cash face federal charges in the case, court Genocide. The presentation was followed by a lively question-and-answer session records show. as well as a book signing under the auspices of Abril Bookstore. of Sciences of Armenia and is a history lec - Arman Vardanyan, 22, of Las Vegas and Suny currently serves as the Charles Tilly Collegiate Professor of Social and turer at Yerevan State University. He has writ - Eduard Arakelyan, 20, of North Hollywood (Los Political History and is also the director of the Eisenberg Institute for Historical ten several books on the Armenian Genocide, Angeles County) have been charged in US Studies at the University of Michigan, as well as emeritus professor of political sci - Armenians in the Ottoman Empire and District Court in Oakland with access-device ence and history at the University of Chicago. Suny was the first to hold the Alex Turkish foreign policy. fraud and possession of unauthorized access Manoogian Chair in Modern Armenian at the University of Michigan. The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute devices. Naimark holds the Robert and Florence McDonnell Chair in East European conducts ongoing research and exhibits. Pleasant Hill police arrested the two July 10 History at Stanford University. He is also senior fellow of the Hoover Institution Since its establishment in 1995, the institute after they responded to reports of a pair of sus - and of the Institute of International Studies. He has also served as director of has increasingly become an important picious men hanging around an ATM at a Stanford’s Center for Russian and East European Studies and chaired Stanford’s resource for scholars, the international com - Citibank at 700 Contra Costa Blvd. History Department. Prior to Stanford, Naimark was a professor of history at munity and members of the public seeking to A search of both men, their car and their Boston University and a fellow of the Russian Research Center at Harvard. expand their understanding of the Armenian room at the Pleasant Hill Inn uncovered two “On behalf of Norman and myself, I would like to extend our appreciation to the Genocide. For more information on the muse - loaded and concealed handguns, 963 re-encod - Armenian Assembly and its Southern California Regional Council for hosting this um’s work, visit www.genocide-museum.am ed debit cards and $56,599 in cash, US Secret event. We will continue our efforts to increase awareness of this historic crime Other members of GenEd’s Board of Service Special Agent Paul Grimm wrote in an against humanity and hope that our book will eventually be translated into Directors and Advisory Board include Dr. affidavit. Turkish,” stated Suny. Richard Hovannisian of UCLA, Dr. Joyce Bank surveillance video showed the men Armenian Assembly board member Lisa Kalustian, stated, “the presentation Apsel of New York University, Dr. Henry making withdrawals totaling $21,270, Grimm offered a fresh perspective on the causes of the Armenian Genocide.” “I welcome Theriault of Worcester State College, Dr. wrote. The account numbers on the cloned the positive feedback from participants and I look forward to the Assembly’s con - Peter Balakian of Colgate University, Dr. debit cards were from more than 32 banks, tinued community outreach,” added Kalustian. Stephan Astourian of UC Berkeley and Dr. authorities said. Israel Charny of the Institute on Holocaust Both men are free on bond. and Genocide. 6 S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 10, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR COMMUNITY NEWS Wisconsin Hye Notes OBITUARY By Naomi Zeytoonian John Z. Daniels

Summer in the Midwest brought with it high temps and the weekend picnics draw- CRANSTON, R.I. — John Z. Daniels, 88, of served on its Parish Council. He was a member and ing great crowds. The annual commemoration for the 96th anniversary of the Cranston and Cape Coral, Fla., died on Saturday, past president of the Providence Central Lions Armenian Genocide in the Midwest was hosted this year by St. Mesrob Armenian September 3, at Our Lady of Fatima Hospital in Club, past master of Warwick Lodge #16 and was Church in Racine. Clergy and guests attended from the Wisconsin parishes and near- North Providence. a member of Scottish Rite Valley of Providence, St. by Illinois. He was the husband of Elinor C. (Jillson) John’s Commandery #1 Knights Templar and the Sincere congratulations to Perry Paragamian and his lovely wife, Pat, as the entire Daniels. Rhode Island Shriner’s. St. Mesrob Parish paid tribute to “Mr. Armenian Fest.” Perry has been the vibrant Born in Providence, he was the son of the late In addition to his wife, he leaves his son, John Z. chair for Armenian Fest for many years and though he says he has “retired,” he is Harry and Mary (Hagopian) Daniels. Daniels Jr. of Bradenton, Fla; granddaughter, still in there helping out the new chairs for the fest. Danny Mantis and Ani Grigorian He was affiliated with Amanda Daniels of Florida; sister, Virginia Hanoian are his new “protégées,” and this year as in the past it went off like clockwork on his family business, the for - of East Providence and nephews, Harry Hanoian of Sunday, August 7 at Festival Hall. mer Z. Daniels Company, Massachusetts and Ronald Hanoian of California. In May, we attended the Diocesan Assembly in Boston at the Park Plaza Hotel. on Cranston Street in His brother, Malcolm L. Daniels, predeceased him. The ice-breaker for the Women’s Guild featured a keynote speaker from the Council Providence for many years The funeral service was on Thursday, September of Churches in Massachusetts. before retiring. 8 at Sts. Sahag & Mesrob Armenian Apostolic Laura Everett was an outstanding speaker with her inspirational message for He graduated from Church. Interment with military honors was in women. The Women’s luncheon honored the “Woman of Wonder” (WOW). This Bryant College and was a Swan Point Cemetery in Providence. year’s honoree was Helene Dorian of Belmont, Mass. Helene has worked diligently WWII US Navy veteran. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be for her parish of Holy Trinity and for the Women’s Guild’s and Women’s Central He was a member of made to: Sts. Sahag & Mesrob Armenian Apostolic Council, as well as the many organizations she has participated in. The close of the Sts. Sahag & Mesrob Church, 70 Jefferson St., Providence, RI 02908. assembly featured the banquet honoring Sarkis Bedevian. John Z. Daniels Armenian Apostolic Online condolences may be left at Many of our youth attended the sports weekend in Philadelphia in May. Others Church of Providence and www.nardolillo.com. made their plans to attend St. Nersess Conferences and summer camps, while still others traveled abroad. A moving video online featured the youth on a journey to the Holy Land; our representative from the Midwest was Alex Ouzounian from St. Mesrob. Traveling to Armenia with Birthright Armenia and FAR were Ani Grigorian Metropol-Residence and Crystal Densmore, Armida and Tigran Markarian were also in Armenia visiting Metropol-Residence her parents in Yerevan, with their darling daughter. Most unfortunately, shortly after 2 MashtotsIdeal Ave. for Family Yerevan. vacations Armenia the Markarians arrived home, Tigran’s dad passed away quite suddenly. He resided Daily, weekly and monthly low rates, starting $65.00 per day/ residence with them in Chicago. Our sympathies to the entire family. The four star residences at the heart of Yerevan with a kithcen and private bathroom is an Our sympathies also go to the Musserlian family on the passing of their mother, ideal place to stay for families and couples. This luxurious residence is convenient for what- Baidzar, who was the oldest member of the parish in Racine, at the age of 95. Our condolences to the families of Dan Dorian and Thomas Stephanian of Belmont and ever purpose your visit is. Concord, Mass. Dan Dorian was an active member of the Diocesan Council and Tom Stephanian was a staunch member of the Holy Trinity Church in Cambridge and the former owner of Tommy’s Lunch in Harvard Square. In June, Dr. Jack Kevorkian of Royal Oak, Mich. passed away at age 83, as a result of kidney fail- Reservations in English please call Sevag at 011-374-93211217 ure and pneumonia. Reservations in Armenian please call Onnig at 011-374-94435445 He was incarcerated for his part in assist- The ladies, including honoree Helene Dorian, cut the cake. ed suicide deaths with dignity. He was brilliantly portrayed by Al Pacino in the movie, “You Don’t Know Jack.” We visited the Soorp Haroutune Armenian Cemetery in South Milwaukee with Terry Peterson. This cemetery is owned and maintained by the Holy Resurrection Church in South Milwaukee and is probably the only Armenian Cemetery in the United States. The Women’s Guild Central Council and the Diocese of the Armenian Church has announced a pilgrimage to the Holy Land celebrating Armenian Christmas in Jerusalem and departing from New York on January 13-22. This is a guided tour led by the clergy and the fare includes air, hotel and meals. The Holy Land is a beauti- ful site to visit and if you have never been there, it should be a priority on your cal- endar. For more information and details, contact wgcentralcoun- [email protected]. Recently, there was a very inspiring story online, titled “Vartabedian’s Story, the Telephone (617) 924-7400 Gift of Life.” The story detailed his experience with heart surgery and how much his family meant to him throughout this ordeal. How much he truly enjoyed his grand- Aram Bedrosian children and how every new day is most important. “Yesterday was the past, today is the present, that’s why it’s called a gift,” he says. Funeral Home, Inc. Continuous Service By The Bedrosian Family Since 1945 MARION BEDROSIAN 558 MOUNT AUBURN STREET PAUL BEDROSIAN WATERTOWN, MA 02472 LARRY BEDROSIAN

GF UiNrEaRgAoL sHiaOMn E James “Jack” Giragosian, CPC Funeral Counselor 576 Mt. Auburn Street, Watertown, MA 02472, TEL: 617-924—0606 www.giragosianfuneralhome.com S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 10, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR 7 COMMUNITY NEWS Remembering 9/11 from page 1 way was clean, well-lighted and well-marked. On the staircase, I That day of attacks on civilians on American soil became saw no more than 20 or 30 people, certainly not a lot. There was unforgettable for me, though my own experience was not as no panic, no smoke … just people walking down, like I was. immediate as that of many others. A feeling of inviolability was Then all of a sudden on the 10th floor, there was nobody lost. While heavily armed soldiers or national guardsmen guard - around me anymore. Later I learned there was an announce - ed strategic points in the city, I was shaken to see, for the first ment on the loudspeakers that you could go back to your work time in my life, armored vehicles in Manhattan. Makeshift memo - area. I did not hear it and maybe this was why everybody disap - rials throughout the city added poignancy to the air of New peared, but I would have kept walking down anyway. There was York already laden with the dust of the remnants of the WTC. never any doubt in my mind that the correct thing to do was That dust hung heavy in the air for several years. vacate the building. For most Americans, and most particularly for New Yorkers Tom Donnelly and Roseanne Yoffredo left our offices and and Washingtonians, 9/11 turned into a defining event indelibly walked down the staircase about two minutes after me. They engraved on people’s psyches. Everybody can say where they heard the announcement, but they kept walking also. It was the were that day and can tell a story of his own. Novelist and crit - right thing to do. On the last 10 floors or so, I saw only one ic Peter Sourian compares it in this sense with the Kennedy other person on the staircase. assassination. Armenian-Americans, like all other Americans, When I got to the lobby of Building Two, I could see debris were a part of this. Some were victims, others survivors and the outside all over the place. There was a guard and I asked what rest witnesses of one sort or another. A number of Armenian- happened. He said he did not know, but the outside doors are Americans individually or through their institutions have or are closed, so you can only go to the main concourse. The building contributing to the understanding and legacy of 9/11. This arti - had been secured from the outside. After I talked to the guard, Mourners at Ground Zero cle can only present a few examples from this ongoing story and I saw Tom and Roseanne come out of the stairwell. will not attempt to discuss the Armenians who were killed in the There had to be 2,000 people milling in the concourse. This attacks. was a big area, where the subways and trains from New Jersey route and so forth. I left to continue on my way home to 92nd came in. It was the commercial hub of the World Trade Center Street, some three miles away. Survivor Jon Simonian complex. The bank, stores, restaurants were all there. The man I probably got home at close to 2 p.m.; I got my big hug and I worked at the Hartford Steam Boiler insurance Company, I bought my newspaper from was still there, the coffee lady was kiss from Charlene and Jennifer and then we went to pick up whose New York offices were on the 30th floor of World Trade there and people were standing around talking, having a ciga - Jon David at his school on the West Side of Manhattan. Schools Center Building Two. That morning, I got to work about 8 a.m. rette and drinking coffee. Despite the disruption that we now correctly did not dismiss their students until a parent came to My normal routine was subway, pick up a newspaper, coffee and knew about in Building One, Two World Trade Tower appeared pick them up. Charlene had picked up Jennifer at Chapin hard roll and start the work day. okay and operating. School, which was close to home, and we were going to I was sitting at my desk at 8:45 a.m., probably halfway Tom, Roseanne and I walked through the crowd, out the door Collegiate School to pick up Jon Jr. When we went to the through the paper, when three of us in the office felt this heavy on the south side of the building and onto Greenwich Street. I Collegiate auditorium to get him, Jon David got tears in his eyes. thud — like an anvil dropped on the floor above us and then we walked 130 yards (I paced this out later) where there was a pay So did I. felt a big vibration that shook the office. Co-workers Tom phone and I called Charlene. She said there was an explosion; Once home, which was at about 3 p.m., it was pretty clear that Donnelly and Roseann Yoffredo had no idea what it was. It was “they think a plane hit the WTC. Are you okay?” I said, “I’m fine, the World Trade Center attack was a terrorist event and emer - our first signal that something was wrong. but there is a lot of chaos here. I’m coming home.” gency measures were in place. All major bridges into Manhattan Later we realized that the first plane had hit WTC Building Charlene offered to call both Tom’s family and Roseanne’s were closed. Warplane flew routes around Manhattan and every One and the impact was so forceful that we felt it in Building family to tell them they were safe, but both said they would do 10 minutes we heard a jet fly by. Another security measure was Two. Tom Donnelly said, “I think I just saw something, but I’m it themselves. Roseanne then left to get her ferry to Staten the deployment of aircraft carriers from Norfolk News, Va., into not sure what it was.” Within 15 seconds, the three of us were Island and Tom left to get his ferry to New Jersey. the Atlantic around New York and Washington. Obviously, our looking out the east window and we could see two troubling I hung up the phone and started to walk south down authorities were not convinced this attack was over. That too things: we saw office paper, 8 1/2 by 11 sheets, floating down Greenwich Street. I took literally five steps and I heard this was a correct decision to make. in the air and we saw people running away from the building, tremendous boom. I looked up and the building that I had just I looked at Charlene and asked, “why are we here? Why not looking up towards the building. We knew something bad had vacated… there was a huge, orange fireball blowing out of the go to Uncle George and Aunt Alyce’s house in Connecticut and happened. wall. My first thought: if I had not gotten out of that building, I avoid a possible second danger?” I called my Uncle George, who Within one minute, I went back to my desk and called my wife, would be dead — which of course turned out not to be true. said, “Yes, absolutely, come to New Britain if you can get here.” Charlene. I said something happened and asked her to put on Five seconds after that, big pieces of concrete hit the street 20 Although I knew the major road arteries in New York were the TV to see if there was any news. Nothing was on yet. I told or 30 yards away from where I was standing. I thought, how closed, I knew the local streets well enough to try to reach Charlene something happened and it looks serious. inglorious to escape the explosion and get hit on the head by a Connecticut without using the major highways. The four of us I feared an explosion and I immediately knew to vacate the piece of concrete in the street. I walked to the Bowling Green packed passports, money, some clothes and a pot of pilaf that building. I told Charlene that I was going to leave and if I did subway station, stayed there 10 or 15 minutes and watched what Jon David was making for supper and got in the car. not make it, “remember that I love you and our children and happened. We drove up First Avenue, across the 138th Street Bridge into take care of them.” I then hung up the telephone. By that time there was chaos. Fire engines, sirens, ambu - the Bronx, up the Grand Concourse and Fordham Road toward Within another minute, I smelled smoke, a fact which I lances, smoke, panic, people running away all over the place. I Pelham and got access to I-95 in Pelham. We reached attribute solely to my Armenian nose. Co-workers Tom and tried another phone to call Charlene but nothing was working. Connecticut; we stopped at a McDonalds and had hamburgers Roseanne did not yet smell anything. I said “let’s get out of People around me couldn’t use their cell phones. People started and pilaf for supper that evening. We made it to New Britain here.” They said the procedure is to stay put. saying an airplane had hit the second building. I couldn’t tell. I around 9 p.m. knew about a bomb incident 10 years earlier and thought it was We spent the next two days at Uncle George and Aunt Alyce’s explosions in the building. How could it be two airplanes? and by then things in New York had calmed down and we came I feared the possibility of civil disturbance. Maybe it was a home. Jon David and I spent those two days playing golf and coup against the US government. If that were the case, you Charlene and Jennifer went shopping and did the things that needed money. I went to a Chase bank on lower Broadway and mothers and daughters do. Our New Britain family including took out all the money in my checking account, $3,500 to be the Holy Resurrection parish and the Country Club of exact. Farmington took great care that their New York City friends Subway and buses were not operating downtown. Walking were welcome among them. was the only way to move. Street traffic stopped. No cars or After we got back to New York, two noteworthy things hap - taxis. Hundreds of people were walking across Water Street pened. One was that I quickly realized that I may have problems toward the Brooklyn Bridge. Obviously the authorities shut about airplanes and being trapped in inescapable places; specif - down all communications and transportation. Twenty minutes ically I was not sure how I would react about flying and I was after the second plane hit the World Trade Center, everybody fearful about getting trapped in an elevator. knew something very bad had happened and everything in the In a couple of weeks, planes started flying again. I bought a area was sealed off. Jet Blue ticket to Palm Beach Florida, stayed overnight and flew Above Canal Street, phones were working and I was able to back. Thank God, no problem. call Charlene and tell her that I was safe. That was the first com - I got stuck in an elevator once for about 30 seconds and traf - Simonian family picture, from left, Charlene, Jon, Jon Jr. and munication she had that I was safe. She then called our two chil - fic stopped moving in the Holland Tunnel once for about five Jennifer Simonian in 2011 dren, Jon David who was 15, and Jennifer, who was 13, to tell minutes. Each time, I had a minor panic attack. I’ve gotten over them. the tunnel business; I know you can get out of the car and walk On that call, I instructed Charlene to go to the bank and take out. I’ve never been stuck in an elevator since then. I’m not sure My response was, “you do what you want, but I’m gone.” I got out all the money she could and to go to the supermarket and how I’m going to handle that if it happens again. Hopefully, I will paper towels from the kitchen area, wetted them to put over my get all the food and water that she could get. By that time, she be okay. nose and mouth in case there was smoke and gave some to my was only able to take out $1,000 and she got some food. Second, my very capable personal physician at the time, Dr. friends. I said let’s leave now. We can always come back tomor - Everybody else had the same idea, so there were limits to with - George Gorham, made me to go to a psychiatrist to talk about row to take care of the computers and office business and I left drawals and the stores were full of people seeking supplies. this event, just in case there might be lingering issues. I went to the office alone. I walked up Bowery and then First Avenue. About an hour or five very expensive sessions and the conclusion was that I am I walked around the corner, down the hallway and past the so later, I got to 34th Street and Saint Vartan Cathedral. I went fine and know how what to do to solve problems. So much for elevators. I saw a couple of people standing at the elevators and to Saint Vartan to say a prayer and get a drink of water. They $2,500, but thanks, Dr. Gorham, I know you did the right thing. asked them if they knew what happened. They said no; I said if had scheduled a noon service, which they asked me to stay for, Finally, the City of New York is still doing a good job moni - something bad happened, you shouldn’t take the elevator. I then and I did. People said that I appeared in shock, but I knew that toring the 20,000 people of so who were directly involved in the walked some 30 flights of stairs down to the lobby. was not true. Nobody in shock has the clearness of mind to World Trade Center incident. Every six months they follow up It took me 15 minutes to walk down the 30 stories. The stair - make the decisions I did about leaving, money, food, escape continued on next page 8 S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 10, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR COMMUNITY NEWS from previous page remember or commemorate the 9/11 events. on a medical and psychological profile. So There have been quite a few prayer services far, so good. By God’s grace, that’s the case in the past and many more are taking place on forever. the 10th anniversary of the attacks in Going to Zero I know two people who died in the World Armenian churches throughout this country. Trade Center. God take care of them and their This year September 11 happens to coincide survivors. For me and my family, the World with a major feast day of the church, and for By Peter Balakian Trade Center issue has passed. Thank God I this reason, the traditional requiem service or was below where the planes hit. My mind was hokehankisd cannot be performed. However, clear and my instincts were good. I never sec - special dispensation has been made in several 1. ond-guessed what to do. I worked in tall build - cases, such as at the Armenian Church of the A canvas with less turpentine, more hard edges, less bleeding, ings all my career. I always paid attention to Holy Martyrs, for a requiem service for mem - that was good for beauty, Frankenthaler in Art News the fire and emergency instructions. You bers of the Armenian community who lost know you don’t go up; you don’t take the ele - their lives in the attacks. Other churches in in the dining car crammed with parkas and laptops vator; you put something wet over your nose the Diocese of the Armenian Church of and mouth to breathe. America (Eastern) will instead have special micro-waved cellophane, plastic plates and canvas bags, prayers recited. Eyewitness Lisa Kadehjian September is customarily the beginning of and the valley under fog as the cows disappeared At the time I was about three blocks away the fall season of Armenian events, as people and when the green came back into view, I could see from the World Trade Center. I worked very return from their summer vacations. The near it. I was vice president of compensation at solemnity of September 11 conflicts with the the Bank of New York. When the first plane joyous nature of these events, but some the SUVs floating on the Thruway, the cows oblivious hit, nobody knew what was happening. There Armenians have attempted nonetheless to to the revved engines of trucks. The river glistened were all sorts of rumors as to what had hap - continue with their usual schedules by making pened. When I reached our office, the building changes. The Senior Armenian Church Youth all the way to Albany, and I could see flags on Baptist churches was already burning so I was relying on Organization Sports Weekend, for example, and resurrection trailers, “God Bless America” on pick-ups — rumors. Then I saw the second plane hit from opened with a prayer for the 9/11 victims on the windows. At that point we realized it was September 11, 2009 in Huntington Beach, some kind of attack. We had to get to a safe Calif. The Armenian Festival of Orange “United We Stand” laminated to billboards distance from the area and avoid falling debris. County (California) added a commemorative as the fog settled then lifted, and when I woke There were a lot of people on the street and a program on the night of September 11, 2010, lot of confusion. We realized that we had to with a “nationally-recognized 9/11 authority,” a flag the size of a football field hung from the gray tower of the GW, get off the street. Nobody expected the build - Angie Kardashian, speaking along with local where the tractor-trailers jammed beneath its hem ings to fall. community leaders. Element Band, an I and a group of people from my company Armenian group, presented a musical tribute went farther south just to get away from the to 9/11. A portion of the net proceeds of the as something sifted down on the silver-plated Hudson. immediate area. The father of one of our festival were to be donated to the Orange And then the lights went out. coworkers worked in a nearby building nearby, County Fire Fighters’ Benevolent Association. which was further away from the WTC. We The remainder of the two-day festival contin - 2. were inside there when the building fell, so we ued as in previous years. The faces on 7th Avenue blurred in the chaos of vendors and liberty had no idea what was going on. We heard a Some Armenian institutions have dedicated huge rumbling and a very loud noise. The win - stone crosses, or khachkars , to the victims of scarves, freedom ties, glowing plastic torches, dollars and polyester — dows all went black and we couldn’t see any - the September 11 attacks. The cathedral of thing. We relied on radio or other news. We the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church and inside Macy’s I was hit by cool air as “Stars and Stripes Forever” finally heard that the buildings had fallen. We of America erected a seven-foot-tall khachkar floated down from women’s fashions into the quiet aisles of Aramis waited a while and then started walking last September. Catholicos of All Armenians and silk scarves. uptown. There were masses of people. What Karekin II officiated during its consecration struck me was how hopeful everybody was. and Los Angeles’ mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, There was a sense of community — we were in participated in the ceremonies. I wanted to buy the Frankenthaler, a modest, early print, this together. Perhaps it was inevitable, considering the minimal, monochromatic; surface and perspective in dialogue; I walked to the Armenian Evangelical importance of the Armenian Genocide to on 24th off 10th –the gallery still smelled like wood and plaster — Church in midtown where my mother worked today’s Armenians, that one church decided to and stayed there until the subways were run - commemorate the two tragedies together. but I didn’t stop, and when the train reached the Stock Exchange ning and we were able to go home. I had spo - Saint Apkar Armenian Apostolic Church in ken to people on the phone but I don’t remem - Scottsdale, Ariz., inaugurating a monument the Yom Kippur streets were quiet, and the bronze statue of ber it. I don’t remember how we got home to sculpted by Kaspar Gharibyan to the victims Washington Queens, or when. not only of 9/11 but also of the Armenian was camouflaged by national guard. I was walking my old mail route For about two weeks we couldn’t return to Genocide. It was unveiled on April 22, 2011 now our offices. Some people were just too trau - and will be consecrated on September 18 by matized to return but I always felt that as soon Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate of the as I could go back I would. It was like defiance. Western Diocese. The commonality between like a drunk knocking into people, almost hit by a cab I was going to continue with my normal life. the two events commemorated, according to until the roped-off streets cut me at the arm. At Broadway and Liberty Obviously I thank God that I was not affect - remarks given by one priest in April, is that the fences wound around the bursts of dust rising ed directly. I know a lot of people who lost innocents became victims of violence at the family members and friends. I did lose a class - hands of other human beings. over the cranes and bulldozers, over the punched-out windows — mate from high school who worked for Cantor Armenian-Americans are also part of broad - I stared through a piece of rusted grid that stood like a gate to the Fitzgerald. In that sense I’m very grateful. It is er non-Armenian commemorative efforts. For part of my everyday life because I work down example, Vartan Gregorian, president of the crystal river. there. It’s always there; there is always a Carnegie Corporation of New York, served as I was sweating in my sweatshirt now, the hood filling with soot, reminder. Over the years it has been a big scar the chair of the jury selecting the designer of in the area. I actually work closer now to the the Ground Zero memorial to the 9/11 vic - as I watched with others drinking Cokes and eating their pizza of dis - site, in the World Financial Center, right tims. belief. behind it. It is very important to everyone here that the site is rebuilt and the scar is covered. Armenian Aid and Sympathy Zero began with the Sumerians who made circles with hollow reeds I think there always has to be some sort of Seven first aid responders who had gained in wet clay and baked them for posterity. remembrance. The memorial site is a great useful experience during the 1988 earthquake idea. There has to always be a reminder that in Armenia were among the first to come to At Broadway and Liberty. At 20 floors charred and standing. this occurred and knowing the damage that the US to aid American victims. Some At miasma people weeping. Anna’s Nail Salon, Diakichi Sushi, happened to the people and the place…but Armenian-Americans like psychiatrist Dr. the vacant shops, stripped clean in the graffiti of dust-coated windows. there also in my opinion should be rebirth and Louis Najarian applied the experience they regrowth. You can’t let anybody knock you gained in helping Armenian earthquake vic - down and you don’t get back up. Maybe the tims, and in his case, a method of aiding dis - Something blasted from a boom box in a music store, same attitude comes from our history as aster victims in Armenia, to helping victims in something, in the ineffable clips of light, Armenians, where we have a sense of New York. disappeared over the river. resilience — that even after being knocked Later, Armenians from the Republic of down we get up and back. Armenia contributed to commemorations in Reprinted from Peter Balakian’s Ziggurat , Chicago: University of Chicago Press, the United States. One example is the 2010 (paperback forthcoming, 2011) Commemoration “Message of Freedom and Hope,” an exhibi - Immediately after the terrorist attacks, as tion of 44 paintings by Armenian children Hagop Vartivarian, chairman of the Tekeyan moved by television reportage of the 9/11 Cultural Association of Greater New York, events. It was hosted by the Embassy of summarized in an article published in Beirut Armenia and the Caucus on Armenian Affairs larations supportive of the US with respect to impacted the entire world community. That is in Zartonk in October 2001, Armenian orga - in the Rayburn Congressional Building in the 9/11 terrorism. Ambassador Garen why Armenia believes that the whole system nizations cancelled or postponed their meet - Washington, DC, on September 13, 2004, with Nazarian, Armenia’s representative to the of the United Nations should be engaged in ings and dinners. Armenians of great and mod - support from the Kamk Benevolent Fund of United Nations, recently wrote to the Mirror- the fight against international terrorism.” est means alike participated in general Armenia. Spectator about Armenia, the UN and the Nazarian stated: “I would like to assure American fundraising campaigns. Wealthy The Republic of Armenia and various international aspects of 9/11. He said, “The everyone that the Republic of Armenia will individuals donated large sums of money. Armenian organizations and individuals over implications of the 9/11 tragedy a decade ago continue to Soon Armenians also found various ways to the years have made many statements and dec - did not stopped with the United States. They continued on next page S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 10, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR 9 COMMUNITY NEWS TCA Arshag Dickranian School Starts its 2011–2012 Academic Year

LOS ANGELES — Following the example of K. Mandossian, Vice Chairman Parsegh several unified school districts, this year the tra - Kartalian, Board Treasurer Angine Garibyan ditional “Back to School Day” ceremony of the and Board member Diran Depanian. TCA Arshag Dickranian School’s 31st academic Principal Vartkes Kourouyan started the pro - year took place on August 29, at 8:15 a.m., a full gram by extending his greetings to the stu - week earlier than usual. dents, teachers and parents alike, and then The event took place at the open courtyard of called upon Markarian to conduct the morning the campus where students ranging from pre- prayers and give his blessings. He then invited kindergarten toddlers to seniors had gathered Norian to share her thoughts. “My parents under the guidance of their teachers and the founded this school so that children like you watchful eyes of their parents. Among the could learn the Armenian language and histo - guests were St. John Armenian Church parish ry.” She said, “You are the legacy of the priest, Fr. Manoug Markarian, school benefac - Armenian heritage. I have full confidence in tress Cynthia Norian, Board Chairman George your diligence and wish you an industrious

ADS students at the 2011-2012 academic year opening ceremony

school year.” The program concluded with the closing Mandossian welcomed everyone on behalf of remarks of Kourouyan, who wished the stu - the School Board of Trustees. After greeting dents success in their endeavors and declaring the students, the teachers, the parents and the new scholastic year open. working committees, he touched upon the chal - Located at 1200 North Cahuenga Blvd., Los lenges the board was facing due to the ongoing Angeles, the TCA Arshag Dickranian Armenian economic crisis and called for the cooperation School is a federally tax-exempt, pre-K to 12th- of all to ensure the success of the scholastic grade private educational institution. For more year. information, visit www.dickranianschool.org.

From left: Board Chairman George K. Mandossian, Vice Chairman Parsegh Kartalian, benefactress Cindy Norian, Fr. Manoug Markarian, Board member Diran Depanian and Board Treasurer Angine Garibyan Remembering 9/11

from previous page pouring in from passersby. There was a sadness support and contribute to all actions undertak - in the village, unlike the anger and hate of en by the United Nations in this regard. The Muslims in the US.” United Nations can play a very positive role Linda Ganjian contributed to an exhibition of encouraging member-states to exchange opera - proposals in 2003 for 9/11 memorials called tional information about the terrorists and “Multiple Memorials” at Viridian Gallery in New their networks. Particular effort should be York. The exhibition was organized by Mary made in order to prevent terrorists from getting Miss and Elliot Maltby. Ganjian explains, “My access to weapons of mass destruction. The idea was to tie translucent ribbons around United Nations should also double its efforts in posts around New York, as wishes for the the fields of economic development and pover - return of the missing (remember the “missing” ty eradication, since these are the strategic bat - posters!). I was referencing yellow ribbons and tlefields in the war against terrorism. also the tradition of tying rags on branches as “Armenia has already demonstrated her com - a way of making a wish that I saw in Armenia.” mitment to and has lent support to the interna - Non-Armenians aware of the tragedies in tional struggle to combat terrorism. We are state recent Armenian history have mined this materi - parties to the UN, Council of Europe and CIS al for their own creative works. In July and counter-terrorism instruments and have enacted August 2011, a play by D. Tucker Smith opened necessary national legislation for their timely in Hollywood called “Quake.” It was the story of implementation. It is imperative that all nations, the meeting of a Jewish businessman whose wife without exception, increase their cooperation in died on 9/11 (though not from the attacks) and the fight against terrorism and abide by the prin - an Armenian immigrant woman who lost every - ciples of the 12 international conventions and thing in the Spitak earthquake in 1988. protocols relating to terrorism.” The effects of 9/11, ranging from political to social to psychological, will continue to rever - Artistic Transformation berate for a long time to come. We are too close still to the 9/11 attacks to assay their cultural impact, but Armenian- American writers and artists have already begun to deal with them in their works. Intellectual and author Peter Balakian has grappled with their meaning. His most recent book of poetry, Ziggurat (2010), is a meditation on the pain and aftermath of 9/11 which explores many universal themes. His Armenian background and his scholarly and poetic work in particular on the catastrophic trauma of the massacres and genocide of the Armenians — including the phenomena of collective and indi - vidual memory of that which is no longer there — have prepared him for and contribute to his understanding of this new human calamity [See his poem “Going to Zero” from Ziggurat in the sidebar]. Sculptor Kardash Onnig, who lives in upstate New York, was in Karabagh in September 2001 and created his own memorial. He described it recently: “On 9/11, I was in Shushi. I heard Entertainment Fridays about it from a neighbor. In the morning I drew an American flag in black ink in mourning and and Saturdays hung it on the front of my house. By noon there were a dozen candles and a stack of flowers laid under the flag; by evening the flowers had grown to a foot deep and condolences came 10 S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 10, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR Arts & Living

Jerusalem Students Lark to Present Gain Invaluable Concert in Honor Experience at St. Of 9/11 Victims

Nersess Seminary LOS ANGELES — Under the patronage of Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate, Western Diocese of the By Florence Avakian Armenian Church, and George Deukmejian, 35th governor of California, Lark presents a commemorative concert NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — “Jerusalem is our in honor of the victims of the attacks on home, and we would like to live and work 9/11, joining countrywide activities to there,” said Nicole Kassabian, 17, and Vania mark the 10th anniversary of the fateful Koutoujian, 18. These two teenagers were on day. the trip of their lives, having made the 11-hour Lark holds dear its position as a cultur - plane ride to New York from Jerusalem to par - al organization, representing primarily ticipate in the St. Nersess Seminary Summer those of the Armenian Diaspora, as one Studies Program. branch of the many differing diasporan This project was the brainchild of Rev. communities that make up Southern Mardiros Chevian, dean of St. Vartan Cathedral, California. who conceived and planned it six years ago, The YerazArt musicians from last year The evening, a celebration of heroism, with funding from generous donors. A major opens with Beethoven’s Egmont benefactor for the past several years has been Overture , a work of heroic proportions, as Russell Kashian of Wisconsin, whose own chil - a testament to the country’s resilience in dren have participated in the St. Nersess pro - the face of the first great tragedy of the grams. YerazArt Announces new millennium. Rachmaninov’s haunt - Also supporting the program this year were ing meditation, Piano Concerto No. 2 , fol - David Melian of New York, Karyn and Keith lows, performed by Lark’s newest gradu - Bilezerian of Massachusetts, Kristen and Glen Two Initiatives in ate, Meghrie Babikian, and the Lark Dabaghian of New Jersey and Pam Young of Orchestra. The concert closes with a com - New York, all of whom have benefited from the memoration of those victims who lost St. Nersess programs in their youth. Armenia their lives in the attacks, with Mozart’s For the past six years, two outstanding stu - Requiem , under the conductorship of dents from the St. Tarkmanchats School have Vatche Barsoumian. been privileged to come to New York each year, BOSTON — The YerazArt Foundation, a Boston-based non-profit organization The concert takes place on Sunday, and gain special insight about their faith at St. dedicated to the support of young Armenian musicians, has announced the estab - September 11, 8 p.m., preceded by a pre- Nersess Seminary, as well as rub shoulders with lishment of two educational programs in Armenia: a comprehensive instrument concert reception at 6:30 p.m., at the St. Armenian youth from America, resulting in last - donation program and annual conservatory scholarships. Leon Armenian Cathedral of the Western ing friendships. Taking a hiatus from its annual Diocese (3325 N. Glenoaks Blvd., “I receive great satisfaction from seeing the North American concert tour, the Burbank). interaction between the Armenian youth of YerazArt Foundation focused this For more information, visit Jerusalem and America, the relationships that year on the planning and implemen - www.larkmusicalsociety.com. are formed and the great possibilities for the tation of new initiatives aimed at future that can come from these relationships,” strengthening Armenia’s musical Group Focuses said Chevian. “This project benefits the youth foundations. of the Holy Land and America as they learn The instrument donation program St. Nersess Fundraising from each other and appreciate each other as was designed in an effort to alleviate Reception Set for brothers and sisters.” the financial burden of remote On Instrument music schools and meet the needs of September 24 Unforget table Exper ience the student body. After an extensive “Our time at St. Nersess has been amazing. research targeting the Shirak NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — A benefit reception, Our faith was strengthened with all the new region, YerazArt decided to channel Donation and titled “Evening under the Stars,” will once again information we learned,” said Koutoujian, with its assistance to Music School No. 4, be held on the grounds of St. Nersess Armenian Kassabian concurring. “The Bible studies, dis - named after composer Arshak Seminary, on Saturday, September 24. cussions, worship services and fellowship with Brutyan, and located in earthquake- “This gathering provides the opportunity to the young people of our age added up to an stricken Gumri. YerazArt’s Armenia Scholarships support the most vital institution for the future unforgettable experience. The fact that we have director, Arman Padaryan, coordi - of the Armenian Church in North America,” the same culture as our new Armenian friends nated with the school’s director, said Very Rev. Daniel Findikyan, seminary dean, in America is something very special. We Khoren Vardanyan, to assess the adding, “Old friends and new come together to learned from each other’s cultures. This bond school’s requirements and subse - For Young mix and mingle while learning about the ongo - will last forever,” added Kassabian. quently, YerazArt purchased and ing and future endeavors of St. Nersess. This While they were in New York, the two stu - donated a set of brand new instru - year is especially significant as the Seminary is dents visited the Diocese of the Armenian ments, including 10 violins, two in the midst of its 50th anniversary commemo - Church and St. Vartan Cathedral and had a spe - trombones, one trumpet, one clar - ration.” cial meeting with the Diocesan Primate, inet and two guitars to the school. Musicians Last year’s event drew nearly 150 people who Archbishop Khajag Barsamian. And like all “We are extremely grateful to the YerazArt Foundation for its generous and time - gathered under an elegant candlelit tent off the eager visitors, they saw all the famous tourist ly gift to our school. We were in dire need of a replenishment of our inventory and back patio of the Seminary building. sites in this renowned international city. “This I’m confident that these new instruments will have a significant impact on the qual - One first-time attendee, Mona Khorozian of trip has been inspiring, adventurous and eye- ity of our instruction as well as on the performance of our students,” stated Fort Lee, NJ, had nothing but praise for the opening,” they both agreed enthusiastically. Vardanyan. event. “I thought the evening was wonderful. Both students were born in Jerusalem, with YerazArt is now in the process of helping another school, the reputable There was a very relaxed atmosphere with a Koutoujian’s father also born in Jerusalem, and Kanakeravan Art School, with instrument donations as well. Located in a village host of dedicated people that were so welcom - mother hailing from Jordan. Kassabian’s father neighboring Yerevan, the Kanakeravan School offers arts, music and dance classes ing. I felt that it was family I was spending the was born in Lebanon, and her mother in and needs some additional instruments to complete its repertoire. evening with.” Mona, and her husband Raffi, Kessab, Syria. Kassabian with her family has The talent/need-based scholarship program was meant to assist promising stu - have already committed to attending this year’s lived within the safe confines of the Armenian dents wishing to further their musical instruction in Armenia with the aim of pur - reception. Patriarchate, whereas Koutoujian and her fami - suing a career in music. This year, YerazArt sponsored two YerazArt Young This reception will begin at 7 p.m. with guests ly reside a few miles away in an Arab section, Armenian Musician Scholarships at the Yerevan Conservatory, covering the full being greeted and served by college-aged and which she said is also very safe. tuition costs of two students for the 2011-2012 academic year. young professional volunteers who have attend - They are especially emotional when they “The challenges facing Armenian musicians are many, throughout the various ed recent St. Nersess Summer Conferences. relate their experience at Jerusalem’s St. stages of their musical education. We tried to address some of these hurdles, name - Those enjoying the evening can look forward to Tarkmanchats School from which they gradu - ly the poor quality and scarcity of instruments available at music schools, and the hearing from these young people as they, as ated this year. “We were brought up as brothers lack of funding for higher education. We are truly excited about these two initia - well as the seminary dean and board members and sisters, with everyone living close to each tives, and look forward to developing them further in the coming years,” said speak about the importance of the only semi - other, and knowing each other,” commented YerazArt representative Nicole Babikian Hajjar. nary of the Armenian Church in the western Kassabian, with Koutoujian adding, “Our teach - On the local front, the foundation will hold its annual fundraiser on September world. ers have been like our parents. There is abso - 24 at the home of Raffi and Nina Festekjian. Other highlights of this year’s reception lutely no discipline problem. Everyone receives To learn more, visit www.yerazart.org. include an auction of several one-of-a-kind personal attention. There has always been a items, such as prime New York Giant tickets see STUDENTS, page 13 see SEMINARY, page 13 S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 10, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR 11 ARTS & LIVING ‘Salute to Armenia’ Takes Place in Rhode Island

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — This year markts the 20th anniversary of Armenia’s Independence. For this occasion, the Armenian Music Festival of Rhode Island Inc., supported by The Armenian Euphrates Evangelical Church, Sts. Sahag and Mesrob Armenian Apostolic Church, Sts. Vartanantz Armenian Apostolic Church and Armenian organizations of Rhode Island, will pre - sent “Salute to Armenia.” This special program, ded - icated to the 20th anniver - sary of Armenia’s indepen - dence, will be held on Conductor Konstantin Saturday, September 10, Petrosian at 7 p.m. in Saints Peter & Paul Cathedral, Providence. The Republic of Armenia’s ambassadors to the United States and the United Nations have accepted invitations to participate in “Salute to Armenia.” Federal, state and local dignitaries Armenian Chorale of Rhode Island will also be invited. The commemorative concert will include per - formances by: Metropolitan Opera singer Guest composers from Armenia, Martin In addition to traditional Armenian music, Admission is free and open to the public and Yegishe Manucharyan, Victoria Avetisyan Vardazaryan and Levon Chaushyan, will also be the program will premier songs composed espe - all are invited to a reception following the con - (Massachusetts), Garo Nichanian (Canada), in attendance. cially for this event by Armenian composers. cert. Kate Norigian, Joanne Mouradjian, David Ayriyan, Debra Takian Pjojian, David Gevorkian, Gohar Manjelikian, David Alexander, Mher Saribekyan, Alexan Tokatlian (New York), The Armenian Chorales of Rhode Island and Greater Worcester and the Philharmonic Community Symphony Orchestra of Rhode Island. Konstantin Petrossian is artistic director and conductor.

Alexander Tokatlian Garo Nichanian

The Worcester Chorale

Sponsor a Teacher in Armenia and Karabagh 2011

Martin Vardazaryan Levon Chaushian Since its inception in 2001, TCA’s ‘Sponsor a Teacher’ program has raised over $477,750 and reached out to 3,700 teachers and school workers in Armenia and Karabagh.

£

K Yes, I want to sponsor teachers in Armenia and Karabagh to continue Yeghishe Manucharyan Victoria Avetisyan helping them to educate the children, our future leaders. I would like to have the teacher’s name and address. K $160 K $ 320 K $ 480 K other $ ————————— Name Address City State Zip code Tel:

Make check payable to: Tekeyan Cultural Association – Memo: Sponsor a Teacher 2010 Mail your check with this form to: TCA Sponsor a Teacher 5326 Valverde, Houston, TX 77056

Joanne Mouradjian Kate Norigian Your donation is Tax Deductible. 12 S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 10, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR ARTS & LIVING Balian’s Novel Approach Brings Armenian Saga to the Masses Congrats to The

Turks, the historical background becomes as Improper Bostonian By Lucine Kasbarian meaningful as the story itself.” Protagonist Ibelinian possesses many fine BOSTON — The Improper qualities often attributed to the Armenian peo - Bostonian is celebrating its Armenians often wish for a tale about the ple: Christian values, love of family, drive, talent Armenian Genocide and its aftermath that and a strong work ethic. The grace and humili - 20th anniversary this would make a blockbuster film and draw atten - ty with which Jonah faces down impossible month. The glossy maga - tion to their cause. John Balian’s new book, odds offers readers a model to emulate and an zine, now helmed by the Gray Wolves and White Doves opportunity to place their own personal chal - very competent Wendy (CreateSpace/Amazon.com), may be that tale. lenges into perspective. And by presenting his Semonian Eppich, reaches Largely auto - story as a cross between Raffi’s epic, Khentè, close to half a million read - biographical, and a John Grisham novel, Balian captures the ers every two weeks. Its Book Review this atmospher - interest of general readers while introducing lighthearted tone and ic novel is pre - them to the Armenians — a people whose his - glossy, photograph-laden sented through the eyes of an innocent young tory has been hijacked, culture appropriated pages, including the popu - boy trying to make sense of the world as he and appeals for justice disregarded. lar “Improper Sightings,” grows up amid repressive conditions in Western On Wednesday, September 28, at 7 p.m., the Armenia/Eastern Turkey during the 1960s and St. Gregory Men’s Club will sponsor a presen - have made it one of the few ’70s. tation and book signing by Balian at the St. success stories in recent This fast-paced, multi-layered narrative takes Gregory the Enlightener Armenian Church’s publishing history. The staff readers from Hanna Ibelin’s (aka Jonah Atrium, 1131 North St., White Plains, NY, of the Mirror-Spectator con - Ibelinian’s) close-knit family life in the perilous 10605. gratulates the staff of the Asia Minor region of Palu to terror and tragedy To learn more and to purchase the book, visit Improper for a job done while en route to Syria’s Kamishli, to a bleak http://johndbalian.com. properly. existence on the mean streets of Istanbul. (Reviewer Lucine Kasbarian is the author of Facing the disintegration of his family, Hanna The Greedy Sparrow: An Armenian Tale .) is promised salvation abroad. Guardians enroll him in the Armenian seminary of Jerusalem, where he takes his Armenian name Jonah Ibelinian and practices Armenian customs in comfort and safety. But as Jonah begins to adjust to this new life, he encounters inter-eth - nic strife, clerical corruption, deception and banishment for alleged insurrection against the Turkish state. While on the lam in Europe, Jonah searches for lost kin as he stays just one step ahead of his pur - suers. As he hides from the Turkish secret police, fugi - tive Jonah is coaxed by a for - mer rival to con - duct a secret mis - sion in exchange for acceptance. Jonah also search - es the depths of Author John Balian his own con - science as he is told that his mission is to be carried out at the Turkish Airlines counter at Orly Airport on the outskirts of Paris. As the story crescendos into a dynamic cli - max, buried secrets and hidden identities and motives are revealed — leading the gripping saga to a fulfilling conclusion. Gray Wolves and White Doves’ storyline is laced with intrigues and betrayals, ancient tra - ditions, comic relief and accurate historical depictions fused together by the protagonist’s indomitable will to live in freedom and dignity. This literary achievement is already being put on par with Billy Hayes’ autobiographical thriller, Midnight Express . While Gray Wolves and White Doves stands on its own merits, author John Benjamin Sciarra aptly points out that Balian’s treatment further elevates it because “…by setting [the novel] in the shadow of the attempted annihilation of Armenians by S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 10, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR 13 ARTS & LIVING

Day of Celebrating Baptisms Marks Beginning of CC AA LLEENNDDAARR 50th Anniversary Celebration of Holy

Trinity Church MASSACHUSETTS On September 15, a celebration of the 20th CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — This SEPTEMBER 18 — Trinity Family Festival, 12-5 p.m., Holy Trinity Anniversary of Armenia’s Independence, host - September, Holy Trinity Armenian Armenian Church, 145 Brattle St., Cambridge. Delicious dinners; ed by the St. Vartan Cathedral Council, will Church of Greater Boston begins a year - moonwalk for kids; children and family games, starting at 1:30 p.m., long celebration of its 50 years on Armenian music by the Greg Krikorian Ensemble. Yalanchi cook-off. take place from 6 Brattle Street with special events Blessing of Magdagh, 4 p.m. Raffle drawing for cash prizes, 4:30 to 9 p.m, at the St. planned throughout the year, to which p.m. For information, contact the church office at (617) 354-0632, e- Vartan Cathedral an invitation is extended to the commu - mail [email protected] or visit www.htaac.org. Plaza, in New York nity to participate. City. Entertainment, The first event of “Celebrate 50 – music and mezze Celebrating 50 Years on Brattle Street in NEW YORK are included; admis - Faith, Hope and Love, 1961-2011,” takes place on Sunday, September 18, with “A sion is $10. For SEPTEMBER 15 — 20th Anniversary of Armenia’s Independence. more info, call (212) Day of Celebrating Baptisms.” All those Celebration, 6-9 p.m, at St. Vartan Cathedral Plaza, New York City. 686-0710, ext. 141. who have been baptized at Holy Trinity Entertainment, music and mezze included. Beverages available. Church during the past 50 years are Admission, $10. Hosted by the St. Vartan Cathedral Council. For invited to attend. A special blessing cel - more info, call (212) 686-0710, ext. 141. ebrating baptisms will take place in the church sanctuary following the Divine Liturgy. The Divine Liturgy commences at 10 a.m. and will be celebrated by Rev. Vasken A. Kouzouian, pastor of Holy Trinity Church. Parishioners and friends Jerusalem Students Gain are invited to witness this special ser - vice. Following church services, every - Invaluable Experience at St. Nersess Fundraising one is invited to the Trinity Family St. Nersess Seminary Festival, which will be held on the church grounds. STUDENTS, from page 10 Reception Set for Sept. 24 The 50th Anniversary Celebration wonderful nurturing atmosphere.” SEMINARY, from page 10 Committee is co-chaired by Aram and They especially praise the principal of St. provided by seminary board member Steve Mekenian; a gold-star necklace donated by Becky Hintlian and Harvey and Valerie Tarkmanchats, Fr. Norayr Kazazian, and point Mirijohn Givelekian of Royal Jewels in Rye and dinner with the dean, offered by Kolligian Thayer. out that under his tutelage, the school has Findikyan. More details on these and the other auction items can be found online at Other events planned during the year advanced greatly, with new books, new teachers www.stnersess.edu. Final bids will be taken up until 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 24 include “A Day of Celebrating and several renovations. The school, for grades during the “Evening Under the Stars” with the highest bidder announced at that time. Marriages” on Sunday, October 16, with 1-12, has approximately 110 students, and is 82- Hosts are also being sought to help underwrite the costs for this event. Those inter - Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate, years old. Four languages are taught — ested can visit www.stnersess.edu. Diocese of the Armenian Church of Armenian, English, Hebrew and Arabic. The America (Eastern), celebrating the Divine Liturgy, followed by a champagne reception; “A Day of Celebrating Children,” on Sunday, May 6, 2012; “A Day of Celebrating,” a Golden Jubilee Gala on Sunday, May 12, 2012 and “A Day of Celebrating Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow,” on Sunday, September 30, 2012 — a Commemorative Banquet hon - oring the memory of the dedicated mem - bers of the Building Committee with their families participating. Kouzouian stated: “Fifty years ago, our fathers and mothers, grandparents and great-grandparents dreamed a great dream for their children. It was their hope to create a house of worship that would stand as a firm foundation in From left, Nicole Kassabian, Fr. Mardiros their lives. It was their hope that upon Chevian and Vania Koutoujian this foundation, families would baptize their children and worship according to education is modeled on the British system, the traditions of our church, and that Last year’s benefit reception brought smiles to the faces of attendees who enjoyed good and all subjects are taught in English. couples would embrace the sacrament of food and drinks. If there is a downside to the life at St. marriage. They built their house of wor - Tarkmanchats, it is that these two young ship on Brattle Street as a labor of love. women will be leaving the school, now that they Their labor of love was founded on faith, are graduating. “It’s very sad,” commented based on hope and offered to all future Kassabian, “because we’re not going to see the generations to make part of our lives.” same people. Our life and routine was so care - What started as a dream in l954, when fully planned for us. Now we are experiencing Holy Trinity Armenian Church was locat - some confusion and insecurity.” ed on Shawmut Avenue in Boston, And what of the future? Kassabian who loves became a reality on September 17, 1961, painting and works in a Jerusalem ceramic when the church was consecrated on shop, plans to attend a university in Belgium, Brattle Street in Cambridge. The first and study biology. She hopes to work in a lab - Divine Liturgy was celebrated by the oratory in Jerusalem and make her home there. Primate, Archbishop Sion Manoogian, in Koutoujian, who is also talented in arts and the presence of a record-breaking crowd. crafts and works in the same ceramic shop mak - The godfather of the cross was Nishan ing pottery, will be attending Hebrew University Simonian and 16 other individuals where she will study psychology or English lit - served as godfathers for the consecrated erature, with the goal of teaching at St. pillars. Church services were followed by Tarkmanchats. a banquet in the church hall in the pres - Coming from an Armenian background has ence of many guests. This day marked a been especially meaningful for both young peo - milestone for the faithful of the Holy ple. “I have never woken up and wanted to be Trinity Church community. other than Armenian,” said Kassabian. “Being For further information, contact the Armenian is different because we’re a minority.” The “Evening under the Stars” provides a chance to reunite and reminisce about their past Holy Trinity Church office at St. Nersess experiences. For Koutoujian, to be Armenian “is an honor. It [email protected], or log onto comes with a responsibility. We have to make www.htaac.org. our heritage survive and grow.” 14 S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 10, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR COMMENTARY

T HE A RMENIAN COMMENTARY Mirror- Political Stalemate in and around Armenia

The main topic on the agenda was immediate elections. But, By Edmond Y. Azadian in fact, both parties knew deep down that premature elections Spectator were out of the question. The government was gaining time and the opposition was insisting on early elections. Yet in fact, the Ever since the negotiations between the ruling coalition and negotiations were about the future shape of the government. the opposition came to a grinding halt, Armenia has entered into Sargisian was probing his opponents to see what percentage of a period of domestic political stalemate. There was already a the opposition representation in the next parliament would guar - Established 1932 stalemate externally with its neighbors, with Karabagh’s unend - antee his reelection. ing negotiations going nowhere, the Protocols being shelved by Outside the framework of these negotiations, a realignment of An ADL Publication the Turkish parliament and love/hate relationships continuing other forces is taking place. Robert Kocharian is playing the gray with Georgia. cardinal in Armenian politics. When his two-term presidency Armenia’s cab drivers constitute the most sensitive political expired, he tried to imitate his master, Vladimir Putin, by elect - EDITOR pulse of the country. As soon as one gets into a cab, the driver ing his protégé, Serge Sargisian, with the understanding that Alin K. Gregorian has a political speech ready for the passenger, beginning with the after his first term Sargisian would cede his seat to Kocharian. soaring food and fuel prices and ending with a diatribe against But Sargisian does not seem ready to give in. Thus Kocharian is ASSOCIATE EDITOR the oligarchs who are plundering the country. watching the developments grudgingly while planning his own Aram Arkun But these days, cab drivers are ominously silent, possibly indi - coalition with the ARF and perhaps with the help of former min - ART DIRECTOR cating the hopelessness of the situation. These worries seem to ister of foreign affairs, Vartan Oskanian, who is ready to publish Marc Mgrditchian be concentrated on the option of finding a country which can his own paper and form a new party.

PRODUCTION accept their children for education or job opportunities. Should the negotiations yield some serious results, Kocharian Dilani Yogaratnam When the government coalition and the opposition decided to may take more assertive steps to plan his comeback. begin several rounds of negotiations, the opposition was losing But the negotiations were halted for rather insignificant rea - steam and the government had run out of alternatives. They sons: some young activists of the opposition were incarcerated, both needed each other. Although negotiations were supposed six of them were released. One still remains in jail, offering an CONTRIBUTORS: to be secret, both sides were leaking positive stories regarding excuse for the opposition to interrupt the negotiations. Ter- Elizabeth Aprahamian, Daphne Abeel, Dr. the developments. Petrosian is planning a new rally on September 9 at Liberty Haroutiune Arzoumanian, Edmond The opposition was running out of steam because of the defec - Square. Some extreme elements believe that all hell will break Azadian, Prof. Vahakn N. Dadrian, Diana tions of some of its elite members who were joining the Free loose on that day. But given the precedents, Ter-Petrosian may Der Hovanessian, Philip Ketchian, Democrats movement, whose platform had yet to be defined. On present a conditional ultimatum, to satisfy his followers and to Kevork Keushkerian, Sonia Kailian- Placido , H arut Sassounian, Mary Terzian, the opposite end, more radical elements, which favored a violent have the coalition fulfill his conditions. Hagop Vartivarian, Naomi Zeytoonian, overthrow of the government, were disillusioned with opposition Currently, it seems that both sides are trying to gain more time Taleen Babayan leader and former President Levon Ter-Petrosian’s recent mod - and to size up their interlocutors. erate and rational approach. In the meantime, the government is in no panic. There are On the other hand, the government coalition was running into ample opportunities for diversions; first came the 20th anniver - CORRESPONDENTS: disarray, after the defection of the ARF and rising tensions sary of Karabagh’s independence, which was celebrated with Armenia - Hagop Avedikian between President Serge Sargisian’s Republican Party and for - great fanfare. Next, Armenia will celebrate its own 20th anniver - Boston - Nancy Kalajian mer President Robert Kocharian’s Prosperous Armenia Party. sary, with even greater flourish. Philadelphia - Lisa Manookian Although the latter’s leader, Gagik Zaroukian, had signed an It seems that after the dust settles, following the political rally Contributing Photographers: agreement to participate jointly in the upcoming elections, other and anniversary celebrations, the two sides will find a way for Jacob Demirdjian, Harry Koundakjian, Jirair leaders indicated otherwise — that the party may run on its own modus vivendi and gear for the upcoming parliamentary and Hovsepian ticket. presidential elections. The Armenian Mirror-Spectator is published Thus, fractious infighting that had weakened the two oppos - Whether the negotiations resume or not, or whether they yield weekly, except two weeks in July, by: ing groups had paved the way for the opponents to start negoti - any results, people do not pin many hopes on the outcome of Baikar Association, Inc. ations. those negotiations. The opposition had set some manageable conditions to pave There is a general apathy, which is very dangerous. People are 755 Mt. Auburn St., Watertown, MA 02472-1509 the way for negotiations, and the government met those condi - looking for a way out of the country. That’s even more serious Telephone: 617-924-4420 tions. that any political stalemate. FAX: 617-924-2887 www.mir rorspectator.com E-Mail: editor@mirrorspectator .com For advertising: [email protected] New York/New Jersey Office 560 Sylvan Ave. , Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 Treasures of Armenian Culture in Poland (201) 800-1164

Nerses Akinean of the Armenian Mkhitarist The Armenian community in Poland is com - SUBSCRIPTION RATES : By George Bournoutian Congregation in Vienna, who copied it and posed of two groups. The first group numbers U.S.A. printed it in the official Mkhitarist periodical some 2,000 who lived there prior to 1990. This 2nd Class $75 a year Handes Amsorya (Fall 1932-Spring 1935). A group is assimilated and generally cannot 1st Class $120 a year Canada I was invited to present a paper at the con - year later Akinean published the work in a sep - speak or read Armenian. The second group Air Mail $125 a year ference on the Armenians in Poland last year, arate volume with Armenian and German arrived after 1990 and is estimated to be over but the eruption of the volcano in Iceland post - titles. The book contained additional data, 25,000. Ironically, it is the members of the first All Other Countries poned my visit. I was asked to come this year colophons, glossary, index and an abstract in group, who are actively involved in maintaining Air Mail $190 a year Display advertising r at e: $7 per column inch to examine the Armenian archives in Warsaw German. During WWII, at the time of the the historical Armenian presence in Poland and and to meet with the scholars who are cur - German occupation of Lvov, the original man - to educate the Polish public about the role of rently working on Armenian topics. uscript disappeared and was presumed lost. the Armenians in Poland. In 2006 they received © 2010 The Armenian Mirror-Spectator My knowledge of Polish and my mother’s Thus, in 2006, when I decided to prepare the a grant from the Polish government and creat - Periodical Class Postage Paid at Boston, MA Polish origins opened numerous doors and I first English translation of the book, I had to ed The Foundation of Culture and Heritage of and additional mailing offices. found a treasure trove of Armenian manu - rely on Akinean’s volume. In 2007, just as my Polish Armenians. They collected some of the scripts, rare books and paintings. book, The Travel Accounts of Simeon of Armenian manuscripts, rare books and paint - ISSN 0004-234X The Armenians of Poland were originally Poland , went into press, I heard that the orig - ings from Gdansk and other parts of Poland POSTMASTER : Send address changes to The concentrated in Lvov, Kamenets-Podolsk, inal had been found and was to be displayed, and have housed them in a secure house-muse - Armenian Mirror-Spectator, P.O. Box 302, Zamosc and other cities and, as I have indicat - for a short time, in France. I made a note of um in Warsaw. Armenian church vessels and Watertown, MA 02471-0302 ed in my writings, had converted to this in my translation. vestments are still in Wroclaw. The foundation Catholicism in the 17th century. Following During my recent visit to Poland, I discov - issues an Armenian newspaper (Awedis) , an WWI, Poland reemerged as a state and Lvov ered the secret of its survival. After WW II, Armenian calendar, various publications, spon - and Zamosc were included within its borders. when the borders of Poland in the east were sors conferences and helps doctoral students Unlike the Armenians Catholics in Ukraine absorbed by the USSR, Lvov became part of interested in conducting research on the Copying for other than personal use or (under Soviet rule), Armenian Catholics fared Ukraine. Realizing the danger, all important Armenians in Poland. Their funds are small and internal reference is prohibited without well in Catholic Poland. The Armenian cathe - Armenian manuscripts, rare books, paintings, their staff is composed of just four individuals, express permission of the copyright dral in Lvov and the various Armenian vessels and vestments were secretly sent by the Polish Catholic Armenians, whose families date owner. Address requests for reprints or back issues to: Catholic churches housed manuscripts, books, Armenian Catholic clergy in Lvov to Wroclaw back to the 17th century. In my humble opin - paintings, vessels and vestments, some of for safekeeping. Between 1946 and 1949, ion they are performing a heroic task and are Baikar Association, Inc. which had been rescued from the Armenian some of the most important items were sent to worthy of our support. Among the rare books 755 Mt. Auburn St., Watertown, MA 02472-1509 churches in Ukraine during and after the the National Library in Warsaw. Among them and manuscripts I found an Armeno-Kipchak Russo-Polish War of 1920-21 and were sent to was manuscript no. 58, bound in light red dictionary and the original 14th-century decree Gdansk and other Polish cities. leather, composed of 198 two-sided, neatly from King Jagiello confirming the order of Some of the important manuscripts were written and very legible folios — just as Father King Casimir the Great granting special privi - Check us out at kept in the University of Lvov. The most impor - Akinean had described it. I was given special leges to the Armenians of Poland. mirrorspectator.com tant was manuscript no. 58, which contained permission to examine it, spent some hours the travelogue of Simon of Poland (Simeon comparing parts of it with Akinean’s copy and (George Bournoutian is a senior professor Lehatsi) . The manuscript was examined by Fr. found it exactly the same. of history at Iona College.) S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 10, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR 15 COMMENTARY

receiving the legal papers, in order to delay or obstruct the Department of State on April 14, 2011, asking the latter to trial. As a result, the plaintiffs’ attorneys had to go to extra - present them officially to the Turkish government. On June ordinary lengths in the past nine months to deliver the 20, 2011, the State Department advised the plaintiffs that court documents to the Turkish defendants. the documents were forwarded through diplomatic chan - Ironically, after making every effort to block the serving nels to the Republic of Turkey. My Turn of court papers, the Central Bank and Ziraat Bank filed a The American Embassy in Ankara transmitted the docu - motion on June 1, 2011, seeking dismissal of the case, ments with a “diplomatic note,” warning the Turkish gov - By Harut Sassounian arguing that they had not received the proper documents. ernment that under US law “a defendant in a lawsuit must On August 2, 2011 US Federal Judge Dolly Gee rejected file an answer to the complaint within 60 days from the the Turkish request, asserting that the plaintiffs’ represen - date of notice or face the possibility of having judgment Turkey Can Run, but Can’t Hide tatives “made several attempts to serve the Bank defen - entered against it.” The US Embassy strongly urged the From the Long Arm of US Law dants at their addresses in New York City. After being Turkish Foreign Ministry to comply with the requirements repeatedly denied access to the buildings and, in one case, of United States laws or face “a default judgment.” World heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis once being misdirected as to Ziraat Bank’s actual location, the On August 29, 2011, after the mandated 60 days had warned one of his opponents: “You can run, but you can’t process servers left copies of the summonses and com - expired and no response received from Turkey, the attor - hide.” This same warning now applies to the Turkish gov - plaint with the building security guards. Plaintiffs’ counsel neys for the Armenian-American plaintiffs asked the ernment and two of its major banks. then mailed additional copies to the each of the Bank Federal Court to enter a default judgment against the Last December, when three Armenian-Americans filed a defendants at these same addresses.” Turkish defendants. multi-million dollar lawsuit in US Federal Court against the The judge ruled that the Republic of Turkey had been Vatan newspaper reported last week that the two Republic of Turkey, the Central Bank and Ziraat Bank, the adequately served with legal documents and ordered the Turkish banks, alarmed by the serious prospect of losing a Turkish government ridiculed the charges, claiming “sov - Turkish entities to present their pleading in court no later multi-million dollar lawsuit due to their failure to respond ereign immunity.” than August 19, 2011. to the US Federal Court, rushed to hire a lawyer and asked The Armenian-American plaintiffs were seeking $64 The plaintiffs’ attorneys faced greater difficulties in serv - for more time until September 19, 2011 to file a response. million in compensation for confiscation of their prop - ing the court documents to the Turkish authorities than to Should the Turkish defendants not show up in court on erties in Adana, Turkey, in the aftermath of the the New York offices of the two banks. On January 26, September 19, the Federal Judge could enter a default Armenian Genocide. The plaintiffs were also demanding 2011, the English and Turkish versions of the complaint judgment and order that their assets in the US, up to the additional millions of dollars for the accrued rent and were mailed to the Ministry of Justice in Ankara, as value of the judgment, be seized and turned over to the interest the US government paid Turkey in the past 60 required by the Hague Convention. On March 1, 2011, Armenian-American plaintiffs. years for use of the strategic Incirlik Air Base, located Turkey informed the plaintiffs’ lawyers in writing, its The Turkish government can no longer hide from its on Armenian-owned land. refusal to accept the court papers, claiming that the lawsuit responsibilities for the devastating damage caused to the Since one of the first steps in filing a lawsuit is to serve infringes Turkey’s “sovereignty and security.” Armenian people as a result of the Genocide. It is high time a copy of the court documents to the defendants, the three After exhausting all other channels, the plaintiffs’ for Turkey to acknowledge its long history of colossal crim - Turkish entities concocted elaborate schemes to avoid lawyers submitted the court documents to the US inal acts and make appropriate amends.

these past few days. Maybe it’s because his edi - until I was chatting to Charlie’s widow and she believe in The Times any more — certainly not tors and sub-editors and reporters repeatedly sec - told me that it was the first time she had heard in Rupert Murdoch. Why I ond-guessed what Murdoch would say. Murdoch that Wilson’s editorship had been her late hus - Months later, a senior night editor who had was owner of The Times when I covered the band’s decision. We all knew Murdoch had been on duty on the night my Vincennes report blood-soaked Israeli invasion and occupation of signed up to all manner of guarantees of edito - arrived, recalled in a letter that he had promot - Lebanon in 1982. Not a line was removed from rial independence, oversight and promises of ed my dispatch as the splash, but that Wilson Had to my reports, however critical they were of Israel. goodwill when he bought The Times — and had had said: “There’s nothing in it. There’s not a After the invasion, Douglas-Home and Murdoch then fired his first editor, Harold Evans. He fact in it. I wouldn’t even run this gibberish.” were invited by the Israelis to take a military heli - would deal with the trade unionists later. Wilson, the night editor said, called it “bol - copter trip into Lebanon. The Israelis tried to Charles Wilson — who much later became, locks” and “waffle.” The night editor’s diary for rubbish my reporting; Douglas-Home said he briefly, the editor of The Independent — was a that day finished: “Shambles, chaos on Gulf Leave The stood up for me. On the flight back to London, tough, friendly man who could show great kind - story. [George] Brock [Wilson’s foreign editor] Douglas-Home and Murdoch sat together. “I ness, as well as harshness, to his staff. He was rewrites Fisk.” knew Rupert was interested in what I was writ - kind to me, too. But once, when I was visiting The good news: a few months later, I was ing,” he told me later. “He sort of waited for me Wilson in London, Murdoch walked into his Middle East correspondent for The Times to tell him what it was, although he didn’t office. “Hallo, Robert!” Murdoch greeted me, Independent. The bad news: I don’t believe demand it. I didn’t show it to him.” before holding a jocular conversation with Murdoch personally interfered in any of the But things changed. Before he was editor, Wilson. And, after he had left, Wilson said to above events. He didn’t need to. He had turned Douglas-Home would write for the Arabic-lan - me in a hushed voice: “See how he called you The Times into a tame, pro-Tory, pro-Israeli By Robert Fisk guage Al-Majella magazine, often deeply critical by your first name?” This was laughable. It was paper shorn of all editorial independence. If I of Israel. Now his Times editorials took an opti - like the Assad smile or the King Hussein “Sir.” hadn’t been living in the Middle East, of course, mistic view of the Israeli invasion. He stated It meant nothing. Murdoch was joking with his it might have taken me longer to grasp all this. He is a caliph, I suppose, almost of the Middle that “there is now no worthy Palestinian to ministers and courtiers. But I worked in a region where almost every Eastern variety. whom the world can talk” and — for heaven’s A warning sign. Still in west Beirut, where Arab journalist knows the importance of self- You hear all these awful things about Arab sake — that “perhaps at last the Palestinians on dozens of Westerners were being kidnapped, I censorship — or direct censorship — and where dictators and then, when you meet them, they the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip will stop opened The Times to discover that a pro-Israeli kings and dictators do not need to give orders. are charm itself. Hafez al-Assad once held my hoping that stage-strutters like Mr. Arafat can writer was claiming on our center page that all They have satraps and ministers and senior hand in his for a long time with a paternal rescue them miraculously from doing business journalists in west Beirut, clearly intimidated by police officers — and “democratic” governments smile. Surely he can’t be that bad, I almost said with the Israelis.” “terrorism,” could be regarded only as “blood - — who know their wishes, their likes and dis - to myself — this was long before the 1982 Hama All of which, of course, was official Israeli suckers.” Was the paper claiming that I, too, likes. And they do what they believe their mas - massacres. King Hussein would call me “Sir,” government policy at the time. was a bloodsucker? In all this time, Murdoch ter wants. Of course, they all told me this was along with most other journalists. These poten - Then, in the spring of 1983, another change. had expressed exclusively pro-Israeli views, and not true and went on to assert that their tates, in public, would often joke with their min - I had, with Douglas-Home’s full agreement, had accepted a “Man of the Year” award from a king/president was always right. isters. Mistakes could be forgiven. spent months investigating the death of seven prominent Jewish-American organization. The These past two weeks, I have been thinking The Hitler Diaries were Murdoch’s own mis - Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners of the Times editorials became more and more pro- of what it was like to work for Murdoch, what take, after refusing to countenance his own Israelis in Sidon. It was obvious, I concluded, Israeli, their use of the word “terrorist” ever was wrong about it, about the use of power by “expert’s” change of heart over the documents that the men had been murdered — the grave- more promiscuous. proxy. For Murdoch could never be blamed. hours before The Times and The Sunday digger even told me that their corpses had been The end came for me when I flew to Dubai in Murdoch was more caliph than ever, no more Times began printing them. Months later, I was brought to him, hands tied behind their backs, 1988 after the USS Vincennes had shot down responsible for an editorial or a “news” story passing by the paper’s London office on my way showing marks of bruising. But now Douglas- an Iranian passenger airliner over the Gulf. than a president of Syria is for a massacre — the back to Beirut when the foreign editor, Ivan Home couldn’t see how we would be “justified” Within 24 hours, I had spoken to the British air latter would be carried out on the orders of gov - Barnes, held up the Reuters wire copy from in running a report “so long after the event.” traffic controllers at Dubai, discovered that US ernors who could always be tried or sacked or Bonn. “Aha!” he thundered. “The diaries are In other words, the very system of investiga - ships had routinely been threatening British sent off as adviser to a prime minister — and the forgeries!” The West German government had tive journalism — of fact-checking and months Airways airliners and that the crew of the leader would invariably anoint his son as his proved that they must have been written long of interviews — became self-defeating. When we Vincennes appeared to have panicked. The for - successor. Think of Hafez and Bashar Assad or after the Führer’s death. got the facts, too much time had passed to print eign desk told me the report was up for the Hosni and Gamal Mubarak or Rupert and So Barnes dispatched me to editor Charles them. I asked the Israelis if they would carry page-one splash. I warned them that American James. In the Middle East, Arab journalists Douglas-Home’s office with the Reuters story out a military inquiry and, anxious to show how “leaks” that the IranAir pilot was trying to sui - knew what their masters wanted, and helped to and I marched in only to find Charlie enter - humanitarian they were, they duly told us there cide-crash his aircraft on to the Vincennes were create a journalistic desert without the water of taining Murdoch. “They say they’re forgeries, would be an official investigation. The Israeli rubbish. They agreed. freedom, an utterly skewed version of reality. Charlie,” I announced, trying not to glance at “inquiry” was, I suspected, a fiction. But it was Next day, my report appeared with all criti - So, too, within the Murdoch empire. Murdoch. But I did when he reacted. “Well, enough to “justify” publishing my long and cism of the Americans deleted, with all my In the sterile world of the Murdochs, new there you go,” the mogul reflected with a gig - detailed report. Once the Israelis could look like sources ignored. The Times even carried an edi - technology was used to deprive the people of gle. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” Much good guys, Douglas-Home’s concerns evaporat - torial suggesting the pilot was indeed a suicider. their freedom, of speech and of privacy. In the mirth. The man’s insouciance was almost catch - ed. A subsequent US official report and accounts Arab world, surviving potentates had no prob - ing. Great Story. It only had one problem. It When he died, of cancer, it was announced by US naval officers subsequently proved my lem in appointing tame prime ministers. wasn’t true. that his deputy, Charles Wilson, would edit the dispatch correct. Except that Times readers Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Oddly, he never appeared the ogre of evil, dark - paper. Murdoch said that Wilson was “Charlie’s were not allowed to see it. This was when I first (Robert Fisk is a Middle East correspondent ness and poison that he’s been made out to be choice” and I thought, so, all well and good — made contact with The Independent . I didn’t for The Independent newspaper. 16 S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 10, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR Still Going: French Crooner Aznavour, 87, Gears up for Tour

PARIS (AFP) — He may be 87, but don’t sug - woman as I write,” he said. gest to French crooner and veritable national “No, I think about the beauty of the words monument Charles Aznavour that his forth - first then the subject follows by itself.” coming tour is a farewell tour. “I have never, “I owe everything to French literature, I’m a ever used the word farewell,” he quickly points voracious reader, I buy an enormous number of out. books, and beautiful books, because I like it The legendary singer-songwriter pleased fans when my hands are able to touch something as the world over when he announced plans for a beautiful as my eyes can see,” said Aznavour. month-long residency at Paris’ landmark His current reading list features the latest Olympia theatre starting September 7, followed offering by French-Afghan author Atiq Rahimi, by a nationwide tour. some Turkish literature and “a spot of the Bible Aznavour’s stint in the capital is a return to and the Koran ...” the stage that launched his career 55 years ago. For his Olympia shows and the 20 dates that Close to 1,000 songs and some 60 films later, follow, he has selected “some new songs, some there is — once again — speculation that he may old, some very old and some all-time favorites.” choose the moment to announce his retirement. The new? “Well, I have a new musician who “Some of the press say anything!” he said. “I plays the duduk,” he said, referring to a flute- said that I was going to do one of my last tours. like traditional woodwind instrument from But when (US director) Martin Scorsese pre - Armenia, where Aznavour set up an aid foun - sents his latest film, you don’t say he’s not dation and was granted citizenship in 2008 by going to make another.” presidential decree. Aznavour said he is embarking on his new “So I am going to sing a song that I recorded tour without first-night nerves — but a bit of Charles Aznavour with a duduk but that I have never been able to anxiety. play on stage,” he adds enthusiastically. “I used to get nervous, at the start, when the “I’m like every other artist, I like doing things audience hadn’t come to see me but from the popular singers but the first French performer thoughts and memories, and will release that nobody else does: performing at the moment they did, it stopped,” he said. to have a recording that went platinum in “Always,” a new album of original songs. Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, at the Kremlin, Anxiety, on the other hand, “it’s about the Europe. He has sold more than 100 million From a generation of French “chanson” mas - St. Mark’s Square in Venice... I get a real kick set, the songs. Was I right to do this tour? records worldwide. ters where lyrics are king and the tune a prop, out of that,” he said. Should I have stopped before?” he said. In 1998 he was named Entertainer of the the album is pure Aznavour with story-songs on “At my age, I’m not stopping anyone else Born in Paris in 1924 to Armenian parents, Century by CNN and Time Online. the passing of time, on war, love and desire. from doing it. Just the opposite, I think I am Aznavour — originally Aznavourian — grew up The octogenarian is aware he may not be able “I’m often asked if I am thinking about a paving the way.” in the city’s poorer neighborhoods before find - to carry off performances as he once did and ing a home on the stage. may have to make concessions to his years. Starting out in cabaret, he later teamed up “If I need to sit down, I’m going to sit down, with young songwriter and composer Pierre if I need to sing while standing, I’ll sing stand - Roche and the iconic Edith Piaf, who would ing,” he said matter-of-factly. The Armenian take him to America and a solo career. “That doesn’t mean I’m helpless, but you In 1954, he rose to prominence with his live have to know your age. renditions of Sur Ma Vie , followed by one of his “My memory is getting worse and worse, so biggest hits Je m’voyais deja in 1960 — the I’m just going to tell the audience the truth: I same year he starred on screen in Francois will probably have an autocue at some point,” Mirro r-Spe ctator Truffaut’s “Shoot the Piano Player,” which cat - the singer said. apulted him to fame abroad. “I don’t complicate things, because the audi - A couple of years later he took New York’s ence isn’t complicated. I have told them every - YES, I would like a 1 – year subscription to The Armenian Mirror-Spectator. Carnegie Hall by storm before touring the thing until now, including when I had a hair world and seeing his songs sung by stars from transplant,” he laughed. USA /Second Class Mail $75.00 CANADA /Air Mail $125.00 Ray Charles (La Mamma) to Liza Minnelli and Ahead of the tour, Aznavour is publishing USA /First Class Mail $120.00 Fred Astaire. From One Door to Another , a collection of Aznavour is not only one of France’s most J THE SUBSCRIPTION IS FOR ME NAME ADDRESS Karabagh Celebrates 20th Anniversary CITY STATE ZIP Of Declaration of Independence J THE SUBSCRIPTION IS A GIFT FOR: NAME INDEPENDENCE, from page 1 The Karabagh-born president further reiterat - ADDRESS “Tomorrow is a blissful day not only for ed that Armenians would never agree to any set - CITY STATE ZIP Artsakh (Karabagh) but for the entire tlement of the Karabagh conflict that would Armenian nation,” he said. “It’s a holiday of place the territory back under Azerbaijani con - Please make check payable to: The Armenian Mirror-Spectator and mail to: human and national liberty; it’s a holiday of trol. “Whatever was possible in 1923 is not pos - human and national dignity; it’s a holiday of sible in the 21st century,” he said, referring to 755 Mt. Auburn Street, Watertown, MA 02472-1509 restoration for once abused human rights; it’s a Karabagh’s incorporation into Soviet Azerbaijan. All payments must be drawn on US banks holiday of victory for historic justice.” Sargisian and his predecessor, Robert “Once Artsakh was Armenian pain, today it is Kocharian, also a native of Karabagh, expressed Armenian pride,” he added. “The Republic of confidence earlier this week that the interna - tional community will eventually recognize Karabagh’s secession from Azerbaijan. Despite championing such recognition, both SUB SCRIBE men have long resisted calls by some Armenian opposition groups for Armenia to formally rec - ognize Karabagh as an independent state. They believe that the unilateral move would serious - ly complicate a peaceful resolution of the con - flict. Kocharian, who governed Armenia from 1998-2008, also took part in the Stepanakert march. He declined a comment when approached by an RFE/RL correspondent. Armenian President Serge Sargisian and Also attending the celebrations were other Catholicos Karekin II lay flowers at the grave of prominent Karabagh Armenians holding high- a Karabagh Armenian soldier, on September 2. level government positions in Yerevan. One of TODAY! them, Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian, held up Karabagh society as a model for Armenia. Nagorno Karabagh is an established state with “In Artsakh, there is virtually no gap between all essential structures.” the rulers and the people and such an exem - Sargisian, who commanded Karabagh’s plary society that can also be developed in the Armenian forces in 1991-1993, contended that Republic of Armenia,” Ohanian said. the disputed region’s population would have “Karabagh has moral, historical and legal Check us out at “perished” had it not defeated, with Armenia’s grounds to have its independence recognized substantial help, the Azerbaijani army. “We by the world,” said Arkady Ghukasian, a former www.mirrorspectator.com chose life, and today we celebrate the victory of Karabagh president who now works as a senior life over death,” he said. diplomatic adviser to Sargisian.