Tehran Again Calls for Closer Armenian-Iranian Ties

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011 MirTHE rARoMENr IAN -Spe ctator Volume LXXXII, NO. 11, Issue 4205 $ 2.00 NEWS IN BRIEF The First English Language Armenian Weekly in the United States Armenia, Diaspora Conference Begins Karsh Exhibit YEREVAN — The Armenia-Diaspora Conference Captures Spark has brought together this week 500 representatives from 50 countries. ALMA Unveils Gallery As the Diaspora Ministry reports, President of Armenia Serge Sargisian and President of Nagorno Karabagh Bako Sahakian delivered addresses. By Daphne Abeel Patriarchal blessings were delivered by Special to the Mirror-Spectator Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, and Catholicos of Cilicia Aram I. WATERTOWN, Mass. — Anyone The four themes are language and education; with a passing knowledge of 20th- youth; the centennial of the Genocide and century photography has seen an Armenian-Diasporan cooperation. image shot by Yousuf Karsh. His photograph of Winston Churchill is Foreign Minister possibly the most frequently repro - duced photo portrait in the world. Receives French Thus, it is no wonder that the Armenian Library and Museum of Parliament Group America (ALMA) has celebrated, YEREVAN (Armenpress) — Armenian Foreign with two events, its acquisition Minister Eduard Nalbandian received this week rep - from Karsh’s widow, Estrellita, of resentatives from the France-Armenia a group of images that will Parliamentary Friendship Group, headed by become part of the museum’s per - ALMA Chairman Haig der Manuelian and Estrellita Karsh cut the ribbon to the new Francois Rochebloine. manent collection. Bedoukian Gallery, which houses the Karsh show. Nalbandian praised the personal contribution of see ALMA, page 16 the French parliamentarians to the development of Armenian-French relations and the expansion of cooperation between the two nations’ parliaments. Rochebloine noted that he has always been a Karabagh Sees ‘Sobering Impact’ Ambassadors to friend of the Armenian people and will continue his Armenia, Turkey activity directed toward strengthening the cooper - ation of the Armenian and French peoples. From Azeri Drone Downing Approved by Senate destruction of such military hardware also Expanded Matenadaran By Tigran Avetisian shows the extent of the technical sophisti - Foreign Relations cation of our army. That will certainly have Inaugurated a quite sobering impact on Baku’s behav - Committee YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — President Serge Sargisian STEPANAKERT (RFE/RL) — The report - ior,” Sahakian’s press secretary, Davit WASHINGTON — On September 13, inaugurated on Tuesday a new, more sprawling ed downing of an Azerbaijani spy drone Babayan, said. during the Senate Foreign Relations building of Armenia’s Matenadaran repository of over Nagorno Karabagh will restrain The NKR Defense Army announced on Committee business meeting to consider ancient manuscripts. Baku’s appetite for another war with the Wednesday that its forces shot down the a slate of administration nominees for The Matenadaran, officially called the Mesrop Armenians, the Karabagh Armenian leader - Azerbaijani drone while it flew a reconnais - ambassadorial posts, Sen. Robert Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, was ship said on Thursday. sance mission over Karabagh’s eastern Menendez (D-NJ) cited his loss of confi - founded in 1959 to house and maintain one of the Bako Sahakian, the president of the Martuni district on Monday. The Armenia- dence in the US envoy to Turkey Francis world’s richest collections of handwritten books Nagorno-Karabagh Republic (NKR), also backed army released several pictures of Ricciardone given his careless response spanning a range of subjects. It currently has said through a spokesman that the recon - what it described as the drone wreckage. regarding minority rights in Turkey, 17,000 manuscripts, mostly in Armenian, and naissance flight allegedly carried out by the The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry denied reported the Armenian Assembly of 30,000 other documents of interest to scholars. destroyed unmanned aircraft constituted a that information late on Thursday. In a America. A fraction of those manuscripts is put on display serious ceasefire violation. short statement cited by the Trend news Specifically, Menendez stated: “his at a museum in the old Matenadaran building. “First of all, the [Azerbaijani] aggressor agency, it said “Azerbaijan has nothing to [Ricciardone’s] response indicates that The government initiated in early 2008 the $14- will now feel more restrained because the see DRONE, page 2 he either did not carefully review the million construction of a new building adjacent to responses that were submitted in his the existing one. It will now house the manuscript name or worse that he truly was repository itself as well as other facilities of the unaware of the history of the Christian institute employing hundreds of people. Tehran Again Calls for Closer church in Turkey and the difficulties The project was financed by Russian-Armenian that Christian churches continue to face businessman Sergei Hambardzumian and Maxim in that country. His response indicates a Hakobian, a shareholder in Armenia’s largest min - Armenian-Iranian Ties lack of focus or interest in issues affect - ing company. ing the Armenian community and sends Sargisian paid tribute to both men as well as TEHRAN, Iran (RFE/RL) — President mutually beneficial relations.” a message to Turkey that the Armenia Artur Meschian, a prominent Armenian musician Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated Iran’s “The course of the implementation of issue is not an “A-list” issue. We need an and architect who designed the building, in a strong interest in expanding its “historic, joint economic projects was discussed dur - ambassador in Ankara that can support, speech at the inauguration ceremony. deep and friendly” relations with Armenia ing the meeting,” added the statement. The defend and advocate on behalf of all of as he met with Armenian Foreign Minister projects include the construction of two the United States’ interests vis-à-vis Eduard Nalbandian here over Turkey. Unfortunately, I’ve lost confi - the weekend. dence in the ability of Mr. Ricciardone to INSI DE Ahmadinejad reportedly undertake that task and will not be able called for a faster implementa - to support his nomination.” tion of more Armenian-Iranian Senate Foreign Relations Committee energy projects. Official Iranian Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) followed Julfa sources quoted him as saying up on Menendez’s remarks, adding that they will bolster peace and sta - Ricciardone’s response was “unaccept - bility in the region. able, incorrect and inappropriate.” Revisited “We can expand the existing The Armenian Assembly previously relations by up to three times,” expressed its concerns with respect to page 10 Ahmadinejad told Nalbandian Ricciardone’s responses and, in its on Saturday, according to the August letter to US Secretary of State Mehr news agency. Hillary Clinton, urged “immediate Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian, left, with Another Iranian news agency, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, right action” to correct Ricciardone’s discon - INDEX IRNA, quoted him as repeating certing statement which “in the context Arts and Living ...... 10 his earlier remark that Tehran is of the planned extermination of the Armenia ...... 2, 3 placing “no limitations” on the develop - hydroelectric plants on the Arax river Armenian people and the documented Community News...... 5 ment of bilateral ties “in all areas.” marking the Armenian-Iranian border and a destruction of its religious and cultural Editorial ...... 14 A statement by the Armenian Foreign pipeline that will ship Iranian fuel to heritage is as much offensive as it is International ...... 4 Ministry said the two men agreed on the Armenia. The two governments also plan to shocking.” need for a “further development of the see IRAN, page 4 see AMBASSADORS, page 14 2 S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 24, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR ARMENIA News From Armenia Council of Europe Body Set to Declare Armenian Unrest Chapter ‘Closed’ World Leaders Offer YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — The and judicial systems and create a “plu - have long pursued,” he said. Congratulations on Council of Europe’s Parliamentary ralist media environment.” Grigorian argued that the authori - Anniversary Assembly (PACE) looks set to declare The proposed resolution is a major ties are still investigating the deaths that Armenia has essentially over - boost to President Serge Sargisian of eight opposition protesters and YEREVAN (PanARMENIAN.Net) — Messages of con- come the political fallout from the dis - and his coalition government. They two security personnel on March 1-2, gratulation arrived from world leaders and digni- puted February 2008 2008 and have not identified anyone taries, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of presidential election responsible for them. the independence of Armenia. and the deadly unrest Responding to HAK demands, Among those sending messages were US caused by it. Sargisian ordered a “more meticu - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “On behalf of A draft resolution lous” inquiry into the killings in late President Obama and the people of the United that will be debated at April. Law-enforcement bodies have States, I am delighted to send best wishes to the its forthcoming ses - reported no major progress in the people of Armenia as you celebrate the 20th sion in Strasbourg renewed probe so far. anniversary of your independence this September welcomes the recent While praising Sargisian’s order, 21. The United States values our relationship with release of the last the draft resolution reiterates PACE Armenia, rooted in mutual respect and interests. Armenian opposition concerns about “the lack of results of Together, we are working to reduce poverty, expand members remaining in the inquiry into the ten deaths” and trade and investment, promote the work of civil prison and the result - urges Armenian investigators to oper - society groups and broaden access to healthcare. ing dialogue between ate more transparently. As we celebrate the bonds between our two coun- the ruling coalition Fischer visited Yerevan shortly after tries and honor Armenia’s rich cultural heritage, and the opposition the start of the government-HAK dia - we reaffirm the commitment of the United States to Armenian National Arman Grigorian, a senior member of the opposition logue in mid-July. “I am very satisfied strengthen the cooperation between our two coun- Congress (HAK). Armenian National Congress, speaks to journalists. with the start of this dialogue,” he tries.” The document draft - said at the end of his fact-finding trip, French President Nicolas Sarkozy similarly said, ed by the PACE co- which included meetings with “On September 21, 1991, Armenia re-connected rapporteurs on Armenia, John have for years been under pressure Sarkisian and Ter-Petrosian. with its history to once again become the master of Prescott and Axel Fischer, also from Western powers and structures The HAK subsequently suspended its destiny. The Armenian people must be proud of describes as “crucial” the proper con - to reverse a harsh crackdown on the talks with the ruling coalition in whatever they have achieved over the 20 years of duct of parliamentary elections due HAK launched after the 2008 ballot. protest against the controversial independence, regardless of challenges faced. next spring. Predictably, the HAK, whose leader arrest of one of its activists. The draft France will be at Armenia’s side to help the friend- “The Assembly considers that the Levon Ter-Petrosian was the main resolution does not mention this fact. ly republic resist the outward challenges.” outcome of the latest general opposition presidential candidate in “Even if the dialogue continued, amnesty, the renewed impetus to 2008, has condemned the document. the dialogue is not a solution in itself investigate the 10 deaths during the Its representative to the Council of but a method of solving things,” said Armenian-Latvian March 2008 events and the resulting Europe, Arman Grigorian, on Friday Grigorian. “The two things must not Economic Cooperation start of a constructive dialogue accused the leadership of the be confused.” between the opposition and ruling Strasbourg-based assembly of siding The HAK representative acknowl - YEREVAN (Armenpress) — This year’s meeting of coalition mean that the chapter on with the Armenian government in its edged that despite the opposition crit - the Armenian and Latvian presidents played a role the March 2008 events can finally be standoff with the Ter-Petrosian-led icism, the PACE will almost certainly in the development of Armenian-Latvian economic considered closed,” reads the draft opposition. adopt the document without major relations. A business forum including Armenian resolution made public this week. “This is a manifestation of the fact changes at its next session scheduled and Latvian development investment agencies was It says that in order to avoid a that the PACE and the authors of this for October 3-7. organized as a result of the meeting. One develop- repeat of the March 2008 post-elec - resolution have breached their impar - ment has been the opening of a branch of the tion violence in Yerevan, which left 10 tiality and neutrality,” Grigorian said. Latvian company, Interklin LLC, in Armenia. people dead, Armenia should hold “In essence, this is yet another Director General of the Armenian Development “genuinely democratic parliamentary carte blanche to Armenia’s authori - ARF in US Agency Robert Harutunian said now the road is elections,” reform its law-enforcement ties to continue the policy that they cleared for more Baltic companies to arrive here. Changes Position “With its working experience the company can become an impetus for companies of the On Anniversary TransBaltic states to enter the Armenian market,” Harutunian said. Karabagh Sees ‘Sobering Impact’ Celebration Latvian ambassador to Armenia Gints Apals said, “We hope that the opening of this company will From Azeri Drone Downing YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — A promote Armenian businessmen’s entrance to the major diaspora branch of the Latvian market, too.” DRONE, frtom page 1 dent. opposition Armenian do with an unmanned aerial vehicle The incident was reported by the Revolutionary Federation (ARF) that crashed in Armenian-occupied Karabagh Armenians six month after has reversed its decision to boy - Local Elections Held in Nagorno Karabagh.” an Azerbaijani-Israeli joint venture cott an upcoming banquet here to The ministry also reported that an began assembling Israeli-designed be attended by President Serge Karabagh Azerbaijani army officer was seriously drones for Azerbaijan’s armed forces. Sargisian. STEPANAKERT, Nagorno Karabagh (RFE/RL) — wounded at an unspecified section of the The Azerbaijani military has also report - The September 25 event is Voters here went to the polls on Sunday to elect Armenian-Azerbaijani “line of contact.” edly purchased such aircraft from Israel organized by the Armenian local officials in the capital and many rural munic- Armenian and Azerbaijani forces have and Turkey. Consulate there and dedicated to ipalities. previously not claimed to have shot down According to Col. Nikolay Babayan, the 20th anniversary of Armenia’s According to the Central Election Commission air targets since a May 1994 truce that halt - commander of Armenia’s air-defense independence. Sargisian will (CEC), 59 percent of Karabagh’s more than 93,000 ed their bitter war for Karabagh. forces, Karabagh army units used spe - attend it as part of a visit to the eligible voters cast their ballots for individual can- Babayan described the drone destruc - cial “radioelectronic” equipment to United States that will involve didates vying for top executive positions and local tion as “factual evidence” of truce vio - shoot down the spy plane. meetings with representatives of council seats. The CEC said it has received no for- lations by Azerbaijan. He said field rep - “It is very difficult to hit and even the influential Armenian- mal complaints from any of those candidates. resentatives of the Organization for locate unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) American community. Bako Sahakian, Karabagh’s president, hailed the Security and Cooperation in Europe because they are made of special com - The ARF chapter in the western elections as democratic after casting a ballot at a should consider expanding their moni - posite materials,” Babayan told US said on August 18 that its polling station in Stepanakert. “It can be said that toring of the ceasefire regime in the Panorama.am on Wednesday. “But we leaders will boycott the banquet elections have become an integral part of life in our Karabagh conflict zone after this inci - managed to do that by using special in protest against Sargisian’s country,” he said. “It’s already a culture.” devices.” track record in office. It said his “It’s very good that once again elections were The official did not presence there will “cast a shadow held in a civilized environment and within the specify the type of anti- on the idea of independence and framework of the law and moral norms,” said aircraft weapon that denigrate the struggle of our peo - Sahakian. was reportedly used to ple for the restoration of justice.” As always, the main electoral race unfolded in down the UAV. He said ARF’s supreme decision-making Stepanakert. Official vote results there showed gov- only that Azerbaijani body based in Yerevan, the ernment-backed candidate Suren Grigorian winning drones regularly carry Bureau, was quick to criticize the 62.5 percent of the vote and becoming the town’s out reconnaissance move. new mayor. flights near Karabagh. In another statement circulated Grigorian’s main challenger, former Stepanakert “This time, the UAV over the weekend, ARF’s Western Mayor Eduard Aghabekian, came in a distant sec- violated the border, as US Central Committee claimed ond with over 24 percent of the vote. The third a result of which its that the “nature” of the celebra - mayoral candidate, Marat Hasratian, got about 14 flight was ended by the tion has been misunderstood and percent. joint work of our air- that it is not aimed at honoring Wreckage of what Karabagh-Armenian forces say was defense troops and Sargisian. an Azerbaijani drone shot down on September 12 radioelectronic forces,” added Babayan. S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 24, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR 3 ARMENIA Leaked Document Reveals US Fury with Ter-Petrosian

YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — Opposition leader “LTP [Levon Ter-Petrosian] said the US Levon Ter-Petrosian urged the United States to would be doing Armenia and its people a great take the lead in the Nagorno-Karabagh peace favor by intervening to achieve a balanced set - process in late 2008, less than a month after tlement that would leave neither Armenia nor accusing Washington of seeking excessive Azerbaijan with ‘a loser’s complex,’” Armenian concessions to Azerbaijan, according Yovanovitch wrote. She said Ter-Petrosian to newly-disclosed US diplomatic records. assured her that his Armenian National In a classified 2008 cable released by Congress (HAK) alliance “will not do anything WikiLeaks, Marie Yovanovitch, who was US to complicate Sargisian’s settlement efforts” in ambassador in Yerevan then, said Ter-Petrosian the coming months. also told her that he publicly branded US poli - The envoy told top US State Department offi - cy on Armenia “immoral” as part of his efforts cials that Ter-Petrosian also justified his harsh to placate radical supporters demanding a new verbal attacks on the West voiced at the opposition push for power. October 2008 rally. She quoted the HAK leader Yovanovitch rejected this explanation as “dis - as saying that he simply sought to sell his deci - honest,” deploring the former Armenian presi - sion to suspend anti-government demonstra - dent’s “lack of integrity,” saying he is willing to tions in Yerevan to “the radical elements in his YEREVAN — President Serge Sargisian this week handed out medals to “sell out his own policy views for the sake of opposition movement.” Armenians who have contributed to the republic and to the better - personal political expedience.” Explaining that decision in his 45-minute ment of the Armenian people. Among those was Harout The leaked cable recounts the former ambas - speech at the rally, Ter-Petrosian asserted that Khatchadourian, one of the founders of KOHAR Symphony Orchestra sador’s first meeting with Ter-Petrosian that further street protests would “weaken Serge and Choir, which is based in Gumri. Khatchadourian and his brothers, took place on November 4, 2008. It reveals that Sargisian’s positions and thereby increase pos - the meeting was scheduled for October 20 but sibilities of exerting external pressure on him all of whom live in Beirut, Lebanon, pay all the costs associated with that Yovanovitch postponed it to demonstrate and clinching concessions from him.” KOHAR, as a way to pay tribute to their parents. Above, President Washington’s “displeasure” with his speech at Throughout the summer of 2008, senior Serge Sargisian, left, presents the medal to Harout Khatchadourian. an opposition rally held on October 17, 2008. HAK figures told supporters to get ready for Speaking at that rally, Ter-Petrosian charged renewed “decisive” actions against the that the US and other Western powers are turn - Sarkisian administration. One of them stated ing a blind eye to a continuing government that the October 17 rally will mark a “turning coct a conspiracy theory of great power machi - Ter-Petrosian’s alleged concerns contrasted crackdown on his opposition movement in their point” in the opposition movement’s strug - nations to cover his political retreat.” with his exceedingly positive public statements quest for a “unilateral” resolution of the gle. Levon Zurabian, a close Ter-Petrosian associ - on the Russian government. The HAK leader Karabagh conflict. Such a settlement, he said, According to Yovanovitch, Ter-Petrosian said ate coordinating the HAK’s day-to-day activities, has been far more critical of the Western pow - would spell a “national disaster” for Armenia that the protest suspension carried “great risks” insisted on Thursday that there were no con - ers in his public pronouncements made since because it would exclude Russia. for him and that he had “no other way to get tradictions between what the ex-president said the disputed February 2008 presidential elec - Ter-Petrosian also claimed at the time that in people off the streets and back in their homes.” at the rally and the conversation with the US tion. He has repeatedly accused them of toler - return for strong Western support for his Yovanovitch, who completed her three-year ambassador. ating human rights abuses in Armenia for regime, President Serge Sargisian is ready to tour of duty in Armenia last June, dismissed the In particular, Zurabian, who was also present “geopolitical considerations.” “put Karabagh up for sale” and renounce alleged explanation. “Painting the United at that meeting, strongly denied her claims that Zurabian claimed that relations between Armenia’s political and military alliance with States in an immoral light on resolving [the Ter-Petrosian admitted misleading his most American diplomats and the HAK began wors - Russia. Karabagh conflict] is intellectually dishonest no loyal supporters. “Ter-Petrosian never said such ening in September 2008 because Armenia’s According to Yovanovitch, Ter-Petrosian matter the motive,” she told the charismatic a thing, I refute that,” he said. “And Marie leading opposition force refused to uncondi - made diametrically opposite statements when opposition leader, according to the cable. Yovanovitch also refutes herself in that report.” tionally back Sargisian’s policy of rapproche - they met three weeks later. She quoted him as Yovanovitch suggested the following motives But Zurabian would not comment on ment with Turkey. saying that the US should hijack the initiative behind his “dishonest rhetoric.” “Our read is whether Ter-Petrosian indeed urged the US to “We were angry that for the sake of geopolit - in the Karabagh conflict mediation from the that LTP saw support for public rallies dwin - aggressively push for an Armenian-Azerbaijani ical aims the United States can turn a blind eye Russians by dispatching then Secretary of State dling with each passing month, and was des - peace deal. to the trampling of democracy,” he said. “We Condoleezza Rice to the region to negotiate a perate to find a face-saving tactic,” she told offi - Ter-Petrosian was quoted as questioning were angry with the United States for that rea - final Armenian-Azerbaijani agreement and hav - cials in Washington. “Empty-handed after Russia’s commitment to Karabagh peace in son, while the United States probably had ing it signed in Washington in the presence of months of a stridently rejectionist strategy, LTP another leaked cable which Yovanovitch sent to motives to be angry with our position.” outgoing President George W. Bush. chose to cloak himself in nationalism and con - Washington in August 2009. The confidential “But over time — when it became obvious document also publicized by WikiLeaks gives that our evaluations are correct, that Turkey details of his meeting in Yerevan with Matthew will not delink relations with Armenia from Bryza, then US deputy assistant secretary of the Karabagh issue, that Serge Sargisian is Chess Becomes Mandatory School Subject state. exploiting the normalization process to keep “LTP worried that Russia does not actually political prisoners and destroy the opposition YEREVAN (RFE/RL and Reuters) — Chess has become a mandatory school subject across want a solution, but rather a lingering problem — the same Marie Yovanovitch learned to Armenia for every child over the age of 6. that leaves both Armenia and Azerbaijan depen - respect Levon Ter-Petrosian,” added the HAK School officials in Armenia say the move is aimed at fostering independent strategic think - dent on Russia,” reads the document. coordinator. ing among future generations at school, at work and in society. The plan took effect beginning with the current academic year. More than 40,000 children in about 1,500 Armenian schools already have received chess textbooks and chess pieces. Government Reports Rise in Armenian Wheat Output They are now receiving formal lessons twice a week from 1,200 specially-trained and select - ed teachers. YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — Armenia’s aggregate grain fields has shrunk by roughly one-third to Vachik Khachaturian, who has been teaching mathematics at school for years, decided to output of wheat will rise by almost 20 percent 80,000 hectares since 2004. It hopes that the teach chess, too. He says the game is interesting and useful for his young students at this year mainly because of more favorable seed distribution program will help to reverse Yerevan’s Secondary School No. 125. weather conditions, a senior government offi - this trend. “First of all, chess is a game and it is fun. At the same time, it is an intellectual game,” cial announced on Friday. According to Galstian, the government has Khachaturian says. “Along with mastering the game the children learn to think indepen - Deputy Minister of Agriculture Samvel already purchased a second 110,000-ton batch dently. This [independence] makes the game interesting for them, especially at their young Galstian said farmers across the country will of “elite” Russian seeds this year. age.” collect at least 217,000 metric tons of wheat in Farmers willing to receive them must meet a Armenia already is one of the world’s leading chess nations. The country boasts more than 2011, up from 183,000 reported by his ministry number of stringent requirements, including 30 grandmasters and gold-medal winners at the International Chess Olympiads in 2006 and last year. ownership of at least seven hectares of land. 2008. “The weather this year has been favorable More importantly, they are not allowed to plant President Serge Sargisian presides over Armenia’s Chess Academy and the national Chess for the republic,” he said. wheat and other cereal seeds in those plots for Federation. He also has been involved during the past three years in developing the plan to Galstian also noted a “certain contribution” two consecutive years, a condition which is teach chess in the nation’s schools. to the better harvest from more than 1,000 tons proving particularly controversial. The director of Armenia’s Chess Academy, grandmaster Smbat Lputian, initiated the pro - of high-quality grain seeds that were imported Galstian faced protests from villagers in the ject to introduce chess as a mandatory school subject. He says he strongly believes in the by the Armenian government from Russia last Shirak region as he met them in the regional positive impact that playing chess can have upon children of a young age. fall. capital Gumri to select those eligible for seed “Chess is an amazing game, amazing as I see only positive things in it,” Lputian says. “It The government distributed them to about allocations. He said that only 74 of several hun - is a very fair game and this is the most important thing.” 150 farmers as part of a plan to gradually raise dred Shirak farmers who applied for the Sitting amid chessboards in the academy’s tournament room, Lputian explains that he domestic wheat production to 350,000 tons by scheme would receive elite seeds and be able to sees chess as a way to develop the ability of children to think independently. 2014. pay for them in kind in 2012. “It makes you think and map out a strategy and while working on it, you need to assess According to government statistics, the Many in the audience walked out of the meet - your every move in advance and find the right one,” Lputian says. “And with every move mountainous country of 3 million consumes an ing in protest against what they see as a gov - you need to make a decision, the whole game is about making decisions and these decisions estimated 650,000 tons of wheat each year. ernment policy that favors well-to-do farmers. should be primarily correct. The game makes you more accustomed to making serious deci - Armenian wheat output steadily declined “They are now saying that all seven hectares sions in difficult situations.” until 2011, with many local farmers switching must be planted with other crops or not culti - Chess also is regarded by most Armenians as an inclusive and universal activity, capable to other crops due to poor yields and modest vated at all [for one year.] But there are 20 per - of uniting people of different ages and physical abilities. income generated by them. The Ministry of sons in my family. What should we do to get by Agriculture estimates that the total area of until next year?” 4 S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 24, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR INTERNATIONAL International News Merkel Hosts Turkey’s President for Talks in Berlin

BERLIN (Deutsche Welle) — German Gul touched on the subject ahead of his Turkey rejects. Ayvazovsky Exhibit Chancellor Angela Merkel and Turkish three-day German tour, telling public Complicating matters, Turkey over President Abdullah Gul met in Berlin on broadcaster ZDF that German immigra - the weekend threatened to freeze rela - Opens at Stockholm Tuesday for talks aimed at airing issues tion law violated human rights. He said tions with the EU if it went ahead with touching on integration, EU accession the legislation was unfair because it pro - allowing the divided island of Cyprus to History Museum and ties with Israel. hibited Turkish citizens from joining a take over the rotating six-month presi - STOCKHOLM, Sweden (Tert.am) — An exhibition of A raft of complex issues was on the spouse in Germany unless they could dency of the bloc next year. the works of Armenian artist Ivanb (Hovhaness) table Tuesday when German Chancellor prove knowledge of the German language. Cyprus joined the EU in 2004 and Ayvazovsky has kicked off here. Angela Merkel held talks with Turkish Contentious UN report was due to be handed the presidency in According to the Russian-language news website President Abdullah Gul in Berlin. Up for Also on the table at the chancellery July 2012 after Denmark. But Turkey Kp.ru, the exhibit will be open for 75 days at the discussion was the sharp deterioration was the recent flare-up in tensions said it first wants to see a resolution to Stockholm History Museum. in relations between Turkey and Israel, between Turkey and Israel over a raid a standoff between Cyprus’ Turkish “Ayvazovsky is almost unknown among private as well as the long-standing conserva - on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla last year north and its Greek south, adding that citizens [in Sweden]. I realize it by seeing how the tive unease in Germany over Turkish which ended in the deaths of eight a Cypriot EU presidency would “cause a majority of Swedes are reacting to canvases,” said integration. Turkish activists and one Turkish major disruption” in relations. Turkey Maria Ekbalt, a guide at the museum. According to a message from govern - American. does not recognize Cyprus as a sover - Further, the website said that Ayvazovsky trav- ment spokesman Steffen Seibert sent Turkey has expelled the Israeli ambas - eign country. eled a lot, including Stockholm, and it is reflected following the talks over the networking sador to Ankara and suspended military Following the talks with Merkel, Gul also in his works. site Twitter, the Turkish president ties with the country in the wake of a was to travel to the western city of “During his stay in Stockholm he painted the agreed with Merkel that good German United Nations report certifying that Osnabrück for a second meeting with well-known canvas picturing the Royal Castle,” said language skills were necessary for suc - the Jewish nation’s deadly raid was German President Christian Wulff. Swedish artist Bjorge Fridland. cessful integration in Germany. legal, despite it being heavy-handed. There he was scheduled to visit the Seibert tweeted that both Merkel and The issue is of particular importance provincial city’s historic town hall, at Gul acknowledged “that the German to Germany as both Turkey and Israel which the 1648 Peace of Westphalia Armenian Community in language should be learned early and as are key regional partners. was signed, bringing to a close the well as possible,” according to the AP EU Accession Thirty Years’ War in Europe. Uzbekistan ‘Loses’ news agency. The closed-door talks were also Native Tongue Earlier this year, Turkish Prime thought to have touched on relations Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called between Turkey and the European EU Ready to Increase TASHKENT, Uzbekistan (PanARMENIAN.Net) — on the some 3 million Turks living in Union. From the start of the visit, Gul About 75,000 Armenians live in Uzbekistan, of Germany to integrate but not assimilate. has reiterated Turkey’s desire to join the Financial Aid to whom 30,000 reside in the capital. The community He advised Turkish immigrants to teach 27-nation bloc. Merkel opposes Turkish Armenia in Case of faces a range of challenges, including the preserva- their children the Turkish language accession and has only offered what she tion of the Armenian language, according to Sergey before German. calls a “strategic partnership,” which Successful Reform Andriasov, head of the Armenian community in YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — Uzbekistan. European Union is ready to “Despite the availability of Armenian-language increase the financial assistance to textbooks, the problem is pressing,” he said, adding PACE to Ban Gender Prediction during Pregnancy Armenia in case of successful that the main obstacle in proper teaching of the reform, Gunnar Wiegand, Armenian language is that it is not spoken in many STRASBOURG (Voice of Russia) — ning. They wanted to introduce this European Co-Chair of the EU- Armenian hosueholds. European parents might be prohibited rule in all 47 member countries of the Armenia Cooperation Committee, “The lack of textbooks and the lack of practicing from getting to know the sex of their Council of Europe. PACE is a consulta - European External Action Service the language worsens the situation. In fact, children child during pregnancy. The tive body and has no right to impose its (EEAS) Director for Russia, speak the language only in class,” Andriasov said. Parliamentary Assembly of the Council recommendations on the governments. Eastern Partnership, Central Asia, He said the Armenian population has made many of Europe (PACE) has taken this initia - Meanwhile, Britain, as a member of Regional Cooperation and OSCE, achievements there, particularly the state-award tive in order to put an end to the mal - the Council of Europe, has vigorously made such statement in Yerevan winning dance ensemble, Urartu, as well as the cul- practice existing in several countries opposed a possible imposition of a ban before opening the 12th session of tural center, Arvest, and a Sunday school. where women terminate pregnancy on baby gender identification. Future when they come to know that they parents should know in advance who the Committee, Tuesday. would give birth to girls. will be born from the practical stand - We are ready to increase the Prime Minister Pays PACE Committee for Gender point because they must know whether financial aid to Armenia, he said, Equality has decided to ban European they should prepare a separate room the more reforms Armenia carries Visit to Romania physicians from informing the future for the new child or he or she will be of out the more financing it will receive from Europe. BUCHAREST, Romania (Armenpress) — A delega- parents of the sex of the child. the same sex as other children, repre - Wiegand said that Armenia now tion headed by Armenian Prime Minister Tigran According to the committee, who will sentatives of parents’ organizations and receives more than 50 million euros Sargisian paid a working visit to Romania on be born in the family, a boy or a girl, is physicians say. Dr. Gillian Lockwood, annually while five years ago it September 22. a crucial question in several countries former vice-chairman of the ethics com - received 20-25 million. The government press service said that the of the former Socialist camp. mittee of the Royal Collage of He said that Armenia has suc - Sargisian participated in “Right Center Oriented Consequently, many women perform Obstetricians and Gynecologists, ceeded in certain reforms in the Response to Economic and Social Crisis: Program abortions fearing that their men will be believes such directives will be hardly legal sector and visa facilitation. for Europe,” an expanded session of the European disappointed with the birth of daugh - beneficial for Britain. Traditionally, Wiegand said that EU has adopted People’s Party (EPP). Here he delivered an opening ters rather than sons as heirs. physicians at state-run local hospitals a decision to start negotiations with speech, after which he had a speech at the first ses- A study conducted by Swiss scientists inform parents of the child’s gender Armenia for visa facilitation. For sion of “Black Sea Region: Growth of European for the PACE has shown that unborn during the 20-week pregnancy period his part, the Armenian Co-Chair of Influence” conference. The prime minister also met children have been subjected to selec - when an abortion can be performed the EU-Armenia Cooperation with Wilfried Martens, president of the European tion in four member countries of the from the medical standpoint, says Committee Tigran Davtyan said People’s Party. Council of Europe. In Armenia, Lockwood. that Armenia has achieved success Within the frameworks of the visit, Sargisian met Azerbaijan and Albania, only 100 girls By virtue of religious and public tra - also in the talks for the Association with Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc and are born for every 112 boys. In Georgia, ditions in Europe, the problem of Agreement. He said that the Moldavian Prime Minister Vlad Filat. Sargisian also this proportion is 100 to 111. The com - unequal attitude towards the sex of chil - Association Agreement requires met with representatives of the Romanian community. mittee urged these four countries to dren is a relatively new one. However, investigate the situation. These experts in some other countries, such as India, solution to a number of tasks in the have drafted a document that will be physicians are categorically prohibited sphere of. Turkish University tabled at the next PACE plenary session to inform future parents of their baby’s “I hope we will complete the that will run October 3-7. gender. This preventative measure is preparation stage and start formal Desperately Seeks Politicians suggest banning physi - taken to stop women from receiving implementation of the agreement cians in state-run hospitals from shar - abortions upon learning the sex of the on free trade,” Davtyan said. Armenian Language ing information with parents about the baby, in a culture where girls are viewed The committee was scheduled to Instructor sex of the child after ultrasonic scan - as a burden. discuss a broad spectrum of issues related trade, security, justice, ISTANBUL (Hetq) —This year, Erciyes University, transport, energy, medicine and located in Kayseri,Turkey, launched an Armenian human rights. The Committee con - language department. Tehran Calls for Closer Armenian Ties vened behind the closed doors. The classes were designed for all those wishing to To recall, Armenian and EU learn Armenian. IRAN, from page 1 The unresolved conflict over Nagorno signed the Agreement for But it seems that the school has yet to find a suitable build a third high-voltage transmission Karabagh was also reportedly on the Partnership and Cooperation on instructor for the Armenian language course financed line connecting their power grids. agenda of Nalbandian’s talks with April 22 1996. The Agreement by Turkey’s Ministry of Education and Science. The Armenian government has Ahmadinejad and Iranian Foreign came into effect on July 1 1999. The job pays $2,400 per month for instructors repeatedly said that work on these facil - Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi. The The Cooperation Committee was and $3,500 for a professor. ities will start this year. However, there Armenian minister again praised the set up in line with the Article 83 of Aris Nalji, an Istanbul Armenian manager with have been no official announcements to Islamic Republic’s “balanced” stance on the Agreement. The 11th session the IMC TV station, told Hetq that government that effect yet. the dispute. on Sept 17 2010 resulted in the financing would dry up if an instructor were not Ahmadinejad spoke of “technical and The Armenian Foreign Ministry said agreement to set up a subcommit - found soon. financial problems” hampering the Salehi asked Nalbandian to brief him on tee to discuss energy, nuclear safe - implementation of those projects. the latest developments in Armenian- ty, transport and environmental According to Mehr, he said they should Azerbaijani negotiations mediated by issues. be overcome “as soon as possible.” the United States, Russia and France. S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 24, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR 5 Community Ne ws

TRIBUTE: Turkish Government Ignores Armenian Nishan Property Right Lawsuit Parlakian, LOS ANGELES — The Turkish government is now in default after ignoring a lawsuit brought against it and two Turkish banks over repara - tions for land in southern Turkey seized from Educator and Armenians during the Armenian Genocide (Alex Bakalian et. al vs. Republic of Turkey, the Central Bank of Turkey, and T.C. Ziraat Bankasi Dramatist et. al., Case Number 2:10-CV-09596, December 15, 2010). The default notice was entered on (1925-2011) September 1, 2011. The land in question is currently home to the Incirlik Air Base, which houses the United States 39th Mission Support Group and 39th Medical By Aram Arkun Group. The air base is located near Adana, Turkey. Mirror-Spectator Staff After refusing to accept service of the lawsuit under governing rules of the 1906 Hague Convention, Turkey was served through US NEW YORK — Educator and dramatist Dr. embassy channels on June 20. Service was con - Nishan Parlakian was one of those larger-than- firmed and the court was notified. Turkey had life figures who seem to abound among the Art instructor Ella Pepanyan helping campers create Armenian-inspired crafts 60 days (by August 19) to answer the complaint Armenians. A physically large man, he had a but did not. The two bank defendants, Central gregarious personality to go with his size. Bank of Turkey and T.C. Ziraat Bank, requested When he liked someone, whether or not that and were given an extension to respond by person was younger than him, he would begin September 19. to call his friend “my son” (or “my daughter”). More than 240 Youths “The US Department of State had sent a He had a great following among actors and diplomatic note to Ankara warning that the lovers of drama both among Armenians and country is bound by law to defend against the non-Armenians, and was generous with his Attend 48th Season of lawsuit,” says Vartkes Yeghiayan, with the time, helping both institutions and individuals Yeghiayan Law Firm and one of the attorneys he felt were deserving of it. representing the plaintiffs. “Choosing to ignore Parlakian was professor emeritus at John Jay AGBU Camp Nubar the lawsuit won’t make it go away.” College of Criminal Justice (part of the City The plaintiffs are arguing that their Armenian University of New York), where he taught relatives owned land now occupied by the drama, speech and English literature from 1970 CATSKILL MOUNTAINS, N.Y. — On August 13, AGBU Camp Nubar concluded Incirlik Base. Their complaint includes docu - to 1998. He received his doctorate in drama its 48th season here, located in the scenic Hudson Valley of upstate New York. The ments showing legal ownership. When their rel - summer camp opened its doors to youth from around the globe on July 2 and was atives were forced to flee the then Ottoman organized into three two-week sessions. More than 240 campers and counselors Empire, their property was subsequently seized from Canada, France, Germany, the UK, Turkey and all across the United States and then sold without their permission. attended the camp at the state-of-the-art facility. Campers and counselors, both old By refusing to respond, Turkey risks having and new, rekindled friendships and created new bonds throughout the six-week the court rule against it in absentia. Damages program. could be as high as $100 million. Under the guidance of returning director Jennifer Omartian and assistant direc - Representing the plaintiffs are the Yeghiayan tor Daniel Antreasyan, the staff introduced new activities this year, including camp- Law Firm in Glendale, Schwarcz, Rimberg, wide hikes and the revival of popular Camp Nubar songs and campouts. With the Boyd & Rader, LLP in Los Angeles and Michael staff’s expertise, they offered an array of activities in which campers could partic - Bazyler from Chapman University School of ipate, including horseback riding, arts and crafts, tubing, tennis, archery, creative Law in Orange. writing, digital media and technology and vocal classes. For a copy of the default notice, contact Each session had its own activities and events. During the first session, camp staff Diane Zakian Rumbaugh at organized a counselor hunt, hayrides, a July 4th carnival and the return of Camp [email protected], Vartkes Yeghiayan at Nubar’s Armenian nights. The second session welcomed ballet master Arman [email protected] or Diane Zakian Julhakyan and art instructor Ella Pepanyan, both from the AGBU Children’s Centers Rumbaugh at [email protected]. Nishan and Florence Parlakian at Nishan’s 80th in Armenia, for a series of cultural lessons. Julhakyan led campers in various birthday surprise party Armenian dances, while campers learned to create pieces of art under the guidance of Pepanyan. Campers also participated in an Olympics competition, a basketball game against Lake Delaware Boys Camp and a dance at Lake Arax. Low-Income Housing from Columbia University in 1967, after earn - On July 24, AGBU Camp Nubar opened its gates to parents, grandparents, alum - ing two master’s degrees (in theater and drama) ni and friends at its 31st annual Open House. The Catskill Mountains offered a Topic of Talk at St. James from the same school and a bachelor’s degree backdrop for families to visit campers and for alumni to reminisce about their time from Syracuse University in 1948. During a at the camp. The day started with Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Men’s Club long and distinguished career as an educator, Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), celebrating the Divine Parlakian also taught at Pace University, New WATERTOWN — On Monday, October 3, Liturgy in the Nazarian Center. Following the church service, campers participat - Dana Boole, president and CEO of Community York University and Bronx Community College ed in horseback riding and waterfront shows, as well as playing the finals of the of CUNY. Affordable Housing Equity Corporation camp-wide tennis tournament. Throughout the day, Armenian-inspired ceramics (CAHEC) in Raleigh, NC, will be the speaker at Parlakian has translated and published a see CAMP NUBAR, page 7 number of classical and modern Armenian plays the dinner meeting of the St. James Armenian into English, usually adding his own introduc - Church Men’s Club. The topic will be “Insiders tions. Two such translations of plays by view of public/private low income housing.” Alexandre Shirvanzade — “For the Sake of Boole manages CAHEC’s operations and over - Honor” (Badvi Hamar, 1976) and “Evil Spirit” sees its fund-raising efforts throughout the US, (Char Voki, 1980) — were published by St. with primary focus on the Mid-Atlantic and Vartan Press (the publishing imprint of the Southeastern states. Created in 1992 to help Diocese of the Armenian Church of America) finance the development of affordable rental and later produced by New York’s Classic housing in North Carolina, CAHEC is now a non - Theatre. The same press also published profit equity provider operating in 10 states. Parlakian’s version of Aramshot Babayan’s “Be Boole came to CAHEC from Edison Capital Nice, I’m Dead” (Kna Meri, Ari Sirem) in 1990. Housing Investments in Boston. As acquisitions Griffon House published his translation of director at Edison, he focused primarily on equi - Asadour’s “The Bride” in 1987. ty syndication in the eastern US. Before joining As a dramatist, Parlakian wrote more than 30 Edison, he held positions as vice president of plays. Several of these were produced in New acquisitions for National Partnership York; others — like “Last of the Mohigians,” pub - Investments Corp. and as commercial real lished in The Armenian Review in 1959 — estate consultant for the Leggat Company. appeared in various periodicals. In 1988, New The social hours starts with mezza at 6:15 p.m., York’s Classic Theatre presented his ethnic drama, followed by a complete Armenian dinner at 7 p.m. “Grandma, Pray for Me,” which went on to win the Campers enjoy horseback riding. Tickets are $12 per person. The dinner meeting Columbus: Countdown 1992 International Arts will be at the St. James Armenian Charles Award and was published in 1990. Mosesiasn Cultural & Youth Center Keljik Hall, see PARLAKIAN, page 6 465 Mt. Auburn St. Ladies are welcome. 6 S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 24, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR COMMUNITY NEWS Lay Leadership Program at St. David Armenian Church

BOCA RATON — As part of programs dedicat - Apostolic Church, while serving as “lay ministers” Church faces today. and fully engaged in conversation. Carol Norigian, ed to “The Year of Lay Ministry,” as announced by of St. David Armenian Church. On Thursday, September 15, more than 25 lay the chair of the Women’s Guild and the Diocesan the Diocesan Assembly, Very Rev. Nareg Berberian The Religious Education Program will offer leaders of St. David Armenian Church participated Delegate reflected, “As I continue to study about initiated a Religious Education Program for the lay the following themes: The Sacraments of the in the first lecture series. Berberian spoke about our Church, my faith and my service in the leadership of the church so that the participants Armenian Church, the Apostolicity of the the sacraments of the Armenian Church and its Armenian Church will strengthen, and I will appre - would closely study the faith, history and theology Armenian Church, the Divine Liturgy, the impact in our lives. He emphasized that the sacra - ciate the theology and the ancient tradition passed of the Armenian Church. This seven-week course is Understanding of the Holy Trinity, the ments of the Church are the means to enter into onto us through the generations.” designed to enhance the knowledge of the lay lead - Theology of Death and Dying, the Holy Bible the vineyard of the Lord and enhance our faith by On Sunday, September 18, the Diocesan theme ers in the faith and theology of the Armenian and Contemporary issues the Armenian maintaining its divine mystery in our lives. was introduced to the parishioners. Berberian “Since we are offered to the altar of God during delivered a sermon based on Jesus’ word, “Follow our baptism, we are called for the first time to me.” He focused on three points: 1) The Call comes become lay ministers of the Church and live from Christ; 2) The Call is simple and 3) The Call Nishan Parlakian, Educator and Dramatist through faith, hope and love,” stated Berberian. is transformative. In his remarks to the participants, Berberian Being an active parish in the Diocese, St. David noted, “To be a successful and effective lay minis - Armenian Church will continue to follow the direc - PARLAKIAN, from page 5 special issues for almost 40 years. ter, it is prerequisite to gain knowledge of the basic tives sent by the Diocese to strengthen the lay lead - In the last decade, Parlakian published three For his publications and his work in Armenia, teachings of our Church so you may be able to ership of the Church through educational and out - anthologies which will remain handy reference Parlakian has received grants from the AGBU, identify yourself with the history and faith that you reach programs. works for many years to come. Modern the Armenian Literary Society and PSC/CUNY. are called upon to serve as a representative of your Recently, Berberian published his first handbook Armenian Drama (2001) was co-edited with Dr. He was also a Fulbright lecturer in Armenia in church community. Without that basic knowledge, titled, Walking Through the Armenian Faith and S. Peter Cowe. Contemporary Armenian 1991-92. a lay minister will fail in his/her ministry.” History: An Instructional Handbook , which will be American Drama: An Anthology of Ancestral Alongside his work in the Armenian sphere, The participants were captured by the theme unveiled in February 2012. Voices (2004) and Notable Women in Modern Parlakian was very interested in the work of Luigi Armenian Drama (2009) were both prepared Pirandello and became an active organizer of the by Parlakian alone. Pirandello Society of America. He has served as edi - Parlakian’s articles on Armenian literature tor of the society’s newsletter and was the president have been published in numerous anthologies of the society from 1995 to 2003. He was literary Metropol-Residence and professional journals, and he frequently historian of the Roundabout Theatre (New York contributed reviews and other short pieces to City), editor and founder of the CUNY Stage (1995- 2 MashtotsIdeal Ave. for Family Yerevan. vacations Armenia Armenian newspapers and periodicals. 2000) and sat on the editorial board of Multi-Ethnic Daily, weekly and monthly low rates, starting $65.00 per day/ residence His multifaceted role within the Armenian- Literatures of the United States and the board of The four star residences at the heart of Yerevan with a kithcen and private bathroom is an American community has included long-term the Classic Theatre. ideal place to stay for families and couples. This luxurious residence is convenient for what- relationships with the Armenian Students Parlakian was very proud of the literary work ever purpose your visit is. Association and with the Diocese of the of his father, Raphael, who as a youth had been Armenian Church of America (Eastern). In par - praised by master poet Taniel Varujan but tial recognition of this work, he received the ended up as a jeweler in the United States in Arthur H. Dadian Armenian Heritage Award order to earn a livelihood. A devoted family man from the Armenian Students Association in like his father, Nishan Parlakian leaves behind 1999, and in 2008, the St. Vartan Award from his wife of many years, Florence (née Mechtel); two children, Nishan Payel (and wife Margot) and Elizabeth Rose, as well as grandchildren, Liliana and Rose Parlakian. Parlakian died on September 12. Services were held at the Riverside Memorial Chapel in New York on September 15 and he was buried the next day in Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, in Westchester County.

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Prof. Nishan Parlakian the Armenian Diocese. Parlakian was artistic director of the Armenian Students Association Players from 1950 to 1954; in 1974, with the New York Armenian Students’ Association, he presented a program titled “Directing Armenians.” Parlakian spent 16 seasons (1972-1988) as artistic director of the Armenian Church of America’s Diocesan Players, during which time Entertainment Fridays he staged plays by Shirvanzade, Sundukian, Telephone (617) 924-7400 Baronian, Asadour and others. and Saturdays From 1976 to 1980, he was editor of The Aram Bedrosian Armenian Church quarterly magazine, and he was an influential voice on the editorial board of Ararat quarterly, where he contributed articles and edited Funeral Home, Inc. Continuous Service By The Bedrosian Family Since 1945 MARION BEDROSIAN 558 MOUNT AUBURN STREET PAUL BEDROSIAN WATERTOWN, MA 02472 LARRY BEDROSIAN

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WINNETKA, Calif. (Los Angeles Times) — In “Now they are going through a certain some of the customs and the food from our “At that time, it was not very well received the kitchen of this Winnetka hall, honey-filled revival,” said Richard Hovannisian, who recently native land, we also want to bond with other when a non-Turkish individual or Christian balls of lokma are piled on plates for dessert. retired as the chair of the Armenian Educational Armenian groups.” minority reached levels of substance,” he said. Puff pastries called borek are filled with cheese, Foundation at UCLA. “They’re given a little more Like others, Frank V. Zerunyan, a city council - “My father knew very well that I could not have eggs and dill, then warmed in the oven. Spicy space to discover their culture.” man in Rolling Hills Estates, left Istanbul much of a future in that country.” Armenian prosciutto chills in the fridge. After renting various spaces for When he arrived in the US in 1978, the The night’s main dish — marinated beef called years, the Organization of Istanbul Organization of Istanbul Armenians was two- doner on three large spits — is roasting. It takes Armenians occupies an ornate two- years old and had only a few dozen members. He at least five hours to make a proper doner , says story building in Winnetka where joined and ultimately became chairman of the cook Sako Cicek. He places thin ribbons of the children take Armenian-language scholarship committee. meat in a chafing dish. lessons and events like Doner Night For Berna Khachigian, another member of the The occasion for this feast is Doner Night, an bring hundreds together for music auxiliary, the organization became like a second event sponsored by the Organization of Istanbul and food. This year, the group will family. Armenians, a group of more than 1,000 Turkish celebrate its 35th anniversary. She came to the US when she was 12 and has Armenians in Southern California. Of the hun - But when the group started, said only a few close family members here, she said. dreds of thousands of Armenians in California, Avedis Tekolian, one of the Past 10 p.m. on a recent Saturday night, Turkish Armenians make up a small fraction. In founders, “we didn’t have much Khachigian was in the kitchen, keeping tabs on addition to Armenian, they also speak Turkish, money. People gave $3, $12. We things. The doner had been served. The dinner listen to Turkish music and have adopted many worked very hard.” had been an elegant affair, with linen tablecloths of the traditions of that country. In the US, said Talin Sarafoglu, and modern white china. Bottles of soft drinks, There are times, some said, when this close - the president of the Istanbul Members of the Ladies’ Auxiliary in the kitchen red wine and an anise-flavored drink called raki ness with Turkey — those who remained in that Armenians Ladies Auxiliary, which had been passed around the table. country were sometimes discouraged from fol - organized the weekend event, The deejay was beginning to play Turkish and lowing their own traditions and culture — has Turkish Armenians were able to learn more because his family wanted more opportunities Armenian songs with a heavy bass that could be made it difficult to gain acceptance from other about the Armenian side of their culture. for him than they believed he would have in heard clearly in the kitchen. Armenians. But that is changing. Organizations “When we first came here, we also went Turkey. When he was 11, his father, who had “This is a gathering place for us,” Khachigian like the one hosting this event have found ways through a revival of finding our Armenian iden - been a successful business owner, started getting said. “We have friends here, they have become to embrace both elements of the culture. tity,” she said. “Our goal is while we can keep threats. like cousins.” More than 240 Youths Attend 48th Season of AGBU Camp Nubar CAMP NUBAR, from page 5 and art projects were on display, and parents watched campers of all ages perform skits and Armenian dances and songs. During the last two weeks of camp, campers and counselors awaited the surprise beginning of Color War. This three-day event divides the camp into two teams, Gold and Blue, and campers compete in athletic, artis - tic and creative activities as part of their respective team. Following the competition, counselors transformed the dining hall into a “Finding Nemo”-themed banquet for the campers to enjoy. With summer coming to a close, campers were teary eyed as they said goodbye to their friends. “I always have a great time going to Camp Nubar, and knowing that I am going to share beautiful moments in this amazing communi - ty,” said 2011 camper Laura Bal of France. “At the end of the session, I was already thinking about the following summer. If you asked me to describe Camp Nubar in a few words, it would be friendship, family and a lot of fun,” she said. Fellow camper Greg Merjian of Florida shared Bal’s enthusiasm. “This year, camp was an amazing experience for me and I truly enjoyed my last year as a camper. I look for - ward to returning year after year because I never cease to enjoy every second that I am at camp. It’s the only place I can go where the friendships hold deeper meaning and the memories last forever. I was a camper for nine years and I look forward to taking the next step and attending camp for years to come as a staff member,” he said. For more information about AGBU and its worldwide programs, visit www.agbu.org. 8 S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 24, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR Ne w York M E T R O Educators Focus on Technology at Annual Symposium for Armenian Teachers

TENAFLY, N.J. — At the annual Symposium for Armenian Teachers, held this year at St. Thomas Church, presentations were given by expert educators on the ways students learn and on how technology can aid in the learning process. More than 40 participants representing six Diocesan Armenian schools in New York and New Jersey attended the event, which was hosted by St. Thomas’ Kirkian Armenian School on Saturday, September 10. The day’s program was organized by Gilda Kupelian, coordinator of Armenian Studies in the Diocesan Department of Youth and Education. Jim Jacobson, a professor of education at St. Peter College, gave an interactive presentation on the principles of learning. Participants also heard from Artoun Hamalian, director of edu - cation at the Armenian General Benevolent Union, who spoke about virtual classrooms and other technological tools for teaching chil - dren the Armenian language. Kupelian introduced new resources and works in progress at the Diocese’s Armenian Studies program. These include planning inter - Symposium participants take part in a workshop during the day’s gathering. scholastic cultural events for students and the development of a practical grammar book. Kupelian also noted the emphasis being placed on hosting an increased number of regional seminars to allow educators from different parts of the country to hear about the latest developments in Armenian studies and to share concerns and advice. The most recent regional seminar was held in Cambridge,

Educators at the annual Armenian Teachers Symposium this month with the Very Rev. Papken Anoushian, pastor of St. Thomas Church

Mass., last May for teachers in the New England area. In addition to the presentations by guest speakers and Kupelian, symposium partici - pants viewed and discussed a video on Classical Armenian orthography. The day also featured an award ceremony. Sirvart Demirjian, Araxi Diratsouian and Nazik Sesetian of Tenafly’s Kirkian School were hon - ored for 25 years of service. Tanya Vartanian of

The day’s honorees with Gilda Kupelian (at left) and the Very Rev. Papken Anoushian the Kirkian School and Berch Manukian of the Diocese’s Khrimian Lyceum were honored for a decade of service. The honorees were presented with gifts on behalf of Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), in appreciation of their dedication to teaching children the Armenian language and culture. The participating schools also received copies of a CD featuring the Armenian and American national anthems, as arranged by Khoren Mekanejian, the Diocese’s coordinator of Music Ministry. Schools wishing to obtain the CD should contact Kupelian. The Kirkian School, which hosted the sym - posium, recently celebrated its 50th anniver - sary. The school — the largest in the Diocese — was recognized by Armenia’s Ministry of Diaspora on this occasion. S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 24, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR 9 Ne w York M E T R O AAHPO’s Annual Gala Banquet to Be Held October 15 in New Jersey Fundraising Efforts Dedicated To Continuing Medical Education in Armenia

By Taleen Babayan

TEANECK, N.J. — As a physician at the Ninotsminda Emergency Center, Dr. Lilit Ananikyan spends her days performing surg - eries, checking in on her patients and treating the ill in this Armenian-populated district in the Javakhk region of southern Georgia. Serving in an under-staffed and under-resourced hospital, Ananikyan and her colleagues face a multitude of obstacles on a daily basis, including lack of heat during the harsh winter months, outdated ambulance cars and a scarcity of medical sup - plies. But perhaps the biggest challenge of all is the lack of updating one’s medical training. Many of the doctors, not only in Javakhk, but also in Nagorno Karabagh and rural Armenia, have not received additional training or courses Graduates of the Continuing Medical Education program together with AAHPO health care professionals and medical mission participants to update their knowledge of medicine since the collapse of the Soviet Union some 20 years ago. Through the support of the Armenian Education of Doctors in Armenia.” It will take currently supports 30 physicians a year, yet Najarian, president of AAHPO, traveled to American Health Professional Organization’s place on Saturday, October 15, at the Marriott hundreds are waiting to participate. Armenia during the AAHPO medical mission (AAHPO) partnership with the Fund for at Glenpointe. The evening will also serve as an “Medicine is progressive,” said Dr. Raffy this past summer where he had the opportuni - Armenian Relief (FAR), Ananikyan and other opportunity to honor Dr. Richard Babayan, Hovanessian, a member of AAHPO’s Board of ty to meet the graduates of the Continuing doctors in Javakhk and Nagorno Karabagh are Annette Choolfaian, RN, MPA, and Dr. Haikaz Directors. “This continuing medical education Medical Education program. overturning this trend by having the opportu - Grigorian for their various achievements and program is vital because it is of utmost impor - “It was a very moving, humbling experience,” nity to participate in AAHPO’s Continuing contributions in the medical field. tance to update the quality of healthcare in said Najarian. “Seeing and understanding the cir - Medical Education program. The fall of the Soviet Union dealt a blow to Armenia, Javakhk and Nagorno Karabagh.” cumstances in which they work was sobering and “I could not believe such a humanitarian project the healthcare system in Armenia, and since the The money AAHPO raises for the CME inspires us to help. CME is a ray of hope that pro - could exist,” said Ananikyan, manager of the med - founding of the Armenian republic, no govern - month-long program in Yerevan covers tuition vides knowledge and saves lives.” ical ambulatory department at the Ninotsminda ment regulations requiring doctors to keep expenses, lodging and a stipend for doctors AAHPO is in its 17th year serving the Emergency Center. “It was a great opportunity to their medical knowledge up-to-date have been who are taking time off from their work. Over Armenian-American community. deepen my professional knowledge.” implemented. The positive impact the Continuing Medical “In the Armenian-populated regions of Education program has had on healthcare Nagorno Karabagh and Javakhk, there are no delivery in Armenia led to AAHPO dedicating mechanisms or funding for updating doctors’ its upcoming annual gala banquet to raise medical skills,” said Dr. Aram Cazazian, a mem - money to expand the program to Javakhk and ber of AAHPO’s Board of Directors. “Ninety Nagorno-Karabagh. percent of the doctors have not received further The theme of this year’s banquet is “Help medical education in the past 15 years.” Save Lives! Support the Continuing Medical The Continuing Medical Education program

Graduation ceremony of the CME program participants, including pediatricians, ophthalmologists and infectious diseases specialists, from Nagorno-Karabagh and Javakhk regions

the course of four weeks, the physicians partic - “We are saving lives by training these doc - ipate in intensive programs in their specialty in tors,” said Cazazian, “The continuation of this leading medical centers as well as universities program for many years to come is crucial.” and advanced clinics in Yerevan. They learn AAHPO’s 2011 Gala Banquet and Fundraiser modern medical skills, such as Cesarean-section will take place on Saturday, October 15 at the techniques and the acute treatment of heart Marriott at Glenpointe, 100 Frank W. Burr attacks, that will have immediate impact when Boulevard. Cocktails begin at 6:30 p.m. and din - they return to their home villages. ner at 7:30 p.m. Vartan Abdo will serve as mas - “Continuing medical education is a require - ter of ceremonies. To RSVP by mail, include a ment that we take for granted here in the US,” list of names of the attendees along with a said Dr. Tsoline Kojaoghlanian, also a member check made out to “AAHPO” and mail to of AAHPO’s Board of Directors. “It is even AAHPO, PO Box 645, Far Hills, NJ 07931. more crucial to introduce and maintain it in RSVP’s can also be submitted online at areas of most need.” www.aahpo.org. Aside from enhancing their medical skills, participating doctors also have the opportunity to network, take computer literacy courses and partake in teleconferences. At the conclusion of the program, participants will have completed an independent research project and received a certificate of completion signed by the Ministry of Health. “This program provided me with a significant amount of information about medicine and new technologies,” said Dr. Irina Khachatryan who works in the Stepanakert Children’s Hospital. “It inspired me to continue to improve our health service quality.” Dr. Eliz Agopian, an AAHPO medical mission Members of AAHPO themselves have first- participant, conversing with a CME graduate hand experience of seeing the improvement this physician program has brought to physicians. Dr. Larry 10 S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 24, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR Arts & Living

Columbus Symphony Kicks off Pops Series with Concerts to Include Opera to Broadway Works by Lexington Grammy-Nominated COLUMBUS, Ohio (Broadway World) — Music Director Jean-Marie Zeitouni opens the Composer Hayg Columbus Symphony Orchestra’s (CSO) 2011- 12 Pops Series with his own selection of works Boyadjian from “Opera to Broadway.” Guest vocalists LEXINGTON, Mass. — Works by Aline Kutan, Frédéric Antoun and Keith Phares Lexington-based and Grammy Award- join the Columbus Symphony and Chorus for nominee Hayg Boyadjian will be fea - an evening of audience favorites from the tured in three upcoming concerts. worlds of opera and Broadway including pieces The first concert will take place at the from “Romeo and Juliet,” “Madama Butterfly,” Unitarian Universalist Meeting House, “Trovatore,” “Oklahoma,” “Fiddler on the 636 Commercial St., Provincetown, on Roof,” “Sweeny Todd” and more. Sunday, October 9, at 5 p.m. The con - A graduate of the Montreal Conservatory, cert, titled “My Spanish Nature,” will Zeitouni has emerged as one of Canada’s bright - present Aaron Larget-Caplan est young conductors with an eloquent yet fiery (www.AaronLC.com) on guitar and style in repertoire ranging from Baroque to con - John Thomas on piano. The program temporary music. He was installed as music will include Boyadjian’s director of the Columbus Symphony in October (www.haygboyadjian.com) Mi Tango for 2010, and also serves as principal conductor guitar solo, a work that was recorded by and artistic director designate of I Musici de Larget-Caplan and is included in Montréal, a prestigious Canadian chamber Boyadjian’s recent solo CD orchestra. Zeitouni also enjoys a long associa - “TROY1219” of six chamber works tion with Les Violons du Roy, a celebrated Prof. Sebouh Aslanian, left, with Prof. James Russell of Harvard issued by Albany Records. About chamber orchestra based in Quebec City, first Boyadjian’s Mi Tango , critic Barnaby as conductor-in-residence, then as associate con - Rayfield wrote in Fanfare Magazine : ductor, and since 2008, as principal guest con - “Stunningly played…….this solo guitar ductor. Over the years, he has led the ensemble piece is an energetic homage to in more than 200 performances in the province A Fresh Look at Piazzolla’s modern tango style, of Québec, across Canada, and in Mexico. In although there are many innovations of 2006, he recorded his first CD with Les Violons rhythm and sound effects from du Roy titled “Piazzolla,” which received a 2007 Boyadjian.” Boyadjian’s solo CD, titled JUNO Award for Classical Album of the Year in Role of New Julfa “Vientos,” has been sent by Albany the category of Solo or Chamber Ensemble. Records for a 2012 Grammy nomina - They also recorded two subsequent CDs, tion. “Bartok” (2008) and “Britten” (2010). CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Dr. Sebouh D. Aslanian, on Wednesday, September 14, Guest soprano Kutan is a young Canadian brought the Armenians of New Julfa in Iran to life during a talk at Harvard soprano of Armenian origins who made her University that was crammed with facts, but witty and fast-paced. He turned what debut at the age of 18 in the role of Flora (“The could be a history lesson into a bird’s-eye-view of the small-yet-plucky community Turn of the Screw” from Benjamin Britten) which has left its mark around the world. with the Vancouver Opera. She studied at the The lecture, his first since he took over for the recently-retired Prof. Richard University of British Columbia in Vancouver Hovannisian at UCLA, was named after his book, From the Indian Ocean to the and the Laval University of Quebec. Before Mediterranean: The Global Trade starting her operatic career, Kutan toured for Networks of Armenian Merchants two years with in a Canadian production of By Alin K. Gregorian from New Julfa . Andrew Lloyd Weber’s “The Phantom of the Mirror-Spectator Staff Immediately after starting the lec - Opera.” In 1995, Kutan won the Metropolitan ture, Aslanian pleasantly surprised Opera Competition in New York. those assembled by joking that he was Montreal-based tenor Antoun has sung lead - just saying enough to whet the audience’s appetites so that they would purchase ing roles with the Montreal Opera, Mexico’s his book and then in turn, through brisk sales, help quicken the arrival of the paper - Bellas Artes, Opera Theater of Saint Louis, the back edition. From that point on, he had the audience’s complete attention. Opera Company of Philadelphia and at the Aslanian’s focus is the Armenians of New Julfa, Iran, a community of traders Spoleto Festival USA. His repertory includes whose span reached from Venice to India to Mexico. That community was created Romeo in Gounod’s “Romeo and Juliet,” artificially, as the original Julfans were forcibly brought over to Persia (Iran) from Alfredo in Verdi’s “La Traviata,” Rodolfo in Julfa in Nakhijevan, by Persian ruler Shah Abbas I, in order to bring to Persia the Puccini’s “La Boheme” and Nemorino in skills (and profits) of these silk and gem traders. The approximate years that the Hayg Boyadjian Donizetti’s “The Elixir of Love,” among many community was practicing its global trade was from 1622 to 1750. other roles. He has also specialized in concert Aslanian spoke admiringly of how these newcomers to Iran thrived not long after works and oratorios, including Handel’s their arrival. In fact, this ability to adapt became one reason why they were so suc - The Provincetown concert will also Messiah , Bach’s St. John Passion and St. cessful in living anywhere in the world. include the following works: Matthew Passion , Mozart’s Requiem and “Within a short period, they experienced tremendous growth,” Aslanian said. Boccherini- Fandango , Rodrigo- Haydn’s The Creation . Antoun is a graduate of “They created trade settlements from London to Amsterdam and as far east as Concierto de Aranjuez , Debussy and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia Manila and Canton in China.” De Falla and the world premiere of and has won awards from the Oratorio Society According to Aslanian, the New Julfans valued profits and trade so much that Whispers , a new lullaby by local Cape of New York, the George London Foundation, they were willing to make whatever changes needed to fit their host societies bet - Cod composer Canary Burton. the Debut Young Concert Artist Series and the ter. Among those changes was converting to Catholicism in Catholic host countries For more information visit: Licia-Albanese Puccini Competition. such as Italy and Mexico. This very conversion — with their detailed answers in www.PTownMusic.com. Acclaimed both on the opera and concert questionnaires in the Inquisition offices — has left behind a trove of information The next concert will take place on stage, Phares is emerging as a versatile artist. A about the community. October 21 at 8:30 p.m. at the Esquina graduate of the Juilliard Opera Center, he was a Aslanian spoke at length about the contracts which enabled the rich merchants Tango, Austin, Texas. The concert, national winner of the 1998 Metropolitan of Julfa, which he called the nodal center, to send out junior partners without much titled “Dance, Love, Sleep,” will include Opera National Council Auditions and a finalist capital to form nodes or settlements around the world. The senior partner with cap - Spanish and flamenco dances, the in the 1999 Eleanor McCollum Competition of ital, he explained, got into a commenda trust with a capital-poor merchant willing Argentine Tango, Venezuelan waltzes the Houston Grand Opera. He also has been to go away for decades at a time, making money for a particular merchant. and serenades and new music by recognized with a Richard Gaddes Grant from By the time the cash-poor trader went into a commenda trust with a rich, seden - Boyadjian. the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and the 2000 tary merchant, or khoja , he would be between 13 and 16, and by that time would For more information visit: Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Juilliard have had the benefit of “essentially an MBA program.” The master khoja , der or www.esquinatangoaustin.com. School of Music. agha would send the young man or enker , across the Indian Ocean to make money. The third concert will take place on The CSO presents “Opera to Broadway” at For their two to three decades of work, the younger partner would be entitled to October 22 at 7:30 p.m., presented by the Ohio Theatre (39 E. State St.) on Saturday, receive anywhere from 25 to 33 percent of the profits. Throughout the long years the Greater Houston Guitar Guild, October 15, at 8 p.m. Tickets can be purchased of traveling, meticulous records were kept, which were presented to the sedentary Houston, Texas. For more information, at the Ohio Theatre Ticket Office (39 E. State partner for an in-depth analysis at the conclusion of the trip. e-mail [email protected]. St.), all Ticketmaster outlets and Of course, many wondered how this long-distance trust worked. As Aslanian The solo guitar performance by www.ticketmaster.com. The Ohio Theatre explained, the khojas would often “house” the younger partner’s family, so that if Larget-Caplan, titled “Dance, Love, Ticket Office will also be open two hours prior the partner absconded with the money, his family would pay the price. Also, if the Sleep, Bach” will include works by to each performance. younger partner suggested that some of the money had been lost or stolen, he Mertz, Bach and new music by For information, visit see ASLANIAN, page 16 Boyadjian and Alan Fletcher. www.columbussymphony.com. S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 24, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR 11 ARTS & LIVING The Revered and Reviled Bernard Lewis

never happened before in the Middle By Daphna Berman A RETROSPECTIVE OF THE SCHOLAR WHO PROVIDED THE East and hasn’t happened very often since.” Being present for the “dawn of INTELLECTUAL AMMUNITION FOR THE IRAQ WAR Turkish democracy” left a deep impres - PHILADELPHIA (Moment Magazine) — sion. “It helped me understand the Bernard Lewis has just moved to a small political process in the Middle East,” he apartment in the manicured suburbs on Philadelphia’s Main the wars with France, I became interested in French history, says. His 1961 book, The Emergence of Modern Turkey, is Line. At 95, it was time for the man the Encyclopedia of and later, when we learned about the Crusades and the east - still considered by many to be a landmark analysis of that Historians and Historical Writing calls the “most influential ern question, my interest in Islamic history was first aroused. country. Lewis also wrote The Arabs in History , now in its postwar historian of Islam and the Middle East” to leave I was always interested in hearing the other side,” he says of sixth edition, as well as other works, quickly gaining an inter - Princeton — his home for more than 35 years — for a senior liv - his attraction to the Islamic world. national reputation in a field he readily admitted was becom - ing facility known for attracting retired academics. In 1936, Lewis completed a bachelor’s degree in history ing “an obsession.” “I’m getting old, I’m no longer sure about dates,” he tells me with a concentration in the Middle East, graduating first in his In 1974, his 27-year marriage to Ruth Hélène Oppenhejm, a in his polished British accent, though this moment of self-dep - class from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the Danish Jew, (they had two children, Michael, now 57, who recation is hardly convincing: our conversation reflects his University of London. He started graduate studies and when, works for AIPAC in Washington, DC, and Melanie, 60, an art uncanny ability to recollect dates, time lines and facts — both a year later, a professor asked if he would like to travel to the educator, who lives in Pittsburgh) fell apart and he left from his lifetime and several centuries before. As we talk, Middle East, Lewis jumped at the opportunity. With no funds England for a prestigious position at Princeton University. He Lewis recalls the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699 as easily as the to speak of — “I could no more go to the Middle East than I was appointed the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor of Near Turkish elections of 1950. He also regales me with stories, could go to the moon” — but with a stipend provided by the Eastern Studies, a joint position between the Institute for though it is impossible to predict which millennium they will Royal Asiatic Society, he explored Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Advanced Study and Princeton, where his chair was endowed date to. One minute, it’s the Marx Brothers skits he shared Turkey for six months. “I felt like a Muslim bridegroom meet - by the family that founded the Young Men’s Christian with the Shah of Iran in the days before the revolution, the ing the bride with whom he is to spend the rest of his life and Association (YMCA). His new job required him to teach only next, an eighth-century Arabian joke about a sinful woman seeing her for the first time after the wedding,” he wrote of the one semester a year, leaving him with more time to research praying to Allah for mercy before she dies. And he speaks with trip in his 2004 From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting the and write. Settled in America, Lewis published at an increas - eloquence, his ideas organized into complete paragraphs. Middle East , one of many passages that critics cite to accuse ingly dizzying speed. Becoming an American citizen in 1982, In his new home, Lewis is surrounded by bookcases, some him of eroticizing the “exotic” east. he was poised to take on the role of a public intellectual. filled with collectors editions of his own works. He has pub - On his return to London, Lewis was offered an appointment lished prolifically throughout his seven-decade career: His first as an assistant lecturer in the School of Oriental Studies at the From A nti-Soviet to Neo-Con scholarly article on the origins of Ismailism — a branch of Shia University of London. But World War II intervened and in Lewis’ friendship with Henry “Scoop” Jackson, the Islam — came out in 1937 when he was 21, and his most recent 1939, Lewis was drafted into the army and placed in a tank Democratic senator from Washington, catapulted him into his book, The End of Modern History in the Middle East , hit regiment. “I didn’t stay there long, either because of my apti - new country’s corridors of power, where he became a power - bookstores earlier this year. In between, he wrote more than tude for languages or my ineptitude for tanks,” he says. ful intellectual influence on the burgeoning neoconservative 20 books, some of them New York Times bestsellers, plus Transferred to intelligence, he was stationed in London for the movement. Jackson was a fierce anti-communist and opponent numerous scholarly tomes, racking up countless honors, most part, but also toured the Middle East, with stops in of détente, with close ties to the Jewish community. In 1974 including the National Humanities Medal, which President he co-sponsored the Jackson-Vanik amendment, which restrict - George W. Bush presented to him at the White House in 2006. ed trade relations with the Soviet Union in response to taxes The Old World gentleman dressed in slacks and a button- it levied on Jews seeking to emigrate. As the leading defender down Oxford shirt may be retired, but there is nothing retiring of Israel in the US Senate, Jackson was also critical of Soviet about him. As the scholar who coined the term “the clash of support for Arab regimes in the wake of the 1967 Arab-Israeli civilizations” to describe the headlong confrontation between war. Muslim and Christian worlds, Lewis has been extremely out - Lewis’ scholarship, which in its criticism of Islamic culture spoken about his belief that the failure of large swaths of the flew in the face of the so-called Arabists at the State Islamic world to reconcile itself to modernity can be blamed Department, fit well with Jackson’s worldview. “Each of them not on Britain or the US, but on internal decay. These opin - brought something to the table: Jackson had tremendous polit - ions, coupled with his influence, have made him a lightning ical skill, while Lewis provided the view of a preeminent histo - rod for the schisms that rock academia and the nation. Both rian, which helped inoculate Jackson to the claim that he was friends and enemies are plentiful: They have strong feelings running against all expert opinion,” says Robert Kaufman, about him, whether they know him or not, and few, it seems, author of Henry M. Jackson: A Life in Politics . “Senator fall in the middle. Jackson believed the main problem in the Middle East was not The late Columbia University Prof. Edward Said, author of Israel, but a broader culture of tyranny. Lewis deepened those the 1978 book Orientalism , accused Lewis of “demagogy and instincts.” downright ignorance” and more recent critics have accused Their relationship was mutually beneficial, Kaufman adds. In him of fanning the flames of Islamophobia. But he is a prophet the 1970s, as a member of the Senate Committee on to his tight circle of admirers, which includes influential poli - Government Operations, Jackson invited Lewis, then in his cymakers, many of whom served in the administration of late 50s, to Washington to testify before Congress, giving him President George W. Bush. They include former Vice President his first taste of “policy prominence.” Jackson brought Lewis Bernard Lewis Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Defense into a circle of ambitious young men who, like him, were con - Policy Board Chair Richard Perle, Undersecretary of Defense vinced that a tough stance with the USSR was vital to Douglas Feith, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and American interests. Among them were Jackson’s aides, two of National Security Council for Near East and North African Palestine, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. (That was his last visit to whom — Wolfowitz and Perle — had been students of Director Elliott Abrams. Iraq, he tells me.) “It gave me direct insight, which I previous - University of Chicago professor and early neoconservative “Bernard Lewis is the great Orientalist of our time and we ly lacked,” he says of his wartime experience, “and I got a feel - thinker Albert Wohlstetter. Lewis’ relationships with this shan’t see the likes of him again,” says Fouad Ajami, senior fel - ing for what people think and what they say — and the differ - group of policymakers ensured that his influence on policy low at Stanford’s Hoover Institute. Ajami, who was born and ence between the two.” When the war was over, Lewis was decisions would remain strong long after Jackson passed away raised in Lebanon, describes himself as a “self-appointed disci - appointed chair of the University of London’s Near and Middle in 1983. These up-and-coming “Jackson Democrats,” as they ple” of Lewis. The two have been close since Ajami’s days at Eastern History Department. He was in his early 30s and it were known, supported Ronald Reagan’s bid for president Princeton some 35 years ago and Ajami gushes freely about was clearly a feat, but Lewis credits the dearth of academics in after Carter defeated Jackson in the Democratic primaries. his mentor. “His ability to track Islam’s journey over the 70 the post-war years — rather than his own merit — for his pro - Their shift to the Republican Party was cemented following years of his career and really see the deeper currents of Islam motion. the 1980 election, when many of them went to work for — that is his genius. He is able to bridge the gap between schol - Though his original interest was the Arab world, out of Reagan in the White House. In some ways, it was the water - arship and modern affairs and make a seamless connection necessity Lewis quickly branched out. As a Jew in the late shed moment for the neoconservative movement — an ideolo - between the past and the present.” 1940s and early 1950s, he would have been denied a visa to gy that went on to concentrate its foreign policy efforts on pro - Although Lewis hasn’t particularly reveled in the media most Arab countries in the wake of Israel’s independence. moting liberal democracies in other countries. spotlight, he hasn’t shied away from injecting his ideas into the “Some people lied [and didn’t disclose their Jewishness], which “Lewis is the elder statesman of the neoconservative move - political debate. As Ajami, a note of reverence in his voice, tells I was not prepared to do — and which was not very effective,” ment,” says Jacob Heilbrunn, author of They Knew They Were me: “Bernard Lewis is not a coward.” he says. The result was that he shifted his research to include Right: The Rise of the Neocons . “He provided the intellectual Many Jewish boys study Hebrew in preparation for their bar Turkey and Iran, focusing on the Ottoman period. As luck scaffolding for the belief that something was very wrong with mitzvahs, but few fall passionately in love with the language. would have it, he was in Istanbul when the Turkish govern - Arab societies. His worldview was antithetical to the dominant That is what happened to Lewis. Born in London in 1916 and ment opened its archives in 1950. As an up-and-coming schol - one and he essentially reversed the terms of the debate.” raised by “twice-a-year Jews,” as he puts it, he accompanied his ar, he was the first westerner granted access to these storied Neoconservatives, with Lewis’ backing, argued that Israel was parents — a businessman who dealt in real estate and a home - treasures, which helped cement his prominence in the field. not the obstacle to peace; the problem lay in the makeup of maker — to a “nominally Orthodox” synagogue on the High He wrote extensively about the Ottoman Empire and Arab Arab societies. Lewis, long a strong defender of Israel, has Holy Days and Passover. history as seen through the lens of the newly-opened archives. close ties to the Jewish state: He gives annual lectures at Tel “It was a new language and a new history, and it was my “He’s the first true historian of the Middle East,” says Martin Aviv University and owns an apartment there as well. “He sees supreme good fortune that the Hebrew teacher my parents Kramer, a former student, now a senior fellow at the Shalem Israel as a liberal democracy,” Kramer says, “the kind of found for me was a scholar, a real maskil, who responded to Institute in Jerusalem. “Before him, there were linguists and democracy we hope for in other parts of the Middle East.” my childish enthusiasm,” he recalls. Lewis has recounted this philologists who dabbled in history, but he was the first to 80-year-old story countless times, but his eyes still light up at bring historical methodology to the study of the Middle East.” From Ar m enian Holocaust to Turk ish Deaths the memory. His parents were willing to continue funding his Lewis, he says, pioneered fields from Jews in Islamic history to Lewis’ close ties to Israel may be one of the reasons he Hebrew studies after his bar mitzvah, and so he continued his issues of slavery and race in the Ottoman Empire: “These were changed his opinions about Turkey, the first Muslim nation to language instructions, adding Aramaic as well. This, of course, sensitive areas that required a deft hand, and Lewis had it.” recognize the Jewish state and its longtime ally. In the first edi - was in addition to the French, Latin and German he studied as While in Turkey, Lewis also witnessed that country’s first tion of The Emergence of Modern Turkey in 1961, and in a part of his regular school curriculum. He was also deeply free election, in which the Democratic Party officially ended second that followed seven years later, Lewis had termed the taken by history. “When we learned about British history and the country’s one-party era — something, he says, “that had continued on next page 12 S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 24, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR ARTS & LIVING

of the Middle East was yet another manifestation of imperial - ties, he adds. The Revered and Reviled ism and implicitly insists that the study of the east belongs to To his admirers, his views of the two civilizations made the people of the east. “Orientalists” (the term became a pejo - Lewis nothing less than a modern-day seer. Says Ajami: Bernard Lewis rative) like Lewis, he argues, barely conceal their disdain for “Islamic fundamentalism, which became the story of the world their subject matter. At the core of Westerners’ study, Said — he foresaw it before anyone. He has an ability to see things, from previous page claims, is a “subtle and persistent Eurocentric prejudice buck the trend, differ from his contemporaries and step out of Armenian Genocide a “holocaust.” But by the third edition, against Arabo-Islamic peoples and their culture.” He calls the consensus. The 1990s were an era of globalization, when published in 2002, he had a change of heart, replacing “holo - Lewis, his primary target, a “perfect exemplification” of an people talked about the differences in the world being erased caust” with the word “slaughter” and adding a reference to “Establishment Orientalist” whose work “purports to be objec - by a common marketplace. There were two men — Bernard Turkish deaths as well. In 1985, he urged the US Congress to tive liberal scholarship but is in reality very close to being pro - Lewis and Sam Huntington — who said, ‘it ain’t so.’” refrain from passing a resolution that would condemn the paganda against his subject material.” For Lewis, the clash of civilizations had finally made it to event as “genocide,” and after he published a 1993 article on Lewis responded in kind, publishing a screed against America’s doorstep. The situation had reached a dangerous the subject in Le Monde , he was fined a symbolic one franc by Orientalism in the New York Review of Books . He famously boiling point and could no longer be ignored. The attacks of French courts under the country’s Holocaust-denial laws. asserted, “If westerners cannot legitimately study the history 9/11, he warns, must be seen as a battle in a larger war of “There is no doubt the Armenians suffered a terrible massacre, of Africa or the Middle East, then only fish can study marine jihad . According to the first stage of jihad , infidel rule in but to compare it to what happened to the Jews in Nazi biology.” At the crux, Lewis tells me, is “the difference between Islamic lands must end. “That has been, in the main, complet - Germany is an absurdity,” he tells me. scholarship and politics; they insist on seeing everything as ed. All the states that were formally ruled by Russians and Lewis’ reversal took the Armenian community by surprise, politics and they see Orientalists as imperialists, which is abso - Frenchmen and Englishmen are now ruled by people of their says Rouben P. Adalian, director of the Armenian National lute nonsense. The Orientalist scholarship in the western own land.” The second stage, he says, is to recover lost lands Institute in Washington, DC. “For the Armenian community, world began in the Middle Ages long before there was a ques - of Islam — i.e., countries like Israel and Spain that were once it’s a huge preoccupation to have this history recognized and tion of French or British imperialism.” ruled by Muslims but no longer are. The third and final phase so, when Bernard Lewis enters the fray, it provides ammuni - Shortly before his death in 2003, Said attended a roundtable is extending Islamic rule to the whole world, where inhabitants tion to the Turkish government in denying that a genocide discussion organized by the Arabic weekly Al-Ahram in which can either embrace Islam or become second-class citizens. he claimed that Lewis “hasn’t set foot in the Middle East, in “There is no doubt” that 9/11 is part of this struggle, he the Arab world, for at least 40 years. He knows something insists. “Osama bin Laden expressed himself quite clearly — about Turkey, I’m told, but he knows nothing about the Arab this is part of global jihad and initiation of the final phase, world.” Some 25 years had passed since the publication of bringing the true faith into the lands of unbelievers.” Orientalism , but the rage — whether academic or otherwise — Israel and the unsettled Palestinian question is not — as so was still simmering, as raw then as decades before. Much of many claim — the root of Arab hatred of the US. “Israel serves the debate took place on the pages of the New York Review as a useful stand-in for complaints about the economic priva - of Books , but it also spilled over to conferences sponsored by tion and political repression under which most Muslim people the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), the reigning live, and as a way of deflecting the resulting anger,” Lewis says umbrella association of Middle East scholars founded in 1966, in a November 2001 issue of The New Yorker . and which was eventually, in Lewis’ words, “taken over by Since American foreign policy under George W. Bush was Saidians.” Said and Lewis met only once, at a MESA confer - conducted by a group of men with whom Lewis was well- ence and their meeting was brief and uneventful, Lewis tells acquainted, he had rare access to the White House after me. September 11, 2001. He had a “quite friendly relationship with Lewis believes he became a target primarily because he was Cheney” at the time, he recalls, and he was a guest speaker at Jewish and British. “We all tend to judge others by ourselves; the vice president’s residence only weeks after the attacks. On that’s human nature,” Lewis says. Said, a Palestinian born in the eve of the Iraq invasion, Cheney, appearing on NBC’s Jerusalem and an English professor, was bitterly and viciously “Meet the Press,” invoked the name and philosophy of the anti-British, he says. “He assumed that an Englishman who then-octogenarian professor. “I firmly believe, along with men was a professor of Arabic would have the same attitude to his like Bernard Lewis, who is one of the great students of that subject as he had to his.” part of the world, that strong, firm US response to terror and With the eighth anniversary of Said’s death approaching, to threats to the United States would go a long way, frankly, this debate continues to rage across American college cam - toward calming things in that part of the world.” Bush report - puses, where a new generation of scholars has taken his lead. edly read a well-worn copy of What Went Wrong , which was “Bernard Lewis is an influential scholar, but his writings, par - given to him by Condoleezza Rice, who also met privately with ticularly over the past years, have become increasingly polem - Lewis, according to reports. And Karl Rove is said to have invit - ical and ideological,” says Nader Hashemi, a Middle East ed him to address White House staffers, military aides and expert at the University of Denver and an outspoken critic of staff members of the National Security Council in a closed Lewis. “He assumes there is a fossilized Muslim core that meeting, where Lewis reportedly discussed the failures of con - Rouben Adalian determines the way Muslims will always behave and ignores temporary Arab and Muslim societies and shared his opinions changing social conditions in the Middle East.” about the origins of the Muslim world’s anti-Americanism. Indeed, Lewis has become persona non grata in Middle Once again Lewis was instrumental in providing an intellec - took place. And so here we are, 95 years after the Genocide, Eastern studies departments on college campuses across the tual foundation for government policy, but this time the men with piles of evidence, still having this conversation.” US. Hashemi includes one of Lewis’ books in his syllabus, but he influenced were in control. Peter Waldman called this Looking back, Lewis says that he felt comfortable in the neo - mostly as an example of the kind of Orientalist scholarship stu - framework the “Lewis Doctrine” while describing Lewis’ out - conservative camp, and continues to feel that way. “Yes, I feel dents should learn to avoid. Lewis himself acknowledges the sized influence in shaping Middle East policy in the Wall that ‘neoconservative’ is not an inaccurate description of me,” phenomenon: He was a guest lecturer several years ago at a Street Journal in February 2004. “Though never debated in he says when I ask. Then he paraphrases the popular, though university in the Midwest and says that while students repre - Congress or sanctified by presidential decree, Mr. Lewis’ diag - somewhat apocryphal Winston Churchill quote: “If you’re not senting various disciplines flocked to his lecture, not a single nosis of the Muslim world’s malaise, and his call for a US mil - a liberal when you’re 25, you have no heart. If you’re not a con - student from Middle Eastern studies was present. As a gradu - itary invasion to seed democracy in the Mideast, have helped servative by the time you’re 35, you have no brain.” ate student later told him, attending the lecture “would have define the boldest shift in US foreign policy in 50 years,” In choosing to blame Islam for its own decline, Lewis was harmed his career.” Says Hashemi: “Lewis’ reputation within Waldman writes. “As mentor and informal adviser to some top bucking the new paradigm through which the region was the community of Middle East scholars has really sunk to an US officials, Mr. Lewis has helped coax the White House to being seen: post-colonialism, which attributed the Middle all-time low.” shed decades of thinking about Arab regimes and the use of East’s current problems to the colonial era. Lewis argues that “In most American universities,” says Ajami, “the battle of military power. Gone is the notion that US policy in the oil-rich imperialism — while certainly one of the roots of the problems ideas between Lewis and Said was, alas, won by Said and his region should promote stability above all, even if it means tak - that now plague the modern Middle East — hardly explains the disciples. To me, that is a tragic outcome.” ing tyrants as friends. Also gone is the corollary notion that region’s malaise. Those very problems brought colonialism to When the Twin Towers came crashing down on September fostering democratic values in these lands risks destabilizing the region in the first place, he’s insisted: “Why did colonial - 11, 2001, Lewis’ book What Went Wrong: Western Impact them. Instead, the Lewis Doctrine says fostering Mideast ism come to the Middle East? Because [the region] was relaps - and Eastern Response was at the printer. When it was democracy is not only wise, but imperative.” ing into total backwardness.” released in December, its thesis was on everyone’s mind. As During Lewis’ seven decades as a scholar, the study of the Lewis says, “Osama Bin Laden made me famous.” Kramer Iraq Policy Middle East changed dramatically. When he was a student and phrases it this way: “Bernard Lewis became a household name Lewis was not unwilling to combine his academic expertise a young professor, Oriental studies — as it was then known — after 9/11, at a time when followers of Said thought they got with policy advice. He published op-eds frequently and in one drew on European experiences of the Crusades, the rid of him.” No longer just relegated to the Ivy League and the 2002 Wall Street Journal piece appropriately called “Time for Renaissance and the Enlightenment. Modern Middle Eastern pages of high-brow journals, the academic dispute over the Toppling,” he predicted “scenes of rejoicing” in Iraq should studies departments didn’t come into existence until after Islamic world now became central to explaining Osama bin “we succeed in overthrowing the regimes of what President World War II, when the US began to place greater emphasis Laden and his global jihad . Bush has rightly called the ‘Axis of Evil.’” He did the talk show on studying the region due to its strategic significance. The “Clash of civilizations” thundered across the airwaves, three circuit as well. When Charlie Rose asked him in a 2004 inter - government began to pour money into the field, and in 1958, words often associated with the Harvard political science Prof. view why invading Afghanistan would not have been enough as part of the National Defense Education Act, funded Title VI Samuel Huntington, who borrowed it for the title of his land - to prove that the US was more than a “paper tiger,” as Bin fellowships to support graduate students in what became mark 1993 Foreign Affairs article, which was later expanded Laden called it, Lewis said plainly, “Afghanistan was not suffi - known as “area studies.” into a book with the same title. Huntington, a titan in his field, cient; one had to get to the heart of the matter in the Middle With the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, these programs became died in 2008, and Lewis hesitates to take credit for the phrase, East.” During that same interview, he also backed his friend increasingly politicized. Lewis’ Israel sympathies set him apart telling me he never called his theory “the clash of civilizations” Ahmed Chalabi, the controversial Iraqi politician who claimed early on, but were hardly the only thing that separated him per se. “It was an idea I came to in stages after studying the that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. When from colleagues in the discipline. Many in these newly-formed long history of jihad and crusade and counter-crusade and so pressed by Rose on whether the Iraq invasion was “worth it,” area studies departments focused on methodology and theory, on throughout the centuries,” he explains. Nevertheless, he Lewis replied pointedly: “Yes, I think it was necessary to do whereas Lewis remained committed to the “objective” study of believes in its fundamental truths: Christians and Muslims something. One has to consider what the alternatives were.” history — a notion that had come into question in the field. both believe they are the recipients of God’s final word, which Lewis’ influence on the formulation of the Bush adminis - they are obligated to share with the rest of humanity — a mes - tration’s controversial Middle East policy drew critics en Fighting with Edward Said sage that is both universal and exclusive. “This inevitably led masse. Michael Hirsh, chief correspondent at the National In 1978 when Edward Said published Orientalism — a work to conflict, to the real clash of rival civilizations aspiring to the Journal and author of the highly critical 2004 article, that became a handbook for post-colonial theory — Bernard same role, leading to the same hegemony,” Lewis said during “Bernard Lewis Revisited,” says that Lewis’ credentials gave Lewis’ status in the field came under intense scrutiny for the a 2006 Washington, DC event hosted by the Pew Forum. It is the Bush administration’s policies “intellectual credence.” “It first time in his career. In the book, Said posited that the study not their differences that lead to the clash but their similari - continued on next page S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 24, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR 13 ARTS & LIVING

The Revered and Reviled Bernard Lewis CC AA LLEENNDDAARR from previous page was a mistake to say [that 9/11] was an expres - sion of anger that represented the mainstream of the Arab and Muslim world,” Hirsh tells me. cal “Really, the US had to just wipe out al Qaeda, CALIFORNIA but instead, they took on the entire Arab world. That’s where people like Lewis led us astray OCTOBER 6-10 — Armenian International Women’s Association and I don’t think anyone would cite him today (AIWA), Sixth International Conference, San Francisco. For info, without some sense of irony.” Hirsh goes on: call Anita Tashjian (323) 394-3586. Visit www.aiwala.org. “By his own volition, he left the academic world NOVEMBER 19 — The Armenian EyeCare Project will hold its to become a political figure and that was the ninth Annual New por t Gala, honoring Gov. George beginning of the end of his reputation.” Deukmejian, on November 19, 6:30 p.m., at the Balboa Bay Club, Hashemi also questions Lewis’ understand - Newport Beach. For info and reservations, call (949) 675-5611. ing of the situation: “Lewis is a medievalist and he tries to interpret contemporary Islamic poli - FLORIDA tics by going back to an earlier time period where an ‘essential’ Islam allegedly existed. He The Armenian Cultural Association of America, Inc. presents: uses this framework to explain events that hap - Armenian Heritage Cruise XV. Leaving January 21, 2012. 15th pen half a millennium later. He plays into a neo - Anniversary Celebration. For more info, visit conservative right-wing agenda that wants to www.ArmenianHeritageCruise.com. control, manipulate and dominate the Middle East. His apocalyptic narrative fits well with a MASSACHUSETTS On October 22, the First Armenian Church, 380 Fox News audience, but it’s not serious political Concord Ave., Belmont, Mass., will host its annual analysis or scholarship.” OCTOBER 20 — The K. George and Carolann S. Najarian, MD Fall Harvest Bazaar, from noon-8 p.m., featuring When I ask Lewis about his role in the for - Lecture on Human Rights. Endowed Public Program of Armenian dinners, home made Armenian pastries, mulation of the Bush administration’s Middle Armenian Heritage Park. Faneuil Hall, Boston. 7 p.m. Keynote marketplace, children’s items and more. For info, East policy, he minimizes it and calls any refer - speaker, Paul Rusesabagina, human rights activist; US visit www.FACSBelmont.org or call (617) 484-4779. ence to a “Lewis Doctrine” misleading and Presidential Medal of Freedom (2005); president and founder, The Pictured above are church members, preparing for “worse — it’s false.” He tells me that the White Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation; author, An Ordinary Man, last year’s bazaar. House asked him to email his opinions from Penguin 2006. The Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation was time to time, which he did, “but I don’t know founded in 2006 by Rusesabagina, the real life hero of the acclaimed that they took any notice of it.” film “Hotel Rwanda.” Portrayed by Don Cheadle in the film, He takes pains to distance himself from the mili - Rusesabagina saved the lives of more than 1,200 people during the OCTOBER 15 —The Armenian American Health Professional tary invasion, and despite some of his earlier writ - Rwandan genocide and has been honored internationally for his Organization (AAHPO) Gala Benefit event. Cocktails, 6:30 p.m. ings, says that he advocated for the US to recognize heroism. Charlie Clements, executive director, Carr Center for Human Dinner program and dancing, 7:30 p.m. Teaneck Marriot at Glen an independent government in the north of Iraq, Rights Policy, Harvard Kennedy School of Government will introduce Pointe, 100 Frank W. Burr Blvd., Teaneck. For info, call (201) 546- which would have potentially fomented democratic Rusesabagina. 6166, [email protected]. movements in the rest of the country. As he tells me OCTOBER 22 — Fall Harvest Bazaar, noon-8 p.m., First Armenian repeatedly: “It was a profoundly mistaken decision Church, 380 Concord Ave., Belmont. Great food, fun and the mar - NEW YORK to invade Iraq. What should have been done was to ketplace. Lamb, beef, chicken and losh kebab dinners grilled fresh all help the people in the north. But to invade the day with pilaf and salad, enjoy in our Fellowship Hall or packed for SEPTEMBER 24 — St. Nersess Armenian Seminary presents country was a mistake; I said so at the time and I’ve home. Yalanchi, cheese boreg and falafel. Home made manti, kufte, Evening under the Stars, at 7 p.m. Benefit reception, 150 Stratton said so ever since.” choreg, string cheese packaged for the freezer. Handmade pastries, Road, New Rochelle, NY. Come and enjoy cocktails, music and min - “Do you think people misrepresented your dried fruits, nuts. Marketplace includes books, children’s items, “attic gling under an elegant candlelit tent on the scene of the seminary opinions?” I ask. “Definitely,” he says. Ajami, for treasures” and more. Handicamp ramp and MBTA train and bus line. campus. $100 per person; to RSVP, call (914) 636-2003 or visit his part, says he doesn’t remember his mentor’s For info, visit www.FACBelmont.org or (617) 484-4779. All welcome. www.stnersess.edu. opinions about the Iraq invasion. But he says NOVEMBER 17 — Party at the Other Park! Benefit for the SEPTEMBER 25 — 92Y Streetfest ’11, 12-5:30 p.m., Lexington the malice coming from both the Ivory Tower Armenian Heritage Park Endowment. Fenway Park, Boston. Avenue, 79th to 94th streets, New York City. Visit Armenia’s booth, and elsewhere about Lewis’ role in the Bush Advance reservations only. For details and reply form, visit featuring AWI watches, mountain honey, walnut and apricot pre - administration is misguided. “For enemies of www.ArmenianHeritagePark.net. serves at International Way. See AGBU’s Dance Ensemble at Main Lewis, he became the godfather of the Iraq war, FEBRUARY 11, 2012 — The Armenian Sisters’ Academy 30th stage. For info, visit www.92.org. which was ridiculous,” Ajami says. “Academics Anniversary Gala, Saturday, at the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel, OCTOBER 1 — HMADS 45th anniversary celebration. Friends of don’t lead governments to war.” Boston. Additional details to follow. HMADS present Krikor Satamian at Armenian Church of the Holy As Lewis knows well, what his legacy will Martyrs Church Auditorium, Bayside, NY 11364. Tickets, $65, includ - look like depends largely on who writes the his - NEW JERSEY ing mezza/dinner. For information, contact school office: (718) 225- tory. He is reluctant to predict what contours it 4826; e-mail [email protected]. will take; most likely, the work will be left to his SEPTEMBER 24-25 — The annual St. Mary Armenian Church Food OCTOBER 28-30 — The annual symposium weekend of the disciples, much as Said’s worldview continues Festival, 200 West Mt. Pleasant Ave., Livingston, NJ. Free admission Women’s Guild Central Council. At the St. Vartan Armenian to live and thrive-both in academe and else - starting Saturday, 12-7:30 p.m., Sunday 12:30-4:30 p.m. Armenian Cathedral Complex and Diocesan Center, New York City. For infor - where-thanks to his followers. But in 2007, music by John Vartan Ensemble, delicious food, games, raffle. For mation, contact Rita Oscherician at (201) 398-0153 or margheri - Lewis and his coterie took a step toward reshap - direction call (973) 533-9794, visit www.MyArmenianChurch.org. [email protected]. ing the academic battleground. They founded SEPTEMBER 25 — Hope around every curve. Second annual ride 4 OCTOBER 30 — Shushi Armenian Dance Ensemble of St. Vartan the Association for the Study of the Middle East Avi, Family Fun Day, Sunday, 12-3:30 p.m. Knights of Columbus Hall, Cathedral, New York City, presents Independence celebrating the and Africa (ASMEA), an academic group meant Shunpike Road and Harvard Street, Summit. Minimum tax-deductible 20th anniversary of Armenia’s “Independence.” Twentieth anniver - to counter the influence of MESA. “In the donation. Adults, $10 and children, $5. Includes BBQ lunch and live sary of Karabagh and 20th anniversary of the Shushi Armenian democratic world, universities are free and you entertainment. For more information, visit www.ride4avi.com. Dance Ensemble. 150 Performers. 5 p.m., Felician College, 262 Main don’t have an imposed orthodoxy,” Lewis tells OCTOBER 1 — Festival of Dance and Music Ensembles, at 7 p.m. St., Lodi. Donation: $100, $50, $40, $30 and $25. For tickets, call me. “That’s not the case [in Middle Eastern sharp. Bergen Academics, 200 Hackensack Ave., Hackensack. In cel - Marie (201) 745-8850, Sossy (201) 779-9007, Diocese (212) 686- Studies departments] where you have an ebration of the 35th anniversary of the Hovnanian School. Tickets, 0710. Purchase tickets online at www.shushidance.org. imposed orthodoxy to a greater degree than $50, $35 and $25. Call Sonya (201) 315-5916 or Mari (914) 907- MAY 19, 2012 — HMADS Gala Dinner Dance. Details to follow, June any other time since the Middle Ages. It makes 6762. Program organized by Hamazkayin. 25. HMADS 30th Commencement Exercise at 8 p.m., Kalustyan Hall. free discussion, if not impossible, very difficult.” With Lewis as its chairman and other big names like Ajami on board, ASMEA hopes to challenge MESA’s hegemony. At 1,100 mem - bers, it’s significantly smaller than its competi - tion (MESA has more than 3,000, according to glory to something so politicized.” events in the Middle East, which he has been which despite his criticism of its present-day its website), but David Silverstein, the group’s Back in his apartment, Lewis tells me he is following on television, he has been sorting manifestations, he admires as one of the world’s executive director, says its ranks are growing. slowing down, but, again, this is relative. “He is through old notes and turning his attention to great religions. It could be this love, says Ian For the most part, it is funded by member dues, so unlike the stereotypes of aging,” says his poetry. Right now, he’s at work on a collection Buruma, writing in The New Yorker , that has as well as organizations like the Bradley partner of 15 years, Buntzie Churchill, who has of poetry he’s translating from Arabic, Persian, led Lewis to overreach in his belief that the Foundation, a Milwaukee-based group that aims co-authored two books with Lewis and is for - Turkish and Hebrew — four of the dozen or so west may be able to save his beloved Muslim civ - to strengthen capitalism and limited govern - mer president of the World Affairs Council of languages he has mastered. ilization. Wrote Buruma, “Perhaps he loves it ment and also supports conservative think - Philadelphia. Lewis attends ASMEA events Lewis remains an ardent student of Islam, too much.” tanks like the American Enterprise Institute (“people call just to make sure that he will be and the Heritage Foundation. “ASMEA is there,” says Silverstein. “They just want to be in restoring competition in the marketplace of the presence of a great man”), and he is cur - ideas in Middle Eastern studies,” Silverstein rently putting the finishing touches on a mem - says. “This is an issue of ongoing concern to oir, What and When, How and Why: [Lewis] because of his love for the discipline Reflections of a Middle East Historian , due out and his horror at the way it slid from its former next year. Rather than focus on current politi - Advertise in the Mirror-Spectator 14 S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 24, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR COMMENTARY

T HE A RMENIAN COMMENTARY Mirror- Celebrating 20th Anniversary of Spectator Armenia’s Independence have much to cheer. By Edmond Y. Azadian There are mixed feelings in the country, with the realization of the dream for an independent Armenia, counterbalanced by the severe economic crisis, which is contributing to the depopulation Established 1932 The republic of Armenia is 20 years old. It seems that there is of Armenia. nothing unusual about this anniversary, but seen through the The diaspora is gearing up to celebrate the 20th anniversary An ADL Publication perspective of our turbulent past, the anniversary becomes very of independence with a sense of history rather than the goals significant with historic ramifications. achieved in this time span. The economic hardships are at best At the turn of the 20th century, a historic opportunity was academic for the Diaspora Armenians, while people in Armenia EDITOR created for an independent republic, squeezed on a tiny por - are at the receiving end of that crisis. Alin K. Gregorian tion of historic Armenia. The republic was short-lived, but it Armenians are also encouraged by the fact that while the first

ASSOCIATE EDITOR was a rare opportunity for self-rule after 600 years of foreign republic survived for only two years the third republic has Aram Arkun domination. already been around 10 times longer. Political and historic events limited the life of the republic to By the end of two years, Armenians around the world were at ART DIRECTOR Marc Mgrditchian only two years, after which Armenia was absorbed into the total - a psychological threshold waiting to see if the new republic could itarian structure of the emerging Soviet Empire. or would survive beyond that threshold. Now that moment is his - PRODUCTION Although ham-strung with constricted sovereignty and subject tory too. Dilani Yogaratnam to authoritative harsh rule, Armenia survived — indeed thrived — During the last 20 years, Diaspora Armenians got more and in its second incarnation, with tremendous achievements in sci - more involved with the life of the homeland, sharing the good ence, technology, education and the arts. and the bad days. Perhaps that is the reason President Serge The third republic emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Sargisian is flying to the US to celebrate the 20th anniversary of CONTRIBUTORS: Union, at a most trying time, as a border war was raging with independence with the largest Armenian community abroad, Elizabeth Aprahamian, Daphne Abeel, Dr. Haroutiune Arzoumanian, Edmond Azerbaijan and an earthquake had devastated one-third of the although there are some rumblings in California, trying to politi - Azadian, Prof. Vahakn N. Dadrian, Diana country. cize the occasion. Der Hovanessian, Philip Ketchian, On September 21, 1991, independence came to a gloomy Armenia is the best chance for the survival of the Armenians Kevork Keushkerian, Sonia Kailian- Armenia. It was rather forced by the political circumstances, sim - in the world. The leadership may give some cause for concern, Placido , H arut Sassounian, Mary Terzian, ilar to the previous two republics. but the historic significance of the occasion must bind all the Hagop Vartivarian, Naomi Zeytoonian, Armenians at home and abroad welcomed independence with Armenians together. Taleen Babayan trepidation, as the specter of a Turkish threat was looming Criticizing authorities for every ill has become the favorite across the border. sport for almost all the political parties and the press. But the CORRESPONDENTS: Fortunately, Armenia won the war at the cost of 7,000 casual - blame-game can last only until we realize that every Armenian ties. The ensuing and continuing no-war-and-no-peace status has and every group has to carry his or her weight. Armenia - Hagop Avedikian Boston - Nancy Kalajian hampered the country’s economic growth, coupled with the The diaspora has to do a lot of political legwork international - Philadelphia - Lisa Manookian blockade by Turkey and Azerbaijan. ly to ease the blockade and allow the homeland to breathe easi - The days of power outages, freezing cold and lack of running er. Contributing Photographers: Jacob Demirdjian, Harry Koundakjian, Jirair water are already history, but the economic strangulation by Armenia is doing its share and should war break out, the coun - Hovsepian Turkey is still taking its toll. try has the military hardware and technology “to impose peace,” The government is trying to put a brave face over the country as the president reassures us. Therefore, let us join with the peo - The Armenian Mirror-Spectator is published with pomp and circumstance. Fireworks and a military parade ple in Armenia to celebrate this historic moment and look for - weekly, except two weeks in July, by: are intended to boost the morale of the populace, who do not ward to happier times. Baikar Association, Inc. 755 Mt. Auburn St., Watertown, MA 02472-1509 Telephone: 617-924-4420 FAX: 617-924-2887 www.mir rorspectator.com E-Mail: editor@mirrorspectator .com Ambassadors to Armenia, Turkey Approved by For advertising: [email protected] New York/New Jersey Office Senate Foreign Relations Committee 560 Sylvan Ave. , Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 (201) 800-1164 AMBASSADORS, from page 1 sites and monuments in Turkey, and formulate fight hard for US values and interests and not In the end, his nomination went through legislation therein to enhance religious free - succumb to Turkey’s propaganda machine.” SUBSCRIPTION RATES : after a split vote, with Senators Menendez, dom in Turkey and protect and preserve what The nominations are now set to go to the U.S.A. 2nd Class $75 a year Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Jim Risch (R-ID) vot - remains of its Christian heritage,” stated full Senate for confirmation. 1st Class $120 a year ing against Ricciardone’s nomination, and Armenian Assembly Executive Director Bryan Canada Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Chris Ardouny. Air Mail $125 a year Coons (D-DE) also raising concerns about “We would like to thank Senator Menendez LETTERS All Other Countries Ricciardone’s troubling response on minority for his principled leadership in calling atten - Air Mail $190 a year rights and religious freedom in Turkey. tion to Amb. Ricciardone’s offensive and unac - Display advertising r at e: $7 per column inch John Heffern was unanimously approved to ceptable responses to questions dealing with An Apology Is Not A serve as ambassador to Armenia. The next step the plight of Christians in Turkey,” said in the process is for approval by the full Armenian National Committee of America Tall Order © 2010 The Armenian Mirror-Spectator Senate. Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “Senator Periodical Class Postage Paid at Boston, MA “The Armenian Assembly calls upon the Menendez along with Senators Boxer and To the Editor: and additional mailing offices. Senate Foreign Relations Committee to under - Risch sent a powerful message to Ricciardone This letter is in direct response to Edmond Azadian’s Commentary last ISSN 0004-234X take a full assessment of the current situation and State Department officials that the of Armenian churches and other such religious American people deserve a US envoy who will week, “Political Dividends from Turkish- POSTMASTER : Send address changes to The Israeli Row.” Armenian Mirror-Spectator, P.O. 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either churches or the graveyard. finally allowed to leave after three hours. Everything in On his third day in Nakhichivan, while traveling by train Sim’s “bag was taken out and carefully looked at, and the to Julfa, Sim observed the remains of the Jugha graveyard. bag itself was examined for any secret compartments. This He reported seeing “a hillside covered by stone slabs, lasted for about 15 minutes, without a word being spoken.” spread out over three ridges. All of the gravestones had Sim was asked about his job. How much did he earn, My Turn been toppled, without any exceptions.” who paid him to come to Nakhichevan and why would he In Ordubad, Sim was taken to the police station where spend his own money to come here? The officers examined By Harut Sassounian his bag was searched, as he was interrogated about the pur - carefully Sim’s notebook and checked through all of his pose of his visit. He was then placed on the next bus back photographs stored in his digital camera. They showed to Nakhichevan city. From there he went to Shurut which most interest in a photograph he had taken in Nakhichevan Visit to Nakhichevan Shows Why used to be “a small Armenian town during the late city. “It was of a stone slab that I had seen in the gardens Armenians Can Never Again Live medieval period, with churches, schools, monasteries, scrip - opposite the Momina Hatun mausoleum, surrounded by a toria and several tens of thousands of inhabitants.” large collection of ram-shaped gravestones. On this stone Under Azeri Rule At the neighboring Krna village, there were no traces of was carved a cross rising from a rectangular base.” the local Armenian Church. The same was true about the The Azeri officials told him that it was not a cross. Sim Scottish researcher Steven Sim reported about his trou - village of Gah. When he asked a passerby about the church told them that he had read about the church in an bling experiences in Nakhichevan, a historic Armenian ter - in Shurut, he was told that it had been destroyed. Armenian book. They angrily responded: “It is wrong. It is ritory now occupied by Azerbaijan. Since Sim’s 2006 In Shurut, Sim was confronted by a group of villagers. lying to you. You see, Armenians are always lying — they are revealing report has not been adequately publicized in the When he said that he had come to see the old church, they lying to everyone.” They also stated that “there never were international media, I would like to present here some of told him that there was never a church in their village. As any Armenian churches anywhere in Nakhichevan. There its highlights. he left Shurut, the taxi driver told Sim that the villagers were no Armenians ever living here — so how could there Sim stated that he entered Nakhichevan by land from had phoned the police in Julfa and that law enforcement have been churches here?” The Azeris told Sim: “We think Turkey and traveled to the village of Abrakunis at Yernjak officials would probably be waiting for him somewhere that you are not here with good intentions towards the valley. When he asked a 12-year-old about an ancient along the road. Azerbaijan republic.” church there, the boy pointed to an empty piece of land. A car was indeed waiting for Sim. “A policeman got into Sim stated that his unpleasant experiences in Sim next visited Bananiyar, known to Armenians as the back of the taxi and asked me if I had a topographic Nakhichevan shed “some light onto the attitudes that Aparank, where he reported that “at least until the 1970s map and an ethnographic book.” When Sim answered that Azerbaijan holds about Armenians and anything there were some ruins of a large medieval church located he did not, the policeman made a cursory search of his bag. Armenian.” The report shows why it is impossible for on high ground in the middle of the village. Now a mosque In Julfa, Sim stopped at the police headquarters, where his Armenians of Artsakh (Karabagh) to live ever again under is built on the former church grounds.” At Norashen, two bag was searched again. After waiting in a corridor for a oppressive Azeri rule. If a Scottish visitor is treated so poor - Armenian churches and a graveyard had existed at the while, Sim was taken to the town’s Araz Hotel. He was ly, imagine how much worse Azeris treated their Armenian north-western edge of this village. He found no trace of escorted to a garden in the back of the building. Sim was subjects in Artsakh until its liberation. Australian Senator Discusses Assyrian Genocide in Parliament

Panayiotis Diamadis, director of the cumbed to starvation, disease and exhaus - man of the ABC, and Oscar Lines, the gen - By Sen. Concetta Australian Institute for Holocaust and tion. eral manager of the Bank of New South Fierravanti Genocide Studies, made a very informative He relates that, by the time the survivors Wales. They were concerned with the plight presentation. He has kindly provided me reached the town of Baqubah, northwest of of the Armenians and worked together with with a copy, and I would like to share with Baghdad in British Mesopotamia, only others, such as former Menzies cabinet Recently I attended a commemoration the Senate some fascinating insights into 40,000 were left. He stated: minister and British High Commissioner seminar at the New South Wales parlia - Australians who rescued Assyrians, The men of the Dunsterforce have left us Thomas White, who was also a prisoner of ment organized by the Australian chapter Armenians and Hellenes. In his presenta - with a stunning collection of eyewitness war during World War I in Turkey and, as of the Assyrian Universal Alliance. The sem - tion, he stated: testimonies and photographs of the the article states: inar focused on events of 95 years ago in The survivors of the Assyrian, Armenian Assyrian exodus, now housed in the As a witness to the Armenian genocide, one of the bloodiest chapters in modern and Hellenic genocides rescued were not an Australian War Memorial in Canberra. he later returned home and joined the history, with the massacre and deportation amorphous mass of people; they were tens And further: Armenian relief effort. of hundreds of thousands of Assyrians, of thousands of individual stories. The These young Australian soldiers were The article also refers to another promi - Armenians and Greeks. This persecution Australian men and women who rescued assigned to secure certain territory for the nent Australian, the Rev. J.E. Cresswell left thousands homeless, dispossessed or those in need were also individuals with Empire. Failing that, their duty was to from Adelaide’s Congregational Church, fleeing to refugee camps. The systematic their own unique experiences. return to base as safely as possible. now the Uniting Church. He was the dismantling of human rights and the perse - Dr. Diamadis also made reference to They were not under orders to risk their national secretary of the Armenian Relief cution of the Assyrians has been acknowl - those many Australians who rescued peo - lives to save these local people. Savage, Fund of Australasia in the 1920s. The arti - edged by many members of the parliament ple, who not only did what they could in Sorrell and their comrades rescued some cle also refers to Sydney Declaration of across the political spectrum at both feder - very difficult circumstances but then subse - 40,000 Assyrian and Armenian men, Philadelphia, which set up the Armenian al and state level. quently continued their efforts in Australia, women and children. They saved these lives Relief Fund, which included prominent We not only have taken a keen interest in and I will come to those in a moment. He because it was their duty as human beings philanthropists, businesspeople such as the this issue but have wanted to support the began his presentation with the to help the helpless. Griffith brothers, who at the time were community in Australia in its efforts to Dunsterforce. He stated: He then went on to describe the efforts large suppliers of tea and coffee in raise awareness of the problems of persecu - Formed to secure the Caspian Sea oil - of, in particular, Mrs. Edith Glanville, a Australia, and the Elliot brothers, who were tion. We have sought to raise the issue in fields for the British Empire, this elite unit remarkable woman who founded Quota one of the nation’s biggest pharmaceutical parliament and actively have continued our included many Australians, outnumbered and who did so many other things when groups. The article describes how this fund, efforts to assist the current plight of those and outgunned by the Turkish-Kurdish she returned to Australia, including return - with the help of many Sydneysiders, raised persecuted as they continue to face hard - forces arrayed against them. The force ing to the Middle East on various occasions hundreds of thousands of dollars to help ship and persecution. But as we commemo - retreated into north-west Iran and began and doing wonderful work at the Australian the Armenians when Australians were rate and remember past atrocities we need marching south-west towards British orphanage in Syria in connection with already sacrificing so much during World to look to the future and continue the pres - Mesopotamia. This was mid-1918. Armenian refugees. During the 1920s and War I. The article concludes: sure on governments of all persuasions to Dr. Diamadis recounted some of those 1930s Edith Glanville was a vocal propo - So as we reflect on the sacrifices of brave do all in their power to highlight the plight stories, for example, of Captain — later gen - nent of Assyrian settlement in Australia. Australians who landed on those distant of the Assyrians and to represent their con - eral — Sir Stanley Savage. He described: I also want to make reference to an arti - shores, let us also remember those cerns. But whilst they continue to integrate One of the unfortunate women folk was cle which appeared in The Australian on Australians who lost loved ones and and make a contribution to Australian life, so overcome at the sight of the first party April 25, 2008. It is one of those articles through the kindness of their hearts were it is important that they continue with the of British that they wept aloud. Striking that appeared at the time of Gallipoli. It able to save others. support of others to work towards redress - their breasts they would call down upon us talks about the efforts of Australians who I raise this issue tonight not just in com - ing past injustices. The community here in the blessings of God and rush across and also helped in Armenia and elsewhere in memoration of the thousands of Assyrians, Australia are the children and grandchil - kiss our hands and boots in every joy at the that area. The article refers to the handful Armenians and Hellenes who died but as a dren of an oppressed generation. We must sight of their first deliverance. of Australians who were at the forefront of tribute to the contribution of so many indi - not lose sight of past struggles which He also quoted another member of the the relief effort, yet their stories have been viduals — people like Captain Savage and shaped the present status of the Assyrians Dunsterforce, Captain J M Sorrell MM, and largely hidden. The article goes on to state: Captain Sorrell, Mrs. Edith Glanville and so as a stateless nation. quoted from an article that was published Not one Australian historian has devoted many more good, anonymous and generous Tonight I would like to focus on the in the Perth Sunday Times, on April 27, any attention to these remarkable Australians who saw a need and acted. Australian connection with these tragic 1919: Australians, who have been forgotten along events, which took place 95 years ago, It was almost a hopeless task, as the road with the “forgotten genocide”. (The above speech was made on August under the shadow of World War I. During a for 100 miles was black with refugees. The The article also refers to Mrs. Edith 23 by Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells seminar that I attended at Parliament suffering was very great and, in spite of all Glanville. But it also talks about other peo - [New South Wales[ in the Australian House in New South Wales recently, Dr. that our people could do, thousands suc - ple like Charles Lloyd Jones, the first chair - Senate of the Federal Parliament.) 16 S ATURDAY , S EPTEMBER 24, 2011 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR Karsh Photographs Exhibit Artistry, Technical Mastery

KARSH, from page 1 When he returned to Canada, he set up his in tonality of the final prints, from the deepest been brightened with new lighting and fresh It was Bob Khederian, a board member of own studio in Ottawa in 1932, not far from the blacks to the most brilliant whites and every - paint and the gallery is set off from additional ALMA, who first made the suggestion that she seat of Canada’s government and through a thing in between. He also made extensive use of space devoted to the display of ALMA’s collec - donate prints to ALMA. connection with the prime minister, he began retouching to heighten or diminish the density tion of manuscripts and other historical arti - A gala benefit took place on Friday night at to take portraits of prominent figures. of an image. When he signed the original facts. the Copley Plaza Hotel and the exhibit, titled Karsh had a keen apprehension of the func - prints, he used a special heavy, soft, black ink. Said Michele Kolligian, ALMA trustee and “Karsh: Celebrating Humanity,” opened to tion of light in the context of black and white In all aspects of his work, Karsh must be gala chairperson, “The renovation of the gallery ALMA members and supporters on Saturday. photography and went to great lengths to admired and respected as the consummate pro - and the Karsh gift will put ALMA in a position Certainly, Karsh’s images have drawn atten - achieve the prints that express his signature fessional who mastered both his art and his to attract more visitors and supporters, non- tion because he gained access to some of the look. His work at a local theater in Ottawa intro - craft. There is virtually no photographer today Armenian as well as Armenian. We are so for - world’s most famous people. But he would not duced him to the use of incandescent — as working as Karsh did, and with the advent of tunate to have had a wonderful team of profes - have achieved international renown without a opposed to natural — light and he was to use digital photography, it is highly unlikely that his sionals work on this renovation, which includes superb technical mastery of his craft and a this medium to dramatic effect in his work. For darkroom skills will ever be replicated. a new media room, climate controlled display deeply-thought-out vision of how he wished to some of his assignments, he and his assistants The show at ALMA, consists of 23 of the 25 cases and new bookstore space.” present his subjects. He wrote extensively about would transport as much as 200-300 pounds of images that Estrellita Karsh has given to the ALMA curator Gary Lind-Sinanian, who his approach to the making of photographic lighting equipment to a shoot. He also devel - museum (two not hung because of lack of space worked with Crippen, MFA graphic designer portraits — for example, in his book, Karsh oped a strategy of lighting his subjects’ hands are of Marian Anderson and Jim Hansen, but Jennifer Munson and others virtually up to the Portfolio , 1967, he stated, “Within every man separately from their faces, a technique that they will be hung elsewhere in the building). moment of the gallery opening, said, “This is and woman, a secret is hidden, and as a pho - deepened the interest of the shot. Amongst them are the Churchill photo, por - great, but most people have no idea of the hun - tographer, it is my task to reveal it.” Karsh made use of a number of large-format traits of Albert Schweitzer, Martin Luther King, dreds to details that go into making a show like What may be less familiar to viewers than the cameras, but his favorite instrument was the Mother Theresa, Ernest Hemingway, Robert this happen.” iconic portraits themselves are some of the par - Calumet 8” x 10”, whose large negative made Frost, Pablo Casals and others. The exhibit Prior to the ribbon-cutting which allowed ticulars of Karsh’s photographic and printing possible a finer image quality in the printing includes several portraits of Armenian subjects guests into the gallery, Estrellita Karsh spoke techniques. For Karsh, taking a portrait was not process. In many instances, he would spend including Aram Khachaturian, Vartan briefly, and said, “This is a real museum now, a matter of sitting someone down in front of a considerable time with his subjects before actu - Gregorian and Stephen Mugar, Gregorian being using the past of the Armenians to bring forth camera and simply clicking the shutter. ally taking any photographs, talking to them, the only subject in the show who is still living. the present and the future, which my husband, Extensive preparation and meticulous attention and persuading them to relax. However, in the Jerry Fielder, curator and director of the Yousuf, represented. This is a gathering of the to every detail were key to producing the final case of the famous Churchill photo, taken in Estate of Yousuf Karsh, who once was Karsh’s old, the new, the contemporary and shows that product. 1941 after Churchill’s speech at the Canadian assistant, said “These prints were all made from the Armenian culture is moving out into the Karsh began his study of photography at an parliament, he recounts that he had only a few Karsh’s original negatives, which are housed in community.” early age. Born in Mardin, Turkey in 1908, he minutes to catch the essence of the great man. the archives in Canada. No one can reproduce The exhibit is permanent, and open to the was sent by his family, at the age of 16, to The darkroom processing of the image was as a Karsh print without permission.” public starting Thursday, September 22. Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada where he appren - important to Karsh as the composition and The opening, which drew a crowd of about ALMA’s hours are Wednesday, Thursday and ticed with his photographer uncle, George actual taking of the shot. He developed his own 200 people, coincides with the renovation of Sunday, 12-6 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 12- Nakash. Nakash felt his nephew had great negatives and the prints were made through a ALMA’s Bedoukian Gallery by Keith Crippen, 8 p.m. potential as a photographer and arranged for photogravure process on especially manufac - head designer of Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts The renovation for the “Karsh: Celebrating him to study in Boston with a fellow Armenian tured heavy paper to produce silver gelatin (MFA), who also designed the MFA’s new Art of Humanity” exhibition was made possible by a portrait photographer, Joseph Garo. prints. This process made possible a great range the Americas Wing. The first floor space has gift from the Dadourian Foundation.

For example, Aslanian said, Julfans intro - A Fresh Look duced Calico Printing to Marseille from India. In turn, they brought the art of printing in 1637 to Julfa. Part of the reason for their importance, At Role of Aslanian said, was that they were meticulous in documenting their transactions, so that much can become known about the host country in New Julfa which they were conducting business. Also, the Julfans did a lot of business in coun - tries which had access to the Indian Ocean, ASLANIAN,from page thus anyone interested in that part of the world would be imprisoned and flogged until he could can have first-hand documents about life there, reveal the whereabouts of the money or agree rather than those from those countries’ colo - to pay it back. A steady network of gossip sent nial rulers. word around the Julfan centers if indeed a mer - In total, Aslanian said, the Julfans have left chant had been robbed, thus his story, upon his behind close to 25,000 documents. return, could be verified if indeed bandits had struck. Trading Terms “This relationship yielded very high dividends In terms of conducting business, Aslanian in terms of trust. There were only a handful of said, the Julfans were sophisticated, using dou - cases of cheating,” Aslanian said. He stressed it ble-entry bookkeeping and power of attorney. wasn’t simply that they were all Armenians and Their growth, Aslanian said, was through could trust each other, but that they had “fishbone dispersion,” in other words, short devised methods in their dealings with each jaunts from a center, and enxt establishing new other which made honesty a much more prof - centers, all the while interlocking with each itable policy. other. This very intermingling, he explained, while India was a major center for the New Julfa building a lot of trust, limited the profits of the traders, as of course, silk, other fabrics and var - New Julfans. They had their methods for deal - ious gems were to be found there. In India, they Soorp Amenaperkich (All Savior) Church in New Julfa, influenced by Islamic architecture ing within their own network, but they could were scattered all over, but were more concen - not establish the same iron-clad deals with trated in Madras and Calcutta. From there, they those outside. Communities that went outside went to Tibet and China. “Even today to go had from the British and Dutch, in the form of gy and staff at the Soorp Amenaperkitch their own group, such as the Sephardic Jews from Tibet to China it is very hard, but they did the East India Company of the UK and the Church in Julfa, where he conducted a lot of and the Multans in Punjab, were able to estab - it with yaks,” he said, in awe of their diligence. Dutch East India Company. Both the Dutch research. He had gone to many centers around lish more networks, he said. Some continued on to Manila, and, “some more and the British, he said, unlike the Julfa traders, the world to photograph Julfan documents. adventurous people traveled to Acapulco and routinely used violence against the natives He spoke about the very specific Julfa dialect. Jul fans around the Wor ld Mexico City” from there. wherever they settled. And both, again, unlike The language, he said, is not just a variation of According to Aslanian, the people of New At the height of their strength, the New the Julfans, isolated themselves and created an Armenian, but one that absorbed almost 60 per - Julfa should not just be of interest to Julfans had settlements in Cadiz, Spain, unequal relationship with the natives. cent of foreign words into it, from Persian to Armenians, but to anyone interested in history Marseille and Paris, France, Venice and The role of Julfa Armenians, Aslanian said, is Turkish, Arabic, Hindustani, Tibetan and many in general. New Julfans, he said, were the only Livorno, Italy, as well as Aleppo, Izmir and huge, with the three most important centers of European languages. mercantile community that operated in all Split. While the settlements left an indelible higher learning for Armenians around the The talk was sponsored by the National major empires in the 17th through 18th cen - impression and had, according to Aslanian, “a world — the Lazareff Institute in Moscow, the Association for Armenian Studies and Research turies, including the Ottoman, Safavid (Persian) disproportionate influence,” many of those set - Armenian College of Calcutta and the Moorat (NAASR), the Mashtots Chair in Armenian and Mughal (Northern Indian) empires, collec - tlements never got above 100 persons. Raphael College of Venice —all founded and Studies at Harvard, the Department of Near tively known as the Gunpowder Empires, as The Julfan network collapsed in 1747 when funded by Jugha Armenians. Eastern Languages Mashtots Chair in well as the maritime empires of Portugal, another Persian king, Nader Shah, extorted In fact, the richest family in Venice — and at one Armenian Studies at Harvard University, the Holland, England and France. money from the merchant class, focusing on point of all of Europe — was the Shahmirian family, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Elements of the community were mobile, but Isfahan and New Julfa. The majority of the mer - Julfans that had moved to Venice from Madras. Civilizations at Harvard, the Davis Center for they had “exceptional gifts to offer their host chants left the area, with many headed either to Julfans were also behind the first Armenian news - Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard, the societies.” They facilitated the transfer — or Venice or to India. paper and the first proto-constitution, both in Harvard Armenian Society and the Zoryan cross-pollination of technologies from West to Another reason Julfa Armenians could not Madras. Institute for Contemporary Armenian Research the East. survive ultimately was the competition they Aslanian was particularly grateful to the cler - and Documentation.