MAY 11, 2019 Mirror-SpeTHE ARMENIAN ctator Volume LXXXIX, NO. 42, Issue 4586 $ 2.00 NEWS The First English Language Armenian Weekly in the United States Since 1932 INBRIEF Bike Ride Marks Karabakh Leaders Call For Kocharyan’s Release Shushi Liberation STEPANAKERT (RFE/RL) Anniversary — Karabakh’s current and for- mer leaders called on YEREVAN (Panorama.am) — A bicycle ride is Armenian law-enforcement starting on May 7 from Yerevan to Artsakh’s authorities on Tuesday, May Shushi as part of events celebrating the 27th 7, to release former President anniversary of the liberation of Shushi, Sargis Robert Kocharyan from cus- Parsamyan, the author of the initiative, told tody pending the outcome of Artsakhpress. his upcoming trial. He said the two-day ride will start from Lchashen In a joint letter to after the participants are transported to the village. Armenia’s Prosecutor-General The cyclists are set to pedal through Sotk Pass, Artur Davtian, Karabakh Knaravan, Dadivank, to name a few, with two (Artsakh) President Bako overnight stays expected during the ride. Sahakyan and his predeces- The organizer said they were to be joined by sor Arkadi Ghukasyan said Artsakh cyclists upon reaching the capital Kocharyan should be able to Stepanakert, from where they would ride to attend Thursday’s official cel- Shushi. ebrations of Karabakh’s main The cyclists are expected to pay a visit to public holiday. They cited his Gandzasar and We Are Our Mountains monument and other former Karabakh Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, left, with Artsakh President Bako Sahakyan near Stepanakert and take part in the Zhingyalov leaders’ “huge contributions” Hats (a type of flatbread stuffed with finely diced to the Armenian victory in herbs and green vegetables) festival to be held in the 1991-1994 war with Azerbaijan. Sahakyan and Ghukasyan also expressed Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor- the village of Haterk on 11 May. Kocharyan ran the republic during and readiness to offer “any public guarantee” General responded to the letter later in the after the war before becoming Armenia’s that would enable Kocharyan to remain day. In a statement, it said that it is no president in 1998. His successor and anoth- free at least until a court verdict on cor- longer in a position to free Kocharyan Turkey ‘Condemns’ er native of Karabakh, Serzh Sarkisian, will ruption and coup charges leveled against because the high-profile investigation has Reburial of Yanikian at also participate in the official ceremonies in him. They said his release would send a already been completed and its findings Stepanakert and Shushi, as will Prime “signal of solidarity and unity” to sent to a court in Yerevan. Yerevan Pantheon Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Armenians as well as Azerbaijan. Law-enforcement authorities have until now opposed the ex-president’s release ISTANBUL (Panorama.am) — The Turkish from pre-trial detention, saying that he Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Monday, could obstruct justice if set free. They May 6, condemning the transfer and reburial of the Lord Ara Darzi Helps with Release of Two ignored a similar appeal made by remains of Gourgen Yanikian, one of the inspira- Karabakh’s three main parliamentary par- tions behind the founding of the Armenian Secret Reuters Reporters Jailed in Myanmar ties shortly after Kocharyan was again Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), at arrested in December. Yerablur Military Pantheon on May 5. The ministry “strongly condemns” the burial of YANGON — The Director of Kocharyan and three retired Armenian Yanikian, who killed Turkish Consul General to Los Imperial’s Institute of Global army generals will go on trial soon on Angeles Mehmet Baydar and Consul Bahadır Health Innovation saw the charges of “overthrowing the constitution- Demir on January 27, 1973, at the Yerevan military release of Reuters journalists al order” in the wake of a disputed presi- cemetery. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo in dential election held in February 2008. The “This action, which attempts to glorify a brutal Myanmar on Tuesday, May 7. Special Investigative Service (SIS) says that terrorist as a hero, constitutes a crime of promot- Professor Lord (Ara) Darzi they illegally used the armed forces against ing terrorism and it is unacceptable under any cir- of Denham, who has worked opposition supporters who demonstrated cumstance,” reads the statement. in Myanmar (Burma) since against alleged electoral fraud. Yanikian was an Armenian Genocide survivor. He 2012 on a humanitarian basis, Eight protesters and two police service- was sentenced to life imprisonment for the assassi- spent recent months in dia- men were killed in street clashes that broke nations of the Turkish consular officials. He was logue with the government out late on March 1, 2008. Kocharyan released on parole in January 1984. It is widely about the journalists’ status. declared a state of emergency in the believed that Yanikian’s act was the inspiration for The two journalists, who Armenian capital on that night. He com- Prof. Ara Darzi with Reuters journalist Wa Lone outside the founding of the ASALA, the Armenian militant have been held since Insein Prison pleted his second presidential term and organization of the 1970s and 1980s which staged December 2017 after report- handed over power to Sarkisian in April attacks on Turkish diplomats in retaliation for the ing on the ethnic cleansing of 2008. Armenian Genocide. Rohingya Muslims, were pardoned and future of Rakhine State. All four indicted men deny the charges. Yanikian is known to have remarked, “I’m not released on May 7 in Yangon. Darzi said: “I am delighted that the Kocharyan, who was also charged with Gourgen Yanikian but unacknowledged history The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Reuters reporters, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe bribery in March, has accused Pashinyan of coming back for the 1,500,000 Armenians whose were released as an international advisory Oo, have been granted a pardon, released waging a political “vendetta” against him. bones desecrate my invisible existence.” In death, group reviewed the implementation of the from custody, and are with their loved ones Pashinyan was one of the main he became a symbol for many Armenians of their late Kofi Annan’s recommendations on the see RELEASE, page 4 see KOCHARYAN, page 3 resentment toward the Turkish government for refusing to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. Future Generations Carry INSIDE Memories of the Past NEW YORK — As the world commemorated the Armenian Genocide Young throughout the month of April, families reflected on the struggles and survival of their parents and grandparents, keeping the By Taleen Babayan memory of their ancestors Special to the Mirror-Spectator alive, while also seeking fur- Filmmaker ther meaning in their testi- monies and exploring how Page 13 their memory and trauma passed on to succeeding generations. In this vein, Christina Barba, Esq., a cohort in the Oral History Master of Arts program at Columbia University, unveiled her multi- INDEX media interactive history exhibit, “Living in the Shadow of the Arts and Living . 13 Armenian Genocide,” during Inter/views: An Interactive Oral History Armenia . 2,3 Exhibit on Friday, April 26 and Saturday, April 27, at Columbia Community News. 6 University’s Faculty House. see MEMORIES, page 20 Editorial . 17 International . 4,5 Christina Barba at Columbia University 2 S ATURDAY, M AY 1 1 , 2 0 1 9 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR ARMENIA News From Armenia Old Yerevan and Young Voices Clash as a result, its last performance having Armenian President By Muriel Mirak-Weissbach been on October 11, in the context of the 17th Francophonie summit held in Special to the Mirror-Spectator Meets with Staff of YSU the Armenian capital. The petitioners Law Faculty demand that the structural integrity of YEREVAN — It was a bitter cold imminent; the continuing excavation the building be restored “and that a YEREVAN (Panorama.am) — President Armen evening in January 2019. The noise work on the hole at Teryan Street and temporary venue be accommodated” Sarkissian of Armenia met with the academic per- emanating from the construction site in the heavy traffic at times involving until the security of the original build- sonnel of the Law Faculty at the Yerevan State the center of Yerevan during the day three-axel vehicles and heavy machin- ing is guaranteed. University (YSU) led by Dean, Professor Gagik must have been deafening: heavy ery, add to the threat to the building, Calling on “individuals all over the Ghazinyan on May 6. pounding of steam shovels against the which is located at the juncture of world” to support their efforts, the peti- The meeting particularly focused on the reforms ground, whirring of earth moving Teryan, Byuzand and Arami Streets. tioners stress that they seek “to prevent carried out in judicial and education systems, as well machinery, and workers’ voices seeking There is a serious danger that the not only the collapse of the historic as the issues on supplementing the state, including to make themselves heard above the façade of the building on Arami Street building, but also to protect the Little judicial systems with qualified personnel. fray. That evening, without forewarning, will also collapse. Singers,” so they “can work and share The president listened to the opinions of the facul- came the sound of something massive, In April, my husband and I were in the light of love and goodness all over ty staff on the candidates running as a judge for the crumbling, smashing down onto the Yerevan and visited the site. We were the world.” Among the signers of the Constitutional Court. earth, while brown-grey clouds of dust not on hand when the first wall crum- petition are: Gudz Manoukyan, Tigran Armen Sarkissian also discussed the same issues at and dirt rose up from the ground, obfus- bled, but the description of the disaster Mansuryan, Armen Khandikyan, the meeting with a group of lawyers.