MAY 4, 2019 Mirror-SpeTHE ARMENIAN ctator Volume LXXXIX, NO. 41, Issue 4585 $ 2.00 NEWS The First English Language Armenian Weekly in the United States Since 1932 INBRIEF TALEEN BABAYAN PHOTO Erdogan Says Thousands Deporting Armenians Mark Genocide Was ‘Appropriate’ ISTANBUL (Bloomberg) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the deportation of Anniversary at Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century was “reasonable” at the time. Times Square Erdogan made the comment on April 24 at a symposium where he slammed France for marking the Ottoman campaign against the Armenians as a Program genocide. “The relocation of the Armenian gangs and their supporters, who massacred the Muslim people, By Taleen Babayan including women and children, in eastern Anatolia, was the most reasonable action that could be taken in such a period,” Erdogan said in a Twitter post in NEW YORK — Thousands gathered for English. the Armenian Genocide Commemoration “The relocation of the Armenian gangs and their in Times Square on Sunday, April 28, as the supporters, who massacred the Muslim people, 104th anniversary of the massacres was including women and children, in eastern Anatolia, memorialized in a monumental event spon- Senator Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) was the most reasonable action that could be taken sored by the Knights and Daughters of in such a period. The doors of our archives are wide Vartan. open to all seeking the truth.” Calls for recognition were made through- ness for the “wonderful and compassionate stepped up to officially acknowledge the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan out the afternoon as speakers, guests and Armenian people” and appreciated their Armenian Genocide. He said he refuses to labeled Erdogan’s speech “a new high in denialism” the general public paid homage to the holy presence in the country, stating that “the accept the excuse of politics and empha- of the Armenian Genocide, and a “justification of martyrs of the Armenian Genocide. Over a more Armenians we have in America, the sized that in the face of denial, people nation murder.” century later, the vigor of the Armenian better America will be.” should “stand together and remember the “Calling the victims of the Armenian Genocide, people was on full display as the program Following a moment of silence for the vic- genocide, the 1.5 million victims and what Ottoman Empire’s entire Armenian population, culminated in a symbolic circle dance tims of 1915 and their descendants, the Armenians went through.” which was sent to death marches, as ‘Armenian inspired by the powerful singing of Elie Schumer urged the public to “call out evil.” He made the point that the Turkish gov- gangs & their supporters,’ killing 1.5 million [peo- Berberian as he performed the popular “A genocide that is not properly defined ernment did not succeed in its plans to ple] & justifying it by ‘most reasonable action’ is patriotic song Kedashen amid the back- and remembered will certainly lead to exterminate the Armenian people, noting not just a new high in denialism, but justification of drop of the city’s skyscrapers and the another,” said Senator Schumer, who see COMMEMORATION, page 10 nation murder,” Pashinyan tweeted. buzzing motion of Times Square, one of touched upon the Holocaust that succeed- “Above all, doing this on April 24 is an ultimate the busiest and iconic districts in the world. ed the Armenian Genocide. “We have a insult to the Armenian people,” Pashinyan added. While Armenian songs, dances and voic- moral obligation to always remember one es echoed throughout New York and into of the most evil undertakings in the histo- April 24 Gathering the world, top US elected officials stood ry of mankind, and that is the horrible Paylan Asks Turkey to their ground in their unwavering support Medz Yeghern.” At Heritage Park of Armenian Genocide recognition. Senate Turning to legislation in the US, Open Archives Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Schumer expressed his disappointment Has Global Flavor ISTANBUL (Armenpress) — Turkish-Armenian who appears at the commemoration year that the leaders in the White House, both Member of Parliament Garo Paylan has made an after year without fail, conveyed his fond- Republicans and Democrats, have not inquiry to vice president of Turkey Fuat Oktay over By Alin K. Gregorian documents on the Armenian Genocide kept at Turkey’s State Archive. Mirror-Spectator Staff In his letter he said that in the April 24 speech of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he said that BOSTON — About 150 people gathered “The doors of our archives are open before all on Wednesday, April 24, at the Armenian those who aim to discover the truth. We have no Heritage Park to commemorate the secrets.” 104th anniversary of the Armenian Paylan wrote, “Hence, we inquire about the fate Genocide, braving an unseasonably cold of the records of the Turkish court-martial that and blustery evening. operated from 1919-1922 aimed at bringing to jus- Speakers Stephen Kurkjian, Dr. Pamela tice the perpetrators who committed crimes Steiner and Ekhlas Ahmed addressed the against the Armenian people. The researchers crowd. inform that those records are not available for Kurkjian, a retired reporter who won them. three Pulitzers at the Boston Globe, “Aren’t the records of the court-martial kept in spoke from the heart, as a descendent of the state archive? Where and in which archive’s cat- a survivor of the Genocide. He tied histo- alogue were the data” for the genocide, he wrote. ry to the present, presenting it in a bright light. He said that from the loss of more than a million people, to the dispersion of many others, and their uprooting from The first (left) and last covers of the Improper Bostonian lands “they had occupied since the Bronze Age,” their descendants are alive INSIDE Improper Bostonian’s Closing and well, halfway around the world, in a park named for them. ‘Was a family decision’ see BOSTON, page 11 Genocide and DAVID MEDZORIAN PHOTO BOSTON (Boston Globe) — For nearly three decades, the Improper Bostonian has showcased smiling faces: stars from near and far, athletes, and the city’s bright Art young things. “I’d look at it and think, ‘Oh, this is what Page 12 By Mark Shanahan young people are doing. They’re looking cute and going out at night,’ ” says Monica Collins, a former Boston Herald TV critic and self-described media junkie. “I really liked it. I’d walk my dog in a certain direc- tion every other week just to get a copy, and then I’d dive into it.” INDEX Now thousands of faithful Improper readers will have to look elsewhere for pho- Arts and Living . 12 tos of well-scrubbed men and women at sparkly affairs and the magazine’s signa- Armenia . 2,3 ture mix of buzzy restaurant reviews, celebrity interviews, fashion spreads, lifestyle Community News. 5 features, and event listings. To the surprise of its own staff, the magazine Editorial . 17 announced Thursday, April 25, it is closing. International . 4 Stephen Kurkjian with members of the see CLOSING, page 20 Homenetmen Scouts behind him 2 S ATURDAY, MAY 4 , 2 0 1 9 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR ARMENIA News From Armenia 2019 Aurora Humanitarians Ambassador Participates in UN Diplomacy for Announced in Yerevan Peace on April 24 YEREVAN — The Aurora Prize for Renewal Foundation and Herwa made on the lives of local actors pursu- YEREVAN (Armenpress) — Armenia’s Permanent Awakening Humanity’s Selection Community Development Initiative. ing humanitarian causes in places Representative to the UN participated in the Plenary Committee has named three outstand- * Huda al-Sarari, lawyer and activist. around the world that are often over- Meeting of the General Assembly on International ing 2019 Aurora Humanitarians, recog- Al-Sarari is a brave and inspiring looked. Perhaps most importantly, the Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace on nized for performing acts of exception- Yemeni human rights activist, who sin- cycle of giving supported by the Prize – April 24. al courage and their commitment to glehandedly investigates, exposes and the opportunity to divide the award Permanent Representative Mher Margaryan, refer- saving human life. The 2019 Aurora challenges a clandestine network of between other humanitarian organiza- ring to the importance of multilateralism and diplo- Prize Laureate will be announced at a secret prisons run by foreign govern- tions – is a true demonstration of grat- macy in advancing the agenda of peace, mentioned ceremony in Armenia on October 20, ments in Yemen, where thousands of itude in action.” the special meaning that April 24 carries for the 2019. With a $1 million award the men and boys have faced arbitrary The 2018 Aurora Prize was awarded Armenian people in Armenia and around the world, Laureate will get an opportunity to con- detention. She has amassed incontro- to Kyaw Hla Aung, a lawyer and as they commemorate and pay tribute to the memo- tinue the cycle of giving and support vertible evidence of the abuse that Rohingya Muslim leader who, despite ry of the victims of the Armenian Genocide. Noting the organizations that have inspired takes place within the prisons and suc- being imprisoned for a collective 12 that it marks “one of the darkest pages in the histo- their work. ceeded in convincing Amnesty years for peaceful protests against sys- ry of mankind in the 20th century, when 104 years The 2019 Aurora Humanitarians are: International and Human Rights Watch tematic discrimination and violence, ago the Armenian people faced the ultimate crime, * Dr. Mirza Dinnayi, Co-Founder and to take up the cause. She has nominat- uses his legal expertise to fight for the crime of genocide”, he went on saying that the Director of Luftbrücke Irak (Airbridge ed an international organization that equality, improvements in education Armenian Genocide is a stark reminder to what Iraq), a humanitarian organization that defends victims of extreme human and human rights for his community.