Armenian Reporter – 3/31/2007 – community section

ARMENIAN REPORTER
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March 31, 2007 — From the community section
The articles that appear below are special to the Armenian Reporter.
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1. Joseph Ariyan wins Democratic nomination for N.J. State Senate

2. Western Diocese fetes Richard Hovannisian
* Celebrates six volumes on historic Armenian cities and provinces

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1. Joseph Ariyan wins Democratic nomination for N.J. State Senate

HACKENSACK, N.J. – On March 22, Armenian-American attorney Joseph
Ariyan handily won the District 39 Democratic Convention, to become
the party’s candidate in the upcoming State Senate race. Ariyan won by
a margin of 80 to 20 percent, and will now go forth to face incumbent
Republican Gerald Cardinale in the 2007 general election.

The 41-year-old Ariyan has been active in Bergen County Democratic
politics, and is currently the county’s Public Advocate for Land Use.
He has already begun raising money for his challenge to the
72-year-old Cardinale, who was first elected to the State Assembly in
1979 and moved up to the Senate in 1981, and who was re-elected to an
eighth term in 2003 with 62 percent of the vote.

New Jersey voters will go to the polls to decide between the two on
November 6, 2007.

Ariyan, who lives in Saddle River, N.J., with his wife Susan and
infant son, said, "It’s an honor to be elected by the party to run for
State Senate."

On the subject of Armenian-American political concerns, he said,
"Legislators have been slow to act on issues key issues of interest to
Armenian-Americans. Now, New Jersey’s Armenian-Americans … can have
one of their own to champion their core political issues."

Ariyan stressed that he would make it a priority to have New Jersey
officially recognize the Armenian Genocide at the hands of the Ottoman
Turks.

"Anyone of Armenian descent knows about the terror of the 1915
Genocide," said Ariyan. "As we all are taught from a young age, we
have an obligation to teach others about our history to ensure that it
is not forgotten. This will also help to prevent future atrocities
from occurring."

"As a community, we have an obligation to our ancestors to ensure
that our state and country recognizes factual history. As state
senator, I will tirelessly fight to ensure recognition of the Armenian
Genocide both at the state and national levels."

Ariyan’s political platform also will include key cost-saving
methods to reduce local governments’ reliance on property taxes and a
proposal for more technological training in grades K through 8. "My
wife and I recently had a baby son and he has forced us to see the
world differently," said Ariyan. "We need to stabilize property taxes
while still providing the best education for our children. We cannot
let the best and brightest of our young people leave the state in
search of a better future."

Ariyan’s supporters include Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr., from New
Jersey’s 6th Congressional District, who was the guest of honor at a
kickoff event held at the home of David and Ani Kasparian (covered in
the Reporter’s Feb. 3 edition). At that time, Congressman Pallone
urged Armenians nationwide to support Joe Ariyan.

The Hackensack-based campaign is actively seeking people to help in
Ariyan’s race to win the state senate seat. Those interested in
joining can contact Joe Ariyan personally, at (201) 358-0020.

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2. Western Diocese fetes Richard Hovannisian

Celebrates six volumes on historic Armenian cities and provinces

LOS ANGELES – The scholarly accomplishments of Richard Hovannisian are
impressive beyond doubt. As professor of Armenian and Near Eastern
History and holder of the Armenian Educational Foundation Chair in
Modern Armenian History at UCLA he symbolizes the importance of the
study of Armenian history like no other.

While in the course of his career he has written more than fifty
scholarly articles and contributed to twenty seven books, his latest
published endeavor is perhaps an achievement in itself.

On February 16, the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church hosted an
evening to celebrate the publication of the first six volumes of
"Historic Armenian Cities and Provinces" edited by Prof. Hovannisian
from the UCLA international conference series.

The international conference series began nearly a decade ago to
explore the many aspects of Armenian influence in the historic
homeland. Historians and scholars from around the country and the
world presented papers exploring the historical, political, cultural,
religious, social and economic influences of Armenians in their
historic homelands.

The first six volumes of the series include Van/Vaspurakan,
Baghesh/Bitlis and Taron/Mush, Tsopk/Kharpert, Karin/Erzerum,
Sebastia/Sivas and Lesser Armenian and Tigranakert/Diarbekir and
Edessa/Urfa (Mazda Publishers). Each volume contains the proceedings
of the conferences offering important scholarly writings from some of
the most leading authorities on the subject of Armenian history.

The result of these efforts are extraordinary volumes of work which
"will be a permanent mark in our cultural life, and will certainly
serve as the best and most valuable archival documents for historical
research" Archbishop Hovnan Derderian.

Each volume offers a glimpse into the many facets of Armenian life
in these historic cities. The essays survey the geography,
demographics, art, architecture, religion and economy of once great
cities and provinces now ruined and nearly vanished.

The international conference series on the "Historic Armenian Cities
and Provinces" also includes Cilicia, Kars and Ani as well as the
Armenian Communities of Constantinople, the Black Sea-Pontus Region,
Smyrna/Ismir, Caesarea/Kesaria, New Julfa, Iran and Jerusalem.

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