Month: May 2008

PRESS RELEASE
Consulate General of the Republic of Armenia
Contact: Consulate General of RA, (310) 657-6102 x 225
AACC, (818) 247-0196

CONSULATE GENERAL OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA AND ARMENIAN AMERICAN
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ANNOUNCE DATE FOR INVESTORS’ FORUM

The Consulate General of the Republic of Armenia (RA) in Los Angeles
and the Armenian American Chamber of Commerce announce a conference
"Doing Business with Armenia," which will be held on Tuesday,
September 16th, 2008 at the World Trade Center in Long Beach,
California.

The event will aim at promoting bilateral trade and investments
between Armenia and California by bringing together a wide range of
participants including business leaders, corporate executives, and
government officials. The event will focus on three sectors of
Armenia’s economy: tourism, banking/finance, and pharmaceuticals. The
Conference is organized under the auspices of the Consulate General of
the Republic of Armenia in Los Angeles, and co-sponsored by the US
Department of Commerce, Ministry of Economy of the Republic Armenia
and Armenian American Chamber of Commerce. Event affiliates include
Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, Los Angeles Port Authority,
ArmenianDevelopment Agency, Chamber of Commerce of Armenia, and Union
of Manufacturers and Entrepreneurs of Armenia.

PRESS RELEASE
Date: May 28, 2008
Armenian National Committee of America
Eastern Region
122 W. 27th St., New York, NY 10001
Contact: Karine Birazian
Tel: 917-428-1918

ACTIVISTS DEMAND DECISIVE ACTION ON
STOPPING GENOCIDE IN DARFUR
–ANCA Takes part in Africa Action rally in New York City

New York, NY— On May 22, 2008, hundreds of activists gathered in
front of the U.S. Mission at the United Nations in New York City
with Darfur advocacy leaders to deliver thousands of handprints and
messages from all over the country demanding decisive U.S. action
to end genocide in Darfur and promote peace for Sudan, reported the
Armenian National Committee of America, Eastern Region (ANCA ER).

"The Armenian National Committee of America will continue to work
to make sure that action is taken in Darfur. Whether making sure
that peacekeepers are sent, divestment is taking place amongst the
various states, or overall awareness is brought about, we must do
all we can to stop this genocide," commented Karine Birazian,
Eastern Region Executive Director for the ANCA.

Speakers included: Gerald LeMelle, Executive Director, Africa
Action; Eric Gioia, New York City Council Member; Yahya Mohammad
Osman, Vice President, Darfur Rehabilitation Project; Motasim Adam,
President, Darfur People’s Association of New York; Rev. Fr. Mesrob
Lakissian, Pastor, St. Illuminator’s Armenian Apostolic Church;
Mohamed Yahya, Executive Director, Damanga Coalition for Freedom
and Democracy; Rev. Herbert Daughtry, Pastor, House of the Lord
Church in Brooklyn and head of the National Religious Leaders of
African Ancestry Concerned about Darfur, and Michael Perlman and
Jodie Manross who provided an inspirational performance.

Eric Gioia, New York City councilman, commented "our children will
say to us in 10 years, in 20 years, when you found out, what did
you do? And how can any of us look them in the eye and say I did
nothing. Good people, when good people say they stand for
something, the question you have to ask them is what are we willing
to do about it, and if the answer is I am not willing to do
anything that the sad truth is you don’t stand firm."

Father Mesrob Lakissian, Pastor of St. Illuminator’s Armenian
Apostolic Church, stated: "we the children and grandchildren of the
survivors of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 remember that it was the
kindness of strangers and aid that came from all over the world
especially from the United States that saved our ancestors. Today,
we thank God for his deliverance and pledge to make our voices
heard in the face of evil and injustice¦"

Cosponsoring the event along with Africa Action were, African
Services Committee, American Jewish World Service, Armenian
National Committee of America, Chadian Association of North
America, Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy, DarfurMetro,
Darfur Rehabilitation Project, Darfur People’s Association of New
York, Darfur Vigilers, the ENOUGH Project, Genocide Intervention
Network, Making a Difference (MAD), NY City Coalition for Darfur,
Rock to Save Darfur, Shine a Ray of Hope, STAND and TransAfrica
Forum.

The U.N. Security Council has primary responsibility to maintain
international peace and security. The Presidency of the Council
rotates monthly, according to the English alphabetical listing of
its member States, and on June 1, 2008, the United States will take
over the presidency. Over 450,000 people have lost their lives and
millions have been displaced in the ongoing genocide in Darfur.
Although the U.S. government has acknowledged this genocide, it has
failed to take the necessary action to protect the people of
Darfur. Africa Action, the ANCA, and rally supporters are calling
on President Bush to assert U.S. leadership in support of a
multinational intervention to stop the ongoing genocide in Darfur.
####

Photo Captions: Left to Right ANCA ER Director Karine Birazian,
Father Mesrob Lakissian, and Gerald LeMelle, Executive Director of
Africa Action

"LEBANON IS THE TRUNK OF THE DIASPORA TREE" & "TURKEY HAS DUG ITS OWN DITCH" Says Alecco Bezikian Of The Armenian National Committee Of Europe

Aztag–lebanon
10/05/2008

The interview was conducted by George Krikorian and translated by
Dikranouhi Kusbegian

"Aztag" readers were informed that Alecco Bezikian of the Armenian
National Committee of Europe paid a short visit to Lebanon on the
occasion of the premiere of the movie "The Lark Farm".

So, we had an interview with the representative of the Armenian
community of Italy. Our talk was a good opportunity for our guest to
remember his early days in Lebanon, where his national and ideological
basis was formed, as well as to shed a light on the efforts made for
the recognition of the Armenian Genocide in Europe and Italy and the
linking Turkey’s European Union accession to certain preconditions.

Here is the complete transcript of our interview.

Aztag – Let’s start with the motivation of your visit to Lebanon.

Alecco Bezikian – Upon the request of the Armenian National Committee
of Lebanon, I came to Lebanon to attend the premiere of Taviani
brothers’ "The Lark Farm", during which I was given an opportunity to
share my thoughts. This visit was a great joy for me; it was also a
little emotional for me, because I was born and raised and educated
in this country moreover, my intellectual, ideological, literal and
career background is here. I later moved to Italy, where I started to
get involved in the community activities and serve in it. Therefore
my true investment has been in the Italian Armenian community.

Aztag- Did you as the Armenian National Committee of Europe notice
that "The Lark Farm" turned out to be an effective propaganda tool
for our cause. I mean the movie is really good, however, did the
European public opinion react to it? Did they get it?

Alecco Bezikian – The Italians showed a great appreciation both in
Italy and in France. When the movie showed in Germany, movie critics,
who where evaluating, made some minor remarks. But the reason for that
was the fact that we and the Taviani brothers hadn’t been campaigning
for the movie, therefore, the ground wasn’t prepared for it. On
the other hand we indirectly achieved good results, without putting
special effort into it, when a few thousand Turks protested against
the movie. The media covered it and the movie was freely advertised;
they spoke about it a lot during their riot! Indeed that was a wide
propaganda for us since all the Europeans who didn’t know about the
Armenian Genocide got informed and they went to see the movie. But
let me say that Antonia Arslan’s book is well known in all of Europe,
and the movie helped confirm Armenian history and the reality of the
Genocide to the European and specially the Italian mind. The same
thing happened in France. Now we are trying to show the movie in other
countries as well, and that’s why we wanted to contact the Tavianis
and Grazia Volpi., the producer of the movie. We want to see without
an Armenian involvement what impact would the movie have on societies.

We welcome the initiative taken by the Armenian National Committee of
Lebanon for promoting the movie in Lebanon, and of course the impact
of the movie will go beyond Lebanon as the Italians and the foreign
guests will report about the movie and the local media coverage of it.

To tell you the truth, the Armenian National Committee of Europe
hasn’t yet organized an event for the promotion of the movie and it
has neither made up its mind to support the movie and promote it
in different countries since it has already been shown in so many
of them and has made a great impact on a large audience. People are
interested in this movie because there’s an educational aspect to it;
so many people had no idea about the Genocide or the scale of it and
the inhuman acts committed by Turkey.

For that reason when I was given a stand to share my thoughts on the
premiere of the movie, I didn’t talk about the movie but I talked
about accession of Turkey into the European Union and its Armenian
Genocide denial policies. On my meeting with Oli Rhen, the European
Union Expansion Commissioner, I explained about the fact that the
European countries already have so many problems among each other
so, what would happen if a country of seventy million people, with a
totally different culture and a very small link to Europe is made a
part of it. Months ago this man used to insist on Turkey’s accession
to the European Union but now as a result of the efforts of other
ministers and personnel he has changed his stance.

Officials have started to be afraid and cautious about accepting Turkey
into the Union considering the implications of such an action. I
made a similar point to the Ministry of Economy saying that they
themselves make remarks to countries like Germany, France and Italy
when they don’t show a fair balance sheet. I pointed out that how
can the European Union accept a country that has a population of over
seventy million and sixty million of whom live on two hundred dollars
or less? In that case the other member states will have to take care
of them. They already have Romania and Bulgaria, who are new members
and who have internal debts. Europe can no longer reach out to help
all these countries. It has already started to change its position
and is acting more strictly with all the countries so that it can
exert more pressure on other countries. It is still unclear how will
that work out.

On the other end of the horn there’s yet another matter which seems
very simple to public opinion, at least in Europe. We all know too
well that European countries, more accurately the Political Committee
of Europe, is under a great deal of pressure from the United States
in regards to Turkey.

Given the fact that in the past Turkey bordered the Soviet Union
and has been a NATO member, the United States wants to keep it
alive, specially that it has a large population and a great military
power. Nevertheless, the Europeans see this military might as a threat,
because in their culture the European countries are anti-military
and they lean on dialogue. Therefore, it’s better for the Turkish
military to become more assertive. For that reason during our last
protest in Brussels in February 2007 I assured the protester that
they don’t need to be worried since Turkey has dug its own ditch and
it cannot become a part of Europe. However we must pursue our demand
for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, because if Turkey
wants to become a civilized country and act according to European
standards, it can no longer deny the Armenian Genocide. In its
present situation it is not among the advanced countries of the world
regardless of what they are saying. Nothing is accomplished by words;
everything must be manifested in actions on the ground. Therefore,
in Turkey’s case it’s very difficult for that to be understood
and accepted positively by the European public opinion which is
already against Turkey; it’s the governments that are with Turkey
and that’s due to political pressure. If we do a statistics in around
twenty-five European countries it will clearly turn out that all of
them are against Turkey’s accession and they are horrified about that
membership. It’s the same thing with the economy. Today there are so
many industries in Turkey that produce goods that are quarter of the
prices in Europe. That in itself is a threat as it may cause European
businesses to close down which in its turn will cause the working
class to deteriorate. The Workers’ Unions won’t accept this; to have
thousands of workers unemployed is unacceptable, and all this for a
country to become a member? The membership of a few small countries
does not cause a big disturbance, since they are insignificant;
however, in case of Turkey, we’re talking about seventy million
population. According to studies we did with the German Democrats,
by 2015 the population of Turkey will reach ninety million. It’s true
that what I’m going to say now isn’t a written law in the European
Constitution but there’s a tradition that the country with the largest
population has the right for veto. Imagine Turkey someday having the
power of veto over the other European countries.

In that case the image of Europe will be very bad.

Aztag – But years ago as a precondition, and a primary one, for the
membership of Turkey in the European Union the European Parliament
demanded the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Was that a way to
show that Turkey was an advanced and reformed country? In the last few
years we see that the European Parliament isn’t putting the same kind
of emphasis on that precondition, and on the contrary, it has taken
a few steps backwards. Do you think that impression of ours is true?

Alecco Bezikian – That impression of yours is very true for two
reasons; one of them is the pressure from the United States with the
intention of marginalizing the Armenian issue and the second reason is
the self-centeredness of the Jews. The Jews don’t want to see another
genocide besides the Holocaust mentioned in the 20th century. Obviously
they rejected the Genocide twice in the Kneset. If you look close
enough you’ll see that the pieces of the puzzle are automatically
coming together and the picture is getting clearer. The United States
don’t want Turkey to face any problems. Third , the United States
want the European countries to stay in turbulence so that they won’t
emerge as an international power. If they increase the number of the
European Union countries to twenty seven or twenty eight it’s because
they want the bloc to be weakened; the larger its number gets, the more
dispersed its abilities and strengths will be. The United States are
trying to do that right now. We can go even farther and say that the
increase of the value of euro has the same motive behind it. There’s
an effort to take the Europeans to a place where they can produce
nothing so that the United States can lay their hands on everything.

Aztag- And in all this turbulance is the Armenian Genocide one of
the cards to be played?

Alecco Bezikian – The Armenian Genocide is the smallest card in the
hands of the Europeans and the Americans, and that card is being used
in not so obvious ways. However in my dealings with the European
Parliament officials, sometimes I notice that they want to promote
the Genocide issue simply to delay Turkey’s European Union membership
a little more.

Aztag- At this stage what are the previsions of the Armenian National
Committee of Europe concerning the coming April 24? Also, what vision
do you have for the next stage?

Alecco Bezikian – As for April 24, small events are being organized
in European countries; we usually wait for the round numbered years,
for example, the ninety fifth anniversary, to organize a pan-European
big event.

We start preparations a while before. Of course it would be much more
effective if we could have them in the parliaments. If we succeed
in that we would be giving the greatest honor to our martyrs
and the biggest and toughest blow to Turkey and its denialist
supporters. However, we must act cautiously on that. In 2009 the
European Parliament will hold its elections.

We must wait and see if our friends will win in those elections
and we will be able to accomplish that cooperatively. Therefore, we
must first work in small groups in each country and try to win the
support of the people through deputies who are close to us. For this
reason I have always expressed my conviction that April 24 should not
be introduced by Armenians to Armenians but we must penetrate into
foreign societies and work with them for bringing our candidates into
power. Nevertheless no one is exempt from pressure, but our friends are
trying to escape them. It is for this reason that the Armenians must
learn to be integrated in their environment and to respect the laws
of the countries their living in so that we can win the foreigners
and take our messages through them to wherever we want.

Aztag – Any conclusive words for the Lebanese Armenians?

Alecco Bezikian – There’s one major thing I would recommend the
Lebanese Armenian community and it’s this: let us cherish this
country and show the children of the other communities (religions)
how a motherland must be loved. You don’t love your country by just
holding up its flag.

We must act very carefully in Lebanon because it’s the trunk of
our Diaspora tree. All our activists abroad have their roots in
Lebanon or Syria. Those who come from other places don’t take part
in national activities or services. It’s from here that our future
manpower will arise, therefore, we must serve this country well to
be able to benefit from it as much as possible. The financial incomes
and contributions coming from this community must be directed to the
internal institutions, foundations, various structures and families of
this community. Today we must realize that Armenia is an established
state, it has many of its citizens working abroad having left their
families back in Armenia; therefore, a considerable amount of money
is being sent to the homeland. The same thing used to happen in
Lebanon and still is today; so many Lebanese go to work in the Gulf
countries leaving their families behind, and then they send money to
their families.

It’s very important for the Lebanese Armenian community to manage
its finances well so that this community, too, will have its worthy
standing and share. There are Armenians who have helped foreigners
so that those foreigners in their turn would give a hand to the
Armenians. In life everything is mutual or reciprocal, there’s giving
and taking; highways have two directions, going and coming, everything
is the same; you need both palms to clap. The Armenian people must
learn the best ways to contribute to their nation. The Lebanese
Armenian community must stand behind its structures and churches,
not forgetting that the yeast of the Diaspora bread is Lebanon.

SWISS AMBASSADOR TO AZERBAIJAN: MILITARY PHASE OF NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT ADDITIONALLY INDICATES THAT PEACEFUL WAY OF SETTLEMENT HAS NO ALTERNATIVE

arminfo
2008-05-27 12:15:00

ArmInfo. Switzerland has always kept to the necessity of Nagorno
Karabakh conflict settlement in a peaceful way, Swiss Ambassador to
Azerbaijan Alain Guidetti told APA.

"My country proceeds from the fact that military way of any conflict
settlement, including Nagorno Karabakh one, can never lead to the final
peace. The Armenian- Azerbaijani conflict, which started over 15 years
ago, has not been solved as yet. The conflict’s military phase has
become an additional indication of the fact that peaceful settlement
has no alternative. This is the key principle of Switzerland’s foreign
policy on such kind of problems. Moreover, we see that the potential
of the conflict settlement through negotiations has not been yet
exhausted and there are still opportunities to achieve a positive
result", the ambassador said.

SLOVAKIAN JUSTICE MINISTER: ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CAN’T GO UNPUNISHED

ARKA
May 26, 2008

YEREVAN, May 26. /ARKA/. Armenian Genocide can’t go unpunished,
Slovakian Justice Minister and Deputy PM Stefan Harabin said at a
press conference on Monday.

"Some people permit themselves to deny the fact of Armenian Genocide.

Freedom of speech is one of the most important human rights, but this
freedom can’t be unlimited. Some people make unacceptable statements
against the genocide-stricken nation", he said.

Harabin said that the genocide-related has already put on Slovakian
Parliament’s floor. Under this bill, all those denying the fact of
Armenian genocide will be prosecuted.

He said that the previous bill envisaging punishment for denying the
fact of Holocaust was imperfect. The provision added to the bill will
improve it.

Armenian genocide was the first genocide committed in XX
century. Turkey denies the fact of killing one and a half million
Armenians during World War I.

The fact of the Armenian genocide is recognized by many countries,
particularly by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, most of the
U.S. states, as well as by the parliaments of Greece, Cyprus,
Argentina, Belgium, Wales, National Council of Switzerland, Common
House of Canada, the Seym of Poland and Lower House of Italian
parliament.

ARMENIA TO OPEN DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATION IN TOKYO IN 2009

ARKA
May 27, 2008

YEREVAN, May 27. /ARKA/. Armenia plans to open a diplomatic
representation in Tokyo in 2009, said RA President Serge Sargsian
said Monday during his meeting with Ambassador of Japan to Armenia
Yasuo Saito (residence in Moscow).

"The opening of the diplomatic representation will become an impetus
to bilateral cooperation development," Sargsian said.

The President appreciated highly Japanese assistance programs in
Armenia, as well as vitally important credit programs and grant
projects in the country’s energy sector.

The Japanese Ambassador said the purpose of his visit to Armenia
was to sign a credit agreement on the modernization of the Yerevan
thermal power plant.

According to Saito, the Japanese Government has adopted a decision
on sending new musical instruments to the Yerevan Conservatory.

The Armenian youth will have an opportunity to study in Japanese
universities from next year, he said.

The participants to the meeting approved of Armenian-Japanese
relations.

They agreed with each other that both countries have a great
intellectual potential and human resources. The President and
Ambassador also touched upon international cooperation issues.

SHO…RTAGE OF RESPONSIBILITY

KarabakhOpen
27-05-2008 11:43:34

More replacements in public administration are expected. Last week
President Bako Sahakyan held a consultation on the effectiveness
of the system of public administration. After the consultation
Prime Minister Ara Harutiunyan told journalists that the present
system does not comply with modern requirements and reforms will
be carried out. In the first stage structural reforms are foreseen,
and replacements are foreseen in the second stage.

It has been said that the system of public administration is
ineffective and exaggerated but after the presidential election
last summer more government posts were created. At the same time,
the prime minister stated in parliament about the shortage of good
specialists. It turns out that on the one hand there are a lot of
specialists and on the other hand there are no specialists. The
conclusion that comes first is that most officials are not
efficient. In other words, they get a salary from the state budget
for work which they do not do.

Apparently, however, the greatest problem about selecting
a staff is not the lack of professionalism but the lack of
responsibility. Karabakh lacks people who are ready to assume
responsibility. Some people think they are unable to carry such a
heavy load, others are not offered because of "disobedience", yet
others do not want to have any trouble, but most often each tries to
avoid "unnecessary" responsibility.

It is not always because all the specialists are irresponsible. Most
probably, the problem is with the system – it is so imperfect that not
everyone is able to fulfill their potential of responsibility. Besides,
the borders of responsibility are blurred.

Nevertheless, there will be changes. It is possible to state with
confidence that the State Agency of Migration and Refugees will be
reorganized into one of the departments of the ministry of social
security. Instead, a State Agency of Tourism will be set up. It
is not known what other perturbations are awaiting the staffs of
government agencies. The government reassures that optimizing staff
is not a lay-off.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CONSTRUCTION FUNDED BY ARMENIA FOUNDATION HAS DROPPED

KarabakhOpen
27-05-2008 11:46:56

In the first three months of 2008 the value of construction was 2386.7
million drams which is down by 34 percent from last year.

According to the head if the National Statistics Service Manushak
Minasyan, the number of buildings built by Armenia Foundation and
the state budget (49.9 percent) has dropped by 89 percent.

On the whole, construction in Karabakh began later than usual. In
this connection, President Bako Sahakyan voiced dissatisfaction.

YOUTH CENTER OF ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH OPENED IN SHUSHI

KarabakhOpen
27-05-2008 11:48:08

One more building was restored in Shushi; the youth center of the
Armenian Apostolic Church was set up thanks to the American benefactor
Jack Mazmanian. Tennis and billiard tables have been placed in the
large light rooms. Young people of Shushi can spend their leisure
there and use the computers of the center.

Mr. Mazmanian and his wife arrived for the ceremony of
opening. Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan, the primate of the Artsakh
Diocese, thanked the benefactors and the coordinator of the AGBU
Artsakh programs Sasun Baghdasaryan who contributed to the program.

The American benefactor said the program would not be carried out
without Sasun Baghdasaryan.

According to Mr. Baghdasaryan, the idea to set up a center occurred
to him when his wife arrived in Shushi with a group of tourists and
found out that the young people have no place to spend their leisure.

It is not the first program of Jack Mazmanian in Artsakh. 30 families
of killed azatamartiks get an annual financial aid until their children
come of age. Children suffering with cleft palate got medical aid. 45
children of Armenia and Karabakh have undergone surgery.

Jack Mazmanian who is a member of Hayrenik Union assesses the
relations of Artsakh and the Diaspora as positive but he thinks
that misappropriation has damaged confidence in the Diaspora. If
there were not for misappropriation, aid would be ten times more,
he says. He notes that the members of our organization and he often
arrive in Artsakh to make sure that their aid gets the addressee. Jack
Mazmanian says this year they will send 130 computers for the region
of Kashatagh and visit next year to make sure they are used, Jack
Mazmanian said in an interview with Karabakh-Open.com.

AN OBELISK IN STEPHANAKERT?

KarabakhOpen
27-05-2008 12:35:07

Dear Sarah and Max,

This letter is one which I submitted to news publications here in
Stepanakert. It was done in this letter style because of my promise
to your Mom to speak of my experiences.

My third visit to Stephanakert in 2002 commenced with departing a
marshroutka (mini-van) from Yerevan at the Shushva Oogle and wondered
about the obelisk gracing a traffic circle. It was small compared
to others located either at the Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt; in
Washington, D.C. and New York, in Rome, Paris, England, Caracas,
and elsewhere. Yet, this seemingly non-descript monument caught my
attention. At that time, I didn’t know the meaning of Shushva Oogle,
yet it was the destination in Stephanakert for the residence of
a friend.

According to the website,
"An obelisk is a tall, thin, four-sided, tapering monument which ends
in a pyramidal top. Ancient obelisks were made of a single piece
of stone (a monolith). The term stela (plural stelae) is generally
used for other standing monuments with inscribed sculpted stones not
of classic obelisk form." Thus, the Shushva Oogle Obelisk is simply
a stela. Whether an obelisk or stela, this "Obelisk" is significant
and a beautiful work-in-stone. The carvings on it make it similar to
the original Egyptian ones with their hieroglyphics. Since that day
in 2002, I have traveled to and stayed in Stephanakert many times. In
October 2007 I came and stayed for about four-weeks. Walking past the
Obelisk, I wondered about the history of it after hearing a story
about a dog who, sadly, died at the circle. This "puppy," as a dog
who remains young-at-heart in temperament, was devoted to his master
and his family. The puppy continues to be missed.

I decided that when I returned in April 2008, I would do some research
and write an article in the form of a letter to my grandchildren,
Sarah & Max, who live in Tennessee, a state within the United
States. Additionally, this letter-article will serve as a gift to the
people of Stepanakert … yes, a gift to assist in perhaps knowing
their history a little better. When I started my research, there was
a bright and skillful business-woman who said that there was nothing
carved on the Shushva Oogle Obelisk. I recommended that she look more
closely the next time she walks past. So, please accept this gift,
and if there are errors, please contact me.

A few weeks ago I visited the Artsakh State Historical Museum of
History and Country Study and was shown one document, which includes
a foto of the Shushva Oogle Obelisk and a short article from a news
release in 1963:

"In 1963 the workers of Mountainous Karabakh celebrated the 40th
anniversary of the founding of the Mountainous Karabakh Autonomous
Region.

"At this time, there were many celebrations in the streets. These
festivities demonstrated the friendship between the Karabakhians and
the other peoples of the USSR.

"The authors of the monument were Aram Shirinyan and Yuri Hokobyan.

Albert Harutunyan was the sculptor."

The Museum Director, Melanya Balayan, contacted Albert Harutunyan,
a Stephanakert sculptor, on Sunday, 4 May 2008. He came to the Museum
and the following information I learned from him. Also present was
Gayane Grigoryan, a museum guide and interpreter, and Dr. Vahram
Balayan, an Artsakh and Armenian historian who is the Chairman of
Artsakh State University History Department.

Albert indicated that the Obelisk was one of many monuments erected
during the Soviet era. All of those with a hammer and sickle were
probably destroyed, except for this one, which has this symbol of
the workers’ strength on its face under another former USSR symbol
of a dove of peace. It is interesting to look closely and see that
the dove sits atop the hammer.

The pedestal and base of today’s Shushva Oogle monument originally
served for a statue of Joseph Stalin and was erected at the Petachok
circle near the government buildings maybe in the 1930s. Today,
a tall, graceful pine stands in its stead, continues to grow, and
compliments Stepan Shaumyan’s monument on the opposite side of the
circle. According to Mr.

Harutunyan, both Yuri Hokobyan, the chief architect of Stephanakert
and Aram Shirinyan, chief architect of Mountainous Karabakh Autonomous
Region probably designed and constructed Stalin’s statue with its
pedestal and base. As the trees grew and started to cover Stalin’s
statue, the statue and supporting structure, according to some
individuals, was moved to the Shushva Oogle, which means "road to
Shushi." Shushi is located about 15-km from Stepanakert. Others have
indicated that in 1956, three-years after Stalin’s death, his statue
continued its existence at Petachok.

This was confirmed in a calendar showing the Petachok in 2006 and 1956.

Sometime after 1956, his statue was removed and probably destroyed.

There were discussions prior to 1962 when Mr. Harutunyan spoke of
Gurgen Melkumyan, the 1st Secretary of a regional committee of the
party who convened a hearing in 1962 regarding approving the design
and construction of the Obelisk.

At the meeting, government officials requested that the design for
an obelisk contain only a woman and a man ("a mechanic"), on each side.

Mr. Harutunyan and the other designers argued for two women because
of the agricultural fertility of Artsakh. Their design basis were
village women: The individual on the left is standing with many
sheaves of wheat over her shoulders and next to her right leg awaiting
harvesting are tall, heavy and bending wheat stalks. The right side
village woman under a vine laden with grape clusters is firmly holding
an over-flowing basket of plump, juicy grapes.

The arguments of the sculptors and the designers regarding the
appropriateness of two women with the strong emphasis on Artsakh’s
agricultural fertility won. The decision, though, was rendered only
by Chairman Melkumyan after hearing the testimony and discussion.

According to Mr. Harutunyan, Yuri Avetissyan collaborated in sculpting
the marble from Havav Village, Askeran Region, a few kilometers east
of Stepanakert, in Albert’s studio. The pedestal and base stone,
which supported Stalin’s statue at the Petachok, were also from the
same source.

In the late summer of 1963 a dedication ceremony was held at the
Shushva Oogle. Presiding that day was the Regional Committee, the
designers, sculptors, local, regional, and governmental officials,
and MKAR citizens … there were no representatives from Moscow. It
was a "great opening ceremony" to commemorate the 40th anniversary
of the MKAR according to Albert.

With a keen artist’s eye shaped by many years of working as a sculptor,
Albert’s wishes he could see again his other creations, some with a
hammer and sickle, which are gone today. He grieves as a parent would
for either lost child and like others for their puppy.

I hope that someday, Sarah and Max, You will bring your parents to
visit Stepanakert. During your stay here, please walk to the Shushva
Oogle and admire this monument of another era. Its serene beauty I hope
You will appreciate as I will continue to when I pass by. Yesterday,
there was a beautiful rainbow over the area beyond the apartment
building. Oh, please come in a summer month so that You will be able
to enjoy the delicious fruits, vegetables, wine, jengyalav hatz and
other breads, "tan" (a matzoun drink with sliced cucumber and parsley)
with the many other harvest delicacies, after admiring additional
monuments like the Shushva Oogle, which are part of the culture,
life and flavor of Artsakh. You may see a puppy or a business-woman
who may be able to tell You more about the Obelisk in Stepanakert.

With much love, Papik Nick