The California Courier Online, June 14, 2018
1- Commentary
Unfortunate Coincidence: Turkish-American
Attacks Bourdain on the Eve of his Suicide
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2- Despite Netanyahu, Knesset to vote on Armenian Genocide motion
3 - Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, dead at 61
4 - Trump Commutes Sentence after Kardashian Champions Alice Johnson
5 - Corey Silverstrom: ‘A crash course in who he is’ playing for Armenia
6 - My Namesake
By Aram Maljanian
7- Novelist Aris Janigian to Serve as Master of Ceremonies
for Diocesan Debutante Ball
8- Roslin Art Gallery in Glendale Celebrates ‘Queer-Armenian Art’
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1 - Commentary
Unfortunate Coincidence: Turkish-American
Attacks Bourdain on the Eve of his Death
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
A friend forwarded to me the copy of a lengthy email that was sent by
Ibrahim Kurtulus, a Turkish-American from New York City, to hundreds
of CNN employees harshly criticizing Anthony Bourdain, Chris Cuomo and
others for acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. The subject of
Kurtulus’ email is titled: “When CNN’s Chris Cuomo and ‘Especially’
Anthony Bourdain Legitimize RACISM.”
By an unfortunate coincidence, the Turkish email was sent on June 5,
2018, barely three days before Bourdain committed suicide. Given the
large number of Armenians and non-Armenians who have written in recent
days expressing their unfounded suspicion that Azerbaijan or Turkey
caused Bourdain’s death, I want to make it clear that I do not believe
in such conspiracies. Sadly, Bourdain, who had used drugs for many
years, was a heavy drinker and suffered from serious depression, is
reported to have committed suicide in his hotel room during a visit to
France last week.
In addition, those who propagate such conspiracies are damaging
Armenian interests. Anthony Bourdain, who had the popular TV travel
and food show “Parts Unknown” on CNN, was blacklisted by Azerbaijan
for having gone to Artsakh after visiting Armenia late last year. The
show aired on CNN last month to the great delight of Armenians
worldwide and dismay of Azeris and Turks. By alleging that Azerbaijan
killed Bourdain, Armenians are simply discouraging non-Armenians from
visiting Artsakh.
Kurtulus also attacked Chris Cuomo of CNN for interviewing on his show
Cong. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). Kurtulus described Schiff as “a racist”
for championing the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and compared
him with David Duke of the Ku Klux Klan. Kurtulus then picked on
Congresswoman Nanci Pelosi (D-Calif.) for acknowledging the Armenian
Genocide in her 2016 statement. Kurtulus ridiculously claimed that
Armenians may have died of “old age” rather than being murdered during
the Genocide.
Kurtulus also blasted Amy Goodman, host of the award-winning
‘Democracy Now!’—a TV/Radio news program that airs on 900 public
broadcast stations in North America—for acknowledging the Armenian
Genocide in her show.
Kurtulus not only denied the occurrence of the Armenian Genocide by
calling it a ‘hoax,” but turned around and blamed Armenians for
committing an “extermination campaign against Turks.” He also falsely
claimed that “a systematic extermination campaign against Armenians
would have been not only unlikely, but out of the question.”
Kurtulus then criticized Anthony Bourdain for accompanying Serj
Tankian on his trip to Armenia and Artsakh. Kurtulus described Tankian
as “a member of an Armenian-American heavy metal band (System of a
Down), a major insidious purpose of which has been to brainwash
worldwide youthful fans into acceptance of an ‘Armenian genocide.’”
Kurtulus went on to accuse Bourdain of repeating “all of the hateful
propaganda in his episode (https://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=A3oEJjTbDpo).”
After comparing Bourdain to white ‘supremacists’ in Charlottville,
Virginia, Kurtulus asked: “what is the difference?” Regrettably,
Kurtulus defamed anyone who has supported the veracity of the Armenian
Genocide. It is no one else’s fault that the Ottoman Turkish
government organized the extermination of the Armenian people. If, as
a result, the Turkish nation has had a horrible reputation, it is
wrong to blame it on the Armenian victims. Kurtulus’ argument is the
equivalent of condemning anyone who speaks about the Jewish Holocaust
because that may tarnish the reputation of Germans.
Kurtulus then disparaged all of the scholars who have written on the
Armenian Genocide, in addition to Amb. Henry Morgenthau who had
written an eyewitness account in his book, The Murder of a Nation.
Instead, Kurtulus praised so-called ‘scholars’ who are genocide
denialists funded by the Turkish government.
Kurtulus ended his email with more insults directed at Bourdain: “If I
lived in a less racist society, Anthony Bourdain would be losing his
job in a moment. Yet the problem does not only rest with hateful
bigots such as Anthony Bourdain; why did [CNN] President Jeff Zucker,
who has also been receiving our communications, allow for Bourdain’s
vicious racism?”
Kurtulus also blamed other CNN employees for not protesting “Anthony
Bourdain’s irresponsibility, hatefulness and corruption of the facts.
…How could CNN journalists exercise any tolerance over Anthony
Bourdain’s prejudices, as well as his twisting of the facts?”
Rather than countering the many lies and distortions of Kurtulus, I
will simply quote from Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish
Republic, who during an interview published by the Los Angeles
Examiner on August 1, 1926, confessed: “These leftovers from the
former Young Turk Party, who should have been made to account for the
lives of millions of our Christian subjects who were ruthlessly driven
en masse from their homes and massacred, have been restive under the
Republican rule. They have hitherto lived on plunder, robbery and
bribery, and become inimical to any idea or suggestion to enlist in
useful labor and earn their living by the honest sweat of their brow.”
Since I have received a copy of the Kurtulus email along with the
complete list of hundreds of email addresses at CNN where he
dispatched his email, I will send my article to the same email
addresses so CNN journalists will not be deceived by Kurtulus.
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2- Despite Netanyahu, Knesset to vote on Armenian Genocide motion
On June 6, it was reported that the Knesset will hold debates on the
motion calling to recognize the Armenian Genocide, Arutz Sheva
reported quoting Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation.
According to the Corporation, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein intends
to hold a vote next week on a motion by Meretz Chairwoman Tamar
Zandberg. Last week, Edelstein postponed a debate and vote on the
bills, because a majority of the Knesset would not have voted to
support the recognition. Two weeks ago, the Knesset approved a request
by the left-wing Meretz party to hold a Knesset debate and a vote on
the issue.
Approval of the resolution would be despite the position of the
Foreign Ministry, which announced earlier this week that it opposes
advancing the proposed law on the subject, the website says.
On June 4, Haaretz reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu delayed the vote until after the Turkish election so as not
to aid Erdogan’s campaign.
Netanyahu postponed the committee’s discussion of the proposed laws
until after the Turkish general election scheduled for June 24, said
officials. Israeli officials recommended not raising the issue of the
Armenian genocide before the elections for parliament and president
because it would serve Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in his
reelection campaign and help him unite Turkey behind his party.
Israel partially recognizes the Armenian genocide: The Knesset
Education Committee has recognized it and debated bills on the issue,
and the Knesset has been marking the Armenian genocide every year
since 2012, but proposals of the sort are usually blocked because of
the special relationship with Azerbaijan, which is involved in an
ongoing military conflict with neighboring Armenia, as well as the
effect it would have on Israel’s tense relations with Turkey.
Over the past few weeks, Knesset members have been trying to outdo
each other in coming up with ways to take revenge on the Turkish
government for ordering the Israeli ambassador out of the country and
recalling the Turkish ambassador in response to the deaths along the
border fence with the Gaza Strip last month, as well as the move of
the
A Likud minister said that the decision on recognizing the Armenian
genocide must be made in isolation from the present conflict with
Turkey. “We must conduct a principled discussion on the question of
whether Israel needs to officially recognize the Armenian genocide.
Such a step must not be taken as revenge against Erdogan’s
statements,” said the minister.
Two weeks ago, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, the chairman of
Habayit Hayehudi, called for the recognition of the Armenian genocide
and of the rights of the Kurdish minority in Syria.Bennett also
announced he had formulated a comprehensive “plan of action” for the
Knesset, the government and the public, which he shared on social
networks. “I ask you, the public, to cancel your trips to Turkey.
Immediately,” he wrote. “Take your vacation in the Galilee and the
Golan. You also have a role to play,” he added. In one of many such
attempts, in February the Knesset voted down a bill to recognize the
Armenian genocide sponsored by MK Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid). Two weeks,
ago two MKs, Amir Ohana (Likud) and Itzik Shmuli (Zionist Union)
submitted a similar bill, one of the three under consideration, and
are seeking to push it through in expedited fashion in response to
Erdogan’s actions and remarks. “Netanyahu and his ministers roar like
lions but fall like flies every time Erdogan threatens,” said Shmuli.
“The day on which the prime minister of the state of the Jewish people
agrees to be a collaborator with the denial of the genocide of another
people, who were slaughtered in concentration camps and on death
marches, this is a black day and a deep moral stain on all of us. What
would we have said if the world had refused to recognize the Holocaust
because of diplomatic unpleasantness and economic interests? If we
become partners in the denial of the tragedies in history we will
never succeed in preventing those that may come in the future. I call
on the government to set aside political considerations and do the
necessary historic justice,” said Shmuli.
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3 - Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, dead at 61
PARIS (AP) — Anthony Bourdain, the celebrity chef and citizen of the
world who inspired millions to share his delight in food and the bonds
it created, was found dead in his hotel room Friday, June 8, in France
while working on his CNN series on culinary traditions. He was 61.
CNN confirmed the death, saying that Bourdain was found unresponsive
Friday morning by friend and chef Eric Ripert in the French city of
Haut-Rhin. It called his death a suicide. Bourdain’s assistant Laurie
Woolever would not comment when reached by The Associated Press.
Widely loved and rarely afraid to speak his mind, he mixed a
coarseness and whimsical sense of adventurousness, true to the rock
‘n’ roll music he loved. Bourdain’s ‘‘Parts Unknown’’ seemed like an
odd choice for CNN when it started in 2013—part travelogue, part
history lesson, part love letter to exotic foods. Each trip was an
adventure. There had been nothing quite like it on the staid news
network, and it became an immediate hit.
CNN is currently airing the 11th season of ‘‘Parts Unknown,’’ and
Bourdain was in France shooting an episode for the 12th season. CNN
said it has not made a decision yet on whether it will proceed with
the current season
Bourdain filmed an episode of “Parts Unknown” in Armenia, which aired
on CNN on May 20. In his Field Notes on the CNN website, Bourdain
wrote, “For years there’s been a steady drumbeat of inquiries from
Armenian-American fans of the show: ‘When will you visit Armenia?’
‘Why haven’t you been to my country?’ They were very legitimate and
increasingly troublesome questions. I wanted to go. I had every
intention of going. But I had yet to figure out how or—more
accurately—through whose eyes, through what perspective I’d look at
this very old and very complicated country.”
Bourdain accepted the invitation to visit Armenia by System of a Down
singer Serj Tankian, writing that he appreciated how Tankian was
trying to reconnect with his roots after having lived in the Diaspora.
Bourdain affirmed the Diaspora existed because of the Armenian
Genocide.
“Those who escaped or were pushed out by what can and should only be
called a genocide. It should be noted that Turkey continues to deny a
genocide ever took place. But I have no problem using that word. I am
both proud to use it and baffled by the world’s continued reluctance
to call the Turks’ carefully planned and executed murder in 1915 of an
estimated 1.5 million ethnic Armenians—and the displacement of
millions more—anything but what it was. Those horrendous events and
Turkey’s refusal to acknowledge them remain central to any discussion
of Armenia—a fundamental, unifying factor in defining what it means to
be Armenian.”
Bourdain knew that his words would create a ripple effect. “It is
unlikely I will be welcome in Turkey after this show. Because I filmed
in the disputed territory of Artsakh, I was informed that I have been
PNG’d (declared officially “persona non grata”) in Azerbaijan.”
Bourdain was deeply impacted by his visit to Armenia and Artsakh. “The
connection, the collective yearning, and the flow of money, resources,
and people from the Armenian diaspora back into the homeland are
powerful and important—as you will see. They are also vital to the
nation’s survival. An astonishing amount of money is returning home
from abroad—for schools, hospitals, and institutions—to help the
country grow. And an ever larger number of overseas Armenians are
returning, to see where they came from, to enjoy the food, and to
reconnect—if they still can—with family, tradition, a way of life.”
Colleagues, friends and admirers shared their grief Friday. CNN chief
executive Jeff Zucker sent a company letter calling Bourdain “an
exceptional talent. A storyteller. A gifted writer. A world traveler.
An adventurer.”
Bourdain was twice divorced, from his first wife Nancy Putkoski; and
from his second wife, Ottavia Busia, with whom he has a daughter,
11-year-old Ariane Bourdain.
He had been dating Italian actress Asia Argento since 2017; the couple
met while Bourdain was filming “Parts Unknown” in Rome.
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4 - Trump Commutes Sentence after Kardashian Champions Alice Johnson
(ABC News)—Alice Johnson, a 63-year-old grandmother serving a life
sentence on drug charges, had an emotional reunion with her family
Wednesday after her sentence was commuted by President Donald Trump.
The cause to release Johnson was championed by reality TV star Kim
Kardashian West, a White House official told ABC News.
Kardashian West was the one who broke the news to Johnson that she was
going to be released, Johnson told reporters outside of the prison in
Aliceville, Alabama, where she was being held. Johnson said she heard
her name called over the intercom for her to report to her case
manager when she heard Kardashian West’s voice.
“I was free,” Johnson said Kardashian West told her. “I was going to
rejoin my family.”
Johnson said she wanted to thank the president for giving her “another
chance” at life. “I feel like my life is starting over again,” she
said. “It’s a miracle day.”
When asked what it was like to see her family for the first time since
she was freed, Johnson rejoiced that she wasn’t wearing handcuffs.
“I’m free to hug my family,” she said. “I’m free to live life. I’m
free to start over. This is the greatest day of my life. My heart is
just bursting with gratitude.”
Kardashian West shared Johnson’s enthusiasm.
“Best News Ever!!” Kardashian tweeted of the news and later added
additional thanks to the administration for its efforts.
Kardashian West lawyer Shawn Holley told ABC News: “I just got off the
most wonderful, emotional and amazing phone call with Alice, Kim and
Alice’s lawyers. Kim was the one to tell Alice that she was being
released. It was a moment I will never forget. Once Alice’s family
joined the call, the tears never stopped flowing.”
A lawyer for Johnson did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests
for comment.
“Ms. Johnson has accepted responsibility for her past behavior and has
been a model prisoner over the past two decades. Despite receiving a
life sentence, Alice worked hard to rehabilitate herself in prison,
and act as a mentor to her fellow inmates,” the White House said in a
statement announcing the commutation of her sentence.
“While this Administration will always be very tough on crime, it
believes that those who have paid their debt to society and worked
hard to better themselves while in prison deserve a second chance,”
the White House said in a statement.
Kardashian West personally advocated for a presidential pardon who, as
a first-time offender, was given a mandatory life sentence plus 25
years in 1997 for her role in a cocaine distribution ring.
In a tweet last week, the president said he and Kardashian West talked
about “prison reform and sentencing” during their recent visit in the
Oval Office of the White House. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and
advisor also met with West to discuss his efforts on prison reform.
Kardashian West, in an interview with Mic following that visit last
week, said she felt the president listened to her concerns.
“I think that he really spent the time to listen to our case that we
were making for Alice,” Kardashian West told Mic in an interview of
her conversation with the president. “He really understood, and I am
very hopeful that this will turn out really positively.”
“Alice Marie Johnson was convicted of a nonviolent drug offense in
1996 and received a sentence far too severe for the crime: life
without the possibility of parole,” said Jennifer Turner of the ACLU
in a statement. “I’m grateful to the president for allowing Alice to
go home after 21.5 years in prison and to Kim Kardashian for her
advocacy on Alice’s behalf.”
In a recent Skype interview, Tretessa Johnson told ABC News she was
grateful that Kardashian West took an interest in her mother’s case.
“She could have just seen the video or read an article or whatever and
just said ‘oh that’s a shame’ or ‘whatever’ and went on with her life,
but she didn’t, she chose to get involved in a major way,” Johnson
said of Kardashian.
The Johnson gathered letters of recommendations from her warden and
members of Congress in their initial effort to seek clemency from
President Barack Obama.
Trump is currently considering nearly a dozen appeals for clemency on
top of the five formal pardons he has issued so far, White House
officials tell ABC News.
Administration officials say the president is not only contemplating
possible pardons – which wipes out a conviction – but also
commutations, which leave the conviction intact and on the person’s
record while reducing the punishment.
As clemency petitions work their way through the system, the president
routinely denies the “vast majority” of requests, a White House
official said.
Recently the administration notified a group of 180 petitioners that
they would not be granted presidential clemency, according to the
Justice Department.
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5 - Corey Silverstrom: ‘A crash course in who he is’ playing for Armenia
By Robert Kuwada
(The Fresno Bee)—Corey Silverstrom is Armenian on his mother’s side,
the family roots in Harpoot.
For years, and in a tight-knit community in Fresno, that was just part
of the equation for Silverstrom. It was basketball, mostly, and more
basketball, and as a senior at Bullard High in 2013 he was the Bee’s
co-Player of the Year along with teammate Chris Russell after leading
the Knights to a third consecutive Division I title and a No. 12
ranking in the state.
At no time did Silverstrom ever think basketball and his Armenian
heritage would intersect
But after finishing his career at Chico State, they did—and in a few
days Silverstrom will be off to Yerevan, the Armenian capital, to play
with the Armenian National Team. There is a training camp, then a
tournament in Lebanon, then a game against Denmark in a pre-qualifying
game for FIBA Eurobasket 2021.
It is a chance to continue playing basketball, obviously, and could
lead to pro opportunities overseas or in the NBA G-League.
But, also, it is much more.
“I take a lot of pride in the Armenian culture,” Silverstrom said.
“Just being able to play in front of my culture, my heritage, it’s
something special.
“It’s something that I really take a lot of pride in and it has me
even more excited to play for them and get to experience where it all
started for me. My family background, getting to experience that, it’s
something I’m really looking forward to.”
Silverstrom at this point knows only the half of it, said Aragad
Abramian, who grew up in Los Angeles, played college basketball at
Saint Katherine’s College and the University of Antelope Valley, and
is on the Armenian team.
It will hit him, deeper than he knows.
“It’s a prideful thing, because you’re representing the country and
not a team,” Abramian said. “For me, it actually hit me after the
game. When I got there, it was straight business. But once you’re
playing, you see the fans and the excitement that you’re bringing to
the city after the game, the day after the game. I’d go out and people
would just be happy. You brought excitement to the whole city, the
whole country.”
In a victory over Albania in a Eurobasket 2021 pre-qualifying game in
February, Abramian scored 15 points and had 10 rebounds and five
assists. Another Armenian American, A.J. Hess, led the Armenian team
with 21 points.
“I stepped into a taxi and then the taxi driver was telling me how
happy his family was just to see us win,” Abramian said. “That was one
of the best things.”
Silverstom will get that, Abramian said, when the two do connect. He
departs Tuesday for Yerevan; a long way from his couch in Chico, where
he was lounging one afternoon when his phone rang and his basketball
career took a turn.
“I got a call from my old assistant coach at Bullard (Hovig Torigian)
and the first thing he said is, ‘Hey, how’s it going? Do you want to
play for the Armenian National Team?’
“I was like, ‘Do I want to play for the National Team? What type of
question is that?’ “
That answer, Torigian said, came quickly.
“I’ve known Corey since he was in the fifth grade,” he said. “I’ve
known his family. Mom is Armenian. Dad is American. I’m sure growing
up he got a little Armenian heritage, knowing the family dynamics. The
opportunity for him to go play over there and see the homeland where
his mom’s side of the family came from, the culture, is a good thing
for him. It’s a crash course in who he is and where his people came
from.
“But as for the basketball aspect of it, that was a no-brainer. Any
time you have chance to play for a national team that’s only going to
boost your stock in continuing basketball after college. A lot of
people know, the jump from high school to college is slim and after
college it’s even slimmer, so for him to be able to go do that, it
says a lot for him.”
Silverstrom said he didn’t know how serious the offer was after that
first call. But then there was another and another. The Armenian coach
watched tape of his games at Chico State, where as a senior he
averaged 14.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists. He hit the
Internet, searching for all things Armenian Basketball. He reached out
to Abramian; along with Hess, Luke Fischer (Marquette) and Ryan
Boatright (Connecticut) also have played for the Armenian National
Team.
George Tarkanian, son of former Fresno State coach Jerry Tarkanian, is
the coach of the Armenian Under-18 team.
“It all just kind of happened,” Silverstrom said. “It’s a dream. I
look at it as an opportunity. I feel like I’ve been underrated my
whole life, so getting a chance to play against another country’s top
players and being able to do what I do to show that I belong on a big
stage is something I’ve always thought about.
“I’m just happy to have the opportunity and really blessed with it.”
This article appeared in The Fresno Bee on June 8, 2018.
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6 - My Namesake
By Aram Maljanian
The following is a creative writing assignment written by the author,
based on his mother’s recollections about the oral history of her
grandfather Aram Prudian. The passport (pictured, right) was issued by
the Republic of Armenia on Oct. 11, 1924, when Prudian was 18—granting
him permission to travel from Paris to Mexico City, where Prudian
lived until he moved his family to Los Angeles.
It was difficult to swallow the gold coins. The large disks clanked
against my teeth, and their metallic flavor was unpleasant. The rough
edges cut the roof of my mouth before I forcibly gulped them down with
the torn morsels of bread my mother offered. Our parents had urgently
handed the gold to my brother and me. My nine-year-old self, delighted
with the sudden gift, nearly ran off before my big brother, Vartan,
grabbed me.
We were never allowed to stick our fingers into the jars where the
coins were hidden. Vartan and I would only hear the tinkling of the
coins as they fell against the clay. Whirling around, I watched in
confusion as he and my parents, bread in one hand and gold in another,
hurriedly shared a final meal. I had no idea of what was coming: the
murder of my father, the endless marching and the coming years of
uncertainty.
Choking down the coins, my brother and I cried while my parents clung
to us in a desperate embrace. They were acting so strangely. Their
trembling faces were so quiet and so serious. I couldn’t hear their
voices above my sniffling, though I did snatch one of their whispers
which was “hokees” (my beloved).
We were crouching in the very back of our cellar when we heard the
pounding on the door. The battering fists sent palpable vibrations
throughout our home. That memory I can still feel in my feet.
The door crashed to the floor. We were separated in a flurry of dark
men who wrenched our family apart. I remember how the fiercest Turk I
had ever seen clasped my father’s shoulder, sneering insults at him.
His boot buckled my father’s knees, violently sending him to the
ground. It happened right in front of me. After the saber flashed, he
never stood again. From then on, my mind was disconnected, and I
recall little of leaving our home.
The Gendarmes forced us to march. At first, the column of sobbing
women and children wound its way among familiar buildings and streets,
but those gradually gave way to the farmland. Our province of Erzurum
was a patchwork of orchards, vineyards, and cotton fields. The
colorful spring spectacle we so enjoyed brought me no joy on that day.
No men accompanied us, except for the Gendarmes. No fathers to comfort
us, no grandfathers to protect us, no uncles to walk alongside us.
None. Trudging westward, more women and children joined us. After
every village our numbers grew with the very young and the very old
and all ages in between, but still no men. The brutal sun beat down
endlessly, singeing our unprotected skin. The nights held their own
terrors.
What we didn’t know was that the marches were meant to kill off as
many Armenians as possible. My father and mother never told me about
the series of massacres the Turks inflicted on the Armenian population
from the late 1800s, but we became part of the sequel to the Turkish
hate.
The Gendarmes forced us to march in a southwestern direction along the
Western Euphrates. This was the first time since leaving Erzurum days
ago that we could drink from the shining water. It brought life and
death to our column because many of the weakest were forcibly drowned
by the Turks. It was here that Vartan and I had to leave our mother.
At some point after the river, the Gendarmes had abandoned us to the
elements. We continued to walk for lack of knowing what else to do.
Like a mirage, a town of white tents materialized on the horizon.
White arms welcomed our shrunken band with food, water, and medicine.
We exchanged our tattered rags for clothes and our blistered feet were
shod with sandals.
I remember a truck. I remember a train. I remember a boat. These
vehicles carried my brother and me to Italy where we were separated. I
was placed in an orphanage in Milan, and Vartan was cared for by the
priests on the island of San Lazzaro in Venice.
Years of poverty and loneliness followed as I drifted through Europe,
making my way to Mexico where Vartan and I were reunited.
I recorded this account so that our family would know my story.
Because the Lord delivered me from this calamity, I hope you have a
greater purpose in your life than survival.
You are my namesake, Aram.
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7- Novelist Aris Janigian to Serve as Master of Ceremonies for
Diocesan Debutante Ball
LOS ANGELES—The Ladies Auxiliary of the Western Diocese of the
Armenian Church of North America has announced that Aris Janigian,
critically acclaimed Armenian-American novelist, will serve as the
Master of Ceremonies for the 45th Annual Debutante Ball on Sunday,
June 24.
“The year 2018 has been dedicated to our youth. The youth, a central
focus of the community, is a large family of the faithful of Christ
whose life is defined by God’s divine love. May this evening serve as
a calling for our youth to devote themselves to the faith of our
forefathers, to rekindle in their hearts the love for their ancestral
homeland and to lead lives as noble citizens of the blessed country of
the United States of America,” said His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan
Derderian, Primate of the Western Diocese.
Aris Janigian is internationally known for three of his highly
acclaimed novels, “Bloodvine,” “Riverbig,” and “This Angelic Land,”
which uses the Armenian experience of exile, memory and assimilation
as a lens through which to explore the broader American experience.
His 2016 novel, “Waiting for Lipchitz at Chateau Marmont,” about a
screen writer who goes from riches to rags, spent 17 weeks on the Los
Angeles Times best-seller list.
Holding a PhD in psychology, from 1993 to 2005, Janigian was senior
professor of humanities at the Southern Institute of Architecture. He
has published in genres as diverse as poetry, social psychology, and
design criticism. Janigian has written extensively to advance Armenian
causes and most noteworthy were a series of letters he exchanged with
the Los Angeles Times in 2002 and with the New York Times in 2004,
that proved instrumental in getting both newspapers to quit using the
word “alleged” in reference to the Armenian Genocide.
Janigian was a contributing writer to West, the Los Angeles Times
Sunday magazine; a finalist for the William Saroyan Fiction Prize, and
the recipient of the Anahid Literary Award from Columbia University.
He was born and raised in Fresno, where he now lives with In Sun, his
wife, daughter Maria (graduating from high school in 2019) and
daughter Valentine, a Freshman at Stanford University.
“We are delighted that our guests will have the opportunity to
recognize one of the most important Armenian-American writers of his
generation,” said Ladies Auxiliary chair Cindy Norian.
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8- Roslin Art Gallery in Glendale Celebrates ‘Queer-Armenian Art’
By Siran Babayan
In April, a teenage boy was stabbed in Yerevan, by a man who suspected
he was gay. A few months earlier, a transgender woman was beaten, her
apartment set on fire. In both cases, the attackers were released.
These are just two of the many hate crimes that have targeted LGBTQ
Armenians in recent years in Armenia, which didn’t decriminalize
homosexuality until 2003.
Coincidentally, in March, Glendale’s Roslin Art Gallery and WeHo-based
Gay and Lesbian Armenian Society (GALAS) announced they would co-host
“The Many Faces of Armenians: A Celebration of Queer-Armenian Art,” a
small but significant group show that’s the first of its kind in the
United States.
The local Armenian community, the largest of the diaspora, is home to
many Armenian artists and several Armenian galleries, not to mention
the soon-to-be-built Armenian American Museum in Glendale, slated to
open in 2022. So a show of this nature only seems fitting.
But exhibit organizers, including GALAS board member Lousine
Shamamian, admit they initially struggled to attract submissions from
queer Armenian artists, who battle the stigma of homosexuality and
pressure from their family, culture and the Armenian Orthodox Church,
the oldest Christian church in existence.
“I thought we would get bombarded by art,” says Arno Yeretzian, owner
of Roslin, which is housed inside Abril Bookstore, his 40-year-old,
family-owned business. “Based on our history, we should understand how
it feels to be the other, to be outcasts and to be oppressed. But
Armenia is pretty intolerant, and some immigrant communities outside
are even more conservative. There’s still this fear of coming out. Not
everyone is public about it.”
So the gallery expanded its criteria to include both queer and
queer-friendly artists who celebrate “notions of queerness and
otherness.” “Things came trickling in, so I got excited,” Yeretzian
says.
The show received some two dozen submissions. Among the nearly 20
participating artists, most are L.A.-based and some identify as queer.
Their mixed-media work incorporates Armenian history and iconic
symbols—the Armenian Genocide, Mount Ararat, pomegranates, etc.—that
defiantly confront not only the duality of two cultures but of being a
gay immigrant, a minority within a minority. The exhibit features
local as well as artists from abroad who have likewise embraced
queerness and otherness in their featured work such as Kamee
Abrahamian, Tarek Apelian, Mariam Arzuyan, Lisa Baroutgian, Rouzanna
Berberian, Kristine Anahit Cass, Vatche Demirdjian, Sophia Gasparyan,
Anna Kostanian, Ani (Alik) Lusparyan, Levon Mardikyan, Mari
Mansourian, Salpy Semerdjian, Gagik Vardanyan, and Seeroon Yeretzian.
Sophia Gasparian, 46, a mother of two who was born in Yerevan and
lives in Silver Lake. Gasparian’s paintings and street-style collages
often integrate images of children; her “Explain This to Your God”
features two boys holding hands with muted rainbow colors hanging
above.
“To be honest, I don’t care what the community thinks,” Gasparian
says. “What matters to me is that my children grew up open-minded. I’m
very confident with who I am. The church doesn’t decide what’s moral
for me.”
Also in the show is Levon Mardikyan, 61, who’s from Turkey, where his
family dates back centuries. Mardikyan’s prints display vintage
photographs and artifacts from Turkey alongside modern pieces, such as
“Yin Yang Yan,” which includes the announcement of his wedding to his
partner of 33 years and even their cake toppers.
“It’s symbolic of male camaraderie,” says Mardikyan, who lives in Northridge.
At 19, Ani (Alik) Lusparyan, a Cal State Los Angeles student from
Glendale, is the show’s youngest artist. Lusparyan looks not only at
the clash of being Armenian and queer but at body-image issues,
especially in “Coming Home,” a semi self-portrait of a nude woman
standing in front of the famous Mount Ararat with a forget-me-not
flower— a symbol used to commemorate the centennial of the 1915
Armenian Genocide—placed between her thighs.
“The work that I do is very intertwined with cultural, sexual and
gender-identity affirmations,” Lusparyan says. “They’re a sense of
self-love and belonging, that my ancestors created this body and I
should be proud. They show that Armenia is my home and this is my
culture and yet I can be queer and exist within these boundaries.”
Throughout the exhibit’s run, the gallery will host related events. On
Friday, June 15, there will be a film preview and fundraiser for the
in-progress cut of the science-fiction short film “Transmission”,
followed by a discussion with filmmakers Anahid Yahjian, Emily
Mkrtichian, Kamee Abrahamian, and lee williams boudakian. On Tuesday,
June 19, there will be a panel discussion titled, “Self-_expression_ in
the Armenian LGBTQ Community” featuring author/performer Nancy
Agabian, author Christopher Atamian, and GALAS president Haig
Boyadjian, moderated by Rosie Vartyter Aroush, Ph.D. On Thursday, June
21, Equality Armenia will sponsor an evening with New York-based
author Christopher Atamian, presenting his recently published book, A
Poet in Washington Heights. On Saturday, June 23, author/performer
from New York, Nancy Agabian will present a solo performance about
domestic violence exploring the power dynamics among genders titled,
“Family Returning Blows.” The exhibit will close on Thursday, June 28,
along with a talk by Rosie Vartyter Aroush, Ph.D. titled, “A Life of
Otherness: The intersection of Queerness and Armenianness within
familial and communal networks.”
“The Many Faces of Armenians: A Celebration of Queer-Armenian Art,”
runs through June 28 at Roslin Art Gallery, 415 E. Broadway, Suite
100, Glendale. For more information, call (818) 243-4112.
This article appeared in the L.A. Weekly on June 7, 2018.
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