Author: Andres-Papazian

RWANDA – “THE TRUTH, RIGHT NOW!” FOR A GOOD FUTURE,”IMBERE HEZA”

The New Times (Kigali), , Rwanda
October 15, 2014 Wednesday

“Ibuka! Ibuka! Ntukibagirwe na gato… ” “Remember! Remember! Don’t
forget for a moment…”

The words of the Tutsi Genocide survivors’ remembrance song resound
in the dry air on a hill in Bisesero. On this day of June 2014,
we commemorate the 20th anniversary of the massacre.

A large crowd has gathered for the occasion, some taking shelter in
the shade of the massive trees, some standing under the blazing sun,
some seated on plastic chairs and the ground.

Dressed in beautiful outfits reserved for great occasions, their
elegance conveys a particular dignity. Their impassive faces harbour
contained emotion. French youths and their European and Rwandan
counterparts have humbly come together to burry the remains of some
victims, 20 years after the Genocide against the Tutsi.

Standing next to the decorated coffins, young people chant in
Kinyarwanda as the crowd listens respectfully. Out of modesty or
respect for the foreigners, nobody dares to express their incredulity.

And yet… “Is everything here real?”

“Ya minsi y’amarira, Amajoro y’amaganya…” “The nights of tears,
the nights of distress”

“The French” are back, but this time to commemorate the Genocide and
pay homage to almost 50,000 victims who perished in this very place
in 1994.

(Genocide contre les Tutsi : la verite, maintenant ! Source: EGAM)

Twenty years ago, the French were there with their military fatigues
and weapons. Alerted by the village nuns, they went to seek Tutsi
hidden on the high hills of Bisesero. What they found there were young
men looking like old men-ragged, starving, wounded and terrorised.

The latter recounted the massacres, the fear and the death which
loomed under the regular strikes by the militia surrounding the hill.

The French soldiers crossed paths with the perpetrators of the
Genocide, those perpetrators who had greeted them as allies and who
were proudly recounting the most atrocious of their executions.

Faced with this situation of vital urgency, these soldiers sent
by France as part of Operation “Turquoise”-a humanitarian mission
by the then French government ‘obeyed their orders’ and abandoned
the survivors to an inevitable death. The orders were indeed not
to save their lives, but to cover the retreat of France’s allies,
the perpetrators.

In June 2014, the French youth and their European friends participated
in the burial of the bodies of some of the “survivors” found on the
hill. They are also paying homage to the soldiers who disobeyed orders
to come back to Bisesero and save the Tutsi from death.

“Ya mivu y’amaraso, Ubwo abacu bashiraga… ” “The blood flowed,
when our own were exterminated… ”

When speaking the same language, one of dignity; when living by the
same values, those of human rights; when sharing the same priority,
that of truth, the youth of Rwanda, France and Europe show the need
to create a shared future, in spite of a historical heritage so heavy
that it could be paralysing.

The realisation of hope, the construction of this “Imbere heza”,
of a shared future is now possible due to the involvement of the
youth. The French youth are now at the frontline, urging us to demand
“The Truth” concerning the Genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi in
Rwanda in 1994.

The “Truth, Right Now” demands that the French political leaders come
out to explain what happened. Numerous undeniable facts reveal the
extent of collaboration of certain Frenchmen, at the highest level
of state apparatus, with the Rwandan perpetrators, before, during
and after the Genocide.

The Rwandan survivors need to hear the truth spoken by France, a
nation whose voice still resonates in a particular way in Rwanda. It
is a moral debt that should be paid. We mustn’t imitate the Turkish
State, which still denies the genocide against the Armenians, 100
years down the road.

Moreover, numerous French and Rwandan officials accused of
participating in the Genocide continue to live in France in perfect
impunity, just like the many people responsible for war crimes and
crimes against humanity in former Yugoslavia. Human Rights and the
Rule of Law are being undermined. We are confident the French justice
system will act in a decisive manner.

“The Truth, Right Now”, equally means opening the archives so that
historians can work unhindered.

It also means creating a Parliamentary Inquiry Commission to ensure
that French institutions, and notably political organisations, can
profoundly understand their role and work on their identity. It will
ensure that past indiscipline is not covered up by public silence,
and that it is never repeated. Belgium, where such a Commission was
put in place 17 years ago, offers us a clear example of a society
that knew how to examine its past with lucidity and courage.

The findings of the Parliamentary Information Mission of 1998 in
France were real but too weak; their effects on society were too
insignificant; their consequences for those responsible officials
were shamefully inexistent. In short, the findings were thoroughly
unsatisfactory. This Inquiry Commission is a sane democratic act and
after twenty years it is of utmost urgency.

“The Truth, Right Now!” also means passing on the memory of this crime
against humanity-the Genocide against the Tutsi-to young generations,
either through formal or informal education.

This education requires a more comprehensive history for school
curricula, as well as memorials, particularly one, worthy of the name,
in Paris, but also everywhere in Europe. Only by such measures as these
will current and future generations achieve lucidity and vigilance.

And finally, “The Truth, Right Now!” is a commitment: a commitment
not to leave the survivors alone; a commitment that France will not
be absent from official commemorations any longer.

These practices are acts of friendship between individuals and
peoples. This is why, on April 7, 2015, we will join Rwandans once
again to commemorate the Genocide.

May those concerned respond to the demands we share, as if they
themselves had stood on the wooded hill of Bisesero staring at the
dignified, calm and resolute face of the youth of Rwanda, France and
Europe, and listening to the chants of memory. That day we saw the
face of the future. “… Ibuka!”

This is a joint article by Benjamin Abtan, President of the European
Grassroots Antiracist Movement; Jean de Dieu Mirindi, National
Coordinator of the Association of the Genocide Surviving Students;
Laura Slimani, president of the Young Socialists; Laura Chatel, Federal
Secretary of the Young Ecologists; Lucas Nedelec, Federal Secretary
of the Young Ecologists; Charles Habonimna, president of the Alumni
Student Genocide Survivors (Rwanda); Geraldine Guilpan, president
of the Young Radical Leftists; Nordine Idir, Secretary General of
the Young Communists of France; Yannick Piquet, Vice-President of
the Movement of Young Belgian Socialists (Belgium); Dominique Sopo,
president of SOS Racisme; Marian Mandache, Executive Director of
Romani Criss (Romania); Sacha Reingewirtz, president of the French
Jewish Student Union; Djordje Bojovic, spokeperson of the Youth
Initiative for Human Rights (Serbia); Marcel Kabanda, President of
the Ibuka-France; Levent Sensever, spokesperson for Durde (“Say no
to racism and nationalism) (Turkey); William Martinet, president
of the French National Student Union; Corentin Durand, president
of the National High-School Union and Sonia Aïchi, president of the
Independent and Democratic High-School Federation.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA HOSTS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON “CHESS IN SCHOOLS”

15:36, 17 Oct 2014

President of the Republic of Armenia, President of the Armenian
Chess Federation Serzh Sargsyan attended the opening of the “Chess in
Schools” international conference underway in Yerevan from October
16 to 18. The event has brought together 180 representatives from
30 countries.

Armenian Minister of Education and Science Armen Ashotyan, President
of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) Kirsan Ilyumzhinov,
First Vice-President of the Armenian Chess Federation Smbat Lputyan
offered speeches at the conference.

The speakers said the conference provides a wonderful opportunity
to exchange experience and noted that it will help boost further
development of chess, and contribute to the raise of its rile and
importance in the educational system.

Later on, Serzh Sargsyan, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and the
participants of the conference “Chess in Schools” attended the opening
of Double World Chess Champion Tigran Petrosyan’s sculpture at the
Chess House bearing his name. The sculpture, created by the eminent
sculptor Ara Sargsyan in 1965 on the occasion of Tigran Petrosyan’s
chess triumph, has been kept by the sculpture’s relatives in his
house-museum for more than half a century. Ara Sargsyan’s family has
decided to donate it to the Chess House on the occasion of the 85th
anniversary of Tigran Petrosyan.

The Armenian President also attended the opening of a newly-created
chess school in Malatia-Sebastia administrative district. Up to 350
5-8-year-old children, as well as alumni representing schools in
other administrative districts can study at the school for free.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA SHOULD BECOME INFORMATION SOCIETY, SAYS PRESIDENT SARGSYAN

NEWS | 17.10.14 | 10:35

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan on Thursday received students and
pupils who have won 2014 Presidential Awards in the IT sector.

According to the presidential press service, during the ceremony held
in the Presidential Palace, Sargsyan presented awards to 26 students
from 5 universities and 16 pupils from 8 senior schools.

CEO of Synopsis Armenia Company Dr. Chi-Foon Chan also received an
award for his significant contribution to the development of IT sector
in Armenia and on the 10th anniversary of the company’s foundation.

“We give priority to the IT industry – this sector is not only our
future, but also our present,” President Sargsyan said, congratulating
the award recipients and wishing them every success.

“Whether we like it or not, we should become an information society,”
the Armenian president added, stressing the importance of education
and science for Armenia’s development.

From: A. Papazian

ALEXANDER ARZUMANYAN: OUR POLITICAL ELITE LIKES TO CHOOSE BETWEEN BECOMING A SLAVE AND ENEMY (VIDEO)

10:55 | October 17,2014 | Politics

The Russian Empire is experiencing its last febrile convulsion;
the ongoing war in eastern Ukraine shows it, says a former foreign
minister of Armenia.

Alexander Arzumanyan says Russia should be kept away from the process;
in fact, the war was waged by Russia.

“Russia should allow Ukraine to solve its problems because I do
believe that Ukrainians will be able tom solve their problems without
intervention of foreign countries,” says the lawmaker.

Mr Arzumanyan believes that Russians troops entered eastern Ukraine
to open a corridor to the annexed Crime. International sanctions
were imposed on Russia in the result of this incursion. “These tough
sanctions instill hope that talks will become more constructive, if,
of course, European partners continue to demonstrate a rough stance,
do not succumb to gas deals and weaken the pressure. I believe that
the pressure on Russia should be strengthened for the country to
understand the importance of peace,” he said.

Mr Arzumanyan cannot say how the developments will affect Armenia after
the country’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union. “In case of
confrontation, Russia would undoubtedly unleash war in Karabakh.”

The former official says Armenia could have not joined the Customs
Union, but our political elite likes to choose between becoming a
slave and enemy. “We could have suspended both process and sought
another option that would not conflict with Russia’s interest in our
region and would be compliant with our European ambitions.”

“We needn’t anger Russia, but we should not become their slaves
either. We should carry out a decent and normal policy with Turkey,
Russia and Iran,” said Mr Arzumanyan.

From: A. Papazian

L’EGLISE ARMENIENNE RECLAME UN DéDOMMAGEMENT DE LA TURQUIE

GENOCIDE ARMENIEN

Un plan du clergé arménien de demander des réparations a
l’administration judiciaire turque quant aux propriétés de l’église
perdues dans les années 1900 met la campagne pour la reconnaissance
du génocide a un nouveau niveau, disent les analystes.

Aram Ier, Catholicos du siège de Cilicie basé au Liban, a annoncé
le dépôt de la plainte lors d’un congrès annuel de la diaspora
arménienne qui s’est ouvert a Erevan le 19 Septembre.

” Ici, avant cette réunion, qui représente notre nation, nous
tenons a annoncer pour la première fois que l’année prochaine, le
Catholicos de la Grande Maison de Cilicie envisage de déposer une
plainte devant la cour constitutionnelle de la Turquie a la recherche
de la restitution de son centre historique, le Catholicossat de Sis ”
a-t-il dit.

L’Eglise apostolique arménienne est une ancienne et unique
institution, qui ne fait partie ni des orthodoxes ou ni des
catholiques. Elle a deux leaders spirituelle, le Saint Siège
d’Etchmiadzine en Arménie, et la “Grande Maison” ou Saint-Siège de
Cilicie, au Liban.

La Grande Maison de Cilicie a été fondée a Sis, près de la ville
turque d’Adana, du 13ème siècle a 1921, lorsque ses dirigeants
ont fui une nouvelle vague d’assassinats. Celle-ci faisait suite a
des massacres en 1915 que les Arméniens qualifient de génocide,
un terme que la Turquie récuse.

Les Arméniens ont passé de nombreuses années a faire du lobbying
dans le monde entier afin de faire reconnaître que le génocide a
eu lieu et appuyez sur la Turquie a faire de même.

Le procès prévu est une nouvelle approche qui portera le différend
devant la plus haute juridiction de la Turquie. Les commentateurs ont
établi des parallèles directs avec les mesures juridiques prises
pour garantir la restitution matérielle dans l’après-guerre en
Allemagne pour les victimes juives de l’Holocauste, grâce a une
rémunération ou a la restauration des propriétés.

Le gouvernement arménien a indiqué qu’il soutiendra l’action de
l’église. Interrogé sur ce plan au cours du même congrès de la
diaspora, le ministre des Affaires étrangères Eduard Nalbandian a
dit : ” Comment peut-il y avoir une autre opinion a ce sujet ? Il
est essentiel de soutenir cette initiative ”.

Le Catholicos Aram a dit qu’une base juridique solide pour l’action en
justice avait été proposée et concue au cours des deux dernières
années. Il a ajouté que ” si notre plainte est rejetée par
la Cour constitutionnelle turque, nous irons devant les tribunaux
internationaux ”.

Ashot Melkonian, directeur de l’Institut d’Histoire d’Erevan, a dit
que les biens de l’église et un grand nombre de maisons arméniennes
ont été perdus. ” Dans les années 1920 et 1930, tout a été
transféré a l’Etat.

Ensuite, le gouvernement turc a vendu une partie de celui-ci a la
population musulmane locale ” a-t-il dit.

La revendication de la propriété est particulièrement importante que
2015 est l’année où l’Arménie va marquer le 100e anniversaire de la
commémoration du génocide en Avril. La veille de la commémoration
de 2014, Recep Tayyip Erdogan – alors premier ministre et maintenant
président de la Turquie – a publié une déclaration sans précédent,
mais rédigée avec soin afin de noter que ” les Arméniens se
souviennent de la souffrance vécue dans cette période, tout comme
tous les autres citoyens de l’Empire ottoman …. Les événements
de la Première Guerre mondiale sont notre douleur commune ”.

L’omission du mot ” génocide ” signifiait que ses remarques étaient
en deca de ce que voulait Erevan. Le Chef du cabinet présidentiel
Vigen Sargsyan a qualifié de ” juste une autre, mais peut-être
plus raffiné, tentative de nier et cacher le fait du génocide
arménien ”.

Dans le même temps, il y a des signes que les deux pays veulent
relancer un processus de rapprochement qui a débuté en 2008, mais
a sombré en 2010 car le ministre arménien des Affaires étrangères
Nalbandian a assisté a l’investiture d’Erdogan en tant que président
a la fin AoÔt, et lui a remis une invitation officielle a participer
a la commémoration du 100e anniversaire a Erevan.

L’IWPR a écrit au ministère turc des Affaires étrangères pour
lui demander de commenter la déclaration du Catholicos Aram, mais
il a refusé de le faire.

Une des raisons pour intenter une action est maintenant que la Turquie
est sous pression pour modifier sa législation sur les revendications
de propriété historiques.

” En 2005, la Turquie, qui cherche a rejoindre l’Union européenne,
a essayé de mettre sa législation en conformité avec les exigences
fixées par Bruxelles, qui exigent que les biens acquis illégalement
soit retourné a leurs propriétaires légitimes ” a déclaré Vigen
Kotcharian, le président du départerment de l’Union européenne et
du droit international a l’Université d’Etat d’Erevan. ” Mais le
processus n’a pas été achevé ”.

Si une soumission a la justice turque échoue, Kotcharian souligne ”
un principe universel de droit international selon lequel, lorsque
les ressources judiciaires d’un Ã~Itat ont été épuisées, on peut
faire appel a un tribunal international ”.

Manvel Sarkissian, directeur du Centre arménien pour les études
nationales et internationales, a déclaré que la demande formelle
d’indemnisation ou de restitution est un nouveau développement dans
la campagne de longue durée par l’Arménie et sa diaspora.

” Nous pouvons voir un décalage apparent de la demande de
reconnaître le fait du génocide a une tactique plus concrète
d’obtenir réparation ” a-t-il dit. ‘Il s’agit d’une nouvelle
approche. Dans un futur proche, la question de l’indemnisation va
être de plus en plus importante ”.

Vahe Harutyunyan est un journaliste indépendant en Arménie.

Institute for War & Peace Reporting

vendredi 17 octobre 2014, Stéphane ©armenews.com

From: A. Papazian

LE CCAF ? QUEL CCAF ? PAR MANOUG ATAMIAN

BILLET D’HUMOUR

A la veille de la manifestation > du 7 octobre
pour denoncer la barbarie du Daesh, j’adressais un courriel au
CCAF pour exprimer mon inquietude a propos de la securite d’un tel
rassemblement. J’attends encore une reponse a ma missive.

Une question : Y a-t-il un pilote dans l’avion du secretariat du CCAF ?

Je retournais alors sur l’internet et tombais sur la rubrique :
CCAF acronymes.info

Acronyme, comme chacun devrait le savoir, est . C’est une mine d’or que
j’ai trouve la, et dans des langues differentes en plus ! Vous voulez
des exemples ? Climate Change Action Fund

Que voila un CCAF d’importance ! Vous pensez, cela concerne le
changement climatique, avec son epee de Damoclès qui nous menace tous.

Mais avec l’Action Fund, on a plus a s’inquieter, on est sauve,
c’est garanti.

Club de Chiens Atteles les Forestiers

Cela doit concerner les chiens d’aveugles pour promener plusieurs
non-voyants attaches ensemble. J’ai d’ailleurs ete recemment demarche
par une association pour envoyer mon obole. On m’a remercie avec un
sac pour faire les courses. C’est ben pratique.

Comite Central des Armateurs de France

Avant, il y avait le Comite Central du Parti Communiste Francais et
ca faisait peur. Maintenant c’est les armateurs qui remettent ca,
mais a cote du PCF c’est que des amateurs.

Community College of the Air Force

A priori c’est du lourd, ca a commence en juin 44 en Normandie,
ca a continue au Vietnam, mais aujourd’hui ca fait caca sur l’Etat
Islamique et c’est plus ce que c’etait.

Comite de Coordination des Aeroports Francais

La c’est plus pacifique, mais après la grève d’Air France, il faut
d’urgence dissoudre ce comite, il ne sert plus a rien et en plus ca
fera un CCAF de moins. D’une pierre deux coups.

Cartels Constituants de l’Analyse Freudienne (je n’invente rien,
je le jure !)

Quel paradoxe que de voir des cartels (donc des structures
capitalistes) voler au secours de cette fumisterie qu’est la
psychanalyse, pour miser sur sa survie sujette a caution, c’est le
cas de le dire. (aie, je prends des risques, je mets le doigt sur un
sujet tabou, ca va mettre en furie plusieurs auteures bien connues
qui nous saoulent depuis 30 ans en interpretant le genocide a la
sauce freudienne).

Commission de Contrôle des Activites Financières

On est ici en plein dans l’actualite avec l’affaire Thomas Thevenoud
et ses trous de memoire, un modeste elève de Jerome Cahuzac. La
Koruptsia, comme on dit elegamment en Armenie, y en a partout, c’est
comme les “Assotsiatsia”, mot tellement plus facile a prononcer que
“enkeroutioun >>, et comme les >. C’est
comme ca, le ridicule ne tue pas, y compris au pays de l’Ararat.

Circolo Culturale Astronomico de Farra d’Isonzo

L’astronomie, j’adore, surtout en italien, perche io sono un elevo
degli Padre Mechitaristi di Sèvres, avec 5 annees d’ etudes de la
langue de Dante, vous pensez ! >, c’est le debut de l’Enfer, ca fait froid dans le dos.

Comportement et Consommation Alimentaires des Francais

Voila le sujet le plus essentiel, la bouffe, etudie de près par les
analystes de la Grande Distribution pour nous faire avaler toujours
plus de produits trafiques. Mais qu’est-ce que vous voulez, comme
disait Molière, il faut manger pour vivre et non…

Et enfin, en avant-dernière position, notre bien-aime Conseil de
Coordination des organisations Armeniennes de France. C’est un peu
comme l’Europe unie, ca regroupe tout le monde, ca marche plus ou
moins, mais c’est comme le Zacharie de l’Evangile, ca reste muet
quand on lui parle. En armenien on dit

From: A. Papazian

LE CONCEPT DE LA REFORME CONSTITUTIONNELLE PRESENTE

Politique

La commission ad hoc mise en place pour reflechir a la reforme
constitutionnelle par Serge Sarkissian a officiellement preconise
la transformation de l’Armenie en une republique parlementaire avec
un Premier ministre puissant et un President avec un rôle en grande
partie honorifique.

La commission preconise un changement radical du système du pays
“trop centralise” dans la version finale du concept de reforme soumis
a Sarkissian et rendu public hier. Elle a egalement diffuse un bilan
positif du document de 49 pages fait par les experts juridiques du
Conseil de l’Europe.

Sarkissian a maintenant prevu de tenir des consultations avec les
partis politiques de premier plan avant de decider si la commission
devra commencer a rediger des amendements concrets a la Constitution
armenienne a l’instar de ses recommandations.

Un seul principal parti d’opposition, la Federation revolutionnaire
armenienne (FRA), s’est jusqu’a present declare pret, en principe,
a soutenir les plans de reforme constitutionnelle.

La commission presidentielle dirigee par Gagik Harutiunian, president
de la Cour constitutionnelle, a affirme dans son concept de reforme
que les defauts largement reconnus de la constitution actuelle
adoptee en 1995 ne peuvent pas etre resous sans un passage a un
regime parlementaire. Selon elle, cela fournirait une “separation
fonctionnelle claire des pouvoirs”.

Le concept de reforme dit egalement que le pouvoir executif doit
etre dirige uniquement par le Premier ministre et les membres de
son Cabinet, representant la majorite parlementaire. Il dit que
le president de la Republique doit essentiellement agir comme un
“arbitre impartial” pour suivre la conformite du gouvernement et du
Parlement a la Constitution.

“Les pouvoirs presidentiels seront considerablement reduits si il y a
une transition vers le regime parlementaire,” a dit Vartan Poghosian,
membre de la commission. ” Le Premier ministre jouera alors le rôle
de premier violon politique”.

La commission est egalement d’avis que le president doit etre elu par
l’Assemblee nationale ou un collège electoral special, plutôt qu’au
suffrage universel direct, comme cela est le cas depuis 1991. En outre,
le cadre de la reforme empecherait le chef de l’Etat de briguer un
second mandat.

Le commission presidentielle a egalement recommande d’autres
modifications de la constitution qui, selon elle, rendrait les
tribunaux armeniens plus independants et ameliorerait le système des
gouvernements locaux.

La Commission dite de Venise, un organe du Conseil de l’Europe qui suit
les reformes juridiques dans les Etats membres, a trouve la plupart des
recommandations convaincantes. “Ce projet est une bonne base pour la
preparation d’un ensemble de propositions concrètes pour reformer la
Constitution de la Republique d’Armenie”. Les changements recommandes
par Sarkissian pourrait “renforcer les principes democratiques et
etablir les conditions necessaires pour assurer la primaute du droit
et le respect des droits de l’homme”, a ecrit la Commission de Venise.

La Commission de Venise a dans le meme temps affirme que la
transformation du pays en une republique parlementaire necessite
“un large consensus au sein de la societe.”

La Constitution armenienne ne peut etre modifiee que par referendum.

Certains dirigeants ont dit qu’il aura lieu debut 2016.

jeudi 16 octobre 2014, Claire (c)armenews.com

From: A. Papazian

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Bay Area in Support of the AUA College of Science and Engineering On
September 28, 2014, close to 100 supporters in the Bay Area came
together in support of the American University of Armenia (AUA)
College of Science and Engineering for a lively benefit dinner at the
home of Jack and Suzy Koumjian in Hillborough, California.

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Matriculation Ceremony Honors AUA’s Second Undergraduate Class

On Thursday, September 4, 2014, the American University of Armenia
(AUA) welcomed its second undergraduate class with the 2014
Matriculation Ceremony.

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AUA President and Vice President Travel to Nagorno-Karabakh on
Occasion of The Day of the Republic of Artsakh On September 3, 2014,
Artsakh President Bako Sahakyan welcomed President Der Kiureghian and
Vice President Ghazaryan and congratulated Der Kiureghian on his
recent appointment as AUA President, expressing hope that he will
continue to develop the institution and deepen its ties with Artsakh.

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AUA Hosts WASC Senior College and University Commission
>From September 16 to 18, the American University of Armenia hosted a
site visit team from the WASC Senior College and University
Commission (WSCUC) as part of its reaffirmation of accreditation.

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San Francisco Chronicle: UC Helps Build Resources, Revenue at Private
Armenian University San Francisco Chronicle profiles American
University of Armenia, its relationship with the University of
California and its impact on the youth and future of the country.

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Vice President of Development and Director of Communications Appointed
at AUA AUA is pleased to announce the appointment of Lorraine
Alexander as the new Vice President of Development and Zara
Zeitountsian as the new Director of Communications.

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TCPA Presents Research at 20th Annual Voluntary Sector and
Volunteering Research Conference in Sheffield, UK The American
University of Armenia Turpanjian Center for Policy Analysis (TCPA)
presented its study on volunteering in Armenia at the 20th Annual
Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference held in
Sheffield, United Kingdom from September 10th-11th.

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LL.M. Program Chair Zrvandyan Publishes His Recent Legal Study
In May 2014 the Chair and Assistant Professor of the Master of Laws
Program Mr. Zrvandyan published his legal study on the `Rights of
Persons with Mental Disorders to Liberty, Privacy and Fair Trial in
the Armenian Law and Practice’.

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Guest lecture Professor Eiki Berg spoke on EU Enlargement &
Neighborhood Policies at AUA On September 17, 2014, the American
University of Armenia (AUA)’s Political Science and International
Affairs (PSIA) program hosted a Jean Monnet guest lecture on the EU
Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy.

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Dr. Airazat Kazaryan on World Health Organization’s Surgical Safety
Checklist On September 22, 2014, the American University of Armenia
(AUA) School of Public Health (SPH) organized a Public Health Seminar
with Dr. Airazat M. Kazaryan, MD, PhD.

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ONEArmenia has launched crowdfunding for the AUA Center for
Responsible Mining ONEArmenia has launched its newest crowdfunding
campaign, this time for lab equipment that will enable mining
communities in Armenia to detect toxic pollution in their soil, and
water, and identify lead contamination in children’s blood.

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This Issue:
September 2014

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From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN STUDENT EXCITED TO EXPERIENCE AMERICAN CULTURE, SHARE HER OWN AT FILLMORE CENTRAL

Marshall News Record, Minnesota
Oct 15 2014

By Bretta Grabau, Bluff Country News Group Wednesday, October 15,
2014 9:24 AM

Liana Minasyan from Armenia attends Fillmore Central as one of the
many foreign exchange students this year. BRETTA GRABAU/BLUFF COUNTRY
NEWSPAPER GROUP

Experiencing a new culture is always exciting, however it may be
even more fun to share one’s own culture amidst a completely new
environment. One of Fillmore Central’s foreign exchange students
looks forward to doing just that.

After settling into a new phase of her life, Liana Minasyan began
noticing many differences between American culture and her own.

She came to Fillmore Central from Armenia, the oldest of three
children. Arriving a few days before school started, she was granted a
few days of rest, unpacking and getting to know her new host parents,
Lori and James Severson, near Harmony.

“I live near the second biggest city in Armenia. Here I live with
the Seversons on their farm,” Liana stated.

“They work very hard and have a lot of chores,” she continued. “My
favorite animal on the farm is the horse.”

While becoming familiar with the new way of life in the United States
and on a farm to boot, she struggled to understand the language as
she settled in.

“The first week was a little hard because my English was not good. But
I felt comfortable going day-by-day. Now it is better to understand,”
Liana added.

Liana began thinking about becoming a foreign exchange student several
years ago, enrolling in a Future Leader Exchange program in Armenia.

Since being a foreign student in a completely new land requires the
ability to do things alone, the program groomed students applying
for it to be leaders.

“You can apply to be to be an exchange student from ninth to 12th
grade,” she explained.

The application process consisted of more than filling out a form
and discussing with an organization on how to get to be an exchange
student. Students also had to go through testing to ensure they would
qualify for being an exchange student. They had to go through stages of
reading essays and interviews to be able to pass and receive approval.

“The main thing for the program was to show that you are a leader so
you would not come and not be sure what you were to do once you got
here,” Liana described.

In those three years of the program, Liana demonstrated tenacious
persistence and determination to become a foreign exchange student,
even after failing to qualify twice.

“I would take the test in September and the answers came six months
later. The first two times I applied I did not make it. After the
second time, I thought it may be the last time. But then September
came again and I did not want to regret not trying one more time,”
she related.

Whenever she applied, Liana witnessed her classmates in the program
passing and being approved. Instead of being discouraged, she began
to see the process to be her own personal quest of principle. Also,
because that program emphasized leadership from the students, she
resolved not to give up. Finally, after her third try, the results
returned favorably, reinforcing her fervent wish to study abroad.

“I cried from happiness after passing the third time,” Liana admitted.

“My teachers and parents had been waiting with me the whole time and
were proud.”

Fast forward to today, where Liana is enjoying her first visit to the
United States. After taking a few days to settle into American life,
school started with differences from the Armenian education system
every which way.

“Everything is different here,” Liana said. “At school in Armenia we
have no lockers or smart boards. Here every student has a MacBook Air,
but there we only have a computer room with about 10 computers.”

In addition to those differences, she related that students in
Armenia do not change classrooms. Instead, the teachers have no room
and come to the students in their one classroom. There are also no
extracurricular activities there, unlike here in the United States.

It is those extracurricular areas which Liana says she enjoys
the most. While at Fillmore Central, she is participating in the
photography club, the flag corps, concessions and choir along with her
school subjects of English, history, mass communications, pre-calc,
Spanish, food science and accounting.

She has a wide variety of interests and said she wants to challenge
herself in things she has not experienced before.

“I like to sing. I sing all the time at home, but I have never been
in the choir,” Liana said. “When I told my family I was in choir they
said they wanted me to sing a song because they missed it.”

Though she is a senior this year at Fillmore Central, this year does
not count academically for her. However, once she returns to Armenia
in May, she may yet be able to take and pass the exams so she will
not have to redo her last year. One of the last things she wants to
do is to have to repeat the school year in Armenia, going to classes
without her friends.

“My friends there said they would wait for me for prom and graduation.

It was very nice,” she noted.

Liana is also preparing to take the SAT for the American universities,
which she would have also taken in Armenia.

Enjoying her time as a foreign exchange student so far, Liana is
looking forward to working at the concessions stands for the volleyball
and football games to earn points for the senior class trip.

Most of all, what she has really found to be exciting, are the
people here.

“The people are always smiling,” Liana said. “They are very polite and
friendly and let you express yourself, share your country and culture.

I’m excited that they want to learn about where I come from.”

As a part of her trip to the United States, Liana wants to expose
Americans to a new culture at school and to other community members
who may not have an opportunity to experience a different way of
life themselves.

From: A. Papazian

TURKISH-ARMENIAN PHOTOGRAPHER ARA GuLER: ISTANBUL, MY LOVE

National Turk, Turkey
Oct 15 2014

/ Artistry News

Ara Guler is Turkey’s most famous photographer. His pictures show
a Istanbul, which no longer exists. Meanwhile he can the city ever
suffer less, but a few corners he loves it. Traveled with a legend.

In the dream Ara Guler traveled into the past. Not in the his beloved
Istanbul fifties, where he moved as a young guy around the houses and
street scenes, workers and over the Bosphorus photographed images that
would make him famous worldwide. But even further back. “I dream that
I’m 1453 in Constantine Opel, the only person with a camera. Ottomans
conquer the city, and I see to it that the world has a picture of
this important event. Photographs are important for collective memory.”

Ara Guler, the photojournalist. He may not be called a photographer,
let alone artists. “I’m a journalist, a reporter.” In August he became
86 years old. After a serious kidney disease he is halfway back on
his feet. He was in the ICU, and because many believed him dead,
he made a Selfie and sent it to the world via Twitter.

Fotograph/ Ara Guler Istanbul Karakoy Bridge

More than 60 years Ara Guler has photographed, Konrad Adenauer, Indira
Gandhi, Alfred Hitchcock, long time for the famous Magnum agency.

Pablo Picasso has painted a picture out of gratitude to him, it now
hangs in a corner of Gulers office, between photos, postcards and
note papers. His life’s work – negatives and slides – is crated in
the floors above the Ara Café in Istanbul.

Ara Guler:”How much people want to buy it ?”

But most and most often he has photographed his beloved native city,
especially in the fifties. To date, he takes pictures of Istanbul, but
increasingly rare and more recently digital. The city has experienced
in recent years a boom, the Guler “a development for the ugly” calls.

“Everywhere streets and shopping malls People have only consumption,
consumption, consumption in mind There are terrible malls that are
so large. that you can spend all day in it. How much want to shop
the people then? ”

Its Istanbul, the Istanbul of ordinary people. That the workers
squatting on the sidewalk and talk animatedly. The fishmongers their
fresh products to market haul. The men playing cards in the teahouse.

In the background are seen often the famous mosques of Istanbul. “They
are beautiful,” says Guler. “And I say this even though I’m not
from religion.”

He photographed particularly like where there were social tensions,
for minorities, in brothels, in the slums. There are photographs that
shape our image of Istanbul, still also because they show the same
Istanbul, the Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk describes in his books.

The old Istanbul in its beautiful imperfection. Some of these photos
shows starting this Wednesday and until mid-January, the Friends of
Willy-Brandt-Haus in Berlin. “The Eye of Istanbul – Retrospective
1950-2005â~@³ is the exhibition.

Ara Guler is a hero in Turkey

Fotograph / Ara Guler

Where is Istanbul still beautiful? Guler must not think twice. “All
along the water,” he says. “Come, I’ll show you my favorite place.” He
climbs the help of his assistant on the passenger seat of his SUV, it
is a small model, but at least Guler sits high, which is important to
him. The wizard runs it up to the fishing port in Sariyer district. “I
love this place,” he says. Fishermen welcome him, a fishmonger gives
him her hand, suddenly Guler is surrounded by students who want to
have their picture taken with him. He is a hero in Turkey.

He now travels through the hills that line the Bosporus. “In these
streets I’ve pissed as a child,” he says and laughs. He loves to
use expletives, in Turkish, from the crudest sort. Sometimes his
assistant looks away in shame. In Gulers eyes you can see then,
that he laughs inwardly.

He does what he wants. This, he stressed, had always been so. “My
father was a pharmacist and wanted me to become a doctor.” But Guler
was drawn to the theater people, which his father sold make-up to
the slopes and shrill. Eventually he got a camera, since he takes
pictures. He taught photographing themselves in – and made it to the
world leaders.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan worshiped him, vice versa Guler has not have
a good opinion of the president. “When I get time awarded a prize,
Erdogan has photographed me. He even went to his knees before me.”

About Erdogan dealing with critics, with journalists and with the
Gezi protesters he is disappointed.

Guler, the Armenian Turk who prefer to keep distance to the powerful.

Only to Prime Minister Mustafa Bulent Ecevit, a writer and poet,
he maintained a friendship. “A good man,” says Guler.

When he enters a café on the banks of the Bosphorus, he is appalled
by a sunscreen that blocks the view of the water. “What’s that? You
unlock the beauty of!” Guler complains with the owner. “I’m not
staying here!” He looks for another café.

The city has become too large to him. His Istanbul had a mere one
million inhabitants. “I still remember how this brand has been
exceeded.” Now there are 13, 14, maybe even 18 million people. “If
there are too many people and too little space, they lose respect
for each other,” says Guler. “You can see it every day on the road.”

Nevertheless, he would never want to live anywhere else. At Istanbul,
he loves the diversity, multi-ethnicity, the Bunte. “Here, everyone
finds their place,” he says. “Really everyone.” That this is so,
Ercan Arslan holds photographically. Arslan is a student Gulers, and
for some years he scans the same places that Guler has held. Arslan
is the Istanbul of today not all that ugly. Eventually there will be a
large exhibition that documents the change. Then the viewer to decide.

From: A. Papazian