Author: Andres-Papazian

HAK TO APPEAL ADMINISTRATIVE COURT’S DECISION

Tert.am
10:14 02.11.10

The Administrative Court rejected more than 100 citizens~R claim
appealing the legality of authorities~R operations during the March
1 events, Vahe Hovsepyan, lawyer of opposition alliance Armenian
National Congress (HAK), told Tert.am.

~SThe citizens who claimed that their rights had been violated could
have sought legal protection arguing all the circumstances which they
thought resulted in such violations. But instead, they submitted a
recognition claim,~T he said.

In addition, he noted that the court decisions will be appealed by
the superiority principle in the nearest future.

Earlier over the 100 citizens who lodged appeal with the court claimed
that the restrictions imposed by the authorities following the March 1,
2008 developments be recognized illegal.

From: A. Papazian

CRIMINAL CASE INITIATED ON FORGERY AND USAGE OF DOCUMENTS AS WELL AS SLANDERING

2010/11/01 | 16:55

criminal

The Department for Investigation by National Security Agencies of
the RA General Prosecutor’s Office has initiated a criminal case
on forgery and usage of documents as well as slandering the judge,
the prosecutor, the investigator or the person in charge of inquiry
accompanied with committing a grave crime.

On September 13, 2010 an article was published in the “Hetq” weekly
newspaper referring to the open letter sent to the RA President,
the Ministry of Justice, the General Prosecutor’s Office and the
National Security Service in the name of the citizen of Romania Oliver
Raduku Mariani on the fact that he had given bribery to different
legal bodies of Armenia in order to give him milder punishment. The
RA General Prosecutor tasked to send the above-mentioned article to
the RA National Security Service with the purpose of carrying the
investigation according to the law established order.

During the investigation carried out by the RA National Security
Service, Konstantin Stengachu, sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment
in the framework of the same criminal case, gave the investigation
body a printed unsigned letter sent to the “Vardashen” penitentiary
in the name of Oliver Raduku on August 23, 2010 as an example of the
mentioned “open letter”, whereas this kind of letter wasn’t sent
to the General Prosecutor’s Office and the National Security Service.

On September 29, 2010 the head of the “Vardashen” penitentiary sent
to the General Prosecutor’s Office a cassation appeal handwritten
in Armenian by Konstantin Stengachu on September 23, 2010, where he
had mentioned the unsigned “open letter” sent by Oliver Raduku on
August 23, 2010 and asked to fully reserve his judgment and send the
criminal case to the Court to implement new examination.

The above-mentioned unsigned printed false letter was attached to
Konstantin Stengachu’s cassation appeal addressed to the RA Court
of Cassation by which the person acting in the name of Oliver Mariani
spread and published false information accusing the legal and judicial
bodies of committing grave crimes, that is taking bribery in large
amounts, and tried to inflate the examination of the criminal case
by slandering the officials and to assist Konstantin Stengachu in
illegally reserving his judgment.

During the investigation the “open letter” in the name of Oliver
Mariani wasn’t found. Even an unsigned letter was attached to the
package sent to the Court of Cassation. On October 15, 2010 a letter
signed by Oliver Mariani was sent to the RA National Security Service
by the post office of the UK where the latter denied having sent on
open letter to the RA President. Oliver Raduku informed that he came
to know the content of the “open letter” sent in his name by reading
the articles published in the web-site of the weekly “Hetq” which,
of course, was slander.

A criminal case has been initiated by the Department for Investigation
by National Security Agencies of the RA General Prosecutor’s Office
as part 1 of the Article 325 and part 3 of the Article 344 of the
RA Criminal Code were infringed and the preliminary investigation
of the criminal case has been tasked to the RA Special Investigation
Service by the RA General Prosecutor.

From: A. Papazian

ZOLTAN KONSANSZKY – “THE BEST MARKETING FOR A COUNTRY IS WORD OF MOUTH”
Sona Avagyan

2010/11/02 | 13:07

society

Hungarian Native is the Director of Sales & Marketing at Armenia
Marriott Hotel

“There is nothing impossible, just that people are incapable. In
other words, I believe that basically if one dreams something, then
he should also be able to execute it.”

This is the main motto of Zoltan Konsanszky, Director of Sales and
Marketing at Armenia Marriott Hotel, Yerevan.

Zoltan started his career at the Marriott Hotel 10 years ago during
his college studies, when he worked as a waiter for 2 years, just
like any other restaurant waiter in Budapest.

“In Hungary the system is that you have special schools where you
work one week and study one week. Between the ages of 14 and 17,
one week was pure physical work, cutting vegetables on the board and
one week was studying. This is how I started,” Zoltan says.

After graduating from the college, he became a sales executive at
the Catering Division. Afterwards, he managed the Budapest Marriott
Hotel Sales Department. From 2006 to 2010 he worked as Director of
Event Management at the same hotel.

Two years ago NATO’s Informal Defense Ministerial Meeting was held
in the Budapest Marriott Hotel. Zoltan was the point man to see that
everything ran smoothly.

“To reach tomorrow’s goals one must be excellent today”

“I think this event has been the highlight of my career so far. Back
then, I basically said that by a certain time I would become an
executive team member; and I made it. Now I already have my next goal
in mind. This is nothing new. This is an approach passed down from
all the masters of the world, painters, sculptors, and all different
type of artists. Before you start out, you need to have a goal in
your head at all levels of your life; for your private affairs and
for your business. So this is already today’s history, you have
to focus on tomorrow. But in order to reach tomorrow you have to be
excellent everyday at your job. It’s really like an art,” Zoltan
Konsanszky says.

In his words, life is a never-ending learning process and he is still
at it. At the same time, he is not going to study the Armenian language
since he thinks it’s better to focus on something more realistic.

“I think you have a very unique language. There are certain words
which I know and I will get to know even more later on. But honestly,
I don’t think I will be able to learn the alphabet,” Zoltan
Konsanszky says.

He has been working as a Director of Sales and Marketing at Armenia
Marriott Hotel Yerevan for the past 10 months. He had visited Armenia
for two days before taking the job and got to know Armenia a bit. “I
had the chance to evaluate if I am coming or not, and I decided to
come,” Zoltan says. His grandparents had visited Armenia in the 70s
and told Zoltan about their impressions. Zoltan came here buoyed with
his grandfather’s “sweet memories.”

Big difference in Hungarian, Armenian hotel markets

In Zoltan’s words, there are differences in the hotel markets between
Hungary and Armenia. In the last 10 years Budapest has been a rapidly
growing capital, very close to Western Europe. Because of distance,
it’s very easy to get to Budapest from other countries as opposed to
Armenia. Thus, a lot of foreign investments were made in Hungary. In
1989 there were only 4-5 international hotels in Budapest, but now
there are twelve 5-star hotels and dozens of 4-star and 3-star hotels.

The demand and supply in the market are much bigger in Hungary than
in Armenia.

Zoltan believes there is not enough “real” competition amongst
hotels in Armenia and there are no equal hotels in Armenia both in
price and in features, either. “Because of this, a lot of times
it’s like competing between “Porsche” and “Lada”,” he says.

At the same time Zoltan Konsanszky notes that the set-up, the type of
business and focus of all the hotels, are totally different. Also,
all Armenian hotels have a certain nice advantage, whether it is a
pool, an atrium or a good location. So, all hotels, at least in one
aspect are better than the rest.

When Zoltan began working at Armenia Marriott Hotel, it seemed to him
that the lobby was nice but a bit dark. So they redid the lobby. “One
thing which is good about this company is that it’s continuously
changing. The Armenia Marriott is a good example. So I might say
that I want to change this and that, but whatever I said yesterday
is different today,” he says.

They have many plans for further changes and are going to complete
guest room upgrades in December by changing the TVs to big, flat
screen TVs and increasing the number of channels from 16 to 40.

Zoltan wants to promote Armenia to the outside world

Zoltan’s desire is to have enough time and finances to promote
Armenia outside Yerevan and abroad. He wants to make sure that people
who have the potential to visit foreign countries think not only of
going to the Far East, or Dubai, but also to Armenia and visit its
picturesque sites.

“It’s important that we “Armenians” offer a good, memorable
experience, a positive impression they can bring back and spread
the word about. This is important because the best marketing for a
country is word of mouth. And if one hotel is full then the next,
the third and fourth will be full,” Zoltan Konsanszky says.

He has visited many sites in Armenia. He has been to Tatev, Garni,
Geghard, Khor Virap, Marmashen, Gyumri, Artik, Sevan, Sevanavank,
Etchmiadzin, the Zvartnots ruins and Tzaghadzor. He is impressed
by the nature of Armenia but agrees that there is always more that
should be done to protect nature. “Still, with the foreigner’s eye,
there are some very nice spots. Armenia definitely has a very special
landscape,” Zoltan Konsanszky says.

Zoltan needs time to integrate into Armenian society. “I don’t speak
the language. So I don’t know if I should talk about integration
at all. I assume that to feel like a foreigner is a good approach,”
he says.

Sometimes he feels that people are looking at him when he walks in
the street. But it doesn’t make him feel uncomfortable. “I feel
more uncomfortable because I am almost 2 meters tall”, Zoltan
jokes. “I’ve never had any bad experiences.”

He says there are similarities between Hungarians and Armenians. Both
nations are hospitable and love to eat. Gata is Zoltan’s favorite
Armenian dish. Maybe the reason is that they don’t bake anything like
gata in Hungary. “Tolma is good and so is khorovats. But my favorite
is gata, hands down,” says Zoltan, who by the way, is originally a
chief by profession.

From: A. Papazian

AREA RESIDENTS COMPLAIN ABOUT RESPIRATORY PROBLEMS LINKED TO EMISSIONS

2010/11/02 | 13:15

ecology society

Companies claim exhausts within safe levels

Residents living in the vicinity of the ~SMakour Yerkat~T and the
~SArmenian Titanium~T companies in Yerevan have been complaining
to the environmental organization Ecolur about respiratory problems
stemming from exhausts emanating from the companies~R smokestacks.

~SI~Rm an athlete, and I never had breathing problems before. But now,
I have this persistent cough. You can~Rt breathe fully; there~Rs this
irritation in my throat,~T said one of the local residents.

The ~SMakour Yerkat~T (Pure Iron) factory produces ferromolybdenum and
pure iron molybdenum, while rhenium is extracted from gases. ~SArmenian
Titanium Production~T produces ferrotitanium and other ferrobars. The
Production results in the emission of sulfuric anhydride and nitrogen
oxides into atmosphere.

According to Ecolur, the State Environmental Impact Assessment Center
doesn~Rt exercise any control over these polluted territories in
Yerevan and that any data regarding emissions is supplied by the
companies themselves.

Ecolur has notified the RA Ministries of the Environment and Health
regarding the problem and has called for testing at the sites in
question.

From: A. Papazian

U.S. REPUBLICAN HOPEFUL SLAMS OBAMA OVER ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECOGNITION
Emil Danielyan

01.11.2010

U.S. — President Barack Obama speaks at the Moving America Forward
rally in Philadelphia, 10Oct2010

A Republican candidate in the U.S. mid-term elections has condemned
President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies controlling Congress
for reneging, so far, on their pledges to formally recognize the 1915
Armenian massacres in Ottoman Turkey as genocide.

In a last-minute attempt to win over ethnic Armenian voters in her New
Jersey constituency, Anna Little also faulted the Obama administration
for lending what she called insufficient support to Armenia in its
difficult relations with Turkey and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The
Karabakh Armenians “continue to face the specter of genocide,” she
claimed, pointing to “the ever increasing war rhetoric emanating from
the Azerbaijani regime.”

“In the elections of 2008, the Democrats swept into power with their
leaders on record in support of U.S. affirmation of the Armenian
Genocide,” Little said in a statement obtained by RFE/RL’s Armenian
service. “However, they have failed to deliver on their promises in
every way.”

“The Democratically-controlled Congress and Democratic Administration
lured voters into a false sense of hope and failed to stand with the
Armenian-American community on this fundamental promise,” she charged.

US – Congressman Frank Pallone, Undated

Little is locked in an unexpectedly tight contest with Democratic
incumbent Frank Pallone, one of the most pro-Armenian members of the
U.S. House of Representatives who has long championed U.S. recognition
of the Armenian genocide.

Pallone is also one of the two co-chairmen of the congressional
Armenian Caucasus, a bipartisan group of more than 150 legislators.

His reelection bid was endorsed last week by the Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA), one of the two main Armenian-American
advocacy groups.

The Armenian community in the United States has been dismayed by
Obama’s failure to honor his repeated campaign pledges to refer to
the World War One-era massacres as genocide once in office. The U.S.

president has implicitly attributed his stance to an unprecedented
rapprochement between Armenia and Turkey that began shortly after he
took office.

Vice President Joe Biden, a longtime backer of Armenian-American
issues, caused more controversy when he implied, in an Internet video
that surfaced last week, that President Serzh Sarkisian himself asked
the administration and Congress not to press ahead with genocide
recognition for now. The U.S. Embassy in Yerevan effectively denied
Biden’s claim over the weekend.

Obama’s Republican election rival, Senator John McCain, refrained
from calling the mass killings and deportations of Ottoman Armenians
a genocide during the 2008 presidential race. But he did declare in
November last year that “genocide was committed against the Armenian
people” and that “there is ample documentation of that.”

In her statement, Little said that she “will not rest” until a
draft genocide resolution, which was narrowly approved by the House
Foreign Affairs Committee in March, is passed by the full chamber,
if she defeats Pallone. “We cannot afford to break another promise,”
said the Republican challenger.

Whether her party shares this view is an open question. The Republicans
have traditionally opposed Armenian genocide bills, citing Turkey’s
geopolitical importance to the United States.

Virtually all Republican members of the House panel voted against the
latest resolution in March. Some of them subsequently reconsidered
their position amid a sharp deterioration of Turkey’s relations
with Israel.

The draft resolution has still not reached the House floor despite
being backed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and more than a hundred other
lawmakers. One Armenian-American leader told RFE/RL on Monday that
the Armenian lobby still hopes to push it through the House before
new legislators take office in January. In any case, he said, the
mid-term elections “will be more than consequential for us.”

From: A. Papazian

AGBU CONCLUDES ITS 86TH WORLDWIDE ANNUAL ASSEMBLY: AGBU DIRECTORS, LEADERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD HEAD TO SOUTH AMERICA FOR LARGE CELEBRATION

Front Page News

Nov 1, 2010
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina

AGBU President Berge Setrakian opened the 86th Assembly.

The world’s largest non-profit Armenian organization, the Armenian
General Benevolent Union (AGBU), concluded its 86th annual assembly
here, with the participation of delegates from Germany, Armenia,
Australia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, United States, Lebanon,
France, Greece, Italy, United Kingdom, Russia, Syria, Switzerland,
Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina.

As of 2009, the net asset of the AGBU has been assessed at
$332,032,169. During that period, the AGBU has allocated $18,947,504
for educational, $8,905,988 for cultural, $2,113,586 for religious and
$3,143,586 for humanitarian purposes. AGBU runs and supports programs
in Armenia, such as the American University of Armenia, the St.

Nersess Hospital, AGBU Children’s Centers, Armenian Philharmonic
Orchestra, the Ultrasound Center and the Vaskenian Theological
Seminary of Holy Echmiadzin. In Karabagh, they contribute to the
Karabagh Chamber Orchestra and the Karabagh Repopulation Project. In
the diaspora, AGBU sponsors over 30 day and Saturday schools in North
and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia. More than
6,500 students are enrolled in these schools, where the curriculum
includes instruction about their heritage and identity. Today, the AGBU
Scholarship Program offers financial assistance to a broader range of
Armenian students around the world such as AGBU Fellowships, Performing
Arts Fellowships, Religious Studies Fellowships, International
Scholarships and Heritage Scholar Grants, as well as the New York,
Paris and Yerevan Summer Intern Programs. Along with its many cultural
centers and day schools, the AGBU operates also Camp Nubar in the US,
Colonie de Vacances in France, and other sites in Bulgaria and Syria
where thousands of youth come together.

Since 1995, the AGBU Young Professionals have been a growing network
of YP groups and supporters from around the world who promote Armenian
identity and heritage for young Armenians between the ages of 22 to 40.

The 86th annual meetings program began on Wednesday, October 13,
with a concert by violinist Sami Merdinian in the French Embassy
of Argentina. The ambassador of France to Argentina, Jean-Pierre
Asvazadourian, accepted the petition of the local AGBU chapter
to host the delegates of the AGBU 86th Annual Assembly. (In 1984,
when the AGBU 69th General Assembly was held in Buenos Aires, the
US Embassy also hosted all the assembly delegates, headed by Life
President Alex Manoogian.)

Cutting the anniversary cake, from left, Ruben Kechichian, Elsa
Kechichian, Vera Setrakian, Eduardo Eurnekian, Anahid Karmirshalyan,
Ambassador Vladimir Karmirshalyan and Berge Setrakian

The concert was attended by the AGBU President Berge Setrakian and
his wife Vera; AGBU Central Board members, Ambassador of Armenia in
Argentina Vladimir Karmirshalyan and his wife; the Primate of the
Armenian Apostolic Church for Argentina and Chile, Archbishop Kissag
Mouradian; businessman Eduardo Eurnekian; members of delegations and
members of AGBU Buenos Aires. The concert was a true pleasure for
the delegates, which ended with cocktail reception by Asvazadourian.

Afterwards, the delegates moved to the AGBU headquarters on Armenia
Street, and at the Nazar and Artemis Nazarian Hall, the Young
Professionals of AGBU Buenos Aires officially greeted all the founders
and former chairmen of the local Youth League Organization on its
70th anniversary and the alumni of AGBU Marie Manoogian Educational
Institute. The Educational Institute was founded in 1974 and starting
in 1979 until now, it has graduated 605 young Armenians from its
high school. They were the first students in the diaspora who began
Friday night dinners with the help of their parents, to raise funds
for their graduate travels to the motherland, Armenia. This tradition
now has been adopted by hundreds of Armenian day schools all over
the diaspora today.

The next day, students at the Berdjuhi Emirian primary section of
the Marie Manoogian Educational Institute, received the delegates and
presented to them Argentine and Armenian traditional songs and dances.

Delegates, presided over by Berge Setrakian and other members of the
Board of Directors, toured the institution and visited the classrooms,
where students were learning Armenian history and culture through
AGBU Virtual College program, which was started two years ago by AGBU
Central Board of Directors.

At the French Embassy, from left, Berge Setrakian, Vera Setrakian,
Joseph Ougourlian, Ambassador Jean-Pierre Asvazadourian and Ruben
Kechichian

On Friday, October 15, the official gala-dinner of the 86th General
Assembly was held at the Hotel Four Seasons, during which Eduardo
Eurnekian was honored. From airports to agriculture, from energy
to banking, Eurnekian’s name is synonymous with global business. A
native of Argentina, Eurnekian is a renowned entrepreneur who has more
recently been working to develop Armenia by investing in different
sectors and thus creating jobs for its citizens. Eurnekian was born
in 1932 in Argentina to Armenian immigrants. He began his career in
the textile industry and built one of the most important companies in
that sector in the country. In the early 1980s, Eurnekian purchased
the bankrupt Cablevision SA cable TV station and transformed it into
the largest private cable TV company in Latin America, with more than
a million subscribers. He later sold the company for $750 million. His
media involvement included, among other things, an open-air TV chain,
several radio stations and a financial newspaper. In 1988, he formed
a consortium called Aeropuertos Argentina 2000, and he was awarded a
30- year concession to operate many of Argentina’s airports. He has
since expanded his business to incorporate major airports in Uruguay,
Ecuador, Italy, Armenia and Peru. In agribusiness, Eurnekian owns
the largest expanse of artificially irrigated land in Argentina and a
total of 400,000 acres of farmland. He recently formed a new company,
Tierras de Marruecos, which will explore the development of Morocco.

During the last decade, Eurnekian began taking an active interest
in Armenia and its future. In 2001, he started the renovation of
Zvartnots International Airport runway and platforms – which are
already completed – and the construction of a new high-tech terminal
(of which phases one and two have been completed, while phase three
is to be inaugurated in the fall of 2011.) His company, Tierras
Armenia, works to promote agribusiness in the nation, including
a focus on fruit and vegetable production in Arevadasht, just 40
miles outside Yerevan. He also sponsors Fruitful Armenia, a nonprofit
organization, which annually brings together various Armenian companies
and organizations in an effort to promote agricultural growth, boost
sustainable micro- usiness and train local workers. In 2006, Eurnekian
acquired the third largest bank in Armenia, Converse Bank. He is in
charge of the mail system in Armenia, HayPost, and the infrastructural
renovation of its approximately 900 branches. In addition, he provides
philanthropic help to the local Armenian communities and to the Holy
See of Echmiadzin.

Berge Setrakian and Eduardo Eurnekian

A visionary businessman, Eurnekian has been named Business Man of
the Year 1995 in Argentina, and in 1999 he received the Leonardo
Award from the Italian government, which is given to the leading
foreign businessman. In September 2001, he received the St. Gregory
the Illuminator Order medal and the decoration of St. Mesrob Mashtots
from President Berge Sargisian, the highest decoration of the country.

AGBU, which has always encouraged philanthropy and active involvement
in Armenian community life, honored Eurnekian in appreciation of his
commitment to bettering the lives of Armenians.

Setrakian made Eurnekian an honorary member of the Central Council
of the AGBU, which received a standing ovation and lengthy applause.

Eurnekian humbly announced that he is just doing his duty for his
people in Argentina and in Armenia. The whole episode and the gala
dinner was televised by the Local TV 5 and aired to the public
through YouTube.

Gala dinner participants

On Saturday morning, the 86th Assembly took place at Sahagian hall,
with the participation of more than 200 delegates and members. All
speeches were simultaneously translated into English, Armenian,
French and Spanish. After the Argentinean, Armenian and AGBU anthems,
Setrakian opened the assembly with an encouraging speech, emphasizing
AGBU’s educational, cultural and humanitarian work. A financial report
of the last two years was presented to the delegates. After the reports
submitted by advisers, delegates voted to elect Joseph Ougourlian of
New York as new member of the Central Board of Directors, to replace
Dr. Arshavir Gundjian, whose term as member expired, according to
the AGBU by-laws provisions of reaching the age of 75.

Finally, Archbishop Mouradian surprised all the delegates by reading
Catholicos Karekin II’s pontifical decree addressed to Bedros
Piandarian, long time financial director of AGBU Central Board
of Directors in New York, and a second decree addressed to Ruben
Kechichian, chairman of AGBU Buenos Aires Chapter, and decorated them
with the Nerses Shnorhali medals.

After the meeting, the delegates went to the land adjacent to Alex
Manoogian Cultural Center and laid the foundation stone of the new
General Antranik scouts’ center.

(Compiled by Kevork Marashlian, sources included the ADL newspaper
Sardarabad of Buenos Aires, the AGBU website, contributions from Diana
Der Garabedian, editor of Sardarabad and AGBU Buenos Aires Chapter.)

From: A. Papazian

NEWTON SYMPHONY CONCERT TO FEATURE MUSIC OF HOVHANESS, KHACHATURIAN
By Editor

Nov 1, 2010
Boston

Joe Scheer

Dan Davis

NEWTON, Mass. — The Newton Symphony Orchestra (NSO) will present a
concert on Sunday November 14, titled “The Mystic Beauty of Armenian
Music,” which will be dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth
of composer Alan Hovhaness.

The concert will take place at 3 p.m. at the former Rashi Auditorium,
15 Walnut Park, Newton Corner, on the grounds of the Andover Newton
Theological School.

The program features Joseph Scheer, concertmaster of the Boston Pops
Esplanade Orchestra in Aram Khachaturian’s Violin Concerto. The concert
opens with the beautiful Prayer of Saint Gregory by Alan Hovhaness,
played by the NSO’s principal trumpeter, Daniel Davis. Next comes
Hovhaness’ Symphony No. 2, Mysterious Mountain. The second part of
the concert will open with Khachaturian’s Masquerade Suite and close
with the Violin Concerto.

There is a free pre-concert lecture by musicologist Steven Ledbetter.

After the concert the audience is invited to join the soloist,
orchestra members and conductor for refreshments.

For more information on the program and for tickets visit

From: A. Papazian

PETER BALAKIAN TO READ FROM ZIGGURAT IN CALIFORNIA
By Editor

Nov 1, 2010
California

SAN FRANCISCO – Peter Balakian will read from his new book of poems
Ziggurat (published by The University of Chicago Press) and will
also discuss issues concerning the Armenian Genocide and contemporary
affairs during a question-and-answer session.

Balakian will read at the following locations: November 18, 7 p.m.,
Kepler’s Books, 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park; November 20, 7:30
p.m., The Booksmith, 1644 Haight St., San Francisco; and November 21,
4 p.m., Mrs. Dalloway’s, 2904 College Ave., Berkeley and November 22,
7 p.m., ALOUD Reading Series. Mark Taper Auditorium, Central Library
of Los Angeles, 630 West Fifth St.

For reservations and information on the latter, visit

In Ziggurat, Balakian continues to define himself as one of the most
distinctive voices of his generation.

He explores history, self and imagination, as well as his ongoing
concerns with catastrophe and trauma.

Balakian is the Donald M. and Constance H. Rebar Professor in
Humanities and professor of English at Colgate University.

He is the author of five books of poems including June-tree: New and
Selected Poems 1974-2000, and three prose works, including The Burning
Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America’s Response, a New York
Times best seller, and Black Dog of Fate, winner of the PEN/Albrand
Prize for memoir. For further information about Balakian’s tour, visit

From: A. Papazian

Hajin Armenians Assemble in Beirut’s New Hajin To Commemorate the Past, Strengthen Identities
By Aram Arkun

Front Page News
Nov 1, 2010 in Armenia

Gerard Challiand spoke at the event.

BEIRUT, Lebanon – The Armenians of Hajin returned to their town after
World War I thinking that they could rebuild their homes safely
under British and French protection. Instead, Turkish Nationalist
forces ended up besieging them from March to October 1920. When the
town was captured, many thousands of Armenians were killed. The Hajin
Compatriotic Union of Beirut, Lebanon, with the support of Haigazian
University and some individual donors, organized a series of events in
commemoration of these victims on October 15 to 16. These included a
photo exhibit, musical performances, a symposium, an evening public
concert with fireworks, the preparation of the traditional jidabur
(a stew similar to herisa) and, after a requiem ceremony in St. Kevork
Church in the quarter of New Hajin of Beirut, a special commemorative
meal.

Hajin Armenians from places as far afield as Marseilles and Pasadena
came to attend the events, though the majority were from Beirut. The
events began on the evening of October 15 with formal speeches by the
presidents of the Hajin Compatriotic Union and Haigazian University,
respectively Paul Yacoubian and Rev. Dr. Paul Haidostian, as well as
the ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to Lebanon Ashot Kocharian.

A letter of encouragement from the director of the Armenian Genocide
Museum Institute, Dr. Hayk Demoyan, was read.

The main speaker that evening was Dr. Gerard Chaliand, a specialist
in guerrilla warfare from France who over decades has personally
investigated and written about liberation movements in Africa, the
Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Russia and South America. He
has taught courses in major universities around the world and founded
in France the Group for the Rights of Minorities. He has served
as advisor to the French Foreign Ministry’s Center of Research and
Planning from 1983 to 1994 and from 1997 to 2000, was the director
of the European Center for Conflict Research. Just as importantly,
at least for this conference, Chaliand’s uncle, Garabed Chalian,
was the last governor of Hajin.

Chaliand gave an overview of modern Armenian history and nationalism.

He felt the Armenian elites, especially, after World War I, were in a
“sort of historical myopia” and did not understand what was going on.

Context must be understood to avoid becoming its victim, he said.

However, at the end, in 1920, the Armenians of Hajin chose to die
bravely as warriors instead of surrendering. No other choice was left.

Musical performances by Talar and Lori Yacoubian and Arek Dakessian
took place. At least 250 people were present, including several
parliamentary deputies and a state minister. The crowd then walked
to the Matosian Exhibition Room of the Mugar Building of Haigazian
University. There, they viewed the photo exhibit, which consisted of
reproductions of printed photos of various aspects of Hajin that were
enlarged and displayed on the walls. The photos remained in the hall
until October 20.

The next day, on October 16, a symposium took place with the
participation of six speakers. Dr. Raymond H. Kevorkian, director
of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) Noubarian Library
in Paris, France, member of the National Academy of Sciences of the
Republic of Armenia, and author of numerous works on the Armenian
Genocide, spoke on the deportations of Hajin in 1915. He pointed out
that this was one of the earliest deportations, which indicated that
Hajin, a town with an overwhelming Armenian majority in a mountainous
and inaccessible region, was considered a serious potential threat
to the Ottoman Empire.

Aharon Shkhrdemian, a graduate of the AGBU Hovagimian-Manoogian Boys
Secondary School, the Melkonian Educational Institute and Yerevan’s
Polytechnic Institute, and editor of the Beirut daily Armenian
newspaper Ararad since 2002, spoke about German-Turkish relations
and the deportations of Hajin.

Aram Arkun, a New York-based historian, examined the attempts
afterWorldWar I by the Armenians, British, French and Ottomans to bring
to justice those specifically involved in the Hajin deportations. He
focused primarily on two criminal officials, showing that not only
did they escape punishment, but actually ended up prospering. As
often happens during foreign intervention in cases of mass violence,
the actions of the intervening powers were moved more by self-interest
than justice, local courts were part of the original power structure
implicated in the violence, and the victims themselves remained
powerless to achieve justice.

Dr. Vahe Tachdjian, a native of Lebanon who studied in Yerevan, Belgium
and Paris, who now works in Berlin on a website called Hushamadean
about the Ottoman Armenian heritage, is the author of a book about
French policy in Cilicia and Upper Mesopotamia. Tachdjian placed the
events in Hajin after World War I into the broader context of French
foreign policy, and examined the fate of orphans sent to Hajin after
the deportations.

Dr. Yeghig Jerejian, like Shkhrdemian a graduate of the AGBU
Hovagimian-Manoogian Secondary School, received his degree in
dentistry from Yerevan’s Medical Institute. He has been a member
of the Social Democrat Hnchagian Party from 1995, and in 1992-2009
was consecutively elected to four terms as a member of the Lebanese
parliament from Beirut. Jerejian gave an overview of the history of
Hajin and explored its revolutionary spirit.

Antranig Dakessian, another graduate of the AGBU Hovagimian-Manoogian
school, studied at the literary criticism section of Yerevan’s State
University’s Philological Division, and has master’s degrees from
the American University of Beirut’s Political Science Division,
and from Scotland’s Edinburgh University in political research. He
has taught in a number of Armenian high schools, runs the Student
Affairs Department of Haigazian University, and since 1993 has been
the responsible secretary for the Haigazian Armenological Review.

Dakessian examined the available church records of New Hajin quarter’s
Surp Kevork Church as an initial attempt to understand demographic
changes taking place in the Beirut-Armenian community. This is an
ongoing project which may have interesting practical repercussions
for the Lebanese-Armenian community.

That night in front of St. Kevork Church in Beirut’s quarter of New
Hajin, preparations for a traditional madagh for the next day were
taking place. The traditional jid abur was cooked in large cauldrons.

A marching band belonging to the Hay Marmnamarzagan Miutiwn (HMM)
of the Social Democrat Hnchagian Party led a large crowd of several
thousand down the main street of the quarter to listen to a series of
speakers, dancers and singers, who presented Armenian revolutionary
and popular songs while fireworks lit up the sky above.

The next morning, Sunday, October 17, St. Kevork Church was full as
a special requiem service was conducted after the Divine Liturgy for
those who died in Hajin, and the madagh was blessed. Archbishop Kegham
Khacherian of Beirut held up the fighters of Hajin as examples of how
to resist obstacles in contemporary life. The afternoon ended with
a special luncheon in the church at which the efforts of the Hajin
Compatriotic Union’s organizing committee were recognized.

While various Cilician-Armenian compatriotic unions in Lebanon hold
commemorative events frequently, this apparently was the first time
that a symposium or conference with academic speakers from outside
of Lebanon accompanied the more traditional religious and popular
celebrations. This was an attempt to reach out to wider circles. Many
of the speakers later were interviewed on Lebanese-Armenian radio about
Hajin and their research. The articles presented at the conference
will be published as a volume next year.

From: A. Papazian

ISRAEL’S TOURISM MINISTER URGES TURKEY TRAVEL BOYCOTT

Asbarez
Monday, November 1st, 2010
JERUSALEM

Israel’s tourism minister, Stas Mesezhnikov, urged Israelis on Sunday
to stop traveling to Turkey on vacation, calling for a travel boycott
after Turkey’s National Security Council (MGK) classified the Jewish
state as a strategic threat.

The MGK approved changes in its National Security document on Sunday,
removing Iran, Syria and Armenia and adding Israel to the list of
countries that pose a “major threat” to Turkey.

Mesezhnikov said that ties with Turkey are important to Israel. But
he added that it must be boycotted totally as a tourism destination
for the national honor.

Relations hit a new low in May after Israeli naval commandos killed
nine activists from Turkey on board a flotilla that tried to breach
Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli travel agents have reported a large drop-off in once-popular
travel to Turkey. A report published in August showed the number of
Israelis traveling to Turkey in July was down 90%, reaching a measly
4,500 vacationers – compared to 43,000 in July 2009, and 78,000 in
July 2008.

Earlier this month, Turkish media reported that Turkey would not send
a delegation to the biannual Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD) tourism conference, to be held in Jerusalem.

According to the Turkish Hurriyet Daily, the decision marked the
country’s first official boycott of Israel on an international level
since the Mavi Marmara raid.

From: A. Papazian