Author: Babajanian Karo

ARMENIAN SIDE HAS NO CONNECTION WITH AZERBAIJANI SOLDIER’S “LOSS”

news.am
July 17, 2012 | 11:02

YEREVAN. – The Armenian side has not recorded a ceasefire violation
incident and there are no casualties either, Armenian Defense
Minister’s Press Secretary Artsrun Hovhannisyan told Armenian
News-NEWS.am, commenting on the Azerbaijani media reports on the
wounding of an Azerbaijani soldier.

“If the soldier is wounded and this occurred as a result of the
adversary’s provocative actions-irrespective of where the incident
transpired-, the guilt falls squarely upon the Azerbaijani side,”
stressed Hovhannisyan.

To note, SalamNews had informed that the wounded Azerbaijani soldier
is Orujev Elchin Garufoghli, 21, a resident of Seydimli village of
the Terter Region, and he was wounded in the early morning hours of
Monday, and in the direction of Tovuz.

TURKISH MEDIA WIDELY COVER “MAN OF ARTS'” PROPOSAL ON RUINS OF ANI

news.am
July 16, 2012 | 14:21

The media in Turkey has quickly disseminated the statement by President
Vedat Akcayoz of the Culture and Art Association of Kars Province-which
borders Armenia-to the effect that the ancient ruins of Ani need to
be introduced to tourists in the form of the One Thousand and One
Nights stories.

But what’s funny here is that even though this Turkish “man of arts”
has been to Armenia and has spoken about cultural cooperation during
Armenian-Turkish platforms held in Kars, his aforesaid statement does
not refer to Ani being an ancient Armenian city.

Furthermore, Vedat Akcayoz noted that Ani was home to numerous
civilizations such as the Urartians, Hurs, Persians, Byzantines,
Ottomans, Seljuks, and those who came from Georgia.

But here, this Turkish “man of arts”-who wishes to establish cultural
ties with the Armenians-mentioned the Hurs and the Persians for Ani,
but he did not at all remember the Armenian structures and churches
that are still standing there.

TURKISH HACKING GROUP VOWS TO DISCLOSE IDENTITIES OF POLICE INFORMANTS

PanARMENIAN.Net
July 16, 2012 – 14:05 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Turkish socialist hacking group RedHack has begun
to disclose the identities of police informants after academics and
journalists who supported the group were threatened, according to
Hurriyet Daily News.

The Ultra-nationalist hacking group “Akıncılar” (Raiders), who had
identified RedHack members as “traitors,” released information on
academics and journalists who supported RedHack and threatened to
stage online attacks against them.

RedHack reacted to the disclosure by revealing the full identities of
a number of police informants which it had obtained over time. The
group sbegan uploading several .txt documents at half past midnight
today with the first file being 77 megabytes in size.

“Those who disclosed the identities of academics and journalists who
support us should receive the same treatment as us,” RedHack said
with the information release.

A prosecutor had demanded RedHack be recognized as a “terrorist
organization” after the group hacked into Turkish Foreign Ministry
databases on July 3. RedHack had disclosed the identities of all
foreign diplomatic personnel working in Turkey in a bid to protest the
“Turkish government’s meddling in Syria” and to “commemorate the 19th
anniversary of the Sivas Massacre.”

Turkish authorities closed down RedHack’s Twitter account after the
incident, which had more than 40,000 followers.

A blog page was opened by opponents of RedHack at
redhackgercekleri.blogspot.com, where academics and journalists
who supported the group were threatened. RedHack had announced they
would reveal the identities of police informants and the identities
of those who threatened their supporters in return.

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry
3111 Los Feliz Avenue, #206,
Los Angeles, CA 90039
Contact person: Dr. Frieda Jordan
Tel: 323-663-3609
Email: [email protected]

ABMDR president Dr. Frieda Jordan honored with St. Nerses the Graceful Medal

Award is followed by certificates of recognition from
US Congress, California Assembly, and City of Glendale

Los Angeles, July 17, 2012 – Dr. Frieda Jordan, president of the
Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (ABMDR), received the St. Nerses
the Graceful (St. Nerses Shnorhali) Medal for her years of charitable

service to the Armenian people.

The medal, as well as a Pontifical Encyclical, were conferred on Dr.
Jordan by His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos
of All Armenians, and presented to her on July 8 by Archbishop Hovnan

Derderian, Primate of the Western Diocese, following the Divine
Liturgy at St. Leon Armenian Cathedral, in Burbank, California. The
award presentation was complemented by a celebratory luncheon which
took place later at the Western Diocese.

At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, Father Khajag Shahbazyan,
pastor of St. Leon Cathedral, read the Pontifical Encyclical, in
which the Catholicos had praised Dr. Jordan for her selfless
dedication to the mission of ABMDR, and stated his joy in accepting
Archbishop Derderian’s recommendation of bestowing on her the St.
Nerses the Graceful Medal.

After presenting Dr. Jordan with the medal, Archbishop Derderian
spoke of the spirit of service which he said Dr. Jordan has
personified since co-founding ABMDR with Dr. Sevak Avagyan in 1999.
Subsequently the Primate addressed Dr. Jordan directly and said, `For
over a decade, we’ve seen how, as a volunteer physician, you launched
the Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry, and consistently expanded it
to reach out to communities throughout the diaspora and the homeland.

You have also been an inspiration to all of your colleagues and
supporters.’

`There are two kinds of life,’ the Archbishop continued. `The kind
that’s lived in a pedestrian, inconsequential manner, and one that’s
lived in the service of humanity. To be envied are those who bring
hope and strength into the lives of others, and I salute you for
doing that. I believe that the mission of ABMDR should be embraced by

all our parishes, our entire church. If our church is to fulfill its
purpose, it is precisely this type of altruistic work that it should
engage in.’

`I have no doubt that this medal will function as one more impetus
for the fulfillment of your cause, not only in the service of
Armenians, but all those who need the registry,’ Archbishop Derderian
went on. `I congratulate you, knowing that your work will make an
invaluable difference in the lives of generations to come.’

As he concluded his remarks, the Primate invited the congregation to
join him in acknowledging the honoree with a standing ovation.

Afterwards Archbishop Derderian delivered his Sunday sermon, in which
he spoke of the altruistic nature of medicine as exemplified by the
many volunteers of ABMDR. `These volunteers go from city to city,
raise public awareness of health issues, and recruit donors, just so
that one more life can be saved,’ he said. `They have been working
diligently, relentlessly, to advance a mission for the benefit of the
whole of humanity.’

The Archbishop also acknowledged the presence in the church of ABMDR
Executive Director Dr. Sevak Avagyan, and praised him for playing a
key role in the many landmark achievements of the organization.

Luncheon at Zorayan Museum
Dr. Jordan’s award was also celebrated at a luncheon which took place
at the Zorayan Museum, located at the St. Leon Cathedral complex. The
event was attended by volunteers and staff of ABMDR; Archbishop
Derderian; Armenian Consul General Grigor Hovhannisyan; and
representatives of various US and California elected officials.

Following the welcome remarks of ABMDR outreach officer Dr. Vergine
Madelian, Archbishop Derderian stated, `We have always admired and
continue to be inspired by Dr. Jordan’s service, which has been
rendered meekly, compassionately, and without any expectation except
that of helping save lives. As a people, we are nothing if we don’t
serve meekly. We must not become the slaves of titles.’

Next to address the guests was Dr. Sevak Avagyan. `It’s a great honor
for me to be among you today at the Western Diocese,’ he said. `When
Dr. Jordan and I founded ABMDR, we had no idea that someday it would
become what it is today. I am so very proud of the registry’s
achievements, and congratulate Dr. Jordan for her unflinching
dedication.’

Dr. Avagyan went on to cast a glance at the history of ABMDR and
added, `Armenians might be spread all across the world, but our genes
bind us together. This is why the work of the registry is so
critically important, given the unique genetic makeup of ethnic
Armenians.’

Dr. Avagyan concluded his remarks by expressing hope that ABMDR’s
long-held dream of establishing a transplantation center in Yerevan
might become reality in the near future.

Dr. Avagyan’s address was followed by the remarks of the honoree. `I
wish to share this medal with all of you: my family, colleagues, and,
specially, our more than 22,000 donors,’ Dr. Jordan said. `We could
not possibly have done it without you.’

`I would like to convey my profound gratitude to Archbishop
Derderian, who has been instrumental in helping advance our cause,’
Dr. Jordan continued. `The Primate was the first spiritual leader to
appeal to Armenian congregations during Sunday Mass to support the
work of the registry. I stand here today in awe of Archbishop
Derderian’s proactive stance, and the grassroots support which has
resulted from his efforts as well as those of other community leaders.’

As she concluded her remarks, Dr. Jordan presented Dr. Avagyan with a
medal of achievement which was conferred by Archbishop Derderian.

On the occasion of the bestowment of the St. Nerses the Graceful
Medal on Dr. Jordan, several US government bodies had issued
certificates of recognition, all of which were presented to her
during the luncheon. They included a Certificate of Special
Congressional Recognition on behalf of US Congressman and longtime
ABMDR supporter Adam Schiff; a Certificate of Recognition from the
California Assembly on behalf of Assemblyman Mike Gatto; and a
Certificate of Recognition from the City of Glendale, California, on
behalf of Mayor Frank Quintero. Additionally, Dr. Jordan received a
congratulatory letter from Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate
of the Western Prelacy and a devoted supporter of ABMDR.

Also delivering remarks during the luncheon were Consul General
Grigor Hovhannisyan, a staunch supporter of the registry; as well as
longtime volunteer, ABMDR Advisory Board member, and cancer survivor
Teresa Hacopian, who personally thanked Dr. Jordan for inspiring
thousands across the globe to volunteer in the life-saving mission of
the registry.

About the Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry: Established in 1999,
ABMDR, a nonprofit organization, helps Armenians worldwide survive
life-threatening blood-related illnesses by recruiting and matching
donors to those requiring bone marrow stem cell transplants. To date,
the registry has recruited over 22,000 donors in 16 countries across
four continents, identified 2,135 patients, and facilitated 13 bone
marrow transplants.

PRESS RELEASE
United Nations Development Programme / Armenia
14 Petros Adamyan St., Yerevan 0010
Contact: Mr. Hovhannes Sarajyan, Communications Associate
Tel: +37410 566 073
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site:

Partnering for local sustainable development through citizen participation

Yerevan, 13 July 2012 – On 12 May 2012 Dafina Gercheva, UN Resident
Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative in Armenia and Eduardo
Eurnekian, a prominent Argentinean-Armenian businessman and founder of
Fruitful Armenia Foundation (FAF) had signed a cost-sharing agreement
to support agricultural and micro-business activities in Baghramyan,
Arevadasht, Artamet and Myasnikyan communities of Armavir region. The
total cost of the “Armenian Village Revival: A Drive for Employment
and Income Generation” project is USD 230,000 from which Fruitfull
Armenia’s share is USD 204,000.

Baghramyan, Arevadasht, Artamet and Myasnikyan rural communities have
poor irrigation and water supply networks, lack agricultural
equipment, as well as knowledge about new agricultural technologies,
which are the underlying reasons behind the low level of agricultural
productivity and high level of poverty in these communities.

Within the framework of the project, UNDP Armenia aims, through the
participatory planning approach, to support the four communities to
develop their 2012-2014 Strategic Community Development Plans – a tool
to prioritize local community needs, and provide efficient solutions
to these problems. Challenges and development opportunities are best
addressed when the intervention is holistic, focusing on the three
pillars of sustainable development (e.g. social, economic and
environmental) and fostering decentralization and good local
governance.

Today, Dafina Gercheva and Eduardo Eurnekian visited Artamet community
where UNDP has already initiated the first phase of the project. The
draft Community Development Plan is ready and has identified the lack
of potable water, poor irrigation and low efficiency of agricultural
productivity as the main obstacles to community development. In order
to address these problems, Artamet community proposes to renovate the
water supply network and the deep well, as well as construction of
greenhouses in the community.

“Development challenges, such as reducing poverty, bridging regional
disparities and socio-economic inequalities, and promoting sustainable
development, are multi-sectoral and complex hence collaborative and
partnership approaches to address those are required. Partnering with
Fruitfull Armenia Foundation, we believe we can make a
difference. Promotion of local sustainable development, through
citizen participation in decision-making activities, is high on UNDP
agenda,” said Dafina Gercheva, UN RC/UNDP RR.

***

UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help build
nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of
growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground
in 177 countries and territories, we offer global perspective and
local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations.

UNDP in Armenia has been established in March 1993 and supports the
government to reach national development priorities and the Millennium
Development Goals by 2015.

TCA Arshag Dickranian Armenian School
1200 N. Cahuenga Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90038

Tel: 323-461-4377
Fax: 323-323-461-4247
Contact: [email protected]

TCA Arshag Dickranian School’s `Student of the Decade’

School Honors Morris Sarafian For His Achievements

Los Angeles, July 12, 2012 – Having excelled in his studies and
extra-curricular activities, graduating student Morris Sarafian was
honored as the `Student of the Decade’ at TCA Arshag Dickranian School’s
commencement ceremony which took place on June 23rd, 2012.

Senior Valedictorian Morris Sarafian graduated with a GPA of 4.28 and
obtained an impressive score of 2010 in the SAT tests this year. Passing
the five main AP courses of AP English Literature and Composition, AP Art
History, AP US History, AP Environmental Science and Calculus AB, Morris
will be granted the AP Scholar with Distinction title from The College
Board. With his remarkable achievement, Morris has been accepted to UCLA,
UC Berkley, UC Irvine, USC, Pepperdine and LMU and will be attending UCLA
with an $80,000 scholarship majoring in Political Science. Morris was also
heavily involved in various competitions; he is a medal holder of the LA
County Science Fair, an ADS team member winning first place in the
Franklin Lu Hands-On Competition and a member of a water polo team that
has participated in the Florida International Championship winning 1st
place twice and being named World Champions for 16 years and under.
Participating in many extra-curricular activities from acting as the MC of
various cultural events to joining the school choir and theatrical
programs and possessing a friendly character that is honest and
respectful, Morris gained popularity among his fellow students and became
ADS’s Student Council President of the 2010-2011 academic year. He has
impressed his teachers, friends and school and was thus chosen to be
worthy of a title crediting his hard work and achievement throughout his
school years, which will be always appreciated and missed at the school.

Morris is the son of Ms. Mona Saakyan and has two twin sisters, Ani and
Lilly who attend Dickranian School.

Located at 1200 North Cahuenga Blvd., Los Angeles, the TCA Arshag
Dickranian Armenian School is a federally tax exempt, Pre-K to 12th grade
private educational institution. For more information visit

WASHINGTON POST, USA TODAY ISSUE STELLAR REVIEWS OF “THE SANDCASTLE GIRLS” ON EVE OF PUBLICATION

armradio.am
17.07.2012 11:16

Praise for New York Times best-selling author Chris Bohjalian’s latest
epic, “The Sandcastle Girls,” continued with The Washington Post
and USA Today publishing powerful reviews spotlighting the Armenian
Genocide and Turkey’s ongoing denial of this crime, reported the
Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

“Today’s reviews confirm the brilliance of Bohjalian’s masterful
literary presentation of the Armenian Genocide, and underscore
the vital role that he is playing in educating readers about this
crime, highlighting the ongoing human costs of Turkey’s denials, and
galvanizing a growing movement to end forever the cycle of genocide,”
said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “Bohjalian’s story truly
speaks to our hearts and our hopes. Let’s do all we can to make sure
that its impact is felt as widely as possible – among citizens and
Senators alike.”

Eugenia Zuckerman, in her review for The Washington Post, cites the
very real impact that the Armenian Genocide, and Turkey’s denial, has
on international relations today, and the role of books, like ‘The
Sandcastle Girls’, in highlighting the truth about this crime. “In
some circles, controversy over the nature of this crime still rages.

Just this month, relations between France and Turkey were tested again
by President Francois Hollande’s commitment to making it illegal to
deny that the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks was genocide,”
noted Zuckerman. “Bohjalian’s ‘The Sandcastle Girls’ may be a novel,
but, based on his family history, it is a valuable and powerful piece
of evidence pointing to the undeniable.”

Carol Memmott of USA Today wrote, “There is much heartbreak,
devastation and evil in ‘The Sandcastle Girls,’ and it’s exacerbated
by the denial by Turkey, even to this day, that the Armenians were
the victims of genocide. And Bohjalian makes a near-century-old
event come to life in a way that will make readers gasp with shock
that such a terrible event – Turkey’s determination to kill all the
Armenians in their country – is such a small part of our knowledge
of world history.”

The Sandcastle Girls took center stage with a special Southern
California kick-off luncheon with the author at the Universal Sheraton
Hotel, hosted by the ANC-Grassroots Film and the Arts Committee, the
Genocide Education Project, and Doubleday Books, followed by an evening
presentation held at Woodbury University Fletcher Jones Auditorium.

Bohjalian will then be traveling to events in San Francisco, CA;
Watertown, MA; Warwick, RI; New Milford, NJ and Washington, DC where
his Capitol Hill debut is co-hosted by Congressional Armenian Genocide
Resolution lead sponsors, Representatives Robert Dold (R-IL) and Adam
Schiff (D-CA).

In his 15th book, “The Sandcastle Girls,” Bohjalian brings us on a
very different kind of journey. The spellbinding tale travels between
Aleppo, Syria in 1915 and Bronxville, New York in 2012 – a sweeping
historical love story steeped in the author’s Armenian heritage,
making it his most personal novel to date.

EUROPEAN UNION WILL NO LONGER ACCEPT ANTI-GAY STATES AS NEW MEMBERS

Instinct Magazine

July 16 2012

The European Commission has laid down the law in a new statement that
bodes well for the LGBT community of member states looking to get in on
the EU action; no longer will prospective European Union members with
poor LGBT rights records be allowed into the cool club. Details follow.

Reads the new statement:

“Rights of LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] people thus
form an integral part of both the Copenhagen political criteria for
accession and the EU legal framework on combatting discrimination.

They are closely monitored by the EU commission, which reports annually
on the progress made by enlargement countries with regard to the
situation of the LGBT community,” it said. The commission note was
sent to EUobserver in response to a question born of an interview with
an Armenian cleric. Armenia, a deeply Christian country where church
teaching has more authority than in many EU states with Christian
roots, is keen to become an EU member. Homosexuality is not against
the law. But according to a recent study by the Brussels-based rights
group Ilga-Europe, it scores better only than Moldova and Russia in
terms of legal protection of LGBT people in Europe.”

Iceland, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey are the official
current candidates for EU admittance. As Joe My God points out,
many existing EU nations make life harsh for their LGBT citizens,
prompting many to wonder why the Commission isn’t condemning its own
members for their abuse of human rights.

NOSTALGIA BEFORE MEMORIES ITA ENG PAOLO MARTINO

Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso

16 July 2012
Italia

Paolo Martino
16 July 2012

Professor Adakessian’s slow pacing up and down the halls of the
Armenian University of Haigazian, Rafi and his shoe factory in centre
city Beirut, the present that shows up again in the old pictures
of the Pobeda, the Russian ship that carried thousands of Armenians
from the Lebanon to Soviet Armenia. The third episode of the story
“From the Caucasus to Beirut”

“It is not collective memory, language or culture, that keeps an
exiled people alive”. The cafeteria on the second floor of the
Armenian Haigazian University, on the central Rue Hamra in Beirut,
is soaked in sun. “A people unhooked from geography only survives if
it can replace the founding myth of origins with a mirror one: the
myth of the return”. Professor Adakessian speaks slowly, to allow me
to take notes while we are having lunch. “So do not ask me if I truly
believe that one day I will return with my people to Western Armenia,
my land. As the other Lebanese Armenians, I already am on my land.

However, that myth is essential in defining our identity: it reminds
us of where we come from”.

After 1915, while the survivors of the Armenian genocide were
settling down in the Arab Middle-East, Lebanon spread its fame of
Switzerland of the Mediterranean. Beirut was becoming the natural
outlet for activities for which Armenians traditionally stood
out. Armenian shoemakers, tailors, upholsterers, watchmakers,
goldsmiths, blacksmiths and printers enriched Beirut’s flourishing
economy. Across one generation, after overcoming the survival phase,
the domestic demand for culture, research and knowledge-sharing led
to the founding of the Haigazian University in 1955, the only Armenian
university of the whole diaspora.

“Until the dissolution of the USSR and Armenian Independence in 1991 –
states Adakessian, Professor of history of Armenian political thought
– Beirut was the only arena where our community could express itself
freely, define objectives, strategies. Even though Lebanese democracy
was limping, Armenians were able to found political parties, unions,
intellectual circles, interest groups: the mind of the whole Armenian
community was here. Unfortunately, this did not spare our people big
mistakes and suffering”. From the window at his back, the facade of
the adjacent building bears the signs of fierce gun fighting.

” If Cairo writes, Beirut reads

Detto arabo

“Armenian refugee camp, Aleppo, 1917. Armenian shelter, Tyre, 1917.

Armenian shacks, Beirut, 1918. Strolling through the library’s silent
halls, Adakessian translates the captions from the pictures hanging
on the wall, among long shelves where thousands of Armenian books
lay among French, English and Arabic volumes. The pictures tell the
stories of a miserable humanity, ghosts roaming bare shacks. A woman
dressed in black takes out from the wash basket just one shapeless
piece of cloth, while a boy sits naked beside her. “They were the
luckiest. Most of them didn’t make it, killed by thirst in Syria’s
deserts or by the Ottoman soldiers during deportations.

I am left alone in the reading room, where lancet windows chase each
other along the walls and sunset saturates the air with warm light.

Flipping through the photo books, I find traces of the stories I have
gathered till now. The Musa Dagh Armenian refugees setting up a tent
city in Anjar in 1939. A new school opening in Burj Hammoud in 1927.

An Israeli patrol going around the Dawra area in 1982. A particular
image catches my attention. Entire families with suitcases in line on
a pier. The caption in English reads: “Pobeda sailing, 1948. The ship
carries thousands of Lebanese Armenians to Soviet Armenia”. Migrations
adding up to other migrations, seeking a future that is so hard
to grasp.

>From my diary, October 10thThere is an invisible thread in the
history of this people pulling tight between the Middle-East and the
mountains of the Caucasus. It connects Beirut’s sweltering coastline
to Yerevan’s avenues lined with trees, crossing the Syrian Sahel
and the Hatay hills, sweeping Anatolia’s plateau to the North-East,
brushing against the foot of the Ararat. In this library, refuge for
a culture that endures in exile, I get the feeling that the categories
of history and geography do not walk the same line, but in this case,
symbolism, especially that of the return, carries greater weight in
the annals than do dates, places, testimonies. Exploring that region
would mean going deep into beliefs even before geography, into the
myth even before history. Into nostalgia before memories.

Late October days go by slowly among Burj Hammoud’s alleys. The shoe
factory, and the so many anecdotes Rafi tells me, fill the afternoons
that are getting shorter by the day, while worrying news travels from
neighbouring Syria. “The Syrian Spring is going to turn into a civil
war. And Armenians are going to be stuck in the middle, as in Lebanon
30 years ago”. Rafi quickly moves the pieces on the board of the
backgammon, the most widespread pastime. “But you made it out alright,
in Lebanon”. My turn to move. “Well, we immediately chose neutrality
and self-defense. ‘Work during the day and be on guard during the
night’, that was our slogan. But do not forget one thing”. Dice fly.

“At the time we had a protector to whom it was difficult to say no, for
anybody”. In just one move, Rafi settles the game. “The Soviet Union”.

– — -In 1979, right in the middle of the civil war, the Christian
front suffered internal fractures. In search of new alliances, the
Phalanges knocked at the door of the Armenians. “They wanted to use
Burj Hammoud as an ammunition storage house, because it was the only
area that was still neutral”. When the Armenians refused, the militias
barricaded the quarter’s exits with their tanks, threatening a rain
of grenades. “But their leader Bashir Gemayel received a call from
Andrey Kolotosha, the Soviet Ambassador”. It was passed down that
the diplomat only uttered one sentence to Gemayel, without waiting
for an answer: if you do not wish to turn the tide of your war, leave
Burj Hammoud. “The morning after, the siege was over. But who – Rafi
asks me while setting the pieces for another game – who would lift
a finger for Syria’s Armenians today?”

The road from Beirut glides down on the Bekaa valley after the
descent from Mount Lebanon. In Anjar, the small Armenian village on
the plateau, 3.000 people await a winter that is looking tense. “The
Syrian army has already trespassed in this area more than once,
chasing the rebels that seek refuge on Lebanese land”. Hrayer,
the guide that has accompanied me through the valley for months,
speaks while looking at the Anti-Lebanon, the thin mountain ridge
that divides his village from Syria. “Let’s not waste time, someone
is waiting for us, as I had promised”.

At 93 years of age, Angel is Anjar’s oldest citizen. A lifetime
of roaming. “I was born in Port Said, where the Musa Dagh refugees
arrived in 1915 to escape from the Ottoman soldiers”: the Musa Dagh
region, composed of seven Armenian villages on the rises of Antakya,
was able to resist the troops of the Sublime Porte for over a month,
inspiring Franz Verfel’s 1933 novel The Forty Days of Musa Dagh. “When
I was one, we came back home, because the French had reached Musa
Dagh and threw out the Turks. But then the Turks came back 20 years
later and we fled again, this time to Lebanon”.

I ask Angel who she shares her apartment with, and her eyes turn
watery: “I am alone. My children are married and my sister Vartuhi
left for Armenia over 60 years ago. I remember the day I went with her
to Beirut Port as if it were yesterday”. I interrupt her: “Did she
leave on board a Russian ship?”. Angel looks at me with curiosity:
“Yes, the Pobeda”. My thoughts go back to the picture I had seen a
few days earlier at the library. An invisible thread binding places
and destinies so distant from each other transforms into an ever more
obvious trace. Vartuhi could be one of the people immortalized in
1948, one among the many children in line waiting to board. “Angel”,
I ask on impulse, “do you have Vartuhi’s address, by any chance?”

IRAN, ARMENIA AGREE TO FORM JOINT FREE TRADE ZONE

Fars News Agency
July 15 2012
Iran

Head of Aras Free Zone in Iran’s northwestern East Azarbayjan Province
Sadeq Najafi has signed a cooperation agreement in the areas of
investment, commerce and environment with the governor of Armenia’s
Syunik Province, Suren Khachatryan, during his visit to the country,
Fars reported.

According to the report, Najafi further said: “In the signed document,
the two sides have agreed to form a Joint Aras-Syunik Province Free
Trade and Investment Zone by establishing an Iran-Armenia Joint Free
Trade Zone.”

[translated from Persian]