Author: Babajanian Karo

MEMBER OF EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: THIS RECENT ESCALATION SMACKS OF THE RISING TENSIONS BEFORE THE GEORGIAN-RUSSIAN WAR IN 2008

arminfo
Thursday, June 21, 17:27

This recent escalation between Armenia and Azerbaijan smacks of the
rising tensions before the Georgian-Russian war in 2008, Charles
Tannock, a member of the European Parliament from Britain, said in
an article placed at EurActiv web site.

“Almost unnoticed beyond the specialist foreign policy community,there
have been around a dozen heavy incidents of exchanges of sniperfire
and artillery shelling between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the last
two months.

In this time, more than 10 soldiers have been killed, and those foreign
policy pundits who still maintain the concept of “frozen conflicts”
being dormant affairs that can be safely ignored should know that
half of these incidents did not take place in the disputed territory
of Nagorno-Karabakh itself, but at the recognized international
borders between the two states, which are both part of the European
Neighbourhood Policy and the EU’s Eastern Partnership.

This recent escalation smacks of the rising tensions before the
Georgian-Russian war in 2008. After years with numerous smaller
incidents, the international community gets used to a certain
instability, and while peace negotiations fail due to the lack of
political will between the hostile parties, the frequency and gravity
of the incidents slowly escalates and in spite of European “calls
upon both sides” for restraint, real war actions can suddenly unfold.

History appears to be repeating itself, but there are three main
differences.

First, among Armenia and Azerbaijan, only Azerbaijan has an interest
in mobilising troops at the risk of escalating to an outright actual
war. While the situation between Russia and Georgia was more blurred,
only Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his government openly
and repeatedly threaten their neighbour with war, whereas Armenia
does not and would logically have no such interest.

The EU should clearly threaten sanctions against anyone unilaterally
using disproportionate force in this conflict, and we must insist
on the removal of snipers and on having EU observers along the line
of contact and the state borders. Incidentally, Armenia has already
agreed to this.

Before signing the next oil trade treaty with Baku, this should be
the EU condition, or we might soon have very different prices to pay
for oil and more importantly a tragic human catastrophe in Europe’s
east with large-scale casualties. In addition, there could be large
flows of refugees heading in our direction with all that this might
mean in economic terms in terms of additional burdens on our already
stretched public resources.”

CRIMINAL CASE OPENED ON DEATH OF 14-YEAR-OLD IN ARMENIA’S LORI

news.am
June 21, 2012 | 14:39

The Lori Regional Investigation Division of Armenia’s Police launched
a criminal case in connection with the suicide of Artyom Vardanyan, 14.

The Division informed Armenian News-NEWS.am’s Lori regional reporter
that the criminal case is opened on charges of causing suicide.

According to some villagers, the boy ended his life because of a car,
as he wanted an automobile from his father who works abroad, whereas
other villagers say the boy’s mother was an alcoholic.

To note, Lernantsk village resident Artyom Vardanyan, 14, committed
suicide by hanging himself at the basement of his house, on June 17
at around 8am.

According to the information Armenian News-NEWS.am ascertained, the
boy did not leave a suicide note. But it was found out that Artyom had
tried to commit suicide 15-20 days ago, too, and because he wanted a
computer. So, his parents had bought him a computer, but it is yet
unclear as to what the boy wanted this time. It is only said that
his next wish was to have a car.

COMMITTEE OF EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT HOLDS SPECIAL SEMINAR ON SECURITY AROUND NAGORNO-KARABAKH

arminfo
Thursday, June 21, 14:47

The EU should look for higher profile in seeking for Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict solution, including confidence building measures, said
deputies during the special seminar devoted to the frozen conflict
organized by Arnaud Danjean, the chair of subcommittee on Security
and Defence.

Many participants pointed out the expertise the EU can offer taking
into the consideration the experience in ex-Yugoslavia and mediation
during Georgia-Russian war. “There is still a risk of medium term
outbreak of violence”, – said Philippe Lefort, the EU Special
representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia. He
mentioned period of activities of different members of the Minsk group:
France intense work during times of president Chirac, and Russian
efforts at times of president Medvedev. However he pointed out that is
difficult to follow the developments because of the high sensitivity of
the issue they are largely kept secret: “They are not commercial talks,
they are very charged with emotions” – Even the Madrid Principles
(from 2007 under auspices of the OSCE) are not entirely public,
the latter version of it shared with public by Azerbaijani’s contain
description of possible step-by-step demilitarization and withdrawal
of Armenian forces from territories around Nagorno-Karabakh. The next
movement supposes the return of refugees and displaced persons. No
time-table mentioned, just announced conceptually without detail: “in
a year, ten years, 100 years – no indication”,- concluded Lefort. The
status of Nagorno-Karabakh is described in completely vague terms,
just requiring the definition of it within democratic proceeding of
international law. The EU Euronest policy didn’t deliver as expected
till now in building bridges between opponents, as mentioned by
the MEPs. “One can expect more involvement of the EU because the
conflict at our door-step can put at serious risk our security in
many ways, including the flow of refugees, who are inevitable in case
of the conflict”, – said MEP Charles Tannock. As positive example of
encouraging the change the resolution of 18.04.2012 was mentioned,
stating that the endorsement of the Association Agreement should be
connected to the steps in the conflict resolution.

LAKE SEVAN’S RESOURCES COULD MAKE UP FOR WATER SHORTAGE – EXPERT

tert.am
21.06.12

The resources of Lake Sevan could help us cope with the imminent
water shortage problem this year, says Vladimir Movsisyan, the head
of a committee dealing with the problems of Sevan.

Speaking to Tert.am, Movsisyan said that an expert committee at the
Armenian National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has issued permission
for releasing 280 cubic meters of water from the lake.

“We consider our proposal justified and find that 280 cubic meters
could help us resolve the deadlock. We have sent the conclusion to
them in written form,” he said.

The committee issued a positive conclusion considering that the
scarcity of water resources would not be enough for agriculture
this year.

Asked whether the argument sounds convincing, Movsisyan said, “Our
experts, I am very sorry to say, are not randomly selected people.

Besides none of them is interested to cause the least damage to Sevan.

Our calculations are justified. The irrigation season began on May
2 this year; last year it began on June 21.”

As for the other justification, the expert said that the quantity of
water in the reservoirs of Aparan and Azat was 750 cubic meters more
compared to this year.

PROSPEROUS ARMENIA OPPOSED TO PREMIER – HERITAGE PARTY

news.am
June 21, 2012 | 12:52

YEREVAN.- Armenia’s Heritage Party member considers Prosperous Armenia
reckoned on getting the post of premier by making the decision not
to form coalition with the Republican Party.

In fact Prosperous Armenia is opposed not to the leadership but the
government, in particular premier, Armen Martirosyan told reporters
on Thursday.

“Prosperous Armenia was the second major parliamentary group after
the elections and wanted to make a claim for the post of premier. It
did not happen and the party decided not to form a coalition,” he said.

Martirosyan, vice chairman of Heritage board, considers the
Prosperous Armenia most likely did not want to share responsibility
for socio-economic situation without participation in decision making.

According to him, it will be difficult for RPA to push bills through
parliament as absence of only nine coalition MPs will be enough for
any bill not to pass.

Heritage member said the cabinet of ministers is likely to undergo
changes after the 2013 presidential elections.

INFO ON AZERI “REGAINING CONTROL OF THREE VILLAGES” FALSE

PanARMENIAN.Net
June 21, 2012 – 12:45 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The information suggesting Azeri armed forces
allegedly “regained control of three villages of Ghazakh province”
disseminated by Azerbaijani websites is not true to fact, Armenian
Defense Ministry press service representative said.

“No such a thing happened,” Mushegh Aghekyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter when commenting on a Defence.az publication.

“Azeri army succeeded to gain complete control of three villages
(Yukhary Askipara, Gushchu Ayrum and Jafarli) of Ghazakh province.

Heavy military equipment was deployed there. Through the villages were
located in neutral zone, they were under RA armed forces’ control,”
the agency’s message reads.

According to Defence.az, six Azerbaijani soldiers died in hostilities.

EUROPE’S RISKY TOLERANCE OF TENSION IN THE CAUCASUS

EuraActiv

June 20 2012

Military tensions have grown in recent weeks between Armenia and
Azerbaijan. Charles Tannock argues that the EU should take steps to
diffuse the situation.

Charles Tannock is a member of the European Parliament from Britain.

“Almost unnoticed beyond the specialist foreign policy community,
there have been around a dozen heavy incidents of exchanges of sniper
fire and artillery shelling between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the
last two months.

In this time, more than 10 soldiers have been killed, and those foreign
policy pundits who still maintain the concept of “frozen conflicts”
being dormant affairs that can be safely ignored should know that
half of these incidents did not take place in the disputed territory
of Nagorno-Karabakh itself, but at the recognised international
borders between the two states, which are both part of the European
Neighbourhood Policy and the EU’s Eastern Partnership.

This recent escalation smacks of the rising tensions before the
Georgian-Russian war in 2008. After years with numerous smaller
incidents, the international community gets used to a certain
instability, and while peace negotiations fail due to the lack of
political will between the hostile parties, the frequency and gravity
of the incidents slowly escalates and in spite of European “calls
upon both sides” for restraint, real war actions can suddenly unfold.

History appears to be repeating itself, but there are three main
differences.

First, among Armenia and Azerbaijan, only Azerbaijan has an interest
in mobilising troops at the risk of escalating to an outright actual
war. While the situation between Russia and Georgia was more blurred,
only Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his government openly
and repeatedly threaten their neighbour with war, whereas Armenia
does not and would logically have no such interest.

After decades of discrimination, the majority ethnic Armenian
population of Nagorno-Karabakh sought independence during the fall
of the Soviet Union. In 1991, when the young Republic of Azerbaijan
used force to restore “order”, the independence movement took up
arms and with military assistance from Armenia proper they liberated
Nagorno-Karabakh and the conflict carried on until the legally still
binding cease-fire of Bishkek was signed in 1994.

Azerbaijan claims that these territories are occupied, but since Stalin
allocated them in 1921 under Soviet rule (arbitrarily) to Azerbaijan,
it has done nothing to convince the local Armenian population of the
benefits of Azerbaijani rule. The only time most of the local people in
Nagorno-Karabakh have felt to be living without fear of discrimination
and with a relative physical security came after 1994, and thus neither
Armenia nor the de-facto Nagorno-Karabakh Republic have any interest
in the renewed use of force – as they would be fighting for what?

The second current difference is the potential scale of this possible
war. It is very different from the Georgian situation in 2008, as
Azerbaijan and Armenia could see bombs and rockets fall on their
capitals and the large-scale destruction of key places of civilian
infrastructure. In Azerbaijan, oil rigs and pipelines, vital to their
petrodollar economy, are all within simple artillery range of the
Karabakhi army, and Armenian rockets can easily reach the refineries
on the Caspian shores near Baku.

These places have been the major vital financial resource for
Azerbaijan’s large defence budget, which, as President Aliyev proudly
proclaimed, exceeds Armenia’s total state budget and allows the
possibility of “liberating Karabakh in 10 days”.

In short, both sides can erase everything positive that has been
built up in the past 20 years since independence. Armenia is in a
close defence alliance with Russia, while Azerbaijan is supported by
its ethnic “brother nation” Turkey.

Iran is at odds with Azerbaijan due to Azeri revanchist and irredentist
claims on Iranian soil and fears international peacekeeping troops
on its northern border, given its virtual pariah status over the
Iranian nuclear quest. Georgia fears Russian troops spreading out in
the South Caucasus to aid Armenia. It is most unlikely that such a
war would be restricted simply to Karabakh.

Also knowing the complex local geography and huge natural resources,
it is impossible to predict whose troops would finally end up exactly
where. Only one thing is certain: the human tragedy and economic
costs would dwarf anything seen in Europe, at least for the last 20
years since the Balkan wars. To add to further turmoil as the world
is facing an economic slump, with the eurozone crisis and US and
Chinese growth dampening, the expected collapse of Azerbaijani oil
and gas supplies would cause a rapid rise in world-wide crude prices
and strangle any green shoots hopes for renewed global economic growth.

The third main difference is the position of Europe. While the EU has
traditionally been closer to Georgia than to Russia, the EU desperately
seeks a balanced relation with both Armenia and Azerbaijan. After the
above mentioned hostile incidents, EU High Representative Catherine
Ashton and foreign ministers in the EU’s capitals all “called upon
both sides” to show restraint, despite clear evidence about which
side had started the recent provocation.

Azerbaijani state-controlled media reported that “Azerbaijani armed
forces prevented one more provocation of the Armenian army” and that
“it was identified that the Armenians were carrying out digging work
along the front line” (the internationally recognised state border).

One might assume that the Armenians are allowed to dig on their
own territory as much as they like and that “preventing” such a
“provocation” with the disproportionate use of artillery fire, as it
happened on the 25 April in the Tavoush region, might have sparked an
international outcry. And even though ever since the Eurovision song
contest (held in Azerbaijan’s capital), most of Europe is now better
informed about the undemocratic nature of the government in Baku,
no Belarus-type EU sanctions have been threatened or even discussed.

The EU today possesses all the instruments necessary to make a
difference. If we have learnt anything from the Georgian war of 2008,
we must now use them to avert the possibility of the worst horror
scenarios occurring in our near eastern neighbourhood.

The EU should clearly threaten sanctions against anyone unilaterally
using disproportionate force in this conflict, and we must insist
on the removal of snipers and on having EU observers along the line
of contact and the state borders. Incidentally, Armenia has already
agreed to this.

Before signing the next oil trade treaty with Baku, this should be
the EU condition, or we might soon have very different prices to pay
for oil and more importantly a tragic human catastrophe in Europe’s
east with large-scale casualties. In addition, there could be large
flows of refugees heading in our direction with all that this might
mean in economic terms in terms of additional burdens on our already
stretched public resources.”

KHOSEENK HAYEREN, OR YOU CAN SAY IT IN ENGLISH
William Bairamian

Haytoug Magazine
June 19 2012

It’s hard learning Armenian. The obviousness of that statement is
clear to anyone who knows the language. For students and speakers
of the language alike, it’s indisputable. The ancient, convoluted
pronunciation rules; the syntactical flexibility that allows you to
say the same thing with five words 20 different ways and still get
your point across; the myriad dialects suggestive of a much larger
land than currently exists – which serves to remind of the vast lands
Armenians once inhabited before successive onslaughts and submissions.

But I mean something different. The personal difficulty one might
have with those pronunciations, the challenges they may face with
constructing the sentences with the fluidity required of a native
speaker, or much less, are that person’s business and matters of
their mettle. I’m talking about the challenges these individuals who
are far from fluent, or even close, that are imposed on them not by
language but by people – Armenians.

The most formal Armenian education I got was whatever is gotten by 4th
grade. Thereafter, I was all smiles as I entered the public school
system – a vicious place unlike the uniform (indeed, pun intended),
disciplined, no-nonsense world of Armenian private school. If ever
one is interested in testing the tenacity of their teachings with a
child, they should send them to public school.

Within a few years – two or three – I was about as assimilated as a
sugar cube in water; you could hardly tell me apart. This was not a
sudden, unfounded change. I was surrounded by non-Armenians whose
attitude toward foreigners, or what they considered foreign, was
far from welcoming. Being the friendless new kid in public school, I
desperately wanted to fit in. I shirked every aspect of my Armenianness
that I could, and language was at the top of what was going on the
chopping block.

If ever my parents spoke Armenian with me in public, I would turn red
with embarrassment. Their carelessness,- in my slavish, juvenile mind –
let the non-Armenians in on the secret that we were not the American
I saw myself as. I couldn’t understand why they had immigrated here
from Armenian-speaking lands to this place they extolled as what saved
them yet they continued speaking Armenian, eating Armenian, acting
Armenian. I resolved that American was what I was and that was it.

I played baseball (possibly the most nonsensical of all sports to
an Armenian), football (a close second to baseball), I only spoke
English, I listened to rock and roll and heavy metal (the latter
being the nonsensical parallel of baseball in the musical world,
if it could be considered music), I developed a love affair with
American muscle cars, and I preferred burger joints and hot dogs to
any food prepared at home. I refused to speak Armenian (while my Mom
would refuse to speak in English) and, coincidentally, I forgot it,
all of it – how to read, how to write, almost completely how to speak.

Success!

Then I met them. Those who I can only describe as racists. Or maybe
xenophobes, if we want to be slightly euphemistic. Over the years,
they came out of the woodwork in the most unexpected places, in the
most subtle of ways. For these people, it didn’t matter how much I
tried, how American I thought I’d become – I was still an immigrant,
an outsider, a foreigner. And I began to wonder: I was actively
attempting to expunge, in earnest, a 5,000 year old culture which I
was born into while some non-Armenians around me were clamoring for
an identity, whether real or made up. My idiocy slapped me silly.

But I had walked far enough away from the tribe, and for enough time,
that I could at least know how to fashion myself. Spiraling into an
outwardly extreme supposed Armenian persona was uninteresting to me
and, frankly, overdone. I saw “aga, shakhs, aper, khob”, the blotte
or tavluh, the crosses or clothes, as replacements for what we had
lost somewhere along the way. My familial upbringing, as much as I
tried rejecting the Armenian underpinnings, had left its residue. With
it came the contrast of what we were against what we thought we were
supposed to be. So, I embarked on the excruciating journey of learning
how to be Armenian in the truest form I could conceive.

Excruciating. That’s a rough description of what should be a pleasant
adventure of discovering the wondrous essence of your being. Or: this
is supposed to be fun, not painful. But it is. It is painful when
you are trying to eke out words in Armenian, torturing yourself so
foreign verbiage doesn’t invade your speech lest you become complicit
in perverting the language you are struggling to maintain, and, alas,
your fellow interlocutor is more concerned with highlighting your
inadequate fluency and, naturally, their superior usage ability –
their impeccable reprimands infused with “ishteh” and “yani” –
than with acting as a guide toward the realization of, ostensibly,
both your goal. The concluding recommendation being, “you can say it
in English” or, if especially audacious, switching languages on you
without notice, thus surreptitiously opining about the (inferior)
quality of your spoken work.

This proclamation from the same person who is likely a steadfast
source of the righteous imposition that “bedk’eh khose(e)nk Hayeren”
(“we must speak Armenian”)! Imagine the state of your brain as it is
trying to compute someone telling you that you must speak Armenian
while telling you that if you can’t manage – and it’s obvious you
can’t – just switch to the other language that they, since they’re
more multilingual than you, can understand just as well. Instances
like these may very well be the beginnings of bipolarity.

I’m loathe to offer this as a crusade of solely personal proportion.

This is one example of what I know is commonplace. As a Diasporan,
and one who not only lives, but works, within its (otherwise supremely
pleasant) confines, I am uncomfortably privy to the growing apathy
and, in my estimation, lethargy, which has started to overtake the
community. It requires much less energy to let your surroundings have
their way with your psyche and person than to confront them with
the conviction of who you are. It requires an exceptional level of
diligence and discipline. And, for those who have taken the valiant
plunge into cultural preservation and growth, the last thing on their
long list of worries should be the overt or subtle discouragement of
those who need to otherwise be the cheerleaders.

I already disdain that I may not ever be able to speak Armenian as
beautifully as my parents, or the poets whose gifts I want to read –
and understand. But that I not become the charlatan who discourages
the believer that they may realize such an unattainable treasure is
of similarly paramount importance. To damage the wish of a striver
to reach that end is unforgivable.

Hence my gratitude is conveyed to the corps of individuals whose
object is not to outdo but to include. Thanks are due that they
believe that one’s elevation requires them to elevate, not smile down
from upon their perch. Without the sagacity and measured patience
of this limited group, the treacherousness of this journey would be
compounded unimaginably.

To the the bipolar self-styled linguists, I am writing this in English
because I can’t write it in Armenian – I probably couldn’t even say
it the way that I wanted without taking twice as long. But, I’ll get
there, determined to gain total facility in this unique language,
my language. Or, for their understanding ease: yani, no problem, brat.

Hayeren will prosper and perpetuate under the tutelage of the
previously incapable upon their mastery of this language they love.

Fortunately, history is not made by the faithless.

TELLING UNHEARD STORIES

Haytoug Magazine
June 19 2012

Our community is filled with hundreds of talented young artists
pushing the boundaries of expression and creativity in various fields.

Haytoug recently had the chance to sit down with one such prominent
young artist: filmmaker, photographer, and writer Apo Avedissian.

Haytoug: Can you give us some background on how you got involved in
photography, videography and art in general?

Apo Avedissian: During the 2003 war in Iraq, I was a 13-year-old kid
in Baghdad with a camera, walking around taking pictures of arms and
legs detached from bodies. I found a subject to tell a story about:
the war. Photography wasn’t my hobby, storytelling was. That’s why
I’ve not only done photography, but also filmmaking, stenciling,
and writing. Art is my tool of choice. High school in the U.S. also
gave me a major push towards getting into the business aspect of art
itself. I was invited to Hoover High School’s Art Academy during the
first two months of a photography class and was soon given two awards
that allowed me to buy a new, professional camera. It was my first
professional camera.

H: Is your foundation based on formal training from those classes or
did you develop your talent outside of the school setting?

A.A.: I do tend to be an egomaniac, so I will say everything is
based on myself. Although I am influenced by things around me, just
like anyone else, once I took those classes I really wasn’t a fan of
being told how to make art. In math, when one person discovers a new
formula, they’re praised as scientists, and they should be. In art,
however, there’s that one fine line you need to follow. I don’t like
that. Art is self expression to me, and the fact that a class exists
to teach you how to be creative is just a bit too much. The fact that
there are classes shows other people’s opinions, however, so as long
as I’m not forced to join an art class, anyone is free into joining
one and experimenting with anything they’d like.

H: A lot of people know you for directing and producing music videos.

What is it about the intersection of music and video that you enjoy?

A.A.: Storytelling. I don’t talk a lot in person. I tend to observe
and create art in my mind. Art is how I express myself. If I feel
a certain way about an event or anything around me, I will tell the
story through art.

H: What are some of the key projects you’ve worked on, and the
achievements you’ve had so far?

A.A.: My ability to reach out and have thousands of people being a
click away from viewing my work online is what I consider my main
major achievement. With the $100 cheap camera that I started with, I
built a 35,000 people fan base on MySpace when I first started. Now
I’m on Twitter, which was also a tool I used for a really cool
Armenian project.

I love being criticized. I live for the feedback. Feedback and
criticism are more important, to me, than medals and trophies.

H: For many people, finding motivation to be creative and
developing original concepts is not easy. Where do you find your
inspiration/influence?

A.A.: I wake up with it. Not in the same bed though [laughs]. All
jokes aside, I do have rituals and certain things I do and go through
daily to have a good artistic day. Another artist once said “you’re
crazy,” when they saw what I go through daily, to which I replied
“I’m making art every day. What are you doing?”

H: How do you think being Armenian and from a family that has survived
Genocide and war has affected your art?

A.A.: With what my grand-grandparents went through during the Armenian
Genocide, you can only think of the negatives. After going through
and surviving the Genocide itself, they settled in Baghdad, Iraq. Soon
enough that country was another bleeding place for everyone in it.

I left Iraq late 2004, about two years into the war. What I saw made
me who I am, so I can only use my imagination to try and see what my
grand-grandparents went through back around 1915. The first half of my
life was based on the Genocide stories, and the quarter that followed
it is based on the war I, myself, went through and survived, as well.

The Armenian Community in Iraq did a really good job teaching us our
culture, language, and everything they could keep alive from the past.

So good, in fact, that I still remember and know most of my elementary
school lessons about Armenians. Because of all of that, my work shows
more tears than smiles, I realize.

H: In addition to your work with the camera, you’ve become known
for your incisive blog entries and writings on Apotize.com. What are
your thoughts on the power of conveying ideas through mediums such
as writing as opposed to words or visuals?

A.A.: Writing and visuals are the tools I use to tell what I have in
mind. Whatever fits the topic, I will use. Sometimes a picture does
it all. At other times, that picture isn’t clear enough, not as clear
as a blog. I like to influence people. I don’t like forcing anyone
into doing anything. I want to influence, yet again, giving them the
full option of choosing what they do next. Just like a reminder, I’ll
bring up some facts from both sides without forcing a decision. You
are reminded; you choose to snooze or wake up.

Writing is a very powerful tool to put out emotions and ideas. Last
year, on April 24th, I wrote a blog on Apotize.com asking everyone to
use Twitter to post or “tweet” a fact about the Armenian Genocide,
and add the hashtag #ArmenianGenocide in the tweet itself. By doing
that, we might be able to “trend” that phrase, which means millions of
visitors on the site, whether Armenian or not, could see the phrase as
‘most used/ popular’ for that day and time. Later that day, we had
“#ArmenianGenocide” and “Armenians” trending in Los Angeles. That
was a huge success on our end, and with the help of the readers we
were actually able to do something very productive, and answered many
“odars'” questions about the trend, which they had no idea about.

On that day, we taught thousands of people about the Armenian Genocide,
all with one simple idea that came to my mind, and through my writing,
got many great minds involved. This year, I intend to try it again,
hopefully trending the phrase #ArmenianGenocide worldwide, having
everyone logging in to Twitter see it, and once they click on it,
see the facts we’re posting and our unheard stories.

H: What role do you think artists play in society, specifically for
the Armenian community in the Diaspora?

A.A.: Teachers. Artists show you things you haven’t seen before or
have forgotten about. Artists put your attention on an important topic
to them, and you choose whether to understand it or not. Artists can
be teachers, inventors, and even historians, to be honest. When you
have a 100 year old art piece, that is good enough, you will look at
the picture and remember stories about that time.

H: What are some upcoming projects we can expect from you?

A.A.: I’m in the process of stenciling a 17×7 ft. wall for a music
video I will be featured in. I’m also working on a documentary titled
Yergat. The rest is your imagination.

I don’t plan things, they just happen. I know about those two because
the documentary I’ve been working on for about five years now, and
the stencil I planned two days ago. I’ll soon stencil and shoot the
video for it.

H: How do people get in touch with you regarding commissioning work?

A.A.: My personal website (www.apomontage. com) has my email, Twitter,
and Facebook links beside my work.

JOE THE PLUMBER ON THE HOLOCAUST
By TIM MAK

Politico

June 20 2012

Ohio Congressional candidate Samuel Wurzelbacher, aka “Joe the
Plumber,” uploaded a controversial YouTube video Monday linking the
Holocaust and the Armenian genocide to gun control.

“I’m just stating the fact that history is very important – people need
to understand what happened. Different countries around the world have
tried to disarm their citizens, and then have tried to exterminate
their own now-unarmed citizens,” Wurzelbacher told POLITICO, citing
Turkey, Russia and Germany as examples.

“In 1911, Turkey established gun control,” Wurzelbacher says in
the video, while obliterating fruit with shotgun blasts. “From 1915
to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were
exterminated. In 1939, Germany established gun control. From 1939
to 1945, six million Jews and seven million others, unable to defend
themselves, were exterminated.”

To conclude the 40-second video, he says to the camera, “I love
America.”

Wurzelbacher told POLITICO he has no sympathy for those who might be
offended by his message.

“If people are looking to be offended by this video, they are probably
serving a political agenda. Unfortunately there are a lot of whiners
out there,” the Ohio Republican said in an interview. “The Second
Amendment essentially allows us Americans to make sure that we keep
our rights. It’s very important to make sure we sustain it.”

Wurzelbacher is running against Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) for a seat
in Congress.