Author: Badalian Vardan

BORIS NAVASARDYAN. “LEVON TER-PETROSYAN’S OPEN LETTER SHOULD HAVE STARTED WITH THE PROPOSAL TO DIALOGUE.”

February 18 2015

“I expected more of the president than an article, a note. I would
have expected from the First President of what specific solutions he
sees”, said the President of the Yerevan Press Club Boris Navasardyan,
in the conversation with Aravot.am, referring to the first President
Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s open letter. In his opinion, the author of this
open letter could be a person who has a smaller impact on domestic
political developments but not the first president. “In this regard,
questions arise as to what extent it is agreed with other opposition
forces and their leaders so that the proposal that Levon Ter-Petrosyan
is ready to make to Serzh Sargsyan, if not agreed, then to the extent
it is serious. This suggests that there are questions where Levon
Ter-Petrosyan is ready to have a bipartite separate dialogue with the
government authorities, without agreeing it with the partners of the
Parliamentary Trio. Most importantly, these questions would be answered
prior to further domestic political development.” Boris Navasardyan
considers that it would be better to voice the proposal and enter
into a dialog, and then criticize the Pan Armenian Declaration. “The
criticism of the Declaration happened earlier than the proposal to
dialogue, it’s weird, because you first strongly criticize and then
offer to enter into a dialogue. Naturally, the dialogue, moreover,
the constructive dialogue becomes more difficult.

If there were ideas, thought and other opinions, the open letter should
have started from the proposal to dialogue rather than the criticism.”

Ami CHICHAKYAN

Read more at:

GAGIK TSARUKYAN NOT ONLY POLITICAL FIGURE, BUT PERSON RESPECTING THE STATE – ARAM HARUTYUNYAN

14:30 / 18.02.2015

The situation in the country was really explosive and the interview of
second president Robert Kocharyan was really important in this regard,
leader of National Consent party Aram Harutyunyan told the reporters
on Wednesday.

“It was a really speech of the president which showed that he is not
on the side of anyone. He showed that not being on the side of the
authorities or opposition, he is just concerned with the fate of the
country and calls for calmness,” he said, adding that he does not
understand the aim of Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s letter to the president.

“I cannot say whether it was really written before the Republican
party’s Executive Body’s sitting or after the interview of Robert
Kocharyan he tried to come up with the same stance,” he said.

“The authorities are scared and stepped back, seeing the trust of the
people toward Tsarukyan. Of course there will always be kamikaze like
Ashotyan who not seeing the water yet hurry to wear swimming suits.

Such people lose in the end,” he stressed, noting that the country
really needs figures concerned with its fate.

As to Serzh Sargsyan-Gagik Tsarukyan meeting, Harutyunyan said that
even during the wars leaders of countries meet. “I do not think that
the initiator of the meeting is Gagik Tsarukyan. The important thing
here is to transfer the dispute to the political platform,” he said.

Harutyunyan stressed that the ARF-D did not have any role in the
process of reconciliation and today’s statement of Tsarukyan proved
that he is not only political figure but the one who respects the
state. “It is not Tsarukyan who must forgive the Republicans, the
people will not forgive them,” he noted. “There are few political
victims as a result of it, one of them is Ashotyan. Tsarukyan is the
winner in this situation, he is always opposition,” he said.

NEW BILLBOARDS IN BOSTON COMMEMORATE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL

15:04, 18 Feb 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

On Feb. 14, Peace of Art, Inc. added three new billboards in
commemoration of the centennial of the Armenian Genocide in the Boston
area. The new digital billboards are different from the others in
design but similar with concept. All the billboards commemorate the
centennial of the Armenian Genocide and pay tribute to the victims.

Two digital billboards are located in Foxboro, and the third one is
located in Peabody, Mass, Asbarez reports.

Against a black background, one billboard reads “1915-2015 the
Centennial of the Armenian Genocide.” The letters “O” and “C” in the
word “Genocide” are combined to form a red heart with a bite. The
heart symbolizes the heart of a nation, and the bite symbolizes 1.5
million innocent lives carved off a nation, whose wounds are still
bleeding through generations.

The other digital billboard reads “I Remember and I Demand 1915-2015
the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide.” The letter “O” in the word
“Genocide” is a purple forget-me-not, the official Armenian Genocide
centennial symbol. The flower has five petals which represent the five
continents where genocide survivors settled and rebuilt their lives.

Also represents the pain shared by Armenians around the world united
with their demands for recognition and justice.

“Since January 2015, Peace of Art, Inc., has displayed ten billboards
in the United States. Chicago, Seattle, Peabody, Sharon and Foxboro,
and will continue to display electronic billboards throughout the
United States during the year 2015,” said Peace of Art founding
president Daniel Varoujan Hejinian.

HRAPARAK: ARFD IS NOT GOING TO RETURN TO RULING COALITION

‘Hraparak’ paper asked the head of ARF-Dashnaktsutyun Party’s
parliamentary faction Armen Rustamyan to comment on the possibility of
ARFD Party’s return to the ruling coalition after Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan recalled the Armenian-Turkish protocols from the
parliament.

“We have never conditioned our relations with the authorities by the
Armenian-Turkish protocols. We submitted demands of 7 points, only
one of which is related to the protocols, while the others remain on
the agenda. We repeatedly said that we will start cooperating closely
with a political force – be it the authorities or the opposition –
that will initiate a process aimed at implementation of those 7
points. We urge our colleagues to return to it,” A. Rustamyan said.

18.02.15, 12:00

EXPOSITION D’OEUVRES SUR KOMITAS A LA GALERIE NATIONALE D’ARMENIE A L’OCCASION DU 145EME ANNIVERSAIRE DU MUSICOLOGUE ARMENIEN

ART

La Galerie nationale d’Armenie a Erevan exposera du 6 mars au 15
mars des oeuvres (peintures, sculptures) dediees au grand musicologue
armenien, le père Komitas (1869-1935) a l’occasion du 145e anniversaire
de sa naissance. Cette exposition vient egalement en cette annee
du 100ème anniversaire du genocide armenien dont Komitas fut l’une
des premières victimes de la deportation du 24 avril 1915 et en fut
marque a jamais jusqu’a sa disparition vingt ans plus tard.

Anoush Hagopian, la directrice par interim de la Galerie nationale
d’Armenie a affirme que de nombreuses oeuvres representant Komitas
seront exposees a cette occasion. Les organisateurs de cette exposition
est l’Union des peintres d’Armenie. A. Hagopian a egalement affirme
que ces oeuvres dediees a Komitas seront transferees a la fin de
l’exposition vers le Musee-Institut Komitas qui vient d’etre inaugure
au centre d’Erevan.

Krikor Amirzayan

mercredi 18 fevrier 2015, Krikor Amirzayan (c)armenews.com

February 17, 2015

USC INSTITUTE OF ARMENIAN STUDIES
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California, USA
Contact: Salpi Ghazarian, Director
[email protected]
213.821.3943

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER GENOCIDE?

2015 marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Ottoman
government’s systematic annihilation of its Armenian population. This
state violence came to be characterized as ‘genocide’ when the term
was coined several decades later, and the Armenian experience was used
as a justification for the need for such a term.

Both the event itself, as well as the ways in which it is depicted and
named, are the topic of many conferences, books, exhibits and other
events around the world this year. Among them, there is the just-
published book, Great Catastrophe: Armenians And Turks In The Shadow
Of Genocide. The author, Tom de Waal, will be the guest of the USC
Institute of Armenian Studies at a lunchtime conversation to be held
on Monday, February 23, 2015, at 12 noon at the USC Ground Zero
Coffeehouse.

The book documents the troubled and deteriorating relationship between
Armenians and Turks in the decades following the genocide, especially
focusing on the last half century as Armenians became more vocal in
demanding that the Turkish government acknowledge the crime of its
predecessors, even as the Turkish government became more strategic and
persistent in its denial of the historical events and culpability. The
unresolved issues continue to affect relations between the two
countries which share a (closed) border, and have a broader impact on
relations in what is already a problematic region.

De Waal will be in conversation on the topics covered in his book and
beyond with Professor Robert English, Director of the USC School of
International Relations and an expert on the politics of Russia and
the former USSR. English was in the region, including Armenia, in the
years marking the collapse of the Soviet Union. He is the author of
five books, including Russia and the Idea of the West: Gorbachev,
Intellectuals and the End of the Cold War.

De Waal is a senior associate in the Russia and Eurasia Program at the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, specializing primarily in
the countries and conflicts of the South Caucasus region, as well as
in the wider Black Sea region. He has worked extensively as a
journalist and writer, including for the BBC World Service in London,
and continues to make documentaries for BBC Radio. He is the author of
the authoritative book on the Karabakh conflict, Black Garden: Armenia
and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War which has been translated into
Armenian, Azeri, Russian and Turkish, and of The Caucasus: An
Introduction, 2010.

Salpi Ghazarian, the director of the USC Institute of Armenian
Studies, says, “We invite the community to the USC campus for this
program. This, like our previous lunchtime programs, is not a
lecture. It’s a conversation between two people who have spent many
years studying the region and its challenges and concerns. It’s an
especially important conversation to be having on the anniversary of
the Genocide, as the term itself continues to be a serious political
conflict.

Lunch will be served. The event will be live streamed at:

Directions and parking information:

We advise guests to park in Parking Structure D, which is located on
the corner of Jefferson and Figueroa (across from the Shrine). See
attached map for the location of the event (USC Ground Zero
Coffeehouse.)

Please call 213.821.3943 if you have any questions regarding the
event, including parking and directions.

About the Institute
Established in 2005, the USC Institute of Armenian Studies supports
multidisciplinary scholarship to re-define, explore and study the
complex issues that make up the contemporary Armenian experience –
from post-Genocide to the developing Republic of Armenia to the
evolving Diaspora. The institute encourages research, publications and
public service, and benefits from communication technologies that link
together the global academic and Armenian communities.

###

NEW BILLBOARDS COMMEMORATE GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL

Tuesday, February 17th, 2015

One of the billboards commemorating the centennial of the Armenian
Genocide in Massachusetts

BY ROSARIO TEIXEIRA

BOSTON–On Feb. 14, Peace of Art, Inc. added three new billboards
in commemoration of the centennial of the Armenian Genocide in the
Boston area. The new digital billboards are different from the others
in design but similar with concept. All the billboards commemorate
the centennial of the Armenian Genocide and pay tribute to the victims.

Two digital billboards are located in Foxboro, and the third one is
located in Peabody, Mass.

Against a black background, one billboard reads “1915-2015 the
Centennial of the Armenian Genocide.” The letters “O” and “C” in the
word “Genocide” are combined to form a red heart with a bite. The
heart symbolizes the heart of a nation, and the bite symbolizes 1.5
million innocent lives carved off a nation, whose wounds are still
bleeding through generations.

The other digital billboard reads “I Remember and I Demand 1915-2015
the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide.” The letter “O” in the word
“Genocide” is a purple forget-me-not, the official Armenian Genocide
centennial symbol. The flower has five petals which represent the five
continents where genocide survivors settled and rebuilt their lives.

Also represents the pain shared by Armenians around the world united
with their demands for recognition and justice.

“Since January 2015, Peace of Art, Inc., has displayed ten billboards
in the United States. Chicago, Seattle, Peabody, Sharon and Foxboro,
and will continue to display electronic billboards throughout the
United States during the year 2015,” said Peace of Art founding
president Daniel Varoujan Hejinian.

TURKEY MOVES TO IMPROVE MINORITY RIGHTS

Anadolu Agency, Turkey
Feb 17 2015

Return of over 1,000 pieces of property to non-Muslim minorities
described as ‘biggest restitution in history.’

ISTANBUL

The Turkish government has returned more than 1,000 proprieties
which once belonged to nonMuslim minorities in what it describes
“the biggest restitution in (Turkish) history.”

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met with around 40 non-Muslim religious
minority leaders in Ankara on Wednesday. During the meeting Davutoglu
said that times whenminorities experienced discrimination were to be
left behind.

“I am sure you have seen that a new approach has been built in Turkey
in the last 12 years,” he added.

The number of Turkey’s non-Muslim minorities – such as Christians
and Jews – fell after republican-era “Turkification” policies.

The 1923 population exchange between Turkey and Greece, the 1942
“wealth tax” which hit non-Muslim communities and the 1955 attacks
– also known as the ‘Events of 6-7 September’ – saw many minority
citizens leave the country.

In 2008, under new legislation passed by the ruling AK Party, reforms
allowed minority groups to buy and renovate their properties, such
as religious buildings.

When then-prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a
“democratization package” back in 2013, the new regulations paved the
way for one Syriac Orthodox monastery in the southeastern province
of Mardin, to have 244,000 square meters of land returned.

Turkey’s prime ministry described the return to Mor Gabriel Monastery
as “the biggest land to be returned.”

In June 2014, President Erdogan said the AK Party government had
returned confiscated assets worth $2 billion to Turkey’s ethnic and
religious minorities.

After Wednesday’s meeting Turkish-Armenian journalist Markar Esayan
spoke to media, saying: “There is an unprecedented mentality change
in Turkey towards non-Muslims.” Esayan said that Davutoglu’s messages
were inclusive rather than marginalizing as previous governments.

He added that the change in the last decade was of critical importance:
“There is a considerable overlap inminorities’ quality of life,
corporate problems, individual rights and freedoms.”

Solving problems for Turkey’s non-Muslim citizens is one of the most
important parts of the country’s democratization process and for this
reason Erdogan and Davutoglu held 12 meetings with community leaders
between 2009 and 2014, said the prime ministry.

There are 165 community foundations in Turkey: 76 Greek community;
53 Armenian; 19 Jewish; 10 Syriac; three Chaldean; two Bulgarian;
and one Georgian and Maronite each.

Earlier this year Davutoglu announced that a new church for Turkey’s
around 20,000 Assyrian Christian community will be constructed –
the first to be erected in Turkey for decades – in Istanbul.

At the same meeting Davutoglu said: “The principle of equal
citizenship, which has been concretized with the return of foundation
assets recently, will be our basic motto from now on.”

Speaking on Wednesday, Davutoglu said that there had been dark chapters
in Turkish history, adding: “We should not refrain from facing this
history, these experiences.”

” It is not possible to forget September 6-7 events’ sorrow,” he said
referring to attacks which mainly targeted Istanbul’s Greek minority
in 1955.

Davutoglu said that after the suffering in the 19th century and the
first quarter of the 20th century, the world had been impoverished.

He said that Balkan cities lost their Muslim and Turkish inhabitants
while Anatolian cities lost their Greeks, Armenians and Jews.

“It is time to re-coalescence,” Davutoglu said.

According to the prime ministry, there is now an ongoing reconstruction
process. Eleven Catholic and Orthodox churches as well as synagogues
have already been reconstructed across Turkey.

One Armenian Church on the northwestern Aegean coast and another
Orthodox church in Istanbul as well as one synagogue in the eastern
province of Edirne are under construction.

There are several religious buildings awaiting construction: one
synagogue in south-central province of Kilis as well as one Orthodox
church and two Armenian churches in the southern province of Hatay.

Located in Turkey’s Black Sea province of Trabzon, the historic Sumela
Monastery and, in Van, the Armenian Cathedral of The Holy Cross were
opened for religious ceremonies by Turkey after the new legislation.

In 2010 prime ministry published a communique “for the protection of
people belonging to different faith groups.”

Turkey’s ministry of education also prepared Armenian textbooks and
distributed them to Armenian schools for free during the 2010-2011
school year.

The country’s Press Advertisement Agency has been also supporting
six minority newspapers since 2011, said the prime ministry.

The Turkish premier said that a common culture should be formed
in which people share all the pain and joy instead of remembering
“painful sorrows.”

He also said: “It is in our hands to build a beautiful future all
together.”

ARMENIA WITHDRAWS PEACE ACCORDS WITH TURKEY FROM PARLIAMENT

BGN News, Turkey
Feb 17 2015

Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan decided to withdraw from the
country’s Parliament protocols aimed at establishing diplomatic ties
with Turkey.

Addressing Armenian Speaker of Parliament Galust Sahakyan, Sarksyan
said he was recalling Armenia-Turkey protocols from the Parliament.

Regretting the Turkish authorities’ turning a deaf ear to Armenia’s
call; Sarksyan said “I have decided to recall from the National
Assembly of Armenia the protocols.”

In 2009, the Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers had signed
the agreement in the Swiss city of Zurich. The agreement aimed at
restoring diplomatic ties between the countries. In addition the
agreement aimed at re-open the common border between Armenia and
Turkey, which has been closed since 1993.

BROOKHAVEN CERAMIC ARTIST TO SHOWCASE WORK AT PRESTIGIOUS AMERICAN CRAFT COUNCIL SHOW

The Brookhaven Post, GA
Feb 17 2015

February 17, 2015

Brookhaven, GA, February 17, 2015 – by The Post – Brookhaven Master
Artisan, Adrina Richard, will present her work alongside 225 other
nationally acclaimed craft-makers when the American Craft Council Show
(ACC) returns to Atlanta in March.

The ACC show is the largest juried show in the Southeast and is
known as the nation’s premier marketplace for handcrafted basketry,
ceramics, fashion wearables, furniture, glass, jewelry, home decor
and more made by the country’s top artisans.

“I got into this with my friend Janis, while I was still working at
Oglethorpe University,” Adrina told The Post. “I’ve always collected
pottery and I’ve always loved pottery…and she was doing some
sculpture. She called me up at work one day and said ‘You know there’s
this Pottery Studio in Brookhaven.'” At that time, Mudfire Clayworks
was in Brookhaven, in the same building as Haven Restaurant. “So I
said, sure…let’s go…and we both signed up. I was hooked!”

photo: Small Casserole by Adrina Richard

Photo: Teapot by Adrina Richard

A first generation American born of survivors of the Armenian genocide,
Adrina grew up straddling two cultures – the near east and the new
world. With family members who were experts in music, culinary arts,
sewing, crocheting and knitting, she was richly surrounded by the
arts throughout her life.

“Sometimes I dream of shaping clay. I think about how people, perhaps
thousands of years ago, used fired clay for activities ordinary to
them, like eating, cooking, and storing,” says Adrina. “But pottery
was also commemorative, representing some event, person or idea
meaningful to their lives that they wanted to share and remember.”

Today, Adrina experiments with new techniques, forms and methods to
develop her unique style of multiple textures and impressions that
evoke her lifelong love of the ancient arts. Since working in clay
presents infinite possibilities, she enjoys exploring various methods
of construction and wildly different types of firings.

Adrina’s work is on display in regional exhibits, fine art and
craft galleries. She has worked as an artist-in-residence at MudFire
Clayworks and Gallery in Decatur.

American Craft Council Atlanta Show

All show artists undergo a rigorous juried selection process for
acceptance into the esteemed show at the Cobb Galleria Centre, and
are considered master artisans with extensive training in their genre
of work.

Meet Adrina Richard and her distinguished peers at the ACC Show Friday,
March 13 from 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Saturday, March 14 from 10 a.m. –
6 p.m.; and Sunday, March 15 from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Get a sneak peek at the Preview Party March 12 from 6 – 9 p.m.,
with proceeds co-benefitting ACC and the Hambidge Center.

To preview the show, visit craftcouncil.org/Atlanta.