Author: Badalian Vardan

LOCAL MUSICIAN WANTS TO PRESERVE ARMENIAN MUSICAL HISTORY ON FILM

Hometownlife.com, MI
Feb 7 2014

Ara Topouzian wants to preserve Detroit’s Armenian musical history
on film.

“My goal is to show the hidden story about Detroit, the ethnic
community,” said the Farmington Hills resident. “Our music represents
sadness, happiness, weddings, parties, picnics.”

The idea for the film stems from a project Topouzian, Troy Chamber
of Commerce executive director, created when he received a fellowship
from the Kresge Foundation in 2012.

A nationally known musician, Topouzian taught himself to play and
love the kunan, a trapezoid-shaped instrument that boasts sets of
three strings tuned to the same note. He and other Armenian musicians
continue to perform.

His Kresge fellowship gave Topouzian yet another opportunity to open
the doors to preserving Armenian music.

“It allowed me to create a project for the public that was a
lecture/concert about the history of Armenian music in Detroit,”
he said. “I thought it would be great if it was a film.”

That dream is on its way to reality thanks to a $12,000 matching
grant from the Knight Foundation. That joy, however, presents a hurdle.

Topouzian must raise the $12,000 match and he has until September.

He is working through the Miami Foundation and the online Kickstarter
to raise the necessary money. The former executive director of the
Farmington Area Chamber of Commerce and former economic development
director for the city of Novi is also accepting private donations to
help with the grant match.

With Kickstarter, Topouzian had to set a dollar goal and if that
fundraising goal is not reached by March 18, that’s the end of that.

“No money goes in my pocket from any fundraising for the film. I get
nothing except maybe the notoriety of the film,” Topouzian said.

Making progress

Progress is under way. If he can raise the minimum $5,000 on
Kickstarter, then he has $2,600 already with a total of $7,600 so far.

If all goes as planned, Brian Golden, Farmington area historian, will
film the historical project Topouzian has in mind. And again, if all
goes as planned, he wants to pitch a completed film to PBS. The film
in 2015 would coincide with 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide.

The Armenian Genocide, also known as the Armenian Holocaust, took
place during and after World War I when the then-Ottoman Empire
systematically exterminated its minority Armenian population from
their homeland, which is today’s nation of Turkey.

Before the genocide, Detroit could boast some 3,000-4,000 Armenians.

Following the genocide, the ranks swelled to some 30,000 as survivors
made their way to Detroit and jobs with Henry Ford.

For the most part, Armenians brought their culture and music and
settled in the southeast section of Detroit. “They had no tape
recorders but they brought the tunes in their heads and desperately
made a life here and brought the culture they lost,” Topouzian said.

And this is the story he wants to tell the world. At first, Armenian
musicians played in churches, community centers and halls. In time,
nightclub owners realized Armenian music was popular and began inviting
the musicians to play a few nights a week.

“It is a story that needs to be told,” he said. “About how important
Armenians have been in Detroit preserving their culture and their
music.”

Topouzian plans to return to the spots where those nightclubs once
stood and interview Armenian immigrants and musicians who steadfastly
protected and preserved their culture.

“I want them to tell their stories. This is the history the Turks
did not get.”

To help Topouzian with his fundraising
campaign, go to Kickstarter campaign at:

More information about Topouzian can be found on his
website at: and on his blog,

AZERBAIJAN, ARMENIA COMMIT TO STRENGTHENING CEASEFIRE DURING OLYMPICS – OSCE MINSK GROUP STATEMENT

Interfax, Russia
Feb 6 2014

BAKU. Feb 6

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group will continue consultations
with the parties to the Armenian-Azeri conflict in the coming weeks
to prepare high-level meetings, of which the co-chairs said in a
statement summing up outcomes of their talks in Baku and Yerevan
available on the OSCE website.

“The Co-Chairs discussed the outcome of the Foreign Ministers’ recent
meeting in Paris with the presidents and stressed the need for further
progress on the substance of negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict,” it says.

The co-chairs stressed the need to continue top-level talks, as the
parties agreed at the latest summit between the Azeri and Armenian
presidents in Vienna in November 2013.

They also reiterated “their deep concern over the recent escalation
on the Line of Contact and the border, and called on the sides to
exercise restraint in their actions and rhetoric.”

“The sides stated their intention to strengthen observance of the
ceasefire and avoid further escalation, particularly in light of the
upcoming Olympic Games in Sochi,” the statement says.

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ARMENIAN CULTURE MINISTER COMES OUT FOR CONSTRUCTION OF A CAFE NEAR PAGAN TEMPLE OF GARNI

by Karina Manukyan

Friday, February 7, 20:06

Armenian Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosyan has come out for
construction of a cafe near the pagan temple of Garni.

“Why not if the construction of the cafe does not imply damaging the
cultural layer?” said Poghosyan at today’s press conference. “No bad
project will become a reality”, she said.

Earlier Vladimir Poghosyan, Head of the Service for the Protection
of Historic Environment and Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve,
said that no construction would be launched and that only chairs and
tables would be put there. The cafe’s menu will be consisted of fruit,
vegetables and home-made gata. The profit will be spent on maintenance
of the temple of Garni. Poghosyan assured that the pilot project aims
to boost tourism in Armenia.

In late 2013 “Sargis Tkhruni” Youth and Student Union of the
Social-Democrat Hunchakyan Party came out against that project. “The
practice shows that the “small cafes for the tourists turn into big
restaurants. The temple of Garni should remain untouched and shouldn’t
serve the interests of certain officials”, they said.

The Temple of Garni is a first century Hellenic temple near Garni,
Armenia. It is the only pagan temple in Armenia that survived the
Christianization of the country in 301 AD. Several constructions and
buildings have been identified within the enclosed area, including a
two-storey royal summer palace, a bath complex, a church built in AD
897, a cemetery and the site’s most famous and best preserved edifice,
a peristyle Greco-roman temple built in the Ionic order. Of particular
interest is the bathhouse located in the northern part of the site. It
as a well preserved hypocaust and one of its floors is decorated with
a mosaic reproducing a well known late Hellenistic iconographic type.

It bore depictions of Greek mythological figures and personifications,
such as Tethys, Oceanus, Thetis.

ARFD READY TO COOPERATE WITH AUTHORITIES IN CREATING COMMISSION FOR GAS ISSUES – RUSTAMYAN

14:10 07/02/2014 >> POLITICS

Head of ARFD parliamentary faction Armen Rustamyan has said that the
faction is ready to cooperate with the authorities in setting up a
commission for examination of gas issues.

“We are ready for cooperation. Otherwise, there will be a deadlock.

This sector is extremely important for our people, but we will wait
for concrete proposals,” he told a press briefing in parliament.

Speaker of Armenian National Assembly Hovik Abrahamyan said yesterday
that the political majority is ready to create a commission for gas
issues and called on the parliamentary opposition to cooperate with
them in that format.

Rustamyan added that there will be no sense in creating a commission
if all this is done just for propaganda and unless the authorities
display proper will.

On February 3, the four non-coalition parliamentary factions – ARFD,
Prosperous Armenia, Armenian National Congress and Heritage – launched
a signature campaign for the establishment of a commission to examine
the 300-million-dollar gas debt of Armenia and determine the reasons
for the difference between the wholesale and retail prices of natural
gas. On February 5, the Armenian parliament rejected the proposal by
a vote of 58-44.

Source: Panorama.am

INFANT MORTALITY RATE IN ARMENIA SLASHED BY 16 PERCENT OVER THREE YEARS TO 9.8 CASES PER EACH 100,000

YEREVAN, February 7. / ARKA /. The infant mortality rate in Armenia
has slashed by 16 percent over the last three years to 9.8 cases
per each 100,000 children, down from 10.7 in 2012 and 11.6 in 2011,
Karine Saribekyan, head of the maternal and child health department
of the health ministry said today.

Speaking at a news conference she said the number of maternal mortality
has dropped by 17 percent when compared to 2008-2010, when the rate
was 23.2 per 100,000 women during pregnancy, childbirth and after
it. In 2013 the figure was 19.2.

She attributed the decline to a string of government-financed programs
to detect asymptomatic diseases at earlier stages.

According to the National Statistical Service (NSS), 411 cases of
infant mortality were reported in 2013, down from 458 in 2012. Also
last year 41,770 babies were born, up from 42,480 in 2012. -0-

– See more at:

Shinzo Abe Is Not Alone

EDITORIAL | FEBRUARY 6, 2014 3:03 PM
________________________________

By Edmond Y. Azadian

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was elected last year with a
strong mandate, has assumed the responsibility of reforming his
country’s sagging economy and in the process he has determined to
harken back to its imperialist history much to the chagrin of Japan’s
World War II victims, namely China and Korea.

This aggressive posture, with its militaristic overtones, worries
Washington’s policy planners, eager to maintain stability in the
region and to contain North Korea’s unpredictable behavior.

Abe’s revisionist policy has relevance and also a bearing on other
historic relations, especially German-Jewish and Turkish-Armenian
relations. Should the world remain silent, other revisionist
politicians may emulate Abe by victimizing once more history’s
victims.

President Eisenhower, before leaving office, had warned the US public
against the domination of the military-industrial complex. It is well
known that military buildup is a lucrative business that generates
wealth for a certain segment of society. Therefore, the Japanese prime
minister is taking up the recovery of his country’s economy where
Eisenhower had left off. In order to achieve this goal, he has to
create the right atmosphere and excuses to embark upon his
militaristic path. Tensions are already flaring between Tokyo and
Beijing over some islands in the East China Sea, claimed by both
parties.

To exacerbate the situation, Mr. Abe has taken some calculated and
provocative steps. First, he has plans to revise Japan’s constitution
drafted under US occupation after Japan’s unconditional surrender at
the end of World War II. General McArthur saw to it that Japan can
never rearm itself to wage a war of aggression. That is why Article 9
of its constitution renounces warfare and the threat or use of force
and that unlike other countries, it has a pacifist aim written into
the constitution. The prime minister is planning to “reinterpret” that
article to pave the way for Japan’s militarization, although the US
has 16 military bases in that country and has extended its nuclear
umbrella over it.

Since militarization needs an excuse, Abe has undertaken the most
audacious initiative to provoke China and South Korea, by visiting the
Yasukuni Shrine, adjacent to the revisionist war museum.

Japan’s barbaric actions during WWII in China and Korea are well
documented, especially its enslavement of Korean women as “comfort
women” in its military brothels and brutal assaults in China, the most
famous case known as the Rape of Nanking, where systematic rape and
murder was the order of the day in that Chinese city by the Japanese
Imperial Army.

Abe’s predecessors have made halfhearted apologies for these crimes,
which have satisfied neither China nor South Korea.

After the war, the Tokyo Tribunal, similar to the Nuremberg Trials,
took place between May 1946 and November 1948 and condemned 28
political and military leaders as Class A war criminals. Of those, 14
were executed and buried at Yasukuni Shrine, where Mr. Abe visited to
honor them. He defiantly justified his actions, maintaining that “the
14 Class A war criminals honored at Yasukuni Shrine are not war
criminals under Japanese law, but the country had to accept the
outcome of the Tokyo Tribunal to become an independent nation.”

The Chinese and South Korean governments are outraged and they have
expressed their indignation in no uncertain terms. The US government
has been trying to warn Mr. Abe against a repeat performance. Western
media also pointed to it as a self-inflicted act as the Economist of
London wrote, “Morally, it is as if Angela Merkel were to pay her
respects at a monument that, among other things, honors the Third
Reich. Politically, it is self-defeating….China and South Korea, that
suffered under Japanese imperialism, are understandably horrified.
Step-by-step, they fear, Japan is shedding the restraints that bound
it after the war without having ever faced up to its crimes.”

Mr. Abe can defy his country’s old victims and challenge world public
opinion safely sheltered under the umbrella of the world’s most
powerful nation: the US.

Another nation — under the farcical title of trusted ally — is Turkey,
which continues its denialist policy, unrepentant. Talaat Pasha, the
Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire and the architect of the Armenian
Genocide, confided to the Turkish feminist Halide Edip: “I have the
conviction that as long as a nation does its best for its own
interests, and succeeds, the world admires it and thinks it moral. I
am ready to die for what I have done and I know I shall die for it.”

What he had done was boastfully described in Ambassador Morgenthau’s
Story. Talaat is quoted as saying, “I have done more toward solving
the Armenian problem in three months than Abdul Hamid II accomplished
in 30 years.”

The precursor of Nuremberg Trials, the Istanbul Trials of 1919, under
Ottoman Sultan Mahmoud VI, accused 130 suspects of committing war
crimes and the “massacre and destruction of Armenians.” On July 5,
19191, the court released its verdict: Talaat, Enver, Jemal and Dr.
Nazim were condemned to death in abstentia. The criminals had fled the
country and the administration of justice was left to a group of young
avengers.

Talaat had found refuge in Germany and he was planning to return to
Ankara, where, according to his confession to a British intelligence
officer, Aubrey Herbert, “the Turkish national movement was forming.”
The reference is to Mustafa Kemal’s Milli movement, which eventually
built the present-day Turkish Republic out of the ruins of the Ottoman
Empire.

Talaat’s life was cut short when he was assassinated by Soghomon
Tehlirian in Berlin in 1921. He had pinned his hopes on Kemal’s
nationalist movement, which turned out to be the extension of the
criminal Ittihadist policy. Many rank-and-file members of that
government who had Armenian blood on their hands joined the Kemalist
government, as it has been fully documented by Turkish historian Taner
Akçam.

The Republic of Turkey was cooperating with Hitler during World War II
by providing raw materials to the German war machine. That is how it
was able to repatriate Talaat’s remains from Berlin to Istanbul in
1943. The remains were reburied in the Sisli district of Istanbul. A
monument was also erected in his memory on Hurriet Tepe (Freedom Hill)
for the Turkish people to honor that war criminal. It is believed that
as of 2012, Mehmet Talaat Pasha has had many prominent streets named
after him in the modern state of Turkey.

Far from apologizing for the crime of genocide, Turkish leaders have
continued to threaten Armenia and the Armenians. Still fresh in our
memories is the threat by then Turkish President Turgut Ozal, at the
outset of Armenia’s independence, who asked rhetorically whether 1915
had not taught a lesson to Armenians and if they are itching for
Turkey to drop a few bombs over Yerevan.

As we can see, Shinzo Abe is not alone. He has also cohorts in Turkey.

Yet many politicians play politics with our own Genocide monument and
the measure of their friendship with Armenia is revealed by their
treatment of Tsitsernakabert in Yerevan. Pope John Paul II politicized
his trip to Armenia by avoiding the use of the “g” word. Hillary
Clinton made a mockery of her official trip to Armenia, when she
announced that her visit to the Genocide museum was a private one and
that she had left her political mantle of secretary of state at the US
embassy, where she was staying. In her calculation, she signaled to
Turkey that the US government’s representative was not honoring the
Armenian martyrs. On the other hand, Armenians felt very honored that
she was at the monument, whether in a private or official capacity.

Even the heads of our friendly countries, fearful of antagonizing
Turkey, have shunned the monument. Iran’s President Ahmadinejad cut
short his visit to Armenia to skip his planned visit to the monument,
under the pretext of tending to an urgent matter in his country.
President Bashar Al-Assad, with the same precautions, did not include
a visit to the monument when he came to Armenia.

The majority of the Armenians in the Middle East sympathize with the
Palestinian cause and they are thrilled when the head of the
Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas visits the manger in Bethlehem on
Armenian Christmas. But when he visited Baku the last time, he
shamelessly announced that as Palestinians, whose land is occupied,
“we understand Azerbaijan’s predicament” as some of its territory
“remains under occupation.”

Major and minor powers play politics with symbols. If we expect
support from the world to expose our case and to oblige them to
respect our martyrs, we need to deplore the abominable sacrilege of
politicians like Shinzo Abe who want to rewrite history and to absolve
the sins of history’s murderers.

– See more at:

The Harvell Gazette
Feb 6 2014

A golden education

Local prospector stakes claim in Africa, supports school there

By Tom Vartabedian
Correspondent

—- — When Rafik Papalian arrived in Haverhill as an Iranian
immigrant 35 years ago, he barely had a dollar in his pocket.

Just being in the land of opportunity was enough. Armed with a student
visa, he was sponsored by the Rev. Haigazoun Melkonian, then pastor of
St. Gregory Armenian Church.

“Go to school, get an education, and use your talent to secure a good
job,” the priest told him. “We have a wonderful, supportive community
in Haverhill. We’re all behind you.”

So off Papalian went, securing a GED from Haverhill High School. Next
he attended Northern Essex Community College, where he earned an
engineering degree.

He lived where he could, working in pizza shops, bagging groceries in
supermarkets, and cooking in restaurants. The extra money he earned
went back to Iran to support his family. A brother had been killed in
the war when the Shah of Iran was overthrown.

Papalian went off to California a few years later, securing a job as a
gold salesman. There he met his future wife and eventually settled
down.

Later, he returned east and decided to venture forth with a self-owned
business. Two weeks after opening a jewelry store locally, he was
robbed. Thieves cleaned out $50,000 worth of merchandise — every
locket and ring he owned.

Not to be defeated, he started again with another jewelry store across
the border along Route 125 in Plaistow. Papalian slowly recovered,
enough to open a second and a third jewelry business in Southern New
Hampshire.

A man of strong Christian character, he served his community and
church dutifully, spending 15 years as an ordained deacon and putting
his faith in God.

Now, the 53-year-old Papalian is on a different path. He’s down to one
jewelry store being managed by employee Khachik Mouradian, who has
been with him for 14 years.

Papalian is in West Africa mining gold. He had heard and read about
Ghana being one of the top eight countries in the world for gold
prospecting, so he staked a claim there.

Papalian picked up 100 acres of land on the frontier. The mining
license he was required to get carried a stipulation. He needed to
perform community service in that country.

Aside from the land, all the machinery and equipment, all the
geologists and the 20 paid employees he wound up hiring, he became
responsible for a school and orphanage in the heart of “nowhere,” he
said.

The children have a name for Papalian. They call him “Papa,” a
derivative of his surname. Sometimes, it’s Rafik Papa. Other times,
Papa Rafik.

He adopted two orphaned girls and placed them into caring homes. He
drops by the school some days so covered in mud and grime from digging
that he showers with his clothes on to clean them as well.

Papalian calls his venture the Ashanti Gold Mining Belt. Google it and
you’ll see what it’s all about.

“My jewelry business hit a lull and I needed a career change, a new
investment,” he said. “We made a family commitment to sacrifice in
order to make this work.”

The name “Ghana” means “warrior king.” In some ways, it typifies
Papalian. He’s been a true warrior through the ordeal inside a land
known for its instability and where weapons roam freely.

There is no hot running water. Extreme heat of more than 100 degrees
arrives daily. There are few basic necessities. Nets are required for
sleeping. The mosquitoes are so vicious, they’re like bloodsuckers.

That’s the life he’s chosen for himself these past 2 1/2 years, making it
back home every six months to check on family matters and his jewelry
business. Walk inside his shop along Route 125 in Plaistow and you’ll
see handbags and shoes on display, the proceeds of which support the
orphans.

With a wife and four children, the prospecting project become a lesson
in resiliency for Papalian. Gold prospects have ranged from one- to
10-gram nuggets. Diamond deposits have been an added inducement.

“Right now, we’re at the break-even point,” he said. “With the gold
we’ve found, it’s led to better equipment and pumping machines. The
best is yet to come. I see it happening.”

He set up quarters inside a guest house. His room is about 10 feet
square. Typical foods are yams, plantan (bananas) and other fruits.
Bush meat comes from anything caught in the wild.

Papalian is cultivating an Armenian community there. He’s hooked up
with four Belgium Armenian prospectors who have been mining for 11
years. They get together, speak their native language, even prepare
some Armenian cuisine. He’s also learned to communicate in Chie, the
native language of Ghana.

“When we put the new company together, it’ll be called ‘Ararat Mining’
after our mountain in Armenia where Noah landed his Ark after the
great flood,” Papalian envisions. “And we’ll fly the Armenian flag as
our symbol. It might just be the only Armenian flag in all of Africa.”

Independent Catholic News
Feb 6 2014

Lebanon: Victims of Armenian Genocide to be canonized

Posted: Wednesday, February 5, 2014 10:20 pm

Almost a century since the Armenian Genocide – carried out in the
territories of Turkey in 1915 – the Armenian Apostolic Church has
confirmed its intention to proceed with the canonization for martyrdom
of the victims of what the Armenians call the ‘Great Evil’.

The confirmation came from the meeting of the Committee for the
canonization set up ad hoc and held from January 27 to 29 in Antelias,
Lebanon, at the Cathedral of the Armenian Catholicosate of the Great
House of Cilicia.

The meeting was convened with the blessing of both of the highest
authorities of the Armenian Apostolic Church: the Supreme Patriarch
and Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II and the Catholicos of the
Great House of Cilicia Aram I.

The bishops and priests who make up the committee discussed the more
concrete aspects of the procedures and modalities to be followed for
the canonization, which will have to be completed by 2015, one
centenary after the genocide. During the meeting aspects related to
the preparation of the texts for the commemorative liturgies were
discussed. The Committee will meet again at the end of May, at the
Patriarchal See of Echmiadzin, to develop the final details for the
collective canonization of the victims of the Great Evil.

Source: Fides

French MP states on Turkish radio that Turkey must recognize Armenian Genocide

February 06, 2014 | 00:04

Elisabeth Queyranne, who is Bron city mayoral candidate from the Lyon
region of France, and her husband Jean-Jack Queyranne, who is
President of the Rhône-Alpes Regional Parliament, were the hosts of
the Radio Made inTurkey program, ahead of the local government
elections inFrance.

The program host asked Jean-Jack Queyranne why they permit the
Armenians in the French city of Décines to pay respects, with large
banners, to the ASALA (Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of
Armenia) members who have died, OdaTV website of Turkey reports.

In response, Jean-Jack Queyranne stated that Turkey must recognize the
Armenian Genocide, and added:

“It is very important that the Armenians, who had come to Lyon after
the genocide, to able to maintain their culture. The Armenians have a
large and a deep wound which passes from father to son.”

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

EU-Armenia Parliamentary Committee ends session without joint statement

00:34 * 07.02.14

The EU-Armenia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee closed its regular
session in Strasburg without adopting a joint statement or reaching
any accord over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Samvel Farmanyan, the Committee’s Armenian co-chair, has expressed his
concerns in this connection in Facebook.

“The European parliamentarians think that approaches not contributing
to a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can be the
best way of expressing their discontent with the recent foreign policy
decisions by Armenia.

“The activities of the Parliamentary Cooperation Committee normally
end with the adoption of a joint statement which fixes the common
approaches of the European Parliament and the Armenian National
Assembly with regard to the agenda issues: Armenia-EU relations,
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Armenia-Turkey relations and regional
developments.

“I have to state with regret that we didn’t manage to adopt such a
statement this year. Strange though it may seem, the reason was not
the impossibility of combining the two sides’ positions on the
Armenia-EU relations, the latest developments or future prospects –
which was easily done – but rather, the proposals essentially
circumventing the EU official position and the logic and wording of
similar statements adopted in the same parliamentary format in the
past (2012), continuing the wicked practice of putting an equal sign
between the parties to the conflict, and not having any justification
at all, as well as the rejection of our desire to find mutually
acceptable wordings,” he says.

The committee’s 14th session, which was the first since the latest
developments in the EU-Armenia relations (Armenia’s political U-turn
to the Russian-led Customs Union), was held in Strasburg between
February 5 and 6.

Mr Farmanyan, who represents the ruling Republican faction in
Armenia’s parliament, says both he and the other delegation members
have ruled out the possibility of adopting any joint statement not
favorable for Armenia or the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

He promises that the delegation will call a press conference upon its
return to Armenia to introduce more details on the outcomes of the
meeting (which is expected to attract wide public attention).