Author: Badalian Vardan

BRINGING THE ‘-IAN’ TO CONGRESS: AN INTERVIEW WITH SHERIFF KOUTOUJIAN

By Nanore Barsoumian

July 12, 2013

BOSTON, Mass.-Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian has announced
his candidacy for Senator Edward Markey’s (D-Mass.-5) vacant seat in
Congress. The special election, which will likely take place sometime
in December, has five candidates already campaigning for the Democratic
primary, which is expected to take place in October.

Koutoujian has what he calls a “natural advantage” over his opponents:
He has previously run in almost the entire area that is District
5, which includes Watertown, New England’s historic capital for
Armenians. The sheriff, a resident of Waltham, is no stranger to the
local Armenian community. While serving as a state representative,
he was the lead sponsor of the annual Armenian Genocide Commemoration
event held at the State House, and was instrumental in securing
approval for the Armenian Heritage Park. He regularly attends
commemorations and community events, sometimes as a speaker and other
times as an honored guest; he has served as an election observer in
Armenia; and he has visited the front lines in Nagorno-Karabagh. For
his service to the Armenian-American community, Koutoujian received
the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2011, and the Mkhitar Gosh Medal
from Armenia’s prime minister in 2012.

IMG 5016 rr 1024×682 Bringing the ‘ ian’ to Congress: An Interview
with Sheriff Koutoujian The Weekly’s Nanore Barsoumian interview
Sheriff Peter Koutoujian (Photo by Aaron Spagnolo)

The “Hye” (instead of “High”) Sheriff-as he sometimes refers to
himself (“They just misspelled it in the constitution!”)-is proud of
his Armenian identity, and has vowed to work towards issues dear to
his Armenian-American constituents, if elected. When it comes to the
general issues, all five candidates fit the progressive democratic
outline. Their success will rely on the kind of outreach they
engage in.

With an anticipated low voter turnout after a string of special
elections in Massachusetts, mobilizing supporters-or enough
supporters-poses a real challenge, and will require substantial funds
to cover staff expenses, television and radio advertising, posters,
and other outreach efforts. Much of the success of the campaigns hinges
on successful fundraising. EMILY’s list, which supports pro-choice
women candidates, has already put its weight behind State Senator
Katherine Clark who, according to a recent report, is trailing
Koutoujian in fundraising for the most recent filing. The sheriff
had reportedly raised around $308,000, with $290,000 in the bank,
by the end of June. Clark, on the other hand, had raised $228,000 in
the latest FEC filing, with $400,000 in the bank.

Koutoujian recently sat down with Armenian Weekly Assistant Editor
Nanore Barsoumian to talk about the issues important to him as an
Armenian American; his family history; and his past experiences in
public service. He also discussed the significance of putting an
“-ian” in Congress, which brings with it commitment and at the same
time paves a path for future generations of Armenian Americans in
politics. In the sheriff’s own words: “I have some well-financed
opponents, and the way that I’ll be able to hold my own with them is
through the resources that I’ll be able to raise. That is where the
national Armenian community can really be of most significant help
to me and to us as a people. If we’re able to raise the resources
necessary on a national level to be able to win this seat, then that
will be a great staging for the next step for us as a people…”

Below is the full interview.

***

Nanore Barsoumian-Was your family involved in your decision to run
for Congress?

Peter Koutoujian-My family have been very supportive actually. My
wife has been 100 percent supportive, even at times when I was less
certain because it was really going to affect my family.

N.B.-And your kids, are they excited?

P.K.-Yes, they’re pretty excited, but they like having their dad as
a sheriff, too. Having a sheriff dad is kind of cool. I think it’s
probably cooler than having a congressman as a dad, right now at least.

N.B.-So, what are some of the issues that are central to you, and
are going to be important to you during the campaign and later on?

P.K.-Well first, of course, as an Armenian American, the issue of
genocide recognition and the issues that are related to Armenia and
Karabagh are always going to be very important for me. When you start
stepping off the Armenian issues, it’s going to be a lot about public
safety, education, jobs, and the economy. But it’s not only the larger
overarching issues. I’ve always enjoyed working on the smaller issues
in a legislative capacity or in public service to help address people’s
needs, whether it is an issue they are concerned about or constituent
services that they need, like housing or healthcare services.

N.B.-Can you talk a little bit more about the issues that are of
concern to Armenian Americans?

P.K.-We need to continue to fight for recognition. I know we need to
get the U.S. to recognize the Armenian Genocide. Whether reparations
are part and parcel of that, I think is another decision that we need
to speak about as a community. I believe that reparations are owed.

But right now, the primary goal is, I think, getting that recognition
by the United States government, which would go an awful long way to
the next step.

The issue of an independent, free, democratic, and autonomous Karabagh
is another important issue. A people that are of an ethnic makeup,
that want to have independence, a government, and an independent
territory, is very important. I’ve been to Karabagh. I’ve been on
those front lines and I’ve seen how it affects a nation and a people.

Armenia with its economic wellbeing is also very important to
me-and would be good for the region, as well. We need to bring down
the blockade. We need to bring down some of the issues that are
holding Armenia back from fulfilling its greater glory and becoming
economically independent and strong.

N.B.-When was the last time you were in Karabagh?

P.K.-Four or five years ago. In 2004, I went as an independent observer
of the Armenian elections. I returned some years ago, and actually
went to Karabagh, which was quite a drive, and that was with the new
road. Man oh man [laughs], it was a pretty frightening experience-the
drive, not the visit.

N.B.-What role has your involvement in the Armenian-American community
played in your development as a political leader, and as a champion
of many of the issues that you stand for today?

P.K.-I went to Sahag Mesrob Saturday School for many years as a
child, right through sixth grade. Thereafter, it was my mother that
spearheaded an effort with a couple of other Armenian parents to
have Armenian taught as a language and as a culture at Waltham High
School by Marcel Karian. He taught that for a couple of years, so I
got a couple more years.

But it was really my first election…my State Representative
district was not a really Armenian-driven district, but I was very
driven to become involved in Armenian issues and our people. I was
able to work with [current Massachusetts Registrar of Motor Vehicles]
Rachel Kaprielian, who was then a State Representative, in continuing,
maintaining, and building up the Armenian Genocide commemoration which
we held at the State House. It really brought me great blessing because
it drove me further into my community. All too often, as Armenian
Americans, some of us get distracted, we go our own way. This brought
me back into the community because it was not just an opportunity, it
was the responsibility as an Armenian American to become involved and
do the right thing by our community, and represent our community well,
and reflect upon our community well. I became immersed in Armenian
issues. I spent, relative to the weight of our community, a great
deal more time on Armenian issues and Armenian events than it would be
directly worth the political time. It’s just something that I’ve been
very passionate about. Some of my closest friends now over many years,
and some of my most committed and trusted confidants, are Armenian
Americans that I’ve met through so many of these endeavors. My children
go to the Armenian Sisters’ Academy as well, and so they are learning
to read, write, and perform in Armenian, and it’s been a blessing.

N.B.-While announcing your candidacy for Congress, you mentioned your
grandparents’ immigrant background, their flight from Turkey during
the genocide, and “the promise of the American dream.” Could you talk
about that?

P.K.-My grandparents Abraham and Zaruhi lived in Marash, Turkey. They
fled [the genocide] and they followed the French cavalry out of
Marash. They carried my aunt Veronica during this trek. Veronica was
a young child at the time. They carried her, and it was so cold that
Veronica just wanted to go to sleep. She wanted to die. My grandfather
carried her, shook her, and kept her awake in this journey. Eventually
she did make it through, and she ended up becoming a very successful
businesswoman in Waltham. But my grandfather and my grandmother ended
up separated during this journey. She ended up working in an orphanage
in Aleppo, Syria. He ended up coming over here to Massachusetts.

Through the Red Cross Family Finder Program he was able to send for
her, and have her come over here. My grandma spoke almost no English
at all. My grandfather could speak a modest amount of English. They
had four children, a daughter and three sons. All three of their sons
served in the military and were veterans. My uncle Jack was a medic.

He eventually became the veterans’ services director in Waltham. My
uncle Arsen never returned from the Philippines. He was about 19
years old when he died. Because of my uncle Jack’s service, they were
able to get the GI loans, with which they opened up a corner store
in Waltham, which became very much a hub for a lot of activity in
that neighborhood. That’s where I grew up in my early years. That’s
my Armenian experience.

My grandparents loved this country, and thought it was the best country
in the world because, as my grandfather would say to my dad-the
youngest and the Amerigatsi child-“you can be anything you want to
be.” I still have my grandparents’ wedding picture, which looks like
it’s my great-grandparents’ wedding picture. My grandparents loved
everything about this country. They loved the opportunity provided
to them and to all four of their children. All three of their sons
did some service for their country, which I think is very powerful.

N.B.-What can the Armenian-American community do to help you in
this race?

P.K.-Part of how an Armenian-American community can help is providing
the resources necessary to run a first-class campaign, because
it always comes down to the resources. Right now we have a great
opportunity. I had good exposure to this district. We have the very
top political consulting firm in the city, Northwind Strategies. Doug
Rubin [founding partner at Northwind Strategies] who ran my very first
campaign in 1996 is, I think, the top political operator in the state
right now. He ran Tim Cahill’s successful campaign for treasurer,
Deval Patrick’s successful campaign for governor, and Elizabeth
Warren’s successful campaign for Senate. He’s just one of the best
around. We need to have the resources to be able to hire staff, to
do the advertising, to put all that together. That’s really where the
Armenian-American community-especially around the country-can really
be helpful.

I have some well-financed opponents, and the way that I’ll be able to
hold my own with them is through the resources that I’ll be able to
raise. If we’re able to raise the resources necessary to be able to win
this seat, then that will be a great staging for the next step for us
as a people. I will be one of those point people, as I’ve been here,
that will help bring us to the next level and the next generation of
leaders. That’s really important, that we have the next generation
of leaders out there prepared to run.

In this election, it’s not so much a matter of the “-D” or the “-R”
next to the name, but it’s a matter of the “-ian.” Because as a people,
we can have disparate views, disparate opinions-and that’s completely
understandable, we should, we’re reflective of the greater society of
the United States-but we have a really good opportunity here to get
an Armenian American elected to Congress. I just believe that with
this opportunity we can do a great deal as a people. I’m hoping to
be the one to bring Armenians nationally to the table, to be a more
robust and stronger political influence than we are even now. I want
to take us to the next level.

Constitutionally, I am the High Sheriff of Middlesex County. But
whenever I speak to an Armenian group, I always say that I am the
Hye Sheriff of Middlesex County. They just misspelled it in the
constitution!

N.B.-How are you going to set yourself apart from the other runners
in this race?

P.K.-One, I believe that I have a natural advantage in the fact that
I have run over almost the entire district at least once. I’ve served
in the legislature for 14 years. I ran in Waltham and Watertown for
14 years. I ran the entire county this last year for sheriff, and we
received a vote of 77 to 23 percent. There are three towns that are
outside of Middlesex County that I have not run in-Southborough,
a very small town in Worcester County, and Revere and Winthrop,
which are in Suffolk county.

I think people will look to my leadership in the public safety end,
and also in many of the other issues that are about creating a
good community, whether they are mental health, substance abuse, or
educational issues-things that I have done in my job as sheriff. My
record of achievement outside of the Armenian issues include workplace
smoking bans, the stalking bill, and a number of other smaller issues.

I’ve got a record of achievement that I think is quite significant
and a record of almost 25 years of public service.

N.B.-What are some of the greatest lessons you have learned in the
past 25 years, and what, as a result of your past experiences, would
you bring to Congress?

P.K.-Well, probably the greatest lesson I learned-and I learned it the
hard way-is that the harder I work the luckier I get. I think that
ties in directly to the success that myself and my team have had in
the legislature and in the sheriff’s office. We work very hard, and
we care very deeply about what we do and our integrity. That is very
important, because we know that we are out there as a representative
of a government, and people should have trust-firstly knowledge,
and then trust-in their government.

I’m not an ideologue. I have my beliefs that something might be
right or wrong, but I don’t believe I’m any smarter or better than
anyone else simply because I believe it. I believe that there are
many perspectives on every single issue that we face, and I believe
that we also have more in common than we do that separates us, even
in partisan issues, Republicans and Democrats. I believe in building
relationships that can endure and that can bring benefit to both sides.

I did that a great deal in the legislature, because many of the major
issues that I had-the school nutrition bill, the workplace smoking
ban bill, the stalking bill, and many others that I can’t think of
at the top of my head-I always worked with the other side. I always
visited with the Republican leadership. I always spoke to them about
what I was hoping to achieve in this legislature, and then we’d have
a talk about what they could live with, what they couldn’t live with,
where we’re going to have some battles politically. But it was always
very congenial, collegial, and professional. We could then go to the
floor and have a robust debate, but we had paid each other respects
and knew that this is a professional and political discussion. I
think if we make it more political and professional than personal,
we can get a lot more done.

“TUFENKIAN HISTORIC YEREVAN” HOTEL OPENS IN ARMENIA’S CAPITAL

July 12, 2013 | 18:26

YEREVAN. – The opening ceremony of “Tufenkian Historic Yerevan”
hotel took place in Armenia’s capital on Friday and was attended by
President Serzh Sargsyan and Mayor Taron Margaryan.

Owner of the hotel, famous Armenian-American businessman James
Tufenkian said the 3-star hotel will provide services at the level
of 4-star hotels.

In his turn, Mayor Margaryan underscored importance of building
similar hotels not only Yerevan, but across the country.

“The number of tourists visiting the capital is growing by 100,000
each year, and I hope that this number will grow at the expense of
increasing the level of hotel services,” Mayor said.

In turn, the Deputy Minister of Economy Ara Petrosyan said that
building Armenian style hotels will facilitate development of tourism.

In any country, the use of local building materials in the construction
of hotels, cuisine and traditions are a guarantee of success.

Petrosyan noted that capital needs such hotels as there is growing
demand in tourist market. There have been lack of hotels in Armenia
but businessmen are responding to the problem, he said, adding that
five hotels were presented in Armenia this year.

The hotel building was built in the late 19th-early 20th century. It
has 85 rooms that can accommodate 200 guests.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

PAKISTAN TALIBAN ‘SETS UP A BASE IN SYRIA’

12 July 2013

By Ahmed Wali Mujeeb
BBC Urdu
Taliban fighters (file photo)

The Pakistani Taliban sees itself as being ideologically opposed to
President Assad’s rule

The Pakistani Taliban have visited Syria to set up a base and to assess
“the needs of the jihad”, a Taliban official has told the BBC.

He said that the base was set up with the assistance of ex-Afghan
fighters of Middle Eastern origin who have moved to Syria in recent
years.

At least 12 experts in warfare and information technology had gone
to Syria in the last two months, he said.

Their presence in the country is likely to have a sectarian motive.

Taliban factions feel that Sunni Muslims, who constitute a majority
in Syria, are being oppressed by Syria’s predominantly Shia rulers.

Thousands of people have died in the year-long armed conflict in
Syria between loyalists of the ruling Baath Party and those who want
to overthrow it.

The Pakistani government has not commented on the allegations.

‘Joint operations’ Free Syrian Army fighters (July 2013) The cell
is in Syria ‘to send information back to Pakistan’ Mohammad Amin,
a senior Taliban operative and “co-ordinator of the Syrian base”,
told the BBC that the cell to monitor “the jihad” in Syria was set
up six months ago.

He said that the cell has the approval of militant factions both
within and outside of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella
organisation of militant groups fighting the Pakistani forces.

The cell sends “information and feedback” on the conflict in Syria
back to Pakistan, he said,

“They were facilitated by our friends in Syria who have previously
been fighting in Afghanistan,” Mr Amin said.

Their job is to “assess the needs of the Jihad in Syria, and to work
out joint operations with our Syrian friends”.

“There are dozens of Pakistani hopefuls in line to join the fighting
against the Syrian army, but the advice we are getting at the moment
is that there’s already enough manpower in Syria.”

In the past, militant fighters from Pakistan have often gone to fight
in Central Asia and the Balkans.

In the 1990s, militant group Harkatul Mujahideen, was known to
have sent a large number of men to fight in the Bosnian civil war
of 1992-95.

Many Afghan and Pakistani fighters also fought on the side of
Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict of 1988-94.

A number of Taliban groups in Pakistan have sectarian leanings, and
resent the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad – having a Shia
background – over Sunni Muslims who constitute about three-quarters
of the Syrian population.

Sources say that anti-Shia groups in Pakistan have access to
considerable charity funds raised in some Middle Eastern sheikhdoms
that see their domestic Shia populations as a problem.

WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE ORANGE FOUNDATION THE ARMENIAN EYECARE PROJECT LAUNCHES THE FREE EYE SCREENING AND TREATMENT PROGRAM IN LORI

The joint program of the Orange Foundation and the Armenian EyeCare
Project “Bringing Sight to Armenian Eyes” is underway. After completing
their mission in Kotayk and Tavush regions, the medical teams have
moved to Lori in July and August to provide free eye screening and
treatment to local population. Moreover, socially vulnerable groups
will be provided the possibility to undergo free surgery and get free
eye glasses. It is planned to examine over 4,000 people, hold around
300 surgeries and provide 1,700 eye glasses in Lori.

On July 8-13 the ophthalmologists of the Armenian EyeCare Project
will be in Tumanyan, on July 15-22 – in Gugark and on July 24-27 – in
Tashir. On July 29-August 2 they will be in Stepanavan and on August
5-14 – in Spitak. The Mobile Eye Hospital will stop in Alaverdi,
Vanadzor, Stepanavan and Spitak. ”

For more details, the residents of Lori will need to apply to the
local health center and follow the announcements posted there. They
may also get information from AECP office by calling 010 55 90 68 or
downloading the full schedule from

“At the end of this year we’ll record that during 10 years 5 complete
tours have been made to the regions of Armenia in the scope of the
program “Bringing Sight to Armenian Eyes”. The Orange Foundation
joined us in 2011 and we see that the slogan “Bringing Sight to
Armenian Eyes” is already associated with the Orange Foundation
as well, since with its support to the activities of the Armenian
EyeCare Project during these years, the Foundation has become part of
the initiative to make eye care services available to almost all the
regions of Armenia. Currently we are working in Lori, next regions
will be Shirak and Aragatsotn,” said Nune Yeghiazaryan, Country
Director of the Armenian EyeCare Project.

“With the Armenian EyeCare Project we have already visited 8 regions,
where tens of thousands of people were provided the possibility to get
free eye care services. We are happy for this cooperation, since our
company prioritizes not only its business activity, but also its social
responsibility to be helpful to the country and socially vulnerable
groups of the society to the extent possible. The Orange Foundation
has set a goal to bring real changes into the life of these people,”
said Francis Gelibter, Chairman of the Board of the Orange Foundation.

A video report telling about 2 residents of Tavush region is available
at

17:11 12/07/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

MKHITARYAN WILL BE PERFECT REPLACEMENT FOR GOTZE – BUNDESLIGA.COM

July 12, 2013

Borussia Dortmund needed a technically gifted, goalscoring midfielder
to replace the departed Mario Gotze in the 2013/14 summer transfer
window and they seem to have found the ideal candidate in Henrikh
Mkhitaryan, Bundesliga.com reports.

“Although born in the Armenian capital of Yerevan on 21 January 1989,
Mkhitaryan spent his childhood years in southeastern France. His
father, Hamlet, a respected professional player in his homeland, who
would go on to become an Armenian international, accepted an offer to
move to France and play for the now defunct ASOA Valence just months
after Henrikh’s birth. Tragically, Hamlet died of a brain tumor at
the age of just 33, after which the Mkhitaryans left France to move
back to Yerevan in 1995.

“Mkhitaryan joined Yerevan’s biggest club FC Pyunik in 1995, developing
into one of the country’s most talented players. After three seasons in
Pyunik’s senior team, he left Armenia for Ukrainian Premier League side
FC Metalurh Donetsk in 2009. Following a staggering first season in
which he scored 14 goals and became the club’s youngest-ever captain,
he moved across the city to Shakhtar.

With the Pitmen he simply got better, helping them win three successive
domestic doubles and becoming the division’s top scorer in 2012/13
with 25 goals.

“The [Borussia] fans should therefore have no qualms about learning
to hum along to the famous Sabre Dance by the Armenian composer Aram
Khachaturian, the song that was played whenever he scored for Shakhtar.

“He was voted his country’s Footballer of the Year in 2009, 2011
and 2012, as well as the CIS (Baltic and Commonwealth of Independent
States) Footballer of the Year in 2012. Lived abroad as a child has
given Mkhitaryan a talent for learning languages. As well as his mother
tongue Armenian, he speaks French, Russian, English and Portuguese,”
Bundesliga.com writes.

NEWS.am Sport

MOSCOW : HUNDREDS OF MERCENARIES, FIGHTERS FROM VARIOUS COUNTRIES FIGHTING IN SYRIA

Jul 12, 2013

Moscow, SANA_ There are hundreds of mercenaries and militants from
various countries, including the countries of Europe and the United
States in addition to Russian citizens are fighting in Syria within
illegal armed groups, Deputy Russian Foreign Minister, Special Envoy
of the President for the Middle East Mikhail Bogdanov said.

Interfax news agency quoted Bogdanov as saying in a statement :
” Syrian and Russian special services are exchanging information in
connection with reports that about 600 foreign militants, including
from Russia, the USA and Europe, are fighting in the territory of
Syria, including persons came from Russia, Europe and the United
States.

Earlier last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that
about 600 fighters from Russia and Europe are fighting alongside the
armed groups in Syria.

Ghossoun /

CHRIS BOHJALIAN: IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR ME TO TELL THE STORY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

14:21 12.07.2013

Bestselling novelist Chris Bohjalian had long been searching for
a way to write a book set in Tuscany during World War Two, but it
wasn’t until his daughter performed in “Romeo and Juliet” that all
the pieces came together.

The result was “The Light in the Ruins”, a tale centring on the doomed
love between an Italian woman from a noble family and the German
soldier she comes to know during the period in 1944 when Tuscany,
as Bohjalian puts it, “became an innermost ring of Dante’s Inferno.”

Bohjalian, the author of 15 novels including “The Sandcastle Girls”,
which deals with the killing of Armenian Christians by Ottoman Turks
during World War One that his grandparents survived, spoke with
Reutersabout history, anxiety and making use of darkness in writing.

Q: The idea of reimagining a classic is interesting, and sometimes
it works better than others. How was it for you?

A: In some ways, I thought it was going to be a project a bit like my
2007 project, “The Double Bind,” which is about a social worker who
believes she’s found Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby’s bastard son… But
the book took one of those surprising lefthand turns, and it evolved
well beyond “Romeo and Juliet”. It’s still a love story. I love big,
sweeping, epic love stories, especially love stories set in the midst
of war, but it grew beyond that. It’s not simply the love story of
Cristina and Friedrich. The characters that I think about most are
actually parallel women – both 19 in 1944, and then somewhat older
in 1955. Those two women are Cristina Rosati, my Tuscan nobleman’s
daughter, and Serafina, my partisan, who is both emotionally and
physically scarred by the war… Their paths will cross again in
1955 when Serafina is investigating the murders of the Risati women
in Florence.

Q: Obviously “The Sandcastle Girls” is on a subject that’s closer to
you personally than a lot of your books, did this make it harder or
easier for you?

A: Sometimes a book is a book, and sometimes a book becomes a mission.

And “The Sandcastle Girls” became for me a deeply personal mission.

Outside of the Armenian Diaspora, most of the world knows next
to nothing of the Armenian genocide. I’m the grandson of genocide
survivors, so it was important for me to tell this story and tell
it in a way so that everyone would want to read it, which was why I
framed it as a love story.

Q: I read that you’ve said “The Sandcastle Girls” helped you understand
the geography of your own soul, how did “The Light in the Ruins”
compare?

A: “The Light in the Ruins” was a different kind of project, because
it was dealing with a landscape I cherish. I’ve been going to this
part of Tuscany every summer for 10 years. This landscape isn’t the
geography of my soul the way Armenia is, but in some ways it’s the
geography of my immediate family. So many of my favorite memories of
my wife and my daughter come from this area. So in some ways when I
was tearing it apart and showing the deprivations and the horror of
war, I couldn’t help but imagine what it must have been like for so
many of the people I’ve met there in my years of visiting.

Q: What was it like to tear apart a place that you love and show that
dark underside?

A: Clearly I am capable of compartmentalization. I will always be known
best as the novelist whose character cut into the pregnant woman in
“Midwives.” That’s always going to be part of my legacy. Likewise I’m
now always going to be known as the writer who tried to give voice
to the whispers of the victims of the Armenian genocide. For a book
such as “The Light in the Ruins,” I’m shedding light on a topography
that most of the world sees only as a vacation resort. Today,
Tuscany is Disneyland for many tourists. It’s all about the food,
and the vineyards, and the sunflowers, and the bike tours. But it
has this interesting, fascinating recent history. When I was writing
this particular book I couldn’t help seeing it through that lens,
and I hope I’m clarifying what Tuscany really is and what the people
who lived there endured. For a lot of Tuscans, they were the grass
beneath the battling elephants’ feet.

Q: I also think that finding that kind of history in a place that
today might be a kind of Disneyland really adds to your overall view
of it. It’s an important thing to remember.

A: One of my favourite literary therapists is Thomas Moore, who wrote
“Care of the Soul.” One of the things he talks about is that sometimes,
the soul needs gray – and you simply have to allow the soul its access
to gray. You can’t force a haloed cheerfulness on certain subjects and
on certain days. And maybe that’s one of the things I do in my work,
is that I allow the soul to access its gray.

FRENCH ENVOY HAILS HIGH LEVEL OF ARMENIAN-FRENCH RELATIONS

12:59 12/07/2013 TOPIC OF THE DAY

Armenian-French relations in all areas are at a high level, French
Ambassador to Armenia Henri Renaud told reporters in Yerevan.

“Our political relations are rather active, with mutual visits between
our Presidents taking place every year,” said the Ambassador.

According to him, as a co-chair country, France has an active role
in the OSCE Minsk Group.

Armenian-French economic relations are also rather active, with France
being one of the major investors in Armenia, Mr Renaud said.

“I hope there will be new proposals for bilateral economic cooperation
in the near future,” the Ambassador concluded.

Source: Panorama.am

WHAT IS US AMBASSADOR’S VIEW ON ARMENIA’S OFFSHORE SCANDAL? – NEWSPAPER

July 12, 2013 | 07:52

YEREVAN. – US Ambassador to Armenia, John Heffern, on Thursday attended
the official signing of the letter of intent between the Armenian
Ministry of Justice and the USAID-funded Enterprise Development and
Market Competitiveness (EDMC) Project, Aravot daily reports.

“Since the ‘offshore’ corruption scandal linked to Armenian Prime
Minister Tigran Sargsyan is the subject of a heated debate in recent
times, Aravot asked Mr. Ambassador his view on this scandal.

“Heffern listened to the question until the end, but he preferred to
refrain from answering and [making] comments, [and] he left with a
slight smile,” Aravot writes.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, Hetq.am News Agency had
written that PM Tigran Sargsyan, Archbishop Navasard Kjoyan-the
Vicar General of the Araratian Pontifical Diocese of the Armenian
Apostolic Church-, and “jeweler” Ashot Sukiasyan are shareholders
in an offshore company called Wlispera Holdings Limited, which is
registered in Cyprus. Sargsyan and Kjoyan, however, have denied their
involvement in such company.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

AZERBAIJAN’S ARMS RACE THREATENS REGIONAL STABILITY – ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT VICE-CHAIR

July 12, 2013 | 12:19

YEREVAN. – The arms race, which Azerbaijan has unleashed, threatens
regional stability.

Armenian National Assembly (NA) Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov
stated the aforesaid, on Thursday in Minsk, Belarus, during his talk
with Speaker Vladimir Andreichenko of the House of Representatives
of the National Assembly of Belarus.

The Armenian NA vice-chair underscored the high level of
Armenian-Belarusian relations, Sharmazanov’s staff informs.

The interlocutors highly appreciated the positive dynamics in
interparliamentary cooperation, and recorded that the meetings of the
Armenian-Belarusian Interparliamentary Commission are long-established.

Sharmazanov highlighted the collaboration in international arena and
the more active engagement within international organizations.

Reflecting on the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, the Armenian
parliament vice-chair stressed that the arms race, which Azerbaijan has
unleashed, threatens regional stability. In his turn, Andreichenko
noted that Belarus favors solely a peaceful settlement to this
conflict.

The parties pointed that the trade and economic collaboration between
Armenia and Belarus is considerably below the level of political
relations between both countries.

Eduard Sharmazanov and Vladimir Andreichenko expressed a hope that a
wide array of issues of mutual interest would be discussed during the
seventh session of the interparliamentary commission on cooperation
between the NAs of Armenia and Belarus.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am