Author: Badalian Vardan

AN INTERVIEW WITH ONCOLOGIST DR. DIKRAN KAZANDJIAN

January 25, 2013

The following interview first appeared in Armenian in the Dec. 5,
2012 issue of our Armenian-language publication, the Hairenik Weekly.

Hairenik Weekly: Dr. Dikran Kazandjian, as an oncologist (cancer
specialist) who recently visited Armenia, how do you evaluate the
country’s public health condition?

Dr. Dikran Kazandjian Dikran Kazandjian: I was born and raised in a
patriotic Armenian family, received my medical education in America,
and always dreamed of helping our fatherland as best I could. I
remember my first trip to Armenia, which was close to 10 years ago,
when I was still a medical student at Boston University. During my
summer break, I spent time in Armenia and visited Artsakh [Karabagh],
which, all together, provided a great moment of enlightenment. After
this, I had other opportunities to visit Armenia, especially pertaining
to medicine. I was even afforded the chance to work for two months in
a hospital in Yerevan during medical school, which gave me some insight
into the Armenian medical system. During this time I made relationships
with local physicians, allowing me to further understand the field
of medicine and, in general, the culture of medicine in Armenia.

Now, my evaluation is not one-sided; there are both good and bad
sides that I can speak about at length. In general, there are a few
professions, traditionally, that Armenians are known for (for example,
jewelry, law, and of course, medicine). This means that there is huge
potential for Armenians to turn into truly talented and dedicated
physicians. It is important that we effectively manage our healthcare
system and select and prepare the correct fields to mature, which
unfortunately, I have not seen thus far.

And, unfortunately, it is not always the case that aid from the
diaspora goes to the most deserving and talented physicians. A
physician’s noble specialty does not equate well with the typical
short-sighted “business” plan that typically infects all fields in
Armenia. A physician’s profession is a God-given right, a calling
to heal people by those given the talent. When non-virtuous factors
intervene, truly talented physicians become disappointed with the
status quo. This creates various deep moral, psychological, and
financial issues. And the only solution, some will say, is to leave
the fatherland. Young, gifted physicians who don’t receive the right
encouragement will see emigration as the only solution. What is even
more alarming is that this is becoming an issue of national security:
An exodus of future talented physicians is a serious threat to public
safety and the wellbeing of any country. It is fundamental to have
the condition of the state healthcare system on the national agenda.

HW: Please explain the arrangement you made at the U.S. National
Institutes of Health (NIH) for the Armenian patient from Armenia.

DK: I have been working as a cancer specialist at the NIH for around
four years. The NIH is comprised of many internationally renowned
specialists who treat a wide and complicated variety of medical
illnesses. However, the treatment modalities that the NIH has excelled
in and is known for are hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation
(bone marrow transplant) and immunotherapy.

During my trips to Armenia, I typically meet with my oncologist
friends, and as we discuss different patients I give my advice on their
care. It was during one of these sessions that I met a patient who
was diagnosed with leukemia, and whose definitive curative treatment
necessitated a bone marrow transplant. This patient was an active
worker and had four children to take care of. Given the availability of
treatments in Armenia, however, he was forced to seek care outside of
the country. I offered to coordinate his treatment care and have him
and his brother (his match donor) to temporarily move to Washington,
D.C., to receive the needed treatment from the NIH. I began organizing
the transfer and discussing his case with my NIH colleagues, thus
reducing his wait time. I then decided to actively participate with
the primary healthcare team responsible for his care at the NIH. I
am happy that, with God’s help, he has been proceeding well and that
he has many years left to serve his family and our fatherland.

HW: How involved was the Armenian community in Washington, D.C.?

DK: The ARF “Sebouh” Gomideh’s involvement is praiseworthy. Our ungers
immediately created a committee for Armenian medical aid comprised
of members from our different organizations, and played a large part
in the patient’s everyday and non-clinical needs. The ARS “Satenig”
Chapter, along with the Washington Armenian community at large,
helped with his practical needs, including finding residence. They
greeted him and his brother with open arms and created an atmosphere
that resembled a small Armenia for them.

HW: What thoughts do you have about the field of oncology and of
medicine, in general? What international Armenian possibilities do
you see?

DK: Much thought is needed about the future of oncology in Armenia,
keeping in mind that a new cancer center with modern equipment is
currently being constructed. Of course, this is great news. But
my hope is that the funds and effort spent on this center are not
only to make it an exceptional physical structure with exceptional
equipment, but also to organize, prepare, and train exceptional future
oncologists. I feel that this is the most important, albeit difficult,
aspect. Regardless, in real terms, medicine will develop and mature
when justice and fairness become the guiding principle, and begin to
serve the general public in Armenia. Only when the political field
is healed and made right will the medical field and Armenia’s public
health condition improve and advance in any significant way.

Nevertheless, our Washington Armenian community is strong, and I am
sure it will remain that way for a long time: Our D.C. Armenian Medical
Association works on delivering much-needed medicine and expertise
to Artsakh, while our ungers help our Armenian people, as much as
they can. We are currently working hard to deliver medication and
funds for our Syrian-Armenian brothers. Our patriotic ungers always
attempt to do what they can, and to deliver aid to needy Armenians
found on the four corners of the world.

PEOPLE IN SAMATYA ANXIOUS OVER ATTACKS TARGETING ELDERLY ARMENIAN WOMEN

Residents are concerned over increasingly growing attacks on elderly
Armenian women in Fatih’s historic Samatya district. (Photo: Today’s
Zaman, Celil Kırnapcı)

24 January 2013 / Ä°PEK UZUM, Ä°STANBUL,

People living in the Samatya neighborhood of Ä°stanbul’s Fatih district
are anxious and fearful following four successive attacks on elderly
Armenian women, one of whom was killed, within the past two months.

Four women have been assaulted in the last two months in Samatya,
leaving residents living in fear for their safety. Speaking to Today’s
Zaman, Antranik Yontan — an Armenian living in the same neighborhood
as the women assaulted — said that Armenian people have been avoiding
speaking Armenian since the first assault took place in the early
days of December 2012.

“Middle-aged and elderly Armenian women have started to be afraid
of going to pray in an Armenian church nearby. Some people are even
thinking of moving their home to another neighborhood due to the
assaults. A climate of fear is prevalent around the neighborhood among
the Armenian communities. Furthermore, not only Armenian people living
in Samatya but also Armenians residing in other districts of Ä°stanbul
began to feel fear as result of the assaults. Those Armenians living
at other parts of Ä°stanbul avoid visiting their relatives in Samatya.

Children are also psychologically affected due to the assaults. They
are also afraid,” he stated.

Managing Editor of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos Aris Nalcı told
Today’s Zaman that he doesn’t believe these successive assaults taking
place in Samatya are isolated incidents, adding that he believes the
assaults are organized.

“The Police Department states these incidents are unrelated, but
they generally say such things in similar incidents in order not to
unsettle people. I think a climate of fear is being created in the
neighborhood,” Nalcı noted. He also said a large-scale investigation
should be launched and the perpetrators should be tracked down as
soon as possible.

Garo Paylan, an activist working for an Armenian civil society
organization, told Today’s Zaman that when the first incident took
place, they thought it might be an isolated incident, but when the
assaults continued, they started to think these incident could not
be isolated incidents at all. Stating that they believe the assaults
are organized crimes, Paylan pointed out that the police department
has been very slow in investigating the incidents, adding that these
incidents should examined and the perpetrators should be found as
soon as possible.

An 80-year-old Armenian woman, Sultan Aykar, was assaulted on Tuesday
by a masked man in Samatya. Speaking to Agos, Aykar’s daughter, Maryam
Yelegen, stated that her mother was hit on the head by a masked man at
around 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday as she was entering her flat. According to
Yelegen, after her mother fell, the assailant repeatedly kicked her,
adding that he also tried to drag the elderly woman into the flat.

“When my mother screamed for help, the neighbors came and the man fled
the scene. We took my mother to the hospital immediately as she was
in critical condition. Her eyes were seriously injured. The doctors
said my mother might lose her sight,” Yelegen said.

On Jan. 6, another elderly Armenian woman was assulted when she was
going to church to pray in Samatya. She was assaulted by three men who
attempted to kidnap her. As a result of the help of people passing by,
the woman was saved from the hands of the assailants.

Maritsa Kucuk, 85, who also lived on her own in Samatya, was attacked
in her apartment on Dec. 28, 2012. She was brutally killed by repeated
stabbing. Her valuables were also taken. The police have yet to find
the elderly woman’s murderer.

In the early days of last December, an 87-year-old Armenian woman
was also attacked in her Samatya apartment, where she lived on her own.

Her valuables were taken, she was severely beaten and as a result
she lost one eye.

HATE SPEECH, HATE CRIMES?

by Today’s Zaman

What is happening in Samatya? Can it be a coincidence that on four
occasions in the past few weeks, elderly women living on their own —
all of them of Armenian descent — were targeted in brutal attacks?

The latest assault took place on Tuesday, when 83-year-old Sultan
Aykar was severely beaten by a masked assailant. Her cries alerted the
neighbors and the perpetrator fled. She is now in hospital and risks
losing an eye. Another victim, aged 87, lost sight in one eye after
being battered in early December, while 84 year-old Maritsa Kucuk died
on Dec. 28 after being repeatedly stabbed. A fourth elderly woman
narrowly escaped being kidnapped in early January.

These attacks do not bear the hallmark of burglaries gone awry. Home
thefts are not uncommon in Ä°stanbul, as in all big cities, but Sultan
Aykar’s attacker — said to be around 35, dressed entirely in black
and wearing a ski mask — did not even pick up her handbag.

This spate of attacks has inevitably rekindled concerns among
non-Muslims in Turkey and raised suspicion that they are part of an
organized drive against Armenians. Civil society organizations are
following these incidents closely and demanding answers and improved
security measures in areas like Samatya where many of Turkey’s
remaining Armenians reside. The Human Rights Association paid a visit
to police headquarters on Wednesday and alerted the authorities to the
possibility that these attacks may be hate crimes. The police are
investigating but have so far not identified the culprits.

Six years after the murder of journalist Hrant Dink — targeted after
a long media and judicial campaign identifying him as an internal
enemy — has the risk of hate crimes receded? Has Turkey become a more
inclusive society?

The Media Ethics Platform organized a panel on hate speech and the
role played by the media in Dink’s death last weekend, chaired by our
colleague Yonca Poyraz Dogan. Journalist Kemal GöktaÅ~_, who has written
a book on the issue, reminded the audience that the free-for-all
against Dink in the media had started after the General Staff
condemned Dink for an article suggesting that Ataturk’s adopted
daughter, Sabiha Gökcen, was Armenian.

The (relatively) good news is that Dink’s murder seriously shook
Turkey, and mainstream media outlets publish fewer openly biased
headlines. But if discrimination has become more discreet and the most
egregious headlines are to be limited to a few nationalist newspapers,
prejudice has not disappeared and media members still tend to take
their cues from officialdom, as they promote a nationalist ideology
that sees Sunni Turks as the “real” citizens of this country.

In fact, the Media Watch on Hate Speech Project set up by the Hrant
Dink Foundation, which monitors the national and local press for news
and statements targeting specific groups, noticed an increase in
prejudiced and provocative statements in the media in the first half
of 2012. According to the latest report they published, for the
May-August 2012 period, non-Muslims — Armenians, Christians, Jews,
Greeks — were the main targets, but Kurds, women and homosexuals were
also subjected to insults, distorted reports or demeaning statements
in parts of the media.

No country is free of discrimination. As we all know, Muslims in
Western societies are often at the receiving end of preconceived
opinions in Western societies. In Turkey, biased or provocative
headlines tend to ebb and flow in line with the political agenda,
peaking during times of crises. The politicians’ attitude, the
language they use and how they respond to situations that have the
potential to reinforce erroneous perceptions and divide society are
therefore crucial.

Raising awareness of hate speech and monitoring the media is
important, but ultimately politicians have to take the lead if Turkey
is to become a genuinely inclusive society in which all citizens,
irrespective of their origins, are equal in reality as well as on
paper. Let’s hope that the authorities are taking a close interest in
the Samatya attacks and a thorough investigation will swiftly lead to
the perpetrators’ arrest.

25.01.13, 12:46

RAFFI HOVANNISIAN DEMANDS EDUCATION MINISTER’S RESIGNATION

arminfo
Friday, January 25, 16:50

At today’s press-conference, a candidate for president of Armenia, the
leader of the Heritage party, Raffi Hovannisian, demanded Education
Minister, Armen Ashotyan’s resignation. At his Facebook page the
latter blamed Hovannisian for illegal campaigning among students.

He thinks there is nothing illegal in his actions and the ruling
RPA and its representative, the education minister, should first of
all draw attention at their own shortcomings. Hovannisian blamed the
RPA representatives for the mass campaigning among teachers, school
principals and students in favor of the incumbent president. They
are directly instructed to vote for Serzh Sargsyan, he said and added
that the scarfs with the incumbent president’s slogan are delivered
to students in the universities. Hovannisian thinks that such actions
damage Serzh Sargsyan’s image which promised many time to hold the
most fair and transparent presidential election. “I don’t think that
Serzh Sargsyan is not aware of such activity of his dependents. And
if he does not disprove, nobody will have a basis to trust in his
promises. If Sargsyan ignores all these violations, this will mean
that the authorities have exhausted their trust resource”, – Raffi
Hovannisian said.

He also added that although minister Ashotyan did not agree to
Hovannisian’s request to hold a meeting with students and teachers,
nevertheless, Hovannisian is going to apply with a similar request
to rectors of universities. Hovannisian thinks that like a candidate
for president he has a full right to turn students to his electoral
programme, as students are fully-fledged citizens of Armenia and have
a right to vote. “If Serzh Sargsyan like a candidate for president and
the head of the Board of Trustees of Yerevan State University, has a
right to meet students and teachers, in that case, as a candidate for
president I also demand to give me a similar right”, – the leader of
the Heritage party said.

HEAD OF THE SYUNIK MARZ DECLARED ONLY SALARY

Factinfo
Fri, 01/25/2013 – 14:45

The head of the Syunik marz and his two deputies did not obtain
any real or movable property or expensive goods in 2011. Judging
from the Property and Income Declaration of the Ethics committee of
high-ranking officials they also did not have securities and other
investments. The most modest one is that of the head of the marz,
unlike his deputies he did not even declare money flow.

So, the head of the Syunik region Surik Khachatryan and his wife
declared only income from the salaries – respectively 2 million
359.603 AMD and 1 million 272.000 AMD.

The only income of his first deputy Ara Dolunts and his wife was
formed from the salaries respectively 1 million 798.518 AMD and
940.000 AMD. Dolunts, unlike his head, declared money flows equal to
7,5 million AMD which was the same in and beginning and in the end
of the year.

The income of the next deputy Vache Grigoryan was formed from the
salary of 2 million 167.744 AMD and the 425 US dollars investment. His
money flow in the beginning of the year was 1,5 million AMD and 5000
US dollars and 2 million AMD and 5425 US dollars in the end. His wife
declared 1,2 million salary as the only income. Her money flow was
equal to 200.000 AMD in the beginning of the year and 250.000AMD in
the end of it.

ARMENIA’S ELECTORAL CODE IS BIASED – PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE

news.am
January 25, 2013 | 14:37

YEREVAN. – The Electoral Code of Armenia is biased, presidential
contender, non-party affiliate epos specialist Vardan Sedrakyan told
Armenian News-NEWS.am, commenting on the possibility of launching
administrative proceedings against him.

“They are doing [this] in full compliance with the law, but it is
simply biased. When we give a political context to it, they immediately
show the Electoral Code. But when during class hours they take the
schoolchildren to the campaign at [the ruling Republican Party’s
presidential contender, incumbent President] Serzh Sargsyan’s meeting,
that is normal. That electoral code is biased,” Sedrakyan noted.

He added that the Central Electoral Commission will make the
final assessment Friday with respect to the matter of launching
administrative proceedings against him.

To note, the aforesaid proceedings could be launched against Vardan
Sedrakyan on the grounds that his campaign posters do not include
any information on their client, printing company, and print-run,
which the Electoral Code requires. In addition, the code specifies
the precise areas where these posters can be placed, and violations
were recorded in this respect, too.

RUSSIAN AIR FORCE GETS FIVE SU-34 STRIKE AIRCRAFTS

January 25, 2013 – 15:13 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Russia’s Novosibirsk aircraft plant, part of the
Sukhoi holding, delivered five multirole Su-34 strike aircrafts
to the Russian Air Force on Friday, Jan 25, the manufacturer said,
according to RIA Novosti.

The jets will make a nonstop ferry flight from Novosibirsk to an air
base in Voronezh, southwest Russia, a distance of over 3,000 kilometers
(1,800 miles).

Six Su-34s were delivered to the Air Force in 2011, as part of an
initial contract signed in 2008 for 32 aircraft. The Voronezh base
received its first five Su-34 warplanes in late December.

Last year, the Defense Ministry said it would take delivery of 10
Su-34s in 2012, all of them to be deployed in the Western Military
District.

The Air Force is due to get 92 Su-34s by 2020, in a contract signed
in March 2012. Together with the 2008 contract, the Air Force will
eventually have a total of 124 Su-34s.

A two-seat derivative of the Su-27 fighter, the Su-34 can carry a
payload of up to eight tons of precision-guided weapons over 4,000
kilometers.

The aircraft will eventually replace all of the ageing Su-24 strike
aircraft in service with the Air Force and Navy.

The first Su-34s were manufactured in Novosibirsk in 2006, with series
production starting in 2008.

DOCUMENTARY FILM EXPOSES TURKISH STATE POLICY OF ERASING WESTERN ARMENIAN CULTURAL TRACES

14:19, January 25, 2013

January 24 saw the premier of the documentary film “Crime after the
Great Crime”, exposing the ongoing Turkish state policy of destroying
all traces of Armenian culture in Western Armenia.

Prepared by the Research on Armenian Architecture Foundation, the
film chronicles the situation of Western Armenian cultural monuments
before and after the 1915 Genocide.

The film states that pre-1915 there were approximately 170,000 cultural
monuments in Western Armenia of which a mere 2-3% remain intact today.

The video, in eastern Armenian, is narrated by Samvel Karapetyan.

NOTED IRANIAN-ARMENIAN INTELLECTUAL LEVON MINASIAN REMEMBERED AT NATIONAL LIBRARY EVENT

11:44, January 25, 2013

A day of remembrance for Levon Minasian, the noted Iranian-Armenian
teacher, academic and national activist who recently passed away at the
age of 93, was held on January 22 at the National Library of Armenia.

For more than seven decades, Minasian headed various educational
institutions in Nor Jugha and published numerous works on Armenian
history and literature.

His “A History of the Armenians of Pera” and “The Armenian Bards of
Pera” are of particular note.

L’ARMENIE ET LE KARABAGTH METTENT EN GARDE L’AZERBAIDJAN CONTRE TOUTE MESURE VISANT L’AEROPORT DE STEPANAKERT
Gari

armenews.com
vendredi 25 janvier 2013

L’Armenie et le Haut-Karabagh ont adresse de serieuses mises en garde
a l’Azerbaïdjan en reponse aux menaces proferees par les autorites
de Bakou contre les vols commerciaux qui utiliseraient l’aeroport de
Stepanakert, qui doit bientôt commencer ses activites. Le gouvernement
azeri avait annonce par voie officelle le vendredi 18 janvier qu’il
autoriserait son aviation a abattre tout avion, fût-il commercial,
survolant le Haut Karabagh, sans la permission de l’Azerbaïdjan,
qui revendique toujours la souverainete sur le teritoire contrôle
par les Armeniens.

Le document emanant des autorites de Bakou precise que tout appareil
survolant l’espace aerien azeri sera pourchasse en l’absence
“d’information precise concernant la presence de passagers civils
a bord.” Si les autorites de Bakou sont informees de la presence de
passagers civils a bord d’un appareil, alors les avions de guerre de
l’Azerbaïdjan pourront le contraindre a atterrir sur un aeroport azeri,
poursuit le document.

Les agences de presse azeries, citant Arif Mammadov, le chef du
departement de l’aviation civile de l’Azerbaïdjan, rappellent que
durant les travaux de reconstruction de l’unique aeroport du Karabagh,
Bakou avait a plusieurs reprises alerte les instances internationales
competentes sur le caractère illegal des vols censes assures la
liaison entre Erevan et Stepanakert depuis cet aeroport. “Nous les
avons informes que l’espace aerien du Haut Karabagh est ferme, et
que conformement a notre legislation sur l’aviation civile, nous
prevoyons de detruire tout appareil qui chercherait a s’y poser “,
a declare le responsable azeri.

Le ministre armenien de la defense Seyran Ohanian avait balaye du
revers de la main ces menaces lors d’une conference de presse un
peu plus tard le meme 18 janvier. ” Suite a une decision [relative
a ces vols], l’aviation de l’Armenie et ses forces anti-aeriennes
assureront [ la securite] des vols prevus par l’aviation civile”,
a indique le ministre armenien. Le porte parole de M.Ohanian, Artsrun
Hovannesian, a de la meme manière insiste le 23 janvier sur la fait que
l’armee armenienne empecherait l’Azerbaïdjan de perturber les liaisons
aeriennes annoncees. “Les forces aeriennes n’ont pas seulement vocation
a abattre les appareils ennemis mais aussi a assure la securite de
l’aviation civile”, a-t-il indique dans un entretien accorde a RFE/RL.

M. Hovannesian a fait valoir que durant des annees, l’armee de
l’Armenie a envoye des helicoptères civils et militaires au Karabagh
sans que cela ne pose aucun problème. “Des vols reguliers pour
Stepanakert se mettront en place de la meme manière”, a souligne le
ministre armenien de la defense.

Les autorites du Karabagh ont designe comme du “terrorisme d’Etat”
la decision du gouvernement de l’Azerbaïdjan, en soulignant qu’elle
ne contrarierait en rien les projets d’ouverture de l’aeroport de
Stepanakert. “Nous sommes capable d’assurer la securite de notre
espace aerien et de la totalite du territoire de la Republique
du Haut-Karabagh”, a declare un porte-parole du president du Haut
Karabagh Bako Sahakian ce weekend.

La communaute international a exprime a plusieurs reprises sa
preoccupation concernant le differend opposant Armeniens et Azeris
au sujet de l’aeroport de Stepanakert, et a appele les parties
en conflit a le regler par “la voie diplomatique”. Les diplomates
americains, russes e francais qui dirigent le Groupe de Minsk de
l’OSCE avaient fait part de leurs reserves concernant l’aeroport en
visitant Stepanakert en novembre 2012, tout en mettant en garde Bakou
contre toute mesure militaire contre des avions civils.

vendredi 25 janvier 2013, Gari ©armenews.com