Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

ARF-D REP ON ARMENIA’S ARMY

Tert.am
26.01.12

It was due to the Armenian army that Armenia gained the most glorious
victory in its modern history, Hrair Karapetyan, Chairman of the
Standing Committee on Defense, National Security and Internal Affairs
and member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun
(ARF-D), told journalists Jan 26.

“The army is Armenia’s most fully developed structure, able to
accomplish tasks set to it and defend the Motherland’s borders. The
army is constantly being reformed,” Karapertyan said. A number of
significant amendments have been made to the Law on Military Service
over the past years, he added.

A new draft of Army Rules will soon be submitted to Armenia’s
parliament, Karapetyan said.

“Law was not often effective, which caused army incidents. It was
not effective because it was lacking. Servicemen were guided by the
Armenian government’s decisions. Officers must be well aware of their
duties, and soldiers must be able to defend their rights.”

Many countries are well informed about the Armenian army’s efficiency.

Armenian peacekeepers showed exemplary behavior and efficiency in
Kosovo and Afghanistan.

Armenian servicemen often showed the best results during military
maneuvers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO),
Karapetyan concluded.

From: Baghdasarian

PARAJANOV ABOUT PARAJANOV
By Iryna HORDIICHUK

The Day Weekly Digest
Jan 25 2012
Kiev

The exhibit “Parajanov. A touch” is underway in the National Taras
Shevchenko Museum

In two years the great film director Sergei Parajanov would have
turned 90, he passed away over 20 years ago. To commemorate the
original artist, an unmatched mystifier, “the freest man in the
enslaved world,” the National Taras Shevchenko Museum launched an
exhibit of the works of Ukrainian cameraman Yurii Harmash and theater
and film director Vinicio Arias Rojas (Costa Rica).

Yurii Harmash got acquainted with Sergei Parajanov back in his student
years in 1969. Like many of his colleagues, he was practically
hypnotized by the creative work and personality of the director,
who was different from everyone else, a Tbilisi-born Armenian, who
shot his most famous films in Ukraine.

Harmash photographed Parajanov for the first time several days
after the director was released from jail, in January 1978, in the
apartment of Parajanov’s wife Svitlana Shcherbatiuk. In 1982-83 he
observed the artist through his camera in Tbilisi, and in 1988 –
in Ivan Mykolaichuk’s home village Chortoryia, Chernivtsi oblast.

Those photo works made the groundwork of the exhibit organized within
the framework of the project “In Memoriam. Sergei Parajanov” with
the assistance of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine, the
National Union of Moviemakers, the Armenian Association of Cultural
Relations, and PARADJANOV ART.

Harmash’s pictures, bearing unique historical significance and made by
a high-skilled cameraman, are full of a personal attitude of a person
who cares about Parajanov’s memory. Not only have the photos kept the
moments of life of the genius director, which are gone for good, but
they also revealed themselves in a peculiar meaning in the exhibit and
were supported by words about Parajanov said by the most outstanding
personalities in the world of cinematography of the past 20th century.

Make your own judgment.

Jean-Luc Godard: “Cinema has a picture, the light, and reality.

Parajanov was a master and host of this temple.”

Michelangelo Antonioni: “The Color of Pomegranates by Parajanov, whom
I consider one of the best contemporary directors, stuns with its
perfect beauty. His contribution to cinema above all is in creating
a unique cinema language. The world of Parajanov’s films is a magic
combination of color, plastic, music, and word. The scenes from his
films show encyclopedic knowledge of Eastern culture and art and
rampant imagination.”

Andrei Tarkovsky: “In the USSR you could not avoid being intimidated.

Yet they failed to intimidate Parajanov. He is probably the only person
all over the country who embodies the adage: ‘If you want to be free,
be free.’

“There are few men of genius in the history of cinema. Robert Bresson,
Kenji Mizoguchi, Oleksandr Dovzhenko, Sergei Parajanov, Luis Bunuel…

None of these film directors can be confused with each other. They
all were pursuing their own ways, maybe with certain weaknesses and
eccentric manners. But they always did so to the end of a clear-cut
and deeply personal concept.”

These words said by Parajanov’s fellow artists once again prove his
undoubted mastery, innovation, creative originality, yet he was not
a monument to himself. He lived like other people do: he was wildly
in love, he quarreled with his family, he caroused with his friends,
he played tricks on them and gave them generous presents; he suffered
and strongly believed that he was exclusive.

In the interview below, Parajanov tells about… Parajanov. Maybe
everyone who admires the director’s creative work will learn a bit
more about him as a person.

The following is not autobiographical notes of the bright,
unexpected in everything he was doing and the way he was living,
Sergei Parajanov. These are living memories of a person, who was
close to the great director, his nephew Georgy Parajanov.

Georgy is a professional moviemaker. Several years ago his documentary
How I Died in Childhood, dedicated to his uncle, closed the official
program of the Cannes Film Festival. It tells about retribution for
being genius and what sufferings may await the select few.

The picture won the grand prix of the International Film Festival
“Golden Apricot” in Yerevan. It also won the First Prize, a Gold Plate,
of the Ismailia Film Festival (Cairo) and was recognized by the film
critics as the best film of that forum. How I Died in Childhood
also won over worthy competitors in the film showing in Fukuoka,
Japan, and at Moscow’s Stalker it was nominated for Golden Eagle,
a prestigious prize of the Russian film academy.

Our meeting was absolutely accidental. Georgy PARAJANOV came to Kyiv
incognito, on business, to shoot a film about an original Ukrainian
artist Maria Pryimachenko. We were introduced to each other by an old
friend of mine, cameraman Volodymyr Pika, who was helping the director
in Kyiv. I could not but use the opportunity and interview him about
his famous uncle. He agreed with kindness and Eastern gallantry.

When did your earliest memories about Sergei Parajanov form?

“I can say that I was near my uncle for my whole life, since my
birth, although there was a time when Serezha [since his childhood
years Georgy have been calling his uncle by this name. – Author] was
residing in Kyiv or served his term in prison. But we lived together
in one house for the last 12 years of his life, in 1978 through 1990.

These years, hours, and minutes became the best and richest time of
my life, my great universities. However, I must admit that he was not
the main authority in my childhood years. My first teacher was Grandma
Siran, mother of Serezha and my mother Ruzanna. As a memory about her
I wrote the screenplay Everyone’s Gone and it won the Andrei Tarkovsky
Memorial Prize. Maybe, I will shoot a full-length live-action film. At
the moment I am working on a long novelette, which I have entitled
Everything I Remember. Not only does it concern Sergei Parajanov, but
also the events that took place before I was born, but I know about
them. Grandma told me stunning stories. I must say that many people who
have published memories about my uncle and his house became very tense,
waiting for the book’s publication. They are nervous and jealous.”

It is known that Sergei Parajanov was not a simple man. Maybe he could
be at times unrestrained, even rude. What was your communication like?

For you perceived Parajanov not as a genius, but simply as family.

“I understood pretty well who was living near me. I appreciated his
every word and movement. For example, I liked very much to look at
Serezha’s hands while he was eating. I have never seen anything more
beautiful and perfect. It is unbelievable how the man behaved with
a simple piece of bread. With what awe was his thick hands holding it!

Of course, I understood what a figure my uncle Serezha was. On the
other hand, he was never a fanatic, never went crazy, never put on
airs because of being a great man. I fell in love with his collages,
films, friends, etc. But it was a routine life for me. Like bread
and butter. See, the fact that I was born presented me with it. Some
people imagined communication with Sergei as an incredible feast,
but for me it was folkways: we had quarrels and argued. And in 1978
he incarcerated me.”

How?

“Just imagine. However, I did not go to jail. But I was tried for
an attempt to kill my uncle. On one wonderful day he literary drove
me mad. I was so mad that I took an axe and went towards him, and he
ran to the police office and wrote a complaint. Later we reconciled.”

Do you go often to your Tbilisi house?

“Sergei’s son Suren sold it for 5,000 dollars long ago. It makes
me feel sad, because I believe… I did not want to tell you, but
I will: I believe that the house won’t bring happiness to anyone,
like the money he was paid. My old Grandma cursed the house.”

Why?

“I think that our house saw and knows too much. I think it should
have collapsed. It had to collapse! And I wanted to build a fountain
on that place, so that water simply purled on the square where our
house used to stand. Unfortunately, it has been redesigned; there is
nothing left from its tracery balconies. It is not our house anymore:
Sergei died, my mother died too, I have left Tbilisi long ago. I was
the last one who locked our house’s door and made, in my opinion,
a genius collage, Everything that Has Been Left from My House. It
shows two keys, a toilet mirror, and a lock. Viktor Bazhenov is going
to publish a wonderful book of photos Sergei Parajanov and the super
cover features my collage.”

Does the surname Parajanov help you or become an obstacle?

“It both helps and hinders. It opens many inaccessible doors: the
officials have to listen to me whether they want it or not. Maybe they
won’t assist me, but they have to receive me. Sometimes they even give
money for my projects. But the surname also irritates many people. It
simply irritates them. I think, Sergei did harm to many. Justly.

Justly! But he did harm.

“Sergei needed to die for people to start yelling about him at every
corner. And he knew in his lifetime everything about himself and
created Parajanov’s image. Serezha was the best image-maker ever.

People like him start the wars, make revolutions. He made a revolution
in cinema, in the genre of collage. No director over the world has a
house museum like the Parajanov Museum in Yerevan. The Fellini fund
includes only 12 ties, and that’s all, whereas many presidents who
came to Yerevan consider this an honor to have dinner in Parajanov’s
museum, and Charles Aznavour sings there and eats dalma. So, my uncle
deserved such attitude. Serezha understood pretty well who he was. He
often said when his temper was short (addressing his wife Svitlana
Shcherbatiuk) – my aunt can confirm my words if she remembers. He
shouted, ‘You all will be cashiers in my museum!’ though there was
no museum at the time. And he was making predictions: ‘You will be
sitting there and stealing money! There will be 200 visitors, and
you will tell there were 120!’ (laughing).”

Have you ever seen dreams about your uncle?

“Every night.”

Are these dreams colored?

“Yes. I see only colored dreams.”

Do you know who else sees them?

“No.”

They say, schizophrenics see them.

“Who said I am normal? Do you want to say that you are normal?”

I’m not for sure.

“I have never seen any black-and-white dreams. But I do see colored
dreams every night.”

Aren’t you exaggerating?

“No, child, I never lie. Real Sergei Parajanov comes to me at nights.

One day I saw Andrei Tarkovsky. I knew him personally. He was Sergei’s
closest friend, he came to our house. They were friends and understood
each other well, and when Andrei died, my uncle missed him a lot;
he said there was no one whom he could tell anything. I see Sergey
in my dreams practically every night.”

Does he tell you anything?

“Maybe he does not speak so really with me like I am speaking with
you. He does not look at me in the way I am looking at my favorite
aunt, who is sitting in the corner now [Parajanov’s wife Svitlana
Shcherbatiuk. – Author]. And when I wake up in the morning, I receive
an incredible supply of emotional energy after a prayer. Apparently,
my uncle wants me to create something. Maybe make a new collage? I
cannot live without this, this is what makes me happy.”

What good things did you pick up from your uncle?

“This is a good question. One day Sergei said a very important phrase
to me: ‘I hate you; you have become a secret observer of my life.’
That I bit in his breasts and was suckling them. Like a she-wolf. At
that time I did not understand what he meant, but time has passed and

From: Baghdasarian

FRANCE GENOCIDE VOTE HELPS PREVENT NEW CRIMES: ARMENIA

Agence France Presse
January 25, 2012 Wednesday 11:38 AM GMT

Armenia’s Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian on Wednesday applauded
France for criminalising denial of the Armenian genocide, after a
vote that sparked a fierce reaction from Turkey.

“It is a very important mechanism to prevent new crimes against
humanity,” Nalbandian told reporters during a visit to Latvia.

“This is an important step by France which could be not only welcomed
but supported by other states in Europe and elsewhere,” Nalbandian
said.

The French Senate on Monday approved a bill threatening to jail anyone
in France who denies that the World War I-era massacre of Armenians
by Turkish forces amounted to genocide.

Asked if he expected others to follow suit, Nalbandian said he hoped
so, underlining that more than 20 countries and international bodies
now recognised that genocide took place.

“The first thing we have to do is turn a page in our common history
with Turkey, not through denial but through recognition of the Armenian
genocide. We do hope very much that there will come a day when Turkey
itself recognises the Armenian genocide,” Nalbandian said.

Armenians and their supporters say up to 1.5 million were killed in
a genocidal campaign in 1915 and 1916 by what was then the Ottoman
Turkish Empire.

Turkey disputes the figure, saying 500,000 died, and denies this was
genocide, ascribing the toll to wartime fighting and starvation and
accusing the Armenians of siding with Russian invaders.

Turkey, which traditionally hits back over genocide recognition,
has vowed to impose sanctions on Paris.

While Latvia does not recognise the genocide formally, it strikes a
chord in a country that officially lists Nazi and Soviet killings of
its people as crimes against humanity.

“There have been similarities in our very difficult history and
that’s one issue where we understand the pain of the Armenian people,”
Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said.

“Even if it is very difficult, the best thing is to have a discussion
about a common past, mostly in an academic rather than politicised
environment,” he added.

From: Baghdasarian

ERDOGAN ATTACKS FRANCE ON GENOCIDE LAW

Cyprus Mail
January 24, 2012 Tuesday
Cyprus

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan attacked the French parliament on
Tuesday for passing a “discriminatory and racist” bill which makes it
illegal to deny that the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks
nearly a century ago was genocide.

However, Erdogan said there was still hope that NATO ally France
“would correct its mistake” and that any retaliatory measures would
be held back, depending on French actions.

The French Senate approved the draft law on Monday, which the lower
house also backed in December, prompting a furious response from
Ankara.

“We will not allow anyone to gain political benefit at the expense of
Turkey; the bill which was passed in France is clearly discriminatory,
racist,” Erdogan said.

“We will adopt a rational and dignified stance, we will implement our
measures step by step. Right now we are still in a period of patience,”
he told his AK Party’s deputies in the Turkish parliament.

The bill now goes to President Nicolas Sarkozy to be ratified. Turkey
accuses Sarkozy of trying to win the votes of 500,000 ethnic Armenians
in France in the two-round presidential vote on April 22 and May 6.

As Erdogan spoke, a couple of hundred protesters gathered outside
the French embassy in Ankara and consulate in Istanbul.

Many Turks see the bill as an insult to their nation, a travesty of
history and an infringement on free speech.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, who was personally against
the move, said the new law was “ill-timed”, but called on Ankara to
remain calm.

“We need good relations with it and we need to get through this
excessive phase,” Juppe said on Canal+ television. “We have very
important economic and trade ties. I hope the reality of the situation
will not be usurped by emotions.”

Some Turkish newspapers listed possible measures that Ankara might
take against France.

These included the recall of its ambassador from Paris and telling
the French ambassador to go home, reducing diplomatic ties to charge
d’affaires level, and closing Turkish airspace and waters to French
military aircraft and vessels.

Speaking shortly before Monday’s Senate vote, Erdogan said the issue
of future official visits to France would be thrown into uncertainty
if it passed the bill.

French firms stand to lose out in bids for defence contracts and
other mega-projects such as nuclear power stations.

Turkey could also seek to trumpet allegations that French actions in
Algeria in the 1950s and 1960s were also tantamount to a genocide.

Morning headlines in Turkish newspapers were anything but calm. “A
guillotine to free thought” said Star, while Aksam described the
French move as “A guillotine to history”.

“Shame on France” cried the Vatan daily. While Sozcu, a small newspaper
that usually directs its scorn at Erdogan, found a new target with
“Satan Sarkozy”.

The mayor of Ankara has spoken of renaming the street where the
French embassy is located to Algeria Street and erecting a memorial to
Algerian victims of French colonial oppression in front of the embassy.

When the lower house backed the bill in December, Ankara cancelled
all economic, political and military meetings with Paris and briefly
recalled its ambassador for consultations.

Sarkozy is expected to ratify the bill before parliament is suspended
in February before the presidential election.

However, it could still be rejected if about 60 lawmakers agree to
appeal the decision at France’s highest court and this body considers
the text unconstitutional. The Constitutional Council would have one
month to make its decision.

Analysts believe Turkey might delay announcing measures to see how
Sarkozy handles the process.

Turkey’s ambassador in Paris, Tahsin Burcuoglu, said the vote would
lead to a “total rupture” of relations between the two countries
and Ankara could seek to downgrade its diplomatic presence in the
French capital.

Turkey cannot impose economic sanctions on France, given its membership
of the World Trade Organisation and its customs union accord with
Europe, but French firms could lose out on state-to-state-contracts,
notably in the defence sector.

France is Turkey’s fifth biggest export market and sixth biggest
supplier of imports of goods and services, and bilateral trade was
$13.5 billion in the first 10 months of last year.

Armenia, backed by many historians and parliaments, says about 1.5
million Christian Armenians were killed in what is now eastern Turkey
during World War One in a deliberate policy of genocide ordered by
the Ottoman government.

The Ottoman empire was dissolved after the end of the war, but Turkish
governments and most Turks feel the charge of genocide is an insult
to their nation. Ankara argues there was heavy loss of life on both
sides during fighting in the area.

The influential Armenian diaspora in France and the United States
has relentlessly lobbied for international support to bring Turkey
to account over the mass killings.

Their success in France will encourage those in the United States
to try harder in their annual efforts to get Washington to call what
happened a genocide.

US presidents have so far ensured that those efforts have been blocked
to avoid alienating Turkey, an important regional ally. However,
President Barack Obama faces re-election this year and could come
under more pressure from the Armenian lobby, analysts say.

Some ethnic Armenians in Turkey saw the French move as unhelpful,
while saying wounds needed to be healed.

“This only will provide more grounds to nationalism and reactions
in Turkey,” said Robert Koptas, editor of Agos, a Turkish-Armenian
newspaper.

“I do not think the Turkish state will change its attitude,” said
Koptas, a son-in-law of Hrant Dink, a prominent Turkish-Armenian
journalist who was murdered in 2007 who had angered nationalists with
his articles on Armenian identity.

From: Baghdasarian

NO PROGRESS IN KARABAKH TALKS EXPECTED – EXPERT

Vestnik Kavkaza
Jan 26 2012
Russia

During the recent meeting of the Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian
presidents the parties issued a joint statement saying that they are
ready to speed up preparation of an agreement on a settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. However, Andrey Kazntsev, a member of the
Moscow State Institute of Foreign Relations’s Center for Euro-Atlantic
Security, believes that after Vladimir Putin’s probable victory in
the March presidential elections, no progress in the peace talks
should be expected.

According to the expert, it was President Dmitry Medvedev who was so
interested in a peaceful solution to the Karabakh conflict. Vladimir
Putin seems to pay less attention to the issue.

The situation is becoming even more complicated due to recent
developments surrounding Iran’s nuclear program, Kazantsev says.

From: Baghdasarian

OSCE MONITORS AZERBAIJANI-ARMENIAN CONTACT LINE WITHOUT INCIDENTS

Vestnik Kavkaza
Jan 26 2012
Russia

The OSCE carried out monitoring on the Azerbaijani-Armenian contact
line of forces south-west of the Gyzyloba Village of the Terter
District of Azerbaijan, APA cites Cpt. Teymur Abdullayev, deputy head
of the press service of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry, as saying.

Monitoring from the Azerbaijani side was carried out by Christo
Christov, assistant of personal representative of the OSCE chairman,
and his personal assistant William Pryor. The contrary side was
monitored by Imre Palatinus, coordinator of the office of personal
representative of OSCE chairman, and field assistant Antal Herdic
and Marius Puodziunas.

From: Baghdasarian

INTERVIEW: SUZANNE KHARDALIAN ON GRANDMA’S TATTOOS AND THE FORGOTTEN LIVES OF ARMENIAN WOMEN

ianyan Magazine

Jan 26 2012

A still from the film ‘Grandma’s Tattoos,’ which chronicles the fate
of thousands of tattooed Armenian women who survived the Armenian
Genocide of the early 20th century/ © Grandma’s Tattoos Ever since
filmmaker Suzanne Khardalian’s documentary, “Grandma’s Tattoos,”
was screened across the U.S. and broadcast on Al Jazeera’s English
channel, the response has been overwhelming.

“I’ve been getting hundreds and hundreds of emails and letters,”
says Khardalian, who directed and produced the film that chronicles
the forgotten story of the fate of women – including that of her own
grandmother – who survived the Armenian Genocide.

The letters, some from South Africa, others from India and just about
every other country you can think of, relay appreciation and at times
shock about the physical, emotional and psychological scars of Armenian
women who were distinguishably tattooed, raped and sometimes forced
into prostitution at the beginning of the 20th century.

Now living in Sweden and with more than 20 films under her belt,
Khardalian spoke to ianyanmag about the sometimes difficult process
of talking to genocide survivors, how easily women’s narratives get
lost in the vaults of history and how Armenian women today need a
big dose of courage.

Q. Why did you decide to make this film?

A. Genocide has been on my agenda for a very long time. What
I wanted to do was do something about the genocide in Rwanda,
especially tackling the question of gender and genocide – a topic
we’ve only begun to start talking about. Usually, the fate of women
is not discussed. I met some of these Rwandan women in Stockholm at a
conference; these were the women who had been undergoing the horrors
of the war and the main problematic issue was of course rape, and rape
en masse, in hundreds of thousands, having rape as a strategy you use
during genocide to complete it. Of course I was thinking about the
Armenian Genocide in the back of mind and suddenly I came to realize
that when it comes to the Armenian Genocide or to the Holocaust,
there’s so little written about the women.

The amazing thing is when you look at the Armenian case, there’s a huge
amount of literature on this and all you read is “and the women were
raped,” these very very short sentences…but no details, there’s no
story about it. Give me an example. Do you happen to know the name of
an Armenian woman who was the hero of the genocide? Fighting that and
trying to survive? You don’t have that, and it was very discouraging
and I was fascinated by that. Once I stumbled upon those photos,
the whole thing took on a very different aspect, the story became
very very personal, because suddenly I found out my own grandma was
a victim, she was there all the time and we had no idea about it.

I’m not a feminist, but let me say but it is very very strange to
see how even in tragedy the destiny of women is somehow by selection
taken away or forgotten, or amnesia is organized around it so people
will forget.

Q. Often in Armenian history and sometimes literature, Armenian
women’s narratives get lost, do you think your film has filled one
part of the story, either as a whole or for your family? Do you still
have more questions?

A. Oh yes. Look there’s so many questions that very few have been
answered. I still feel that my mom is not willing to continue because
well look this is something that is associated with shame and feelings
of guilt – where in a strange way you are the victim of an atrocity
but at the same time you feel you’re responsible for that atrocity. I
have been talking to victims of rape, when you talk to these women,
very strangely they say the same thing. They’re ashamed, they think
they’re responsible for it Everybody thinks that the way to deal
with it is just to forget it. If you forget it it will go away,
and of course it doesn’t go away.

So there’s lot to discover, the film is only a fraction of what I have
been doing. A film is a film, and you have to limit lots of stories.

There’s fascinating things to tell, I hope one day I can make a second
film on this, there’s a lot to do.

Q. When you went to Yerevan to meet the 104-year-old Genocide survivor
– for me that was the most emotional part of the movie, because unlike
your great aunt, she was very honest and raw. How did you feel in
that setting?

A. I’ve been working with genocide survivors for such a long time now,
so I had been working with these old people all the time, they are
all very, very sweet and it’s amazing to see how until the end of
their lives that these people remember things, especially in their
childhoods, there are certain details. I remember one survivor I was
filming in France, he had one fantastic segment of a memory. He said,
‘I remember the feeling of my mom’s blouse, that silk feeling on my
face when she used to carry me,’ and that feeling, and I could feel it
my self, it’s very very small detail, it is about your mom and what
‘mom’ is to you today, and just that feeling on your face about a
piece of silk. It’s very abstract and it’s very human.

When I came to Maria Vartanyan in Yerevan, she was sweet – what is
fascinating with Maria is that she is so lucid she remembers quite a
lot, and one more thing that was different, when I wanted to talk to
her, I told her from the beginning, I want you to tell me the story of
women, tell me what happened to the women. Do you have any stories like
that? And she said, ‘Come back to me the next day.’ She had a whole
laundry list of stories, about women she knew and what happened to them
and how they survived the genocide. When you look at the interview,
it is the first time I’m discussing a subject about sex or slavery
with a woman who is 104 years old. I was sitting there and she was
telling me for example, how her menstruation stopped and she was
praying to god that she would never get pregnant. Details like that.

She was telling me that the Armenian men became infertile, they had
no sexual potency left. The men too lose their sexual appetite. The
men weren’t able to give children as well. She was referring to this
when she came to Armenia, especially from Turkey to Soviet Armenia.

Documentary filmmakers Suzanne Khardalian and Pea Holmquist at work on
Grandma’s Tattoos/ © Suzanne Khardalian Q. What happened when people
were reluctant to speak with you about these topics?

A. I remember one case when I was filming in Fresno. I had met this
lady, she had a tattooed mother, but she had decided for herself
that her mom was not tattooed, people around her, they knew she
had been, but she had decided her mom was not tattooed, so it was
like talking to a wall, there was no where to go. It as the same
with Lucia [Khardalian’s great aunt], you talk and there’s a certain
barrier when it all stops. Working with survivors needs a technique,
I’ve written a book on this, how to film genocide survivors, it takes
time to build trust.

A major problem has been the family of survivors – they’re not willing
to bring the issue forward. I didn’t fight against this in this film,
it shows it’s symptomatic of the situation we’re in, as a community,
as Armenians, it’s a taboo, you don’t want to talk about it, I wanted
to show that people are not willing to talk about this.

But yet I think we have to talk about it. I’m interested in the process
of making this known. I think knowledge is very important in this
aspect, knowledge about the fate of the women is very stereotyped when
it comes to the Armenian question and changing that is a challenge.

Some said to me ‘Why are u doing this?’ ‘Why are you bringing
this into the open, making it public?’ ‘This is considered dirty
laundry, this is disgraceful for our nation.’ No I don’t think so,
what is wrong in choosing life, because the way I see it, the women
who survived, even if they were tattooed, kidnapped, raped and they
gave birth to children of the rapists, all this for me is that there
were people who chose life. I want us when we talk about these women,
I want us to remember them, not as women who were raped, but as the
real heroes. Who were the one who gave birth, to all the Armenians
living around the world today. We are the children of these women,
we just need to accept and be proud of it.

Q. When you made the film and people began to view it, did you have
anyone else contact you whose grandma had the same tattoos?

A. Very very many. When I was going around screening this film, after
each screening, there were at least 10-15 people approaching me saying
‘my grandma was tattooed.’

Some of these girls never came back to their nation, to Armenian
society, they had no chance, they stayed behind because they had
no possibility. Today Turkish society has started to talk, about
Grandmas that were Armenian. It’s always Grandmas, not Grandfathers,
when they’re talking about this…this brings up the issue of identity,
what is happening to Turkish identity. I think when we look at this
in this way, it becomes urgent matter to look into ourselves and
decide what or who makes an Armenian. And because this brings up
the issue, do genetics make you an Armenian? if that is the case,
look at these raped women who had children, these Muslim Armenians,
hidden Armenians in Turkey today , aren’t we supposed to look at them
as Armenians? Are Armenians are only supposed to be Christians?

Making this film brings so many more questions, as a collective , for
how much longer every time an Armenian has slightly different religion
or identity are we going to throw them out, not take them as Armenians?

Q. What are some current issues in the Armenian diaspora, or in
Armenia in regards to women that are of interest to you?

A. One, when are we going to learn that women are as intelligent,
as talented and as motivated as men are? Not only in Armenia, but in
diaspora as well. Look at our organizations, how many women do you
see around you? All those committees, they create, how many women are
there? I think it’s just stupid, ignorant to ignore the women. We
are an essential part of the Armenian nation and if the men decide
to discard us, then they’re discarding themselves.

Unfortunately the women are as responsible for this too. There’s a
lack of courage, or interest in political issues especially. I want
women to be involved in politics, and politics is not just becoming
a member of the parliament. If you’re engaged in environment issues,
there’s politics as well, everything we do in our lives is politics
at the end of the road. I want us to be courageous enough and push
the doors open with your elbows.

It’s unfortunate, look we’re living in the States, we’re living
in the Europe, but still our women, when it comes to the community
you can hardly hear them. If a woman is responsible for a hospital,
or a big dept. somewhere or a physicist, if she has the capacity to
do that work, we should be able to trust the women with political
missions as well.

From: Baghdasarian

LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT IS DEFEATED
HAKOB BADALYAN

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 12:08:03 – 26/01/2012

On February 12 local elections will be held in several communities
of Armenia. It is going to be hot in Hrazdan where the incumbent
Republican mayor Aram Danielyan and Sasun Mikayelyan from the Armenian
National congress will be running.

In the other communities the race will not be so tense unless
disagreement occurs between the Republicans and the Bargavach Hayastan.

In countries with developed political systems local elections are
an important platform for the national elections, and the force that
wins is the favorite force in the national elections.

In Armenia, however, the opposition has completely “let the local
elections go” to the government and only in exceptional cases does
it participate in the race. In the recent years the scramble for
local elections was mostly between the Republicans and the Bargavach
Hayastan Party for the head of a town or a village.

And the race usually is not of political nature. Local elections
are fertile soil for local strongmen and criminals when they run
personally or nominate their proteges, while the government tolerates
this to use the local self-governments to ensure the results of the
national elections.

Should the opposition think about changing the situation or is the
tactics of focusing on national “battles” more correct? The opposition
has already made a choice considering that the government does not
have enough resource to fight in places separately, hence this must
be ignored, and resource should be concentrated on national elections.

On the other hand, however, when local elections are surrendered,
the resource adds to the government, and the opposition loses in
local elections. In this case, of course, defeat is referred to
election fraud when election fraud cannot be combated due to the
lack of resource. For already a few years, this tactics does not
produce the necessary result and the government which defeated local
self-government uses it effectively for the national “battle”.

Perhaps it is time the opposition reviewed the approaches and started
paying more attention to opposing to the local elections, which may
foster decentralization in Armenia. Decentralization alone may help
the opposition to achieve better results in national elections.

Otherwise, delivering politics to the regions only during the election
campaign leads to a situation when the game is over before the local
audience is able to understand what is happening.

From: Baghdasarian

ORDINARY TURKS NOT TO BE PUNISHED FOR DENYING GENOCIDE

Tert.am
25.01.12

An ordinary Turk in France will not be punished for denying the
Armenian genocide, a Turkish born advisor to Valerie Boyer, the French
lawmaker who proposed the bill outlawing Armenian Genocide denial,
has said.

Speaking to the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet after a meeting with
French-Armenian politicians businesspeople and civic leaders, Garo
Yalickof the ruling Union for a Popular Movement said the bill is
valid only for newspapers, associations and official institutions.

“France officially recognized the genocide in 2001. We have yet to
understand why this bill has led to so much opposition now. This
is not a bill that is passed against Turkey. It merely fills legal
gaps,” he was quoted as saying. “Turkey is 10 years late in reacting
to the bill.”

Yalick also denied there was any likelihood of the bill going to
France’s Constitutional Court and said it would be impossible to bring
together the required approval of some 60 senators for that purpose.

“This bill is going to ensure [the Turks’] rights as well. We do
not interfere with Turkey’s internal matters. Turkey ought not to
interfere with our internal matters either,” he said.

From: Baghdasarian

French Bill Jan 23, 24

Senate coverage.

Turkey’s Erdogan hits out at ‘racist’ French genocide bill

h-genocide-bill-france-senate

Turkey condemns passage of Armenia genocide bill

nkara-paris

French Senate passes bill outlawing genocide denial

cide-denial-armenia-turkey

How will Armenian genocide bill affect France-Turkey relations?

-a/index.html

France brings Armenian genocide bill one step closer to law

genocide-bill-one-step-closer-to-law

France Approves Armenian Genocide Bill

French parliament passes Armenian ‘genocide’ bill

,7340,L-4179909,00.html

French senate passes controversial Armenia genocide bill

French Senate outlaws denial of Armenian Genocide

Turkish anger over French ‘genocide’ vote

French senate passes ‘Armenian genocide’ bill

Armenian genocide denial to be banned in France as senators approve
new law

nce

Turkey PM says French bill on genocide denial ‘racist’

Turkish ambassador ‘to leave France’

Turkey warns France over genocide law – video

-video

Healing wounds: Seeking closure for the 1915 massacres

French senate passes ‘Armenian genocide’ bill

Turkey warns France over Armenian genocide law

ocide

Turkey Slams France Over ‘Genocide’ Bill

ml

France’s genocide bill: A new blow to Turkey’s EU aspirations

e-bill-new-blow-turkey-eu-aspirations

‘Turkey, France tensions will get worse’

France bans Armenian ‘genocide’ denial

Turkey Calls French Armenia Genocide Bill ‘Racist’

st/24461449.html

French Upper House Sends Genocide Bill To President

tml

Explainer: France’s New Genocide Law Is About More Than Ottoman
Armenians

l

Turkey Cuts French Ties After ‘Genocide’ Vote

430674.html

Turkey’s Erdogan Lambasts France on Genocide Law

ey.html?_r=1&ref=europe

Over Turkish Protests, French Lawmakers to Vote on Bill Penalizing
Genocide Denial

o-vote-on-genocide-denial-bill.html?ref=europe

Genocide Bill Angers Turks as It Passes in France

-bill-angering-turks.html?ref=europe

Genocide Bill Angers Turks as It Passes in France

-bill-angering-turks.html?_r=1&ref=world

Turkey warns of reprisals over French genocide Bill

r-french-genocide-bill-6293713.html

Turkey threatens to retaliate against France over Armenian genocide
bill

tens-to-retaliate-against-France-over-Armenian-genocide-bill.html

French parliament votes to outlaw denial of Armenian genocide

ament-votes-to-outlaw-denial-of-Amernian-genocide.html

Turkey attacks France over Armenian ‘genocide’ bill

ks-France-over-Armenian-genocide-bill.html

French Senate passes Armenian Genocide law

-armenian-genocide-law.html

French senate outlaws denial of Armenia genocide

enocide/493214#.Tx4EC1tOOZI.email

France: ‘Armenian genocide’ bill threatens freedom of expression

-expression-2012-01-24-0

France’s Armenian Genocide Bill An Attack On Free Speech

tack-on-free-speech

French Senate debates Armenian ‘genocide’ bill

ill/

Canadian

Turkey warns France over Armenian genocide bill

genocide-bill/article2312666/

Turkey slams France over Armenian ‘genocide’ bill

Turkey slams France for making genocide denial a crime

toric-120124/

French Senate passes genocide denial bill

html

Turkey pulls ambassador over French genocide bill

.html

France makes denying Armenian genocide a crime

enocide-a-crime/

Turkey rages at ‘Satan Sarkozy’ over ‘racist’ French bill criminalizing
genocide denial

acist-french-bill-criminalizing-genocide-denial/

‘Politics based on racism’ behind French vote in favour of Armenian
genocide law: Turkey

ch-votes-in-favour-of-armenian-genocide-law-turkey/

Turkish protests erupt as France moves to pass genocide-denial bill

es-to-pass-genocide-denial-bill/

Turkey united against France’s Armenian genocide bill: A ‘grave,
unacceptable and historic mistake’

an-genocide-bill-a-grave-unacceptable-and-historic-mistake/

Turkey slams France for making it a crime to deny 1915 killings of
Armenians was genocide

aking-it-a-crime-to-deny-1915-killings-of-armenians-was-genocide

Gwynne Dyer: The Armenian massacres and the French presidential
elections

and-french-presidential-elections

video

LIVE ANCA Interview on RT Television Regarding French Senate Vote
Criminalizing Genocide Denial Aram Hamparian’s live skype interview
with Russia Today TV

ANCA on Al Jazeera: Hamparian Discusses the French Senate’s
Anti-Genocide Denial Vote

Videos for French armenian genocide bill

md=imvnsu&source=univ&tbm=vid&tbo=u&ei=s2MfT4qfD6Ts0gG44uUG&ved=0CGEQqwQ4Cg&
bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=637de48882104e27&biw=1920&bih=979

From: Baghdasarian