Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

POUR ERDOGAN, LA POLICE TURQUE A ECRIT UNE EPOPEE HEROÏQUE CONTRE LES MANIFESTANTS

(AFP) – Le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan a estime lundi
que la police de son pays, très critiquee dans le monde entier
pour la violence de ses interventions contre les manifestations
antigouvernementales des dernières semaines, avait ecrit une “epopee
heroïque”.

“La police turque a ecrit une epopee heroïque (…) nos forces de
police ont passe avec succès un test de democratie”, a declare M.

Erdogan lors d’une ceremonie de remise de diplôme a l’ecole de police
d’Ankara.

Lors de son allocution, le chef du gouvernement s’en est une nouvelle
fois pris a plusieurs pays de l’Union europeenne (UE) qui ont denonce
la repression policière en Turquie, notamment l’Allemagne.

“Notre police est victime de coups de feu et repond par des tirs
de gaz lacrymogène et des canons a eau. S’ils consultent l’acquis
communautaire, ils verront que c’est le droit le plus naturel confere
a la police (…) qui a agi avec la plus grande retenue et sang-froid”,
a-t-il lance.

Le mouvement de contestation sans precedent visant le regime au
pouvoir depuis 2002 qui a debute le 31 mars a fait quatre morts, trois
manifestants et un policier, et près de 8.000 blesses, dont 60 graves.

Selon un rapport de la police cite dimanche par le quotidien liberal
Milliyet, 2,5 millions de personnes ont participe aux manifestations
a travers toute la Turquie depuis le 31 mai. Environ 5.000 d’entre
eux ont ete arretes, selon ce rapport.

Le chef du gouvernement turc doit recevoir mardi a Ankara le secretaire
general du Conseil de l’Europe, Thorbjorn Jagland, qui avait appele
la Turquie a la retenue face aux manifestants.

mardi 25 juin 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

BIENTET UN CENTRE COMMUNAUTAIRE ARMENIEN EN CHINE – PHOTOS

Le samedi 15 juin 2013, la communaute armenienne de Chine, connue sous
le nom “ChinaHay”, s’est reunie a Guangzhou aux sons de la musique
d’Arthur Apkarian et l’ouverture d’un centre communautaire armenien
a Hong Kong. Le musicien et sa bande sont venus du Canada pour se
produire devant de la communaute armenienne a l’invitation de Jack
(Hagop) Maxian et Yercho Samuelian, residents Chine, qui ont couvert
toutes les depenses. ” Je n’aurais jamais imagine que la communaute
armenienne de Chine avait une telle jeunesse aussi passionnee d’Armenie
en depit de l’eloignement entre les deux pays. Je suis tombe amoureux
de cette communaute “, a declare Arthur Apkarian après le concert.

JPEG – 649.9 ko M. Maxian et M. Samuelian ont genereusement accueilli
plus de 90 personnes, dont des enfants armeniens nes en Chine, venus
de differentes villes du pays, pour ecouter les musiciens armeniens et
danser toute la nuit. Les hôtes ont recu les invites dans un restaurant
du Moyen-Orient, où ils ont pu deguster de nombreux plats delicieux,
dont – du bastourmah et du soujouk. “Je vis a Hong Kong et en Chine
depuis 35 ans et c’est l’evenement armenien le plus emouvant auquel
je n’ai jamais assiste. Je suis convaincu que la communaute organisera
d’autres evenements de ce genre a l’avenir “, a souhaite Jack Maxian.

JPEG – 518.7 ko Sebouh Kazarian, qui reside en Chine depuis 8 ans
et representant de la Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie Francaise
en Chine armenien, a ajoute : ” Il est très important d’avoir de
tels evenements armeniens et de rassembler la communaute armenienne
de Chine. Nous en avons besoin pour transmettre a nos enfants notre
identite “. Pendant l’evenement, il a ete annonce que la communaute
armenienne de Chine aurait bientôt un centre communautaire a Hong
Kong. Le centre sera le premier de la communaute armenienne dans
l’histoire recente de la Chine et a ete rendu possible grâce au
genereux soutien de M. Maxian.

Il servira les Armeniens vivant Hong Kong et dans toute la Chine et
constituera un un lieu de rencontre pour les Armeniens du monde en
voyage dans la region. Le centre communautaire offrira egalement un
espace pour les etudiants chinois ainsi que pour les enfants d’origine
armenienne vivant en Chine et desireux d’en apprendre davantage sur
l’histoire, la culture et la langue armenienne.

JPEG – 592.9 ko La communaute armenienne de Chine est presente
dans differentes villes du pays, dont Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai,
Guangzhou et Shenzhen.

Toute personne interessee a en apprendre davantage sur la communaute
est encouragee a visiter ou la page Facebook du
groupe ChinaHay.

mardi 25 juin 2013, Ara ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

L’UE TOUJOURS OPTIMISTE SUR L’ACCORD D’ASSOCIATION AVEC L’ARMENIE

L’Armenie reste sur la bonne voie pour finaliser un accord
d’association de grande envergure avec l’Union europeenne en novembre
prochain, selon une declaration d’un haut diplomate de l’UE lundi.

” Nous avons presque ferme tous les chapitres de l’accord
d’association. Il y a quelques problèmes techniques qui restent
a resoudre, ” a indique l’ambassadeur Traian Hristea, chef de
la delegation de l’UE a Erevan, au service armenien de RFE / RL
(Azatutyun.am).

“Nous esperons vraiment que nous n’aurons pas d’incidents jusqu’en
novembre au sommet de l’UE de Vilnius qui nous mettra sur la bonne
voie”, a-t-il dit. ” Dieu merci, jusqu’ici tout va bien.”

Les fonctionnaires armeniens et europeens ont deja annonce en mars
avoir travaille sur les principaux termes de cet accord de grande
envergure après près de trois ans de negociations. Gunnar Wiegand,
le negociateur en chef de l’UE, a declare qu’il sera paraphe a temps
pour le sommet de Vilnius “si tout se passe comme prevu.” L’Armenie
et 27 Etats membres de l’UE vont probablement signer en 2014, a
estime Wiegand.

Le gouvernement armenien a souleve des questions au sujet de ce laps de
temps qui pourrait voir s’intensifier les negociations avec Moscou sur
“l’integration” de l’Armenie a l’Union douanière avec la Russie, la
Bielorussie et le Kazakhstan. Les fonctionnaires de l’UE ont averti a
plusieurs reprises que l’appartenance armenienne a cette Union irait
a l’encontre d’un element cle de l’accord d’association : la creation
d’une zone de libre-echange approfondie et complète avec l’UE.

” L’Armenie doit s’assurer que toutes les ententes avec d’autres
partenaires commerciaux sont entièrement compatibles avec ces
dispositions de l’accord d’association avec l’Europe, ” a prevenu un
peu plus tôt ce mois-ci un porte-parole de Stefan Fule, commissaire
a l’elargissement de l’UE.

La presse armenienne a specule au cours des dernières semaines sur les
pressions de la Russie que subiraient Erevan pour adherer a l’Union
douanière avec elle. Des representants du gouvernement armenien ont
rejete ces allegations.

” Je n’ai pas vu de pressions de Moscou, et jusqu’a present, les
autorites armeniennes ne m’ont jamais dit qu’ils font l’objet de
pressions sur ce sujet “, a declare Hristea.

mardi 25 juin 2013, Ara ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

CHARLES AZNAVOUR ANNOUNCES RETURN TO UK STAGE

24 June 2013

Charles Aznavour
Aznavour’s songs have been recorded by Sir Elton John, Tom Jones and
Ray Charles

Aznavour leaves on high note Aznavour’s tall order Veteran French
singer Charles Aznavour is to perform at the Royal Albert Hall in
what will be his first live concert in the UK for more than 25 years.

Aznavour, 89, whose career spans more than 60 years, has had many hits
including She, The Old-Fashioned Way and Yesterday When I Was Young.

Aznavour has also starred in 80 movies such as Tirez sur le Pianiste
(Shoot the Pianist).

His songs have also been recorded by the likes of Edith Piaf and Sting.

He also starred in The Tin Drum, which scooped the Palme d’Or at
Cannes in 1979.

Tickets for the Albert Hall concert go on sale on 28 June.

Aznavour bid farewell to his touring days over 10 years ago but has
gone on to perform more than 100 one-off concerts around the world
since then.

Of Armenian heritage, Aznavour – also known as “the French Sinatra”
– founded the charity Aznavour for Armenia following the earthquake
there in 1988.

The singer and actor is also known for supporting political causes.

In January 2001, Aznavour supported the French government’s recognition
of the Armenian genocide under the Ottoman Empire.

In April 2002, when far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen made it through
to the second round of the French presidential elections, Aznavour
joined other celebrities in signing the Vive la France petition,
urging members of the public to go out and sing the French national
anthem for the Republic as a protest.

From: Baghdasarian

June 24, 2013

Hetq.am

The Armenian Lion Awakens in Los Angeles

The emerging political power of the immigrant population from Armenia

By Harout Harry Semerdjian

Greater Los Angeles has been a mecca for Armenian immigration for more
than one hundred years, as early as the Turkish massacres of Armenians in
1895-96 and the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

In the last four decades, the city has attracted an increasingly large
number of immigrants from the Middle East as well as from the former Soviet
Republic of Armenia, which gained its independence after the fall of the
Soviet Union in 1991.

This complex yet vibrant community of `Hayastanci’ – Armenians from
Armenia proper ` have been notably absent from politics and public service,
albeit for understandable reasons. Emigrating from the harsh politics and
government policies of a Communist regime, they learned not to rely on
government for even to their most basic needs. Their presence in the U.S. has
focused on rebuilding their lives and consolidating their presence through
diligence and hard work. Embracing their freedoms in their newly adopted
homeland, politics became a baggage of the past. Until late last year, that is.
When one of their own decided to run for public office in East Hollywood, the
show of unity and force became unprecedented for this community.

When Sam Kbushyan, a former Board Member of the East Hollywood Neighborhood
Council and Executive Director of the IC Foundation, decided to run for
L.A. City Council District 13, he registered thousands of Armenians in the
District within several months. Perhaps even Kbushyan did not realize the
far-reaching implications of his personal initiative, which became a powerful
drive not only for voter registration but also for community empowerment
and democracy-building.

Even though Kbushyan lost in the primary election, he came in an
impressive 3rd place to the surprise of residents and City Hall power-brokers
alike.
Kbushyan soon endorsed local candidate Mitch O’Farrell over newcomer John
Choi, and his loyal Armenian supporters helped secure Mitch O’Farrell’s
victory on May 21. About a quarter of the approximately 20,000 voters in the
election were Armenians, mostly registered by Sam Kbushyan.

With the elections over, L.A.’s Council District 13 and its neighborhood
of Little Armenia inherited a politically-energized and newly-registered
immigrant population from Armenia proper – a victorious community that almost
overnight gained the respect that it once did not have, even amongst its
own.

The impact of Hollywood’s immigrant Armenian community on Council District
13 is quickly becoming a benchmark for other parts of Los Angeles,
particularly in the San Fernando Valley, where large communities of Armenians
reside. For many, the half a million-strong Armenian community in the greater
L.A. area represents an electoral goldmine which could sway many local
elections.

With continued community organizing and voter registration, the immigrant
Armenian communities from Armenia could quickly become a powerful voting
block within Los Angeles that will have national and even international
implications.

The 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide is fast approaching, along
with numerous important local, state and national elections. The newly
empowered population of immigrants from Armenia may hold the key to the success
of the highly regarded Armenian lobby in the United States, including their
ability to further influence Congress as well as the President on critical
issues such as the official recognition of the Armenian Genocide and a
peaceful and just solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict grounded in the
principle of self-determination for its native Armenian population. Already
considered by many to be the second most influential ethnic lobby after the
Jewish lobby in Washington D.C., Armenian prominence at the national level
has serious potential to grow considering their new successes in California
` the nation’s most populous and most powerful state.

Given the internal feuds amongst the different Armenian factions in Los
Angeles and beyond ` which once again surfaced during the May elections – the
bigger question is whether Armenians will transcend their differences and
the interests of a few personal fiefdoms to collaborate for the benefit of
their national cause? This will serve as a test of the community’s maturity
and fortitude during this significant time in the history of this ancient
nation.

Harout Harry Semerdjian is a PhD Candidate at the University of Oxford. He
holds advanced M.A. degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
at Tufts University and the University of California, Los Angeles. He is
also a Council Member of the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council.

From: Baghdasarian

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
June 23 2013

Official: Pope’s approval of Armenian genocide claims shows only personal view

23 June 2013 /GÖZDE NUR DONAT, ANKARA

Pope Francis’ latest remarks labeling acts committed in 1915 by the
Ottoman Empire a “genocide” and affirming the Armenian claims do not
point to a change in the Vatican’s neutral position on the issue just
before the 100th anniversary of the events, but merely reflect his
personal position, say diplomats and analysts.

Kenan Gürsoy, the Turkish ambassador to the Vatican, said in remarks
to Sunday’s Zaman that Vatican officials did not give any sign that it
will formally recognize Armenian claims of genocide, though the
Armenian diaspora throughout the world is actively lobbying for the
recognition of their claims for the 2015 commemoration of the events.

Earlier this month, Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of the world’s
Roman Catholics recently stated, “The first genocide of the 20th
century was that of the Armenians,” during an official meeting with
Armenian religious officials in the Vatican. The pope’s statement
elicited an immediate reaction from Turkey, and the Foreign Ministry
released a statement calling the pope’s remarks “one-sided” and in
contradiction with the appropriate fulfillment of the responsibilities
of the papacy post, such as contributing to world peace.

The pope’s position on the events of 1915 was already well known. In
2006 when he was a cardinal in Argentina he defined the deaths of
Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire as the “gravest crime of
Ottoman Turkey.” Argentina, the homeland of Pope Francis, is also home
to a significant number of Armenians, Greeks and Jews whose ancestors
migrated from the Ottoman Empire after World War I.

Also, on March 7, Armenia appointed an ambassador to the Vatican by
presidential decree. Mikael Minasyan, son-in-law of Armenian President
Serzh Sarksyan and deputy chief of the President’s Office, is the
first ambassador of Armenia to be posted to the Vatican. Armenia and
the Vatican established diplomatic relations in 1992, but Armenia has
not previously had an embassy in the sovereign city-state.

The March election of Pope Francis pleased the Armenian diaspora, as
he is expected to have a decisive influence on the course of Armenian
lobbying activities for the recognition of their claims of genocide.
Associate Professor Ali Murat Yel, who teaches in the communications
department of the Ýstanbul-based Marmara University, also confirmed
that the pope’s recent remarks are related to his background as an
Argentinean Jesuit and being so close Armenians early in his career as
a man of religion.

Barýþ Özdal, an expert on the Armenian question and a lecturer in the
international relations department of Bursa’s Uludað University,
stated that the neutral move the Vatican could make at this sensitive
time would be to allow public access to the Vatican’s historical
archives to provide better understanding of the facts.

“In that case [if Vatican opens the archives], Turkey could turn the
crisis into an opportunity in order to promote a better understanding
of the facts,” said Özdal, in comments to Sunday’s Zaman.

Observers say that while the Armenians are preparing for 2015 with
lobbying efforts throughout the world — including the Vatican — with
the aim of obliging Turkey to also accept their claim as fact, it is
totally incomprehensible that Turkey is not conducting any
counter-lobbying efforts to offer the historical documents that affirm
its contentions. Turkey supports the establishment of an independent
committee to be made up of historians and experts from both the
Armenian and Turkish sides to investigate the disparate claims. Turkey
deems the decades of Armenians’ one-sided efforts on the issue and not
responding to their requests for the committee as merely a campaign to
stalemate Turkey politically.

Turkey rejects the claims made by the Armenian side that the
deportation of the Armenian population living in the eastern villages
of Turkey in 1915 to areas further east, which led to mass deaths in
that population, amounted to genocide.

Historical archives say that the Armenian deportation was conducted by
the Ottoman administration as a territorial security measure that
would help the empire subdue Armenian insurgencies during World War I,
rather than with racist motives targeting the Armenian population.

Armenian-populated provinces in the early 20th century, including
Erzurum, Elazýð, Þanlýurfa, Van and Diyarbakýr, were located in
sensitive areas that were vital to the Ottoman armies fighting the
Russians on the Caucasian frontier of the empire and the British in
Mesopotamia and Palestine. Ottoman armies on these three fronts were
dependent on the roads leading to western Turkey for their supply of
food, ammunition and medical supplies. Armed Armenian revolutionary
groups, Dashnaks and Hunchaks, established in the late 19th century
that were in control of these cities began to attack and cut these
lines of communication and supplies in 1915, taking financial help and
weapons from Russia, France and the United Kingdom — all invaders of
Ottoman territories during World War I. The Ottoman decision to
relocate the Armenians who lived in those cities was a
counterinsurgency policy developed in response to attacks by Armenian
groups that were committed to violent action in order to establish an
independent Armenian state, carving out eastern Anatolia from the
Ottoman Empire.

From: Baghdasarian

Los Angeles Times, CA
June 23 2013

War in Syria sparks efforts to help Armenians

By Britanny Levine
June 23, 2013, 3:41 p.m.

To understand why Zaven Khanjian wants the Armenian community in Syria
– a dwindling population caught in the crossfire of civil war – to
endure, you have to go back nearly a century.

Long before in-fighting began more than two years ago, Armenians
settled in Syria after being driven out of Turkey during the genocide
of 1915.

Destitute and sick, the Christians were welcomed by the mostly Arabic
Syrians and flourished, especially in Aleppo, a city close to the
Turkish border and hard hit by war between rebel forces and the
sitting government.

“We want the community to survive as long as the war is going on,”
said Khanjian, a Glendale real estate agent and Aleppo native who
leads the nonprofit Syrian Armenian Relief Fund.

But while many Armenians may feel indebted to Syria – a country that
welcomed them when they were at their lowest point – thousands
continue to flee amid an increase in the number of kidnappings and
reported damage to homes and churches.

Even an Armenian genocide memorial has been ransacked, said Lena
Bozoyan, chairwoman of the Armenian Relief Society of Western U.S.A.

Humanitarian aid is the primary goal, but there’s also a deeper desire
to prevent an Armenian community with historical significance from
disintegrating completely.

“The dwindling of the community in Syria will have a detrimental,
long-term impact for the cultural vibrancy of the diaspora as a
whole,” said Ara Sanjian, director of the Armenian Research Center at
the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

But the effort to preserve the diaspora in Syria is increasingly
difficult as fighting rages on, especially in Aleppo, which claims the
largest Armenian population. Most Armenians with roots there are known
to be loyal to the current regime, but Khanjian said philanthropic
efforts out of Glendale are apolitical.

The U.S. recently announced plans to bolster support of the rebels
after determining that the Syrian regime had used chemical weapons
against its own people.

The Syrian Armenian Relief Fund, launched last year in partnership
with Glendale-based Armenian Relief Society and other Armenian
philanthropic groups, has sent $500,000 in assistance to struggling
Syrian-Armenians. Organizers raised another $100,000 at a benefit
concert in Hollywood two weeks ago.

The money is sent to a coalition of Armenian nonprofits in Syria that
doles out food, clothing, construction materials for damaged
buildings, and medical care to the needy. During Armenian Christmas in
January, the group dispersed cash to about 5,000 families, Khanjian
said.

Before the fund started, the Armenian Relief Society had already
collected $100,000 for Armenian schools.

But there are some things the fund won’t pay for, such as relocation costs.

“We want our people to stay there,” Bozoyan said.

Population estimates vary, but Sanjian, of the Armenian Research
Center, said that before the conflict began, there were about 70,000
Armenians in Syria, 70% of them in Aleppo. Armenian news agencies have
reported that more than 10,000 have fled to Lebanon and Armenia, but
some estimates peg the exodus as being almost twice that.

,0,6892382.story

From: Baghdasarian

Fars News Agency, Iran
June 23 2013

Armenia to Launch First Home-Made Satellite

TEHRAN (FNA)- The ex-Soviet republic of Armenia will launch its own
satellite into the orbit, a governmental official said.

A newly created company called Armcosmos is currently busy registering
an orbital position for the upcoming satellite, said Gagik Grigoryan,
a senior official with the Transportations and Communications
Ministry.

The price tag for Armenia’s space program is $250mln, with part of
the sum to come from private investors, Grigoryan told the Armenian
branch of the Radio Free Europe.

The official gave no timeframe for a possible launch and did not
specify the function of the satellite, to be called Armsat, though he
said it will have to have commercial use. Armenia currently has the
right for two orbital positions for telecoms satellites.

Six of 15 post-Soviet republics have launched their own satellites
since the Soviet Union’s demise.

From: Baghdasarian

Tourists visiting Armenia admire nature, people, cuisine and music

19:43 – 23.06.13

Tourists visiting Armenia particularly admire the country’s nature,
Ruben Grigoryan, Executive Director of the Rumea tempting trips club,
told Tert.am.

Armenia’s sights are something natural for the local population, but
they are something special for tourists, he added.

`People admire each feature of our nature. But they are surprised at
the way we are treating our nature and environment. They cannot
comprehend this,’ Grigoryan said.

Tourists also like Armenian cuisine. This being so, Armenian
restaurants should show a more serious attitude to the national
cuisine as well as to services, well-trained waiters capable of giving
professional advice.

`Tourists visiting Armenia often admire Armenians, their hospitality
and consideration. They admire our national music as they are hardly
acquainted with it,’ Grigoryan said.

Speaking of Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, he said that in very few
capitals people can safely stroll until late at night, and tourists
appreciate it.

As regards travel agencies and investments in tourism development,
Grigoryan said that the industry requires permanent investments,
without producing immediate results.

`Our tour operators are making large-scale investments. For example,
participating in an international exhibition is worth $6,000. Can out
tour operators afford to participate in six or eight exhibitions in a
year? They invite guides to Armenia at their own expense, acquaint
them with the country for them to form a favorable idea of and bring
tourists to the country,’ Grigoryan said.

He pointed out that the Armenian government has much to do in this field.
Armenian News – Tert.am

From: Baghdasarian

Akbar to William, the Armenian Connection

12:30, June 23, 2013
By Joanna Lobo

The prince’s Indian-Armenian ancestors revive interest in Indo-Armenian history

So, Britain’s Prince William is Indian.

Okay, he’s at least 1/256th Indian from his mother’s side, as reports
said last week. For those hiding under a rock when the news broke,
researchers have traced Lady Diana’s family line back six generations
to a woman named Eliza Kewark, whose father was an Armenian trader and
whose mother may have been Indian.

In 1812, Kewark gave birth to Prince William’s great, great, great,
great grandmother Katharine Scott Forbes in Gujarat. Tests reveal that
the Duke of Cambridge carries Kewark’s mitochondrial DNA that is only
inherited from mothers. That DNA has previously only been found in 13
Indians and one Nepali.

As the British and Indian media dissect this royal connection, there
is much discussion on how interracial affairs were common at that
time. Armenians and Indians have ties that can be traced to the Mughal
Empire. Besides his better-known Hindu and Muslim wives, Emperor Akbar
had an Armenian wife, Mariam Zamani Begum, as well as an Armenian
doctor and chief justice. This has been documented in `Armenians in
India’ by Mesrovb J Seth.

Armenians started migrating to India not just from the land of their
origin, but also from the Middle East during the 16th and 17th
centuries. Today, unofficial counts put their population here at 150.
But that doesn’t mean our ties are weakening. The Indian-Armenian
Friendship (IAF), an organisation devoted to inter-cultural ties,
notes that there are Armenian-Indian marriages still taking place in
India. The numbers are not spectacular, but for a community so tiny,
it is
remarkable.

Delhi-based businessman Rananjay Anand first met Armenian theologist
Ruzanna Ashughyan in 2009. By 2011, when Anand made his first visit to
Armenia, they had decided to get married. Their wedding in Yerevan
last year was a big affair – the entire Indian community was present,
including the then Indian ambassador to Armenia and his wife. The duo
lives in Delhi.

They interact with the sparse Indian-Armenian community via a Facebook
group that Anand started. `The community is scattered but there’s
greater people-to-people interaction. We have found out that there are
a number of Armenian girls married in India,’ he says. These women are
the brides of Indians who have studied medicine in Armenia, fallen in
love there and brought their brides back home.

In Kolkata, the Armenian College and Philanthropic Academy (ACPA) that
started in 1821 is evidence of centuries-old Indo-Armenian ties. The
college is open to Armenians whose education and lodging is sponsored
by the church and community.

Sevak Vartomiyan, 24, came from Iran in 2003 and studied at La
Martiniere, Kolkata. He is currently doing an IHM degree from ACPA. He
plays rugby for Armenian Sports Club and hopes to represent his
country one day.

The first Armenian church in Agra was consecrated in 1562, possibly
thanks to the patronage of the Mughals. At present, there are four
Armenian churches in Kolkata, one each in Chennai and Mumbai.

Zabel Joshi (Hayakian), the mother of actress Tulip Joshi, is the only
surviving Armenian in Mumbai and, thus, sole trustee of the
215-year-old St Peter’s Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church in Fort
that was established in 1796. It is now being used by the Malankara
Orthodox Syrians for services.

`The Chennai church is a heritage site. Once a year, a group from
Kolkata, led by one of the two priests in Kolkata, visits these
churches and conducts services,’ says Mike Stephen, 44, an Indian
Armenian, and the former caretaker of the Armenian Church of Virgin
Mary in Chennai. His family has been in India since 1860.

`I’m in contact with the college, the priests, and committees through
Facebook, email and phone calls. Besides I have around 3,800 Armenian
friends online from places like Ethiopia, Bulgaria and South Africa,’
he says.

While Stephen revels in the fact that Armenians are so spread out, his
friends are equally impressed that there are still Armenians in India.
The IAF is planning to create an official database of Armenians living
here. `We just want the two countries to come closer together,’ says
Anand.

The Family Tree

Elisabeth (Liz) Chater is much in demand these days. She has dedicated
her life documenting Armenian graves in India. Following the discovery
of Indian DNA in Prince William’s genes, Chater has received many
requests asking if she has come across any family connections or grave
markers for Eliza Kewark.

`With several hundred Armenian grave markers still to transcribe, it
is difficult to know, but [it’s] quite possible,’ says this family
history researcher who has a database of over 10,000 individual
Armenians and about 3,000 families who have had some connection with
India over the last three centuries.

She continues to research Armenian families in India and helps the
Indian-Armenian diaspora find their long-lost ancestors.

Daily News and Analysis, June 23, 2013

From: Baghdasarian