Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

‘MY MOTHER’S VOICE’: A DAUGHTER’S ACCOUNT OF HER MOTHER’S SURVIVAL
by Lilly Torosyan

April 3, 2013

Dr. Kay Mouradian’s novel, My Mother’s Voice, tells the biographical
story of the writer’s mother, Flora Munushian, and her journey of
surviving the genocide as a young teenage girl.

Dr. Kay Mouradian’s novel, My Mother’s Voice, tells the biographical
story of the writer’s mother, Flora Munushian, and her journey of
surviving the genocide as a young teenage girl.

The idea for the novel came decades later, when Munushian became ill,
impelling Mouradian to write about her mother’s past. “Often I felt
like a detective as I tried to piece together scenes that became
pieces of a puzzle. Researching and writing my mother’s story opened
avenues of discovery and knowledge that have enriched my understanding
of life,” she tells the Weekly in an interview.

Mouradian is professor emerita at the Los Angeles Community Colleges.

After retiring, she developed yoga and acupunc­ture strategies to
improve her health, and after her mother’s illness, pursued writing
as another avenue of healing.

“There are some in the literary community who say, ‘If you want to
know the facts, read a newspaper, but if you want to know the truth,
read a novel.’ That statement resonated in my brain. Feeling a deep
responsibility to history, I decided to write my mother’s story as
a novel to paint the truth of 1915 on a larger canvas,” she said.

All of the characters in My Mother’s Voice are either real or based
on real people. A couple of characters were created to reflect on the
truth of the time, Mouradian explained. “For example, Constantinople
was the center for white slavery in the early 1900â~@²s. I needed to
develop the possibility that Armenian girls could have been snared
into harlotry. Can I be specific to whom it happened? No, but the
threat was there,” she said, adding that “there is an element of
truth in every scene in my mother’s story.”

A film based on the novel premiered at the Pomegranate Film Festival
in Toronto last October, and received Honorable Mention for Best
Documentary. It was later screened as an official selection at the
ARPA film festival in Los Angeles. My Mother’s Voice serves as a
sequel to A Gift in the Sunlight, Mouradian’s first novel, also about
her mother’s life.

To purchase the novel, My Mother’s Voice, visit Mouradian’s website
at It is also available through Amazon.

From: Baghdasarian

LETTER TO THE EXTRACTIVE SECTOR CSR COUNSELLOR ON DENO GOLD MINING IN ARMENIA

Canadian Dundee Precious Metals is the 100% owner of Deno Gold Mining
company operating copper and gold mines in the south of Armenia.

There have been numerous reports in the Armenian media as well as
in private meetings with the workers of the company and residents
of the town of Kapan where Deno Gold Mining operates, on violations
of worker rights and environmental standards by the company. Even
the Armenian Government, who does not duly carry out its functions
of oversight and regulation, has issued orders to the company to
register the unregistered workers and pay them duly in accordance
with the Armenian Labor Code and has several times issued fines for
environmental damage due to ruptures of waste pipes.

Deno Gold Mining does not enjoy a reputation of a socially and
environmentally responsible company in Armenia. The company has also
been reported to have used or to have intended to use inhumane methods
of compelling workers not to miss work at night by using eletroshock.

While this news was later refuted by the company under the
justification that electoshock devices were obtained by the company
for a different reason and no workers have been assaulted by the
company with electoshock, the Armenian society remain distrustful
to Deno Gold Mining. In fact, it was the executive director Robert
Falletta and his wife that were immediately dismissed from work after
these reports were spread in 2011.

The Armenian society, particularly environmental and civic groups
are also frustrated that Deno Gold Mining has issued a suit against
an environmental activist in Armenia who has voiced this information.

Yeghia Nersisian, who speaks for improving the country’s heavy
environmental burden left from mining companies, has been sued for
defamation. This is an act of attempting to silence civic groups in
Armenia, who are, in fact, struggling under an authoritarian regime
for their right to free speech and democratic decision-making.

We believe that information that was found in press and in the social
networks as quoted from workers themselves, cannot be used against
an activist who repeats it, even though it was later refuted by
the company.

We would like to bring this issue, as well as the issue of grave
environmental damages often caused by the company, to your attention.

We request you, by using your powers, to convene an investigation on
the operations of Dundee Precious Metals in Armenia.

Save Teghut Civic Initiative

[email protected],

Contact person: Anna Shahnazaryan ([email protected])

Pan-Armenian Environmental Front, civic group

[email protected],

Contact person: Levon Galstyan ([email protected])

Jermuk Development Center, NGO

[email protected]

Contact person: Vazgen Galstyan ([email protected])

11:57 04/04/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

From: Baghdasarian

ERDOGAN SAYS NO SINGLE WORD OF TRUTH: ASSAD

April 3, 2013 – 13:33 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accused Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of not having said “a single word
of truth” about Syria’s conflict, in an interview with Turkish media
posted on the web, Hurriyet Daily news reported.

“Erdogan has not said a single word of truth since the beginning
of the crisis in Syria,” Assad told journalists working for Turkish
television Ulusal and Aydinlik newspaper.

The interview with Assad was conducted on Tuesday, April 2 and is to
run on Friday, according to the president’s YouTube channel.

In another extract from the interview, Assad condemned the killing on
March 21 of prominent pro-regime Sunni cleric Mohammed Saeed al-Bouti
as part of a plan to sow “sectarian strife” in Syria.

“There is no doubt that the role of clerics, including Dr Bouti,
was key to ensuring the failure of a covert plan to create sectarian
strife. That’s why they assassinated Dr Bouti,” Assad said.

From: Baghdasarian

DAVIT BABAYAN FINDS IT PREMATURE AND DIFFICULT TO EXPECT NEW SUGGESTIONS FROM CO-CHAIRS VISIT TO ARTSAKH

11:38, 3 April, 2013

YEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. It’s premature and difficult to expect
new suggestions from the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ visit to Artsakh
scheduled to be held on April 4. The Press Spokesman of the Artsakh
Republic President Davit Babayan stated this in a conversation with
“Armenpress”. He does not see objective preconditions for putting
forward new suggestions. Among other things the Press Spokesman
of the Artsakh Republic President noted: “Azerbaijan continues its
unconstructive and fascist policy. I don’t think that the time has
come for the new suggestions. Notwithstanding, this is a significant
mission, as they are working to maintain peace and stability in
the region.”

The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs paid a visit to Baku on April 1 and
they are intended to depart for Stepanakert by crossing the contact
line on foot. The OSCE monitoring is scheduled to be held on April 4.

During the monitoring the Co-Chairs will go to the Martakert region
of Nagorno Karabakh from Terter region and return to Azerbaijan during
the monitoring of the line of contact near Aghdam on April 5.

From: Baghdasarian

VAZGEN MANUKYAN SUGGESTED DISCUSSING ARMAVIA ISSUE WITH ALL INTERESTED PARTIES

12:01, 3 April, 2013

YEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS: The pilots of the Armenian National
Airline Company Armavia met with the Chairman of the Public Council of
the Republic of Armenia Vazgen Manukyan. As Armenpress was reported at
the Public Council Press Department, the Company’s pilots presented
their concerns about the current situation connected with Armavia
to the Chairman of the Public Council and discussed its consequences
and affects to the future activities of the pilots.

Vazgen Manukyan suggested organizing a wide discussion upon the
Armavia issue, pilots’ problems and the future of the Armenia’s civil
aviation in general with the participation of the representatives of
all interested structures.

From: Baghdasarian

DASHNAKS CONDEMN VILLAGE MAYOR MURDER, DEMAND PROMPT DETECTION OF CRIME

NEWS | 03.04.13 | 10:41

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) has strongly condemned the
murder of its member who served as a mayor of an Armenian village,
urging authorities to solve the crime as quickly as possible and
punish those who committed and organized it.

The body of 50-year-old Hrach Muradyan, the head of the village of
Proshyan in Armenia’s Kotayk province, was found near the village
administration building on Tuesday morning with a fatal gunshot wound
in the temple. The police said an unknown gunman had shot at the man.

No other details were released immediately.

In a statement later that day the ARF Executive Council of Armenia
said Muradyan became a victim of a “premeditated, preplanned murder”.

“It is obvious that this crime is a result of the atmosphere of
impunity and intolerance,” it said.

It described Muradyan as “a stalwart member of ARFD who followed
a glorious military path from the very beginning of the Artsakh
liberation war to its end.”

“Being an independent person committed to the people’s interests,
Hrach Muradyan was popular with the village residents, which caused
discontent of some people. An attempt was always made to create tension
around him. He received numerous threats, which finally resulted in
his death,” the statement said.

“We should note with deep regret that the security of citizens is
not guaranteed in our country and criminal behavior has become an
integral part of our life.

The bullet that took Harch Muradyan’s life was aimed not only against
an honest Armenian and a compassionate head of a village, but also
against Armenian statehood.”

From: Baghdasarian

YEREVAN CITY POLLS 2013: ENVIRONMENTALISTS CALL FOR ATTENTION TO THEIR CONCERNS

10:19 ~U 03.04.13

Ahead of the Yerevan municipality elections, Armenian environmentalists
call upon the running political forces to offer new approaches and
solutions to the urban development activities and environmental
problems in the capital city.

Speaking to Tert.am, Karine Danielyan, President of the Association for
Sustainable Human Development NGO, said she considers photochemical
toxic fog the number one environmental problem in Yerevan. Its main
hazards, according to her, are presence of ozone, nitrogen oxides
and dust in the air.

Apres Zohrabyan, head of the environmental club Bnatatchar
(environmental monument), appeared very critical of the open basalt
mine operating on the territory of the former Youth Palace.

Hrachik Poghosyan, who heads an urban development council adjacent
to the City Hall, said he was among the first to openly condemn the
plan for exploiting a mine in central Yerevan.

He said the chief architect of Yerevan, Narek Sargsyan, had earlier
addressed an open letter to the Youth Palace’s former owner, Edward
Avetisyan (who owns the Armenia Motors company) in this connection.

“It had the following content: you own a building and have specific
timeframes, but you fail to do what you are supposed to. If that is
the case, say what you intend to do. If you do not take any measures,
let then the state take the land from you and hand it to anyone else
who would do something. As for the reply, it wasn’t that serious,
to the best of my understanding,” he told our correspondent.

Tert.am later tried to contact the company for comments, but employees
said the only person who could talk on the matter was their director,
who appeared to be out of office at the moment.

Poghosyan, who is a member of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia,
said he is against unfinished constructions in any part of the capital
city. He called for the municipal authorities’ efforts to take proper
care of buildings left unattended by private companies.

The Yerevan municipality election is slated for May 5. Seven political
forces, including the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, the
Prosperous Armenia party, the opposition Armenian National Congress,
the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaksutyun, the Rule of Law
party and Heritage have submitted bids for the City Council.

Armenian News – Tert.am

From: Baghdasarian

ARMAVIA’S PROPRIETOR GOING BANKRUPT IN ALL DIRECTIONS – NEWSPAPER

April 03, 2013 | 07:15

YEREVAN. – Hraparak daily learned from an office employee of Armenia’s
Armavia Airline Company that they are conducting an accounting of
the plane tickets they had sold, the daily reports.

“While the victims of Armavia’s bankruptcy are staging demonstrations,
its proprietor Mikhail Baghdasarov is abroad. [But] Armavia’s press
secretary Nana Avetisova said he will return to [capital city]
Yerevan today [that is, on Wednesday].

Also, rumors are circulating in the city, [and] with respect to
the sale of gasoline and natural gas pumping stations belonging to
Baghdasarov. [But] Avetisova was uninformed about this.

According to our information, [Yerevan’s] FC Mika [, which likewise
belongs to Baghdasarov,] is in a difficult financial situation, too.

The footballers have not been paid salaries for two months, and they
fear that Armavia’s bankruptcy will reflect [negatively] on the fate
of the club.

We tried to verify this information from Mika Armenia football team
coach Aram Voskanyan. He responded that the team is training as normal.

‘There are problems, but they do not affect our daily sport lives,’
he said,” Hraparak writes.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

From: Baghdasarian

BULLET FRAGMENTS EXTRACTED FROM HEAD OF PROSHIAN VILLAGE ADMINISTRATOR

Wednesday,
April 03

Following the murder of Proshian village administrator Hrach Muradian
this morning, the scene of the crime was examined, as a result of
which traces of a blood-resembling liquid were discovered and sent
for biological tests, according to the police.

Forensic experts extracted bullet fragments from Hrach Muradian~Rs
head. Ballistics tests will be carried out to determine the bullet~Rs
caliber and the type of the gun.

An investigation is underway.

02.04.2013, 18:03

Aysor.am

From: Baghdasarian

RULING PARTY: BAKU WANTS MINSK GROUP TO PUT PRESSURE ON ARMENIA

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
April 2 2013

By Sara Rajabova

Baku wants the mediating OSCE Minsk Group to put pressure on Armenia
and take action to force Armenia to peace in order to achieve peace
in the region, the ruling Yeni (New) Azerbaijan Party’s (NAP) Deputy
Executive Secretary Mubariz Gurbanli has said.

“Unfortunately, the Minsk Group co-chairs, as intermediaries, allow
the postponement of this issue’s resolution,” Gurbanli told the
NAP website while commenting on the delayed peace process over the
long-standing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a brutal war in the early 1990s that
concluded with the signing of a fragile cease-fire. Since the war,
Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s
territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions.

Mediators from Russia, France and the U.S. — co-chairs of the
OSCE Minsk Group — have been brokering peace talks over the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict since the 1994 ceasefire, but their efforts
have not produced any result yet.

Stressing the importance of continuing the negotiations, Gurbanli
noted Azerbaijan’s continuous involvement in the process.

According to him, despite many provocative steps taken by Armenia,
Azerbaijan patiently remains involved in the talks.

He also noted a need for a visit of the co-chairs to the region in
the context of the recent downturn in the negotiation process.

Khojaly airport, ‘another trick of Armenia’

Speaking about the issue of reopening the Khojaly airport in
Nagorno-Karabakh, Gurbanli stated that he deems this as another trick
of Armenia.

“Armenia does not need the Khojaly airport. Opening flights between
Yerevan and Khojaly is of no significance either economically or from
a different perspective. If the flights are opened, there will be no
major outflow and inflow from Yerevan to Khankendi and vice versa,”
he said, adding that the statement on the opening of this flight is
just another Armenian provocation.

Armenia media frequently reports that the airport in Khojaly is to
be commissioned in the near future.

Recently, Chief of the General Department of Civil Aviation (GDCA)
of Armenia Artyom Movsisyan stated that this body will allow civil
aircraft to fly to the occupied territory of Azerbaijan.

According to Movsisyan, flights will be carried out on board 19-seat
Armenian planes. The duration of a flight will be 45 to 50 minutes. He
declined to disclose dates.

Earlier, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry stated that commissioning
of the airport is an open violation of the Convention on International
Civil Aviation adopted on December 7, 1944 in Chicago.

Gurbanli believes Armenia is seeking to divert attention from other
problems and direct the efforts of both international and Azerbaijani
diplomats to the issue.

“Alongside, by putting the issue on the agenda, the Armenian side
is trying to further provoke Azerbaijan and benefit from steps to
be taken by Azerbaijan in case of opening the airport. Azerbaijan is
perfectly aware of all this and openly states its position,” he added.

He emphasized that regarding this issue, there is a requirement of
the International Civil Aviation Organization, as well as the norms
of international law.

“While this is not adhered to, the opening of this flight will be
considered illegal. International organizations, the co-chairs and
certain states have criticized Armenia’s attempts. At the same time,
the co-chairs should demonstrate a particular position. Armenia should
know that this provocation will turn against it,” he added.

Last week, First Deputy Chairman of Azerbaijan’s Parliament, Ziyafat
Asgarov, also stated that by making such statements the Armenian
authorities try to distract people’s attention from more important
issues.

He said the falsifications in the presidential elections in Armenia,
as well as poor socio-economic situation, have heightened tensions
in the country and therefore it draws the people’s attention to the
Karabakh problem to distract them from the mentioned problem and to
prolong the conflict.

Besides, Azerbaijan’s Civil Aviation Administration recently condemned
Armenia over the statement on the opening of flights from Yerevan to
Khankendi and vice versa, saying these actions are not in line with
international law.

Azerbaijan has banned the use of airspace of its Armenian-occupied
territory Nagorno-Karabakh, as no one can guarantee the safety of
the area.

The International Civil Aviation Organization and European Civil
Aviation Conference support Azerbaijan’s position on the issue.

Document No.121 on airports of the ICAO cited the Khojaly airport as
property of Azerbaijan.

International flights from the Khojaly airport, constructed in 1978,
were prohibited after the occupation of territories by Armenia. The
Khojaly airport, which has been registered in international
organizations with the name UB13, is a facility with military purposes.

From: Baghdasarian