Author: Chalian Meline

Upcoming Events

January 31-
Stage One, Humanitarian Outreach & International Disaster Relief. Held
at Fordham University. For more information, please e-mail
[email protected]

February 28-
Kieger Essay Contest deadline. For more information, please contact
[email protected]

March 1-
Sunday Workshop from Association for Spirituality & Psychotherapy
(ASP), ‘Transforming Fear and Panic’. For more information, please
e-mail [email protected]

March 1-15-
United Nations, CSW 53. ‘Commission On The Status of Women’. For more
information, please visit

March 12-25-
Mission to Sierra leone. For more information, please e-mail
[email protected]

April –
AASSSG, Outstanding Achievement Award to Elie Weisel. For more
information, please e-mail [email protected]

April 23-25-
ASA Conference at Columbia University. For more information, please
visit

May 15-30-
Dr. Kalayjian presents in a lecture tour throughout Australia. For
more information, please e-mail [email protected]

June 15-28-
MHOP Mission to Armenia. For more information, please e-mail
[email protected]

July 1-5-
ICP Conference in Mexico City.

September 2-6-
United Nations DPI NGO Conference held in Mexico City. For more
information, please visit

Past Events
October 19-
CUNY, Dr. Kalayjian is key note speaker on ‘Crisis and Mass Trauma:
Healing and Meaning-Making’

November 14-
20th Greater New York Conference on Behavioral Research. Held at
Fordham University.

November 22-
Dr. Kalayjian holds training session.

December 11-12-
Workshop on humiliation and Violent Conflict. Dr. Kalayjian presented
on ‘Challenged to Transforming Humiliation’. For more information,
please visit eeting10.php

Announcement for Internship Availability!!
All internships are conducted under the supervision of Dr. Ani
Kalayjian – Founder and Director of the ATOP.
Internships include the following:
Fundraising
Public Relations
Videography & Photography
Research

Any creative contributions are welcomed and greatly appreciated A
preceptor will guide you initially and as needed throughout your
term. Kindly send your resume and short statement of purpose and
length and kind of internship.
E-mail: [email protected]
_____________________
Please visit:

Spring_2008_L R_www.pdf
and read about Dr. Kalayjian receiving Teacher’s College Alumni Award!!
_____________________

Humanitarian Outreach Training Class, Fordham University, October 2008

December 5th Solstice Celebration, United Nations committee for
Spiritual Values and Global Concerns

Speakers following UN presentation at Uganda House, left to right,
Aiyoka Quinones, Joy Carol, Dr Ani Kalayjian, John Bolling, Georgina
Galanis

Week of Spirituality United Nations Committee for Spiritual Values and
Global Concerns Oct 2008 left to right Georgina Galanis, Ambassador
Chowdhury, Dr Ani Kalayjian

ATOP Outreach Project to Sierra Leone
As many of you are aware, the economic and social situations in
Sierra Leone are unstable. The population in Sierra Leone is
6,144,562, and according to the Central Intelligence Agency World Fact
Book, 44.8% are between the ages of 0 and 14. The death rate is 22.64
deaths per 1,000; while the infant mortality rate is 158.27 deaths per
1,000. HIV/AIDS is also a devastating problem in Sierra Leone with 7%
of the adult population struggling with the disease. In 2001 alone,
there were 170,000 people living with it and approximately 11,000 died
from it. The literacy rate of individuals over the age of 15 is also
at a low of 35.1% of the population. Too often children are abducted
from their homes to serve as child soldiers. There are currently
300,000 child soldiers fighting in 30 countries. 10,000 child soldiers
fought in Sierra Leone ‘s 10-year civil war, and an additional 500,000
are in paramilitary groups (). These children are left to
face a grim future with little help or support from their government.
Although the civil war ended in 2002, the effects are still being
experienced. An estimated 50,000 people died during the war. Sierra
Leone is now facing new challenges and is on the long road to
recovery. The war has left thousands of people without homes,
families, and hope. In addition, the war has left the educational
system in deplorable condition. Residents of Sierra Leone are now
facing the challenges of trying move forward with little support from
their country. Meaningful World seeks to aide in this process;
however, we cannot do so without your support.
The Association for Trauma Outreach & Prevention (ATOP), and
Meaningful World, a New York based organization devoted to fostering a
meaningful, peaceful, and just world, have collaborated with Njala
University (NU) in Freetown, and Saving Lives Through Alternate
Options (slao.org) for a mission in Sierra Leone to conduct the Mental
Health Humanitarian Outreach Trainings.
This mission is vital to ensure that our aide and efforts can be
delivered to these children in need. We will be flying directly to
Freetown conducting trainings and then we will be traveling to Bo (4
hours away) and will conduct trainings to the professionals as well as
conducting healing and processing groups for adults and children in
two different refugee camps. This mission however cannot be
successful without your support. Therefore, we are kindly asking for
any donations that you are able to give to ensure that this trip is
productive.
If you would like to help support ATOP on the outreach mission,
please send donations to: (checks payable to ATOP). Meaningful World,
c/o Dr. Ani Kalayjian, 139 Cedar Street, Cliffside Park , NJ
07010-1003

Biopsychosocial & Eco-Spiritual Model Goes To United Nations
The Mental Health Outreach Program developed by Ani Kalayjian
utilizes this model, a series of consecutive seven-steps through which
various aspects of traumatic exposure are assessed, identified,
explored, processed and worked through. The following are the seven
steps of the Biopsychosocial, & Eco Spiritual Model:
1. Assess Levels of Post Traumatic Stress: Participants will be given
a written questionnaire, the Reaction Index Scale, revised and used by
Dr. Kalayjian in previous disasters to determine the level of
posttraumatic stress symptomatology.
2. Encourage Expression of Feelings: One at a time, each member in
the group is encouraged to express their feelings in the `here and
now,’ in relationship to the disaster they have experienced.
3. Provide Empathy and Validation: Survivors’ feelings will be
validated by the group leaders using statements such as `I can
understand…,’ or that `It makes sense to me….’ and sharing
information about how other survivors from around the world have
coped.
4. Encourage Discovery & Expression of Meaning: Survivors will be
asked `What lessons, meaning or positive associations did you discover
as a result of this disaster?’ This question is based on Viktor
Frankl’s logotherapeutic principles: That there could be a positive
meaning discovered in the worst catastrophe. As well as the Buddhist
assertions that it takes darkness to appreciate and reconnect with
light. Again, each member of the group will be invited to focus on
the strengths and meanings that naturally arise out of any disaster
situation.
5. Provide Didactic Information: Practical tools and information are
given on how to gradually move back to one’s home or work place
utilizing the systematic desensitization process.
6. Eco centered processing: Connecting with Gaia, Mother Nature.
Discussions and exercises around environmental connections. Ways to
care for one’s environment are shared. List of mindful acts are shared
to help co-create an emerald green world.
7. Provide Breathing and Movement Exercises: Breath is used as a
natural medicine, and a healing tool. Since no one can control
nature, others and what happens outside of one’s self, survivors are
assisted in controlling how they respond to the disaster. This will
be an experiential section of the model.

November 22, 2008 Training
On Saturday, November 22, 2008, ATOP and Meaningfulword.com
presented Stage III: Cultivating A Meaningfulworld View and Seeds of
Forgiveness Training at Fordham University from 10:00am to 5:00pm. The
day was kicked off by a beautiful breakfast that included; bagels,
fruit, juices, coffee in addition to more exotic provisions such as
specialty teas and a unique honey spread. After breakfast Georgi read
a prayer and Dr. Kalayjian began the didactic portion of the
presentation. Everyone in attendance was actively engaged and
Dr. Kalayjian’s PowerPoint on the environmental and technological
effects prompted several questions from participants.
After the release and validation, the next step in the
Biopsychosocial and Eco Spiritual Model is learning a positive lesson,
and discovering a new meaning from their negative experiences.
Participants were asked to search for a deeper lesson to replace the
negative feeling that was just released. The following positive
lessons were learned: to identify and appreciate aspects of ourselves
of which we are proud, to be grateful for being here and to allow
ourselves to be free from reoccurring thoughts about the past, to look
past our apprehensions of the future and to find faith in not only
those around us, but also within ourselves.
The last step of the model focuses on therapeutic use of breath;
therefore the group progressed to a group meditation. The participants
collected themselves emotionally and intellectually while listening to
a fifteen minute guided meditation conducive to both introspection and
relaxation. Dr. Kalayjian then asked all participants to stand up in a
circle and while holding hands and connecting on the soul level each
participant shared their feelings of gratitude. The workshop
concluded with one of the participants shared a song he had composed
in response to the election of President-elect Barack Obama. His
performance was especially moving, and a very appropriate way to
conclude such a spiritual day.

Research Panel on "Trauma Across The Nations"
New York , NY : On Friday, November 14, faculty, students, and
researchers gathered at Fordham University from numerous universities
to celebrate the 20th Greater New York Conference on Behavioral
Research. Dr. Kalayjian and Elissa Jacobs ( Columbia University )
organized and co-chaired a research panel on Trauma across Nations:
Lessons from Armenia , Iraq , India , Pakistan , Lebanon , as well as
on Gun Control around the Globe.
The presentations were delivered with clarity and enthusiasm by a
diverse student panel. They presented using PowerPoint didactic
information, researched facts and photographs to give attendees a
comprehensive view of "Trauma across Nations.’ From Pakistan to
Armenia , to the Middle East , and across the globe, the jarring facts
of war and conflict prevailed, but not without the hope of healing and
peace.
First, Elissa Jacobs introduced the panelists. Then, Dr. Kalayjian
spoke about the humanitarian outreach groups organized by the
Association for Trauma Outreach & Prevention (ATOP) and the
interventions of the Mental Health Outreach Project (MHOP) in over
twenty disaster/war areas.
Christina DiLiberto, presented a paper on `Gun Control around the
Globe.’ Her work covered policies of nations such as the United States
, Canada , Australia , Europe, South Africa , Nigeria , China , India
, and the Middle East .
Shivani Nath, Adjunct Assistant Professor at Kean University ,
presented her research on the `Intergenerational Transmission of
Trauma among Indians and Pakistanis,’ since the Partition of British
India in 1947. Her research demonstrated the continuing challenges of
reconciliation and that the pain of unresolved trauma still persists.
Bindia Patel presented on the research that she and Dr. Kalayjian
are conducting on the `Post Traumatic Stress in Iraqi Refugees in
Armenian.’ She was challenged to find up-to-date estimates of human
losses in the US Iraq invasion, however stated that in 2003 the number
of human losses was 30,000.
The last presenter was Katie Czado, a senior at Fordham University
who presented on `Post War Recovery: A Lesson from Lebanon ‘s Mental
Health Professionals.’ The MHOP team was invited to Lebanon to
conduct post war recovery and training for the Lebanese Psychological
Association as well as faculty of American University of Beirut .
Dr. Kalayjian’s Bio-Psychosocial and Eco-Spiritual Model was the
answer to PTSD and intergenerational transformation in the
aforementioned countries. In combination with conflict resolution
techniques, peace-building leadership, compassion and empathic
listening exercises, the Mental Health Outreach Program provides tools
to hone skills and direct passion into service for the greater good.

Women’s Rights ARE Human Rights
The 61st Annual UN DPI NGO Conference took place at UNESCO in Paris
. Around 2,000 NGO’s from over 90 countries were present.
Dr. Kalayjian organized and Chaired a workshop on Women’s rights ARE
Human Rights. This workshop was sponsored by Armenian International
Women’s Association (AIWA), cosponsors were: World Wide Network for
Gender Empowerment (WNGE), Association for Trauma Outreach &
Prevention (ATOP), MaMa Na DaDa, AframGlobal Organization, Inc. Int.,
and Meaningfulworld.com. Although there were 13 concurrent sessions,
over 150 people attended. Dr. Kalayjian began the session with a
gratitude as she lit 6 candles (one for each decade) celebrating the
60th anniversary of the Human Rights Declaration. Although sixty
years have passed, she noted that the Declaration unfortunately is at
its infancy in many countries. Then she highlighted all the
advancements and efforts of AIWA on behalf of Armenian women around
the globe.
Dr. Kalayjian reviewed the violations of human rights in six
regions, including North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, Middle
East, and Africa . Examples of violations include: Female genital
cutting has been a crime since 1965, punishable by life in prison or
death, but in 40 years, no case has ever been brought to trial and the
UN Children’s Fund says 99% of women in Guinea are cut, a rate
unchanged for decades. Family matters in Iran , Egypt , Israel ,
Lebanon , Pakistan , Afghanistan , and Saudi Arabia are governed by
religion-based personal statues codes; many of these laws treat women
essentially as legal minors under the eternal guardianship of their
male family members. In Latin America , the most pernicious types of
women’s human rights abuses are in women’s reproductive and sexual
health and rights, discrimination, and violence against women in the
workplace and home. Women’s employment among regular workers has
dropped drastically by 20%, indicating the higher rates of
retrenchment, while that for men dropped by only six percent in South
Korea . Human trafficking violence against women and social
protection of women from minority groups are still areas of concern in
many parts of Europe.

UN Workshop on "Seeds of Foregiveness"
As part of the United Nations Week of Spirituality, under the
auspices of the Committee of Spiritual Values and Global Concerns, the
working group of Health Transformation and Spirituality presented
`Cultivating the Seeds of Forgiveness: Transforming Trauma to Meaning
Making and Peace Building.’ This presentation held at the Uganda
House was chaired by Dr. Ani Kalayjian, an internationally recognized
expert on the psychological effects of trauma in disaster victims.
She has worked extensively with veterans of the Gulf and Vietnam wars,
with survivors of the Holocaust and Ottoman-Turkish Genocide of the
Armenians, and with survivors of earthquakes and hurricanes.
Dr. Kalayjian began by creating a setting of peace and tranquility
with a moment of silence observed. A Forgiveness Altar was lit with
colorful persimmon candles and a festive autumnal runner. Placed in
the center of the large conference table, the altar included items
from multiple denominations; Hebrew, American Indian, nature inspired,
Orthodox, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, and Shinnyo-en. Unique
representations of interfaith included saraswati, the goddess of
abundance, a stone buddha, hand painted Greek icons, Islamic poetry, a
Burmese communal plate, an American Indian doll and terra cotta
rabbit, a brass tooled Indian candle bed, cherry blossom leaves, and
seeds of forgiveness. After a short introduction, discussant, and
sacred activist Georgina Galanis honored Eleanor Roosevelt with a
historical quote and tribute centering on human rights. She then
introduced the speakers, with a brief highlight on their work and
focus for the presentation.

This message was sent by: Association for Trauma Outreach and
Prevention, 185 E 85 Street, New York, NY 10028

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2009 AS MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT SEE IT
Lena Badeyan

"Radiolur"
06.01.2009 17:37

At the beginning of every year everyone hopes that the new year
is going to be better than the previous one. This year is not an
exception. In 2008 many negative events took place in the world in
general and Armenia, in particular. There are predictions that some
events of the past year will develop in 2009.

According to Deputies of the National Assembly, 2008 has created
certain bases for the developments expected in 2009. Thus, last
year people were saying that former Speaker of the National Assembly
Tigran Torosyan was going to shape a new political force that would
play an essential role in the domestic political life. "Radiolur"
tried to find out the truth personally from Tigran Torosyan.

"All the rumors were ungrounded. Unfortunately, the political life
in Armenia is very simple. There are people who try to solve some
issues with primitive rumors, leaving aside the problems that really
need to be solved.

There have been many rumors, but if I decide to choose another way
of political activity, I will let the public know. There can be no
secret politics, moreover, there can be no secret political party,"
Tigran Torosyan said.

Without any predictions one can state that in line with the commitments
before the Council of Europe and the constitutional reforms, this
year the ci tizens of Yerevan will for the first time elect the
Mayor. This and many other events will activate the political life
in the country, Press Secretary of the Republican Party of Armenia,
MP Edward Sharmazanov is assured.

"2009 is a serious year. It’s going to be a hard year for all of us.

It will be an active political year: on ne hand, the negotiations on
Nagorno Karabakh will continue on the foreign political front. Besides,
I hope that the Armenian-Turkish relations will enter a new phase,
especially considering that the Armenian side has taken the first step,
and the ball is now on the Turkish side. Let’s not forget, either, that
President Gul has already taken the response step by inviting President
Sargsyan to watch the Turkey-Armenia qualifier in October 2009."

President of the National Assembly of Armenia Hovik Abrahamyan also
predicts a serious year.

"I think that in 2009 we have really serious issues to solve and I’m
confident that we will succeed in solving those problems in case the
authorities of our country, the political forces are united. That is
my objective. In 2009 we should work together to solve all the issues
we face."

The dialogue between the authorities and the opposition should finally
take place this year, Secretary of the Prosperous Armenia Party Aram
Safaryan says. However, he considers that the main events will be
connected with the wor ld crisis.

"2009 is going to be a hard year. The consequences of the crisis may
become more tangible than in 2008, and that is why I expect that
the government will avoid tax policy that will make the small and
medium-sized businesses face additional hardships," Aram Safaryan says.

PRESS RELEASE

The Genocide Education Project
51 Commonwealth Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 264-4203
[email protected]
www.GenocideEd ucation.org

Contact: Raffi Momjian ([email protected])

NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR SOCIAL STUDIES HOSTS GENOCIDE EDUCATION WORKSHOP
008.htm

Houston, TX, 11/14/08 – At the 88th annual conference of the National
Council for Social Studies, The Genocide Education Project brought
educational resources about the Armenian Genocide to the country’s
history teachers.

Through a packed workshop and informational booth at the George R. Brown
Convention Center in Houston, Texas, teachers were exposed to a wide
range of historical and educational materials they can use to
incorporate the Armenian Genocide into their classes on WWI, genocide,
or human rights.

Each year for the past 6 years, The Genocide Education Project has
provided NCSS participants with a different workshop theme and new
lesson plans and instructional materials on the Armenian Genocide.

"The NCSS organization is like the beating heart of the Social Studies
education community in the in this country," said Raffi Momjian,
Executive Director of The Genocide Education Project. "The teachers who
attend this conference are committed to giving their students the best
and most broad understanding of history, in order to equip them to be
productive citizens. Each year, we welcome this opportunity to educate
more teachers about this important piece of history, and we’re confident
that those we have reached will take the lessons of the Armenian
Genocide back to their communities and their classrooms."

This year’s workshop, "Deadly Days: Studying Events that Sparked Select
Genocides," was developed and presented by Sara Cohan, the Genocide
Education Project’s Education Director. Drawing attention to the 70th
anniversary of Kristallnacht (the event that sparked the Holocaust), the
workshop led more than sixty teachers from schools from around the
country through a study of the parallel events that marked the onset of
the Armenian, Jewish, and Rwandan genocides. Using historical documents
including government orders and news reports, and exploring the key
causes of genocide and its meaning, the participants learned strategies
for teaching about multiple genocides. Educators were also provided a
resource CD including practical lesson plans and background materials
(timelines, eye-witness accounts, UN documents, government orders, news
reports, etc.), and were given guidance for locating more resources.

In addition to the workshop, The Genocide Education Project met hundreds
of teachers at its informational booth, discussing the importance of
addressing the subject of genocide and the particular case of the
Armenian Genocide, explaining the various resources available, and
distributing educational materials.

The Genocide Education Project, whose motto is, "Learning the Past,
Building the Future," is a nonprofit organization established in 2004,
to assist educators in teaching about human rights and genocide,
particularly the Armenian Genocide. The organization has developed and
distributed a variety of lesson plans, including online, interactive
lessons, and hosts educational workshops for school district
administrators, teachers, and students. Educators and students are
welcome to use The Genocide Education Projects "cyber resource library"
at

The National Council for Social Studies was founded in 1921 and is the
largest US association devoted solely to social studies education. It is
organized into more than 110 affiliated state, local, and regional
councils, and its members represent K-12 classroom teachers, college and
university faculty members, curriculum designers and specialists, and
leaders in the various social studies disciplines. NCSS defines social
studies as "the integrated study of the social sciences and humanities
to promote civic competence."

****

The Genocide Education Project is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3)
organization that assists educators in teaching about human rights and
genocide, particularly the Armenian Genocide, by developing and
distributing instructional materials, providing access to teaching
resources and organizing educational workshops.

Picture Caption:
Teachers attend The Genocide Education Project’s workshop during NCSS
Conference in Houston, Texas

The Messenger, Georgia
Dec 31 2008

Armenia-Azerbaijan rivalry

By Messenger Staff
Wednesday, December 31

The NABUCCO natural gas pipeline project plans are at an advanced
stage. Now all the players are actively trying to get the biggest
slice of the cake.

After the August Russian aggression Armenia became very active in
trying to persuade the NABUCCO initiators to run the pipeline through
its territory. Yerevan thinks it will thus improve its relations with
Turkey and thereby persuade Azerbaijan to make certain
concessions. Armenian PM Tigran Sarkisian, in an interview, has stated
that the country’s leadership is attentively following the development
of the NABUCCO project plans. The country suggests two possible
options which would gave it an advantage, the transit of natural gas
from Central Asia and from Iran.

Of course Armenia suggests that any pipeline should pass through its
territory and then on to Turkey. However Azerbaijan is one of the key
players in the NABUCCO project and it is against Armenia being
involved unless the Karabakh problem is solved.

ALL PROCEDURES FINISH TO ADOPT AZERBAIJAN’S MILITARY DOCTRINE: MP

Trend News Agency
Dec 29 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 29 /TrendNews, K.Zarbaliyeva/ Azerbaijan’s
Military Doctrine is fully prepared and will be discussed at a spring
session of the parliament, MP Zahid Oruj, a member of the Azerbaijani
Parliamentary Permanent Commission on Security and Defense Affairs,
told TrendNews on Dec. 29.

"An international experience has been studied in this field, features
of the region have been examined and all procedure stages have been
finished on its base to adopt a perfect document providing military
security of Azerbaijan," the MP said.

Although it was expected to discuss Military Doctrine of Azerbaijan
at autumn session of the parliament, this issue has not been included
in agenda.

NATO positively assessed Military Doctrine, Oruj said. Besides Military
Doctrine, it is planned to adopt other documents of military character
at a spring session of the parliament.

"A document entitled Strategic Defense Review has been developed for
2009-2015. This document describes principles of Military Doctrine,
as well," the MP said.

Military Doctrine describes Armenia as an invader, danger and enemy
for Azerbaijan.

In accordance with Military Doctrine, military service on the base
of a contract will be applied in the Army. Moreover, the document
comprises all field of army establishment, including establishment of
military industry and international military cooperation," Oruj said.

The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in
1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan
lost the Nagorno-Karabakh, except of Shusha and Khojali, in December
1991. In 1992-93, Armenian Armed Forces occupied Shusha, Khojali and
Nagorno-Karabakh’s seven surrounding regions. In 1994, Azerbaijan
and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time the active
hostilities ended. The countries keep on peace negotiating.

OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by USA, Russia, and France is engaged in
peace settling of the conflict.

The day Fox News calledIn 2003,
UTN1 became poster boys for the so-called liberation of Iraq: a
home-grown boy band who loved Westlife, wore Converse and sang in
English. So what happened next?

Stuart Jeffries
The Guardian,
Saturday 27 December 2008

One day shortly after the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Hassan Ali answered
the door to his family home in Baghdad. Some strange men were standing
on the doorstep. "I’d never seen anything like these huge armed men in
flak jackets. They were scary. My father was worried they were going to
kill us." The men turned out to be bodyguards for a Fox News crew, come
to interview Ali and the other four members of his band UTN1.

Fox News weren’t the first or last western journalists to visit. During
2003, wave after wave of advancing media troops from Britain and the US
fell on UTN1, each one withdrawing in triumph with the same putatively
sweet story. In the middle of the unremitting bleakness of war, here
was comforting, upbeat news about five cute guys who, inspired by
Boyzone and Westlife, had firmed their abs, modulated their harmonies
and followed a career path comprehensible to us in the west: they had
formed a boy band.

It was an irresistible story. UTN1 wore singlets – like Take That! They
pouted broodingly for the cameras – like Ronan Keating! They sang in
English and wore Converse! They crooned about peace, rather than
detonating themselves at army checkpoints!

Better yet, somehow these plucky guys had managed to imbibe western
popular culture (meaning the Spice Girls, Boys to Men and, just
possibly, Blue). They were a multicultural melange of Muslims and
Christians, Sunnis and Shias – thus pointing the way to the fine
democratic future that Bush and Blair said Iraq would enjoy as soon as
the west had won. In a marvellous piece of cultural imperialism, the
west wrote up these five men – Shant Garabedian (30), Akhlad Raof (28),
Artin Haroutiounian (31), Hassan Ali (26) and Nadeem Hamid (26) – as
Iraq’s only boy band, and a symbol of the country’s bright post-war
future.

The story suggested Iraqis wanted to be like us; and, more, that our
invasion was to liberate people like us from people – devils, really –
who weren’t.

Iraqi culture thus apparently consisted of citadels of western-facing
music and art in an otherwise toxic wasteland. Iraq had one boy band.
It also had just one heavy metal band, we learned, called Acrassicauda,
who had a similar tale of battling Saddam’s censorship to hear the
inspirational tones of Metallica and Napalm Death. If only western
journalists had dug deeper, they might have found Eminem’s spiritual
brother in Mosul, Iraq’s answer to Tracey Emin in Basra and an
underground network of Harry Potter nuts extending from Kurdistan to
the Gulf.

Only one problem with UTN1’s story as it appeared in the west. It
wasn’t true. "We weren’t a boy band," says Hassan, who is UTN1’s
guitarist and singer. "That was just a handle for the western media."

"We formed just before the millennium," recalls keyboardist
Haroutiounian. "We wanted to do something unique in the Arab-speaking
world: writing and performing our own songs in English." Their
ambitions were written into the band’s name: UTN1 stands for Unknown to
No One. "We were very influenced by Boyzone and Westlife. I was
fascinated by the Spice Girls."

Why, for the love of Mel C, why? " We liked the harmonies of singing
together in these groups. Each singer had a different line," says
Garabedian. "In Arabic music there is no such harmonising group
singing; it’s usually just one vocalist. We really wanted to do what
they did, but with our twist. Yes, we were inspired by western pop
music, but that was never all we were."

How did UTN1 feel about being made into poster boys for the liberation
of Iraq? "The media interest was an opportunity for us at the precise
moment when there were no other opportunities for us as musicians and
the future for musicians in Baghdad looked – as it has indeed proved to
be – very bleak," says Hamid. "We didn’t see ourselves as poster boys:
we saw ourselves as musicians struggling to carry on our careers in
very difficult circumstances."

But the band had previous in pursuing dubious-seeming opportunities.
They once wrote a song celebrating Saddam Hussein’s birthday; it was
commissioned by a radio station run by his son Uday. It’s not entirely
clear to me whether they were exploiting or exploited. "Let me explain
how that happened," says Artin Haroutiounian with a grin. "We wanted to
be the next U2, and we thought it was possible if we sang in English."
So the band wrote a love song that they wanted broadcast on the Voice
of Youth, an English-language radio station in Baghdad.

VoY agreed to play the song, but on one condition: UTN1 would have to
write another commemorating the birthday of Saddam.

"We wrote the song in three days!" says Raof. All five chuckle over
this memory as if it were just one of those crazy things one has to do
in showbiz, like Take That wearing nipple-gaping tops to titillate
pre-pubescent girls in the early 1990s. Didn’t you have qualms? "We
wanted our record played," says Haroutiounian, staring me down. Their
song included the following lines: "All bells let them ring/ As we all
will sing/ Long live dear Saddam." "They told us we had to use the word
‘Saddam’. Otherwise we probably wouldn’t," Haroutiounian says. VoY
played it incessantly, but only spun their love song once.

UTN1 went on to make an album of songs in English, funded by Alan’s
Melody, the only shop selling imported CDs in the Iraqi capital. Ali
says: "In Saddam’s Iraq there was no satellite TV, no internet, not
much access to the outside world, so [the shop’s] influence was vital."

They sent copies of their CD to record companies in London, says
Haroutiounian. "It is a capital of the musical world and we wanted to
go there." But it wasn’t to be. It was now late 2003 and the dictator
whose birthday UTN1 had been obliged to celebrate in song had been
swept from power and their homeland was being razed. "None of us had
passports and getting new ones in wartime was impossible. It would have
taken a year and a half."

As a result, the boys contemplated giving up music. Handily, while
working for an import-export company, Garabedian met an American
businessman called Larry Underwood whose Laudes Corporation was
operating in post-Saddam Iraq. After hearing the CD, Underwood, who saw
commercial possibilities of Iraq’s first ever international pop group,
decided to invest in them and so arranged for his new charges to go to
Jordan. Once in Amman, the members of UTN1 successfully applied for a
UK visa at the British embassy. As a result, they spent seven months in
London in 2005 and 2006, learning to dance, sing and finesse the
buffing of their six packs in the manner deemed requisite by UK style
gurus. "It is a great city and we want to go back there sometime," says
Haroutiounian. "Yes," agrees Raof, "we never did go on the London Eye."

Seemingly UTN1, funded by an American and groomed by Brits, was being
moulded to became even more western than before. Ali, who not only
plays guitar, but also oud on some UTN1 tracks, denies this: "Yes, we
perfected that kind of boy-band style, but our Iraqi identity is
clearly in the music." The band also uses the joza, a violin-like
instrument which Hassan describes as having "its own special scale of
sadness". You can hear it on their first single called While We Can. In
the song’s video (available on YouTube), children carry wooden guns
which they symbolically drop at the end. "It is about stopping war,"
says Haroutiounian. "That is what we believe in."

Once their UK visas ran out, UTN1 settled in Beirut. Why the Lebanese
capital? "It is impossible to make music in Baghdad. We are musicians,
so we are in Beirut," says Hamid. "If we were freedom fighters, we
would be in Baghdad."

Only one problem: they moved to Beirut in 2006, shortly before the
Israeli-Lebanon war broke out. "War seems to follow us," says
Haroutiounian. UTN1 withdrew to Amman, returning to Beirut only after
hostilities ceased.

They remain exiles in Lebanon. Do you want to go home? "We go back to
Baghdad occasionally," says Hamid, "and we would like to play a concert
there, but it is not clear whether that would be too risky. As for
living there – yes, perhaps, sometime, though who knows when?"

What do your families make of your chosen careers? "When we started
some of them thought it was crazy for us to try to make our livelihoods
in music. It just didn’t happen. But now we’re successful, we hear less
of this," says Ali. All five prefer not to discuss their families who
still live in Baghdad.

"One day," says Raof, "we hope to return to Baghdad. We want to set up
a music school there, or a music store, or do something for our
homeland. Iraq has too little music these days. We have been away for
too long and we have so much to give back."

We’re sitting in the new offices of UTN1’s management company in
central Beirut. From the fourth floor window one can see not just the
Mediterranean, but also gridlock reportedly caused by a Hezbollah
rally. Outside a muezzin is vying with the jackhammers and construction
cranes as he summons the faithful to prayer at the Al-Omari Mosque.
Beirut’s city centre is being rebuilt. Only in Shanghai have I been
more overwhelmed by the omnipresent sound of construction. This, I say,
to UTN1, is what Baghdad will sound like in a happier time. All five
giggle obligingly but none comments.

Instead, they tell me about their latest career move. Last year they
decided to start singing in Arabic, recording a single called Jamila,
which means beautiful. "It was number one across the Middle East," says
Haroutiounian proudly. Why was it a success? "Because we sang Arabic
but with western-style harmonies. There is nothing like it in the
world. It blew people’s minds." It did too: if you consult UTN1’s
MySpace page, you’ll find encomia from around the world.

Hassan Ali tells me they have already recorded an album of six English
and six Arabic songs and their management is waiting for the right time
to release it. "Our hope is to heal the wounds between east and west,
to spread a message of reconciliation."

Are you a political band? All five shake their heads. "We always wanted
to show that something good can come out of Iraq," says Haroutiounian.
"We are three Muslims and two Christians. We show how things are
changing in Iraq." I notice that on the band’s MySpace page, Nadeem
cites Robert Fisk’s The Great War for Civilisation: the Conquest of the
Middle East as one of his favourite books. "I will remove that
reference. I am not sure that I trust his politics, having now finished
the book."

Are you happy the British are leaving? "We’re glad that the withdrawal
shows that Iraqi police and soldiers can now look after their own
country," says Hamid.

What would you be doing if you weren’t successful in music? "I have a
qualification in agriculture so I would be a farmer," says Garabedian.
"I have a degree in chemistry, so I would be working for a
corporation," says Ali. "I would be a porn star," says Haroutiounian
who, I think, isn’t taking my question seriously. "I would be his
assistant," says Raof. "I studied biology," says Hamid, "but I don’t
see myself in a lab coat."

It’s all smiles until Hamid adds: "Actually your question is
impossible. None of us can imagine what we would have done. It’s hard
enough to know what you’ll be doing in two weeks’ time if you’re an
Iraqi. It’s too dangerous to imagine the future. Hassan couldn’t have
been an industrial chemist because for him to step outside his house in
Baghdad would have been suicide. Shant couldn’t farm – it would have
been too dangerous. And Art is Armenian so he would have been abducted
by some sect. Normal dreams weren’t available to us."

IRAN’S TOP SECURITY OFFICIAL TO VISIT ARMENIA IN 2009

Fars News Agency
Dec 25 2008
Iran

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Secretary
Saeed Jalili will pay an official visit to Armenia in 2009.

The decision was made during a meeting between visiting Iranian SNSC
Undersecretary Ali Bagheri and Armenia’s National Security Council
(SNC) Secretary Arthur Baghdasaryan in Yerevan on Tuesday.

The parties discussed a broad framework of issues related to the
deepening of relations between Iran and Armenia, stressing the
importance of considering those issues in the context of both regional
and international relations.

The two sides also agreed that the two countries have a great potential
for cooperation.

Reference was also made at the meeting to the construction of
the Iran-Armenia railway, an oil pipeline, as well as Tehran’s
participation in the construction of the Yerevan-Batumi highway.

The interlocutors underlined the necessity of raising the strategic
level of the two countries’ relations.

Ali Bagheri and Arthur Baghdasaryan emphasized the importance of taking
practical steps towards accomplishment of the agreements reached and
noted that it could be greatly promoted by the establishment of a
special committee between the Iranian and Armenian Security Councils.

Arthur Baghdasaryan invited his Iranian counterpart to pay an official
visit to Armenia. The visit will take place in 2009.

SOLANA: TODAY’S IMPULSE IN KARABAKH PROCESS SHOULDN’T BE LOST

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.12.2008 14:14 GMT+04:00

The European Union supports all forms of regional cooperation and
constructive dialogue meant to intensify relations between countries
in the region, the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy chief said.

"The EU welcomes the Moscow declaration of November 2 and the Helsinki
declaration of December 4, which confirm the sides’ aspiration for
a peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict," Javier Solana said.

Solana called on the sides to continue the constructive dialogue.

"Today’s impulse should not be lost. Progress in Karabakh talks will
also help normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia,"
he said, Trend Azeri news agency reports.

TURKISH-ARMENIAN BORDER TO BE OPENED IN 2009

The Messenger
Dec 22 2008
Georgia

Turkish newspaper Zaman supposes that the Turkish-Armenian border
might be opened as early as 2009. If Armenia produces a viable plan
to withdraw its forces from Azeri territory Turkey will be ready to
take the appropriate steps.

The newspaper hopes that the current confrontation will not prevent
the people of the region from finding a peaceful solution to
misunderstandings. The South Caucasus needs guarantees of permanent
stability and the people need peace and welfare, states the newspaper.

ONLINE APOLOGY FOR THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

France24
Dec 22 2008
France

After more than 90 years, Turkey is about to breaking a long-held
taboo. An online petition, apologising for the killing of Armenians
in 1915, has been issued by prominent Turkish academics.

Turkey is coming closer to breaking a long-held taboo on the Armenian
question. An online petition, apologizing for the killing of Armenians
in 1915, has been issued by prominent Turkish academics. In just 3
days, the text has been signed by 13,000 people.

On the other side, the petition is perceived as treason by Turkish
nationalists and has opened a public debate in Turkey. The issue may
not be resolved easily, but the dialogue itself is a giant step in
Turkish political history.