Author: Emil Lazarian

Armenian premier discusses local election with members of communities
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
12 Aug 05
[Presenter] Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan received
representatives of the Council of communities today. The meeting
discussed issues on the active participation of the Council of
communities in the process of constitutional amendments and
forthcoming election of local government bodies.
The Armenian prime minister welcomed the initiative of the Council of
communities in these two important issues and expressed his readiness
to discuss all problems and concerns of the heads of
communities. Touching on the decision to accept Yerevan as a
community, the prime minister pointed out that the issues concerning
the capital, including the law on Yerevan, will be discussed at the
National Assembly, where the representatives of the Council of
communities will also take part.
Speaking about the election of the local government bodies, Markaryan
said that it can play a role as the base for the forthcoming
presidential and parliamentary elections. The prime minister assured
that he will be make every efforts to protect parties running in the
election and conduct it in line with the democratic standards.
[Markaryan] During the election, the party affiliation should not be
significant with regard to the heads of the communities. Every elected
head of the community has to work with authorities irrespective of
their party affiliation, and party affiliation should not be
prioritized during the election and impact this process. I will also
try that members of my party are elected, but not at all costs. This
should be only within the framework of law.
[Video showed the meeting]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Toronto Star
Aug. 12, 2005. 01:00 AM
Trying to understand genocide
CAROL GOAR
There could scarcely be a grimmer way to spend a summer vacation than to
study the worst atrocities of which humanity is capable.
Yet every August, top students from around the world come to the University
of Toronto for a two-week course called Genocide and Human Rights. Its aim
is to equip young scholars to do what no generation has yet achieved: turn
the words “Never Again” into a reality.
Since the world made that solemn vow in 1948, it has failed to prevent
ethnically motivated slaughters in Cambodia, Burundi, Bosnia, Iraq and
Rwanda. It is now watching impotently as thousands of Darfuris are murdered
in western Sudan.
This year’s class, which holds its final session today, is a fascinating
group. There are three Rwandans, two of whom lost parents in the genocide of
1994. There is a Tanzanian lawyer who has set up a voluntary organization to
train human rights monitors. There is an Iranian expatriate, struggling to
understand how people can turn on their neighbours. There are grandchildren
of Holocaust survivors and great-grandchildren of Armenians whose families
were almost wiped out in the massacre of 1915. And there are Canadian and
American students, searching for a way to reconcile what they’ve learned
with the butchery they see in the world.
What they share is a willingness to look squarely into the face of evil and
an impatience with stock answers.
Let me take you into their classroom earlier this week.
Maj. Brent Beardsley, who served as personal staff officer to Maj.-Gen.
Roméo Dallaire in Rwanda, has just delivered a harrowing account of the
near-extermination of the nation’s Tutsi minority. Eric Markusen, an
American sociologist who served on a human rights panel interviewing Darfuri
refugees, is comparing the two African tragedies.
But the students are restless, troubled, tired of listening.
Markusen points out that the West has paid more attention, devoted more
resources and learned more about the atrocities occurring in Darfur than in
any previous genocide. “The U.S. and U.N. have gone in and done
investigations during the time of killing,” he says.
A hand shoots up. “What good is an investigation if there’s no action?” asks
Simon Maghakyan of Colorado.
Markusen politely acknowledges the importance of the query and presses on,
talking about the role Rwanda played in alerting the world to the crisis now
unfolding in Sudan.
But he is interrupted again. Lisa Ndejura, a Montrealer born in Rwanda,
wants practical guidance. “When we talk among the youth, we feel terrible
that we’re not doing more,” she said. “I want to know how we can do things
at the community level.”
Markusen’s presentation soon turns into a free-for-all, with students asking
tough, unanswerable questions: Is a black life worth less than a white life
in the eyes of the international community? Is it worse to ignore a genocide
or to study it and not stop it? Is the use of deadly force justified in
protecting innocent people?
No one minces words. The debate is stimulating, unflinching and ultimately
inconclusive.
The lack of tidy solutions does not bother Greg Sarkissian, president of the
International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, which
launched the program in 2002.
“It is designed primarily to raise awareness of the most gross violations of
human rights,” he says. “People thought there would never be another
Holocaust, but the same thing keeps happening and the world is barely aware
of it. More than 69 million people have been killed in various genocides.
“It shouldn’t just be the responsibility of the victims and their
descendants to stop these heinous crimes,” says Sarkissian, who lost many
relatives in the Armenian genocide. “We want to produce a generation of
scholars that will understand the warning signals of genocide, talk about
the issue and convince governments that it is in our national interest to
intervene before genocides take place.”
The students live together in a U of T dormitory. They form friendships
across racial and geopolitical lines, talk about traumas most outsiders
could barely imagine. “One of our goals is to turn that emotional energy
into an intellectual force,” Sarkissian says.
Although Ndejura finds it draining to talk about death from 9 a.m. to 5
p.m., she is glad she came. “These are questions that have haunted me for a
long time,” the Rwandan immigrant says. “It’s a relief to talk about them.”
As the segment on Rwanda and Darfur ends, Roger Smith, director of the
program, leaves the students with one last thought: “A genocide is not an
accident. It is a choice. It occurs because human beings make it happen and
let it happen.”
(Further information is available at )
Carol Goar’s column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
;c=Article&cid=1123797013924&call_pageid – 0599109774&col=Columnist969907622164&DPL=I vsNDS%2f7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA: ROUNDTABLE ON VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN
YEREVAN, 27 July – UNICEF, Council of Europe and representatives of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Labour and Social Issues
and State Police called today for immediate action to put an end to
violence against children in Armenia.
“In Armenia we need to give the issue of violence against children in
homes, schools and other places in their community the visibility and
public attention this deserves,” Sheldon Yett, UNICEF Representative in
Armenia said, addressing a round table organized on the heels of the
Regional Consultation on Violence Against Children held in Ljubljana on
5-7 July 2005. “It is essential that polices and procedures are in place
to help prevent violence against children, support child victims and
strengthen reporting, referral and response mechanisms.”
Studies in many countries have repeatedly shown that victims of physical
abuse during childhood have an increased risk of becoming violent
offenders themselves.
“Violence against children can occur everywhere, in every family and in
every society. In Armenia, as in almost all countries, it is often a
hidden problem that is vastly under-reported,” Yett said
A 2003 UNICEF Armenia survey found that poor living conditions,
unemployment and the psychological stress of poverty had resulted in an
increase in the number of cases of abuse and neglect not only in the
family but also in schools and children’s institutions.
The study revealed that in many families slapping and beating are
perceived as a “means of upbringing”. In many children’s institutions as
well as in schools corporal punishment is still a common practice.
The Ljubljana conference was hosted by the Government of Slovenia and
organized in close consultation with UNICEF, WHO the Council of Europe,
the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the NGO
Advisory Panel on the UN Study on Violence Against Children. The
consultation is one of nine worldwide that will feed into a major study
mandated by the UN General Assembly on Violence Against Children.
Representatives of 40 countries as well as 24 child delegates
participating in the Regional Consultations in Ljubljana adopted a final
document called “Ljubljana Commitment”. By adopting this document, the
Government of Armenia and other countries in the region pledged to take
immediate steps to tackle the problem of violence against children in
their respective countries and to adopt measures to prevent such cases
from happening in future.
For more information:
Emil Sahakyan, Communication Officer, UNICEF Armenia: (+374 10) 523 546,
[email protected]
—
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Lraper Church Bulletin 11/08/2005
Contact: Deacon Vagharshag Seropyan
Armenian Patriarchate
TR-34130 Kumkapi, Istanbul
T: +90 (212) 517-0970, 517-0971
F: +90 (212) 516-4833, 458-1365
[email protected]

ARMENIAN PATRIARCH TO ATTEND 20TH WORLD YOUTH DAY IN GERMANY
<; (Click the "ENG" button on the left hand side corner of the page) The Chancellery of the Armenian Patriarchate announced that His Beatitude Mesrob II, Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul and All Turkey, will be leaving for Cologne, Germany, on Tuesday, 16 August, and will be returning to his See on Monday, 22 August. The Patriarch has been invited to Germany by Their Eminences Cardinal Karl Lehmann, Bishop of Mainz & President of the German Catholic Bishops' Conference, and Cardinal Joachim Meisner, Archbishop of Cologne, in order to participate in the 20th World Youth Day. On Tuesday, 16 August, Patriarch Mesrob will be joining the youths from the Catholic Students' Parish of Muenster. On Wednesday, 17 August, the Patriarch will be taking part in a stage programme titled "Study for Love and Justice" - a talk focusing on Christian-Muslim dialogue and reconciliation with Martin Buchholz of the West German Broadcasting Corporation. On Thursday, 18 August, the Patriarch will be taking part in another public talk, this time with His Excellency Bishop Heinrich Mussinghoff of Aachen, aboard the "Friend-Ship" of the Catholic Students' Parish of Muenster. The theme of the talk will be: "We are all children of Abraham: Christians and Muslims - can we live together in peace? Inspired by the Gospel, reconciliation can be found." On Friday, 19 August, His Beatitude the Patriarch will be participating in the International Conference of Delegations for Pastoral work at Universities, along with His Eminence Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, Prefect of Catholic Education, Vatican, and His Excellency Bishop Mussinghoff. On Saturday, 20 August, in the late afternoon, the Patriarch will attend the Vigil with the youth and with His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. On Sunday, 21 August, in the morning, His Beatitude will attend the Holy Mass celebrated by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. On Monday, 22 August, in the afternoon, His Beatitude the Patriarch will be returning to Istanbul. In Cologne, Patriarch Mesrob will be assisted by the Revd. Fr. Drtad Uzunyan, His Beatitude's staff-bearer; Ms. Jaisy Manthuruthil and Mr. Michael Bruening, both young guides have been assigned to accompany him. He will also have a chance to meet His Grace Archbishop Karekin Bekciyan, Primate of the Armenian Diocese of Germany - a graduate of the Holy Cross Patriarchal Seminary (Surp Hac Tbrevank) in Istanbul.

Azeri ruling party pickets opposition office
Space TV, Baku
10 Aug 05
[Presenter] Another protest was staged outside the office of the
People’s Front of Azerbaijan Party [PFAP] today. The police managed to
stop the picket staged by members of the [ruling] New Azerbaijan Party
[NAP] who protested against the actions of Ruslan Basirli [leader of
the New Thought youth movement who is suspected of cooperating with
the Armenian special services].
[Correspondent] Before the protest started, members of the Sabayil
district police department gathered outside the PFAP office to ensure
security and one got the impression that there would be no incident.
Shortly afterwards, the first groups of pickets came from the office
of the New Azerbaijan Party. The pickets were chanting – Down with
[PFAP leader] Ali Karimli. Despite the police cordon, they attempted
to approach the party office, but failed.
The police tried to push the protesters away from the party office.
The NAP picket against collaboration in Tbilisi between Armenians and
the leader of the New Thought youth movement, Ruslan Basirli, has
already ended.
[Video showed the pickets carrying banners, chanting slogans and
police]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian Rhapsodies
Syracuse New Times (The Central New York Alternative)
August 10, 2005
By Colette Hebert
A hero to Armenians around the world, Syracuse musician, composer and
recording artist Daniel Decker has written two nationalist songs that
have gained much positive response. Always interested in music from
other cultures, Decker frequently travels to his homeland to present his
music, most recently in April to memorialize the Armenian genocide that
began in 1915.
During his first trip to Armenia in 2001, Decker heard a captivating
melody while shopping at an open-air market. Moved by the piece, he
located the composer, Ara Gevorkyan, and grew interested in writing
lyrics to the music. With Gevorkyan’s approval, Decker’s lyrics created
the successful song, “Noah’s Prayer,” based on the story of Noah and his
ark on Mount Ararat. The song’s premiere was accompanied by the Armenian
Opera Orchestra during the Independence Day celebration in front of
Mount Ararat. “It was an amazing experience,” Decker explains. “I’m
singing this song about Noah and this ark is sitting a few miles behind it.”
The pair joined forces again as Decker chose Gevorkyan’s melody for
“Adana.” “It was the perfect music to tell the story of the Armenian
genocide,” an event that during World War I resulted in the Turks’
execution of 1.5 million Armenian Christians. “Most of the world
remembers nothing about the event, and I thought this was a story that
needs to get out,” Decker says.
In April, the song premiered during the 90th anniversary of the Armenian
genocide at a nationally televised concert as Decker sang “Adana” along
with singers from Finland, Germany, Moldova, Bulgaria and Armenia, who
performed in their native language. “I felt a very heavy weight on my
shoulders,” Decker says, “singing to descendants of those killed in the
genocide.”
“Noah’s Prayer” and “Adana” are available on Decker’s CD My Offering
(Candelas Music). A remake of “Dust in the Wind,” “One Faith” with
flamenco guitars, the Brazilian samba “There Is a Place” and the
Latin-flavored “Wonder Of Your Love” are also on the disc. With his
vocal and keyboard talents, Decker creates a range of unique sounds: “I
like a lot of diversity in my composing and arranging. I want to bring
in as many cultural and musical influences as possible.” For more
information, visit
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Construction Industry Update for Armenia
BISNIS Trades & Tenders Leads
August 10, 2005
– Company: Spayka LLC
– Product: Heavy trucks (used):
– carrying capacity from 20 tons,
– size: 100 cubic meters
Location: Yerevan, Armenia
Lead Link:
*************************************************
BISNIS Programs available to you FREE OF CHARGE:
BISNIS ExpoLink Eurasia
BISNIS Trades & Tenders
BISNIS Search for Partners
fm
BISNIS FinanceLink
For industry-specific information, please go to Construction Industry
page at
********** Provided by: ***************************
Irina C. Mitchell, BISNIS Trade Specialist for Construction Industry
U.S. Department of Commerce
Tel: 202/482-3729, Fax: 202/482-2293
e-mail: [email protected]

Blagojevich signs law requiring genocide education in public schools
August 5, 2005 – Illinois public schools are required to teach about
genocides around the world under a bill signed Friday by Gov. Rod
Blagojevich.
The measure, which took effect immediately, expanded the previous
requirement that elementary and high school students learn about the
Holocaust to include lessons on genocides in Armenia, Bosnia, Cambodia,
Rwanda, Sudan and Ukraine.
School districts have the entire academic year to meet the law’s
requirement, State Board of Education spokeswoman Becky Watts said.
“As we teach our kids the important lessons of history, we have to be sure
that they understand that racial, national, ethnic and religious hatred can
lead to horrible tragedies,” Blagojevich said in a statement.
Glenn “Max” McGee, superintendent of schools in the Chicago suburb of
Wilmette and a former state schools superintendent, said learning about
genocide and other tragedies should be part of the curriculum.
“I think it is important for boys and girls to learn about these tragic
events so that maybe they can make contributions that will truly change the
course of history in the future,” he said.
But McGee worried the requirement could become an unfunded mandate from the
state.
“I hope and trust that the state Board of Education will provide resources
and some training in teaching these and it won’t fall in the district’s lap
to develop units,” McGee said.
The law says the State Board of Education may give instructional materials
to districts to help them develop classes. Local school districts would set
specifics on the classes for each grade level.
The state board’s curriculum and instruction division, which is responsible
for learning standards, was researching what curricula exists and which ones
would be most helpful to schools to teach about genocides, Watts said.
No decision has been made yet about whether the board will recommend a
curriculum or help schools access parts of one by providing online
resources, she said.
Schools will teach a unit on genocide and the lessons can last for different
lengths of times, she said.
The genocides students will learn about include Rwanda, where about 500,000
people, most of them from the country’s Tutsi minority, were killed in 100
days by a regime of extremists from its Hutu majority in 1994. In July 1995,
as many as 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in the U.N.-protected Bosnian
enclave of Srebrenica were killed in Europe’s worst massacre since World War
II.
In the Darfur region of Sudan, war-induced hunger and disease have killed
more than 180,000 people and driven more than 2 million from their homes
since rebels from black African tribes took up arms in February 2003,
complaining of discrimination and oppression by Sudan’s Arab-dominated
government.
Richard Hirschhaut, project and executive director of the Illinois Holocaust
Museum and Education Center, praised the bill.
“The new law affirms the continuing relevance of applying the universal
lessons of the Holocaust to the tragedies of genocide in our world today,”
he said in a statement.
The measure was sponsored by state Rep. John Fritchey, D-Chicago, and state
Sen. Jacqueline Collins, D-Chicago.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Last Updated: Aug 5, 2005

ITAR-TASS, Russia
Aug 8 2005
Abkhazia’s NGOs ask Russian president to recognize republic
SUKHUMI, August 8 (Itar-Tass) — Abkhazia’s non-governmental
organizations have asked Russian President Vladimir Putin and
Moscow’s Mayor Yuri Luzhkov to recognize the self-proclaimed
republic’s independence.
The call is contained in a message from the Coordinating Council of
the non-governmental organizations of Russia and Abkhazia addressed
to both officials.
Affiliated to the Coordinating Council are fifteen organizations,
including the Russian, Armenia, Greek, Jewish and Polish Communities
and the local Black Sea chapter of the Kuban Cossacks.
`Over 80 percent of Abkhazia’s residents are Russian citizens and the
number of Russian citizens resident in Abkhazia has been growing with
every day. Those who still do not have Russian citizenship have so
far been unable to pay for citizenship and passport acquisition
procedures.’
The Coordinating Council argues that Abkhazia is not part of Georgia
and is free to decide its future on its own. To support this claim it
mentions a number of legal acts adopted in the last days of the USSR,
and in the first post-Soviet years, as well as results of plebiscites
held at that time.
The authors of the message say that Russia is a legal successor of
the Soviet Union and those legal acts are still effective.
The Coordinating Council asked for easing border-crossing procedures
on the Russian-Abkhazian border and for considering Abkhazia’s
admission to Russia in the capacity of an associate member.
`Abkhazia has been with Russia since 1810 and we are hoping that this
shall be so further on, in compliance with the testament of our
ancestors,’ the message says.

Los Angeles Times
Aug 8 2005
New Era for Glendale Armenians
Even as the ethnic group marks the milestone of a majority on the
City Council, it struggles with internal diversity and a changing
community.
By Amanda Covarrubias
Times Staff Writer
Drive down Central Avenue in the heart of Glendale and the telltale
signs of the city’s long Armenian influence quickly become apparent.
The cursive Armenian writing advertises bakeries, coffee shops and
restaurants that serve such specialties as sweet honey baklava and
lamb kebabs.
Glendale has been a haven for Armenians for generations, a point of
entry for immigrants from Armenia, as well as people of Armenian
descent from Turkey, Lebanon, Iran and the former Soviet Union. They
now make up 40% of the San Fernando Valley city’s 210,000 residents.
But it was not until this year that the city’s Armenian community
marked a major political milestone: winning a majority on the City
Council.
Many Armenian Americans are proud of the election results, saying
they illustrate how a community that once stood on the fringes of
local government now is playing a central role. But they also are
quick to say the Armenian American majority on the five-member
council does not reflect a homogenous community.
Despite its size, the population is highly diverse. Wealthy second-
and third-generation Armenian Americans live in tony neighborhoods in
the hills above the city, while recent immigrants struggle in
lower-income neighborhoods.
Bridging this divide is a task with which social service
organizations and the Armenian Church struggle. Sometimes the new
immigrants complain that their high expectations about life in
America are difficult to achieve, especially with limited English
skills.
“Some of these people can’t get jobs that will pull them out of their
financial situation,” said Angela Savoian, regional chairwoman for
the Armenian Relief Society. “They get deeper into debt because their
children want what their neighbors have…. It’s much more difficult to
be poor in this country than where they came from.”
Sometimes parents work two or three jobs to make ends meet, leaving
their children unsupervised for hours. In the past, authorities have
said the situation helped boost the ranks of Armenian street gangs, a
problem seen five years ago when an Armenian gang member fatally
stabbed a Latino student outside Hoover High School.
In recent years, police say, Armenian gang activity has declined. But
both Glendale police and the FBI are becoming increasingly concerned
about Armenian organized-crime rings linked to drug dealing and
robberies.
“I see a lot of materialism and anger and resentment,” said Father
Vazken Movsesian, who runs a youth drop-in center at St. Peter
Armenian Church, across the street from Hoover High. “I have to keep
telling them: ‘Appreciate all that America’s giving you.’ ”
The newly elected Armenian American council members have vowed to
help newcomers integrate into the community, fight youth crime and
bring about changes that will ease some of the parents’ problems.
Among the steps they can take, said Councilman Ara Najarian, is to
encourage the Police Department to hire more Armenian American
officers and work to secure more federally funded housing for
low-income families. The city has 1,500 vouchers for
government-funded housing and a waiting list of 9,000.
“Armenian Americans don’t all think the same way or walk in lock
step,” Najarian said. “We’re very diverse, from the poorest in the
city to the richest; some are professionals and some are newly
arrived with their own language and customs. It’s not like we had
60,000 people who came from Armenia yesterday and settled in
Glendale.”
————————————————————————
Once a bastion of white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant political power, the
city is now home to about 85,000 Armenians, one of the largest
populations outside Armenia itself.
In addition to Central Avenue’s bustling shopping district, Glendale
is home to at least half a dozen Armenian-language newspapers, and
local cable TV outlets are filled with Armenian-produced talk shows
and public affairs programming.
“When I first came to California to go to school in the 1950s, there
were few Armenians in Glendale,” said Richard Dekmejian, director of
the USC Institute of Armenian Studies. “Most of the Armenians were in
West Adams, Boyle Heights, a few in the Valley. There were a small
number of Armenians in Hollywood, but they grew very fast.”
Armenian families have lived in the city since the 1920s, but
immigration did not transform its social fabric until the 1970s, when
Armenians who had scattered across the globe during the era of
genocide in Turkey uprooted themselves in rapid succession from
Lebanon, Iran and the then-Soviet Republic of Armenia. They were
forced to leave these countries because of world events that
prevented them from practicing their Christianity freely and to
escape anti-Armenian discrimination.
Many were drawn to Glendale, as well as East Hollywood and Fresno.
In many respects, the Armenian American councilmen represent the
diaspora. Bob Yousefian was born in Iran, moved to Lebanon as a
teenager and later followed his family to the United States; Rafi
Manoukian was born in Beirut and immigrated to the United States in
1975; and Najarian, whose parents emigrated from Armenia, is a
Cleveland native whose family moved to Glendale in 1980.
The leaders consider former Gov. George Deukmejian and former Mayor
Larry Zarian, the first Armenian American on the City Council, to be
their role models. Zarian, who served on the council from 1983 to
1993, was invited to Armenia for an official state visit after
becoming the first Armenian American mayor of a relatively large U.S.
city.
“I think what the community is doing in Glendale is something it has
not been able to do in many other parts of the world,” Zarian said.
“Our parents, who come from Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, the Soviet Union
and Iran, were not able to participate in the governmental political
process and run for public office.
“But their children became lawyers, teachers and doctors and said:
‘We want to be able to get involved.’ ”
The growing Armenian population did not always experience a smooth
transition. In 2000, when city officials lowered the American flag to
mark Armenian Genocide Commemoration Day, some longtime residents
complained about all the attention the event was receiving. The day
recognizes the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks between 1915 and
1923.
Around the same time, officials became concerned about violent
clashes between Armenian and Latino students at a local high school.
More recently, the FBI’s Eurasian Crime Task Force and the Glendale
Police Department have worked together to combat organized crime
involving Armenians from the former Soviet Union and the United
States. Authorities said the groups have taken root in the last five
years, dealing primarily in white-collar crimes involving auto
insurance, credit cards, identity theft and welfare fraud. But the
rings have also been linked to several murders.
In March, the FBI filed charges against members of a Russian Armenian
organized-crime ring accused of plotting to smuggle $2.5 million in
illegal guns into the United States.
There have also been tensions within the Armenian community. Earlier
this year, Manoukian and members of the Armenian Council of America
accused each other of politicizing the city’s annual Armenian
Genocide Commemoration activities.
Arguments broke out over who would serve on the committee that plans
the events. Vasken Khodanian, chairman of the Armenian Council of
America, said Manoukian excluded all but one representative from his
committee and filled it with members who have ties to the Armenian
National Committee.
————————————————————————
Members of the new council majority are quick to say they do not
consider themselves a voting bloc. They note that they ran for office
on a broad range of mainstream issues, such as improving public
safety, providing more affordable housing and overseeing the
redevelopment of Brand Boulevard.
But that voters elected them, they believe, signals Armenians in
Glendale want a voice in the city’s stewardship.
“To be able to say there’s three Armenians on the City Council,
that’s wonderful,” said Greg Krikorian, a board member with the
Glendale Unified School District. “I’m proud to see it, as long as
they’re qualified and they put Glendale first.”
Manoukian, the mayor, also expressed pride over the election but said
it represents a moment in time.
“There aren’t that many cities with a 40% population of Armenian
descent,” he said. “Two or 10 years down the line, people of
different ethnicities could move to Glendale and they’ll run for
office, and that would be fine.”
Indeed, in addition to Armenians, Filipinos and Koreans make up a
growing segment of the city’s population; Asians now make up nearly
17%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Sixty-five languages are
spoken in the Glendale Unified School District.
Voters in April also elected their first Armenian American city
clerk, who ran on a platform of improving services to immigrants and
increasing their participation in civic life.
“Not many people were voting in Glendale. It was frustrating for me
to see so many Armenian Americans not participating in the city
government,” said Ardashes Kassakhian, 28, as he sipped strong
Armenian coffee in a cafe near City Hall. “That’s why I’m trying to
stress voter awareness and education.”
During the campaign, he initiated a broad voter registration effort,
aggressively signing up new voters via Korean and Filipino
newspapers, cable television and direct mail. He proudly notes that
the number of Filipinos registered to vote climbed from 700 to 5,000,
or nearly half the city’s Filipino population.
Berdj Karapetian, a businessman who has lived and worked in Glendale
on and off since 1982, said a big challenge for the new officials
would be to serve all parts of Glendale, both rich and poor.
“There are very wealthy Armenians who live in the hills, yet there
are those at low socioeconomic levels or seniors, who are dependent
on Medi-Cal or pensions,” Karapetian said.
“Will the policies start reflecting changes that accommodate those
who are in a less fortunate situation? Let’s look at policies that
will serve the less affluent population, whether they’re Hispanic or
Armenian or Asian.”