Author: Kajoyan Gevork

news.am, Armenia
June 17 2011

Armenian MP says Georgian envoy should give explanations

June 17, 2011 | 13:32

YEREVAN.- `Statements made by the Georgian Ambassador to Armenia
Tengiz Sharmanashvili that I represent a threat to national security
and saw discord in the Armenian-Georgian relations need to be
clarified,’ said Armenian MP Shirak Torosyan.

Sharmanashvili must explain which actions in particular pose threat to
Georgia’s national security, said Torosyan who is also the head of
Javakhk union.

`The Ambassador should give explanations instead of making
unsubstantiated statements,’ he added.

Speaking at a press conference this May Ambassador Sharmanashvili said
that Georgia, like Armenia, has the right to ban a person from
entering the country for reasons of national and political security
without giving any explanations.

According to him, Shirak Torosyan’s nationalistic statements which are
sometimes unbalanced make him undesired guest in Georgia.

Vestnik Kavkaza
June 17 2011

China to provide Armenia with 88 ambulances

China will provide Armenia with 88 ambulances as a grant next week,
Armenian healthcare Minister Arutyunyan Kushkyan said today, News
Armenia reports.

Ambulances will be used by medical centers of Yerevan and its
outskirts, as well as the Medical Police Service.

Kushkyan noted that Armenia has not modernized its ambulances for 20 years.
China is providing the vehicles as a gift. A deal was signed on
December 27, 2010.

20 of the 88 vehicles will be used for intensive care.

Armenia is also improving the control center and GPS navigation.
Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan signed a technical-economic
deal with China on June 2, 2010. China will provide 20 million yuans
as economic aid to Armenia.

Daily News Montenegro
June 16 2011

Montenegro Signs Emergency Management MoU with Armenia

Posted under Government on Thursday, 16 June 2011

Zoran BegoviÄ?, the Montenegrin Assistant Minister of Interior for
Civil Security and Emergency Management and Armen Yeritsyan, the
Armenian Minister of Emergency Situations, signed a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Interior for Civil
Security and Emergency Management of Montenegro and the Armenian
Ministry of Emergency Situations.

The MoU commits both parties to improved bilateral cooperation on the
prevention and management of emergency situations, including the
exchange of technical information and lessons learned from experience
dealing with actual emergencies.

The American statesman Benjamin Franklin wrote `An ounce of prevention
is worth a pound of cure.’ This sharing of knowledge, before an
emergency, can help both nations reduce both the incidence and
severity of emergency situations.

This MoU follows a similar agreement between Montenegro and Italy
which was penned in May.

Martha’s Vineyard Times
June 16 2011

Armenian treats for a Martha’s Vineyard wedding

By Amelia Smith
Published: June 15, 2011

Mary Haigazian has been making boeregs, traditional Armenian
cheese-filled pastries, for more than 60 years. She carries a
pocket-sized black notebook that contains her recipes for a handful of
essential dishes, along with addresses and miscellaneous reminders.
The recipes are cryptic to the outside eye, but for Ms. Haigazian,
they’re enough to reconstruct the foods she learned to make with her
husband’s family many decades ago. Her recipe for boeregs calls for,
among other things “8 N.Y. Extra [Sharp Cheddar] Cheese, 1 Muenster
cheese, and ½ Ricotta,” to begin with.

Ms. Haigazian was born into an Armenian family in New York City. Her
mother died when she was only five years old, and she and her sister
were sent to the Jennie Clarkson Home in Valhalla, New York. Their
father was still living, but at the time the state of New York deemed
it inappropriate for a single man to raise two young girls alone. Ms.
Haigazian rejoined her father in the city when she turned 18, and a
few years later she married and moved in with her husband’s family,
where her culinary education resumed.

“They lived with my father’s parents,” says her daughter, Rosemarie
Haigazian of Edgartown. “My paternal grandmother worked very hard to
teach her traditional Armenian cooking.”

Mary Haigazian became the carrier of the tradition, and boeregs are
one of her most popular creations. This week, her grandson JB Robichau
will marry his long-time girlfriend, Shuchi Saraswat. They met in
college at Franklin and Marshall, and currently live in Centerville.
Mr. Robichau commutes to Boston where he works for Northeastern
University’s ice hockey teams, and Ms. Saraswat, who has an MFA in
Creative Writing from Emerson College, is writing her first novel and
also works in a bookstore.

The wedding will begin with an Indian ceremony today, June 16, in
Katama, and there will be a western wedding on Saturday at the Ag Hall
in West Tisbury. Ms. Saraswat’s parents moved from India to Pittsburgh
in 1982, and she was born in this country. “My mom especially wanted
to have an Indian wedding,” she said.

Thursday’s festivities will be catered by The Golden Swan, an Indian
restaurant on Main Street in Falmouth. Many of her family members are
Hindu and vegetarian, so making the menu vegetarian-friendly was
essential for all phases of the wedding.

The rehearsal dinner on Friday and the reception on Saturday will be
catered by Tea Lane Caterers, owned and operated by Dee Smith. The
vegetarian entrée will be a red pepper stuffed with Yukon gold
potatoes with a fresh tomato sauce. Ms. Saraswat says that stuffed red
peppers are a traditional Armenian food, and are usually stuffed with
lamb and rice, but Ms. Smith has given them an Indian twist by using
Yukon gold potatoes flavored with Indian spices instead. The meat
entrée is an Armenian shish kebab marinated in, “cheap red wine,”
according to Ms. Smith. “Rosemarie says you gotta use cheap wine.”

The Mary Haigazian boeregs will be served as an appetizer. When Tea
Lane Caterers was hired for the wedding, it was agreed that they would
make Ms. Hagazian’s boeregs – under her specific direction and
according to her traditional secret family recipe. They also happen to
be vegetarian.

Ms. Haigazian, now 86 years old, had a debilitating stroke in 1998,
but she still sends many people her boeregs at Christmas time. “I
haven’t met anyone that did not like it,” she says. The number of
boeregs required for the wedding would probably overwhelm her Woodside
Village kitchen, however.

Tea Lane Caterers will make more boeregs for the Saturday wedding
reception, about three for each guest, Ms. Smith said. Ms. Haigazian
came to Tea Lane last Friday to teach Ms. Smith and her staff how to
make them. The ingredients were laid out on a steel table – bowls of
shredded cheese, a pot of melted butter, three eggs, packages of
phyllo.

“We usually use puff pastry,” Ms. Smith said. “Phyllo is so flaky, the
crumbs get on people’s clothes.”

It is also difficult to handle. The tissue thin sheets must be folded
and cut precisely in half, lengthwise, then folded again and brushed
with butter between each layer. A dab of cheese mixture is placed at
one end, then it’s folded into a triangle, and folded again and again
all along the long fragile length of the phyllo. Blending the proper
cheese mixture is something of a trade secret, according to Ms. Smith.
Intrigued cooks are encouraged to experiment – at their own peril.

The carefully assembled pastries are popped into the oven and emerge
about 20 minutes later, golden brown and oozing with cheese – and
delicious.

Syrian Arab News Agency, Syria
June 16 2011

Syrian Community in Armenia Urges Free World to Stop Fabrications on
Syria Events

Jun 16, 2011

YEREVAN, (SANA)-The Syrian community in the Armenian capital Yerevan
urged the free world to stop fabrications on the events in Syria,
lambasting the media fact-twisting against Syria.

The community said in a statement issued on Thursday the armed
terrorist groups assailed a security post in Jisr al-Shughour and
murdered all who were inside, terrorizing and attacking nearby
villages as testified by the villagers and set up ambushes for
journalists.

”We hope the free world realizes these facts and not turn a blind eye
to them…we hope the free world will not use the Syrian blood as a tool
for carrying out schemes of foreign governments,” added the
statement, indicating that whoever seeks to take measures against
Syria at the UN Security Council does nothing but embolden terrorist
groups.

The statement said the Syrian government and people are the ones
entitled to track down armed terrorist groups, which have committed
unprecedented atrocities in spite of the reforms undertaken by the
Syrian government.

M. Ismael

news.az, Azerbaijan
June 16 2011

Baku dismisses Armenian hopes of Turkish rapprochement
Thu 16 June 2011 11:39 GMT | 7:39 Local Time

Armenia needs to withdraw troops from occupied Azerbaijani land
before it can hope for normal relations with Turkey, a Baku-based
official has said.
Novruz Mammadov, head of the foreign policy department at the
Azerbaijani Presidential Administration, was commenting on remarks by
Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan.

Sargsyan said in an interview with the BBC Russian Service in London
that Armenia hoped Turkey would establish normal relations without
preconditions.

“To have closed borders in the 21st century is nonsense,” Sargsyan said.

Turkey closed its land border with Armenia in solidarity with
Azerbaijan in 1993, when the war over Karabakh was at its height.

Turkish leaders have said that protocols on the establishment of
diplomatic relations with Armenia and on opening the land border,
signed in 2009, cannot be ratified until Armenia withdraws troops from
occupied Azerbaijani land, the preconditions to which Tigran Sargsyan
was alluding.

Azerbaijani presidential official Novruz Mammadov told 1news.az that
Armenia needed no preconditions to withdraw its troops from occupied
Azerbaijani land.

“As for the values of the 21st century that are often discussed by the
leaders of the aggressor country, it is nonsense in our century to
apply a completely medieval manner of enhancing one’s territory
through annexation of the internationally recognized land of a
neighbouring state which is a UN member. It is absurd to devastate
whole cities and villages and sell the looted materials second-hand.

“Their hope for legitimization of the illegal occupation by settling
their unwise countrymen in the occupied lands and cruelly playing with
their lives is also absurd. This nonsense can be listed endlessly,
since it has become a part of the political culture of the Armenian
state which does not understand that Turkey and Azerbaijan are so
close that it is impossible to be at odds with one hand and hope for a
friendly handshake with the other. And it is a pity that Armenia does
not understand this simple truth and still has some fantastic hopes,”
Mammadov said.

The spat comes just over a week before a summit of the Armenian and
Azerbaijani presidents, to be mediated by Russian President Dmitriy
Medvedev in Kazan. Mediators have urged the sides to prepare their
people for peace and to take a major step towards a settlement.

Sargsyan’s comments in full

Asked by the BBC Russian Service whether the return of the AK Party to
power in Turkey would change relations between Yerevan and Ankara,
Tigran Sargsyan said: “We hope that in Turkey the attitudes towards
regulating Turkish-Armenian relations will be consistent, in
particular, to the signed protocols, the essence of which is that two
neighbouring countries intend to establish normal relations without
any preconditions. The position of Armenia over the past 20 years has
not changed. We are ready to establish diplomatic relations with
Turkey without any preconditions. And the agreements that were reached
with the Turkish side were based on this understanding of the
situation. We would be glad if our Turkish colleagues also came to
that conclusion. To have closed borders in the 21st century is
nonsense.”

News.Az

vestnik kavkaza June 16 2011

About $ 50 million to be invested in development of Armenian
distribution network in 2011

The commission on the Public Utilities of Armenia approved today an
investment program of “Electric Networks of Armenia” (ENA) for 2011
amounting to 48.3 million dollars, compared to 103.2 million dollars
in 2010, News-Armenia reports.

The owner of 100% of the ESA is the Russian company RAO UES.

The head of the ESA Investment Department, Yuriy Gavrilenko, said that
more than a third of the investments will be directed at reducing the
average frequency and duration of power cuts for consumers.

INTER RAO UES is a Russian company that owns assets in Russia,
Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Transnistrian region and Finland. .

news.am, Armenia
June 16 2011

International mediators on Karabakh satisfied with their work

June 15, 2011 | 21:01

OSCE Minsk Group on Karabakh conflict resolution is working
effectively, the U.S. and France co-chairs Robert Bradtke and Bernard
Fassier said on Wednesday speaking at the hearings of European
Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
settlement.

`We consider the version of basic principles that is currently on the
table fair and balanced. We would like to see the sides adopt it at
forthcoming meeting in Kazan,” said OSCE Minsk Group U.S. co-chair
Robert Bradtke, stressing that the basic principles are not an
agreement, they only outline the settlement.

“At various stages of negotiations, Armenia and Azerbaijan were
against the presented principles, but during the last meeting in Sochi
we have achieved certain progress, having received verbal consent of
the parties. We hope that it will soon be endorsed in the form of
text,” Radio Liberty quotes Bernard Fassier.

PRESS RELEASE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Tel: (212) 686-0710
Fax: (212) 779-3558
Web:
Email: [email protected]

TOP STORY June 16, 2011

(from left) Andrea Gumushian, Melanie Panosian, and Melanie Quinn will spend
eight weeks interning at the Diocese.

_Diocese Welcomes Students for Summer Internship_

Three interns- Andrea Gumushian, Melanie Panosian, and Melanie Quinn-have
joined the Diocesan team for an eight-week summer program.

In addition to assisting with projects in various Diocesan departments,
interns will attend morning prayer and daily Bible-study sessions. They also
will have the opportunity to learn about the history of the Armenian Church
and the Eastern Diocese by taking part in weekly lunch meetings with area
clergy. In addition, interns will receive weekly Armenian-language
instruction from Gilda Kupelian, the Diocese’s coordinator of Armenian
Studies.

Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Diocesan Primate, welcomed the interns to the
Diocese on Wednesday, June 15. `It’s wonderful to have dedicated young
people from our parishes serving the Diocese,’ Archbishop Barsamian said.

On Thursday, June 16, the interns met with Professor Peter Balakian, who
spoke to them about his experiences as a writer (see story below).

Nancy Basmajian, executive secretary of the ACYOA, is overseeing the summer
program, which the Diocese offers annually in partnership with the AGBU. The
three are living in student housing at New York University, along with some
30 summer interns participating in the AGBU internship program. They will
join AGBU interns for several educational, cultural, and social activities
throughout the summer.

[4]Click here to read more.
Links:
4.

Scripture of the Week

1 Kgs 18:29-46
2 Kgs 2:1-15
Jas 5:16-20
Lk 4:25-30

Prayer of the Week

Look with love, O merciful Father, on the created works of your hand, and
grant the camps of the angels to be guardians of our feeble persons. Deliver
us from temptation, from the wandering demons of night, that by day and by
night we may give you glory incessantly.

Upcoming Saints & Feasts

_19 June:_ Father’s Day; Remembrance of the Prophet Elijah

_20 June:_ St. Hripsime and her companions

_21 June:_ St. Gayane and her companions

CHURCH NEWS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE

His Holiness Karekin II met with Armenian communities across Georgia during
a six-day pontifical visit.

_His Holiness Karekin II Concludes Visit to Georgia_

From June 10 to 15, His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and
Catholicos of All Armenians, led an inter-ecclesiastical and pontifical
visit to Armenia’s neighboring republic, Georgia. His Holiness was invited
by the Catholicos-Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Ilya II, and by
the Diocesan Council of the Armenian Church’s Diocese of Georgia.

To begin the visit, Catholicos Karekin II met with Georgian President
Mikheil Saakashvili and Ilya II regarding the status of Armenian properties
in Georgia. In the course of the meetings, it was decided that the Armenian
Diocese of Georgia would receive full legal status in Georgia in the near
future. Reciprocally, the Georgian Church will be fully recognized in
Armenia. Armenian churches under the jurisdiction of the Georgian state will
be cared for by the Georgian government until further notice.

While in Tbilisi, His Holiness Karekin II visited the Sourp Nishan and Sourp
Kevork Armenian churches and met with local community leaders. On June 12,
His Holiness re-consecrated the Holy Etchmiadzin Armenian Church in
Havlabar, Tbilisi.
Built in 1805, the church was recently renovated through the generosity of
members of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of America.

Adjacent to the church is the Hyeartun Cultural Center, established in 1921
by Hovhaness Toumanian and rebuilt this year thanks to the support of Boris
Sahakov. His Holiness Karekin II presided over the opening of the center.

On June 14, His Holiness Karekin II and Ilya II traveled to Akhalkalaki,
where they visited Sourp Khatch Church and met with the local Armenian
community. His Holiness Karekin II also visited area Armenian schools and
met with teachers. The pontifical visit to Georgia concluded on June 15 with
a visit to the Armenian community of Javakhk.

DIOCESAN NEWS

Rev. Fr. Abraham Malkhasian.

_New Priest Begins Pastoral Internship in Diocese_

With the blessings of His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and
Catholicos of All Armenians, and at the invitation of Archbishop Khajag
Barsamian, Diocesan Primate, a priest from Armenia has arrived in the United
States to prepare to serve in the Eastern Diocese.

The Rev. Fr. Abraham Malkhasian arrived in the Eastern Diocese on Wednesday,
June 1. He was assigned by Archbishop Barsamian to complete his pastoral
internship with the Rev. Fr. Hovnan Demerjian, pastor of St. Hagop Church of
Pinellas Park, FL. He will work closely with Fr. Demerjian to become better
acquainted with parish life in the Eastern Diocese in preparation for
full-time pastoral service here in the future.

A graduate of the Gevorkyan seminary in Armenia, Fr. Malkhasian has served
at St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral in Yerevan, and worked in the
Communications Department at Holy Etchmiadzin. He has also taught sacred
music at the Vaskenian seminary in Sevan, Armenia, and worked at the Karekin
I Armenological and Theological Center at Holy Etchmiadzin.

Following the completion of his studies at the Gevorkyan seminary, Fr.
Malkhasian spent three months studying English in India. He later traveled
to Saint Paul, MN, where he earned a master’s in theology at the University
of Thomas in 2009.

He was ordained to the holy priesthood on August 29, 2010, at Holy
Etchmiadzin. Fr. Malkhasian is married to Karine Malkhasian, and they have a
daughter, Evelina.

Professor Peter Balakian addresses the Diocese’s summer interns.

_Interns Meet with Peter Balakian at Diocesan Center _

Peter Balakian, renowned poet and author of groundbreaking books on Armenian
culture and history, including _The Burning Tigris _and his memoir _Black
Dog of Fate_, visited the Diocesan Center in New York on Thursday, June 16.
With Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Diocesan Primate, presiding, he met with
the Diocese’s summer interns in the _tahlij_, or formal reception room.

Professor Balakian spoke to the students about his experiences as a writer,
and encouraged them to become more familiar with the Armenian literary
heritage. He also described his most recent project-a book of poetry
exploring the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, titled
_Ziggurat_.

The interns had an opportunity to ask questions and to engage in a lively
discussion about Armenian artists and literary figures. `It was really
special to be able to meet such an amazing writer, one who has brought the
Armenian history into the public eye through his writing,’ said Melanie
Quinn, who is interning in the Diocese’s Department of Youth and Education.

The other young participants expressed their delight in having a chance to
speak with a role model like Professor Balakian-one of the many
distinguished figures who regularly visit the Diocesan Center.

Aghtamar Church, a precious jewel of Armenian architecture, on an island in
Lake Van.

_FAR Young Professionals Trip to Historic Armenia_

Monday, June 20, is the last day to secure the group flight rate for FAR’s
Hayastani Kidak Society Young Professionals Trip to Armenia and eastern
Turkey. This year, for the first time, the trip will include a tour of
historic Armenian lands in eastern Anatolia as part of its itinerary.

Participants will visit incredible historic sites like Armenia’s magnificent
former capital of Ani, the holy island of Aghtamar, as well as Kars and Van.
The trip is an ideal opportunity for young professionals between the ages of
23 and 40 to travel to Armenia as a group, learn about the country and
culture firsthand, and become acquainted with FAR’s projects.

The year 2011 will mark the 16th summer that FAR has held the two-week trip,
which also includes an extensive and enriching tour around Armenia. For
information, [5]click here.
Links:
5.

_Diocese Continues to Expand Digital Media Outreach _

One year ago this week the Eastern Diocese launched its redesigned website:
[6] Thousands of visitors have explored the new
site, which serves not only as a platform for the distribution of news and
information about the Eastern Diocese, but also as a vibrant portal inviting
users to submit questions and ideas, and to share content via social media
tools.
Links:
6.

In the year following the website’s launch, the Diocese has continued to
expand its digital media outreach to include engagement on social media
sites, including [7]Facebook and [8]Twitter, and to offer an increasingly
diverse video library accessible on the Diocese’s [9]YouTube channel. Most
recently, the Diocese introduced Vemkar-a free mobile application for the
iPhone and Android platforms.
Links:
7.
8.
9.

We are grateful to all our readers for your active involvement and
encouragement in the course of these updates. And, as always, we welcome
your feedback and suggestions.

PARISH NEWS

The school at St. David Church of Boca Raton, FL, held its graduation on
June 5.

_Boca Raton Church School Holds Closing Exercises_

The Alex and Marie Manoogian School of the St. David Church of Boca Raton,
FL, held its graduation and year-end _hantes_ on Sunday, June 5, in the
church’s Mardigian Hall. School board members prepared lunch for the parents
and parishioners, with a program performed by the students under the
direction of school principal Nadia Isguzar and her teaching staff.

St. David’s pastor, the Very Rev. Fr. Nareg Berberian, joined the principal
to congratulate the graduates and award them certificates. He expressed hope
that they would keep their faith strong and continue active involvement in
the Armenian Church and the St. David community. [10]Click here to read
more.
Links:
10.

Registration for the autumn term at the St. David Church’s Alex and Marie
Manoogian School will take place on Sunday, August 28, at 10:00 a.m. Classes
will officially start on Sunday, September 11.

Timothy Aznavourian plays the guitar during a concert in Providence.

_Providence Church Hosts Musical Evening _

On Saturday, May 28, the Cultural Committee of Sts. Sahag and Mesrob Church
of Providence, RI, hosted a musical evening titled `Hye Stars of the
Night.’

The program featured performances by soprano Nuneh Badalyan, pianists John
Paul Norigian and Ella Melik Husian, and guitarist and vocalist Timothy
Aznavourian.

The evening was organized under the direction of Maestro Konstantin
Petrossian. It was one of many cultural programs regularly hosted by the
Cultural Committee of Sts. Sahag and Mesrob Church.

[11]Click here to read more.
Links:
11.

_UPCOMING PARISH EVENTS_

_Holy Trinity Church | Cambridge, MA_
On Monday, June 20, Holy Trinity Church of Greater Boston will sponsor the
Gregory Hintlian Memorial Golf Tournament at the Marlborough Country Club in
Marlborough, MA. This year’s tournament is in memory of Michael Ohanian.

Join the community for a day of golf and/or as a sponsor; everyone is
invited for dinner and a fun, social evening. [12]Click here for more
information.
Links:
12.

_St. Gregory the Enlightener Church | White Plains, NY_
St. Gregory the Enlightener Church of White Plains, NY, will host its annual
picnic on Sunday, June 26, from noon to 6 p.m.

Enjoy live Armenian dance music from the renowned Johnny Berberian Ensemble.
The day will also feature homemade Armenian mezzes and pastries and
other delicious foods, including luleh and chicken kebab. Activities include
a 50/50 raffle, and other entertainment for all ages. [13]Click here for
more information.
Links:
13.

_St. Stepanos Church | Elberon, NJ_
St. Stepanos Church of Elberon, NJ, will host its annual picnic on Sunday,
June 26, from noon to 8 p.m. on the church’s grounds.

Enjoy traditional Armenian entrees such as shish kebob, chicken kebob,
lahmajoun, humus and cheese boreg (a la carte menu, take-out platter, and
bulk purchases) as well as pakhlava, khadaif, and other delicacies. Free
admission and free parking.

St. Stepanos Church is located at 1184 Ocean Avenue in Elberon. For
information, call (732) 229-3661.

EVENTS

St. Nersess Seminary will host its third annual Father’s Day Picnic on June
19.

_St. Nersess Seminary Father’s Day Picnic _

St. Nersess Armenian Seminary will host its third annual Father’s Day Picnic
on Sunday, June 19, from noon to 5 p.m. The picnic will be preceded by the
celebration of the Divine Liturgy in the seminary chapel, beginning at 10
a.m.

Enjoy kebob meals, homemade desserts, live Armenian music, and activities
for children and teens. The day will also feature vendors, a White Elephant
sale, and a raffle.

The picnic will be held rain or shine. Visit [14] for more
information, or [15]click here to view a flyer.
Links:
14.
15.

_An Evening with Actor Hrach Titizian Next Monday_

The Diocese’s Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center will host an
evening with actor Hrach Titizian on the plaza of St. Vartan Armenian
Cathedral on Monday, June 20, beginning at 7 p.m.

The Los Angeles native is in New York for his Broadway debut in the play
`Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo.’ Mr. Titizian’s film and TV credits
include roles in George Clooney’s `The Men Who Stare at Goats’ and
appearances on the shows `24′ and `Alias.’

The young actor will speak about his acting career and answer questions.
Music will be provided by the John Vartan Ensemble. A wine and cheese
reception will follow.

[16]Click here for information.
Links:
16.

YOUTH NEWS

Participants in the Eastern Diocese’s Midwest Hye Camp, located in
Ingleside, IL.

_Register Today for Hye Camp and St. Vartan Camp _

Spring into summer and register for the Diocese’s summer camp programs-Hye
Camp and St. Vartan Camp.

Applications for Hye Camp are available for download online. [17]Click here
to download and print camper, CIT, staff, and volunteer applications.
[18]
Click here to register online for St. Vartan Camp.
Links:
17.
18.

_Hye Camp 2011, housed at Camp Hickory in Ingleside, IL_
Staff Training: Thursday, July 27 – Saturday, July 30
Camp Session: Saturday, July 30 – Saturday, August 6

_St. Vartan Camp 2011, housed at the Ararat Center in Greenville, NY_
Staff Training: Wednesday, June 22 – Saturday, June 25
Session A: Sunday, June 26 – Saturday, July 9
Session B: Sunday, July 10 – Saturday, July 23
Session C: Sunday, July 24 – Saturday, August 6

For information about St. Vartan Camp or Hye Camp, contact Jennifer Morris,
Youth Outreach coordinator, at (212) 686-0710, ext. 118, or
[19][email protected].
Links:
19. mailto:[email protected]

Yelena Bonner dies; Russian rights activst and widow of Andrei Sakharov
was 88
By Kevin Klose, Sunday, June 19, 2011

Yelena G. Bonner, the Russian human rights activist who was the widow of
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei D. Sakharov and came under repression
by the secret police, died of heart failure in Boston on Saturday,
according to the Associated Press.

Mrs. Bonner, decorated for valor and wounds during World War II, was 88.
She had been hospitalized since Feb. 21, her daughter Tatiana
Yankelevich told the AP.

Mrs. Bonner was a founder of one of the most active rights groups in the
Soviet dissident movement of the 1970s, the Helsinki Monitoring
Committee. The organization, which for a time disbanded in 1982 after
most of its members were jailed for political crimes against the state,
sought to publicize Soviet violations of human rights guarantees made
when Moscow signed the 1975 Helsinki Agreement on European Cooperation
and Security.

The Helsinki Act recognized Soviet hegemony in Eastern Europe in return
for Soviet assurance to nurture fundamental freedoms, such as free
speech, assembly and religion.

The Helsinki Act caused numerous unofficial rights groups to form, and
they became an unusual phenomenon in the life of the Soviet capital in
the mid-1970s. There were groups delving into invalids’ rights,
religious oppression, political abuse of psychiatry, workers’ rights and
emigration demands.

Mrs. Bonner signed hundreds of zayevlenie, or statements, supporting
victims of KGB reprisals. She and her husband traveled through Siberia
and remote parts of Russia, visiting courtrooms and jails to aid
imprisoned activists.

By the decade’s end, however, many activists were in prison or labor
camps. The luckier were expelled from Russia or sent into internal exile
far from Moscow. Mr. Sakharov was arrested in January 1980, and was
confined to Gorky, 250 miles east of Moscow. Mrs. Bonner had a special
status as wife of Mr. Sakharov, the father of the Soviet hydrogen bomb.
She was allowed to travel to Moscow until May 1984, when the KGB
detained her in Gorky on allegations she had committed anti-state
crimes.

During a period of reform under Mikhail Gorbachev, the couple was
allowed to return to Moscow in 1986, where they pressed on with their
calls for greater freedom and revived the monitoring committee.

Mrs. Bonner’s activism entered a new phase after Mr. Sakharov
died in 1989 and the Soviet Union collapsed two years later.

She went on to promote human rights in the post-Soviet era by
challenging President Boris Yeltsin’s and President
Vladi-mir Putin’s government.

When a petition circulated in 2010 calling for Putin to step down, Mrs.
Bonner was among the first to sign it.

Mrs. Bonner was physically striking, with a robust frame, a no-nonsense
voice deepened by years of chain-smoking acrid Russian cigarettes. She
frequently wore heavy wool shawls, accentuating her swarthy features.

Born Feb. 15, 1923, Mrs. Bonner’s father was Gevork Alikhanyan, an
Armenian Bolshevik revolutionary who once was party chief in Armenia.
Her mother, Ruf Bonner, was the daughter of a Jewish family born into
Siberian exile.

Stalin’s secret police arrested and shot her father in 1937, then sent
her mother to slave labor camp as `the wife of an enemy of the
people.’ Elena and her younger brother lived with relatives for
years. She became a Red Army nurse during World War II. She was badly
wounded during the siege of Leningrad and almost lost her eyesight later
when a German plane strafed the medical train on which she was tending
wounded soldiers.

After the war, she married Ivan Semyonov, a doctor, and they had two
children. Mrs. Bonner lived in Iraq for two years as part of a Soviet
medical team there. She was divorced in the early 1960s and married Mr.
Sakharov a decade later.

Mrs. Bonner’s activism prompted threats against her family,
leading her mother, son, daughter and two grandchildren to move to
Boston in the 1970s, according to the Associated Press. In the
mid-1980s, she visited the city for medical treatment and then returned
home.

In increasingly poor heath, she spent more time on her visits to Boston
in recent years, according to the AP. Her daughter said her remains will
be cremated and buried next to her husband, mother and brothers in
Moscow.

Klose is dean of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the
University of Maryland. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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