TIGRAN ZARGARYAN APPOINTED TEMPORARY ACTING DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL LIBRARY
ARMENPRESS
JUNE 17, 2011
YEREVAN
Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosyan appointed today Tigran Zargaryan
as temporary acting director of National Library.
Public relations service of the Ministry reported that he has
professional experience of 25 years, participated in the works of
automization of Armenian libraries.
The time of tenure of former director David Sargsyan ended June 16.
NAIRA ZOHRABYAN BELIEVES PACE REPORT ON ARMENIA TO BE POSITIVE
ARMENPRESS
JUNE 17, 2011
YEREVAN
The report to be presented in September at the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe about Armenia’s commitments will be positive.
Armenia and other 11 countries are under the common monitoring of
the Council of Europe and PACE periodically presents reports over
these countries.
Member of the Armenian delegation to PACE Naira Zohrabyan said at
the June 20 summer sitting of the PACE the co-rapporteurs of the
Monitoring Committee during several minutes will present the general
philosophy of report, the content, but it is difficult to predict
how the report will be.
“But I can unanimously say that the document the co-rapporteurs will
present at the Monitoring Committee and afterwards the comprehensive
report on the implementation of Armenia’s commitments will be positive
as the recent inner-political steps were positively accepted by the
Council of Europe, the EU and other international organizations. I am
sure we will have a very positive report at the September sitting”,
the parliamentarian said.
SHIRAK TOROSYAN: ARMENIAN AND GEORGIAN RELIGIOUS ISSUES SHOULD NOT BE PUT ON THE SAME LEVEL
Anna Balyan
“Radiolur”
17.06.2011 16:57
Demands to grant an equal status to the Armenian Apostolic Church of
Georgia and the Georgian Orthodox Church of Armenia are groundless,”
MP Shirak Torosyan told a press conference today.
“Hundreds of thousands of Armenians reside in Georgia, while there
are almost no Georgians living in Armenia. Besides, unlike Georgia,
religious streams are not legally registered and protected in Armenia,”
he said.
Putting the Armenian and Georgian religious issues on the same
level means entering a stage of long discussions, which will lead to
deadlock, Shirak Torosyan said.
COLLECTIF VAN : L’éPHéMéRIDE DU 16 JUIN 2011
Publié le : 16-06-2011
Info Collectif VAN – – La rubrique “Ephéméride”
du Collectif VAN a été lancée le 6 décembre 2010. Elle recense
la liste d’événements survenus a une date donnée, a différentes
époques de l’Histoire, sur les thématiques que l’association suit au
quotidien. L’éphéméride du Collectif VAN repose sur des informations
en ligne sur de nombreux sites (les sources sont spécifiées sous
chaque entrée). Vous pouvez retrouver tous les éphémérides du
Collectif VAN dans la Rubrique Actions VAN, en cliquant ici
16 juin 1919 — L’Azerbaïdjan tatare se lia encore plus étroitement
avec la Turquie, dont il devint bientôt le vassal de fait. Les deux
pays se garantirent leur intégrité territoriale et la Turquie
assuma l’organisation de l’armée tatare. L’Azerbaïdjan avait
conclu, quelques mois auparavant, le 16 juin 1919, une alliance
militaire avec la Géorgie. L’expansion turque dans le Caucase ne
trouve donc plus devant elle qu’un seul obstacle: l’Arménie. Carte
: Le peuplement arménien a la veille du génocide (1915). Source :
“Atlas historique de l’Arménie”, Claude Mutafian et Eric Van Lauwe,
Collection Atlas, Editions Autrement, Paris 2001.
Ca s’est passé un 16 juin (les événements sont classés du plus
ancien au plus récent) :
16 juin 1221 — Les juifs d’Erfurt (Allemagne) sont accusés de meurtre
rituel. Une foule composée sans doute de marchands originaires de
Frise prend d’assaut la synagogue, menacant de mort ses occupants
s’ils refusent le baptême. La synagogue et tout le quartier juif
sont incendiés, de nombreux juifs torturés et mis a mort.
Skynet : 16 juin, ce jour-la, n’oubliez pas
16 juin 1492 — Le roi d’Espagne Ferdinand d’Aragon, qui règne
également sur la Sicile, décrète que tous les juifs doivent quitter
l’île dans les trois mois sous peine de mort. Le délai fixé par
l’édit est prorogé après que les juifs eurent versé une somme
colossale au roi d’Espagne.
Skynet : 16 juin, ce jour-la, n’oubliez pas
16 juin 1895 — Empire ottoman : début du premier défense de Van
(jusqu’en Juin 20).
American University of Armenia : This day in Armenian history
16 juin 1915 — Empire ottoman : kaza de Kıghi. Le dernier convoi,
comprenant les villageois de trente-cinq localités, dont Temran, Oror
et Arek, est mis en route. Il est attaqué et pillé une première
fois au lieu-dit Sarpicay, dans le kaza de Akpunar, par des cete
kurdes de l’O.S. Ces déportés sont d’abord parqués près de Palou,
a Dabalu, puis massacrés a la hache et jetés dans l’Euphrate au
niveau du pont de Palou. Sur un total de 19 859 déportés du kaza,
3 000 arrivent a Ras ul-Ayn.
** (Kévorkian, 2006 :374).
Mass violence : Chronologie de l’extermination des Arméniens de
l’Empire ottoman par le régime jeune-turc (1915-1916)
16 juin 1915 — Empire ottoman : le premier convoi de déportés,
composé des familles arméniennes les plus influentes, quitte Erzerum,
sous les ordres du capitaine de gendarmerie Nusret, vers le sud-ouest,
en direction de Kıgi et Palou.
*** (Kévorkian, 2006 :359-360; Kaiser, 2002 :139).
Mass violence : Chronologie de l’extermination des Arméniens de
l’Empire ottoman par le régime jeune-turc (1915-1916)
16 juin 1915 — Empire ottoman : 600 jacobites et syriens catholiques
de Mansuriyeh (sancak de Mardin) sont exécutés sur place.
** (Ternon, 2002 :161-166).
Mass violence : Chronologie de l’extermination des Arméniens de
l’Empire ottoman par le régime jeune-turc (1915-1916)
16 juin 1915 — Empire ottoman : sur le premier convoi qui partit le
16 juin sur la route menant directement a Harput et qui se composait
principalement de notables arméniens, ayant beaucoup de bagages
avec eux, tous les hommes, a de très rares exceptions près, ont
été assassinés, bien que le vali ne reconnaisse que 13 victimes
arméniennes. Les femmes parvinrent apparemment a Harput avec les
enfants les plus petits, mais l’on ne sait rien de certain quant aux
adolescentes. Les autres groupes furent emmenés via Baiburt vers
Erzindjan, puis en direction de Kamakh (vallée de l’Euphrate). Ils
sont généralement ” censés ” parvenir a traverser sains et saufs
la vallée de l’Euphrate, mais doivent encore traverser une section
périlleuse lors de leur parcours vers Harput et les alentours d’Ourfa.
Petite encyclopédie du génocide arménien: Rapport sur la
déportation des Arméniens
16 juin 1915 — Empire ottoman : l’Ambassadeur Morgenthau décrit
explicitement au Département d’Etat américain la politique du
gouvernement Jeune-Turc comme une campagne d’” extermination de
race ”, et il est informé par le Secrétaire d’Etat des Etats-Unis,
Lansing Robert, que le ministère ” approuve votre procédure … pour
arrêter la persécution arménienne “.
American University of Armenia : This day in Armenian history
16 juin 1919 — L’union entre bolcheviks russes et nationalistes turcs
était désormais scellée. Et, aussitôt, une intense propagande
commenca d’agir dans tous les pays musulmans, surtout dans ceux de
race turque.
Sous l’influence de cette propagande, l’Azerbaïdjan tatare se lia
encore plus étroitement avec la Turquie, dont il devint bientôt le
vassal de fait. Dans une convention militaire secrète, en octobre
1919, les deux pays se garantirent leur intégrité territoriale, et la
Turquie assuma l’organisation de l’armée tatare qui se trouva bientôt
sous le commandement presque exclusif des officiers turcs. D’un autre
côté, l’Azerbaïdjan avait conclu, quelques mois auparavant, le 16
juin 1919, une alliance militaire avec la Géorgie. L’expansion turque
dans le Caucase ne trouve donc plus devant elle qu’un seul obstacle:
l’Arménie. Comme le déclara, a une séance du sous-Comité de Berlin
de la ”Ligue pour la libération de l’Orient”, un délégué musulman
de Russie, ”la République arménienne était l’unique empêchement
a l’unification du mouvement panislamiste du Caucase avec celui de
la Turquie et de la Perse”, Mandelstam, André. La Société des
Nations et les Puissances devant le problème arménien, Paris,
Pédone, 1926 ; rééd. Imprimerie Hamaskaïne, 1970.
Imprescriptible: L’Arménie russe pendant la Grande Guerre et après
l’armistice de Lemnos
16 juin 1938 — 100 juifs quittent Vienne (Autriche) pour le camp de
concentration de Dachau (Allemagne).
Skynet : 16 juin, ce jour-la, n’oubliez pas
16 juin 1940 — En France, c’est la débâcle. Ã~@ Bordeaux se trouvent
des dizaines de milliers de réfugiés, parmi lesquels de nombreux
Juifs. Le consul du Portugal a Bordeaux, Aristides de Sousa Mendes,
décide ce jour-la d’accorder des visas a tous ceux qui en feront
la demande : ” Désormais, je donnerai des visas a tout le monde,
il n’y a plus de nationalité, de race, de religion ”.
Ajpn : Repères chronologiques 1905 a 1945
16 juin 1941 — Les fascistes hongrois déportent 3 500 juifs du
ghetto de Subotica (Yougoslavie) au camp de Bacalmas.
Skynet : 16 juin, ce jour-la, n’oubliez pas
16 juin 1942 — A Ozmiana (Biélorussie), 300 juifs sont assassinés
par les SS.
â~@¨- 1 200 juifs de Bohorodczany (Pologne) sont conduits a
Stanislavov et assassinés par la police ukrainienne dans le ”
moulin de Rudolf ”.
Skynet : 16 juin, ce jour-la, n’oubliez pas
16 juin 1943 — Des juifs en nombre inconnu sont déportés de Vienne
(Autriche) au camp de concentration de Theresienstadt.
Skynet : 16 juin, ce jour-la, n’oubliez pas
16 juin 1944 — 1 500 juifs de Hodmezovasarhely (Hongrie) sont
déportés au ghetto de Szeged.
– Au ghetto de Lodz, les allemands lancent un appel a des volontaires
pour un travail en dehors du ghetto. Les volontaires sont en réalité
destinés au camp d’extermination de Chelmno.
Skynet : 16 juin, ce jour-la, n’oubliez pas
16 juin 1994 — Rwanda : une opération d’évacuation de Tutsis,
a la Paroisse Saint-Paul, effectuée par le FPR le 16 juin 1994,
a entraîné la mort de plusieurs personnes. Selon le “gouvernement
intérimaire”, elles auraient été exécutées en raison de leur
appartenance a l’ethnie hutue. A cela, les représentants du FPR
ont répondu que certaines personnes ont pu être tuées au cours du
combat, mais ont affirmé que, dans le feu de l’action, il n’y avait
pas le temps de faire le tri entre Hutus et Tutsis, et que ces actes
n’étaient pas intentionnels.
Aidh : Les rapports des rapporteurs et représentants spéciaux des
Nations unies
16 juin 2006 — Turquie : dans un article paru dans Agos le 16
juin 2006, le journaliste arménien et citoyen turc Hrant Dink
définissait la voie du vivre ensemble comme “seule exigence
possible et démocratique née de l’intelligence et de la
conscience”. Rappelant les événements de 1908 – la proclamation du
gouvernement constitutionnel, qui enivra les Turcs et l’ensemble des
minorités (l’intelligentsia participa elle aussi aux festivités
populaires dans les rues) “de chants inspirés par les principes de
liberté, d’égalité et de justice” -, conjointement a ceux de 1909
– expérimentation de “l’un des carnages les plus sanguinaires de
l’empire ottoman et où, dans le cas d’Adana, les Arméniens furent
assassinés par leurs propres voisins”, l’écrivain concluait que
“vivre ensemble, cependant, n’est pas une grâce que quelqu’un nous
concèderait de haut, c’est une culture que des peuples qui vivent
ensemble doivent créer ensemble.” Hrant Dink fut assassiné par un
jeune Turc fanatique le 19 janvier 2007.
Armenian Trends РMes arm̩nies : Zabel Yessayan РDans les ruines
16 juin 2008 — Le Southern Poverty Law Center fondé en 1971 aux USA,
est une petite association de protection des droits civiques. Le
SPLC est connu internationalement pour ses programmes éducatifs
sur la tolérance, et ses victoires juridiques contre les groupes
haineux et les activités extrémistes partout aux Etats-Unis. Le
Centre, qui agit en fait comme un Observatoire dédié au racisme,
a l’incitation a la haine et au négationnisme, suit a la trace
plus de 800 groupes racistes a travers les USA et publie un rapport
trimestriel ” Intelligence Report ” destiné aux pouvoirs publics,
aux médias et au grand public. Son numéro de l’été 2008 présente
une longue étude de David Holthouse sur le négationnisme d’Etat de
la Turquie qui ” dépense des millions pour dissimuler le génocide
arménien ” .
Collectif VAN – USA/Turquie : l’état du négationnisme (I)
16 juin 2010 — Turquie : les médias turcs annoncent la découverte,
non loin d’Erzurum, de ce qui serait une fosse commune de musulmans
turcs massacrés par les Arméniens. Les travaux étaient dirigés par
l’archéologue Djevdeth Bacharan, professeur de l’Université Ataturk.
Parmi les participants, on note la présence du président du Centre
de recherches de l’Université Ataturk, spécialiste des relations
arméno-turques, Erol Kurkcuoglu. Selon lui, un monument va être
érigé d’ici le 29 octobre 2010 a Erzurum en l’honneur de 50 000
Turcs massacrés par les Arméniens. L’Etat turc se targue donc de
reconnaître pour ” génocide ”, un massacre de 50 000 victimes
(supposées turques), par des Arméniens, mais se garde bien de
qualifier de génocide celui perpétré par le gouvernement turc en
1915 contre 1 500 000 Arméniens de l’Empire ottoman. Un article en
arménien a ce sujet est publié sur le site Tert.am le 16 juin 2010.
Collectif VAN – La Turquie : Mémorial pour un soi-disant ”génocide
turc ”
16 juin 2010 — Turquie : le Haut Conseil de l’audiovisuel turc
(RTUK), sanctionne la chaîne de télévision privée Haberturk.
Au moment où le Comité des Affaires Extérieures de la Chambre des
Représentants des Etats-Unis adoptait une résolution reconnaissant le
terme de ” génocide ” pour qualifier les massacres d’Arméniens de
1915, la chaîne menait un débat autour de la question. L’émission
” Tête a tête ” du 9 mars dernier a opposé Yusuf Halacoglu,
l’ancien président de l’Institut turc d’Histoire (TTK), et Sevan
Nisanyan, journaliste d’origine arménienne. Ce sont les propos tenus
par ce dernier qui ont déplu au Haut Conseil de l’audiovisuel. Afin
de sanctionner la chaîne de télévision, le RTUK a décidé que
celle-ci ne pourrait diffuser l’émission incriminée qu’après le 13
juillet. Cette décision, prise le 16 juin, n’a été rendue publique
que le 24. En lieu et place de l’émission interdite, la chaîne devra,
en attendant, diffuser une émission choisie par le RTUK.
Collectif VAN РTurquie: D̩bat d̩rangeant sur le g̩nocide arm̩nien
16 juin 2010 — Serbie : la famille de l’ancien général bosno-serbe
Ratko Mladic demande a un tribunal serbe de le déclarer officiellement
mort après quinze ans de cavale.
Yahoo : L’éphéméride du jeudi 16 juin 2011
Compilation réalisée par le site
Retour a la rubrique
ERDOGAN PREFERS EGYPT TO AZERBAIJAN
PanARMENIAN.Net
June 17, 2011 – 15:59 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net – Despite the expectations of the Azerbaijani
leadership, the first visit after his party’s victory in the
parliamentary election Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
will pay to Cairo.
According to Sabah, choosing Egypt as the first destination, Erdogan
intends to demonstrate support to revolutionary and democratic
developments in the Arab world. The newspaper supposes that the
Turkish PM may address a rally at Tahrir Square.
The Egypt tour will be succeeded by trips to Azerbaijan and Northern
Cyprus.
SOUTH CAUCASUS RAILWAYS REPORTS 12.9% RISE IN CARGO TRANSPORTATION
/ARKA/
June 17, 2011
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, June 17. / ARKA /. The South Caucasus Railways, a Russian-run
company operating Armenia~Rs railroads, said it had transported a
total of 1.146. million tons of cargo in January-May 2011, a 12.9%
year-on-year increase.
According to a press release, received by ARKA, the actual volume
of transported goods in this period was 8% higher than planned. In
January-May 2011 the company transported outside the country 147,100
tons of cargo, by 21.7% more than planned. The volume of cargo brought
to the country in the first five months of this year amounted to
485,100 tons, exceeding the projected rate of 461,300 tons by 5.2%.
Locally transported cargo rose by 7.2% to 514,600 tons.
“The growth in basic indicators was achieved due to a flexible tariff
policy, as well as to constant improvement of quality of service,”
the company said in a news release.
The South Caucasus Railways is run by Russian Railways. The
concessional agreement was concluded in 2008 for 30 years, with a
right of extension for another 20 years after the first 20 years of
operation.
WHAT HAPPENED IN GEORGIA?
HAKOB BADALYAN
Story from Lragir.am News:
Published: 12:42:46 – 17/06/2011
Obviously, the visit of the Armenian Catholicos to Georgia was not
helpful to the solution of the Armenian and Georgian controversy over
churches. It caused more tensions instead. Or, at least disclosed
the fundamental controversies between the sides.
First the Georgian press reported the signing of a joint communiqué on
granting official status to the Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia
and the Georgian church in Armenia.
Two days later, the head of the information system of the Holy See Fr.
Vahram denied the signing of the communiqué in Facebook, followed
by denial of the Georgian church. Why did the sides refute the
misinformation of the Georgian press with delay?
Apparently, it was not misinformation. It was a matter of getting
ahead of the events. Perhaps, the Georgian press was convinced that
the communiqué was going to be signed and reported the signing when
it was still under discussion. It is not ruled out that the Georgian
church had assured the Georgian press that the Armenians were committed
to signing.
And the press reports were denied two days late because the Armenian
and Georgian church leaders continued the discussion or debate on
the text of the communiqué, and when the disagreement was final and
the discussion ended, the refutation followed.
Although, it should not be ruled out that it is a case of being
inattentive or slow. It is possible that the information system of
the Holy See missed the press report and commented on it when the
strong reaction to it came in Armenia. Surprisingly, only in Facebook.
Facebook is OK, but why only in Facebook?
There is another possibility. It is not ruled out that the Armenian
Apostolic Church agreed to sign a communiqué with the Georgian
church to have at least a result of the visit of the Catholicos,
and ensure that the visit does not end in aggravation or disclosure
of the controversy. After all, it is not quite pleasant when a rare
visit ends without a joint document.
Besides, the Catholicos may have thought that the communiqué is
not legally binding, is a memorandum on intentions between churches
rather than states, and the proposed draft could be accepted to save
the ~Sface~T of the visit. It is not ruled out that the Armenian
clergy thought it did not need the Chalcedonic churches in the north
of Armenia which are generally ignored, and there would be nothing
terrible about transferring them to the Georgian church. In other
words, it is possible that the Armenian Apostolic Church proceeded from
its corporate interests, if it can be referred to so, at that time.
However, probably official Yerevan intervened after learning about the
content of the document and barred the Armenian Apostolic Church from
signing a legally binding document. In the result of this, perhaps,
the Communique failed.
Another course of developments is also possible. The fact is that the
visit of the Catholicos to Georgia did not solve the problem of the
status of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia, and it is highly
doubted that it solved the issue of preservation of the Armenian
churches there, even though the Georgian government made commitments.
After all, the Georgian government has never committed itself to
the opposite, and it is not the first time it has committed to
reconstruction and preservation of the Armenian churches.
The key issue is when the Armenian community in Georgia will eventually
start acting more efficiently regarding these issues.
Armenians in Georgia are about 10% of the population of Georgia. About
300-500 thousand Armenians live in Georgia. It is hardly possible
to expect effective solutions of the issues of Armenian churches,
Armenian movement and Javakheti unless the Armenians find a pole for
self-organization, and establish effective relations and debate with
the Georgian government as Georgian citizens.
Due to its geographic dependence on Georgia, Armenia is usually
cautious in claiming solution of these problems in Georgia. The
situation is delicate. Armenia needs to be bolder regarding this
issue, otherwise Georgia will abuse Armenia~Rs dependence. However,
it is a fact that Armenia is tied to its dependence on Georgia.
Meanwhile, the situation of the Armenian community in Georgia is
different. They are citizens of Georgia and can pursue their rights
and set demands before the Georgian government. And Armenia should
not try to act as a mediator to any agreement or make commitments
to the Georgian government to controlling and curbing the Armenians
of Georgia.
However, the ability of the Armenian community in Georgia to
self-organize remains the key issue. If the community makes no progress
toward self-organization, hardly any progress will be reported toward
the solution of the Armenian-Georgian problems.
Moreover, the community must be interested in having possibly fewer
or no mediators between itself and Georgia because the Georgian
government may manipulate mediations as an intervention, deviating
from the discussion of the key issues.
ARMENIAN MUSEUM IN WASHINGTON: BEYOND GENOCIDE
by Nareg Seferian
Published: Friday June 17, 2011
Interior view of the National Bank of Washington building, part of
the site of the future museum and memorial to the Armenian Genocide.
Armenian Reporter
Washington – I had the great pleasure and unique opportunity to
visit the future site of the Armenian Genocide Museum and Memorial
the other day. It is truly an amazing location and space whose value
in its potential to reach out to the Armenian-American community,
the US political establishment, and American society as such cannot
be underestimated.
Of course the ongoing disputes and legal matters dogging the project
have been disappointing and, frankly, embarrassing and shameful. More
than that, however, even as this idea was made public a few years
ago, I got the impression that the efforts may be better served to
highlight Armenian history and culture generally, as opposed to a
giant commemoration of the Armenian Genocide alone.
Indeed, the Armenian Library and Museum of America in Watertown in
the Boston area is just that kind of informative, educational, and
outreach establishment which I imagine could be realized on a larger
and more successful scale in the heart of Washington, DC.
Most members of the Armenian-American community trace back their
roots to the Armenian Genocide and I cannot blame a majority of
the community for basing its identity on that one tragic chapter of
our history. Yet, there is so much more to the Armenian experience
generally that is worthy of being celebrated and shared.
Armenians and Jews: more different than similar I often get the
impression that the Armenians of America take their lead from the
Jewish community in this country. I don’t know why that should be
the case.
We Armenians certainly do have some things in common in terms of our
history and culture, but, for the most part, the comparison ends after
loosely applying a couple of terms such as “diaspora” and “genocide.”
The fact of the matter is that the Jews of the United States are
much greater in number, wealthier, better-organized in some ways, and
certainly far better-established and more influential on policy. That
may inspire Armenians and other groups to take on their tactics, but
the Jewish hold on the public consciousness of the US extends to the
classroom and the media in a way which could never be duplicated in
the short- to medium-term.
Movies, books, and TV and radio are replete with regular Jewish
references. The Jews are an immense, visible community in the US today,
just as they were in the old countries, in the European societies
the heritage of which many Americans bear. The fact that most people
who live in this country are Christian and exposed to the Bible
automatically ensures some familiarity with the Jewish heritage anyway,
which continues in everyday life as many Americans have friends,
neighbors, and colleagues who are Jews, much more than they have
Armenian acquaintances. Many are even partially Jewish by blood.
There are innumerable celebrities in the field of the arts and
entertainment, business and politics, sports and academia who are
Jewish. The strong political relationship between the United States
and Israel and the ongoing, prominent dispute over the Holy Land only
adds to the big part that Jews and their legacy play in the national
conversation which reaches out to any even partly-informed or educated
individual in America.
We Armenians could never have the sort of reach that the Jewish
community has in this country, barring extreme circumstances. Our
successes in the United States are praiseworthy, but, at the end of
the day, we are fewer in number, much less wealthy, and not as well
organized as the Jews.
The Armenian vote could only influence the popular elections in a
handful of districts at the most, and there may be a few more where
there are influential and rich individual Armenians who have the ear
of the local decision-makers and their counterparts in Washington. Our
language or humor or art and culture have had little to no influence
on the public consciousness in this country.
For that matter, even when it comes to those points in common, our
diaspora tradition is not as ancient as the Jewish one, to say nothing
of the tradition of being a victimized minority. The latter, in fact,
is a very rare phenomenon in Armenian history which was taken to the
extreme in the last half-century or so of the Ottoman Empire.
As a Christian people subject to Muslim overlords, the Armenians were
privileged in many ways under Turkish and Persian rule, serving as
go-betweens with Europe and the rising Western powers.
All of that changed by the late nineteenth century, of course.
Moreover, the Armenian Genocide for today’s Armenians, the youth
in particular, is one generation removed from the Holocaust and the
young Jews of this country.
It was my great-grandparents who were kicked out of what is Turkey
today, great-grandparents whom I have never met, with whom I have
never spoken. Their memory is sacred to me, worthy of being honored,
but that removal across time, I feel, discourages me from basing my
identity as an Armenian on that one event alone, especially given the
earth-shaking events in Armenian history over the past few decades
with the re-establishment of a sovereign Republic of Armenia and the
continuing struggle over Artsakh.
We have managed to convince academia of the narrative of the Armenian
experience as “the first genocide of the twentieth century”, the
prototype of all genocides, serving as inspiration, of course, most
particularly for the Holocaust. It cannot be a matter of pride that
led us to that point. It can certainly be a matter of truth, of facts
speaking for themselves.
Whatever it may be, I find it uncomfortable to establish and perpetuate
a complex of victimization for the Armenians of America, and, by
extension, the world, to institutionalize playing the victim all
the time. And why do we even want to keep on playing the victim in
a country with its own, in many ways ongoing, tradition of genocide
against a native population? That does not make much sense to me
at all.
House of Armenia or another Holocaust museum?
The plans for an official memorial to the Holocaust in Washington were
not without controversy, both within and outside the Jewish community.
(The Jewish and Armenian communities and states also share the
similarity of being divided into political, religious, and other
factions, a characteristic which can have an effect on the process
of establishing museums among other things.) It took over a decade
to get the project going.
It should please some that mention of the Armenian Genocide happens to
form part of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum’s exhibit as well. But
it seems to me that the Armenian-American community has once again
tried to imitate Jewish initiatives, only without federal funding.
Maybe it will take us a decade and more to finally inaugurate our
facility too, past the desirable 2015 date.
All this is to say that we Armenians have much going for us which
need not be reflected on the Jewish model, and that we have an
enviable opportunity to capitalize on things uniquely Armenian just
a few blocks from the White House which ought not be squandered. The
Armenian-American community, I find, is often very inward-looking. An
establishment that showcases our history and culture would provide
an excellent opportunity for outreach to the world generally and also
across Armenian communities within the United States and beyond.
It is our unique culture and our rich history which sets us apart from
others. Our traditions may share a great deal with other peoples in
the region as well, but many aspects of our music and dance, clothing,
cuisine, and architecture are particular to us, not to mention our
very special language and our distinctive church tradition, and also
those unique pages in our history which no other peoples can claim
to share, such as our success as a kingdom in Cilicia for a couple
of centuries, our remarkable community in India, and such figures as
Anania Shirakatsi, Hovsep Emin, and Komitas, to name but a few.
To have an “Armenia House”, for example, in downtown DC would be
much more attractive for visitors to share in the celebration of
our tradition, to say nothing of the much more positive name as a
location for receptions and other events, as opposed to a genocide
museum and memorial.
We have a legitimate, just cause in making our demands for the
recognition of the dispossession of the Armenians and other Christian
peoples over the course of many decades during the turn of the
last two centuries in what is today Turkey, as well as the formal
acknowledgement and protection of that heritage by the Republic
of Turkey.
Our aim, as I understand it, is to alter the perceptions within society
in Turkey and to fundamentally shift the national, state policy of
the Republic of Turkey with regards to Armenians, as well as Greeks,
Assyrian and other Syriac peoples and other minorities, their cultural
heritage in Turkey, their current circumstances, and future relations.
An establishment in Washington, DC marking that dispossession – and
only that dispossession – could only serve to highlight one aspect
of our struggle.
An establishment which celebrates our entire immense and rich cultural
legacy, on the other hand, our history, our language, our church and,
of course, that dark, tragic page of our history which was the Armenian
Genocide, could serve to renew our connection as Armenians with the
heritage that we bear, as well as introducing this most interesting
member of the family of peoples to American society generally.
OPERA SINGER HASMIK PAPIAN TO PERFORM AT ARMENIAN NIGHT IN BOSTON
PanARMENIAN.Net
June 17, 2011 – 10:02 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net – Hasmik Papian, a darling of the European and
American top opera houses, as well as a veteran solo performer will
next perform in Boston at the Armenian Night at the Pops on June 25,
The Armenian Mirror-Spectator reports.
In a recent interview from her home here, lyric soprano Papian spoke
about her spectacular rise in the world of opera.
Papian was born and raised in Yerevan, and almost did not become
a singer; she was studying the violin. “The decision [to become a
soprano] came very late,” she explained. “I always knew I had a voice,
but I never thought I would become a professional singer.”
“I won four international competitions and after the first one,
the son of the great tenor, Mario Del Monaco, Giovanni, who was the
head of Opera Bonn, [in Germany] heard me sing. Bonn, at that time,
was the capital of Germany. If you sing well [ in a major city like
that] it goes around quickly,” Papian said. She got a contract and
started singing there.
That was back in 1993. She started looking for opportunities at the
end of her contract there.She was soon booked for a debut recital at
the Vienna State Opera. “I was there for rehearsals at 11 a.m. There
was a big crowd at the artists’ entrance. I thought there must have
been an accident, but it was only spectators who had come to my
rehearsals. They came to wish me good luck. After my debut, I decided
if I could not live in Yerevan, this is the place I would love to
live,” she recalled.
While she called Yerevan her “beloved city,” Papian said that
Vienna has, hands-down, the “best audiences.” In fact, she said,
the government does much to promote opera, and the art form is
so identified with the city that there are planeloads of Japanese
tourists who come for the weekend to attend a single performance.
She added, “I never left Armenia. I almost look at [my absence] as
a business trip.” She noted that she goes back every year and added
she plans to live in Armenia at the end of her career.
As for her favorite stage, she said Metropolitan Opera in New York City
“is one of the best stages in the world.”
AZERBAIJAN ‘DISPLEASED’ WITH ARTSAKH PRESIDENT’S INTERVIEW
PanARMENIAN.Net
June 17, 2011 – 11:53 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net – Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Elkhan
Polukhov said the country’s embassy to Russia was instructed to
clarify the details of publication of Artsakh President Bako Sahakyan’s
interview with Military Diplomat magazine.
For the purpose, the embassy will send an inquiry to the Russian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1news.az reported.
Azerbaijan was upset to see that Bako Sahakyan was introduced as the
President of Nagorno Karabakh (the way he should be) in the May edition
of Military Diplomat magazine, where the interview was published.