Author: Kanayan Tamar

FOUR DIED IN MAJOR ACCIDENT IN ARMENIA’S VANADZOR (PHOTO)

July 26, 2012 | 22:11

VANADZOR. – A major accident occurred at 6.30 p.m. in Armenia’s Lori
Region on Thursday.

Four citizens, including two – Aren Kyurghinyan and Mayis Ghanaghyan –
died on the way to hospital, while the other two injured, including
26-year-old Karen Gharaghyozyan and Avetik Kyurghinyan died at the
site, Armenian News-NEWS.am Lori correspondent reports.

The fifth injured Tigran Kyurghinyan is in critical condition, he is
transported from Vanadzor to Yerevan capital city.

BURBANK ANCA ANNOUNCES COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS

Thursday, July 26th, 2012

Annie P. Marandjian-Hovanessian, Esq.

BURBANK-The Armenian National Committee of America-Burbank announced
that five Armenian-Americans were recently appointed to serve on
numerous Commissions in the City of Burbank: Annie P.

Marandjian-Hovanessian on the Burbank Water and Power Board, Ara
Boyadjian on the Burbank Civic Pride Committee, Vahe Hovanessian as
Chair of the City of Burbank Planning Board and Chair of the Burbank
Unified School District Facilities Oversight Committee, Garen Yegparian
as Chair of the Park, Recreation and Community Services Board and
Hagop Hergelian as Secretary of the Police Commission.

“It is important that we encourage our Armenian-American community
to take part in Burbank’s civic life. These five individuals are
excellent representatives and role models for our community. I look
forward to seeing the work they accomplish,” stated Silva Kechichian,
ANCA-B Chair.

Annie P. Marandjian-Hovanessian, Esq. is the West Region Attorney
for Vulcan Materials Company. In her seven years at Vulcan, Annie
has gained a reputation as a highly respected professional and leader
among her peers in the construction materials industry.

Hovanessian obtained her bachelor of arts from UCLA and graduated from
the University of La Verne, College of Law with a juris doctor and
numerous honors. She began her community involvement by volunteering
in Homenetmen, Massis Chapter and the Armenian Youth Federation,
Sardarabad Chapter.

“One of the first things I learned when I joined Homenetmen as a little
girl was ‘Elevate Yourself and Elevate Others with You-Partsratsir
Partsratsour’. I hold this motto dear to my heart and try to apply it
to all aspects of my life. As attorneys, my husband and I enjoy being
zealous advocates not only for our clients, but for our community as
well. It is tremendously rewarding to see what a difference people
can make when they work together in harmony towards a common goal,”
commented Hovanessian.

In addition, Hovanessian was a columnist for the Burbank Leader,
writing about service clubs and their activities. She served for eight
years as a member of Burbank’s Community Development Goals Committee,
which provides recommendations for the disbursement of funds from
the federal Community Development Block Grants Program.

Hovanessian was recently appointed to the high profile Burbank Water
and Power Board.

Ara Boyadjian

Ara Boyadjian, a resident of the City of Burbank for over 40 years,
is the founder of the slogan, logo and website “Visit Armenia It Is
Beautiful.” The concept is a non-profit slogan encouraging travel and
tourism to Armenia. Ara’s passion for tourism and travel started over
55 years ago. When he peaked in his professional life, Ara decided
to continue his hard work by volunteering his time to local causes.

Boyadjian was appointed to his second term as a Civic Pride Committee
Member, where he enthusiastically promotes civic involvement and
pride in Burbank. He proudly served his first term from June 2010 to
May 2012.

With his belief and passion in introducing and integrating different
ethnic groups and cultures in Burbank, Boyadjian hopes to make a
difference as a Civic Pride Committee Member and keep Burbank a
beautiful place to live or visit.

Vahe Hovanessian, Esq. is a practicing attorney at the Law Office of
Vahe Hovanessian, handling general civil and criminal matters through
trial including family law, employment, contract and personal injury.

[Vahe-H.-300×300.jpg]

Vahe Hovanessian

Hovanessian graduated with a juris doctor from the San Fernando Valley
College of Law of the University of La Verne and a bachelor of arts
in political science from UCLA.

He volunteers for the Burbank Public Library Literacy Services
Department and is trained to help adults quickly learn to read with
the phonics method. Hovanessian also volunteers his time as a Parent
Support Committee member for the Richard Tufenkian Pre-School and
occasionally assists coaching his son’s basketball Jr. NBA team for
Ararat Homenetmen.

He currently serves as the Chair of the City of Burbank Planning Board
(2009 to present) and the Chair of the Burbank Unified School District
Facilities Oversight Committee (2010 to present). Prior to his current
service, he served as a board member and Chair of the City of Burbank
Water and Power Board (2003 to 2007).

Garen Yegparian

Garen Yegparian is a longtime resident, volunteer, and active member of
the Burbank community. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania
with a degree in chemical engineering and for the past ten years has
worked for the City of Los Angeles in the City Clerk’s office as a
technical research analyst.

Yegparian is currently the Chair of the Park, Recreation and
Community Services Board, where he focuses on making more recreational
opportunities available in Burbank. He also represents the City on
the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy- Advisory Board.

Garen has also been involved in other boards and a range of community
issues. He has served on the Burbank Charter Review Committee, the
Blue Ribbon Committee on Campaign Finance Reform, and the Burbank
Community Development Goals Committee. Outside of government, he has
worked to bring people together by working with the ANCA-Burbank and
the Burbank Human Relations Council.

Hagop Hergelian has lived in Burbank for over 15 years and has
been an active member of and involved in many facets of the Burbank
community. He was a member of the Burbank Charter Review Committee
and the Blue Ribbon Committee on Campaign Finance Reform. He is also
an alumnus of Leadership Burbank, a leadership training academy.

Hagop Hergelian

Hergelian was reappointed unanimously by the Burbank City Council
in 2011 for a third term and is currently serving his tenth year as
a Police Commissioner. The Burbank Police Commission is currently
involved in implementing independent oversight and expanding civilian
oversight of the Police Department. Also, Hagop is a past Chairman
of the Burbank Police Commission.

The Armenian National Committee of America – Burbank advances the
social, economic, cultural and political rights of the area’s Armenian
American community and promotes increased Armenian American civic
participation at the grassroots and public policy levels.

SARDARAPAT MOVEMENT MEMBERS ACCUSE DIASPORA MINISTRY IN INACTIVITY

tert.am
27.07.12

Instead of focusing on the issues of Syrian-Armenians, appeared in
fatal danger, the Diaspora Ministry is busy with Come Home program,
expert, member of Sardarapat Movement Harutyun Mesrobian told at a
news conference on Friday.

“Why has the Diaspora Ministry been created? It has been established
to help Diaspora Armenians appearing in such situation. The Diaspora
minister was to stand by their side and help them to solve their
issues,” he stressed.

Zhirayr Sefilian, member of “Sardarapat” movement’s initiative group,
said the time has come for the Armenian political mind to wake up.
“Syrian Armenians have place in our country. We should leave behind
our complex of being a small country not able to do anything,”
Sefilian said.

Member of the movement Garegin Chookaszian said they demand from the
Armenian authorities to guide the Syrian Armenians to Armenia. “It is
necessary to work out a short-term and a long-term program,” he said,
stressing the necessity of being ready for worse situation as well.
According to him different scenarios for different developments should
be worked out.

Harutyun Mesrobian said if the authorities fail to solve the issue,
they should step down.

UKRAINE SOLD FIGHTER AND ANTI-TANK GUIDED MISSILE COMPLEXES TO AZERBAIJAN

News.Az
27 July 2012

The Ukrainian government announced its report on arms and military
equipment sales, APA reports quoting the website of the State Service
of Export Control of Ukraine.

Ukraine exported 117 tanks, 91 armored fighting vehicles, 5 combat and
training aircrafts, 2 helicopters and 12 missile firing installations.

Azerbaijan and Armenia also purchased weapon from Ukraine. Last year
Ukraine sold 1 MIG-29UB warcraft, 6 anti-tank guided missile complexes
to Azerbaijan, 2 L-39 training aircrafts to Armenia.

YEREVAN AND MARSEILLE TO COLLABORATE IN HEALTH CARE

news.am
July 27, 2012 | 11:31

YEREVAN. – Armenia’s Healthcare Minister Derenik Dumanyan received
Deputy Mayor Didier Parakian of Marseille, France.

The guest presented to the Minister the circles of current interaction
between the sister cities of Yerevan and Marseille, and expressed
a wish to carry out programs in the healthcare sector as well, the
Ministry press service informs.

He noted that the agency, which coordinates the activities of
the hospitals in Marseille, stands ready to cooperate in training
physicians, exchange of experience, supplying medical equipment, and
in several other directions. Marseille’s Deputy Mayor also offered
to jointly organize free operations.

In his turn, Minister Dumanyan considered all proposals as acceptable,
and added that, ever since the devastating earthquake that hit Armenia
in 1988, virtually all Diaspora-Armenian physicians closely cooperate
with Armenia’s healthcare sector.

Also, Derenik Dumanyan expressed a readiness to support any initiative
toward development of the healthcare sector.

DON’T GO TO TURKEY, YOU WILL STEP ON ARMENIANS’ BONES! – INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

news.am
July 28, 2012 | 08:08

Several Diaspora Armenians have reflected on the Turkish authorities’
latest vandalism at the Eruh region of Turkey’s Siirt (Sghert, in
Armenian) Province. They called upon the country’s authorities to
put an end to the disrespectful and terrible measures taken against
other cultures and faiths.

In the appeal, which is spearheaded by Nadya Uygun, these Armenians
reacted to destruction of the Armenian cemetery, located nearby the
Kurdish Xert village in the aforesaid province, and scattering of
the dead Armenians’ bones all over the place.

The respective announcement pointed to the international media’s
reaction to this horrendous occurrence, where this call was made:
“Don’t go to Turkey, you will step on Armenians’ bones!”

“All this is a great disrespect toward cultures, faiths and the dead,
and a terrible thing. We ask that everything is done to put an end
to these inhuman actions,” the statement reads.

The persons behind the statement also demanded to inform as to who
permitted, or turned a blind eye, to this, and they demanded that
the cemetery be restored and preserved.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, the aforementioned Armenian
cemetery was destroyed in order to build a new road.

MARTEN YORGANTZ DONNERA DES CONCERTS EN ARMENIE ET AU HAUT KARABAGH
Krikor Amirzayan

armenews.com
samedi 28 juillet 2012

Dans le cadre du Festival ” Im Hayastan ” (Mon Armenie), le chanteur
franco-armenien Marten Yorgantz se rendra en Armenie. Selon Samvel
Haroyan le responsable de la manifestation, c’est Marten Yorgantz
lui-meme qui s’est propose d’apporter sa participation a ce festival
pan-armenien. ” Apprenant le deroulement en Armenie de ce Festival ”
Im Hayastan ” Marten Yorgantz nous a contacte pour nous signifier son
desir d’y participer ” dit Samvel Haroyan. Du 30 juillet au 5 août,
dans le cadre de ” Im Hayastan “, Marten Yorgantz donnera plusieurs
concerts en Armenie et au Haut Karabagh. Le 31 juillet Marten Yorgantz
chantera au theâtre Hovhannes Toumanian d’Erevan. A noter que durant
ce FestivaL ” Im Hayastan ” une trentaine d’artistes -dont certains
très connus- se produiront en concert. L’an dernier Marten Yorgantz,
a l’invitation du Ministère de la Diaspora, avait donne trois
concerts en Armenie, dans le cadre de l’operation ” Ari Doune ”
(Viens a la Maison).

DEPUTY PM ALI HASANOV: “AZERBAIJAN PREPARES TO LIBERATE THE OCCUPIED AREAS”

APA
July 27 2012
Azerbaijan

“IF ARMENIA CONTINUES ITS NON-CONSTRUCTIVE POSITION, WE WILL
LIBERATE our lands in near future by the order of the Supreme
Commander-in-Chief”

Baku – APA. “Azerbaijan prepares to liberate the occupied areas. We
will not make any concessions to Armenia in liberation of the lands,”
Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the State Committee for Work with
Refugees and IDPs Ali Hasanov told journalists, APA reports.

“If Armenia wakes and settles down to right course today, may be any
agreement will be achieved in the negotiations. The state has respect
for president’s promise. If Armenia continues its non-constructive
position, we will liberate our lands in near future by the order of
the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. At present, the government started
preparations for the next processes. It is return program, calculation
of damage and another issue. We must ready for it.”

PRESIDENT GUL MEETS WITH MINORITY GROUPS
by Vercihan Ziflioglu

Hurriyet Daily News

July 28 2012
Turkey

President Gul hosts leaders of Turkey’s minority foundations in
Istanbul. The visit bears significance since the leaders have been
invited together for the first time

An Alevi federation criticizes a fast-breaking dinner that brings
together President Gul and another Alevi group for misrepresenting
the nation’s Alevi community. AA photo

The leaders of Turkey’s eight minority foundations have been hosted
for the first time at the presidential summer compound in the history
of the Turkish Republic. The visit was significant, as it represented
the first time the leaders of minority communities together have
been hosted at the presidential summer compound in the history of
the Turkish Republic.

The strongest cases at the meeting would belong to three Syriac
foundations, according to information Hurriyet Daily News gathered from
Syriac Catholic Foundation head Zeki BaÅ~_demir and Midyat Syriac Mor
Gabriel Monastery Foundation head Kuryakos Ergun before the meeting.

The Catholic Syriac group planned to put forward its readiness to
relocate the Church’s Patriarchate in Beirut to Turkey, and demand the
return of their historical Patriarchate building in Mardin, which has
been turned into a museum. In previous months, Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu held a series of negotiations with Syriacs on the topic,
and proposed bringing the Beirut and Damascus Patriarchates to Turkey.

Reactions

Ergun said his foundation would express its reaction to a Court of
Appeals decision describing the monastery as an “invader” and demand
support from Gul.

In addition to Ergun and BaÅ~_demir, Armenian Surp Pırgic Foundation
Hospital head Bedros Å~^irinoglu, Armenian Catholic Foundation
leader Bernard Sarıbay, Syriac Orthodox Foundations representative
Sait Susin, Greek Foundation representative Andon Parisyanos,
Jewish community representative Sami Herman and Bulgarian community
representative Vasil Liyaze attended the meeting, which was organized
through the efforts of Vingas.

While the Syriacs planned to discuss their problems at the meeting,
the Armenian and Greek communities (except the Catholic Armenian
Foundation) said they would thank President Gul for his support of the
Foundations Law, which went into force last year. The Bulgarian and
Jewish communities avoided making any statement. There was a crisis
just before the meeting when it was revealed that a request from the
GedikpaÅ~_a Armenian Protestant Bible Church to attend the meeting and
discuss the problems of Protestants living in Turkey had been refused.

Chaldean Catholics, on the other hand, did not want to attend the
meeting, although they were invited. GedikpaÅ~_a Armenian Protestant
Bible Church representative Cem Ercin expressed the church’s reaction
to the refusal. “They call us ‘missionaries’; they won’t give us a
church building when we request it, they shut us in apartments and
then insult our churches because they are in apartment buildings;
this is a great contradiction,” Ercin said.

Speaking to the Daily News, Vingas said he had paid a visit to the
president early in the summer to facilitate this meeting. “We want
to express the results we have experienced from the Foundations
Law. Also we will express our expectations regarding the perception
of citizenship one more time before the preparation of the new
constitution,” Vingas said.

‘SANDCASTLE GIRLS’ JOURNIES THROUGH TIME

Amarillo.com

July 27 2012

By KIM CURTIS, The Associated Press

It takes a talented novelist to combine fully ripened characters, an
engrossing storyline, exquisite prose and set it against a horrific
historical backdrop – in this case, the Armenian genocide – and
completely enchant readers.

The prolific and captivating Chris Bohjalian has done it all – again –
with his 15th book, “The Sandcastle Girls.”

Readers will recognize the author from his best-selling “Midwives,”
which caught Oprah Winfrey’s attention in 1998.

This time, it’s 1915 and, again, his protagonist is a feisty woman,
Elizabeth Endicott, a 21-year-old graduate of Mount Holyoke who
shatters stereotypes by traveling to Syria to deliver food and aid
to refugees of the genocide.

And, again, Bohjalian shifts his novel back and forth in time to
simultaneously tell the story of Laura Petrosian, an Armenian-American
writer living in New York.

It never feels clunky or tough to follow. Instead, it’s seamless and
keeps the reader flowing evenly through the story.

It’s worth noting that even though Bohjalian is a man, his ability
to successfully inhabit the female mind and accurately depict his
characters’ inner lives is amazing.

“The Sandcastle Girls,” while perhaps not the “beachy” read its title
implies, is a fascinating journey through time and history.

It also educates readers about a little-known, but significant period
in history – “How do a million and a half people die with nobody
knowing,” his author-character writes.

“You kill them in the middle of nowhere.”