The California
Courier Online, March 29, 2018
1 – Commentary
How Azerbaijan
Distorts
UN Security
Council Resolutions
Part 2
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2 – Community Gathers to Remember Serge
Samoniantz
3 – Earthquake engineer Anne Kiremidjian
receives John Fritz Medal
4
– Aliyev
stands on site of leveled Armenian church to threaten Yerevan
5
– For
26 Years, American Peace Corps Sends Volunteers to Armenia
6
– Two
Argentine Universities Suspend Turkish Denialist Conferences
7- Armenian Bar Interns to Volunteer with
Artsakh Human Rights Ombudsman
8 – Alzheimer’s Care Armenia, Silverado to Host
Conference on Dementia Care
9- Charles Ghailian Awarded Ellis
Island Medal of Honor
10- ‘Voices In Silence’ To Be Presented On April
6
11- Commentary:
Insidious Egos
By Garen
Yegparian
12- Annie
Tarakchian Inducted Into Chaminade College Prep Hall of Fame
******************************************
1 – Commentary
How Azerbaijan
Distorts
UN Security
Council Resolutions
Part 2
By Harut
Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
Part 2
Last week, I described Azerbaijan’s distortions of two of
the four UN Security Council Resolutions adopted in 1993. I will now present
the remaining two Resolutions:
Excerpts from UN Security Council Resolution 874, adopted
October 14, 1993:
“Calls upon the parties concerned to make effective and
permanent the cease-fire established as a result of the direct contacts
undertaken with the assistance of the Government of the Russian Federation
in support of the CSCE Minsk Group.”
“Expresses the conviction that all other pending questions
arising from the conflict… should be settled expeditiously through peaceful
negotiations in the context of the CSCE Minsk process.”
“Calls for the immediate implementation of the reciprocal
and urgent steps provided for in the CSCE Minsk Group’s “Adjusted timetable”,
including the withdrawal of forces from recently occupied territories and the
removal of all obstacles to communications and transportation.”
“Calls on all parties to refrain from all violations of
international humanitarian law and renews its call in resolutions 822 (1993)
and 853 (1993) for unimpeded access for international humanitarian relief
efforts in all areas affected by the conflict.”
“Urges all States in the region to refrain from any hostile
acts and from any interference or intervention which would lead to the widening
of the conflict and undermine peace and security in the region.”
Azerbaijan
has violated every one of the above clauses. In addition to the frequent
violations of the mandated cease-fire, the Azerbaijani forces attacked Artsakh
in April 2016, causing major damage to border towns and killing civilians. By
cutting off the ears of elderly Armenian villagers and decapitating several
Armenian soldiers, Azerbaijan’s
armed forces committed a barbaric act and a war crime!
Excerpt from UN Security Council Resolution 884, adopted
November 12, 1993:
“Calls upon the
Government of Armenia to use its influence to achieve compliance by the
Armenians of the Nagorny Karabakh region of the Azerbaijani Republic with
Resolutions 822 (1993), 853 (1993) and 874 (1993), and to ensure that the forces
involved are not provided with the means to extend their military campaign
further.”
Armenian officials usually neither respond to the Azeri
accusations regarding the UN Security Council Resolutions nor try to set the
record straight. The only exception was Pres. Serzh Sargsyan’s comprehensive
speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 24, 2014.
Sargsyan stated: “While discussing the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict settlement I cannot but address the four UN Security Council
Resolutions, which were adopted during the war, that every so often are being
exploited by the Azerbaijani authorities in order to justify their obstructive
policy.”
“It is about those four Resolutions that demanded
unconditionally as a matter of priority cessation of all military hostilities. Azerbaijan
failed to comply. Azerbaijan’s
own noncompliance with the fundamental demands of these Resolutions made
impossible their full implementation. The Resolutions contained calls upon the
parties to cease bombardments and air strikes targeting the peaceful civilian
population, to refrain from violating the principles of the international
humanitarian law but instead Azerbaijan
continued its indiscriminate bombardments of the civilian population. Azerbaijan did
not spare children, women and old persons thus gravely violating all legal and
moral norms of the international humanitarian law.”
“Now Azerbaijan
cynically refers to these Resolutions—refers selectively, pulling them out of
context as a prerequisite for the settlement of the problem. The adequate
interpretation of the UN Security Council Resolutions is not possible without
correct understanding of the hierarchy of the demands set therein.”
“The Resolutions inter alia request the restoration of
economic, transport and energy links in the region (UN SC Resolution 853) and
removal of all obstacles to communications and transportation (UN SC Resolution
874). It is no secret that Azerbaijan
and Turkey imposed blockade
on Nagorno Karabakh and the Republic
of Armenia from the
outset of the conflict. The Azerbaijani President in his statements even takes
pride in this fact promising his own public that direction would remain the
priority of Azerbaijan’s
foreign policy.”
“The above mentioned UN Security Council Resolutions called
upon Azerbaijan
to establish direct contacts with Nagorno Karabakh. Azerbaijan
refused to establish any direct contacts with Nagorno Karabakh, which was a
legally equal party to the Cease-fire Agreement concluded in 1994 as well as a
number of other international Agreements; moreover, Azerbaijan preaches hatred towards
people it claims it wants to see as a part of their State.”
“None of the UN
Security Council Resolutions identifies Armenia as a conflicting party. Our
country is called upon only ‘to continue to exert its influence’ over the
Nagorno Karabakh Armenians (UNSC Resolutions 853, 884) in order to cease the
conflict. Armenia
has fully complied, and due to its efforts a Cease-fire Agreement was concluded
in 1994. All UN Security Council Resolutions recognize Nagorno Karabakh as a
party to the conflict.”
“Azerbaijani
authorities have failed to implement the fundamental demands of the Security
Council Resolutions, including abiding and sticking by the humanitarian norms.”
“Incidentally, Azerbaijan has
been gravely violating this demand every now and then. Azerbaijan’s
cruel and inhumane treatment of the Armenian civilian prisoners of war
regularly results in their deaths. Although, I think, one shall not be
surprised about it because it is the same State that suppresses and exercises
the most inhumane treatment of its own people. A clear proof of it was the
decision of the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture to suspend its visit
to Azerbaijan due to
obstructions it encountered in the conduct of official Baku.”
“The Co-Chairmanship
of the OSCE Minsk Group is the only specialized structure that has been dealing
with the Nagorno Karabakh issue according to the mandate granted by the
international community. While Azerbaijan is very well aware that it could not
possibly deceive or misinform the Minsk Group, which is very-well immersed in
the essence of the problem, it attempts to transpose the conflict settlement to
other platforms trying to depict it as a territorial dispute or exploiting the
factor of religious solidarity. That is ironic, since Armenia traditionally enjoys very warm relations
with the Islamic nations both in the Arabic world or, for instance, with our
immediate neighbor Iran.”
I would like to summarize my key points regarding Azerbaijan’s
distortions of the four UN Security Resolutions:
1) The UN Security
Council Resolutions were adopted in 1993 during the height of the war between
Artsakh/Armenia and Azerbaijan.
These Resolutions reflect the conditions on the ground at the time. Since then,
the situation has dramatically changed.
2) Despite the
cease-fire that was signed in 1994 between Armenia,
Artsakh and Azerbaijan, the
latter keeps violating both the ceasefire and the UN Security Council
Resolutions by its frequent attacks on both Artsakh and Armenia.
3) Azerbaijan
opposes Artsakh’s participation in the negotiations, thus violating the UN
Security Council Resolutions.
4) The Minsk Group
co-chairs, composed of the United States,
France, and Russia, are the
official mediators of the Artsakh conflict, not the UN Security Council and not
the UN General Assembly.
5) In fact, when Azerbaijan
brought the Artsakh issue to the UN General Assembly in 2008, all three Minsk
Group co-chairs voted against it. Azerbaijan’s proposal was adopted
by a small number of States. The overwhelming majority abstained.
6) By blockading Artsakh, Azerbaijan
is violating the four UN Security Council Resolutions.
7) Importantly, Armenia is
mentioned in the UN Security Council Resolutions, not as a party to the
conflict, but only as an intermediary to persuade Artsakh Armenians to comply
with these Resolutions. Azerbaijan’s
President Heydar Aliyev acknowledged this fact during his speech to the
Parliament on February 23, 2001: “Four resolutions have been adopted in the
United Nations Security Council…. It is written in these four resolutions that
the occupational army should leave occupied lands of Azerbaijan. But there is not a word
“Armenia”,
that is, there are no words “the Armenian armed forces”. But in one of
resolutions it is written to demand from Armenia to exert influence on
Mountainous Garabagh (Nagorno-Karabakh). In reality, it is an
Armenian-Azerbaijan war. In reality, Armenia
has made aggression against Azerbaijan.
However, nobody recognizes Armenia
as an aggressor in a document of any international organization….”
Azeris who continue
to distort the four UN Security Council Resolutions should follow former
President Heydar Aliyev’s statement and refrain from accusing Armenia of violating these Resolutions when in fact
Azerbaijan
is the one not complying with them.
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2- Community
Gathers to Remember Serge Samoniantz
MONTEBELLO, Calif.—A
memorial gathering celebrating the life of California Courier editor Serge
Samoniantz was held on Sunday, March 4, at the Montebello Armenian
Center. Serge passed away
on Monday, February 26.
He was remembered by friends and colleagues, including
California Courier publisher Harut Sassounian; Asbarez newspaper editor Apo
Boghigian; Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Montebello Dro Gomideh
chairman Boghos Sassounian; longtime friend, attorney Levon Kirakosian; and his
sons, Levon Samoniantz and Raffi Samoniantz.
“Serge was involved in the community activism that basically
shaped the direction of the activist Armenian community in Los Angeles. Back in the 70s, there weren’t
too many people willing to go out and demonstrate or other things—and Serge was
one of the few who was there along with his other friends, who had no
hesitation when it came to presenting the Armenian cause and the injustices
that happened to the Armenia people,” said Levon Kirakosian, who was the best
man at the nuptials joining Serge and Mariam Samoniantz, and the godfather of
his two sons, Levon and Raffi. “He was there, and he was always a good soldier,
and a good Armenian advocate for things that were of value and interest to the
Armenian people and community. We need more like him, and he will be sorely
missed.”
Serge was born in 1943 in Marseilles, France,
where he lived until age 9. His family moved to San Paolo,
Brazil, in 1952 and then to Massachusetts in 1961.
He joined the Armenian Youth Federation and then the ARF Keri Gomideh in 1966,
after moving to Montebello,
California.
In 1964, Serge enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and was
honorably discharged as sergeant in 1970. After completing his military
service, Serge attended California State University
at Los Angeles,
graduating with a degree in History. He later received a Certificate from UCLA
in Public Relations.
Starting in 1973, Serge assumed the editorship of the
English edition of Asbarez for seven years. He then served as Executive
Director of the Armenian National Committee – Western Region (ANC), from 1983
to 1984. He then resumed his previous post as the English editor of Asbarez
from 1985 to 1988.
“Serge was on the front lines of the burgeoning Armenian
activist movement, and he inspired countless young people with his
revolutionary spirit—and those same youth are now leaders within our
community,” said Apo Boghigian. “He was a quiet and humble man, but he was
always ready to share his beliefs and profound knowledge—as a grassroots
activist, journalist and editor—with all those who were seriously interested in
our history and the present realities of our people.”
In 1985, Serge and California Courier publisher Harut
Sassounian were part of the ANC delegation to Geneva, successfully lobbying for the
recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the United Nations. In 1988, Sassounian
enlisted Serge as the editor of the Courier. Serge helmed the Courier for the
last 30 years.
“Serge was a consummate journalist and a top notch
professional. It has been a great honor and pleasure for me to work with him
both as a close friend and colleague. The Samoniantz family mourns the loss of
an irreplaceable member; the Armenian community lost a valuable fighter for the
Armenian Cause; I have lost a close friend and a dear colleague; and the
California Courier lost its professional and dedicated editor of 30 years,”
said Harut Sassounian.
Serge’s loss has been felt nowhere deeper than among his
family, who mourn the loss of a patriarch—a beloved husband, father and
grandfather. “Our generation and a little bit older, we don’t have the pleasure
of explaining to our kids that we went from country to country, or were
displaced persons, or speak three to six languages—that’s going away. I don’t
have any of that legacy to explain to my children, the way that my parents did,
other than to be a good father to them,” said Levon Samoniantz, as he read the
remarks that his brother Raffi Samoniantz had prepared but found himself too
overcome to deliver. “Please spend more time with grandparents, learn their
history, ask questions. I learned something new every day about my own
grandfather. And my father is not going to have that opportunity to tell those
stories to my children.”
Serge was a quiet, self-effacing man, and a tireless worker
who personified the qualities of servant leadership. He was a lifelong activist
in various social and political issues, and a staunch defender of the Armenian
Cause. He will be greatly missed—and his unwavering dedication to Armenian
journalism for the past 35 years leaves an indelible mark on our community and
nation.
He is survived by his wife, Mariam Samoniantz; his son,
Levon; his son, Raffi and Nano Samoniantz; and his grandchildren, Emilly and
Sebouh.
***************************************************************************************************
3 – Earthquake
engineer Anne Kiremidjian receives John Fritz Medal
by Ashley
Boney
Anne Kiremidjian, professor of civil and environmental
engineering at Stanford
University, has been
awarded the 2018 John Fritz Medal. The award, presented by the American
Association of Engineering Societies (AAES), recognizes one individual each
year for scientific or industrial achievements in the pure or applied sciences.
Kiremidjian received the award for her research in the field
of probabilistic seismic risk assessment and for her leadership in the
classroom, educating the next generation of earthquake engineers.
Kiremidjian’s research focuses on building resilient,
sustainable cities that can withstand short- and long-term environmental
stressors, including earthquakes.
Through the design and implementation of wireless sensor
systems, the development of robust algorithms for structural damage diagnosis
and several other evaluation techniques, Kiremidjian continues to expand
conversations around creating strategic civil infrastructure systems,
emphasizing the importance of social, political and economic data in her
findings.
Established in 1902, the John Fritz Medal is among the
highest honors awarded an engineer. Kiremidjian joins a respected cadre of
recipients, including Alexander Graham Bell and David Packard.
*********************************************************************************************
4 – Aliyev stands on site of leveled Armenian
church to threaten Yerevan
In Armenia,
Azerbaijani Leader’s Ancestral Village Lies Abandoned
(EurasiaNet)—When making territorial claims against Armenia
for the second time in the past month, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev was
standing on the spot where an Armenian church once stood.
Addressing the Azerbaijanis on the beginning of Nowruz
(Persian New Year), Aliyev said a big part of the territory of present-day Armenia “is
historical Azerbaijani land.”
Aliyev was standing in front of the Maiden Tower
where the Armenian Church of the Holy Virgin was standing up until 1990,
blogger, journalist Sedrak Mkrtchyan said in a tweet.
The church was built in 1797 or 1799 at the foot of the Maiden Tower,
a fortress in Baku.
According to a diplomat working in the Azerbaijani capital in 1992, the church
was demolished in the wake of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Now, there is an
empty space at its former site near the Maiden Tower.
The Aliyev family, which has ruled Azerbaijan for almost five decades, in fact hail
from a village in Armenia
near Nakhichevan.
Now abandoned, Tanahat (once called Jomartlou) was a small
village that in its prime in the early 1980s was home to 70 Azerbaijani
families who toiled on the local collective farm.
“You want to see the village of the Vozhd of our great
friends [in Azerbaijan]?”
Armen, a local guide from neighboring Sisian, said sarcastically, referencing a
title often used for Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. “He was born there His
family changed his date of birth.” The reason, Armen asserts, was that it would
be politically unpalatable for a senior Azerbaijani leader to have been born in
Armenia.
Heydar Aliyev, first secretary of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan from 1969-1982, and then president of
independent Azerbaijan
from 1993-2003, may well have been born in Jomartlou in 1921.
According to his official biography—as recorded by the
Heydar Aliyev Foundation, a charity founded in 2004 and headed by Azerbaijani
Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva, Heydar’s daughter-in-law—the former president
was born in Nakhichevan on May 10, 1923, shortly after his family moved there
from Jomartlou following the Soviet occupation of the Caucasus.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia corroborates that account.
“Rumors have long circulated that Aliyev was in fact born
two years earlier, but that it was decided that a senior Azerbaijani politician
should not have an Armenian place of birth,” wrote longtime Caucasus
expert Tom de Waal, on the occasion of Aliyev’s death in 2003.
Despite its small population, Jomartlou boasted a regular
bus service connecting it to Baku
in the 1970s—a service founded at the behest of Heydar Aliyev, then a
high-ranking Soviet official.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union and Armenia’s
independence, Jomartlou’s fortunes fell. Its Azerbaijani inhabitants fled at
the onset of the ethnic conflict in 1988 and it was later resettled by Armenian
refugees, but most of them didn’t stay long.
The village was renamed Tanahat, after a nearby Armenian
monastery, in 1995.
“There are only 10 families left in the village. But in
reality, Tanahat has no future,” the village’s leader, Gomed Narcissian, told
Armenian reporters in 2008. “The conditions are only good for animals—there is
absolutely nothing here for people.”
Looking around, it’s not hard to see why he reached this
conclusion. Almost all the houses dotting the hill are decrepit and long ago
collapsed. The only signs of recent life are the occasional empty vodka bottle,
indicating at least a few locals are returning to drink, if nothing else. And
the road connecting the village with the world is simply a dirt track on the
side of a mountain, impassable in winter.
In the post-Soviet period, villagers argued that the
authorities neglected them. One of the most persistent issues was the lack of a
regular bus service, which meant locals had to walk five miles – over an hour –
to the neighboring village
of Tasik to get a bus to
Sisian, the largest town in the area. Without such a service, local children
could not attend school, and families would move to neighboring towns instead.
Only three families lived here in 2014. Today, there are none.
But the village may attract an unusual segment of the
regional tourist population.
“You know, it isn’t uncommon for Azerbaijanis to cross the
military border at Nakhchivan and travel here in secret,” Armen says, repeating
a widely held belief in the region. The Armenian Border Guard did not respond
to requests for comment.
Heydar Aliyev ruled neighboring Azerbaijan with an iron fist from
1969 to 2003, with a brief interruption in 1987 following Soviet leader Mikhail
Gorbachev’s anti-corruption campaign. Aliyev was one of the campaign’s first
victims, but returned to power in 1993 following the independent state’s near
descent into civil war. When he died in 2003, he was succeeded by his son,
Ilham, who remains president today. Ilham is running, with no serious
opposition, in elections next month for a new seven-year term in office.
The senior Aliyev’s legacy remains mixed in Armenia. He was
the head of the enemy state, and it was under his leadership that the Karabakh
conflict entered its bloodiest phase. But compared to today’s leadership under
Ilham, Heydar is remembered as relatively diplomatic and open to peace with Armenia.
Whatever the case, Jomartlou/Tanahat today languishes in
abandonment and obscurity.
“You are the first visitors I’ve ever taken here,” Armen
said with a smile.
Bradley Jardine and Neil Hauer contributed to this report.
***************************************************************************************************
5 – For 26 Years, American Peace Corps Sends
Volunteers to Armenia
(Public Radio of Armenia)—On March 21, forty-two
American Peace Corps Volunteers arrived in Armenia. There are some 110 Peace
Corps volunteers serving in rural villages and towns throughout Armenia. They
have come to Armenia
each with a two-year commitment to work as English-language teachers in
schools, as well as in NGOs.
Before coming to Armenia, the volunteers participate
in an online course to learn the Armenian alphabet and some elementary Armenian
words and phrases. Their program starts with a three-month cultural and
language immersion in Ararat marz, where they live with Armenian families.
Following the immersion program, the volunteers transition to their communities
of service throughout Armenia.
The United States Peace Corps was founded in 1961 by John F.
Kennedy to strengthen world peace and friendship. The Peace Corps started its
activities in Armenia
in 1992 at the invitation of the Government of Armenia. Over the past 26 years
more than 1,000 Volunteers have served in Armenia. *****************************************************************************************************
6 – Two Argentine
Universities Suspend Turkish Denialist Conferences
The University of Belgrano and the National University of the
West, both in Argentina, suspended two denialist conferences titled “1915, The
Longest Year of the Ottoman Empire” that were to be carried out in conjunction
with the University of Ankara.
Armenian community youth institutions issued a joint
statement in which they said that it was “inadmissible that an event of these
characteristics be allowed in academic fields or any space, especially in a
country like Argentina, a pioneer in the field of human rights and one of the
first countries that recognized the Armenian Genocide.”
“The first issue is the reference to the year of the
beginning of the Armenian Genocide, and to the Empire that began its
perpetration, without a single mention to this crime of lese humanity, at
conferences co-organized with the University of Ankara, an educational
institution that is part of the teaching complex of the Turkish State, and as
such, one of the parts of the denialism,” said Armenian National Committee of
Argentina director Nicolas Sabuncuyan.
When noting that the same conference was held at
universities in Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic,
among others, for the Centenary of the Battle of Gallipoli, Sabuncuyan warned
that “all the presented works had denialism components, reaching the paroxysm of
the presentation of Temuçin Faik Ertan, a professor at the University of
Ankara, titled ‘The First World War and the Ottoman Armenians.’ It is a
compendium of all the arguments aimed at distorting the historical truth and
turning the victim into a victimizer.”
After both universities decided to suspend the conferences,
the representatives of the University
of Ankara presented instead on March
20 at the Islamic Center of the Argentine
Republic. “However, this
does not mean that the advance has ceased. The same conferences took place
outside the Argentine university environment and without the endorsement of any
country’s study house. It has been demonstrated that the interest of the University of Ankara
was not to strengthen ties with Argentina,
but to import of the denialist discourse, at any price,” said Sabuncuyan. *************************************************************************************************
7- Armenian Bar
Interns to Volunteer with Artsakh Human Rights Ombudsman The Armenian Bar Association
welcomed two law students, one from Notre Dame and the other from UCLA, to its
inaugural Artsakh Legal Internship Program which will be headquartered in the
capital city of Stepanakert.
In 2017, the Armenian Bar, working closely with Human Rights Ombudsman Ruben
Melikyan, established the program to provide hands-on experiences and real-life
opportunities to students who have demonstrated a keen interest in human rights
and a personal commitment to the democratic and institutional development of Artsakh.
The internship program will kick off during the summer of 2018.
Davit Avagyan grew up in Armenia and, in his words, first
conceptualized the idea and essence of human rights through the plight of
Artsakh to be safe and secure. In 2006, his family moved to the United States where, though far away
geographically, he remained entrenched in the day-to-day happenings in Armenia and
Artsakh. According to Davit, it was the national security situation of Artsakh,
and in particular the heroism of the young soldiers who protect its borders,
which drew his interest in human rights, politics and international relations.
Davit majored in political science, while emphasizing studies in international
relations, at University of California (UC), Davis. In his four years at UC Davis, he
chose studies that exposed him to issues such as sovereigns’ territorial
integrity, war and peace, and other issues which Armenia faced. He also took on a
secondary academic discipline in human rights.
During his studies, Davit always conjured Artsakh and made a
point to connect what he had learned about human rights and events in other
nations with the historical and present-day situation in Artsakh. In 2017,
Davit began his legal studies at Notre
Dame Law School, where he joined several of the
human rights-related organizations on campus such as the International Human
Rights Society and the Exoneration Project. “My previous experiences are
dwarfed by the extraordinary opportunity created by the Armenian Bar
Association and the Artsakh Ombudsman’s Office through this program. Having the
opportunity to work with the Ombudsman of Artsakh on human rights issues would
not only drive my education of these issues to a new level, but it would give
me the opportunity to put my knowledge and experience to use regarding an issue
close to my heart,” said Davit.
Anahit Sargsyan was also born and raised in Armenia, and
grew up witnessing the devastating consequences of the Artsakh liberation
struggle and ensuing war. Her father was a volunteer who joined the efforts to
protect and serve Artsakh before she was born. At sixteen years old, Anahit
took college entrance exams and was admitted to the Yerevan State
University’s (YSU) Law
Department. In 2010, Anahit moved with her family to Sacramento. She currently has two teenage
cousins serving on the frontlines of Artsakh, and, according to Anahit, their
commitment is a vivid example of the day-to-day issues, local challenges and
possible mechanisms to strengthen the peace and secure human rights in such a
precarious situation. Anahit has served as a legislative aide at the California
State Senate, where she staffed the newly-formed State Senate Select Committee
on California, Armenia, and Artsakh Mutual Trade,
Art, and Cultural Exchange. In this position, she learned about the most
pressing economic and social issues facing Artsakh. “Interning in Artsakh will
allow me to gain first-hand exposure to both international and local human
rights issues. Moreover, it will give me the opportunity to contribute the
skills that I have acquired so far to the Ombudsman’s work. My hope is to not
only learn more about Artsakh, but to bring my knowledge back to share with my
peers and be a better advocate for Artsakh in the United States,” said Anahit.
The HRO is an independent Constitutional official, who
observes the maintenance of human rights and freedoms on the part of state and
local self-government bodies and officials, contributes to the restoration of
violated rights and freedoms and improvement of the laws and regulations
related to human rights and freedoms, deals with human rights issues related to
the Karabakh conflict, and answers to the National Assembly (Parliament) of the
Republic of Artsakh. Any individual, regardless of ethnic origin, sex,
citizenship, residence, race, age, political or other affiliation and activity
can apply to HRO.
************************************************************************************************
8 – Alzheimer’s Care Armenia, Silverado to Host
Conference on Dementia Care
Alzheimer’s Care Armenia in partnership with Silverado, a
national leader and innovator in the care of people living with dementia, is
sponsoring a special conference in Armenia to help educate and communicate the
challenges of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. On Friday, May 11,
memory care professionals will gather at Yerevan
State Medical
University to discuss the current
status and future of dementia care in Armenia. The Armenia Alzheimer’s
Disease 2018 conference was conceived by Armenian leaders in dementia care to
help build the knowledge and awareness necessary to meet this rising challenge.
A range of experts will share their insight into how the unique challenges
faced by those affected by dementia in Armenia can be overcome.
Joining the conference are Professor Mikhayil Aghajanov, MD,
Chairman of Biochemistry, Yerevan State University;
Professor Hovhannes M. Manvelyan, MD, Ph.D. Chairman of Neurology Department at
Yerevan State Medical
University and Victor
Mazmanian, Dementia Caregiving Expert and Silverado Senior Director of Faith
Outreach as well as other treatment and care professionals. Conference partners
include Homeland Development Initiative Foundation (HDIF-USA).
Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias are prevalent and on
the rise in Armenia,
but the lack of knowledge regarding diagnosis, care and treatment creates many
challenges for those living with the disease and their loved ones. Armenia has a
rapidly growing population of elderly people. By 2050, almost one-third of Armenia’s
population will be over the age of 60. The prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease
and other dementias is on the rise. Little attention has been given to
Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias in Armenia.
“In Armenia,
dementia is still often treated as a mental illness,” said Dr. Jane Mahakian,
Ph.D., Founder of Alzheimer’s Care Armenia, one of the experts behind
the conference. “This is just one of the many obstacles we’re working to
overcome by making a concerted, organized effort toward education and communication.”
Mahakian founded Alzheimer’s Care Armenia in 2017 with the purpose of
raising awareness and offering solutions for the care and treatment of people
with Alzheimer’s disease. This is accomplished by providing education and
training to family caregivers, health care professionals and medical students
and by working directly with Armenia’s
institutions for the aged. Alzheimer’s Care Armenia
is located in San Clemente,
California. It is a registered
501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in the State of California. It has no political or religious
affiliations.
To register for the conference and more information:
www.Silverado.com/Armenia or www.alzheimerscarearmenia.org *****************************************************************************************************
9 – Charles
Ghailian Awarded Ellis Island Medal of Honor
An Ellis Island Medal of Honor has been awarded to Charles
Ghailian, Chairman of the USC Institute of Armenian Studies Leadership Council
and one of the founding members of the Institute. The recipients of the medal
are individuals whose accomplishments and inspired service have had an impact
on a community and the nation. Ghailian has been instrumental in the
Institute’s establishment, growth and impact.
Ghailian has held leadership positions in the Homenetmen
Western Region Executive Committee; as well as the Armenian National Committee
Western Region. He is the founder and president of Monarch Apparel Group, a
global sourcing company servicing the retail community at large. He and his
wife, Julia, make their home in Encino,
Calif., where they continue to
participate in community service and philanthropic activities with their
children and grandchildren.
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10- ‘Voices In Silence’ To Be Presented On April
6
Dr. Garbis Der-Yeghiayan’s highly-acclaimed book, “Voices In
Silence,” an unprecedented Photo-Album on Western Armenia, Cilicia and Cappadocia, will be presented on Friday, April 6, at 7:30
P.M. by the Organization of Istanbul Armenians.
Dr. Ohannes Kulak Avedikian emcee the program. The book will
be reviewed by Sarkis Majarian. The cultural program includes performances by
Asdghig Dadour, recitation; Angela Amirian, violin; and Nshan Chaghatzbanian,
vocal solo. Congratulatory remarks will be delivered by Hovsep Nalbandian.
According to Harut Sassounian, “Voices in Silence is the
most incredible album of our historic Armenian lands. Stunning photos! Most of
them I have never seen before. The Album also demonstrates sadly our immense
losses due to the Genocide. I wish every Armenian would have a copy of this
comprehensive historic album, so they won’t forget their heritage and ancestry.
It is a masterpiece!”
Annie Totah describes “Voices of Silence” as “a remarkable
publication. It is a great source of information and enlightenment. It is easy
to read and the illustrations make it really interesting. It could be used as a
textbook, sent to elected members of Congress and to other institutions”.
Governor George and Gloria Deukmejian described “Voices of
Silence” as “an outstanding publication. Our non-Armenian friends are enjoying
it and once they open it they cannot put it down!”
The presentation will take place on Friday, April 6, at 7:30
P.M., at the OIA Center, 19726 Sherman Way, Winnetka,
California.
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11- Commentary:
Insidious Egos
By Garen
Yegparian
Anyone who has interacted with people in some kind of
organizational setting—business, military, volunteer—has no doubt encountered
at least one person whose ego is the overwhelming (if not sole) motivator of
action.
Typically, such people are easily and relatively quickly
recognized. Then those around them either depart the setting, become sniveling
backers of the ego, or just work around that person.
Often, these ego-driven types are not very pleasant. They
tend to be very controlling and unwilling to hear others’ ideas. After all, in
their own minds, they are all-knowing, un-erring. They also seem to need others
adulation, approval, and recognition far more than the average person.
In large organizations, these people are kept in check
structurally—through elections, hierarchy, laws/regulations/rules—or,
ironically, by other egos. In smaller, especially volunteer or new,
organizations what often ends up happening is after an initial period of
excitement, most participants get sick of the ego-driven person and slowly
drift away, leaving only a small core of active people. Inevitably, this core
group of usually very dedicated, energetic, and sincere activists eventually
gets tired. Or other things come up in life, they are, after all, people with
day-to-day concerns to deal with. The organization fizzles out, dies. Any
number of such organizations in the Diaspora, set up to assist the country in
some field or other, have come and gone since the re-independence of Armenia.
These behaviors and symptoms are all easily recognizable
signs and can be dealt with early on, if the members of the organization are
sophisticated enough to be on the lookout for them and set up systems to
prevent the worst outcomes of the presence of big egos.
But, what if the “offending” ego is wrapped up in an
otherwise extremely nice, even kind, dedicated, energetic, hardworking,
productive, and seemingly modest, selfless, and unassuming personality? What if
even the “offender” is unaware of her/his need for attention and control? What
if this person is accompanied by a few others who share these traits but are
willing to be “subservient” to the largest ego? What happens then? The ego will
prevent the establishment of constraining rules or systems. Others in the
organization will not see the need for them because the group is in its
new-born, or honeymoon, period of excitement, activity, and wonderful results
while the ego is masked by the other, positive, traits of the person in
question. And, that person is even more likely than usual to be unaware of
her/his ego’s size and need for control. No one active in such an organization
is likely to notice, much less believe, the corrosive effect of the ego(s)
driving the organization. But the results will be the same. People will slowly
drift away, and a once vibrant and promising organization will likely follow in
the footsteps of countless others that have stumbled and fallen over the
over-large egos that are often present in and come to dominate such settings.
If anyone out there has suggestions or solutions to this
dilemma, please write.
*********************************************************************************************
12- Annie
Tarakchian Inducted Into Chaminade College Prep Hall of Fame
On Saturday, February 3, Chaminade College Preparatory
inducted five alumni into the Alumni Hall of Fame.
Annie Tarakchian, Class of 2012, was a basketball player and
involved student during her time at Chaminade College Preparatory. She was part
of Blue Crew and worked at the Special Olympics held each spring at the West
Hills campus. She worked closely with Brother Skip Matthews on service trips to
the Catholic Worker Soup Kitchen and to Skid Row to help him distribute meals
to the homeless.
Annie played basketball all four years at Chaminade under
the coaching direction of Kelly DiMuro and her staff. She was a three-time
All-Mission League selection and named Mission League MVP as both a junior and
senior. She scored over 1,000 points during her high school career and helped
guide the Eagles to a 51-9 record and consecutive Mission League championships.
More than sixty universities with Division I basketball
teams expressed interest in Annie and she chose to attend Princeton University.
She was a captain on the basketball team, two-time Ivy League Champion, was a
key player during their undefeated 2014-15 season, was named Ivy League Player
of the Week eight times, and scored over 900 points during her college career.
She scored 24 points, a college career high, against Harvard in March 2016 and
had 17 rebounds against Brown in January 2016.
In addition to basketball, Annie earned a degree in
psychology and continued her dedication to service. She participated in
donation drives, youth days and programs dedicated to national disaster relief,
providing emotional counseling for athletes with mental illness and helping
wrongly convicted criminals acclimate back to society.
In 2015, Annie received Starting Five nationwide recognition
and was ranked #1 in the Nation for her three-point percentage. That same year,
she was invited to both the New York “Liberty” WNBA team tryout camp at Madison Square
Garden and the Team USA
Basketball World Cup tryouts at the Olympic training facility in Colorado
Spring. Annie was also awarded the title “Best Armenian American Athlete.” She
had the honor of carrying the torch at the 2015 Pan-Armenian Olympic Games,
where she was captain of the Los Angeles Armenian Girls Basketball Team, a gold
medalist and named MVP.
Annie’s professional career began in 2016. She played in Switzerland for
the BFC Elfic Firbourg women’s basketball team. She helped the team qualify for
the Euro Cup and received the MVP award. She scored her first career triple
double and was the only the Euro Cup to score five double doubles out of six
games. In 2017, she helped lead the Belgium Royal Castors Braine to win the Belgium cup and
Belgium Championship.
Annie has retired from professional basketball, and is
currently a Strategic Project Manager for Milo
is a startup that provides a quality means for older adults to prolong their
independence and well-being at home. Their mission is to redefine aging and
break away from the negative stigmas that are associated to growing old.
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