Author: Taslakhchian Andranik

JENNIFER BARSAMIAN: ON THE ROAD TO EMBRACING DIVERSITY
By Jennifer Barsamian

Dedham Transcript
Daily News Transcript
Jan 29, 2010 @ 01:11 PM

Growing up, my Armenian grandmother was part of the Barsamian
household. Thanks to her, my siblings and I were exposed to a different
language, ethnic foods and, most importantly, what life was like in
another country.

This understanding, however, wasn’t something I wanted to expose my
friends to. As a kid, cross-cultural exchange wasn’t encouraged nor
acknowledged. I wanted to be as assimilated as possible.

I grew up in a very economically and culturally homogeneous community,
where in the ’80’s everything and everyone looked the same. And,
I have to admit, as a kid, I had a certain opinions of kids that
didn’t look or act the same way as my friends and neighbors did.

Anything outside of a peer in legwarmers, jeans and a white shirt
layered with the latest Esprit or Benetton sweatshirt, would intimidate
me. Leather jackets or boots, tight jeans and cigarettes as accessories
would make me uneasy and different color skins were unfamiliar,
and therefore, would invoke fear.

While my family and I were devoted consumers and visitors to the
Dedham Mall, Dedham Plaza, Dedham Square or the Showcase Cinema, I
was unaware of the community in the shadows of Route 1. I only saw
shopping plazas, not neighborhoods. We never had reason to venture
beyond the commercial areas, and the range of people I would see in
Dedham made it feel like I had just been dropped in a big city.

My view of Dedham, thankfully, has changed. With my children enrolled
in the Dedham schools, and owning a home in a great neighborhood,
I have gotten to know the town from the inside.

I’ve been reflecting a lot on what a different experience my children
are going to have growing up in Dedham, especially in East Dedham
where diversity is even more pronounced.

Parenting our 6-year-old daughter this past year and answering her
questions about skin color, ethnicities and inequality have reminded
me how aware kids are. Children understand at a very young age when
something looks or feels different, much like I would in the lobby
of the Showcase Cinema as a young teen.

With a classroom that has kids from various cultures and backgrounds,
my daughter asked, while watching a commercial on TV, "Mom, why
are there no dark skinned women?" Not an easy one to answer using
first-grade language, but I felt lucky for the opportunity to have
that kind of discussion. I wouldn’t have asked such a question at her
age. Not going to school or living amongst kids different from myself,
I tended to fear the unknown instead of ask about it.

If we are trying to raise open-minded citizens who treat each other
with respect, understanding and empathy, how can we do that effectively
if they don’t grow up with diversity around them?

The make up of Dedham’s population has changed drastically over the
last 5 years. What was once a predominantly white suburb has become
a destination for all people seeking to raise their children in a
safe, quiet suburb close to Boston with good schools and a sense of
community. Regardless of skin color or native language, we are all
looking for the same thing; an understanding of each other and an
appreciation for what makes us unique.

Whether you live in Precinct 1, in East Dedham, in Greenlodge or
the Manor, we are all part of one town, one community – Dedham. As
residents we have a unique opportunity as a town to get all of our
children together, learning from each other and understanding who
they are and where they come from. This is something to embrace.

I love this Maya Angelou quote, "We all should know that diversity
makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads
of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color."

It is clear to me, that the residents of Dedham are welcoming
diversity with the passing of and override to build a new, better
Avery School, the epicenter of the different color threads that make
up our tapestry. It makes me proud to live here.

Dedham resident Jennifer Barsamian’s blog Dedham Rocks can be found
at

ARMENIA CONSIDERS IRAN AN AXIS COUNTRY

Lragir.am
27/01/10

Today Serge Sargsyan met with the Iranian minister of foreign affairs
Manuchehr Mottaki who is currently in Armenia in connection with the
9th session of the Armenian-Iranian inter-governmental commission.

Serge Sargsyan said they know about the importance Armenia attaches to
its relations with Iran and considers it a trustworthy partner having
axis significance for the region. "So the development of bilateral
relations stems from our interests", said Serge Sargsyan.

In turn, Manuchehr Mottaki expressed his satisfaction with the session
of the inter-governmental commission which was aimed at the fulfillment
of the formerly taken arrangements between the two countries.

In the course of the meeting, the collocutors dwelt on the
Armenia-Turkey relations, regional security and stability issues,
as well as the negotiation process of the Karabakh issue settlement.

Serge Sargsyan thanked the Iranian side for its balanced approach in
the NKR issue. The press office of the president reports.

FAAE: TURKEY AVOIDS RATIFICATION OF PROTOCOLS

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.01.2010 18:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The fact that Turkish authorities are cooking up any
excuse not to ratify the Protocols of normalization of Armenian-Turkish
relations is undeniable, statement of the Forum of Armenian Association
of Europe FAAE received by PanARMENIAN.Net says.

"Turkish leaders avoide the ratification of the Protocols. FAAE
calls on international organizations interested in Armenian-Turkish
reconciliation to draw attention to this fact," the statement says.

According to FAAE, Turkey wishing to join the European Union must
prove that it redeems its promise to adhere to democratic values and
international norms.

Forum Armenian Unions of Europe (FAAE) was founded in March 2003
to coordinate activities of the Armenian communities of Eastern and
Central Europe. Ashot Grigoryan, head of the Armenian community in
Slovakia is a chairman of FAAE.

The Protocols aimed at normalization of bilateral ties and opening of
the border between Armenia and Turkey were signed in Zurich by Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet
Davutoglu on October 10, 2009, after a series of diplomatic talks
held through Swiss mediation. On January 12, 2010, the Constitutional
Court of the Republic of Armenia found the protocols conformable to
the country’s Organic Law.

Turkey-EU: Turkey began full membership negotiations with the European
Union in 2005, having been an associate member of the EEC since 1963,
and having reached a customs union agreement in 1995.

ANNA KASYAN IS NOMINATED TO FRENCH CLASSICAL MUSIC AWARDS IN CATEGORY REVELATION LYRIC ARTIST

Noyan Tapan
Jan 26, 2010

PARIS, JANUARY 26, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. For the first
time in history a native Armenian of Georgia Anna Kasyan takes
part in prestigious Classical Music Awards (Victoires de la Musique
classique). She is nominated in category Revelation lyric artist. As
Anna Kasyan has informed to , the show will be
broadcast in live on French television France 3 and Radio France
Inter on February 8.

SYMPHONY CONCERT FEATURES YOUNG TALENTS

BCLocalNews
January 25, 2010 2:04 PM

Aisa Sayama performs at two concerts with the Fraser Valley Symphony
this weekend.

Young up-and-coming soloists from the Fraser Valley are featured this
month when the Fraser Valley Symphony presents The Magical Moldau
and More in two local concerts..

Featured as soloists are the winners of the 2010 Fraser Valley Symphony
Concerto Competition – young, local, up-and-coming talent from here
in the Fraser Valley.

This year’s winners are pianist Aisa Sayama of Langley’s Brookswood
Secondary, soprano Tamar Simon of Langley Fine Arts School and
violinist Hanna Williamson of Mission.

The audition process was completed in October 2009 with the winners
selected from a competitive field.

Sayama will perform the Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor – Finale,
composed by Camille Saint-Saens. Sayama was born in Japan in 1994,
and started playing piano at the age of five. She won the Okinawa
Piano Competition in Japan in 2001, and in 2003 moved to Canada.

She has won several competitions including the Coquitlam District Music
Festival, Kiwanis Fraser Valley Festival, Kiwanis Vancouver Festival,
Chilliwack Music and Dance Festival, as well as the Langley Community
Music School Competition.

In 2009, she got first place in the junior category of the British
Columbia Provincial Performing Arts Festival in June, and also
was selected by Tom Lee Music to attend Lang Lang’s master class
in November.

She also loves playing chamber music. Her ensemble went to the Banff
Centre for a performance in 2008 and is currently practicing for a
concert to take place this coming March. She has studied with Hiroko
Okamoto, Hiromi Yoza, Kathy Bjorseth, and Leslie Janos. She currently
studies piano with Keiko Alexander.

Simon will sing Let the Bright Seraphim, from the oratorio Samson,
composed by Georg Frederic Handel. Simon, a soprano, is a Canadian
Armenian. She currently attends Langley Fine Arts School as a Writing
Major. She has been studying singing with Alison Nystrom since age 10.

She was the junior and intermediate winner (voice) at the BC Festival
of the Arts and was honoured to sing as a soloist for the sing along
Handel’s Messiah at the Orpheum (musical director Bruce Pullan)
for the past two years.

She is a member of the children’s UBC opera ensemble under the
direction of Nancy Hermiston. She has been invited to sing at the 100th
year anniversary commemorating Komidas, a celebrated Armenian composer,
on Feb. 5 at St. Gregory Church. She currently completing her grade
10 voice levels with the Royal Conservatory and also studying piano
and theory.

Williamson will perform the Violin Concerto in C Major, composed
by Dmitri Kabalevsky. Williamson is in Grade 10 school, and studies
violin with Dr. Calvin Dyck and piano with Dr. Betty Suderman.

She enjoys performing and has won many awards, including the highest
mark in senior strings at the 2009 Abbotsford Strings Festival and
the senior strings student showing most promise at the Chilliwack
Lions Club Dance and Music Festival. Currently, Hanna is concert
master of the Abbotsford Youth Orchestra.

The concert program includes Auber – Masaniello Overture (La Muette
de Portici), Smetana – The Moldau, Handel – "Let the Bright Seraphim"
from Samson, Smetana – From Bohemia’s Forests and Meadows, Saint-Saens
– Piano Concerto – mvt. 3, and Kabalevsky – Violin Concerto, mvt 1.

Rehearsals are underway for the two concerts, to be held on Saturday,
January 30, 7:30 p.m. at Chief Seapass Theatre in Fort Langley
and Sunday, January 31, 3 p.m. at Matsqui Centennial Auditorium
in Abbotsford.

Tickets (adults $15, seniors $12, children $6) are available at the
Wired Monk in Murrayville and at Wendel’s Books and Cafe in Fort
Langley, and will also be available at the door. Concerts tend to
sell out, so purchase early.

SWITZERLAND LOOKING FORWARD TO THE RATIFICATION OF THE ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS

armradio.am
26.01.2010 14:54

Switzerland remains loyal to the policy, which supports the process
of normalization of the Turkish-Armenian relations," the Swiss foreign
ministry said.

"We are looking forward to ratification of the Turkish-Armenian
protocols. It will open the way towards the actions envisaged by
the protocols."

The Swiss foreign ministry refused to make comment on Ankara’s
position to immediately send the protocols to the parliament after the
decision of the Armenian Constitutional Court. "It is common policy of
Switzerland to mediate in the process of Turkish-Armenian normalization
and we abstain from making comments on any concerning issue."

IRAN’S FM MANOUCHEHR MOTTAKI DUE IN ARMENIA

Panorama.am
19:18 25/01/2010

The delegation chaired by Iran’s FM Manouchehr Mottaki is due to visit
Armenia January 26 to attend the 9th sitting of the Armenian-Iranian
Intergovernmental Committee, MFA press and information department
told Panorama.am.

In the frames of his visit, Manouchehr Mottaki will have meetings
with President Serzh Sargsyan, PM Tigran Sargsyan, NA Speaker Hovik
Abrahamyan, National Security Council Secretary Artur Bagdasaryan,
FM Edward Nalbandian.

Armenian citizen pleads guilty of engaging in espionage
23.01.2010 17:25 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ General Prosecutor Aghvan Hovsepyan launched Friday
court proceedings over the case of former Defense Ministry employee
accused of high treason (particularly, espionage and illegal
acquisition and maintenance of arms).
The inquest data found Armenian citizen, former Defense Ministry
employee G. Hayrapetyan and Iranian citizen of Azeri decent B. Bageri
guilty of crimes prescribed by Section 1, Article 299 of RA Criminal
Code.

Hayrapetyan pleaded guilty during the trial, while Bageri didn’t,
General Prosecutor’s office says in a release.
Considering the nature of the case, the court satisfied the
Prosecutor’s motion for conducting the hearings behind closed doors.

In April 2009, Hayrapetyan was recruited by Azerbaijani intelligence
services. As it turned out later, he was engaged in collecting and
providing them with confidential information about the fighting
capacity of Armenia’s armed forces.
He received his last task from B. Bageri on September 1, 2009. As
watchword, the parties agreed to use the photo of Hayrapetyan’s
acquaintance.

Receiving Bageri in his apartment and getting from him an envelop
containing notes on his next task, Hayrapetyan gave the latter all the
materials that could be used for anti-Armenian propaganda. The
materials were found by NSS employees on Karchevan checkpoint
(Meghri). Law enforcers also found arms and armament in Hayrapetyan’s
house.

Hundreds Attend Akcam Lectures in Beirut
By Armenian Weekly Staff
January 24, 2010

BEIRUT, Lebanon (A.W.) – On Jan. 8, Taner Akcam, a Turkish historian and
outspoken critic of Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide, gave a
lecture titled `The Armenian Genocide as Part of a Demographic Policy’
in the Aztag Daily newspaper’s `Punik’ auditorium.

Akcam speaking at Aztag’s "Punik" auditorium
The event was attended by deputies of the Lebanese Parliament Nebil
Nikola, Edgar Maalouf, Alen Aoun, Gassan Mukhayber, Nedim Jemayel,
Farid, Khazen, and Hagop Pakraduni, Lebanon’s ARF Central Committee
member Hovig Mkhitarian, as well as academics, professors, community
leaders, students, and the general public.

The opening remarks were made by Vera Yakoubian, the ANC Middle East’s
executive director, who noted that within the past few years, in the
public, academic, and diplomatic spheres, Armenian-Turkish dialogue
has become a central topic – not only for Armenians and Turks, but also
for regional and international actors. Yakoubian added that despite
the numerous documents signed between Armenia and Turkey, serious
agreements cannot be reached as long as Turkey refuses to face its
history, and does not take steps to neutralize the effects of the
genocide.

Yakoubian introduced Akcam, noting that he is the author of 11 books
and hundreds of articles that deal with the Ottoman Empire’s crimes,
Turkey’s nationalistic politics, and the Armenian Genocide.

A scene from the audience at "Punik" auditorium
Turkey’s demographic policy was not solely directed at its Armenian
population, began Akcam, since alongside the Armenians were other
Christian peoples, non-Turkic Muslims, and Kurds, stalling Turkish
plans. He noted that the demographic policy’s main goal was to create
a homogeneous Turkish society, prompting the ruling party to apply
various policies, examples of which are the displacements and
deportations. Within one week, the homes of the deportees were
repopulated by Muslims, while Armenian-owned lands and properties were
either nationalized or sold (to create a wealthy class), and the
financial resources were used to sponsor the war effort. These
policies were not reactions to the war. They were carefully drafted
plans, clearly mapped out, and with a pan-Islamic focus. The rulers of
the Ottoman Empire were careful not to directly involve themselves in
these policies; that way, masking the truth or blaming others would be
an easier task. Their archives tell a different story, however.

Akcam concluded by expressing the need for Armenian-Turkish dialogue,
and added that the case would not be solved through financial
reparations alone. If reparations were given, he said, and Turkey
continued to ignore the rights of its minorities, then essentially
nothing will have changed. He spoke of the importance of justice and
equality, maintaining that the murder of Hrant Dink was a failure for
those he planned it, because his death marked the beginning of change,
a struggle for minority rights and justice.

Lecture at the Catholicosate

Earlier that week, on Jan. 4 at the Catholicosate in Antelias, Akcam
delivered his first lecture to the Lebanese Armenian community. Among
those present were the Catholicos of Cilicia Aram I, religious and
community leaders, parliamentarians, deputies, Lebanese and Armenian
intellectuals, and activists.

Catholicos Aram I and Akcam
Akcam’s lecture, titled `The Turkish Recognition of the Armenian
Genocide and Turkish National Security,’ covered four main points.
First, he explained that for Turkey, the issue of genocide recognition
is in fact a matter of national security. Second, he recalled the
words of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, who
referred to the events of 1915 as `this shameful act.’ (Akcam
interpreted those words as Kemal’s `confession,’ which had been an
opportunity for the Turkish government to take a step towards
recognizing the genocide. Unfortunately, the Turkish government has so
far been incapable of taking such a step; instead, they have taken
steps backward.) Third, he pointed out that there are two ruling
powers in Turkey, the army and the ruling elite. (For the Armenian
Genocide to be properly recognized, the democratic elements in Turkey
must be supported, he said.) Finally, Akcam noted that Turkey joining
the European Union would in effect benefit the issue of genocide
recognition, since members of the EU may pressure Turkey to accept its
past. In conclusion, he restated that Turkey must recognize the
Armenian Genocide and that any denial efforts hurt Turkey.

The closing remarks were made by Catholicos Aram I, who began by
asking whether it was fathomable that there would come a day when the
Armenian Catholicos, bearing the burden of the legacy of 1.5 million
martyrs, would utter the closing remarks of a lecture by a Turkish
intellectual, in that same holy Catholicosate where the bones of
innocent victims lie in the world’s first memorial-chapel. The
Catholicos, in this strange turn of events, saw a man (Taner Akcam)
who was able to reject his government’s official stance, and through
his writings, stand by the truth.

news.am, Armenia
Jan 23 2010

Situation changed dramatically after last website attacks

11:24 / 01/23/2010After the Azeri’s attacks on Armenian websites
within last months our security level had increased drastically, WEB
company’s director A.Toneyan told NEWS.am-Innovation.

He is confident that the optimal solution to any problem depends on a
number and qualification of the experts involved.

`We did not aim at attacking and hacking Azeri or Turkish websites,
though have the knacks for doing so,’ Toneyan noted.

According to him, comprehensive solution to protection of Armenian
websites is backpedaled due to financial problems. `For the adequate
protection of both sites and state management system’s internal
networks we need to have professional high paid administrators, as
they will not settle for less,’ WEB director stated, adding that
beyond financial issues there are also difficulties with users’
incompetency, which is out soft spot. `The outcomes of any situation
research conducted by our company are the same ` the website users
have no clue of rules for sites’ protection as well as ignorance in
their proper application,’ Toneyan concluded.