Author: Tavakalian Edgar

Robert Fisk’s World: The world may be one but you need a visa to get around it

Rich countries give you tiny stamps while poorer ones plaster a whole
page

Saturday, 13 June 2009
Independent/UK

Ernest Bevin, I think it was, once said that in an ideal world, you
could buy a ticket at Cannon Street station to anywhere in the world
and travel there without a passport. My father actually believed this
was the case before 1914; it wasn’t. Even to sail to Beirut, you needed
a piece of paper from the Sublime Porte. I guess the European Union,
with the Schengen Agreement, is now closest to Bevin’s aspiration ` but
you still need an identity card or a passport to cross many EU
frontiers. And the madness of foreign visas haunts all us journos.

Even to cover yesterday’s Iranian elections, it took two weeks of
desperate whingeing by yours truly to line up a visa for Tehran.
Countless calls were made from London to Tehran and by me to friends in
Tehran who had friends ` or friends of friends ` in the Iranian Foreign
Ministry and the Ministry of Islamic Guidance (yes, Orwell should have
lived long enough to hear about that one) before the visa finally
arrived in Beirut. It was produced less than 15 minutes before the
embassy was to close, and only two hours before the last flight from
Lebanon to Iran prior to the elections.

"Have a great time in20Iran," the diplomats cheerfully told me. They
meant it. I like them. But visas are heart attacks on a page. I have
spent hours ` nay, days ` of my life sitting in the visa offices of hot
and overcrowded embassies in Beirut, sweat trickling through my hair,
pleading with diplomats for visas to countries I didn’t want to go to.
In the Iran-Iraq war, a visa to visit the battlefront could be a
one-way trip. Sometimes the Iranians issued only two-day visas ` to
show us their latest victory over Saddam’s legions and then get us out
before Iraq started its counter-offensive.

My favourite was Saudi Arabia. Repeatedly, and always in broiling
summer, I would be invited to Riyadh or Jeddah to observe some new
political reforms (almost always abandoned within weeks) with which
they wished to curry favour with the West. It was an American colleague
who told me how to avoid this. For on every Saudi visa application,
there is a box, ominously marked: "Religion". Well, I was Church of
England wasn’t I? Protestant. Christian. And the visa would arrive.

But if I left the box empty, the Saudis would assume I was Jewish and
the visa would not arrive. And I’d be sunbathing in Beirut while my
colleagues headed off to an inferno of Saudi summer days. Of course, by
the time Saddam invaded Kuwait in 1990, I was ready to declare myself a
fully-fledged Wahabi to get to Dhahran.

I still remember turning up at the Saudi embassy in Beirut and handing
my visiting card to the press counsellor. "Robert Fisk, Middle East
Correspondent" was printed in English and Arabic. And the
English-speaking diplomat looked at me quizzically. "What is ‘Middle
East’?" he asked. Jesus wept.

It is a fact universally acknowledged that rich countries will usually
give you tiny stamps in your passport while poorer countries ` or
anti-Western countries ` will plaster a whole precious page of your
passport with elaborately embossed visas, Take Tajikistan or Iran or
even little Armenia. The Taliban used to give me full-page visa
stickers with "In the Name of God"" printed at the top. After Hamid
Karzai’s post-American government took over, the same Afghan embassy in
Islamabad would give me identical visa printouts ` after scissoring "In
the Name of God" off the top.

Long ago, on The Times, a foreign editor sent me off to Chad. Visas
were easy. You went to the French embassy in London and they stamped in
a visa for France. And then a French diplomat would write "Chad" in
biro over the top. And off you’d trot. The Empire wasn’t striking back.
It was still obviously running Chad.

The fatal word "deport" has been heard by many of us scribes ` even
when our visas have been legally issued. I once got a visa to Tehran
during the Iran-Iraq war from a friendly diplomat who wrote "religious
pilgrim" in the box for profession.

I got three days covering Saddam’s long-range rocket attacks on Iran
before a little man at the aforementioned Ministry of Islamic Guidance
summoned me to his dark office and announced: "Some people of the
Islamic Republic came here. They were angry. You have 12 hours to
leave." I did, driven to the airport by the Irish ambassador. All is
now changed, changed utterly ` apart from the fingerprints taken at
Imam Khomeini International Airport (do they share them with the
Americans?).

The Turks reneged on my visa in 1991 when they objected to my report on
the looting of blankets by Turkish troops from Kurdish refugees. All
true, of course. And didn’t Turkey want to join the EU? No point in
arguing. But I had to comfort the sullen detective accompanying me from
Diyarbakir to Ankara when we flew into turbulence. He was frightened.
He had never been on a plane before.

Yes, I know it can be a pain in the arse for others to get a visa to
London ` and in the past I’ve watched some of our lovely visa officers
treating applicants like scum ` but my favourite memory was at San
Francisco International Airport, where Homeland Security spotted all
the pariah visas in my passport.

"Have you ever met a terrorist?" one of them asked me with a frown.
Yes, I said. I met Osama bin Laden and I met Ariel Sharon. They were
concerned about the bin Laden admission. But they were terrified of the
political implications of discussing Sharon and terrorism. "Have a nice
day, Sir," the guy with the frown said. And stamped me through in three
seconds. There must be a lesson there somewhere…

PanARMENIAN.Net

Stakes on Presidential Elections of Iran

Karine Ter-Sahakyan

Quite possibly Iran enters a new phase that was once interrupted after
the withdrawal of Khatami, one of the first reformers.
11.06.2009 GMT+04:00

In the Iranian Presidential Elections, the first stage of which is on
June 12, main opponents are current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and
former Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the latter supported by
reformers and, what is quite important, by the youth up to 30 years
old, who form 60% of the country’s population. The elections in Iran
are not so much important for the country itself. The vital point is
whether the country will be able to join the world-wide system of
values, which it has been refusing for 30 years already.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ However, it’s worth mentioning that these 30 years
were not lost. After Ayatollah Khomeini came to power, Iran that was
on the verge of collapse, developed into a strong and prosperous
country, presently pretending to the position of the regional
power. The nuclear ambitions of Iran played an important role in
achieving this, although it is yet unknown whether they are real or it
is simply a game with the muscles of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, one of the
participants in the assault on the American Embassy in 1979. They say
Ahmadinejad lives in an old house of his, drives an ordinary car and
is in no way like a president of a regional power. Nevertheless, he
was able to win the previous elections and now has all the chances to
duplicate the success, of course if he is really agreeable to the
western partners. And here the complicacies begin. In the issue of
Iran, the USA and Europe have opposite positions, to say nothing of
Russia that has her own interests in the region and holds age-long
ties with the Persian Empire. For Europe, Iran is important as the
supplier of alternative energy and Teheran knows it well. For the USA,
she is an `Empire of Evil’ or something closest to it. But the Obama
Administration is far from Rice and Cheney, who managed to convince
the world that Iran must be punished for her nuclear program. There is
one more important detail in the difference of approaches of Europe
and the USA towards the future of Iran – the ocean. America is rather
far and the problem of energy security of Europe doesn’t worry her
much. Or, better to say, it worries her but from purely imperial
points of views. The same is true about Russia, but she is nearer and
therefore – more dangerous.
`To me, this election is basically a referendum on President
Ahmadinejad,’ says Nasser Hadian, Political science professor at
Tehran University. In order to gain victory the current President used
all the existing resources. The official media outlets, television and
majority of newspapers are under his control. He travels through the
Iranian province, where majority of his electorate lives. But his
opponent is strong too. Fifty-four per cent of Iranians are ready to
vote for former Prime Minister of Iran Mir-Hossein Mousavi. Let us
note that he used to be the prime minister of the country for 8
hardest years – during the Iran-Iraq war. In 1988 Iran signed
cease-fire, reached through the UN mediation. A year later Ayatollah
Khamenei replaced late Ayatollah Khomeini in the position of the
Spiritual Leader of Iran. The posts of the President and the Prime
Minister were combined into one. President of the country became Ali
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mousavi had to leave political
life. After former President Khatami declared his unwillingness to
participate in the coming elections, Mousavi announced his
candidacy. And today he is the main rival for Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad. Both Khatami and Mousavi are ethnic Azerbaijanis, but in
a wider sense this makes no difference; any President of Iran will
carry out the policy, which is advantageous to his country. The only
matter is whether he will be able to carry it out and whether both
internal and external forces will let him do it. Quite possibly Iran
enters a new phase that was once interrupted after the withdrawal of
Khatami, one of the first reformers. But, who knows, the positions of
Ahmadinejad are rather strong too. On the other hand, Mousavi has
promised to make the country more democratic. For instance he intends
to repeal the order in which the standards of Moslem morals are
controlled by the special police of dispositions; he is also ready to
change the role of woman in the society.
To make predictions in this case is rather difficult – parties
interested in the victory of this or that candidate are too
many. Stakes are high too – the Iranian gas, so necessary to Europe,
especially when the realization of Nabucco is becoming ever more
illusive. The outcome of elections in Iran barely plays any role for
Armenia, but it is of great significance to Azerbaijan. Some
politicians in Baku have already been hasty in stating that in case of
Mousavi’s victory the country’s treatment towards Azerbaijan will be
changed, for he is Azerbaijani. However, these hopes are too
naive. Mohammad Khatami is Azerbaijani too; however, the policy of
Tehran towards Baku hasn’t changed at least for the last 30 years. Let
us not make predictions, as not always they prove to be true for
Iran. Naturally, the world is tired of the scandalous statements of
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but is there any guarantee that the one replacing
Mir-Hossein Mousavi will be more `convenient’?

HAYASTAN FUND’S GERMAN BRANCH FOUNDATION 15TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATED BY CONCERT

Noyan Tapan
June 11, 2009

COLOGNE, JUNE 11, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. A solemn concert
dedicated to the 15th anniversary of Hayastan All Armenian Fund’s
German branch was held on May 31 at Haus Burgpark hall near Cologne
city. The French outstanding Navasard dance ensemble took part in
the event.

According to panarmenian.net, the whole gain of the concert will be
given to Armenia for rebuilding of Noyemberian’s regional hospital.

The charity event took place with the assistance of the Fund’s German
and Swiss local structures, the Union of Employers and the Union of
Doctors and Members of the Medical Profession in Germany.

ARMENIA: SOPRANOS-STYLE TV DRAMAS SPARK DEBATE OVER CRIME RATES
Marianna Grigoryan

Eurasianet

June 9, 2009

Burglaries have doubled in Armenia, homicides have nearly tripled and
illegal weapons trafficking is up by over 43 percent in Armenia so
far in 2009. Sociologists see a connection between the crime binge
and a new collection of wildly popular TV crime-thrillers.

"The Trap," broadcast on Armenia’s private Shant TV channel, garners
the bulk of the criticism. Broadcast twice daily, the star-studded
series recounts the adventures of the fictional crime boss Hovo as he
"fights for justice" against big business, cops and rival Armenian
mafiosos.

"Hovo is a classic character. We need to have an honest criminal, if we
don’t have honest police officers," said celebrated poet and confessed
"Trap" fan Marine Petrosian. "The series is a reflection of real life."

Hundreds of Armenian TV viewers apparently agree. AGB Nielsen Media
Research’s Yerevan office reports that the series ranks the highest
among recently surveyed Yerevan viewers, with just over 40 percent
of 120 households surveyed naming it the most watched program.

Two Armenian Public Television crime dramas, "The Price of Life"
and "Happy Unhappiness," rank as the second and third most popular
programs, the pick of 23.09 percent and 19.05 percent of surveyed
viewers respectively. Operating under the mantra "might makes right,"
the series’ characters — a veritable rogues’ gallery — have become
idols for many.

"That’s how a true man should be — the master of his word, a man of
principle, who quickly finds answers to questions!" gushed Yerevan
university student Aram Galstian in reference to "The Trap’s" Gokor,
one of the show’s "good-guy" criminals.

Sociologist Aharon Adibekian says the characters, portrayed as heroes
in episodes saturated with beatings and killings, are helping to
change social mores. "New idols, new standards of morality, new ways
of conduct . . . are being formed," observed Adibekian, who heads
the Sociometer polling center. "And, naturally, youth are the number
one target and that results in a tendency towards an increase in the
amount of crime."

Armenian police report that overall crime rates increased by 57
percent during the first three months of 2009 compared with the
same period for 2008, an unprecedented rise. Five murders occurred
in the first half of May alone, they say. Narcotics trafficking has
quadrupled, while a particularly sharp increase has also been noted
in gang-related violence, domestic break-ins and assaults.

While Adibekian and other sociologists tend to blame television, police
primarily attribute the crime wave to Armenia’s deepening economic
crisis. "We anticipated a situation like this," said Col. Sayat
Shirinian, spokesperson for the Armenian police. "Most crimes are
socially motivated, with the world crisis directly impacting the
situation."

Still, Shirinian contends that "unfair" TV episodes, which "humiliate"
police officers, are playing a role. "Scenes showing how easily people
are killed and blood is spilled to solve problems affect young people
and can facilitate the increase in the number of crimes," he admitted,
adding that "the overwhelming majority" of perpetrators of crimes in
Armenia are under age 35.

Shant TV programming director Karen Arshakian refutes the
criticism directed at the show. Armenians, he says, just want
good television. "’The Trap’ is an educational film," Arshakian
said. "Police officers don’t take bribes . . . Even the representatives
of the criminal world — the main protagonists — are just and fight
for justice."

Shant TV casting manager Anna Volkova argues that the "The Trap"
characters and episode plots are drawn from everyday life. "This is
not about promoting the criminal world. It’s about phenomena existing
in society, and the way they influence the viewer depends on his or
her own perceptions," Volkova said.

As far as the less-than-competent police officers depicted in the
series go, sociologist Adibekian agrees that viewers identify with the
characters. "Who will believe in the existence of a police officer
fighting for justice? There are no such people in real life to make
viewers believe in them," he said.

In effect, the criminals who outwit the police officers have
become new models for good behavior, noted Yerevan State University
social psychologist Nelli Haroian. "Although they are criminals,
the protagonists possess positive features," Haroian said. "They are
people of principle, sharp-minded, self-confident and, therefore,
are appealing to viewers."

While Haroian contends that any influence from the series will only be
felt "over time," one Education Ministry official contends that some
impact is already discernible in the country’s high schools. "Teachers
complain that children are using criminals’ jargon, [they repeat]
whatever they hear on TV, and become uncontrollable," said Narine
Hovhannisian, head of the Ministry of Education and Science’s secondary
education department. "This is a very worrying matter. We don’t know
where this will take us."

According to Shant TV programming manager Arshakian, series like "The
Trap" will only place Armenians in closer contact with reality. "Humans
are humans. That’s why they are accepted by the public," he said,
referring to the show’s crime idols.

Editor’s Note: Marianna Grigoryan is a freelance reporter based
in Yerevan.

SHANT HAMASSIAN NEW FILM SHOWN IN LOS ANGELES

Noyan Tapan
June 9, 2009

LOS ANGELES, JUNE 9, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Shant Hamassian’s
Spaceman on Earth film is on in Los Angeles. This film’s premiere
has lately taken place at Cannes in the Short Film Corner 2009. This
is Hamassian’s second film to be presented in Cannes Festival: the
premiere of his first film The Slowww Zombie also took place in the
Short Film Corner in 2006.

The Spaceman on Earth presents such themes as red paranoia, aliens,
superheroes, etc.

ARMENIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS: FACT-FINDING COMMITTEE’S DISSOLUTION IS EVIDENT CAPITULATION BEFORE IRREFUTABLE FACTS

Noyan Tapan
June 9, 2009

YEREVAN, JUNE 9, NOYAN TAPAN. On June 9, the Armenian National
Congress made a statement condemning the stopping of the activity of
the fact-finding committee of experts on study of the 2008 March 1-2
events by RA President’s June 6 order.

"Fact-finding committee’s dissolution is evident capitulation before
the irrefutable facts which were disclosed thanks to committee’s work
and which the administration had been trying to conceal for already
a year and a half in any way possible. The authorities could take
this step only in a case: if the facts gathered by the fact-finding
committee undoubtedly confirmed that retired, as well as current
high-ranking officials were accomplices in the March 1 events, in
particular, in murders," ANC statement read.

Expressing confidence that "this strange fact will find a right
response by both Armenian and international community, in particular,
PACE, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, and others,"
ANC meanwhile mentioned that it will continue demanding an independent
investigation of the March 1 events with the participation of
international experts.

ADOLESCENT STREET BEGGARS: RINGLEADER APPEALS SEVEN YEAR SENTENCE
Ararat Davtyan

2009/06/ 08 | 19:04

"No, Gagik didn’t dangle me from their seventh story window to throw
me down. The window was merely open and he stood me in front. I can’t
say why. It was a good day. I gave him the money. Maybe he was angry
or something." This is what 13 year-old Abgar recounts. He attends
the Vardashen #1 boarding school. He’s been working as a beggar in
the service of 34 year-old Garik Hovhannisyan for quite some time.

Garik Hovhannisyan has been convicted twice before. Once for
"causing minor psychical injury with premeditation" and once for
"hooliganism". Besides Abgar, another group of adolescents worked
for him as beggars.

The lid on this story opened in the summer of last year when 14
year-old Aram, another boy at the school engaged in panhandling,
caught the attention of the police. He described the situation that
he and Abgar found themselves in. As a result, Garik Hovhannisyan
was arrested a few days later.

During the preliminary investigation the two boys stated that it
was through a mutual friend, Varuzhan that they met up with Garik
Hovhannisyan. It turns out that Mr. Hovhannisyan is Varuzhan’s
stepfather. Learning that the boys sometimes engaged in begging,
Garik began to force them to hand over their earnings to him so that
he could repair his car that he used as a taxi. This forced payment
took place during 2007-2008.

Shades of Oliver Twist in Armenia?

"I never wanted to go to school so I always cut classes. But I could
never go home because my mother would get mad and send me back. I’d
go to Garik’s house where they treated me well and never punished or
hit me.

Everything was fine. Garik would take me and Varuzhan to the downtown
district of the city where we’d beg for money. We’d give him what
we collected. Once, I collected about 20-25,000 drams. Garik was
overjoyed and bought me some good eats, grilled meats, etc. He was
very good to me. But if we’d collect less than 10,000 drams he’d
get upset. I was afraid of the scorpion tattoo on Garik’s body. I
was afraid that he’d throw me out of the house, that he’d get mad
and beat me. That’s why I panhandled for money and gave it to him,"
answered Aram in response to the investigator’s questions.

Abgar said that he stayed at Garik’s house for about twenty-five
days. Every day Garik would drive them to work, the intersection of
Amiryan and Abovyan Streets in Yerevan. He’d pick them up at around
12-1 latter that night. Abgar would hand over the daily proceeds of
10-15,000 drams directly to Garik or to Varuzhan.

"I handed money personally to Garik about 10 or 15 times. On those
occasions when I didn’t want to go out and beg, Garik would threaten
me. Once, when I told Garik that I would no longer beg for him he got
cross and hit me on my hands and back. I tried to escape but Garik
came after me in his car, shoved me in, and took me home. In June,
2008, I bought a 5,000 dram Nokia phone with the money I made from
begging but Garik took it from me. I asked him to give it back but
he told me to forget about it," Abgar recounts.

The preliminary examining body initially charged Garik Hovhannisyan
with "involving adolescents in anti-social behavior". Later on the
indictment was upgraded to read "involving two or more adolescents in
forced work or service or holding them in slave-like conditions". In
other words, Garik’s actions were categorized as labor trafficking
and now he was facing a sentence of 7-12 years imprisonment rather
than just 6.

The sentence is upgraded to trafficking

In a conversation with Hetq, Garik Hovhannisyan said, "Six
months later they changed the indictment and I was charged with
trafficking. Investigator Artur Avetisyan tried to trip me up by
saying, ‘look, Garik, now you are facing trafficking charges and the
court will come down on you’. I told him that he was wasting his time,"
Mr. Hovhannisyan told Hetq.

During the pre-trial examination it was learnt that other adolescents
also suffered at the hands of Garik Hovhannisyan. As a result, the
indictment was reassessed.

"The investigator rounded up this drunken bum and he came to visit me
in the detention center, to conduct a face-to-face interrogation. I
got angry and shoved the investigator. I flicked my cigarette into
the bum’s face and I left. I told him that I had nothing to say and
that he could write whatever he wanted," Mr. Hovhannisyan told Hetq.

The "drunken bum" described by Mr. Hovhannisyan is 16 year-old Igor,
a student at Nubarashen’s #18 Special School. 12 year-old Hamlet,
another student at the school, also testified at the preliminary
examination along with Igor

Igor testified that Garik proposed that the boys take up begging. In
return for handing over all the money to him, Garik promised the boys
that he’d look after them and let them sleep in his house. They worked
for him for about twenty days.

Garik demanded that the boys fork over at least 10,000 dram daily,
otherwise he’d threaten them and beat them a few times. The threats
were along the lines of, "If you don’t earn money for me I’ll shove
you into the trunk of my car, drive to the canyon and throw you over."

"Once, we had collected 4,000 drams. Garik beat me in the house,"
Igor wrote in his testimony. Hamlet added that Garik forced them to
beg for food in the Malatya market.

Garik Hovhannisyan’s lawyer, public defender Siranoush Harutyunyan,
presented a motion during the pre-trial examination requesting that
the criminal charges be dropped as there was no corpus deliciti.

"Garik Hovhannisyan is innocent of the initial charges and the
reassessed indictment because there was no criminal intent in engaging
in begging, obtaining a profit, etc. In essence, he didn’t involve
those boys in the acct of begging. Those boys were picked up off the
streets by various organizations for panhandling and loitering and
placed in boarding school.

Ringleader pleads innocence

As to the sums collected, Garik doesn’t deny the fact that he asked
the boys for money and that they lent it to him. He says he paid them
back. The boys don’t refute this in their testimony. The question
remains whether there was coercion involved. Did he beat them or
not? According to the public defender, Garik claims that nothing of
the sort happened. In her motion, Siranoush Harutyunyan stressed the
fact that panhandling is an anti-social act that cannot be viewed as
forced labor.

This motion and others of a similar nature made by the defense attorney
were rejected by the court as baseless. Varuzhan, Garik’s stepson,
was also included as an aggrieved party in the case. He didn’t testify
against his stepfather. The other boys followed Varuzhan’s cue and
renounced the incriminatory testimony they had previously given.

The court found Varuzhan’s testimony not to be credible. According
to the petitions presented by the parents of the other boys, the
adolescents were interrogated a second time. This time, they stood
by their previous testimony.

In a conversation with Hetq, Aram said that he had withdrawn his
testimony because Varuzhan and his mother, Lianoush Mirzoyan,
demanded that he do so. Abgar said that he pitied Garik and that’s
why he changed his story.

On April 2, 2009, Garik Hovhannisyan was sentenced to seven years
by the Kentron and Nork-Marash District Court. Mr. Hovhannisyan has
filed an appeal.

"If the Court of Appeals judges the case correctly I should be found
innocent since I do not regard my actions as criminal in nature,"
Garik Hovhannisyan claims with an air of confidence. "Everyone knows
that these boys are street kids who sell flowers and panhandle. They
are friends of Lianoush’s boy. They always used to visit our house. Am
I a child welfare officer who duty it is to send them to school? Or
am I a heartless person to throw them out onto the street? There was
a time that they ask me to drive them downtown or to pick them up in
the evenings. I did what they asked. Is there a crime in that? If so,
let them charge me for it and not for trafficking," Garik said.

OUTCOME OF EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS SHOWS IT IS OK TO BE RACIST IN EUROPE

PanARMENIAN.Net/
09.06.2009 13:50 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "The elections yielded gains for far-right and
extremist parties in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary,
Italy, the Netherlands, Romania and the United Kingdom, " Senator
Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), Chairman of the Commission on Security
and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission) and Co-Chairman
Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL) stated today after the European
Union parliamentary elections. "Many of these parties openly ran
on xenophobic, racist, anti-Muslim, and anti-Semitic platforms,"
said Chairman Cardin. "At a time when we are already seeing increased
incidents of violence and discrimination towards minorities in Europe,
I am greatly concerned that the growth of these parties will only make
the situation worse. This is a worrying trend, " Benjamin L. Cardin
said. "The outcome of these elections sends the signal that it is OK
to be blatantly racist. It is ironic that at a time when Americans
have elected our first African-American President, Europe seems to be
backsliding and becoming less accepting of its diverse population,"
said Co-Chairman Hastings, who earlier this year co-hosted the first
Black European Summit in Brussels to discuss minority representation in
European politics. "This has potential ramifications for immigration,
discrimination, and other policies in Europe, and could build a
greater acceptance for anti-Semitism and other negative attitudes
towards minorities," Alcee Hastings said.

TORONTO HOSTED AND A NEW ART EXHIBITION ENTITLED "REMAINS TO BE SEEN"

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
08.06.2009 20:56 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Recently Toronto hosted and a new art exhibition
entitled "Remains to Be Seen". Produced under the umbrella of The
International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies in
Toronto, the multi-media show hopes to raise the public’s awareness
about genocide. Featuring work from 16 artists across North America,
well-known Canadian movie director of Armenian heritage, Atom Egoyan
says the show at Toronto’s Lennox Contemporary gets to the core of
what human genocide really means. "An artist’s work can pierce the
heart in a different way," says Egoyan. "In the case of genocide
there’s been such a history of denial about that," the Canadian
director told Canada AM today. Delving into the subject matter in
2002’s "Ararat," Egoyan’s movie was loosely based on the Siege of
Van during the Armenian Genocide of the early 20th century, an event
that is denied by the government of Turkey. That film explored the
specific impact of that historical event. It also examined the nature
of truth and its representation through art.

As Egoyan says of "Ararat," "I wasn’t so much talking about the
historic event, but rather how that denial had created a transmission
of trauma from one generation to another." That tragedy holds deep
personal meaning for Egoyan and his wife, actress Arsinee Khanjian.

The after-effects of genocide are clearly evidenced in the works by
Ulysses Castellanos, Joyce Lau, Steven Loft, Katie Pretti, Shannon
Scully, Veronika Szkudlarek, Bill Wolff and Arie Galles.

APPLAUSE FOR THE PEOPLE FROM THE PEOPLE
By Lara Garibian

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Jun 5, 2009

On May 31, thousands of Armenian-Americans were glued to their
television sets watching as the ANCA Endowment Fund held its
fundraising Telethon.

The telethon, filmed live at the Horizon Armenian Television
Studios in Hollywood, California, attracted hundreds of volunteers
who gathered to help put on an exciting show that would present the
great contributions and talents of the Armenian people. The six hour
program showcased all the hard work that has positively affected the
lives of so many who have gone through the ANCA’s Capitol Gateway
and internship programs or who have been educated about the Armenian
Genocide and other issues important to our nation. That last point
was definitely not lost on the audience. Thousands of Armenians from
all over the country called in to pledge money for a cause in which
they deeply believe, giving all of the volunteers who work with and
for the ANCA Endowment Fund a chance to hear back from the people.

There was a very loud and distinct expression of gratitude that hit
in a wave of six hours. Just the fact that the ANCA Endowment Fund
was able to raise nearly $2.6 million in such a depressed economy is
proof enough of what an impact it is making within Armenian communities
across the country.

ANCA activist and volunteer Aida Dimedjian said, "I had an older
couple call in and say they are on social security income, but would
like to contribute and wished they could do more. It was touching
to see how our elderly were willing to donate such a large portion
of their income. I was additionally touched by all the people who
thanked us for our hard work. When your community stands behind you,
it empowers you to do more." Activists and volunteers were so dedicated
to making this years telethon such a success that they flew in from all
over the country, like activist Stephanie Mesrobian who flew in from
Rhode Island, to help in anyway they could to make a difference. The
dedication shined through each and every one of the people who were
in the studio that day.

Working the phones myself, I got to speak to so many people with
such incredible stories. One woman, Araxi Minassian, spent nearly ten
minutes telling me how many of her family members were massacred by
the Turks and how even at 80 years old, her pride for the hard work she
saw being presented was enough to make her feel a sense of satisfaction
that she so needed after having such a tragic family history.

Lisa Sarkissian, from Meadow View, Illinois, had gathered and
collected over 25 individual donations and decided to call in all of
them as her community gathered at a local Armenian church and watched
the telethon together. Her devotion to helping the ANCA as much as
possible was a clear indication of how strongly she believes in what
the organization stands for. There are countless other stories from
the telethon volunteers about callers who expressed their thanks for
all the incredible work that they do and who told them how proud of
them they are.

Arek Santikian said, "Overall, I thought that the audience was
amazing. I believe we almost matched the same amount as we did at for
the last telethon, and we did that in a horrible economic climate. This
shows that the number of our supporters has probably even grown since
last time, and that our work and message are becoming very effective
within the Diaspora. It is important to note that the ANCA Endowment
Fund Telethon is broadcast only in the US, even though there was a
very large donation from Argentina. My point is that given the fact
that this Telethon doesn’t reach out to the entire Trans-continental
Armenian community, we are doing very well. Also, with such personable
and impressive personalities, such as Aram Hamparian and Ken Hachikian,
the ANCA has done very well in attracting a large audience."

Aside from the $2.6 million, the greatest reward was the joy in the
heart of every Armenian who chose to contribute to continue a legacy,
a legend, and an important Cause. But most gratifying of all is the
fact that our community operates almost entirely through the grass
roots activism of volunteers who comprise our army, and it is through
their various contributions of monetary donations, time, expertise,
and sheer dedication , that our goals will be achieved.