The California Courier Online, August 30, 2018
1 – Commentary
Despite an Encouraging Visit to Armenia,
Chancellor Merkel Didn’t Say Genocide
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2- Paylan, MPs Protect Dink as Turkish Police Attack ‘Saturday Mothers’
3- In Istanbul, Armenia Defeats Hungary to win 40th World Chess Olympiad
4 – Syrian-Armenian refugee Invents
Renewable Energy Device For Canadian Aircrafts
5 – Glendale Paramedics Save Baby Boy Born During Dangerous Delivery
6 – Television Editor Lousine Shamamian Nominated for 2018 Emmy Award
By Jenny Yettem
7 – San Francisco Superhero Raffi Arabatyan Battles Emperor Zurg
By Christine Soussa
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1 – Commentary
Despite an Encouraging Visit to Armenia,
Chancellor Merkel Didn’t Say Genocide
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
Last week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Georgia, Armenia
and Azerbaijan. Media reports indicated that her visit to Armenia and
meetings with its leadership were very constructive. Armenian-German
political, cultural and trade relations are expected to expand.
Merkel’s visit resulted in a much needed boost for Armenia’s new
democratic government.
One of the sensitive issues that both Armenians and the international
community were carefully following was Chancellor Merkel’s comments on
the Armenian Genocide. The German Parliament (Bundestag) almost
unanimously adopted a resolution in 2016 recognizing the Armenian
Genocide and declared that “the German Empire bears partial complicity
in the events.”
Immediately after the adoption of the Genocide resolution, Turkey
withdrew its ambassador from Berlin and threatened to cut off ties
with Germany. Relations between Germany and Turkey remain tense for a
variety of reasons, but are expected to improve after Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s forthcoming visit to Germany in late
September.
While in Yerevan, Chancellor Merkel paid a visit to the Armenian
Genocide Memorial. She laid a wreath in memory of the 1.5 million
Armenian victims and planted a tree at an adjacent park. However,
Merkel avoided the use of the term genocide in Yerevan, describing
Turkey’s mass killings as “heinous crimes against Armenians” which
“cannot and must not be forgotten.” She also stated that she had
visited the Genocide Memorial “in the spirit of the Bundestag 2016
resolution.” She clarified that the language used was “a political,
not a legal classification.”
Despite Merkel’s goodwill toward Armenia and her very positive
statements, I hope that Armenia’s leaders reminded her that the proper
term to describe the planned extermination of 1.5 million Armenians is
“Genocide,” not simply “heinous crimes.”
Armenia’s leaders could have informed Chancellor Merkel of a recent
report by Ben Knight of Germany’s Deutsche Welle (DW) about the
weapons provided by the German Reich to the Ottoman Turkish forces to
carry out the Armenian Genocide.
According to DW, “Mauser, Germany’s main manufacturer of small arms in
both world wars, supplied the Ottoman Empire with millions of rifles
and handguns, which were used in the genocide with the active support
of German officers.” Furthermore, quoting from a report by “Global
Net—Stop the Arms Trade,” DW stated that “the Turkish army was also
equipped with hundreds of cannons produced by the Essen-based company
Krupp, which were used in Turkey’s assault on Armenian resistance
fighters holding out on the Musa Dagh Mountain in 1915.”
The author of the Global Net report, Wolfgang Landgraeber, wrote that
“Mauser really had a rifle monopoly for the Ottoman Empire.”
DW revealed that “many of the firsthand German accounts in the report
come from letters by Major Graf Eberhard Wolffskehl, who was stationed
in the southeastern Turkish city of Urfa in October 1915. Urfa was
home to a substantial population of Armenians, who barricaded
themselves inside houses against the Turkish infantry. Wolffskehl was
serving as chief of staff to Fakhri Pasha, deputy commander of the
Ottoman 4th Army, which had been called in as reinforcement.”
In a letter to his wife, Major Wolffskehl shamelessly bragged about
the killing of Armenians by German troops in Urfa: “They [the
Armenians] had occupied the houses south of the church in numbers.
When our artillery fire struck the houses and killed many people
inside, the others tried to retreat into the church itself. But …
they had to go around the church across the open church courtyard. Our
infantry had already reached the houses to the left of the courtyard
and shot down the people fleeing across the church courtyard in piles.
All in all the infantry, which I used in the main attack … acquitted
itself very well and advanced very dashingly.”
Landgraeber also reported that “while German companies provided the
guns, and German soldiers the expert advice on how to use them, German
officers also laid the ideological foundations” for the Armenian
Genocide.
German Navy Attache Hans Humann, a member of the German-Turkish
officer corps and close friend of the Ottoman Empire’s war minister,
Enver Pasha, wrote: “The Armenians—because of their conspiracy with
the Russians — will be more or less exterminated. That is hard, but
useful.”
Furthermore, Landgraeber wrote in his report about “the Prussian major
general Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz, a key figure who became a vital
military adviser to the Ottoman court in 1883 and saw himself as a
lobbyist for the German arms industry and supported both Mauser and
Krupp in their efforts to secure Turkish commissions. (He once boasted
in his diary, ‘I can claim that without me the rearmament of the
[Turkish] army with German models would not have happened.’)” Goltz
“helped persuade the Sultan to try and end the Armenian question once
and for all!”
The above quotations support the admission by Bundestag’s 2016
resolution that Germany was complicit in the Armenian Genocide and
German President Joachim Gauck’s acknowledgment in 2015 about
Germany’s “co-responsibility” for the Armenian Genocide. Being well
aware of these facts, Chancellor Merkel should have called the
Armenian Genocide by its proper name: Genocide.
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2- Paylan, MPs Protect Dink as Turkish Police Attack ‘Saturday Mothers’
Istanbul police on Saturday, August 25, broke up a regular
demonstration by Turkish mothers remembering the disappearance of
relatives in the 1980s and 1990s, detaining almost 50 people as
participants marked the 700th such weekly protest.
The mothers, known as the Saturday Mothers (Cumatesi Anneleri in
Turkish), have met on Saturdays since May 27, 1995, in the heart of
Istanbul, to remember relatives who disappeared allegedly at the hands
of the state in one of modern Turkey’s most turbulent periods.
Police used water cannon and fired tear gas canisters to disperse the
protest. Turkish-Armenian Member of Parliament Garo Paylan, along with
other MPs, protected protesters—including Arat Dink, the son of slain
Agos newspaper editor, Hrant Dink. The startling photograph of Paylan
protecting Dink was widely shared on social media, raising further
awareness about the Saturday Mothers group.
Turkish news media reports said that 47 people were detained, with
protesters seen being grabbed by the police and roughly taken away
into waiting vans.
Among those detained was veteran Saturday Mothers protest leader Emine
Ocak, who reports said is 82, and photographs showed being led away by
two female officers. Social media users noted that pictures had been
taken in 1997 of Ocak—whose son Hasan disappeared after being taken
into custody in 1995—when she was roughly detained in similar
circumstances.
Turkish lawyer Efkan Bolac wrote on Twitter that all 47 people
detained were being released after giving statements to the police.
Emma Sinclair-Webb, the Turkey director of Human Rights Watch (HRW),
described the detentions as “shameful, cruel treatment of families
seeking justice for state crimes.”
The crackdown by the police followed an announcement by the
authorities of the central Beyoglu district where the rally is held
that Saturday’s demonstration would be banned.
It said that calls for the rally to take place had been made on social
media accounts linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
and no application for permission to hold it had been made. The
disappearances happened at the peak of the PKK insurgency demanding
self-rule in the Kurdish-dominated southeast. Tens of thousands have
lost their lives in the conflict that began in 1984 and continues to
this day. The country was also wracked by political instability and
violence following the 1980 military coup, with many detained for
political activism.
Activists say the state has never properly investigated the fate of
those who disappeared after being detained by the authorities.
The Saturday Mothers were unable to hold their protests for a decade
from 1999 to 2009 due to repeated police interventions but they then
resumed.
Police have since maintained a watchful presence at the protests but
this was the first time in recent years the protest has been broken
up.
The forceful dispersion of the rally comes two months after President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan won a new mandate with enhanced powers which
activists fear will be used to squeeze freedom of _expression_ in
Turkey.
The Saturday Mothers group is said to have been inspired by the
Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a group of Argentinian mothers who hold
rallies after their children disappeared during Argentina’s military
dictatorship.
The Saturday Mothers demand a full opening of the state archives to
uncover what happened to their loved ones, prosecution of the
perpetrators and the abolition of the statute of limitations for
abuses committed by the security forces. “The Beyoglu Governor banned
the Saturday Anniversary on the 700th week session. Every Saturday
mothers of the children who were lost in custody ask for the count of
their children by protesting in silence, and sitting on the ground of
the Galatasaray square holding the pictures of their children.
Yesterday the police acted on the order of the banning the protest,
and tried to disperse the crowed by using pepper spray and arresting
people. I’m currently in the area where the protest took place, and
yesterday I witnessed it from far. There was a lot of people who were
trying to stop the police from arresting the mothers of those
children, and Garo Paylan was one of them,” wrote Annie Kurdian
Kahkejian in a Facebook comment.
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3 – In Istanbul, Armenia Defeats Hungary to win 40th World Chess Olympiad
(Public Radio of Armenia)—Armenia cemented its reputation as a chess
superpower by winning gold at the Chess Olympiad, after defeating
Hungary 2.5-1.5 in the final round of the World Chess Olympiad in
Istanbul.
In the decisive round on August 19, the Armenian team beat Hungary
2.5-1.5 to gather 19 points in the 11-round competition.
Sergei Movsesian secured the crucial victory against Hungary’s Zoltan
Almasi. Levon Aronian (presently ranked No. 12 in the world), Vladimir
Akopian, and Gabriel Sargissian drew their games.
Russia defeated Germany 3-1, but fell behind Armenia on tiebreak.
Ukraine beat China 3-1 and came third.
Armenia won the 2006 and 2008 Olympiads, and came in seventh in 2010.
It came third in 1992, 2002 and 2004.
Armenia’s National Men’s Chess Team members are: Levon Aronian, Arshak
Petrosian, Sergei Movsesian, Vladimir Akopian, Gabriel Sargissian and
Tigran Petrosian.
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4 – Syrian-Armenian refugee Invents
Renewable Energy Device For Canadian Aircrafts
(Horizon Weekly Newspaper)—Shoushi Bakarian is a Syrian-Armenian
refugee to the ongoing conflict in Syria who was granted permanent
residency in Canada in early 2016. Born and raised in Aleppo, her life
changed for ever when the conflict reached her home town. Regardless
of the conflict, Shoushi continued her studies and finished grades 11
and 12 with flying colors in a city that had no running water or
electricity. For Shoushi, excelling in her studies was her own way to
survive and forget the harsh living conditions.
Upon her arrival to Canada, she enrolled in Aerospace Engineering at
Concordia University where she fell in love with aviation and
renewable energy propulsion systems.
She is an inspiration and a beacon of light to the people around her
and those who cross her path. Her passion for aerospace STEM education
and enthusiasms to pass on her knowledge to the next generation of
aviation professionals in commendable.
Earlier this year Shoushi discovered Stratos Aviation a not for profit
association located in Dorval on Ryan Avenue which advocates careers
and opportunities in aerospace to the next generation of aviation
professionals through STEM education and pilot training. She quickly
climbed the ranks and today at the young age of 21she is one of the
administrators of the association. Stratos Aviation is a
multidisciplinary environment with a hands-on approach to educate and
promote all aspects of aviation.
In the early months of the summer she spearheaded the opening of the
Stratos Aerospace Lab (S.A.L.) an environment to encourage and promote
aviation and aerospace engineering development for student engineers,
entrepreneurs and creative minds. The lab and its resources are free
to use for anyone involved in an ongoing research and development
project. All products created and brought to life through S.A.L. are
marketed through the Stratos Aviation social entrepreneurial
initiative where profits are distributed as education grants to
students pursuing STEM related studies in aviation and aerospace in
Canada.
On August 15, the Stratos Aerospace Lab launched and began pre-selling
Ventus exclusively on Kickstarter. Ventus, designed for small general
aviation aircrafts from the Cessna family will provide a 5V USB
current to charge cells phones, tablets, GPS units and other
navigation aids as well as cooling down the cabin by 3-5 degrees
Celsius using only renewable energy, air. Ventus is the perfect
wedding between transforming mechanical energy into a 5V current using
a micro generator and fluid dynamics lowering the cabin’s temperature
using venturi effect principals. These features are combined in a 6”
tube which fits in the aircrafts ventilation system without any
modification or installation necessary.
To appeal to the general public as well, an outdoors version of Ventus
was created to stay connected wherever you go.
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5- Glendale Paramedics Save Baby Boy Born During Dangerous Delivery
On August 20 at 1:25 a.m., Engine 25 was dispatched to a call of a
mother in labor. Upon arriving, Firefighter Paramedic Leslie Scott
took charge and guided the mom to the floor along with Paramedic
Intern Mike Sevillano and instantly realized that the umbilical cord
was wrapped around the baby’s neck and the baby was not breathing.
Scott immediately worked to remove the cord from around his neck and
delivered the baby. The paramedics cut and clamped the cord and
immediately began suctioning the baby and then started chest
compressions. The crew all jumped in to take care of the mom and get
them to the hospital. On the way to the hospital, the baby’s color
began to turn pink and he began to breathe on his own.
Just that same day, Paramedic Intern Sevillano conducted a company
school on childbirth and neonatal resuscitation to the crew. They had
just hours before discussed this exact scenario so when the dispatch
came in and the supplemental texts were coming across the crew knew
they were meant to go help this baby and his mom.
“We commend the E25 crew Derek Tamburro, Kevin Stockton, Leslie Scott,
Jessie Castro and Ambulance Operators Edgar Arana, Zachary Polte,
Karapet Emishyan and Jose Navarro for making sure this beautiful mom
gets to hold her perfect little one day old son in her arms today!”
said the City of Glendale Fire Department in a statement.
“Armen Adjemian, my family and I, including our new little addition
Daniel, could not thank the incredible, brave, and caring firefighters
and paramedics of Engine 25 with the Glendale Fire Department enough
for coming to our aid so quickly during one of the scariest and
craziest experiences of my life. They jumped to action with such care
and ensured my safety and that of our new boy,” said Ani Adjemian, in
a Facebook post. “Even after transporting us to the hospital, they all
remained to make sure baby and I were well, and even followed up today
with a lovely surprise visit. We are truly blessed and will be forever
grateful. Thank you Engine25 and Glendale Firefighters Association!”
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6- Television Editor Lousine Shamamian Nominated for 2018 Emmy Award
By Jenny Yettem
LOS ANGELES—Television Editor Lousine Shamamian has been nominated for
an Emmy Award, for her work on RuPaul’s Drag Race.
This is Shamamian’s first Emmy nomination—and this is the first season
in which she has worked on RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked, which is shot
and edited in Los Angeles. She moved to Los Angeles in January 2017.
The series originally aired on LOGO then moved to VH1 in 2017. This is
the first season that Untucked aired on VH1. Season 9 was on YouTube.
Untucked is the companion show to the main competition show. It is a
behind the scenes, no holds barred program capturing the interactions
between the queens during the show’s deliberations. Many enjoy
Untucked more because it is unstructured and captures intimate, deep
and heated conversations.
The whole RuPaul’s Drag Race series garnered 12 nominations. Untucked
received two nominations—Shamamian’s nomination for editing, and one
for the series.
The first episode, which Shamamian edited, got nominated for editing.
“As editor, I created the opening title sequence and set the tone for
this season of Untucked, which was the first that aired on VH1,” said
Shamamian, who noted that the original structure of the show was
created by editor Kendra Pasker. Shamamian explained that an editor
works with a producer and constructs the story. “A simple description
is that the editor works more intimately with the footage, makes the
storytelling seamless, and scores the show. A good editor is an
invisible editor, meaning the show looks seamless and you forget that
it was ever edited,” said Shamamian.
Shamamian is currently working on the Bravo hit reality series Shahs
of Sunset, which features a group of Persian-Americans living in Los
Angeles.
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7 – San Francisco Superhero Raffi Arabatyan Battles Emperor Zurg
By Christine Soussa
Raffi Arabatyan is an 11-year-old superhero living in San Francisco. A
student at Krouzian-Zekarian-Vasbouragan (KZV) Armenian School, Raffi
has been battling a brain tumor, which he has named Zurg, since he was
6 months old.
After Raffi’s routine six-month wellness check showed no signs of
concern, the new family of three went on a trip to Napa, California.
While there, Raffi’s parents, Nairi and Garo Arabatyan, noticed what
they describe as an “odd shimmering of his right eye.” Grandparents
encouraged them to take Raffi to see the doctor to be safe. Their
pediatrician recommended Raffi be seen by a Pediatric Ophthalmologist
who then recommended they see a Neurologist who conducted a brain MRI.
Nairi says, “‘I will never forget every single detail of our meeting
with the Neurologist after the test results were in. She told Garo and
me, ‘Your son has a brain tumor, but it can be treated with
chemotherapy!’ These words and feelings stay with you, forever. We
were shocked by the news. Our first child, only a baby, has a brain
tumor and needs to be on chemotherapy.”
Unsure what to do, the always optimistic Arabatyans got to work,
reaching out to a network of friends for referrals and contacts; they
did endless research, got several additional opinions and remained
determined to battle the brain tumor and put a stop to its growth.
Raffi was diagnosed with an Optic Pathway Glioma. At 11, he has had
over 60 surgeries, the longest surgery being 17.5 hours long. He and
his family have endured years of surgeries, scans, labs, MRI’s, EKGs,
procedures, ultrasounds—you name it, they have done it. Raffi is now
on a trail chemotherapy regimen called, Lenalidomide, after many years
of the tumor growing through most treatments, the tumor responded to
this treatment.
Recently in May 2018, two weeks before I met Raffi, he and his family
received very positive news, his last MRI showed that the tumor had
not grown and in fact the cyst coming off of the tumor has gotten a
bit smaller! Raffi says the doctor came out and said “The tumor is in
a stable position & the cyst is growing smaller!” You could see the
elation in his face, demeanor and voice as he shared this news.
As a family of 6, they are unconditionally joyful—their love is
contagious and magnetic. When asked how they mange everything so
gracefully, Garo simply said “the Language of Faith is positive
energy, which is infectious, these words translate into happy
gestures.” By every single account, positive energy and faith is at
the center of everything the Arabatyan family does.
Because of this commitment to a positive lifestyle, the extraordinary
Raffi, in many ways enjoys an ordinary life. He is a student at KZV
Armenian school, he enjoys playing with his friends and siblings. He
loves to travel, enjoys swimming, basketball and playing the drums. He
loves animals, Legos and cooking with his Mom, a gourmet chef who
teaches her children the importance to healthy food choices every day.
During a family trip to Disneyland, Raffi loved the Buzz Lightyear
ride. Based on the Toy Story movie, the ride lets passengers shoot
Evil Emperor Zurg. Because of this ride, Raffi named his tumor Zurg.
Each time he has a check-up, he imagines himself attacking Zurg and
visualizes himself winning.
They work with a spectacular care team including UCSF Children’s
Hospital Oakland Neurosurgeon Dr. Peter Sun, Nationwide Children’s
Neuro-Oncologist Dr. Jonathan Finlay and UCSF Children’s Hospital
Neuro-Oncologist Dr. Sabine Mueller and many others. Nairi shares, “I
will always remember the words of Dr. Finlay who encouragingly said,
‘Thankfully this is not big bad cancer, you have to look at Raffi’s
brain tumor as a chronic illness. Hopefully after puberty the tumor
will stop. You just have to get him through.’” They knew with their
outlook, strong support team, and loving community of family and
friends, they could get through. Nairi shares, “As a Mom with four
children, my goal is to keep things as normal as possible. Garo and I
refused to focus on Raffi’s brain tumor only. We go with the ups and
downs of it. We try not to let it be or feel like it is so out of the
ordinary. Along with all the appointments and chemotherapy treatments
we fit in drumming lessons and basketball and of course homework too!
It’s simply a part of our day, and we are grateful for every single
day.”
The unfortunate diagnosis and ongoing treatment of the brain tumor
from such an early stage of Raffi’s life was difficult for the
Arabatyan family, but it never shook them from their foundations. “The
experience of the resilience of life and the blessings that we receive
each and every day with our four kids is a true testament of our
Christian faith.” Surrounded by his superhero sidekicks, his brother
Zareh says, “Raffi is a great big brother and a good kid,” while his
sisters Areni says “He Kicks the Zurg’s butt!” and Gayane says, “I
love Raffi.”
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