Category: 2018

BY ANTHONY ANTONYAN

Special to Asbarez

Every year, Rose & Alex Pilibos gives the opportunity for the junior class to visit Armenia to reestablish their connections with their culture, heritage, and homeland. For some, it is a chance to reunite with their motherland; however, for others, like myself, it is an amazing opportunity for students to witness the beauty of their country for the first time.

I really did not know what to expect in Armenia. Even though I learned about our country and its beautiful geography and culture, nothing could have fully prepared me. I was blown away to see Sardarabad and Khor Virab’s beautiful view of Ararat and the bustling cities of Yerevan and Stepanagerd and the simple yet culturally rich villages like Byurakan that exhibited the immense spirit and life the Armenian people had.  

I expected Yerevan to be a major developed city, with people walking boisterously throughout the Central Square, and I was correct to believe that. The European inspired cty was absolutely beautiful and surpassed all of my expectations. We were fortunate enough to visit Armenia on the 100th anniversary of our Independence. In the Central Square, a huge concert was set up to commemorate the momentous occasion. Singers like Sirusho and dancers of all ages all came together to celebrate. The entire Yerevan population was out cheering along to the dances and song; the concert, overall, was a major success.

But what pleasantly surprised me was the state Stepanagerd was in. Knowing the recent conflicts Artsakh has had with Azerbaijan, I did not know what the state of the nation would be.

Before arriving at Stepanakert, we stopped at Shoushi, where we visited the beautiful church Ghazanchetsots. Being an integral part in the battle between Artsakh and Azerbaijan, we were extremely lucky to personally take in the magnificence of the church. There, we met Inna Gasparyan. She is the sister of Sargis Gasparyan, a fallen soldier from the Four-Day War Artsakh had with Azerbaijan. We heard Sarkis’s story from Inna and her mother. We understood and felt the troubles and heart aches they went through and the significance this war had on the lives of the innocent. Visiting the homes of the fallen soldiers took a heavy toll on everyone. We finally faced the reality of what the families have been facing, of what Artsakh has been facing.

Inna traveled to Stepanakert with us for the night. We spent the night with her laughing and getting to know one another. She played a major role in creating this Armenia experience.

The following day at Artsakh, we were fortunate enough to visit a military base and witness the soldiers of our nation train for combat. Pilibos students trained alongside the soldiers, climbing ropes, jumping over trenches, and maneuvering through narrow platforms. Thanking them immensely for what they are contributing to our country, we were able to talk and give gifts to each of the soldiers. At the end of the day, Pilibos played a soccer match against the soldiers in a friendly, fun match.

Visiting the military base and befriending other Armenians was a new experience for all the students. This Armenia trip happened to be Nayiri Artounians’s second chance to visit her homeland. Visiting the homes of the fallen soldiers and creating friendships with others left her a long-lasting impression. Nayiri said, “When I visited Armenia in the eighth grade, I saw the sights for the first time, but I was merely a tourist. This time around, I felt truly immersed and involved. In our classroom across the globe, we only hear about the sacrifices the soldiers undergo to defend our soil. But now, we were able to talk and laugh with them.”

After visiting Artsakh, we resumed to travel to the other provinces of Armenia. We visited Sevan and the beautiful monasteries it had to offer. We visited Kotayk and the Temple of Garni, the only stable pagan temple left in Armenia.

In Aragatsotn, we stopped by the village of Byurakan to see what Armenian village life is like. At Byurakan, the villagers explained and presented how they spend any typical day. Starting their day off with some bread and wine, to pass time, the men would play dhols as the women beautifully sung and danced along to the beat. Women and men both played essential roles in cooking; the men would cook khorovatz through the tonir while the women prepared lavash, salads, and other tasty foods. The villagers allowed the students to help prepare our lunch. The boys took turns placing vegetables and meat on skewers, and the girls sung traditional Armenian songs as they grounded flour. As we ate the lunch we prepared ourselves, we all talked about the wonderful time we had here at this village, where we were able to catch a glimpse of the lives of Armenians outside of the major, developed cities like Yerevan.

During the final days of our trip, we were allowed to roam the streets freely to grasp a better sense of the city. We walked the streets of Yerevan, found delicious restaurants to dine at, and spent quality time amongst friends.

It was during these final days, where the entire junior class was given a once in a lifetime opportunity: to meet the current president of Armenia, Armen Sarkissian. He devoted a lot of time from his busy schedule to answer all the questions we had about the current and future state of Armenia, the goals of the current administration, and the things we could do ourselves to help strengthen our homeland. He answered the questions happily. The best we could do at our current age to help is to join and take part of organizations that focus on bettering Armenia, such as Armenia Fund.

“I left Armenia with a new awareness about myself and my connection to my people,” Nayiri said. The juniors of Rose & Alex Pilibos came back to Armenia as stronger Armenians, while becoming fully embedded into our motherland.

Anthony Antonyan will be a senior at Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School. He is currently an intern at Asbarez.

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BY SEVANA PANOSIAN

Redwoods, Friends, Kebab, Shoorj Bar, Campfire Stories and Armenian Songs…

Preparations are underway for the inauguration of Armenian Youth Camp (AYC), a sleep away summer camp in Northern California for the Armenian youth.

The Armenian Diaspora is alive and well.

While the demand for our future generations to enroll in fun, educational and interactive camps is at an all-time high, space is limited and kids are missing out on the special summer camp experience aimed for Armenians in the Diaspora.

In the spirit that Armenians will move mountains to preserve our culture and nurture our youth, the San Francisco ARF Krisdapor Chapter in conjunction with the AYF Rosdom Chapter have teamed to create more space and expand footprint with the launch of AYC- the North to AYF’s South.

This week-long camp, for children 8 – 17 years of age, kicks off on Sunday, August 5 at Camp Sylvester in Pinecrest, CA.

AYC will be led by the legendary and beloved AYF Camp Director, Moushig Andonian.

To prepare for opening day, Moushig quickly formed an executive committee. Rallying with enthusiasm, more than thirty all-star and experienced AYF Camp counselors joined the team (most of which became CPR certified and AYC trained). Two licensed Emergency Medical Technicians came on board, as did gourmet cooks that are well versed on Armenian and American cuisine.
A “fun fact” is that half of these experienced cooks wanted to kick off AYC’s kitchen crew to honor the memory of the late Deegeen Araxi Soghomonian, one of the volunteers that spent decades preparing meals at AYF Camp and Camp Kessab.

When the website went live, enrollment exceeded expectations. The need for such a camp became obvious when registration boomed to nearly 140 registered campers within weeks.

While the committee prepares for August 5’ths opening day, campers can expect to be grouped into three teams (Red, Blue, and Orange). They will play games like wacky Olympics, obstacle course and quiz bowl. They will participate in fun activities including creative art, festive song and dance, athletics and traditional camp activities like steal the bacon. Most importantly, children will have the opportunity to create lifelong friendships and bond with fellow Armenians.

Our children may not know each other (yet), but “When two Armenians meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia”. – William Saroyan

To share the community efforts of launching this new camp for future generations, please consider sponsoring a cabin, funding a camper’s tuition or pitching in with other supplies. More info can be found by visiting: www.ArmenianYouthCamp.org and by following Armenian Youth Camp on Instagram and Facebook.

Happy Camping!

YEREVAN—Armenia’s second president Robert Kocharian, who earlier Thursday was chargedwith “breaching [Armenia’s] Constitutional Order” in connection with the events of March 1, 2008, when eight civilians and two police officers were killed during post-presidential election protests, vowed that he will fight the charges “to the end,” calling them a politically motivated “vendetta.”

“I will go. I will sit [in jail] but I will fight this until the end,” a visibly shaken Kocharian told Yerkir Media’s Gegham Manoukyan in an exclusive interview that aired on the channel Thursday evening. (Soon after the announcement was made about the interview, the Yerkir Media website crashed, with channel managers announcing on Facebook that the site was hacked).

During the more than 47-minute interview, during which he continuously repeated himself, Kocharian called the charges a “political vendetta” by the current regime, saying “they have already determined who the guilty parties are and are searching for ways to make the charges stick.”

“When I see that people are skilled at inventing such fabrications, I realize that for them nothing is sacred. They are capable of anything,” said Kocharian who called the entire episode “judicial surrealism” and warned that it will have a lasting impact on Armenia and its judiciary.

“If people are indifferent towed these issues—the same people who are hiding today—all of this is going come crashing on them,” said Kocharian who characterized the actions of Armenia’s Special Investigative Service as a ticking time bomb that will explode and a wipeout the entire Armenian statehood.

“I never could imagine that within our reality such a false criminal case can be created,” added Kocharian.

The former president also blamed Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan for instigating what he claimed was a deadlock between internal security forces and the post 2008-election protesters, claiming that they were given the option to move their protest to the Madenataran, but Pashinyan himself “categorically refused” and urged protesters to form barricades.

Furthermore, he added that Levon Ter-Petrossian should also be blamed for the 2008 events, because after the Central Electoral Commission and Armenia’s Constitutional Court verified the election results, the first president publically called for the disbanding of state institutions after he claimed victory “after having received 21.5 percent of the vote.”

Hence, Kocharian said that before charging him the SIS should have punished the members of the CEC and the Constitutional Court, claiming that their official approval of the results came before March 1 events and Ter-Petrossian’s incitement of regime change was squarely in went against the decision of Armenia’s high court.

WASHINGTON—Armenian Legal Center for Justice and Human Rights (ALC) Executive Director Kate Nahapetian emphasized the importance of property rights in the protection of religious freedom and genocide prevention during the State Department’s first-ever Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, which convened on June Tuesday.

“If we are able to work to return properties, we eliminate the profit motive for persecution and genocide,” stated Nahapetian during the meeting plenary session, where she applauded the State Department’s recent successful efforts to return properties to religious minorities in Iraq.

Pat Davis, Director of Office of Global Programming at the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor agreed that the return of properties to religious minorities needs to be a focus in addressing religious persecution and atrocity crime prevention. “That is something we have started doing more and more of… as recognition of that exact same phenomenon that you talked about.”

The Armenian Legal Center has been collecting information related to religious and personal properties stolen or confiscated during the Armenian Genocide as part of a process for their eventual return or compensation. It is the only community organization to do so, understanding the importance of consolidating this information in one place as a means towards redress and accountability for the genocide. To submit documentation concerning stolen or lost properties from the Armenian Genocide, please visit: st1yle=”margin:0px 0px 10px”>More than 300 religious freedom leaders from 80 countries around the world — including Armenia – gathered in Washington DC for the Ministerial. Individual testimonies from religious minorities across the globe punctuated the program. In his opening remarks, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback highlighted the case of imprisoned American Pastor Andrew Brunson, who has spent nearly two years in a Turkish jail on baseless charges. Following White House and State Department pressure, and a Senate threat to block international financial corporation assistance for Turkey, the Erdogan regime moved Brunson from jail to house arrest on Wednesday.