Category: News

Azg Armenian Daily
Aug 30 2004
EMPLOYERS AVOID HIRE IRAQI ARMENIANS
WHY DIDN’T THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS RECOGNIZE THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF
AZERBAIJAN IN 1918-1920?
“KARABAGH MAY HAVE GOOD FUTURE”
NEW NEWSPAPERS IN ARMENIAN PRESS
CAMPING IN GUGARK DIOCESE
“CILICIA” AT HISTORICAL SHORES
*********************************************************************
EMPLOYERS AVOID HIRE IRAQI ARMENIANS
Iraqi Refugees Looking for Alternative Shelter
The war in Iraq made Iraqi Armenians leave their homes for Armenia.
Forty-nine families (87 people) found refuge in Armenia by July.
Thirty-one families applied for temporary lodging till the end of the
war.
Most of the Iraqi emigrants live in hired flats, some of them stay
with their relatives and few families bought flats in Armenia,
informs the Administration for Migration and Refugees. There are even
few young people who have already made their ways to the
universities. The Migration Administration has located most of the
needy at the Nor Nork borough hostel. But the rooms of the hostel are
overcrowded.
Most of the emigrants work as cooks and jewelers. According to
Ruzanna Petrosian, of the Migration Administration, the Iraqi
Armenians complain that the employers don’t treat them as permanent
and trustworthy workers. They are not hired out of fear that they can
leave Armenia any moment.
Some of the Iraqi Armenians are really looking forward to leaving not
having got any means for survival.
Four more citizens of Iraq applied to the Against Juridical
Willfulness NGO asking to help them leave Armenia for not having any
job here. Two of them were Armenians, other two Arabian.
The International Organization of Red Cross was supporting them
monthly. But the program is over now and they turned to the NGO
asking to give them 50 US dollars a month to keep body and soul
together. But the NGO was unable to meet their needs.
Armenia became a refuge for 2 Kurdish families four years ago who
were unsatisfied with Saddam Hussein’s regime.
Besides sheltering Kurds and Arabs Armenia grants asylum to religious
and political outcasts. Samuel Lem Logan, a 42-year-old Sudanese, has
been in Armenia since 2000. The oppression that Christians face in
that Muslim country made him come to Armenia. He has no permanent job
here and hopes to leave either to Sudan or to the USA. But Samuel
didn’t waste his time: he married an Armenian girl.
Armenia granted shelter to a citizen of Chechnya who left Armenia
lately.
The Against Juridical Willfulness NGO informs that there are still
people who view Armenia as second home. One of them is Asiv Ziman who
fled Pakistan because of Muslims’ oppression of Christian. He is
married to an Armenian and is engaged in trade. Unlike all others who
shared his fate he is already accustomed to Armenia and is not going
to leave for another country.
By Karine Danielian
*********************************************************************
WHY DIDN’T THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS RECOGNIZE THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF
AZERBAIJAN IN 1918-1920?
Baku Celebrates 13-th Anniversary of Independence Declaration
The Armenian government is sparing no efforts declaring that Nagorno
Karabakh has never been part of independent Azerbaijan. In his June
24 speech at the European Council Robert Kocharian stated: “As a
result of collapse of the Soviet Union 2 separately independent
states were formed in the territory of Soviet Azerbaijan: Nagorno
Karabakh and Azerbaijan. The existence of the two states is equally
justified. Thus, the territorial wholeness of Azerbaijan has nothing
to do with Nagorno Karabakh”.
Any historical fact may be viewed from two angles the least. For
instance, we, Armenians, are sure that Nakhidjevan is a purely
Armenian territory whereas the Azeris assure that not only
Nakhidjevan but also Zangezur, Karabakh and Yerevan are Azeri
territories. But that Karabakh has never been a part of independent
Azerbaijan is a fact, according to the Azeris’ very history.
On August 30 the Azeris celebrated the 13-th anniversary of
Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The
communist authorities of Baku adopted the document in 1991, August
30. This document is equally important for Karabakh too. In
accordance with the Declaration, Azerbaijan declared its independence
in the territory of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan (DRA) of
1918-1920. Nagorno Karabakh was not in the territory of Azerbaijan by
that time. Therefore, if the contemporary Azerbaijan is the successor
of the DRA, according to the Declaration, then Baku cannot have
claims for Karabakh. Only after July 5 of 1921 Karabakh was forced
into Soviet Azerbaijan.
In 1918-1920 not only Nagorno Karabakh but also Plain Karabakh and
Nakhidjevan were included in the DRA. Nakhidjevan became a
protectorate of Azerbaijan only in 1921 according to Kars Treaty. And
the Plain Karabakh was partially added to Azerbaijan during time. An
interesting fact: The League of Nations, predecessor of the UNO,
didn’t recognize the DRA reasoning it by Azerbaijan’s territorial
conflicts, i.e. Karabakh and Nakhidjevan, with its neighbors.
Jamil Hasanov, historian at the Baku State University, writes that
the Azeri delegation left for the Paris peace conference in 1919
hoping that the League of Nations would recognize the DRA
independence and would enroll Azerbaijan in the League. The Baku
delegation hoped to get the US president Wilson’s support and to
establish diplomatic relations between the two states, according to
Dr. Hasanov. Despite the supposed support of president Wilson, the
issues of DRA’s independence and membership in the league remained
unsolved, writes Dr. Hasanov.
The DRA failed to gain membership in the League of Nations in
contrast to neighboring Armenia and Georgia. Thus, Azerbaijan was not
internationally recognized because it tried to come into the League
with Karabakh and Nakhidjevan, non-Azeri territories.
There are other examples too testifying to the fact that Karabakh was
not a part of the DRA. For instance, on April 20 of 1920, the other
day of Azerbaijan’s sovietization, the Foreign Affairs commissar
Husejnov send a note to the government of yet independent Armenian
Republic (Armenia became Soviet only on December 2). It read: “The
proletarian government of the Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan demands
that you clear Karabakh and Zangezur off your troops”. This also
testifies to the fact that Karabakh was not a part of Azerbaijan
during the first Soviet years. Husejnov didn’t mention the name of
Nakhidjevan simply because it was a part of independent Armenia by
that time and was annexed only in the spring of 1921.
On August 10 of 1920 a treaty between the Dashnak (the ruling party)
government and Soviet Russia was signed. The second part of the
treaty read: “The Soviet troops of Russia conquer the arguable
regions of Karabakh, Zangezur and Nakhidjevan with the exception of
the territories destined for the troops of the Armenian Republic”.
And at last the note signed by the chairman of the Revolutionary
Committee Narimanov and the Peoples’ Commissar of Foreign Affairs
Husejnov which says: “Nagorno Karabakh, Zangezur and Nakhidjevan are
recognized as constituents of Soviet Armenia”.
By Tatoul Hakobian
*********************************************************************
“KARABAGH MAY HAVE GOOD FUTURE”
British The Economist about Post-Soviet National Conflicts
After the recent events in Southern Ossetia, the political scientists
drew the attention of the leading international mass media on
settlement prospects of the four national conflicts existing in the
post-Soviet territory. The Economist, British authoritative weekly,
published an editorial dedicated to Nagorno Karabagh, Abkhazia,
Southern Ossetia and Transdnestria in its August 19 issue.
“The unfinished wars in Transdnestria, Abkhazia, Southern Ossetia and
Nagorno Karabagh are the key factors that hinder the former Soviet
independent states to unfold their potential fully. A microstate is
in the center of each conflict. The leaders of these microstates won
the local wars but for the Russian arms. Notwithstanding the huge
differences, these microstates have many things in common. The
isolation that lasts for decades and the unrecognized governments
made them a military society.”
“The society of Nagorno Karabagh is the closest to the natural
society among these four countries. In 2001, when the local corrupt
Samvel Babayan was arrested, there existed some mixture of economy
and local policy in Karabagh that is considered independent. But it
is united with Armenia and its economy is supported by Diaspora, in
fact.”
“Recently, local elections took place there. Notwithstanding the wave
of anger and indignation in Azerbaijan, that posses Karabagh de jure,
the competition between the candidates was real. In Stepanakert the
atmosphere was quiet according to post-Soviet criteria. Thus,
Karabagh may have a good future if the fate of this enclave is
settled in some way”, the Economist writes.
According to the weekly, the mutual concession seemed to have been
reached four years ago. “Most of Nagorno Karabakh’s part was to be
united with Armenia, while the Azeris would get the neighboring
regions and the corridor that joined the two parts of the republic
(Azerbaijan and Nakhidjevan). Lately, the positions of both sides
became stricter and the polls testified to the fact that the majority
of the Azeris want that territory (Karabagh) to be regained by
force.”
The Economist means the Key West treaty, that is considered to be a
secret document, but some of its articles have already appeared in
the press. Particularly, by the second article of the treaty Karabagh
was to unite with Armenia against the withdrawal of the Armenian
forces from the territory belonging to Azerbaijan administratively,
except Lachine. This very region secures the land communication
between Karabagh and Armenia. As for the unification of Azerbaijan
and Nakhidjevan, this can be reached by getting a part of Meghri
region, stretching by the bank of Arax. But Lachine and Meghri
corridors have no equal status: the first is united with Armenia,
while Meghri is just a transportation corridor.
“The struggle for Karabagh always existed and a new war is very
possible. Compared with it, Southern Ossetia is a hotbed of a small
but important quarrel. Abkhazia and Transdnestria may have a special
political status, if not for the independence, but for historical
reasons. Both of the administrations have the control of the
territories and the economy and are able to exist independently. But
both of them are the volunteer hostages of Russia,” the Economist
writes. The British weekly reminds the data of the American Herman
Marshal Research Center that define the regions in conflict as “the
cracks of the Soviet Empire that are hotbeds of arm and drug trade,
trafficking, organized crimes and terrorism.”
The Economist adds that Marshall’s conclusion is right for Abkhazia,
Southern Ossetia and Transdnestria, except for Nagorno Karabagh.
By Tatoul Hakobian
*********************************************************************
NEW NEWSPAPERS IN ARMENIAN PRESS
Recently, new newspapers were issued in the Armenian press market and
some others will be issued in near future. Today, it’s hard to say
what part will these new periodicals play both in the market and the
politics. But its’ obvious that they will try hard to have influence
in our social-political live. Moreover, at least, the two of them are
financed or sponsored by figures having political claims.
The “Third Power” newspaper is the first among them that is
considered “a social -political independent newspaper”, but is
financed by Levon Hairapetian, Moscow dwelling businessman, and Aram
Karapetian, leader of Nor Zhamanakner (New Times) party. The
newspaper is published by “Missia l” ltd. Vahram Aghajanian, former
reporter of Azg Daily, analyst of the Iravunk weekly, is the
newspaper’s editor-in-chief. The newspaper consists of 16 pages, is
multicolored and well printed.
Few days ago, the first copy of Zoravig newspaper was issued too. It
is established by “Zoravig- Merhak” ltd. Pushkin Serobian is its
editor-in-chief. It is “August 23 Federation” union’s official
periodical.
In some days the newspaper of “Nig Aparan” union will be issued too.
The head of the union is Aghvan Hovsepian, RA Public Prosecutor. His
political claims are frequently spoken about, recently. The newspaper
is very likely to be entitled “Haykakan Dzeragir” (Armenian
Handwriting).
According to the information circulating in the journalistic sphere,
a new periodical will appear in the Armenian press very soon. Today
we know only the name of the editor, Satik Seiranian.
*********************************************************************
CAMPING IN GUGARK DIOCESE
The summer vacations are the continuation of the studying process,
but in a special way. These studies should contribute to our
children’s true Armenian education.
Gugark Diocese emphasized the national-spiritual education of the
children in its activities. It organized the summer vacations of many
schoolchildren in “Tsitsernak” (sparrow) camp.
It has been the third year that “Tsitsernak” camp is functioning
under the shelter of Holy See of Etchmiadzin. This is one of the best
camps in Armenia by its order and the educational orientation.
This year, the main building of the camp became a dormitory that
helped to organize vacations for 1050 children instead of 600. Some
of the buildings of “Krunk” camp that also belong to the diocese have
also been renovated. Here the children spend their hours of study and
entertainment. The camp has a new pool and a game square.
There were 48 children of the perished azatamartiks (freedom
fighters) as well as 48 unilateral and 70 bilateral orphans among the
1050 children that spent their summer vacations in the camp. Sepuh
Archbishop Chuljian, head of diocese, assured that they will spare no
effort to enlarge and make the camping complex more comfortable so
that more children could rest there.
By Astkhik Asrian
*********************************************************************
“CILICIA” AT HISTORICAL SHORES
Two or three more days and the Armenian “Cilicia” sailing boat will
be at the coast of historical Cilicia, Hmayak Tarakhchian of the
“Ayas” sea research club informed yesterday. On August 27 “Cilicia”
moored at the Athens, and the crew spend 2 days in the
Olympic-battered city. On August 29 publicist Zori Balayan again
joined the sailors after having been in Bulgaria.
Today “Cilicia” is making its way through the Aegean Sea to the
historical Ayas. According to Mr. Tarakhchian, the boat has the right
to navigate in the Aegean Sea but he is uncertain about the ship
mooring in the harbor. The coast of Cilicia begins with the island of
Rhodos and stretches to Iskyandaru (Alexandria) Gulf where the
ancient harbor of Ayas used to be. Mr. Tarakhchian expressed hope
that the Turkish government will allow “Cilicia” moor at Ayas. And we
shall wait for rich impressions of our sailors as they go through
historical Armenian territories.
By Tamar Minasian

WORKSHOP ON ARMENIAN SYNTAX
Pithiviers (F) Monastery of Saint Gregoire.
May 22 – 25, 2005
WORKSHOP ON ARMENIAN SYNTAX
A. Donabedian, A. Ouzounian (both INALCO; Paris) and J. Dum-Tragut
(University Salzburg) organise a workshop on Armenian Syntax under the
auspices of the AIEA and in co-operation with the Centre Georges Dumezil
d’Etudes Comparatives Irano-caucasiennes (CNRS-INALCO).
The workshop will take place in the town of Pithiviers, 80km far from Paris,
in the Monastery of Saint Gregoire de Pithiviers, also called Saint Gregoire
l’armenien.
The main aim of this first workshop on Armenian Syntax is to present the
status quo of syntactic research in Armenian variants, to discuss specific
syntactic features and to show some perspectives for further research in the
field of Armenian syntax. The focus of interest, however, should be a lively
scientific discussion on various topics of Armenian Syntax, based on the
working papers (45-60 minutes) presented by participants.
Each day of the workshop has a special topic with sub-topics, which also
comprise topics such as Word-order, diachronic studies, spoken syntax and
the interaction of word order and prosody, dialectal syntax and a special
topic on comparative Syntax of the linguistic area “Eurasia” – Caucasus.
The workshop languages are English, French and Armenian.
On Sunday evening, May 22nd 2005, the participants will go together from
Paris to Pithiviers and will return to Paris on Wednesday evening. One
afternoon in Pithiviers will be free for a special social program.
Lodging and food will be provided at the monastery or in neighbouring hotels
for reasonable prices.
A reservation form including all details will be sent in September 2004.
For registration and further information on the workshop, please contact:
Doz. Dr. Jasmine Dum-Tragut,
Institut fur den Christlichen Osten, Abteilung Armenologie;
A-5020 Salzburg, Monchsberg 2a.
Fax: +43/62/842 52 11-143 or
E-mail: [email protected]
For reservation and information on lodging, please contact:
Dr. Agnes Ouzounian
INALCO
2, rue de Lille;
F-75343 Paris Cedex 07
Fax: +33 149 26 42 99, or
E-mail: [email protected]

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian National committee of America – Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 208
Glendale, CA 91206
Tel: 818-500-1918
Fax: 818-246-7353
Email: [email protected]
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Contact: Armen Carapetian
(818) 500-1918
ANCA-WR HONORS 2004 LEO SARKISSIAN AND WESTRN REGION SUMMER INTERNS
Glendale, CA – The Armenian National Committee of America -Western
Region (ANCA-WR) hosted a reception honoring this summer’s ANCA Leo
Sarkissian and ANCA-WR interns from the Western United States at its
offices on August 24, 2004.
The reception provided the outgoing interns an opportunity to reunite
with their friends, share their experiences with their family, and be
recognizedfor their admirable accomplishments by the community. The
event also allowed attending newcomers to learn about the ANCA-WR’s
mission, programs,and achievements. Finally, the occasion gave
representatives of the ANCA-WR a chance to formally thank the interns
for their commitment and proactive involvement in the
Armenian-American community.
`We are a rich organization,’ said Raffi Hamparian, Chairman of the
Board of Directors of the ANCA-WR. `Our wealth is derived from the
highlycapable and active Armenian-American community that has
successfully continued to pass the baton of responsibility from one
generation to the next. Through these internship programs, we pass the
baton to the next generation,’ concluded Hamparian.
Last week marked the end of both the ANCA Leo Sarkissian Internship
Program in Washington, DC and the ANCA-WR’s inaugural summer
internship program for 2004. For over two decades, Armenian-American
youth interested in public policy have participated in the Leo
Sarkissian Internship Program at the ANCA headquarters in Washington,
DC where they not only learn about the American political system but
also receive hands-on experience in advancing issues of concern to
Armenian-Americans within the democratic process. After deliberate
consideration of each applicant’s credentials, this year’s ANCA-WR
internship selection committee accepted Ani Garibyan, Garen
Kirakosian, Seepan Parseghian, and Shant Taslakian to participate in
the two-month internship program in Washington, DC.
Due to the large pool of exceptionally qualified applicants to this
yearâ=80=99s program, the ANCA-WR launched its own summer internship
program modeled after the Leo Sarkissian program at its offices for
the first time. With the dedicated coordination efforts of ANC
activist Argam DerHartunian, ANCA-WRstaff set forth a project-based
internship program and selected five young Armenian-American activists
– Nare Avagyan, Nairi Chopurian, Gennadi Gevorgyan, Elina
Mnatsakanyan, and Lara Talverdian – through a formal application
process with whom they worked side-by-side for a period of six weeks.
`Having been former interns in DC, both Argam and Armen knew how
tocreate the special atmosphere that the ANCA office provides for
interns,’ explained Ardashes Kassakhian, Executive Director of the
ANCA-WR. `It comes from giving each intern real responsibilities and
making sure that their input is recognized. People want their work to
be meaningful and for it to count. Wedo that here regardless of
whether you are a volunteer, intern or paid staff. We just don’t have
any resources to waste,’ stated Kassakhian.
Both in Washington, DC and in Glendale, the interns were each assigned
projects reflecting the current work of each of the offices. In
Washington,DC, interns worked on questionnaires used to gauge
candidates seeking elected office this fall regarding their stance on
issues such as the Armenian Genocide, aid to Armenia, and the status
of Nagorno-Karabagh. In the Western Region offices, Nairi Chopurian
formulated a volunteer team of activists to begin registering
Armenian-American voters in the Los Angeles area while Elina
Mnatsakanyan developed a database of potential grant sources for
special projects. Both Leo Sarkissian and ANCA-WR interns devised
tools and strategies that each office could use to improve
communication with local chapters. On the media outreach end, a number
of significant improvements were made to the ANCA-WR’s media tools,
and the organization witnessed the publication of Seepan Parseghian’ s
letter to the editor of `The Hill,’ one of the most prestigious
journals covering politics in the country.
Parseghian’s letter was in reference to mistakes and omissions he
found in an article regarding the Schiff Amendment in which he wrote
`As a presidential candidate, Bush made a bold promise to accept the
atrocities committed against the Armenians as genocide. However, as
president, Bush had many chances to act upon his promise, yet failed
to do so, breaking his public promise on this human rights issue.’
The Schiff Amendment is a measure restricting Turkey from using US aid
to lobby against recognition of the Armenian Genocide. The amendment
passed the House of Representatives during the internship programs,
which gave the interns a sense of real accomplishment in applying
their learned techniques in communicating with Congressional staff,
community members and the media.
With the conclusion of this year’s internship programs, the graduating
class of interns began preparing to return to their universities with
a renewed sense of purpose. `I loved how this internship gave me the
opportunity to see the inner workings of an organization that has done
and continues doing so much for the Armenian-American community,’
stated Narine Avagyan. â=80=9CI look forward to doing my part in
helping the ANCA advocate for Armenians everywhere.
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is the largest and
most influential Armenian American grassroots political
organization. Working coordination with a network of offices,
chapters, and supporters throughoutthe United States and affiliated
organizations around the world, the ANCA actively advances the
concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of
issues.
Photo Attached: From left to right – Garen Kirakosian, Ani Garibyan,
Seepan Parseghian, Elina Mnatsakanyan, ANCA-WR Executive Director
Ardashes Kassakhian, ANCA-WR Chairman Raffi Hamparian, SHant
Taslakian, Nare Avagyan, Lara Talverdian, ANCA-WR Government Relations
Director Armen Carapetian, and Nairi Chopurian at the ANCA-WR
reception honoring participants in this year’s ANCA Internship
programs.

PRESS RELEASE
Fund for Armenian Relief’s Fellows Alumni Association
9-38 Tumanyan Street,
Yerevan, Armenia
Contact: Gevorg Yaghjyan
Local seminar coordinator
Tel: (3741) 53-58-68
Fax: (3742) 53-48-79
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

SATELLITE SYMPOSIUM
“Bone and Joint / Trauma Surgery”
Yerevan, August 27-29, 2004
FARFAA – Salzburg Medical Seminars Program together with AAF (American
Austrian Foundation) and the National Institute of Trauma organized a
Satellite Symposium on “Bone and Joint/Trauma Surgery”. The symposium
was organized with the general sponsorship of FAR (Fund for Armenian
Relief). It took place on August 27-29, in Yerevan. About 50 bone and
joint/trauma specialists from different hospitals of Armenia
participated in the symposium.
The co-chairmen of the symposium were Professor Vachagan Ayvazyan, the
head of the Union of Traumatologists and Orthopaedic Surgeons of
Armenia, Director of TOBRC, head of the Bone and Joint / Trauma
Surgery Chair at NIH, and Dr. Bostrom, a prominent professor at the
Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, USA. The symposium was also
attended by Dr. Konstantinos N.Malizos, Professor of Orthopaedic
Surgery at the University Hospital of Thessalia in Larissa, Greece.
Some of the lectures during the symposium were “Reconstruction of Long
Bone Defects with Vascularized Fibular Grafts”, “A Comprehensive
Approach to the Osteonecrosis of the Skeleton” (by Dr. K. Malizos), ”
Total Knee Replacement Exposures: Technical Pearls & Pitfalls”,
“Management of Complications in Total Hip Arthroplasy”,
“Osteoarthritis: Treatment Alternatives”, “Orthobiologics and Growth
Factors in Bone Healing” (by Dr. Bostrom). Several case presentations
were demonstrated on “Total Hip Replacement”, “Legs Fracture” (by
TOBRC), “Elbow Joint Repalcement” (by OSC), “Hip Repacement”,
“Electrotrauma Management” (by EMC), “Island Flaps in Limb
Reconstrsuction” (by PRSMSC) and “Foot Reconstruction” (by SNMC).
The goal of the symposium was to present the latest information on the
experience and the knowledge of the international faculty members to
doctors of Armenia. All the participants had the opportunity to fill
in a questionnaire expressing their approach about the organization of
the symposium.
The symposium was positively evaluated by participants and organizing
committee due to the high level of presentations, interesting
discussions and established connections.
On August 27, the guest lecturers paid visits to Yerevan’s hospitals.
The organizers are especially grateful to the FAR for technical
(laptop, projector) and financial assistance and AAF for cooperation.
The organizers would like to thank academician Vilen Hakobyan, the
rector of the Yerevan State Medical University, who provided the YSMU
Conference Hall for the Satellite Symposium.
We hope that this program will find continuation in the future and
will help to enhance the practice of local specialists due to gained
theoretical knowledge and discussions.
—
FARFAA is a non-for-profit non-governmental organization of medical
professionals, aimed at improving the health care system and advancing
the medical sciences in Armenia.

Hripsimeh Janpoladian-Piotrovskaya passed away
88
30.08.04
Aged 87, after a long and severe illness passed away Hripsimeh
Janpoladian-Piotrovskaya – the mother of the academician Mikhail Piotrovski
– the present head of the Hermitage museum and the widow of the academician
Boris Piotrovski who occupied that post for almost thirty years. A graduate
of the Yerevan University turned an outstanding archeologist-orientalist,
Hripsimeh Janpoladian-Piotrovskaya had found her destiny on the excavations
of the famous Karmir-Blur. It was on that expedition, having made way into
the manuals on Ancient history, that she met in 1941 Boris Piotrovski, then
a scientific collaborator of the Hermitage museum. The bronze statuette of
the Urartian war god (a not accidental coincidence with 1941), that
Hripsimeh Mikaelovna had found, introduced them to each other. They married
in 1944 in Yerevan where Piotrovski, dying in the Leningrad blockade from
emaciation, had been evacuated the year before. In Yerevan was born their
firstling – Mikhail. His vocation too became archeology. Still a school
student he was frequenting expeditions, and the first ever expedition salary
Mikhail spent on a small nephrite vase, a mascot-gift for his mother.
For many years, continuing her scientific work at the Archeology Institute
of the USSR Academy of Arts, Hripsimeh Piotrovskaya has been doing, maybe,
her principal life-work: keeping the family hearth warming the Piotrovski
house counter the uneasy soviet and post-soviet social-political winds. She
was also the editor of the works of the academician Boris Piotrovski
published posthumously: among them the encyclopedic `History of the
Hermitage museum,’ the diary `Travel notes’ and biographical notes `Pages
from my life.’ Being the mother of Mikhail Piotrovski and the wife of Boris
Piotrovski is a difficult pride and a joyous responsibility. She carried
them with dignity and tact. It is sorrowful to say about her – she was.

SwissInfo
30 août 2004
Relancer le dialogue avec la Turquie

En janvier dernier, le président suisse, Joseph Deiss, rencontrait le
premier ministre turc, Tayyip Erdogan, lors du Forum économique de
Davos. (Keystone)

Une délégation parlementaire suisse se rend en Turquie pour
réchauffer les relations entre les deux pays après la crise
diplomatique de l’an dernier.

Suite au débat ouvert en Suisse sur le génocide arménien, le
gouvernement turc avait annulé une visite de la ministre suisse des
Affaires étrangères à Ankara.

Un «affront», une «provocation»: c’est ainsi que quelques politiciens
suisses avaient qualifié, il y a un an, la décision des autorités
turques d’annuler la visite à Ankara de Micheline Calmy-Rey.
La ministre suisse des Affaires étrangères (DFAE) – qui aurait voulu
évoquer la question du respect des minorités et des droits de l’homme
au cours de son voyage – s’était quant à elle diplomatiquement
contentée de juger «excessive» la décision de la Turquie.
Une fois encore, c’était la question du génocide des Arméniens qui
avait suscité l’ire du gouvernement turc. Une question «trop» souvent
évoquée ces dernières années en Suisse aux yeux du gouvernement
d’Ankara.
Pour mémoire, 800’000 des 1,8 million d’Arméniens vivant en Turquie
auraient été, selon les recherches historiques, systématiquement
déportés et exterminés par l’Empire ottoman entre 1915 et 1918.

Petite crise diplomatique

Toujours nié par la Turquie, qui affirme que «seulement» 200’000
Arméniens auraient été tués durant les opérations de la Première
Guerre mondiale, ce génocide a été reconnu en 1998 par le parlement
du canton de Genève.
En 2001, la Chambre basse du parlement fédéral avait quant à elle
rejeté un postulat dans ce sens, mais par seulement trois voix
d’écart.
Les choses ont toutefois rebondi l’an dernier. La question arménienne
est revenue sous les feux de l’actualité lorsque, le 23 septembre, le
parlement du canton de Vaud a à son tour reconnu le génocide.
Peu de jours après, le gouvernement turc annonçait sa décision
d’annuler le voyage de Micheline Calmy-Rey, ouvrant ainsi une petite
crise diplomatique qui a refroidi les relations entre les deux pays.
Un refroidissement d’autant plus vif qu’en décembre dernier, la
Chambre basse du parlement fédéral, appelée à se prononcer sur un
nouveau postulat, reconnaissait à son tour le génocide.
Cette décision n’a pas plu aux Turcs. Le nouveau premier ministre
Recep Tayyp Erdogan l’a d’ailleurs regrettée lors d’une rencontre
avec Micheline Calmy-Rey et le président de la Confédération Joseph
Deiss en janvier dernier en marge du Forum économique mondial (WEF)
de Davos.

Nouvelles possibilités de dialogue

Annulée en octobre 2003, la visite en Turquie des membres de la
Commission de politique extérieure (CPE) de la Chambre haute du
parlement suisse peut donc être considérée comme un pas important
vers la relance du dialogue et d’une amélioration des relations entre
les deux pays.
«L’an dernier, nous avions préféré renoncer à notre visite, déclare
le sénateur Peter Briner, président de la commission et chef de la
délégation. Les relations bilatérales était alors marquées par une
certaine irritation et nous n’aurions pas pu trouver d’interlocuteurs
turcs prêts à dialoguer.»
«Le temps a permis de surmonter cette irritation, poursuit-il. Nos
collègues du parlement turc et l’ambassadeur turc à Berne nous ont
assuré que nous serions les bienvenus dans leur pays.»
La visite aura donc lieu du 30 août au 3 septembre. La délégation
suisse sera reçue par des représentants politiques de haut rang du
parlement et du gouvernement turcs, notamment par le ministre des
Affaires étrangères Abdullah Gül.
La coopération économique et technique sera au centre des
discussions. Mais la question du respect des minorités et des droits
de l’homme, aujourd’hui en Turquie, sera également abordée.
«Nous voulons aussi faire le point sur les réformes que la Turquie
entend mettre en `uvre et sur les efforts qu’elle a déjà accomplis
dans le cadre des ses préparatifs pour adhérer à l’Union européenne»,
précise Peter Briner.

Des visions opposées

Selon le président de la Commission de politique extérieure de la
Chambre haute, la délégation suisse ne veut en revanche pas revenir
sur la question du génocide arménien, toujours tabou en Turquie.
«Nous ne voulons pas juger cette terrible période historique avec une
attitude de moralistes, déclare-t-il. Cette tche revient aux
historiens. Chaque pays doit se confronter tout seul à son propre
passé.»
Mais cette position n’est probablement pas partagée par bon nombre de
ses collègues parlementaires. Le débat tenu le 16 décembre dernier à
la Chambre basse sur le génocide arménien avait en effet une nouvelle
fois fait apparaître deux visions opposées de la politique étrangère.
D’un côté, il y a la volonté de privilégier l’implication de la
Confédération en faveur des droits de l’homme et des minorités.
Surtout quelques mois après l’adhésion de la Suisse à une Cour pénale
internationale appelée à juger les cas de génocide.
D’un autre côté, il y a en revanche la volonté de maintenir le
dialogue et de ne pas compromettre les relations avec un partenaire
économique important comme la Turquie.
En 2003, la Suisse occupait en effet le 6e rang des investisseurs
étrangers en Turquie et le 7e rang des pays exportateurs (1,6
milliard de francs d’exportation vers la Turquie en 2003).

Moment particulièrement favorable

Même si elle n’abordera peut-être pas toutes les questions les plus
délicates, la visite de la délégation suisse en Turquie est
accueillie favorablement par les représentants de la communauté
arménienne de Suisse.
«Si elle ne se base pas sur le mensonge, la recherche du dialogue est
fondamentale pour que la Turquie se débarrasse de l’obstructionnisme
qu’elle a toujours pratiqué», estime Sarkis Shahinian, vice-président
de l’association Suisse-Arménie.
Or le moment pour y parvenir semble particulièrement favorable, étant
donné la volonté de la Turquie d’adhérer à l’Union européenne et son
ambition d’assumer un rôle stratégique de pont entre le monde
occidental et le monde islamique.
«C’est le moment pour la Turquie de faire la lumière sur son passé et
de s’adapter enfin aux critères de respect des droits humains
indispensables pour pouvoir adhérer à l’Union européenne», conclut
Sarkis Shahinian.
swissinfo, Armando Mombelli
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

“Aztag” Daily Newspaper
P.O. Box 80860, Bourj Hammoud,
Beirut, Lebanon
Fax: +961 1 258529
Phone: +961 1 260115, +961 1 241274
Email: [email protected]
AZTAG: Interview with Henry Theriault
Interview by Khatchig Mouradian
Professor Henry Theriault received his B.A. from Princeton University and
his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Massachusetts. He serves as
Associate Professor of philosophy and coordinates the Center for the Study
of Human Rights at Worcester State College (Massachusetts, USA). His
research interests include genocide, nationalism, and the philosophy of
history.
Henry Theriault visited Beirut in April. His visit was initiated by the
Lebanese-Armenian Heritage Club of the American University of Beirut. He
gave public lectures at the American University of Beirut, Haigazian
University, the Hagop Der Melkonian hall, and the Armenian Catholicosate of
Cilicia. Despite his tight schedule, he managed to spare some time for an
interview, which ended up being more of a lively discussion. Excerpts:
Aztag- Having specialized in philosophy, you bring a fresh perspective to
the study of the Armenian Genocide. This is evident from the few papers you
have so far published as well as from your lectures. In what way can
philosophy be helpful in the study of genocide and mass murder?
Henry Theriault- One issue where such an approach is necessary is that of
denial. People often respond to denial on the level of presenting the facts.
However, denials are really never about the facts, they are about trying to
manipulate a target audience and make them see the realities of the world in
a way that’s not accurate. To achieve this end, there are a number of
techniques that deniers use. For example, they introduce ideas that every
perspective on a historical event is equally valid. And if you approach the
deniers from a historical perspective, you state the facts and you end up
getting into a debate about which facts count and which ones don’t. In my
opinion, you can almost never win that debate. A denier can always reject
whatever fact you have, any document you produce, no matter how good the
evidence. A denier can always bounce back and you get in an ongoing battle
over the facts; a battle that doesn’t end, and the ultimate result is a kind
of stalemate where whatever historical facts you are trying to prove is
never really proven. In case of the Armenian genocide, for instance, the
Turkish deniers sometimes just make the same arguments over and over again
to new audiences. The arguments can be discredited, they can be completely
fallacious and yet, every time they make them, they get taken seriously
again and again, and you have to fight that battle forever.
Aztag- You put this very bluntly when you said in one of your lectures in
Beirut that it is not important for the deniers to make people believe in
what they say, the important thing for them is that what the Armenians say
is not believed.
Henry Theriault- Exactly! They create a situation where there’s no clear
truth; for a denier, that’s victory! The audience doesn’t have to believe
any version. I find the claim put forth by some extreme deniers that the
Armenians committed genocide by killing Turks and other Muslims very
striking. If anyone with a basic understanding of history just looks at the
number of Armenians who were in the Ottoman Empire and what possible access
of arms they had, the notion that Armenians committed genocide becomes so
absurd. But when deniers make that claim, people end up balancing:
`Armenians say Turks committed genocide against them; Turks say the
Armenians committed genocide against them. These two groups hate each other,
and who knows what is the truth is and what’s not, we can’t commit to either
side.”
As I said, there are also things like the appeal to free speech. Deniers
insist that that every opinion should be heard and taken seriously no matter
what it is. One of the problems in the US is that people are very simplistic
about free speech. Every opinion should be heard doesn’t mean every opinion
should be taken equally seriously, and what happens is that people make that
mistake; they think “oh, this is an opinion, that’s an opinion too. I’ll be
open minded and take them BOTH seriously”. That’s great if you’re talking
about complicated political issues where you’re really trying to reach an
understanding of different positions. But when we’re talking about a basic
historical fact, then you want to make sure you get the evidence, the
available information, and then you take it and you try to make some sense
out of it.
>From a philosophical standpoint, there are other problems as well. There is
this idea of absolute positivism where no historical fact is ever proven
unless somehow there’s absolute evidence on it. But the problem is the
evidence standards that a lot of deniers try to get people to commit to are
so extreme that no person really thinking rationally would accept them. The
deniers say, for instance, that to prove that Armenian genocide happened,
you have to have absolute data, a huge number of valid data that support
every particular point you’re making and there should be no ambiguous data
and so forth. But sometimes even in the hard sciences, absolute data is not
available. People ought to be very careful when they claim that evidence of
the genocide isn’t sufficient because it really accepts the deniers’ view
that whatever evidence you give, the bar goes up a little bit higher to the
point that it becomes irrational.
People have a lot of very simplistic ideas about critical thinking. For
instance, they think one should listen to the both sides of the story and
you never judge, or the proper way that objectivity is the same as
neutrality, which is completely false. I think anyone claiming that he knows
anything about history should be willing to accept that some basic facts are
beyond doubt. One may disagree on the number of Armenians killed in the
Armenian genocide, but the fact that a large number of Armenians were killed
because of a systematic state policy is something that’s either a fact or it
isn’t.
In a murder case, it’s very rare to have direct and conclusive evidence of a
crime. You trust this witness, you trust that witness. Somebody was supposed
to be somewhere at 10 o’clock at night, and somebody says he saw a car like
the one that person drives on the street, miles away…you put the evidence
together and the bottom line is that you eventually have to come to a
conclusion. Deniers would like to keep the question open forever. So by
saying that there’s not enough evidence of genocide you’re essentially
giving a victory to denial, because you’re not settling the question. As
soon as you say you need more evidence then it’s your job to make sure you
get it. I’m an academic and I certainly have this `disease’ as well. We tend
to think in terms of decades of thinking and research and so forth, but when
you’re dealing with Human Rights issues, like the Armenian genocide, lives
can be on the line and future human rights issues could be at stake. So I
think we have to hurry ourselves up occasionally and make some tough
decisions.
Aztag- And, of course, that doesn’t mean that the research should stop.
Henry Theriault- No it doesn’t. The way you test whether someone is being
reasonable in their opinions, you ask him `what kind of evidence you would
it take to make you change your position?’ and if the person says there is
no evidence that could possibly make him change his mind, then you know that
the person is committed to the idea without really weighing it through the
process of evaluation. If someone asks what it would take to make me change
my mind about, say, the Armenian genocide or the Rwandan genocide, I would
answer that if I suddenly found out I’ve been brainwashed or something, then
I would have to accept the argument that these genocides didn’t occur.
However, the evidence is so overwhelming that it will be entirely irrational
and unreasonable for me not to take it seriously. Anyone who studies the
events in the Ottoman Empire during that period of time would conclude that
what took place was genocide.
Aztag- But we have to be realistic. People cannot research every single
issue to form an opinion about it. At some point, they have to accept the
views of professionals specialized in that field. You are saying that anyone
who researches these events will conclude that what took place was genocide.
The deniers can, in turn, say that anyone who does some research will find
out that what took place wasn’t genocide. No wonder some people are confused
and approach the issue with `open-mindedness’.
Henry Theriault- I would like to say two things about this. First, in the
field of philosophy there’s a debate about whether you can have something
called theory neutral data. If you just collect the data, will it point to
some theory or is it always necessary to have some kind of framework? The
use of a bad relativist framework convinces people that this is a good way
to look at the world, and then when they’re confronted with data of the
Armenian genocide or any other human rights violation they see it within a
framework where it doesn’t look like genocide, it doesn’t look like a one
sided violence.
Second, I’d like to say that in life there is no absolute certainty. People
300 years ago thought that Newton’s equations of motion were the absolute
last word in physics. I’m not an expert on this, but the universe doesn’t
fit together in quite the neat way. And human reality is so much more
complicated than the hard sciences. And of course, nothing fits together in
a nice neat package. If the deniers apply their evidence standards on the
Holocaust, and even on issues of hard sciences, they would sound equally
convincing.
Aztag- This atmosphere that denial creates is intolerable for the ever
decreasing number of Armenians who faced these atrocities as well as for us,
their descendents. However, the Turks who are not aware of the facts, and
who are brought up in schools where the denialist or, at best, the
relativist approaches are being taught, would feel great frustration as well
when they face the `Armenian claims’. Denial’s detrimental effects are felt
on both sides and on many levels, aren’t they?
Henry Theriault- If I were a Turk today, I would be reaching back to the
Ottoman Empire to think of something good about my country. Today, Turkey is
in a very weak position, it looks very strong but Turkey is effectively a
state of the United States; the US government more or less tells turkey what
it wants and Turkey has to do it. Of course, if you look back to the days of
the Ottoman Empire, the contrast is striking. Nowadays, Turkey is not only
very dependent on the USA, but also it’s not much liked in the region by
most governments. It also has internal problems (Islamism, democracy
standards, Kurds). And you can understand, maybe on a human level that Turks
would want to identify with the good things in their history. The problem is
when they takes that to the level of “I desperately need to have a proud
identity and anybody that says anything negative at all about Turkey as my
enemy and it’s got to be wrong”. But the anger that an Armenian feels at
denial and the anger that a Turkish person might feel at having to confront
the fact of the genocide are not the same angers, they’re not coming from
the same source and they shouldn’t be evaluated in the same way.
Aztag- You are working on a paper where a new approach to the interpretation
of the motives that led to the Armenian genocide will be presented. What was
your `problem’ with the previous theories?
Henry Theriault- A lot of important and invaluable research has been done on
the Armenian genocide. But there are two issues that I often think about.
One is that people tend to look for one mechanism that accounts for the
genocide. The way I understand genocide is in terms of the particular
perpetrators who participate at the high levels, at the ground level and in
between. There are different kinds of perpetrators, there are different
kinds of motives: some perpetrators have overlapping multiple motives;
economic, ideological, psychological etc.
Some theories of Holocaust would reduce it down to “Hitler was insane, and
hated his grandmother who was a Jew” or something like that; that’s just
ridiculous because that may be a piece of the bigger puzzle and it might
very important to include it, but when people take one piece and present it
as the whole truth, that’s too much. One should know what the historical
facts are, and then try to understand why they are as they are.
One needs to look at economic issues, clerical issues, prejudice on the
ground, racism, if there were religious issues, historical trends and
shifts, demographics, migration patterns, one needs to look at a whole range
of issues to understand genocide. In this respect, there are some missing
pieces in the Armenian genocide historiography because a lot of the scholars
try to reduce it down to one or two mechanisms.
This is somehow related to Nietzsche’s Perspectivism. One of the things
Nietzsche does in his writings is work through different perspectives and
different ideas; people think he’s contradicting himself, but what he’s
actually doing is bringing different things into perspective, and going
through that takes a fairly sophisticated intellectual sense of what’s going
on.
What I’m saying is that if one is going to explain a complicated historical
event that involves millions of people, one has got to recognize that your
understanding of that event is going to be very complicated. It doesn’t mean
that you can’t focus in on certain clear pieces that help to reduce it down
for easy kind of understanding, and it doesn’t mean you can’t say that the
Turkish government committed genocide of Armenians; of course they did, but
that genocide was complicated, the way it works. In my paper, a draft of
which you saw, I’m not giving a comprehensive view of the genocide, but I’m
trying to pay attention to some things that have not been paid attention to,
such as the interior issues among the Turks and within the Armenian
community.
Aztag- In an interview conducted in January, I asked Professor Rudolph
Rummel about the issues of recognition and reparation. He said, `No
reparations. Too much time has passed, virtually no one in authority during
this period is alive, and Armenians loses in property and income are too
diffuse to determine now anyway. Theother side of this in the injustice that
would be committed against Turks that had no role in the genocide and may
have opposed it, and whose even may have fought against it (many Turks did
try to help the Armenians)’.
What do you think about his comment?
Henry Theriault- The amount of time that passed doesn’t matter; it’s whether
the repercussions of the genocide and the loss of land still have an impact.
For example, I fully support the case of land claims of native Americans,
and part of the reason why I do that is the impact of the loss of lands.
Native Americans today are facing great difficulty because of the legacy of
the genocide; I don’t care if a thousand years go by. The case of Armenians
is similar. If you just look at the delicate political situation of Armenia,
its vulnerability to Turkey, the dependence on Russia and the US and others
for basic survival, what I mean becomes clear. So I think that part of the
reparations is to help rebuild the victim community in a way that makes it
secure and viable.

Newsweek, NY
Aug 29 2004
An Empire Of Stories
Turkey’s tortured history inspires two fine novels
By Malcolm Jones
Newsweek Sept. 6 issue – Turkey is a novelist’s dream, or perhaps a
land dreamed by a novelist. A border country between Europe and the
Middle East, it has for centuries been so many things to so many
people – Christians, Muslims, Armenians, Greeks, Kurds and, of course,
Turks – that it has become a place where fantasies and realities
collide like tectonic plates. Everybody has a story, and, as two new
novels set in Turkey demonstrate in their radically varying tales,
every story is startlingly unique.
In “Birds Without Wings,” Louis de Bernieres tackles a piece of
Turkish history with the same vigor that he used to sketch World War
II Greece in “Corelli’s Mandolin.” But this is a darker book, with
nothing like its predecessor’s central love affair to soften its
tragedy. Near the novel’s beginning, de Bernieres introduces
Philothei, his fictional village’s most beautiful woman, about whom
one character says she “reminded you of death,” because to look upon
her was to know that “everything decays away and is lost.” Like
Eskibahce, the village she inhabits, Philothei is notable for nothing
but her beauty; both are doomed. By the end of “Birds Without Wings,”
Eskibahce has been decimated by World War I and its aftermath. What
had been a patchwork paradise of ethnicities – Greeks, Turks and
Armenians – is gone, sacrificed for modern Turkey, forged by the
ruthless, charismatic Kemal Ataturk out of the ashes of the Ottoman
Empire. The Greeks have been exiled, the Armenians slaughtered. Those
who remain are too impoverished and war-weary to know what hit them.
De Bernieres takes his cues from Tolstoy – his characters’ stories are
always played out against the scrim of history. The Turkish novelist
Orhan Pamuk is more a Kafka man. “Snow” takes place in the 1990s in
the far-eastern Turkish village of Kars. And while the story, packed
with nationalists, socialists and militant Islamists, has a
superficial currency, its reality is dreamlike. Snow falls for most
of the novel, isolating the town, where a poet, called Ka, has come
to investigate a series of suicides by teenage Muslim girls who
refuse the secular government’s order to remove their headscarves.
Artistically blocked for years, Ka, a Westernized sophisticate,
suddenly begins to write poetry again. He falls in love so deeply
that he begins to betray everything – even his own scruples – to preserve
his happiness. Because he believes in nothing beyond his own desire,
he is marked for tragedy.
De Bernieres is so inventive – celebratory but never sentimental – that
he is the more beguiling of the two novelists. But Pamuk is the more
profound. At the end of “Snow,” a young man says to the narrator,
“I’d like to tell your readers not to believe anything you say about
me, anything you say about any of us. No one could understand us from
so far away.” By refusing to condescend to his characters – by just
showing them, not explaining them – Pamuk endows even the most
reprehensible figures with dignity. Like de Bernieres, Pamuk never
generalizes. In their indelible novels, every tragedy wears a
different face.

Milford Daily News, MA
Aug 29 2004
Capturing resiliency and hope: Two photo exhibits reveal the power of
coping amid war, disease
By Chris Bergeron / News Staff Writer
WINCHESTER — Peering through their lens, two very different
photographers, Paul Mellor and Sebastiao Salgado, capture hope and
humanity in distant impoverished lands.

As photojournalists, they have little in common except a shared
artistry that transforms the grinding misery of disease and war into
striking images of endurance.

Together, Mellor and Salgado reveal photojournalism’s power to
inform and inspire in two complimentary exhibits at the Griffin
Museum of Photography in Winchester.

Mellor, a 54-year-old Englishman, journeyed to Nagorno-Karabagh,
a Christian enclave in the Caucasus Mountains which broke away from
Azerbaijan in the 1990s.

Salgado, a Brazilian with an international reputation,
documented efforts to eradicate polio in five struggling nations in
Africa and the Indian subcontinent. Now living in Paris, his works
can be seen in “The End of Polio” through Oct. 31.

Museum Director Blake Fitch said both photographers have
succeeded in bringing important stories to the world.

“Both Mellor and Salgado see the sadness people have to live
with. But they both show a glimmer of hope,” she said.

Mellor is exhibiting 20 memorable color photographs that record
the daily struggle for survival in a former Soviet republic where
health care services barely exist. Shown for the first time in the
United States, the exhibit, “Armenia & Karabagh: The Aftermath,” runs
in the museum’s Emerging Artist Gallery through Nov. 5.

By some alchemy of composition and compassion, Mellor’s work
puts a recognizable face on people caught in a conflict consigned to
the margins of public awareness. His photographs range from 20-by-14
inches to 40-by-32 inches.

A father tends his hospitalized young son with hawk-eyed
vigilance. A midwife with raw-knuckled hands waits for her next birth
in a drab delivery room. A family of six makes a home of a metal
container. A woman sits in a street corner market trying to sell a
bundle of sticks.

Mellor takes photographs that present artful vignettes of people
coping with dire circumstances. Shooting from an neutral middle
distance, he never condescends to their poverty or reduces them to
stereotypes.

“After surviving war and earthquakes, these people are doing the
best they can. They need help,” he said. “But, they have few
resources and there’s very little foreign investment. It’s a story
the world hasn’t heard about.”

Armenia took control of the largely Christian area of 200,000
people in 1994 after a four-year war.

Mellor has put a recognizable face on people struggling for
normalcy after a conflict that severely damaged the region’s roads,
hospitals and economy.

The exhibit’s most evocative image is Mellor’s large format
photograph of a rosy-cheeked child in a dingy room, looking with
bright eyes toward a sunlit window.

Mellor has spent nearly 35 years as a professional photographer
focusing on news, sports and commercial projects. His current show
grew out of a weeklong visit to war-torn Nagorno-Karabagh in January
2001.

Initially, he traveled with his wife, Kathy Mellor, a neo-natal
nurse, to take pictures of a hospital construction program for the
relief organization, Family Care.

Over the course of several more trips during the next three
years, Mellor found himself drawn into the lives of people coping
with poverty and neglect.

Rather than shoot digitally, he prefers the “greater latitude”
of a 35 mm Canon camera that takes sharp detailed prints. “Film
photography does certain things to the imagination that digital
images can’t do,” he said.

Mellor never resorts to “artsy” angles or distorted
perspectives, preferring to compose subtle visual narratives of
people coping with their circumstances. Mellor often frames his
images around a single person or small group in a room or street
scene “to give viewers a strong point for the eye to go to.” He
mostly uses natural light to convey his subjects’ “depth of feeling.”

Like an photographic image emerging from a mixture of chemicals,
revealing details coalesce about the central subject, helping viewers
appreciate the complexities of life in a conflict-ridden region.

In one photo, a hospital anesthesiologist waits for her next
patient in a dingy room with outdated equipment. A sad-eyed young boy
surrounds his bed with a barricade of overturned wooden stools. Four
children sit on the floor of an empty room in a swath of sunlight.

Who are these people? Will their poverty crush them? Do they
somehow deserve their fates?

By observing his subjects with a respectful eye, Mellor invites
viewers to share their plights and, by extension, their humanity.

“When photographing these people I tried to record the sense of
dignity that had not only held the families together but was indeed
the basic ingredient for their bleak future,” Mellor wrote in a
statement accompanying the exhibit. “…The pictures are meant to
convey their hope as well as their acceptance of all that life throws
at them.”

He hopes his photos raise awareness and support for relief
efforts to help the people of Nagorno-Karabagh. He and his wife are
planning to return this October. They now work with BirthLink, a
charity based in England that provides medical training and equipment
to the region.

“This is an ongoing story. It doesn’t stop with this exhibit,”
Mellor said. “We will continue. We’re passionate we can make a
difference.”

Salgado has achieved legendary status by creating powerful
black-and-white photographs that are startling in their polemical
power and beauty.

Initially trained as an economist, the 60-year-old global
traveler has spent three decades documenting the lives of
dispossessed people around the world.

In this exhibit, he documents the suffering and hopes of humans
ravaged by polio with an unforgiving realism.

Salgado has documented anti-polio campaigns in India, Pakistan,
Sudan, Somalia and the Congo in images that sear the soul.

An 11-year-old polio-stricken child, wearing sandals on his
knees for protection, crawls into a soccer game in Somalia. A father
pours a vial of vaccine into his son’s mouth in a railroad car in
India where they’ve been confined to prevent the disease’s spread. An
emaciated Sudanese child screams as an aide worker in a ragged shirt
with a Disney logo provides medicine.

In several memorable shots, Salgado photographs his subjects in
extreme close-ups with an immediacy that is, at once, harsh and
humanizing.

Fitch said Salgado’s photos “go far beyond promoting public
awareness of a cause.”

“They grab you and force you to face the pain of others with the
hope that you will be motivated to fight for change. (Salgado’s)
beautiful pictures of people in harsh circumstances are designed to
encourage us to engage in what (he) calls ‘essential behavior,’ —
doing the right thing.”

In these two impressive exhibits, Mellor and Salgado employ
their considerable artistry to show how conscience and decency can
overcome enormous obstacles.

THE ESSENTIALS:

The Griffin Museum of Photography was founded in 1992 by the
late Arthur Griffin to provide a forum for the exhibit of historic
and contemporary photography.

Mellor will give a lecture about the exhibit Wednesday, Sept. 8,
at 7 p.m. Tickets are $7 for museum members and $10 for non-members.

The museum is located at 67 Shore Road, Winchester. The museum
is open Tuesday through Sunday noon to 4 p.m.

Admission is $5 for adults, $2 for seniors and free for members.
Children under 12 are admitted free. Admission is free on Thursday.

Santa Fe New Mexican.com, new mexico
Aug 29 2004
Pawn in their game

BARBARA FERRY | The New Mexican
August 29, 2004
A queen ate Doritos. A bishop poked a rook with an umbrella. A pawn
sat down and declared, “I’m going to die.” It was, all in all, an
unusual game of chess, Saturday afternoon, when New Mexico state
champion and International master Jesse Kraii took on grand master
Varu Akobian using real, live, squirmy but patient children as chess
pieces on a giant board set up on the street in front of the Hotel
St. Francis.
The game was part of the first Santa Fe Chess Open, an event that
organizers hope will become an annual event. The two-day series of
tournaments, including 10-minute blitz chess, continues today. It is
sponsored by businesses along Don Gaspar Avenue.
On Saturday, star power was provided by 20 year-old Akobian, who was
born in Armenia, lived in Moscow and now resides in Los Angeles.
Akobian is ranked 16th by the United States Chess Federation.
Akobian’s heritage also provided the Russian Summer connection
organizers were seeking. Akobian has played in chess tournaments
around the world. “But I have never participated in anything like
this before,” he said.
Jeff Burch, president of the New Mexico Chess Organization, said
Akobian, a rising star in the chess world, was a big draw for local
players. “Anytime you can get a grand master, it’s great, but a young
grand master is even better,” Burch said.
The local hero was Kraii, who started playing chess while attending
Capshaw Middle School. Kraii teaches local kids to play chess and is
ranked 67th in the country. He is working on beating enough
top-seeded players to gain the coveted grand-master title.
Kraii, who led the white army, strolled around the board consulting
with his pieces, who carried white umbrellas topped with balloons.
“Are you ready to checkmate?” he asked them, getting a cheer out of
his team.
Akobian, commanding the black side of the board, dressed in black
from his shoes to his sunglasses, hung back, visualizing the board in
his head. Chess aficionados crowded around a board set up on an easel
that kept track of the game. “Black is burnt toast,” one observer
mumbled at one point, claiming that Akobian, unclear about the
position of his king, had made a blunder.
Each player had an hour to complete his or her plays, an eternity for
the uninitiated, and possibly for some of the pieces on the board.
Dave Thompson, whose children Emma, 6, and Samuel, 9, were pieces on
the white team, said the pace is one of the things he likes about
chess. “Kids today often don’t have patience. Chess slows them down.
It makes them think.”
In the end, Akobian, facing a checkmate, resigned with about nine
seconds on the clock.
“Chess is cool,” declared Taylor Vigil, 9, who plays for the Kearney
Elementary School team.
John Coventry, one of the event’s organizers, said the idea was to
“build Santa Fe’s scholastic-chess movement.” Another idea was to
raise money to restore Fountainhead Park, a narrow strip of stone
benches and tables on Don Gaspar Avenue that includes a chess table.
The event won’t make any money this year, though organizers were
pleased to see the city turned on the fountain on the corner of Don
Gaspar Avenue and Water Street for the first time in several years.
At noon today, Akobian will take on all comers. Anyone wanting the
privilege of being beaten (probably) by a grand master, can show up
with a board and $20 registration fee.
Akobian will play up to 50 people simultaneously, said Burch.
Tournament organizers have purchased prizes, such as biographies of
Russian chess masters, to give to players who beat Akobian. But Burch
said he doesn’t expect to be giving away many prizes.