San Gabriel Valley Tribune (San Gabriel Valley, CA)
April 12, 2005 Tuesday

Strides toward forgiveness

Shirley Hsu, Staff Writer

Garbis Der Yeghian speaks candidly about the horrors of the past
without bitterness in his voice.

Ninety years ago, 40 of his ancestors were among those killed by
Ottoman Turkish troops in a massacre the Turkish government refuses
to call a genocide, Der Yeghian said.

His great-grandfather, a Christian priest, was maimed and left to
drown.

Two soldiers chopped off both his arms and tossed him alive into the
Euphrates River, Der Yeghian said.

“It’s not humanly possible to forget this,’ said Yeghian. “But it is
humanly possible to forgive.’

Der Yeghian, 53, is trying to honor his great-grandfather by
resolving the bitterness between Turks and Armenians and by promoting
peace in the young states of the Southern Caucasus region.

The La Verne resident recently co-chaired a Rotary International
peace conference in Ankara, Turkey, inviting officials and Rotarians
from Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

It was the first time officials from those countries had come
together to discuss peace, Der Yeghian said.

“It was a historic moment when we got together under the same roof,’
he said. “We were very concerned that there would be obstacles’ [to
keep representatives from attending], he said.

“But they all attended,’ he said, recalling that some Armenians
traveled for three days to bypass closed borders between Turkey and
Armenia.

On April 24, millions of Armenians will mark the 90th anniversary of
the beginning of the Armenian massacres that took place during and
after World War I. Armenians say 1.5 million of their people were
slaughtered by Ottoman Turks in a state-sponsored genocide between
1915 and 1923. The Turkish government maintains that a much lower
number of Armenians died, mostly of famine and disease during forced
deportations for aiding Russian invaders.

The United States does not officially recognize the event as a
“genocide,’ although France does.

The conference called for Rotarians to form a multinational committee
to organize cooperation between Rotary clubs in the region, and to
make the peace conference an annual tradition.

Born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon, Der Yeghian began teaching
elementary school and high school mathematics at 18. By the age of
22, he was the principal of a Lebanese high school.

After moving to the United States, he earned a Ph.D. in International
Relations from Northwestern University, and a second doctorate in
educational management from the University of La Verne.

He joined the Rotary Club of La Verne about 24 years ago. In 1999, he
became the first Armenian American in Rotarian history to serve as a
district governor. He is now president of Mashdots College in
Glendale.

It was on a recent trip that he was inspired to hold a peace
conference.

On his way to visit the Genocide Museum in Yerevan, Armenia, to pay
respects to his great-grandfather, he was approached by a gentleman
who exclaimed, “I know you!’ and pointed to the Rotary pin on his
lapel, Der Yeghian recalled.

The stranger was Erhan Ciftcioglu, a fellow Rotarian and governor of
a district in Turkey. He had concealed his identity, afraid it
wouldn’t look right for a prominent Turkish community member to visit
the museum.

“He hugged me, and we were like brothers,’ he said.

The two men visited the monument and paid their respects to the
victims.

“That’s when we decided to hold a peace conference,’ Der Yeghian
recalled.

In 1990, the La Verne Rotary Club established the first Rotary Club
in the former Soviet Union, in Yerevan. Since then, about 60 clubs
have been established in the countries of the former Soviet Union.

“Rotarians can succeed where governments cannot,’ he said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Modesto Bee, CA
April 11, 2005, Monday, ALL EDITION

WALK OF REMEMBRANCE

A group of young people carrying “March for Humanity” banners made
their way through Modesto on Sunday as part of a 19-day march meant
to draw attention to the 90th anniversary of the Armenian genocide.
About 14 young people, ages 17 to 24, began their walk in Fresno on
April 2 and expect to reach Sacramento by April 21. They were joined
by other supporters en route and began Sunday’s walk at the Modesto
airport. By late afternoon, the group, above, was heading north on
McHenry Avenue toward Escalon. “Our goal is to raise awareness about
the Armenian genocide, to have it properly commemorated,” said Serouj
Aprahamian, 23, of Los Angeles. California and 36 other states
recognize the genocide, but the federal government does not. About
1.5 million Armenians were killed between 1915 and 1923, when the
Ottoman Empire ruled Turkey.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Sacramento Bee
April 11, 2005, Monday METRO FINAL EDITION

Actors plumb emotions in plays about genocide

by Marcus Crowder Bee Theater Critic

The Armenian genocide of 1915 has left lasting scars affecting
generations of people, much like slavery in here in America, the
Jewish Holocaust in Europe, mass killings in Cambodia and the
inter-tribal massacres in Rwanda. Physical brutality and atrocities
eventually yield to sustained emotional trauma for survivors and
descendents of survivors.

Writer and director Aram Kouyoumdjian has created two short and
affecting one-person plays dealing with the Armenian genocide by the
Turkish government, and they opened Friday at California Stage.

The curtain-raiser, “Protest,” performed by J.D. Rudometkin, tells of
a young protester’s hallucinatory out-of-body experience while being
jailed for blocking the entrance to the Turkish Embassy in Los
Angeles. The second, longer piece, “The Delicate Lines,” performed by
Jan Ahders, is a dour memoir of a childhood lost and adulthood
shadowed by the genocide.

Rudometkin is a quiet, often muted actor who gives one of his more
expansive and satisfying performances in “Protest,” which the author
originally performed himself three years ago. Kouyoumdjian moves
Rudometkin around the intimate California Stage space, producing an
accessible energy that activates the play’s symbolic dreamscape.

As Rudometkin’s character is hauled away from a nonviolent protest of
Turkish denials of the genocide, he envisions himself in the Syrian
desert. The Armenians were marched into that desert when driven out
of Turkey, and it’s the place where so many died. Kouyoumdjian gets
an effective poetic irony in the situation and a convincing
performance from Rudometkin.

In “The Delicate Lines,” Jan Ahders relates an epic that follows her
character over 35 years from Armenia to France and the United States
in recounting the effects of the genocide.

The woman, Isabel, is taken as a child to a French orphanage, and her
brother Vahe and their best friend, Garo, are sent to another one
nearby. Though they escape Turkey with their lives, the emotional
devastation leaves them broken and unable to really connect with one
another.

Ahders is a remarkable, nearly hypnotic performer at times, and she
carries her character’s burden gracefully here. The dialogue is often
arch, formal and weighted, but Ahders gives an emotional authenticity
to a story that feels somewhat removed.

The Delicate Lines and protest

* * * 1/2

WHEN: Continues at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday (last
show)

WHERE: California Stage, 1723 25th St.

TIME: 65 minutes with no intermission

Fresno Bee (California)
April 8, 2005, Friday SOUTH VALLEY EDITION

Ladies Society celebrates 90 years of helping church St. Mary
Armenian service praises group’s dedication to community.

Peyton Ellas Special to The Bee

A special service at St. Mary Armenian Church of Yettem last weekend
celebrated 90 years of service by the Ladies Society, a group of
women dedicated to caring for the Armenian church and community.

“It started way back 90 years ago with a handful of ladies,” said
Lucinne Bennett, a Ladies Society member since 1982. From 15 members
in 1918, the society has grown to about 100 members, she said.

>From the group’s inception, its goal has been to support the church,
study the holy Scriptures and keep the ladies of the Armenian church
together, according to an anniversary book written by Ladies Society
members in 1986.

“They do just about everything,” said the Rev. Father Vartan A.K.
Kasparian, St. Mary’s parish priest. “They are the obvious choice
whenever there’s a need, whether it’s keeping up the altar robes or
helping out financially. They are the largest group in the parish.”

The April 3 service was presided over by Archbishop Hovnan Derderian,
primate of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church, and included
an encyclical, or “letter of blessing” from the diocese to Miritz
Barsamian for her service as a Ladies Society member since 1947.

Also included was a service for deceased members of the Ladies
Society and the consecration of two khachkars, or cross stones, to
commemorate the 90th anniversary of the society. The stones are set
at the church’s monument for the victims of the 1915 genocide, which
is remembered April 24.

The first mid-Lent luncheon was held in 1933, the first Mother’s Day
luncheon in 1937, and the first annual bazaar in 1918; all of these
events are still held by the Ladies Society.

“We have memorial dinners, we have Lent dinners, Armenian Christmas
dinners, Ladies Society Spirit Day dinners, martyrs’ dinners, the
Mother’s Day luncheon, Grandfather’s Day and the holiday bazaar,”
Bennett said.

The group also hosts the Armenian Food Festival, held May 19 this
year. “Anyone who has an Armenian name is involved in that,” Bennett
said, laughing.

In addition to serving the St. Mary Armenian Church and community,
the society has often supported charitable and patriotic endeavors
around the world. In 1920, the Ladies Aid Society, as it was then
called, contributed $1,000 toward support of Armenian orphans in
Europe and the Middle East.

During World War II, the group bought war bonds and sent Bibles to
servicemen. In 1952, funds were used to buy bedspreads for the
California Armenian Home for the Aged in Fresno, and funds were also
sent to assist victims of the 1988 earthquake in Armenia.

The church serves about 300 families, Kasparian said.

“Our church is a small church. It’s an old church,” Bennett said.
“When it’s time for work to be done, people really come forth. There
is a faithful following.”

When St. Mary Armenian Church was established in 1911, an active
Armenian community was present in the Valley, according to church
history posted on the Western Diocese’s Web site.

Armenian Apostolic Church services were started in 1895 in Fresno,
and Holy Trinity Church was established there in 1900, a few years
before an Armenian settlement was formed near Yettem, Kasparian said.

Throughout the history of the society, changes have been made to
accommodate modern churchgoers, although many of the old traditions
have been retained. Bennett, a Visalia native, recalled how, when she
was a child, the services were conducted entirely in Armenian.

“Our services are modified now. Some of it is in English, but the old
traditional services, like the constant prayers, are still in
Armenian,” she said. Bennett also recalled changes in attitudes
toward the small Armenian community. “I remember going to school in
Yettem, and we had fights and there was prejudice then.”

Bennett also pointed with pride to the society’s role in helping
preserve Armenian culture.

“The Armenian faith is continuing,” Bennett said. “This little
country [Armenia] has been kicked around quite a bit. But it’s still
able to be together.”

GRAPHIC: PHOTOS BY CRAIG KOHLRUSS/FRESNO BEE Above: The Rev. Father
Vartan A.K. Kasparian of St. Mary Armenian Church of Yettem reads a
dedication Sunday to mark 90 years of the church’s Ladies Society.
Below: Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, primate of the Western Diocese of
the Armenian Church, leads services at St. Mary’s on Sunday.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Sacramento Bee
April 8, 2005, Friday METRO FINAL EDITION

Plays recall Armenian genocide

by Marcus Crowder Bee Theater Critic

Playwright and director Aram Kouyoumdjian returns to his roots, so to
speak, in two ways tonight. Two one-act plays by Kouyoumdjian, “The
Delicate Lines” and “Protest,” dramas inspired by the Armenian
genocide, are opening at California Stage for a short run.

“The plays are being presented this month because April marks the
90th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. I wanted to write a
commemoration piece,” Kouyoumdjian said from Los Angeles, where he
now lives.

Kouyoumdjian is an Elly award-winning writer (best original script
for “The Farewells” last year) and director (“Three Hotels”) who
produced theater here with his acclaimed Vista Players ensemble. He
left Sacramento last year to return to Los Angeles, where much of his
family lives.

His relatives are survivors of the 1915 genocide in which the Turkish
army forcibly removed the Armenian populace from Armenia and
Anatolia, then marched them to Syria. An estimated 1.5 million
Armenians died.

“Many Armenian families whose ancestors survived the death march
ended up in those countries of the Middle East,” Kouyoumdjian said.
“They were mostly sent on these death marches along the desert, which
reached into Syria. The men were killed, and others simply died of
exhaustion and starvation from the conditions. Countries like Syria
and Lebanon took in the survivors.”

Kouyoumdjian’s relatives settled in Lebanon, where he was born and
lived for 10 years before the family immigrated to Los Angeles.

“It’s a major issue in the Armenian community,” Kouyoumdjian said of
the events, “a historical and psychological issue that people of
later generations have had to deal with. This piece is simply an
artistic response to it.”

Kouyoumdjian came to Sacramento to attend law school and then stayed
here and practiced law with the firm of Poswall, White and Cutler.

“The Delicate Lines,” which will receives its world premiere tonight,
will be performed by Kouyoumdjian’s longtime associate, Jan Ahders,
who worked with the Vista Players from their inception.

“The piece for Jan is historical, with the speaker speaking in 1950,
tracing her life story as a survivor of the genocide, along with her
brother and his best friend,” Kouyoumdjian said.

“I wanted to tell the story of three people through the perspective
of one person. It’s a story of how these people affected and changed
her life, her opinions and reactions to historical events.”

Kouyoumdjian wrote the piece with Ahders in mind, and he’s been
flying up from Los Angeles to work on it with her at her Carmichael
home.

“It’s an honor when someone writes something for you or has you in
mind when they compose something,” Adhers said.

Their long artistic collaboration allowed her the confidence to make
a few suggestions to Kouyoumdjian about certain parts of the script.

“I think in terms of rhythm, and once he had what he considered his
final draft, I suggested some things based on how it felt speaking
the words,” Ahders said.

Although learning the 15 pages of single-spaced dialogue was fairly
difficult for Ahders, learning the traditional song that her
character sings at the end was particularly tricky.

“Learning the song was hard because everyone sings it a little
differently,” Ahders said, “but once I was able to write it out on
notepaper, it was OK.”

The second one-act, “Protest,” which Kouyoumdjian first performed
himself at the Sacramento Solo Festival in 2001, is based on his
experience being arrested while protesting Turkish denials of the
genocide. JD Rudometkin, who also worked with Kouyoumdjian here but
now lives in Los Angeles, will perform “Protest.”

The plays also will be performed in San Francisco at the C.A.F.E./Off
Broadway on April 21-22 and then on April 23 in Los Angeles at the El
Portal Forum Theatre.

“PACKAGE” OF PROPOSALS IS EXAGGERATION: ARMENIA’S FM

YEREVAN, APRIL 13. ARMINFO. The London meeting does not imply direct
talks between the Armenian and Azeri FMs, says Armenia’s FM Vardan
Oskanyan.

This is not the first Oskanyan-Mamedyarov meeting for making a stir
about it. There are no obstacles to such meetings. It was the decision
of the OSCE MG co-chairs to hold “indirect” talks this time. They
consider this format more expedient for the current stage. “This means
that we will be in one city, even in one building but in different
rooms. The co-chairs will meet separately with me and Mamedyarov. If
necessary they will meet with us again. But no Oskanyan-Mamedyarov
meeting is planned for this time,” says Oskanyan.

He calls exaggeration the reports that a “package” of proposals will
be discussed during the talks. Simply the co-chairs need to know the
views of the presidents on certain issues. “I cannot say if one can
call a package a few issues,” says Oskanyan noting that there is no
agreement on a meeting by the presidents yet.

In conclusion Oskanyan notes that the international community is not
pressuring the conflicting parties in the peace process.

BY 2010 ARMENIA’S SECURITIES COMMISSION TO JOIN INFORMATION
EXCHANGE MEMORANDUM OF IOSCO

YEREVAN, APRIL 13. ARMINFO. By 2010 Armenia’s Securities Commission
will join the information exchange memorandum of the International
Organization of Securities Commissions, says the chairman of the
commission Eduard Muradyan.

This means that Armenia will be able to get information on the
legislation of any other members country. At the same time the
country will have to provide similar information on request. In 2010
this system will be much more handy for Armenia than it could be now.

Muradyan says that IOSCO membership will raise the commission’s
authority and will give its unlimited access to global information
and experience.

The decision to admit Armenia into IOSCO was made in Sri-lanka Apr 5.
The country applied for the membership as early as 2003. A law on
securities market regulation was adopted in 2004 to meet IOSCO
requirements.

Detroit Free Press
April 9, 2005, Saturday

Billionaire targeted money from GM suit for charity

By Sarah A. Webster

Kirk Kerkorian, the billionaire casino magnate who on Thursday lost
his lawsuit challenging the merger between Daimler-Benz AG and the old
Chrysler Corp., had taken steps to give away any award he might have
won in the case to charity.

Kerkorian, who Forbes magazine estimates is worth $ 8.9 billion, had
asked for as much as $ 3 billion in damages in his lawsuit, which was
filed in 2000 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.

Last year, Kerkorian received a special ruling from the Internal
Revenue Service that any potential winnings in the case could go
directly to charity and not be taxed, Terry Christensen, Kerkorian’s
lawyer, said in an interview on Friday.

During a trial that ended in early 2004, DaimlerChrysler AG had
alleged Kerkorian’s motive for the lawsuit was greed. But outside the
courthouse one day, Kerkorian insisted otherwise to a throng of
journalists.

“This is not about the money,” Kerkorian said. “It’s about deceit and
fraud.”

Christensen said that Kerkorian spent “six figures” to hire a
Washington, D.C. law firm to work to get the special IRS ruling, which
was delivered on Dec. 15, 2004. Christensen said the ruling declared
that the entirety of any award could be given to a qualifying
nonprofit charity without taxation.

“That’s consistent with him saying it was about doing the right
thing,” Christensen said of his client.

DaimlerChrysler spokesman Han Tjan said the automaker had no comment
about Kerkorian’s intentions.

Kerkorian’s lawsuit had accused DaimlerChrysler CEO Juergen Schrempp,
the former chief executive officer of Daimler-Benz, of masking with
Chrysler as a “merger of equals” when it was really a takeover. The
motive behind the alleged deception, Kerkorian charged, was to avoid
paying Chrysler Corp. investors an acquisition premium.

One expert testified that the premium would have been worth an extra $
6.4 billion to Chrysler investors, including $ 856 million more for
Kerkorian.

Kerkorian, who was the largest Chrysler shareholder at the time of the
deal, has said he never would have voted the shares owned by his
company, Tracinda Corp. , in favor of the merger, or encouraged other
investors to go along, had he known the German executives planned to
take control of the company.

On Thursday, Judge Joseph Farnan Jr. ruled in favor of DaimlerChrysler
on all counts. He said the automaker followed the terms of the deal
that it laid out for investors at the time of the merger.

Christensen said he was not certain to which charity Kerkorian had
planned to donate.

Kerkorian is a well-known philantropist. In 1989, he founded the Lincy
Foundation — which, like his corporation, is named after his
daughters Linda and Tracy.

The Lincy Foundation is a private non-profit foundation based in
Beverly Hills, according to the California Secretary of State’s
office. It makes contributions to other nonprofit organizations that
support humanitarian efforts around the world, especially in Armenia.
Kerkorian is Armenian.

The foundation’s president is listed as James Aljian, a longtime
Kerkorian insider.

Aljian had served on the old Chrysler Corp. board, as a representative
of Kerkorian’s Tracinda Corp. at the time of the merger. He was later
a member of DaimlerChrysler’s shareholder committee.

Because of Aljian, Kerkorian was privy to intimate details of the
negotiations between Daimler and Chrysler, and Judge Farnan referred
to that fact in his opinion as a reason why Kerkorian was fully
informed about the terms of the deal and not duped, as he had alleged
in the case.

“As a member of the Chrysler board of directors,” Farnan wrote,
“Aljian was briefed on discussions between Schrempp and Eaton …
Aljian kept Tracinda apprised of developments regarding the merger.”

Aljian was not in the Lincy offices on Friday afternoon and could not
be reached for comment.

Christensen said Kerkorian is disappointed with the court’s Thursday
ruling in favor of DaimlerChrysler but is still considering whether to
appeal.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania)
April 8, 2005 Friday REGION EDITION

‘VODKA LEMON’IS INTOXICATING CINEMA

by Barry Paris Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

On snowy winter days in Pittsburgh, when you see chairs out beside a
road, it’s because somebody is trying to save a parking space. On
snowy winter days in rural Armenia, when you see chairs outside, it’s
because people are sitting in them, talking — or more often, not
talking.

The silence is golden and important in “Vodka Lemon,” one of the most
beautiful and affecting films to come out of the new republics that
once made up the Soviet Union. Its title derives from the incongruous
name of a little liquor stand on the outskirts of a remote mountain
village.

“Why is it called ‘lemon’ when it tastes like almonds?” asks one of
the precious few customers.

“That’s Armenia,” comes the reply from middle-aging Nina (Roszanna
Mesropian).

When not behind the counter, Nina can be found faithfully visiting
her husband’s grave at the little town’s even more remote cemetery.
She takes the area’s one and only bus there every day. So does Hamo
(Roman Avinian) — daily, without fail — to wipe off his late wife’s
tombstone and keep her posted on local and family developments.

There’s not much good news to report. Most of the older people are
out of work, and most of the young ones have left. Hamo’s main source
of income comes from selling off his own furniture, piece by piece,
while breathlessly awaiting a letter with money from his son in
Paris. In fact, the whole village is awaiting. Word spreads quickly
when it finally arrives. People line up outside Hamo’s house (for
loans) before he even opens it. But it contains a photo of the son’s
French girlfriend instead of money.

“Don’t you miss the time when the Russians were here?” he asks
wistfully.

“No, we didn’t have any freedom then,” his friend replies.

“Maybe, but we had everything else.”

If socioeconomic life has sunk to an all-time low, interpersonal life
is still alive and well in its proud, quirky, never-say-die Armenian
form. “Vodka Lemon” — lyrically paced and photographed by Hiner
Saleem, superbly acted by Avinian and Mesropian — is a marvel of
bittersweet moments, many of them funny. A motorcycle breaks down,
then suddenly takes off down the road on its own. A man on horseback
keeps pace, galloping across this and that scene for no apparent
reason except that he can. The bus driver croons a theme song. Nina’s
daughter composes gorgeously sad piano music.

And love might just be blooming in a cemetery.

Post-Gazette film critic Barry Paris can be reached at
[email protected]. ‘Vodka Lemon’

****

Rating: Unrated but PG in nature.

Starring: Roman Avinian, Roszanna Mesropian.

Director: Hiner Saleem.

Fresno Bee (California)
April 12, 2005, Tuesday FINAL EDITION

Pianist to play with Philharmonic

The Fresno Bee

Pianist Sergei Babayan returns to Fresno this weekend to perform with
the Fresno Philharmonic for a concert dubbed “Babayan Plays Brahms.”

Babayan, who played in Fresno earlier this season as part of the
Philip Lorenz Memorial Keyboard Concerts Series, will play Brahms’
Piano Concerto No. 2.

Babayan was born in a small town in the former Soviet Armenia, and he
moved to Yerevan, the Armenian capital, when he was 3 and already
playing the piano. His father took him to Moscow for piano lessons
during his teen years, and he eventually entered the Moscow
Conservatory.

It wasn’t until the Berlin Wall came down and the Soviet Union broke
up, in 1989, that Babayan came to the United States.

He came first to Cleveland, where he won first place in the
prestigious Robert Casadesus Competition, which led to other
competitions, and an international career.

Babayan, who runs the Sergei Babayan International Piano Academy at
the Cleveland Institute of Music, also appeared earlier in Fresno, in
1991 with Fresno Philharmonic under Andrew Massey, and again in 2003
with the philharmonic under Kuchar.

The all-Romantic program this weekend also will feature Dvorak’s
Slavonic Dances and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4.

The concerts will begin at 8 p.m. Saturday and at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
Philharmonic executive director David Gaylin will begin his Inside
Music talks one hour before each concert.