Agence France Presse
8 août 2004

Elections municipales et locales au Nagorny Karabakh

EREVAN, 8 aout

Les habitants de la republique auto-proclamee du Nagorny Karabakh ont
vote dimanche pour des elections municipales et locales pour la
troisieme fois depuis 1991, un scrutin qui a suscite des critiques du
Conseil de l’Europe et de l’Azerbaiedjan qui revendique toujours son
autorite sur l’enclave.

“Les elections se sont deroulees dans le calme sur tout le territoire
du Nagorny Karabakh, et la situation est egalement restee calme aux
frontieres avec l’Azerbaiedjan”, a declare dimanche soir par
telephone a l’AFP l’un des responsables de la Commission electorale,
le “vice-ministre” des Affaires etrangeres Massis Maielian.

La participation devrait depasser 60% des inscrits, selon des donnees
preliminaires citees par ce responsable.

Ce scrutin devait permettre de designer le maire de la “capitale”
Stepanakert et les autres responsables des pouvoirs locaux.

Enclave a population majoritairement armenienne en Azerbaiedjan, le
Nagorny Karabakh a ete le theatre d’un conflit sanglant au debut des
annees 90 au moment de la desintegration de l’Union sovietique. Il
reste depuis un cessez-le-feu en 1994 sous le controle des Armeniens,
qui l’avaient emporte sur le terrain.

Les quelque 87.000 electeurs ont a leur disposition 260 bureaux de
vote dans les huit regions du Nagorny Karabakh.

Le scrutin a ete critique par le ministere azerbaiedjanais des
Affaires etrangeres et par le Conseil de l’Europe. Repondant a ce
dernier, le “ministere des Affaires etrangeres” du Nagorny Karabakh a
declare que “la tenue d’elections pour former les organes du pouvoir
a tous les niveaux constitue un pas tres important vers la creation
de la societe civile”.

“Le developpement et le renforcement des processus democratiques au
Nagorny Karabakh et dans tous les pays voisins permettront a coup sur
d’instaurer une paix durable et la stabilite dans la region”, ajoute
la declaration du “ministere”.

Columbus Dispatch (Ohio)
August 8, 2004 Sunday, Home Final Edition

FICTION THE LAST DAY OF THE WAR;
HISTORICAL NOVEL AVOIDS USUAL PITFALLS

by Margaret Quamme, FOR THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Judith Claire Mitchell’s assured first novel, The Last Day of the War
, neatly masters the historical novel’s biggest challenge: It breaks
through a potentially overwhelming tangle of events to focus on the
actions of a few well-defined characters and uses them to illuminate
a broader scene.

The novel wears its thorough research lightly, Mitchell never larding
The Last Day with details that don’t contribute to characters or
plot.

As World War I draws to a close, and after the official cessation of
hostilities, two young Americans become entangled in a Paris-based
plot to take revenge against the Turks, who massacred the Armenians
in 1915.

Nineteen-year-old Yael Weiss, a young woman with suffragette
leanings, meets U.S. intelligence officer Dub Hagopian, of Armenian
descent, in a St. Louis library.

There he has been scheduled to pick up weapons for Erinyes, the
secret vengeance organization run by the “old and maimed lion” Aram
Kazarian, who has had four fingers lopped off by the Turks.

Attracted to Dub and bored with St. Louis, Yael signs up with the Red
Cross in order to follow him to Europe, changing her name to Yale
White and listing her age as the required 25 and her religion as
Methodist.

On the boat to Europe, she is assigned alphabetically to room with
impetuous, ginger-haired Mary Brennan White, who is “thin as broth,
but hardly as dull” and flaunts her failed relationship with a
married man.

The two come into conflict with supervising matron Amo Winston, a
repressed former beauty cream saleswoman, who is constantly
“unsquinching” her eyes to avoid wrinkles; and with the unctuous Rev.
Alban Bliss, “an imposing man, large in the manner of President Taft,
his pink face composed mostly of cheeks and chins, his chest and
belly straining the buttons on his uniform, his roly-poly thighs
testing the inner seams of his jodhpurs.”

Their lives are later complicated by Dub’s thuggish friend Raffi,
whose life dream is “to be a full-time professional vengeance
seeker,” and by Raffi’s sister Ramela, who has barely survived the
Turkish atrocities, and whom Dub has promised to marry if she will
stop cutting and burning herself.

The scope of The Last Day is rare in a first novel. Each of the
characters is fully developed, and their interactions are thoroughly
believable. So is the world in which they live: It shapes the
characters just as they, in some small way, shape it.

Equally rare is Mitchell’s finely tuned pacing. Allotting each scene
enough time to unfold fully, but never bogging down the narrative in
incidents that don’t advance the action, she builds to a conclusion
as satisfying as it is unpredictable.
From: Baghdasarian

The Santa Fe New Mexican (New Mexico)
August 2, 2004 Monday

‘THROUGH STRENGTH, YOU CAN CONTROL YOUR DESTINY’

by JEFF TOLLEFSON

Raffi Papazian once spent a year and a half doing double duty, or
close to it, almost 1,000 feet under the Nevada desert.

Each day, he took the same ride down a mine shaft to work on the same
nuclear test, dubbed Ledoux after a small town in New Mexico. He was
six years into his career at the Nevada Test Site and 30 years into
his life as an American citizen.

Given his childhood experiences in Egypt and Lebanon, a career in the
United States’ nuclear-weapons program must have seemed a bit
surreal. But somehow it all made sense.

His grandparents fled to Egypt to escape the Turkish slaughter of
Armenians in 1915. He was born in Egypt at a time when Christians
were under persecution there, and he remembers sitting on the balcony
of his boyhood home worrying and waiting for his father to come home.

The family left for Lebanon in 1966, when Raffi was 10. They waited
four years for a ticket into the United States, during which time
Raffi and his sister went to an English-speaking school.

“Believe it or not, that left a tremendous impression on me,” he
said. “When I left college, I always wanted to work in the national
defense industry, because I wanted to make sure my kids never had
that feeling. … That might sound hokey to you, but it’s not.”

Papazian is a mechanical engineer who worked his way up through the
ranks at Los Alamos National Laboratory, substituting post-graduate
studies with under-the-ground experience designing nuclear tests. His
job was to ensure the physicists got what they needed when the ground
shook.

The lab detonated Ledoux in 1990, on the tail end of nuclear testing.
Two years later, the testing moratorium went into effect, and things
changed at the Nevada Test Site. All three of the major
nuclear-weapons laboratories still have operations there, and
Papazian is among a small group of Los Alamos employees who make the
commute each week.

Papazian’s work on the nuclear-weapons program might have made sense
to him, but he says his two daughters have had their doubts. Over the
years, Papazian has spent a lot of time explaining what the lab does,
and why, and how he feels about it.

“At some level, if you look at history, wars have been minimized by
nuclear weapons,” he said. “I’m one of the people who believes
there’s a lot of validity in being strong. Through strength, you can
control your destiny.”

Press Enterprise (Riverside, CA)
August 3, 2004, Tuesday

Blessing of grapes set for Inland church;
TRADITION: The event at the Armenian Apostolic Church of Riverside
observes the Virgin Mary.

THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

The Armenian Apostolic Church of Riverside will hold its annual
church picnic and traditional blessing of the grape service
beginning at 11:30 a.m. Aug. 15 at La Sierra Park, 5215 La Sierra,
Riverside.
The blessing of grapes is part of the Orthodox Christian Feast of
the Assumption of St. Mary, an observance of the death, burial,
resurrection and transfer to heaven of the Virgin Mary, the mother
of Jesus.
“Grapes are blessed during the Feast of the Assumption of St. Mary
to symbolize a number of values that are important to life and
living,” the Rev. Dr. Stepanos Dingilian, pastor of the church,
said in an e-mail.
Wine comes from grapes and symbolizes the blood shed by Christ, he
said.
“This ‘blood’ in turn signifies that no achievement that raises
the
standard of human civilization is possible without wholehearted
dedication, total commitment and unselfish perseverance,” he said.
Grapes grow in clusters, illustrating that people need family and
community to grow spiritually and mentally and to live a meaningful
life, he said.
The blessing of the grapes is observed on the Feast of St. Mary,
Dingilian said.
For information, call (951) 684-1722, (951) 522-5172 or (909)
883-1066.

The News Tribune (Tacoma, Washington)
August 8, 2004, Sunday

Author serves up tasty satire; Fiction: Restaurant critic turns
novelist with savory results

SAM MCMANIS, The News Tribune

If there is anything worse than a restaurant critic gone bad – and,
believe me, we know all about that at The News Tribune – it’s a
restaurant critic gone soft.

In Jay Rayner’s scorching satire about the culture of apologia and
full disclosure in public, “Eating Crow,” the hero is Marc Basset, a
London newspaper restaurant critic who has lost his bite. One of his
excoriating reviews, pitiless in its rude comments about the cuisine
and its chef, has pushed the chef to suicide. Struck by his dormant
conscience, of all things, Basset decides to – gasp – apologize to
the chef’s widow.

This stretches credulity, of course. No one has ever known a
restaurant critic to apologize for anything. But since this is satire
– broad satire, at that – we can suspend our disbelief and go along
with Basset’s purging of his guilt.

A funny thing happens, though: Basset gets off on the way it feels to
say “I’m sorry.” So much so, in fact, that he becomes addicted to
apologizing. It gives him a chemical rush of endorphins and, soon,
Basset is looking up old girlfriends, former co-workers and casual
acquaintances to whom to feed his “sorry” addiction. All react in a
positive manner to his unburdening of himself, shocked that this
formerly callous man would do so. Basset finds an emotional
vulnerability and empathy he didn’t know he had.

If the story were to end there, the reader would be left with a
pretty funny, if forgettable, short story that sends up our Oprahized
compulsion for public confession. But Rayner, who is an award-winning
restaurant critic for The London Observer, expands Basset’s burden to
the global stage and turns “Eating Crow” into a political statement
of style over substance, rhetoric over sincerity, with a side dish of
cynicism.

Through coincidences, as hilarious as they are implausible, Basset
soon leaves his restaurant critic job after he refuses to criticize
restaurants any longer and becomes the chief spokesman for the newly
formed United Nations’ Office of Apology.

As a U.N. headhunter tells Basset when offering him the job – at a
substantial raise, naturally, from his meager newspaper salary – “the
conduct of calm international relations is being stymied by the
enormous weight of emotional baggage that world history has given us.
There are too many countries, too many peoples … with unresolved
grievances. If we could resolve the issues of the past, then the
conduct of world affairs in the present would be that much smoother.”

In other words, if Israel and Palestine could just say, “sorry, my
bad” to each other, then peace in the Middle East is possible. Plus,
the U.N.’s research showed that the amount of financial reparations
countries would have to pay to the oppressed would be less if an
apology first were proffered.

OK, so it’s implausible, but there it is. The reason the U.N. has
tapped Basset is because of his ancestry. It’s essential that the
apologizer have some personal responsibility somewhere in his past to
make the “penitential engagement” seem sincere. It just so happens
that Basset’s ancestors on his mother’s side (the Welton-Smiths,
English aristocrats) had been involved in every act of
oppressiveness, from slavery to colonialism to apartheid, in the
Western world.

So that gives Basset the “plausible apologibility” so needed for the
job.

At the start of his new duties, Basset apologizes for slavery, for
England’s occupation of India, for the Turks’ genocide of the
Armenians. He comes across as sincere, tearing up at every occasion.
He becomes something of an unlikely media celebrity, making the cover
of Time magazine. The reader, however, might miss the old snarky
Basset, the restaurant critic who throws out such bon mots as “the
food would taste better coming back up than it did going down.”

Not to worry, though, eventually Basset loses that earnest, do-gooder
persona as the apologizer-in-chief and starts to get a puffed-up
sense of importance. He appears on stage with Bono and the rest of
U2, making men cheer wildly and women swoon just by uttering, “I’m
sooorrrrryyyy!” He rents high-rent apartments in New York and Geneva
and can bed any woman he wants. He even has a threesome with
groupies/waitresses from Des Moines, Iowa.

The reader knows what’s coming, though, and Basset’s descent off the
pedestal is a delightful free-fall for the reader. Along the way,
Basset becomes an unknowing catalyst for a war in the Balkans and
loses both his job and credibility in the process.

“Eating Crow” is an example of British droll comedy and biting
satire. But there’s an added dimension. Rayner sends something of a
cautionary message that it’s unwise to delve too deeply into the
past, to dredge up long buried hurts for the sake of catharsis.

As Basset’s well-adjusted brother, Luke, tells him early on, “It’s
called personal history. You can’t rewrite that.” Basset replies,
“No, you can’t. But you can reassess it. … Why can’t people revise
their own histories?” Later, his estranged best friend, Stefan, tells
Basset, “I live with my past; you live off it.”

Apology, Rayner seems to be saying, is a form of selfishness. We
might think it’s about making amends with those we have harmed in
some way, but it’s really just to make ourselves feel better. Plus,
spoken too often, an apology loses all impact and is not believable.

Which brings me to the first sentence of “Eating Crow,” wildly funny
but not at all true.

That opening line: “I’m sorry you bought this book.”

No worries. Rayner has nothing to apologize for.

– – –

Sam McManis: 253-274-7380

[email protected]

– – –

EATING CROW

Jay Rayner

Simon & Schuster;

292 pages; $ 23

California Courier Online, August 12, 2004

1 – Commentary
High-Ranking Azeri Official
Threatens Armenia’s Existence

By Harut Sassounian
California Courier Publisher
**************************************************************************
2 – Armenian in Alaska Strikes Gold with Tomatoes
3 – In Defense of Arshile Gorky’s Armenian Heritage
4 – Blessing of Grapes set
For Riverside Church
5 – Legislators to Honor
Rubina Djansezian
For Leadership
6 – Professional Society Hosts
AUA Law Panel in Pasadena

************************************************************************
1 – Commentary
High-Ranking Azeri Official
Threatens Armenia’s Existence

By Harut Sassounian,
Publisher, The California Courier
The international community does not seem to comprehend the depth of
feelings of distrust between Armenians and Azeris (supported by Turkey),
making the search for a solution to the Karabagh conflict extremely
difficult. The mediating circles naively believe that by pressuring the
Armenians into accepting some territorial concessions, the problem would be
solved, and there would be peace between the two neighboring countries.
Last week, Col. Ramiz Melikov, the chief spokesman for Azerbaijan’s Defense
Ministry, made an ominous announcement, proving that any concessions made
by the Armenian side would only whet the appetite of the Azeris, making
them stop at nothing short of the occupation of Armenia. His words should
send alarm bells to the international community and convince the OSCE
mediators that rather than seeking a peaceful solution to the Karabagh
conflict, Azerbaijan is in fact planning to expand the war. After all, how
could the mediators ever hope to contain, let alone solve this limited
conflict, when a high-ranking Azeri official says Azerbaijan is planning to
take over the entire territory of the Republic of Armenia?
According to the Baku daily “Zerkalo,” Colonel Melikov said: “Within the
next 25 years, there will exist no state of Armenia in the South Caucasus.
Those people have done so many nasty things to their neighbors that they
have no right to live in this region. Modern Armenia is built on historical
Azerbaijani lands. I think that in 25-30 years’ time its territory will
again come under Azerbaijan’s jurisdiction.”
Melikov bragged that Azerbaijan is now militarily much more powerful than
it was 10 years ago. He urged the government of Azerbaijan to promptly
declare war on Armenia to “liberate” Karabagh.
In recent months, President Ilham Aliyev and other Azeri officials have
repeatedly threatened to resume military hostilities with Armenia. Armenian
officials have dismissed these threats believing that Azerbaijan is still
no match for Armenia’s military might. Furthermore, Armenians say that if
Azerbaijan had indeed the ability to attack, it would have done so without
first issuing a warning. Should Azerbaijan attempt such a foolish
adventure, however, most analysts think that it may end up losing even more
territory than it did the last time it tried to use force against
Armenians, not to mention the possible disruption and/or physical
devastation of Azerbaijan’s multi-billion dollar oil industry.
Amazingly, the Armenian government has not issued a reaction to the
bellicose statement of the Azeri Defense official threatening the existence
of Armenia. The Armenian National Committee of America reacted by sending
copies of Col. Melikov’s statement to every Member of Congress and the
White House, asking them “to forcefully and publicly confront the
Azerbaijani government over these patently hateful and destabilizing
threats.”
I hope that the Armenian government takes this Azeri official’s threat of
taking over Armenia very seriously. Armenia should demand that the
government of Azerbaijan retract this war-mongering statement and reprimand
Col. Melikov. Until then, Armenia should announce that it would refrain
from participating in any further peace talks. How could the two countries
get together to discuss peace when one of them is threatening the very
existence of the other?
Azerbaijan is in no position to make any threats or dictate any terms to
Armenia. Karabagh has de facto gained its independence. Unless Azerbaijan
withdraws Melikov’s unacceptable statement, Armenian officials have no
reason to meet with their Azeri counterparts and have nothing to discuss
with them.
An Unfortunate Interview With the Turkish Press
Arsen Avakian, the official representative of the government of Armenia at
the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Council, headquartered in Istanbul, gave
an interview last week to the Turkish newspaper, “Posta.”
We do not know if Posta has accurately reported Avakian’s words. Given his
official status (the equivalent of an envoy to Turkey in the absence of
diplomatic relations between the two countries), we hope Avakian did not
say some of the things he is quoted as saying.
To begin with, he is quoted as referring to the Armenian Genocide as
“tragic past events.” After drawing a distinction between the positions of
the Armenian government and the Diaspora on Turkey, he says that if Turkey
would take a positive step (meaning the opening of the border), “then the
Diaspora Armenians would also be forced to change their position.”
Avakian says that Armenians have “favorable impressions of Turkey.” Stating
that the “tragic past events cannot be an obstacle to future cooperation,”
he asks the Turkish journalist: “Why should Armenians have negative
thoughts about Turkey?” He says that Armenians in Armenia listen to Turkish
music, watch Turkish TV, and read Turkish books.
This is not the first time that an Armenian official has been quoted or
misquoted by the Turkish media. Given the sensitivity of relations with
Turkey, particularly on the subject of the Armenian Genocide, and the
proclivity of Turkish journalists to distort the words of those they
interview, the Armenian government may want to issue a directive to all its
officials at home as well as its diplomatic representatives abroad, not to
grant any more interviews to the Turkish media.
The Armenian government should not allow various officials to make
conflicting statements to the Turkish press on the sensitive issue of
Armenian demands from Turkey and, to make matters worse, have their
comments distorted by Turkish journalists.
Should the government of Armenia need to communicate a message to the
Turkish public, the appropriate person for that task is the official
spokesman of the Armenian Foreign Ministry.
**************************************************************************
2 – Armenian in Alaska Strikes Gold with Tomatoes
By Margaret Bauman
Alaska Journal of Commerce
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – In the great Alaska gold rush, an Armenian refuge named
Paul Mosesian tried his luck and failed. More than seven decades later, his
great grandson, Mike Mosesian, came north to ski and struck gold in
tomatoes.
“I went to the grocery store (in Anchorage) and I couldn’t believe how
expensive tomatoes were, and they were just horrible,” Mosesian said. “I
thought maybe I can grow tomatoes up here.”
That was the winter of 1972. Today, plump, ripe, tasty tomatoes by the
hundreds from Bell’s Nurseries are snapped up by supermarket customers from
produce bins just a day after being plucked from greenhouse vines.
“The best tomatoes I like are when you pick them of the vine to eat, and
they are warm, hot,” Mosesian said. “You get the full flavor.”
Mosesian, who holds a master’s degree in viticulture from the University of
California at Davis, hails from a family of passionate growers. He was
helping his father farm 1,000 California acres of table and wine grapes
when he came north with his wife, Joanne, to ski and visit with her family
in the winter of 1972. Six months later, he had purchased five acres.
Inspired by a produce convention demonstration on hydroponic tomatoes, he
was ready to try his hand growing them.
“To be honest, I didn’t know anything about growing tomatoes,” he said. “I
thought a greenhouse as a house painted green. But I had a minor in
chemistry and I just started reading about it, and I started learning.”
Getting started wasn’t easy, despite Mosesian’s background in his family’s
California vineyard.
His first crop of tomatoes was “not good,” Mosesian said. “It almost died
in the summer, and I found out I wasn’t feeding them enough. They weren’t
getting enough fertilizer because of the long days.”
Mosesian thought they were deficient in magnesium, so he sprayed them with
magnesium and the plants got worse. Finally he got the plants analyzed by a
Colorado laboratory and learned what they needed was nitrogen. “I fed them
and they came back,” he said.
“I’m still learning,” he said. “I’m doing things today that I didn’t do
last year.”
The 2004 tomato crop, for example, is planted in coconut fiber imported
from India. “This year, the tomatoes are not stressed out and the coconut
fiber seems to work well,” he said. “It’s a replacement for peat moss.”
Once the tomato season has passed, the coconut fiber can be recycled to
grow flowers in pots, he said.
Mosesian is also an optimist in the midst of pending disaster. In the mid
1970s his tomato crop was struck with a root disease. Local agriculture
extension agents told him his plants were finished. “But I just kept
feeding them, and they came back,” he said. “Each year I learn more. It’s
just experience.”
In the early 1980s, Mosesian tried his hand at growing red poinsettias.
First, he grew some 200 poinsettias and gave them away to Catholic churches
for Christmas for decorations.
“Then I grew 1,000, then 5,000,” he said.
The 2004 holiday crop of poinsettias is in varied shades of pink, red and
white. They are already potted and growing. Mosesian figures he will sell
40,000 to 50,000 poinsettias again this year, starting three weeks before
Thanksgiving.
The three Anchorage greenhouses operated by Mosesian also feature, in
season, hanging baskets, bedding plants, trees and shrubs, and garden
supplies, plus upscale gift shops.
“We are successful because we have a market and we cultivate that market by
taking care of you as a customer, by offering a whole spectrum of plants
and an ambiance that you enjoy walking around in,” he said.
Mosesian credits much of his success to America’s passion for gardening.
“Far more money is spent on gardening than any other hobby,” he said.
“There is a lot of joy and satisfaction in planting something and watching
it grow, and harvesting either beautiful flowers in front of your home or a
vegetable garden.”
Mosesian’s real passion these days is his family, and his roots. His
great-grandfather, Paul, in the 1920s, helped found the farmers’ raisin
cooperative known today as SunMaid Raisins.
**************************************************************************
3 – In Defense of Arshile Gorky’s Armenian Heritage
By Vartkes Sinanian
One of the first people I met when I arrived in Chicago from Cyprus in l974
was Arshile Gorky’s sister Vartoosh Mooradian and his nephew Karlen
Mooradian. It was at a Christmas party at the home of Dr. Shahan Sarrafian
where I was introduced to them.
Until that date I had known very little of Arshile Gorky who is considered
the most famous painter in U.S. art history. I recall the discussions
of these two art-lovers about Gorky’s art. Karlen Mooradian was a
professor of journalism and mass communications at the University of
Oklahoma with a PhD from Northwestern University in Chicago. An artist
himself, Karlen had studied under his uncle for seven years and had
one-man shows in many parts of the world. He used to come to Chicago often
where his mother lived. From our conversations I learned details of Gorky’s
art and his tragic life.
Gorky’s family like tens of thousands Armenians were driven from their
ancestral lands to the Caucasus after covering the tortuous terrain by
foot. Gorky’s mother died of malnutrition. His sister Vartoosh arrived
at Ellis Island in l920 and moved to Rhode Island with Arshile where
their father lived. Gorky later moved to New York and became the founder
of abstract surrealism. He later commited suicide at a moment of
terrible sense of helplessness in l948.
Karlen Mooradian was an independent thinker who believed in free press and
the importance of dissent in a free society. To prove his point he
established in l978 the Gilgamesh Press as an independent-controlled book
publishing company. He used to say ” This is my battlefield. To
relinquish control of it is to fall prey to the commercialism of the big
publishers and the timidity of the university presses. A serious writer
must maintain higher goals than that.” He was convinced that none of the
publishing houses could match the iron discipline and quality of Gilgamesh.

In l978 he published “Arshile Gorky Adoian” and later Gilgamesh released
his “The Many Worlds of Arshile Gorky” thus becoming the world’s main
publisher on the famous artist. His works provided original material
concentrating on unpublished details of Gorky’s life. His one-man drive to
introduce Armenian culture to a broader segment of the world appeared to be
succeeding through his publishing house. “There is no freedom of the press
unless you own it” he used to say.
Being an immensely opinionated and independent human being, Karlen rejected
authority as he did not want to be swayed by special interests. He
reminisced about his uncle whom he adored and admired. He wanted the world
to recognize Gorky, his rare talent and the tragic life that he endured.
Though physically handicapped and emotionally devastated, Gorky’s art
outshone his contemporaries like a beacon despite the fact that there was
rampant nastiness and viciousness at that time at those who had attained
the pinnacle of fame.
There was also a large section in the artistic world which was either
unaware or deliberately did not acknowledge Gorky’s heritage. This made
Karlen furious and he would fight to the end to ensure that the world
recognized that Gorky was Armenian.
I remember one such episode when Karlen came to me asking for my help. In
l980 Irving Howe and Kenneth Libo published a book entitled “How we lived:
a documentary history of Immigrant Jews in America 1880-1930”. In that
book Gorky was presented as an “Armenian Jew” which was of course not true
but it showed the length to which people would go denying Gorky’s heritage.
This was a blatant distortion of facts. With Karlen’s active
encouragement and support, I conducted a vigorous campaign requesting a
retraction from the publishers who, in a letter addressed to me, expressed
their ” deep concern for any pain or concern this had caused me personally
as well as to the Armenian community of America which is justly proud of
its long and distinguished cultural heritage.”
Karlen was delighted and in a personal note to me he wrote ” If Arshile
Gorky were alive today he would be proud to call you his fellow
countryman.” When he learned that the publishers would correct it in the
next printing he wrote yet another letter to me ” You have the guts and the
courage to stand up for our Armenian rights. In retrospect everything
worked out for the best because many thousands of Armenians in America and
abroad gained a greater consciousness of their origins because of this
Gorky episode”.
I vividly recall our conversations regarding the return of Gorky’s remains
to the homeland. This was his ultimate dream. He wanted this to happen
during his lifetime. He used to emphasize the fact that his uncle had
faced more than his share of tragedies and his soul would only find peace
on the soil of his ancestors. There were moments when you could feel the
vulnerability and the anger that gave his words such power.
**************************************************************************
4 – Blessing of Grapes set
For Riverside Church
Press-Enterprise , CA
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The Armenian Apostolic Church of Riverside will hold
its annual church picnic and traditional blessing of the grape service
beginning at 11:30 a.m. Aug. 15 at La Sierra Park, 5215 La Sierra,
Riverside.
The blessing of grapes is part of the Orthodox Christian Feast of the
Assumption of St. Mary, an observance of the death, burial, resurrection
and transfer to heaven of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus.
“Grapes are blessed during the Feast of the Assumption of St. Mary to
symbolize a number of values that are important to life and living,” the
Rev. Dr. Stepanos Dingilian, pastor of the church, said in an e-mail.
Wine comes from grapes and symbolizes the blood shed by Christ, he said.
“This ‘blood’ in turn signifies that no achievement that raises the
standard of human civilization is possible without wholehearted dedication,
total commitment and unselfish perseverance,” he said.
Grapes grow in clusters, illustrating that people need family and community
to grow spiritually and mentally and to live a meaningful life, he said.
The blessing of the grapes is observed on the Feast of St. Mary, Dingilian
said.
For information, call (951) 684-1722, (951) 522-5172 or (909) 883-1066.
**************************************************************************
5- Legislators to Honor
Rubina Djansezian
For Leadership
GLENDALE, Calif. – Rubina Djansezian of Glendale, was named one of 16
winners in “Women in business” by California legislators. She will receive
the “Tami Ginsburg Employee of the Year” award.
State Senator Jack Scott (D-Pasadena), Assembly Majority Leader Dario
Frommer (D-Glendale), and Assemblymember Carol Liu (D-La
Canada-Flintridge), will honor Djansezian, as well as 15 other recipients,
at a Sept. 1 luncheon in Pasadena.
Djansezian, the Executive Director of the Homenetmen, Glendale Chapter, as
well as the other honorees, are being recognized for their contributions
and leadership in their local business communities.
**************************************************************************
6 – Professional Society Hosts
AUA Law Panel in Pasadena
LOS ANGELES – The Armenian Professional Society will host a panel of
professors from the American University of Armenia (AUA), to discuss
“Current Legal and Social Issues in Armenia, on Aug. 20, from 7 p.m. to 9
p.m., at the Western Justice Center Foundation, 55 South Grand Ave.,
Pasadena.
The report from and about the AUA includes topics on Education,
Environment & Status of Women.
The panel will consist of the Dean of the AUA, Stephen R. Barnett, LL.B.
Harvard University and Professor of Law Emeritus UC Berkeley; Matthew
Karanian, J.D. McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific, LL.M.
Georgetown University, Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Law of the
AUA; Sara Anjargolian, J.D. Boalt Hall School of Law UC Berkeley, Assistant
Dean and Associate Professor of Law of the AUA.
Special guests will include Judge Aram Serverian, J.D. Retired Judge of the
California Superior Court, San Mateo County and Dr. Haroutune Armenian,
M.D., Dr. P.H., President of the American University of Armenia (AUA).
Admission is free. Donations are welcome as all proceeds are to benefit the
Law Department of the AUA. Seating is limited and Reservations are
required. RSVP by Aug. 17, to APS by e-mail: [email protected].
**************************************************************************
********************************************************
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

09 August 2004
Excerpts: State Department Briefing August 9: OSCE, Azerbaijan
OSCE/observance of U.S. elections; U.S. view of local elections in
Nagorno-Karabakh region
State Department Deputy Spokesman Adam Ereli briefed the press August 9.
Following are excerpts from the transcript of the State Department briefing:

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
MONDAY, AUGUST 9, 2004
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)
(1:05 p.m. EDT)
BRIEFER: Adam Ereli, Deputy Spokesman

[….]
QUESTION: I guess people come — election people have come to the State
Department and asked the OSCE to send monitors to the presidential election
on November 2nd. Why here? Why to the State Department?
MR. ERELI: This is — I think a lot is being made out of this, which isn’t
necessarily warranted. The fact of the matter is that, in 1990, all member
states of OSCE agreed that they would allow OSC — representatives of OSCE
member states to observe their elections. So this is a practice that was
started in 1990. I think there have been OSCE observers in the United States
for U.S. elections before and, most recently, in the 2003 gubernatorial
election in California, and the 2002 gubernatorial elections in Florida. So
wouldn’t see this as news, per se, but rather continuation of standing
practice.
QUESTION: Well, but Adam, were OSCE monitors here in the 2000 election?
MR. ERELI: I don’t believe so. I’ll have to check, but I don’t think so.
QUESTION: Well, the State Department invited them, yes?
MR. ERELI: I would say, that’s — this is something — it’s not a question
of State Department inviting. This is something that all countries, all
participating states in the OSCE agreed to in 1990, so it is a standing
agreement between the United States and other countries of the OSCE. It’s
not a question of State Department inviting now. It is a question of U.S.
commitments internationally.
QUESTION: Well, then why did it take 12 years for the first observer team to
show up from the OSCE?
MR. ERELI: Let me make sure that that was actually the first team. It’s the
latest that I’m aware of.
QUESTION: So, I mean, if I get you correctly, are you saying that this has
nothing to do with the contested 2000 election?
MR. ERELI: I would say that this is something that has been on the books for
some time and is done not just of the United States, but is done for all
states in the OSCE.
QUESTION: Right, but there are states in the OSCE, where there — there’s
not a question of whether there will be a free and fair election, and so the
OSCE doesn’t, you know —
MR. ERELI: This is not a question of whether there’s a free and fair
election in the United States. This is a question of an agreement among all
states of the OSCE, that it is right and appropriate in the interest of
transparency and equity for all of us at various times to look at each
other’s elections.
QUESTION: If I may, one more on this — did this have anything to do with
some members of the House of Representatives calling for monitors, whether
it be the UN or OSCE?
MR. ERELI: I don’t know.
QUESTION: Will the OSCE have any particular enforcement type of function,
and/or if they make a legal challenge or some type of challenge to what’s
happening, is there any —
MR. ERELI: I don’t think either of those questions pose themselves.
There’s —
Yes.
QUESTION: Same subject. I’m sorry. I’m still not clear. If this has been
basically something that’s been happening automatically since 1990, why this
would be the first U.S. election in which they’d be present? And is there
more you can tell us in terms of the size of the delegation, their likely
activities, which countries they’ll be from?
MR. ERELI: We don’t yet have details on the size or composition of the
observer mission, nor where the observer missions will meet. As I said
before, I’ll have to — we’ll have to look back and see when they’ve been
here before. This is a practice that has been, as we’ve said, been in
existence since 1990, that different OSCE countries have done with it,
different OSCE countries since then. But let me check and see when the last
time they were here, besides the 2002 and 2003 gubernatorial elections.
QUESTION: It’s not the last time they were here, it’s the first time they
were here, that we want to know.
MR. ERELI: I’ll have to check and see.
QUESTION: Change the subject?
MR. ERELI: Yes.
QUESTION: Russia is expressing concern about the deal that Secretary Powell
signed last week in Greenland, believe it or not, and they’ve put out, the
Foreign Ministry’s put out a statement that says that — it questions that
although the U.S. is assuring them that missile defense will not target
them, that they are making sure that they take appropriate measures to
maintain its own security.
Besides the Foreign Ministry statement, has the Foreign Ministry raised this
with anyone in the U.S. Government?
MR. ERELI: No, this is the first I’ve heard of it, actually, so.
QUESTION: Yeah, check Reuters.
QUESTION: The Armenian authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh held elections over
the weekend, obviously without the consent of the Azerbaijan Government. And
I wondered what — anything you might have to say about that.
MR. ERELI: The first point to make is obviously that we don’t recognize
Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent country. The future status of
Nagorno-Karabakh is a matter of negotiations in the Minsk process. Our
position is to support the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and we don’t
believe that these elections will have an impact on the peace process or the
Minsk process.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: )

“REMAINING DEVOTED TO EXCEPTIONALLY PEACE SETTLEMENT OF CONFLICT, NKR
WILL CONTINUE STRENGTHENING OF STATEHOOD AND ARMED FORCES OF COUNTRY
IN FUTURE,” STATEMENT OF NKR FOREIGN MINISTRY SAYS

YEREVAN, August 9 (Noyan Tapan). “The authorities of the country
consider supporting of a high level of readiness for action of the
troops of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic to be an important condition
for provision of military security of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic
and its people, especially in the presence of constant militant
appeals of Azerbaijan for forcilble solution of the Karabakh problem,”
the statement of the Press Service of the NKR Foreign Ministry made in
connection with the statement of Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry,
condemning the beginning of military exercises of the NKR Defence Army
says.

According to the statement of the Press Service of NKR Foreign
Ministry, the Defence Army of NKR, which is an important element of
preservation of regional stability, actually, plays the role of a
restraining factor under the conditions of tenseness forced by
Azerbaijan and absence of international peace-making forces in the
zone of the conflict. The Press Service of NKR Foreign Ministry also
declared that “remaining devoted to exceptionally peace settlement of
the conflict the Karabakh side will continue strengthening of the NKR
statehood and its Armed Forces as an importnant structure defending
the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic in order to avoid a new armed aggression by Azerbaijan.”

NKR AUTHORITIES EXPRESS READINESS TO SURRENDER AZERI CAPTIVE IF
OFFICIAL BAKU DISPLAYS SUCH WILLINGNESS

YEREVAN, August 9 (Noyan Tapan). On August 6, 21-year-old Anad
Mamedov, an Azeri serviceman, a resident of Baku, was taken prisoner
by the NKR Armed Forces in connection with transgressing of the
Karabakh-Azeri border. According to the Press Service of NKR Foreign
Ministry, the NKR authorities informed the Stepanakert office of the
International Committee of Red Cross, as well as OSCE about this
fact. At present the judicial bodies of the republic undertake the
corresponding measures for the purpose of finding out the reasons and
purpose of trespassing of the border by the captive. According to the
same source, the NKR authorities gave a representative of the ICRC
Stepanakert office an opportunity to visit the Azeri captive at the
same time expressing readiness to surrender him if the official Baku
displays such willingness.

AzerTag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
Aug 9 2004

OSCE WORKING GROUP ON KARABAKH TO ASSESS `ELECTIONS’ IN NK
[August 09, 2004, 16:17:41]

`The OSCE working group engaged in settlement of Nagorny Karabakh
conflict, should give principle assessment to the 8 August elections
to local authorities passed in Nagorny Karabakh’, Mikhail Margelov,
chairman of the Committee on international affairs of the Council of
Federation, commenting the elections at the occupied Azerbaijani
territory – Nagorny Karabakh, stated in an exclusive interview to
AzerTAj correspondent.

In his words, this action will be negatively perceived in Azerbaijan
and in such a sharp and tactful situations it is necessary restraint
and balance.

Russia many times has stated that recognizes territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan and all other states stemming from the universally
recognized international laws, he underlined. `We ourselves have been
for many years combating separatism in our country and are never
interested in expansion of separatism in the CIS space’, he added.

Chairman of the Committee of the Council of Federation on
international affairs emphasized that nobody needs war in the
Caucasus and because of this it is necessary to activate the efforts
on side of the OSCE or CIS, and also actively seek new forms and
formats for settlement of this conflict. `Perhaps, Russia will make
every effort’, concluded Mr. Margelov.