OP-ED: Solving the Kashmir dispute —Ishtiaq Ahmed
Daily Times, Pakistan
June 20 2004
Controversial collective rights such as the so-called right of
self-determination should not be invoked to destabilise them. It is
not an ordinary principle of international law and was meant to apply
primarily to colonial empires
The contemporary international system is constituted by sovereign
states whose territorial claims are clearly defined, demarcated and
agreed upon in the form of international boundaries. However,
exceptions to the rule exist and the ensuing territorial ambiguity
can result in two or more states laying mutually exclusive claims to
the same territory.
The post-Second World War colonial withdrawals from Asia and Africa
and the collapse of the multinational Soviet and Yugoslavian
political systems have been typical occasions for such disputes to
emerge because the transfer of power, sharing of common resources and
the allocation of territories rarely correspond to the expectations
and ambitions of the contending political entities. The Kashmir
dispute, the Israel-Palestine imbroglio, Cyprus, East Timor, West
Sahara, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Armenia-Azerbaijan are some
cases in point, though each case has its own peculiarities and
dimensions.
Disputes over territories are exacerbated if the contending parties
do not trust each other. In such cases even the prospect of
significant economic ties and interests and help from regional and
international actors cannot resolutely compel them to negotiate a
peaceful and fair solution. This also applies to the India-Pakistan
impasse on Kashmir.
Apart from the legal fictions maintained by both sides, the problems
of identity and self-image complicate matters. India wants to hold on
to Kashmir as an essential feature of its secular-composite national
identity while Pakistan considers its Muslim identity incomplete as
long as Kashmir has not joined it.
Observers have put across several reasonable solutions. But unless
India and Pakistan abandon the combative nationalist mindset no
progress on the issue is likely. War is not an alternative. Three
full-scale and one confined war have been tried in 56 years but to no
avail. Neither side can win a war even when it has the advantage of
surprise. Both are likely to inflict irreparable damage on each
other. Consequently no zero-sum approach or ‘winner takes all’
solution is going to succeed.
The UN resolutions calling for a plebiscite have failed to work.
Since they are under Ch VI of the Charter, they require the
contending parties to agree to UN mediation. India has ruled out any
such possibility.
The third option of an independent Kashmir has no serious takers
among the Indian and Pakistani establishments. One can also wonder if
indeed the overall security concerns of India and Pakistan will
lessen if a weak state emerges in this volatile region bordering
Afghanistan, Iran and central Asia. Indeed, such a state could well
increase the sense of insecurity and set in motion another round of
confrontational politics between the two states. An independent state
will also be opposed tooth and nail by the Hindus and Buddhists on
the Indian side.
Similarly, the idea that Kashmir should be partitioned along
religious lines is a non-starter. The Muslims of Jammu and the Shia
minority of Ladakh would have their own reasons for opposing it. The
former would be left behind in India and become an even smaller
minority. They would thus be precariously placed and would very
likely face the anger of militant Hindus who would hold them
responsible for India losing much of its Kashmir to Pakistan.
Such a situation is already faced by Indian Muslims who stayed behind
in India after Partition. The Shias only have to look at the way
their sect is being targeted by terrorists in Pakistan. Neither the
Pakistani fundamentalists nor the Kashmiri militants present a
tolerant and peaceful image of Islam. It is futile to believe that
the spread of a terrorist political culture in the garb of freedom
struggle will impress the world or deter the Indian state.
There is also the proposal that the Kashmir Valley should be made
independent. The tiny but very vocal Kashmiri pandits who have been
driven away by the militants and now live in camps in Jammu and Delhi
would oppose any such idea. Also, India will never agree to grant
self-determination on the basis of religious differences.
Under the circumstances, the only workable solution is to convert the
Line of Control into a soft border with India and Pakistan retaining
sovereignty on their respective sides. The idea of a soft border
should be understood as a series of measures aiming to provide
substantial autonomy to the various sub-regions on both sides. Such
an approach would require both states to withdraw or at least
drastically reduce the number of troops stationed on both sides of
the Line of Control. Kashmiris on both sides should be permitted to
move freely across the border though without the automatic right to
settle on the other side.
But solving the Kashmir dispute is impossible without India and
Pakistan agreeing to a comprehensive peace and cooperation agreement.
The Kashmir issue is not the cause but a symptom of a deeper mistrust
between India and Pakistan. The two sides have to appreciate the fact
that they are two sovereign states and that is a settled fact of
history.
Under the circumstances, controversial collective rights such as the
so-called right of self-determination should not be invoked to
destabilise them. It is not an ordinary principle of international
law and was meant to apply primarily to colonial empires.
One may rhetorically argue that India is an imperialist Hindu state
or Pakistan heads a worldwide Islamic expansionist movement. But the
fact remains that the United States and other Western states remain
the real determiners of international economic and political
policies.
Therefore instead of wasting time on mutual recrimination and hostile
propaganda India and Pakistan should close ranks and along with the
other players in South Asia try to develop robust economic and social
ties. That is the only way this region can justly claim respect and
admiration from the rest of the world.
To recap the main arguments, the Kashmir dispute is a social
construction deriving from conflicting nationalist ambitions and
ideologies; it can be solved if we transcend the conflicting
nationalist agendas; both states need to confer maximum autonomy on
their Kashmiri citizens, including their right to interact with one
another legally and freely.
It is most important that extremists and militants are weeded out
from the whole of South Asia and especially from Kashmir. Similarly
India should withdraw its security forces and allow democracy to take
its own course as stipulated within Article 307 of the Indian
constitution.
The author is an associate professor of Political Science at
Stockholm University. He is the author of two books. His email
address is [email protected]

All hail Kerko, king of the billion dollar buyout
By Richard Siklos (Filed: 20/06/2004)
The Telegraph, UK
June 20 2004
Ace Greenberg, the legendary former head of investment bank Bear
Stearns, once admonished a colleague who questioned the wily ways
of Kirk Kerkorian: “Don’t ever tell Babe Ruth how to hold his bat.”
(Translation for UK relevance: “Don’t tell Becks how to lace his
boots”.)
In an age of wannabes and poseurs, when it comes to power-broking
mastery, Kerkorian is the real deal – the Warren Buffett of buyouts.
This week, in what ought to be the gloaming of his career (he’s 87),
he’s in the midst of wangling his biggest trade yet – getting out
of one fantastically glamorous but sometimes spivvy industry while
beefing up in, well, another fantastically glamorous but sometimes
spivvy industry.
Kerkorian is on the verge of selling the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie
studio to a venture between Sony and two private equity groups for
$5bn (£2.7bn), not counting a $1.4bn tax-free dividend cheque he
banked from the company last month.
Kerkorian’s Tracinda Corporation paid $1.3bn for MGM in 1996 and –
get this – this would mark the third time since 1969 he has bought
and sold the place (first to Ted Turner, then to Carlo Paretti),
making buckets of cash each time.
Meanwhile, last Wednesday, his MGM Mirage hotel and casino company
sealed a deal to pay $4.8bn for the Mandalay Resort Group, the Las
Vegas-based company. The confluence of these deals is a bit of a
coincidence, given that Kerkorian has been trying to unload MGM for
a while, and has been gobbling up properties on the Las Vegas strip
for years. But you’ve still got to admire the octogenarian’s sheer
audacity.
As a result of the Mandalay purchase, Kerkorian will be the biggest
casino boss in Vegas history – bigger than Bugsy Seagal, bigger than
Howard Hughes, bigger than Steve Wynn, whose renowned Bellagio resort
he swallowed up four years ago in a hostile takeover.
In total, Kerkorian will preside over 11 casino resorts on the famed
strip alone, including the Mirage, Excalibur and Luxor. Kerkorian’s
empire would also include 17 other gambling halls in Nevada, other
corners of the US, and Australia. His MGM Grand resort is already
the biggest venue in Vegas, but if the Mandalay deal passes muster
with regulators he’ll control more than half the hotel rooms and 40
per cent of the slot machines in town. As one wag put it in a local
Las Vegas paper: “It gives them the ability to cater to everyone,
from Joe Six Pack to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.”
As far as MGM the movie studio goes, did you catch its last cinematic
blockbuster? Me neither, but that’s because the studio has produced a
lot more forgettable duds than mega-hits. Its main success has been
the James Bond series and a string of low-budget, sequel-friendly
releases such as Jeepers Creepers and Barbershop. But the value of MGM
apparently lies in the vault of 4,000 old movies, including The Wizard
of Oz, Gone with the Wind, Rocky and Annie Hall, that are expected
to have new legs in this age of re-mastered DVDs and video-on-demand.
“Kirk is not a Hollywood person, he’s a money person,” fellow
billionaire David Geffen recently told Variety magazine. “He’s a
businessman, he’s not nostalgic and sentimental.”
Kerko (as he was known) was born in Fresno, California, to a family
of raisin farmers, and his life followed a fairly epic path from
there including dropping out of school at 13, a stint as a captain
in the Royal Air Force during World War II – he ferried planes back
and forth from Canada – and a successful career as a prizefighter
with the nickname “Rifle Right”.
Apparently he queues for movies and has never ordered up a private
screening of one of MGM’s movies. Although he never gives interviews,
Kerkorian’s friends and executives take pains to point out that rather
than being a Howard Hughes-esque recluse, he just couldn’t care less
about publicity. His top managers bash the tennis ball with him on
weekends at his Beverly Hills mansion. His company’s odd title is an
amalgam of his daughters’ names – Tracy and Linda. Worth around $6bn
he’s given some $150m to various causes in Armenia, but adamantly
refused invitations to have boulevards, airports and schools there
named after him.
In the business world, there are few destinations that have emptied
more pocketbooks and broken more dreams than Vegas and Hollywood. As if
conquering them wasn’t enough, who can forget Kerkorian’s bold play to
take over the automaker Chrysler in the 1990s? Even more entertaining
has been his ongoing $3bn lawsuit against DaimlerChrysler over the
1998 merger that created the auto giant.
The billionaire testified in a Detroit court in February that he
was deceived by DaimlerChrysler chairman Juergen Schrempp’s public
statement that it would be a “merger of equals”. (German executives
from the Daimler side ended up dominating the top jobs, but the
company has dismissed his claim as frivolous.) When DaimlerChrysler
lawyers tried to point out that Kerkorian, then Chrysler’s biggest
shareholder, hadn’t even read the deal’s final prospectus before
backing the merger, Kerkorian exploded in court: “I looked at the
merger as honest. We didn’t look in every nook and cranny for deceit,
but it was there.” A verdict in that case is expected this fall.
So what makes King Kirk run? No one can really say. Maybe he’s just
trying to save up a little for his retirement.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Real tragedy is refusal to call this genocide
By KATE SMITH
The Scotsman, UK
June 20 2004
AFTER the horrors of the Holocaust, Winston Churchill called it
“a crime without a name”. Now we know these acts of mass murder and
destruction as genocide.
What can it possibly matter to the families destroyed by the violence
and persecution in Sudan how the West categorises their suffering
and loss?
‘The problem is not in detection but in the world’s political will’
It matters for two reasons. Firstly, determining a genocide triggers
the 1948 UN International Convention of the Prevention and Punishment
of Genocide, which compels the member states to intervene. Secondly,
it starts the collection of evidence for any subsequent prosecution
of perpetrators.
Raphael Lemkin coined genocide in 1944, and the key phrase of the UN
convention is “the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national,
ethnical, racial or religious group”. This includes killing, bodily or
mental harm, preventing births, immiseration and forcibly transferring
children.
It seems beyond doubt that the actions of the Janjaweed Arab militias
against the Christian and Animist of Darfur constitute genocide,
but why does the West delay and resist naming Sudan as genocide?
The world has been here before. Bill Clinton has said that one of
the greatest mistakes of his presidency was in not declaring Rwanda
genocide. In 1998, Clinton tried to explain America’s failure to
respond to the tragedy by saying the speed and extent of the murders
were just not appreciated by Washington DC.
But here again, 10 years later and 1,000 miles north of Rwanda, a
different group of world leaders resists involvement by obfuscation
and deliberation over declaring a genocide.
George W Bush’s hesitation, it must be acknowledged, is influenced
by his military commitments elsewhere. Estimates are that 10,000
peacekeepers would be needed to end the genocide in southern Sudan.
The tragedy is made all the worse because genocide is both predictable
and preventable. Genocide takes organisation and preparation. The
business of preparing for genocide inevitably leaves a paper trail
of military correspondence, invoices and purchase orders.
General Romeo Dallaire, UN chief of staff in Rwanda, learned of plans
for the genocide three months before it began and requested extra
peacekeepers when he discovered training camps and massive shipments
of machetes arriving in Rwanda.
His reports to the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations drew
the response that his request exceeded the United Nations Assistance
Mission for Rwanda’s mandate and the peacekeepers that were in the
country were subsequently withdrawn.
Dallaire has since said that even those 2,800 withdrawn troops could
have saved hundreds of thousand of lives.
This failure of the international community to declare and intervene
explains why there are still genocides. The problem is not in
detection but in the political will of the global public and the
world’s leaders. The world has not developed the international
institutions needed to prevent it.
Sudan underlines the need for reform of the international
institutions. The UN Security Council needs a strong independent
early-warning system to predict genocide and to advise the Security
Council on options for prevention.
The UN also needs a standing professional rapid-response force that
does not depend on member governments’ military contributions. There
could also be agreement from the permanent five members of the Security
Council that no member will exercise their right of veto when genocide
prevention is needed.
The massacres in Sudan show once again the failure to take decisive
action and demonstrate clearly that effective mechanisms to prevent
or halt massive acts of violence still do not exist.
As for the lack of political will, it is a phenomenon of genocide
that it is surrounded by silence. It is what the perpetrators hope
for and have come to expect.
By failing to define it as genocide, the denial and silence of the
international community gives the perpetrators the space they need
to commit their crimes with impunity.
Eight hundred thousand people were killed in Rwanda in the first six
weeks. Some sources now estimate a million are dead in Darfur. Unless
we act, protest and lobby our politicians, we are all complicit in
the silence.
After all, Adolf Hitler told his army commanders to plan the genocide
of the Polish nation with the justification of “Who still talks
nowadays about the Armenians?”
Kate Smith is a Fellow of the Yale University Genocide Studies
Program. Her book, End of Genocide, is published by Praeger early
next year

Investors shore up country
By Naush Boghossian, Staff Writer
Los Angeles Daily News, CA
June 20 2004
GLENDALE — Foreign investors, many with roots in Armenia, are pumping
millions of dollars into their homeland to build housing, hotels,
roads and businesses.
American-Armenian billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, CEO of MGM Grand, has
committed $172 million to renovate 275 miles of highways, tunnels and
bridges in Armenia and streets in the capital of Yerevan, as well as
museums and theaters, through his Lincy Foundation.
Argentinian-Armenian Eduardo Eurnekian, who operates 33 airports
across South America, owns a company that took over the country’s only
airport in 2002. Construction of a new terminal began this month and
the airport will meet international standards by the completion of
the $42 million project.
New Jersey developer Vahak Hovnanian has bought 62 acres of land
20 minutes outside Yerevan to build an $80 million mini-city of 500
single-family homes, including time shares, a shopping mall, school,
sports complex and golf course — the only one in the Caucasus.
Foreign investment in Armenia grew 21.7 percent in the first quarter
of this year compared with the same period last year, according to
the National Statistics Service.
Part of the attraction is wanting to help the country, said Glendale
resident Savey Tufenkian, who along with husband Ralph and brother
Kosti Shirvanian is investing $12 million to purchase and renovate
the Ani Hotel.
“We had investments here, the stock market was high, we knew nothing
about hotels and we had no motive other than helping our country,”
she said. “They need us badly.”
Tufenkian’s Ani Hotel now employs 200 Armenians, and it is that type
of investment that the country needs more of, she said.
Owners of a successful local waste company, Shirvanian and her brother
were aware they would not make a profit for a while, and that if they
did, the money would be re-invested in building schools in Armenia.
“I believe in education, and I believe education is the most important
thing in Armenia — if we don’t educate our children, we are not
going to get ahead,” Tufenkian said.
Tufenkian is right, according to international trade specialist Ellen
House, who said Armenia is different from other former Soviet countries
because it has an educated population.
“Armenia does have things that some of the other developing countries
stuck in the cycle of debt don’t have: a literate, educated population
and some industries — the hallmarks of developed, industrialized
countries,” House said.
Tufenkian recounted how U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Harry Gilmore
once told her that Armenia, unlike other former Soviet countries,
is blessed with its diaspora — its scattered foreign population —
that continues to donate, invest and vacation in the country.
Armenians who have become successful in countries outside Armenia
not only invest in the new country but also have demonstrated strong
lobbying power — all essential to the country’s future.
“If they can get a start with investments from the diaspora community
and they have greater stability there and the economy gets better,
other companies will follow,” House said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TALK OF THE TOWN
By SAM WILLIAMS
New York Post, NY
June 20 2004
June 20, 2004 — New York is a city lost in translation. Almost half of
the Big Apple’s residents do not speak English as their first language,
according to surprising new research.
The research, conducted by the Modern Language Association, gives the
first neighborhood-by-neighborhood analysis of the languages spoken
across the five boroughs.
English, the official language in New York City since 1664, is spoken
as a first language by 3.9 million residents, while almost 3.6 million
people are more familiar with another tongue.
English is no longer the most widely spoken first language in more
than 30 New York neighborhoods, the research found.
Spanish has become the most widely spoken language in one-quarter of
the city’s neighborhoods.
The research, which uses data from the 2000 Census, allows linguists to
track everything from the number of Italian speakers in Tottenville,
S.I., (669) to the number of Gujarati speakers in Glen Oaks, Queens
(635).
“Our goal is to let people see what languages are spoken where,” says
Rosemary Feal, executive director of the Modern Language Association,
an organization dedicated to promoting the study and teaching of
languages.
David Goldberg, a Yiddish-language scholar who is MLA’s director
of foreign-language programs, said the research also breaks down
neighborhood language patterns into two major age groups — under 18
and over 18.
Such capabilities make it easy to spot the generation difference
between Manhattan’s Yiddish-speaking community, where less than 3
percent of speakers are under 18, and Brooklyn’s Yiddish-speaking
community, where the number of children speakers jumps to 35 percent.
Venture up to Rockland County, and the ratio of youthful speakers
rises to 47 percent.
“You can see a vibrant, relatively young Hasidic community moving in,”
says Goldberg.
A similar pattern appears to be emerging within the city’s
Chinese-speaking population.
Traditionally centered around Manhattan’s Lower East Side, the
community has formed two distinct offshoots in Brooklyn and Flushing,
Queens, over the last two decades.
Again, age data offer a hint at new immigration patterns: In Manhattan,
13 percent of Chinese speakers are under 18.
In Brooklyn and Queens, the numbers rise to 18 percent and 15 percent,
respectively.
When it comes to assessing the city’s two main language groups,
English and Spanish, The Bronx weighs in with the city’s largest
Spanish-speaking population (534,660), while Staten Island boasts
the largest percentage of English speakers — 74 percent.
Both boroughs have their surprises, however. The Bronx also happens
to be home to the city’s largest Tagalog community (3,981), while
Staten Island’s 10304 ZIP code hosts the largest concentration of
African-language speakers, 4.3 percent.
To really hear New York’s increasing linguistic diversity, one need
only visit Queens.
In addition to topping out in terms of native Chinese (126,904), Korean
(57,447), and Urdu (17,837) speakers, the city’s second-largest borough
boasts the most Armenian (3,531), Thai (2,794), and Navajo speakers
(11).
Perhaps the most significant evidence of linguistic diversity,
however, is the fact that English, while still predominant, registers
as a majority language in less than half — 28 out of 60 — Queens
ZIP codes.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Going in search of a family history
By Georgia Rowe, TIMES CORRESPONDENT
Contra Costa Times, CA
June 20 2004
MICHELINE AHARONIAN MARCOM isn’t old enough to remember the horrors
of the Armenian genocide. But she remembers her grandparents, who
were survivors.
“They were melancholy,” recalls the Berkeley-based author of “The
Daydreaming Boy.” “There was tremendous sadness. There was anger at
the Turks, and a lot of that anger came from the fact that Turkey to
this day has never acknowledged the genocide. Not only have they not
acknowledged it, they spend a lot of time and resources denying it
ever happened. And that makes the Armenians crazy.”
Marcom says she inherited a legacy of depression and bitterness from
the Armenian side of her family, which was shattered in the campaign
waged against Armenians by the Ottoman Turkish government from 1915
to 1923.
It’s a legacy she explored in her first novel, “Three Apples Fell
>>From Heaven.” She intends to write three books on the subject, and
“The Daydreaming Boy” is the second novel of the trilogy.
Set in Beirut, the new book has a central character in Vahé Tcheubjian,
an adult survivor of the genocide. On the surface, Vahé is a successful
businessman. But his internal life is in constant turmoil. Paralyzed
by memories of a traumatic childhood in a Lebanese orphanage, he spends
his days in a haze of guilt, loneliness, despair and violent fantasy.
A refugee’s view
While “Three Apples” told the stories of multiple Armenian characters,
“The Daydreaming Boy” focuses almost exclusively on Vahé. Marcom,
who teaches creative writing at Mills College in Oakland, says she
wanted this book to take a radically different approach.
In a recent interview in the Berkeley hills home she shares with her
husband, a software engineer, and their 3-year-old son, the author
explained that she was particularly interested in the effects of the
genocide on Armenian children.
“I wanted to write a book that was spoken through one person,” says
Marcom. “A war orphan, a refugee. Someone who is an extreme creation
of war.”
The book begins with one of Vahé’s earliest childhood memories: the
day he arrives in Lebanon, one of thousands of orphans shipped into
exile in cattle cars. The scene was based on a historical account
Marcom uncovered a few years back.
“It was written by an American missionary who was at the orphanage in
Lebanon,” she recalls. “He described the trains coming from Turkey,
how they stopped at the sea and how the boys who had been on the trains
for weeks — they were thirsty, tired, hungry — ran to the sea and
drank the water. They’d always lived in the interior of the country,
so they’d never known salt water.”
That scene marks the first of many memories for Vahé. As he relives
his days in the orphanage — scenes of hunger, confusion and brutality
at the hands of his fellow orphans — the character assumes tragic
proportions. For Marcom, Vahé represents a generation of survivors.
“He comes to consciousness in the orphanage,” she says, “so he’s
someone who can never really know who his family is. He is a man
without history, a man adrift.”
War stories
Marcom was born in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and spent her early childhood
in the Middle East. Her businessman father was American, her mother
was Armenian-Lebanese. When Marcom was 5, the family moved to Los
Angeles, but in the years before the Lebanese civil war, she spent
summers in Beirut with her mother’s family.
Growing up, she heard dozens of war stories — many of them concerning
members of her own family. Her grandmother, who saved her brothers
and sisters from the Turks, was a heroine, but her father — Marcom’s
great-grandfather — wasn’t so lucky. “They came and took him in the
middle of the night,” says the author. “No one ever saw him again.”
Her grandfather’s family survived intact, which was unusual. “But
my grandfather’s father could only save his wife and children,”
says Marcom. “He couldn’t save anyone in the extended family. My
great-grandmother never forgave him. She lived to be 96, and she had
that bitterness toward her husband to the end.”
For Marcom, growing up with these stories was a heavy burden. “It’s
a lot to live with,” she says.
Her maternal grandmother remains a particularly vivid presence in her
memory. “She talked about it all the time,” says Marcom. “There seem
to be a couple of responses to genocide — one is to talk about it all
the time, like my grandmother. The other is to be completely silent.”
Marcom notes that the family continued to sustain losses throughout her
own childhood. She mentions her “Uncle” Vahé — actually her mother’s
first cousin — who was killed in Beirut during a particularly fierce
period of ethnic cleansing in the mid-1980s. “The Daydreaming Boy”
is dedicated to his memory, although Marcom says the character of
Vahé is not based on him.
Similar stories
Marcom did extensive research to prepare for the new book, reading
about Armenian history, Lebanese culture, the genocide and the orphans
it produced. The scope of her reading expanded as she went, finally
including books on Rwanda, Bosnia and other sites of ethnic cleansing.
“The parallels are horribly similar,” she says. “Vahé could be a kid
now living in Iraq. In war, the details are all different, but some
things are always the same.
“I’m now reading about the genocide in Guatemala. It’s eerie and
horrifying. Even the language is the same, the way people everywhere
call their enemies ‘dogs.’ The debasement, the sexual humiliation;
the photos we’re seeing from Iraq are probably mild compared to a
lot of what goes on. It always happens in war.”
Even more upsetting to Marcom is the degree to which the history of
the Armenian genocide has been erased. Growing up in Los Angeles, she
studied World War I with no mention of the Armenian experience. Today,
she continues to be surprised by students, friends and acquaintances
who know little or nothing about the events of 1915-23, which resulted
in as many as a million Armenian deaths.
“We are so un-historied,” she says with a sigh. “This is why we’re
so easy to manipulate and so lonely.
“We don’t know our ancestors, we don’t know our history. It doesn’t
matter who you are here. You come here as an immigrant, and within
a generation you become the same way.”
For Marcom, writing “The Daydreaming Boy” was an educational as well
as an artistic experience. She says she learned a great deal about
her ancestors from writing the book. But it’s clear that the climate
of her own childhood memories contributed to the story’s emotional
charge. Those memories and the history that inspired them remain
inextricably linked to her heart.
“I was very interested in trying to get inside the mind of someone
like Vahé, who has experienced extreme trauma,” she says. “I think
every day for someone like him is a struggle. Every day you survive
is an achievement. I’ve met people who have survived war and genocide,
and they have said that to me. It’s a lifelong inheritance. It never
goes away.
“I’m still trying to understand it,” she adds. “That’s why I’m writing
these books. I myself knew nothing about being Armenian, nothing about
the genocide, except that I’d inherited a hell of a lot of depression
and melancholy.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Big talent at Bachauer Junior Piano Competition
By Catherine Reese Newton, The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune, UT
June 20 2004
Paul Pollei believes the ages between 11 and 13 are make-or-break
years for pianists. “That’s when they decide whether to keep going or
not,” said Pollei, artistic director of the Gina Bachauer
International Piano Foundation. The Bachauer is staging its
quadrennial Junior Piano Competition this week in the Assembly Hall
on Salt Lake City’s Temple Square.
Pollei hopes many young people who are on the fence about
continuing piano lessons will turn out and perhaps be inspired by
contestants who are “the age of kids who, in our society, give up.”
There are 37 pianists in this year’s competition; as this article
went to press, none of the competitors (invited from a field of more
than 70 applicants) have dropped out. “That’s a Bachauer first,”
Pollei noted.
All 37 pianists will perform 20 minutes of self-chosen repertoire
in the first round Tuesday and Wednesday, then will return to play
for 30 minutes Thursday and Friday. The seven-member jury then will
select six finalists to perform concerto movements, with pianist
Michael Sushel performing a piano reduction of the orchestral
accompaniment, Saturday night. Each of the six will receive a cash
prize ranging from $7,000 to $1,000. The always-popular peer jury —
young people the same ages as the competitors — also will award a
$500 prize to its favorite finalist.
The Junior Bachauer once included contestants as young as 8, but
Pollei found the prodigy track a little frightening. He believes it’s
healthier to wait until the youngsters have more seasoning.
This year’s competitors have impressive resumes already. Many of
them have won at least one piano competition; one, 13-year-old Sasha
Clynes of Suffern, N.Y., was a finalist in the ASCAP national
Composition Competition two years ago, and 13-year-old Kazakhstan
native Aleksei Fedorov is a past winner on TV’s “Star Search.” Chloe
Pang, a 12-year-old Californian, charmed host David Letterman on the
CBS “Late Show” a couple of months ago. The youngsters also have
hefty academic credentials: Karsten Gimre, 11, of Banks, Ore., began
college as a math major last year, and SiJing Ye, 12, of Beijing, won
a national chess competition in 1998.
The four-year Bachauer cycle also includes competitions for young
artists ages 14 to 18, who will compete here next June; artists 19 to
32, who vie for the $30,000 top prize in the Bachauer’s main event;
and adult amateurs. “What’s fun is to see when the juniors come back
as young artists,” Pollei said, adding he soon hopes to see some of
these young artists complete the Bachauer cycle.
He is also pleased to note the achievements of Bachauer alumni
such as Karen Hakobyan, a 19-year-old Armenian who competed in Salt
Lake City in 2001, returned here to study at the University of Utah
and has won numerous composition awards, most recently first prize in
the ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Awards; 1999 Young
Artists competition winner Yundi Li, who went on to win the Chopin
competition and now records with Deutsche Grammophon; and Kotaro
Fukuma, fourth-place Young Artists finisher in 1997 and winner of
last year’s Cleveland competition. “It’s thrilling to think we
helped,” Pollei said.
Thirteen nations are represented in this year’s Bachauer —
Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea,
Russia, Serbia-Montenegro, Singapore, Turkey, Uzbekistan and the
United States. Fifteen of the competitors reside in the United
States, but Pollei pointed out that many of them were born elsewhere.
He sees the nation’s dwindling prominence on the international piano
stage as part of a sad trend resulting from the demise of arts
education in public schools. “Utahns should be the most ashamed and
the most proud,” he said. “It’s such a musical state by nature, but
music is so underencouraged by those who should help” — namely the
state Legislature.
37 young pianists
The Gina Bachauer International Junior Piano Competition takes
place Tuesday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m.,
Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4 to 9 p.m., with a
final round and awards ceremony Saturday from 5 to 9 p.m., in the
Assembly Hall on Temple Square, Salt Lake City.
Admission is free.

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Children Of Armenia Fund
Contact: Mary Ann Kibarian
212-994-8250
[email protected]
Christopher Hitchens of Vanity Fair to be Keynote Speaker at COAF
Gala at the St Regis Hotel, New York
New York- June 16th, 2004- Christopher Hitchens, columnist and
contributing editor at Vanity Fair, has been chosen as the keynote
speaker for the Children Of Armenia Fund (COAF) Gala to be held on
Thursday, June 24th, 6:30 pm, at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City.
“I am delighted that Mr. Hitchens will be delivering the
keynote address,” stated Dr. Garo Armen, President and Founder
of COAF. “Mr. Hitchens’ unique knowledge of disadvantaged people,
including Armenians, makes the delivery of his keynote address very
meaningful for this occasion.”
Christopher Hitchens began his journalism career in London in 1971.
After emigrating to the United States in 1981, he has established
himself as a columnist and contributing editor, book reviewer and
essayist for a wide array of publications from The Nation to Vanity
Fair. Mr. Hitchens has also authored numerous books including Cyprus:
Hostage to History; The Elgin Marbles; The Monarchy: A Critique of
Britain’s Favorite Fetish; and many others. Mr. Hitchens is the
recipient of the 1992 Lannan Foundation Literary Award for Non-Fiction
and the 1996 Professional Integrity Award from the Society of Print
and Broadcast Media.
The COAF gala will honor Cynthia and Larry Feinberg for their
exceptional contribution towards the betterment of children living
in impoverish conditions in Armenia. Other featured speakers at
this event are acclaimed author Peter Balakian and Dennis Walto of
Save the Children. Mark Gavoor, Director of Customer Service and
Logistics for Colgate-Palmolive, will be the Master of Ceremonies.
About COAF
COAF’s mission is to find sustainable solutions to the current plight
of many Armenian children, culminating from a most tumultuous past
15 years. Its objective is to address all areas of essential child
development by creating sustainable and effective programs designed to
reverse the current impoverished conditions that affect the majority
of the population and beneficially impact the greatest number of young
Armenians. Key programs include improving healthcare and nutrition,
developing improved sanitation to provide clean and safe drinking
water, and expanding irrigation and food processing capabilities.
This recovery process will provide Armenians with the means necessary
to foster economic growth and re-build the community
In 2003, Dr. Armen , with Executive Director, Mary Ann Kibarian and
the COAF Board of Directors, launched an aggressive campaign to bring
hope and recovery to children of rural Armenia with the COAF Rural
Development Initiative. This past May, Dr. Armen presided over the
opening of the COAF offices in Yerevan, established to oversee ground
operations and manage COAF partnerships with such international
organizations as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
COAF has successfully completed a program in partnership with the US
Department of State to bring demining team of dogs and handlers to
rid Armenia of the landmines left from the war with Azerbaijan. This
was a $400,000 project.
In addition to Dr. Armen’s position as President of COAF, he is the
Chairman and CEO of Antigenics, a publicly held biotechnology company
that develops breakthrough therapeutics for cancer. In July of 2002,
Dr. Armen served as Chairman of Élan Corporation, a biopharmaceutical
company. At Élan, Dr. Armen initiated a recovery plan that ultimately
saved this company from certain collapse. In May, Dr. Armen was named
one of the recipients awarded the 2004 Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
COAF Gala Contact Info
Arienne Orozco
Susan Ulin & Associates
212-675-9474
[email protected]

philstar.com
Armenia wins vs Rest of World
Let’s play C H E S S By Nm Edgar De Castro
The Philippine Star 06/20/2004
The most celebrated team match between Armenia and Rest of the World took
place June 10-16 in Moscow. The match was organized to honor the 75th birth
anniversary of the late Armenian world chess champion Tigran Petrosian.
Former world champion Garry Kasparov, whose mother is Armenian, led the
Armenian contingent. The All-Star cast included world title challenger Peter
Leko, whose wife is Armenian, many-time world contender Boris Gelfand, who
is Petrosian’s favorite pupil, and super GMs Vladimir Akopian, Smbat Lputian
and Rafael Vaganian. The Rest of the World had former world champion
Viswanathan Anand (India), World’s No. 8 Michael Adams (England), and World
No. 6 Peter Svidler, the current Russian champion. Super GMs Loek van Wely
(Holland), Etienne Bacrot (France) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (Spain)
completed the cast.
The match was played over six rounds, and conducted on the Scheveningen
format, i.e., each player on one side plays against every player on the
other team. The overall result, with Team Rest of the World prevailing, was
18.5 : 17.5. At a certain stage of the final round match, it was thought
Armenia might level the score, as Gelfand held the advantage against Bacrot
in a Rook and Bishop vs. Rook ending. But the French champion gamely hang
on, finally obtaining a draw in a marathon endgame. * * *
At 73, Victor Korchnoi must be on the decline. The two-time world title
challenger is feeling, by his own admission, the ravages of time. His Elo
rating has tremendously dropped, and in the latest World Rankings, he was
out of the top 100, the first time since almost half a century ago. But in
the 2004 Gyorgy Marx Chess Memorial held June 5-15 in Hungary, he paced
himself beautifully, topping the Category 14 all-GM event. He had 7.5 out of
possible 10, and an impressive 2780 performance rating.
Second was Hungary’s young star Ferenc Berke (6.5), followed by Alexander
Beliavsky of Slovenia (6.0), Nevednichy of Romania (4.0) and Magyar
stalwarts Lajos Portisch and Peter Acs (3.0). * * *
The 2004 Russian Super Chess League, held recently in the seaport of Sochi,
was the strongest in years. There were 10 teams in all, composed mostly of
super GMs and aspiring young stars. The big names this year included GMs
Alexander Morozevich, Alexander Grischuk, Evgeny Bareev, Victor Bologan,
Boris Gelfand, Vladimir Akopian and Vladimir Malachov.
The unpredictable performance of the young crop of Russian players, made a
forecast, a not too easy task, but the final result was, as a whole, a
vindication of youth. The Morozevich led Toms 400 Yukos, emerged champion,
garnering 15.0 total match points, and 35.0 total game points, and beating
chief rival Norilsky Nikel in the deciding match. Morozevich, who is ranked
seventh in the current world ratings, provided the scoring sock for the
champion team, with an impressive 6.5/8, for a very high 2900 performance
rating on board 1. Joining Morozevich in the winning team were Akopian
(5/7), Khalifman (4.5/7), Jakowenko (4/7), Inarkiev (4/7), Smirnov (4.5/7).
Bocharov (3/4) and Belosarov (1/1. The last four were all young GMs in their
early twenties.
Now for the best attacking game of the 2004 Russian Super Chess League.
Russian Super League 2004
W) GM A. Morozevich
B) GM V. Bologan
Caro-Kann Defense
1. e4 c6
2. d4 d5
3. f3 …
Rather unexpected. Morozevich refrains from well-known lines such as 3. Nc3
and 3. e5 in favor of something “unorthodox.”
3… e6
The Pawn sacrifice after 3…dxe4 4. fxe4 e5 5. Nf3 (Black’s threat is
5…Qh4ch) 5…exd4 6. Bc4, is assessed by theory as unfavorable for Black.
4. Nc3 Bb4
5. Bf4!? …
This system of development was seen in the game Nataf-Motylev, Istanbul
2000, in which White achieves a sound position and can quickly get an
advantage should Black play inaccurately.
5… Ne7
Black anticipates the Pawn avalanche g4-g5 and h4-h5, so correctly develops
the Knight to e7 instead of f6.
6. Qd3 b6
7. Nge2 Ba6
8. Qe3 0-0
9. 0-0-0 c5
10. a3 Bxc3
11. Qxc3 Bxe2
12. Bxe2 c4
After 12…cxd4 13. Qxd4 Nbc6 14. Qf2 enhances the scope of White’s Bishops,
so Black decides to lock the center.
13. h4 b5
14. Qe1 Nbc6
15. h5 Qd7
15…dxe4 16. fxe4 Nxe4 17. Kb1 leads to a difficult game for Black owing to
the unpleasant pin on the d-file.
16. g4 f6
Preventing White’s 17. h6, and if 17…g6, then 18. e5! with the idea of
Qh4-Qf6-Qg7 mate.
17. Bf1!? …
A cunning move, intending to exploit Black’s weakness on the e6 square, via
the maneuver Bh3-g5-exd5.
17… Rad8
The continuation 17…Nxd4 18. Rxd4 e5 19. Rd2 exf4 seems risky on account
of 20. h6! g6 (or 20…g5? 21. exd5 Nxd5 22. Qe4 Rad8 23. Bxc4 bxc4 24. Rhd1
f5 25. Qxc4 Qf7 26. Rxd5 fxg4 27. Rxg5ch wins) 21. exd5 Nxd5 22. Qe4 Rad8
23. Bxc4 bxc4 24. Rhd1 f5 25. Qxc4 fxg4 26. Rxd5 Qf7 27. Qc3 Rxd3 28. Rxd5
g3 29. Qd4, white has the upperhand.
18. Bh3 dxe4
19. fxe4 Nxd4
20. g5 …
Threatening 21. h6 and also activating the h3 Bishop.
20… f5
21. Kb1 …
Intending 22. c3, without allowing …Nb3ch.
21… Qc6
22. h6 fxe4?
Here’s the losing move. White gains a decisive tempo in his Kingside attack.
Necessary for Black is 22…g6 (not 22…Qxe4? 23. Qxe4 fxe4 24. Rxd4! Rxd4
25. Bxe6ch Rf7 (or 25…Kh8 26. Be5) 26. Rf1 and White gets a winning game)
23. Bg2, Black can still hang on.
23. Qc3! e3
After 23…Qb6 24. Rxd4! Qxd4 25. Bxe6ch, White also wins easily. For
instance 25…Rf7 (25…Kh8? 26. Be5!! and mate) 26. Qxd4 Rxd4 27. Rf1 Nf5
28. Be5 Rdd7 29. Rxf5 e3 30 Rxf7 Rxf7 31. g6! hxg6 32. Bxf7ch Kxf7 33. h7 e2
34. Bc3. White likewise wins after 23…Qb6 24. Rxd4 Rxd4 25. Bc7! Nd5 26.
Bxb6 Nxc3 27. bxc3, etc.
24. Rxd4! …
Away with all obstacles. Everything is forced from hereon.
24… Qxh1ch
25. Ka2 Qxh3
26. Rxd8 gxh6
If 26…Nf5 27. Qe5 Qh5 (or 27…Rxd8 28. Qxe6ch Kf8 29. hxg7ch Kxg7 30.
Qf6ch Kg8 31. Qxd8ch) 28. Qxe6ch Qf7 29. Qxf7ch Kxf7 30. g6ch!! Kxg6
(30…hxg6 31. Rxf8ch Kxf8 32. h7 wins) 31. Rxf8, White wins.
27. gxh6 Qg4
28. Qh8ch!! 1:0
It is mate in two after 28…Kxh8 29. Rxf8ch, followed by 30. Be5.
1. Ne3! …
If 1…b1=Q/b1=N, 2. Qxd2/Rc2 mate, or 1…d1=Q/d1=N, 2. Qxb2/Qc2 mate. Or
1…f1=Q/f1=N, 2. Qxd2/Nd1 mate, while 1…Nxd3/N=any , 2. Qxd3/Nd5 mate,
and finally 1…Rxh7/Re1, 2. Nd1/h8=Q mates

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Summerfest kicks up its cool quotient with younger lineup
By GEMMA TARLACH
Journal Sentinel pop music critic
Posted: June 19, 2004
Prince likes us
Babisch, who books all the Marcus Amphitheater acts for Summerfest,
labors each year to keep ticket prices affordable. In 2003, for
example, bargaining with Fleetwood Mac’s management led to Summerfest
having the lowest ticket prices of the band’s tour. Keeping cost in
check is increasingly difficult, however, as the industrywide average
continues to rise, particularly for older performers.
“The older, more seasoned acts like Madonna are generating the
highest grosses, but that goes in line with them having the higher
ticket prices,” said Ray Waddell, who covers the touring industry as
a senior writer for Billboard.
MTV’s Armenia wasn’t surprised to hear Madonna, Van Halen and most
other older-skewing acts were skipping Summerfest, with the exception
of Crosby, Stills & Nash, who will headline the amphitheater July 3.
More established acts also tend to have more elaborate production
requirements for their performances and might not be able to set up
in an amphitheater setting.
Prince, who kicks off Summerfest on Thursday, is an exception to the
demanding, high-priced veterans hitting the road this season.
“Prince reworked his entire schedule to play here because he likes
playing here. We’re his only outdoor date,” said Babisch, adding that
the funk-rock icon also was willing to change his stage configuration
to fit into the amphitheater.
-mail Gemma Tarlach at [email protected].