Mayor Joe the Turk
By RYAN HEINZ, Eagle Staff Writer
Macomb Eagle, IL
May 28 2004
Here at the Macomb Eagle, we get no shortage from week to week of
proclamations from the mayor’s office. At any given time, our fax
machine could be clogged with notifications that this is in fact
“Administrative Professionals Day,” “Humming Bird Appreciation Week” or
“Wear a Hawaiian Shirt to Work Month.” Now don’t get us wrong, we could
hardly get by without our administrative professional, we think humming
birds are neat and we would love to wear a Hawaiian-style uniform
for a month, but some of these proclamations can get a little unusual.
Then there was last week in which we received notification that it was
Salvation Army Week. That didn’t seem too out of the ordinary, but a
release from the Salvation Army titled “The Saga of ‘Joe the Turk'”
did get our attention. Essentially, the release was a mini-biography on
one of the Salvation Army’s most colorful, real-life characters, Joe
the Turk – a mustachioed man with a penchant for “flaming red, baggy
zouave trousers,” fezzes and Jesus. Throughout the one-page report
on Joe it chronicled his life, including his rise up in the ranks of
the Salvation Army and his many run-ins with the law for disturbing
the peace. And then there was Joe’s stint in our very own Macomb.
The release read: “After rescuing a local Salvation Army officer from
a lynch mob in Green Bay, Wis., Joe the Turk made his way to Macomb,
Ill. in September 1892 where he succeeded in driving out the mayor
of the town, said to be a desperado from Texas who had taken over
the town, and himself became the acting mayor. He then appointed the
Salvation Army Corps officer as chief of police and for six weeks
Macomb was the only town in the world run by the Salvation Army.”
It sounded like a “Spaghetti Western” or at the very least a good
premise for a silent film (just imagine Charlie Chaplin as Joe the Turk
running around Macomb in a shoddy black and white film with a tinkering
piano as the accompanying soundtrack). But while the plot would appear
to be a bit outlandish, was there actually a little bit of truth to it?
“Zero,” said noted local historian John Hallwas. “We must understand
that folklore – that is things that never really took place – are
still common today. But they were even more common a century ago.”
And then there is Maj. Florence Moffitt’s take on the story of Joe
the Turk’s encounter with Macomb. As director of the Salvation Army’s
Midwest Regional Museum in Des Plaines, she agreed that there were
some holes in the story. Still, she believed the bulk of it to be true.
“The story is true that (Joe the Turk) was the mayor of Macomb,”
Moffitt said. “It’s disputed how long. Some people say three weeks,
some people say six weeks, but he did used to carry a sign around
with him that said ‘Ex-mayor of Macomb, Ill.'”
Since there is little evidence in the way of what actually did happen
when Joe the Turk was in Macomb, the only thing to do is give both
sides the whole saga and let the reader decide for themselves. Here
today we’ll give the Salvation Army’s angle with the second scenario
in the next issue of the Macomb Eagle.
Joe the Turk takes down a desperado mayor
Much of the great Joe the Turk epic was collected in March 3 and
24 (1934) issues of The War Cry – an official publication of the
Salvation Army. In an article by Adjutant William G. Harris, Joe
the Turk’s Macomb saga is thoroughly explored, as are several other
classic stories about this eccentric man’s life. In fact, he was such
a unique individual that Harris almost immediately pointed out in his
article that, “Joe has the color of the East, the showmanship of the
West, the passion of the Latins, the fervency of the colored folk,
the determination of the Scot, the pertinacity of the Norseman and
the enthusiasm of the Irish.”
Or as Moffitt put it, Joe was simply “a very colorful personality.”
“He made up his own uniforms; he didn’t always follow the regulations
as far as the military uniform is concerned,” she said. “I mean,
he used to wear pantaloons, bright-colored stuff and he wore a fez
on his head. Well, now that’s not exactly Salvation Army attire.”
Joe the Turk was born Nishan Der Garabedian in Tallas, Turkey in
1860. However, he was actually not Turkish, but instead Armenian. He
later went by the name Joseph Garabed, although he was widely known
simply as Joe the Turk.
Joe was a spiritual boy growing up, but he was not always a Salvation
Army devotee. Instead, he went on to become a noteworthy shoemaker,
practicing his trade out of Turkey’s capital of Constantinople.
Unfortunately, his great success as a shoemaker was short-lived thanks
to the Russo-Turkish War, during which time he lost everything. Joe
then went on to Russia for a brief time to start all over again,
but soon decided to move to America after receiving word from his
brother that there was a great deal of opportunity there.
It was on his trip to America that Joe first encountered the Salvation
Army during a stopoff in Liverpool, England. Despite not knowing any
English, Harris wrote that Joe was greatly awed by their meetings. But
upon joining his brother’s side in Worcester, Mass., he delved deeply
into drink and smoke during his 13-month stay. He would later again
feel the calling of the Salvation Army when he relocated to San
Francisco. From there he became a full-fledged member, eventually
gave up his bad habits (including his indulgence in some occasional
fisticuffs) and gave his heart over to God. Moffitt said at this
point in his life, Joe learned to channel his rugged, thuggish ways
into becoming “a very aggressive evangelist.”
“He used to have a stamp that he carried that said ‘Jesus Saves,’ and
when he was put in jail he used to stamp the walls, ‘Jesus Saves,’
‘Jesus Saves,'” she added. “When he went into peoples’ houses, he
even stamped it on the bed linens and stuff like that. That didn’t
always go over well.”
Prior to making his way to Macomb, Joe was often arrested and sometimes
jailed for disturbing the peace. This had less to do with him throwing
his hefty six-foot, 250-pound frame around than it did for him playing
music instruments in the streets as he preached the word of God.
According to Harris’ article, Joe received no warm welcoming when
showing up in Macomb. As a result, the Salvationist asked to see the
mayor, who is not favorably described by Harris.
“The mayor proved to be a desperado who years before in the days of
local option, when the town had declared itself dry, invaded it with
a band of his Texas henchmen. The invaders were all heavily armed,
easily captured control of the place and soon had the town under their
thumb,” he wrote. “The mayor opened a big saloon and ran it himself
and managed to retain power by the simple expedient of not allowing
elections and resisting by brute force every attempt to oust him.”
Enter Joe the Turk, who apparently was able to successfully overthrow
the corrupt mayor. Harris’ article stated that Joe ordered a band of
“local Salvationist forces” to the local jail one night “to cheer
up their commanding officers (who had been jailed earlier) with song
and testimony.” The crowd was then met with by the mayor who was so
furious that he assaulted the sergeant-major and then attempted to
shoot him with a firearm, although the gun did not go off.
Joe, upon hearing this, quickly moved to confront the mayor and soon
made every effort to oust him from his post. This included going to
the three local papers and writing a daily column “denouncing the
conditions of the day.” Eventually, the people of Macomb came together
for “a great parade and rally” that was so intimidating to the mayor
that he and his thugs “cleared out of town.”
Joe then declared himself mayor and appointed as police chief one of
the Salvation Army officers, which essentially meant the Salvation
Army was in charge of the town. This went on for a matter of about
five to six weeks before Joe endorsed an editor of one of the town
papers as a suitable replacement. Of the replacement, Harris wrote,
“(Joe’s) suggestion was received with great cheering, the motion
being carried unanimously.”
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International Journalist’s Network
May 28 2004
Building Multimedia News
Jun 01, 2004 – Jun 03, 2004
Workshop
In Yerevan, Armenia. Organized by the Caucasus Media Institute
(CMI) for Armenian journalists. Participants will learn
how to tell news stories on the Internet by combining text,
photographs and animation. Participants also will learn how to
use computer technologies to improve their online reporting. Other
sessions will focus on basic news reporting and story-telling
techniques. The participants receive certificates upon completion
of the course. Applications (in Armenian) are available at
Interested
participants should also include a letter of support from
their editor-in-chief. All the materials should be sent to Seda
Muradyan, CMI program officer at media@[email protected]. For
more information, call (00374-1) 540631, (00374-1) 540632, or visit

UN Millennium Development Goals to be implemented in Armenia
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
26 May 04
[Presenter] According to the UN experts’ assessments, the successes
achieved in Armenia by the implementation of the UN Millennium
Development Goals are impressive. The regional representative of the
UN Millennium Development Goals, Yeji Osiatynski noted that apart from
the successes which have been achieved, there are a lot of works to
be done in education, health care and other spheres. Osiatynski said
that if we are speaking about the reduction of poverty it is necessary
to increase the level of higher education. When people are educated it
is easier for them to find a job, and more jobs means less poor people.
[Correspondent] Armenia has joined the UN new programme four years
ago, which is called the Millennium Development Goals, with 190 other
countries. The programme encompasses the following eight areas of
human challenge.
These are: To reduce poverty and starvation, to achieve primary
education, gender equality, to reduce child mortality, maternal
health, to struggle against HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases,
to ensure environmental protection and to create a global partnership
for development.
Among these eight goals, the first, poverty reduction is the most
important for Armenia. The regional representative of the UN Millennium
Development Goals, Yeji Osiatynski noted that the time has come when
the economic growth registered in Armenia will be directed to the
reduction of poverty.
[Yeji Osiatynski, captioned in his office, in English with Armenian
voice over] It is not important that poverty will be reduced in 2005,
2010 or 2015. It is a necessary political and social aim and we
are moving forward in this direction. The democratic system, a free
economy and creative and talented people will help you in this work.
[Correspondent] The Polish official who visited Armenia for the first
time, who was finance minister in his home country, considers that
the time is right to clear the county of corruption and to reduce the
number of poor people in the country. Osiatynski thinks that the young
hold great potential for the newly developing countries and also for
Armenia. The future of the country is in their hands. Armenian Prime
Minister Andranik Markaryan also agreed with Osiatynski’s opinion.
[Yeji Osiatynski] Today during the meeting with the prime minister I
understood that there is a readiness and intention to implement the
Millennium Development Goals for the sake of the country and their
people. With all your efforts you must build a democratic state,
have a free economy and you will succeed.
[Correspondent] The representatives of the government and political
organizations discussed the UN Millennium Development Goals.
Artak Aleksanyan, “Aylur”.

Armenian president and ecology minister discuss Lake Sevan, environment
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
26 May 04
[Presenter] President Robert Kocharyan held a working meeting today
with Ecology Minister Vardan Ayvazyan where they discussed protection
of Lake Sevan, forests and other environmental issues. The ecology
minister assured the head of state that the efforts directed to the
restoration of the green areas all over the republic will be felt
this year.
[Correspondent] During the discussion of the environmental issues with
the president, Ecology Minister Vardan Ayvazyan outlined the issue
of Lake Sevan. Already in 1998, President Robert Kocharyan urged to
stop the use of Lake Sevan’s water for energetic aims. As a result of
some years’ works, the water level in Lake Sevan has risen by 98cm,
which means that now the lake contains 1.18bn cu.m. more water. The
minister announced that now they are concerned about the rising water
level in Sevan. The Ecology Ministry is implementing the programmes
on protection of the ecosystem of Lake Sevan and development of the
surrounding environment, with the assistance of the international
organizations.
[Armenian Ecology Minister, Vardan Ayvazyan, captioned] We discussed
the issues connected with the protection of the ecological system of
Lake Sevan, and especially the Ecology Ministry, which is implementing
an 8m-dollar programme in the area of Lake Sevan. We are trying
to implement various programmes in the villages too, starting with
protection and restoration of the green areas and development and
implementation of small businesses.
[Correspondent over video of Lake Sevan] The president focused
attention on the issues of building a National Park around Lake
Sevan. The forests’ issues are also always in the president’s centre
of attention. The minister assured him that cultivation of 360,000
hectare of forests in Gegargunik and Tavush Regions will yield a
positive result.
The president also stressed the importance of adopting a law on
ecology, which according to the ecology minister it is already
ready. The government will submit it to parliament for discussion soon.
Lilit Setrakyan, “Aylur”.

USA to expand military ties with Azerbaijan – US congressman
Trend news agency
27 May 04
Baku, 27 May: “We welcome the Azerbaijani peacekeepers’ involvement,
along with the US military, in the fight against international
terrorism,” Congressman Curt Weldon, vice chairman of the House Armed
Services Committee, said at a meeting with Azerbaijani Defence Minister
Safar Abiyev on 26 May.
The US Congressman’s mission in Baku is to expand military cooperation
between the USA and Azerbaijan, Weldon said. He highly praised
Azerbaijan’s role in regional security issues. The USA intends to
make greater efforts for settling the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict,
he said. “The USA will continue its relations with Azerbaijan as with
its strategic partner,” he said.
Defence Minister Abiyev stressed that Azerbaijan is working shoulder
to shoulder with the USA in NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme and
in the struggle against international terrorism. Since the first days
of its independence, Azerbaijan has given preference to integration
into Europe and the USA and firmly has kept to this position, Abiyev
said. He also provided the congressman with detailed information
about the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.

Germany to allocate 6m euro to Armenia for reconstruction of power stations
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
26 May 04
[Presenter] As a result of the two-day (25-26 May) working session
of the Armenian-German financial and technical cooperation it was
confirmed that Germany will allocate Armenia a grant of 6m euros in
July. This financial aid will be channelled to the reconstruction
of small hydroelectric power stations. During the 11 months of the
Armenian-German cooperation programmes the Germans assisted Armenia
with more than 150m euros.
[Correspondent over video of meeting] A protocol adopted during the
two-day interparliamentary session of the Armenian-German financial
and technical cooperation, confirmed and signed over some champagne,
was headed by Armenian Finance and Economy Minister Vardan Khachatryan
and the head of Transcaucasus and Middle Asia Department of Germany
Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, Wolfgang Armbruster.
[Wolfgang Armbruster, captioned, in Germany with Armenian voice
over] Our cooperation is within the framework of the economic
reforms achieved by the Armenian government. These are water supply,
reconstruction of small hydroelectric power stations, assistance to
the communities, health programmes, etc.
[Correspondent] The finance and economy minister said that all the
programmes have been discussed one by one. There is a problem in the
water supply system which is being resolved in Armavir town and also
10 communities. Noragung company is implementing the programme.
Similar programmes will be implemented in Lori and Shirak
Regions. Among the republic’s regions, Armavir is the first which
will have a 24-hour quality water supply system. Lori and Shirak will
follow after Armavir this year.
An additional programme on the reconstruction of small hydroelectric
power stations will be confirmed in Bonn in July.
The next interparliamentary negotiations will be held in Bonn, in
the spring of 2005.
Susan Badalyan, “Aylur”.

Armenian leader favours integration into “family of democratic countries”
Mediamax news agency
27 May 04
Yerevan, 27 May: Armenian President Robert Kocharyan said in Yerevan
today that “Armenia will continue its way to full integration into
the family of democratic countries, which requires lengthy and
consistent work”.
According to Mediamax, Kocharyan said this at a meeting with the
ambassadors of foreign countries to Armenia, whose residences are
outside Armenia.
“Attaching special importance to Armenia’s close cooperation with
European and other international organizations, we believe that
our country should keep abreast of the modern world,” Kocharyan
said. According to him, loyalty to the complementary policy, which
became the basis of Armenia’s foreign policy several years ago,
has yielded rather serious results.
Speaking about the economic situation in the country, Kocharyan added
that the first stage of reforms had ended. This is proved by the
stable pace of economic growth and good macroeconomic indices, which
have been maintained over the last few years. Despite this, Kocharyan
said, part of Armenia’s population lives on the verge of poverty, and
a solution to this problem is the Armenian government’s priority today.
Kocharyan said that he welcomed the idea of an annual meeting in
Yerevan between the non-resident ambassadors. According to him, regular
meetings of this kind with the diplomats, who do not permanently
live on Armenian territory, “will allow us to present the processes
in the country in a better way”.

ARMENIAN EXPERTS’ VIEW ON ARMENIA’S FUTURE
A1 Plus | 15:48:39 | 27-05-2004 | Politics |
Only in 10 years Armenian will be reckoned among middle-level
countries, more than a half of 50 experts having participated in My
View on Future survey conducted by Armeian Center for National and
International Studies think.
46% of respondents think Armenia will be weak country, and only 4%
are convinced Armenia will turn into mighty state.
The Center has conducted also another expert-opinion survey on Armenian
foreign policy and its relations with superpowers.
The results of the survey were presented at the seminar-discussion
held in the Center on Thursday.
To the question whether cut in the U.S. humanitarian aid and financial
assistance will have impact on your family 72% respondents said “no”,
6% didn’t know what to say and 22% said “yes”.
Yerkir newspaper’s Editor-in-Chief Spartak Seiranyan reacting to the
question said he found the question irrelevant to the purpose and
wondered how such a question could help to have an idea of Armenian
foreign policy.
50% of respondents attach importance to the idea of improving
Armenian-Turkish relations and opening the border. 40% voiced their
disapproval over the idea and 10% didn’t respond.
It is remarkable that 30% of questioned experts are from state-owned
institutions and 70% from private enterprises.

FORMER PRO-GOVERNMENT POLITICIAN WANTS TRANSITION OF POWER
A1 Plus | 17:58:19 | 27-05-2004 | Politics |
Former head of parliamentary standing commission on foreign affairs
and now Liberal-Progressive Party leader Hovhannes Hovhannisyan said
Thursday he was unhappy about foreign policy pursued by Armenian
leadership.
Hovhannisyan, who was engaged in foreign policy for four years,
voiced alarm at Armenia’s future saying the current authorities’
short-sighted foreign policy put Armenia’s security in danger. He
said the republic was gradually being removed from the EU programs.
Today, Liberal-Progressive Party celebrates 100 days of its
foundation. The party addressed Armenian people and all political
forces urging them to prevent Armenia from becoming Russian interests’
stronghold. Policy must be changed and the republic leadership ousted
from power, the address says.

ARMENIAN LAWMAKERS ATTACH NO IMPORTANCE TO INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS’ OPINION
A1 Plus | 17:25:37 | 27-05-2004 | Politics |
Armenian National Assembly’s members spoke Thursday on international
institutions’ assessment of Armenian processes, often not so pleasant.
People MP parliamentary group’s member Vahram Baghdasaryan shares
Freedom House organization’s opinion, according to which Armenia is
an authoritarian state. In his words, little progress is seen in the
republic. To speed up the progress It is necessary to find out what
hobbles it, he said.
Levon Lazarian, an MP from Dashnaktsutyun, one of the ruling coalition
three parties, is convinced Armenia is quite stable and democratic
country. He thinks international organizations’ judgments shouldn’t
be taken seriously, as they are subjective.
Other lawmakers shared his opinion. Nobody disputed his statement –
the opposition MPs were absent from parliament discussion.