California Courier Online, August 12, 2004

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

By Harut Sassounian
California Courier Publisher
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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

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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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: apsla@yahoo.com.
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress