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The Armenian Weekly; Volume 74, No. 4; Feb. 2, 2008
Commentary and Analysis:
1. America Deserves
By Khatchig Mouradian
2. Armenia’s 2008 Presidential Elections: Does Anyone Care?
By Christian Garbis
3. Letter to the Editor
***
1. America Deserves
By Khatchig Mouradian
"I know I haven’t spent a long time to learn the ways of Washington, but I’ve
been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change."
-Barack Obama
The ANCA this week decided to endorse Barack Obama as the Democratic
Presidential candidate who can change "the ways of Washington" when it comes
to issues of concern for Armenian-Americans and the anti-genocide community
in the U.S.
The decision was made because the ANCA, and the Armenian-American community
on the whole, are sick and tired of the ways of Washington-the way
continuous administrations have insulted the memory of the victims of the
genocide and the ever-dwindling numbers of genocide survivors by
trivializing their suffering. These survivors have since become citizens of
this country, have fought and struggled for this nation, while their
presidents-leaders of the free world-have yet to validate their history.
The Armenian-American community-and, we believe, every informed and
concerned citizen of this country-cannot help but be sick and tired of how
the ways of Washington and the ways of Ankara merge when it comes to denial,
the falsification and complete disregard to the suffering of an entire
people.
The Armenian-American community is also sick and tired of the way the Bush
Administration has treated Armenia and the Karabakh question, succumbing
more often than not to policies dictated by a country considered to be
America’s ally-Turkey.
For all these, and many other reasons, America deserves a leader.
America deserves a leader who will not say, "It is not the right time" when
it comes to recognizing genocide.
America deserves a leader who will not say that there’s "more important work
to do" for Congress than setting the historical record straight.
America deserves a leader who will stand up against human rights violations,
atrocities and genocide, whether past or present, whether committed by
allies on enemies.
America deserves a leader who says, "I’m asking you to believe. Not just in
my ability to bring about real change in Washington. I’m asking you to
believe in yours."
And, finally, America deserves a leader who says, "America deserves a leader
who speaks truthfully about the Armenian Genocide and responds forcefully to
all genocides. I intend to be that President."
And stands by what s/he says.
We look to Barack Obama to be that leader.
—————————————— ———————————————–
2 . Armenia’s 2008 Presidential Elections: Does Anyone Care?
By Christian Garbis
With the Armenian presidential elections fast approaching-scheduled to be
held on Feb. 19-life for most Armenians seems to be moving forward without
very much anticipation over who may become their nation’s next leader. It is
business as usual in Yerevan with yet-to-be-seen active public interest
being exhibited on the streets. Campaigning formally began on Jan. 22 with
several candidates putting forward a summary of their programs, if not the
entirety, and forecasting their agenda during their own five-year term as
president. Yet, just how much faith citizens have in the candidates is not
entirely clear.
Placards are already available from rival candidate and former Armenian
president Levon Ter-Petrossian’s camp, which is running the slogan "We’ll
Win!," while billboards attempting to flaunt the sex appeal of Prime
Minister Serge Sargsyan can be found throughout the city bearing the phrase
"Forward, Armenia." His Republican party has also been opening campaign
offices in strategic locations throughout the city since the official start
of the presidential election campaign.
Public service announcements are being broadcast on flat panel televisions
in metro stations sponsored in part by the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). One shows a grandfather speaking to his
grandson about the importance of casting a ballot, especially for voting
against the "princes" seeking a return to power having already been toppled.
Another encourages peaceful demonstrations if necessary, so long as people
refrain from rallying around a central figure. And on the walls facing
would-be passengers just above the tracks, Serge Sargsyan campaign posters
are affixed in plain sight. The Yerevan metropolitan transit system is
state-controlled.
Several polls have been taken in recent weeks attempting to gauge public
support. In a U.S.-sponsored Gallup poll taken by the Armenian Sociological
Association, Prime Minister Sargsyan enjoyed 35 percent of public support in
December, with former speaker of parliament and "Orinats Yerkir" party
leader Artur Baghdasarian earning around 13 percent. Yet, Levon
Ter-Petrossian, widely believed to be the only opposition candidate with a
decent chance of winning, was estimated to have gartered not even 3 percent
support. Rival presidential candidates claimed that the poll was biased and
were quick to brush aside the official results.
In stark contrast, the newspaper "Aravot" conducted its own poll in
mid-December, claiming that Prime Minister Sargsyan would earn 19.2 percent
of the vote and Ter-Petrossian only 9.2 percent if the elections had been
held on Dec. 14. Other candidates, namely former defense minister under
Ter-Petrossian’s tenure Vazgen Manukian, Artur Baghdasarian, Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (ARF-D) leader Vahan Hovannisian, and National
Unity Party head Artashes Geghamian would all earn less than 5 percent of
the vote, with 30 percent of those polled unable to decide.
One key strategy that Ter-Petrossian is using is apologizing for the errors
of his ways as president from 1991-97. This approach is perhaps the only way
he can earn the support from countless numbers of Armenian citizens who
cannot forget his blunders during the region’s war-torn era, also known as
the "dark and cold" years. Still fresh on many people’s minds are the
record-setting frigid winters in the early 1990s and the lack of available
electricity, most of which was revealed to have been sold to Georgia. Many
also blame the former leader for the governmental corruption that is so
widespread today.
Prime Minister Sargsyan on the other hand is riding to his own predicted
victory, much to people’s chagrin. He often cites the nation’s economic boom
and gradual increase in the quality of life for Armenians under the current
government’s policies, which would undoubtedly change very little should he
be elected. There is a popular consensus that things took a turn for the
worst in the country when former leaders of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic,
namely current President Robert Kocharian and the prime minister, took power
in Armenia. People who hold this view-even those who dislike Ter-Petrossian
but would consider supporting him if he were the only other real catalyst
for change-feel that the regime being controlled by "those from Karabakh"
should be toppled.
"Why don’t these guys go back and run their own country?" 59-year-old
Yerevan resident Sergey Ghazaryan complains. "I hate Levon but I also don’t
want Serge to win. Things will be bad if he’s elected."
In an attempt to rally both political parties and their supporters around a
central opposing presidential candidate, Aram Sargsyan’s Republic party and
Stepan Demirchian’s People’s Party have joined forces with Ter-Petrossian’s
Pan-Armenian National Movement (HHsh). Both of those parties’ leaders,
forecasting a sure defeat in the presidential race, decided to lend their
full support to the former Armenian president anticipating Ter-Petrossian’s
inevitable return to power, as he is the only one able to topple the current
regime, which would only flourish under Serge Sargsyan as president.
At Ter-Petrossian’s first few public rallies, supporters purportedly from
across Armenia attended, with estimates of attendees varying. Although
conservative figures were estimated at 12,000-15,000 people attending the
initial rally held last October, other sources cited that tens of thousands
more attended. The daily newspaper "Haykakan Zhamanak" put the number at
60,000, while the Noyan Tapan news agency reported 30,000-50,000 people in
attendance. Similar discrepancies held true for subsequent rallies sponsored
by his supporters.
The press is largely biased in their support for the candidates. Newspapers
are speculated to be in the hands of specific politicians. For instance,
"Haykakan Zhamanak" was long thought to be partially financed by HHSh
supporters, while "Hayots Ashkhar" was rumored to have been backed by Prime
Minister Sargsyan. Nevertheless, the opinions that various papers express
are riddled with sarcasm, pessimism and strange speculation. A Jan. 10 issue
of "Zhamanak Yerevan," for instance, printed an article claiming that
Baghdasarian had met in seclusion with Prime Minister Sargysan demanding
that he be appointed prime minister after Sargsyan won the presidency. Such
opinions are hardly ever substantiated, yet go largely unchallenged.
On Jan. 24, the "Aravot" daily newspaper printed an opinion piece suggesting
that Armenians were largely apathetic to the upcoming elections and were
more concerned about thawing frozen water pipes than with politics.
Pro-Sargsyan outlets insist that the prime minister will overwhelmingly win
in the first round of ballot casting.
Some papers such as "Hayk" claim that Sargsyan will resort to vote rigging
and bribery in order win. The paper had already concluded on Jan. 17 that a
senior member of the Republican party, Ashot Aghababian, was offering
monetary compensation to rural citizens of the country’s northern regions in
exchange for ballots cast in Sargsyan’s favor.
Speculation is already circulating that if a second round of voting were
held, resulting in Sargsyan possibly repeating his win, the people would
take to the streets in revolution led by Ter-Petrossian’s forces. The HHSh
party remains unwavering in their struggle to overthrow the powers that be.
In an interview held on Jan. 22 with "A1 plus," HHSh press secretary Karen
Karapetian was quoted as saying, "Power overthrow is inevitable in the
Republic of Armenia in 2008. The acting authorities are constantly breaking
the country’s laws. In case they provoke clashes they will be "backfired" by
the force of the law."
Yet, to what extent Armenian citizens will be prepared to push forward in
turning the political tide remains to be seen.
——————————————– ———————————————–
3 . Letter to the editor
Dear Editor,
To be born before World War I and live 100 years is amazing in itself. To
have to run for your life as a seven-year-old while most of your world has
crumbled at your feet is a completely different story. Esther Melikian
Kaloustian was born in Kharpet, once a thriving commerce and educational
center in what is now Turkish-occupied Armenia. She married at 33 years of
age and was with her husband for 60 years. They were founding members of the
First Armenian Protestant Church in Montreal.
For those of us who take the time to go to the Armenian Martyrs Memorial
Monument at the North Burial Grounds every April, you would have seen her
there year after year in her place with the survivors.
>From what little we knew about Esther it seems like even an entire section
wouldn’t tell her life’s story. The same goes for all those that went before
her: our parents, and their parents, and even their parents. Priests were
nailed to the churches where they once held services. Men were hung on
"display" in the center of town. Children were tossed into the Tigris and
Euphrates like toys. The rivers flowed red with blood. What was done to the
girls and women was unimaginable even by today’s ugly standards.
Just about one year ago Hrant Dink, a modern-day martyr, was brutally
murdered in that same place that can’t seem to bury its dirty and very ugly
past.
When you hit your pillows tonight, send up a few kind words for Esther and
her comrades. I’m pretty sure she will smile just as she always seemed to do
whenever you saw her face.
Rest in peace, Esther.
Steve Elmasian
ANC-Rhode Island, co-chairman