TRIBUTE TO WILSONIAN ARMENIA
By Zain Shauk

Gkendale Newspress
1273_4/8/2009_1
Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Descendant and library curator speaks about President Woodrow Wilson’s
aim of self-governance

GLENDALE–A tribute to former President Woodrow Wilson drew more than
50 visitors to the Glendale Public Library to hear about his role in
drawing the borders for an independent Armenian nation.

Wilson’s great-great-grandson, Donald Wilson Bush, and the curator
of the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library in Staunton, Va., Jarod
Kearney, were on hand Sunday to speak about the late president’s push
for an independent Armenia.

Wilson drew a map of the Armenian territories as part of a peace treaty
in 1920, after the demise of the Ottoman Empire following World War I,
Kearney said.

But within three years, Turkey claimed some of that territory by force,
and the land was included as part of the country in a treaty signed
in 1923, said Michael Sosikian, president of the Defense Council of
Western Armenia, which hosted the event.

Since then, Armenians have been pushing for international recognition
of "Wilsonian Armenia," Sosikian said.

The presence of the two guest speakers was an indication that Armenians
are not alone in pushing for the expanded borders to be realized,
visitors said.

"It’s a validation, if you will," Woodland Hills resident Vatche
Kasparian said.

Wilson’s push for Armenian independence went along with his ideals,
Kearney said.

"Woodrow Wilson was not only a key player in [the Armenians’] process,
but a champion of self-determination," he said.

Wilson believed that people should be able to rule themselves,
a motivating factor behind his drawing of Armenia’s borders and
his efforts to move people around the world from colonialism to
independence and pushing for "a new world order," Kearney said.

The late president was "idealistic" at times, and some of his goals
did not pan out, Bush said, but he was a "visionary."

Bush acknowledged the host organization’s continuing struggle for
an expanded Armenia and opened his remarks with a declaration of
solidarity.

"I am here tonight to support your cause," he said.

He hoped that President Obama would be able to facilitate a dialogue
between Armenia and Turkey to move toward expanding the Christian
nation.

Bush also voiced admiration for the peaceful push for land rights
made by Armenians, even as marginal progress has been made.

"I’ve been watching you closely for the past decade, and I still
don’t know how you do it," he said.