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July 10, 2009
1. **Pan-Armenian Conference: Karabakh issue cannot be settled without
Karabakh’s participation
2.** Cutback: US Senate says only $30 million for Armenia; nothing for
Karabakh**
3. Time for Thought: Concerns in Armenia as Karabakh mediators appoint
another summit
**4.** An Armenia Paradox: Can’t we all just get along? Okay. We
can’t. But, still . . . **
5. A Call for Courage: Noted son of Armenia and America urges his
congress to do the right thing**
6.** **When the body speaks: Deaf Armenian dancer communicates with
the world through music
7. Burned: Filipino cook claims he became a victim of trafficking in
Armenia
8. Letter Home: A Diaspora discovers Armenia and Armenianness
9. Fighting tribute: `Sweet Science’ for `King of Pop’ as Armenia’s
Vic boxes against Ghanaian
************************************************ ****************************
1. Pan-Armenian Conference: Karabakh issue cannot be settled without
Karabakh’s participation
By Georg Kachaturyan
Special for ArmeniaNow from Stepanakert
Launched with a recitation of `The Lord’s Prayer (`thy kingdom come,
thy
will be done . . . `)’ led by Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan, Head of the
Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, a conference began in
Karabakh today to focus on the kingdom to come in resolving NKR’s status
and
Armenia’s relations with its neighbors.
`Karabakh Issue: Armenian-Turkish Relations’ was organized by the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Dashnaktsutyun and held under the patronage
of President of Nagorno-Karabakh Bako Sahakyan. The two-day Stepanakert
conference is being attended by some 120 public-political figures, as well
as entrepreneurs from Armenia, Karabakh and the Diaspora. Among attendees is
former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Vartan Oskanian.
In addressing the gathering this morning Sahakyan stressed that the military
actions that took place in the 1990s and the war itself, are not the choice
of the people of Karabakh, because the war `was imposed upon us’.
According to Sahakyan, the negotiation process remains the best alternative
to the escalation of tension for all parties to the conflict. He mentioned
that Karabakh’s (as the main party of the conflict) participation in the
negotiation process is compulsory. As he stated, during the previous years
the world became persuaded that it deals with a well-fulfilled democratic
public and a republic (Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh). And the resumption of
the negotiations with the full membership is also important because
currently the negotiations are carried with a distorted format.
`The independence of Nagorno-Karabakh is a reality, and it is not subject to
change,’ Sahakyan said.
While saying that Karabakh has always favored negotiation over military
action, the president also accused Azerbaijan of holding a more aggressive
position with its `right’ to a solution by force.
`Our peaceful statements do not mean that we are not ready to deliver a
proper counterblow to the adversary,’ Sahakyan said.
ARF Bureau Representative Hrant Margarian told attendees that very often the
Armenian Cause becomes a political instrument in the hands of `political
players’ for the satisfaction of their national interests, which don’t
always coincide with the interests of Armenia itself and the Armenian
people. The theme of the Armenian Genocide on the one hand is used for
blocking Turkey’s way to the European Union, and on the other hand – for
expanding NATO’s border in the Caucasus, and the settlement of energy
ambitions of Moscow and Ankara, Margarian said.
As for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, the ARF Dashnaktsutyun
Bureau Representative was short, holding that Nagorno-Karabakh is part of
Armenia, and it will remain to be so.
NKR Minister of Foreign Affairs Georgi Petrosyan and Deputy Foreign Minister
of Armenia Shavarsh Kocharyan are among notables expected to address the
conference before it concludes Saturday afternoon.
************************************ ****************************************
2. Cutback: US Senate says only $30 million for Armenia; nothing for
Karabakh
A crucial vote on United States aid to Armenia is expected today (July 10)
in Washington, D.C.
The House of Representatives Appropriations Committee recently approved
giving $48 million to Armenia, plus $10 million to Karabakh.
Yesterday, however, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved only $30
million for Armenia and none for Karabakh – a sharp reduction of the House
proposal and a vote that reflected President Barack Obama’s wishes,
following his earlier call for $30 million to Armenia.
Some sources report that the Senate has recommended $22 million for
Azerbaijan.
The full House must approve how the State Department spends $48.7 billion in
total foreign aid.
ArmeniaNow will report on the final outcome as it is known.
****************************************** **********************************
3. Time for Thought: Concerns in Armenia as Karabakh mediators appoint
another summit
By Siranuysh Gevorgyan
ArmenaNow reporter
While Armenians and Azerbaijanis are closely following another visit of the
troika of international mediators to the region, the press in both countries
is full of various commentaries and analyses about the latest developments
in the negotiations between the two countries over Nagorno-Karabakh.
The U.S., French and Russian cochairmen of the Minsk Group of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) were in Yerevan
earlier this week. On July 9 they left for Baku. The announced goal of the
visit was to prepare a new meeting between the presidents of Azerbaijan and
Armenia later this month. In Yerevan, the international mediators announced
that they had secured Serzh Sargsyan’s consent to hold a meeting with his
Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev in Moscow on July 17. The troika was
scheduled to hold a press conference in Baku on Friday afternoon announcing
the result of its efforts in the Azerbaijani capital.
While in Yerevan the cochairmen positively assessed Aliyev’s recent
statement about the negotiating process in which among the need to provide
security for `all nations living in Karabakh’, he also spoke about
Karabakh’s status within Azerbaijan.
But what caused angry reactions in Armenia was Aliyev’s statement that
`Karabakh’s status is a matter of the future and is not part of the
proposals being discussed [by the parties] today.’
The Minsk Group’s French co-chair Bernard Fassier explained in Yerevan that
Aliyev was talking about a `delayed status’. But more importantly, Aliyev
said that the final status of Karabakh might never be determined as a result
of the talks or that `could happen in one year, in ten years or in 100
years.’
This statement and its later praise by the mediators in Yerevan have drawn
some critical reactions in the Armenian press and one local newspaper even
put a front page story on Karabakh headlined `Finita La Commedia’
criticizing the Minsk Group troika French representative for calling the
absence of the Karabakh status on the talks agenda a `big step forward.’
`A big step forward or a way to a deadlock,’ queried `168 Zham’ on
Thursday.
Armenia’s former foreign minister Alexander Arzumanyan also voiced his
concerns about the situation as he spoke at a press conference in Yerevan on
Thursday.
The senior member of the opposition Armenian National Congress said:
`Azerbaijan voices the scenario of a Karabakh solution as it sees it, the
Armenian side keeps silent and the mediators are talking general things – `a
window of opportunity’, `another golden opportunity’, and others,’
said
Arzumanyan.
Tsvetana Paskaleva from Bulgaria, who covered the 1991-1994 war in Karabakh
as a journalist and later became a champion of the unrecognized republic,
said in Yerevan on Wednesday that a big chance to solve the Karabakh issue
was missed in 1994.
`At that time we, in all respects, were at the height after such a real
victory and Azerbaijan was weak. That had to be used in politics and use the
[military] victory to achieve the recognition of Karabakh’s independence,’
said Paskaleva.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijani political analyst Fikret Sadykhov said ()
that it is possible that in their upcoming meeting in Moscow the Armenian
and Azerbaijani presidents sign a deal about the liberation of the `occupied
territories’ surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh.
`The only thing that Azerbaijan will never agree to is that Nagorno-Karabakh
is an independent state, because it is an integral part of Azerbaijan,’ said
Sadykhov.
Azerbaijan’s foreign minister Elmar Mamedyarov said the Moscow meeting on
July 17 will show whether it is possible to expect progress in the Karabakh
settlement.
**************************** ************************************************
4.An Armenia Paradox: Can’t we all just get along? Okay. We can’t. But,
still . . .
Now is the time for all good Armenians to come to the aid of their country.
Not in recent years has the need for solidarity (or at least the appearance
of) – among Spyurkahye and Hyeastantsi, Oppositionists and Government,
Dashnaks and Whatnots – seemed as urgent as now.
These are days filled with discussion and debate over Armenia’s immediate
future and whether it will be a future any where near fulfilling
expectations that might have seemed reasonable in the uncertain but
optimistic days of early independence.
This weekend, experts and the significant concerned are meeting in
Stepanakert to discuss and probably cuss the current Armenia-Turkey
negotiations to `normalize relations’.
The conference expected to draw representatives from 20 countries is hosted
by the Dashnaks (Armenian Revolutionary Federation) who, themselves, have
already concluded that Serzh Sargsyan’s Armenia is on a slippery slope with
neighborhood relations. They demonstrated their disapproval by abdicating
their role in the Government, giving up leadership posts in the ministries
of education, agriculture and social affairs, in April.
The conclave comes as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) concludes a visit by its troika – France, United States,
Russia – in the presence of the Minsk Group.
It comes, too, as cultural representatives of Azerbaijan and Russia
completed a mission to Karabakh last weekend in a failed attempt at
`people’s diplomacy’.
Other significant meetings correspond, including this week’s sit down of
US
President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
With the current focus on the Caucasus (coming with rumors of another
Russia-Georgia war) Armenia has a chance to make a dint in the iron curtain
of irrelevance that has kept it from prospering. (And, no, double digit
economic growth is not our definition of `prospering’.)
But:
Armenia – a nation that surely is not defined by the borders of this tiny
thumbnail drawn by Bolsheviks – suffers because its body politik is
amputated from its vox populi by irreconcilable acrimony among political
leaders that discredits the former and disenfranchises the latter.
The ideological disconnect is widened by a Diaspora that views today’s
Armenia through the prism of the Genocide, and rarely manages to evaluate
early 21st century necessities, outside the cloud of early 20th century
atrocities.
The recent skewering of US Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch on her tour of
American-Armenian communities underscored the intention of Diaspora to place
Genocide Recognition above all other concerns. (See `Diplomacy Challenge’
)
Mea nwhile, at home, an ambassador to the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe was getting her own feel of feet in the fire as Heritage
Deputy Zaruhi Postanjyan was cursed and castigated by short-sighted
nationalists for whom apparently the words `consent’ and `compromise’ are
synonymous. (See: `In Defense of a Hero’
;A ID=3D3894&CID=3D3704&IID=3D1242&lng=3D eng
)
This week, the Civilitas Foundation () hosted a forum –
`Vulgarity vs. Political Debate’ – for discussion on why it is that
Armenians can’t seem to disagree without being disagreeable.
Foundation director Salpi Ghazarian rightly summarized a condition that
sorely needs correcting. Speaking of the failure of Armenian leadership to
criticize without turning to insult, Ghazarian said: `While cursing each
other domestically, they are seeking solutions at international structures.’
And what message does that send? Not a good one.
A favored Armenian joke is of an Armenian who – after years being stranded –
is rescued from an island.
Upon being rescued it is learned that the Armenian has built two churches on
the island where he is the only inhabitant. He is asked why he needs two.
`One is where I worship’
And the other?
`Oh, I’d NEVER go to that church!’
In this moment of opportunity, and for the sake of a tiny place that needs
attention and support, is it possible that unity might displace
divisiveness? Probably not.
But can’t we at least fake it long enough to satisfy the begrudged but
undeniable powers who hold Armenia’s future more tightly than Armenia
herself?
******************************** ********************************************
5. A Call for Courage: Noted son of Armenia and America urges his congress
to do the right thing
Peter Balakian
Special to ArmeniaNow
The Armenian Genocide continues to hover over international politics 94
years later. Its ethical force in memory haunts not only the legacy of the
perpetrator, Turkey, but the legacy of the victims, the Armenian people and
the Diaspora.
The political intensity surrounding U.S. recognition of the Armenian
Genocide surfaced this past April in President Obama’s engagement with the
issue. Having promised as a presidential candidate to acknowledge as
genocide the events that befell the Armenians of Ottoman Turkey in 1915, on
visiting Turkey he stopped short of using the word "genocide" but spoke
powerfully to the Turkish Parliament about the importance of acknowledging
dark chapters of one’s past.
"History is often tragic but, unresolved, can be a heavy weight. Each
country must work through its past. And reckoning with the past can help us
seize a better future. I know there are strong views in this chamber about
the terrible events of 1915. While there has been a good deal of commentary
about my views the best way forward for the Turkish and Armenian people is
a
process that works through the past in a way that is honest, open, and
constructive."
THE ‘G’ WORD
To get a sense of how seriously the president acknowledged the Armenian
Genocide, albeit by syllogism, one need only note what he said on the
campaign trail in September 2008: "As a U.S. senator, I have stood with the
Armenian-American community in calling for Turkey’s acknowledgement of the
Armenian Genocide." In April, 2008, he said: "It is imperative that we
recognize the horrific acts carried out against the Armenian people as
genocide, and I will continue to stand with the Armenian-American community
in calling for the government of Turkey to acknowledge it as such."
However, what ensued between the April 6 visit to Turkey and the April 24
address was some secret diplomacy, brokered–some believe coercively–by
Turkey with Armenia to create a "road map" to normalizing relations between
the two countries. This new diplomacy involves Armenia agreeing to Turkey’s
persistent request that there be a historical commission to "decide" what
happened to the Armenians in 1915. To many, and especially those in the
human-rights community, this is an obvious gimmick, by which Turkey hopes to
cast doubt on the scholarly consensus about the events of 1915 for the
purpose of continuing to deny its responsibility for the genocide.
OWNING UP TO THE PAST
The irony spills into absurdity. The Turkish government spends millions of
dollars a year on PR firms and lobbyists in a campaign to rewrite the
history of the Armenian extermination. Turkey’s courts have prosecuted
writers and intellectuals who acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, most
notably Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk, who not only stood trial for it but has
been a target of death threats. Most tragically, the assassination of
Armenian Turkish journalist Hrant Dink in 2007 made it clear that dealing
openly with the Armenian Genocide in Turkey was dangerous business.
Turkey has shown no inclination to own up to the truth of its past. In 2004,
it agreed to be part of a Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Commission, but
after the arbitrator, the International Center for Transitional Justice,
rendered an assessment that the events of 1915 were genocide, the Turkish
government angrily pulled out of the commission.
Would we allow Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s (anti-Semitic) government to
be part of a commission on the Holocaust? When countries such as France,
Canada, Poland, Greece, Russia, and 15 others (as well as 41 U.S. states)
passed resolutions affirming the Armenian Genocide over the past decades,
they were not attempting to determine history, but rather to affirm an
existing historical record and, in large part, to redress Turkey’s continued
aggressive denial campaign.
While Congress once again entertains an Armenian Genocide resolution, many
genocide scholars and the human-rights community hope it will have the
courage to stand up to Turkish pressure. Turkish historian Taner Akcam has
said U.S. acknowledgment of the genocide would give the United States
"self-respect" in this arena, and "It would liberate Turks, Armenians, and
itself in the process."
It is important that we not confuse the exigencies of diplomacy with the
need to stand firm about the moral reality of genocide and reject any
nation’s attempts to cover up a genocidal crime. The history of genocide is
not a poker chip. While Armenia and Turkey must of course look to the future
and normalize relations so that the status of Nagorno Karabagh and other
political and economic issues can be resolved, Armenia’s President Sarksyan
has stated that the road to the future of Turkish-Armenian relations should
not be brokered with preconditions.
If Turkey believes in its future leadership in the region, then it must, in
President Obama’s words, reckon with its past. Speaking as he did on Turkish
soil, Obama has already done some important work in helping Turkey
understand why acknowledging its past will only aid its future.
The acknowledgement of the genocide that became a template for Hitler is not
just a Turkish-Armenian affair, but a universal moral issue: The world’s
most powerful country can summon the courage to help resolve it with a
congressional resolution in the coming year.
Peter Balakian holds the Rebar Chair in the Humanities at Colgate University
and is the co-translator of the recently published "American Golgotha; A
Memoir of the Armenian Genocide, 1915-1918" by Grigoris Balakian (Knopf), as
well as the New York Times best selling `The Burning Tigris: The Armenian
Genocide and America’s Response’ winner of the 2005 Raphael Lemkin Prize. He
is also author of best selling memoir `Black Dog of Fate’. This commentary
originally appeared in the Free-Lance Star, Fredericksburg, Virginia.
*************************************** *************************************
**
6. When the body speaks: Deaf Armenian dancer communicates with the world
through music
By Karine Ionesyan
Hayk Hobosyan was 11 when he first saw Michael Jackson dance on TV and at
once was captivated with the graceful body language performed by the King of
Pop.
Hobosyan realized that most of all he wanted to dance like his idol and in
a
few years many in Armenia saw Habosyan’s performance and some even called
him a `phenomenon’. Hobosyan danced with determination and skill. But
unlike his idol, the Armenian dancer could not hear the music.
At five months old, Hayk lost his hearing due to an infection. Now 26, he
has lived on senses that don’t require sound. (Using a hearing aid, he can
hear four percent.)
And while many would wonder how is possible to dance without hearing the
music, Hobosyan says dance is passion, an inseparable part of his life –
explaining thoughts with gestures and low sounds. He says that as soon as
his father realized that his son wanted to dance, he took him to classes at
`Arai Dance Show’ dancing group.
`Yes, it was hard for me at first,’ says Hobosyan, 26. `I am different from
the other children in the group. But my first teacher and generally
everybody helped me a lot. I managed to integrate into dancing.’
In fact, Hoboaysan is now a lead dancer of Arai Dance Show, which performs
at different shows and concerts in Armenia. Hayk specializes in hip hop,
break dancing and Latino.
Fellow lead dancer Anida Abgaryan remembers the first time she saw Hayk
dance.
`I met him during a festival we both were participating in and Hayk was only
11. He was dancing amazingly for that age, but I did not know anything about
him being deaf until it was announced that Hayk won a Grand Prix. The whole
audience was applauding standing, parents were crying, and I understood that
little boy was a phenomenon,’ says Abgaryan, 29.
Abgaryan calls Hayk the `sun of our group,’ and she considers him to be one
of the best experts of `dance language’ in Armenia, who `never gives
you a
room to think that he differs from others’.
`We are the same. The difference is that he is kinder, and I even sometimes
envy him, because in many cases he does not hear how malicious people can
be, he does not notice some shortcomings of the world,’ she says.
When head of Arai Karen Mikayelyan admitted Hayk to the dancing group, he
did not imagine the day would come when the student would emerge to be a
lead dancer.
`When first Hayk’s father brought him here, we faced with a big dilemma
(adding that he had never had a deaf student). But it turned out that I
never regretted that I accepted him to our group, because he was a very
smart child, and he gave us even more than we could have expected,’
Mikayelyan remembers. `He has such a huge amount of inner strength, that
those emotions that we get from music, he already has them inside of him.’
The dancer has a dream – to find a proper studio where he can lead the dance
class and pass his favorite language skills to all the children who like him
want to dance. Hobosyan was promised to get a room in deaf people’s palace
in September.
The dancer dreams, too, of joining his father who is in Los Angeles. While
he, his mother, sister and brother live in Yerevan, his father has been in
Los Angeles for five years. The father initially worked as an accountant and
had hoped to bring Hayk to the States. Now, though, he is a taxi driver.
Hayk has applied for a visa four times, including at the same time as his
father. But he has been denied. He says he thinks it’s because he’s deaf.
In Armenia several dancing groups of deaf people are headed by people who
can hear. Hayk’s uniqueness can be found also in that he can teach – through
demonstration – even those who are not hearing impaired. He recently
finished teaching a hip hop class for hearing impaired children, and hip hop
and Latino for hearing children. He plans to start another class in
September.
************************************************ **************************
7. Burned: Filipino cook claims he became a victim of trafficking in
Armenia
By Sara Khojoyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
A Filipino migrant who arrived in Yerevan to find a good job says now he
wants to leave the country but cannot, because the former employer kept his
passport.
Fernando Ortega came to Armenia from the Philippines in April, 2008, at the
invitation of `Santa’ Ltd. (a company that owns several restaurants in
Armenia). He was employed as a chef at the Samuri sushi restaurant.
`They promised to give me a high salary: they told me that they are going to
raise the initial $600 by $50 each six months, but they never did it,’ says
Ortega, 32.
The average salary for a Filipino migrant in Europe is $400, according to a
Reuters news report. The offer to Ortega was enough for him to leave his
wife and three children in his homeland and come to Armenia to earn more
money. (He learned of the job though a private employment agent.) However,
here, as he mentions, did not get whatever he was promised – a share from
the tip, some interest from the money for serving clients.
At the end of June Ortega left his job, and is now employed by a Korean
construction company, making food for its workers and waiting for his
passport. Ortega says he makes now $1,200, whereas at the restaurant he got
only $700.
`I told them several times that I want to leave, but they told me that my
contract is for three years, however, I did not sign any contract,’ Ortega
says. `They were keeping my passport, as they did with other Filipino
employees. And I could not return to my family.’
Babken Durunts, deputy director of `Santa’ Ltd., Ortega’s employer, confirms
that Ortega worked without a contract, stressing that, in fact, it was the
company that suffered as a result.
`There was an oral agreement, and no one promised him to raise his salary
every six months, we told him that it depends on his working quality and our
capacities. We warned him that he should work with us for three years, and
we warned him that in case of leaving he should pay a compensation, because
the expenses that were spent to bring him here (traveling, accommodation)
were designed for three years,’ Durunts says.
Restaurant employers say they do not know where Ortega is.
`The weird thing is that he just disappeared one day without even letting me
know that he is leaving. If we had his passport, he would not do that,’ says
Durunts rejecting Ortega’s accusations that they keep his passport.
The employer was surprised by Ortega’s sudden disappearance, because their
company worked with many Filipino cooks, however they did not have such an
incident before.
`We had that sort of problem when there was a massage center in the place of
`Samurai’ and women from Taiwan were working there. One day one of them
suddenly decided to leave for her homeland, and we could not do anything
anymore. We could not take the contract and appeal to international courts
to prove that she owes us something,’ Durunts says. He insists that even
after that incident they do not keep the passports of their employees.
`During the last six-seven months Ortega’s passport was with him, and we
have taken it only to provide him with a residency card to stay in Armenia,’
Ortega’s employer clarifies.
Petros Karapetyan, assistance to Philippine Honor Consul to Armenia, says
that since there is no state agreement between Armenia and the Philipines,
he cannot help settle those problems connected with Filipino labor disputes.
`I could help Ortega to settle the problem connected with the passport,
because its validity expired in February 2009, and I did so. His employer
sent his passport to Moscow, however Ortega did not allow the assistant to
the same employer to take his passport back. He called the Embassy and
warned them to give his passport to the person indicated by him,’ Karapetyan
says.
Ortega says that he wanted his passport not to appear in the hands of the
director again, `But the person who took my passport (named Daniel), one
of
my acquaintance’s friends, demands $600 from me to give my passport back
to
me,’ he says.
`I met Joseph, and he introduced me to those Koreans, and now I work for
them to earn money to buy tickets and go back to the Philippines, but I need
my passport to do that, and Daniel does not give me my passport,’ Ortega
says.
Assistant to the Philippine Consul Karapetyan says that he has promised
Ortega to help him get his passport back.
Davit Tumasyan, lawyer at the Center of Struggle Against Trafficking NGO
specializing in human trafficking issues told ArmeniaNow that Ortega’s case
does not qualify as `trafficking,’ and that the dispute is a matter for the
employer and employee to settle.
***************************************** ***********************************
8. **Letter Home: A Diaspora discovers Armenia and Armenianness
By Elizabeth Gemdjian
Armenian Assembly of America intern
Special to ArmeniaNow
My time in Armenia has reached three weeks, and my initiation into Yerevan
life seems to be on track. Sure, I have gotten lost, taken the wrong
marshutka or bus a couple of times, paid too much at a market, and almost
been hit by cars while crossing the street more times than I can count. But
I have also given and followed directions correctly, eaten some of the best
shaurma and freshest fruit I’ve ever had, experienced some great cultural
events, and learned about the history of the city and Armenia as a whole.
And while I am still self-conscious and hesitant to expose myself to
criticism when speaking Armenian or interacting with locals, I have been
pleasantly surprised by the encouragement and patience I have received from
some.
There’s a reason why first impressions are often challenged later, and while
mine have been useful in destabilizing my expectations of Armenia and
forcing me to look more realistically at what my time here is about, I have
since been pleasantly surprised to find many more doors open to me than I
had initially thought. If not wide open, then at least not barred and
locked. It just means I have to push a little to get through the doorway.
Recently, I saw a musical comedy, The Aunt from Paris by T. Brandon, at
the Hovhannes Toumanian Puppet Theatre. I expected to laugh, of course, but
I was caught off guard by the types and tone of jokes that I encountered
there.
Although I missed some of the more subtle humor and innuendo because of my
Armenia language ability, I definitely understood one of the main comedic
themes of the play: parodying the pretensions of Diaspora Armenians and the
condescending manner of `Hayastanzis’ toward diasporan visitors. These
jokes received some of the loudest applause and heartiest laughs, but they
also demonstrated an awareness of the often-tense relationship between local
and visiting Armenians.
By having a local Armenian portray the diasporan `Aunt from Paris’
character, the play offered a glimpse of popular conceptions of the
mentality, behavior, and social status of diasporans in the eyes of Armenian
locals, and in order to make it believable, the aunt had to speak Western
Armenian, be wealthy and stylish, and feel compelled to diagnose the
problems facing Armenia’s growth and development. I do not mean to take
a
caricature too seriously, but the play helped me to better understand the
reasons for my less-than-warm reception in Yerevan. And it also made me
want to look past my first impressions.
Just as I did not want locals to see me as an `Aunt from Paris,’ who has
barged into this country to take without giving, diagnose without knowing,
and disparage instead of being open and understanding, locals probably do
not want to be characterized as cold, unwelcoming, and resentful.
While the opportunities available to many diasporan Armenians may seem
appealing to locals, diasporans long to see `the homeland’ and experience
life in Armenia first hand. Stereotypes and caricatures often have a basis
in reality, but it’s time to stop basing our relationships on such factors
and start looking deeper in order to find ways to overcome barriers and work
with instead of against each other. A play like The Aunt from Paris uses
laughter to raise these issues, but after the curtain falls, it is up to the
audience to examine the role that their conduct and assumptions have in
perpetuating such stereotypes.
********************************** ******************************************
9.** Fighting tribute: `Sweet Science’ for `King of Pop’ as Armenia’s Vic
boxes against Ghanaian
By Suren Musayelyan
Boxing
Armenia’s four-time world champion at flyweight and super flyweight Vic
Darchinyan has vowed to beat his next opponent `King Kong’ into a `c
himpanzee’ when he boxes him in a scheduled 12-round bout at BankAtlantic
Center, Miami, Florida, Saturday (July 11) night – an event that the
Center’s promoter has said will double as a tribute to late `King of Pop’
Michael Jackson.
Darchinyan, `Raging Bull’ (32-1, 26 KOs), is leaving his IBF, WBC and WBA
titles at 115 pounds to move up to the 118-pound category to face IBF
bantamweight champion Joseph, `King Kong’, Agbeko (26-1, 22 KOs), a Ghanaian
now fighting out of Bronx, N.Y. If successful, Darchinyan will become a
three-division world champion.
`I think after this fight they are going to change my opponent’s name to
Joseph `Chimpanzee’ Agbeko,’ Darchinyan, 33, said about his upcoming
fight,
according to
`In boxing you have to fight the best to be the best, and I just want Vic to
know that this is the fight of my life,’ said Agbeko, 28. But he added:
`I
know Vic Darchinyan picked to fight me because he thinks he can have his way
with me but I just want him to know that this is the biggest mistake he has
ever made in his career because he’s going to get the worst beating of his
career.’
The boxing venue’s promoter Don King, who also promoted Michael Jackson’s
Victory Tour in 1984 that reunited the Jackson 5 and brokered a lucrative
endorsement deal between Jackson and Pepsi, announced the event would double
as a tribute night to the `King of Pop’ who died at 50 late last month.
King said he planned to give Jackson boxing’s traditional ringside 10-bell
count before the bout and play Jackson’s music and videos. ()
.
Meanwhile, in his remarks, Darchinyan vowed to move up in weight and go
after more titles, instead of `just defending’.
`I have the power to demolish anyone. I’m going to keep moving up,’ said
Darchinyan, implying a possible rematch against a Filipino from whom he
suffered his only defeat in an otherwise dazzling professional boxing career
and has never been given a chance for avenge.
At the height of his career fighting for Australia, the Armenian southpaw
brought his IBF and IBO titles into the ring against Nonito Donaire, but
suffered a shock defeat at the hands of the underdog in July 2007.
The `Raging Bull’ managed to come back three months later as he won the
vacant IBO super flyweight title by knocking out another Filipino boxer,
Frederico Catubay. Then, in August 2008, Darchinyan captured the IBF Junior
Bantamweight title toppling Russian holder Dmitry Kirilov.
In a memorable November 2008 bout, Darchinyan beat Mexico’s Cristian Mijares
to take over the latter’s WBC and WBA 115-pound belts, thus becoming an
ultimate professional boxing champion in this category.
But while toppling his next opponent, Jorge Arce of Mexico, in February
2009, Darchinyan still appeared to be looking for a rematch against Donaire.
`I’m going to demolish him (Donaire) in a rematch,’ Darchinyan said while
training for the `King Kong’ challenge.
But **Darchinyan’s promoter** Gary Shaw said: `Vic fights for money,
not
for revenge.’
Soccer
Armenia’s two participants in the 2009/2010 UEFA Europa League have been
eliminated from the very first round of the tournament losing to their
opponents on aggregate in two-leg encounters.
On Thursday, Banants beat Bosnian Shiroki Brieg in an away game 1-0 but lost
on the aggregate 1-2 because of the home defeat last week 0-2. And Mika drew
with Sweden’s Helsinborg at home 1-1 but still dropped out because of the
1-3 defeat in Sweden in the first-leg game.
Champion Pyunik start in the Champions League next week from the second
qualifying round against Croatia’s Dynamo Zagreb, as do Gandzasar against
Dutch NAK Breda in the Europa league.
Meanwhile, domestically, in a game delayed from Round 11, leader Pyunik drew
with bottom side Ararat 0-0 on Tuesday. Thus, last year’s runners-up Ararat
picked their first point in the current championship. With half (14 games)
of the championship played, Pyunik continue to lead in the eight-club league
with 34 points (2 points clear from second-placed Mika). The league will
resume on July 25.
Basketball
According to a report by the Basketball Federation of Armenia, as part of an
international tournament in Batumi, Georgia, on July 9 the junior national
team of Armenia beat coevals from Azerbaijan 71-64. Earlier, Armenia lost to
Georgia by 20 points.
Georgia is represented at the tournament with three teams. The other
participant is the team of Bulgaria.
Chess
Lake Sevan International Tournament opened in Martuni (Armenia) on July 9
and will last till July 18. Arman Pashikyan, Tigran Kotanjyan, Avetik
Grigoryan, Samvel Ter-Sahakyan, Levon Babujyan (Armenia), Ferenc Berkesh
(Hungary), Li Chao (China), Sergei Zhigalko (Belarus), Igor Lisij (Russia),
Rinat Jumabaev (Kazakhstan) are participating in the round-robin tournament.
(Source: <http://www.armchess.am0/>)
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