October, 1968. Yerevan celebrates its 2750th anniversary. Mark Aryan would be in the festive events. His name was Harutyun, with Armenian smithy caps, big glasses, born in 1936 under the French sky, in Armenian family. What did Mark Aryan sing about? He was singing about love, about coming and passing spring, about his love towards the homeland.

During the one-month tour of the Soviet Union, Mark Aryan gave many concerts, but the concert that was supposed to take place in Yerevan was perhaps the most important one for him. He prepared specially for concert in Yerevan. He brought with him the most up-to-date sound equipment and wrote songs that had to be performed for the first time. He should sing not only at the concert hall, but also over 30,000 spectators at Dynamo Stadium, which for the first time in her history, hosted a singer.

Perch Turabyan’s family was repatriated to Armenia from Egypt in 1965. He recalls that at that time Yerevan was much more francophone; the generation were listening Aznavour, Rosy Armen, Adamo and Silvi Vartan. Mark Aryan was also a favorite singer. Perch Turabyan remembers the moments of his youth, frustrations and love spent under the songs of Mark Aryan.

“After Yerevan concerts, Mark Aryan released a CD of Armenian songs. My generation recalls that his songs were constantly being heard on the radio,” says Mr. Turabyan. “Why did the singer become forgotten in Armenia? There were different stories about him about falling in love, accepting Islam, and going to live in Turkey. How could the singer, who was singing in Armenian “Biblical Homeland” song, become a Muslim? They also say that he was punished by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Dashnaktsutyun for “Istambul, Istambul” song.

Fifty years have passed since then. Yerevan will celebrate its 2800th anniversary this October. And maybe on that festive days, Mark Aryan’s “Yerevan” song will sound next to hundreds of songs about our beloved city. Maybe! Certainly, there are still fans of Mark Aryan who are searching for his songs on the Internet, telling about his youth, his best moments of love.