1 - Pashinyan’s Six-Month Roadmap of Promises:
What Was Completed and What Was Not?
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2- ‘At this point, it looks like Robert Kocharian will be the
next prime minister’
3 - How Armenia Is Failing in the Fight Against COVID-19
4- Embattled Pashinyan offers son in exchange for POWs
captured by Azerbaijan
5- Four Armenian Deputy Foreign Ministers Resign
6- Letter to the Editor
7- Erdogan says after Biden talks no Turkey-U.S. problems unsolvable
8- 15 Armenian POWs Freed After Armenia Gives Azerbaijan Map
of 100,000 Land Mines
9- Fresno Unified school board needlessly hurts
Armenian community with campus-naming vote
10- In Hello Mother, queer identity and Armenian tradition collide
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1 - Pashinyan’s Six-Month Roadmap of Promises:
What Was Completed and What Was Not?
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
On November 18, 2020, a few days after the end of the Artsakh War,
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan published a roadmap of promised actions
in the following six-months. The Prime Minister also promised that “In
June 2021 I will deliver the performance report of this roadmap, and
the public opinion and reaction will be taken into account for
deciding future actions.”
Now that seven months have passed from the Prime Minister’s roadmap of
15 promises, I would like to review his accomplishments and failings.
Regrettably, Pashinyan has not kept his specific promise to deliver in
June of 2021 a report on his performance vs. his promises. Such a
report would have been very useful for the voters in Armenia to decide
whom to support in the June 20, 2021 parliamentary snap elections
which will select the next Prime Minister.
Rather than engage in mutual accusations and insults, the various
political parties should have addressed the important issue of
Pashinyan’s promises both kept and not kept. He said in November 2020
that he considered himself “the number one responsible person for the
situation. I am also the main responsible person for overcoming the
situation and establishing stability and security in the country.”
Let us now see if the Prime Minister has indeed succeeded in
“overcoming the situation” resulting from the war and “establishing
stability and security in the country.”
Here is Pashinyan’s 1st promise: “The restoration of the Karabakh
negotiations process in the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship format,
with the emphasis of prioritizing the status of Artsakh and return of
Artsakh residents to their places of residence.” I would say this
promise is mostly unfulfilled as the Minsk Group remains ineffective
in settling the conflict. The status of Artsakh is unresolved.
Azerbaijan is ignoring the Minsk Group, as it considers the Artsakh
issue resolved by force. Russia believes the status is an issue for
the future. Most of the refugees have returned to Artsakh, although
several thousand still remain in Armenia.
Pashinyan’s 2nd promise: “Ensure the return of the residents of
Artsakh to their homes. Entirely restore normal life in Artsakh.
Restoration of damaged homes, apartments and infrastructures in the
territories that are under the control of the Nagorno Karabakh
authorities.” Normal life has not been restored in Artsakh, as
thousands of people have lost their homes which are in the territories
occupied by Azerbaijan. Others have their homes destroyed or damaged.
Most Artsakh refugees have returned from Armenia. Artsakh’s
authorities have restored some of the infrastructures. This is also a
mostly unfulfilled promise.
Pashinyan’s 3rd promise: “Ensure social guarantees for the families of
killed servicemen and citizens.” This is a mostly fulfilled promise.
Pashinyan’s 4th promise: “Restoration of residential and public
buildings and infrastructures in the territory of Armenia that were
affected during the war.” There has not been a major damage inside
Armenia. Nevertheless, the government has given financial assistance
to some border villagers who lost their homes. Mostly fulfilled.
Pashinyan’s 5th promise: “Ensure social guarantees, prosthesis process
and professional training for servicemen who suffered disabilities.”
Some of these actions have been taken, partially with the help of
Diaspora Armenian doctors. No mention is made of caring for the
thousands of wounded soldiers and civilians, some of whom are still
waiting for treatment. Promise mostly fulfilled.
Pashinyan’s 6th promise: “Speedy return of captured servicemen and
civilians. Ensure social guarantees for their families. Speedy
clarification of the fates of those missing in action. Ensure social
guarantees for their families.” A few dozen of the about 200 captured
Armenian soldiers and civilians have been returned, although not
“speedily.” In fact, since the war, Azerbaijan has taken 70 additional
Armenian prisoners of war. The fate and number of missing soldiers
remain uncertain. The families of the missing have been compensated.
Promise mostly unfulfilled.
Pashinyan’s 7th promise: “The development of a psychological
rehabilitation system for people who participated in the war and
overall the entire society.” This is a promise mostly unfulfilled,
particularly the part about “the entire society.”
Pashinyan’s 8th promise: “Confirmation of a military reforms program
and launch of reforms.” There has been only talk of reforms, but no
actual reforms. Promise unfulfilled.
Pashinyan’s 9th promise: “Overcoming of the coronavirus pandemic and
elimination of its consequences.” The government’s handling of the
coronavirus has been a disaster. Equally disastrous has been the
extremely late and slow vaccination process. So far 4,488 Armenians
have died of the coronavirus and 223,723 infected. Those who died from
the virus exceed those who were killed in the war. Failed promise.
Pashinyan’s 10th promise: “Restoration of the economic activity
environment.” Economic activity has been as dismal in Armenia as in
the rest of the world. Promise unfulfilled.
Pashinyan’s 11th promise: “Activation of programs for solving
demographic problems.” Another unfulfilled promise. No progress in
this regard. On the contrary, emigration has increased.
Pashinyan’s 12th promise: “Amendments of the Electoral Code and
adoption of a new law on political parties.” The electoral code has
been amended, some with immediate effect and others as of next year.
The new electoral process is so complicated that most people in and
out of Armenia are completely confused. The law on financing of
political parties has been amended. Promise is mostly fulfilled.
Pashinyan’s 13th promise: “Introduction of the institution of
specialized judges, as the first step in creating the Anti-Corruption
Court. Launch of implementation of the illicit asset confiscation
law.” Progress was made on the institution of specialized judges
dealing with corruption. It remains to be seen if it has any effect on
eliminating corruption. Promise mostly fulfilled.
Pashinyan’s 14th promise: “Holding permanent thematic consultations
with representatives of Armenia’s political and civil society
organizations.” There has been some consultation between the Prime
Minister and several political parties, although such consultations
have been selective and not permanent. No meetings have been held with
civil society organizations. Promise mostly unfulfilled.
Pashinyan’s 15th promise: “Holding permanent thematic consultations
with Armenian organizations and individuals in the Diaspora.
Involvement of individuals and organizations of Armenia and the
Diaspora in the above-mentioned processes.” This has been a total
failure. A promise unfulfilled. There have been no occasional, let
alone permanent, consultations with Diaspora Armenian organizations
and individuals. Despite the Prime Minister’s repeated promises, he
has not acted to amend the laws to allow Diaspora Armenians to assume
high offices in the government. It has also not made a plan to tap the
experience and expertise of Diaspora Armenians, except when it comes
to seeking donations with little reporting about their expenditures.
The Prime Minister has Mostly Fulfilled: 5 promises; Mostly
Unfulfilled: 5 promises; Unfulfilled: 5 promises. You be the judge.
In my opinion, Armenia has two main tasks to accomplish as soon as
possible: 1) Strengthen the military immediately. 2) Elect a
government of technocrats who have the leadership qualities and
expertise to run a country on the brink of collapse.
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2- ‘At this point, it looks like Robert Kocharian will be the
next prime minister’
Based on the latest data, the Hayastan alliance between the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation-D, former president Robert Kocharian, and
Armenian Renaissance has once again continued its dramatic and
unexpected momentum.
In the latest data, among all voters, it now has an outright lead of
23.1% over the ruling party’s 22.8%.
Much more importantly, the opposition as a whole now enjoys a
commanding 11.9 percent lead among all voters, a 16.4 percent lead
among decided voters, and it is now in position to take some sixty
percent of seats in parliament.
All political parties must receive a minimum of five percent of the
vote to enter parliament.
All political alliances must receive a minimum of seven percent.
If a party or coalition gets less than fifty-four percent, but more
than fifty percent, they will be granted the additional seats needed
to reach a fifty-four percent majority. (Please note the difference
between a coalition and an alliance.
An alliance is formed pre-election, such as the Hayastan alliance
between ARF-D, Robert Kocharyan, and ՎՀԿ or that of Badig Oonem
between Republican Party of Armenia, and the Fatherland Party.
A coalition is formed post-election between parties and alliances in
order to form a ruling government. An example would be the most likely
coalition that we will see: the one between Hayastan alliance, Badig
Oonem alliance, and The Prosperous Armenia Party.
Parliamentary seats will be divided among parties and alliances that
have cleared the necessary thresholds, based on the percentages of
votes receives. Meaning as it stands, with Bright Armenia and
Republican Party not clearing the necessary thresholds, the ruling
party would receive 40.0 percent of parliamentary seats, losing
control of the government. The Hayastan alliance along with Badig
Oonem and The Prosperous Armenia Party would collectively receive some
60.0 percent of parliamentary seats, taking control of the government.
At this point, it looks like Robert Kocharian will be the next prime
minister of Armenia.
This article appeared in The Armenian Nation on June 11, 2021.
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3 - How Armenia Is Failing in the Fight Against COVID-19
(EconoTimes)—The streets of Yerevan are once again returning to life,
for the third time in the past year. They’re not as full as they had
been in the summer of 2019, before the pandemic, but people are
walking to and fro in the pleasant spring sun. Only some of them wear
masks, despite it still being mandatory in public places, and you can
see the smiles of relief on the faces of those who don’t.
Armenia is bouncing back from a third wave of the disease, which has
been slightly less lethal than the second one, back in October and
November. However, there’s not much room for optimism since the people
of this Caucasian country cannot seem to find a way out of this
situation. When talking about it to people on the street, you can hear
the despair in their voices.
“I think I speak for a lot of Armenians when I say that we just feel
exhausted from all that’s going on,” Hakob, a student at the Armenian
National Agrarian University in Yerevan, told us. “It’s because we
feel we are being kept in the dark, and that information is not passed
on to us in a transparent way. If I, a 22-year-old with a sense for
technology, can’t seem to find reliable data online from the
government, what will my grandparents say?”
The Armenian Ministry of Health’s official website can serve as an
indicator of how Hakob and plenty other of his fellow countrymen feel.
Even reaching a webpage with relevant instructions and restrictions is
complicated, let alone finding out if, when and where one can get
vaccinated. This brings up another big mine for Armenian authorities:
the vaccination program is going far, far slower than they had hoped.
All around the world, health officials are breaking their heads in an
effort to motivate people to get jabbed. In Armenia, less than one
percent of the population has received the first dose—one of the
lowest figures globally. We met Mariam at a vaccine center in the
capital, and this is what she had to say: “I’ve heard a lot of bad
stuff about this AstraZeneca shot. Personally, I know a lot of people
who refuse to get it and feel like the Ministry of Health is hiding
something from us by not talking about its risks. I decided to get it
anyway because I’m more afraid of the disease but look around you.
Almost nobody is coming to these centers.”
Unlike other nations, Armenia has not set any limits on who can get
vaccinated, offering the dose to anyone who wishes to get it. “The
goal is to make it easy and accessible for people,” said Gahane
Sahakyan, a representative of the Ministry of Health, but all efforts
so far just don’t seem to do the trick. Authorities are not doing
enough to convince people to get the shot. While Armenian Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinyan did get the first dose himself in the
beginning of May, he still refuses to disclose whether it was an
AstraZeneca shot or not.
On of Armenia’s biggest issues, not just when speaking of the
ineffectiveness of the vaccination program, is the massive amount of
red tape which has become an inevitable part of any public service.
However, the Armenians have managed to topple the bureaucracy in the
past in order to achieve their goals.
Should Armenia let private companies handle the efforts to make people
believe in the vaccine’s safety and efficacy? This idea, recently
raised in closed rooms between officials, does have its risks,
especially financially speaking. However, it seems like Armenia is in
a ‘do or die’ position, and only by taking on a completely different
approach than the current one will this nation manage to break out of
this deadlock of mistrust.
There were 4,007 active cases in Armenia as of June 14. Armenia has
recorded 223,723 coronavirus cases and 4,488 deaths; 215,228 have
recovered.
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4- Embattled Pashinyan offers son in exchange for POWs
captured by Azerbaijan
(Russia Today)—Acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has
instructed the government to offer his son to Baku in exchange for
prisoners of war who are still detained by Azerbaijan after last
year’s Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Pashinyan revealed his offer on Wednesday, June 9 during a meeting
with his supporters in the northern village of Mets Mantash, which was
broadcast on Facebook.
“I have instructed our relevant structures to officially suggest to
the Azerbaijani side that my son is ready as a hostage to go to Baku
instead of our prisoners,” the acting prime minister said.
Pashinyan’s son, Ashot, now in his early 20s, made headlines in both
2018 and 2020 when he signed up as a volunteer to serve in Karabakh.
The suggestion to send his son to Baku originally came from one of the
acting PM’s most prominent critics, former President Serzh Sargsyan.
Sargsyan had earlier criticized Pashinyan for saying that the captives
may have to wait for a couple of months to be released and proposed
that he should exchange his son for the Armenian prisoners.
“Does Pashinyan understand at all what state these people are in? Let
him exchange his Ashotik for the 20-25 soldiers held in Azerbaijan,”
Sargsyan said.
Writing on Facebook, Ashot Pashinyan confirmed that he would agree to
be sent to Azerbaijan if Baku approved.
On March 15, Azerbaijan announced that it had handed over to Armenia
all the prisoners of war taken during the hostilities. According to
Baku, the Armenians who have not been returned to their home country
are not subject to exchange because they were either captured after
the end of hostilities or stand accused of committing war crimes or
terrorism, with others being branded as mercenaries.
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5- Four Armenian Deputy Foreign Ministers Resign
(RFE/RL)—All four deputy foreign ministers of Armenia tendered their
resignations after Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazian stepped down on May
27, it was officially confirmed on Monday, June 7. They were formally
relieved of their duties on Tursday, June 8.
All four diplomats decided to resign after Foreign Minister Ara
Ayvazian stepped down on May 27 following an emergency session of the
Armenian government’s Security Council which discussed mounting
tensions on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
Ayvazian announced his decision hours after an emergency session of
the Armenian government’s Security Council which discussed mounting
tensions on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
Speaking at a May 31 farewell meeting with the Foreign Ministry staff,
Ayvazian hinted that he is quitting because of disagreeing with
government decisions which he believes could put the country’s
sovereignty and national security at risk. He did not go into details.
It emerged afterwards that one of Ayvazian’s deputies, Gagik
Ghalachian, also handed in his resignation on May 27. Some Armenian
media outlets reported last week that the three other deputy
ministers—Artak Apitonian, Avet Adonts and Armen Ghevondian— followed
suit.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry confirmed those reports on Monday. It
told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that the resignations of Apitonian,
Adonts and Ghevondian were submitted to Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian’s office for approval last week.
None of the vice-ministers has been formally relieved of his duties so far.
Speaking at the May 27 meeting of the Security Council, Pashinian
called for the deployment of international observers along contested
portions of the frontier where Armenian and Azerbaijani troops have
been facing off against each other for the last four weeks.
Some opposition figures and other critics of Pashinian denounced the
proposal, accusing him of failing to defend Armenia against foreign
aggression and plotting to cede Armenian territory to Baku. The prime
minister and his allies deny that.
Ayvazian’s remarks gave Pashinian’s detractors more ammunition. An
Armenian government spokeswoman challenged the outgoing minister to
publicly clarify “who, where and how was going to take some steps or
to make decisions contradicting our country’s national and state
interests.”
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6- Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor:
What do the Three Rs stand for?
Well, There’s Reading, ‘Riting, and ‘Rithmetic
What do those three letters denote in Armenian?
Recognition, Restitution and Return of Territories.
This is not flag-waving. This is more important.
Armenia has been invaded repeatedly—by Greeks, Persians, Romans and
Ottoman Turks.
We survived.
The new empires on the block—Bolsheviks, Communists, or
Soviets—spanned until December 26, 1991 (while Armenia gained its
independence on September 19 of that year).
Nature sent a shock wave on December 7, 1988 that took 25,000 lives.
We survived. We are survivors
Armen K. Boyajian, P.E.
Ardsley, New York
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7- Erdogan says after Biden talks no Turkey-U.S. problems unsolvable
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan sounded upbeat after his first
face-to-face talks with Joe Biden, though he announced no major
breakthroughs in the awkward relationship between the two allies, at
odds over Russian weapons, Syria, Libya and other issues.
Erdogan characterized his talks with the new U.S. president on the
sidelines of a NATO summit in Brussels as “productive and sincere”.
“We think that there are no issues within U.S.-Turkey ties, and that
areas of cooperation for us are richer and larger than problems,” he
said.
Turkey, with the alliance’s second-largest military, has angered its
allies in the Western military alliance by buying Russian
surface-to-air missiles and intervening in wars in Syria and Libya. It
is also in a stand-off with Greece and Cyprus over territory in the
Eastern Mediterranean.
As president, Biden has adopted a cooler tone than predecessor Donald
Trump towards Erdogan. Biden quickly recognized the 1915 massacre of
Armenians as genocide — a position that angers Turkey—and stepped up
criticism of Turkey’s human rights record.
Washington has already removed Ankara from the F-35 fighter jet
program and imposed sanctions over Turkey’s purchase of the Russian
S-400 surface-to-air missiles.
One area where Erdogan hoped to showcase a central Turkish role in
NATO is Afghanistan, where Ankara has offered to guard and operate
Kabul airport after U.S. and NATO forces withdraw in coming weeks.
NATO head Jens Stoltenberg said Turkey would play a key role but no
decision was made at the Monday summit.
At the start of the main leaders’ session at NATO, Biden spoke to
Erdogan at length in a small group before they took their seats.
Later in the day, the two leaders and their top aides sat mostly
silently on opposite sides of a conference table, ignoring questions
shouted to them by journalists briefly invited into the room.
Erdogan also met French President Emmanuel Macron. Ankara and Paris
have been at odds over Syria, Libya, and Turkish criticism of the
fight against what Macron calls Islamist separatism, among other
issues.
“President Erdogan confirmed during our meeting his wish that the
foreign mercenaries, the foreign militias, operating on Libyan soil
leave as soon as possible,” Macron told a news conference afterwards.
Erdogan says he didn’t discuss the recognition of the Armenian
genocide during his meeting with Biden, Ahval reports. Asked by a
reporter whether or not Biden’s recognition of the Armenian genocide
came up in their meeting, Erdogan answered in the negative. “Thank God
it never came to the agenda,” Erdogan said with a smile.
Before his departure to Brussels, Erdogan said that it would be
“impossible” not to bring up Biden’s decision to recognize the events
of 1915 as “genocide.” "We are deeply saddened by this perspective. It
is impossible for us to not raise this issue at the meeting," Erdogan
said on Sunday.
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8- 15 Armenian POWs Freed After Armenia Gives Azerbaijan Map
of 100,000 Land Mines
(RFE/RL Armenian Report)—In a deal brokered by the United States and
Georgia, Azerbaijan set free 15 Armenian prisoners of war on Saturday
after receiving more information from Armenia about minefields around
Nagorno-Karabakh. Acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan
announced their release as he campaigned for snap parliamentary
elections slated for June 20. Pashinyan’s press secretary, Mane
Gevorgian, said that the POWs were repatriated to Armenia via Georgia.
“The process took place with U.S. and Georgian mediation, for which
the government of Armenia thanks the U.S. administration and the
Georgian government,” Gevorgian wrote on Facebook. Azerbaijan said it
freed the POWs in exchange for an Armenian military map detailing the
location of nearly 100,000 land mines in the Aghdam district east of
Nagorno-Karabakh which was handed back to Baku under the terms of a
Russian-brokered agreement that stopped last year’s
Armenian-Azerbaijani war.
“The 15 Armenian captives were turned over on the Azerbaijani-Georgian
border with the participation of Georgian representatives,” the
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hailed their release. “We also
welcome Armenia’s decision to provide Azerbaijan with important
information that will facilitate humanitarian demining and avoid
future casualties,” he said in a statement.
“The United States is pleased to support these steps and hopes they
will lay the groundwork for additional cooperation. We continue to
call for the return of all detainees and stand ready to assist the
countries of the region in their efforts to continue cooperation and
resolve outstanding issues between them,” added Blinken.
The Georgian government reported, meanwhile, that Prime Minister
Irakli Gharibashvili personally helped to arrange the deal by
negotiating with Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
The Armenian-Azerbaijani agreement brokered by Russian President
Vladimir Putin last November calls for the unconditional release of
all prisoners held by the conflicting sides. Russian peacekeepers
deployed in Karabakh after the six-week war have arranged several
prisoner swaps in recent months. No Azerbaijani prisoners are known to
be held in Armenia or Karabakh at present. A total of 88 Armenian
prisoners of war (POWs) and civilians have been freed to date. More
than 100 others are believed to remain in Azerbaijani captivity.
Yerevan regularly demands their immediate release. Baku says that they
are not covered by the truce agreement because they were captured
after it took effect on November 10. Azerbaijani officials have
branded the remaining Armenian detainees as “terrorists.” At least 16
of them are facing what the Armenian Foreign Ministry condemned last
week as “trumped-up criminal charges.” “It is evident that Azerbaijan
is using the captured people as political hostages and tools to pursue
other goals,” the ministry said in a June 4 statement. It accused Baku
of concealing “the real number of prisoners” and “denying the
captivity of dozens of Armenian servicemen and civilians.”
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9- Fresno Unified school board needlessly hurts
Armenian community with campus-naming vote
By The Fresno Bee
Editorial Board
For Fresno’s Armenian American community, the process that the local
school board went through recently to name a new facility could not
have been much worse.
The Fresno Unified School District, the third largest in California,
does not have a campus or major facility named after an Armenian
educator or community leader. That is the case despite how Armenians
have called Fresno home for more than a century, having settled here
to escape the genocide that occurred in their country before World War
I. Fresno Unified plans to open a new facility at 10th Street and
Ventura Avenue in two years. The property will house students from
Cambridge High School, J.E Young Academic Center, and the eLearn
Academy.
Employees in district departments, including early learning, special
education, the department of prevention and intervention, and
professional learning, will also work at the facility. The task fell
to the board to determine a name for the new campus. A community
survey was conducted, and the top choice by a large margin was H.
Roger Tatarian. A Fresno native who grew up in the area where the new
facility will be located, Tatarian later graduated from Fresno State,
then got a job as a reporter with United Press International, a wire
service with the mission of covering breaking news around the world.
Tatarian would go on to become the head of UPI.
After retiring from that post, Tatarian returned to Fresno State,
where he taught journalism for 15 years. He died in 1995 at the age of
78.
In the survey, Tatarian received 929 nominations. Taking second was
longtime FUSD educator Dolphas Trotter, with 116 nominations. Francine
and Murray Farber were third with 88.
But championing the Farbers was district Trustee Elizabeth Jonasson
Rosas, who represents the Roosevelt High area on the board. She lauded
the couple as exemplary philanthropists have have donated more than
$100,000 in college scholarships and have launched various programs
that benefited thousands of young people.
Also backing the Farbers was Fresno City Council President Luis
Chavez. A former FUSD trustee and husband to Jonasson Rosas, Chavez
wrote a long letter to the school board extolling the couple for
caring about children in impoverished parts of town.
In the end, the board ignored the survey and chose to follow its
tradition of deferring to the board member in whose district the
facility was located, and the Farbers were approved for the naming.
The decision came in an emotional meeting: several people angrily
accused the trustees of anti-Armenian racism.
For Fresno’s Armenian community, it was the latest blow in the long
quest for recognition. Only one American president had acknowledged
the Armenian genocide carried out by the Ottoman Turks until President
Biden did so this past April. During the genocide an estimated 1.5
million Armenians were killed. Many scholars believe the Armenian
genocide was the forerunner to the Jewish Holocaust of WWII.
The joy resulting from Biden’s official recognition was tempered by
the fact that Armenian forces lost territory to Azerbaijan in a war at
the end of last year. An estimated 200 Armenians, most soldiers but
some civilians, continue to be prisoners of war, according to news
accounts.
Jonasson Rosas wanted to name a building at the Ventura Avenue
property after Tatarian; his family declined the offer. Tatarian’s
relatives made it clear that they will agree on the use of his name
only if the property is significant.
Trustee Valerie Davis had a good idea: District staff should draw up a
list of all unnamed facilities for the board to review. Worthy
Armenian employees of the district could be considered, as could
Tatarian again.
Members of other ethnic and racial groups in Fresno have had campuses
named after them. Fresno Unified is past due to recognize the
importance of the local Armenian community.
This article appeared in The Fresno Bee on June 8, 2021.
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10- In Hello Mother, queer identity and Armenian tradition collide
By Lucía de la Torre
Parev Mama (Hello Mother) by director Natalie Shirinian follows a
first-generation Armenian-American LGBTQ+ woman living in Los Angeles.
Late one night, she finds herself confronted by her traditional mother
after going out with her girlfriend. The encounter forces her to
embark on a difficult journey: struggling to free herself from the
constraints of tradition, while still affirming her cultural identity.
Short but powerful and universally relatable, Parev Mama explores the
dilema of a 30-something caught between family expectations — who see
marriage and a husband as her ultimate goal — and living as a gay
woman.
Set against the backdrop of the Californian sky, and infused with the
deep sound of the duduk, or the traditional Armenian flute, the film
is an immersive exploration of intergenerational migrant struggles,
and the tension between individual and cultural identity.
This article appeared in Calvert Journal on June 10, 2021.
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