Author: Badalian Vardan

CONCERT COMMEMORATES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Dearborn Press & Guide, MI
Feb 6 2015

Published: Friday, February 06, 2015

The Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee presents Grammy
Award-nominated Armenian Canadian soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian in
concert with her husband, pianist Serouj Kradjian, and the Henrik
Karapetyan String Quartet in My Songs, My Heritage at 7 p.m. March
7 at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center, 15801 Michigan Ave.

Tickets are $50, $35 and $25, and are available through the theater
box office at 313-943-2354, online at dearborntheater.com, or from
them, by contacting Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee members
Leslie Balian at 248-303-4690 or Shakeh Basmajian at 248-981-6825.

Concert selections include Armenian sacred hymns, folk songs, chamber
music and 20th century songs, with English surtitles.

Bayrakdarian, a Canadian of Armenian heritage, immigrated to Canada as
a teen. She graduated from the University of Toronto cum laude with
a degree in biomedical engineering science in 1997, the same year
she was a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions.

Her opera career, now in its second decade, makes her an eagerly
anticipated artist at opera houses and concert halls worldwide.

Celebrated for her multi-hued voice as well as her beauty, presence
and style, Bayrakdarian’s career expands beyond opera.

She is a featured vocalist on the Grammy-award winning soundtrack of
Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers, and topped Billboard charts as a
guest soloist with the Canadian band Delerium on their 2007 Grammy
nominated dance remix Angelicus.

Bayrakdarian won four consecutive Juno Awards, presented to
Canadian musical artists for outstanding achievement in the recording
industry, from 2004 to 2007, for classical album of the year, vocal or
instrumental, for Azulao, Cleopatra, Viardot-Garcia: Lieder Chansons
Canzone Mazurkas, and Mozart: Arie e Duetti.

Bayrakdarian received a Grammy nomination for the BBC-produced short
film HOLOCAUST – A Music Memorial Film from Auschwitz. She was also
the focus of a Canadian television Gemini-nominated film, A Long
Journey Home, documenting her first trip to Armenia.

A century ago, the Armenian Genocide, planned by the leaders of the
Ottoman Empire, systematically exterminated 1.5 million Armenians
in what is now Turkey. The genocide had two phases: the wholesale
killing of able-bodied men through massacre and forced army labor,
followed by the deportation of women, children, the elderly, and
the infirm on death marches to the Syrian Desert. Military escorts,
driving the deportees forward, deprived them of food and water,
and subjected them to periodic robbery, rape and massacre.

In Michigan, the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee of Metro
Detroit, comprised of 15 of the area’s leading Armenian-American
organizations, has organized commemorative events throughout 2015
to honor the genocide victims, demand recognition and reparations,
and increase public awareness of all genocides. For more information,
go to armeniangenocidecentennialmi.com.

ALEPPO BISHOPS SAYS SYRIAN CHRISTIANS BETRAYED BY THE WEST

ANSAmed, Italy
Feb 6 2015

Monsignor Marayati laments lack of help, ‘city is dying’

(by Fausto Gasparroni) (ANSAmed) – ROME, FEBRUARY 6 – The Armenian
Catholic bishop of Aleppo told ANSA on Friday that the Christian
community in Syria felt “forgotten, neglected and betrayed by the
West”. Monsignor Boutros Marayati added, in response to a question
about the international community’s reaction to the conflict that has
been ongoing for almost four years, that “no one thinks about us. For
example, you hear about Kobane (also known as Ayn Al-Arab, Ed.), and
Kobane is a small, unimportant town, while Christians – most of whom
live in Aleppo – are forgotten.” “The situation in Aleppo,” he said on
the fringes of a bishops prayer for peace he presided over on Friday
in the Santa Maria in Trastevere church, promoted by the Comunita di
Sant’Egidio, “is tragic. There is a lack of water, electricity, light,
heating, and fuel. The doctors have left and there is no medicine. But
we are living there, surviving. We feel a bit abandoned, forgotten,
by the West and the entire world.” Monsignor Marayati went on to say
that churchgoers “often come and ask us whether they should stay or
go. And you can’t say anything given the tragedy before us, since
there is above all a lack of security.

Rockets and bombs come from the jihadists’ area, and two weeks ago
our cathedral was also hit a rocket that destroyed the cupola and
the entire roof.” “The people are now thinking about leaving,” he said.

“Already two thirds of the Christian population, the Armenians, have
left. Only a small one-third of them have stayed – those that still
believe in peace want to stay. Especially when the appeal to save
Aleppo was launched, or at least to freeze the situation and bring
in a ceasefire, some believed and still do.

They are however becoming more pessimistic, because the situation has
not changed. It has instead become worse.” Marayati underscored that
“there is hope. There have been many appeals, and even the Comunita
di Sant’Egidio made an appeal to save Aleppo. However, nothing has
changed on the ground, in reality. To the contrary: it has become
worse.” “At this point,” he continued, “we only open our churches to
help people. Aid comes and everyone has become poor and in need of
help. Those who used to help the church now need help themselves.

People are fed up. Is there such thing as human dignity? How can you
always line up for a drop of water, to wait for petrol, wait for food.

The wealthy have left and the middle class has become poor.” The
bishop said that, nevertheless, “despite everything, we have opened
the schools and churchgoers come to church. Many of the churches have
been destroyed, but those that are still functioning are filled with
believers praying that this type of evil – as the Gospels say – will
go away simply by praying and fasting. We call for peace through
appeals for prayer and fasting. As one bishop said, ‘these are
things we ask the Lord with tears’. This is what we do now in our
communities.” On the subject of relations with other communities,
including non-Christian ones, the Armenian Catholic bishop stressed
that “what was beautiful about Aleppo was that everything is done in
an ecumenical fashion” he said.

“Either we’re together or we aren’t. And so, everything that is done
is done between the Orthodox, Catholics and Protestants, and with
moderate Muslims. Everything that happens now – at least as concerns
the part that is still there – is cooperation, a collaboration,
ecumenical and interfaith solidarity.” (ANSAmed).

CLARK U.’S AKCAM RECOGNIZED WITH HRANT DINK SPIRIT OF FREEDOM AND JUSTICE MEDAL

Targeted News Service
February 5, 2015 Thursday 10:11 PM EST

WORCESTER, Mass.

Clark University issued the following news release:

Clark University History Professor Taner Akcam was recently presented
with the Hrant Dink Spirit of Freedom and Justice Medal by the
Organization of Istanbul Armenians on the 8th commemoration of Dink’s
assassination. The late Hrant Dink was a prominent Turkish-Armenian
journalist known for his efforts of reconciliation between Turks and
Armenians and his advocacy of human and minority rights in Turkey.

Professor Akcam holds the Robert Aram and Marianne Kaloosdian and
Stephen and Marian Mugar Endowed Chair of Armenian Genocide Studies
at Clark. It is the only chair in the world dedicated to research
and teaching on the subject of the Armenian Genocide. He was the
first Turkish scholar to publicly express his conviction that the
1915 Armenian genocide occurred under the Ottoman Empire.

“It is a great honor for me to receive this award,” said Professor
Akcam. “Hrant Dink was the Martin Luther King Jr. of Turkey; he
symbolized freedom of speech and justice. It is critically important
to remember him and to work to keep his spirit alive as we continue
to fight for the recognition of Armenian genocide.”

Akcam will add this to his growing list of honors and accolades. In
2006, he was recognized by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for his
outstanding work in human rights and for fighting genocide denial. He
also received the Hrant Dink Freedom Award from the Armenian Bar
Association for being “a champion of historical truth about the
Armenian Genocide” and for his “courageous defense of liberty and
free speech.”

This is the second year the Hrant Dink medal has been awarded; last
year’s recipient was Khatchig Mouradian, editor of the Armenian Weekly
and professor at Rutgers University and Worcester State University.

Mouradian is a PhD. candidate at Clark, where he is working on his
dissertation on the second phase of the Armenian Genocide. He has
also taught courses at Clark.

NALBANDIAN MEETS WITH THE OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRMEN

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Feb 6 2015

6 February 2015 – 4:26pm

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian met with the OSCE Minsk
Group co-chairmen Igor Popov, James Warlick and Pierre Andre, as well
as Personal Representative of the OSCE co-chairman Andrzej Kasprzyk
in Munich.

The discussions on the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict continued at the meeting, Trend reports with the reference
to the press service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry.

Nalbandian confirmed that Armenia together with the co-chairmen will
continue making efforts for a peaceful settlement of the conflict.

ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH CANONIZES VICTIMS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Ecumenical News
Feb 6 2015

Miko Morelos
Friday, February 06 2015

The Armenian Apostolic Church is set to canonize the victims of the
Armenian Genocide as the country prepares to mark the centenary of
the horrific incident which saw over a million people killed.

The church, which follows Eastern Orthodox traditions, will hold
a solemn liturgy at the Patriarchal See of the Catholicosate in
Echmiadzin on April 23, a church official said at a press conference
on February 3.

On the canonization, Bishop Bagrat Galstanyan said the process took
nearly two years before church leaders decreed sainthood for the
victims in the genocide.

In a statement, the head of the Patriarchal See of Echmiadzin explained
the implication of the canonization on the victims of the genocide,
which happened towards the end of World War I.

“The Armenian Church does not sanctify. It recognizes the sanctity of
saints or of those people that is already common among people or has
been shown with evidence,” said Catholicos Karekin in a statement to
the Roman Catholic news agency Fides.

“The Church recognizes only what happened, that is, the Genocide.”

—— Follow us

—— Discussions on bestowing the honor on the genocide victims
began in September 2013 at a meeting in Echmiadzin. the mother church
of the Armenian Apostolic Church, located in the city of Vagharshapat,
Armenia.

The gathering was a milestone in the church, bringing together all
Armenian Apostolic bishops from the Patriarchal See of Echmiadzin,
based in Armenia and headed by Catholicos Karekin II, and the
Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia, based in Lebanon and
led by Catholicos Aram I.

During the liturgy, the church will read “Martyrs of April,” a psalm
composed by the late Bishop Zareh Aznavourian, which will be used
for the canonization rite, according to Galstanyan.

The bishop added that invitations to heads of sister oriental churches
and other churches have been sent.

The genocide had been carried out by the Ottoman government, which
targeted minority Armenians who lived in their historic homeland at
a territory now part of present-day Turkey. At least 1.5 million
Armenians died in the systematic execution, also called as the
Armenian Holocaust.

Turkey denies the word genocide is an accurate term for the mass
killings of Armenians that began under Ottoman rule in 1915.

Interfax, Russia
Feb 6 2015

Armenia reports civilian death in Azeri military attack

YEREVAN. Feb 6

A resident of the village of Nerkin Karmirakhbyur, Tavush region of
Armenia, was killed in an attack coming from Azerbaijan, the region’s
hospital told reporters on Friday.

The doctors said Vanik Gukasyan, 60, died from a gunshot wound.

Manvel Kamenatdyan, the elder of the village, told reporters Gukasyan
was wounded near his house on Thursday and died on his way to
hospital.

In the meantime, Artsrun Ovannisyan, press officer for the Armenian
defense minister, told reporters the Azeri military had breached the
ceasefire regime on all tracks along the border on the Tavush region.

“Fire was opened on populated areas. Armenia opened fire on the Azeri
positions from which the shots had been fired,” he said.

Ovannisyan earlier said Levon Andreasyan, 85, an Armenian resident,
was wounded in an attack by the Azeri military on the village of
Movse, Tavush region of Armenia on February 4.

The OSCE on January 27 called on Azerbaijan and Armenia to exercise
restraint in resolving the Karabakh conflict.

The OSCE reiterated the importance of measures that could rule out the
possibility of incidents between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

FRANCE
Libérons Internet du négationnisme

Aujourd’hui, qui recherche des informations sur la Shoah via les
grandes plateformes d’échange et de diffusion en ligne tombe
immanquablement sur des discours qui cherchent à prouver que la Shoah
n’aurait pas existé.De nombreuses vidéos figurant parmi les premiers
résultats de la recherche mobilisent des arguments
pseudo-scientifiques afin de démontrer que l’extermination des Juifs
et des Roms en Europe ne fut pas ce que l’on prétend dans les livres
d’histoire. Avant les négationnistes d’aujourd’hui, les nazis
eux-mêmes ont cherché à effacer toute trace du génocide afin
d’oblitérer leur crime. Aujourd’hui, le négationnisme est un délit
dans un grand nombre de pays, et aux yeux de des Nations unies depuis
2007.

Alors qu’Internet est devenue la source d’information essentielle pour
les nouvelles générations, la diffusion du négationnisme contribue à
la banalisation du racisme et de l’antisémitisme dans notre société,
augmente l’indifférence et provoque des passages à l’acte violents.
Les réseaux sociaux se sont donné les moyens de bannir le fléau des
contenus pédo-pornographiques, et d’interdire les incitations à la
haine. Aujourd’hui, nous demandons aux grands réseaux sociaux de
prendre leurs responsabilités et d’interdire les contenus
négationnistes dans leurs conditions d’utilisation. Nous, survivants
de la Shoah, refusons qu’au 70e anniversaire [lire pages 32-35] de
notre libération du camp d’Auschwitz- Birkenau, les outils de la
modernité soient laissés à ceux qui veulent détruire notre monde de
valeurs.

Nous, étudiants, dernière génération à connaître des rescapés,
refusons que les réseaux sociaux que nous utilisons au quotidien
abondent de contenus et vidéos négationnistes.

Nous,dirigeants d’associations engagées dans la lutte contre le
racisme et l’antisémitisme, refusons d’abandonner la liberté pour
laquelle nous combattons à ceux qui en font un alibi de la haine.
Nous, citoyens, refusons qu’Internet légitime la violence et la
manipulation. La vérité de l’histoire a besoin que chaque citoyen
responsable s’engage pour veiller sur elle. Il est déjà plus que temps
que tous les hommes de bonne volonté, de toutes les nations, simple
utilisateur, architecte ou investisseur d’Internet, s’impliquent pour
la défense de la vérité. Car si Internet est notre bien commun, il
dépend de chacun de nous que la vérité y triomphe du mensonge.

Par D’ANCIENS DÉPORTÉS et PLUSIEURS ASSOCIATIONS ANTIRACISTES

Signez l’appel sur :

SIGNATAIRES

Raphaël Estraïl président de l’Union des déportés d’Auschwitz, Sacha
Reingewirtz président de l’Union des étudiants juifs de France,
Benjamin Orenstein président de l’Amicale des déportés d’Auschwitz
Birkenau du Rhône, Elie Buzyn ancien déporté d’Auschwitz Birkenau,
Alberto Israel ancien déporté d’Auschwitz Birkenau, David Schulhof
ancien déporté d’Auschwitz Birkenau, Zesia Laskier ancien déporté
d’Auschwitz Birkenau, Alfred Szalawecz ancien déporté d’Auschwitz
Birkenau, Claude Bloch ancien déporté d’Auschwitz Birkenau, Sam
Rupkowski ancien déporté d’Auschwitz Birkenau, Jeannette Deplace
ancienne déportée d’Auschwitz Birkenau, Julien Godet ancien déporté
d’Auschwitz Birkenau

Ainsi que :William Martinet président de l’Unef, Alexandre Leroy
président de la Fage,Olivier Vial président de l’UNI, Gilles Clavreul
délégué interministériel à la lutte contre le racisme et
l’antisémitisme, Dominique Sopo président de SOS Racisme, Alain
Jakubowicz président de la Licra, David Harris directeur de l’American
Jewish Committee, Seta Papazian présidente du Collectif Vigilance
arménienne contre le négationnisme, Marcel Kabanda président d’Ibuka
France (pour la mémoire du génocide des Tutsis au Rwanda), Alain
Daumas président de l’Union française des associations tsiganes,
Benjamin Abtan président de l’European Grassroots Antiracist Movement

samedi 7 février 2015,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

Minsk Group Co-Chairs called for the resumption of presidential dialogue

23:02, 06 Feb 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Igor Popov of the
Russian Federation, James Warlick of the United States of America, and
Pierre Andrieu of France) met with Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward
Nalbandian 5 February in Munich. The Personal Representative of the
OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, also
participated in the meeting.

We noted with alarm the rising number of incidents along the Line of
Contact and Armenia-Azerbaijan border, including in civilian areas. We
also discussed with the Minister proposed measures to reduce the
likelihood of such incidents. In particular, it is imperative for the
sides to take steps to prevent a repeat of the November 12 helicopter
downing.

The violence and tensions between the sides underscore the necessity
of starting comprehensive negotiations as soon as possible to reach a
lasting settlement. We urged the Minister to show more flexibility so
such negotiations can begin.

We raised the importance of implementing the Presidents’ agreement now
to exchange data on missing persons under the aegis of the ICRC. This
data exchange can build trust between the sides and facilitate the
reconciliation process.

In addition, we called for the resumption of presidential dialogue at
the earliest opportunity.

The Co-Chairs will travel to the region later this month.

ARMEN RUSTAMYAN: GAGIK TSARUKYAN REPEATED WHAT WE SAID IN 2010

13:51 | February 6,2015 | Politics

At yesterday’s conference, the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) Leader
Gagik Tsarukyan repeated the words said by the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation -Dashnaktsutyun in 2010, Head of the Dashnaktustyun faction
Armen Rustamyan said during the parliamentary briefings on Friday.

“In 2010, I said that Armenia needs a government of a new quality.

Today, they are speaking about the need of a new-quality government.

By saying a new-quality government we first of all mean elimination
of the political monopoly. The ruling party and state are interwoven
today. It is time to find solutions to the main problems in the
country,” Mr Rustamyan said. He suggests involving knowledgeable people
who today reside outside Armenia in the process of state-building.

“The change of government does not only mean a change of persons,
it implies a change of system. The political forces should work
together and present people a concrete program in order not to appear
in uncertainty again. You cannot change everything by changing the
electoral system. This is a delusion,” said the Dashnak representative.

“Armenia needs a government of a new quality, new, educated people. In
this regard I express my will to support such new candidates; I call
upon Armenians living both in Armenia and abroad, specialists with good
education to unite around creating an alternative to our functioning
government,” Gagik Tsarukyan said during the conference on Thurdsay.

ATTORNEY ARSEN DANIELIAN NAMED CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD FOR THE HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION OF GLENDALE ADVENTIST MEDICAL CENTER

By MassisPost
Updated: February 5, 2015

GLENDALE – Arsen Danielian, Esq., a senior partner at the Glendale law
firm of Baker, Olson, LeCroy & Danielian, has been appointed chairman
of the board for the Healthcare Foundation at Glendale Adventist
Medical Center. He began his two-year term of office January 1, 2015.

As board chair, he presides over a distinguished board of directors
for the Healthcare Foundation at Glendale Adventist Medical Center.

The mission of the Healthcare Foundation is to support the work and
mission of Glendale Adventist Medical Center through philanthropy –
last year, Danielian and his wife, Hasmik, were honored at the
hospital’s gala and received the 2014 Erwin J. Remboldt Founder’s
Award for Outstanding Individual Philanthropy.

“Arsen and Hasmik are wonderful role models for every person and every
social, ethnic and cultural organization in our community. They
demonstrate in their words and actions that when we all work together
toward a common purpose, we all benefit,” says Healthcare Foundation
President Irene Bourdon.

Danielian will lead the board in efforts to expand the community’s
knowledge, understanding and support of Glendale Adventist Medical
Center and to strengthen the relationships between the community and
the Medical Center. In his role as chairman of the board, he will be a
bridge to the business community, the Armenian community; and the
entire Glendale community.

Danielian believes wholeheartedly in the hospital’s mission and deeply
values the vital role it plays in the community. He and his family are
also loyal patients and have adopted Glendale Adventist Medical Center
as their hospital and charity of choice. He has been a member of the
Healthcare Foundation board of directors for more than 18 years and
most recently served as vice chairman. He is also the chairman of the
Ambassadors of Faith of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of
North America and chairman of the board of trustees of the Armenian
Society of Los Angeles.

Over the course of his career as an attorney, Danielian has served on
many national and international councils, assemblies and committees.

In October of 2014 Arsen Danielian was honored with the prestigious
St. Nerses Shnorhali medal and the accompanying Pontifical Encyclical
of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all
Armenians in recognition of his four decades of service rendered to
the Armenian Apostolic Church.