Author: Kalantarian Kevo

ARMENIAN-FRENCH PROTESTER THROWS PAINT ON TURKISH AMBASSADOR

BGN News, Turkey
March 2 2015

A French citizen of Armenian descent threw paint on Turkey’s ambassador
to Paris at a conference on Monday.

Turkish Ambassador Hakkı Akil was the target of a one-man protest
on Monday when a French citizen of Armenian descent threw paint on
him at a conference.

Akil was speaking at the “Laicism in Turkey and France” conference
at Paris’ Descartes University Law School when an unidentified person
approached his podium and heaved paint at him.

Detained by the audience and security, it was determined that the
protester was not a student. The ambassador resumed the rest of his
speech after the incident and left the conference.

Answering reporters’ questions afterwards, Akil pointed out similar
attacks had taken place at tourism offices in Paris and Marseilles. He
added that “it wouldn’t be surprising” if such attacks increased as
the centennial of the 1915 events approached.

March 2, 2015 | BGNNews.com | Ä°stanbul

GALLUP: TOP THREE BRIGHTEST OPPOSITIONISTS IN ARMENIA: ZARUHI POSTANJYAN, RAFFI HOVANNISIAN AND NIKOL PASHINYAN

by Nana Martirosyan

Monday, March 2, 16:21

According to a survey conducted by the Gallup International Association
Office in Armenia, the brightest oppositionists in Armenia are Zaruhi
Postanjyan, a member of Hertiage Party faction, Raffi Hovannisian,
Leader of Heritage Party, and MP Nikol Pashinyan, Aram Navasardyan,
the Head of the GALLUP International Association Office in Armenia,
told reporters when presenting the survey on March 2.

He said the respondents were asked to assess the politicians on a
5-point scale. The above three politicians were given by 3.8 points.

Then go Gagik Tsarukyan, leader of the Prosperous Armenia Party (3.7),
Naira Zohrabyan (3.7), Levon Ter-Petrosyan (3.6). The following
politicians proved at the bottom of the list: Heghine Bisharyan,
Secretary of Orinats Yerkir Party (2.3), Arthur Baghdasaryan, Leader of
Orinats Yerkir Party (2.2), and Robert Kocharyan, the second president
of Armenia (2.2).

Navasardyan said the survey was conducted between the known dispute of
PAP Leader Gagik Tsarukyan and President Serzh Sargsyan. Consequently,
the assessment could have changed tangibly since then. In addition,
the respondents were asked to assess the opposition activity of the
political forces on a 5-point scale. Top five opposition parties were
as follows: Heritage – 3.7 points, Prosperous Armenia – 3.63 points,
Armenian National Congress – 3.62 points, ARFD – 3.2 points, and
Orinats Yerkir Party -2.4 points. The survey was conducted in the
period from Nov 20 up to Nov 27 among 1067 respondents throughout
the territory of Armenia.

STARBUCKS OFFENDS ARMENIAN-AMERICANS WITH NEW AD — SHOWS ARMENIAN WOMEN UNDER THE SYMBOL OF TURKEY

The Inquisitr
March 2 2015

If there is any United States company recognized for supporting liberal
views more so than any other, it is easily going to be Starbucks. The
Inquisitr has reported numerous times on Starbucks, and how they’ve
centralized their working ethic of a progressive stance.

The prominent coffee chain is one of the few businesses outside of
tattoo studios that allow their employees to show off their tattoos.

They also refuse to welcome anyone at their coffee shops who have
guns on them, legal or not.

However, when Starbucks tried to honor people ethnically from the
Middle East, they instead offended them, specifically the Armenians
with their latest ad.

According to Daily Mail, Starbucks tried to utilize a new ad to
appeal to Middle Easterners with posters displaying Armenian women in
traditional clothing under the crescent and star of the Turkish flag.

Many Armenian-Americans found the ad to be offensive because of
what Turkey did to them in between 1915 and 1918. About 1.5 million
Armenians were killed by the hands of Turkish Ottoman forces. The
Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) posted a photo of the
ad on their official Facebook page, inquiring why Starbucks would
use such an image.

“Why is Starbucks selling coffee using an image of women, dressed
in traditional Armenian costumes, celebrating a Turkish state that
systematically victimized Armenian women during the Armenian genocide,
and that still denies this crime against all humanity?”

Presently, Starbucks has taken down the poster seen in the Woodland
Hills shop, the one reportedly seen online. Starbucks also made an
official apology through a response to the ANCA on their Facebook page.

“Serving as a place for the community to connect is core to our
business and we strive to be locally relevant in all of our stores. We
missed the mark here and we apologize for upsetting our customers
and the community.”

According to another article by The Guardian, several people on
social media have claimed they saw the posters up at other places
around Los Angeles, a city that is home to 446,000 people of full or
partial Armenian ethnicity. Even the ANCA are preparing for possible
backlash from the community for the ads.”

“It became very clear very quickly that this was a very serious
issue for the entire community, because we started getting a flood
of concern.”

The reason why there is such concern is because this year marks
the 100th year anniversary of the tragedy, which is recognized as
genocide in 43 of the 50 states here in the U.S., and in more than
twenty countries, including Germany and Russia. Therefore, this year’s
commemoration will be far more important than previous years. Yet,
despite the “flood of concern,” ANCA did go on record to state that
Starbucks responded to the situation “very appropriately.”

TAXI DRIVERS STAGE PROTESTS IN YEREVAN AND GYUMRI

18:46 | March 2,2015 | Social

A group of individual taxi drivers (not employed by companies)
gathered in front of the government building today protesting the
recently amended law on Licensing which envisages that individual taxi
drivers in Yerevan must pay AMD 12,000 a month to the state budget. A
parallel protest was being held in Armenia’s second largest city of
Gyumri where taxi drivers are to pay AMD 8000 to the state budget.

The protesting drivers said they could hardly bare their abject needs
with the money they earn and cannot afford to pay so much money to
the state.

A delegation of five taxi drivers today was received by Artur
Arakelyan, Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications.

Details will be given later in the day.

EVOKING A CENTURY-OLD FLIGHT: SOME FEAR HISTORY IS REPEATING ITSELF AS ARMENIANS FLEE SYRIA

Los Angeles Times
March 1, 2015 Sunday
Home Edition

ON THE GROUND IN YEREVAN, ARMENIA WITH GLEN JOHNSON

by Glen Johnson

Snare drums rustle and trumpets blare. Chocolates from a famed
confectioner in Syria are handed out among the crowd. The hall falls
silent. A minute of remembrance is observed for the more than 200,000
killed during almost four years of civil war in Syria.

Hundreds of ethnic Armenians from Syria, among the thousands who’ve
fled here to escape the fighting, gathered recently in downtown
Yerevan. They came together to celebrate the 60th anniversary of
the Armenian Central High School in Aleppo, Syria, a cornerstone of
Armenian identity in a city now devastated by war.

“Armenian schools keep Armenian identity alive,” said a woman who
fled Aleppo as rebels rolled into the city in July 2012, and who,
like others interviewed, did not want to be identified for security
reasons. “My parents went there, I went there, the school is like…”

“A treasure for Armenians,” another young woman chimed in.

The attendees had left their homes and businesses, schools and
farmlands, fleeing to Armenia’s capital as Syria descended into chaos.

Many are descendants of people who had gone to Syria to escape the
Armenian genocide of 1915 to 1918 under the Ottoman Empire, which
became the modern republic of Turkey. The Turkish government disputes
that a genocide took place.

The current exodus is one of the most significant movements of ethnic
Armenians since then.

“We are the descendants of those who survived the genocide,” said
Lena Halajian, who heads the Center for the Coordination of Syrian
Armenians’ Issues, a nongovernmental group here helping refugees
adapt. “I fear history is repeating itself.”

Participants at the celebration here read Armenian poetry as a
video of the Aleppo school — showing a modest library and students,
their hands stretched upward, fingers twitching as a teacher asked
a question — flashed on a screen. A quartet including well-known
Aleppo violinist Hovhannes Moubayed plays Dance of the Rose Maidens,
by Aram Khachaturian, the late Soviet Armenian composer.

The violinist, 44, fled Aleppo more than two years ago, and, like
others, he said he had embarked on a new life after leaving most of
his belongings behind.

“Now I try to work as a music teacher,” said Moubayed, who directed a
state music school in Aleppo. “I’ve started [in Armenia] at the very
bottom. But step by step, maybe I can survive.”

Some refugees had been targeted by militants.

“They handcuffed and blindfolded me once they knew I was Armenian,”
said a Syrian Armenian who gave his name as Krikor. “Then they whipped
and burned me.”

Gnarled scars stretch up his forearms now, and he shuffles uneasily.

In summer 2013, Krikor said, fighters with Al Qaeda-linked Al Nusra
Front abducted him from a shuttle bus in northwestern Syria’s Idlib
province. He escaped hours later and made his way to a government
checkpoint, and safety. The experience convinced him it was time
to leave.

Other Syrian Armenians have been kidnapped for their perceived wealth.

Still others have been killed in the crossfire or for sectarian
reasons. Syrian Armenians, part of the country’s 10% Christian
minority, have been targeted by militant Sunni Muslims, who have
become the dominant part of the opposition.

Most Syrian Armenians speak Arabic and Armenian, a fact that has
helped speed their assimilation in Yerevan.

Armenian schools play an integral role in preserving cultural roots
among the massive Armenian diaspora. The Armenian General Benevolent
Union, a nonprofit group promoting Armenian identity globally,
provides funds for the Aleppo school. The high school remains open,
but the population has plummeted.

“The problem is that it can be dangerous for students to travel there,”
said Hagop Mikayelian, 71, a former administrator at the school who
was kidnapped by a rebel group and held for ransom in 2013.

In September, Islamic State militants reportedly bombed an iconic
Armenian church and museum in the eastern Syrian city of Dair Alzour
that memorializes victims of the Turks. Lost were rare documents
detailing the mass killings, say community members, who also note that
bones of some of those who perished were laid in the foundations of
the now-destroyed monument.

“The memorial was living proof of what happened to Armenians,”
Halajian said. “They want to erase our history.”

As Armenians worldwide prepare for centennial memorials in April,
Turkish backing for Syrian insurgents is further fueling Armenian
outrage. The government has supported sundry rebel factions, including
radical Islamists, as it aggressively pursues its goal of ousting
Syrian President Bashar Assad.

And last March, extremist fighters poured into the Syrian Armenian
town of Kassab from across the border in Turkey.

Most of the town’s population fled south to territory still under
control of the Syrian government. Kassab is celebrated among Armenians
as a refuge for those who fled Turkey a century ago.

At the school anniversary gathering, a choir sings Armenian hymns as
ceremonies come to a close.

Generations of graduates flood the stage, embracing while a
photographer clicks away.

—

Special correspondent Johnson was recently in Yerevan. Times staff
writer Patrick J. McDonnell in Beirut contributed to this report.

PARIS : 100 ANS DE RECHERCHE SUR LE GéNOCIDE ARMéNIEN

Publié le : 27-02-2015

Info Collectif VAN – – Le colloque international ”
Le génocide des Arméniens de l’Empire ottoman dans la Grande Guerre.

1915-2015 : cent ans de recherche ”, organisé par le Conseil
scientifique international pour l’étude du génocide des Arméniens
(CSI), se tiendra a Paris, du 25 au 28 mars 2015 sous le haut
patronage du Président de la République, Francois Hollande, dans
quatre prestigieux lieux de la capitale : le Grand Amphithéâtre
de la Sorbonne, le Mémorial de la Shoah, l’EHESS et la BNF. Places
limitées.

Réservation obligatoire a : [email protected].

Centenaire.org

Sous le haut patronage du Président de la République

Le génocide des Arméniens de l’Empire ottoman dans la Grande Guerre

1915-2015 : cent ans de recherche Paris, du 25 au 28 mars 2015

Conseil scientifique international pour l’étude du génocide des
Arméniens (CSI)

————————————————

Le Programme du colloque

————————————————

Mercredi 25 mars – 16h30/20h30

Allocution du Président de la République Francaise, MONSIEUR
FRANCOIS HOLLANDE

Messages de soutien

Allocution du Recteur de l’Académie de Paris, MONSIEUR FRANCOIS WEIL

Allocution du Président de l’Ecole des hautes études en sciences
sociales (EHESS) MONSIEUR PIERRE-CYRILLE HAUTCOEUR

Conférence inaugurale de MONSIEUR YVES TERNON historien, membre du
conseil scientifique du mémorial de la Shoah, président du CSI

Adresse : Grand Amphithéâtre de la Sorbonne 76 rue des Ecoles –
75005 Paris

———————————————————-

1ère Journée : Jeudi 26 mars, 9h30-19h00,

———————————————————-

Mémorial de la Shoah 17 rue Geoffroy L’Asnier, 75004 Paris

Premier Panel : 10h00-12h30

Espace-temps, les étapes du processus génocidaire

Président : Catherine Nicault, historienne, Université de Reims.

Discutant : Stephan Astourian, historien, Université de Berkeley

Interventions : 1. L’héritage d’Abdulhamid II. Janet Klein,
historienne, Université d’Akron.

2. L’opposition ottomane, le Comité Union et Progrès et la
révolution de 1908. Erdal Kaynar, historien, Polonsky Academy de
l’Institut Van Leer, EHESS.

3. Le ” Concert européen ” et les réformes dans les provinces
orientales, 1878-1914. Claire Mouradian, historienne, CNRS.

4. L’Organisation Spéciale. Sait Cetinoglu, historien, Université
libre d’Ankara.

5. L’entrée de l’Empire ottoman dans la guerre, 1914-1915. Mustafa
Aksakal, historien, Université de Georgetown.

12h30-13h30 : déjeuner

Deuxième Panel : 13h30-15h00

Perpétrateurs, Victimes, Sauveteurs

Président : Richard Hovannisian, historien, Université UCLA.

Discutant : Vincent Duclert, historien, EHESS.

Interventions : 1. La première phase de la destruction : déportations
et massacres (avril-aoÔt 1915). Raymond Kévorkian, historien,
Université Paris VIII.

2. La deuxième phase du génocide. Khatchig Mouradian, historien,
Université Rutgers.

3. Les conversions forcées. Űmit Kurt, historien, Université
Sabancı.

15h00-15h15 : Pause

Troisième Panel : 15h15-16h20

Témoins

Président : Wolfgang Gust, journaliste. Discutant : Ara Sarafian,
historien, Gomidas Institute.

Interventions : 1. Témoins européens et américains. Hans-Lukas
Kieser, historien, Université de Zurich.

2. Témoins arméniens. Amatuni Virabyan, historien, Archives d’Ã~Itat
d’Arménie.

16h20-16h30 : pause

Quatrième Panel : 16h30-19h00

Les autres minorités de l’Empire

Président : Gérard Chaliand, géostratège. Discutant :
Laurent-Olivier Mallet, historien, Université de Montpellier.

Interventions : 1. Les Juifs de l’Empire ottoman a la fin du xixe
siècle. Georges Bensoussan, historien, Mémorial de la Shoah.

2. La complexité du génocide des Assyro-Chaldéens. David Gaunt,
historien, Centre d’études des pays baltes et de l’Europe de l’Est,
Université de Soedertoern.

3. Les Grecs ottomans. Sia Anagnostopoulou, historienne, Université
d’Athènes.

4. Kurdes-Yézidis-Arméniens, facettes multiples d’une communauté en
exil(s). Estelle Amy de la Bretèque, anthropologue, ethnomusicologue,
CNRS.

———————————————————-

2ème Journée : Vendredi 27 mars, 9h30-20h30,

———————————————————-

EHESS Amphithéâtre Francois Furet 105 boulevard Raspail, 75006 Paris

Cinquième Panel : 10h00-12h30

Logiques de guerre, économiques, idéologiques.

Président : JoÔl Kotek, politologue, historien, Université Libre
de Bruxelles. Discutant : Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau, historien, EHESS.

Interventions : 1. Logiques idéologiques, démographiques et
économiques du génocide.

Hamit Bozarslan, politologue, historien, EHESS.

2. La logique des massacres pré-génocidaires. Vincent Duclert,
historien, EHESS.

3. L’évolution du front caucasien. Peter Holquist, historien,
Université de Pennsylvanie.

4. Les mécanismes de prise de décision de la direction jeune-turque
(1913-1915). Erik-Jan Zurcher, historien, Université de Leyde.

5. La spoliation des biens arméniens pendant le génocide. Mehmet
Polatel, historien, Université Koc.

12h30-13h30 : déjeuner

Sixième Panel : 13h30-16h00

Relations internationales et droit pénal

Président : Pierre Mertens, juriste, Centre de sociologie de la
littérature, Université libre de Bruxelles.

Discutant : Vincent Nioré, avocat et président de l’Institut de
droit pénal.

Interventions : 1. Les procès de Constantinople (1919-1920). MikaÔl
Nichanian, historien, Bibliothèque nationale de France.

2. De la rupture du consensus. L’affaire Perincek, le génocide
arménien et le droit pénal international. Sévane Garibian, juriste,
Universités de Genève et de Neuchâtel.

3. Le statut des réfugiés apatrides arméniens et l’action
internationale de la Société des Nations et du Bureau international
du Travail. Dzovinar Kévonian, historienne, Institut des sciences
sociales du politique, Université de Paris-Ouest Nanterre-La Défense
4. RaphaÔl Lemkin, l’extermination des Arméniens et l’invention du
mot génocide. Annette Becker, historienne, Université de Paris-Ouest
Nanterre-La Défense 5. Lemkin et le génocide des Arméniens, une
lecture juridique. Olivier Beauvallet, magistrat international.

16h00-16h15 : Pause

Septième Panel : 16h15-18h20

Les historiographies, un nouveau domaine de recherches

Président : Michel Marian, philosophe, Institut d’études politiques
de Paris. Discutant : Edhem Eldem, historien, Université Bogazici.

Interventions : 1. Les historiographies du génocide des Arméniens,
un nouveau domaine de recherches. Gaïdz Minassian, journaliste et
politologue, Institut d’études politiques de Paris.

2. Réflexions sur l’historiographie ottomane (années 1960-1990)
a propos du rôle des non musulmans et des Arméniens ottomans dans
le commerce et l’économie urbaine. Stephan Astourian, historien,
Université de Berkeley.

3. Les gouverneurs ottomans opposés aux déportations et aux massacres
d’Arméniens. Ayhan Aktar, historien, Université Bilgi.

4. Le discours de la Turquie sur le génocide des Arméniens. Jennifer
Dixon, politologue, Université de Villanova.

18h20-18h30: Pause

Huitième Panel : 18h30-20h30

Regards croisés sur l’effacement des traces ou le fantôme arménien.

Président : Patrick Donabedian, historien d’art, Université
d’Aix-Marseille. Discutant : Antoine Spire, journaliste,
vice-président de la Licra.

Interventions : 1. La permanence des traces du génocide de 1915 dans
la mémoire arménienne ; rôle du politique dans leur inscription
ou leur effacement. Janine Altounian, essayiste, traductrice de Freud.

2. La confiscation et la destruction de la richesse et des biens des
Arméniens et le génocide. Dickran Kouymjian, historien, Université
d’Ã~Itat de Californie.

3. Photographier après. Pascaline Marre, photographe et Anouche Kunth,
historienne, CNRS.

4. Aram Andonian, la bibliothèque Nubar et la constitution d’un
patrimoine en exil après la destruction des Arméniens ottomans. Boris
Adjemian, historien, Bibliothèque Nubar de l’UGAB.

———————————————————-

3ème Journée : Samedi 28 mars, 9h30-19h30,

———————————————————-

Bibliothèque Nationale de France Quai Francois Mauriac, 75013 Paris

Neuvième Panel : 10h00-12h30

Mémoire, transmission, histoire, négation

Président : Henry Rousso, historien, CNRS. Discutant : Claude
Mutafian, historien.

Interventions : 1. Le sacrifice, le témoignage et le pardon : Le
Candidat de Zareh Vorpouni. Marc Nichanian, professeur de philosophie,
Université Sabancı.

2. Genre, génocide, survie. Arméniens islamisés : nouveau travail
de mémoire. AyÅ~_e Gul Altinay, anthropologue, Université Sabancı.

3. L’enseignement des génocides : exemples européens. Alban Perrin,
historien, Mémorial de la Shoah, Institut d’études politiques
de Bordeaux.

4. Les mythes fondateurs du négationnisme turc. BuÅ~_ra Ersanli,
politologue, Université de Marmara.

5. La mémoire du génocide chez les Arméniens de Turquie. Hira
Kaynar, historienne, EHESS.

12h30-13h30 : déjeuner

Dixième Panel : 13h30-15h00

Spécificités et comparatismes, I

Président : Jean-Pierre Chrétien, historien, CNRS. Discutant :
Meïr Waintrater, journaliste.

Interventions : 1. La pensée génocidaire : une perspective
comparative. Dominik Schaller, historien, Université de Heidelberg.

2. Le génocide des Arméniens, des Assyriens et des Grecs par les
Ottomans. Roger Smith, historien, Collège William and Mary.

3. Le génocide arménien au regard d’une théorie générale du
génocide.

Bernard Bruneteau, professeur de science politique, Université de
Rennes I.

15h00-15h15 : Pause

Onzième Panel : 15h15-17h00

Spécificités et comparatismes, II

Président : Claire Mouradian, historienne, CNRS. Discutant : Yves
Ternon, historien, membre du conseil scientifique du Mémorial de
la Shoah.

Interventions : 1. Singularité de la Shoah. Christian Ingrao,
historien, CNRS.

2. Singularité de la famine en Ukraine. Nicolas Werth, historien,
CNRS.

3. Singularité du génocide des Tutsi. Hélène Dumas, historienne,
EHESS.

17h00-17h15 : pause

Conférence de clôture : 17h15 a 19h30 Président : Gaïdz Minassian,
journaliste et politologue, Institut d’études politiques de Paris.

Interventions : 1. Bilan du colloque. Raymond Kévorkian, historien,
Université Paris VIII.

2. 1915 et les sciences sociales. Taner Akcam, historien, Université
de Clarke.

3. Turquisme et panturquisme. Erik-Jan Zurcher, historien, Université
de Leyde.

4. Le négationnisme contemporain et ses défenseurs. Richard
Hovannisian, historien, Université UCLA.

5. Les perspectives du point de vue de la justice internationale.

Nicholas Koumjian, procureur près les cours internationales de
justice.

6. L’édition de la recherche sur le génocide des Arméniens en
Turquie.

Ragıp Zarakolu, éditeur.

INSCRIPTION DANS LA LIMITE DES PLACES DISPONIBLES : Ecrire a :
[email protected]

******

Membres fondateurs du CSI,

Annette Becker, professeur d’histoire contemporaine a l’Université de
Paris-Ouest Nanterre-La Défense), membre de l’Institut universitaire
de France.

Hamit Bozarslan, historien, politologue, directeur d’études a l’Ecole
des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS).

Vincent Duclert, historien, enseignant-chercheur au Centre d’études
sociologiques et politiques Raymond Aron (EHESS).

Raymond Kévorkian, historien, directeur émérite de recherche a
l’Institut francais de géopolitique, Université Paris VIII.

Gaïdz Minassian, journaliste, docteur en sciences politiques,
maître de conférences a l’Institut d’études politiques de Paris.

Claire Mouradian, historienne, directrice de recherche au CNRS.

MikaÔl Nichanian, historien, conservateur a la Bibliothèque nationale
de France, chercheur associé au Collège de France.

Yves Ternon, historien, membre du conseil scientifique du Mémorial
de la Shoah, président du CSI.

INSCRIPTION DANS LA LIMITE DES PLACES DISPONIBLES Ã~Icrire a :
[email protected]

Lire aussi :

” Génocide arménien ” vs ” génocide des Arméniens ”

TÃ~ILÃ~ICHARGER : Le Programme du colloque

Source/Lien : Centenaire.org

MONNAIES ARMENIENNES
La Banque Centrale d’Arménie honore le 150ème anniversaire du général Antranik

La Banque Centrale d’Arménie vient d’émettre le 27 février une monnaie
commémorative dédiée au 150ème anniversaire de la naissance du général
Antranik (Antranik Ozinian). D’une valeur faciale de 1000 drams, la
pièce frappée en Lituanie et tirée à seulement 500 exemplaires est en
argent. La gravure sur la pièce -qui porte les insignes de la
République d’Arménie- représente la statue du Père Lachaise (Paris)
avec le général Antranik sur son cheval avec les inscriptions

US-BASED GREEK-ITALIAN DIRECTOR MAKING A MOVIE ABOUT THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

12:12, 02 Mar 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Jon Milano, an Oradell native of Italian and Greek descent now living
in California, is making a movie about the Armenian genocide, the
North Jersey reports.

“I am not Armenian,” Milano says, “but I grew up in Oradell, which
has one of the biggest Armenian populations in America. When I was
growing up, at first I had no idea that was the case. Then when I
went to public school, all my friends were Armenian. They have such
a great history behind them.”

His movie, “Straw Dolls,” has been a work-in-progress the past two
years. Final photography was completed in November. The film is in
its final phases of editing and is to premiere at a screening on
March 15 in Los Angeles, with subsequent screenings on the 100th
anniversary of the Armenian genocide on April 24 in Copenhagen,
New York City and Armenia, according to Milano.

Milano learnt the story of the Armenian Genocide from a childhood
friend.

“Over the years, he told me the horrible, horrible stories about his
grandparents and how they survived,” he says. “The only people who
talk about this are Armenians. It’s not taught in schools. And so I
wanted to tell their story.”

The film stars the award-winning Iranian-Armenian actress Mary Apick
and Marco Khan, with a full ensemble of young Armenian actors. On
a shoestring budget of $40,000, the movie was shot on location at
a movie ranch in California’s Simi Valley. It was the same location
used for shooting Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” (2012) and
“Saving Mr. Banks (2013), according to Milano. “It’s the only location
in Southern California that doesn’t look like Southern California,”
Milano said with a laugh. “It looks like the Middle East. It’s just
a big-open-space ranch you can build movie sets on.”

As for the story, he said that the challenge for him and his co-writer
was to tell a self-contained plot that reflected the bigger historical
picture without ever getting too broad.

“It’s a slice of the Armenian genocide.” Milano says. “It’s about
this Armenian farmer and his daughter. They have gotten word of the
deportations, and in a last-ditch effort to escape their village
before the deportations happen, they are too late. Typically, men
were killed immediately. So he pretends to be a Turkish sympathizer,
and he convinces the soldiers he is one of them. His daughter hides
and makes a decision that will alter the rest of their lives.”

Milano studied film at William Paterson University before graduating
and going on to get his master’s in filmmaking from Chapman University
in Orange County in California. He has made two other films before
writing the initial screenplay for “Straw Dolls.” Realizing the script
needed revisions, he brought in screenwriter Caitlin Riblett. “She’s a
fantastic writer. She came in, and we ended up doing drafts together,”
he said.

Yervant Kachichian, 26, of Oradell, the Armenian childhood friend
who Milano says inspired the film, says he couldn’t be prouder.

“My family was always very open about their culture, and John was like
part of our family,” Kachichian says. “John is an honorary Armenian.

That’s how it feels. He’s like a brother to me. So whenever we’re
together, he hears of our family’s stories.”

Some are pretty gruesome, Kachichian says.

“My grandmother barely survived,” he says. “She got out when she
was a baby. The Turks took her from her mother, and they threw
her onto a pile of dead people, dead corpses, and they had a horse
stomp on her to kill her. By the grace of God, she didn’t die. My
great grandmother then came back, found the baby on he pile of dead
people. My grandmother [now deceased] showed me the horseshoe prints
on the back of her neck.”

Kachichian says that he has seen a rough cut of the film and that it
is a great tribute to Armenian people.

“It’s incredible the way they were able to tell a story and make you
feel so emotionally attached in such a short amount of time,” he says.

“It’s really touching.”

ACTIVISTS TURN THEIR BACKS TO DENIALIST SPEAKERS AT UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

15:56, 02 Mar 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

On Feb. 27, Armenian youth held a silent protest at a lecture, entitled
“WWI 100th Anniversary: Human Suffering in Eastern Anatolia,” that
featured genocide deniers Justin McCarthy and Bruce Fein.

Organized by the Federation of Canadian Turkish Associations, the
lecture was held at the University of Toronto (UofT), St. George
Campus, the Armenian Weekly reports.

The Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) of Canada, in collaboration
with the Armenian Students Association (ASA) of UofT St. George and
Scarborough campuses and the Armen Karo Student Association spearheaded
this protest action.

More than 70 human rights activists from the university community,
who made up the majority of those in attendance, held the silent
protest by standing in unison and turning their backs to the lecturers.

Protesters allowed the speakers to deliver their opening remarks.

However, when it became apparent that the speakers would deny and
misconstrue the facts of the Armenian Genocide, the group stood up
and turned their backs to the podium as a silent protest against
genocide denial.

Several racial slurs and discriminatory comments were directed at
the protesters as they stood in silence.

The lecture organizers briefly stopped the talk, but after campus
police made it clear that the form of protest did not interfere with
the event, they were asked to continue.

The protesters continued to stand with their backs to the podium as
Fein spoke, then marched out in an organized walk-out, leaving the
remaining 20 or so attendees to listen to the lecture.

The demonstrators then marched to UofT’s Anti-Racism and Cultural
Diversity Office to voice their concern regarding the event, and to
deliver a petition of over 2,000 signatures denouncing the talk and
demanding that the university distance itself from the organizers and
speakers. The group had previously sent to the university a letter
signed by academics, human rights groups, and student associations,
including the Hillel of Greater Toronto, the Greek Students Association
of UofT-Scarborough, and the Hellenic Students Association of Ryerson
University, demanding that the event be canceled.

McCarthy, who was turned away from the University of Melbourne and
Art Gallery of New South Wales in 2013, has long been regarded as a
mouthpiece of the Turkish state in spreading denial of the Armenian
Genocide. Fein is employed by the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA)
as a resident scholar, to similarly support and propagate the Turkish
denial policy of the Armenian Genocide, and has penned several articles
attacking the veracity of the genocide.

AYF-Canada Chairperson Daron Keskinian said it was “extremely
troubling” that such an event took place at UofT.

“The University of Toronto should distance itself from this event
immediately,” he said. “The lecture organizers have used the location
to bring legitimacy to their event, and have been given free rein to
present their denial propaganda at the expense of the university’s
reputation.”

The ASA of UofT released a statement stressing that the event should
be disconcerting to the university community at large.

“In the interest of maintaining its integrity and making amends
for this event taking place on campus, the University of Toronto’s
President’s Office should release a statement indicating that they
distance themselves from this event. The Armenian Genocide is taught
at this institution and the University of Toronto should not provide
podiums to those who are looking to legitimize their denial of the
first genocide of the 20th century,” read the statement.

korazym.org- Italia
25 feb 2015

Gregorio, il Papa e gli armeni

25 febbraio 2015

L’Armenia celebra quest’anno il centenario dell’atroce genocidio di
cui fu vittima ad opera della Turchia. Una ricorrenza importante, non
solo e non tanto dal punto di vista storico, ma anche perché l’evento
dovrebbe servire a far conoscere in modo più diffuso e capillare quel
che è successo a cominciare dall’aprile del 1915, quando lunghe file
di uomini, donne, bambini, anziani furono condotti a morire lungo le
strade infuocate e sabbiose. In queste marce della morte, che
coinvolsero almeno 1.200.000 persone, che morirono per fame,
malattia, sfinimento.

Furono organizzate con la supervisione di ufficiali dell’esercito
tedesco in collegamento con l’esercito turco, secondo le alleanze
ancora valide tra Germania e Impero Ottomano: in molti le considerano
una sorta di “prova generale” ante litteram di quelle che diventeranno
le deportazioni di massa dei deportati ebrei messe in atto dal
nazismo.

Le fotografie scattate in quell’inferno di morte e desolazione sono la
più spietata e lucida testimonianza che i negazionisti d’oggi si
affannano a a voler trascurare. Basterebbe visitare l’esposizione di
quelle scattate da Armin T. Wegner e raccolte in una bella mostra
organizzata circa un mese fa Venezia. Wegner era un ufficiale e
paramedico tedesco di stanza in Medio Oriente nei primi decenni del
Novecento. Documentò le stragi degli armeni, cercando di mobilitare le
coscienze contro questi eccidi, come poi fece per quanto succedeva
agli ebrei. Inascoltato, perseguitato, solo molti decenni dopo poi
proclamato Giusto delle Nazioni.

Papa Francesco ha annunciato che celebrerà una messa nella basilica di
San Pietro il 12 aprile prossimo proprio in occasione di questa
ricorrenza. Un gesto importante, anche simbolicamente, perché proclama
dinanzi al mondo intero che non è più possibile mettere in dubbio,
tacere, ignorare la realtà tragico di quei giorni, e che i genocidi,
le persecuzioni, per motivi razziali, religiosi, etnici, non sono un
semplice retaggio del passato, ma storia contemporanea, cronaca di cui
si riempiono quotidianamente i nostri occhi.

E un altro gesto significativo è stata la decisione, da parte del
Pontefice, di proclamare san Gregorio di Narek . Sacerdote monaco, San Gregorio, nato ad Andzevatsik, in
Anatolia, che allora era in Armenia e oggi è in Turchia, intorno
all’anno 950 e morto a Narek (allora Armenia, ora Turchia) circa nel
1005, è stato un insigne teologo e uno dei più importanti poeti della
letteratura armena. La Chiesa Armena già lo annovera fra i Dottori. La
Chiesa latina ne riconosce la santità definendolo , come recita il
Martirologio Romano ricordandolo al 27 febbraio.
San Gregorio era un grande devoto della Vergine, che, secondo la
tradizione, gli sarebbe apparsa. A Lei si rivolgeva sempre, nei
momenti di profonda gioia contemplativa come nei momenti di sconforto.
, si legge nella Preghiera 80, rivolta
alla Madre con accenti di autentica poesia. Non per nulla Gregorio è
considerato figura centrale della letteratura cristiana delle origini.
Preghiera, contemplazione, introspezione, paesaggio interiore
illuminato dai bagliori dei versi si fondono nelle sue parole giunte
fino a noi intatte nella loro forza e nello struggimento che le
pervadono, rivolte al Creatore: .