Author: Karapetian Hovik

Telling the Truth: A Turkish author faces up to Genocide
30 April 2004

By Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow arts reporter

“My dear Armenian brothers, I will bow to the memory of all Armenians, who
lost their lives, who were “purposely murdered in exile” during the
greatest tragedy of our century – the massacres, which became black soot on
the forehead of the human race, your pain will become my pain. As a
literate Turk I offer apology in my own name to you and the entire
humanity.” “Rejoice My Heart”

These words are written by Turkish writer Kemal Yalcin, who with the help of
his book tried to find ways for peace and brotherhood from the bitter
realization of sins committed by his nation.

In 2001 Kemal Yalcin published “You Rejoice My Heart”, where he described,
in Turkish, several incidents of the Genocide of 1915. The work was filled
with rich descriptions of not only the genocide but the life of its heroes,
their love stories.

“In summer, 1989, I went to Turkey (from Germany where he was living at the
time). For writing my book I had to find aged Armenian women around Amasia
( Turkey) and talk to living witnesses of massacres of 1915. I had to visit
Ani and Aghtamar, writes Yalcin in the prologue to his book. “During that
period, I knocked at doors of many Armenians. None of them knew me. That was
the first time when a Turk was interested in their past. What they told me
was not just feelings and thoughts, first and foremost they were bitter
stories of their lives or lives of their nation and families.”

Yalcin begins his book with the story of a meeting, which later becomes the
reason for creating the book. In 1992, the author went to Dortmund, Germany
to participate in specialist courses, where he got to know his Turkish
language teacher Meline. Meline was Armenian, whose parents had miraculously
escaped the Genocide.

His acquaintanceship with Meline changed the author’s life and his attitude
towards the crime committed by previous leaders of his own nation. A great
love nested in the author’s heart, invigorating him and helping him to
overcome the difficulties and dangers he faced while collecting materials
for his book. F rom reading the book one gets a feeling that Kemal was in
love with Meline, who was married, but it never becomes clear whether they
had an affair.

“I am Armenian but there was a time when I was afraid to say that I’m
Armenian, I was afraid to speak Armenian. Armenian women of Turkey have been
living during their whole lives with this terrible feeling of being masked.
Those days they had to get married with Turks to escape death. Go, Kemal,
find those people, talk to them, let them tell you what they’ve heard and
seen,” says Meline.

“For you, even if I die,” said Kemal and began traveling through the bitter
and dark pages of history.

His book, written in beautiful oriental language and style, attracts readers
with its true and interesting account of events. Its 400 pages are awash
with bitter reminiscence of Genocide and each character’s life story is a
part of the fate of the entire nation, brought to life by a Turkish author.

In 2001, the book was due to have been published by the Istanbul publishing
house. But a few months after signing the contract, Yalcin received a call
from the head of the publishing house, who told him that “according to the
order from above, we are not going to publish ‘You Rejoice My Heart’. We
have to wait”.

The author couldn’t wait and in the same year paid for his book to be
published in Germany with his own money. The first print run sold very
quickly and Yalcin sought help from Polis for a second run however, by that
time his book had disappeared from the publishing house.

The book eventually was published in German, Turkish and Armenian.

The book is on sale in Armenia at a cost of 1,500 drams (about $2.67). The
“Zangak” publishing house published it with a print run of 1,000 copies.

“This book became a unique bridge infusing us, Armenians, with hope that one
day the Turkish government or at least society will recognize the Armenian
Genocide,” says head of Union of Writers Levon Ananyan.

Several letters are included in the book. The author received them from
readers in different countries, almost all of them people who had somehow
escaped the Genocide. According to them, this book has eased their pain a
little.

A Dr Tuntcher Miski writes: “Eighty years have passed since the Armenian
events and only now a Turkish writer has managed to throw light upon them.
In this book, true victims, who were eyewitnesses, told about everything
they had suffered. And despite all their suffering and pains they will lend
a hand of peace to Turks.”

Prenta Pashar, an Armenian from Germany, writes that she has no words to
express her happiness and peace to the author of the book, adding: “I found
in your book a hope, which has been lost for a long time. Thanks to decent
intellectuals like you we will be able to heal the bloody wound of
Genocide.”

New University, CA
May 2 2004

Benefit Concert Souls 2004 Raises Awareness

by: Christina Nersesian

Courtesy Of Soul 2004

The Soul 2004 concert was created to spread Armenian Genocide
awareness.

System of a Down took the legendary Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on
April 24, and made the entire place like their own home. It was as if
the band threw this huge event and each band member invited all of
their friends, cousins and their friends, parents’ friends and pretty
much the entire society living in the diasporas of Southern California.

The members of System of a Down – vocalist and front man Serj Tankian,
guitarist Daron Malakian, bassist Shavo Odadjian and drummer John
Dolmayan, all of Armenian descent – lost family during the Armenian
Genocide. The band’s Souls 2004 Benefit Concert was set for April 24,
Genocide Commemoration Day, for a reason.

`The purpose of Souls 2004 is to further raise awareness of the
Armenian Genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire (present-day Turkey)
in 1915, and help facilitate its formal recognition as a genocide by
the federal government,’ Tankian said.

Joining System of a Down that day was Saul Williams, Bad Acid Trip, and
Zach Hill, all of whom had donated their time for the event. Along with
those performers several organizations – the International Association
of Genocide Scholars, Facing History and Ourselves, the Center for
Prevention of Genocide, Zoryan Institute, the Genocide Project, and the
Armenian National Committed of America – who support the efforts of
System of a Down were present with booths outside the venue. These
organizations were the beneficiaries for the funds raised from the
concert, Souls 2004.

`[The name given to the concert], Souls 2004, is obvious,’ Tankian
explained. `It refers to the souls that have passed due to the
genocide, and the concert was done on their behalf.’

The cozy setting of the Greek Theatre seems the ideal place for
concerts. Even back in the nosebleeds where most have to bring
binoculars to catch a glimpse of the band playing, the setting of the
Greek is one where even those are seats close enough to the action.
Saturday’s concert was sold out within the first day of ticket sales.
This disappointed some unable to get tickets but there lies reason in
everything System of a Down does.

`We could have sold out the Staples Center,’ Tankian said, `but decided
on a more elegant, intimate venue for this benefit show. We haven’t
played [Los Angeles] in a while and have lots of fans excited to see
another show.’

The fans were very excited-most of all their Armenian fans, especially
since the purpose of the show was to spark awareness about a cause very
personal to their entire culture and ignored for so long.

`My decision to attend the concert was two-fold,’ explained Ararat
Oganesyan, president of the Armenian Student Association at UCI, who
had also attended the show. `Initially I wanted to attend a System
concert, solely for my appreciation of their music, but when I was
informed on their Genocide Commemoration benefit, I was excited because
with a powerful day such as April 24, there was no doubt in my mind
that it would be a special evening.’

Before System of a Down actually went on stage, they showed an ABC
special recorded in 1999 by Peter Jennings about the Armenian Genocide.
The crowd showed a positive response, yet it is always hard to pick out
the negative feedback in a setting like Saturday’s. System of a Down
did have a lot of energy geared towards the presentation of the
Armenian culture, yet did their presentation include enough about their
views on the Genocide? Was it sufficient enough for the fans who know
about the Genocide to really feel their cause presented to the people?

`I felt that they could have done a little more to present their own
views on the Armenian Genocide,’ Oganesyan explained, `because the
audience, especially the ones who are ignorant on the topic would have
listened to their every word, but some people I’m sure were turned off
when they saw the special program on the projectors. But other then
that I believe they did an awesome job.’

The concert was not meant to be a culture shock to those who were not
Armenian, but it did raise the awareness in some about this old culture
with values and history just like any other.

Souls 2004 brought out the young and the old. Some of the younger kids
had their parents with them. Some of the older kids brought their
parents with them as well, and sat them through that hard rock show
just because of its purpose. Although the average parent would not
approve of the way System of a Down runs their concerts, most parents
there were too enthralled by the meaning and purpose of it all to care.

To them, the parents who believe this current generation of Armenians
is going downhill with remembering and keeping their culture, this
concert proved them wrong. System of a Down, representatives of that
generation which parents fear will lose and forget their past, showed
what it was to remember. This crowd clearly demonstrated that they will
not forget.

`I never expected the show to be as good as it was,’ Oganesyan said.
`It was absolutely amazing. I took my friend Aramik’s Armenian flag and
throughout the concert I was waving it and on one instance I got really
brave and began running up and around the isles waving it.’

But why a concert? The issue of the Armenian Genocide has been burning
in the hearts of Armenians for close to a hundred years now. One would
think there are other ways to recognize the Genocide.

Perhaps all those methods have been exhausted by now. With the fresh
faces of System of a Down integrating both their Armenian culture and
the American culture of the 20th century into their style, they were
able to come up with a better way to commemorate by having a concert to
bring together their fans and show them the history of the Armenian
culture’s struggle.

System of a Down has been the high voice for the Armenian community in
reaching out to the government for the cause of recognizing and
accepting the Genocide. Although they are not a political action
committee, the Genocide is a very personal cause for the band and their
families so they work towards the recognition of those atrocities. This
makes them sympathetic to other Genocides as well. And perhaps they
utilize their worldwide recognition to approach government.

`We’ve done lots of interviews talking about the denial of the genocide
and the genocide itself,’ Tankian said, `and have participated in a
grass roots initiative to send out up to 100,000 postcards to the
Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader to press them to
introduce legislation to recommit the U.S. Congress to the Genocide
convention which includes all modern 20th century genocides.’

Most benefit concerts take place to help a contemporary cause. This is
where proceeds go and show that money has physically helped the group
and benefited their cause for need. The System of a Down concert did
more than take profits and send them off to the needed organizations.
They inspired the need to help in others, and made even the ignorant
aware of what they needed to do.

ITAR-TASS, Russia
April 26 2004

Armenia, US armed forces sign agreement on purchases and supplies

YEREVAN, April 26 (Itar-Tass) – Armenia’s Armed Forces and the U.S.
European Command signed an agreement on purchases and supplies on
Monday.

First Deputy Defence Minister Colonel-General Mikhail Arutyunyan,
chief of Armenia’s General Staff, said on Monday the agreement will
make it possible to provide logistical support to each other during
different exercises with the following compensation on a mutual
basis.

All obligations `are of mutual nature and allow the armies of the two
countries to establish ally relationship,’ the Armenian general said.

General Charles F. Wald, deputy commander of the U.S. European
Command, said the agreement is very important both for the U.S. and
Armenia. The agreement envisions fuelling up of American military
planes at Armenia’s airfields. Armenian aircraft will be fuelled up
at U.S. military bases in Europe.

Washington Times, DC
April 25 2004

By utilizing utilities, Russia retains power

By Steve Gutterman
ASSOCIATED PRESS

TBILISI, Georgia – Several miles from the stately palace where the
czar’s envoy once governed Georgia is a nondescript office building
in a grimy industrial district.
Drab it may be, but for some Georgians, it symbolizes new Russian
power in their country, a land that spent nearly two centuries under
Moscow’s rule before becoming independent with the collapse of the
Soviet Union in 1991.

The building is the headquarters of Telasi, a Russian-owned
company that provides this city of 1.3 million people with
electricity – a precious commodity in a country where blackouts are a
part of daily life.
It’s just one of the tendrils of Russian economic influence that
reach across Georgia and the rest of the former Soviet Union.
Using pipelines and power lines instead of tanks and troops,
President Vladimir Putin’s Russia is seeking to strengthen its
influence over former Soviet republics at a time when the United
States and European Union are extending their presence eastward to
places that until recently were Moscow’s domain.
That change is highlighted by the entry of the three formerly
Soviet Baltic states into NATO and the European Union.
“Russia did not want, does not want and never will want to lose
its influence in the post-Soviet space,” said Ramaz Sakvarelidze, a
political analyst in Georgia, where Moscow has promised to close two
Soviet-era military bases.
“And now that its economy has not only gotten on its feet, but is
able to act outside its borders, Russia is replacing its military
levers of influence with economic structures.”
Telasi is a case in point, he said.
Russia’s state electricity monopoly, Unified Energy Systems
(UES), bought a controlling stake in the Tbilisi utility last year
from the U.S. power company AES.
Georgian politicians protested the deal would give Russia a
powerful political lever over their country. Russia already
controlled nearly all natural-gas supplies to Georgia, where steam
heating delivered to entire city neighborhoods is only a memory and
many people rely on gas-fired heaters to warm homes in winter.
Georgia hopes a U.S.-supported natural-gas pipeline from the
Caspian Sea to Turkey will ease its dependence on Russia, but it’s
not expected to be built before 2006.
UES chief Anatoly Chubais flew to Georgia last August and sought
to reassure authorities over the Telasi purchase, saying the company
had no political goals and Georgia’s electricity supplies would be
secure.
But critics questioned the company’s motives for buying a utility
whose chances of making a profit are diminished by decrepit
equipment, corruption, poverty and what U.S. Ambassador Richard Miles
called “an innate dislike on the part of Georgians to pay for
energy.”
Mr. Miles said the American company decided to sell because it
couldn’t afford “the hemorrhaging of money.” But he said the issue of
why UES bought Telasi was “a good question.”
UES is clearly trying to expand its presence in former Soviet
republics, a campaign Mr. Miles said may be motivated by the simple
desire to grow and by the hope of future profits. “What other
political motives there might be, I don’t know. You’d have to ask Mr.
Putin and Mr. Chubais about that,” he said.
Yevgeny Volk, head of the Moscow office of the Heritage
Foundation, said there is no secret to UES’s activities abroad.
“It’s practically part of the state apparatus, and naturally, the
policy it pursues is state policy – and that is to strengthen
Russia’s position in the zone traditionally considered its sphere of
interest,” he said.
UES, which exports power to countries from Norway to China, says
its foreign business is coordinated with the government and conducted
in the interests of its shareholders, the largest of which is the
state. It says company experts even advise the Foreign Ministry on
policy.
Mr. Volk said UES and other Russian companies with close ties to
the government are trying to acquire property in former Soviet
republics “and then use that property as a political lever to
influence the situation in those countries to Russia’s benefit.”
Mr. Sakvarelidze and other analysts said that will allow Moscow
to influence personnel and policy decisions in those countries,
shaping their future in line with its own interests.
In February, Russia’s state-connected Gazprom briefly halted
natural-gas supplies to Belarus during a dispute over Russian efforts
to gain control of Belarusian industrial enterprises, including the
pipeline company that relays Russian gas to Europe.
In December, the Russian state-owned oil pipeline monopoly,
Transneft, stopped deliveries to the Baltic Sea port of Ventspils,
Latvia. Latvian officials said Moscow was arm-twisting as part of an
effort to buy the Latvian government’s stake in the company that
loads oil onto ships bound for the West.
Also last year, Armenia ceded control over its only nuclear-power
plant to UES in a bid to escape debts to Russian energy suppliers.
Mr. Volk said Russia’s activity is a reaction to increasing U.S.
and European influence in the region.
“There’s no question of returning these countries to Russia or to
some sort of Soviet Union. Everyone understands that’s impossible
politically,” he said. “But to bind them more closely to Russia and
provide Russia with advantages in this economic space … this is a
completely realistic policy.”

Providence Journal , RI
April 23 2004

Metro digest

PROVIDENCE — Ceremony marks Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Martyrs Memorial Committee will hold the 89th
commemoration of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, Sunday, at North Burial
Ground.

Simon Payaslian, chair of Armenian History and Armenian Genocide
Studies at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., is scheduled to be
the keynote speaker. Sen. Jack Reed, Rep. James Langevin, Lt. Gov.
Charles Fogarty, Mayor David N. Cicilline and Warwick Mayor Scott
Avedisian are scheduled to attend the 12:30 p.m. ceremony.

Russian parliament not to push Interior Ministry for probe into racial
assault

Ekho Moskvy radio, Moscow
23 Apr 04

The State Duma has declined to forward to the Russian Interior
Ministry a request for an inquiry into skinheads’ assault against an
Armenian boy in Kostroma, [independent] Duma MP Vladimir Ryzhkov has
said.

The skinheads splashed petrol over the 11-year-old boy and set him
alight in Kostroma on 22 April.

Ryzhkov said that his proposal that the Interior Ministry should
provide the State Duma with the information on this crime and the
steps taken to detain and punish the culprits, quote – due to
technicalities had been voted on and the majority of the Duma, which
is the One Russia faction, has voted down this procedural request –
unquote.

In doing so, the State Duma showed that it sees nothing terrible in
crimes of this sort and is unwilling to demand that the Interior
Ministry take emergency steps to this effect, Ryzhkov said.

Kazinform, Kazakhstan
April 22 2004

President of Kazakhstan conferred on mantle of Cambridge University
Professor

Almaty. April 22. KAZINFORM – President of Kazakhstan is conferred on
rank of the honorary Cambridge University Professor. Director of
`Eurasia’ center of the Cambridge University, ex-prime-minister of
Armenia Armen Sarkisyan informed about it in his greeting speech,
addressed to the opened Eurasian Media-Forum participants. He handed
over the Professor’s mantle to the President of Kazakhstan and
informed that Nursultan Nazarbayev is elected honorary President of
the above-mentioned center at the Cambridge University.

ArmenPress
April 19 2004

MUSEUM OF ARSHILE GORKY TO OPEN AT ARMENIAN CHURCH PREMISES

YEREVAN, APRIL 19, ARMENPRESS: The Armenian Church has announced
about establishment of a museum in one of its premises that will have
on display the works of a renowned US-Armenian artist Arshile Gorky
(Vosdanik Adoyan).
The decision was made in a year which marks the centenary of
Arshile Gorky. The Church said the museum is ready and is waiting for
pictures of Gorky, kept by museums and individuals in many countries,
to come. It said the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church in the
USA is now negotiating with the museums and individuals which are
supposed to send their pictures to Armenia.
Arshile Gorky (1895-1948) was born Vostanik Adoyan in eastern
Turkey. Raised in a poor Armenian farming family, Gorky’s childhood
was reportedly shaped by the genocide of 1915, that affected the
entire Armenian population, and which claimed the life of his mother.
Arshile Gorky was the name the aspiring artist assumed after
coming to the U.S. in 1920. He reportedly adopted it from his
admiration of the Russian writer Maxim Gorky. Once settled with
relatives in New England he enrolled in art classes. Not long after,
one of his instructors arranged for Gorky to move to New York to work
as an art instructor himself. In the 1930s he achieved his first
public success – producing a large abstract mural painting for Newark
Airport. In his artistic endeavors, Cezanne and Picasso became his
praised models. Other influences came from the surrealist painters
and poets who came to New York as exiles from the war in Europe.
Surrealism’s aspect of automatism, the unconscious and the erotic,
sent him onto a new path in which he newly asserted himself as a
draftsman.

The UCLA Daily Bruin, CA
April 20 2004

Blood drive held in memory of 1915 killings
Armenian group hopes to save lives, unite L.A. community

By Stephanie Hodge
DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR
[email protected]

The Armenian Graduate Students Association is hosting a blood drive
today in memory of Armenians killed over the course of two days in
1915.

“The project is named ‘Life,’ because … lives were taken and now we
want to save someone else’s life,” said Mike Mkhitar Moradian, the
project director.

Though the U.S. government sympathizes with the tragedy, no president
has officially recognized the massacres as a genocide since President
Woodrow Wilson was in office.

The AGSA is teaming up with the UCLA Medical Center for this event.
All donated blood will go to the UCLA Medical Center to help the
community at large.

“This is especially symbolic. By saving lives here we are remembering
the lives lost,” said Shahe Soghomonian, a fourth-year biology
student who plans on donating blood today.

The AGSA, formed in winter 2002, hopes to make the blood drive an
annual event.

“The blood drive is open to any student, but the core of the donors
are Armenian undergraduate and graduate students,” Moradian said.

Currently, 40 students are expected to donate, and the group
encourages others to stop by to give to the cause.

“This event is important because it not only commemorates the
forgotten genocide, but also helps to unite the UCLA community,” said
Arpi Setrak, financial officer of AGSA.

Armenians all over the world commemorate the massacre on April 24,
the day the killings officially began.

On the evening of April 23 and the day of April 24, 1915, 300
intellectuals and government officials of Armenian descent were
captured and sent to jail by the Ottoman Empire, based around
modern-day Turkey, before they were killed.

Between 600,000 and 1.5 million out of a total population of 2.5
million Armenians were reportedly killed by the Ottoman Empire or
died of starvation as a result of the aggression. The killings and
deportation of Armenians to Syria and Mesopotamia lasted until the
early 1920s.

Currently, more than 30 states in the United States have passed
resolutions recognizing the genocide. California was one of the first
states to pass a resolution. Other countries, such as Canada, Sweden
and France also officially recognize it. But Turkey denies that a
genocide took place and maintains that a much smaller number died in
a civil war.

To commemorate this day, different groups around Southern California
have organized events that many UCLA students plan on attending. The
All Armenian Students Association will hold a candlelight vigil at UC
Riverside on Thursday.

“Every year the vigil rotates to a different campus. Students from
all Southern California campuses will attend,” Moradian said.

The Shant Student Association, named after a writer who died during
the massacre, will hold a “Rally Against Denial” in Glendale.
National radio producer and author David Barsamian will be the key
speaker at the event.

This Saturday, Armenians will march in Hollywood. After the march,
they will organize to protest in front of the Turkish consulate.

That night, rock band System of a Down will hold a concert at the
Greek Theatre in Griffith Park.

“All of the profits from the concert will go to campaigns for
recognition of the genocide,” Moradian said.

US mediator intends to take responsible position on Karabakh
By Tigran Liloyan

ITAR-TASS
April 19, 2004

New U.S. co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group for Nagorno-Karabakh
Steven Mann said he intends to take a responsible position on the
solution of the Karabakh problem.

After the talks with Armenian President Robert Kocharyan on Monday
Mann said he would meet Ashot Gulyan, the non-recognised foreign
minister of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The U.S. official declined to comment on the details of the
consultations between the Minsk Group mediators and the Armenian and
Azerbaijani foreign ministers that took place in Prague on Friday.

Armenian Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan, who is also National
Security Council secretary, confirmed that Yerevan would convince
all sides to solve the Karabakh problem by peaceful means.

Mann, who used to be the U.S. special representative for energy
policy on the Caspian Sea, will leave for Georgia on Tuesday and then
for Baku.