Author: Khoyetsian Rose

A1Plus
13:46:46 | 25-04-2005 | Official |

ARMENIA MUST FOLLOWS THE GAME RULES

Here is the letter of the Helsinki Association to the EU.

Once again Helsinki Association is drawing Your attention to the neglection
of the Armenian authorities to comply with its obligations taken both before
the Council of Europe, and set out in Resolutions 1361, 1374 and 1405 of the
PACE. {BR}
Though the terms for implementation of the obligations in the fields of
human rights and fundamental freedoms have expired, no tangible changes have
occurred. Statements made by the Armenian authorities about the reforms
carried out as demanded by the international community are fictitious as
they are mostly incompliant to the international standards. Requirements of
the expert commissions to revise them have been totally disregarded.
Moreover, Armenia is on the move towards a military-police state.
In 2004 a law “On Alternative Service” took force, which doesn’t correspond
to the international standards. The authorities ignored the requirements
laid down in Resolutions 1361 (p. 22, 23) and 1405 (p.10/viii) on
introducing amendments to the law and granting an amnesty to persons
imprisoned for conscientious objection to military service. After adoption
of the law eighteen persons have been convicted under criminal charges for
“evasion of a regular call-up to time-fixed military service”, other five
are detained pending trial. In December 2004 twenty-one Jehovah Witnesses
expressed their willingness to do an alternative service, but conditions for
its performance do not correspond to the standards adopted by the democratic
community. Presently, Jehovah Witnesses refuse to do an alternative service
under such conditions, which will inevitably generate new prosecution.
The authorities of Armenia are in direct or indirect control of the entire
broadcasting media of the republic. Resolutions 1361 (p.19), 1374 (p.9/vi)
and 1405 (p. 11/iii) require the Armenian authorities to provide pluralism
in audiovisual media, while the National Commission for Television and Radio
(NCTR) must create fair conditions for awarding broadcasting licenses to TV
and radio companies uncontrolled by the authorities. Since 2002 the NCTR has
held eight competitions granting broadcasting licenses to pro-governmental
broadcasting media only. Moreover, it’s been officially announced about the
impossibility to hold new competitions in the nearest future due to an
absence of vacant frequencies. At the same time the Armenian law “On TV and
Radio Broadcast” stipulates that the list of vacant frequencies be
announced – a thing that has never been done since the law took effect.
Despite of the PACE demands, A1+ television channel, which has been closed
down since April 2002, hasn’t been granted a broadcasting license.
Though Resolutions 1361(p.15) ? 1405 (p.11/ viii) urge the Armenian
authorities to adopt not later than March 2005 a law on demonstrations and
public meetings in full compliance with Council of Europe principles and
standards, the Armenian authorities hasn’t met the obligation. Members of
the Venice Commission have failed to reach an agreement with the leadership
of the republic over basic principles of the new law, which touch upon human
rights and fundamental freedoms.
Among the unsolved issues are: independence of the judiciary, illegal
administrative detention, improving prison system, use of torture during
police investigation, violation of the rights of citizens during a military
call-up as well as of military servants. We believe that one of the reasons
for non-resolution of these and other issues is also non-objectivity of the
Head of the PACE monitoring group on Armenia, Mr. Jerzy Jaskiernia.
Helsinki Association considers as necessary:
-to change the composition of the PACE monitoring group on Armenia;
-to send independent experts to the republic to find out if vacant TV and
radio frequencies are available;
-to give an expert opinion of the legislation of the Republic of Armenia
related to human rights and fundamental freedoms;
-to consider a possibility of imposing sanctions on the Republic of Armenia
up to its suspension from the CE membership until it meets all the
obligations taken both upon accession to the Council of Europe and mentioned
in Resolutions of the PACE;
Helsinki Association is again expressing its readiness to cooperate in this
direction with all the concerned bodies and structures of the Council of
Europe.

Edicom, Suisse
Dimanche 24 Avril 2005

L’Arménie commémore les 90 ans du génocide

EREVAN – Plus d’un million et demi de personnes s’apprêtaient à
commémorer dimanche à Erevan les 90 ans des massacres d’Arméniens par
les ttomans, avec des cérémonies d’une ampleur inédite. Erevan
appelle Ankara à reconnaître le génocide.
Après une marche aux flambeaux samedi soir suivie par 10 000
personnes réclamant la reconnaissance d’Ankara, un million et demi
d’Arméniens doivent défiler dimanche devant le monument érigé à
Erevan à la mémoire des victimes tuées entre 1915 et 1917.
Le nombre de participants à la grande marche de dimanche doit
symboliser le nombre d’Arméniens tués – 1,5 million selon Erevan – au
cours des massacres de masse organisés par le pouvoir ottoman.
Le président Robert Kotcharian a fait samedi un geste de bonne
volonté en excluant de demander des compensations matérielles à
Ankara en échange de sa reconnaissance du génocide.
Messe
Une messe sera célébrée en fin de journée à Erevan dans la cathédrale
Saint-Grégoire, où seront présents des représentants de la plupart
des communautés chrétiennes d’Orient et d’Occident. Des services
religieux seront organisés dans toutes les églises d’Arménie. A 19h00
(16h00 suisse), une minute de silence sera observée à travers tout le
pays.
Des milliers de membres de l’importante diaspora arménienne ont
afflué dans ce pays du Caucase pour participer aux cérémonies, qui
doivent être suivies par des représentants de quinze pays.
C’était la guerre
La Turquie rejette catégoriquement la thèse d’un génocide. Elle
estime qu’il s’agissait d’une répression dans un contexte de guerre
civile où les Arméniens se sont alliés aux troupes russes qui avaient
envahi la Turquie.
Ankara objecte souvent que des milliers de Turcs ont également été
tués par des Arméniens entre 1915 et 1917 et limite son acceptation
du nombre de victimes arméniennes à entre 300 000 et 500 000 morts.
A quelques mois du début des négociations d’adhésion de la Turquie à
l’Union européenne, prévu en octobre prochain, l’Arménie considère
que la conjoncture n’a jamais été aussi favorable à une
reconnaissance par Ankara du génocide.

Pan Armenian News

BELGIUM: CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DENIAL

24.04.2005 04:31

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ By a majority vote the Belgian Parliament adopted a bill,
according to which those who deny the Armenian Genocide can be imprisoned or
made to pay a heavy administrative fine. As reported by Turkish media, when
the law comes into effect, Turkish politicians will experience many problems
regarding expressing their position in Belgium. The bill has already been
viewed by the Commission for Legal Issues, is approved by the Parliament and
is submitted to the Senate. Upon being approved by the Senate, the document
will be submitted to the Belgian King for ratification. At that there is a
certain trend available – as a rule the Senate confirms the documents
approved by the Parliament. The document provides for imprisonment from 8
days to a year or a money fine from 26 to 5000 euros. All those, who
diminishes the Genocide, defends or supports people, who have perpetrated it
or any other crime against humanity, will undergo punishment. Besides, the
justice mechanisms allow Belgium brining a charge against any of the EU
countries denying the Armenian Genocide.

ARMAN KIRAKOSYAN APPOINTED DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER

A1plus

| 12:03:21 | 20-04-2005 | Official |

By the April 19 decree of Robert Kocharyan Arman Kirakosyan has been
appointed RA Deputy Foreign Minister.

Armenian National Committee of Illinois
1701 North Greenwood Road
Glenview, IL 60026
Contact: Greg Bedian
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet:

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 22, 2005

Armenians Protest at Chicago Turkish Consulate

Chicago, IL – Over 100 demonstrators braved the rain, wind, and cold
outside the Turkish Consulate in downtown Chicago on Friday to mark
the 90th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and to protest Turkey’s
continued denial of that genocide.

“Turkey’s efforts to deny the Armenian Genocide, coupled with
its systematic destruction of cultural and religious monuments,
the renaming of cities and other geographic landmarks and even
animal species make the current Turkish government an accomplice
to and culpable for the genocide committed in 1915,” stated Greg
Bedian, spokesperson for the Armenian National Committee of Illinois.
“We reiterated our message to the Turkish regime and its collaborators
that we will not go away and we will not be silent until Turkey admits
the Genocide, returns occupied Armenian lands and makes appropriate
reparations,” he continued.

Two bus loads of Armenians from the All Saints Community Center in
Glenview, IL, were joined by dozens of others who came to the downtown
area for the demonstration. Demonstrators distributed flyers and
shouted various slogans such as “Turkey run, Turkey hide, Turkey’s
guilty of Genocide” and “Recognize the Genocide.” This year, unlike
previous years, there were no Turks on hand attempting to provoke the
demonstrators and the minor Chicago police presence merely stood by
and observed.

The demonstration was covered by the local CBS affiliate and was
part of a special three-minute segment on the 90th Anniversary of the
Genocide on the 6:00pm news, airing in the first five minutes of the
program. In addition to film of the demonstration, the report featured
interviews with demonstrators Hermine Kholamian and Maro Stathopoulos
and 99-year-old Genocide survivor Matthew Klujian.

On April 24 of each year Armenians worldwide commemorate Turkey’s
genocide of 1.5 million Armenians in 1915. April 24, 1915, was the
date when the Turkish government rounded up and murdered hundreds
of Armenian leaders, including Armenian members of the Turkish
Parliament. Although the Turkish leaders responsible for the crime
were tried in abstentia and found guilty by the Turkish government
following WW1, in recent years Turkey has engaged in a well-funded
and sophisticated campaign to deny responsibility for the genocide
of its Armenian population. This campaign has included the hiring
of several well-known Washington lobbying firms, the endowment of
Turkish studies programs at various US universities, and letters from
the Turkish Embassy to state and local school boards.

Despite such pressures, many states, including Illinois and Wisconsin,
regularly issue gubernatorial proclamations and commemorative
legislation in April to mark the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
Such a proclamation was issued again this year by Governor Rod
Blagojevich.

The Armenian National Committee of Illinois is a grassroots public
affairs organization serving to inform, educate, and act on a wide
range of issues concerning Armenian Americans throughout the state
of Illinois.

###

Newton man’s memories of Armenian Genocide to go online
By Dan Atkinson / Daily News Staff

Daily News Tribune, MA
April 21 2005

Peter Bilezikian doesn’t like to talk about the past. He used to have
nightmares of Turkish soldiers pulling out his teeth and gouging out
his eyes when he was a boy, and although the images stopped long ago,
he is visibly affected when recalling his life during the Armenian
Genocide.

But he recently gave an oral history of his trials, and someday
soon, it will be available for the whole world to hear.

On Sunday, the Armenian Library and Museum of America hosted a
presentation about putting oral histories online as part of their
commemoration of the genocide. As fewer and fewer survivors remain,
it is important to make sure their tales are accessible to as many
people as possible, according to museum spokesman Alan Manoian.

“If we can get online, then people can, at their own comfort and
leisure and pace, go deep into understanding the genocide,” he said.

The genocide refers to a period from 1915-23 in Turkey when, by
some estimates, 1 million Armenians were killed by Turks. Another
million are reported to have been deported.

Armenian Genocide survivors in general have been reluctant to
speak about their experiences, Bilezikian said, for fear of reprisals
against family members still living in Turkey. But oral histories
offer a powerful view that other sources leave out, according to
Bethel Charkoudian, Bilezikian’s daughter.

“These are eyewitness accounts interpreted through people who
experienced suffering. They’re not intellectual exercises,” she said.
“It’s like post-traumatic stress syndrome. They remember every
detail.”

Bilezikian, who is 92 years old and lives in Newton, came to
America in 1922 when he was 10 years old. He recalled watching his
mother sign a document denying his family owned any property in
Turkey, making it impossible to go back to claim the vineyards they
once owned. He described seeing children with swollen bellies keel
over in the streets, dying of hunger.

“I used to think it was a natural thing to die of starvation,”
he said. “Feeling hungry was nothing unusual.”

The children of survivors have been more interested in their
parents’ stories than the parents often are, Charkoudian said. She
took oral histories from many community members 30 years ago, but her
father refused to talk with her. Only recently did he give a history
to Roger Hagopian, a documentary filmmaker and second-generation
Armenian.

“We’re just trying to keep the story alive,” Hagopian said. “It
doesn’t hurt us as much to go back.”

But movies are hard to copy, as are the audiotapes that
Charkoudian used to record her histories. The tapes had to be
carefully stored and used infrequently to prevent wear and tear, she
said, and she was constantly worried about them breaking and a
survivor’s story being lost forever.

Columbia University is trying to make survivors’ histories more
permanent by moving them beyond physical damage — in cyberspace.
Their Armenian Oral History Archive is placing its transcriptions and
recordings on the Web, with the ultimate goal by next year of a
searchable database for its collection of more than 140 interviews,
according to archive curator Varoujan Froundjian.

“If a student is writing an essay about the genocide, just
typing into Google will bring him to the archives and help him get
the details,” Froundjian said.

Even though her father does not like to dwell on the past,
Charkoudian thinks it is important to keep his history alive. Her
children are interested in their roots, and genocide is still a
scourge today, she said.

“Every generation has its genocide,” she said. “It happened in
Rwanda, it’s happening in Sudan … people are only now just starting
to take a political stance against it.”

Dan Atkinson can be reached at [email protected].

Armenian Genocide commemoration events

The Greater Boston Committee for the Commemoration of the
Armenian Genocide, an umbrella organization of all area churches and
major civic groups, announces the following communitywide
commemoration events for the 90th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide. All events are free and open to the public, unless
otherwise noted. For more information and periodic updates, log on to

“The Road to Redemption: Memories of the 1915 Armenian Genocide”
— Thursday, April 21, at 7:30 p.m., at Boston University’s Morse
Auditorium, 602 Commonwealth Ave., Boston. Presented by the Greater
Boston Committee for the Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide.

Massachusetts State House Commemoration — Friday, April 22, at
11 a.m., in the Chamber of the House of Representatives, followed by
an informal reception in the Great Hall. George Keverian, former
Speaker of the House, will be honored for his service and his respect
of the state’s Armenian community.

Ecumenical Service and Memorial Service — Saturday, April 23,
at 6:45 p.m., at Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church, 145 Brattle
St., Cambridge. A service for 250 Armenian intellectuals who perished
on April 24, 1915. Presented by the Honorable Clergy of Boston
Armenian Churches.

Requiem and Memorial Concert for the 90th Anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide — Saturday, April 23, at 7:30 p.m., at Holy
Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church. Presented by Erevan Choral
Society, under the direction of the Very Rev. Oshagan Minassian.

Rally to Commemorate the Armenian Genocide in New York —
Sunday, April 24. Buses depart from St. James and St. Stephen’s
Armenian Churches in Watertown to Times Square, for those wishing to
take part in the rally to commemorate the genocide and denounce the
denials made by the Turkish government.

The Films of J. Michael Hagopian — Friday, April 29 and May 6,
various times, at Kendall Square Cinema, 1 Kendall Square, Cambridge.
Screenings of “Germany and the Secret Genocide” and “Voices from the
Lake.” Presented by the Greater Boston Committee for the
Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, with cooperation of Kendall
Square Cinema. Tickets are $5.

AZG Armenian Daily #070, 20/04/2005

Home

‘ARMENIA READY TO RENEW RELATIONS WITH ANKARA WITHOUT PRECONDITIONS’

Serge Sargsian Stands for Turkey’s Accession to EU as ‘it is in our best
interests’

Minister of defense of Armenia, Serge Sargsian, thinks that “we have to
renew our relations with Ankara without preconditions”. “This does not mean
that Turkey should not recognize the Genocide or should not give up its
pro-Azeri stance in Karabakh issue”, he said during a press conference at
the press Club yesterday.

“I stand for Turkey’s accession to the EU. It is in our best interests”,
Sargsian said and specified that Ankara will have to carry out serious
reforms in its home and foreign policy amidst the EU membership process. “A
country that bids for EU cannot maintain blockade on Armenia”, he said
opining that Turkey will recognize the Armenian Genocide.

Sargsian did not agree that he has been begun mentioning concessions in
Karabakh issue lately. The minister said, “I have talked of solving the
issue through concessions, I see no other way”. NKR can by no means be in
Azerbaijan’s structure, cannot be an enclave and has to have overland
connection with Armenia.

The recent parliament hearings on Nagorno Karabakh were characterized by the
mass media as a step preparing the people for concessions. The Azeri, press,
on the contrary, dubbed foreign minister’s speech as belligerent. “One side
depicts me as a falcon, the other as a pigeon. I want to be neither of
them”, the minister said.

Serge Sargsian assured that tension on Karabakh-Azerbaijan contact line has
“somewhat alleviated”. “I do not think there is a danger of war. The
possibility of war will vanish as much as our army will get stronger”, he
said.

The minister refuses the claim that the relations of Armenia and Russia are
those of “vassal and master”. “We are in partnership with Russia. I’ve never
felt anything insulting the self-esteem of my country in relations with the
Russian side”, he said. Concerning the Armenian-American relations, Sargsian
said that they are steadily developing and cooperation in military sphere
has been deepening for the last years as well.

Serge Sargsian thinks that it is possible to equally deepen cooperation with
the both security systems — NATO and Organization of Collective Security
Agreement. “I consider cooperation with both NATO and OCSA an inseparable
part of Armenia’s national security. I see no contradiction here. Many
members of OCSA cooperate with NATO”, he said.

The minister also answered a number of questions concerning Armenia’s home
policy. Sargsian sees no “premises that would bring to extra parliamentary
elections”. “I don’t think that the coalitional majority has exhausted
itself. If it has not deconstructed then it has not exhausted itself as
well”, the minister said.

Sargsian gave no clear answer as to his candidacy for president in next
elections. The acting president, Robert Kocharian, has already assured that
will not run for the third term.

Defense minister sees no perspective for a “colorful revolution” in Armenia
but he thinks that Mikheil Saakashvili and Viktor Yuschenko “chose a
civilized way for power shift”.

By Tatoul Hakobian

GEORGIAN FINANCIAL POLICE WITHDRAWN BIG PARTY OF CONTRABAND GOODS FROM MAIL-VAN OF TBILISI-YEREVAN TRAIN

TBILISI, APRIL 18. ARMINFO. Financial police of Georgia withdrawn a
big party of contraband goods bought near Tskhinvali and transported
in a mail-van of Tbilisi-Yerevan train.

Press-service of Georgian financial police informed journalists that
the mail-van loaded by 50 names of contraband industrial goods and
foodstuffs was hitched to the passenger-train. According to operative
data, the goods belonged to the three Armenian citizens. As RIAN
informs, the police will bring an action against goods’ owners on
the fact of violation customs rules, as well as against workers of
Sadakhlo custom-house – on accusation in official carelessness.

Bill on Armenian genocide falls outside of Senate’s purview
By Editorial Board
Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Stanford Daily
April 19 2005

Last week, the ASSU Undergraduate Senate passed a bill to commemorate
the 90th anniversary of the Armenian genocide of 1915. Calling this
event “the first genocide of the 20th century,” the bill draws a
connection between the Armenian genocide and “the ongoing
humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of the Sudan.” Genocide is
an important and timely issue that the Stanford community should be
aware of, but that doesn’t mean the Senate was right to pass a bill
on it.

A Senate meeting is not the proper setting for discussing such a
sensitive, non-campus-related issue. The issue of the Armenian
genocide remains hotly contested, especially among the Turkish and
Armenian communities at Stanford. Some still hesitate to label the
incidents of 1915 as “genocide,” choosing to use words like
“massacre” or “atrocities” to describe the events instead. The
Daily’s editorial board is certainly not in a position to evaluate
these claims – but neither, we believe, is the Senate.

We doubt that the individual senators appreciate the political
nuances of this issue sufficiently to make an informed decision on
the bill. Political naivete is reflected in the bill’s language,
which comes across as unnecessarily emotive. For example, it
stridently denounces “the denialist campaign of the Turkish regime,
which strives to falsify history and erase any trace of the Armenian
Genocide . . .” Such strong language seems ill-suited to generating
thoughtful debate on the issue among the student body.

Moreover, the Senate’s decision to pass this bill sets up a strange
precedent for future Senate meetings. After deciding to commemorate
an event that took place 90 years ago, is the Senate going to
commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Soviet
Union, the Tiananmen Square incident? While the Armenian Genocide
deserves attention, singling it out as the subject of a bill seems
arbitrary.

We are also skeptical about how much of an impact such bills are
likely to make on the average Stanford student’s consciousness. In
general, there are better ways of raising awareness of pressing
international issues such as genocide.

Last week, the ASSU Undergraduate Senate passed a bill to commemorate
the 90th anniversary of the Armenian genocide of 1915. Calling this
event “the first genocide of the 20th century,” the bill draws a
connection between the Armenian genocide and “the ongoing
humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of the Sudan.” Genocide is
an important and timely issue that the Stanford community should be
aware of, but that doesn’t mean the Senate was right to pass a bill
on it.

A Senate meeting is not the proper setting for discussing such a
sensitive, non-campus-related issue. The issue of the Armenian
genocide remains hotly contested, especially among the Turkish and
Armenian communities at Stanford. Some still hesitate to label the
incidents of 1915 as “genocide,” choosing to use words like
“massacre” or “atrocities” to describe the events instead. The
Daily’s editorial board is certainly not in a position to evaluate
these claims – but neither, we believe, is the Senate.

We doubt that the individual senators appreciate the political
nuances of this issue sufficiently to make an informed decision on
the bill. Political naivete is reflected in the bill’s language,
which comes across as unnecessarily emotive. For example, it
stridently denounces “the denialist campaign of the Turkish regime,
which strives to falsify history and erase any trace of the Armenian
Genocide . . .” Such strong language seems ill-suited to generating
thoughtful debate on the issue among the student body.

Moreover, the Senate’s decision to pass this bill sets up a strange
precedent for future Senate meetings. After deciding to commemorate
an event that took place 90 years ago, is the Senate going to
commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Soviet
Union, the Tiananmen Square incident? While the Armenian Genocide
deserves attention, singling it out as the subject of a bill seems
arbitrary.

We are also skeptical about how much of an impact such bills are
likely to make on the average Stanford student’s consciousness. In
general, there are better ways of raising awareness of pressing
international issues such as genocide.

In this case, for instance, the Senate could work with the Armenian
Students Association to organize activities to commemorate the event
and educate Stanford students at the same time. Such a course of
action would be much more visible and productive, and would be more
likely to start the kind of dialogue that an event of such gravity
deserves. We doubt that the individual senators appreciate the
political nuances of this issue sufficiently to make an informed
decision on the bill. Political naivete is reflected in the bill’s
language, which comes across as unnecessarily emotive. For example,
it stridently denounces “the denialist campaign of the Turkish
regime, which strives to falsify history and erase any trace of the
Armenian Genocide. . .” The Senate seems ill-suited as a forum for
discussing such sensitive political issues, particularly when such
strong and potentially one-sided language is involved.

Moreover, the Senate’s decision to pass this bill sets up a strange
precedent for future Senate meetings. After deciding to commemorate
an event that took place ninety years ago, is the Senate going to
commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Soviet
Union, the Tiananmen Square incident?

We are also skeptical about how much of an impact future bills with
similar intent are likely to make on the average Stanford student’s
consciousness. Surely there are better ways of raising awareness of
pressing international issues such as genocide. In this case, for
instance, the Senate could work with the Armenian Students
Association to organize activities to commemorate the event and
educate Stanford students at the same time. Such a course of action
would be much more visible and productive, and would be more likely
to start the kind of dialogue that an event of such gravity deserves.

Fresno Bee (California)
April 14, 2005, Thursday FINAL EDITION

More on the Armenian Town neighborhood

Paula Lloyd, The Fresno Bee

Armenian Town in downtown Fresno has no hard boundaries, but the core
of the old neighborhood is bordered by Inyo, O and Los Angeles
streets and Broadway.

Once a thriving ethnic neighborhood packed with Victorian homes,
churches and small businesses, it now is mostly a commercial and
industrial area, although some homes survive.

Annual events: Author William Saroyan was born and grew up in
Armenian Town, and many of his boyhood experiences appear in his
books. The William Saroyan Society stages an annual walk around the
neighborhood. This year, the walk will begin at 11 a.m. April 23 at
Saroyan Theatre on M Street.

Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church in the heart of the old
neighborhood holds an annual food bazaar, selling lunch, dinner and
baked goods. This year’s event is Oct. 21. The church also holds the
Blessing of the Grapes and Picnic, this year on Aug. 7.

Landmarks: Holy Trin- ity Armenian Apostolic Church at M Street and
Ven- tura Avenue was built in 1914 and is listed on the National
Register of Historic Places.

Several houses and a busi- ness are listed on the Local Register of
Historic Resources.

History of the neighborhood: The five Seropian brothers were the
first Armenians to settle in Fresno in 1881. Drawn here because the
land and crops were similar to their homeland, they built a fig
packing plant.

By 1894, there were 360 Armenians in Fresno County. By the 1920s,
about 8,000 more Armenians arrived, fleeing genocide and persecution.

Armenian Town grew through the 1930s and was centered around M Street
and Ventura Avenue.

Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church members began meeting in a
rented hall in 1895. A church built in 1900 at Monterey and F streets
was destroyed by fire in 1913. The present red and white brick and
masonry church at M Street and Ventura Avenue was built in 1914 for
$22,500.

The David of Sassoon statue standing in front of the Hall of Records
in Courthouse Park was given by Armenian residents to Fresno County
in 1970, “with profound gratitude to this land which received them in
their darkest hours and provided them with the opportunity to be
reborn,” the statue’s inscription states.

Closest city park: Holmes Park at 212 S. First St. is a nearly
10-acre neighborhood park with recreational programs. There is a lawn
bowling court and outdoor stage, barbecues, playing fields and
courts, and a social hall/gym with a kitchen.

Where people gather: People from throughout Fresno meet at Holy
Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church and at the Armenian Community
Center, both on Ventura Avenue.

Community issues: Pre- serving the history of Armenian Town is a
concern of people who grew up or work in the area and local
historians.

“I don’t want it to be lost,” says Janet Saghatelian, owner of Valley
Lahvosh bakery in the heart of Armenian Town. “It was too special. It
needs to be preserved. It’s too big a part of Fresno.”

Saghatelian, who grew up in Armenian Town, wants to see the city
“restore a beautiful home with fruit trees and garden, to show people
what Armenian homes were like.”

“What I would like to do is capture all those memories and put them
in a museum,” says Lucille Gahvejian, who grew up on L Street.

Two developers are planning a 7.8-acre development between O and M
streets, Ventura Avenue and Freeway 41. To be built in phases in the
next 10 years, the plan in- cludes a new state appellate court
building, three office towers, two parking structures and an Armenian
cultural center.

“What we’re fighting for is a tourist attraction that would have
Saroyan in it,” says Mabelle Selland, a member of Heritage Fresno.
“Heritage tourism is the hottest thing right now, and what’s hotter
than Saroyan right now?”

George Bursik says he is saddened that Armenian Town has lost so many
homes.

“What I’d like to see here is to see the houses go right back where
they were. But what has been destroyed is gone,” he says. “We can
keep some little reminder of the past.”