Mary Lazarian – Page 49 – Armenian Directory & News

Armen Sarkissian discusses recognition of Armenian Genocide with Knesset chairman

January 23, 2020January 23, 2020 Mary Lazarian

MediaMax, Armenia

Jan 23 2020

“Recognition of the Armenian Genocide is a moral responsibility first and foremost and a tribute to the memory of innocent victims. At the same time, it is an important contribution to the international efforts aimed at prevention of genocides and crimes against humanity,” stressed Armen Sarkissian.

According to him, the similarities between the fates of Armenian and Jewish people are striking and they hint that more thought should be given to the future.

“We can create that future together as two states and two peoples. Armenia is a small country but a global nation and the same can be said about Israel. I am here to set the areas for cooperation as well. Armenia attaches importance to advancing multiple fields – education, science, security, agriculture, modern technologies. As the President, I have a mission of turning Armenia into a new technological hub because we have certain advantages which make it possible. Armenia has top-class physicists and mathematicians, and good educational programs in coding,” said the President.

“I believe this visit will make very positive changes in our relations. The potential for cooperation we have is much larger than what we are fulfilling,” said Yuli-Yoel Edelstein today.

Music: Pianist Eva Gevorgyan to perform in Yerevan

January 22, 2020January 22, 2020 Mary Lazarian

Panorama, Armenia

Jan 21 2020

Culture 20:32 21/01/2020 Armenia

15-year-old Russian-Armenian pianist Eva Gevorgyan will perform a joint concert with pianists Armen Babakhanian and Poom Prommachart (Thailand, Canada) on January 30 at Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall. The concert, entitled “Armenian Piano Music Part 3” will feature works of Armenian composers, Aram Khachaturian, Arno Babajanyan, Haro Stepanyan, Komitas, Sayat-Nova, Sheram and Jivani among them. The event is organized by TM Production

To note, Eva is studying at the music school under the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory. She has been playing piano since 3 years of age. Eva has been participant of numerous competitions and festivals, a laureate of world famous competitions, received the second prize at the 2019 Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition held in Dallas last year.

Eva was granted Armenian citizenship in 2019.

Slain Armenian journalist Hrant Dink commemorated in Istanbul

January 20, 2020January 20, 2020 Mary Lazarian

AHVAL News

Jan 19 2020

Jan 19 2020 05:23 Gmt+3
Last Updated On: Jan 19 2020 05:25 Gmt+3

Thousands of protesters marked the 13th anniversary of a Turkish-Armenian journalist's murder on Sunday as outrage continues to grow over a trial which failed to shed light on alleged official negligence or even collusion, Bianet reported.

Hrant Dink, the editor in chief of Agos newspaper and an advocate of reconciliation between Turks and Armenians, was shot dead outside his office by then-teenager Ogün Samast who defines himself as Turkish nationalist. More than 100,000 people marched in the funeral procession for Dink.

Jan. 19 marks the 13th anniversary of his murder.

"Hrant Dink was the symbol of brotherhood that our country needed most. I think that was the biggest reason why he was taken from us. Because the country's dark-hearted ones need separation rather than unity," Social Memory Platform lawyer Sertaç Ekinci said.

Protesters and human rights activists placed red carnations on the spot where Dink was gunned down in daylight by a teenage gunman in Istanbul, outside of his minority Agos newspaper, Bianet said.

"As we could not manage to live together and respect other cultures, we have not been ashamed of the drought we have created. Ours is not hatred against evil. An endless struggle. We want people not to give rein to the normality of evil, bow to power. We want them to struggle for their rights," human rights defender Şebnem Korur Financı said during her commemoration speech.

Many carried black banners that read "We are all Hrant, we are all Armenian" and "We want justice", as they did in the previous twelve commemorations, according to Bianet.

Dink was outspoken about Armenian issues and he was prosecuted three times for violating Article 301 of the Turkish penal code, which makes it a crime to insult Turkishness, the Turkish nation, or Turkish institutions. He spent his career challenging the intolerance behind such statutes, becoming a champion of minority rights in a country where such causes are punishable.

His murder instantly became a symbol of the racism and ultranationalism grinding at the core of Turkish society, a war against freedom of _expression_, and the complacency of Turkey’s intellectuals.

Since Dink’s murder, the movement called "We Want Justice" which demands a fair trial for Dink's murder case, has grown and become more complex, bringing together Turkish liberals, Armenians, journalists, Kurds and Alevis, and women and members of the LGBTI community—basically all marginalised minorities in Turkey.

Asbarez: AMAA’s 100th Annual Meeting Banquet Deemed a Dazzling Success

November 2, 2019November 2, 2019 Mary Lazarian

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AMAA Vice President Dr. Michael Voskian paid tribute to the history of the Armenian Evangelical Church. From left to right: Rev. Dr. Avedis Boynerian, Rev. Joël Mikaélian, Rev. Stephen Carlyle, and Dr. Michael Voskian

BY FLORENCE AVAKIAN

WALTHAM,Massachusetts—The 100th Anniversary of any gathering is a magical event. The Armenian Missionary Association of America’s 100th Annual Meeting Banquet was especially noteworthy, as it celebrated the Armenian Evangelical Church and the 173rd Anniversary of its founding. The celebratory banquet was held from October 18 to 20 in Boston.

The significance of the AMAA’s 100th anniversary was marked by the presence of hundreds of members, friends, and faithful who came from as far away as Australia, Armenia, Lebanon, Syria, Greece, France, and the East and West Coasts of the United States.

The highlight of the extraordinary weekend was the grand banquet on the night of Saturday, October 19, which began with a cocktail reception, followed by a delicious dinner in the elegantly decorated ballroom.

The more than 300 guests present were warmly welcomed by banquet co-chair Michèle Simourian both in English and Armenian. Skillfully running the program was Master of Ceremonies and Banquet Co-Chair John Simourian, who, with the right touches, introduced the prominent individuals present, including Armenia’s Ambassador to the U.S. Varuzhan Nersesyan, and Rev. Antranig Baljian, representing the Prelate of the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America, Archbishop Anoushavan Tanielian.

Banquet Co-Chairs John and Michèle Simourian

Following the singing of the National anthems, and the invocation delivered by Rev. Dr. Avedis Boynerian, Pastor of the Armenian Memorial Church in Worcester, MA, Ambassador Nersesyan was introduced.

The Armenian diplomat recalled the founding of the AMAA in Worcester 101 years ago following the Armenian Genocide when “hundreds of thousands of Armenian men, women and children were still roaming in the deserts in Syria, Lebanon and the Middle East, suffering from hunger, poverty and the lack of any minimal conditions of life.”

He pointed out the enormous contributions of the AMAA in the last 100 years, including during the devastating 1988 earthquake, during and after the birth of the independent Armenian Republic, the time of Artsakh’s fight for liberation, and its creation for a better future providing shelter, food, and education in 24 countries.

“And during the recent tragic war in Syria, the AMAA has been ready to support any Armenians willing to settle in Armenia in the aftermath of Turkey’s recent attack on the north of Syria,” the Ambassador explained.

All of these activities demonstrate that the AMAA is a “unique and deeply national Armenian institution,” the Armenian diplomat stated. “With such a great heritage, and rigorous determination, the AMAA will continue confidently in its mission in the 21st century,” he stated to thunderous applause.

Ambassador of Armenia to the United States Varuzhan Nersesyan

AMAA President Dr. Nazareth Darakjian who emotionally relayed coming to the U.S. 43 years ago following “the horrors of the Lebanese civil war,” spoke about the AMAA’s powerful history, which today serves the Armenian Community in 24 countries with a yearly budget of more than 10 million dollars.

This generation has capabilities that far exceed those in 1918, he stated. “Our work is not done as long as there is hunger for God’s work, as long as there are children who are thirsty for education, and as long as there are families or individuals for whom finding daily bread is a daily challenge. May God make us worthy of this mission.”

A video of the Khoren and Shooshanig Avedisian High School in Yerevan’s Malatia-Sebastia district was shown. The school is entirely funded by the AMAA and has been tuition-free for more than 580 students.

Lucine Mnatsakanyan, a graduate of the Avedisian High School, was invited, by Dr. Darakjian, to come forward and accept the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certificate and the glass plaque for the Avedisian High School in honor of the Avedisians who were not present. The school is the first building in the Republic of Armenia to achieve such an award and was also awarded the LEED Earth Designation – given only to the very first building project in each developing country to satisfy the USGBC LEED criteria.

AMAA Executive Director/CEO Zaven Khanjian (left) presents Stephen Papazian, the Moderator of the Armenian Church of the Martyrs of Worcester, with Linda Khachadurian’s “Sugar Sculpture”

Mnatsakanyan who is now a student at the American University of Armenia, paid tribute to the great attributes of the Avedisian High School, saying, “We are raised to be true Christians and citizens, and have been exposed to all the studies of an exemplary education.”

Delighting the audience, two acclaimed world class musicians, tenor Yeghishe Manucharyan, and mezzo soprano Victoria Avetisyan, who had started the banquet program with the American and Armenian anthems, sang several Armenian and international favorites, including the soul stirring “Pari Arakil,” “Habanera,” “Solo Mio,” and “Hayastan.”

Manucharyan, who has sung at the renowned Metropolitan Opera in New York, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and other concert halls in the U.S., Italy and Ireland, brought the house down with his rendition of “Pari Arakil,” dedicated to Armenia’s symbolic beloved bird (the crane). The couple’s dramatic singing of “Hayastan” was another crowd pleaser.

AMAA Vice President Dr. Michael Voskian paid tribute to the history of the Armenian Evangelical Church, which he revealed has grown and consists of 124 churches and five unions in Armenia, North America, the Near East, France, and Eurasia.

Representing the Armenian Evangelical Churches around the globe is the Armenian Evangelical World Council, with its President Rev. Joël Mikaélian who was asked to come forward by Dr. Voskian.

Avedisian High School Alumna Lusine Mnatsakanyan (left) and AMAA President Dr. Nazareth Darakjian

Also honored were Rev. Dr. Avedis Boynerian, host of the Armenian Memorial Church, as well as Rev. Stephen Carlyle of the first Armenian Evangelical Church in North America established on January 1, 1892 – the Armenian Church of the Martyrs in Worcester, MA. All were presented with special plaques.

During the joyous evening, a female guest suddenly passed out, and was immediately attended to by attending doctors until the ambulance came. As this was happening, several small groups of badvelis (pastors) spontaneously rose making small circles with their arms on each other’s shoulders, bending their heads, and silently praying for the ill woman.

For this journalist who had never witnessed such a powerful action, it was both inspiring and, for many, an action of true faith.

Expressing deep appreciation to the “ingenious and hard-working” banquet committee, the AMAA staff and all involved individuals for the successful weekend and banquet, AMAA Executive Director and CEO Zaven Khanjian asked Stephen Papazian, the Moderator of the Armenian Church of the Martyrs of Worcester, to come forward to receive a “Sugar Sculpture” donated by Linda Khachadurian.

Revealing the main challenge of his position, Zaven Khanjian stated “a challenge that I struggle with is the difficulty in conveying a well-deserved gratitude to righteous men and women who fly on the wings of goodness in life, and who instead, faithfully direct it to God.”

The AMAA Executive Director also announced that a symposium will soon take place in Armenia on the Post Genocide endeavor to save the remnants of the survivors. It is being organized by the Armenian Genocide Museum Institute Foundation, and sponsored by the Armenian Missionary Association of America.

“It will honor and bring to light the many heroes who miraculously embraced the orphaned Armenian children and widowed mothers with shelter, healing, food, education, and lovingly shielded them from the killing fields of Der El-Zor.”

He remembered that, today, anguished civilians in the towns and villages in Syria, deportation is once again taking place, leaving behind all they possess. “But the clear victims are the Syrian people, including the progeny of the Genocide survivors.

“The AMAA has faced the spiritual and humanitarian challenges of our people, and we have collectively and positively answered the call, and through your righteous giving will continue to make it happen,” he said in conclusion to a standing ovation.

The closing prayer and Benediction by Rev. Joël Mikaélian, and the singing of “God Bless America” brought an extraordinary and inspiring Banquet and weekend to a glorious close.

Armenian Genocide Vote: Ilhan Omar Reveals Foreign Policy Blind Spot

November 2, 2019November 2, 2019 Mary Lazarian

The Pavlovic Today

Oct 31 2019

The influential progressive congresswoman ignited a firestorm of criticism after refusing to support a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Liam Glen writes on the inconsistencies of Ilhan Omar’s stance.

The Armenian Genocide Memorial on the hill of Tsitsernakaberd (Yerevan)

Ilhan Omar, the Congressional representative from Minnesota’s 5th district, has been at the center of attention since she entered office in January.

Between her left-wing views, her status as one of the first two Muslim women in Congress, and her propensity for gaffes and misstatements, she has ignited countless controversies. In turn, her critics’ tendency to turn to smears and conspiracy theories have led the phrase “I stand with Ilhan Omar” to become a common sentiment in progressive circles.

This goodwill was called into question, however, after a vote on a resolution affirming the United Sates record on the Armenian Genocide, the systematic murder of deportation of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in the 1910s.

In the final tally, 405 representatives voted yea on the resolution, 11 voted nay, and three, including Omar, simply voted present.

As she is one of the most high-profile politicians in the country, this sharp break with her colleagues should draw attention. Given Omar’s claimed commitment to social justice, this vote is especially troubling.

While Omar did not explicitly deny the Armenian Genocide, her public statement on the issue can best be described as strategically evasive.

One of her claims is that “A true acknowledgment of historical crimes against humanity must include both the heinous genocides of the 20th century, along with earlier mass slaughters like the transatlantic slave trade and Native American genocide,” but this is nonsensical.

Omar is a vocal advocate of Palestinian rights. Surely no one would suggest that she cannot bring up the topic unless she also addresses the Uighurs, Kurds, Kashmiris, and the countless other groups who lack self-determination.

More insidious is her assertion that acknowledgement of genocide “should be done based on academic consensus,” implying that such is not the case here.

In fact, historians have long recognized the Armenian genocide as the systematic slaughter of Armenians within the Ottoman Empire. The only reason that it has not been officially recognized sooner is because of persistent lobbying by the Turkish government.

There is no telling exactly what is motivating Omar’s actions. Many of her critics have come to believing that she is beholden to the Turkish government, but the evidence for this is relatively scant – a single 2017 meeting with Turkish strongman Recep Erdoğan and a $1,500 donation from a pro-Erdoğan activist, who has also given to various other politicians.

This does, however, reveal a disturbingly close relationship between the Omar and Erdoğan, a right-wing autocrat and religious fundamentalist.

One ridiculous, but persistent, narrative is that Omar – a staunch supporter of progressive causes such as LGBT rights – is in fact a secret Islamist. Her critics claim that she is soft on human rights violations committed by Muslims, but she has in fact been a sharp critic of some Islamist regimes, such as Saudi Arabia.

A more valid criticism is that she has fallen into the trap of simply opposing whatever is the current US foreign policy, without regard to the actual fact of the case. For instance, she condemned suffering in Venezuela without mentioning the Maduro regime’s contribution to it and even mischaracterized the big-tent opposition as “far-right.”

Other statements, however, have been more nuanced. Dogmatic anti-Americans were quite upset when she denounced the Assad regime in Syria. Others claimed that this is proof of her devotion to the anti-Assad Erdoğan government.

There is a tendency to categorically interpret politicians as heroes or villains, but this is an unhealthy way to view the world. It is possible to praise representatives for their accomplishments while reprimanding them when they do ill.

Those like Omar, however, who has made herself the head of a progressive movement, should be held under special scrutiny. Any commitment to peace, justice, and humanity must be consistent. So far, she is leaving behind a questionable legacy.

https://www.thepavlovictoday.com/armenian-genocide-vote-ilhan-omar-reveals-foreign-policy-blind-spot/

Turkey: First, the Armenians. Today, the Kurds

October 21, 2019October 21, 2019 Mary Lazarian

SeaCoast Online

Oct 18 2019

Turkey: First, the Armenians. Today, the Kurds

By Robert Azzi

Barely more than a 100 years ago, Turkey executed what is considered by historians the first major genocide of the 20th century – the murder of hundreds of thousands of Armenians – perhaps as many as 1.5 million – and the driving of hundreds of thousands of other Armenians into the desert, where many perished either at the hands of Turkish zealots or by starvation.

This week, as winter approaches, hundreds of thousands of Syrian and Turkish Kurds have already been driven from their homes by Turkey – with the approval of the president of the United States Donald J. Trump – into some of the very same deserts that became the grave sites of so many Armenians barely a century ago.

“I am afraid, my friends, that the ugly chapters of genocides and the deep-rooted history of persecution in the Middle East will last longer if we ignore the facts,” activist Widad Akreyi has written. “If we keep silent, we will probably witness another genocide at a future date, and the price we may pay for neglecting our duty to act may prove to be too high.”

That future date is upon us.

Today, in spite of agreement on a negotiated “pause” – falsely described as a “cease-fire” by Trump and Vice President Pence, and contradicted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – attacks from Turkish and Turkish-backed militias on Syrian Kurds, American allies whom Trump has abandoned, continue.

A negotiated “pause,” which was implemented without consultation or approval from the Kurds.

It appears that Russian forces have occupied positions previously held by American forces, that desperate Kurds are so desperate they are appealing for protection from Syrian President Bashar Hafez al-Assad, he who is responsible for the killing of more than 500,000 Syrians in an 8-year-long civil war, and that Iranian aid to the Syrian regime continues unabated.

Reports continue to appear that American forces, shamed and humiliated by their commander-in-chief’s servile capitulation to Turkish President Erdogan, have had to blow up their own ammunition depots and vital assets as they rapidly withdrew in the face of the Turkish advance against America’s staunchest allies in the Middle East – the Kurds.

Trump, through negotiations led by Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, not only agreed to let Turkey ethnically cleanse all Kurds from their own lands in Syria – Kurds who lost more than 11,000 fighters as they fought alongside Americans in our battle against ISIS – but also agreed not to sanction them for doing so.

“What we have done to the Kurds will stand as a bloodstain in the annals of American history,” Sen. Mitt Romney charged.

“This is a big win for Iran and Assad,” Sen. Lindsay Graham said. “A big win for ISIS.”

A bigger win for Vladimir Putin – a green-light for despots everywhere.

It didn’t have to come to this.

Servile in his capitulation to dictators, monarchs and autocrats, from Helsinki to Singapore, Riyadh to Ankara, Trump has routinely ignored the oppressed and dispossessed while embracing their oppressors.

Since Jan. 20, 2017, the Republicans Party – together with its conservative, libertarian and evangelical cohorts – has collaborated with a ruler who knows no books, no history – a ruler not pleasant and polite, wise and witty, well read and well bred.

They have collaborated and empowered an anti-democratic, ignorant, racist, narcissistic, kleptocrat to shred the shared vision of our Founding Fathers in great part to fulfill their own greed and delusions while ignoring the apparent fact that Trump lacked the character, temperament, experience and vision to lead this country.

Thus, while I am appreciative of their support of the Kurds I am not moved by the too-little, too-late, sentiments of sycophants like Sens. Lindsay Graham, Mitt Romney, Mitch McConnell and others decrying Trump’s support of Erdogan.

For 1,001 days those sycophants enabled Trump and his ignorance, and the Kurds are paying the price for their greed, avarice and fear.

Successive Turkish governments, including that of Erdogan, have refused to acknowledge or take responsibility for the genocide and crimes against humanity they perpetrated against the Armenian people a century ago.

Today, as we witness the unfolding of genocide and ethnic cleansing in those very same lands, it comes as no surprise to me that Donald Trump, Turkey’s enabler, shows no awareness, no regrets, no remorse, over the forces of evil he has unleashed.

In 2015, when 3-year-old Alan Kurdi’s lifeless body – a Syrian Kurdish boy who, with his father, was trying to escape Al-Assad’s butchery – washed up on the shores of the Mediterranean the world reacted, rightly, in revulsion.

ARMENPRESS, Yerevan Subway pay homage to Komitas with unique exhibition on 150th anniversary of birth

October 18, 2019October 18, 2019 Mary Lazarian

ARMENPRESS,Yerevan Subway pay homage to Komitas with unique exhibition on 150th anniversary of birth

20:07,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 17, ARMENPRESS. The ARMENPRESS News Agency and the Yerevan Subway teamed up to pay homage to Komitas by organizing an exclusive exhibition dedicated to the musicologist and composer’s 150th anniversary of birth.

The exhibition includes rare photos depicting Komitas himself, as well as other great figures that at any point in time had relation to him.

The exhibition was held at the Yeritasardakan metro station, and President Armen Sarkissian personally attended the inauguration. The opening ceremony was accompanied by Komitas State Conservatory students performing Komitas.

The president toured the exhibition and viewed the pictures.

ARMENPRESS director Aram Ananyan, speaking to reporters, reminded that 2019 is marked by the 150th anniversaries of birth of two greats – Hovhannes Tumanyan and Komitas, and this year ARMENPRESS has re-organized two exhibitions which were originally launched 50 years ago by the agency’s predecessor – the Armenian Telegraph Agency, dedicated to the two prominent Armenian figures.

“We decided to organize a retrospect exhibition of these exhibitions. We want to show how much their literary and musical legacy was valued before, how much it is valued now and how much it will be valued in the future. This was also a unique homage to all generations of ARMENPRESS employees who had contributed to the accomplishment of these exhibitions,” Ananyan said, adding that the unique photos on display have also been digitized.

Speaking about the selection of the venue, Ananyan said that ARMENPRESS has already collaborated with the Yerevan subway before as part of the First Armenian International Photo Festival.

“Here, a broader segment of people can see these unique archive photos. It is possible that the exhibition will be presented in many other platforms also. Let me inform that we plan to organize a Tumanyan exhibition in Dsegh and also realize an exhibition in Tbilisi’s Tumanyan House where Tumanyan and Komitas will meet. They’ve frequently met under this roof,” Ananyan said.

The exhibition has been organized as a result of collaboration between ARMENPRESS, the Karen Demirchyan Yerevan Metro and the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory. Converse Bank sponsored the event.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

A1+: Nikol Pashinyan holds meeting with EU Special Representative for South Caucasus

October 17, 2019October 17, 2019 Mary Lazarian

On October 16, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan held a meeting with EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia Toivo Klaar,.

The PM said that Armenia attaches importance to the continuous development of relations with the European Union and that the official high-level meetings testify about the Armenia-EU effective dialogue and dynamic process of cooperation.

According to PM Pashinyan, the EU is Armenia’s most important colleague in the full-swing reforms that are underway in Armenia, and the government is resolute in continuing key reforms in different sectors.

Klaar said that the EU is also attaching importance to deepening partnership with Armenia and is ready to continue supporting the Armenian PM and the Government in the reforms aimed at strengthening democracy.

Nikol Pashinyan and Toivo Klaar exchanged ideas around the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement. The PM emphasized that Armenia sees the resolution exclusively through a peaceful path and is committed to the negotiations process within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship format.

The EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia commended Armenia’s steps aimed at the conflict’s peaceful resolution and noted that the European Union is supporting the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ efforts in the direction of peaceful negotiations.

ACNIS reView #33, 2019_Editorial_A Quarter-Century in the Public’s Service: ACNIS Marks 25th Anniversary

October 10, 2019October 10, 2019 Mary Lazarian

Editorial

05 OCTOBER 2019

A Quarter-Century in the Public’s Service: ACNIS Marks 25th Anniversary

On October 3, the Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS), the country's original institute of strategic policy analysis and global affairs, marked the 25th anniversary of its founding with an official reception at its headquarters.

Ambassadors and other dignitaries, local analysts and international specialists, current and former ACNIS employees, media professionals and members of the public gathered in a show of appreciation for a quarter-century of service to Armenian democracy, institutional policy making, and free competition of ideas.

Raffi K. Hovannisian, this Armenian think-tank "mothership's" founding captain and the Republic's first minister of foreign affairs, welcomed the assembled guests and the Center's associates of all times including, in memoriam, the brilliant late intellectual Tigran Hairapetyan.

"ACNIS," he said, "has over the past 25 years and in the most challenging of circumstances engaged national and international expert resources to deliver strategic work product on the critical domestic and foreign policy issues of the day…and of the century. The Center, as Armenia's first independent ‘think tank,’ has firmly registered our worldwide nation upon the map of global geopolitics."

On the occasion of its 25th anniversary, the Center has released a special 2019 Strategic Summary briefly illustrating the year’s most important landmarks and the Center’s quarter-century chronology. The remaining pages encapsulate volumes of political analysis and work product on different topics, monographs, national and international forums on the most fundamental issues in the political field, sociological research and public-interest discussions of their results, training of young experts, and a number of other directions.

The Armenian Center for National and International Studies is a leading strategic research center headquartered in Yerevan. As a non-profit institution committed to conducting professional multi-disciplinary research and analysis, it strives to raise the level of pan-national discourse and seeks to broaden civic engagement in the policy-making process, thus fostering greater and more inclusive public knowledge.

Founded in 1994 by Raffi Hovannisian, Armenia’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs, ACNIS has acquired over the years a prominent reputation as a primary source of independent expertise covering a wide range of national and international policy issues. A brilliant constellation of Armenian political scientists, researchers, and policy-analysts, as well as public, political and state figures has been forged by their passage through the halls of the Armenian Center for National and International Studies.

The California Courier Online, September 26, 2019

September 24, 2019September 24, 2019 Mary Lazarian

The California Courier Online, September 26, 2019

1 - Armin Wegner Asked Franz Werfel
Not to Write his ‘40 Days of Musa Dagh’
Part IV (Final)
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2- Over 10,000 Gather in Los Angeles to Welcome PM Nikol Pashinyan
3 - AAF Ships Over $62M of Medicines to Armenia, Artsakh
4- Captain Garo Kuredjian Selected as New Police Chief of Fillmore
5- City Council Moves to Rename Tujunga Intersection ‘William
Saroyan Square’

*****************************************
******************************************
1 - Armin Wegner Asked Franz Werfel
Not to Write his ‘40 Days of Musa Dagh’
Part IV (Final)
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com

The California Courier has published in a four-part series the
exchange between the two historic figures Armin Wegner and Franz
Werfel. This is the final installment.

Of course, I do not know your own connection with Asia Minor, and I
can be fooled by guessing it. Strangely, I have found that the Jewish
soul, in the frame of German and Prussian characters, makes them
better able to imagine than the majority of German poets can, that
this Asian soul usually stands much further away and stays more alien
to the descendant of the European crusaders. This probably has its
deep foundation in the law of antagonism.

I have no right to ask you to give up your project. That probably
wouldn’t help much either. But you will certainly not be grateful to
me if I, who from the first moment of our meeting, passionately loved
and venerated your poetic work, ask you to consider all my thoughts,
which I submit to you here. Precisely because I appreciate you, not
only as a writer, but I also know the depth of your humanity, I can do
so with a clear conscience. Perhaps it will cause you to drop an
unfinished project that has barely begun, or to go beyond to design a
shorter novelistic study, as it originally began?

I need not emphasize the immense gratitude and the deep reassurance
that would fulfill me, having the opportunity to complete and market
my work without fear of competition. Truly, I cannot give up my
project, which has become my mission from my deepest, profound
experience, for which I have sacrificed laborious years of toil under
the greatest hardships and struggles, and for the sake of it, stood in
the background for so long.”

Werfel responded on Dec. 23, 1932 from Vienna: “Let me first briefly
tell you the story of the formation of my Armenian novel. Since the
war, I have been to the Middle East twice (for several months) – the
first time in 1925, the second time in 1929. In Damascus, I had a
shocking experience with Armenian children, which, to some extent,
made an epic plan virulent in me, which already existed since I first
heard of these things; perhaps just after the war. I do not know for
exactly how long. Oftentimes, in my method of writing, the dramatic or
epic plans grow in the darkness for many years before they are strong
enough to entice me to work. (I wrote the Verdi novel part time in
1911 and completed it in 1923.) In the case of my Armenian novel, I
started studying and sketching only last year. Of course, the work
progressed rapidly during the summer, and today I have already
finished more than half of my book. (around 400 printed pages.)

Be that as it may, I naturally like to acknowledge your primary
concern and bow to you for being an eyewitness. However, I am almost
reluctant to point out that there is no material legitimacy in the
field of poetry [creative writing]. You indicate it several times in
your letter. There are, perhaps, ‘personal’ substances that may belong
to the peculiarity of a particular writer – the World War, with all
its chapters, of which the Armenian tragedy is one, may by no means
count on these substances. Fairly considered, you have in your great
experience and your fateful connectedness, a tremendous advantage over
me, who cannot create his work based on experience, direct exposure,
grasp of senses, but only from imagination, inventiveness and thus
some historical documents. With such a competition, therefore, the
worry should be far more on my side.

But I believe, dear Wegner, that we can both be very calm, because our
works will certainly be completely different. Mine uses documented
facts of only one single episode that covers a few pages in the Alster
collection of Lepsius. The episode serves me as the framework for a
universal human happening, for a symbolic development, for figures
purely invented, it is not an end in itself but only an occasion. Nor
will there be much talk of atrocities and massacres in my book. I will
set aside all the documentary stuff. The human destiny of the invented
characters alone will be important. The scene I am referring to, the
contents of which have become known to you through the newspapers, has
very little to do with the actual novel. The scene I am referring to,
the contents of which have become known to you through the newspapers,
has very little to do with the actual novel. A multi-volume work like
yours will project a gigantic and magnificent painting of the Armenian
destiny, with ten thousand details. While mine, I hope, will be a
story limited to a certain region and a small fragment of people. The
emphasis will be more on the mythical-human side rather than the
Armenian cause.

Lastly, I am surprised about the muffled suspicion that sounds from
certain lines of your letter.

You are suggesting that I had heard of your correspondence with the
Prussian Academy and Paul Zsolnay Publishing House, and might have
been inspired to write my Armenian novel. In fact, I entered the
meeting room of the Poets Academy for the first time in my life
fourteen days ago, and, as far as publishing correspondence is
concerned, my own stuff is already annoying enough.

But is it possible that you seriously believe that the facts of your
work could stimulate my choice of substance and put you off your work?
You are a poet and, therefore, you know that it is not us who choose
the substance, but the substance chooses us. Nothing is more sensible
to me than that everything I write is essential, i.e., dictated from
within.

Until yesterday, from your books I had only the beautiful volume 'The
Face of the Cities,' which I admire and love very much. Unfortunately,
I haven’t read any of your prose. Since I work a lot, I read almost no
novels or short stories. I just got the mail with your open letter to
Wilson. The real glow of your words deeply moved me.

Please do not overestimate the rivalry of our works. They go different ways.

For me, and globally, you are a great authority on the Armenian cause,
through knowledge, experience, and connectedness. This was shown to me
in just the few pages I went through yesterday. The glow of these
pages, however, also suggests that your publisher cannot be unhappy,
even when another, be it a layman or artist, tries to serve the same
mission.”

Fortunately, Franz Werfel was not dissuaded by Wegner to give up his
plans to write “The Forty Days of Musa Dagh.” On the other hand,
Wegner published only the first volume of his planned four-volume
book, depriving the world of his precious eyewitness accounts of the
Armenian Genocide.

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2- Over 10,000 Gather in Los Angeles to Welcome PM Nikol Pashinyan

LOS ANGELES (Combined Sources)—Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was
appointed and then elected to his post after leading a wave of
anti-government protests between March and May of 2018 that led to the
resignation of former Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan in what has become
known as the Velvet Revolution — and has been widely hailed as a
harbinger of democracy by championing free elections and government
transparency.

“We have created a new image for Armenia,” said Pashinyan after
lauding the warm California welcome in Armenian, the diaspora crowd
chanting his name.

“We have developed a new slogan: It’s cool to be Armenian,” he said.
“And together we have to make it even better, because the Armenian
people is one of a great history and past. And our country has a
bright future.”

Los Angeles City councilmember Paul Krekorian, who became the first
Armenian elected to city office in 2010, played a leading role in
organizing the rally. Burbank Rep. Adam Schiff also addressed the
crowd, calling LA the “capitol of the Armenian diaspora.”

LA Mayor Eric Garcetti praised Pashinyan’s leadership, saying “A day
of sunshine has come to Armenia, a day of openness, of democracy. The
day has come to invest and support and help the new Armenia rise, and
rise and rise under this prime minister.”

Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said “It was an
incredible privilege to welcome His Excellency Prime Minster of
Armenia Nikol Pashinyan to Los Angeles County! His wisdom and
dedication to democracy are inspiring. It’s a privilege to collaborate
and share best practices to make our communities stronger.”

“Thank you everyone who joined us on such a spectacular and historic
day to welcome the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol
Pashinyan / Նիկոլ Փաշինյան and spouse Anna Hakobyan! Thank you
Councilmember Paul Krekorian for hosting this wonderful event to honor
a true champion of democracy,” said California State Assemblymember
Adrin Nazarian.

The majority of attendees, clapping and dancing along to traditional
music and dance performances on the steps of City Hall, came in
predominately from such Armenian community population centers as
Glendale, Burbank, Pasadena and the San Fernando Valley. Buses to
downtown Los Angeles were made available to the communities.

While estimations of the Armenian population in Greater LA vary, the
2000 census reported over 150,000 Armenians in LA County with some
40,000 living in the San Fernando Valley.

“We’re here to honor and welcome him, for having led the revolution
and cleaning up corruption,” said Hrair Koutnouyan of Glendale, who
came to see Pashinyan with his wife. “A government that’s without
stealing and cheating isn’t something that’s easily accepted, but he’s
proving it can be done.”

Some, like 24-year-old Ani Dergrigorian of Glendale, who has lived in
Armenia, is “optimistic” about Pashinyan’s leadership but hopes to
hold him to account on issues facing every day Armenians. She and her
sister, Areni, brought signs that demanded an end to environmentally
harmful mining practices in the nation’s Almusar region.

“Maybe we don’t feel the impacts as much here, but it’s more important
than ever for us to be engaged in politics in Armenia,” she said.
“We’re all facing climate change on the same planet. At the end of the
day it impacts us too.”

Monterey Park doctor Jack Der-Sarkissian said he was moved by the
“optimism and enthusiasm” in Armenia following the Pashinyan-led
protests, what he and his supporters call the “Velvet Revolution.”
He’s listening for proof that the leader will be the steward of
democracy he said he would.

“A lot of people in Los Angeles will financially invest in their
families and Armenia needs it,” he said. “At the end of the day he
needs to convince people like myself that it’s the right time to
invest in Armenia. He has a lot of work ahead of him.”

Pashinyan said victory in the Artsakh liberation struggle would not be
possible without the assistance of the Diaspora. He noted that the
United States has steadfastly assisted Armenia and the Armenian
people.

On the morning of September 22, Pashinyan met with the executives of a
number of Armenian community organizations. The meeting was attended
by nearly 70 people, Armenia’s Honorary Consuls in Fresno and Las
Vegas, as well as spiritual representatives of the Armenian community.

“This is an important meeting that we have looked forward to since
last year. From the moment I stepped out of the airport, I felt the
presence of the Los Angeles Armenian community—a and I want to thank
them for this readiness. I will have many occasions to speak today—so
at today’s meeting, I am taking the role of a listener,” said
Pashinyan, who said he was eager to answer all questions.

Pashinyan introduced the vision of implementing a pan-Armenian agenda
and the idea of pan-Armenianism; discussed the figures of Armenia’s
economic development and positive trends; tourism; the settlement
process of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict; as well as the ongoing
structural reforms in judiciary, and public administration system,
among other issues.

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3 - AAF Ships Over $62M of Medicines to Armenia, Artsakh

GLENDALE—The Armenia Artsakh Fund (AAF) delivered the phenomenal
amount of over $62 million of humanitarian assistance to Armenia and
Artsakh from May-September 2019.

The AAF itself collected the $62 million of medicines and other
supplies donated by Direct Relief ($59.5 million); Americares ($2.3
million); Catholic Medical Mission Board ($360,000); MAP International
($9,000) and Row Foundation ($2,500).

Other organizations which contributed valuable goods during this
period were: Project Agape ($97,000) and Armenian Missionary
Association of America ($282,000).

The medicines and medical supplies donated during this period were
sent to the Health Ministries of Armenia and Artsakh, AGBU Claudia
Nazarian Medical Center for Syrian Armenian Refugees in Yerevan,
Arabkir United Children’s Foundation, Armenian Missionary Association
of America, City of Smile, Fund for Armenian Relief, Institute of
Perinatology, Obstetrics and Gynecology Center, Metsn Nerses
Charitable Organization, Muratsan Children’s Endocrinology Center,
National Hematology Center and St. Grigor Lusavorich Medical Center.

In the first nine months of 2019 AAF shipped to Armenia and Artsakh
$67 million of medicines, medical supplies and other relief products.
In the past 30 years, including the shipments under its predecessor,
the United Armenian Fund, the AAF has delivered to Armenia and Artsakh
a grand total of $892 million worth of relief supplies on board 158
airlifts and 2,447 sea containers.

“The Armenia Artsakh Fund is regularly offered free of charge millions
of dollars worth of life-saving medicines and medical supplies. All we
have to do is pay for the shipping expenses. We would welcome your
generous donations to be able to continue delivering this valuable
assistance to all medical centers in Armenia and Artsakh,” stated
Harut Sassounian, President of AAF.

[email protected].

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4- Captain Garo Kuredjian Selected as New Police Chief of Fillmore

FILLMORE, Calif.—The city of Fillmore has selected Captain Garo
Kuredjian as its next police chief. Kuredjian has been selected to
replace outgoing chief Captain Eric Tennessen, after the announcement
of his upcoming promotion to commander.

Kuredjian is a 25-year veteran of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office.
During his career, he has worked patrol and custody, and has an
extensive background in investigations which include assignments in
the city of Thousand Oaks and Moorpark, as well as Internal Affairs.

As a captain, Garo worked as a patrol watch commander, and he served
as the Sheriff’s adjutant and public information officer. Most
recently, he managed facility operations at the Pre-Trial Detention
Facility in Ventura.

Kuredjian brings a diverse background to his new position, including a
bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California, Los
Angeles, and a master’s degree in public administration from
California State University at Northridge. He lives in Simi Valley
with his family.

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5- City Council Moves to Rename Tujunga Intersection ‘William
Saroyan Square’

On September 11, Los Angeles City Council members Monica Rodriguez and
Paul Krekorian brought forward a motion to name the intersection on
the corner of Commerce Blvd. and Valmont street in Tujunga as “William
Saroyan Square”.

According to the motion, “William Saroyan was a prolific
Armenian-American writer of plays, short stories and novels. Saroyan’s
works portray the immigrant experience in the United States. He drew
upon his own childhood as the son of Armenian immigrants in Fresno for
inspiration. He has over 4,000 literary works to his credit, dating
from the late 1920s to the early 1980s. He wrote The Human Comedy,
which earned him an Academy Award for Best Original Motion Picture
Story in 1943. Saroyan refused the Pulitzer Prize for his play The
Time of Your Life on the grounds that it was ‘no more great or good’
than anything else he had written.

The motion continues, “Saroyan is recognized as one of the most
notable literary figures of the mid-20th century. The Armenian
community in Sunland-Tujunga is especially proud of Saroyan’s place in
history. It is fitting that we commemorate his life by naming the
intersection of Commerce Ave. and Valmont St., in his honor. Commerce
Ave. is home to the Annual Sunland-Tujunga Armenian Festival which
celebrates and brings awareness to Armenian art and culture.”

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