Author: Nahapetian Lilit

CONGRESS AIMS TO BUILD BRIDGE BY BURNING ANOTHER

ASU The Appalachian Online, NC
/
Oct 23 2007

The decision to vote on the resolution that describes the deaths
of hundreds of thousands of Armenians as genocide has polarized the
United States Congress.

To the naked eye the decision may appear easy, but you have to
empathize with both sides of the argument before you jump to
conclusions.

On the surface, any human being with half of a heart wouldn’t
hesitate to declare the gruesome slayings of an ungodly amount of
people as genocide.

Only paralleled by the Holocaust, the Armenian killings by the Ottoman
Empire in World War I are quite possibly one of the most disturbing
and grotesque happenings in human history.

The Armenian National Committee of America estimates that over 1.5
million Armenians perished by the hands of the Young Turks of the
Ottoman Empire.

It seems like a no-brainer. It may be a little late, but hey, any
condemnation of genocide is quite warranted, right?

Well, it’s a little more complicated than that.

See, it’s been close to 100 years since the genocide took place.

The Ottoman Empire crumbled after World War I and became modern-day
Turkey.

To this day, Turkey refuses to acknowledge the acts as genocide,
which is utterly ridiculous and embarrassing to that nation.

However, in these tumultuous times of war in the Middle East,
Turkey happens to be one of our only allies in the region. We have
bases and troops in Turkey that are key in stabilizing the Kurds in
Northern Iraq.

Now, I know what you’re thinking.

Who gives a damn if we offend Turkey? We shouldn’t be there in the
first place!

Well you may very well be right about those notions, but if condemning
a century-old act by a nation that doesn’t exist anymore will only
lead to more American troops getting killed for naught, then we might
want to rethink our timing.

I admire Nancy Pelosi for trying to acknowledge one of the most fatal
blunders and inexcusable acts of aggression in the world’s history.

But if doing so will put more troops in harm’s way if Turkey does not
cooperate with U.S. troops, then it might be worth it to wait for a
time that wouldn’t be so detrimental to our troops.

And while you’re at it, why doesn’t Congress speak out on other
treacheries committed in history?

Let’s go way back in time and denounce some lingering faults that
have never been addressed.

What about that little thing the United States participated in called
slavery? Maybe there isn’t a lobby as powerful as the Armenian one
that can persuade Congress to call for reparations.

What about Japanese internment camps or banana republics or sweatshops
that we still fund unabashedly?

My point is that there are many things that the U.S. Congress can
look back upon and denounce, so why this one now?

If Congress is concerned with bringing home the troops safely, then
do it.

However, the fact that the Turkish President Abdullah Gul denounced
the American vote as "unacceptable" and referred to the resolution
as "petty games of domestic politics" makes it very difficult to
side with a country that labels the genocide as a "civil strife"
and refuses to acknowledge their grandfathers’ wrongdoings.

But the Turkish president does bring up an interesting point.

Is this really a political move?

The Armenian lobby has been trying to get this resolution passed for
decades, and now, when we are in an oversees struggle with a NATO
ally, is the time when we decide to come around and speak out about
the atrocities?

I shudder to think that Congress is playing political chess with the
lives of our soldiers in order to dissolve the war in Iraq.

I hope the Armenian people are satisfied with the U.S. denunciation
and I hope Turkey admits to what their ancestors did.

I also hope Congress continues to point out other mishaps in history,
including our own, and that their hasty decision to condemn the
Ottoman Empire doesn’t lead to more American casualties in the region.

ARMENIAN ENGINEERS & SCIENTISTS OF AMERICA
417 Arden Ave #112C
Glendale CA 91203, USA
E-mail: [email protected]
Tel: 818-547-3372
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DIASPORA LAUNCHES YEREVAN POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE’S 75th ANNIVERSARY
CELEBRATIONS

By Harutiun Surmenian

On March 1, 2008, the Yerevan Polytechnic Institute (renamed State
Engineering University of Armenia (Polytechnic) since 1991), the leader
in technological education in Armenia, will turn 75. On the eve of this
commemorative date the Armenian Engineers and Scientists of America,
Inc., jointly with their affiliates –

Polytechnic’s Alumni and Friends of Los Angeles – are organizing a
jubilee evening for November 3, 2007. The honorary guest at the event
will be the University’s President, Professor Vostanik Marukhyan. Once
more, the event will reflect the Diaspora’s indisputable bond with
Armenia.

Yerevan Polytechnic’s 75th anniversary coincides with its Los Angeles
Alumni Association’s 15 years of existence. YPI Alumni was founded in
1992. Its first President was Professor Harut Barsamian of UC Irvine.
During the past 15 years, the Alumni and its Friends (
[email protected] or 818-841-0333) have provided their contribution
to helping Polytechnic surmount difficulties in post-independence
Armenia by providing scholarships and faculty assistance, furnishing
technologically equipped classrooms, assisting in the repair of
buildings, and financing the publication of textbooks. Polytechnic’s Los
Angeles Alumni are proud to have been the first organization to
establish an alumni association among all Universities of Armenia.

About Yerevan Polytechnic Institute (YerPI)

The Yerevan Polytechnic Institute was founded in 1933 with only two
departments: Construction and Chemical Technology. Previously, both were
part of the Yerevan State University. In its first year, Polytechnic had
only 107 students . Despite this unimpressive number, the faculty of the
newly established school was remarkable, with many of them having
graduated from distinguished European universities.

Polytechnic grew at the same pace as then-Soviet Armenia’s
industrialization. During the period from 1933-1941, the new departments
of Transportation and Hydrotechnology were opened and the number of
students increased almost seven fold.

The onset of WWII reduced the number of students, faculty, and staff
significantly. The militarized industry demanded engineers of various
specialties and backgrounds, and establishing new engineering
departments became a priority. In 1942 the department of
Electrotechnology admitted new students, followed in 1943 and 1944 by
the department of Mechanical Engineering and the reorganized department
of Hydro Engineering, respectively.

During the four decades following WWII, Armenia’s population tripled,
and industrialization grew rapidly, including diverse spheres . Some of
these areas of industrialization originated from Armenia’s conditions
and natural resources, some – in grandiloquent Soviet style called "the
great chemical"- originated baselessly, in detriment to Armenia’s
environment and the public’s health.

It was Polytechnic’s responsibility to educate and train new generations
of Armenian engineers. The institute expanded in both size and
substance, opening new departments and laboratories, building new
campuses, and founding scientific research centers. New branches were
opened in the country’s second and third largest – and extensively
industrialized – cities of Leninakan and Kirovakan (presently Gyumry and
Vanadzor).

To Armenia’s pride , Polytechnic’s growth in quality surpassed even its
growth in size. It became one of the most reputable engineering schools
in the former Soviet Union. Many of its talented graduates won awards
and prestigious titles at international scientific competitions, ranking
Armenia’s engineering education equal to the very best in the world.
YerPI’s most distinguished graduates were selected to become members of
the Soviet Union’s and Armenia’s Science Academies.

Even in sports, culture, and the arts, Polytechnic’s students
distinguished themselves. We can find the names of "polytechnictsi"
champions in the rosters of European and World competitions, as well as
World Student Universiadas. It should also be noted that during the Cold
War’s most heated period, Polytechnic’s Student Chamber Orchestra
traveled abroad and performed in the Unites States.

During the mid 1980s, Polytechnic reached its peak with about 25,000
students involved in more than 66 major engineering disciplines.
Gradually, after reaching its climax in the 1980s, the incompatibility
between the planned quantity and de-facto quality of Soviet realities
fully surfaced. To make things worse, the 1988 Spitak earthquake,
followed by well-known historical events and economic hardship during
the first years of Armenia’s independence, also took a heavy toll on
Polytechnic.

Only those individuals with a deep sense of commitment to their ideals,
those who, for hardline realists may appear to have utopian thoughts,
were able to visualize, plan and realize their beloved Polytechnic’s
revival. Fortunately, Polytechnic’s stewardship possessed these
abilities. Through their leadership and perseverance, then-Polytechnic
President, Academician Yuri Sargsyan, and his colleagues overcame
Polytechnic’s struggle to exist. To our joy and pride, it is on its way
to returning to its best days.

Presently, SEUA (Polytechnic) has 11 engineering departments and, with
its Gyumri, Vanadzor and Kapan branches, over 10,000 students, among
them 500 foreign students studying in the English language. The number
of academic staff exceeds 1,000. The University spans four programs of
study, conferring the degrees of junior engineer, bachelor, master and
researcher. The engineering discipline includes 39 Bachelor’s and 23
Master’s specializations in Engineering, Industrial Economics,
Engineering Management, Applied Mathematics, and Sociology.

SEUA pioneered the two and three level higher education systems in
Armenia, and experimentally implemented the European Credit Transfer
System (ECTS) in harmony with the developments of the Bologna Process.
During the last decade, the University developed world-wide cooperation
with many leading universities, research centers and renowned
engineering corporations of the world. SEUA is a member of the European
University Association (EUA), and is involved in many European and other
international academic and research programs (TEMPUS, TACIS, USAID,
INTAS, NATO, NISCUPP, others).

During its 75 years of existence, Polytechnic Institute (SEUA) has
produced over 100,00 graduates, among them over 1,000 Diasporan
Armenians. Polytechnic’s graduates have contributed greatly to the
development of Armenia’s economy; many of them have also become major
figures in the country’s political life. Thousands of Polytechnic
graduates have successfully parlayed their engineering education and
talents in other countries, including the US.

For every nation, its educational and technological advancement is of
strategic importance to its survival and progress. This vital truth is
most evident in the case of Armenia. Its Engineering University –
Polytechnic – is thereby indispensible. As it ascends toward being its
best, Polytechnic deserves the attention and support of all Armenians.

We are certain that Professor Vostanik Marukhyan, SEUA President since
2006, and his team of talented educators will live up to the nation’s
confidence and expectations.

Happy anniversary Polytechnic!

ARMENIAN SCULPTOR TAKES PART IN INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM HELD IN TURKEY

Noyan Tapan
Oct 22, 2007

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 22, NOYAN TAPAN. Hayk Tokmajian, an Armenian sculptor,
as well took part in the third international symposium of scultors
held in Arkara between September 17 and October 20. 12 sculptors
from seven countries out of 130, who have sent applications for
taking part in the symposium, have been elected. As Hayk Tokmanjian
mentioned at the press conference held on October 22, the sculptors
have sent the sketches of their works in advance in order to take part
in the symposium. Afterwards, they made the elected works on the spot
within a month. The Armenian sculptor introduced his "White Horse"
work to the Turkish society.

According to Hayk Tokmajian, he was honored with a hearty reception
there.

"No political issues were touched upon, we talked only about art,"
he mentioned. In the words of Hayk Tokmajian, art knows no boundaries,
therefore artists should cooperate in any case.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION IN THE U.S. CONGRESS – RIGHTING A HISTORICAL WRONG?
by Onnik Krikorian

Global Voices Online, MA
menian-genocide-resolution-in-the-us-congress-righ ting-a-historical-wrong/
Oct 22 2007

It’s not often that Armenia makes international headlines across the
globe, but when it does it’s usually because of one issue that remains
fiercely debated until this day – the massacre and deportation of
as many as 1.5 million Armenians from Ottoman Turkey in 1915-17. 22
countries recognize the events that occurred towards the end of World
War I as genocide, a charge that the modern-day Republic of Turkey
refuses to accept even though the term was devised by Raphael Lemkin
in 1943 with the Armenian and Jewish experience in mind.

Most scholars also recognize the Armenian Genocide as such, but
for the large and influential Armenian Diaspora, recognition by
the United States is considered to be the main objective of its
continuing international campaign. It’s no wonder then, that when
a U.S. Congressional House Committee on Foreign Affairs passed a
resolution to recognize the Armenian Genocide by 27 votes to 20
on 10 October, not only did the news make international headlines,
but it also defined conversation in much of the blogosphere.

Writing on Cilicia.com’s Life in Armenia immediately after the
resolution was passed, Yerevan-based American-Armenian, Raffi
Kojian, noted the prominence of the story as a leading item in the
international media.

What was very interesting for me this morning, was reading all
the news articles, and there was definitely no shortage of them. I
opened Google News to search for "Armenian Genocide" to see if it
passed, but instead was greeted with "Armenian Genocide Resolution
Passes Committee" as the top headline, with 650 stories already on
the topic. That’s big news! The coverage and points being raised
were quite varied, from the sickening editorial in the Washington
Post to widespread calls for doing the right thing. Lantos, head of
the committee, summarized the vote beforehand as choosing between
acknowledging a genocide, and appeasing Turkey for military reasons.

Basically, do the right thing, or give in to the questionable
arm-twisting of a supposed ally – though he did not put it in those
undiplomatic terms.

Although such resolutions are not new in the United States, with
past experience showing that national security concerns and foreign
policy objectives eventually prevent such acknowledgment from passing
into law, reaction from Diasporan bloggers was ecstatic. Writing on
Cilicia.com’s Life in the Armenian Diaspora, Lori wrote an entry in
pretty much the same vein.

I’ll never forget this day! How monumental is this? Sitting in
California unable to watch the House Foreign Affairs Committee meeting
I had my father calling me from Armenia to provide periodic updates
since he was able to watch the session live. I can’t even begin
to express how I’m feeling right now, I’m happy, proud, relieved,
ecstatic, encouraged, hopeful…..Finally, our efforts weren’t in
vain. Finally, a president didn’t succeed in shooting this resolution
down. I must say that as a Clinton supporter I was disappointed in him,
but I expected it from Bush and it feels SO GOOD seeing his efforts
to stop this resolution from passing fail. I want to find the 27
members of the committee who voted and shake their hands. I want to
thank them for not buying into the threats Turkey made and for not
allowing themselves or their ethics to be bought by the Turkish lobby,
for not bending over and being Turkey’s puppets.

Reaction in the Turkish blogosphere, however, was obviously very
different. Even 92 years after what most people do consider to be
Genocide, the Republic of Turkey as well as everyday Turks deny that
the event took place. Moreover, they blame the Armenian Diaspora
rather than the modern-day Republic of Armenia for attempts to have
the Genocide recognized in the United States. As the Turkish government
responded to the passing of the resolution by threatening to withdraw
logistical support for American troops in Iraq, Erkan’s Field Diary
was one of the first Turkish blogs to react to the news.

27 members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee who are the
representatives of American citizens are meddling into a past they
have no f***** idea, acting as peons of a genocide industry… Well
done dudes, this shows very well that a Democrats-controlled Congress
is even worse for Turkey. I hope you can do any good for your own
people after making Middle East even messier with your anti-Turkish
attitude…

Yet, given that the resolution first and foremost concerned Armenia
and Turkey, two countries which share an albeit closed border and
which have not established diplomatic ties primarily because of the
international campaign for Genocide recognition, the bulk of posts
on this subject primarily came from American and English bloggers. To
begin with, this was because prior to the vote by the House Committee,
U.S. President George W. Bush attempted to intervene to prevent
its passage.

The blogosphere was set alight by critical posts from American
citizens protesting that fact. 1 Boring Old Man was particularly angry,
pointing out that Bush is hardly the most appropriate person to offer
his opinion on "crimes against humanity."

I doubt that Mr. Bush knows where Armenia is unless someone briefed
him recently, or knows anything about the Turks and the Ottoman
Empire, or knows who Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was or of his place in
Turkish history, or has read anything [even Wikipedia] about the
Armenian/Turkish struggles, or cares much about any of these things.

All he knows is that it is not polically expedient for our country to
acknowledge the Armenian mass killing as a genocide because it will
infuriate the Turks who are NATO Allies. His deepest understanding
is to do the politically expedient thing.

[…]

He’s no person to be entering the debate about the Armenian Genocide.

First, he doesn’t know anything about it. Second, the issue is way
too close to home for him to be objective. He cites his "War on
Terror." What he doesn’t mention is his own Terrorism…

Winter Patriot agreed.

[…] As far as I can tell, it boils down to a question of language.

We’re not supposed to call a historical crime against humanity by
its rightful name because that would put a crimp in the current
crime against humanity, which we are also not supposed to call by
its rightful name.

Two days later, the conversation changed as the White House continued
to apply pressure to prevent the resolution from being put to the
U.S. Congress for a full vote in November. With Turkey continuing to
make threats to prevent U.S. troops in Iraq from being supplied via
its territory, and with the Turkish Ambassador being "temporarily
withdrawn, "opponents of the resolution started to accuse U.S.

Congressional Speaker Nancy Pelosi of supporting House Resolution
106 in an attempt to scupper the war effort. Blogs such as The Hill’s
Pundits Blog took the same line in cyberspace.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has picked the worst time to play politics when
it comes to Iraq, Turkey and Armenia.

[…]

We are now in a real war with terrorists. We have more than 100,000
troops in Iraq. We have the Turks threatening to invade Kurdistan,
just as Joe Biden talks about creating Kurdistan out of the ashes
of Iraq. We have a more Islamic-leaning Turkish government. We are a
fighting a global war on terror, where we need the help of the Turks
more than ever.

And Nancy Pelosi has decided to bring the same resolution to the floor,
threatening our national security by playing politics.

[…]

This is a bad time to play politics, Madame Speaker, especially on
this issue, follow the lead of your predecessor. Choose American
national security over domestic politics.

The Simi Valley Sophist went further and effectively accused Pelosi
of treason.

Despite the Turkish threat, Pelosi is pushing forward with the
resolution. What is Pelosi’s political imperative? It surely is not
Armenian votes. And, it surely is not a fear of additional American
service personnel deaths.

[…]

Now, you go ahead and tell me that Pelosi cares about the welfare of
our troops. And, you go ahead and tell me that Pelosi actually cares
about the memories of Armenians. I’ll submit to you that Pelosi has
simply found another mechanism to throw a monkey wrench into the Iraqi
war effort. I’m sorry, but I don’t find that patriotic. I hark back
to the Vietnam War era traitor, Jane Fonda.

This Ain’t Hell… concurred.

[…] Historians will remember that the Democrat "leadership"
(using the term loosely) are a traitorous bunch of double-dealing,
back-stabbing punk-ass sissies who can’t summon the fortitude to stand
up to a few squeakywheels on the internet. That’ll be their legacy.

Faced with such an outcry domestically, perhaps it was no wonder that
many of the same Congressional Representatives that supported the
resolution started to back away from HR 106. Interestingly, though,
few of those bloggers which opposed the resolution actually denied
that the Armenian Genocide took place. Instead, once again, national
security and foreign policy objectives took precedence over what most
Armenians consider to be the quest for "historical justice." Cribs
and Ranting was one of them.

It was a grand and appropriate gesture, befitting statesmen, by the US
House of Representatives to officially dub the massacre of Armenians
by the Ottoman Turks as "genocide". The US need not have made the
first move on this, but it did it in line with its assumed role as
a global leader, as a beacon of freedom to the rest of the world.

Unfortunately, reality hit the House representatives, real hard. It
is not the truth that prevails, even if it is a genocide. Usually it
are the hard, cynical ground realities that win.

[…]

Worried about antagonizing Turkish leaders, House members from both
parties have begun to withdraw their support from a resolution backed
by the Democratic leadership that would condemn as genocide the mass
killings of Armenians nearly a century ago, reports The New York Times.

[…]

Turkey has promised to turn over documents and support a conference to
determine whether there was a genocide of Armenians. That conference
would take years to convene, and maybe years to arrive at any
conclusion. But it may now provide the House of Representatives a
fig-leaf of an excuse to get out of the embarrassment their idealism
got them into.

Deja vu – the same happened in 2000 when another resolution recognizing
the Armenian Genocide was about to be put to a full Congressional
vote. It wasn’t long before Armenian bloggers such as ArtMika at
Unzipped started to write more on developments which to be honest,
shouldn’t really have come as much surprise to anyone.

It seems that Bush + Turkey & co ‘succeded’ again. A number of
House members panicky withdrew their support as co-sponsors of the
resolution. To get majority seems unlikely now, and House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi may be forced to shelve or postpone it. I felt kind of disgust
when read the news (below, via iararat). They used us or got used
and then threw away… as usual. Pure ‘moral dimension’ in politics.

[…]

ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos reports: "According to Congressional
and Bush administration sources, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is
now unlikely to bring a resolution which would label the deaths of
Armenians in a conflict more than 90 years ago as "genocide".

Yet, while history looked set to repeat itself with another resolution
about to be blocked because of concerns about the war in Iraq and
U.S.-Turkish relations, some interesting precedents did occur in the
blogosphere. Firstly, and as was the case with the murder earlier
this year of ethnic Armenian journalist and editor Hrant Dink in
Istanbul, the Armenian blogosphere was defined more by numerous posts
from non-Armenians.

Truly, the conversation was global and the media also sought to solicit
opinions from bloggers and internet users. One of those was Inside
Higher Ed which ran an interesting article on the role of academia
in the debate over the Armenian Genocide. The online article allowed
commenting in the same way as a standard blog post.

More significantly, perhaps, and although Armenian and Turkish
bloggers avoided discussing HR 106 together online, some Turks
attempted to reach out to ethnic Armenians via their blogs. One of
those was Turkish writer, Mustafa Akyol, at The White Path.

A few days ago a new friend of mine who happens to be an American
Armenian played some beautiful songs for me that come from the
deepest roots of her ethnic tradition. While I enjoyed the numinous
rhythms of that magnetic Armenian music, I realized how similar they
were to the tunes of the Turkish classical music that I have grown
up hearing. "Despite all the political warfare," I said to myself,
"alas, look how similar we are." I actually have a similar feeling
when I drive along the magnificent mosques and palaces of Istanbul,
some of which were built by Armenian architects – men in fez who
devoutly worshiped Christ and proudly served the Sultan.

Well, we were the children of the same empire, weren’t we? We actually
lived side by side as good neighbors for centuries until the modern
virus called "nationalism" descended upon us. And then hell broke
loose.

[…]

Convey your message calmly, in other words, and it will be heard. But
don’t try to impose it onto us. We are not a nation of monsters,
but we do have a stubborn side. When foreigners start to dictate our
history to us, we tend to revert back to our grandmothers’ stories.

And if we will start listening to your narrative, that will not be
because we are pushed into a corner by the politics of a powerful
lobby, but because our hearts are touched by the memoirs of a terrible
tragedy.

Apart from Raffi Kojian at Cilicia.com and myself, few Armenian
bloggers chose to participate in what can be considered an
invitation to discuss and debate. In general, the Armenian and Turkish
blogospheres remained polarized and isolated from each other although
both Talk Turkey and Blogian were notable exceptions. Hopefully,
as the resolution continues to be discussed in American political
circles, there will be more examples of Armenian and Turkish bloggers
communicating with each other on the matter.

Certainly, and even though the fate of House Resolution 106 remains
uncertain, Global Voices will continue to keep readers up to date
on the latest developments. Until then, the latest posts from the
blogosphere represent the two main views in circulation – that the
Armenian Genocide happened and it should be recognized, or that it
happened, but the resolution in the United States is not the way to
right what most consider to be a historical wrong.

While I understand the need to maintain good relations with an Islamic
democracy, NATO member, and strategic ally, we cannot play along with
Turkey’s policy of whitewashing history and suppressing dissent. The
United States cannot be a moral leader in the world if we only stand
up for human rights issues when economic and strategic interests
aren’t at stake.As the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Adam Schiff (CA-29) asks:

"How can we take effective action against the genocide in Darfur if
we lack the will to condemn genocide whenever and wherever it occurs?"

Georgetown University College Democrats

Is there an example of more extreme, hypocritical arrogance than
the U.S. Congress, and other politicians, as well as newspapers
columnists and human activists attempting to have a resolution passed
acknowledging the Armenian genocide by Turkey?

[…]

The fact that the U.S. Congress wants to pass a resolution regarding
the genocide that Turkey has committed, but has not said anything
about the genocides the United States is responsible for, shows that
passing these type of resolution is completely meaningless.

Getting Truth

Two days ago, I lauded George Bush for having the courage to meet
publicly with the Dalai Lama. Today I am embarassed to note that the
American Congress has succumbed to the pressure exerted upon it by
the Bush White House by refusing to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

[…]

[…]

We are not talking here about a compromise on a tax treaty, a
trade-off on a bill to support pork producers if someone supports
your wheat farmers. We are talking about the killing of 1.5 million
people. Recognizing genocide for what it is will not bring the dead
back. But it will do justice to their memory and let others know that
there will be no negotiating or compromising on the issue. Shame on
Bush and shame on the US Congress.

University of Alabama Faculty of Law

There seems little historical doubt that the Armenian massacre
was indeed genocide. The eye-witness accounts of the time are
overwhelming, and Ottoman government documents talking openly about
eliminating the Armenians as a people group are plentiful from the
period 1915-1917. But with the U.S. dependent on the friendship of
Turkey to support a difficult war in Iraq, it seems at the very least
an ill-timed notion to rub Turkey’s face in the judgment of history.

True, all Armenians and American-Armenians will feel affirmed
by official American national recognition of the injustice they
suffered. But isn’t it more important that the Turks themselves should
finally come to acknowledge the truth of what happened to the Armenians
92 years ago? That may yet take decades to come to pass.

Assuredly, it won’t be hastened by this week’s Congressional
resolution. And what if resupplying American troops in Iraq is
seriously compromised by a Turkish curtailment of U.S. base usage
in Turkey? To rephrase Congressman Lantos’ well-stated dilemma: "Is
the gratification of wounded Armenian sensibility worth the possibly
serious risk that could ensure to American forces in wartime?" […]

Implications

The Armenian Observer also carries a summary of what Armenian bloggers
in the Republic as well as the Diaspora wrote on the resolution,
and there is full coverage on the Oneworld Multimedia blog. For now,
the story looks set to continue.

FAMILY GETS SET FOR THE ‘ARMENIAN POPE’
By Susan Hogan, [email protected]

Chicago Sun-Times, IL
161,CST-NWS-pope22.article
Oct 22 2007

Church leader to bless Evanston home during U.S. tour

A few weeks ago, Mary and John Ipjian received once-in-a-lifetime
news. Not only was the pontiff of the Armenian Church coming to
America, but he was coming to bless their Evanston home.

Karekin II, the Catholicos of All Armenians — chief shepherd to the
world’s 7 million Armenian Christians — will arrive in Chicago late
Tuesday and will leave Thursday, as part of a monthlong U.S. tour.

The Ipjians, longtime patrons of the Armenian Church, have been told
to allow space outside their house for five limousines carrying church
dignitaries. Altogether, they expect 50 people to attend the blessing,
including their five children, 12 grandchildren and other family.

"I don’t know exactly how to prepare for a pontiff," Mary Ipjian,
81, said Sunday. "I’ve been baking and cleaning like crazy. We’re so
excited. It’s such an honor that he’s coming."

Only a few days ago, it looked like the home visit would never
happen. John Ipjian, an 83-year-old decorated U.S. veteran, suffered
a stroke and was rushed to the hospital.

Family members who thought they were flying in for one of the happiest
occasions of their lives feared the worst. They kept vigil by John
Ipjian’s side for a week, and then, Friday, he returned home.

"I’m grateful that I’m alive," he said Sunday with a big smile. A
walker at his side was the only visible sign of his ordeal.

Karekin II, who was elected in 1999, has never been to Chicago. He
lives in Armenia, which embraced Christianity in 301 and identifies
itself as the oldest Christian nation.

His visit comes as Congress debates a politically sensitive matter:
Whether Turks committed genocide in the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians
in 1915.

President Bush opposes such a declaration, saying it could hurt
U.S.-Turkish relations.

John Ipjian’s aunt, a survivor of the killings, will be at Wednesday’s
home blessing. The blessing is a popular church custom of praying
for those who live within a dwelling; it isn’t a dedication to the
building itself.

Karekin II’s Chicago stopover includes a meeting with Cardinal Francis
George, gatherings with church members and a public prayer service
with ecumenical leaders.

Mary Ipjian said that when her husband became ill, some people
suggested canceling the home visit. But the family remained steadfast.

"My husband is home and healthy again," she said. "We’re being blessed
many times over."

BULGARIA’S VIEW, OR LACK OF ONE…

Sofia Echo
Oct 22 2007
Bulgaria

The Armenian genocide issue has also had repercussions in Bulgaria,
though only on political level. Its highlights locally took place on
April 24 last and this year, the international day to commemorate
the mass killings and expulsion of Armenians from the then-Ottoman
Empire. Heated parliamentary debate put the Movement for Rights and
Freedoms (MRF), the party led and supported mainly by Bulgarians of
ethnic Turkish descent, at odds with ultra-nationalists Ataka and
members of other opposition parties.

On both occasions, MRF MPs refused to respect the one-minute silence
in honour of the massacre victims and walked out of the parliamentary
chamber. When the MRF MPs returned, the right-wing MPs in turn
ostentatiously walked out.

Opposition MPs, with Ataka at the forefront, accused the MRF of being
the conduit of Turkey’s national policy in Bulgaria. The MRF retorted
that Bulgarian Parliament cannot help but commemorate victims of wars
of all times, like those of, say, Somalia and Cambodia.

Both Novoto Vreme and Ataka have successfully tabled draft resolutions
to recognise the Armenian massacres as genocide. The resolutions,
though, have as yet not been put to the House for a vote.

EDITORIAL: ANGER IN ANKARA, THE ISRAELI LOBBY TO THE RESCUE
By George Gregoriou

Greek News
me=News&file=article&sid=7534&mode=thr ead&order=0&thold=0
Oct 22 2007
Greece

The wolves are showing their teeth. Why the anger? It is only a
non-binding vote in the Foreign Relations Committee. It is not a
recognition that genocide was committed against the Armenians in
1915. The New YorkTimes, for the first time, referred to the Armenian
genocide of 1915 to 1918! That was a few days ago. Today, 10/13/07,
there was more on the 1915 genocide. How about the genocide from the
1870s to 1920s? But, there is no need to worry. There is no chance of
its being voted in the U.S. Congress. The most powerful lobby in the
United States, the Israel lobby, will not allow it. This lobby is so
powerful, anyone running for office, for the presidency or Congress,
must have the seal of approval from the Jewish lobby or that person
is politically finished. Remember how Hilary embraced Mrs. Arafat
and the two-state solution and then had to re-embrace the agenda of
the Israeli government? These zigzags are the real policies, just
opportunism. The principles are for the voters.

Turkey is not at the very top in lobbying activities in the United
States, but Ankara is not that far behind in importance to U.S.

imperial interests in the Middle East. It has Richard A. Gephardt
and the law-makers Robert Livingston, Robert Byrd (son-in-law is
Turkish(?)), the right-wing Republican establishment and Democrats
allied to the Israel lobby, the White House, the State Department,
the Defense Department, the CIA, the presidential veto, and the Israel
lobby, on the Turkish side. This is a formidable array of opponents
in a world where most people know that genocide was committed. Their
consciences are not troubled by this denial.

Every year, the Armenians and their supporters in Congress bring up
the issue of recognizing the Armenian genocide in 1915. Every year,
this recognition is defeated or postponed because of the intervention
of the powers that be in Washington. Turkey in the words of Sibel
Edmonds (The High-Jacking of a Nation) … "is one of the closest
allies of the United States, a most important member of NATO, a
candidate for EU membership, and the only Middle-Eastern close ally
and partner of Israel." Turkeyʼs highly prized status in the
United States due to its location as the artery connecting Europe
to Asia, its cross borders with Iran, Iraq and Syria to its East
and South, with the Balkan states to the west, and with the Central
Asian nations to its north and northeast. Even Shimon Perez opposed
this recognition in the past because he did not wish to dilute the
Jewish holocaust by recognizing the Armenian holocaust. Tony Blair
suggested that "Armenia and Turkey should resolve between themselves
the issues [genocide] which divide them." The words of Neil Frater
(Blairʼs Home office) were:

"the atrocities were ("an appalling tragedy" and the government
[Blairʼs] extended its sympathies to the descendants of the
victims."(Robert Fisk, The Great War for Civilization).

Presidential candidate George W. Bush stated on February 19, 2000 that
"the Armenians were subjected to a genocidal campaign…an awful
crime in a century of bloody crimes against humanity. If elected
President, I would ensure that our nation properly recognizes the
tragic suffering of the Armenian people … [As president] the word
genocide was an appalling tragedy, horrific killings, but referred
only to this loss of life [not genocide]." (Robert Fisk, The Great War
for Civilization). On October 11, 2007, The New York Times repeated
Bushʼs words: "We all deeply regret the tragic suffering of
the Armenian people that began in 1915 … This resolution is not
the right response to these historic mass killings, and its passage
would do great harm to our relations with a key ally in NATO and in
the global war on terror." Turkey was welcomed as a key ally in the
1920s, with the smell of oil in the Middle East. Then as an ally in
the war against Bolshevism, in the Washington policy to hook the 200
million Turkic people in the Muslim world into the US/Turkish orbit,
in the current policy to encircle Russia through economic and military
links with the former SU states, and the current pressures to force
Turkey into the EU in order to control the future of Europe.

The response to any criticism of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian
territories or the Turkish occupation of Cyprus and recognition of the
Armenian genocide is the same. You are accused of being anti-Semitic
or anti-Turkish. I have been accused and found guilty on both counts,
for criticizing the Israeli occupation of the Palestinians, making
references to the genocide of Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians (and
Kurds), and for being against the Turkish occupation and ethnic
cleansing in Cyprus, in place since 1974. For these crimes I plead
guilty.

If you do not toe the Israeli line, to repeat, you are politically
damaged, if not dead, in the United States. The money dries up,
and the attacks are relentless. The book, The Israel Lobby and U.S.

Foreign Policy by John J. Mearsheimer & Stephen M. Walt is a must
read, to put this in perspective. Ankara has a different twist to
this. The most powerful media is not in the hands of Turks, but Ankara
is supported by the Washington establishment. Nor are there enough
pro-Turkish voters to swing elections, as Jewish-Americans do.

The threats from Ankara and its enablers in the United States come in
warnings: canceling the arms deals; withdrawing support for American
air forces patrolling northern Iraq; the House passage alone is a
harsh American indictment; threats to cut off support for the American
war effort in Iraq; General Petraeus warned that its passage could
harm the war effort in Iraq; access to airfields and to the roads
and so on in turkey would be very much put at risk; and memories of
Turks are not that easy to erase once it hits sensitive spots. So,
if the lies are good for Ankara, they are good for Washington. They
must be good for the world.

These troubles are just the beginning. This axis of denial (Ankara,
Washington, Jerusalem, and London) cannot carry on forever. The
chickens are coming home to roost. This axis is already unraveling,
in Iraq, the Middle East, and the Islamic world. It will continue to
unravel because the policies will remain the same, and anti-Americanism
throughout the world.

It will reach a boiling point as Turkey is being forced into the
European Union. Recognition of the Armenian genocide is a prerequisite
to EU membership. So is the recognition of the genocide of the Greeks,
Assyrians, and other Christian groups in the Ottoman Empire and
Turkey. The persecution of the 15 million Muslim Kurds is included
in this list.

The political winds in the European Union are against Turkish
membership. The lack of democracy in Turkey (neither Ataturk statism
nor soft Islamism can be democratic) and recognition of the genocide
are key issues. So is the end of the Turkish occupation in Cyprus and a
resolution of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot conflict along democratic
lines, in a unified Cyprus. This rewarding of Turkish arrogance and
denial of the genocide, in the service of US imperial interests,
cannot be sustained at the expense of a long list of victims who
happened to be in the strategic pathways of controlling the oil
resources of the world and the global economy.

**George Gregoriou Professor, Critical Theory and Geopolitics

***Special Note: Professor Gregoriou is part of a team of writers
researching and writing a manuscript on the genocide in the Ottoman
Empire and Turkey. The contribution already submitted is on "The
Genocide of the Greeks in Anatolia and the Politics of Turkish
Denial." This manuscript is being prepared for publication in Europe
in the near future.

MOUNTAINEER EMBARKS ON NEW SOLO EXPEDITION
By Mario Aguirre, Medianews Staff

Contra Costa Times, CA
Oct 21 2007

After joining an exclusive group that has climbed the Seven Summits,
47-year-old plans Greenland trek

BURBANK — He’s skied the North and South poles, conquered the Seven
Summits and planted the flags of the United States and Armenia atop
Mount Everest.

Now, 47-year-old adventurer Karo Ovasapyan has set his sights on
Greenland, where he hopes to make a 285-mile skiing trek across the
icy landscape of the world’s biggest island.

"It’s another challenge. You’re challenging yourself," said Ovasapyan,
who lives in Burbank. "It gives your life more meaning."

While Ovasapyan’s upcoming journey will be grueling — he’ll take
only the supplies he can carry in his backpack — it be will far less
strenuous than the 61-day expedition that culminated in May 2005,
when he reached the top of the world.

"I can’t describe how it felt like standing on top of Mount Everest,"
said Ovasapyan, the first Armenian to conquer the so-called Seven
Summits — the 29,035-foot behemoth in the Himalayas, as well as the
tallest mountains on the six other continents.

"People ask me what I was thinking when I got up there, and I tell
them that I lost my dream because I was dreaming of it for 25 years
and I was finally here."

Ovasapyan grew up in Charentsavan, Armenia, one of six children in
a family passionate about the outdoors. While his father organized
regular weekend camping trips to the nearby mountains, Ovasapyan
wanted to emulate his Uncle Samuel, a mountaineer whose photographs
were prominent in the family scrapbooks.

"I always dreamed of being the person in those pictures wearing the
backpack and having the mountain in the background," he said.

"I think every kid tries to copy someone. For some people, they want
to be actors. For others, they want to be singers. For me, it was my
uncle. I wanted to be like him."

Ovasapyan buried himself in books dedicated to Arctic explorers. He
wrestled competitively, building a muscular physique well-suited
to mountaineering.

He spent many a winter night sleeping on the balcony of his family’s
home, trying to get his body used to sleeping in below-freezing
temperatures.

And always, he said, "there was always a Karo inside of me who wanted
to see the sun rise from Mount Everest’s summit."

Temporary detour

Ovasapyan had to make a living. He served in the Siberian National
Army, then he returned to Armenia as a wrestling coach.

After a year, he moved to Russia, joining another uncle, Movel
Ovasapyan, in a cabinetmaking business.

In 1989, they moved to Glendale — a city with the nation’s largest
Armenian population in the United States — and with two of Karo’s
brothers, they started a cabinetmaking and wood-carving business in
neighboring Burbank.

And he began climbing mountains, tackling smaller peaks at first,
then embarking on bigger challenges as they presented themselves.

In January 2001, he found himself skiing in Antarctica with mountaineer
Jon Krakauer, who wrote the best-selling "Into Thin Air" after four
members of the author’s climbing team died on Everest in 1996.

In the South Pole, Krakauer was filming "Mountain of Ice," a
documentary about Mount Vinson for PBS’ "Nova" series. He included
a scene of Ovasapyan, clad in only his underwear, bathing in the snow.

"When you love this sport the way I do, you don’t care about comfort,"
Ovasapyan said. "Of course it’s cold, but you don’t care.

"You know what’s waiting for you up in the summit."

Ovasapyan signed on with teams of elite mountaineers and began lining
up corporate sponsors to defray the astronomical costs of scaling
the world’s highest peaks.

He embarked on a training regime, heading to Mount Whitney in Northern
California, the tallest mountain in the continental United States
at 14,494 feet. Realizing the summit of Mount Everest was more than
twice that elevation, Ovasapyan enhanced his workouts by dragging a
heavy tire from a rope tied to his belt.

He also steeled himself for the mental and emotional challenges of
the expeditions. The death of a training partner, killed in a fatal
plunge after being struck by a falling rock, was a reminder of the
danger that accompanies every step.

"That was just really warning me to be extremely careful," Ovasapyan
said.

"That can happen to anyone at any moment. But you know that going in
because that’s the life you’ve chosen. You know how dangerous it is
and you’re always risking your life out there when you do that."

Ovasapyan began his quest for the Seven Summits in the fall of 2002,
scaling Aconcagua in the Andes Mountains of South America. He made
two major climbs in 2004 — Denali (aka Mount McKinley) in Alaska
and Mount Elbrus in Russia.

While many Seven Summits climbers delay Everest until the end,
Ovasapyan didn’t want to take the chance that anything would interfere
with his lifelong dream.

"Many things can happen from one mountain to the next. You could
have injuries and not continue," he said. "Who knows what could have
happened, if I would have lived, before ever reaching Mount Everest?"

A member of a Russian climbing team organized by the Seven Summits
Club, Ovasapyan flew to Tibet in spring 2005. The 15 climbers and 10
Sherpas began a two-month excursion up the north ridge of Everest,
camping at ever-higher altitudes to help their bodies adjust to the
thinning oxygen.

About a week before his own summit attempt, Ovasapyan was monitoring
the radio at base camp, about 17,700 feet, listening as two Slovenian
climbers reached the top despite high winds and whiteout conditions.

The weather deteriorated as the pair descended, and one of them
apparently experienced problems with his oxygen tank. Marko Lihteneker
became a fatality of Everest, one of the roughly 5 percent of climbers
who die on the mountain.

Personal conquest

About 6:15 a.m. May 30, 2005 — one day after the 52nd anniversary
of Edmund Hillary’s conquest of Everest — Ovasapyan and his team
made their own bid for the summit.

There were six Sherpa porters in the group, along with Ovasapyan and
a half-dozen other climbers. They included Nikolay Cherny, who at
age 65 was making his fourth attempt to reach the top of Everest.

Breathing supplemental oxygen, they left Camp 4 — at an altitude
of about 27,400 feet — and began their ascent of the three "steps"
or rock climbs that would take them to the top.

Ovasapyan pushed himself hard, reaching the pyramid summit ahead of
the others in his group.

There, 51/2 vertical miles above sea level, Ovasapyan planted the
flags of his native and adopted countries, as well as a pennant
honoring American POWs.

"I’m an American citizen and I respect that," he said. "The POW flag
is respect to the soldiers fighting for this country and for those
lost giving their lives to this country.

"And I’m an Armenian, so I represent Armenia, too."

After returning the flags to his backpack — he carries them on all of
his expeditions — Oasapyan began the descent, a trek made even more
treacherous by exhaustion, dehydration and shrinking oxygen supplies.

While the rest of his team collapsed in tents pitched on the rocky
ledges of Camp 3 — at 25,600 feet, still within the "Death Zone"
of Everest — Ovasapyan and his porter pushed on to a safer camp at
21,300 feet.

Even two years later, other members of Ovasapyan’s team remember his
camaraderie and selflessness during the ordeal.

"In all my years working as a guide, I’ve never met a person so
helpful to others," said Mingma Gelu Sherpa of Tibet, who worked as
a guide on the May 2005 expedition.

"Karo has shown how strong he is by completing the Seven Summits and
helping others along the way reach similar goals."

Just six months after his victory over Everest, Ovasapyan ascended
Kilimanjaro in Africa.

In 2006, he climbed Kosciuszko in Australia and Vinson in Antarctica
— the last after an aborted attempt to run a marathon at the South
Pole — making Ovasapyan only the 197th climber to achieve the Seven
Summits. One more climber has achieved that goal since then.

Last year also saw him conquering Mount Rainier in Washington State
and Mount Ararat in Turkey.

Although it towers 16,854 feet, Ararat is not considered a technically
challenging climb, Ovasapyan said. However, it is revered by Armenians
as their spiritual home, and some religions believe it is the site
where Noah’s Ark came to rest.

"For climbers, it’s a symbolic mountain," Ovasapyan said. "But for
Armenians, it’s holy."

Returning home

After returning home to Southern California, Ovasapyan was recognized
for his accomplishments by the Burbank City Council, which awarded
him a plaque, and by leaders of the local Armenian community.

"First and foremost, Karo’s achievement is symbolic of our community as
we strive to reach new heights. He embodies the philosophy we embrace
that a single person can achieve great things and make a difference,"
said Zanku Armenian, board member of the Armenian National Committee
of America.

"We’re proud of his accomplishments because he serves as a role model
for where our community is headed and the contributions we want to
make to society."

Ovasapyan is fairly modest about his victories over nature. He’ll talk
openly when asked about his adventures, but they’re not something he
brings up with the customers of his family’s woodworking business.

"It’s not that I didn’t want a lot of people to know about this,
but I just don’t tell too many people about it," he said. "I didn’t
do it to prove to other people that I could do this. I did it for
myself because I knew I could do it."

Staff Writer Naush Boghossian contributed to this report. Reach Mario
Aguirre of the Los Angeles Daily News at mario.aguirre@ dailynews.com.

VLADIMIR KAZIMIROV: THE IMPORTANCE OF H. RES. 106 SHOULD NOT BE OVERESTIMATED

armradio.am
22.10.2007 14:28

The former Co-Chair of OSCE Minsk Group on settlement of the Karabakh
conflict Vladimir Kazimirov advises not to overestimate the approval
of House Resolution 106 on Armenian Genocide by House Foreign Relations
Committee.

"One should not overestimate this mostly procedural decision by the
House Foreign Affairs Committee before the voting at the House of
Representatives if it ever takes place. Even if passed by the House,
it will become just a recommendation to the US President," Vladimir
Kazimirov said in an interview with ArmInfo correspondent.

The Ambassador said it’s obvious that US Administration is not
concerned about the fair assessment of the events of 1915-23
but cynically cares for its interests in the region. He said the
nervousness in Turkey is more than understandable, while that in
Azerbaijan is less natural and is simply dictated by hatred toward
Armenians.

"It is unlikely to change anything in Karabakh conflict’s settlement
since it has already faced a deadlock. Although national radicals
in both countries may even more aggravate the tension," Vladimir
Kazimirov said.

Dallas Morning News, TX
Oct 20 2007

Head of Armenian Church visits Carrollton sanctuary

Carrollton: Armenian Church’s leader visits congregation during U.S.
tour

08:24 AM CDT on Saturday, October 20, 2007
By JEFFREY WEISS / The Dallas Morning News

The Catholicos of All Armenians finished his animated talk to the
youth of the small Carrollton church. Any questions? he asked in
Armenian.

An 11-year-old girl boldly raised her hand. Can a woman ever hold
your job as the spiritual leader of the worldwide Armenian Church?

Karekin II smiled and told her no. "Blame it on the boys," he said to
laughter. Women, he said, can aspire to a higher honor: to be mothers
like Mary, the mother of Jesus.

That’s not a question he gets back in Armenia, he said later through
a translator. "The question of women serving as clergy is not at the
top of anyone’s mind-set."

But that kind of question – American culture colliding with his
ancient Christian tradition – is why Karekin II is on a five-week
tour of the United States.

The catholicos is to many Armenians a religious figure similar to
what the pope is to Catholics. He also is like the Dalai Lama is to
Tibetans: both a widely revered religious figure and a cultural
symbol. He is here to reinforce Armenian traditions in a land where
Old World customs can vanish in a generation.

His visit includes cities with tens of thousands of
Armenian-Americans, such as New York, Detroit and Chicago. But he
spent Thursday and Friday in North Texas, where the modest St. Sarkis
Armenian Church, set in a working-class Carrollton neighborhood, is
the lone congregation in his tradition.

The church gets about 100 worshippers on an average Sunday. The
members discovered to their shock several months ago that they would
host their pontiff.

"Initially, for one brief second, we might have said, ‘How are we
going to pull this off?’ " Raffi Gostanian said.

Meticulous preparation

But that second quickly passed. A committee was formed, an itinerary
developed. Their pontiff would meet the church’s children Thursday
night, have lunch with local religious leaders Friday, visit the
Dallas Holocaust Center in the afternoon and lead a prayer service
Friday night.

They attended to every detail – even drove the route between his
hotel and the church during rush hour to make sure he could arrive on
time.

The Thursday night event was where Rita Katanjian got to ask her
question. She came up with the query in the car on the way, she said
later, wondering if she could aspire to become catholicos. She didn’t
seem crushed by his answer.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience," she said, vowing to come
to church more often and read her Bible more.

Religious adherence was only half of Karekin II’s message.

"Our mission is to lead our people to God," he said later. "But the
path which we travel, we shall travel according to our national way,
our culture and traditions, and our national values."

His visit to St. Sarkis is a message to his larger church that all
Armenians are important, he said, in the same way that Jesus taught
that one lost sheep was as important as the other 99 in the flock.

Armenian tradition holds that the Armenian people descended directly
from the family of Noah, after the Ark landed on Mount Ararat. The
mountain is in what is now Turkey, a fact that Armenians include on a
long list of sad realities for them.

Another item on that list was splashed across headlines worldwide as
Karekin II arrived, when a U.S. House committee voted to condemn the
deaths of 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 as genocide by Turkey.
Karekin II was in the gallery for the committee vote – an event that
was not planned for his visit.

But it wasn’t a coincidence, he said in Dallas. "We see it as nothing
but divine providence."

Turkish officials say the deaths were part of a larger war, not
genocide, and they are fighting passage of the resolution by the full
House. Some Americans say the vote would not be worth the damage to
relations between the U.S. and Turkey. Karekin II disagreed.

"Morality should never be sacrificed for political interests," he
said.

At St. Sarkis, a photo of an eternal flame in memory of the 1915 dead
hangs on the wall of the social hall.

About St. Sarkis

The Carrollton church was founded in 1991. The congregation claims
members from as far away as Waco and beyond the Oklahoma state line,
hungry for a spiritual link to their ancestral homeland.

The church has Armenian language classes, and most of the 60 or so
children who met Thursday with Karekin II said they understood at
least the gist of his talk. And they had already learned much of his
history lesson.

The Armenian Church traces its origins to the decades after the death
of Jesus, when, tradition says, the first Christians came to the
area. The king of Armenia declared Christianity the national religion
in 301, making it the first country to officially become Christian.

At St. Sarkis, most members are first- or second-generation. Many
adults are fluent in Armenian, though the spouses are from different
ethnic groups.

The leaders of the church realize that it is a struggle to pass their
love of Armenia to children whose lives are filled with the Internet,
shopping malls and the latest pop craze.

Sylvia Simonian chairs the church committee that coordinated the
pontiff’s visit. "I wonder 10 years down the road," she said, "if my
kids will be doing what we’re doing?"

THE ARMENIAN CHURCH
Based: Vagharshapat, Armenia

Membership: About 9 million worldwide, more than 800,000 in the U.S.

History: Tradition holds that the first Christians arrived in Armenia
a decade after the death of Jesus. In A.D. 301, the Armenian king
proclaimed Christianity the official religion of Armenia, making it
the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion. The
Armenian Church split from what became the Catholic Church in 451
over disagreements about the nature of Christ and questions about
political authority.

Leadership: His Holiness Karekin II has the title of "Supreme
Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians." He was elected by the
church’s National Ecclesiastical Assembly in 1999. He is in the
middle of an 18-city, 30-day visit to the U.S.

eligion/stories/102007dnmetarmenia.3205dc5.html