BAKU (RFE/RL) — Ramil Safarov, theAzerbaijani army officer who had hacked todeath an Armenian colleague in Hungary,will return to active duty military servicesoon, a senior Azerbaijani military official

said over the weekend.“Right now Ramil Safarov is on vacation

and having a rest. He will return to serviceafter the vacation,” Maj.-Gen. RamizNajafov, head of the external relationsdepartment at the Azerbaijani Ministry ofDefense, told the SalamNews agency.Najafov did not specify whether Safarovwill serve and in what capacity.

Citing “threats” from Armenia, the gener-al also said that Azerbaijani authorities aretaking “necessary measures” to protect himagainst possible assassination attempts.“Relevant structures are taking security

measures with regard toSafarov,” he said.Safarov received a

hero’s welcome in Bakuon August 31 followinghis extradition fromHungary and immediatepardoning by PresidentIlham Aliyev more thaneight years after he axe-murdered Armenian Lt.Gurgen Markarian dur-ing a NATO trainingcourse in Budapest. Hewas promoted from therank of lieutenant tomajor, granted a free

apartment and paid eight years’ worth ofback pay the following day.Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev

personally met with the 35-year-old andwished him future success in his militarycareer. Safarov, who was sentenced to lifeimprisonment by a Hungarian court in 2006,has not been seen in public since then.

The release of the convicted killer has pro-voked a furious reaction from Armenia andstrong international criticism. The UnitedStates, the European Union and Russia con-sider it a serious blow to their long-runningefforts to broker a peaceful solution to theNagorno-Karabagh conflict.“We continue to express our dismay and

disappointment,” US Assistant Secretary ofState Philip Gordon said in Washington onThursday.“In our view, this is someone who should

have continued to serve out his sentence, andcertainly wewere appalled by the glorificationthat we heard in some quarters of somebodywho was convicted of murder,” Gordon said.

see SAFAROV, page 3

Azerbaijan SpreadsAnti-Armenian

Propaganda in TokyoTOKYO, Japan (PanARMENIAN.Net) — During theJapan Association of Travel Agents (JATA)International Tourism Forum, which took placefrom September 20 to 23, the Azerbaijani delega-tion attempted to distribute a large amount ofmaterials of anti-Armenian propaganda amongstthe participants and visitors, according to theNational Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia(NCFA).The NCFA delegation requested that exhibition

organizers address the provocative actions andwithdraw the offensive materials, which was imme-diately done.Just a few days ago, the Armenia and Artsakh

booth at the Top Resa 2012 International TravelMarket suffered damage, which was especially tar-geted at Artsakh posters.The Azerbaijani side had complained about the

participation of Artsakh at the exhibition. However,the booth was restored to its original condition andall information on NKR was put back.

Turkish, Azeri,Georgian Troops HoldPipe Protection Drills

In AnkaraANKARA (PanARMENIAN.Net) — The Infinity-2012 military exercises with Turkish, Azerbaijaniand Georgian troops participating, took place inTurkey last week.The drills, which lasted through September 28,

were organized by Land Forces Training andDoctrine Command (EDOK).The drills hosted annually by one of the partici-

pating countries through which the Baku-Ceyhanoil pipeline passes, are designed to secure the safe-ty of the pipes.In addition to the armed forces of the participat-

ing countries, representatives of the organizationsengaged in protection and management of pipesalso attended.

Armenian Soldier DiesIn Azeri Attack

YEREVAN (PanARMENIAN.Net) — On Tuesday,September 25, at 11:30 a.m., Armenian soldierVaghinak Baghdasaryan, 19, was shot dead at amilitay post north of the Armenian armed forces.According to preliminary data, the shot was fired

from Azeri positions.An investigation was initiated based on article

104 of Armenia’s Criminal Code (murder while onservice as a result of racial or religious hatred), theArmenian Defense Ministry reported.

INDEXArts and Living . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Armenia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Community News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Mirror- SpectatorMirror- SpectatorTHE ARMENIAN

Volume LXXXIII , NO. 11, Issue 4256

SEPTEMBER 29 , 2012

$ 2.00

DC PhotoMaven

Page 10

INSIDE

The First English Language Armenian Weekly in the United States Since 1932

NEWS IN BRIEFII nn OOuurr 88 00tt hh YYee aa rr

Australia Primate Aghan Baliozian Dies

SYDNEY, Australia — The Primate of theDiocese of the Armenian Church ofAustralia and New Zealand ArchbishopAghan Baliozian died on September 22. Hewas an eminent leader of the ArmenianChurch.Baliozian had been in poor health over

the past few years and had recently enteredSydney’s leading the Royal North ShoreHospital, for treatment. His loss is particu-larly acute, coming at a time when the dias-pora church is facing crucial challenges onso many fronts.Ever since the incapacitation of the

Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem,Archbishop Torkom Manoogian, Baliozianhas been touted as a possible contender to succeed him at the Jerusalem See, con-sidered the second most important spiritual center for Armenians all over the world,after the mother church at Echmiadzin.He was born in Aleppo, Syria, where Armenian Genocide survivors had found a

safe haven. Around the time he was born, World War II had just ended and the citywas still wallowing in the misery of deprivation and starvation, a calamity that is nowagain being visited on its inhabitants.

see BALIOZIAN, page 6

Armenia Celebrates21st on the 21stYEREVAN (Combined Sources) — The Republic of

Armenia celebrated its 21st anniversary onSeptember 21. Many world leaders sent congratulatory messages

to President Serge Sargisian, including US PresidentBarack Obama.Obama in his letter, said, “I extend my warmest

wishes to you and the people of Armenia as you cele-brate national day on September 21. As Armeniaenters its 22nd year of independence, the relationshipbetween our two countries and our peoples is strong

see ANNIVERSARY, page 16

Raising the tricolor on September 21 to mark Armenia’s independenceanniversary

Archbishop Aghan Baliozian

By Arthur Hagopian

ALMA AppointsDr. Susan PattieAs New DirectorWATERTOWN — The Armenian Library

and Museum of America (ALMA)announced this week the appointment ofDr. Susan Pattie as its new director, effec-tive September 24. Pattie comes to ALMA after a long resi-

dence in London, UK where she was co-founder and director of the ArmenianInstitute. She is alsoa senior research fel-low at UniversityCollege London andhas taught courses inanthropology thereand at other universi-ties, most recentlyAga Khan Universityand SyracuseUniversity LondonProgram. Born and raised in

Washington, DC, Pattie left for Michigan toattend Hope College where she receivedher bachelor’s degree. After working as anartist/craftsperson, Pattie began a PhD incultural anthropology at the University ofMichigan, Ann Arbor, doing her fieldworkwith the Armenian community of Cyprusand later research in Armenia, Syria andNorth America. She is the author of Faithin History: Armenians RebuildingCommunity (Smithsonian InstitutionPress), various academic articles and con-tributions to edited volumes, as well as tworecent books aimed at a wider audience.

see ALMA, page 16

Dr. Susan Pattie

US Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon

Azeri Axe-Killer to Return to Military

PPiiaannoo LLeeggeenndd EEvvggeennyyKKiissssiinn PPeerrffoorrmmss iinn

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aaggaaiinn aanndd ppaarrttaakkee iinn tthhee ffeessttiivvaall.. ““II pprreeffeerr ppaarrttiiccii--ppaattiinngg iinn tthhoossee ffeessttiivvaallss,, wwhhiicchh aarree ‘‘ssaaffee’’ aanndd wweellll--oorrggaanniizzeedd,,”” hhee ssaaiidd.. TThhee IInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall FFeessttiivvaall YYeerreevvaann PPrroossppeeccttss wwaass

oorrggaanniizzeedd uunnddeerr tthhee aauussppiicceess ooff PPrreessiiddeenntt SSeerrggeeSSaarrggiissiiaann..

AArrmmeenniiaann SSttoonnee PPiiccttuurreessTToo BBee iinn UUNNEESSCCOO WWoorrlldd

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iinn 22000055,, bbeettwweeeenn AArrmmeenniiaann aanndd SSaaxxoonnyy--AAnnhhaalltt hhaaddaa ppoossiittiivvee rreessuulltt..TThhee ccooooppeerraattiioonn bbeettwweeeenn tthhee ttwwoo ccoouunnttrriieess wwaass

hhiigghhlliigghhtteedd iinn eexxaammiinniinngg tthhee AArrmmeenniiaann--GGeerrmmaann jjooiinnttpprroojjeecctt llaauunncchheedd iinn JJeerrmmuukk aanndd SSiissiiaann,, lleedd bbyySSaaxxoonnyy--AAnnhhaalltt ssttaattee PPrrooff.. HHaarraalldd MMeelllleerr aanndd DDiirreeccttoorrooff AArrcchheeoollooggyy aanndd EEtthhnnooggrraapphhyy IInnssttiittuuttee,, AArrmmeenniiaannNNaattiioonnaall AAccaaddeemmyy ooff SScciieenncceess PPaavveell AAvveettiissyyaann,,wwhhiicchh iiss aaiimmeedd aatt rreeccoorrddiinngg aanndd aattttaacchhiinngg iimmppoorr--ttaannccee ttoo tthhaatt hheerriittaaggee.. AArrmmeenniiaann ssttoonnee ppiiccttuurreess aarreesscchheedduulleedd ttoo hhaavvee tthheeiirr IInntteerrnneett ddaattaabbaassee,, wwhhiicchh wwiillllccoonnttrriibbuuttee ttoo tthhee ddeevveellooppmmeenntt ooff ttoouurriissmm..AAnn aaeerriiaall pphhoottoo sseessssiioonn wwaass ccoonndduucctteedd iinn 22001122..

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nniigghhtt,, wwhhiillee tthhee ccoonnddiittiioonn ooff sseevveenn ooff tthhee mmeenniinncclluuddiinngg PPrriivvaatteess VVaahhee KKhhaacchheerryyaann,, AArrggiisshhttiiSShhaahhvveellyyaann,, GGeegghhaamm SSaahhaakkyyaann,, HHaayykk BBeerrttiizzllyyaann,,SSggtt.. NNaarreekk GGhheevvoonnddyyaann,, JJrr.. SSggtt.. NNaarreekkHHoovvhhaakkiimmyyaann aanndd SSrr.. LLtt.. AArrsseenn YYeerriittssyyaann iiss ssaaiidd ttoobbee ssaattiissffaaccttoorryy.. DDooccttoorrss ssaaiidd PPrriivvaattee HHaarruuttyyuunnKKiirraakkoossyyaann’’ss ccoonnddiittiioonn iiss ccrriittiiccaall..AAccccoorrddiinngg ttoo tthhee DDeeffeennssee MMiinniissttrryy pprreessss rreelleeaassee,,

mmiilliittaarryy ppoolliiccee hhaavvee llaauunncchheedd aann iinnqquuiirryy iinn ccoonn--nneeccttiioonn wwiitthh tthhee ccrraasshh..

News From Armenia

S A T U R D A Y, S E P T E M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 2 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R2

ARMENIA

YEREVAN — Unemployment is one ofthe key socioeconomic problems inArmenia and the youth unemploymentis the most important issue in this con-text. The situation with the educatedyouth is a special issue.On one hand, youth state that finding

decent employment is a major challengeespecially as they lack work experience.On the other hand, companies andorganizations state that fresh graduatesare not ready for direct employmentright after their formal graduation asthey lack work experience, competitiveskills and practical knowledge in theirfields.This week, Dafina Gercheva, United

Nations resident coordinator/UnitedNations Development Programme(UNDP) resident representative inArmenia, and Harout Nercessian,Armenia representative of theArmenian Missionary Association ofAmerica (AMAA), signed a cost-sharingagreement to kick-off the fourth roundof the Youth Carrier Trail (YCT) project.The main objective of the project is tofacilitate the transition of unemployedyouth into the workforce by providingdirect employment opportunitiesthrough internships. The duration ofthe paid internship is six months, andUNDP Armenia, in cooperation withthe host organizations, will be responsi-ble for recruiting and placing 60 internson a competitive basis.The AMAA is a cosponsor of this

round of the YCT because it believesthat youth employment in Armenia isa major step in preserving andexpanding the economy and social

fabric of the Armenian society. TheAMAA is a non-profit organizationthat supports underprivileged peoplein 24 countries. The AMAA was estab-lished in 1918 in the US.“The AMAA and UNDP have devel-

oped a working relationship over the

last two years as they share commonconcerns regarding the economic con-ditions in Armenia. Both organiza-tions are concerned about youthunemployment which has resulted inthe exodus of youth from Armenia.This YCT program will help keepyouth in Armenia. AMAA and UNDP

are exploring other areas of coopera-tion,” noted Nercessian.“The main outcome of our partner-

ship is the provision of targetedresponse to employment challenges theyouth is facing in Armenia. Our experi-ence in this field makes us a partner ofchoice to support the long-term natureof youth capacity development,” saidGercheva in her opening remarks.During 2007-2009, UNDP Armenia

implemented three rounds of the YCTinitiative, which were in high demand

among both the university graduatesand employers. In total, 118 fresh grad-uates passed the YCT internship inYerevan and six regions of Armenia,and around 50 percent of the internswere offered permanent employment bythe host organizations at the end oftheir internships.

Dafina Gercheva, UN resident coordinator/UNDP resident representative inArmenia, and Harout Nercessian, Armenia representative of the ArmenianMissionary Association of America (AMAA), sign an agreement.

AMAA Partners with United Nations in Armenia Bridging the Gap betweenFormal Education and Entry

Into Labor Market

MARGAHOVIT, Armenia — A series ofcleanups have swept over the globe thisyear as part of the “Let’s do it!” worldmovement. The effort was inspired bythe grassroots campaign in Estonia in2008, and the goal is to use volunteersto pick up 100,000,000 tons of waste allaround the planet.

Armenia is among the countries thatjoined the global initiative. “Let’s do it!Armenia” aims at uniting everyone toclean up urban and rural areas and his-torical sites in one day. Armenia TreeProject (ATP) was one of the first orga-nizations to join the pan-Armenian vol-unteer cleanup movement along withWorld Wildlife Fund, Acopian Centerfor the Environment, Young BiologistsNGO and others.On September 15, ATP and the

Acopian Center joined the people ofMargahovit Village to clean up thebeautiful landscape that had been lit-tered. This village in Lori is the locationfor ATP’s Mirak Family ReforestationNursery, the newly-inaugurated Michaeland Virginia Ohanian Center for

Environmental Studies, and Hrant DinkMemorial Forest.More than 300 local residents includ-

ing schoolchildren and their teachersjoined the initiative. Twenty groupswere led by American University ofArmenia graduate students from theAcopian Center. By the end of the day,

more than 30cubic meters ofwaste (500bags) was col-lected inMargahovit andthe surroundingforests.“We had sev-

eral trainings onwaste manage-ment and I havealready noticedpositive shifts inthe attitude andthinking ofschoolchildren,”EnvironmentalE d u c a t i o n

Manager Alla Sahakyan said. “After thecleanup, one of the girls from our eco-club confessed that she never thoughtabout nature in the past, but that shenow thinks differently and realizes theimportance of a clean environment andthe benefits of recycling.”ATP and the Acopian Center partici-

pated in “Let’s do it! Armenia” as partof the ReGardening of Eden partner-ship. The project is being implementedin Margahovit with tree plantings andeducation about trees, birds, recyclingand other topics.“Margahovit does not have a park or a

green zone where people can gather andrelax, so ATP will establish a new park,”explains ATP Social, Economic, andEnvironmental Development for

Sustainability (SEEDS) ProgramManager Vardan Melikyan. “We will usetrees from ATP’s local nursery and orga-nize plantings with the community.”The teachers in Margahovit’s school

have been trained to use ATP’s “Plantan Idea, Plant a Tree” environmentaleducation manual in their classroom.Some of the core topics are water, for-est protection, waste management andorganic agriculture. The AcopianCenter has also organized bir identifi-cation trainings at the Ohanian Centerfor the eco-club.“Birds are one of the easy objects for

observation because they are not secre-tive, can be identified by visual charac-teristics, and live in close vicinity of peo-ple,” notes Acopian Center DirectorKaren Aghababyan. “The classes onbird identification might create a newtype of interest among children andname the objects for the children, whojust referred to them as ‘birds’ before.”“This has been a great collaboration

with the Acopian Center and other part-ners. It’s important that people fromthe community are actively involved inthe process because they come up withideas on what should be done. Forinstance, they asked for help setting upa recycling program so we approached[United Nations DevelopmentProgramme] UNDP to provide bins forcollection of plastic waste,” addsMelikyan.“We tried to make the cleanup fun

for participants. Since it was a teameffort, it also motivated groups to com-pete with each other in collecting themost waste. At the end of the day wewere tired, but everyone enjoyed seeingthe beautiful village of Margahovit freeof waste. This may have been the largestpublic program ever organized in thiscommunity,” concludes Melikyan.

More than 300 volunteers joined the “Let’s do it! Armenia”cleanup in Margahovit Village, where more than 30 cubicmeters of waste (500 bags) was collected.

ATP and Acopian Center Join CleanupCampaign in Margahovit Village

By Sebnem Arsu

ISTANBUL (New York Times) — ATurkish court convicted 330 militaryofficers, including three former top com-manders, and sentenced them to prisonterms of as long as 20 years on Friday,September 21, after a trial in which theywere accused of a wide-ranging plot tooverthrow the government nearly adecade ago. Thirty-four were acquitted.

Defense lawyers and familymembers of the accused have longdenounced the evidence in thecase as flimsy, and all of the ver-dicts were expected to beappealed. “With this verdict, thecourt appeared in collaborationwith the gangs that producedthese fake documents, as judgesrefused to assign experts to dis-cover all of these fabrications,”Pinar Dogan, the daughter of Gen.Cetin Dogan, said after the verdict.“Reductions in jail terms meannothing when those who are left in jailshould not be spending even a minutein there given the falsity of this trial.” The convictions and sentences,

reported by the Turkish news media,signaled completion of the first trial in acivilian court of defendants in a coupplot known as Sledgehammer, said tohave been masterminded as part of a2003 military exercise. The prosecutionof the case was widely regarded as a testof the democratically elected govern-ment’s power over the formerly domi-nant Turkish military, which has beenresponsible for four coups since 1960. Prosecutors have said the

Sledgehammer coup plotters had con-spired in a master plan to bomb

mosques and set off a military conflictwith Greece in an effort to stir unrestand overthrow the government of PrimeMinister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whoseJustice and Development Party hasroots in an Islamist movement. The mil-itary has historically regarded itself asthe guardian of the secular political sys-tem in Turkey, which has a Muslimmajority. The trial, which began in December

2010, polarized public opinion inTurkey. Hundreds of other suspects,including military members, politiciansand journalists face prosecution in aseparate trial.

(Rick Gladstone contributed report-ing from New York.)

S A T U R D A Y, S E P T E M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 2 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R 3

INTERNATIONAL

TTuurrkkeeyy ‘‘CCaarreeffuullllyyFFoolllloowwiinngg’’ GGeennoocciiddee BBiillllRReeiinnttrroodduucceedd iinn FFrraannccee

PPAARRIISS ((PPaannAARRMMEENNIIAANN..NNeett)) —— TTuurrkkeeyy iiss ccaarreeffuullllyyffoolllloowwiinngg tthhee ssiittuuaattiioonn wwiitthh aa ppoossssiibbllee rreeccoonnssiiddeerraa--ttiioonn ooff tthhee llaaww oonn tthhee ccrriimmiinnaalliizzaattiioonn ooff AArrmmeenniiaannGGeennoocciiddee ddeenniiaall iinn FFrraannccee,, AAnnaaddoolluu aaggeennccyy qquuootteeddTTuurrkkiisshh MMiinniisstteerr ffoorr EEUU AAffffaaiirrss aass ssaayyiinngg.. WWiitthh tthheeTTuurrkkiisshh eemmbbaassssyy ffoolllloowwiinngg tthhee ddeevveellooppmmeenntt ooffeevveennttss aarroouunndd tthhee GGeennoocciiddee llaaww,, TTuurrkkeeyy hhaass nnoottrreecceeiivveedd aannyy iinnffoorrmmaattiioonn oonn aa nneeww ddiissccuussssiioonn oofftthhee iissssuuee,, EEggeemmeenn BBaaggiiss ssaaiidd..OOnn JJaannuuaarryy 2233,, tthhee FFrreenncchh SSeennaattee ppaasssseedd aa bbiillll

mmaakkiinngg iitt aa ccrriimmee ttoo ddeennyy tthhee AArrmmeenniiaann GGeennoocciiddee..TThhee bbiillll wwoouulldd hhaavvee iimmppoosseedd aa 4455,,000000--eeuurroo ffiinnee aannddaa yyeeaarr iinn pprriissoonn ffoorr aannyyoonnee iinn FFrraannccee wwhhoo ddeenniieesstthhiiss ccrriimmee aaggaaiinnsstt hhuummaanniittyy ccoommmmiitttteedd bbyy tthheeOOttttoommaann EEmmppiirree..SSuubbsseeqquueennttllyy,, tthhee FFrreenncchh CCoonnssttiittuuttiioonnaall CCoouunncciill

rruulleedd tthhaatt tthhee bbiillll iiss uunn--ccoonnssttiittuuttiioonnaall.. IInn aa ssttaattee--mmeenntt,, tthhee ccoouunncciill ssaaiidd tthhee ddooccuummeenntt rreepprreesseenntteeddaann ““uunnccoonnssttiittuuttiioonnaall bbrreeaacchh ooff tthhee pprraaccttiiccee ooff ffrreeee--ddoomm ooff eexxpprreessssiioonn aanndd ccoommmmuunniiccaattiioonn..””AAfftteerr eelleecctt iioonn,, PPrreessiiddeenntt FFrraannccooiiss HHoollllaannddee

pplleeddggeedd ttoo iinnttrroodduuccee aa ssiimmiillaarr bbiillll tthhaatt wwoouulldd ggoo iinnlliinnee wwiitthh tthhee ccoouunnttrryy’’ss ccoonnssttiittuuttiioonn..

AArraamm II UUrrggeess RReessppeecctt ffoorrAAllll RReelliiggiioonnss

BBEEIIRRUUTT ((PPaannAARRMMEENNIIAANN..NNeett)) —— FFoolllloowwiinngg tthheerreecceenntt pprrootteessttss aaggaaiinnsstt tthhee aannttii--IIssllaamm ffiillmm ddeennii--ggrraattiinngg tthhee PPrroopphheett MMoohhaammmmeedd,, AArraamm II,, tthheeCCaatthhoolliiccooss ooff tthhee SSeeee ooff CCiilliicciiaa,, ssttaatteedd tthhaatt ““nnooggrroouupp oorr iinnddiivviidduuaall hhaass tthhee rriigghhtt ttoo uunnddeerrmmiinneewwhhaatt iiss rreeggaarrddeedd aass ssaaccrreedd bbyy aannyy rreelliiggiioonn,, aanndd wweessttrroonnggllyy ccoonnddeemmnn ssuucchh aapppprrooaacchheess..””““TThhee ttrraaddiittiioonnss,, tteeaacchhiinnggss aanndd vvaalluueess ooff aallll rreellii--

ggiioonnss sshhoouulldd bbee rreessppeecctteedd,,”” hhee ssaaiidd..AArraamm II aallssoo ssaaiidd,, ““TThhee mmoonnootthheeiissttiicc rreelliiggiioonnss

bbeelliieevvee iinn ppeeaaccee aanndd nnoott vviioolleennccee,, aanndd ddiiaalloogguuee iisstthhee kkeeyy ttoo bbuuiillddiinngg rreessppeecctt..””HHee ccoonncclluuddeedd:: ““CChhrriissttiiaannss aanndd MMuusslliimmss hhaavvee bbeeeenn

lliivviinngg ttooggeetthheerr aass nneeiigghhbboorrss ffoorr mmaannyy cceennttuurriieess aannddaarree wwoorrkkiinngg ccoonnssttaannttllyy ttoowwaarrddss bbuuiillddiinngg aa ccuullttuurree ooffccooeexxiisstteennccee bbaasseedd oonn rreessppeecctt ffoorr oouurr ddiiffffeerreenncceess..””

UUSS EEnnvvooyy ttoo AAzzeerrbbaaiijjaannSSaayyss KKaarraabbaagghh IIssssuuee

PPrriioorriittyyBBAAKKUU ((PPaannAARRMMEENNIIAANN..NNeett)) —— TThhee UUSS ggoovveerrnnmmeennttaaddvvooccaatteess aa ppeeaacceeffuull rreessoolluuttiioonn ooff tthhee NNaaggoorrnnooKKaarraabbaagghh ccoonnff lliicctt,, AAmmeerriiccaann AAmmbbaassssaaddoorr ttooAAzzeerrbbaaiijjaann RRiicchhaarrdd MMoorrnniinnggssttaarr ssaaiidd..““FFoolllloowwiinngg ccoonnvveerrssaattiioonnss wwiitthh SSeeccrreettaarryy ooff SSttaattee

HHiillllaarryy CClliinnttoonn,, II ccaann ccoonnffiiddeennttllyy ssaayy tthhaatt tthhee ssoolluu--ttiioonn ttoo tthhiiss ccoonnff lliicctt iiss aa pprriioorriittyy iissssuuee ffoorr tthhee UUSS,,””NNeewwss..AAzz qquuootteedd MMoorrnniinnggssttaarr aass ssaayyiinngg..““II’’llll ffeeeell lliikkee tthhee hhaappppiieesstt mmaann iinn tthhee wwoorrlldd,, iiff tthhee

KKaarraabbaagghh pprroobblleemm ggeettss sseettttlleedd dduurriinngg mmyy ddiipplloo--mmaattiicc mmiissssiioonn iinn AAzzeerrbbaaiijjaann,,”” hhee ttoolldd aa pprreessss ccoonn--ffeerreennccee,, pplleeddggiinngg ttoo ttaakkee eevveerryy eeffffoorrtt aaiimmeedd aatt tthheeccoonnff lliicctt rreessoolluutt iioonn iinn tthhee ffrraammeewwoorrkk ooff tthheeOOrrggaanniizzaattiioonn ffoorr SSeeccuurriittyy aanndd CCooooppeerraattiioonn iinnEEuurrooppee ((OOSSCCEE)) MMiinnsskk GGrroouupp..

RRoommaanniiaann MMuusseeuumm HHoossttssAArrmmeenniiaann CCeelleebbrraattiioonn

BBUUCCHHAARREESSTT,, RRoommaanniiaa ((AArrmmrraaddiioo..aamm)) —— AArrmmeenniiaannccuullttuurree iiss bbeeiinngg cceelleebbrraatteedd aatt tthhee VViillllaaggee MMuusseeuummhheerree,, oonn SSeepptteemmbbeerr 2211 tthhrroouugghh 2233,, wwiitthh mmuussiicc aannddttrraaddiittiioonnaall ddaannccee,, aa pphhoottoo eexxhhiibbiittiioonn,, aa ddiissppllaayy ooff ttrraa--ddiittiioonnaall AArrmmeenniiaann ggooooddss,, aass wweellll aass ffiillmm ssccrreeeenniinnggss..TThhee AArrmmeenniiaann ccoommmmuunniittyy iinn RRoommaanniiaa ddaatteess bbaacckk

aa mmiilllleennnniiuumm aanndd iiss sspprreeaadd aallll aaccrroossss tthhee ccoouunnttrryy..WWiitthh oonnllyy aarroouunndd 55,,000000 AArrmmeenniiaannss lleefftt iinn tthhee ccoouunn--ttrryy,, tthhee ccoommmmuunniittyy cceelleebbrraatteess iittss hhiissttoorryy,, ccuullttuurreeaanndd ttrraaddiittiioonnss.. TThhiiss yyeeaarr,, iitt aallssoo cceelleebbrraatteess 550000yyeeaarrss ooff eexxiisstteennccee ffoorr tthhee HHaaggiiggaaddaarr cchhuurrcchh aannddmmoonnaasstteerryy iinn SSuucceeaavvaa,, tthhee mmoosstt iimmppoorrttaanntt cceenntteerrssffoorr ppiillggrriimmaaggee ffoorr AArrmmeenniiaannss aaccrroossss EEuurrooppee..SSoommee 33,,000000 ppiillggrriimmss ffrroomm EEuurrooppee aanndd ootthheerr

ppaarrttss ooff tthhee ddiiaassppoorraa aarree eexxppeecctteedd ttoo ttaakkee ppaarrtt iinntthhee cceelleebbrraattiioonn,, rroommaanniiaa--iinnssiiddeerr..ccoomm rreeppoorrttss..

International News

SAFAROV, from page 1The US administration alreadyexpressed “deep concern” immediate-ly after Safarov’s release from aHungarian prison. President BarackObama said through a spokesmanthat it was “contrary to ongoingefforts to reduce regional tensions.”The State Department was likewise“extremely troubled” by the develop-ment, demanding an explanation fromthe Hungarian government.US Deputy Secretary of State William

Burns conveyed these concerns toAzerbaijan’s Foreign Minister ElmarMammadyarov in a phone call on

September 2. Mammadyarov reportedlytold Burns that Baku is “bewildered” bythe US criticism.Najafov insisted, however, that

Aliyev’s decision to pardon Safarov wasan “exceptionally humane step.”Armenpress reported that the

Armenian National Assembly deputieswill raise the issue during the autumnsession of the Parliamentary Assemblyof the Council of Europe (PACE) held inStrasbourg on October 1. According tomember of Armenian delegation atPACE, Naira Zohrabyan, said that all theArmenian delegates are expected toraise the issue.

Azeri Axe-Killer to Return to Military

Australian TV CoversArmenian Protest atHungarian EmbassyIn CanberraCANBERRA, Australia (Armradio.am)

— Busloads of Armenian-Australiansjoined in the international condemnationover the extradition and pardon of AzeriLt. Ramil Safarov by protesting in front ofthe Hungarian Embassy last week.SBS Television and several radio stations

covered the demonstration of the 250members of the community, who stood insolidarity with slain Armenian soliderGurgen Markarian, who was axed to deathby Safarov during a 2004 NATOPartnership for Peace program in Hungary.Safarov was expected to serve a life sen-

tence in Hungary, however, was extraditedto Azerbaijan where he was immediatelypardoned by the Azeri government. Uponreturning to Azerbaijan, Safarov has beentreated as a national hero, causing fury inthe international Armenian community.The protest, a joint effort by the commu-

nity’s Armenian churches, political, youthand relief organizations, strongly conveyedthe feelings of Armenian-Australians, call-ing upon the Hungarian authorities to con-demn the actions of Azerbaijan.This message was conveyed with loud

chants and signs reading “Punish notPardon,” “Shame Hungary Shame,” “WeWant Justice,” “A crime punished is acrime encouraged” and others.During the two-hour demonstration,

Armenian National Committee ofAustralia (ANC Australia) ExecutiveDirector Vache Kahramanian and Fr.Avedis Hambardzumyan of the ArmenianApostolic Church met with theHungarian Ambassador to AustraliaAnna Siko. During the meeting, whichoccurred to a backdrop of strong chantsfrom the crowd outside, Siko was pre-sented with a letter on behalf of the com-munity calling upon the following: Thecondemnation by Hungarian PrimeMinister Viktor Orban of his Azeri coun-terpart Ilham Aliyev for pardoning a con-victed murderer despite assurances pro-vided by Azerbaijan; The condemnationof Azerbaijan’s continued aggression andthreats of war against the Republic ofArmenia and the Republic of Nagorno-Karabagh; and Recognition of theRepublic of Nagorno-Karabagh as anindependent state to ensure the safetyand security of its people.At the conclusion of the meeting,

Kahramanian addressed the gathered, stat-ing: “Our issue is not with the peaceful peo-ple of Hungary but with those officials inBudapest who allowed the extradition of aconvicted cold-blooded murderer.”“We will continue to pursue the

Hungarian authorities through theEmbassy in Canberra until we receive aresponse which is not a response that theHungarian government wants to hear,but a response which is just and correct.”“Today we not only fight for the mem-

ory of an Armenian solider but as humanbeings of this world we fight for the dig-nity of all mankind.”The protest received coverage through

SBS TV World News, ABC Radio andSBS Radio.

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey — Istanbul-born Canadian-Armenian pianist RaffiBedrosyan gave a concert at the newly-restored Surp Giragos ArmenianChurch on September 10. The concert,the first one in the church since before1915, received wide coverage in Turkishand Kurdish media, both nationally andlocally. It was attended by more than400 people, including DiyarbakirMember of Turkish Parliament AhmetTan, Diyarbakir Municipality MayorOsman Baydemir, Sur MunicipalityMayor Abdullah Demirbas, IstanbulArmenian Patriarchate Acting PatriarchArchbishop Aram Ateshian, US EasternDiocese Primate Archbishop KhajagBarsamian, a group of 70 Armenian pil-grims from the US touring historicArmenia, 40 graduates of the Armenianlanguage course in Diyarbakir, severalArmenians from Armenia, Austria andIstanbul, as well as a large contingentfrom the local Diyarbakir people.After greeting the audience in

Armenian, English, Turkish andKurdish, Bedrosyan commented thatthe newly-restored church, the largest inthe Middle East, is evidence of a largeArmenian presence in these landsbefore 1915 and has now become a pil-grimage point for all Armenians.He also added: “But having a silent

stone monument to the past is not suffi-cient, and events like this concert are ini-tiatives to make the church a live, activecenter for continuing peaceful dialogue

and interaction among peoples.” Hereminded the audience that the Turkishword “chalmak” has two meanings — torob or steal, as well as to play a musicalinstrument. The first meaning of theword took place in 1915, when theDiyarbakir governor of the time, afterdeporting and massacring the Armenianpopulation in the region, had all theirvaluable belongings, including severalpianos, brought and stored in thischurch. Bedrosyan commented that henow wishes to implement the secondmeaning of the word by playing thepiano in this concert. He then presenteda musical journey from Europe withWestern Classical composers, Beethoven,Chopin, Rachmaninoff and De Falla, toAnatolia and Caucasus with Armenianmusic from historic and present Armeniaand Karabagh, through the works ofKomitas, Hovhaness, Godoyan andKhatchaturian. A surprise addition to theconcert program was an 11-year-oldKurdish girl, one of the Armenian lan-guage course graduates in Diyarbakir,who sang two Armenian songs.Although the restoration of the main

church building was completed lastyear, the bell tower construction is con-tinuing and expected to be completedby November 2012, when a 100-kilo-gram large brass bell, manufactured anddonated by Russian Armenians, will beinstalled at top of the tower. Donationsare welcome through the EasternDiocese offices.

Pianist Gives Concert at Newly-Restored Surp Giragos Armenian Church

Turkish Court Convicts 330 From Military in Coup Case

Accused Turkish officers, awaiting verdicts,waved to family members.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO

4 S A T U R D A Y, S E P T E M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 2 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R

Community News

The Gift of MobilityArmenian Lighthouse Charitable Foundation Gives Hope to

Special Needs Disabled Children and Adults

PTGHUNK, Armenia and SEAL BEACH, Calif. — The Armenian LighthouseCharitable Foundation (ALCF), the organization formerly known as Paros“Lighthouse” Charitable Foundation, cares for the sick and injured who are mar-ginalized and often forgotten. As part of its community outreach initiative, calledHusi Jerag (Light of Hope), ALCF has given the gift of mobility to dozens of dis-abled children and adults throughout Armenia. This vital assistance is made pos-sible with donations of wheelchairs, walkers and other equipment from ALCF sup-porters in the US. ALCF collects all forms of gently-used medical equipment on ayear-round basis, and has a long waiting list of disabled children and adults in needof immediate assistance.One recent beneficiary of ALCF’s outreach is Susanna, age 50, from Yerevan.

Susanna was paralyzed from the neck down following an automobile accident thatclaimed the life of her husband. The accident occurred when Susanna and her hus-band had just spent a weekend with their son in Tavush where he was serving in

see LIGHTHOUSE, page 5

Armenian PleadsGuilty toConspiracy inMassive MedicareFraud Scheme

By Terry Dickson

BRUNSWICK, Fla. (Florida Times-Union) —An Armenian national pleaded guilty last weekto helping set up phony clinics in Brunswickand Savannah that were used to submit nearly$400,000 in false Medicare claims.Speaking through an interpreter, Khoren

Gasparian, 29, acknowledged to Chief USDistrict Judge Lisa Godbey Wood his role in afraud scheme that stretched from New York toLos Angeles.Run from Los Angeles by Armenian immi-

grant Arthur Mansarian, the scheme used doc-tors’ and patients’ identifications that werestolen to submit more than $200 million inphony claims.Mansarian, 49, pleaded guilty to submitting

$7.4 million in false claims through nine phonymedical supply businesses and is serving a 14-year prison sentence. At his sentencing, Woodordered him to repay the government $1.8 mil-lion.Shahak Tumanyan, 44, who pleaded guilty to

money laundering, is serving five years andmust pay $309,000 in restitution. Tumanyan isin the country illegally and will be deported assoon as he completes his sentence.When the government began making arrests

in the scheme last year, Gasparian was living inMoscow and saw international news accounts,FBI Special Agent Tony Alig testified Friday inGasparian’s change of plea hearing.Gasparian went to the US legal attache’s

office in Moscow and told officials there of hisrole in the scheme, Alig said.Familiar of the harsh treatment of suspects in

Eastern Europe, Gasparian was initially fearful,Alig said.“When he was assured he would be treated

politely and fairly, he agreed to return,” Aligsaid.Gasparian flew to Washington on July 7,

2011, and was arrested. He admitted that theclinics he helped set up in Savannah andBrunswick were “completely a fraud,” Alig tes-tified.He also confessed to similar activities in New

Mexico, where he is serving a three-year sen-tence in federal prison.Rather than be tried on the charges in an

indictment, Gasparian pleaded guilty to a crim-inal complaint from the US Attorney’s Office forthe Southern District of Georgia charging himwith a single count of conspiracy to commitMedicare fraud.To carry out his part of the scheme,

Gasparian set up three storefront clinics inSavannah called SOJ, Healthy Families andSavannah Medical, and one in Brunswick calledBrunswick Medical Supply. The later was onGloucester Street a few blocks south of the fed-eral courthouse where he entered his pleaFriday.Gasparian used stolen Medicare providers’

identifications to establish the corporations, setup bank accounts and rented post office boxeswhere Medicare mailed claims, Alig said.The claims were typically for wheelchairs,

walkers, canes and other equipment. It causedsome legitimate Medicare beneficiaries hard-ship because when they tried to buy neededsupplies, Medicare sometimes had already paida false claim for the same items.The offices in the coast-to-coast scheme typi-

cally had only one employee who picked up themail and sent the checks to Manasarian’s officein Los Angeles, where they were cashed at aliquor store, Alig testified in an earlier hearing.

see FRAUD, page 7

UAF Delivers $21Million of Aid toArmenia and ArtsakhGLENDALE — The United Armenian

Fund (UAF) delivered more than $21 mil-lion of humanitarian assistance toArmenia and Artsakh, during the periodof October 2011 to September 2012.The UAF itself collected $13 million of

medicines and other supplies donated byseveral charities, including AmeriCares($5 million), Direct Relief International($2.8 million), Catholic Medical MissionBoard ($2.2 million), MAP International($1.6 million), Feed the Children Fund($873,000), Health Partners Internationalof Canada ($475,000) and Operation USA($43,000).Other organizations which contributed

valuable goods during this period were:World Vision – US ($1.1 million), HarutChantikian of Fair Lawn, NJ ($816,000),Project Hope ($585,000), Ordre SaintLazare of France ($508,000), GarniFoundation ($491,000), ArmenianLighthouse Charitable Foundation($405,000), Juliette Serabian of France($279,000), Armenian EyeCare Project($269,000), World Vision – Canada($245,000), Armenian Ministries of UK($235,000), Dr. Stephen Kashian ofWinnetka, Ill. ($230,000), St. VartanantsArmenian Apostolic Church of Mahwah,NJ ($206,000), Sacred Heart MedicalCenter ($200,000), Project Agape($192,000), Armenia Fund USA($192,000), Focus on Children Now($187,000), Armenian Canadian MedicalAssociation of Ontario ($170,000),Nephrology Armenia Flanders of Belgium($164,000), Fund for Armenian Relief($162,000), Medical Outreach forArmenians ($153,000), Gabriel Ghenberjiof Canada ($150,000), Birthlink of UK($145,000), AchotSchemavonian/Association de Soutienaux Patriotes Armeniens of France($137,000), Armenian Christian Missionof Australia ($132,000), Action SanteArmenie France of Marseille, France($120,000), Armenian MissionaryAssociation of America ($109,000), LionsClub Draguignan St. Hermentaire ofFrance ($108,000) and Armenian ReliefSociety – East ($101,000).Also contributing major supplies were:

Alvan Tsarik of Holland ($70,000),Humanitarian Outreach Foundation($70,000), Society for OrphanedArmenian Relief ($70,000), Ara Project ofPasadena ($66,000), Amaras Art Alliance($49,000), Howard KaragheusianCommemorative Corp. ($49,000), EasternPrelacy of the Armenian Church($47,000), Foundation Semra ofSwitzerland ($46,000), Bay Area Friendsof Armenia ($39,000), Dr. Frieda Jordanof Armenian Bone Marrow Registry($38,000), Armenian InternationalOphthalmic Association ($35,000), Dr.Samuel Malayan of Glendale ($30,000),Armenian Studies Program of Fresno($28,000), Dr. Hagop Hovaguimian ofPortland, Ore. ($25,000) and HermanHintiryan of Oak Park, Mich. ($21,000).Since its inception in 1989, the UAF

has sent $653 million of humanitarianassistance to Armenia on board 158 air-lifts and 2,028 sea containers.The UAF is the collective effort of the

Armenian General Benevolent Union(AGBU), Armenian MissionaryAssociation of America, Armenian ReliefSociety, Diocese of the Armenian Churchof America and Prelacy of the ArmenianApostolic Church of America.For more information, contact the UAF

office at 1101 North Pacific Ave., Suite204, Glendale, CA 91202.

A disabled teen walks upright for the first time thanks to the ALCF’s gift of a walker.

Susanna operates her new paraplegic wheelchair from the ALCF.

S A T U R D A Y, S E P T E M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 2 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R 5

COMMUNITY NEWS

The Gift of MobilityLIGHTHOUSE, from page 4the army. Following the accident, she spent twoyears in the hospital recuperating from herinjuries. When her son returned from the army,the pressure and stress of caring for an invalidparent become too overwhelming for him, andhe refused to see her. With the exception of acousin who came once a day to feed her,Susanna was stranded and utterly alone.A few months ago, ALCF learned about

Susanna’s plight from the doctor who is treat-ing her. ALCF staff quickly took action andbrought her an electric wheelchair designedspecifically for paraplegics. They also spent timewith Susanna training her to operate the newchair. Because of this wheelchair, Susanna hasa renewed feeling of independence with the abil-ity to ride around her home and venture out-doors.Garine, age 12, has also received the gift of

mobility from Armenian Lighthouse CharitableFoundation. Garine was a healthy, active, younggirl with a bright future. Without warning, oneday she began to lose strength and movementin her legs. While her doctors have not beenable to diagnose the cause, Garine’s mobilityhas been compromised. She can only walk hold-ing someone’s hand and sways unsteadily fromside to side.Recently, Garine and her mother visited

ALCF’s center in Ptghunk, and Garine wasgiven a walker. The next day, her motherreturned asking if the foundation could alsoprovide some type of equipment to helpstrengthen Garine’s legs. ALCF gave her anelliptical, and Garine uses it for her own physi-cal therapy. In the meantime, ALCF is workingwith Garine and her family to determine the

cause of her disability.Gagik, age 55, lives in the Gegharkunik

region and is a war veteran. During the war, helost both of his legs in battle. Since sustaininghis injuries, Gagik has fashioned a car for him-self to control the accelerator and brake pedalswith his hands. On a recent visit to ALCF’s cen-ter, Gagik received an electric wheelchair.

Delighted with this new piece of equipment, hetreated the staff of ALCF to cognac and choco-late. ALCF provides the maintenance on all theequipment that it donates to needy individuals.Husi Jerag offers desperately-needed services

to the local community including vocationaltraining, psychological counseling and therapy,sewing and cooking classes, women’s healthservices, feeding the poor and elderly, support-ing a local kindergarten, weekly Bible study,family sponsorships and donations of essentialgoods to the needy in Armenia and Artsakh. Inaddition to Husi Jerag, ALCF operates a shelterfor abused women and girls, with open doors tothe children of these victims.Zuhrab and Seta Ghazarian are the founders

of Armenian Lighthouse CharitableFoundation. They have been engaged in charitywork and community outreach for underprivi-leged and underserved Armenians since 1996.The idea grew out of their concern for at-riskArmenian women and children as well as pre-serving the integrity of the Armenian family.Armenian Lighthouse Charitable Foundation isa 501(c)(3) non-profit, public benefit corpora-tion registered in the State of California andRepublic of Armenia.Donations are needed to advance this work.

The organization invites travelers to Armenia tovisit its 13,000 sq.-ft. complex in Ptghunk andwitness first-hand its work.Contributions to ALCF can be mailed to: PO

Box 3595, Seal Beach, CA 90740.

Garine, 12, receives a walker, left, and an elliptical, right, for her physical therapy.

Prof. Richard HovannisianTo Get Cardashian AwardMAHWAH, N.J. — The Armenian National

Committee of America Eastern Region will behonoring Prof. Richard Hovannisian with theVahan Cardashian Award at the sixth annualArmenian National Committee of America(ANCA) Eastern Region Banquet on December1, at the Sheraton Crossroads.“We are proud to honor Richard Hovannisian

with the Cardashian Award for his many accom-plishments, including his outstanding researchand development of Armenian Studies in high-er education,” said ANCA Eastern RegionExecutive Director Michelle Hagopian.Hovannisian is a professor of Armenian and

Near Eastern Studies at UCLA. Born and raisedin Tulare, Calif., Hovannisian received his bach-elor’s and master’s degrees from the Universityof California-Berkeley, and he obtained his PhDfrom UCLA in 1966. In 1987, Hovannisian wasappointed the first holder of the ArmenianEducational Foundation Endowed Chair inModern Armenian History at UCLA.He is a Guggenheim Fellow who has received

many honors for his scholarship, civic activities,and advancement of Armenian Studies.Hovannisian is the author of numerous books,including Armenia on the Road toIndependence and The Armenian Holocaust.He has edited and contributed to at least adozen other works, and has published morethan 50 scholarly articles.Hovanissian serves on the board of directors

of nine scholarly and civic organizations, includ-ing the Facing History and OurselvesFoundation, the International Institute on theHolocaust and Genocide, International Alert,the Foundation for Research on ArmenianArchitecture and the Armenian NationalInstitute. He also received the UCLA AlumniAssociation’s 2010-2011 “Most InspiringTeacher” award.In the past, the ANCA Cardashian Award has

been presented to notable Armenian-Americans, such as ANCA activist StephenDulgarian, Director of the Project SaveArmenian Photograph Archives RuthThomasian and New England communityleader Tatul Sonentz-Papazian.The Vahan Cardashian Award is given annu-

ally to an ANCA supporter who demonstrateslongstanding dedication and active involvementin the Armenian-American community and itsissues. The award is named for Yale-educatedlawyer Vahan Cardashian who set aside his suc-cessful New York practice to dedicate himself tothe establishment of the American Committeefor the Independence of Armenia (ACIA), pre-decessor organization to the ArmenianNational Committee, and to advocate for theplight of the Armenian nation.

VAN NUYS, Calif. — Marie Ann “Maro”Donabedian was born on July 15, 1928, toLazar and Arshalous Manoogian in NewBritain, Conn.She was a precocious child with natural musi-

cal talent and unbridled drive. As early as 5years old, she quickly built a reputation as “thatgirl who plays beyond her years.” She became afixture on Sunday mornings, playing the churchorgan at the local Armenian Church in NewBritain. While she was in high school, she wonthe Musical Directors Hall of Fame Award,which was given to her by Dr. Fred Mirliani,musical director of New Britain High School.She earned the reputation as the finest accom-

panist the high school had ever produced.Young Marie Manoogian graduated from high

school in 1945, and was accepted by and attend-ed the Juilliard School of Music in New York City.After her graduation four years later, she spentthe following three years as an accompanist forvirtually all of the leading Armenian opera andclassical singers of the day. When an accompanistwas needed, she was the “go-to” pianist.While living in New York, she became close

friends and shared her passion for music with ayoung priest who later became known asArchbishop Torkom Manoogian, patriarch ofthe Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem.Together, they shared their love for Armenianfolk and liturgical music, and she would oftenplay as the young priest sang the beautiful andhaunting songs written by Armenian com-posers and priests.In 1953, at the age of 25, she married a hand-

some ex-marine and Ivy Leaguer, MartinDonabedian. From that time until her death shebecame known as Maro Donabedian.Over the following decade, the couple had

three children, Laura, Randy Hrant and NoelMartin. In 1963, the couple moved their youngfamily from New Britain to Van Nuys, wherethey each began a new chapter in their careersand where they became part of an extendedfamily that resulted in lifelong friendships.Martin Donabedian went to work for the Los

Angeles County Health Department as directorof records and statistics. Maro Donabedianjoined the Music Department at CaliforniaState University of Northridge (CSUN, original-ly San Fernando Valley State College) in 1964where she became a full-time accompanist. Shebegan working and collaborating with the lateDr. David Scott, and together they founded theOpera Department at CSUN. Today the CSUNopera department enjoys national distinction as

one of the top five programs in the country. Ithas produced some of the country’s finestopera singers.Her close friendship and professional part-

nership with Scott lasted almost 50 years. Scottpassed away in July, but Maro Donabedian wasspared that sad news because of her declininghealth.She officially retired from CSUN in 1992.

However, her retirement did not mean that shestopped tutoring students from CSUN. In fact,she continued to act as accompanist and vocalcoach for vocal students and was often seen oncampus at recitals for her students, until asrecently as June.She also contributed her musical talents to

the Armenian community and to her church, St.Peter Armenian Apostolic Church, both as an

organist, vocal accompanist and as a mentor toArmenian musicians studying piano, voice andaccompaniment. Some of her protégésremained close friends with her until her death.She was preceded in death by her parents

Lazar and Arshalous Manoogian and her olderbrother Harold Manoogian. She leaves her hus-band, Martin; daughter, Laura, and son-in-lawMichael, son, Randy Hrant, and daughter-in-law,Patricia, son, Noel; grandchildren, Danielle andRachel Dale, and Jacqueline and PatrickDonabedian, as well as extended family and life-long friends.In lieu of flowers, the family asks that dona-

tions be made payable to the CSUNFoundation, Memo: Maro DonabedianMemorial Fund; Mail Drop 8236, MCCAMC,18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge, CA 91330.

6 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O RS A T U R D A Y, S E P T E M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 2

OBITUARY

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BALIOZIAN, from page 1Early in his youth, Baliozian had felt stirrings

of a deep spiritual yearning and this led him toJerusalem, where he enrolled as a student oftheology at the Armenian Patriarchate’s semi-nary. At the age of 22, he was ordained a celi-bate priest.In 1982, he was elected Primate of Australia

and New Zealand. A brilliant orator who neverused notes, he could move crowds and congre-gations with his eloquent sermons.Always approachable and gregarious,

Baliozian had a loyal following. But ill healthremained a pernicious shadow.During his tenure in Sydney where he was

stationed, his astute native savvy helped thechurch bolster its finances and extend its land-holdings.Contemporary Jerusalemite Armenians remem-

ber his spirited leanings towards sports, particu-larly soccer. They recall he could kick a footballright across the field and straight into the oppos-ing team’s goal, with the greatest of ease.Among the duties he undertook in

Jerusalem, was teaching and administering theaffairs of the Armenian Patriarchate Seminary,

where he was appointed dean in 1974.A year later, he was picked by the Catholicos

of All Armenians Vasken I to become vicar gen-eral of the Diocese of the Armenian Church ofAustralia and New Zealand.Baliozian was always active in ecumenical

affairs and earned the distinction of being thefirst president of the National EcclesiasticCouncil of Australia. He also represented theArmenian Church within the World Council ofChurches. In 2001, he was elected vice presi-dent of the New South Wales EcumenicalCouncil, a post to which he was elected threetimes.In 1995 and again in 2003, the Australian

government awarded him the Order of Australiafor his “devout service and contribution to thecountry and society, especially to the Armeniancommunity.”Inevitably, as with every other leader, he had

to contend with his share of controversies. Buthe had the courage and determination to dealwith them all as best he could.Among the most prominent members of

Baliozian’s local congregation, is the NSW min-ister for transport, Gladys Berekijlian.

Australia Primate Archbishop Aghan Baliozian Dies

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — StephanDerMargosian, 86, of Farmington, died onSeptember 11. He was the husband of SusanAvedisian DerMargosian to whom he was mar-ried for 60 years.DerMargosian was born in New Britain, on

March 16, 1926, the son of the late GhevontDerMargosian and Miriam MananianDerMargosian. His birth mother, Miriam, diedwhen he was 2. His father remarried JouharSimonian, daughter of Peter and Yelhsa Simonian,who in every respect became his mother.DerMargosian lived in New Britain for 30

years and graduated from New Britain HighSchool in 1943. Upon graduation, he attendedthe Citadel, the Military College of SouthCarolina.As the country was engaged in World War II,

he volunteered for the US Navy and served onthe battleship USS Iowa in the Pacific Theater.After discharge, he received his bachelor’sdegree in industrial engineering from HillyerCollege of the University of Hartford.DerMargosian was a pillar of the Armenian

community. He was a life member and served asdeacon of the Armenian Church of the HolyResurrection for approximately 70 years, chair-man of the Parish Council and a diocesan dele-gate and chairman of many programs. He waschairman of the building committee and afounding father of the new Armenian Church ofthe Holy Resurrection on Stanley Street, NewBritain.He was a member of the Armenian

Democratic League (ADL) organization andchairman several times of the local chapter, a

member of theADL DistrictCommittee, a del-egate from NewBritain for nation-al ADL conven-tions and commit-tees including theApril 24 com-memoration, andorganized thenational ADL con-ventions hostedby the NewBritain chapter

several times.DerMargosian was also a member of the

Masonic Organization for more than 56 yearsand was a member of the American Legion. Heserved as a commissioner on the Town ofFarmington Sewer Authority.DerMargosian was with the Royal Typewriter

Co. for 20 years, leaving as production control

manager when the company closed its Hartfordoperations. He subsequently engaged in com-mercial brokerage.He is survived by his wife, Susan; children,

Stephen and his partner, Matthew Clark, ofAsheville, NC, Philip of Paris, France and hispartner, Giovanni Fretti, of Bergamo, Italy,daughter and son-in-law, Brenda and DavidJermakian, of Wilbraham, Mass.; granddaugh-ters, Talene and Ani; sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Henrietta and Richard Kallajian ofWethersfield, and nephews, Michael and GregKallajian and their families of Wethersfield;cousins, Jon Simonian of New York City andGeorge Simonian of Suffield, and their families.A funeral was held September 17 at the

Armenian Church of the Holy Resurrection.Burial was in Fairview Cemetery in NewBritain.In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be

made to the Armenian Church of the HolyResurrection, 1910 Stanley St., New Britain, CT06053.

Maro Donabedian

Marie Ann ‘Maro’ Donabedian

Stephan DerMargosian

Stephan DerMargosianFounding Father and Pillar of the Armenian Community

7S A T U R D A Y, S E P T E M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 2 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R

COMMUNITY NEWS

Armenian Pleads Guilty toMedicare Fraud SchemeFRAUD, from page 4The identities of two physicians were stolen

to establish the Savannah clinics, Alig said.Neither doctor knew their Medicare provider

numbers were being used, Alig said.Alig said that although Gasparian used the

stolen identities, he did not personally stealthem nor did he submit any false claims.In fact, Medicare was warned of the scheme

and did not pay any of the $393,000 in falseclaims submitted through the shell corpora-tions Gasparian established, Alig said.Medicare kept accepting the claims, Alig said,

while he, Special Agent David Graupner ofHealth and Human Services and other investi-gators continued building their case.Wood told Gasparian he could be sentenced up

to three years in prison, fined $250,000 and placedon three years probation. The government agreed,however, for him to get a lighter sentence for admit-ting his guilt and helping in the investigation,Assistant US Attorney Brian Rafferty said. The gov-ernment also agrees that hemay serve any sentenceconcurrently with the one he already is serving inNew Mexico, Rafferty said.Wood told Gasparian she would schedule his

sentencing after federal probation officers com-plete a pre-sentencing investigation.

Kirk KerkorianAnnouncesEngagement

By Norm Clark

LAS VEGAS (Las Vegas Review-Journal) — KirkKerkorian’s engagement announcement earlier thismonth is raising eyebrows among friends of the 95-year-old billionaire, and his age has nothing to dowith it.What baffled insiders was that Kerkorian took

the highly unusual step of going public with theannouncement, which was made by a representa-tive from Tracinda, Kerkorian’s Beverly Hills-basedinvestment corporation.The brief emailed statement sent from

spokesman Tom Johnson to Review-Journal busi-ness writer Howard Stutz read: “At a dinner withfriends this weekend, MGM Resorts founder KirkKerkorian and longtime friend Lu Beardannounced their engagement.”Beard is a well-respected Oklahoma City woman

whowasmarried for31years toBillBeard, awealthyoil and gas executive, before his death last year.One source said it was completely out of charac-

ter for Kerkorian to make an engagementannouncement unless it was to send amessage thathe was no longer engaged to Joan Dangerfield, thewidow of comedy legend Rodney Dangerfield.“The Joan thing was over a long time ago,” the

source said. “That was not a serious relationship.He was with a couple people after her.”What caught the attention of Kerkorian’s friends

was the claim by Joan Dangerfield in a June videothat she was still his fiancée.That’s how she described herself in the elaborate

video she apparently had shot when she surprisedhim on June 6, his 95th birthday, with a flash mobdance performance on the grounds of the BeverlyHills Hotel.In the video, Dangerfield, 60, is standing in front

of a large birthday cake topped with a crown, witha K above it.“What do you give the father of Las Vegas” who

was “a daredevil pilot,” she asked.She is then shown walking Kerkorian to a bun-

galow. As they are standing outside the door,dancers suddenly come out from behind palm treesand perform to the 1950s song To KnowHim is toLove Him. The video was posted a day later onYouTube.“Anyone who knows Kirk knows he wouldn’t

have ... allowed that and he would let you know it,”one of the sources said. “He’s so private he’s almostreclusive.”Dangerfield, who formerly ran a flower delivery

business when she lived with the comedian atRegency Towers in the Las Vegas Country ClubEstates, could not be reached for comment.

TENAFLY, N.J. — Armenian typographybegan its journey in Venice, in the year 1512,and traveled to Madras, eventually Rome in1623, Milan in 1624, Paris in 1633, Nor Julfain 1641, Amsterdam in 1655, then StPetersburg, Constantinople, Tbilisi, Shushiand finally rested in Yerevan.The majority of the 11,000 well-known

Armenian books were printed outside of

Armenia; from 2,243 books in Venice to18,000 books were published in Armeniabetween 1920 and 1940.The magnitude of the love of books and

printing by Armenians is self-evident. It is thislove of printing that has lead a handful ofArmenians, such as Krikor Markarian, whohas a discerning eye, to locate, collect and pre-serve Armenian artifacts and historical mem-orabilia, for more than 30 years. His collec-tions consist of a variety of Armenian itemssuch as, illuminated manuscripts and a largecollection of early printed books, daily news-papers dating from the 19th century, churchvestments and silver and gold religious iconsas well as paintings.On the occasion of this anniversary, the

Tekeyan Cultural Association (TCA) will hosta program on Sunday, October 7 at 2 p.m. atSt Thomas Church Hall, with Markarian, topresent his artifacts and early printed books.Another Armenian historian, Prof. KevorkBardakjian, will participate in the program.Bardakjian has taught at Harvard Universityfrom 1974 to 1987 and then he transferred tothe University of Michigan, where he contin-ues to teach the Armenian language and lit-erature. Bardakjian has expended his exper-tise, on a committee of the Holocaust

Museum and prepared a confidential reporton the Armenian Genocide, which laterbecame part of the museum. This led him towrite his book, Hitler and The ArmenianGenocide (1986), which provides documenta-tion of the well-known quote by Hitler per-taining to the Armenians. He has also pub-lished the Reference Guide to ModernArmenian Literature, 1500-1920 (2000).The event is free and open to the public.

— Shoghig ChalianDr. Kevork Bardakjian

500th Anniversary of Armenian PrintingMarked on October 7 in New Jersey

Krikor Markarian

8 S A T U R D A Y, S E P T E M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 2 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R

COMMUNITY NEWS

NEW YORK — Another summer has flown byat Camp Nubar in upstate New York, and whilecampers were sad to board the buses home,they know that there will be plenty to celebratein the coming year as the camp commemoratesits 50th anniversary.Summer at Camp Nubar kicked off on

Saturday, July 7. When the season officiallyended on Sunday, August 18, it saw some of thehighest number of enrollees in years — morethan 240, from Armenia, Canada, France,Germany and Turkey, as well as 14 states across

the US. Many were returning campers whowere excited to return, reconnect with oldfriends and take part in all the traditions theyknow and love. Many more were experiencingcamp for the very first time and quickly founda place in the Armenian General BenevolentUnion (AGBU) family. As in years past, dailyschedules filled with arts and crafts, fishing,hiking, horseback riding and music, as well asswimming in the private lake, kept everyoneactive and engaged. This year, in addition tothose activities, a number of special classes andevents were organized that were well-receivedby all: a new basketball class that focused onskills and drills, and a new hockey leaguehelped young athletes enhance their gameunder the encouragement of camp’s experi-enced coaches. An evening dance on the lakewas made even more memorable with a guestDJ from New York and the revival of CarnivalDay during both the first and second sessionsensured that, no matter how many weeks he orshe chose to attend, every camper had thechance to enjoy fun games and cotton candy.Isabelle Akian, a 13-year-old camper from NewJersey, remarked on her summer, stating,“There is nowhere I would rather be than CampNubar... it is like a home to me, and the amount

of lifelong friends that I have made here is toomany to count.”In 2012, Yerevan-based ballet master Arman

Julhakyan and art instructor Ella Pepanyanhelped reinforce the camp’s long-standing com-mitment to promoting the Armenian culturalheritage. This was the second summer

Pepanyan and Julhakyan joined Camp Nubar,bringing with them the expertise they havedeveloped over the years as teachers at theAGBU Nork Children’s Center in Armenia,which provides enriching arts, culture and per-forming arts programs for over hundreds of

youth. Camp Nubar Committee Chair SarahPartin Setrakian praised Pepanyan andJulhakyan for their many great contributions toCamp Nubar stating, “When they arrived fromArmenia, Arman and Ella were welcomedenthusiastically by the entire camp andthroughout the summer everyone looked for-ward to their classes. Arman got every camperand counselor involved in a fantastic dance hechoreographed, which was performed duringthe Open House. Ella helped the campers cre-ate beautiful arts and crafts projects, such as

ceramics and painting on silk. They are both agreat addition to Camp Nubar, and we hope towelcome them back for years to come.”In addition to Armenian art and dance, both

the staff and the youth were treated to tradi-tional Armenian meals that were donated by anumber of friends and alumni, a special treatthat gave everyone a taste of home.Halfway through the summer, campers, coun-

selors and AGBU families officially kicked offCamp Nubar’s 50th anniversary celebrations atthe Open House, which was held on Sunday,July 29. Throughout the day, alumni, parentsand friends could be found in the barn, on thetennis courts and down by the waterfrontwhere campers and counselors showcased theirtalents with special performances. Another pop-ular destination was the canteen, where newitems, including Camp Nubar apparel, wereintroduced to commemorate the camp’s mile-stone anniversary. The day offered an excitingpreview for the July 28, 2013, Open House, andall the festivities that are planned between nowand then, which will allow campers and alumnito relive their favorite summers. Praising theunique spirit that has helped Camp Nubar grow

strong over the past five decades, DirectorJennifer Omartian commented, “Year after yearwe create a unique family comprised of talent-ed campers and counselors from near and far.

Every summer we add new layers to the tradi-tions we’ve maintained for so many decades.This element keeps campers both excited forwhat’s to come and reassured that their favoriteactivities will be repeated. There is nothing bet-ter than watching Armenian youth join togeth-er, create lifelong memories and forge friend-ships they will carry with them through adult-hood. Campers have the unique opportunity ofmaking camp a part of them and leaving theirmark on Camp Nubar’s history. This attach-ment to the camp is what sets us apart, making

our program stronger and the experience rich-er.”Though the facilities have officially closed

for the season, camp supporters can stillexpress their spirit through the new onlinestore, which will be open 24 hours a day,seven days a week, through next summer.The website now features a one-stop shop forall Camp Nubar gear, including limited-addi-tion clothing and accessories, designed espe-cially for the 50th anniversary. And, whilecampers have put this summer’s Color Warbehind them, the Blue and Gold teams arestill recruiting supporters online and dona-tions to Camp Nubar will help decide whichside is the champion. To visit the canteen andsupport a team, visit Camp Nubar’s 50thanniversary website:www.campnubar.org/50.Tickets are also available on this site for

Camp Nubar’s 50th anniversary celebration,which will take place on Friday, July 26, 2013,at Guastavino’s in New York City. More detailson the weekend of events are coming soon.For more information about AGBU and its

worldwide programs, visit www.agbu.org.

Another Summer Ends at Camp Nubar but FestivitiesJust Beginning for 50th-Anniversary Year

New Anniversary Features on Camp Nubar WebsiteWill Keep Supporters Engaged Year-Round

Camp Nubar’s private, spring fed lake gives campers the chance to participate in various watersports.

Campers create arts and crafts projects at classes.

Staff and campers representing six countries gather together in front of Camp Nubar’s state-of-the-art facilities.

Horesback riding on the trails becomes one of campers’ favorite activities.

NEW YORK — Robert Odabashian ofBellmore, NY, decided it was time to commem-orate the memory of his cousin, Carl Bedigian,a Fire Department City of New York (FDNY)first responder who heroically lost his life onSeptember 11, 2001, helping others at the siteof the Twin Towers, now known as GroundZero.Odabashian decided to dedicate the red

maple tree, which he planted in front of hishouse to Bedigian, a tree he had first planted11 years ago.Bedigian 32, was a Queens resident, and had

only been married for nine months when he

lost his life. A former New York TransitAuthority worker, he had changed careersand served as a New York firefighter for eightyears at that point, according to his brother,Joseph Bedigian.“Carl was a member of Company 214, sta-

tioned out of Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn,” he said. “Heresponded to the Twin Towers disaster and wenever heard from him again.”Eventually his body was found along with five

other members of his company in the WorldTrade Center lobby.A small ceremony was held on Monday,

September 10, in front of Odabashian’s Williams

Court home. Family and local politicians, includ-ing Legislator David Denenberg (D-Merrick) andTown Councilwoman Angie Cullin, gatheredaround the red maple tree, decorated withAmerican flags and a plaque.Fr. Valentine Rebello, of Saint Barnabas

the Apostle Roman Catholic Church ofBellmore, recited a prayer in the name of Bedigianand all those who lost their lives on September 11,and anointed the tree with holy water.

Amidst tears, Delores Bedigian, CarlBedigian’s mother and a Brooklyn resident,recalled her son’s memory. She was deeplytouched by the ceremony.“It was beautiful today, it really was,” she

said. “It was so touching and very, very nice.”Robert Odabashian said, “Carl was a brave

person for what he did. All firefighters, lawenforcement ...each day they put their lives atrisk for us.”

9S A T U R D A Y, S E P T E M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 2 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R

COMMUNITY NEWS

TROY, N.Y. — A monument dedicated to the ArmenianGenocide victims of 1915 will be erected in one of the parkshere. Mayor Lou Rosamilia confirmed that the ArmenianHeritage Memorial would be placed on the previously-conse-crated place. The memorial will reflect the positive contribu-tions that the Armenian community has made to Troy andthe capital region, the Troy Record reports.Pastors Bedros Shetilian and Stepanos Doudoukjian had

consecrated the place last December, where the memorial willbe erected after the park is renovated.While there had been previous reservations, at the end of

last week, Armenian Genocide Memorial MonumentCommittee Co-chair Ralph Enokian was contacted byRosamilia and informed that the Armenian HeritageMemorial would be placed on the previously-consecratedground north of the Vietnam Memorial. The memorial will becreated and installed by Grethen-Cahringer Memorials ofLansingburgh.The decision comes after years of tension between the city

and the committee.“There have been years of work to make this memorial a

reality,” said County Legislator Harry Tutunjian, who repre-sents the city of Troy on the legislature.The memorial effort was conceived and has been spear-

headed by the Knights and Daughters of Vartan. Theyformed the Armenian Genocide Memorial MonumentCommittee in 2005, which has been working to place amemorial in the city’s vicinity, stating that Troy and its envi-rons have been the locale of the largest Armenian communi-

ty in the region.The memorial will reflect the positive contributions their

community has made to Troy and the capital region andwould serve to honor victims of the Armenian Genocide, aswell as those of all genocides. That extermination, resultingin 1 to 1.5 million Armenian deaths, caused the growth of thepresent-day Armenian community in America, including thatnow residing in and around Troy.Shortly after the committee undertook the memorial pro-

ject seven years ago, the Troy City Council passed a resolu-tion authorizing the monument, but did not specify anintended site. Yet the committee has hoped the $15,000 mon-ument would find a home in Riverfront Park, and was pre-pared to place the memorial on the northernmost end of thepark several years ago. However, then-Mayor Tutunjian urgedthem to wait, so as to more fully incorporate the memorial aspart of a $1.75-million state grant redevelopment project tar-geting the park. This delay caused tension between the groupand the city, and the committee began contemplating otherlocal parks.“We looked at Frear Park, Beman Park” and others, said

Rafi Topalian, a committee member. Those parks, due to avariety of reasons, were found unfitting by the committee.In 2010, the committee’s hopes for the memorial by the

river grew with the inclusion of the monument in the pre-liminary plans for Riverfront Park, compiled in September ofthat year. Further strengthening those hopes was the monu-ment’s inclusion in the master plan and first phase, compiledin March of last year, which was then cemented when the

mayor at the time, Tutunjian — who is an Armenian-Americanhimself — sent a letter in August giving the city administra-tion’s word that the memorial would find a place in the north-ern end of the park.In the community’s eyes, the letter guaranteed the monu-

ment would be placed in Riverfront and thus would be locat-ed in the heart of downtown and seen by the thousands thatpass through the park during the various concerts and majorcity events held there. With this understanding, lastDecember the Genocide Memorial Committee organized aground ceremony that consecrated the ground where themonument will be placed.In July, however, the new city administration under

Rosamilia, who attended the consecration ceremony, met withArmenian community leaders and put forth the possibility ofmoving the monument to Frear Park near the Oakwood neigh-borhood. The Armenian community was not pleased.“We didn’t take that too well,” Topalian said, explaining

that the ground had already been consecrated and that thecommittee considered the agreement with the previousadministration “a contract” with the city.Since the early 20th century, there has been a substantial

Armenian community in Troy and the surrounding commu-nities, a result of Armenians refugees fleeing organizedkillings during the Armenian Genocide. The Armenians thatcame to Troy in that diaspora founded the second ArmenianChurch in America, became very active in the community andso inundated a length of road across the river in Watervlietthat it became known as Little Armenia for a time.

Genocide Monument to Be Erected in Troy

John and Vivian Bedigian, Angie Cullen, Robert Odabashian, Delores Bedigian and DaveDennenberg

A poster honors Carl Bedigian

September 11 Victim, Firefighter Carl Bedigian, Is Remembered

10 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R

Arts & LivingS A T U R D A Y, S E P T E M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 2

AIWA Will Present ‘ALiterary Afternoon’ withThree Armenian-AmericanWomen WritersARLINGTON, Mass. — Three Armenian-

American women writers will discuss their workat “A Literary Afternoon” sponsored by theArmenian International Women’s Associationon Sunday afternoon, October 14, at theArmenian Cultural Foundation (ACF).Sylva Boyadjian-Haddad, founder and editor-

in-chief of Entelechy International/A Journalof Contemporary Ideas; Lola Koundakjian,curator of the Armenian Poetry Project; andSeta Terzian,author of TwoGirls fromHeliopolis, willpresent theirrecent publica-tions and dis-cuss the evolv-ing process ofcreative writingand publicationfrom their differ-ing perspec-tives.A writer and

poet, Boyadjian-Haddad is pro-fessor of English and comparative literatureat New England College in Henniker, NH.Her work has appeared in numerous literaryjournals and magazines and her collection ofpoems titled Salt (published by FinishingLine Press) was released in 2011. A native ofBeirut, Lebanon, she currently resides inConcord, NH.Koundakjian published her first collection of

poetry, The Accidental Observer, in 2011, and

her second manuscript Advise to a Poet is readyfor publication. She is the poetry editor ofArarat and has read her work in various venuesin New York, Los Angeles and Rhode Island, aswell as in Medellin, Colombia, at the 20th inter-national poetry festival. Born and raised inBeirut, she has lived in New York since 1979.

Terzian has justpublished her firstnovel, Two Girls fromHeliopolis, a bookbased on her lifegrowing up inHeliopolis, a suburbof Cairo, Egypt. Ittells the story of theArmenian communitythere, changesbrought about duringthe North AfricanCampaign of World

War II, and her subsequent immigration to theUnited States. An active participant in theArmenian community, particularly as a leaderin the Armenian Relief Society and theArmenian Renaissance Association, she residesin Dedham, Mass.The public is invited to attend the program,

which will begin at 2:30 p.m. at the ACF, 441Mystic St., Arlington, Mass. A reception andbook signing will follow the program.Further information contact AIWA at 65

Main St., Watertown, atwww.aiwainternational.org.

The White House through aLens: Photographer JoyceNaltchayan Boghosian

WASHINGTON — Joyce Naltchayan Boghosian has not only seen people and placesmost people only see on television or the news, but has captured them for posterity

through her work over several decades as aphotographer. Some of her photographs areused as illustrations in history books, whileothers may be found in the George BushPresidential Library and the institution dedi-cated to the work of his son, the George W.

Bush Presidential Library and Museum, which will open in spring 2013.She is from a well-known family of photographers, with her brothers Haik and

Neshan H. Naltchayan also working in the field.It was their father, Harry (Harout) Naltchayan, who initiated the siblings into the

world of photography. Born in Beirut, he and his brother had a photography studioand photographed prominent people, including the Lebanese president. According tohis daughter, he began working with the American embassy and after marrying cameto the US in 1958 for a safer life. He had already made some contacts with magazinessuch as National Geographic and Life, but when the Washington Post had a tem-porary opening for a photographer he started working there. His knowledge of fivelanguages, combined with an outgoing personality, led him to end up working for thePost for 35 years. He covered national news in Washington, including important

episodes of the Civil Rights movement,Watergate and presidential events,though he also traveled occasionally toplaces like the Middle East. He coveredpresidents from Dwight Eisenhower toBill Clinton and took an award-winningphotograph of four American presidentscalled the modern day Mt. Rushmore.Several decades later his daughter tooka similar historic photograph of five liv-ing presidents.Harry Naltchayan was the photogra-

pher of the 1978 National Geographicarticle, “The Proud Armenians.” Hewon many prizes, including four firstplace awards from the White HouseNews Photographers Association.

Naltchayan lent his American-born daughter, Joyce a Leica, a high-end Germancamera often used by professionals, when she went on a field trip in fifth grade. JoyceBoghosian commented, “I remember my dad taking me to art galleries and saying,look at how the artist drew his pictures. This can inspire you and give you ideas.”Boghosian continued taking pictures in high school, where she became the year-

book photographer and had an experience decisive for her future. She said, “Whatreally inspired me to take this route was that during my senior year of high school,after the Challenger space shuttle disaster [in 1986] with Christa McAuliffe, President[Ronald] Reagan came to our school to address the students. As the yearbook pho-tographer I was able to work next to photo journalists and the press corps and pho-tographed President Reagan…It really gave me the bug.”Boghosian would accompany her father on assignments to photograph celebrities,

such as Tom Cruise or Wayne Newton. She said, “I thought my dad’s job was like afront row seat. It was really exciting to see TV personalities in person and work withthem.”

see PHOTOGRAPHER, page 11

Documentary ‘OrphansOf the Genocide’ WillBe Presented atWoodbury University,With IntroductoryRemarks by DadrianBURBANK, Calif. — On September

30, at 4 p.m., the documentary film,“Orphans of the Genocide,” will bescreened at Woodbury University,Fletcher Jones FoundationAuditorium, at 7500 Glenoaks Blvd.Four-time regional Emmy Award-win-ning filmmaker Bared Maronian willpresent the broadcast version of thefilm to the public(www.armenoidteam.com). The eventis organized by Ararat-EskijianMuseum in Mission Hills.The stories of these orphans are

told by the orphans themselves,backed by expert opinion from suchscholars as Deborah Dwork and KeithWatenpaugh.“Orphans of the Genocide” tells the

story of hundreds of thousands ofArmenian Genocide orphans. It is aposthumous tribute to the memory ofthose Armenian children victimizedby the horrors of a systematic, con-certed process of annihilation and acelebration of their survival againstall odds.Maronian has made use of archival

photos and documents from theRockefeller Archive Center, DasBundesarchiv (German NationalArchives), Statens Arkiver (DanishNational Archives), the Library ofCongress, US National Archives, theArmenian Genocide Museum-Institute, Armenian GeneralBenevolent Union (AGBU) Archives,Noubarian Library, HoushamadyanArchives, ARS Archives and other pri-vate archival collections. In an exclu-sive on-camera interview, 105-year-oldAlmas Boghossian of Whitensville,Mass., tells how she became aGenocide orphan, walked fromHusseinig to Der Zor on foot and howshe was adopted by an Arab family,admitted to an Armenian orphanagein Aleppo and eventually claimed by arelative in the United States.Almas Boghossian’s grandson,

Bruce Boghossian, is the currentpresident of the American Universityof Armenia.Besides personal accounts, the doc-

umentary also examines one of thelargest orphan relief efforts ofmankind that was spearheaded by theAmerican Near East Relief Sociey(NER).Robert Wirt, a US Special Forces

Green Beret, based on his greatgrandfather Loyal Lincoln Wirt’smemoirs, tells us how Loyal Wirt wit-nessed NER’s herculean task of estab-lishing 212 orphanages for 200,000orphans scattered fromConstantinople to Aleppo,” A specialsegment is dedicated toAlexandrapole (current Gumri,Armenia), where an orphanage oncestood that housed 22,000 Genocideorphans. Another segment of the doc-umentary deals with the AntouraOrphanage in Lebanon, where 1,000Armenian orphans were stripped oftheir identity and Turkified.Independent researcher MissakKelechian and journalist Robert Fiskdelve into the details of this operationmasterminded by Jemal Pasha.

Boghosian in the Oval Office in 2005 with President George W. Bush to her side.

Sylva Boyadjian-Haddad

Lola Koundakjian

Seta Terzian

By Aram ArkunMirror-Spectator Staff

WHITE HOUSE PHOTO

White House Photography staff assistantJoyce Naltchayan with her father, Harry,and President George H.W. Bush, circa1989

The White HouseThrough a LensPHOTOGRAPHER, from page 4After high school she started working as an

intern and freelance photographer with theAlexandria Gazette Packet and FairfaxConnection newspapers and began studyingjournalism at Northern Virginia CommunityCollege. She then got an internship at theWhite House for three months, during the veryend of Reagan’s presidency in 1988, workingfor David Valdez, the photographer for the vicepresident.With a small staff, Valdez relied heavily on his

interns for filing, preparing contact sheets,ordering photos and responding to requests forphotographs. Beyond that, Boghosian wasgiven a special pass and allowed to take pic-tures of the vice president and even the presi-dent when possible. The president’s staff pho-tographers would take her on their events, let-ting her shoot from a wider angle. Boghosian’sfather already knew many of these people, butalthough he opened the door for his daughterthrough his contacts, Boghosian still had towork hard to succeed. She said, “You couldwork 12-hour days without blinking an eye inthe White House because it was so exciting andinteresting.”Boghosian had just been accepted to start

Marymount College in the winter of 1989, butwas given a difficult choice to make. Valdez hadbecome director of the White House PhotoOffice and personal photographer to the newpresident, George H. W. Bush, and askedBoghosian to stay on for the next four years asa photo staff assistant. She took night classes,but had scheduling conflicts when she had totravel on work to places like Oslo with VicePresident Dan Quayle.She said, “I couldn’t do both and chose my

job. I don’t regret it. I think though that if I didgo back to school I would study history, or, Iwould love to work in the National Archives.”Valdez had three staff photographers under

his direction. The president could meet any-where from 200 to 1,000 people a day, and theyall had to be photographed, because the WhiteHouse photography office had to document allofficial business and meetings of the presiden-cy, as well as occasional personal moments.Boghosian thus had great opportunities for

work. Not only did she continue to work withcontact sheets and files for Valdez, and handledsome of his press requests, but she also occa-sionally filled in for Quayle’s photographer.During the last two years of Bush’s presidency,Boghosian got to photograph him oftenbecause one of his photographers quit and thatposition was never filled. Boghosian said, “Inhis second term I traveled a lot with him on AirForce One. I was 23, 24 years old, and thoughtit was so cool.”She got to photograph many historic

moments, such as when Soviet PresidentMikhail Gorbachev met with Bush.When Clinton was elected as president, the

staff of the White House Photo Office largelychanged and Boghosian traveled in Europe forsix months. Upon returning to the US, shebegan freelancing for the Agence France-Presse(AFP) wire service, covering news events inWashington. AFP was known for seekingunique perspectives in its photos. A year later,they hired her as a staff photographer, with theWhite House, Capitol Hill and the Pentagon asher beat. She worked for eight years, travelingto cover Clinton in places such as Ireland,Macedonia, Kosovo and Russia.Boghosian described what this entailed: “You

look to tell a story in your pictures that news-

papers want to run (unlike working in theWhite House). Every day was a contest with APand Reuters to see who would be picked forcovers and newspapers. I had a great time beinga news photographer. It was competitive. Youwant to transmit your photo first on the wirewhile the president was still speaking. You arecompetitors but you are also good friends.When you are in Spain at a summit with 30other countries all with press corps, theAmericans then help each other out. But weeach have a job to do, with mutual respect.”Among her favorite memories of working at

AFP was traveling to King Hussein’s funeral inJordan with President Clinton. Boghosian said,“I was probably the only woman photographerthere. I think women were not per-mitted at the funeral so I had to trynot to attract attention to my being awoman there. My handlers wereaware but did not make a big dealabout it.” She covered celebrities likeElton John and Stevie Wonder play-ing together at a dinner for GreatBritain’s Prime Minister Tony Blairand photographed the historicmoment when President Clintondenied having relations with MonicaLewinsky. However one of herfavorite pictures from this period is ascene of the Vietnam Memorial inWashington in snow.Boghosian quit AFP in February

2004 to spend more time with herchildren. However, before PresidentGeorge W. Bush’s reelection cam-paign, Eric Draper, the president’sphotographer, asked her to join hisstaff, and Boghosian could not turndown such an opportunity. She cov-ered Laura Bush more and more, andtried to avoid traveling unless abso-lutely necessary. She left again in2005 to have her son Armen, butwhen he was 1 ½ years old, she wentback to work for the last two years ofthe Bush presidency as an officialWhite House photographer — one ofthe three photographers coveringthe president. She worked from 6:30a.m. to 2 p.m., covering anything taking place inthe Oval Office.Boghosian recalls that “the highlights were

getting to know the president better and feelingmore comfortable around our leader. It was aprivilege for me to be there every day, and therewere a lot of candid moments I had withPresident Bush.” Of course, she was able to con-tinue to photograph various world figures likeQueen Elizabeth or the pope. Bush wouldsometimes chide her when he saw her workinglate at night, reminding her of her children.Once he said, “let’s take this picture with TonyBlair so that Joyce can go home.” On anotheroccasion, he signed a baseball for her sonNareg’s birthday. Despite these exchanges,Boghosian noted, “The nature of photographyat the White House is not being noticeable. Youhave to decide when you want to be noticed andwhen you do not.”The Obama administration asked Boghosian

to continue. Among other things, she did anofficial portrait of Michelle Obama, and she wasonce invited to lunch with her. Boghosian said,

“It was great to watch the transition up closeand get to know the first lady and president.”However, she felt that her schedule was too tir-ing considering her family obligations anddecided to work part-time as a private photog-rapher. Boghosian has a wide base of clientsnow and does portraits for law firms and evenphotographs the occasional wedding. However,she also still works with some of her old con-tacts, including the Bush family through theBush Institute and various Washington organi-zations. She recently worked with theCorporation for Public Broadcasting at alaunch of a documentary about oppressedwomen and with the Meridian InternationalCenter in Washington.Boghosian has had the occasional encounter

with Armenians while on the job. One impor-tant occasion was a delegation of Armenianscoming to thank Reagan for America’s help dur-ing the earthquake. Valdez, knowing Boghosianwas Armenian, asked her to photograph theevent. Reagan was not available, thus President-elect George H. W. Bush took his place. Prior tothe meeting Boghosian mentioned that it wasArmenian Christmas and Bush asked her for anappropriate Armenian greeting. WhenBoghosian said, “Shnorhavor Dznunt,” heasked for something easier to say, and she sub-stituted, “Parev,” which the president used.Boghosian also photographed Frederic (Frid)Sogoyan, who presented Bush in 1990 with areplica of the bronze sculpture “ArmenianEarthquake” expressing Armenian gratitude foraid (the original is located on the north lawn ofthe American Red Cross NationalHeadquarters). She had to escort him in fromthe White House gate as he only spokeArmenian.Boghosian’s dream is to prepare a book from

her father’s photographs of Armenians aroundthe world. He used to do a slide show with

some of those photographs, and Boghosian haspermission from the Washington Post tochoose from 10,000 photographs.She thinks that it is important to document

the Armenians in Washington photographically.She said, “A lot of the older ones who built ourArmenian community are passing on. I think itis important to have this photographed. I dooccasionally take pictures at events in ourchurch of various individuals, and keep themon file.”Boghosian said she feels that she has grown

more mature as a photographer, and this makesit easier to get shots in situations where time iscritical. She said, “Now I feel that there is somuch more time, whereas before a minutewould seem too short.”She concluded, “I just want it to be known

that I felt very fortunate to have witnessed thehistory I did from 1988 to the present. I startedphotographing these events of a movement forwomen, and also just for the younger genera-tion. I feel fortunate to be invited into an eventor the White House and document it.”

T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O RS A T U R D A Y, S E P T E M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 2

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11

:ekeyan M,agov;a3in Miov;ivn Mhyr Mgrd[yan :adyraqovmp

Tekeyan Cultural Association ~ Mher Megerdchian Theatrical Group

Join us at the

TCA Mher Megerdchian Theatrical Group

Cast Party To celebrate

LOVE & LAUGHTER

Special Honoree

Karnig Nercessian One of the founding actors of the

TCA Mher Megerdchian Theatrical Group

Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 8:00 pm St. Thomas Armenian Apostolic Church

East Clinton Ave. & Rt. 9W Tenafly, NJ 07670

$30 Donation

BYOB

For information/tickets please call Marie Zokian 201-745-8850, Maro Hajakian 201-934-3427, Noushig Atamian 718-344-7489

Michelle Obama photographed by Boghosian

WHITE HOUSE PHOTO BY JOYCE N. BOGHOSIAN

President-elect Barack Obama, President George W. Bush and former Presidents George H.W. Bush,Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter stand together in the Oval Office at the White House, January 7,2009. This is the fifth time in history that five presidents have gathered.

TALIN, Armenia — It is not uncommon inArmenia that on a warm early autumn day,adults are gathered together, chatting happilywhile the children sit on the floor playing withassorted toys smiling and laughing. Two chil-dren are making car noises; others toss a ballback and forth, while one sits quietly creatingimaginary lives for her inanimate friends. But,look closely and you will notice something dif-ferent. Unlike most social gatherings where thewomen are busy preparing coffee and tastyfoods, these women are busy making crocheteddolls wearing ancient Armenian dress. For now,a lone prototype doll and I sit, marveling at thecourageous ambitions of these women. Theirenergy makes the dolls feel just as alive as thebustling town five-stories below.Talin, a town located in Aragatsotn province

with an estimated 5,700 people, has alwaysbeen at a crossroad. Here, six women cometogether to create collectable dolls uniting thepast, present and future of Armenia. Talin, likethe rest of Armenia, is no exception to the exist-ing economic and social difficulties. For familiesin Talin, the lure of employment for both menand women was once strong. But now, with thecollapse of the Soviet Union and the closure ofmany factories, these opportunities are limitedto the most skilled laborers.Women in Armenia work mostly at home;

serving as the glue in a strong family traditionas a mother, wife and homemaker, but as theglobal economy continues to struggle, so, too,do the families of Armenia. Here, the need formultiple income families has grown without anincrease in job availability.Said one Talin native who has moved away, “I

want to move back but there is no work avail-able for my family and me.”However, for those working with Talin Dolls,

this reality is changing.Talin Dolls, like the work of so many other

great endeavors, is the result of internationalfriendship. When Brian Bokhart, currentUnited States Peace Corps Volunteer, connect-ed Gayane Khachatryan, a local Armenianwoman, with Sir Timothy Straight, the hon-orary consul for Norway and Finland inArmenia and founder of Homeland Handicrafts,no one expected a mere six months later thatTalin Dolls would be a product highly demand-ed in the market. Just as each stitch brings thecollectable doll to life, the sum of these individ-uals created a vessel for Talin Dolls to achieve

its goals — the Talin Women’s Resource CenterDevelopment Foundation (TWRC).TWRC’s work with Talin Dolls is two-fold.

They strive to create jobs for women through

the sale of hand-crocheted dolls wearing tradi-tional Armenian clothing and with the use ofprofits generated create a disabled children’sresource center in the region. This new centerseeks to identify disabled children and addresstheir needs by providing information for par-ents, training to medical staff, physiotherapy

and create a new support community for fami-lies of special needs children.In addition to giving a fuller life for the chil-

dren and families of disabled individuals in theTalin region, TWRC also strives to bridge theinformation gap among women on issues likehealth, nutrition and rights to state services forthemselves, their families and children. TWRCand Talin Dolls represents the combined efforts

of different organizations and people comingtogether to pool resources and experience tocreate something new to positively affect thefuture of women and children in Talin.Being one of the new volunteers in the

region, I have lost track of how many peoplehave told me about their hopes for Armenia,their dreams for their family and themselves. Allof this is said with the great passion and hospi-tality that comes with what it means to beArmenian. It is hard not to get swept up in thepassion of these exceptional people’s desire tohelp their families, communities and country.But the reality in regions far from Yerevan oftenmeans limited resources and a lack of informa-tion among various networks, especially thosefor children with special needs. Unfortunately,this often means many families are left alone toface the challenges of everyday living. Still,despite obstacles generated by complex busi-ness and societal inter-workings, Bokhart,Khachatryan and Straight remain steadfast intheir commitment and make this project suc-ceed.Currently, collectable dolls have been

designed for 10 ancient communities: Moush,Sasoun, Trabizon, Vaspourakan, Karin

see TALIN, page 13

S A T U R D A Y, S E P T E M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 2 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R

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12

Since its inception in 2001, TCA’s Sponsora Teacher’ program has raised over $518,000and reached out to 4,064 teachers andschool workers in Armenia and Karabagh.

� Yes, I want to sponsor teachers in Armenia and Karabagh to continuehelping them to educate the children, our future leaders. I would like to havethe teacher’s name and address.

� $160 � $ 320 � $ 480 � other $—————————

NameAddressCity State Zip codeTel:

Make check payable to: Tekeyan Cultural Association – Memo: Sponsor a Teacher 2010Mail your check with this form to:

TCA Sponsor a Teacher5326 Valverde, Houston, TX 77056

Sponsor a Teacher in Armenia and Karabagh 2012

Yourdonation is TaxDeductible.

�

Kach Nazar QuarterlyPublication’s 40thAnniversary Celebration

By Hovik Gabikian

GLENDALE — On September 30, at 6p.m., a celebration of Glendale-based KachNazar quarterly’s 40th anniversary will beheld at the Glendale High SchoolAuditorium,. Admission to the event is freeto the public.This comical/satirical publication’s

longevity reflects its significance andvirtues. The dedication of HovanesBalayan, the editor and publisher of themagazine, combined with contributionsfrom a range of writers, journalists, car-toonists and caricaturists throughout thelast 40 years have turned the magazineinto one of the most admired and success-ful humor/satire publications in theArmenian Diaspora and played an impor-tant role in the protection and preserva-tion of Armenian identity and its rich cul-tural heritage.Having maintained a distinctive and

independent style, the magazine hasserved as a key instrument for uncensoredrecognition of a vast range of social andcultural taboos, tackling political concernsand uncertainties, and at the same timeproviding an open stage for critical discus-sion of vices, flaws, problems and short-comings that exist in Armenia andthroughout the local communities of thewidespread Armenian Diaspora.Humor and parody have been used to

draw necessary attention to various criticaland controversial topics with the ultimatemotive to bring about positive improve-ments.Indeed, the intention of this publication

has not been entertaining its readers bymaking fun of society but to provide aclear and loud voice to express Armenian’sconcerns about pressing economic andsociopolitical issues through the usage ofserious, open and thought-provoking dis-cussions.In addition to his role as editor, Balayan

has been hosting the “Kach Nazar Live”TV program broadcasted weekly onGlendale’s AMGA local cable channel forseveral decades. This show exposes someof the same important topics and issuesthat appear in the magazine and involvesits thousands of loyal viewers throughopen discussions on live TV.Throughout some of his programs, for

example, Balayan has been criticizing theindifferent attitude of a privileged few tothe plight of disadvantaged masses andthose that are desperately poor in theRepublic of Armenia.At age 80, Balayan is determined to con-

tinue his mission for yet another 40 years.The Armenian community owes this figurea great debt of gratitude and a grand cele-bration.

Talin Dolls: Crocheting for Change

Working on the Talin Dolls

Some of the dolls

DARON TITIZIAN PHOTO

DARON TITIZIAN PHOTO

Crocheting for ChangeTALIN, from page 12(Erzroum), Zeytoun, Sebastia, Khotorjour,Artsakh and Van. While the dolls themselvesare collectors’ items for people of Armeniandecent to reconnect to the lost regions ofArmenia, for the artisans, the dolls providemuch more. They offer skilled women theopportunity to provide a steady income for theirfamilies. By selling only 10 dolls, a woman canafford the monthly utility payments for herhome. By selling upwards of 20 dolls, a womancan afford to feed a family of four for a month.With the income from Talin Dolls, TWRC willbe able to help disabled children and their fam-ilies who often struggle in private to providebetter care for their loved ones. With the suc-cess of the Talin Doll project, TWRC hopes toalso hire a regular driver to connect more chil-dren from the surrounding communities withthe resource center.Today, the women of Talin work to transfer

love of country, community and family intoeach of the finished Armenian dolls. Throughthe Indiegogo campaign (hyperlink) for TalinDolls, the women hope to expand their collec-tion through requests for Armenian districts

not yet represented among the original ten. Thepossibilities are endless for this budding pro-ject. No sooner had Straight left Talin with thefirst 10 collectables, than someone approachedhim in a Yerevan cafe to purchase a doll beforeofficial photographs, let alone sales, had start-ed. The women working with the Talin Dollsproject embody the true spirit of Armenia —where, despite a difficult past and an uncertainfuture, the permeating message is one of hope,family and positivity about the direction of boththeir project and country.Bokhart, Khachatryan and Straight have

done something special for Talin. Not only havethey created a community for women, but theyhave also tapped into the pride of the Armenianpeople — allowing women to renew their hopesand aspirations to merge traditional values withthe reality of a never ending list of family needs.The women of TWRC are working to com-

plete all orders for mailing by December 1, withthe plans for all dolls to arrive to their newhomes by Christmas.For more information regarding the project,

women, how to purchase a doll, visit talin-dolls.com.

(Published with permission from theArmenian Weekly.)

S A T U R D A Y, S E P T E M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 2 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R 13

ARTS & LIVING

NNOOVVEEMMBBEERR 1177 —— HHaaiiggaazziiaann UUnniivveerrssiittyy TTrruusstteeeess BBaannqquueett iinnHHoonnoorr ooff JJooyyccee PPhhiilliibboossiiaann SStteeiinn,, EEll lliiss IIssllaanndd hhoonnoorreeee,, SheratonUniversal Ballroom, Los Angeles. Social hour, 6 p.m., dinner, 7 p.m.For more information, call (323) 456-8031 or joyceabdu-lian@gmail.com.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 44 —— DDrr.. TTaanneerr AAkkççaamm lleeccttuurree aatt HHaarrvvaarrdd KKeennnneeddyySScchhooooll,, 4 p.m., Star Auditorium, Belfer Building, second floor.Akçam is the Robert Aram, Marianne Kaloosdian and StephenMarion Mugar Chair in Armenian Genocide Studies, Department ofHistory, Clark University.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 1122--1133 —— SStt.. JJaammeess AArrmmeenniiaann CChhuurrcchh AAnnnnuuaall BBaazzaaaarr..Friday and Saturday,10 a.m. to 9 p.m. St. James Charles MosesianCultural and Youth Center, 465 Mt. Auburn St., Watertown. DeliciousArmenian food, delicacies and pastries. Vendor booths, attic trea-sures, silent auction and more. Raffles, including the $100 raffle,apple raffle and $2 raffle. Kidzone including pumpkin decorating,games, clown/balloon animals. For information, call (617) 923-8860or e-mail info@sthagop.com.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 1133 —— SSaayyaatt NNoovvaa DDaannccee CCoommppaannyy,, NNoorr tthh AAmmeerriiccaa’’sslleeaaddiinngg AArrmmeenniiaann ddaannccee ccoommppaannyy,, ppeerr ffoorrmmss ““JJoouurrnneeyy TThhrroouugghhTTiimmee”” presented by Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church ofWorcester, 3 p.m. at North High School, 140 Harrington Way,Worcester. Tickets are $35 and $15 for children, 12 and under. Fortickets or more info, call (508) 770-1124 or (508) 754-1039.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 1166--2255 —— MMuurriieell MMiirraakk--WWeeiissssbbaacchh bbooookk pprreesseennttaattiioonn ofMadmen at the Helm: Pathology and Politics in the Arab Spring, onfour dates:• OCTOBER 16 — with panel discussion with Prof. Roger Owen,author of The Rise and Fall of Arab Presidents for Life. This programis presented as part of the Partners in Public Dialogue program at OldSouth Meeting House, 310 Washington St., Boston, Tuesday, 6:30p.m. For more information, contact info@osmh.org or call (618) 482-6439;• OCTOBER 18 — BookEnds, 559 Main St., Winchester, Thursday, 7p.m. For information, (781) 721-5933 orwww.bookendswinchester.com;• OCTOBER 21 — Armenian Cultural Foundation, 441 Mystic St.,Arlington, Sunday, 3 p.m. For information, (781) 646-3090; and• OCTOBER 25 — Robbins Public Library, 700 Mass. Ave., Arlington,Thursday, 7 p.m.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 2255 —— KK.. GGeeoorrggee aanndd CCaarroollaannnn SS.. NNaajjaarriiaann EEnnddoowweeddLLeeccttuurree oonn HHuummaann RRiigghhttss.. SSppeeaakkeerr:: AAmmbbaassssaaddoorr EEddwwaarrdd PP..DDjjeerreejjiiaann,, founding director, James A. Baker III Institute for PublicPolicy, Rice University and former US ambassador to Israel (1992-1994) and the Syrian Arab Republic (1988-1991). Faneuil Hall,Boston. Thursday, 7 p.m. An endowed public program of ArmenianHeritage Park. Free and open to the public.

OOCCTTOOBBEERR 2211 —— HHyyee DDoooonn ((AArrmmeenniiaann AAmmeerriiccaann SSuuppppoorr tt aannddEEdduuccaattiioonnaall CCeenntteerr)),, 3355tthh AAnnnniivveerrssaarryy CCeelleebbrraattiioonn, with the par-

ticipation of Akh’Tamar Dance Ensemble of the Hye Doon, ArevArmenian Folk Ensemble of Hamazkayin of Boston, Sunday, 3:45p.m. Bergen County Academics, 200 Hackensack, NJ 07601. All netproceeds to benefit the Hovnanian Armenian School. Tickets: $50,$35 and $25. For tickets, call Sonya Bekarian, (201) 315-5916; JuliyetTabibian, (201) 233-0326; Nivart Arslan, (201) 475-0224; MaralKalishian, (845) 729-1888; Maral Kaprielian, (201) 289-6486; LinaBakhtiarian, (732) 299-1120; Linda Gezdir, (201) 394-6310 or theschool, (201) 967-5940.

NNOOVVEEMMBBEERR 1177--1188 —— MMuussiiccaall tthheeaatteerr pprreesseennttaattiioonn bbyy TTCCAA MMhheerrMMeeggeerrddcchhiiaann TThheeaattrriiccaall GGrroouupp,, YYeerrvvaanntt OOddiiaann’’ss ““LLoovvee aannddLLaauugghhtteerr”” (Ser yev Dzidzagh), directed by Krikor Satamian, withmore than 20 actors participating. Dwight Englewood High School,Englewood Cliffs, 8 p.m., Saturday and 4 p.m., Sunday. $25, $35,$50. For tickets, call Marie Zokian or Noushig Atamian.

NNOOVVEEMMBBEERR 1188 —— JJooiinn tthhee TTCCAA MMhheerr MMeeggeerrddcchhiiaann TThheeaattrriiccaallGGrroouupp CCaasstt PPaarr ttyy ttoo cceelleebbrraattee ““LLoovvee aanndd LLaauugghhtteerr..”” Special hon-oree, Karnig Nercessian, one of the founding members of the TCAMher Megerdchian Theatrical Group. St. Thomas Armenian Church,East Clinton Ave. & 9W, Tenafly. 8 p.m. Donation: $30. BYOB. Fortickets, call Marie Zokian (201) 745-8850, Maro Hajakian (201) 934-3427 or Noushig Atamian (718) 344-5582.

CC AA L E N D A RL E N D A R

On Thursday, October 4, at 4 p.m., Dr. TanerAkçam, the Robert Aram, MarianneKaloosdian and Stephen Marion Mugar Chairin Armenian Genocide Studies, Department ofHistory, at Clark University, Worcester, Mass.,will deliver a lecture at Harvard KennedySchool, Star Auditorium, in the Belfer Building,second floor, in Cambridge, Mass.

CALIFORNIA

MASSACHUSETTS

NEW JERSEY Entertainment Fridaysand Saturdays

Some of the dolls

An Ode toEastern Lamejunfrom Logan I am visitingmy brother George in New Mexicoand they call me out of the linenear the airport gatestern-faced security people bring meto a room where my suitcase waitsin a monotone one saysour drug detection dogpulled your bagwe have never seen it so excitedand this dog has never been wrongthe monotone continues Fred, bring onBoboand I expecta huge German shepherdor a Weirmaraner or a Dobermanand in comes in a portly sort of Beaglethat’s absolutely thrilled to see my suit-case

–Michael CaseyAndover, MA

DARON TITIZIAN PHOTO

14 S A T U R D A Y, S E P T E M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 2 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R

COMMENTARY

By Edmond Y. Azadian

Armenian culture has been favorably impacted by French cul-ture, especially in the West. Armenians have recognized that factand have been appreciative of the influence, which dates backmany centuries.

There is an inherent affinity between the two nations, as far asculture is concerned. But when it comes to politics, that specialrelationship disappears. Armenians have incorrectly assumed thatthe cultural affinity is a substitute for political support or coopera-tion, and they have been disappointed bitterly time and again.

The Armenian-French relations go back to the Middle Ages whenFrench conquerors invaded the Middle East with the Crusaders towrench the Holy Land away from Muslims and claim it in the nameof Christianity. The Armenian principalities in Cilicia became acces-sories to those European imperialistic invasions, ultimately to theirown detriment; when the Crusades failed or faded, the Armenianswere left to their own devices, unable to defend their kingdom.

Indeed, when the Egyptian Mamluk rulers overran Cilicia in1375 and kidnapped its King Leo VI, ending a 300-year-old king-dom, neither the Crusaders nor the French came to defend theirArmenian allies. Granted, France belatedly obliged to pay a ransomto the Mamluks to buy the king’s freedom, hosting him in Franceuntil his death, mainly because they considered King Leo VILousignan to be of French lineage.

The most blatant betrayal was in the 20th century, again inCilicia. The Allies — especially the French — during World War Irecruited some 5,000 Armenian volunteers as part of the EasternLegion, to fight the most crucial battles of Arara, in Palestine,promising home rule in Cilicia to the Armenians under a Frenchprotectorate. But when the Ottoman army collapsed and Ciliciawas liberated, the Armenian volunteers were disarmed and theFrench government brokered a deal with the emerging Kemalistmovement behind the back of the Cilician Armenians who hadreturned to their homes after the deportations of 1915. The Frenchabandoned Cilicia and its population — literally in the middle of thenight in November 1921 — and retreated in a cowardly manner.

When former French President Nicholas Sarkozy moved throughthe French Senate the law criminalizing the denial of the ArmenianGenocide, almost identical to the Gaysot law criminalizing thedenial of the Jewish Holocaust, Armenians were tempted to believethat finally the French were making amends for their monumentalbetrayal of the Armenians in Cilicia. But that turned out to beanother deception, since Mr. Sarkozy was slow to sign the resolu-tion into law, while the opposition was recruiting members of theparliament to take the resolution to the Constitutional Court.Having full knowledge of the gathering storm, he failed to use hisprerogative before the measure was brought to the ConstitutionalCourt, which rendered an unfavorable decision. Mr. Sarkozy didnot put his money where his mouth was.

Enter candidate François Hollande — the prospect seemed morepromising because he had pledged to use such a tight legal frame-work that the resolution would become fail proof.

The pledge is still on the table but there are already ominoussigns that his pledge may not go beyond election rhetoric. This col-umn had already made reference to an interview in the French mag-azine Express by the new French Foreign Minister Laurant Fabiuswho stated that the newly-elected Hollande was searching for a wayto balance a policy of accommodating Turkey while keeping hispledge to the large and loud French-Armenian community.

These days Mr. Hollande and his prime minister are busy dedi-cating museums and monuments throughout France. OnSeptember 21, he was in Drancy, a city north of Paris, which wasthe site of the major transit camp for Jews being deported to deathcamps. “Our work is no longer about establishing the truth,” saidMr. Hollande at the Drancy Shoah memorial. “Today, our work isto transmit. That is the spirit of this memorial. Transmission —

there resides the future of remembrance.”In 2005, a larger Holocaust Museum had opened in 2005 in cen-

tral Paris. A new memorial is being inaugurated at the center ofthe Cité de la Muette. Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault inaugurat-ed a similar memorial in Aix-en-Provence last month.

All these memorials demonstrate that the new French presidentand his government are sensitive to human suffering and loss of lifethrough the organized actions of brutal rulers. The only thingremains to be seen if the Armenian losses are also counted ashuman suffering.

Mr. Hollande went further than his predecessors in defendingthe dignity of human life; former President François Mitterrandhad acknowledged a general French role in the detentions anddeportations of the Jews during World War II, whereas PresidentJacques Chirac had taken a step further in a speech in 1995acknowledging “collective wrongdoing.” Mr. Hollande went all theway by admitting “a crime committed by France.”

Most French attribute that crime to Marshall Petin, whose gov-ernment in Vichy collaborated with the occupying Nazi forces.(Incidentally, several French-Armenians were leaders and/or fear-less members of the French Underground battling the Vichy gov-ernment and Nazis. The most famous in that group is MissakManouchian, who led the legendary eponymous group.)

Besides commemorating Jewish losses in France, Mr. Hollandehas also demonstrated moral courage to take positive action;indeed, last August he stripped the British fashion designer and for-mer creative director of Dior, John Galliano, of the Legion of Honorhe had received in 2009. Mr. Galliano was found guilty in 2011 ofmaking anti-Semitic remarks.

All these actions indicate that we are dealing with a statesmanof solid moral fiber when it comes to upholding human dignity. Thequestion remains if those qualities are applied selectively to onegroup only.

A recent roundtable discussion in Paris casts some doubt,whether those principles are impacted by political tides or consid-erations. The discussions were held in Paris by BosphorousUniversity to analyze the law criminalizing the Armenian Genocide.Participants of the roundtable included Elizabeth Guigou, presi-dent of the Foreign Relations Committee of the French Parliament;Jacques Lang, former education culture minister of France, and for-mer foreign minister of Turkey, Yasar Yakis.

Any symposium or roundtable discussion may be confined to thelevel of academic discourse, but when the participants are currentlegislators or former statesmen, the format takes a different dimen-sion, with serious political ramifications. Ms. Guigou has statedthat the Constitutional Court has considered the law criminalizingthe Genocide denial without legal foundation. She continued herstatement by adding: “Although President Hollande is very sensi-tive to the issue of this draft law, it is very improbable that he maytake a new initiative since the Constitutional Court has refuted itslegal premise.” Mr. Lang also endorsed the same view. The Turkishrepresentative cautioned against the deterioration of French-Turkish relations. Then, he magnanimously added that the law notonly damages French-Turkish relations, but will also jeopardizeArmenian-Turkish relations.

Turkologist Hagop Chakerian, reporting about the above round-table discussion, in the daily Azg of Yerevan concluded by stating:“The law may damage French-Turkish relations, but it cannot dam-age Armenian-Turkish relations, because there are none.”

Since his election, Mr. Hollande has yet to address his pledge onthe Genocide law. But all these developments and statements donot augur well for the prospects of adopting the law. If it is a crimeto deny the Holocaust in France there is no easy way to reason inany other fashion, that it is a crime to deny the Armenian Genocide.Only political expediency, rather than any legal premise can derailthe law against denying the Armenian Genocide.

Only time will tell how extensive Mr. Hollande’s moral fortitude is.Perhaps it is not fair to jump to early conclusions, but all indica-

tions point to a French betrayal in the making, once again.

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Is Another French Betrayal in the Offing?COMMENTARY

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By Marc Mamigonian

The founding chairman of the NationalAssociation for Armenian Studies andResearch (NAASR), Manoog S. Young, passedaway July 3, 2012, a few months shy of his95th birthday. He is mourned by his familyand friends, recognizing that Manoog lived aproductive, long life. He was a founder and thelong-serving (1955-2001) board chairman ofthe National Association for Armenian Studiesand Research (NAASR).

On Thursday, October 4, at 7:30 p.m., twodays shy of what would have been Manoog’s

95th birthday, NAASR will welcome all whowish to gather to remember and honor ManoogYoung’s life and work. We hope that theArmenian community will come and join withus in looking back, remembering and honoringa man who worked tirelessly towards worthygoals. In addition, a fund has been establishedin his name — because no one understood bet-ter than Manoog that nothing gets done with-out money. We hope that those who value theimportance of Armenian Studies will give inorder to make possible the continuation of thatwork — work that is never finished.

As NAASR’s director of academic affairs, Iacknowledge that I am not necessarily anobjective voice on Manoog. He hired me back

in 1998, for which I remain grateful. I workeddirectly for him for four years: I regard that asno small accomplishment, since he was,famously, not the easiest person in the worldto work for. Some who read this will under-stand what this means; others can work it outfor themselves.

Whether or not Manoog was easy to workfor or with, there is no question of hisunswerving dedication to the ideals and thegoals of NAASR. These ideals and goals can besummarized as: Armenian history and culturein all its forms are subjects worthy of study notonly by Armenians but also by the larger scholarly world; this work should be carried out at

continued on next page

Let’s Honor Manoog Young by Continuing His Quest

S A T U R D A Y, S E P T E M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 2 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R 15

COMMENTARY

Azeri and Turkish-AmericanGroups Denigrate US-ArmenianExecutive

Four Azeri and Turkish-American organizationslaunched a coordinated anti-Armenian campaign last week,attacking the integrity of Mark Hoplamazian, chief execu-tive officer of Hyatt Hotels Corporation, in order to intimi-date him and other Armenian-American executives.

In a letter to Thomas Pritzker, executive chairman ofHyatt Board of Directors, leaders of the Assembly ofTurkish-American Associations (ATAA), Azerbaijani-American Council (AAC), Federation of Turkish-AmericanAssociations (FTAA) and Azerbaijan Society of America(ASA) accused Hoplamazian of involvement in “ethnic pro-paganda campaigns.”

The Azeri and Turkish groups attacked Hoplamazian forspeaking at the September 22 banquet of “the ArmenianAssembly of America (AAA), an Armenian-American lobby-ing group, as a Hyatt executive.” They also expressed theirunhappiness that he “serves on the Advisory Board of‘Facing History and Ourselves,’ a non-profit group that‘teaches about the Armenian genocide.’”

The four Turkic organizations claimed that “Mr.Hoplamazian’s engagement with ethnic special interest

groups that spread antagonisms against Turkey andAzerbaijan may be in violation of the Conflicts of Interestclause of Hyatt’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics.”However, a review of the hotel chain’s code, posted on itswebsite, does not provide the slightest hint that the Hyattexecutive violated any of its provisions.

In their letter, the Azeri and Turkish groups made aseries of malicious statements by referring to the ArmenianGenocide as an “allegation” and “World War I-era inter-communal atrocities.” They falsely alleged that these“atrocities” were “never tried in any tribunal and no intentto exterminate Armenians was ever established. No sen-tences or court verdicts were issued in terms of the 1948United Nations Convention on Prevention and Punishmentof Genocide.”

By making such ridiculous claims, the leaders of theseTurkic organizations simply exposed their ignorance of thebasic facts of the Armenian Genocide. They convenientlyforgot about the Turkish Military Tribunals of 1919 thatsentenced the Turkish ringleaders of the ArmenianGenocide to death. US, Swiss and Argentinean FederalCourts have also reaffirmed the veracity of the ArmenianGenocide. Furthermore, the UN Sub-Commission onPrevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minoritiesadopted in 1985 a report classifying the ArmenianGenocide as an example of genocide.

The Azeri and Turkish groups also claimed that they rep-resent “over half million Americans of Turkic descent.” Thiscannot be true simply because there aren’t that manyTurkic people living in the United States, according to thelatest US census. Even if there were half a million TurkicAmericans, it is highly doubtful if all of them would havegiven their consent to be represented by these organiza-tions for such absurd misadventures. Most probably, thesefour groups altogether have a tiny fraction of the con-stituencies they claim!

Clearly, the faulty statements and silly accusations of theseTurkic groups are intended to intimidate Hoplamazian andforce him to disengage from any involvement in Armenian orgenocide-related issues. More ominously, by targeting andmaking an example of the Hyatt CEO, Azeri and Turkishgroups hope to discourage other Armenian-American execu-tives from pursuing similar activities.

In their joint letter, the Azeri and Turkish groups haveindirectly threatened Hyatt’s corporate interests by indicat-ing that the company “currently runs a total of four suc-cessful hotels in Istanbul, Turkey and Baku, Azerbaijan.”One wonders if the governments of Azerbaijan and Turkeyhave authorized these two-bit groups to speak on theirbehalf. Moreover, do these organizations realize that they areundermining the business interests of their native countriesby foolishly threatening a global corporation like Hyatt?

It would be highly regrettable if the unwise Azeri andTurkish campaign against prominent Armenian-Americanexecutives would start an undesirable chain of events thatcould lead the Armenian community to take counter-actions against successful Turkish-American businessmen,such as Muhtar Kent, chairman and CEO of Coca ColaCompany.

The Azeri-Turkish letter is highly unlikely to bring anytangible benefits to these groups, as Hyatt’s Board ofDirectors would most probably dismiss their baseless alle-gations. More importantly, such a racist assault on theintegrity of an exemplary Armenian-American executivewould energize Armenians on the eve of the 100th anniver-sary of the Genocide to pursue more vigorously their justdemands from both Turkey and Azerbaijan!

Lastly, it is outrageous that these Azeri and Turkishgroupings kept totally silent when an Azeri officer axed todeath a sleeping Armenian in Budapest, but are nowalarmed when an Armenian-American CEO exercises hisright to free speech in Beverly Hills!

My TurnBy Harut Sassounian

By Nubar Dorian

Poor Homeland! She missed another opportunity. Theleadership is so involved in intrigue, partisanship andinfighting that it failed to consider a proclamation to inviteall Syrian Armenians to their ancestral home to settle andinvite the world Armenians to help finance this importantundertaking. The diaspora world have gladly not only wel-comed it, but would have played an important role in mak-ing this endeavor a success.

Unfortunately, Armenia slept through it all. Granted thatsuch an undertaking would have required good planning,leadership and unified action, it would have brought admi-ration, gratitude not only to the more than 60,000Armenians, but pride and praise to all Armenians acrossthe world, as well as closer ties and unity. Armenia’s car-ing love would have given Syrian Armenians not just aplace, but a homeland that invites them, needs them, caresfor them.

If nothing else, this invitation would have helped mini-mize the pain that caused the tragedy of hundreds of thou-sands of Homeland Armenians leaving the homeland toseek better lives elsewhere. This exodus was the mostshameful, AND most tragic event in the history of inde-pendent Armenia since it has been deprived of a hugenumber of brains, muscles, love and caring. Instead ofaction, the Syrian-Armenians heard some speeches, emptydeclarations and some talk about helping educate smallchildren.

The Syrian Armenians are well educated, but citizens oftheir adopted Syria after the Genocide. Syria has benefit-ed from their ability, creativity and intelligence. They heldimportant positions as educators, professionals and espe-cially their good citizenship. With Syria in great turmoil,confusion of an uncertain future leaves Armenians nochoice but to seek security, happiness and comfort inother lands. With no warm, sincere inhibition from home-land they will be forced to leave hearth and home and iflucky become Diaspora Armenians.

In spite of all the problems and difficulty, Armeniansshould have had a “Welcome Home” drive and askedDiaspora Armenians to help in this honorable and nec-essary plan. Armenians worldwide would have gladlytaken the opportunity to help. True, His HolinessSupreme Patriarch of All Armenians ask all churches topass a plate collection for financial help to SyrianArmenians. The appeal’s few dollars was a pittance andpitiful. Armenia missed another opportunity to actmaturely, lovingly, wisely and well. This was the shame

of the Sargisian’s government.The Syrian Armenians eventually will settle somewhere

else and join the Diaspora Armenians. Just like us, theywill forget the Armenian language and literature, becomecitizens of another country, send their children to learn,speak, talk the language of their adopted country and willbe forced to live just like their neighbors and become justlike us — Diaspora Armenians, the majority of whom willsay farewell to the Armenian language, literature, newspa-pers, books, traditions. Tragically, they will reduce ournumbers still more.

Based on what has happened since Armenia’s indepen-dence, Diaspora Armenians do not expect miracles anytime soon, but are extremely disappointed. From experi-ence, they have learned that dreams about making newplans are unimportant, an illusion. Only results count. Itseems the governing body of Armenia have cloaked them-selves in a blanket of words and promises. The agony ofdream making and promising better times here hasbecome their permanent trademark.

With the exception of a few billionaires and a consider-able number of millionaires — where money making is sus-pect — the majority of Homeland Armenians dream of theSoviet Era which in itself reveals conditions under whichArmenian precisely live. Impressing tourists by directingthem to a few blocks of Yerevan with opulence, lights, five-star hotels or bars or high- class shops and boutiques can-not and will never hide the abject poverty, suffering anddesire to find ways to get out of Armenia.

It seems like paganism to fall on our knees and ask prov-idence, all our saints and martyrs to keep our cause alive,demand our lands and homes from Turkey and keepArmenia safe and strong when Armenia is no longer mak-ing us dreamers. Instead, we are witnesses to internalpower struggles, disunity and desire to leave the home-land. The answer lies in Armenia coming to her senses.President Sargisian must sound an alarm, invite all presi-dents of our political parties to an urgent conference tohopefully and carefully review the situation with unifiedefforts, spirit and will to decide to unite and work togeth-er and publish a proclamation to world Armenians that onthe 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Armeniawill have no more than two political parties and democra-tically govern Armenia. This is doable and reasonable andjust. The universe will then realize that Armenians inhomeland has come to maturity, govern democraticallyand well, and there will be warm welcome to any Armeniananywhere who wishes to return to the homeland.

(Nubar Dorian is a resident of Cliffside, NJ. He is activein the community, including as a Diocesan Delegate.)

Missed OpportunityLet’s Honor Young byContinuing Quest from previous pageleading universities and colleges by top-level scholars; and thatthere is a need to support and disseminate to the wider pub-lic scholarship in Armenian Studies.

Manoog Young was not the first person to recognize theseideals or pursue these goals, nor was he alone in creating anentity, NAASR, that would lead to their institutionalization.The names of Richard N. Frye, who more than anyone else pro-vided the catalyst to the creation of NAASR in the first place,and those of Thomas T. Amirian and Arra S. Avakian, whojoined with Manoog as the first three founders of NAASR, espe-cially must be remembered, as well as the other men andwomen who became founding members in 1955, not to men-tion all who served as volunteers, Board members and staffthrough the decades. But I think it was Manoog’s tenacity thatled to NAASR’s success, the creation of the Harvard chair inArmenian studies and the establishment of other ArmenianStudies chairs and programs in the US. Prof. Robert W.Thomson, who in 1969 became the first occupant of Harvard’sMashtots chair, wrote recently: “Programs of Armenian Studiesare expanding like ripples in a pool, but the stone that causedthose ripples was cast by Manoog Young. And these ever-widen-ing ripples are now reaching successive generations.”

Unfortunately, but inevitably, time passes and people forgetthings. (One might say it is precisely for that reason that therewas a need for NAASR in the first place.) Manoog has passedon now. NAASR has existed for nearly 60 years. Numerousother Armenian chairs and programs have been established byvarious entities and philanthropic individuals. There are nolonger so many people who remember that things have notalways been as they are — that not so long ago there were nomore than a handful of worthwhile books on Armenian sub-jects in English, that there were no Armenian chairs, therewere not regular lectures by scholars and writers, there werenot places to carry out research.

Manoog lived a long life: long enough to see NAASR makethe transition to new leadership and the institution as well asthe field of Armenian studies develop and mature in ways thatcould not have been foreseen; and long enough to see thealmost unimaginable achievements hoped for in NAASR’searly days become facts of life and, indeed, taken for granted.

It may be that all that came to pass would have happenedwithout Manoog Young. Maybe, but I doubt it. We are all ben-eficiaries of his hard work and dedication, and we all owe himand the other farsighted men and women who worked withhim, an enormous debt. The debt cannot be repaid but by oneway: by remembering and by carrying on the work.

(Marc A. Mamigonian is director of academic affairs at NAASR and vice president of the

Society for Armenian Studies.)

ANNIVERSARY, from page 1and enduring. The United States is firmly com-mitted to supporting Armenia’s continued eco-nomic development and democratization, andlooks forward to enhancing our close partner-ship even further in the years to come. … Wedeeply appreciate Armenia’s contributions tointernational security efforts in Afghanistanand Kosovo, where brave Armenian soldiersserve with American forces in NATO missions.”

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issueda similar statement on the occasion. “This is aspecial occasion to honor the achievements ofArmenians and those of Armenian descent,”she said. “In the United States, Armenian-Americans have enriched the fabric of our soci-ety, further strengthening the longstandingbonds of friendship between our two coun-tries.”

“I had the opportunity to once again experi-ence the warm hospitality of the Armenian peo-ple when I visited Yerevan this past June,” readthe statement. “As I said then, America is com-mitted to helping Armenia strengthen its demo-

cratic institutions, deepen its economic reforms,and foster a future of peace and prosperity.”

“As you celebrate 21 years of independence,know that the United States stands withArmenia as a partner and friend,” addedClinton.

During the June trip, Clinton praised theArmenian authorities’ handling of parliamen-tary elections held in May and their efforts toimprove the domestic business environment. Ina further boost to Sargisian, she again endorsedofficial Yerevan’s view that Turkey should stoplinking parliamentary ratification of US-bro-kered normalization agreements, signed withArmenia in 2009, to a resolution of the(Artsakh) Nagorno-Karabagh conflict.

Sargisian, for his part, reaffirmed his com-mitment to expanding relations with the UnitedStates “in all areas.” He told Clinton that US-Armenian ties have already have “reached thehighest point in history.”

Sargisian referred to America as his country’s“traditional and sincere friend” when he metwith a visiting U.S. congressman in Yerevan ear-lier this month.

US Ambassador to Armenia John Hefferncongratulated Armenians on IndependenceDay.

“Armenia Independence Day today.Congratulations on 21 years of independence.fireworks tonite?” he wrote on Twitter.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), a member of theArmenian Caucus, in a statement said, “I rejoicewith the dynamic Armenian community that Irepresent and proudly say OorakhAngakhootyan Or. Congratulations to the peo-ple of Armenia, to Armenians in America andaround the world on this joyous day. The roadto independence has not always been easy forthis nation, but time has proven that Armeniansare survivors — survivors of foreign dominationand survivors of the first genocide of the 20thcentury. And to this day, Armenian-Americanscontinue to illustrate what a valuable asset theyare to our society, breaking new ground eco-nomically, socially and politically in Californiaand across the nation.”

He continued, “Over the years, I have beenprivileged to work with many individuals in theArmenian community to end our government’stragic failure to recognize the Armenian geno-cide, ensure the victims receive just compensa-tion, and secure aid for Armenia and NagornoKarabagh.

French President François Hollande issued acongratulatory note to his Armenian counter-

part. He said, in part, “I am delighted to sendbest wishes to you and Armenian people on theoccasion of the national holiday. Armenia maybe proud of the road it passed after it gainedindependence, of the democratic progress andprosperity, whilst strengthening its positions ininternational arena. I stand ready to continuethe mission started 20 years ago, aimed atestablishment of French-Armenian relations inall the fields.”

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenkocongratulated Sargisian, saying, “Belarus givesa high assessment to its relations with Armenia,which are anchored in mutual respect andstrategic cooperation. I am confident that theArmenian-Belarusian cooperation will developin the future as well.”

Separately, Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said ofOman sent a congratulatory message toSargisian. The Sultan congratulated andextended his sincere wishes to the presidentand people of Armenia, the Oman Observerreports.

Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah ofKuwait likewise sent a congratulatory letter toSargisian.

(PanArmenian.net and news.am contributedto this report.)

S A T U R D A Y, S E P T E M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 2 T H E A R M E N I A N M I R R O R - S P E C TAT O R16

SOLD OUT

ALMA AppointsDr. Susan PattieAs New DirectorALMA, from page 1

Who Are the Armenians? (with GagikStepan Sarkissian and Maral Kerovpyan),written for 6–12-year-olds, coincidentallybears the same title as a major exhibitiondesigned and showcased at ALMA. Bothserve to present Armenian heritage and cul-ture to a broad public, Armenian and non-Armenian alike. Pattie’s most recent book,Treasured Objects: Armenians in theOttoman Empire 100 Years Ago (withVazken Davidian and Gagik StepanSarkissian) is also a serendipitous match withALMA and its rich collections.

ALMA holds the most extensive collectionof Armenian artifacts in the diaspora as wellas a large library of many valuable books.ALMA has numerous outreach programs,from curator-led tours of its galleries to trav-eling exhibitions. Pattie’s work with theArmenian Institute has also focused on rais-ing awareness of Armenian heritage and cul-ture as well as encouraging the explorationof what it means to be Armenian in the 21stcentury diaspora in all its diverse dimensions.

Pattie is married to Levon Chilingirian, vio-linist and leader of the Chilingirian Quartet,and has one son, Stepan.

Armenia Celebrates 21st on the 21st

Armenian BecomesChampion in MoscowBlitz Championship

MOSCOW (Armenpress) — AnArmenian chess player living in Russia,Grand Master Karine Hambardzumova,earned 14 out of 19 possible points andwon the title of the Moscow championin blitz chess tournament, according tothe Armenian Chess Federation.

Hambardzumova is one of the mostpromising chess players in Russia andthis was not the first time she achievedsuccess in an international chess tour-nament. Armenian Grand MasterSergey Kasparov, representing Belarus,scored 4.5 out of 6 possible points andshared the third through 10th places atthe international chess tournament,which took place in Roosendaal, theNetherlands. Kasparov surrendered tothe winner of the tournament, thegrand master representing theNetherlands, Sergey Tivyakov, with halfa point.