Got Tanks, Will Travel - April/May 1993 by Armenian International Magazine

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DOSSIER

After a winter in siege, Yerevan is a curious mixture of resignation andhope. Witha symbolic eventatthe Gallery, the artcrowd is counting its blessings; most of the 99,000 ftees chopped down for fuel are being replaced with new seedlings ; and kids are back in school-though many teachers are gone fishing and classroom desks are hard to come by. In our new monthly chronicle section,

webring the perspective upfront. COVER STORY

GOT TANKS, WILL TRAVEL t6 Is it expansionism or merely a bargaining chip? Karabakh' s latest military gains have had a considerable impact on international politics and local morale. Armenian diplomacy may prove not to be a contradiction in terms after all. SPECIAL REPORT

GLITTER

DOMES

Along with grape growers and rug merchants, Armenian jewelers are the stuff of cherished stereotypes. But there' s much complexity behind the hype, as we found out through our meetings with the great and the fallen of the industry in downtown Los Angeles, Aleppo, Kobe and elsewhere. ART

REDEFIN!NG THE PERIPHERY

In the world of big-league exhibits, territoriality and ideological contention weigh as much as the artworks themselves. Istanbul's Third lnternational Art Biennial was onefestivalpromising an altemative, as AIM's Neery Melkonian, the only Armenian critic invited to theevent, discovered.

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GOING PLAGES As we review our subscription base of the last four years, it becomes increasingly apparent that AM has friends in important (and surprising) places.

Nowhere is AIM in greater demand than with non-Armenians-from the UN to the French Defense Ministry, from the German SFB media network to the Swedish National Library. And that is as it should be. For it is increasingly evident that the urgent neednowis to sendAIM where itcanplay arole in theformation of opinion among policy makers and policy analysts. This point is driven home by the various heads of international, non-governmental agencies in Armeniawhodon'tshirkfromsaying the obvious-thattheyhave rw othersource of information on Armenia, Armenians and Karabakh than AIM. There is no other foreign media with permanent sffi in Armenia to report and interpretissues and events. Beyondmere information, thereis no otlur source which provides context-that all important key to understanding circumstances, background and significance. Some 15,000 of you----our subscribers-are proof of AIM's initial success: linking together Armenians around the world. We now need you to help us spread the word. Won't you join in AIM's efforts to intemationalize Armenian issues? Whether it's economic ministers from the Far East, or trade representatives of the Gulf states, whether it's the foreign ministers of the European Community or parliamentarians in Russia and Congressmen in Washington, they need us. To reach them, we need you. $500 for l0 or $5000 for 1 00 such gift subscriptions makes you a part of AIM'S VIP Subscriptions Fund. We have identified the potential recipients. We have even identified the potential donors-you. We'll tell you who will be receiving your gifts. And just as 807o of our current subscribers renew, we are certain they will renew on their own. And when they do, we'll let you know, so that you can share in the satisfaction of a job well

PUIL!!HlD aY

lDlloil L COXSULT il': Minas Koiaian EDIIOn EIERITU3! Charlss Nazarian At LAnOlt Tony Halpin

EDIIOB

Dlnlcron

OF OPIBATIOIt! Michasl Nahabet Vicken Babikian, Kovork lmizian, Haig Koropian, Mark Malkasian, Taline Satamian, Talins Voskeriichian COXTillulona! Artashes Emln, Yvetto Harpootian, Ani

COLlRl!UflNO lDllon3t

Klchian, Lola Koundakjian, Gllda Kupalian, Mlcha€l

Mastarciyan, Moorad Mooradian, Nancy Najarian, Ara

Oshagan, Susan Patii6, Ralli Shoubookian AiI DlilCIOBt Dicran Y. Kassouny

COnnEIPONDE1{f3! Ammrn: Ara Voskian; Am3t rdrm: Ars6n Nazarian; Brulrcla: Kevork Oskanian; Buanot Alrat: Sam Sarkissian; Chlclgo: Sonia Dsrman Harlan; lr.irolt: Simon Payaslian; London: Ani Manoukian; Montrarl: Gulizar ilorcow: Gayane Hambartzoumian; Prda: Khatchik Kechian; Sln Frunclrco: Jangt Samuelian: Sydnry: Haig Lepedjian; Vlonna: S€bouh Baghdoyan;

J.Mardirossian;

Warhlnglon: Zanku Amenian; Yaravln: Papkon Gadachik, Tlgran Xmalian

PllOlOOnlPHEBtt Amm.n: Kar6kin Ksrelian; Borlon:

Lena Sanents, fui Stamatiou; LoaAngclca: Sossi Madzounian, Kevork Djansozian; NcwJorscy: Ardem Aslanian; NawYork: Harry Koundakjian, Tony Savino; Prib: Amlnah Johannos, Alins Manoukian; Provldcnc.: Bsrge Ara Zobian; Sln Fr.n-

claco: Armen Petrossian; Ycrevan: Mkhitar Khachatrian, Zaven Khachikian, Roubon Mangasarian PIIOTO AiclllVlt?! Varant Gourdjian

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In his analysis of a compromise solution the Karabakh conflict, Tony Halpin states,

Vhat's in it for Azerbaijan? An honorable turn of lost territory."

Azerbaijan

will not lose any territory.

arabakh does notbelong to Azerbaijan; ithas ways been Armenian land until Stalin gave

away to Azerbaijani rule.

seems Mr.

alpin is not aware of the facts.

ft!;:ytrfr#t "Notes from an Impossible Front" is a

illiant photographic essay by Zaven

Land for Pcacer Tony Halpin's "Notes Froman Impossible Front" (Analysis, February) has touched on a subject so taboo in the Armenian community that I have had little success to have friends and colleagues even talk about it. This is especially true of the Diaspora, where the war is much morepopularthan in Armenia itself.

Tonyissorightinaskingthequestiononwhat important, the survival of Armenia or victory in Nagorno-Karabakh? I think it is timeforall ofus to acceptthe factthatthis war is so much like the Iran-Iraq war, and as with that war, the world either doesn't care, or is more

a clear victor. It is a recipe for a bloody stalemate which results in the killing ofcountless innocent civilians and the draining ofthe national resources ofboth sides. The current crisis in Armenia is a direct resultof theconfl ictin the enclave. The block-

doesn't want

ade, the 300,000 refugees in Armenia and the billions ofrubles inhard cunency (in extended

credit) that the Armenian government pro-

ratchikian. In it, Tony Halpin, AIM' s finest urnalist, suggests a diplomatic solution to : Karabakh conflict whereby the enclave would be divided between Armenians and Azerbaijan. It's a good idea, but I wouldn't buy it. There can be no "either/or." Bigger guns make better diplomats. Period. We prostrate ourselves before world councils and organizations, thinking that "fairness" rules the games of international politics. Let' s swallow the bitterpill of realiry. Diplomacy is like a bazaar: ask twice what you expect, and settle for half. If Armenians had claimed Karabakh and Baku as Armenian tenitory, then "settled" for only Karabakh, Mr. Halpin's solution would beright on target. Unfortunately, we are not in that position. Hovig Heghinian Chnmpaign, Illinois See the Cover Story

ROGER K. DERDERIAN FINANCHLCONSULTAIYT

in this issue.

I was quite disappointed upon reading "Notes from an Impossible Front." It seems that your rather simplistic view is a continuation of the faith we have so naively placed throughoutcenturies in the supposed altruism of intemational relations. If Armenians feel thatthey have the right

vides for Karabakh are all combining to draw the country closer and closer to the point of total collapse. I am not apacifi st, nor am I one who advocates (or will even think) of unconditional surrender. But I agree with Halpin in that it is time to go on a vigorous campaign advocat-

guarantees from some unknown third party. We shouldn't have to explain to our chil-

ing peace. He has suggested one solution,

dren and grandchildren about the "Great

2SmFLOOR

there are many others. I forone would suggest

Karabakh Giveaway." The choice is not one between Armenia's survival or a victory in Karabakh, but rather between Armenians taking charge of their own destiny or being relegated to a footnote of history.

203 2N2400 800 842 8450C"T 800 243 3154 USA

keeping the Lachin corridor in exchange for landin NorthernKarabakh, and thus maintain the umbilical cord with Armenia for future union, should the people will it. There are many otheralternatives, but these will only be open to discussion and exploration if we sit around a table with the Azeris and have one thing in mind: a peaceful solution which restores everyone's pride. My plea with fellow Armenians is to think about this and not to labelitas treason, whichwetendtouseforany compromise. The road to peace will not be easy, or short, but we are not going to reach there if we do not start somewhere, sometime.

tolivewithdignityonlandtheycalltheirown, they must defend that right, not hope for

alvlERtadril 6-

ONE COMMERCIAL

PI,IZA

HARTFORD, Cf,ffiTO3

DavidDavidian Cente r for Re gional Studies C am b rid g e, M as s ac hus e t t s

I found Tony Halpin's "Notes from

Impossible Front" mostdisturbing. I couldn' t believe that a writer for an Armenian magazine would dare to make such a suggestion to its mostly Armenian readers.

The most uncomfortable part AIM, APRIL.MAY 1993

of Mr.

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Halpin's suggestion

is the

physical

repartitioning of Karabakh from Armenia. He

claims that this should be considered

position of strength..." It would be simply an act of stupidity. The Lachin corridoris the umbilical cord of a new emerging nation. It cannot be surrendered until Baku comes to terms with the wishes of the Karabakh people. Giving up this tie pre"concession from

maturely would undoubtedly meanthe end of the sovereign people of Karabakh. With the help of the Diaspora and the people of Armenia, Karabakh will find its historic tie with the Republic of Armenia. Mr. Halpin should consider the political life of one politician less important than a survival of a nation. Not recognizing the Republic of Karabakh will be the ultimate demise of the President.

,,.,u',',ro!6,lfllltlil)ff Thc Education Debatc Mimi Zarookian's letters to the editor (February) had too few Shahe Kasparian's and

facts to conclude that

AIM's article, "Who's

Running Our Schools?" (Special Report, August-September) was biased and preju-

diced against the Western Prelacy schools. If the Prelacy does not attempt to suppress criticism orprotest, as Mr. Kasparian asserts, then instead ofbeing offended thatthe article was not "aimed at generating support" for Prelacy schools, perhaps instead the Prelacy could have disclosed specific facts about its schools and allowed the Armenian community to decide for itself.

For example, Mr. Kasparian refers to a "nine million dollar" budget for the schools but does not disclose what portion is covered by tuition or whether the budgets are truly balanced. The Mesrobian school's projected 1992-1993 school budget, for example, provides fortotal expendirures of $ I,729,843 but net tuition income of only $1,005,590, re-

sulting in a one-year deficit of expenditu over net tuition income of $724,253.'l Prelacy is not budgeted to pay any fur needed to cover this deficit. The letters fail to note that the Prelacy I opposed local efforts to curtail deficits. I example, when the Holy Cross church bor in Montebello requested that parents whr children receive tuition aid agree to repay aid if and when they are able, the Prelt branded the board's request as "un-Arn nian" and contrary to "centuries-old tra tions."The helacy then uiedto "dissolve" Montebello board and appoint its own boa The matler was not resolved until after Holy Cross church sued the Prelacy z sought an injunction to prevent the Preli from interfering. Also, despite Mr. Kasparian asserting

the Prelacy has "commissioned" experts prepare texthoks, he fails to disclose that :tommissioning"iras been going on foryehrs. Even though Mesrobian has paid thousands of dollars to the Prelacy for the "commissioned" books, it has incuned thousands of dollars of additional expense to photocopy

out-of-print books for its students while waiting for the completion of the Prelacy textbooks. Remarkably, there are still Prelacy schools that are not accredited. Even recent issues of Prelacy school publications, such as The Mesrobian Reporter, focus not so much on

academics as on Karabakh, one lOth grade Mesrobian studenteven writing that "the fate of the Armenians is to have young martyrs." Is this the "path of growth and adjustment to modern needs and challenges" Mr. Kasparian asserts? Recent changes in the Prelacy bylaws even prevent local boards from dismissing ineffective principals.

Although Ms. Zarookian and Mr. Kasparian obviously seem quite pleased with the Prelacy and its schools, by not disclosing

tne amcE. r rEI uwrflsrrfo go and work in Armenia, leaving behind all the comforts of Europe or America, shows their great love for our Motherland and their courage to face so many difficulties which existnowadays in our

country. They are real patriots, offsprings of daring men and women of the past, whose vision, belief and courage helped our nation to continue its existencethrough centuries and carry on the struggle for the independence and freedom of ourcountry. May their example be contagious. Sossy Bedikian Nicosia, Cyprus Lettgr€ io the editor sfiould ba maibd

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AIM, APRIL.MAY

1993

D(OISSTER

SYMBOLIC ART RETRO

who held widely differing views on the issue. Some rejected any justification for tree-cutting. "How can one allow oneself to cut a ffee? That' s tantamountto killing achild," Lavrent Ghazarian said. Others, though nothaving cut down trees themselves, agreed that families

Itwas perhaps in anticipation of spring and its burst of colors that the director of the National Art Gallery of Armenia, Shahen Khachatrian, decided to open an exhibit of the works of three Armenian masters ofcolor-

with childrenhad no otherchoice. In mid-March, the government issued a decision that all thecut-down trees bereplaced

Martiros Sarian, Minas Avetisian, and

with new seedlings by April 20. The new trees are five to six years old, and require close to 20 years to mature andrestore thecity's former look, according to Hamalian. In six outoftheeight districts ofYerevan, water is circulated with energy-dependent pumps. If the energy situation in the country does notimprove,local governments will not

Haroutiun Galents. The exhibit can also be viewed as a symbolic thanksgiving that the paintings survived the winter months without the benefit ofconstant temperatures.

When the temperature dipped below freezingpointoutdoors (andwas even lower indoors), the gallery staff, using electric heaters, was able to maintain some of the paintings at three to four degrees celsius instead of the required minimum of five degrees, according to Khachatrian. Despite the danger, the gallery remained open. Special exhibits were also organized, perhaps in coincidence corresponding to the gray winter days. The stormy, dark blue sea

be able to

fulfill their task, and the seedlings

may not survive the scorching heat of the

A tree lor a tree.

scenes ofAiydzovsl<y andthe Armenian Sea Painte rs, the equally darkAra enian C hurch paintings of the Middle Ages, and the works

Yerevan summer. As of the first week ofApril, 57,000 trees were planted, mainly in the center of Yerevan. According to Hamalian, outlying regions, where forests were cut down and are now being illegally converted into vegetable gardens, local governments face the

additional taskofhaving to force residents to give up the land.

r. s.

of Hagop Hagopian were on display during the last few months. Future exhibitions will

A SUDDEN EXODUS

feature the works of Diaspora artists. Presently, the gallery, except for the special exhibit halls, is closed for security reasons. New frames arebeing installedto secure paintings, including two new acquisitionsa Sarian and a Hagop Kojoyan, which were recently discovered in Aleppo and returned to Armenia through the efforts of Armenian

diplomats in Syria. Althouth the paintings were not stolen from the gallery, but were in private collections, Armenia has laws against the sale and export of art objects without spccial permission. According to Khachatrian, in the case of masterpieces by Armenian artists like Sarian and Kojoyan, such permission is never

At the erhlbltlon.

granted.

fallneSatamlan

REPAYING NATURE During the past winter, 99,000 trees were chopped down in Yerevan alone, according to Marzpet Hamalian, head of the Yerevan Regional Inspection Division of the Ministry

of Ecology. Most residents were forced to burn wood to heat their apartments and to cook, because other forms ofenergy, like electricity andgas, were rarely available, and kerosene-burning stoves were too costly.

Tree-cutting is highly controversial in Yerevan. A recentissue ofthe daily Republic of Armenia featured comments by residents

A Polish Christian group, which believes thatJews must return to Israel as soon as possible in order to expedite the return of the Messiah, chartered a plane in early March to transport Jews wishing to emigrate to Israel, from Yerevan and other points of the former SovietUnion toWarsaw. PlanesboundforTel Aviv regularly take off from Warsaw at the expense of the Israeli govemment. According to Rabbi Gersh Bourshtein, the Christians' offerto fund the airtransportation costs was a welcome relief for Jewish-Armenians, many of whom cannot afford to pay their way to Moscow, where Israel-bound flights also originate. One of the main reasons for the Jewish emigration is theeconomic crisis in Armenia. "Jews are not able to change their lives because there is no work, and wages, compared to wages in Russia, are too low," the rabbi said. Thepolitical situation in Armenia does not inspire confidence either. The rabbi, who is a physician, blames the Armenian govemment

for not "curing the seriously ill" republie. 'There are no laws to insure the security and Off to lsrael PHOTOS BY

IIKHITAR KHACHATRIAN AIM. APRIL.MAY 1993

welfare of citizens," he said. The rabbi also blames the undeclared war with Azerbaijan for contributing toward the degradation of standards of living in Armenia. Close to 120 Jewish families remain in Armenia. About 20 Jews left the country in

early March. Future flights to Poland will be scheduled as soon as the Polish Christian group is able to raise more funds.

r.s.

UNWILLING RECRUITS The

[rzgins,

a Caucasian

people whose

tenitory is divided between Azerbaijan and Dagestan, have new cause fordiscontentwith the Baku government. The Azerbaijani war againstthe Armenian population of NagomoKarabakh is claiming the lives of many of their young men, who arebeing forcefu lly recruited into the Azerbaijani army.

In March, demonstrations, organized by the Lezgin Democratic Movement, Sadval

(Unity), took place in the Lezgin city of Kousari, and at the Golden Bridge over the Samur river. lrzgins have lived along both banks of the river for millennia. The demonstrators demanded the unification of ttzgin tenitory, and in Kousari there were also demands to end the Azerbaijani aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh. The Lezgins declared their refusal to join the Azerbaijani army. Demands by the representatives of the lrzgins for an independent Lezgin state began in

December 1991, causing tensions be-

tween Dagestan and Azerbaijan. After Abulfaz Elchibey took office in mid-May

cultural autonomy, within eittrer Azerbaijan or Russia, to reverse the effects of various degrees of forced cultural and linguistic assimilation, and to halt the migration of the younger generation. The 1989 Soviet census placed the numberof Lezgins in the SovietUnion at467,000, including 204,000 living in Dagestan and 174,000 in Azerbaijan. But Lezgins estimate that 600,000 to 700,000live in Azerbaijan, 500,000 of whom are identified as Azerbaijanis in their passports. The total is about one million including the Dagestani lrzgins, they say.

r. s.

BACK TO SCHOOLSORT OF On March l, schools opened in Yerevan after a three-monthJong winter break. Many students retumed to theirclassrooms to find their wooden chairs and benches had been carried away foruseas fuel, thewooden floors torn out, also destined to be bumed, and the classrooms still too cold forregular classes to resume. The Ministry of Education ordered a minimum of l0 minutes of instruction per subject matter and, if conditions allowed, up to 30 minutes. Not many schools were as well-maintained

theMoushegh Ishkhan School

inthe

Russian

center of Yerevan to allow for 30-minute

proposal to create a state border between Russiaand Azerbaijan along the Samurriver became public, tens of thousands of lrzgins

sessions. Thedirectorof the school, Margarita

took to the streets in June 1992, concerned about new visa requirements forcross-border travel between their two communities. The proposal was dropped. The demonstrations do not necessarily mean that Lezgins support the idea of an independent l*zgin state. Most favor greater

partly through assistance from Diaspora Armenian schools, was able to at least offer a clean and a relatively well-equipped, if not a warm, building to the returning students.

992 as President of Azerbaijan and

Haroutiunian, who over the years has improved her school's finances and reputation

In schools where no more than 10-minute sessions were possible, most students chose

to stay away. Gayane and Hripsime, twins

who attend a secondary school, decided to return to school on April l, when regular40minutesessions weretobegin. Others, like 17year-old Naira, went to school one hour a day and often found her teachers absent.

r.s.

HELTER SKEUTER "Welcome to Hell," Armenians were visit

saying to the few foreigners who dared Armenia this past winter.

Hell, however, would certainly have been warmer, especially afterhours spent in bread lines in the cold and dark streets ofYerevan, waiting to buy the daily 250.gram ration.

That nagglng energy questlon. Indeed, since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent flare up ofethnic conflicts in Georgiaand Azerbaijan, Armenia's economy, and subsequently its standard of living, have declined. At the heart of Armenia's economic crisis is the problem of its total dependency on imported fuel for its energy needs, most importantly for generating electricity. There was a time when Armenia was not only energysuffi cient, but also was a net exporter of elecricity to other countries, including Turkey and Azerbaijan. Those days are gone and the question on everyone's mind is: What happened? With Iran, the fuel capital of the world as a neighbor, how could Armenia be without gas, oil

and electricity? Given its location at the of the world, how to explain the effective blockade of Armenia? Today, Armenia' s electricity need is close to 3,200 Mega Watt. In the "good old days" this amount was generated through three different means: the Metzamor nuclear power plant generated 800 MW, the hydro stations crossroads

generated close

l,400MW

to 1,000 MW, and the rest,

was generatedbythermal stations.

Immediately after the 1988 earthquake, Metzamor was closed down. The utilization of hydro stations-which for the past4O years had largely relied on Lake Sevan, causing the lake's water level to drop significantly-has hit a bare minimum. Consequently, the ther-

mal stations operated by either gas or oil, which need to be imported from Turkmenistan and Russia respectively, seemed to re-

AIM, APRIL-MAY 1993

main the safest and the most reliable means

ARMENIAN MISSIONARY .qll$+A ASSOCIATION OF AMERI}A 'NCORrcRAIED

to generate electricity. It used to be that Armenia's connection to the outside world was via railway. It was the

custom of the Russian tsars to mark the borders of their empire by building railroads. A railroad arrived at Kars, which was then the southwestern edge of the Armenian province of the Russian Empire. Another link from Yerevan was laid via Tbilisi, and then along the Abkhazian sea-

board to Russia. Via Nakh-ichevan and 7-angezour, Armenians were connected to Baku oil, and the railroads continuedbeyond, to the cotton and silk trade centers of Central Asia.

Today, the transportation means (two railroads and one gas pipeline) thatenter into Armenia via Azerbaijan are subject to the latter's blockade against Armenia. The remaining railroad thatlinks Armenia to Russia and the gas pipeline thatcarries Turkmenistani gas to Armenia pass through two majorconflictzones, namely Abkhazia and Ossetia. The Abkhazian portion of the railroad has been

flow of gas into Armenia has intermittently become either hostage to Georgian-Osseti an confrontation, orvictim to Azerbaijani terrorist activities on closed for some time now. The

Georgian territory againstArmenian interests. Armeniahas been using altemativeroutes.

Tankers are being used to carry oil from Russian ports on the Black Sea--circumventing Abkhazia-to Batumi, to be loaded on trains bound to Armenia; or a Russian port on the Caspian Sea to an kanian port and then

to Armenia via surface roads.

Meanwhile, Armenia is actively trying to refurbish its domestic energy-generating arsenal and to establish more permanent and reliably independentfuel supply lines with the outside world. The Metzamor nuclear power plant may be reopened following studies by international experts. Several projects for small hydro stations on rivers are expected to be completed in two yean. TheEuropean Bankhas allocated a $50 million loan forthe expansion of the Hrazdan thermal station. The Armenian government has also signed a contract with Iran to build a gas pipeline to carry Iranian gas to Europe through Armenia. Furthermore, based on studies of Soviet research records, members of the California

Department of the Interior announced in March that Armenia may have potential oil reserves of 320 million banels and natural gas resources of some 98,000 million cubic meters. Unconfirmed and untested though these numbers are, they are a source ofhope for a country whose standard of living has regressed by 20 years.

WhetherArmeniahas oil and gas reseryes ornot, Armenia' s energy infrastnrchre is such that with prudentplanning and hard work the coun0y could become energy-sufficient in a shortperiod of time.

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EJAN

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As winter gives way to spriag, and warm breezes remind us that new life will we pause to consider Him ufro is the source of all life, aad we thaok Him for the life-giving work He is accomplishiag through the ongoing ministry of our soon emerge,

Irrd and Savior, fesus Christ. The Armenian Missiooary Association of America (AMAA) is privileged to be part of this ministry of hope atrd renewal. Ever since its inception ia 1918, the AMAA has faithfully served the physical aod spiritual needs of Armenians everywhere, without discrimination. Since the tragic earthquakeof 1988, followed by the prolongedeconomicbloclcade aod military aggression against Armenia by Azerbaijan, the suffering of our people in Armeuia and Artzakh (Karabagh) has been the overriding concern of the AMAA. ottr coutrtrymen have eudured their fourth winter with scarce supplies of food and fuel. resurrected

The continued hardship is taking itc toll through premature death, high hfail mortality, depression and a senrie of hopelessness. The deteriorating conditions in the country are a threat not only to tho lives of the hhabitaots, but to the very survival of the nation itself. The AMAA is doing its utmost to reepond to the critical neods in Armenia. The AMAA's Orphan/Child Care, Child Sponsorship and Children'sMlk Fund programs continue to expand their activities, bringing food, clothing and school supplies directly to hundreds of impoverished children and, through support of selected schools, hospitals, nurseries and orphanages, to many hundreds more. In January, the AMAA, in conjunction with the UAF and other relief organizatiors, was able to have 168 tons of baby formula airlifted from Europe to Armenia. Io addition, in Febnrary, 12,fiX) kerosene space heaterr were purchased in Asia and shipped by air to Armenia. The AMAA is a major pertner in 'Operatioa Wiater Reecue," a US-sponsored project Armenia three ships, each carrying 7(X) containers of send desperately needed clothing, food aod medicine. The chips are scheduled to arrive ia March, April aod May at a Georgian port, whence the cargoes will be unloaded and talcen to Armenia under the supervisioo of US perconnel. Oace the goods reach Armenia, the AMAA's representatives in Yerevan will make sure that the AMAA's shipments are properly warehoused and delivered to their intended destinations. The AMAA purchased large quantities (70 coataiaers) of powdered milk, bulgur, rice, sugar and flour for the second and the third shipments. The more money the AIvIlqiA can raise, the more it can contribute to Armenia's immediate survival. The magninrde and urgency of the needs of our people are ovetwhelmiry. Atry help we give will represent the differonce, literally, between life and death. We ask that you cootribute your share to the survivd of Armenia. As we give, let us kee.p ia mind the eoormity ofthe need, and raise our thoughts from 'generous'to 'sacrifice.' I-et us remember that 'God is not uajust as to forget what you did, and tho love showed for His oame' (Ilebrews 6:10). He will bless you, as will our brothers and sisters who cry for help and for life.

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Karabakh's Spring Surprise

he day the news about the capture of the Azerbaijani disrict of Kelbajar by the Armenians of Karabakh reached the outside world, the guards at the presidential palace in foreien diplomatic rtbusv usherins ushering heads of foreign Yerevan gotbusy missions into and outofhesidentl-evonTerPefiossian' s office, each carrying his or her govemment's protest to the Armenian President. The United States took ttle lead in expressing its concern regarding the events in Kelbajar. This was immediately followed by statements from France, Turkey, kan, ajoint statementby European Community membr states and, of course, the statement of the United Nations Security Council. Turkey and Azerbaijan notwithstanding, the others, including theUN, were very careful notto charge Armenia with the occupation. As a result, the UN Security Council, despite tremendous pressure from Azerbaijan, Turkey and a few other Islamic countries, fell far short of labeling Armenia the aggressor. Most referred to the forces occupying the Kelbajar district as "ethnic Armenian forces." On March 27, 1993, Mountainous Karabakh forces launched an offensive against the Aze$aijani army in the Kelbajar district which resulted in the fall of Kelbajar and the evacuation of its population. A statement by the

President

of the State

Council of Defense of the Republic of Mountainous Karabakh, Robert Kocharian, explained that beginl6

ning on March 20, Azefiatjan had intensified the war against Karabakh, east and westoftheMardakertregion and north and south of the humanitarian corridor of lachin, andthatthe Karabaktr forces were obligedto take counter-measures to ensure the defense of their people andborders. "The army of Mountainous Karabakh, acting in legitimate self-defense," said the statement, "has repeUed ttre aggtessors from its borders and will ensure that the Azerbaijani army not cause further devastation on the western borders of our republic." Although news reports continually named Armenians the aggressors, Armeniahas thus farbeen able to sustain the international pressure with a minimum of diplomatic damage due to Ter Petossian's policy of non-engagementin the Karaba}h conflict-apolicy which has been in place for ttre last year and a half. Indeed, without the recent events of Kelbajar and the resulting international reaction, the ingenuity of Ter Petrossian's policies wouldhave continuedto go unnoticed. Immediately after the escalation of the fighting, Ter Peftossian, in a letter to Kocharian which was later published in a Turkish daily, expressed his concern over the increased fi ghting and urged the warring sides to put an immediate end to military operations and negotiate.In his response, Kocharian said that Karabakh has no intention of annexing Azprbaijani territory but emphasized that, at the same time, it cannot fail to react to the dangers threaten-

AIM, APRIL-MAY 1993

ing it. He also reaffrrmed Karabakh's readinesstoacceptanimmediateandunconditional ceasefire.

This correspondence between Ter Petrossian and Kocharian, seemingly carefully orchesrated, is areflection ofTerPetrossian's double-trackpolicy, which has accomplished two things: one, reiterated Armenia's long-

standing non-engagement policy in the Karabakh conflict; and two, emphasized the legitimacy and authority of the State Council

of Defense led by Ter Petrossian ally Kocharian, alongside the Karabakh Supreme Council, headed by Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF)-affiliated Georgi Petrossian.

On the one track, and against the strenuobjections and tremendous criticism of the opposition, Ter Petrossian has consistently insisted that Armeniadoes not have any tenious

precondition, which will be followed by negotiations within the framework oftheCSCEsponsored Minsk Conference (see accompanying story). Based on these premises, President Ter Petrossian has resisted all calls by his opposition for Armenia to recognize the indepen-

of the Republic of Mountainous Karabakh, and to sign a collective security agreement with the latter. Furthermore, the President has even deemed the Armenian Parliament's decision forbidding the government from signing any document that mentions Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan to be a serious obstacle in attempts to bring the Azeris to the negotiating table. Ter Petrossian has been equally successful in the second track of his policy: increasing his influence with the Karabakh authori-

dence

ties. Since the opening ofthe Lachin

corridor

Karabakh has its repercussions in Armenia. In the immediate aftermath of the defeats in the Shahumian and Mardakert districts in the second half of 1992, the survival of Ter Petrossian's government was seriously threatened, as the opposition mobilized its forces and demanded the President's resignation. It is no surprise, then, that the current flurry of military victory and diplomatic maneuvering has caused a noticeable decline in the opposition's vocal criticism ofthe President and his foreign policy. Togetherwith the

advent of spring, the hopeful situation in Karabakh has alsodonemuch to improvethe

mood of the people of Armenia, who are keenly aware that the domestic crises they face areinexorablylinkedtotheKarabakhconflict, and local solutions depend on international resolutions.

By controlling both the Lachin

and

Kelbajar regions, Karabakh has entirely secured its westem borders. The narrow mountainpassagewhich was left open fortheAzeri retreat is the only access available to the Azerbaijani army, should it wish to launch an offensive. According to military strategists, the passage can be secured by a small number of fighters, thus relieving the remaining Karabakh forces for deployment elsewhere. No one is more surprised than the Azeris at the military successes of the Karabakh forces. They are quick to blame the Russian and Armenian govemments with complicity. Ofcourse, these claims are also face-saving measures for the Azerbaijani government, which is unable to explain such losses to an enemy whose resources and population are disproportionately smaller than its own. According to analysts, the Karabakh forces may have limited resources, butitis no

secretthattheyhavebuiltastrong, mature l0to 15,000-man army over the last four years. Of course, fighting on their home tr,rd and taking advantage of the open Russian arms market, together with the Azerbaijani armaments they havepickedup aftereach military MOUNTAIN GEAR: AzerbalJanl tanks now ln the hands ol Armenlan flghtere.

torial claim from Azerbaijan, and that the

conflict

between the Armenians of

Karabakh, who are fighting for their right to self-determination, and the Azerbaijani government, which is denying their demands. As the conflict deepened and attracted outside forces (most notably the Council of Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE)) to mediate a peaceful settlement, the Armenian government refrained from expressing any views regarding the hnal status of Mountainous Karabakh, always maintaining that any solution arrived at by the Armenians of Karabakh and the Azerbaijani government would be acceptable to Armenia. Unlike the Azerbaijani government, Armenia believes that the only solution to the conflict is to be found through peaceful negotiations. And as afirststep, ithas suggested the establishment of a ceasefire without any

in the spring of

1992, Armenian aid to

success from Shushi to Kelbajar, has enabled the Karabakh units to forge a solid, effective

force.

Karabakh has increased enormously-and, withit,theArmenian government's influence. Thatinfluence was fi nally institutionalizedby the creation of the State Council of Defense to balance and, over time, neutralize the dominance of the Supreme Council, which is largely controlledby theARF.TheArmenian government is making no secret of its wideranging assistance, which stopsjust short of supplying heavy armaments and military personnel. "We're not involved in the conflict," Ter Petrossian has said, "but we can't just watch the Armenian people being killed or deported from Mountainous Karabakh." For a govemment whose members came

While both Armenian and Karabakh authorities understand that it will be almost impossible to hold on to the Kelbajar district indefinitely, attempts are being made to make the best use of this gain. Arguing that the capture of the district was dictated by the security needs of the people of Karabakh, the Armenian side is trying to establish a linkage between the withdrawal of the Karabakh forces from the districtand the establishment of aceasefire with intâ&#x201A;Źmational guarantees for the security of the Karabakh population. Such an approach is mostlikely to be unacceptable to Azerbaijan as it insists on the complete

to power on the waves of the Karabakh

Kelbajar before any consideration is given to any proposal. Future developments, however, and especially the degree of Azerbaijani resiliency

movement, any setback to the cause they've espousedis sure to be exploitedby the oppo. sition. Indeed, any setback in Mountainous AIM. APzuL-MAY I993

withdrawal of the Armenian forces from

JTTDGA4ENT

T]NTO TRL]TH by EphraimK. Jernazian

translated by Alice Haig

"This dramatic personal narrative is a unique contribution to understanding past and current events in the Near East. These memoirs of an Armenian Protestant clergyman reveal linle known aspects of maior events in Asia

Minor in the early lwentieth century, give valuable insighs into their background, and describe pivoul

interrelationships with the western world. Those perceprions are woven into the story of the author's proiracted genocidal experiences. Dispassionately written, JUDGMENT UNTO TRUTTI is a call for truth andlustice. In the Hamidian massacres of 1895 Jemazian, a five-year-old orphan, sees the killing of family members. Vhen the Armenian Protestant clergy of Cilicia are murdered in the YoungTurks"Adana Massacre'of 1909,Jemazian answers the call to replenish the vacant pulpits. In 1915 when the'final solution to the Armenian question' is in progress, the author, drafted as an interpreter for the Turkish government, is in a unique positionio observe the genocidal process. Afterwards he and his new bride work to rehabilitate the destinrte survivors. He serves as liaison and advisor during the British and French occupations(1919-21). And, during the Kemalist revolution (1927-23), Jernazian loses his remaining brother and sister, and very nearly his own life. Only through a miraculous escaPe after twenty-one months in Turkish prisons is he reunited with his wife, her mothEr, a daughter, and a son bom six months after his arrest. An unusual blend of religious idealism and pragmatic politics, JUDGMENT UNTO TRUTH is both enlightening and inspirational.', Transac

tion Publis

erc.

"This volume is a unique document of historical significance.... The author presents comments and interpretations which portray him as an acute observer of intricate events." Prcf.Vabakn N. Dadrian, Director, Genocide Study Prcject, H. F. Guggenbeim Foundation.

"A substantial, serious book which will assist our understanding of the past and present." C b ris topb

er tVal ker, H istorian

"Vhile presenting a dramatic personal narrative with insightful accounts of four massacres, the author provides of curently relevant historical information and a singular emotional experience for the .eider." Iruing Louis Horowitz, Hannab Arendt Professor ol Sociologlt and Political Scimce, Rutgerc State

a wealth

Uniuercity of-Tlte NewJercey

These metnoirs were published in 1990 by the Zoryanlnstitute in the original Armenian, with an introduction by Rev. Dr. Vahan Toorikian; and co-published by Rurgers University Transaction Press in English, with an introduction by Prof. Vahakn N. Dadrian.

!-;;

*r,ri

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Armenian Intemational Magazine P.O.Box 10064, Glendale, CA9L209 - 3064

o tr = o

Armenian Version $ 32.95 Cloth English

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on the issueof aceasefire and negotiations be very much dependenton the positions

will that

RussiaandtheUS and, toalesserextent, Turkey and Iran, take regarding the conflict. The US would like to see the conflict resolved peacefully and in as short a time as possible, since a peaceful Caucasus will minimize Russia's influence in the region. Furthermore, good-neighborly relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan will facilitate

and expedite Turkey's penetration into

INGHINGTOWARD THEROUNDTABLE Diplomatic Military and Feversals ls RCshaping the-Karabakh Equation A Whirl of

By TALINE SATAMIAN

Azerbaijan and Central Asia through Arme-

five-month interruption, the

nia.ThisiscompatiblewithAmerica'spolicy

fter

ofcontaining Iran's influence in the region. Russia, while actively engaged in mediation efforts to find a peaceful solution, will certainly S touse the conflict, even atthe cost

13 member states of the

of prolonging it, to coerce Azerbaijan into staying within the Russian sphereof influence and joining the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Inthe viewof some analysts, this concern partially dictated the postponement of the CIS Summit which was to be held

in Yerevan

at the end

of April.

Southern neighbor Iran, somewhat

alarmed by Azerbaijan'

Turkish orientation,

will use the opportunity to bargain with Azerbaijan about the development of future relations between the two countries. Iran needs to show that it can match Turkey in taking a tough stand against Armenia, and show solidarity with the Azerbaijani people. Turkey, cognizant of its new leadership role in theTurkic world,

will makethebest use

of the situation by showing its commitment to the Turkic people, and, more importantly, its ability to influence the outcome of the events in theregion. Furthermore,Turkey

will

certainly do its utmostto frustrateArmenia's efforts atretrieving any partof its former lands, for that success in Karabakh might give her encouragement in the future to look to other historic territories.

-Reponed

^" ,t:i,L*x:;;:f"2

Council

of Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), also known as theMinskGroup, charged with facilitating the resolution of the Karabakh conflict through negotiations, met again in early March in Rome. The group, which is preparing the way for the Minsk Conference where the status

Karabakh is to be determined, overcame an impasse that developed in September 1992 when Azerbaijan refused to continue negotiating until Armenia, which it blamed for the warin Karabakh, meets tkee conditions: the return of Lachin, which the Armenian selfdefense forces of Karabakh captured in May

l992toopenanhumanitariancorridorintothe besieged enclave; concessions on Shushi, also captured at the same time; and the demilitari-

zation of Karabakh. The Armenian side refused to meet these conditions. According to Gerard Libaridian, advisor to PresidentLevonTer Petrossian and

first Deputy Foreign Minister, and one of Armenia's delegates at the Rome meetings, behind-the-scenes multilateral and bilateral consultations, called by Mario Raffaelli, the Chairman of the Presidency of the Minsk Group, have been taking place since September to resolve the impasse and to realize a ceasefire. A different approach was developed bypassing the Lachin problem by enlarging the scope of a ceasefire to include a time period during which certain steps, decided upon

AIM, APRIL.MAY I993

through negotiations, would be taken by the various parties ofthe conflict. In addition tothepolitical maneuverings, the winter months were also used by both Karabakh and Azerbaijan to prepare their armies for spring military operations. According to Libaridian, the Azerbaijanis were readying themselves for a spring offensive against Karabakh when the Karabakh forces began in February to recapture territory lost in the Mardakert and Shahumian regions last summer. According to Libaridian, they resorted to this step after offering a ceasefire

which Azerbaijan refused. However, by March l, while the Karabakh forces led a successful fast-paced advance into northern Karabakh, Azerbaijani representatives at the Rome meeting took the first step to agreeing to an eventual ceasefire, projected forMay 20 by the Minsk Group. "We accomplished what Khrimian Hairig had in the past deemed necessary. We went with a metal spoon, and not apaper spoon, to obtain our shareof the harisa. We were feel-

ing good about our victories," Boris

Aroushanian, Vice-President of the State Council of Defense of the Republic of Karabakh, represented in Rome, said. Azerbaijan signed a document called the Terms of Reference, oneof threedocuments which all membercountries and parties of the Minsk Group agreed must be signed before the Minsk Conference can take place, possibly in August. The document specifies the tasks of the international monitors when a ceasefire is established. Informal consultations are continuing to prepare for the next

MEMBERS

OFTHE KARABAKH COMMITTEE:

FIVE YEARS LATER

is a founder and ideologueof theANM, and

He no longerholds thatpost.

the independent

ALEXAIII HAKOBTAiI

Minister. In 1991, there

movement

develo@ariftbetween

was

time served as head of the Committee on

Yerevan State University,heappearedamong

the leadership of

the

democratic movement

in May 1988. In

the

Levon Ter PetrossianVasgen Manukian discord, he chose the Ter Petrossian side and became the first deputy to the President of Parliament. He is currently President of Parliament and, in ttrat

position, functions as Ter Petrossian's

Petrossian. Manuk-ian

formed the National Democratic Union. In 1992, he left that organization and returned to government in the role of the republic's Acting Defense

Refugees. For a time, he, too , edited Hayk.

Minister.

RAFAEL KA:ZABIAN

VANO SIRADEGHIAI{ He is a member of

Awell-knownphys-

Former lecturer at

himself and Ter

known as a passionate debater of Azeri apologists. He was elected to

Parliament and for

BABGEN ABABKTSIAN

republic's first Prime

A historian, prior to the beginning of the

icist and corresponding

member of the Armenian Academy of Sci-

the Writers' Union and known as the author of the then-ground break-

ences, he was visible and

ingHeavy Light,a col-

active in the democratic movement's leadership

essays. He was among

inFebruary 1988. After election to Parliament, he has chaired its Commission on Education, Science, Culture and Language. He left the ANM and was himself a candidate for president in the 1991 elections.

SAUSOil GHAZARIAN Aformerteacher,he, too, was among the movement'sleadership as early as February

shield.

HAIIBABTSUII GALSTIAN A historian-anthro-

lection of stories and the movement's loudest and most aggressive rhetoricians. After election to Parliament, he was, for a time, head of the ANM. He has held the positions of presidential advisor on domestic affairs, head of the Forestry Administration, and most recently, the republic's

Interior Minister.

DAVIT VARDANIA]{ Although part of the leadership of the movementfromitsearlydays, he did not often speak publicly.Hewasamong

pologist, he is the author

l988.Untilthen,hewas

of scholarly articles as well as the well-known prison memoir, Unsent

active in the ecological

.lzrrers. As amemberof the Karaba*fi Committee, he was involved in

vocate of independence,

ANM, and for a short

heleft ttreANMpriortoitscomingtopower. He is currently amemberof the Armenian Revolutionary Federation' s (ARF) Central

time chairman of its executive. When his proposalthatthe ANM include political parties underits umbrella was not accepted, he re-

maintaining contacts with developing democratic movements in otherSovietrepublics. The only memberof the Karabakh Committee never to have been elected to Parliament, two years ago

ofthe Yerevan CityCouncil, apositionfromwhichhewas removed lastyear.

he was appointed President

movement. Never a particularly strong ad-

Committeeof Armenia.

ASHOT IIAI{UGIIARIAil A former educator, he was

amemberof the

CommunistParty and a leader of its youth wing.

the founders

signed and helped form the National Heiscurrentlyoneoftheopposition'smost vocal voices in Parliament.

LEVOI{ TER PETROSSIAN A former researcher

SAilVEL GEVORGIAN Before appearing

cratic movement since

amongtheleadershipof the movement in February l988,hewascon-

always visible and vocal. He organized the

cerned with environmental issues, and was a

elections, he became first InteriorMinister, and later Ter Petrossian's advisor on na-

intheMatenadaran([he State Manuscripts Library), he came to the leadership ofthe democratic movement, unobserved, without great

member of Paruir Hai-

tional security.

rikian's Self-Determination Union's coordinating body. He was, for a time, editor of

the Armenian National Movement's (ANM) tlayknewspaper, and laterbecame headof theRepublic's Television Services.

ANM's election campaign. Following the

the

Democratic Union with Vazgen Manukian.

As aleaderofthedemo-

spring of 1988, he was

fanfare. He served as head of the ANM before it assumed government

VAZGE}I MAilUKIA}I

power, and subsequent to that became

A mathematician, heused to be a lecturer at Yerevan State University. He was active in national political affairs long before ttre broad-basedmovement of 1988. Manukian

President of Parliament. In 1991, with an ovenrhelming majority ofthe vote, he was elected the first President of the Republic of

AIM,APRIL-MAY 1993

Armenia.

some

foodfor

thought

Rome meeting, where Libaridian hopes that

theTimeTable, willbe also accepted. This document outlines the specific steps, which the monitors will oversee, to be performed by the warring parties within a specific time period. The third document is not too critical nor too difficult, acthe seconddocument,

cording to Libaridian.Itis a statementby the ministers of the Minsk Group countries and

at least six months before the opening of the Minsk Conference. "No one knows what can happen in the meantime." The foot-dragging on the part of Azerbaijan, and its military failures, are prolonging the war in Karabakh and causing internal political instability in Azeftaijan. lrzgins, a

minority in Azerbaijan, are refusing tojoin the army. According to Libaridian, Azerbaijan's decision !o continuefighting is more politically motivated, and is meant to appease the population by delivering military

Caucasian

What else but Armenian food

parties. However,itiscriticalinthesensethat it will validate the preceding two documents, becauseno one documentis validuntil allthree are accepted. The CSCE's new approach, as outlined in the three documents, is a compromise, according to Aroushanian. Whether this approach can be successful depends on many

(aside from Armenian political par-

conditions, including military developments,

cause the status ofits delegation at the conference has yetto be determined. However, in the

political situation in Armenia,

current negotiations in Rome, which occw at

Azerbaijan and Karabakh, and the intâ&#x201A;ŹIests of world and regional powers. Libaridian believes that it is too early to tell if military victories are having an effect. Compromises made by Azerbaijan on the frst document may not be equivocated in the second document. For that reason, Karabakh must remain militarily alert, as Aroushanian is quick to point out. "Karabakh can't slow down militarily. We must show that we are equal in strengthorstrongerthan Azerbaijan. This is the only road." "When we negotiate we are not fixed on any one lpossibility]... We don't dismiss the possibility of a ceasefire in order to continue the negotiationsbutwe are carefulas to what we agree to because we have doubts [about how serious Azerbaijan is about aceasefuel,"

two levels-working andplenary sessionsthe Karabakh delegates are quite active and have full rights, including the right to veto, at the more practical, working level. No document is accepted or discussed by the plenary session unless it has been accepted by the working session. Duringtheplenary sessions, Karabakh can only participate through the

Wecravelt. Wehateit. We can't get enough ol it.

ties) arouses such communal passions among us?

ln our upcoming July issue, a special report will whet a whole salmagundi of appetites. We'll take you

on the road to sample Armenian delicacies, visit entrepreneurs who turned edibles into valuables (read : venture capitalism), learn why the Latin word f or apricot translates into "prunus armeniaca." We'll also take you along to chat

with famous Armenian restaurateurs about their obsession with food, take part in our quest lor the quintessential Armenian spice tradesman, and wonder how Armenian food can ever be labeled as health food.Amidst this pastiche of sugarand spices, formulasto live by

and recipes for success, our offering of an attentive consumer audience may be a tasty proposition indeed if you are in the business of foodstuffs, spirits and culinary delights.

Join us and be seen where it counts. Call (818) 546-2246 to advertise in AIM's July issue.

/NNI

Space reservatlon deadllne ls June 15th.

the internal

Libaridian said. Infacq inlateMarch, Azerbaijanlaunched a

new offensive on the northem and southern

flanks

of the Lachin

hu-

manitarian corridor, and on

Mardakert from both east and west, an action which Libaridian says indicates that Azerbaijan is still hoping to resolve the conflict

victories. There is another uncertainty. The leadership of Karabakh has yet to decide whether it will participate in the Minsk Conference be-

Chairman of the Presidency of the Minsk Group. "Symbolically, this status is perhaps not as satisfying [as being a full-fledged memberl," Libaridian said. However, in his view, it serves the purpose. There is no doubt that the outcome of the negotiations will be greatly influencedby the interests of world powers, including Russia. "Russia is not too happy to see a neighbor (Azerbaijan) becoming so close to Turkey. It would like to see a more balanced policy, similar to [Armenia's]," Libaridian said. However, hewouldnot speculateonwhether Russia's actions are gearcd toward forcing Azerbaijan into the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Aroushanian fears such a step by Azerbaijan

because

the

Karabaldt

conflict would then be-

militarily. According to Libaridian,

come an internal CIS

military victory for Azer-

problem and, even though Russia would force both

baijan in Karabakh means deporting Armenians and

sides to end the war,

Minsk

would leave Karabakh

Conference. "Karabakh's

within Azerbaijan for fear of setting an unfavorable

thus pre-empting the

military operations are making possible the survival of

the Armenian population

precedent as a solution for its own nationalities problem. According to Aroushanian, Karabakh has a bet-

Cyrus Vance was one ol the flrst negotlators to medltion of the status of Kara- lnternatlonal ate the Karabakh confllct. ter chance for indepenbakh, which the conference is supposed to determine, would no longer dence if the negotiations continue in therealm of the CSCE, though the CSCE lacks an efexist, if no Armenians are left there. Azerfective mechanism, such as economic sancbaijan would like to see the conference as a tions,toforceanendtothewar. IftheCSCE's strategy to win time but, at this point, it's efforts fail, the next stsp may be the United working against them." "Delays and wasted time can bebenefi cial Nations, or other bodies interested in mediating between Armenia, Azerbaijan and to us as well," Aroushanian said, referring to Karabakh. CSCE's new approach which would require

there," he said. '"The ques-

AIM, APRIL-MAY 1993

i..jE .:.::: # :t?:. ':,::iii:i

ffi"

7 ::::"2

b+:

.:i iiii

IEXT

When you first meet Svetta, a small, wiry woman in her mid-30s, her hairpulled neatly

ND PHOTOS BY

ALINE TOROYAN

back, it comes

When asked about her performance as a

fighter, she quickly retorts,

have been

shock to be told that she is a woman with a price on her head. Bustling down corridors and around the hotel where she works there is a certain ferocity in her manner that suggests a woman with other things on her mind apart from the dusting. For the last three years Svetta has been juggling with two roles at once. Since 1989 she has been a member of the Armenian Na-

strong." After a pause shepoints out that with modem technology, gender-and differences of strength-has become even less of a factor in assessing military capabilities : "People areno longerfightingwith stones and fistsbut with tanks and guns," she says. Svetta insists that at the frontline there is no discrimination against her, but that all respond to her primarily as a fighter. "There is

roles and issues,

tional Army and has been fighting in

a consequence of nation-wide emergency conditions that call for able-bodied women to

Karabakh. When she is not at the frontline,

an old Armenian saying," she comments, "there is no difference between the lion and the lioness. But when the lioness's cubs are threatened, be careful." She concedes that at

long with the collapse of communism and the advent ofindependence, the Karabakh conflict has been a major

factor in the

myriad ofsocial upheavals thathave affected Armenia since 1989. Some of these changes have been registered on the plane of women'

venture beyond the domain

of horne

and

family into areas traditionally reserved for men.

Though still fundamentally patriarchal, Armenian societal values have somewhat allow women to sen'/e, forinstance, in the military defense effort and, rather imperceptibly, in government struceased in recent years to

tures.

Ludmila Gregorian and Svetta, two women who were interviewed in Yerevan for this article, offer a glimpse into the participation of women in the Karabakh conflict and represent divergent opinions on the prospects and means toward peace.

as a

she works as a maid in a hotel in Yerevan. She seems a little reluctant to talk about her hotel work, and hints attheincongruiry thatafighter

should hold a domestic job. "They could at least have promoted me to housekeeper, in recognition of what I'm doing for my country," she says, suggesting a new self-perception that her role as fighter has given her. Looking very nervous and constantly blinking during the interview, Svetta explains that she hadjust spent a sleepless night driving back from the frontline. "Before the war I wouldn't even kill a fly," she says, discussing her decision to fight. "But when you see your friends dying and the children dying you become crazy."

AIM. APRIL-MAY 1993

times, because she is a woman. she will be allotted a greater share ofthe food preparation or other of the more domestic chores. Svetta's decision to fight is a bold one. Even in the Western world, war is still a male domain-women in the U.S. are still banned from armed combat in the Air Force, Navy and Marines. However, Svetta grew up with an unusual role model, her grandmother, who fought alongside her husband against the Turksduring the 1915 Genocide. When Svetta informed her family of her determination to fight they tried to change her mind. Only her grandmother supported her decision, telling

her not to return until she had exacted revenge.

The conditions on the front have been terrible and Svetta looks drained and gaunt. She tells me that she has lost l8 kilos in the last 1 1 months. One can only wonder at the persistence which has carried her through the past fouryears of this strenuous double life and trust that it will carry her through the rest. Ludmila Gregorian's life has been torn apartby thewar. Lastyearin Mayherhusband was killed fighting, in August her home in

Stepanakert was bombed and both her daughterandherself werebadly injured. Atthe time of this interview, Ludmila lay in a hospital bed, recovering. From the onsetof the warLudmila decided that she could not remain passive and watch the war destroy her home and people. For the last few years she has been working to bring an end to the war. However, her choice of solutions is unusual. Despite all her suffering and all herlosses----orperhaps because of themshe remains committed to the idea of peace

through negotiations. "The war is not the way to solve our political problems," she says. "The problem is a global one; we have to take into consideration all theotheroutsideinterests, all ourneighbors. If we try to solve it by ourselveS with arms I believe it will be a very tragic war, especially for such a small nation as we are."

Ludmila's involvementin this peace process began in

director

April

I 99 1

when shebecame the

of the Association of

NagornoKarabakh Intelligentsia. "This was a nonparty organization designed to construct an objective and non-propaganda information unit, comprised of civilians from all professions, able to aid the govemmentin its search for a solution to the war," she explains. Since then, shejoined an international organization,

The Helsinki Citizens' Assembly (HCA), which

is based in

Czechoslovakia. Inspired by

scaned by the war, Ludmila insists thatas soon

recovered she will continue to work forpeace. "The whole aim of my life is to stop this war as soon as possible... my life will not as she has

be aquietone," she says, glancing overto her young daughter.

Allne Toroyan ls a New York loumallst.

KIEV

Vaclav Havel, the organization works in a number of war-tom countries arranging dialogues betweelr the conflicting parties' citizens, in anattempttofindapeaceful solution. Ludmilaexplains herfaith thatthesedialogues will "at leastensure a more humanitarian war, one where the fighting is restricted to the frontiers and not fought at the expense ofthe civilian population." The HCA, she says, are also negotiating the release ofhostages. Asked if this kind of thinking had bought her into conflict with her husband, who had

fought and commanded a unit in the war, Ludmila simply replies, "He was one of my greatest opponents." Yet, she continues to explain that she neverEied tochange his mind.

acted as a woman, as a mother, and as an

intellectual," she says. OnAugustthe6ththeirhomewas bombed. Her son escaped injury but she and her young daughter were rushed to the hospital and spent manyhours in operation as doctorsworked on the deep cuts to her face and arms. The same

day, she points out, 26 civilians died and 70

were injured. Physically and emotionally

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I Orphans atthe Near East Reliel Cenler, Beirut, Lebanon, circa 1921. Photo courlssy of ths Armenian Library and Musaum of Amorica.

Less than one-third of the total Armenian population survived the 191 5 Armenian Genocide

by the Ottoman Turkish govemment. Although there is a vast experiential and "imaginative" space separating the ordeals of those survivors lrom ourcapacityto comprehend them, whatcan be clearly understood istheway each individual survivor story models the definition of genocide. Sociologist Vahakn Dadrian has outlined commonalities in each instance of 20th century genocide: the perpetratois clear urge to eradicate the victim, the presence of the organization

ind mechanism to make

mass destruction possible, the scale of casualties and the existence of

a vulnerable minority. The survivors, who are all that remains of Westem Armenia, illustrate these conditions with theirstoiles. lnsight into their lives and philosophies is essentialfor an understanding of the vic-

timization and the Armenian Diasporan experience which followed. An estimated 3,000 survivors have shared their memories with students and historians in various oral history programs-memories of their own private, individual experiences which nevedheless continue to etlect lives and generations beyond their own, Survivors attempt to reconcile their current moral values and dreams with their thoughts and actions 78 years ago, always with the hope that they were acting in a fashion that would satisfy their contemporary values, knowing all the while that those were extraordinary times, and sur' vival was the ultimate value. It is this and more which Donald E. Miller and Lorna Touryan Miller have documented in their

just published Survivors.

a a AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE By Donald E. Miller and LornaTouryan Miller University of Califomia Press, 1993

PHOTOS

PROVIDED

PROJECT

SAVE

his has not been an easy book to write. \7e continually imagined our own children in the place of the survivopchildren we interviewed. And perhaps equally painful is the realization that there

ctrrently many children in the world who are orphaned or who have been discarded by theirparents or anuncaring society. They, like the survivors who toldus their stories, are wandering insearch ofapiece ofbread and alittle humanwarmth. During this proj ect ouremotions have rangedfrommelancholy to anger, fromfeeling guilty about our ownprivileged status to being ovenvhelmed by the continuing suffering in our world. lforking with these interuiews over a period ofyears has led to a permanent loss of innocence about the human capacity for evil-and to a recognition of the need to combat such evil... We increasingly believe that there is considerable tmth in the statementthat to deny genocide is to repeat it. Indeed, we would add that to shield ourselves from suffering in this world is to perpetuate it. \7e need to keep our consciences soft and vulnerable; only thenwillwe rise up to challenge the sufferingthatsunounds us. Denial ofevil is adefense mechanism that a just world simply cannot affcrd." - FROM TI{E AUTHORS' INTRODUCTION are

THE DEPORTATION JOURNEY The deportees were in despair as they left the villages and cities where their families had lived for generations. described their departure, saying:

A survivor

Ve gotfmtlw away frunthehousesmdreaclwdonopenfield.Wercticedtlwtalltheanimalswere gatfuredtltere-<tu slvep, caus,horces, urd"soon.Irememberml awttjwnpingwer thefmcemd"going

toow cowsandhugingdvm.kwasavrl sadscawfarme, achild,.Tkts,welcfteverythingfuhind. Tlwrewere cra tdsfromevery street, allgoingn dw sameplace.Wewall<cdadwall<edwtildmk, andl rcticedlww olhfu people comingfrun diffamt directioru would end up on dw same road , Tlwre wqe gardamwsonboksidesof dwroad.amal<cswedwtrconeswuqtdfrornhislheorfellbelht, In a more abstract manner, this survivor went on to describe the joumey: "Anyone who would fall behind would be shot on the spot.They took us through desolate places, through the desens and mountain paths, so we would not be near any of the cities where we could get water or food. We got wet at night by the dew and were scorched by the sun during the day. I remember going and going." !7e frequently heard the statement that Armeniaru were marched away from populated regions. A survivor from Keghi made the point very clearly: "They didn't take us via regular roads, but instead we would go from village to village and stay outside of them. They would take us through the mountains so that their people would not see us; otherwise, the people would wonder what was going on." It is difficult to capture in words the human anguish that accompanied the deportations. But imagine, for example, such simple problems as trying to protect one's children's feet: "These were all desolate and wild places, thoms and mountains, uncultivated. I remember well that my mother had made for me something like shoes with cloth; we had no shoes. But in one day that ripped and was the end." Another survivor, from Hadjin, described how her mother cut out little booties each night from a blanket she was carrying until there was nothing left, and the children were forced to walk barefoot. The recurring image in our interviews is that of caravans walking all day, camping at night----often in fear of being atpcked-and then walking again, day after day. A survivor from Chanakkale concisely summarized the deportations by saying, "!Ualk, walk, walk; the world didn't seem to end." A survivor from Belikesir elaborated on

this image: Arceweleft,westmtedwall.ingmdwall,ingformonds.Vehadrcdanl<eysor cans. My l"gs becameoll wouldcarl nle; othenuise,ml older sister did.Wehadrw

swollenbecause I uras so ared. Smletimesmy mother

AIM,APRIL

MAY 1993

would get in our eyes, nose, mouth." She also told of her physical condition: "l had gotten so weak that I couldn't stand up. I was reduced to bones by this time, half dead." By the end of the deponation joumey, according to severat survivors, deportees had lost everything, even their clothing. A survivor from Aintab said that his father had wrapped a piece of cloth in front of him, and his mother was clothed in only a shirt. Two different survivors from Hadjin said that caravan members were totally naked by the end of the deportation march and that many of themhad tumed nearly blackfro:nsunbum. Another survivor said that many of the dead bodies along the deportation routes were unclothed. In her words, these bodies were "all blown up, tumed black, naked, covered with worms, hothl women and girls." Indeed, the sight of deportees whohadpreceded themon the road was agrim foretaste of theirown fate. A survivor from Hadjin recalled one of the first groups to have been deported; "Before us the people of Zeitun were taken to Kotma and had already staned dying of starvation, so that when we got there we saw so many of them dead. in a sittins oosition. We saw bones everywhere and saw many others who were dying, or on the verge ofdeath, simply sitting and waiting for their tum."

And another survivor from Hadj in gave further details about the earlier deportees from Zeitun: "When we came to Kotma, we noticed that the people

fromZeitunhad dug up the sand andsat in it and covered themselves up to their chests with it. 'A little water,' they used to want. You couldn't even understand what they were saying. They had buried themselves like that, with the whole

family." There were so many dead bodies strewn along the deportation route, said another survivor from Hadlin, that "we used to try to avoid stepping on them." It was not just the Zeituntzi who littered the road, however. A survivor from Marash recalled the scene he had wirnessed as they neared Der-Zor:

Atrfufirststaion,wesawabtof Arnwriarcwlwhadgottenlwremuchearlicrtlvnus, mdt)vyhad

umvdma sl<eletans.Weweresurrutndedwrthsl<eletonssomuchtlwtitfebkl<ewewereinlvL.Tlvy Childron

uih scabhs

ata NearEast Reliel

0Dlnnagp, Khapert,1920. Photo by and

couilosy ol Ruth Wmdis, a Neat East Rolietworl(er.

wue

aillvtngry andthhsq, andt)q wouldlmkforfalnilirr"facesnhelptlwm.Webecanwtqrib$ discanraged, sohopeles tlwtitislwrdnephinexacdylrlruwefelt.Frungief rnJfadwrbecameill.

It is importanr to note the frequent repofts of starving and dehydrated Armenians, for they suggest that lack of food and watermighthave claimed asmany lives asoutrightmasacres did. Asurvivordescribed what she had seen near Bab and Meskene: "There were so many people left on the roads, stawing and begging for a bite of bread. Children everywhere, crying, begging. What did we have to give them? Oh, it was pathetic. They were mostly children and old people. Many, many of them, on the sand, wasting away. The old ones could not continue to walk, and the children could not be carried by their parents any more." The number of dead created a health

AIM,APBIL

MAY

1993

problem, and the Turla faced the

dilemmaof disposing of the thousandsof corpses that littered the roadways. A survivor who had witnessed the remains of caravansfrom Mowh, Erzerum, and Bitlis commented on this problem:

Wwn we wqre going a tlw uilloge, the r o ad on both sides was filled with dead bdies. I have seat wik my anm eyes

tlwwuds tlwy

deadbdi$. I did rct

got killed, but I saw tJw

see

lwu)

deadb&es.

W omen wlw had long h aided hoit 4telt lvir cmws off tfuheadandtheirbdies were all swollen . It was swnnw , lou.l<tlot) , so he f at fr un the bdy w ould be nwlted aromd he body .,\nd" dw hair wouWfu Ul<E dtat, intact. h was so bad iltat it fugan n stink euerlwhoe , so dw dry [dw Turl<s] gadvred up all tlw corpses ud.bunwd hcnl by powmgl<ercserw

ur dwm.

In other instances, Armenians were bumed alive. In our interviews there are examples of deportees being Depodees retuming to their homes in Marash, 1919. Photo by

Shnley

Ker, a medical missionary; courlesy of Rev. Vartan Hartunian.

bumed inl<fiaru (inns) andcaves. Forexample, asurvivorfromAintabdescribedhowhercousin waskilled: "They took part of our group at one point to a cave and killed them. My cousin was in that group. The way they killed them was to put them in the cave, place wood in fiont of it, and bum them. They bumed them alive, and there was no way to escape from it." We also have accouns of children being bumed in a large hole near Der-Zor, and near Misis a group of Armenians who were in hiding was bumed, as well as several hundred or more Armenians who had gathered in a khon near Kaiseri. However sadistic it may be to bum people alive, other brutal means of annihilating Armenians were also cited by survivors: for example, cutting offwomen's breasts and nipples, opening the stomachs of pregnant women, and decapitating people with pruning instruments. Many survivors, however, experienced more prolonged forms of suffering.

CARING FOR CHILDREN Children posed a substantial dilemma during the deportations. Whose life should be given priority: an infant was being carried and nursed or a child who was older and strong enough to walk? Given the circumstances of the deportations, mothers continually faced the tenible question of whether to give their children to passing Turks or Kurds in the hope of enhancing their chance for survival or to struggle ahead together as a family unit, despite the probable outcome that both mother and children would die. Such are the nagic moral choices that genocide so often requires, although it is perhaps an overstatement to call them "choices." In these circumstances, people respond rather instinctively to what seems best given the requirements of the moment. For example, a survivor from Aintab recalled that both of his parents were accompanying him on the deponation when it started to hail. For a while they continued to plod forward in spite of hail the size of walnuts. Hagop, however, said that he began to freeze and simply couldn't walk any farther:

who

I saidnmy modvr, "Pbueleaventehere mdgoon. She said, "How cu'tl do that?" "I con'tgo [father]," I said. "My legs don'tmwe anymore." So wiktears, crling,

tl"ybft.Iowdmddwycried.hwasdark.

, rr.17al

I f people I ne ffQm 1 7, - . . tr -i { -- -- - -

srn 1 cmvup-osweet suncanleoutudlstmdupandnutluncrying, Indwmominglwol<eup, andin.tlwmi$tof alltlwwatn, tlle

saying, "Mommy ,Monrmy ," .urdeatingwhatever grusl.can.

AU Leltffil ha(l CtUg UD A----T---- ;--o --r thg Sand and Sat

alorle,withrcorcaround.inthedesqt,Ianwalking,callingfar Lelt'ww't'E'vwwtL*rv'

mother.cr),iis*'diotirrgt;;.''

n.,*Hlj,'n'jli;};;:1ffi

*ii;#*i,li::11:T:i:^:11:3,#:lt'*initr"4covered

llf;U*ffi j:i.Jffi,,mlii$i:[i,,::ipi::1i,.l;?h:i:ii,ii{snTthemselvesuprp el.t',,3*mr"-,'*,*,ff*1if:rT:ffis?ill:IjHl,'.x:i9Jffi'.X,t',,;. their chests with it. T,Ti'f,:il1fl'*x111ff ;ff i$H:;lx[:rnlil?:lif,:1y^T,ffifi f, ""t'iff3.t#lr'Jt:""llf*':*.$,:f*l;abiestheyhadseenabandoned

AIM

APRIL

MAY

.' A little water,' they used to warlt D

1993

qlongthedeporrarionroutes.Sometimestheywereputunder theshadeofamee,andothertimestheywere'simplyleftalong theroadsidetodie.Onoccasion,theywerealsoleft'onrocksin streams, from

whlq\they would tumble into rhe water

and

dlsum-a msrciful death, perhaps. One survivor justified

these

".tr"*uvrrv*r-.r.,g;;i;'fi.piy;;yia'or-.L,ya.i. infants any longer. Furthermore, slie explained, "They them

I /,lll

l- lr,1We Wefg SUffoUndgd I t Wltn SKeIetOnS SO

mUCh that it fglt like

1rye

;1#'J##T1rs,y:n*:[t;;**f**hn5; yg.re in hell. They were

*x;lli*ti,;::ilr*",n, u[ h.lrgry r"4 -thirqry, and they-would look for iffi':*e-;:'r',ffi X;X|;;:ffi f, tffi*#!#;'", ",

":,H;:5,u:Txsf

*'H:*3rffili,r3;*#.tf;mtxil:'i:',k,"^.* familiar faces to help :t?iJ?J:i*:Til'fi[:*iii,,tm']:#H'mr"Hr' them.

accounts of such extreme conditions. For example, a survivor from Belikesir offered this account of discovering an abandoned infant while they were camping one night during the deportation:

Wewereinthetentatnightwfunwe-lwardabobl a$ngmdqingwitlwutstapping.My uncb saida Hereiwllednt"ui tlwtt e sa* iutit"uiayuoy akme, wlw.appmentlyhadbyleftqehind..werriednfeedhimand.tnedncareforhimabit.uy mymotller, "Manam,letny.s2u!.s-99_kisbaby,"

"*trruin^'

and was w olking wirh hlm. Tlwn tllere wa arwther wqnnt qn tlw nyn .w.lg le_pg".l'r,ng and u1ing. we asl<edher wlry she was crying. Andslre saidmusrlwshelwdanonly child, ababyboy, andtttati-hehadbfthnbehid. So-r his lap

wvle'swifeask$ln;f

shewould.recogniTetlwbabyif shisawhim.[L]txrr-seeins"tlwi"fatl

thatitwaslwrchild

shearxikd

$rywule.nokhebabynlwr,and.shefaintedirctantly.{tvtrnillyreUqtedandsaid, t)wtitwas.herbabl. So shenok_himandb_egonwalking...Mj tnulehadt"r"iolbobirt,Latthey altdied.He

lnad

children . Mury , mary babies were

leftbel*d.kli

that.-

- This survivor reported seeing many infants on the deportation routeJ that had dried up and tumed to skeletons. She com. mented that these sights made her feel rhat she was going crazy, especially when she saw abandoned children who were still alive. She

remembered these children crying as they

"Mommy, a cup of water. Mommy, apiece of bread." A survivor from Chanakkale told us how they had left her eight-year-old brotherbehind on the deportation. Thedonkey onwhich she and her brother had been riding died along the ryv, rydpstrg and thebrotherwere walking when he finally declared: passed them,

"Izaqtemehere , I cant't go on," He saidtlwt his legs w u e blee ding fr un rubblng ogainst each

cm a motlw leave childt My said, " Irave him. Ve willbe left behind, W e will all be left. Armenian wunan, leaue

otlwr . But lw,u

fatlw no.

hitn."

partfrunhim,Finoh,ilvybf Refugee camp, Aleppo, Syria, circa 1928. Shown are relugees lrom Kharpen and sunounding towns and villages. Photo coudesy ol Maryarot Kedonian Melickian.

thim,sathimdoum,*il#r#rffiT,f,f,tr-i\Yrxwlmffi

un,butmry-motlwleptlaokingbackndwchildmdl<eptolng.Butryfakerl<cptsaying,"'Walk, wonlan. \X/ e will each stay behhd mo, orc by orw. W e mrut. ih;s is orn iate." This survivor said that she remembers this event as clearly as if "it's across from me now." Her mother's 'eyes, continued to be "behind her," looking back at her abandoned child. It is clear that these imagSs-haurrted survivors well into their adult lives. For example, one of the rwo survivors who told us about the babierleft behind in Urfa pondered reflectively in our intervie*', ' Did tlreykiiith.-,or diJ they die of hunger?" She-finally said, "This sceni is always in front ofmy eyes, you know." She remembered, in pafticular, an abandoned infant whom she described as a "cure, chubbybuby.;'i'Whrt was his fate?" she wondered. Because most of our respondents were young at the time of the genocide, we can document how these scenes of abandonment affected surviving children, bul we have little firsiirand evidence of the emotions of mothers who she said,

AIM,APRIL

MAY

1993

Mv mother used to andso) keep Ub fifW intentiOnow rcighbor amlnwdvrnameardkstmnthisptMiriatn -it -r - ,- - .7-- -

kt,fft:l*1::i;['.H::it*l3i:ffi,tPgaccoun'lora r,,edtn come over.s.onwdnvs

the :-I tage eSDg:i,*s atly-111 ont)wfbor,ctirWwrdnytns,pullinghnlwir.She 'T lr, r-ir --

Hanern.

I, no,

used m go

w bok. .She wop.tu

Wt#M::tr;#ffffi'; cially-and woqld wraP ffi,n\;#;ny#:*WtrW:,y EBs on our heads. Wtr#ffitf;H,,:l**' Stie did such things. putdirt), {ffi*ffiN;f!-xffi*#ff,*,\f,#,,* clothes on ui, two

ffik"ffiW,#trM,#,ffiy

She used to

Wlx*ffi##f,W;*

or three sets of clothing

W#,Y,tr# ffi*x:',[#,#]v;;ff* at onc e.r, otwtlwwolves ate,"

For the mothers who abandonedchildrenandsurvived themselves, we canonlyassume that, as withMiriam, tremendous guilt musthave overshadowed theirconscious and subterranean emotioru, even thoughhoma utilitarian stindpoint, abandoning an infant might have been the only reasonable_thing to do. We heard several accounts of ihil&en being sold for a loaf or two of bread. Although the.motives for these trarsactioru are complex and not entirely clear, it is doubtful that parens sold children simply to assist their own survival. Indeed, theiister of one survivor protested when herfathersold two orphan neighbor children who were accompanying them, because she, also, wanted to go (thinking that a surrogate family might at least have food to eat). Anotkr"survivor argued that his parents gavi up his twelve-year-old sister and nine-year-old brother on the calculation that they would be htter off than siaying with them. However, his seventeen.yeq.old sister begged to be drowned rather than given away because she feared being sexually abused. She protested, "Brother, ttuow me in the river, butdon'tgive me away."This

rhetorically, qVhat could we do? If we resisted, they would shoot us on the survivor asked

spot."

Other children were forcibly aMucted.

LocalTurla andKurds went among the

Shirajian 0rphanage, Aleppo, ckca 1921 Photo

cluilesy

ol Grace Dogramajian Hartunian and Esher Cheilezian Dogramaiian.

deportees taking whomever they wanted. Sometimes girls were aMucted at night; other times children and women were treated as if they were animals for auction, we were told repeatedly in our interviews. A survivor from Jibin said that there were about 150 people left in their caravan when they entered aTurkish ciry and were commanded tositdown under some trees: "\Uhile we sat to eat, the gendarmes came to take moneyfromus. Also, the villagers began appearing and taking away young children. They wouldgrab them, and holding themby the hand,lead them away. Someone came and took my hand, too. But my grandmother grabbed me and would not let me go."A gendarme whorvas guardingthe caravan saw this and hit this survivor's grandmother with the butt of his rifle. She fell of other children. with a number along was taken away, to the ground, and the boy doccasion, however, resistance wassuccesiful. For example, a survivor from Keghi described how her mother had taken her to the river to wash. Up to this point, her face had always beencovered. However, a gendarme saw how pretty she was and grabbed her. Aithough her mother fainted in the scuffle, somehow the girl managed to break free and mingle with the rest of the people in the caravan. Tf,e emotional, physical, aid spiritual stamina required to attend to children day after day was extraordinary. A survivorfrom Hadlin stated thaievery moming on ihe deportation journey, her mother would start the day with prayer and read a passage of scripture from the Bible. Her Ch'ristian fatth played an important role in giving her strength and confidence. And at night, she remembered her mother sitti{rg between her and a younger sister, coveringihe three of them with a comfoner or blanket. She wondered when her mother slept, commenting:

AIM

APRIL

MAY

1993

'{0fhen I used to open my eyes, I saw that my mother was awake and not sleeping. She used to be afraid, because they used to kidnap girls-many." Describing her mother's strategy for preserving her daughters, she said:

"My mother

used to

keep us

diry

intentionally-in

the face especiallyand would wrap rags on our heads. She didsuchthings. She used to put dirry clothes on us, rwo or three sets of clothing at once." lilTomen also had to cope with childbirth on the deportations. A survivor who had been raped by a gendarme said that months later, after the child was bom, she still had to find food while living as a vagrant refugee. Revealing her conflicting emotions toward this child, she recalled rhat she

bffilii:1**Un'. fhH?iifil'j'

Relugeâ&#x201A;Źs at NEar East Reliel lndustial Sdrool, Beirut, circa i921. Photo coudesy

ol the

and go offto gather srass to eat. \uhen she came back hours later, the only about a week, and when he died, there was no burial-they simply put the child aside and i,ent on. The survival rate of newboms appears very low, based on references made to Lhildbirth in our inrerviews. Typical of the comments we heard, a survivor from Aintab stated rather matter-of.factly: "My moth.. *"r p..grr"rrt on the way. So a little sister, Mary, was bom. But since there was no food to eat, the baby died."

Amenian

Ubrary and Musoum ol

Amedo'a.

Despite some children's ambivalence about going to the orphanages, they served an extremely important

function in gathering the survivors and thereby became the basis for establishing a new generation of postgenocide Armenians. For the orphaned children, these institutions were a bridge from disorder, rrauma, and chaos to relative order, stability, and stnrcture. Theorphanages nurnrred a semblance of family life. Children were divided by sex into different groups and mairigs (sutrogate mothers) were gsigned to each group. These mairigs---often widows or olde. orplir.r girlswere r{sually incharg-e-of about a dozen children. Survivors who described their orphanage experiences to us in some detail included this young girl from Sivas:

Iwasvryhapyyintlworphanage.WeallhadtlwsurwstorymtlwtweallwercAmwiawwhohad wu verl cleur, arul tlwy nok spciol care a l<cep w vu1 cleon.IhadW^tlqtwwpaslrny-waist,neverantfrunt)w-tinwlwa sepratedfrunmymotlwrThel cutallof dwlTlwfodwasgodmdyewlar Everyrnonring wehadahief proyuhwetin[, utdt]lenwiwent

gone ntrough dE dcpaftadofl andhadbst fwnily . It

toclzrsses.Inlv nwmingwehadheakfut,atnaon on$head,mdat'nighiwehadbleadand,cheese.But surnmers rlwy nokus a1 retreatta clrwtlvr uillage.

itwauchgodhead.Vlewerealllwahhy.Wehod,nvlicalhelpcawell,-andintlw

Of her fint few days in the orphanage, she remembered being

(

*h"."di#rhd;ii"tri*q'1;it[6.il1"e:*n.,.oo"ofth?older ( Wg mairigs was in charge. The girl had completely forgotten her mother , .o,'ei", *a it'.-i"et",et't ;.r;;*.;:;'t-di1#i: ffOm "ii"rtr,. nian. The song was number 14, "\Uhat a FriendWe Have inJesus." The '

ffi:1trXffi H'fl:'A*m[ assigned a number.

had a tgaChgf \hn WhOSe name

lru;:i'****ffi,[:,Hr;. was Gos tan Bandigian,

and We neVef SaW him H;:'a",llt'ffi i::i:'*::5rux*l:; :xml';ittH'*T s leepin g atnight. He was'Tashjian." Later, when his uncles were lookirrgforhim'thev wor$eredw\ereherradgottentharname. us-gi to go thrbugh the In spite of troubled beginnings, rhe survivor ch viewedgenerauyhadverypositiverecouect,"","r#ffi*il" halls at [ight, COigfing -l- ---e' \0Thentheyenteredanorphanage,someoftheyoungerchildren

experieice.M*yr.*e*b'...Jg",ri"g"gooaeducationintheir" orphanage. The reachers-who-the-iaues were suryivors-were ofren

ffi lHT:ffi'fr I#ff*'*:*:i:[:T$r*#::.T,fff

AIM,APRIL

_I !ifo--' -l- - CnilOfgll tng

.\VflO

H]"n"neededit.r, MAY

1993

VII

therewasonlyonebookforeveryfourorfivestudents.Butapparentlythe curriculumwasrigorous:_'lVithinashorttime,theygaveusacrashcourse

, ,l T t- - ,- -^-11 L WaS Very napp}

l,il'Jf;fi#*ffi ;*pi*i!'dli:I'"t txarfi:::s' i,' the orehariage.

F fantastic. They couldn't do enough for the orphans." Disciplinewasseeminglystrilt,bothformallyandinformally'For

ffi[I[fi1[i6;i:;:1,'*:H,n':ffiil":1'J:',:t'.* Turkish. Yetthethem younger children if they caught

the

speaking

;;ri;;ilf";il.dli".Ail;dfr"*rai,.p.ofi..mforthechlldrenh

welfare. A survivor recalled one of his teachers in the orphanage:

wereallyhadsmwvery good.tcndws.Ttwy

usedatook

all had the Same StOry

t" t5u,

;rlfi;;;-'

Afmeniaffs WhO had g0ne thfOUgh 4g

{m,f#ffiU,ffiruWrcH*yYn ileportation andhad 'hlx;:;*;,f;tr#nfLy,y*,tff;T*'i*0, lost family. I a Wvn worid atr srrlp

fighting mwng ourselttes.

twtDstm

n,lr.rri"dnitl"*iisiackctasideudsaydlaltfuwasgoingathrwkmself

all snp fi ghang, sunowtdhim,

intfusea.TlvnwewottW

opobdz".

We heard contradictory testimony regarding how orphanage personnel dealt with the children's psychological mauma from the genocide. Severai female survivors told us that they were forbidden to talk about their deporration experieices, while others said that they were encouraged to relieve themselves of the burden of these mimories. ln fact, in some orphanages, the children even wrote songs commemorating their exo-eriences. Likewise, they sang nationalistic songs that provided a sense of collective strength in this time of rebuilding and despair. In some ofihanages, Armenian nationalists came to give speeches to the children. in the midst of ihe politiue experiences, there were also pai.rftl mo*.nts, as children anempted tg cop-e wjth the realiry of being alone in the world. What their mothers would have done--unthinkingly, these children had to manage for thentril'r.r. For example, a survivor said somewhat plaintively: "\7e used to try to comt each other's hair. fre were young; we couldn'fmanage too well." She also sald that her eyes sometimes hurt so badly that she couldn't open ihem, and she lamented that she did not have a mother to comfort her. Sometimes orphans were invited to their relatives' homes on Sundaysor holidays, which was a great boon to their spirits. But many other orphans had no relatives. When we asked Rebecca what the most difficult moment of her iife was, she replied: "lt was a Sunday. A lot of relatives of

orph*r;1T::i,:l:f,?lir;.ffi:1.#;ff:3,?""' there were relatives waiting for them. I sat there, too. No one called my name. That day I can never forget. How much I cried. lJ7hy am I left alone?Why me?\Uhy is there no one asking for me?'That day kept me very sad." Another survivor

voiced the same poignant reflection: "Many of the other students had relatives who used to come and visit them. \07e would all stare at the reunions, thinking how lucky that theyhad an auntor

uncle." Physical nunure was easier toprovide than psychological mediation to help reconcile the orphans to their experiences. Feelings of loss were common to all the orphans, but many of the children also had to struggle with an abrupt change in their social status. The following statement expresses both feelings:

Dolls lor the kids, at Beirut s Near East Reliet center

lor ophans, circa 1921. Photo courtesy ol the Armenian Library and Museum ol America.

I was t)wsonof avery weal*ry man.Wly shouldlrcwbeinmorphanage mdfightwu apiece_ol head, ornoteumlwveine? lfi/try stwuldlrctbewithrnybrot)wrs udfani\,_hvingasweusetat Wlry. rcthaq.)e aTnatlwr? Whenevq smworcworidsay "mother," rnylwartusednbreokinnpieces.I couldn't

nl<e it . Sometimes smw mot]lers [obuowb widmaed] used m cmle to he orphuwge n }r:ing things n t]uir soru. I used to watrh, louter my head, m-d wmlcr ud wk wlry was I rwt a lwve a moher . Why should I tnthac)e amother?

Balanced against such moments of anguish were the good times that helped rebuild the children's sp_irits. In. . the *ords of on"e survivor, "There was a n[e communityin the orphanage. \7e used to dance and sing. \7e would sing a lot of sad songs and cry together. We used to teach each other the dances we knew according to the places we tame from. We were sad, but happy with each other."

AIM,APRIL

MAY

1993

PARALLEL LIVES

TURKEY, ARMENIA, AND THE US GEOPOLITICAL AGENDA BySlllON PAYASLIAil nder US tutelage, in addition to receiving massive economic and especially military support in the early 1990s, Turkeycurrentlyfinds

itself in a perfect position to exploit its geostrategic location between Europe and

Asia on the one hand, and the cultural affinity of the Turkic peoples throughout Central Asia on the other. Several factors currently propl Turkey to become a central actor in the geopolitical transformations oc-

territories from northern Syria and Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, to Kirghizia andTajikestan,

to China's Sinkiang Uighun Autonomous Region. The fact that Turkey alone has survived as an independent country through the many turbulent phases of the 20th century places it in a strong leadership position in the revival of the Pan-Turkic movement. Cleady, this does not mean that the political and economic elites in Uzbekistan, Tajikestan, and so on, will embraceTurkey as the sole leaderof

curring in the region. These

include Turkey's disillusionment with the European

Community,

the

heavy

concentration of the Kurd-

dition of Ataturk, Turkey

has emphasized a secular form of an Islamic state. On the other hand, since the Islamic Revolution in 19781979, Iran has emerged as the leader of the

Shi'ite fundamentalist movement which

also advocates the abolition ofsuch governments as Turkey with secular-cum-Weslern tendencies. The Turkish government has more than once accused Teheran ofsupporting, organizing, training and arming antiAnkarademonstrations as wellasKurdish and Turkish Islamic revolutionary, guerrilla forces within Turkish borders. In turn, kan has accused Ankara of fueling anti-Iran hatred among

ish population throughout

the Turkish peoples in Turkey as well as throughout

historical Russo-Turkish mutual suspicions regarding their eastern Turkey, the

Central Asia.

Concomitantly, Turkey

territorial ambitions, the emergence

ofhan

has made a concerted

effort

to normalize relations with

as a cen-

Middle Eastern

ter of Shi'ite fundamentalism and the subsequent re-

govern-

ments. [n the aftermath of the Gulf War, Turkey has been in the process ofredefining its role in the Middle East. It has increased trade relations

vival of the lran-Turkey ideological rivalry, the redefinition of Turkey's own role in the Middle East, and, fi nally, the Armenian-Azeri

with most Middle Eastern

conflict-all of which re-

countries and now views it-

for

self as one of the key players

a.potentially explosive reglon. As a NATO member, Turkey has long realized

in the region. As Graham

main critical ingredients

that its Europeanist aspirations have not and cannot be

The Bush admlnlstratlonelevated Turkey beyond lts post-WWllcordon sanltalre

status andtransformed lt lnto an actlve reglonal powerthroughoutthe Caucasus andthe northerntlerolthe Mlddle Eastasa "power balancer." Stlll,lusttwo months before hls death on Aprll 17, Turkey's Presldent Turgut Ozal, left, was campalgnlng lor broader economlc ald from the US,

fulfilled, Ataturk's objectives notwithstanding. Indeed, the European Commission's

theTurkic peoples. Rather, both Turkey and theCenfal Asian countries will cooperateto

negativeresponse (issued in December I 989) toTurkey's application formembership inthe European Community caused much resentment and antagonism in Turkey. Recent hostilities againstTurkish minorities in a number ofEuropean countries, especially in reunified

improve theireconomies and to enhancetheir regional and global diplomatic and military

Germany, have exacerbated the situation and rendered Euro-Turkish relations less palatable and more tenuous at bst. Also, thedisintegration oftheSoviet Union nowprovides ample opportunities forTurkey to rebuild its cultural as well as economic links with the Turkic peoples, encompassing vast

capabilities. Given Turkey's post-WWl standing in global politics, Turkey is likely to serve as the exemplary paradigm ofTurkic diplomacy with theUS. Further, the Turkish-Iranian conflict and competition, deeply rooted in the history of the region, is ofparticular significance. Turkey has reemerged as the geopolitical and ideological-religious rival to Iran once again with significant implications for the regional balance ofpower. On the one hand, in the tra-

AIM, APRIL.MAY 1993

Fuller has noted, Turkey "is destined to play an increasingly important and active

role in the Middle

East-

from which ithas almost unnaturally excluded itself for nearly seven decades." From Ankara's point of view, these relations are of paramount importance as a counter-balancing force against any potential conflicts with Iran. In a similar vein, so long as the US is supportive of the Yeltsin govemment, Turkey is

likely to continue cultivating the "peacemaker" image and to cooperate with the present Russian leadership as a mediator in

regional conflicts. However, any radical changes in Moscow----either to the left or to the right-would merely rekindle historical rivalries between Ankara and Moscow. Turkey needs a neutralized Russia that at the very 29

AIM, APRIL.MAY 1993

ar).

visible, visible

..rWar era,

tolend

hold alltogether; Communlsts, above, llag-wavlng ln Moscow. Any radlcal changes ln Russla-+lther to the left or lo the rlght-would reklndle hlstorlcal rlvalrles between Ankara CROWDS APART: Yeltsln, rlght, trylng to It

and Moscow. mostis diplomatically involved in the current regional conflicts as a "peacemaker" but that also has no immediato general military strategy vis-a-vis the Armenia-Azerbaijan war and the Southern Muslim Belt.

Russian direct and indirect military involvement in such conflicts as in GeorgiaAbkhazia, Armenia-Azerbeijan, Uzbekistan or Tajikestan bodes ill for the future of Ankara-Moscow relations. Turkey is most likely to pursue a triangular diplomatic strategy (as experienced by China after the Nixon-Mao rapprochement)

of simultaneously playing the "American Card," the"RussianCard'andttre"hanCard"

to enhance its geopolitical standing in the region's reli gious, nationalist and territorial rivalries. Turkey's expansive activism in the region renders US support for its security policies indispensable. And, as long as the Turkish leadership does not antagonize the Washington establishment, they are likely to continue to receive US economic and military assistance. Since the Gulf War, Turkey has accumulated much diplomatic capital and there is no

indication that its influence in the White House or on Capitol Hill will diminish any

lmplications For Armenia On the one hand, one can conceivably argue that while Turkey possesses the military capability successfully to invade and ovemrn Armenian forces, at least two factors would checksuch amilitaryoption. First, kan would not tolerate aggressive behavior by Turkey ofmilitary force, including an invasion of Armenia, would be perceived as a direct challenge to lran's own territorial security. The mere threat of a potential escalation of the regional conflicts-including the Karabakh war-into a more expansive interbecause any use

national war would deter a full-fledged

time soon. This close U S-Turkish relationship, especially US military assistance to Turkey, is an essential factor in the calculus of the regional geopolitical balance ofpowerequation

a regional conmagnitude would certainly invite Moscow to a greater military involvement to prevent both Turkey and kan from rendering such a war more vulnerable to Western inter-

and, needless to say, bears immenseimplications for the security of Armenia.

vention. While clearly otherexplanations mightbe

AIM, APRIL.MAY

1993

Turkish-Iranian war. Second, fl ict of such

offered as to why Turkey would not opt for military intervention, it is equally clear that if Ankara chose to do so, as of yet neither a neighboring noradistantpowercouldprevent it. There are a number of factors that would propel Turkey to a military invasion of Armenia. First, Turkey's Pan-Turkic aspiration itself is a factor. Second, a military invasion would help the Azeris maintain control over Nakhichevan and Karabakh. Equally importantly, this would provide a major boost for the morale of the Turkic peoples and hence furtherenhance Turkey' s prestige throughout Central Asia in opposition to Iran. Third, the majorpowers themselves wouldbe interested in a regional (and containable) conflict that would provide a market for their surplus weapons inventories in the wake of the Cold War.Indeed, as thel,ebanese civil wardemonstrated, the major powers would be ex-

tremelyinterestedinthe"Lrbanonization" of Armenia, and-as in lrbanon-neither the United Nations nor any major power would exhibit any inclination to prevent such a conflicl Itis alsoworthpointingoutthat, conhary tosomeobservers' views, while atthe surface Russia alone might appear willing and capable of preventing a miliury conflagration at its southern borders, a closer examination of its economic and political situation suggests thatit, too, would welcomean opportunity to market surplus weapons.

This analysis points to a number ofquestions for serious considerations. First, it is obvious that Armenia's survival as a viable country requires a healthy degree of military capability. Yet, military capability cannot be obtained without intensive and extensive, pragmatic and expansive, public and private diplomacy. It is essential for Armenia to develop multi-functional diplomatic arrangements to gain political independence from its

immediate neighbors as well as Western powers.

As long as the Karabakh war continues, Iran and Syria are two countries that would support Armenia, although their support might prove to be temporary since neither is likely to remain domestically stable for long. Further, throughout the past centuries Armenia's experiences have repeatedly demonstrated that Armenia cannot trust the

Western powers for

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its security.

Thus,

Armenia must cast its diplomatic net wide and well beyond the traditional regional alliance configurations. It must, through a policy of diplomatic diversifi cation, cultivate closer relations with distant powers such as,

for example, the East Asian countries of China, Japan, both Koreas, Singapore, and Latin American countries such as Argentina,

Brazil and Uruguay. Indeed, since East Asian countries recent-

ly experienced massive and rapid industrial and technological developments, they might prove to be sufficiently reliable economic partners as well as sources for military supplies.

Diplomatic diversif,rcation and agility,

* ARMENIAN

therefore, are indispensable to improve military and economic conditions in Armenia. Technological changes can now more readily facilitate closer relations with distant countries to provide a counter-balancing force against Turkey. This is especially necessary to keep in mind since Armenia can neither

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trust nor should it rely exclusively on the Western powers for its security. Nothing can convey the import of this geopolitical reality with as much clarity as the massive increase in US military aid to Turkey at a time when the latter's neighbors-Armenia and Azer-

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1993

Freshness you can feel.

TERMS OFSYMBIOSIS

mental funds but may receive humanitarian assistance, Because of its small population size, Armenia receives but a small percentage of the total set aside for the former Soviet countries.

Washington's Assistance Policy for Armenia

ment (US AID) to Armenia last September,

Control and the National Institute forHealth are providing $2 million worth of medicines and vaccines. About $l I million worth of baby food, baby formula and dry milk will be supplied by US AID. The Department of Defense is covering the tansportation costs of three ships, carrying products donated by private sources, from the U.S. to a Black Sea port. The Department of Agriculture is also

she found that, despite the Azerbaijani

contributing food to Armenia.

blockade and the energy crisis, Armenians were already busily engaged in business, exporting products to Russia and the Middle East. One of US AID's objectives-to encourage free-market economies in countries

tinuetobe an importantpartof Olds' workin Armenia, she hopes that in the next few months heroffice will developand executea "pro-active strategy" to fill Armenia's needs

ByTALINE SATAIIIAN hen Suzanne Olds took over her duties as therepresentative

of the United States Agency For International Develop-

While humanitarian assistance will con-

around the world-already had a footing in

in the developmental arena as well. "It's not

Armenia even before

an either/or option be-

US developmental as-

tween humanitarian

sistance.

and developmental

"It'samazingtome

assistance,"Olds said.

how much business is

Theamountforde-

already going on here. I thought very little is

velopmental assistance to Armenia in fiscal 1992-about $3.5 million-is mea-

happening here because

of the energy

crisis," Olds, an

ll-

ger compared to the

year veteran in the de-

scale of humanitarian assistance. Included in

velopment field, said. "The ingenuity of the

this amount is about half a million dollars

Armenians cannot be underestimated," she added with a chuckle. Olds'experiencein development assistance to developing countries, which she

gained

for the services of two advisors: one in the housing privatization program and the oth-

er in the farmer-to-

farmer program.

posts in

Bangladesh, India and US AID's Suzanne Olds: "The lngenulty of the Armenlans cannot be

theWestBank, has yet underestlmated."

to be fully

tapped. Short-term emergency humanitarian assistance to Armenia, Georgia, and possibly

Developmental funds were also provided to the American University of Armenia which

representative to the latter two countries as well), has taken precedence over long-term developmental assistance. In fiscal 1992, ending last September 30, Armenia received about $50 million worth of US government humanitarian assistance. The aid, including medicines, wheat, dry milk and infant formula, came from many sources,

received a $950,000 grant last year. US AID also granted the Ministry of Energy $1.5 million to improve energy efficiency in the country. A hospital-hospital partnership between two Arrnenian hospitals and a consortium of US hospitals is costing US AID another $400,000. U.S developmental assistance was also made available for a small business advisor, andforanairportfeasibility study. US AID is also funding a team from the US Center for

including excess Department of Defense stocks, and the US Department of Agriculture. During the same period, Georgia re-

health officials to monitor food availability and nutrition levels in the country, and to as-

ceived similar aid products worth about $32

sess

Azerbaijan in the future (Olds is US AID

million. Humanitarian assistance to Armenia during fiscal 1993 is expected to exceed last year's. In 1993, the US Center for Disease 34

Disease Control to work with Armenian

morbidity and mortality rates.

In fiscal 1992, Georgia received about $200,000 in developmental funds for a hos-

pital-hospital partnership.

By US law,

Azerbaijan is notentitled toany US develop-

AIM, APRIL.MAY I993

This funding is made available under the Freedom Support Act and amounts to $417 million for fiscal 1993. According to Olds, Armenia will probably receive close to $5 million during fiscal I 993, about$ 1.5 million more than the previous year. For the next two years, US AID, in cooperation with theWorldBanlq has setaside$3.8 million to help develop the banking sectorin

to assist in formulating a macroeconomic strategy for the country.

Armenia and

About half a million dollars will fund a housing privatization advising program. Funding will also be made available for a legal advisor to work with the govemment in drafting new legislation. Such assistance was made available in the past fordrafting the constitution. There is also aproposalforfunding aninformation communication center run eitherby the Peace Corps or the American University of Armenia (AUA). The AUA has also inde-

pendently applied for additional funding this year. 'There will be more money in the next six months to a year as field offices get off the ground and we get to know countries and they getto know us," Olds said, admitting thatthere is little money availablecomparedto the needs of the former Soviet states. Limited funds mean that the money must be used wisely and efficiently. US AID' s strategy for the moment is to "seize targets" it can afford to fund. "What we offer may not be the country's most pressing needs... We can't help in all priority areas, but we don't work in a vacuum either," Olds said, stressing the need tobein a constant dialogue with the govemment in order to match what donors can offer and what the country needs. For example, in the energy sector, Armenia's most pressing need is the procurement of fuel. However, since US AID does not have enough funds to donate fuel, it has chosen to contribute in a different way. After consulting with the Minister of Energy, it chose to help in improving fuel efficiency in the country. According to Olds, an enormous amount of heat is lost because of windows and doors that do notclose well; power stations waste the heat they generate while producing electricity; and gas pipelines have leaks.

Consultations between the government and donors about how best to provide humanitarian assistance to the country are ongoing. Olds commanded a recent meeting between private, governmental and international donor organizations, and the Armenian Minister of Economy, to discuss coordinating humanitarian assistance. The government, which in the past provided lists of its needs to donors, has now decided to draw up aplan to determine the country's humanitarian needs

fornext year. "Responding to emergencies in will beeasier," Olds said. Armenia is clearly receiving more assistance, both humanitarian anddevelopmental, than both of its neighbors, Georgia and

the next few months

Azerbaijan. According to Olds, there are many reasons for this. One is an active Armenian Diaspora in the US that not only pressures Congress and the President to make

sure that Armenia gets assistance, but also

comes up with ideas and projects to implement. Also, the Armenian Embassy in Washington is very effective and knowledgeable about US funding sources, and takes advanugeof them. Thirdly, theopening of anAID office in Yerevan means that the likelihood that more AID money will flow into Armenia increases because the ofhce can provide information about funding programs. Neighboring Georgia lacks those advan-

tages-which may explain why it has received less assistance than Armenia, according to Olds. Georgia has an embassy only in

Russia and does not have a diaspora. But lately, Georgia has been trying to be "proactive," Olds said. This can only benefit Armenia, and will not detract from the assistance Armenia is receiving, because there could be an exchange ofprogram ideas between both counries. Forexample, an Israeli team visited Georgia to advise on alternative sources of energy. The Israelis, who, according toOlds, are the world leaders in exploiting solar energy, can also be invited to Armenia to offer the same assistance.

In some ways, carrying out projects in Armenia has been easier than in other coun-

rieswhereOldshasworked.In theWestBank Program, where she was US AID representative for a year before she came to Armenia, she had to work in an environment where, except for an occupying government, no indigenous government existed to support her work. "The Palestinians are not in control of their own economy... they are under occupation," Olds said. Even though the Palestinians are "smart and well-educated," and enjoy the support ofan active diaspora, their society's infrastructure is crumbling partly because of ablockade imposed against them which prevents them from having access to free trade, according to Olds. Palestinians do not have industries either, whereas Armenia does. "There are many more resources in Armenia," Olds said, including a well-educated work force, which is not usual in the development field. Despite these advantages, there are still problems. "Armeniais adauntingassignment. We are working in a political and economic environment which is very new to those of us who are in development work," Olds said. '"Thereis notextbooktellingushow

togofrom

acommandto afree-marketeconomy," which

isforcing US AID to startfrom scratch andto draw its own road map while helping Armenia and the other former Soviet countries. I

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SHIRAKBOOKSTORE 4960 HOLLYWOOD BLVD.

LOS ANGELES, CA 90027 U.S.A. Tel.: (213) 667-ll28Fax: (213) 661-1126 AIM, APRIL-MAY 1993

CD's

$1t.00

iTlk$::uu

A JourneyThrou

theWorldofArm Jewelers TEXT ANO PHOTOS BY

ARA OSHAGAN he 20 or so buildings centered around Hill Street near Pershing

Square are what is known as the Downtown I-os Angcles Jewelry District. During a typicalday, peoplefrorn allwalks oflife pass through the doors and stroll along

the streets of the district: irnmaculately dressed American, Middle Eastern, European and Ariln husirressrnen clrrry ing rnysterious briefcases; shopprs in bdght shorls and shirlsi

old-time jewelers with calloused

hands

greeting each other with silent nods: young men standing in groups. smoking. during the lunch hour; and even dispossessed and homeless people in various corners. They come and go, speaking in Armenian, Chinese, Persian. Korean and even a littleEnglish-the unoffi cial lan guage of business here. Most people are discreet and secretive and hastily go about their business. Security oflflcers stand at nearly every door, watching and monitoring. Arrnored transport trucks make

deliveries and pick-ups around the clock. Video cameras roll non-stop in all buildings. Everything tiorn cheap jewelry to thousand-dollar Iinejewels change hands in this

ultra-modern international amalgam of people and gold and precious stones. Millions of dollars rnake theirway across the lew Hill Street blocks during the course of a year. Any profession even remotely associated with gold and jewelry can be found hereprecious and semi-precious stone and metal retai lers, wholesalers, manufacturers, casters,

polishers, importers, appraisers, diarnond setters, watch-makers, and also business and legal offices that cater to the hundreds ofjewelry district businesses. Everything, except the actual mining of gold andprecious stones, is done in the district.

ffi

It is estimated that somewhere between 6,000 to 8,000jewelry businesses operate in the disrict and that nearly 50,000 people make a living here. They are mostly Armenians,

Iranians, Asians, Latinos, Jews and Arabs. Very few Anglo-Americans can be found in the area.

Estimates of the number of Armenians working in the district, who seem to be nearly evenly distributed in all aspects ofthe trade, run anywhere from 50 to 80 percent. Most have come from Lrbanon, Syria, andTurkey. There arepractically no Armenian-Iranians or Armenian-Americans, and the few Armenians from Armenia (though their number is

increasing) are mostly

in wholesale and

manufacturing. The majority of Armenians in the district knew very littleaboutthejewelry tradebefore they came here. They got into the jewelry business because it involves minimal capital orrisk, and because gold and precious stones tend to retain their value. In general, Arme-

in the Los Angeles jewelry trade. He came

of the jewelry trade in the

from Iran and started abusiness on the GIbill in 1953. With govemment support, he set up shop doing retail and wholesale in the Metropolitan Building on 5th Street. "There were very few Armenians in the business back then," he says. "Maybe five or six, mostly Armenian-Americans or Armenian-kanians. The rest were mostly Jews." In 1967, Michaelianhelped movea group ofjewelers to Hill Street, in particularthe 607 building, *reoriginal CalifornialewelryMart. The building was gutted, renovated and redesigned to the specifications of the jewelry industry to accommodate jewelry wholesalers and manufacturers. The building quickly became thecenterof the Los Angeles jewelry industry. "Within two orthree years it was such a success," says Michaelian, "there was a waiting listto getin." Slowly, more and morejewelers congregated

diamond trade which is still based in New York. Downtown L.A.'s St. Vincent Jewelry Center, occupying nearly one city block, is perhaps the largest of is kind in the district. It

Hill Street. In the early 70s the immigration of Arme-

U.S.-but

not the

encompasses 300,000squarefeetof spaceand houses over400 wholesalers, manufacturers,

designers and retailers. It used to be a department store until six Armenian partners bought it in the early 80s and tumed it into a jewelry building, repletewith numerous retail plazas and offices. Mike Yousefian has been the general manager of the L.A. United Investment Company, the outfit that manages St. Vincent

Jewelry Center, since the building was bought.

"The best years of the jewelry business were from 1982 to 1988," he says. "The numberof tenants at St. Vincentuipled in that period. Itwasatimeofgreathustleandbustle. A lotof people made a lotof money."

Desplte a number ol malor setbacks ln the 80s, downtown L.A.'s Jewelry Dlstrlct ls stlll a state of the art, multl-mllilon.dollar

operatlon. nians have aggregated in the district because of the promise of lucrative renrms, perhaps the pull of family and friends and perhaps even

theirinnatetalentascraftsmenandkeensense ofbusiness.

Risks and Prolits; the llaking of a Boom The market has gone through great changes in its 2S-yearhistory, and Armenians have been instrumental in the expansion and development of the area. Indeed, it is generally agreed that Armenians single-handedly

established the district and brought

its

greatest years of prosperity.

Gregory Michaelian, of Michaelian and Sons, was one ofthefirst Armenians involved

nians from the Middle East, especially Lebanon and Syria, and also from Turkey, began and continued more or less steadily throughoutthedecade. Many whowereinthejewelry business back home flocked to Hill Street. "They brought with them the knowledge

of the business," says Michaelian. "They brought their styles, their design, their craft ." Many others, escaping war and economic ruin, and looking for anew start, also congregatedtoHill Sreet. Thesedevelopments, plus a booming real estate market, converged to usherin the tlp "golden age" of ttre Downtown

jewelrydisrict.

Throughout the 70s and 80s, the number

of merchants and jewelry buildings mushroomed steadily, making the area the center

AIM, APRIL-MAY

1993

In the mid-S0s, Los Angeles absorbed a massive wave of immigrants from Armenia and Asian countries. Many of these newcomers, especially Chinese and Koreans, gravitated to Hill Street for the same reasons their predecessors had. Then, in the late 80s, the boom was suddenly a thing ofthe past.

TheAntlclimar These days, in confast to the hectic activity of the garment district just a block or two off, the jewelry district looks a little grim. There are empty booths in nearly every building andplaza, and idle jewelers stand over their offerings, reading a newspaper or just waiting. Some display windows show

bare busts and empty ring and bracelet trays. "For [.ease" signs are posted on nearly every

Hill Streetbuilding. According to the management of the original California Jewelry Mart, the building is experiencing vacancies for the first time in three years. St. Vincent also has a number of vacancies. "Before, tenants paid key money to get a booth," Yousefian says. "Now noneof thatis left." Tenants also used to pay the building management for advertising, but not any more. "People arejustbarely getting by now." Only St. Vincent still advertises, though in the past nearly all buildings did. During the late 80s a number of events struck at the heart of the jewelry district, for many ushering in the beginning of theend of the golden age. John Garibian will tell you the main problem is competition. He and his wife, Azniv,

who run Cartel Inc., designers of finejewelry,

diamonds and gems, are originally from Jerusalem and have been in the downtown jewelry district for 15 years. In the early and mid-80s, business was brisk-the Garibians employed a number of people and had customers comingthrough theirdoors at all times. But things changed. During the last years of the decade, booths and people selling similar merchandise had proliferated to such a degree that prices started to plummet. As new immigrants came from China, Korea and Armenia, laborrates also dipped. "If you drop the price of your ring or your bracelet," explains onejeweler, "you can only cut from your worker's wages to make up the difference, because world prices for gold and precious stones are not changing." A typical pav6 settingthatcould be had at a rate of around $ I .50 per stone in the early 80s dropped to 50 cents later in the decade.

channel setting went from about $ I -2 to about 75 cents. A prong setting went from about $ I to about25 cents. Many manufacturing businesses, like the Garibians', went under.

"I had employees who had been with me

for 10-15 years," says John Garibian. "I couldn't drop their wages by 507o to be able tocompete." Forsix years now, theGaribians havebeen out of the manufacturing business, and in the last two years their walk-in customers have

also dwindled. They used to make nearly 1007o profit on retail sales; now they make about l0-157o. It's a losing proposition and there does not seem to be a respite any time soon.

"Only salesmen come by these days," says Azniv Garibian. "We are just barely surviving." She runs the jewelry store now and stands around waiting most of the day. Her husband takes care ofa hotel they

1967. His timing couldn't have been worse. The Arab-Israeli war had crippled the Syrian eco$omy and sent thousa$ds into migra-

tion.

But Barkev, 63, stayed in Aleppo and spent all the wealth he had amassed as ajeweler to understand the arcane science of making pure gold. He lost three to five kilos during trial experiments. Today, a kilo of pure gold costs about $11,0(8. "I was searching for the secret and in the process I was taking

atche Samuelian uses a secret

'to purify gold.

Alrppo from a.l

craftsmen

a dusty

mecca te.eming with skilled

Khasho's

-eorhing jewelry trade here is

embedded in pendants and case he,r

y*ung uD on stockins up vouns Kurd is stocking "to hava.enough assets to live on in he

with gold. T

..workshops and 36 can fin ..= -. Visitors = Ytstlorscal ,=-' !6arket, where .veils. One spe sells green mF market is still

Alotof itcomes opbned Aleppb's

President Hafez el-Assad

will lift other commerce-rslated con-

straints.

Samuelian's craft has its roots in the early 1920s when immi.Srant

out loans to feed my family," he said. Barkev' s little lab in the outskirts of Aleppo-Syria's second largest city-has earned him a lot of money. Though he will not say how much,hehas the luxury ofsmiling when recountinga stsry on how he lost a kilo of gold recently because of an error. "We were using dated chemicals," he said. "These sorts of accidents happen occasionally." Localjewelers say that he is oneofseveralexperts in Syriawho can separate metals such as silver and steel from gold. "Ifit's Syrian gold and it's stamped 999.9, chances are it's us," he said. And now back to the program. Barkev is as much the pushy merchant as he is the alchemist. His father was a shoe maker from Marash, but instead of following in his footsteps, Barkev workedrfor an Armenian jeweler in Aleppo as a teenager. Today, he ownstwo workshops, wears ahand-tailored suitand is itching to dabbls in international trade. Syria's ruling Baathist party recently introduced a number of measures the private sector has craved for years. O$incrship of fax machines was legalized in February, and people *re hopeful that

framfitchen wares to purple

made wifh olive oil. Another

Vatcle' s father, ts arksv, gold purification Iab on June 5.

Still, anew measurerequiring a7.5 percent levy oneach ounce of pure gold imported into Lebanon has gotten Raffi Derhagopian hopping mad. Derhagopian,42, has had to raise prices at his workshop on Mouhammad Abdo Street because most of the gold here is smuggled in from Lebanon. In addition, Syria's anaual inflation rate is l0 percent, and he faces fierce competition from the nearly 900 craftsmen and jewelers in Aleppo. Localjewelers say that speed puts him a cut above the rest. It takes him half a day to complete a rnulti-patterned 40 cm. rope chain. Derhagopian has also tnade hundreds of Cordon chains which are synonymous with Aleppo. Machines are unable toreproducethe infficatepatterns of the Cordonand few jewelers here use them. Casting is more common, but almost all of the jewelry produced in Aleppo is band-made.

Derhagopian learn€d his craft from his uncle, Hovannes

AIM, APRIL.MAY 1993

own, which brings bread to the table.

The Garibians' story is typical. On the ground floor of St. Vincent Jewelry Center, you can find Avedis Tchorbajian behind sparkling glass cases at his Personal Touch jewelry store, speaking to a customer or drinking coffee or smoking a cigarette. He came to America on May 28, 1976 from Beirut, where he used to be in the diamond import-exportbusiness, though his real trade lay in automotive electrical repair. Once in the U.S., Tchorbajian first tried opening up a service station. He wasn't successful. So he turned to the business he already knew somethingabout,jewelry. Hewas selfemployed, working out of his house until 1985, importing from Belgium and selling

locally. Attheheightof thejewelryboom tharyear, he came downtown and set up shop here, doing retail and wholesale. He fint had only

one booth. thenexpanded to two. Tchorbajian is uneasy now. "Everyyear, thecustomers are less and less," he says. "People are afraid to

come downtown." He prides himself on the honesty of his work and says he has always had friends instead ofcustomers. Tchorbajian will tell you the majorproblem is the economy. "Luxury items are the

first thing people forget about when the economy is bad," he says. "It's the first thing they put aside and the last thing they pick up again." Then he will pause and add, "If the situation goes on this way, the future is moot." Parsegh Demi{ian manufactured copper for industrial use in Istanbul before he came toLos Angelesin 1982. Like so many others looking for a new beginning, he was drawn to thejewelrydistrict. He lost a lotof money in the first three years, but was able to leam the ropes of the tradefromhis small booth and prospered for a few years . Today, he still has

Derma{ian, who designed Catholicos Karekin II'r ring. At the time, he was still an apprentice. The multi-tiered ring has three motifs: a two-hcaded eagle symbolizing the Cilician kingdom, a cross, and a pistachio:cblored olivs leaf that is a melange of silver and gold. The center-

piece stone is a purple Alexanderite, surroundJd by a constellation of l8 diamonds. "When our archbishop saw the ring he said 'now this is worth

;;;.

[];,,,

Demirjian, too, will tell you the main problem is competition, and that, being a small retailer, he cannot last long in such a climate. "Two more years like this and I will shut down," he says. Indeed, the "survival of the fittest" pattern is claiming businesses by the dozen. 'The golden age of downtown is over," says Yousefian.

Naming Names One of the biggest blows to hit the district a series of rumors, allegations, tips and

was

governmentand news mediainvestigations

the old Armenians of Aleppo.

By the 1960s they owned the majority of jewelry workshops and stores in Aleppo. Kevork Pondigian, 68, opened his store in the Interior Market in 1951. Like many of today's craftsmen he spent hissummers as a teenager working in sweatshops from 7 in the morning until late at night. "We used to talk in Turkish because there were no Armenian schools," Pondigian said. "Even before the refugees settled in Aleppo there were Armenians living here for centuries and many of them spoke Arabic but were of Christian Orthodox faith. It was a

the same booth, in the same location and,

everyone else, is having a hard time. "I am just making do," he says. "If ttris fails, it's unemployment." Like the Garibians', his profits aredown to about l0percentofsales, which almostentirely goes to the rental of his booth.

small community so we helped each other and worked together."

ir i

,ti

ll rll

tl :lfi

'iLu,:

,!:

,ll

i.-

iiri:ti=

.Ll

; ltl:; I .l lL i il

.PHECISIOII:

Raftl DerhrgoplaE in "*hn* from Aintab, Sanjak, Ouda and orlgins of the old Armenians can be fraced back to the l4th century. Aleppo lost its status as a center of tradg between the Orient md the West with the opening of the Suez Canal in November 1869, but thejewelels here siill manago to do brisk business. S*mmer is considerd the high season of the jewelry trade. thet's whon villagers sell Sreircrops and go into the tunr:els af the mar&UnG, OS lHg 1 Ttie refugees came

Thc

ftraorlaa*ot lqll,ilollc msldan oriftuHtlr

ket to buy jewelry.

tbanrtdownandrebuilt

"Islar:ric tca*itiurbbsrrg a sreatdesl." said Zateh Pondisian| "lslamictraditioahiEEucagrcatdesl,"saidZarehPondiginn, @a/tylnthecffiirg-5_51=:g;:e€trr==*=gr_.HEEslroernakers,carpenKgyork]s e1s!peruakr*.*q."ru: son. "Beausiitl1g sir ts put moilcy in ths baak ffid L lKercrksson."Eeau-scitlsasirtoputmoilcyinthsbaakffid I ;; : y.e+e-Arabs, Jews and l collect int r;si, Arabsgr-d :fpir rxoaey on g*Id," . : I'n 0ErsandtrateHug+ts,€€€:E€FE-b+e€

:tl

AIM, APRIL.MAY 1993

that pinned the downtown jewelry market as a magnet for white collar crime.

posits into their accounts). The twoclues had little to do with each other, but both dealt with

First came the 1988 arrests of a few downtown jewelers who were charged with credit card fraud. Some months later, local TV news stations converged on the district, pursuing allegations that lG.karat gold was being soldas l4-Karat. An investigationresulted in the arrest of a few more jewelers. The next gaffe sparked an international investigation that uncovered an alleged one billion dollar-a-year money laundering operation-"the biggest laundering operation we've ever seen," according to a federal offi-

large amounts of cash and pointed to the Downtown Los Angeles Jewelry District. In February 1989, hundreds of local and federal law enforcement agents raided the jewelry district, arresting people and closing

cial.

businesses down, countedeverythinginthem,

In January 1988, a Loomis Armored Transport employee noticed a tear in a box labeled "gold scrap." He looked closer and inside the tearhe saw neatly stackedbundles of cash. The box was addressed to a firm called Ropex Corp. in the jewelry disrict. The FBI was informed.

Ataboutthesametime,anew accountwas opened at aWells FargoBankneardowntown by Andonian Brothers Inc., a company operating out of the jewelry district. Almost immediately, amounts of cash to the tune of millions of dollars a week were being depos-

ited in the account. When the Andonian Brothers' deposits reached $25 million in the first three months, the IRS was informed (banks are legally required to report large de-

down businesses. "They did it in a very dramatic way," says Yousefian. "They were heavily armed, in dozens of trucks and cars, in full gear. They raided the businesses, handcuffed all theemployees, tookthemdownonebyone,putthem

intnrcks andtookthemaway. Theyclosedthe puttheminboxes, tookthosedown,too. Itwas a big shock to the district." The federal agents had closely monitored Ropex Corp., operated by Joseph Kouyoumdjian, and Andonian Brothers Inc., operated by Nazareth and Vahe Andonian, the two main businesses involved in the alleged money laundering operation. The charge is that drug money from all over the U.S. was being shipped to these offices under the guise ofgold orjewelry shipments, which were then being deposited in local banks and wired to Colombian and other drug lords all over the globe. Kouyoumdjian and the Andonian brothers were charged with laundering over $500 million in cocaine profits over a three-year period.

The arrests following the 1989 raid spawned two trials. The first, involving the Andonian brothers, was the longest in the history of Los Angeles. Of the number of people charged in the trial, most were acquitted. But the Andonian brothers and a few others each got 505-year prison terms. The Andonians are appealing. Kouyoumdjian still

awaitstrial. Since ttre initialbust, federal offi cials have made more raids on other downtown jewelry businesses and have anested more people, resulting in a numberof fundamental changes in the district.

Among the most visible effects on the market is the drying up of cash flow. Ever since the raids, people have started keeping track of all business transactions and are no longer willing to deal in cash. "After the

laundering raids and other drug-related crackdowns in the area," says Yousefian, "cash has been scarce." Before, drug dealers

in the downtown area used to come to the jewelry district and pay in cash for gold and jewelry. The raids also contributed severely to the already negative image of downtown. Conspiracy theories of how the news media have undermined the whole jewelry business by emphasizing its negative aspects abound in the district. The net result is that consumers are wary of going downtown to shop, even

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wor-

though the vast majority ofjewelers are hard-

the district in the last six months or so is

working, honest people. "Because of a few

risome for the whole district. "None of my

bad apples," laments onejeweler, "all ofus are

acquaintances had been robbed in six or seven years," one Armenian retailer stresses, "but in the last six months five thefts have occurred." This has cut into the popular belief that the jewelry disrict, with all its security guards and

being hurt." The

jewelry district's bad image has been

reinforcedby stillotherfactors: lastyear'slns Angeles riots brought to TV screens images

a little more insulated from these diffrculties and have fared better. For many retailers in the district, the last five or six years have spelled the end ofprosperity. Many have left, with little hope of re-

turn. Others are enduring, despite the difficulties and losses.

From left to rlght: St. Vlncent Jewelry Center's Mlke Yousellan; Cartel lnc. owner Aznlv Garlblan; Avedls

TchorbaJlan of Personal Touch.

ofcrazed looters zeroing in on the heartoft os Angeles; threeofthearea's department stores are now closed for good; parking is prohibitively expensive; and, recently, there has been an alarming increase in incidents of theft. The number of robberies, attempted robberies and shootings that have taken place in

Souren

video cameras, is significantly saferthan other

jewelry stores in malls orelsewhere. The retail business has taken the strongest

hit from all this: its customer base is steadily decreasing every month. The ones in wholesale and

manufacturing-which do business world-have been

all over the country and the

Haj

"The pendulum has swung to the other side; now we are in a downswing," says Michaelian, speaking with a voice laden with experience. "Even though it will never be the same, it will swing back." Nowadays, everyone in the jewelrydistrict is just trying toget by. I

jar and Sons

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AIM, APRIL.MAY 1993

WORKNG

tion houses, and not through purchasing

TFIEPACIFICRIM selection of Varoojan Iskenderian's opal creations was recently showcased at Australia's prestigious Treasures Gallery

The Eamh Exchange Museum.

For Iskenderian, the exhibition was the pinnacle of a jewelry career spanning more than three decades.

Iskenderian left his native Jerusalem in 1962 and settled in Australia, where he es-

tablished his own jewelry manufacturing outfit, the Iskenderian Brothers Company. Originally a skilled jeweler in the use of gold, diamond and precious gemstones, he increasingly has come to focus on the creation

he Hajjars are among the most

successful Armenian jewelers operating in the Far East. In the late 50s, three Armenian-Lebanese brothers, Souren, Rimon and Sarkis, moved to Japan and entered the pearl business. Today, their and their sons' eight companies, with pearl production houses, wholesale offrces and retail outlets spannig the globe, are a multi-million dollar class act. Based in the city of Kobe, Japan, Souren

Hajjar's Pacific Pearls and GemCompany is

now headed by his son, Georges. Souren himself manages Premier Pearl and Gem Company, his Toronto, Canada, outlet. Another son, Freddy, runs Akoya Pearls and

agents or non-family-owned exporting offices. The Hajjars buy quantities of rough pearls directly from farmers in Japan, China, Aus-

tralia and even Tahiti. After the highly intricate process of sorting and matching to achieve the desired size, quality, shape, lustre and color, the pearls are sold locally and exported throughout the world.

n 1979, Harout Tchaparian fled the civil war inhis native [,ebanon to settle in Japan. He was twenty-years-old, had only $300 to spare, and spokeneitherEnglish nor Japanese. Butwithin ayear, helearnedto speakboth languages and was promoted from messenger to manager of a pearl company in Kobe. Shortly afterwards, Tchaparian was sent to

Hong Kong to establish a production house

Gems Company, a [,os Angeles offrce. Also based in Kobe, Rimon Haljar operates his

own production ourfil Intemational

Real and Cultured Pearls Company.

Still with us?

In Kobe again, Sarkis Hajjar's Global Trading Company is now headed by his son,

lskenderlan and some of his "free shape opal" creatlona (lnset).

Tchaparlan's deslgns make use ol a varlety ol gems.

of unique opal pieces. What distinguishes precious opal, a hydrated, non-crystalline form of silica, is its extraordinary play of color; opal lacking this characteristic is called common. Onlyonepercentof all opalextractedis ofa precious variety. Precious opal falls into one of the three main types: light opal, black or dark opal, and boulder opal. Ninety-five percentof theworld' s opal supply comes from Australia. Iskenderian's affi nity toopal has taken him

for the company. There, he would manage

from his workshop in Sydney to the outbacks of Australia, where over many trips he has become involved in the actual mining of the gemstone. A recepient of several industry awards who regularly participates in international trade exhibits, Iskenderian has pioneered theconcept of"free shape opal stone" into the making ofjewelry. 42

some T0employees.

The enterprising Tchaparian, however, decided to gohis own way and in 1983 hees-

A Paclllc Pearls and Gem Company employee durlng sorting of pearls. Pierre. Another son, Robert, manages Cybel

Trading Corporation in New York, while a third one, Georges, runs Belpearl BVBA, an Antwerp, Belgium, outlet. Sarkis Hajjar's family alsoowns FarEastPearls Company, a

Hong Kong office that is run by Hagop Apikian. AfterSarkis Hajjar's death, his sons established the Sarkis Hajjar Scholarship Fund in Beirut. What distinguishes the Hajiar enterprises from others in theindustry is thatthey supply pearls out of their own, full-fledged producAIM, APRIL-MAY 1993

tablished China Pearl Export Company, a factory that was started with the financial backing of a Japanese pearl dealer. He manufactured fresh water pearls and exported a great variety of the gem. The same year, an over-production of Chinese pearls enabled

Tchaparian to capitalize on the precious commodity and expand into other areas of jewelry sales. Tchaparian's next leap was Vicenza Gold Company, a joint venture he founded with his cousin to import gold from Italy and distribute it in Hong Kong and throughout Southeast Asia. By 1989, in spite

of fierce competition, both Tchaparian's companies were firmly in

business. I

APASSION FOR BUILDING

were going to Northern Iran in the late I 970s,

theotherhalfbagan working in the Armenian-

inhabited villages around Kesab, mainly Kaladuran, as well as Aramo, whose residents are not Armenian-speaking. In the intervening years, LCO volunteers, together with locals, have reconstructed St. Stephen's Chapel

The Quiet Phenomenon of the Land and Gulture Organization

which was rededicated in 1987; renovated

traditional Armenian stone houses in By ARIS SEVAG Pholo. Cou.lory LANO AND CULTURE ORGANIZATION

I ! I I

ntheearly l9T0s,thehistorian Kegham Xeronian oiPans. rogerher with some

friends, visited the Atrpatakan region in Iranian Azerbaijan and was shocked ro see the ruinous state of many of the historic Armenian monuments. It was then and there that the idea formed in their minds to create an organization thatwould serveas aconduit for Armenian-French youth, as well as those from otherdiasporan countries, to go thereand elsewhere--during the summer months and engage in renovation and restoration of such monuments. Since then, Kevonian's vision has been shaped into the Land and Culture Organization, a worldwide effort that has delivered on its promise "to take Armenians

bom and raised in the Diaspora to the Land and [enable them] to feel and become masters of that soul," in the words of Archbishop Mesrob Ashjian, past president of LCO-United States and currently president of Intemational Union

of LCO's (IULCO) Armenian Monument Preservation Foundation.

Activity in lran From the mid- to late-70s, up to 100 LCO volunteers from France, Belgium, Holland and the U.S. engaged in the repair and recon-

struction of St. Thaddeus Monastery-site of the famous annual pilgrimage for ArmenianIranians-and construction of an irrigation system on its grounds; the repair and reconstruction of St. Stephanos monastery; and the dismantling, relocation and re-assembly of the

flood-endangered Chapel

of Dzor Dzor.

These efforts were undertaken in conjunction

with the Inter-Diocesan Council of the Armenian Church in Iran and the Iranian Ministry for Preservation of Monuments. With the establishment in 1979 of the Khomeini regime, however, it was no longer possible to send in LCO volunteers from the outside, and this state ofaffairs has continued till the present. The restoration work nevertheless has been carried on by local "LCO supporters" and overseen by Armenian architects, ledbyArmenHakhnazarian,aboard member of IULCO; the various projects are

Kaladuran (one in particular, the Ashkarian house,has been acquiredbyLCO andbecome

a national property); reclaimed orchards through the erection of a water reservoir, cultivated and replanted vegetable gardens and fruit trees in Kaladuran; and established an infirmary, thus providing health care to these remote villages. Last summer's campaigninKesabwasratherunique,inthatLCO sponsored the visit of 25 children from Armenia who were christened there. Plans are underway to have another group of children from Armenia under the age of 12 visit this small butvibrantcommunity again this summer (Kesab's permanentpopulation is around

3,000, which swells to 6,000 in the summer months). Anotherproject being pursued is the

manufacture of soap locally for export to France.

currently being carried out with funds re-

Activity in Armenia

ceived from LCO and with the financial and administrative assitance of the government ministry. In addition to these, a few new ones have been added: renovation ofthe l4thcentury Anteorti (Hovivi) Church on the bankof the Araz River between Julfa and St. Thaddeus, and restoration ofSt. Sandukht Monastery.

Following the 1988 earthquake in Armenia, LCO initiated contact with the Armenian government and was assigned to the village

Activity in Kesab, Syria While roughly half the LCO volunteers

ofGogaran, located at an elevation of6,000plus feet, some 8 miles from the earthquakeravaged town of Spitak. Since the summerof I 989, LCO volunteers havejoined local residents in reconstructing houses and clearing rubble from the church and the village. What made the excavation woik for rebuilding the church even more worthwhile was the dis-

FIELD EXPERIENCE: lrrigatlon prolect ln Kesab, left; house constructlon ln Gogaran, near earthquake-ravaged Spltak.

AIM, APRIL.MAY 1993

SAVING MONUMENTS: Church renovallon ln Gogaran, left; reconstructlon ol St. Stephanos monaetery ln lran. covery of something quite unexpected: what was thought to have been a rather new struc-

the direction of Edele Hovnanian, memberof the Cenral Committeeof LCO-U.S. incharge

ture(fromthe lfthcentury) was actuallybuilt over the foundation of a church dating back

of fund-raising and contacts with Armenia, is the feasibility of establishing a solar-energy fruit-drying factory, pending the decision of the U.S. govemment regarding an independent grant forforestation and fruit-tree planting. In contrast to the idea of establishing a

frfth century, which itself had been built on theruins of a pagan temple dating back to the Urartian period. It is believed to be one of the 50 oldest identified churches in Armenia. The LCO volunteers also laid the foundato the

tion for a new kindergarten but work had to behalteddueto the lackof materials. (Projects in Armenia arecarriedouton thebasis of LCO providing tools, some foodstuffs, and token supplies, with building materials provided

locally.)Efforts havejustbeguntoplant 1,400 fruit trees here, and future plans involve the implementation of agricultural alternatives, such

wheatplanting andanimal husbandry.

winefactory orbuilding acommunitycenter in Madrasa (two earlierproposals which were

abandoned), this project would provide both employment opportunities and land reclamation advantages: not only would the fruit harvest increase (a substantial portion went to waste in the past due to lack of means of harvesting) but the balance of the crop-heretofore

wasted-would

serve auseful purpose as

well.

Likewise, beginning in the summer of 1989, LCO caried out a three-year program ofrenovation of thechwch in Amberd, as well as excavations

in the fort complex, in con-

junction with the Ministry ofPreservation of Historical Monuments. It is perhaps unfortunatethattheoverabundance in Armenia of the typeof antiquities found there, such as tonirs, pieces of ponery, etc., made the finds rather insignificant in the eyes of native Armenians, whose lack ofinterest served to considerably dampen theenthusiasmofthediasporan vol-

unteers. Another short-term project completed was the excavation of fortifications near the village of Dashtadem in the area of Talin. Beginning in I 99 I , LCO embarked on the construction of the village of Madrasa, located 45 minutes northwest of Yerevan, following the government's allocation of land to Ar-

menian refugees from Azerbaijan. New houseshavegoneup(for l30families) andthe tree-planting project, started last year, is continuing. Being reviewed at present, under

Challenges Facing the LGO the

The ability to implement a project such as fruit-drying factory in Madrasa will de-

termine whether, in the future, LCO will a Peace Corpsstyle organization engaging in Iarger-scale projects which require year-round commitment and involvement, including that of Ar-

broaden its scope and become

menian professionals, or confi ne its activities to the purposes as originally stated in its by-

laws-acquiring and restoring historical and religious buildings and monuments of the Armenian Apostolic Church, as well as purchasing and acquiring lands and buildings wherever the Armenian people have resided both within and without the ancestral region of Armenia in order to restore and renovate said buildings and structures. In order for such a transformation to be effecled, a few vital components need to be in place. One is the development of closer, more productive relations with the local authorities and ministries in Armenia, and in-

AIM, APRIL.MAY 1993

surance of greater participation of local volunteers inprograms there. Both ofthese needs are currently being addressed: official recognition and registration of LCO in Armenia is expected by theend of this year; a main branch of the organization is being formed as well,

largely as a byproduct ofthe incorporation of local volunteers into programs last summer. A second requirement is the allocation of larger funds to such projects. According to Armen Garabedian, president of the Board of Directors of LCO-US since l99l , the organization is fully cognizant ofthe need to shift a portion of its focus from realizing actual projects to the need for major fund-raising. Two avenues are being pursued in this regard. One involves the establishment of more chapters tkoughoutthe world; presently LCO is progressing with that work in Canada, Argentina, Austria and Switzerland, on the one hand, and in Boston, Philadelphia, and San Francisco locally. (Internationally, there are already chapters in France, Belgium and England, while nationally LCO operates in the New York-New Jersey area and Los Angeles.) The other is the mounting of campaigns to

apply for grants from local government agencies, both in the U.S. and Europe, internationalbodies and privatecorporations, most

of whom, however, will require matching funds. In any event, in order for IULCO to realize its dream, it's fair to say that it needs to substantially increase its current budget of $500,000 to the seven-figure level. Regardless of future developments, LCO can be truly proud of its accomplishments to date: what began as a grass-roots experiment almost 20 years ago has evolved into a multinational effort that focuses on the Land and

the vital role it plays in the struggle for the

preservationofitsrichculture. I

REDEFINING THE PERIPHERY Notes on lstanbul's

overall philosophical premise inspired by Thomas McEvilley's observation that, "Western culture, as it enters the 1990s, is somewhatinchoately seeking a new definition of history that wlll not involve ideas of hierarchy, or of mainstream-and-periphery, and will offer a new global sense of civilization to replace the linearEurocentric model that lay at the heart of Modernism." The pavilion that reflected these inspirations most diligently was that of the United States. Curated by Patricio Chavez of Centro Cultural de la Raza of San Diego, California,

Third lhternational Art Biennial

By ilEEBYilELKONIAII hat constitutes cultural centers

Whileitremainstobeseenif someof

and peripheries or the con-

struction

dominant vs.

marginalized discourses in art forrenewed debates among international artcommunities at leastsince the 60s. Today, the study of"diasporic esthetics" preoccupies leading intellectuals and cultural workersthroughout theworld as afieldwhere differences canco-exist and shared concerns has been an arena

can be

the I theexhibition,calledl,aRecoiquista:Apost-

replace the old-centers by resorting to the same colonialist tactics, the Third International Istanbul Art Biennial (October-November emerging peripheries will not simply

1992) offered a viable forum where

I columbian New world, dealt with issues of I racism,bordersandmigrantworkers.identity, I spiritualityandself-dJtermination.

Partialiyduetoviewersbeingaccustomed

such I toseeingworksbyJennyHolzei,JeffKoons,

cha-llengescouldbeconfronted.

letal,asiepresentativesofAmericanculture

Both. impressive and ambitious in its abroad, ana partiatty because the meanings I scope, the Biennial's attempt to introduce I within such iulturaily specific exhibits git change to existing practices was evident I Aitutea or suffer from mis-translation wlien throughout the event, beginning with its very I introducedtonew audiences ,laReconquista

built.

ffi

,,,,r

ll',lr"rr"j[:S#?.',**:r,r,"J:fl

n,Modernism #rniiiffi,tjl;d""1t#

colne: OUt an Ot

ffi ,i[iJ,g'r"* identity no

CfiSiS: they

i?:3,ffifT,lfJfiTl,?l]:im:i population. It was not surprising,

y,;$'5*p3,13$ffitgi :i;J.r.;"i:1il^ffix'ffi;"#11 (which in essence disputed Co-

jusr broyght liT}}.i;;f::::1"#;;ffiffi[il mgdefnism toU.S.-Turkishrelations...,'OnL

they

i1, thOUght lt lifaS gOOd ,,, Hale Tenger, I Know People Llke Thls,2 (detall),

Beginning with thedecolonization of the Western colonies, followed by the recent break-up of the Soviet bloc, the increasing shift of borders and mass migrations (be it forced or deliberate) have made the exile predicament atransnational phenomenon. On the artistic front these have opened up new paths

of expression, where previously excluded identity-related issues are being raised, encompassing racial, class, gender, generational, sexual and ethnic considerations. Within such transformations, prevailing definitions of "art" and "centers" are being deconstructed or are quickly disintegrating, just as fixed ideologies on the political front have becomedysfu nctional oraredesperately failing to meet the demands of contemporary socio-economic conditions.

: , i

forrbrks.,'

tr*1*HltH:#:TtrHl3fi: couragetheabsenceintheBiennial

of Kurdish' Palestinian' Greek'

:/,lffif*"lr:;#imH:;Xl flict with the US-backed Turkish government.

992. Cast brass,

.40 x 7 m.

theme: the production ofcultural difference, which sought "... not merely theproperratios of various races, ethnic backgrounds, genders,

investments in alternative histories, or differences of sexual choice and other such criteria, but the actual works themselves and the ideas a particular work may produce." This factoralone distinguished theevent from other

similar ones (e.g., the Documenta or the Venice Biennial) which have become little more than extravagant art fairs for the chic and the blue-chip, sadly sunendering their roles as creators or contributors toward a renewed intemational, cultural dialogue. While the Italian, Israeli and Russian pavilions appeared to have missed the point or stretched it to fit their own, the rest of the Biennial offered moreengagingexamples of the

AIM, APRIL-MAY

1993

The empowering works of three Turkish women artists addressed suchambiguities. HaleTanger's wallpicco, I Krww People Uke This, 2, depictedthe Turkish flag by appropriating two brass figurines that arepopularsouveniritems available at tourist shops throughout Turkey. One of these represented an ancient Urartian fertility god with an oversized, erect penis, while the other incorporated the universal icon of ambivalence par excellence, the three "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil,,," monkeys, alluding to the effects ofoppressive policies

within the offrcial

state apparatus.

Second, and less blatant, were Canan Tolon's mixed media paintings with grass (growing), maps and surveillance diagrams that explore the ambiguous line between de-

struction and construction of our environment. 45

The third, Gulsun Karamustafa' s Mystical Transport, consisted of ordinary wheeled carts containing colorful quilts. Whimsical in appearance, the piece embodied more meanings than any other seemingly complex work in the entire Biennial. In addition to associationswithintimacy,sexuality anddreams, this

mobile artwork spokeaboutmigration, innercity nomadism and the "baggage" one drags into the future. England's Damien Hirst and Hannah Collins showcased the most striking exhibit attheBiennial. Hirst's witty, well+rafted and complex sculptural constructions proposed a

re-thinking of the life/deatl/regeneration cycle with a twist of urban sensibility and genuine cynicism. Collins' monumental black-and-white photographs from the daily life of Istanbul's bazaars offered stunning

revelations about survival and economic desperation. France's Christian Boltanski participated

in the Biennial by creating a burial-like chamber which he requested be filled with fresh-cut flowers in the shape ofa sarcopha-

gus. On the Biennial's openrng night, Boltanski's pavilion anracted hundreds with its seductive fragrance, not unlike the hoards that visit the traces ofuncounted civilizations thathaveconributedtotheweaving of fierich cultural tapestry ofthis beautifu l, labyrinthine city where differences have been enveloped and oppositions swallowed for centuries. As a few days went by and Boltanski's pavilion began to stink with the decay of flowers, itwasn'tclearifthe artist's intent was to critique the fate of intemational biennials in general, ortocarry asubtler, wisermessage to the forces that are denying Turkey's budding creative energies from blossoming fully. TheBiennial also inaugurated the opening of Turkey's first contemporary art museum. The previous two Biennials were held in the city's richhistorical sites, the accessibility of

which continue to favor the cultural elite. Located in the Eyub District (home of Istanbul's fundamentalist Muslim community), the freshly renovated museum was a lgth century/ezhane (twban factory). This lovely neo-Classical building was first brought to the attention of the public by a group ofanarchists who appropriated the site as an

has

altemativeexhibition space, an actwhich

contributed to the renewed interest in

preservation of historic buildings throughout the

city.

Members of the same group held an event to the opening of the Biennial, this time in an old but still active gas factory, the Gashane, operating under hazardous conditions. The works displayed at the Gashane were rows of milk bottles, large portraits of a well-known transvestite, votive candles, and graffiti and banners questioning human rights abuses, genocide, Ataturk and commercialism, creating chilling contrasts and parallels between the frailty of the outmoded factory and the fate ofa county in

thenightprior

flux. I

FROM THE"MARGINS" LOOKING IN A Gonversation With Vasif Kortun neoftheprimaryaimsof the Third International Istanbul Art Biennial was to establish that Turkey, the enfant terrible of the o'is not a culfirrally isolated West, entity in an all-too-distant'overhere' that is ineversibly divided from an 'over there.' On the conffary, the 'here' is simply a part of the ubiqui-

chip: they represented mainstream orestablished artists. They proved that a major exhibitioncouldbedonein Istanbul. Butthat'sall

tous'there. "' This self-legitimization was largely due to the work of the

evolution, it's a rupture-a complete break. Ithas aconcept.

Biennial's young, New York University-educated Director, Vasif Kortun, and the effort of numerous volunteers, who strove to set up an antithesis to dominant art-world politics. Interview in Istanbul by Neery Melkonian. you were planning this Biennial, what did you have in mind

Alil-When

in terms ol criteria that distin. guished this one from

they did, and thgre's nothing to complain about that because the third one was built on thevery\eritage and on, not the radition, but the experience of the first two. But if you think ofthe three alltogether, then this one is much better.

Would you say it's the evolution ot

the other two? Well, it's actually much more than an

Was it part of a personal search and you wanted to extcnd it? Or

wac lt romcthlng that in retro. spect you sald "the woild needs this, or lstanbul needs thir?" Well, first, yes, Istanbul needed this. Second, Istanbul deserved this as a place ofdifference throughout history. Three, itwas very

I'Most artists in T[rkey a anything.,. They don't te language$ other than TU

others-the

Documenta, the Venice Biennial' or the ones done here in Turkey previously? Kortun-Actually you don't really care what happens elsewhere. I mean, how could one really care aboutthe VeniceBiennial, for instance: it's such a mess. It's always been a MCSS.

How so? Oh, you know, the whole structure of the place is based on nationalism. It's a very l9th century idea, a situation they can't get away from, or they don't want to get away from. Our operation was not at all the ideal one. Simply, at this point in time certain things came together. It was the right chemistry and the right kind of magnetism. It really boils down to that. My whole premise was to do something here which would be at least as good as many shows inotherplaces; toprove that it can be done with a decent degree of professionalism.

But that was attempted in the previous lstanbul Biennials' or don't you think so? No, the two previous Biennials were blue-

AIM, APRIL-MAY 1993

important not only for the art sector and studentsbutalsoforthe generalpublic in Istanbul to see a show like this, to be shocked--+o be afraid, to be unprepared for something like this. Four, I particularly tried to open it into the Balkan region. I mean, we could have openedmoretodifferentregions; I didn'thave to stick with theclassical European areas. But then again, ifyou're operating from Istanbul and you have an extremely limited budget ($300,000) and ifyou have archaic customs laws and no structure to the organization itself, you have to take some middle-of+heroad choices. With that you try to do yourbest, and some came out very well. Like the ish and the French exhibits.

Brit-

Tcll me about the Bdtish exhibit. Take HannahCollins' work: it's involved with the idea of marginality and the margin within the photograph itself. It's a great translation also of what is happening in

Istanbul, the Romanian Bazaar, the Bulgarian Bazaar, that kind oftransfer you have between the Balkan areas and the Russian areas as these people are trying to move towards Europe and theirfi rstcommercial transaction here.

So, ic Gollins the only one who dealt with issues here and now aside frcm Turkish artists? I think Romanians are dealing with the issue--with the whole illegal transfer of goods between Turkey and Romania. I think the work of the Americans are very important in the sense that-since Turkey is also now beginning to realize is differences within itself-there is not only one nation out there, there are many other nations and many ethnic groups from the Circassians to Kurds, to some people in the Black Sea region who speak their own language, etc. These are the same

kinds of minorities that were not in the Lausanne treaty. They're not "official" minorities. The word "minority" is a ridiculous term because it's what the majority tells who the minority is. But these are the very people who exist and who are here.

idea of migration and the kind of cultures people produce when they migrate here. Selim Birsel's piece, the wraparound column, has a lot to do with the idea of gecekondu,

which means "built overnight"--<ome

morning all of a sudden you find in your backyard an apartment or a small thing that's beenjust built. You know, it's the kind of thing that really unsettles and perverts an institutional space. Canan Tolon's paintings, when you look at them closely, you realize they're maps. It's all about cartography and surveillance.

What do you make of the evont oI the happening at the Gashane? It's very important because they're not really artists. They organize the sign-up for artists; I love that because they are the only people around who did an altemative exhibition in a difficult area-the Gashane is a dan-

Does Turkey sufferfrom a cultural differenee? I mean, everybody here seems to know something about their background, but no one's really going through an identity crisis like in the US ln terms of searching for their roots.

and you did your graduate work in

Amcrica. Was thero a tundamental question ol choosing the US over Europe? Europe, oh God, who wants to go to Europe? I mean,I hated Europe. It's only lately that I can come to terms with it, because in Europe-I'm the Anti-Christ, you knowI' m a Turk. We're discarded with the enemies, we're the Ultimate Other of Europe, and being a Turk also means that you have never been colonialized.

Europe can be very nice to its former colonies, butit can'tbnicetoTurksbecause it has no debts to pay back. So I was never interested in Europe.

Gould you elaborate on this notion ol periphery and center? First ofall, ttre center defines the center and the periphery. The center defines the cartog-

Most people don't really have identity problems here. But they haven't even reached a point of having an identity. It's complete amnesia; the good thing about it is that none of itis institutional. It's all, youknow, apiece

y. They don't question Dy ,, i

don't speak any

ofpaper, it's

a card. It's what the state gives you. You put it on your desk, you carry it with

you; that's identity.

You selected the Turkish artists. What were you looking for? Were they all young? Except forGulsun Karamustafa they were all young. I wanted to show that no nvopeople were alike, that there would be a good division between he and she, male and female.

Balance? A good balance between the people who operated inside Turkey and outside of it as well.

Why is that important? Because Turkeydid have a generation that

lcft?

Well, it's important in the sense thatpeople who live andoperate only in Turkeyproduce a different kind of work than those who get out, and part ofthe intent was to have people who work with the operations and systems of Istanbul. Take ttrepieceby Karamustafa, who did M y s t i c al T ran sp o n w ith thequilts in carts on wheels. She has always worked with the

Davld Avalos and Deborah Small, Ramona's Bedroom(lrcm the lnstallatlon

mls.ce.ge,NATiOM. gerous site and all these people have been there for a week. I

hear lt got corporatc eponsorchip. It got some, sure. But you know, the bot-

tom line is, most artists in Turkey arelazy. They don'tquestion anything, theyjust do sort of secondary derivative boring modernist shit painting. They work on imported canvas and imported paint. They don't read, they don't speak any languages otherthanTurkish. They

raphy. Andthen theperiphery realizes thatit's working with it, with the language of the center. It's totally meaningless because both center and periphery are operating within the same discourse. So none of the sides could be good or bad or could bejustified. Because what it boils down to is "Come See New

Margins."

Gan you avoid

that?

Yeah, thisexhibition is all aboutavoiding

situate themselves always within the para-

that kind of terminology, that kind of dis-

digm of the market and so, it's like there's nothing to see-there's nothing to work with.

course. Is that not the case?

You were born and raised hcre, AIM, APRIL-MAY 1993

Not to the extreme that you are describing, it isn't. You're still

A Word of Thanks from the A.R.S. In urgent response to the needs that had arisen in Armenia right after the dark days of the 1988 devastation and its aftermath, the Armenian Relief Society started its "Sponsor a Child"Program throughout its regions. We are happy to say, that thus far, thanks to the marvelous response of numerous sPonsors, more than 600 children, orphaned in the cruel

conditions of the winter earthquake and the ongoing armed conflict, receive the necessary care and attention, both in Armenia and in Artsakh. The Armenian Relief Society wishes to express its sincere gratitude and heartfelt thanks to all the

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.ENTRAL EXECUTIV' W BOARD OF THE ARMENIAN RELIEF SOCIETY

wortlng wlthln thc crlrtlne dlr. courro, lddlng or rubtrectlng ftom It.

No, we're not. We're not co-opting or reappropriating it, because this kind ofdiscourse is not defined through... is not cartographically defined. The wholeidea was doing a decent show which did notnecessarily have to bein New York, in Paris, etc.

You oncc reld that you ettcmptod to frnd an ertlrt ol Kurdlrh dcrccnt end you woron'l eblc to. Tho rce. ron I bdng tlrlr up Ir bccauro ln tho

U3 now thorc lr e blg dobrtc whcthcr to lncludc ro.cellod ml. norltlcr ln dbcourcc, cultunl or othorvlrc, for thc nko of lnclud. lng thcm-to bo e ltlr tryritoirtot end thc lsuc of quellty Gomcr up. Vy'ell, I wanted to. I was looking for a Kurdisl artist who would

address the issues andwhose workwouldbepertinent. Thatwas not available. But Hale Tanger's work is all

Youwill.

I can't bollcvc my ayar tnd olrt: thc donlel thrt goor on. I thlnk lttr not e mrttcr ol how mrny or whrn or who dld It or wur thona naraonr lor It. I thlnk lt'r f urt ebout dhloguetlr fact thet no ono'rtrlklng ebout It, thrt thorr lr not e dleloguc eolng on. That's a sore point. There's no space for dialogue because the people are not herp anymorc, soThrkey dghtfully goes inoavery defensive position because the whole thing comes up over and overagain and itcomes as

athreatOthecounnymorctlmn anythingelsc. I mean, in the sense tlmt there's no necd for dialoguebecause who do you dialogue wittt? And on what grounds, and how?

It lr golng to hevc to como to tonnr cithcr bccrurc ol oconomlcr or thc Europcln Communlty'a prcr. rurcr. I dont lopw whet wlll como; all I know lr thet th.rr lr tromon. dourdcnlel. I lurt dont roc how e netlon'r In tclllgcntrle or ltr croetlvo mlnd cln movc forryrrd wlthout ed. drurlng thcrc lrucl.

comeout,orifyouintendthatnottocomeout, it's shit. I mean, it doesn't have to be about ethnicity and what not, it could be about language, it could be about many other things. But it has to communicate on some level, for better or worse; it's notjust for the eyes.

thing. Aboutthe Armenianquestion, Imean,it's of importance to me, but I don' t think it's of importance to many people because it's a phantasm now. For most people who arc in their20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, it's of noconsequence. And Europe always talks about the Ar-

aboutthat.

3o, OK, wctrc gcttlng lnto en eroa of polltlcd .rt .nd ebrtrectlon. Dangerous gound, yeah. For me,I loow people lilcc this,2 is about the Kurdish situation. People are not the same; they have different traditions, are ofdifferent colors, have different beliefs, different histories ; and if you don't make that evident in your work and you are sincere about your work, your body, your presence or whatever, and that doesn't

3o em I :lght to roo Turkoy et a throrhold, whcrto lt'r oponlng up to thet klnd ol communlcetlo'n eftcr e long rllcncc? Itbetter.

And whrt happcnr whon thc rys. tcm docsn't toloretc thlr klnd of oxprrslon? Thcn lt rullocetcr? Much depends on how far you can push things. But itbetteropen up, because it's been

lrt's

somethingwittrthepoliticsofthe

menian problem, but Turks say, "which problenq why?" and they're right.

teny of you don't horr about lt untll you go out, dght?

Oh, we hear about it, but when you hear aboutit, it's like, OK, theEuropeans areborcd

ortheAmericans areboredandtheyjusthave to come up with something so that they can

justi$ themselves pretty bad

again for doing something

o Turkey.

soclosedandsomodernistforalongtime. It's a Turkish kind of modernism, imposed from

That'r thc contcrt ln whlch you rcc thc Armcnlan quortlon?

above. Modernism comes out of an identity crisis. Here there was no identity crisis: they justbrought modernism in, they thoughtit was good for Turks. It was a great project, the modemization thing in Turtey, and all in all,

Yeah, that's the context in which it's rcceived but that is also really the context.

I think it's worked out very well. But that

riously as things havc been changing. So

doesn't mean we're not going to criticize it.

much has changed in the last couple ofyears here. It's unbelievable, so it's OK.

It elro mcan. you guyr havc to pey romc ducr In tcm. ol ccrtaln lr3UC3.

AIM, APRIL-MAY

What are you

ultlnutcly nylng

I do think thatthings

will change very se-

Nary tlelkonlrn la tn art crlilc md

c,rtetoL based ln Santa Fe, New Nexbo.

Oh, sure. 48

I dmt roc lt comlng yot. lt both.E mctnmcndourlythet I cennot trlk about thc Annonlen lruo.

1993

ARMENIAil TEIT'JISIOil PR()DUCNOilS, IIIC

EARTH PULSE

Ihe

TwoArmenian Engineers Have BecomeHot Properties in Earthquake-pronoArmenia, Turkey and lran ByJANET IIESFOBIAN hen Turkey was rockedby an

earthquake registering a 6.8 magninrde on the Richter scale

last year, it was engineers Mishac Yegian and Vahe Ghahraman that

only

idcpotdettl vdiefy

rocomhthewodd kscl-

w lnren"rtmot(H

Turkish engineen and scientists from Kandilli Observatory and Bogazici University turned to for help in evaluating the extent of the damage.

13645 Yqrowen Strcet

"We gladly responded to theirinvitation," Yegian says. In their recent travels to Armenia, Turkey, and Iran, earthquake engineers Yegian, Professor and

VmNuys,ft91405

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other. I hope politics will take our lead. In Turkey, Iran and Armeniathereis tremendous desire among seismologists, engineers and others to interact," Yegian explains, adding that he and Ghahraman have been treated "royally" during theirwork in thesecountries. Ghahraman, who was born and raised in Iran, believes that scientific collaboration may ease political barriers and help to highlight

commonalities between cultures. "The people, the customs and the way of life are similar in all these counEies," he says. Yegian and Ghahraman have written a

boolw Thc Armenia Earthqual<c of D e c e mbe r 1988: Engineeing and Reconstruction As-

mentof Civil Engineering at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, and Ghahraman, a doctoral student there, not only aided in earthquake reconstruction

efforts, but found themselves balancing physics with politics through their

scientific collaborations.

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"Geology doesn' t recogrize that there are geopolitical boundaries here, here, here,

and here," Yegian

says,

gesturing to Armenia, Turkey and Iran on a map to GAUGING THE JITTERS: Yeglan, above rlght, wlth archltects emphasizehis point. responslble for the roconstructlon ol Erzlncan; Ghahraman, Since Armenia's devas- bel6w, durlng analyslr ol grave markers near Spltak to helP tating earthquake in 1988, determlne quake lntonslty. the two engineers have visited those countries to aid in their respective earttrquake reconsruction initiatives, conduct geological field sunreys, and collaborate with Armenian, Turkish and Iranian engineers. Much of their research has been financially supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation. It is no coincidence that earthquakes have occurred in these bordering counEies in the spanofafew years. Theregion is particularly prone to earthquakes, with almost 800 recorded instances of moderate-size to major earthquakes since 139 A.D. Yegian and Ghahraman hope that scienpects, which details their reconstruction tific collaboration between the countries infindings fromtheDecember 1988 earthquake volved can transcend political barriers and in Spitak, Armenia, the June I 990 earthquake help ameliorate relations between the nations. in Manjil, Iran, and last year's earthquake in "We have to learn from each other scienErzincan, Turkey. The publication is being tifically," says Yegian. "If we do that it will used by seismic engineers internationally. create the basis for political and cultural inAccording to Yegian and Ghahraman, reteraction. Armenia is sitting there with its construction efforts in Armenia have been neighbors. Thecountrieshaveocooperatefor hamperedbypoorplanning andbureaucracy. theirmutual survival. As a result, only 25 percent of the housing "scientists areprepared to workwith each

AIM, APRIL-MAY

1993

shortage cr€at€d by the earthquake has

been

resolved.AmorgYegian'sandGhahraman's

I I

happens every 500 or 1,000 years. It's not likely that Yerevan will get hit by another

findings:inKirovakan,whichwaswellpro- learthquakeofsuchmagnitudeinthenearfu-

I milion loan from the World Bank and the I Iranian government received a $50 million ltoanfromtneUnitedNationsfortheirrecon-

I ture. Buildings similarly constructed are still I struction efforts, Yegian says, while Armenia mountains, buildings_that only needed sjandingin$rovakan,"Yegiansays,adding neverappliedforsuihfunding.DiasporaArI I strengthenin€andrctnofiningwereunnecesthatnewbuildingsshouldbebetterdesigned; I meniani, he says, can help Armenii secure | sarilydemolished,addingtothenumberofthe I and since the risk of earthquake damige is I such funds. homeless; and the city of Leninakan was un- | relatively small, work on strengthening ex- | Yegian and Ghahraman believe reconnecessarilymovedtoanotherlocation.Itwas I istingbuildingsinYerevanshouldbegin*hen I struction efforts in Armenia have been hinprimarilythelackofseismicresistanceofthelresourcesareavailable. lderpdbecauselocalArmenianshavenotbeen buildingsthatcausedthemassivedestruction I In contrast to the reconsruction effort in I involved enough. Materials and labor were and not their location, Yegian stresses. "No I Armenia,thoseofTurkeyandlranweremuch I imported from-other countries, which led to one_was in agreement, mistakes were being more successful, Yegian and Ghahraman say. I waite. For example, foundations substantial I Inlurliey, made." for example, structures were ret- | enough for 20-itory buildings were conI Fears that buildings in erevan, con- rofitted, notdestroyed.Academicscientists, | I structedforfour-sorybuilding{theyexplain. sEuctedinthesamemannerasthosedestroyed civil engineers and construction crews | "Itwastotheiradvantageto-uiemorejabor I by^theearthquakeinleninakan,mightbeun- workedtogethertofacilitatethereconstn and more marerial be;ause they got paid | "- | safeareexaggerated,YegianandGhahramanltionprocess,sothatmorethan2OObuildingslmore,"Yegiansaysoftheforeignliborcrews maintain. ttre UtrAne and other suiounding SoI were replaced and over I ,000 buildings weie I tom 'The recent earthquake was not an aver- | strengthened in six months. I viet republics. age,everydayear0rquake.Itwasftekindthat I TheTurkishgovernmentsecureda$285 | Thl two engineers developed a pilot tected from

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