ffi
DEPARTMENTS
4 5 8 9 10 57 58 59 50 62
Editor's Note Letters to the Editor Notebook Bytes on File Perspective Faces
Cyberpages
Other People's Mail Underexposed Essay
NATION 12 Cover Story - Campaign '98 and a New Torches lit the sky at one
presidential camPaign rallY; the tandidate promised to lead the
nation out of the dark.
President
Robert Kocharianl whose name is synonymous with Karabakh's indeoendence movement, is now at the helm of the Armenian n.prUti.. Plus, how did local and foreign media handle coverage of Cainpaign '98? AIM surveys the stories and reports on the reporters'
RELIGION
38 Obituary:
The Patriarch of Constantinople
With Archbishbp Karekin Kazanjian's death, old questions are revived.
39 What Will HaPPen to St. Gregory A '1 30-year-old church'in Baku, still listed as an historic monument, is now
Catholicos Aram I of the Creat House of Cilicia talks about the church's mission in today's world.
being considered as a future business center'
ECONOMY
40
Roses Are Red...
Violets are blue, and Yerevan is a more colorful place because of not only roses and violets but lilacs and orchids, too' Photographer Armine Johannes offers up Yerevan's love affair with flowers'
MED!A
42
The Diaspora's First 24-hour Cable Channel
Residents of SoJthern California
get a 24-hour Armenian
channel,
the first outside the homeland. Sesame Street is helPing
educate children in Armenia.
44
Documenting the Documentarian
J. Michael Hagopianlwho has made a career out of making educational films, is about to celebrate a golden anniversary.
MUSIC
52 Nune YesaYan
Her star is rising nbt only in the homeland, but all over the world. Meet en-iertaineiNune Yesayan and read about her trying and triumphant journey from abuse to stardom.
coVERPHoToSBYARMINEH,oHANNEs(KocHARIAN)ANDHARRYKoUNDAK,JIAN(FLAG)
Naive and orofound. Both words have been'used to describe the paintings of Gayaneh Khachaturian.
AIM(ISSN1050-3471),April1998,Vol9,No.4 6Publhhedmonthly,$45peryear'byTheFourthMillenniumSociety'207
PeriodicahPostagepaid
sorif,gi"ndgorl**a,Sulte2O3,Clendale,CA912o4;Phone:(818)246-7979,Fax.(818)246-0088. Ce and additional mailing offices. canada Post Publications Mail Product sales Agreement N0 0516457 @ in any manner' either in coovrisht 1998 by The Fourth Mrllenn;um Sociâ‚Źty All rights reseryed AlM may not be reproduced or art *h'oL 3, , pun. ,iirr,ort wrtten permission from the publisher The editors are not respomible for unsolicited manuscripts ,ni"rrirt"Lp"a,selladdressedenvelopeisenclosed. opinionse*pressedintgned-adiclesdonotnecessarilyrepresentthe Foradvertisingqueriescal:1-818-246-T9T9.subscriptionratesforl2issues,US:t45' viewsofTheioudhMillenniumsociety. fo.'gn, $5S. Postmasters: Send addiess changes to AlM, PO. Box 3296, Manhattan Beach' CA 90266' U'S'A'
uiif"naif"
1998 Atn
3
Founded in '1990 FOUNDING EDITOR Vartan Oskanian
Something
FOUNDING PUBLISHER Michael Nahabet
HappmedHere
Armenian lnternational Magazine 207 South Brand Blvd. Suite 203 Glendale, CA 91204, USA Tel: 8'18 246 7979 Fax:818 245 OOBS E-mail: aim4m@well,com
A wise woman told me this story in Yerevan in early March, just a week before
EDITOR-PU B tISH ER Salpi Haroutinian Ghazarian
MANAGING EDITOR
the first round of presidential elections. We were talking about how attitudes seemed to
Paul Chaderjian ASSOCIATE EDITOR
A. H. Alexandrian, Yerevan
have changed and President Levon
SENIOR EDITOR Tony Halpin, London
how Ter Petrossian's stepping down was a sort of wake-up call to
many. Those who
PRODUCTION AND PHOTO MANAGER Parik Nazarian
had
DESIGN AND PRODUCTION The Central lmage Agency
resigned themselves to feelings of powerlessness and
INTERNS
Karine Avedissian, Sonig Krikorian
hopelessness on one hand and fairy-tale complacency in ancient historic glories on the other, were forced to come face-to-face with the grim reality that actions and words are of political significance.
YEREVAN BUREAU COORDINATOR
That's when she remembered this story. She, a non_Armenian, had just moved to Yerevan. She didn't know the language, she knew some things about Armenian history and culture, but most of all she knew about Mt. Araiat-the
Anahit Martirossian DESIGN AND PRODUCTION Vahan Stepanian
majesty, the legend, the symbol. As the plane touched down and she saw it for the first time over two decades ago, she said it was easy to understand the dura-
bility of Ararat-Masis in Armenian consciousness. The reality was especially stark since one had to stare at the peak laying on the other side of the Turkisir border-near it, but not of it. The years went by, she stayed in Armenia, manied, learned the language, had children, worked in her profession. one day, during a children,s .on"J.t, she heard a song she'd never heard before. The refrain, a verse from a Hovannes Shiraz poem, went something rike this: "If something were to happen to Masis, the entire Armenian nation would turn into fedayees.', She remembers her shock. Something had happened, to Ararat. It was on the other side of the border. How much worse did the situation have to become for the fedayees to appear? Today, she said, something had happened to Armenia. For the first time, in February and March, the people were face-to-face with the reality (hopefully irreversible) that the country, ils direction, the actions of its leadership couli indeed be determined by them-that the people's actions (and inactions) were truly consequential. So, as the world watched, the whole nation began to turn into a constituency-confounded and bewildered perhaps, but studious and involved nevertheless.
There we were, too, taking it all inphotographer Armineh Johannes, left, at polling booths where UNDp funded posters explained how to vote, to Managing Editor Paul Chaderjian, above right, drinking to a
brighter Armenia, with candidate Robert
Kocharian during one of his many pre-election press conferences.
ADMINISTRATIVE
DIRECTOR
Dania Ohanian SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER Seta Khodanian ADVERTISING
Raffi Ohanian, Meline Ounjian
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Sylva Dakessian, Sarkis shmavonian, Ronald Crigor Suny, Jlvan Tabibian, Hratch Tchilingirian, Taline Voskeritchian
CONTRIBUTORS ArtashesEmin, Yerevan; Susanpattie,London;AraChouljian,rohnHughes,Hrag Varjabedian, Los Angeles;.Janet Samuelian, palm Springs; Mark Malkasian, Rhode lsland; Ceorge Bournoutian, Lola Koundakjian, New york; Myriam Oaume, Paris; Moorad Mooradian, Washin$on, DC; Vartan Matiossian, Buenos Aires.
PHOTOCRAPHERS Mkhitar Khachakian, Zaven Khachikian, Rouben Mangasarian, yerevan; Aline Manoukian, Amlneh Johannes, paris; Edmond Terakopian, [ondon; (arine Armen, Kevork Djansezian, Raffi Ekmekji, Eric Naarian, Los Angeles; Garo Lachinian, Maryland; Ardem Aslanian, New rersey; Harry Koundakiian, New york; Berge Ara Zobian, Rhode lsland.
EDITOR EMERITUS Charles Nazarian EDITORIAT CONSUTTANT
Minas Kojaian INTERNATIONAL
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Vney del pino j5tj (1426) Buenos A[e5, phone 541 552 3Ec, / CANADA: RazmigHakimian 559rHenriBoura$aWe(,Montreal,pO,H4R2t1,phone5143392517 /U\ITED AMB EMTMTES SeboJh A,oenag,an. pO. Box 3000. Sha4ah. UAE, phMe 971 5331 )61; Cdh?ar,onran.D.O.Box44564AbuOl.abrUAE.phone97127757)1.Faxg712775tg1IUNfiED ARCENTINA:
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,2
1
WRITE TO AIM! We welcome all communication. Although we read all letters and submissions, we are unable to acknowledte everything we receive due to limited staffing and resources. Letters to the Editor may be edited
4 At'U
for publi.ation.
Unfulfil Ied Expectations Having just returned from Lisbon, my
disappointmenl
upon visiting
the
Culbenkian Museum was further heightened upon reading your article in AlM. January 1998. A visit to the Gulbenkian in 1985 was much more satisfying. There were a conplainly marked siderable number
of
Armenian exhibits. The store also had a plentiful supply of poster reproductions of Armenian manuscript pages. Particularly magnificent was a stylized version of the Armenian alphabet. Unfortunately, these no longer exist. While Armenian artifacts are present, one must make a special effort to seek them out. There are many posters available, but not
Sleepless in Las Vegas son and I were curious to know who the women on the March cover areand what exactly they are doing. Having spent the fall '96 term at the American University of Armenia, in Yerevan, we thought we saw most of what there was to see, but your cover was a new one. Who are they?
My
John Esperian Las Vegas, Nevada To the dozens of readers who inquired about their identity, allow us to introduce the women's song arul dance group called TA Jazz. They performed during the l0th anniversan^ t'elebrations of the Karabakh Movement in Yerevan's Opera (or Freedom) Square. The group of l0 is led by soloist Maya Margarian.
a
single one of an Armenian scene. I had wished to replace some posters that had been destroyed in a fire, but alas, a docent told me that he had never heard of them. The 1998 World's Fair will be in Lisbon, and the city is going all out to prepare for the influx of people from all over the world. It is especially depressing to know that the Gulbenkian Museum is not making an effort to feature Armenian articles to the masses of people who will undoubtedly visit them this year' Another
opportunity lost. George Kevorkian. Ph.D.
Deltaville, Virginia An old Russian Proverb saYs, "Live a
century, learn a century, (yet) you will die a fool." I have just found out how true this is
while reading the January 1998 issue of AIM.
who have totally taken over the Foundation, not even allowing a Gulbenkian to sit on the Executive Body at the present time. Today, the income of the Foundation which should be comparable to that of the largest foundations in the world serves, for all practical purposes, Portugal and Portugal alone' Its
"support
of
the Armenian institutions
around the world", as you put it, represents a negligible part of its yearly budget. At the end of the same article, You Calouste mention that "the statue Gulbenkian stands before the Armenian
of
eagle...in
front of the
Gulbenkian
Foundation building in Lisbon." As much as I would have loved it to be true, the fact is that the bird is not an Armenian eagle, but a hawk, known as "horus" which is part of the ancient Egyptian pantheon. The monu-
ment is based on an old photograph of
Calouste Gulbenkian taken during one
of
his visits to the ruins of some historic Egyptian sanctuary.
Leon P. Palian Washington, DC Timurlane's expeditions did indeed errobecome excavations. And the Egyptian hawk was identified as an Armenian eagle by more than one person familiar with the museum, and we took them on their word. Nevertheless' the photograph below taken at the Temple of Edfu
neously
corroborates your point about the correct identity of the hawk. AIM is guilty on both counts. What we can not accept blame for is
Noubar Gulbenkian's statement. He did indeed say "being a millionaire...is a sym'
bol of success." And AIM did say Noubar "inherired his wealth from his father." The Editors
On page 37, I learned that Timulane was an archaeologist who had come to
Armenia to conduct excavations!
Time Well Spent The recent events in Armenia relating
to the resignation of President Levon Ter Petrossian were confusing to say the least. In order to get more background and understanding of these events, I carefully read the Armenian papers, read the articles filed on the intemet and talked to many of my more knowledgeable friends. The "why's" and "how's" were still not clear.
read the articles in AIM (February 1998). Thank you for a clear, concise and complete explanation of the background and reasons for this very important event which I now fully understand. AIM magazine has provided me with what I wanted to know and explained the "how's" and "why's" of these events in an understandable and thorough manner. I should have waited for your magazine rather than waste my time with other
Then
I
sources.
Michael M. Hachigian Studio CitY, California
Better still was AIM's evaluation of Calouste Gulbenkian's son Noubar, the "Happy Millionaire" who boasted "I enjoy being a millionaire...it's a symbol of success." What was omitted is that those were the fruits of his father's success in which he played no role whatsoever.
AIM also forgot to mention that Noubar worked for Turkish commercial interests in Europe and at that time prevented the commemoration of April 24 at the St.
Sarkis Church built by his fathel forcing the Armenian community o[ London lo hold it at another venue. You also forgot to mention that he had haled his father to court for a bigger monthly handout. as the millions he was receiving were not enough for his playboy tastes. The sooner the world forgets about Noubar Gulbenkian, the better.
However, this does not signify that we
should also forget Calouste Gulbenkian who was a true genius, ending up as "Mr.
Five-per-Cent". Unfortunately, Calouste put too much trust in his Portuguese friends
I a
CORRECTION: The six sPecies of founds in Armenia (Destinations, AIM March 1998) are Rhinolophus euryale, bats
Rhinolophus mehelyi, Myotis nattereri kuhl,
Barbastella leucomelas, Miniopterus schreibersi kuhl and Tadaria teniotis rat.
1998
A I /l
The Furrth Millcrtrrirrrtr
Sor:it,tr,'is ulr irtr['1r1rrrle1tlr {irrtrlerl altl adrlirristrr.orl ,rr6lit.r.lrarilt.r..t,r,itted to thc rlissttttittrtlirttt rtl' irtlirrrrraliorr lirr the purpost of rkltlrpirrg arr irrlirnrrr.rl prrlrlir.. L'ltrlt'rlliltrrirrg rtll ottr t'ork is lltc l'irrtt convir'tiorr tlrat the vitalitv ofan irrrk'Ptnrlt'rrl is IirrrrluPrcss
rttettlal lrt a tk'tttrxritlic srxit'1r'itt Artrtcrtia arrrl rlerrrocralic institrrtirrrs irr tlrc l)iasporrr.'l'lrc liorn.tlr
THE
\'lillcrllrirrrlr Srx'ictt prrlrlisltt's At'ttttrriun lrrtclnational \lagazirre irr it. cllirrr to r.,rrlr.ilrrrlt l, llrs ttlliottal rlittlogttt'.'l'ltt'rlilcr'1ot's arc gratefrrl to the Beru'lactors.'llus1(.rs. I)irtrrrrrs irrrrl l;ricrrrls ol'llre Iiorrrth \lillerrrrirrrtt Srx'ielv r'lro arc conrrrritterl ro tlrr utll-lx'ing. grrrl.tlr irrrrl rk'rt'Irprrrlrrl 6f'
FOURTH -
MIttENITIUM SOCIEIY
arttorlg irtrlilirlrtitls atttl orgattizittiolrs. Their ['irrarrciu] r,orrtribuliorrs sul)pr)r1 llr('rvork ol'tlrp l.irrrrt6 \'l il k'rrrrirrrn S(x'i(.1 \' an(l t,rrsrrre t hc indepcnrL,rrc of AINI. l\'liclracl
\alralxr. \ nrtan Oskaniarr. Rtrffi Zirrza lian.
I)ir.ccror.s.
DIRECTORS '98 slrahtrr Ilairapetiarr" Arrnen Harnpar- Zar.r,rr Klrrrrrjirrr. \liclrrrr,l \alrirlrgr. Yrrrlatt Oskatriatr" Alex Sarkissiarr" Bob Sharrrliirrr. .lir rrrr 'l'rrlrilrirrrr. Ilrrl'li Zirrzalirrrr. BENEFACTORS
Sarkis \copiarr. Hirriir Hov.arrian.'l'hr.Lirrt.r l.'.rrrrlrrri,rr. Lrrri"r'\larr,,giarr Silro.r, SENIOR TRUSTEES
AUSTRALIA: IIeros & Kurc l)ilarrr.hilrr; CALIFORNIA: Klrre hig Babar arr. George & Flor. I)rr,aiirrrs. (i.,rgr,& Cra.r,Krr..l,r,& J,vt:e Steirr:
cANADA: Razrnis Ilakir,iarr. K,rrrk.rr Sirrkissirrr; HoNG KoNG: .lack -\la.rirrr FOUNDINC TRUSTEES
AUSTRALIA: \'aroojatt I.kcrrrllriirrr: CALIFORNIA: (larerr,\r.erlikian. \hrtlo Kirprir,liirrr. Etlwarrl \lisserliarr. Ilolr \l,r cli-. \'irrorr jrrrr \rrlralrct, \orair Oskaniun. Flrrrnrr l)itlrirziirrr. Zarch Sarkissi.rr. Il.lli T.itzrlirn: FLORIDA: Hagop Koush.kjiarr PENNSYLVANIA: Zarouhi _\lardikiarr ASSOCIATE TRUSTEES
.\raxic \1. llirrourirrian. Ralph and Saver.'lll?nkirrrr PATRONS
AUSTRALIA ,\rrrrarr irrrrl \irir.i l)r'rrlr.riarr (ir.orgt rurrl Varrorrhi'l'rvorrkjiarr .\rr irr l..r rrrckjilrr CALIFORNIA
\l
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lt rir
rr ir rrrl l.ll izrrlrer
h .\gbtrlriarr
(lirrirlrr.rl .\kpolat .\rrrrirrr,l irrr,l \rrrr,.r \rirlrirrrr Yrrrlkcs anrl .lean Barsarrr Ilirrrr irrr,l .\lr;rrt Brrr:eglriirrr II'rj arrrl [[era Bovajiarr Ilirg,,;' irrrd \ iolr.r Dake..ian
\r,lir.lr irrr,l \lrrri;rrr Dr.r'rleriirrr l)irrrit li irrr,l'lirrrrirrir Dirrritri Storr' rurd l.rrr.illr. [.rcIlrirrrirrrr \liurorrslrag Fcrrnaniarr (iagik ancl Knar (iirlsriarr
|irlran arrd Arrrlrer' (iregor. Pierre arrrl,\lir.r' Illig Arnerr anrl (iloriir Iltrrrrprrr ,\r'Pinr anrl lltrurirrr' .lurr,,\ irrr
CALIFORNIA (cont.) \l'alter and I-aurcl Karahiarr Kcr,,rk irrrrl :irt{.nis hirlirjr.rjirrrr \i.lrrrrrf irrrrl :,,rrir Kirzirziirrr Jolur alrrl Ilosr. Kltt,lror irrr (jart rrrrl Sossi Kcyorkiirrr Zar.r'rr arrrl Sorrrr Klrirrrjiirrr
CANADA
\ligirrlic arrrl r\rri \lisrirdio CYPRUS
(la ro Krlrer an ITALY
Krikor Krikoriirrr
Iirikor anrl I Iarorrt
l)ora Scrviarirrrr K rrhrr .\r'ik \lulrricsilrr St,';,rrrr irrr,l l.r,ljrrrrik \lirlkrrriirrr lliu',,ut iull llirir \lr.-r'r,lriarr .lasrrr
irrr' I'lgrrliclrirr
arr
lslrrrrlrrrliirrr
LEBANON Kcr
ork Borrlirrliarr
rr
MICHIGAN
l:,llirr,l rrrr,l \li,.r. \rrrir.irrgiarr h, rrrr,'tlr rrrr,l (.irr,lr \oriirrr
\ltr
\larroogiirrri
Ilal'i Orrrl'llian
\li, lrir,'l ,rrr,i I l,.rrrrirr,. Pirirrrirrr .\lcr Srrrkissian Ilr,lrlrt rrrtrl I l,,l,.rr Slrarrrliirrr l'r'lro. arrrl Garirre 'l'aglr an .\ra irntl,\rtrlis Tuvitiarr Orirlzag and Dzovis Ztitlian
NEVADA
l,irrrr
I
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NEW YORK irrrrl .\irlrr Korrrrrlakjiarr
Vrrlr.\islrrrrriarrf
FRIENDS OF AIM 'l'lre lirrrrllr \liilr'rrnirr, S.cie. is gratelrrl t. rlr. Iirll,* irrg lirr corrtrilrrrring rJrrring thc last rrorrth to lre[1r secrrre \l\l Iirrrrrrr.irrl Irrtrrrr,.
"
CANADA: Hrarrt Bablanitrr; MICHIGAN: Kulorr"r Sogoiurr: NEBRASKA: Henrv S. Bafleer: NEW JERSEY:
irrrrl Sr.rlrr lJirrrrr''
\121r irrrrl .\r.rlrir,is \.zrriirrr
Did you know that...
in ARMENIA in AMERIGA 5 years ago
5 years ngo
there were only 28 active churches and 24 students
Holy Etchmiadzin training for the priesthood.
the Diocese's "mission parishes" (newly-formed communities) in the U.S. numbered 6.
Tbdny
Tbdny
people have re-opened more than 100 churches. Hundreds more await clergY.
we have 23 mission parishes
at
Oun iluty is Glcan
on their way to becoming full-fledged parishes.
Whatwillthe be used forF a Write, publish and disseminate Chri educational ma use by local pa Ti"ain
conflnue esta
un
# among
the Centennial Endowment Fund, nation will remain intact foreu er-generating r after year to fund Armenian Christian education.
luturG Ihe Gentennial Enilouument tund an inteEal p*rt of the ACEF
E
YeS,
I
want to invest in our future! Enclosed is my contribution of $
Name
Address City
TelePhone
State
-Zip
Make checks payable to the AGEF Centennial Endowmenl Fund and mail to: Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, 630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016 For information call: George Kassis, centennial Endowment coordinator, (212) 686-0710 All contributions are tax-deductible.
DrocrsE or ruE Ammlr,ry Cum.cu orAurruce uft u$,nn +nhohhl, 1*:
xi..\*xil,.}t0[
I
Gone But Not Forgotten lf he is still alive, Sarkis Zeitlian is 5g-years-old this month. That's a big if, however. Zeitlian, a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutiun,s Bureau and editor-in_ chief of its official publication, was abducted in West Beirut, Lebanon in March 1985. At the time, he frequently penned strong anti-Soviet editorials, even as according to insiders, the party lead_ ership was looking for a rapprochement with Mikhail Corbichev,s new Soviet Union. Others say that Zeitlian was on the wrong side of a fierce internal ARF debate about the party's decade-longinvolvement in political violence as a way of raising public consciousness about the unacknowledged Cenocide of Armenians by the Turkish
government in 1915. His wife Sona and their four adult children have been vocally and publicly active in trying to identify the reasons and individuaL behind the abduction. Their intensive search has led them to believe that he was kidnapped by members of the Lebanese progressist Socialist Party, acting as hired agents of the Soviet KGB. They say years of investigative efforts have shown that Zeitlian was alive jt least until 1989, when he was last seen in the basement of the Soviet Embassy in Beirut. There are also reports that he had previ_ ously been detained in Beirut's Museitbe and Beiteddin districk, all controlled by the Progressist Socialists. These reports have been independently corroborated, as well, says Sona Zeitlian, and turned over to the ARF leadership. But they say, although pafty leaders had insisted that the identities of Zeitlian's abductors (and possible assassins) were known, there are no indications that an effort has been made to locate his remains. There have been various public and private statements assuming and lamenting Zeitlian,s death, even offers of financial help and compensation in the first months after the abduction-but no investigation into the reasons behind such a major event. And, for the members of the party and the family, no closuie.
What's in a Name? ln the arena of human suffering, sticks, stones, and names can hurt the afflicted. The question is, who gets to choose the names? Last year, the Ellis lsland lmmigration
Museum (above) waffled when faced with the word "Genocide" to describe the atrocities perpetrated against Armenians in the Ottoman Empire beginning in 1915 (AlM November-December 1997). Afew months later, museum
officials again are faced with the politics and power of words to illustrate human rights violations-this time in reference to Japanese-Americans who were involuntarily incarcerated during World War ll. The new exhibit, entitled "America,s Concentration Camps: Remembering the japanese-American Experience,', has met with resistance from Ellis lsland officials and some Jewish groups who contend that the term ,,concentration camp " is meant to be associated with the Holocaust only. To appropriate it as a descriptor of the Japanese-American
experience, they argue, diminishes the horror of the Nazi atrocities. Ellis lsland superintendent Diane Dayson wrote a letter to the senior curator of the exhibit stating that the exhibit could not appear unless the term ,concentration camp' was removed from the title. After ensuing pressure from Japanese-American politicians and friends, museum officials relented and agreed that the exhibit can be displayed-with the original wording intact. Curators of the exhibit state that they had no inten_ tion of equating the experiences of individuals in internment and the Holocaust. They simply, yet emphatically, feel that this turn of phrase best describes the disregarded history of Japanese-Americans during this time period. Since they certainly were powerless against their grievous experience, shouldn't they at least have the right to name it? lt seems that Ellis lsland officials still have much to learn about those things which have the potentialto be ,,offen-
sive" or "misunderstood." Human rights violations are offensive, and cowardly attempts at telling the stories of these abuses can be misunderstood.
by Nicole Vartanian
ls Nothing Sacred? April 24 is the day to remember the one and a half million Armenians who perished during World War I as a result of the Ottoman Turkish government's systematic effort to wipe out its Armenian population. Unlike the Diaspora's myriad memorial programs which begin with children reciting, continue with choirs singing and end with men lecturing, in Armenia, April 24 commemoration means a solemn half-mile wdk from the bottom of the hill on which the Tsitsernakaberd Martyrs Monument stands, to the top. The walk, either in the rain or the hot sun, with children and grandparents in tow, is the closest this generation is likely to come to the desert marches which killed hundreds of thousands in 1915. At the top of the hill, where a flame burns and the lilting voice of Lucine Zakarian sings church chants, it's easy to get emotional-either from sheer exhaustion or the immense symbolism of the sleek, metal structures-even if the events being memorialized hap-
pened 83 years ago.
Or maybe they didn't. Unfortunately, over the last ten years, other events have encroached upon the collective memory. One was the massacre of Armenians in the Azerbaiiani
Number of women who died in battle in Karabakh:
15 Number of times oil and gas were mentioned in news items published by the Central Asia Monitor since 1992:
576 Number of times bread and food were mentioned in articles in the same publication:
85 Number of years ago that two Armenian silk producers were brought to Virginia from Smyrna, Turkey:
345 Number of Armenian-owned firms in Manchester, England in 1861:
town of Sumgait in 1988 (see AIM February 1998.) The khachkar in their memory stands along the path to
30
Tsitsernakaberd, and it receives almost as many flowers as does the main monument (below). Of course, for all those who thought the genocide was a thing of the past, the Azerbaijani government has stepped in with a reminder. This year, on April 3, President Heidar Aliyev issued a decree declaring March 31 as a day of genocide of Azerbaijanis. By who? You guessed it. By Armenians. " lt is devoted to numerous historical acts of brutalities (sic) against Azerbaijanis committed by the Armenian nationalists since the beginning of this century," according to the Azerbaijani Embassy in Washington DC.
Age of Britain's oldest Armenian Church-Holy Trinity in Manchester: 127 Number of years ago that Patriarch Khrimian (Khrimian Hairig) went to London to plead on behalf
of the Armenian Cause:
120 Amount of 1997 losses, in Drams, suffered as a result of various financial crimes in Armenia:
9,133,000,000 Armenia's rank in the
world, among top users of water:
19 Azerbaijan's rank: 7 US ranking:
10 Cubic meters of water used per Armenian per year:
1,145 Hayots Ashkharh, Economist, Lrabeii AIM Research, Azg, Centnl Asia Monitor
1998 Al'l't
9
oersDective
et me begin by saying something con-
troversial-President Petrossian
got
it
Levon
Ter
right. Armenia
is
running out of time. Armenia is not running out of the good will and support of the Diaspora. Nor the political support of many faithful friends on Capitol Hill. And, certainly not the courage to survive desperate times. But, Armenia is running out of time. Let me try to explain why I did not see eye to eye with Ter Petrossian on his election, but agree with him about the decision which must be made, and made soon, if Armenia is to
enjoy the bright promise she so richly deserves.
When I say "running out of time" I mean Yerevan faces the possibility of simply being left behind. In a region rich with economic promise and strategic to American interests,
this should be unacceptable to you,
and
unthinkable for me.
But,
if
that dynamic is to change,
imperative that a settlement be
it
is reached on
Nagomo Karabakh.
A
settlement
is the key to
unlock
Armenia's potential, to reach beyond hope and
offer real opportunity to the descendants of Cilicia, to their children, to yours. When I visited Yerevan and Nagorno
'to att
Karabakh last year, I must admit to you how I was as we drove into town from the airport. For those who have not been, it would take a better wordsmith than I hope to help you visualize the stark images. stunned
For me,
it
was like driving through an
abandoned conshuction site, late in the evening.
The skeletons of buildings stand, incomplete, steel shafts and rebar jufting out, rusting in place. The roads are in disrepair, housing is substandard, it is, in sum. pretty grim.
I tumed to my staff almost in disbelief. After all, we had, by then, spent several hundred million dollars in aid for a country with a relatively small and concentrated population. What was going on? Well, much of that aid has been dedicated to emergency shelter, food and fuel. Only in the last year have we turned to technical assistance and support for economic development activities; and while they were going well, the humanitarian crisis, the war and the blockade had held Armenia back. Let me offer a few other snapshots of my trip, one I would characterize as defined by vivid contrast: ofhope built upon crushing conditions, ofpossibility emerging from real pain.
I
As met with various officials, many reminded me that Armenia had been the most technically advanced of the Soviet Republics,
providing much of the computer circuitry for industrial growth for the empire. It struck me that the official position of hope for Armenia's
future rested upon this technical legacy. Frankly, that discouraged more than brightened my mood. After all, banking on Soviet era technology as the invitation or inducement for investment to an industry that measures change and undergoes generation of growth in weeks, well that bordered on delusional. But, I reminded myself that these officials had little exposure to the speed and scope of changes in the computer world and what really mattered was what lay beneath this hope for a technological place in the world. What really matters is Armenia's deep and abiding commitment to education, literacy and I believe a place at the international business table will be won based on that singular and sustained achievement. The contrast between what is and what is
culture.
possible continued for me as I traveled to Nagomo Karabakh, which just for the record recasts all my known definitions and images
of the word "rugged." Life in
Nagorno Karabakh is not easy but in some effects-it has fostered a strong sense of self-sufficiency
which is seeing these courageous people through very difficult times. There are obvious needs which we will
begin to meet with the $12.5 million in funds provided for the first time last year, but you
don't leave Stepanakert with a sense of despair, as I had expected. They want you to know that they export food to Yerevan. And, with great pride, mothers and officials tell you that children are immunized, they go to school and life goes on. They are under siege in cir-
cumstance, not in spirit. Let me turn a corner here. less I sound too pessimistic. I could continue to describe the challenges faced in Nagorno-Karabakh, of the difficulties of life in Yerevan, but those are not the images which left the indelible impression upon me. That is not why I come before you with an appeal to work toward a solution on Nagomo-Karabakh and to work together so that Armenia lives up to her potential. The image which inspires me-the visual when words really cannot do justice teis that towering rock, Mount Ararat. When Elaine and I retired to our guest house that first night, I have to tell you we were a little uncomfortable. She was coming down with a cold, and it was hot. Now I am a creature of cool comfon: the argument in our house is whether the thermostat is at 55 or 58 in the summer. So you can imagine my view
of a stifling 90
many millions who died in successive waves of death marches, deportations and destruction of villages, homes, and lives. But, Mr. Kocharian does not live in the past. He is not a politician prone to excuses, finger pointing or the blame game. He has a clear eye on the future and a sharp vision of the economic reforms which can and should electrify and transform Armenia. This is not a man resting on his war laurels. believe the pieces are in place for the winner of next week's elections to reach a settlement on Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia and
I
Azeri negotiators have accepted in principle the withdrawal from several of the occupied areas, the deployment of peacekeeperswhich I believe the US should have a key role
I, for
time-the certainty, the inspiration. the spiritual essence, the strength of a nation and people. Mount Ararat's snow capped peak was
l'.r
I
thrown up his hands and withdrawn from politics in disgust, but that isn't Armenian. But, a great deal of my enthusiasm for the future derives from the strong position taken by one of the candidates, Robert Kocharian. In several long conversations with him, I was persuaded of two points. First, as a decorated war hero he has the credibility to negotiate and deliver an agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh, a position, Mr. Ter Petrossian did not enjoy. However, it is the second point which I found so compelling about Mr. Kocharian. He
is deeply mindful of Armenia's
tortured
past-he mourns the memories of the lost souls of 1915. He respects in speech and deed the
.:,'
:!:,,lt;j,.r'i:' I r:.i il
n,l.,:,
wreathed in wisps of clouds and a gleaming,
should have been there. Just as that mountain gives Armenians everywhere hope, it focused my attention, it concentrated my commitment. A week away from elections, the spell is working, and am truly hopeful about Armenia's future. I am encouraged by the variety of candidates choosing to run, particularly the involvement of Mr. Manukian who decided to participate. After the last round, he could have
one, believe we must stand fast comes to principles of safety and security for Armenians everywhere. But, compromises will have to be made on the ultimate issue of status. Don't ask me for the parameters of that compromise. I don't have that answer, and it really is for the negotiators to decide. But, whatever the outcome, I do think the US should be deeply involved. Whether in the form of troops as part of the peacekeeping force or resources to rebuild, the US has a responsibility and opportunity to make an important difference. Let me close with a moment in Armenia's past which continues to define the when
a
moon completed the picture. Ansel Adams, the great American photographer.
a course charted from
Yerevan.
little relief. and there stood the test of
full
of peace and prosperity. T he months ahead will be difficultthe government in Nagorno-Karabakh has counted on the Diaspora in the past to respond to its appeals when they are not
comfortable with
degree evening without air
conditioning. But, we walked out on our balcony for
Tokyo not only announced plans to invest hundreds of millions of development yen, but also agreed to support membership for Azerbaijan in the World Trade Organization and the Asia Development Bank. Time is not standing still and Section 907 cannot stop the clock. I will continue to support 907 remaining in law until the blockade is lifted and until Baku takes real steps toward peace. But, the reality is the region is booming and economic progress will accelerate. I want Armenia to be a central player in a new era
,ESr,ffilbl
At the turn of the fourth century, Armenia became the first nation to adopt Christianity. Given the neighborhood, this was and remains a pretty courageous deci-
present.
ilillit,l
,
in-and
the repatriation of refugees. also agree that the process should go the distance to a real solution, sooner rather than later. As Mr. Kocharian notes, Armenia deserves the results of Dayton not the confusion of the Oslo Accords. He seeks what we all hope for: an end to hostilities, so Armenia may begin anew. I expect the negotiations to be re-ener-
I
gized after the elections. With a fresh mandate, the winner must make a resolution his central task. To do otherwise retums us to my beginning point-Armenia risks being left behind.
With or without Section 907 in place, will produce and export oil.
Azerbaijan
Pipeline talks just this week again focused on an Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey route. There is no reason Armenia should be sitting on the sidelines.
That
it
is not the whole story. Late
Thursday, Aliyev signed three new bilateral agreements with Uzbekistan. The same day, he and Japanese Prime Minister Hashimoto signed a series of treaties and understandings.
sion which has been challenged many times.
Many have tried to defeat the spirit which shapes your community-a spirit which stretches forth from Mount Ararat to church-
es and homes across Europe, Asia
and
America. In the fifth century, the Persians offered Armenia a choice-convert or face the consequences. And the answer? Let me quote from an anonymous fifth century voice some say was Saint Vartan:
"From this faith, none ever can shake us, neither angels nor men, neither sword, fire, water, nor any bitter torturers." A quarter of a million Persians attacked an Armenian army of 60,000. If you know
your Armenian history, you know
the
Persians retreated in humiliation and defeat. True to the prophecy, Armenia has seen
and suffered this and more. But from this faith, none has shaken her. So, this evening I would like to raise my glass in a toast to Armenians and their inspiring, unshakable faith. Thank you.
S
il
JI#r'rr'fi
tu
ffi IlIru ]I Robent Kochanian is elected independent Anmenia's second pnesident
alten a Gampaign manked
[y
many linsts.
he consequences of this presidential election remain unpredictable, but it is safe to say at least one thing. Armenia seems to have rid itself of the phantoms of the past and tumed resolutely towards the future. What would have been considered a political absurdity just a few months and years ago is now historical fact: The former president of Karabakh, who had, for one year. been prime minister of Armenia, has been elected Armenia's plesident. Armenia's voters elected Robert Kocharian, a Karabakh-born 43-year-old engineer to be Armenia's second president. Robert Kocharian received 59.48 percent of the votes, while his opponent Karen Demirchian gathered 40.52 percent at the conclusion of the second round of the extraordinary presidential elections which were held on March 30. 1998, with the participation of 68 percent of the electorare. The elections were "extraordinary" not simply because they happened
sooner than the five-year term of of'fice prescribed by the Arrnenian Constitution, but also because this third presidential contest was in many ways a first. Some likened it to a second malriage-both par-ties enter into the pact with their eyes wide open, and not clouded over with emotion. Others said it was 1988 all over again, but with maturity. The outcome of the final round of elections was predictable after the results of the preliminary round. where Kocharian came in eight percentage points ahead of runner-up Demirchian (Kocharian: 38.76 and Demirchian: 30.67). The three other closest also-rans were Paruir Hairikian with 5.41 percent, Communist party candidate Sergei Badalian with 11.02 percent, and National Democratic Union candidate and former prime minister and Karabakh Committee member Vazgen Manukian with 12.24 percent. The gap between Kocharian and Demirchian widened in the second round to alnrost 20 percent, suggesting that Kocharian may have picked up votes not only
UL
l0 eliminated but also from
from the other candidates,
lence which followed
.
Demirchian himself.
This
This special election also provided a direct handson experiment in the functioning of the constitution and of electoral law in the running of an election. . The Armenian Revolutionary Federation-(ARF) Dashnaktsutiun, banned from participation in the 1996 elections, was very much a presence in this campaign, endors-
seemed highly
unlikely during the first round when all conventional wisdom
seemed
the
1996 presidential elections.
to indicate that
Kocharian, the outsidet the non-citizen non-resident, the candidate from Karabakh who
might bring war with him, could not possibly win the voters' hearts and minds.
But Kocharian did the unexpected and won. This was not the only surprise in a campaign full of fints. . There was an unexpect-
:
ing Kocharian early on and visibly campaigning on his
5
behalf.
edly high numberof presiden-
!s
tial
candidates for such a small country- 12 would-be
.
$
Former President Levon Ter Petrossian, right, congratulating president Kocharian on inauguration day. His holiness Karekin I casting his vote during the presidential elections (below).
presidents for a population of 3.5 million would be comparable to a little
less than 1000 candidates for the White House in the US. This high ratio can be explained by various factors. The political
environment
is still being
formed in
Armenia, and many are actively searching for their place in the sun. For certain candidates, this was a test of their popularity as a
dry-run for the upcoming parliamentary elections. Others wished to play political give-and-take, hoping to position themselves for some horse-trading with the more successful candidates. Certain factions may also have wished to divide the vote to force a second round decision.
. About half the candidates did not belong to any political party-including the two strongest contenders. Thus, people voted for'individuals not political movements, and very often for personalities rather than ideas or platforms. . The former ruling party,
the Armenian
National
Movement (ANM), did not present a candidate at all, though it was widely believed to be backing Demirchian's bid for power.
. Following the
resigna-
tion of a president which was ostensibly triggered by differences in policy over the Karabakh negotiations, one would have thought that Karabakh would have taken center stage in the political
campaign. In fact, it was rarely mentioned, and the campaigners concentrated almost exclusively on eco14 AIA/t
nomic issues and occasionally mentioned social concerns. . The high voter turn out in both rounds indicated that the public was willing to shoulder "the burden of democracy" and to express its political will. . The Armenian press-both private and state-owned, print and broadcast--discovered a new world. They adopted an enhanced, more contemporary role during the campaigning and the voting. . The work and reports of the 300 international observers also had a major impact on people's understanding of the election process and results. . The huge presence, too, of international media in Armenia said much about the
international community's interest in the region. Some observers, however, saw the media's presence was motivated simply by the expectation (hope?) of a rerun of the vio-
If the most striking fac-
tor was the return of Karen Demirchian, equally unexpected was the low vote for Yazgen Manukian, who bare-
ly lost-and many believed actually wonthe 1996 elections. Then, his tally was 48 percent, but this time it slumped to just a quarter
of that level. In 1996, Manukian
had been the candidate of a unified opposi-
tion, and the focus of popular discontent with Ter Petrossian's regime. In 1998, he represented only the National Democratic Union (NDU) which was found to have barely more support than
the Communist Party, and its candidate-
Sergei Badalian. The March elections Ieave him a bitter man, whose chances of
being at the forefront of the political scene seem to have been lost for good. All of this leaves Kocharian, the winner, facing a few hard realities. He won with nearly 60 percent of the vote, which means that some 40 percent of the population did not back him. Those who did vote for him some degree, rejecting to
Demirchian's appeal
for
a
return to the past. Those who
saw him as an "outsider" remain uncomfortable with a man who speaks Armenian with an accent, and for whom Hovannes Tumanian folktales and Vartanik jokes are not
familiar metaphors. On the other hand, the 60
percent who voted for him and the 40 percent who did not want to believe that the
man who brought
a
sem-
blance of peace to Karabakh can bring peace and prosperity to Armenia. by
A. H. Alexandrian
chameleon candidate, as his detractors call him-rallying around him former opposition members who have made cold calculations and come together to work with the most controversial forces of the country.
T ^7 il::,fl:I':::'',lo"ii J15::
,t\[*riffi
;;k#
or the countrified approach to world eventsnot a very veiled reference to the candidate from Stepanakert. Such a provincial attitude is like saying "We are our Mountains" without caring about being heard by anyone, Manukian explains. More than one candidate recalls that Kocharian is not a citizen of Armenia. His voters, though, say their candidate whom they call "our Robert de Niro" has learned
Armenian only recently,
but
"he
"lt is 1988, plus the maturity." A transition is in the making between the old regime and a new era which is yet to be built. On what foundations? On those of political professionalism, per Kocharian. Free elections? Impossible, according to Philaret Berikian of the Vazgen Manukian's National Democratic Union, (NDU), in a capital where "15-20 men have more power than a mayor. Every neighborhood in Yerevan has its own mafia chief: they are called Ben Hur Pasha or Lady Hakop or Himar Zakarian ot Ashot Komsomol, and they are more impor-
already
speaks it better than us."
All
candidates' electoral platforms men-
tion the restoration of cultural values. And indeed, a moral wave is felt throughout the country, even as political parties try to figure out an Armenian model for democracy.
a large alliance: the Union of Yerkrapahs, the Kocharian gathers around him
Armenian Democratice Liberals, the Union of
Socialist Forces (of Ashot Manucharian) and Federation-
the Armenian Revolutionary
Dashnaktsutiun, represented
by
Vahan
Hovhannissian who was recently released from jail. Kocharian is the enigmatic
tant than a governor. "Backed by Vazgen Sargsian, these are the guys who elect the president of this country. And this morning, the observers of the OSCE tell us that in civilized countries too, electoral fiaud takes place," he laughs.
Berikian,
a
member
of the
1998 At/l
15
Central
W;,r',i *,:p^.i#it t, a .. *,:11' , '#rt'..' -
i
;i+ ' ;1 ll
'll
.
'
ffih.rl'
rk
Christmas lights decorated Yerevan streets in anticipation of election day, above; The traditional madaghis performed at a Demirchian rally
Electoral Commission, talks with great emo1996 he was jailed by the
tion. In September
presidential guards after the attack on the National Assembly building. In Vazgen Manukian's circles, time seems to have stopped in 1996. One can leel in them the same emotion, the same anger. But if, back then, Manukian's anger seemed to be the very voice of the people, today he seems to speak only fbr hirnself. From Goris to Kamo, from Martuni to Hrazdan, the popular fervor seems to have dese(ed Manukian and his men. On March 8, Berikian and Parliament member Arshak Sadoyan (of the NDU) were beaten during an election rally. The incident was serious, and it was enough to re-ignite the f'euds of 1996. Two days larer, the indefatigable Sadoyan, on his feet again, calls the crowd to "come and break the windows of government buildings in Yerevan if the elections are not fair and free." It is clear, Armenians have tumed the page, but not the NDU.
for idolaters who see in him the real builder of the country. Neither a communist, nor an internationalist- above the crowd. But isn't
pared in old molds" answer his supporters. Demirchian has even won over a segment of the youth, for whom he is the most reassur-
he a man of the past? "Strong futures are pre-
ing of the "little fathers of the people"-provided, however, that memory is suspended. Still, some will remind you that "he is the one who changed the borders of the country, he sold several villages of the Davush area to Azerbaijan." Demirchian masters the art of sweeping questions aside with the back of the hand- "When one accedes to a position, the ideas change, so why bother to answer now?"
The other Armenia, that of the future, advances towards Kocharian with well-
the
defined questions which he answers at length. The TV campaign shows a Kocharian at work, a man firmly on the ground; we see him in plain clothes, a weapon in his hands, crossing the hills of Karabakh. Does this help candidate Kocharian, or does it simply make him appear the candidate of war? No one asks. In Gandzasar he is being baptized. His lamily is there. His wife recounts the nights Stepanakert was shelled. To the many, many questions asked by journalists, Kocharian
Communist Party, Karen Demirchian. Demirchian embodies a more perf'ect face
answers again and again that a strong and wellprepared army is the first
Each day Manukian's popularity plunges,
and Kocharian's picks up over that favorite, the lbrmer First Secretary
of of
the
t;::;t::r:rT:::
,, 16 Atilt
'f 'f Tith
W
along the territory bordering the
trumpets blaring' the
t""T.:
Arax river has become a real challenge. Positions cannot be left exposed, so it is necessary to orga-
ffi:H,:"::m:;l
em province, entered the polling station in Verishen. For five hours, more than 1000 conscripts arrived from their barracks. They lived the presidential elec-
;
tion like a feast day. ln the polling sta- I
tion, each solemnly took his ballot,
i
entered and exited the polling booth
;
front
s
and placed his ballot wide open in
of the civilian delegate of the electoral
Soldiers and civilians stand in line,
commission. Few fold the paper to preserve the secrecy of the vote. For whom have they voted? On the way out they respond "Kocharian" in a single voice. Why? "Because he will be a good president!" The colonel who organizes the arrival and departure of the soldiers, is careful to stay outside the voting station' He had signed a trust pact with the OSCE, whose observers are in town and can arrive at any moment. In the village of David Beg, near Kapan, the dirt road becomes a field for military maneuvers. At night, it is necessary for the army units based a few kilometers away to bring buses and civilian trucks lent as haphazard manifestations of good will, to secure the fuel and even find he pens to use for marking and signing the ballots. It is certainly easier to move around a mobile ballot box than to dis' place 2000 soldiers, but things had become complicated in the second round. The OSCE had required that the army decrease from 13 to 2 the number of the mobile ballot boxes. The logistics for the displacement of the soldiers based on positions
nize swiftly the rolling of the brigades which watch the border. Officers seldom sleeP these last nighs in the tense climate created by the second round of voting. They know that the OSCE will carefully watch military voting, since 98 percent of the soldiers' votes in the waiting their turn at the votin0 booths first round went to Kocharian. "It is not fraud; it is rather a question of influence," says Arthur, a young officer from Kapan. "Here, all of us share the same life, the same experiences, the same shelling from Zangelan in that no-man's land between Armenia and Karabakh. Yerevan is not the whole of Armenia; here we follow those who are respected". In the office of Goris' mayor, Z.aven Grigorian, the members of electoral commission talk, while reading the newspapers. Here is the old communist, a felt-hat on the head, and there, the young ARF member, Arayik, who comes from Kocharian's headquarters. They discuss ARF hero Garegin Njdeh, General Antdranik and his victories, the seizure of Shushi-all of them events which forged the region of Sunik. They analyze and critique the military tactics and the strategy of political parties over the past 100 years' But they all agree on one subject Kocharian's candidacy. "In Goris, we are closer to Karabakh, to those who know this life," says Arayik. "This city has seen shelling. We live on the border, and we arc still in a state of emergency." by MYrianGuame 1998 Al M
17
Kocharian campaigning: Through the streets of Yerevan, above; With Defense Minister Vazgen Sargsian, below
Demirchian never went to Karabakh. In the villages, sheep are sacrificed at his feet, as in the old days. Kocharian accepts only bread and salt.
Between these two Armenias, the future is
After the euphoria of the "velvet putsch',
pulled off by the parliamentary group of Yerkrapahs, and even as Kocharian repeats from city to city, crowd to crowd that ',My party is my people,r' no one doubts that his
at play.
political base, at least for now, rests on Vazgen
Today, voters have a choice. But, even with I I candidates to vie against, Manukian uses the same strategy that he used against a single rival, neglecting the democratic debate launched by the eruption of small parties in the campaign. The small parties are in a better financial situation in 1998 compared to 1996. One party leader claims that they are all financed by Russia. It is also widely assumed that Manukian is financed by "the US," but no one comes forward with proof or details. Someone else says
Sargsian and the army block.
that Kocharian is "receiving millions" from the Diaspora and that will mean he will win unfairly. No one has evidence. On Sunday evening, before the first round of voting even began, Vahan Hovhannissian was hoping fora second round: "No president will be legitimate in the eyes of the people if he is elected with 5l or 52 percent of the vote." The Dashnak leader voted with his old USSR passport which police had neglected to take from him when he was arrested in 1995.
Some young soldiers excited by the memories of 1996 consider Yazgen Sargsian as the president for 2003. They dream of an IsraelIike state where army-men will guide political life ruled by a Fidel Castro of the Caucasus. For the time being, all the officers take care to appear in plain clothes in pubtic life. But one can feel how deeply this power is rooted (and will be for a long time to come)-in the decision-making process.
Above anything else, above allegiance to any one candidate, the soldiers are Sargsian's
men. Everybody considers him one
of
the
players in what he himself called "the tragedy of 1996". Sargsian defended Ter Petrossian's position at the time, and Ter Petrossian praised Sargsian before Parliament, proclaiming that Sargsian's pinky finger was more valuable than all those who were complaining about the Defense Minister.
"In
1996, Levon deceived us, that's why
we defended him," professed one of the red berets who protected the parliament in September 1996. This young captain is ready barracks of Sovetashen, again, this time if the "mummy"Karen Demirdjian-wins the elections. There is little chance rhat this soldier will acquiesce to the sharing
to take the tanks out from the
:rrr!;iir;rr';:*
18 Atm
ed in my program. Everything is there in that small paragraph, and those approach-
IhG Koch Won
es have been agreed uPon with the authorities in Karabakh. We will do everything in our power to consistently pursue those goals.
During the electoral camPaign you mentioned several times that after becoming president you will cooperate
with the greatest possible variety of political organizations. But, you also
said that certain forces did not behave appropriately. Today, do you think that
bridges
obert Kocharian, 43, born in Karabakh. He
was has
been one of its political lead-
ers since the late 1980s. Kocharian was elected a member of Karabakh's first Supreme Council
in
1991 and a year later, was
appointed Prime Minister
of
have
been burned
Karabakh.
He was elected Karabakh president in 1994, and again in 1996. At that time, he began participating as an independent party in the OSCE peace process. Former President Levon Ter Petrossian appointed
the I
him Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia in March 1997. In basketball and in Politics, Kocharian plays hard. Yh"l,,h: ?"5-*..|,; style, he makes up for in will and drive;-'I. I
bridges. They were continuing to burn until the very last days. Almost nothing remains, but I hope that at least we can find a rope. In any case, I have not been the one who has burned those bridges. For the first time during the
last l0 years, Armenians tried to defame me. And this is the most
painful. Even during the war years the enemy, while hating me, at the same time respected me. And I think that as political activists, we must all give national interests precedence over personal ambitions.
tR0tt l(0cllABllll's PLAItOiltl
:
The settlement and the solution of the Mountainous Karabakh conflict is a national task around which all of us must gather in Armenia, Karabakh and the Diaspora. Based on the principle of a peaceful settlement of the conflict through negotiations, we must reach international recognition of the right of the people of Karabakh for free self-determination, simultaneously guaranteeing its existence within safe borders, with a permanent geograPhic connection to the motherland.
I I
In both. he usually wins. pluJr Lvruwr confâ‚Źr,*-'} NUlllqr t4rr J press L/Ul rlrB Kocharian's During ence held-on March 28 1998. thesâ‚Ź I questions were put to the candidate i
"l
by AIM's Laura Baghdassarian.
AIM:
Before the FebruarY''
March developments, sPecific possibilities existed for a settlc.
ment of the Karabakh cotr-' flict. Is it possible that afte* your election these will hSr,
,,j
r,.:,
definite changes?
Kocharian: I
dodr,rl,:l
think that after March
3$lf
our possibilities for,,*l settlement in Karabakh
will increase decrease. And don't think that
our'rrrii
aim must be to', reduce the possibilities of the party facing us and
to expand our own possibilities. There are clear approaches that have been stat-
: =
Each precinct (below) had one ballot box, which was opened at the end of the day (above) for counting.
who? The Dashnaks? They only want power, but we will not hand it over to them.,,
From city to city, the country stands in ovation to Karen Demirchian. He is received
like an uncle reunited with his family-the whole of Armenia. He is the builder of the country as his campaign commercials clearly
imply-all
grand constructions are displayed from the Sports Stadium to the Opera house, while Demirchian, ten years younger, warmly shakes dozens of hands and cuts inauguration ribbons. Prime Minister Vazgen Manukian was the one who put him to work as the director of the Hayelectro factory. His return to politics has awakened the myth of the golden age of communism in the
hearts worn-out
by the dark
independence
years.
Upon his arrival, children greet him; he kisses them. Flowers are presented to him, he throws them to the crowd and he introduces
himself simply as "an Armenian from Armenia". Nothing veiled here.
In the street, it is often the same criticism: his people from Karabakh everywhere in Armenia. If he is elected, they will share among themselves all the positions and nothing will be left for us," This is the most dangerous of the cases, because Karabakh is not everybody's affair anymore. When Kocharian arrived in
"Kocharian has placed
20 At/r
Yerevan, people used to joke, "Armenia didn't annex Karabakh, Karabakh has annexed
Armenia". Today, many reject war just as they have rejected refugees from Baku, and today, the oriental mentality opposes the mentality of the mountain people, pragmatic and strongheaded like Kocharian.
For Nvart, an officer in the Armenian
army, "Those who refuse to consider Karabakh as part of Armenia are walking over the graves [of the soldiers] on Yerablur". Over eight days, 12 candidates present their programs to the village people repeating: "Water, light, work." The men smoke bitter cigarettes or eat sunflower seeds. Ovation time is over. Questions multiply, and with each day, the daily polls show everybody,s interest in the answers.
On election day, Kocharian voted, goes home with a fever and without a voice. While
five minutes are enough for Demirchian to engage a crowd and continue on his way, Kocharian itemizes, discusses and explains for an hour.
On election night, there is no instant vote count. There is limited live reporting on television. Instead, at the various party headquarters, people watch a Russian film on TV. On the other channel, there is a pirated copy of Wag the Dog. At the headquarters of Vazgen Manukian one feels the imminence of disaster. In the morning, the first round is over. Between two rounds, the city seems to forget its worries. Opera Square belongs to roller skaters and to people who go out for a walk with their pitbulls. Is this the beginning of a
trend towards the "international criteria,' so oft-repeated by the international observers? by
Myriam Gaume
Soviet era Communist Party leaders Aliyev, Demirchian and Shevarnadze at Sardarabad Monument over twenty years ago.
f=l H
ven before the first round of presidenended on tvtarcfr tO, it
tial elections
I-lquickly became apparent that the candidacy of Communist Party leader Sergei
Badalian was headed nowhere. Although he
made very reasoned, often impassioned speeches about the lasting impact of eomrnunist values and policies. the voters weren't listening. Badalian rtras one of the few candidates (out of a batch ofr12) who consistently spoke about issues and policies, S1ill the public wasn't interested. Aq$.rl{}rOr1e:waS surptiSed. Then the uoit Csmmunist of all, the last
First Secrerary of the Communist perty of Armenia, Karen bemirchian, ryho had ruled the country for 14 years, threw his hat into the ring after a remarkable I0-year-absence from the political arena. This time no one was quite sure how the pubtic would react to this appeal-
ing image of old communism, without
the
communist label. Whcn the second round of presidential elections ended on March 30. and the final vote count was announced, Armenia had sent a clear message to the world: Communism
was rejected.
But the world wasn't listening. Foreign dservers and media in Armenia were far more interested in perceived fraud and irregularities (see accompanying anicle; than they were in
the fact that the smallest former Soviet republic, the one most dependent on im Russian
connections, was the only one the Trauscaucasus and one of the on$'xx in the entire Soviet Union to have rejected a return to Soviet thinking---old and new.
in
Demirchian
scene in 1988 declaring to the crowd that "Karabakh is ngt in my pocket to hand over [to the popula-
tionl."
His decisien ro run for the presidency
all
the preset
The eld communisr leader had turned qdYscato of lihetal free-market economics and 4,idomoctet lad,nationalist, as well. He sucCafrd$,
,CO$ ,,,
ed with the heart-strings of the associated him with Soviet ,AfiTiQ*klg'brtter days. Relying on the nostalgib of i}re' masses, Demirchian avoided politiippPryI&S$in..'ry'ho,
I*i* ful'
Ari..:
:#tg
ilppular singers lrercifiiixed 1qryi lited rffa the music video_commercial
r of Yerevan ;1 :s}i.!ii$ecture,
in its glory*
costumed daacers and
flo-wing fountains, and finally,
left the political
came as a surFrise and disturbed
cal much as the vette*,'ih,il non:exr&.9f,;rj
*r -f
ilel
lapsed in Gumri were not also buih doring Demirchian's term? the first round, Unable win Demirchien was l4uch more likely to lose in the, second; andlihat is what actually hap pEned. He and \&zgen Manukian were ihe onlyltrro presidential candidates who did net
ts
Dernirchian's râ‚Źappâ‚Źaxance on the political seene is still the $bj$$ of speculation. In the beginning, some analysts thought that this
nias a tactical rnove by:,Kmharian
to
take
vote$ a{eay fIoil,l Badalier* aadManukian. The assumption was based on tlie fact that imme-
diately before he officially declared his candithen-Prime Minister Kocharian for several hours. As the campaig*:aroved forward; however, it became clear that such an "alrangement" was unlikely.
dacy. Demirchian met with
Furttrer along
in the campaign.
some secre-
observeterdeckred that the former first the former president. tary was llLacked After all. hadn't Demirchian backed Ter
!y
Petrosilian during the 1996 elections' and hadn't Ter Petrossian?s administratiQ* f,ro-
ilI
thI vided him with his job in one of Yerevan's most important factories?
Promoting Demirchian's
candidacy,
therefore, was seen as a clever.$oqe by the former regime to damage Kocharian's chances for election. At the same trrne, a Demirehiail presidency-the return of o'a harddreitr-,.ommunist" and an "anti-democrat"-would lnik the Ter Petrossian administration lookr:â‚ŹYen better to foreigners. It is true that although nemirchian sS&
votes away from
all
three candidate*F
Badalian. Manukian and Kocharian-it
rriias
the Kocharian candidacy that had most to lose.
Finally. the Demirchian phenomenon was, of course, damaging to the Communist Party of Armenia and its leader and candidate Sergei Badalian. To understand this, one need only to see that the old nomenklalqra, people like Demirchian, who had h6ld resources,
porwer and
left the party but did not lose their
connections.
After the communists reorganized, Badalian became the party boss, aad in 1996,
he gamered six percent of the votes.
He
believed, however" that;&,,!$al poputadq, nf' greater. Sq the communist party is not surprising that right fpq'the begirufng of the 1998 electoral campaip *ic conm$alpt' leader stated that Demirchiaa's caadidryy was
wacm
ii
targeted directly against hlxt;:::,Thst"bbd shared the same
backgroun0;,q4{f s! tdd ,
the same constituency, O*'*6,,,,r&u .' ' base and used similar vocabulary; Badalian attacked his oppooor* fiercely, calling him a lraitor to the party aqd to the people. Nevertheless, Badalian's v.ote tsul at the end of the first round constitqted,',{,, 'r&4, surprise. Desplte Demirchian's prpqe4ffi3,tht popularity of the qelf"declared cq,mill! st leader Badaliar hd. tremendsusly increassd. Moreover, a few day$ lqter, in an interview in Moscow he stated that in reality, 20-25 percer* of Demirchian's votes belonged to the communist party which has been cheated. Badalian also claimed that Demirchian wae backod $l those who had "in the old days" created the country's shadow (or black mcrkeO economy, had maintained those ries artd nolr wanted to return {o power.
Loolring ln From the lnside Hotr Armenia's Ptess Gouered lhe Elections he best thing about Armenia's l99g
presidential elections was
the
unprecedented live coverage of events provided by the relatively
new "A+1" independent television station. Although the technology available to them was rather out-dated and the staff was new to the kind of pressure and quick thinking required by live television, the viewing public appreciated the immediate link to events as they happened. Armed
with cameras and cellular
interference in civic life, with unacceptable conditions in the army, and with unfair military draft practices, did not blame Sargsian in any way for participating in the JanuaryFebruary events; and on the contrary, they
most vocally supported Demirchian
good thing. As candidates lined up to replace Ter
Hask, the newspaper of Armenia's socialists and not a great favorite among readers. Demirchian's real problem was that he had no idea how to relate to those journal-
considered his participation in speeding along Ter Petrossian's resignation to be a
such as
Petrossian, some,
Vazgen
Manukian, Ashot Bleyan, Sergei Badalian
unaligned,
such as Aravot, Haik, and
the Russian
language
-Armenii and Vremya. The newspapers which
Golos
supported Kocharian's candidacy put forth some com-
bination
of the following
themes:
-Kocharian won
reporting. The extra benefits
the
Karabakh war.
of this were
seen as various anonymous calls came into
-He was able to bring about Ter Petrossian's resignation within a few months,
Electoral
Commission about voting irregularities. On the spot interviews served to immediately establish the veracity and source of such claims and dispel exaggerated and unfounded speculation. In order to examine the
ists who were not already clearly in his camp. He wasn't able to build the necessary
were clearly
Armenian state television also provided similar live
Central
was
relationships even with those newspapers which
telephones, young reporters drove to various precincts within and outside Yerevan, questioned voters, observers, precinct workers and helped the audience feel connected. The effectiveness of this programming was so evident that in the second round
the
Armenia and Karabakh. In the second round, the Kocharian camp also attacked surprise candidate Karen Demirchian. The newspaper which
when the entire opposition was unable to do so over eight years.
-As prime minister,
he
has registered various economic successes.
-The Diaspora
I
(espethe
cially the ARF and
role that Armenia's print Mary Harutunian of Armenian state Television, left, preparing for a live interview ADL) trusts him. media played in the March -He is very concerned presidential elections, it is necessary to and Hrant Khachatrian, benefitted from with Armenia's economic development (and
look at their role in the period immediately preceding these special elections. When it became apparent that former President Levon Ter Petrossian's statements
on resolutions to the Karabakh conflict were not received well by the public, the
print media by and large echoed that reaction. The two government dailies, as well as the newspaper of the Armenian National Movement, were unable to counter by elaborating and explaining the president,s position. At the same time, those who had come to blame the Ter Petrossian administration, and particularly Defense Minister Vazgen
Sargsian, with sanctioning the military,s
25 Atm
exposure in newspapers belonging to their own political parties. Khachatrian's lravunk not only promoted its candidate but also bashed all of Kocharian's other opponents.
Kocharian bashing was divided into two categories. There were those who ques-
in the first place. Those leading this attack were David Shahnazarian, Ashot Bleyan, yazgen tioned his right to run
Manukian and Sergei Badalian.
The
Kocharian camp countered by questioning the past track record of each of these candidates, and also clearly stating that questioning the legitimacy of Kocharian's candidacy
meant calling into question the unity of
therefore national security). -Kocharian is not from the .,inside,' and
does not represent any of the powerful .,clans,'.
These ideas, coupled with what, in my opinion, was an obvious preference for Kocharian by state television, clearly suc-
ceeded in winning the population over to Kocharian's side. There was of course the other factorthe role of left-over Soviet institutions and a left-over Soviet mentality. But that,s another article. by
Aram Abrahamian
Abrahamian is Editor of the Aravot
Daily newspaper in Yerevan.
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'1998
Ali
27
Fai I, Fteerrr
And 0ll
western Journalists on Armenia's Eleclions s the election campaign start-
ed to unfold in Armenia, dozens of foreign journalists were dispatched to Yerevan to cover the presidential elec-
tions-a place they described as a ..small,"
"mountainous," "landlocked" country in the Caucasus, where "comrption is widespread and unemployment high."
Based on a survey of 193 reports, between March I and April l, by 19 foreign news agencies and newspapers, the most extensive coverage was provided by Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty (72 reports), Reuters (31 reports), and Agence France
by Azerbaijan, the people are Iranian.,' Two particular reporters were fascinated
by Karen Demirchian's looks. Reuters, Lawrence Sheets'now famous "tall," "charis-
est in Caspian oil and Armenia's past two not-so-free elections.
matic," "slicked-back hair" description was surpassed only by The Indepen"dent,s phil Reeves' "glossy-jowled, with a Clinton hair-
Unlike the 1996 presidential elections when coverage focused mostly on democracy in Armenia, the focus this time was more on the oil and pipeline politics in the region
cut and a silver tongue" description.
As for Robert Kocharian,
Armenia and
the
region, others (AFP, AP) provided a fairly balanced picture of the situation, some (Reuters, UK newspapers) were alarmist, and others showed serious political and geo-
ment. Boston Globe's David Filipov wrote,
"The Armenian vote could have
graphic dyslexia. CNN's Betsy Aarons, in a news report which aired on March 30, reported that in
Nagorno Karabakh "the people
are
Iranian." This is a "huge problem', Aarons
noted. Indeed it Armenians who
is. She said, ..For live here, Nagorno
is now an independent state flag and a president. The state is not .recognized by Azerbaijan or. for that mat--.ter, lhe rest of the world. excepting Karabakh with
a
&e*'.i*l,a',l
and Armenia's "negative" impact on region-
Azerbaijan, which makes the continuation of Western aid and political support even more important for Armenia." Generally, the 1998 vote was presented as a critical determinant for regional peace and economic develop-
Some reporrs (RFE/RL) reflected in-
of
Sheets'
al economic developments vis-a-vis the conflict with Azerbaijan. Voice of America's Michael Kelemen reflected what most journalists reported: "The vote comes against the backdrop of growing US interest in the oil business in
Presse (20 reports).
depth knowledge
Two issues were of particular interest to foreign joumalists: US and Western inter-
favorite descriptive tes4$ aryl lhardliner."
ffi,,11i..'r;ra
serious
implications for the race to develop the huge oil reserves in the Caspian Sea and the stability of the conflict-torn Caucasus region.,' At times, the line of demarcation between oil politics and democratic elections were blurred. Commenting on the controversial preliminary OSCE statement, RFEIRL's Liz Fuller, a râ‚Źspected analyst, stated more
"the *bst's primary criterion for ; the relative fairness
ittffi
ofelections in
foreign media on the Kara@kh ,Y,"1$,fll? dispute over same amount (see chart).
CtuVr'l&lriil Y O U Lt N NIS $ O iv 16' rtJalt*S/Yrrr trr.\r/o.r ,rtr ,jl Jf,L.![J.rf (11.\IDldr.{d L.\ ..1&vritrri
[/lISSION IO CanOrOate OiviO Shahnazarian during a pre-election press conference, above.
-
All 12 candidates before the Central
Electoral Commission on March 7, atthe start of the election campaign, lower Ieft.
Ar*"nia's possible failure to conduct among "the former Soviet republics"
and
pre- "the second-highest per capita recipient .. ' "free, fair and trinsparent" for trailing only Israel." To be exact, that's political lever hand, as a one on sented, the West to use in the future to pressure the "nearly $300 a resident," wrote Chicago Armenian authorities; on the other hand, it Tribune's Colin McMahon (March 30). was presented as a threat to Armenia's There is no doubt that generally, formuch-needed foreign aid. Quoting an eign reporting from Yerevan reflected the election was
omnipresent Western diplomat,
reporied: "This Armeniansl.
If
The Canadian Youth Mission Armenia (CYMA), is
to
Youth for Youth humanitarian aid project dedicated to assisting the children of Armenia while a
perceptions and interests of the West. The relative apprehension of the international
binding young Armenians in Canada forever to their homeland. CYMA is a
communityaboutRobertKocharianwasthe subtext of their reports. echoed Viewed as the 'hardliner", "nationalist''
project of the Diocese of the fumenian
Reuters
is the last
chance they don't get it right
time, then aid could be affected." New YorkTimes'Steye LeVine
AH[llE|\|IA
[for this
might political support for Armenia, to the benefit of Azerbaijan, whose oil has made it a key US
liom "secessionist'' Karabakh
the same sentiment. "Washington
leader who comes
decrease its considerable financial and
with an'trncompromising" stance on ttte resolu-
tionoftheKarabakhconfliclKocharianpresents a challenge to the intemational community, who
policy interest." Other US reporters repeat- will have to find a new political modus operaniaty reminOed their readers that Armenia is di--ottrerthanthecunentoil-centereddiplomacy. by Hratch Tchilingirian "the highest per capita US aid" recipient
Church of Canada.
CYMA 98 will take place in ARARAT region and will consist of running a children's day camp, distribution of humanitarian aid and local community house visitations. Participants will live with local families to develop and strengthen the emotional and spiritu-
al bond between Armenian youth
as
well as Canada and Armenia.
CYMA 98 is open to anyone over the age
of
18.
The tentative departure date for this year's Mission is July 8, 1998 from
# of reports
Toronto and will return one month later.
Armenia Karabakh AzerbaiJan
98 63 z5
lrregularities
22
Fraud
I6 l5
Violations Disputed Marred
ll
60 57 38
For more information, please contact: St. Catherines Armenian Cburcb
905-685-8701
17 2
I5 t7
t3
12
19
4 4
9
l0
Flawed
7
I3
Hardliner
0
I
I
2
Diocese of tbe Armenian Church 514-276-9479
Kain Garakyan Thhr HoPYan 416-493-3854 416-222-6202 loameemcdj;an SeroAndonian
604-925-Ott4
514-286-6149
Whosce llemocruGy? lnternational Obseruers Bring lheir l|urn Standards to Armenia,s Elections
he day before the first round of presi-
dential elections, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe held a briefing for its 170 observers. Most of them were foreigners living in Armenia, who had applied for accreditation. About 50
that is too poor to find a blanket which might serve as a polling-booth. On the Turkish bor-
ter heated. And of course, there is the head of a voting station who does not understand the
necessity
were professional observers with experience monitoring elections in
other developing and
developed
During the briefing, observers
shouting loudly, "You must let me in, she does not want to vote for my candidate." Is this kind of clumsiness considered fraud or falsification? And what is it when the polling
were asked to take along a sleeping bag, an alarm clock and raisins with them as they went out the next day
into the regions. For purposes of neutrality and objectivity, the OSCE asked them "to be discerning if they are offered alcoholic beverages and
food". Brandy offered at l1 a.m. may
of
the
Elections consultant Bernard Owen (above, left) at a press conference, and the Council ol Europe's Lord Russell-Johnston (below, right) with observers.
in the voting
places...They should indicate all irregularities to the local officials, but they must never provide direction or advice".
More seriously, the first of the OSCE mission
report
indicated that 15 percent of the
This briefing, a code of
polling places had registered some sort of "intimidation,
good behavior, and a hundred pages of documents on the institution that is the ODIHROSCE (Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) were all the new observers had before being launched into the Armenian countryside.
non-legal presence of members
of the interior ministry or of army officers in the voting places." According to the OSCE's norms, when two percent of precincts register such flaws. that is considered a significant problem. For the OSCE, voting by the military and the military's presence as others vote remain the two most sensitive issues, together with use (or abuse) of
Each team is made up of two persons and must visit
nearly 15 voting places without giving prior notice. There
is no doubt that
state resources to benefit a spe-
these
cific candidate. Acknowledging that such problems occur, the
observers were sometimes
going to have difficulty matching reality with the "international criteria" mentioned in the forms that they have to complete at each polling place they visit. In the Armavir region, there is the village
30 Atlf,
station is so dirty that the observer the observer complains of an evident lack of respect for democratic institutions. What of the car carrying a ballot box which disappears at night on a wind-
ing road, leaving the OSCE car behind?And what might be said about the sedative slipped into an observer's coffee cup, forcipg him to nap for four hours?
observe and note the events
taking place
down on the
know how to complete the ballot". Or even better, there is the husband
countries.
disturb the watchfulness observers "whose role is to
of writing
electoral record the passport number of a boy he has seen born. Almost everywhere, grandmothers enter the polling booth with their grandchildren, and the husband with his wife, "because she does not
der, there is the forgotten city at the end of the road, where no voting material has arrived in
time. In another place, the ballot boxes are moved in haste to a different floor that is bet-
Armenian authorities, beginning with Prime Minister Kocharian and ending with the Foreign Ministry, categorically stated that such actions were neither part of coordinated policy, nor did they in any mater-
ial way impact the outcome of the elections. As Bernard Owen, the expert delegate of the Council of Europe to the Armenian Central Electoral Commission noted, due to the com-
plexity of the electoral law, human
were unavoidable
in the
errors
vote-counting
process. Using diplomatic language, Owen, who asked to speak but was not recognized by Ambassador Sam Brown, the special representative for the OSCE Election Observation Mission during the OSCE's press conference, noted that the balloting was free of irregularities in 85 percent of polling places. As for unfair use of state resources, commentaries bumped into simple arithmetic. Armenian state television owns only four cameras to follow 12 candidates from region to region, and still perform the rest of its daily reporting responsibilities. A little short in
instances, there is sufficient indication
fraud that require investigation and possible criminal charge".
The legitimacy of the second round of the presidential elections was confirmed on April I under the sign of the unity between the OSCE and the Council of Europe. If Armenia is then elevated to the rank of democracies, and its population congratulated for its real effort towards transparency, the
As for the statement of the Parliamentary
Assembly legitimacy
of official
plaints presented to
In
"This is a steady step along the path towards
Armenia's accession
to the Council of Europe", declared Lord Russell-Johnston, head of the delegation.
According to Khachatur Bezirjian, the president of the Central Electoral Commission. "this time we were closer to the terms of the law."
Or so he thought. Until, the OSCE decided that their preliminary and final reports were insufficient, and they wanted to extend their stay, and examine and re-examine several precincts' records two weeks after the elections. The Foreign Ministry of the Republic forced
0SCE observers came lrom different countries, including Turkey (above, cenler) and the US. Leading the 0SCE 0bservers was US Ambassador Sam Brown
(below, center) at the Central Electoral Commission.
com-
According to Owen, the OSCE's standards are implemented differently in various East European and CIS coun-
the
The Armenian AssemblY of America issued a rather terse series of statements immediatelY fol-
Karabakh negotiation process
Western institutions couldn't in
Armenia's case it didn't matter. The OSCE claimed more credibility since it had some 250 observers from various
led by its American leadership, would want to portray the
countries. and the other organizations together had barely 50.
recognized as a model of free and transparent elections.
by rejecting
OSCE's request, stating that Armenian Iaw does not provide for such ongoing investigation.
is most concemed that a resolution be reached. According to political observers, a president who is weakened by accusations of an unfair election can be more easily plied into a deal. Thus, the OSCE
tries. The rivalries between
observers? There was one from Turkey, a country not
Armenia was finallY
respond
and continuing well past the second round of voting, clearly pointing to the OSCE's conflicting agenda in Armenia. OSCE. alter all. as the organization which is overseeing the
Constitutional Court, "an incisive declaration has no value" commented Bernard Owen. "Democracy is not anarchY."
And who were these
of
to
lowing the first OSCE report
the
be more evident; yet,
election,
report declared that "the elections were a step forward from the troubled 1996 elections toward a functioning democracy. However, in some areas, they fell short of the commitments Armenia has made to OSCE standards.
Kocharian's political platform on the
the absence
of the election. In this
circuit was not faultless: the OSCE/ODIHR
Amsterdam-Yerevan Armenian Airlines flight, although not very
the charges against his own camp.
Council of Europe, it is no doubt about the
Armenia went forward, not backwards."
of "international criteria". The distribution of Robert
by Karen Demirchian, who denied
of the
declares that "there
terms
well-thought-out, nevertheless could not have swayed too many voters. Beyond these occurrences, no actual examples of abuse or fraud were presented. Vazgen Manukian's party headed the posrelectoral protests joined
ofvote
and analysis on the confused role of foreign observers and media.
process 5
tions, a fact not lost on journalists; Radio Free Europe provided some of the best coverage
of
Bernard Owen smiles in private, while thinking of the regional customs that he has
i
There were nearly a dozen : from Russia where over a dbzen people were killed on the last election day. There was the OSCE's own rather uneven handling of Azerbaijan's last elec-
in the dimmest
light.
come to know and, These shortcomings do not cause us to ques-
tion their outcome. The election day activities were conducted calmly in accordance
with
the law in the vast majority of districts. However, there were irregularities. In several
to
it
seems,
like. "It is time that the
OSCE adapts to the customs and culture of Armenia. And if the custom is to vote accompanied by trumpets and fanfare, why not?" by
Myriam Gaume
1998 Ati't
31
l
They were establishing tradition both inside and outside the Opera House in Yerevan. April 9 was a glittering, sunnyy spring day, and Freedo
s
well
as
uare
pera
Robert Kocharian was about to take the Concert and Ballet Hall of the National Opera House of Yerevan. The ceremony itself was a special session of the National Assembly. Official guests filled the Opera hall alongside the 159 members of parliament present. Catholicos Karekin I was among
the guests as were officials from Karabakh-including President Arkady Ghukasian, the speaker of Karabakh's
National Assembly, Prime Minister Leonard Petrossian and Defense Minister Samvel Babayan, the deputy prime min-
ister of Russia-Ivan Rybkin, members of the foreign diplomatic corps and various ministers.
The chiefs and staff of
the
Constitutional Court and of the Prosecutor's office, commanders of the armed forces, as well as party officials and representatives of public organizations, various Diasporan leaders, famous
artists, scientists, journalists and other guests were also gathered to see the president-elect sworn in.
Most noteworthy however was the of former president Levon Ter
presence
Petrossian. As one newspaper noted, this was the first time in the Commonwealth of Independent States-the Soviet Union's successor-that a second president of a republic was congratulated by the first president.
The only ones absent from the cele-
bration were presidential candidates Karen Demirchian, Vazgen Manukian and David Shahnazarian.
The president of the National Assembly, Khosrov Harutunian, opened the special session and invited the president elect
to take his oath on
the
Constitution and on the seventh century
Bible:
"Assuming the responsibility of the presidency of the Republic of Armenia, I swear before the Armenian people to be the guarantor of independence, territorial integrity and security of the Republic' to respect and defend the rights and freedoms of men and citizens, to act according to the Constitution and to the laws, to serve the people with devotion and faith in the name of the might of the Armenian state and of the realization of pan-nation-
al goals." The tone of the president was decisive, as the entire palm of his hand resolutely covered both the Bible and the
The head of the Armenian Church, who also came in as an outsider, thanked former president Levon Ter Petrossian for his constructive work as head of state for the past seven years. He reminded everyone that the task of the new president was to lead the country on the path of social
progress and civilization, and to revive traditions, a sense of dignity and national identity. Karekin I finally blessed the new president and ended his words with
the'Bahbanich" prayer. The new president was then invited to present his inaugural speech, after which, the speaker of the Assembly congratulat-
ed him, and ended the special
session,
Constitution.
which was followed by a concert and
Following the presidential oath, the Catholicos of All Armenians, Karekin I, who had himself been enthroned exactly three years earlier, on April 9, 1995, gave
cocktail reception.
the new president his blessings.
by Alik Alexandrian
a
Foreign Ambassadors from two dozen countries were present as were about a dozen members of Armenia's diplomatic corps.
As the public waited outside the Opera
Hull (previous page), those inside (below) n'itnesseel the swearing in ceremony of
Armenict's second president, Robert Kot'harian. The guests included former Presiclent Let'on Ter Petrossian (far left' top) sttrntling tvith Sen Arevshatian of the
Armenian Stole Manuscript Library ( Mutenodaron ). Kttcharian's wife Bella
t'iex'etl the cere nutnr- with her children (far le.ft, t'enter). Those sitting in the gallery below' the balc'onv included Armenia's
ambasso(lors
to the UN
(Movses Abelian)
tmd the LlS (Rouhen Shugarian). Karekin I, Catholit'os of All Armenians congratulated Kochariun (far leJi, bottom) as soon as he took the oath administered b1t Khosrov Harutunirtn, Cheirnmn of ParLiament, sec-
ond .f'rom right. Deputv Chairman Yuri Bukhshitn, leJt. looks on.
Ihe strc*ts are prepaled for inauguration celebra: ';r, e presidcntial bujlding-to the Opera- Housq the sev' tenadardn with full nrlitary and religious escort, ' ,t"*qil*mr, Sen Areriihatiani the Constitution is ft byiJnlitice Alvina Gulumian; the champegpe glasc- r, lale qf.tory:the presideut takes from two dozen coune l$sqgp.ral ceremonics nr prsidbct the next al d*f cclebrations ,
I
igfoPp.s.,tJazz.'
It was delivered on
April 9, immediately after his inauguration. President Robert Kocharian delivered his first speech before the members of the National Assembly, the cabinet, the Catholicos, the for- i mer president, mem- ! bers of the diplomat- : ic corps and guests. I wish first to thank all the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, regardless of their electoral choice, for their active participation elected president is everyone's president. The presidential elections which were held will condition the con-
in the elections. The
solidation
of our
state and the progress
which will follow. I am proud to have the great honor of being elected president of the Republic of Armenia, and am grateful for the
confidence of the people. I am ready to assume this great responsibility with honor and ready to justify the trust of the whole nation.
This is my first speech as president of the
republic. From this new position, I wish to present to you the ideas and directions which
will
shape Armenia's development.
We must have a state where we can work
and be productive. The next five years will become a time for consolidation of the foundations of statehood and for the resolution of
society's social problems. During this period, all the mechanisms necessary to ensure the full realization of the constitutional
rights and freedoms of citizens will be improved. The state will demonstrate itself to be a partner and advisor to the citizen. We must start from the principle that the only guarantor of the survival of a strong and stable state is the well-being of the people collectively, and each person, individually. We must be persistent and painstaking
in the multifaceted work that awaits uswork that requires solidarity within society, concerted effort and constructive political dialogue and cooperation. The state must guarantee the free for-
mulation and expression of the people's
will, beginning with every citizen's freedom of speech, of conscience and of faith, and continuing with the unhindered activity of political parties and public organizations in a climate of mutual respect and understanding.
Armenia must become the home and hearth not only of Armenians, but also of all minorities residing here. Constitutional reforms are among the decisive steps which are necessary for the consolidation of our statehood. First and foremost, these reforms must focus on the establishment of equilibrium among the different branches of power. The reciprocal
relations between the president
of
the
republic and the cabinet, the president of the republic and the National Assembly' must be defined more specifically and simply. A new approach must regulate the activity of the Constitutional Court. Our main objective is the establishment of the rule of law. Everyone must be equal before the law, from the president to the ordinary citizen. Accordingly, a consistent on-going reform of today's judicial system is of paramount
continue these reforms by adopting new principles and new approaches. The political and economic decisions which constitute the core of developmental policies must conespond to the requirements and inclinations of society. These decisions must be adopted by taking into account
will
actual, real conditions, possible social consequences, and should not be "reforms for the sake of reforms". It is already evident now that the government should not have foresaken the regulation of certain economic sectors when market institutions that can replace the state have not been shaped yet. Hence, in the years to come these gaps too must be filled. This is especially applicable to the economy of the rural regions. We must stimulate the growth of the agricultural sector by govemment subsidies and we must create conditions which will ensure profitable activity' The efficiency of the government is measured by the quality and level of social care it provides its citizens. People naturally feel deceived and disappointed by social injustice and by their dependency on the most elementary material needs. Without work and without a minimal standard of living, there is no awareness of individual freedoms and the responsibilities of civil and democratic society. Consequently, before anything else, the objective of the govem-
ment's social policy must be to establish social justice. This policy must be very well-targeted.
The presence of a strong state and the full realization of constitutional and human rights become evident when well-developed educational and scientific systems are operating, when medical care is available to all
citizens, when
it is possible to choose
the various problems that face her today. The aim of economic policy must be the
between health services offered by the government and by the private sector. Still, I am convinced that every citizen must always be able to resort to the state for assistance. For centuries, the foundation ofthe survival of our people has been the Armenian family. The awareness of this reality leads us to the conclusion that motherhood and childhood must be sponsored and protected
creation of the foundations and the favorable conditions for the realization of targeted investments that are necessary for
by society and government. The govern-
to
increased national production, for the development of small and medium-sized enter-
youth.
importance. This, in fact, means the creation of a new judicial system. At the same time, only an economically developed and powerful Armenia can solve
prises, for the restart of industrial enterprises and for a steady increase in new jobs. We
me[t must also develop special approaches resolving the main problems facing
The government must also concern itself with problems related to cultural development. Our culture will continue to
honorably represent our people and its secular history. While reforming our national home, we will establish dynamic and mutually-beneficial relations with our immediate neighbors'
with states which have traditionally
had strategic interests in the region, and we will participate more actively in the structures of international cooperation. The Republic of Armenia remains committed to the intemational agreements it has signed and to the obtgations it has assumed
through them. Our state will play an essential role in the politics and economy of the region and the world. Armenia's might resides also in having a
sound security system, thus requiring, above all, a well-trained and disciplined army. The balance of forces is the best guarantee of safeguarding peace in the region. And our army must serve this goal before anything else. The problem of Karabakh is a national problem that we must settle honorably. Proceeding from the principle of a peaceful settlement of the conflict, we must reach international recognition of the right of the people of Karabakh to free self-determination, while guaranteeing its development within safe borders, and with a link with Armenia through a permanent geographical connection. The settlement of the Karabakh problem must also entail the victory of history and justice. Our generation is called upon to assume another noble responsibility. Namely, the unification of the efforts of all Armenians, and the active and immediate participation of the Diaspora in the political and economic life of Armenia. A constitutional resolution of the problem of dual citizenship will also contribute to this end. For every Armenian, Armenia should be a holy homeland whose victory is his own victory' and whose future is his own future. It is essential that we realize that a nation which comprehends the value of its collective power is
invincible. Armenia thus presents itself to the world
as
a
democratic, stable, peaceful and
promising country. Dear compatriots, this is how I picture Armenia at the end of the next five years which will bring us to the beginning of the third millennium. This is the state which we will build together in the next five years' I Thank you.
,# a
s
.,":il 'ti
r.f I
filr
Catholicos Aram I in a patriarchal visil to the Vatican, with Pope John Paul ll.
Hopes to resolve the decades-old rift in the Armenian church were raised when Karekin I was elected Catholicos of All Armenians in April 1995. Indeed, the entire process of his nomination and
eventual election was eclipsed with the issue of church unity. Many thought-including the government of Armenia-that Karekin I's move to Ejmiatsin
would bring a "de facto" unity in the Armenian church. But that did not happen. In June 1995, Aram
I
was elected Catholicos
of the Great
House of
Cilicia in Antelias. While both Catholicoi considered church unity a most pressing national issue and pledged their commitment for a new modus operandi, "church unity" is nowhere to be seen. During the Cold War, the administrative schism in the church took a political slant, and the Catholicos in Ejmiatsin became known as 'pro-Soviet' and the one in Antelias 'anti-Soviet'. In the late 1950s, the Cilician See stepped out of its historical area of influence and established dioceses in the United States, Iran and Greece, thus putting the "division" in the church on diocesan andjurisdictional levels. Contrary to popular perception, church unity in the Armenian church is not likely to involve the merging of the Sees of Ejmiatsin and Cilicia. The Catholicosate of Cilicia has existed for 700 years. It was established in the year 1293 when the headquarters of the Armenian church was established in Sis' the capital of the Cilician Armenian kingdom. Since
then, the activities and mission of the Catholicosate of Cilicia have been intimately intertwined with the history of the Armenian nation. However, for most Armenians, the history of the Catholicosate of Cilicia starts in 1930 when it was established in Antelias,
by Catholicos Sahag Khabaian - the "mournful" (vshdali) pontiff, as he called himself after witnessing the murder of his people in the
Lebanon,
Ottoman Empire. In the last 50 years, the Catholicosate of Cilicia has significantly contributed to the development of the post-Genocide Diaspora by providing the Armenian communities spread throughout the world with four Catholicoi-including Karekin I and Aram I-hundreds of clergymen, teachers, intellectuals, and community leaders. It is difficult to imagine that such an auspicious national institution will dissolve any time soon or, as some circles suggest, be demoted to a Patriarchate, as the ones in Jerusalem and Istanbul.
In essence, church unity means going back to the pre- I 956 diocesan boundaries-when Antelias's "historical areas of jurisdiction" included Lebanon, Syria, Cyprus and, more recently, the Gulf states-and the forging of a new dynamic relationship between the two Sees. need
On his election, Karekin I stressed the urgent for "reform" within the Armenian church. "The
reformation of the Armenian church should be our 1998
Al
rul
Catholicos Aram I with Catholicos Karekin I during a meeting with former President Levon Ter petrossian.
goal, our target, our point
of departure." That reform should "preserve an order that is alive, not an order which is just a structure. We need to reform the church in such a way that she will become an active and positive presence for the benefit of our nation." Catholicos Aram I has stated similar goals. He spoke about his beliefs and intentions in an interview with AIM dur-
ing his pontifical visit to the US in Novembeq 1997. "We are in a nationbuilding process in Armenia, we need different kinds of activities and initiatives, both in Armenia and the Diaspora. It is time for the church to redefine its role, re-
Catholicos Aram l, Moderator of
critical here. This is what our church
tions and governments
should do. We need a church that is not in the periphery or margins of the life of the
East. In addition to establishing innovative pastoral, educational and charitable
community, but a church that is part of the daily life of the people. A church that
goes out of itself and becomes a church The church becomes authentically and fully itself only with the people." Catholicos Aram I is one of the most
for and in the life of the people.
eminent and internationally known figures in the ecumenical movement. Born in Beirut in 1947, he was educated at the Armenian Seminary in Antelias, the Near East School of Theology, the American
articulate its engagement in the life of our communities in the Diaspora... The church should come out of its frozen
University of Beirut, the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey, Switzerland, and Fordham University in New York, where
structures. The church should come out of its ossified mentalities, its blind traditionalism. The world around us is constantly
he received his doctoral degree
changing. The church should go to the people, be with the people, identify with the concerns, suffering and expectations. The church should respond concretely to the needs of the people as Jesus did. Then, and only then, can the church say
in systematic and contemporary theology and ecumenics. He was ordained a priest in 1968. 1978, during the worst period of the Lebanese civil war, he was elected pri-
ln
of the Diocese of Lebanon. He received episcopal ordination from Catholicos Karekin II of Cilicia in 1980. He is eloquent, multilingual, charismatmate
whoever believes in the faith of Jesus Christ should come to the church.
ic-a
Therefore, the church is not a place where we go or just visit, it has to become a living reality penetrating into the life of the people, embracing and making that life a God-centered life. I am becoming self-
skills and leadership, under the most difficult conditions of the civil war in the 1980s, gained him the respect of not only the Armenian community in Lebanon, but also the numerous religious-political fac-
t'ln the Middle 34 At,l
lot like Karekin I.
As primate of Lebanon, Aram
fa**
I's
in the Middle
programs in his diocese, he has contributed greatly to the process of recon-
struction and reconciliation
of
the
Lebanese society, through ChristianMoslem dialogues, confidence building measures, and
by soliciting assistance
from the world community. Aram I explains the context of the church in the Middle East: "Unlike western societies, where you have a state and
civil society and, in that context,
the
church is just another institution. In the Middle East the church is not just an institution. It is more than that, it is a reality that touches the everyday life of the people. It is a reality where you see the life of the people in all its aspects and manifestations. This is very true in our own Armenian church ... In the Middle East you cannot draw a line of demarcation between what is political and what is social and what is economic. Because in Islam, these are all interrelated, and we live in Moslem societies. The Christian church is also called to play a political role, but it all depends on what we mean by "political." Especially, in the context of the Middle East, where you have a legal status of being a community, you are supposed to get engaged in political life, to play a political role."
ot,draw a line.of!
tl
/crld Council of Churches, at
a WCC
meeting in Japan..
Archbishop Mesrob Ashjian of New York and Catholicos Aram I with United Nations Secretary General Koli Annan'
I ment. Catholicos Karekin and I, in my Karekin II of Cilicia had been ordained I role as the Moderator of the World Karekin I of Ejmiatsin (see AIM, July council of Churches, have done our best, 1996), Karekin I, together with 12 other j in terms of giving visibility to ourchurch, In
June 1995, just months after
bishops, consecrated Aram I as Catholicos our people and in pursuing, in the context human rights, the question of of thi See of Cilicia. This was the first timeinthehistoryoftheArmenianchurch Genocide, the rights of our people and
i of I that the Catholicos of A11 Armenians par- recently the question of ticipated in the consecration of a
Cilician
Nagorno
Karabakh."
A
Catholicos.
closer reading
of Aram I's
dis-
I course in over a dozen books, monoAram I has generously contributed to the graphs, and numerous interviews, reveals processofreformulatingatheologicaland j a deeper theological vision for the As a prolific theologian and writer,
pastoral vision, not only for the
Armenian church in particular and the CMstian church in general. Five comple-
I lent of the "United Nations" of Christianity. Aram I has been the | Moderator of WCC since 1992, the highest position within the structure of the I Genlva-based organization, which counts I 160 churches around the world (with the
mentary themes constitute Aram I's missiological vision: 1. Christian education-the proclamation of the Gospel and education of the entire faithful of the church from childhood to adulthood. Christian education is not an intellectual exercise only, but the beginning of discipleship of the faithful.
Armenian church, but especially for the world I Council of Churches (WCC)-the equiva-
major exception of the Catholic Church) 2. Service-the- very essence of the as its members. His term ends this year. Both Catholicoses of the Armenian church, the raison d'itre of the church is its church have played pivotal roles in the service to all of humanity. Christian faith ecumenical movement. Aram
I explains,
must be lived and practiced.
3' Fellowship-participation in the life "I learned ecumenism from Catholicos I Karekin. He has been my spiritual and of the church-"the body of Christ"' the "outecumenical teacher and I have followed in i pouring of oneself into a community of
his footsteps in ecumenism. I continued shared faith, belief and mission. the role thit he started in the ecumenical 4. Outreach-Christian education, sermovement and now it has been almost 27 vice and fellowship set the parameters of the years that I'm in the ecumenical move- church's outreach. Without outreach, the
church community becomes an inwardlooking, self-serving entity. The church's outreach is mandated by its "apostolic mission". Just as the apostles were sent to preach the Gospel to "all nations of the world," so is the church called to reach out within and without her immediate communi"Eucharist (the mass) without outreach is just a memorial service; and mission without a eucharistic dimension and vision lacks any ecclesial nature." Finally, fuam I explains how all these
ty. As such,
processes come together in the concepts of Unity and renewal. In one of his fascinating
books, entitled Orthodox Perspective On Mission (1992), Aram I writes: "The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Unity. The church as a community of faith is sustained by the unity of the Spirit (Ephesians 4:3) and is called to grow
in this unity and translate it into mission in the power of the Holy Spirit." Without unity and renewal in the Spirit, a "community of faith" cannot be sustained. Without unity, the mission of the church is compromised. While these concepts provide a theological framework for the church's mission,
they are yet to be fully practiced in the Armenian church. The most obvious hurdles remain to be the church's protracted administrative and jurisdictional disputes.
During his last pontifical visit to the United States, Catholicos Aram I explained the situation of the church in NorthAmerica: "I believe, we have to be very realistic and
ecn what is political and :
1998 Alt
z
s E
3
Ill'.99t!.9l....*p|9SsingbreadinNewYork.standinq-alongsideareLeoa@ Hrsn0p Musnegh Mardirossian and Father Mushegh Der Kaluslian.
not dogmatic or systematic in our approach. We have to be very realistic. This is very important. Due to many reasons, this situa-
Karekin I and Aram I with the Maronite patriarch Masrallah Sleir
life is very important. Since our churches are governed by the people, we need to prepare the minds and hearts of our people.,'
tion was created in the past. As I said, we have passed the stage of blaming and criti-
Aram I made it very clear that it is ultimately up to the people to decide the question of unity. Who must take the first
cizing people, analyzing the situation, so on. We should not do this anymore. We
step, he was asked. "Antelias came here not
have to be pragmatic, realistic and existential in our approach. In the current situation,
we are caught up in various tensions and uncertainties. This is a divisive and abnormal situation. Therefore, it is a must for this situation to become normalized. Of course, we cannot do this overnight. It is a process. Unity cannot be considered an event, but a process of maturation. A process of appropriating the issues involved in what we call unity. And we have to proceed in this process, slowly but surely, step by step, to confidence building and mutual under-
standing.
I
believe, this could be done
in
America remain skeptical about "church unity" in the foreseeable future. The status quo is likely to continue until at least the end of the century.
the
very important that unity emerges from the stressed. What about the role of the leaders? Aram I said, "We, as church leaders, have a prophetic role, as we say it in our theology-to challenge, to remind, to criticize, to lead, to facilitate, this
life of the people," he
to divide the people, but to serve the people. We came here to serve the people. If the people whom we are serving tell us thank you very much for what you did, the next day Antelias will go back to Antelias.
is the role of the church leadership. 35 Alflt
actually resolve the problem. It seems that what is lacking in the Armenian church is a "realistic" mechanism that would take ',the people" beyond mere discourse on unity. Experience shows that the community, the "flock," looks to its leaders and shepherds to show the way. In world affairs, leaders take the initiatives for peace, reconciliation and unity-Nelson Mandela is one exampleand provide the processes and mechanisms
high-ranking clergy and lay leaders in North
process" of unity. In the final analysis, ',it is
Therefore, the grassroots level in our church
Popular opinion remains doubtful whether relegating the responsibility to achieve church unity to "the people,' would
that lead their people to renewal. As the Armenian church prepares to celebrate the 1 700th anniversary of its establishment, the challenge to the Armenian church hierarchy is to overcome the "historical circumstances" and remove all political obstacles from the path of unity. In the meanwhile,
through collaboration. Collaboration is key in this process. By collaboration I mean more than what is happening now. more than joint ventures and programs; a collaboration in the full sense of the word.,, Aram I believes that church unity should not be imposed "from the outside or from above." He stresses the need to ',prepare the kind of atmosphere in which the
people get involved, naturally,
serve the people. That's the reality. Therefore, as I said, the mind and heart of the people should be prepared for this kind of unity."
i
Antelias
is a mission; we came here
to
As the renown sociologist Robert Bellah puts it, "Community is [also] a form of intelligent, reflective life, in which there is indeed consensus; but where the consensus can be challenged and which changes often gradually, sometimes radically, over time, because it is continually asking the question 'What kind of community is this?" In the Armenian community, one may wonder if the self-questioning has even begun.
by Hratch Tchilingirian
Ihe Ghurch and Ioday's Prioriti es
nces.Wehavea!waysrec0gnizediheprima6yolhonorolEimialsinasth0Mother
the Aimonian chil.oh. :8iem' ls
geople. no question iUout ttrat. We have to stiengthen Ejmiatsin and together we have to strengthen our church and
0n the impact of
increasing Islamification of the Middle East on the Armenian church.
This is not a problem related exclusively to the Armenian church, but to all the churches in
the region. Therefore, in
the Churches the churches of
Middle East Council of
which includes all the region, the whole question of Christian witness in the context of the Middle East is becoming more and more an acute problem of exis-
tential nature. Because we are constantly and directly exposed to the
of realities, uncertainties, tensions and challenges, where we are called to reorganize, restrengthen our Christian witness.
kinds
On the Church's position regarding contemporary social and
ing these are non-issues in the Middle East, but I want to emPhasize the important of context. That is why we cannot generalize these issues, we have to contextualize them vis a vis the particularities of a given environmint. Iu the US, these are priority issues, in our context in the Middle East, these are marginal or non-existent issues. In the Armenian Church with can no longer speak in terms of my issues and your issues, The issues are there, they are our issues, we may look at them with different perspectives, we maY offer different solutions, but the issues remain, and I believe, the role of the Church is essehtiallY a
pastoral role.
On the priorities of the Cilician Catholicosate.
moral issues, such as abortion, sexuality, etc.
The Catholicosate
We, as a Church, cannot ignore
the existence of these Problems. The question is, how do we deal with these problems. I believe that our role must be a Pastoral role, to guide and remind peoPle, not to impose certain values or traditions, particularly in the . US. It all
on our context. In the Middle East, if you talk about depends
these issues, you would sound like a very strange person, because theY
are not ready to discuss with you I am not say-
these kinds of issues.
of
Cilicia
I
as Catholicos have the following priorities: strengtheniag of Armenia; strengthening the strug-
and
gle of Karabakh for resolutioni
are part and parcel of one church. There are two Catholicosates due
to special circumstances. We have always recognized the primacY of honor of Ejmiatsin as the Mother See of the Armenian church. There is no question about that. We have
to strengthen Ejmiatsin and togeth-
er we have to
strengthen our
church and people. The existence and the role of the Catholicosate of Cilicia in the Armenian Diaspora is a must. We have to see Armenia, the Diaspora, Ejmiatsin, Antelias,
all political
parties, within one
whole. They are so much interconnected. Within that one whole, each of these structures has its specific place and role to play. But we have to see where their roles are
interrelated and reaching one another, not contradicting each other. This is also true with the full, Armenian church. A collaboration unconditional between Ejmiatsin and Antelias is a must. We have that now, but my expectation is more. We have to do
more than what we have now,
strengthening the unity of our peo;, ple. These are our priorities and we can do them by participating in the
because we are serving one PeoPle,
nation-building process. The Church has an important
Armenia is not the same as serving our people in the DiasPora, or the
role to play in that
resPect.
Armenia is our homeland and the strengthening
of our
homeland is
the priority of priorities for us. We believe in one homeland and in one church. I want to underline that we
who live under different conditions. Serving our PeoPle in Middle East for that matter. We are living in different conditions. This
collaboration is very imPortant, otherwise, unity remains somewhere in the air with no relevance to our lives.
A
Ll'l
37
Istanbul's Patriarch Kazanjian's Death Reawakens Old Issues of Chuf0h,,Rights
he spiritual leader of the estimated 60
thousand Armenians in Tirrkey, Patriarch Karekin lfuzanjian, died on March l0; a final vote on his successor is expected in
late May. Kazanjian was the 83rd leader of the
Ar-menian
Patriarchate established by Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror of Constantinople in 1461. Born in Istanbul in 1927, Kazanjian was elected patriarch of Turkey in September 1990. In the early 1940s, he srudied at the Armenian Seminary in Jerusalem, where he was ordained a celibate priest in 1950. In 1951, he was appointed Dean of the Holy Cross Seminary of the Istanbul patriarchate. In 1953, he was invited to serve in the United States by the Diocese of the Armenian Church and was appointed pastor of St. Mary's Armenian Church in Washington, D.C. In 1966, he was oonsecrated a bishop by Catholicos Vazken I of AII Armenians arid was appointed puri.r.t ut lrgate to the Far East. Later, he was electeJ Frimate of the Armeniir Diocese of Australia. In 1980, he retumed to Jerusalem and served as the Grand Sacristan until his election as patriarch of Turkey. Kazanjian is credited for administering the affairs of the Paffiarchate in Istanbul under the very difficult circumstances created by the Turkish state and Islamic fundamentalism. As Patriarch, he had the difficult task of negotiating with the Turkish authorities over the church's rights while at the same time having to seek protection from them against attacks on the church by Islamic extremists. The government maintains strict
38 Alii
reshictions on the church's activities, as it does on all Ckistian churches. It closed the Holy Cross Annenian Seminary in l97l and continues to refuse perrnission for the rebuildlng; of church
structures.
I
In
1995, Turkey forbade lay delegates fiomrpaniciparing in elections for a new Catholicos in Armenia. Last December, the govemment ordered the Patriarchate to disband is council of lay advisors.
Meanwhile, Islamic extremists have attacked the Patriarchate and a number of churches in the past few years, making the church dependent on the government for protection. Such a prodicament called for firmness and diplomacy. A source itt Istanbut said, "He was able to develop working relations with tho:Strrkish government and defend, as much as possible, the thc Armenian community in Turkey. He was well liked and respected by the community.,, The Chancellery,of 'the Annenian Patriarchate in Istanbul said the process ofelectiag a successor is to conclude with a final
ri$,of
vote on May 20tr, pending the approval of the Of[rce of the Governor of Istanbul. Tirkish law mandates Kazanjian's successor be a Turkish citizen, preferably one who has completed Turkish military service; this limits the list of eligible candidates to only three. The most-favored candidate is the energetic, Western-educated Archbishop Mesrob Mutafyan.
By Hratch Tchilingirian
Ihe Futute ol St, Gregory ionable hotel near the church. The company owns the Baku Entertainment Center and is building a trading center in front
of Sea Boulevard. It was also the official sponsor of the Azerbaijan national team at the recent Winter Olympics in Japan. Ejmiatsin insists that the Baku
church plus the Diocesan head-
quarters
still belong to
the
Armenian church and rejects any attempt to convert it to other uses. Catholicos Karekin I appealed to o
the Director General
of
UNESCO, explaining that "in the courtyard, several saintly clergyment are buried" and asking the
o 9
Director General "to make the
to the of the Republic of
necessary representation
authorities fter all the fighting and mutual
it is surprising perhaps that the St. Gregory the Illuminator Church in downtown Baku bitterness,
has survived so long. Located in the shade of trees, tucked behind one of Baku's main squares and next to a depart-
ment store, the church still stands but looks run down and neglected. "It looks like an abandoned church of the Soviet
period," says one frequent visitor to Baku. It is only when a visitor goes up to it that he or she can see the scorch marks above the main doors.
Built in 1863 to serve Baku's large and thriving Armenian community, the church was one of 10 in or near the city. of these were destroyed under Soviet rule (as was the vast St. Alexander Nevsky Russian Orthodox Cathedral, the biggest in the Caucasus). The Church of Sts. Thadeus and Bartholomew, built at the turn of the century was demolished in
Three
1930 to make way for a conservatory. Two others, the Cemetery Church of St.
Harutiun and the Holy
Translators Church in Armenikend, both dating from the 1890s, were also destroyed. Only one
other Armenian church, the ancient St. Astvatsatsin, which may date back to the 5th Century AD, is still standing. The Church of St. Gregory the
Illuminator survived even as tensions
between Armenians and Azerbaijanis in Baku reached a peak in the late 1980s as
the Armenians
of Karabakh
declared
their intent to seek independence or unification with Armenia. The last priest in the city was Father Vartan Dilouyan, who had served there since the early 1970s.
Interviewed in mid-1989, he recounted how he was able to escape unharmed with the hetp of a neighbor when his apartment was attacked. He told American writer Jim Forest that the other clergy "have now left the city. They are manied and have families. I am a monk, and so I have stayed." As he talked to the priest, Forest noted that "the stress of local ethnic tension was clearly visible on
his face." Father Diluyan gave up
the
unequal struggle later that year, and the church was abandoned on December 25, 1989. Later, Azeri vandals broke in and burnt it out. The church is still listed as an historic monument, albeit a neglected and
vandalized one. Now, an Azerbaijani company, ISR Holdings, has designs on the church, hoping to turn it into a business center. The company announced in January that the architecture and planning department of the Baku Municipality had approved the plan. However, work can start only after approval by the government. ISR is already constructing a fash-
Azerbaijan to prevent the implementation of such a project." Such an act, he continued, "if implemented, will sure-
ly be considered as a sacrilege and a violation of the principles of religious freedom and human rights which are accepted and subscribed to by all nations." Not all in Baku favor the appropriation of the church; "I'm strongly against the conversion of houses of prayer into
houses
of
business," declares Eldar
Zeynalov, Director of the Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan. "I hope that it won't happen. And there is some basis to this hope." Zeynalov is optimistic, believing
that the Baku church might once again
host a community of worshiPPing Armenians. "I think that the church will still be used for its proper purpose. In Baku, there are now 20 to 30 thousand
Armenians; and despite some under-
standable enmity because
of
the
Karabakh war, the authorities declare their position to protect the civic rights of the remaining Armenians. It is another
question how these declarations are implemented in practice, but it is clear that the formal end to the conflict will significantly improve the situation. So, the local Armenians will need to practice their religion, and the church will be necessary again."
by Felix Corley
199A A I ii
sociologist would have a field day writing a paper on Yerevan's fascination with flowers. On all corners of the city and on roads leading out of urban Armenia are flower vendors and buyers. Children sell purple wildflow-
ers-snow flowers they're called, the first flowers of spring, picked from the fields, while vendors and shops display more exotic and expensive fare. The selections available include camations and roses of course, narcissus and lilacs when available, orchids always, and just for a few lucky weeks of the year, tulips and irises. Not just any tulips-deep purple, incredible black, and creamy
white. And the irises? They're the black and white bearded bulbs which are usually seen only in gardening magazines. Prices range from 150 Drams (about 30 cents) for a carnation to 200-7fi) Drams for red tulips. Roses sell for 2000 Drams ($4) in the summer, more in the winter, and orchids can sell for as much as 8000 Drams each ($16). Just walk by a street vendor, and a bouquet is thrust in your face with prices sometimes adjusted depending on the appearance of the potential
arrangements (opposite page, lower right) for happy and sad occasions, as well as door-to-door delivery*witness the little vans whizzing about Yerevan streets. How is this great demand of flowers met? Not only are roses imported from Holland and orchids from as far away as Ecuador, but greenhouses in Armenia are quite busy. One greenhouse in Artashat, south of Yerevan, grows everything
from tulips to roses, narcissus and carnations. Another greenhouse in Noragavit, a suburb ofYerevan, has dedicated itself to narcissus. In the Geghanist village, you can find hundreds and thousands of carnations, and at Artiom's greenhouse in Azadavan (above), Artiom's entire family raises some 15 types of tulips. The task of giving flowers, however, is not as simple as picking up a bouquet. There are rules to be followed. For happy occasions, the number of flowers in the bouquet must be odd, whereas an even number is required for happy occasions. Lovers usually choose red flowers to show passion. Yellow flowers show a commitment which lasts an etemity, blue is to show faith and devotion; and if you want to be hip
customer.
this year, the "in" colors to give are a combination of blue and
Can't decide what to buy? At one of the 24-hour Brabion stores which offer over-the-top service with clerks buzzing about like bees around a flower, you pay for exquisite
yello, according to the specialists at Brabion.
40 Ati[
Reporting and Photos by Armineh Johannes
CAPITAL COLORS
"Our goal is to sift through those programs
and air only the best of the best," says Maffeo. But who will decide what is the "best of the best?" Maffeo says the cable service's ultimate goal is to provide viewers a
channel with high-quality, locally-produced shows that Armenians can use as a resource
to tap into what's happening in
their communities. The cable company is now negotiating with TVN Production Services which will eventually choose the programs, but this process has opened up a can of worms and is receiving much flack from a number of producers who feel cer-
tain segments of the diverse Armenian community are trying to control the contents of the Armenian Channel. Others are concerned that lower standards will be tolerated for Armenian programming than for regular television. Vatche Mangasarian, who produces
Ihis lusl in: As the lircl euer 24-hou Armenian Gable Ghannel ln several television programs for the Southern California market including ones lhe lllasmra goes 0n thg air in Soulhem Galllornla, deuelo[mont, which air on Marcus Cable's basic service, is suspicious as to who will be put in Eogramming and markeling decislons are slill [ending. charge of deciding the contents of the he television industry, which from talking heads preaching the law and Armenian Channel. "I had to crash a recent decides what type of programming to offer after researching the demographics of its audience, was bound to discover that there was a captive group to be
tapped-an audience it knew
as
"Armenian". What corporate America was yet to discover when it launched its first 24-hour Armenian channel was that its target was more diverse and divided than it realized. So began the challenge of how to program the first cable channel dedicated to the Armenians.
"The Armenian Channel
was
launched," says Vince Maffeo, Marketing Manager of Marcus Cable, "because the Armenian community was underserved in its cable programming choices." When the regional cable service provider wanted to entice Armenian customers to subscribe to cable television, it added the 24-hour-aday, seven-day-a-week channel.
Marcus Cable serves the cities of Glendale, Burbank, La Crescenta, La Canada-Flintridge, and Montrose in Southern California and is making the Armenian Channel available to over 120 thousand homes. Households which want access to the Armenian Channel must pay
$11.45 for basic cable and an additional $19.50 for a second tier of premium channels which includes the Armenian Channel. With taxes and other cable fees, customers who pay $38 a month receive
Armenian programming-news, sports, entertainment, live talk-shows, everything
42 AIM
God to pop stars lip-syncing their songs to the camera.
"At the time of
the Armenian
Channel's launch," says Maffeo, "Marcus struck a deal with Armenian Wireless Television to begin retransmining its programming, known on the air as ABN or Armenian Broadcasting Network." ABN is Armenian media-pioneer and frlmmaker
Sarky Mouradian's program which has been on the air for over three years throughout Southem Califomia; it serves nearly 20 thousand subscribers who pay I 5 dollars a month for a microwave decoder which allows them to watch the station.
What the future
Channel holds
of the
is still
Armenian uncertain.
"Eventually," says Maffeo, "what we'll have is a mix of ABN programming, as well as programming from the independent producers we're talking to." "The Armenian Channel
will evolve,"
says Berdj Karapetian of
HiTel
Communications, the public relations firm promoting ttre Channel. "How, quickly, I
don't know." Karapetian says
the
Channel's intent is to produce original programming. "We are looking at bringing in a Program Director some time soon." "Marcus Cable's first ," says Maffeo, "was to get the channel started." Maffeo's
company used ABN to fill its programming but is now talking to other program producers who want to provide additional programs to complement ABN's line-up.
meeting," he says, "where the only people
invited were organizations under the ARF umbrella, an organization which represents the lranian-Armenian community and ttre Senior Citizens organization." Mangasarian is concemed that ABN and the more vocal political parties and financially influential community organizations will monopolize the time slots on the Armenian Channel. The popular broadcaster, whose program is recognized for its technological and content quality, says it makes perfect business sense for Marcus Cable to move Armenian programming off basic cable and to the premium Armenian Channel; this would force Marcus subscribers to buy the more-expensive second
tier of service and generate a better retum for the cable company's investment in the Channel. Where would that leave independent producers, however, he asks. What may have sounded like a simple win-win business venture for corporate America-to provide a service for one spe-
cific demographic groupis now brewing into a debate as to who should be allowed to decide the Channel's programming, who
should gauge the quality and calibre of those programs, who should be allotted time and how much time, and whose agenda and political leanings will be allowed a platform. Stay tuned. by Paul Chaderjian
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Documenting the Dooumentarian Filmmaker and histoilan J. tUlichael Ha0opian has ttaueled to the most remole colnets ol the world ouer the past 50 yeals, Uoducing dozens ol educational anil documentary litms. But, where he has made a name lor himsell Is producing lllms about the catastronhe whlch he surulued as a chlld: the Amenian Genociile. he images are haunting, familiar,
yet still powerful-a long line of deportees ordered to the Syrian desert by the Turkish authorities, a display of decapitated men who once talked,
smiled, photos ofintellectuals and artists
whose lives were
cut short by
the Ottoman noose. The narration behind the
pictures
is
disturbing, meticulously
scripted by a survivor of the catastrophe. Together, the story is of man's inhumanity to man, a story of strength, survival
and character-the story of
the
Armenians. The prolific filmmaker bringing history alive through his words and pictures is 84-year-old J. Michael Hagopian. The Southern California resident was hidden in a well by his parents when their lives were in danger in l9l5; his childhood
44 AIM
April-May1998
dreams were to emulate the
fifth century
Vartan Mamikonian and this century's hero General Antranik, to conquer the homeland and kick out the Turks.
In 1998, Hagopian is celebrating his 50th year as a documentary filmmaker, an anniversary which comes as he edits the three final installments of documentaries about the Genocide. The making of these
films has been a hard task because only
few images of the atrocities were
a
cap-
tured by the audio-visual tools Hagopian uses to tell his stories. Still and moving pictures from that era are few, but Hagopian has been one of a handful to locate and make thorough use of them Where Are My People is Hagopian's first Genocide film and the first ever produced on the subject. He made the 30minute piece in 1965 and says the film
was "a cry for help. It was like saying look what happened; it was lamenting." The Forgotten Genocide, narrated by Armenian-American actor Mike Connors, was the second film in his
seriesl
it was made in
1976,
and
Hagopian's frank message is "the bastards did this to us. We've got a claim." The third film Hagopian made is called
it was commisof California in 1991 and produced for use in public high The Armenian Genocide;
sioned by the State schools.
Hagopian's current documentary is called The Wtnesses, and it presents the Genocide through eyewitness accounts. "It started out with the notion of having survivors tell the story," he says. The cameras began rolling on The Witnesses after the establishment of the
Armenian Film Foundation (AFF) in 1979. "The main philosophy ofthe foundation," says Hagopian, "was to document the Armenian experience." With that goal in mind, Hagopian, with the
help of community leaders Walter Karabian, Mihran Agbabian and the late
Leo Garapedian, created the AFF;
the
non-profit organization will celebrate its
20th anniversary in October
when Hagopian celebrates his 85th birthday. The AFF has released about a dozen films made by Hagopian since 1979. "To this day," says Hagopian, "there are not many Armenians who have taken the documentary approach." Karabian says the AFF has the largest library of footage on Armenians and Armenian subjects. "Right now, our emphasis has become, almost exclusively, to make the definitive film on the Armenian Genocide
-The
" explains Hagopian. Karabian agrees, "This was the project that drew me in." Witnesses,
From the late 80s until the early 90s, Hagopian focused on filming Genocide suryivors. "l documented my first sur-
vivors
in
1912," he says. "We started
identifying survivors older than 82." The
material, along with footage he has secured from US, French, and British archives, and 40 hours
of
footage from
present Turkey are now being edited. The
raw material Hagopian has compiled includes interviews with over 350 survivors and witnesses from 13 different countries speaking in as many languages. "We've got 15 Arabs who were there and remember what happened to Armenians," says Hagopian. "I've got 23 Greeks and a
couple
of Kurds." Also in the can
are
extensive interviews with historians like British Historian Christopher Walker, whom Hagopian interviewed during one location shoot in London. Hagopian and his crew also traveled throughout North America, Australia, Greece, Syria, Armenia and seven other countries to interview survivors and witnesses. The length and number of interviews have made the editing process a challenge for Hagopian; he has already cut down his documentary to under five hours. "I have to throw some good stuff out," says Hagopian. "There's no time on television." Some of the material on the cutting room floor includes interviews with survivors from Kharpert, where Hagopian was born. "The Kharpert part was getting too heavy, not because I was gathering stuff about Kharpert, but there are a lot of survivors from there."
The abundance of material Hagopian gathered from survivors and witnesses out of Kharpert prompted the filmmaker to think about breakingup The Witnesses into three parts. The first part of the trilogy is called The ktsr Days of Kharpert, and it will be screened at UCLA. "l was encouraged when I heard Professor Richard Hovannisian was going to have a symposium on Kharpert." Hagopian wrote to Hovannisian and told him about his material on Kharpert. "I've got well documented stuff between May I and December 25, 1915," Hagopian wrote, "Mayday to Christmas-what happened to Kharpert in those eight months." Hovannisian viewed the footage and will use it during
the symposium (the third on
1943. He was stationed in India
and
China, assigned as ground crew for the B-
29 Bomber and rose to the rank of sergeant. But it was his introduction to the people of the two countries which would help him later in his filmmaking career.
Upon his return from the military, Hagopian taught at Oregon State College and UCLA, and it was here that he was introduced to the idea of using audiovisual material in the classroom. The year was 1947. and the films available for use in a classroom were limited. 'The films I saw didn't seem to do thejob. They didn't have the intellectual content, visual impact,
or cinematic approach to make the subjects interesting or challenging."
Westem
Armenian provinces), to take place on
Atlanlis Proiluctlons
May 16-17.
While at UCLA, Hagopian conducted an informal survey about educational films and discovered that there was a big demand for films on geography, culrent events and world history. He was already tiring of academic life, where he says stu-
Acailemic Llle After a master's degree from
the
University of California, Berkeley, the future filmmaker went on to Harvard University wrote his doctoral dissertation on the Armenian national movement, "a movement which had not come full circle
and culminated in a state as had, for example, German and British nationalism," he explains. "Ours was cut up by the Genocide," says Hagopian, who at the
time had never thought about going into filmmaking. "I thought at the time I'd be a historian or political scientist. My thesis
was on nationalism-what is nationalism, how does it work and where does it work. I used the Armenians as a case study." After graduation from Harvard, Hagopian joined the armed services in
dents were interested more in grades than
leaming; so he decided to try his hand at filmmaking. Hagopian wrote to universities in
China, India, Pakistan and Lebanon inquiring about teaching opportunities; his goal was to travel to a region he could make films about. An offer from the American University of Beirut felt right because his father was an alumnus. Before traveling, Hagopian also made a deal with a Hollywood educational film producer who was interested in distribur ing a film about the Nile River. While teaching American government at AUB, Hagopian experimented
April-May
1998 Al lti
45
AGBU with filming and collpcted footage about
the Middle East, political parties
- OAKLAND
CHAPTER
ON THE OCCASION OF tTS TOrn ANNTVERSARY PRESENTS
and
Armenian issues. "Although I didn't know how I'd market it, I gathered the material because I was Armenian." That material was later made into a documentary entitled Problems of the Middle East, a 2l-minute film about the forces molding the future of the region. The documentary addressed the issues of cultural harmony, the region's history, agriculture,
industry and education-all
themes
Hagopian's future travelogue films would also incorporate.
He also wrote a draft script about the Nile. Once the script was finalized, he traveled to the river to shoot his film and document the river's geogaphy and the people living on its banks. The year was 1950. "I went up the Nile all the way to the source, Lake Victoria, with one camera. I don't know how many rolls of films
I
shot, maybe 40.
I
**
dtL A CTLEBRATION OF MUSIC AND FINE ART FEATUFING OI'TSTANDING YOUNO MUSICIANS
VIOLONIST: AROUSSTAK &ALTA|AN PIANISTS: MARIA AM|RKHAN|AN, SARKTS BALTA|AN, TAMAR ASADOURTAN ANO AN ART EXXIBIT OF PAINIINGS BY
TAMAR ASADOURIAN, WILLTAM SAROYAN, BOBERT SETRAKIAN, NOfiMA YAGI.IJIAN
shipped them back to
the US. The producer developed them and edited the film based on my script." Once the film was completed, it won first pize at the Cleveland Film Festival-a prestigious forum for documentary films. Hagopian had arrived. His vision to document terrain and people took him to India, where he had an offer to teach at the Benares Sin
University,
a center for Hindus
and
Sanskrit education in the world. "It was one of the great universities of India, and that appealed to me. They gave me a choice of courses to teach. Of course, it was very interesting. I even had cows walk into the classroom."
By that time, Hagopian was fully dedicated and devoted to filmmaking. With his background in education, economics and history along with his passion to travel the world, he'd found his niche in life. "I had to make the really big decision in India," says Hagopian. The decision was not to remain in political science as a scholar and go into documentary fi lmmaking instead. So began a career which spanned several continents and 50 years. Hagopian's travels included six months
in the Himalayan
Mountains. He also lived among the people of Nigeria where he made films about the terrain and climate of Northern Africa, the Niger fuver, village life and the building of a nation.
In India, he lived with
villagers and
chronicled their lives, their weddings and funerals. Hagopian shot and eventually made films about Jerusalem, Israel, Ancient Phoenicia, life in the Mexican-American barrios, even kangaroos, noise pollution
45 Atil
SUNDAY, MAY
17, 1998 3:00
HOLY NAMES COLLEGE
.
prr,r
REGENTS THEATRE
Additiona I Perlormances May 23: Manoogian Genter, Pasadena llay 24: CSUF Fresno and pifratas. His films, numbering over 70, have helped thousands of students from elementary school to college dis-
Armenian Film Foundation, but since then he has made only non-Armenian educational films through Atlantis and
cover and experience foreign lands and foreign people and not find them foreign anymore. Hagopian and his production company, Atlantis, have won dozens of awards and participated in hundreds of
Armenian films through the AFF. There are some exceptions. When he
Hagopian had made several films about the Genocide under the Atlantis
wanted to bid for funding to make a filrn about the Genocide for public schools in California, "I talked to scholars. I talked with Richard Hovannisian. I talked with professors Avedis Sanjian, Vahakn Dadrian and others, and I got the feeling from them that they would prefer a documentary made for the state by a nonArmenian entity." Hagopian submitted his proposal under Atlantis Productions,
the
competed against 35 other companies and
festivals including the American Film Festival in New York, where he won the Golden Reel Award. Hagopian has also received Emmy nominations for his work as a documentary filmmaker.
label before the formation of
won the state funds with which he made The Armenian Genocide, a 24-minute piece which was not approved for use in schools after Turkish pressure on government offtcials.
The Armenlan Ghalr One of Hagopian's most significant undertakings was his role, in the 1950s, in establishing
a permanent and endowed Armenian
Studies
Chair at UCLA. "I was giving lectures and traveling all over the country," remembers Hagopian. "I had a lecture agency doing my booking, and one time, in Boston, a young guy came up after the lecture and told me they were trying to set up
an Armenian Studies Chair at Harvard." Hagopian thought the idea sounded great and started meeting with a group which eventually became the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR). NAASR appointed Hagopian to the position of West Coast Director, which meant Hagopian organized chapters
NANCY KRICORI AN
of the organization in los
Angeles, San Francisco, Fresno, San Diego, Seattle, Portland. "I went up and down telling them how to preserve our heritage tl[ough establishing a chair at Harvard. Then I got the idea that we should have one at UCLA, and that's when I broke with NAASR. They wouldn't support it at first." "After we raised money for Harvard," he
continues, "we directed our energies to raising money for a chair here." The challenge to establishing the firstArmenian Studies Chair at UCLA was not only raising $200,000 but also securing a library of books on Armenian subjects. "UCLA had only 50 books on Armenian subjects," says the filmmaker. "Harvard had 300 at that time, and
"lkicorian tells her story of the everyday textures of Armenian immigrant life. ...
renders the generational differences, the pull of America, the slow
fading of the old culture, the prejudices encountered and hardships orrercome . . . Zabelle's story is richly and convincingly rendered."
I'd heard about a man out here, Yasir
-SeN
Khantamoor who had a library of about l0O0 rare
and important titles. He wanted to give them away." Hagopian convinced the donor to allow UCLA to house his books since they'd be close to him. As he recounts the story decades later, he's proud that his efforts paid off. The Khantamoor collection became the core of UCLA s exception-
Zabettepoignandy
Fmscrsco CHnoMcrr.
'As in Toni Morrisont work, the act of simple remembering is not enough;
Zabelle,like Morrison's best work, is a lovely and artful piece."-Tuar our
al Armenian collection.
Hagopian has a lot to reflect about at age 84. He says his biggest role model was a minister he heard when he was 18 years old. "Dr. Manasseh Papazian impacted me. He had finished Yale and was going into the ministry. He had the chance to stay in this country and get an American pulpit or go back to Armenia. He said, 'I went back to the land of my ancestors because Armenia needed me.'That made a big impression on me. I wrote in my diary that Armenia needs me, too, maybe. But I didn't know how. Since then, he's found his way. "Civilization is a very elusive thing," says Hagopian, the historian. "You can lose it if you're not careful. Each era achieves things and you build upon them. So preservation is important. That's been my philos-
oPhY.''
"The drama and intensiry of the Armenian experience in the twentie[h century are cruelh underrepresented in contemporary fiction. ln Tabelh,
N*.y
Kricorian brings a poet's grace and a keen sensitivity to voice this Armenian experience with very memorable results. Literature is richer for Kricorian's efforts.
"-RrCK MOODY,
author of Tbe lce Stortn
by Paul chaderjian Photos by Eric Nazarian '1998
Alm
47
Creatinu lies That Bind After the tragic loss of his wife and daughter, a New Yorker takes the lead in an innovative program to nurture the creative spirit in children all over the world. e is no more than tfuee feet tall and very cute. His vibrant red hair is his most distinguishing feature. And, odds are, if you ask Armenia's preschoolers, you'll be tickled to find that Muppet favorite Elmo is the hottest man on the street. Sesame Street thatis. Last April, one of the true greats in children's educational programming was launched on Armenian State Television. The modified version of the world renowned children's program,
48 Atl't
its debut in Eastern Armenian. Appropriately named Open Sesame the series is a compilation of the best of Sesame Street for an international audience and features themes that have cross-cultural relevance and appeal. Open Sesame was specifically created by Children's Television Workshop (the originators of Sesame Street) for easy dubbing. Currently 23 countries, including Armenia, air the series. Sesame Street made
Unlike any program available for Armenia's kids, the series uses animation, live action and puppet segments to teach about age-appropriate topics like family and home, the natural environment, cooperation and tolerance, as well as contemporary issues like recycling.
"The kids love the songs and music," said Heghine Bastrmajian, head of the Children's Programming Editorial Board of Armenian State Television (ASTV). "Children sing along as they learn to count, and parents are delighted with the educational aspect ofthe program. The consensus is that they
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.,\rnrcniil's cttrretlt socio-eu()ll()lllie sitttlttiutl,l\ it loliltc\ l() clu lr cducution." saicl Raflr ,\rrllllltl.jiarl. chairrltllrl ol tht ,\llt luntl Nurorl Mcttrotiul l;uncl t,\N\ll-). thc olgllttizlttlott thlrt pirr rrccrctl tfrc ()1tctr St,stuttt' ,\r'rttt'tritt pro.jcct. "lt \ ll'ighlclllllg thrlt nranv kintle rgilrtclls throLlgh()tlt thr- c()tllltl\ hiir c shttl tklll tl. []sing thc ntctliu to c(lttcittc ltncl cntr'rtlitl chiltlrerr is ltrr lllllliclrtiorr corttnton irt tlle L nitcrl Stlltcs [rttt rl0t c()llltl'l()ll ill
Arrltnrl.,.\ccotilirtglr. tc hclicrc tltlt ()7rlrr -tt'.trirttl rs he lpirtg to closc llte ultp irt ltre :citool ctlttclttlorl. Likcu irc. tltlttll krnrlcrguttett lclrchcls tciLcltitlg irl rlllrkc-shil't scllools lllc vclv illtclc\lctl itt thc llto:1lctt ol Ltsitlq the llrogrlltll series t. rttlrple rncnt tltcit rru n e rtrricttltttll.' ltltlctl .'\rdhrltl.jian
ttlt tttinilttltl
ICS()l-llccs
oll tlle Il)ap. Nearll
lgo. Ilal'lt ,Altlhaltliilrl ttl' Ncr"' York
ltrt'ltngcd a nrecting u ith ('hiltlrcrt's Tclcvisiorr Wolksltop. Whirt hc hrtl ttr lirr.Ll r crrs
rr
lts Iris vision ol
bcttct ptrrgrarltrtlirlg lirr
,\r'rrcnia's childle n atttl thc illll-astrttcttlrc ol his ncrr'lv lirt tllctl non prof
it lantill' lirundrttion. the ANNII:. I{all'r hatl Iost
his
u itc ,A,ni Coherian Arclhalcljiarl. J(r. lntl Itis tlrltrr:htct Nrrr.otl. l l/l rcars olcl. in the crasli ol'LlS.\ir lrlrght JJ7 in PrttsbLrrgh.
Pcnnsvlvirnirt in Septcrttber. 1991. llc cstlblisllcrl lhc trtrc\cnll)t. non profit litttnclatiolt lr itlt thc htolltl tltitsiorl ol llltr vitlitrg Artttcnilr.tl \\'oltten ancl chiltlrcrl u ith hlillllicr :rrltl ltcaltlt icr livcs. Hc kncw the Olten.Sc.tttrrtc sct tc: n ottlrl [lc a logie lrl lit. In Mav ol'l9t)(r. ANN{F actluirctl thc liccnsinr t'igltls llotrt
('-l-W ttr tltrh 5l Ilall llour r'pistlclc's ttl ()1tLtr.tt.rrtrrtt'itllrt
Irastcln At nrcttiart. Sltortlr therclrl'tcr. lr ith tl-ic ltssistaltcc rll tltc Alrne niirn Ile lie l societr. it c()lllract rt ar signcrl lvith i\rtttcniall Strtc'li'lcvision lrr uir tlre prourltttt sceklr lirr Ill tlrorltlls. "\\'c still ttcctlerl to :cetttc thc initial I'trnds lirr thc stalt r-lp. \\c ha(l to soliclilr lt 1lt-olcssional pl-otlttction teanl alld tl,c lratl to lliqn ottrsclr r:s u itlt lr tcltlblc in countrY partncr." 't!198
AtM
49
recalled Ardhaldjian.
The turning point came following ANMFS meeting with the head of the UNICEF Armenia office in Geneva. ANMF signed a project agreement with IIMCEF Armenia that confirmed they would provide the in-country support. They also became the project's first grantor. "In Armenia, television is an effective means of co[lmunication with most of the population, much more so than radio and print. The Open Sesame series supports early childhood
education and encourages a new enthusiasm for learning among children," said JoAnna Van Gerpen, head of UNICEF Armenia. "We are happy to be a part of that process." "JoAnna's decision to cooperate with ANMF made everything else possible," said Ardhaldjian. The second and largest contribution came from Louise Manoogian Simone, president of the AGBU and a philan-
thropist known for her commitment to various projects in Armenia and the Diaspora. Her donation would support the first phase of the initiative. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and a few individuals supplemented the ANMF s seed money. Since then, ANMF has added Coca Cola Armenia and the Open Society Institute to its list
of
sponsors.
w
ith initial funding in place, ANMF
assembled a
team of highly qualified professionals to administer
the project. Arevig Caprielian, a librarian ar New York Society Library and Columbia University translates the series. The translations by the Yerevan-born Caprielian have stunned those who are familiar with the series in the original
Shahrik, Open Sesame Project Director based in New york City. Each episode takes approximately one-and-a-half weeks to translate. Arevig translates segment by segment making sure the intonations and colloquialisms are interpreted appropriately. Not easy-after all, how does one translate "rub-a-dubdub"?
The spirit and talent behind the cast of the Armenian version of the series is Hacop Chorliyan of Glendale, California. Also born in Yerevan, Chorliyan served as General Director of ASTV and Radio from 1976 to 1985. He holds two Masters Degrees----one from theArmenian Film Institute, where he specialized in directing, and the other from the Armenian Art Institute, where he studied acting. "Prior to producing the first episode, we conducted auditions across the country for the main character voices. CTW required that they sound identical to the acttal Sesame Street Muppet voices. The audition process took about three months before the voices were finally approved," said Shahrik. ..The main cast consists of eight voices-Ernie, Bert, Elmo, the Count, Cookie Monster, Grover, Oscar and Kermit. There are also more than 30 secondary characters and the chorus.,, Hagop Chorliyan directs the studio sessions where each 28 minute segment is dubbed. Each segment takes about 35 hours of his time, working singly with 13 adult professional
actors and four children. (One of the actors, 57-year-old Mkrtich Mkhitarian, the voice of the Count, died of a brain
tumor earlier this year.) Dubbing alone takes over 28 hours. One must listen to the characters speak in English, and in perfect synchronization, record the Armenian. He also translates songs, sings himsetf, English version. and works iwth four singers and a small technical staff. His "There is a specific humor and style that Sesame Steet is greatest assets are his actress wife, Susanna, of Armenia's known for. Arevig not only translates the English text into National Theater for Youth and Children, and his son Hrant, a Eastern Armenian, she preserves the essence of each segment sound engineer and music editor. while making it understandable for its Armenian audience. It's The shows are a serious business, but so is everything a difficult job and Arevig does it very well,,, said Anahid Chorliyan does. When he arrived in Glendale in 1991, he set about producing and directing, at his own Hagop Chorliyan dirscts the studio sessions where each Sesame Street episode is dubbed. expense, live variety shows to showcase talented teens from local schools. "I auditioned them to see if they could be taught, and in a few cases I had to re-teach them Armenian. They had forgotten." They worked in rented studios, rehearsing daily, learning comedy skits, dances, funny and dramatic songs. He listens to hundreds of songs searching for those which have not been adulterated with Greek, Arabic or Turkish nuances. n April 20, 1997, ANMF, UNICEF Armenia and CTW announced the debut of Open Sesame Armenia. Now, one year later, life-size models of Ernie and Bert will be plastered on billboards throughout Yerevan promoting the
series.
ANMF will now move on to new projects, with the same outlook-respecting children and their creativity, giving them modern tools with which to develop ancient values.
50 Atm
Ihe Narod lnstitute division of the ANMF, the Narod Institute's mission is to improve the educational contexts of young Armenians and help them share their cultural heritage. The Narod Institute
has initiated various projects like the opening
of the
Narod
Ardhaldjian Children's Library in Bourj Hamoud, Lebanon, in cooperation with the Armenian Relief Cross-the Armenian Relief Society's sister organization in Lebanon. It is also developing a series of educational materials, such as alphabet posters and children's calendars.
This year, the Narod Institute launched a hallmark educational project that could very well augur a new era forArmenian schools
and students
worldwide-the Narod Network Project (NNP). It is
the flrst ever Intemet-based educational project linking Armenian school children from around the world. "Dispersed around the world and sharing increasingly different variations of the same culture, the global Armenian community is, in a sense, the other worldwide web," said Marie Lou Papazian, director of the Narod Institute. "This project will help demonstrate the
potential of the Internet in unifying the different manifestations of Armenian culture around the world," she added.
NNP links 10 Armenian schools from Armenia, Lebanon, France, Canada and the US. Each of the participating schools has integrated the project into its curriculum, lead by one or two teachers. The students spend two class periods per week collaborating on project tasks and use Armenian as the main working language. NNP uses the Arasan Armenian font, especially designed for this project,
Students at th6 AGBU Manoooian-Demirjian school use the NNP
s there a place for small family foundations in the Armenian landscape? According to Raffy Ardhaldjian, the answer is a definitive yes. "The foundation was created to memorialize Ani and Narod and to bring about positive change in our society. While our capabilities and focus in our early years will evolve, we will always try to pursue our mission in innovative ways. I want society to remember my family for its distinguished service, innovative approaches and its questfor excellence. The process ofpursuing the foundation's mission will be the best tribute to my lost loved ones and the best way to turn a tragic and painful experience into a fulfilling one. I thank everybody wholeheartedly who has supported this endeavor'"
which is freely available for downloading at This provides the basis for e-mail
the site.
communication in Armenian. NNP can be accessed through the
Narod Institute's bi-lingual (English and Armenian) home page--designed in bright, vibrant colors-at www.narod.org. As students enter the site they are introduced to three successive activities designed to introduce them to the lnternet
and the World Wide Web, to provide a multi-media profile of themselves, their
for their partin the other schools, and to use the
school and their community ners
material and experience gathered to organize a global school magazine on the Web. A printed version of this virnral magazine will be distributed to all Armenian schools worldwide.
"This is a project ttrat could assume
a
life of its own once the infrastructure is in place and all Armenian schools are connect-
ed around the world. We envision global conferences, efficient distribution of educational content and most importantly cultural exchange from all comers of the world. The possibilities are monumental," Papazian said.
1998
A ! tut
ut of the darkness comes a flash of white, and from an enormous cloud of fog descends a figure dressed
in a white robe of ancient royalty, a slender, longhaired modern-day minstrel taking the stage by storm. The concert hall fills with applause as Nune Yesayan begins to belt out traditional songs set to an untraditional and contemporary beat.
It's a sold-out performance at the Opera House in Yerevan; Nune has made her return after a two-year absence. The dudug and zurna provide the background. Male dancers in costume encircle the songstress while they move in unison shoulder-to-shoulder in a dance choreographed hundreds of
52
A 1't
years ago. On both sides of the stage, angelic, petite young women caress the air with the familiar feminine movements of hands and fingers. At center stage, Nune sounds the call for a return to the homeland with a passionate rendition of 'Kele Lao.' She sings the praises of hardworking villagers, speaks of love, innocent and playful, and mourns the losses her people have endured; fans say she not only brings on a wium yeaming for the innocent days of yester-year, but she also sends chills down their backs and captures their hearts. Yesayan has proven that she can not only seduce the most apprehensive of critics but also tantalize young and old alike.
he 28-year-old arrived at the AIM office in Yerevan
for our interview in a
chauffeur-driven E-class Mercedes Benz as would be expected of any star-in Yerevan or Hollywood. As we drove to her suburban Yerevan apartment, we sat in the back and talked about her conviction that by setting traditional Armenian folk songs to modern arrangements, she can reach younger generations who are deeply submerged and drowning in western culture. "It's rare that you hear an Armenian song on the radio," she says referring to one of Yerevan's several new FM stations-playing on the car stereo. "It's always the love song from Titanic or Madonna," she says as we drive past walls with EnglishJettered graffiti which spell out "Nirvana," "Michael Jackson" and "Sex Pistols." Traditional songs are not the only selections Yesayan sings. "I also have newer songs written by the composer Artur Grigorian," she says. She plays with pride an audio tape of a recent performance when she belted out Toni Braxton's "Unbreak My Heart" with just as much heart and soul as Braxton.
Her dedication and louc lot her hushand, her desire anil [assion l0 make him happy meant saGillicGs, lirst minfi then dtaslic. He asked het lo spend morc lime at home; she did. He asked hel nol l0 make any more puillc appcalanGe$ she obliged. He lhen asftGd her to nGuel sing again; she agleed. esayan says she can relate to the words she sings with more understanding and depth now having sur-
vived a traumatic experience a few years ago,
an
experience not openly and easily addressed in most families.
"Before," she says, "I'd sing the words and maybe didn't relate to them as much as I can now. I understood the words but couldn't really feel them and bring the song to life." She hesitates but begins to explain the experience by talking about falling in love, so deeply in love that she lost herself in the relationship. "It's not that I hadn't loved before," she says, "but this type of a love, pain, all of the emotions I'd experienced gave me new insight." Her dedication and love for her husband, her desire and passion to make him happy meant sacrifices, first minor then drastic. He asked her to spend more time at home; she did. He asked her not to make any more public appearances or accept invitations from television shows; she obliged. He then asked her to never sing again; she agreed. But making the relationship work wasn't going to be that easy. "The arguments, the mockery, the humiliation," she remembers. "All that in one year was a bit overwhelming."
uring the dark, cold and impossible years tn Armenia, when the nation was without power, without food and without an economy, Yesayan became a prisoner ofjealousy, a prisoner of a man who she says would not let her leave their apartment. His fear of losing her, his
rage that others would see her on television or hear her on the radio, and his need to box her up all to himself would play out
through violent daily outbursts, physical and psychological abuse which would leave Yesayan beaten and bruised, defeated and depressed. Yesayan says she was convinced she could change her husband and help him heal from his psychological and emotional problems; but when a year passed and her husband began to demand they have children, she forced herself to call her mother and ask that she save her from her private hell. Escaping from her husband, and healing from the trauma
were not easy. Yesayan experienced a complete emotional breakdown for months following the break-up of her marriage. She was confined to bed at her parents'home, physically and emotionally damaged, and unable to stop crying. was her mother who became her pillar of strength, stood by her, held her hand, prayed with her daily,
t
reminded her that she was fine, that she could be loved, and that the fragile and bruised songbird would find her voice and sing once again. Her mother and close friends talked her into accepting a three-month contract to perform at a five-star hotel in Syria' Nune was hesitant, convinced by her husband that she made a fool of herself when she performed, that she wasn't talented enough to get up in front of a microphone, and that she should be ashamed for having pranced around in flashy outfits and short dresses in front of total strangers.
But she eventually regained her self-confidence and went to Damascus convinced that if she didn't leave Yerevan, her husband could and would lure her back. She couldn't risk falling back into her lover's trap and knew if she were to ever sing again, she would have to make a clean break and leave.
1998 Ali
53
"Whon lwas 13 ot 14, I used to watch Baysa Mugrdlchlan, Suzanne Markarlan and the 0ftellan Gt0up," she says slpplng her cofiee wlth glaGe and elegance
stat "l usod to wlsh I'd see them 0n thc stleot or be wlth lhem. I'd dream ol belng one ol lhem, [ut my lamlly ls tradlllonally hye anl slnglng wasn'l pro[Gl GaIoGl cholce lol a young Armenlan woman." as Gxpeoted ol a
'
tM HiT'i #r*t;:ft'.ffi x,HI:
share her disinterest in everything else. "I've never liked to read. A book would have to be very interesting for me to finish. I like to look tlrough magazines, and I get all of my news and information from television," she says glancing up to her set
which is now tuned to the CNN World Report.
"When I was 13 or 14, I used to watch Raissa Megerdichian, Suzanna Markarian and the Constantine Orbelian Group," she says sipping coffee from a demitasse of a star. "I used to wish with them. I'd dream of being one of them, but my family is traditional and singing wasn't a proper career choice for a young lady." with grace and elegance
I'd
people I used to watch on television and wished to emulate." After two years of performing with Orbelian, Yesayan won a spot on the Ayo television talent showcase. It was there
that Garbis Titizian of Prime Entertainment (and Levon Travel) discovered her. Titizian was then the Executive Producer of the Armenian National Committee Media Network's popular Horizon television news magazine and one of the judges for Ayo.Tttizian encouraged her to record her first album; but Yesayan would eventually meet her husband and walk away from her singing career. Her first album would be shelved for five years.
as expected
see them on the street or be
onvinced by her family that she needed to attain a diploma in the sciences, Yesayan attended engineering school after graduating from high school. "I survived the first year of college," she says and quickly profess-
esayan says her road to recovery covered a span
of
two years. It wasn't until her return to Armenia in January 1997 while on a short break from her appea.rances in Syria that she met Titizian, and Grigorian, again. They encouraged her to think about her abandoned recording career and suggested she consider touring; Titizian suggested that she stay in Yerevan and focus on her career. Yesayan told him that earning a living in Armenia as a musician was next to impossible.
"Nothing
offered
is
impossible," he
to have his
Entertainment, manage
told her
and
company, Prime
her career and
bankroll her next album, Ov Inch Kidi (Guni). Titizian then arranged for the release of her
(PE-KO) and first album, Kavarn Mer began to promote her in Armenia and the Diaspora. Since her return to Armenia, Yesayan has not only recorded her second album but is also working on a third. She has made several television appearances, and her music videos appear regularly on Armenian television pro-
grams. Yesayan has also performed at two sold-out concerts in Yerevan; and last summer,
she toured
into her own hands and arranged for an audition at what is now called the Jazz and Pop College. She was accepted, but her family didn't think it made sense for her to leave an engineering institute where acceptance was next to impossible. Her instructors at the music college included the likes of Grigorian, Datevik Hovhanessian and Robert Amirkhanian; these musicians would eventually help her land a spot in Orbelian's orchestra. "I went directly into the jazz band," she remembers. "It was the one which all young singers dream of being involved with. I began to perform and hang out with es that she took matters
54 Arr
for three
months throughout
Armenia and Karabakh, singing and fundraising for the Armenia Fund. She has also performed in Cairo, Cyprus, and Brazil and is now rehearsing for her American debut which kicks off with a concert on May 17 in Pasadena, California. Other US appearances
include Fresno and Las Vegas (May 24-25) and Francisco (May 3l).
San
What are your dreams now, I ask her. "This is it," she says. "My dream is now. I don't need or want anymore. Everything is perfect as long as it remains this way." by Paul Chaderjian Photos by Mkhitar Khachatrian
Gayaneh Khachaturian's
Unique ltsion
Art is the voice of nature
through man. The more intimate man is to nature which exists in him, the more convincing and moving his
art.
he universe of her paintings, like a stage of a theater,
expressed
It is thanks to this proPertY
that Gayaneh lihachaturian's canvases grasp the spectator and make him share her peculiar and creative world.
-Martiros
Sarian, 1970
is housed by knights, animals and women, all of
in an intricate spectacle, where a the space and gives it a profound colors determines valise of dimension. This is accomplished simply by using a few layers of paint. It is the charm of Tbilisi, however, with its culture and unique vision of the world, that provides Gayaneh Khachaturian with the raw material she needs for her paintwhom perform
ings.
Born in Tbilisi, Georgia in 1942, Khachaturian studied at the Children's Academy of Painting and Art, having made her first sketch at the age of three. She started painting at twelve. During those early years, it was her mother's influence that really shaped Khachatourian. "She would always
talk about her neighborhood and childhood memories in Azerbaijan," she says. "Even today, her narrations have stayed in my mind and are a source of inspiration for me; though illiterate, my mother had faith in my work, and she always encouraged me."
1998
Alt
In
the years that followed, through her teens and some time
afterward, her mother remained the sole audience for Khachaturian's paintings, the only one she asked for advice, though her judgments regarding art was based mostly on intuKhachaturian's mother was deeply committed to her
ition.
daughter's work. Even on her deathbed, Khachaturian's mother would not let her daughter spend time with her, insisting that she "go and work." Soon, however, it was not just her mother cheering her on. Early in her career, Khachaturian happened to make the acquaintance of Sergei Parajanov, then an already famous filmmaker. Parajanov was so impressed with her work that he took a few of the paintings to a one-day exhibition in Yerevan. Upon returning, he told her, "You are not understood yet, but there is power in you." Parajanov's constant encouragement and support were of great solace to Khachaturian, especially during the long years under the Soviet regime. As Khachatourian puts it, "I wish I was a writer, so I could write about Parajanov, about the way I knew him. Every minute of his life was like a masterpiece." Now 55, Khachaturian remains an artist of extraordinary caliber. Though her work is often categorized as being naive or primitive, her paintings bear an amazing maturity and
55
A
lt$
199A
depth. Looking at the world through the prism of her imagi-
in people, animals and objects the metaphors and symbols which compose her own complex emotions, dreams and hopes. "My work does not have an ethnographic nature; when I paint an apple, it can be transposed into a sun. The apple for me is the most precious thing on earth; I admire it as a celestial fruit, the only fruit which has wings and can fly." Perhaps the most telling facet or story about Khachaturian, however, comes from deep in her childhood. Her strongest memory from when she was a small child is that of staring into the shiny nickel-plating of her bedframe and studying the distorted reflection of her room and its contents in that bedframe. Throughout her career, Khachatourian has incorporated that phantasmagoric-mirrored vision of the world into her art. And though some may not fully comprehend it, she accepts her difficult, artistic biography as destiny. Moreover, she knows that she has never betrayed herself, her principles, her destiny or her ancestors. nation, she finds
Text and photos by Armineh Johannes
faces Malring a ilame 0n His 0uln The Armenian Center at
Columbia
University has honored Mark Arax, Los Angeles Times reporter and author of In My Father's Name: A Family, A Town, A Murder,
with its 1998 Anahit Literary Award.
The
Fresno, California, native chronicles his investi-
gation into his father's murder in the book which was recently released by Simon & Schuster in paperback.
Journalist Arax (whose profiles of Kirk Kerkorian and Alex Manoogian have appeared in AIM) is also not afraid to use the tools of his craft to break some of the most complex stories on his beat, the San Joaquin Valley of Central California. Last fall the CBS news magazine 60 Minutes broadcast an investigative piece it based on one of Arax's LA Times articles about guards at the Corcoran State Prison accused of shooting and killing inmates for sport. fuax also made a name for himself with his investigative reports which helped the FBI's comrption case known as "Operation Rezone." The federal investigation into politicians accepting money in exchange for their votes lead to the arrest and conviction of several Fresno and Clovis city leaders and developers including the mayor of
No More
Spticing
Clovis.
A
report about members of the california State University, Fresno, men's basketball team and rumors that they were accepting money to influence the point spread of their games also put Arax at the center of that story when the players being investigated by a federal grand jury named Arax, the LA Times and the Fresno Bee in a lawsuit. The grand jury is still trying to determine if the university's team (coached by Jerry Tarkanian) was involved in a point shaving scheme.
Hollywood's Got His ]lumber Without much
fanfare or unnecessary self-
promotion, filmmaker Vahe Babaian has been turning heads in Hollywood; he is now preparing to shoot his new film entitled After Freedom. Janet Yang, the producer of The Joy Luck Club and former president of Oliver Stone's production company, Ixtlan, calls Babaian a "director with integrity and prodigious talent." She says she would like to work with the filmmaker in the near future.
Babaian, a graduate of the Pasadena Art Center College of Design, is known for writing and directing a Generation Apart,a fitm which was broadcast on the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) network in the US. The movie Babaian is cunently pre-producing and fundraising for has piqued the interest of several noted Hollywood movers and shakers and production and distribution companies. Screenwriter Mardik Martin (Mean Streets with Paul Schrader and Raging Bull with Martin Scorcese) calls After Freedom "a well-constructed and excellently written screenplay which has the potential to become a powerful motion picture in its genre." Martin says Afe r Freedom represents another step in the progression of a specifc type of reality-based film. "In fact,l call After Freedom the 90s Mean Streets." Babaian hopes to begin production on his film at the end of the year, but his first hurdle is finding more investors.
If you watch television or go to the movies, you've almost certainly seen the work of Tom Ohanian. A film editor for the past 18 years, Ohanian is also the Emmy and Academy Award winning coinventor of the Avid Film and Media Composers, devices which have dramatically changed the way film and video are edited. Ohanian describes the Avid Film and Media Composers as computer hardware
and software systems that allow video footage to be edited "as easily as you would move around a paragraPh in a word processor". The Media Composer has had such a substantial impact that many television shows and most commercials are pro-
with it. Likewise, the Film Composer has been used to edit such films as Men in Black, IndePendence duced
Day, andThe Fifth Element.
In addition to his editing
work,
Ohanian has written three college textbooks. He has also directed and produced a documentary on the Genocide, which was shown at churches in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Ohanian has almost finished his lat-
est project, Beyond Paradise, a film about growing up in Hawaii. Presently, he is a post-production consultant on the new Star Wars tilogy, currently filming in England. 199A Aln
57
Ara
NAME: Kurdish Human Rights Project WHERE TO FIND IT?
http://www.khrp.org WHAT
AEOUT a-
15 IT?
A professional page dedicated to the protection of the human rights of Kurds and non-Kurdish people.
rrCtj rElEStt
tutUc^rroit
UPSIDE:
Scrrci tWW llrh
A local internet search tool is available for those interested in Armenian topics.
o An{rr t..od IAM3d
DOWNSIDE: Needs to be updated frequently.
-
KHR,P
pbbd
and pmmob ttc hum.n dllE of p.@d lMng {rmugho( ti. l(urdHr Edoc of 16r, Strh, Tcrtcy.nd th. foms. Sdla tlnlon...
WorSng to
Th. l(u.dlb lluh.n Rlghi ProJ.d .nd had ln Bdttltr.
b.n tndrp.nd!il. nonlo[0rl
Arms & itETHoDS th. KI1RP a . rc8ffid cbadrr. lt s cffid b tb! proEct@ ot Uc rig@ of dl pasw withb 6c ea ofKEdLh, ircspcdirc ofruc, pof,tical par@io o otha bctcf c opioio Ig rppffis inclrd. bo|i ad oo-Kudirh pcqlc
) Rerd noE...
1997 ANNUAL REPORT TYPICAL QUOTE:
Working to protect and promote the human rights of all persons living throughout the Kurdish regioni of lran, lraq, Syria, Turkey and the former Soviet Union...
IE lyy/ ffiM(rpms
It
-
NAME:
NAME:
La Cause Armenienne/The Armenian Cause
ArmScape Web Site.
WHERE DO YOU FIND IT?
WHERE DO YOU FIND IT?
hltp: / / armen-info.com/laca use/ no-32 / nf-ac32. htm
crffiyD@gc@pdedt6ruaa
http: / / www. armscape. com
WHAT IS IT? It is a bilingual newsletter, published by the Armenian National Committee of Canada. lt's a professionally produced bulletin board covering a variety of topics such as Armenian Genocide, the Turkish-Armenian dispute, as well as publications on related issues.
WHAT IS IT? An impressive graphics page including an extensive section on varlous Armenian painters and their works, ancient Armenia and other Armenian web sites. UPSIDE:
A great selection of pictures, artwork, masterpieces
UPSIDE:
An excellent bilingual resource for historical facts
and architectural monuments. and
current discussions.
DOWNSIDE: Some sections need to be updated more extensive resources.
DOWNSIDE: The archives to old issues fail to link.
HAIWE'/{RMEN|ENNE U cAW.Affit,EN
r
trldh *&!, tr$!a p{ miniaire du Caida
ed@
Coait6 national
Table des AriL.Aoft
1995, VoL
t
Mati0rs f
Xo. i-z
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TH ESE ARE REAL LETTERS
Dear V:
You write that you are an outsider
regarding
the
Armenian-American
church situation, but obviously you are very well informed. Some claim that our church Problem has hastened the assimilation of
Armenian-Americans. Stories abound of Armenians leaving the community. allegedly in "disgust" at the sad state of present affairs. But there are many causes tor this. An American-born
TO REAL PEOPLE. SEN D US YOU RS.
that in this controversy the past matters less than the present and the future. At this moment, emotions are ruling and may finally carry the day. The Cilician Prelacy peoPle feel they are the legitimate inheritors of the US diocese (since they did not bolt the
ceptions have become reality. Viewed from this angle, our church problem is an issue of hurt feelings, disrespect for people and a struggle for turf. There will be no end to this unless peoPle
1933 convention). The HolY See of Echmiadzin, however, recognized the Hotel Martinique faction which subse-
ences and respecting divergent points of view. If we had more Christian love and
quently organized as the Diocese. The ARF was subsequently accused of the
crime of having assassinated the archbishop. In large
Armenian acquaintance, whom I know professionally, will have nothing to do
communities and small, many of which were far
priests." Others object to our traditionalist outlook which is in conflict with a
church-goers whose main fault was that they sympathized with the ARF and the
with church since to his mind it is merely an "employment service for progressive, secular world. I have friends who find the church's position on social issues as objectionable (too cozy with the liberal-leftist National and World Council of Churches), and thus have left to join fundamentalist
protestant groups.
In a free society,
people will seize upon any excuse to avoid church, if they chose. You are correct when You write that people don't even know how the whole thing started and don't understand its history. This is no doubt true for most people, including those who
treat each other with dignitY and respect, acknowledging their differ-
away from New York where events had come to a head,
Armenian tricolor were
Case in point: Niagara Falls, New York, two churches next door to each
other. "0ur churcti problem is an issue of hurt feelings, disrespect lor
refused burial or locked out people, and a struggle for turf. of their churches, and they tolerance, the rancor would quickly were personally boycotted by members vanish. I believe that there is a vast of the faction officially recognized by reservoir of goodwill on each side, Ejmiatsin. which is unfortunately continually Diocesan adherents claim that drained by vociferous rabble-rousers Cilicia has no right to jurisdiction in on both sides. A year ago, I was willing North America, while the PrelacY justification to admit that the preponderance of the that claims with much blame lay with certain people on the and ostracized been had faithful their Prelacy faction: but just as Catholicos abandoned by Ejmiatsin, and they had Aram I prepared his visit to the US, I no choice but to turn to Cilicia in the suste-
saw unjustified venom, hatred and antagonism flow from the mouths and
Today, the Ejmiatsin Diocese is anxious to merge with the Cilician Prelacy but doesn't wish to recognize the existence of (and thereby confer legitimacy upon) the Prelacy until its adherents confess their alleged sins (including harboring the ARF in its midst) and they beg for forgiveness. Right or wrong, such human Per-
pens of some Diocesan clergy and lay people. Clearly, there is more than enough fault to go around. My hope is that someday soon we
think they are experts. Although no one
1950s
has published a balanced, comprehensive, up-to-date history, we actually have quite a good understanding of how the ruckus started. Unfortunately, looking back, this story does not reflect well on either party. This has resulted in a kind of talking past each other in which neither faction acknowledges the truth in the other's arguments. As much as I love history, I think
nance.
for clergy and spiritual
can reach beyond this petty animosity and bickering... Always nice to hear from you, pareg,am.
L.
-urderexnos,ed
Ihe Light For Iamal Bulns Again Who are these men and why are they smiling? They are tepreof the Turkish Chamber of Commerce (below, righQ and the Armenian Manufacturers and Businessmen,s Union, (Arsen Ghazarian and President Aram Vardanian, second from left) who met in Istanbul and agreed to jointly sponsor the renovation of the Armenian Church of the Holy Savior on the island of Akhtamar in sentatives
Lake Van (left). When, and with what funds? That's not clear yet. Nor is it cer_ tain who will do the actual work. But the agreement has been signed.
This isn't the first area of cooperation between these two groups. Representatives have made frequent trips back and forth to Armenia and Turkey, and they are looking for ways to expand the trade between them that already amounts to a reported $150 million-even with the blockade still in place.
High Honols She's in the sixth grade and she wrote a winning essay about a very unpopular topic. Lara Talverdian was awarded first prize by the California Association of Bilingual Education, one of the state's biggest, most controversial and used-to-be most powerful educational organizations. But, bilingual educa_
tion is in trouble in California, where 1.4 million limited English speaking students attend public schools. In a state where bilingual education is the law, many feel that helping children maintain their mother tongues while they learn English obstructs their educational development. Lara, who was born in the US and is a student at John C. Fremont School in Glendale, is one example of how wrong such thinking can be. Heressay on "Bilingual Education and Technology: pathway
to Success" explored such themes as bilingual education being a privilege. "ln my opinion," said the wise l2-year-old, ..it can expand one's mind and create endless opportunities in lif-e." "l have often throught about pursuing a career in writing someday-writing books in English and Armenian.,' Her plans go further. even.
50 Ati
"This is where the true benefits of my bilingual ability would surface. My career advancement would get a big boost and the pride which I would feel will in turn help raise my selfesteem. This would mean my stepping into the world of international business which would open up windows of opportuni-
ty." So much for bilingual education stunting one's growth.
Iop ol lhe Glass
student ratio is three to one." Someone who's been involved
in
science projects since
the eighth grade as Lusine has-"I did a project in chemophysics and received a gold medal at the Los Angeles County Fair"-understands the importance of research. "I got my most signfiicant research break in the 10th grade. I began working with California State University Northridge Professor Oppenheimer on cell adhesion modeling." What's that? "It's about finding different molecules which exist on cells, so it has cancer research applications." Lusine developed a new procedure in this field and her first major research paper will be published in Experimental Biologlt.
Lusine has been at Alex Pilibos since the fourth grade. She says her biology teacher Paul Narguizian, who later became her advisor, is partly responsible for opening up the world of science for her. So are her parents. One is a mathe-
matician, the other an educator, and they're quite supportive of
her math and science inclination. So is her principal, Viken Yacoubian
Lusine Danakian, 17, a student at Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School in Los Angeles, California, knows where she'll be in the fall. Either the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) or the California lnstitute of Technology or Yale or UC Berkely or UCLA or Stanford University. Not a bad list to choose from.
Most probably Cal Tech she says, because "it provides good opportunities for undergraduate research. The teacher-
Yum Yum-ing in Yereuan
"Lusine is the product of our academic enhancement program put in place four years ago," says Yacoubian. Lusine credits the increased science activity and more academic competitions with giving them increased exposure to science and math challenges. She should know. The school has placed second in the academic decathlon for private schools, and this year, Lusine was team captain. So, what will she do when she "grows up"? Danakian has decided to major in microbiology and ultimately enter the field
of medicine or medical research. to fritters, they are not only pleasing to the eye but also the tastebuds; and they're all baked fresh every morning at a new doughnut
shop on Mashdots Boulevard across from Opera Square-in Yerevan.
Nothing can fill the tummy early in the moming like a warm, sweet, appetizing, doughy, moist and mmm-mmm good doughnut' Glazed, cream-filled and chocolate -covered with powdered sugar
Yes, in Yerevan. The big pink sign outside the shop reads Yum Yum Donuts, and anything from a pang of hunger, homesickness for the states or just a need to be "cool" will draw the Yerevani or tourist from miles away. Not near Opera square? Have no fear; Yum Yum isn't the only one in town. Down the street on Abovian is Jack and John's Donut shop near Republic Square, where they also serve a mean
and cake-sprinkles on top. From French crullers to old-fashioned
Georgian egg and cheese Khachaburi. Bon Appetit.
1998 Atflt
6'.1
CSSAV
IITITIITIIIIII
or clear political analysis, talk to Yerevan's taxi drivers. They know it all, they've seen it all, and they're happy to give you the final word on people's moods, inclination, leanings and convic-
whether I'd be staying long this time. When he heard I would leave the fol-
lowing week, he laughed, "So, you'll escape this miserable heat.,' I laughed, too."Wasn't this kind of heat unusual, even for Yerevan?',
I won-
tlons.
dered.
This ought to be the first guideline for the many political observers, negotiators, consultants and experts sent by various Western countries in
That's all it took. "Ah, with this kind of government. what do you expect?" he asked, immediately proceeding to tell me what to expect.
the form of "aid" and "assistance" to this post-soviet republic. Note the careful use of post, rather than ex. There is nothing ex-soviet about this place-yet. Just listen to the taxi drivers' far-reaching analyses. There was the one in 1995 who was squatting under a tree at a busy intersection when he spotted me walking by, weighed down with purse, briefcase, laptop computer and two kilos of tomatoes. "fuen't you hot?" he asked. The weather is everyone's favorite topic of conversation in Yerevan. It's responsible for most moods, many events,
"This weak, no-good government can't do anything," he explained. ',ln the old days, the Soviet government was so strong that they had special cannons which they would point to the clouds any time they wanted and move them any which way. We never had to suffer such extreme weather conditions."
some health conditions and even a few psychological problems. "Yes," I agreed, it was very, very hot. Those who only know about Armenia's tall mountains and high elevation are surprised to hear that the summers are as hot as the winters are cold. Dry, piercing, unrelenting heat
all day and all night. (Another taxi driver had told me months earlier that the scorching heat begins July 15 and ends August 15. He was right, too.) "You know," said the man on the street corner, waiting for a fare, leaning toward me in confidence. "lt's over 40 degrees today, and they're not telling us." The expression of incredulity on my face led him to continue. Very helpfully, he proceeded to explain to this ignorant Diasporan that according to the still-extant old Soviet [aws, on very, very hot days (40 degrees Celsius is 104 degrees Fahrenheit), no one can be made to go to work. And here, it was over 40 degrees, and the govemment wasn't telling us. He never did understand that the look on my face was simply one
of
shock-someone really believed that the government could keep the weather a state secret? Yet, this man believed. For him, the government was so omnipotent that they could even "hide" the very obvious weather condition from a powerless populace. What chance did the citizenry have to participate in a society where those in power held all-al/-the levers? In the summer of 1997, politics and meteorology mixed again with a different taxi driver. On a rather long ride through the city, he asked me
52
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I
He wasn't very happy when suggested he was confusing the Communists with God. "No, no," he said, "You don't understand. All the smart people in this city have decided not to have anything more to do with our government. It's useless." There you have it. A government this inept did not deserve the participation of its citizens. Why vote, run, petirion? Why bother? This March, the Yerevan taxi drivers were still on top of the political situation. On the moming I arrived, I asked the very first cabbie I met, "So, how
will
the elections go?"
it clear? If they leave us alone, Demirchian will win. Ah, Demirchian. That man, in the good old days, he would pick up the telephone, and with just one call to Moscow, four tons ofwheat would arrive, five wagons ofsausages would roll in. That's all it took-just one call." But he wasn't done. Just a short way down the road, he continued. His answer came quickly. "lsn't
"Of course," he said either to himself or to me, "today, the telephone lines aren't the same, and neither is Moscow." The taxi driver, and notjust the taxi driver, had figured out rhat nothing was as before. And if their government wasn't that all-powerful deliverer of yore, it also wasn't useless and irrelevant. Actually, the people weren't too different from the govemment. Not so powerless as to be kept ignorant ofthe weather, but also not so gullible that memories nons and wagons could determine tomonow's policies.
ofold can-
by Salpi Haroutinian Ghazarian
'The Ouesf for the Absolute Mail Processing Solution'
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