The Changing Face of Armenia - November 1990

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1\INI COVER STORY

The Changing Face of Armenia Even before Eastern Europe, Armeninns in the Soviet Union stood up to demnndtheir democratic ighx. After three fitrbulent years, the republic is now on its way to complete independence.

COMMUNITIES

Armenians in lstanbul: A dwindling communiry-holds fast

to its

"brilliant past

t8

6 NEWSANALYSIS

BUSINESS

Premature Visit?

Flourishing in Rubbish

Armenia's President

LETTERS

ABI,IEilIANWORLD HISTORY

INTEBVIEW

3 5

t6

n

visits United States.

The community reacts.

Armenians are prime movers in Califurnia's waste industry

t3

z2

MUS!C

ART

Jazz Summit Afirst-of-

A fete in Crimea

a-kind event brings musicians to Boston

Artists from around the worW meet to honor Aivazovslq

37

39 47

PROFILE BOOKS

30

32

PEOPLE VIEWPiOINT

SPORTIS

42

OOIIIIENTABY

5t

oPrl{toN

52

TRANS!T!OI{

fi

AlM, November 1990

I

COVER DESIGN: Vahe

Fattal.

lmages lrorn Ara Madzounian's documentary film "Land of Open Graves."

Still photography: Sossi Madzounian.

A Note from the Publishers Rrblishedby AIM, EXECUTIVE EDITOB

:

IIAilAG!ilG EDITORS:

lnc.

Charles Nazarian

Vartan Oskanian (Boston), Raffi Shoubookian (LA) COIISULTII{G EDITOB: Haig Keropian

DIRECTOR OF

OptBlttOt-S:

Michael Nahabet

SEl{lOR EDITORS:

Kevork lmizian (E}oston),

Hanfi Sassounian (Los Angeles)

ASSOGIATE EDIIOR:

Minas Kojaian (Ni:osia)

COllTRlBUTlt{G EDITOR: AraKalaydjian OORRESPIONDET{TS:

Alltl's

ll. Nahabet (centerl witlr Gommunications ilinister (le{tf and Gornfttee Ghaiman M. TenGulanian

R. Avoyan

Los Angelos! Tony Halpin Detroig Simon Payaslian London: Ani Manoukian Paris: Khatcfiig Keshishian Vienna: Sebouh Baghdoyan Amman!

AraVoskian Sydneyr Haig LepSOlian euenos Aires: Sam Sarkissian YEBEVAII BUREAU: Papken Gadachik (Chie0: Hratdr Yerknabedian; Souren Keghamian, Hrair Zorian, Kourken Khajagian. Dikran Khzmalian PHOTOGRAPIIY: Los Ahgeles. Michael Agyan llew Yorl(: Tony Savino Boston: Lena Sanents, Ari Stamatiou ParB: Khatchig Keshishian Amman: Karekin Kelelian Yereyan: Roupen Mankasarian, Zaven Hachikian PRODUGTIOTI DIREGTOB:

Wn"n

I

we first went to Armenia in January, our purpose was to establish the AIM Yerevan bureau as part of the magazine's global network of news sources.

Since then, history has taken a dramatic tum. The events of the past six months came knocking on our doors for immediate attention and coverage. In May, Armenians for the first time freely elected their representatives to the Armenian Parliament. On August 4, Armenia had its first non-Communist President. And on August 23, the Parliament declared the start of the process of independence.

Thus, in September, three of AIM's publishers - Mike Nahabet, Vartan Oskanian, and Krikor Krikorian - went to Armenia to expand the staff and operations of the Yerevan bureau and get offrcial recognition for the magazine from the new govemment.

Indeed, Armenia is changing and changing fast.

In our September visit, not only did we get a close look at the changing face of Armenia, but were happy to see that AIM is going to play a key role in making sure that the rest of the world sees it, too.

Starting in January, AIM will be published on a monthly basis. The hrst ttree issues of the magazine were met with unanimous praise from you, ourreaders. We appreciate your consffuctive criticism, suggestions and comments, which have helped us in bringing improvements and changes to each new issue. We will continue with our commitment to bring a publication of which every Armenian will be proud.

Vartan Karaoghlanlan

CIRCULATIOI| DIRECTOR: Thomas Yeterian BUSIXESS DIBEC?OR: Zareh Bastajian ABT DIRECTOR: VaheFattal PUBLIC REL.ATIOiIS: Charles Tanielian ADVERTISI NG: Ani Stepanian SALES AND llABKETll{c: Garo Nalbandan

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,IIAI]IIEIIAIIGE REFtlilSHlllG

and energetic people. I wish, however, that

life in general is very gratifying.

A.J. Badeer

you had women on your managerial staff.

KaineArmen

Fresno, Califomia

Glendale, Califomia

Your magazine is EXCELLENT. Dr. SolomonM. Aordkian N au gatucl<, C onncctic ut I thankmy cousin in Canada forinforming AIM. I was thrilled to see such a

me of

will

FIRST-CLASS magazine published by

aspect of the magazine.

Armenians for Armenians. I always knew we had valuable people capable of this and of much more!

Sevan

lzipziger

Mainz Germany bringng an Armenian

Congranrlations on your success in

about the publication of I wholeheartedly salute the birth of AIM, and hope that

it will actively

enhance our

new nation's principles among Englishspeaking Armenians and non-Armenians.

kvonTer-Petrosyan President of Armenin

magazrne which is meant to be a source of objective, independent and comprehensive information on Armenian affain. We know only too well what difficult and responsible taskyou andyormlleagues have undertaken, for which you have our best and sincere wishes.

I

*,u,!;{f,rf"ffi

beginning to experience the implications and joy of being an Armenian and, for that I wanttocongrah.rlate you on

magazine. Not only is

yoursuccessfirl

it informative by

The first time I read AIM, I said to myself say it loud: "I'm proud to be Armenian."

"Now, I can

DiranBaghdadian Vienna, Austria

delving deep into issues, but it also possesses

great variety

in

topics expressing both

objective and opinionated views in the radition of TIME magaz;ne.

The publication seems to be a giant leap fonvard in uniting the mass diaspora of Armenians throughout the world by modem means of correspondence. For this fact I am tmly joyous for all Armenians.

SevanDilanchian Foresnille, N.S. W. Australia We have enjoyed your magazine both in content and format. Visually, it is the fint Armenianpublication I have ever seen whose standards are as high (or higher than) any American magazine. Don't listen to people who say it can't be done. You have already done it - and beautifrrlly.

S uzannc Ano us hi an F ro und i ian

and Varou.j a n F ro und i ian Manhasset, New York

I

want

to

congratulate you

for

the

professionalism of AIM. It certainly can compare with any magazine of its category, and makes Armenians proud of such a prblication. The fact that it portays Annenian

not overshadow the "Intemational" Puzant Yeghiayan M a s saV hu i e tt s

Wat e rt own,

Without any doubt, AIM has filled a big gap in Armenian publications. I am sure it

will carry the banner for quality joumalism andproduction.

Future successes will be based on tackling issues of great significance ... issues that have not been touched by other Armenian newspapers.

Wishing you the very best.

Hovsep Nalbandian,

Alexandria, Egypt The executive committee of the Watany

am a l7-year-old student who is just

matter, abilinguist.

I admire the comprehensive, concise and clearpresentation of the problems discussed in the AIM editorials and afiicles. Hopefully, the emphasis on the "Armenian" features

I

congratulate you on your timely initiative and wish you much success in the future.

You have made an important stride in providing the Armenian public with decent

Sporting Club ofAmman has frrll confidence in the role that

AIM will play in thepolitical

crises facing the homeland and the diaspora.

The first two issues already evidenced the importance the publishusplace ontheurgency

ofthese issues.

We wish you success, and hope you will

find more support from ottrer Armenian communities as well as non Armenians.

A nt ra ni s

* * oA,

f ilI:i';!;;i

journalism, while maintaining proper

"LostTribe" Survivorc

standards of integrity.

The article "f-ost Tribe" of Armenians discovered in Jordanian Desert in the

I hope that non-Armenian readers will find your publication as interesting and informative as your average Armenian subscriber.

sr,,b::,Y,:rt,Wffi Your magazine format is impressive, its

contents very informative, and the photography frst class. AIM is just what the Armenian community needs. This is one magazine that I am proud to show to my American colleagues.

Rev. Arshag Daghlian N. Andove r, M as s achus ett s

Congratulations

for a beautiful

and

professionally produced magazine.

It is wonderfirl to see the work of young

AlM, November 1990

September issue was of great interest to me as our family history is closely linked to that time and place. My parents, who were young children at the time, were part of the Chomakhlou contingent that was driven into the desolate wastes of the Jordanian desert by the Turks in August 1915.

At first, the Arabs were fearful of the Armenians and were very reluctant to accept them or associate wittr them, for prior to their arrival, the Turks had spread vicious rumors as to the barbaric nature of the

deportees. However, in time, they found that the Armenians were an honest and indusrious people who brught many positive improvements to their primitive, run-down villages.

It was the generosity and compassion of

The

which savedmany of Armenians. Dsease and starvation were rarnpant and many were taken in by tlrc Arabs, some even marrying them. It was simply a matterof survival.

The times and condition werc very harsh for all Armenian deportees in the Arabian deserts. Of the 2,000 villagers who were driven out of Chomakhlou (Caesarea), only 500 survived A whole village was decimated these deserstdwellers the

hrmeniqn .Direclgry is mgking

Many were fortunate and were able to

qbig

.impres5ion!

That's wW our staff is working harder ttran ever to bring you an exceptional new 1991 Armenian Directory YeIIow Pages. Due in March.

CaII us! (818) 244-7767 or I-8OO-464-7L67.

emigrate to other countries, including the United States. Those who remained behind were assimilated, ultimately losing their identities.

I commend Ms. Ohannessian for her excellent research and touching story.

John Farsakian D.D.S. Thousand Oal6, Califomia

EducationWoes Your article 'Back to School" in the September issue was really well written, but it makes me wonder. No matter how much we can teach our children Armenian at home, we still need Armenian schools for our children. But we need schools that are affordable, or else we are all a bunch

of

hypocrites, and we will never be able to blame the new generation for forgetting that

they are ARMEMANS! Ani Stepanian ShermanOala, Califumia

Exposing Tud<ey Mr. Frank P. Agnost, our publisher, and I are impressed with AIM and we wish you much fu$re success. We received the September 1990 issue, and we are interested

in reprinting two pieces from that issue: "Turkey in the New Europe," by Raffi Shoubookian, and a "Viewpoint" item by Harut Sassouniaru "Unmasking Tukey's Role in Gulf Conflict."

As a Greek-American newspaper, 7he Hellenic Joumal is concemed with exposing the true nature of modem Tukey.

Timothy D. Kaun Executive Editor S an F ranc i s c o, C al ifo mia

*#Ra,

ARMENIAN DTRECTORY.r@E YELLOW PAGES A UNIAHTS ADVEHTISING COMPANY 424 WEST COLORADO ST,, SUITE 202, GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA 91204 U.S.A. O19$

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AlM, November 1990

The Armenian World Armenla makes the "right choicef' install a digital switching system,

a

satellite earth station,

a credit-card system with 10 crcdircard phone terminals for

foreignen, and electonic billing systems.

AT&T is investing a total of $3,750,000 in return for establishing Intemational Direct Distance Dial (IDDD) telephone service, which will use by visiting

have 380 circuits

by

1995, and

USA Direct Service within three months of initial service.

YEREVAN-Armenia became the first Intum, the Armeniangovemment republic in the Soviet Union to buy forward $1,965,000. communications services and equipment from outside suppliers with its agreement with

AT&T. The proposal for direct communications

to and from the Armenian Republic

was

finalized in early October between the Armenian Minis0ry of Communications and the U.S. company's Network Systems Intemational Division, based in Hilversum, Holland.

The order, totaling over $5,715,000, would give Armenian technology far more power

and sophistication than that controlled by the central govemment. Currently, all calls must go through Moscow's outrnoded central switching system.

Under the order, AT&T will supply and

King meets bishop

is putting

The total project is expected to be completed

within eight monttrs of hnal approval.

Celebrating the signing of the agreement werc Minister of Communications

R Avoyan

(cente0; Jan M. Goemens (left), AT&T NSI mafteting director, and Aleksandr D. Kovaler,

Exhibit on the

waterfrcnt

VEMCE-The mayor of Venice and the president of Italy's Senate were among the large group ofstate ofhcials and dignitaries presentatthe opening in Paduaon September 8 and in Venice the next day of the exhibition "Armenians in ltaly."

Organizedby tIrc Gaudium Et Spes Catholic association, the exhibition showcases religious

AT&T deputy managing director,

USSR

and eastem Europe.

Following the 1988 earthquake,

artifacts, silver-foiled antique books, a Karabagh carpet, handmade jewelry,

AT&T

glassworks, manuscripts and other treasures

had installed an automatic relay station in I-eninakan for 3,000 telephone lines.

In late October, the French govemment announced it was donating to the quakeravaged city of trninakan an automatic switching system that would handle 10,000 lines. The system is expectedtobe the middle of next year l99l

from the Mekhiarist Brotherhood on the island of St. tazarus as well as private

.

MILAN-Italy'

s giant casual

wear manufac0.rer Benetton

Group

in early

r

collections in Milan and Rome.

On this occasion, the DeLuccapublishing house has released a 187-page book on Armenian history, the Armenian presence

in Italy,

studies on the Venice Mekhitarist,

andotherarticles.

r

The emperor's hip clothes

October

announced it has entered a joint venture to produce clothes in Armenia for sale in the Soviet Union. Under the agreement Milan-based Benefion and the Armenian

AMMAN-

Archbistrorp Toftom

ManmgiaA

Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, on Sept.

19 retumed form a four-day nip - his first official visit to Jordan - after obtaining the traditional *firman" from King Hussein (pictured). The Royal Decree is alegacy of the Ottoman overlords which reconfirms and recognizes the special rights and privileges granted by the Muslim sovereigns to the three patiarchs of Jerusalem. While in Jordarl Abp. Manoogian, who was elected Patriarch in March, was feted by the Hashemite Kingdom's Armenian community, led by Bishop Vahan Topalian.

I

Ministry of Light Indusnry each will invest $4 million t0 set up prodrction of

cmur

apparel.

Ayaz, an enterprise contolled by the Armenian minisury,

will

manage the

50-50 venture. Benetton will provide the technology and know-how, and will be in chmge of quality control and distibution. The Italian firm projects profits of $ I 1 million after the frst ttree years of operation. Revenues are expected to reach $81 million in the same period, based on an annual production of 3 million items.

The frst two boutiques are to open in Armenia by Christrnas; overall, the venture expects to have 30 outlets by 1993.

Benetton, which owns 4,500 stores worldwide, already has a store in Moscow, nine stores in Hungary, and others in Czechoslovakia and

AlM, November 1990 ,i

Poland.

I

The

CHANGING FACE of ARMENIA From the February 1988 decision by the Karabagh legislative council to reunite with Armenia to the August 1990 declaration of the republic's new Parliament starting the process of independence, Armenians have reclaimed their destiny and reshaped it.

!.r. .

I

ttrem with the spirit of the lanGlhe taditions,

day, six days a week.

the heritage and essence of 3,750 yean of history.

This revolution in leadership and stucture

"Our main problem today is not necessarily the immediate raising of

of

Voskanian, 42, chairman

points in the last six months which restored

Parliamentary Ethics Cornmitee.

tlre democratic principles ttrat t}rc independent Republic of Armenia had lost in 1920.

of all, we need to create a s0ucture

On May 20, for the first time in 70 years, Armenians freely elected their representafives to the republic's highest legislative body.

On August 24, in another dramatic move, the new parliament declared the start of the process of independence; the vote was a compromise between ouright independence and sovereignty within the Soviet Union.

"What has occumi in Armenia is nothing less than arevolution," according to Gerard Libaridian, director of theZoryan Institute for Contemporary Armenian Research who has been following the events in Armenia very closely. "Its scope is wider than anything we have seen in our recent history and its implications are deeper than most of us realize now."

The issues facing the Parliament are many and the debates are stormy. Creating an infrastucu.re upon which a fire democratic

normal form of existence."

agenda Issues ranging from tlre revitalization

of the economy to the use of the national language, to the practice of graft and rrcpotism are all openly discussed and legislated in daily sessions which are held seven hours a

....r, rr i:rrr:a!:rir!..iii.:a:...r. ilrtil;i:tlitii$,,ir:lii,:ultii.:rlii:t'i,

,:...

;

:ll

the living standards," says Ashot

is the culmination of a series of tuming

govemment can be built and effectively operate, is on the top of the parliament's

l.ii

the

"Fint

which will be conducive to a more But the dilemma that the legislators face is the question

ofhow effectively

the laws that they pass will be implemented in the face of Moscow's objections. Armenia is still caught in the web of a multitude of channels with the central govemment.

Although the Yerevan Parliament adopted legislation giving superiority

to Armenian laws over those passed in Moscow, still some of the legislation enacted during the past few months have shown the limits of Armenia's sovereignty and independence.

The law reinstating the citizenship of Paruyr Hayrikian, the exiled leader of the Armenian Self-Determination Association (ASDA), proved insufficient to secure the return of Mr. Hayrikian to Armenia, since the border connol is still under tlre jurisdiction of the cennal governrnent.

The limitation of Armenia's laws

are

nowhere expressed more forcefully than in the economic aren4 where the republic's budget, money supply, fiscal policy and supply of raw materials are all controlledby

thecenffal govemment.

Small in area and population, limited in resources, economically dependent on others, and geopoliticallypositionedin an unfavomble

location, Armenia's desire for independence

weighs very

little against Moscow's

determination to preserve the union. Unless Ikemlin leaders change their minds, or the Slavic republics choose to follow Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's advice to secede from the Union, Armenia will continue to live under perceived independence, grappling with the political reality ofits decades-old reliance

upon and intricate linkages to the cental govemment. iiltl:i

D.

3

fi

;&'!

,3r

,!! q,.

Next to tlp difficulties wifh the cenEal govemment, the new leaders

i;fr

of Armenia face a formidable domestic

*&

opposition against their policies and actions.

Now that he is at the helm, President

:!ry:a

lrvon Ter-Pefiosyan has a ffierent

set

of

priorities for the republic. He believes in the need to put the Karabagh issue in its proper perspective, and to concenrate on other national issues ttrat he thinks are more cnrcial forthe nation's survival atthis historic turning point.

One such priority for tlre new administation is the reopening of two very controversial

plants: the Nayirit chemical-industrial complex in Yerevan and the nuclear power plantinMedzamor. "If Azerbeijan continues

AlM, November 1990

to block the flow of oil and gas to Armenia, could somebody tell me how are we going

to

generate electricity?" questions

Hambardzoum Galstyan, special advisor to the President. "As to Nayirit, so far 85 prcent of the revenues generated from the plant has gone to Moscow. If we become beneficiaries of lfi) percent of the plant's production, I believe our people will look differently to the issue."

At the same time the backbone of

Armenia's industry and the greatest

I Hrand Khachatourian, 39, deputy of the Supreme ,r Council, chairman of the

its heroic retum last May from a six-month detention

in a Moscow prison, it wastransformed toapan-

Constitutional Rights Union, a â&#x201A;Ź and one of the leaders of the opposition in parliament.

Armenian movement, inmrporating other political groups and expanding the

people and

beyond the issue of Karabagh. However, ANM's overwhelming

understand the importance

success in the

this

HnAilEXH&SHII!!OUmA*

in May was a

elections

Nayirit was shut down in December,

clearmandate to its leaders

following massive public protest rallies. It

to pursue the cause

followed the closure l0 months earlier of the nuclear power station's two reactors,

Karabagh.

shortly after the I 988 earthquake.

strike by two Armenian deputies to the USSR Supreme Soviet-Zori Balayan and Sos

I!.ndttdro&,bdltod0p ,Iao&'3 mowrt trr {p of ndondEerdoaslnrggla.

1-

Ufotrntety-r tlnp*ta. m-t mo.dyd*abroold

The recent hunger

lssuscr

with famous asffophy sicist

danger of all such power stations, but because

Sargsyan, along

this particular plant is doubly prone to accidents. It was built after the model of

Victor Hambardzoumian and two others, was as much a symbolic attempt to bring

ttre ill-fated Ctrcmobyl,

the Karabagh issue

which suffered

a disasrous explosion in

to the

1986. Additionally,it was erected on an earthquakefault which could become active

and to remind the people that the E

As the new leaders

contemplate the

the

risk

of

environmental

HIIBARIIZOUil GALSIYAil: "Wlren ir Sberfa, we leC fie rcpercusshm h Ameda." f;acery worlrerl slr{re

pollution and a disasterous explosion.

"We feel more or less cheated," says Paruyr Gharipian, 62, a construction supervisor from Yerevan. "The new leadership is retracing its steps with is moves to shelve the Karabagh issue and

mostly debates social issues. ln the last few declarations, the demands of ttre Armenian Question were not expressed.

It is a sign of artificial

ffansformafion of tlre national

movement

to a general

democratic movement."

The majorpolitical appointrnents by the new leadership are drawn from the pool of the ANM membenhip, with total disregard

for members of other political parties, particularly the Communist Party. While in the West the key players change as the adminisfration changes, people in Armenia are reluctant to give a monopoly of power to any one group.

Critics argue that the appointees are not the best qualified for their jobs. Rather,

much heavier than its

they are appointed because of their association

economic well-being.

with the ANM. There is a large pool of Communists who had occupied the highest

pressure on the cenffal govemment to review the

statu

a

s of

the

echelons of both foreign and domestic policy arenas, gaining valuable experience that could be put to work for

building the new republic.

autonomous region

The new leadership needs to utilize all

of Karabagh.

available human resources, regardless of political orientation.

"The new govemment does not trust the Communists," says Ashot Galstyan, who has recently resigned from the Communist Party. "I don't think this is fair. We are as

for the restoration of national

statehood on the historic homeland annexed

by Turkey, Russia and Azerbaijan,"

reopen Nayirit and Medzamor."

To understand this resentment, one must

review the chronology of the Armenian National Movement's (ANM) emergence to power.

Armenians were the fust to test the limits of perestroika when they rallied in the streets of Yerevan by the hundreds of thousands, starting in the fall of 1987. Environmental issues were the main concem at that time.

The Karabagh Com- mittee, founded in February 1988, used the rallies and strikes as effective instruments topressforthe retum of Karabagh to Armenia. As tlre Committee gafheredmass public suppo4 especially after

agenda

"The main force behind the people's movement is the naricnal liberation strugglean aspiration

of

ideal," continued Khacha-

nation's territorial demand weighs It was

reopeningoftheplans, no scientific effofihas been made to reduce

foreflont of the

Armenian

at any moment.

deputies

tourian. "The parliament

padiamailary

environmental polluter of the Ararat Plain,

Public opposition to the opening of Medzamor is not just due to the potential

"Unfortunately, not all the

E'

specffum of its activities

,rii,ill.ft^t$

,&

ffitr

AlM, November 1990

said

good Armenians as they are. We became

Communists not out of our ideological convictions but out of the need to become active members of society and to help build the country. Communism has been the way of life for 70 years."

Caught between the wreckage of a discredited past and the promise of an uncerlain future, Armenian politics today is a blend between the wise, the absurd, the logical and the extreme.

phasing out of central economic controls and the replacement of state monopolies with free enterprise, the plan is vague as to exactly when, how and by whom this will

people are engaged in a spending spree of high-value items such as luxury automobiles,

etc. There are more Mercedes cars, BMWs and Audis in the be accomplished. streets of Yerevan than in the parking lot of In the meantime, t}rc economic conditions an Armenian center during a dinner dance are forecast to become worse. Once state in Los Angeles. subsidies are wringed out and prices begin In the republic's major cities, the dollar to reflect the ffue cost of production, the is being taded for 20 rubles on the black market. The locals are getting .,r:larir:r;.li;,iriri:r,iir.:..lii:U:rr.riir,liaa;lla;1ii.i:iitlli' .; into the habit of asking U.S. $ aolu.r for their services fiom homes, arfworks,

I il

If

Armenia becomes

\j

foreigners, especially from

Americans. This rampant lienzy

i3 was justified by President ,,: Mikhail Gorbachev's Oct.26 tl,, order to devalue the ruble by

i,,

independenl what are the chances that it will survive economically? This is aquestion

* 69p".""rt. tt While the macroeconomic

that is frequently asked but always defies an answer.

"When factory workers strike in Siberia, we feel the repercussion in Armenia," said Hambardzoum Galstyan. "For the last 70 years, the economic planning of the country has been organized in such a way that the republics are inexorably dependent on one another."

Indeed, 85 percent of Armenia's end products are manufachrred ofparts that are supplied by other republics.

While it is common knowledge that the Soviet Union's economy is in shambles, Armenia's is evenworse. Therepublic furtlrer suffers from the effects of the devastating earthquake, the Azerbaijani blockade and the frequent industrial strikes.

There is a consensus among the leaders and the people that the only way out of the

..', conditions of Armenia are tied

economic crisis is a transition to market economy. While the plan recenfly adopted by the central govemment embraces the goals of privatization of state assets, the

l:l

to

tvtosco*, its domestic business

}ir activities are administered

$ !

tocatty. There is a temendous entrepreneurial spirit among

fr$ ffi*ffil{F#illi 20 of generating

percent

the

republic's output. Private

nbfs'ftfa ls

on?der.laqdl{:ry

restaurants, small rnanufacturing outlets, household services, tour busqs and other service-oriented

inflation rate will slqnocket. It will be further aggravated once excess rubles in the hands ofthe population are put into circulation.

enterprises are

in full

sway and rapidly

This anticipation is clearly evident in

growing in the republic.

Material and fuel shortages and power outages continue to plague industry and daily

Armenia where there is no shortage of rubles accumulated in the black-market economy of the last 70 yean. Fearing a hike in prices, which already are abnormally steep, but most importantly concerned over the devaluation of the ruble in the near future,

life in the republic. Fruit, meat and vegetables are plentifirl but at exorbitant prices.

Another phenomenon in Armenia is the obsession with joint-venture projects with foreigners. Whenever an outsider meets a local Armenian, it is almost certain that he

I

I t !

iIo

/Av .-o$$

IF a

will be asked to sign a joint-venture contract,

a.

*-.

regardless of his capacity.

To date, more than

t/

Y.:,

t8

15

:z

joint-venture protocols

But for socialist economies changing to capitalism, there is a different set of rules.

There are no official statistics, but any cofilmon-sense economist in Yerevan will

have been signed with foreign firms and businessmen, but only a few have actually bgun

estimate a 30-percent unemployment rate for the republic. There are more people idling on the streets than working in the buildings at any given time.

The desfruction of over 150 productive

operation.

enterprises in the earthquake region and ttre

The most important among the latter is the

flood of refugees from the Sumgait and Baku pogroms have exacerbated the

ArmenToy factory-a joint venture between

unemployment problem.

With the booming of private enterprise, the govemment is finding it hard to hire office workers who would settle for the ofEcial wages of 150-200 rubles a month.

Unable to pay higher salaries, minisfties

Chicago-based Breslow, Morrison, Terzian and Associates Inc. and the

Soviet Ministry of Electonics Indus0y. The venture is already selling

have lost their workforce

toys to both domestic and intemational markets. The American-designed toys, capable of competing with those produced in the Orient, is sending the message to other investors that Armenian labor is capable of producing high-quality products.

The new leadership has also recognized the need to bring fundamental changes to the infrastructure, in order to facilitate the involvement of foreigners in the domestic economy. '"fhe first thing we need to do is to improve our airport facilities, upgrade the conditions

of l,000rubles.

to

private

cmperatives, which oftenpaymonthly salaries

Meanwhile, labor unions in the republic propose establishing independent Armenian

unions that are free of state conftol. The unions aim to set up closerworking relations representation

The Minisoy of Communications has already taken concrete steps. In October,

previously included Communist Party

the govemment signed acontract with

AT&T

offrcials to establish direct telephone lines West. The contract promises to have the lines operational in

betrveen Armenia and the

eight to ten months. g E

6

.il

!! v

with Diaspora Armenians and seek in intemational workers'

of our hotels, eliminate the bureaucratic red tape and, most importantly, establish reliable communication lines with the ouside worl4" says Ashot Sargisyan, president of the Yerevan Chamber of Conunerce.

In addition to venture proposals with European and US entities, the Armenian Govemment has signed joint cooperation agreements with other Soviet republics-a process which began immediately after it was put to power. So far, Prime Minister Yazgen Manukian has signed treaties with the govemments of Byelorussi4 Russiq Tadzhikistan, Turkmenistan and Lawia, seuing up recipocal assistance and ageements

for economic, cultural and

technological

cooperation.

associations.

The move comes despite therecentdecision

of the new Ministry of Labor and Social Security to depoliticize its apparatus, which

committees. The latest decision of the government to abolish the traditional Labor Day of the Socialist Revolution, which was celebrated every year on November 7, is another step toward eradicating the vestiges of the Soviet system. The decision replaces all non-Armenian holidays with national

Despite all the upheavals \-j,':tr of the past two years and the uncertainties presently sunounding tlrenr, there is an overall feeling of optimism among ttre people today.

The Karabagh movement, the Sumgait

and Baku massacres, the calamity of the

In Westemeconomies, there is a fiade-off between inflation and unemployment; that is, in the case of high inflation there shouldbe low unemployment.

AlM, November 1990

earthquake, the conflict with Azerbaijan, and furally the reclaimed democracy have successively instilled in the Armenian mindset the imperative of taking destiny in hand.

Not only were Armenians rudely awakened to the insecurity of their economic foundariorL social well-being and cultr,ral heritage, but they also came to realize that their personal

I

3

c 5 !n

?

political taboos and limitation of themes.

Writers have the option of two unions nowadays-the old and privileged one, affiliated with the USSR Writers Union, and the newly founded Union of Armenian

The relief efforts in the aftermath of the natural tragedy also had a major impact. A population which was beset with a feeling of being neglected by man and God, cheated by its Communist leaders, and deprived of its basic rights suddenly found itselfin the center of world attention. With the arrival of volunteer groups, downpouring of supplies and economic assistance, a new outlook

Writers, which is independent of the center, has its own newspaperand literary magazrne,

and most importantly, it is also open to Armenian writers in the Diaspora. Writer and joumalist TnriBalayan was elected its

was stimulated. Industry and technology were put on the path of modemization; new

ilOHG :rir'

lo0l6i

factories, schools, hospitals and other facilities

president.

In the arts, glasnost did not affect artistic

werebuilg towns andvillages were revitalized.

The Soviet system's bungled and dragging efforts for Armenia's reconstruction on the one hand, and the quick and efficient help from the West enlarged the gulf between the Armenian people and the Soviet system.

expression until the middle of 1988. The demand for changes and the need to heed the spirit of the time were carried over from the mass street rallies which had started early that year.

The outburst of the collective

lthatlg''lr'mlss igr..'in Sde

=

l!e loa{*3fia.&'$aare ot Katl

llle,lorndersf mode,m sociafism ilre whbh Ertil rccenthl ceried his ' re h.ryor stqery ca[ ,i the Ybrevat @schnic hstitute. lhe statue at the

I

5

rz

rn

z

enuarce of rhe Fo$ctr w* toppled rlown, *wgolhcricons, slogane and poarem of fhe Sovlet era arumd Armenla. The qrty slrch ttfrrclhat sfil dand3today isth.t ot

r![iifi&:,inv'scentrats.1lffi as

.,:.,,

well as national existence was at stake.

The earthquake homeless and a new wave

of refugees fleeing pogroms in Azerbaijan, Tadztrikistan and Turkmenistan evoked sentiments reminiscent of the days of the Armenian Genocide.

With the disenchantrnent in the Kremlin's insidious policies and the disillusionment in its own Communist leadership, Armenians were pushed to rely on themselves and to put forth leaders in the Yerevan Parliament who would pursue their national interests.

A sort of unity and seH+onfidence resurfaced as the people's representatives began to negotiate with the cenffal authorities.

OPBI IJIIES DavH Zenian lleft|, news dircctq o[ AGBUs Armenian tnlomtion Senticer is one d eeverd conesponOerts cryering tfre Hstodc enents forDiaspora orgnniEdfom. The ABF/Dasfrralrtsutin, tlre ADLlBanrgnnr

Hy

{}lqpp Avcrnriar

rigfttl and fto A,nreninn AsenrbU dso have bureac in Yersnan

The return to national mirrored in the performing and plastic afts well as the other media. Stage directors, artists and writers are no longer constrained by guidelines set by the state, censorship,

as

AlM, November 1990

appraisal of social sffuctures, the resurfacing ofthe people's seH-consciousness needed a new aesthetic expression. This need found its reflection in new-bom rinrals, colorful exhibitions of placards, collages, cartoons and photocompositions in which new forms of figurative symbolism were used mainly by amateur artists.

The new-found freedom brought about a thematic change. The 1915 Genocide, the

THE ART OF FREE ENTERPRISE: Anrenia

is at the forefront of the

Union republies in fiee

enterprise.

lt

derives

alnrost 20 percent of its

gross national prcduct

from private collectives

and enterprises. This entnepnaneurial spirit is

best seen at Sarian Paft - a Paris.st$e square in

the heart of the Amrenian capital. Every

rireekend dozens of artists display and sell

I1:il

I rf

ti

I 't-l

their paintings around

the statue of the great painter Marti.os Sarian.

itirr* ,'&ilti:

!r\'{il

ie

1

= F

,,,..;,,.,.

,,r

z

i

!N NEW SPIRIT: Previously

prohibited, religious themes are

Stalinisl pllrges and the Brezhncvian stagnation-all prohibited sub.iects not so long

arrong the nrost popular, rcflecting

the reawakened spiritualism.

Religion was never lost upon

ago-becanrc predoniinant in both the

Arrnenians underthe Soviet systenr, but actual pactice was done within the confinesof the state or in secrct.

iuts and literatr"rre.

The iuts are currcntly going through a transitional period. which e ncompasses the revision of positions, the sealch firr wavs. and the masterirlg of new srrcial clialects.

With a newly found freedom of worship and the rctum of many churches and monasteries, Armenians prepare to mark the lTOOth anniversary of their

Armenian artists are tt'yinu not only k) reprcscnt the p<llitical ancl social nunblings arouncl them but also to open up

of

acceptance of Christianity with a new ferwor. The Mother Ghurrh is involved in redef ining and

the vision

a ncw Anlcnia. ln thc print nredia, the new clemocracl,

reassuming its leadership role amongst the Feople, meeting their varying needs and confionling the challenges of emerging altemative faiths and imported cults.

has pron'rptcd a host ol' privatc political, literary and business publications. Arnons thc most notiible arc Mwtetik, Urbut, Atilradard:.. and Brr,r'lle.is World. The -qoverrurent's official newspapcr itself was transfbrmed. The for-rner mouthpiece ol'the Cornmur.tist Party was rerrarned liorn

Soyetakutr Htrt'u.tttut

Huv-ustnrt, and most recently to sinrply Htttttston. ln the sanre spirit. krwns and cities namcd alter heroes of the firrnmunist Revolution

to Kltorhnluyin

regained their previous Armenian names.

The most notable is Lenin;kan. which now boasts its ancient niune of Kr-rnrairi.

Finatty --'F-'

^t'1

DIASFORA WELGOME: Among one ol the firct moves taken by President

4*:-*

Levon Ter.Petrosyan was to invite Diaspora organizations to establish headquarters in Armenia. So far,

the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARFI and the Hurchakian

Social Democratic Party have declared their presence in the hornelancL The Armenian Denrccratic

Liberal Organization is awaiting

pending legislation, which rcquires

that groups have their central headquarters in Yerevan and have

a minimum of 4(X) memberc. With

the newly declared rnrhirafi system came a plethora of parties and g fr

z

splinter grcupg such as the Amenian Gomideh ol the ARF/Dashnaktsutiqn

(whose headquarters is seen left| which is not affiliated with the Diaspora party.

acquirin-u the privileges o1'true

democracy and regaining their national identity, Armenians have come out of a long tunnel, this is a time ol'adjusting the dimmed vision of their Soviet years to the enli-ehtencd perspective needed to set out on the long and tortuous road ahead and to shouldcr the dulies that derrrocracy irnposes.

The enonnity of hurdles awaiting thern seems to defy hopefirlness, but the resilience zu.rd

ingenuity

of a

people who has lost and

regained kingdoms and suruived history's

slings inspires confidence in Armenia's recovery and progress into the 2 i st century.

and

Raffi Shoubookian

AIM

in Los Angeles

correspondents Gourgen

Kazhakyan and Tigran Kazmalyan in Yerevan contributed to this article

g 6',

I @

Dan Quayle was missed, =

a

hoped-for meeting

with President Bush did not materialize, and there was no meeting with Califomia the highest Govemor George Deukmejian ranking Armenian-American in electedoffice.

-

Both sides blamed the failure to meet Deukmejian to lack of available time. The Govemor's of[r@ was approached fourdays before Ter-Peffosyan's visit to Califomia on September 30, when the Govemor was immersed in signing legislation before the legal deadline of October l.

"We did not have time because of

Armenian President's lnaugural Visit to the lr.S. Rumblings of Discontent Linger...

American community, to gain access to the American media, and to meet U.S. political

By TONY HALPIN

leaders.

T!

he celebrations and applause for

l-evon

Ter-Petrosyan at fiist drowned

the

rumblings of discontent.

targely unknown to the thousands of ordinary people who tumed out to see Armenia's new democratic leader, bitter disputes were breaking outoverthe conduct

and achievements of the President's first visit to ttre United Sates.

On the surface, the thrce-city trip was a joint effort by the Armenian Assembly, Armenian Democratic Liberal Organization, American Armenian Intemational College, Armenian General Benevolent Union, and the Zoryan Instinrte.

Beneath, the Assembly was being accused

of monopolizing the President, excluding other groups from ttre arrangements, and failing to deliver promised resuls.

"He wasnottreated well andexposedto a

"We drew it up to his specifications.

Someone had to do it and someone had to pay for it; we did both," Vartian said. "We fulfilled our obligation to make sure that anybody in the community had access to him. I don't see how anyone can assert that we were guarding him jealously and not allowing them access."

"It was the President's rip which we had the privilege of hosting. Scores of organizations had access to him in a period ofeight days; I think tlrc schedule speaks

the

of

business and couldn't change the Govemor's schedule," spokesman Bob Gore said.

"We offered to meet with the President in Fresno on Tuesday but that did not fit in with their schedule. It was just a mafter of the schedules not being able to get together.

There was no problem otherwise."

Vartian said he had been "surprised" that Deukmejian could not meet Ter-Peftosyan, who left Califomia on a Monday night "redeye" flight back to New York.

"After a number of phone calls fte final outcome was that he simply would not be able to meeL Up to September 30 Deukmejian had the same problem as the White House.

Maybe on October I he was just physically exhausted," Vartian said.

Ter-Perosyan failed to keep an appoinrnent with Vice-President Quayle because he was late arriving in Washington from a meeting with newspapereditors inNew York. Efforts

pressure

for itself," he added.

Vartian believes ttre frst objective was

to regain contact with the Vice-President

successfrrlly met, given the pressure of time, largely tlrough the heads oforganizations

said.

meeting in New York and Hollywood Palladium rally in trs Angeles.

Too little lead time scuttled the chances of success for television coverage and limited

wuehaltedby Ter-Peuosyanhimsef, Vartian Washington political consultant Barry Zanhan, a former chairman of the Armenian Assembly Board of Directors, saw the offer

of a meeting with Quayle as a "big concession" by the Adminisration. Offrcial U.S. policy prevented Ter-Pefrosyan meeting

isresponsible,"trre ADL's Cental Commiree

radio exposure. But editorial board meetings were held with the Wall Street Journal,

Vice-Chairman Yervant Azadian said.

"We were totally ignorant of all drc planning

New York Times, Washington Times, Washington Post, kts Angeles Times, and

as a sovereigr

trat hryened and werc not infornod," AAIC President Dr. Garbis Der Yeghiayan said.

"Probably tlreir [the Assembly] intentions were meant to be good but the results don't

USA Today. The interest expressed by the nation's major newspapen was described

diplomatic relations, argued Zorthian.

"There was a certain amount of naivete or lack of realism on ttre part of those who thought he would meet Bush or [Secretary of State Jamesl Baker," he said.

"I suspect he was told a meeting with Bush would be in the bag but whoever told

very insulting siuration; I think the Assembly

justify the timing ofhis visitto this country."

For the Assembly, whose invitation TerPefiosyan accepted with just eight days' notice, such criticisms are hard to accepl Executive DirectorRoss Vartian said the hesident wanted to visit Washington, D.C., New York and hs Angeles, to achieve tlnee clear objrrtives: To meet the Armenian-

by Vartian as "a

home run" and

"extraordinary."

But he conceded that success in meeting U.S. political leaden was "not

as

salisfactory,"

anributingpartof the difficulty to the Budget crisis in Washington D.C. Meetings with National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft at the White House and Senate Majority and Minority Lraders were held.

But an appoinfinent with Vice-President

AlM, November 1990

Bush because Armenia

is

recognized not

country but as part of the Soviet Union, with which America has

him trat was being unrealistic and not sensitive to U.S. policy."

However, the Assembly has blamed President Bush fornot meeting Ter-Peuosyan.

It sent a letter to Bush describing the failure

to meet as "inexplicable" after what Vartian said were verbal "assurances" from the State

Departrnent that Ter-Petrosyan and Bush

would have a "spontaneous" get-together during his visit to the White House.

"Bush could have done it and chose not to do it for his own reasons," Vatian said. "I think it was bad policy, bad politics, and certainly bad manners."

Other organizations called it bad planning and typical of the way the whole rip was conducted.

"If they had a firm commifinent from President Bush,I don't think he would have failed in his commifrnent," said Azadian.

"Now it lmks like tJrere was no commifrnent

we want you to succeed, we don't want you to fail on this visit.' " The sensitivity of the issue is reflected in the reaction of the AGBU. When asked to cornrnent on the visit, AGBU President l.ouise Simone at first declined, then issued a statement saying it was "unfortunate that we were given such short notice on the President's visit."

"The President's historic fiip tothe United States was ill timed and poorly prepared. It was unfortunate ttrat instead of generating support and public interest for the work that

lies ahead

in

Armenia, the Armenian

him a tourist's view of ttre White House

Assembly chose to use the occasion to their own advantage. Communitywide events of this magnitude shouldbeplanned in advance with a united effort, not for individual PR,"

they could bump into the President or his

she added.

wife or someone."

The Armenian Revolutionary FederationDashnaktsutiun-shared the belief of the other organizations that a presidential visit

and they were anticipating that by grving

Both Azadian and Dr. Der Yeghiayan believe the Assembly promised Ter-Peuosyan

more than it could deliver in such short notice and failed to advise him properly of the difficulties. Both were surprised that the visit came so early and believe

at this juncture was premature.

"Although on a popular level the visit succeeded in consolidating the ties with the

emphasized.

For 7aryan Institute Director Gerald Libaridian, the disputes are in danger of that it missing the real point of the visit was the frst by a legitimate democratic president to the Diaspora.

Speaking in a penonal capacity, he agreed that the visit could have been arranged differently, but argued that Armenian groups which felt aggrieved should have transcended

theirconcems.

Dr. Nikit Ordjanian, chairman of

the

Armenian Center at Columbia University, shared this concem for a wider vision. He

called the disputes "typical of our organizalions- wedon'tdo things together."

I t seems clear that. far from uniting I arronl*-6rr*6cans in celeb,ration of tlreir homeland's new hope for the future, TerPefiosyan's visit has intensified rivalries and left behind feelings of angry disappoinrnent at opportunities missed.

Few have been willing to criticize the

President directly. But the wisdom of embarking so hastily on a visit to the most important outside infl uence

Ter-Peffosyan should have been told to delay his rip.

This would have allowed time for a proper national committee of Armenian organizations to be set up which could have lobbied

on the Kremlin concerning Armenia's bid for independence has to be questioned.

Ifhe

and his advisors did not

appreciate tlrc planning and complex

protocol necessary to make the visit

for an official govemment invitation and established an agenda of events

to the United States a

fitting to Ter-Petrosyan's status as Armenia's president, they argue.

Azadian said his organization told the President in Armenia that

then they should have been told.

ttrc visit was too early and possibly counter-poductive, "buthe did not heed that remark."

The ADL was never asked to

This is where the Armenian Assembly seems most at fault.

Failure to insist that the President's stated goals required more time to achieve exposed Ter-Petrosyan to the risk of a wasted joumey. With

name among the co-hosts "less than honest."

Der

Yeghiayan argued that the President would have delayed it "ifhe had known all the facts," in order to achieve more tangible results during ttre visit.

"It wasn'ta l00percent wastedopportunity.

I'm

of to," he said. "If I

sure he accomplished 15 - 20 percent

what he actually wanted had been given only eight days to prepare his visit, I would have told him 'please, we don't want to embarrass you. Give us more time because we would like to plan for a better reception and a more professional approach.'

"I would have told him quite frankly, ' l4

so many other organizations

TerDetrcsyan is greeted at his arival in l{ew Yorh

participate in planning the visit. he said, calling the Assembly's use of its

Dr.

success,

homeland, politically it failed in innoducing the head of the fust democratically elected Armenian government to U.S. officials and economic leaders," stated Kevork Santikiarl

chairman

of the organization's Westem

Regional Central Committee.

Saying it should have been better organurd,

Santikian, nonetheless, expressed the hope that the Armenian hesident would have a second visit in the near futuâ&#x201A;Ź. "It is very important that such an oppornrnity be used

to the ufinost to present Armenia's new govemment to American political and business leaden in amore productive manner.

Theresources of all Armenian organizations

are needed in such a case," Santikian AlM, November 1990

excluded from the planning. it is hard to see how he could have met a truly

representative cross-section of the community here.

Even this criticism would have counted

if

Armenia's cause had been advanced Instead, confusion reigns over whetlpr President Bush

for less

in the highest political circles.

intended to meet Ter-Petrosyan, VicePresident Quayle was stood up, and Govemor Deukmejian was given a take-it-or-leave-it

opporhrnity to shake hands.

Those who met Ter-Perosyan in trc United States were undoubtedly happy to see him.

But not many could say that he received the

red-carpet treatrnent befitting the President of a democratic

republic.

r

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ACADEMICS & POLITICS Reflections of anArmenian Historian Invited to the Turkish Congress of History inAnlara The TuMsh Histoical Society held its quadrennial Turkish Congress of History in Ankara, September 5-9, and for the fi rct time Tuffish authoities invited a number of Armenian iltolars to prwnt paprs. Levm Marashlian, associate professor of history at Glendale Community College in Califomia, was the only Armenian to aeept the inviktion. Among the hundreds of participants were former TuKsh ambassadors Kamuran Gurun (author of The Armenian File), Shasi Orel (*author of The Talat Pasha Telegrams a N now in charge of the Ottoman archivesonArmenians), Sinan Kuneralp of /S/S Press, and Dr. Stanford Shaw, Dr. Heath Lowy and Dr. Justin McCarthyfromthe U.S. AIM asked Prof. Levon Marashlian to reflect on the Congress sessions devoted to Armenians, and on the possible signiftcane of ttis unprwdented development.

The following is his analysis.

Depatmentto adoptpolicies beneficial to Turkey anddisasfous for Armenians, even though all key American policymakers were convinced that Armenians were victims of a deliberate attempt at mass extermination during World War I. Even the top U.S. envoy in Turkey, the indisputably "pro-Turk' Admiral Mark Bristol, to whom Senator Robert Byrd referred in the

support of the Turkish position last February during the debate over the Armenian Genocide Resolution (SJR 212), firlly accepted the fact that Turks massacred Armenians on a large scale. I backed up this contention with numerous quotations from American archival sources. For example, in 1919 Bristol admonished a Turkish joumalist "In fact, the massacres of the Armenians have made a spot which is difficult to eradicate. You ought not to have done such things, yes, you ought not to have done it. . . . In any case, you are now to wlpe the spot which is on you." Bristol spearheaded American efforts to help Turks wipe away "tlre spot." The cleansing would help Turks reject a tenitorial concession to the Armenians, which would pave the way for profitable business in Turkey.

There are parallels between Departrnent policies then and today. s a preface, I wish to emphasize in Turkish that it is in the In the 1920s, U.S. policymakers failed to appreciate Turkey's spirit of encouraging eventual Turkish-Armenian economic lulnerabilities and acquiesced in Ankara's anti-Armenian rapprochement thnt I am about to present the following facts and policy. Naive Department officials were taken in by the bluster of interpretations. the pashas and tailed to see that, given the Turkish Nationalists' Many of youwill not want to accept these facts and interpretations, almost desperate need for American friendship and economic aid, a but I hopeyoudo accept the sinceity ofnry desirefor rapprochement, realization by Ankara that Washington effectively wished to and I hope you agree that amutually beneficialTurkish-Armenian balance American business interests in Turkey with American hanmony is possible only through dialogue and compromise based moral interests in Armenia, they may have been compelled to be on accurate history. more flexible toward Armenian claims. But Turkish policymakers Since my Turkish is not as strong as I would like, as a result of the understood that not even a minimally "fair deal" for Armenians exile of my parents' farnilies from our native homelnnd in Anatolia duing the Armcnian Gerwcide, today I will present nry paper in was anywhere near the main priorities of American policymakers, who were so obviously driven, not by what they clearly regarded to English^ After making this prefatory remark in Marashlian examirrs ottoman documents be legitimate Armenian claims, but instead Ankara on September5 atthe I lth Turkish on Amenians displayed in Ankara by the economic bottom line-profit.

It appears the same is happening in the Congress of History, I delivered my paper, 1990s. Cleansing Turkey's image, it seems, "Economic Influences on U.S. Policies is a quid pro quo forbusiness in TurkeyToward Turkey and the Armenians, 1919evidencedby the corporate and Departrnent 1923." The topic is relevant to current lobbying against a succession of Genocide Armenian-Turkish affain and the role of resolutions dating back to 1975. But the theUnited States, which in tum arerclated defeat ofthe latest resolution can be viewed to the invitation Twkish authorities extended as yet another hollow victory for Ankara to several Armenian historians to speak in because Turkey's dirty laundry was again Ankara. aired for all to see.

The influences shaping State Departnent policytowardthe Armenian Question today are similar to the forces that shaped its I t is in this context rlnt rlrc Turkish Historical policy when the Armenians were abandoned I Society, founded by Kemal Ataturk in 1932 tooktheunprecedented step of inviting in Lausanne 67 years ago. Through my Armenian historians to present their views paper, I declared to my Turkish colleagues in Turkey's capital. I accepted the invitation, that inthe final settlementof theArmenian and out of375 papers, 16 were devoted to Question, economic interests influenced

16

AlM, November 1990

Armenians, of which only mine was from the perspective of Armenian historiography.

Among the better papers was "Ambassador Morgenthau's Srory Revisited" by Dr. Heath Lowry, directer of the Institute of Turkish Studies in Washington D.C. Lowry explained that he was not approaching "ttre larger question of how one should most accurately characterize, events of that period." He recalled that many Senators cited Morgenthau's book in the SJR 212 debate, and said his approach had "a limited angle, namely, how credible is the book, Ambassadar Morgenthau's Story, as a source for the history of this period." I-owry revealed several significant facts and discrepancies surrounding the writing and contents ofthe book.

I

called Lowry's attention to the fact that Morgenthau's

correspondence wittr the State Deparfrnent corroborated the overall theme of the book-that the Armenians were exterminated-and asked him if his new findings contadict the ambassador's offrcial reports. t,owry said he "was not attacking the credibility of Morgenthau as a source," but simply questioning "whether or not one can usethe book as a source for anything." The "discrepancies" between the book and his cables he sent "are enormous," lowry continue4 but clarified ttrat he was not refening to Morgenthau's "reports on Armenian

deportations and deaths," but instead

to

convincing response when I challenged him by quoting Ottoman Senator Riza's declaration in the Parliament in 1915, that it was "afiocious" for the govemment to sell Armenian properties as "abandoned property," since it was'tnlawful to designate" them as 'hbandoned" because the Armenians "did not abandon theirproperties voluntarily," but "were forcibly . . . removed from their domiciles and exiled." Mango never explained why the Ottoman govemment plundered is Armenian citizens and fied to extirpate the whole Armenian community, including moderate elements that had opposed the "nationalists" and had been their "victims."

The low quality of Mango's presentation typified the worst of Turkish historiography: a one-dimensional picture of the "Armenian nationalists" on one side, the "Muslim majority" on the other. He seemed to view the Ottoman Empire as a static

\-t'';.,

entity not needing revolutionary change. The disdainful tone with which Mango refened to "the ffack record of autonomous

his

characterizations of certain individuals in the book.

[.owry was careful not to challenge the credibility

of Morgenthau's offrcial reports"-certainly they need to be used before anyone would

try and make overall characterizations about what Morgenthau said."

Notwithstanding Lowry's limited

-ffi**m*#*u**N

\ [-ondon. He included in his discussion works from the Turkish perspective ttrat did not fit the title of his paper in .\ -. terms of publication date or topical focus, and excluded major new Armenian works, notably Dr. Vahagn Dadrian's groundbreaking I provinces" in study in The Yale Joumal of Intemational Law. Mango exposed theBalkansgavethe his bias by refening to works of "Armenian nationalist scholars," I impusionthathefavored without concomiantly applying the same label to Turkish scholars ttreperpetuation of unpire. He who, as good citizens of Turkey, can also be considered Turkish I did not go beyond a simplistic nationnlist sclnlars. He did not draw a clear distinction between I summaryofttrebasicttresesofArmenian revolutionaries and the vast majority of the Ottoman Armenians- and Twkish historiographies, theses thu have peasants,moderatereformers,conservativebusinessmenandclergy. I b..n knowledge for decades. My \ "o**on And he claimed that "ttre nationalist revolutionary leaders of the impression was that Dr. Mango had not done his Armenian community were foolish, ignorant, and impractical." I homework.

Mango even failed to grasp the implications of one of his own The Turkish speakers meanwhile, with the rare exception of statements. He charged that "lots of the victims" of Armenian I some courageous and enlightened remarks by Dr. Mehmet Saray, the University of

\t

revolutionaries'\rereArmeniansthemselves,"whowere"bumped lgenerallyservedupthesamefamiliarmenusofTurkishhistoriography. off' for opposing revolutionary activities; but he did not take into Instead of searching for truth, they seemed to be groping for straws account the complex socio-economic diversity of the Ottoman with which to sweep away the stubbom "spot."

Armenians that those internal conflicts reflect. The tape recording This motivation surfaced in an exchange between Dr. Justin of ttre proceedings demonsEates that Mango could not offer a McCarttry (University of l-ouisville) and a Turk in the audience AlM, November 1990

who asked whether it was possible to make the "facts" in his paper,

"An Analysis of the Destruction Caused by Armenians in Eastem Anatolia froml9l4-l922," available to public opinion, "to rewrite history," and to pass on "this knowledge" to the U.S. Congress and President. "We're trying to rewrite the history," replied McCarthy, but lamented, "we have a ffirculty" in the U.S. because "for many, many years . . . all that has bern heard is the evidence of people who wished to say evil of the Turks." This was now "beginning to change," but "it would be a mistake to think it will be quick."

McCarthy noted that in surveys at American universities concerning attitudes toward peoples, "the Turks always come out as the worst."

He conducted the survey at l,ouisville among 300 students, and

Armenians of

lstanbul

'lthe Turks came out worse than Carnbodiars, worse than Columbians,

just down the line, worse than Russians, and Germans." But when asked what they knew of Turks, McCarthy noted, the students "who disliked the Turks the most were the ones who admitted that they knew nothing about them at all. They said, "I don't know anything about them, but I hate them." McCarthy said 'this is prejudice, and only over the next 10, 20, 30 years can we hope to defeat that prejudice, and that's what we really have to work on."

orking'to

defeat that

pejudice' may become

a

more formidable

task if Ameniaachieves independence. Fordecades

As the once-vibrant community turns incre asingly pale, the struggle for survival continues in the face of adversity, attrition and assimilation

Armeniars

in dispenion have defended, successfully, the academic integrity

of

By KEVORK IMIRZIAN

the Genocide issue. An Armenian govemment with embassies and a vote in the UN and, most significantly, with profitable ties to Westem capital, may elevate the issue onto a different plane.

Eventually, the U.S. might find the incentive it needs to do what it couldnot doin 1923 balance economic interests in Turkey with a combination of moral and eronomtc interests in Armenia.

The future worries some Turks. Tempomagazine's article on an interview with me in Ankara headline4 "A BorderFightTomonow," gave an unjustifiably negative tone to my reasoned balancing of legitimate territorial claims with my sincere desire for normalized relations between ArmeniaandTurkey. And a Huriyet headline

Saddam ve Kilflez'le

ulragtun sessiz sedaaz

predicted that an independent Armenia will become another "Headache" for Turkey. It need not be. A Turkish writer suggested in Alemdar in l9l9 that the "opporninity is not yet out of our reach," that'to retum from the wrong path at any moment is a benefit to us," that the "nation can always wipe off the stain."

The Turkish men and women whose company I enjoyed in Ankara, who personally do not deserve "the stain," would do well to consider the approach suggested n Alemdar and determine whether it is the Armenians, or the Mango's and McCarthy's, who can best "wipe" it off. And hopefully, a sincere reappraisal of ttre historical record by the Turkish Historical Society can be a fust step toward a healing of this long-festering wound, for the benefit of both the Armenian and Turkish peoples.

I l8

Sourp Kevod< Ghurch of Samatya, built in the l42Os

AlM, November 1990

on making a living or making money while hanging on to the few symbolic institutions to presere tlrcir religious and ethnic identities.

The struggle has never been an easy one

and the conditions they face may seem

gating to those in the diaspora who

are

used to taking their cultural and political freedoms for granted. Although, deprived of other ouflets, many affluent Armenians tum to unbridled extravagance, just as many opt for more modest punuits, such as working in di strict coun cils (t a ghay in kho r furur't) md budgeting expenses for schools and churches.

But, the conscious Armenian, regardless status or class, leads a life of wistful resignation-not so much resigned to fate, but resigned from all idealistic, nationalistic

of

and tribal pride.

n December 20, 1989, a gnefridden Shnork Kaloustian, the late

Armenian Pariarch of Istanbul, made a trip to Ankara, the Turkish capital, to meet with President Turgut Ozal and Prime Minister Yildirim Akbulut. The occasion for the Patriarch's visit was the onus of presenting to the men in power a document that requested govemment action to remedy certain grievances voiced by his constituents.

As much as this practice had become a rite of passage for a long line of patriarchs over the centuries, the pontiff was fulfilling his duty as political leader, a role assigned

to his throne by the Ottoman authorities back in 1461, and not solely as a spirinral leader of a Christian denomination.

The Armenians of Istanbul, of course, are much more than a religious minority. Having been denizens of the city even before the Ottomans conquered it in 1453, they have always been a vital element of this polis sinraEdon the crossroads of two continents.

It

was not until the last few decades, however, that the city began going through

dramatic changes while squeezing out its minority communities, who for a long time had given it its color, its flavor, as well as its

unique character. As the city of Istanbul has grown with leaps and bounds, the Armenian community, its largest minority group, has shrunk to a nominal presence.

In the last 20 years alone, thousands of families have left Turkey for good to settle in

Detoit, Monteal, New York and Buenos

Aires. More recently they have settled in France, Germany, ftre United States, Canada

and Australia. The heaviest concentration in Los Angeles has a population that has soared to around 10,000 in recent years.

Othermajorcities are Cologne and Stuttgart in Germany, and Paris. The ongoing exodus has caused an immediate crisis

for the schools

and churches while raising grave concerns about tlre future of tlre Armenian community in Istanbul.

Stipped of any political ambitions and regarded as pariahs in anything outside of business, commerce and a handful of whitecollar professions, Istanbul Armenians have been obliged to concentrate their energies

"We just follow the rules here and enjoy all the privileges of being a citizen of Turkey," says one community leader who does not wish to be named. "But we are increasingly

being reminded that we're an unwanted element here." According to sources both inside and outside Turkey who all spoke on condition of remaining anonymous, this state of paralyzing docility is becoming "ahabit " if not a way of life for the Armenians as their numbers keep dwindling with every passing year.

"The community here now concentrates on how to preserve what it has in terms of schools, churches and a few alumni clubs,"

says another source who

is active in

community affairs. "The official obstacles erected on our way do notleave much room for any initiative, never mind for any new projects."

it

Ironically, was their initiative and industriousness that endeared Armenians to Sultan Mehmed tr, who upon conquering Constantinople had a colony of Armenians brought into the city and had them settled

there.

A small number of Armenians,

however, did live in Consandnople before the Ofioman rule as attested by the oldest D

-

â&#x201A;Ź t ! t

6',

I lir

known Htatchl<ar dating from 1437. In fact, the fint Armenian church, St Gregory the Illuminator, was built there before 1453 in Cralata, urder tlrc protection of tp Genoese.

The sultan also ordere4 shortly after his

conquest, the creation

of an Armenian

Pariarchate by appointing Bishop Hovagim

of Brusa ttre first Patriarch of Istanbul.

Although politically motivated, the appointment had to be expressed in ecclesiastical terms within an empire that a tlreocrary. In tinp, fte Annenians were to draft their own regulations to elect itseHwas

their Patiarch, which was ratified by the Ottoman government in 1863. Those regulations are still valid today.

After playing an impomant role for cenuries in the social, cultural and political life of the

Dr. Vahram Tanal, chbt of operationsr durins a meetitrg at Sutp Prgich Hospital

Western Armenians, the Armenian

govemment clinched its policy when, in the

community of Isanbul was dealt a crushing blow by the arrest and the murder of the leading Armenian intellecurals in April 1915 -a blow that would serve as a precursor to the uprooting and the wholesale nvrsacre

tlp Directorate of Education made it mandatory for all minority schools to have a Turkish vice-principal who would

of an entire nation.

Despite the respite between the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923 andMustafa Kemal's death in 1938,

mmmunity was set on a course of constant decline after its national council (azlayin joghov) was outlawed by the govemment tlre

in 1939. Then followed in rapid succession ttre Capial Tax of 19.2, which was designed to eliminate the non-Muslim minorities fi,om

commerce and industry, and the violent demonstations of September6, 1955, when mobs attacked and looted all the shops belonging to non-Muslims in Istanbul. The

mid- l%Os,

official liaisonbetween the Directorate andthe schools.

"Afterthe dissoh*ion of the national council, the schools were already left leaderless," says a former teacher who is now out of the countiy. "Even the Pariarch has no say in itbecause no clergy is allowed into schools

be *re

2l Armenian schools of Istanbul are now tied to fteir rcspective district councils which me not

by the order of law." T};re

allowed to cooperate among themselves.

As if to make matters worse, following the military takeover of the government in 1980, the Directorate of Education changed decades-old regulations to create obstacles for registering children at Armenian schools.

These points were enumerated in the document the Patriarch presented to President Ozal in Ankara along with difficulties faced by the Armenians in constructing new community buildings, preparing educated clergymen and receiving ofreal estate deeds as gifu by institutions.

Despite all these hardships, and with help from the relaxation of restrictions by the Ozal govemment, the Armenians of Istanbul have managed to carry on. With its 35 churches and 2l schools, the community is

still one of the most richly endowed in traditional institutions in the entire diaspora.

This year, the 35,000-member Armenian community has sent 4,500 students to Armenian schools. The nine alumni associations, although practically dormant for nearly a decade, have shown signs of revitalization by staging plays and sponsoring

The Gentral Role of Getronagan ln Amenian Letterc

lFte Getronagan Lyceum was I established in 1886 by the tireless efforts of the then Patiarch of Istanbul, Nenes Varjabedian, who deemed it more importanttobuild an Arrnenian high schml in the city than to consfruct new quarters for the Patriarchate.

Supported entirely by public funds, the

school's primary objective was to educate the best and the brightest children the Armenian community had to offer. And the school was well-equipped to realize that goal: the array ofnotables that has passed

through its arched doorway, today would 'make a list of who's who in Armenian arts and letters.

Cetonagan's teaching saff included figurcs

lrvon Shant, Hagop Baronian, Yeghia Demirjibashiar\ and ttant Asadour. Among its first graduates were Arshag Chobanian and llrachia Ajarian. C'omidas Vartabed taught there from September 1913 until April 1915. And Vahan Tekeyan was one of ttre principals for a brief period in the early 1920s. like

n

AlM, November 1990

Gomidas's piano in the l{all of Fame Although these mortals have come and

goneintheirtime, the piano ttrat Gomidas Vartabed worked on during his two years at the school is still being played in the samehall where the masterhad once played and where a portrait of him now hangs on the wall near the piano.

Abp. Kaloustian sewing conrnnuion

Thousands attend funera! of Abp. Kaloustian

other functions. There is even a song and dance ensemble that has enjoyed great

the trvo Armenian hospitals in the city, opened its doors in 1834 with a frman from Sultan

leadership from

popularity.

Playing a key role in the community's cultural life are Marmara and Jamanak, the two Armenian daily papen.

Marmara, er;tabhshrdin 1940, and the choice of the more

Mahmuttr.

uncertainties.

During the following months, the Armenian

The community today still

boasts leaders who are

capable

of

teaching,

inspiring, and passing down

their legacy to a new generation of leaders. Some

serious-minded readers,

of

provides national

scholar Parsegh

these people include Tuglaciyaq

and intemational news as well as

editor Robert Haddeciyan,

social and political

photographer Ara Guler,

commentary. Kulis, a bi-

poets Zahrad

monthly magazine of culture, has kept its faithful group of

Khrakhouni and conductor

readers.

FoetZahrad

and

its Patriarch amidst

unrelenting political pressures and social

of Istanbul went through a gueling period to elect its new Patriarch.

There were splits, factions and bitter recriminations from all quarters. Finally, in an election held September 5 at the Virgin community

Mary Church in Istanbul's Kumkapi district, 94 delegates representing 33 Armenian churches in Turkey cast votes. With rhe election of 63-year-old Karekin Kazanjian as Paffiarch, the community began a new chapter.

Kazanjian, a native of Isanbul and the

JirayrAnlanyantz.

The death of Patriarch

Grand Sacristan of tlte Armenian Patiarchate

Surp Prgich, amonthly magazinepublished

Shnorhk Kaloustian while visiting

of Jerusalem until his election, is expected

by the hospital bearing the same narne,

Etchmiadzin in early March, brought to an

provides the local community as well as the diasporawith news abouttlre hospiul, ofEcial

end the era that had started

functions and articles on medicine.

It is

in 1961. It was a period that witnessed tlrc gradual weakening of the once-robust

to play a key role at a yery crucial juncture in the community's history. His effectiveness as leader, however, will notbeknown until after his first visit to the presidential palace

of

Arrrrcnian community, despite sffing spfuitral

inAnkara.

interesting to note that Surp Prgich, one

with his election

EI{ROLLHE$,I$[:AI

!

-

,.t.::,.:,.7

AlM, November 1990

SGffiNB]ffiW

FLOURISHING IN RUBBISH Ingenuity of Armenians inWaste Disposal Industry Rewarded by Sweet Scent of Prosperity Turkish Armenia, in the early

BySERGE SAllOillAltlTZ

1920s.

"Armenians weren't afraid most people, ttre only contact they have with trash is when they reluctantly take ill-smelling conainers to the curb,

to work," the 68-year-old

and have them retumed empty the next day,

backbreaking business,

ready for another load of household or commercialrefuse.

But for many Armenians in Southem Califomia thatrefuse smells likeroses when dumped into their Eucks, and tums to gold when the checks are deposited in the bank.

If you live in Southem Califomia, chances are high that the haulers are Armenian or ttrat the trash is loaded into an Armeniandesigned truck or it may be dumped into landfills owned or operated by Armenians.

Although the numberof Armenians in the industry has decreased in recent years, a good 20 percent of ttre $l-billion-a-year waste business in Califomia is still owned and operated by Armenian-Americans.

Back in the early 1920s and through the

reserved for tlnse at the lowest rung in the economic ladder.

He recalled the early days, in the 1930s and 40s when, as a

Ior L r

Egigian said, explaining the for the influx into a

reason

yowrgster, he had to start refuse

collection at midnight, because los Angeles city ordinances demanded that the lumbering, !{rant Bagdasadan and son tattrenr nn tpir H&G Disposal smelly dump trucks clear the Gormany in the tradition of a family buiness streets by 7 a.m. compact trash quickly, allowing for three Today, the La Habra resident is one of

five commissioners on the California Integrated Waste Management Board, a regulatory state agency which ovenees the operations of the industry. Highly respected for his 50 years of experience as a former

has also rcduced the ranks of many compar, ies.

and executive, his

Egigian noted with sadness that many Armenian-owned businesses disappeared as more sons anddaughten wentintoprofessions or other businesses rather than continuing the parental firm.

Gov.

George

Deukmejian was confirmed by the Senate last August.

Despite Egigian's examples, one particular

Armenians did

family enterprise that is enjoying a healthy growth is that of Hrant and Matthew Bagdasarian, il e "H" in "H&C" Disposal

more than just benef,rt financially from their hard

work. They also launched the re-

Sam Egigian, So.year vetetan in the waste disposal industry, is a comrissinner on Galifomia's Waste Management Board

of the business

-

some industry observers estimate 90 percent of ttre total handing down business sawy and expertise to their

-

sons and daughters, while amassing considerable fortunes in the process.

Sam Egigian is one of those sons who went into the business his father had established soon afterhe arrived from Kars,

company, of Hawthome, Califomia.

Soon after coming to the United States

cycling movement

from tlre SovietUnion viaGermany n1949, llrant Bagdasarian followed the advice of

decades before

Michael Hairapetiarl

"environment"

from Montebello, and entered the field with a single fiuck. Concenfrating on industrial and commercial refuse, the company now owns 30 ffucks, and focuses its activities in the city of Hawthome, south of [,os Angeles

becameapartof the

chunk

The cost of streamlining the waste business

business owner, trade association organizer

appointment by

1950s, Armenians dominated a huge

collections daily instead of a single trip.

Technological advances, many of them created by Armenians, revolutionized the trash collection industry.

political lexicon.

Egigian explained that Armenian trash

haulers would compartnentalize their truck, separating by hand the cardboard, glass,

newspapers and "wet" trash. They would sell the latter as feed to hog ranches, and add to theirincome by taking the recyclables

tobuyen.

In a single, mechanically-assisted operation,

f,rlly automated, specially built uuckrcosting as much as $130,000 each-Iift, load and

AlM, November 1990

a successfiJ waste

hauler

Intemational Airpot.

Hmnt's son, 3S-year-old Matthew, now heads the business. However, his whitehaired father, while semi-retired, still offers patemal guidance.

Matthew began his career early. As a ffst-grade student he used to go to work with his dad, rising before dawn. "I mostly slept in the truck's cab," he admits rattrer

figures. The value of waste company stocks is rising

sheepishly. "But I was with my father," he acknowledges with a sly smile. Puning in 1 S-hour{ays while anending high school and college was not easy, but the process

molded the

steadily, some spectacularly.

And here too" an Armenian name is widely heard.

Stock prices lor Kosti

young

Shirvanian's Westem Waste Industries registered large

businessman.

Since those days, however,

dramatic changes have

gains every yearsince itwent public in 1983 with a $20

severely affected the industry

million offering. For

as a whole. Technological Westem Waste lndustries services more than SlXlr(XXl clients with its and regulatory impositions state-of-theart trucks equipped with lront loaderc

sixth yearin arow, company revenues and eamings have

have transformed the business from an

Technology has also affected manpower

closely

requirements, presenting fewer opportunities

monitored and regulated industry. Only those companies which diversify their

for new immigrants. "Instead of four or five people to work the ffucks, now you

operations successfully or conectly position themselves for the changes ahead will survive

need only one," Matthew Bagdasarian said.

unregulated, free-for-all market into

a

in the future, the formerCal State University,

But the waste business as a whole is booming. Industry observers say that the

t-ong Beach, student pointed out. With landfill space decreasing steadily and costs

waste industry will become a $50-billion-ayear business in the United States by the

rising, new means for safe disposal of waste are being sought by the industry, he said.

year 2000.

Wall Street apparently agrees with

the

the

shot up. The company topped $ 170 million last year, and net revenues of $200 million are projected for this fiscal year. The company was listed as Califomia's 22nd in stock percentage gain this year with an 88 percent increase. Servicing 600,000 customers and businesses fiom Floridato Califomia. Westem Waste Industries is considered the fourth largest waste removal company in the U.S. The company's success did not come

ovemight. Founded in 1955 by Chairman

Firm's Suecess Reflects Sound Business Principles E ieht yeius ago, the Ramesses Enterprises was a one-ffuck E i*rrlirposi operation that grossed $8,500 a month. Today, with its fleet of 30 trucks and is three divisions

- Vick's

Valley Rubbish and Industrial Refuse Removal

-

Disposal,

=

Ramesses

q

Enterprises is the fastest growing independent firm in Los Angeles' trash disposal industry. And its gross monthly income has soared

to $700,0ffi.

What spuned the growth?

Mego Godjamanian, who owns and operates the firm with his parfircrGeorge Agajanian, attributed the firm's successful operation to his willingness to leam from the experiences of the fintgeneration Armenians in the trash disposal industry, as well as his use of sound business principles.

An alumnus of UCLA, where he eamed a B.A. degree in

economics, Godjamanian said that he combined what he had leamed fiom the veterans in the indusuy with the invaluable knowledge he had gained through his education and background

ilego Godjamanian nrns Bamesses Enterpdses as a corporation, not a3 a tamily operation

in economics.

The top millionaires in the United States don't produce

The company's skyward gowth pattem started when the two partners recognized the need always to think of their firm as a modem corporation in their planning and decision-making activities.

He said he belongs to *rc new generation of Armenian businessmen who approach theirbusinesses as separate entities from themselves.

"This is a corporation, and I run it as such," he stated.

Ramesses Enterprises is expected to be ranked as the number one independent ffash disposal company when it adds a pending acquisition

to its operation. At *rat time, its gross monthly

income will reportedly reach the $1.000,000 mark.

"Acquisitions are important because they reflect the trend in the industry," he said. "They are the means for narrowing the gap

between the smaller and major private and public haulers.

goods or services in equal proportions to ttreir financial resources. Theirgrowth is due mainly to serious acquisitions."

Godjamanian also made it clear that business growth is not enough if it is not accompanied with a higher purpose.

"Within my company, I place the emphasis on service and

qualiry," he said.

He also expressed deep concem over the lack

of

communication and coopenation among Armenian businessmen.

"We can leam from each other and represent a collective force," he stated. He would like to see the formation of a core group of Armenian businessmen to advance the cause of the total community.

AlM, November 1990

of the Board Kosti Shirvaman

three experts to examine ways to improve the sewage and waste

ardhis sister, Savey Tufenkian, now executive vice president and fleasurer, the company

problems in the new Armenian

rubbish

Republic. "We're considering opening a plant there," Kosti

hauling business in the South Bay areaof t os Angeles. "We bouglrt Bill Ohanessian's truck route in Inglewood for $800,"

Shirvanian said. "We might go intemational. Westem Waste has tremendous potential to help the recovery of Armenia's economy,"

the 60-year-old Shirvanian

he said.

began as

a small

recalls fondly.

After years of grueling work,

'"This indusEy changes veryfast"

and heeding the advice of close

Shirvanian commented. "Not too many mom-and-pop companies

Armenian friends, Shirvanian

will

embarked on an aggressive Kosti Shirvanian saw "a lot of opportultiesthat others campaigr, acquiring smaller businesses. including their customer base, mergers, and devising a plan in Califomia upon his retum and decided to to expand municipal confacts. stay. Eventually bringing relatives into the "I saw a lot of opportunities others did not business he and Savey patiently built, he says that not too many Armenians had the see," the former exchange sfudent at Aflantic foresight to create a nationwide company College in the East Coast explained. "I went for the big confracts, even with tlp when he suggested it in 1983, before he risks."

"Never, never say no," he said, citing his business motto.

Guidedby Shirvanian's

mandated by Assembly

dEd d

survive the recent changes

Bill939."

not" rpt" The new state legislation requires the recycling of 25 percent of all

waste

in Califomia by 1995. With

less

space available for landfills, that rcquircment

will

increase to 50 percent by the year 2000, furlher crimping the

operations

of

vlsron. Western /aJ

fu:r%r::!Jf-T

ll1il',",:i:f:4! heisapragmau:11_o fiel4heinvented the front-loader, a major innovation in truck technology. Not content to rest on his laurels, Shirvanian recently acquired a Compton furn, Skagg Equipment, to design and manufacture state-of-the art ffucks and containers for the waste industry.

Westem Waste was also the first to utilize the concept of transfer stations. Trucks are brought to a central location where the load is sorted and distributed into larger-capacity rucks for medium and long hauls. Company holdings include landfills and service routes in California, Arizona, Florida, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Shirvanian, a dynamic and articulate executive, was bom in kan, and came to the United States in the early 1950s with his sister, Savey, to attend college in preparation

for a medical career. Drafted by error into the U.S. Army, he served 14 months in Korea as a medic. His stint over, he stopped

D

I

â&#x201A;Ź

i ! u o

II ?

HAZABDOUS WASTE DISPOSAL COMPANIES ARE NOT LISTED

went public with 30 percent

of

'tt'E

the company stock. The family retained 50 percent of the stock, with the other 20 percent allocated to management.

Several vice presidents of the company are

Armenian, including his brother, Hacob Shirvanian; brotlrer-inJaw, Ralph Tufenkian; and

Albert Simonian, George Osepian,

EdwardOsepian.

Westem Waste is concemed about the present conditions in Armenia and has sent

AlM, November 1990

ffir'*'o WASTE DISPOSAL COMPANIES OPERATED BY ARMENIANS IN METROPOLITAN LOS ANGELES

those firms notprepared forthe changeover.

Bridging the gap between regulators and private industry, the legal profession also has a powerf,rl Armenian represenl.ation.

The interests ofthe integrated waste industry in Sacramento are represented by Z.Harry

Astor (Zaven Arakelian) of Orange, Califomia. He is the name partner of the

already. For instance, as Eggan

law firm of Astor and Phillips. The Fresno-

ttre business

bom son of l(harpertsi and Marsovantsi parents obtained his law degree from the

has pointed out, the installation of household

University of Southem Califomia and has had close ties with the many Armenian members of the CalifomiaRefuse Removal Council. Astor said many Armenians joined the council after legislation and progress changed the face of the industry. The council was insrumental inraisingthe hourly rate for drivers, many of whom are Armenian immigrants.

Technology has altered many facets of

"wet" trash sold to hog ranches. l.andftll

garbage disposals spelled the doom of the capacities in Califomia are being exhausted.

Transportation fuel costs have gone through the roof, especially since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, eating into the profit margin of small refuse haulen. Unable to pass these costs on to customers, mergers and sellouts are almost inevitable for some of these small firms.

Regardless of gloomy predictions, however,

Anrrenian involvement and innovation which so far has transformed the waste industry is not about to end soon. Westem Waste and others arc examining the hauling of trash by rail to specially designated sites out of state, or perhaps even out ofthe country.

Regardless of what will happen in the fuhue, one thing is certain: L,avishly painted

and decorated dump trucks - some with broad Armenian ricolors running along their length - will still ply the streets of Califomia cities, pick up treirloads

ofrashandu'ansform

them into gold.

Thrce Generations of Katarians

I

=

;

rion Kazarian is only 34 years old, but he benefits lJ 6orn68 years olcumulative family experin the Souttpm Califomia waste business.

The USC graduate, the general manager of BKK Corporation's Landfill Dvision, is the thirrd generation engaged in a business launched in 1922 by the tlrcn

ience

20-year-old Benjamin

K. Kazarian Sr., Don's

grandfather.

From its humble beginnings with a single, horsedrawn wagon, the business grew. By the time the founder died in 1976, BKK had outgrown nearly all competitors with the efficient operation of its massive 1l0-acre West Covina landfill. Under the watchfirl eye of Don Kazarian's father, Ben Jr., the company expanded, and today it is recognized as a model in

Don t(aaian has hqortan[ plamtorthe Bl(l( t{re acqulsltton d rew landffie

the industry. [,ast year, BKK Corp. grossed $100 million in sales, and is engagd in every facet of the business, tom collection to waste fieaffnent and, ofcourse, landfill operations.

"I started at birttr; I had no choice," the young Kazarian said, explaining his career in the waste business.

Not everything came easy for BKK, however. h 1984, in the wake of changing federal regulations and increasing resfiictions on the waste disposal business, BKK's operation of the only federally licensed hazardous waste landfill in Southem Califomia came under close scrutiny. Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Human Health Services riggered site "tours," investigating allegations of ground and water conamination around ttre landfill. Some minor contamination had already been reported by BKK, Kazarian said, but the federal agencies, fighting to obtain inroads in Califomia, opened the road for damage claims frorn neighborhood $oups.

Theclean-up of ttre affected area and the evennnl voluntary full closure, the frst-ever approved by the EFA, cost the

CorDortoq hctding

cunpany berween $35 and $40 million, Kazarian said. Today, tlre BKK landfill in West Covina which no longer accepts hazardous waste, is a model of the industry, accoding to Southem Califomia Air Management and Waler Quality Contolbordofficials. Thelarffill's remainingcapacity is

lsmilliontsrs The monitoring of the landfill, as required by federal regulations, will cost BKK another couple of million dollars a year during the next 30 years, dre young executive otserved.

Befitting an Arnenian-American businessman, Kazarian is bullish about &e future of BKK. Near-term company plans include the operation of new landfills in Soutlrem bAifo-ia and another enterprise in Seatrle, Washington.

But the firm will continue tlrc bulk of its operations in Califomia. 'We know Southem Califomia best," he adds.

Kazarian is also busy gooming another generation forthe business his grandfatherbegan back in 1922. At his Rolling

Hills home, three daughrers-age.s nine, seven and four--are awaiting the call to continue the family tradition.

AlM, November 1990

-fugeSarwniantr

25

EUROPE

the most far-reaching implications for the

Unified Germany:

Westem alliance took place in East Germany.

The resignation of Erich Honecker, after 18 years as leader of Eastern Europe's most hard-line Communist regime, led the way to the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, the

Enduring Fear or

Stability?

By VAHE TGHARKHOUDIAN

Le

reunification of Germany will have

profound implications for Europe's future. The merger, which took place on October 3, combined the two strongest economies of Eastem and Westem Europe.

Thercsult will beasuperstateon the continent where both economic and political power has up to now been closely balanced among

West Germany, Britain, France and Italy.

The political changes that shook Eastem Europe last year had a momentous impact on the peaceful settlement of the German reunification issue. At the root of the changes

were the economic and political reforms introduced by Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev after he assumed the Kremlin leadenhip in 1985. In Eastem Europe, when the Kremlin relaxed its control, citizens quickly began demanding political freedom, and in 1989, pruSoviet govemments toppled one after the other, including the German Democratic Republic's ultra-conservative Communistregime.

Undoubtedly, the political changes with

most infamous symbol of the Cold War, and the drive forthereunification of Germany.

West Germany is one of the world's leading

exporters, and as the strongest country in Westem Europe, a united Germany will stand to gain even more power tf the 12nation European Community accomplishes its goal of creating a single market by the end of 1992. Because German businesses already have closercontacts withtrcemerging democracies of Eastem Europe, they are better positioned than other European or American enterprises to profit from the economic development of those countries.

A united Germany could benefit fiom its central position in Europe as a production center.

As a result of tlrese developments, America's

position of dominance in Europe is in jeopardy. The end of the Cold War and the ensuing reunification of Germany erodes the significance of the United States as

massive propaganda against the alliance.

In later years, even West Germany became

a vocal critic of America's NATO

and

American defense sffategies. Because of its location on the East-West divide, West

Germany would have been a likely battleground for nuclear and conventional warfare in a conflict between NATO and the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. Anti-American

protector of Westem Europe.

The phased removal of Soviet troops from East Germany will inevitably reduce West Germany's healy dependence upon the West for military security. However, the fact that the SovietUnion will remain anuclearpower

grew in intensity in the early 1980s when intermediate-range nuclear weapons were

provides an even stronger incentive for a

arsenals.

non-nuclear Germany to remain within the

West Germany favored better relations with East Germany, from which it has been separated as a result of the Cold War, as well as with the rest of the East bloc. This often led Bonn on an independent path that successive U.S. administations feared would loosen West Germany's commitment to

Atlantic Alliance.

True, the unification of Germany ended more than four decades of bitter division, symbolized by the erection of the Berlin Wall in 1961. However, the legacy of more than 4O years of EasfWest separation cannot

be swept

Tlrousands ol Germans at the Bandenbury Gate celebrate the rcrmilication of their country under the glow of ftrcwot*s

away

ovemight. As East

protests by the West German peace movement

installed in the country as part of the Reagan

Adminisffation's program to beef up U.S.

NATO. From an American ancl European point

of

Germany is merged I with the West, the

view, the hope is that Germany can be enmeshed into the larger European

a

new republic will more

community. French President Francois

become

Mitten-and wants to see a strongerEuropean

German. There still

power

is a

Germany. Despite West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl's assurances, some fear that a unified Germany could raise the threat of revanchism, and contend that it would be unwise to place the fate of Europe and the world onthe word of a singlepolitical figure.

The underlying fear that Gennan nationalism could rage out of conffol and consume the

traditionally

considerable

neutralist

and

nationalistcunentin

Germany. Many East Germans still harbor a great deal ofskepticismtoward

NATO, resulting from 40 years of

community, partly in order to contain the of an enlarged and strengthened

world in bloody conflict as it did in

l9l4

constitution, drawn up after Hitler's defeat in World War II, places strict limits on the size and scope ofthe county's armed forces.

A unified Germany might not dominate

Europe militarily, but

it

certainly would

dominate the continent economically.

Reunification efforls have a three-decadeold history. In 1957, West Germany's first

chancellor and head

of the Christian

Democratic Union, Konrad Adenauer, placed reunification at the top of the new count ry's

list of political goals. His policy was to deny the legality of Germany's postwar division among the victorious Allied powers.

In the late 1960s, as the superpowers consolidated their respective spheres of

a Social Democrat, recogaized East Germany as

a major role in reunification

the

of

Germany.

Moscow was first reluctant to endorse the merger of the two Germanys. But the

IGemlin finally agreed to sanction the reunification

of

Germany and membership of tre new republic in NATO. Germany has pledged to pay

shifted West German policy from one of antagonism to accommodation with East Germany and its Soviet backers.

With his Eastem policy, or Ostpolitih Brandt,

the Soviet Union at least

$ 12

billion to pull its Eoops out

of East Germany and as a down payment to buy up the

ARMENIANS TN THE NEWGERMANY r F

a

EastemEurope.

The Soviet Union played

infl uence in Europe, West German chancellor

Willy Brandt

a

a sovereign entity, as well as the postwar boundaries of Poland and the rest of

or the lO,00Gstrong Armenian community in Germany, tf," most important outcome from the reunification of the

two Crâ&#x201A;Źrnanys is 0recomingtogetlrerofthe two local mmmunities

in East and West Berlin, according to Rafi Bedikian, former director of the Central Organization of Armenian Unions in German-Speaking Counffies.

Accodfng to Eduard Oganessian, executive director of the Munich-based Institute of Armenian Sfirdies, the reunification would rmt affect establi*red CrnnarrArmeniars in any rypreciable way differently than otherGermans.

"Howeve,r, we have a large number of Armenians who have applied for political asylum from Soviet Armenia, han and Irbanon," Oganessian said. "They are in refugee camps, in difficult living eonditions. In ttle new political siuation, most refugees are being tumed bach residency permits are being erantddsinffiigry; wltile work petmits are even more difficult to

acquire."

For those already setrled in the mainsffeam Crerman current, there is an air of opimism and economic prosperity, he said.

In general, Oganessian painted a picnre of a disorganized and disjointed Armenian community, with immignnts ft,om various Middle Eastem countries forming smaller concenEations, with no effective communication with tlre other segments of the community.

"Our biggest problem is that we are decentralize(" said Bedikian, who has a dentistry pra.ctice in Obertrausen. "There is no concentration of Armenians in a single major crty; we have small conrmunities in differentcwrers of Germany." Armenians are mmtly centsred in Cologne, Strtgartand Berlin Eighq, pe&ent of Armenians have come from Turkey as guest

Peace balloon over Berlin rnatks a new beginnhrg

workers since the 1960s; 15 percent have fled han after Khomeini, while tre remaining small percentage is comprised of bnrsirrcssmen and students

from Syriaand lebanon.

There arc 19 difflerent Armenian church, sports and culnral associations in Cermany. Not a single Armenian school exiss

tuoughout the county; some grroups Fovide inadequate Sarurday school programs. The four Armenian churches in the major cities belong to ttrc Etchmiadzin church and are headed by Primate Mesrob Krikorian, who is based in Vienna Austia.

Ttrere is an Arnrenian Information C-enter in Berlin and Bochum Univenity boasts the Foundation for Armenian Shrdies, whose dirrctor, Prof. Mhran Dabagft, worla with the Zoryan Institute to tape â&#x201A;Źyewitrcss accounts of Genocide sunrivors. The

provine

of Hesse is aparfirersatewittrtlre Republic of Armenia.

Although there are no Armenian deputies in the Bundesag (federal assembly), Armenian intercss are nonetheless actively represenred by a few parliamentarians, most notably tlrc chairman

of fire German-Soviet Society.

Alttrough ttrere is a sfiong, anti-Turkistr sentiment among the German people, the government itself leans toward the Tutrs, Bedikian said"

Ttrc

have been no achnl confiontations between

Anrenians and Tu*s in Germany; tlr propaganda war, howevo, is in full swing. During the European Parliament debate on the Anrpniar(liertocide,Turksorganizedradiocanpaignsbesmiching Armenians as terrorists. In February, during Armenian solidaity demonsfrations for Karabagh in front of the Soviet Embassy, Turkish fascist groups held counterdemonstrations. Tutkishmntelevision statiurs ardpdntnrcdiahabitually airanti-Armenian messages.

Arnenians in the new Germany are culturally in nure with October, ttre Etchmiadzin Choir of Armenia

tlnir heritage. In

perfonned in C-ologne; in November, tlrey will be visited by fte Yerebuni Choir from Bulgaria; the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestrra under Loris Tjeknavorian,

AlM, November 1990

**_t35ilffi};

German Democratic Republic.

Moscow's greatest worry would be the rcappearance of a stong and independent Gerrnan military power, in panicular a nuclea one. The primary Soviet interest in Cntal Europe is to ensure the emergence of a politically stable and secure Germany that will be a reliable political and commercial partner.

The reunification could also have a potentially disruptive effect on the West German economy. Massive infusions of West German capital arc needed to steamline the now defunct East German economy and to make it competitive. The capital costs for modernizing the eastem part of unifiedGernanyareestimatedat$54Obiiliort thereby eliminating the German extemal surplus that has been helping to finance America's deficit.

Another serious potential problem is the

risk of inflation. Moreover, one almost certain result of German reuffication will be waves

of

IMQ

Primate Urges West to Solve Grisis through Ethics, Not Force also referred to as 'qthe cradle

By Terty Ptrillips Specla!

kaq feels

toAlll

year. The Turkish minority in Germany is estimated at 5 million people, including a

600,000-plus work

force. This rising

unemployment may spark among Germans an anti-Turkish sentimentaimed at dislodging Turkish workers already employed in Crrman

indusries. The 3-million-plus jobless East Germans will increase the number of unemployed persons to 5 million for both Germanys-or 15 percent of the bal German labor force (excluding the self-employed).

This surge in unemployment could have its political repercussions, too. It could swell the ranks of the far-right RepublikanerParty,

stations. During the month of September, Phillips covered the Guffcrisisfum kghdad" He was in lraq bnger than arry otherforeign

rewrter.

Onhis last day there, Phillips interviewed Bishop Avak Asadourian, Primate of the Armenian Apostolic Church of lraq. Hi"s Grace was born in BagMad and studied extensively inthe United Sntes.

Q: On August 2,lraq sent troops to Kuwait Since the military confrontation began, other steps were takeq including the impmition of an economic embargo.

How has thatatrectâ&#x201A;Źd life in lraq?

A: Iraq is an emerging county. We can depend on ourselves for certain things. And certain things we have to import from ouSide.

This economic embargo, of course,

has

affected haq, especially, as I understan( in the field of medicine. Only those cases which are seen to be very serious are taken into the hospitals to be treated. Because we don't produce, so to speak, any medicine in the quantities that are necessary for kaq, we

import most of our medicine and the

of the political

equipment that goes with medicine. I think Iraq is hurting on this side, and the world should take note of this.

Even if you go into imposing an embargo, there should be an ethical side to it. And

specfium. This, in tum, could unleash exftemism and theaten the very foundations of German democracy.

The higher German priority should not be oconomic growth, butstability whichiscritical to the future of Europe and, eventually, the

that means you're not doing it actually to hurt the people. But the people are being

world. However, the stability of

hurtby it.

Europe

nationalistic excesses of the recent past and

to embracing the values of Western democracy. It is up to German political leaders and people to show the world that their economic ambitions would be offset by a searchforanenduring sability inEruope.

28

try to

impose certain ways of andty toputhaqintrc onrcr... having this outdated concept of "You should grow in a mannerthat we allow you to do" is, of course, very demeaning, and it takes away from your humanity.

We are small in sizeand population. But maneuvering

if you have so muchhistory, which is much more than 4,000 years old, you feel differcntly

aboutyourself. Andwhenthatisthreatene{ of course you would come together and

Q: What is the relationship like between Christians and Muslimsin lraq?

A: Christianity is very old in Iraq. haq is a Biblical land: Abraham, the father of all believers, traveled from kaq, from a city called Ur which is on this land. The two rivers mentioned in Genesis, Tigris and

Euphrates, flow in this land.

Christianity, as I sai{ has always been here. And when Islam came into this land, Christians and Muslims lived side by side

for

many centuries. There have

been

that were Christian. Even in the early part of the nventieth century, it was the Christian Arabs who brought about the renaissance of the Arab world in history, in politics, in Arab nationalism.

Q: Isn't there a very large Armenian community in Baghdad?

A: Well, I wouldn't call it large. There are

between 18,000 and 20,000 Armenians

in haq. Twelve thousand of those live in Baghdad, and the rest arc in the cities of

Kirhk, Mosul,

may bejeopardized if the German economy

does not meet its high expectations.

Hopefully, the unified Germany will remain profoundly committed to rejecting the

superpowers, having trcir concepts of national

interests,

become one force.

thus enabling it to achieve a well-established

position at the right end

ofcivilization."

is an heir to all these great

civilizations. To be teated childishly because Terry Phillips is a conespondent for NBC Rqdio andthe Murual Broadcasting System He is also hcard on Natiorwl Public Radio

structural unemployment.

Economists estimate that as many as 3 million East Germans may be unemployed by next

it

7,akho, and Basra.

Q: You said the Iraqi people are behind Saddam Hussein lfi) percent That's a very foreign concept to Westernery-tlnt any political leader should have universal support And yet it seems to be the case here. Can you explain that?

A: Yes. Iraq is a country immersed in history. This is the area which is referred to

Q: What is it like for Armeniars living there?

A: Armenians feel part and parcel of Iraq, for a simple reason. When the massacrcs were perpetrated by the Ottoman rulers between 1915 and 1918, Armenians lost

Mesopoamia. This is the area which is

to 2 million of their population, and were

as

AlM, November 1990

their lands in the Ottoman Empfuâ&#x201A;Ź, lost close

thrown out of their homeland.

One of the first places where Armenians came was the Arab world. That's why you havecommunities in Egyp! Syria Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq. And we feel obligated towards the Arab people for this chivalrous act where they opened theirhearts andtheir lands. And if we survived as a people, it is partly due to this hospitable land which has offered so much to us.

Of course, Armenians-being industrious and relying on their ingenuity and arms, on

their creative ability, worked and gave to this land. We are part and parcel of it, and we shall bear any burden that the whole of world-and in these diffrcult times, Iraq-is facing.

the Arab

Q: Tell me about the history of this diocese.

A: Armenians, because of tlrcir geogmphical area-after all, Armenia is

closeness to this

only an hourand ahalffrom here by

plane-

there always has been an interaction of peoples. History tells us that there have been Armenians trading here for centuries.

In 1604, Shah Abbas invaded Armenia andtookmany Armenians intoPeni4 because Armenians were industrious and he thought they would be beneficial for him in helping the Persians build their country-not only physically, but culturally. He also had the intention, because he knew how much Armenians were attached to Etchmiadzin, to make sure that the Armenians would never look back. He had the intention of tearing down Etchmiadzin and bringing the stones to Persia. But he was persuaded not to do so, and they brought 15 stones from Etchmiadzin into Persia. And also, they brought Kn&or ltsavoreechee Atchuh (the relic of St. Gregory the Illuminator) into Persia.

When the Armenians settled there and started to prosper, they became faders. They went all the way to Indiathrough the Indian Ocean. And tnt's how the Indian community was started. By the same token, some of them came through the Arabian Gulf into Basr4 and from Basra into Baghdad. And that's when the bulk of the Armenians came to Iraq as a collective.

Q: Whenwasthat?

A: The church was

established

in

1638-

39.

This is how we think it happened. In 1638, the Ottoman armies, under Sultan Murad IV, came and surrounded the walls

time, Baghdad was occupied by the Penians.

They were able to capture Baghdad on December 25, 1638-{hristmas Day. An Armenian general in the Ottoman Empire, Kevork NazaretiarL played an important role.

After Baghdad was taken, the Sultan wanted to recognize the Armenian general's effotts.

Nazaretian asked for portions of land for

the Armenians who lived here.

It

was

granted...and a church was established.

[The church was torn down in the early 1970s, because of its dangerous state of disrepair. A replica of the original building now stands on that site. The church is named Sourp Asdvadzadzin (St. Mary).1

Many people go to that church, even Muslims. It is known to have worked miracles. You can see a chain there which people put around their necks-a very old chain which has almost wom out because of its constant use.

Some relics were brought from Sepastia, from ttre KarasoonManook (thefory maltyrs

why died for Christianity) and eventually were put in there. And when ttre church was

being rebuilt, we found that alabaster box.

We have four churches in kaq: one in Kirlok, one in Zakho, one in Mosul, and one in Basra. We have l0 clergyrnen,

including myself. Financially, we are very secure.

[The diocese owns a great deal of incomegenerating property. It is one of the few in the world which is self-supporting. It even

conributes financially to the fourArmenian community centers in Baghdad. The Iraqi govemment also donated avery large parcel of land for a new cemetery about 20 miles northeast of the capital.l

Q: IVIany people have said there is not much hope for avoiding military conflicL Whatdoyou see as a possible solutionto this crisis?

A: As I said, superpowers have an ethical dimension to them. You see, I am trying to use this word repeatedly so that it will sink in. President Bush, by virtue of being the president of a superpower, must take time and snrdy what kaq is all about, study the people of kaq, the history of kaq, and not jump into issuing ultimatums, and leave a way out, so that a negotiated settlement

We are pleased to announce the reprinting ol memorable old and rare books relating to Armenian history and culture, and to the atrocitiss perpetrated upon our people. You will find these books

of great interest both as educational and informative sources, and as unusual treasures lor you, your family and friends, which are sure to evoke responses that will prove overwhelming.

The Treatment o, Armenlans ln the Ottoman Emplre: Preface by Viscount Bryce Hard cover #Ol 726 pages $ 50.00

Chamich, Father Michael. History ol Armenia, Vol. I & ll. From 8.C.2247 lo lhe Year oI Christ 1780, or 1229 of the Armenian Era Hard cover #02 Vol. I & !l $ 70.00 /set Germany, Turkey and Armenia

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'128

Stuermer, Dr. Harry. Two War Years ln

Constantinople Hard cover

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Ussher, Clarence D. An Amerlcan Physlclan ln Turkey Hard cover #05 341 pages

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wouldensue. ff Westem civilization is heir to Greek philosophy-and it is, in a certain sensethen the West should believe in dialogue and should engage in dialogue.

of Baghdad-another blockade! At that AlM, November 1990

I D

FOR

RETIRED TT'S A

LABOROF

II'VE

Harry Sweet Preserves Film Archives For Posterity

getting similar equipment for its film

the Califomia

collection.

highlights of his productive years in the State Senate, as well as his input as the

According to Sweet, additional films will be turned over to the museum during the years ahead. He said the ultimate goal is to ftansfer the filrns to laser discs-a costly process that will give them longerlife, which in nrm, will allow film viewers of future centuries to visually leam moreaboutthe

hen future historians research or

his

history-makingrans-

Aflantic flight."

coverage

of Sweet well

and other KCRA

as "hand-out" films,

commercials and movies shown by ttre station.

"About 7 million feet of the films were given to the Sacramento City and County Museum and History Centerbecause of the space problem again at the sation," Sweet said. "And KCRA insalled a proper airconditioning system and humidity control

for the preservation of the 1l million feet of frlms. The

equipment remaining

Sacramento City and County Museum and History Center is currently in the process of

million feet of filrn from

another Sacramento station- KOVR. And he turned it over to

the California State University, Sacrarnento in the name of his

wil {,i'i

'oThere is also afilm on the recepion that

in honor of

also

received nearly 2.5

1903

through the vision and determined efforts of Harry Sweet (originally Giragosian) of

cameftrmen, as

I cameraman,

campaign," Sweetcontinued.

collections of television news films p,resewed

Recoglizing the importance of those films for the benefit of future generations, Sweet stored them in his garage, his bedroom and other rooms in his house where storage space could be made available. Eventually, he made arangements for the creation of space for the films at KCRA, where over the years, ttre collection grew to 18 million feet of film. It includes films on the news

California's i )orttr.ey first television news

the highlights of

was giventoCharles

thefilms.

Sweet, who was

President Theodore

Lindbergh in Paris

career, with films that had been discarded

by Station KCRA where he worked. It was aca,se ofthe station nothaving the necessary facilities at that time to store and catalogue

Brown, Jr.

early decades ofthe century, including a film covering

review the most newsworthy

Sacramento, Califomia.

Sweet, a retired award-winning television news caneramarL beganhis film-preservation project during ttrc early yean of his successflil

Governors Earl Warren, Goodwin Knight, Rlrnund Browrl Ronald Reagan and Mmund

'oThere are films that go back to the

events of the 20th century, ttreir

work will be enhanced by invaluable

state's top prosecutor. He also has covered

the highlights of the administrations of

pe.ople andevents of the current cenfury.

Roosevelt's

By HAIG KEROPIAN

SaE Assembly. It also features

i 't.:-

"**ki

family

which includes his wife Mauvis, his daughter Susan and his sons Michael, Mark and

Timothy. He has made himself available as a consultant to the university personnel who

will be cataloguing the l{appy archivist Harry Sweet frlms.

Sweetfritlrcrcalled attention to historic He looks forward to films on the athletic achievements of Babe many more productive and enjoyable years Ruth, Florence Chadwick and Jesse Owens. with his hlm-preservation work, including The film on Owens highlights his headlinefilms that highlight the traveling experiences making feats and actions at the I 936 Olympic of KCRA carlerarnen. He himself has Games in Berlin. visited 30 countries.

"On a flight from Rome to Teheran, I And there is Sweet's coverage of Gov. George Deukmejian's public career since heard two people in the seats directly in 1960 when the Govemor was a member of front of me talking in Armenian," Sweet Harry Sweet shows a strip of arc film to nrenters of his family. Sfanding fiom left sors lla* ad Timothy, wife Mauvis, son llicftael and daughter Susan

ane

T

P

r :

",,, lngplratlonal, btgger than one manb llfe, tftlc ls

the btography of

a Cause."

--

Prof. Anthony Annunziata "... a remarkable study of a remarkable wrlter."

Norman Slade

-

"Master{ul ..," Armen Matossian

-

"... exuberanl ..."

said. "I introduced myself to the coupleSarkis Karapetian who was the director of the entke educational system in Iran during the Shah's administrarion and his wife Asterih who could speak English. We had an interesting conversation aboard the plane.

And ttrcy invited me to their home where we later had a delicious dinner and a most

He retired from KCRA as a news cameraman in 1984 and remained with the station as its

archivistuntil 1988.

When he was asked to express his feelings

in relation to his long and distinguished career, he said that he

"would not change

a

enjoyable evening. They in turn enjoyed

thing," if he had his life to live over again.

"I would urge young Armenian-Americans to seriously consider careâ&#x201A;Źrs as television

hearing all aboutthe United States, including

news cameramen and camerawomen," Sweet

the activities of Armenians."

While reminiscing

over some of his

professional experiences, Sweet recalled the time when he was asked" along with new$rum William Harvey, to help tree 27 hostages

who were being held in a Sacramento bank by two armed youths. At first, the youths had asked for a sizable ransom-$l million; but later, they agreed to free the hostages if their messages could be televised. The requests for the help of Sweet and Harvey were made by Sheriff Duane [,owe and

Paul White of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The two joumalists were acutely aware

of the extremely dangerous nature of the assignment. And they also knew ttrat the lives of the 27 hosages would be in jeopardy if the messages were not televised. They acc@edtheassignmentandnenrouslyenEred the bank and complied with the requests of the two youths. Through their courage and willingness to risk their lives, they averted what could have been a major tragedy. They later received special awards for their heroic actions from the FBI and Sheriffs Dept.

Sweet, who was named "Cameraman of the Year" in 1968 by the Califomia Press

Photographers Association, started his television carcer at Sacramento's Station KCCC in 1953. He worked there until 1957 when the station went out of business.

That same year, hejoined tlre staff at KCRA.

added.

"I

-

Patricia Edgeworth

Harry Sweet clrecks data on film collection

have always found

it to be a

rewarding profession."

In explaining the derivation of his srurulme,

in 1926 his widowed mother decided to change the family name of Giragosian because she could not write at that time, and found it extremely difficult to pen that name. "She decided to use the Sweet said that

English fianslation of my father's first name which was Anoush," Sweet said. "It was easier for her to write Sweet rather than Giragosian.

Sweet was bom in Fresno on September 13,1920, and he received his education in

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Sacramento where he graduated from Sacramento High School. He became interested in photography as a young boy when he acquired a cheap plastic camera for 25 cents and acereal boxtop. He worked at various neighborhood chores to purchase

films and to further nurture his hobby. As the records attest, his efforts paid off. And his photographic skills were put to good use duringWorld War II when he was assigned to Mcclellan Air Force Base.

Sweet's energies are boundless. In addition

to his film-preservation work, he is writing abookaboutthebirttrof television inNorthem Califomia and the Sacramento Valley a book which unquestionably will have wide appeal in joumalism, in the entertainment industry, and for the public at large

I

AlM, November 1990

3l

Pogroms against Arrnenians in Soviet Azetaiian VolumeI. EYEWTII\ESSACCOT]NTS

Edited bv Samvel Shahm'uratian Foneword by Yelena Bonner Tnanslated by Steven Jones

THE SUMGAIT TRAGEDYs Pog roms Agai n st Armen ia n in Azerbaiian Vol. 1: Eyewitness Acaunts

Compiled and edited by Samvel Shalvnuratian F orew ord by Yelena Bonne r Translated by Steven Jones Natt York &Cambridge: Aristide D. Caratzas and The 7-oryanlnstitute. 1990, 343 pp.

Reviewed for

Paper (now available) $29.95 Hardcover (coming soon) $50.00 Postage & $2.50

Handling

-

TotalEnclosed

$ MA residents add sales tax

Name:

recalls,

"I

had somehow imperceptibly

become accustomed to the discrimination, as though it were a natural state of affairs."

Azerbaijani hostility toward the Armenian population intensified as the movement escalated among the largely Armenian population of the Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous region in Azerbaijan to join withArmenia.

The increasing tension in Sumgait

that Karabagh was and would remain Azefuaijani. "You could tell something was in the offing a week or even 10 days beforethose aweful events tookplace....

Alil

All

around ... were spreading rumors that Armenians were killing Aze$aijanis...." The

O H;ff #TJ"J,TJ#L::I"'J"?

Yet ironically, the very scale of this problem makes it difficult for us to grasp the pain involved when the very fabric of daily life is ripped to shreds as people are uprooted fiom home,

described above."

The confusion and doubt which still exist

exile, "is indeed the age of the refugee."

_

minorities living in the republic. "Having lived in the city for 38 years," one wifiress

rallies culminated in a demand to drive Armenians offAzerbaijani soil, and on the 27th and 28th, dissolved into the violence

I

OBDER FOBM:

increasing intolerance for the claims of ethnic

culminated in a series of rallies in the center of tlrc city, during which speakers asserted

By NORA DUDWICK

copy (-ies) Please send ot The Sumgait Tragedy.

nationalism which was characterized by

over the number

of

victims

raise the question of whether

the local and investigatory

neighborhmd" family and friends.

authorities deliberately

The Sumgait Tragedy, a compilation of personal

minimized the extent of the pogrom. I was in Yerevan

testimonies of Armenians forced by violence to flee their homes

during this

perid,

and recall

how on February 27, when

rallies in Sumgait had already in Azerbaijan, confronts us with u'rmed into Yiolence,'Vremya' the reality of loss and suffering S.9rahm.rratian Moscow evening news the and statistics. the labels behind progranL broadcast interviews with Armenian An example of 'tristory from below," the and Azerbaijani workers attesting to the volume focuses on the ideas and behavior perfect friendship bet'ween their peoples. of ordinarypeople, andon tlre impact historical Over the next few days, alarming rumors events and ideologies have on their daily spread that l0 Armenians and almost as lives. "Now, after the Sumgait ragedy, we, many soldiers had been killed in Sumgait. the victims, divide our lives into "before" When the true scale of the violence became " and "after." It wasn't our things they known in Armenia the official death count years 17 of life with in fire, but bumed ttre of 32 (including 26 Armenians) met with them They burned everything good we had

Mail order form and check to:

Zoryan lnstitute

Yerevanjoumalisg inthe monthsimmediately

following the events described, Armenian

19 Day Street

Cambridge, MA 02140-1203

Telephone: (617) 497-6713

Fax:

ttrought of them...."

Interviewed by Samvel Shahmuratian, a

(617) 628-7880

families recount how, from Feb.2il to 29, 1988, Azefuaijani mobs in Sumgai! a city of 250,000, desnoyed hundreds of Armenian apartrnents and shops, bumed and smashed dozens ofcars, andbeat burnedand stabbed to death Armenian merL women and children.

The pogroms were a symptom

of

a

developing but still insecure Azerbaijani AlM, November 1990

complete incredulity, and rumors spread of casualties that were actually in the hundreds.

The Soviet investigators and official mass media chose to ignore the background of discrimination and steadily inoeasingconflict, as well as the pattern of organization and provocation revealed in the auacks, treating them instead as a group of isolated crimes.

The effort of Shahmuratian to compile more accurate casualty figures is thus no mere numbem game. Rather, itis partof anintense effort to establish beyond reasonable doubt

the true scope ofevents, and to ascertain the extent to which the pogroms, which began in Sumgait and eventually spread throughout Azerbaijan, were deliberately orchestrated in Baku and Moscow to

events by Turkish and Westem scholars has taught the Armenian people the importance

Nagomo-Karabakh.

The compilation of this

of documenting and preserving theirhistory so that such a denial cannot happen again.

This mllection is the most important document on tiAatDY these events yet published in English. In addition to a series of regional, city and neighborhood maps, it contains an introduction

and other historical

by Shahmuratian which

material on the conflict with Azerbaijan reflects a determination irmong

useful

drivetheArmeniansfrom

tr{t

aulaatt

Azerbaij an, and cmsh the

for selfdetermination in movement

provides a

for the testimonies. Two more background

Armenians to prevent the reality of ttre pesent fiom

volumes are plarured: the

being denied, distorted or tivialized in the fuure.

additional testimony, while

l9l5 Genocide of Armenians in the

The

second

the third

Ottoman Empire once seemeda self-evident such on the front pages of the intemational press. The subsequent minimization of those

ARMENIA:

TRAVELS & STUDIES (TWOVOLUMESI

Lyrch

New York: Armenian Prelacy $70 per set; 470 and 512 pp.; illustrated

Beviewed ior Allrl

By ISHKHAI{ JINBASI{IAN

Ll .F.e.l-ynch'sclassic study of Armenia E o.gr-y puDlsneo m ryJl, ano now reissued by the Armenian Prelacy of New Yorb is an odyssey of sheer enchantment.

A worldly man of consummate leaming andmretohis Victorianperrchantforscholarly adventure, Lynch traveled to the Russian provinces of Armenia in 1893-94, an experience that left him so spellbound as to ultimately impel himto undertake asecon4 and culminative joumey ttrrcugh the Turkish provinces in 1898.

"It is very sffange," he note4 "that such a fine country should have lain in shadow for somany centuries, and thateven the standard works of Greek and Roman writen should display so little knowledge of its feaures

include

will

contain docurnentary material fiom

ffiB ry*l

!@q IT.TIITnI

and indisputable fact, and was described as

By H.F.B.

will

the subsequent court

proceedings, photographs and press reports.

It is hoped that a detailed analysis of the compiled material will be included in the second or third volume.

and character." Lynch was to fill that gap with his Armenia: Travels and Studies, an almost 1,000-page tact that consistenfly defies categorization.

Commanding a spectal comucopia that includes commentaries

Sumgait was both an Armenian tragedy and a human tragedy. The material therefore

demands a commentary to expand our attention from the concrete events to underlying issues of nationalism and violence.

Forexample, could interethnic violence now occurring throughout the Soviet Union have been prevented if authorities in Baku and Moscow had adequately investigated the Sumgaitpogrom and prxdshed the aggresson?

And what is the mechanism by which nationalism is channeled into brutality toward members of different national groups?

The power of The Sumgait Tragedy is that it raises these issues, while at the same time preventing the reader from taking refuge in absfract formulations. For this, we are indebted to the men and women who consented to recount to Samvel Shahmuratian

their traumatic experiences and losses. Their testimonies make real for us not only the brutal reality of interethnic violence tearing apart the toubled multiethnic Soviet empire, but the enduring pain which being a refugee

powerfrrl reminders of past glories and" dimly perhaps, ofanew dawn.

Beyond the lyrical, however, Armenia's strategic position and resources, and hence

its myriad ramifications for

on history, sociology and

art andasmuchanalysis

of such details

Europe's

diplomatic ttreane, could not have escaped Lynch' s finely attuned political

as

sersibilities. Therc he was

geological formations,

with full Victorian

systems of irrigation, and

etymological arcana,

regalia-a supe$ly rational humanist, equipped wittr

fanscends the uavelogue

prejudice.

Lynch vigorously

a fair amount of racial

geme. And if there is

He thought the

oftedium or abstruseness in any endeavor of such

Armenianswerccerainly a "martial race," and was

the danger

batrled by the sight of rude, unimaginative

encyclopedic scope, Lynch's work glitters in a prose narrative that is

Russian bureaucrats

as

gorgeously engaging

povinoes: *... the Russian

as

it is profound.

Indeed, much of the work is infused wittr a

poetic undertone that expands to frrll poterrcy

whenever Lynch is in the presence of the epiphanic-the vast, awesome spectacles of tlrc Arrrcnian landscape; tlre luxuriant viality of a medieval church; the very irony of a fallen nation serving time underthe regard of its fortifications and castles of yore,

AlM, November 1990

dotting the eastern

official gives the impression of being overwhelmed by his system, like a child to whom lessons are new; and, when you see him at work among such a people as the Armenians, you ask yourseH how it has happened that a race with all the aptitudes are govemed by such wooden figures as these.o'

In both ttte Russian and Turkish provinces,

Lynchwimessed atclose quarters trc obstinate tenacity of ttre Armeniam. Defuing all rnanner

and felt that the Armenians werc not as yet ready for self-government. Inevitably, he

of oppression and brutality by their rigid Russian rulers, comrpt Turkish offrcials, covetous Muslim neighbors and roaming Kurdish bands, Armenians everywhere brilliantly manoeuvred themselves into local economies and gained the upper hand in most fields. Furthermore, they channeled a

ttrought, the Armenian psyche had suffered the imprint of some of the worst taits of its subjugators. He even perceived something irrcxmably "Orienal" in tlre Armenian custom of kissing the ground when facing the altar in prayer: "... it was pathetic-the gesture of

mnsiderableportion of tlrcirprosperity towarrd schools and seminaries, which were viewed by bottr Constantinople and St. Petersburg as hubs of nationalistic ferment, and hence suppessed acoordingly. Lyrrch was fascinated by the intellectual fervor of tlre Armenians: "... the spirit of truth is too often akin to the spirit of revolution.... When the scales fell from the eyes of this downftodden people, the naked ugliness of their lot as serfs was revealed." A slow meamorphosis was all too apparenl Armenians were shedding the old habit of apathetic submission and

The road to liberty was to be, above all, a path to wisdom, and it had to be paved with boundless courage and persistence. In this

embracing

a vision of freedom through

resistance-induce4 in gmdparg by an influx of European ideals of justice and liberty.

But Lynch had no patience for the nascent

Armenian liberation movement, whose methods he considered myopic and rash,

Lepotar

aqor rqya

at the feet of his savage

connectiorl Lynch unsparingly castigates the Berlin Confercnce of 1878 fothe mockery that it had made of the Armenian Question, and has the tenderest affection for Catholicos Klrrimian, inwhose stalwartcall forresistance he saw a grace and nobility that he thought were characteristic of the true spirit of the Armenian people. In addition, he viewed the Armenian Constitution of 1863 as a splendid early testament to the capacity for democratic thought, and he duly included a translation of the document in his work.

Within a geopolitical context, Lynch in terms of its

considered Armenia,

geographical position, cultural prowess and economic resources, a nation of invaluable

he presented his argumentforacertain degree

of British involvement in the region. ln fact,

his "Satistical and Political" chapters on Armenia read like nothing less than a situation report for the British government, which he parenthetically held in contempt for its lack

of a constructive Near Eastern policy.

Certainly, Lynch was closely concemed with the inricacies of that meandering mesh of European politics that was the Balance of

Power. His call for British involvement in Armenia, however, might confidently be seen iN an expression of genuine altruism.

"Empire!", he exclaims, 'khat insidious wickedness, surpagEing the horrors of war, is committed in the name of empire!"

To read Llmch's opus is to undergo an

enlightenment. This is a work

of

such

immediacy, breadth and elegance, that one comes out of the experience with a wholly fresh perspective-not only of a factual Armenia and is ethos but also of that spiritual

bond that resonates with every rediscovery of the Armenian heritage.

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AlM, November 1990

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inMoscow in March 1988, said: "Without doubt, oneof the most

vtRTUOSO OF DUDUK HITS HYE

beautiful and soulful recordings I have ever heard."

Eno immediately decided to

NOTES Djivan Gasparian plays the instrument in the mnnner it dcmands ...lrom the heart

release the album on his new Opal Records label, and through an agreement with Melodiya the state-run recording commission in the Soviet Union which had originally recorded the album in 1983, work started on releasing it ouside the Soviet Union.

The tragic earthquake shook

Armenia while arrangements

ByRAFFI SHOUBOOKIAI{

way. Subsequently, when "I Will Not Be Sad in This World" was finally released

a t is believed that no other musical I instrument is able to convey ttre emotions I oithe Armenian people so honestly and

Gasparian dedicated it to his lost countrymen, and Opal decided to funnel the proceeds to Life

eloquently as the duduk, for

it is purely

Armeniaru bom in the early eons of Armenian

history. And Djivan Gasparian is uncontestably the foremost dudukist of Armeniatoday.

Because of its evocative andcolorlirl timbre and warm sound, the duduk, a woodwind instrument, has become part of everyday life in Armenia. Today, no festive occasion, wedding reception or family feast is complete

without the duduk, and no state radio or television concert or public funeral for an eminent Armenian is conceivable without Gasparian playing it.

When William Saroyan heard him play in Fresno, the duduk's moumful tone and Gasparian's mastery moved him to remark: "This is not music; this is a prayer." Brian Eno, the distinguished British musician and producer of such bands as U2 and Talking Heads, upon firsthearing Gasparian's album

were under

in the West in April

1989,

AidArmenia.

The record immediately hitthe charts in Europe and America.

Diivan Gasparian: "The duduk gives voice to tlre

By June of last year, "I will Not lanrcnt of our bitter past" Be Sad" appeared in Cash World who was in Los Angeles for a brief stay in Music Chart at number 33.

June. "Radio listeners predominantly request "It sounds like a woman mouming after duduk music: the same on television and at ttrc earttquake in Armenia" a friendremarked wedding parties." to a music reviewer in Santa Cruz, Califomia During a moming interview at a friend's after catching a moment or so of the record. house where he was staying, the television What made the comment uncannily striking was tumed on and a popular singer was is that it was made without knowledge of the music or the performer's background.

The emotional depth ofthe duduk's dolefrrl

and quivering sound-its sense of loss, of timeless continuance-has taken over the distressed souls of homeland Armenians who have turned inward and become contemplative after the earthquake. "People nowadays prefer listening to duduk music

rather than pop songs," noted Gasparian,

EAHs',i:ffi"ffi.9dffi FITITfffI

hft*ory bâ&#x201A;Źfiird it, accodrq m Gaspoftm. b siiotry_an Arrnaian afoumerrt ard b

|||

E

cil*h of',un&mngB:.:!niMes ard' of for bng periods of time. k a ho |,pipe @ etrhtfinger ffi on fEupper sidp:16rd srqtafrning drone'rffies

,

onettnrrnb*ph on the bffin. ll$ien you, ldd(rfi,*te drduk,

iE

seerns rren/ simpb, but

ffi each 'b ihdir(&&{y,han ard,td<es glWeddfftp ana sUFt,'Gre d-o to, i in

,ir,:,:llli$reliqg

r

lkmenisls

halre

6

takoh,&â&#x201A;Ź irtairuri.-t

a

l.r,tto

AlM, November 1990

wailing on a local Armenian television program. Gasparian was taken aback.

"How could this be presented as Armenian music?' he reacted'One can commit murder listening to this music! Komitas spent his

life purifying and

gathering Armenian

traditional songs; now these singers, and I can't call them arlists because they are more like musical hooligans, come on the scene

and remorselessly undo his

work."

He recounted how abride and groom had requested and danced to his duduk at a

wedding reception he had attended the previous night. 'This is how Armenians tzditionally celebrated happy occasions. The duduk is a unified symphony of the human spiril it gives voice to the lament of our bitter past in one instance, the song of our present happy life in another, and to the hymn of our faith and sftength."

As the only surviving master dudukist, Gasparian has now set himself on a mission to bring this Armenian instrument to the

Zafifrr has brought the Romanian pan-plpe. A same intemarional level that Gheorghe

soloist on Armenian radio and television, anddircctorofmusical insftuments atYerevan State Conservatory, Gasparian has prepared an army of 70 dudukists in which he has

nowplacedhis hope.

Gasparian started playing the duduk at the

insmment also play the zurna (flute-

age of 6. '"The duduk was the fust

I

leamed, but

I

like instument), shvi (whistleJike), tavu, and clarinet. "Music was not part of my general education at school, so I $aned by teaching myself. However, I did study at

the conservatory, which meant

I could

go

on to further education." He eventually qualified at both Yerevan Polytechnic, from where he graduated as economist, anC the Conservatory, from where he graduated as solo

instumentalist.

Thejewels in the crown of his professional career come from the four gold medals he won at worldwide competitions fu woodwind instruments organizedby UNESCO betrveen 1957

ardl979.

Gasparian has the unique distinction of being the only musician to be given the honorary title of People's Artist of Armenia

by the Armenian Govemment (in

1973).

Three ot}rcr giants of Armenian contempomry music have received that title - all singers: Ruben Malevosyan, Ophelia Harnbadzumian and Hovhaness Patalian.

He is himseH an accomplished singer in the folk radition, performing occasionally on radio and television. In addition to his

compositions for the duduk, he has also written love songs based on Vahan Derian poems or his own romantic lyrics.

Nor is he the only artist in the family. His wife is a dancer with the Armenian National Opera, and he has taught two of his tkee

grandsons, ages seven and eleven, the art of playingtlre dudukand saxophone. The eldest also plays the piano.

At 62, Gasparian juggles a busy schedule of concerts, recordings and teaching. While

in Los Angeles, he played with the L.A. Philharmonic Orchesffa and recorded the duduk theme on the soundtrack of the upcoming Hollywood movie'The Russia House," which stars Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer, due for Christmas release.

In early July Gasparian was in Budapest,

recording the score for an AmericanHungarian coproductioq'Storm & Sonow," which will premiere in late fall on the Lifetime cable television channel. On the soundtaclg

Gasparian was asked to play Armenian traditional folk songs as well as some of his compositions.

ln August, Melodiya released his most recent recording in the Sovet Union.

"Musically, it is an insfrument which ranges

over one octave, and is very difficult to play," stated Gasparian. "It is a matter of controlling the dynamics by means of lips, fingers and half-fingers. Essentially, it must be played from the heart - it all comes from the heart."

ALLTHATARMENIAN JAZZ Boston Summit Brings Musicians From Armenia Tb Unique Forum Alll

By ARTO PAYASLIAN

Beviewed for

he moming was filled with clouds and rain did not seem far away. But as I walked toward the spacious lawn of the

!I

Armenian Sisters Academy in semi-rural Massachusetts, I was sffuck by the enthusiasm of a group of determined people who had planned and waited impatiently for the Autumn Jazz Summit.

This was the first event courageously put together by a newly formed organization called the Armenian Arts Alliance, whose purpose, as I read in the program, 'ls to bring the Armenian experience in the performing and visual arts to a universal forum."

The open-air program on September 30 consisted of eight hours of jazz performed

kxington,

by25 Arrnenianmusicians, hostedbypopular Boston disc jockey Ron Della ChiesaAs the Summit's music director, guiarist John Baboianwas tlre first to take the stage.

He played a few of his own compositions,

spontaneity.

TheA music depended largely on the accompanied by the David Azarian Trio pulsating rhytlm supplied by the dumbeg (piano, bass, drums) and the combination and oud, and the melody supplied by the was electic. Baboian's style is crisp, eloquent clarinet and oud. Baronian was quite fluent and his selections reflected his polished with the clarinet and duduk (Armenian technique as a guitarist and his versatility as acomposer.

One of the finest vocalists of the Datevik Hovlunesyan with John Baboian

day, Maggi Scott (Vaznaian) delighted the audience with her

!

tranquil and masterfirl voice. Both

D

of faculty at Berklee College of

Scott and Baboian are members

the

Music in Boston.

A unique performance was given

by a three-man group called "Taksim" (improvisation). Souren Baroniaq }Iaig Manoukian and Jack Zarzanan took Armenian musical

motifs with Middle Eastern insruments and came up with a refieshingly new jazz perspective on folk music. As the name implies,

nio-using an oud, clarinet and dumbeg-played with controlled the

AlM, November 1990

wooden flute),

as was

Manoukian

on the oud and 7-arzaian on dumbeg. Their apparent desire to push Armenian music to the limit was both admirable and inspiring even though at times I felt they couldn't make up their minds whether to play Armenian music orjazz.

Forme, the mostintimate and hearfeltmomentof the day was

the tender rendition of "My Funny Valentine" by Datevik

ARMENIA':I

Hovhanesyan, a talented singer from Armenia. John Baboian accompanied her on the guitar.

aUTulrtN

ARTS-

AttlANcE

The crowd was absolutely captivated, silent, relishing each Vocal surnrit with (1. to a) June Baboian, textured vibrato. It was as if she Kim Nazarian, taggi Scott and April Arabhn were whispering in ourean, and enterlained throughout the day were Kim afterwards, after the applause finally died, Nazarian, April Arabian and June Baboian, tlreonly non-Armenian attheevent, amiddlewho thrilled the crowd with an all-acappella aged black man sitting next to me, slowly

took the pipe from his mouth and said, "Roll over Sarah Vaughn!" We smiled at each other and were surprised by a very blue sky. The sun had appeared. It would notrain.

Also from Armenia the David Azaian Trio took the stage with a passion which in nrm left the audience breathless. David Azarian plays with fre, finesse, and daring.

He has mastered his craft and keeps trying to expand the boundaries without fear or apprehension. The same should also be

set.

Armen Donelian and

Al

Vega

(Vagramian) were very impressive on the piano. lron Merian also performed with a truly sultry style on the numpet.

The last set of the day, at sunset, was a jam session where all of the musicians appear€d on stage anddelightedthe audience

with "Kansas City."

The 1990 Autumn Jazz Summit was a

Gevorkian and the crisp style of Grigor Balagian on drums. Their chemistry is

ffemendous success. It was carried through with professionalism and class-two words which are sadly often absentwhendiscussing Armenian events. feel it necessary to acknowledge the four Autumn Jnzz Summit Committee members: Arax Badalian, John

enormous and tlrc music tlrey produce reflects

Baboian, Haig Boyadjian and Manoog

said for the innovative bass playing of

Gevork

I

Kaprielian, who all offered their services

their love for jazz.

Among the other talented performers who

and made this festival a great

day.

!

Allatar swingtet ! !

@ =

g

tt'l'[il\ I t'l't

.lzul

AlM, November 1990

WHAT AIVA:ZOVSKY BROUGHT TO LIGHT Irwpiredpublic relations ffirt revives irterest in Armenian mnine painter from the Crimea who died 90 years ago retum to his birthplace, Theodosi4 where his belovedAnnenians hadlivedforcennries.

ByJAiIETSAilUELIAN Special to Alll

The large Italianate oceanftont house is where

is name is currently in eclipse in Westem arl circles, and at Sotheby's the occasional Aivazovslcy eams a

paltry $80,000. Yet, in 1842 Hovhannes Aivazian was becoming an intemationally famous 25-year-old from southern Russia.

His magdficent Italian landscapes made him the talk of Europe. Tumer, the aging English artist, was so influenced by ttts Bay of Naples by Moonlight hathe changed the style ofhis own painting, calling Aivazovsky a 'loung genius" in an Italian sonnet he dedicated to him.

It is no wonder, then, that at a recent intemational symposium Aivazovsky's works

the painter lived until his death

in

1900.

Nowadays, that omate villa and picture gailery, painted the color of Armenian Easter eggs, is a central tourist atffaction.

Offrcially launching tireir joint enterprise

with Crimeans-the First International Aivazovsky Symposium-Armenia's best performers took the stage of Theodosia's seaside theater last July. They faced an audience ofUkrainian dignitaries and media people, Tatar soldiers, vacationing Soviets, including Aivazovsky's great-grandaughter, a dozpn Europeans and a smattering of the 25,000 Armenians in Crimea. Ajemian's 14 tuxedo-clad violinists swept into Comc

enrapfured modem viewers as

they had his contemporaries.

In

1844 Aivazovsky's

Visiting painters pay their rcspects to Aivazoysky's monument opera-it was breakneck enteftainment.

Nexg old-fashioned love songs and pafiiotic anthems like Me r Hy renik ard Hye

greeted

widened reputation extended to honorary memberships in the art academies of Rome, Stuttgan, Amsterdam and

Gabrinh

Yeghpyrner were impeccably played by Yervant Yerkanian's ensemble. Selections were announced in Russian, but this was a far cry from the old days of toadying up to Moscow.

Finally, wild applause

Vanoush

Khanamirian's more familiar State Dance Ensemble as they unleashed their best character danc erc n Tbilisi

Florence, where the selfporrait received by the Pitti Palace still hangs there today.

Gbtuwithglnicorchesu'a-

He became the first non-

After Sophie Davoyan's

Frenchman awarded the

exquisite white-bird solo,

l-egion of Honor medal. Pope

14

Gregory XVI acquired his pan[ng C hao s : The C re atkn of the World, calling it "a miracle of anisty." Despite

linked, swayed with

the limitations of Armenians living under the Czar, he graduated with a gold medal from the St. Petersburg Art

graceful precision to Alexander Spendiarian's

Enzeli, ending with a leaping grand finale of Saber Dance. Three more liee concerts prepared by

"Sunstet'

Laert

Academy and eamed his scholarship for Italian art study. During a tour of duty with the Black Sea fleet, he had painted one great maritime work after another.

Because of his fame, he was given the

honorary title, Painter

peuy wonren wittr arms

of Chief

Naval

Headquarters, and was offered the post of Russian Imperial Court Artist. Instead, the Czar granted Aivazovsky's modest wish to

Back to Sorrmto (ttre painter, after all, had

Movsessian's

Songs

Philharmonia organization took place in Yalta and Simferopol, the last one televised live. All five state-sponsored groups were

Kharchanrrian pieces, dramatic Sayat Nova and Paruyr Sevak recitations in Russian, Naregatsi by nvo hauntingduduks, bilingual Toumanian poeury, an excetpt frcm Gayane, even sopftlno Arax Mansourian of Anoush

long bus rides to and from performances.

They were old hands at packing their own Armenian cheese, brandy, portable coffee makers, soap and large towels to enjoy a Black Sea vacation far from ttre heat and

spent many years depicting Italian seas).

by Crimean-born Alexander Spendiarian, Hungarian dances and

AlM, November 1990

supeft, mairuaining discipline on innumerable,

years and painted close to

turmoil of Yerevan.

6,000 works. To his city

Seventeen guest artists also

he

living one month in Yalta

printing house and schools, and he helped Armenian

hotels, solving daily shortages

of food and art materials.

To

churches and refugees.

Papers delivered at the

absorb quickly all the nuances

of light on water

GORKY's LEGAGY

brought water, a railrca4

sharpened survival skills after

New crop of Armeninn artists

symposium discussed Aivazovsky's place in

which

Aivazovsky observed every day for yearc was an unfair

inherit their compatriot's agony of double diaspora

Russian art, his letters and

relationships; but art

challenge.

historian

Bedros Aslanian of Greece,

Edmon Aivazian and Khachatur Pilikian of

Hovlrannes Aivazovsky

c.1860

England, Richard Jeranian of France, Harout Minassian of Iran, and Flrarch Tashjian of Americ4 heartily mixed

with painters from Armenia, Latvia, Byelorussi4 Ukaine, Georgia and Moscow.

Armenia's tradition of plein-air painting showed is strength in ttre colorful group art show. Also impressive was tlre subject mafier

Shahen

Alll KLUKKERT

Reviewed for

ByJlll

Khachaturian, showing slides and guiding tours,

proved the national

?

I

character of Armenians is best exemplified

by Aivazovsky-'ttrat God-given talent who painted ttre sea ftom a rmm with no windows to better capture its color and light." The

te exhibit of "Anhile Gorky:

Gallery both

Three

necaOes of Drawings" at Gerald Peters a

in

Santa Fe, New Mexico, was a disappoinrnent. As such,

joy and

it rcminds us of the con0adictions that

plaued

new Aivazovsky Museum opening in

the artist and the man.

Yerevan is partly due to the efforts of the Sarian Museum director.

Drawing was certainly cenral andperhaps primary to Gorky's creative process. In a letter to his sister Vartoosh in 1942, the artist wrote: 'lDrawing is the basis of art. A bad painter cannot draw. But one who draws well can always paint. That is why I direct you to draw as much as you can.

Drawing gives the artist the ability to contol his line and hand. It develops in him the precision of line and touch. This is the path toward masterwork."

It is a visual joy to see Gorky's process in the raw; the freshness, the sponaneity and even the artist's deliberations are laid bare

o s

6

{

3

in many of the 29 drawings on display.

Because most of the exhibited pieces are in pencil or ink, one might expect to miss Gorky's stunning use of color. lnstead, the artist's feeling for form and line are so sffong that many of the drawings retain all the emotions elicited from his majorpainted

works.

Of course, the woffhiness of these drawings comes as less of a surprise, knowing that

Gorky constantly sketched. The essay in exhibit's catalogue informs us that the artist filled not only his studio but also the the

-steep mountains verdant withcygess, poplars and pines which rim Yalta's busy port and

Thus, by offering attention and cultural gifu, the Armeniars succeeded in reclaiming

its hillside Armenian cathedral, Gurzufs

Aivazovsky. The ancient architectural charms of fteodosia's tiny Armenian churches and l5th century Genoese walls and towers in the Garantina area also were spotlighted.

beach and rock formations

jutting out of the

bay, the large seaside city of Alushta sloping

down ftom inland cliffs, and the craggy blue heights of Sev Kar and Bear Mountain,

leading eastward to Koktebel's

and

Theodosia' s turquoise waters.

Those Black Sea landscapes form the heart of Theodosia's famous picnre gallery, created

by Aivazovsky in 1880 to house his best

In 1992, under the auspices of UNESCO, Armenia, a nation without an ocean, will be able to celebrate with a broader audience the l75th anniversary of the birth of that etemally great seascape painter, Hovharmes Aivazovsky.

I

paintings. He fraveled worldwide in 60 AlM, November 1990

menus, napkins and tablecloths of râ&#x201A;Źstaurants

where he ate, and illuminated the many letters that he wrote.

The disappointment of this exhibition is selection of drawings to fully inroduce new viewers to this pioneering role that the American art establishment has ignored. By resricting

is failure to present an adequate

their discussion of his significance as a "bridge" between sunealists and abstact Jim Klukiken is an artist and a in Santa Fe, New Mexica

witer living

expressionism, critics like Clement Greenberg

Mruroukian, have pnrvcd thcnrselves wor-thy

have pref'erred to appropriate Gorky into the New York art scene. This dwelling on

o1'Gorky's legacy by moving foru,ard in

fbnnal asper:ts of Gorky's wo* ha-s ne-ulected thc pivotal role he has played in bringing an ancient culture into the 20th century.

It should come as no surprise thal a commercial cxhibit o1'Gorky's work dtrcs not ofl'er the thinking that would illunrinate the obvious passion of these at1 works. A few irnages. such as the studies o1"'Tree ol the ('r'os:." hit ir: Gorky's reinlerpretation of ancient themes. But without the context.

dealing u,ith issues like fbrgiveness ard guilt,

sexism and violence. Most inrporlantly, these artists [ransmit crcative and spiritLral grcwth-an element essential to the survival of iL culture. So, like Gorky, these arlists ofien sutl-er thc double diaspora. cxile ilom horncland ancl rejection of their own exiled comrnunity. This lack o1'supporl is perhtrps understandable when refirgees re-enact the rituals. patterns iuid conllicts of thc u:cupied

who br.rt an Armenian would unclerstand

convcrsations ol'the Czech rcfu-eces in PiLris,

inetfbctivell, bickering away in Milan

contemporary curse

in the Arnrcnian

i!

KunderiL's U nbu rubLe Li g htne.s.t t f' Re ing.)

In a world cognizant ol widespread aspirations for national idcntity, thesc artists iu'e drivcn to seck supporl elsewherc fbr their eflirn. As such, we rnily expect that tew of thern will submit to the tragic end that bet-ell an isolatcd Gorky.

i

q

I rt^. ,1,

f

;'.r I ii;1:

!

-l.ri,i.l t-'

I I o

:ii:iti:.'1,

:

{

Armenian experiencc. Like Gorky, they

A"xfr"

Despite its shortcornings, this exhibit is

reach new firn'ns, new visual alphabets that

rcnrarkablc viewing; Gorky's work

intemationally legible. Like Gorky. they find sustenance amon.g communities of expatriates liorn nations other than their

rewu'ding whatever the circurnstance. But

are

own.

Some of these arlists, like Marcos Gregoriiur

and Onnig Kalfayan, interpret aspects of their ancient cultur-e through the usc of eafih material irnd rctum to naturc, findin-9 rrew inspirations as did Gorky in the Connecticut countryside.

Other artists. such as Ardash and Seta

is

one wonders how fLrlly his drcarn rnight be realized if the exhibitir)n wele organized as

"Anrenia's giftto the world."

Alas. one suspects that will happen oniy in the lirtLrre when the cor.nmunity proudly embraces the works of Gorky's successors. an expressior.r of

The exhibit travels to Gerald Peters Gallery in New York Nov. 5 - 21. lt was shown in Dallas Oct.11 - 31.

AlM, November 1990

iiri

l

'

,

.,'

rtt.. il:"

',.1,(::,r

"Head Composition," oil on paper,

,

.

t:ii:;;i:

'+il#af-,491

x â&#x201A;Ź

.

ir '-r:4"i,il:rr-r!"

o

r

i:

i'ir '.{1

homcland. (One is rernindcd of the

how Gorky reinvigorates prirnal thcrnes fbr a spiritually dead modern world.

But the problenr is not or)ly the plague of lhe corttrnercial art world: it continttcs ls a

community. Today there iu'e several rnature Armenian artists who are boldly striving to share with the world the wealth o1' the

!:<

-

-

:i:r i

'til

PARSEGHIAN KIGKSBAGK N otre Dame's Ex-Football Coach Reviews His Career

58 defeats and six ties; that puts

him among

the highest-rated college football coaches of all times.

By HARRY SOUIRES Specia!

His overall coaching recordwas l70victories,

Why did he retire from

toAlll

active coaching at the height of his distinguished career?

aseball may be America's national

in

"I felt like I

was on

what one leams as a child.

It should be noted that Parseghian, a handsome, 5-foot, l0-inch, 200-pound man

during his younger days, had been tremendous attrlete

a

himself. He was an

outstanding athlete in high school, a threesport strr in college and a professional football player with the Cleveland Browns until a hip injury ended his career Parseghian, who served I;' in the U.S. Army during d

a

e

World War II,

earned

October, but during

treadmill," he explained.

November the national attention is focused on the sport of football. And when one thinls of football and its heroes of the

"You go from abowl game

degrees at Miami

to meetings to spring practice

University. Following his

past, one alsorccallsttrc greatfooballcoaches

a new

pastime

of yesteryear. Among those outstanding coaches is Ara Paneghian, whose career as coach of the None Dame football teams was so remarkable that he is remembered just behind ttre legendary Knute Rockne.

From 1964 through the 1974 season, the teams at Notre Dame compiled

the

football enviable record of 95 victories, 17 losses and four ties. During this most impressive tenure, ParseghianJed teams won three national championships and went through two seasons undefeated. In ttre 1973 Sugar

Bowl

game, he led his team, rated No. 3

that year, to a24-23 victory over numberone-rated Alabama Two years later, playing against the same higtrly-rated opponent, the Notre Dame team won l3-ll in the Orange Bowl.

Coach Parseghian's teams were always noted for their precise

bachelor's and master's

to fund-raising and back into

successfirl coaching career,

football season. The cycle is endless. The pace

he entered the world of

never slackens. There were just too many demands. You

series called

think you're in good health while you're going through it, but something must be wrong when you're popping

television,

frst hosting a "Ara's Sports

World," a 52-week, half-

hour program

that of

encouraged participation

Ilinrrer Oct. 4 in l{ew Yod<'s

all age groups in sports. In

1967 he joined Keith

Waldorf-Astoria Hotel

two blood- pressure pills a

Jackson and Clnis Schenkel

day."

Parseghian was bom in Akron, Ohio, on May 21,1923. His father Michael was a native of Moush, Turkey; his mother was bom in Nice, France.

"When I was a youngster my father spoke to me, my brother and sister in Armenian,

color commentator on the ABC College Game of the Week. Six years later, CBS asked him to join Brent Musburger as an in-studio commentator for pregame, halftime and postgame shows. He retired from this assignment last year and presently is

in French,"

Enterprises, based in South Bend, Indiana.

"I have an insurance agency with two of my formercoaches,"

and my mother spoke to us

as

the chairman of the board of Ara Parseghian

, I Parseghian told me. "I do public $ relations work and some i motivational speaking and am

executions both offensively and defensively. He set up tough drills for every team player, including workouts on Sunday aftemoons.

This regimen paid off in the case of quarterback John Huarte, who was a third-sringer in 1963 but won the coveted Heisman Trophy a year later. In that year, l9@,

involvedwith my favorite charity, multiple sclerosis."

Multiple sclerosis has claimed ttre lives of his sisterandbrother-

deeply

in-law and has stuck his own

daughter Karan. His proudest moment came when Karan was able to walk down the aisle at her church wedding. the media was so impressed with team Al!.Stall the 1976 College addresses Par:seghian The greatest pep talk Ara ever that Parseghian's coaching ability Parseghian told me. "So I am half-Armenian, gave was not before a football game but both he and coach Frank Broyles of the butour social activities were always centered rather at the wedding of Karan. "It was University of Arkansas, were voted "Coach around Armenian events. Even to this day low-keyed," said Parseghian. "I merely of the Year." my children and grandchildren gravitate suggested that she try walking. She made Before his coaching career m Nofie Dame, it! I have never seen my daughter more toward Armenian affairs, even though my Parseghian was head coach at his alma wife is not Armenian." radiant than when she came out of the church mater, Miami University of Ohio, where When I inquired whether Parseghian was that night." his teams won 39 gilnes, lost only six and fluent in the Armenian language, he replied: Today, the nationally-known football was at Northwestem After Miarni, it tied one.

"Frankly, I do not speak Armenian that coach considers himself to be 'semi-retked,' ttrat he atracted the attention of the Notre well, butlcan graspthegistof an Armenian enjoying a slow-paced life after so fluuly Dame sports administrators; forfour straight conversation. I suppose one never forgets years Northwestern defeated Notre Dame. active and productive years.

I

AlM, November 1990

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ByCHARLES NAZARIAN Executive Editor he palatial mansion in which Sirak Baloyan and his wife, Afife', reside

atop a

hill

overlooking Tijuana,

Mexico, is a monument to Armenian ingenuity and their determination to build a home their family could be proud of. Rising majestically above manicured lawns, fruit orchards, flower gardens and an olympicsize pool, the 35-room mansion took four years to construct and was completed about 20 years ago.

The Baloyans rejected the plans of at least four or five architects before they found one that adhered to their unique concept. They

selection of paintings and fumishings. Mrs. Baloyan's clever arrangement of flumiture,

of Mexico. In addition, he invented a process for manufacturing the first cigarette filters.

drapes and figurines gives the spacious residence an inviting atmosphere of warmth and coziness.

Baloyan, a highly respected citizen of Mexico, barely escapd from Turkey 66 years ago after witnessing members of his

Eventually, Baloyan sold his various enterprises and now keeps busy with

family

fall victim to Turkish

even brought a huge slab of pink marble from Italy which was carvedfrom onepiece for the bathtub in the master bedroom.

Lerger-than-life statues, marble floors and cryst.rl chandeliers in the entrance hall and

reception rooms create the impression of entering a museum or similar sanctuary.

Afife', Baloyan's wife of 40 years, personally supervised the interior decor and AlM, November 1990

investment ventures. Asked if he had any hobbies, Baloyan said: 'Making money is my hobby." The 75-year-oldenffeprcneur said he thrives on searching for financial

Lofty trees provide shade for the glass-elrclosed

rpper flools ol the Baloyan mansion

fui onEte spiral stalrcase rlses above a grand piano at the main entlance

Siak and Afife Baloyan slr.ne a netarrrg momqrt in their spacinus library

opportunities here and abroad.

purrcnrarcd by frequent laughter as they relate pleasant anecdotes of their family life. They

Baloyan credited his grandfather

have seven children: four girls and three

for teaching him the principles of free enterprise. 'Never work for a salary if you can help it, Sirak," his grandfatlrcr had told hirn "Your pay would be measured like a donkey's [ail-never shrinking or growing. Start yourown business if you wanttobecome financially independenr" Mr. and Mrs. Baloyan believe in entertaining grrss in an infonnal aftnosphere. In tue Armenian

boys. The grls are all manied and have presented them with eight grandchildren:

tradition, their conversation

is

This poolsftle arca b f;equently

filled with the Iaughter and Ynices of guects entertained bythe Baloyanchildron

AlM, November 1990

six boys and two girls. Their three sons are single and live at home.

On special occasions, as many as 300 guests have been comfortably entertained in their spacious reception hall. Photographs of visitingdignitaries adom acomplete wall of the hall on ttre lower level. Amongthem are heads of state from many counffies. In one of the photos, Gov. George Deukmejian is being greeted by the governors of two Mexican provinces.

Standing on one of the mansion's many balconies, Baloyan surveyed the sprawling city below and remarked, "It was a long hard climb, but it was worth

it."

r

REHABILITATED Nationalist Panryr

llayrikian,

who was expelled in 1988 for defaming the Soviet state,

has approved aU.S.

regained his citizenship

BETIRED Gregory H. Adamian,

October 6. hesident Mikhail Gorbachev signed the order restoring the citizenship of Hayrikian, whohas been living in exile in California. Hayrikian, who was elected in absentia to flte Arrtenian Padiament in the May elections, has said he would renrm to the homeland and take his seat in parliament.

DEFECTED Andrei Torossiau 27, and his Russian wife, performers in the'Moscow on Ice" roupe, defected October 13 in Michigan, after their last show. The couple attributed their decision to seek political asylum to an increasing hostility toward ethnic minorities in the Soviet Union.

APPOINTED IIarut Sassounian, 40, publisher and editor of The Califomia Couier, was appointed Executive Director of the United Armenian Fund by the organization's Board

Califomia, seven major

of Directors. Based in Glendale,

the UAF

Magharians pleaded innocent and were expected to appeal tlp sentence. Switzerland

is a coalition of

charitable and religious organizations in the

U.S., engaged in providing economic assistance to Armenia. Sassounian has a Master's in International Politics from Columbia University, New York, and an MBA from Pepperdine University, Los Angeles.

extradition request.

president of Bentley College in Walftam, Massachusetts since 1970, will leave that post next summer to assume the duties of the newly created

of chancellor. His retirement, effective next July, will mark the end of one of the longest tenures of any current college president in Massachusetts. Adamian, 64, has long been a director of the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research, and serves on the cenral board of position

the international Armenian General

vacancy on the California Supreme Court. Baxter will become the

research articles regarding gangs, crime victims, correctional programs, and the pioneering book "Parental Child Stealing."

Philologist

Antapian, director of

Associate Justice Armand Arabian, on the high court. If approved by voters in the

manuscripts and miniafures division of the Matenadaran ,

November ballot, Baxter, 50, will assume his post in January.

passed away in Yerevan Sept.

atthe age of 63. Sarting at the national manuscript depository as an associate in

1959,

DIED BorisB. Ptotrovsky, directorof

the

world-

andCultureof Urartu." In 1944, Piorovsky became amemberofthe ArmenianAcademy of Sciences. He took over the leadership of theHermitage ru;,lg6/.

Antapian became head of

manuscripts

divisionin

the

1984. He has wrimen

50 scientific articles and shrdies.

ORDAINED

Rev. Fr. Khajag

Barsamian, Primate of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in America on October7 was

ordained and consecrated a bishop by Catholicos Yazgen I at the Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin.

Also ordained were Bp. Hovnan Derderian @iocese of Canada), Bp. Hagop Kilinjian

of

Uruguay), and Bp. Kisag

Mouradian @iocese of Argentina).

Prof. LudwigBazil, the

Jean and Barkev Magharian, the two

Teheran-born Armenian

Lebanese-Armenian brothers who were arrested in 1987 by Swiss police, on September 13 were found guilty of illegally

composer and violinist, died

ELECTED

AuguS 8 in Munic[ C]ermany, where he had been living for

Dr. Yeghig Konialian of California was elected president of the Hamazkayin Cultural and Educational Association, at

channeling 32 million dollars from the Colombian cocaine tade into Switzerland.

Each was sentenced by a Swiss court to four-and-a-half years in prison. The

4

the

2l

(Diocese

OONVICTED

Dr. Pailak

second Armenian-American, joining

excavations in Armenia at Mount KarmirPlumer (Red }Iill$ uncovered the remains of an Urartu-period town and fortress. He has published his findings in'The History

antlnr of numerous

institutions of higher leaming in lrbanon and the United States. He has held

onHuman Rights.

in l,ong Beach, was appointed

is the

heart failure at the age of 65.

Educated at l-ondon University and a gmduate of Oxford" Toriguian has taught at numerous

August 28 to fill an upcoming

of Urartu, in presenrday Armenia. His

Jusice. Dr. Agopian

August 18 while visiting Beirut, kbanon. He died of

Appellate Justice Marvin Baxter (Bagdassarian) of Fresno was confirmed on

GONFIRIIED

Univenity

by President George Bush to serve as Chief Deputy Director, Bureau of Justice Statistics in the U.S. Departrnent of

Shavarsh

Toriguian, diplomat, lecturer and author, passed away

govemmentalpositions inkbanon, andacted as advisor to the governments of Kuwait andRas-Al-Khaimah. A consultantto several United Nations economic bodies, Toriguian was also instrumental in innoducing the Armenian Question inthe UN Subcommiuee

Benevolent Union.

professor of Criminal Justice at Califomia State

Ballet sar Lyubov VoynovaShikanian died Aug. 23 in Yerevan at the age of 81. A people's Artist of Armenia, Shikanian was a prima ballerina with the State Opera and the Spentyarian Opera Company. She has brought Aram Khachaturian's 1939 ballet, Happiness,to the Moscow stage.

Prof.

renowned Hermitage Museurn, died October 15 in Lrningrad of a cerebral hemorrhage.

He was 82. Piorovsky won fame in 1939 for his discovery of the ancient civilization

Dr. Michael Agopian,

DIED

many yearc. He was

59.

Prof. Bazil has

toured extensively inEurope and the United

States

with the Musicam Trio

orchestra which he founded.

AlM, November 1990

chamber

drcorganization'sfirstinternational convention in Athens, Greece, Aug.23-26.

Time in a frame '"The history of the Czech people can be compared with that of Armenians," says Los Angeles filmmaker Ara Madzounian, who was in Prague for the September 30 premiere of his recent documentary, kmd of Open Graves. "Czechoslovakians were subject to foreign domination and persecution in the last three centuries." The hourJong documentary, co-produced by Czechoslovak Sate Television, depicts Genocide and Sumgait survivors, the Stalin purges and the ongoing developments in Armenia, where it was shotduringthree weeksearly

this year. "Film as a medium is important to reconsffuction efforts in Armeni4" says Madzounian, 37.

"Through film, the outside world

Mindgames It seems that whatever dubious adventures he gets himseH into, World Champion Gary Kasparov eventually finds a way out. After judging his initial position deteriorating in Game 6 of the World Championship Chess Match at New York's Hotel Macklowe, he gave up a pawn to organize his forces for an attack that everyone had to believe

can come to a firsthand understanding

time." The film has generated great interest complicated political

-

especially his challenger, Anatoly Karpov. Kasparov, who entered Game 9 Nov. I tied at 4.5 points, is playing under the whiteblue-red colors of the Russian Republic. The Soviet flag, with its Communist symbol of hammer and sickle, has come to "represent oppression and tyranny," said the heavyweight champ of the mind who is

half-Armenian.

I

with American, Japanese, French and Argentinian

"lreadless"celebrityint s Angeles. After splashing Nevada papers, Mr. Astor (Antanig Arabadjian), tlre

General Benevolent Union, which so far has raised $8,800,000 for

Bulgarian-bom magician, is making waves at L.A.'s night clubs. The 47 -y ear-

in the month, Simone was

old entertainer

wants, however, to take off for

Philharmonic Orchestra for her

las

leading symphonic orchestra.

He is becoming

a

recovery prcgrams in

Armenia later

named Honorary President of the Armenian

conhibutions to revamp Armenia's

Vegas with his bags

of magic tricks. "I'm different from other magicians," he said. What makes him different? He takes his head off before he starts his

distributors. a

First lady of the yeal AGBU's "First Lady," Louise Manoogian Simone, in October was presented the "Woman of The Yeaf' awardby the Armenian Professional Society in Los Angeles -the firstto go to a woman since it was started 17 years ago. Simone last year was elected president of the Armenian

Head over knees

of the personal

struggles waged during this

shows.

I

Reinventing the tines Who needsknives andforks as there are

The file forjoint venhtres

as

long

CutForks -abreaktlrough

in plastic tableware. Combining

ttre

and eartlrquake preearednes.s

utility of a fork with a safe cutting

tucked under his arm, Yerevan Mayor Artashes

edge, CutFork is the recent invention of a 3O-year-old Califomia gemologist,

in

Miro Bouchakian. Good news for pafiy animals - "It's made of plastic

Geghamian

September

visited and received the symbolic keys to several major U.S. cities. Meetings with Armenian community leaden in Boston, Denoit and Los Angeles followed his paticipation in the Intemational Mayor's Conference of the United Nations. Geghamian,41, was the only mayor invited from the Soviet Union. Picfired here scanning the L. A. downtown cityscape ato,p the city hall building.

I

andit's greatforparties," said the young

inventor, who plans to market the product in Japan, Canada and the United Kingdom. Several retail chains in Califomia have already expressed interest

in selling CutForks, which has been featured on several national television shows, including MTV. Bouchakian last year won the desigr award for invention at the Invention Convention

inPasadena.

AlM, November 1990

r

President of Armenia Comments on Relations with Turkey

ARMENIA SHOULD NOT TRADE WITH TURKEY

UNTIL...

Following are excerpts from an article

by Agnieszka Romaszewska entitled "Anxious Armenia Looks to Turl<ey," which appeared in the October 4 issue

o/ TheWasingtonTimes. rmenia's new govemnreng deterrnined to cut its ties with Moscow. believes the road to independence lies through a

most unlikely neighbor

-

Turkey, the

republic's president said yesterday. kvon Ter-Petrossian, president of the Armenian Supreme Council, said at a

luncheon with reporten and editors of The Washington Times that it is hnally time for the Turks and Armenians to lay aside 75 years of bittemess stemming from the 1915 massacre....

"The most important factor for the future of ttre independent Armenian state is not having the protector in distant Moscow, but normalizing relations with its immediate neigbors, including

Tukey,"

By HARUT SASSOUNIAN

block all trade routes between the two

Armenia's newly elected nationalist leaders have decided to establish trade ties with a

all materials supplied by them. We can ill afford to forget the painful lesson leamed from the Azeri blockade which has practically crippled the economies of

country that ever since 1915 has been

normal relation wouldbenefit all mncemed parties." ...While admitting that many Armenians

viewed by all Armenians as their archenemy.

"in the diaspora" are not yet ready to consider an

attempted genocide, Mr Ter-Petrossian argued that his country needs to break out of its isolation in a remote corner of the SovietUnion.

By establishing relations with neighboring Turkey, he said, it can build up its trade and achieve access to sea routes through the Black Sea and to modem highways leading to Europe and Middle East.

Normalized relations could also benefit Turkey, offering it new markets and a chance to atone for the mass slaughter of the Armenians during World War I, he

said. Turkey has never acknowledged the massacres.

Mr. Ter-Petrossian establishment

of

said he sees the

relations

with

such

Turkey becoming inueasingly important as the Soviet Union's central government in Moscow grows weaker. neighbon

as

the slightest hint of a conflict, the Turks would

eversing a long-standing policy of shunning all contact with Turkey,

Mr. Ter-Petrossian said. "I believe that

forget what his people

First of all, it would be unwise to depend

on Turkey as a ffading partner. At

Armenian officials contend that tading with Turkey should not be misconstued as having established political relations. Their stated objective is to secure the necessary goods and supplies for Armenia's economic progress. They, probably, also hope that good neighborly relations will minimize the potential threat from Turkey as Armenia moves away ftomMoscow's protectivemver.

Nevertheless, all thee Armenian political parties have expressed their vehement opposition tosuch ties. FormostArmenians, nading wittr Turkey is tantrmourt to dealing

in blood money. It is morally repugnant

and evokes a strong emotional reaction.

Even though modem Turkey didnotcommit ttre Genocide,

it

it

assumes

the blame for it

continues to carry out an as long as active campaign of denial and cover-up.

Going beyond the moraUemotional aspect

of the issue, trading with Turkey, in our

will cause irreparable harm to Armenian political demands and undermine Armenia's economy in the long run.

view,

AlM, November 1990

countries, creating immediate shortages on

Armenia and Karabagh. Having more than 80 percent of its imports routed through Azerbaijan has placed Armenia at the mercy of its neighboring republic. Shifting the supply routes from Azerbaijan to Turkey is hardly a solution. If s rather like jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

The time to look for more reliable trade

partners is now, before developing a dependency on Turkish products which can only lead to economic blackmail.

Contrary to prcnouncements by Armenia's

leaders, economics and politics are not separable. It is not possible to trade with Turkey while conducting an active campaign for the recovery of the occupied territories of Westem Armenia or the recognition of the Genocide. For the sake of maintaining economic relations, we wouldhave no choice but to sacrifice our political interests.

For a better assessment of the risks involved" we must analyze this issue from the Turkish

perspective. Trade with Armenia would constinrte

a

negligible part of Turkey's overall

mnomy. The Turks, however, would be much more interested in the political JIM MOOOY

consequences of the commercial relationship.

Theyknow thatthey willbe ableto counter anyArmenian political demands by simply

,ff,,^:.\il:ffH?ElTg" I2O2' 225-3571

COMMINEE ON WAYS ANO MEANS

â&#x201A;Źongrese of $e Wnite! ftoude ot

pointing out to "good neighborly relations" between Armenia and Turkey. Armenian efforts to pass a Genocide resolution in the U.S. Congress or other measures in the European Parliament or the United

$tateg

BepreBentatiber

@asrington,

Eâ&#x201A;Ź

october t2,

'3s l,ffl?i;'Ls

sL

*ililli'ill5ii"'

20515

L99O

Dear Colleague: Because our attentlon has bee[ so fuJ,ly occupied with the budget crLsis Ln the past few weeks, you uy have missed the attached article fro6 October 4, 1990 Ln the Wa;hington Tines, reprinted on the reverse

Nations would be seriously

Lntervl,ew with Levon Ter_pet.osian,the _ In-thi,s_fascLnating newly elected presLdent of the Amenian Republic iD the Soviet Union, there are two i[portant points I hope you will note: FLrst, is the strong Lndlcation that lmeDLans lLving in Amgnia are no! interested tn dredging up and prsuing-6;=Ii controversies between Amenians and Turks ovei allegitions of genocide ff,om 75 years ago. I thtDk it is worth specLal note that tl.e Amenian President says it Is Amenl.ans "in thd diaspora,, (i,e. in the UnLted States) who are uuilling to Lay this matter aside.

Ttre vi,ews expressed by presLdent Ter-petrosLan are also consistent uith what I have beea toLd Ln flrst hand conversations with Amenian comuity Ieaders in Tulkey.

Second, President Ter-petrosi{ Eakes it clear that Amenia wants nomaL relatj.ons pLth Turkel', lncluding trade. He says ,,it 1s finally tlee for Amenians and Turks to liy aslde 7B yei"s oi bitterness - " These are precisely the points a nEber of u3 Eade dring ou Eany debates on the Amenian Cenocide Resolution over the pasi fe, years. I hope you wiLl file tbls article away for future riference shouLd the dlvisive and i1l-advised aneaiair ResoLutl,on again be braught to tl.is Hause.

sincerely,

compromised. The opponents

of

such

activities would have the ironic excuse of "not wanting to harm Armenia's economic interests."

One U.S. congressnum wasted no time in

trying to capitalize on the Armenian President's overtures towards Turkey. In a letter sent to all of his colleagues in the House of Representatives on Oct. 12, Cong.

JimMoody (Democrat-Wisconsin) referred to "a fascinating interview" with President Lrvon Ter-Petrosyan, published in the Oct. 4 issue of The Was hington Time s.

Cong. Moody, a long-time opponent of

the Armenian Genocide Resolution in out'two importantpoints" from that interview. The first was "the stnong indication that Armenians living in Congress, singled

Armenia are rwt interested in dredging up and pursuing the old conhovenies between Armenians and Turks over allegations of genocide from 75 years ago. I think it is worth specialnotethattheArmenianRresident says it is Armenians 'in the diaspora' (i.e. in the United States) who are unwilling to lay this matter aside."

The second

point Cong.

Moody

mentioned was that hesident Ter-Petnosyan "makes it clearthat Armenia wants normal relations with Turkey, including frade. He says, 'it is finally time for Armenians and

Gong. Jim ltloody's letter to his colleagues in t|re House of Representatives

Tur*s to lay aside 75 years of bittemess'."

have to make peace someday. But that time

Mmdy concludedhis lemerby urging his colleagues to 'Tile this article away for

Armenians are ready for it.

Cong.

is not now. Neither the Turks nor

the

ill-

Armenian and Turkish officials will

advised Armenian Resolution again be

eventually sit at the negotiating table and work out a comprehensive agreement that would provide for not only economic, but

future reference should the divisive and

broughtto this House."

In his eagemess to score a point against the Genocide Resolution, Cong. Moodyhas inadvertently disclosed how Turkey and its apologists plan to exploit trade for political advantage.

Going along wittr ttre Turkish game plan would mean the abandonment of 75 years

also cultural and political relations. outstanding issues between the

nro

All

sides

should first be resolved, including the recognition of the Genocide, ttre payment of reparations and the retum of occupied territories.

In the meantime, establishing frade ties

of struggle by Armenians worldwide, effectively absolving Turkey of the

with Turkey is premature

obligation to face its past. Before embarking onthis irreversible course, anational debate

counter-productive. To meet Armenia's economic needs, abettershategy would be

should take place weighing carefi.rlly the long-term consequences of such a policy.

To ourknowledge, the Armenian Parliament

republics,andneighboringlzn. r

has not even discussed this issue.

We do not wish to imply that Armenia

and Turkey should remain hostile forevermore. Two neighboring countries AlM, November 1990

to develop relations

and

with Georgia otrer Soviet

Reader! on wged ta respond ta

Hara

kssounian\ penonal vicwpoilt by writing to NM ond expressing thcir opinbn on pres shg iss ru confm iling Arme nien s.

this

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Hard Cover, 8.5"X1 1" , 402 Pages, Publication Date: Feb, 1990

Please clip and mail with check or money order to: Armenian Relerence Books Co. P.O.Box 231

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Hamazkarn Armenian Cultural Associatiou pr6ents

AYO KUYUM.IIAN

llorks by Hafia, Beethoven, Schubert, Prokofiey and lelalian

Saturday, December 1, 1990 at 8pm Jodm Hall at New Englmd Conseflatory of Music 33 CaiNborcugh

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Survival of Our "lAN" - An Uplifting Saga

By HAIG KEROPTAN

frl lf

hecking through an Armenian directory

he said with a deep, prolonged sigh.

And the experience can be even more

a gnawing,

meaningful

if

one stops long enough to

realize that through centuries of repression

and persecution, Armenians somehow managed to preserve their family names, along with their language and deeply rooted religious and cultural beliefs.

It is a heartwarming fact that the overwhelming majority

of

Armenians

throughout the world today have maintained their ethnic names a glowing pichre that clearly indicates that most Armenians feel happy and secure with their names. Unlike some oftheir counterpafis ofpast generations, they do not feel that their narnes, including the long ones with tongue-nvisting syllables, are deterrents to progressing in their work and social activities.

We are not being critical of the small percentage of Armenians who found it necessary to change theirnames forvarious valid reasons. Some made what they truly believed were the right decisions to enhance their job-seeking efforts, and others made

-

success without changing their names. They have high visibility in govemment service, in all of the arts and professions, as well as in the upper executive ranks ofbig business.

Armenians and Armenian institutions in so many parts of the world have benefited from the philanthropic work of the late Nubar and KaloustGulbenkian, who had maintained

irrcluding adistinguished Armenian-American surgmn whohad quietlyexpressedhis feelings

pages of richly endowed ethnic names can be an uplifting experience for anyone of Armenian ancestry.

with its pages and

to a few close friends. "It was a mistake,"

"I have hollow feeling inside of me. I feel like I've lost my identity."

There are other cases where the regreffirl name changers eased some of the pain by using theiroriginalethnic sumames as middle

homes and business offices in various countries. The recipients of innumerable

names.

honors and awards, the Gulbenkians had never felt the need to change their names.

And Armenians everywhere were elated in

Among the Armenians who changed their names in the past, large numbers shortened

their names by merely eliminating the "ian" ending, such as Sarkisian changed to Sarkis, Nahabedian reduced to Nahabed and Hovanesian changed to Hovanes. It is important to note that the Armenian "flavol' hasn't been lost in such changes. The "ian" suffu in Armenian names means the "son

of or family

of."

1982 when George Deukmejian was elected govemor of Califomia an offlce he has

-

held for eight years.

The late Anastas Mikoyan, the Soviet Union's second highest leader, was happy and secure with his Armenian sumame. And

And in Soviet Armenia

Aram Khachaturian, distinguished Sovier Armenian composer, had no problems with his name which was known to composers, musicians and patrons of classical music throughout the world.

Another important aspect of the name

the popular spelling of the suff,rx is "yan."

It also has the same meaning.

issue is the fact that the sizable numbers

their sumames are also reluctant to maintain

the changes to help advance their professional, business and artistic careers.

But the worldwide picture has changed considerably since the early decades following the tragic Genocide (in 1915)

,'11

ts

,:x

1l

f,'

when the survivon had to make major adjustrnents in theiruphill sruggles to build

new foundations in the various countries where they settled and raised families.

Today, ethnic rurmes are attracting greater

attention, as well as respect,

in

many and panicularly in the United

countries States where the diversities of ethnic talents and skills have contibuted immeasurably to the nation's growth and stability fornearly

-

seven decades.

It is not unusual these days to run into Armenian teenagers and young adults who have no inhibitions when it comes to expressing pride in their heritage. We have yet to meet a teenager who would even consider ajustifiable reason to change his or her Armenian sumarne.

We also have heard reports relating to Armenians who had expressed regrets over their earlier decision to change their names,

of

Armenians who are reluctant to change

In the United States, a smaller percentage of the names were changed to their English

translations

-

Vartabedian

to

Bishop,

Hatzakordzian to Baker and Varjabedian to Teacher or Tutor. And sizable numbers

their Armenian Christian names. They have no hesitancy in changing their first narnes to conform to first names that are prevalent in the counfties where they settled.

And of course, large numbers of parents of sons and daughters who were bom in those countries had no problems with the selection of non-Armenian names for their progenies. At the same time, it needs to be

pointed out that significant numbers of Armenians still maintain their Armenian first names, as well as their sumames.

In the final analysis, it all boils down to the fact that names are like beautiful works of art. It would be a sad, dull world if all artistic creations were geared to a single style or theme. The same holds true for

Anglo

names. The varying characteristics of names

Saxon names. And the same can be said aboutthe name changes thathavebeen made

by Armenians in the Soviet Union, France, the British Isles, the Middle East and other

clearly add color, variety and ethnic

simply changed theirnames to popular

parts

of the world where Armenian

communities have developed.

It is important to note that meaningful numbers of Armenian VIPs have achieved

AlM, November 1990

significance to the total worldwide name picture.

Traditional Armenian sumames have "survived" through the centuries. They are meaningful names that warrant the love and pride of Armenians everywhere. I

Armenian Print Medial A Blessing and an Embarrassment ByJACK AilTREASSIAN he Armenian-American press has been both a blessing and an embarrassment for our community. In the early years, the party newspapers, which were all we had in those days, p,roved to be the mosteffective means, despite theirrabidpartisanship, to keep our widely dispened people linked together. They instilled into their lives a sense thatthere were also others immersed in their taditions, their culture and their faith, and *rat it was indeed possible not only to sustain these, but to develop and emich them.

With the dissemination of news of individuals, church and organizational affain, as well as with articles on various aspects of our heritage, they reflected an environment in which it was possible

to believe

in survival. The

editors, even the extreme political

panisans among them, were generally leaders of some prominence in the community. They could comment intelligently on the people and instimtions they were serving.

But it did not last. The newspapers steadily succumbed to a sometimes strident partisanship that grew to dimensions that were diffrcult for the community to accommodate. Of greater significance was their inability or reluctance to adapt to the free press traditions so vital to

judicious decisions on material. But if the knowledge is lacking, often the willingness is lacking as well, since our editors seem as accommodating to our shortcomings as everybody else.

I recall a committee meeting on a signfficant church policy and the editor of one of our eastem weeklies supinely promised that he would publish nothing of what transpired until the group itseH issued a release, thus virtually acknowledging that his paper was no more than its publicity outlet.

If all else fails, the newspapers should at least clearly identiff the source of what is published. H an item is from the AGBU or the Diocese or the Ashod Prress, a peninent attribution should be attached to it. lrt the reader know that a measure of skepticism is in order.

This also applies to obituaries, all of which should be signed. If it is reasonable to suggest that every Armenian who dies is virtuous beyond mffNure, the source of each opinion should at least be identified.

Finally, and of surpassing significance: Is this a foee press? Not by a long shot not by the standards we have been taught and grown accustomed to in America. The party

newspapers are still in bondage to their political prejudices and often to the whims ofparons whose favorable disposition they feel constrained to

ttre society around them, and to the

new generations emerging

in

the

community.

These, together with the chauvinism and parochialism that have generally

characterized our community life (attitudes the papers not only have not discouraged but have acnnlly endeavored to cultivate), have connibuted to a decline in the reliability and intellectual integrity of our press and parties. And for creating a press tradition incompatible with

the society around us, and detrimental to the best interests of our community, the parties and their papers are f,rnally responsible.

What emerges from our newspapers as a whole is a picture of our community not as it is, but as we would Iike to see it. There is little editorial curiosity or criticism to speak of. One would think that ourinstitutions andorganizations - to say nothing ofthe individuals who lead them - are perfect both in policy and performance.

The news about them is invariably self-serving, since vinually all of it emanates from their offices. And they are not about to put anything but the best face on what they are doing. It is much like the Washington Posl reporting the news by publishing releases from the State Department, the White House or any of the Congressional offrces. It would be too much to expect our papers to perform like metropolitan newspapers, but not too much to expect them to assume some responsibility for what they print.

But even if editors were willing to do this, few if any, could.

They would have to lctww the community, the church and the organizations. They would haveto know what they are doing and what they are supposed to be doing. Few, if any, know. This is fi.rther evidenced by editorial concentration on events abroad, to the unwan"anted neglect of our own communify.

Even when circumstances connect the two, our own part is often

misconsuud pobably because it is misunderstood. Such knowledge and background are nffissary as well for editorial comment and 52

cultivate. While the independentpapen may be free of such pressures, even they show some reluctance to offend NM illslction/ Rqer KuFliil certain constifuencies, to say nothing of the personal predilections that warp the judgment of some.

The newspapers keep inviting letters and comments without cultivating an environment in which frep discussion could flourish, without understanding that the community's moral and intellectual horizons would be immeasurably expanded in such an environment and without realizingthat this is one of the principal functions of a newspaper.

They can approach this by setting up opinion pages, with someone otlrerthan the editor in charge, andactively seeking articles, cornnents, responses and exchanges on the issues that mean something in this

community. There are scores of subjecs of vital interest about which a great deal can and should be said: Has the AGBU declined American organization? Is a seminary viable in this country?

Are our parochial schools too parochial? Do we have too many university chaim? Are they effective? Should the church remain divided? One can go on forever with such questions.

as an

But it is not likely to happen. First of all, editors might be reluctant to have some of their own limitations exposed. But even

more telling might be the popular rewlsion; no sacred cowswhe*rer individual or herd-would be left for them to worship.

Note: I am only slightly acquainted with Armenian newspapers in other parts of the diaspora. Obviously some of the strictures noted here would not apply to them. But it seems to me that the most important one would. If they are party newspapers, and most of them are, no one familiar with the character of our parties can believethey are

AlM, November 1990

free' Jack httrcassian

tnnslator and aullw

is

a noted wrilet,

oJ

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Bank Audi BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA} BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CATIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CATIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CATIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALITORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) BANK AUDI (CALIFORNIA) MEMBER F.D.I.C.

444 South Flower Street 14th Floor Los Angeles, California 9OO71 Phone: (213) 627-7799

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600 Fifrh Avenue 23rd Floor New York, N.Y. 10020 Phone: (212) 3O7 5577 Fqx:

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307 5591

Fox: (213) 627-1033

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UstE?Irtlril 73, Avenue des Chomps-Elysees 75008 Poris

Flonce Phone:42 25 75 00

Fox:425609 74

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Phone: (O22r4735OO Fox (022) 47 3329

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EXXO]I BRI }I GS YOU

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Our new reduced emissions gasoline still gives you the octane you need for high performance.

And it still gives you our unique clean engine formula.

But now, it's also been reformulated to reduce emissions, for cleaner air.

Our new reduced emissions gasoline. The first of a new generation of gasolines from Exxon.

ExoN Precision equipment for precision engines.'

Erxon reduced emissions gasoline unavailable in somc art'as.

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hxrk for pump decals. Not.rv.rilable in leaded or unleadt,d regular

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