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  • Rich Culture & Long Memories

    RICH CULTURE & LONG MEMORIES
    by Joe Kernan

    Warwick Beacon
    Feb 4 2009
    RI

    The TSETSE Gallery, through the mentorship of Berge Ara Zobian of
    GalleryZ, hosted an evening of Armenian art and culture last Friday
    night. Armenian artists and their guests gathered to share their art,
    play music and share traditional Armenian recipes.

    Most of the paintings, drawings and photographs at the TSETSE made
    some reference to the Armenian traditions (see photos), but many of
    the folks at the exhibit clustered around the buffet, which offered
    Armenian delicacies not always available.

    "Food is very important in Armenian culture," said Michael Manoog
    Kaprielian Friday night. "When they came over here, or wherever they
    went in the world, they brought their food because they had little
    else." According to the 2000 Census there are 6,677 Rhode Islanders
    of Armenian descendant.

    As too few people realize, the fanning out of ethnic Armenians
    into the greater world began en masse after and during the First
    World War, when the Ottoman Turks, faced with losing their empire
    because of their alliance to Germany, took advantage of the fog of
    war to attempt the annihilation of the Armenian people. An article
    on the Armenian Embassy Web site offers a short history leading up
    to what many called "the first genocide" of the 20th century: "Over
    the centuries Greeks, Romans, Persians, Byzantines, Mongols, Arabs,
    Ottoman Turks, and Russians conquered Armenia. From the 17th century
    through World War I their most brutal invader, the Ottoman Turks,
    under whom they experienced discrimination, religious persecution,
    heavy taxation, and armed attacks, controlled major portions of
    Armenia. In response to Armenian nationalist stirrings, the Turks
    massacred thousands of Armenians in 1894 and 1896. The most horrific
    massacre took place in April 1915 during World War I, when the Turks
    ordered the deportation of the Armenian population to the deserts
    of Syria and Mesopotamia. According to a majority of historians,
    between 600,000 and 1.5 million Armenians were murdered or died of
    starvation. The Armenian massacre is considered the first genocide in
    the 20th century. Turkey denies that genocide took place, and claims
    that a much smaller number died in a civil war."

    Kaprielian, a third-generation Armenian-American, listened intently to
    the stories of his grandparents and studied the history of the first
    Christian nation in the world. The country was converted to Christ
    around 400 A.D. He learned that Armenians brought their faith and their
    culture to America and assimilated successfully. Armenian-Americans
    represent a number of professional people disproportionately large
    for their actual numbers. Kaprielian himself succeeded well enough
    to retire early and move to Armenia.

    "I remember once, when I was at Brown, an old Armenian woman came up
    to me with a tray of traditional food," said Kaprielian. "I pointed
    to each of the things on the tray and called them by their Armenian
    names. The woman asked me how I knew these things and I told her
    my family tried to pass on as much of Armenian life to me as they
    could. Food was one of the only things they could call their own."

    Kaprielian said the Turks, to this day, continue to deny that the
    massacre was a fact. They had good reason to think they could get
    away with that story. The world was concerned with the progress of
    the war and the Armenian question almost fell into obscurity.

    "When Hitler was questioned about reaction to the Holocaust, he said,
    'Who cares? Does anyone remember the Armenians?'" said Kaprielian,
    an American-born, third generation Armenian, who spends more time in
    Armenia than he does here. Kaprielian said it is the unique history
    of Armenia that keeps Armenians in touch with their history.

    "You know, lately there have been a lot of Armenians over here who
    donate tons of food to food banks, and when you ask them why, they
    say, 'We are Armenians and we know what it is like to be hungry,'" he
    said. "Everybody over a certain age remembers when their parents would
    say 'eat your dinner and think of the starving Armenians.' Armenians
    were like a joke, but at least people recognized that something
    terrible had happened."

    After the Turkish defeat in World War I, the independent Republic
    of Armenia was established on May 28, 1918, but survived only until
    Nov. 29, 1920, when the Soviet Army annexed it. In 1936, Armenia
    became a separate constituent republic of the USSR. Armenia declared
    its independence from the collapsing Soviet Union on Sept. 23, 1991.

    An estimated 60 percent of the total 8 million Armenians worldwide
    live outside the country, with 1 million each in the U.S. and
    Russia. Kaprielian wants to see that outflow reverse itself.

    "It's like a 'brain drain' for the country," he said. "Armenians with
    skills and professions don't want to go to Armenia, but I can tell you,
    it's worth it." Kaprielian has been an avid and articulate spokesman
    for the country. He also touts the low cost of a high standard of
    living there.

    "There are markets in the square that peel back the covers and display
    banks of vegetables and fruit," he said. "It cost me about $4 a week
    to eat."

    Kaprielian has been actively seeing that his young relatives get a
    chance to experience the old country, a luxury their grandparents
    and great-grandparents didn't have.

    "The kids love it when they get there, it's like camp to them and
    they can't wait to get out into the country side," he said. "And
    I can tell you, there is nothing more beautiful than seeing these
    American kids leading sheep into the country, going so far that the
    sheep look like snowflakes."

    Kaprielian was looking very happy and satisfied to be among his
    Armenian-American friends at the exhibit but looked almost apostolic
    when he described Armenia to people who grew up outside the culture.

    "Everyone should go to Armenia, at least once," he said.
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