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The Armenian Weekly On-Line: AWOL
80 Bigelow Avenue
Watertown MA 02472 USA
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http://www.a rmenianweekly.com
Armenian Weekly On-Line, Volume 73, Number 14, April 7, 2007
News:
1. AATL Does It Again
Leading Experts Take on Armenia's Media, Its Environment and
Turkish-Armenian Relations
2. Grassroots Campaign to End the Cycle of Genocide
Opinion:
3. The Diaspora and the Armenian Media
By Khajag Mgrditchian
4. What a Difference a Day Makes
Could Armenians Get Behind an Annual "Anti-Corruption Day" Without Looking
the Other Way?
By Andy Turpin
5. Letters to the Editor
Features:
6. The Rabiz Phenomenon
By Christian Garbis
Interviews:
7. An Interview with Frank Pallone
By Khatchig Mouradian
Book Reviews:
8. 'The Bastard of Istanbul'
Reviewed by Michael Leone
9. 'So I Will Till the Ground'
Reviewed by Knarik O. Meneshian
Film Reviews:
10. Michael Goorjian and Kirk Douglas Make 'Illusion' Talent Plain to See
By Andy Turpin
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1. AATL Does It Again
Leading Experts Take on Armenia's Media, Its Environment and
Turkish-Armenian Relations
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (A.W.)-On March 31, less than a year after the hugely
sucessful Armenians and the Left (AATL) conference in New York, scores of
activists, students and intellectuals from across the Northeast converged at
Harvard University for a one-day symposium organized by AATL. Co-sponsored
by Harvard's Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the symposium featured
leading Armenian journalists and media critics, groundbreaking environmental
activists working in Armenia today, and outspoken proponents of meaningful
Armeno-Turkish dialogue.
The panelists criticized the ruling elites-oligarchs and plutocrats-in
Armenia, whose complicity in perpetuating endemic corruption has created
enormous inequality and has placed Armenia's very sustainability at risk.
They also took aim at the Turkish state which has created an environment of
impunity for vigilantism, as was recently seen in the assassination of the
Istanbul based Armenian journalist and human rights activist, Hrant Dink.
Members of the audience engaged in active dialogue during lively and heated
question and answer sessions, which were often as substantial as the
presentations themselves.
Conceived by the ARF USA-Eastern Region, the series of public forums and
conferences organized under Armenians and the Left strive to present
Armenian issues in a global, progressive context. They are meant to appeal
to all those-Armenian and non-Armenian-who have an activist mindset and an
appreciation for what binds the various plight of dispossessed groups, and
are alarmed at the menacing trends that are threatening the world and its
people.
During the final plenary session moderated by Dikran Kaligian, professors
Peter Balakian of Colgate University, Halil Berktay of Sabanci University in
Turkey, and Henry Theriault of Worcester State College explored the
controversy of how Armenians and Turks can honestly deal with the legacy of
the Armenian Genocide and Turkey's ongoing, violent campaign to deny it.
A panel on media and social injustice in Armenia, moderated by Antranig
Kasbarian, featured Armenia's foremost investigative journalist Edik
Baghdasaryan of Hetq, Khatchig Mouradian of the Armenian Weekly, professor
Gayane Torosyan of the State University of New York, and Steve Kurkjian of
the Boston Globe.
A panel on the fragile state of Armenia's environmental conditions and
energy needs, moderated by Jeff Masarjian, featured president of Armenian
Forests NGO Jeffrey Tufenkian, nuclear power industry expert Robert
Kalantari, and founding director of Armenian Environmental Network Ursula
Kazarian.
The Weekly will dedicate a special insert in the coming weeks to the
proceedings of the symposium.
--------------------------------------- -------------------------------
2. Grassroots Campaign to End the Cycle of Genocide
WASHINGTON (A.W.)-From March 22-23, the ANCA and the Genocide Intervention
Network (GI-Net) organized a grassroots campaign on Capitol Hill to
encourage U.S. Representatives to end the cycle of genocide worldwide.
ANCA and GI-Net activists from throughout the U.S. visited the offices of
every Congressman and Senator, and asked them to support the Armenian
Genocide resolution, provide more funding for the African Union peacekeeping
mission in Darfur, and co-sponsor the Sudan Divestment Authorization Act.
The latter authorizes U.S. states to divest from foreign companies-mainly in
the oil export and mineral extraction sectors-that are funding the genocide
in Darfur.
The campaign began early on March 22 with a breakfast for the activists on
Capitol Hill. The ANCA and GI-Net then introduced their activists and
provided briefings about the Armenian Genocide resolution and the situation
in Darfur, with information on how to conduct a grassroots campaign and help
end the genocide there.
GI-Net activists explained how their mission is working to end ongoing
genocides and remembering past genocides. They underlined the 3 ways in
which GI-Net strives to end the cycle of genocide: a) protection of
civilians who are currently being subjected to genocide, b) building
political will against genocides and c) create a permanent anti-genocide
constituency.
Speaking about the situation in Darfur, GI-Net activists said, "If the
Sudanese government had its way, they [the population of Darfur] would all
starve in the desert." They explained how it was important to work for a
comprehensive peace process and a UN peacekeeping mission, and in the
meantime support the Africian Union (AU) peacekeepers already installed in
the troubled region.
Speaking about the Sudan Divestment Authorization Act, activists explained
that divestment should be used as an economic tool to increase pressure on
the government of Sudan that arms the Janjaweed militias committing the
genocide in Darfur.
In turn, ANCA activists explained how in the 20th century U.S., there was no
permanent anti-genocide constituency, which is why the awareness on the
Armenian Genocide started disappearing in the late '20s and early '30s and
other genocides took place with little or no intervention by the U.S. they
then presented some arguments that can be made against the Armenian Genocide
resolutions presented to the House and Senate and how to counter them.
The ANCA activists underlined the fact that "recognition without action
leave genocide as a hollow word." They said that they want to pass on the
experience of the Armenian Genocide to make future genocides less likely.
Capitol Hill Observance
At 5:30 p.m. on the same day, the ANCA and GI-Net organized a Capitol Hill
Observance at the Rayburn House Office Building, with a large number of
supporters and activists present.
The Observance began with opening prayers by Der Sarkis from the Church of
the Holy Cross. ANCA executive director Aram Hamparian, GI-Net executive
director Mark Hanis and ANCA chairman Ken Hachikian offered remarks, along
with Congressmen John Sarbanes (D-Md.), Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), Adam Schiff
(D-Calif.), Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), Donald Payne (D-N.J.), Jim Costa
(D-Calif.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), David Dreier (R-Calif.) and Rush
Holt (D-N.J.).
-Weekly Correspondent
------------------------------------ ----------------------------------
3. The Diaspora and the Armenian Media
By Khajag Mgrditchian
Almost every Diasporan media organization has published articles analyzing
various facets of the Armenian press. Similar discussions are abundant in
the media in Armenia too. But as a follow-up on the comment released by the
participants in the ARF Media Conference held in Yerevan, we would like to
focus more on the issue of Diaspora-Armenia reciprocal recognition. We all
are witness to the gloomy approach adopted by the media in Armenia toward
this important issue, but for those working in that same field this issue is
much more obvious.
The fact is that Armenia receives proper coverage and its issues are
appropriately discussed and analyzed in the Diasporan press. As a result,
the Diasporan reader is well informed of developments in Armenia, of its
social and economic situation, the country's political dealings, and of
strides in the cultural and educational arenas. Diasporan readers are even
acquainted with the names of individual contributors, editors and analysts
in the Armenian media and its affiliates. The Diasporan press's mission to
acquaint its readers with Armenia did not follow the second independence of
Armenia. The Diasporan media undertook the same role during Soviet rule,
although part of it used to underline the positives and the other the
negative aspect of Soviet Armenia.
Understandably, the Soviet press took biased positions towards Diasporan
issues. However, even the Soviet press recognized the importance of raising
issues that mattered to the Diaspora. Unfortunately, the second lane of the
road of mutual recognition between Armenia and the Diaspora through the
media is not currently functioning. In other words, the media of the
Republic of Armenia does not sufficiently realize the importance of
discussing, examining and analyzing the Diaspora. As a result, the public in
Armenia has a view of the Diaspora that is too far from reality. But for the
sake of fairness, we should mention that there is a very small number of
media organizations in Armenia, like the "Azg" daily newspaper and "Yerkir
Media" TV station, that provide at least some information about the Diaspora
and its issues.
Naturally, the Diasporan media and the attitude of Diasporan Armenians
visiting Armenia have their share of the blame. However, the main
responsibility of acquainting the Diaspora to the Armenian public falls on
the Armenian media.
This fact raised by Diasporan journalists is accepted by most Armenian media
organizations in a spirit of self criticism. Those who do not accept it try
to prove their point by invoking the meager amount of information provided
by the few outlets mentioned above.
The core of the issue lies in the fact that Armenian reporters themselves
aren't well informed when it comes to the Diaspora and its issues. Thus, in
order to improve Armenian press, the following steps are necessary:
1- The Armenian press must not comment on issues it does not have
sufficient knowledge or understanding of. Before analyzing or commenting,
the media of Armenia must first learn about the Diaspora so that they do not
lead the public in Armenia to misconceptions.
2- Armenian media must follow the Diasporan press even if the
content of that press so not represent the expected quality and the news
they cover do not steer interest. But the Diasporan is the exact reflection
of the Diaspora itself.
3- Communication between media organizations from Armenia and the
Diaspora must become more frequent. Although certain groups are trying to
serve this need, but true and all-encompassing communication can only be
realized by the Armenian government. Organizing disorganized
Armenia-Diaspora conferences every few years is not the answer to the
question. Another solution is needed.
It's possible to compose a longer list of necessary steps, but what we want
to emphasize is the importance of mutual recognition, which holds the key to
many national issues and difficulties and could put an end to the factional
mentality of "Us and Them".
-------------------------------------- ---------------------------------
4. What a Difference a Day Makes
Could Armenians Get Behind an Annual "Anti-Corruption Day" Without Looking
the Other Way?
By Andy Turpin
On March 21, Italians celebrated "Mafia Victim Remembrance Day" in eulogy to
the rising number of Italians and immigrants in Italy who have lost their
lives to the culture of violence, corruption and deceit that exists in the
mafia and is never far from the surface in Italian culture. To say
"subculture" would be a misnomer because there's nothing really that "sub"
about Mafiosi in Italy. To sugarcoat it would be to use a more clinical
academia term for the social construct: amoral familism.
Now to Armenia. Whether or not an Armenian mafia exists, what is beyond
question is that a trend of corruption exists, and that regardless of
whether it's very organized or not, it constitutes crime.
But would younger Armenians ever rally to have such an anti-corruption
protest day in Armenia?
Sure, people could probably get an "Anti-Corruption Day" passed on the
books. All you'd have to do is grease the right palms-but that would
probably negate the point of the exercise, no?
Nor is it really plausible that the criminals themselves would tie a yellow
ribbon on and take a day off work to march. (After all, time is money, and
with that notion in mind, many criminals have better work ethics in their
vice than others do in their virtue.)
Still, crime in Yerevan hasn't reached the recorded levels it has in Naples
by any means, where people fear to walk the streets.
But devil's advocate: What would it take to motivate such a youth grassroots
movement to uphold higher standards of justice and jurisprudence? To, in
essence, demand more in the long run for everyone, instead of putting aside
the right amount for yourself or your family.
In America, it wasn't until allegations surfaced that La Cosa Nostra may
have abetted the killing of John F. Kennedy that the American public lit a
fire under the federal government to reform the national tolerance levels
for crime and corruption.
In Italy, it wasn't until numerous young children were killed in cross fires
in the last 10 years before Italians sought to look beyond themselves and
reflect on their long-lived "amoral familism," which went back farther than
the De Medici reign to Rome.
It's callously cynical but, "What does that convert to in dram?"
-------------------------------------- -----------------------------
5. Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor,
I enjoyed reading the article "Show Me the Funny" by Andy Turpin (March 24).
Although I agreed with most of what the writer was saying about the lack of
Armenian comedians, I feel there's more to the story than just a simple
limited number.
Though I wouldn't describe myself as a true comedian, I am Armenian and I
have written comedy and humorous opinions for newspapers and magazines
throughout the country. My first article for the Armenian Weekly back in the
early 90s was titled: "Armenians in the media? Where?" It took a funny
approach to how there are so few of us in the mainstream media. It's
disheartening to see that almost 15 years after my opinion-editorial, we
Armenians are still struggling with this issue.
I feel the problem is at least partially caused by Armenians who are in
positions of power within the media. Armenian arts organizations seem to be
springing up everywhere, yet the members of these organizations are slow to
acknowledge up-and-coming talent.
Sometimes they start out with promising events and projects which, for one
reason or another, fizzle out before they take shape. In the mid-90s, I
helped the AGBU with what was described as an MTV "Real World" parody. In
our version, cameras would follow an Armenian student around New York to see
what his life was like. It was a great idea that never went anywhere. To my
knowledge, it was never produced.
More recently, I was asked (as an Armenian working in the media) to add my
biography listing to the new AADA (Armenian Dramatic Arts and Alliance). I
have made numerous attempts to confirm my acceptance into this organization
but, as of this writing, have not heard back one way or the other. There is
understandably a great degree of frustration when a community as tight-knit
as the Armenians fail to properly embrace their brothers. At the risk of
sounding like a big baby, it is puzzling that (as someone who has worked in
the industry for as long as I have) there are few Armenians eager to seek
out other Armenians in the arts.
I am proud to see celebrities such as Andrea Martin or Eric Bogosian on
screen and in film. But there are so many other Armenians working in the
arts that no one knows about. Last year I launched a comedy website
(meezmeyer.com). In some of the sketch comedy, I often play various Armenian
characters and also add little Armenian "in-jokes" when I can. The response
from local Armenians has been terrific. So, how do people like me get
noticed without the help of the bigger ethnic community standing by our
side?
The fact of the matter is that the Armenian community (specifically the arts
organizations filtering across the Internet) needs to do more in researching
and pushing local Armenian artists into the limelight. Armenians are funny
and artistic. They're erudite and adaptable.
The one thing Armenians seem to be straying away from in the 21st century is
the ability to be a true community, to embrace a stranger as family simply
because his or her name ends with "ian" or "yan."
Yes, Mr. Turpin, Armenians are funny. But no matter how talented the trained
seal is, it will never get noticed without the circus big-top. Armenians
with talent are everywhere. We just need the proper venue and exposure.
Stephen M. Emirzian
Canton, Conn.
***
Dear Editor,
I agree with Lucine Kasbarian, author of the March 10 article
titled, "Bishop's Homily Inappropriate at Dink Funeral: The Case for
Conditional Forgiveness."
Unconditional forgiveness is a decision I will make and no Christian
doctrine will dictate or speak for me. Forgiving my transgressors is my
privilege and I don't intend to seek the opinions of others when it concerns
the murder of a nation.
Mary Jo Agbabian, R.N.
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
----------------------------------------- --------------------------
6. The Rabiz Phenomenon
By Christian Garbis
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, a new style of popular music emerged in
Armenia which branched out to communities containing large populations of
Armenian expatriates, most notably around Los Angeles where much of the
music is produced today. The sensation that has tens of thousands of
Armenian youth captivated is called "rabiz," and the ramifications of its
popularity have affected Armenia's cultural as well as social norms.
The exact origin of the word is unknown. Some believe that the word comes
from Turkish or Arabic roots. Most people, however, verify that the term
stems from the Russian phrase transliterated as "rabotniki isskustva," which
translates to "worker's art." According to some sources, the word's usage in
Armenia dates back to the 1920s.
The rabiz song form varies in interpretation and comprehension. Some
attribute the term to describe modern Armenian dance music, usually fast
paced and laden with upbeat tempos. The music of a particular artist
performing within the full spectrum of current Armenian pop can subjectively
be considered rabiz depending on the tastes of the listener. It is also said
that rabiz music existed in one form during Armenia's Soviet years. However,
the more accepted affiliation now is to a song structure based on the
popular ballad, usually sung with a specific person in mind while conveying
a message of love or longing.
Rabiz singers are almost always male. The vocal tone is usually sung in
tenor and mimics the traditional as well as mainstream vocal styles heard in
Turkish or Arabic music, the singer wailing alongside the main melody in a
kind of improvisation, usually with vibrato if one can be produced. Many of
the songs themselves are Middle Eastern but with Armenian-language lyrics.
The orchestra is usually comprised entirely of synthesized instruments,
occasionally accompanied by the Armenian duduk (woodwind instrument) to
accentuate the usual somber mood. The arrangements of the ballads are
reminiscent to those that could be heard in American or British popular
music from the 1980's. The traditional rabiz song is addressed to loved
ones, primarily to parents or a significant other. There are countless rabiz
singers in Armenian popular music today, and their audience is usually young
men in their 20s or 30s, although older generations listen to the music as
well.
Stereotypical descriptions of rabiz performers and their followers have
expectedly taken form, especially in the last five years. In fact, they
themselves are labeled as being rabiz by their appearance as well as
practiced popular culture. The clothing and grooming styles of men who have
an affinity with the music are specific, thus the result has become a kind
of uniform. The common color scheme is all black, but a light-colored dress
shirt or pullover is accepted for contrast, although now other colors,
predominately dark, have come to be worn. Young men wear either black
single-breasted suits or faux, sometimes real leather jackets with black
trousers or jeans. Dark, rectangular sunglasses and black waist belts with
large, square platinum-colored buckles are worn as accessories. A small case
containing the latest mobile telephone model is strapped to the belt and
placed on the hip. The footwear chosen are leather loafer variations,
usually black in color and narrow in size, with a high heel and an unusually
sharply pointed toe, which as a variation curves upward or is squared off.
The hair is cut very short, sometimes shaved close, with a part from the far
right or left. The posture of rabiz men is usually poor, slumped shouldered,
or they squat low to the ground, with their forearms resting on the knees.
Those who can afford an automobile drive the Lada 2107 or the Lada Niva
sport utility vehicle. Both vehicles are most always painted bright white,
featuring black tinted windows and premium shiny chrome wheels, not to
mention custom license plates. Other more contemporary Lada models are also
favored, such as the model 112, but silver or black in color, again with
black tinted windows.
As prejudiced as this description may seem, young men throughout the country's
capital fit it to a tee, while others living in rural areas strive to
achieve the same look. Accordingly, the rabiz lifestyle has taken true form
amongst young men, who are often referred to as "apero" and call each other
"akhper" or "aper," slang for "brother." Not surprisingly, people in society
who do not condone the rabiz lifestyle find it as being in bad taste.
Women who are considered rabiz in style are less obvious to spot;
nevertheless a particular fashion sense is attributed to the stereotype.
Facial and eye make-up is almost always heavily applied. The hair is usually
dyed in dirty to light blond shades, sometimes in streaks for contrast
against the natural dark hair color that most Armenian women are born with,
and if the hair is curly it is usually straightened. In-fashion, shocking
colors are preferred-reds, blinding bright whites, or hot pinks
particularly. Short acid-washed or artificially faded jeans are worn very
tight that rise up to the knee. Tight mini-skirts or pants, usually black,
are fitted as well. Blouses are taut or loose but cut low from the neck. For
footwear, long, slim knee-high boots or pumps with unusually high, thin
stiletto heels are preferred, and the toe is usually pointed sharply.
Oversized sunglasses copied after European haute couture designer styles are
preferred eyewear accessories.
Rabiz transforms to a degree as men age. The pot belly, varying in size and
shape, protrudes over the belt line in a primitive display of wealth and
affluence. German luxury cars or ostentatious Japanese sport utility
vehicles are a prize reflected by the vast number that can be found in
Yerevan's downtown area. Otherwise, the newest model of the Russian Volga is
preferred. Automobile colors are not important, but black is predominant
nevertheless.
But there is no clear definition of the term as it applies to culture. Young
Armenians living in Glendale, located just outside Los Angeles and
containing one of the largest communities of expatriate Armenians in their
Diaspora, claim that rabiz applies to those trying to conform to the local
popular culture fostered by inner-city African-American youth there. Rather,
it subjectively applies to any young man who does not conform to the social
and cultural expectations of the observer.
The Armenian language has even been directly affected by rabiz culture. A
new vernacular, which could be considered as a sub-language, has developed.
Words are pronounced with exaggerated deep "o" and "a" vowel sounds, and the
resulting effect seems as if the speaker is munching on what is being
spoken. The rabiz tend to converse in a condescending manner, with sweet,
deceptively sincere words. An automatic expression used in the contexts of
"give me a break," "giving you a break," or as a term of endearment, but is
literally translated as "I take your pain," is used in such frequency in
conversation that the term no longer takes on any true meaning. It was
introduced in casual speech long ago by Armenia's now senior generation, but
its usage has become a phenomenon in its own right. Russian, Turkish and
even Farsi words are thrown in for color in everyday dialogue as jargon or
figures of speech in such frequency that many if asked do not realize that
the terms they are using are actually foreign.
In architecture, new structures being constructed by businessmen, who
subjectively conform to the rabiz standard, are most always ostentatious in
design and do not match the monumental Stalin-era buildings that surround
them, which are incidentally being cruelly destroyed since they are
perceived as being outdated. Neon in various hues is the preferred form of
luminance, not only on business signs but in interiors as mood lighting.
Shiny surfaces in the form of mirrors, dark glass, highly polished stone
tile, or marble are predominant in both exterior and interior décor. The
buildings themselves stand as symmetrical blocks with smooth planes and
little to no distinctive ornamentation, contrasting with that often found on
older apartment or retail buildings throughout the city designed with a
classical European architectural influence.
Thus society is being polarized not only socio-economically, as a new middle
class has clearly taken hold, but culturally into two camps-those who reject
traditional Armenian culture and those who strive to preserve it at all
costs. The rabiz evidently are increasingly influenced by the general look
and gruff habits associated with Russian mafia portrayals on television and
in Hollywood-produced films glorifying the Italian mafia. They do not adhere
to the arts and culture that is uniquely Armenian, namely displayed in
music, painting, sculpture and architecture. Furthermore, they take little
interest in anything other than symbols representing material wealth, namely
cars and mobile phones. The attitude that is fostered-an indifferent,
to-hell-with-it chauvinist stance-affects those who coexist in their
immediate surroundings, both young and old. It affects the older generations
in that they are appalled by the phenomenon they now encounter daily, while
the new, budding generations regard the rabiz as their heroes.
Rabiz transcends political spheres as well. The orchestrators of big
business in Armenia-some of whom are considered to be rabiz by public
opinion-are becoming involved, although minimally, in politics by being
elected members of parliament, who by law are granted immunity from criminal
prosecution. Thus they are protected when conducting any business
transactions that may be considered or are in fact illegal. And they are
also largely ignored for evading the payment of millions of dollars in state
taxes, even reporting business losses.
One such lucrative businessman, Gagik Tsarukian, who is otherwise
affectionately known as "Dodi Gago" by citizens throughout the country,
formed his own political party called "Prosperous Armenia" in 2006. The
party is considered to be unofficially supported by Armenia's president
Robert Kocharian. It has already become the most popular organization in the
country not because of its support from business peers, but due to its
increasingly gained loyalty from common people, mainly representing the
lower social classes. His party earned their support through the perceived
generous distribution of foodstuffs. In exchange for a sack of potatoes or
flour, a citizen of a village willingly agrees to instantly become a party
member with a signature on a standardized form. Prosperous Armenia already
claims a membership of 370,000 people, a remarkable number considering
Armenia's perceived, unofficial population estimate of 2.5 million. And its
widespread, overwhelming support comes just in time for the National
Assembly elections to be held this May. Prosperous Armenia is already
expected to sweep the majority of contested seats. Already oversized posters
draping the sides of building walls glamorizing Tsarukian's thug-like visage
are present, with slogans reading, "Let's Work Together to Build a
Prosperous Armenia."
Protests in the not-so-distant past against figures comprising the
government establishment, who are protected by brutes referred to as
"skinheads" and who are considered to conform to the rabiz lifestyle, are
put down, sometimes violently. One such incident occurred during the public
protests made in reaction to the presidential elections held in 2003, which
were widely believed to have been falsified. Journalists were reportedly
running for their lives, some having their cameras smashed and were
themselves beaten for photographing the events. Already there is some
speculation amongst journalists as well as by word of mouth that the May
elections will likely be falsified despite threats from the West calling for
otherwise.
It cannot be predicted how long the rabiz trend will continue. Some believe
that the song form will eventually lose popularity, and the culture and
lifestyle associated with it will also wither away. However, the latest
music being played by Yerevan-based radio stations and in video clips on
television demonstrates that Armenian popular and rabiz styles are already
fusing. A clearly emerging alternative popular culture amongst youth is
defying rabiz, and Western pop music is steadily gaining in popularity as
well. There already are established, near cult-like movements formed by
those who prefer rock or jazz music genres, but such individuals are
victimized by the rabiz society that still predominates. Some musicians are
even physically assaulted.
Whether the ramifications of rabiz on a political scale will be suppressed,
however, depends on the citizens of Armenia. In the end, only they can
determine how their country should be governed and under what prevailing
conditions or objectives. And the entire Armenian nation is waiting for
their decision.
---------------------------------------- ---------------------------
7. An Interview with Frank Pallone
By Khatchig Mouradian
The following interview with Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) was
conducted on March 23 in Washington. He is co-chair of the Congressional
Caucus on Armenian Issues.
Armenian Weekly-On March 9, together with 16 colleagues, you introduced a
bill allowing Cypriot-Americans to seek compensation for their property in
Turkish occupied Northern Cyprus. What is the importance of this bill?
Frank Pallone-We don't recognize the Turkish occupation of Northern Cyprus.
Those who occupied Northern Cyprus took the property of Green Cypriots
without permission and appropriated it for their own purposes. The people
who own the land should either be able to go back or get compensation, and
the Turkish government has done nothing to provide compensation.
A.W.-Whenever Cyprus, the Kurds or the Armenian Genocide resolution come up,
one of the most common arguments heard is that Turkey is changing and that
we should wait until it comes to terms with its past rather than pressuring
it and potentially causing a backlash.
F.P.-I would differentiate between the government and the people. I think
that increasingly the public, particularly the intellectuals and educated
people, would like to see Turkey become a member of the EU, recognize the
Armenian Genocide, get out of Cyprus, and not treat the Kurds as lesser
citizens. I, too, believe that the Turkish people are moving towards a
democratic society, respect for human rights, but the leadership, the
government, doesn't share that. They continue to have a hard line on almost
every one of the issues I mentioned. I hope that at some point the
leadership catches up with the public. But that's not happening now. I don't
know when that will happen, but I just think at some point it will and we
just have to keep agitating and keep saying that the government policies in
Cyprus, and against the Armenians, against the Kurds are not acceptable.
A.W.-There is constant talk that Turkey and the Bush Administration are
putting enormous pressure on Congress so that it drops the Genocide
resolution. Can you talk about the specific actions taken by Turkey and the
administration?
F.P.-Every time Congressmen and elected officials go to Ankara or Istanbul,
they are lectured for hours about how the Genocide didn't occur. And they
receive threats about how if the Genocide resolution is passed, the soldiers
in Iraq are not going to be safe and that they are not going to provide any
help in the U.S. efforts in Iraq (not that they have done much anyway).
There's a combination of genocide denial and threats against American
soldiers and American policies. Congressmen have to hear about how genocide
never occurred, how we should have a commission that looks into what
happened, how Turks always treated the Armenians so well, and there were
even Armenians in the government in 1915.
They are doing the same thing here. They go around to the Members [of
Congress] and lobby them. In some cases, they have even had soldiers in Iraq
call Members of Congress and say, "I'm afraid the Turks are going to punish
us in some way if you pass the Genocide resolution."
And the administration goes along with it and does the same thing. They call
the Members, they meet with the Members, they say this is going to threaten
American soldiers, or they suggest that there was no genocide. It's
pathetic.
I don't think the threats have any impact. They have increasingly moved from
threats toward more denial, because I think the threats have backfired. And
I believe denial never ceases. You still have the denial of the Holocaust.
The German government put up monuments commemorating the Holocaust and Iran
is having conferences saying the Nazi Holocaust never occurred. Even some
Americans say it never happened.
There will always be people out there denying the Genocide. If the people
accused of committing genocide are one's ancestors or friends or somebody
they respect, one doesn't believe or doesn't want to believe that they are
capable of it.
---------------------------------------------- ----------------------
8. 'The Bastard of Istanbul'
Reviewed by Michael Leone
The Bastard of Istanbul
By Elif Shafak
360 pp.
$24.95
Elif Shafak is a French-born writer of Turkish descent who returned to
Turkey with her mother after being reared in Spain. She has a Master of
Science in gender and women studies, and a PhD in political science.
According to the biography on her website, Shafak's "academic background has
been nurtured by a critical, interdisciplinary, and gender-conscious
rereading of the literature on the Middle East and West, Islam, and
modernity." She is also an activist, a journalist, and a professor at the
University of Arizona, Tucson. A polyglot, she has written novels in French
and Turkish, and now, with the publication of The Bastard of Istanbul, her
second novel in English.
Shafak would probably be little known in this country if it were not for her
tangle with Turkish authorities. Like her peer, Orhan Pamuk, Shafak was
accused of violating Article 301 of the Turkish penal code for "insulting
Turkishness," which is, of course, a government euphemism for telling the
truth. Shafak had the audacity to refer to the 1915-1923 eradication of 1.5
million Armenians. Though Shafak was acquitted of the charge, in a twist of
irony, the episode reinforces the theme of the novel: the lengths we will go
to preserve cultural amnesia over our dark history.
Most of the characters in Shafak's novel, like Turkey itself, are haunted by
some horrible memory. The main character and instigator of all the action of
the novel, Zeliha Kazanci, has done the horrible un-Turkish thing of having
a child out of wedlock. Determined to abort the child, she receives a
haunting image of Allah while on the operating table and falls into a swoon.
She decides to keep the baby and cancels the procedure.
Zeliha is one daughter of four in a household full of carefully calibrated
female eccentrics. There is her mother Gülsüm, "who might have been Ivan the
Terrible in another life"; her oldest sister Banu, a full-time mystic with a
clientele of local fortune-seekers; Feride, a woman with a long history of
mental illnesses, some imagined, some real, who suffers from "hebephrenic
schizophrenia"; Cevriye, a schoolteacher, who believes that "every Turkish
citizen, no matter how ordinary she might be in society, had a duty to
proudly represent the motherland vis-à-vis the whole world"; the
great-matriarch Petite-Ma; and of course, the bastard of the title, Asya, a
self-described nihilist, as mule-headed as her mother, ever-determined to
live a life oblivious to her past.
There is also a male, Mustafa, who has managed to survive the longest of any
male of the Kazanci family. His method of shedding himself of his past (he,
too, has a dark memory he's hiding from) is to clamber to America where he
will all but sever ties with his family. He gets involved with an Armenian
woman named Rose, and becomes the stepfather of Armanoush ("Amy")
Tchakhmakhchian. Rose delights in getting involved with an Armenian, knowing
how much it will anger her alienated husband and Turkish in-laws.
If all of the above sounds confusing, that's because this ambitious novel
covers not only two sets of families from two different cultures living on
two different continents, but comes equipped with flashbacks that go back to
the last days of the Ottoman Empire. Fortunately, we are in the hands of a
deft novelist who manages to orchestrate these diverse scenes and settings
with a dexterity to be envied.
Shafak sets the abiding tone of the novel in the third chapter, when Rose's
in-laws, who are Armenian, discover she has taken on a Turkish boyfriend.
Amy's paternal grandfather, Dikran Stamboulian, says, "What will that
innocent lamb tell her friends when she grow up? My father is Barsam
Tchakhmahcchian, all my family tree has been Something Somethingian, and I
am the grandchild of genocide survivors who lost all their relatives at the
hands of Turkish butchers in 1915, but I myself have been brainwashed to
deny the genocide because I was raised by some Turk named Mustafa?" (53-54).
Though the Armenian viewpoint, as demonstrated through Dikran, is mawkish
and narrow-minded, the Turkish one, as demonstrated by the entire Kazanci
family-Cevriye in particular ("The Americans...are misled into believing
that Turkey is the country of the 'Midnight Express'"(135)), is no less so.
Here is where Shafak proves she is not at heart a polemicist, but a
novelist.
When Amy decides to learn about her culture and makes a visit to the Kazanci
family, she remains determined to challenge them about their denial of the
past. At her first meeting with the family, she reveals her family's past,
describing the deportations forced by the Turks on her grandparents and
their subsequent deaths from starvation.
"Who did this atrocity?" Cevriye asks. When explained that it was the Turks,
she attempts to reconcile the truth with her own version of her country's
history: "Twenty years in her career as a Turkish national history teacher,
she was so accustomed to drawing an impermeable boundary between the past
and the present, distinguishing the Ottoman Empire from the modern Turkish
Republic, that she had actually heard the whole story as grim news from a
distant country. The new state in Turkey had been established in 1923 and
that was as far as the genesis of this regime could extend. Whatever might
or might not have happened preceding this commencement date was the issue of
another era-and another people." (164)
Shafak offsets the bleakness of the novel with humor. The characters are
Dickensian distortions, with an air of farcical grandiosity about them. Zany
and emotional, they argue passionately around tables cluttered with dishes
of kaburga, churek and yalanci sarma, and keep the novel from feeling
downbeat.
Asya is also cleverly rendered. A brooding existentialist, she listens to
Johnny Cash and hangs out at the Café Kundera with a bunch of artists and
bohemian journalists bearing names like the Dipsomaniac Journalist, the
Nonnationalist Scenarist of Ultranationalist Movies, and the Closeted Gay
Columnist.
Shafak writes a competent English, though the writing is marred by an
over-abundance of clichés ("swearing like a trooper," "glued to the
screen"), and redundancies ("you should never ever..."). One wonders why
she didn't write the novel in her native tongue and have it translated into
a seamless English. There are also occasional lapses in pace. In addition,
Amy, the counterpoint to Asya, is the least flawed of the characters and
thus the least interesting.
The Bastard of Istanbul is a novel that will appeal both to Armenians and
Turks, as it concerns issues of great importance to both cultures. Its
strength, though, like all books that attempt to speak the truth, is that it
transcends the cultural, and is capable of being read and appreciated by
everybody. Though it includes a predictable revelation at its conclusion, it
remains a remarkable achievement.
Michael Leone wrote the review of The Bastard of Istanbul exclusively for
the Armenian Weekly. He is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and
is a regular book reviewer for The San Francisco Chronicle, The Plain
Dealer, the Kansas City Star and American Book Review. He lives in Brooklyn,
N.Y.
-------------------------------------------- --------------------------
9. 'So I Will Till the Ground'
Reviewed by Knarik O. Meneshian
So I Will Till The Ground, Gregory Djanikian's newest work published by
Carnegie Mellon University Press, Pittsburgh 2007, is a thoughtful and
deeply moving poetic experience. With its rich tapestry of words and lines
reverently woven together, its varied rhythms and tones, the author creates
art for the senses as well as the heart. Comprised of 41 poems, in three
sections, on 74 pages, the book is not only about the Armenian Genocide and
its aftermath, but of life, love, and death; tragedies, tribulations, and
triumphs; the past, the present, and the future. It offers a glimpse into
the daily life and inner spirit of the Armenian Diaspora-a product of the
Genocide. Djanikian's lyrical poems are a cornucopia of textures, colors,
flavors, and though describing personal accounts speak a universal language.
In the first section of the book, Djanikian describes the brutality, the
horrors that man is capable of inflecting on others, and the presenting of
the grim reality of such an unspeakable act-genocide-in terms that do not
overwhelm, but rather make it more palatable. Otherwise the heinousness of
the act becomes too much to bear as exemplified in the poem "The
Aestheticians of Genocide."
.The trick is to avoid excesses
of horrors so as not to scorch the mind
and strike it dumb, though grief may yowl
and the dirt and villages burn.
.if we were to say
they brought men to the square
and bound them to the posts and one
by one gouged out their eyes,
how many of us would turn
away in disgust.?
say the sun was too harsh and blinding,
say the river was beautiful once.
In "Deportation Song," the quickness of it all, the utter cruelty and
indifference towards the sufferings of the Genocide victims are poignantly
illustrated. The vivid images present the victims as people, and not mere
accounts and pictures in a book.
This one was given a week to get ready,
this one, one day, or none at all, hurry up.
.This one hid.
.This one was butchered.
and this one was crying for water.
In "Children's Lullaby," again there is a quickness, but this time it is the
quickness in learning how to survive:
If you are walking.
keep your eyes down.
One eye open when you're sleeping.
One eye open when you're waking.
And when your father falls behind,
don't cry.
And when your mother falls behind,
don't cry.
Never ask where you are going,
the wind might blow your ashes there.
In the second section, the author tells of the Genocide survivors beginning
new lives in new places, and of their integration into the society. The
poem "Diaspora," describes such a beginning:
They appeared out of the deserts,
they straggled from the interior,
orphans, widows, a few lucky men.
they came together to relief stations,
orphanages, refugee camps,
.staying as long
as it took to disperse like seeds,
scatter to all parts
from the eye of the storm.
The poem culminates with the author's grandfather, a survivor, arriving in
Egypt where he:
.set up shop, and prospered,
marrying, having children,
bringing the rest of us
from a deeper exile into his life.
But only until it was time to leave again ... this time for the U.S.A.,
where once more a new life, a new language and customs awaited them. The
poem "Whenever I Had American Friends Over" vividly describes how the
newcomers worked at fitting into the new society:
there would be no speaking
in Armenian no wearing the old clothes
or referring to the time when
not even the names of foods
my mother had prepared survived
lahmajoun becoming "garlic pizza"
kuftas the Swedish meatballs.
In the final section of the book, the author describes how, step by step,
the Diasporans-descendants of the Genocide survivors-become a part of their
new society where the old country ways, the language, the food are put aside
and the new is embraced. Still, though, the stories of the elders,
remembrances of childhood spent in another, far-away, place where cherished
memories were first formed and melded with those of parents and grandparents
remain a part of the Diasporans. "Immigrant Picnic" engagingly illustrates
the gradual process of assimilation:
It's the Fourth of July.
And I'm grilling.
.I ask my father what's his pleasure
and he says, "Hot dogs, medium rare,"
and then, "Hamburger, sure,
what's the big difference,"
as if he's really asking.
"You're running around," my mother says,
"like a chicken with its head loose."
"Ma," I say, "you mean cut off
loose and cut off being as far apart
as, say, son and daughter."
Gregory Djanikian's final poem, "So I Will Till The Ground" is the essence
of the Diasporan experience-the longing, the aching to touch the ground
where ancestral customs and traditions first bloomed. And so, in order to
honor and preserve all they knew and cherished of the old ways in the old
country, the soil is tilled and seeds are planted.
.So I will mulch the seedling tomato
that was my grandfather's preference
scatter caraway and clove
to retrieve the spices of his pleasure
So I will shepherd the turnips for my great aunt
who loved their soundness.
So I will dig.
that out of these many wounds
there might come flower and fruit
to carry forth, to replenish.
--------------------------------------- ----------------------------
10. Michael Goorjian and Kirk Douglas Make 'Illusion' Talent Plain to See
By Andy Turpin
BELMONT, Mass. (A.W.)-On March 25, actor, writer and director Michael A.
Goorjian premiered his first film "Illusion," starring Kirk Douglas and
himself in lead roles, at the Belmont Studio Cinema. A "Meet the Director"
reception for the Boston-area opening precluded the screening at Belmont's
First Armenian Church. The event was presented by the Armenian Dramatic Arts
Alliance (ADAA) and the Belmont World Film movie series, currently underway
at Belmont Studio Cinema.
"Illusion" is a well-woven tapestry of styles whose narrative never slows or
falters despite its division into three distinct segments. Fair-warning
though: It's a heartwarming, positive and uplifting story with an afterlife
plot reminiscent of It's a Wonderful Life, Spielberg or any number of 1960s
Twilight Zone episodes one may have seen.
In the film, Douglas plays Mr. Baines, a dying film director, a throwback to
real-life director Billy Wilder or Blake Edwards. In the wee hours of the
night, he is visited at his bedside by Stan, his long-dead favorite film
editor, played by actor Ron Marasco.
Throughout the film, Stan's character is soft and funny, and the film
noir-style banter between he and Baines is witty without being overbearing.
Stan appears at Baines' bedside brandishing cigarettes and a cup of coffee,
saying, "I sat here for a little while by the bed. Then I made some coffee,
because who can be scared of someone with a cup of coffee?"
Stan informs Baines that although he was essentially a good man all his
life, there was a part of himself that he never came to terms with. That was
the illegitimate son he had fathered and failed to see 30 years ago. Stan
offers him a chance to look at three portions of his son's life, viewed as
celestial movie reels.
>From this point, the audience is introduced to Baines' son Christopher,
played by Michael Goorjian. Those segments compose the bulk of the film,
with Baines and Stan providing running commentary and dramatic bookends. The
segments revolve around Christopher when he is 17, 25, and 35 years old, and
deal with his star-crossed odyssey to gain a happily-ever-after existence
with his beloved Isabelle, played by actress Karen Tucker.
Each segment is shot and scored distinctly and well. When Christopher is 17,
"Illusion" is in every way a late-90s teen movie. When he's 25, the movie
takes an Indie-look similar to David Fincher, with brickbat throwback to
1998's grunge version of Great Expectations. By the time Christopher is 35,
the style has taken such a mature down home feel as he emerges as an
unjustly imprisoned ex-con that you feel a little ashamed for liking him so
much as a teen character.
No spoilers on the ending, but at the Boston-area premiere Goorjian was
given two rounds of standing ovations, and more than a few Armenian
grandfathers left with tear stains on their black leather jackets.
During the brief question and answer session that followed the screening,
Goorjian spoke about the production and the numerous production headaches
when making "Illusion." Speaking about the pitfalls of film distribution for
young filmmakers, Goorjian admitted, "We shot it in 2001. I thought [getting
it to audiences] would be two years. It's been like six."
Explaining the hurdles of making movies today, Goorjian said, "You have to
spend so much on prints and advertising to justify the funds [spent on
production] that most films [seeking assurance of returns] tend to go to the
lowest common denominator."
Thus far, "Illusion" was screened with acclaimed reviews at theaters in the
Hamptons, Palm Springs, the Lake Tahoe Film Festival and the Golden Apricot
Film Festival in Yerevan. It is scheduled for limited theatrical releases
around the U.S., though Goorjian said it had been difficult to market
because the film's differing styles make it hard to pigeonhole into a
specific genre that is neither romance nor Indie. Goorjian quipped, "People
kept telling me, 'It's too positive and uplifting.'"
Asked about working with Kirk Douglas, Goorjian repeated how gracious and
strong Douglas was to work with, especially on an unknown film made on less
than a million dollars in the age of prequels and blockbusters. "We had him
in a little Winnebago," Goorjian said. "He was fine with everything. The
money we gave him, he just gave right back to the production. He's been
acting all his life, but at his age people are always approaching him as
'Kirk Douglas the Legend,' and so he doesn't get as many chances to actually
do what he loves."
Douglas is currently 90 years old, and was 87 and a stroke survivor when
"Illusion" was shot. His acting, in relation to his age and health, are
superb. He's funny and believable playing a workaholic and estranged father
to a son he never met in life.
Goorjian said with awe, "He's a sturdy, sturdy guy."
Goorjian himself was gracious in the beaming audience reaction to "Illusion"
and was honest when he said, "I spent a large portion of my life working on
this. It's just wonderful to have people appreciate it. I'm also grateful
for how hard it's been.sort of."
"Illusion" will come out on DVD May 29.
***
(c) 2007 Armenian Weekly On-Line. All Rights Reserved.
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Armenian Weekly On-Line, Volume 73, Number 14, April 7, 2007
News:
1. AATL Does It Again
Leading Experts Take on Armenia's Media, Its Environment and
Turkish-Armenian Relations
2. Grassroots Campaign to End the Cycle of Genocide
Opinion:
3. The Diaspora and the Armenian Media
By Khajag Mgrditchian
4. What a Difference a Day Makes
Could Armenians Get Behind an Annual "Anti-Corruption Day" Without Looking
the Other Way?
By Andy Turpin
5. Letters to the Editor
Features:
6. The Rabiz Phenomenon
By Christian Garbis
Interviews:
7. An Interview with Frank Pallone
By Khatchig Mouradian
Book Reviews:
8. 'The Bastard of Istanbul'
Reviewed by Michael Leone
9. 'So I Will Till the Ground'
Reviewed by Knarik O. Meneshian
Film Reviews:
10. Michael Goorjian and Kirk Douglas Make 'Illusion' Talent Plain to See
By Andy Turpin
------------------------------------------- ----------------------------
1. AATL Does It Again
Leading Experts Take on Armenia's Media, Its Environment and
Turkish-Armenian Relations
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (A.W.)-On March 31, less than a year after the hugely
sucessful Armenians and the Left (AATL) conference in New York, scores of
activists, students and intellectuals from across the Northeast converged at
Harvard University for a one-day symposium organized by AATL. Co-sponsored
by Harvard's Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the symposium featured
leading Armenian journalists and media critics, groundbreaking environmental
activists working in Armenia today, and outspoken proponents of meaningful
Armeno-Turkish dialogue.
The panelists criticized the ruling elites-oligarchs and plutocrats-in
Armenia, whose complicity in perpetuating endemic corruption has created
enormous inequality and has placed Armenia's very sustainability at risk.
They also took aim at the Turkish state which has created an environment of
impunity for vigilantism, as was recently seen in the assassination of the
Istanbul based Armenian journalist and human rights activist, Hrant Dink.
Members of the audience engaged in active dialogue during lively and heated
question and answer sessions, which were often as substantial as the
presentations themselves.
Conceived by the ARF USA-Eastern Region, the series of public forums and
conferences organized under Armenians and the Left strive to present
Armenian issues in a global, progressive context. They are meant to appeal
to all those-Armenian and non-Armenian-who have an activist mindset and an
appreciation for what binds the various plight of dispossessed groups, and
are alarmed at the menacing trends that are threatening the world and its
people.
During the final plenary session moderated by Dikran Kaligian, professors
Peter Balakian of Colgate University, Halil Berktay of Sabanci University in
Turkey, and Henry Theriault of Worcester State College explored the
controversy of how Armenians and Turks can honestly deal with the legacy of
the Armenian Genocide and Turkey's ongoing, violent campaign to deny it.
A panel on media and social injustice in Armenia, moderated by Antranig
Kasbarian, featured Armenia's foremost investigative journalist Edik
Baghdasaryan of Hetq, Khatchig Mouradian of the Armenian Weekly, professor
Gayane Torosyan of the State University of New York, and Steve Kurkjian of
the Boston Globe.
A panel on the fragile state of Armenia's environmental conditions and
energy needs, moderated by Jeff Masarjian, featured president of Armenian
Forests NGO Jeffrey Tufenkian, nuclear power industry expert Robert
Kalantari, and founding director of Armenian Environmental Network Ursula
Kazarian.
The Weekly will dedicate a special insert in the coming weeks to the
proceedings of the symposium.
--------------------------------------- -------------------------------
2. Grassroots Campaign to End the Cycle of Genocide
WASHINGTON (A.W.)-From March 22-23, the ANCA and the Genocide Intervention
Network (GI-Net) organized a grassroots campaign on Capitol Hill to
encourage U.S. Representatives to end the cycle of genocide worldwide.
ANCA and GI-Net activists from throughout the U.S. visited the offices of
every Congressman and Senator, and asked them to support the Armenian
Genocide resolution, provide more funding for the African Union peacekeeping
mission in Darfur, and co-sponsor the Sudan Divestment Authorization Act.
The latter authorizes U.S. states to divest from foreign companies-mainly in
the oil export and mineral extraction sectors-that are funding the genocide
in Darfur.
The campaign began early on March 22 with a breakfast for the activists on
Capitol Hill. The ANCA and GI-Net then introduced their activists and
provided briefings about the Armenian Genocide resolution and the situation
in Darfur, with information on how to conduct a grassroots campaign and help
end the genocide there.
GI-Net activists explained how their mission is working to end ongoing
genocides and remembering past genocides. They underlined the 3 ways in
which GI-Net strives to end the cycle of genocide: a) protection of
civilians who are currently being subjected to genocide, b) building
political will against genocides and c) create a permanent anti-genocide
constituency.
Speaking about the situation in Darfur, GI-Net activists said, "If the
Sudanese government had its way, they [the population of Darfur] would all
starve in the desert." They explained how it was important to work for a
comprehensive peace process and a UN peacekeeping mission, and in the
meantime support the Africian Union (AU) peacekeepers already installed in
the troubled region.
Speaking about the Sudan Divestment Authorization Act, activists explained
that divestment should be used as an economic tool to increase pressure on
the government of Sudan that arms the Janjaweed militias committing the
genocide in Darfur.
In turn, ANCA activists explained how in the 20th century U.S., there was no
permanent anti-genocide constituency, which is why the awareness on the
Armenian Genocide started disappearing in the late '20s and early '30s and
other genocides took place with little or no intervention by the U.S. they
then presented some arguments that can be made against the Armenian Genocide
resolutions presented to the House and Senate and how to counter them.
The ANCA activists underlined the fact that "recognition without action
leave genocide as a hollow word." They said that they want to pass on the
experience of the Armenian Genocide to make future genocides less likely.
Capitol Hill Observance
At 5:30 p.m. on the same day, the ANCA and GI-Net organized a Capitol Hill
Observance at the Rayburn House Office Building, with a large number of
supporters and activists present.
The Observance began with opening prayers by Der Sarkis from the Church of
the Holy Cross. ANCA executive director Aram Hamparian, GI-Net executive
director Mark Hanis and ANCA chairman Ken Hachikian offered remarks, along
with Congressmen John Sarbanes (D-Md.), Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), Adam Schiff
(D-Calif.), Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), Donald Payne (D-N.J.), Jim Costa
(D-Calif.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), David Dreier (R-Calif.) and Rush
Holt (D-N.J.).
-Weekly Correspondent
------------------------------------ ----------------------------------
3. The Diaspora and the Armenian Media
By Khajag Mgrditchian
Almost every Diasporan media organization has published articles analyzing
various facets of the Armenian press. Similar discussions are abundant in
the media in Armenia too. But as a follow-up on the comment released by the
participants in the ARF Media Conference held in Yerevan, we would like to
focus more on the issue of Diaspora-Armenia reciprocal recognition. We all
are witness to the gloomy approach adopted by the media in Armenia toward
this important issue, but for those working in that same field this issue is
much more obvious.
The fact is that Armenia receives proper coverage and its issues are
appropriately discussed and analyzed in the Diasporan press. As a result,
the Diasporan reader is well informed of developments in Armenia, of its
social and economic situation, the country's political dealings, and of
strides in the cultural and educational arenas. Diasporan readers are even
acquainted with the names of individual contributors, editors and analysts
in the Armenian media and its affiliates. The Diasporan press's mission to
acquaint its readers with Armenia did not follow the second independence of
Armenia. The Diasporan media undertook the same role during Soviet rule,
although part of it used to underline the positives and the other the
negative aspect of Soviet Armenia.
Understandably, the Soviet press took biased positions towards Diasporan
issues. However, even the Soviet press recognized the importance of raising
issues that mattered to the Diaspora. Unfortunately, the second lane of the
road of mutual recognition between Armenia and the Diaspora through the
media is not currently functioning. In other words, the media of the
Republic of Armenia does not sufficiently realize the importance of
discussing, examining and analyzing the Diaspora. As a result, the public in
Armenia has a view of the Diaspora that is too far from reality. But for the
sake of fairness, we should mention that there is a very small number of
media organizations in Armenia, like the "Azg" daily newspaper and "Yerkir
Media" TV station, that provide at least some information about the Diaspora
and its issues.
Naturally, the Diasporan media and the attitude of Diasporan Armenians
visiting Armenia have their share of the blame. However, the main
responsibility of acquainting the Diaspora to the Armenian public falls on
the Armenian media.
This fact raised by Diasporan journalists is accepted by most Armenian media
organizations in a spirit of self criticism. Those who do not accept it try
to prove their point by invoking the meager amount of information provided
by the few outlets mentioned above.
The core of the issue lies in the fact that Armenian reporters themselves
aren't well informed when it comes to the Diaspora and its issues. Thus, in
order to improve Armenian press, the following steps are necessary:
1- The Armenian press must not comment on issues it does not have
sufficient knowledge or understanding of. Before analyzing or commenting,
the media of Armenia must first learn about the Diaspora so that they do not
lead the public in Armenia to misconceptions.
2- Armenian media must follow the Diasporan press even if the
content of that press so not represent the expected quality and the news
they cover do not steer interest. But the Diasporan is the exact reflection
of the Diaspora itself.
3- Communication between media organizations from Armenia and the
Diaspora must become more frequent. Although certain groups are trying to
serve this need, but true and all-encompassing communication can only be
realized by the Armenian government. Organizing disorganized
Armenia-Diaspora conferences every few years is not the answer to the
question. Another solution is needed.
It's possible to compose a longer list of necessary steps, but what we want
to emphasize is the importance of mutual recognition, which holds the key to
many national issues and difficulties and could put an end to the factional
mentality of "Us and Them".
-------------------------------------- ---------------------------------
4. What a Difference a Day Makes
Could Armenians Get Behind an Annual "Anti-Corruption Day" Without Looking
the Other Way?
By Andy Turpin
On March 21, Italians celebrated "Mafia Victim Remembrance Day" in eulogy to
the rising number of Italians and immigrants in Italy who have lost their
lives to the culture of violence, corruption and deceit that exists in the
mafia and is never far from the surface in Italian culture. To say
"subculture" would be a misnomer because there's nothing really that "sub"
about Mafiosi in Italy. To sugarcoat it would be to use a more clinical
academia term for the social construct: amoral familism.
Now to Armenia. Whether or not an Armenian mafia exists, what is beyond
question is that a trend of corruption exists, and that regardless of
whether it's very organized or not, it constitutes crime.
But would younger Armenians ever rally to have such an anti-corruption
protest day in Armenia?
Sure, people could probably get an "Anti-Corruption Day" passed on the
books. All you'd have to do is grease the right palms-but that would
probably negate the point of the exercise, no?
Nor is it really plausible that the criminals themselves would tie a yellow
ribbon on and take a day off work to march. (After all, time is money, and
with that notion in mind, many criminals have better work ethics in their
vice than others do in their virtue.)
Still, crime in Yerevan hasn't reached the recorded levels it has in Naples
by any means, where people fear to walk the streets.
But devil's advocate: What would it take to motivate such a youth grassroots
movement to uphold higher standards of justice and jurisprudence? To, in
essence, demand more in the long run for everyone, instead of putting aside
the right amount for yourself or your family.
In America, it wasn't until allegations surfaced that La Cosa Nostra may
have abetted the killing of John F. Kennedy that the American public lit a
fire under the federal government to reform the national tolerance levels
for crime and corruption.
In Italy, it wasn't until numerous young children were killed in cross fires
in the last 10 years before Italians sought to look beyond themselves and
reflect on their long-lived "amoral familism," which went back farther than
the De Medici reign to Rome.
It's callously cynical but, "What does that convert to in dram?"
-------------------------------------- -----------------------------
5. Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor,
I enjoyed reading the article "Show Me the Funny" by Andy Turpin (March 24).
Although I agreed with most of what the writer was saying about the lack of
Armenian comedians, I feel there's more to the story than just a simple
limited number.
Though I wouldn't describe myself as a true comedian, I am Armenian and I
have written comedy and humorous opinions for newspapers and magazines
throughout the country. My first article for the Armenian Weekly back in the
early 90s was titled: "Armenians in the media? Where?" It took a funny
approach to how there are so few of us in the mainstream media. It's
disheartening to see that almost 15 years after my opinion-editorial, we
Armenians are still struggling with this issue.
I feel the problem is at least partially caused by Armenians who are in
positions of power within the media. Armenian arts organizations seem to be
springing up everywhere, yet the members of these organizations are slow to
acknowledge up-and-coming talent.
Sometimes they start out with promising events and projects which, for one
reason or another, fizzle out before they take shape. In the mid-90s, I
helped the AGBU with what was described as an MTV "Real World" parody. In
our version, cameras would follow an Armenian student around New York to see
what his life was like. It was a great idea that never went anywhere. To my
knowledge, it was never produced.
More recently, I was asked (as an Armenian working in the media) to add my
biography listing to the new AADA (Armenian Dramatic Arts and Alliance). I
have made numerous attempts to confirm my acceptance into this organization
but, as of this writing, have not heard back one way or the other. There is
understandably a great degree of frustration when a community as tight-knit
as the Armenians fail to properly embrace their brothers. At the risk of
sounding like a big baby, it is puzzling that (as someone who has worked in
the industry for as long as I have) there are few Armenians eager to seek
out other Armenians in the arts.
I am proud to see celebrities such as Andrea Martin or Eric Bogosian on
screen and in film. But there are so many other Armenians working in the
arts that no one knows about. Last year I launched a comedy website
(meezmeyer.com). In some of the sketch comedy, I often play various Armenian
characters and also add little Armenian "in-jokes" when I can. The response
from local Armenians has been terrific. So, how do people like me get
noticed without the help of the bigger ethnic community standing by our
side?
The fact of the matter is that the Armenian community (specifically the arts
organizations filtering across the Internet) needs to do more in researching
and pushing local Armenian artists into the limelight. Armenians are funny
and artistic. They're erudite and adaptable.
The one thing Armenians seem to be straying away from in the 21st century is
the ability to be a true community, to embrace a stranger as family simply
because his or her name ends with "ian" or "yan."
Yes, Mr. Turpin, Armenians are funny. But no matter how talented the trained
seal is, it will never get noticed without the circus big-top. Armenians
with talent are everywhere. We just need the proper venue and exposure.
Stephen M. Emirzian
Canton, Conn.
***
Dear Editor,
I agree with Lucine Kasbarian, author of the March 10 article
titled, "Bishop's Homily Inappropriate at Dink Funeral: The Case for
Conditional Forgiveness."
Unconditional forgiveness is a decision I will make and no Christian
doctrine will dictate or speak for me. Forgiving my transgressors is my
privilege and I don't intend to seek the opinions of others when it concerns
the murder of a nation.
Mary Jo Agbabian, R.N.
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
----------------------------------------- --------------------------
6. The Rabiz Phenomenon
By Christian Garbis
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, a new style of popular music emerged in
Armenia which branched out to communities containing large populations of
Armenian expatriates, most notably around Los Angeles where much of the
music is produced today. The sensation that has tens of thousands of
Armenian youth captivated is called "rabiz," and the ramifications of its
popularity have affected Armenia's cultural as well as social norms.
The exact origin of the word is unknown. Some believe that the word comes
from Turkish or Arabic roots. Most people, however, verify that the term
stems from the Russian phrase transliterated as "rabotniki isskustva," which
translates to "worker's art." According to some sources, the word's usage in
Armenia dates back to the 1920s.
The rabiz song form varies in interpretation and comprehension. Some
attribute the term to describe modern Armenian dance music, usually fast
paced and laden with upbeat tempos. The music of a particular artist
performing within the full spectrum of current Armenian pop can subjectively
be considered rabiz depending on the tastes of the listener. It is also said
that rabiz music existed in one form during Armenia's Soviet years. However,
the more accepted affiliation now is to a song structure based on the
popular ballad, usually sung with a specific person in mind while conveying
a message of love or longing.
Rabiz singers are almost always male. The vocal tone is usually sung in
tenor and mimics the traditional as well as mainstream vocal styles heard in
Turkish or Arabic music, the singer wailing alongside the main melody in a
kind of improvisation, usually with vibrato if one can be produced. Many of
the songs themselves are Middle Eastern but with Armenian-language lyrics.
The orchestra is usually comprised entirely of synthesized instruments,
occasionally accompanied by the Armenian duduk (woodwind instrument) to
accentuate the usual somber mood. The arrangements of the ballads are
reminiscent to those that could be heard in American or British popular
music from the 1980's. The traditional rabiz song is addressed to loved
ones, primarily to parents or a significant other. There are countless rabiz
singers in Armenian popular music today, and their audience is usually young
men in their 20s or 30s, although older generations listen to the music as
well.
Stereotypical descriptions of rabiz performers and their followers have
expectedly taken form, especially in the last five years. In fact, they
themselves are labeled as being rabiz by their appearance as well as
practiced popular culture. The clothing and grooming styles of men who have
an affinity with the music are specific, thus the result has become a kind
of uniform. The common color scheme is all black, but a light-colored dress
shirt or pullover is accepted for contrast, although now other colors,
predominately dark, have come to be worn. Young men wear either black
single-breasted suits or faux, sometimes real leather jackets with black
trousers or jeans. Dark, rectangular sunglasses and black waist belts with
large, square platinum-colored buckles are worn as accessories. A small case
containing the latest mobile telephone model is strapped to the belt and
placed on the hip. The footwear chosen are leather loafer variations,
usually black in color and narrow in size, with a high heel and an unusually
sharply pointed toe, which as a variation curves upward or is squared off.
The hair is cut very short, sometimes shaved close, with a part from the far
right or left. The posture of rabiz men is usually poor, slumped shouldered,
or they squat low to the ground, with their forearms resting on the knees.
Those who can afford an automobile drive the Lada 2107 or the Lada Niva
sport utility vehicle. Both vehicles are most always painted bright white,
featuring black tinted windows and premium shiny chrome wheels, not to
mention custom license plates. Other more contemporary Lada models are also
favored, such as the model 112, but silver or black in color, again with
black tinted windows.
As prejudiced as this description may seem, young men throughout the country's
capital fit it to a tee, while others living in rural areas strive to
achieve the same look. Accordingly, the rabiz lifestyle has taken true form
amongst young men, who are often referred to as "apero" and call each other
"akhper" or "aper," slang for "brother." Not surprisingly, people in society
who do not condone the rabiz lifestyle find it as being in bad taste.
Women who are considered rabiz in style are less obvious to spot;
nevertheless a particular fashion sense is attributed to the stereotype.
Facial and eye make-up is almost always heavily applied. The hair is usually
dyed in dirty to light blond shades, sometimes in streaks for contrast
against the natural dark hair color that most Armenian women are born with,
and if the hair is curly it is usually straightened. In-fashion, shocking
colors are preferred-reds, blinding bright whites, or hot pinks
particularly. Short acid-washed or artificially faded jeans are worn very
tight that rise up to the knee. Tight mini-skirts or pants, usually black,
are fitted as well. Blouses are taut or loose but cut low from the neck. For
footwear, long, slim knee-high boots or pumps with unusually high, thin
stiletto heels are preferred, and the toe is usually pointed sharply.
Oversized sunglasses copied after European haute couture designer styles are
preferred eyewear accessories.
Rabiz transforms to a degree as men age. The pot belly, varying in size and
shape, protrudes over the belt line in a primitive display of wealth and
affluence. German luxury cars or ostentatious Japanese sport utility
vehicles are a prize reflected by the vast number that can be found in
Yerevan's downtown area. Otherwise, the newest model of the Russian Volga is
preferred. Automobile colors are not important, but black is predominant
nevertheless.
But there is no clear definition of the term as it applies to culture. Young
Armenians living in Glendale, located just outside Los Angeles and
containing one of the largest communities of expatriate Armenians in their
Diaspora, claim that rabiz applies to those trying to conform to the local
popular culture fostered by inner-city African-American youth there. Rather,
it subjectively applies to any young man who does not conform to the social
and cultural expectations of the observer.
The Armenian language has even been directly affected by rabiz culture. A
new vernacular, which could be considered as a sub-language, has developed.
Words are pronounced with exaggerated deep "o" and "a" vowel sounds, and the
resulting effect seems as if the speaker is munching on what is being
spoken. The rabiz tend to converse in a condescending manner, with sweet,
deceptively sincere words. An automatic expression used in the contexts of
"give me a break," "giving you a break," or as a term of endearment, but is
literally translated as "I take your pain," is used in such frequency in
conversation that the term no longer takes on any true meaning. It was
introduced in casual speech long ago by Armenia's now senior generation, but
its usage has become a phenomenon in its own right. Russian, Turkish and
even Farsi words are thrown in for color in everyday dialogue as jargon or
figures of speech in such frequency that many if asked do not realize that
the terms they are using are actually foreign.
In architecture, new structures being constructed by businessmen, who
subjectively conform to the rabiz standard, are most always ostentatious in
design and do not match the monumental Stalin-era buildings that surround
them, which are incidentally being cruelly destroyed since they are
perceived as being outdated. Neon in various hues is the preferred form of
luminance, not only on business signs but in interiors as mood lighting.
Shiny surfaces in the form of mirrors, dark glass, highly polished stone
tile, or marble are predominant in both exterior and interior décor. The
buildings themselves stand as symmetrical blocks with smooth planes and
little to no distinctive ornamentation, contrasting with that often found on
older apartment or retail buildings throughout the city designed with a
classical European architectural influence.
Thus society is being polarized not only socio-economically, as a new middle
class has clearly taken hold, but culturally into two camps-those who reject
traditional Armenian culture and those who strive to preserve it at all
costs. The rabiz evidently are increasingly influenced by the general look
and gruff habits associated with Russian mafia portrayals on television and
in Hollywood-produced films glorifying the Italian mafia. They do not adhere
to the arts and culture that is uniquely Armenian, namely displayed in
music, painting, sculpture and architecture. Furthermore, they take little
interest in anything other than symbols representing material wealth, namely
cars and mobile phones. The attitude that is fostered-an indifferent,
to-hell-with-it chauvinist stance-affects those who coexist in their
immediate surroundings, both young and old. It affects the older generations
in that they are appalled by the phenomenon they now encounter daily, while
the new, budding generations regard the rabiz as their heroes.
Rabiz transcends political spheres as well. The orchestrators of big
business in Armenia-some of whom are considered to be rabiz by public
opinion-are becoming involved, although minimally, in politics by being
elected members of parliament, who by law are granted immunity from criminal
prosecution. Thus they are protected when conducting any business
transactions that may be considered or are in fact illegal. And they are
also largely ignored for evading the payment of millions of dollars in state
taxes, even reporting business losses.
One such lucrative businessman, Gagik Tsarukian, who is otherwise
affectionately known as "Dodi Gago" by citizens throughout the country,
formed his own political party called "Prosperous Armenia" in 2006. The
party is considered to be unofficially supported by Armenia's president
Robert Kocharian. It has already become the most popular organization in the
country not because of its support from business peers, but due to its
increasingly gained loyalty from common people, mainly representing the
lower social classes. His party earned their support through the perceived
generous distribution of foodstuffs. In exchange for a sack of potatoes or
flour, a citizen of a village willingly agrees to instantly become a party
member with a signature on a standardized form. Prosperous Armenia already
claims a membership of 370,000 people, a remarkable number considering
Armenia's perceived, unofficial population estimate of 2.5 million. And its
widespread, overwhelming support comes just in time for the National
Assembly elections to be held this May. Prosperous Armenia is already
expected to sweep the majority of contested seats. Already oversized posters
draping the sides of building walls glamorizing Tsarukian's thug-like visage
are present, with slogans reading, "Let's Work Together to Build a
Prosperous Armenia."
Protests in the not-so-distant past against figures comprising the
government establishment, who are protected by brutes referred to as
"skinheads" and who are considered to conform to the rabiz lifestyle, are
put down, sometimes violently. One such incident occurred during the public
protests made in reaction to the presidential elections held in 2003, which
were widely believed to have been falsified. Journalists were reportedly
running for their lives, some having their cameras smashed and were
themselves beaten for photographing the events. Already there is some
speculation amongst journalists as well as by word of mouth that the May
elections will likely be falsified despite threats from the West calling for
otherwise.
It cannot be predicted how long the rabiz trend will continue. Some believe
that the song form will eventually lose popularity, and the culture and
lifestyle associated with it will also wither away. However, the latest
music being played by Yerevan-based radio stations and in video clips on
television demonstrates that Armenian popular and rabiz styles are already
fusing. A clearly emerging alternative popular culture amongst youth is
defying rabiz, and Western pop music is steadily gaining in popularity as
well. There already are established, near cult-like movements formed by
those who prefer rock or jazz music genres, but such individuals are
victimized by the rabiz society that still predominates. Some musicians are
even physically assaulted.
Whether the ramifications of rabiz on a political scale will be suppressed,
however, depends on the citizens of Armenia. In the end, only they can
determine how their country should be governed and under what prevailing
conditions or objectives. And the entire Armenian nation is waiting for
their decision.
---------------------------------------- ---------------------------
7. An Interview with Frank Pallone
By Khatchig Mouradian
The following interview with Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) was
conducted on March 23 in Washington. He is co-chair of the Congressional
Caucus on Armenian Issues.
Armenian Weekly-On March 9, together with 16 colleagues, you introduced a
bill allowing Cypriot-Americans to seek compensation for their property in
Turkish occupied Northern Cyprus. What is the importance of this bill?
Frank Pallone-We don't recognize the Turkish occupation of Northern Cyprus.
Those who occupied Northern Cyprus took the property of Green Cypriots
without permission and appropriated it for their own purposes. The people
who own the land should either be able to go back or get compensation, and
the Turkish government has done nothing to provide compensation.
A.W.-Whenever Cyprus, the Kurds or the Armenian Genocide resolution come up,
one of the most common arguments heard is that Turkey is changing and that
we should wait until it comes to terms with its past rather than pressuring
it and potentially causing a backlash.
F.P.-I would differentiate between the government and the people. I think
that increasingly the public, particularly the intellectuals and educated
people, would like to see Turkey become a member of the EU, recognize the
Armenian Genocide, get out of Cyprus, and not treat the Kurds as lesser
citizens. I, too, believe that the Turkish people are moving towards a
democratic society, respect for human rights, but the leadership, the
government, doesn't share that. They continue to have a hard line on almost
every one of the issues I mentioned. I hope that at some point the
leadership catches up with the public. But that's not happening now. I don't
know when that will happen, but I just think at some point it will and we
just have to keep agitating and keep saying that the government policies in
Cyprus, and against the Armenians, against the Kurds are not acceptable.
A.W.-There is constant talk that Turkey and the Bush Administration are
putting enormous pressure on Congress so that it drops the Genocide
resolution. Can you talk about the specific actions taken by Turkey and the
administration?
F.P.-Every time Congressmen and elected officials go to Ankara or Istanbul,
they are lectured for hours about how the Genocide didn't occur. And they
receive threats about how if the Genocide resolution is passed, the soldiers
in Iraq are not going to be safe and that they are not going to provide any
help in the U.S. efforts in Iraq (not that they have done much anyway).
There's a combination of genocide denial and threats against American
soldiers and American policies. Congressmen have to hear about how genocide
never occurred, how we should have a commission that looks into what
happened, how Turks always treated the Armenians so well, and there were
even Armenians in the government in 1915.
They are doing the same thing here. They go around to the Members [of
Congress] and lobby them. In some cases, they have even had soldiers in Iraq
call Members of Congress and say, "I'm afraid the Turks are going to punish
us in some way if you pass the Genocide resolution."
And the administration goes along with it and does the same thing. They call
the Members, they meet with the Members, they say this is going to threaten
American soldiers, or they suggest that there was no genocide. It's
pathetic.
I don't think the threats have any impact. They have increasingly moved from
threats toward more denial, because I think the threats have backfired. And
I believe denial never ceases. You still have the denial of the Holocaust.
The German government put up monuments commemorating the Holocaust and Iran
is having conferences saying the Nazi Holocaust never occurred. Even some
Americans say it never happened.
There will always be people out there denying the Genocide. If the people
accused of committing genocide are one's ancestors or friends or somebody
they respect, one doesn't believe or doesn't want to believe that they are
capable of it.
---------------------------------------------- ----------------------
8. 'The Bastard of Istanbul'
Reviewed by Michael Leone
The Bastard of Istanbul
By Elif Shafak
360 pp.
$24.95
Elif Shafak is a French-born writer of Turkish descent who returned to
Turkey with her mother after being reared in Spain. She has a Master of
Science in gender and women studies, and a PhD in political science.
According to the biography on her website, Shafak's "academic background has
been nurtured by a critical, interdisciplinary, and gender-conscious
rereading of the literature on the Middle East and West, Islam, and
modernity." She is also an activist, a journalist, and a professor at the
University of Arizona, Tucson. A polyglot, she has written novels in French
and Turkish, and now, with the publication of The Bastard of Istanbul, her
second novel in English.
Shafak would probably be little known in this country if it were not for her
tangle with Turkish authorities. Like her peer, Orhan Pamuk, Shafak was
accused of violating Article 301 of the Turkish penal code for "insulting
Turkishness," which is, of course, a government euphemism for telling the
truth. Shafak had the audacity to refer to the 1915-1923 eradication of 1.5
million Armenians. Though Shafak was acquitted of the charge, in a twist of
irony, the episode reinforces the theme of the novel: the lengths we will go
to preserve cultural amnesia over our dark history.
Most of the characters in Shafak's novel, like Turkey itself, are haunted by
some horrible memory. The main character and instigator of all the action of
the novel, Zeliha Kazanci, has done the horrible un-Turkish thing of having
a child out of wedlock. Determined to abort the child, she receives a
haunting image of Allah while on the operating table and falls into a swoon.
She decides to keep the baby and cancels the procedure.
Zeliha is one daughter of four in a household full of carefully calibrated
female eccentrics. There is her mother Gülsüm, "who might have been Ivan the
Terrible in another life"; her oldest sister Banu, a full-time mystic with a
clientele of local fortune-seekers; Feride, a woman with a long history of
mental illnesses, some imagined, some real, who suffers from "hebephrenic
schizophrenia"; Cevriye, a schoolteacher, who believes that "every Turkish
citizen, no matter how ordinary she might be in society, had a duty to
proudly represent the motherland vis-à-vis the whole world"; the
great-matriarch Petite-Ma; and of course, the bastard of the title, Asya, a
self-described nihilist, as mule-headed as her mother, ever-determined to
live a life oblivious to her past.
There is also a male, Mustafa, who has managed to survive the longest of any
male of the Kazanci family. His method of shedding himself of his past (he,
too, has a dark memory he's hiding from) is to clamber to America where he
will all but sever ties with his family. He gets involved with an Armenian
woman named Rose, and becomes the stepfather of Armanoush ("Amy")
Tchakhmakhchian. Rose delights in getting involved with an Armenian, knowing
how much it will anger her alienated husband and Turkish in-laws.
If all of the above sounds confusing, that's because this ambitious novel
covers not only two sets of families from two different cultures living on
two different continents, but comes equipped with flashbacks that go back to
the last days of the Ottoman Empire. Fortunately, we are in the hands of a
deft novelist who manages to orchestrate these diverse scenes and settings
with a dexterity to be envied.
Shafak sets the abiding tone of the novel in the third chapter, when Rose's
in-laws, who are Armenian, discover she has taken on a Turkish boyfriend.
Amy's paternal grandfather, Dikran Stamboulian, says, "What will that
innocent lamb tell her friends when she grow up? My father is Barsam
Tchakhmahcchian, all my family tree has been Something Somethingian, and I
am the grandchild of genocide survivors who lost all their relatives at the
hands of Turkish butchers in 1915, but I myself have been brainwashed to
deny the genocide because I was raised by some Turk named Mustafa?" (53-54).
Though the Armenian viewpoint, as demonstrated through Dikran, is mawkish
and narrow-minded, the Turkish one, as demonstrated by the entire Kazanci
family-Cevriye in particular ("The Americans...are misled into believing
that Turkey is the country of the 'Midnight Express'"(135)), is no less so.
Here is where Shafak proves she is not at heart a polemicist, but a
novelist.
When Amy decides to learn about her culture and makes a visit to the Kazanci
family, she remains determined to challenge them about their denial of the
past. At her first meeting with the family, she reveals her family's past,
describing the deportations forced by the Turks on her grandparents and
their subsequent deaths from starvation.
"Who did this atrocity?" Cevriye asks. When explained that it was the Turks,
she attempts to reconcile the truth with her own version of her country's
history: "Twenty years in her career as a Turkish national history teacher,
she was so accustomed to drawing an impermeable boundary between the past
and the present, distinguishing the Ottoman Empire from the modern Turkish
Republic, that she had actually heard the whole story as grim news from a
distant country. The new state in Turkey had been established in 1923 and
that was as far as the genesis of this regime could extend. Whatever might
or might not have happened preceding this commencement date was the issue of
another era-and another people." (164)
Shafak offsets the bleakness of the novel with humor. The characters are
Dickensian distortions, with an air of farcical grandiosity about them. Zany
and emotional, they argue passionately around tables cluttered with dishes
of kaburga, churek and yalanci sarma, and keep the novel from feeling
downbeat.
Asya is also cleverly rendered. A brooding existentialist, she listens to
Johnny Cash and hangs out at the Café Kundera with a bunch of artists and
bohemian journalists bearing names like the Dipsomaniac Journalist, the
Nonnationalist Scenarist of Ultranationalist Movies, and the Closeted Gay
Columnist.
Shafak writes a competent English, though the writing is marred by an
over-abundance of clichés ("swearing like a trooper," "glued to the
screen"), and redundancies ("you should never ever..."). One wonders why
she didn't write the novel in her native tongue and have it translated into
a seamless English. There are also occasional lapses in pace. In addition,
Amy, the counterpoint to Asya, is the least flawed of the characters and
thus the least interesting.
The Bastard of Istanbul is a novel that will appeal both to Armenians and
Turks, as it concerns issues of great importance to both cultures. Its
strength, though, like all books that attempt to speak the truth, is that it
transcends the cultural, and is capable of being read and appreciated by
everybody. Though it includes a predictable revelation at its conclusion, it
remains a remarkable achievement.
Michael Leone wrote the review of The Bastard of Istanbul exclusively for
the Armenian Weekly. He is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and
is a regular book reviewer for The San Francisco Chronicle, The Plain
Dealer, the Kansas City Star and American Book Review. He lives in Brooklyn,
N.Y.
-------------------------------------------- --------------------------
9. 'So I Will Till the Ground'
Reviewed by Knarik O. Meneshian
So I Will Till The Ground, Gregory Djanikian's newest work published by
Carnegie Mellon University Press, Pittsburgh 2007, is a thoughtful and
deeply moving poetic experience. With its rich tapestry of words and lines
reverently woven together, its varied rhythms and tones, the author creates
art for the senses as well as the heart. Comprised of 41 poems, in three
sections, on 74 pages, the book is not only about the Armenian Genocide and
its aftermath, but of life, love, and death; tragedies, tribulations, and
triumphs; the past, the present, and the future. It offers a glimpse into
the daily life and inner spirit of the Armenian Diaspora-a product of the
Genocide. Djanikian's lyrical poems are a cornucopia of textures, colors,
flavors, and though describing personal accounts speak a universal language.
In the first section of the book, Djanikian describes the brutality, the
horrors that man is capable of inflecting on others, and the presenting of
the grim reality of such an unspeakable act-genocide-in terms that do not
overwhelm, but rather make it more palatable. Otherwise the heinousness of
the act becomes too much to bear as exemplified in the poem "The
Aestheticians of Genocide."
.The trick is to avoid excesses
of horrors so as not to scorch the mind
and strike it dumb, though grief may yowl
and the dirt and villages burn.
.if we were to say
they brought men to the square
and bound them to the posts and one
by one gouged out their eyes,
how many of us would turn
away in disgust.?
say the sun was too harsh and blinding,
say the river was beautiful once.
In "Deportation Song," the quickness of it all, the utter cruelty and
indifference towards the sufferings of the Genocide victims are poignantly
illustrated. The vivid images present the victims as people, and not mere
accounts and pictures in a book.
This one was given a week to get ready,
this one, one day, or none at all, hurry up.
.This one hid.
.This one was butchered.
and this one was crying for water.
In "Children's Lullaby," again there is a quickness, but this time it is the
quickness in learning how to survive:
If you are walking.
keep your eyes down.
One eye open when you're sleeping.
One eye open when you're waking.
And when your father falls behind,
don't cry.
And when your mother falls behind,
don't cry.
Never ask where you are going,
the wind might blow your ashes there.
In the second section, the author tells of the Genocide survivors beginning
new lives in new places, and of their integration into the society. The
poem "Diaspora," describes such a beginning:
They appeared out of the deserts,
they straggled from the interior,
orphans, widows, a few lucky men.
they came together to relief stations,
orphanages, refugee camps,
.staying as long
as it took to disperse like seeds,
scatter to all parts
from the eye of the storm.
The poem culminates with the author's grandfather, a survivor, arriving in
Egypt where he:
.set up shop, and prospered,
marrying, having children,
bringing the rest of us
from a deeper exile into his life.
But only until it was time to leave again ... this time for the U.S.A.,
where once more a new life, a new language and customs awaited them. The
poem "Whenever I Had American Friends Over" vividly describes how the
newcomers worked at fitting into the new society:
there would be no speaking
in Armenian no wearing the old clothes
or referring to the time when
not even the names of foods
my mother had prepared survived
lahmajoun becoming "garlic pizza"
kuftas the Swedish meatballs.
In the final section of the book, the author describes how, step by step,
the Diasporans-descendants of the Genocide survivors-become a part of their
new society where the old country ways, the language, the food are put aside
and the new is embraced. Still, though, the stories of the elders,
remembrances of childhood spent in another, far-away, place where cherished
memories were first formed and melded with those of parents and grandparents
remain a part of the Diasporans. "Immigrant Picnic" engagingly illustrates
the gradual process of assimilation:
It's the Fourth of July.
And I'm grilling.
.I ask my father what's his pleasure
and he says, "Hot dogs, medium rare,"
and then, "Hamburger, sure,
what's the big difference,"
as if he's really asking.
"You're running around," my mother says,
"like a chicken with its head loose."
"Ma," I say, "you mean cut off
loose and cut off being as far apart
as, say, son and daughter."
Gregory Djanikian's final poem, "So I Will Till The Ground" is the essence
of the Diasporan experience-the longing, the aching to touch the ground
where ancestral customs and traditions first bloomed. And so, in order to
honor and preserve all they knew and cherished of the old ways in the old
country, the soil is tilled and seeds are planted.
.So I will mulch the seedling tomato
that was my grandfather's preference
scatter caraway and clove
to retrieve the spices of his pleasure
So I will shepherd the turnips for my great aunt
who loved their soundness.
So I will dig.
that out of these many wounds
there might come flower and fruit
to carry forth, to replenish.
--------------------------------------- ----------------------------
10. Michael Goorjian and Kirk Douglas Make 'Illusion' Talent Plain to See
By Andy Turpin
BELMONT, Mass. (A.W.)-On March 25, actor, writer and director Michael A.
Goorjian premiered his first film "Illusion," starring Kirk Douglas and
himself in lead roles, at the Belmont Studio Cinema. A "Meet the Director"
reception for the Boston-area opening precluded the screening at Belmont's
First Armenian Church. The event was presented by the Armenian Dramatic Arts
Alliance (ADAA) and the Belmont World Film movie series, currently underway
at Belmont Studio Cinema.
"Illusion" is a well-woven tapestry of styles whose narrative never slows or
falters despite its division into three distinct segments. Fair-warning
though: It's a heartwarming, positive and uplifting story with an afterlife
plot reminiscent of It's a Wonderful Life, Spielberg or any number of 1960s
Twilight Zone episodes one may have seen.
In the film, Douglas plays Mr. Baines, a dying film director, a throwback to
real-life director Billy Wilder or Blake Edwards. In the wee hours of the
night, he is visited at his bedside by Stan, his long-dead favorite film
editor, played by actor Ron Marasco.
Throughout the film, Stan's character is soft and funny, and the film
noir-style banter between he and Baines is witty without being overbearing.
Stan appears at Baines' bedside brandishing cigarettes and a cup of coffee,
saying, "I sat here for a little while by the bed. Then I made some coffee,
because who can be scared of someone with a cup of coffee?"
Stan informs Baines that although he was essentially a good man all his
life, there was a part of himself that he never came to terms with. That was
the illegitimate son he had fathered and failed to see 30 years ago. Stan
offers him a chance to look at three portions of his son's life, viewed as
celestial movie reels.
>From this point, the audience is introduced to Baines' son Christopher,
played by Michael Goorjian. Those segments compose the bulk of the film,
with Baines and Stan providing running commentary and dramatic bookends. The
segments revolve around Christopher when he is 17, 25, and 35 years old, and
deal with his star-crossed odyssey to gain a happily-ever-after existence
with his beloved Isabelle, played by actress Karen Tucker.
Each segment is shot and scored distinctly and well. When Christopher is 17,
"Illusion" is in every way a late-90s teen movie. When he's 25, the movie
takes an Indie-look similar to David Fincher, with brickbat throwback to
1998's grunge version of Great Expectations. By the time Christopher is 35,
the style has taken such a mature down home feel as he emerges as an
unjustly imprisoned ex-con that you feel a little ashamed for liking him so
much as a teen character.
No spoilers on the ending, but at the Boston-area premiere Goorjian was
given two rounds of standing ovations, and more than a few Armenian
grandfathers left with tear stains on their black leather jackets.
During the brief question and answer session that followed the screening,
Goorjian spoke about the production and the numerous production headaches
when making "Illusion." Speaking about the pitfalls of film distribution for
young filmmakers, Goorjian admitted, "We shot it in 2001. I thought [getting
it to audiences] would be two years. It's been like six."
Explaining the hurdles of making movies today, Goorjian said, "You have to
spend so much on prints and advertising to justify the funds [spent on
production] that most films [seeking assurance of returns] tend to go to the
lowest common denominator."
Thus far, "Illusion" was screened with acclaimed reviews at theaters in the
Hamptons, Palm Springs, the Lake Tahoe Film Festival and the Golden Apricot
Film Festival in Yerevan. It is scheduled for limited theatrical releases
around the U.S., though Goorjian said it had been difficult to market
because the film's differing styles make it hard to pigeonhole into a
specific genre that is neither romance nor Indie. Goorjian quipped, "People
kept telling me, 'It's too positive and uplifting.'"
Asked about working with Kirk Douglas, Goorjian repeated how gracious and
strong Douglas was to work with, especially on an unknown film made on less
than a million dollars in the age of prequels and blockbusters. "We had him
in a little Winnebago," Goorjian said. "He was fine with everything. The
money we gave him, he just gave right back to the production. He's been
acting all his life, but at his age people are always approaching him as
'Kirk Douglas the Legend,' and so he doesn't get as many chances to actually
do what he loves."
Douglas is currently 90 years old, and was 87 and a stroke survivor when
"Illusion" was shot. His acting, in relation to his age and health, are
superb. He's funny and believable playing a workaholic and estranged father
to a son he never met in life.
Goorjian said with awe, "He's a sturdy, sturdy guy."
Goorjian himself was gracious in the beaming audience reaction to "Illusion"
and was honest when he said, "I spent a large portion of my life working on
this. It's just wonderful to have people appreciate it. I'm also grateful
for how hard it's been.sort of."
"Illusion" will come out on DVD May 29.
***
(c) 2007 Armenian Weekly On-Line. All Rights Reserved.