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The Armenian Weekly On-Line
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The Armenian Weekly; Volume 73, No. 33; August 18, 2007
Commentary and Analysis:
1. Threats, Lies and Videotape
By Raffi Wartanian
2. Film Promotion, Black Panthers and Armenians
By Hrag Yedalian
3. SpitRain Award
By Garen Yegparian
4. Turkey Joining the European Union is a Positive Development, If ...
By Khajag Mgrditchian
5. Virtual Armenia: A Look at the Armenian Cyber Space
By Simon Beugekian
6. Letters to the Editor
***
1. Threats, Lies and Videotape
By Raffi Wartanian
YEREVAN (A.W.)-At some points controversial, at some points insightful, and
at some points comical, the lecture "Threats, Lie, and Videotape, the
Armenian Genocide and Western Betrayal in the Middle East" by Robert Fisk
hosted by the American University of Armenia won't soon be forgotten. The
room, packed with diasporan volunteers, entrepreneurs and intellectuals,
brimmed with anticipation. After all, Fisk's journalistic career has
garnered acclaim for its no-holds-barred honesty and incisiveness, and the
lecture did not disappoint.
Fisk began by discussing his latest book, The Great War for Civilization:
The Conquest of the Middle East, which chronicles recent Middle East history
through the eyes of a journalist in the region since 1976. The text includes
a chapter titled "The First Holocaust" about the Armenian genocide.
Translations in scores of languages have made his book available in scores
of countries. In fact, many translators throughout the world flocked to work
on the well-researched text, except for one country. Fisk described the
difficulties he faced publishing the book in Turkey. If he stepped foot in
Turkey, he was told, he would have to go court to face charges violating
Article 301, the same article which sought to jail Hrant Dink, Taner Akcam
and Orhan Pamuk for "insulting Turkishness."
Publishers in Turkey considered releasing the book under one stipulation: It
had to be "quiet." No press releases, advertisements or book reviews-tools
essential to book marketing. While Fisk boasted of a near flawless
translation into Turkish, the book published in 2005 has yet to reach
markets in Turkey.
This discussion allowed Fisk to make clear his disagreement with the Turkish
denialist thesis. He shared stories told to him by a survivor in Beirut,
where he works. Fisk cited more survival testimonies, raising the emotion of
his presentation, which may have neglected a more pragmatic discussion of
legal issues surrounding genocide recognition and direct Ittihad ve Terakki
sources documenting the termination of a people.
Fisk also shared clips from two of his films. The first documented the day
that Syrian soldiers left Lebanon after years of military presence in the
country. The ceremony took place on the Syrian-Lebanese border, where Fisk
approached reluctant Syrian soldiers, easing their tension with soft ya'habibi's.
The second film examined the Bosnian genocide. Bosnians forced out of their
homes and transported to strange lands lamented before the camera. Fisk went
with Serbian soldiers to the recently shelled home of a local imam. Just a
year ago, the imam had served Fisk coffee, and Fisk used the remains of the
home as the setting to reflect on Serbian aggression towards innocent
Bosnians. At the end of the clip, Fisk paralleled the subjects of his film
with Armenians driven from their homeland.
The question and answer session led to many interesting moments. One
audience member asked Fisk for his take on the Artsakh conflict. Fisk firmly
stated that in terms of international journalism, it was no longer a top 10
issue, something he might otherwise show more interest and knowledge in. He
shared that a recent visit to Dzidzernagapert (Yerevan's Genocide Memorial)
revealed a trend he found disturbing. He questioned why plaques
memorializing the fallen soldiers of Artsakh were included in the Genocide
Museum. He urged the audience not to associate the genocide with the
Nagorno-Karabakh war, and that doing so would lead to an unhealthy cycle of
hatred towards Azeris in a conflict where peace ought be the solution, not
more hatred.
Another audience member asked Fisk if he thought there was a link between
Bush and September 11. "Every country I hold a lecture in, someone asks me
that same exact question." After listing an overwhelming amount of policy
blunders by the Bush administration, Fisk concluded his response saying, "If
they can't get any of those things right, then how in the world could they
possibly conceal one of the most carefully planned and executed terrorist
plots in history?" The room erupted in laughter, and the audience member sat
humbled.
---------------------------------------- --------------------------
2. Film Promotion, Black Panthers and Armenians
By Hrag Yedalian
Not too long ago, I read an interesting article that discussed the
burgeoning "art" of independent film promotion. In it, the author (who
happens to have directed one of my favorite documentaries) spoke about the
shocking realization he came to after completing his film: yes, he had
completed a film-but the journey was far from over. He had to put in as much
effort, if not more, to create a buzz around the product and get it out to
audiences. The effort is grueling and tedious and provides few, if any,
guarantees.
But, most filmmakers know what the process entails, and muster up the
courage to walk down the long road. They talk to as many people as possible
and hope that a few will be interested in watching their product.
Documentarians seek "built-in" audiences, and naturally approach them first.
Therefore, a filmmaker who analyzes the psyche of hip-hop emcees will try to
market his or her film to the fans of the musical genre. The process is
pretty simple and rather predictable. But, the logic is sound and clear.
So, when I completed my documentary about famed civil rights attorney
Charles R. Garry, I had plenty to work off of. Garry gained national
prominence during the 1960s for his groundbreaking work in defending
anti-war activists and leaders of the Black Panther Party. I figured that
the people who had lived through the era, or were interested in the times,
would probably serve as ideal audiences. But, I knew of one additional group
that would be just as interested: Armenian-Americans.
"Garry and the Armenians?" you ask
Well, yes. Garry was originally named "Garabedian," and was the son of
Armenian immigrants who had fled the Ottoman Empire during the massacres of
the 1890s. Born in Massachusetts in 1909, he was raised on the rough streets
of Fresno, Calif., at a time when store front signs read "No Dogs, No
Niggers, No Armenians." Several times a week, he would find himself in the
middle of a fist fight with some kid who had insulted "his people." Luckily,
he was a good fighter and would almost always knock his opponent out.
I was immediately drawn to Garry's story. I was fascinated by the 1960s and
couldn't believe that a lawyer of Armenian descent was at the center of the
decade's most important political cases. But, many proud Armenians at the
time questioned Garry's "Armenian-ness." He had, after all, anglicized his
name, and for many that was enough to prove that he succumbed to the
pressures exerted by "white America."
Of course, Garry was well aware of such criticisms. It might have even
bothered him a bit. A statement he made in his later years is quite
revealing: "I knew what it was to be Armenian, and I knew what it was to be
black as I became a lawyer. Fortunately, I was able to leave all that,
because I wasn't black. All I had to do was change my name. I've never
denied my nationality. I'm proud of my nationality. And, I'm proud of the
Armenian people to be able to stand all those years."
Indeed, times were tough during the first half of the 20th century. Garry,
like numerous other immigrants, realized that his name was too exotic for
his own good. When jobs were scarce during the Depression era, employers
would almost always pass up on applicants with unpronounceable last names
like "Garabedian" in favor for those with more "acceptable" surnames. Garry
changed his name to avoid the second-class treatment meted towards people in
his position. But, he didn't ignore the lessons that the experience offered.
It was his handling of precisely these lessons that motivated me to work on
"The People's Advocate: The Life & Times of Charles R. Garry." Here was a
man who had experienced discrimination first hand, and had subsequently
decided to use the tool at his disposal-the law-to combat such hatred
wherever it reared its ugly head. For him, a person's skin color or ethnic
origin did not matter. He simply saw injustice, and felt compelled to fight
it. I couldn't help but admire this man and his work.
The key to Garry's approach was his understanding about the
interconnectivity of things. It was not uncommon for him to talk to jurors
about his own past in an effort to draw common parallels with the case at
hand. While delivering the closing statement during the internationally
watched trial of Black Panther co-founder Huey P. Newton, Garry stated: "We
know through history that there is and there have been massacres of people.
The Armenians have gone through several massacres. Other nations have gone
through genocide in more ways than one, but history tells me that the black
people of the world have had genocide in excess of 50 million.The black
community today, the black ghetto, is fighting for the right of
survival-ship. The white community is sitting smug and saying, 'Let's have
more police, let's have more guns, let's arm ourselves against the blacks.'
They are saying that time and time again."
Garry's clients adored him for his approach, and many of them walked away
with a newly found education about the Armenian people. They all knew that
Garry "comes from a poor, oppressed people." Black Panther chairman Bobby
Seale described Garry's personal history in the 1972 autobiography Seize the
Time. In it, he mistakenly attributes the Armenian genocide as the doing of
Adolph Hitler: "He's of Armenian descent, from people who were destroyed by
being scattered throughout Europe and around the world, when Hitler went
forth to massacre and slaughter them during his regime."
But, Garry's relationship with his ethnic roots wasn't all about politics.
While going through the legendary attorney's personal papers, which are
currently housed at UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library, I came across a folder
titled "BULLSHIT FILE CRG." In it, I found a letter from Garry dated Sept.
13, 1977. The note was addressed to a pair of authors working on a book that
chronicled how celebrities would spend their "last night on earth before
embarking onto a space colony." Garry describes in great detail the meal he
would have during the fictional evening: ".steak tender enough to melt in
your mouth, broiled to perfection, full of flavor. Fresh asparagus with
melted butter, sweet corn-fresh of course-again with melted butter, pizza
bread, Armenian cracker bread, a salad." He then moves on to note that he
would also like to have some of the tasty delicacy commonly referred to as
chicofteh-the Armenian equivalent of steak tartare.
He even included the recipe: "1 lb. top sirloin steak, fat removed, ground 3
times."
And, so, in terms of finding an ideal "built-in audience" for my
documentary, I am now looking for progressive Armenian-Americans who love
steak tartare.
While a student studying history at the University of California, Berkeley,
Hrag Yedalian ventured into the world of documentary filmmaking.
Subsequently, he left UCLA Law School to pursue filmmaking at the American
Film Institute Conservatory. "The People's Advocate: The Life & Times of
Charles R. Garry" (www.peoplesadvocate themovie.com) is his first feature
length documentary.
Yedalian can be reached at [email protected].
------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
3. SpitRain Award
By Garen Yegparian
You've all heard the Armenian saying, "S/he's so shameless, if you spit on
his/her face, s/he will think it's rain." The spirit of this saying is
whence the award's name emanates.
So I'm not rude, let me graciously offer my profound gratitude to those who
inspired this first-time award. I suspect there will be many future winners,
and some may receive it multiple times.
Last week genocide denier Richard E. Hoagland's ambassadorial nomination was
finally withdrawn, a year overdue. Naturally, the Armenian Assembly of
America (AAA) dutifully put out one of its myriad press releases. Of course
it was very short. How could it be otherwise?
The AAA had basically supported appointing the denier, resorting to verbal
contortions justifying its position and actions. I'd written about this six
months ago. Is it coincidence that despite my being on their e-mail list
previously, I haven't received anything from the Assembly lately? I suspect
it might be petty retribution emanating from the "truth hurts" quadrant.
Fortunately, there are decent folks out there who convey this kind of
information to me. Thank you.
Now that others' efforts to nix such an abominable appointment had borne
fruit, it was time to take credit. But the shamelessness doesn't end there.
Here's the entire text of the release:
"Earlier today, sources within both the Administration and Congress
confirmed the withdrawal of Richard Hoagland's nomination as America's next
Ambassador to Armenia.
"Should this withdrawal indicate that the next nominee to serve as U.S.
Ambassador to Armenia shall properly acknowledge and characterize the
Armenian Genocide, then this is a positive development.
"Hoagland was nominated by the Administration to replace Ambassador John M.
Evans, who was rebuked by State Department officials, but commended by the
Assembly for having publicly affirmed the Armenian Genocide.
"The Armenian Assembly will continue to work towards the full and universal
affirmation of the Armenian Genocide.
"The Armenian Assembly is the largest Washington-based nationwide
organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian
issues. It is a 501©(3) tax-exempt membership organization."
Anyone reading this would think the Assembly had worked to achieve this
success. Why else would they be announcing it, right? Nope. They were more
concerned about Armenia not having a U.S. ambassador. And, since Hoagland
was just mouthing his boss' denial, it was OK because he really didn't have
a choice, you see. What's so untenable about saying, "I recognize it was a
genocide, but am constrained to implement the policies of the President of
the United States"? But the AAA glossed over all this. They argued that
since the Government of Armenia wasn't objecting (as if the RoA had a
choice!), Hoagland's acceptable.
This is exactly the shamelessness that has earned the Armenian Assembly of
America the first ever SpitRain Award.
Please call or e-mail the Assembly to congratulate them on this singular
honor!
------------------------------------------ ------------------------------
4. Turkey Joining the European Union is a Positive Development, If ...
By Khajag Mgrditchian
Our attention recently turned to a piece of news from Armenian Radio
Broadcasts, which quoted Armenian-American analyst Richard Giragosian as
saying that "for Armenia, it will be a positive development if Turkey joins
the EU. If Turkey becomes a member, the borders of the EU will stretch all
the way to Armenia. On the other hand, Turkey joining the organization could
be a threat to the other states in the Union, since Turkey could potentially
export Islamic terrorism."
Hrant Dink, who fell victim to Turkish nationalist (not Islamic) terrorism,
also shared this view. It even drove Dink to passionately oppose the French
law that criminalized the denial of the Armenian genocide.
The view that Turkey joining the EU would be a positive development was also
echoed in an interview we recently conducted with Robert Haddejian, editor
of the Istanbul Marmara newspaper. He said, "We have a different view than
our compatriots in the diaspora. We passionately support Turkey's bid to
join the EU because we will benefit from it." When asked whether he thinks
Turkey should be accepted into the EU without making any significant
changes, or whether it should first be forced to execute reforms, he
answered, "Of course there are some undeniable facts. When the EU asks the
Turkish government to do something before joining, it means something is
missing in Turkey. There is something lacking, something needs to be
corrected. And of course, if the Turkish government corrects its mistakes
and addresses these issues it will also be advantageous for us. The problem
is that Turkey really does have some huge problems that need to be solved,
or at least it seems like that from the outside."
In this article, we address those problems and corrections. Reforms in
Turkey are necessary, and here we refute Marmara's editor's assertion that
there is a difference of opinion between Armenians living inside and outside
of Turkey. Diasporan Armenians don't oppose Turkey's bid to join the EU just
for the sake of opposing it, but because they see reforms as a precondition
for membership. There are differences of opinion regarding the changes that
need to be made and how they should be implemented; for example, according
to Diasporan Armenians, it is not enough for the Turkish government to give
back the estates it robbed from the Armenians. Rather, one necessary
precondition is Turkey's acceptance of its history and its recognition of
the genocide.
In the same context, we also reject Giragosian's assertion that Turkey's
membership in the EU would have a positive effect because its borders would
reach Armenia. It's not important for Armenia to border the EU. What's
important for Armenia is to have a neighbor who doesn't threaten its
national security and right to exist.
Turkey joining the EU can only have a positive effect on Armenia if Turkey
makes peace with its own history, and, by doing so, takes steps to correct
its mistakes. If Turkey does that, then Giragosian's other argument-that the
EU will be threatened by Turkey's Islamic terrorist elements-will also be
addressed, since reforms would uproot both Islamic and nationalist
terrorism. A Turkey that poses a terrorist threat is simply not compatible
with the EU.
Self-correction is Turkey's greatest challenge today. Otherwise a
superficially reformed Turkey is a threat to both Armenia and the European
Union.
Translated by Simon Beugekian.
--------------------------------------- --------------------------
5. Virtual Armenia: A Look at the Armenian Cyber Space
By Simon Beugekian
Over the last few years, web videos have become increasingly popular. Only a
few years ago, watching a video online using a web browser was difficult,
time-consuming and frustrating. Nowadays, almost every single site and blog
features a video, and web video sites such as youtube.com are some of the
most popular destinations on cyber space. A single clip can be watched by
millions of people in a matter of a few hours, and this opens up whole new
possibilities for media.
Armenian media organizations have now begun to switch from the traditional
media formulae to a more inclusive strategy-one that, without eliminating
the actual newspaper, also promotes the use of the internet. This not only
exposes Armenian culture and issues to a wider audience, it also reaches a
huge cross-section of Armenian society-the youth-that is not necessarily
reading the newspapers every day or every week.
The Hairenik Association has been on the forefront of this modernization of
the Armenian media. The Hairenik and Armenian Weekly newspapers are online
and are updated every week, and the Hairenik now has a fully-functional
system for internet radio and Web TV.
However, the Internet is a free medium, meaning it's not just the Hairenik
Association or other reputable media organizations that are posting videos
online. Sites such as YouTube give every viewer the opportunity to post
clips. This was recently labeled "citizen journalism," a phenomenon that is
reflected in the millions of blogs and user-submitted clips on the site. The
advent of citizen journalism may engender the biggest changes in journalism
since Hunter S. Thompson and Gonzo journalism.
So out of these millions of users on YouTube, what clips are Armenian users
posting? What videos are foreign visitors to Armenia posting? My question,
in other words, is if an alien were to browse the internet, what kind of
impression of Armenia would he have?
As soon as I began my informal study I noticed something quite striking: I
was expecting to see thousands upon thousands of clips about the Armenian
genocide-after all, an informal web search of the word "Armenian" usually
yields results that are either related to the genocide or to "fact boxes"
about Armenia. Youtube, however, was different. When I searched "Armenian,"
the most relevant and the highest rated clips were Armenian music videos.
This makes sense. Most of the people looking for Armenian-related videos on
YouTube are diasporans and don't reside in Armenia, meaning, perhaps, that
they need their fix of traditional Armenian art forms. All over YouTube,
music videos featuring Tata Simonian, the Armenian Navy Band and other
Armenian performers abound. There are also a large number of videos
dedicated to System of a Down, probably the most well-known Armenian band.
It was also interesting to find some Armenian cartoons posted online, often
accompanied by Armenian music.
Of course, music videos are not the only kind of clips posted. Those of
political significance rarely make the first 20 or so search results, but
are prominent in the first 100 or "most relevant" videos on YouTube when
searching "Armenian." There are many informational clips about the Armenian
genocide, which can be very useful in educating the non-Armenian public.
There are also videos of protests and events organized to commemorate the
genocide. Among those, the most prominent are the clips that feature
well-known Armenians, such as Serj Tankian of System of a Down.
Interestingly, there are also a good number of videos posted by
non-Armenians that deny the genocide and decry "Armenian terrorism." One
particular user, who I'm assuming to be Turkish based on the user name s/he
uses, seems to have made it a habit to post clips that, far from offering
any insight into the events of 1915, paint history with the thick brush of
fervent, ignorant nationalistic propaganda. This includes a video that
claims Armenians massacred more than 500,000 Turks during the World War I.
Another one of this user's videos is titled "Turkish Hero Talat Pasha, We
Love Talat Pasha." The number of denialist clips that are offered on YouTube
is striking, especially because they come up when the search keyword is only
"Armenian." Some people have posted full-length documentaries with Turkish
"historians" attempting to deny the genocide.
There are also many videos featuring important political figures in the U.S,
including clips of Sen. Barrack Obama discussing the genocide and the now
famous Schiff-Rice exchange in Congress. These clips are basically an
archive of political statements on the genocide, and must be used to remind
politicians of their promises and mistakes.
Another category of Armenian-related clips that seems to be blooming on
YouTube are clips straight from Yerevan: clips of concerts, celebrations and
other social events. This can offer diasporan youth a direct view into
Armenia, linking the two communities together. There are also clips
featuring Armenian stand-up comedians, a genre that seems to be growing
exponentially.
Other Armenian-related clips include interviews with writers and journalists
(such as Orhan Pamuk and Taner Akcam), and some clips featuring the Armenian
Armed Forces. There were also a few Armenian TV programs that somehow found
their way to the internet-an encouraging sign, though posting those clips on
the net is illegal due to copyright infringement laws.
Now, in order to actually evaluate the quality of Armenian-related content
on YouTube, I made a relative comparison by searching videos having to do
with "Turkey." The results show that as Armenians, we still have a long way
to go before we become an important presence on the internet. I simply
compared the numbers of clips that are offered to the viewer when "Armenia"
and "Turkey" are searched. This is by no means a scientific method. It's
actually an extremely flawed method. Still, the difference was huge.
"Armenia" yielded about 17,400 video results while "Turkey" yielded 155,000.
Now, granted, the word "Turkey" might apply to more than just the country:
the bird, for instance. Still, it's safe to say that there are a lot more
Turkey-related clips on YouTube compared to Armenia-related clips.
Armenian music videos and educational videos that discuss the genocide seem
to be counterbalanced by the overwhelming number of Turkish music videos and
denialist clips. Yet, while the Turkish government and Turks in general are
using YouTube and the internet to promote their country-with videos of
attractive women in bathing suits on the beaches of Istanbul and in the
nightclubs of Bodroum, and clips of beautiful Adana as a way to attract
tourists (the irony...)-there are only a handful of clips that actually
"advertise" for Armenia.
The internet is a whole new challenge, a whole new meeting ground. Within a
single generation, the way we receive information has changed completely and
irreversibly. As Armenians, we should be aware of this and take the
necessary steps to keep up. After all, the printed word and other classical
forms of media may become obsolete in a matter of a few decades.
----------------------------------------- --------------------------
letters to the editor
The following letter to the editor was sent to the Independent newspaper in
England. It was not published.
Dear Editor,
I read Fisk's latest on Saturday, August 4 in the Independent titled
"Bravery, Tears and Broken Dreams." I found it silly, arrogant and
obnoxious. Most surprising is the lip service it pays to certain vehement
anti-Marxist Armenian intellectuals and to the latter-day apologist for
Globalization. It is sad to find Fisk luxuriating in his misled and
misleading ruminations. And I felt sorry for him, despite my anger at the
facile and inaccurate juxtapositions of this most recent piece, because I
respect his decades of valiant journalism and have long admired his
courageous stance on the tragedies of the contemporary world.
Fisk's chronological errors and outlandish sketches are simply unbecoming of
any decent journalist let alone one as distinguished as he. Alexander
Tamanian, the visionary architect who designed modern Yerevan died at the
age of 58, on February 20, 1936. A year later his design of Armenia's first
Opera & Ballet Theatre was awarded the Gold Medal at the Paris International
Exhibition of 1937. Fisk wonders whether Tamanian's death was a murder or
suicide, having decided that it was Tamanian who "denounced" Yeghishe
Charents, "one of the nation's favorite poets" and hence, he writes,
Charents "was disappeared by the NKD in 1937." But the poet was arrested on
July 26, 1937, more than a year after Tamanian's death. The poet was then
tortured and murdered in his prison cell on November 27, 1937, the year Fisk
asserts that Tamanian was "hard at work building Yerevan's new Stalinist
opera house." We have then Armenia's celebrated architect toiling beyond the
grave and presumably happily receiving the laurels of his posthumous glory
in Paris in the same year that Armenia's beloved poet is murdered by the
NKD. A perfect phantasmagoria.
Fisk presents Charents as praising Uncle Joe in his "schoolboy prank." In
fact Charents wrote a Message in praise of the "new light/sun" in 1933, when
he was 36 years old. Moreover Charents had written hundreds of poems, before
and after Stalin's rise, in praise of the Sun, Fire, Agni, Soma and so
forth, each time as a poetic metaphor for a certain political or aesthetic
idea of freedom. The poet genuinely believed that the struggle for a decent
life and human warmth that genuine socialism might bring was worthwhile,
despite the numerous obstacles it might encounter along the way. He
envisaged just such a cataclysmic struggle when only 21, in his epic poem of
1918 that begins "Out of their minds, the mobs in rage / Are advancing
towards the rising sun..." and embellished these themes in his 1919
collection Holocausted Flame. Charents indeed visualised the flame itself
being "holocausted": He himself was born in Kars, in Western/Turkish Armenia
in 1897, and after witnessing the genocide of the Armenians in 1915 he
volunteered to fight the Ottoman armies during the First World War to
liberate his people and his homeland.
Fisk goes on to praise "the individualism of the descendants of Tigran the
Great whose empire stretched from the Caspian to Beirut" because they
"resisted even Stalin's oppression." Tigran the Great ruled in 95-55 BC. To
link the "individualism" of the people of present-day Armenia to its bygone
Emperor is itself little more than a colonialist "schoolboy prank." Charents
would now be turning, yet again, in his anonymous grave.
In essence, Charents was a Turner of a poet. The Sun was God for Turner and
Charents. As for the Armenian poet being 'a famous philanderer': well,
Charents loved women and one must assume that many of his beautiful love
poems were inspired by some of those he knew. Imagine presenting
Shakespeare, Marlowe, Shelley, James Joyce, Dylan Thomas or Oscar Wilde as
mere philanderers, homosexuals, drunkards and the like just to make a silly
misguided observation. Funny what a cognac on the balcony of a luxury hotel
can do to such a rightly esteemed speaker of truths. What a shame...
Khatchatur I. Pilikian
London, England
***
In the August 4 issue of the Weekly ("Health Care in Armenia Yesterday and
Today"), Ms. Inna Mkhitaryan has done a commendable job in praising several
American organizations that have sponsored and helped improve the health
care delivery in Armenia (i.e. USAID, FAR, the Armenian American Wellness
Center, ARS, the Armenian Bone Marrow Fund, and the Howard Karageuzian
Center).
Unfortunately, she somehow overlooked the Armenian EyeCare Project (AECP), a
U.S. non-profit organization founded by Roger Ohanessian, M.D., that for the
past 15 years has prevented, saved and brought back the sight of thousands
of patients. It also has a Mobile Eye Hospital (MEH) that travels throughout
the country to provide free eye screening and eye care to thousands of
patients.
Mkhitaryan also left out the Hay Shakar project spearheaded by Mark
Nazarian, M.D., and sponsored by the Armenian American Medical Society of
California. For over a decade this project has educated Armenian diabetic
children and their parents, and provided free insulin to all the juvenile
diabetics of Armenia and Artsakh. As a result, the blood sugar of these
children is now significantly more controlled, and their chances of becoming
blind, losing their limbs and their kidney function, and being on dialysis
at a young age or dying young are significantly reduced.
There are numerous other projects by individuals, dentists or groups that
weren't mentioned, but these two stand out. It would be nice to read about
these projects in a future article.
Bedros H. Kojian, M.D
80 Bigelow Avenue
Watertown MA 02472 USA
(617) 926-3974
[email protected]
http://www.ar menianweekly.com
The Armenian Weekly; Volume 73, No. 33; August 18, 2007
Commentary and Analysis:
1. Threats, Lies and Videotape
By Raffi Wartanian
2. Film Promotion, Black Panthers and Armenians
By Hrag Yedalian
3. SpitRain Award
By Garen Yegparian
4. Turkey Joining the European Union is a Positive Development, If ...
By Khajag Mgrditchian
5. Virtual Armenia: A Look at the Armenian Cyber Space
By Simon Beugekian
6. Letters to the Editor
***
1. Threats, Lies and Videotape
By Raffi Wartanian
YEREVAN (A.W.)-At some points controversial, at some points insightful, and
at some points comical, the lecture "Threats, Lie, and Videotape, the
Armenian Genocide and Western Betrayal in the Middle East" by Robert Fisk
hosted by the American University of Armenia won't soon be forgotten. The
room, packed with diasporan volunteers, entrepreneurs and intellectuals,
brimmed with anticipation. After all, Fisk's journalistic career has
garnered acclaim for its no-holds-barred honesty and incisiveness, and the
lecture did not disappoint.
Fisk began by discussing his latest book, The Great War for Civilization:
The Conquest of the Middle East, which chronicles recent Middle East history
through the eyes of a journalist in the region since 1976. The text includes
a chapter titled "The First Holocaust" about the Armenian genocide.
Translations in scores of languages have made his book available in scores
of countries. In fact, many translators throughout the world flocked to work
on the well-researched text, except for one country. Fisk described the
difficulties he faced publishing the book in Turkey. If he stepped foot in
Turkey, he was told, he would have to go court to face charges violating
Article 301, the same article which sought to jail Hrant Dink, Taner Akcam
and Orhan Pamuk for "insulting Turkishness."
Publishers in Turkey considered releasing the book under one stipulation: It
had to be "quiet." No press releases, advertisements or book reviews-tools
essential to book marketing. While Fisk boasted of a near flawless
translation into Turkish, the book published in 2005 has yet to reach
markets in Turkey.
This discussion allowed Fisk to make clear his disagreement with the Turkish
denialist thesis. He shared stories told to him by a survivor in Beirut,
where he works. Fisk cited more survival testimonies, raising the emotion of
his presentation, which may have neglected a more pragmatic discussion of
legal issues surrounding genocide recognition and direct Ittihad ve Terakki
sources documenting the termination of a people.
Fisk also shared clips from two of his films. The first documented the day
that Syrian soldiers left Lebanon after years of military presence in the
country. The ceremony took place on the Syrian-Lebanese border, where Fisk
approached reluctant Syrian soldiers, easing their tension with soft ya'habibi's.
The second film examined the Bosnian genocide. Bosnians forced out of their
homes and transported to strange lands lamented before the camera. Fisk went
with Serbian soldiers to the recently shelled home of a local imam. Just a
year ago, the imam had served Fisk coffee, and Fisk used the remains of the
home as the setting to reflect on Serbian aggression towards innocent
Bosnians. At the end of the clip, Fisk paralleled the subjects of his film
with Armenians driven from their homeland.
The question and answer session led to many interesting moments. One
audience member asked Fisk for his take on the Artsakh conflict. Fisk firmly
stated that in terms of international journalism, it was no longer a top 10
issue, something he might otherwise show more interest and knowledge in. He
shared that a recent visit to Dzidzernagapert (Yerevan's Genocide Memorial)
revealed a trend he found disturbing. He questioned why plaques
memorializing the fallen soldiers of Artsakh were included in the Genocide
Museum. He urged the audience not to associate the genocide with the
Nagorno-Karabakh war, and that doing so would lead to an unhealthy cycle of
hatred towards Azeris in a conflict where peace ought be the solution, not
more hatred.
Another audience member asked Fisk if he thought there was a link between
Bush and September 11. "Every country I hold a lecture in, someone asks me
that same exact question." After listing an overwhelming amount of policy
blunders by the Bush administration, Fisk concluded his response saying, "If
they can't get any of those things right, then how in the world could they
possibly conceal one of the most carefully planned and executed terrorist
plots in history?" The room erupted in laughter, and the audience member sat
humbled.
---------------------------------------- --------------------------
2. Film Promotion, Black Panthers and Armenians
By Hrag Yedalian
Not too long ago, I read an interesting article that discussed the
burgeoning "art" of independent film promotion. In it, the author (who
happens to have directed one of my favorite documentaries) spoke about the
shocking realization he came to after completing his film: yes, he had
completed a film-but the journey was far from over. He had to put in as much
effort, if not more, to create a buzz around the product and get it out to
audiences. The effort is grueling and tedious and provides few, if any,
guarantees.
But, most filmmakers know what the process entails, and muster up the
courage to walk down the long road. They talk to as many people as possible
and hope that a few will be interested in watching their product.
Documentarians seek "built-in" audiences, and naturally approach them first.
Therefore, a filmmaker who analyzes the psyche of hip-hop emcees will try to
market his or her film to the fans of the musical genre. The process is
pretty simple and rather predictable. But, the logic is sound and clear.
So, when I completed my documentary about famed civil rights attorney
Charles R. Garry, I had plenty to work off of. Garry gained national
prominence during the 1960s for his groundbreaking work in defending
anti-war activists and leaders of the Black Panther Party. I figured that
the people who had lived through the era, or were interested in the times,
would probably serve as ideal audiences. But, I knew of one additional group
that would be just as interested: Armenian-Americans.
"Garry and the Armenians?" you ask
Well, yes. Garry was originally named "Garabedian," and was the son of
Armenian immigrants who had fled the Ottoman Empire during the massacres of
the 1890s. Born in Massachusetts in 1909, he was raised on the rough streets
of Fresno, Calif., at a time when store front signs read "No Dogs, No
Niggers, No Armenians." Several times a week, he would find himself in the
middle of a fist fight with some kid who had insulted "his people." Luckily,
he was a good fighter and would almost always knock his opponent out.
I was immediately drawn to Garry's story. I was fascinated by the 1960s and
couldn't believe that a lawyer of Armenian descent was at the center of the
decade's most important political cases. But, many proud Armenians at the
time questioned Garry's "Armenian-ness." He had, after all, anglicized his
name, and for many that was enough to prove that he succumbed to the
pressures exerted by "white America."
Of course, Garry was well aware of such criticisms. It might have even
bothered him a bit. A statement he made in his later years is quite
revealing: "I knew what it was to be Armenian, and I knew what it was to be
black as I became a lawyer. Fortunately, I was able to leave all that,
because I wasn't black. All I had to do was change my name. I've never
denied my nationality. I'm proud of my nationality. And, I'm proud of the
Armenian people to be able to stand all those years."
Indeed, times were tough during the first half of the 20th century. Garry,
like numerous other immigrants, realized that his name was too exotic for
his own good. When jobs were scarce during the Depression era, employers
would almost always pass up on applicants with unpronounceable last names
like "Garabedian" in favor for those with more "acceptable" surnames. Garry
changed his name to avoid the second-class treatment meted towards people in
his position. But, he didn't ignore the lessons that the experience offered.
It was his handling of precisely these lessons that motivated me to work on
"The People's Advocate: The Life & Times of Charles R. Garry." Here was a
man who had experienced discrimination first hand, and had subsequently
decided to use the tool at his disposal-the law-to combat such hatred
wherever it reared its ugly head. For him, a person's skin color or ethnic
origin did not matter. He simply saw injustice, and felt compelled to fight
it. I couldn't help but admire this man and his work.
The key to Garry's approach was his understanding about the
interconnectivity of things. It was not uncommon for him to talk to jurors
about his own past in an effort to draw common parallels with the case at
hand. While delivering the closing statement during the internationally
watched trial of Black Panther co-founder Huey P. Newton, Garry stated: "We
know through history that there is and there have been massacres of people.
The Armenians have gone through several massacres. Other nations have gone
through genocide in more ways than one, but history tells me that the black
people of the world have had genocide in excess of 50 million.The black
community today, the black ghetto, is fighting for the right of
survival-ship. The white community is sitting smug and saying, 'Let's have
more police, let's have more guns, let's arm ourselves against the blacks.'
They are saying that time and time again."
Garry's clients adored him for his approach, and many of them walked away
with a newly found education about the Armenian people. They all knew that
Garry "comes from a poor, oppressed people." Black Panther chairman Bobby
Seale described Garry's personal history in the 1972 autobiography Seize the
Time. In it, he mistakenly attributes the Armenian genocide as the doing of
Adolph Hitler: "He's of Armenian descent, from people who were destroyed by
being scattered throughout Europe and around the world, when Hitler went
forth to massacre and slaughter them during his regime."
But, Garry's relationship with his ethnic roots wasn't all about politics.
While going through the legendary attorney's personal papers, which are
currently housed at UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library, I came across a folder
titled "BULLSHIT FILE CRG." In it, I found a letter from Garry dated Sept.
13, 1977. The note was addressed to a pair of authors working on a book that
chronicled how celebrities would spend their "last night on earth before
embarking onto a space colony." Garry describes in great detail the meal he
would have during the fictional evening: ".steak tender enough to melt in
your mouth, broiled to perfection, full of flavor. Fresh asparagus with
melted butter, sweet corn-fresh of course-again with melted butter, pizza
bread, Armenian cracker bread, a salad." He then moves on to note that he
would also like to have some of the tasty delicacy commonly referred to as
chicofteh-the Armenian equivalent of steak tartare.
He even included the recipe: "1 lb. top sirloin steak, fat removed, ground 3
times."
And, so, in terms of finding an ideal "built-in audience" for my
documentary, I am now looking for progressive Armenian-Americans who love
steak tartare.
While a student studying history at the University of California, Berkeley,
Hrag Yedalian ventured into the world of documentary filmmaking.
Subsequently, he left UCLA Law School to pursue filmmaking at the American
Film Institute Conservatory. "The People's Advocate: The Life & Times of
Charles R. Garry" (www.peoplesadvocate themovie.com) is his first feature
length documentary.
Yedalian can be reached at [email protected].
------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
3. SpitRain Award
By Garen Yegparian
You've all heard the Armenian saying, "S/he's so shameless, if you spit on
his/her face, s/he will think it's rain." The spirit of this saying is
whence the award's name emanates.
So I'm not rude, let me graciously offer my profound gratitude to those who
inspired this first-time award. I suspect there will be many future winners,
and some may receive it multiple times.
Last week genocide denier Richard E. Hoagland's ambassadorial nomination was
finally withdrawn, a year overdue. Naturally, the Armenian Assembly of
America (AAA) dutifully put out one of its myriad press releases. Of course
it was very short. How could it be otherwise?
The AAA had basically supported appointing the denier, resorting to verbal
contortions justifying its position and actions. I'd written about this six
months ago. Is it coincidence that despite my being on their e-mail list
previously, I haven't received anything from the Assembly lately? I suspect
it might be petty retribution emanating from the "truth hurts" quadrant.
Fortunately, there are decent folks out there who convey this kind of
information to me. Thank you.
Now that others' efforts to nix such an abominable appointment had borne
fruit, it was time to take credit. But the shamelessness doesn't end there.
Here's the entire text of the release:
"Earlier today, sources within both the Administration and Congress
confirmed the withdrawal of Richard Hoagland's nomination as America's next
Ambassador to Armenia.
"Should this withdrawal indicate that the next nominee to serve as U.S.
Ambassador to Armenia shall properly acknowledge and characterize the
Armenian Genocide, then this is a positive development.
"Hoagland was nominated by the Administration to replace Ambassador John M.
Evans, who was rebuked by State Department officials, but commended by the
Assembly for having publicly affirmed the Armenian Genocide.
"The Armenian Assembly will continue to work towards the full and universal
affirmation of the Armenian Genocide.
"The Armenian Assembly is the largest Washington-based nationwide
organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian
issues. It is a 501©(3) tax-exempt membership organization."
Anyone reading this would think the Assembly had worked to achieve this
success. Why else would they be announcing it, right? Nope. They were more
concerned about Armenia not having a U.S. ambassador. And, since Hoagland
was just mouthing his boss' denial, it was OK because he really didn't have
a choice, you see. What's so untenable about saying, "I recognize it was a
genocide, but am constrained to implement the policies of the President of
the United States"? But the AAA glossed over all this. They argued that
since the Government of Armenia wasn't objecting (as if the RoA had a
choice!), Hoagland's acceptable.
This is exactly the shamelessness that has earned the Armenian Assembly of
America the first ever SpitRain Award.
Please call or e-mail the Assembly to congratulate them on this singular
honor!
------------------------------------------ ------------------------------
4. Turkey Joining the European Union is a Positive Development, If ...
By Khajag Mgrditchian
Our attention recently turned to a piece of news from Armenian Radio
Broadcasts, which quoted Armenian-American analyst Richard Giragosian as
saying that "for Armenia, it will be a positive development if Turkey joins
the EU. If Turkey becomes a member, the borders of the EU will stretch all
the way to Armenia. On the other hand, Turkey joining the organization could
be a threat to the other states in the Union, since Turkey could potentially
export Islamic terrorism."
Hrant Dink, who fell victim to Turkish nationalist (not Islamic) terrorism,
also shared this view. It even drove Dink to passionately oppose the French
law that criminalized the denial of the Armenian genocide.
The view that Turkey joining the EU would be a positive development was also
echoed in an interview we recently conducted with Robert Haddejian, editor
of the Istanbul Marmara newspaper. He said, "We have a different view than
our compatriots in the diaspora. We passionately support Turkey's bid to
join the EU because we will benefit from it." When asked whether he thinks
Turkey should be accepted into the EU without making any significant
changes, or whether it should first be forced to execute reforms, he
answered, "Of course there are some undeniable facts. When the EU asks the
Turkish government to do something before joining, it means something is
missing in Turkey. There is something lacking, something needs to be
corrected. And of course, if the Turkish government corrects its mistakes
and addresses these issues it will also be advantageous for us. The problem
is that Turkey really does have some huge problems that need to be solved,
or at least it seems like that from the outside."
In this article, we address those problems and corrections. Reforms in
Turkey are necessary, and here we refute Marmara's editor's assertion that
there is a difference of opinion between Armenians living inside and outside
of Turkey. Diasporan Armenians don't oppose Turkey's bid to join the EU just
for the sake of opposing it, but because they see reforms as a precondition
for membership. There are differences of opinion regarding the changes that
need to be made and how they should be implemented; for example, according
to Diasporan Armenians, it is not enough for the Turkish government to give
back the estates it robbed from the Armenians. Rather, one necessary
precondition is Turkey's acceptance of its history and its recognition of
the genocide.
In the same context, we also reject Giragosian's assertion that Turkey's
membership in the EU would have a positive effect because its borders would
reach Armenia. It's not important for Armenia to border the EU. What's
important for Armenia is to have a neighbor who doesn't threaten its
national security and right to exist.
Turkey joining the EU can only have a positive effect on Armenia if Turkey
makes peace with its own history, and, by doing so, takes steps to correct
its mistakes. If Turkey does that, then Giragosian's other argument-that the
EU will be threatened by Turkey's Islamic terrorist elements-will also be
addressed, since reforms would uproot both Islamic and nationalist
terrorism. A Turkey that poses a terrorist threat is simply not compatible
with the EU.
Self-correction is Turkey's greatest challenge today. Otherwise a
superficially reformed Turkey is a threat to both Armenia and the European
Union.
Translated by Simon Beugekian.
--------------------------------------- --------------------------
5. Virtual Armenia: A Look at the Armenian Cyber Space
By Simon Beugekian
Over the last few years, web videos have become increasingly popular. Only a
few years ago, watching a video online using a web browser was difficult,
time-consuming and frustrating. Nowadays, almost every single site and blog
features a video, and web video sites such as youtube.com are some of the
most popular destinations on cyber space. A single clip can be watched by
millions of people in a matter of a few hours, and this opens up whole new
possibilities for media.
Armenian media organizations have now begun to switch from the traditional
media formulae to a more inclusive strategy-one that, without eliminating
the actual newspaper, also promotes the use of the internet. This not only
exposes Armenian culture and issues to a wider audience, it also reaches a
huge cross-section of Armenian society-the youth-that is not necessarily
reading the newspapers every day or every week.
The Hairenik Association has been on the forefront of this modernization of
the Armenian media. The Hairenik and Armenian Weekly newspapers are online
and are updated every week, and the Hairenik now has a fully-functional
system for internet radio and Web TV.
However, the Internet is a free medium, meaning it's not just the Hairenik
Association or other reputable media organizations that are posting videos
online. Sites such as YouTube give every viewer the opportunity to post
clips. This was recently labeled "citizen journalism," a phenomenon that is
reflected in the millions of blogs and user-submitted clips on the site. The
advent of citizen journalism may engender the biggest changes in journalism
since Hunter S. Thompson and Gonzo journalism.
So out of these millions of users on YouTube, what clips are Armenian users
posting? What videos are foreign visitors to Armenia posting? My question,
in other words, is if an alien were to browse the internet, what kind of
impression of Armenia would he have?
As soon as I began my informal study I noticed something quite striking: I
was expecting to see thousands upon thousands of clips about the Armenian
genocide-after all, an informal web search of the word "Armenian" usually
yields results that are either related to the genocide or to "fact boxes"
about Armenia. Youtube, however, was different. When I searched "Armenian,"
the most relevant and the highest rated clips were Armenian music videos.
This makes sense. Most of the people looking for Armenian-related videos on
YouTube are diasporans and don't reside in Armenia, meaning, perhaps, that
they need their fix of traditional Armenian art forms. All over YouTube,
music videos featuring Tata Simonian, the Armenian Navy Band and other
Armenian performers abound. There are also a large number of videos
dedicated to System of a Down, probably the most well-known Armenian band.
It was also interesting to find some Armenian cartoons posted online, often
accompanied by Armenian music.
Of course, music videos are not the only kind of clips posted. Those of
political significance rarely make the first 20 or so search results, but
are prominent in the first 100 or "most relevant" videos on YouTube when
searching "Armenian." There are many informational clips about the Armenian
genocide, which can be very useful in educating the non-Armenian public.
There are also videos of protests and events organized to commemorate the
genocide. Among those, the most prominent are the clips that feature
well-known Armenians, such as Serj Tankian of System of a Down.
Interestingly, there are also a good number of videos posted by
non-Armenians that deny the genocide and decry "Armenian terrorism." One
particular user, who I'm assuming to be Turkish based on the user name s/he
uses, seems to have made it a habit to post clips that, far from offering
any insight into the events of 1915, paint history with the thick brush of
fervent, ignorant nationalistic propaganda. This includes a video that
claims Armenians massacred more than 500,000 Turks during the World War I.
Another one of this user's videos is titled "Turkish Hero Talat Pasha, We
Love Talat Pasha." The number of denialist clips that are offered on YouTube
is striking, especially because they come up when the search keyword is only
"Armenian." Some people have posted full-length documentaries with Turkish
"historians" attempting to deny the genocide.
There are also many videos featuring important political figures in the U.S,
including clips of Sen. Barrack Obama discussing the genocide and the now
famous Schiff-Rice exchange in Congress. These clips are basically an
archive of political statements on the genocide, and must be used to remind
politicians of their promises and mistakes.
Another category of Armenian-related clips that seems to be blooming on
YouTube are clips straight from Yerevan: clips of concerts, celebrations and
other social events. This can offer diasporan youth a direct view into
Armenia, linking the two communities together. There are also clips
featuring Armenian stand-up comedians, a genre that seems to be growing
exponentially.
Other Armenian-related clips include interviews with writers and journalists
(such as Orhan Pamuk and Taner Akcam), and some clips featuring the Armenian
Armed Forces. There were also a few Armenian TV programs that somehow found
their way to the internet-an encouraging sign, though posting those clips on
the net is illegal due to copyright infringement laws.
Now, in order to actually evaluate the quality of Armenian-related content
on YouTube, I made a relative comparison by searching videos having to do
with "Turkey." The results show that as Armenians, we still have a long way
to go before we become an important presence on the internet. I simply
compared the numbers of clips that are offered to the viewer when "Armenia"
and "Turkey" are searched. This is by no means a scientific method. It's
actually an extremely flawed method. Still, the difference was huge.
"Armenia" yielded about 17,400 video results while "Turkey" yielded 155,000.
Now, granted, the word "Turkey" might apply to more than just the country:
the bird, for instance. Still, it's safe to say that there are a lot more
Turkey-related clips on YouTube compared to Armenia-related clips.
Armenian music videos and educational videos that discuss the genocide seem
to be counterbalanced by the overwhelming number of Turkish music videos and
denialist clips. Yet, while the Turkish government and Turks in general are
using YouTube and the internet to promote their country-with videos of
attractive women in bathing suits on the beaches of Istanbul and in the
nightclubs of Bodroum, and clips of beautiful Adana as a way to attract
tourists (the irony...)-there are only a handful of clips that actually
"advertise" for Armenia.
The internet is a whole new challenge, a whole new meeting ground. Within a
single generation, the way we receive information has changed completely and
irreversibly. As Armenians, we should be aware of this and take the
necessary steps to keep up. After all, the printed word and other classical
forms of media may become obsolete in a matter of a few decades.
----------------------------------------- --------------------------
letters to the editor
The following letter to the editor was sent to the Independent newspaper in
England. It was not published.
Dear Editor,
I read Fisk's latest on Saturday, August 4 in the Independent titled
"Bravery, Tears and Broken Dreams." I found it silly, arrogant and
obnoxious. Most surprising is the lip service it pays to certain vehement
anti-Marxist Armenian intellectuals and to the latter-day apologist for
Globalization. It is sad to find Fisk luxuriating in his misled and
misleading ruminations. And I felt sorry for him, despite my anger at the
facile and inaccurate juxtapositions of this most recent piece, because I
respect his decades of valiant journalism and have long admired his
courageous stance on the tragedies of the contemporary world.
Fisk's chronological errors and outlandish sketches are simply unbecoming of
any decent journalist let alone one as distinguished as he. Alexander
Tamanian, the visionary architect who designed modern Yerevan died at the
age of 58, on February 20, 1936. A year later his design of Armenia's first
Opera & Ballet Theatre was awarded the Gold Medal at the Paris International
Exhibition of 1937. Fisk wonders whether Tamanian's death was a murder or
suicide, having decided that it was Tamanian who "denounced" Yeghishe
Charents, "one of the nation's favorite poets" and hence, he writes,
Charents "was disappeared by the NKD in 1937." But the poet was arrested on
July 26, 1937, more than a year after Tamanian's death. The poet was then
tortured and murdered in his prison cell on November 27, 1937, the year Fisk
asserts that Tamanian was "hard at work building Yerevan's new Stalinist
opera house." We have then Armenia's celebrated architect toiling beyond the
grave and presumably happily receiving the laurels of his posthumous glory
in Paris in the same year that Armenia's beloved poet is murdered by the
NKD. A perfect phantasmagoria.
Fisk presents Charents as praising Uncle Joe in his "schoolboy prank." In
fact Charents wrote a Message in praise of the "new light/sun" in 1933, when
he was 36 years old. Moreover Charents had written hundreds of poems, before
and after Stalin's rise, in praise of the Sun, Fire, Agni, Soma and so
forth, each time as a poetic metaphor for a certain political or aesthetic
idea of freedom. The poet genuinely believed that the struggle for a decent
life and human warmth that genuine socialism might bring was worthwhile,
despite the numerous obstacles it might encounter along the way. He
envisaged just such a cataclysmic struggle when only 21, in his epic poem of
1918 that begins "Out of their minds, the mobs in rage / Are advancing
towards the rising sun..." and embellished these themes in his 1919
collection Holocausted Flame. Charents indeed visualised the flame itself
being "holocausted": He himself was born in Kars, in Western/Turkish Armenia
in 1897, and after witnessing the genocide of the Armenians in 1915 he
volunteered to fight the Ottoman armies during the First World War to
liberate his people and his homeland.
Fisk goes on to praise "the individualism of the descendants of Tigran the
Great whose empire stretched from the Caspian to Beirut" because they
"resisted even Stalin's oppression." Tigran the Great ruled in 95-55 BC. To
link the "individualism" of the people of present-day Armenia to its bygone
Emperor is itself little more than a colonialist "schoolboy prank." Charents
would now be turning, yet again, in his anonymous grave.
In essence, Charents was a Turner of a poet. The Sun was God for Turner and
Charents. As for the Armenian poet being 'a famous philanderer': well,
Charents loved women and one must assume that many of his beautiful love
poems were inspired by some of those he knew. Imagine presenting
Shakespeare, Marlowe, Shelley, James Joyce, Dylan Thomas or Oscar Wilde as
mere philanderers, homosexuals, drunkards and the like just to make a silly
misguided observation. Funny what a cognac on the balcony of a luxury hotel
can do to such a rightly esteemed speaker of truths. What a shame...
Khatchatur I. Pilikian
London, England
***
In the August 4 issue of the Weekly ("Health Care in Armenia Yesterday and
Today"), Ms. Inna Mkhitaryan has done a commendable job in praising several
American organizations that have sponsored and helped improve the health
care delivery in Armenia (i.e. USAID, FAR, the Armenian American Wellness
Center, ARS, the Armenian Bone Marrow Fund, and the Howard Karageuzian
Center).
Unfortunately, she somehow overlooked the Armenian EyeCare Project (AECP), a
U.S. non-profit organization founded by Roger Ohanessian, M.D., that for the
past 15 years has prevented, saved and brought back the sight of thousands
of patients. It also has a Mobile Eye Hospital (MEH) that travels throughout
the country to provide free eye screening and eye care to thousands of
patients.
Mkhitaryan also left out the Hay Shakar project spearheaded by Mark
Nazarian, M.D., and sponsored by the Armenian American Medical Society of
California. For over a decade this project has educated Armenian diabetic
children and their parents, and provided free insulin to all the juvenile
diabetics of Armenia and Artsakh. As a result, the blood sugar of these
children is now significantly more controlled, and their chances of becoming
blind, losing their limbs and their kidney function, and being on dialysis
at a young age or dying young are significantly reduced.
There are numerous other projects by individuals, dentists or groups that
weren't mentioned, but these two stand out. It would be nice to read about
these projects in a future article.
Bedros H. Kojian, M.D