THE LORD IS RISEN!

I want to say, "Kresdos Haryav E Merelots" to all of you dear readers of my blog. The Lord Is Risen!

Regular visitors might have already noticed the change in the background music of my blog, I replaced the Armenian folk song's (Groong's) music with a hymning of this blessed occasion. The current music is "Kresdos Haryav E Merelots", one of the Orthodox Armenian Church's hymning of the Mass of Easter, and it's music was composed by Gomidas Vartabed.

The most beautiful thing about those hymning is the fact that they are chanted with a harmonious four-scale voices, namely Soprano, Alto, Tenor & Base.. the first two are for female voices and the latter two scales are for males. Yet it was originally composed to be chanted by four-scale male voices only, which was much more difficult to perform. How do I know that, one might ask, well I used to be one of the female Altos in my church choir some time ago, but those good old days don't seem to be coming back..

I choose to make this "Sharagan" (hymning) a background music because I thought it would be the best way for me to bring the Greatest News that "The Lord Is Risen" (Kresdos Haryav). I personally consider this hymning one of my favorites...

If you liked this Sharagan, feel free to download it from the link below, and I added yet another Easter Sharagan. You just need to select "save target as" from the menu that will appear when you right-click on the links below.

Krestos Haryav.mp3
Haryav Krestos e Merelots.mp3

HAVE A VERY BLESSED EASTER

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It's Over... "Life" For The Axe Murderer.

April 13, /PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azeri officer Ramil Safarov is sentenced to life imprisonment for murder of Armenian lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan that he committed on February 19, 2004.

Budapest court judge András Vaskuti announced the verdict, according to which Ramil Safarov is sentenced to life imprisonment without the right of pardon for 30 years, the Public TV Company of Armenia reports.

Safarov had cowardly murdered Lieutenant Margaryan while the latter was asleep with an "axe," and for that hideouss crime, Safarov was honored (In his country Azerbaijan) as "The Man of The Year" !

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Article In A Picture!

On the front page of KanalTurk's website, the ad. for the post- movie discussion that took place last night 11:45 pm featuring Hrant Dink, Kemal Yavuz & Necati Sonmez.

It's interesting that the discussion program was titled "Facts" !!

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Don't Miss The Very First Screening Of Ararat In Turkey !

Atom Egoyan's film Ararat (Released in 2002 and the winner of five Genie Awards, including best picture) will air tomorrow night, Thursday April 13 at 9:30 PM, on Turkish TV "Kanal Turk".

The spokesperson for station Kanalturk told Agence France-Presse that it will broadcast Egoyan's award-winning film – "without cuts or censoring" .

The spokesperson said the decision was made after a recent poll found that 72 per cent of the survey participants supported broadcasting the film, which examines the impact of the Armenian genocide by the Turks of the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923.

A local company purchased distribution rights for Ararat and planned to have the film premiere in Ankara and Istanbul in mid-January 2004.

However, a Turkish group threatened theatre owners planning to screen the film and the company postponed the release indefinitely, fearing violence from right-wing extremists.

The station also had conducted a round-table discussion between Turkish and Armenian intellectuals about the issue, those are: Turkish Official "Kemal Yavuz ," Agos editor Hrant Dink and Movie Critic Necati Sonmez, reported Kanal Turk.

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New 'Miss Iraq' Crowned after First Winner Flees Country

CBN News reported , that Tamar Goregian who made history for being the first Iraqi Armenian to be crowned Miss Iraq, had stepped down after holding the title for only four days!

Her decision was due to the fact that she received threats from a group of religious extremists who referred to her as "the queen of infidels."

Typically the runner-up gladly takes the crown. But this was not your typical pageant. The second and third runners-up -- both Muslim women -- said "No thank you," and withdrew from the competition with their own security concerns.

So who will wear the Iraqi crown?

Despite the threats, engineering student Silva Shahakian has accepted the title. The new Miss Iraq also happens to be a Christian ( most probably Armenian too).

Shahakian said, "This chance does not come to every girl here. So I'm lucky to have that....I'm not going to lose it.”

Pageant organizers plan to send their brave beauty queen to the Miss Universe Pageant.
“We just wanted to show that there are educated, literate, beautiful young women who can do something to revert the PR image of this country," The Pageant organizer said.

If she competes, she will be the first Iraqi delegate sent to the Miss Universe Pageant since 1972,and Shahakian is determined to make the trip.

“I will take care. I will change my living place,” Shahakian affirmed. “I would like to take that chance. I will do my best."

Well, what else did they expect !

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Those Who Live in Glass Houses Should not Throw Stones…

By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
April 13, 2006

The anticipated self-promotional puff-piece by Gunduz Aktan, a former Turkish Ambassador and member of the infamous Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Commission (TARC), was finally published in the the April 8 issue of Turkish Daily News.

Aktan and Omer Lutem, another former Turkish ambassador and a notorious denialist, toured the U.S. during the second half of March, to spread coast to coast their perverted version of history regarding the Armenian Genocide.

In his article, Aktan says that the objective of their visit was to give seminars to Turkish Americans "on the 1915-1916 incidents" and to "distribute CDs” on this issue. He discloses that the two denialists have made similar trips to several other European countries.

Aktan makes the following self-serving and questionable observation: "We were happy to see that a Turkish diaspora is now emerging in America, as is the case in Europe. Turks who, in the past, failed to come together despite all the efforts made by Turkish diplomatic missions abroad, are now burying their differences and joining hands. Due to the fact that they had lived as subjects of an ‘empire’ in the past, Turks failed to develop the kind of minority psychology that would have enabled them to wage a struggle to defend their rights when they found themselves living outside the borders of the Turkish Republic."

Aktan is implying that he and Lutem deserve some credit for their role in this miraculous transformation, thereby trying to raise the value of their services to their paymasters in Ankara. His explanation that Turkish Americans have not developed the self-defense mechanisms of a minority due to being "subjects of an ‘empire’ in the past," is utter nonsense, as very few Turks still living today were around when the Ottoman Empire was in existence, to be able to acquire such an imperial complex!

Aktan finally gets to the real purpose of his article by falsely claiming: "Armenians tried to prevent us from arranging meetings at U.S. universities. Despite their efforts we gave lectures at Columbia University and the University of Chicago as well as in Congress and held a closed meeting in Georgetown University. The Armenians who put pressure and issued threats, on the other hand, prevented the meeting we were to hold at the University of Southern California."
The former diplomat makes cheap accusations and sweeping generalizations against Armenians without providing a shred of evidence to back up his claims! There have been no reports of threats by a single Armenian at any of their talks. Aktan also falsely claims that Armenians had "prevented _expression of the Turkish side’s views at a program to be aired by [the] American PBS television." He must be referring to a panel discussion offered by PBS to its affiliate stations. Contrary to Aktan’s assertions, the panel discussion is not cancelled. Some PBS stations are planning to air that program, while others have announced that they would not carry it because it added nothing new to the genocide documentary. Finally, Armenian Americans, like all Americans, have the constitutionally protected right to freely express their opinion and disagree with PBS, unlike in Turkey where one can be accused of "denigrating Turkishness" and thrown in jail for simply speaking one’s mind!

Aktan finally brings up the same old refrain that he has repeated ad nauseam in many of his articles claiming that Armenians are "wary of taking their cause to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague," implying that they are afraid of losing. The truth is that Armenians would be at The Hague tomorrow if there were the slightest possibility that the ICJ would take up a case that is more than 90 years old! Nevertheless, should the Turkish government accept the Court’s jurisdiction over the genocide issue and consequent remedies, this would mean that Ankara would agree in advance to abide by the Court’s possible verdict to return back to Armenians the confiscated properties and occupied territories. If Aktan is so sure of his phony arguments, instead of simply bluffing, he should get his government to commit to abide by the court's verdict. Just last year, after bravely "threatening" to take the Armenian Genocide issue to the United Nations -- a move Armenians welcomed -- Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul sheepishly reversed himself by announcing that the UN would not be an acceptable venue for his government! Gul may have discovered, a little late, that back in 1985 a UN human rights panel had already classified the Armenian Genocide as an example of genocide!

What makes Aktan’s entire column so ridiculous is that, contrary to his assertions, the University of Southern California did not cancel his and Lutem’s talks because of any "threats" from Armenians. Joshua Fouts, the Director of USC Center on Public Diplomacy, the sponsor of the lecture, told the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles that he cancelled it because "the topic was not what we had previously agreed-upon and thus not something we could host." When a former USC Turkish student accused the university of "curbing free speech," Fouts responded by quoting Mark Twain: "A lie can travel halfway around the world, while the truth is still putting its shoes on." He told this Turkish individual: "The reason the USC Center on Public Diplomacy was unable to host the Turkish event is simple: …The topic that was originally proposed was a different one…. The topic that I discussed with the Turkish Consulate on Feb. 27 was to be on ‘Turkish Public Diplomacy,’ specifically the role of Civil Societies in improving Turkish-Armenian relations…. I notified the Consulate that this was not the event we agreed on…."

The reason that the Aktan & Lutem show was cancelled had nothing to do with "threats" or pressure by Armenians. It was a pure and simple case of the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles misrepresenting to the university the true topic of their talk. This is nothing new. Readers may recall that a year ago, the Ankara Chamber of Commerce placed a Turkish DVD as a paid ad in TIME Europe, ostensibly promoting tourism to Turkey, but actually including 70-minutes of vicious lies on the Armenian Genocide!

Finally, it is simply ridiculous for Turkish officials and their henchmen to accuse a major U.S. university of curbing freedom of speech. As the proverb says: "Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones!"

"Link To The Article"

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Media Criticism Pushes State Dept. To Respond to Armenian Concerns

By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
April 6, 2006


As April 24 is drawing near, what Turks apprehensively call "the approaching Armenian Tsunami" is haunting not only the Turkish government but also officials at the State Department.

Various newspapers have unleashed a barrage of attacks on the State Department in recent weeks questioning and even castigating it for not acknowledging the Armenian Genocide and recalling the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans who had dared to utter the words, Armenian Genocide. The news of his recall was first reported by this writer last month.


The following articles and editorials were published in the last two weeks:

-- The Los Angeles Daily News headlined its March 21st article: "Status of U.S. ambassador to Armenia questioned." The paper quoted Cong. Adam Schiff as saying:

"I made it clear [to the State Dept.] I thought any action taken against him [Amb. Evans] would merely compound the erroneous policy of the administration."

-- The Los Angeles Times published a lengthy and hard-hitting editorial on March 22, titled: "It was genocide." It said:

"the State Dept. has long avoided the word ‘genocide,’ not out of any dispute over history but out of deference to Turkey…. It is time to stop tiptoeing around this issue and to accept settled history…. Punishing an ambassador for speaking honestly about a 90-year-old crime befits a cynical, double-dealing monarchy, not the leader of the free world."

The editorial concluded:

"One day, the country that was founded as a direct repudiation of its Ottoman past will face its history squarely, as part of a long-overdue maturing process. Some day before then, we hope, the State Dept. will too."

The week before this editorial was published, this writer along with a colleague met with the editorial board of the L.A. Times.

-- The Independent (UK) published on March 23 an article titled: "Row over US ambassador’s Armenia genocide remark." The paper reported:

"protests are growing over the possible recall of the US ambassador in Armenia."

-- The Fresno Bee published an editorial on March 24, titled: "Speak the Truth: U.S. ambassador to Armenia in hot water over use of ‘genocide.’" The paper’s editors castigated the State Dept. for threatening the career of Amb. Evnas by saying:

"Shame on the State Department."

The Fresno Bee called on the State Dept., Congress, the administration, as well as the government of Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide:

"The facts are plain. The history is clear. Turkey offends the victims’ survivors with its intransigence, but hurts itself most of all when it continues to deny what the entire world knows."

-- The Glendale News Press published a front-page story on March 26, titled: "Officials question the fate of diplomat."

-- The chain of McClatchy newspapers published on March 28 a lengthy article titled: "Genocide comment could cost Ambassador to Armenia his job." It reported that Cong. George Radanovich (Rep. of Calif.) has called the State Dept. requesting a meeting to discuss the fate of Amb. Evans.

-- The Washington Times published an article on March 31, titled: "Recall from Armenia?"

Following this barrage of news reports and commentaries, Daniel Fried, the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, addressed the Armenian Assembly’s National Conference in Washington, D.C., on March 27. Here are excerpts from his remarks and responses to questions from the audience:

"The U.S. position on events of 1915 has not changed. We believe that a productive dialogue is the best way to establish a shared understanding of history that honors the victims of these horrific events, murders on a mass scale, killings without justification, deportations. Over 1.5 million people lost their lives, innocent victims. But we want to foster reconciliation and peace based on an understanding of history, not a denial of it. We believe that the tragedy of 1915, the killings, is of enormous human significance and its historical assessment should be determined not on the basis of politics, but introspection among civic leaders and scholars. This process has begun in Turkey where it needs to take place," Fried said. He was interrupted by a member of the audience who shouted: "horse manure!"

Fried then continued: "Sitting here with us is my old friend John Evans, our Ambassador in Yerevan. He is the Ambassador, remains the Ambassador, has… [Applause and cheers]. Like all of us, we all serve at the pleasure of the President. Amb. Evans came from Yerevan for the signing of the Millennium Challenge Account Compact this afternoon, and will be in the meeting this afternoon between Secretary Rice and Foreign Minister Oskanian. There has been a great deal of speculation. I don’t discuss personnel issues, but since my friend is sitting here, I thought I would recognize Amb. John Evans [Applause]."

When asked why foreign countries such as Turkey are permitted to dictate America’s foreign policy vis-à-vis Armenia and Cyprus, Fried replied: "Third parties are not permitted to dictate our foreign policy, nor do they dictate our foreign policy. We have a policy which many of you disagree with. I understand. But we have a policy of seeking to encourage Turkey to reflect more seriously about subjects which have been taboo for generations in that country. I said earlier that process has begun in Turkey. You recall that the famous Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk spoke clearly about this. He is not the only Turk speaking out. As I said, this process has begun as Turkish society modernizes, and as it modernizes, as democracy in Turkey deepens, Turkey will have to go through what many other countries such as the United States have had to go through in our own history, which is looking back at the darker spots in our past. With respect to the United States, those darker spots include things like slavery and racial discrimination, treatment of American Indians, and in my opinion, internment of American citizens of Japanese origin in camps in World War II. Those are painful subjects. Just as dealing with the history of the mass killings of Armenians is painful for Turkey. And by the way, I say this to my Turkish friends using the same words. We keep one set of books. Now that process has begun in Turkey. It is certainly not going fast enough to satisfy you. It is not going fast enough to satisfy us. But this process has begun and it will, I hope, bring greater understanding to Turks of their own history. We will continue to have a dialogue about this as April 24th approaches. I will not attempt to anticipate what the President will say. I do believe he will issue a statement on April 24th, in fact I can’t believe there won’t be one. And I expect, as we have in the past, to consult with the Armenian Assembly about this and to have a frank set of discussions before and after."

In response to a question about “Turkey exporting its denialist tactics to the U.S.,” Fried said: "The United States government has never denied the events of 1915. We do not support, what was the phrase, “export of denialist literature or positions.” We do support efforts by Turkey to deal with its history more seriously. As I said, this process has begun. It has not ended. Efforts such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission [the correct name is: “Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Commission” or TARC] were serious, and these were efforts in which Turkish as well as Armenian scholars were involved. It produced a serious look at those issues which we have recognized officially. This is not an easy issue. It is not an easy issue for the United States government, and we are not at the end of the road on this issue. We will continue to urge our Turkish friends to face difficult issues of their past seriously, and we will urge Armenia to help the Turks make this possible without ever sacrificing historical truth or your position."

When asked a direct question about the recall of Amb. Evans, Fried provided the usual evasive answer: "We all serve at the pleasure of the President. I won’t discuss personnel issues. Amb. Evans, as I said, is a friend of more than 20 years standing. He’s our Ambassador. He’s right here. He will be in the meetings today at the State Department, as I said. [Applause]."

The above exchange shows that while Dan Fried was trying to be as gracious as possible to his Armenian hosts, he was nevertheless sticking to the administration’s unacceptable policy of substituting euphemisms for the Armenian Genocide. He also continued to avoid making any forthright comments on Amb. Evans, despite persistent media criticisms.


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