Breaking the Wall of Silence - March 1999 by Armenian International Magazine

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THB PURPOSE OF THE CONFERENCE IS TO IMPROVE AND STRENGTHEN COOPERATION BETwEEN

Anugxrn

AND THE

DrlspoRe. Tue coNn'eRENCE wLL Focus oN THE

SALIENT

AND PRACTICAL IsSUEs PER?AINING TO THE CURRENT ASPECTS OF THE ANUENIE-

DnspoRe RELAIIONSHIP,WITH THE PURPOSE OF DEVELOPING JOINT

PROJECTS AND

ACTIVITIES To UNITE THE CREAIIVE EFFORTS OF EACH. THT GOVERNMENT OF ANTTABNN BELIEVE THAT AN EFFECTIVE W0RKING RELAIIONSHIP BETWEEN ANUENIA AND THE

Dmspoxe wn I- srnrNcrrrEN TI{E BASrs FoR TNDEpENDENCE ron AnuBuIA AND Anrsnru.

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MARCH 1999

voL.'r0. No.3

DEPARTMENTS

8 9

20 22 50 57 58 60

Editor's Note Letters to the Editor 14 AIM View 16 The Long View 18 Notebook

Global Picture Armenia Briefs Faces

Other People's Mail Underexposed Essay

NATION 24

Focus: Anush, the Tragedy Armenia's State Opera Troupe came to Los Angeles and ended up on the streets. What happened?

Dutch television documentary profiles the lives and careers of Turkish historian Taner Akcam and Armenian historian Vahakn Dadrian.

Cover Story

Breaking the Wall of Silence

A Dutch filmmaker highlighted the works of Turkish historian Taner Akcam and Armenian historian Vahakn Dadrian to break the wall of silence around the Armenian Cenocide. 32

Watchful and Weary Soldiers on the Karabakh front.

Cleaning Up Much is expected of new parliamentary elections in May.

REGION 35

NATO Maneuvers ls

Azerbaijan serious about a NATO base in Baku?

Pipeline Dreams It's Ceorgia, as much as Azerbaijan, who dreams about a functioning

oil pipeline.?

The Geography of Friendship Who is whose friend in the Caucasus and why?

BUS!NESS Photographer Antoine Agoudjian chronicles life on

Karabakh's front lines today.

ECONOMY

Pinning Big Hopes on the Textile lndustry All the right pieces are there. But Armenias textile lndustry needs a push.

ARTS

52 The Hughes Brothers take on the film world. 55 Art Coustik

is a veteran actor in Southern California.

COVEB DESIcN BY BAFFI TAFPtNtAN; COVER PHOTOS By KEROVIStON, COURTESY OF HUMANISTSCHE OMBOEP FOUNDATION, THE NETHERLANDS

From designing and modeling

to cutting

and

sewing, Armenia's textile industry can go places.

AIM (ISSN 1050 3471) t pbltskd monthly, t45 Fr yeai, by The toufr Millennilm Society 207 south Band Boulevard, suite 203, Oiendah, cA912&: phone: @18) 246'79D, Fa\ (818) 246-@88. Peridicab PGl4e Fid at 6bndale, cA and addiMal mdlinS otrc6. canada Po{ Pubtcatons Mait prdud sates Ag@renl No 61&57 @ Copyright 19 by fte toudh Milieinium Sdely. All righb rerded. AIM may not be epdu.ed in any manrer, either in whote or in pd, whort w fren perh $ion frofr the pubi sho The edito6 are not retpnribh lor unoliciid manusnpts o. ad unl*s a shmFd efi-addre$ed envetope ts enc&d OPinio.sexpre$dinngnedafrclsdonotnegedyrepEse.tfreviewsoflheFouftMillennumsociety Foradvedsi.gqueri66ltj81A,246-DD sub$n/ion rahsior

12 65ues, US:

S45 ForeiAn t55. Po*m6te6

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EpttoR's Norr

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A Letter from the Editor

Armenian lnternational Magazine

Tnlike the writers and editors of TIME who are hidden on the umpteenth lloor of o New York highrise, AIM's staff is quite accessible, visible and reachable. Our readers are not like TIME readers, either. Unlike those who ofien just flip through TIME, look at the pictures and headlines, and then put it aside, our readers are passionate. They are involved in AIM's contents. They read, comment and critique everything. The more varied our stories, the more intense are the

207 South Brand Blvd. Suite 203 Clendale, CA 91204, USA Tel:818 246 7979 Fax 818246OO44

E-mail aim4m@well.com EDITOR- PU Salpi

LISHER

Haroutinian Chazarian

MANAGING EDITOR Hratch Tchilingirian ASSOCIATE EDITOR

responses to them. Very intense.

One can lose one's best friend on this job. And I almost have. Several times. And several friends. The most recent instance was kind of a surprise, because it happened not over an article with which my friend disagreed-that had happened two months ago-but over a letter to the editor. Like all other international magazines and newspapers, we do not necessarily always agree with every article that is printed. If the subject deserves coverage and we assign the article, if it is well-reasoned and well-written, then we run the piece and let readers decide about the contents for themselves.

With letters to the editor, we-and all the rest of our professional colleagues-are less picky. Although some letters are brilliantly and succinctly written by experts in the field, other letters would never pass muster as articles. Some letter-writers express opinions that come from left field-no grounding, no logic, no explanation. They are, nevertheless, firmly held opinions (often shared by others) and they deserve to be heard-if for no other reason than for others to counter

A. H. Alexandrian, Yerevan SENIOR EDITOR Tony Halpin, London DESIGN

Raffi Tarpinian PRODUCTION AND PHOTO MANAGER Parik Nazarian

ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR Dania Ohanian SUBSCRIPTIONS

MANAGER

Seta Khodanian

ADVERTISING MANAGER Fimi Mekhitarian INTERNS

Karina Avedissian, Dina Hovsepian, Ani Shirinian

them.

The trouble is that because, tradi-

tionally, Armenian publications print only material with which they agree, readers assume the

same of

AIM.

suppose

Theretbre,

LET'T'ERS

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we should not be surprised that many assume that if a letter to the editor makes a point that differs from our story and we print that letter, then we necessarily agree with the letterwriter. Or that the letter-writer is right, and we are somehow retracting the contents of our articles. For the record, we do not and we are not. For the record, letters to the editor express an individual's (sometimes very odd, sometimes very dear) views and opinions. And only that. In tact, if you look

at a few excerpts of letters we have published in the past (above) it quickly becomes apparent that we can't possibly agree with all of them. So, our plea to you, dear readers, is-don't shoot the messenger. Don't blame AIM for the different opinions of others. And, most importantly, don't underestimate the Letters to the Editor section of the magazine. It is, for most magazines, and AIM is no exception, readers' f'avorite section. Use this forum to express opinions about AIM articles. Believe me, we'll publish them, and readers will read them.

That's what a publication that is committed to promoting dialogue and mean-

ingful discussion is supposed to do.

YEREVAN BUREAU 5 Nalbandian Room 24 Tel 583639 Tel/tax.151849 E.mail: aimarm@arminco.com COORDINATOR

Anahit Madirossran ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Cohar Sahaktan DESICN AND PRODUCTION Areg Asatrian, Vahan Stepanian

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS lohn HuShes, Ronald Crigor 5uny, Taline Vosker tchian CONTRIBUTORS A(ashes Emrn Yerevan Su5an Patie. Londonr Edk Baaiar, Ara Choullian, Lo5 Angeles; lanet Samuelian Palm SprrnSs; Mark Malkasian, Rhode sand; CeorSe Sournoutan Lola Koundakl an New Yorkr Mynam Caume. Pais Maiihew Karaniar. Moorad Mooradran Washlntton' DC Vadan

Mitosian

Buenos Ares.

PHOTOGRAPHERS Mkhitar Khachatiai Zaver (hachrkran. Rouben

Margasarian, Yerevan. Antorne AgoudJran Armrneh lohannes, Aline Manouka., Pairs Edmond Terakopran, London Karine Amen Kevork L05 AnSeles: Caro Lachinian l{as5achusets; Nazaran, Ara oshatan Dlanseran. Ralfr tkmekt Eric Ardem Aslan an New le6ey; Harry Koundaktran New York Berge Ara Zobran Rhode lsland

EDITOR EMERITUS Char es Nazarar

EDITORIAL CONSULTANT Minas Kojaian INTERNATIONAL SUBSCRIPTION AND ADVERTISINC REPRESENTATIVES ARCENTINA Cole8o l\lekhiarila, Vrey del Plno 1511 (1425) Bleio! Ares. Phone 541 552 3690 ' Boura$aWest Monteal.PQ.H4R2E1,Phone5143392517' CANADA: RazmgHaknran.5595Henr UNITED ARAB EA,IIRATIS Culz& Jonran, PO 8ox 44564 Ab! Dhabr UAE Phone 971 2115721 fa\ g71 277a 191. UNITIO KINCDOM: Misak Ohan an 105A [,{l H I Road Adon Lordoa W38]F Phone 0181 992 462T . ITALY P e(e Baianian Via Moracca,61 A4/5 Rome Phone 995 1235 ' HONC KONC JackMaxran RM I lliEBlcckA 25Ka CheungRd KowloonBay,Kowloon Phone8527959888' AUSTRALLA: Varool hkendeilan 148 Koola Ave Ea{ K,lam NSW 2071 Phone 029251 2882 Alfred Boxr50 Pod Markarian pO Box370.Hair6ParkNSW2150 Phone0298971846:VaheKatebPO Melboume. Vctora l2O7 Phone 03 979a 0009.

WRITE TO AIM! We welcome a I communrcation. Although we read all etteB and submis5rons' we are unable io acknowledge everyth ng we rece ve due to I m ted ttaffing and resources Letters to the Edtor may be ediied for pub ication

AIM MARCH I999

of greedy

bureaucrats who don't really

breath of fresh air. It is a shame that he is a lonely voice and that many do not hear what he is saying. Aram Der Ghevontian

need our help.

As a first step, the Social Services Department of the government should be made squeaky clean and incoruptible. Perhaps a team of untouchables similar to the Eliot Ness group that cleaned up the racketeering in the US should be estab-

lished in Armenia. Millions more would then be forthcoming from the Armenians of the Diaspora as well as interested governments. It seems clear to me that Armenians

Great Strengths and Glaring Problems

The orphans and homeless children featured in AIM (Cover story, February 1999) brought into focus the great strengths and also the glaring problems in Armenia. For a country that has suffered such hardship and so many economic and other assaults, it is quite amazing that there are so few children living in orphanages or without homes. Also a credit to Armenia is the level of care that the orphans, well fed and healthy, receive from a nation with few resources to provide such services.

It is also a great tribute to the

Diaspora Armenians who have long been enthusiastic contributors to the care and feeding of the orphans of Armenia. The other side of the coin is the terrible bureaucratic red tape and corruption that prevails. Ask anyone who was tried to adopt one of these children. An Armenian from the Diaspora must be willing to spend at least six months in Armenia or traveling back and forth before he can get the proper permission to adopt a child. In addition, one must give bribes, suffer indignities, cajole and maneuver before getting a child to love and nurture. The Armenians in the Diaspora, who are anxious and willing to help Armenia financially, are constantly being disgusted and disillusioned by the high level of corruption and greed they encounter every time they try to help. It is time we speak out against this serious and correctable problem plaguing Armenia. We want to help-and in a big way. But only a fool will send his money to a bottomless pit or to line the pockets

throughout the world can no longer remain silent about the rampant coffuption in Armenia. To do so, is to do a disservice to the very people we want to help. There is so very much to be done in Armenia. The first thing, the most important priority is to clean up the political infrastructure. Once that is accomplished, all of the rest will follow. George Mason

Century City, California

George Kooshian's letter (AIM February 1999) regarding Rev. Vazken Movsesian of the Pasadena St. Gregory Armenian Church was itself, in Kooshian's own words, "absolutely

Whiuier Califurnia Moving Towards Hope I want to convey my heartfelt appreciation for your idea/theme for the Cover Story (AIM, January 1999)Despair and Hope- A Decade after the Earthquake. The pictures, the editorial, and the articles relating to this theme were poignant, informative and very effective. However, as to the cover, I want to convey a possible refinement. The touching photo in the upper left corner reflects DESPAIR, and the larger current portrait of the same family of Earthquake '88 survivors 10 years later indeed reflects hope, radiance, and resilience. Therefore, as a psychologist,

I feel your title should have read: FROM DESPAIR TO HOPE. Such transitions do seem to characterize us as a people and, more aptly, survivors of catastrophes. AIM can aim to inculcate and perpetuate the positive direction, and thereby become instrumental in that regard as the messenger. S

iroon

P as

halian Shahinian

Great Neck,

astounding".

He thinks Movsesian, who runs a series of special groups for at-risk youth, for those involved in domestic violence and other problems, is better suited to be an Episcopalian priest or a social worker? We have a priest who actually cares about the people's needs and we want him to

leave and become an episcopalian? So

what should Armenian priests

do?

Continue to build church buildings and host lenten luncheons? Is caring for the needs of the parish not appropriate for an

Armenian priest? Pasadena is fortunate that its parish priest is concerned about the tough problems facing Armenians, including cults. If Rev. Movsesian sees a problem with aggressive proselytizers,

New

York

AIM and the New Yorker I really enjoyed the John Hughes "last page" essay, "Soul Food," in your January I

999 issue.

I tend to gravitate to such "last page" or "end piece" essays in The New Yorker, Time, Sports lllustrated and The New York Times Magazine. They tend to be very well written, thoughtful, often comedic. The Hughes piece was New Yorker caliber, but certainly belonged in AIM. Keep up the great work; soon I will probably drop my New Yorker subscription.

Mark Gavoor Wilton, Connecticut

then it is his duty to point them out to his congregation.

Who Speaks for the Youth?

As for Kooshian's concern that the American-born generation is quite Americanized, can someone tell me how

I feel compelled to write about the letter by Dareh Koumchian (AIM, August 1998). I had not read the lerrer but when I

many Armenians in Pasadena are active in American society? Members of the chamber of commerce? Boy scouts? Police

guild?

This community leader's statements were not only not destructive, offensive or demoralizing, on the contrary, they are AIM MARCH 1999

read the letter by Rafy Youatt (AIM, January 1999) it gave me a good picture of what Dareh's had been like. I was appalled when I read that he had stated the youth did not

care about "communism, democracy and

politics for that matter. And by the way, who the hell is Nune!" Frankly I care about

The Foufrh Millennium Socicty is an independently funded

md adminis-

charity committed to the dissemination of infomation for the purpose of developing an infomed public. Underpinning all our work is the firm conviction that the vitality of an independent press is fundamental to a democmtic socitered public

political issues of every kind and especially the state our Armenian Genocide recognition issue is in. Another reason that I felt to write this letter was about the comment about Nune. Nuse is the best Armenian (and any other language) singer that has come about for as long as I can remember. She has energy, stamina, a beautiful voice, but what is more

important, she has her Armenian rootsunlike other "rabiz" singers that come out every day. When Nune came to Southern California in May, 1998, manY of mY friends and I went to her sold-out concert. She was great! When we heard she was coming out with a new CD (to which I am listening now), having a concert, and a New Year's Eve dinner-dance, we were ecstatic. The youth who Dareh claimed don't care were present on a Friday night when Nune came to sign her new CD at Tower Records in Glendale, CA. The youth were also present at her sold-out concert at the Alex Theater. But especially, the youth

were also present when about 40 of us (boys and girls ranging from 16-25 years of age) attended her New Year's concert. There were people with us from as far as Maryland and San Francisco-they were there to see Nune! Once again it was the Youth singing along with her every song and dancing all night. The night ended when Nune, who was done, saw how energetic we all were' She went back up to sing, something many singers wouldn't do. She started singing what we all wanted, Armenian Revolutionary songs. Imagine about 40 energetic youth lined up on the side singing along with Nune every song. The older generation, none of whom we knew looked at us astonished, they even took pictures of us. Let me tell everyone that all of us who were there were either born in the US or had come to the US at a very young age, such as four and five. All of us there were involved in at least one Armenian organization. Today's youth is interested in every aspect of Armenian life, from politics to culture. So for everyone who paid attention to Dareh's letter, please take into consideration that he spoke only for himself and not the Armenian youth in the Diaspora. By the way, I love AIM. Congratulations AIM on your l0-year anniversary

ety in Armenia and democratic institutions in the Diaspora. The Founh Millennium Society publishes Amenian lntemational Magazine in its effort to contribute to the national dialogue. The directoE ue grateful to the Benefactors,

it! A. Pezeshkian Glendale, Califurnia

Gayaneh

Millennium Society who

are

commit-

well-being, growth and development ofArmenians and Amenia through the promotion of open discussion and the free flow of infomation among individuals and orgmizations. Their finmcial contributions suppon the work of the

ted to the

FOURTH MILLENNIUM

ofAlM.

Fourth Millennium Society and ensurc the indepâ&#x201A;Źndence Michael Nahabet. Raffi Zinzalim. Dircctorc.

SOCIETY,Inc.

DIRECTORS'9E Shahen Hairapetian, Armen Hampar, Zaven Khanjian, Michael Nahabet,

Alex Sarkissian, Bob Shamlian, Raffi Zinzalian. BENEFACTORS Sarkis

Acopian, Hirair Hovnanian, The Lincy Foundation, Louise Manoogian Simone SENIOR TRUSTEES

AUSTRALIA: Heros & Kate Dilanchian; CALIFORNIA: Khachig George & Flora Dunaians, George & Grace Kay, Joe & Joyce CANADA: Razmig Hakimian, Kourken Sarkissian HONG KONG:

Babayan'

Stein Jack Maxian

FOUNDING TRUSTEES AUSTRALIA: Varoojan Iskenderian CALIFORNIA:

Garen Avedikian, Mardo Kaprielian,

Edward Misserlian, Bob Movelt. Varoujan Nahabet, Norair Oskanian, Emmy Papazian, Zareh Sarkissian, Raffi Zinzalian FLORIDA: Hagop Koushakjian

PENNSYLVANIA'. Zarouhi Mardikian ASSOCIATE TRUSTEES Araxie M. Haroutinian, Ralph and Savey Tufenkian

PATRONS

Armen and Gloriai Hampd

ARMENIA

Arpiu

Khachatur Soukiassian

and Hemine Janoyan

Gaidzag and Dzovig Zeitlian

CANADA

AUSTRALIA

Walter and Laurel Karabian

Migirdic and Ani Migirdicyan

Arman and Nairi Derderyan

Kevork and Satenig Karajerjian

CONNECTICUT

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Anonymous

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CALIFORNIA

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ITAI,Y

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I,EBANON

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MASSACHUSETTS

Harry and Alvart B0seghian

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Aram and Terez Bassenian

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Richrd Simonian MICHIGAN

Berj and He.a Boyajian

Edwffd and Alice Navasargian

Hagop and

violet Dakessian

Ardash and Marian Derderian

Dimitd

and Tamara

Dimitri

Manoushag

George

Chamchikian

Kenneth and Cindy Norian

Alex Manoogiant

Rafi Ourfalim Michael and Hemine Pirmian

Lany and Seda Bames

Steve and Lucille Estephanian

Femmian

NEVADA

Hratch and Helga Silkis

NEWYORK

Alex Sarkissian

Harry and Aida Koundakjian

Roben and Helen Shamlian

vahe Nishmian+

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UNITED KINGDOM

Piere and Alicc Haig

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Gagik and

Knu

Galstian

FRIENDS OFAIM The Fourth Millennium Society is grateful to the following for contributing during the last month to ensure AIM's financial independence.

and keep up the good work. The Youth appreciate

Trustees. Patrons and Friends of the Fourth

THE

FL: BishopHmayaklntoyanNE: HenryBadeer RI: CraigLove SC: ZavenandRachelTouloukian

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Victoria Palvetzian

UK: A,

Kanekanian

AIM MARCH I999

Christology 101

and Armenian Churches there is a metaphys-

ical, not directly theological, divergence. I

Felix Corley reports [AIM, December

that Catholicos Aram I, referring to the Common Declaration that Catholicos Karekin I signed with Pope John Paul II in 19981

December 1996, said the following "What was said in the declaration was very much in line with the Christology of the Armenian

Church-it is 100 percent compatible. I don't see any deviation from it. The position of the Armenian Church in the fifth and sixth centuries differed from the position in the 12th and the l3th centuries. There has been a constant evolution."

At least three consideration cast doubt on the accuracy of that statement:

The first is circumsrantial. Catholic divines in general, and Pope John Paul II in particular are not known for their tolerance in matters of doctrine. One may therefore safely assume that the Declaration that the Pope of Rome signed with the Catholicos of

All

Armenians is entirely in line with Catholic teaching, which means that it makes no concession to the christology of the Armenian Church. Christology is the theory of who and/or what Jesus Christ was and is. We and the Latins have differed over the answers to that question for some 1500 years. Unlike us, who are a "one nature"

church, the Romans recognize in Jesus Christ two natures. Now it is true that the phrase "two natures" does not appear in the Common Declaration, but there are more

ways than one of skinning the proverbial cat. The Pope's advisers, highly competent and wily, know only too well that Armenian classical theologians abhor "two natures," and that no Armenian catholicos who wishes to keep his throne would formally adopt that phrase. So the Pope, while he does not use the phrase "two natures" in the text of the Declaration, weaves its theory into it. See below.

A second remark that controverts Aram I's statement is historical. His Holiness says that the position of the Armenian Church evolved between the fifth/sixth and the l2th-13th centuries. This is questionable. It

will put it as simply as possible, for I want to avoid highfalutin technicalities. This is the problem:

Jesus Christ

shown

in the New

Testament as performing two sets of actions. One of these sets of actions (such as drawing lines in the sand) can be performed by any normal human being. The other cannot. This latter set of actions (such as calling a dead man back to life) can be performed,

MIRAGTE

PLAilTS VITAMIilS & MIilERAIS

Christians believe, by God only. The ques-

tion then is, Must we therefore assume that there are two entities-"natures"-in Jesus Christ, each of which accounts for one of the two sets of actions? The Latin answer to this question is Yes. The accepted Armenian answer is No.

The Armenians have consistently told

the Greeks and the Latins that once Jesus Christ is divided into two as a consequence of the "two natures" theory, no amount of verbal acrobatics will restore his seamless unity. According to Armenian christology, in the unique case of God-man Jesus Christ, a single nature can be the agent of both human and divine actions as well as the subject of

divine and human attributes. It must be said incidentally that we do

not have the foggiest notion of what "nature" (in "human nature" or "divine nature") refers to, and what is true of us in

this respect was of necessity true of

medieval thinkers as well. They too could have no notion of what natura or physis or bnutyun actually referred to, although they vehemently thought they did. So if we want to preserve the unity of Jesus the Christ, it

is a

good theological strategy

keep

"nature," whatever it is that it means, in the singular. This is what the Armenian Church has in effect done all along. There is at any rate, no grey area between the Latin and the Armenian positions. It is because there is no middle ground that none is found to this day. It is a matter of either/or, yes or no, and the Karekin-John Paul Common Declaration belongs with the Latin option. How? In the following roundabout way: The document speaks of a union in

is true that during the 12th century and later leaders of the Armenian Church in Cilicia were inclined to yield to the Greek insistence that we adopt their basic christological formulation. But that was a threshold that was never crossed by the Armenian Church. The third and most important consideration that undermines Aram I's remark is philosophical. It has to do with the theory of

things in order to be able to say that they are

how we perceive reality, and how words refer to things. At the foundation ofthe disagreement in christology between the Latin

not to be divided or separated. The two things in question cannot, moreover, be abstract things like humanity and divinity.

Jesus Christ which

is said to be "without

division," "without....separation," Both of these adverbial locutions are lifted from Pope Leo I the Great. Now one does not have to have had Logic l0l to observe that

these adverbial locutions imply two things-you have to be referring to two

AIM MARCH 1999

Is the perfect guide ro natural healing

in the Armenian language. The book is beautifully illustrated with full color pictures ofthe herbs and plants used in rhe pracand herbal medicines written

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They have to be real things like human nature and divine nature. It is thus transparently clear that the Common Declaration implicitly recognizes two natures, and that, true to pattern , we are again overpowered in our dealings with the Roman Church-this time in an atmosphere of sweet cordiality. It is a sad comment on our church that the advisers to His Holiness Karekin I prove to have been no match to the Latin experts. On hearing Aram I declare that "it is 100 percent compatible," the reporter should have asked him, What is compatible with what? We may conjecture in the absence of such elucidation that what His Holiness means is that the Declaration is in keeping with our own age-long christology, and that we and the Latins are of one mind when it comes to the fact that Jesus Christ is both God and man. This is of course true. Our underlying belief is the same. But there are bad and good, or good and better ways of saying things, that there is a sense in which the good and the better are not compatible Does all this amount to something to be excited about at the turnstile of the third millennium, in the age of instant communication and genetic biology? Whatever your answer to this question, in no cultural context does it make sense to prefer the good to the better. Besides, scholarship, like charity, begins at home, and it is natural that we should come to the defense of the Fathers of our Church, particularly at a time when they appear to have been on the right track. It is true that we cannot in this day and age follow many of our Fathers in saying that those who teach as the Latins do will go to hell. But we can, indeed must, keep looking for, and evaluating critically the hidden assump-

tions on which our different claims stand. Had the Roman and Armenian pontiffs adopted some such vantage point, it should

have been possible for them

simply declare that both their Churches have viable beliefs as to the identity of Jesus Christ, and

that their formulations to that effect, although different, are nevertheless not, by themselves, an impediment to full commu-

nion. Now that would

have made history.

That. as distinct from the signing of yet another compromise statement, would have been something done in the spirit of Nerses of Kla-a spirit that can be articulated for our times as follows: You keep your formulation, we keep ours, hoping all the while that further advances in the art of thinking interpretation will of John 1: 14-"and the Word became [physicall body." Our common aim is nothing lead to a more convergent

more and nothing less that the gradually deeper understandirrg of that foundational

Let us not keep producing

Hagop Nersoyan Dayton, Ohio

)ttssloy

Dr.

Lr lEU|F,ssa (:{,\xrrrf,&\Yi liN

1999

t*ltfJlf

CIA{A

MISSION TO ARMENIA

Waiting for Justice In "A Voice in the Wilderness" (Focus, January 1999), Hratch Tchilingirian writes: "Armenia ... welcomed the establishment of the International Criminal Court earlier in 1998."

This is wrong. The

International

Criminal Court (ICC) has not yet been established. What was approved at the Rome Diplomatic Conference in July of last year was a statute to create the ICC. The statute requires 60 ratifications before it comes into force. As of 3 December 1998, 67 countries had signed the treaty (and Armenia was not one of them).

Furthermore, the author cites Ambassador Abelian's arguments of posr genocidal impunity and incessant denialism as two reasons why the establishment of the

ICC is so essential. I would also add the inability of domestic processes to secure retributive justice for victims of genocide and other serious human rights violations as another relevant reason. The failures of the 1919 Extraordinary Courts Martial in Constantinople (Istanbul) is well documented by scholars. More recently, the South African

Truth and Reconciliation Commission was

The Canadian Youth Mission Armenia (CYMA), is

Youth for Youth humanitarian aid project dedicated to assisting the children of fumenia while a

binding young Armenians in Canada forever to their homeland. CYMA is a project of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of Canada.

CYMA 99 will take place in will consist of construction and renovation of the Makanisian Camp, distribution of

Tsaghkadsor and

humanitarian aid and local community house visitations. Participants will live with local families to develop and strâ&#x201A;Źngthen the emotional and spiritual bond between Armenian youth as well as Canada and Armenia.

CYMA 99 is open to anyone over the age of 18. as ofJuly 1999. The tentative departure date for this year's Mission

July 6, 1999 from Toronto and the month later.

return is one

severely criticized for its amnesty provisions.

And the Augusto Pinochet saga shows that nations (in this case Chile) are still being dragged kicking and screaming into proceedings which confront their unpleasant past. Although far from being apolitical, the ICC will neverlheless oversee a more consis-

of international criminal law (as it pertains to genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity), as reliance on

For more information, please contact:

Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church 416-431 -3001 Diocese of the Armenian Church 514-276-9479

tent enforcement

will

the contingencies of diplomacy reduced. After all, a century of Realpolitik

left us with enough unpunished perpetrators and unremembered victims. has

Meher Grigorian Sydney, Australia

assertion. 12

formal

compromise statements at variously initiated ecclesiastical conferences and meetings, for if we already, truly accept each other's orthodoxy (with a small o) we do not have to engage in that sort of fraternization. Let us, instead, keep conversing in a loving frame of mind, with the full recognition that we, all of us, now see things as in a mirror, darkly.

AIM MARCH I999

Karin Garaklnn Annie Gabriehan

416-493-3854 416-490-1084 Veru Kurhdjian Nayat Semerciyan 5t4-421-7881 450-68r-526t

Breaking thc Wall ol Silence

Ilrrlrlsh uolce calts lot a motal lnqulry lnto tfie Gausos ol genoclde

In the 1980s, a Swedish filmmaker named Peo Holmquist came upon Armenia and Armenians by way of the Palestinian issue. As a result, he made Back to Ararat, a 90-minute film which took a fresh look at the Armenian Diaspora and the impact of the memory of the Armenian Genocide for young people 75 years later.

In the 1990s, Dorothee Forma, a Dutch producer made a film on the Armenian Genocide: A Wall of Silence (see page 26). Forma came to the subject by way of her interest in Turkey and Turkish workers in Europe. That's quite appropriate, since the subjects of her film-Vahakn Dadrian and Taner AkEam-are both Turkish-born historians of different generations. A Wall of Silence profiles Dadrian, the child of genocide survivors, who studied in Germany and became one of the foremost scholars of the Armenian Genocide, as well as a cool, scholarly voice calling for international recognition. However, Forma's real coup is in her presentation of Akgam, a young Turkish scholar who came upon the weighty legacy of the Armenian Genocide by way of his student protest days in the 1970s. The democratic society that he and his friends wanted Turkey to become would not be built unless Turkey recognized its early undemocratic roots. Books and articles by Armenian (and non-Armenian) scholars have clearly demonstrated that the establishment of the Turkish republic depended on the Genocide of the Armenians. And genocide-the mass

murder of an entire people-is, to put it mildly, undemocratic, And thus Akqam has boldly entered the realm of difficult questions and answers which have left Armenians perplexed for nearly a century. How could the Genocide have happened, how could Armenians have allowed it, how could the world stand by, how must it be understood, and how is compensation-moral or

psychological, political or material-possible? Armenians have asked these questions for decades, and now Taner Akgam and eventually other Turks, too, must begin to explore and inquire' The questions Taner AkEam asks are neither easy or light. "What does it mean to incorporate the fact of the genocide in our historical present and what will be the result?" His own answer is that a start can only be made by way of discovering the meaning of belonging to the perpetrator group and of bearing collective responsibility. Forma's straightforward documentary places Akqam's unexpected and remarkably dignified acknowledgements in the public domain. Akgam, together with Dadrian (whom Akgam calls the wise teacher) uses the Turkish (and Armenian) experiences to turn historical and political dilemmas into universally relevant challenges. For humanity's sake, for the sake of children living today in Turkey and in a dozen other countries where political problems are resolved by massacre and slaughter, Akgam's truthful, sincere, moral inquiry deserves--demands-a broad public airing'

Gulture on the Gheap

llelthu Amenla nil the Dlaspom

are s81l0us about plomotlng art and cultulo

The Armenian State Opera came to Los Angeles to perform (see page 24). Instead, they were nearly made to sing for their meals, as a result of either incompetent or criminal handlers. The Armenian and non-Armenian press wrote extensively about the l7l-person troupe's presence in the Diaspora's largest Armenian community. Yet, no one commented on the troupe's performance. No one wrote about the company's rather amazing repertoirePoliuto, Othello, Aida, Arshak 11-given the realities of Armenia's cold rehearsal halls, insufficient resources for costumes and sets and a very small state budget. 14

They all wrote about the obvious tragedy that mismanagement wrought. Still, the main tragedy was overlooked. This is not the first time that a group of artists has been brought to the West by "businessmen" eager to make a buck. They use one known name and package it with a slew of lesser known performers, rent halls and sell tickets. The welfare of the performers is not these people's primary concem. From a group of child singers who were kept over for months to "thrill" and "inspire" audiences to give money, to musicians who were brought via Mexico and left strand-

AIM MARCH

1999

ed, artists are at the mercy of entrepreneurs. Therein lies the second part of the real calamity. The reputable cultural organizations are unwilling to brave the seemingly impossible challenges of staging a show. Who dares bring 170 singers and musicians to Los Angeles or Boston or New York? Who would take on the nightmare of organizing transportation, food, lodging, advertising and entertainment for such a large group? Anyone able to do simple arithmetic could have told Armenia's culture ministry the Opera's leadership, and the Los Angeles "orga-

nizer" himself that his numbers don't add up. One (or even two or three) absolutely successful, sold-out performance at the Shrine Auditorium would not have provided the financial windfall that organizer was counting on. Either this 'impresario'couldn't multiply, or he simply didn't care because this project was just a front for some other plot.

The story is confusing: Who bought how many tickets at what

price, for whom and when? Whatever the answers, they are almost irrelevant.

In any case, the real catastrophe will come if legitimate, knowledgeable experienced culture mavens do not take on the challenge

of bringing

serious cultural performances from Armenia

the

Diaspora. That will be both Armenia's misfortune-art will not be exposed to the world stage-and the Diaspora's, which will miss out on the deep, satisfying pleasures of authentic culture presented by professionals.

The overriding problem in the Anush tragedy is not that some people possibly used the opera as cover for itlegal immigration, or that others used difficult economic times to improve their own private economic fortunes. The real disaster is that serious culture is not taken seriously-it has become a commodity that everyone is willing to buy and sell. The Diaspora will have to take its own resources seriously and devise ways to bring Armenian culture to the West, economically and with dignity. One basic way is to quit ignoring the Armenians who live outside the tight ghettos, thus enlarging the market. Another way is to remember the big world and its huge potential audience curious about and hungry for new art and artists. In Armenia, the Culture Ministry will not prevent future fiascos by mandating their own stamp of approval for artists who are invited to perform. Instead, the Ministry should begin to honestly address the complex issues involved and treat the Diaspora's existing institutions as partners.

llot BeUistefing Gonlldence

Ihe taxman Gomsth

Turning a cash culture into an accountable, tax-paying society has got to be one ofthe bigger challenges facing the economies that have, for more than a decade now, been transitioning. In Armenia, even houses and cars are sold for cash. No recordkeeping, no long term payments, no interest, no pro-rating. Cash on the line. That same culture has, for decades, only been at the receiving end of government-good and bad. It's never been asked to give anyl thing-not its opinion, nor its funds,nor its acquiescence. The government has done what it wants-at will, not accountable to anyone.

Now, the Armenian government is saddled with the responsi-

bility of taking that

same cash-based, untrusting society and shap-

ing it into a iesponsible, tax-paying, accountable polity. But how? For years, the state budget revenues have fallen short ofprojections. Armenians don't want to, don't like to, pay taxes. Does anyone? But this common problem is aggravated in Armenia, where, without minimal tax revenues, streets will continue to be covered with potholes, schools will not be maintained, salaries will not be paid, policemen will remain on the take to augment their incomes. In other words, the govemment will not be able to do what it's supposed to do---care for the needs of society. As a result, everyone will

continue to look out for themselves. There will be no tangible demonstration of support for the government, no conferring of authority, no acknowledgement of legitimacy. In trying to provide for the people's everyday wellbeing, the government will remain impotent. The longer it remains unable to deliver, the longer the

people will not ffust it enough to pay taxes. The vicious cycle will remain unbroken. Clearly, no government can survive long with this approach. Therefore, the Armenian government came up with a solution-sort of. As of January 1999, all retail outlets must utilize especially ordered and programmed cash registers (see page 58). The prime Minister's office announced that only 50 percent of Armenia's economy was being taxed. So, electronic cash registers (called registermonitors) were sold to each business, accompanied by a cumbersome procedure for additional papenrork-all to try to keep track of sales and impose corresponding taxes. For such a noble end, the means are inadequate. No one asked questions in order to come up with a program that has a half-way decent chance of succeeding. The government figured this is bound to increase til( revenue, and after all, Russia and everyone in the CIS utilize this kind of system. No one explained why Russia should serve as a model for tax-collection or economic efficiency. There you have it. Instead of a lasting education campaign about the interrelationship between taxes and services, between government and governed, Big Brother returned to Armenia. As every parent knows, it's easier to impose than to explain and cajole and convince an unwilling child who needs to be taught. It's easier in the short run. In the long run, this is no way to build the mutual trust and respect that is essential for a healthy society, where government and citizenry don't see themselves as antagonists.

AIM MARCH 1999

The Kosovo Example r6

AIM MARCH I999

"Jordan was once a country that people said could not survive. But now we are an example for others. We have every reason to believe that we can eventually achieve what happened in Europe-and more. But it's also not something that will happen in a single lifetime." Hussein of Jordan, in 1996

-King

"The Church of the Armenians is a ruined house, today;

Armenians are de-Christianized. The Armenian church should rebuild its ruined interior and retum us to the Christian faith. True, after the Genocide, the Armenian Church was our symbol, but today, there are political parties, there is a govemment, which could preserve [our] national character, but the Church should work toward finding answers for current issues [such as] liberalmarriages, AIDS, health of the family and various issues. The present situation of the Armenian Church concerns me very much." Ter-Minassian, French-Armenian historian

-Anaide

"When one

stupid that's okay. But

am a Georgian, therefore, I am a European." Zhvania, Chairman of the Georgian Parliament, in -Zurab an address to the Parliamentary Assembly of the European

Community after Georgia was officially admitted

the

It is "not right to follow

the West blindly

in the matter of

ethnicity."

-Eduard

Shevardnadze, President of Georgia

"Azeris want to know why the Armenian lobby is so influential. What is the US Congress afraid of? Is this lobby srronger than justice or truth or even elementary logic? Is it more important than future gigantic joint projects between Azerbaijan and the US?"

-Ilham Company

that stupid person

becomes prime minister that's a natural disaster. And if the stupid person creates a party and makes statements, that means the natural disaster tums into a permanent disaster." Ashkhar newspaper in reference to former Prime -Hayots Minister Hrant Bagratian.

Council of Europe.

Aliyev, Executive Vice President of the State Oil of Azerbaijan, in Washington DC

"In Armenia, elections can't be absolutely fair because we are a small state, most people know each other and personal sympathy and antipathy are extremely significant." Sargsian, Defense Minister of Armenia

-Vazgen

Art student Gohar Harutunian is 20 years old,6' 2", and bears two titles: Miss Armenia and Miss CIS. In January, Harutunian, a third year student at Yerevan's Pedagogical Institute, won the title of Miss CIS, in the first year of this new contest, beating out 34 other contestants from 12 republics. Just one week later, top Azerbaijani officials began to hint at a possible reexamination of Azerbaijan's involvement in the CIS and the Collective Security Treaty.

, Vsions of Atmenia (Iondon, I.B.Tauris, 1997),

AIM MARCH 1999

Benon $euan to the Bescue Benon Sevan, 62, is executive director of the UN Iraq program. In that capacity, he is frequently in Baghdad and visits the outlying provinces. At the same time, he is also the UN's Security Coordinator, responsible for issues involving the security of UN personnel. It is Sevan who shows up in places like Angola when a UN plane is shot down by rebel forces. A graduate of the Melkonian Educational Institute and later Columbia University, he has been with the UN for 34 years, working his way up from the Department of Public Information to UN Observer with the Special Representative of the Secretary General for the Act of Free Choice in West Irian (Indonesia). In 1973, he joined the Secretariat of the Economic and Social Council. Besides Indonesia, he has held special posts in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Middle East.

Aside from his duties at the UN, where he holds the rank of Undersecretary General, he is also very involved with the Armenian General Benevolent Union, as well as the Melkonian Educational Institute's Alumni Association.

Eltf tather Alexander Tamanian, built and reconstructed churches and other buildings in St. Petersburg, long before he came to Armenia and put his immortal stamp on the city of Yerevan. The architect who had received a gold medal from the Duma of the City of Moscow was born in March 1878 and didn't move to Armenia until 1923 when he was invited there to work on major projects, including construction of roads and draining of swamps. His first architectural project in Armenia was to draw up the plans for the city of Yerevan, for a projected population of 150,000. In fact, his own statue (by sculptor Artashes Hovsepian) which is part of the Yerevan landscape, below the cascade of stairs, shows him standing at his work table, imagining the city's future. He did however design and see the construction of Yerevan's medical institute, the polytechnic institute, the public library, its first hydroelectric

I z 9

station, the government building Armenia, and the opera building.

in the main square facing the Hotel

The award-winning opera building (Paris International Exhibition, 1937) became the focal point of the city as it began taking shape. He didn't know that half a century later, his opera house would again take center stage, but this time in the nation's political life. At the beginning of the democratic movement in Armenia in 1988, hundreds of thousands gathered in public meetings and demonstrations to demand independence for Karabakh. These gatherings first took place, quite spontaneously, in front of the Ancient Manuscripts Library-Matenadaran. Later, as authorities found ways to obstruct, delay or generally prevent meetings there, the crowds moved to the streets and plazas around the Opera building. So did the Soviet soldiers who were there to maintain "law and order" and the imposed curfew. In 1991, Opera Square was officially renamed Freedom Square.

AIM MARCH 1999

bytes on file Geneua, Uienna, Yeneuan

18,000 Number of earthquakes which have taken place on Armenian territory during the last three millennia 550 Average number of minutes per month that an Armenian citizen spends on the phone

400 Average number of minutes per month that a European spends on the phone

230,000 Number of families in Armenia who will be receiving family aid 3.43

Amount of family aid, in millions of dollars, to be paid by Armenian government each month

In the Soviet era, the only Kurdish newspapers in the world were published in Armenia. Armenia's several thousand Kurds (some of whom called themselves Yezidis and practiced a different version of their religion) had their own language publications,

schools, even radio programs. Today, those thousands are agitating for justice for the Kurdistan Workers' Party leader Abdullah Ocalan

13,000 Number of letters received by Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov within six weeks after he asked the population to alert him to instances of injustice and bureaucratic indifference

(AIM, January 1999) who was captured in Kenya and sent to Turkey with the aid of various foreign and international organizations, because Ocalan is considered a "terrorist". Kurds in Geneva, Vienna and Yerevan (above) forcibly entered and occupied parts of

UN buildings in order to bring world attention to their serious concerns about Ocalan's individual plight and the future of the Kurds. Ocalan's terrorist label is placed on him because Turkey's large Kurdish minority has looked to his leadership during the years of rebellion and bloodshed in Turkey's southeast, as Kurds have clamored for everything from basic civil and human rights to autonomy. Kurds in Iran and Iraq, too, have for decades struggled for greater rights, but they are seen as "victims" perhaps because their countries-Iran and Iraq-are not on good terms with the West these days, and certainly are not NATO allies as is Turkey. Armenia's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, perhaps a little too honestly, that excessive Kurdish nationalism can be a prob-

228 Number of years ago that the first Armenian language book was published in Armenia 487

Number of years ago that the first-ever Armenian language book was published (in Venice, on astrology)

lem for Armenia. That's quite probably an understatement. Armenia has much to lose if Turkey wants to use the Kurdish issue as an excuse to make trouble with its eastern neighbor. In the past, Turkey has not hesitated to accuse Armenia of lending the Kurds logistical support. Yet Armenia cannot lose the opportunity to point to the Kurdish situation in Turkey as an example of Turkey's continuing policy of state-building by massacre. There are 25 million Kurds in the world today, and they are stateless. Estonians, on the other hand, number 1.5 million and Belgians 10.1 million.

AIM MARCH 1999

1',l

Distance in kilometers (or 7 miles) of Armenia's nuclear power plant from the Turkish border

6 Number of Armenians left in Diyarbakir (or Tigranakert) Turkey

48 Number of pages in the new Exxon-sponsored Azerbaijan-English dictionary (first ever in Latin script) AIM

Research; Noyan Tapan, Azg, Radio Free EuropeRadio Libedy, Azerbaijan lnternational, Marmara

Ihe Uatlcan

tuvpl

Pope John Paul II, responding to an invitation by the government of Armenia, plans to include Armenla on his list of trips for this year, which may also include Moscow, one of the few places the Pope has not visited during his two decades of globetrotting.

. During an official three-day visit ts Egypt, Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian met with his Egyptian courterpaxt Amr Moussa (below) on international issues of common concern and ways of promoting bilateral relations. At a joint press conferenee, lvloussa termed the talks a$ "ve-ry useful," and saidhe briefed Oskanian on the stalemate of the Middle East peace pnooes$, adding that he is confident of Armenia's support for

Ironlr[an

coop' eration would ri*s to a higher level in.the expressed hope Oat bilatâ&#x201A;Ź.ral econornic

Azerbaijan announced that it will present to the International Court at the Hague the issue of the alleged massacre committed against the Azeri population of the town of Khojalu in February 1992. At the time, Azeri authorities had said 100 people had been killed. Today, the state secretary for nationality issues of Az6rbaijan claims that more than 600 were killed, 500 injured, and 1,275 taken prisoner. T\e 1992 battle at this site has been the focus of continuous charges and counter-charges. The Azeris accuse the Armenians of massacre. The Armenians accuse the Azeris of actually participating in the mutilation of corpses and buildings in order to make the Armenian attack look more violent.

r Azerbaijan accused Armenia of having interests in Nakhichevan and preparing "to annex" it, according to an Azeri Defense Ministry spokesman. These statements were made in midFebruary within days of other accusatory statements by Azerbaijani leaders against Armenia. Russian-Armenian military cooperation, as well as Armenia's willingness to accept the latest proposals of the Minsk Group Co-chairmen as bases for negotiations seemed to

to go on the offensive. asked the US, French and Russian presidents to apply pressure on Armenia to break the "deadlock" on the Karabakh negotiations. Aliev said, "Armenia's nonconstructive position creates serious obstacles to the peace process." Several statements by Armenia's Foreign Ministry countered these charges. Armenia noted that it is Azerbaijan which is banking on an "artificially inflated oil factor" in the hope that as a result, a strategic alliance will be created with the West and a Karabakh settlement will be imposed in favor of Azerbaijan. Norwegian diplomats in the area in preparation for an April visit by the Acting Chairman of the OSCE, Gnoud Vollebek, dismissed the idea of new OSCE proposals, saying that all proposals were "already on the table."

near future. Oshanian said Aanenia suPPSrt$ the Ivliddlg Easl peace effofts in solvin! protlems &rough.aogotiations and called on both the Palestinians and Israelis to.cgJt-Iqt to a signed peace agreement. o While in Cairo, the Arrrenian delegation met also with

Arab League General Secretary Esmat Abdel-Meguid' Oskaniaq briefed Abdel-Meguid on the latest developments over Mountainous Karabakh and the region. Oskanian hailed the traditional ArmenianArab relations and stressed the importance of continued consultations between the two sides on promoting their ties in all domains while underlining Armenia s support for the Arab stance on the

Middle East peace process.

Jondan

Armenia's

prompt the Azerbaijani authorities Azerbaijan's president Haidar

the

Arab cause. Oskanian stated that Egypt is "an important state" in the Middle faii anO

Foreign

Minister Vartan Oskanian, accompanied by Armenia's

Aliev

Ambassador

Egypt,

Edward Nalbandian, went to Amman for the funeral

Jordan's King Hussein, and subsequently met with the

new king, Abdulla Ben Al Hussein. Jordan's large Armenian community mourned the passing of a monarch who had always expressed warmth toward his Armenian subjects. Pariach Torkom Manoogian of Jerusalem also attend the funeral with two bishops.

SesnIla . Armenians in Georgia continue to make an effort to maintain cultural and national treasures in that counffy. Georgian capital Tbilisi was the center of Armenian cultural life long before Yerevan, and many intellectuals and luminaries were born and died in Tbilisi. The community cemetery Khojivank, destroyed during Stalin's rule, is now being restored and maintained through the efforts of the local Armenian Evangelical Church. . Armenian National Assembly chairman Khosorv Harutiunyan congratulated his counterpart Zurab Zhvania and all the Georgian people on Griorgia's admieslsn to the Cquncil of Eumpe (above). Harutiunyan noted that Georgia's membership the important European stnibture ushers Europls â&#x201A;Źnury to the_regron and could greatly'help regional coope{ation and development of stability.

?"0

AIM MARCII 1999

Iussia . Amid

complaints by Azerbaijan about possible military threats from Armenia, the Russian air forces have begun to deliver the components of S-3ffi air defense batteries to their base inArmenia. The commander-inchief of the Russian Air Force, Colonel General Anatoli Kornukov visited Armenia in mid-February. He explained that this was simply a part of planned Russian-Armenian military cooperation, and that if Azerbaijan wished to join a similar cooperation, Russia would be pleased. Kornukov explained that the current missile system at the base is obsolete and must be updated.

Iatan Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian paid a flrst.eyer visit to Qatar by a top Armenian

official. His two-day official visit focused on strengthening bilateral relations

between

Yerevan and Doha, particularly in the economic realm.

Ituwail A diplomatic delegation headed by Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, including Armenia's Ambassador to Egypt Edward Nalbandian, paid an ofliciat visit to Kuwait and held talks with top Kuwaiti officials on bilateral relations and regional issues. Earlier. the Armenian delegation had visited the United Arab Emirates where they met with the Armenian communities in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharja.

. "Armenia is Russia's strategic partner," said Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov during a brief visit to Yerevan. He met with Prime Minister Armen Darbinian and spoke about arrangements for co-production and assembly of motor vehicles, the delivery of chemical products, the purchase of food items, and greater cooperation in the field ofeducation. He visited the Alexander Pushkin secondary school, which has always sfrressed the teaching ofRussian language and literature.

Unlleil $lalcs US Secretary of State Madeleine Atbright renewed the Clinton Administation's attack on Section 90? of the Freedom SupportAct. In written testimony submitted to the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, she pointed to the progress of human rights, legal and economic reforms in the Caucasus. calling the region "a work in progress." She also called for progress in the Karabakh talks, but failing to point to Azerbaijan's rejection of the proposals as cause for the delay.

Itanalalh

U$[BN

A seminar on "The Nagorno Karabakh Conflict in the Context of Regional security" was held in stepanakert, organized by the Nagorno Karabakh committee of Helsinki rnitiative '92, A host of participants from Europe, Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh made presentations, among tirem Karabakh Foreign Minister N"i* frA"ff"riri*; Mary Kaldor (UK), chairperson of the International Helsinki Citizens' Assembly; Mient Jan Faber (Netherlands), Secretary General of Interchurch Peace Council; Marten Van Haarten (Netherlands), HCA South Caucasus liaison; Karen ohanjanian, the coordinator of the event, and other experts. A number of issues related to the Karabakh conflict and its resolution were discussed, including social, political and security problems. The panicipants agreed that such seminars should be held on continuous basis and with the possible participation of Azeri intellectuals. While in Stepanakert, rhe guests met with President Arkady Ghoukasiah, Defense Minister Samvel Babayan and visited the frontline. As a gesture of good will, President Ghoukasian granted amnesty to Agil Ahmedov, a war criminal sentenced to death, and agreed to release him from prison with another inmate on a unilateral basis.

AIM MARCH 1999

Garnik Nanagoulian, Armenia's former Minister of Industy and Trade, became a member of the Honorary Council of Advisors of the ness

US-Armenia Busiand Investnent Association. USABIA

is a nonprofit trade association with a primaexpand business, trade and invesEnent ties between the US and Armenia. It is supported by the USAID through the Eurasia Foundation and membership dues.

ry mission to

lnmcnian linllncs Vyacheslav Yaralov,

Executive Director of Armenian Airlines has

ARMENIAN AIHLINES

declared that between August 29, 1998 and January l,1999, the company has sustained severe losses estimated at 696,000,000 Dram or roughly US $1,357,000. They ascribed the losses to the Russian financia! crisis. Yaralov explained that the slumping ruble forced the Russian airlines to sell tickets at the sanre old ruble price, without adjusting the tickets to fhe new dollar value

EcputJ lnlerlor Mlnlilon ns

of the ruble, while at the same time,

A little over a year ago, Major General Ardsrun Margarian was shot in the legs and severely wounded. That assault came in January 1998, when new political alignments were developing around and against then President Levon Ter Petrossian, and the attack against Margarian was thought to play a part in that power struggle. On February 9, 1999, in an empty lot 13 miles northeast of Yerevan, the same Margarian, now deputy minister of Interior Affairs and National Security, was found shot dead. Two shots in the chest and the head were the cause of death-both bullets from his personal weapon, a l5-shot Smith and Wesson found in his hand, with seven remaining rounds. This makes Margarian the fifth official of the Kocharian administration to meet a violent death. Mavrik Avetisian, head of the Defense Ministry's Finance Department committed suicide an hour before he was to have turned over records to the Prosecutor General in Juty. That same Prosecutor-General, Henrik Khachatrian, was found dead in August 1998, in his office, with the alleged killer, his deputy Aram Karapetian who had turned the gun on himself. Most recently, Deputy Defense Minister Vahram Khorkhoruni was shot in December 1998. A preliminary investigation revealed that Margarian had gone to visit a relative, accompanied by two members of the interior forces, presumably acting as body guards. When, just 24 hours after the discovery of the body, the office of the prosecutor general hinted that it suspects suicide as the most plausible cause for the death, an uproar ensued. The commanding officers of the armed forces issued a statement expressing their utmost dissatisfaction with that declaratiorv, protested against killings targeting their colleagues and asked for a quick elucidation of the case. Interior Minister Serge Sargsian ruled out the possibility of suicide and declared that he has sought the help of the US FBI and the Russian Interior Ministry to solve the case. Sargsian also said that he would resign if the case remains unsolved. The two bodyguards were arrested and, due to their contradictory accounts of the facts, appear to be the murder suspects. Still, a motive remains unclear. For several years, the victim, Major General Margarian was deputy to Vahan Harutunian, another former official of the interior ministry now in prison. As a result of Harutunian's testimony, the prosecutor general sought and received (after two tries) a lifting of the parliamentary immunity of former Interior Minister Vano Siradeghian to file criminal charges against him and submit him to legal detention.

Armenian Airlines made the necessary dollar adjustments for its own ticket prices. The result was that the company lost many of its customers on the Russia-ArmeniaRussia line. Consequently, the company had

set new prices

correspond

Russian prices on this specific

line. At

the the

beginning of 1999, Armenian Airlines total debt had reached $8,700,000. The company, however, owes nothing to the state budget, since it did make a profit in 1998, and as a national transporter, it is exempted from the Value Added Tax (VAI). Moreover, the

company expects to recover some of last year's expenses from the government, as

VAI

reimbursement. At the same time, with

the Armenian govemment as a guarantor, the company was able to get a US $5 million from ConverseBank, to be repaid within three years. The company's goal is to have no losses in 1999, but profits are not expected either. Armenian Airlines says it must cancel those routes (such as London and Delhi) which are unprofitable. Those familiar with the airline industry say, on the contrary, those routes must be maintained and developed in order to bring a larger market to Armenian Airlines. They say that the profits are not to be expected more because of mismanagement than any other reason. There are even accusations that the Airlines will be unable to hold on to the Airbus leased last surnmer.

$pylng lon ften[niian In early February, Arrnenia's Interior Ministry announced that it had thwarted an Azerbaijani attempt to spy on Armenia. According to the statement, Andrei Yeremian, an Armenian citizen and a former army conscript, had attempted to gather information for the Azerbaijani Special Services, after having returned in 1998 from a visit to Azerbaijan which he had made on his own initiative. He was arrested and ficed criminal charges. The trial established his cooperation with the Azerbaijani Special Services, but he was also recognized to be mentally ill, and was thus referred to a psychological institution. According to the interior ministry, such attempts areperiodicall{ .r*99 9it^T Arrnenia. Yeremian's well-known predecessors were Habibil Babaiev, Roman Abjanitse, Fayik Sultanov and otrers' Back in April, 1997' Azerbaijan's president Haidar Aliev had declared to the Turan News Agency that "Azerbaijan does not conduct any intelligence oPerations in neigtrboring countries." ln February 1998 however, Azerbaijan's National Security Minister told Turan, "I don't possess any information fullrr"r of our Secret Services in Armenia. Our services did not suffer any losses there, where they function rather efficiently."

"on "iring 11

AIM MARCH

1999

IIew Ban[-notcs Starting on March 1,1999, the Central Bank is putting into circulation newly issued 20,000 Dram bills (worth approximately US $40)-the biggest bank-note ever released in Armenia so far. The largest bill

thus far had been the 5,000 Dram. The Bank will also issue

new 1,000 Dram bills. The 20,000 notes will bear painter Martiros Sarian's image on one side, and one of his works on the reverse. The 1,000 Dram note will feature Yeghishe Charents on the front and a representation of old Yerevan on the back. In addition, new 500 and 5,000 Dram bills wilt replace old ones by the end of the year. The o1d 1,000 Drams will

llmilinf MonoIolies

remain in circulation until February 29,2004, after which they will

lose their validity as money. After that deadline they may be exchanged for new ones. The Dram bills have been engraved and printed in the United Kingdom, and they are said to be well-protected against counterfeiting. The Central Bank stressed that printing the new bills will not cause inflation, because the money resorye will not increase. Instead, the new 20,000 notes will merely replace an equivalent value of 5,000 Dram bills, and the new 1,000 Dram bills will replace an equal amoutrt of old bills. Concerns about inflation were heightened since the Dram hasjust slightly recovered from the plunge it took following tle begianing of the financial crisis in Russia.

fiffim

[smmmm li[enalPfl'ty 0l lrmila

The Armenian Democratic Liberal Party of Armenia (ADLA) underwent a uraJor split in February--+he fifth in its short history. On February l, l l of the 15 members of its board signed a petition asking chairman Harutiun Karapetian (teft). who has led the party for the last three years, to resign. The move was explained by the party's lack of activity during the l0 months which followed the election of President Robert Kocharian. The ADLA had supported Kocharian's candidacy in the 1998 elections, and subsequently Karapetian was appointed chief of the State Press and Publishing Departrnent, as well Advisor to the President. As a result of the petition, Kmapetian and three others resigned from the board, causing the dissolution of the executive. The board's new president, Ruben Mirzakhanian, had occupied the same post before Karapetian, and had resigned when the party backed former president lrvon Ter Petrossian in the 1996 presidential elections. These developments were strongly backed by Hagop Avedikian, editor-in-chief of theAag daily newspaper, and 21 local branches of the party which lined up behind the new leadership. But discontent spread among the followers of the former chairman, and this faction convened its own general assembly, as the internal rules of the pafiy a[ow it to do if the sipatures of two-thirds of all rhe members of the party are gathered, and Karapetian was elected its chairman. The timing of the developments is explained by the fact that ttre pafty has to seriously prepare for the upcoming legislative elections scheduled for May 30. Some think that the issue is linked to the question of who will administer the election funds expected tom abroad,

The National Assembly's efforts to limit Armentel's monopoly in telecommunications was temporarily stalled by the Constitutional Court ruling that completed agreements can not be reneged. However, the Court's finding that the law on telecommunications is not in accordance with the Constitution led to an opposition-spon-

sored bill which would give the National Assembly the right to determine telecommunications tariffs. Most of the deputies belonging to the majority Yerkrapah group did not support the bill and it was defeated.

Another bill by the opposition which called for a special parliamentary commission to study the formation of Armentel in 199495, and the circumstances of its sale to the Greek OTE telecommunications company, as well as the identity and role of the obscure Trans World Telecom (TWT). TWT, a company registered in the Channel Islands, has no known phone number in the US, although

for years it was presented as an American company. Many Armenian officials are believed to have made huge illegal profits ftom the obscure transactions which involved TWT. Fearing a political manipulation of the matter, the Armenian government fought the opposition's initiative in tlre pafliament and the

bill was defeated. However, at the prime minister's request, the Frosecutor-

General initiated an investigation on the whole process of privatizing and dismantling Armenia's telecommunications network since 1991. Kocharian also ordered the formation of a special commission to study the Armentel case. Besides representatives of the executive and judicial branches, the commission will include three members

of parliament.

will occupy possible seats in the future parliament. This new sptit is also linked to the problems associated with relations between the party in Armenia and its Diaspora counterparts. In the Diaspora, too, the ADL is split between two factions, one based in Lebanon and the other in Norttr America. Avedikian, a lrbaneseAnnenian who has lived in Armenia since 1989, is the main link between ADL of Armenia and the Diaspora faction based in Noth America. Karapetian says he wishes to remove the ADL of Armenia from dependency on the North American "rich uncles". Even as the Armenian ADL is suffering these new divisions, the and who

Diasporan factions a(e tentatively negotiating a reconsiliation. Avedikian and Karapetian may have found thernselves in opposing camps in this other struggle.

AIM MARCH

1999

ffiwu$rc (

A saga that should neuer haue happened but that

can happen again quite easily. By PARII( ]{AZARIAII and SAIPI HAROUTINIAN GHAZARIAiI; lllusttations by EDll( BALAIA]'|

It tumed out to be a tragedy nearly as great as the one Armen Tigranian wrote 90 years ago. The

l7l

members

the

Armenian State Opera cast and crew who had come to Los Angeles in January for several performances of the Anush opera were left stranded without housing, food or airline tickets. That much is fact. The rest is a tale with a plot as convoluted as Anush itself. The organizer, a thirtysomething 6migr6 from Armenia named Grigor Petrossian, who has at different times worked as musician, taxi driver, interpreter and legal counselor, says he ran out of money because not enough tickets were sold. The saga that should never have happened at all, but one that can happen again

Armen Melkonian, Armenia's Consul General in Los Angeles says they were never consulted, never asked about the identity of such an entity, or the feasibility of such a performance in the area. Petrossian gave the troupe one-way airplane tickets from Yerevan to Los Angeles.

Sako Berberian

Levon Travel

says

Petrossian came to him several times and purchased the tickets in batches. Once a check

bounced. Another time, he showed up at Berberian's home and, although he did not have the money, said, he needed the rest of the tickets. "The performances are slated for next week and if the performers aren't here, they'll kill me," Berberian says Petrossian told him. Berberian gave in and wrote 180 oneway tickets. The company never had roundtrip tickets, although Levonian claims to have seen them prior to their departure. Levon Travel also sold them cargo space for the company's costumes, sets, instruments and other

equipment. The total bill came to $ 105,800 for tickets and cargo transportation. Levon Travel is still owed nearly $50,000 says Garbis Titizian, president of the travel agency. The performers arrived in Los Angeles, stayed in Glendale's Days Inn Hotel for about a week preparing for their first scheduled performance at the large, beautiful 6,000-seat Shrine Auditorium.

"It was an excellent performance,"

said

Consul General Melkonian, who just days earlier had chastised members of the troupe, especially Levonian and his wife, the famed soprano Gohar Gasparian, for not keeping the

quite easily, evolved something like this. Tigran Levonian has been the 360member opera company's executive director for l0 years, and anistic director longer than that. Their repertoire includes Gaetano Donizetti's Poliuto. Verdi's Aida and Othello. Arshak Il, Anush, and several other pieces, all practiced and produced in an unheated

Yet, the performance, which was advertised mainly to the newest immigrants had

opera hall in Yerevan. In the last decade, the

sold under 4,000 tickets according to the orga-

opera has gone to Germany, Spain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, Russia (Bolshoi Theater) several times, and France three times, but never to the US. In the fall, Levonian gladly accepted the invitation of the heretofore unknown Armenian National

nizer, Petrossian.

Cultural and Sports Foundation to perfbrm in Los Angeles. But the organization is not listed in the Los Angeles area phone book. AIM MARCH I999

Consulate informed of their travel plans. "I thought I must have been worried for nothing."

The hall-and not much else-had been paid for. Petrossian had counted on the income from that first show to pay for rental of the halls for future performances, as well as to pay the performers. But, he did not receive

as much as he had counted on. So. he announced to the troupe that he was out of funds and they were on their own.

The story spread via newspapers, television and word of mouth. "There was a spontaneous collective outburst. Everyone wanted to help," says Melkonian. Archbishop Vatche Hovsepian said during the 28 years he has served the community in Los Angeles, he had never seen such a tragedy. The performers had no place to stay. The confirmation of prepayment, which Levonian says he had seen prior to their departure from Yerevan,

turned out to be meaningless. "Petrossian must have taken some of the money back after I saw the confirmation but before we arrived," assumes Levonian. They had nowhere to stay and no money with which to get around, or buy their meals. Friends and strangers offered housing. Caravans of cars drove up to the Days Inn and took away one, two, three performers. Local restaurants offered free meals. A repentant Petrossian presented himself as incompetent and broke, but not criminal. In fact, the Glendale Police Department said no criminal charges were filed. Within a few days, Petrossian was no longer available for interviews. His telephone was disconnected.

some public statements, Levonian

lauded Petrossian for undertaking such

mammoth task.

In other statements,

Levonian was quick to portray Petrossian as the villain and the Opera Company as the victims.

In his interview with AIM one week before his return to Yerevan, Levonian extolled the virtues of the Opera Company and expressed his frustration that this fiasco should not cloud the singers'real achieve-

yan denied any knowledge of the allegations.

in stride. "If the Armenia Fund asks for money, that is

Armenia, Levonian was relieved of his duties as the Opera's executive director. He continues as Artistic Director.

The story was over-almost. Before and since his departure, rumors persist about other ruses. About all of them, Levonian was quite disrnissive. Levonian claimed 171 members of the Opera traveled to Los Angeles. Many in and outside the company said that at least eight and perhaps as many as 30 people came not to perform, but to piggyback on the group,

acquire a visa and a ticket, and stay in the

llring

lmllday lc$tiultles, Saro lhons finush's [noffien Mosi in what should lnue heen a phyIul tu$$lG. Moel, humiliated, Iills Sano. lllhGn rhe heans ol

$mo's demise, lnush ium[s oll a Gllll t0 mr orm dGm. US. A $6,000 figure was frequently mentioned as the fee to develop the official

quickly send $5,000 to Yerevan in order for her relative's name to remain on the list of travelers. Others who had not gotten the money in time had seen their papers torn up and their places given to others. One family in Los Angeles who had applied to Petrossian asking if their relative could be added ro the list of "performers" coming with Anush, had been told by Petrossian that "It's too late.'l Levonian and Petrossian deny this accusation, as do Armenia's Culture Ministry representatives. Nevertheless, one frustrated community leader said, "Someone in the culture ministry must have known what is going

$80,00G-provided by individuals and organizations. Return tickets were purchased-

organization, the Minister of Culture, Roland Sharoyan, did not answer AIM's questions. In other public statements however, Sharo-

not from Levon Travel. When he returned to

half a million dollars. This

means 20.000

tickets at $25 would barely cover expenses. Why a businessman would undertake such a venture is a serious question.

on." While the troupe is a state-sponsored

the hall, netted

Ministry offi-

lnush lalls in loue uulth $ano.

over

passed around

said that three Culture

cials were part of the group, but they retumed to Armenia as soon as Petrossian reneged on his promises and the scandal broke. In the midst of all this, the Culture Ministry issued a statement saying that all excursions by state artists would have to have the approval of the Culture Ministry, in order to prevent similar fiascoes. How the ministry will be able to prevent future disasters when it could not see this one coming, they did not explain. A bare-bones budget based on 180 persons staying 14 days and performing four times, puts the expenses at approximately

Anush, the 0pcna

papers necessary to represent opera membership. One woman talked about being asked to

called national assistance; ifwe ask, suddenly we become Honorable Beggars," he asked in reference to complaints about the quicklyarranged telethon which, together with a hat

the Consulate in Los Angeles, and lrvonian

himseli

ments and successes. Levonian actually appeared to be taking the fiasco

The head of his press office told AIM "any entity can show independent initiative and plan similar programs internationally. In such cases, the Ministry bears no responsibility." Yet, those close to the Los Angeles office of

AIM MARCH 1999

But the greater problem remains: The size of the Anush tragedy is what drew attention to it. Yet, on any given weekend there are at least two, and sometimes more, smaller companies of performers who have been brought over under questionable conditions. The most glaring misuse-and abuseof artists happened a couple of years ago. According to the Glendale Police Department, charges were even pressed for assault, fraud and child abuse against a producer who brought a ffoupe of singing, dancing children named "Hrashk" and kept them in Los

Angeles for months-some still in diapers and others against their will-to sing on stage and ask "the sweet aunts and uncles in the audience for chocolate." "So long as the rhetoric about culture

runs high, but the number of legitimate organizers remains low, these ragedies will continue to be written," says one exhausted community leader. r

COVER

ol an Armenian historian z l I

;I I

By SALPI HARllUItl'llAl{ GHAZ[RlAll

T\ I f

oroth6e Forma is a soft-spoken journafist of the European tiadition. In -l,,-J the Netherlands, where media channels are clearly labeled as belonging to specific religious, ethnic or political groups, she

works with a small broadcasting organization which supports humanist principles: Taking responsibility, having the right to make your own choices without being dictated by a religion, supporting other people in

their lives, respecting others.

am not

member of the Humanist League but I feel comfortable with their ideas," she says. It was natural, then, in a country with a large T[rkish minority, for her to find her way to social and political issues which involved Armenians and Kurds. Hearing Armenian Historian Vahakn Dadrian speak, she found in the topic of the Armenian Genocide a subject ready to be looked at "with a different approach that may cause people to think." A short documentary film ensued. A Wall of Silence broke new ground. Not out to prove the genocide, it assumes the historical

realities and looks at the approaches of two scholars. Vahakn Dadrian and Taner Akgam, one an Armenian, the other a Turk, don't just study the subject of Genocide, they live with it. The passion and outlook of two men of different backgrounds, different generations and different fields of study is carefully documented in a film that has been shown in Europe, and will next month make its North American debut. The ongoing efforts of the filmmakers and the historians are being utilized by the Armenian govemment, too-and not just for historic reasons. At the Lisbon Summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in

Europe

1996, then President Levon Ter

Petrossian invoked the memory of the 1915 Genocide to explain the fundamental necessity of guaranteeing the security of the people of Karabakh today.

After his election, President Robert Kocharian stressed the commitment of his

security concerns regarding its neighbors Turkey and Azerbaijan. Vartan Oskanian, Armenia's Foreign Minister, explains the government's strategy in trying to break the intemational wall of silence. "The recognition of the Genocide is to be pursued in three directions: the first is to work with other states to secure their recognition of the Genocide; the second is recognition by Turkey. The third is to keep the issue alive in international tribunals and organizations by presenting the issue in the general context ofhuman rights, and specifically in the context of recognition of the

genocide

international tribunals,"

explains Oskanian.

Since Armenia's independence, the Argentinian Senate, the Russian Duma, the Canadian House of Commons, the

Greek Parliament, the US House of Representatives, the Lebanese Chamber of Deputies, the Belgian Senate, the

administration to seek international recogni-

Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly

tion of the Genocide-both to please the

and the French National Assembly have

Armenian Diaspora which is populated by Genocide survivors and their descendants,

recognition

and as a way of underscoring Armenia's

of "ethnic cleansing."

AIM MARCH

1999

issued resolutions and declarations in

of the century's first

instance

I lunlislr Uoice

research, or returning to Germany, where

from Turkish and German sources, and I

Forty-five-year-old Thner Akqam is the first Ttrrkish historian to speak plainIy about the horrors perpetrated against the Armenians in Thrkey, during the first World War, and refer to them as genoci-

was possible to make a living carrying out my scholarly work.

concluded that he had perfect knowledge of both languages. I then sent him the manuscript of my project in German, together

Where do you work now?

with a letter in Turkish. In a surprisingly short time, I got an answer from him-in

dal acts. The resident of Germany has appeared publicly in forums from Europe to Armenia, calling for the political recognition of this historic event, not

just on moral grounds, but as a critical

tool in understanding the

modern

Itrrkish state and the challenges it faces. On the eve of his first North American appearances, Akgam speaks about his Iife, his scholarship and his politics.

AIM: You live in Germany. Did you

leave

Thrkey willingly?

Akgam:

"left" Turkey twice-both

Since 1994, I have been employed as a researcher at the Hamburger Stiftung zur Foerderung von Wissenschaft und Kultur. For the time being I am preoccupied with my Habilitationsarbeit- (this is an extra scholarly paper PhD's are obliged to present if they want to become a professor), which is about the years and myths ofthe foundation ofthe Turkish Republic (1920-1930).

When did you first decide to study the Armenian Genocide? In 1988, when I was working at the Hamburger Institut fuer Sozialforschung on the history of violence and torture I studied extensively the phenomenon of violence in

What were the reactions in Thrkey to your first public comments about the Armenian Genocide?

If we leave aside the barrage of abuse by some extremely nationalistic newspapers

and journals,

was compulsory. The first time was at the end of 1978. after I fled from prison. In Ankara, I had been one of times

Turkish. He said that he had left Turkey 40 years ago and this was his ffust exchange of letters in Turkish since then. He was very moved, he said, since he had waited all these 40 years, for a Turkish scholar to come and work objectively on this topic. I suggested to my institute to engage him as an advisor on my project. He is for me, as we say it in Turkish, a hoga, a wise teacher.

was

ignored completely by

of the student

the academic elite. It is as such a study had never been published, although

movement. We basically fought for democratic rights. I was the editor of a bi-monthly newspaper. On March 10, 1976, I was

through four printings in a rather short time. But when I visit Turkey, I've

arrested.

I fled on March 12, 1977, with some friends by digging a tunnel and left the country in 1978. Until 1994 I

observed that my

Then, thanks to a partial amnesty, I was able to return to Turkey.

tion is considered a phe-

But couldn't carry out the projects I was thinking of. And finally I had to leave Turkey in 1997 again, because was

Are there other Taner Akgams in T[rkeyeven if they choose to

the leaders

my book has

scholarly known and

circles-is

its

publica-

nomenon.

for me to stay there. At

book-

although not reviewed in

lived in Germany.

impossible

gone

this

moment, I can enter and leave the country without any restriction.

Why did you choose to live in Germany? When I returned to Turkey in 1994, I was planning to open a center for archives and documentation. I was thinking of researching the transition from the multiethnic Ottoman Empire to the nation states which resulted from the demise of the Ottoman Empire and also how people lived during this period. This plan failed due to the direct and indirect obstacles placed probably by official bodies. Nothing prevented me from staying in Turkey and living there. I simply had to decide whether I should stay in Turkey and earn my living doing some ordinary work, forgetting

the 19th century, and there I came across the conflicts of nationalities and the pogromlike massacres to which Armenians were subjected. Pretty soon, I realized that the violence against non-Moslems and especially the Genocide against the Armenians had played a formative role in the development of Turkish national identity. So in 1991, I began to devote myself to this theme.

How would you describe the beginning and the nature of your relationship with Vahakn Dadrian? After I decided to work on that topic, I researched the literature in the field and soon came across Dadrian's work. With my poor English, I tried to understand his articles and found that he quoted extensively

AIM MARCH 1999

remain anonymous? There are, of course, other intellectuals in Turkey who know the realities of the Armenian Genocide and they refer to it peripherally from time to time in their work. In a way, I am "the tip of the iceberg."

You have said that lhrks must "remembeC'a reality that has been treated as a non.event for 80 years. Is this possibly easier for someone of your generationsomeone who was not alive in 1915? Of course. To clarify my point, let me remind you of an oft-quoted and much crit-

icized statement

by former

German

Chancellor Helmut Kohl. He talked in the context of the Nazi past of Germans of the "Gnade der spaeten Geburt" (Benefit of Those Late Born). I think his thesis fits

COVER STORY mony at Ejmiatsin and the fact that Kourken Sarkissian, of the Zoryan Institute, and I together lit a candle in memory of a Turkish pilgrim, Haci Halil, who had saved Sarkissian's family.

Are you aware that you are serving

an example? This plays only a very minor role in my scholarship. I think that I'm doing something quite ordinary and normal.

Do you have security concerns either from Tlrrks who might see you as traitor or from Armenians who might see you as the accessible embodiment of the perpetrators? You left out informer and spy for the Germans and the CIA! I am very well

aware of the fact that thinking outside the usual categories and the usual friend-foe approach has its price for my political life. That is why it didn't bother me when at the case. In other words, I don't think that new generations are guilty, and they shouldn't be burdened

quite well to the Turkish

with the crimes of their fathers. But there exists a moral and political obligation to face the historical realities, to integrate them into the present and draw the necessary consequences in order to live together. In my

opinion, the new generation can have

much better look at the past.

You have said:

discussion

the

Armenian Genocide could reveal that this Tirrkish state was not a result of a war fought against the imperial powers, but on the contrary, a product ofthe war against the Greek and Armenian minorities. Can it be said that the Tlrrkish state of the late 20th century depends on the suppression of its Kurdish minority? A very popular current view in Turkey is that the incidents in Anatolia in the years

structures

society.

Its founding

was

only achieved by the construction of

subordinating super-identity. Turkey with its ethnic, cultural and religious structure is very much a mosaic. But the Turkish state is founded on the negation of this mosaic and the supremacy of one ethnic, cultural and religious group-Turk, sunni, hanafi. In this respect, the things happening now in Turkey can be compared with the events at the beginning of the 20th century. At that time, the Ottoman elite tried to keep all ethnic groups together with a particular super-identity (Ottomanism-Islamism), but this was just a sub-

identity. When this proved to be nonworkable, the non-Moslem ethnic groups were taken out of Anatolia; the genocide of the Armenians was the peak of that cleansing. We now see a second wave of nationalization in Anatolia, this time based not upon religious but ethnic identity.

1919-1923 were part of a Civil War among

the different ethnic groups. Therefore, local research into the Armenian Genocide can only serve to supplement this thesis.

However,

I don't think that it

appropriate to call the Kurdish people in Turkey a minority; first, because they are a too big a group to be a minority, and second the phrase "minority" is used in Turkey exclusively for Christian ethnic groups.

The major problem of the Turkish It is a state which is not compatible with the state is not that it oppresses the Kurds.

You were in Yerevan in 1995 and participated in the International Conference on Problems of Genocide organized by the National Commission on the 80th

Anniversary Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide and the Zoryan Institute. You visited the Tsitsernakaberd Martyrs Memorial Monument. What were your feelings? It was quite a frightening and unforgettable moment to pass by the hundreds of thousands of murdered people. But more moving was the the religious cere-

AIM MARCH I999

beginning of my work on the Armenian Question, a much-respected scholar said to me: "Don't work on this subject, Taner, because if you are objective, you won't be good to anyone and you'll only make an enemy of yourself." In 1996, quite a number of my acquaintances got a letter signed by a "Group of Turkish Intellectuals" together with the Turkish translation of my German articles. In that letter they called me "an Armenian agent", "enemy of the Turks," "traitor" and were advised not to cooperate with me. As a result, all doors including those of the "leftist, progressive" universities were closed to me. That is why I believe those persons in Turkey who directly or indirectly work on the subject of Genocide and have had no trouble thus far must explain why and how this is so. I must confess that as a consequence of the heavy attacks from all sides, I got frightened and lost interest in working on this subject. I am an ordinary person with the ordinary challenges of making a living. I can't be on the lookout for attacks nor do I have the power to deal with them. So I'm constantly preoccupied with my moral concerns, my obligations and my fears. Still, in my present work on the

"Foundation Myths

of the

Turkish

Republic" the genocide is one of the substantial parts. Translated from German by Rafft Kantian

COVER STORY

[

waters anyway. We started

0utclr Filmmalen

filming

December.

Dorothee Forma, 4/.ris alilm produc-

er with the Humanist Broadcast Foundation (HUMAN) in the Nether-lands.

What was your purpose in making the film?

wanted

to show a new

perspective

Wall of Silence follows other films she has

with regard to all parties involved in

produced on artists in Thrkey, on the political situation in Ingushetia, and on the sec-

wanted

ond track negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. A Wall of Silence has been shown on Dutch TV and very favorably received. She was born and raised in

the Netherlands.

AIM: What is your affiliation with the Humanist Broadcast Foundation?

Forma: In the Netherlands, we have

complicated public broadcasting system. There are Protestant, Catholic, Moslem, Jewish and other organizations all of whom broadcast on the national channels. The one I work for used to be an integral part ofthe Dutch Humanist League and we still work with the humanist principles in the back of

our head-taking responsibility, the right to make your own choices without being dictated by a religion, supporting other people in their lives, respecting others-things like that. We make programs for a broad audience with an accent on documentaries.

How did you find Vahakn Dadrian and Taner Akgam? I met Dadrian

in 1992 in Amsterdam. He was here to give a lecture during an Armenian commemoration and I interviewed him for a Dutch magazine. I had never heard of him before, but his biography seemed interesting. After the interview he told me that he was going to meet a certain Taner AkEam in Germany-a Turkand he was very excited about it.

How was A Wall of Silence funded? The film was shot in Turkey, Germany,

Belgium and the US. Therefore it was more expensive than usual. I received funding both from HUMAN and-surprisingly, since the Armenian Question is not well known in the Netherlands-from the National Committee for Intdrnational Cooperation and Sustainable Development.

How many years in research

and

production on this film? The actual production started in

June

'96 although the subject had been in my mind for years. Even before funding, I visited Taner Akgam in Hamburg to test the

Professor Dadrian shows us the past, but he also makes us aware that historical events have implications for

what occurs even generations later. Today, for example, we witness the collapse of empire, the rise of ethnic nation-

the

alism, and civil and regional wars that

'Armenian Question'. Maybe in my heart, I

contribute to, and mask, genocide. At the same time, international law is neutralized both by the reluctance of states

to show the Turks especially

because I was closer to them. I know Turkey well and have many Turkish friends. I knew

only

few Armenians.

Did the participants have reservations about participating? Dadrian wanted some time to think whether he was ready to tell his personal story. I understood his hesitation very well and I feel very honored that both he and Taner Akgam trusted me. Naturally they were in control of their own answers but they had no idea about how I was going to edit them and how the combination would work out.

Ihe $cholarship ol ar firlnerian llistonian By B(IGER SITIIIH

In the 1970's, Yahakn N. Dadrian helped to create the field of the Comparative Study of Genocide, bringing to his work an interdisciplinary perspective that joined sociology, history and law, enriched further by his ability to draw upon half a dozen languages. He

foremost scholar of the Armenian Genocide, having devoted more than 30 years to research on virtually every aspect of it. The culmination of his work is the book published in 1995 on The History of

is also the

the Armenian Genocide,It is a rare work,

over 20 years in the making, that is at once fascinating to read, comprehensive in scope, and unsurpassed in the documentation of the events it describes. Its authority is enhanced further by the fact that Dadrian relies heavily upon Ottoman-Tlrrkish documents and the

military and political dispatches of Thrkey's World War I allies, Germany and Austria. This is not the only way to

secret

counter 80 years of Tirrkish claims that the Genocide never occurred, but it is perhaps the most decisive.

AIM MARCH I999

to prevent genocide through humanitar-

ian intervention and to hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes. There have been numerous genocides since 1945, but only now is there an attempt to

convene

a court to

exact justice.

Unfortunately, the efforts at justice are being subverted by narrow conceptions

of national interest. But as Dadrian makes clear, the whole pattern of nationalism, ethnic conflict and war, reluctance of states to intervene, and the

failure to punish is not new, but rather part and parcel of national and interna-

tional experience in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Nowhere, he points out, can we see this better than in the history of the Armenian genocide.

For Dadrian, there are three main lessons that can be drawn from the Armenian experience in terms of the prevention and punishment of genocide. The first lesson is that not punishing those who commit genocides sends a strong signal to other would-be perpetrators that they can commit genocide and get away with it. Next, there is the lesson about the conditions under which punishment can take place. It must not be left to the nation within which the crime has been perpetrated. But if the case is to be tried by an international

tri-

bunal, the victors must remain united and not pursue individual national advantage at the expense of justice. In the aftermath of World War I, the victors went after their own interests, and Tlrrkey knew how to manipulate such ambitions. The third lesson concerns

humanitarian intervention. Yet, to threaten to intervene to stop the violence and then not carry through, only makes the victims more vulnerable. Over the course of a lifetime of writgenocide, Dadrian has helped to create the field of

ing about the Armenian

genocide studies, has deepened our understanding, and has offered, from his knowledge of the past, warnings to the present. In the deepest sense, howev29

COVER

STORY

er, what he has done is to pay respect to the 1.5 million Armenians who perished in the first genocide of the twentieth cen-

&ii.l

tury. RogerW Smith is Prfessor ofGovenunent

the Colle ge of William and Marl^,

Wlliamsbury,Vryinia

AIM: How did you become involved in A Wall of Silence?

Dadrian: Dorothee Forma contacted me to indicate that she was thinking of producing

a documentary on the Armenian

Genocide with a focus on my work. She had interviewed me several years earlier when I was invited to deliver a lecture at the University of Amsterdam. In the course of this endeavor, we found it would be necessary and useful to include Taner Akgam in the documentary to make it more balanced and authentic.

= E !

q z

How did you meet Taner Akgam? Did you not have reservations about helping him in his research? Akgam approached me first. I found him a very sincere young scholar, haunted by the terrible burdens of his nation's legacy, especially with respect to the l9th cen-

tury Armenian

massacres and the World War I Genocide. As a leftist intellectual he had been persecuted by the authorities of the modern Turkish Republic and the pain and suffering associated with that cruel persecution had infused him with an inordinate degree of sensitivity towards the Armenians. He was not content with mere commiseration and, therefore, had resolved to delve into the root causes of the Turko-

Armenian conflict through research and scholarship. Hence, I not only had no reservations but went out of my way to help him. I flooded him with a stream of documents he requested in the course of several years. He never ceased to express his gratitude and amazement, especially since I had secured these documents through painstaking labor and cost in the official archives in Europe, the US and Jerusalem over a period of 30 years. He repeatedly told me that no other scholar would so easily share the fruits of his painstaking labor with others before publishing them.

What was the substance of the discussions you had with your academic colleagues in Armenia during your recent trip?

My 30

discussions revolved around the

need

to give impetus to

Armenian

Genocide studies in Armenia proper-and at the Artsakh State University-by a new

concentric effort. I gave lectures at the Academy, at Yerevan State University, at Hrachia Ajarian University, at the Genocide Museum, and at Artsakh State University in Stepanakert. In all these places I was besieged with repeated requests to come to

Armenia and deliver lectures, hold seminars and by the same token, train young students. There is no major Center for the Study of the Armenian Genocide, nor is there a substantial school of thought generating weighty literature on the subject. The

Genocide Museum, being essentially a depository of documents and artifacts, has only a marginal role in research and scholarship. In addition to the need for highly motivated young scholars immersed in the details of modern Armenian history, there is an acute need for similar young scholars fluent in German, English, French, but above all Turkish and Ottoman Turkish. The comprehensive and thorough study of the Armenian Genocide not only requires, but mandates, such composite mastery of history and linguistics. I was struck by the near-total absence of students willing to learn, and teachers able to teach Ottoman Turkish. The existing, pre-independence scat-

tered works on this topic are not only reflective of communist dogma and soviet political doctrine, but are essentially AIM MARCH I999

descriptive in terms of the general patterns

of the

organized mass murder

of the

Armenians. With few exceptions, they rely on sources in Russian and Armenian. In other words, these fine works emanating

of Sciences and the Yerevan State University, are disjointed, random, minimal efforts. from the Academy

What has been the response to your books?

The extent of the reception in the US, Canada and England of my major work,The

History of the Armenian

Genocide, (Berghahn Books, 1996) is best gauged by the fact that it is now in its fourth edition. Furthermore, its French version, published by Stock, a major publishing house in Paris, is sold out. The Russian translation is complete and will appear this year in Moscow. Likewise, its translation in Arabic is also completed and may be published at the end of this year in Damascus. The Italian translation has just begun in Venice. As to my German Responsibility in the Armenian Genocide (Blue Crane Books, 1996) it is now being translated into German. Only when it is published in Germany in German will it be possible to gauge overall German reaction. My next book project involves a comprehensive study of the 1909 Adana massacre for which purpose I have amassed and marshaled an enormous amount of primary sources in Turkish, Armenian, German, English and French.

I'.jri.ir':.i-...

GLEANING UP

Amenia Will Elect a Neul Nationa! Assemily in May By A. H. AIEXANIIRIAI.I resident Robert Kocharian wasted no time in setting May 30 as the date for new parliamentary elections in Armenia, signing a decree on February 18,

the day the new electoral law came into force. The vote of the National Assembly (as Armenia's parliament is called) by 88 to five with five abstentions, in favor of the new electoral law was controversial-only

deputies

of the Yerkrapah and Reform

groupings backed the new electoral system.

The legislation sets out the electoral procedures for presidential, parliamentary and local govemment elections. Previously, these were governed by separate laws. It provides for a "mixed" electoral system, made up partly of majority and proportional voting systems. All citizens aged l8

and over have the right to vote, those aged

at least 25 may be a candidate for

the and

National Assembly. Central, regional district electoral committees are formed to supervise the elections including the counting of votes.

The Central Electoral Committee fbr will be formed on a 5+5+3 formula. Five members will represent political parties from the outgoing National Assembly, five will come from parties outside the assembly which can first gather a minimum of 30,000 signatures of the elections in May

support, and three government.

will be appointed by

the

The new National Assembly will be of 131 parliamentarians. Of

composed

these, 56 will be elected by proportional representation. They will be candidates on

electoral lists formed

by political parties

AIM MARCH 1999

and backed with petitions signed by at least 30,000 voters. Each party putting forward a list must deposit 2.5 million Drams (roughly US $5000) and, on each list, at least five percent of the names should be women. If a party gets, for example, 15 percent of the nationwide vote, then the first 15 percent of candidates on its list are elected. Another 75 deputies will be elected by majority vote. A candidate must have signatures of support from at least 2,000 people in each of 75 electoral districts and deposit 100,000 Drams (roughly US $200). Each district will elect one deputy. Although in the pastjudges, officials of certain government departments. ministers and heads of regional bodies could all be members of parliament, as well. They are now all barred from standing as candidates in the majority vote districts. But ministers

N and local government officials can

ATI

included on the party lists for seats distributed by proportional vote. Preparation of a new electoral law has been on the assembly's agenda for two years and no fewer than six versions have been drafted since February 1997 by, among others, former deputy speaker of Parliament and Armenian National Movement member Ara Sahakian, the Communist Party, and

Paruir Hairikian's

Self-Determination Union. Each was essentially a compromise pulling together elements of all the others. The Yerkapah faction, the majority group in the current National Assembly, entered debate with its own version of the Electoral Law. This was first put to the vote

only on November 16 and was finally accepted as the Electoral law ofthe country three months later.

The principal area of contention has been the division of seats awarded by majority and proportional voting. Most parties wanted more seats allocated by party list but Yerkrapah insisted that the majority should be contested in single districts.

The failure to secure agreement on electoral reform was a key reason why,

following the election

President

Kocharian, the current National Assembly was not quickly dissolved. Although widely seen as unrepresentative ofpolitical opinion in the country, the Electoral Law had to be completed before the Assembly's term could be brought to a close. Free, fair, and transparent elections are essential not only for Armenian democracy but for its chances

membership

ARh4EI{

Realtv J

Council of Europe. Armenia is already falling behind in this respect-Georgia's membership was accepted in January. However good the law, the question

fairness

in the

application

electoral procedures will be just as crucial in May. As President Kocharian observed: "One may have a very good electoral law but organize bad elections."

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AIM MARCH 1999

NATll MANEUUERS llAI0 and US Bases to Amenia's East and West? Azerbaiian is Hopetul By MAITHEW IOBAIIIAI{

A zerbaiian may have been floating test A uurro-, *h"n its leaders started

I \talking about their need for a US or NATO military base there. The balloons quickly burst, but not before they had been observed and examined

by many of the world's leaders and pundits. This discourse, and not a military base, may have been precisely what Azerbaijan was seeking all along, according to some observers.

"They raised the totally improbable NATO card to get attention," says Ross Vartian, the executive director of the

secret, Azerbaijan has seized upon this arms transfer as a public relations opportunity. Russian bases in Armenia began receiving deliveries of the weapons, without any fanfare, in December. But in January, while Azerbaijan's President Heidar Aliev was in a

hospital in Turkey, his chief foreign affairs advisor was in Azerbaijan floating those test balloons.

Senior Presidential Advisor Vafa Guluzade said Turkish and American bases "would be welcomed," according to a report that received prominent coverage in the New York Times. Azerbaijan needed a base to

from the Russians and

Armenian Assembly of America.

help protect

This was Azerbaijan's way of saying "look what's happening

Armenians, according to Guluzade.

in Armenia," he says. What's happening in Armenia is the delivery from Russia of 5-300

anti-aircraft missiles

try's leading political parties. Aliev

Support for an American base from US leaders never materialized and the Pentagon swiftly denied any interest. Elsewhere: Iran condemned the idea, a Russian general said Azerbaijan could join its defense system, too, if it wanted to, and Turkey equivocated. In the US, the Journal of Commerce

a tepid endorsement. A US Congressman cautioned the House of

published

Representatives to be wary. And news of the

Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict was again in the papers.

All of this amounted to a thorough public airing of not merely the beguiling Azeri suggestion. but also a review of the politics that prompted it.

"Azerbaijan thinks that

Russia is manipulating Armenia," according to Vartian of the Armenian

and

MIG 29 jet fighters. The

are replacing aging defense systems at

weapons Russian

military

Assembly. This is "one of the messages" that was intended by the talk of military bases.

bases

in Armenia. Leaders in Azerbaijan located

have cried

Elin

Another message, says Vartian, is that Azerbaijan

foul.

shares the

Suleymanov,

the press officer at

the

Azerbaijani Embassy in Washington, DC, said in

an interview with AIM

last month that

this

weaponry threatens political stability in the Caucasus. He says he'd like to see Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan "act like normal neighbors." The Russians and Armenians reply that the armaments are permitted under international treaty, and that they are only etTective as part of a defensive system. They also say they've never made any secret of the weapons.

"Whatever arrives in Armenia is openly

declared," says

Lilit

Toutkhalian, First

Political Secretary at the Armenian Embassy in Washington, DC. Permitted or not, open or

kept

quiet.

His comments were downplayed by Aliev, who said that foreign military bases might only aggravate the region's problems. But Aliev did not rule out the possibility of someday allowing a US, NAIO, or Turkish base, and he didn't stifle the continued talk from his countrymen about introducing foreign military bases. In the following weeks, several Azeri leaders expressed support for fbreign or NAIO bases. The most prominent proponents were Defense Minister Safar Abiev, Foreign Minister Tofig Ztifagarov, and Ihtiar Shirinov, the chairman of one of the coun-

AIM MARCH I999

political and

eco-

nomic ideologies of the West. "This is part of their proWestern gambit," he adds. "They have a veneer of being pro-Western, but there's no substance." The talk of military bases

was an attempt to show the West that Azerbaijan is aligned with them, he says. By contrast, according to Vartian, Armenia is genuinely Western-thinking.

"Armenia aggressively participates in Partnership for Peace [a NAIO program]. Armenia demonstrates that just because they have a relationship with Russia they don't have to avoid NAIO and the US." The largest message, however, may be that Armenia is heavily arming itself and participating in an arms race. The Armenians deny this.

3 E

Azerbaijan is armed twice as heavily as to the Armenian Embassy's Toutkhalian. Arms imports to Azerbaijan from 1992 to 1996 were also roughly double that of Armenian imports. A

marginalize Armenia for the medium term. However, to the extent that Armenia is able to escape the noose that Azerbaijan has put around its neck, Azerbaijan's foreign policy is defeated."

Disarmament

Vartian, means weakening its armed forces and its defensive capability, preventing its economy from growing, and portraying Armenia in a poor light. Regarding Armenia's portrayal in the media, "People with a casual interest probably get the wrong spin on the events," says Vartian. Are events like the spin on a military base for Azerbaijan a public relations coup for the Azeris? "Sure," says Toutkhalian. When Azerbaijan complains about the assistance Armenia receives from Russia, the Armenians mention that Azerbaijan benefits greatly from Turkey, for example. But Armenia generally doesn't take the initiative. Toutkhalian says this is because Armenia does not need to be aggressive.

Armenia, according

report

by the US Arms Control and Agency estimates that

Azerbaijan imported arms valued at $115

million during this five year period. Armenian arms imports were valued at $60 million for the same period. "The Azerbaijanis sometimes try to por-

tray

themselves

as victims,"

says

Toutkhalian. She says that the weaponry acquired by is anti-aircraft, and therefore defensive. Azerbaijan should therefore not be concemed if it has no offensive

Armenia from Russia

designs against Armenia, she says. will not accuse

Toutkhalian, a diplomat,

Azerbaijan of hostile intent. But the implication is clear.

Suleymanov, the

Azeri

spokesman,

insists this is not true.

"We don't want to use [weapons] against Armenia," he says. And "we don't have anything against Russia. We are concerned about Russia trying to increase its influence in the area."

For the

Russians, however, the

Caucasus is their backyard. They treat the southern rim of the Caucasus as the US has always treated the Caribbean, says Vartian. "It's like the Russian version of the Monroe

Marginalizing Armenia, according to

Azerbaijan's complaints about Russian

MIG

example,

the

29s and the 5-300 missiles,

for

unheeded because

the

Americans know that "it's all within the lim-

its of the existing Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty," she says. "Whatever is done with Russia is done

in absolute transparency," she says. "lt's even put on the internet."

Armenia has warm relations with well as with Iran and the US.

Doctrine."

Russia. as

Russia may not have the resources, but it can try to maintain its key spheres of influence. The southern Caucasus is one ofthese spheres. This Russian Monroe Doctrine contradicts Azerbaijan's own national inter-

Frustration over this may have prompted Guluzade, the Azeri presidential advisor, to speak offhandedly about supporting a US

military base, according

Toutkhalian.

Vartian agrees.

The call for a US base was done for

ests.

Vartian says that the Azeris are also concerned, without justification, about a

shock value, he says.

military threat from Armenia,

seriously."

however. "Armenia has never attacked Azerbaijan.

"Azerbaijan has taken

a position

don't think anyone here took it

AIM MARCH I999

PIPELINE DNEAM$ Georgia Waits lor the

llil to Flow

By MATIHEW IORANIA]I

A, ne might think that Azerbaijan. sibling I fc.org[ and Turkey are pundits \-, rivals, the way the political in the West are carrying on. Clinton administration officials, and others, keep talking about bonding. These nations will bond, they say, if an oil pipeline is built across each of their countries. Their goal is to get a pipeline built along an east-west axis, running from Azerbaijan, across Georgia, to Turkey's Mediterranean coast.

Lurking just beneath the surface of their public statements-and sometimes not lurking at all, but dancing a jig-is the motivation to shun Turkey's regional nemeses, Russia and lran, and to orient this part of the Caucasus toward the West. Supporting the American and British oil companies, whose investments depend upon Western outlets, is merely an ancillary benefit.

There's also talk that the pipeline will bring stability to the Republic of Georgia, and it's not just from politicians in the West. Georgia's political and business leaders oil pipeline will bring notjustjobs and riches, but also a degree of are also saying that an

political stability that

will help keep

the

country from breaking aPart. Georgia, which shares its southern border with Armenia, is a transit route for each of the planned pipelines that will carry

Caspian Sea

oil from Azerbaijan to

the

West.

Whether a pipeline will indeed lead to greater stability in Georgia is an issue of interest throughout the region. Political stability in Georgia would certainly be welcome to Armenia, which needs a reliable land route to the West. For the past several yeam, the Georgian route has been about as reliable as the Russian ruble. They're both frequently fine, but one never knows. As recently as October 19, Georgia suppressed a military coup. A public opinion poll five days later showed that 47 pel* cent of Georgians believed the mutiny was an attempt to sabotage the pipeline project.

An equal number believed this

supposed sabotage effort was backed by foreigners. Separatists in western Georgia have kept the nation on the brink of fragmenta-

tion for several years. The Black

Sea

province of Abkhazia already conducts its

affairs as an independent nation,

and

Georgia has been powerless to prevent it. The planned pipelines would traverse western Georgia, just south of Abkhazia. And just last year, the motorcade of Georgia's president, Eduard Shevardnadze, was ambushed on a weekday morning in downtown Tbilisi. Shevardnadze, who was

an armored limousine with flat-proof

tires, survived the rocket and artillery attack.

Russia, Georgia, Armenia or Iran. The northernmost route through Russia, and the southernmost route in Iran, are disfavored by the US and Turkey, but not by the major oil companies, for political reasons: the pipeline would enhance the regional influence of Russia and Iran. The middle route, through Armenia, and then on to Turkey, is also out of the question. The leading reason: Karabakh. So it's Georgia by default.

Georgia's short route, which the oil companies would tolerate as an alternative

to using the Persian Gulf, would carry oil directly to Georgia's Black Sea coast. From there, the oil would be loaded on tankers

that would

eventuallY reach the of the Bosphorous

Mediterranean by way

Georgia Wlns hy Delaull So how did Georgia end up with the pipeline prize?

Effortlessly. Here's the short version: The influential people who want Azerbaijan's oil live in the West. In order to get the oil, it has to be piped out to ports either in the Meditenanean, the Persian Gulf, or the Black Sea. To do this requires transit across either

AIM MARCH

1999

Straits.

Turkey would eam no transit fees with route. A 63-year-old international treaty, the Montreaux Convention, guarantees free passage through the Bosporus to all nations. Turkey instead premises its opposition to this route, and the lawfulness

this

of its restrictions, on environmental concerns for the waterway. Georgia's long route, which is favored by the US and Turkey, would cross Georgia

and then continue across Kurdish-populated

eastern Turkey,

to the Turkish port of

Turkey would earn lucrative transit with this route. Turkey would also gain the political power to influence any nation that uses the pipeline, whether as a consumer of oil or as a producer. There's even a third plan----call it the cheap plan-which would settle for the expansion of an existing pipeline that terminates at the Black Sea port of Supsa in fees

Pick plan

l, 2 or 3. It's Georgia,

Georgia, Georgia. Pick plan l, 2 or

These comments are

not

unusual.

Listen to other government officials in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, and it becomes

Ceyhan, on the Mediterranean Sea.

Georgia.

clear that this pipeline, which today is barely more than a dotted line on a map, has already boosted national confi dence.

At the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations, for example, department leaders boasted that Georgia would be invited, before the end of 1999, to become

a full

nations

of the World Trade (WTO). Only two other

member

Organization

of the former Soviet Union

are

members, and they were invited only last October.

3. It's peace,

prosperi-

ty, and political stability, say

many

Georgians.

The pipeline through Turkey would form part the Clinton administration's dream of an energy transportation corridor to the

Levan Lomidze. the head of the trade ministry's Department of WTO Affairs, said negotiations for membership would resume in February, and he credited the pipeline with his expected success.

West, from the Caspian Sea. The US Congress earmarked $10 million in October

"The pipeline will cause stability. Stability will bring investment," he says. These heady forecasts are not limited

to "facilitate the development of altematives

to government leaders.

to a pipeline through Iran, and [to] support an

Tbilisi's four star hotel is counting on a surge of business. "Especially with this oil pipeline, Western businesses will merge

East-West energy corridor. "

News coverage in Tbilisi has been extensive and upbeat. A front page editorial in The Georgian Times, a daily newspaper in Tbilisi, predicted that the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Republic, which was celebrated in October, could become "a very important day for Georgia, as well." This forecast came after the presidents of Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan held a meeting in Ankara on that day and formally declared their unity in supporting the long route through Turkey. ln another newspaper, an editorial cartoonist depicted the project as the "pipe of

the Ministry

of Fuel

Energy in

Tbilisi, First Deputy Guram Chichua that any of the routes

says

"will

serve to maintain stability" in Georgia. Details are sketchy. Chichua says it is not within the scope of his job to explain exactly how this will happen. Georgia will also get big boost in status, he says.

After this pipeline goes through, will have equal contacts with

Georgia

Tirrkey, Russia, France and all other counof the world including Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan will not gain influence over Georgia, so Armenia should not worry that Georgia will begin to blindly follow dictates from Azerbaijan, he says. "We are an independent country. We have equal rights in these dealings," Chichua

tries

says.

spokesman for the Sheraton Metechi Palace Hotel. "And they'll need good accommo-

dations. They expect it," she says. Her opinion is shared, it seems, not just by other people, but also by their money. A five star Westin Hotel is under construction on Tbilisi's fashionable Rustaveli Avenue, just down the street from the Caucasus's flrst-ever McDonald's restaurant. Both are expected to open in early 1999. The airport has been renovated to accommodate the exffa travelers who will be sleeping at the Westin and eating at the

peace."

here," says Tamriko Vardiashvili,

McDonald's. Luxury apartments built to Westem standards, are being built

the

central district.

Some university students even have elevated hopes for jobs after graduation. "The pipeline is on a lot of people's minds," says Inga Tsotsosian, who was a psychology student until changing her field of study this year. Students think about it, she says, when they are planning their careers. Tsotsosian explained what the pipeline means for the psyche of people in Georgia, and especially in Tbilisi. "Tbilisi has always been the center of the Caucasus," she says. This opinion is probably shared by most Georgians.

The pipeline, she believes, will help Tbilisi and Georgia keep their lock on this

prize.

AIM MARCH

r 1999

N Baku ends up at Ceyhan. The ripples have even washed over the Armenian lobby on Capitol Hill, which recently found itself in opposition to the Israel lobby in Congress over aid to Azerbaijan.

The US, happy to see its principal Middle East ally forming a relationship with fellow Nato member Turkey, is being

wooed hard by Azerbaijan's president Haidar Aliev. With $40 billion lined up in Western investment in Baku's oil industry, the US hardly needs further incentive to become involved in Azerbaijan. But the recent speculation in Baku about inviting the US to open a military base in what was former Soviet territory

GEIIGRAPHY OF

has raised plenty of eyebrows in the region. Iran is mightily alarmed at the idea of the Great Satan setting up shop on its northern border, despite evidence of a slow thaw in relations between Washington and Tehran. Russia, too, is unhappy, particularly as

Azerbaijan paints the proposition as

effort to counterbalance Moscow's military

FNIENDSHIP

cooperation agreement with the US and recently declared its intention to pull out of

ln a Rough and Grourded Neighhorhood

Commonwealth of Independent States. For Yerevan, the threat is obvious. It

t has always been a rough neighborhood

but now it's getting crowded. too. A web of relationships is being weaved in the Caucasus as the big powers jostle for influence and the countries of the

Icomplex

region seek to bolster their fragile independence.

The late 20th century version of the Great Game is being played out on several

different levels. Georgia, Armenia,

and

Azerbaijan are each trying to work out relationships with each other in a way that

secures their sovereignty and promotes stability across the Caucasus. Beyond that, they must forge relationships with the three regional powers around

them, each seeking to maximize its influence to the detriment of the others. Turkey and lran have wasted no time in rushing into the void created by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia, after ceding influence in the chaotic early years, is now flexing its muscles to try to recoup its position.

They face competition from two 40

Azerbaijan has signed

defense

the common defense system of

the

risks finding itself on the wrong side of American national interests as oil pushes Washington closer to Baku and Middle

By IONY HATPIil

presence in Armenia.

further, heavyweight contenders in the US and the European Union. The US sees the energy-rich Caucasus as an area of vital

strategic importance in the early 2lst century. The EU, through its grand Silk

Road strategy, sees the prospect of opening up massive new markets on the edge of its

sphere of influence-and potential chaos close to its borders if political reforms go terribly wrong. The I 996 defense and security agree-

ment between Turkey and Israel has thrown an added dimension onto an already confusing picture. The chance to

strengthen relationships with a secular Muslim power which shares many of its own security concerns regarding Syria, Iraq and Iran was too good for Israel to miss. But the ripples of this realignment

have been felt much further afield. interested in Suddenly, Israel is Azerbaijan's welfare, seeing its oil riches as a possible secure source

new friend Turkey

ofenergy via its

the pipeline from

AIM MARCH 1999

Eastern concerns strengthen ties with Ankara. Those links were in danger of

expiring when Turkey was no longer needed to contain the Soviet threat, but the

geopolitical shift towards containment in the Middle East has breathed new life into them. With Israeli interests putting the squeeze on Armenian influence in Capitol Hill, the hard ball just got harder in the Caucasus.

In such a situation, Armenia, already close to its historic patron, may feel forced to embrace Russian influence ever more tightly, undermining long-standing efforts to create a balanced network of relations

with neighboring states and

regional

powers. Armenia, naturally, was

in no

hurry to counter suggestions that the latest Russian MIG 29 fighter jets and 5-300 missiles may also have found their way into its its arsenal recently, much to the fury of the authorities in Baku. The 1997 agreement "on friendship,

co-operation, and mutual assistance" signed in Moscow by President Levon Ter

R Petrossian and President Yeltsin includes a to mutual defense against

commitment

military aggression, a key element of Armenia's security policy. To that end. the document also provides a legal framework for the continued presence of Russian troops in Armenia. A line up that puts Turkey, Israel, the

US and Azerbaijan, in one corner and Russia, Armenia, and Iran in another may be an Azeri foreign policy dream come tnre but it would be cold comfort to Yerevan. Indeed, much current talk is of a new, if smaller scale, cold war with Russia and Turkey the principal antagonists along the frozen frontier with Armenia. Justifying the arrival of the new air-defense missiles

and MIG 29 fighter jets in Armenia, Cololen-General Anatoli Kornukov

declared: "There exists a real threat from

Turkey where, apart from the Turkish NAIO ones

planes, there are also stationed

which bomb Iraq practically every day. We cannot rule out the possibility of their erroneous or seemingly erroneous flights into the territory of Armenia," Of course, nothing in international relations is ever quite that simple. The US is working to ensure it has the widest possible influence in the region and is unlikely to play favorites unless forced to. Armenia remains loudly pro-American and continues to be the fourth largest recipient of US foreign aid in the CIS. Despite its heavyweight new lobbying friends, Azerbaijan still failed to overturn the ban on US government assistance. Following the debacle in Chechnya, Russia remains unsure of the extent of its ability to project real power so far from Moscow. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan know that geography dictates they get along in some form in the future. The prosperity of the region depends on stability if Western investors are not to take fright. Oil is appealing, but with world prices at historic

lows the appetite for investment may

the major powers. He has said

sees Georgia's future within the EU and has been careful to restrict Russian opportunities to expand its influence. Germany, reviving historical ties, has been active in assisting Tbilisi. The US, too, sees Georgian independence as an important anchor of stability in the region and a useful additional option for oil and gas pipelines. It will do whatever it can to bolster Shevardnadze in his task. Ankara has been forming close links

with Tbilisi, providing $5.5 million in military assistance in the form of training and equipment. Good relations, desirable in themselves, are also seen as a way of opening access to Azerbaijan and Central Asia, part of what Turkey regards as its historic mission. Such a strategy also allows it to continue to rebuff Armenian efforts to establish normal relations and open borders, while bolstering its standing over that of Russia's in the region.

Shevardnadze

has also

of Georgian

independence. This

representative within the defense alliance, underscoring its importance to Moscow in maintaining a southern military presence.

For six years under

Levon

Ter Petrossian,.Armenia sought to secure its fragile independence by fostering relationships with everyone. It sought to create the space to survive and thrive

within the strands of that diplomatic web. But that policy foundered on

to normalise relations and Azerbaijan's unwillingness to

Turkish refusal

recognize the facts

on the ground in

Nagorno-Karabakh. Now Yerevan finds itself taking sides as the Caucasus again becomes the battleground of competing outside interests. These have been dictated

national pressure grows for a settlement.

involved in the region militarily. While the US has talked power, the Russians have

Georgia continues to have a pivotal role, binding the two adversaries to a

delivered it.

common Transcaucasus agenda. Eduard

independence, so far at least it is a price Armenia has been willing to pay. It certainly pays to have

Shevardnadze, for whose continued good health the the United States prays every day. is playing a clever game in ensuring

Georgia charts a course that keeps it largely beyond the gravitational pull of

MOIITII

leaves Armenia as the sole Caucasus

by its own security concerns and perceptions of American willingness to become

strengthening Armenia's hand as inter-

EUTRY

declared

bloodshed. Azeri threats towards

Nagorno-Karabakh thus ring rather hollow,

ilIff AIM APPEAR$

an intention to withdraw from the CIS defense agreement, describing it as "useless", and signalled that he sees NAIO as ultimately the best guarantor

not survive too much heartburn in the form

II I$IllT BY MAGIG

the price

curtailment

of that

security has been

reliable friends in a rough neighborhood, but the bargain depends onArmenian and Russian interests always coinciding in the Caucasus.

AIM MARCH

1999

flIAIIE IH ANffiEHIA Pinning Big Hopes on Fashion By ABMIl{Ell J0HAlll{ES erevan's Narek textile factory produces shirts for the police and cus-

toms officers, as well as work gloves, overalls and sheets for hospitals, jackets for Armentel. "We have a production capacity of 100,000 shirts a month, but we receive orders for only 10,000 shirts. We have over 13,000 square meters (140,000 square feet), so in order to make it worthwhile we have been obliged to diversify our production," said Hakob Biglarian, the factory's director. What does diversify mean in this case? Besides producing shirts for the police and customs officers, they make work gloves, overalls and sheets for hospi-

tals, jackets for Armentel's telephone workers and-"We produce basterma, sujukh, pasta, bread, cakes," Biglarian adds, in all seriousness.

Gohar Yenokian, witty, clever, ener-

getic, is clearly in charge. She has been director of Yerevan's Karun Textile

dence," she explains.

the rest was exported lo various soviet countries. Today, despite privatization, production for the local market continues to be marginal, especially for Karun. "I

that's not enough, "Armenians seem to be 'allergic'to local labels," she says. "If I produce perfect garments bearing Karun labels, they would still prefer to buy poor quality but foreign-made clothing. So, it's not surprising that our very agile and qualified seamstresses work at home, produce good quality dresses and put foreign labels in them to sell at the local markets," says Yenokian. She and her colleagues say that with the exception of fabrics produced for military uniforms, Armenia's fabric industry is at a total standstill-all fabrics are import-

tried producing and selling small quantities to the local market, but I failed; we have to import all our raw materials using planes

The sewing industry of the country has managed to survive largely due to a

Factory since 1985 and has seen the once prosperous textile and sewing industry undergo a great decline. The blockade has had ravaging consequences for Armenia. Until the early 90s, Karun employed 5000 laborers. Narek, located in central Yerevan, too, had 3,000 laborers; today those numbers are 300 and 150 respectively. In the soviet era only l0 to 15 percent of Armenia's production was sold locally,

or trucks-costs

are

ed.

single client-the New

high in both cases. As

being more expensive than the imports from Thailand, China, Syria, Iran, which have flooded our country since indepen-

York-based

Amerex Company. Amerex places orders with 15 different Armenian factories-

a result, the garments we produce end up i'

d AIM MARCH 1999

Yerevan to Gumri, Akhurian, Vanadsor and Spitak-and as a result,

from

way we could raise salaries and pay a minimum of $50 a month to each employee. Presently, the average salary is about $20 to $25 a month, based on the number of pieces they can sew." There are more ironies in this business. As a result of the low salaries, those with sewing skills don't always apply. She currently has 50 openings but will have

difficulty in filling those positions. Her existing employees are mostly middleaged-between 35 and 50, although some very young women work there, as well. Although Karun's orders total US $2 million annually, Yenokian says she can't afford to increase wages because her expenses are high. "All our equipment depends on electricity. Our bills are high because, unlike other countries, Armenia requires that businesses and individuals all pay the same rates. We have a large facility and our maintenance costs are high, 6,000 workers are able to earn a living. "It was through the efforts of Armen Sarkissian, Armenia's Ambassador to the UK, to whom I am extremely grateful, that I was able to sign a contract with Amerex. After visiting our factory, Sarkissian

promised to find us customers, and just two months later, I received a call from New York. A few days later, a young man from Amerex arrived in Yerevan, visited

our factory, and within two hours

signed a contract."

More than a little bit of

sarcasm creeps into her voice, as she adds, "Perhaps

managed

to do business

together

am very

because they are not Armenian.

ers are transported by road to the Black Sea

port of Poti in Georgia, where they continue in ships to their US destination. The transportation cost for Amerex runs up to $14,000 a month, or roughly $1.30 per piece.

"Because ol' high transportation costs. Amerex is unable to pay us more for each piece of garment sewn. "I would very much like to find a similar client in Europe, because the distance is less, so the transportation costs would be less for the importer, and as a result he could offer us more for each garment; this

too," she explains. Garun was one

of the

sites Lincy

Foundation Chairman Jim Aljian and former US Senator Bob Dole visited in late

1997 upon Kirk Kerkorian's decision to provide a $100 million loan program to Armenian businesses. Aljian and Dole

were impressed by the state-of-the-art facility which was the result of a 1989 decision by Gorbachev to allocate $5 million to Karun. Today, the five floors of the factory are equipped with Japanese, German and Italian equipment.

"Karun has been working with Amerex since 1995; After a year of work-

with Diaspora Armenians who have visited my factory by the

disappointed

dozens-all impressed, all promising to do something-but nothing ever has come of

these false promises. I have lost hope in them, and I am looking for foreign clients who seem to be more daring and even more concerned about our country", said Yenokian.

Every month a 40-foot container arrives on the premises of Karun. It contains fabrics, buttons, zippers, threads and packaging material-al1 shipped from Taiwan or Thailand. Even the 'Made in Armenia' labels are produced in Taiwan.

Using computers, ultra

modern

machinery and equipment, Karun makes patterns, sews and puts clothing in packages. Every month two 4O-foot containers,

! s 6

each containing about 8000 garments, leave Karun for New Jersey. The contain-

z e

AIM MARCH I999

BUSINESS

ECONOMY

were for 500,000 units. Amirian now expects to do upwards of US $2 million in Armenia. The material anives by container to Armenia and is handled by Abaven shipping. Some finished products are then flown to Canada by Aeroflot cargo for faster turnaround and the bulk is forwarded by land and sea also via Abaven. Transport has been reliable and

effective though land transport has not been as quick as sometimes hoped for. Another factory called Tirp owned by Rima Sureni is operating in the Shahumian district of Yerevan and producing 60,000 !o

80,000 units per month for Yves Martin Canada.

r[uE$Tr]rG

IRMEilM By Harry 0lkranlan

ome Yves Martin boxers and t-shirts

in Sears, Wal-Mart, Zellers, Saan, Giant Tiger and Byway stores now bear the "Made in Armenia" label. Hagop Amirian, president and owner of the well-known Canadian manufacturer first went to Armenia il June 1996, and,his main interest was in transforming being sold

Amirian now employs a total of 2(X) people in Nubarashen in the only working factory in that district and 100 people in Shahumian. He continues to sell his "Made in Armenia" products in Canada, through 400 retail outlets coast to coast. He expects the number of employees to grow to 400 as both factories begin production for sales in Armenia and Russia.

Born in Egypt, Amirian moved to Montreal, Canada at a young age and started working in shirt factories at the age of 17, from sewing and cutting to pattern making. He slowly moved his way up the company ranks to eventually buy the business from his

start small and don't try to imposs your western approach on Armenians of Armenia." He prefers to adopt a model of mutual coopâ&#x201A;Źration- "make suggestions, let them arrive at their own conclusions." He is constantly impressed by his staff ,in Armenia. "They are humble, very honest, hard-working and reliable." The salaries currently start from 35,000 Dram (US $?0) monthly based on piece work, depending orr the products afid the amount of produc-

tion,

' Amirian admits that at first, he simply didn't know if or how it could be doce, Many speak, some dre*r& of invoting in Arnenia. Sometimes tfter lxi{ror st0dgs old by those who tried and couldn't make it work discourage those without first hand experience .in Armenia. Amirian's experieltce$, ot the other hand, can only inspire those thinking to try their hand. That's his hope.

"Having gone there and oeen aod worked with the people. I saw that it was quite possible." He acknowledges that others have had different experiences. Still, Amirian wants his story to be a message aimed at all those in the garment industry who import their products from China, India, Pakistan, Jakarta or any-

Armenia's abandoned factories.

"At the time, I

had no idea how

sophisticated their manufacturing plants actually were. In Canada, we have factories of all sizes. Over there, all of the textile factories are the same size and can employ 3,000 people." Amirian continues.

"I was amazed by the fact that they also all had the same machinery-the latest in Italian, Germaa and Japanese sewing and knitting equipment. During my first trip, I saw $65,000 worth of brand new machinery in one factory, not in use." Today, Amirian has started a jointventue with the Nubarashen Tricotage textile factory in Yerevan. Its president and orxner is Edik Arakelian. Amirian has even regiqtsred his Yves Martin trademark and intqllqs to eventually sell finished products inrArurenia and further expand his distributiqn iIrto Russia, the CIS and Europe. A.mirian is now manufacturing fashion uaderwear, boxer shorts, t-shirts, pajanras and, exercise shorts in Armenia with some of ttre yarn imported from lran. TuqhtlqgiF[rin.:Pakistan and Canada. The first ordbls came in December 1997 and

employer. Yves Martin has 350 employees in

Montreal, and about 55 are of Armenian descent. His wife Anahid, was originally a school teacher in Lebanon. He has two children. Amirian's diversified business experience, his knowledge of four languages, and his familiarities with the ways of the East, have all helped him in his Armenia endeavor.

"'It is important

to have mode$t expâ&#x201A;Źctations,

AIM MARCH I999

where in Asia. "Why not go to Armenia

before the Western corporations get there?" he asks. "We speak the same language and we arc the same people," he adds. "We have to help Armenia. What's incredible is that all of my arrangements were made in four brief trips and the govemment is also very willing to help make things happen."

BUSINESS

ECONOMY

Maralik is a small town in the Shirak provincg south of Gumri, near the Ttrrkish border. A huge factory which used to make thread is only partially utilized,i*y. need -o"n ur."rilor-i*i* a m{ior pprtion of the needed material from ahiior{d*.Th&iland.;or China- shipped by the customer.

Th;id;"--"t*1*tii.i"Jr"i;;;;;;""'t

ing together, seeing the quality of work, and the fact that the factory

months to six years, and employs five women who sew and knit at home. It's

was able to meet deadlines, Amerex

a small-scale production-about

there were other similar factories in Armenia. I proposed the

garments

asked

100

month, using mainly

French cotton and wool. Each unique style has a special name: one khaki outfit is called Vazgenchik-after Armenia's Defense Minister, Yazgen Sargsian. Zadik's garments sell in a couple of department stores for between $ l0 to $3O-below their cost

Vanadsor textile factory, and now he works with them too. Every year,

a few more Armenian textile factories to his list of contractors. Before Amerex, from Amerex has added

l99l to

1995, we worked with a

Dutch company until the transporta-

of production cost, says Zara.

tion costs became prohibitive. What I cannot understand is that if a Dutch and an American trust us and can work with us, then why can't

a graduate of the Moscow animation

Garments are designed by Nana,

school and daughter of animator Robert Sahakiantz (AIM, March 1994). All of Nana's designs have a local flavor-hand-made knit dolls

Diasporan Armenians do the same?" asked Yenokian.

and toys adorn sweaters and dresses.

ust like Karun and Narek, the newly established children's

"It's tough finding large quantities of the same fabric, so we would

wear design and production company, Zadik Z Studio is confronted with a marketing problem.

have difficulty producing

Sisters-in-law Zara and Nana Sahakiantz, both in their late twenties, established Zadik three years ago. "We were both pregnant and

making the clothes ourselves, and gradually we had the idea of establishing a company", said Zara who is Zadik's administrator.

Zara and Nana, started their joint-

large

Paris-based organization with various

Armenia projects," saidZara. A selection of Zadikls garments were sent to Pierre Cardin in Paris, and received the Maison's congratulations for qual-

looking for children's clothing, and

we didn't like the poor quality imported garments; so we started

order; we have managed to sell some pieces through Chene, a non-profit

ity and design. As with Karun, quality is not the

venture with AMAA Pastor Rene a capital of $4000,

Leonian's wife and

spent mainly for purchasing a computer, a scanner and a printer. Zadik produces high

quality clothing for children ages six

AIM MARCH

1999

problem. Finding markets is. With just those concerns in mind, Atex, the first Fashion Design Center established in

Armenia in the post independence period

B U

N E

E C

M Y "Presently, we sell to the Armenian only; we have opened a small office in Ejmiatsin, and in Vanadsor and

market

Abovian. Although we have been approached to sell to Russia, we do not wish to explore that market. The Russian market is an extreme one-either jeans for the poor, or Versace for the new rich, and nothing in between; I am a designer and not a factory owner, and I wish to preserve

my style and my price range. We decided to be more aggressive in the local market and opened a new department of custom ll,i:.":",

tffi ". ''\:ti 2

design garments," said Milman.

For Milman, the future of

the

Armenian textile industry lies not in large factories but in the development of small scale productions or even micro companies.

of the Textiles, Clothing and Design of the University of Nebraska./Lincoln (UNL), and funded by the Eurasia Foundation, Milman estab-

1996, with the collaboration

Department

(AIM,

November 92, March 1993 and May-June 1997) has expanded to become a Fashion Academy. Founded and adminis-

tered by a Ukranian couple, Irina and Andrei Milman, Atex offers a five-year course of study towards a Master of Arts degree. Presently the Fashion Academy has 100 students-all future fashion designers.

Atex has participated at various fash-

ion shows in Germany, and sold to the German market. Presently it is trying to enter the US and Canadian markets. "We

now have our own representative in

Florida, and we are going to sell in malls there. In reality, for us, selling ideas and new designs are more important than selling garments", said Milman. Priced between $200 and $300, Atex garments are sold mainly through large fashion shows organized in Yerevan; the clients are young and avant-garde, mainly students of Yerevan's institutes. "We prefer to work with the middle class rather than the elite, as the former is more democratic in its way of thinking," says Milman. Howeveq in 1998, only 200 pieces of garment were sold to Armenians.

lished the Stepp Foundation, which provides information and consulting services in marketing and management of the fashion design industry. Its purpose is to integrate the Armenian fashion design industry

into the global industry, through training and export promotion, as well as studying and identifying problems and solutions.

"For example," said Milman, "We import all of our raw materials from abroad, and this is really a drawback. Armenia must have a strategy for the development of it's own light industry."

As part of the effort to develoP the entire textile sector, Milman stresses the need to train professionals. "Armenia has regressed in the area of professional education. Yet, good seamstresses, designers and

pattern makers as well as well-trained marketing managers is extremely important for the future of Armenia." Gohar Yenokian, of the Karun factory,

would probably agree. She had, until recently, decided against applying for the Lincy Foundation business loan program. Why? "I don't feel comfortable applying," says this woman who has run and maintained the largest such operation in the face

incredible odds for over a decade, "because in the absence of a marketing manager, I am unable to find appropriate

of E 2 a

markets for our products. I am a producer and not a sales person," said Yenokian. I

AIM MARCH 1999

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One of the final moves former California Governor Pete Wilson made before leaving olfice in January was to appoint Diane Paskerian to the state Film Cornmission's Board of Directors. It is a prestigious position and an irnportant one given the magnitude of California's $26 billion film industry. More than 600.000 Calitbrnians work in the movie-making busi ness.

As one of 13 appointed board members, Paskerian (left, with Wilson) works on film policies and strategies for attracting filmmakers to work in Catilornia. It's a job tbr which she is uniquely qualified given her back-

ground in tourism and entertainment. "lt's an ideal situation because lourism is a major part ol the film commission, and because I know the state and my background in television and the afts, I was really happy when Cov. Wilson appointed me," Paskerian said. Paskerian's political action began in 1983 when Governor George Deukmejian appointed her to the California Office of Tourism. When Wilson took over, Paskerian was one of thE few Deukmejian appointees he retained. Then this year. before Wilson handed over the reins to Covernor Gray Davis. he appoinred Paskerian to the Film Commission. "People think I'm really into the political field but I'm not," commented Paskerian who says she simply enjoys using her40 years ofexperience to promote filmmaking in California. When she's not working. Paskerian enjoys family time in San Francisco with her husband, businessman Chuck Paskerian, and their four sons. Paskerian is a tbrmer member of the Armenian Assembly Board ol Directors. and is an active member ol the Armenian Citizens League.

Akgulian spent his first four

working in his hometown Nishan Akgulian has turned his

years

Racine,

Wisconsin, Finally he decided to take his tradc (o the Big Apple. after all if you can make it there. "Actually I came out to do an

childhood hobby into a successful

and

in I987 he travelled to

where their grandparents had lived. Akgulian says the trips helped give

him a greater appreciation of

the

opportunities he has enjoyed in

Sports illustrated, The New York Tintes, and,United,Airlines' rnonthly magazine Hemispheres. He has also done work for Haagen Dazs, McDonalds and Lands ind to name just a few.

America. He is also proud to be carrying on a family traditlon in the arts. Not onl11,,'pas his, father an illustiator, one of Akguliah's grandfathers was a talented painter and woodworker as wgll. 'flllis just'a part of me so if you can make a Iiving doing something you love that's

'The 38-year-old illustrator takes after his father Mark

Akgulian remains well connected to his sister Lisa grew up being very involved in Racine's small Armenian community. the Armenian community, He and

Armenia for a month. In l99l Akgulian and a cousin went to Tomarza. Turkey to see the place

Akgulian used to draw just for fun; now he now makes a living off his charismatic illustrations. Akgulian. who lives in New York, contributos t0 such notable publications as The New Yorker

career.

Akgulian who was also a professional illustrator before he retired. His father encouraged Nishan to choose a profelsion that,. woulal''truly hold his interest. "l had always been told enjoy your work and.you shoulld do what you want to do. Draruing iq what I like to do most," Akgulian decided.

Diocese."

internship at theArmenian Diocese, so then I kind of had a good way to test the waters. And initially they gave me a lot ol design lype work that'ruas instrrin*ental in helping

start my'career

in New ,York," Akgulian

recalled. "My style has changed sincf then

but

I still

do oecasiondli:lthings:for

AIM MARCH 1999

the

great."

You can get a sense of Akgulian's style in the self-ponrait he drew for AIM (above). Also keep an eye out for his new line ,o-f,r greeting card$ this Christmas. Marcel Shurman out of San Francisco is the name of the card company.

Independbrit l;fiovlogoers around the world have

been admiring

Megan

Gltlf0RlttA

Zakar's recent fiLn acting debul Zakar plsyt $e love, interest

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the whole film," Zakar said of Kondazian's portrayol of the lead character's mother. The admiration was mutual. Kondazian said of Zakar's performance, "I think that she's one of the most gifted young ectresses, Armenian or otherwise, that I've worked with. She's got such a lovely screen pres6nce," Kondazian observed. The film is based on the writer-director's

family story an aocdunt,$f-,thoir immigration from Sicily to New York in the'late !!5Os. It is'En*hony Csldarella'$ flrst rfllm, and he says he casted Zakar because he had directed her in two thater productions and liked her work. "I think Megan is very talented and wonderful to work with," Caldarella said. Zakar may have had little trouble landing the role of Anna, but she says parts ,with no:etbnic componert have beerti iiruch more difficult to find. "I do get a lot of resistance in auditions; people say, well, you're kind of ethnic. In my opinion it's a fabulous thing because I can play a whole lot of different characters," remarked Zakar who is milnaglrtg her"Uwn carqqr fi{ilhout the help of a talent agent. The friendly dnd enthusiastic actressr lives close to'her mother Anoosh and younger brother Artin Zakarian in Glendale. The family moved to California when Megan was five years old. She went to St. Mary's Armenian school and took lots of Armenian dance lessons gxowi*g up. Zakur still epouks,tfre language fluently with her family, although her English carries no trace ofan accent. "No one in my family is into acting or theater and they alt thought I was utterly insane when I decidod to study acting!" Zakar recalled with a laugh. No one thinks she's insano now. My Brthcr Jack won an award for Best American Film in Naples

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mo[tffil|[I0[nu0nlD IHE GINEMA OF AttE]I AilD ATBERT HUGHES BY ERIG ]IAZARIAI{ child pedals his tricycle. Shots ring out. Young black teenagers spray automatic bullets across a South Central Los Angeles dwelling. Cane, the anti-hero crashes onto the hot Los Angeles asphalt right in front of the tricycle. His heartbeat overcomes the soundtrack. Blood gushes on the sidewalk. The child is safe. The screen goes black. A gunshot rings out. "Directed by the Hughes Brothers." The street-wizened voice of MC Eiht seeps into the soundtrack, signaling the end of the lrst film directed by 20-year-old twins, Allen and Albert Hughes. Credits continue to roll. The audience, a blend of African-American, Anglo-Saxon, Latino, Armenian, and Asian movie-goers, claps. Most are youngsters dressed in well-pressed baggy shirts and even baggier khaki pants. MC Eiht's voice spouts "I grow up to be a straight up menace". The applause grows louder as the in-your-face and uncensored impact of Menace II Socierj ends.

Born in Detroit, Michigan in 1972 and in Southem Califomia's Inland Empire,

raised

Albert and Allen spent their childhood years in

the enchanted worlds

action-adventure

films. "Our minds were blown by Raiders of the lnst Ark and Supermttn We used to take polaroids, put the blue screen up and act like we were Superman," Allen reminisces with a chuckle. From early on, Allen and Albert showed a

fascination with entertaining and expressing themselves by painting, staging puppet shows and dancing to the music of Motown with their artist-mother. Aida Megerdichian Hughes played a fundamental role in fueling the twins' creative passions despite the many hardships she endured as a single parent. Allen appreciatively recalls, "She worked herself off of welfare, put herself through college, ran her own business and became a business-sawy, inde-

AIM MARCH I999

pendent woman. She would always invest money in our art and hobbies and not in flashy material things. ForAlbert it was art. For me it was Kung-fu and music." When they were five, Aida took them on their first trip abroad-to her birthplace, Iran. It was the period just before Ayatollah Khomeini's rise to power. Albert and Allen experienced their first encounter with their mother's family and retumed to the US just before the dethroning of the Shah. "We still have the gold coins our grandma gave us with the Shah on it. We were five years old then," Albert remembers.

"If you said you were Armenian or

Iranian during the 80s when the hostage crisis was going on, everyone thought that you were a terrorist. Even when we were that young, our mottrer instilled in us the need to be who we were and to always question authority if we had questions about it," continues Albert.

The world according to Allen and Albert

is a very complicated and unstable environment complete with innocence, comrption, institutional injustice, friendship and violence. The film world, on the other hand, they found desirable, and they entered that realm quite prepared. It was the 80s and the video revolution had begun. While still in ttreir early teens, the twins discovered their fundamental tool for self-expression-a video camera. 'The video stores had cameras that you could rent for 24 hours, attach to your VCR and shoot. In the summer, our mother would rent the cirmera for us. We would shoot for 15 to 16 hours, non-stop--we still have the tapes."

Later, Aida Hughes actually bought

camera.

"She told us it was for herjob, but she did

it because she knew were were

obsessed

with

moviemaking." She allowed them to use it only after the boys had completed their schoolworh however. On weekends, and in their spare time, Allen and Albert set out to teach themselves the craft of filmmaking. "Liftle by little we leamed how

to edit manually from two video decks."

"In

1983 we saw Scarface with Al Pacino. It was the first time that our minds were really blown by an on-screen character," remembers Allen. After this hrst encounter with a modem "gangster" film, the overzealous twins, not teenagers yet, set out to make a series of shoot-em-up short video projects that gradually exposed them to the logic of filmmaking as opposed to film viewing. Albert reminisces: "We did a short remake of Roclqt with a friend playing the boxer. This was when we started to figure out the power of camera angles. We realized, that we could do something with the camera and visually tell a story." How to be a Burglar was a short high school film that the twins made in reaction to a teacher's assignment. Soon after, Albert and Alan enrolled iri [,os Angeles area city colleges to study film. During that brief stint, the twins made two shortfihns-Menace II Society and The Dive-By-{oth of which explored the nahrre of urban violence.

Both were complete with vivid

sound

American experience

mainstream audi-

"But, we were so tired

watching

movies that preached. Because you're Black or

Armenian, your audience expects you to preach and propagandize. We were never about that. It's about trying to paint a full picture and show the diversity in any given culture or way of life." Allen continues. Thc Dive-By became their calling card into the music video mainstream. In 1991 the Hughes Brothers, at the ripe age of 19 began directing music videos for Tupac Shakur and a host of other hip-hop stars. Their talent and

growing reputation led to ttre making of their first feature film the following year. Menace II Society explored the deeper and darker side of

the African-American experience. The film offered no resolutions noi pretended to have the answers to the questions it raised about our society. Later, Dead Presidents exposed audiences worldwide to the New York urban underworld ofthe 60s and 70s, before and after the Viefrram War. Focusing their attention on

the life

of an idealistic young

African-

effects and music that helped bring to life the mood and environment of the inner-city under-

American teenager tumed embiftered and

world.

be part of the Fuck You generation," says Allen. The glossy and trend setting 'hood' films to emerge from the African-American

explored the tensions of that era with special emphasis on the socio-economic influences and determinants of urban crime. Albert explains their working style. "Allen has the final word on the actors, I have the final word on ttre visuals. We complement our decisions and attempt to marry our ideas together. The key *ring to our relationship as filmmaken is tust. I know can trust my brother and he knows that he can trust me in my particular area. We've always done things together. That's the key to our filmmaking

fiIm movement of the early 90s succeeded par-

methods.

"One day we were in thekirchen with our mother. She told me 'don't put all your eggs in one basket.' I said 'Mom, if I can't make films I'm going to be a bum. And that was it." It would only be a maffer of time before the Hughes Brothers broke into Hollywood.

"We were l9-year-old biracial outsiders, not accepted by blacks or whites, and proud to

tially in merely exposing the African-

exploited Vietrram vet, ttre Hughes brothers

But, he's not satisfied.

"ln the future I

AIM MARCH 1999

want our personal decisions to melt

even

more."

ences.

Anger is a common thread in the cinema of the Hughes brothers. Their stories are about frustated individuals struggling in an indifferent society. In many ways Menace II Society and Dead Presidents are unconnected installments exploring the twins'cherished themes of urban camaraderie, underworld violence, and the hypocrisy of a still segregated society. you can get the audience to like the

'If

bad guy, then that's gonna hit home much harder than preaching to them."

Viewers may have to remember that as they look forward to Albert and Allen's latest project, Ameican Pimp, a featureJength documentary on the history mythology and lifestyles of practicing.and retired pimps from 15 cities across the US. The uncensored, raw, and disturbingly sincere interviews expose the viewer to the seedy underworld of the profit craving, capitalisrminded, and street-smart American pimp. Armed with a 16 mm. handheld camera and a sound recorder, Albert and Allen set out on a l5-city joumey across the US in search of the ruth and irony behind the stereotyped fiction and cultural assumptions about pimps and prostitution. The success of the documentary, which will be released later this year, lies in the twins'ceaseless attempt to deconstuct the urban myths of the pimps and examine the history rhyme and reason behind their illicit and affluent lifestyles They speak of one day joumeying to Africa and Armenia in search of a better understanding of their family connections. Albert adds provocatively,

"I'm also very interested in

how

Armenians perceive blacks." Nazprian, a Film Production senior at USC, is working on his first film. 53

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THE CTIFIE fimT by AI{NE UARDAI{IA]I /^! rowing up in lllinois. Art Koustik, an hoped that one I lavid sports enthusiast, \J day. he would join the ranks of famous athletes. But, that became for him "the road not taken." Instead, he embarked upon a path which led him to Orange County, California, where he became one of the original Founding

Artists of the South Coast Repertory (SCR) Theater, now commemorating its 35th anniversary.

Koustik, bom Artash Kousdiguian, is the son of a Genocide survivor who made his way

from Bardizag, Turkey to Peoria. Illinois in 1920, at age 16. At Ellis Island, the officer had difficulty spelling Harry's last name, so it was shortened to Koustik. The elder Koustik worked

in the

factories and opened a hot dog stand which eventually became a favorite neighborhood bar and restaurant. Art, the youngest of

four children, fondly reflects, "My

father worked hard in the steel mills and was successful in bringing other family members here, including my grandmother. He helped many others from his village of Bardizag. My grandmother lived with us, so my mother learned Armenian and cooked our great cuisine." After his high school graduation, Koustik joined the Marine Corps and was sent to California for his basic training, then continued to serve in Korea and Japan. Upon his discharge from the Marine Corps, he stayed in California and continued his education. "I took a drama class at the suggestion of a friend, even though I didn't know the first thing about drama" exclaimed Art. From San Francisco State College, Koustik was recruited for a new and sorely needed repertory company in Southem Califomia, and

one that has become a leading non-profit professional resident theater company.

was a long hard road from renovated

warehouses and storefronts, which actors actually converted and reconstructed as theater sites. To eam money, they held otherjobs, too, and for

some, the theater actually became their shelter. Today, the South Coast Repertory Theater strnds proudly beside the grand Orange County Performing Arts Center in an expansive theater

facility that continues to grow. It houses

an Acting Conservatory for Adults and Yortths and

provides educational touring productions to Southland elementary schools. A 1988 Tony for Distinguished Achievement was awarded to

in 1995 it was presented with Theater 1995 Lifetime Achievement Award

SCR, and

LAs

Koustik appears regularly

SCR's A

Christrnas Carol, andntl'tts year's season he has appeared in Ah Wildemess and Tartffi. He is cunently appearing in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, as the Boss.

Koustik's broad range ofcharacter portrayals is drawn from an extensive gallery of playwrights, past and present-not just Moliere and Steinbeck, but also Shakespeare (The Taming of

the Shrew), Arthur Miller (The Crucible), Tennessee Williams (A Steetcar Named Desire) and dozens of others.

Although he has appeared in various tele-

vision shows including Hunter, the RocKord Files and Golden Girls, as well as Moonlighting and

Hil

Street Blues, Koustik prefers the stage.

AIM MARCH 1999

"It's where the actor's art is most evident. Television and film are definitely the director's medium, as well as the photographer's. But on stage, the actor can see the complete arc of his performance, as well as experience the audience response. That doesn't happen in filrn," he explains. Koustik's favorite stage roles?

have

couple-they are the David Mamet showsGlengarry Glen Ross and American Buffalo,

where played Donnie, guess it's because those two are more similar to my background. The language and the rhythms are more natural for me, I especially enjoyed my role in William Saroyan's The Time of Your Life, as Nick, the bartender." Vardanian has published English tanslations of the worlcs of playwright l*von Slwnt.

{riib lr-iEi

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OTHER

PEOPLE'S

MAIL

THESE ARE RHAL LETTERS TO REAL PEOPLE. SEND US YOURS, New York, New York Dear S and H,

I met him on my tirst assignment for Fortune Magazine. The story never saw light but I had photographed His Majesty King Hussein bin Talal of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. He was young and slim, just like I was then. I was accompanying John Fistere for

an economic story.

his "boys" won a formation flight contest, His Majesty gave me a copy of a Roman bust as souvenir. It has its place of honor in

I covered his water skiing championship in Aqaba, Jordan while the Israeli vacationers across the barbed wire, in Elath

our home. But one of the most exciting visits was when I sat next to him-no bodyguards, no escorts-on the way to Ramallah, where we stayed until the small hours of the night. A few recognized him that night and waved

were enjoying the sights. The one tragic story I could not cover was when the Palestinians (who had formed their own state within Jordan) blew up a British Overseas Airways, TWA and Swiss

could not

Air jetliners at Dawson's airfield in

1970,

understand then, and I don't now,

after hijacking them over Europe. The fratricidal war which followed

but we liked each other right away

in Jordan took hundreds of thou-

and over the years, many more

sands

occasions were presented to me to "shoot" him in action. He raced in his Mercedes

the

the Liberation

Palestine was

captured in El Al jetliner when the

Benz 300 SLE, the top of which lifted like a wing to uncover the steering wheel and seats. His opponent that day was Dory, the

son of

of victims. Leila Khaled,

expert lady of the Popular Front for

grenade she tossed-a dud-did not explode. This was the infamous Black September. I was in Europe then but returned to incorporate the coverage from Beirut the

Lebanon's President

Camille Chamoun, who, in 1958

Associated Press,

for for which I

asked the US Marines to come and

worked.

help the country. The King won by 3/lOth of a second.

At His marriage to Lisa Halaby, King Hussein told me "I have an exclusive for you." I was invited downstairs to the Diwan

Hussein and Princess Mona, the mother of the new king. were dashingly beautiful and colorful at the Persepolis celebrations, where

A very young King Hussein, left, with photographer

Harry Koundakjian

Shah Mohammed Pahlevi and Empress Farah were celebrating the l700th anniversary of the Iranian Empire. Hussein was the protector of the Armenian Holy places in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. His most trusted officers included Armenians and Circassians and it is said that some of his children's nannies were Jordanians of Armenian origin. On one of his visits to the Fairford air shows in England which he sponsored, after

their hands to welcome him to Ramallah.

We drove back to Amman and arrived around Shah

6 am, just three hours before the

of Iran landed

f,or a state

visit.

Another was his racing a camel during the shooting of the film Lawrence of Arabia

with Omar Sharif, Peter O'Toole

and

Anthony Quinn. Peter had just learned how to ride a camel and proposed a race. The Bedouin troopers laughed. Of course, His Majesty won by hundreds of yards.

AIM MARCH I999

where I was the only photographer, for The Associated Press, who photographed the signing of the marriage con-

tract between him, Najeeb Halaby, the bride's father and members of the Royal family. Hussein's own private photographer was not invited there. The Associated Press wiped out the opposition in the world play reports. Just as his family and all of Jordan

will

miss him, so shall I.

Harry Koundakjian

r nruEn nuil$ I[[0llt[ lI The Arpi reservoir, at the very nothwest tip of Armenia was built between 1946 and 1950 on the Akhurian river. Springs and other rivers feed the reservoir which in turn has become a haven for wildlife-especially birds and fish. The water is used for irrigation and provides elecricity for the Shirak region.

lElilt lil[ IllIt$ No one likes to pay taxes. Why should Armenians be any different? So, when the Tax Inspectorate of Armenia announced that specially ordered and configured cash registers would have to be purchased and placed at each store, retail outlet and even kiosk, business owners did not hesitate to object loudly. Nevertheless, as of February 1, at least 1000 such sites were up and running, and fines were threatened for all those who did not have the machines in place.

There was more

to it

than just

purchasing the cash registers. The staffs at

bread stores, vegetable stores, hairdressers, casinos and every other kind of commercial outlets had to be trained in using the electronic machines, recording each day's totals and verifying the figures in order to make them available to the monthly income tax inspectors. So, in larger stores which already had functioning registers an additional piece

r ?

AIM MARCH 1999

of equipment became necessary, since the new regulation stipulated the kind of register that had to be used. For smaller one-man operations, even finding the electrical connection for such a machine was a problem,

& @

= o L

HITIITG [ $IIItMTilT The fashion statement among the diplomatic corps in Armenia is*a beard. In the 14 foreign embassies operating in Yerevan, four ambassadors (from left to right)*Alexinder Bojko of Ukraine, Michael Lem-on -of the US, John Mitchiner of the UK and Michel Legras of France-sport beards. The number may grow: Romania and India are slated to open embassies soon.

I8 rilI[[[r, I0 -

ililmf,E,I

Near'the Azerbaijari border, in North-,,

eastera Acmeria, the, local rocegon]

is very

much dependent on agriculfire and small trade. Here. frontiers and international disputes have

little meaning. Feople oa opporite,:ride* of a Iiae o:r a rnap deal uiith each otlre.r fgr all besic

,: srffvival . needs.

Itls no different en .ihe

Armeniqn-G-eorgian border in,Armeniao*

northwest. French-Armenian photographer Max Sivaslian spent days capturing life inisolated villages and small towns, where necessity is indeed the mother of inwntion. The pri: vatization of agricu.lture meant that each individual farmer was responsible for securing his own irrigation, fertilizer, farming equipmen! ffansportation and distribution system. This local farmer has clearly solves some of these problems. His cauliflower are heading to market.

AIM MARCH I999

Waiting for a Sign By JllHI{ HUGHES It is half true that I have bought a car here. For in fact I have bought

half a car. The best half of a 1992 Lada that $ I 500 can buy is mine' The other half was bought by a friend. It is not an unusual arrangement here, as Yerevan car-sharing seems to go the way of time-share property on Long Island beach

towns. Deciding who got which half was a decision eased in the first week of ownership, when my partner raked the left-rear fender while executing a 3-point turn in a parking lot. Being the Ugly American, I claimed the undented half. But then a week later my partner engraved a matching blemish on "my" side after misjudging the distance to guard rail while chasing a

Lake Sevan sunrise. That is when we decided I should learn to drive in Armenia. It is of some concern that I am being taught by someone who wrecked twice in the first month of half-car ownership. The same person who was stopped by police, suspected of being drunk because he was driving so slow on a Yerevan thoroughfare. I allow that he is not a bad driver. merely an inexperienced one. There are not a lot of half-Ladas in the frontline trenches of Karabakh, where my partner spent two years prior to this. Nor has he had access to a car since his family sold

On roadside stops demanding documentation,

its threat is my am a catalog of

officious this and that: Passport, residency card, Foreign Ministry registration, Visa (the government kind, although I suspect the credit card may carry more weight in this circumstance). When none of these work, I flash my California driver's license, a meaningless piece of plastic this far from its jurisdiction. But cops seem to like it. They hold it up and compare my face with the one behind the holograms and, though in that photo I bear strong resemblance to the slain wife of O.J. Simpson, the police are usually satisfied that I should

know what

am doing, even on these

roads.

One officer, however, was troubled back. Apparently he mistook the electronic

by the magnetic strip on the information device as a patch

used

tape

conceal whatever might be

All things

considered,

was a short

delay.

I have seen three lanes improvised where only two are painted. Seen? Heck,

say: While the aim of driving-getting from Point A to Point B-is essentially the same form and technique, but rules are in this place matters of convenience to be applied when brute dis-courtesy fails. Yerevan makes New York driving a playground. And no longer will I use my clean history on LA tieeways as a driving school degree. Pass an Iranian l8 wheeler in a curve on the Lachin Corridor, then talk to me about negotiating traffic. Or weave a path through a herd of sheep on the only lane (oftwo) not ice covered. Or find the only passable purchase on a Gumri street not paved since the earthquake. Paris-Dakar? Forget about it. Try Spitak-Dilijan. And try to explain to an Armenian policeman with an "l've got Christmas shopping to do" look in his eye and a palm empty but t'ull of implication why you were going 60k in a 40k zone. In this act of New Republic driving, my partner is a champion. Stopped, as we often are, at checkpoints or more often by what I have come to call the "big belly bribe," my liiend springs from the passenger seat with the password: "Amerikatsi." Then we are off with a salute. As effective as is this misplaced nationalism, it is no less troubling. For on occasions when my Armenian friend has been at the wheel, he has not escaped the stop without at least a 1000 Dram bribe, even when there was no legal reason for his detainment. One policeman even taught my friend the proper technique for issuing the payoff. Amused at my partner's attempt to simply slip the

money into the cop's hand, he was told by the officer that

a sum happily prefered to a citation. Still, the traffic-cop presence is formidable. And caution. I have seen Midnight Express.

underneath.

theirs to counter the hard times. Still, I have become the designated driver. This alrangement is akin to throwing an Olympic wrestler into the ring of the World Wrestling Federation. That is to

conventional manner is to place the note within the fold

registration booklet so that the constable may extract it without the untidiness of money changing hands. It is how things work here. And it is a double-edged sword. Once, clearly in the wrong for going the forbidden direction on a one-way street, my partner got away with a discreet 1000 Dram payoff,

the

the car's

I've been the one to make the third. Funny how an oncoming car will defer. I have also been the oncoming' Everything's a tradeoff. Who knows that better than Armenians? Here, cars tend to travel staddling the painted lines, rather than between. This was once explained to me as a subtle reaction to so many years of these being told to stay in their place. Driving patterns as sociological forensics may not be, so to speak, a road we want to go down. Yet they offer some insight. Or at least some observations: In a country of overwhelming hospitality, drivers are incredibly rude. Men who would help an old lady up a flight of stairs, will lay on their carhorns at that same old lady attempting to cross a street. And here, on the streets and off', the class structure is pronounced. There is "Lada Law" and there is "Mercedes Law." Guess which one gets stopped for doing nothing and which one can get away with doing anything. But perhaps the most telling insight to be gained from behind the driver's wheel is a lesson I learned early. In this country, the lack of prohibitive warning is not assumed consent to the contrary. To explain: While travelling toward Agevan one moming, my partner and I faced a split in the road easily taken by a lefrhand tum' Instead, he drove on until he saw a sign indicating permission to make a U-turn. Then he drove back and made the same turn except this time to the right. I asked why he didn't make the simpler turn before. "There was no sign telling me it was okay to do so," he said. These roads hold lessons.

AIM MARCH I999

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BTFrNGS oN crurrcAl Issuns

Expanding on our popular and periodic AIM Publisher's Forums, we invite you to our monthly dinners. Dinner will be followed by a short briefing by AIM editors on the news events and developments of the month and a featured speaker will make a presentation on a critical topic of concern as we approach the millennium. Presentations will be followed by a question and answer period.

$usan Pattie "Diasponas within the Diaspona" Dr Susan Pattie is a lecturer in anthropologlt at university college London and is the author ofFaith in History. Armenians Rebuilding Community, a study of Armenians in Cyprus and London.

Monday, April 12, 1999

Uahafin Kanakachian "Realitic$ and challengos lacing Diaspona Anmenian-languagc new$paper$" Mr

vahakn Karakachian is the editor of the Boston-based Hairenik weekly. The Diaspora s oldest newspapeti Hairenik is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year

Monday May 10, 1999

Uano Hanitunians

"Building Gnand Pnoiects" Mr

Vano Haritunians is the architect-engineer who put Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and the Disney Concert Hall on the map.

Monday, June 7, 1999

AT BRANDVIEW COLLECTION RESTAURANT 109 East Harvard Street, GIendale, California Dinner 7230 PM; Briefing: 8:00 pM; Speaker: 8:15 pM Donation: $25 for AIM subscribers; $27.50 for non-subscribers FOR RESERVATIONS AND MORE INFORMATION CALL (818) 246-7979

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