Armenia in the Kingdom of the Birds - November 1998

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Left to right: Gregory Parseghian, his father Masis Parseghian and Hamlet Nersesian on the summit of Mount Ararat, 16,945 feet, August 4, 1986, holding a plaque which was left fbr posterity.

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NOVEMBER 1998

NO. 10

DEPARTMENTS

8 Editor's Note 9 Letters to the Editor 12 View 14 Notebook

15 65 68

Bytes on File Faces

Underexposed

NATION

16

Focus

- On the American

Tour

President Robert Kocharian visited the US to attend a UN General Assembly session and to meet with the Armenian

18

Community.

Cover Story

-

The Bird Kingdom

Armenia's bird kingdom attracts international

24

attention-not just

specialists.

David: 1; Goliath: 0 Months of lobbying ends with US Congress voting to keep the ban on direct government aid to Azerbaijan-again.

27 Armenia

Must Punch Above lts Weight

A primer on the OSCE by Ambassador Jivan Tabibian, Armenia's Armenia is on the crossroads-again: for the birds of Europe, Asia and Africa and for the birders of the world.

30

32

Permanent Representative to the OSCE.

Karabakh: Aspirations Denied and Trampled Excerpts from a Speech delivered to the Permanent Council of the OSCE by Armenia's Foreign Minister.

Visions of Homeland A photo essay of Western Armenian monuments by Hrair 'Hawk' Khacherian.

REGION

39 42

Election Encounters in Baku What Aliev's lnevitable reelection means for the Caucasus.

Ruble Troubles in Georgia

The Russian ruble crisis hasn't left Georgia unaffected.

ECONOMY

44

Stamps of Approval Karabakh has all the elements of statehood-an army, a govern ment, secure borders, and its own stamps

CONNECTIONS Pasadena has everything: from fortunetellers to schools, churches and healers. The 1Oo-year-old

45

Armenian community has and hasn't changed.

52 ln a Class of Their Own

The Armenians of Pasadena Sustaining Armenian life for a century with a little bit of everything.

Where do the graduates of the American University of Armenia go? What do they think about the education they received?

62

The Good, The Beautiful, the Unusual

AIM's fourth annual collection of Christmas gift suggestions.

ARTS

56

Arshak ll What's it worth to have the San Francisco Opera stage a grand old Armenian opera? How about a million bucks.

SPORTS

60 CovEB

They call themselves System of a Down and they begin each concert with Sardarabad.

The Strongest Man in the World Find Robert Galstian in the Guinness Book of World Records DESTGN

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All Over the Planet

Armenian lntemational Magazine 207 South Brand Blvd. Suite 203 Clendale, CA 91204, USA fel: 818 245 7979 Fax: 818 245 0088

What fun these last several months have been, as AIM's dedicated and capable writers and photographers have been working overtime to deliver insightful and unusual stories. This issue is a good example ofthe kind ofexpanded coverage you can look forward to in future issues.

The article on the political, social and environmental world of birds, and its implications for the Republic of Armenia was an eye-opener for us. We are certain it will be for you as well.

The story forAIM by Liz Fuller (head of Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty's Caucasus Desk) on the elections in Azerbaijan, together with the interview with Armenia's Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation to Europe and the speech by Armenia's Foreign Minister, are obviously interrelated. When an opposition member in Azerbaijan tells Fuller, that "the figure of Heidar Aliev compensates for the lack of a unifying national concept" and when one considers that there is only one member of the opposition in Azerbaijan's parliament, it is easy to see why change within Azerbaijan is both inevitable and dangerous. In the months to come, we will examine

how such changes will affect the region

E-mail: aim4m@well.com EDITOR-PUBLISHER

Salpi Haroutinian Chaarian ASSOCIATE EDITOR

A. H. Alexandrian, Yerevan SENIOR EDITOR

Tony Halpin, London PRODUCTION AND PHOTO MANAGER Parik Naarian DCSIGN

AND PRODUCTION

Ray H. Toonian/DigiLith

Graphics lnc.

ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR Dania Ohanian SUBSCRIPTIONS

MANAGER

Seta Khodanian INTERNS

and

Karine Avedissian, Sonig Krikorian

Azerbaijan's negotiating process within the OSCE. AIM's coverage of business and economy this month includes an essay by George Mason, Senior Managing Director at Bear Stearns & Co. in Century City, California, and founder of the Califurnia Courier

George Mason

ffiill,,ii:i'ifi,.

ADVERTISING

Raffi Ohanian, Fimi Mekhitarian

YEREVAN BUREAU 5 Nalbandian Room 206 Tel: 583639 Tel/Fd: 17lU9

newspaper.

E.mail: aimam@arminco.com

Matthew Karanian, an attorney from Connecticut, is living in Armenia and reporting on economic and legal issues for AIM. He writes in this issue about the effects of the Russian financial crisis on neighboring Georgia. Karanian's light-hearted but probing tone will continue to be visible in upcoming stories on Armenia's beer, wine and ice cream industries.

Back in the US, the articles on the machinatrons around the inclusion of Section 907 are covered by AIM's Kristen Kidd and attorney Van Krikorian, who was involved in writing the original language of the bill

COORDINATOR

Anahit Martirossian ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Gohar Sahakian DESIGN

s

AND PRODUCTION

Vahan Stepanian

?

E

earlier this decade.

The thoughts and actions of American University of Armenia graduates, described in this issue by AIM's Gohar Sahakian in Yerevan, is AIM's cursory first look at this one-of-a-kind institution in Armenia. The gradu-

Ronald Grigor Suny, Hratch Tchilingirian, Taline Voskeritchian

CONTRIBUTORS Artashes Emin, lohn Hugha, Matthil Kilaniil, Yerwan; Susn Pattie, London;

Ara Chouljian, Hrag Var,abedian, L6 Angeles; Janet Samuelian, Palm Springs; Mark Malkrian, Rhode lsland: George Boumoutian, Lola Koundakjian, New Yoik; Myriam Gaume, Paris; Moorad Mmradian, Wdhington, DC; Vartan Mati6sian, Buenos Aires.

PHOTOGRAPHCRS

ates' comments at the new windows to the world offered them by the AUA, highlight the acute needs of Matthew Karanian an institution which must continue to think big. Mihran Agbabian, Founding President and now, President Emeritus, is spearheading a campaign to establish the kind of Endowment Fund necessary for an institution with such a huge mission. Future articles will look at the challenges facing an American institution in Armenia undergoing radical transition.

Finally, this month's articles on the classic opera Arshak II, back to back with a piece on the very successful rock band, System of a Down, is what makes AIM a magazine for the whole family.

Mkhitar Khachatiil, Zaven Khachikian, Rouben Mangasarian, Yerevan; Antoine Agoudjiil, Amineh .,ohannes, Aline Manoukian, Piris; Edmond Terakopian, London; Karine Armen, Kevork Dianrzian, Raffi Ekmekii, Eric Naarian, Ara Oshagan, L6 Angel6; Garo Lachiniil, Msschusetts; Ardem tulaniil, New ,e6ey; Harry Koundakiian, New York; Berge Ara Zobian, Rhode lsland.

EDITOR EMERITUS Charles Naarian EDITORIAI CONSUTTANT Mins Kojaian

ARGENTINA: Colegio Mekhitarista, Virey del Pino 3511 (1426) Buenos Aires, Phone 541 552 3690 . CANADA: Razmig Halimian, 6595 Henri 8ourtre West, Montreal, PQ, H4R 2E1, Phone 514 339 2517 . UNITED AMB EMIMTES: Gulizar ronian, PO. Box 4454, Abu Dhabi, UAE, Phone 971 2n5721,Fu971 2775 19'1 . UNITED KINODOM: Misak Ohanian, 1O5A Mill Hill Road, tuton, London W38lF, Phone 081 992 4521 ITAIY: Pierre Ealanian, Via Morlac.a,61 A415, Rome, Phone 995 1235 . HONC (ONC: ,ack Maxian, R/vl. /O, 1llF, Blmk A,26 Kai Cheung Rd., Ktrlmn Bay, Kowlmn, Phone 852 795 9888 . AUSIMIIA: Varooj lskendedan, 148 Kmla Ave. East Killara NSW, 2071 Phone 02.9251 2882; Alfred Markarian, PO. 8ox 370, Hafis Pa* NSW 2'150, Phom 029897 1 846; Vahe Kateb PO. Box 250, Port Melboume, Mctoria 3207, Phone 03 9794 0009.

.

WRITE

TO AIM!

we welcome all communiGtion. Althouth we read all letters and submissions, we are unable to acknowledge everythint we receive due to limited staffing and resources.

Lette6 to the Editor may be edited tor publication.

AIM NOVEMBER 1998

The issue dealing with Armenians by Choice (August, 1998) was great! (I really enjoyed the Essay by John Hughes.) We all

have non-Armenian friends who

have embraced Armenian life. Some, as your arti-

offer, and the psychological comfort we feel by having our parents alive and well and helping us stay in touch with our culture.

Life is good now....

'T:k1:;',l#;,?;

cle points out, have taken their love of Armenians one step further and have become

directly involved in Armenian issues with great commitment. They have added a vital dimension to those endeavors.

What a statement this makes to those Armenians who have chosen to ignore their heritage.

Life is good...

Relaxing on the balcony of a beautiful resort in Hawaii, thoroughly enjoying my

In the November 1998 issue of Metropolis, in an article on Philip Johnson, the "godfather of architecture", Johnson

to Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao as "the most important building of our generation and of our time." Continuing on, Johnson says he rates a building better if it makes him cry when he steps in.

This is somewhat the same feeling I had on reading Anais Deragopian's article in AIM (Arts, September 98) on the contribution of Vano Haritunians to the final culmination of one of the world's most impressive buildings of our time. I am sure that to get the Bilbao Museum off the ground from paper drawings was in a large measure due to Vano Haritunians in his capacity as project manager.

As a practicing architect, I can assure you that project managers oversee all the detalis before

emphatically refers

and during construction thus assuring the name-architect his or her claim to fame. I am extremely pleased to know that Vano Haritunians has achieved his successful career in architecture with Bilbao and that he will continue on to higher achievements.

Berj Tashjian Northbrook, lllinois From the first issue ofAIM I have been a devotee and an admirer. Each issue confirms

my opinion that it is the

finest

English/Armenian publication of its type in the Diaspora. Much credit goes to the initial hard work of Editor Emeritus Charles Nazarian, and capable editorial staff who have patiently nurtured the publication to this firsGrate position. I also must commend the photo-journalists, and artists for their outstanding contributions. (The cover art is always so creative.)

Cover Story,

is seen with Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and not the President. The Lebanese President is Elias Hrawi.

Thank you AIM for such fine in-depth coverage on so many varied and vital subjects.

M. Joyce Abdulian Los Angeles, Califurnia

Enough to lUlake You Gry

In AIM's September 1998 President Kocharian

Sebouh Tashiian Sydney,

Australia

Whoops! We knew that. And now we know that the new President (below) is General Emile Lahoud, of Armenian parentage.

vacation, I realize how fortunate I am. I just completed reading an article in the August issue of AIM, describing the hardships that some of my people face, just to survive. I had to stop and say a prayer. I am not wealthy, but

have

a very comfortable life in the San

Francisco Bay area. But that doesn't mean it's carefree. It is true that I don't constantly worry where the next meal is going to come from, or whether we will have heat this winter, but I do worry about the Armenian side of my life.

As a first generation American who moved here as a teen-ager and, after some ups and downs, finds herself at a very happy place, I don't worry about my own "Armenianness",

but what about my kids, what about

Exchange, Again Your recent article (Connections, August

1998) in which the "de-judaization" of

the

Jerusalem is urged indicates that an anti-Israel,

future? Will they feel the way I do when they see our flag or when they read anything pertaining to us in the press, or hear our music? I do the best I can to teach them our language and expose them to our culture and traditions, but they are little now. I still have some control over their lives. I know this won't be the case for long. Soon they'll grow up and decide for themselves if they want to attend cultural events, and more importantly, keep speaking the language mommy kept insisting that they do as children. And what about the cultural identity that even I have trouble keeping alive?

The delicious, but complicated and time consuming cuisine that we are proud to call ours, will it stay alive when grandmothers are no longer? I plead guilty. I have not leamed how to cook from my mom, as she did from hers in

anti-Semitic slant has become AIM policy.

This is deplorable and offensive; and it would

the Middle East.

I wonder if all young Armenian moms in America are concerned the way I am about the future----cultural future-and what they're able to do so that the life we know and love will continue. We have it all: the comfortable lives and luxuries that this land of plenty has to AIM NOVEMBER I998

be surrealistic to wish the de-Armenianization of Yerevan or the de-Christianization of the

Vatican. Such poison out ofthe Diaspora troubles my friends-scholars and journalists-in

Armenia, a philo-Semitic land where a new Armeno-Jewish community, loyal citizens of that struggling, magnificent republic, is flourishing. Armenians rightly deplore Israel's alliance with Turkey; but must recognize that Iran and Syria are strange bedfellows, too. I have just returned from my sixth trip to Armenia. Despite the problems we all know, I can't wait to return.

I do not wish to be unfair. The trends I take you to task for are mirrored in the Jewish Diaspora press: the English-language weekly Forward has adopted an ignorant and malevo-

lent anti-Armenian, pro-Turkish

stance,

notably in this week's editorial on the issues of the PKK and Antioch, whilst Israel itself seeks distance from that conflict. Good will towards Armenia in Israel is strong, fostered in diplo-

The Fourth Millennium S@iety is

public

m independently funded md administercd

chrity comitted to

the dissemination of infomation for the purporc of developing m infomed public. Underpinning all our work is the fim convicrion rhat

e independent press is fundamental to a dem@ratic s@iety in Amenia ed demcraiic institutions in the Diaspora. The Fourth Millemium Seiety publishes Amenie lntemational Mageine in its effon to conribute to the national dialogue. The di@to6 rc grateful to *le Benefactors, Trustees, patrons md Friends of the Founh Millemium Saiety who ile committed to the well-being, growth and deve lopment of Amenims md Arenia through the prcmotion of open the vitality of

matic and human ties that grow by the month.

Armenians and Jews are natural friends and bridge builders, linked by a legacy of ancient culture and hard experience. The Diaspora

press of both peoples ought to follow the mature lead of our homelands, instead of vying with each other in propagating a hatred that is ultimately destructive to all. Your faith-

ful subscriber,

THB

T'OIIRTH

discussion and the frce

flow of infomation mong individuals md orgaiations.

MIIIENMUM

Their financial contributions support the work ofthe Founh Millennium Sciety md

S0CIBTY, Inc.

Michel

ofAlM.

ensure the independence Nahabâ‚Źl, Raffi

Zinalian, Direcrors.

James Russell, Professor

Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts

DIRECTORS'98 Shahen Hairapetian, Armen Hampar, Zaven Khanjian, Michael Nahabet,

For the record, there is no "anti-Semitic, anti-lsrael slant" in AIM's policy. Nor is there a pro-Semitic, pro-Israel slant. There simply is no slant. (Just as there is no discussion of deJudaization in the story you mention.) Authors are free to wite articles which contain fact and interpretation (based on given facts) and readers arefree to agree or disagree. Read on:

Felix Gorley Replies: When Dr. Harry Hagopian and other Jerusalem natives complain of the "Judaization" of their city, they are not advocating the expulsion of the Jewish population or the suppression of the identity of that Jewish population (what I presume Professor Russell is referring to when he speaks of "deJudaization").

They are rather advocating the continued multi-ethnic identity of their city and a political set-up that reflects this (perhaps on the

of an intemationalized Jerusalem, as advocated by the Vatican, or a shared lines

Israeli/Palestinian capital).

What they most object to is the aggressive colonization policy of the Israeli government and militant Jewish groups, combined with a deliberate policy of restriction and marginalization of the Palestinian population ultimately aimed at driving it out of the city to make way for an exclusively JewisMsraeli city.

After all the horrors of the 20th century, with Anatolia denuded of its Armenian population, Germany denuded of its Jewish population, Armenia and Karabakh denuded of their

Alex Sarkissian, Bob Shamlian, Raffi Zinzalian.

BENEFACTORS Sarkis Acopian, Hirair Hovnanian, The Lincy Foundation, Louise Manoogian Simone

SENIOR TRUSTEES

AUSTRALIA: Heros & Kate Dilmchian; CALIFORNIA: Khachig Babayan, George & Flora Dunaians, George & Grace Kay, Joe & Joyce Steini CANADA: Razmig Hakimian, Kourken Sarkissian; HONG KONG: Jack Maxian FOTJNDING TRUSTEES

AUSTRALIA: Varoojan Iskenderian; CALIFORNIA: Garen Avedikian, Mardo Kaprielian, Edward Misserlian, Bob Movelf, Varoujan Nahabet, Norair Oskanian, Emmy papazian, Zareh Sarkissian, Raffi Zinzalian; FLORIDA: Hagop Koushakjian PENNSYLVANIA: Zarouhi Mardikim ASSOCIATE TRUSTEES Araxie M. Haroutinian, Ralph and Savey Tufenkian PATRONS AUSTRALIA

CALIFORNIA, cont'd.

Aman ed Nairi Derderiil

Arpiar and Hemine Juoyan

George and Vanouhi Tavoukjim

Walter and Laurel Kaabian

Artin Etmekjian

Kevork

ad

Mihran and Elizabeth Agbabian

Vankes and Jem

Berj and Hera Boyajian

md Violet Dakessian

Ard6h and Mdian Derderian

Dimiri ed Tamaa Dimitri Steve

ed

Gagik and Kna Calstim

we have had enough of ethnic exclusivity. The

Vahan and Audrcy Grcgor

mass migration of Armenians even in the 1990s to multi-ethnic Russia and the US

Piere and Alice Haig

Mmoushag Femanim

Amen dd Gloriat Hamptr

and

Dora

CYPRUS

Sona Khmjian

Serviuim Kuhn

ITALY Krikor and Haout Isanbulian

Avik Mahdesian Stepan

dd

Ani Migirdicyan

Gao Keheyan

Krikor Krikorim

Mdkilim

Erdjanik

LEBANON Kevork Bouladian

Hmut md Rih Mesiobian Jsmine Mgrdichian

MICHIGAN

Edwdd dd Alice Navasargiil

George Chamchikim

Kenneth

Lucille Estephmian

Azerbaijani populations and Azerbaijan denuded of its Armenian population, I believe

ad

Zaven

Bmm

Hary and Alvart Baseghian Hagop

Kuuim

Gary and Sossi Kevorkian

Gaabâ‚Źd Akpolat Armand and Nmcy Arabian

CANADA Migirdic

Roe Ketchoyu

John and

CALIFORNIA

md Dzovig Zeitlian

Satenig Kaajerjian

Nishant md Sona

Anonymous

Ara and Avedis Tavitia Gaidzag

md Cindy Norim

Mmogimt

Alex

Rafi Ourfalian Michael md Hermine Piranian Hratch and Helga

NEVADA Larry

Peros

ed

Seda

Shmlia

Gdine Taglye

NEWYORK Harry

ed

Aida Koundakjian

Vahe

Nishuimt

shows that many Armenians share that view.

Jerusalem's native population of whatever ethnicity and faith should be allowed to remain in their homes and flourish. I-and I'm sure Dr. Hagopian also---do not advocate the expulsion of any population from their native land.

10

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

AUSTRALIA: Armen Hekimian; NEW JERSEY Jack and Ani Anserian

AIM NOVEMBER I998

Bmes

Sakis

Alex Sukissian Roben and Helen

ed

Exchange: Water Flow

It

was excellent that you dedicated so

much space on Karabakh, a subject and place so close to our hearts.

I am pleased to note that the Canadian chapters of the Fund were the first with the

"Water

for

Stepanakert" project. Montreal

The contradictions in your October issue

regarding water supply

in

Karabakh have

raised a few questions in my mind. Being a steady contributor to the All Armenia Fund, should I continue to bring my participation to the Fund? Does AIM check and double check the facts before presenting them to the readers-a task so essential if AIM wishes to pre-

brought the water from Baluja (8 km), Toronto (and later Vancouver) laid down the ring pipeline network for the city (10 km) and the Fund in Holland financed the water filtration plant for Hadrut and just recently, the Fund in Germany built the water reservoir for the vil-

the city has water 5 to

l0

hours a day, every-

day. Not only did the Yerevan All-Armenia Fund engineers oversee the project, we also sent two engineers from Canada, specializing in water distribution, to review the project.

Two of our committee members have also visited the construction sites three times. It looks like your reporter unfortunately has picked a

dwelling, which is not connected to the main water network properly yet, but her style of writing is making a misleading generalization.

Now, from the schools in Martakert to the hospitals in Hadrut, we have still a lot to do to upgrade the infrastructure of Karabakh. With that in mind, the Canadian Fund, in collaboration with the Fund chapters in France and Argentina, has undertaken the building and furnishing of the Physics and Mathematics High School with a dormitory in Stepanakert.

I am pleased to report that the school building is practically completed.

I urge all the Diaspora Armenians one more time, to participate materially in the nation building process in order to earn the right to say, that "Karabakh is ours".

Mi girdic M i girdicyan, Chairman, " Hayastan" All-Armenia Fund Toronto Chaptef Ontario, Canada

hours every moming, and it is not as rusty as before.

I also wish to point out that I visited the lavatories of the Government building several times during my stay there, and every single time there was not a single drop of water there.

(Yerevan is no different.)

Of course, it must be remembered that much of this problem is due to the lack of plumbing maintenance. The main water lines may have been repaired, but the water pipes within the buildings are still in a sorry state.

The fountains appearing in the October 1998 issue (page 28) are located right in the city center, opposite Stepanakert Theater House. As you can see even in the city center there was drinking water problem. The photo was taken in June or July of this year.

lage of Vararagn.

Now, I would like to bring to your attention that Armineh Johannes' article "A Day in the life of the Kirakosians of Stepanakert" (October 1998, page 28) is in contradiction with the View on page 13, which is about water. You state that the majority of the homes of Stepanakert has drinking water. Well, we all know that half of the Karabakh population lives in Stepanakert, so if water has been brought to the majority of the homes, then it would not be appropriate to say "Not a drop to drink." Armineh Johannes states that "water is supplied for two hours every two days." Now, I am not questioning the accuracy of this report, howeveq instead of generalizing the situation it would have been more appropriate to say "the house I visited still is getting water for only two hours every two days."

Since September 1997, the majority of

September they are getting water for only two

Armineh Johannes

Lilit Kirakosian in Stepanakert

Yerevan

serve the credibility of the magazine?

On my August trip to Karabakh,

Misinformation creates confusion and consequently hurts the very people we are trying to help. It does not help Armenia, nor

Karabakh and its suffering population.

Misinformation only helps the agenda of the negative elements in the Diaspora.

the

flat I stayed in received water six times in the l0 days I was there. At the flat Stepanakert

where and

AIM

photographer Zaven Khachikian

I stayed, water comes from about 7-11 am

each day.

At

another flat where my friend

difference.

lives, water comes every other day.

I was in Stepanakert last Sunday. I visited the maternity hospital where a doctor told me that they get water once every four days!

At a hospital! This hospital, by the way, is directly across the street from the flat where Zaven and I stayed this time, where water comes routinely. I have noticed that in the new restaurants, water seems always available in the toilets, however, in the general hospital where Dr. Roger Ohanesian from the US was running a clinic-"sterilization" is a matter of an attendant pouring, sparingly, from a bucket.

I suppose the readers are rightly upset. I think, however, it is not the reporting over which they should be angry, but the fact thatin spite of the Diaspora's considerable

Allll Gonespondenls Reply

efforts-sorry conditions remain. Perhaps they should pride themselves in considering how dreadful the situation would be were it

Chahan Pakradouni Monteal, Quebec, Canada These are just a few of the calls and let' ters AIM received on the water issue. AIM does indeed check and double-check facts before publication. Below, please find the explanations offered by the two journalists who contibuted the Karabakh stories and photos for the October issue. It should be added that a municipal water distribution system is half the problem; clean andfunctioning plumbing within a building is another problem. Solving the first doesn't necessarily mean the second was solved, and that, too, is proba-

bly an area where the Diaspora can make a

The Kirakosian family lives

on Alexander Hekimian Street, near School No. 10 (going south from the Presidential Palace and the Government building all the way down the main street where the Foreign Ministry is located) where blocks of residential buildings are lined. They live on the fourth floor. There are hundreds of apartments on

that street, so the problem concerns all of them. The information was gathered in June/July. I also went back there in late August.

I just called the Kirakosian family to see if things had changed, they said that since

AIM NOVEMBER 1998

not for their contributions. Like so much in this country, "success" is a relative thing.

Whether Armineh Johannes and I found extreme cases is debatable. I suspect-and am willingly to be proven wrong-that Diasporan organizations accompanied by government officials see a different picture than that seen by journalists looking for the everyman perspective. I have now made five trips to Karabakh in the last two years. While conditions are improved, my eyes and ears don't have to strain to know that anecdotes of hardship are not aberrations in that place.

John Hughes Yerevan

ll

;l;.';

*ffi

r

',

.-i""1.:|;+ :ti:a

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:-l-:r :It.!

Ihe lail Wagging tnc IIog Are Prolits and US Policies al0dds in the Gaucasus? his much we already know: Oil companies want to get oil out of the Caspian Sea and sell it, in order to make money. The US (as well as Westem Europe) want to be able to exert more influence in the Caucasus and Central Asia, and as a result, see a diminished Russian hold in the region.

We also know that Azerbaijan is the primary door through which the West expects to walk into the Caspian and walk out with black gold. For that privilege, over $40 billion has already been

committed by international oil giants.

And Azerbaijani President Heidar Aliev is the darling of the oil industry and Aliev's authoritarian hold on the presidency was (and is) important specifically because he, unlike his counterparts in Turkey, Russia and elsewhere, makes it very plain who the oil companies must negotiate with-Heidar Aliev. (In the five years since he became president, Aliev had never made il to Ganja, Azerbaijan's second largest city, but he had visited every major Westem capital.)Azerbaijan has wanted to lure Western oil companies into Baku more to secure its political independence than its financial security.

Now that Western oil companies have comfortably settled in Azerbaijan, and Aliev is reelected, what's next?

The Clinton Administration thought the answer is obviousUS oil companies will build pipelines through the Caucasus and Turkey to the Mediterranean. US allies Turkey and Azerbaijan will be happy and more obliged to the West. Azerbaijan, Georgia and

To Marfiet, to ls thele r00m

an

any other transit country (Armenia maybe?) will be less dependent on Russia, and oil companies will make money.

However, almost concurrently with the Azeri elections, the oil companies demonstrated their greater interest in the last itemmoney-rather than the political agenda of the US government.

So, for those who have been thinking that US involvement in the Caspian is inevitable because the US is there to protect the interests of US companies, perhaps it's time to think again. Perhaps US oil companies are being pushed to establish and expand their interests in the Caucasus simply to give the US government an excuse to be in the region.

After all, no less prestigious an institution than the James Baker III Institute for Public Policy has determined that the real petroleum potential of the Caspian Sea region is somewhat less than the hyped fantasies which have been presented as fact.

Bottom Line: Oil companies have made it clear that they are unwilling to back plans that would extend US influence in the Caspian region without simultaneously expanding oil company profits. Now, perhaps, the US government will re-assess its track record in the Caucasus. Policies which will truly make it a force to balance Russia's presence, an honest broker, a positive spur, will result in an extenxion of US influence in the Caucasus-without the US needing oil companies as a lever. Because the oil companies aren't there for policy. They are there for profits. a

Maftet

the Armenlan mafl(et lor gitt itcms wlth Armenlan themes?

f f /hen AIM's first suggested Christmas gifts article appeared in December 1995, it seemed like a good idea. \N V Y Highlight items with an Armenian theme, support producers and vendors and encourage the use and presence of

recent years, the baby boomer generation has been responsible for mass market books with Armenian themes which make it possible to give an Armenian gift in a dignified way. Those titles are few and far between, however.

Armenian related products in homes and offices.

This year, in the process of identifying potential Christmas gifts for the fourth roundup (see page 62), it became clear that there is a problem.

Either producers aren't taking the Armenian market seriously, or, alternatively, there is no Armenian market. Which is it?

Books-there have always been books. Not necessarily attractive or readable or desirable, but they are written and printed.

Printed, not published, because that's an intellectual process that assumes conceptualization, editing and marketing that doesn't always happen. The wonderful self-published books that appear every now and then, even when they are produced professionally, are not distributed vigorously. Marketing to a dispersed community (they don't call it a Diaspora for nothing) is tough and expensive. In

There is not, nor has there ever been a similar problem with recordings. In the old days, there were vinyl LPs, then eight-track cartridges and audio cassettes, and now the cheaper, lighter, crispersounding CDs. Lots of them, for every taste. Easy and cheap to produce, easy and cheap to ship, musicians and engineers, as well as those who know nothing about either field, are responsible for the 200 plus new discs on the market each year.

If only the same thing could be said for toys and games. How hard is it to produce the popular children's memory game with Armenian themes? Jigsaw puzzles? Charts and posters? Comic books? How about computer games and multimedia CDs? More work would go into thinking up the content than in the designing, production and packaging. Is the prollem that no one wants to put the time into a process that is untested? Or, has it been tested and

t2

AIM NOVEMBER I998

there is no market?

Finally, beyond carpets and fine art, how will Armenian motifs find their way into homes if there aren't place mats, coasters, decorative knick-knacks to replace grandma's needlelace?

The question is, if some enterprising businessman actually sponsored the production of say coasters, or multimedia CDs in Armenia, or in the Middle East, for inexpensive production and export, would you buy them? r

A Mattu ol ExuGssion m0 Uery Dillercnt)

Bepresentatlons 0l Almenian iluslc Flnd Success 0n the Woild Stage.

t's pleasant to have new and unexpected problems rather than the old, traditional ones. The common old complaint used to be that Armenians don't make enough effort to display their ancient and rich culture to the world. Who knows about Armenia's art, architecture, folklore, music and literature was the standard lament.

Suddenly, there is a major effort to bring grand Armenian opera to the intemational music stages. At the same time, a heavy metal band (so heavy, it's called death metal) has found success and recognition in concerts and record stores around the world. Yet, both these successes will doubtless elicit entirely new groans.

Sitting in Diaspora living rooms, reading Diaspora magazines, many people will audibly cry out against the drive to raise one million dollars for a San Francisco Opera production (See page xx) of

II Armenian opera. The orphans of Armenia will be invoked: A11 that money for an opera, when the

the Verdi-inspired Arshak

orphans in Armenia need so much.

Actually, one million dollars is just half the tab. The donations will be more than doubled by the Opera Company itself for a production that will put Armenia on the arts stage. For a one million

dollar investment, Armenian culture and history together will

be

served up to the tens of thousands of international opera-goers who are educated, culturally, socially and politically active, and the kind of people who need to see and hear positive images of Armenians.

Armenians will cease to become third world zealots and fanatics

and turn into cultured, knowledgeable brothers and sisters with whom Western culture shares a past, and will hopefully share a

future. Think of it this way, the million dollars could have been given to a public relations firm who would try to produce the same results with the same money. The opera simply has longer lasting and less superficial results. Arshak II on the world stage may not come at the cost of taking bread out of an orphan's mouth, therefore.

On the contrary, an environment in which more international aid and assistance

will

be available for Armenia may be the byproduct.

But, how not to groan and invoke the name of Komitas when Armenian youth dress and gesture and sing in ways that even a mother has a hard time accepting? System of a Down (See page xx) has found success by echoing many young people's disgust with the entire system and all of society. Before concluding that such an attitude is itself disgusting and not worthy of the label "Armenian", consider that the band's every performance begins with Sardarabad, an ode to a rare military victory, and ends with commentary on a society which has still to condemn the first genocide of this century. Young people from Hollywood to Holland who, conscious of social and political inequities, chant down, down, with middle fingers raised, for two hours in a deafening room, are hearing about the

injustice of condoning the greatest inequity of all-genocide.

System of a Down posters are in some of the industry's biggest record stores, and their concerts are sold out. They're on a world tour with some of the biggest names in the business.

Success and education come in various forms-from fourth century kings in l9th century operas, to genocide survivors dressed as 20th century punks. r

Presentation, Slide Show, Exhibition and Sale

AIM Publisher's Forum: Western Armenia lhrough llew Eyes The views of Hrair "HAWK" Khatcherian, Photographer from Montreal AGBU Alex Manoogian Center Boyajian Hall 2495F,. Mountain Street Pasadena, CA 91104

Friday, December 11, 1998; 8:00 PM Exhibition and Sale continues on Saturday, December 12,1998; 11:00 AM-8:00 PM For Information please call AIM (818) 246-7979

AIM NOVEMBER I998

t3

N

o

T

E

Gementing a Relationship The first agreement that Armenia signed with a nonSoviet entity was with the State of Utah and the Huntsman

Chemical Corporation.

The agreement on cooperation and partnership was signed between

then Utah governor

Norman Bengerter and then-Armenian prime minister Yazgen Manukian in the fall of

1991. At the same time, John Huntsman

of

Huntsman laid the foundation for his

Chemical

Yerevan-based plant which throughout the difficult years of the early 90s produced cement building materials. The original expectation was that the plant would also serve the Turkish and Middle Eastern markets. But Huntsman didn't know a blockade was coming. The Turkish and Azerbaijani blockade of Armenia's borders meant the end of cheap transport.

Still, John Huntsman and Huntsman Chemical stayed. They gave neighborhood families heaters and lantems, and provided jobs. Today, the Huntsman Chemical plant in Yerevan continues to produce for both the local and international markets.

Just this fall, Huntsman hosted President Robert Kocharian and his delegation for a one-day retreat in Salt Lake City, before the group returned to Armenia after a US trip which consisted of speeches at the UN and in Los Angeles at various venues (See page 16). During the one-day visit, Huntsman announced his readiness to provide $10 million as an interest-free loan (for 10 years) to rebuild Armenia's still destroyed earthquake zone.

Huntsman has often served as host to various American and foreign heads of state. His philanthropy, too, is nothing new. His family had made large donations to the earthquake-devastated children's hospital in Gumri, as well as other sites.

Howeveq due to his membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormon Church), many in the Armenian community, including the media and church leaders, publicly expressed fears that the $10 million loan which Huntsman agreed to provide the govemment of Armenia for earthquake reconstruction was really in exchange for the right to build a Mormon temple in Armenia.

Some often-heard rumors even insisted that Huntsman had given Kocharian several million dollars personally to ensure the temple construction.

Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian who was part of the delegation and present at all the discussions between Huntsman and Kocharian says the rumors are laughable. "Not only was there no such agreement, no such quid pro quo, the subject of a Mormon church in Armenia was never even mentioned during our one-day stay," explains Oskanian.

You Jusl Wait

long Enough

Hambartsum Galstian was mayor of Yerevan

( I 99 I

-93) when the

blockade set in, and living conditions deteriorated. Ovemight, an urban society had to leam to survive without the benefits ofurban conveniences. Of course, everyone blamed the authorities. The number of jokes about Galstian rose in direct proportion to the people's frustration and dissatisfaction over insuffrcient water, light, heat, sanitation services, etc.

When Galstian was removed from office over differences with President Levon Ter Petrossian, he was still the butt of much criticism as a politician turned opportunist-businessman.

Then, when he was assassinated in 1993 (AIM, NovemberDecember 1994) and no one was conclusively blamed for the crime, again there was frusffation, but no one knew where to direct it. After all, Galstian was a member of the original Karabakh Committeeone of its youngest members, a respected ethnographer, and an inspiring teacher and speaker.

So, perhaps

it's not

surprising that

just last month,

the

Hambartsum Galstian school was opened in Yerevan. The 4O-yearold Secondary School No. 83 was renamed for Galstian, Yerevan's first mayor, in a ceremony presided over by Karabakh's Bishop Barkev Martirosian. In recent months, the school underwent an $80,000 makeover, financed by the Hambartsum Galstian fund, managed by Galstian's brother Arsen.

The school differs from most other schools in the Republic, not simply because its classrooms and corridors sparkle, but because the school also has an ethnography museum "which will be used to help students learn about their cultural and ethnographic roots," said the principal. Thus, just as there are schools with special focus on a particular language, this will be a school with a special focus on ethnography.

AIM NOVEMBER 1998

bytes on file Amount of US aid allocated to Armenia in

His llame liues 0n

US budget

Monte if

a

z!

I

G

U

Melkonian,

for Fiscal Year'1999,

in millions of dollars: 79.8

he

were alive, would

have been 4l years old this month. Instead, the Californiaborn anthropolo-

gist-military leader-freedom

fighter was down

in

shot

1993 in

the midst of

the

Amount of

to Georgia in for Fiscal Year 1999, in millions of dollars: US aid allocated

US budget

84.4 Number of Georgian-American lobbying organizations in Washington : 0

He is one of the rare few who has

Amount of US aid allocated to Azerbaijan in US budget for FiscalYear 1999, in millions of dollars:

been posthumous-

0

Karabakh conflict.

ly

decorated

as

"National Hero of the Armenian

Republic". Every army general in Karabakh

will tell

youthatif thebattle was going well

Amount of aid Azerbaijan is expected to receive through various agencies, in millions of dollars: 25 Length of the Turkish-Syrian border in

Armenian

miles:

it was, Melkonian (or

550

General Avo) was

Distance of the Turkish-Syrian border from Armenia in miles:

for the

side, and

at least partly responsible. He

took a

rag-tag group of volunteers and turned them into a disciplined group of fighh

ers and tumed the Martuni region-jutting out of Southeastern Karabakh into Azerbaijan-into a solid bastion which didn't yield an inch of land. A month before his death, he and his men had a major part in the taking of the strategic Kelbajar region, and immediately before that in winning back ground lost in Martakert. He was famous for his ethics-insisting on respecting the rights of civilians and captured soldiers. Even though they didn't fully grasp his motivations or ascetism-he never smoked or drank-still, the soldiers listened because he lived as he.spoke-a combination of discipline and commitment.

His dedication wasn't lost on the villagers as well, for the thorough care and security he provided the civilians. Five years after his death, the region of Martuni is known as Monteaberd, statues and khachkars are erected in his memory in Armenia and Karabakh, fountains are named for Monte, sfeets and schools are named for the fighter who spoke of philosophy and history as much as he spoke about srategy and training.

And, of course, children are named Monte. Children, like the one above, who is living on his land, with his grandmother. His address: Monte Melkonian Streâ‚Źt, No. l.

One Chrisunas, a woman hosting a children's Christmas party asked the children who they wanted to see most. The children's unanimous and spontaneous response was "Avo!Avo!", thus upstaging Santa Claus. This year, the children will have to settle for St. Nick.

300

Minimum annual GNP per capita for a country to receive assistance from the World Bank: $sgo Armenia's average CNP per capita: $430 Number of oil companies which had joined the Azerbaijan lnternational Operating Company oil consortium, before Exxon: .t0 Average number of hogehangist requiem services held each Sunday at St. Mary's Armenian Church in Clendale: 60 Economist, AIM Research, Aag, Azetbaijan lnternational

V

C

E

R

NMENIA'$ 340 sncGics 0l birds are amonu Armenia's most ualuaHe natural resouloes ,B

$fiLH ffiROUTI]{IA]I GIIAZARIAI{ .ThOIOS IMfiBSU OI BIBIIS OF ARMEI{IA

PROJEGT

arkis Acopian is a man with a mission. The 72-year-old engineer whose

plants in Pennsylvania and Florida manufacture power supplies was born in Tabriz, Iran. He came to America in 1945, served in the U.S. Army. got an engineering degree from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, and stayed there. In 1954, he started Acopian Technical Co. which his sons Greg and Jeff now run.

While still rhe CEO of his compa-

ny, Acopian's time is almost completely devoted to his various projects. A recipient of the Ellis Island

Medal in 1996, he is a supporter of

the Armenian Assembly of America, and the American University of Armenia; he is the benefactor who made possible the purchase and renovation of the Armenian Embassy building in

Ottawa, Canada, and the backer of several other

Armenian and

non-

Armenian projects (including the Fourth Millennium However, the single

undertaking which

has

occupied most of his time for more than half of the last decade is the Birds of Armenia project.

A man who was

into parachuting

in

the 60s and skindiv-

ing in the 50s

time

Birds of Armenia? What birds? Why birds?

Acopian is not a boastful figure. He exudes a no-nonsense earnestness; and the way he tells it, he started out as a man who

wanted

to do

something about helping

Armenia.

With an intensity more closely typical of religious converts, he lays out his logic.

Armenia doesn't have mineral resources, it has no sea, no oil rigs. Armenia has a very

small population, and no strategic links to any major powers. Armenian music and art are wonderful but not what it would take for the world to stand up and take notice. But somehow, the world has to be made to take notice.

"On a clear morning, when you fly into Armenia from the north. you can just see how small this country is. It's such a little sliver of a gem, we have to keep it and we have to keep it healthy," says Acopian.

He has thought

Society).

become

pher and production supervisor for what is clearly more than a hobby, even more than a passion. It is possibly a calling, without doubt a serious commitment.

has

the full-

manager, strategist, cartogra-

it

through.

"I

don't

waste time on things that can't be done." On the Birds of Armenia project, he has neither wasted nor skimped time or money.

Acopian's purpose is not to stimulate ornithology or birding. "It's not just about birds, this Birds of Armenia project," he says more than once. Daniel Klem Jr., the scientific director of the project, says point blank, "Here is an aspect of Armenia that fascinates people outside of Armenia. Yet, my impression is that Armenians are surprised that they have something of this kind of interest to the world."

STORY

BINI M he Caucasus mountain range, like mountains everywhere create flight Ianes which carry birds along with minimal effort. Birds on a long migrating journey find such passageways attractive and useful. They use them to travel up and down during their migration cycle. This is as true of the Appalachian Mountains near Acopian's home as it is of the Caucasus. In both cases, enormous concentrations oftens of thousands of birds, many of them birds of

prey, follow mountain ridges and passes, where a combination of weather and topography create conditions which allow them to travel at low energetic cost. Many of these birds of prey also refuse to cross large bodies o[ water, thus creating migration corridors on nearby land.

Dl|M

their homes. That is why a small country the size of Belgium or the state of

rare Dalmatian Pelican

Maryland has 346 different species of birds.

Some of Armenia's

birds live there

American University

on the birds of the republic. That was in

the Dalmation Pelican breed in Armenia, others (like the Greater White-Fronted Goose) breed elsewhere, but return.

tified Martin Adamian, the country's senior ornithologist and Curator of Vertebrate

al. Some like

Klem, who teaches at Muhlenberg

Hundreds of species that include European,

Asian and African birds

special interest

fly

through the

Armenian corridor on their way to or tiom

Armenia,

round, others are season-

College in Pennsylvania, explains, "That is why it is important to maintain their habitats if we want them to have something familiar to which to return."

This requires an understanding of the hows and whys of conservation.

With the intention of developing such awareness, Acopian, an industrialist with a

These basic facts put Armenia and Armenia's birds on the flight path.

of

about the state of information compiled

year-

in

conservation, asked

Mihran Agbabian, president of

the

l992.Together, Agbabian and Acopian iden-

Zoology at the Institute of Zoology.

But this was the year when there was no heating fuel available or electricity, and

the Zoology Institute was not adequately maintained. Acopian brought in generators, heaters, telephones and faxes. A team was hired to update existing information on the birds of Armenia. Such information, according to Adamian, was available from a variety of sources-some 1600 years old, others as recent as the last major attempt at a comprehensive treatment of birds in 1954.

ARMENIAN BIRDS Worldwide, there are approximately 9700 species of birds. Scientists assign them to 29 orders based on shared characteristics. The orders are further subdivided into 187 families based on their likenesses. Thero are 346 species belonging to 18 orders and 58 families that havs been recorded or are suspected to occur in Armenia. This compares with 750 species in the entire area of the former Soviet Union, and 550 in all of Europe. One hundred and five of Armenia's 349 species are of special concern because current evidenco suggests they need protection within the borders of the Republic of Armenia.

Armenian birds range in size from the Mute Swan (length: 150 cm or 69 inches) to the Common Goldcrest (len$t: 9 cm. or 4 inches). The Eurasian Black Vulture has the longest wing span of anyArmenian bird; 270 cm. or 10 ft.

AIM NOVEMBER I998

l9

"Still, the format and reliability of information differed from what we in the West are accustomed to," explains Klem.

"So, we set out to provide information about

birds as a way of introducing the importance of conservation for the health and well-being of the country."

But why birds? Acopian, Klem, the project's international manager Peter Saenger all jump to explain what to them is more than obvious. By observing migration

pattems, by studying migratory birds'numbers, one can get a good understanding of environmental conditions in other places in the world. They have only to state that nearly two decades after the Chernobyl explosion, the number of birds which migrate from Ukraine are still tenfold less than what they used to be, and immediately, the importance of studying migration becomes evident.

"Ecological issues, conservation studies, even human health-using canaries in mines to identify the level of available oxygen-have and continue to be dependent on a study of birds," reminds Klem.

"Birds of prey like the Long-legged Buzzard. similar to our Red-tailed Hawk in North America, are relatively abundant in Armenia. Because these birds are carnivorous and eat high on the food chain as do

humans, they have the ability to show symptoms that might indicate that there are some problems in the environmeht-problems of nutrition, survival, poison. They alert us to potential dangers and by studying them, we can reveal what is hurting them, and potentially, us," Klem continues.

There was no question, then, about the

importance 20

of

studying birds. But, "It

became clear that we had to get more people to go to Armenia to get more contempo-

raneous information, more in depth information-is this bird really extinct, what about water fowl known to the Sevan area, have they now gone to the Armash ponds?

In the last several decades, nobody had devised a field survey plan. We introduced Dr. Adamian and his new staff to the conventional methods of measuring bird specimens in the west. We found that even measuring is different, some of the ways that we number anatomical features, like feathers, on a bird are different."

Klem and Saenger and Jeff Acopian traveled to Armenia to handle basic logistics problems. ln 1991 , the operations were moved

from the Institute of Zoology to

the

American University of Armenia for easier administration and to further enhance the work of the Armenian researchers in the field.

In order to quicken the process of identification and measurement. volunteers were sought, interviewed and sent to Armenia. These experienced birders, including trained scientists, (mostly from

Great Britain) spent months

in the

field

alongside Armenian researchers. "After a number of minor and not-so-minor cultural

misunderstandings occurred among our international team, our success in attempting to comprehensively assess Armenian bird life, which included many new discoveries, were revealed to be truly remarkable ' and surprising," Klem explains.

"For example, there is a bird called Radde's Accentor, which lives on the side

Mount Aragats.

ln

of

1994, Dr. Adamian

AIM NOVEMBER I998

thought this bird was extirpated-no longer present in the country. But our f,reld teams discovered a number of new breeding sites that excited and relieved our concem for its loss."

The information had to go into a book.

Acopian wanted something for every person. Adamian and Klem were interested in cataloging all the scientific data. Working as a team they agreed to produce two books: a field guide for everyone to promote conservation, and a handbook for the scientists and dedicated amateurs.

The first book, the field guide is the kind of book you can put in your knapsack and hit the fields. A second book will be a

comprehensive records

listing of

documented

of all birds-the kind of quantita-

tive, technical information which experts need to develop scenarios for what might have happened in the past, and may happen in the future.

Adamian and Klem became principal authors of the book that became The attractive Field Guide contains the names and original illustrations of each species, along with their occurrence status, abundance, sex and age differences, behavior, habitat, food, nests and eggs. A colorful, detailed and unusual feature-distribution maps showing where each bird is, or should be, found-was the product of months of labor

by Acopian, not a professional cartographer.

Scientific reviewers have described A Field Guide to Birds of Armenia as the most technically sophisticated field guide to have been published in recent years.

But its most useful feature is what it

will still

do. "Users of the guide, in the field, the

will be able to document and improve

known ranges of numerous species of birds,

helping

to solidify

knowledge

of

the

region's bird life," notes Keith Bildstein, Director of Research at the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Kempton, Pennsylvania.

This is a direct benefit of such guides.

Following the 1960 publication of Birds of Israel which listed 357 bird species, extra field research revealed the existence of even

of Armenia where birds have been sitedthat's virtually all of Armenia. What makes this map unique-and very useful not only for scientists and bird watchers-is that it will provide an index of all the locations, complimented with explanation insets.

in the of being translated to Armenian.

Meanwhile, the field guide is process

Finally, Acopian and others are exploring

more species. A 1991 volume by the same name now documents 5l I species.

is in

Ih Url il

tltl

cmr

The direct benefit

of bird

guides in

general is that the process ofidentifying and documenting birds ceases to be the responsibility of experts alone. Experts, too, armed

with this information become more effective and efficient, and anyone else, armed a

copy ofthe book, a pair ofbinoculars

and walking shoes can identify and describe birds-known and unknown.

It's a good thing, because there is cer-

the

tainly

works in order to provide all the detailed scientific information that is essential for the professional bird people around the world, the ornithologists. The handbook will include a full-color, two-sided, postersize map, indicating the locations of all the sitings for each of the 346 bird species. In effect, the map will identify all the villages, towns, mountain peaks and nature preserves

young people.

with

That's just part of the project. At the same time, a technical handbook

ways to turn the volumes of information into teaching tools to attract and educate

a shortage of

Armenia.

If

ornithologists in you held a convention today,

less than 10 would show up.

It's not surpris-

ing, considering that, for decades, simple lars were considered, well, not macho.

Chris Rose working on the project

The Birds of Armenia

b. Gtdil stffiocf,

According to the Field Guide to the Birds of Armenia, the snowcock is a huge snow partridge which glides rapidly down slopes on stiff wings, sunbathes on huge boulders and indicates its presence with a loud piercing whistle which is audible up to one kilometer away. The snowcock is a year-round resident of Armenia, and is not one of the more common species. lt can be seen during five to 50 percent of trips afield. The gray bird is found only in alpine and subalpine zones. lt measures 27 inches long, with a wing span of 45 inches. The snowcock illustration is by Jan Wilczur, one of a dozen of the best illustrators in Europe, who worked on the book. "The US people just weren't familiar with the species," notes s-cientist , Daniel Klem Jr. Each of the book's 600 illustrations had to be visually exact for color, feath- '1 1 er count and shape, and represent correct size relationships; in addition, the bird had to be ' ' presented in an environment that is authentic. .

AIM NOVEMBER I998

2l

COVER STORY project, then, also has succeeded in destroy-

ment. Like Kazakhstan in far away central Asia, Armenia has to begin to welcome vis-

ing some of those obstacles.

Still, the project's first goal is to establish an environmental ethic at all levels, to

itors to its formerly off-limits and littleknown land in the Caucasus.

Acopian is interested in focusing on the children, and teaching them to rethink their connections with nature and animals; "birds are excellent ambassadors to effectively teach value and importance of these connections." says Klem.

protect Armenia's irreplaceable natural treasures, for current and future generation. The second, more complex goal is to encourage

environmental respect through study of

Armenia's exceptionally rich bird life, which will result in attracting professionals and amateurs from around the world to Armenia and help develop a lasting rela-

tionship with them.

"Awareness of the interdependence of all forms of life is good for the health and wellbeing of the country at all levels," says Klem. A good environment for animals is a good environment for people as well. This may be a tough sell in a country where on the one hand, people have a visceral connection to nature-Armenians can tell you about caves, nature trails, woods, valleys and gorges which they know like the back of their hand; at the same time, hunting is popular, imposed limits are rejected, and animal rights are unheard of.

This, too, the western scientists understand. After all, respect and concern for the

environment became popular in North America and Europe only after the peo-

ple's socio-economic conditions

had

exceeded minimal survival levels. So. there is still room to go.

Interest

in birds is not new

prevalent symbols. Bird form alphabet letters were used extensively by medieval scribes as they made copies of ancient manuscripts. Birds have long been a part of Armenia's cultural wealth.

Acopian, Klem, Bildstein stress that "a combination of education and legislation is necessary to preserve those things which are unique to the country."

Bildstein, director

of the Hawk

Mountain Sanctuary which in a few decades has done much to change the legislative and social conditions, says, "Legislation is very

The uncommon Purple Heron

The attitudes and thinking have to change. Education campaigns-with simple messages, such as "Don't rape the Khosrov

forests, if you want tourism to flourish"need to be instituted to create a new discourse and awareness about the environ-

important because air and water know no

borders. Education, however, is key in a society where attitudes regarding wildlife differ greatly."

"Armenia has an awful lot of resources still to be discovered, not least of which is the birds," Klem points out.

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N tributed more than $130 million in humanitarian aid for Azeri refugees through organizations like the Red Cross and Save the Children. They have even relaxed 907 in ttre past to assistAzeri refugees tlrough aid given directly to the government, and the recently passed 1999 US budget continues to fund such programs.

As for the Jewish-American organiza-

DAUID:

GOLIAIH:0

tions that lobbied for repealing Section 907 this year, Armenia's Ambassador to the US,

Limits on direct US gouemment aid to Azerbaiian ale maintained, despite greal oil comffiny and other ptessuJes.

Rouben Shugarian, believes those groups were

simply misinformed. "I don't want to say that they don't understand it, but they are making judgments on some superficial arguments that they are being fed by the oil companies," Shugarian said The American Jewish Committee, B'nai

B'rith, the American Jewish Congress, the Anti-Defamation lrague, and the National

By !ffilSTEll IflllD t

seems so simple. Section 907 of the US Freedom Support Act, passed by Congress

and signed by President George Bush in 1992 prevents the US from giving direct economic and military aid to Azerbaijan as long as its blockade prevents US humanitarian aid from reaching Armenia and Karabakh. As Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from Califomia, put it during the House debate on whether to retain or remove this law, "907 was put into place

of humanitarian assistance. The blockade was by Azerbaijan and T[rkey for assistance going to Armenia.

The minute the blockade is lifted, Section 907 because there was a blockade

is lifted." The argument apparently rang true as the full House voted to reinstate 907 on a vote

of 231 to 182 in late September.

This was not the first time an effort had

been made

to water down or

completely

remove the objectionable section. In 1995, Charlie Wilson, a Democratic Congressman

from Texas tried to ease the sanctions 907 imposes so that Azerbaijan could receive millions of dollars in investment from the US. Azerbaijan had already been receiving millions in humanitarian aid via non-governmental organizations (NGOs), but Azeri President Heidar Aliev let it be known he wanted direct aid sent to his government, and he did not intend to lift the blockade. Oil companies eager to do business with Azerbaijan heard the

message and pressed

it with lawmakers in

their districts in the US. Wilson took up the cause and nearly killed an effort by the Armenian-American lobby to broaden Section 907's scope to include all countries. particularly Turkey. His efforts failed but by the narrowest of margins: one vote.

October 1998, deja vu. Charlie Wilson is no longer a US Congressman. He works for an

24

oil

company, and continues repeal of Section 907.

to

advocate the

This year's battle was headed by

the

powerful Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Bob Livingston, Republican from Louisiana.

Congressman Livingston used his clout to propose and pass an amendment to the 1999 Foreign Aid Appropriations Bill to repeal Section 907 altogether. That action was supported not only by the Azeri, Turkish and US oil lobbies, but by the US State Department, a large

number

of

Republican and Democratic law-

Conference on Soviet Jewry, sent

a

joint letter

to both the Senate Foreign Relations

Committee and the House Appropriations Committee urging Section 907's repeal. In the letter to the House they stated, "we believe this is good for the US, good for regional stability in the Caucasus and Central Asia and good for Israel." The letter goes on to say, "as long as Section 907 remains in place, it is a deterrent to the international investment needed to create the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline, the natural gateway for transporting Caspian Basin hydrocarbons to the West."

makers, and oddly enough, a coalition of five high prolile Jewish-American organizations.

$hlt

S[anm Bcdlellows

half a dozen

"It's a very unique and interesting combination of bedfellows," commented Ross

Azerbaijan joined forces in the campaign-the

Vartian, Executive Director of the Armenian Assembly ofAmerica, a lobbying organization based in Washington, DC. The articulate and

American activists was stronger. "Defense of section 907 believe was a very positive example of community wide cooperation; we built on each other's energy and on a conrmon agenda," said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee

ol Coolcratlor While the strength of the opposition to

907 was impressive-l4 oil companies and

politically savvy Vartian thinks that American

oil

the

companies are acting out of

financial interests when they side with Azerbaijan. "They're being blackmailed by Baku," Vartian charges, "the US oil companies have strong commercial interests in the Caspian, so they act politically in line with Azerbaijan's objectives."

But when it comes to the Clinton Administration's stance, Vartian is less forgiving. "It's interesting how they've changed their emphasis over time, initially saying Section 907 is an impediment to improving our relations with Azerbaijan. Then they started getting into some disinformation; saying things like we can't provide any humanitarian aid to Azerbaijan," Vartian notes. Indeed, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has disAIM NOVEMBER 1998

spirit

of

registered lobbyists for

cooperation among Armenian-

I

of America (ANCA). "This is a model of cooperation. The ANCA, the Armenian Assembly, every Armenian from the Diocese and the Prelacy, and Armenian Catholics were involved," Hamparian observed.

At every stage the Assembly and ANCA

compared information

on probable

vote

counts and reconsidered who to target, always knowing where in the process the issue stood and what the opposition's arguments were.

Ara Bedrosian, Executive Director of the

National Organization

of

Republican Armenians (N.O.R.A.) agreed, "this has been a big victory for not only the Armenian cofilmunity and the Armenian lobby but also for the

a member of the Armenian Caucus, pointed out that "for nearly a decade, Azerbaijan has

Hamparian agrees, saying that differ-

bined into one omnibus budget bill for quicker White House approval. Section 907 was retained and Armenian activists let out a collective sigh of relief when the President signed the legislation into law-albeit with some significant deletions---on Tuesday, October 20.

The deletions included a Reconstruction Fund, to be made available only to those countries

ences among the Armenian-American activist groups ile actually helpful in creating a broad-

willing to participate in direct or proximity peace negotiations without preconditions.

answered himself. "Why would we hand out a

coalition. "The lesson of this vote is that people can affect policy, even against

Specifically earmarked assistance for

big sack of carrots to an anti-democratic

Karabakh was also removed. But Armenia

major odds. We know you care, but you've

retained

got to believe that you can make a difference," added Hamparian.

This was a textbook case. "We faced the huge Azeri oil lobby, we don't have one fourth of their budget, but we succeeded in letting lawmakers know how the community feels about this, and what a big impact it would

decrease of $7.7 million from last year) of which at least 12 percent is to be made available

regime? Sadly, the answer can be summed up in one word. Oil. Put crudely, the oil lobby has dollar signs in its eyes."

Bonior was not alone in his thinking.

David Obey, Democrat from Wisconsin, agreed. "...all too often in this country and in our political system, when big business and big dollars speak, we tend to listen to them more than we do to any other sec-

democratic ways in which we approached this."

While in the past, lobbying groups might

have rushed to claim ownership of legislative victories on Capitol Hill, today all seem happy to share the win. "It's everyone's victory; whoever put in the effort has the right to claim responsibility," Vartian stated.

er-based

have on the November elections. I'm proud to say we won, but we can't stop because this will be up again next year,"

its

earmark-$79.8 million

(a

\ cI>\

candidacy

Bonior went on to ask a question

he

bying for it? When we see that we do have the Amoco, Exxon, Mobile, Penzoil and

of others interested in seeing us change

a number

our

position,

then

we

iii",,i )r I hood that Congress will switch its position."

@

o) O)

z J Gl

Y

o IIJ

A mbas s ador concurred that the oil lobby played a

of

Shugarian

former KGB

General

it is a

chokehold on democracy."

y

Aliev's nottoo-bright record

in the area of human and civil rights protection seemed to convince some lawmakers that repealing Section 907, now, would indeed send the wrong message of support to Azerbaijan.

During the debate on the House floor, Congressman George Radanovich, a Republican from Califomia, and the principal author of the amendment to retain Section 907, said: "On the eve of the upcoming Azerbaijani elections, such a move would be viewed as an American endorsement of the policies and

ade is a roadblock to regional peace and

body really believe this amendment would have a chance of a snowball in Hades if we did not have a list of 14 oil . \ companies who were lob-

Bedrosian is right. Because Congress has to approve an annual budget every year, foreign spending and all its components, including foreign aid to Azerbaijan and Armenia, will continue to be debated forever.

This year's victory may be partially explained by timing. As the Azerbaijani presidential elections were around the comet it was clear that Heidar Aliev needed no help to win. same time,

ratic neighbors, the Republic of Armenia.

This illegal blockade has cut off the transport of fuel, of food and of medicine. This block-

tion of our society. Does any-

notes Bedrosian.

At the

used tanks and soldiers to blockade its democ-

tl

big role in the

HeidarAliev.

Section 907's repeal would represent

both an unsound foreign policy decision and an i:responsible misuse of taxpayers' funds."

The timing of US domestic concerns counted, too. Since the budget year had almost come to a close without a budget approved for next year, all spending measures were com-

to the American University of Armenia (See related story, page 52).

0lly DeDale Prior to Congress's approval, however, Section 907 inspired a lively debate among lawmakers for and against the issue. Rep.

An

David Bonior,

a

Democrat from Michigan and

debate.

Nevertheless, Shugarian added, "Even for oil interests, the repeal of 907 would not have been beneficial, because oil companies and the business circles hrst and foremost should be interested in peace and stability in the region. Without a stable Caucasus, without actual balance in the Caucasus, it's very very dangerous to think about economic interests first and security interests second."

Continued on page 26

AIM NOVEMBER 1998

25

A

N

o

T

N

BY INVITATION

Ihe Myth ol the Powerlul Armenian lobby

By UAll

A A

long look at the Armenian Assembly's

unriuul Washington advocacy goals I \shows that they all boil down to two interrelated points-preventing another genocide and strengthening the bonds between the US and Armenia. Logic would indicate that

Washington's acceptance

of

lmIl(0BlAll

actually reach the Armenian people. The Turkish blockade of Armenia is illegal, costly to American taxpayers, and does not benefit Turkey. Yet, the US govemment routinely waives the Corridor Act which was designed to do away with these kinds of problems. This

those points

year's pyrotechnics over Section 907 is anoth-

should be obvious. The American people support them, they promote US interests, and his-

tory shows the merit in their acceptance as

er example of a government pursuing dubious interests and working harder to repeal existing law than it has ever worked to enforce a law

well

that the State Department negotiated

of their abandonment.

There is nothing fancy about working against genocide or strengthening natural bonds between two counffies that already share so much. Yet this simple work has a hard time finding even limited success. We as the heavy costs

have a government that chokes so hard when the 1915 Genocide comes up that you want to

administer the Heimlich Maneuver as

a

humanitarian act rather than watch some of these officials suffer through an explanation that every truthful part of their body tells them is not right. Agencies like OPIC, the Export-

Import Bank, the Trade and Development Agency, the Commerce Department and others have less to show for supporting trade and

investment

in Armenia than

whoever was

behind the opening the Chinese restaurant off Republic Square in Yerevan. Karabakh, which fought a defensive war and established its independence to avoid an attempted genocide, has seen US support during the Soviet era turn to US opposition during the post-Soviet era.

Earlier this year, Armenia actually lost a president who agreed to US-backed concessions to Azerbaijan.

While Congress has appropriated large amounts of aid to Armenia and Karabakh, obscene amounts of that aid get eaten up by transportation, consultants and other expenses which significantly reduce the funds which

Continued from page 25

Although Vartian and the Armenian Assembly attempted to demonstrate that US national interests were being defined very nar-

rowly, still, "if it is about oil, you're not going to get the oil out until you address these other issues," stated the Assembly.

This argument was just one part of the

approach

26

of the Armenian lobby from

the

agreed to at the time

it was

and

passed.

With respect to the development of democracy and a market economy, Armenians have been and remain clear leaders in the region; very high standards are applied to Armenia and criticism for shortcomings are readily voiced. Yet, when it's time to look at the status of democracy in Azerbaijan or other countries in the region, low standards are charitably applied. The reality is that no one would be surprised to learn that those responsible for the Sumgait and Baku pogroms walk free. Washington has become so twisted that Azerbaijan's President Heidar Aliev, a criminal against whom we fought the Cold War, is

hailed as a democrat and welcomed to the White House, when in a civilized society he would have been put in prison years ago. He has demonstrated that he cannot be trusted to

protect innocent lives, abide by a treaty, or support the US if he thinks his personal interests

lie somewhere

else.

If

these (and many other) bizarre twists were not enough, in recent years the myth of the Powerful Armenian Lobby has been created. If we said the sky is blue and Aliev wanted the sky to be green, Amoco, former congressmen and administration officials, and everyone else on someone's payroll would get

to work convincing Washington that the sky

point of view of US interests. Vartian explains: "I can imagine the Azerbaijani people l0 to 15 years from now; they are going to be definitely antiAmerican. The people get nothing trickled down and this dictatorship continues with US support-tacit or not. We either learn by our mistakes or we're going to get nailed again."

For whatever combination of reasons, Section 907 was retained and continues to be a

AIM NOVEMBER 1998

must be green, since the Powerful Armenian Lobby claims it's blue. (Note that this tactic is a variation of the classic two-pronged Turkish attack on Genocide resolutions which start with "Armenians are liars" therefore "there was no Genocide"; Or, if that doesn't work, try "Perhaps unfortunate things did happen, but the liars deserved it."

The perhaps somber truth is that there is no PowerfulArmenian Lobby. There is a great

deal of willingness, dedication and hard work (overtime, in facQ to ensure that the blue sky is still considered blue.

It's clear that those of us who want to see genocide prevented and US-Armenian bonds strengthened, have to make changes if we are going to maintain our positions-and perhaps get ahead. These kinds of changes will help: It will help to bolster the growing realization that Azerbaijan's oil flowing through a pipeline across Tirrkey is not close to becoming a feasible altemative to the Persian Gulf. It will help if commitments to work together in good will and good faith in and out of the Armenian community are reinforced and expanded. It will help ifwe know the value ofour goals and we communicate them more aggressively and effectively. It will help if more Armenians work in govemment. But what would help most is if the deceptive Powerful Armenian Lobby myth is rejected in favor of the David and Goliath reality. There is an anecdote from

New York about a man sitting alone in a restaurant. He asks the waiter, "What is the soup du jour?" Much later, the waiter returns and reports "Sir, the soup dujour is the soup of the

day."

I

Van Krikaiaa Cfuinrun of the Armenian Assetnbly Board of Directors, is an intemational lawyer and, partner with the New York fim ofVedder Price.

part'

of US law. But, as Vartian

observes,

"Whenever there's been a recorded vote on the

Hill both the

debate and voting has been

against them, yet they keep trying."

After all, everyone involved in the strug-

gle agrees with Ambassador Shugarian that "Azerbaijan's long term strategy is to marginalize Armenia in the long haul, to make sure pipelines don't go through Armeni4 and 907 is the tip ofthat

iceberg."

I

AT s fr

The Hofburg Palace in Vienna is the seat of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

A Primer 0n the 0SGE by Amenia's Permanent Representatiue

By SATPI HABOUIII{IA]{ GHAZIBIAI{

7Tth" Minsk Group of the Organization I for Security and Cooperationin I Europ. tosinl is charged with finding an acceptable resolution of the Karabakh conflict. Jivan Tabibian, 61, a political scientist and urban planner, was

recently named Armenia's Permanent Representative to the OSCE in Europe. This interview took place just a week before he assumed his position in mid-September.

Following the interview are excerpts of a speech delivered by Armenia's Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian to the Permanent Council of the OSCE in early October.

How do you see your job

as

Armenia's

Permanent Representative to the OSCE? The OSCE is an institution which was created in Europe as a political means to deal

with questions that affect the stability

and

security of Europe. Stability is the real issue.

The OSCE extends its membership to all former soviet republics, including Central Asia.

That tells you the intention is not to cover a geographic idea, but to create a safety valve for emergent conflicts benveen and within states.

The real OSCE is a post-USSR phenomenon. Since the fall of the USSR, the possibili-

ties of conflict have exploded, as have the number of OSCE members. The OSCE sends missions for various purposes: to encourage

talks, to report on abuses, to monitor

elec-

veto power of every state, the OSCE cannot create a formula that it can enforce on either Armenia, Karabakh or Azerbaijan. It can only act as a broker or facilitator, and it carries a lot of political and moral authority-but it can't enforce. So, for the last six years, the OSCE

tions, to help create ceasefires. These missions are created as conflicts emerge or as problems are anticipated. Curiously, it's often the potentially offending party that requests OSCE monitors, because they are, for example, trying to make elections look good. The OSCE can't go in otherwise.

The OSCE is based on the principle of

has become a major forum for us for this issue.

consensus. Imagine a security council where all 54 members have veto power.

The OSCE is not really after either peace or justice. The OSCE is essentially an institution to guarantee stability. Therefore, it looks at a conflict as a destabilizing phenomenon. If a conflict is not potentially destabilzing, the OSCE is not interested. For example, they are not in Ireland since the Irish problem does not really spill over its own borders. They are in Moldova and Kosovo and Bosnia and Karabakh.

Solving the Karabakh conflict is high on the agenda of the QSCE. The existing ceasefire has lasted but is precarious. Because of the

a

AIM NOVEMBER 1998

But in this forum, there is a contradiction between the principles by which the OSCE tries to resolve conflicts and our interests and the kinds of resolution that we want for the Karabakh issue. The OSCE is reluctant to openly advocate any resolution that contradicts the notion of territorial integrity. We have different point of view. We have questions of legality, legitimacy, human rights and selfdetermination-all of which are very much part of the OSCE charter.

Doesn't the OSCE have similar ideological tensions in any of the other places where it's involved?

The best example is Kosovo. The OSCE sent a mission to Kosovo which the government of the Yugoslav Republic did not allow.

The OSCE cannot overrule the sovereignty of a state. There is this inherent contradiction between the notion of sovereignty and any

27

NATION rights that have to be worked out within the framework of the acquiescence of a sovereign state. A better example would be that the

OSCE cannot even think

of tackling the

Turkish-Kurdish problem, because one OSCE member, Turkey, essentially says there is no Kurdish problem. The OSCE, then, cannot say, 'Yes, there is a Kurdish problem."

In our case, the OSCE recognizes there is

a

Nagorno Karabakh problem. That's simply because there is a Karabakh which, although not internationally recognized, has a political military reality that is on the ground. And Azerbaijan is in no position to tell us (or any-

at this moment, we cannot call upon any state to be our active advocate at the time of negotiations. In fact, the big problem is that on certflin crucial issues, the majority of the

OSCE, sometimes unanimously, votes in a way that we cannot agree with. That kind of isolation is very uncomfortable. It is not drastic, it is not tragic, but it is uncomfortable. Our main task is to find ways in which we do not get cornered. It is true that we have certain fundamental national interests that we cannot negotiate away for the sake of being on the side of the majority. We are perceived,

why bother having an OSCE? If

one) that there is no Karabakh problem.

In fact, Azerbaijan is very eager to make

the OSCE an actor in the resolution of

the NK problem.

dynamic transition, as a real and invited member of an emergent Europe, as a country with a huge Diaspora scattered from the Far East, to the Far West of the US, Armenia does have an interest in many, many domains. Armenia is as interested in stability as the next guy. We don't want an unstable world, in which there are daily explosions. What happens in Kosovo interests us, what happens in Chechnya interests us, what happens in Ireland interests us.

They interest us because we're a member of a community. If the only criterion for making that interest real is to be a superpower, then

: bers, that means in an integrated, inter:, active, global, interdependent Europe, ,.r every major issue is indivisible. , ,, Security is indivisible, prosperity is

,

',,,.r.:. indivisible, human rights are indivisi-

.

ble. Those are indivisible values. What

because-and

Armenians don't always realize is-in this case, we're not the plaintiff. That's a profound situation.

Is Armenia as eager for

Liechtenstein and Andorra are mem-

,

,: ,

'rrr": t;':t. :' '' : '

OSCE

involvement and participation?

Armenia is eager for the participation of anybody that can help resolve the conflict to the satisfaction of everybody, as long as the fundamental interests and rights of the Armenians of

,

Karabakh are not sacrificed. Armenia is very happy to have three major pow-

:

ers-US. Russia and France-all o[ whom have serious interests and "pedito help us with this.

, .

happens to my neighbor ultimately affects me. If my neighbor is in turmoil, I'm going to eventually suffer. If my neighbor is prosperous, I'm going to eventually benefit. If my neighbor has censorship, eventually I'm going to be hosting its refugees. We cannot not be our brother's keeper. Therefore, we need to develop chips which allow us to insert ourselves in these discussions.

gree"-

How do you implement the policy set forth by Armenia's President and Foreign Minister that Armenia can develop its own bargaining chips, one of them being its own

Is the constituency of the Minsk Group beneficial to Armenia's position?

We have to be realistic about certain things. On paper. the Minsk Group co-chairs are essentially plenipotentiary expressions of the OSCE as an institution. But it would be naive to believe that at the same time they are not acting

on their own behalf. So, while

the

Minsk Group as an entity together is an offshoot of the OSCE, still, Russia, France and the US are in the Minsk Group pursuing their version of what

constitutes the interests

of

Russia,

France and the US.

commitment to democracy and human rights, to an open society, and the absence of these principles

$trurlty l$ lnfrlulslilo, ProsBerlty ls lnillrlslfft, lluman RlUlrts

lre Indiulsltls.

Itose Are lnillrlslHn Ualurs.

Does the fact that Ttrrkey is in the

It's

always best to have certain advocates-people with whom you can exchange certain benefits.

At this moment,

although Armenia has very positive relations with many countries and is not in a state of conflict or confrontation with anybody (except in the case of Karabakh with our immediate neighbor, and in the case of the economic blockade with Turkey), still,

28

Notjust Azerbaijan, but Turkey

as

well. We are approaching this as good citizens. Beyond our specific problems and conflicts, we look at the OSCE as an ongoing, long term framework for bringing certain values everywhere. We do our best to practice those values. We are willing to be judged by those standards and make every effort to improve those standards. But we want those stan-

Minsk Group mean Azerbaijan "has an uncle in the jury" and Armenia is isolated?

in Azerbaijan?

dards to be held

because of the fundamental nature of our Karabakh situation, to be basically a singleissue country, and an issue about which they think we have not exhibited much flexibility.

It's as if we don't have to open our mouth, they think they know what we are going to say.

Yet, while Armenia's interests are very evident and fundamental, still, as a sovereign state, in a sensitive region of the world, as a descendant

of a former empire which is in a period of

AIM NOVEMBER I998

up for everyone.

We

want fair and equitable application of the great values of Europe. Because there is nothing worse in a comunity or a family than to basically reduce the standards to the lowest common denominator. A chain is as weak as its

weakest link.

If

there is a dictatorship that is

oppressing its people in Europe, that is detrimental to the security of Europe. We don't want to be that weak link. We want to be among its strong links. Given our size and our history, if we can not be the world's policeman, we deti-

NATION nitely want to be its conscience.

Although oil companies are very intercst-

world market safely and profitably, why is it that they don't consider Armenia a player in the ed in getting Azerbaijan's oil out to the

pnocess of ensuring a stable, peaceful region?

Oil companies seem to suffer simultaneously from short memories and a narrowing of their geographic scope, when you would think that a hundred years of global operations would have given them some perspective on how things happen around the world. Sooner

Armenia's bilateral relations have often been defined by financial limitations. How has that affected Armenia's capacity to conduct foreign relations and state building?

In a boxing match, the heavier guy has an advantage. But there is a certain nimbleness that comes with not being so overweight.

However, that nimbleness is not automatic with being underweight. The British call this trying to punch above your weight. We have no choice. We have to punch above our weight, but to do this, we have to make up for

nobody questions that having money is better than not having money. That's too trite to argue about. If Armenia needs a hospital and the Diaspora can send a hospital, that's good.

But that's not what we're talking about. We

are talking about political mobilization. We have instances where it works. Our lobbying efforts in Washington show how the Diaspora can make a positive contribution. Armenia's state-building and nation-building efforts are better with that than without it. We know that.

But if the Diaspora wants to participate in Armenia's policy making machinery, it must adopt a perspective that it is not capable of

or later, Shell Oil will wake up to the future of

Nigeria. Nevertheless, every risk analysis is simultaneously a risk benefit analysis. If oil companies have made analyses that say that the expected benefits or profits include a margin of safety that will compensate for the risk of operating in the Transcaucasus, I can not take issue with them. If one looks at the fact that in the next 15 years, in the best ofcircumstances, Caspian Oil will represent less than frve percent of global oil, one can see why they can be cavalier about taking certain risks.

If that percentage was 30 percent, I think they would know every Armenian village by name.

If Armenia is in some ways not so critical, it's only because Caspian Oil is not so critical. Of course, it's very easy to say that when the price of oil today is a low $10 a barrel.

Going from observer to occasional par-

ticipant in its development, to participant

and implementor, how do you describe these seven years?

It's less a foreign policy issue than one of statebuilding--building the structures of a state. In our case, we have been a nation for a long time and we've flirted a couple of times with statehood. Now, we're having another go at it. We are essentially joining the world process of matching nations and states together and providing each one with the necessary wherewithal for a decent life, security and prosperity. Right now, our national interest requires that we link up with statehood-its

immediately grasping: Armenia, from Armenia, looks very different than Armenia from the outside. We are all Armenians but the building of a nation state is a different activity than speaking a language or building a church 8000 miles away.

r.

::

Why is this something that is so dfficult to intuitively understand?

Perhaps the greatest thing we can do in complex situations is realize that intuition is not enough. We rely too much on our intuitive grasp which usually comes down to saying there is a certain spontaneous visceral identification, commitment and willingenss. Those

:lpt,irar"tlr..r::-:,l.

what we lack in weight or power, by some other qualifications: imagination, cleverness, understanding, thoroughness of analysis, coordination, planning, and using every possible resource, including the Diaspora. However, it is not enough to simply do those things. It's important to do them well. Resources may be

are very valuable ingredients, but no substitute

for coolheaded analysis, an understanding of complex reality, a knowledge of facts, and a rather tedious activitiy known as conscious. deliberate, complex planning of moves. You see, having 100,000 people does not make an army. To take a group of 100,000 men and transform it into a fighting army means taking resources and doing things with it. Armenians should know It is absolutely true that in the war in Karabakh, our nationalism, dedication,

necessary, but they're never sufficient. To make resources useful and effective, you've got to have the social, eco-

courage, sacrifice, the fact thatArmenians in Karabakh were fighting for their homes, all played a major role in whatever victories we achieved. At the same time, we must also know that we exercised better strategy, better mobilization, greater social cohesion than the

characteristics of sovereignty, independence, institutions, structures, democracy, participation. Foreign policy and foreign relations and

diplomacy can not be conceived outside of that larger process. My interest has always been to think of everything we do in the context of that evolution and transition. Foreign policy initiatives are not to be judged as ends in themselves. At this stage of our statebuilding, they have to be continuously subordinated

to the requirements of strengthening that fundamental reality called the nation state of Armenia. It doesn't matter what else we do if the Armenian Republic does not become more

consolidated. stable. stronger. continuous. legitimate. If that gets undermined, the rest won't matter.

Azerbaijanis did. Their numerical superiority, their greater quantity of equipment, their oil based bribes and money--on the surface they had greater resources. But we prevailed because we transformed volunteers into a thoughtful army, and they didn't.

nomlc, conceptu-

al,

intellectu-

I don't want to

al capability of The Diaspora is one of those resources that can

also be an albatross,

detract from our

strength, but we should also recognize what the weaknesses of our enemy were. They

utilizing them well.

a

weight on the shoulder. The Diaspora must first understand in what ways it can in fact help Armenia. Like in a family,

q

lacked political legitimacy, social cohesion,

EI 6l

tactical and strategic sophistication, they lacked the kind of government able to mobilize the people. In every conflict one of the protagonists'weakness is the other's strength.

Nobody can dispute this, least of all Azeris. I

29

N

Excerpls lrom a spGech delluered by

Almenia's toleign tilnlslel Uarlan oskanian lo the PelmanGnt Gouncll ol lhe 0SGE, ln early 0ctober. e believe in Europe and we believe

in the OSCE as a framework for stability in Europe. We believe in the Euro-Atlantic cooperation and partnership

stnrcture. We have fully incorporated these into our own national security thinking.

We Believe in cooperation and regional alrangements that create the infrastructure for regional stability. Security is indivisible.

However, the conditions and principles that make for security and stability are also indivisible. Justice, fairness and economic development, and most of all respect and protection of human and civil rights. These are also indivisible. A chain is as strong as its weakest link. Europe therefore, is only as prosperous, free and democratic as its poorest, its least free and the least democratic member of its community. ll We must distinguish between stability

30

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T

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and the forced maintenance of the status quo.

Conflating the two is neither wise nor practicable in the long run. A status quo in political life is never inherently permanent and a viable policy of stability requires a mechanism to pursue an evolutionary, dynamic process of managing change. A dormant volcano is not

ent idea of stability and status quo. What is usually blamed as the evil of nationalism is no more than the manifestations of frustrated national aspirations and the urge to achieve self-determination, without which security

always a dead volcano. We have new and dynamic challenges to the status quo. We should not be shy to address these challenges creatively and objectively to conceive more

tion ofits own security, or rather its perceived threats to its security. Out geographic position and our long history have greatly contributed to our desire to define our security needs in terms which take into account very carefully the behavior and the intentions of our immedi-

adaptive answers than falling back in a comfortable, yet dangerously elusive status quo. ll As usual it is easier for those whose national aspirations are already fulfilled to transcend them into transnational, co-opera-

tive, integrative institutions. As we know, it has not always been so. It took multiple "nationalist confrontations" to bring part of Europe to its senses. Thus, while some parts of Europe are integrating with countries secure in

their statehood and fulfilled in their national aspirations, other parts are disintegrating, with people trying to achieve independent statehood or clinging to their vulnerable sovereign-

seems elusive to them.

ll

A few words about Armenia's

percep-

ate neighbors. The actions and declarations of certain of our neighbors, not only towards us, but in the region as a whole, give us pause and often a cause for concern if not alarm.

Our own resources are objectively speaking no match to the size, strength or military capabilities of our neighbors with whom our recent history has had a ragic dimension. We would rather move from a position of arxious insecurity to one of positive, gradual and constructive

ty. These people, who call themselves nations,

engagement and resolve our differences through diplomatic dialogue and economic and regional cooperation. However, it is difficult to engage

and whom the outsiders, discomfited by their agitations, call ethnicities, have a very differ-

those who maintain their refusal to formalize diplomatic relations with my country.

AIM NOVEMBER I998

llWe look at our security not only bilaterally, but also regionally in the broader European context. We are convinced in the long run our national security must be anchored in regional stability, while there are multiple conflicts affecting afflicting the peace and stability ofour region, we are understandably ready to help resolve the conflict that affects us most, the Nagomo Karabakh confl ict.

It is important to see the Karabakh conflict from the security perspective of those whose national aspirations have been denied and rampled for too long. It is equally important to bear in mind that Karabakh's claim to independence

are more likely to result in the kind of dynamic equilibrium for lasting stability. For its part,

Armenia is committed to further democracy at home by working consistently on improving its own constitutional processes and the guarantee of individual rights though the rule of law.

ll Finally

a word about history. It is often said that a slavish attachment to history and an unreconstructed replay of historical memory are incapacitating traits afflicting certain peoples. It is said that these traits must be overcome if peaceful progress is to be achieved between former enemies or currently hostile and feuding neighbors. There is a certain

is fully warranted under intemational law and the applicable Soviet laws that provided the framework for the Soviet republics to declare their independence in l99l and thus secure formal recognition by the intemational community

Our beliefs in this issue notwithstanding, in order to move the peace process forward, let me state here clearly my govemment's willingness to remove, as preconditions for negotiations, the demand for either independence or union with Armenia.

We consider the removal of these preconditions a serious sign of our commitment to a negotiated peace. However in order for this to be consequential we believe that a similar gesture must be forthcoming from our interlocutors. We think that the intemational community, Europe and the OSCE through the Minsk group, must encourage a reciprocal posture, a syrnmetry, whereby Azerbaijan would declare its willingness to remove as precondition to talks, its own insistence on an autonomous status for Nagomo Karabakh along traditional lines. Complex and extraordinary situations necessitate innovative, flexible and unconventional solutions in which new forms of statal

configurations permit the reconciliation of seemingly irreconcilable principles and political interests.

It is here that the Minsk group and through it the OSCE can chart new territory and design adaptive and effective structures and expand the repertoire of its conflict resolution tools. The rewards for a successful construct in resolving the Karabakh issue cannot be overestimated. It is clear to us that its architecture may have relevance in dealing with similarly engendered conflicts across the OSCE's vast domain.

For us, peace in Nagorno Karabakh is of course the promise of transforming a situation of hostility and confrontation with our neigh-

bor Azerbaijan into one of cooperation and mutually reinforced security, We would like to

think of the day when Karabakh is transformed from being a chasm separating our countries to being a bridge built for the benefit of all the populations concerned. ll Regional arrangements btween states committed to democracy and the rule of law

We nnr [oPEFur

ffilr

mE oAr

u0uur G0tE $00il HEEil IilE PEOPLE ITMI UlIOilI UE HIUE SIIAREII

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I.OIIE HISIORT IRE

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inequity in the way certain mature democracies in Europe and elsewhere refer to these peoples as trapped by their history as if a long memory were a form of congenital incapacitation. No nation can escape its history entirely, it can only transcend it. But to transcend it, two conditions must prevail. One, a country must confront its history both intemally and in relation to others. Second, those others, outside its borders, who as participants and actors have shaped that history they must also jointly confront theirs. There is no national history in a vacuum. For France and Germany, England and France, the US and Japan, in order to tran-

scend their histories

of conflict, war and

AIM NOVEBER 1998

hatred, they had to transcend the past together.

We Armenians are often told to forget our history even our recent history. We are told to forget the past and look at the future. If I may

borrow the appropriate distinction made by a German friend, to forgive is not the same as to forget. To forget is neither feasible nor always very wise.

It devalues the national experience that underlies so much of national identity, no matter how painful or glorious. To forgive and to be forgiven are equally necessary. Yet, it is difficult to forgive those who do not need to be forgiven. To ask for forgiveness, one must at least recognize a mistake, admit to an injustice or a misdeed. Perhaps contrition is too strong a word; it is not a word in the realm of international political discourse and it is better left to the guardians of our individual souls, but admission of an act of grave and deliberate abuse of the human rights and lives of another people, is the least one can do to reestablish the balance and transcend history. Armenians, as a nation who survived a genocide, are willing to forgive and to move on. We are hopeful that the day would come soon when the people with whom we have shared a long history are themselves ready to own up to the truth of their own history. Then and only then, can we move on together and build our regional cooperation and security arrangements on sound bases of trust and respect. !l These thoughts about Armenia :ue not based on any idea of national exceptionalism.

Every country's history is unique, but no one's history is truly exceptional. It is therefore our conviction that these observations have a relevance for situations across many continents, multiple cultures, several political systems and a multitude of national experiences. The OSCE can and must be instrumental in doing all it can to help history move forward, and find ways to help old adversaries transcend together their troublesome past. Real progress in this situation cannot be achieved by forcing an artificial consensus when my country continues to beteve

Albert Camus to

that its divergent position from that

of

the

majority is grounded in legitimate concems. ll Perhaps there are some among the distinguished representatives here, in this council, who may dismiss my comments as the

of a small country lost in the Transcaucasian quagmire, a utopianism utopianism

dressed as political philosophy. May I remind them however that in the last 50 years or so, in

Europe alone, the idealism and generosity of spirit of a George Marshall, or a Jean Monet or a Vaclav Havel proved to be far more realistic and effective than cynical "realism". Far more conducive to cooperation and stability than the "realism" of the uncritical but faithful practitioners of realpolitik who have elevated an essentially narrow and limited instrument of politics into an exalted principle. f 31

N

A

T

l|l$10 il$III

o

N

iloil l

l

ID

Ihe Armenia o I 0ne's llrea ms is Still lhere, J ust 0n the 0rh G1 Side ol Ararat, in lUrkey.

PhOIOS

[y

HBAIR

'ears

.HAWI(,

IffiAGHERIAI{

ago, when he was a member

of the Armenian

Youth

Federation, Armenia's former Foreign Minister, Raffi Hovannisian used to sing, "Almost Heaven, WestArmenia" to the tune of the well-known American ballad sung by John Denver.

Looking

at the photos of

Hrair

Khacherian, who calls himself Hawk, one

can understand why. Khacherian, whose two trips to Westem Armenia will result in a book later this year, traveled with one of

the tour groups led by Armen Aroyan.

Aroyan says the number of those who have traveled with him over the last decade to visit their parents and grandparents' villages in Turkey numbers close to 350.

On Khacherian's recent trip, fuchbishop Mesrob Ashjian baptized, (or re-baptized) Khacherian in the waters of the

Aladzani River where Gregory

the

Illuminator baptized King Tirdates, in 301

AD.

Khacherian's photos

of life

in

Karabakh were published as Artsakh, A Photographic Journey, last year by the Armenian Prelacy of New York. On each

trip to Armenia-Eastem or WesternKhacherian makes a point of visiting famous and lesser-known sites and documenting not just buildings but the people for whom those buildings are life.

Still, it is the buildings-churches and fortresses-of Western Armenia that

are majestic permanence.

in their

against-all-odds

I AIM NOVEMBER I998

AIM NOVEMBER I998

Sr. Kirakos Church in Tigranakert, and a view of ltrke Van, near the village of Khorkom, Arshile Gorky's birthplace.

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ELEGII[|N ENGl|UNIERS

IN BAKU The more things stay the same, the more

thcy certainly will Ghange.

U tlZ FUILER, Spectal to Alfrl -f, f

xry people may have been bitterly

IVlffil;ffl"tffiiTffi'"f:i poll, in which, according to the official

returns, incumbent Heidar Aliev was reelected with 76.11 percent of the vote, but very few will have been surprised. Monitors from

the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the NDI and the Intemational Republican Institute all criticized widespread violations. The OSCE ruled that the elections "did not conform to intemational standards," but declined to condemn them as undemocratic, or to reject the results as invalid. That verdict represents a serious setback to both the main opposition candidate, Azerbaijan National Independence Party chairman Etibar Mamedov, who insists

that Aliev failed to gamer the nvo thirds majority needed for a fint round victory and to the five prominent opposition figures who had boycotted the poll to protest a legal framework which they claimed precluded a fair and democratic vote.

One

of

those five

is

historian Isa

("Get him to invite you to dinner, or lunch,"

a colleague advised before

I

left

Prague.

"He knows where to eat the best fish in Baku, the best kebab, the best salads ..."

Just days before the election, there was no time for leisurely gourmet indulgence, but Gambar did serve us exquisitely aromatic tea.) Understandably, Gambar sought to explain the opposition boycott in terms of a principled struggle for greater democratization, in which the Azerbaijani leadership had been constrained to make significant concessions (for example the abolition of media censorship) even if it had not created equal conditions for all potential presiden-

tial candidates. "What is important,"

he

insisted, "is to campaign for specific goals, regardless of whether there is a r.ealistic chance of attaining them."

Gambar's prognosis that Aliev's reelection would result in the total alienation of the leadership from society, but not necessarily in destabilization, let alone the presi dent's ouster, is not shared by his co-boy-

Gambar, chairman of the Musavat Party, the successor to the eponymous party that ruled

cotter, Liberal Party chairwoman Lala

the shortlived

imposing woman in her late forties; when she addresses a question to one of her youthful lieutenants, he rises to his feet to

Azerbaijan Democratic

Republic between 1918-1920. Gambar's involvement in politics dates from the late

Shovket Gadjieva. She is a handsome and

A

trained physician,

in

1980s, when as a junior academic he composed a samizdat rebuttal of 7,oii Balayan's

answer.

celebrated treatise advocating NagornoKarabakh's unification with Armenia; in 1992-93 he served as parliament speaker under President Abulfaz Elchibey. Aloof,

post in Moscow to return to Baku as Heidar Aliev's secretary of state, but within months was forced to resign over policy differences.

Following an attempt on her life in 1995,

a reputed gourmet, for an Oxford don.

for years she had not risked leaving her well-guarded apartment. But she was deter-

pipe-smoking, and Gambar could pass

1993

Gadjieva abandoned a senior government

AIM NOVEMBER 1998

mined to take part in the October 9 opposi-

tion rally, which many observers feared would result in bloody clashes with the police. "Don't be afraid," she reassured a colleague who phoned her the evening before in a clear fit of cold feet, "everything

will be all right." Gadjieva is vehement in her condemnation of Aliev and his entourage, above all on moral grounds, declaring that "it is wrong that one family should have several billion dollars in foreign banks while the population is starving." She predicted that Aliev will not remain in power for more than six months after the election, given that "the people cannot live like this any longer."

One man who stands to benefit from the anticipated post-election deterioration in the political situation is Rauf Talyshinsky, editor of the weekly newspaper AynaZzrkalo, which is universally respected for its objectivity and joumalistic standards. "The more heated the political struggle, the more scandals there are, the better it is for the press," he explained. Not that he is doing badly as things are. At our frst meeting three years ago, Talyshinsky was bitter and sarcastic, describing how he used to interpolate pseu-

do advertisements ("Baby elephants for sale, 50,000 manats each") to fill the blank spaces left by the censors. Now, by virtue

of

comering the advertising market, he has parlayed Ayna.rT*rlalo into a burgeoning media empire that comprises four newspa-

39

R

EG

ON predicting that sooner or later Azerbaijan

will

breed its equivalent of the Russian "oli-

garchs" who have carved up the Russian media scene betwen them.

Talyshinsky's success is one aspect of Azerbaijan's economic boom, but the statistics that show GDP growth of 5.8 percent in 199'7 and 9.1 percent during the first six months of 1998 fail to make clear that the new prosperity is confined to Baku and the

immediate surroundings. Elsewhere, the picture is one of delapidation and desolation. And even in Baku, poverty is undermining the social fabric. Chingiz, a former journalist with Azerbaijan state television, recounted how he was the first to document the tabu subject of abandoned corpses-the dead whose hapless relatives simply cannot afford to give them a proper funeral. Before 1991, Chingiz said, the number of corpses not claimed from Baku's morgues never Protesting the election process and resuks in Baku in mid-Octoben pers, an advertising agency, and a private distribution network from which other independent publications also benefit. His latest

lished to date. Next year, he will branch out into children's comics, all with a social message: anti-drugs, anti-AIDS, pro-ecology.

venture is children's literature: Exxon put up the funding for an ABC in the Latin script and for a lO-volume children's encyclopedia, of which two volumes have been pub-

Talyshinsky

Opposition member Etibar Mamedov.

is fiercely protective of his independence, both financial and political,

but is it sustainable in the longterm? Mais Mamedov, general director of Azerbaijan's only independent TV station, is dubious,

exceeded 50 per year; by 1996, the number of unclaimed bodies disposed of annually in mass graves had risen to over 2,500. was the growing disillusion and resentment of the vast majority of the population who are struggling to survive in conditions of acute impoverishment that the rival candidates to Aliev sought to tap.

Paradoxically, the most successful in doing

It

so was Etibar Mamedov, whom many observers believed until very recently had reached a private accomodation with the president which guaranteed his status as the token "loyal" opposition. Focussing on improving the climate for investment and on a drastic reduction in taxes, Mamedov's campaign program was geared primarily towards the entrepreneurial class who are his main hnancial backers. But he also succeeded in winning the support of many of the estimated 860,000 Azerbaijani fugitives from the districts adjacent to Karabakh that are still under Armenian control, by insisting they be given the right to vote. The Azerbaijani leadership had sought to withhold that right, fearing, not without reason, lest the fugitives vote en masse against Aliev.

Most opposition politicians, and most journalists, see Aliev as a pernicious influence. One man who disagrees is Mahal Ismailoglu, editor of Khalq gazeti, which was originally founded by, and still has close political links to, the presidential apparatus. Ismailoglu described his paper's role in terms of cautiously expanding the parameters of what it is possible to criticize in a country where the leadership is virnrally sacrosanct: his paper was threatened with

legal proceedings by Baku mayor Rafael Allakhverdiev for publishing allegations of

40

AIM NOVEMBER I998

R

EG ION

corruption within the city transport system, but an investigation ruled in Ismailoglu's

favor. In addition, Ismailoglu has argued personally with Aliev the need for tax reforms that would end what he termed the "war to the death" between the private sector and the tax inspectorate.

As the father of two teenage children, Ismailoglu is genuinely perturbed that tradi-

tional social and moral values are being eroded, but no new substitutes have been offered to replace them. The figure of Heidar Aliev, he argued, compensates for the lack of a unifying national concept. In this context, Ismailoglu expressed regret that the media failed to create a positive image of the military, which could similarly have served as such a unifying concept

pending the creation of a new set of national values. He seemed unaware of the implicit contradiction between strengthening the country's military potential and his enthusiastic advocacy of economic cooperation between the three Transcaucasus states as

the optimum approach to resolving the Karabakh conflict. (Whether building up the Azerbaijani armed forces is either viable

expedient is an open question.

Brainstorming over dinner two nights earlier, one thought was that Azerbaijan's only realistic military option lies in developing missile technology sophisticated enough to take out the Matenadaran at first strike.)

Ismailoglu's concerns over where Azerbaijani society is heading are valid in and of themselves, but they are all the more so in a situation where the political agenda is fast being reduced to the demand for one man and his entourage to leave power, and his struggle to retain it. Given that none of

or

the most influential opposition figures (except Etibar Mamedov) is a parliament deputy, the chances of achieving a non-confrontational, non-violent change of leadership are slim. Alternatively, any attempt to

overthrow Aliev

by force could

widespread repression.

If

trigger

the opposition

nonetheless confine themselves to operating

within the framework of the law, the standoff may last until the parliamentary elections due in 2000. Meanwhile, pressing social problems will remain unresolved, fuelling popular discontent, and rendering spontaneous violent upheaval ever more probable. The most fitting verdict on the presidential poll would seem to be "The more things stay the same, the more they

will

change."

I

AIM NOVEMBER I998

41

adult, the door that you just passed through

Iext and Photo By MATIHEW lmRAlllAl{ Watch

a

science fiction movie long

enough and eventually you'll see someone get sealed inside a glass tube and then transported someplace wondrous and exotic. by some kind of electron beam or something.

Travel to Tbilisi. and visit the bank that some of the locals call The Safest Bank in Georgia, and you may think the same thing is

To enter the lobby of the Tbilisi

slides shut. and the chamber is sealed.

You are not in control. The TBC armed guards have just locked you inside a glass

Commercial Bank (TBC), you must first step inside a tiny chamber that looks like an eighr

another guard pushes a button that releases the

foot tall test tube-but not until the armed

locked door on the lobby side of the tube.

about to happen to you.

guard guides you in.

Once you're inside this bullet resistant tube, which is barely large enough for one AIM NOVEMBER I998

prison, and you

will

remain confined here until

After an entrance like this, you might expect to find a sleek and modern lobby.

Not here.

R The lobby at TBC looks more like the cosmetic counter at Woolworth's than like the Bank of the Future. The grand entrance is a facade that doesn't fit the framework.

In the wake of the financial collapse in neighboring Russia, one sees an abundance of these false fronts in Georgia.

Georgia's curency, the lari, for example, has been trading at a relatively stable rate. In August, before the crash of Russia's ruble, one US dollar purchased approximately 1.35 lari. Today, it still takes only about 1.37 lari to buy a dollar, and the rates haven't fluctuated much beyond those two points.

On its face, Georgia's currency appears stable and strong. But its apparent stability may not be matched by its strength.

The devaluation of the lari has been "not bad," says Levon Zuroshvila, the operations manager at TBC. But in order to keep devaluation so low, Georgia's state-owned National Bank was required to attempt to absorb all the lari with which a panicked public was flooding the market.

"This did have the intended effect," which was to stabilize the lari, says Zuroshvila.

But the bank depleted its reserves in the process, and this depletion was a high price to

pay for the stability, according to Vasil Gigolashvili, Gerogia's First Deputy Minister of Finance.

"Everyone was trying to buy the dollar

and sell the lari," so we had to act, says Gigolashvili. This is the side of the currency crisis that the public didn't see, he says.

"This is still going on, and the dollar is getting more valuable," but all that most people know is that the lari has been fairly stable, he says.

The Ministry is now working to prevent the lari from trading at a rate above I .40 to the dollar, but Gigolashvili declined to elaborate on their efforts beyond the cryptic "we are tak-

ing measures."

One of those measures might be no more complicated than gaining the trust of the

Georgian people.

"It was a psychology of feat'' that prompted Georgians to "massively" buy the dollar in early September, says Zaza Gacheziladze, a spokesman for the National Bank.

"This was the major cause for the decrease of the lari, and the same things happened in Azerbaijan and in Armenia, on September 5 and 6," says Gacheziladze.

Still, the potential devaluation of the lari is not the greatest financial risk faced by

E

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Georgians, according to a Tbilisi economist.

Instead, she says, it is the lack of production.

"If Georgian production doesn't start soon, this will be the major thing to cause a crisis," says Tamar Ninidze, an analyst for the monthly Banks and Finances, published in Tbilisi.

This problem is "not as visible or obvious as [it was in] Russia," says Ninidze, but it is circling overhead nevertheless. Georgia needs to produce its own electricity, not buy it from Armenia, she says. And Georgia needs to produce other things, as well, for export.

One problem Georgia does not share with

Russia

is the problem of

excessive debt.

Russia buckled under the weight of its tremendous foreign debt, much over from Soviet days.

of which was carried

Georgia, by contrast, has been almost fru-

gal. It

has only borrowed about $14 million to service its 1998 budget debt. Only a meager $10 million of this sum has been borrowed from foreign sources, mainly through the issuance of treasury bills that were paying approximately 39 percent retums in late October.

"The Georgian financial markets are not very developed," explains Gacheziladze of the National Bank. "This is not itself very good, but it prevented Russia from hurting Georgia," he says.

But Georgia does have one potentially large, and hidden, financial crisis, which is not evident to shoppers on the boutique-lined avenues of Tiblisi. And Georgia shares this

risk with neighboring Armenia (See AIM, October 1998).

Every year, about $200 million is eamed in Russia by Georgians, who send most of the money home. During the past year, the average monthly transfer of funds to Georgia from Russia was about $15 million to $20 million.

Aron Sorhadze, the director of the budget department at Georgia's Ministry of Finance, estimates that there are about 400,000 Georgians living in Russia. These people have moved there simply to work and send money back to their families in Georgia.

The Russian financial crisis could send some of these people home, which may create

social burdens and greater joblessness in Georgia. And it will certainly reduce the flow of funds from Russia to places like Georgia and Armenia.

Georgia's National Bank tracked the decline in remittances from Russia by going to the Western Union office. It is difficult to know with certainty how much less money is coming into Georgia now as a result of the events of August, but reviewing some Western

AIM NOVEMBER 1998

Union receipts offers a clue.

The Georgian city of Kutaisi has a population of about 400,000. Remittances to people in that town, from Russia, were about $10,000 each day, before the devaluation of the ruble. Today it is less than $ I ,000 per day, a decline

of 90 percent, says Gacheziladze of

the National Bank.

Kutaisi is not unique. "Every city seen a decline

has

in remittances," he says.

Just to the south, tens of thousands of residents from the Republic of Armenia have also

migrated to Russia in search of seasonal, or short term work. Remittances to Armenia are also believed to have significantly declined during the past three months. But in Armenia, as in Georgia, there is little direct evidence of this decline. There have been declines in bank transfers, but reports of the declines are often anecdotal, and are seldom complete. Reports,

like the one from Kutaisi, are extrapolated to determine national trends.

"Maybe some shopkeepers have less coffee on their shelves" because they no longer have the remittances from Russia to permit them to maintain a large inventory, suggests Inga Tsotsosian, a resident of Tbilisi. "But nothing you would notice." The appearance of normalcy has been maintained.

Some foreign investors in Tbilisi may, of course, be trying to leave, says Zuroshvila, the operations manager at the TBC

Bank-the

one

with the space age entrance. "This is logical, because it's kind ofrisky here."

But apart from some high profile projects, like a five-star Westin hotel for central Tbilisi, and the country's first-ever McDonald's restaurant just down the street, there has been little foreign investment. Most of the foreign interest in Georgia was nothing more than a "prospect," says Gacheziladzeof the National Bank. Many of these prospective investors will arrive with the intemational pipeline that is one day expected to carry oil from the Caspian Sea, across Georgia, to the Black Sea. Indeed, many people here seem to be banking on this pipeline-the one that hasn't yet been built, with the route that hasn't yet been determined, filled with oil that has yet to be extracted. Tamar Ninidze, the analyst for Banks and Finances, says the pipeline could be the key to getting Georgia's production started again, something that is much needed to avoid a full blown Russian-style crisis in the Caucasus.

I 43

t(hrlrn.utB,ts:.lt{i{ilr'tlli! mU*aa*a{l$ilt.uruAxH

rti

r._,

SIANIPS

;i* it

AL ttI"t(heil l(.'noA\^ i1

ia to S{"hn

P,

A../a"t In, fx'.n, BFoilE*'EB3*E*'

Uflt"tSI'tl

OP'

FIRST' DAY

ci-

oerlLb/q7

fif;Eif;tln+uHHfll EWE

Fil?RETU**E' 0603e*e51

l.

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Crâ‚Ź,trrlB:g/ ttE,l,ct

lll,,r,llrrll,,r,,ll,,,l,l,,l'l'ltl""ll"'ll'l'l'lltilrtrlrl Cinderella countries, as a waming to collectors.

There are about 400 phony countries on his list,

Karabakh's postagc slamps make I01 good business and Uood politics.

IexI and

PhOIOS by

MAIIHEW KABANIAN

7Tth. Chiquita sticker that eomes on so ! manv ol'the bananas we buy is not a I postige stamp. Still. the posr olfice delivers many letters each year, bearing only

the Kingdom of Atlantis.

Nothing more than a fluke, he says about

the letter from Karabakh. stamp, so they sent it on."

"lt

looked like

a

that famous label.

Jim Kloetzel keeps track of the mail that goes through each year without legitimate stamps. He can tell you about the letters that the post office delivers bearing only Christmas seals. or no stamps at all. Kloetzel is the editor of the leading catalog of worldwide stamps in the United States, an eight volume tome,

This is why stamps liom Karabakh are not Iisted in the venerable Scott catalog. There's no legitimacy to the stamps, he says. "You've gotta be a country."

And these days, he says, there's no shortage of stamps lrom places that aren't countries, tiom places that don't even exist.

which is produced each year by the Scott

collectors, because they're not what they

Publishing Company.

appear to be. They are printed for the purpose of being sold, at great profit, to gullible stamp collectors. "lt's a scam," according to Les

Tell Kloetzel about the letter that

was

delivered to your mailbox in Connecticut, two weeks after having entered the mail stream in Karabakh. bearing only a 250 Dram (50 cents) Karabakh postage stamp, fbr example. and he'll tell you about the mail he's received from

44

These stamps are called Cinderellas by

Winick,

Cinderella columnist for the weekly hobby newspaper Linn's Stamp Nev,s, in Sidney, Ohio. a

Winick even publishes a list of

AIM NOVEMBER I998

these

from Alexandria and Atlantis to Zenobia and Zulia. Karabakh is not on this list, but only because Winick says he has never heard of it.

Nevertheless. Karabakh is no Atlantis.

Karabakh is a real place, with real people who sometimes need to mail real letters.

This is still not good enough to make the stamps legitimate, he says. A lot of people agree

with him. Could they be wrong about this?

Winick says there are labels posing as stamps from more than 40 real regions of the former Soviet Union, which have been printed as a money making scheme by "some guy in London." He won't name names. for fear of retribution.

The Georgian region of Abkhazia, and a Central Asia region called Thtarstan, are in this category. These places are as real as Karabakh, but their stamps are not legitimate, either, he says.

Politics and profits are why most of these stamps are printed. "There's a lot of regions in

the previous Soviet Union that generally, for propaganda reasons, have agents issuing stamps or labels for them," Kloetzel says.

"And also for money reasons," he adds, almost as an afterthought.

U

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E

Stamps that get put into collections, without being used, are almost pure profit for the printer. It doesn't cost 250 Dram, after all, to print a tiny speck of paper with some gum on the back. This is the next best thing to printing money.

And then there's dealer markup, grudg-

S

S

&

ment with Karabakh, at Armenia's

Thomas Fortunato, formerly the president of the 1000-member Intemational Society of Worldwide Stamp Collectors, in Caddo Mills, Texas, and now its senior statesman. offers a succinct explanation. "When it comes to hard currency, people dealing with stamps

own postage stamps. Mail bearing "Palestinian Authority" stamps, mailed from Palestinian areas, des-

in the former Soviet republics

Israel has consented, too, subject to a laundry list of restrictions. And so the

stamp collectors are easy targets."

But are propaganda and profit the Mother of Karabakh's starnps, too? What about Karabakh's need to move the mail for what official estimates say are its 150,000 residens?

If the place really exists, if its people call themselves an independent nation, and if mail franked with its postage stamps actually gets delivered to the intended recipients, doesn't

that count for anything?

Well sure. Everything counts for some-

thing in the worlds of politics and stamps.

What counts the most, to almost everyone, is the actual use that is made of the stamps.

Because the stamps of Karabakh really are used to prepay mailing fees, and because they really are accepted by the postal administrations of other countries, the stamps really should be considered legitimate. Really.

Karabakh's only alternative would be to use the stamps of a foreign country, such as Armenia.

Bob Lamb, a former State Department employee and Caucasus expert who is now a top ranking officer of the American Philatelic Society, agrees.

"They certainly aren't going to use Azeri stamps," he says.

The American Philatelic Society, of State College, Pennsylvania, by the way, has 56,000 members, and is trne of the largest organizations of stamp collectors in the world. They reported net assets of roughly $5 million in the May issue of their monthly magazine, American Philatelist. So Lamb, who serves as its executive director, should know what he's

talking about.

The stamps of Karabakh are legitimate, Lamb says, because Karabakh has a "functioning, legitimate postal service," which exists out of necessity.

"The Azeris can't get in to deliver the

Y

KA,4^/

_!!J-

t4/

'

tined for the rest of the world, is treat-

ed routinely by Egypt and Jordan. of mail with these stamps is lawful. Kloetzel added listings for these Palestinian stamps in the Scott catalog this year-an event that even delivery

The New York Times could not resist writing about. Karabakh is not listed.

But while a catalog listing would be important mostly to collectors, the mailman who delivers the listing may end up delivering a new chapter in world history, too. The logic is this: Karabakh's de facto recognition as a postal administration results, in part, from having the mailman deliver its mail. So, if the

stamps are genuine, and the postal administra-

tion is legitimate, then the state must be legitimate, too.

This strengthens Karabakh's claim that the stamps it issues are not merely propaganda labels. Instead, they are a discrete indicator of

sovereignty, as significant as the visas that are required of its visitors and the military service that is required of its citizens.

The stamps of Karabakh bear the republic's name in both Armenian script and in English, and they state their face value clearly,

thereby conforming to international norms.

They are professionally printed in the Netherlands and they look as slick as anything issued by the US Postal Service.

The nations of the world tacitly agree that Karabakh has at least some measure of sovereignty every time they deliver mail bearing Karabakh stamps. So a postal administration in Karabakh that is recognized intemationally, in fact, even if not by treaty, is a significant step toward real sovereignty. In fact, Lamb says, there is "increasing legitimacy of Karabakh."

mail."

without the addition of Armenian

their hands on Karabakh again. Territorial integrity is not what it used to be."

Geopolitics aside, there isn't much of an interest in these stamps in the US, in their mint, fresh-from-the-post-office condition.

stamps.

M

-rdififii+i4+uryry1

/llnrrvos

"There's a tendency toward fragmentation all over the world. If Puerto Rico were to vote to become independent, I think everyone would wish them well," says Lamb. "My own

So the people of Karabakh do it themselves. When the mail is intended for delivery outside Karabakh, they turn to Armenia for assistance, says Lamb.

The mail is trucked to Yerevan, and from there it is processed as if it was Armenian mail,

o

It's all perfectly legal. And it's nothing new, either.

A similar arrangement has existed since 1974 between Turkey and Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Palestinians are also using their

realize that

':

N

expense.

its beneficiary, the rogue Turkish

scarcity of the stamps.

o

C

Armenia does this pursuant to an agree- -4tq :]i!s5iitr,

the

ingly accepted by collectors because of

E

feeling is that the Azeris are never going to get

AIM NOVEMBER I998

Above: This cover bears a stamp marking the 10th anniversqry of the Ksrabakh movement. A similar 250 Dram stamp was jointly issued by Armenia on the same day.

Opposite page: This cover bearing two commemorative stamps which together comprise the 250 Dram rate for mail to the US resched the correct US address within three weeks. The postmark clearly identifrcs Stepanakert in Russian and Armenian.

"The stamps of Karabagh are highly suspect among American stamp collectors," says Lamb, "because they tend to associate them with the widely promoted labels that are on the market bearing names of regions of the former Soviet Union."

As a result, most of the collectors in the US are of Armenian ancestry, or people with

some special affinity

for Karabakh, says

a

stamp dealer from

Armen Hovsepian,

Lenexa, Kansas. "No one else is interested," he says. Even in Yerevan, dealers say they're lucky to sell two or three stamps a week.

Genuinely used stamps, still on the original envelope, with clear markings demonstrating international postal use, on the other hand, are highly prized. Among the seven dealers who were selling Karabakh stamps in Yerevan one recent weekend, only Victor Nersessian was offering genuinely used stamps on the original envelope. He only had a few, and his asking prices floated between $3 for an envelope sent from Stepanakert to Yerevan, up to $40 for an envelope that made it all the way to Los Angeles.

"Legitimate covers can bring hefty prices," says Fortunato, the elder statesman at the International Society of Worldwide Stamp Collectors. But, he cautions, this may only

happen when the new country becomes "established" and recognized as an "indepenentity." By this standard, mail from Karabakh could one day be a contender. I

dent

45

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ARMENIANS IN

PASADENA

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unofficial estimate is from speculation that there are thousands ofArmenians unaccounted for. Most Armenians live within a four square mile area where Armenian groceries, bakeries, delis, dentists and doctors offices dot the land-

scape-an unofficial pronouncement of territorial distinction.

Unlike other Southland communitiessuch as Glendale and Hollywood where Armenian immigrants struggle to find their

foothold in their new communities-

Armenian newcomers have no problem finding their place in Pasadena.

Monolithic lrom the outside, Segmented on the inside.

"We have melted in. We are the communi-

ty," says Ed Bedrosian, a 59-year-old bom in Pasadena and now a trustee in St. Gregory Armenian Apostolic Church on Colorado Blvd.

Like many Armenians who arrived in America before them, Bedrosian's parents

By THERESA ilI(lREAU

arrived from Turkey, penniless, but wealthy in self-sufficiency and self-respect. "They buckled down and worked hard and made something of themselves," Bedrosian notes, who established his family, like other Armenian families, as a vital part of the community.

Since Pasadena Armenians are more established, with a higher percentage of longtimers, the community is more grounded,

more attuned to the "American way," Bedrosian explains. And since Pasadena

Armenians feel confident as an established community, there is a comfort zone, unlike

other communities-

such as

Glendale arrivals may feel insecure, uncertain of their position in the community, and still searching for their American identity. That is why a con-

where new

=

Irf the population of Clendale has grown to I become the center of the Armenian IDiaspora in Los Angeles over the last

and his horse for its

decade, its neighbor Pasadena continues to shine as the paradigm of the Americanization

Damascus especially for M.S. In 1916$ that same uncle rode in the parade as the Grand Marshall. Very few Pasadenians have such long connection to local history.

On their wedding trip in 1902, Pashgian's parents visited Pasadena, a town with a population ofabout 10,000, incorporated in 1886. The

of

Armenians throughout the last century.

"You could count the Armenians in Glendale

on your fingers in 1970," jokes Sooren Manoogian, 72, who arrived in America in 1962, then moved to Glendale eight years later. But Pasadena-which boasts of its multi-cultural and ethnic-friendly status-is a city which can also boast of its near 100-year history of Armenian settlers.

As a young boy, John Pashgian, one of the f,rrst born in Pasadena to Armenian parents

who both emigrated from the Middle East, watched his little town grow from an agricultural giant to a multi-cultural king. Now 90, he clearly remembers growing up watching his dashing uncle M.S. Pashgian perched atop a horse. Both man and beast would stand out in the Rose Parade: M.S. for his air of distinction

46

saddle with silver trappings made in

siderable number of people are still unwilling to let go ofthe past,

E

!

ofthe first (if not the first) Armenian families to settle in Pasadena. A rug business begun by the Pashgians in New York in 1889 was then Pashgians decided to stay and became one

opened in Pasadena. The next year other relatives followed the Pashgians laying a foundation for future generations of Armenian-Americans.

Today an estimated 20,000 Armenians live in Pasadena. Based on official estimates Armenians make up five percent of Pasadena's

total population

of about

150,000. But the

AIM NOVEMBER I998

theiq only identity.

A

multitude of

organizations serves the social, political and cultural needs of the community. Every major aspect of community life is covered: social services are offered by the Armenian Relief Society; the Armenian National Committee is involved in local politics, two Armenian language newspapers are published by the Armenian Democratic Liberals and the Hunchak Party; art shows and cultural programs are scheduled weekly at the Tekeyan and AGBU centers, athletic programs are conducted by Homenetmen and Homenmen-just

for starters.

However, the community lacks cohesion.

The charismatic pastor of St. Gregory Armenian Church, the Rev. Fr. Vazken Movsesian, who previously served the

Armenian community

in the Silicon

Valley the Pasadena community as "segmented, factionalized, and dysfunctional." He explains: "The numerous political parties, social and cultural organizations, and interest groups are made of mostly immigrant, blue collar workers who bring with them the conventions of their country of origin, mostly from the Middle East and to a lesser degree from Armenia. As in other communities. these organizations are very cliquish, they do not socialize with each other, and hardly holdjoint events. This has affected the growth of the community. The community exists without a particular direction or goal."

Others point to the sharp "class distinc-

(northern California), characterizes

tion" among the Armenians: between those who live in more afluent areas (such as San

Marino) and those

in

central

Pasadena.

Movsesian affirms that "While generally productive, the mentality of the immigrant population in Pasadena is old world mentality; that is, you survive as Armenian without interaction with the general American society."

As a parish priest. Movsesian encounters cases of domestic violence, child and drug abuse, and a host of minor crimes on a regular basis. For example, "Wife beating is a major problem," says Movsesian, however, "These are mostly covered up because of cultural taboos." In an attempt to tackle these "culturespecific problems," Movsesian has established educational programs involving experts and

professionals. He believes the Armenian school is the first place to start where students and their parents are made aware of the issues and are educated toward improved family and community life.

On the larger community level, in order to tackle these domestic and socio-cultural problems, Pasadena Police Chief Bernard

Melikian has established the

Pasadena

Armenian Police Advisory Council (PAPAC) with the participationg of all community political, cultural, social and religious organizations. The goal of PAPAC is to provide unified

educational and social services

to

the

Armenian community on issues ranging from rape, drug abuse, earthquake prepardness to how to protect yourself from mugging.

However, due to lack of coopearation and infighting among Armenian organizations, PAPAC has not been as successful as originally expected. While supporting PAPAC, instead

of cooperation, most participanting Armenian organizations remain to serve the interest of their particular constituency.

"Pasadena is the oldest Armenian getto," says Movsesian. "We have not been able to get out of it. Even the American-born generation, they're still within the Armenian community and have not crossed over into the general American community," laments Movsesian. r

PasailGna's Religlous Plulallsm II That makes Pasadena different from W other communities is its Armenian religious pluralism. There are seven churches (four denominations) within a few miles

radius, ranging from the Apostolic, Catholics, Evangelical churches and a wide variety of samll Protestant groups, such

as the

help from the Church."

Recently, St. Gregory parish launched a $1.5 million church expansion project to accommodate growing numbers of Sunday worshippers. Already, parishioners have contributed more than $8fi),0fi) for this pur-

Armenian

Church of the Nazarene.

In addition to

Gregory

St.

Armenian

Apostolic Church, the

largest parish

in

Pasadena serving some 5000 families, a handful of Evangelical churches

occupy former storefronts on Washington ; Boulevard.

On

. day, 91re 5 the recent feast Armenian Brotherhood

Bible Church was filled with more than 400 worshippers, many brought over from Beirut in the last two decades with the help of Joe Matossian, co-founder of the church in 1971. Reportedly he helped more than 70 families immigrate to Pasadena. Mike Pambakian, one

of l2 church deacons, spec-

pose. Under Movsesian's dynamic leadership, the parish has become very active in

community affairs, especially in providing spiritual, social and cultural services to the larger community. In addition to a host of long-term projects, the church runs a day

school--the

St.

Gregory Alfred

and

ulates that only two families remain in l,ebanon, the rest are now in Pasadena, having fled during and after the civil war, and flocking to the church. This is a non-denominational, evangelical church open to "anyone who believes in Christ." However, 70 percent of the families in Pasadena are

Marguerite Hovsepian School--the only junior high school established and still run

are

Armenian community a nurturing community, whereby people-through interaction and involvement--find fulfillment in their lives as promised by God," affirms Movsesian.

Apostolic (Orthodox), the rest Protestants and a few Catholics.

Instead of healthy competition, Pasadena's religious pluralism has become a

problem. Father Vazken Movsesian, the energetic, Los Angeles-born parish priest of St. Gregory, explains: "We have Armenian hotestant fundamentalists who covertly target the Armenian Church and cults--such as Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons--who overtly attack the Armenian Church." The Apostolic church is actively engaged in combating these movements. "We are educating our congregation through television programs, newspaper articles and literature.

The community in general is appreciative of our efforts in combating these trends, however, there is a disturbing number of people who are falling victim to these movements," says Movsesian. "As a pastor I see families who are torn apart because of these idiotic doctrines," regrets Movsesian, who provides counseling to families "who come and seek

AIM NOVEMBER 1998

by a parish church in North America.

"The Church is helping families, professionals and individuals recognize their

obligations to the community," explains Movsesian. "Our goal is to make the

Fr. Movsesian's innovative ministry

a recently started monthly all English liturgy (Badarak), the first in includes

Southem California, for the third and fourth generation American-born Armenians. The response has been very positive with over 100 worshippers attending the special service regularly

ToP: St. Greeom Church oastor Fr. Vaz*en MovseSiaft soeakins [o students.

BoTToM : Armeniai Brothdr-hood Bible Church.

C

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opened, Armenian-owned businesses catering to the young, the elderly, the affluent, and any-

Armenians that Pasadena, a California city nestled by mountains, was a city to run to.

Tranquil, clean and neat were some of the

Another Armenian investing his future in Pasadena is Panos Haitayan, who co-owns with his brother Vasken, Cafe Santorini on

descriptions Hindoyan had heard.

So Hindoyan traveled to Pasadena, stud-

ied political science at the University of California, Los Angeles, and worked oddjobs to scrape together some sorely needed money.

Starting from scratch is not easy for anyone, but with Armenians in the area who had already established a good reputation for their community, Hindoyan says, he and his brother Gary eased into society, facing less discrimination in terms of ethnicity.

"Armenians are hard working people, not looking for sympathy or hand outs," Hindoyan modestly boasts matter-of-factly.

For three months in 1966, Hindoyan slaved as a dishwasher at Burger Continental on Lake Ave. In six months he worked his way up to manager. Then in l97l, like every American's dream, Hindoyan bought the business from his boss.

Hindoyan credits the success of his

Pasadena, an old city with century old buildings, already has an ambiance that

Glendale has to create, Haitayan notes. Along with the ambiance is a culture that everyone, residents and visitors, can appreciate: the

one else.

Norton Simon Museum, the Henry

Union St. Their restaurant in Old Town with its menu featuring specialties from France, Italy, Greece and the Middle

market bargains.

Not to be outdone by their fellow Armenians, Anto Kamarian and Richard Berberian, co-owners of Cigars by Chivas on

East, was recently voted Best Mediterranean Food by The Pasadena Weekly.

After paying his dues for nine years in a family-owned sandwich shop in Burbank, where he washed dishes, mopped floors, made deliveries, Haitayan continues to be a handson boss, taking care of customers and employees alike.

Since opening his restaurant in Pasadena, he has noticed how the city takes care of its business owners. A whole new world of breezing through red tape, which he says bogs down business in Glendale, has opened up to him and he has discovered that the city of Pasadena

North Aroyo Pkwy., recently had their business named the number one cigar store and lounge by The PasadenaWeekly.

A venture dreamed up over a couple of good cigars smoked during a business discussion, Kamarian and Berberian opened their cigar store in May with an ever-increasing booming business----especially since smoke shops have become popular, not just with the life-long stogie choppers, but the young men and women looking for conversation and companionship over a good smoke.

Kamarian arrived in Boston from Beirut in December 1975. The next day he had his first job-shoveling snow. Two weeks later he had a steady job earning $2.17 an hour, working for the grocer from whom he had purchased that snow shovel for $4. But his very first job was one he had when he was just 7 years old, working in a cardboard factory and eaming five Lebanese liras. Even then he

respects him more.

Starting from scratch over three years ago, the Haitayan brothers flung open the doors of a decrepit, filthy, red brick fire station

built in 1889. They transformed it into a chic

"hard work, no magic."

A few miles from Hindoyan's burger joint is the renovated and revitalized Old Town district with its many stylish, mostly recently

al crowd sitting comfortably inside or under

hot spot which wines and dines an internationthe stars on a Venetian-style balcony.

In

addition

to the favorable

E.

Huntington Library, Pasadena Playhouse, scores of movie theaters, and the Rose Bowl for anything from world-class sports to flea

Pasadena

restaurant-recently voted Best Middle Eastem Food by The Pasadena Weekly-to

S

and fellow Armenians' success to Pasadena's ready-market for Armenians, with a walk-in crowd.

Armenian Entteueneurs in Pasadena f! f tt. time Harry Hindoyan.46. was ready I-lto leave his native Beirut, word had already been sent over there by other

N

business

atmosphere in the city, Haitayan explains his

Armenian-owned businesses (L to R): Burger Continental owned by Harry Hindoyan; Cafe Santorini owned by Panos and Vazken Haitayan; Mi Piace ltslian Kitchen and Bakery owned by Armen Shirvqnian,

=

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(Armenian Inlcrnationdl Magazine) 2.

Publication No. 1050-3471 3. Filing Date: October 9, 1998 4. lssue Frequency: Monthly 5. No. of issues publisherl annually: l2 issues

6. Annual Subscription Price: $45 US & Canada, $55 Europe, Australia, Middle East, CIS 7. Complete Mailing Address of Known Otfice of Publication: 207 S. Bmnd Bl. #203, Clendale, CA 91204 8. Complete Mailing Addrcss of Headquafler\ of Generrl Business Ollice of Publisher: 207 S. Brand Bl. #203, Glendale. CA 91204 9. Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of Publisher, Editor and Managing Editor: Publisher-Editor: Salpi Haroutinian Ghuaian,2o1 S. Brand Bl. #203, Clendale, CA 91204 10. Owner: Fourth Millennium Sciety. Non-Prcfit Organizalion I l. Known Bondholde6, Mortgages, or other securities: None 12. Tax Status (For Complelion by Non-Profit Organizations Authoriz-ed ro Mail at Special Rates): Has Not Changed During Preceding 12 Months 13.

Publication Name: AIM 14. lssue Date for Circulation Date Below: August 98 15. Extent and Nature of Circulation A. Total No. Copies (Net Press Run): 10,fi)0 Average No. Copies Each lssue During Preceding 12 Months: lll.Ul) Sales Through Dealers and Cmien, Street Vendors and Counter Sales: None B. Paid and/or requesled Marl Subscriptions: 4,788 C. Total Paid or Requested Mail Subscriptions:4,788 D. Free Disribution by Mail (Samples, Complimentary and Other Frce):3,3fi) E. Free Distribution Outside the Mail (Cuiâ&#x201A;Źs or other means) 3,300 F. Total Free Distribution (Sum of l5d and 15e):4,785 C. Total Distribution (Sum of l5c and 150 9,573 H. Copies Not Distributed (l) Office Use, kftoves, Spoiled: 427 (2) retums from News Agents: None l. Toul (Sum of l5g, l5h(l), and l5h(2): 10.0fl) 16. Publication of Statement of Owne6hip: November 1998. I cenify rhal all infomalion on this fom is true and complete. I understand that anyone who fumishes false or misleading infomation on this form or who omits material or infomation requested on lhe fom may be subject to criminul runclions lincluding fines and imprisonment) and/or civil sanctions (including multiple damages and civil penalties): Salpi Haroutinian Ghazrian Editor-Publisher

o

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dreamed of living in America, where an education and opportunity awaited him. The best he could hope for in his birthplace was to be a shoe maker or jeweler, nothing better.

Now, as a grown man with two degrees in accounting and law, Kamarian continues to work hard, putting in l7-hour days, four days a week. "Like a goddamned machine," he laughs. The rest he devotes to fam-

ily and every once in a while

N

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city hall. And perhaps the one person most responsible for changing Pasadena into the first and only city in the nation which considers Armenians a protected class to benefit from Affirmative Action is John Derderian, owner of Johnnie's Tow and Transport.

After moving to America from Palestine in 1956, he moved to Pasadena in 196l and

he

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the same company for many years without putting the bid out to other businesses.

So Derderian approached then city council member Rick Cole and asked him how to go about bidding for the city's towing contract.

That simple question snowballed into a political action, spearheaded by the two.

"Affirmative action played a minor role, ,."-q but it was an important svmbol of

h"-

sneaks in a game of golf.

In the cigar shop, the smoke smelling air is constantly purified and chairs

in a back room

est in

It also marked the first time the Armenian community became engaged in a heated political issue.

So successful was their involvement that City Councilmen

trickling water.

William Paparian was the first

is

Armenian mayor of Pasadena and

welcome to enjoy the smoking room

Barnard Melekian

as long as cigars are purchased on premises.

Besides the ample

choice

of

officially becoming a part of

the city.

fountain with a steady flow of

the

the times," Cole notes, affirming importance of Derderian's movement as it marked the first

the

time Armenians voiced their inter-

sigh

under the welcome weight of visitors. A constant stream of cigar aficionados debate the quality of this or that cigar. There is even a wall

Everyone

S

[:

Ll,r

cigars,over 53 types ranging in price from $2 to $40, the stimulating conversation, coffee, and music are all free.

Even though Armenian-owned businesses do well in the city, the coup de grace for all Pasadena Armenians lies within the walls of

On the periphery of the Armenian commu-

ni$,

Phoenix Pharmacy owner Jim

fications and gives them more elbow room to

Avedikian offen homeopalhy, chinese herbs, acupuncfifie, HIV testing, as well as regulor pharmacy services at his Pasadena sile.

do business. "No financial help and no advice,

opened his business in 1965. About 12 years ago, Derderian, looking to better his business, inquired about the towing contract with the Pasadena Police Department which had used

they just give you the tools to work and help you with the paperwork," explains Derderian.

"Pasadena

is a very open environment.

generally inclusive and a strength of diversity brings them together rather than isolate different groups," Cole says, bragging about his city. I

llluenn 5=rrlAIrT

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General Practice Family Practice Minor Surgery Child Health Developmental Program Gynecology Non Life-Threatening Emergencies Adult and Senior Care Child and Adult lmmunization Preventive Medicine Serving Our Community Since 1989

i0

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The city of Pasadena caters to minorities who meet certain quali-

AIM NOVEMBER I998

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ffi ffi 'w ffi

D

E

U

C

A

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T

IN A GIASS tlF IHEIR tlW]I Ihe American Uniuersity ol Armenia has

produced 440 graduates since 199t. Ihey

ocGupy some ol the most intelesting posilions in [usiness and Uoue]nment.

By G(I]IAB SAHAIflAl{

raduation Day

at the

American

University of Armenia (AUA) is an important calendar event in the life of the Republic. Members of the class of '98 received their degrees in a ceremony attended

by

President Kocharian, Prime Minister

Armen Darbinian, various ministers,

US

Ambassador Michael Lemmon, and Louise of the Armenian General Benevolent Union, the key driving force behind the establishment of the university.

The October ceremony was the sixth held at the AUA since it opened in the former polit-

Manoogian Simone, President

52

ical education center of the old Soviet Communist Party in a commanding location high above Marshall Bagramian Street. The symbolism of one failed doctrine giving way to another, more successful, set of ideas and beliefs was lost on no one at the time.

Since then, the 440 students have graduated from AUA s four Master's programs:

Business Administration, Industrial and Earthquake Engineering, Political Science and Public Health.

AUA is a graduate school on the American model. This was done intentionally in order not

to

compete with local institutions

AIM NOVEMBER I998

of

higher

N leaming and to optimize existing resources to focus on specific training in programs which are unique to Armenia and the region.

The majority of AUA s administrators and faculty are part-time. They are recruited from US colleges and universities and teach for one or more quarters.

The majority of AUA s students receive financial assistance. The annual tuition fee for students in degree programs at AUA is $2000

per quarter. Armenian citizens receive

a

scholarship to cover all but several hundred dollars of that fee, and sometimes other financial aid as well.

Although the University offers free public lectures and conferences through its extension program, still, in the minds of students, educators and the public, the AUA is sometimes seen as the institution which attracts more than its share of attention and resources in Armenia.

The AUA, on tlie other hand, is involved in an extensive fundraising campaign to 5:stablish an endowment fund which will allow it to enter a new phase of operation. In order to confer doctoral degrees, to expand its departments, to launch a full-scale recruitment program in other CIS countries, the AUA must attract and keep full-time administration and faculty. At the same time, it must inject funds into its preparatory courses, which consist ofraining in English language and computer skills, in order to provide entering students with the basic tools necessary to handle a new educational approach.

At the same time, the AUA continues to ask the questions which have been raised simply by the superimposition of an independent, democratic country pursuing free market principles, on top of soviet-era social and educational institutions. How to adapt the American model to the newly independent states? How to find longterm funding for the services which are brand new: a hi-tech research fibrary, career and job placement services, academic counseling? How to provide a westem graduate education to students who come out of colleges and universities which have not overhauled their own curricula and teaching methodology? How to avoid the gap between rich and poor that private education inevitably highlights, bur must circumvent in the process of granting education?

But ttre real mission of the AUA, and the measure of its success as a living eiample of Armenia-Diaspora cooperation, has been to provide opportunity. The establishment of the university coincided with the declaration of inde-

pendence

by Armenia's

Parliament in

September 1991. The new beginning required new people, new skills, new thinking. The AUA is still trying to figure out how best to adapt

American educational methods and philosophies to a new democracy, while helping to nurture a new young elite whose talents and ambitions will shape their country's future.

People like these:

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"I

said to myself: stop, and think once are you, and what is your right place under the sun".

Ararat Ghukasian, 35, a physics gradu-

again-who

ate

of Yerevan State University in

1989,

worked at the Institute of Physics Research in Ashtarak as a researcher until 1993. Then he decided to enroll in AUA s Industrial Engineering Department.

"I liked physics, yet the laboratory wasn't receiving proper financing, the auxiliary services were all down, and I felt there was

no room for professional growth," he explained.

"AUA had a reputation as a place where one could be educated according to modern standards. I believed that after graduation I would become a more useful individual for society and this has come true."

At AUA, Ghukasian learned how to use computers, gained a better knowledge of English, and developed a more analytical attitude toward the work process.

"The AUA taught me the Western style of thinking and working. Having chosen to study most of the basic subjects of its MBA program as an optrion, I dared to apply to the Midland Bank Armenia for a job in August 1995."

He was hired as an Information Technology Specialist with responsibility for installing the bank's proprietary comput-

er software. Then he worked as the Customer Service Manager and was promoted to a senior executive position in September 1997. Since March, he has worked as the Branches Manager.

"I like my job. I work a lot, and have many responsibilities, but I feel satisfied when

I

see the results

of my work," said

Ghukasian.

"AUA teaches us how to deal with people conectly, how to sell oneself, and it provides potential for rapid growth."

The former physicist and science fiction fan harbors a fantasy of being able to look down on earth from outer space one day. But his practical vision is "to see Armenians feeling safe and secure" here at home.

z E

Literature in 1986, she worked as a teacher

for eight years before entering

AUA's

Political Science department in July 1994.

"For me entering the AUA was like moving from one planet to another; even the

E

=

friends around me changed," she said.

Graduating in 1996, she started teaching English language at the NGO Training and Resource Center of the Armenian Assembly of America. Then she became the coordina-

tor of the Tempus TACIS Program,

a

European Union program to support educational reforms in the former Soviet Union.

"Apart from advanced skills in computers and the English language, AUA helps students acquire self-discipline. We got acquainted with a different culture and with the American style of education".

As a former teacher, Lana is happy in her job at Tempus and has big hopes for her

Lana Karlova, 34, came to the AUA by chance.

A graduate ofYerevan State University's

Department

of

Russian Language and

country.

"I want to trust our govemment, I want the brainwashing to stop, I want our people be free and protected, aware of their rights and able to use them. I want to be as proud of the present state of our nation as we rue proud of our history. And finally, I just want to be happy!"

AIM NOVEMBER I998

Levon Levonian,29, is manager of the Yerevan branch of Midland Bank Armenia. He

knew he faced limited options after graduating as an engineer in 1993 from the Mechanical State Engineering Department Engineering University. So he looked toAUA. "I was a supporter of Western-style busi ness knowledge and, knowing many satisfied students of the AUA after its very first year of

of the

operation, I decided not to lose my chance and applied for the MBA program in 1993."

He joined Midland Bank Armenia in August 1995, even before he graduated. He started work first as a teller after the official opening of the Bank in March 1996. By

April 1998, he had become Yerevan Branch Manager.

"I am very pleased with my job at the Bank. The education system at AUA was much more interesting than what we were used to in the Soviet educational institutions.

AUA provides education, based on which you'll never feel lost; you can find your place in any environment."

Gagik Yeghiazarian, 31, is quick and energetic. He was interested in international relations even in his days as a student at the

Engineering University.

He saw the AUA as an opportunity to leam something new when it opened its doors to the fust sftrdents. He entered the College of Business and Management in 1991.

"AUA was an oasis in the desert

decaying economy

in

of the

Armenia,"

said Yeghiazarian. He went on to work for the Peace Corps as Program Manager of Small Enterprise Development in 1992-1994. He was also co-founder of Hye FM, The Armenian Monitor English language newspaper, and the Independent Media Center.

Inquisitive and always busy, Yeghiaza-

53

D U C A T

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s

He retumed to Yerevan in June 1997 and was appointed Deputy Minister of Industry

and Trade, dealing with investments and international trade development. Since April 1998 he has been CEO of the Armenian

E

=

Development Agency, a governmental orga-

nization to encourage foreign investrnents and promote exports.

Late in the evening, but still at work, Gagik Yeghiazarian sincerely tried to evaluate what the AUA has given him.

nan started

to work as a consultant for in 1994, assessing pro-

Armenian Airlines

curement-lease proposals for new airplanes,

and participating in the development of strategic and marketing plans. Then, employed by Arthur Andersen, he worked in Moscow for three years until 1997 in its Tax and Legal Department. "AUA was a transition to a new world for me. I have learned

that social and psychological limitations don't exist, and there is always room for improvement," said Yeghiazarian.

"It was an interesting combination of learning and experience. At AUA, everything was designed in such a way that students could concentrate on their studies. We leamed teamwork, applied knowledge, and learned how to work intensively. Our teachers were good professionals and our mental horizons expanded daily."

Yeghiazarian is confident. "I worked abroad, and could have stayed there, but I chose to return to Armenia, because I understand that this is my place. I want Armenia to become the kind of place that my children, too, will want to stay here."

=

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Varuzhan Hoktanian, 38, MA (Political Science), graduated from AUA in 1995. A former physicist, calm and serious, he was always attracted by politics, and applied to the AUA Political Science department in its

first year, in 1993.

He had been at the Yerevan Physics Institute but "I couldn't defend my doctoral dissertation because the accelerator at the tnstirrte stopped with the energy crisis in 1990.

I had to choose then: either to move to another country or to change my profession," he says.

Hoktanian could easily have left, since

his father is a US citizen, yet the opportunities offered by the AUA made him decide to stay. His friends encouraged him, saying he was the "last physicist" from the younger generation who hadn't left the country.

"The subjects taught at AUA were more elementary than those in the Soviet-era institutions, but they became rooted more deeply in a student's mind. The American educational system taught us to work independently," he said.

After graduation, he joined the Center for Policy Analysis at AUA as a Research Associate. As such, he is among the lucky few who found ajob in political science.

Hoktanian believes the education at the AUA made him more flexible and gave him the ability to look at public issues from different points of view.

"At the Physics Institute, I was sure that everything is either true or false. AfterAUA, I understood that there are numerous intermediate shades between these two."

54

AIM NOVEMBER 1998

EDUCATION 3 E

Physics Institute until August 1990. With no jobs available in her profession in Armenia,

em were more lively and frank. We leamed the narow but applied value of our subjects. We

in

were taught how to optimize our wqk, and how to solve certain types of pobkrns."

She believes one of the main 6iqg! thg AUA teaches is time manageqEnq rhioving more in less time. "[t taryht ur to work intensively, and under prâ&#x201A;Źs{1urc. It madp us think rationally, too."

Since graduating, she has worted as

1992, she was hired as a Senior Specialist at the Foreign Relations Departnrent of the Ministry of Higher Education and Science, 'My work was interesting, and I had 10 to 15 different visitors every day. Some of them wereAUAstudents. They wer.e very self<oufi-

E

=

dent, and had something I lacked,'l said Anahit She nude up her mind and enrolled at AUAs

College of Indusnial Engineering

'At

in

1995.

first, I was totally fiustrated. The edr-

ealion wae so intense, and my knowledge of the English language was not sufficient. But I managed to overcome these difficulties."

She says that AUA teachers were more

Anahit Yernjakian, 33, MS (Industrial Engrneering), graduated from the AUA in 1997. Prudent and consistent, she says her

entry to the university was very well planned and not something which happened by chanc.e, as with so many others.

She, too, is a physics graduate who worked as b researchsr at ths Yerevan

interested in passing on their tnowledge to students than teachers in the Soviet-type educational institutions. She doesn't say the quality of Soviet-stle education was bad, but the AUA gives its students another approach, lening them look at the problem from a different perspective and "making their work as effective as possible."

'The relations between strdenb ard teach-

1986 ro 1993.

3

I

"It wasn't a creative job. When I heard the announcement on TV about AUA opening its doors, I thought I should give it a uy," said

E

Karine, who entered the College of Business and Management

in

1991.

"AUA was a new perspective, a

new

way of thinking and living for me. It taught that one should never rely on someone else, but only on one's own dear self."

According to Sarkisian, one main difference between American and Soviet educational institutions was the formal system of grading. "At the AUA you could become friends with the teacher, but that wouldn't

could have a deep undersanding ofthe.a& ject, but get a low mark just bcause of poq memory." And, the bane of American educa

tion-tlre

multiple-choice exams.

*They do

not always rcflect surdents'real knowledge."

famous. None of this would have been possible without the AUA. It made us marketable."

Sarkisian went on to join the United Methodist Committee on Relief as Assistant Project Director for a USAID funded fruit drying and marketing project.

"I understood soon that work in a charitable organization didn't suit me very well."

Karine left for Moscow in 1996 and applied to Johnson & Johnson for a job. She got

one-not in Russia or Ukaine

as expected,

but as a Country Manager for Armenia and Georgia. Sarkisian does market research, works on strategy development and manages the import and sales

of

Johnson

&

"I was very satisfied by my job, but when I knew I had won a Muskie Fellowship in Business Administration at the Kellogg

She believes Johnson & Johnson is becoming established in Armenia and the future will be good. "I'll be with Johnson &

Graduate School

Engineer Technologist. She worked in the Nubarashen Knitted Fabric Company from

'The grading system wasn't perfect One

World Food Program in 1994.

in

1993 Karine first

Assistance, then as a Field Ofhcer in the UN

in 1993. Extrovert and aggressive, she graduated from the State Engineering University in 1989 as an

are shortcomings in the education process.

"I am very satisfied with my job, and the salary is high. That helps since I support my mother and sister." Karine says "AUA was the corner stone, enabling me to work successfully in free market conditions."

After graduating

worked as a Project coordinator for Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative

from the AUA

various scales.

Although she says this job'wou1d not be possible without theAUA, still, she feels there

Johnson products.

affect your academic success."

Karine Sarkisian, 33, MBA, graduated

Program Specialistrat the' Acnemy of Educational Developmeil, a U$i{p contractor, responsible for trainirry prqjects of

of

Management

at

the

Northwestern University in 1994, I decided to go because this was a chance to learn something new."

Karine retumed to Yerevan in 1995 to continue working at the UN. She recalls: "I was very self-confident, since the Kellogg management school is world

AIM NOVEMBER 1998

for at least three years. When I see that the company is fully established in our

Johnson

region,

I

can then think

of

another job,

maybe opening my own business."

Her dream is to see Armenia without

poverty. "People around me are angry because of financial problems. I would like to see kinder faces around."

55

Getting Atshak ll on the San Francisco 0rcra Stage Will he an Arlistic and Public Relations Goup.

Repoiling By PARIK ]{AZARIAI{ ringing the fourth century king Arshak

II to the twentieth century is not a feat of magic. All it takes is a group of determined music lovers-and one million dollars.

Sixteen hundred years ago, Arshak II managed to reunify local clans and fought enemies off successfully. lf a San Francisco based charitable organization succeeds, in the year 2001 . Arshak will manage to put Armenian culture, history and art on the world stage in a way that only world class opera can.

is serious opera, and is called "grand" because

it

includes

all art

genres: drama, scenery,

dance, songs, architecture, history, everything.

In the 1940s after it had been forgotten for decades. Arshak II was translated from the original Italian into Armenian." Performed continuously since then, Arshak II is an important part of Armenian opera reportory.

It is this Armenian

grand opera which may make it to the stage of the San Francisco

opera

Opera House in 2001 if violinist Gerard Svazlian and a group of hard working opera lovers have their way.

"Arshak II" (libretto by T. Terzian) is the first Armenian grand opera, according to musicologist and conductor Vatsche Barsoumian. "It

when he approached Clifford Cranna , Musical Administrator and Lotfi Mansouri. General

Tigran Chukhadjian's I 868

56

Svazlian's dream began

in early

AIM NOVEMBER I998

1997

The legendary soprano, Gohar Gasparian

(right) appeared as Olympia in Arshak II from 1949 to 1980. In response to an inquiry from AIM, she praised the project and its organizers, "Although our country is in transition and we have many difficulties to overcome, we should continue introducing and pressenting our music on the world's stages and demonstrate our artistic qbilities and might."

of the renown San Francisco Opera. Cranna explained that the 2001-2002 season is the first available opportunity for this opera which is "rich with dramatic events and colorful music". Cranna also explained that Director, and

A the staging of any opera is costly and must be subsidized and so it would be necessary to raise the necessary funds from sources which are not their traditional donors. And for an opera that is not part of the international reper-

toire, the sources will probably be within or close to the Armenian community.

So, Svazlian and a broad-based committee set to work.

The reactions were of two kinds. There were those who were appalled at an effort to raise such a large amount of money for-well, opera. How could it possibly cost so much?

The cost breakdown is fairly straightforward: It costs nearly a third of a million dollars for scenery and props, $200,000 or so for costumes, and just under half a million in artists fees. The artists will include notable Armenian-Americans and others in the roles

of King Arshak, his wife Olympia, Princess Parandsem, several princes, Catholicos Nerses, a conductor, director, designers and a choreographer. This is less than half the total

production budget, however. The one million doesn't include the several hundred members of the San Francisco Opera Company who will be the chorus, dancers, extras and filI the smaller solo parts. All of this, as well as the orchestra, stage crew, regional advertising,

and other costs are extras which

will

be absorbed as part of the Opera Company's reg-

ular budget.

"My goal is to see this jewel of an opera become part of the Western classical opera repertoire and enjoyed by audiences around

R

T

S

the world" says Svazlian, and his motivation is

not purely artistic. "Today Turks spend millions of dollars to distort and rewrite history .

There is a cultural war going on and in this wzu we have a weapon called the Arshak II opera. We have a rare opportunity to bring it to the international stage."

But the cost breakdown isn't really the issue, as much as the worthiness of the cause.

A million dollars to produce an opera, now,

when Armenia and the Diaspora need

so

much? That's the most frequently asked (or unasked) question, immediately followed by an assured, "It can't be done."

However, nearly 200 donors who have contributed between $100 and $100,000 each towards this project clearly believe it can be done.

Carolann Najarian, a physician, and her

husband George, an entrepreneur, live in Massachusetts. They have given to Armenian related causes for many decades. Since the earthquake, they have been particularly active through their Armenian Health Alliance. Yet, the Najarians gave (and generously, say committee members) and are passionate supporters

of

this new kind ofproject.

"You can't measure what it will do for us," says Carolann Najarian right before she gets on a plane for one of her frequent trips to Armenia. The production of an Armenian opera by a first class opera company is a gold-

en opportunity. This is not just a one-time donation towards a performance, but it will continue creating opportunities by producing

6 6

CDs and videos, promoting and encouraging future composers and artists and opening up many doors for Armenian music and art."

The husband and wife team of Julie

Kulhanjian, also a physician, and Roger Strauch is certainly no less committed.

Strauch, an Armenian-by-Choice and one of the co-founders of the University of California at Berkeley Armenian Studies hogram donated $100,000. Why? From Soup Kitchens to the Tree Project, they have enough other causes to contribute to.

But Strauch is adamant. "This is not just

a donation for a charity but an investment in Armenia's future which will multiply and bring much more social, economic and politi-

cal attention and interest by so many nonArmenians who otherwise would not even know about Armenia. Just the fact that

San

Francisco----one of the world's top opera com-

panies-has endorsed this proposal means

a

lot; not to grab this opportunity would be like making a decision not to send millions in the long run," says a convinced Strauch.

Svazlian explains that once an opera enters the international repertory, chances increase that it will be picked up by other opera companies and presented on world stages. Thus, the initial "investment" is returned more than once.

"After what is practically a full-time effort," admits Svazlian, the Committee has managed to collect nearly half the million dollars. The other half has to be raised by the end ofJanuary 1999, otherwise the project will be dropped by the San Francisco Opera and another work scheduled for the 2OOI-2O02 season. Professional singers like Lucine Amara and Lili Chookasian are not worried.

Unequivocal in their characterization of the

opera, Amara calls Chukhadjian's work "imaginative, beauteous and truly brilliantly constructed" and Chookasian says "the

I

orchestration is masterful and always supportive for the singer, and the plot of Arshak II is comparable to Verdi's Aida, thereby allowing the singers the ability to express all phases of drama."

Still, from the office of the Opera's

General Director, Mansouri, Elizabeth Connell says "San Francisco Opera has shown strong interest in this work, it is a wonderful piece but funding is a great concem. Details can be discussed after funds have been raised and planning of the production is in process."

On January 31, 1999, San Francisco Opera will add up all the funds it has received, and determine when production will start. The altemative-that all funds will be returned because the total collected is insufficient-no I one wants to talk about.

AIM NOVEMBER

1998

57

ls lt Art u ls lt Ra[ble-Bousing?

Above: The System plays to fanatic fans at the Rory Theater in Ins Angeles before embarking on their Jirst European tour, O4fest, with Incubus and Ultrspank. Below:

By SOI{A G. KBII(ORIAI{

A screarn accompanied by the haunting /f melody of the duduk wafts off the I \rtug. as hundreds of fans anxiously

modem rockers such as Ozzy Osbom.

await the harsh guitar, and then the music. The

bassist Shavo Odadjian, 23, and lead singer Serge Tankian, 30-are all former students of Southem California's Armenian Schools.

Drummer John Dolmayan, 25, graduated from

lead singer wails in accompaniment to the drone of the duduk. Not much can be understood between the guitar, heavy bass and

Three

of four band members-guitarist

and backup vocalist Daron Malakian, 22,

drums, and the fans.

But, there is one line that stands out and is repeated. "Free thinkers are dangerous," a line from one of their more popular songs"Mind". No sooner does the music begin

of people begin running around in circles, bumping into each other, and pulling outsiders into the whirlpool. It is a large room full to the brim with bodies, smoke, music, and adrenaline. Welcome to System of a Down.

The ambience is the all-too-common atmosphere of concerts of this type of music.

But what type is it? Mostly, it's the controversial "death metal"-a more extreme verthen a whirlpool

sion of alternative and heavy metal that con-

fronts issues of life, love, war and daily anger-and in the case of System of a Down,

of genocide. Their concerts begin with the familiar strains of Sardarabad.

Then, the music becomes unrecognizable.

According to band members, it is music which addresses the "hardships that bring society down." It's actually possible to draw a parallel between the harsh lyrics and those of other the injustice

58

Left to right:

Dolmayan, Tankian, Malakian, Odadjian in a publitity photo.

S/St-err't\

Ot a .DOr/VAi

AIM NOVEMBER I998

Grant High School in the San Femando Valley.

The members of the band never really knew each other until they graduated.

Malakian, Odadjian and Dolmayan were all

in other bands before they

decided to come together and form their own band.

The name System of a Down

comes

A

R

T

S

from the a poem that the youngest member, Malakian, wrote. The poem was originally

di stribu tion

called "Victims of a Down". The meaning of the title is a reaction to the injustices they see

in

life.

"When you're sick, you can't call a

doctor to come to your house, you have to get up and go to the doctor," saiys Malakian, to explain the name of the band.

It was the marriage of a common view

on life, an insatiable love for music,

Congratulates the following labels on their nomination in the first Armenian Music Awards.

and

encouragement of their parents that prompted System of a Down to reach their high point of

success. But not without a struggle. After a half years of playing in Hollywood clubs and bars for free, they finally reached the ultimate point of recogition: a record deal. They were the first band signed after the Columbia-American merger, as well as the first ever all-Armenian band. On their marketing and production team are some of the best names of the industry. As for ticket sales and fan appeal, if their sold-out concerts are any indication, they are already a tremen-

three and

dous success.

At the same time, there are those who are not thrilled with what they call "negative and vindictive lyrics". Is System of a Down leading their fans to consider themselves

"victims of a down?" One college student responded in exasperation, "Alright alreadyl So the world isn't perfect, get over it! I'm just glad I never listened to that crap when I was younger, otherwise I would certainly have given into their point of view on life as opposed to creating my own."

On the one hand, said a somewhat ambivalent listener, the band's 15 to 25 yearold-fans hear 'There's people starving in this world, and that's our problem.'On the other hand, they spend their allowances, or any money that they come across, on tickets that range from $10 to $20 to hear about how money is the source of corruption."

Still, their influence, pull and seriousness can't be discounted. Screaming profanities at the "system" the crowd surges with the ear-splitting volume and maddening pace of the System of a Down's music. Throughout the concert, bodies are hurled to and from the stage and slam-dancers reel at each other, sweat-drenched and crazed, while teens wearing sky-blue PiliboS rshirts stare up at Tankian, the lead singer, who will always take a breather during a concert to speak about political issues and the Armenian Genocide.

I

Krikorian interns at AIM and attends college, pursuing a degree in journalism.

CARN}

fur Best Instrumental Tiaditional Album 'Winnef - Echoes / Ararat Petrosian GARNI Best Litureical Album st. Etchmiadzin / Lusine Zakarim GARNI

NOmifiee -

Best Classical Album

NOminee -

Komidas

/ Lusine Zakarian GARNI

Best Children / Seasonal Album 'Winnef - An Armenim Christmm lYzco 3a Best Estradavin Album

'- HayotzAshkhar / Georgi Minasian GARNI [innef NOminee - Siro Veradartz / Bell Darbinian GARNI Best Contemoorarv Album 'STinnef I ,h,.'r.t **

/ Rouben Hakhverdian GARNI

Best International Album 'Winngf - Silk Road / Andy Cherokee Music Group Best Dance 'Winner

Album

-

why/ sako me! productions

Best Pooular Album 'Winnef - \7ho Knows / Nund Prime Entertainment Best Female Vocalist Album 'Winnef - Nuni Prime Entertainment

We qre proud to distribute winners.

AIM NOVEMBER I998

59

S P O RT

S

PULLING

M[|RE THAN HIS WEIGHT Top and bottom: Strongman Robert

Ro[ert Galstyan is in the Guinness Boolr ol World Becords as the World's Strongcsl Man.

Galstyan pulls trucks and airplanes with his teeth and arms. He's also a boxer.

The former 220 lb Galstyan, 39, has slimmed down to 175 lbs and taken up boxing. His trainer, a former Silver Gloves Champion named Stan Ward who used to spar with George Foreman and Evander Holyfield, says he has faith in Galstyan.

Repoilins by GE0RGE G0RYAll pen any volume of the Guinness Book of World Records since 1991 and you'll find Robert Galstyan, born in Masis, Armenia, listed as the "strongest man in the world". Not just once, but eight times. That's the least they can do for someone who has pulled two wagons of a train, (coupled together) a distance of seven meters (or 23 feet) down a track. One more time: Galstyan, at age 33, pulled two railroad cars weighing 219,175 kg (or 483,197 lbs.)

along a railway in Moscow with his teeth.

The 5'6" Galstyan has also pulled 18-wheeler trucks, and held down helicopters, again with his teeth. Wait, it gets better. Galstyan has kept two light planes, one strapped to each arm. from taking off.

Before settling in Southern California

in

1994, Galstyan traveled

with

the

Guinness World Records tour in Asia and Europe. Queen Elizabeth was among those who witnessed a demonstration of his skills.

AIM NOVEMBER 1998

"When he said he's the world's strongest man and he wanted to be a fighter, I never doubted him. There is a certain feeling you get about people. You know when they are pulling your leg and when they are not. I don't speakArmenian, and he doesn't speak English, but we have a great relationship."

Galstyan's own self-confidence matches Ward's faith. It's not easy for someone

over 30

to begin a boxing

career, by

Galstyan's faith in himself and God know no

bounds.

I

JI [| H[jI] Wrst. Youn lnrmus n l[tlrnny [Hnrsruls

[very

yeil iuu

Bedeyian

a few

weeh befors [hrislmas,

ltllru. fluth

of ilew Jersry ualls A|ltll and 0iues aruund

a

donn uift substriplions to lriends and relatiues.

"0ne Year I 0ave a suhsrription t0 [0n0rs$$lnatt Pallone. Another year, tny husband Sarkis and

I

sub-

scribed my nephew who had been raised kind of outside

lhs communily"

"lhe ma0ailne giues

a global uision ofArmenians so they

leel connemed all over the tttorld"

Get [orrBctgd.

0iue A|ill this thristmas

/\INI 1.888.736-324h

C

o

N

N

E

o

T

C

IHE Gl|l|D IHE BEAUIIFUT IHE UNUSUAT

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The first items ready to go for this Christmas season are pillows in five designs, made of silk satin and brocade, with gold tassels. There are also t-shirts (in men's classic or women's scoop neck) made of pure cotton, with silk screened images from turn-of-thecentury photographs.

Caravan T- shirts : $2 5 to $45 ; Decorative pillows: $75 to $95. Fax: 626.445.0972; Telephone

:

You

800.986.27 40.

don't

have to be from Worcester (or from

America)

to pleasure from the beautiprepared

derive

Ghristmas Gilts urith an Armenian spirit are s[ecial lor their extra thoughtlulness.

fully and

illustrated

volume called Worcester is

America

By SATPI HAROUIIIIIAI{ GHAZIRIA]I

7-l-tt. choices are obvious. There are the I malls, and there are the mail order catI- alogs. Between them, one has to find creative, thoughtful, appropriate, lasting gifts for a whole coterie of friends and family.

Where to begin? In what has become an

AIM tradition, we offer good, beautiful

and

unusual gifts.

The newcomer

to the family of

Swedish filmmaker Peo Holmquist's Back to

Written by Hagop Martin Deranian, a dentist, the book's 200 plus pages are full of beautiful historic photographs, extensive footnotes, a good index and most of all, lots of fun infor-

Ararat, which followed the thoughts and

mation. For example: There were

dreams of a Diaspora couple.

Lima (previously with the Armenian Review) and Sarafian, a historian, say that with the emergence of a new generation of Armenians, there is a thirst for "fresh perspectives on new sets of questions."

Subscribe your favorite thinker to The Armenian Forum.

Subscription: $34 US; $39 international The Armenian Forum, PO. Box 208, Princeton, NJ 08542

Armenian periodi-

cals-and it's a small, very small

family-is

The

Maybe it's because there are no others.

Maybe it's because these pil-

Armenian Forum.

I

Published in New Jersey, and edited

designed.

ars Vincent Lima

, But the idea

and Ara Sarafian,

The

health in Armenia, Daspora identity, sexuality,

nationalism and Caspian oil.

The authors of the essays are familiar names such as Levon Avdoyan of the Library of Congress and Arlene Voski Avakian of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and other specialists.

The cover of the first issue is a still from

62

and t-shirts are so exquls-

r itely

by two young schol-

Armenian Forum takes itself (and its readers) seriously.

There aren't too many publications that do that, either.) Subtitled "A Journal of Contemporary Affairs," the first issue tackled music, public

lows

images from old photos, carpets and manuscripts

600 Armenians in Worcester in 1891, but only six families. Another interesting tidbit: ln 1895, a Krikor Markarian established the first tobacco importing concern in the city, and later originated and patented Moosh tobacco. Useful facts for any curious soul. Those with specific historic interests will be taken by the story of the Reverend Chitjian, who in 1894 resigned because he was "addicted to preaching revolution" said his accusers. $29.95 plus $4.50 s/h to Bennate Publishing, Union Street, Worcester MA 01608, 508.752.0708; Phone:

5l Fax:

800.282.0337:

Everyone who's been to Armenia

comes

back with the same reaction: It's impossible to describe, you just

have to live it.

Carolann Najar-

so

ian's detailed, painstaking

elegantly on pillows, t-shirts and bathrobes is

remarkable mem-

enough to make one sit up and take a secon4 and

oir of

third look.

decade of commitment to Armenia comes close to disproving that truism. A physician, Najarian began going to Armenia and Karabakh and providing primary care immediately after the 1988 earthquake. As her frst person account makes clear, she received as much as she gave-and she gave a lot. This frst of its kind volume is a gift you deserve to

can be used

Caravan is a new line of home accessories and clothing items that celebrates Armenian artistic traditions. Included in the collection are silk screened and embroidered decorative pillows, table linens, hand embroidered in Armenia using traditional motifs and stirches, clothing items like scarves and t-shirts.

AIM NOVEMBER

1998

nearly

a

give yourself, too. $22.95 plus $2.95 s/h; $4 for international s/h. from Arpen Press, P.O. Box 400135, Cambridge, MA 02140.

Books for

children

have

never been plen-

tiful. This

year is no exception.

A I i dz

Agbabian's Ie//

Me Who

Your

Friend Is will have a sequel of sorts called Fire and Wind. And, the illustrator of these

two titles,

Paris-based teacher and artist Anahid Sarkissian has produced a delightful, colorful, entertaining and educational paperback about animals with character who lose

and regain their various unique body parts, and the child learns Armenian vocabulary painlessly. One such book a year is not too much to ask for. $12 each plus $2 s/h; $4 s/h international, to Alidz Agbabian, 1085 Hanley Ave., L,os Angeles, CA 90049.

Mirzakhans who escaped Baku, and with the help ofthe Lutheran Church, ended up on New York's Coney Island. It succeeds in presenting an honest look at the difficulties and triumphs of refugee families-their journey from their homeland to the US and their adjustment to a new life. There is no oversimplification here.

The challenges of preserving old traditions, while burdened by the memories of persecution are depicted with all the relevant complications. Keith Elliot Greenberg's simple text and a selection of homey photographs bring the fears and hopes of all refugees alive for young and not-so-young children. $18 plus $3 s/h.;

8225-3409-6.

krner Publications

from Abril

ly

there

Pianist Steven Bayne

explains

his introduction to

Armenian music by his

friendship

with his friend

Bookstore, 415 E.

and teacher oudist John Bilezikjian.

After Martiros and

Minas Hagop

Hagopian is

tury

receive). When a book is pleasing to the mind and the eye, you know you've found a gift to

this

carpets on walls, and doing embroidery as you watch

treasure.

They

mass

television become not just OK, but also a source

of pride, when they are featured in

E.

is

and Vachakan, customs like hanging

in

dhurt

,\testlieo 7lo,trr,

Interlaken Blvd. Seanle, WA 98112.

ume that would be beautiful to give (and

reinforced

Ie,,.$*,tl;i*".Nq,

$12 includes s/h; Eraz Music 2143

the 20th cen-

names like Anahit

homey and familiar

l/lblodi

Bayne, where the comments included "This is music for the heart." Since most of the selections are from Komitas, the description seems most apt.

Avetisian,

market publications. Suddenly

is

lb'tnenian

Every friendship should have such concrete

(arguably) recognizable. Hagopian, a warm pleasant man, has been painting desolate, isolated landscapes for over a quarter of a century. AAA Publishers who came out with Minas last year have produced an equally beautiful, coffee table vol-

that which

I

enjoyable

evidence. Bayne's recording, Armenian Melodies has gotten as far as Tunisia, says

artist whose work

It is important for children to see

is a variety of quality,

recordings for every ear and age.

Co., 0-

Broadway, Suite 102, Glendale, CA .91205

Saryan

reliable CDs. Maybe it's because production costs have come down with new CD technology, or maybe artists have become more willing to take risks, but whatever the reason, sudden-

Marco

most

$75 includes s/h to AAA Publishing, 6695 Henri Bourassa, West Montreal, Quebec H4R 1 E1. 1.888.556.8OOK.

Polo Records

of

Germany

ought

on

to

be

every

Armenian's shopping list

Chri stmas. started

the year with

the issuance of the six-volume National Anthems of

the

world, orchestrated by Peter Breiner (See AIM packages.

July 1998). Never mind that Armenia is included (volume l), but so is Karabakh (volume 3). Bet you didn't even realize Karabakh

sure to read. Armenian tales have never looked

Sometimes tiny and flat envelopes. But then you open them up and beautiful, elegant color images of Armenia jump out at you: Armenian

so rich and beautiful (See AIM, October

birds, Armenian flowers, Armenian churches

1998).

in faraway lands-the scope of subjects covered by stamps issued by the Republic of

films and books. This pride is only one of the rewards of a book like A Weave of Words, which is both beautiful to behold and a plea-

Orchad Bool<s, ISBN, $16.95 plus $3 s/h Books, 415 E. Brcndway, Suite 102,

fum Abfl

Big things come in small

Armenia are truly admirable. Clean design and

Glendak, CA91205. $16.95 plus $3 s/h

had an anthem!

But you certainly did know that Arno Babadjanian, contemporary classic composer and pianist had authored not many, but beautiful, romantic chamber pieces. They are per-

formed most exquisitely by Violinist Ani Kavafian, Cellist Suren Bagratuni, and Pianist

Avo Kuyumjian on another Marco Polo recording. It's good to see these 50-year-old pieces renewed by the performances of musi-

For older children, An Armenian

Family is part of

series

cians of such caliber-"never less than impressive" saysThe Strad. How many more

a

such recordings are made

called

Journey Between Two Worlds, an eye-opening look at the whys and hows of refugee life. The story is about the Asriyans and Melik-

will, to a

large

extent, be determined by how well these sell. good production are part of what make these collector's items extra special.

Armen Hovsepian, P.O. Box

15204,

Lenexa, Kans as, 662 85 - 5 204.

When all else fails, there are the good

AIM NOVEMBER I998

Hint, hint!

Marco Polo 8.2250.30 from music

stores, or by calling 800-75-MUSIC.

There are more recordings in the classic,

63

CONNECTIONS traditional vein.

29-year-old singer. The techno music is a suc-

Komitas Wedding

cessful blend of western dance beats with Armenian lyrics. For those who enjoy dancing all night at the favorite club, there is now a pleasant complement: enjoying the house beat at home, listening to Sako's Arachin Ser, Tu Heratsar, Tu Khent Es. The titles and the

Songs and The Birth of David of

Sassoun, Armenian

Epic

are both distrib-

uted by

it all. $15 + $a s/h Diaspora P.O. Box 287

Paris's

studio

beat say

sM.

Glendnle CA91209.

Respected conduc-

tor

Garbis

Jazz

Aprikian puts to music the great David epic, utiliz-

ing the voices of the Sipan-Komitas

choir, the children's choir of

Paris's

well as baritone Armand Arapian, Soprano Fabienne

Tebrotzassere School, as

Chanoyan Karakaya.

and

pianist

David Azarian has released his second

Mezzo-Soprano Anna

He also directs the

Komitas Wedding Songs performed by Rene Massis and Sonia Nigoghossian, among others.

$18 plus $4 s/lt. Studio SM, 54 Rue

Michel Ange, 75016 Paris.

CD and itwas worttr the wait. Living in Jazzland is a collection of live performances at WGBH radio Boston, Mas s achu s ett s.

From traditional Gershwin and PorGr pieces to several of his own creations, Azarian's piano playing is alive and stimulating. $15 + $5 ilh DavidAznrian, PO. Box 1348 Boston, MA02117.

in

Fax:

33. I .47.43.91 .99.

Datevik Hovhannessian,

The pro-

ducers

known for over two decades as the Ella Fitzgerald the

have

figured

of

out

that at least as

Soviet Union,

many

finally, to the great

under 25ers buy CDs

joy ofher fans, got-

as the rest of

us.

ten away from jazz

This

standards

explains the large number

of

recordings

aimed directly at the "younger generation." Even

if

that no

longer includes you, consider those who do.

off with Nomad Express, is a sort of crossbreeding of musical

Start them which

cultures from the East and West. A combination of contemporary (bass, keyboards, sax, drums), traditional Middle Eastern (oud, saz) andArmenian (duduk, zurna) instruments give traditional and liturgical Armenian songs a fascinating, and not off-putting, new flavor. $15 + $4 s/h from Diaspora, P.O. Box 287 Glendale CA 91209.

Music is fine,

but it's the

dance

beat they want. No

problem.

album,

Sako's Why...,

leaves no questions

unanswered. This CD consists of original works by

the

64

Lebanese-born

has

andnrned

her voice to Armenian traditional favorites, rendered so unbelievably authentically, that calling it Armenian jazz does proud justice to bottr terms-Armeni an and J azz.

Produced in France by Sabu Productions, Datevik's songs range from Komitas to Circle

Dance-Yes, Circle Dance performed entirely by voice @atevik's of course) and drums.

Sabu Prodrctions, 151 Rue Montmartre, 75002 Paris FMNCE Fax: 33-142614340. Or $18 plus $4 s/h fum Diaspora P.O. Box 287 Glendale CA 91209.

He is famous

as a singer of Persian

ballads.

But this CD is far

from that genre.

Eight of the ten

pieces are

by

Armenia's Artur Grigorian, a contemporary jazz composer whose songs were made famous by the new generation of popjazz singers. The other two pieces are by Komitas, delivered exquisitely by the velvety-

AIM NOVEMBER 1998

voiced Martik. There is nothing old about the orchestration of these pieces-percussion, bass guitar and keyboard come together in a modern, yet fitting way to speak to a generation that isn't always eager to listen to Dad's favorites. $15 + $4 s/h Diaspora PO. Box 287 Glendale CA 91209.

Looking for

a

rare piece of music.

Raven H. Tanielian has interwoven his

love for

Native

American culture

with his

own Armenian heritage,

which, he

says,

similarities. The music is very calming and at times very hypnotic. But through it all the nakedness of truth washes over you like warm surlmer rain and leaves you dancing with the joy of share many

life. Neither son, nor mother, Yvonne Tanielian, have had professional training, but their performances of traditional songs of the earth are so authentic, one is alrnost grateful for the absence of formality. The instruments and instrumentalists all come from different cultures-Australian Aborigine, Native American, Phillipine and Armenian-but meld together naturally.

$15 + $4 s/h from Diaspora. P.O. Box 287 Glendale C491209.

Finally,

the

soft guitar of Kazakhstan-born 20-year-old Slava Grigorian is about

as far

from

Armenian music as

this listing is likely to get. Yet, the great technique and wonderful repertoire of this novice has been packaged beautifully on a couple of Sony recordings, and it would be a shame to pass them up.

From the American Chick Corea to the Brazilian Heitor Villa-t obos to the Spanish Federico Moreno-Torroba, the pieces are enchanting and the playing is exquisite. The *ian" at the end of Slava's name is the perfect excuse to encoruage the performer and enjoy

the music which C/asslc Guitar Magazine calls a "superb debut".

Sony 5K62627 at all music stores or call 8OO.75.MUSIC,

That's this year's harvest. Enjoy the thinking and planning, and finally the grving and getting.

Ihe Io

Now with NATIONT/IDE residentio/business listings New Dusiness to Business grcen poges New lntemet Vebsite of www.omenion.com

I.0l 0.244.1151 UNIARTS ADVEBTISING. 424 WEST COLORADO ST., #202, GLENDAI.T, CALIFORNIA 91204. SHIPPII'IG A HANDLING $8. USA, $1O.CAMDA, $2OABROAD @ 1998 UNIARIS ADVERTISING,

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Bom[ Sholls ol Like his father and his father's father, Garbis Dargazian is an artist. He's been engraving original designs on brass and copper for 45 years, creating inticate pattems on omamental pieces with an antique quality. Dmgazian is a master at using the

of sociology

at

Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts, Hagopian is a soughtafter expert on the history and politics the Middle East.

of

Hagopian has been closely asociated with Arab-Americans throughout her life.

Her parents were both from Syria, as were

three of her grandparents.

Her

Grandfather Hagopian disappeared in Turkey when her father was just a year old. As a sociologist Hagopian says she has two overall interests, one: the way the

developed world has exploited the underdeveloped world, and two: issues of eth-

nic inequality.

Hagopian has written countless papers

and books on those subjects. Her most recent book is

bers are recorded and calculated and com-

pared with figures from previous seasons

titled Being Ethnic, Being

hammer and chisel to create works of beau-

ty in his kbanese workshop, but now he is using those tools to work on weapons as well.

During and after the Lebanese Civil War, Dargazian began collecting empty shell casings from used bombs. With meticulous effort and sometimes as much as a month's time, Dargazian began converting the bombshells into beauty. It is his way of searching for the good in a symbol of evil, or, as he says, "to transform that particular brass shell from an instrument of death and destruction to a

each hand-crafted piece displays, unlike the output of machines which results in hundreds of identical pieces.

The legacy of artistic talent appears to have culminated in Dargazian's designs.

His own son has not followed in the footsteps of the three generations before him.

will be the keeper

lnstead he

Arabic journals and newspapers. In 1977

Dargazian's most precious artwork, those which are not for sale but remain with the family as heirlooms and reminders of a

US

President Jimmy Carter invited Hagopian to the White House to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian and Arab-Israeli conflicts. The following year Carter held the famous Camp David Summit where Sadat and Begin signed the framework for peace in the Middle East.

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and given to media ouflets for reporting, or to whomever wishes to purchase such information.

Subscribers to the service include the Associated Press, Reuters, CNN and all of the major and some minor Hollywood film studios. Distibutors use the information to determine when to release a film in order for it to have the best chance against its competition. "They often use our release schedule to make those changes. It's a real chess game as far as how the studios release their films," said Dergarabedian. "We get release schedule changes every day."

unique piece of art glorifying life."

Dargazian is proud of the individuality

Unequal.

Hagopian contributes commentaries and research articles to several

movies, and keeps track of when new films are scheduled for release. The num-

z

a

Profesor Emeritus

many people around the country aftended

?

B

If you're a fan of CSPAN-TV you may have seen Elaine Hagopian speaking as a panel member of the American-Arab anti-discrimination committee recently.

some math involved, but basically who is president of Exhibitor Relations in Los Angeles, watches movies for a living. On a weekly basis Dergarabedian goes to film screenings, compiles statistics on how Dergarabedian,

of

history engraved in brass.

ilan

on

ho iloulos

Paul Dergarabedian may have one of the best jobs in the world. Well, there is

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Tracking films in North America is a big job considering the number of films that make it to theaters. "Every year it

goes up. There are between 425-475 films-that is a lot of product," commented Dergarabedian. "A lot of those are sort

of the smaller independents. The major studios release anywhere from 150 films a year to 165."

After five years in the business, you might think the 37-year-old movie buff has become an expert at guessing which films will be big hits with the public. "It's

funny because

I

don't usually try to pre-

dict. There are so many intangibles; the weather can affect it, people's moods can affect it," Dergarabedian explained.

Exhibit Relations was founded in 1974, Dergarabedian joined in 1993 after earning a B.A. in Radio, TV & Film from

CSU Long Beach and some graduate work in Communication Management at USC. He has three older sisters living in Washington and Arizona. His parents

using props, many of the actors portray items like windows and chairs with their bodies. Angell says the exercise is good training for the actors, and helps kids realize they too have the ability to act. "By relying only on their bodies, voices and imaginations, the actors demonstrate that the means to tell any story is within each child's grasp," Angell said.

In addition to his work at Occidental,

nearby in Southern California. Paul Sr. is

Angell writes publicity material for the animated TV series "The Simpsons."

a retired engineer and consultant to the aerospace industry. His mother Mary

An Aillst's Artlst

were both born in Wisconsin but now live

Jansouzian-Dergarabedian makes and sells chocolate candy from their home.

Hls Worlr ls Ghild's Play

his father passed away

in 1975 Eitzian

took over the family business.

Traditional European instnrments are his mainstay, but Eritzian has also crafted various Armenian folk instnrments. All of his pieces have very distinct decoration, the

mark of his personal care and attention.

Musicians in Armenia, England, Eastem Europe, France, Russia and the US play Eritzian insffuments. The music they play is a ribute to his artisty. a

Y

Musicians rely on their instruments the way some people rely on food. They are

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their means of survival, their entertainment and their comfort. A well-crafted instrument is a musician's most treasured possession, and a talented instrument-maker is a musician's best friend. Martin Erizian is one such person-a master crafuman who

-

lives and works in Yerevan.

Eritzian learned his craft from his father, a well-known violin-maker, Shahen Eritzian. He also studied with a famous

Czech master Vladimir Pilar, and with

-

Vahakn Nikhogosian

in

New

York.

Eritizian has been creating violins, violas and violoncellos since the early 70's, craft-

is Jamie writer and theater director, Angell is committed to training actors to tell stories to a young audience.

For the past three summers, Angell has been artistic director of the children's theater at Occidental College in LosAngeles.

This season he directed an original proEntertaining children

Angell's specialty. As

a

duction called "Snow White and the Seven Samurai" as well as an adaptation of a traditional Armenian folktale called 'The Last Laugh".

Angell's goal with the children's theater is to encourage kids in the audience to use their imaginations. Rather than

ing around 1,000 instruments so far. It's a passion he has passed along to his son Garen Eritzian, a violin player.

Eritzian is a meticulous artist, using the best materials he can find including wood from 120 to l5O-year-old elm and spruce trees from a mountain village on theAzand river near Sukhoumi. The wood he selects is then stored at a constant temperature for another ten years before it is ready for use.

Eritzian strives to perfect his instruments following the principles of the old Italian masters by combining timbre expression, clear and strong sound with unique resonance qualities.

His career began as a musician playing the violin. Eritzian graduated from the Yerevan State Conservatory in 1958 and played second violin in the string quartet of the Armenian Philharmonic from 1964 to 1975. During that time he also helped his father make instrument parts, and when

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rammies, move over. The Armenian Music Awards are here. The first in what organizers says will be an annual event was held, where else, in Los Angeles in early October. The Anush Award (left) was oft'ered in 18 categories. The Master of Cerernonies was the Lebanese born singer Manuel. There were plenty of surprises among the winners. The winners weren't necessarily tht; best sellers. The lbllowing criteria were considered: originality, creativitn production value andArrnenian content. An artist's whole oeuvre was not under consideration: just CDs produced during the last two years. lt was interesting to see the Armenian recordingindustry take itself seriously. Beautiful sets, chaut'feur-driven limousines and awards in the form ol familiar-looking statuettes were all part of the show. Held at the Alex Theater in the heart of Southern Califomia's Little Armenia-Glendale, performers included balladeer Armen Movsesian (above right) from Yerevan, the "King of Armenian pop" Adiss Harmandyan (above leti) and old-time romantic Ceorgi Minasian. as well as Grammy winner Armen Chackmakian. Winners included the wellknown Harut as well as the artistic duo dudukist Djivan Gasparyan and Peter Brook (above center, whose new CD is already making the rounds of radio stations and music magazines) and newcorner Sako for Best Dance. Nune walked away with the hest female vocalisl awurd. irnd best popular album. Judges included musicologist Bedros Alahaidoyan, conductors Mikael Avetissian and Henrik Anasian, Composer Sassoun Paskevichian and Nelly Magh;ikian.

Pamboukjian andAndy,

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Ar:,

aw'a.v. Jazz sl I) lleI

Date\ Hovhancs

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enthrallerl Arnreniun audiences I 0 ycars

afier shc'cl left Yerevan. I'lcr show-a combination ol'.iazz stanciards and hcr own unique Armenian jazz clcations were warnrly recerved by those who rcnrenrberecl her voice and others who bccanrc ncw fans.

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/flhirty years ago, in the good old Soviet days, Yerevan I celebrated its 2750th birthday with song and celeI b.atiorr. This year, too, as one ofthe world's oldest cities celebrated its 2780th birthday, the pomp and ceremony were not too shabby. Horse-drawn chariots carried the descendants of Urartian kings decked out in something like

i

period clothing. Fireworks and officials (including President Kocharian and Yerevan Mayor Suren Abrahamian, below) burst upon the scene and congratulated each other on what some consider a miraculous continuous existence on the same land for three millennia. Most of the events took place in the square near the ruins of the

Erebuni fortress. What had become a favorite and inspira-

tional tourist spot on a hill on the outskirts of Yerevan where the remains of an original Urartian fortress were unearthed has tumed into a dirty, unprotected series of messy, graffiti-inscribed rooms and walls (lower left)A5.

The Department of Monuments and Antiquities does not have the resources to maintain the fortress or its museum.

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We Werc All Poor 0urcelues in Ihose Days

By GEORGE MAS(II{

mericans are learning what Bill Clinton means

President

when he speaks of the interdependence of all the nations in this new world economy. A devaluation in Russia, which

could trigger similar devaluations in Brazil, Southeast Asia and even in China has pushed our US stock market down dramatically in just the last two months. It is already having an impact upon our economy in other ways. Companies are shearing their spending plans. Banks are revising their lending standards, determined to be more cautious. Consumers, seeing their mutual funds failing in value, are revising their spending plans. All this triggered by the trouble in Russia and fears of what it will do to other economies in the world.

To be sure, Russia's economy has less impact on our own that does even a tiny country like Holland. But it has a great effect on many other countries with which it competes, and the cumulative effect of its troubles inevitably impacts upon us.

Sung Won Sohn, chief economist at Norwest Corp, recently forecast an even more severe market decline. Even with the drop, he said, stocks are overvalued.

"Earnings estimates are falling faster than stock prices." Sohn said the economic weakness in Asia will spread to Latin America, and there's a 50Vo chance of a global recession. He also figures there's a 257o chance that the US will slip into a recession next year.

"We're facing the greatest economic challenge since the Great Depression of the 1930's," he said, noting that the cur-

lower interest and do the other things necessary to fight deflation.

Unfortunately the situation is quite different in Armenia where Russia's troubles have already had a severe impact upon their economy. I was surprised and concerned to learn that over half of the $400 million dollars of foreign remittances to Armenia, come from Russia, mostly from Armenians who left Armenia to find work in Russia. These people have been sending money to help members of their families who remained in Armenia.

They can no longer send money home as they are barely able to support themselves in Russia. As an article in last month's AIM reported, "because ofthe collapse of the Russian economy...the already precar-

ious financial conditions in Armenia will deteriorate further, hurting even those with no direct ties to Russia."

rent economic malaise will likely last beyond the year 2000. He's even pessimistic about bonds except those of the highest quality like Treasury debt.

Because we have such a vibrant economy, it is my opinion that we will weather the storm quite well. After a period of

retrenchment and declining interest rates (with help from the Fed) our dynamic growth will likely accelerate once again.

It may take a year or two, but things will turn up. Remember, it is inflation that is

so difficult to overcome, Deflation is another matter. And the US is in the strongest position in decades to cut taxes,

AIM NOVEMBER I998

. For American Armenians determined that Armenia survive as a free and independent nation, ihe message is clear. We in America must pick up the slack until Russia's economy turns around.

I remember as a youngster asking my father why the Anirenians in America didn't do more to help Armenians during the Turkish massacres. "We were all poor ourselves in those days," was the answer.

Armenians in America did what they could, but they were scratching for a living themselves.

This certainly isn't the case today.

Armenian Americans are flourishing and in a position to really make a difference in Armenia. What is needed, in my opinion, is a much better campaign to inform

the Armenians-American community of the situation in Armenia and the need for outside help.

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