Turkey's EU Ambitions

I was just listening to the radio and they were talking about discussions on Turkey being (or not being) admitted into the EU and the reporter stated that the main reason for Europe's hesitation is the fear of an influx of poor folks from Turkey going into the rest of Europe. As you all know, I am a victim of filtered crappy news sources, the one last thing all Americans can agree on regardless of their reasons for believing it. So I wonder if the Armenian Genocide is even mentioned as a reason when the rest of the world reports on it? In the US, reporters may be caught dead before even mentioning that disputed subject.

The other day NPR was talking about Turkey making efforts to open the borders with Armenia, and how they started letting visitors into Ani, but those stubborn Armenians keep bringing up these allegations of genocide and messing everything up. How dare we.

Urartu-Armenia...Armenia-Urartu

WWW.LOGIAURARTU.ORG.AR
For all those who would enjoy reading about spiritualism and the ones who Dream with an eternal Free Fatherland.

See you in ARMENIA NEXT WEEK Raffi and Aram!!!

Turkish propoganda FAILS!

Germany recognized the Armenian Genocide! YAY!!! Turkey is raging. Apparently their little DVD in Time magazine didn't work. I just got a copy of the DVD yesterday. It was a disturbing 60 minutes. It's actually 70 minutes, but after 60 minutes, I couldn't take it anymore. For the love of God, how many lies can you fit in a "tourism" DVD. The worst part was when they started showing mass graves being excavated, and claimed those to be Turks' remains. Later in the DVD, they try to make the argument that Armenians claim that there are so many mass graves, but we haven't been able to show any. "Where are these mass graves they talk about?" Dude, these are sick people.

So needless to say, this DVD is a joke. But the one thing that brings me comfort is that the idea of the average European opening this thing, watching the whole thing and sitting through 70 minutes of obvious lies on people who don't even live in Turkey (because according to them, we just left... or we were deported to safer locations where they had food and doctors ready to care for us... it was a shame that some people died along the way. Who would have guessed that some people might not be able to survived walking through the Syrian dessert in the middle of the summer with no food, water, and the occasional rapes and killings), doesn't seem realistic. The only people I imagine watching this thing are people who already have an opinion, and lets face it, Europeans seem to be more clear on the truth than anywhere else.

It seems Time's explanation is that they didn't know it was in there. I suppose I believe that. The way it was done is obviously very sneaky. That in itself also convinces me that anyone in their right mind would see this and realize that it's obvious propoganda distributed by the Turkish government. The arguments are weak as usual, there are so many gaps and contradictions, and their attempt at appearing to be such a westernized democratic state while bashing an entire culture on a "tourism" DVD while the world watches them get rejected from the EU over and over again for their poor human rights records, I just can't see anyone being influenced by this thing. But perhaps I'm so emersed in the situation that I can't even imagine the other perspective. Whatever it may be, if you feel like depressing yourself and reallly need a dagger in the heart, I highly recommend this piece of garbage.

Wedding season has begun!

Well, surprisingly I only have 2 weddings to attend this year. I just went to one, and the next is in a couple weeks. The one I went to was for my cousin Alishan and his lovely bride Arpi.

Yes, I was in LA again. Hagop and Shoosh, I'm really sorry I didn't ring you guys up, but I'm sure you can imagine with a wedding in town, there was barely any time away from the family to breathe. Next time. Oh, but it was a great wedding. I was a brides maid, and the bridal party got along VERY well. The crowd was an interesting mix of LA and DC folks and some of Alishan's old college and high school friends I remember from back in the day.

So, it started at 10 am when the grooms family gathered at his uncle's house (other side of the family) where we were greeted with little cognac shots. The dancing began, and then we were off to take the bride's dress (shoe really since the dress was too big) to the bride's family's house. I guess this is tradition. I wasn't too familiar with it, but there were shots waiting for us there too, along with I think nearly a hundred family members... sounding very LA Armo to you? Yup. Photos motos, food mood, dancing shmancing, speeches shmeeches, you know the drill. Eventually the bridal party hopped in the limo and the rest followed... and the champagne began flowing.

To cut it short... there was hours of photo taking where margaritas came into play, the wedding ceremony was beautiful, and there was more champagne in the limo to keep us going until the reception, where the alcohal motherload awaited... open bar.

Oddly enough, I wasn't drunk through any of it because when one drinks that much in the time span of a couple hours, it'll hit you hard, but when you drink over a span of 15 HOURS, it loses it's effect. But that isn't to say it wasn't fun. I was drunk on joy from all the love in the room, the dancing, and the dancing, and dancing, some dancing, and more dancing. The bride and groom kept us going... they wouldn't stop.

So a lovely wedding indeed. I got back Sunday night... Monday morning at 1:30 and was back in the office hours later. Oh, my pillow is calling my name. Congrats again Alishan and Arpi, thanks for an amazing time and I hope your honeymoon is everything you both deserve for being two amazing people and two of my best friends.

Raising the Stakes

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan's presence in the US has definitely been felt, and it's becoming obvious that President Bush and his administration is more than willing to cater to him. How we haven't learned our lesson in dealing with Turkey, I have no idea. But if anyone happened to catch the Sunday NBC Dateline, make no mistake, that was intentional and no cooincidence that it aired just after Erdogan was in town. I wont talk about it, but I will make two comments... the Armenian cause for genocide recognition is not embodied in one man, and my little ounce of faith in media to report honestly is completely lost.

But there's no doubt that Turkey has spent a lot of money and time planning their new wave of genocide denial and I believe they are losing. Read the article below for a recap of how they are plotting to knock us over. I'm happy to say, it's NOT working. The genocide issue is more relevant now, especially with Sudan reminding us how ugly genocide is.

I realize this may be out of character for me, but I truly believe the one thing about Americans today is that the true Americans (as in, not the politicians pretending to represent them) believe in good. All the conservatives out there, I truly believe that in their good Christian hearts, would not take this crap from Turkey if they realized it was going on. The more this subject is publicized, I believe the American people will do the right thing, which is why we have to make sure that we are there to respond every time Turkey puts lies out into the world. The obstacle in all of this is the gatekeepers in Congress and the Administration who have sucked up to Turkey long enough. Yalla, put the Genocide Resolution to a vote and watch it pass with a landslide.



TURKEY ESCALATES INTERNATIONAL WAVE OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DENIAL

A1plus

| 14:31:18 | 16-06-2005 | Politics |

Activists from across the United States, throughout Europe, and around the world are streaming to the Armenian National Committee of America's (ANCA) website to take part in an on-line response to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's recently unleashed international wave of genocide denial.

In recent weeks, Erdogan has dramatically raised the stakes in his government's campaign to deny the Armenian Genocide, orchestrating the purchase of major media advertisements, applying intense pressure on foreign governments, and severely cracking down on dissidents within Turkey who seek to speak openly about this crime against humanity. Elements of this wave of denial include:

Blocking the first-ever Armenian Genocide conference in Turkey, which was to have taken place in Istanbul this June.

Spending over $1,000,000 to have Time Magazine include DVDs denying the Armenian Genocide in all of its editions throughout Europe, and placing a major genocide denial ad in the Washington Post.

Pressing the U.S. government to withdraw the American Foreign Service Association's "Constructive Dissent" award to U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans for speaking the truth about the Genocide.

Pressuring President Bush, during their June 8th White House meeting, to oppose the Armenian Genocide Resolution before Congress. This legislation (H.Res.316) was introduced on June 14th by Congressmen George Radanovich (R-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Armenian Caucus Co-Chairmen Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), and Frank Pallone (D-NJ).

Twisting arms at the State Department to continue to exclude any mention of the Armenian Genocide in the Department's official website's section on Armenian history. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5275.htm

Imposing an effective "gag-rule," silencing any U.S. protests over Turkey's new Penal Code provision (Section 305) outlawing even the discussion of the Genocide.

"The powerful response to our action alert reflects the seriousness with which Armenians worldwide are responding to Erdogan's escalation of his attacks on the truth, on the memories of genocide victims, and on the very security of Armenia," said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA.

"But he will fail - despite all the millions of dollars and vast political capital he will expend. He'll fail - because of the powerful grassroots response he will face from Armenian Americans; because of the moral indignation of the American people as they learn more about how his government's values stand in stark contrast to those held by the vast majority of Americans; because he is finding himself increasingly isolated internationally as he loses his partners in denial, and - perhaps most importantly - because his years of hateful lies and deception will collapse under their own weight," added Hamparian.

Pack! Pack! Pack!

2 more full weeks of school left! (I really can't believe it!) Although I'm quite excited for school to be over, I can't even imagine that I won't be teaching next year. That's right... I decided to stay longer in Armenia, and that would mean I won't be back for the school year. (My June-Aug. trip just isn't gonna cut it...I NEED MORE!) :)

Other than all the end-of-school-year drama, there have been showers, parties, and every other sort of festivity Armenians can come up with to set a table and drink genats-es. :)

Of course, since my departure date is coming close, I've been winding down my "Collection Project" (I can't think of what else to call it). I've collected A LOT of clothes, toys, and anything else people think they don't need anymore (since they're going to go buy new ones...) and I've started packing them in air tight bags, so they could be taken to Armenia this summer with different people who are willing to sacrifice luggage space. The AYF group will be taking 90% of the stuff, and even help us pass it out. I'm so excited, because working at a school really helped us collect GOOOOOD children's apparel and lots of toys! You'll be amazed at how quick "Amerigatsi" kids get tired of a particular toy and of course pester their parents for new ones! This works great for me... I have all sorts of trucks, and ninja men, and plush dolls, and.... well you get the idea. The Mangadoon kids (as well as a lot of other kids) will LOVE these toys, even if they didn't come out of a box.

Here are a few pics of SOME of the stuff, before we started the "sort-out" and packing process...




People just bring them to school for me in bags...



Some of the toys.

TSUH! :)~

Demonstration at Turkish Embassy

Well, once again Prime Minister Erdogan has come to town, and who could pass up the opportunity to make him feel unwelcome? There was a gala event at the Turkish Embassy yesterday (Sunday, June 5) to which hundreds of Turks, military officials, and other influential people showed up only to be greeted by a... very peaceful and quiet crowd of Armenians. Well, the secret service required the quiet part, but the peaceful was all us.

Many informative flyers were distributed to the attendees shaming them for their denial or their association with the deniers. Apparently throughout the event, calls from inside the Embassy were going to the State Department demanding that we be moved... something along the lines of, these Armenians are disruptive and crazy, you have to control them, they are breaking the law... to which the State Department apparently kneeled down to and obeyed, completely forgetting the liberties of their own country and following Turkey's idea of what law is. They called the secret service telling them to move some of our people across the street, which we did. At some point, I was taking photos of them through the fence and heard one of the cops tell me that I should be careful not to get too close because he can't protect me if they grab me... and he has seen it happen. That was a bit of reality check and made me appreciate my protection in the United States a bit more. Thanks guy for that.

But the winner of the show was when our people were offering flyers, one old man turned to us and said, "I don't need one, my father killed your families!" Enough said.

Anyway, here are some photos. All in all, it was successful in that they definitely were buzzing inside about us and felt our presence. I'll upload more photos on my website soon. I have some updates on AYF Junior Seminar too, but I'll post that later.








By the way, does anyone know what this hand gesture means? I have my doubts of it being peaceful.

California, Part 2

The Armenian Music Awards experience is somewhat surreal. I had attended my first one in 2002 and this was my first time back after almost three years. The venue was bigger (Hollywood Palladium), there were more acts on stage, etc. My wife and I decided to make a trip of it by attending the music awards, putting on a few Iakovos Kolanian guitar recitals, and then taking a week and enjoying the Bay Area and Fresno for vacation. I have relatives in Fresno and some friends in the Bay Area.

At the Armenian Music Awards, congratulations go out to Arsineh Khachikian who continues to dominate the "Best Album Cover/Design" award year after year. She is always nominated and has won the award two of the last three years. This time, she won for our Karabagh CD, "Fortress City". Also, Iakovos Kolanian won the "Michael Ganian Best Instrumental Album" award and also performed two pieces at the show. Other highlights included Manuel receiving a lifetime achievement award and a tribute to Adiss Harmandian. I did not realize how revered Adiss was in the Armenian community as about 7 singers from Andy to Joseph sang his songs with Adiss in the audience getting a little teary eyed. Pure LA, pure fun. There were some technical glitches throughout the night, but, most people came away happy.

I purchased SOAD's "Mezmerize" and really have some strong feelings about it. Much to my surprise, it is a great album and is a great followup album to "Toxicity/Steal This Disc". I didn't think they could keep up the intensity and creativity after their masterpiece "Toxicity". However, they really sound confident and vibrant. Lot's of color on this album and some very wacky stuff. For those keeping up, BYOB, Cigaro, Question, Sad Statue, Old School Hollywood, and Lost in Hollywood are really excellent. I've heard a lot of people complain about Daron's vocal. I think just the opposite as it is a neccessary compliment to Serj's voice and adds even more quirkiness. Plus, I think he has a great rock/metal voice.

Here is a picture of Iakovos Kolanian being interviewed by two Armenian TV personalities. I am just hanging out watching them trying to look important. Photo by Kevork Imirzian.