LA Times / Mark Arax controversy

For those of you who haven't read the background on this, see the Harut Sassounian column - Los Angeles Times Must Dismiss Managing Editor Douglas Frantz. Basically, Mark Arax, an Armenian writer at the LA Times has been told he cannot objectively write about the Armenian Genocide - by an editor who was based in Istanbul for years and is buddies with the Turkish Consul in LA. The controversy continues - and we need to make sure the LA Times knows how you feel about this disgusting discrimination at the largest newspaper in LA - which is home to the largest Armenian community outside the former Soviet Union. So read the column I linked to above. Below I'm posting my reply, their reply, and my reply to theirs... just so you can see how (poorly) the dialog is going. I need reinforcements!!

My original note to them:

April 24, 2007

Dear Editors,

I'd just like to say that having read the background on the Arax article which was not published in its original form, I am amazed that Armenians are still treated like second class genocide victims. The simple fact that we cannot even fathom a Jew being told he cannot write an article on the Holocaust shows the problem that Armenian are dealing with, and have been dealing with for so long. It is incredibly frustrating to be discriminated against in this way - even in the city with the most Armenians outside of the former USSR. I hope that this issue is resolved justly, which to me can only mean that this discriminatory editor be fired, and a public apology be issued to Mr. Arax alongside the publication of his original article.

Sincerely,
Raffi Kojian
Orange, CA / Yerevan, Armenia

Their standardized reply:

Dear Friends and Readers,

Many people in the Armenian community have contacted me about concerns that Doug Frantz, an editor here at the Los Angeles Times, interfered with a story being reported by Mark Arax. Arax is Armenian and his story concerned the Armenian genocide resolution pending in Congress. Please be assured that we take all allegations of that sort most seriously, and have in this case conducted an internal review by legal counsel and other editors at the direction of our top editor, Jim O'Shea.

I also want to take a few minutes to share a number of important points with you.

First, we will never tolerate anybody being discriminated against based on ethnicity, race, religion, or any other ground. This includes how reporters are assigned stories and how stories are handled in the editing process.

There is no reason, therefore, that Latinos cannot write about Latinos, or that Armenians cannot write about Armenians, etc.

That was not the question here. The question here was whether Mark had been personally identified with the important Armenian genocide issue in such a way as a reader might conclude that he could not be objective in writing about the subject. As an example, if I were publicly involved in taking a position on the Iraq war, I could not write on that subject without a concern by readers that I was influenced by that personal point of view. That is the specific issue Doug Frantz raised.

In this case Mark was not blocked from reporting the story, which appeared on the front page of The Times last Saturday, April 21. Mark decided he did not want his name on the article because of additional reporting and editing that was done to include more Washington-based perspective.

I am very proud of the reporting that The Times does on the Armenian genocide, and also the positions we have taken on our editorial pages. I am also proud and grateful for the welcome and support my new friends in the Southern California Armenian communities have shown me since my arrival here six months ago.

I look forward to continuing that fine relationship and the strong and open communications on which it is based.

Very truly yours,

David Hiller
Publisher

My latest reply:

Hello David, and thank you for your thoughtful reply. I unfortunately feel like you have missed the entire point of this exchange. Your one paragraph summary of what "the question" is, is exactly where the problem lies.

Here is the paragraph I am referring to:

"The question here was whether Mark had been personally identified with the important Armenian genocide issue in such a way as a reader might conclude that he could not be objective in writing about the subject. As an example, if I were publicly involved in taking a position on the Iraq war, I could not write on that subject without a concern by readers that I was influenced by that personal point of view."

To equate someone's position on the Iraq war, with their position on (again, I will use the holocaust here rather than the genocide because unfortunately, it makes people see this issue more clearly) the holocaust is ludicrous. Sorry, but if your own policy states that there was a genocide, and that it is historical fact, then how can you possibly consider Mark to be "taking a position"? That is what you are implying. That there are two positions (Pro-war/Anti-war, Genocide took place/No genocide took place). If you are not saying that, then in fact you cannot be saying anything other than the fact that he, as an Armenian, has personally identified with this issue, as every Armenian has, and like Sassounian wrote, you are excluding Armenians from writing about the genocide, Jews, the Holocaust, Mexicans, illegal immigration, etc.

It really is that simple to me. There are no positions in this matter. There was a genocide. Period. Stating it any other way is a very inexplicable (and in my view) immoral pandering to the Turkish government and misguided Turks. Telling any Armenian they can't write about it, for that reason, racist. Again, simply imagine ANY Jew being told they cannot write about the holocaust because they personally identify with it. *Absolutely inconceivable* and you know it.

I appreciate that you had a lot of letters to reply to, but I would appreciate if you could specifically address this concern of mine, because it seems that you have missed the problem entirely.

Sincerely,
Raffi Kojian

Current life in a nutshell

Back from a short trip to Sweden where I surprised my sis for my niece’s baptism. She has no blood relatives there, so naturally she was thrilled to have someone from her side of the family there.

Why do so many European-Armenians say, “What is there to do in Armenia, nothing!” I’m curious, what do the majority of people abroad do anyway? Work, work, work, go out to a restaurant, see a movie once in a while, go to a beach, maybe some bowling, a club or bar, perhaps theatre, and then what? Now what do people in Armenia do? What are we missing really?

So I’m back to a hectic schedule, again. R.P.’s video has received a lot of positive feedback. All the ‘important’ TV stations are airing the video. We rejected one station’s request for $850 a month to air the video twice a day, and surprisingly they aired the video the next day.

I’m composing and producing a few songs for pop singer Sofi Mkheyan’s forthcoming album. Her next single is one I co-wrote with singer Arsen Safaryan’s brother. She just returned from Spain, where she shot the music video. Another newcomer by the name of Lilu is getting ready to shoot her video, a song I produced and co-wrote with singer Shprot. I’m working around the clock, and as stressed out as I am lately, I shouldn’t be complaining. I’m enjoying the results. The scary reality is that I’m focussing on local projects more than abroad, and slowly losing touch with contacts abroad. In any case, I’ve been here for almost 5 years, and it doesn’t look like I’ll be leaving anytime soon.

So that’s my current life in a nutshell.

Remembering Genocide in Armenia

This is my first time in Armenia on April 24th and I have to say that my experience was extremely personal and emotional. I didn't take my camera with me when I went to Dzidzernakabert as I needed to keep this time personal, but I did catch many photos from the march on the 23rd with the AYF in Armenia.

An estimated 25,000 people took to the streets marching from Azadutiun Square to the Genocide Memorial. It seemed to me that 95% were youth. The energy was incredible, one of unity with the world in the demand for genocide recognition. It also seems that the impact of Screamers enforced an urgency on the youth to end genocide everywhere. Phrases from the film were repeated that night and signs like "From Criers to Screamers", "Armenia says Stop Darfur", "1st Genocide of the 20th Century Denied; 1st Genocide of the 21st Century Preventable", and "Victim of Denialism: Hrant Dink" exposed the effect of the film on the youth. It seems like the genocide issue is changing from one of mourning and history to one of mourning and a global concern today.

I can't compare to previous years, but I hear that the numbers in attendance to the march as well as on April 24 were much higher than previous years, despite the pouring cold rain and then snow throughout the two days.

It seems like the town is talking about the subject they have avoided so much before. I was happy to see many of the youth and activist groups discussing the issue like never before, even with the drastic difference of opinions.

Meanwhile, on the international front, Bush once again released his statement without using the proper terminology of genocide. However, It seems like LA Times Managing Editor took a lashing from Harout Sassounian in his latest editorial. Read the article here (make sure to read Harout Sassounian's piece).

Also, it seems like Turkey continues to rally protests to spread denial of the genocide. See the footage they captured.

And finally, here are some photos from the march on the 23rd.

Now, why was I Armenian again...?

I was abroad for a couple of months, mostly in Poland, but I also travelled around in the region a bit. Of course, everywhere I went, I ran into our compatriots. I would often look personally, asking locals, "So, do you know any Armenians who live around here ?", and sometimes I would just happen to run into some of meronts.

Now, I was there on a project that brought together a lot of young people from many countries, and explaining who an Armenian is to them was something of a task, especially when it came to the Diaspora. I would tell them Cher is Armenian, Andre Agassi is Armenian, and the guy from Brazil would say, to paraphrase, "What are you talking about ? I was born in Rio, that makes me Brazilian. It doesn't matter that my grandpa came from Portugal and the other grandpa was from Africa. These guys you mention are born and bred Americans", and I would respond, "Yes, well, they have Armenian blood..." etc., etc. And then I would be like, "All right, so they are maybe more American than Armenian, but are you trying to tell me the System of a Down chaps are not Armenian ?", and so on, and so forth...

This issue of the Armenian Identity is often brought up, especially in Diasporan circles. I know I have thought long and hard about it, and I am sure every Armenian has their own take on it (some probably have two or three opinions), but those many weeks with odars, constantly telling them so-and-so is Armenian, such-and-such thing was invented by an Armenian - really, they were quite sick of me by the end... well, much before the end, to be frank - all of this was lovely for me, re-asserting that I am Armenian, re-asserting who Armenians are...

Yesterday was April 24th, and I kept a special eye out on the international media. I can say we got almost zero coverage. Not even EuroNews, nothing on BBC or CNN, of course, and the people at Al Jazeera had more important things on their mind. The Russians were good to us, though, and this at a time when their journalists are super-busy covering the death of Boris Yeltsin.

Now, I've gotten to thinking again, as every good Armenian gets to thinking... I've answered the question to myself on a number of occasions, in a number of different ways, how it is that I am Armenian, disregarding place of birth, languages spoken, passports held, and all that sort of thing, but now I am asking myself why I am Armenian.

If you think about it, as yesterday's media attention shows, we Armenians aren't exactly the most happening nation on the planet. No-one in particular cares about us, unless we are of some use to them. Sure, this can be said of any nation in the world, the smaller ones in particular. We are living in an age, however, when identities can be changed with some ease, much more than ever before. I can move to the States, Canada, any New World country, really, even Australia, New Zealand or Western Europe. I can say that I'm French or German or even Russian without any major legal or other qualms from Paris, Berlin or Moscow and, indeed, many choose to do so, Armenians or otherwise.

And many don't. I can't tell you how touched I feel when I meet a compatriot who is, say, a fourth generation Diasporan, and yet he comes to Armenia to do something, there is a calling in that person. This sentimentality, this ideology that we have, even though it very often comes to nothing in the end in real terms, is very... well, it's just so amazing sometimes. I know my ancestors come from a place nowhere near the modern Republic of Armenia, but this is where I want to live and work. I get this from my parents, and they got it from their parents. I remember meeting a barsgahay once. He said, "Chors hariur tari e Hayastanoum chem yeghel" (an Armenian from Iran, saying he hadn't been to Armenia for four hundred years). Really, "touching" is just the word I like to use for such cases. Houzich.

But the question is, Why ?

Do we have some sort of secret deal with some infinite powers ? Maybe we are going to inherit the Earth as long as we remain Armenian. We have a long history and rich culture, but so do so many others. Why aren't we abandoning this identity and shedding the sad load that accompanies it ? It is often difficult to be Armenian, you know...

Well, I realise I've opened a big can of worms here, but it's just something to think about.

April 23rd

April 23rd was quite interesting for me this year. The genocide commemorations started for me at 5:30pm at Artbridge, where they were introducing a new booklet - "24", about 24 genocide survivors who came to Armenia after the genocide and stayed. Since Armenianow started the project, 7 of the survivors have passed away. One survivor was present, and just to be in his presence was a very powerful thing... that direct connection. He gave a very brief summary of his life - including how rich they were in Western Armenia, as judging by the number of cows and goats. After he was finished talking, he interrupted someone to add something. And now for the first time he became very emotional. He said how extremely thankful he was to the American people. When he came to Armenia - every single person from the older generation was dead except his mother, who could no longer keep him. So he went into an orphanage, around 1920, and stayed for 10 years. This orphanage kept him until he was 20 years old. It was funded wholly by donations by ordinary Americans... Soviet Union or no, they gave, and saved many Armenian children. Balakian's latest book did an excellent job of documenting the massive amount of private aid given at that time... something amazing to this day.

At 8:30pm I went to the big Tashnag torch lit youth rally at Opera. It was the first time I went to this, and it was kind of weird... it was like being in front of the Turkish Embassy in LA. I prefer the solemn commemoration of the 24th - at least in Armenia. I watched and took some pics until they headed off to Tsitsernakaberd in the rain. Then at midnight I headed to Tsitsernakaberd with some friends... it was really nice at that hour. A small group of young were there, reciting poetry with loud, sure voices. Others just came and lay flowers, and stopped to listen to the recitations. It was really beautiful in the dark, with the flame illuminating the 13 massive slabs, meant to represent the 13 provinces of Western Armenia, huddled around a flame for heat and protection...

Perspective in Yerevan

It's April 23 in Yerevan and I am preparing to march to Dzidzernakabert. For the last few days, I've been hearing everyone buzzing about Screamers and even heard from some that they have never seen a movie theater in Armenia so packed. Screamers Director Carla Garapedian has been making her way around town, interviewing on all the TV and radio stations, visiting NGO groups, talking with people about the importance of Screaming, to which many people reacted positively. I think most were surprised that the film captures the global concern of genocides. I'd like to think that most people learned something new about genocide.

Well, we'll see. I think a group of University students are preparing to march for Darfur, something I don't think has happened in Armenia yet. I would be really happy to see this happen.

As for elections, there's an calm before the storm, or maybe I just need to get out of Yerevan to see the action. I'll be doing just that this week as I'm traveling with an NGO to cover the election trail in the regions, and to do some prime photography in the best season for Armenia... GREEN season. :) I'll be gone for a week to cover both.

And in the US, it seems the ANCA has begun a massive online campaign rallying support for the Genocide Resolutions in the House and Senate. Both Senator Obama and Senator Clinton (presidential hopefuls) have made strong statements on the Armenian Genocide along with many others. To Click for Justice simply visit www.anca.org and follow the rest.

New Church in Yerevan

I'm not a big fan of church-building, and yes, I know many people will think the nations other needs are more pressing, but I'm happy to see the buildings on the corner of Abovyan/Sayat Nova being torn down to reveal the beautiful 12th century church, which will then be expanded into a complex of churches. This little church (in the photo above) had a basilica added to it (18th century) which was torn down in Soviet times. The remaining structure (again, the church pictured above) was then discovered to be as 12th century, and was only spared demolition by popular demand to preserve it... a brave stand taken in Stalin's (I think) time. Now the new complex will go a little way towards bringing back some of the older architecture of the city - a number of other destroyed churches have no traces left of them besides some old black and white photos.

In other news, this April has been incredibly rainy - and the extended forecast is for rain just about every day for the rest of the month. Very depressing and unusual. Also unusual was last nights incredibly loud thunder, which kept me and others awake for a while. Quite a fitful night of sleep for man of us.

Prosperous Armenia Party Offices Bombed

A bomb exploded yesterday outside the Party Headquarters for Prosperous Armenia, damaging much of the headquarters, but mostly surrounding shops. Read more here:

http://armenianow.com/?action=viewArticle&AID=2118&lng=eng&IID=1127&PHPSESSID=4aa5330c77a4f60499c8717981f8320c


In other news, I was planning on attending a meeting last night to recruit Diasporans to be election observers. The meeting was cancelled last minute as the Armenian Government claimed that Diasporans cannot be election monitors. The organization recruiting, It's Your Choice, went to court last night, and I have no news yet on the outcome. There were some protesters that made some noise:

http://a1plus.am/en/?page=issue&iid=47852

Run for President!

I have decided to start my own election... a mock election. I'm inviting everyone to become a candidate for Armenia's presidency. All you need to do is have a platform, blog it, and let the people discuss it.

Think you have what it takes? Let's see what the people think. Become a candidate today!

This is just an experimental project to engage people in quality debates on issues that matter to them. See the website for more details.

Campaignia Everywhere!

One month left to go and the election campaigns are going crazy! So much that they are tying up the printers and none of us other printer customers can get a decent print job done on time. ARG! The town is painted with party posters and I have to say, the ARF did an incredible job showing up. They were prepared, they were planned, they were effective. As other bloggers have posted, they had a rally at Aznavour Square where thousands showed up.

But the one thing I still don't see ACROSS the board is PR that talks to issues. Most posters are pictures of people, either the candidates or the type of people they are appealing to. I am quite the American in mindset that I'm used to seeing candidates kissing babies and digging holes to impress their voters of how "common" they are. Here is the EXACT opposite. They flaunt their money to show how much power they have, and according to them, that is what the people respond to. But I ask, if people want politicians with money and power, why do they complain that politicians have too much money and power? Is that really what they respond to, or is it the exposure alone?

Tonight I attend a meeting for "It's Your Choice" for Diasporans interested in becoming election observers. Not sure that I would make a good observer as I have admitted bias, but I'll be there to start photographing pre-election activity as I've been too busy to do anything 'til now.


And on the other end of the world, we have the other campaignia front between Armenians and the Turkish lobby. While the Armenian Genocide Resolution is picking up Congressional support, the Turks are fighting back with all the money in the world. Here's another concept... all the money Turkey has spent and continues to spend on lobby efforts to deny the genocide or manipulate the system could have just simply gone towards reparations. Now they want to admit the genocide took place, but not pay reparations. They should just ask for their money back from Livingston and all the other lobbiests who robbed them blind, hand it over to us and call it a day.

Seriously though, it seems like the Turks are really getting nervous because they are pushing harder than ever. Now the many spin-offs from TARC (Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Commission) are continuing to push for their desired results: recognition without reparations. As Kojian commented on his own previous blog, you don't get to commit a crime, admit it and not be punished for it. That would be the absolute worst example to set for the world. Commit a crime, admit to it, but continue to reep (sp?) the benefits you gained from it without ANY threat of reparations. This will absolutely feed the idea to other nations that committing genocide is COMPLETELY ACCEPTABLE!

Well, for once I have faith that we have enough strength in Congress to fight off this ridiculous proposal. The ANCA held a very successful advocacy day in Washington recently and the community as well as Congress continue to amp up their efforts to pass this resolution once and for all. No discussion of reconciliation should even be considered before that happens. Recognize, pay for your crime, then reconcile 'til your ears bleed. Open the border, bring your products, I'll personally travel to Turkey and spend my money without regret. But no dice until then.

Kurt Vonnegut died...

Yesterday, at the age of 84, Kurt Vonnegut, one of America's greatest author's and a really good friend to Armenians died. He wrote fiction, and one of his 14 novels was "Bluebeard", a fictional autobiography of Rabo Karabekian. Another work of his is "God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian", in which Dr. Kevorkian supposedly helps him die for short periods of time so he can briefly experience heaven.

Armenians have printed full page ads in the New York Times before calling on the Turkish Government to admit to the genocide, which was signed by a number of scholars and others... Kurt Vonnegut was on that list as well.

Quake?

I felt an earthquake an hour ago - it was not terribly strong here, but then I don't know if the epicenter was near or far... if it was far, then it was strong. I didn't even bother go online right away since I know that there is not a good place for up-to-the-minute news on Armenia, especially at this hour. Eh, maybe tomorrow I'll hear something. It does make me think though about how much damage this city could sustain in a serious earthquake... not a pretty thought.

Screamers Screenings

Kino Moscow • Tuesday, April 17, 2007 • 14:00
Kino Moscow • Wednesday, April 18, 2007 • 14:00
Kino Moscow • Thursday, April 19, 2007 • 18:00
Kino Moscow • Friday, April 20, 2007 • 18:00
Kino Moscow • Saturday, April 21, 2007 • 14:00
Kino Moscow • Saturday, April 21, 2007 • 18:00
Kino Moscow • Sunday, April 22, 2007 • 14:00
Kino Moscow • Sunday, April 22, 2007 • 18:00
Kino Moscow • Monday, April 23, 2007 • 14:00
Kino Moscow • Tuesday, April 24, 2007 • 14:00
Kino Moscow • Tuesday, April 24, 2007 • 18:00

For more information call 093 529 442 or visit www.screamersmovie.com

Milestones - Anniversary

This Life in Armenia is now 6 years old... who could have imagined back then that blogs would catch on like this, or that Armenia would transform so quickly? Reading the archives is a serious blast from the past...

Also, Armeniapedia has surpassed 4,000 pages recently - and actually continued right past 4,100... :-)

My newest project available on YouTube

Hey people, if you missed R.P.'s video premiere on TV tonight, even better. Hope the showing of the video made up for the unexplainable confused interview we gave. :-)

We've uploaded the video on YouTube, you can check it out HERE!

53 Nobel Laureates Urge Turkish-Armenian Dialogue

By Emil Danielyan

More than fifty Nobel laureates from around the world appealed to Armenia and Turkey on Monday to unconditionally establish diplomatic relations, open their border, and step up contacts between their civil societies.

In an open letter, they also implicitly urged the Turkish government to acknowledge that the 1915-1918 mass killings and deportations of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire constituted a genocide. They endorsed a 2003 independent study which concluded that the slaughter of an estimated 1.5 Ottoman Armenians fits into the internationally accepted definition of genocide.

“An open border would greatly improve the economic conditions for communities on both sides of the border and enable human interaction, which is essential for mutual understanding,” read the joint appeal signed by 53 prominent academics, writers, economists, and scientists who have won a Nobel Prize in their respective fields in the last three decades. Among them is Elie Wiesel, a world-famous Holocaust survivor, and Frederik de Klerk, a former South African president who presided over the collapse of apartheid in his country.

The signatories said the Turkish and Armenian governments should ease their lingering tensions “through additional treaty arrangements and full diplomatic relations” which they believe would facilitate bilateral academic links and student exchanges. They also called for the abolition of an article of the Turkish Penal Code which makes it a crime to “denigrate Turkishness” and has been used against dissident intellectuals questioning the official denial of the Armenian genocide.

“Armenia also should reverse its own authoritarian course, allow free and fair elections, and respect human rights,” the laureates added.

Their letter, addressed to “the peoples of Turkey and Armenia,” was initiated and drafted by David Phillips, a U.S. scholar who runs the New York-based Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. He is also known as the former chairman of the U.S.-backed Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission that operated from 2001-2004.

Speaking to RFE/RL from New York, Phillips said the open letter was prompted by what he sees as an anti-Armenian nationalist backlash in Turkey that followed the January 19 murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. “Whereas initially there was an overwhelming popular response in support of Turkish-Armenian rapprochement, the blowback from ultranationalists gives rise to really serious concern about political trends in Turkey,” he said. “So we thought it would be important for Nobel laureates to join their voices in support of Turkish-Armenian reconciliation, to acknowledge that the events [of 1915] constitute genocide, and to suggest steps that the governments of Turkey and Armenia can take to improve their bilateral relations.”

The outpouring of popular sympathy in Turkey for the slain editor of the bilingual newspaper Agos raised hopes for a rapprochement between Ankara and Yerevan. However, the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made it clear that a normalization of bilateral ties remains conditional on an halt to the Armenian campaign for genocide recognition and a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Like many other observers, Phillips linked the Erdogan government’s refusal to drop those preconditions with Turkey’s upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections. “The trends in Turkey right now are negative, and I hope that after they get through this political cycle cooler heads will prevail and that Turkey’s leaders will take a deep breath and reflect carefully on what’s in their nationalist interests,” he said.

According to Phillips, Armenia’s government is also to blame for the strained ties. “Clearly, the corruption and incompetence of Armenia’s current political leaders makes it difficult for Armenia to progress or for Armenian-Turkish relations to develop constructively,” he said.

The Nobel prize winners pointed out that the biggest obstacle to Turkish-Armenian rapprochement is a “huge gap in perceptions over the Armenian Genocide.” They said that in order to address this gap the two sides should look into a study commissioned by TARC from another New York-based institution, the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), in 2002.

The ICTJ concluded in a February 2003 report that the Armenian massacres “include all of the elements of the crime of genocide” as defined by a 1948 United Nations convention. It said at the same time that the Armenians can not use the convention for making territorial and other claims against Turkey.

President George W. Bush has repeatedly cited the ICTJ study in his April 24 messages to the Armenian community in the United States. John Evans, the former U.S. ambassador to Armenia, likewise pointed to it when he declared in a February 2005 speech in California that the “Armenian Genocide was the first genocide of the 20th century.”

“The analysis offers a way forward, which addresses the core concerns of both Armenians and Turks,” agreed the signatories of the open letter.

While stating that their calls will be “noticed” in Armenia and Turkey, Phillips was pessimistic about prospects for a major improvement in Turkish-Armenian relations sought by Washington. “It’s hard to envision dramatic progress given the mediocrity of political leadership in Yerevan and in Ankara,” he said.

RFE/RL

Finally! Reckless drivers are being penalized

The election campaigns are officially active now. Political strategies are finalized and all parties will be busy in the next month bombarding us with their agendas in the hopes of swaying votes.

Out of all parties, I have yet to see one that is genuinely interested in helping clean up the country. By clean up, I don’t only mean pollution and garbage – which is still a severe problem here (people just don’t seem to care that when they throw their garbage on the streets, that they are polluting the environment in which they live in).

By clean up, I also mean the reduction of road hazards for drivers and pedestrians. The Armenian police department has recently cleaned up their act (at least in the city of Yerevan). You don’t see cops stopping any random car to collect money (gashark) from drivers. Cops are now stopping drivers for violating traffic regulations and giving ticket fines accordingly. I have personally felt and witnessed cases where drivers were stopped for having broken the speed limit, for not having worn their seatbelts (although the majority of cars here do not have seatbelts in their cars), or for having failed to obey the road signs. Fines are quite hefty for the majority of drivers (ranging from at least 3,000 drams up to 75,000 drams) and will hopefully ensure that drivers be more responsible on the roads. I have yet to see, however, a mafia car or one with triple-digit license numbers for instance, being stopped and fined.

Nonetheless, this is still an improvement for us, but there are still problems that I hope the police department will clean up (even after the elections). For instance, there should be a regulation to allow pedestrians to safely cross the street. I am so tired of seeing mothers with very young children or strollers terrified due to a driver that will not allow them to cross (although there should also be a penalty for reckless jay-walkers as well).

Another thing I am anxious to observe is the strict enforcement for children to wear safety belts. I am so horrified to see very young children sitting on the lap of their caregivers in the driver’s seat. What are these people thinking? Don’t they know that these children would fly through the windshield in a split second during an accident?

In the next month, we will be inundated by political election rhetoric, but it remains to be seen whether any of the political parties will have real, authentic and practical agendas that will be valuable and tangible for the country - and whether they will be enforced after the elections. For now, I am quite pleased by the ‘slight’ improvement related to the road safety. I hope that in time and with a bit more education, the road safety will be enhanced and make this place a safer home for us all.

Everybody SCREAM!

Now that April has arrived and I am facing my first April in Armenia (this is a huge deal as April for me is usually spent preparing all sorts of April 24 stickers, flyers, Tshirts, protests, commemorations, speakers, programs, etc. and I turn into a volunteer machine, the setting has changed. Oh wait… nothing changes. That brings a whole lot of comfort to me. I have found something to do for April 24 in Armenia.

It’s official, Screamers is coming to Yerevan. Briefly for those who haven't heard of Screamers, it is a documentary film by Carla Garapedian about System of a Down's efforts towards Armenian Genocide recognition and the global issue of genocide.

Something I have battle internally quite a bit over the last year is not just the apathy towards our own fight for recognition of the Armenian Genocide, but the lack of knowledge itself. It’s as if they know less about their own history than high school kids in anywhere US.

When I saw Screamers, I thought this was our best chance to make them them understand the global responsibility and the fight we face every day in the US. It wasn’t to hard to convince the director to do a screening here either. So far, the few people in our staff who have seen the film were speechless and felt the urge to become Screamers themselves. I can only hope that this film answers so many questions people have posed to me over the year.

It seems like there is a lot of curiosity as to why the Diaspora focuses so much on genocide recognition and what the effects are on Armenia. My answer is often that the effects of putting the genocide issue aside can be more fatal than the struggles of high taxes on imports and exports. Few people realize the difficulties of being blockaded as I do. But I don’t want to even imagine what is possible if Armenians just drop it. I hope people understand when they see this film that it is more of a global responsibility and justice than a selfish greed for land and nostalgia that we seek.

My other hope is that out of this film, people will be inspired to scream themselves. There is an earie silence among the city about the elections coming up, about the injustices taking place. But the anger exists and is brewing. I hope this channels people to find their voice and own their words.

Time listings and more information on the screening will soon be available at www.screamersmovie.com

Cafe Season...

Levon Ter-Petrossian is back!?!?!?!

I just saw it on TV... why?!?! They have appointed him as a kind of compromise Prime Minister. I guess they didn't want to give it to Serge, or maybe Dodi vs. Serge resulted in this. But... LTP had a long reign at the presidency, and... sucked. The guy only gave like one press conference in 7 years. Great, another people person.