A Giant of Our Times

There are giants in this world, and then there are the rest of us. Prof. Richard Hovannisian is a giant of our times, and I would like to take this opportunity to write what I have been meaning to say since Vahe’ Oshagan - my professor from another time and place - introduced me to the work of this great scholar.

Born in Tulare, California’s Central Valley, Richard Hovannisian was educated through the UC system in the fifties and sixties, at an era when a generation of innovative California politicians invested to expand their state’s network of Universities at a pace never duplicated in America since.

A year spent in Beirut studying under the tutelage of intellectuals gathered at that time at the Nshan Palanjian Jemaran, married to a genuine Armenian patriot, and father of four children all with Armenian names, Richard Hovannisian has been the making of an American-Armenian who stands out as a role model to generations of youngsters looking for a path in life and a purpose. Here was, from the day he came into the academic arena, a distinguished historian, very articulate, making a case for the plight of the forgotten, recognition of the Armenian Genocide, and well prepared to debate the denialists and the revisionists with proof. His work has singularly changed the image of Armenians in California from that of the discriminated Fresno Armenian to a voice for a cause, recognition of rights, and their place in US and world history. It has been an honor knowing him, and a pleasure to have introduced his highly-driven children to mine, one in particular.

It has been a life dedicated to the mind, and Prof. Richard Hovannisian has become the measure of the work of the mind: Asking questions to which answers are to be found in a tireless research of documents, letters, eyewitness accounts, forgotten manuscripts, oral testimonies and archives hidden deep in rooms in London, Washington, Paris, Berlin and Beirut.

The Armenian nation is indebted to him for his relentless search for our story in the modern era, and for transforming the international movement for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide into a case for our human right to claim the past and own it. The Turks shall not tell our story! The story of life on our ancestral lands in Kharpert, Cilicia, Mush, Daron, Van, and in all the eastern provinces of Turkey is documented by an extensive series of academic conferences organized by Prof. Hovannisian. They serve as yet another proof that the only reason why we abruptly vanished from the land after 1915 was by force, by genocide.

Not all scholars work in the realm of Armenian issues and topics, but those who do must be advised to keep in mind the standards set by Richard Hovannisian: an insistent discipline to work, write, publish, and lecture; an endless energy to travel and meet a gathering of people to talk to them, and to teach.

All said and done, what will be Richard Hovannisian’s legacy? Huge!

There will of course always be the more than two dozen books that he has authored and edited, and the more than 100 scholarly articles published; Academic seminars organized, research papers delivered, lectures and speeches given literally everywhere in the world, in the presence of Turks and Armenians alike, and others as well.

What about the rest of us on a personal level?

I believe that it is what struck me more than thirty years ago as a college student in Philadelphia: The discovery of the implications of being Armenian in this world, and the role of Armenia in the history of peoples, civilizations and nations. Richard Hovannisian has been equally effective to draw the identity of the Armenian in America. The answer to the question, “What are we to do to be relevant and effective?” has been at the core of his activism.

While the “rest of us” must work hard to keep our institutions of preservation - churches, schools, newspapers, organizations - it is important to remember that it is the trail-blazing work of the likes of Richard Hovannisian that has given us the sense of urgency to organize, rally and demand, and have a seat at the negotiating table. The historic dimensions of discussions about our common goals, dreams and aspirations; and our strive to live with dignity on a piece of land of our own, are in the history that Prof. Hovannisian has spent a career to document.

He has led generations of students to find their identity, many organizations to find a cause, and activists to find their voice. Our current strategy to put Genocide recognition into a narrative understandable to a general audience and to shake the wall of Genocide denial is something we owe to Richard Hovannisian.

A message to upstart republics and a warning to those who do not heed the lessons of history are loud and clear from the giant in our midst. And that is why the Professor has the podium, and he has not yet finished his lesson in history.

Serzh, Serzh, Serzh

There will be a presidential election held in Armenia, and Serzh Sargsyan will be re-elected without an honest contest. That’s why there will be no real election rallies held, and no chants of “Serzh, Serzh, Serzh” will be heard anywhere on his campaign trail.  But just in case people were to gather, I would expect a few sheep-herders from Karabagh to actually show up, but then only with the promise of a sack of flour, and a kilo of sugar.
I may cite endless reasons why Serzh Sargsyan should not be re-elected. But I’ll spare you the clichés about corruption, and instead make my point with a few others.

1-  Education
You would hope that a president of an impoverished country, which Sargsyan is, would prioritize and then fund education as his primary goal. The neglect to effectively teach the youth in schools is emblematic of Sargsyan’s own skimpy vocational schooling, and thus a lack of understanding of the value of intensive teaching and learning to stimulate identity, entrepreneurship and technology. For having failed to rebuild Armenia’s educational system and wasting the nation’s opportunities, on a scale of 1 to 5, Sargsyan gets a zero on education.

2-  The Genocide
Ignorance towards the Genocide is a serious Serzh Sargsyan problem. In 2010 he took on the initiative to convince Armenians to sign on to the principles of the Turkey-Armenia Protocols with hints of agreement to allow a review and revision of the historic facts of the Genocide with Turkish historians. With the intent to open the border between the two countries as his only selling-point, Sargsyan failed. And when he failed, he reverted to an announcement that was outright offensive.  He is on record for having said that the Genocide was an experience specific to the diasporans anyway, and not native to the hayastantzis, thus further deepening the schism between us. For his misunderstanding of the ramifications of "this thing" called genocide, on a scale of 1 to 5, Sargsyan gets a zero because he has gone from one blunder to another.  For your information Mr. Sargsyan: When in conversations with say, the White House, any referance to The Medz Yeghern is not “the” Genocide.  Armenians have endured multiple medz yegherns (major calamities), and one Genocide at the hands of the Turks. Those who must avoid the word "genocide" have done their homework, and will use any alternative buzz words that seems right, to fool the illiterate and the ignorant. Read some books, ask, and learn from the experts muchacho.

3-  Crusaderism
By marching a battalion of priests, wearing camouflaged vests, at a military parade celebrating the 20^th anniversary of Armenia’s independence in Yerevan, Sargsyan and his administration, have demonstrated a poor sense of Armenia’s geographical location and national interests. Did he ever consider for a second that Armenia’s neighbors are Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkey? It is advised that he studies the sentiments towards Armenians by ordinary Turks living across the border from Armenia. Sargsyan and his FM Eduard Nalbandyan, on a scale of 1 to 5, get a zero for having the audacity to venture into crusaderism.

4-  Science and Research
There’s something fundamentally wrong in the system when Prof. Harutyun Karapetyan, the chief scientist of the Center for Organic and Pharmaceutical Chemistry of the National Academy of Sciences ends up returning an award given to him by the President while rejecting the mores of the criminal oligarchic system that has grasped the scientific community, which should be above politics to begin with.  In his open letter to the President, Karapetyan lists, amongst his reasons to return the award, government officials who receive scientific degrees and academic titles through falsification, while the administration acts as if it is deeply concerned about science and research.  On a scale of 1 to 5, Sargsyan gets a zero because he has abandoned Armenia’s scientists and intellectuals.

5-  The Big Thing
Sargsyan and his bunch are already late in organizing and leading the resources of the Republic of Armenia, the Diaspora, and all entities Armenian anywhere and everywhere around a comprehensive unified plan to “do the big thing,” and tell the world about the Genocide and the human rights of the Armenian people, and to define the place and role of Armenia in the world on the occasion of the 100^th anniversary in 2015. On a scale of 1 to 5, Sargsyan gets a zero as a leader of Armenians.

6-  Mister Opportunity
The pathetic picture was everywhere, including the LA Times. Sargsyan at Paruyr Hayrikyan’s bedside in a hospital. The latter is Sargsyan’s rival in the presidential elections, and had just survived an attempt on his life while campaigning. Sargsyan has not, and will not pay a visit to the graves of rival politicians who really mattered for Armenia - Karen Demirchyan and Vazgen Sargsyan - and who actually were assassinated in broad daylight inside the parliament.  Now that would have been a campaign photo worth releasing to the press! On a scale of 1 to 5, Sargsyan gets a zero because he is an opportunist. 

7-  Chess Anyone?
By the pure force of individual talents, the National Chess Team is the only institution in Armenia that is independent, successful, worthy of accolade, and world famous. It is free of nepotism, profiteering and harassment, and Serzh Sargsyan has been shameless in having appointed himself president of the Federation with the lull of an NBA franchise owner. The question that begs for an answer: Does Mr. Sargsyan play chess? On a scale of 1 to 5, Sargsyan gets a zero because he has given himself entitlements to the nation’s sacred institutions.

Having said all that, Serzh Sargsyan is “ma man” for President of Armenia. I want him to win the election (as he will) for two reasons:

One – Should the issue of Karabagh come up again with Turkey and Azerbaijan, I would like to see him, a Karabaghtzi, at the forefront negotiating the fate of his mountains. Now, that would be a task worthy of his worthless presidency!
And,

Two - Because he wants it. He really wants it. Sargsyan is convinced that Armenia deserves him, and he is gung-ho to return to power.

Well, he can have it. With an economy and population shrinking under the watch of his first term, he may end up actually carving a name for himself in history… as the first president of the fairy tale “Republic of Yerevan,” a mini version of the one he inherited.
Take heart Mr. Sargsyan, many city-states were actually very famous during the middle ages!

Serzh, Serzh, Serzh…. zzz!