Dear Mom

My mother Sonia with her twins, ages 3

I’m gasping for words on this day, the day I’m expected to be at my best to say something about the heart, from the heart, and to thank my mother on Mother’s Day. Thoughts abide… nothing but good thoughts, I assure you. Graceful thoughts of a grateful son.

It must be care and nurturing that I want to thank her for, guidance and ideas as well; for bidding me farewell at times and welcoming me home all the time, and for inspiring me to dream… Armenian dreams, in the colors and sounds of the world. I must not leave out her mentorship, scholarship and advice, or the caution and protection rendered. But the noblest of them all has to be love, endless and unconditional.

For someone who rarely misses out on words… I am short on them today. Emotions overwhelm me.
Allow me to instead have the poet of my people say it… as I would have wanted it said- mildly and gently.

A MOTHER’S HEART
By Avedik Issahakian

There is an old tale
About a boy
An only son
Who fell in love with a lass.

“You don’t love me,
You never did,” said she to him.
“But if you do, go then
And fetch me your mother’s heart.”

Downcast and distraught
The boy walked off
And after shedding copious tears
Came back to his love.

The girl was angry
When she saw him thus
And said, “Don’t you dare come back again
Without your mother’s heart.”

The boy went and killed
A mountain roe deer
And offered its heart
To the one he adored.

But again she was angry
And said, “Get out of my sight.
I told you what I want
Is your mother’s heart.”

The boy went and killed
His mother, and as he ran
With her heart in his hand
He slipped and fell.

"My dear child,
My poor child,”
Cried the mother’s heart,
“Did you hurt yourself?”

Happy Mother’s Day to all, and to one of the brightest of them all: the mother of mine.

Reflections on April 24

The reasons why I’m convinced that I must persist with full awareness of the Armenian Genocide are rooted in my education, upbringing, and convictions. I would like to share some of them with you.

1- Reason one is because Prof. Vahakn Dadrian says so. The proofs of premeditation, intent to destroy, organization and execution of the Genocide are in his books, all based on archival documents. Turks are yet to produce a single evidence to prove their own twisted version of Ottoman deeds. Sadly, the fifth element to any crime in the cover-up, and more proofs are in documents hidden in storages by the Turkish government to this day. No one would love to get his hands on them more than Dadrian himself.

2- Turkey is reason number two. The more they lie, the more the world is determined to keep on asking them “the” question over and over again. (Note CNN’s last interview with Turkish PM Erdogan, where the question of Genocide came up persistently during a brief 10 minute-long interview).
Turkish illusions of grandeur and regional superiority is a dangerous thing, and nothing serves them better that to face their own past, and be reminded by each line of questioning that they are not so great after all. The world will be a better place if Turkey was to calm down, look back, settle the affairs of the past, negotiate its place in the region, and only then venture out with the resemblance of founded claims to power.

3- Erdogan, Gul and Davutoglu are reason number three- they are gung-ho to explain to the civilized world, that what happened in Turkey between 1915-1921 was a massacre, and not a genocide (“we do not agree to this G word”, they keep saying). They leave me no choice but to explain to them a comparative study on mass killings: A massacre is actually what happened in America during depression-era Chicago in 1929, when the notorious mobster Al Capone gunned down mere six (6) goons of an opposing gang in what became to be known as the St. Valentine’s Day …Massacre. That was a massacre! Also note that in 2004 the President of the United States referred to the killings in Darfur as… genocide, right when the deaths from that conflict had reached not the 1.5 million mark, but rather a much lower three hundred thousand mark. Now you make the connections.

4- Countries around the world are researching the history of man’s cruelty towards man and… finding it, in the Armenian Genocide. Many others will permit the same questions, and come to answers where the truth is. As in Switzerland, other countries too will join the ranks of civilized societies that will set into law the denial of the Armenian Genocide as a crime, and deniers as criminals.

5- The Genocide is part of the Armenian identity. We didn’t ask for it, it fell upon us. Identity is the basis upon which people design their own self-preservation. In our case, the Genocide is in the center of it.
We had to live with the Genocide for 95 years, we had no choice. And frankly the call to “Move on with it” is not for politicians, businessmen or journalists to make. Those who promote that line of thinking are claiming for themselves a piece of luxury that they do not own. Individuals may make personal choices; nation on the other hand, can act only upon the collective experience, at least democratic ones do.

6- It’s the neighborhood dude. The leaders of Turkey are acting as if their country appeared on the world stage one day where there was no Armenia, and no Armenians or stories of Armenians in their eastern provinces. Not so. The story of Armenians and Turkey is not over yet. Our thousand-years-old dealings with each other have been disrupted and adulterated, but not eliminated. Armenians will feature in many vital Turkish issues and dealings in years to come, and Armenian demands will constantly be raised, sometimes by multitudes, other times by mere solitary voices. Turkey will choose to neglect, reject or abandon, and we already know that. We will be back another time to continue where we left off. We have the long view of history, after all we survived 600 years of Ottoman misery, and we learned a thing or two about enduring them.

7- As long as Turkey pursues a policy of denial, Genocide recognition remains Armenia’s primary case for security vis-a-vis Turkey. The day Armenia relinquishes calls for human rights and Genocide recognition is the day Armenia will cease to value itself as a full nation. All legitimate nations with their unique place in the present arrangement of things, and a view of their future learn and grown from their own past. That’s the enduring trait of all ancient civilizations, and ours is not different.
The Genocide as a human rights issue is Turkey’s burden, and Armenia’s salvation. Without it neither country will possess the future that they aspire to, independently of each other or together.

8- The youth inspire me, and give me hope. Attend any current events function, and you will see them and meet them. Educated, savvy and eloquent, with no inhibitions to challenge the establishment, to ask questions, rally a crowd, or carry the message. These are the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the survivor generation, and the pursuit of “the cause” is theirs. I have full confidence in them. Their determination is contagious, and in time more will join them from an emerging young educated class of Armenia. It is a matter of time.

9- For a significant part of the last 95 years V. Dadrian, as well as R. Hovannisian, P. Balakian and others have done immensely valuable work in documenting the Genocide, yet historians have barely entered the realm of the 2 most extensive archives not yet exposed: Turkish and German. There’s work to be done.

10- It’s personal. You bet it is!
I am intermittently reminded of my place in the world and a responsibility that comes to a descendant of the Genocide generation- by my grandfather Mesrob Chinchinian of Marash and my grandmother Mari Manoushagian of Aintab; and my paternal grandparents Artin Gulvartian, who died on the evacuation route from Hajin to Adana, and his young wife Teshgouhi Saghdasarian who lamented his untimely death for the rest of her life.

I rest my case!

Start Talking!

We, Armenians in Los Angeles, have been basking in an illusionary image of ourselves for quite some time. We have been acting carelessly as happy-go-lucky chums at the expense of a mirage of economic prosperity without paying attention to the responsibilities that inevitably came with it. We can do something about it- not as much as to solve problems, but to devise a “wish list” or a “must do list”- things that will improve our value and significance as a community.


It is time to change course, and to start talking. This task is entrusted to the pillar institutions of our society: Traditionally, the goosagtsutunes (politicos), the church, newspapers, schools, and the intellectual elite.

Fifteen years of a laissez-faire attitude, has blurred the role of these pillar institutions. As a result, unexpected outsiders have moved into traditional roles expected of others to address and perform, thus confusing the outcome, and weakening our aim to grab one voice from a position of cooperation.

While things seem to be okay from the outset, in reality we face serious problems: Loss of vibrant intellectual discourse, diminishing spirituality in the religious context, schools in crisis, the disappearance of Armenian-language literary expression and output, and a forgetfulness about what to do for the youth, especially for those between the ages of 22 and 32 (I call them, “the forgotten”).

It will be difficult to find solutions, but it would be wise to at least start talking. Talk about the problems; talk with the people who have assumed the role to provide solutions. They are the men and women in charge of the pillar institutions that past generations have laboriously created, organized or financed for the purpose of our preservation and survival.

If left to a discussion, many people can come up with as many pillar institutions that they each deem more important in the larger agenda. I will take up only four of them for the purpose of this column.

Political parties have proven their ability to organize large number of people around projects, programs and activities, Genocide remembrance and recognition as one of the most important of them. But it takes leaders (especially the ones at the top of the pyramid) with special character to rally a wide consensus, by sharing the responsibilities and the rewards for real victory. Collective effort can exponentially magnify the results if activists sat down to talk about a plan which, I’m sure, does not differ from the other's: How to get the message to the US Congress; how to gear Armenia’s foreign and domestic policies towards Armenocentric aims; how to address problems afflicting the youth; and of course, the Genocide and how to check on a Turkey-gone-wild with denial.

Alas our political entities are stuck in rhetoric rooted in old cold war suspicions, some of which are directed against each other. The cold war ended twenty years ago, and it’s time for change. Meet with each other regularly, and talk incessantly, to draw out new action plans for success. Act, and claim the legitimacy as “the” voice of all the people.

The Church remains stuck in an artificial “one-ship-two-captain” situation (The ship is very small, mind you, and very fragile), since the days of caustic cold war era divisions which the world has since resolved and forgotten… except for us Armenians (When we fight, we fight real goooood!). Territorialism is exhausting and devouring the communities and it’s sad to even imagine what we should be doing instead.

I celebrate the success of the Armenian Church, not by the physical number of churches across the American landscape, but rather by the declining number of Armenians in prisons, or simply by the number of American-born young men who choose the church as their career path. The business of religion is not a zero sum game; the loss of one is not gain to another. Faith and prayer is not a matter of competition, and they are not commodities sold out of shops. It is a matter of laborious teaching, role-modeling and a sense of mission. It’s hard and serious work.

I hope that the clergy of all persuasions will always gather to talk about what is worthy of discussion: An agreement to teach faith, spirituality, good citizenship, and Armenianess in its various forms and shapes- marriage and family, language, customs and traditions, church history, saints, and the sublime art of praying and paying attention to the badarak.

Armenian Schools are in difficulty, and they are losing supporters and numbers. The cause that worries me most is not financial or related to the economy. We are facing a loss of faith in Armenian schools brought about by a combination of changing popular priorities during a period of financial prosperity, and new unchallenged perceptions as to what is necessary to bring up a child as an Armenian.

While families are making drastic decisions about the place of organized Armenian education in their children’s lives, the schools themselves are still debating who is the ideal (dibar) graduate of an Armenian school. What is the new message from the schools? Is it loud enough? Is it clear enough?

The time for principals of Armenian schools to meet, and to talk is now! It is absolutely essential that a common plan be devised immediately. Come up with a revised mission statement and then deliver. The failure of even one school is the failure of Armenian education as the last remaining potent experiment of the self-preservation process of our times.

Academics is a term in reference to the collective work done by historians, researchers and intellectuals to document the story of the Armenian people, Genocide historiography being the most contemporary and important. While too much emphasis is placed on politicians to “teach the Turks a lesson in history”, in reality the fight for Genocide recognition is won by the work of the intellectual elite.

Academicians are the least accessible segment of the pillar institutions. They are men and women whose work is above and beyond the reach of the general population, and for good reason. But, that doesn’t mean that they can be insulated from the needs of the Armenian community and people. Therefore, I can only hope that they meet regularly, and talk about their work and the work of all other researchers; to advance the career of young scholars- to promote them in institutions of higher learning with access to a forum for discussions and publications. I hope that a new generation will soon replace those who must pave the path for the young to continue the most important work of our (and the next) generation.

I feel that there is a slimmer of hope these days. Lately groups have been forming across LA, to meet and discuss all issues that pertain to our interests in the world at this particular time in history- There is now talk where there was none before, and I am hopeful. The purpose, I think, is to eventually draw out a list of what the people want, need and demand. But for the time being the message is very simple: Start talking!

In time, I expect more will join the discussions in many more small (formal, organized of otherwise) groups across all communities. I hope everyone- journalists, artists, politicos, the clergy, educators entrepreneurs and academicians alike- will join… and start talking!

Armenia Fails to Unite

The Armenian Diaspora has been in a state of disunity for the most part of the last 100 years. Disunity or the lack of unity does not exist on its own, nor for its own sake- it is almost always as a result of outside interferences. In other words enemies do their deed, and succeed.

The Diaspora has been, and still is, divided- The reason is Armenia.

The First Republic (1918-1921) was the beginning of a long, arduous, and tedious division, which led immediately after its collapse to the Second Republic (Soviet Armenia, 1921-1991) and a long period of disarray in communities everywhere from Worcester, Massachusetts to Fresno, California. A life of detest and hate for entire generations over accusations of “bloody Bolshevik”, “traitor”, “brown-shirt fascist”, and other unpleasant name-callings. In Lebanon, Armenians gunned each other down in disputes over the definition of love for Armenia; a high-ranking clergyman was assassinated at the altar in America; and worst of all, a segment of Armenians wished, in 1942 during WWII, for the Nazis to defeat the Soviets in Stalingrad, to then proceed southward to “liberate Armenia”(yeah right!). Mind you, Soviet Armenia lasted until 1991, irrespective of the silly and futile commotions of Armenians from outside.

The collapse of the Soviet Union ushered the Third Republic (1991-present), and an independent Armenia that continues to be the source of disputes and divisions amongst Armenians everywhere to this day. A hundred years later, after wars and Genocide, calamities and hardships… Armenia continues to engage, as well as divide us with equal ferocity.

In their days, the leadership of Soviet Armenia sat back, watched and at times took advantage of the duality, often playing one camp against the other. The leaders of modern-day Armenia have been doing the same since 1991. They waste no time to accuse us of being chronically divided and incapable of growing up and maturing politically, or lacking the “nationhood mindset” (whatever that means), while they themselves fail to suggest solutions to the very problems that they identify. Men in leadership positions have failed miserably- to guide us, to inspire us, and help us solidify our identity and unravel the meaning of our existence.

Armenia has abandoned its own Diaspora to the point that during the lead-up to the Protocols President Sargsyan first implied, and then implemented a path for the Republic of Armenian that did not feature the Diaspora in it. A flagrant act of polarization. Imagine appeasing to the Turks, at the expense of alienating your own- If that’s sophisticated politicking (as the government of Armenia probably thinks), then I’d like to redefine naiveté.

The Genocide, the very defining element of the Diaspora’s identity was agreed to become a point of discussion with Turkish (turk oghlu turk) historians, the very same people who fabricated Turkey’s denial package against the Genocide for 95 years. Imagine that!

Armenia and Turkey make strange bedfellows, as the turn of events after the signing of the 10/10 Protocols proved: Armenia bargained away the proofs of the Genocide, which then Turkey pocketed, and proceeded to demand more- They now want Karabagh. It would have helped if Yerevan listened to the wisdom of historians, lawmakers and academicians of genocide studies: Not to negotiate with the perpetrator of genocide, in the absence of willingness to admit. While Turkey proceeded by the adage “What’s ours is ours, what’s yours is negotiable”, Armenia showed readiness to sit at a negotiating table without the facts of the Genocide by its side, or Armenian claims of land and calls for human rights. That’s what happens when you give up your moral high ground.

Some pundits have applauded President Sargsyan’s speech at the “renowned” Chatham House in London two weeks ago. I was not impressed. Political bold-face is not well received historically in the long run. I doubt that Sargsyan was under the impression that his speech would actually tilt British and European opinion about Turkey’s bloated ambitions for regional supremacy; the legitimacy of the Karabagh movement, or even the benefits of Turkey’s recognition of the Genocide to Europe. He should know better that these are issues imbedded in various foreign national interests, way beyond the capacity of Armenia to influence. But what I noticed instead, was a hint of withdrawal from the insult he leveled against the Diaspora when, in the thick of his self-inflicted enthusiasm to sign the Protocols, he blatantly brushed off his critics as cretins without his understanding of globalization (he then proceeded to lecture us for hours on end). If wise diplomacy expects of leaders to posses the skill to keep friends (the Diaspora) close, and enemies (Turkey) closer, then the Sargsyan administration failed miserably. They neither made friends, nor influenced people. As a result of the Protocols, Turkey has already shifted the discussion to the Genocide as an Armenian exaggeration, and Karabagh as a case of foreign aggression. There’s no more talk of Armenia’s right to survive and prosper. What happened to the benefits of open borders, free commerce and cheap food-stuff? Does Yerevan know what to do?

I’m often caught in arguments these days, sometimes with good friends that I do not want to offend. The topic of disputes is always Armenia (as it has been for generations), and I’m sick of it. Many others have already quit the topic; thousands are quitting their adherence to Armenian community affairs and Armenia itself. We are magnificently divided, and the loss is Armenia’s! Does Yerevan care?

Today in the Diaspora, desperate columnists are penning articles suggesting plans to organize it around an elected representative body, and Yerevan is absent from the discussion. A month ago, the Diaspora fell into a dispute over the selection of a representative group of delegates that were to meet with the U.S. State Department, while Yerevan sat back and let the arguments pan out for all to see. Yerevan is in the process, much like its communist predecessors, of compiling “a list” of Diaspora Armenians who are “pro-protocol”, thus intentionally separating the people of the Diaspora as Hyrenasers (those who love Armenia, i.e. pro-Sargsyan), or Entimateers (those who oppose). Some who once stood by Armenia are quickly labeled as undesirables, if they voice anger towards the many losses against the few gains that Armenia has made over the last few years. Reaching out, solving (internal) problems, and expanding grand projects make great leaders. That, Mr. Sargsyan, is the purpose of the presidency!

If we can’t get our act together, then next time the Karabagh issue comes up again (and it will), an ill-governed, weakened Armenian nation, isolated from its own people (inside and outside its borders), will have no choice but to give in… without a fight. Perhaps, the only advantage to having a karabaghtzi running Armenia at that time is to let him deal with the mess himself. Until then, I’d like to remind them all that they are just another group gathered around Mother Armenia, much like any other Diaspora group from anywhere outside of the borders of Armenia… some thousands, others few hundred miles away.

No one owns the moral authority to pass judgment on other groups. But unfortunately Armenia will, and the division will continue… for another 100 years!

Shimer College

I’m about to take you on a whirling tour of one of the most original places in America. A place for ideas and a gathering place of thinkers and curious minds. An institution of learning, and a community of scholars: Shimer College.

A four-year liberal arts college located in Chicago, known for its distinctive “Great Books” curriculum, and total student body of less than 100 students, Shimer College is obviously not for everyone. But for students who like to read, and think, and talk about what they read, then it is heaven on earth. It is a place for people who are challenged by the process of critical thinking through the reading and study of the world’s most celebrated literary classics, a collection known as the “Great Books”.

The Great Books curriculum comprises of the study of works- mainly humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences- that have stood the test of time, and have lasting effects upon society. By the time students graduate Shimer they would have studied math, lab sciences, music and lots of philosophy, history and literature (the backbone of liberal arts education). In the process, they would have read classic works by more than 100 authors whose work span 3000 years of western culture and civilization.

Western civilization stems from the writings of men who have thought, and recorded their thoughts in books that have come to form the foundation of occidental human history. Great thinkers throughout history have distinguished themselves, first and foremost, by the notion that questions are more important than answers to start the process of exploration. The resulting books are, therefore, timeless and timely- they shed light on persisting questions of human existence to change minds, move hearts, and touch the spirit. With that in mind, Shimer students maneuver through a curriculum of masterpieces in literature, science, mathematics, philosophy and dig themselves in the works of Plato, Dante Alighieri, Thomas More, Gustave Flaubert, Blaise Pascal and Sigmund Freud.

Since all ideas and innovations trace their roots to the Greeks , then why not retract, say, philosophy, from its recorded roots (Aristotle and Plutarch), and continue on towards the modern era to Friedrich Nietzsche and Jean-Paul Sartre, amongst others. Therefore Shimer students learn facts and ideas by the process with which they evolved throughout history. The Great Books are read in the chronological order, beginning with ancient Greeks, and culminating in modern time.

There are no textbooks used, and there are no lectures or lecture halls at Shimer College. Books are the teachers (Shakespeare, Leonardo da Vinci, Dostoevsky and others). Discussions are driven by the students, and professors are simply facilitators of Socratic discussions. There are no class lectures; instead, the students meet together with faculty members to explore the books being read. The goal is not to find the “right” answer (as there may never be one), but rather to continue the exploration of ideas, observations, and conflicting opinions. Not knowing the answer is not the problem then, but not wanting to hear the views and opinions of others becomes the problem. Stubborn insistence based on personal beliefs or ideology will not suffice when it comes to a discussion of Charles Darwin and his “The Origin of Species”, or Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience”.

Part of the learning process is acknowledging intellectual failings- a rarity nowadays, in our fast-paced, I-know-it-all, take-no-hostages scheme of things. What is necessary is the ability to listen and engage in discussions, to work as a team towards intellectual bliss- that unique place in our society where civility, rationality and opinionated discourse meet, in a room perhaps, to “take off their hats” as they say, and spend quality time as equals, together, around a table to do what distinguishes humans from the rest… think!

The intense 2 or 3 hour-long classes don’t seem to bother students at Shimer College. Computers are relatively rare (so is computer research, multiple choice question exams and grades). There are no majors and no departments, all students follow the same program and get the same degree. Science labs recreate the experiments that have been performed by the founders of science (Rene Descartes, Isaac Newton, Antoine Lavoisier, Michael Faraday and others). Curiosity, reasoning, and the ability to deduct are highly valued, but everything is secondary to the original text or work: of the Greek philosophers, historians and mathematicians- Homer, Sophocles, Euclid; the Renaissance thinkers- Machiavelli, Copernicus; the “Big Three” of French theatre- Moliere, Racine, Corneille; the musical geniuses- Beethoven, Schubert, Bach and Stravinsky; and, finally, the great minds of the 20th Century- George Santayana, Lenin and Albert Einstein. I would imagine that after Einstein nothing seems all that hard to decipher. The beauty of it all is that all Shimer teachers return the next year to do it all over again- Chaucer, Cervantes, Tolstoy, de Tocqueville, Balzac and others. They never age, never tire, and never retire.

By the time Shimer students graduate, they are more articulate, and hopefully, more thoughtful, and less interested in appearing smart than in becoming smart. “ Smart” doesn’t mean being able to devise weapons of destruction and war, or instruments of financial deception, as the ones Wall Street voodoos and bankers concocted not long ago to rob billions of dollars of other people’s hard-earned money. Actually, smart is being able to discern what is good (as good medical cures, good ideas, a good investment, good music etc) and what is not, the meaning of life, the purpose of good government, the blessings of prosperity and the necessity of peace.

It is unfortunate that people of wealth and power rarely recognize that it is the work of the thinkers, writers, and intellectuals that create the very ambiance in societies where their wealth and power is best protected and safeguarded these days. There can be no civil society without thinkers, and a nation without thinkers is bound to insignificance and irrelevance. Gadgets, games and excesses have diminished the value of thought these days. There are simply less people willing to learn, or capable of thinking and writing. I’m of the opinion that, not thinking is, well, unthinkable!

In the final analysis, it all comes down to the mission statement of Shimer College, and other liberal arts colleges around America: Good living is about a deepened capacity for reflective thought, an appreciation of the persisting questions of human existence, an abiding love of serious conversation, and a lasting love of inquiry.

Frankly, as far as I’m concerned, nothing beats a quiet Sunday afternoon with a book by William Wordsworth, and a dab of Mozart in the background. Cheers!

Manuel

Genatz with Alenoush and Ashod

His name is Manuel, Manuel Menenkichian, and I’ve been eager to write about him for a very long time. Singer, performer, crooner and entertainer, Manuel is the very embodiment of the young Armenian who, for a generation, lived with the urge to make it out of (Beirut’s Armenian enclave) Bourj Hammoud with hopes and aspirations, and talent too- to spread hye yerk, to be free, to succeed, and to make sure that the rest who stayed behind knew that, “He made it”. Well he did. He also made their dreams come true, as he became the first Armenian entertainer to appear in an international song contest, to headline in Las Vegas, and to make movies- three of them, to be exact- while kissing lots of pretty women on screen in the process.

As a youngster, I remember Manuel as the unreachable “man of the stage” that I knew I was never going to meet. But we did meet a year ago, accidentally in Glendale. At the Phoenicia restaurant, Manuel was sitting at the head of a table of ten, and dominating it. How can he not? He is, after all, the very embodiment of a person the French best describe as un jeune homme tres sympathique! Myself, I was there that evening with childhood friends and classmates, two tables over, to have a good time.  Manuel didn’t seem to have changed- The big hair was gray but still there, so was the trademark unibrow. He was not a pound overweight.

I had a story to take up with him, and I was not about to wait for his next visit to Los Angeles. The last time I had a chance to meet him was at the Armenian Music Awards at the Alex Theatre. He was hosting the event that ran too long into the early morning hours, and I had no chance to catch up with him backstage afterwards.

I excused myself from my friends and left for Manuel’s table. Before I even got there, my entire tablemates were around me, including my wife Lucy, my high school classmates and their spouses- Bedig, Vruyr, Lena, Kegham and others. We were all of the generation that grew up with Manuel’s music, and knew of his concerts, and of course the delicious movies- musicals about loves lost, lovers betrayed, suicidal tendencies, sexy odar girls saying things like “Give me one small bachig”, freedom-fighting Sassoontzis, sadistic Turks, infidel husbands, monologues on the virtues of Armenian women, gold-diggin’ socialites, out of wedlock pregnancies, and finally tears and happiness (or is it “Tears of Happiness”?). Not to forget the occasional buxom belly-dancer featured for… well, I really don’t know why! The characters that he played- Raffi, Jirair, and Varouj - are the embodiment of the young Armenian male of solid stock, doing all the wrong things, until he finally gets it right because he is better than the rest of them- sensitive, daring, romantic, brave , proud and azkaser. Yes, he does get the girl (Silva, Anahid, and Hasmig) in the end, while crushing the brute Levon, the nagging biker Garbis, and the despicable Turk, shishgo along the way. The movies have a formulaic gusto element to them, and I watch them with amusement to this day, always with the same three MT&Ts (Manuelagans, True and True)- We compete with each other to remember the punch line in the next scene, the names of Jirair’s three one-night stands (Georgette, Yvette, and Jeanette), the name of the most obnoxious nouveau riche in the village (Jean Levon, yuck!), and what Anahid tells Steven (“ Istiveen” of “Firizno”) as to why she can’t marry him- “Because every time I will go to bed with you, I will remember Jirair”. Here’s another one, right out of the daring freedom-fighter Varouj’s mouth, “Hey shishgo (fatso), are you going to talk, or do I make you sing with holes in your pot-belly?” But our favorite is from “Promise of Love”-  it's what the penniless aspiring-artist Raffi tells Silva, while holding her in his arms and staring at a greenery where he says he will  build their dream home after they marry, “Silva, this forest reminds me of you- beautiful… hot… and wild”. Ya ya ya, mamma mia Manuel, what were you thinking? We don’t want to know… or maybe, I do!

All the movies are laced with songs- Sarky Mouradian’s compositions- which at the time turned into hits on the pop charts and part of our teen jingo: “Silva inchoo katseer, Silva veratartseer, nayeer tsakooge goola…” very catchy, and it happened to work just as well, or better, after we dropped the name Silva for another one of our choice. But in my mind, “Moratsar zis dou moratsar” is the best of them all, and Manuel’s deserved claim to fame as a smooth balladeer.

In “Promise of Love” Jirair’s story is one of rags to riches. At one stage in the story he is devastated by incessant drinking and smoking, and on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He is confined to a sanatorium with “almost severely damaged lungs”. There, he rests and sleeps late, goes hunting, and sits on a veranda gazing at the vast open valley ahead, while (listen to this) smoking like a chimney, and washing down more whiskey. To confirm his legitimacy as a manly lover in agony, I presume.

Back in Glendale, I finally reached Manuel’s table and greeted him. I could tell he was a natural with people by the way he greeted me back: jovial and very friendly. I finally told him about the incident that my grandmother, who lived in Beirut’s Nor Hajin district, always reminded me of whenever I visited her, or when she saw Manuel's picture in the newspapers. So I asked, “Manuel, do you remember the day you got into big trouble when, as a wild teen, your car barely missed running over a young boy of maybe 6 crossing the street in Hajin tagh?” He answered “Yes!” emphatically, without hesitation. When he heard me say “Well, that was me” we looked into each other’s eyes for a few seconds, shook hands and hugged saying “yalla mortzeer, yalla motrzank” (Let’s forget, I already forgot in Beirutahye slang). “I was told afterwards” explained Manuel, “That asdvadz yeresit nayetsav. The boy is the son of a great Hajintzi, and a prominent man of the community by the name of g-u-l vartian”. We hugged again.

When my wife arrived, I turned to Manuel again, “You probably don’t remember her, but you sure know her father well, Sarkissian Sarkis” He was ecstatic, “Inch lav pakhd (such good fortune), of course I remember, we travelled to Armenia together." (Sarkissian had chartered a plane to take his guests to Etchmiadzin for the christening of his son, at a time when Armenia was Soviet). By this time Manuel clearly had tears in his eyes, he was truly moved, overwhelmed by the memories of Beirut, his youth, our childhood. The hugging continued with others from my group, who turned out to have their own personal memories of Manuel- all sweet and nice.

That night in Glendale Manuel took over the microphone, the stage and the band, and delivered an hour-long medley of his songs, skilfully mixed with anecdotes, in honor of new-found friendships, as a courtesy to two great hyes Asadour Gulvartian and Sarkis Sarkissian, men of cherished memories. I will never forget the evening.

There is no shortage of Armenian singers on stage these days. There is, however, a very short supply of entertainers. Manuel led the way, starting in the late sixties, as one of many rising performers who burst onto the pop scene to- by a stroke- eradicate Turkish music from the homes of the “displaced generation”, and give their children exactly what they had been praying for- the sound of Armenian songs.

There really is no place for quiet grace in Armenian pop culture and artists today- lots of wannabes. That’s our loss. Except for the favor he gave us that night in Glendale, Manuel is retired from the stage these days, living in Miami. He has paid his dues. He will not come back again even though we need him. For now, until another sympathique replaces him, the stage will remain dark.

Last month I got hold of a rare Manuel memento- a bottle of “Manuel Bordeaux”, the wine that hit the markets a couple of years ago, and sold out immediately. It was the three of us again- Alenoush, Ashod and I - who got together, popped a DVD of “Promise of Love” (our favorite), poured the wine, and drank to good health and loved ones, lip-synced to the movie songs, simulated Jirair’s facial expressions from the last scene of the movie right before he smooches his face into baby Anoush’s plum cheeks… and toasted to Manuel. It was pure joy!

Happy New Year, everybody!

100

It is often argued that it takes knowledge in “only” one hundred selected topics to qualify any person as an educated Armenian.

There is no such thing as right or wrong, and there are no rules about who is Armenian and who is not. It is generally accepted that those who speak the language are considered to have made the grade. But that is often deceptive, as absence of knowledge cancels the value of linguistic proficiency. This column is about the knowledge element of being Armenian.

I believe that, as a small nation of people, anybody who elects to be considered (or claims to be) Armenian should be given the title. But that’s easier said than done. After all, we own quite an elaborate culture with a unique language, and a very special brand of Christianity. There’s more to our identity than just being born into it.

Some years ago, I had the privilege to head a task force of parents and educators at my children’s school in Los Angeles, to prepare a list of “things” we believed each student graduating from an Armenian school should know in terms of Armenian literacy . It was our attempt- as parents, devotees of Armenian schools, and as educated Armenians- to define the parameters of our identity beyond language, religion, and a willingness to belong.

I will let the 100 points of interest shape your own impression. I will not elaborate. As far as I’m concerned, mastery of even a limited number of these topics is good enough. The doors must remain open to all those who want to be identified as hye, provided they know why!

Here’s the list. It is not compiled by priority or importance.

1- Your family name & family tree
2- William Saroyan
3- The Tricolor (yerakooyn)
4- Mt. Ararat & the city of Ani- as spiritual homeland
5- Yerevan
6- Lake Sevan
7- Battle of Avarayr & Vartan Mamigonian- 451 AD
8- Cilicia- sovereignty & the Crusades
9- The Ottoman Empire
10- The Young Turks
11- Christianity & Gregory the Illuminator- 301 AD
12- The First Republic 1918-1921
13- Soviet Armenia 1921-1991
14- Independence & the Third Republic 1991-present
15- Battle of Sardarabad (1918)
16- Mustafa Kemal
17- Pan-Touranism
18- Treaty of Sevre & Wilsonian Armenia (1920)
19- Repatriation- from the spiurk to Armenia (1946-1948)
20- Earthquake (1988)
21- The Karabagh Conflict
22- Khatchkar
23- Sasoontzi Tavit- mythology
24- Haig Nahabed- patriarch
25- The Aypupen & Mesrob Mashdotz - 406 AD
26- Zoravar Antranig & the Armenian liberation movement
27- Tigran the Great- conquest & expansion (Dzove Dzov Hayastan)
28- Gomidas
29- Khrimian Hayrig
30- Governor George Deukmejian of California
31- Monte Melkonian- from Visalia to Yeraplur
32- Architecture- important features
33- Etchmiadzin
34- The Badarak & church etiquette
35- Nareg- Armenia’s own holy scripture
36- The Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem
37- Antelias & the Catholicosate of Cilicia
38- Genocide & dispersion
39- Armenian land claims
40- The survivor generation & Antranig Zaroukian
41- Armenians in Istanbul- past & present
42- Hye Tahd- Genocide documentation, education, recognition & reparations
43- PACs- The Armenian Assembly & the ANC
44- Prof. Vahakn Dadrian & Genocide historiography
45- Prof. Richard Hovannisian of UCLA (& the Oral History Project)
46- The Madenataran
47- US-Armenia ties
48- Iran today
49- The “Trkeren khosoghin hayeren badaskhane” campaign
50- Turkey today
51- Russia-Armenia relations
52- Georgia today
53- The Kurds - friend or foe?
54- ASALA
55- Turkey & the European Union
56- Azerbaijan today
57- The Armenian Diaspora
58- Armenians in the US- Worcester, Fresno, & elsewhere
59- Political parties- SDHP, ARF, ADL
60- Armenian studies in American Universities – UCLA, U. Michigan, Harvard U. etc.
61- Armenians living on historic lands today- the Hemshins
62- The AGBU and Alex Manoogian
63- Armenian newspapers
64- Cities of ancestral origin- Van, Zeitoun, kharpert, Hajin, Aintab etc.
65- Armenian culinary specialties
66- Sayat Nova- koosans & ashooghs
67- Movses Khorenatzi
68- English language writers- Levon Surmelian, Michael Arlen, David Kherdian, et al
69- Dzizernagapert
70- Why Turkey denies the Genocide?
71- Glendale
72- Treatment of Armenians by the American media
73- Assassination of Vazgen Sargsyan & Garen Demirchyan in Armenia’s parliament (1999)
74- Attempts to pass Genocide resolutions in the US Congress
75- Armenian internet web-sites
76- Assimilation v. Integration
77- Madagh
78- The Mekhitarists- Venice & Vienna
79- The pomegramite as national symbol
80- Armenians in the Olympic Games
81- Your local congressman
82- Project Save- photographs of ancestors
83- Traditional holidays- Paregentan, Vartavar, etc.
84- The Duduk
85- Persian Empire & the Armenians of New Julfa
86- Countries that have recognized the Genocide
87- Armenians in the Arab world- Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Palestine, Iraq etc.
88- The Armenia Fund
89- Armenian Schools
90- Arshile Gorky
91- Armenia’s economy
92- Aram Khatchaturian
93- Armenian Christmas
94- Hagop Baronian
95- The Golden Age of Armenian culture (vosketar)
96- Contemporary pop culture- concerts, TV, theatre etc.
97- NAASR & the Society for Armenian Studies
98- Dialects- Arevmeda/ Arevela hayeren
99- Collectibles- books, stamps, coins, newspapers, craft
100-Typical Armenian traits- the good, the bad, the ugly

Clearly much has happened since the” List of 100” was first compiled in the year 2000. I can think of many other topics that have emerged since, that are equally essential for an up-to-dated study of the Armenian experience. While the core of the list may stay the same, some topics may be removed and others added, thus accommodating the necessity to include the most relevant information for a satisfactory attainment of “the big prize” i.e. Armenianess.

Here are 7 more:

meg: Petro-politics. Oil from Central Asia will pass in the vicinity of Armenia (and Turkey)- via the Nabucco pipeline- on its way to where it’s coveted most- Europe and the US. There’s no limit to the insatiable thirst for the black brew, and it has bearings on all countries in its way.

yergoo: Peter Balakian- is the pre-eminent American-born scholar to take on the topic of the Armenian Genocide. His work “The Burning Tigris” (2003) is a masterpiece as a study of the Genocide from the American perspective. A must read. He has lately published another marvel entitled, “Armenian Golgotha”- another must read.

yerek: The assassination of journalist-intellectual Hrant Dink in Istanbul (2007) has shifted the Genocide recognition debate from” might-makes-right” to an issue of human rights.

chorss: Robert Fisk- If you wish to know what odars think about us read Robert Fisk’s columns in the The Independent. He writes regularly, eloquently, and freely in defense of the Armenian cause.

hink: The 10/10 Protocols (2009) may yet change Armenia. But is has already changed the dynamics of the Armenia-Diaspora relations (maybe forever). The government in Yerevan has unwisely chosen the politics of exclusion, playing a very risky game of "We know what we're doing" with the Turks without a most reliable ally by its side- the millions of Armenians who live outside the borders, while keeping their ties alive.

vetz: Corruption in Armenia. The small nation of Armenia will suffer, lose population, and its viability as a relevant nation, as long as its leaders lie, cheat, bully, harass, intimidate, and steal at the expense of the people they are supposed to inspire, lead and protect.

yot: Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (adopted in 2005. Yes! In modern times) is proof that Turkey is not free or democratic, and is in fact devoid of the basics of a civil society and cannot be trusted.

The next item on the list ...is the one you had on your mind. If you insist that’s the one to add to the list, then so be it! I thank you for your consideration, and love you all the same.

Never Give In, Never Give Up!

The city of Hajin c 1905

Until a month ago, I was living as I thought every conscientious Armenian in the spiurk should: By volunteering to Armenian organizations and projects; educating my children towards an awareness of the language, culture and heritage; donating regularly to as many causes that appeal to my (Armenian) senses; and not forgetting that there’s an Armenia out there-weak and fragile- that needs help and support.

Then 10/10 occurred, and we were all thrown into a new reality. Here’s what happened:

1-Turkey now has a signature on a document that indicates Armenia’s acceptance to a revision of the Genocide by a commission of Armenian, and Turkish historians. Imagine, the perpetrator of the crime is now a judge in the case of mass murder and Genocide. Pfft, a tragic-comedy of immense proportions.

2-Turkey will continue to distort (and deny) the Genocide, because admission is an indication of the falsehood of the Turkish nation, and its modern history.

3-Armenians must, hereon, resign from all demands of return of lands and property that we were forced to abandon during the years of the deportations and massacres, 1915-1921.

4-The government of Armenian has, in effect, told the Diaspora that they are going in alone on this one. That the Diaspora will not feature in the developments of the so called Armenia-Turkey reconciliation process.

Three distinct remarks by Serzh Sargsyan made the case. First, “I am the President of Armenia, not the Diaspora Armenians”. We were naïve to believe that we must entrust the safeguard of the Genocide, as a sacred Armenian reality, to the president of Armenia. Two,”If the price we will have to pay for signing the Protocols is alienating a stubborn Diaspora, then it’s a price I’m willing to pay”. Quite arrogant from a man who will need all the help he can get in the months and years ahead. Finally, three,” I went on a tour of the Diaspora communities to tell them about my plan, and not to ask them for their opinions”. In other words, we were told that we are not wanted at this -the most critical - stage in the story of Armenia.

What’s done is done. It is now time to access the situation, and devise a plan of action, now that Yerevan has excluded the Diaspora as a party to any Armenia-Turkey dealings that mention the Genocide.

Listen: If you want us out, then leave the Genocide out! Any reference to the Genocide will put Armenians of the Diaspora in the fray, and we shall organize, energize, and revitalize. Here’s my reason why, and I’m certain that this story repeats 1.5 million times over, in every Armenian family that exists today because of one (or two) family member who has survived the Genocide:

I am the son of a survivor, and my grandfather was a victim of the Genocide. Hajin is the land of my ancestors, a Cilician city of 25,000 Armenian inhabitants (where Turks were a minority), resting amidst the Taurus Mountains, dating back to the times of the Crusades. The city of Hajin was ransacked twice- First, by the sick design of the Ottomans in 1915. But when the French occupied Cilicia, 6000 survivors of the massacres returned to their homes, only to be massacred again in 1920, this time by the orders of Mustafa Kemal himself (the Kemalists continued where the Ottomans left off). Of the remaining survivors only 300 escaped the siege and carnage that ensued. Today, the Armenian city of Hajin bears the name of the leader of the Turkish armies that stormed the city: Siambeyli. A peaceful people were abruptly sent off into a new Diaspora of a million orphans -my father was one of them.

It must be noted that the Armenian Diaspora did not originate because of the Genocide. It had already been a historic reality, dating back to the fall of the great city of Ani in the 11th century. Therefore, the Armenian Diaspora is what it is, because of what the land of the Armenians has always been throughout history- an inhospitable place, in the path of marauders and land-grabbers: “The armpit of the world” as my high school Armenian history teacher Ardashes Der Khachatourian used to say. It occupies a unique place in the history of world cultures and civilizations, in the sense that, it has amazingly seeped into all corners of the world- but first to Cilicia- by the exodus of peaceful homesteaders (not by conquest). In time, it has evolved into a resilient entity that has adapted to shifting conditions for the sake of that brilliant human characteristic- survival. It has endured, not by luck, but because it has toiled to exist as one entity (not much different than the story of future immigrants to America, who have taken similar measures to exist collectively). We are, until today, a malleable group of people who have inherited the skills of our immigrating ancestors. We were once in India, Poland and Rumania- but are now in the US, Canada, Argentina, France, Lebanon and Russia. We will as easily return to India or anywhere where resilient, hard-working and creative people are yet to go. We are on the “right path” (shidag jampoo vra) headed towards Armenia, but seem to be moving in the “wrong direction” (sekhal oughootian vra) to get there, the other way around the globe. We shall get there someday or maybe not. Doesn’t matter!

While today’s Republic of Armenia is yet to find ways to survive, the Diaspora has already acquired that skill. It is in its nature to endure, lose numbers, and continue again with renewed comebacks. We spurkahyes like it the way we are, as we are. And we are no less Armenian then say… a Karabaghtzi (to make a point that can resonate with the current leaders in Yerevan).

Yes! We are a shifting lot, and we dissolve a lot, but that is not to be mistaken with a doomed fate-Because, “Spiurke haverj e” (is eternal). Now, that’s a proven conclusion that my U.Penn Armenian Literature and Culture professor, Vahe Oshagan, used to teach effectively- A cycle of displacement, assimilation, and replenishment by an ever-changing and ever-shifting Armenian existence in another corner of the world is the epic story of the Armenian Diaspora. Then Genocide happened, and everything changed. It took away our innate ability for self-preservation, and threw a resilient, creative people into destitution, and suffering. By one estimate, conducted in 2005, the 1.5 million would have grown to 29 million lives, had the Genocide never been perpetrated.

Some claim that today the Diaspora is fragmented, and lacks leadership. True, but I would also like to remind those of similar opinions that the call to preservation has always overshadowed the fragmentation and the lack of cohesive leadership in the Diaspora. It was not the burden of ideology, nor the interpretation of party politics, that rallied all of us around the landmark events of our times- including the independence and reconstruction of Armenia. It is that same adherence to charity towards our own that makes the Diaspora the provider of 25% of the Republic of Armenia’s GDP today. In the end, it was not the Diaspora that failed; the leaders of Armenia did. They have no one to blame but themselves for their obliterated leadership. I’m convinced that more of us would have participated and repatriated- if they had their act together from the beginning- certainly more than the mere 1,050 spiurkahyes who ended up returning to Armenia permanently after independence.

Worst yet, 10/10 changed the rules of engagement following unilateral actions taken by the leadership in Yerevan. It is time for the Diaspora to reorganize its network of leaders- Intellectuals, creative minds, political activists, academicians, and community organizers. People whom we (willingly, and in good spirit) replaced with elements from Armenia after independence, with mediocre results. We have work to do.

While Turkey courts the world- we will bring up their hidden history, and dark past.

While Armenia compromises- we will, again and again, make the case for losses and reparations.

While the EU contemplates its next membership- we will remind them of the killing fields across eastern Turkey.

While the US leverages Turkey against regional powers- we will talk about border disputes, abandoned treaties, and the cover-up of state-sponsored mass-murders.

While Turkey lies- we will hold them liable.

While Turkey attempts to rewrite history- we will respond with more facts.

While Turkey claims victory- we shall scream, “Hoghere”.

And if the government of Armenia abandons its responsibility- then we shall seek regime change until Armenia attains a leadership that inspires and rallies all Armenians of the world around one cause, one destiny.

The work continues- to establish and document more facts, to spread the news, to tear down the wall of denial, and to safeguard the safety, security and prosperity of the hye azk (the Armenian nation). This is what defines the Diaspora. We are neither a remnant of the Armenian nation, nor an exclusion.

So, what next?

The pursuit of Genocide recognition has been and will continue to be the work of Armenian individuals and organizations operating out of the civilized world- the work must continue.

The clarification of the legal ramifications of forceful deportations of people, and the confiscation of their private property is a crime best understood by civilized nations- the work must continue.

The case of Genocide denial is a matter of pretentious Turkish amnesia that requires close monitoring and eventual rehabilitation- the work must continue.

The responsibility for the bad deeds of Turkey’s ancestors is a matter of the rule of law- the work must continue.

History is overlooked by illiterate politicians to the detriment of the people they govern- the work must continue.

We, the solitary inhabitants of the Diaspora, as dispersed and disoriented as we may seem to be today, will never give in, never give up. Genocide, displacement, Soviet totalitarianism, and Turkish nationalism did not destroy us, neither will eleventh-hour self-proclaimed democratized Turkish politicians. We will not forget, we will not waiver, and we will not quit.

To you all, I scream and shout- organize. Support any individual or entity, organization, Armenian political party, scholar, historian, entrepreneur, journalist or activist that stands up for the facts of the Genocide. Donate funds, volunteer time, write, explain, protest, make speeches, and go to a rally. Talk to revisionists, debate deniers, and engage skeptics in discussions.

There’s work to be done for years to come. Are we going to be relevant?

The answer came to me last week, from one of the local Armenian schools in Los Angeles, where the Armenian department had organized a student debate on the issue of Genocide recognition and land claims. At the end of the debate, the entire high school student body voted 75% against the premises of the 10/10 Protocols. The youth voted for the recognition of the Genocide, and reparations for the damages incurred by Turkey upon the Armenian people.

The cause is alive. The work continues.
Father, rest assured!

Why We Do Not Trust Serzh Sargsyan

The President of the Republic of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan was in Los Angeles a week ago as part of his mythical mystery pan-Armenian world tour to listen to the opinions of the Armenian Diaspora on the issue of the Armenia -Turkey Protocols to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries. 400 people were gathered at a banquet that was described on the invitation as an occasion to honor Mr. Sargsyan. There wasn’t much honor to go around on this tense occasion. Half of those present were not in the mood to bestow honors upon him. They did not rise when he entered the hall, they did not applaud his warm calls for a prosperous Armenia, and they did not lift their glasses when he (the emphasis is on “he”) proposed a toast to the haverjutune (eternity) of the Armenian nation. We had heard the same rhetorical sound bites before, but this time we were not charmed.

The gravest disrespect and dishonor of the evening came from Mr. Sargsyan himself, whose 5 minute-long speech was a lapa (mush) about the sentimental value of the city of Yerevan, and Alexander Tamanyan. Yes, Tamanyan - the grand architect and master planner of Yerevan in the 1920’s. The evening was over in 30 minutes, the audience was caught looking at each other and asking if there was anything else to do or hear. None Came. Some lined up to shake hands with Sargsyan, a few took a picture of their sons and daughters with him (they probably thinks that it might look good on the mantle), and the rest of us left. We were mocked, and taken for useless diasporans ardasahmantzis (diasporans) gathered for a free meal. The next day, local Armenian TV showed a government -issued communiqué about the warm reception Sargsyan was receiving everywhere on his tour of the communities. Old soviet-style habits die hard, I guess.

Bottom line: Sargsyan’s popularity rating in the Diaspora today is roaming at right about zero. It has reached a point where we do not trust him anymore. The Armenia-Turkey matter is not the cause, but simply the precipitator of a sickness that has afflicted our relationship even before he was elected president of Armenia. It is time that we call the issue of trust by its real name: A mess.

Why we do not trust Serzh Sargsyan?

I can think of 3 reasons. Add to the list if you happen to be hayastantzi, and have to continuously support your loved ones still living in Armenia, to see the dram repetitively (and artificially) devalued by the Central Bank of Armenia against the dollar, and then listen to the daily grief and anguish of your relatives unable to make ends meet, with no hope in sight.

First: Serzh Sargsyan's Armenia is deeply corrupt. Sounds almost like a cliché. Well, it is corruption of the cruelest kind (bordering treason), if entrusted power is abused for private gain in an economy where the GDP is made up primarily of foreign grants, loans and remittances by wealthier cousins oversees. His only, so called, crackdown against corruption so far has come in the tourism sector, against customs officers realizing that it was a hindrance to an easy income to Armenia (a no-brainer). 95% of foreigners entering Armenia each year are diasporans, arriving in droves, tongue hanging out for an experience of a lifetime. At the other end of the same airport, 50,000 Armenians citizens leave their country each year to never return again. Sargsyan’s predecessor is known to have cynically said that there will be more left for those staying. More of nothing is still nothing appe jan!

Sargsyan’s Armenia occupies the 109th spot on a list of 180 national entities on a corruption report published annually by Transparency International. Number one (Norway) being least corrupt, and number 180 (Somalia) being the worst. The list is compiled based on reports of nepotism, fraud, bribery, racketeering, and extortion. In Armenia, foreign aid is pilfered, laundered monies find their way to foreign banks via fake companies. Health care, schools , roads, water purification stations are in disarray in areas less than an hour away from Yerevan (next time you visit Armenia, make a point to visit the city of Hrazdan). The government has no job creation programs, but is perfectly well versed to pitch pet-projects to well-intentioned old amerigahyes visiting Armenia ready to donate to a charity. The Republic of Armenia is a 2 billion dollar corporation, and Sargsyan is its CEO. He assumes foreign aid, he allocates funds for government projects, he authorizes the selling of assets, pays the bonuses, grants privileges and trade monopolies ,and gets rid of “undesirable elements” by sometimes imprisoning them, and at other times having their faces beaten to a pulp. All this in a country where 20 % are unemployed, and 15% live below the international poverty line of less than 2 dollars a day. Do you know where your priorities are Mr. Sargsyan?

Second: There’s something wrong in Armenia’s perception of what the Diaspora is, and there seems to be a disagreement about what our obligations are towards each other. After independence in 1991, a great number of Diaspora organizations turned their attention and resources towards Armenia. Many new ones were created for the sole purpose of promoting the welfare of the people of Armenia. We dissolved the traditional role of our organizations with the hope that a free and democratic Armenia will carry the mission of azkabahbanoom in return for our promotion, as well as moral and political support of the aspirations of a people and country that had just emerged from 90 years of isolation.

I now realize that we made a mistake in tying our own aspirations completely to Armenia. The new leadership saw us as nothing other than two different people who happen to speak the same language. What a shame!

Today, the Armenian consulate of Los Angeles has only one goal, to solicit donations for the acquisition of a new building to house the consulate. It has organized no commissions, no committees, and no gatherings of professionals or experts. The Diaspora has been awaiting inspiration and organization, and the Republic of Armenia has been absent from the scene. Look at the lack of planning from the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and you can tell the lack of urgency from Yerevan to inspire the communities. The only time we are important is when we have to foot the bill of one conference or another, one state visit by a government mission or another. We think that we are lucky in Los Angeles, New York or Paris for being in such close proximity to an embassy or a consulate, but in reality the attention paid to us is not much different than Yerevan’s handling of remote communities in Amsterdam, Madrid or Prague.

While Diaspora organizations stood by Armenia - through earthquake, independence, war, blockade, and reconstruction - subsequent administrations continued to mistreat the Diaspora, until Sargsyan’s outright changed the rules of engagement. It has now come to a point where we have no choice but to state: It is not a matter of what we can do for Armenia anymore, but what Armenia must do for us. Enough is enough.

Third: I have no problem about dialogue with the Turks, or any attempt for good neighborly relations with Turkey. Ask Armenians everywhere, and the majority of us are in agreement about striking good relations with Turkey. The problem of trust, however, is exacerbated by Sargsyan’s choice of a bargaining chip on the negotiating table. To even agree to put the Genocide in a deal for the exchange of a “bowl of rice” is arrogant opportunism worthy of a cheap card player, who believes he is too shrewd, too smart to miss a hit even with a weakened hand against an ugly opponent across the table… who smokes like a Turk. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

We woke up one morning to find out that we were caught in an Armenia-Diaspora dispute over the sanctity of the Genocide. We were not expecting that from the leaders of Armenia.

Considering that Sargsyan is Karabaghtzi, and one of the leaders of the Karabagh liberation movement, how will he cope with the pressure to put Karabagh on the negotiating table? That may not be the case this time around, but it is coming. It was the Karabagh issue that broke Armenia’s ties with Azerbaijan, consequently culminating in a dispute with Turkey, and the closing of the border.

Sargsyan is as qualified to negotiate for Karabagh, as he is not qualified to even discuss the Genocide. It is disturbing to even hear unofficial remarks of Armenian officials, in reference to the Genocide being an experience “exclusive to arevmedahyes (Western Armenians)”. A point that is commonly heard, and read in reports from various foreign internet-radio-press news outlets. Turkey seems to be at work, lying as usual. The fact that a clause to “Implement an impartial scientific examination of the historical records and archives to define existing problems (i.e. Genocide)” seeped into the Protocols, attest to Sargsyan’s disconnect from a cataclysmic historic event that all Armenians, and the civilized world, know as … a fact!

Sooner or later Yerevan will be told to engage Azerbaijan on the issue of the Karabagh conflict. I hope that Sargsyan, who is clearly susceptible to pressure, will be around to handle it. He claims to have received support (political jargon for pressure) from the international community in his latest dealings with the Turks. For Armenia’s sake, I say, good luck!

For now, as a Karabaghtzi, Sargsyan’s primary responsibility must be to order the Karabagh leadership to dig deep, and stay put in Karabagh. They have been the first to quit and leave for Armenia, leaving behind a destitute population to their own fate, while they are “bogh ashkhadoom en elly” (making some dough). The very leadership of the Karabagh independence movement is absent from the scene - Kocharyan, Ghookasyan, and now Sargsyan. They have crashed effectively upon Armenia. The glory of the victory was once theirs (and we all applauded them, and supported them), but today the burden of survival is the people’s. Where is the tactical logic? Where is the moral responsibility? Where is the inspirational leadership?

If there was a popular referendum held today to either approve or reject the Protocols, the Armenian people will reject it. If Sargsyan was a leader of an open and free society, then his approval rating would have left him no choice but to resign. On the trust factor, he will score an overwhelming zero.

Even if the 1000 people known as FOS (friends of Serzh) - who control the foreign aid, the courts, the Central Bank, the Diaspora Ministry, the health care system, the admissions committees of the State universities, the import routes of commodities and raw materials, the licensing of small businesses, and the Justice Ministry that had a dirty hand in the Dubai pleasure industry - voted for him, he will still have a major trust problem with the remaining millions of us everywhere.

And next time Mr. Sargsyan, please leave Alexander Tamanyan out of your speech. Don’t insult our intelligence. Tamanyan was a genius, and you, Mr. Sargsyan, are not Tamanyan.

Turks & Neo-Ottomans

Never in my life have I seen the faces of so many Turks on the front pages of Armenian newspapers as I have these past 3 months: Erdogan, Babacan, Gul, Davutoglu, Mehmediarov, Aliyev and others. Mustachioed, neo-Ottomans in dapper suits.

Turks are on the move from Central Asia to Europe en route from their true origins to what they aspire to become, and the little country of Armenia is caught in the middle of the most ambitious national aspiration in modern times: Turkey’s transformation into the world of the civilized.

If the key to what the Turks are seeking, namely, honor, respectability, and modernism, lies with us the Armenians then we must be ready to walk the walk.

But first, some facts:

Turkey is an Asian nation of 72 million inhabitants. It is a Muslim state (not secular), inhabited by peoples of Turkic stock. 99% of Turkey’s land mass is situated in the Asian continent. The country holds no natural resources, and a great percentage of the population live off the land in medieval settings. Ethnic divisions are acute, especially against a Kurdish minority of 15 million who do not speak the same language, and do not share the lexicon of unity that emanates from Ankara.

The global economic boom of the past decade has been good for Turkey, as Europe sought cheap labor to manufacture shirts and underwear, and hotel rooms on beaches serving all-you-can- drink cocktails to sun-deprived Scandinavians, and hard-drinking Brits. Much similar to countries such as say, Vietnam, 80% of Turkey’s economy is based on soft industries – textile, tourism, food packing, wireless telecom and finance. Industries that foreign investors will easily move out of the country in case of political turmoil or economic instability, and there’s been quite a few of those these past 20 years – coup d’états and financial meltdowns, defaults on foreign loans, and currency devaluations.

Turkey’s much publicized million-strong army is well trained to suppress the Kurds, and preserve an image of a democratic (that’s a joke), secular (false) , modern (more like a rural-urban hodge-podge), and European (Euro-Asian identity crisis) state. It can, more appropriately, scare neighboring minnows like Kurds, Armenians or Syrians, but has never been tested against a credible military challenge. The notion that Turkey has one of the most formidable armies in the world is yet another myth.

Modern Turkey is the direct successor of the Ottoman Empire – the same entity that massacred 1.5 million of its own Armenian citizens, expelled million others, and forcefully converted generations of Armenians and Greeks through servitude and assimilation. An empire built on religious fanaticism, brute force, cruel taxation and a dismal human rights record. Name one thing that can be attributed to the Ottoman Turks that survives to this day as their lasting contribution to civilization. Nothing, absolutely nothing!

Leave it to the Turks to position themselves as big players on the world stage these days. Look at various regional conflicts and Turkey’s self-suggested involvement in them as mediators, and you see no effective solutions, and no genuine contributions: Azerbaijan-Armenia, US-Iraq, Iran-Saudi Arabia, Syria-Israel. I know of no world conflict - political, social or economic- that Turks have yet been able to solve or put to rest. None! But that has not diminished Turkey’s belief in its own lies: That it has actually arrived on the world scene, without the burden of its past, or the moral responsibility of the present.

Worst yet, Turks see themselves as uniquely positioned as an “emerging economy” to confront their distracters, especially those who keep bringing up “this issue of the Armenians”. In reality, they are burdened by the belief that any admission to crimes against humans (Genocide) would be a direct betrayal of the “principals” upon which Mustafa Kemal founded their new nation in 1923– as a shining country of a very happy and homogeneous population, at peace with its Ottoman past, and ready to take on the challenges of a modern future built on universal values of democracy. A fiction of Mustafa’s imagination conceived possibly at one of his “better moments” (he eventually died of alcohol-induced cirrhosis at the age of 57). In reality, modern Turkey has not and cannot progress beyond his idea of greatness as long as it is held in place by an army that meddles in all affairs of the state, suppressing the press and the multitude of historians, authors, journalist and scholars relentlessly, meticulously and heartlessly, and assassinating some of them at intervals. The people of Turkey, on the other hand, have fear as their greatest motivation to… not talk!

Which bring us to 2009 and the current negotiations between Turkey and Armenia, and possibly the opening of the border for the first time since Armenia became independent in 1991. While Armenia must negotiate for the opening of the border as a gesture of good neighborly relations and for commercial reasons, it is continuously reminded to do so without pre-conditions of Turkish admission to the Genocide.

Under pressure from the US and occasionally Europe (led by Turkey’s only true historic friend – the British) the Turkey-Armenia issue is getting to look more like a classics case of a crisis between a weaker party forcefully stripped of the only right it possesses for negotiations – the legitimacy of human rights, and the stronger party pretending to promote what’s best for the region, as long as the best serves their own grand ambitions. Enter into this mess at the eleventh-hour the mushy obama-esque style of US mediation in disputes of the world, and the debate takes the bizarre new twist of “Let’s not forget, but let’s forgive”, or even better yet, “Let’s forget and forgive”.

The key to the puzzle rests, of course, in Yerevan, where a corrupt government run by a president known for his gambling prowess not in the corridors of power, but rather in the halls of Monte Carlo runs the show. As shrewd as he thinks he may be, his counterpart is Tayyip Erdogan, himself, a risk-taker who has a string of successes in his build-up of a private financial empire worth in the billions of dollars. Mr. Sargsyan, take note!

Can the government in Yerevan be trusted? And is the Armenian acuity to eventually make a good deal out of a bad situation enough to make this a risk worth making? I don’t think so. Turkey needs nothing of Armenia except for an indefinite suspension of the Genocide issue, or for at least the next 15 years until Turkey becomes …dadaaa … European. The Turks believe that the absence of a debate is the absence of the problem itself.

It is essential for Armenia to advance good relations with all its neighbors, including Turkey. This means open borders, and negotiations on all issues of interest to countries with shared borders, and that’s exactly where the potential entanglement lies: What to do about the Genocide?

Do not misunderstand. My whole argument is not about what Turkey will do or must do, nor what the US can impose or must not. But rather what we, Armenians must not do, and cannot do.

What Armenia must not and cannot do is to allow the Genocide to be a topic for discussion. It is certainly a critical issue and a very vital topic… but not for discussion. Not by anyone, not anywhere, and not at anytime.

In other words, the notion of “Let’s forget” is not possible, nor any suggestion that the Genocide is “a topic” that is for future historians to discuss, dispute and conclude. The Genocide is a fact, a historically documented fact. Facts are not negotiable, nor revised. Period! The message that goes out to Turkey is loud and clear: There is no hope for their image as a genuinely modern country until all disputes of their past are settled. Mistakes of fathers have a tendency to stick with the permanence of an asterisk in most unlikely places. Mustafa Kemal knew that, but at the end he lacked the European-ness he desperately aspired for to clean the mess of the Ottomans right from the beginning.

The Republic of Armenia faces its biggest challenge so far because the very history leading to its creation and existence will be questioned at each step of the way should Armenia participate in a bilateral commission of historians that will be created to, supposedly, study the Genocide. The process in nothing more than a cover for years of empty talk in light of “new archives” that Turkey will put on the table for endless discussions with no conclusions. Open-ended talks will surely stall as Turkey will insist on the inclusion of yet another new (fabricated) evidence of “atrocities by Armenians”. The same argument that has been at the core of their strategy in denying the Genocide.

There can be only one outcome to the Turkish stance on the Genocide: Admission. That, however, is a course that the people of Turkey might eventually elect to take. It will be a good idea for them to start where it’s easiest- with the more that million Turks amongst themselves whose roots are to be found in their Armenian grandmothers who in, 1915, were forcefully converted after their families were massacred during the Genocide.

Then what are we Armenians to do, while we wait for Turkey to open, modernize and be civilized by forces from inside, from places yet unknown? We are all missing the point if we make Turkey or the US the frontline of our decision to a plan of action. It is time to collect our senses, wave all politicians goodbye and work on the continuity and prosperity of Armenian entities everywhere in the world as a constant reminder to Turkey as to who may be losing the battle today, but can win the war eventually. That is the course of history, and no one understands that better than the exact same mustachioed neo-Ottomans in dapper suits I have listed in the beginning of this column.

An article in the July issue of The Economist about Turkey concludes with a notation by “a Western official” saying, “When it comes to Turkey and Armenia, Turkey wins every time”. The person in question has failed to notice that we Armenians are not out to defeat Turkey. They have their own people to do that for us.

Armenian Studies in America

The Society for Armenian Studies concluded a three-day conference held at the UCLA in commemoration of its 35th anniversary. The banquet held on the last day of the conference recognized the achievements of various scholars with awards and accolades of worthy proportions, but not in tune with the work that lies ahead, and serious concerns about who is to do it, and how to finance it.

Armenology, or the study of Armenian topics in America is 50 years old this year. First established - by funds raised in the local community – as an endowed chair at Harvard University in 1959, followed by another chair at UCLA in 1965 where Masters of Arts and Ph.D. degrees in Armenian history, language, literature and culture were to be awarded. The crowd at the banquet was reminded that hard-working Armenians donated their entire month’s wages at the time for the creation of something they saw as sacred for their heritage and identity. Today, there are 15 chairs in Armenian studies in universities across the United States.

The fact that most of these were established in the far-far away 60’s, 70’s and 80’s attest to the fact that the Armenians, some of us today, often regard as the cause for diluting our identity were – in fact – “good Armenians”, to say the least. They must have also been very bright people who understood that organizing their resources towards scholarship and higher learning was the noblest of all causes. The so called “Golden 90’s”, on the other hand, saw many Armenians prosper and get rich – but not for the benefit or advancement of any intellectual work. We still don’t get it: A dozen dinner-dances held over one weekend around LA’s Armenian community does not make us so smart or savvy after all. Most of the wealth dissipated with the latest financial meltdown anyway. We now live in big homes on top of mountains with pools we do not use, and Camelot-style dining rooms that are off limit to dinner guests because the 12 seater table is “Imported from Italy”. We socialize for the sole purpose of having the one thing that has weakened many over-extended and over-spent modern societies: too much fun.

Today-besides Harvard University and UCLA- University of Michigan, Clark University, Tufts, Columbia and CSU Fresno are also hosts to Armenian studies chairs that employ tenured professors who must study and research the essence of Armenian existence from time immemorial to the present. They are expected to discover the minute details of Armenian civilization including language and literature, to unearth the secrets of our history, and the nuances of contemporary Armenia’s complex politics with some of the most undesirable neighbors in the world. It is a tall order indeed!

While the rest of us are untrained to decipher most facts and information in mere books, it is the skill of these men and women to classify and analyze data that pour out of archives stored in Paris, London, Moscow or Washington DC. Millions of Armenians were living on their ancestral lands for centuries across the Ottoman Empire, and their story is still locked away in documents that are held in secrecy to this day. It is yet to be told.

While the Genocide overpowers the purpose of Armenian studies in general, there are many other topics of utmost importance for the final definition of the Armenian identity – some may seem tedious and boring by some accounts (the Hittites and the Sumerians, for example), others are very exciting and up-to-date (For example issues, such as the social, political and economic dealings of the Armenians of Glendale). We are, at this stage of our existence in America, a community without an objective record of our existence. Newspapers record events, but rarely report on incidents or react to plans that influence the lives of people or impact the community. No research has been done on relevant current topics such as the youth, organizations, schools, the professional class, mixed marriages or linguistic assimilation. No one has yet traced the story of the Western Armenian dialect since its abrupt departure from Lebanon and Syria, and its demise in France and America.

Having said all that, I still see Genocide studies as the most critical topic that must progress for the sake of our sanity and dignity. Assuming that there are already 2181 (A mere assumption) books already published on the Genocide, it would give me a great sense of comfort to know that someone in academia is working on book number 2182. If we do not continue to prioritize and fund the exploration and research relentlessly on the topic, then we will be condemned to have Turkish charlatan and revisionist historians tell the story of “our” Genocide to the rest of the world. We face a fate similar to the Palestinians, whereby the story of their national experience and aspirations are documented and interpreted by Jewish journalists, historians and political scientists working out of American newspapers, universities, and think tanks.

We must retain our sense of urgency to keep, strengthen and fund Armenian studies and programs in American universities. More and more of those positions are going to odars. By the very nature of their structure, they may as well be offered to a Turk, “knowledgeable” of the topic, and even possibly fluent in Armenian. One never knows!

We are at the threshold of the next 50 years, and this is what’s going on: A community in LA that has detached itself from the chairs in its midst. The two UCLA chairs are vaguely remembered. In New York, another Armenian marker on the map, the Columbia University chair has been vacant for 10 years. Elsewhere retiring tenured professors are known to have ended their careers without grooming Ph. D’s that could in time qualify to replace them. Scholars, by nature, are solitary people, but that may also be the cause as to why they have not inspired and organized the community that funds their chairs to be more demanding of the host universities to respect and honor their pledge to Armenian studies. They must also play the key role in a smooth transition from one chair holder to another.

There’s been much talk about shifting Armenian studies from its Near Eastern connections (i.e. Turkey, Iran, and Israel) onto the larger sphere of Slavic (Russian, Caucasus and European) studies. But no success yet! There are no real think tanks and institutes that host talented young scholars to research current topics and publish their findings. There are virtually no funds allocated for translations or special research to qualified scholar, albeit for a limited amount, culminating in a paper or a book for which additional funds will be needed for publication.

The Society for Armenian Studies Journal did not receive the minimal financial backing from able donors or organizations when it attempted to change its one-a-year format to four issues a year, where “Turkey watch” would have been one of the issues. No one seemed to pay attention.

“Armenians are running the risk of becoming invisible, because no one is writing about us”, as Khachig Tololyan said during one of the sessions of the Society for Armenian Studies conference. “You want to be known by the world, then you must publish”, was Anny Bakalians call at the same session.

Currently we have only one chair for Genocide Studies (at Clark University in Worcester, Mass.), “which shows how neglected the effort is”. These remarks were coming from Taner Akcam, the holder of the chair. What happened to us during the past 15 years, the so called “years of prosperity”? Did we lose our minds and our soul?!

For now, the needs seem very clear and the responsibility rests with the holders of the chairs, as well as the rest of us: To find and encourage and recruit people willing to dedicate their life to Armenian studies, and (since one cannot pursue studies without concerns for employment) then to place them into jobs where they can lecture, research and publish. We desperately need different views on all topics for the sake of discussion, debate and learning. Our nation deserves its share of thinkers, and intellectuals must reclaim their place as leaders of the community after 15 years of desolation. We trusted people who lead us by “financial models” all these years, and what have we got to show for it?

So what is it that I imagine to be good material for Armenian studies? Frankly, everything and anything. For example, I am proud to have learned that Armenians were people of significance during the Byzantine Empire as well as the British Raj. But to imagine that Armenians just showed up one day in India to build schools, monasteries and printing houses is silly and absurd. The answers are to found in meticulous research. It is a fascinating story of historic connection of a merchant class from Persia, their Christian-Catholic affiliation with immense networks of traders in and out of India which over time led our people to the gates to Venice (San Lazaro and the Mekhitarists), Cairo (Boghos Nubar and the AGBU), and Baghdad and London (Gulbenkian, Mr. 5% himself) …all places where the Armenian presence survives to this day. I am looking forward to reading Sebouh Aslanian’s Ph.D. dissertation when it is published.

What are we to record about our life and times here today? Is what we do today going to be relevant for our history in the future? It will, only if we advance the best and the brightest amongst us to write about it.

Project Save: 25,000 and Counting

With Vartouhy Kojayan, Maral Voskian and Ruth Thomasian

I have in my possession only one photograph of my grandfather, Artin Gulvartian of Hajin. It may well be the only photograph he ever posed for in his lifetime, in this case, with his extended family including his wife Teshgouhi (nee Saghdasarian) and his two sons, my father (Asadour) and his younger brother (Antranig). My father is barely a year or year and a half old in the picture, and my grandfather no more 26 or 28. He died a few years later during the Genocide from an untreated burst appendix on an ox-driven cart as the family was evacuating Hajin in hopes of reaching Adana and eventual salvation. My father used to tell me that he never forgot the screaming of his dying father during a harrowing journey through mountain passes. He used to recall how he got up one morning and his father was not there screaming anymore.

It is a spine chilling experience to be staring straight at this photograph. It is not my father in the picture who overwhelms me, but rather my grandfather whose eyes lock into mine and I can’t bear to look at it anymore. I can feel him move and breathe in the picture as if he was alive. His eyes talk, as all Armenian eyes do!

I once cried with the picture in hand, unable to bear the thought of the untimely death of a loved Hajintzi – my grandfather, my beloved father’s father. The photograph is a picture of a good man. It is honest, clear, expressive and talkative. It is the beginning of my Armenian identity.

There is an organization in this world that collects priceless Armenian photographs such as my grandfather’s and preserves them for the Armenian culture and heritage. It is Project Save, located in Watertown, Mass. I may not get to see the thousands of photographs in their archives during my lifetime, but it gives me great comfort to know that they are in good hands, for others to see and feel. The pictures are safe with Project Save.

Project Save was founded by Ruth Thomasian. I recently met her at a presentation of the Project’s work. She came across as someone with an acute sense of mission and responsibility, who greatly enjoyed the story-telling element of her work. I was told that it all started in 1975, when as a costume designer in New York City, she was asked to design a costume for an Armenian play. A request, which she placed in an Armenian newspaper, resulted in one picture in the mail. She has not stopped looking, asking or collecting ever since. At first, it was slow coming, she said– maybe 50 donors for the entire first 4 years, but she now receives 1000 photos a year. A mosaic of thousand points of light of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Persia, Iraq, Soviet Armenia and America captured while at work or play, in weddings, playing music or on stage. Armenian women, men in the military, and lots of pictures of families – people with beautiful Armenian eyes staring straight at you and me. Many of these pictures were taken so they can be sent to a loved one who is absent from the picture, away in a far land toiling so he can feed the family back home – Some never made it! The archives narrate the story of Armenians wandering between home and homeland. Bantookh hayoo jagadakeer.

My meeting with Thomasian (photo) happened at a time when I had just finished six months of work sorting, cataloguing and albuming more than 5000 family photographs.

My father was an ardent photographer – taking pictures of everyone who visited our home, and of places we visited as a family. One of his best is a close-up of himself in black and white, shot in Berlin with an Agfa camera, 50 years before his teenage grandchildren discovered the joy of doing the same with their digital cameras.

The venture started as a plan I thought would be completed in a few weeks. It was initially intended as a photo album of 200 “All time favorite photographs”, gathered from files, and envelopes piled up in drawers around the house. I soon found out that there were many more pictures that were as good and eye-catching to overlook. I ended up going back to collections of photographs from my childhood and a compilation of pictures from the day I was christened (age 1 month), to the day I first started school (age 3). That album is uneventfully labeled “The black and white years”. Followed by another one called “The school years” (age 4-18), and then “The Philadelphia years” (age 18-25). “The year 2009” is in progress. I have been shooting pictures feverishly to feed my albums.

It was in Philadelphia, perhaps in the early 80’s that I went to my first Hye Kef Night held in the church hall in Wynnewood. I was told beforehand that it was Philadelphia’s best Armenian band that was playing that night- The Vosbikian Band, descendants of Armenian immigrants from Turkey. They were already into their third or fourth face change. One of those grandfather- to son- to grandson affairs. The Turkish music they were playing that night was in their minds convincingly Armenian, because it was, after all, the music they had learned from their grandfather- The one in the family who first came to America from a place where he was not welcome as an Armenian.

The Vosbikian Band is featured beautifully in Project Save’s 2006 published collection. Looking at their stylish photograph in dapper suits brought memories of Kef Nights in Philadelphia. I can even remember the sound of their songs to the accompaniment of the oud, dumbeg and clarinet (none of which is Armenian): a mish-mesh of lasting memories of my first months “just off the boat”. A crowd of 150 danced “tamzara” that night. It was dizzying.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the power of photography- the power to unravel memories, always sweet, because we never take pictures of things or events we do not like or enjoy. Do we? No!

At Project Save’s Watertown headquarters, I’m told, there’s 25,000 of them. At least one is bound to touch you and enrich your life. It may even be a picture of one of your ancestors, and you didn’t even know it existed.

Collecting is the highest form of civility, but collecting the most valuable and personal possession of others is something next to godliness.