Eastern U.S. edition - Armenian Reporter
Eastern U.S. edition - Armenian Reporter
Eastern U.S. edition - Armenian Reporter
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The <strong>Armenian</strong> <strong>Reporter</strong> | June 13, 2009<br />
National<br />
Distinguished <strong>Armenian</strong>-American health professionals to<br />
convene in New York City for medical congress, July 1 to 4<br />
by Florence Avakian<br />
New York – A 16-year-old athlete<br />
from Englewood, N.J., falls on the<br />
baseball field and injures his knee.<br />
He is taken to the nearby hospital<br />
where a stat MRI is performed.<br />
Thank Dr. Raymond Damadian,<br />
inventor of the MRI (magnetic<br />
resonance imaging), who will be<br />
attending and speaking at the <strong>Armenian</strong><br />
Medical World Congress at<br />
New York’s Hilton Hotel, July 1–4.<br />
A father needs immediate bowel<br />
surgery and doesn’t want to miss<br />
his daughter’s wedding. Famed<br />
surgeon Lord Ara Darzi KBE does<br />
robotic surgery from his London<br />
office. Professor Darzi, parliamentary<br />
under-secretary of state and<br />
government spokesperson for the<br />
UK Department of Health, will attend,<br />
speak, and be honored at the<br />
medical congress.<br />
A young mother of three in<br />
Los Angeles has postpartum depression.<br />
Acclaimed psychiatrist<br />
Hagop Akiskal treats this patient.<br />
Dr. Akiskal will attend and speak at<br />
the medical congress.<br />
A 73-year-old grandfather in New<br />
York, on his way to his grandson’s<br />
high school graduation, develops<br />
severe abdominal pain. He<br />
is rushed to Lenox Hill Hospital<br />
where vascular surgeon Dr. Vicken<br />
Pamoukian operates on him. Dr.<br />
Pamoukian will attend and speak at<br />
the medical congress.<br />
Speakers to relay latest<br />
medical information<br />
Dr. Damadian who captured<br />
world attention as the inventor of<br />
the MRI, is among the distinguished<br />
plenary speakers on Friday July 3.<br />
He will discuss current MRI innovations.<br />
His work also involved collaborating<br />
in the development of<br />
an MRI-compatible pacemaker. He<br />
has won numerous awards, including<br />
induction into the National Inventors<br />
Hall of Fame in 1989.<br />
Lord Darzi is one of the world’s<br />
leading surgeons at the Imperial<br />
College London, where he holds<br />
the Hamlyn Chair of Surgery. He<br />
specializes in minimally invasive<br />
and robot-assisted surgery, and has<br />
pioneered many new techniques<br />
and technologies. He was awarded<br />
a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth<br />
II for his service to medicine and<br />
surgery, and subsequently elevated<br />
to the peerage in 2007. He will<br />
speak at the congress on healthcare<br />
delivery in Great Britain on Thursday,<br />
July 2, and on robotic surgery<br />
on Friday, July 3.<br />
Dr. Akiskal, a noted psychiatrist,<br />
is best known for his research on<br />
temperamental and bipolar disorder<br />
(manic depression). He served<br />
as the senior science advisor at the<br />
Raymond Damadian, M.D., Recipient of<br />
the 2009 AIMBE Honorary Fellow Award.<br />
Institute of Mental Health from<br />
1990 to 1994, before going to the<br />
University of California San Diego<br />
where he currently is a professor<br />
of psychiatry. He is regarded as<br />
today’s leading conceptual thinker<br />
in the area of bipolar subtyping.<br />
He is scheduled to speak at a<br />
morning symposium on Saturday,<br />
July 4.<br />
Dr. Pamoukian, a prominent vascular<br />
surgeon at Lenox Hill Hospital<br />
in New York City, is experienced<br />
in all areas of complex endovascular<br />
surgery, including thoracic,<br />
Ara Darzi, Professor the Lord Darzi of<br />
Denham KBE.<br />
abdominal aneurysms, as well as<br />
carotid, peripheral, and renal stenting.<br />
He will be among the speakers<br />
in a group discussion on Friday<br />
afternoon, July 3, covering various<br />
topics on surgical subspecialties.<br />
These medical professionals are<br />
among the many distinguished<br />
doctors, their families, and interested<br />
laypeople who will be attending<br />
the <strong>Armenian</strong> Medical World<br />
Congress, hosted by the <strong>Armenian</strong><br />
American Health Professionals Organization<br />
(AAHPO), at New York’s<br />
Hilton Hotel.<br />
Scheduled are plenary sessions<br />
on Comparative Health Care Systems,<br />
Innovations in Medicine, and<br />
symposia on Tele-Medicine, and<br />
Diaspora Issues, as well as a Sub-<br />
Specialty day on July 1 covering<br />
such topics as anesthesia, dentistry,<br />
mental health, nursing, ophthalmology,<br />
pediatrics, and physical<br />
therapy.<br />
Notable attendees will include<br />
the health ministers of Armenia<br />
and Karabagh, the rector of Yerevan<br />
State Medical University, the<br />
director of the National Medical<br />
Library of Armenia, as well as Armenia’s<br />
diaspora minister, and cochair<br />
of the Congressional <strong>Armenian</strong><br />
Caucus, Rep. Frank Pallone,<br />
among many others.<br />
In addition to the medical symposia<br />
and meetings, the four-day<br />
special event will feature a dinner<br />
cruise on a luxurious yacht on<br />
Thursday, July 2, and a gala banquet<br />
in the Hilton Hotel’s main ballroom<br />
on July 4 where Lord Darzi,<br />
and the father and son humanitarian<br />
and Medical Outreach team of<br />
Nazar Nazarian and Dr. Levon<br />
Nazarian will be honored. Also of<br />
great interest will be a bus trip to<br />
the Metropolitan Museum of Art<br />
to view a magnificent khachkar on<br />
loan from Armenia.<br />
f<br />
connect:<br />
aahpo.org/amwc09<br />
Ambassador Yovanovitch: There are many ways for more<br />
<strong>Armenian</strong>-Americans to get involved with Armenia<br />
n Continued from page <br />
Talking Turkey<br />
AR: The State Department has said<br />
– and yesterday Assistant Secretary<br />
Gordon reiterated – that <strong>Armenian</strong>-<br />
Turkish relations need to be normalized<br />
“without preconditions and<br />
within a reasonable timeframe.” Mr.<br />
Gordon also said yesterday normalization<br />
should not be linked with<br />
other issues. I take this to mean the<br />
Karabakh issue primarily. I think<br />
that’s very important thing that we<br />
hadn’t heard explicitly stated before.<br />
He also said, “We have seen no flagging<br />
of commitment” on the part of<br />
either Armenia or Turkey.<br />
At the same time, since the middle<br />
of April, the prime minister of<br />
Turkey has explicitly and unequivocally<br />
set a precondition, the same<br />
precondition that has existed for<br />
the last 16 years, and it’s exactly a<br />
link to Karabakh. In other words,<br />
what Assistant Secretary Gordon<br />
seems to be saying is that the precondition<br />
set by Prime Minister<br />
Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not consistent<br />
with this commitment to<br />
getting this done without preconditions<br />
and in the earliest possible<br />
timeframe.<br />
So where does that leave us? Do<br />
you have any reason to believe that<br />
Turkey will listen to what the United<br />
States government is saying, and<br />
proceed with working toward the<br />
normalization of relations on the<br />
terms that the State Department is<br />
urging and recommending?<br />
MY: I think that as Assistant<br />
Secretary Gordon said yesterday,<br />
Turkey is committed to doing it. I<br />
think it’s the official position of the<br />
government of Turkey to go forward<br />
with normalization and that<br />
it would be independent of any<br />
other issue. And that’s true also of<br />
the <strong>Armenian</strong>s.<br />
I think both sides recognize that<br />
this is an important step forward:<br />
opening the border, normalizing<br />
relations, having free commerce<br />
among individuals and groups<br />
would be beneficial to Armenia,<br />
would be beneficial to Turkey,<br />
would be beneficial to the region,<br />
economically, politically, and it<br />
would also increase the security in<br />
the region. And for all of those reasons,<br />
I think both countries recognize<br />
that this is an important step<br />
to take, and are moving, as Assistant<br />
Secretary Gordon said yesterday,<br />
toward that.<br />
Now is this a simple thing to do?<br />
It is not. And so I think you see<br />
that reflected in some of the statements,<br />
and I think that Assistant<br />
Secretary Gordon is right: there is<br />
no flagging of commitment, we are<br />
moving forward.<br />
Is Turkey playing for<br />
time?<br />
AR: There were statements from<br />
the American side, the Turkish side,<br />
and the <strong>Armenian</strong> side that in the<br />
near future we’ll see new developments.<br />
When can we expect new<br />
developments, or is Turkey just<br />
playing for time?<br />
MY: I would just let those statements<br />
stand. I think that Turkey is<br />
committed to an actual opening of<br />
the border and not just the process,<br />
not just playing the process as you<br />
indicated. And I think, as Assistant<br />
Secretary Gordon said, we are moving<br />
forward. And we’ll have to wait<br />
and see.<br />
AR: On the ground, we see that<br />
Turkey closed the border in 1993,<br />
and since that time Turkey has<br />
been saying that we will not open<br />
the border until the Karabakh issue<br />
is resolved to Azerbaijan’s<br />
satisfaction. What is the reason<br />
that Turkey would now open the<br />
border if the <strong>Armenian</strong>-Turkish<br />
process is not linked with Karabakh?<br />
MY: Because it is the right thing<br />
to do.<br />
AR: So Turks didn’t understand for<br />
16 years that it was the right thing<br />
to do, to open the border, or did<br />
something change in our region?<br />
What is the reason the Turks are<br />
now changing their minds and are<br />
now ready to open the border and<br />
have normal relations with Armenia?<br />
MY: Well, I think that’s a question<br />
you’ll have to ask the Turkish<br />
government, but what I would say<br />
is that it’s pretty clear it is the right<br />
thing to do, because it will be positive<br />
on a political level, positive on<br />
U.S. envoy to<br />
Armenia will visit<br />
Greater Boston,<br />
New York, Southern<br />
California, and<br />
Washington<br />
Yerevan – U.S. ambassador to<br />
Armenia Marie L. Yovanovitch<br />
will meet with members of the<br />
<strong>Armenian</strong>-American community<br />
during a visit to Greater Boston,<br />
New York, Southern California,<br />
and Washington from June 18 to<br />
July 1. Ms. Yovanovitch will meet<br />
with business leaders, media representatives,<br />
civil society representatives,<br />
and members of the<br />
<strong>Armenian</strong> religious community to<br />
discuss present and future cooperation<br />
between the United States<br />
and Armenia.<br />
At community meetings, open<br />
an economic and commercial level,<br />
and positive on a security level. So I<br />
think what we’ve been seeing is the<br />
Turks and the <strong>Armenian</strong>s moving<br />
forward toward something that’s<br />
in the common good.<br />
AR: Do you know whether Secretary<br />
Hillary Clinton brought this<br />
issue up in her meeting with her<br />
Turkish counterpart?<br />
MY: She addressed that in her<br />
public statement on Friday at the<br />
press availability, so I would direct<br />
you to those comments.<br />
AR: Actually, our Washington<br />
editor was there, at the press availability<br />
on Friday, and we’ve covered<br />
Amb. Yovanovitch to confer with <strong>Armenian</strong>-<br />
Americans June 18-July 1<br />
Amb. Marie Yovanovitch. Photolure.<br />
to the public, Ms. Yovanovitch<br />
will exchange views on current developments<br />
in Armenia, U.S.-Armenia<br />
relations, and U.S. foreign<br />
policy in Armenia. She will also<br />
highlight U.S. government assistance<br />
efforts in Armenia.<br />
that already. I just wondered if you<br />
had anything to add.<br />
Finally, can you say something<br />
about your experience so far in Armenia?<br />
MY: It’s been terrific. I’ve been<br />
here eight months and it’s been<br />
challenging, it’s been interesting,<br />
people have been very warm and<br />
welcoming and I’m looking forward<br />
to coming to the United States and<br />
sharing some of that experience<br />
with people in the U.S. and I’m<br />
looking forward to my first summer<br />
here in Armenia because I hear<br />
they’re terrific.<br />
AR: They are! Thank you. f<br />
Greater Boston<br />
Friday, June 19, at 7:00 p.m. <strong>Armenian</strong><br />
Cultural Foundation<br />
441 Mystic Street, Arlington,<br />
Mass.<br />
New York<br />
Monday, June 22, at 7:00 p.m. Diocese<br />
of the <strong>Armenian</strong> Church<br />
Haik and Alice Kavookjian Hall<br />
630 Second Avenue, New York,<br />
N.Y.<br />
Southern California<br />
Thursday, June 25, at 7:30 p.m.<br />
Western Diocese of the <strong>Armenian</strong><br />
Church 3325 N. Glenoaks<br />
Blvd., Burbank, Calif.<br />
Friday, June 26, at 7:30 p.m. Western<br />
Prelacy of the <strong>Armenian</strong><br />
Church 6252 Honolulu Avenue,<br />
La Crescenta, Calif.<br />
Washington<br />
Tuesday, June 30, at 12:30 p.m.<br />
Library of Congress, Mumford<br />
Room 1st Street SE, Washington,<br />
D.C.<br />
f