National, International, Armenia, and Community News and Opinion

Not your 

typical 

Armenian 

family... 

See story on page 17 m 

Andre’s 

Steakhouse 

in Naples, 

Florida 

See story on page 6 m 

Gyumri has 

preserved the aura 

and architecture of 

the 19th century 

See story on page C4 m 

Eastern U.S. Edition 

Number 107 

March 28, 2009 

the armenian 

reporter 

Grigoris Balakian’s Armenian 

Golgotha set to appear in English 

Peter Balakian translated classic memoir with Aris Sevag 

Visit us at the new reporter.am 

See story on page 3m

The Armenian Reporter | March 28, 2009

Number 107 

March 28, 2009 

Armenia 

Not your typical Armenian family... 

Larissa Hovsepyan, 67, has adopted 

15 children from all over the world. 

Often featured in the media, Larissa 

and her multiethnic family have 

become something of a household 

name in Armenia. It all started in 

1982. After having raised the child 

of a relative for several years, Larissa, 

who was widowed, decided to 

In Armenia very few people know 

that they are living alongside one 

of the oldest nations in the world, 

the Assyrians. The largest Assyrian 

community in Armenia is in Verin 

Dvin village, which is 40 kilometers 

away from Yerevan. When you walk 

through the streets of Verin Dvin, 

it seems as if you are in Assyria; everyone 

speaks Assyrian. In reality, 

National 

USAPAC offers testimony to House subcommittee 

On behalf of the U.S.-Armenia Public 

Affairs Committee (USAPAC), Ross 

Vartian, Executive Director, provided 

testimony to the Appropriations 

Subcommittee on State and Foreign 


Community 

Operations for fiscal year 2010 State, 

Foreign Operations and Related 

Programs Appropriations bill. 

adopt a child. From Lithuania, she 

adopted her first child, whom she 

named Hayrapet, after her father. 

Jirayr Hovsepian (no relation) is in 

Armenia from LA hoping to prepare 

a segment on Larissa’s story for CNN 

Heroes. Nyree Abrahamian reports. 

Armenia is a homeland for the Assyrians 

See story on page 2m 


the Assyrians lost their statehood 

in 605 B.C. Today they are one of 

the nations in the world deprived 

of a homeland. Until the restoration 

of the Assyria of their dreams, 

those Assyrians living in Armenia 

consider this to be their homeland. 

Tatul Hakobyan reports. 


the armenian 

reporter 

In Glendale city elections, 

Armenians are everywhere 

Activists focus on 

raising turnout 

Seek to avoid 

splitting the vote 

by Vincent Lima 

GLENDALE, Calif. – Voters in Glendale 

and other California communities 

will go to the polls on Tuesday, 

April 7, to elect municipal leaders, 

school board members, and other 

officials. Armenian-Americans are 

among the voters assessing the 

platforms and qualifications of 

the various candidates, including 

numerous Armenian-American incumbents 

and hopefuls. 

For Elen Asatryan, executive director 

of the Armenian National 

Committee of Glendale Political 

Action Committee, a priority is 

to get out the vote. Ms. Asatryan 

notes that Glendale has some 

200,000 residents, 40 percent of 

whom are of Armenian descent. Of 

these 80,000 Armenian-Americans, 

some 27,000 are registered to vote. 

Only 9,200 Armenian-Americans 

actually voted last time, she says. 

Her goal is to raise that number to 

14,000 this year. 

With the help of 200 volunteers, 

she is reaching out. “Take someone 

who registered in 1999, for 

example, voted once, and never 

voted again. They’re eligible 

to vote, registered to vote, but 

The offices of the Armenian National Committee of Glendale pac are abuzz with 

volunteer activity, while other volunteers are out canvassing voters door to door. 

they’re not voting. A lot of the 

campaigns just go for people who 

are high-propensity voters. But 

we’re making an effort to reach 

everyone who’s eligible to vote,” 

Ms. Asatryan says. 

One focus of the volunteers, as 

they canvass and phone bank, is to 

make sure voters vote successfully. 

Some people sign an application for 

an absentee ballot and think they 

have already voted, Ms. Asatryan 

sighs. Others, in the past, have 

mailed in their sample ballots instead 

of a proper absentee ballot. 

Ms. Asatryan’s team is working to 

reduce the number of such incidents 

among Armenian-American 

voters. 

It is a familiar American story: 

an ethnic group with a high proportion 

of recent immigrants is 

becoming attuned to the U.S. electoral 

system. 

“Rafi Manoukian was the reason 

I got involved,” says Ms. 

Asatryan, looking back 10 years. 

Mr. Manoukian was a member of 

Glendale City Council for eight 

years and served as mayor. He is 

now running for city treasurer. “I 

was about 15–16 years old,” re- 

Continued on page 9 

iCON Communications launches nextgeneration 

Internet service in Armenia 

Talent, dedication at the St. Sahag School of Music 

The St. Sahag School of Music is a 

blessing for the Armenian-American 

community of the twin cities, 

Lynne Knadjian Gildensoph writes. 


Andre’s Steakhouse exceeds expectations 


Its story starts with the journey of 

a talented family from Gyumri, Armenia, 

to St. Paul, Minn. 


Scents that would whet even a 

vegetarian’s appetite waft through 

Andre’s Steakhouse, at the northeast 

corner of Tamiami and 28th 

Avenue. The front and back parking 

lots are full, and there are no 

empty parking spots on the street. 

It’s the last Saturday night of February, 

and Andre’s is packed like it 

is every night during “the season,” 

when tourists and retirees converge 

on Florida’s Paradise Coast, 

off the Gulf of Mexico. Paul Chaderjian 

reports from Florida. 


Thousands mourn passing of beloved pastor 

Vartan Kassabian 

Condolences poured into New England 

from across the country and 

abroad for a beloved pastor who 

served his church for 17 years before 

climbing a stairway to paradise, 

Tom Vartabedian writes. 


YEREVAN – iCON Communications 

has launched high-speed wireless 

broadband Internet services 

for residential and corporate customers 

in Armenia at competitive 

prices. iCON customers can now access 

broadband Internet from their 

homes, offices and other locations 

without needing to be physically 

connected to a network via cable or 

phone lines. 

iCON’s network is based on Alcatel-Lucent’s 

industry leading 

WiMAX Rev-e solution. WiMAX 

stands for Worldwide Interoperability 

for Microwave Access and 

offers broadband wireless alternative 

to cable or DSL-based technologies 

for the delivery of Internet 

services. 

WiMAX is the next generation 

of WiFi. While WiFi offers wireless 

Internet access, it works only 

in small spaces; its signal is not 

very strong and so it doesn’t have 

broad coverage. WiMAX technology 

is more advanced and can carry 

a signal for up to 30 kilometers, 

making Internet connectivity accessible 

to even rural communities. 

It operates in much the same 

way as cell phone coverage does. 

iCON has launched its network in 

several districts of Yerevan, and 

plans to cover the entire city by 

September and other major cities 

in Armenia by 2010. 

Adam Kablanian. 

For Chief Executive Officer of 

iCON Communications Adam Kablanian, 

bringing WiMAX technology 

to Armenia was born out of his 

own experience in the country. Mr. 

Kablanian began coming to Armenia 

in 1999, while he was president 

and CEO of Virage Logic, a company 

he had founded in 1996 and 

subsequently took public in 2000 

on NASDAQ (VIRL). Virage Logic 

opened a branch office in Armenia 

and therefore, “I experienced 

this Internet issue for the past ten 

years.” After leaving Virage in 2008, 

Mr. Kablanian decided to make a 

transition in his life. “I didn’t want 

to retire, but I wanted to spend 

time with my family, and read and 

travel, which I did for a year and a 

half and in the meantime I wanted 

to resolve this [Internet] issue,” he 

told the Armenian Reporter. “It became 

a personal issue to resolve the 

Internet connectivity in Armenia.” 

When the seasoned businessperson 

began the process, Internet 

connectivity was a monopoly in Armenia. 

“The whole idea started with 

liberating the monopoly and then 

we ended up with a business. We 

are also businesspeople and we saw 

Continued on page 16 m

The Armenian Reporter | March 28, 2009 

National 

Washington briefing 

by Emil Sanamyan 

Armenian Caucus cochairs 

make aid, policy 

proposals 

The United States should increase 

engagement with Armenia and 

Nagorno-Karabakh and tighten 

existing restrictions on ties with 

Azerbaijan, Reps. Frank Pallone 

(D.-N.J.) and Mark Kirk (R.-Ill.), cochairs 

of the Congressional Caucus 

on Armenian Issues recommended 

in a March 24 letter to colleagues. 

Rep. Nita Lowey. Photo: AP. 

The letter, currently open for additional 

co-signers, is addressed to 

Reps. Nita Lowey (D.-N.Y.) and 

Kay Granger (R.-Tex.), respectively 

chair and ranking member of 

the House Foreign Appropriations 

Subcommittee which sets foreignaid 

levels at the early stages of the 

annual budget process. 

Specifically, the Pallone-Kirk letter 

argued for an increase in U.S. 

economic aid to Armenia from Fiscal 

Year 2009 level of $48mln to 

$70mln; military aid, from $3.5mln 

to $5mln; and aid to Nagorno-Karabakh 

from $8mln to $10mln. 

The letter also recommends report 

language that would lift any 

“official or unofficial restrictions” on 

formal U.S. engagement with Nagorno-Karabakh, 

as well as support 

for confidence-building measures to 

help resolve the Karabakh conflict. 

Additionally, citing Azerbaijan’s 

continued war threats, the letter 

recommends an additional condition 

on presidential authority to 

waive existing restrictions on U.S. 

aid to Azerbaijan. 

The new language would require 

the executive branch to certify that 

“in the last fiscal year, Azerbaijan 

has not taken hostile action, either 

through military force or incitement, 

including but not limited to 

threatening pronouncements by 

government officials, toward Armenia 

or Nagorno-Karabakh.” 

Should that condition be met, 

the co-chairs suggest equal levels 

of military aid to Armenia and 

Azerbaijan, or the so-called “parity” 

approach to continue. 

Last summer, the effort by Mr. 

Kirk’s predecessor as co-chair, former 

Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R.- 

Mich.) to zero out U.S. military aid 

to Azerbaijan outright failed narrowly 

in the subcommittee vote. 

Armenian politician 

weighs in on Genocide 

resolution 

In a rare letter to a congressional 

colleague, a senior member of the 

Armenian parliament wrote to express 

“complete support” for the 

House Resolution 252 affirming the 

U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide, 

introduced earlier this month. 

Armen Rustamian, chair of the 

National Assembly’s Foreign Relations 

Committee and senior member 

of the Armenian Revolutionary 

Federation (ARF)’s leadership, addressed 

the March 19 letter to his 

U.S. counterpart, Rep. Howard 

Berman (D.-Calif.), who chairs the 

House Foreign Affairs Committee, 

which should next consider the resolution. 

The letter was circulated by 

the ARF’s press service. 

Ahmet Davutoglu. Photo: Armenian 

Reporter. 

While pursuing universal recognition 

and condemnation of the 

Armenian Genocide is Armenia’s 

official policy, senior Armenian 

officials have rarely spoken out on 

specific proposals before the U.S. 

Congress. On the other hand, Turkish 

leaders have frequently voiced 

their opposition to the resolution. 

Last week, a spokesperson for 

the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi 

(D.-Calif.) reiterated her support 

for genocide recognition but 

added that congressional action 

on resolution was not imminent. 

The spokesperson, Brendan Day, 

told Reuters on March 19 that “no 

one’s talking about a vote any time 

soon.” 

Senior Turkish official 

in Washington ahead of 

Obama’s visit 

Ahmet Davutoglu, senior foreign 

policy advisor to Turkish leaders, 

last week met with U.S. officials to 

discuss President Barack Obama’s 

visit to Ankara and Istanbul on 

April 5–7. 

After meeting Mr. Obama’s national 

security advisor Jim Jones 

on March 19, Mr. Davutoglu told 

Reuters that he could not say what 

the Obama administration’s intentions 

were with regard to the 

president’s pre-election pledge to 

recognize the Armenian Genocide, 

adding only that the two officials 

“went through all these issues in a 

very friendly and cooperative manner.” 

Administration officials have so 

far refused to address the Armenian 

Genocide issue directly. 

Mr. Davutoglu suggested that 

U.S.–Turkey relations were “in a 

historic era where our policies are 

almost identical on all issues,” Associated 

Press reported him as saying 

on March 19. He added that the 

Armenian Genocide issue “could 

be debated from a historical perspective, 

but should not hijack the 

strategic vision of Turkish-American 

relations or Turkish-Armenian 

relations.” 

With regard to Armenia-Turkey 

talks, Mr. Davutoglu said that 

“there is a process, and everyone 

should strengthen this process and 

not try to weaken it,” the Washington 

Post cited him as saying. “We 

hope that the discussions on the 

Armenian issue [in U.S.] do not 

affect this process in a negative 

sense.” 

During a visit to Washington 

shortly before the presidential 

elections, Mr. Davutoglu insisted 

that Turkey wants “to have best relations 

with Armenia,” and “good 

relations” with Armenians in the 

diaspora. (See this page in the 

November 1, 2008, Armenian Reporter.) 

Obama offers goodwill 

message to Iran 

President Barack Obama stressed 

U.S. commitment to diplomacy and 

dialogue with the Iranian government 

in a March 20 video message 

dedicated to Nowruz, the Iranian 

new year. 

“I want you, the people and leaders 

of Iran, to understand the future 

that we seek,” Mr. Obama said 

in the message. “It’s a future with 

greater opportunities for partnership 

and commerce. It’s a future 

where the old divisions are overcome, 

where you and all of your 

neighbors and the wider world can 

live in greater security and greater 

peace.” 

Mr. Obama’s comments reflected 

a campaign pledge to reach out 

to Iran. But the message also referred 

to “terror” and “arms,” reflecting 

longstanding U.S. charges 

that Iran supports terrorist groups 

and seeks to develop nuclear weapons. 

A spokesperson for Iranian president 

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 

welcomed “the wish of the president 

of the United States to put 

away past differences.” But in an 

interview with Reuters, the spokesperson, 

Ali Akbar Javanfekr, put 

the blame for tensions on the U.S. 

“The only source of instability in 

the region is the American military 

presence in Iraq and Afghanistan,” 

he claimed. 

Ross Vartian offers testimony to House subcommittee 

Rep. Howard Berman chairing 

committee meeting. Photo: Armenian 

Reporter. 

In what is seen as a step toward 

U.S.-Iranian dialogue, Iranian officials 

said this week they would attend 

a United Nations conference 

on Afghanistan to be held in The 

Hague on March 31. The conference 

was proposed by the United States 

earlier this month, as the Obama 

administration has made stabilization 

of Afghanistan its immediate 

foreign policy priority. 

European Union leaders 

agree on “Eastern” 

policy 

Member countries of the European 

Union have formally approved two 

policy initiatives involving their 

eastern neighbors. 

During a March 19–20 summit in 

Brussels, European leaders agreed 

to set aside 600 million euros for 

a multiyear program dubbed “Eastern 

Partnership,” which will involve 

Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, 

Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, 

RFE/RL reported. 

The program is viewed as a 

counterweight to Russia’s increasingly 

dominant posture in the former 

Soviet space since the war in 

Georgia last year. While promising 

increased cooperation up to free 

trade agreements and visa-free 

travel, it makes no mention of potential 

European Union expansion 

into the area. 

In a related development, the 

European Union agreed to spend 

200 million euros to facilitate the 

Nabucco gas pipeline from the 

Caspian region to Europe, bypassing 

Russia. Europeans hope the 

new route will lessen their dependence 

on Russia as supplier of 

natural gas. 

f 

Dear Chairwoman Lowey and 

Ranking Member Granger: 

On behalf of the U.S.-Armenia 

Public Affairs Committee (USAPAC), 

Ross Vartian, Executive Director, is 

pleased to provide testimony to the 

Subcommittee for fiscal year 2010 

State, Foreign Operations and Related 

Programs Appropriations bill. 

USAPAC requests that not less 

than $70 million in bilateral aid be 

provided to the Republic of Armenia 

under the Foreign Assistance 

Act of 1961 and the FREEDOM Support 

Act account, for assistance for 

the Independent States of the former 

Soviet Union and for related 

programs. 

USAPAC also recommends that 

the Subcommittee include language 

urging USAID to allocate not 

less than $10 million to Nagorno 

Karabakh with a substantial developmental 

component under the 

FREEDOM Support Act account, 

for assistance for the Independent 

States of the former Soviet Union 

and for related programs. 

Finally, we respectfully urge the 

Subcommittee to maintain military 

assistance to Armenia, providing 

$4 million in Foreign Military 

Financing funds and $1 million in 

International Military Education 

and Training funds, while zeroing 

out U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan. 

Recommendations for 

Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 

1. Assistance to Armenia 

USAPAC urges the Subcommittee 

to allocate not less than $70 million 

in U.S. assistance to Armenia in FY 

2010. 

We are grateful to the Subcommittee 

for providing effective annual 

levels of humanitarian, reform 

and development assistance 

to Armenia. Since its independence 

in 1991, Congress has allocated 

some $2.0 billion with remarkable, 

bi-partisan consensus votes spanning 

four presidencies and ten U.S. 

congresses. This assistance reflects 

U.S. commitment to Armenia’s success 

as an independent, secure and 

economically viable state, despite 

blockades by neighbors in violation 

of U.S. and international law. 

Despite the dual blockades by 

Azerbaijan and Turkey, Armenia’s 

economic reform progress has been 

remarkable. 

The Wall Street Journal and Heritage 

Foundation’s “2009 Index of 

Economic Freedom,” which measured 

how 179 countries scored on 

a list of 50 independent variables 

divided into ten broad factors of 

economic freedom, rated Armenia 

31st. According to the study, Armenia 

remains the most economically 

free nation in the region, including 

all nations in the Commonwealth 

of Independent States. As a result 

of these reforms, Armenia’s Gross 

Domestic Product (GDP) has in 

1998-2008 increased by a factor 

of 10. This remarkable expansion 

came after a decade of economic 

decline that followed the devastating 

earthquake of 1988. 

Armenia, of course, has not 

been immune to the global economic 

downturn. Armenia’s GDP 

contracted by 2% in January 2009 

and the national currency has been 

devalued by 20% against the U.S. 

dollar. These realities give U.S. economic 

support for Armenia added 

importance. 

In December 2005, Armenia was 

competitively awarded $236 million 

in conditional aid over a five year 

period through the performancebased 

Millennium Challenge Account. 

Unfortunately, the Bush 

Administration had justified its 

past requests for lower bilateral aid 

by counting the MCA grant against 

Armenia. Armenia has been able to 

effectively implement economic reforms, 

in part, because of U.S. assistance. 

It is counterintuitive at best 

to reduce such assistance because 

Armenia has won a MCC compact. 

These assistance programs serve 

fundamentally different purposes. 

US AID assistance has been used effectively 

in Armenia to secure and 

sustain broad economic and democratic 

reform. Armenia’s MCC Compact 

is targeted toward rural roads 

and irrigation. 

2. Assistance to Nagorno Karabakh 

USAPAC commends the vision and 

leadership of the Subcommittee for 

its continued support for humanitarian 

aid to the Nagorno Karabakh 

Republic (NKR). We request that the 

Subcommittee include language 

urging USAID to allocate not less 

than $10 million for Karabakh in FY 

2010, while specifically directing that 

Continued on page 18 m

The Armenian Reporter | March 28, 2009 3 


Grigoris Balakian’s Armenian Genocide memoir Armenian Golgotha to 

appear in English April 2 

NEW YORK – “Of all the Christian 

minorities of the East, we Armenians 

are to blame for our fate. 

For although we are an alert nation, 

we believed in the Europeans’ 

professed struggle for justice and 

rights, in their false words and deceptions. 

Our exemplary stupidity 

was a simplemindedness peculiar 

to peasants: we did not realize 

that on the scales of justice, the 

oil deposits of Mosul would weigh 

more than the lives of millions of 

Christians.” On April 24, 1915, the 

author of these words, Fr. Grigoris 

Balakian, was arrested along 

with some 250 other intellectuals 

and leaders of Constantinople’s 

Armenian community. During 

the next four years, he bore witness 

to the countless deportation 

caravans of Armenians, tortured, 

raped, or slaughtered and subsequently 

mutilated on their way to 

death in the Syrian deserts; heard 

the testimony of many survivors, 

foreign witnesses, and Turkish 

officials involved in the extermination 

campaign; and also came 

Cover of Armenian Golgotha . 

to know of some brave, righteous 

Turks and their German allies 

who resisted secret extermination 

orders. 

Miraculously, Balakian managed 

to escape – through forest 

and over mountain, disguised as, 

among other things, a railroad 

worker and then a German soldier. 

By September 1918, determined 

to testify to the “great crime,” he 

was already at work on a dramatic 

and comprehensive memoir. “One 

after another the bloody episodes 

of the thorny Armenian Golgotha 

moved across my mind,” he wrote. 

“We were still living in a time of annihilation 

and terror.” 

The first volume of Armenian 

Golgotha was published in 1922 by 

the Armenian Mekhitarist press of 

Vienna; the second, found among 

his sister’s papers after her death 

in 1956, was published in Paris 

three years later with the aid of 

the Armenian General Benevolent 

Union. 

Searing in its detail, Balakian’s 

analysis of the Turkish government’s 

organized plan to annihilate 

the Armenians spurred the 

young Vahakn Dadrian to devote 

himself to research on the Armenian 

Genocide. Armenian Golgotha 

“shook me to the foundations of 

my being,” he recalled in a 2005 

interview with the Armenian Reporter. 

“The graphic description 

of the fiendish atrocities overwhelmed 

me. That became a turning 

point in my academic career,” 

added Prof. Dadrian, now Director 

of Genocide Research at the Zoryan 

Institute. 

Grigoris Balakian, who became 

bishop of the Armenian Apostolic 

Church in southern France, died in 

Marseilles in 1934. His great nephew, 

the poet and memoirist Peter 

Balakian, first learned about Armenian 

Golgotha in 1991 through a 

chain of circumstances he describes 

in his prize-winning memoir Black 

Dog of Fate (now reissued in a 10th 

anniversary edition). 

After a ten-year project of translating 

and editing this memoir 

with former Armenian Reporter 

managing editor Aris Sevag, Peter 

Balakian has brought Armenian 

Golgotha into an English edition 

to be published by Knopf on April 

2. “It has been a particularly poignant 

and rich experience for me 

to bring [Grigoris Balakian’s] book 

into print in English, eighty-seven 

years after its initial publication,” 

Peter Balakian writes in the preface. 

Elie Wiesel found Armenian 

Golgotha a “heartbreaking book”; 

Sir Martin Gilbert calls it “a story 

that needs to be known.” 

“The translation and publication 

of Armenian Golgotha in English is 

long overdue,” states Deborah E. 

Lipstadt, author of Denying the 

Holocaust. “It constitutes a thundering 

historical proof that those 

who deny the Armenian Genocide 

are engaged in a massive deception.” 

“This book will become a classic,” 

predicts Robert Jay Lifton, 

author of The Nazi Doctors,” both 

for its depiction of a much denied 

genocide and for its humane and 

brilliant witness to what human beings 

can endure and overcome.” 

connect: 

randomhouse.com/knopf/catalog/dis- 

play.pperl?isbn=97803072628821-212- 

572-2151 

A conversation with Peter Balakian on Armenian Golgotha 

NEW YORK – Q: Bishop Grigoris 

Balakian is your great uncle. 

How did you come to find out about 

him and his memoir? Peter Balakian: 

Growing up, I knew he was 

a Bishop in the Armenian church. 

He was spoken of occasionally by 

my father and aunts. Although 

they mentioned some books he 

wrote about the Armenian church, 

no one ever mentioned this great 

memoir. And what’s odd is that 

both my aunts were literary critics 

and my father was also a serious 

student of history, but they didn’t 

mention this book. I know the subject 

of the fate of the Armenians 

in 1915 traumatized them, and so 

all was silence when it came to this 

subject. I wrote about my discovery 

of my great uncle in a chapter of my 

own memoir, Black Dog of Fate . So 

my memoir led to my finding his 

memoir. It’s become a sort of dialogue 

both within the family and 

about this history. 

Q: How did you find out about 

Armenian Golgotha? 

PB: It was coincidental, or fated 

if you will. In 1991 a friend of mine 

sent me a French magazine article 

about a commemorative service 

for him. He had been the Bishop 

in Marseilles at the end of his life. 

And the article mentioned this “extraordinary 

memoir about the Armenian 

Genocide.” Immediately I 

ordered the book from Beirut – it’s 

still in print in the original Armenian. 

And by 1999 I was working 

with a co-translator. The project 

has taken 10 years. 

Q: What was the process of 

translating the memoir like? 

PB: For me it’s been a moving 

and complex journey to discover 

my great uncle’s survivor story, his 

language and his life. The translation 

was a collaborative process, 

and it has been slow and painstaking. 

Trying to find the right idioms, 

and words, rhythms, and sounds 

for this rich Armenian language in 

contemporary English was an endless 

challenge. And this is a book of 

71 chapters of pretty dark stuff. 

Q: How has your uncle come to 

life for you? 

A: I had no idea my uncle was 

such a dynamic leader and prominent 

intellectual of his generation. 

Armenian Golgotha brings to life 

the extraordinary creativity, wit, 

humanity, and compassion this 

young Armenian clergyman exhibited 

in the face of overwhelming 

odds. His ability to negotiate with 

Turkish perpetrators and still provide 

sustenance to his emaciated 

group of fellow deportees is remarkable. 

And throughout the story 

he remains humble and focused 

on helping others. As a clergyman, 

he’s anguished both by the human 

suffering he is witnessing and by 

the destruction of his culture, the 

culture of which he is a guardian 

and protector. His witnessing is 

compound witnessing in this way. 

Q: What kind of contribution 

does Armenian Golgotha make to 

our understanding of the Armenian 

Genocide? 

PB: It’s an essential text. There is 

no text about the Genocide that’s 

as rich, layered, and complex as 

this. It brings us closer to the century’s 

first genocide than any other 

first-person account that I know 

of. Balakian was one of the famous 

250 Armenian cultural leaders who 

were arrested on the night of April 

14, 1915, at the very start of the 

genocide. He survived nearly four 

years on deportation marches and 

witnessed things that few survivors 

have described. 

Q: How did he witness more 

than others? 

I wrote about my 

discovery of my great 

uncle in a chapter 

of my own memoir, 

Black Dog of Fate . So 

my memoir led to my 

finding his memoir. 

It’s become a sort of 

dialogue both within 

the family and about 

this history. 

PB: He was in a unique position 

as a priest because Armenian 

deportees looked to him for help, 

and for several months he led more 

than a hundred deportees through 

horrendous conditions. Along the 

way, he encountered survivors 

from other parts of Turkey and 

they told him stories of the massacres 

they had witnessed. Also, 

Turkish perpetrators, thinking he 

was on his way to death, opened up 

to him and told him some extraordinary 

things. And, the German, 

Swiss, and Austrian railway engineers 

told him their accounts of 

witnessing atrocities. He traveled 

hundreds of miles and witnessed 

the ruins and remains of many destroyed 

Armenian villages, towns, 

and cities. 

Q: Could you say more about the 

destruction of Armenian culture 

and its artifacts and infrastructure? 

PB: Yes, that’s an important part 

of the process of genocide. Raphael 

Lemkin, the Polish legal scholar 

who created the concept of genocide 

as an international crime, underscored 

the fact that genocide involves 

not only the killing of people 

but also the destruction of a people’s 

cultural institutions, language, 

art and artifacts, religion, and so 

on. In the case of the Armenian 

Genocide, the Turkish government 

destroyed more than 5,000 Armenian 

churches and schools as well 

as thousands of other buildings, 

artifacts, works of art and literature. 

Balakian also shows us what 

Peter Balakian. 

happened to Armenians who were 

forceably converted to Islam from 

their Christian faith. It’s astonishing 

to read how intensely Grigoris 

Balakian bears witness to this kind 

of destruction on his deportation 

and escape. 

Q: What does Balakian’s memoir 

show us about this event as an act 

of genocide? 

PB: Readers will find that Armenian 

Golgotha corroborates what 

most of the scholarship has shown. 

The deportations and massacres of 

the Armenians were planned by 

the central government; he shows 

us how the Turkish government 

used surveillance, created blacklists 

to arrest the cultural leaders, 

created killing squads, created false 

provocations in order to arrest Armenians, 

and so on. Chapter 11 is a 

blueprint of the genocidal process. 

Q: Why is the Armenian Genocide 

important to study today? After 

all, it happened almost 95 years 

ago. 

PB: Well, the Armenian Genocide 

is the template for all genocide 

to follow in the modern era. It began 

what you might call the age of 

modern genocide. It was the first 

instance in which a nation state 

used its military, bureaucracy, and 

technology to exterminate a target 

group of people in a concentrated 

period of time. More than a million 

people were killed in a year. Hitler 

was inspired by the Armenian 

Genocide; he saw you could get rid 

of a hated ethnic group that way, 

and he said in August 1939, “Who 

today, after all, speaks of the annihilation 

of the Armenians?” 

Secondly, Raphael Lemkin, the 

man who developed the concept 

of genocide, did so in large part on 

the basis of what happened to the 

Armenians in 1915. The Armenian 

Genocide is part of the genesis of 

the very word. 

Third, the Turkish government’s 

continuous denial of the genocide 

is a dangerous example for those 

who would commit genocide today. 

Q: Why does the Turkish government 

deny the Armenian Genocide 

today? 

PB: It’s a complex issue and I 

would point to a few salient factors. 

Turkey has been socialized 

since its founding as a modern republic 

by certain taboos, and one 

of them concerns the disappearance 

of the Armenians. Turks have 

been taught that there were once 

Armenians in Turkey and that 

they were a “disloyal people” and 

whatever happened to them was 

their own fault. At the same time, 

any real history of the Armenians 

has been disallowed in Turkey, and 

Turkish people have not been free 

to critique their own society and 

its history. If you disallow critical 

inquiry of your country, you end 

up creating denialist narratives 

about history. 

Q: But, why is Turkey so aggressively 

trying to censor the 

truth about this history around 

the world? It seems excessive, and 

counterproductive for Turkey, especially 

if it wants to join the European 

Union. 

PB: Most informed people 

would agree that the Turkish denialist 

campaign sets Turkey back; 

it casts a shadow over the whole 

society and it shows Europe, for 

example, that Turkey is not a 

truly democratic nation, even 

though it has a parliament. A society 

that puts its best intellectuals 

like its Nobel Laureate Orhan 

Pamuk on trial for acknowledging 

the Armenian Genocide is not yet 

a democracy.

4 The Armenian Reporter | March 28, 2009 


That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it 

A compilation of 

adventures from my 

Fuller Center trip to 


by Leo Manuelian 

NEW YORK – In July of last year 

I led my fourth home building team 

to Armenia. My team consisted of 

three Armenians – Nadya Esenyan, 

her daughter Ani, and Ani’s friend 

Talar Keskinyan, and nine non-Armenians 

– Sam, son Stu, daughters 

Anna and Wren; Gayle and son Izzy; 

Pam and Bob from Texas, and Pat 

– superintendent of the Beach Haven 

school district in New Jersey. 

Being cosmopolitan by nature, I 

always stay in Yerevan, and since I 

enjoy films, planned my trip around 

the Golden Apricot Film Festival. 

The first day of the festival, I 

watched from the sidelines as the 

who’s who of Armenian film and 

cinema walked the red carpet into 

the Moscow Theater, accompanied 

by the blaring brass section of the 

RA Army band (not the Navy Band 

which I’m told is much better). But, 

since I didn’t have a plastic photo 

ID, I couldn’t get in. 

The next night I rushed to see 

whatever film I could. I confidently 

walked up to the ticket booth, 

asked for a ticket to whatever 

film and was promptly told domsag 

cheega (there are no tickets). I 

less confidently asked for a ticket 

to another film and was told masnavor 

hraveeroom (special invitation 

only). I then rather sheepishly 

walked back to the ticket booth and 

was successful in buying a ticket 

(300 dram - $1.00 US) for Silent 

Light. As it turned out the movie 

was in German with Spanish and 

Armenian subtitles. I could barely 

read the subtitles when poof, they 

were gone. I enjoyed the movie but 

couldn’t understand why everybody 

was laughing at certain times. 

I just laughed along with everyone 

else. 

Back to building homes 

The next day we went to work on 

a home for the Khachatryan family 

of Khor Virab. The family of 

eight were currently living in one 

room of a borrowed home. After 

work, we were informed that the 

extended family was baking their 

two-week supply of lavash and we 

were invited to observe. 

There is an interesting hierarchy 

here. The youngest mothers prepare 

the dough, the young girls take the 

dough to the oven area, the older 

mothers roll it out flat, and the 

grandmothers whip it into an elliptical 

shape and cook it in the tonir. 

I suppose, as one dies, the others 

move up in the line. You haven’t 

lived until you’ve had hot lavash, 

fresh out of the oven, with cheese. 

It’s the closest worldly experience 

you’ll ever have to breaking bread 

with Jesus. Upon leaving, one of the 

young girls presented us with about 

two pounds of lavash and two huge 

balls of cheese. We weren’t hungry, 

but, of course, that didn’t matter. 

That night we were going to see 

the ballet performing at the Opera 

House. We decided to divide the 

bread and cheese into two portions 

and give it to beggars. We were in a 

hurry to eat before the performance 

so while walking up Abovyan Street 

to get to the lahmajun place, I saw 

a wretched looking old woman sitting 

on a chair in front of the pork 

burger palace. I quickly grabbed 

one of the bags, crossed the street, 

and asked her if she was just sitting 

there or was a beggar. Rather 

than respond, she abruptly waved 

me off. One of the team members 

said, “We’d better get out of here 

Leo, I think you insulted her.” So 

we left, found an old woman selling 

seeds on Mashdots, and gave 

her one of the bags. She thanked 

me profusely, invoking every saint 

I knew and some I didn’t. 

Now, a quick lahmajun and on to 

the Opera House, but we still had 

one bag of rapidly smelling cheese 

“As they began 

singing, the 

sanctuary 

immediately 

filled with the 

glorious voices 

of these young 

women.” 

and 15 minutes to show time. I gave 

all the tickets to Nadya to distribute, 

keeping mine, and told her she 

had an extra ticket for Gevorg (our 

Fuller Center guide) who hadn’t 

shown up yet. Off I went to find 

someone to give the food to, along 

Mashdots, back down Abovyan. In 

the midst of my mission, in front of 

the Moscow Theater, I run into my 

friend Tanya Bukucuyan and her 

friend Lucy Madoian. 

“What are you doing here,” she 

asks. “I’m looking for beggars,” I 

respond. “What are you doing here,” 

I ask. “Lucy and I are here to participate 

in the baptism of 125 CASP 

orphans,”she replies. “That’s nice,” I 

said, “but have you seen any beggars?” 

“No,” Tanya says. “By the way, 

Egoyan’s movie is showing tonight,” 

I tell her. “Yes, I know,” she 

says “but there aren’t any tickets… 

we asked.” 

“OK, I need to find someone 

to give this lavash and cheese to. 

Good luck with the baptisms,” I say 

as I venture back up Abovyan and 

across the street at the corner of 

Masdots was the seed lady walking 

into a fancy door. “Could she live 

there, I wondered?” I rushed in to 

find it was a bakery, and she was 

trying to buy something to eat. I 

left the bag on her seed pouch and 

ran back to the Opera House. 

Trying to see the ballet 

The waiting crowd had already entered. 

“You cannot enter” I was told, 

in English 

Continued on page 5



That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it 

Continued from page 4 

“Why not?” 

“You are wearing shorts.” 

“It’s hot.” 

“You cannot come in wearing 

shorts.” 

“I paid for my ticket. It doesn’t say 

on the ticket that I must be wearing 

long pants.” 

“This is an Opera House. You cannot 

enter with shorts. Aram, give 

this man his money back.” 

I grabbed the ticket in obvious 

disgust and left. As I was walking 

away, I saw a member of our group, 

Bob, walking toward the theater 

in shorts. I quickly explained that 

we had to go back to the hotel to 

change into long pants. As we hurry 

toward the taxi stand I’m agonizing 

over how I’m going to explain 

my situation to the driver, when, 

thank God, I see Gevorg (he’s on 

Armenian time). 

We drive back to the hotel and 

Gevorg has the taxi wait for us as 

we change into long pants and return. 

As we walk up the stairs to the 

entryway of the Opera, I realize that 

I don’t have Gevorg’s ticket, Nadya 

does. As we enter, I tell Gevorg in 

Armenian, to take my ticket, find 

Nadya, and come back with another 

ticket for me. He disappears from 

sight, and the same man I had the 

argument with 20 minutes earlier 

about my shorts is staring at me. 

“Heema eench?” (Now what?), I ask 

in Armenian. 

“Hay es?” (You are Armenian?) 

Duh, I’m thinking, I traveled 24 

hours to this postage-stamp sized 

country, whose inhabitants have 

learned to survive on rocks and water, 

to see the ballet? It’s not the Bolshoi 

you know (though I patriotically 

am thinking, it’s a close second). 

“If I knew you were Armenian, I 

would have let you in. Aram, show 

this man in.” WHAT!!! Where’s 

the logic in this? (I’ll answer that 

later). Even though I had a ticket, 

I wasn’t allowed entry 20 minutes 

earlier because I was wearing 

shorts. Now that I’m Armenian, 

I’m escorted in without a ticket! 

Discussing Egoyan 

After the performance, I ran to the 

Moscow Theater to see Egoyan’s 

Adoration. Based on my experience 

at the Opera House, I said in the 

best Eastern Armenian I could “Mi 

domsag oozoom em Egoyanee ngarasharzoomeen” 

(I would like to 

have one ticket to see the Egoyan 

movie). “Domsag cheega!” I realized, 

belatedly, that I gave myself away 

by using the word “ngarasharzoom” 

(moving pictures). Local Armenians 

use kinofilm (pronounced “kee-nofeelm”). 

I’m guessing, a combination 

of French and English. About thirty 

seconds after I back away from the 

ticket window, I hear “Baron…Baron” 

(sir…sir). They’re looking at 

me, and there’s no one behind me. 

I approach the ticket window and 

they ask, “kanee domsag goozaass?” 

(how many tickets to you want?) 

HEY, what’s going on here!! Thirty 

seconds ago there were no tickets. 

Now, I can purchase as many as I 

want? (I’ll answer that later). 

So I’m seated next to a fellow 

who is speaking in English, with a 

German accent, to a friend who is 

responding in English, but with an 

Irish accent. When there’s a break in 

the conversation, I ask the one with 

the German accent if I may borrow 

his program. After studying it for 

two minutes, I ask him, “Can you 

determine from this program, what 

language is spoken in the movie, and 

what language the subtitles are in?” 

“No way,” he says. 

“Who’s in charge here anyway?” 

“Yeah, you know the other night 

I watched a movie in German, with 

Spanish and Armenian subtitles.” 

“Where was I?” he bellowed. That 

ended our conversation. 

Now, I’m watching a typical Egoyan 

movie (I’ve seen two – that makes 

me an expert). By typical, I mean 

that you can watch it with a friend 

for two hours. Then you discuss the 

movie. Your friend has a completely 

different understanding of what he 

had just seen. You actually wonder 

if the two of you were watching the 

same movie. After two weeks of discussion, 

you can’t come to terms. So 

both of you return, sit in the same 

seats to see the movie again. You 

discuss the film. Your friend now 

has your opinion and you have his! 

You can’t come to terms so you both, 

shrug your shoulders, get a cup of 

coffee, and play tavloo for the rest of 

the evening (I’m thinking if Atom is 

reading this, he’d be proud of himself). 

The joy of music 

The next day we were touring the 

monastery of Geghard. Gevorg 

brought his virtuoso duduk playing 

nephew, and the two of them were 

playing in the old sanctuary. As the 

sound resonated off of the walls of 

the church carved into the mountain, 

tourists kept coming in and 

no one was leaving. 

At one point a man stepped in 

and asked the two of the tourists to 

step aside. In walked eight young ladies. 

They were wearing shabigs. As 

they began singing, the sanctuary 

immediately filled with the glorious 

voices of these young women. They 

sang three hymns and the last one 

was “Der Voghomia.” Now, I’m not 

a particularly religious man but, I 

have to tell you. By now there were 

about fifty people in the chapel (did 

I tell you no one was leaving?) 

I would guess that more than 

half of them recognized the significance 

of this hymn. There was not 

a dry eye amongst them, including 

me. I thought I had died, gone 

to heaven, and there were eight of 

the forty virgins promised to me, 

and as I was reaching out for them, 

God smacked me on the side of my 

head and said, “They’re not for you 

dummy, you’re not Muslim.” 

We walked out of the twenty foot 

long entry tunnel, fifteen feet to 

the stairs, down two flights to the 

courtyard, and there was Pat, tears 

streaming down her face, thanking 

me for exposing her to such a spiritual 

experience. As I hugged her, 

all I could think was, why is this 

woman crying?...she doesn’t know 

Der Voghomia from Jingle Bells! 

That evening we were going to see 

the State Song and Dance Ensemble. 

As we were rushing up Abovyan, 

again to the fast food lahmejun 

place, we see the old woman who I 

mistook for a beggar the day before. 

Now she’s sitting on our side of the 

street with her hand out. The team 

members were pointing her out 

to me: “Look, Leo.” Yesterday, she 

was the queen of Abovyan Street! 

How do you explain these things to 

odars (I’ll answer that later). 

The State Song and Dance Ensemble 

is a must see. First, you’re 

exposed to a group of instruments 

that you don’t know the names of 

and have never seen before. The 

musicians and singers play and sing 

the most beautiful Armenian music. 

Then come the male dancers – acrobatic…sword 

play. Then come the 

dancing girls. They’re all about seven 

feet tall, their arms are four feet long, 

hands one foot long, and nails another 

foot long. When they spread 

their arms, they have a twelve foot 

wingspan. I’m convinced that they’re 

not entirely human. Their mothers 

are Armenian but, their fathers are 

California Condors. I’m sure of this 

because they floated from one side 

of the stage to the other without 

ever touching the ground! 

The next day, during lunch, the 

Khachatryan family gave us all gifts 

of clocks with Christian religious 

portraits on the clock face – Last 

Supper, Mother and Child, Crucifixion. 

I sidled over to Gayle and 

said, “so now you’ve become an 

honorary Christian.” Having been 

raised in Alabama she said, “Do 

y’all think they know I’m a Jew?” 

“Not a clue,” I responded, and we 

enjoyed a wonderful laugh together. 

She told me that these clocks were 

going to be placed in a prominent 

position in her home to tempt her 

friends to ask questions. To her, it 

was the only tangible evidence of 

an experience that she and her son 

will never forget. 

So now, in order to understand 

what’s going on in these situations 

you need to have seen the movie Vodka 

Lemon. A young man purchases a 

bottle of lemon vodka from a roadside 

stand. Before leaving he asks 

the saleslady, “Why do they call this 

lemon vodka when it tastes like almonds?” 

The saleslady answers without 

hesitation: “Asee Hayastan eh.” 

That’s the answer to every question. 

Now if you go to Geghard, you 

may never hear the young ladies 

with shabigs, because you don’t 

know their schedule. But, if you go 

on a Fuller Center trip, you will, because 

“We’ve got people.” 

So that’s my story, and I’m 

stickin’ to it. If you would like to 

enjoy similar adventures, go to 

www.FullerCenter.org and sign up. 

There are seven trips from which to 

choose.



MY NAME IS 

ARMEN 

A dose of life’s best 

medicine: rest and renewal 

by Armen 

Bacon 

Not that I would ever wish the flu 

on anyone – but I have been sick in 

bed with a nasty bug for the good 

part of this week and as my body finally 

starts to return to its normal 

state, I emerge feeling a bit reborn. 

You see, being forced to sit still and 

stay put for a few days has done 

me a world of good, renewed my 

spirit, even if it meant coughing 

and sneezing with a 102 fever. The 

fact of the matter is that for once 

in my busy, crazed life, I am being 

forced to rest. Take a time out. I 

thought I could fight it, but then 

the fever and chills arrived and my 

body completely caved. At the time 

of this writing, let the record show 

that I have completely surrendered, 

crawled back into bed, sprawled 

under my fluffy comforter and I am 

resigned to do nothing for a few 

days. Except write when the spirit 

moves me. And only if I can get 

my weary eyes focused. Right now 

they’re begging for a nap. So nap 

I shall. 

Monday morning I woke up feeling 

queasy. I couldn’t tell if I was 

hot or cold but there was a chill 

running through the inside of my 

body while my outer layer felt as 

if it were on fire. I couldn’t tell if I 

needed an ice bath or a warm blanket. 

I compromised and soaked in a 

hot tub. Within minutes, I started 

to ache all over and before long, 

there was an annoying tickle in my 

throat that by nightfall morphed 

into an uncontrollable and painful 

cough. By daybreak it had become 

laryngitis, rendering me totally 

speechless. 

Another 24 hours passed before I 

became a complete invalid. Sensing 

that something was most definitely 

afoot, I rushed to make a batch of 

my mother’s famous chicken soup, 

adding twice the normal amount of 

lemon and pepper. I was quick to 

self administer the first dose, and 

then immediately returned to bed, 

knowing that the bug was wasting 

no time invading my body. There 

was no fighting it at this point. This 

year’s strain of influenza had found 

its way into every part of my being 

Armenian Reporter columnist Armen D. 

Bacon is senior director for communications 

and public relations for the Fresno 

County Office. Ms. Bacon lives in Fresno, 

California, and is a wife, mother, professional 

woman, and writer. Since 2004, 

her thoughts and reflections about life 

have been published in the “Valley Voices” 

section of The Fresno Bee as well as 

the Armenian Reporter. She also writes, 

produces, and hosts a radio series titled 

“Live, Laugh, Love” on Fresno’s K-jewel 

99.3 radio. She can be reached at armendbacon@aol.com. 

– nose, throat, ears and other more 

remote body parts and organs. 

Some might say that I had this 

coming to me. The handwriting 

was on the wall. Let’s face it - life’s 

frenetic pace requires super-human 

powers and many of us tend 

to think we are invincible. We live 

with a chronic delusions of grandeur. 

Truth be told, most of the time I 

can manage with my eyes closed, 

thriving in a sick sort of way (no 

pun intended), on the adrenalin 

rush of life. Between our Blackberry’s, 

the constant and never-ending 

deluge of e-mails, text messaging 

and Internet access, life arrives 

instantaneously and constantly, 

never allowing us the time to catch 

our breath. It’s exhausting and a 

sign of the (crazy) times. Survival 

of the fittest, I guess. Admittedly, 

this week I haven’t fared too well. 

I feel beat up and burned out. I’m 

down for the count. 

Don’t repeat this, but I think 

this is just what the doctor ordered. 

I’m savoring every moment, with 

full knowledge that by the end of 

the weekend, I will be back in full 

force, working like a maniac, and 

resuming my multiple roles as 

mother, wife, grandmother, professional 

woman and other duties as 

assigned. 

Like many of my friends, I have 

always taken pride in being a Type 

A over-achiever and rather enjoy 

the challenges of multi-tasking and 

pushing myself to the outer limits 

of life. But when my body decides 

to betray me, as it has this week, 

it serves as a bit of a wake up call 

and ugly reminder that I am not 

unbreakable. Nor am I in my twenties. 

Or thirties. It is in these less 

than perfect life moments, when I 

am flat on my back and out of commission, 

that I take stock in myself 

and rethink priorities. Maybe it’s 

time to slow down. At least long 

enough to refuel. Maybe I’ll even 

change lanes and move out of the 

fast lane for a while. It’s doubtful. 

But I’ll decide that as soon as I can 

get out of bed. 

I cannot recall the last time I 

missed this many days of work. 

My secretary has assured me 

that the office is surviving just 

fine without me and she has also 

ordered me to stay put until all 

the germs are gone. In this era 

of pink slips and layoff notices, I 

do not want to be gone for too 

long, but then again, I never argue 

with my secretary. So for now, 

I am homebound. And confined 

to my bedroom. Waiting for the 

fever to break. Even my mother, 

who broke her shoulder a few 

weeks ago, is worried about me. 

So much so that she has made two 

containers of soup – one batch of 

lentil and the other her famous 

chicken stock. She knows full well 

that if I am staying home from 

work, I must be really sick. 

And so, here I lay, in a bit of a 

stupor, writing this week’s column. 

By the time it shows up in print, I 

hope to be back to normal, full of 

spunk, and writing for my life. 

THE NEAPOLITAN 

ARMENIANS 

A tender, juicy slice 

of the American 

Dream in paradise 

by Paul Chaderjian 

NAPLES, Florida – Scents that 

would whet even a vegetarian’s 

appetite waft through Andre’s 

Steakhouse, at the northeast corner 

of Tamiami and 28th Avenue. 

The front and back parking lots are 

full, and there are no empty parking 

spots on the street. It’s the last 

Saturday night of February, and 

Andre’s is packed like it is every 

night during “the season,” when 

tourists and retirees converge on 

Florida’s Paradise Coast, off the 

Gulf of Mexico. 

Enter the epicurean wonderland 

of Andre’s, and there is not one 

empty table. The steakhouse is full 

of loyal patrons of all ages - some 

in shorts and T-shirts and others 

in short-sleeved shirts or summer 

dresses. It’s the dead of winter, 

but one can easily forget the blizzards 

blanketing the Midwest and 

Northeast in snow. 

There is laughter, people talking, 

someone making a toast in one 

corner, and half a dozen clean-cut 

waiters - dressed in white shirts 

and bowties - dance a perfectly 

choreographed number. Watch 

them sweep past one another, expertly 

picking up plates and cups, 

smiling, pouring wine, delivering 

drinks from the bar, making small 

talk, and serving huge portions of 

steaming steaks, fresh off the grill: 

lamb, pork, or fish with fresh salads, 

large baked potatoes, or German 

fries on the side. 

Inside these walls is the good 

life, free of the outside world of 

economic strife. This is paradise, 

the American Dream, and the Armenian-American 

at the center 

Andre’s 

Steakhouse. 

Andre’s Steakhouse exceeds 

expectations 

of all the action is Andre Cottoloni. 

Google Andre’s, and the reviews 

are many. The steakhouse is considered 

the best in Florida. Many come, 

time after time, for the thick cuts 

of prime beef that are dry-aged for 

tenderness, but most come for the 

atmosphere and to see their friend 

Andre. 

He’s a rock star among those 

who frequent his steakhouse, and 

his name is known to any of the 

hundreds of local Armenians. 

A young man’s journey 

Andre, a Turkey native, was born 

to an Italian diplomat who fell in 

love with an Armenian woman in 

Istanbul. Together, the couple began 

Andre’s story, which would 

span several continents and culminate 

with the realization of the 

American Dream in the paradise of 

Southwest Florida. 

Continued on page 7



Andre’s Steakhouse exceeds expectations 


Andre’s long journey from Shishli, 

Turkey, to Naples, Florida, began 

in a multilingual society, where 

he learned eight languages – all of 

which he still speaks. 

“I went to an Italian school in 

Istanbul,” Andre says. He not only 

learned Armenian and Turkish, but 

also picked up Hebrew and Spanish. 

“Because the Jews in Turkey spoke 

Spanish,” he explains. He picked up 

Greek when he served in the Turkish 

Army in Ankara for two years. 

Andre was part of a troop that included 

other minorities, including 

Greeks and Jews. 

“We were in the minority, and 

being in the minority in Turkey,” 

he says, “you stick together. 

That’s why I learned so many languages.” 

Andre also learned French and 

English, and he learned German after 

arriving in Germany, at age 24. 

“Turkey was an okay place to live 

at the time, but we always looked 

toward living in a bigger country, 

a better country,” says Andre. “Europe, 

America, and that was the 

reason that I went to Germany all 

by myself.” 

He is comfortable in his own 

skin; perhaps he’s always been. 

Wearing a red T-shirt and preppy 

Bermuda shorts, Andre has come 

to the steakhouse earlier than usual 

to give the Armenian Reporter an 

interview. 

The steakhouse is open only in 

the evenings. On this night, we run 

into the visiting parish priest, Fr. 

Nerses Jebejian, who is here to 

dine with his wife. 

“I was baptized by [Angelo Giuseppe] 

Cardinal Roncalli, who 

later became the Pope [John 

XXIII],” Andre says. “In 1935, he 

was a cardinal in Istanbul. But we 

grew up Armenian, because my 

father passed away and my aunt 

married another Armenian guy. 

He is the one who raised me, practically. 

So we grew up Armenian in 

Shishli, where there was a thriving 

Armenian community. It was really, 

really nice to be there.” 

Leaving Shishli for Stuttgart, 

Germany, in 1959 was a life-changing 

experience for Andre. “Because, 

all of a sudden, you’re out of the 

nest and you’re flying away, not 

knowing where you’re going and 

what you’re doing,” he says. 

Andre reached Germany with 

four suitcases, and he was greeted 

with an important lesson about 

good customer service. The lesson 

has stayed with him since and is 

perhaps a key factor in his success 

in the restaurant business. 

“I grabbed two of my suitcases 

and put them on the train I had 

to take,” he remembers. “When I 

came back to get the other two, the 

train [with the remaining suitcases] 

had left.” 

Andre did not speak German at 

the time, but he found someone 

who spoke French. The Frenchspeaker 

told him where to go and 

what to ask for. 

“Finally, I went and found the 

place, and two hours later my baggage 

was back there,” he says. His 

first interaction with German society 

left him in awe of good customer 

service and hospitality. “It 

was amazing.” 

Soon after his arrival in Stuttgart, 

Andre began working in a factory. 

“After a year, I said, ‘This is not 

my cup of tea,’ and I had to move 

on,” he says. His next stop was a job 

with a company that served American 

GIs. 

“I worked with them for two years 

in the parts store, in the garage and 

repair shop,” he says. “Then I went 

to a construction company and became 

an interpreter.” 

After eight years with the construction 

company, Andre became 

the manager of the payroll department 

and supervised eight Germans. 

“I was about 30 or 35 and stopped 

doing that and bought a restaurant,” 

he says. 

Eating and eateries 

Andre’s interest in restaurants 

dates back to his youth in Turkey, 

where he and his family frequented 

local eateries. 

“They were good,” he says. “Turkish 

food is excellent. While living 

in Germany, every time we visited 

Turkey, the first stop was in Istanbul 

and a place called Beytee. They 

had the best stuff, best food.” 

Andre got to know the restaurant 

business inside out when he moved 

to Germany. One of his first places 

of residence was a room over a German 

restaurant. 

“I was practically more down in 

the restaurant than I was in my 

room,” he says. “They were a nice 

family and had a nice bakery, and I 

enjoyed it and liked it. It was called 

the Gruenerbaum, and it’s where I 

learned how to serve people, how 

to cook. You know, it was very, very 

interesting.” 

Andre opened his own restaurant 

in Stuttgart at the age of 40. He 

says his first place was more of a 

pub than a restaurant. He and his 

Turkish partner served a lot of beer 

but also offered Turkish food. 

“People came, but they came more 

to drink, because the German love 

drinking,” he says. “And from there, 

I took a bigger restaurant, a better 

restaurant with more food than 

beer, and that worked out.” 

The move to the Big 

Apple 

The big move to the Big Apple happened 

in the early 80s, after Andre 

traveled to New York to visit his 

sister, who had moved to the U.S. 

from Turkey. 

“We came to visit them, and we 

liked it,” he says. “The first thing 

that caught my eye and my ear is 

that nobody gives a damn where 

you are from. You are an American, 

even if you don’t speak English. 

You don’t feel like a stranger, and 

that impressed me. I liked it a lot. 

I said, ‘We have to go back, sell everything, 

and establish ourselves in 

America.’ So we moved to New York 

and spent 12 years in New York before 

coming to Florida.” 

Growing up Armenian in Turkey, 

says Andre, wasn’t a big deal. 

Ethnicity wasn’t an issue he had to 

deal with. “Maybe it’s a bigger issue 

today,” he says, “but at that time 

people didn’t talk about the Genocide. 

We knew it [had happened], 

but nobody talked about it.” 

Andre was made very aware of 

his ethnicity and nationality when 

he arrived in Germany. 

“The funniest part of Germany is 

that when you are in Germany and 

you don’t look German, people are 

a little apprehensive about you,” he 

says. 

The open arms of America welcomed 

Andre and his family in 1982, 

when he moved to Long Island. 

In New York, Andre worked in 

coffee shops and restaurants for 

$25 a day. He also drove limousines 

to help make ends meet before 

he landed what he calls “the 

right job,” at Peter Luger Steakhouse. 

“I used to work every day at the 

coffee shop, from 5 to 3,” he says. 

“I didn’t care about the money, because 

as long as I worked, I was 

learning English. Those two years 

were a good experience – working 

as a dishwasher then on the counter, 

and from the counter to the 

Andre Cottoloni. 

The epicurean wonderland of Andre’s Steakhouse. 

wait station, which was a promotion 

for me.” 

Going from a restaurateur in 

Germany to a dishwasher in New 

York was hard for Andre, who was 

over 40 years old already, but the 

difficulty was overshadowed by the 

promise of the American Dream. 

He knew that he could work his 

way up the ladder. 

“America is great,” he says and 

repeats himself. “America is great. 

You know, in Europe, we used to 

say, ‘The gold is on the ground’ [in 

America], but no one told us that 

you have to bend down and pick 

up that gold. That’s the issue. That’s 

the point. You have to work and 

you get it. If you don’t work, you 

don’t get it.” 

The turning point 

“The right job” for Andre came in 

1984, when he began waiting tables 

at the famed Peter Luger Steakhouse, 

which has been popular for 

more than a hundred years. 

“I had a very good experience, and 

the money was right,” Andre recalls. 

Let us know what’s 

on your mind. 

Write to us at 

letters@ 

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“At that time, in five hours we used 

to make $120-150. That was great 

money for me, compared to $40-50 

a night. Then I became part time 

manager, and I made more money.” 

Holidays were spent in Marco Island 

in Southwest Florida, and in 

1993 Andre decided it was time to 

move on again. 

“We had a house in Marco Island,” 

he says. “We came down regularly, 

and, finally, we said, ‘We gotta go 

now. We gotta do it.’ So we came 

looking for a place.” 

Andre spotted a former Kentucky 

Fried Chicken restaurant on the lot 

where his steakhouse now sits. 

“We rented the place, we renovated 

and started the business,” he 

says. “The first night, I had about 

25 people here. The second night, a 

Saturday, I had 40 people. The third 

day, I had two people, and one of 

them was an Armenian I knew 

from New York, and that was it. But 

slowly it picked up. It took a year 

and a half until the place was going. 

Two years after we opened, we had 

to put this addition, because the 

space wasn’t enough. Now we are 

doing okay. We are surviving even 

now, even in this economy.” 

“When I started 15 years ago, I was 

the only steakhouse in town,” says 

Andre. “Now there are a few others, 

but they are having a hard time. Our 

clients come back time after time for 

the porterhouse and the best steaks.” 

“People sometimes call and ask if 

Andre is there tonight. ‘We’re going 

to come, and we want to see him,’ 

they say. They come in, hug and 

kiss, sit down, eat, and go,” he says. 

“People come in and want to see me. 

They want to see me in my shorts, 

because I never wear long pants. 

I’m in Florida, and I refuse to get 

dressed up. I run a casual place, and 

you see it, and people put on their 

shorts just to come here.” 

The most important lesson Andre 

has learned in his long journey 

from Shishli to Naples is that, in 

order to succeed in life, people always 

have to adapt to their new environments. 

“If you go somewhere, and you 

try to stay with your culture and 

impose your culture on the other 

people, it’s no good,” he says. “You 

have to adapt yourself to the country. 

You have to go with the flow, so 

you can survive. If you do it different, 

it’s not good.” 

Tight-knit community 

Members of the Southwest Florida 

Armenian community often come 

to dine at Andre’s, and Andre joins 

other members of the Armenian- 

American Cultural Society of Southwest 

Florida at various events. 

“The Armenians here get together, 

and we socialize,” says Andre. “One 

tells the other one, and we get more 

familiar with each other. Many of 

the people come from the north in 

the season. They are retired. They 

are nice people, very nice people.” 

Andre says if one Armenian 

meets another Armenian, the 

first Armenian eventually ends up 

meeting the friends of the second 

Armenian. 

“If I see that you are Armenian, I’m 

going to talk to you, and you’re going 

to talk to me,” he says. “Then you’re 

going to talk to another Armenian, 

and you’re going to say, ‘I met Andre, 

and he’s Armenian.’ That’s going to 

happen, and that’s the way you do it.” 

So when you visit Naples, stop 

by for a visit to Andre’s. Enjoy a 

great meal and share an Armenian 

tale. 

 

connect: 

(239) 263-5851 

2800 Tamiami Trl N. 

Naples, FL, 34103


Eric Sahakian runs for Glendale School Board 

by Vincent Lima 

GLENDALE, Calif. – “Having 

been across the desk as an administrator 

from parents, especially 

English-learning parents, I know 

that they’re a little bit reluctant, 

anxious to be going and discussing 

their concerns about the school 

board during a meeting, timed, five 

minutes, at a podium, on live TV. It 

creates anxiety in anyone. It’s not a 

very inviting situation.” 

So says Eric Sahakian, who hopes 

to win a seat on the Glendale Unified 

School District Governing 

Board in the election scheduled for 

Edward D. Jamie, Jr. Funeral Chapel, LLC 

208-17 Northern Blvd. Bayside, NY 11361 

Tel. 718-224-2390 

Website: www.jamiejrfuneral.com. 

Serving the Armenian Community Since 1969 

April 7. A main plank of his platform 

is improved communication 

between the district and parents. 

“Not a survey,” he explains. “No 

assessment. Just open dialogue.” 

His campaign office, across the 

street from Glendale Community 

College is full of energy, as it has 

drawn many former students who 

Edward D. Jamie, Jr.-NY&NJ Licensed Funeral Director 

N. Lael Telfeyan, Ph.D., LCSW 

Counseling and Psychotherapy 

with Individuals, Families and Couples 

Adults and Adolescents 

140 West 97th St. 

New York, NY 10025 

By appointment 917-975-3109 

remember him fondly as a counselor 

at Hoover High School or a vice 

principal at Toll Middle School. Mr. 

Sahakian now works for the Los 

Angeles County Office of Education, 

where he oversees the career technical 

education programs of four 

districts and nine high schools. 

Voters will choose three school 

board members on Election Day. 

The three incumbents are facing a 

challenge from Mr. Sahakian and 

Chris Walters. The two challengers 

have been endorsed by the 

Armenian National Committee 

of Glendale Political Action Committee, 

California State Assembly 

member Paul Krekorian, and 

the Glendale Teachers Association 

(gta) – which has had contentious 

relations with the district administration. 

Asked whether he hopes to see 

changes in the administration of 

the school district, Mr. Sahakian 

said he respected current board 

24 Windsor Road 

Great Neck, NY 11021 

e-mail: nlael@aol.com 

Eric Sahakian, who is running for 

Glendale School Board. 

members and school administrators, 

but intended, if elected, “to 

bring forth more proactiveness.” 

In a nod to tight financial times, 

Mr. Sahakian is careful about the 

costs of initiatives he advocates. 

Thus, for example, he does not 

call for smaller classes across the 

board. Rather, he suggests specifically 

that Algebra I for 8th and 9th 

grades should be targeted for classsize 

reduction. 

Indeed, he argues that such a targeted 

step would save the district 

money. Remedial classes for juniors 

and seniors constitute an important 

expense for the district, and 

Mr. Sahakian expects that greater 

teacher time with students in the 

8th and 9th grades will reduce the 

need for expensive remedial classes 

later. 

Likewise, Mr. Sahakian showed 

concern about fiscal discipline 

when asked whether he would 

support gathering data about the 

performance of students by background. 

The point of such data 

collection would be to identify 

problems that may be particular 

to members of specific immigrant 

groups or subgroups. Mr. Sahakian 

preferred to gather information at 

no cost by encouraging partnerships 

with civic organizations. 

The district could achieve the 

same result, he said, “if we have opportunities 

where we could actually 

start working with and communicating 

to community organizations 

within Glendale, whether it’s a Korean 

community organization, and 

Armenian community organization, 

communicating with them for 

them to pretty much assist us in assessing 

needs of a particular group 

of folks we serve in Glendale Unified, 

and then working with them 

and dialoguing with them about 

the feedback we’re receiving.” 

Mr. Sahakian was born in Los 

Angeles and attended Armenian 

school. A product of the Cal State 

University system, he holds a master’s 

degree in counseling psychology. 

His civic involvement includes 

working collaboratively in identifying 

at-risk youth for the agbu 

Generation Next mentorship program. 

 

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In Glendale city elections, Armenians are everywhere 


counts Ms. Asatryan, whose family 

is from Armenia. “He came to 

recruit people from the Armenian 

Club. I was Armenian Club 

president at Hoover High School. 

I started volunteering. Because 

I was volunteering, anc made 

me ‘Youth Activist of the Year.’ It 

gave me an award. So that’s how 

I found out about anc. Then I 

worked on several campaigns after 

that, not just on a volunteer 

basis.” 

City Council election 

Twelve candidates, including seven 

Armenian-Americans, are running 

for three seats on Glendale City 

Council. 

How are Armenian-Americans 

to choose? In the last election 

cycle, the large number of Armenian-American 

candidates split the 

Armenian-American vote, and the 

number of Armenian-Americans 

on the City Council actually declined. 

The ancg-pac has endorsed Ara 

Najarian and Bob Yousefian, both 

Armenian-American incumbents. 

They “are the ones that are very 

likely to get elected,” Ms. Asatryan 

says. For the third seat, the 

organization has not made an 

endorsement. If three candidates 

had been endorsed, people with 

a favorite unendorsed candidate 

would split their vote different 

ways, increasing the chance that 

no endorsed candidate would get 

elected. 

The ancg-pac’s choice of Mr. 

Najarian and Mr. Yousefian was 

not dictated by the relatively high 

likelihood that they would win reelection, 

Ms. Asatryan says. She 

describes the vetting process. 

The organization submitted 

background information forms to 

all the candidates running for City 

Council and other offices. After 

studying the responses they met 

with all the candidates. 

For City Council, “we talked 

about the city’s budget, the current 

economic status, the absence of 

parks in South Glendale, affordable 

housing, staff diversity, cultural 

sensitivity within the staff, and 

community outreach, as well as issues 

within the Police Department 

and the Fire Department, and the 

lack of Armenians there,” Ms. Asatryan 

says. 

She notes, for example, that only 

two of 280 firefights are Armenian- 

Americans. 

School Board 

Among the candidates for three 

seats on the School Board are 

two Armenian-Americans. But 

the ancg-pac has endorsed one, 

Eric Sahakian (see profile), and 

Christine Walters. For the third 

seat, again, it has not endorsed 

anyone. 

The other Armenian-American 

candidate, Greg Krikorian, a native 

of Hartford, Conn., has not 

won the support of the ancg-pac 

– notwithstanding a background 

of active participation in the Armenian 

Youth Federation. He 

told the Armenian Reporter that 

the burden is on the Armenian 

National Committee to explain 

why it chose a non-Armenian over 

him. He suggested that adversity 

between the school board and the 

teachers’ union may be a factor in 

the anc’s choice. 

Ms. Asatryan said Mr. Krikorian 

“has done a lot when it comes to 

the Armenian Genocide,” and was 

not willing to criticize Mr. Krikorian 

directly. She preferred to focus 

instead on the reasons her organization 

threw its weight behind Mr. 

Sahakian and Ms. Walters. 

Former Glendale mayor Rafi Manoukian, who is running for city treasurer, with his wife Tsovig and Elen Asatryan of the 

Armenian National Committee of Glendale PAC shown at an event on October 21, 2007. Photo - Helena Gregorian for the 

Armenian Reporter. 

In their interviews, Mr. Sahakian 

and Ms. Walters raised the very 

issues the ancg-pac was focused 

on for the Glendale schools: staff 

diversity and promotion; active 

outreach to immigrant parents 

in their native language to help 

their children succeed at school; 

and efforts to track the collective 

progress of Armenian-American 

students so that strengths and 

weaknesses can be identified and 

addressed. 

Other offices 

Four candidates are running 

for three seats on the Glendale 

Community College Board of 

Trustees. The ancg-pac has endorsed 

Armine Hacopian, Anita 

Quinonez Gabrielian, and Ann 

Ransford. An Armenian-American 

candidate, Vrej Agajanian, 

did not receive the committee’s 

nod. Mr. Agajanian has run more 

than once for City Council, without 

success. 

The ancg-pac also endorsed Mr. 

Manoukian for city treasurer. He 

is running against one other candidate, 

the incumbent treasurer. 

Also endorsed is city clerk Ardy 

Kassakhian, who is running unopposed. 

 

Glendale Mayor Ara Najarian. 

Photo: Jason Sands. 

The offices of the Armenian National Committee of Glendale pac are abuzz with volunteer activity, while other volunteers are out canvassing voters door to door.



Talent and dedication at the St. Sahag School of Music 

by Lynne Knadjian 

Gildensoph 

SAINT PAUL , Minn. – This past 

November, I was sitting in a pew 

at the St. Sahag Armenian Church, 

with my eyes closed, floating on a 

layer of music, and thinking about 

how lucky the Twin Cities community 

is to have among us so many 

amazing musicians. For a relatively 

small Armenian community, we 

have been blessed with a remarkable 

number of people with music 

in their souls. Although I cannot 

play a note myself, I find that, as the 

saying goes, “Music washes away 

from the soul the dust of everyday 

life,” so I jumped at the chance to 

write about the St. Sahag School 

of Music. Begun in 2003 by Stepan 

Khachatryan, the school has now 

grown to include 30 students and 

three teachers – Mr. Khachatryan 

and his wife Astghik Alanakyan, 

both of whom teach piano, and 

their daughter Mariam Khachatryan, 

who teaches flute and shvi. 

Stepan and Astghik both graduated 

from the renowned Gomidas 

State Conservatory of Yerevan, 

and Mariam has a diploma in music 

from the Gyumri branch of the 

State Conservatory of Yerevan. 

The journey of this talented family 

to St. Paul started in Gyumri. 

Stepan Khachatryan (second from right), Astghik Alanakyan (left), Mariam Khachatryan ( second from left), and their 

students at the St. Sahag School of Music, St. Paul, Minn. 

Stepan gets a far-away look in his 

eyes as he describes this traditional 

Armenian city, a place he says 

where “Armenian traditions were 

kept alive.” Gyumri has historically 

been known as a center for the arts; 

a beautiful city with historic architecture 

and a lively cultural scene 

- home to poets, writers, and composers, 

among others (and where 

the opera Anoush was performed 

for the first time in 1912). His countenance 

changes to one of sadness 

as he remembers the devastation 

wrought by the December 1988 

earthquake, when people suffered 

grievous losses. Many died and 

about seventy percent of the city 

was destroyed, causing what Stepan 

calls “a loss of spirit.” 

After the earthquake the family 

moved to Estonia, where they 

had friends in the music community. 

Stepan and Astghik both 

taught piano in Pärnu for about 7 

years, until they returned in 1996 

to Gyumri, where Stepan was a 

Musical Methodology Specialist 

in the Department of Culture in 

the Shirak region of Armenia. In 

1997 Stepan accepted the position 

of Director of the Gyumri 

Branch of the Yerevan Conservatory 

of Music. Astghik taught at 

the Conservatory, and Mariam 

performed for three years as a 

flautist with the Kohar Symphony 

Orchestra. 

Soon after the church building 

which was to become St. Sahag was 

purchased in 2000, Stepan and his 

son Harut (also a musician) were 

visiting the Twin Cities and were 

encouraged by members of the Parish 

Council (especially Adrienne 

and Jackie Hayes) to settle and 

open a music school. Although this 

endeavor took some time to organize, 

the school opened in 2003. 

Around this time Astghik came 

to the U.S., and the family was 

joined by Mariam in 2006. Another 

daughter, Liana, also a musician, 

lives with her family in Europe. 

Students at the school learn 

about the basics of music theory 

and practice along with learning 

about Armenian music and composers, 

and about Armenian cultural 

traditions. Stepan said that he 

derives a great sense of satisfaction 

from watching the progress his students 

(mostly children) have made 

over the years. This was evident, 

also, to the audience at the 5th Anniversary 

Concert, as video of some 

students as they began instruction 

was juxtaposed with their performances. 

It was fun to see these videos 

from five years ago, where the 

kids were just learning to plunk out 

simple piano tunes, and then to sit 

back and listen, in amazement, as 

these confident and talented young 

musicians with the ages of 8 to 13 

years old regaled us with music that 

ranged from classical pieces written 

by composers such as Shostakovich, 

Chopin, Dvo?ák, and Khachaturian 

to pieces such as Slavonik Dance, 

Sabre Dance and more. 

The youth are clearly pleased with 

what they have learned. 

“I love music, always have,” says 

Steven Lipovetsky, 13, who came to 

St. Sahag in 2004. “I’ve had other 

teachers in the past, but none were 

as good as Mr. Khachatryan. He 

puts all his effort into teaching us 

the best he knows, and it’s great. 

He leads us through obstacles of 

music, and a good result always 

comes.” 

Andrew Dourgarian, 11, a student 

of piano and flute, gets right to the 

point. “If you want to learn to play 

music,” he says, “this is the place.” 

Truly this school is a major success 

and a wonderful contribution 

to our community. We are, indeed, 

lucky that this talented and giving 

family chose to make Minnesota 

their home, and we are grateful to 

them. 

Students at the St. 

Sahag School of Music 

sound off 

“Music is hard work, but it is worth 

it,” says Juliana Malishev, 9. “If I 

hadn’t taken piano lessons, I would 

Continued on page 11



Talent and dedication at the 

St. Sahag School of Music 


be missing out on a great experience.” 

Gabriel Berkovsky and 

Katya Vladikine, 11, are building 

not only skills, but also selfconfidence. 

“Playing piano was 

hard,” says Gabriel, “but I felt 

very proud once I finished a 

piece.” 

“I believe that with the teacher 

I have, and with what he teaches 

me, I will become much more successful 

compared to any other music 

teacher,” states Katya. 

“Playing piano and saxophone 

takes a lot of time out of my 

day, but it is still worth it for 

the music,” says Sam Khodursky, 

13, who tunes into the radio 

or his iPod between practice sessions. 

Rock, jazz, classical, and 

beyond-”the more you like music, 

the more music you like and understand.” 

For Mina Sprengeler, 11, music 

is “a great way to express yourself 

not using words. There are a lot 

of different types of music and I 

think that’s what makes music so 

special.” 

“Music is something people 

need to know about,” declares 

Roman Kouznetsov, 11. “In addition 

that it is important it is 

also fun. Music is an excellent 

thing.” 

The piano helps David Salazkin, 

11, relax and get away. “I feel different 

from every song,” he explains. 

“I play because every song has a different 

rhythm and different beat. 

I like playing fast songs because 

they get me really energetic and 

happy. 

“I like learning to play the piano 

because it helps me do everything 

I like about piano,” adds David, a 

student since 2006. “I also like 

learning to play the piano because 

it makes me unique and special.” 

Truly this school 

is a major success 

and a wonderful 

contribution to our 

community. 

“Music inspires me,” says Thomas 

Dourgarian, 8. “I play every 

day.” 

Katya’s younger sister, nineyear-old 

Nastia Vladikine, has 

been taking piano lessons for the 

last five years. “When I was four I 

thought it was nice, but now it is 

super duper nice,” she says. 

At 13, Krystyna Zane is old 

enough to accompany the St. Sahag 

Armenian Church choir, but she 

still gets excited to receive new music. 

“I like to play piano,” explains 

Krystyna, “because I get to learn 

more each day.” 

 

Knights of Vartan Queens and Long 

Island scholarship deadline approaching 

BAYSIDE – The Etchmiadzin 

Lodge of the Knights of Vartan, 

will offer a $1,000 scholarship as 

well as other smaller grants to Armenian 

students who are currently 

enrolled at an accredited college or 

university in pursuit of an undergraduate 

or graduate degree. The 

applicants must have completed at 

least one semester of college work. 

The competition is open to residents 

of Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk 

counties of New York state. 

Also eligible are residents of these 

counties who are attending schools 

outside of the area. 

Applicants are additionally eligible 

for a second $ 1,000 scholarship 

award if they are sons or daughters 

of a member of the Knights of Vartan 

in good standing. 

The deadline for completed applications 

and supporting transcripts 

is May 16 

For an application form, contact 

Edward Barsamian at 1-212-689- 

6273 or e-mail request to erugs@att. 

net.



Watson Fellow Anoush Suni to study oud in Armenia, Turkey, Jordan 

NEW YORK – Anoush Suni just 

found out what she’ll be doing after 

graduation. 

The Pomona College senior is 

among the 40 students of “unusual 

promise” who will receive a prestigious 

fellowship for a year of independent 

exploration and travel outside 

the United States, the Thomas 

J. Watson Foundation announced 

on March 13. 

The 40 Watson Fellows come 

from 21 states and 3 foreign countries 

and exhibit a broad diversity 

of academic specialty, socioeconomic 

background, and life experience. 

As the 41st class of Watson 

Fellows, they’ll traverse 78 countries, 

exploring topics from the poetry 

of Arab women, to endangered 

religions, to wolf/human interaction, 

to green entrepreneurship, to 

wildlife tracking. 

During her Watson Year, Ms. Suni 

hopes to draw cross-cultural connections 

through music while learning 

what she calls “the language of 

the oud.” 

“I will travel through Armenia, 

Turkey, and Jordan to study the 

music of the oud and the way that 

the oud is expressive of each unique 

society,” Ms. Suni explained. “I will 

explore the way that oud music is 

produced and perceived, participate 

in the living culture of music, 

and investigate the where, when, 

how, and why of oud music being 

created to better understand each 

culture in and of itself and within 

the broader context of the musical 

and cultural connections that exist 

throughout the greater Middle 

East.” 

Awardees come from select private 

liberal arts colleges and universities. 

This year, 177 finalists 

competed on the national level, 

after their institutions nominated 

them in the autumn. Each fellow 

will receive $28,000 for the year of 

travel and exploration. 

The Thomas J. Watson Fellowship 

Program was established in 

1968 by the children of Thomas J. 

Watson, Sr., the founder of International 

Business Machines Corp., 

and his wife, Jeannette K. Watson, 

to honor their parents’ longstanding 

interest in education and world 

affairs. The Watson Foundation 

regards its investment in people 

as an effective contribution to the 

global community. 

In the history of the program, approximately 

2,600 Watson Fellows 

have taken this challenging journey. 

The Watson Year provides fellows 

an opportunity to test their aspirations 

and abilities and develop a 

more informed sense of international 

concern. Fellows have gone 

on to become college presidents 

and professors, CEOs of major 

Anoush Suni in Yemen. 

corporations, MacArthur “genius” 

grant recipients, politicians, artists, 

lawyers, diplomats, doctors, journalists, 

innovators and researchers 

across a wide range of sciences and 

engineering disciplines. 

You share the same 

community. Discover what 

happens when you share 

the same experience. 

For more information about 

Relay For Life or to join an 

event near you, visit 

www.cancer.org/RelayNYNJ 

or call 1.800.ACS.2345. 

Paint the Town Purple in 

celebration of Relay For Life on 

May 1, May Day For Relay. 

1.800.ACS.2345 

www.cancer.org/relayNYNJ 

Let us know what’s 

on your mind. 

Write to us at 

letters@ 

reporter.am



Holy Week to be observed at St. Vartan Cathedral April 5-12 

Calendar of Events 

NEW YORK – St. Vartan Armenian 

Cathedral will observe Holy 

Week, April 5 through 12, with a 

series of special services, culminating 

in the Easter Sunday celebration 

on April 12. Holy Week is the 

commemoration of the dramatic 

events leading to what the church 

teaches was the resurrection of Jesus 

Christ, his victory over death, 

and the redemption of humanity 

and the fallen world. The Armenian 

Church re-enacts these episodes in 

the days leading up to Easter. What 

follows is a brief schedule of Holy 

Week events: 

Palm Sunday – the commemoration 

of Jesus’ triumphal entry 

into Jerusalem – falls on April 5. 

Very Rev. Fr. Haigazoun Najarian, 

Diocesan Vicar, will be the 

celebrant for the services, which 

will begin with a morning service 

at 9:30 a.m., and will continue with 

the Divine Liturgy at 10:30 a.m. 

The Turun-Patzek or “Door-Opening” 

Service will be held after the 

Divine Liturgy. 

April 9 is Great and Holy Thursday, 

and the day’s services memorialize 

the Last Supper, Jesus’ vigil 

in the Garden of Gethsemane, his 

arrest, and his trial. Two separate 

services will be celebrated on this 

day. In the morning, the Divine Liturgy, 

beginning at 11:00 a.m., will 

be celebrated by Rev. Fr. Mardiros 

Chevian, dean of St. Vartan Cathedral. 

This will be followed by a 

luncheon. 

In the evening, the “Washing 

of the Feet” ceremony will start at 

7:00 p.m., with the Khavaroom or 

vigil service following at 8:30 p.m. 

Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, 

Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian 

Church of America, will officiate. 

During the Washing of Feet 

ceremony, twelve individuals will 

serve as surrogates for the apostles. 

This year, in recognition of the 40th 

anniversary of the consecration of 

St. Vartan Cathedral, six children 

who were baptized in the cathedral 

during the 40th anniversary year 

and their fathers will participate as 

the twelve apostles. 

The crucifixion and death of 

Christ will be observed on April 

10 – Great and Holy Friday – and 

again two services will occur. The 

Order of the Crucifixion of Christ 

will begin at noon. This will be a 

short service enabling working 

people in Manhattan to attend, and 

it will be followed by a luncheon in 

the Diocesan Complex’s Yerevan 

Room. 

That same evening, at 7:30 p.m., 

the Order of the Entombment of 

the Lord, or Taghoom service, will 

take place. 

On Great and Holy Saturday, 

April 11, the Divine Liturgy will be 

preceded by a scripture-reading 

ceremony at 6:30 p.m. Easter Eve 

Liturgy will begin at 7:00 p.m., celebrated 

by Archbishop Yeghishe 

Gizirian. The St. Vartan Cathedral 

Adult and Youth Choir, under the 

direction of Khoren Mekanejian, 

will sing the liturgy. (The St. Vartan 

Cathedral Youth Choir is made 

up of students from the Diocesan 

Khrimian Lyceum, and Diocesan 

Armenian Saturday schools of 

New York and New Jersey.) Students 

of the Diocesan Khrimian 

Lyceum will also provide the Scripture 

readings. A reception will follow 

the services. 

The drama of Holy Week will culminate 

on Easter Sunday, April 12. 

Easter is the central holy day of the 

Christian calendar, and commemorates 

the discovery of Christ’s 

empty tomb and the news of his 

glorious resurrection. Matins will 

begin at 9:30 a.m. The Divine Liturgy 

will begin at 10:30 a.m. Archbishop 

Barsamian, Primate of the 

Diocese of the Armenian Church of 

America, will celebrate the liturgy 

and deliver the homily. The St. Vartan 

Cathedral Choirs will sing the 

Divine Liturgy under the direction 

of Mr. Mekanejian. Florence Avakian 

will accompany on the organ. 

Immediately following the service, 

the traditional Antasdan ceremony, 

or “Blessing of the Fields,” 

will be conducted on the cathedral 

plaza. This will be followed by the 

release of doves ceremony on the 

cathedral plaza. 

An Easter reception and program 

will follow the services, in Haik and 

Alice Kavookjian Auditorium. The 

reception will include a home-blessing 

service, and the recognition of 

the various names associated with 

the holiday. The reception is free 

and open to the public. 

St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral 

is located at 630 Second Avenue 

(corner of 34th Street) in New York 

City. 

 

connect: 

1-212-686-0710 

New York 

APRIL 2 - The Armenian Students 

Association and the 

Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information 

Center will host “Art 

Appreciation 101: The Value of 

Art” on Thursday, 2009 from 

7:30 pm – 10:00 pm. Aileen Agopian, 

Taleen Aynilian and Ani 

Boyajian will speak as part of 

a dynamic panel on art and its 

value. A wine and cheese reception 

will follow. This event will 

take place in G-Hall of the Diocesan 

Complex, located at 630 

Second Avenue, New York, NY. 

For more information, please 

email asazohrab@gmail.com or 

call 212.686.0710. 

APRIL 3 - HEALTH PROFES- 

SIONALS GET TOGETHER 

sponsored by AAHPO at the 

Armenian Society, 39-03 Little 

Neck Parkway, Little Neck, 

Queens (718) 423-8086. FRIDAY, 

Dinner - 7:30 p.m.; Presentations 

- 8:30 p.m. by Simon Ovanesian 

M.D. and Lawrence Najarian 

M.D.; Dinner is $30; cash 

bar is available. Kindly R.S.V.P. 

by Monday March 23 to Dr. 

Knarig, Khatchadourian at (201) 

444-0390, Dr. Garbis Baydar at 

(201 262-3018) or Dr. Arthur Kubikian 

at (718) 786-3842). 

APRIL 4 - “A Passion and a 

Purpose: A Tribute to Berc Araz” 

gala banquet will take place 

on Saturday, April 4 at the St. 

Vartan Armenian Cathedral 

Complex located at 630 Second 

Avenue (at 35th Street) in 

New York City. Reception is at 

7:00 pm and the Tribute Banquet 

and Program will begin at 

8:00 pm. For more information, 

contact Adrine Abdo at (973) 

761-1544, Arto Khrimian at 

(718) 937-7660, or Zakar Dikme 

at (646) 387-6512. 

APRIL 16 - QUARTERLY FO- 

RUM SERIES - Remembering 

the Forgotten: The Untold 

Story of Clergymen Lost to the 

Genocide. The second forum 

features Yeretzgeen Joanna 

Baghsarian’s remarkable story 

of how a group of her students 

took a proactive role in remembering 

these forgotten martyrs. 

There is no charge for the evening, 

but RSVP is requested 

by email to events@armenianprelacy.org 

or by telephone at 

212-689-7810. 

APRIL 16 - Symposium on 

Preventing Genocide Through 

Dialogue Thursday, 7:00 P.M. 

Fordham Law School, Amphitheater, 

140 W. 62nd St, NYC. 

Admission: $12. AASSSG 2009 

Honoree, Andrew H. Tarsy, 

Awards given to Krieger Essay 

Contest winners. visit www. 

meaningfulworld.com, e-mail 

kalayjiana@aol.comor call 201 

941-2266. 

APRIL 18 - “Hello Ellis Island” 

Musical entertainment by “The 

Way We Were” about Armenians 

coming to USA in 1920. 8PM in 

the Auditorium of Armenian 

Church of the Holy Martyrs 209- 

15 Horace Harding Expwy in 

Bayside. Adults $20 – Children 

$10 under age 12. Refreshments 

following the performance. For 

tickets call the church office at 

718-225-0235 or Lolita Babikian 

at 347-742-4015. 

APRIL 30 - The Zohrab Center 

Film Series will view the 

comedy/drama “Big Story in a 

Small City,” on Thursday, at 7:00 

pm. Wine and cheese will be 

served following the film. Suggested 

donation is $5. For more 

information, please email ZC- 

FilmSeries@gmail.com or call 

212.686.0710. The Krikor and 

Clara Zohrab Information Center 

is located at 630 Second Avenue 

(at 34th street) New York, 

New York. 

MAY 3 - 32nd Annual Gala Dinner-Dance. 

St. Illuminator’s Armenian 

Day School, Friday, 7:30 

p.m. at the Armenian Center 69- 

23 47th Ave. Woodside, NY. For 

information call 718-478-4073. 

MAY 15 - 1st Annual Cocktail 

Reception at the Pratt House, 

NYC. Hosted by the Armenian 

Medical Fund. $125. For information 

call Nancy Zoraian, 908- 

233-7279 

MAY 16- HMADS GALA DIN- 

NER DANCE hosted by the 

“Friends” at Russo’s on the Bay, 

featuring Addis Harmandian 

and his Band. Cocktails 7:30 

pm. Dinner 9:00 pm. Donation: 

$ 150. For Reservations please 

call, school office: (718) 225 4826, 

Negdar Arukian: (718) 423 4813. 

MAY 16 - SAVE THE DATE! 

60TH ANNIVERSARY DINNER 

DANCE OF THE NEW YORK 

ARMENIAN HOME, Flushing, 

NY. Celebration to be held at 

Harbor Links Golf Course, Port 

Washington, NY. Featuring Varoujan 

Vartanian and Antranig 

Armenian Dance Ensemble. 

Details to follow or call NYAH, 

(718) 461-1504 

New Jersey 

NOVEMBER 15 - “ONE NA- 

TION, ONE CULTURE” A 

Cultural Festival organized 

by Hamazkayin Eastern USA 

Regional Executive, Featuring 

Alla Levonian from Armenia 

and Babin Boghosian & Ensemble 

from Los Angeles, With 

the participation of Antranig 

Dance Ensemble of AGBU, 

Akh’tamar Dance Ensemble of 

St. Thomas Armenian Church, 

Yeraz Dance Ensemble of St. 

Sarkis Church, NJ Hamazkayin 

Nayiri Dance Group & 

Arekag Children’s Choir & Dhol 

Group. SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 

15, 2009. 4pm. Felician College 

Lodi, New Jersey. Donation: 

$75, $50, $35, $25. For more 

information or tickets please 

contact: Hamazkayin @ 201- 

945-8992 or Paradon2009@ 

gmail.com 

, Connecticut 

JANUARY 1 - MARCH 1 

- EXHIBIT - “WINDOW TO 

THE EXOTIC” by HOVSEP 

PUSHMAN. Featuring 8 important 

master works from 

a private collection. Abby M. 

Taylor fine Art, 43 Greenwich, 

CT. For more info. call (203) 

622-0906 or visit amtfine.art. 

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Thousands mourn passing of beloved pastor 

Vartan Kassabian 

by Tom Vartabedian 

PROVIDENCE – Only the good 

die young. 

It is this tenet for which Der Vartan 

Kassabian will be remembered 

in a world he refined and consecrated 

over the past 51 years. 

Condolences poured into New 

England from across the country 

and abroad for the beloved pastor 

who served his church for 17 years 

before climbing a stairway to paradise. 

Der Vartan succumbed on March 

12 after being stricken at his home 

in Methuen, Mass., from complications 

due to a blood clot, marking 

the first time in the 50-year history 

of the Prelacy a priest so young has 

died. 

Only a week before, he had undergone 

surgery for a broken ankle 

suffered in a fall; it required two 

pins. Despite the ordeal, his spirits 

remained unbroken. He showed up 

days later in a wheelchair to deliver 

a sermon at St. Gregory Church in 

North Andover, Mass., his parish 

the last six years. 

Despite the anguish, he also 

traveled to another community 20 

miles away to preside over a funeral 

and deliver the eulogy. 

The last photo taken showed 

Der Vartan in his element, giving 

a homily straight from the gut with 

his hand gesticulating in the air. 

A second photo showed him surrounded 

by schoolchildren holding 

a “get well” sign and other messages 

of love. 

More than anything, he enjoyed 

preaching to the younger generation 

the last Sunday of every month. 

If a student impressed him with an 

answer, he would quip, “Son, you’re 

Der Hayr material.” 

No badarak was complete thanks 

to all those who served on the altar 

– from the deacons to the choir 

members and organist. And always 

words of this nature. 

“Folks, every day you wake up 

and your feet hit the floor, consider 

it a blessing.” 

One of the very last sermons 

which flowed throughout the sanctuary 

was “a spiritual housecleaning” 

in which he spoke of inner 

peace amid outward strife in a society 

bereft of turmoil. 

His death was premature, given 

the breadth and scope of his constant 

mission. Der Vartan was preparing 

for Easter, a rash of April 

24th commemorations, and a summer 

of brisk activity in his native 

city of Providence, which will host 

the Homenetmen Games as well as 

the AYF Olympics in which 19-yearold 

son Mgo would be competing. 

“Everyone thought my husband 

would become an embalmer or a 

dentist but deep down inside, he 

knew he wanted to be a priest,” said 

his wife Pauline. “You’re talking 

about a good Catholic girl. My life 

gradually changed. He’s right there 

in Heaven working to make the Diocese 

and Prelacy one church.” 

Memories of Markar Kassabian 

as a priest wanna-be continue to 

resonate, from the time he played 

church before his grandmother and 

walked the streets of Providence 

with a Walkman to his ear, listening 

to a Badarak tape. He never 

hesitated to emulate a priest whenever 

the occasion arose at a public 

gathering. 

“For the 25 years I have known 

my husband, never in my life did I 

imagine a family life like this,” she 

added. “We’ve had more aunts and 

uncles than anyone else.” 

Clergy gather to pay final respects to Der Vartan Kassabian at North Burial Grounds in Providence. 

The church of St. Gregory in 

North Andover was standing room 

only as mourners filed in from 

throughout New England. Standing 

in the rear, dressed in regalia, were 

members of the Arakadz Lodge of 

Merrimack Valley. 

Der Vartan was serving as “asbed” 

or commander of the Knights 

of Vartan, an untypical role for any 

cleric, and would have attended the 

national convention in Boston this 

July. Also on his docket was a return 

trip to Armenia in June. 

A host of clergy from both sides 

of the church joined in the memorial 

service which brought a stirring 

message from Archbishop 

Oshagan Choloyan, Prelate and 

personal friend of the deceased. 

“He used to call and say how he 

used to pray for me,” Serpazan 

brought out. “Today, I am praying 

for him. He was a good shepherd 

who devoted his mind and body to 

his flock. You not only lost a priest 

but a father who baptized your 

children, married your sons and 

daughters, and eulogized your departed 

ones.” 

Looking into the casket as if 

conversing with the deceased, the 

prelate held back his tears and described 

“an immaculate life” while 

speaking in Armenian. 

“You made us a better population 

through your service to God and 

country,” he said. “Rest assured, we 

will continue to preserve the church 

in a way you have manifested.” 

An hour later, the casket was on 

its way to Providence for yet another 

committal service, making a second 

wake the same day that much 

more burdensome for the family. 

The next day, mourners began 

filling the pews of Sts. Vartanantz 

Church an hour before the funeral. 

Once again, Archbishop Choloyan 

focused on the impact Der Vartan 

had upon the entire Prelacy family. 

In each of the three eulogies, a different 

text was offered. 

“Providence was the boyhood of 

his life – from the heroes to the 

martyrs to the virtues of our families,” 

the prelate again noted. “He’s 

come back home, to the altar he 

Funeral services for Der Vartan Kassabian took place at Sts. Vartanantz Church 

in Providence. 

once served – 17 years after his ordination.” 

The funeral liturgy was celebrated 

by Bishop Anoushavan Tanielian, 

vicar general, who was surrounded 

by Der Vartan’s clergy brothers. 

From there, the entourage of 100- 

plus cars made its way to nearby 

North Burial Grounds where police 

closed off the interstate and three 

entrances to Route 95. 

A memorial luncheon filled to 

capacity took place at West Valley 

Inn, West Warwick, where more 

tributes were rendered by clergy, 

family, and friends. 

“It was a year ago when I broke 

the news to Der Vartan that I was 

to become his successor in Granite 

City,” said Der Stepan Baljian, 

referring to the Illinois parish near 

St. Louis, Mo. “He broke out in a 

wide smile and offered his ultimate 

support. It was a wonderful way to 

begin my ministry. The new edifice 

he helped build there is now his 

memorial. I was a young boy when 

I watched him become ordained in 

1992. It was then that I decided to 

walk in his footsteps.” 

Der Vartan was born in Providence, 

Dec. 17, 1957, son of the late 

Rose (Postoian) and Vahan Kassabian. 

He graduated from Hope High 

School and attended Rhode Island 

College and Providence College 

where he studied theology and religion. 

He completed his studies in Armenian 

church history and liturgies 

at the Armenian Theological 

Seminary in Antelias, Lebanon, after 

which he was ordained into the 

priesthood on July 26, 1992, by the 

late Archbishop Mesrob Ashjian, 

a relative. 

Der Vartan spent his first 11 

years as priest at St. Gregory the 

Illuminator Church in Granite City, 

where he spearheaded plans for a 

new $1.3 million church over eight 

acres before coming to North Andover 

in 2003. 

Prior to his ordination, he served 

as a deacon at St. Asdvadzadzin 

Church in Whitinsville, Mass., and 

was employed at Rhode Island Hospital. 

Another highlight was the baptism 

of 500 children in Armenia in 

2001 during the 1700th anniversary 

of the adoption of Christianity 

in the homeland. 

Upon his arrival in both communities, 

no time was wasted before 

getting acquainted with Greek and 

Russian churches in the area as 

well as the local clergy association. 

One of his favorite haunts was the 

local donut shop where he would 

regale friends with wild and wooly 

stories. 

On the lighter side, you’d often 

catch him watching a “Three Stooges” 

comedy as a rabid fan of Larry, 

Mo, and Curley, claiming there was 

nothing better than a good oldfashioned 

belly laugh. 

His philosophy never changed. 

“If you love what you do, you never 

work a day in your life. When 

you do something with love and devotion 

to help and nurture others, 

it’s not considered work. All that 

you do in your life for others is part 

of the mortgage or rent you pay for 

the time you occupy in this world.” 

His door never carried a lock. 

Besides his wife, the former Pauline 

Bergreen, he leaves three children, 

Scott Gauvin and his wife 

Continued on page 15



A moment frozen in time 

by Tom Vartabedian 

HAVERHILL – It was a cold 

winter’s day as the snow whipped 

across the Hannah Duston Nursing 

Home, where my mother occupies 

a room. 

In walked a man wearing a clerical 

collar, dressed more appropriately 

for spring. He approached the 

desk, signed a guest book and gave 

the receptionist a warm greeting. 

“Nice day, isn’t it?” he smiled. 

Every day was a nice day in the 

life of this priest, even in the throes 

of a nor’easter. 

He slowly made his way up an 

incline to the dormitory, bent on 

bringing some cheer and spirituality 

to the infirm. Not that this 

wasn’t part of his job, mind you. 

But quite often, the mission goes 

above the call when you’re a cleric. 

There are four Armenians inside 

this nursing home and prior to his 

ministry at St. Gregory Church 

in North Andover, they were all 

strangers waiting to become his 

friends. 

The first was a prominent attorney 

who practiced law in this 

city for 50 years. The Alzheimer’s 

he contracted permeated a gifted 

mind. Each visit with the man became 

a newfound experience. 

Communion was administered 

with a prayer, along with a warm 

embrace. The fact he belonged to 

a different church made no difference. 

Next came a visit to a woman 

who was relatively bed bound, notable 

for being a one-time organist 

inside an Armenian Protestant 

Church for many decades. They 

chatted briefly, smiled at an anecdote, 

then out came another communion 

host. 

The third Armenian happened to 

be a remote churchgoer, somewhat 

outspoken about spiritual life, but 

of good mind and spirit. The fact 

she was being visited by a Der Hayr 

from any church brought little 

sanctity until his departure. 

She couldn’t wait for the next call. 

It is often that way when you are 

widowed and alone with no known 

relatives and few, if any, friends on 

call. 

“When all seems lost, he truly 

made me feel like life was worth living,” 

the woman often told others. 

Last on the list was a visitation 

with the only remaining Genocide 

survivor in Haverhill, my mother 

– a true-blooded 97-year-old Armenian 

Catholic who looked no other 

way for spiritual fulfillment. 

“Good morning, Jenny,” chirped 

the priest. “I hope you’re having a 

good day because if you’re not, how 

could my day be any better?” 

“I’m having a better day now that 

you’re here,” she told the Der Hayr. 

“I hope you brought God with you.” 

“He’s right beside both of us,” said 

the priest. “Time for a prayer.” 

Another sacred host was removed 

and the two held hands, 

reciting the Hayr Mer as others 

curiously looked their way. The 

television showed some devastating 

murder scene in the Midwest. 

A nurse was preparing for an inoculation. 

Someone had tripped an 

alarm while attempting to leave a 

wheelchair. 

But the power of prayer was a 

powerful message to overcome as 

the words resonated throughout 

the room. And then came the usual 

smile as Der Hayr saved the best 

for last – the kicker as he would 

put it. Some levity in a dire situation. 

“Growing old is an art,” he told my 

mother one day. “And you handle it 

very well.” 

They got to be good “old” friends 

over these past three years with the 

periodical visits – until the end. I 

would have preferred a death sentence 

to the news I was about to 

deliver. 

“Mom, you know that priest who 

used to come and give you communion? 

He won’t be coming to see 

you anymore. Well ... he died. He’s 

with God.” 

A tear filled her eye and trickled 

down her somber face. 

“Why didn’t He take me instead?” 

she said. “He was a good man. 

“Der Vartan was a good man.” 

To the churches he pastored and 

the people he served, to his beloved 

Prelacy and the nation he so gallantly 

worshipped, the family he 

leaves behind, Der Vartan didn’t 

die. Far from it. 

He just got a promotion. 

Mgo Kassabian makes the sign of the cross on his dad’s casket. 

Thousands mourn passing of beloved pastor Vartan Kassabian 


Joanna; Susan and her husband 

Adam DeWilde, all of Springfield, 

Ill., and Megerdich Kassabian, 

Methuen, an ordained stole-bearer 

and former North Andover AYF 

president, now attending Middlesex 

Community College. 

Other survivors include two 

granddaughters, Grace and Gabriella 

; a sister, Roxanne Kassabian, 

Providence, and several Rhode Island 

cousins. 

Der Vartan was a member of the 

AYF Providence “Varantian” Chapter 

and the ARF Kristapor Gomideh. 

He had held various executive 

positions in these organizations. 

“He made me feel special and 

everyone else besides,” said Der 

Gomidas Baghsarian, pastor, Sts. 

Vartanantz Church. “I went into 

church after everyone left and sat 

beside the coffin – just me and him 

– and felt the presence of God by 

my side.” 

Others offering condolences 

were Der Aram Stepanian, Der 

Antranig Baljian, and Der 

Vasken Bekiarian, who will serve 

as a temporary replacement with 

Bishop Anoushavan. 

May he rest in peace with God 

above. 

Personal reflections on 

Der Vartan 

“Der Vartan was our modern-day 

Khrimian Hairig. His standards 

were high and those around him 

rose to those standards, touched 

by his example. Despite his chronological 

age (51), he was part of an 

antecedent generation that was 

truly out of this world. During the 

week at Camp Hayastan, he regaled 

us with exciting and absurd tales 

from the revolution, Hunchagian 

family episodes included, only to 

return on Sundays to preside over 

Badarak in the Chapel of Nature.” 

Lucine (Kasbarian) Boyajian, 

Teaneck, N.J. 

 

“As a young man, he used to visit 

my father at the Armenian Cultural 

and Education Center and 

chat for hours. Back then, he was 

working behind the counter of the 

agoump on Bigelow Avenue making 

the best kheyma and entertaining 

younger AYFers. That same 

person would then join me and my 

friends and together, we would all 

laugh and carry on as the young 

bucks that we were. I can’t think 

of another person who could hold 

court with Enoch Lachinian, then 

hang out with Enoch’s son and feel 

comfortable in both worlds. That’s 

a testament to the breadth of his 

innate people skills.” 

Garo Lachinian, 

Watertown, Mass. 

 

“Many years ago, Mal Varadian 

spotted Markar Kassabian outside 

a cemetery and offered him a ride. 

He asked about his future and the 

young man said he had this crazy 

idea of becoming a priest. Mal proceeded 

to give him some added motivation 

and thus began a career as 

Der Vartan, one of the most charismatic 

and uplifting clergymen that 

ever existed. We all watched this 

native son of Providence become 

ordained. The man followed his 

dreams and became an iconic gem 

of the human race.” 

Steve Elmasian, 

Providence 

 

“We’re all poorer because of his 

death and richer for having felt his 

love and friendship.” 

Marty Shoushanian, 

Detroit 

 

“I grew up in Rhode Island and 

cannot remember a time when I 

didn’t know Der Vartan. His uncle’s 

store was directly behind my grandparents’ 

house and I recall him always 

joking with my grandfather. 

I knew him in the AYF, though I 

was 7 years younger, and remember 

him offering prayers at camp and 

Junior Seminar when no priest was 

there.” 

George Aghjayan, 

Worcester, Mass. 

 

“Der Vartan filled all roles with 

capability, credibility and caring 

worthy of the highest praise. He 

was always in contact with his 

flock, whether in Rhode Island, 

Granite City, North Andover 

and anywhere else he visited. He 

paved the way for countless others 

to enter the Holy Kingdom 

with honor, spirituality and a 

sense of peace which only a very 

few could provide. I’ll never forget 

the beautiful words he rendered 

during my own mother’s 

funeral (Zabel) a month before 

his.” 

Michael Varadian, 

Norwood, Mass. 

PT ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT 

FOR NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION 

Looking for bright, mature, multi-lingual (Armenian/French/English) 

individualwho is well organized and pays attention to detail. 

Must be computer savvy and have strong planning and problem 

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Potential for advancement to FT Administrative Assistant. 

Contact the Armenian American Health Professional Organization (AAHPO) 

at 201-546-6166 or info@aahpo.org. 

 

“I am really sad for losing my Der 

Hayr. God made the world. God 

made the people. I hope God does 

not take anyone else away that I 

love. He was the greatest priest of 

all.” 

Drtad Hazarvartian, 7 ½, 

North Andover, Mass. 

 

“Der Vartan encouraged me 

to read the Bible. He gave me 

strength, enlightenment, hope 

and love, like a second father. I 

shall always remember him for 

his sense of humor, passion and 

friendship. I am also considering 

a life of the church in his memory 

and that of my grandmother Isabelle 

Varadian.” 

Melkon Megerdichian, 

Providence 

 

“When my wife Susan was undergoing 

surgery this month, Der 

Vartan was beside her in prayer, 

always optimistic toward a successful 

outcome. It was his faith, 

love, and genuine caring during 

the final phase of his life that 

pulled us through our ordeal successfully.” 

John Kulunjian, board chairperson, 

St. Gregory Church, 


 

“The legacy of one so prominent 

as Der Vartan’s is to carry on all 

those qualities he brought to his 

daily life and the mission he valued 

so dearly.” 

Jack Mardoian, chairperson, 

Prelacy’s Executive Council 

 

“Growing up, I remembered how 

Der Vartan would walk along listening 

to the Badarak on his Walkman. 

The man had a vision and he fulfilled 

it. When he came into a room, he 

brought the sunshine with him.” 

Kenny Topalian, Providence 

 

“He brought our community in 

Portland, Maine, together, during his 

many visits. We don’t have a church. 

Der Vartan kept us connected to our 

spiritual traditions and made our Armenian 

Christmas celebrations that 

much more meaningful.” 

Jirair Kiladjian, president, Armenian 

Cultural Association of Maine 

 

“During a Ghevontiantz celebration 

in Springfield a decade ago, he 

told our priests how you can kill 

the body, but not the spirit. Even 

in death, it is that spirit that will 

continue to guide us all to future 

prosperity.” 

Deacon Avedis Garavanian, 


 

“Der Vartan’s sense of humor was 

unprecedented. I’m waiting for him 

to jump out of his casket and tell us 

all that this was a big joke.” 

Steve Mesrobian, 

Framingham, Mass.



Armenia is a homeland for the Assyrians 

They preserve their 

language, religion, 

and traditions here 

by Tatul Hakobyan 

VERIN DVIN, Ararat province, 

Armenia – On April 1 Assyrians 

throughout the world celebrate the 

New Year. The Assyrians have been 

celebrating this holiday for centuries 

and continue to do so today. 

When the Euphrates and Tigris 

overflow, the mighty god Marduk 

fights and defeats Tiamat, the god 

of the seas and waters. The Assyrians 

lost their statehood over 26 

centuries ago, but they have not 

lost their traditions, language, and 

the Christian religion they came to 

adopt. 

In Armenia very few people know 

that they are living alongside one 

of the oldest nations in the world, 

the Assyrians. They were the first 

to adopt Christianity in the world. 

The largest Assyrian community 

in Armenia is in Verin Dvin village, 

which is 40 kilometers away from 

Yerevan. When you walk through 

the streets of Verin Dvin, it seems 

as if you are in Assyria; everyone 

speaks Assyrian. 

In reality, the Assyrians lost 

their statehood in 605 B.C. The 

magnificent era of this Semitic 

nation, scattered throughout the 

world, is long past. Today they are 

one of the nations in the world 

deprived of a homeland. Until the 

restoration of the Assyria of their 

dreams, those Assyrians living in 

Armenia consider this to be their 

homeland. 

Aida Lazaeva is the director of 

Pushkin School in Verin Dvin. She 

says that she is a representative 

of the communist and democratic 

generation. The surnames of the 

Assyrians in Armenia mainly end 

with “ev” or “ov,” which is specific 

to Russian. 

Students studying the Assyrian language in school. Photos: Tatul Hakobyan for 

the Armenian Reporter. 

“During the Soviet years they did 

not talk about us and we had forgotten 

who we were. We studied 

in Russian schools, were educated 

in the Russian spirit, and thought 

that our homeland was the Soviet 

Union. Only at the end of the 1980s 

did the period of asking ‘who is who’ 

began. At that time we realized 

that we were Assyrians, we lived 

in Armenia, and Armenia was our 

homeland. As a national minority, 

we feel very good in Armenia; we 

do not feel like foreigners here. We 

have always been with our Armenian 

brothers. If Assyrians move 

from Armenia to Ukraine and Russia, 

it is only because of social conditions, 

just like the Armenians. We 

will have our own homeland, but 

until we do, Armenia is our homeland,” 

says Ms. Lazareva. 

According to the census at the 

end of the Soviet Union in 1989, 

the number of Assyrians in Armenia 

was about 7,000. Today their 

number is about 5,000. Apart from 

in Verin Dvin, Assyrians also reside 

in the Dimitrov village in Ararat 

province, Arzni village in Kotayk 

province, Nor Artagers village in 

Armavir province, and Yerevan. 

The Assyrians residing in Armenia 

mainly came from the Urmia 

region in neighboring Iran in the 

1820s. Even today thousands of Assyrians 

live in Urmia. The Assyrians 

in Armenia maintain good contact 

with them. There is also a large Assyrian 

community in Mosul, Iraq. 

However, the Assyrians in Armenia 

have almost no contact with that 

community. 

Lyudmila Petrova is the head 

of the Verin Dvin village. Just as in 

the rest of the villages in the Ararat 

valley, people here are occupied in 

agriculture. Everything is ecologically 

cleaner here, since the irrigation 

water of Verin Dvin is potable 

and comes from Garni. Apart from 

that, the geographic location of the 

village is favorable; frost is very 

rare here. 

“Verin Dvin is the largest Assyrian 

community in Armenia. The number 

of the residents of the village is 

2,702, more than 2,000 of whom are 

Assyrians. The rest are Armenians, 

Germans, some Yezdis, and Russians, 

who have married Assyrians. 

We are free in terms of preserving 

our national identity. We have not 

felt any obstacles from Armenia’s 

government or people. As the head 

of the community I have to note 

with pain, but at the same time I do 

understand that there is no other 

solution: yes the Assyrians do integrate, 

they marry Armenians and 

mix. The preservation of our national 

identity seems to be at risk. 

I say this with pain, but I am not 

saying that mixed marriages end 

in complaints and divorces. Strong 

families are created. Maybe faith 

plays a strong role. The traditions 

of Armenians and Assyrians are 

similar; they have been living side 

by side for more than 200 years,” 

says Mrs. Petrova. 

Assyria used to be in the territory 

of present-day Iraq. Every Assyrian 

recalls with pain that during the recent 

war in Iraq the Ashshurbanipal 

Museum and library were ruined. 

They were considered amongst the 

oldest in the world and Assyrian 

cultural heritage was almost entirely 

destroyed and looted. 

“I watched in pain how our historical 

and cultural heritage was 

being destroyed in Iraq. I sat in 

front of the television with tears in 

my eyes and watched how unique 

pieces were being carried out of 

Ashshurbanipal Museum,” says Ms. 

Lazareva. 

The school was established in 

1968. Until the 1990s it was Russian. 

Beginning in 1991 two tracks 

were established at the school: Russian 

and Armenian. There are 207 

pupils in the Russian track, where 

Assyrian and children from mixed 

families study, and 82 pupils in the 

Armenian track, where both Armenian 

and Assyrian children attend. 

“The teaching of the Assyrian 

language has a sound basis in this 

school and the Assyrian language 

and literature are taught according 

to the state curriculum. The schoolbooks 

are published by state funds. 

Assyrian is taught from grade one 

to 11. Assyrian is also taught in the 

Dimitrov and Arzni schools,” says 

Ms. Lazaeva. 

Together with other languages, 

Levon Ter-Petrossian, the first 

president of Armenia, also knew 

Assyrian. Moreover, he was considered 

one of the finest specialists 

in Assyrian in the world. Did that 

factor play a positive role in keeping 

the Assyrians in Armenia at the 

center of attention during the first 

president’s administration? 

“We did not feel any special attention, 

but we were proud that the 

first president’s dissertation was 

about Assyrian,” says the director 

of the school. 

It is evident that the second and 

third presidents of Armenia have 

not paid special attention to the Assyrian 

community, since the Verin 

Dvin School would not otherwise 

be in such a neglected and dangerous 

condition. There is hope that in 

2010 the school will be renovated 

through state funds. 

In Verin Dvin people are trilingual: 

Assyrian, Russian, and Armenian. 

It is true that the Armenian 

population of the village does not 

speak Assyrian very well, but they 

understand it. 

Simon Avidishoev’s family does 

not differentiate and speaks in all 

three languages in Verin Dvin. “My 

wife is Assyrian and my son’s wife 

is Armenian. My ancestors and I 

were born here and lived with Armenians,” 

he says. 

Mr. Avdishoev’s apartment is adjacent 

to the Assyrian church and 

he guards the church, which was 

constructed in 1828. “When our ancestors 

came they first constructed 

this church. Armenians also attend 

this church,” he says. 

There is no Armenian Church 

in Verin Dvin, but the Armenian 

residents of the village do not complain 

as they freely attend both of 

the Assyrian churches of the village. 

Moreover, the residents of neighboring 

Nerkin Dvin, which is composed 

of only Armenians, also attend 

Assyrian churches, where liturgy 

is conducted in Assyrian. The 

fact that both the Assyrians and 

Armenians are Christians is an important 

guarantor of their friendly 

neighboring relations. f 

iCON Communications launches next-generation Internet service 

n Continued from page 

the potential,” he explains. Mr. Kablanian 

came away with the understanding 

that WiMAX would be the 

most optimal technology to use in 

Armenia. “We looked at who could 

provide financing because this is a 

very heavy capital investment and 

we started trying to raise money beginning 

of last year. We found one 

very good strategic investor. This is 

their business; they deploy WiMAX 

throughout the rest of the world, 

and they’re very much interested in 

deploying their capital and expertise 

in Armenia, so it was a perfect 

match to what we wanted to accomplish. 

They are genuinely interested 

in developing the country and 

the region, so they have the same 

strategic vision. They looked at our 

business case and they became convinced 

that this is a good place to 

work and generate income. So there 

is money to be made. We are very 

optimistic,” Mr. Kablanian said. 

iCON Communications’ strategic 

partner is VTEL Holdings, a Dubaibased 

multinational holding company 

specializing in telecommunication 

networks. This partnership 

has allowed iCON to accelerate the 

rollout of its WiMAX network in Yerevan 

and the rest of the country. 

According to the company’s press 

release, Khaled Al-Amayreh, vice 

president CEE/CIS for VTEL holdings 

and President of iCON Communications, 

said, “We are thrilled 

Adam Kablanian and Tigran Sarkisian. 

to invest in and become part of the 

growing focus on technology in Armenia. 

We believe that VTEL’s experience 

in launching wireless-based 

businesses, combined with the 

strength of iCON’s seasoned management 

team and in-depth knowledge 

of the local market, will have 

a positive impact on the quality of 

Internet-based communications in 

Armenia.” 

Present at the launch ceremonies 

of iCON in Yerevan, Armenia’s 

Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian, 

according to ArmNews said: “Wireless 

Internet in Armenia became 

a reality. Moreover, in this sphere 

there is competition and we are 

sure that this competition will become 

stronger, and as a result, we 

the citizens will benefit, since we 

will have the opportunity to use 

quality services. This is one of the 

most important achievements in 

the sphere of modern technologies, 

due to which, auspicious conditions 

will be established for developing 

business. I want to thank the 

investors, who believed that one 

can run a profitable business and 

register achievements in Armenia. 

And I am sure that their example 

will be followed by other investors 

as well.” 

Indeed, the CEO of iCON believes 

that prices for Internet service will 

become more competitive. Currently 

there are two existing IP 

trunk lines (physical lines) that 

take all Internet traffic from Armenia 

to the rest of the world. Those 

lines run through Georgia, under 

the Black Sea and then on to Europe. 

“I know that a third company 

will be operational this year, which 

will create competition and the 

price will be competitive. So I think 

in the next two years, with our entrance 

[into the market] and others, 

the prices will steadily decrease,” 

Mr. Kablanian said. iCON connects 

to the broader Internet backbone 

via these two trunk lines (Armentel 

and Fibernet). 

The company estimates 80 percent 

of people in Armenia using the 

Internet are currently using dial-up. 

“My mission and the measure of our 

success will be converting those 

who use dial up to wireless Internet,” 

Mr. Kablanian says. 

While they acknowledge that 

their service is priced slightly 

higher than Beeline’s, it is still 

cheaper than other Internet providers. 

The need, according to the 

company’s CEO first and foremost 

is fast and reliable Internet. “We 

have come up with the best balance 

for feature, performance, 

and price,” he said. iCON now has 

Internet coverage in 80 percent 

of Yerevan. “We want to enhance 

Armenians’ experience with the 

Internet. Thereby we looked at all 

the barriers to see what we could 

remove to make it cost efficient 

for the home user,” he said. The 

company doesn’t charge for the 

modem; the connection fee has 

been significantly reduced to 

10,000 AMD (other companies 

charge two to three times more 

for connection fees); and customers 

get unlimited usage. 

The company also plans to launch 

Voice-over-IP (VoIP) services in 

the coming months, and has been 

granted 50,000 nationwide phone 

numbers by the Public Service Regulatory 

Commission of Armenia. 

“Our corporate philosophy is to leverage 

global standards of technical 

performance, customer service, 

and competitive pricing to become 

the connecting force between Armenians 

of all ages and the global 

community” Mr. Kablanian explained. 

The company promises to not 

only provide state of the art technology 

in Internet connectivity, but 

also first-rate customer service. f 

connect: 

www.icon.am



Not your typical Armenian family... 

The Hovsepyans 

are a testament to 

the strength of a 

mother’s love 

by Nyree Abrahamian 

The Hovsepyan family: Back: Hayrapet (26), Hrant (21), Hayk (16), Hakob (19), Anahit (28), Murad (21), Gayane (21). Front: 

Susan (19), Serob (11), Gurgen (11), Larissa, Linda (10), Ashot (10). Absent: Ruzan (38), Andranik (26). 

YEREVAN – In Yerevan, if you’re 

looking for anyone under the age of 

15 after school hours, chances are, 

you’ll find them in a bak. A bak is a 

courtyard/parking lot area usually 

shared by several apartment buildings. 

Walk through any bak and 

you’re sure to encounter children of 

all ages who live in the surrounding 

buildings playing tag, playing soccer, 

or up to some kind of mischief. 

The bak by St. Zoravar Church in 

central Yerevan is no different, except 

for one thing: most of the kids 

come from the same family. 

Meet the Hovespyan family. 

Mother, 67-year-old Larissa, 15 adopted 

children from all over the 

world, and six grandchildren. The 

Hovespyans’ notoriety extends 

well beyond their bak. Often featured 

in the media, Larissa and her 

multiethnic family have become 

something of a household name in 

Armenia. 

It all started in 1982. After having 

raised the child of a relative 

for several years, Larissa, who 

was widowed, decided to adopt a 

child. At the time, she explains, she 

was a filmmaker, and would often 

travel to different parts of the Soviet 

Union to make films. From 

Lithuania, she adopted her first 

child, whom she named Hayrapet, 

after her father. “At the time, 

there were very few orphanages in 

Armenia, because there were very 

few orphans,” she explains. “There 

wouldn’t be more than 10–20 abandoned 

children per year. Lithuania, 

which was also a small country with 

a population of only 3 million, had 

22 orphanages.” Hayrapet, who is 

of Russian origin, will be 27 in May. 

He is now married and has a family 

of his own. 

In 1984, she would adopt two 

more children from Lithuania: Andranik 

(26) and Anahit (28). Andranik 

is of Lithuanian origin and Anahit 

is believed to be of Karaim origin, 

although it is not know for certain. 

She was abandoned at Vilnius 

airport. Then came Ruzan (38), an 

Azerbaijani girl born in one of the 

Armenian villages that was densely 

populated with Azerbaijanis before 

the war broke out and the population 

exchange happened. 

By this time, the media was 

starting to take notice of Larissa 

and her ever-growing family. There 

were several articles written about 

her, and even a film commissioned 

by the central Soviet film bureau 

in 1988, and as a result, she became 

known throughout Yerevan. 

She became the unofficial mother 

to the troubled youth of the city. 

Many kids would come and stay 

with her for short periods of time. 

Soon after, Larissa tried to return 

to Lithuania to adopt the 

siblings of one of her adopted 

children, but by this time, Lithuania 

had already broken with the 

Soviet Union, and she was denied 

entry. Instead, she went to Minsk, 

the capital of Belarus, where she 

tried to adopt six children, but was 

only successful with three: Murad 

(Ukrainian), Hrant (Angolan), and 

Gayane (Ethiopian-Russian). All 

three are now 21 years old. 

Things were going well for the 

Hovsepyan family until the early 

years of Armenian independence. 

Of course, Larissa had her hands 

full with laundry, cooking, homework, 

and everything in between, 

but she liked it that way. 

“Under the Soviet Union, my 

family was considered a ‘family-orphanage,’” 

says the mother of 15. 

That meant that the state allotted 

them suitable housing, a minibus, 

furniture, and all the necessities. 

Plus, they had a teacher, a doctor, 

a driver, and a cook. In the early 

1990s, almost immediately after 

independence, the two properties 

that the government had provided 

for them became the property of 

city hall and were subsequently 

sold, leaving the Hovsepyan family 

homeless. “In those early years, 

when there was no electricity, we 

had moved temporarily to our driver’s 

house in the village,” says Larissa, 

“We came back to see that our 

home was sold off. We were put out 

on the street. Just like that.” 

While the family stayed with different 

friends, Larissa was on the 

lookout for a new home. In 1997, 

she found their current groundfloor 

apartment and realized that 

it was abandoned. So she moved 

her family in. Since it is legally 

state property, they were evicted 

on a few occasions, only to move 

back in as soon as they found an 

opportune chance. Since 1997, Larissa 

has been fighting the government 

and knocking on every door 

to obtain ownership of the property. 

“My father is from Mush and 

my mother is from Rostov,” she 

says with pride, “Both Mushetsis 

and Rostov Armenians are known 

for their strength. So you can say 

I have a strong base.” Finally, this 

March, after a 12-year struggle, she 

got the title deed. 

Over the years, Larissa would 

continue to adopt children and 

provide temporary care for anyone 

who needed it. Today though some 

of the older children have moved 

out and formed families of their 

own, the bak, kitchen, living room, 

and every nook and cranny of the 

Hovsepyan household are always 

filled with the lively voices of children. 

Three of her grandchildren 

now live with her as well. 

Of course, like any family, there 

are fights. “People expect my kids to 

be perfect, but we’re a family, aren’t 

we? Of course there are fights,” says 

Larissa. “The older ones pick on the 

younger ones, the younger ones 

try to get the older ones in trouble.” 

Hrant, who is playing video games 

in the corner, shakes his head and 

laughs. 

At 21, he has become a well-loved 

figure not only in his neighborhood, 

but all over the country. Hrant is a 

singer. Since he was a child, he has 

been bringing crowds to their feet 

with his renditions of Armenian 

folk songs, revolutionary songs, 

and the kind of music that gets 

people dancing. He is also part of 

an Armenian hip hop group called 

H.A.Y.Q., whose hit single, “Kami 

Pchi” was one of the biggest songs 

of summer 2007 in Armenia. He 

and sister Gayane, who also loves 

to sing but has other career ambitions, 

have even wowed audiences 

in Los Angeles. 

Hrant is known as the jokester 

of the family. He constantly has 

everyone in stitches. Last year, he 

completed his service in the Armenian 

military. He was the talk 

of the town – an Angolan, with an 

Armenian passport, serving in the 

Armenian military. “Where would 

that Armenian army be if it wasn’t 

for that Angolan with an Armenian 

passport…” he joked. 

Gayane is pursuing a career in 

tourism. She is currently studying 

tourism and hopes to work in 

the field as soon as possible. She is 

bright, friendly, and driven, and will 

no doubt succeed in the industry. 

As we chat, a ball hits the window 

from the bak, immediately followed 

by a scream of “Mama!” then “Dadik!” 

Somebody’s up to something 

again and a weary Mama/Dadik 

(grandmother) Larissa gets up to 

investigate. 

The Hovsepyan children are 

blessed with a happy home and the 

unconditional love of their mother, 

but financially, she does not have 

the means to support them. In the 

Republic of Armenia, there is no 

special provision for “family-orphanages” 

like there was in the Soviet 

Union, so the only support the 

government offers her is her meager 

pension and an unrealistically 

tiny allotment per month for each 

child. But this is not even enough 

for the basic necessities of food and 

clothing. 

Larissa used to wash clothes and 

do alterations for extra money, but 

her age no longer allows it. Most 

of the help the family receives is 

through individual donors, like 

Jirayr Hovespian of Los Angeles, 

who met the family 10 years 

ago, and immediately bonded with 

them because of their shared last 

name and the fact that back in Iran, 

between him and his cousins, he 

grew up in a household with 15 children 

too. He is currently visiting 

the family and hopes to prepare a 

segment on Larissa’s story for CNN 

Heroes. 

The family also has the backing 

of a few generous private enterprises, 

such as Ashtarak Kat, which 

supplies them with dairy products 

every week. Larissa, ever the negotiator, 

has also worked out a deal 

with the electrical company, so the 

company absorbs the cost of their 

enormously high electrical bill. 

The apartment, especially the 

bathroom, is in dire need of repair. 

With the help of a builder, Ashtarak 

Kat has taken the initial steps in 

compiling a breakdown of the renovations 

that are needed and their 

costs. They hope to present this list 

to different construction companies 

to see if each one can donate 

the supplies for at least one project. 

They are also setting up a website 

for anyone who wants to donate to 

the cause. 

Recently, Larissa was diagnosed 

with breast cancer. She cannot afford 

the pills or the treatment for 

her illness. As she speaks of it, her 

forehead creases with worry, but 

she quickly waves it off and adds 

wryly, “The good news is, the government 

has upped my pension by 

1,500 drams.” 

Many people have suggested 

that she turn her home into a 

certified orphanage or an NGO to 

receive more funding, but Larissa 

will hear nothing of it. “This is a 

family, not an orphanage. These are 

my children and I am their mother. 

Why should I deprive them of 

that?” Times are difficult, but Larissa 

is resolute. “I’ll find a way,” she 

says, with determination showing 

through her creased yet youthful 

eyes. “I always find a way.” f


Editorial 

Commentary 

the armenian 

reporter 

Local elections in Glendale 

There’s nothing new about Armenian-Americans running for – and winning – political 

office in the United States or in California, where an Armenian-American, George Deukmejian, 

has served as governor, no fewer than two Armenian-Americans – Anna Eshoo 

and Jackie Speier, now serve as U.S. representatives, and Armenian-Americans like Joe 

Simitian and Paul Krekorian serve in the state Senate and Assembly. Nor is there anything 

new about the Armenian-American vote as a factor in California elections. But local 

elections scheduled for April 7 may represent a new stage in Armenian-American voting, 

particularly in Glendale. 

At issue is an evolving definition of what it takes to win the Armenian-American vote. 

Our community has always wanted to see more Armenian-Americans in elected office, and 

has rightly supported Armenian-American candidates for office, often across party lines. 

It has never been an open-and-shut case, of course. Last year, when Dr. Jack Kevorkian 

initiated a long-shot campaign to win the U.S. House seat long occupied by Armenian Caucus 

co-chair Rep. Joe Knollenberg of Michigan, a champion of Armenian-American issues, 

this page and the community at large continued to give Mr. Knollenberg strong support in 

his reelection bid. In Glendale, so many Armenian-Americans ran for City Council last time, 

splitting the vote, that the Armenian-American presence on City Council actually declined. 

These episodes make it abundantly clear that Armenian-American political and civic organizations 

and voters must pick and choose. Armenian-American candidates cannot expect 

automatic broad community support. 

Meanwhile, candidates asking for Armenian-American support have emphasized their 

commitment to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Candidates for federal office 

have spoken about national affirmation of the Genocide, while candidates for state and 

local office have focused on recognition in their jurisdictions: state house resolutions and 

commemorations, and the inclusion of the Armenian Genocide in school curricula. On the 

federal level, support for Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh has been a major factor in winning 

the Armenian-American vote, and on the state level, trade missions to Armenia have 

had a similar place. 

In Glendale, where an estimated 40 percent of the population is of Armenian descent, the 

issues go beyond the traditional priorities. Will City Council members support more parks 

in South Glendale, where Armenian-Americans are concentrated? What will School Board 

members do to make it easier for new immigrants to succeed in school – from admission 

through graduation and beyond? Will the police, in their safety-promotion capacity, do 

more to reach out to recent Armenian immigrants? (There were four pedestrian fatalities in 

Glendale last year, and all four were Armenian-Americans.) 

It is right to broaden the definition of Armenian-American concerns in these ways in 

Glendale and beyond. In most cases, the issues are not specifically Armenian-American; 

they are concerns shared by immigrant groups. This fact provides opportunities for coalition-building 

in jurisdictions with an enormous Armenian-American presence and likewise 

in communities with smaller Armenian-American constituencies. 

In Glendale, the Armenian National Committee has endorsed two Armenian-American 

candidates for the three City Council seats to be filled. It has endorsed two candidates for the 

three School Board seats to be filled. It has thus wisely helped focus the community’s votes, 

while also leaving an opening: community members can engage in targeted voting and at the 

same time support an additional candidate who did not win the group’s endorsement. 

As a matter of policy, this page will not endorse candidates in these local elections. We do, 

however, urge our readers to go out and vote. The outcomes will have a real impact on their 

lives and that of their community. 

f 

Ross Vartian offers testimony to House subcommittee 

n Continued from page 

U.S. assistance include a substantial developmental 

component. This allocation would be a 

natural continuation of the existing U.S. program 

in Karabakh, and would also reinforce 

U.S. efforts to promote regional peace. 

Oft-stated U.S. goals for the South Caucasus 

include initiatives that promote regional 

peace, economic and democratic development, 

and ensure security against terrorist 

threats. U.S. assistance to NKR is a critically 

important contribution to regional peace. 

Such assistance corresponds to U.S. principles 

of fairness and non-exclusion. 

Through sound economic policies and tax 

incentives, NKR has, in recent years, begun 

to attract diversified foreign investment, allowing 

the war-ravaged economy to start its 

recovery and the public to benefit. However, 

many challenges remain, as NKR continues to 

be hampered by underdeveloped infrastructure. 

Karabakh is cut off from global sources 

of developmental aid due to the absence of 

international recognition. 

More ominously, Azerbaijan’s leaders continue 

to boast about their military build-up 

and periodically threaten to launch a new 

war against Karabakh. By providing assistance 

to NKR at robust levels, the U.S. has 

been successful in sending the right message 

to Azerbaijan and preserving regional peace. 

3. U.S. Military Assistance to Armenia 

USAPAC requests allocations of $4 million 

in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and $1 

million in International Military Education 

and Training (IMET) funds for Armenia. 

Armenia has responded admirably to U.S. 

calls for support in global non-proliferation, 

counterterrorism, and anti-drug trafficking 

efforts. Armenia has also joined Americanled 

forces in Kosovo and Iraq. U.S. leaders 

have repeatedly recognized Armenia’s security 

contributions in overflight rights, intelligence 

sharing and deployments of peacekeeping 

troops. 

Further, Armenia has significantly 

strengthened its relationship with NATO by 

finalizing and implementing an Individual 

Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) with the alliance; 

a follow-up IPAP is presently under 

discussion. These action plans seek to improve 

Armenia’s cooperation with NATO by 

promoting reforms in Armenia’s defense 

system, and expanding its participation in 

NATO missions and programs. 

USAPAC strongly believes that it is in the 

U.S. national interest to build upon this important 

area of cooperation with Armenia 

while ensuring that the delicate balance of 

power between Armenia and rapidly militarizing 

Azerbaijan is not disturbed. 

4. Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act 

/ No military aid to Azerbaijan 

USAPAC urges the Subcommittee to continue 

to vigorously monitor the conditional 

waiver of Section 907 to ensure the safety of 

Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh and to call 

on the President to submit to Congress the 

required waver report. 

Our organization also asks that the waiver 

be immediately terminated should the safety 

of Armenia or Nagorno Karabakh be challenged 

or the peace process be compromised 

due to any actions by Azerbaijan, as is required 

by law. 

Furthermore, considering the rapid military 

build-up in Azerbaijan – with relevant 

spending reaching $1.7 billion in 2008 and 

planned at similar levels in 2009 in violation 

of international arms control treaties and ignoring 

international calls for restraint – we 

propose that the U.S. discontinue military 

aid programs to Azerbaijan. 

Azerbaijan’s President, Ilham Aliyev, has 

repeatedly boasted of his country’s military 

expenditures and continues to threaten that 

he will launch another war should Azerbaijan’s 

demands not be met in the Karabakh 

negotiating process. Under these circumstances, 

it is inappropriate and destabilizing 

to continue to provide military aid to 

Azerbaijan via FMF, IMET, the Caspian Sea 

Initiative or any other program with direct 

military or dual uses. 

This approach in effect rewards and enables 

Azerbaijan in spite of its militarization 

and recurring threats to launch another attack. 

At the same time, zeroing out U.S. military 

assistance to Azerbaijan would send the 

right message to Azerbaijan that its current 

behavior is unacceptable and would help prevent 

the next South Caucasus war. 

5. Peace Process (the Nagorno Karabakh 

conflict) 

The war in Georgia last year showed how 

long-simmering and little-known conflicts in 

distant lands could bring the United States 

and other global players to the brink of an 

international crisis. 

USAPAC commends the Subcommittee’s efforts 

to advance a peaceful resolution of the 

Nagorno Karabakh conflict and for providing 

funding for regional projects and confidencebuilding 

measures among the involved parties, 

thus helping to preempt potential escalation. 

We are also encouraged by President Barack 

Obama’s pre-election pledge “to work for a 

lasting and durable settlement of the Nagorno 

Karabagh conflict that is agreeable to all 

parties, and based upon America’s founding 

commitment to the principles of democracy 

and self determination.” 

In furtherance of a settlement, USAPAC 

strongly urges that the Subcommittee support 

confidence-building measures that 

would include strengthening compliance 

with the cease-fire, studying post-conflict 

regional development such as landmine removal, 

water management, new transportation 

routes and infrastructure, establishing 

a youth exchange program and other collaborative 

and humanitarian initiatives to foster 

greater understanding among the parties 

and reduce hostilities. 

6. Conclusion 

On behalf of the Armenian-American 

community, USAPAC expresses our deep and 

sincere gratitude to Congress for its steadfast 

U.S. assistance and policy support in the 

South Caucasus generally and Armenia and 

Nagorno Karabakh specifically. 

U.S. assistance has deepened the mutually 

beneficial U.S.-Armenia and U.S.-Karabakh 

relationships. Such aid has clearly advanced 

ties based upon unshakable shared values 

and continuing bonds between the United 

States and Armenia. 

f 

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Commentary 

The issue of Javakhk is both political and national 

Arrests aim to intimidate 

Armenians 

by Tatul Hakobyan 

YEREVAN – Several issues are raised by 

the decision of the Tbilisi authorities to release 

on bail two Armenian activists from 

Akhaltsikhe, Georgia, Grigor Minasian and 

Sarkis Hakobjanian, who were accused of 

forming an illegal armed group and spying. 

Both Georgian-Armenians who are accused 

of this serious crime are well known and 

active individuals in Samtskhe-Javakheti. 

Grigor Minasian is now a former youth 

center director and Sarkis Hakobjanian 

heads a charity. 

The question remains: how accurate are the 

claims that they committed a serious crime 

such as spying? Regardless of what the two 

Armenians said during the investigation, 

the accusations have not been tried in open 

court. 

If Mr. Minasian and Mr. Hakobjanian have 

spied, which is a betrayal of their country, 

how come the judicial system of Georgia was 

so mild, and after keeping them behind bars 

for only six weeks allowed them out on bail 

for the symbolic amount of 2000 laries? In 

Armenia, as in Georgia, there have been several 

cases with accusations of spying over the 

past few years. In none of these cases, however, 

were the accused allowed out on bail. 

They were put behind bars for many years. 

Have Mr. Minasian and Mr. Hakobjanian 

been threatened during the investigation? 

Nino Andriashvili, the now former lawyer 

of the two Armenians, has announced that 

they have pleaded guilty of spying while under 

pressure. Have the power structures of 

Georgia threatened Mr. Minasian and Mr. 

Hakobjanian that their families would be in 

danger if they did not plead guilty? It is more 

incomprehensible when one of the conditions 

of bail for the two was that they should 

not talk to the media. 

What is ALAP? 

As long as Mr. Minasian and Mr. Hakobjanian 

are not talking, it is hard to completely 

understand the reasons behind their arrest. 

Those in the international media who have 

written about this case have drawn attention 

towards a NGO called Association for Legal 

Assistance to the Population, ALAP. 

Ms. Andriashvili has said that Mr. Minasian 

and Mr. Hakobjanian had discussed 

by Armen Hakobyan 

YEREVAN – One alliance and six political 

parties have submitted their lists of candidates 

for the 65 seats on the Yerevan City 

Council to the Central Electoral Commission 

(CEC). The election is slated for May 31. 

The biggest surprise by far was the announcement 

made by the Heritage Party, 

founded by Raffi Hovannisian, the only opposition 

party in parliament, that they have 

decided not to run in the election. 

The Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) is 

running 180 candidates for the 65 seats. (If 

someone declines to take a seat in the council 

or later resigns, the next person on the list 

takes the vacant seat. Thus the large number 

of candidates.) The top slot – reserved for 

the party’s choice for mayor – is occupied by 

Gagik Beglarian, who is the current mayor. 

The Armenian National Congress is running 

167 candidates, with former president Levon 

Ter-Petrossian in the lead spot. The Prosperous 

Armenia Party has 122 candidates, led by 

Health Minister Harutyun Kushkian. The 

Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) is 

running 51 candidates, with member of parliament 

Artsvik Minasian in the lead spot. The 

Country of Laws Party has nominated member 

of parliament Heghine Bisharian to head up 

their list of 74 candidates. Tigran Karapetian 

of the People’s Party leads his party’s list 

of 20 candidates. And the Armenian Labor- 

Socialist Party, with Movses Shahverdian in 

the lead, proposes 29 candidates. 

forming an armed group with the Tbilisi 

leader of ALAP and the discussions had been 

secretly videotaped. It is obvious that the 

taping was implemented either by the Georgian 

Special Services or by the representatives 

of ALAP who then handed it over to 

the Georgian Special Services. It is also not 

certain so far whether Mr. Minasian and Mr. 

Hakobjanian were arrested and accused because 

of questionnaires distributed by ALAP 

and completed by Mr. Minasian. 

Citing Ms. Andriashvili, Georgian and international 

media insist that ALAP is a Belorussian 

organization supported by Russian 

special services. According to another point 

of view, Georgian Special Forces themselves 

established ALAP in order to monitor the 

loyalty of certain Armenian circles toward 

Georgia. 

The method utilized by ALAP is very specific 

to special services. And so, for only a couple 

of months, ALAP opened its office and started 

aggressive and energetic activity in the center 

of Tbilisi, adjacent to Rustavelli Street, where 

the Georgian Justice Ministry is located. In 

autumn, ALAP uploaded a questionnaire 

about Samtskhe-Javakheti on its website, 

which no longer exists (the office of the organization 

has closed, the phones are dead, and 

e-mails are not answered), and promises to 

pay $300 to those who complete it. 

OSCE correspondent Taguhi Vardanian, 

the head of the Union of the Salvation of the 

Soul NGO in Ninotsmida, which is 98 percent 

Armenian populated, is one of those who 

completed the questionnaire and received 

$300. While talking to us she said that the 

questions on the questionnaire were very ordinary 

and in order to confirm that, she read 

them one by one. 

“Grigor and I completed the questionnaire 

and went to Tbilisi together and presented 

it to the ALAP office. There were some Georgians 

in their office who said that their headquarters 

were in Minsk. We met their representative, 

Vadim Abdulov. Just like all 

those who completed the questionnaire, we 

also received $300,” said Ms. Vardanian. 

Even though the international media has 

said that the questions on the questionnaire 

had not been ordinary and had been sensitive, 

one does not feel anything unusual 

when reading them. These are truly ordinary 

questions about Samtskhe-Javakheti. Similar 

questions and detailed answers can be 

found on the Internet. The unusual thing 

here is that those completing the questionnaire 

received monetary remuneration. 

If ALAP was truly created by the Russian 

Special Services and the two Armenians were 

Overall 643 candidates have been nominated 

to fill the 65 available seats of the city 

council. Since the Armenian National Congress 

is participating as an alliance of parties, 

it has to get no less than 9 percent of the vote 

to be represented at City Hall. For the six 

parties running individually, the threshold 

is 7 percent. 

arrested and accused of spying because of 

their cooperation with the representatives of 

that organization, then why have none of the 

employees of ALAP been arrested? This very 

circumstance makes one suspect that ALAP 

is a fake organization and that the Georgian 

Special Services are behind it. 

The general condition in 

Samtskhe-Javakheti 

The accusation of a serious crime by two Armenians 

must be observed on a deeper level: 

the issue of Samtskhe-Javakheti. Despite 

the insistence of the Georgian and Armenian 

authorities that the issues connected with 

the Armenians of Samtskhe-Javakheti are 

socioeconomic, people aware of that region 

understand that the issue first of all is political 

and national. 

From time to time Armenians who are active 

in trying to preserve the Armenian identity 

of Samtskhe-Javakheti by their activities 

have issues with the judicial system of Georgia. 

The future of the friendly relations of 

the Javakheti Armenians, as well as those 

between Armenia and Georgia, depend upon 

the issues in that region. 

A few days ago an announcement disseminated 

by some Armenian organizations 

Heritage Party stays out of Yerevan city elections 

Levon Ter-Petrossian (l.) and Raffi Hovannisian. Photo: Photolure. 

Akhalkalaki, Georgia. Photo: Photolure. 

in Akhalkalaki noted issues relating to the 

preservation of national identity, as well as 

political, spiritual-cultural, educational, and 

socioeconomic issues. The issues are being 

discussed continually; however, no steps are 

being taken and Armenian-Georgian highlevel 

meetings end with empty toasts to the 

friendly past and present of the two nations. 

Norik Karapetian is a leader of Akhalkalaki’s 

Javakhk Movement. “It is without any 

doubt that their case is politically motivated. 

They are the most active members of the 

Akhaltsikhe Armenian community. By doing 

so the Georgian authorities are attempting 

to suppress the Armenian spirit,” Mr. Karapetian 

said. 

Girgor Minasian and Sarkis Hakobjanian 

are amongst the most active Armenians in 

Akhaltsikhe and the Armenians of Javakheti 

comprehend their arrest and accusations of 

serious crimes, regardless of other details, 

differently. The Armenians of Georgia are 

justifiably concerned that with these arrests 

an attempt is being made to crush the spirit 

of the Armenians. Another arrest, this time 

in Akhalkalaki, came before the arrest of Mr. 

Minasian and Mr. Hakobjanian. Vahagn 

Chakhalian, one of the active Armenians 

in Akhalkalaki is under arrest for absurd and 

trumped up charges. 

f 

The election campaign will formally begin 

on May 2 and end on midnight May 29. The 

elections will take place on May 31 from 8 

a.m. to 8 p.m. 

On March 23, Heritage announced with 

regret, “that it was impossible to reach 

an [agreement] with the Armenian National 

Congress” on a joint list of candidates. 

The announcement sought to draw 

parallels between the government and 

Mr. Ter-Petrossian’s opposition alliance. It 

first condemned “the authorities’ limitations 

put on the freedom of speech and 

the ongoing firm establishment of an environment 

of intolerance, the ‘instructed’ 

and unsubstantiated accusations against 

Heritage and its founder Raffi K. Hovannisian 

disseminated over the years by the 

media that serve the ruling administration, 

the deluge of lies and disinformation 

which periodically grows worse especially 

before elections.” It then noted “certain 

oppositional media’s attempts to imitate 

the aforesaid defective mode of operation 

in the recent week and doing this with the 

silent support by the [Armenian National 

Congress].” 

According to the Heritage announcement, 

if two opposition entities run in the election, 

“the ensuing clash will be inevitable even in 

the case of exerting the greatest of efforts to 

prevent it, and the victims will be the whole 

opposition and the entire people.” 

Some supporters of the Armenian National 

Congress are calling on the Heritage Party to 

cede its seats on the electoral commissions to 

the Congress. Each party in parliament is entitled 

to a seat on the Central Electoral Commission 

and regional and local commissions. 

Meanwhile, Mr. Beglarian, the mayor, has 

decided to improve conditions – especially 

landscaping and illumination – in the courtyards 

of the city. For this purpose seeds have 

been specially brought in from the Netherlands. 

f

20 The Armenian Reporter | March 28, 2009

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