050524 - 'HISTORICAL MEMORY IS NEVER SEPARABLE FROM POLITICS'

GIBRAHAYER e-magazine simon@cytanet.com.cyhttp://gibrahayer.cyprusnewsletter.comThe largest circulation Armenianonline e-magazine on the WWW

'HISTORICAL MEMORY IS NEVER SEPARABLE FROM POLITICS' - Peter Balakian"The Armenian lesson has much to teach about the moral accountability of bystanders, trauma and survivor experience, and the immediate and far-reaching impact of mass violence committed against innocent civilians."DON'T MISS THIS EVENT - FRIDAY MAY 20, 2005 AT 8:00 PM
CHANGE OF VENUE FROM INTERCOLLEGE TO UTUDJIAN HALL
Lecture/Discussion/Book signing by Peter Balakian on Friday May 20, 2005 at 8:00 pm at Utudjian Hall of The Armenian Prelature. * Reading from the Burning Tigris* Lecture: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response* Discussion* Book signing and reception
NALBANDIAN IN CYPRUSWednesday May 18, 2005 - Nicosia (Gibrahayer) Tennis sensation David Nalbandian arrived in Cyprus, together with the Argentinean rally team participating in the 2005 Cyprus Rally, an event of the World Rally Championship (WRC). David Nalbandian joined his school friend Marcos Ligato (driving a Subaru Impreza Spec-C) to Cyprus. While the Argentinean team was undergoing a major service at The Palais De Sport in Limassol he was spotted by community youngsters Nareg Tavitian and Vahakn Kazandjian who used the opportunity to meet up and have a brief conversation with the Armenian superstar. They also took this memorable picture which they decided to share with us. Nalbandian last week won the Berlin Open and seemed to be enjoying his Cyprus stay in company with the Argentinean team which did poorly in the prestigeous race.
CALL BY THE EUROPEAN ARMENIAN FEDERATIONhttp://www.eafjd.org/menu.php3?lang=en On the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the European Armenian Federation calls upon the European civil society, representatives of associative organizations, survivors of the Armenian Genocide, children and grandchildren of Armenian Genocide survivors, representatives of associations for the Defence of victims of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity, Representatives of associations for the Defence of Human Rights, representatives of associations and organisations signatories of the Charter of European Armenians, and actors of European political life, in signing a declaration urging the democratic and executive institutions of the European Union to commemorate appropriately the 90th anniversary of the first Genocide of the 20th century, and to reflect clearly the will of national Parliaments and the European Parliament in that Turkey should recognize the Armenian Genocide in all official documents regarding future negotiations with the Republic of Turkey. The European Armenian Federation considers that this anniversary, falling on the actual year set for the opening of negotiations with Turkey, must mark a turning point in the priority given to the Genocide issue by the European Executive in its relations with Turkey.More at http://www.eafjd.org/menu.php3?lang=en
KHOSK GIBRAHAYOUTIAN


BOOK LAUNCH AND CULTURAL EVENING.REMEMBERING VAHAN BEDELIAN...Wednesday May 25, 2005 at Nareg School HallThe Melkonian Alumni and the Oshakan Cyprus Chapter of the Hamazkayin Cultural and Educational Association are co-organising a Book-Launch and a cultural evening dedicated to Vahan Bedelian on Wednesday 25 May 2005 at 8:00 pm sharp at The Nareg School Hall, with the participation of Bedelian's prominent student Levon Chilingirian.Click here for the official posterClick here for the programme details in Armenian.
TATIANA'S CORNERThis corner is reserved for local artist Tatiana Ferahian's comic strips which are amalgamations of Armenian-Cypriot social commentaries, painted with her usual wry and ironic humour, to stimulate and encourage awareness and interest toward our community's everyday happenings.
Genocide... By Ahmet Altan - May 9, 2005http://www.gazetem.net/ahmetaltan.aspI would like to ask a very simple, ordinary question.Would you wish to be an Armenian in 1915?No, you wouldn't.Because now you know you would have been killed.Please stop arguing about the number of murdered or the denials or the attempts to replace pain with statistics.No one is denying that Armenians were murdered, right?It may be 300,000, or 500,000, or 1.5 million.I don't know which number is the truth, or whether anyone knows the true number accurately.What I do know is the existence of the death and pain beyond these numbers.I am also aware how we forget that we are talking about human beings when we are passionately debating the numbers.Those numbers cannot describe the murdered babies, women, the elderly, the teenage boys and girls.If we leave the numbers aside, and if we allow ourselves to hear the story of only one of these murders, I am sure that even those of us who get enraged when they hear the words "Armenian Genocide" will feel thepain, will have tears in their eyes.Because they will realize that we are talking about human beings.When we hear about a baby pulled from a mother's hands to be dashed on the rocks, or a youth shot to death beside a hill, or an old woman throttled by her slender neck, even the hard-hearted among us will beashamed to say, "Yes, but these people killed the Turks."Most of these people did not kill anyone.These people became the innocent victims of a crazed government powered by murder, pitiless but also totally incompetent in governing.This bloody insanity was a barbarism, not something for us to take pride in or be part of.This was a slaughter that we should be ashamed of, and, if possible, something that we can sympathize with and share the pain.I understand that the word "genocide" has a damningly critical meaning, based on the relentless insistence of the Armenians' "Accept the Genocide" argument, or the Turks' "No, it was not a genocide" counterargument, even though the Turks accept the death of hundreds of thousands of Armenians.And yet, this word is not that important for me, even though it has significance in politics and diplomacy.What is more important for me is the fact that many innocent people were killed so barbarically.When I see the shadow of this bloody event on the present world, I see a greater injustice done to the Armenians.Our crime today is not to allow the present Armenians even to grieve for their cruelly killed relatives and parents.Which Armenian living in Turkey today can openly grieve and commemorate a murdered grandmother, grandfather or uncle?I have nothing in common with the terrible sin of the past Ittihadists, but the sin of not allowing grief for the dead belongs to all of us today.Do you really want to commit this sin?Is there anyone among us who would not shed tears for a family attacked at home in the middle of the night, or for a little girl left all alone in the desert during the nightmare called "deportation," or for a white-bearded grandfather shot?Whether you call it genocide or not, hundreds of thousands of human beings were murdered.Hundreds of thousands of lives snuffed out.The fact that some Armenian gangs murdered some Turks cannot be an excuse to mask the truth that hundreds of thousands of Armenians were murdered.A human being of conscience is capable of grieving for the Armenians, as well as the Turks, as well as the Kurds.We all should.Babies died; women and old people died.They died in pain, tormented, terrified.Is it really so important what religion or race these murdered people had?Even in these terrifying times there were Turks who risked their lives trying to rescue Armenian children.We are the children of these rescuers, as well as the children of the murderers.Instead of justifying and arguing on behalf of the murderers, why don't we praise and defend the rescuers' compassion, honesty, and courage?There are no more victims left to be rescued today, but there is a grief, a pain, to be shared and supported.What's the use of a bloody, warmongering dance around a deep pain?Forget the numbers, forget the Armenians, forget the Turks, just think of the babies, teenagers, and old people with necks broken, bellies slashed, bodies mutilated. Think about these people, one by one.If nothing moves in you when you hear a baby wail as her mother is murdered, I have nothing to say to you.Then add my name to the list of "traitors."Because I am ready to share the grief and pain with the Armenians.Because I still believe there is something yet to be rescued from all these meaningless and pitiless arguments, and that something is called "humanity."
YOUR EMAILSDear Simon,You people in Cyprus are lucky to have the well know Armenian author from New York like Peter Balakian in Cyprus.I read one of his books named " BLACK DOG OF FATE" and hope that some of you will buy his presented books during his stay.My warmest to regards to you and to him. God bless everyone of you.Sirov,Vartan Bedrosian - Glendale, California BALTIC STATES - COLLABORATIONISM AS A CONGENITAL DISEASESimon, thought you would find this interesting. I think this is correct. People just don't give a damn what Turkey did to the Armenians, Pontic Greeks and the Assyrians. For some reason, the West has a love relationship with the Turks. Recently President Bush was in Latvia and urged Russia to apologize for the sins of the Soviet Union. However, no American president, present and past, has ever demanded that Turkey apologize for their genocide. Russia is not the Soviet Union but we are doing everything to make her our enemy. There are many in this country who hate Russia so much that they are willing to tack us back to the Cold War. You can read what this article says about Latvia. Furthermore, the Latvian Rifles were Lenin's own personal body guards. There are some interesting articles at "Opinion & analysis." thinking. Stella http://en.rian.ru/analysis/ Dear Simon, Thank you for sending me Gibrahayer, your very informative and important e-magazine. Great work!I would like to take this opportunity to ask you if you can direct me to a person or an organization in Greece or Cyprus where I can get the book of Misak Torlakian's trial in Bolis. The book was published in 1936 in Athens. There may have been later publications. I would appreciate your help.Sincerely,Murad Meneshian govdoon@yahoo.com I am posting your email for the eyes of everyone on the list.Simon Aynedjian Hello Simon!Just thought I'd let you know that Sergey Khachatryan (now 20!) is competing in the Queen Elizabeth International Violin Competition in Brussels, which I believe is the most prestigious of the violin competitions. With your interest in this area I'm sure you'll want to follow it. He plays in the semi-finals on Friday night. The web cite is: www.concours-reine-elizabeth.be Good luck on the Balakian lecture. He's a riveting speaker and please give him my regards too.Best wishes,Dorothy Garabedian (in Moscow) Aycelelov ARF Dashnakcutyuan Hayastani Geraguyn Marmni pashtonatert "Yerkir" shabataterti site` www.yerkir.am , Dzer harcer@ karogh eq ughghel ARF Dashnakcutyuan Byuroyi nerkayacuchich Hrant Margaryanin. A friend from the UK recently asked for images of the Green line Cemetery and I forwarded to him the following link of the Green Line Expedition in 2004 by members of the Armenian Youth Federation at the Cemetery and Sourp Asdvadzadzin Church within the walls.http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeANmLJu4ZtGrF5A Here is the latest from www.savemelkonian.org Orthodox petition counters the entry of Turkey in Europe.Thank you for your support. http://www.petitiononline.com/turkeyeu/ Jean Eckian - France Hi Simon,Have you seen this?Mihran Boyadjian - Larnacahttp://www.genocideevents.com/country/select_country.html
ANTI-ARMENIAN PROPAGANDA ON GOOGLEDear all,One of the Google's sponsor is an anti-Armenian website that calls the Armenian nation a "tribe" (sub humans), denies the Armenian Genocide and calls the whole nation of Armenia "terrorist."Just Google "Armenia" and "Armenian" and you will see this link on your right http://blogs.cjb.net/yeminli as a "sponsored link."Please, take a few minutes to voice your concerns by sending e-mail to press@google.com, mail to Google Inc. 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View CA 94043 or call and fax phone: (650) 253-0000 fax: (650) 253-0001. Below is a sample letter that speaks more of this anti-Armenian campaign. Daily Azg calls on all its readers who stand for the truth to forward the following letter to press@google.com "Dear Google, I would like to express my deepest concerns and disappointment for an anti-Christian and anti-Armenian propaganda on your website. While searching "Armenian" or "Armenia" in Google, a "sponsored-link" of Google appears on the right corner with "Manifesto-Campaign 2003" headline. The description of the link speaks of campaign against "Armenian terror." When you click on the website you appear in a hate site full of immorality, lies and offences against Christians and Armenians. The website calls the entire nation of Armenia "terrorist." The website calls the Armenian nation "a tribe" (therefore; sub humans). This is an offense not only against the Armenian nation, but also against the humanity and the Christian world. Another description for Armenia (which adopted Christianity in 301AD becoming the first Christian nation on Earth) is he first organized Christian tribe in terrorism. One of the hilarious lies of the website is the discovery that Turks are people, with roots deep in 10.000 years of history! (Nobody has ever questioned the historical record that Turks, originally from China, moved to their modern-day residence in the 11th century, AD). The point of the website is to deny the Armenian Genocide, the 90th anniversary of which was commemorated by the whole world this year. It is unbelievable and sad to see Google cooperating with these fascist and racist "activists." Though the deal between Google and those people is apparently financial, ethics and morality should have prevented Google supporting hate speeches. I hope Google will remove the website and apologize to the Armenian and Christian world for these offences. Google should announce that it officially recognizes the Armenian Genocide. Otherwise, two million Armenian community of California and the rest of the world will be asked to boycott Google. If Google does not take any actions to return its credibility and apologize to the world for supporting those immoral Turkish offenses, Google should be asked to give explanation in American courts.Thanks"
ARTSAGANG MAY 2005 You can now read the Armenian community's 24- page monthly Armenian publication (May 2005 issue number 123) in front of your computer in pdf format at Artsagang May 2005
•The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan spoke for nearlythree hours late Sunday and early Monday in closely watched talks on Artsakh.•Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I, met with Iranian president Mohammad Khatami in Tehran on Saturday, and discussed current world and regional developments.• Iran and Armenia agreed on May 14 to build two power stations at their border.• The 58th Film Festival continuing in Cannes showed the film by Canadian editor, Armenian by origin, Atom Egoyan "Where the truth is". This film and another one "Last days" by Has van Sent claim the grand prize of the festival - Gold Olive Branch. .•A former employee of Azerbaijan's Interior Ministry (1976-1995), Aleqper Heydaroglu Ismailov, confirmed in a letter to an Azeri Russia-language website www.realazer.com that Baku's authorities organized and partly carried out terrorist acts against Armenians during the Karabagh war and the years that followed.• On its website, the Kurdish newspaper Ozgur Gundem, on behalf of the Kurdish people has offered its apologies to the Armenian people for the years of silence and complicity in the Armenian Genocide.• Chairman of the World Congress of Armenians Ara Abrahamian called to develop the Armenian-Israeli relations, ITAR-TASS reports.•President Kocharian will hold a number of meetings within the frames of the Council of Europe's Third Summit taking place in Warsaw. among which Cypriot President Tasos Papadopoulos.•Diplomacy only made it as far as a handshake yesterday in Warsaw, when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Armenian President Robert Kocharian met up at a summit of European Council Ministers.
SPORTS CALENDAR• International Seniors Cup at The Larnaca Tennis Club. Images at: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2126665530&code=16057183&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInviteSome of this week's results.Final Doubles: Nigel Mann (UK) & Thasos Kyradjis (CYP) defeated Haig Ashdjian (CYP) & Simon Aynedjian (CYP) 6-4, 6-3 Singles Finals: Nigel Mann (UK) defeated Simon Aynedjian (CYP) 7-6, 6-1Mixed Doubles Finals: Marina Christofidou & Simon Aynedjian defeated Kallia Karamanlakis & Marios Petrou 5-7, 7-5, 6-1.•Cyprus FUTSAL Cup semi finals. Return leg against OMONIA on Thursday 12 May 2005.•Macedonia International Senior Tennis Championships in Thessaloniki - Greece. 14-21 May 2005. Acropolis Cup by BNP Paribas in Athens - Greece from June 1 - 12, 2005. Representing Cyprus in both events are Haig Ashdjian and Simon Aynedjian. The 2005 ITF calendar can be viewed at http://www.itftennis.com/shared/medialibrary/pdf/original/IO_6664_original.PDF • Pancyprian Tennis Championships at The Field Club in Nicosia. http://www.cyprustennis.com/f_tourn_cyprus.htm

g i b r a h a y c a l e n d a r
• Lecture/Discussion/Book signing by Peter Balakian on Friday May 20, 2005 at 8:00 pm at Utudjian Hall of The Armenian Prelature. Organised by The Hamazkayin Cultural and Educational Association Cyprus "Oshakan" Chapter. * Reading from the Burning Tigris* Lecture: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response* Discussion* Book signing and reception•The Melkonian Alumni and the Oshakan Cyprus Chapter of the Hamazkayin Cultural and Educational Association are co-organising a Book-Launch and a cultural evening dedicated to Vahan Bedelian on Wednesday 25 May 2005 at 8:00 pm sharp at The Nareg School Hall, with the participation of Bedelian's prominent student Levon Chilingirian.•Musical Evening. Saturday 21 May at 8:00 pm Larnaca Armenian Club - Live Armenian Music - Delicious Food and All Inclusive Drinks - Participation: 7 CYP & 3 CYP for children. SIGN UP: Avedis Avedissian 24664011 99445784. Vart Karageulian 24659245•Saturday May 28th, 2005. 87th anniversary Celebrations of the Independence of Armenia organised by AYMA / HMEM. Details to follow.•"Lernaknatsutiun" organized by Nor Serount Cultural Organization on Sunday 12 June 2005. More details to follow. •Armenian musical duo of Jean Davidian and Marie Louise Kouyoumdjian perform at the Palm Beach Hotel in Larnaca every Saturday. Marie Louise sings at Champs Club every Friday.• AYMA/HMEM Chicco Football practices take place every Friday from 7:00 - 8:30 pm for children starting from the age of 7. Contact Krikor Mahdessian on 99650897.• Armenian Radio Hour on The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation via real audio on www.cybc.com.cy . Broadcast 17:00-18:00 local Cyprus time (14:00-15:00 GMT). Armenian news every Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday.• The Armenian Prelature announces that the next permit for the Armenian Cemetery visitation at Ayios Dhometios on the Green line, is on Sunday 22 May 2005.• Every Wednesday from 7-8 pm (Cyprus time + 2 GMT) on CyBC's Trito, Puzant Nadjarian presents the "History of the Blues". Internet edition on www.cybc.com.cy
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