AI Discovers Love and Armenia

 Love

Love is a flame that burns so bright

It warms the heart and lights the night

It fills our souls with pure delight

And shines a beacon, strong and bright

 

With love, we soar on wings of joy

And all our fears and doubts destroy

It brings us peace that can't be coy

And fills our hearts with endless joy

 

Love is a force that binds us tight

It keeps us close, it keeps us right

It lights the path that's out of sight

And guides us through the darkest night

 

With love, we find our truest self

And all our doubts just fade and melt

It frees us from our lonely shelf

And brings us to a life that's felt

 

Love is the reason that we live

It's what we seek, it's what we give

It's what we need to truly thrive

And keep us strong, so we can thrive

 

So let us love with all our might

And let our hearts be filled with light

Let us embrace love's pure delight

And make the world a better sight.

 

 

Armenia

 

Armenia is a small country located in the Eurasian continent, nestled between Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey. It is often referred to as the 'stone cradle' due to its long history, ancient culture, and unique heritage and has been an important part of civilization since the dawn of civilization.

Armenia is one of the oldest countries in the world, possessing an ancient civilization that dates back 4,000 years. The Armenian people have a rich cultural heritage, and Armenia is a land of many religions, including Christianity, Islam, Zoroastrianism, and Judaism.

The land of Armenia is incredibly diverse, with stunning landscapes, awe-inspiring mountains, and quaint, charming villages. It is home to the stunning historical sites of Ani and Tatev Monastery, the five thousand year old city of Yerevan, and Mount Ararat, known for its biblical significance.

Armenia has played an immense role in shaping Eastern European history, particularly through its complicated relationship with Russia. Throughout its history, Armenia has had to cope with foreign occupation and rule. Despite this, Armenians have remained adamant in preserving their culture, and they have preserved their language and identity despite the countless political and religious conflicts it has faced over the centuries.

Armenia also has many unique customs and traditions that make it a fascinating destination to visit. From the vibrant dances and friendly people to the delicious cuisine, Armenia is a country that should be experienced.

Today, Armenia is a culturally vibrant nation, with a rich and varied cuisine that reflects her multi-ethnic history. In the cities, one can find both modern cafés and quaint local restaurants, buzzing with people from all over the world. 

Armenia is an important, diverse nation in the Eurasian continent, and it is an incredible place to explore, experience, and learn more about the region's cuisines, culture, and history.

Note: Dr. Henry Nasrallah, the Editor-in-Chief of "Current Psychiatry " commented that “For better or for worse, the era of AI generated articles is upon us”, and further notes that “The artificial intelligence (AI) program ChatGPT (generative pre-trained transformer) was introduced to the public by Open AI on November 30, 2022. It has been described as a game- changer for society, culture, literature, arts, and science, with a potential impact that rivals that of the internet and social media.”

Note: Posted by Varoujan Bedros

Maral Apelian: A teenage voice from Artsakh

 Vahe H. Apelian

I had posted this blog previously, on Dec. 21, 2022,  as "The plight of Maral Apelian". The family lives in Mets Shen in Artsakh. Her father notes that it is an hour from Stepanakert.

Maral with her parents in Armenia, 2019 

Lately a young girl by the name Maral Apelian has emerged as a young voice from Artsakh. Instagram, Civil net captured Maral Apelian’s plight in video. She has become another victim of the Artaskh blockade. Presently she is in Yerevan staying with a friend’s family, while her family is in Artsakh.

Maral is 12/13 years old. She was in Yerevan for her eye surgery and was recovering when the blockade came about. As a result of which she could not unite with her family in Artsakh. In fact, her mother reported that she met Maral at the crossing, but the Azeris did not allow Maral to cross into Artsakh to be with her parents. Her mother Sevan noted that the Azeris blocking the road let people from Artsakh cross into Armenia but will not let those in Armenia cross into Artsakh. As a result of which, her parents have let Maral know that that she may end up remaining in Yerevan well into next year. Because of the prevailing uncertainty, Maral is not attending a school.

Maral before and after her surgery

Maral is the daughter of Garo Apelian and Sevan Manjikian. Both are Kessabtsi Armenians. Garo moved to Keurkune, his native village, from the United States with his brother Serop. His parents had settled in the United States when their children were young. Garo also has a brother in Los Angeles. His sister Maral died at her tender age because of cancer.

In Kessab Garo married Sevan. Her family names indicates that she is from the Manjikian enclave of Karadouran, Kessab. They were married in Keurkune’s historic Armenian Evangelical Church. My cousin Stepan Apelian and his wife Ani were the godparents at their wedding. Maral is born in Keurkkune, Kessab.  Her  paternal grandparents, Soghomon and Azaduhi Apelian are deceased and are buried in Los Angeles.

Garo and Sevan with their daughter Maral moved to Armenia after the sacking of Kessab  by Muslim extremists who assaulted Kessab from Turkey on March 21, 2014. Kessab is in Syria and is the only ancestral Armenian enclave  outside Turkey. Garo, Seven and Maral first settled in Armenia and then moved and settled in Artsakh.

Maral’s paternal grandfather Soghomon Apelian and my mother are maternal cousins. My mother’s father was Khatcher Chelebian, who naturally is my maternal grandfather. Khatcher's sister Marie had married Hapel Apelian, a patriarch of the Apelian family in Keurkune. Maral is Hapel and Marie (Chelebian) Apelian's great granddaughter.

Maral appears to be an outgoing and energetic young girl. Her father noted that Maral likes singing and is learning how to play guitar. The news did not surprise me. Maral’s grand aunt, her paternal grandfather Soghomon Apelian’s sister Karoun, was remembered in the family as having a beautiful voice. Karoun and her husband repatriated to Armenia in 1947 and were settled in the town Kapan in the Syunik region where thanks to the resourcefulness of their matriarch Karoun, the family eked a living.  

The unfolding of the current events will shape Maral’s budding life as it will  shape the lives of many other young girls and boys. 

Artsakh in the eyes of Maral Apelian

At this crucial junction of our history, I wanted to archive the recordings of this articulate, daring, and brave girl who has just stepped into her teens or about to step into her teens. In her tender age Maral Apelian has emerged a symbol of the plight of the young as Artsakh Armenians brave the Azeri blockade.

The first video is my recording from Instagram where Maral, in an immaculate English she has learned, tells Aliyev to let her people go so she can be with her family in Artsakh. In the second video Maral notes that she misses her parents who have told her she may have to remain in Yerevan into the next year.  

.  

ChatGPT

Vahe H. Apelian

Instead of commenting on my Facebook page, I opted to blog about it simply because I wanted to pinpoint the day that I became aware of the term ChatGPT.

 Recently I posted Japan’s Armenia ambassador singing in Armenian. Varoujan Bedros, who is a mathematician, commented “ChatGPT”. I did not understand what he meant to say. I was not familiar with the term. It was the first time that I came across the term. Therefore, I acknowledged his comment with a question mark “?”. My cousin Jack Chelebian, who is a psychiatrist, came to my rescue. 

I quote from the Vol 22, No. 4, 2023, editorial of “Current Psychiatry”, Jack forwarded a copy to me. The editorial is titled: “A ‘guest editorial’ ... generated by ChatGPT?” by Henry Nasrallah, MD who Jack claims is a graduate of the American University of Beirut and is an internationally acclaimed psychiatrist and is the Editor-in-Chief of the magazine.

Dr. Henry Nasrallah commented that “For better or for worse, the era of AI generated articles is upon us”, and further notes that “The artificial intelligence (AI) program ChatGPT (generative pre-trained transformer) was introduced to the public by Open AI on November 30, 2022. It has been described as a game- changer for society, culture, literature, arts, and science, with a potential impact that rivals that of the internet and social media.”

The Editor-in-Chief of the “Current Psychiatry”, furthermore claimed that “Some researchers used ChatGPT to generate abstracts based on the titles of articles published in 5 high-impact journals. These abstracts were so “real” that they escaped detection by expert peer reviewers in 32% of cases. In addition, several medical/science articles were published that included ChatGPT as a bylined author.” Dr. Nasrallah then dwelt upon criteria for authorship in “Current Psychiatry.”

Dr. Henry Nasrallah has affixed a copy of his signature under his editorial to assure that that the editorial is not AI ChatGPT generated.

 But is it not? We have long accepted that a picture is not worth a thousand words any more. In fact, it may even be worthless for it could have been altered. But what about his signature. Can’t it have been AI generated also? Is not the editorial in fact a bona fide ChatGPT generated to make his point?

 It would not surprise me that a blog by ChatGPT could have made a much more compelling case that I could convey in this blog, that a really, really, really a new "brave world" is upon us. But, rest assured that this blog is not generated by AI.

 But, who is  assuring you? You may rightly wonder.

 

 

  

Are all those who legally move to Armenia Repatriates? Հայրենագա՞ղթ թէ Հայաստաբնակ

Vahe H. Apelian

Needless to say, repatriation has been a core value justifying perpetuating the post genocide Armenian Diaspora. It made the dream or the great vision that one day Armenians will gather in Armenia at the foot of the Mount Ararat. In the words of the prophet from Payajuk, Raffi:

Will a day come, or a time,

To see a flag atop Massis

And emigre' Armenians from everywhere

Head toward their beautiful fatherland?

But what I am going to attempt to expand is not the issue of repatriation but on its proper terminology in Armenian in this increasingly complex and complicated world.

I imagine that most know that Armenians have a birthright to legally move to Armenia.

I quote from the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs “Procedure of acquiring Armenian citizenship is simplified for ethnic Armenians, for spouses of Armenian citizens, for children of former Armenian citizens ……….: “

 I also imagine most know that the Republic of Armenia offers different statuses for legally moving to Armenia. One of the more popular is the special passport. I quote Wikipedia: “The special residency passport of Armenia is a document granted by the Prime Minister of the Republic. It has a validity of 10 years and can be extended continuously, by 10-year increments. The special passport is not a regular passport and its holders are not granted citizenship of Armenia” 

Armenia also offers permanent residency. I quote from the same source: “Permanent Resident Card is issued to a foreign citizen when  the applicant is wife/husband or relative (brother, sister, grandparent, grandchildren) of an Armenian citizen or of a foreign citizen holding a Special Passport of Armenia……” The details may be read in Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

The holders of special passport or permanent residency are privileged to exercise most of the rights of the citizens of Armenia but are exempted from compulsory military service. Naturally, those who are not within the compulsory conscription age, would have been exempted anyways. Also, the holders of special passport or permanent residency do not vote.

It is no secret that many who move to Armenia prefer that special passport, much like I do. Naturally, those who moved to Armenia with that special visa retain the citizenship of the country of their origin.

The Armenian lexicon has not caught up to make that distinction. It utilizes the same terminology of Hayrenatarts - Հայրենարձ, when referencing those who have legally moved to Armenia as immigrants or to those who have chosen live in Armenia as holders of the Special Armenian passport or are permanent residents per the dictates of the law. 

We should bear in mind that the term Hayrenatars - Հայրենարձ has a distinct sentimental connotation implying to live up to the national hymn – “Mer Hairenik”. Nairi dictionary translates  hayrenatarts  - Հայրենադարձ, as “repatriation, act of repatriating, resettler; repatriate.”

Merriam Webster dictionary defines a repatriate as follows: “to restore or return to the country of origin, allegiance, or citizenship”. None of these qualifications apply to the permanent residents of Armenia simply because they retain the citizenship of the countries of their origin and hence do not legally restore or return to their country of origin. They also are not citizens of Armenia, and they do not have the same allegiances towards Armenia its citizens have in way of doing their compulsory military service and in voting to elect the government that will govern them by their consent, the hallmark of democracy. 

To explain myself let me say that it would wrong to refer to the permanent residents of the United States, those who hold the “Green Card” of my days, which I also held, and address them as citizens of the United States, until they take their oath of citizenship, as I did.

It would be also wrong to address those who legally reside in Armenia not as a citizen, but as permanent resident, as repatriates, Hairenatarts - Հայրենադարձ. They may be referred to as Hayastapnag – Հայաստաբնակ, as residents of Armenia. Or, we should clarify Hairenatarts - Հայրենադարձ, as immigrant - գաղթական կամ Հայրենագաղթ, or as legal resident Հայաստաբնակ։

It is fair and right that we make the distinction among those who legally moved to Armenia as immigrants, as Lucy Deukmejian did (see Keghart.com), and those who chose to live in Armenia as permanent residents.

 

 

Վահէ Մահշիկեանին՝ Վահէ Յ Աբէլեանէն ` Եկեղեցի, Սփիւռք, Հայաստան

Վահէ Մահշիկեանին՝ Վահէ Յ Աբէլեանէն՝ Եկեղեցի, Սփիւռք, Հայաստան

Ն.Ս.Օ.Տ.Տ. Արամ կաթողիկոսը, սփիւռքին վերակարուցման անհրաժեշտութիւնը նշած էր այս տարուան Ապրիլ 4-ին, Յունահայ գաղութին տուած հովուական այցելութեանը ընթացքին։ Զրոյցը լոյս տեսաւ «Ազատ Օր» թերթին մէջ։ Նախապէս Արամ կաթողիկոսը ակնարկած էր սփիւռքի մաշումին։ Մաշումի եւ վերակացմութեան անհրաժեշտութեան ակնարկներուն առթիւ ֆէյսպուքի էջիս վրայ ըրած տեղադրութեանս պատասխանած էր Վահէ Մահշիկեանը՝ Դամասկոսէն եւ նշած էր հետեալը՝ «Նախ Սփիւռք բառին բացատրութիւն տալը անհրաժեշտ է ... թէ . . ինչ է սփիւրքը ընդհանրապես եւ Հայութեան կեանքին մէջ յատկապես ... ... Ինչու Հայ սփիւրք գոյացած է .... Ինչէ կազմուած է ... Ինչ է Հայ սփիւռքին կապը Հայաստանի հետ ... Ինչ Դեր ունի Հայկական սփիւռքը կատարելիք աշխարհաքաղաքական գետնի վրայ յօգուտ հայոց գերագոյն շահերուն ուղղութեամբ ... ինչու աւանդական կարգ մը կուսակցութիւններ եւ այլն իրենց մենաշնորհը կը համարեն Հայ սփիւռքը եւ կը շահարկեն ըստ այնմ ... եւ այսպես շատ մը հարցերու լուսաբանութեանը անհրաժեշտութիւնը կայ ...»

Խօստացայ պատասխանել ըրած ակնարկին։ Ահաւասիկ պարազաբանուած պատասխանս։

Անկասկած է որ այդպէս է՝ սփիւռքը խրթին վիճակ մընէ եւ հետեւաբար սփիւռքի մեկնաբանութիւնը խրթին է։  Ինչպէս նշած էի Ֆէյսպուքի էջիս վրայ՝ սփիւռքը աշխարհ մըն է ինքնին եւ հետեւաբար կարելի չէ առօրեայ սփիւռքահայ մը ճանչնայ եւ անոր ընդմիջէն գնահատէ սփիւռքը։ Կիւլպէնկեան հաստատութեան Հայկական բաժինը, սփիւռքը ճանչնալու համար նիւթակամ յատկացումներ տրամադրած է եւ կարգած հայ գիտնականներ ուսումնասիրելու սփիւռքը։ Բայց ես պիտի պարզաբանեմ իմս։

Ես կը ճանչնամ սփիւռքը իր նեղ մեկնաբանութեամբ որպէս սփիւռքահայ աշխարհաձրիւ այն հատուածը որ ընդհանրապէս հաղորդ է Մեծն Տանն Կիլիկիոյ Կաթողիկոսութեան հետ։ Զանց չէմ առներ Հայ կաթողիկէ եւ աւետարանական յարանուանութիւնները որոնք ներկայ են եւ կը գործեն Կիլիկեան Թեմին աշխարհաձրեւ համայնքնին հետ եւ կամ կողքին։

Ոչ մէկ պատկերացում ունիմ այսպէս կոչուած Ներքին սփիւռքին՝ այսինքն հայեր որոնք կը բնակին եւ կը գործեմ Ռուսաստանի եւ երբեմնի Սովետական Միւթիւնը բաղկացնող 14 երկիրներուն մէջ, ինչպէս նաեւ Արեւելեան Եւրոպայի մէջ։ Աղօտ պատկերացում ունիմ Արեւտմեան Եւրովայի սփիւռքահայ գաղութին մասին։ իսկ աւելի աղօտ պատկերացում մը ունիմ Լատին Ամերիկայի երկիրներուն մէջ բնակող սփիւռքահայութեանը։ 

Իմ փոռձառութիւնս սահմանափակուած է Միջին Արեւելքի Արաբական երկիրներուն մէջ բնակութիւն հաստատած հայութեամբ, ինչպէս նաեւ Հիւսիսային Ամերիկայի մէջ։

Բարդացնելով արդէն իսկ բարդ ու խրթին սփիւռքահայ վիճակը՝ նշեմ որ նոյնիսկ այնքան ալ հաղորդ չեմ Հիւսիսային Ամերիկայի ոչ «աւանդական սփիւռք»-ին։ Այսինքն՝ այն սփիւռքը որ կազմաւորուեցաւ Հայաստանի Սովետական իշխանութեան փլուզումէն ետք։ Բայց կը պատկերացնեմ անոնք ընդհանրապէս, եթէ ոչ բացառձակ մեծամասնութեամբ, կ՚անդամակցին  Իջմիածնական Թեմի եկեղեցիներուն եւ ընդհանրապէս չեն մասնակցիր աւանդական սփիւռքին կառոյցներուն։ Թերեւս բացառութիւն են Լոս Անճէլոսի Քեսապի Ուսումնասիրաց Միւութեան անդամակցողները

Հետեւաբար կը պատկերացնեմ որ Արամ Կաթողիկոսի՝ սփիւռքը վերակազմելու անհրաժեշտութեան յայտարարութիւնը, աղէրս ունի Կիլիկեան Թեմին շուրջ համախմբուած սփիւռքահայութեան հետ։ Անկասկած ըսել չեմ ուզեր որ Արամ Կաթողիկոսը կ՚անգիտանայ սփիւռքը իր ընդհանրական հասկացողութեամբ։

Հիւսիսային Ամերիկայի Հայ Առաքելական եկեղեցին հիմնուեցաւ Խրիմեան Հայրիկին կաթողիկսսական կոնդակով, եւ կազմուեցաւ Ամերիկայի Ուսթըր (Worcester) քաղաքին մէջ 1898-ին, ուր ես բնակութիւն հաստատած եմ 2018-էն ի վեր։ Ամերիկահայ գաղութին արմատները խոր են։ Սկսած են արմատանալ ընդհանրապէս Համիտեան ջարդերուն որպէս հետեւանք, ինչպէս նաեւ Ամերիկայի միսիոնարական շարժումին պատճառով։ Այդ արմատները նախ հող գտած են Ուսթըր քաղաքին մէջ եւ անկէ ճիւղաւորուած են։ Այդ քաղաքակին մէջ է որ կառուցուած է Ամերիկայի առաջին Հայ Առաքելական եկեղեցին, 1891-ին, ինչպէս նաեւ առաջին Հայ Աւետարանական Եկեղիցին, 1900-ին։ Հիւսիսային Ամերիկայի առաջին Հայ Առաքելական եկեղից կը կոչուի Սուրբ Փրկիչ (Saint Savior), իսկ Հայ Աւետարանական առաջին եկեղեցին կը կոչուի Հայ Մարտիրոսաց Եկեղեցի (Armenian Church of the Martyrs)` յիշատագրուած Համիտեան ջարդերու նահատակներուն։ 

Կիլիկեան Կաթողիկոսութեան Միջին Արեւելքի Արաբական երկիրներուն մէջ հաստատուիլը բնական ընթացքը եղաւ Մեծ Եղեռնէն փրկուածներուն համար։ իսկ Հիւսիսային Ամերիկայի մէջ, Կիլիկեան Թեմին ծնունդը քաղաքական եղաւ, ոչ թէ պատմասիրական՝ ունենալու համար պատմական Կիլիկիոյ միակ կենդանի հաստատութիւնէն ներկայացուցիչ Հիւսիսային Ամերիկայի մէջ։

Դժբախտ իրողութիւնը այն էր որ Աւեւտմտահայ Խրիմեան Հայրիկին կոնդակով հիմնուած Հայ Առաքելական Եկեղեցին Հիւսիսային Ամերիկայի մէջ զլացաւ եկեղեցական կարգ ու սարգը՝ հայ այն հատուածի անդամներուն որոնք վեր կը պահէին եռագոյնը, կ՚երգէին «Մեր Հայրենիքը» իրենց  հաւաքոյթներուն ընթացքին եւ վար կը պահէին Ազատ եւ Անկախ Հայաստանի մեծ երազը։ Նախքին քաղաքական բաժանումը թէեւ վերացած է ներկայիս, բայց այդ օրերու բաժանումին հետեւանքով ամրապնդուած են Էջմիածնի եւ Անթիլեասի Հայ Առաքելկան Եկեղեցիին երկու թեմերը Հիւսիսային Ամերիկայի մէջ` էջմիածնին թեմը հիմնուած է, ինչպէս նշեցի, 1898-ին իսկ Կիլիկեան թեմը հիմնուած է շուրջ 75 տարիներ ետք՝ 1973-ին Նիւ Եորք քաղաքին մէջ։

Ընդհանրացած երեւոյթ է որ երբ հանդիպիս Ամերիկահայու մը որուն նախապէս հանդիպած չես եղած, ձեր  առաջին ծանոթակցութիւնը ըլլայ հարցնելով ո՞ր եկեղեցին կը յաճախեն. ոչ թէ, կրօնական հաստաուտում մը ընելու համար, այլ ընկերային, չեմ ուզեր ըսել քաղաքական, քանի որ ինչպէս նշեցի, նախքին քաղաքական բաժանումը վերացած է եւ անսովոր չէ որ երկու թեմերուն եկեղեցիները միատեղուին տօնակատարութեան համար, ինչպէս  պիտի ըլլայ այս տարուան Ապրիլեան յիշատակութիւնը Worcester քաղաքին մէջ, ինչպէս եղած է նաեւ անցեալ տարիներուն։

Ազատ եւ Անկախ Հայաստանի տեսլականը խթանը եղաւ պատմական Կիլիկիոյ Սիսի կամ Անթիլեասի կաթողիկոսութեան հաստատումին Հիւսիսային Ամերիկայի մէջ։ Իսկ այժմ ազատագրուած եւ անկախացած Հայաստանին ժողովրավարական կարգով ընտրուած իշխանութեան հանդէպ ներ Հայաստանեան քաղաքական դիրքաւորոշումը սփիւռքի մէջ կը ջլատէ եւ պիտի ջլատէ Կիկիլիոյ Սիսի կամ Անթիլեասի կաթողիկոսութեան հօտը եւ թեմը։

Հետեւաբար՝ ինչպէս տեղադրած էի ֆէյսպուքի էջիս վրայ՝ 

 « Կիլիկիոյ Սիսի եւ ներկայիս Անթիլիասի սփիւռքին անյետաձգելի վերակազմակեպումը կարելի պիտի չըլլայ եթէ անոր ազգային ողնածուծը եղողը կազմակերպութիւնը՝ ՀՅԴ-ը տակաւին շարունակէ մխրճուիլ ներ Հայաստանեան քաղաքականութեան մէջ եւ այդ քաղաքականութեանբ եւ անկէ փխած ղեկաւարութեամբ ձեւաւորէ եւ հիմնաւորէ ինքզինքը սփիւռքի մէջ եւ սփիւռքէն իր յարաբերութիւնը Ազատ եւ Անկախ Հայաստանի Հանրապետութեան ազգընտիր իշախանութիւններուն հանդէպ՝ աջակցելով մէկուն եւ ընդիմանալով միւսին։

՚իմ պատկերցումովս եւ զանց ընելով տեղադրել այլ հատուածներէ հնչած նման մտահոգութիւն՝ Կիլիկեան Թեմի կարգ մը եկեղեցիներուն գոյութիւնը վտանգուած է Արեւելեան Ամերիկայի Ափին վրայ։ Ոչ թէ միայն բնական մաշումին համար, այլ նաեւ պառակտումին որ հօտը եւ թեմը կը մաշեցնէ։ »

 

The Unsung Hero of "The Lions of Marash": Antranig Chalabian

The first sentence of Dr. Stanley Kerr's acknowledgment in his book "The Lions of Marash" reads as follows: "Access to documents prepared nearly fifty years ago has enriched this volume. For cooperation in locating such material I wish to thank Mr. Antranig Chelebian.........I am indebted to Mr. Antranig Chelebian for translating into English practically all of the Armenian documents which appear in the text."

Antranig volunteering his cooperation to Dr. Stanley Kerr's endeavor,  culminated into friendship. When Antranig and his wife visited the United States, the Kerrs invited them as their two days overnight guests in their house in Princeton, NJ. All those who are interested as to how the discovery of those documents, young Stanley Kerr had prepared as a volunteer in the American Near East Relief, came about may read the link attached below.

It was indeed a historically serendipitous event.  I was a student in AUB then and I accompanied my uncle Antranig many times in search of references to supplement Dr. Stanley Kerr's research. I distinctly remember visiting Movses DerKaloustian in Anjar. I drove our family VW Beetle. Antranig did not own a car yet. I also remember us visiting Vahe Setian's extensive private library. Setian's office was not far from Hotel Lux, the inn my father ran on Allenby Street in down town Beirut.  Antranig Chalabian is indeed an unsung hero.

Only those who know the meticulous and fastidious Antranig Chelebian, whose daily washing his hands was akin to a surgeon cleansing his hands prior to surgery, and whose pursuit of Armenian history I find unmatched, may have an appreciation of the discovery that would result in the famous book and cement a lasting relations between the estimable Kerr family and the Armenian nation as a whole. 

Antranig Chalabian (Chelebian) was born in Keurkune, Kessab on March 11, 1922. As his name indicates, he was the firstborn son of Khatcher Chelebian and Karoun Apelian who were married in late 1918 in their makeshift camp in Deir Attiyeh, Syria on their way to their ancestral village having survived the horrid ordeals of the 1915 Armenian Genocide.

He and his siblings, Zvart, my mother, Hovhannes, and Anna were orphaned at their tender ages having lost their father on February 2, 1930, at the age of 38. Antranig was a brilliant student and remained so until the twilight of his later years. After graduating from the Armenian Evangelical School of Keurkune he was awarded a scholarship to continue his education at Aleppo College. He graduated with distinction and won the coveted Altounian Prize. After graduation, he taught in his former school in Kessab for one year then returned to Aleppo College where he taught English and mathematics to the middle school classes from 1945 to 1949.

In 1949 Antranig moved to Beirut where his family had settled four years earlier. He taught English for one year at the AGBU Hovagimian-Manouginan High School. He then took a position in the Physiology Department of the American University of Beirut (AUB), where he remained for twenty-seven years as a research assistant and physiology laboratory instructor to the medicine, pharmacy, and nursing students. During the last fourteen years in the American University of Beirut, he worked as a free-lance medical illustrator and calligrapher. He single-handedly illustrated three medical textbooks, countless research papers, and theses and calligraphed many medical school graduation diplomas. Meanwhile, he contributed articles to the Armenian Evangelical community’s periodical “Djanaser,” Simon Simonian’s weeklly “Spurk”, and Antranig Zarougian’s weekly “Nayiri”. 

In 1977 Antranig immigrated to the United States with his family and settled in Detroit where his paternal uncle Garabed (Charlie) had settled in the early 1920s having survived the Genocide. He assumed the position of Public Relations Director of the AGBU Alex Manougian School and continued to contribute articles to various Armenian periodicals. In 1984 he published his first bi-lingual book "General Antranik and the Armenian Revolutionary Movement". The book became an instant best seller and was printed in 75,000 copies in Armenia. He donated the proceeds from that print to the Karabagh freedom fighters. In 1989 the History Department of the University of Armenia invited him to defend his exhaustive historical study. Upon a successful defense, he was awarded a doctorate degree in history.  The book was later translated into Turkish and Spanish.

In 1991 Dr. Antranig Chalabian published his second book in Armenian titled, "Revolutionary Figures". Dr. Ara Avakian translated the book in English. In 1999 he published his third book, "Armenia After the Coming of Islam" in English. The book became a very popular reading and had two printings. In 2003 he published his fourth book in Armenian titled "Dro". The book traces the feats of the legendary Armenian freedom fighter, Trasdamat Ganayan. In a February 2006 letter, Dro's son Martin M. Kanayan of Spring TX, wrote to Antranig noting "Our entire family and our non-ideologue friends believe that your work on Dro has been the best and most accurate to date", and provided unpublished family stories. His son, Jack Chelebian M.D. included them in his translation of the book into English. In 2009 Indo-European Publishers printed the book. 

Dr. Antranig Chalabian was also an invited contributor to the internationally acclaimed "Military History Magazine" where he published articles dealing with Armenian history. Without any assistance, he prepared the print ready manuscripts of his books by typing them both in Armenian or in English, proofread them without resorting to spelling check, painstakingly prepared the indices and drew the maps that appear in his books. 

Before writing and publishing his books, Dr. Antranig Chalabian collaborated with Dr.Stanley Kerr after discovering Dr. Kerr’s personal notes in the attic of the Physiology Department. Dr. Stanley Kerr had moved to New Jersey after retiring in 1965 from his distinguished career as the Chairman of the Biochemistry Department of the American University of Beirut. However, he had left his notes behind assuming that the notes were long lost through the years. Stanley Kerr had kept his notes and taken hitherto unpublished pictures while serving in Near East Relief. In 1919 Stanley was transferred to Marash, in central Anatolia, where he headed the American relief operations. The outcome of their collaborative work was the publication of Dr. Stanley Kerr’s "The Lions of Marash" in 1973. The Kerrs hosted the Chalabians as their overnight houseguests during the latter visiting America in 1971.

While collaborating with Dr. Kerr, Henry Wilfrid Glockler, a one-time controller at AUB and a neighbor of the Kerrs in Princeton, entrusted Antranig Chalabian his personal memoirs. Chalabian edited the memoirs and had it published in Beirut in 1969 by Sevan Press. The book is titled "Interned in Turkey".  In private conversation, Antranig Chalabian noted that he heeded to Kersam Aharonian’s call in 1965 urging Armenians to encourage non-Armenian authors to publish about the Armenian Genocide. Kersam Aharonian is the late eminent editor of Zartonak Daily in Beirut.

Dr. Chalabian received numerous accolades and recognition. Armenian organizations in various states invited him to lecture. The mayor of Southfield designated in 2005 a day as Dr. Antranig Chelebian Day in recognition of his goodwill ambassadorship of the city through his readers worldwide. He continued to live in Southfield, MI with his wife Seran (Tootikian) who preceded him in death in 2010. In 1995, his compatriots, the Kessabtsis, honored him as a noted professional and dedicated the 2003 Edition of the Kessab Educational Association’s yearbook and directory in his honor.

My earliest childhood impression of my maternal uncle Antranig is vividly embedded in me when he interrupted an ongoing traditional Kessab circle dance during a festivity in Keurkune and took the guns away from two dancers who had joined the dance with their hunting guns dangling from their shoulders. I realize now that my very first childhood recollection of him was a reflection of his innate total aversion of guns and anything remotely violent and by the same token his instinctive appreciation of those who, as a last resort, resorted to the gun as Armenian freedom fighters. He made the preservation of their legacy his cause. Years earlier he prepared the graphical presentation of my first Master of Science thesis.

Antranig passed away on April 12, 2011. The Good Lord had bestowed upon him unusual talents, which he put in good use as an accomplished medical illustrator, calligrapher, cartographer, and historian, and foremost as a devout Armenian. He leaves behind a void and a legacy of extraordinary accomplishments. He exemplified the indomitable spirit of the first post Genocide generation who were mostly born to parents orphaned during the Genocide.

Courtesy Mike Apelian who said.  "I came accross  this picture  while visiting  
Haykaz Khederian and his wife Sirvart" Haykaz and Antranig were classmates
in Aleppo College. 

Link: https://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2021/07/antranig-chalabian-big-books-little.html

The Great Armenian Dispossession

Vahe H. Apelian

Depiction courtesy Garo Konyalian

April 24, the Armenian Remembrance Day, is three weeks away.  On that day the president, Joe Biden will issue a proclamation or a statement as he did since he took office. We all know that in on April 24, 2021, president Joe Biden proclaimed the following: “Each year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era ARMENIAN GENOCIDE and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring. Beginning on April 24, 1915, with the arrest of Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople by Ottoman authorities, one and a half million Armenians were deported, massacred, or marched to their deaths in a campaign of extermination. We honor the victims of the MEDS YEGHERN so that the horrors of what happened are never lost to history. And we remember so that we remain ever-vigilant against the corrosive influence of hate in all its forms.” (Capitalization is mine)

Joe Biden is not the first president to use the G word. President Reagan had used the word genocide before. But president Joe Biden’s use of the G word had altogether different contextual meaning. He also was not the first to use our term, Meds Yeghern. It was president George W. Bush who used it first. President Joe Biden was the first president who referenced to Armenian Genocide and Meds Yeghern in the same context. He did the same last year, during his April 24, 2022 statement. He will most likely do the same on upcoming April 24, 2023, Armenian Remembrance Day.

Raffi K. Hovannisian, the American born and raised Armenia's first foreign minister, summed what happened in that period as follows: “ (It was) the premeditated deprivation of a people of its ancestral heartland.  And that's precisely what happened. In what amounted to the GREAT ARMENIAN DISPOSSESSION, a nation living for more than three millennia upon its historic patrimony-- at times amid its own sovereign Kingdoms and more frequently as a subject of occupying empires-- was in a matter of months brutally, literally, and completely eradicated from its land.  Unprecedented in human history, this expropriation of homes and lands, churches and monasteries, schools and colleges, libraries and hospitals, properties and infrastructures constitute to this day a murder, not only of a people but also of a civilization, a culture, and a time-earned way of life." This is where the debate about calling it genocide or not becomes absurd, trivial, and tertiary".

It is high time that we uniquely term our GREAT ARMENIAN DISPOSSESSION of lives, property, culture. It is time we disassociated the Armenian experience from the narrow definition of genocide, which is defined as “a crime committed with the INTENT TO DESTROY a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, IN WHOLE OR IN PART.”  Tell me, which warring party can be absolved from not intending to destroy the national, racial, or religious group, it is fighting, if not in whole, but in part? Do not Russians INTEND to wipe out of Ukrainians, if not in whole but in part? 

Let us face it, the term genocide has lost the significance we Armenians attribute to the word. Wikipedia has a long list of genocides. Nowadays we also condemn Azeris atrocities and their intention for ethnically cleansing Artsakh of its native Armenians as intending to commit 2^nd Armenian genocide. An Armenian genocide scholar claimed that, in fact it is the 3^rd Armenian genocide. Did not Sultan Abdul Hamid intend to destroy, if not in whole but in part, the Armenians? Wikipedia lists what we called as Hamidian massacres, in its list of genocides.

Let me repeat. The term genocide has lost the significance we Armenians attribute to the G word. 

It is time that we introduce the term MEDS YEGHERN (tHE GREAt Crime) in the English lexicon to uniquely define and term the Armenian experience, as Jews have succeeded in doing the same with the word Holocaust in capital letter. It will be impossible for us to capitalize on a synonym for holocaust, such as Carnage, Catastrophe, Devastation, Extermination, Mass-Murder etc. and  even the capitalized THE GREAT CRIME to uniquely define and conceptualize our tragic experience.

The U.S. presidents have already familiarized the term Meds Yeghern to the world. Inadvertently they have paved the road for us. All we have to do is introduce the term in the language and with time educate the world and also change our mindset.  American English is a very inclusive language. It has accepted Kwanzaa among many others, as bona fide American term. Any American who claims does not know what Kwanzaa means, parlays ignorance or insensately if not outright racial indifference if not bias.

I firmly believe that what happened to us in the 1915-time frame cannot be defined by U.N.’s narrow definition of genocide any longer. Genocide perception has radically changed. The word has been gutted. It has been disemboweled.

What happened to us was indeed the GREAT ARMENIAN DISPOSSESSION, of lives, property, honor, and “time-earned way of life”. 

What happened to us was a crime that is unprecedented in scope and magnitude and has no parallel. 

What happened to us was MEDS YEGHERN, the GREAT CRIME. And yes, it was the GREAT ARMENIAN DISPOSSESSION of lives, of property, and of "a civilization, a culture, and a time-earned way of life."

Edited on April 21, 2023