Echoes of an election

Vahe H. Apelian

The shameful defeat of the Pashinyan-minded "United Alliance" and the victory of "Stable Community”.

 

The election pertains to an inter Iranian Armenian community recent election. Echoes refer to the voices heard about the election from outside of Iran. What is being echoed is the following. The Iranian Armenian community was divided into two camps. “Myasnagan Tashink” which means “United Alliance” that allegedly supported Nikol Pachinyan. The other “Gayoun Hamaynk”, camp which means “Stable Community” that allegedly opposed Nikol Pachinyan and was the faction that carried the election. The ARF seem to have been affiliated with the winning faction. The headline in Yerkir.am read: “The shameful defeat of the Pashinyan-minded "United Alliance" and the victory of "Stable Community”. What is odd is the centrality of Nikol Pachinyan in the Iranian Armenian community election, when, much like any other community, surely faces many challenges.

I would have dismissed the comments, had Ara Nazarian not echoed the same but more forcefully.  He commented the following, per google translate: “Long live the Armenian community of Persia (Iran) that rejected Nikol's betrayal and "future" lies - let's focus on nicholizing   Armenia (deprived of Nikol).» Those in parenthesis are my interjection in the google translation. 

I do not know Ara in person. I have read his articles in the Armenian Weekly. He comes across commendably very active in his community in Boston. In the course of my reading his articles I have learned that he is a very educated and accomplished person. From his Armenian diction I had surmised that he has Iranian Armenian heritage, which makes his comment on the Iranian Armenian community the more reflective. From personal correspondence I knew that he is a member of the ARF and staunchly opposes Nikol Pachinyan. But his comment endorsed by a few, including the  chairwoman of the ARF Central Committee, is a concerning because it portrays a mindset in the hub of the Eastern U.S. Armenian community that seems to espouse pitting a diaspora community against the government of the Republic of Armenia.

Let me add the following note as well. I was born and raised in Lebanon and have roots in Kessab, Syria. But I doubt that anyone of my generation has dealt with Iranian Armenians and have taken a youthful personal fascination of the Iranian Armenian community as I have. I owe my sentimental ties to the Iranian Armenian community to my father who ran Hotel Lux in down town Beirut. It was not a hotel as we perceive a hotel nowadays. Most of our guests were Armenians and many from Iran. In my youth, my parent’s Iranian friends had me subscribed to "Alik" Badanegan – the youth forum of Iranian Armenian’s legendary newspaper "Alik", published in Tehran since 1931. Thanks to their correspondences, I have a collection of Iranian stamps. I have remained fascinated by the oldest Armenian diaspora community whose members are very much in tune with the larger Iranian society but have not only retained their Armenian heritage but also enriched it. The ARF has played a prominent role in the structuring of the of Iranian Armenian community. It also has played a role in the modern Iranian history. 

 My and my parent's association with Iranian Armenian community came to an abrupt halt because of the civil war in Lebanon that catapulted me to the U.S. where I landed on its hospitable shores on July 9, 1976, to give a glimpse of time.

Recently the president of Turkey, accused Iran opposing “Zangezur corridor” project. In singling out Iran what the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in fact, actually meant to say is the following.  Armenia is an insignificant power in the region to factor in the grand equation in the region to mention it, even though the corridor is going to slice a part of its sovereign state. Russia has given, if not its tacit agreement, but its understanding that it is between two sovereign nations, Armenia and Azerbaijan to sort. Consequently Russia presents no threat to the opening of Zankezur corridor. It is only Iran that is the stumbling block to the successful implementation of the Zankezur corridor project. Erdogan's blunt statement is not something that Iran can afford to dismiss, especially that there is an overt Turkey-Azerbaijan-Israel alliance against Iran.

Iranian Armenians, more than any other Armenian in the diaspora, are organically tied to the citizens of Armenia due to their proximity. They also share Eastern Armenian diction. More than any other country where we have an Armenian community, Iran plays an existential role for the security of Armenia.  Although it is not likely that the Iranian Government will take into account its Armenian community’s sentiments in shaping its interests vis a vis the powers of the region, Turkey/Azerbaijan and Russia. But none the less having the Iranian Armenian community factionalized and a faction opposing and hence not supporting the government of Republic of Armenia from Iran is concerning.

 

 

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A Language Beehive: Bourj Hammoud - a sequel

  Translated segments of Armenag Yeghiayan’s sequel (Լեզուական Փեթակ՝ Պուրճ Համուտ. Vahe H Apelian

1. Not in front of my father

http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-language-beehive-bourj-hammoud-1.html

2. When the sky came down crushing on me

http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-language-beehive-bourj-hammoud-2-when.html

3. When customs started changing

http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-language-beehive-bourj-hamoud-3-when.html

4. Visiting Turkey

http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2023/02/a-language-beehive-bourj-hammoud-4.html

5. What's wrong with the language

http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2023/02/a-language-beehive-bourj-hammoud-5-what_14.html

6. Learning Turkish

http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2023/02/a-language-beehive-bourj-hammoud-6.html

Hyortik: a reflection

 Hyortik 

Vahe H. Apelian

The above is the lyrics of Hyortik, maybe the signature song of the Five Fingers Band. I owe the lyrics to Vahig Vartabedian, a musician who was active on the Armenian pop music scene.

The Five Fingers band was made of a group of talented Armenian musicians. I hold Stepan Frounjian as the good will ambassador of the Five Fingers Band who continues to share his talent on the Facebook from Racine, Wisconsin while also serving the Armenian Apostolic Church there as its arch deacon.

I got to know more of the Five Fingers band because I translated Boghos Shahmelikian’s memoir of the band and of the Armenian pop music that suddenly burst onto the Armenian scene in late 1960’s. Those interested to know about the band and the era may read my introduction of the book I translated with the help of my cousin Jack Chelebian MD. http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2021/04/dawn-of-armenian-pop-music-primary.html

Hyortik is a complex word made of “hie” (Հայ) and “Vorti”, which according to the Nairi dictionary means son, child. We know that the Armenian language does not have different pronouns for males and females. By extension Hyortik may be translated as “Children of Armenians” or “Sons of Armenians.” I imagine that the band had children of Armenians in mind when they sang that very popular song, although in my translation, I used the word son. 

The first sentence of the lyrics addresses to “Հայորդիք որ կ՚ապրիք դուք հեռուն” (Sons of Armenians who live far away). 

Who were the children of the Armenians who lived far away,  the song urged them not to forget the language, but to speak it? It extolled them to love each other, not to be assimilated, and in turn, teach the history of the Armenians to their children so that their children would also know “արժէքը հայերուն” (the value of the Armenians). It is hard to fathom now that that message was for the Armenian youth growing in the west, in the Armenian sense of the designation of the West (Europe, Americas,....). I may even say that they meant to Armenians of their age who lived far from the Armenian community of the Middle East, the cradle of Diaspora Armenian culture. They ended the song by repeating the following two sentences of the lyrics over and over again: "Let's not assimilate, let's love each other. Let's keep our holy honor high." 

The members of the Five Fingers were born and raised in a veritable Armenia that was the Armenian community of Lebanon. The state of the Armenianness of their brothers and sisters in those faraway lands, preoccupied and concerned them, and fired their youthful imagination. It is for them they composed HYORTIK.

But, little did they knew that in a few short years they too will cross oceans and continents and settle on the very same real estate that dreaded them once. And, in another twist of fate, I would end up dedicating my translation and publication of Boghos Shahmelikian’s memoir, both of which were a labor of love, to the children of those popular Armenian pop music musicians who changed the landscape of the Armenian pop music, so that their children now may be able to read about their parents in the language they, unlike their parents, are brought up and understand, English.

After some vacillating I decided to add the following concluding paragraph to end my reflection on the one-time popular song by the Five Fingers band. Those in Diaspora, who have something to say as to how best the elected government of Republic of Armenia should govern Armenia, or whether the citizens of Armenia are patriotic enough or not, have their priorities shifted. Instead of mending their or our own yards in the Diaspora, they have resorted to say something as how best the citizens of Armenia should mind their yards. I say, something is not right there. 

A few decades after the release of the Hyortic extolling the Armenian youth in the west, I wonder, with our communities in Lebanon and Syria, culturally if not existentially threatened, whether the Diaspora is upholding the lyrics of that song and...

Are we not forgetting our sweet mother tongue?

Are we singing and always talking (Armenian)?

Are we seeing how sweet it is?

We’re few. But are we remaining Armenian?

Are we not forgetting our mother tongue?

Are we endlessly supporting each other?

Are we always holding our nation high?

Are we always high? And are we remaining lofty?

Are we not assimilating? And are we loving each other?

Are we keeping our holy honor high?

As Armenians we live far away (from Armenia)

Are we not forgetting our Armenian history?

Are we telling our children?

Do we and our children know the value of the Armenians?

Changed the title to Hyortik: a reflection.

The remarkable achievement of the Kessab United Ousoumnasirats Djemaran.

Ազգային Ուսումնասիրաց Միացեալ Ճեմարան - Քեսապ

Vahe H. Apelian

 

KEA of Los Angeles Emblem designated by the late Soghomon Hekimian (Apelian)

First and foremost, let me state that there is no English equivalent word for “ousoumnasirats”, nor the word is present as a single word in the Armenian dictionaries. At least I could not find it listed in the Nairi dictionaries. “oursoumnasirats” is a complex word. The two root words are “ousoum’ (ուսում), which means:  study, institution, instruction, teaching, lesson, education. The other roots word is “sirel” (սիրել), which means: to love, to be fond of, to like, to have a passion for, to delight in, to have an affection for, to be in love with. Consequently, the complex word “ousoumnasirats” means those who love, or fond of, or like, or have a passion for, or delight in, or have an affection for, or are in love with study, instruction, education. “Djemaran means: Academy, seminary; lyceum, college, institute. 

I have not heard or seen “ousoumnasirats” used anywhere else other than among the Kessabtsis. But, I do not doubt that the word has been used elsewhere but it appears it's endemic of Kessab lexicon. Consequently, I will not attempt to find an equivalent word for it in English and will resort to calling that unique Kessab secondary school Kessab United Ousoumnasirats Djemaran. The word United is included in the naming of the school because of its historical evolution at is founding days. The secondary school came about by uniting the other existing schools into one single high school.

The school has an interesting story that also reflects the resilience of Kessabtsis and their quest for education. It begins over a century ago, in 1910.

1910 may have been the worst and the best of times for the Kessabtsis – people of Kessab. The year before, the massacre that started in the city of Adana – historically known as the Adana massacre - spread like a wild fire to the other cities of the historical Cilicia and in northern Syria. The pogrom reached Kessab in the latter part of April 1909. The ransack of Kessab and the pogrom of its inhabitants was followed by a bitter winter in Kessab adding to the misery of the survivors who had not been able to tend to their harvest due to the carnage, and they needed shelter and sustenance.

Garod Saghdejian

The Kessabtsis, however, responded to this tragedy by rebuilding their lives anew and embarked on an unprecedented program. In 1910, in the aftermath of the tragedy, instead of dwelling on despair, a group of young Kessabtsis envisioned to establish an educational association. They named it Ousoumnasirats. The goal of the association was not only to further the state of education in Kessab but also to render Kessab a college level educational center for the Armenians in the historical Cilicia. The Kessab Ousoumnasirats Association (KEA) was thus born. The founders however could not realize their aspiration. In a matter of a few years the Medz Yeghern befell on the Armenian people that forever altered their millennial way of life in their ancestral land, that is to say the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

Two thirds of the Kessabtsis perished during the genocide. In 1918 the surviving Kessabtsis started rebuilding their lives again. 

In spite of all the hardship Kessab Ousoumnasirats Association established in 1924 the Kessab United Ousoumnasirts Djemaran - High School. In a short period of time the high school achieved a remarkable academic success. The colonial French government in Syria recognized the high school and its graduates were accepted in institutions of higher learning in France and many did.

 However, the ensuing political situation put a damper on the academic progress. In 1938 Kessab lost considerable portion of its arable lands to Turkey and the subsequent economic hardship resulted in the great migration of many to Lebanon, America, Canada and Australia. In 1946 and 1947 the great repatriation took place and many Kessabtsis moved to Armenia further depopulating Kessab and curtailing the academic excellence of its schools. 

The Kessabtsi immigrants however did not let go of the mission of the Ousoumnasirats and established Kessab Educational Association branches in the cities they moved to, such as Beirut in 1951 and Los Angeles in 1957. In Beirut the Association ran an evening school that lasted until 1975 when it became a casualty of the Lebanese civil war. During a quarter of century service, the school, supported by the Kessab Educational Association of Beirut, offered free of charge educational to young Armenian men and women who had dropped out of school early on to pursue a trade. The KEA also continued and continues to this day supporting  the Kessab United Ousoumnasirts Djemaran.

Ardavast Terterian and Vazken Abdoulian

I became reflective because I read that this year three of its graduates achieved academic success. Garod Saghdejian graduated from Haigazian College with distinction in his line of specialty.  Ardavast Terterian and Vazken Abdoulian received their Master of Science in Computer and Information Science from the American University of Armenia. Among the founders of the AUA was Dr. Stepan Karamardian, who hailed from kessabtsi parents.

I wish the graduates of Kessab United Ousoumnasirts Djemaran much success in their future endeavors.

 

 

 

  

A Lone Voice from Kahramanmaras: You are all guilty

Vahe H. Apelian

 

M Ali Kir has been a Facebook friend who has taken interest in us and participated in sharing his views on the Armenian issues we discussed. He comes across as a concerned humanitarian. He resides in the historical city of Marash in Turkey.

Today I posted recently the following: “" ՅԱՂԹԵԼՈՒ ԵՆՔ":  During Second Artsakh war, Armenians resisted valiantly against forces we knew we could not defeat militarily. After 44 days of battle and at the cost of 4000 lives, we secured the November 9 agreement. But the opposition, in an out of Armenia, outright rejected the agreement Armenia had secured and labelled the PM a traitor and swore to bring him down. If the Armenians in Armenia, Diaspora and Artsakh had stood by what we achieved on November 9, 2020, instead of tearing it apart, we may not be in this situation. The Russians and the Azeris knew of the division within the Armenians over November 9. agreement and took full advantage of it and now do not honor it because they know Armenians were and are not united. Our loss is our doing, period. Sad, sad, and how sad for Artsakh and Armenia….”

M Ali Kir also commented to my post in Turkish. Thanks to Google translation, we have been able to exchange our views. I posted the Google translation  of his comment below. The original post in Turkish may be read on my page.

“Everyone thought Armenia would win, victory slogans were thrown, they said we won without war, they said we will win, they spoke for sure, everyone believed, everyone is behind Pashinyan, they said, "Go, you are the new king without a lion, they said, go, but when they were defeated in the war, Armenians blamed Pashinyan. Don't blame at all, if there is a guilty person, you are all guilty, don't blame anyone else, now Pashinyan says" He says that if you do not accept the conditions Armenia will disappear, in a way he is right, but there is no one to trust and stand behind Armenians, they used Armenians again and threw them away, so they accepted the agreement, and look from this direction, Armenia has fallen to the table of wolves, the Turkish world has been established, how can Armenia survive, it is the best to approach the Turks again find a life because Armenians in the world are falling apart and sinking each day. Support Pashinyan. I think he is being clever. Where are those who told Pashinyan to walk? They are the criminals now.

If Pashinyan had won, all the people would have been heroes. They would say he won because of us and they would say well done to Pashinyan.”r. 

In regard to his last sentence, we all agree that "success has many fathers but failure is an orphan." The one time before the second Artskah war slogan posted above proclaiming that Armenia, Diaspora, Artsakh is one nation with one struggle, has now fragmented to its core and is falling apart from its seams. its constituents are doing to each mother more than pointing finger at each other. 

M Ali Kir is a respectful participant in our online postings. Whatever your views are, address his massage and spare the messenger M Ali Kir. He has proven to be a concerned individual who has no interest other than goodwill and is a respected guest on my page as well as on my friends’ pages with whom he shares his views..

 

War Games: Madrid Principle - Lachin Corridor - Artsakh Status

Vahe H. Apelian

 

Bear with me as I state the obvious.

I am not an expert on warfare. But I will take the liberty saying that I was a championship chess player in my college years and was a member of the American University of Beirut’s chess club whose president was Artin Boghossian a math major who currently resides in Canada.

Chess is a war game. Playing the game is akin to strategizing a winning battle and a winning war. One of the greatest stumbling blocks in strategizing is the realization that the player failed to see the obvious move the opponent could make, and realizes it only after having the opponent make the move. That happens because the player gets so much engrossed in his thoughts and in his strategizing that the player fails to think like the opponent would. Maybe the greatest asset for a chess player is strategizing the game from the opponent’s perspective, as the player lays down his or her strategy.  

I felt the need to have the above two opening paragraphs noted lest I may be construed not having the best interest of Armenia in mind having attached the notes from my non-Armenian friend, whom I consider an expert in Armenian history and Armenian affairs as much as value him for being the Armenian he has chosen to be. 

The attached are what he wrote to me.

On Madrid Principle

I don't think there was an agreement, just principles proposed by the OSCE Minsk Group, which Armenia and Azerbaijan sometimes referenced during discussions.

On Lachin Corridor

As far as I know, in the late Soviet era (before the 1990 war) Aghavno and Lachin itself were Azerbaijani towns/villages that were part of the Azerbaijani SSR proper that were captured by Armenian forces during the 1990s war, destroyed and purged of their Azerbaijani populations, rebuilt by Armenians (I think with diaspora support in the case of Aghavno), resettled with Armenians (I think foreign Armenians in the case of Aghavno), and renamed with Armenian names.  The only reason these towns/villages did not go back to Azerbaijan under the 2020 ceasefire agreement is that Armenia needed a road to Stepanakert and these towns/villages were on/near the road.

The older history of the region is more complicated and I don't know all of it.  Certainly 300-500 years ago there was still a significant Armenian presence there.  Under Russian Empire control in the 19th century that whole area was part of Elizavetpol province and Armenia and Azerbaijan had competing claims during the independence era.  

 The Soviets awarded almost all of the province to the Azerbaijani SSR except modern Syunik (the east part of the Zangeur district of Elizavetpol province) was carved out to be part of the Armenian SSR since Armenians had established control of it during the independence-era wars (which is why Azerbaijani nationalists today claim that territory as East Zangezur).  

The eastern 1/3 of Zangezur was made a part of the Azerbaijani SSR, and it is this region where the Lachin corridor is today (along with Kalbajar, Zangilan, etc.).  As you know, the Soviets carved out Nagorno Karabakh as the Armenian part of Azerbaijani-controlled Karabakh and made it autonomous under Azerbaijani SSR administration.  In the early Soviet era I think this "East Zangeur" region was sparsely populated, mostly by semi-nomadic Shia Kurds.  I don't know when or how they became the majority there.  Over the next decades Moscow and Baku took bits of land away from Syunik and Nagorno Karabakh to expand their separation a bit, originally to establish a "Red Kurdistan".  But over time many of the Kurds were resettled and populated with Azerbaijanis.  There might have been some Armenian villages there (and there certainly are medieval and early modern era Armenian cultural heritage objects there), but by the time of the collapse of the USSR that region was recognized as an Azerbaijani and maybe Kurdish part of the Azerbaijani SSR proper (no special status).  That area was entirely ethnically-cleansed by ethnic Armenian forces during the 1990s war.

I think both Azerbaijanis and Armenians have their own ways of deluding themselves when it comes to the Karabakh region, such that the history in culture becomes "clearly Armenian" or "clearly Azerbaijani".  But there is a mixed record of settlement and political control over time, so everything is not so clear.  I would say there is a shared heritage, especially over the past 200-300 years.

On Artsakh Status

I don't think NKAO will get any status now.  From Azerbaijan's perspective, this whole conflict arose because NKAO got a special status in the USSR, so giving NKAO a special status will be like a time bomb ticking inside their country, a threat of a new independence movement.  The best NKAO Armenians can hope for is some sort of deal to protect their rights and security in Azerabaijan.  But after watching the events of the past 9 months or so, I think NKAO and Armenia itself will be lucky to avoid a new war.   I don't think NKAO Armenians are going to get any more protections than Aliyev's word unless one of the more powerful international community players (Russia, USA, EU, etc.) is willing and able to apply more leverage to Azerbaijan, or unless NKAO Armenians can convince Aliyev that they will fight and a new war will be too publicly messy to be worth it.  I'm not sure either is possible, but we'll see.  There are still more peace negotiations coming up.  I am concerned that NKAO will be forcefully ethnically-cleansed, or maybe just "softly" cleansed when living in Armenia starts to look better than living in NKAO as an integral part of Azerbaijan.

They were and are no more: Kessabtsis in Rostom Gomideh

Vahe H. Apelian

They were Kessabtsi compatriots who were members of the ARF Rosdom Gomideh in Los Angeles.

In 2007, on the occasion of celebrating the February uprising, the ARF Rosdom Gomideh of Los Angeles, honored the ungers who had served in the ranks for fifty plus years.  The Gomideh in turn, in the valley section of greater Los Angeles, celebrated the 50th anniversary of its founding. 

The honorees were indicted in the ARF ranks even before the Rosdom Gomideh they belonged to was founded.  Among them was father who was the most senior member. He was bedridden in the nursing home but did not want to miss the occasion. I had to make special arrangements for medical transportation and an attendant for the nursing home to let him out, having assured his safety. I flew from Cincinnati to accompany him. The attached picture depicts him and I attending the occasion. He passed away a few months after that on July 27. That was my last picture with him.

 

The gomideh had issued a booklet celebrating the honorees. A good number of the honorees turned out to be Kessabtsis. They all have since passed away. Each had jotted down his remembrance joining the ARF ranks, who had witnessed the induction into the ranks, and who was the ARF leader who had influenced each the most.  

Regrettably I do not have a copy of the booklet to have a complete list of the honorees of that evening. But I had copied the Kessabtsi honorees. Attached are who they were and what each wrote.

Unger HOVHANNES APELIAN, my father (62 years in the ranks)

Had joined the ranks in 1945 in Beirut, witnessed by Unger Vahan Papazian.

He had assumed various responsibilities including khmpabed (group repesentative). Unger Simon Vratsian had been a member of his group

Unger Tro Ganayan was the leader who had influenced him the most. For a while they resided in the same building and dealt with each other.

Unger HAYGAZOUN TERTERIAN (57 years in the ranks)

Joined the ranks during 1950 in Kessab, witnessed by unger Paul Churukian.

He had assumed various responsibilities.

Unger Trasdamad Ganayan (Tro) was the leader who had influenced him most.

 

Unger GABRIEL INJEJIKIAN (57 years in the ranks)

(The pioneer of Armenian day school in the U.S.)

Had joined the ranks during 1947 in Kessab witnessed by Unger Hratch Papazian.

He had assumed various responsibilities and had chaired the ARF Zavarian Student Association.

Unger Roupen DerMinassian was the leader who had influenced him most, having met the one-time defense minister of the first republic of Armenia in Kessab during several summers.

Unger VARTKES TERTERIAN (55 years in the ranks)

Had joined the ranks during 1952 in Beirut, witnessed by Unger Trasdamad Ganayan (Tro).

He had assumed various responsibilities.

Ungers Tro, Shavarsh Missakian, Vahan Navasartian were the leaders who had influenced him the most.

 

Unger MESROB CHELEBIAN (60 years in the ranks)

Had joined the ranks during 1947 in Beirut, witnessed by unger Vahan Papazian.

He had assumed various responsibilities including khmpabed (group repesentative). 

Unger Roupen DerMinassian had been the leader who had influenced him the most.

Unger ARMEN HOVSEPIAN (56 years in the ranks)

Had joined the ranks during 1951 in Beirut, witnessed by unger Yetvart Daronian.

He had assumed various responsibilities including khmpabed (group leader).

Unger Simon Vratsian had been the leader who had influenced him the most. Both had lived in the same neighborhood and met each other often.