A happenstance reminding How Steve Kerr's Grandfather's Book Came About.

How Steve Kerr's grandfather's book came about: Steve Kerr is a friend to Armenians. His  endorsement at DNC reminded me of Antranig Chalabian's  "A Big Book's Little Story" article that  appeared in Antranig Zaroukian’s Nairi Weekly in Beirut on December 2, 1973, few months after the publication of “The Lions of Marash”. I attached my translation of the article  where Antranig Chalabian narrated how Steve kerr's grandfather Dr. Stanely E. Kerr’s monumental book came about. . Vahe H Apelian 

Steve Kerr on the DNC podium August 19, 2024

How Steve Kerr's grandfather's book came about? Antranig Chalabian

Dr. Stanley E. Kerr was the Chairman of the Biochemistry Department of the American University of Beirut for almost four decades. During the last years of his tenure he had merited the title of Distinguished Professor. For all I know, in the history of the University, few individuals have been conferred with this title. He retired from his post in 1965 and moved to America.

I knew the Professor simply because we worked in the same building. He worked in the second floor of the University’s School of Medicine building while I worked in its fourth floor as Research Assistant. I had heard that the Professor was an Armenophile. A friend had told me that at the aftermath of the First World War he had helped the Armenian refugees.

The American University of Beirut’s School of Medicine building has two storage rooms in its fourth floor where all sorts of equipment, instruments, some usable others not, are kept. When the storage rooms get filled up workers come and remove some of the items that are not needed any more.

It was in the summer of 1966. I heard that workers have come and are emptying the two storage rooms. I went to see that they do not remove instruments and other items we owned we may need in the future. In one corner there was a very old wooden box. “Take this wooden cart away!” I told the workers because of its rough and tumble look and accumulated dust.

I had hardly uttered my order when I noticed that at its bottom there were papers that appeared to be newspaper and envelopes of sorts. The papers appeared to be very old. Had a garbage collector come across the box he would not have wanted to handle the papers inside and would have tossed the box away. I, on the other hand, who has a tendency to wash his hands 50 times a day, do not know how is that I extended my arm into the box and reached the papers. It may be that luck would have it that way.

I opened the large envelope with utmost care. There were clippings from an English language newspaper. TODAY IN SVAS A THOUSAND ARMENIANS WERE MASSACRED. I turned my face the other way and shook the fifty years accumulated dust and took the envelope to my office.

I placed the papers on the table next to my desk and started to look into the newspaper clippings. They were clippings from New York Times dating to the Armenian Genocide. There were also correspondences and documents and also Stanley Kerr’s picture (he was not a professor then).  His picture appeared in the newspaper on two occasions in a military like uniform. It turned out that they were the uniforms worn by the American Relief Workers. From the correspondences I concluded that the envelope belonged to   Dr. Stanley Kerr.

Emotions overtook me as I read the newspaper clippings; Dr. Suhail Jabbour, one of the Professors of the Physiology Department who is a very curious and observant person, happened to step in.

- “What are you reading?” He asked.

- “Papers that belong to Dr. Stanley Kerr” I said “He seems to have left them here”

- “Place them in my office after you are done” He said. “I would like to read them as well”.

Three days later I asked him, “Where are Dr. Stanley Kerr’s papers?” “I sent them to his son”, he said. Professor Stanley Kerr’s son, Malcolm, was a professor at the University’s Political Science Department and is a specialist of Arab history.correspondences and documents and also Stanley Kerr’s picture (he was not a professor then).  His picture appeared in the newspaper on two occasions in a military like uniform. It turned out that they were the uniforms worn by the American Relief Workers. From the correspondences I concluded that the envelope belonged to   Dr. Stanley Kerr.

Emotions overtook me as I read the newspaper clippings; Dr. Suhail Jabbour, one of the Professors of the Physiology Department who is a very curious and observant person, happened to step in.

- “What are you reading?” He asked.

- “Papers that belong to Dr. Stanley Kerr” I said “He seems to have left them here”

- “Place them in my office after you are done” He said. “I would like to read them as well”.

Three days later I asked him, “Where are Dr. Stanley Kerr’s papers?” “I sent them to his son”, he said. Professor Stanley Kerr’s son, Malcolm, was a professor at the University’s Political Science Department and is a specialist of Arab history.

I wrote a letter to Dr. Malcolm Kerr at the U.C.L.A. Political Science Department inquiring about his father’s papers. He wrote back letting me know that he had sent the papers to his father who lived in Princeton, NJ.

I wrote to Dr. Stanley Kerr and asked him if he would return the papers he had left behind to me to give to an Armenian editor.

“No, Antranig” he replied. “I had not thrown these papers away. I had lost them. They are very valuable to me. I had collected them to write a book. I am glad that you found them……”.

This incident became the reason that initiated a correspondence between the two of us the outcome of which became the monumental book Dr. Stanley E. Kerr wrote about the massacres of Marash. To write this book, the eminent professor devoted six years and produced a book about the tragedy of Marash that historians may not have anything else to add. We may mention here that Krikor Kaloustian’s book titled “Marash or Kermanic” has only a 30 pages long section about the tragedy of Marash including eyewitness accounts.

Dr. Kerr has been in Aleppo and Marash between 1919 and 1923 as an American Middle East Relief officer. He has been a witness to the post War massacres by the Kemalists. Before that he has been interested in the Armenian issues and has collected newspaper articles about the Armenian massacres.

My task became collecting references about the Armenian Genocide and the Cilician tragedy.  I translated into English almost all the Armenian references available about the tragedy of Marash and the Cilician calamity. Fortunately the Professor’s knowledge of German, French and Turkish greatly facilitated our searches.

In the spring of 1967, a year after the initiation of the work, the Professor came to Lebanon in search of sources. We looked for a book but we could not find it. I checked almost all the bookstores in the city but I could not locate a copy. The title of the book was  “La Cilicie 1919-1920” by Edmond Brimond. I was told that the Armenian Catholic Library in Zmar had a copy.

The 1967 Israeli six-days long war started. The city was very tense. It was the third day of the war and the city was at a heightened mood. People were protesting all over and the streets were littered with glass fragments. The schools were closed and people were indoors; I was concerned that the Professor would soon leave due to rising anti-American sentiments without the reference. I decided to go to Zmar but I did not own a car then. I ventured out of the house, crossed the city center and walked to my friend Yervant Grboyan’s house and knocked at the door. He was still in his bed.

- “Take me to Zmar” I said.

- “Are you crazy or what?” He said. “Who goes out in these times leaving his house?” He added.

We drove to Zmar. We were sipping tasty wine when the Vartabed went to fetch the book from the library. He came back. “We do not have the copy” he said. “It is in our registry but it appears that Father Gergerian has taken the book with him to Philadelphia”.

In the afternoon I went to the University and found that Dr. Stanley Kerr and all the American nationals had left the country early that morning at 7 a.m.

I continued to search for the book through Librarie Du Liban. I wrote to friends in Paris, but to no avail. Then someone told me to check Vahe Setian’s private collection. Giving the benefit of the doubt that a personal collector would have a book the libraries did not, I visited Vahe Setian to inquire. Not only I found the book I was looking for in his collection, I also found additional seven historical books in French about the Cilician tragedy.  In President Hoover’s Library we found another French book we needed titled “Historique du 412n Regiment d’Enfanterie” by Captain C. Tribault.

“The Lions of Marash” was printed by the State University of New York Press and was published on July 2, 1973. It retails for $15. Few copies have arrived to Beirut. I do not want to be misunderstood. The author has purchased few copies and gifted to friends.

I am pleased that an eminent American Professor wrote this book. The Professor has shown his greatness early on. Just imagine that a young 20 to 22 years old student leaves America and volunteers to help Armenian orphans in a foreign land.

I narrated the story of a big book. Let the Marashtsi intellectuals evaluate the book."

Dr. Antranig Chalabian

 

Zaven Khanjian reminiscing about Kessab.

 “Heavenly Kessab” is my 2013 translation of one of the stories from Zaven Khanjian’s book, titled “Aleppo, First Station”. The translated story first appeared on the online journal Keghart.com in February 2013. Zaven Khanjian was a friend to the Kessabtsis and over the years shouldered communal responsibilities with many of them in Los Angeles. Vahe H Apelian

 

While our homes and schools in Haleb were each a small spiritual Armenia, Kessab, on the other hand, was for us the only tangible, tasteful, huggable, historic and ancestral Armenian soil. Let Kessabtsis remain assured that we lay no territorial claim when we state that Kessab was our Armenia as well. This Armenian speaking, breathing and heart-beating northeastern Syrian corner was the magnet for our summer vacation; a most beautiful mountainous resort comprised of its namesake main village, Kessab, and surrounded by the Armenian inhabited, Armenian speaking but Turkish named villages.

In those days the inhabitants of Kessab were few. They thus became the close acquaintances of those who visited Kessab, especially when visiting the same village summer after summer and especially when both the visitors and the locals were members of the same denomination. Keurkune first, followed by Ekiz-Olough and then Kessab became the summer long camping centers for the youth of the Armenian Evangelical Christian Endeavor -Chanits.  

Resting at the foot of a hill, the center for our summer vacation in Keurkune was a stone walled one storied building whose doors and windows remained without panels. It was not only the mountain winds that breezed through it, but also our childhood curiosity that took wing and fired our imagination as to what possibly could lay behind that hill. In time we discovered, to our disappointment, that what lay behind the hill was the dirt road that snaked through keurkune and Ekiz-Olough.

1. Our ancestral Stepan &Sara (Mousajekian) home, in Keurkune

2. Chanits summer home where Zaven Khanjian stayed:"Resting at the foot of a hill, the center for our summer vacation in Keurkune was a stone walled, one story building whose doors and windows remained without panels"  (Keurkunetsis know it as Gebresent house)

We then wondered what lay further away?

TThe house at the foot of the hill Zaven Khanjian described as their Chanits summer home where Zaven Khanjian stayed in Keurkune:"Resting at the foot of a hill, the center for our summer vacation in Keurkune was a stone walled, one story building whose doors and windows remained without panels"  (Keurkunetsis know it as Gebresent house)

In time we grew taller and with the passing years we climbed to the highest peak of Kessab, that of Mount Silderan. Many a time we passed by the icy waters of Chalma’s spring and its majestic chestnut tree and gazed with wander the vast expanse of the blue water of the Mediterranean Sea. It was way too early for us then to ponder what lay beyond the blue waters and be drawn by the deceptive allure of the Western Civilization.

My contemporaries and I owe a lot to Kessab. In that mountainous and borderless environment, one attempts to soar with eagles. The pine trees there proudly stand tall, sky high. The apples, the figs, the wild berries you come across at every pace taste heavenly in Kessab. It is there when you experience freedom unadulterated by human constrictions and feel closer to the Heavenly Father and come to worship both the Creator and the Creation and exalt God in the highest with an unyielding earnest to live free.

Kessabtis are a happy bunch, even though Kessab was not spared from the destructive and annihilating policies of the Young Turks. The surviving Kessabtis returned to their homes and stayed there. Where else west of Mount Massis1 has an Armenian enclave continued to embrace the descendants of the House of Torkom2 for longer? Aside west of Massis, which other Armenian enclave has had the good fortune to continue living on its ancestral soil for longer?  Kessabtsis were salvaged because somewhere, somehow, someone – a blessed creature – whether an official of the Ottoman Empire or of the Colonial French mistakenly drew the line that left Kessab inside Syria. The latter in turn embraced it with a sincere welcome and assured its safety. Nowadays Kessabtsis are more of immigrants than native, more of them live outside than inside Kessab. They are more scattered worldwide than congregated in their native enclave. However, all these changes have come about out of free will choices and not due to any persecution, threat, or forced displacement.

There was a time when the Kessabtsis toiled the land and were more of villagers. They left their pickaxes, shovels and scoops in favor of tilling medical, academic and spiritual fields. These days the Kessabtsis are more of medical practitioners, educators, and spiritual shepherds.

We loved Kessab and Kessab in turn loved us. Our summer long sojourn there inevitably led to that mutual bond. The summer long church related meetings concluded with the traditional bonfire when the whole village would congregate around the vacationing young men and women to attend the comedy presentations the young vacationers prepared for the villagers as a gesture of good will.

Nature had endowed Ekiz-Olough with an open-air theater in the center of the village where we fashioned the stage with sheets, ropes and wooden poles. Armenag was the brainchild behind the improvised theatrical stage, while Raffi Charkhudian, Azad Mesrobian, Zadour Khatchadourian and I attempted to remain true to the characters of the plays we portrayed whether it was in “կիկո “ (Gego), “Շողոքորթը“ (The Flatterer), “Քաղաքավարութեան Վնասները“ (The Perils of Politeness). With rare exceptions, all the villagers attended and enjoyed the zenith of our summer long cultural endeavor. The younger vacationers in turn remained captivated by the performance of their elder campers.

Inside cover of Zavan Khanjian's book "Aleppo First Station"

We, in turn, loved the Kessabtsi. We loved the Kessabtis for their unassuming and modest characters worthy to those brought up in nature, for their pure hearts akin to the clean waters of their springs, for their steel like character much like the boulders of their rocky terrain, for their perennial quest much like their ever-green pine trees. We loved the Kesssabtsis for the labor they bore much like their fruit bearing trees, for their resiliency worthy to those who are brave, for their quest to reach the sky much like their mountains. How could we have not loved?

Still, Kessab became the impetus that gave maturity to our maturing young bodies.

It is there, in Kessab that

We experienced nature at its virgin best for the very first time.

We experienced Armenian village for the very first time.

We visited Armenia for the very first time.

We met our Creator for the very first time.

And for the very first time during these meetings I met a vivacious, vibracious, a beautiful girl full of life and zest who would give meaning to my life and one day be the mother of my children.

How could I not love Kessab?

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Notes:

1.Armenians refer to Mount Ararat as Mount Massis as well and refer to twin peaked mountain and Big Massis (Medtz Massis) and Little Massis (Bzdeg Massis).

2.House of Torkom is an expression for the Armenian race.

Excerpts about the Ottoman Bank and Armenians– 1

-The following can be unequivocally said about the Ottoman Bank:

1. The Ottoman Bank was Ottoman by name only.  Greeks and Armenians used it as a metaphor, being Ottoman by name only but otherwise disfranchised. It was a European conglomerate. 

2. The Ottoman Bank put an end to the glorious era of the Armenian Amiras, the rothschilds of the Ottoman Empire who oversaw the financing of the Sultan’s Ottoman Empire.

3. And, quoting Wikipedia, “On Wednesday, 26 August 1896, 13:00 o'clock, 26 Armenians from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, armed with pistols and grenades and led by Papken Siuni, attacked and occupied the Ottoman Bank of Constantinople. The men entered the great hall of the Ottoman Bank armed with revolvers, daggers and dynamite bombs.”

 During my early youth, as member of Papken Siuni Badanegan (Youth) Myoutyoun (Association), every year, may be more than once, we had a debate whether Papken Siuni occupation of the Ottoman Bank was justified or it was a reckless act. None of us wanted to be in the team that debated against the occupation. Those who did were assigned to that team by the ARF Zavarian Student Association member who oversaw our group.

I have put together the many excerpts about the Ottoman Bank and Armenians dealing with the Ottoman bank,  Mano Chil posted on his Facebook page. They give an interesting and fascinating insight about the Ottoman Armenian relations with the Ottoman Bank and and the banking of the Ottoman Empire. They are reproduced it here randomly.   Vahe H Apelian

The Ottoman Bank 

Administering the Ottoman Empire before the establishment of the Ottoman Bank.

I quote: “The Amiras were a powerful class of Armenian commercial, industrial, and professional elites in the Ottoman capital between the 18th and 19th centuries. They ran the treasury, mint and armaments factories, built palaces, mosques and public buildings, and operated many monopolies. Because of their unique position, they had good relations with Ottoman Sultans and administrators, and played an important role in the development of the Armenian and Armenian Catholic millets.” (The Amiras: Lord of Ottoman Empire, Pascal Carmont).

The American missionary Rev. Williiam Goodell, claims he was the first American missionary to set foot in the Ottoman Empire in 1823. He played a decisive role in the establishemen to of the Armenian Evangelical community in Constantinopel in 1846. He said the following about the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire. 

He wrote the following in his memoir: “The Armenians were an enterprising people, and the great wealth of the bankers, who were nearly all Armenians, made them very influential throughout the empire, even with the Turkish officials, who were largely dependent upon them for pecuniary advances and assistance. The various connections of this people with different parts of the country, and the influence which they were in a position to exert, in promoting the spread of the Gospel in Turkey, made it exceedingly desirable that they should embrace the truth."

The Ottoman Bank put the Amiras out of commission. Much like East India Company snatched the far East trade from the Armenian khojas, the Ottoman Bank, a European conglomerate, snatched the administration of the Ottoman Empire away from the Amiras, who were mostly Armenians from Agn. See the link below.

Vahe H Apelian

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Did the Ottoman Bank ruin the lives of Armenian money changers? ( Mano Chil posted on July 2, 2022)

Abraham Pasha, originally Abraham Eramyan, (Istanbul, 1833 - Istanbul, 1918) was an Ottoman civil servant and diplomat of Armenian origin.

The son of an Armenian banker family, he was a close friend of Sultan Abdülaziz. He spoke fluently Turkish, Arabic and French, and was a prominent figure of Pera high society in Istanbul.

The mansion built by Abraham Pasha in Beyoğlu and rented to the Cercle d'Orient Club and the Kocataş Mansion in Büyükdere are among the most magnificent structures of the period.

1883 marked the beginning of Pasha's financial decline, he was financially ruined and unable to repay his debts. Abraham Pasha was forced to surrender his investments on the Bourse and all his properties to the Ottoman Bank in 1898. His personal properties were sold by the bank in 1919 to a stockbroker named Manouk Manoukian. 

— Mesut Kara (translated from Turkish)

                                                        ***

When was the Ottoman Bank Established? (Mano Chil posted it on November 15, 203)

In 1856, (Vahe: 10 years after the establishment of the Armenian Evangelical community),  Sultan Abdulmejid called for modern banks to be established in the Ottoman Empire. He hoped that creating the institutions would improve the empire’s financial system and foster economic development. The sultan’s call was heeded by European bankers who, seeing opportunity, flocked to Constantinople.

The Ottoman authorities gave a group of English and French suitors permission to establish a bank that would operate under the name “The Imperial Ottoman Bank.” Negotiations between the Ottoman authorities and European stakeholders on the bank’s governance resulted in the latter group receiving great influence.

As per the agreed-upon terms, the position of general manager had to be occupied by a European. The manager reported to two committees. One committee was based in London and was accountable to British shareholders. The other was based in Paris and was accountable to French shareholders. Decisions made by one committee became effective once ratified by the other committee.

The Ottoman Authorities agreed to have limited influence over the bank’s governance because of the perceived benefits the bank would grant them. For example, the Ottoman authorities could borrow from the newly established Imperial Ottoman Bank at a time when many creditors started to doubt their creditworthiness as a debtor.

The Imperial Ottoman Bank was to serve as the empire’s central bank. It would execute all financial operations of the Ottoman Treasury in Constantinople and would be the government’s financial agent both domestically and abroad. The Ottoman authorities also granted the institution the exclusive right to issue bank notes.

The negotiations over the Imperial Ottoman Bank were indicative of a trend that saw the Ottoman government surrender authority over economic matters to foreigners in exchange for financial services and access to funds.

Many of the loans that the Ottoman authorities had taken since 1854 were obtained under stern conditions. The interest on domestic and foreign loans was often over 6 percent, with some loans having an interest rate exceeding 10 percent.

On many occasions, the Ottoman government was not able to repay a loan in time. These delays strengthened rumors of bankruptcy, causing Ottoman bonds to become nearly unsellable.

The empire’s economic outlook worsened in 1873 when the European stock market crashed. A financial crisis that became known as the “Panic of 1873” followed. As a result, it became even harder for the Ottoman Government to procure new credit.

Economic circumstances were so dire that in 1874 Galata bankers refused to lend to the government even if the interest rates would be set at 25 percent.

By 1875, the situation had become untenable. The Ottoman authorities announced they would pay back their debt, half in cash and half in 5 percent yielding treasury bonds. As a result of this implicit admission of bankruptcy, the Ottoman State’s credit plummeted. The empire formally defaulted shortly thereafter.

The economic crisis was felt throughout the whole empire. Ismail Pasha, the Khedive of Egypt, was in such dire need of money that he sold his shares in the Suez Canal to the British government.

The proposed solution involved the state surrendering tax revenues to repay loans. The state agreed to earmark the revenues from its stamp, spirits, fishing taxes, silk tithe, salt, and tobacco monopolies.

The plan worked as intended. The tax proceeds proved sufficient to meet the installments of the debt. Foreign creditors, seeing that domestic loans were being repaid, felt left out of a good deal. They opened negotiations with the Ottoman government in the hopes of securing a similar arrangement. The talks resulted in an agreement signed in 1881, known as the Muharrem Decree, which gave foreign creditors claims to Ottoman tax revenues.

In return for ceding the tax revenues irrevocably, the outstanding debt of the empire was reduced by almost 40 percent. In addition, the yearly charges on the debt were cut by over 80 percent.

In the years following 1881, the tax revenues specified in the Decree of Muharrem were brought under the control of the OPDA (Ottoman Public Debt Administration). The institution’s primary functions were collecting taxes and distributing them to foreign bondholders.

The OPDA also served as an intermediary for European companies seeking to invest in the Ottoman Empire. As such, the institution helped foreign companies secure lucrative contracts for railway development. These contracts sometimes included rights of ownership of mineral deposits and forests near the to-be-constructed railways.

To act out its mandate, the OPDA employed thousands of people. At its peak, the institution had 9000 employees, which was more than the Ottoman finance ministry.

The Ottoman Public Debt Administration was successful in paying out the debt owed to foreign creditors. Between 1882 and 1914, the OPDA paid out the equivalent of 113 million British pounds in debt.

As time passed, the Ottoman Empire slowly began recovering from its precarious economic situation. With the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1929, a third of the outstanding debt was forgiven.

Turkey paid the last installment of its debt to the OPDA in 1954, exactly a century after the Ottoman Empire had taken on its first foreign loan.

--  Ilias Luursema

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Berch Kererteliyan became general manager of the Ottoman Bank. (Mano Chil posted it on June 16, 2024)

Berch Kerestejiyan (Türker) was born in 1870 in Istanbul. He first attended Galatasaray Lycee, a French-language public school, and later transferred to Robert College, an American private school. After graduation, he served for two years at the Ministry of Finance and was later employed by the Ottoman Bank. He was the co-founder of the Ottoman Red Crescent, which was established in 1911.

During World War I, he became the general manager of the Ottoman Bank. During the Armistice years, he actively participated in the National Movement by organising aid campaigns through the Ottoman Red Crescent and providing loans to the Nationalists through his position at the bank. 

Following the surname reform, Mustafa Kemal bestowed on him the family name Türker (Turk man) in recognition of his patriotism and support for the Nationalist cause. 

An anecdote is being told about his contribution to save the life of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, as he informed Atatürk's lawyer about a British plot to sink his ship SS Bandırma in the Black Sea, on which Atatürk left Constantinople in 1919 to initiate the Turkish War of Independence. He was awarded the white stripe Medal of Independence after the war.

Encouraged and supported by Atatürk, he run as an independent candidate for a deputy seat from Afyonkarahisar at the 1935 general elections and became a member of the Turkish Grand National Assembly on March 7, 1935 as the first Armenian and one of the four non-Muslims in total.

— Ari Şekeryan

The Armenian Amiras: http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2018/08/agn-and-agnetsis_9.html

 

Hyortik, is everything over, are we done for? – 2/2 -

 Vahe H Apelian

A week ago, I translated Levon Sharoyan’s posting on his Facebook page he had titled “Everything is Over”. But I opted to title my translation as “Hyortik, is everything over, are we done for?”. (see the link below).

I opted to change the title of Levon Sharoyan’s posting because I was reminded of The Five Fingers band’s popular song by name, “Hyortik”.

According to Nairi dictionary, hyortik means the sons of Armenians, or Armenian by birth. Although strictly speaking it is gender specific, but we know that the Armenian language does not have different pronounces for males and females. Hyortik may be translated as “children of Armenians”, or “sons and daughters of Armenians”. I believe that is what The Five Fingers band had in mind when they came with their signature song “Hyortik” in late 1960’s or early 1970’s.

The Five Fingers band was made of a group of talented Armenian musicians. I hold Stepan Frounjian, a member of the band, its good will ambassador who continues to share his inordinate musical talent on  Facebook from Racine, Wisconsin where he also serves the Armenian Apostolic Church as  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. Boghos Shahmelikian was also a member of the band. 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.  I will also post the link for that blog below. 

The lyrics of Hyortik, courtesy Vahig Vartabedian

The first sentence of the Hyortik lyrics addresses the “sons and daughters of Armenians who live far away”. The song urged them not to forget the Armenian language, but to speak it. It extolled them 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).

Who were the children of the Armenians who lived far away? Far from where?

It is hard to fathom now that that message was for the Armenian youth who lived “far away”, that is to  say in the west, in the Armenian sense of  West (Europe, Americas,....). It may also be hard to fathom now that they meant Armenians of their age who lived far from the Armenian community of the Middle East, especially in Lebanon and Syria that were regarded as the cradle of Diaspora Armenian culture. Living far from these communities posed a danger for losing the Armenian identity. The very notion of a free independent and democratic Armenia was not in their wildest imagination, like the rest of Diaspora, that could come in a quarter of century. In Diaspora, the Armenians in Lebanon lived in a cultural raccoon that Armenians in Constantinople, Tiflis lived at different times in our history.  The Armenian communities of Lebanon, Syria, and to a certain degree those in the Middle Eastern countries were culturally safe and secure to perpetuate the Armenian culture and the GREAT DREAM that the Wilsonian Armenia exemplified. The concern was for the Armenians living “far away”. 

The members of the Five Fingers were born and raised in that veritable Armenia that was the Armenian community of Lebanon. They felt safe and secure as Armenians. It is the state of the “Armenianness” of their brothers and sisters in those faraway lands that preoccupied and concerned them, and fired their youthful imagination. It is for them they composed their signature song, Hyortik.

But, little did they knew that in a few decades Armenia will become independent while the communities of Lebanon and Syria, experiencing politically seismic events, will come to the state that would compel Levon Sharoyan to titled his posting, “Everyhting is Over”. 

After some vacillating I decided to share the following 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,  or if the authorities are doing justice in their teaching of Armenian history or history of Armenia, have their priorities upended. Instead of mending our own yards in the Diaspora, the Diaspora leadership spent its resources by resorting to having a political say as how best the citizens of Armenia should mind their yard, instead of leading Diaspora mind its own yard.  Obviously, the analogy is made as a matter of speech.

True that political events shook the social foundation of the Middle East and in doing so, shook the very foundations of the Armenian communities in Syria and in Lebanon. But, instead of attending to the needs of the Diaspora communities and preparing the worst that was inevitably to come, attention was shifted, resources were directed and diverted,  emotions were heightened at the governance of the newly free, independent, and democratic Armenia  to the neglect of the Diaspora. This shifting of priorities contributed immensely to bringing the Armenian communities in Syria and in Lebanon to their present deplorable state. Like anything else, there are those who are more responsible than others for the poverty stricken present state - both as poverty goes and also culturally -  of the Armenian communities in Lebanon and Syria, the one time cradles of the Armenian Diaspora.

Quo vadis, Diaspora Armenians?

Indeed hyortick, is everything over, and are we done for in the Diaspora?

Links

1. Hyortik, is everything over, are we done for? – 1/2: http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2024/08/hyortik-is-everything-over-are-we-done_11.html  

2. Dawn of Armenian Pop Music: http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2021/04/dawn-of-armenian-pop-music-primary.html

 

 

 

Hyortik, is everything over, are we done for? – 1/2 -

The attached is my translation of Levon Sharoyan’s posting on his Facebook page today, August 11, 2024, the first day of the new year in the old Armenian calendar. Levon Sharoyan had his posting titled “Everything is over” (Ամէն ինչ վերջացած է). I opted to title my translation, as I did. I will allude to my reference to hyortik in the next installment. . Բնագիրը կցած եմ ներքեւը։ Vahe H Apelian. 

"EVERYTHING IS OVER" - "ԱՄԷՆ ԻՆՉ ՎԵՐՋԱՑԱԾ Է"

 A distinguished Armenian teacher from Istanbul wrote to me saying: "Our community has reached the edge of the abyss. There is almost no Armenian speaking person left around us, anymore. The two Armenian-language newspapers in Istanbul will also be closed soon. We are finished."

**

A Lebanese-Armenian intellectual friend sighed over the phone to me, telling me to write them off. He said: “There is no intellectuality left any more, no quality cultural life any longer . The once influential Armenian community of Lebanon is on the path of exhaustion and degeneration. Mixed marriages are marching headlong!” He told me to come down to Bourj Hammoud to see with my own eyes, “where they were and where they are now". 

**

A distinguished editor from Paris wrote in her letter saying that: "The current state of the Armenian-language press in the Diaspora is more than deplorable. What a loose language and what a deplorable content. You will hardly find any pleasant or useful article worth reading there. Those who have become editors, themselves lack literary Armenian. Every day, Western Armenian is getting a step closer to its grave. We are finished."

**

 A leader of a 135-years-old Armenian party from Europe, after visiting our communities in the Middle East, admitted in intimate circles that “for decades we resorted to emotive slogans. We loved the monetary and the drumbeat. We couldn't prepare qualified leadership. Now, after closely examining and evaluating the state of our party in the once-Armenian centers of the Middle East, I must honestly admit that we are finished."

**

 An Armenian celibate clergyman, impeccable and decent, complained recently, "Our church is in decline. There is a thick wall between the church and the people. It appeals to far few. The number of worthy clergymen is gradually decreasing. Tomorrow there will not even be worthy candidates to occupy our ecclesiastical seats.”

**

 One of our teachers in Aleppo, heartily and sincerely, complained to me a few days ago, wondering: "What will happen to the state of the Armenian in our schools? The overwhelming majority of students will not succeed in writing correctly two sentences long texts. Many are unable to read fluently. An upcoming generation is becoming estranged to the indifferent of the responsible bodies. It is over for us."

**

 A friendly doctor from Los Angeles, whose grandchildren attend an American-Armenian school, complained to me saying that: "Yes, my grandchildren go to an Armenian school, but they only speak Armenian to me. Maybe they don’t want to upset their great father. Otherwise, all their conversation is in English - at home, on the street, or at school. In America, we are finished.”

**

 One of the administrators of one of our cultural associations told me the following: "During a meeting, I proposed to prepare a literary evening devoted to Yeghishe Charents. One of our members from the association asked if Charents was still alive. I was shocked. Will the cultural associations be able to carry on their mission with such administrators? We are finished."

**

 An administrator of a once-glorious compatriotic union shook his head and said the other day: "There is no union left, there is no member. The present-day generation no longer feels a sense of belonging to the cradle of their grandparents. There is no affiliation to the indigenous life of their ancestors. This year and for the last time, we will publish our wall calendar and then we will dissolve the compatriotic union. We are done for."

**

Levon Sharoyan post touched a raw nerve judging by the many comments it generated and is generating. Cliché it may be, or regurgitated, I will end this installment of the blog quoting Hakob Asatryan’s comment. He wrote, “It is a sad truth, but it is necessary to act. One should not despair.”

***

"ԱՄԷՆ ԻՆՉ ՎԵՐՋԱՑԱԾ Է"...

   Պոլսէն հայերէնաւանդ վաստակաւոր ուսուցչուհի մը կը գրէ ինծի."Մեր համայնքը անդունդի եզրին հասած է։ Հայախօս մարդ գրեթէ չմնաց մեր շուրջ։ Իսթանպուլի հայերէն 2 թերթերն ալ շուտով պիտի փակուին։ Մենք վերջացած ենք"։

   Լիբանանահայ մտաւորական բարեկամ մը հեռաձայնին միւս ծայրէն գրեթէ կը հառաչէ."Լիբանանի վրայէն գի'ծ քաշէ այլեւս։ Ո'չ մտաւորականութիւն մնաց, ո'չ մշակութային որակեալ կեանք։ Երբեմնի հզօր գաղութը հիւծումի ու այլասերումի ճամբան բռնած է։ Խառն ամուսնութիւնները գլուխը առած կ`երթա՜ն...։ Անգամ մը Պուրճ Համուտ իջիր` որ աչքովդ տեսնես, թէ ո՜ւր էինք ու հիմա ո'ւր հասանք"...։

   Փարիզէն վաստակաշատ խմբագրուհի մը իր նամակին մէջ կ`արտայայտէ սա' միտքը."Սփիւռքի հայատառ մամուլին այսօրուան վիճակը աւելի քան ողբալի է։ Ի՜նչ թափթփած լեզու եւ ի՜նչ անկեալ բովանդակութիւն։ Ընթերցումի արժանի հաճելի կամ օգտակար յօդուածներ գրեթէ  չես գտներ հոն։ Խմբագիր դարձած անձերը իրե'նք հայերէն չեն գիտեր...։ Արեւմտահայերէնը ամէն օր քայլ մը աւելի կը մօտենայ իր գերեզմանին։ Մենք վերջացած ենք այլեւս"։

   135 տարուան հայկական կուսակցութեան մը մէկ ղեկավարը, Եւրոպայէն, այցելելէ ետք միջինարեւելեան մեր գաղութները, մտերմաբար կը խոստովանի."Տասնամեակներ շարունակ վազեցինք շողշողուն լոզունգներու ետեւէն։ Սիրեցինք փողն ու թմբուկը...։ Մարդուժ չկրցանք պատրաստել։ Այժմ, մօտէն քննելէ ու արժեւորելէ ետք մեր կուսակցութեան վիճակը Միջին Արեւելքի երբեմնի հայահոծ կեդրոններուն մէջ, անկեղծօրէն պիտի խոստովանիմ, թէ մենք վերջացած ենք..."։

   Հայ կուսակրօն հոգեւորական մը, անբասիր ու պարկեշտ, վերջերս կը գանգատէր." Մեր եկեղեցին դէպի անկում կ`երթայ։ Անոր ու ժողովուրդին միջեւ հաստ պատ մը կայ։ Կոչումներն ալ չափազանց պակսած են։ Արժէքաւոր հոգեւորականներու թիւն ալ հետզհետէ կը պակսի։ Վաղը արժանի թեկնածուներ անգամ պիտի չգտնենք մեր նուիրապետական աթոռներուն համար"։

   Հալէպի մեր ուսուցչուհիներէն մին, սրտցաւ ու անկեղծ, քանի մը օր առաջ կը գանգատէր ինծի." Ի՞նչ պիտի ըլլայ հայերէնի վիճակը մեր դպրոցներուն մէջ։ Աշակերտներուն ջախջախիչ մեծամասնութիւնը երկու նախադասութիւն անսխալ գրել չի յաջողիր։ Շատեր սահուն կարդալու անատակ են։ Պատասխանատու մարմիններուն անտարբեր նայուածքին տակ` սերունդը կ`օտարանայ։ Մենք վերջացած ենք"։

   Լոս Անճելըսէն բարեկամ բժիշկ մը, որուն թոռները ամերիկահայ վարժարան մը կը յաճախեն, կը դժգոհէր ինծի."Այո',  թոռներս հայկական դպրոց կ`երթան, սակայն հայերէն կը խօսին միմիայն ինծի' հետ։ Կ`երեւի թէ չեն ուզեր նեղացնել մեծ հայրիկը...։ Այլապէս, իրենց ամբողջ խօսակցութիւնը անգլերէն է` տունը, փողոցը, թէ դպրոցը։ Հոս, Ամերիկայի մէջ, մենք վերջացած ենք։

   Մշակութային մեր միութիւններէն մէկուն վարչականներէն մին ինծի պատմեց հետեւեալը."Ժողովի մը ընթացքին առաջարկեցի գրական ձեռնարկ մը սարքել Եղիշէ Չարենցի մասին։ Ժողովական մեր ընկերներէն մին հարց տուաւ, թէ Չարենցը ո՞ղջ էր արդեօք...։ Շշմեցայ։ Այսպիսի վարչականներո՞վ յառաջ պիտի ընթանայ մեր մշակութային առաքելութիւնը...։ Մենք վերջացած ենք"։

   Հայրենակցական երբեմնի փառաւոր միութեան մը մէկ վարչականը անցեալ օր գլուխը օրօրելով կ`ըսէր."Ալ ո'չ միութիւն մնաց, ո'չ անդամ։ Սերունդը իր պապերու բնօրրանին նկատմամբ պատկանելիութիւն չի զգար այլեւս։ Տոհմային ապրում չկայ։ Այս տարի վերջին անգամի մը համար պատի մեր օրացոյցը պիտի հրատարակենք ու ապա լուծարենք միութիւնը...։ Մենք վերջացած ենք"։

  Լ. Շառոյեան (Հալէպ)

Lebanon: what it’s like living with uncertainty as tensions escalate?

Today, Anthony Hoglind from Australia, shared with me as well the news that on August 7, 2024, TheGuardian.com reported that: «Lebanon is now teetering on the edge of a full-scale war and many countries – including Australia - are urging their citizens to leave. But, for some, leaving this land of both beauty and pain is not a thought they will entertain. Nour Haydar speaks to two  reporters in Beirut – Ali Hashem, a correspondent and columnist, and Cherine Yazbeck, a journalist and photographer – about what it’s like living with uncertainty as tensions escalate.»Those interested may look for thequardian.com link and hear the podcasts.  

But, it so happened that, two days earlier, Hagop Havatian from Lebanon, had penned on his Facebook page, how it is “like living with uncertainty as tensions escalate.” His reflection was sobering and insightful of the human spirit in adversity. He had titled his comment, “Only in Lebanon”. Yesterday, on August 6, “Aztag” Daily reproduced Hagop Havatian’s reflection. Attached is my liberal translation of Hagop Havatian’s text in Armenian. I have posted the original text below.  Vahe H Apelian

Courtesy Theguardian.com (August 7, 2024)

 Hagop Havatian wrote: 

         “This morning, as I was driving through an inner district, suddenly, the shopkeepers run out and everyone's eyes turned towards the sky. Someone shouted, “They began". I stopped my car and got out to find out what happened. Two explosions were heard. It turned out that Israeli military aircrafts had broken the sound barrier. At that very moment, I read a text on my phone alerting me about an explosion. But that had nothing to do with what happened.

This is how we live nowadays in Lebanon, in an atmosphere of war, destruction, death, general threat and uncertainty when a person waits, but does not know what he is waiting for. It is truly deceptive and depressing. Everyone has become a soothsayer or a follower of soothsayers' predictions. The sound of each explosion that shatters that state of mind portrays a horrible picture in the mind of the person. 

          The whole world is engulfed in this war. The appeals and the demands of the ambassadors to their citizens to leave Lebanon immediately, are pointedly repeated. However, in this uncertainty and depressing state, an unnatural and incomprehensible phenomenon is also being revealed. We are witnessing the determination to continue conducting a normal life with all its daily routine. That, has become a new style of struggle of willfully ignoring the possibility of war. The planned events for concerts, summer festivals in different parts of the country are not being postponed in any significant way but continue as planned. The people in turn are waging a new kind of war, one of steadfastness, as steadfastness goes, “the quality of being resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering.”

          Such is the present make-up of the Lebanese social mosaic. The conviction that this too shall certainly pass fills the Lebanese citizen with enthusiasm for recovery and restoration of their daily life.

          Until then, let us pray that the bitter sorrow of human loss will not haunt us. 

          Patience, in this new kind of war of hopeful awaiting

ՄԻԱՅՆ ԼԻԲԱՆԱՆԻ ՄԷՋ

Այս առաւօտ ինքնաշարժով կ՛անցնիմ ներքին թաղամասէ մը։ Յանկարծ խանութպանները դուրս կը վազեն եւ բոլորին հայեացքները կ՛ուղղուին դէպի երկինք։ «Սկսան» կը բացագանչէ մէկը։ Կանգ կ՛առնեմ, կ՛իջնեմ ինքնաշարժէն իմանալու համար եղելութիւնը։ Երկու պայթումի ձայն լսուած է։ Ի յայտ կու գայ, որ իսրայէլեան օդուժը խզած է ձայնի պատը։ Թէեւ հեռաձայնիս վրայ նոյն վայրկեանին կը կարդամ իրականութեան հետ աղերս չունեցող գրութիւն մը, ուր կ՛ըսուի թէ շրջանի մը մէջ պայթում եղած է։ Այսպէս կ՛ապրինք այսօր Լիբանանի մէջ:

Պատերազմի, աւերի, մահուան եւ անորոշութեան ընդհանուր սպառնալիքի ու արհաւիրքի մթնոլորտին մէջ, երբ մարդ կը սպասէ, սակայն չի գիտեր, թէ ինչի՞ կը սպասէ, իսկապէս մոլորեցնող ու ճնշող ապրում է։ Բոլորը դարձած են պարզապէս գուշակ կամ գուշակներու կանխատեսումներուն հետեւորդ:

Սպասողական իրավիճակի լռութեան պատը քանդող իւրաքանչիւր պայթումի ձայն, զարհուրելի ու քստմնելի պաստառ մը կը պարզէ իւրաքանչիւր անհատի մտապատկերին մէջ։ 

Ամբողջ աշխարհը կլանուած է այս պատերազմով: Դեսպանատուներու՝ իրենց քաղաքացիներուն ուղղուած Լիբանանէն անմիջապէս հեռանալու կոչերը եւ պահանջքները կը կրկնուին սուր կերպով:

Սպասողական ճմլիչ այս հոգեվիճակին մէջ սակայն, անբնական ու անհասկնալի երեւոյթ մը կը պարզուի։ Կը տեսնենք թէ կեանքը բնականոն ու ընթացիկ կերպով շարունակելու վճռակամութիւնը դարձած է պայքարի նոր ոճ եւ ընկալում ու պատերազմի հաւանականութիւնը չտեսնելու եւ անտեսելու տրամադրութիւն: Ծրագրուած ձեռնարկները, երգահանդէսներն ու ամառնային փառատօները տարբեր շրջաններու մէջ, նկատառելի թիւերով  չեն յետաձգուիր ու կը շարունակուին:

Նոր տեսակի պատերազմ եւ ժողովուրդի կողմէ նոր տեսակի հակադարձութիւն։ Այս է այսօրուան լիբանանեան խճանկարը։

Այս ալ պիտի պիտի անցնի վստահաբար ու դարձեալ վերապրումի եւ վերականգնումի խանդավառութիւնը լեցնէ լիբանանցի քաղաքացիին առօրեան։

Մինչ այդ մաղթենք, որ մարդկային կորուստի դառն կսկիծը հեռու մնայ եւ զոհասեղանը դարձեալ չթարմացուի։

Համբերութիւն՝ սպասման այս նոր տեսակի պատերազմին մէջ։