Emotional Debates: We are, in many respects, of two minds

A passage from The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez, a 2020 documentary about an eight-year-old boy who was killed from abuse. The narrator spoke about American dichotomy. The most liberal state, California has the largest death row and America as a whole struggles with upholding American citizen’s unalienable right for life but also put the person to death.  It reminded me of the emotional debate Americans are experiencing. Vahe H  Apelian

“California has the largest death row in the U.S. There are 740 people on California’s death row, and Southern California is currently sentencing more people to death than any part of the country.

In essence, the U.S. is the only western democracy that still has death penalty. It continues to pose a significant moral dilemma for the country.

We are, in many respects, of two minds because this is the country of great opportunity, of respect for humanity and at the same time, it’s a country that is highly punitive. The better angels of our nature want to get rid of death penalty. They have not prevailed.

We are a country of mercy, and we are a country of vengeance, and we live with both at the same time. 

California has the system where it can’t just be a murder, it has to be a murder special circumstance. Gruesome cases are really hard to decide and you’re going to have jurors who believe that this person should not be killed. Jurors has a choice. They have choice between life without a possibility of parole and the death penalty. And when it gets down to a person who does not think that a defendant should die, and jurors who think we have to kill this person in order to protect the society, you have extraordinarily emotional debates.

In the penalty case, deciding to have the person killed or prisoned for life, the instructions given to the jurors were different. The standards were different. 

At the stage, it just came down to personal beliefs and personal preferences. "

Not to dismiss the oceans remark

Vaհe H Apelian

 

Regarding the Zelensky-Trump debacle, a reporter noted that Zelensky has repeatedly pointed out that the U.S., under the Biden administration provided substantial aid to Kyiv. But it is Ukrainian soldiers who did and do the fighting on the front lines to stop Russian aggression that poses a threat to all of Europe, which runs counter to the U.S. interests. Furthermore, he claimed that “Zelenskyy later said that under war, "everybody has problems, even you" and that the U.S. would feel the war "in the future."

But it was not quite like that. Zelensky said the following, “You have nice ocean and don't feel now, but you will feel it in the future". That remark angered Trump who said, "Don't tell us what we're going to feel. We're trying to solve a problem. Don't tell us what we're going to feel."

Geography has favored the United States. It is flanked by two great oceans, on the East by the Atlantic Ocean and on the West by the Pacific Ocean. Even though U.S. has its own immigration issues, but strong man like Erdogan has not thus far threatened it by opening the flood gates of immigrants pouring onto it, as Erdogan did, exacting from West Europe major concessions. On its north and south, its neighbors have not been warring as European states were during the two great wars.

Consequently, isolationism became natural for the U.S. For the longest time FDR could not even interfere on behalf of Winston Churchill caught in frenzy of the “European War”. However, things changed. The spread of Nazism, the Pearl Harbor attack,  the growing might of the Soviet Union changed the political equation necessitating U.S. and England work hand in hand with the Stalinist Russia until, in Churchill’s words, a great curtain descended upon Europe.

After the second world war, the “Domino” theory became the foreign policy theory of the U.S., according to which the “fall” of a noncommunist state to communism would precipitate the fall of noncommunist governments in neighboring countries. Eisenhower is credited to have described the theory during a news conference on April 7, 1954, when referring to communism in Indochina. But the U.S. diligently exercised the cautionary policy right after the WWII. Unlike the Paris Peace Conference convened in January 1919 at Versailles just outside Paris, that imposed harsh terms on the defeated Germany, the U.S. took upon itself rebuilding the defeated Germany in the aftermath of WWII, fostering ideological and commercial ties. The U.S. also adopted the same policy dealing with Imperial Japan it defeated.

The results of the wise and benevolent policies of the U.S. resulted in the post WWII Pax Americana, that seems to be experiencing serious stresses that are threatening to tear the alliance apart from its seams. It is not communism any more but a variant of “Lebensraum”, meaning "living space.”

Does Zelensky’s remark have any merit, given the ICBM, the intercontinental ballistic missiles have rendered geography pretty much irrelevant and MAD, the mutually assured destruction, became the deterrent?

The 21th century witnessed the birth of BRICS. According to Wikipedia BRICS is an informal intergovernmental organization consisting of ten countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. The term is made by the initials of the first countries listed. It is the counterpart of G7, which, according to Wikipedia is an informal grouping of seven of the world's advanced economies, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as the European Union.

 G7, unlike NATO, may be informal, whatever the term “informal” implies. But countries engaged in economic cooperation cannot endure if not backed by military might both as a deterrent and for safeguarding markets.

At present, the U.S. of America has a southern neighbor - Brazil -  a member of the “informal” BRICS organization that represents over 3.3 billion people, which is more than 40% of the world's population. In my view, that would have been unthinkable a few decades ago.

 Yes, the oceans no longer can guarantee a splendid isolation, for the U.S.

It behooves the citizens of the U.S. and hence its government not to dismiss what Zelensky said that "You have nice ocean and don't feel now, but you will feel it in the future”. Let us be mindful that a more congested world is awaiting us and yes, U.S. may experience immigrant surges in ways it has not experienced before, and its southern neighbors may not be any longer open markets for merchandizing and manufacturing U.S. goods. 

 

 

  

 

 

Staging the last Chapter for the long struggle of independence

 Vaհe H Apelian

The last chapter of the Armenian history is being played out. Chapters are not only read but also are played, be it on a stage in a theater or on this planet. Much like any book, be it a novel or a play, the last chapter distills the story. That is where we are, at the last chapter of the Armenian statehood. We either close the book for a free, independent and democratic Armenia, or keep it open with an unfinished chapter for the upcoming generations to continue its narration.

This last chapter is titled “Free the Armenian hostages”. Naturally it is about the abducted Republic of Artsakh officials and other Armenian prisoners languishing in prisons in Baku. I do not believe that there is an Armenian who is not concerned about their welfare and fate. 

The issue in staging the last chapter is following. Who will direct the play's last stage? Will it be the prime minister Nikol Pashinyan and its government?  Or will it be the Armenian nation, spread across the globe.

On Sept. 19, 2023, Azerbaijani unleashed its second offensive in three years.  On September 23, 2023, the Republic of Artsakh signed its capitulation and dissolution by January 1st, 2024. Within 10 days, 120,000 Armenians fled Nagorno-Karabakh and found refuge in neighboring Armenia.

Five hundred and twenty and four (524) days have elapsed since that infamous day and eight former officials of the Republic of Artsakh who were abducted and taken as prisoners remain languishing in prisons in Baku. 

Today, on February 28, 2025,  the foreign minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan brought their state, their plight, and their sham trial to the attention of the world.

Naturally Ararat Mirzoyan, as the FM of Armenia, would not have released his lengthy statement (see below) about the plight, the physical and the emotional attrition of the abducted Artsakh Armenian officials and their sham trial to the attention of the world, without the approval of the PM Nikol Pashinyan. 

It is understood that the foreign ministry, as Wikipedia notes, “is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support, including consular services, for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entity is usually headed by a foreign minister or minister of foreign affairs (the title may vary, such as secretary of state who has the same functions). The foreign minister typically reports to the head of government (such as prime minister or president).”

Consequently, the government of Armenia has given the green light for the Armenian ambassadors to pursue through diplomatic channels securing the release of the former Republic of Artsakh officials taken hostage and as well as other Armenian prisoners for. 

In other words, the Republic of Armenia has initiated all it can, towards securing the release of the Armenian hostages and prisoners, through diplomatic channels.

In other words, the Republic of Armenia has initiated all it can, towards securing the release of the Armenian hostages and prisoners, through diplomatic channels.

Strangely, the former FM of Armenia Vartan Oskanian, who is a fierce critic of the Nikol Pashinyan government, belittles the statement of the current FM and calls for the Prime Minister of Armenia to personally release a statement that the FM issued. Vartan Oskanian is pushing to have, the highest Armenian government official, the PM assume the task. Vartan Oskanian knows very well that Ararat Mirzoyan is PM Nikol Pashinyan’s trusted aid to run the foreign affairs of the Armenian government. Ararat Mirzoyan would not engage in any task without the PM’s approval, much like Vartan Oskanian would not have engaged without the approval of the president Robert Kocharian he served, although he was the president’s trusted aid to run the foreign affairs of Armenia.

It is imperative that the PM of Armenia does NOT lead the Armenian prisoner’s sad issue. Naturally any statement by the PM of Armenia will take the issue away from the foreign ministry and make the PM personally lead his government for securing the release of the prisoners. That would inevitably result in the PM Nikol Pashinyan and the president Aliyev making a deal. We all know what that deal entails. Making a deal between the two heads of states played in front of the globe in the White House today. The repercussions of which has a very consequential finality

How can then Armenians resolve the issue of the Armenian prisoners and still hold on to the territorial legacy from the Soviet Union or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.?

The only plausible way the Armenian prisoners may be released from the prisons in Baku is for the Armenian diaspora puts all its resources, lock, stock, and barrel, at the disposal of the Armenian foreign ministry and work with and under the leadership of the Armenian ambassadors. In short, if there was any time that the famed statement by Charents that “"Oh, Armenian people, your only salvation lies in the power of your unity", rings true, it is over having an unified front for the release of the Armenian prisoners.

Will Vartan Oskanian, the outspoken retired foreign minister urge the Armenians do just that, especially that he was the FM of Armenia at one time.? I doubt very much. The policy he is pursuing, even at this 11th hour is partisan and Machiavellian rather than humanitarian, and national. 

Yes, it is the Armenian nation that will have to release the Armenian prisoners from Baku, putting its resources under the only institution, among the family of nations, that we have been able to bring about, the foreign ministry of the Armenian government. Otherwise, we will remain haunted by our unwillingness to heed to Charents’s call, "Oh, Armenian people, your only salvation lies in the power of your unity," and will continue on looking for a culprit that was and is us, and no other.

                                  ***

FM Ararat Mirzoyan’s statement (https://www.mfa.am/en/interviews-articles-and-comments/2025/02/28/mfa_statement/13096)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia continues to draw the attention of the international community, particularly of partners interested in peace in the region and valuing humanitarian principles, to the issue of the release of Armenian prisoners of war, hostages and other detained individuals held in Azerbaijan. It also highlights the staged trials against some of them, which are being conducted with gross procedural violations and clear signs of torture.

There is deep concern over the publications of photos and videos from the “trials” of 23 Armenian prisoners of war, hostages and other detainees, as well as the alarming reports from their lawyers regarding coercion, torture and the evident deterioration of their health, including that of Ruben Vardanyan, who is currently on a hunger strike.

This pattern of conduct is further substantiated by the concerns expressed by the UN Committee Against Torture, the documented cases of torture of Armenian prisoners of war reported by the Human Rights Watch and other organizations, as well as Azerbaijan’s persistent evasion of coordinated cooperation with international bodies, including the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The Government of Armenia continues to receive reports of the use of prohibited measures against Armenian prisoners of war, hostages and other detainees.

Armenian prisoners of war, hostages and other detainees are being unlawfully held in Azerbaijan in blatant disregard of its commitments and international obligations. Their detention and persecution constitute a gross violation of international humanitarian law and fundamental human rights. A mere listing of the relevant international multilateral documents includes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, The Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Geneva Convention IV (1949) and European Convention on Human Rights.

It is evident that the Azerbaijani authorities are using this judicial spectacle as a tool for political pressure on the Republic of Armenia and for manipulation within society, given the sensitivity of the issue for every family member and the entire society.

It is particularly noteworthy that these processes are taking place amid the continued propaganda of ethnic hatred against Armenians in Azerbaijani media.

Above everything and first of all, the comprehensive settlement of any conflict includes preparing peoples for peace, while the additional and artificial prolongation of unresolved humanitarian issues does not serve this purpose, to say the least, and only reduces the likelihood of such resolution. This understanding has been repeatedly emphasized during discussions with Azerbaijan, as well as on various international platforms by partners and organizations. We expect that this understanding will also prevail in the perceptions of the Azerbaijani authorities over the continuous fueling of hostility and short-term calculations.

In the absence of a final resolution to the issue, Armenia cannot remain indifferent or uninvolved therefore, and will continue to raise the matter on various platforms and in different formats, expecting solutions and positive progress.

 

Շունը եւ Աշխարհի ճակատագիրը

 Այս իմ առաջին պլակս է որ տեղադրած եմ 4.3.2017-ին , Նախագահ Դրամբին առաջին նախագահութեան ընթացքին։ Բայց այժմու կը թուի ըլլալ, ինչպէս որ էր եօթը տարի, տասնեւմէկ ամիս, եւ քսանեւչորս օր առաջ, March 4, 2017-ին։ Վաhէ Աբէլեան

Պարնին կը ձգէ Ճերմակ Տունը իր ետին Նախագահ Ճորճը Պուշին հետ 

Քանի մը օրեր առաջ լրացուցի Լեւոն Շարոյեանին՝ Սիմոն Սիմոնեանին գրութեան Անգլերէն թարգմանութիւնը հատորով մը։ Սիմոնեան ընտանիքը ստանցնած է հրատարակել թարգմանութիւնը որպէս գիրք մը։ Արդէն հայերէնը լոյս տեսած է Հայաստանի մէջ։ Սիմոն Սիմոնեանի գիրքերէն մէկուն վերնագիրը՝ «Լեռ եւ ճակատագիր» է։ Ես ալ պատշաճ տեսայ որ իմ այս գրութիւնս վերնագրեմ՝ «Շուն եւ Ճակատագիր», բայց այս անգամ ակնարկս ուրիշ բան չէ եթէ ոչ աշխարհի կամ մարդկութեան ճակատագիրը։

Շունը մեր գրականութեան մէջ եւ խօսակցական լեզուին մէջ իր տեղը ունի։ Բայց մեր շուները համեստ են, ալ ուր մնաց որ աշխարհի ճակատագրին վրայ որեւէ ազդեցութիւն ունենան։ Համաստեղի մեր սիրելի Չալոն տէր չունէր։ Իրեն հոգատար մարդոց ազգին նման, ինքն ալ իր գլխուն ճարը կը նայեր։ Անոր համար մեր շուները միշտ «շան բախտ» չեն ունեցած, վկայ մեր ժողովրդական մէկ խօսքը որ Ամերիկահայ ամենէն ականաւոր գիրքերէն մէկուն վերնագիրը եղաւ՝ Բիթըր Պալաքեանին «Պլէք Տօկ Օվ Ֆէյթ», Շան Սեւ Ճակատագիրը։

Բայց Ամերիկայի կեանքին մէջ շունը տարբեր դեր ունի տրուած ըլլալով Ամերիկայի նախագահին ընտանիքին մէկ անբաժան մասը կը կազմէ։ Թերեւս անոր համար որ Նախագահ Հէրըլտ Դրումըն ըսած է որ եթէ Ուաշինկթընի մէջ բարեկամ կ՚ուզես՝ շուն մը պահէ։ Տակաւին չհանդիպեցայ Նորընտիր Նախագահ Դրամբին շանը։ Արդեօ՞ք ան բացառութիւն պիտի ըլլայ, սպասենք։ Բայց իրմէ առաջ եկող նախագահները շուներ ունէին որոնք ծանօթ էին թղթակիցներուն ոչ նուազ քան Նախագահը։ Նախագահին ընտանքին ընտրած շան տեսակը եւ մանաւանդ Նախագահին վարմունքը շունին հետ՝ մամլոյ թղթակիցները ուշադրութեամբ հետեւած են միշտ։ Երբ Նախագահ Լինտըն Պէյնս Ճանսընը՝ Սպիտակ Տան պարտէզին մէջ, իր երկու շուներուն ականչները բռնելով օդը բարձրացուց լրագրողներուն եւ իր խորհրդականներուն ներկայութեանը՝ արդէն վաւերացուցած եղաւ այն ինչ որ Նախագահին համար կ՚ըսուէր որ ան ամէն պարագաներու տակ ինզինքը ուզած է պարտադրել դիմացինին վրայ եւ սովորութիւն ըրած էր իրեն խօսակիցին դիմացը, բայց շա՜տ մօը կանգնիլ եւ իր երկար հասակով գերիշխէր դիմացինին վրայ։ Նախագահ Լինտըն Ճոնընի ունեցած շուներու տեսակը մասնաւորաբար որսորդութեան համար էին եւ այդ կրկին՝ նախագահին նախասիրութեան մասին բան մը ցոլացնէր։

Նախագահ Ճորճ Պուշի շունն ալ նուազ ծանօթ չէր։ ։ Ան այն տեսակի շուներէն էր որ տան համար սերընդագործուած են որպէս տան «պահապան» անդամ մը։ Շան անունը Պառնի էր եւ ունէր իր կայքէջը եւ իր առօրեային հետեւողները։ Պուշ ընտանիքին գուրգուրանքին առարկան էր։

Նահագահութեան շրջանը աւարտելէ ետք, Նախագահ Պուշին քով ի յայտ եկաւ գծելու իւրայատուկ տաղանդ մը եւ ան գծեց բազմաթիւ քաղաքական ղեմքերու դիմանկարները որոցմէ է Նախագահ Փութինի խիստ արտայայտութեամբ դիմանկարը։ Դիմանկարին արտայայտութեան ակնարկելով Նախագահ Պուշը հետեւեալը  պատմեց հեռատեսիլի վրայ հարցազրոյցի մը ընթացքին։ 

Երբ Փութին այցելութեան կուգայ Ամերիկա՝ Նախագահ Պուշին հետ մէկ հանդիպման, ակնարկելով  Պառնիին՝ Փութին Պուշին ըսած եղած կ՚ըլլայ՝ «այս ալ շուն կը կարծէ՞ս»։ իսկ տարի մը ետք երբ Նախագահ Պուշ կը փոխադարձէ այցելութիւնը՝ Փութին կը ներկայացնէ իր մարմնեղ շունը Նախագահ Պուշին ըսելով որ իր շունը Պառնիյէն աւելի զօրաւոր է եւ աւելի արագ կը վազէ։

Այս օրերուն Նախագահ Թրամբին կողմէ Փութինին ի նպաստ արտահայտութիւնները լուրջ տարակարծութեան պատճառ դարձած  են նոյն ինքն Հանրապետական կուսակցութեան կարգ մը հոսանքներերուն մօտ։ Պիտի չզարմանամ որ Հանրապեական կուսակցութեան որոշ անդամները - որոնք հասարակած քաղաքական աշխարհայեացքներ ունին Պուշի ազդեցիկ ընտանիքին հետ - մոռցան չեն Նախագահ Փւթինի կողնէ եղած ակնարկը Պաոնիին մասին։ Անբնական չէ որ  հոն տեսած ըլլան մտայնութիւնը մը որ ճակատագրական  կրնայ ըլլալ այս երկու գերպետութիւններուն յարաբերութեան զարգացմանը։ 

Նախագահ Թրամբը շուն չունի, ցարդ։ Պտմութիւնը ցոյց պիտի տայ  նախագահական թիւ մէկ շունի բացակայութեան հետեւանքները։

                                      Վահէ Յ. Աբէլեան

There got to be limits to Diaspora Journalism

Vaհe H Apelian

Many fine articles appear on the Armenian Weekly, on a variety of subjects and issues, not only about life and living in the Diaspora, but also on the far distant homeland, such as Stepan Piligian thoughtful article about Armenia navigating turbulent waters as powerful whirlwinds stir and change relations in and among nations. 

But in this week’s issue of the Armenian Weekly, there were posts that did away with the expected limits of Diaspora journalism on Armenia.

 Harut Sassounian claimed that the Armenian citizens “voting against the new constitution is the best way to get rid of Pashinyan.” I wonder if there are journals in Armenia that post his political commentaries. After all, it’s the citizens of Armenia who will be doing the voting. 

In the same issue Harut posed the following question to the readers, “Does the Armenian parliament speaker prefer that all Artsakh Armenians were killed?” Surely, he must know that a Weekly reader cannot possibly know whether the Armenian parliament speaker prefers that the Artsakh Armenian are killed or not. I surely do not know. It is fair that I pose the question to Harut, and ask him instead. “Does the Armenian parliament speaker prefer that the Artsakh Armenians are killed? Say what Harut? “

In the same issue, Hoory Minoyan claimed that “Pashinyan pushes ahead with constitutional overhaul amid pressure from Azerbaijan.” Obviously, she implies that the Nikol Pashinyan government is pushing the upcoming constitutional amendment having caved under pressure from the Azeris and is engaged to overhaul the constitution to placate Azerbaijan. Otherwise, why would she tie the two issues as a headline?  Not only that, she had the reported to the readers that a person has said that Zankezur corridor is next. I wonder, is she editorializing, or reporting hear say. Surely, it cannot be an informed journalism.

I don’t know how readers react to such posts. I personalize each and every article I read as if they are directed to me and only me. I take offense of such posts, not because Harut, tells me that Armenian parliament speaker prefers that all Artsakh Armenians be killed, but because he expects me, based on the information he gave, that I do something about it, such as help the citizens of Armenia, in whatever way I can, not to vote for the constitution amendment. But what are the amendments that the citizens of Armenia are called to vote? I do think Harut knows, or if he knows he does not want to share it with readers, but takes the liberty to charge and challenge.

I also took issue with Hoory Manoyan alleging that the Armenian government is caving under Azeri pressure and resorting to placate the Azeris by amending the constriction. There is nothing wrong in amending a constitution. I am sure Hoory Minoyan knows that. Americans have amended their constitution 27 times, on their own free will. But, yes, there is a lot to be concerned if the amending is done under duress to placate the Azeris. What are those articles that are being offered for amending? Hoory Manoyan does not cite a single article. Let us not turn voting on amending the constitution of Armenia into a referendum on Armenia's readiness to declare war on Azerbaijan or not.

I take offense because those who pen such posts take the liberty of a readership offered to them, and pontificate on  unsubstantiated claims, seating thousands of miles away from Armenia and expect me to do something about or at the least expect that I predispose myself against the government the citizens of Armenia elected, much like they have. Otherwise, why would they offer such posts? 

 

 

Missak Medzarents (Միսաք Մեծարենց): Sweet is the Night (Գիշերն Անուշ է) and its composer (Երգահանը)՝ Hrant Kevorkian ( Հրանտ Գէորգեան).

Missak Medzarents (Միսաք Մեծարենց): Sweet is the Night (Գիշերն Անուշ է) and its composer (Երգահանը)՝ Hrant Kevorkian ( Հրանտ Գէորգեան). My translation. Vahe H Apelian

Hrant Kevorkian wrote  in his memoir, that he was at a restaurant in a mountain town resort in Lebanon where Vartevar Antossian was singing. Vartevar noting Hrant’s presence introduces him to the audience and sings the song and invites Hrant to dance it with a female friend from their group.

The author of the song is a Poet 

Missak Medzarents  (January 18, 1886- July 5, 1908) has been called the most lyrical, most musical poet to write in Armenian. It has been claimed his poetry would be impossible to translate into another language. I hope this translation justifies the tenderness the young poet expressed in his native language. He passed away at the age of 22. He poignantly notes in the poem, turned into a popular song, that the light in his soul wears down bit by bit. He died with thirsty lips longing for the single kiss. He was afflicted with tuberculosis since his yearly youth.

        The composer of the song is a Melkonian Institute graduate.                

The musical composition of the Missak Medzarents' poem was done by the late Hrant Kevorkian, a graduate of Melkonian Institute of Cyprus. He was a family friend and personalized his autobiographical book to my parents where he had noted about them and about my brother and I, and my paternal cousins Stepan and Ara. Hrant's musical composition of the poem became a very popular song at one time and was often sung during dances. 

Anecdotes

There was a group of us sitting and chatting on the veranda of Hotel Lux in an evening. The veranda was on the sixth and last floor. Patches of the Mediterranean Sea came in view, as well as the snow- covered mountaintops in Mount Lebanon in the north. It must have been a serene night especially for the lady from the dusty plains of Aleppo, who was staying in the hotel as a delegate to attend a meeting of HMENETMEN girl scouts that was to take place in Beirut. She was among the group enjoying the evening and chatting. I guess the atmosphere of the day lifted her spirits. Suddenly she took upon herself and started singing the song "Sweet is the Night". After she was done my mother pointed to her that the gentleman sitting on the chair next to her is the song's composer Hrant Kevorkian. It happened that he was actually sitting on a chair next to hers. Needless to say, she was caught in a pleasant and utter surprise. Hrant Kevorkian mentioned the incident in his autobiographical book.   ( http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2021/06/hrant-kevorkian-hotel-lux.html )

Hrant Kevorkian noted another anectode in his memoir. He wrote that he was at a restaurant in a mountain town resort in Lebanon where Vartevar Antossian was singing. Vartevar noting Hrant’s presence introduces him to the audience and sings the song and invites Hrant to dance it with a female friend from their group.

Գիշերն անոյշ է, գիշերն հեշտագի՜ն,

Հաշիշով օծուն ու բալասանով.

Լուսեղէն ճամբէն ես կ'անցնիմ գինով՝

Գիշերն անոյշ է, գիշերն հեշտագին...։

 

Համբոյրնէր կու գան հովէն ու ծովէն,

Համբոյր՝ լոյսէն որ չորս դիս կը ծաղկի,

Այս գիշեր Տօն է հոգւոյս՝ Կիրակի՜,

Համբոյրնէր կու գան հովէն ու ծովէն ։

 

Բայց լոյսն իմ հոգւոյս քիչ քիչ կը մաշի՜

Շրթունքս են ծարաւ միակ համբոյրին...։

Ցնծագին գիշեր է լոյս ու լուսին՝

Բայց լոյսն իմ հոգւոյս քիչ քիչ կը մաշի...։

 

Missak Medzarents

Mr and Mrs. Hovhannes and Zvart Apelian with Hrant Kevorkian, and
Ms. Aznive, a guest at Hotel Lux from Ethiopia 
Beirut, Lebanon

 

The Antochians’ flora and more

Albert S. Apelian’s book “The Antiochians” makes for a fascinating reading especially those who hail from Kessab. It would not take long for such a reader to draw a similarity between Albert Apelian’s father, Soghomon Apelian M.D., and to his mother, (see note 1). The attached is an early passage from the book (pages 9-11). Vahe H Apelian

Courtesy Hagop Cholakiian, Kessab native wild flower.

Albert S. Apelian wrote, “Kessab does not appear on every map of the Middle East; yet it existed as Kessabis in northern Syria, close to the borders of Cilicia, during the reign of Seleucians, wo had become heir to one part of the empire created by Alexander the Great. The crusaders, however, in their expeditions to liberate the Holy Land from the clutches of the Saraceans, had stopped at Kessabis after storming Antioch. For its natural beauty, they had named it Casabella. Thus, it is indefinite whether in later years Casabella had been mispronounced or if the Kessabis had been abbreviated to its present form. Regardless, Kessab’s approximately ten thousand Armenian inhabitants claiming descent from the nobility of the Armenian kingdom in Cilicia, called their birthplace Kaighu, meaning “hamlet” in the dialect spoken by them for hundreds of years. 

Anyone traveling along the banks of Orontes River – also known as El-Assie for its rebellious northerly course – and approaching Antioch, will come face to face with the pyramidal Mount Casius, which the natives, irrespective of the language or origin, call Jebel-Akra, meaning in Arabic “the bold mountain.” The towering summit of Jebel-Akra, appearing from afar like a hairless giant, watches tirelessly from above the timber line over the Mediterranean Sea into which the serpentine Orontes spits its ever-turbid  waters and dives under the white-crested waves to reach the rocky shores of Cyprus, the Adam’s apple of the Anatolian Peninsula. And Kessab, appearing from a distance like a large amphitheater, is located on the southeastern slopes of that mountain. 

The picturesque countryside, with its mild climate, is a paradise containing a great variety of flowers, ranging from the common red poppys to scented violets, to exquisite mountain tulip, and to noonoofar, lavishly used in the luxurious hairdos of Kesabisti maidens, roaming the Caradouran Valley – known as the Corridorion, during the Roman conquest.

        The earliest panorama of Kessab at the foot of Mount Casius,
 courtesy Ms. Effie Chambers by Danette Hein-Snider

Miss Prockter, who was greatly interested in the flora of Cilicia and northern Syria, wrote to teacher Osanna asking for certain species of wild flowers. Osanna searched the countryside for such specimens, at times all alone, at other times accompanied by her devoted pupil Zaroohi Mossian. (see note 2).

In one letter, the missionary mentioned Jabalakra flowers, indicating that they thrived mainly on the mountain bearing that name. Blooming in earl spring, these blood-red and canary yellow strawflowers remained intact through summer and autumn, but as soon as snow covered the beak mountainside, they withered and died to reappear, when the sun again warmed the earth.

When one day Osanna mentioned Miss Prockter’s request to the pupils, Zaroohi Mossian offered to donate one of her precious bunches. However, the teacher said she would rather pick the antarams herself. 

Osanna had already heard a great deal about the never-fading lowers from a medical student whom she had met the previous summer. According to the information revealed by the youth, the Jabalakras thrived best in certain ravine near a stone pile which marked the grave of a mythical princess, who in a futile attempt to escape from a would be abductor, had thrown herself from the top of precipice. It was rumored that the red flowers sprouted from the princess’s blood, and the yellow originate form her blond hair.  

One morning Zaroohi Mossian approached her teacher and stuttered excitedly “Var…Varjoos…he….Osanna ……Varjou…joohi”

“My brother – I mean Doctor Haig – is arriving late his afternoon. He, he is returning from Constantinople, where he had gone to receive his certidicate for the practice of medicine.” (see noted 3). ……….”

Note 1: Altough Albert S. Apelian notes that “THE ANTOCHIANS is a work of fiction. With the exception of historical names, events and dates, any similarity to the names of persons living or dead or to actual events is coincidental and unintentional.” But, he also claims that “It is also self-evident that truth must prevail, or we shall all parish. And truth is to be found everywhere, even in the pages of a work of fiction.” There is much that will resonate, especially in a Kessabtsi reader.

Note 2: Dr. Albert Apelian’s mother’s name was   “Osanna, ne’e Arakelian. She was a graduate of the Aintab American School for Girls and taught Kessab Schools for some time. She wrote article for “Rahmuna” periodical in Constantinople.” (Yervant Kassouni from the book about Dr. Albert Apelian’s student thesis he edited).

Note 3. Albert Apelian’s father Soghomon Apelian was the first Kessabtsi to graduate from the American University Medical School.

"Kessab and its villages" by Albert Apelian, Yetvart Kassouny edited 
THe ANTIOCHIANS, Dr. Albert S. Apelian literary opus.