LOUSSAPATZ 925.2012 03 10.

GURGEN ASKSRYAN

Gurgen Askaryan was born in 1928 in Moscow, Russia to Armenian parents. Both parents were doctors: father Ashot Askaryan, was a general practitioner, and his mother Astgik Askaryan was a dentist. At the age of 18 Gurgen entered the Department of Physics at the Moscow State University, where he started his first research project specializing in the physics of atomic nuclei. Graduated in 1952 and was accepted to the graduate school at the Institute of Chemical Physics (ICP) in Moscow. In 1953 transferred to the Lebedev Institute of Physics, and graduated with PhD in 1957. An author of over 200 articles, Askaryan made a significant contribution to the field of high energy physics and (Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna)), acoustics, and optics. For his famous discovery of the self-focusing of light, he received the highest scientific award at the time in Soviet Union. Shortly after receiving a degree of the Doctor of Science in 1992, Gurgen experienced health problems, He died on 2 March 1997 in their apartment in Moscow.

G. Askaryan discovered and investigated in details various effects accompanying passage of high en- ergy particles through dense matter (liquids or solids). He showed that hadron-electron-photon showers and even single fast particles may produce sound pulses. Ionization losses are quickly converted into heat, and the small region adjacent to trajectory undergoes quick thermal expansion thus generating sound waves. These re- sults gave a new approach to the study of cosmic rays. Before, investigations of cosmic rays were based on di- rect interaction of cosmic ray particle with a detector. Askaryan’s results made it possible to detect showers and single particles using sound receivers situated at some distance from the event.

Several years ago, the registration of energetic particles and showers with sound detectors in sea water was planned as an important part of global monitoring.

G. Askaryan also showed that cosmic ray showers emit electromagnetic radiation, thus giving yet an- other way for their detection. Before him it was commonly assumed that electron-photon showers do not emit electromagnetic radiation since the electrons and positrons are created in pairs. Askaryan’s analysis led to the conclusion that in an electron-photon shower there is an excess of negative charge (excess of electrons). These excess electrons are knocked out from atoms either by photoeffect or by shower electrons and positrons (ioniza- tion). At the same time, due to the annihilation process the number of positrons decreases. Thus, there is an elec- tric current created by the excess electrons associated with shower. This variable current is the source of elec- tromagnetic radiation. Therefore, every shower is the source of electromagnetic radiation. These studies opened new perspectives for distant registration of cosmic ray showers.

These investigations paved the way for distant registration of cosmic ray showers. Now many radio- astronomical stations are conducting observations on cosmic ray showers.

Later G. Askaryan showed that intense laser beam passing through matter also generates sound waves This effect may be used for processing and for destruction of matter. As a result of this series of investigations, a new branch of physics was created, radiation acoustics, and G. Askaryan was the founder.

Perhaps one of the most brilliant of Askaryan’s discoveries was the self-focusing of light. In the me- dium with third order nonlinear polarization, the refractive index can be represented as n = n0 + n2I, where n0 is the linear refractive index, n2 is an optical constant characterizing the strength of the optical nonlinearity, and I is the Gaussian intensity profile of the beam. The phenomenon of self-focusing may occur if a beam of light with nonuniform transverse intensity distribution, for example Gaussian profile, propagates through a material in which n2 is positive If a strong beam of light passes through a medium with this type of nonlinearity also called Kerr nonlinearity, then the refractive index of the medium inside the beam is greater than that outside of the beam. If the electric field is strong enough then the beam will create a dielectric waveguide, which reduces or entirely eliminates the divergence of the beam. Askaryan called this effect self-focusing. Discovery of self- focusing opened a new chapter in non-linear elec- trodynamics and optics.

The Askaryan effect, which was theoretically predicted by Askaryan in 1962, describes a phenomenon, similar to the Cherenkov effect, whereby a particle travelling faster than the speed of light in a dense radiotrans- parent medium such as salt, ice or the lunar regolith produces a shower of secondary charged particles which contain a charge anisotropy and thus emits a cone of coherent radiation in the radio or microwave part of the electromagnetic spectrum. This phenomenon is of primary interest in using bulk matter to detect ultra-high en- ergy neutrinos.

Askaryan was the first to note that the outer few metres of the Moon's surface, known as the regolith, would be a sufficiently transparent medium for detecting microwaves from the charge excess in particle show- ers. The radio transparency of the regolith has since been confirmed by the Apollo missions.

Askaryan also found (together with M. L. Levin) a combination of auxiliary high-frequency elds which could secure stability of electron bunch during acceleration.

10Turkish PM Claims Anti-Armenian Banners During Khojalu Ral- ly Work of ‘Raving Racists’

Protesters with ant-Armenian banners: You are all Armenians, You are all bastards

ANKARA — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said anti-Armenian banners unfurled during an Istanbul rally held on Feb. 26 to mark the 20th anniversary of the Khojaly Mas- sacre reflect the feeling of some “raving racists,” not those of the Turkish people, Today’s Zaman reports.

“These banners do not reflect the feelings of Turkey but those of a few raving racists. ... Nec- essary [legal] action has already been taken. But it is unjust to overshadow the rally marking the massacre by a few worthless banners. Nobody has the right to damage the image of Turkey based on these exceptional scenes,” Erdogan said.

A group of protesters held banners and chanted racist slogans against Armenians during the rally, which organizers said, cast a shadow over the peaceful nature of the event. The slogans caused much outrage among the Turkish public.

A statement released by the Turkish Interior Ministry on Wednesday said it is impossible to justify “some slogans and banners” during the rally, referring to the offensive banners. The state- ment added that legal proceedings have been launched to find these people and groups, adding that the Istanbul Governor’s Office is working to identify these people.

In Brussels the European Union has voiced concern over racist slogans targeting Armenians at the rally in Istanbul .

In a statement the European Commission called on Turkey to carry out the Council of Europe recommendations to adopt a code of ethics respecting religious minorities, Today's Zaman reports.

The commission said: “The Commission is concerned about some of the slogans used in last weekend's demonstration, and recalls that, regarding hate speech, the Council of Europe recommen- dation encouraging Turkey and the media to adopt a code of ethics on respect for religious minori- ties has not been implemented and that there is a need for new legislation which would allow effec- tive prosecution of incitement to hatred.”

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U.S. Scholar David Phillips Chides Washington

Over Turkey-Armenia Fiasco

NEW YORK (RFE/RL) -- The United States deserves its share of the blame for the failure of recent years’ ef- forts to normalize Armenia’s relations with Turkey, according to a renowned U.S. scholar who has been actively in- volved in Turkish-Armenian dialogue in the past.

In an extensive monograph released by New York’s Columbia University on Friday, David Phillips says that the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama did not do enough to stop the Turkish government linking parliamen- tary ratification of the 2009 Turkish-Armenian normalization agreements with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He al- so calls for a U.S. “policy review” on Armenia-Turkey that would consider the possibility of officially recognizing the 1915 Armenian massacres in the Ottoman Empire as genocide.

“The United States is also at fault. The Obama administration missed an opportunity to reaffirm de-linkage of the Protocols with negotiations over NK (Nagorno-Karabakh) when Obama visited Turkey in April 2009,” Phillips writes. “U.S. officials did not accurately assess the level of opposition to ratification in Turkey.”

“While U.S. influence was essential to signing of the Protocols, the Obama administration bureaucratized the follow-up. It should have appointed a ‘Special Envoy for Ratification of the Turkey-Armenia Protocols.’ The Special Envoy could have played a useful role in maintaining momentum, working the system in Washington, and keeping the parties focused on next steps rather than pre-conditions,” he says.

The 130-page text contains a detailed description and analysis of the failed normalization process as well as events leading up to its effective launch by Switzerland in late 2007, several months before Serzh Sarkisian took over as Armenia’s president. Its author coordinated the work of the Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission (TARC), a U.S.-sponsored panel of retired diplomats and other public figures, in 2001-2004.

The Swiss mediation, fully backed and facilitated by Washington, culminated in the high-profile signing in Zu- rich in October 2009 of the two protocols that commit Ankara and Yerevan to establishing diplomatic relations and opening the Turkish-Armenian border. Turkey had closed it at the height of the Armenian-Azerbaijani war for Kara- bakh, out of solidarity with Azerbaijan.

Faced with an uproar from Azerbaijan, Ankara subsequently made clear that Turkey’s parliament will not ratify the protocols until there is decisive progress towards a resolution of the Karabakh conflict acceptable to Baku. The Armenian side denounced that stance, arguing that neither document makes any reference to Karabakh. Sarkisian froze the process of Armenian protocol ratification in April 2010 and has since repeatedly threatened to scrap the Western-backed deal altogether.

Phillips, who is now a program director at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights, es- sentially agrees with Yerevan on the issue. “The Protocols included no pre-conditions or linkage to NK,” he writes. “[Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, however, established a pre-condition when he went to Baku [in 2009] and stated that the Protocols would not be ratified unless Azerbaijan’s sovereignty was restored.” Erdogan could have ignored the vehement Azerbaijani protests had he been “truly committed” to the Turkish-Armenian nor- malization, says Phillips.

Turkish officials have claimed all along that the protocols make indirect and implicit references to Karabakh. An unnamed Turkish Foreign Ministry official interviewed by Phillips is quoted in the monograph as saying that there was a “gentleman’s agreement” between Ankara and Yerevan that bilateral ties and the Karabakh dispute “will be considered in parallel.” James Jeffrey, the former U.S. ambassador to Turkey, likewise told Phillips that the two is- sues were not quite delinked.

“According to Jeffrey, Obama did not discuss de-linkage with [President Abdullah] Gul or Erdogan during his April [2009] trip. Instead of affirming de-linkage, Obama was silent on the issue,” says Phillips. He cites other U.S. diplomats as saying that Washington had a “plan B” in case the Turks refused to unconditionally implement the pro- tocols. But, he adds, “no fallback plan was apparent other than convincing Sarkisian to suspend rather than withdraw his signature.”

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OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Issue Statement on Karabakh

OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs inspecting the contact lines between Armenian and Azeri forces

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Robert Bradtke of the United States, Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, and Jacques Faure of France) and Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk (Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office) said on Tuesday that they have presented the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with a plan of actions aimed at clearing the remaining hurdles to an Armenian-Azerbaijani framework peace accord.

The mediators said the unpublicized plan aims to “put into action” a joint statement that was issued by Armenia’s and Azerbaijan’s president at their January 23 meeting in Sochi, Russia.

In that statement, Presidents Serzh Sarkisian and Ilham Aliyev pledged to “accelerate the achievement of an agreement on the Basic Principles” of a Karabakh settlement put forward by the Minsk Group co-chairs.

“Building on the two Presidents’ joint commitment to accelerate reaching agreement on the Ba- sic Principles, the Co-Chairs proposed steps to assist the sides in furthering work on the framework for a comprehensive peace settlement,” the mediators said in a joint statement issued in Baku at the end of their latest round of regional shuttle diplomacy. It was not clear if they have made fresh modifications in the text of the proposed peace deal.

The mediators began the regional tour on Friday with talks with Sarkisian in Yerevan and pro- ceeded to Karabakh at the weekend. They met with Aliyev late on Monday and Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov the next day.

In their statement, U.S. envoy Robert Bradtke, Russia’s Igor Popov and France’s Jacques Faure said they also discussed with the conflicting parties a draft “mechanism” for jointly investigating ceasefire violations along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the more volatile “line of contact” around Karabakh.

“In addition, the Co-Chairs discussed humanitarian and people-to-people contacts, which should be used to promote mutual understanding among peoples of the region, and not be politicized or manipulated to the detriment of the peace process,” added the statement.

Armenia to Boycott Eurovision Show in Baku

YEREVAN -- Citing an “anti-Armenian” statement made by Azerbaijani President Ilham Ali- yev, Armenia on Wednesday officially announced its decision not to participate in Europe’s most popular song contest that will be held in Baku in May.

The Armenian Public Television, which selects Armenian participants for the annual Euro- vision contest, attributed the boycott to Aliyev’s March 1 remark that “the Armenians of the world” are his nation’s main enemy.

“Although the Azerbaijani authorities promised security guarantees for all participating coun- tries, Azerbaijan’s president ‘made an exception’ for one of those countries several days ago, de-

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claring that Azerbaijan’s number one enemy is the Armenians scattered around the world,” the state-run broadcaster said in a statement.

“We can conclude that the president of a Eurovision host country is officially stating that all Armenians, including those who would be included in the Eurovision delegation, are the enemies of Azerbaijan. Therefore, it would make no sense to send our participant to a country where they would be received as an enemy. This is a matter of principle for us,” read the statement.

“We are convinced that the atmosphere created by this and other anti-Armenian statements and actions cannot ensure equal conditions for all singers participating in Eurovision,” it added.

The organizer of the annual contest watched by tens of millions of TV viewers, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), was quick to express disappointment over the “unfortunate” decision.

“We are truly disappointed by the broadcaster’s decision to withdraw from this year s Euro- vision Song Contest,” the contest s executive supervisor, Jon Ola Sand, said in a statement posted

on the EBU s website.

ARF Member Arrest Questioned in Case of Illegal Weapons

Weapons discovered in the home of ARF member Arshavir Karapetyan

YEREVAN (Armenianow.com) -- A cache of illegal ammunition and weaponry belonging to Armenian Revo- lutionary Party member Arshavir Karapetyan, and discovered by police on Thursday in Yerevan, has stirred suspi- cions of a new political “witch hunt”.

The arsenal adjoining to a boiler structure at Moldovyan 12 was found by law enforcement under Chief of Po- lice Vova Gasparyan’s leadership. Among the discovered weaponry were more than 12 machine guns, sniper rifles, three anti-tank missiles, thousands of bullets, a great number of TNT explosives enough to blow up several buildings, expert say, etc.

Karapetyan, a Karabakh war veteran, is in custody, and a criminal case has been filed against him that could carry a three-year sentence if found guilty.

Ashot Karapetyan, heading the criminal investigation department of RA Police, says the ammunition is “of un- precedented amount enough to arm a whole battalion and the purposes still have to be determined”.

The discussions and speculations among the political circles, however, are more about the timing of the discov- ery – why has it been discovered and the information disclosed now, rather than the purposes of the arsenal.

The ARF’s recently active opposition, boycotts at the parliament and rallies, and finally, ARF Bureau member Hrant Margaryan’s statement claiming that they would ensure fair elections by enrolling thousands of volunteers have coincided with the efforts of the police.

As a result of similar diligence late last year “large amounts of drugs” were discovered in possession of a num- ber of Prosperous Armenia Party members, four of them were taken under arrest, which was qualified then as a “witch hunt” by PAP faction member, MP Naira Zohrabyan.

PAP members said that the “inquisitional processes” stopped when party leader Gagik Tsarukyan agreed to the conditions of holding elections “by rules of civilized competition” suggested by the coalition and gave up his claims of putting forward single-mandate candidates at 41 election districts.

ARF is refraining from making any comments yet, confirming only that Arshavir Karapetyan is indeed their party member.

Spartak Seyranyan in charge of ARF press service doubts Karapetyan has anything to do with the weapons. 14

“Arshavir Karapetyan is an ARF member. He’s fought in a war. What can I say, he has nothing to do with the arsenal, but in any case let the preliminary investigation show. I don’t want to express opinions. My assumption is

that he is not related,” Seyranyan told Panorama.am.

Armenian Council of America Welcomes Congresswoman Judy Chu

Rep. Judy Chu addressing the Armenian community members in Pasadena

PASASENA, CA -- On March 4, the Armenian Council of America (ACA) proudly welcomed Representative Judy Chu (D-CA) to the A.E.B.U. “Soghanalian Hall” for a meet and greet with ACA members, community leaders, youth members, and activists.

“We were honored to have Congresswoman Chu take out the time to speak to us about issues that are important to us as constituents and as members of the international community,” said ACA Chairman, Sevak Khatchadorian. “Her enthusiasm, dedication to improving the community through the economy, and her concern about international issues are admirable qualities of a great leader worthy of support.”

Master of Ceremonies Christine Aghakhanian introduced the Congresswoman as she detailed her past achievements and future goals before the Congresswoman took the stage to begin her in- formative and inspirational presentation. She provided a synopsis on her three decade-long history in public service in the San Gabriel Valley and stated that one of her main focuses as the next rep- resentative of the 27th Congressional District is to help small businesses grow so that they can con- tribute to the economy. She also discussed international topics such as her support for aid to Arme- nia and Nagorno-Karabakh and her commitment to advance recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

Congresswoman Chu strongly encouraged participation of Armenian-Americans in grassroots activism in all parts of the United States, so that the interests and concerns of our community are not overlooked or voted against due to pressures from the Turkish communities. She mentioned how decisions are being made all the time in Washington with disregard to the interests of the Armenian- American communities because of the lack of political involvement in regions of the country which lack sizeable populations of Armenian-Americans.

The program concluded with a question and answer session where the Congresswoman further pledged her support for Armenian-American causes and issues.

Congresswoman Chu is currently representing the 35th congressional district. Because of re- districting, she is running for the 27th Congressional District historically represented by long-time friend of the Armenian-American community, Congressman Adam Schiff. The 27th Congressional includes the areas of Alhambra, Altadena, Arcadia, Glendora, Monterey Park, Pasadena, Rosemead, San Gabriel, San Marino, South Pasadena, Sierra Madre, Temple City and parts of Claremont, Mon- rovia and Upland.

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The Armenian Council of America is a grassroots organization dedicated to work with all po- litical leaders, offering Armenian related news, analysis and resources for policymakers, media, students and activists, advocating issues important to Armenian Americans. The Armenian Council of America aims to strengthen U.S. – Armenia and U.S. – Nagorno Karabakh ties, the development of programs promoting sustainable economic growth and good governance in Armenia, while pro- moting the values and responsibilities of global citizenship.

“Introductory Books on the Armenian Genocide”: Politics, Prose and Poetry

By Alan Whitehorn

As we approach the 100th memorial year of the 1915 state-sponsored mass slaughter of Armeni- ans in the Ottoman Empire, Armenians all over the world will be reflecting in an ever more somber fashion about the deadly fate of so many ancestors. As Armenians continue to seek to fully un-

derstand the causes for the horrific crime of genocide, non- Armenians will also become more aware of the Genocide. With far less background on the history and the region, many will in- evitably ask their Armenian friends and colleagues: ‘Which are the most helpful introductory books on the Armenian Genocide?’. This is not always an easy question to answer, but as we ap- proach 2015, it becomes an increasingly pressing and germane question. This is not only so for non-Armenians, but even for a younger generation of diaspora Armenians. Five quite different books come to mind as suggestions:

Facing History, Crimes Against Humanity and Civiliza- tion: The Genocide of the Armenians (Brookline, Massachu- setts, 2004, ISBN: 0-9754125-0-7; 198 pages) (Also available in electronic format from www.facinghistory.org/resources/publications).

Facing History, based in Brookline Massachusetts, is the pre-eminent educational organization preparing high school in- structors on how to teach about difficult topics such as the Holo- caust, genocide, racism and intolerance and how to foster human rights and democracy.

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The book’s title reminds us of the birth in May 1915 of the international legal concept of “crimes against humanity”. The important new term was used to describe the Young Turk deporta- tions and massacres of Armenians. This book is used extensively in both Facing History teacher workshops and by high school classes on genocide in Canada and the United States. The book ex- plores the psychological and historical factors that gave rise to genocide and its devastating conse- quences. The book is quite effective and well tested in the classroom. It is broken up into 47 small- er manageable sections, with good use of pictures, maps, posters, background information boxes and, at the end of each chapter, thoughtful discussion questions.

The topic of genocide is an extremely difficult emotional and intellectual journey to travel in a single volume; hence the attraction of breaking down the complex subject matter into more manage- able steps. While intended for a senior high school audience, this is a well-crafted and balanced volume that would be an excellent introduction for any adult. I continue to use the book with high school classes. Particularly useful for teachers, an electronic version can also be downloaded from the Facing History website: www.facinghistory.org/

Peter Balakian, The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America’s Response

(New York, Harper Collins, 2003, ISBN: 0-06-019840-0; 475 pages). Peter Balakian is a well-known Armenian-American poet, academic and political history au-

thor. Known primarily for three books on the Armenian Genocide (Black Dog of Fate (1997), The Burning Tigris (2003) and Armenian Golgotha (2009), the latter by his great uncle Grigoris Balakian), Peter is a high-profile public figure who speaks eloquently on the Genocide.

Reflecting his literary training, the writing in The Burning Tigris is poignant and profoundly moving. Many American readers have been influenced by this volume. Balakian divides the book in- to four major sections, commencing with the 1890s Hamidian Massacres and subsequent American humanitarian relief efforts. The next section describes the Young Turks violent revolutionary sei- zure of power and the impact of World War I which hastened the draconian sense of urgency, grow- ing state secrecy and centralized coercive planning for genocide. The heroic efforts of international witnesses such as American Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, other diplomatic staff and missionaries are described in the next section. The final portion notes the seemingly doomed efforts of Woodrow Wilson for a more just post-war world and the precedent-setting, but largely ineffective Ottoman Courts-Martial in Constantinople. The epilogue deals with the problem of continued Turkish gov- ernment genocide denial and American complicity in this. The book is accompanied by a substantial collection of heart-wrenching black and white photographs.

While other more detailed scholarly works by Vahakn Dadrian, Richard Hovannisian and Taner Akcam are available on the Armenian Genocide, The Burning Tigris offers a very readable narrative and can serve as an effective introductory volume for non-Armenian readers. It is readily available at many bookstores.

Taner Akcam, A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Re- sponsibility (New York, Metropolitan Books, 2006; ISBN:

13:978-09050-7932-6; 483 pages) Taner Akcam is the leading Turkish scholar writing on the

Armenian Genocide. He is a remarkably brave academic who has pioneered in the use of extensive Ottoman and German archival sources and offered innovative themes. As a professor of His- tory, he currently occupies the Kaloosdian/Mugar Chair in Ar- menian Genocide Studies at Clark University. Most recently, he has co-authored with Vahakn Dadrian the pioneering volume Judgment at Istanbul: The Armenian Genocide Trials.

The title A Shameful Act is taken from a critical comment by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk about the treatment of the Armenians during WW I. Akcam’s book commences with the challenges facing the crumbling Ottoman Empire and the bleak and bloody fate of its non-Muslim population as the multinational Empire is radically transformed into a nationalist Turkish Republic. The Empire’s loss of its Balkan lands was a traumatic shock that unleashed a wave of desperate and angry Muslim refugees. Un- der the conditions of war, the Armenian question took on an ur- gent and dramatic turn.

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Akcam’s focus is on the centralized decision-making of the revolutionary Young Turk ruling elite and their draconian decision to commit genocide. The documentary evidence offered is impres- sive, with a great amount from Turkish primary sources. It is meticulous scholarship updated from a book Akcam originally published in Turkish in Ankara in 1999. Despite the enormous number of footnotes, this English translation is well-written and is an important volume on the Armenian Genocide. The Turkish language version has already had a major impact in Turkey.

Given the focus on the Turkish political-military decision-making elite and its genocidal deci- sions, there is at times less descriptive account about the enormous suffering of the Armenians. That was not the primary purpose of this volume. The goal was to document Turkish malevolent in- tent, planning and responsibility. This volume achieves that educational goal resoundingly.

That said, it does raise a question that often arises in books on genocide. To understand why such terrible events occur, we must look at the causes. Hence we need to analyze the perceptions, motives, plans and deeds of the people who commit genocide. However, above all we need to under- stand what the victims experienced and the enormous impact of genocide, both in the past and ongo- ing. To understand the cause of genocide we must study the perpetrators, but to really comprehend what genocide involves, we must first and foremost listen to the voices and words of the victims. As brave and pioneering as Akcam is as a scholar, his volume seems more suited as a second, more ad- vanced book to read, not as an introductory account of the Armenian Genocide. That said, this is probably the best book for a Turkish audience to read.

Robert Melson, Revolution and Genocide: On the Origins of the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1992; ISBN: 0-226-51990-2; 363 pages)

Robert Melson, a survivor of the Holocaust, is an illustrious, pioneering genocide scholar. He was a distinguished professor of political science and co-director of Jewish Studies Program at Pur- due University.

His book was an early major contribution to the literature on the Armenian Genocide and is still highly cited in academic circles. It is an impressive comparative volume which looks in depth at both the Holocaust of World War II and the Armenian Genocide of World War I. This is a re- markable volume with extensive documentation, a powerful analytical framework, and a wonder- fully effective writing style, that is no doubt enhanced by his personal experiences as a child having fled genocide.

The book is divided into three major historical sections. The first explores the background and conditions in the pre-revolutionary ancien regime of the Ottoman Empire and Imperial Germany. The second section documents the violent revolutionary goals and ideology of the Young Turk and Nazi parties. The concluding section compares the similarities and differences between the Arme- nian Genocide and the Holocaust and explores the ruthlessly ambitious and violent nature of revolu- tionary genocidal regimes. Chapter #8 is often reprinted justifiably in edited genocide collections. It is one of the best comparative summaries in existence of the two genocides.

While the book is analytically comparative, the format proceeds with one chapter on the des- perate plight of Armenians, followed by one on the deadly fate of so many Jews. Due to the strong analytical framework employed, the reader is successfully pulled along in the twinning of the case studies. The Holocaust is the most known genocide and the comparison, both of similarities and dif- ferences, with the Armenian Genocide is quite instructive, even for an advanced reader.

This is a book that I have often used as one of the core texts in my university classes on geno- cide. Melson’s book was praised by my students. If I were to strongly recommend only one book for Armenians to read on the 1915 genocide, this would probably be the volume I would select. Part of the reason for this is that I have found that too often Armenians lack a sufficient theoretical under- standing of the common features and dynamics of genocide in general. And too frequently they also display a woeful lack of sufficient knowledge of other genocides. This is the book that can address such gaps and deficiencies. It is also a powerfully effective volume for non-Armenians to learn about the terrible sequence of events of 1915.

Peter Balakian, Black Dog of Fate: A Memoir (New York, Broadway, 1997, ISBN: 0-7679- 0254-8; 292 pages) (New York, Basic Books, 2009, 13: 978-0-465-91019-6; 357 pages)

Balakian’s Black Dog of Fate is an earlier and quite different volume than his political history The Burning Tigris. Instead Black Dog of Fate is more a personal odyssey in which he discovers in- sights into his family history. It begins with Peter growing up seemingly as a typical sports-devoted American teenager, but gradually layers of the extended family history are pealed back to reveal the horrific suffering of the Armenian people and the need of the survivors to bear witness. The family autobiography increasingly travels back in time to his family’s roots in the Ottoman Empire and the

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terrible turmoil of 1915. This personal memoir probes beneath the surface of a peaceful ordinary life in New Jersey suburbia to reveal the almost hidden, but powerful memories of genocide.

Vast numbers like one and a half million are exceedingly difficult to comprehend and can be numbing for the outsider. But personal family accounts can be profoundly moving and extremely ef- fective in communicating to the reader the emotional magnitude of the losses involved in genocide. Black Dog of Fate had a major impact on many non-Armenians and young Diaspora Armenians. It received a glowing New York Times recommendation and was reprinted in an expanded anniversary edition just over a decade later. It remains a classic introductory paperback on the 1915 Genocide. For a young teenage reader, it is an ideal book. For others, it can be a nostalgic and quite moving account about an adolescent coming of age and acquiring adult insight into one of the major geno- cides of the 20th century. It is a memoir about a land of immigrants, with so many heart-wrenching stories of what their ancestors have endured. We should learn and remember.

We all need to better learn and understand. These five books can provide a helpful introduction to this profoundly painful, but crucial topic. If on April 24, each Armenian family would give a copy of one of these books to a colleague, friend, public or school library, more people would have a better chance to know and begin to understand how 1915 has defined so much of the Armenian na- tion.

Alan Whitehorn is author of a number of books on the Armenian Genocide, including Just Poems: Reflections on the Armenian Genocide.

Armenian Research Center at the University of Michigan- Dearborn Publishes English Translation of the Bois de Vin- cennes

DEARBORN, MICHIGAN — The Armenian Research Center at the University of Michigan- Dearborn has announce the publication of the English translation of the short novel of exile, The Bois de Vincennes, by one of the prominent Armenian-French authors, Nigoghos Sarafian. Origi-

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nally published in Armenian in 1947, the work is best known by its French-language title, which has been retained in this English translation. Ably translated by Christopher Atamian, this novel intro- duces to the English-speaking world, the mind of one of the Armenian Diaspora’s most complex writers. The book also features an introduction by Prof. Marc Nichanian, who discusses Sarafian’s intellectual world.

In this book readers see the effect of exile caused by the Armenian Genocide on Sarafian. He lived in Paris from 1923 to his death in 1972 and was a member of the Menk (“We”) group of Ar- menian-French writers who attempted to renew and redefine (in part through their eponymous jour- nal) Armenian identity in its new Diaspora setting. This book is in some measure a way for Sarafian to come to terms with his own exile and the exile of the Armenian people in general. It is also an extended meditation in and on the Vincennes Woods, a park just outside Paris, where he spent time in solitary contemplation.

Christopher Atamian, the translator of this work, is a New York-based writer, filmmaker, and producer. The Bois de Vincennes is his first published, book-length translation.

The book’s publication was subvented through a generous grant from the Ajemian Foundation, in memory of Robert Ajemian. The Ajemian Foundation is a Michigan-based organization with an interest in promoting Armenian-American cultural activity.

The Bois de Vincennes (ISBN 978-1934548-02-8 or 1-934548-02-2) is distributed by Wayne State University Press and can be purchased from national chain booksellers, special ordered from smaller bookstores, or ordered from major online retailers like Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. The retail price is $20.

Constitutional Council’s Scandalous Rejection of French Genocide Bill

By Harut Sassounian Publisher, The California Courier Armenians in France and throughout the world reacted with utter indignation against the Constitutional Coun-

cil’s scandalous decision rejecting the Genocide denial bill. The National Assembly and Senate recently adopted a bill that would set a penalty of a year in jail and

$60,000 fine for anyone denying the genocides recognized by the French government. France officially recog- nizes the Jewish Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide.

Even though the bill did not specifically mention the Armenian Genocide, the Turkish government did every- thing short of declaring war against France to undermine its adoption, thereby identifying itself as the perpetra- tor of one of the two genocides. After failing to block the adoption of the bill by the two chambers of the French legislature, Turkey and Azerbaijan, its junior partner in the crime of genocide denial, left no stone unturned to have the law declared unconstitutional.

Turkey applied all kinds of pressure on French legislators to collect the necessary 60 or more signatures needed to appeal the adopted bill to the Constitutional Council. Ironically, while the Turkish government was announcing a boycott of French companies, a Turkish group was hiring a high-powered French lobbying firm to assist in the hunt for signatures. Azerbaijan joined in this sinister lobbying effort by inviting six French Senators to Baku to collect their rewards for having signed the appeal! By hook or crook, the Turkish authorities and their French surrogates succeeded in enticing 142 of over 900 members of the French legislature to file an appeal with the Constitutional Council on January 31, 2012.

Clearly, this was an unacceptable intrusion into France’s domestic affairs. Rather than allowing the Turkish Ambassador to pressure members of the legislature to sign the appeal to the Constitutional Council, France should have expelled him for violating his diplomatic mandate! Turkey should not be permitted to dictate French laws!

The Constitutional Council is a hodge-podge of 11 retired individuals of various backgrounds. It includes two French Presidents, two judges, three legislators, and four government officials. A major controversy erupted when a French newspaper revealed that several members of the Council, including its Chairman, had serious conflict of interest problems in reaching a fair decision. Some had made prejudicial statements on this issue while serving in the legislature, others have business ties with Turkey, and most shockingly, one of them, Hubert Haenel, is a member of the Bosphorus Institute -- a French-Turkish "think tank" that lobbied against the genocide denial bill!

Under such scandalous conditions, most Council members should have disqualified themselves from sitting in judgement on this issue. After these embarrassing disclosures, two Council members withdrew from deliberat- ing on the genocide bill, and former Pres. Jacques Chirac was reportedly too ill to attend the session.

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The Constitutional Council’s eight remaining members ruled on February 28, 2012 that the bill penalizing genocide denial approved by the Parliament and Senate was unconstitutional because it violated French laws on freedom of speech!

This was a shocking decision for two reasons: 1) Several members of the Constitutional Council violated the law themselves by sitting in judgment on an issue in which they had a clear bias or conflict of interest; and 2) They ruled the genocide denial bill to be unconstitutional supposedly because it restricted free speech, while leaving intact another law that penalized denial of the Holocaust. The Council members failed to explain why penalizing denial of the Armenian Genocide was a restriction on freedom of expression while penalizing denial of the Jewish Holocaust was not! All genocide victims merit equal protection under the law. There should be no double standards!

Unlike the United States, France has several laws that restrict freedom of expression. Why is that when it comes to punishing deniers of the Armenian Genocide, the Council members all of a sudden become staunch de- fenders of free speech?

French Armenians should take up all legal and political measures to reverse the Council’s unfair and illegal decision. They could file a lawsuit with the European Court of Human Rights against the Constitutional Council as well as introduce a new bill in the French legislature.

Since the two leading French Presidential candidates have pledged to bring up this bill again after the upcom- ing elections, this issue will not go away until a law is adopted penalizing Armenian Genocide denial. Turkey must not be allowed to export its denialist policies to European shores!

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