Gariné’s House of Hope and Rebirth‏

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Armenian Weekly (armenianweekly@hairenik.com)

Schedule clean-up

17/07/2013

Wednesday, July 17, 2013 Recent Articles from the Armenian Weekly... Gariné’s House of Hope and Rebirth International Justice Day and Artsakh Sassounian: In Major Policy Shift, Armenia Demands Lands from Turkey Albany Homenetmen Raises 9K for Syria Bohjalian Presents New Book at Hovnanian School Mobilizing for Peter Koutoujian the Right Move for All Armenians Search Armenian Weekly Gariné’s House of Hope and Rebirth Zaruhi Petrosyan, Mariam Gevorgyan, Maro Gulyan. Many of us have heard their names and their stories. They have become the public faces of domestic violence in Armenia, Zaruhi and Maro with their untimely and tragic deaths, Mariam with her courage to speak up and demand justice. Zaruhi Petrosyan (L) has become a public face of domestic violence in Armenia. But what about the many other women in Armenia who are victims of domestic violence? What options are available to them? What could have been Zaruhi’s future if she had sought help before her brutal murder? In my search for answers to these questions, I recently found myself visiting the safe house run by the Women’s Support Center in Armenia. When the center’s executive director, Maro Matossian, came to pick me up, a part of me was secretly dreading the visit. I had prepared myself for a gloomy afternoon, meeting desperate, broken women in a destitute place. After a slightly bumpy ride, we stopped in front of a gated house... Read More »      • Email to a friend • Article Search • International Justice Day and Artsakh By Anna Astvatsatu​rian Turcotte On July 17, the world celebrates International Justice Day. It is an important day for me as an Armenian, an American, and a world citizen. On this day in 1998, the international community adopted the Rome Statute, which in turn created the International Criminal Court (ICC). By adopting the Rome Statute and with the eventual ratification of the Rome Statute by 122 countries around the world, the international community demonstrated its commitment to end impunity for the worst of all crimes—genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes—in the 21st century. The International Criminal Court is the first permanent international body that prosecutes individuals for these crimes. It has been a concept and dream for many international law activists and scholars since Nuremberg, but only became a reality in July 2002 after it secured the required 60 ratifications. I witnessed its creation. There at the United Nations, in a single ceremony, I... Read More »      • Email to a friend • Article Search • Sassounian: In Major Policy Shift, Armenia Demands Lands from Turkey Ever since independence in 1991, Armenia’s leaders have been reluctant to make any concrete demands from Turkey beyond recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Only in recent years, Armenian officials have begun to speak about “the elimination of the consequences of the genocide,” without specifying the “consequences” and the means for their “elimination.” Earlier this month, however, a major shift was announced in Armenia’s foreign policy vis-à-vis Turkey, when Aghvan Hovsepyan, the prosecutor general of Armenia, called for the return of historic Armenian territories at an international conference of Armenian lawyers in Yerevan. This is the first time a high-ranking Armenian government official has made such a public demand from Turkey. In a lengthy and comprehensive speech, Hovsepyan stated that the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by various countries is simply a moral and emotional issue. Calling for a switch to “the legal field,” he indicated that “to... Read More »      • Email to a friend • Article Search • Albany Homenetmen Raises 9K for Syria ALBANY, N.Y.—On April 13, the Homenetmen of Albany organized a fundraiser to help distraught Syrian Armenians. Monetary donations from the Albany Armenian and non-Armenian community totaled $8,888. All monies donated were combined at a regional level and sent to Armenians in Syria through the Syrian-Armenian Fund of the Armenian Prelacy (138 East 39th Street, New York, NY 10016). Leeza Bardakjian’s presentation to Albany Armenian community members during the fundraiser dinner. As a token of appreciation, the Syrian Armenian Event Committee, under the umbrella of the Homenetmen of Albany, hosted a complimentary dinner along with a special program, which included various presentations and live film footage from Syria. The committee members include Dr. Levon Eleyjian, the president of Albany’s Homenetmen Chapter, Y. Ara Mahserdjian, Lena Hoglund-Guleserian, Isabel Kubikian, Ara Achejian, Rita Guleserian, Betty Minassian, and Leeza Bardakjian. The group’s efforts proved... Read More »      • Email to a friend • Article Search • Bohjalian Presents New Book at Hovnanian School NEW MILFORD, N.J.—On Wed., July 10, the Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society of New Jersey hosted a discussion and book signing with Chris Bohjalian for his new novel The Light in the Ruins. The NY Times best-selling novelist spoke at the Hovnanian Armenian School in New Milford about his recent trip to historic Armenia as well as his inspirations for his new novel. Members of the Team Michigan Book Group dive into Bohjalian’s ‘The Light in the Ruins.’ Bohjalian received great acclaim within both the Armenian and literary communities with last summer’s publication of The Sandcastle Girls, a captivating story of a woman who must delve into the history of the genocide in order to understand her past. The novel has been highly acclaimed since its release and has brought a great deal of attention to the Armenian cause. His newest work, The Light in the Ruins, tells a quite different, while at the same time extremely engrossing, narrative. Bohjalian... Read More »      • Email to a friend • Article Search • Mobilizing for Peter Koutoujian the Right Move for All Armenians ANCA Desk  For those who don’t know, Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian, a longtime advocate for and participant in the Armenian-American community, is running for Rep. Ed Markey’s now vacant House seat. He announced his campaign run recently and the ANCA has endorsed him, putting our full support behind one of our own. Hagopian (L) with Koutoujian This is huge. How many Armenians do you know of who have staged legitimate runs for the U.S. Congress? I can think of less than a handful. Peter is a strong voice for Armenian issues, including genocide recognition, and he would advance our cause to the national level if elected. This week, Koutoujian came to the Hairenik Building in Watertown, Mass., to be interviewed by the Armenian Weekly and to meet the supporters from all of our sister organizations. The ANCA, ARS, ARF, AYF, Homenetmen, and Hamazkayin were all there to show Peter we have his back now and always. It was a great opportunity to chat with him and hear where... Read More »