Bastards of the Infidels‏

Thursday, November 14, 2013 Recent Articles from the Armenian Weekly... Bastards of the Infidels ARF Youth Conference Concludes in Yerevan Kebranian to Explore Writer Zabel Yessayan and Post-Genocide Literature Sapah-Gulian Foundation Focuses on Armenia’s Youth Vartabedian: Paying the Bill for My Aching Feet Sharing Ownership of Armenia’s Social Issues Hajox: Looking Back at Two Years of Environmental Activism in Armenia Search Armenian Weekly Bastards of the Infidels Reflections on the Hrant Dink Foundation’s Conference on Islamized Armenians “Bastards,” “infidels,” “remains of the sword” were the derogatory words directed at Armenian survivors of the genocide in Turkey as well as their offspring. Under this same umbrella was another set of “bastards” who were Christian Armenians forcibly or willingly converted to Islam in the wake of the genocide. Photo by Eric Nazarian This was one of the many topics covered over the course of three eye-opening days at the Hrant Dink Foundation’s Conference on “Islamized Armenians” on the Bogazici University campus in Istanbul. We heard lectures and panels comprised of international scholars presenting a myriad of oral and academic histories about forcibly Islamized Armenians, as well as the histories of the willingly converted that bridge and divide these communities. The conference was a platform for these unofficial minorities, a sort of... Read More »      • Email to a friend • Article Search • ARF Youth Conference Concludes in Yerevan The ARF Youth and Student Organizations’ Pan-Armenian Conference took place on Nov. 8-10, at the political party’s “Aram Manougian” youth premises in Yerevan. The ARF Youth and Student Organizations Pan-Armenian Conference delegates at the “Aram Manougian” Youth premises, in Yerevan Twenty-five delegates from 17 chapters across the world—including from Canada, the United States, South America, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Lebanon, Iran, Artsakh, and Armenia—participated in the conference. Representatives from Syria joined the conference via Skype. Members of the ARF Youth Council also attended. On the conference’s 3-day agenda was the 18-month activities report of the organizations; an ARF Youth Office report; the “ARF Youth Concept and Strategic Objectives” fact sheet; discussion about pan-Armenian youth activities prior to the Armenian Genocide Centennial; upgrading the ARF Junior Organizations’ jamboree events in Armenia and Artsakh; and a... Read More »      • Email to a friend • Article Search • Kebranian to Explore Writer Zabel Yessayan and Post-Genocide Literature BOSTON, Mass.—Intellectuals who survived the Armenian Genocide struggled to come to grips with the enormity of their nation’s loss and find a way to reflect this predicament in their creative work. The writer Zabel Yessayan experimented with several different approaches in her post-genocide writing. Prof. Nanor Kebranian A well-recognized author, Yessayan had been the only woman on the Turkish government’s list of intellectuals to be arrested and sent to exile and death on April 24, 1915, but she managed to evade the police and escape abroad. The 1920’s found her living in Paris and publishing various fiction and non-fiction books and articles. In a talk at the Armenian Cultural Foundation (ACF) on Sun., Nov. 17, Columbia University Professor Nanor Kebranian will examine the topic “The Survival of Empathy: Zabel Yessayan and Post-Genocide Armenian Literature.” Kebranian cites words of journalist Hrant Dink that “echo the wisdom of numerous Armenian intellectuals who... Read More »      • Email to a friend • Article Search • Sapah-Gulian Foundation Focuses on Armenia’s Youth For Randy Sapah-Gulian, the future of Armenia depends on assisting young people. “The plan of our foundation is to build a broad yet inter-locking range of programs directly focused on the Armenian youth. We believe that the youth in all societies are the foundation from which you can develop something of substance that endures,” said entrepreneur and benefactor Sapah-Gulian during a recent phone conversation. Dr. Edward Seferian and Randy Sapah Gulian with Ambassador John A. Heffern. He founded his family’s Sapah-Gulian Foundation in 2012, which works through the Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR). He explained that programs supported by the foundation emphasize several youth-oriented initiatives, such as the Pediatric Critical Care Program, promoted by his brother-in-law Dr. Edward Seferian of Cedar Sinai Hospital. “This Medical Training Program–Pediatric Critical Care, which is an international program in scope, will emphasize the healthy growth of children so they may... Read More »      • Email to a friend • Article Search • Vartabedian: Paying the Bill for My Aching Feet Although I’m too old to remember, I can imagine the very first words uttered by my father. They went something like this: “Wiggle those toes, son. Ah, c’mon. Wiggle those dinky toes.” This leads me to believe that some people are apt to notice your feet before your eyes and scrutinize you from the bottom up. If someone were to ask me what part of my body I respect the most, it would not be my brain. I take that for granted. Not so my feet. They are the unsung heroes without which a mind cannot function. My feet support the rest of me and get me around each day. It is incumbent on me to take good care of them. And that happens to be a chore because I’ve been cursed with dry, cracked, and itchy feet throughout my life. No matter what I’ve tried, I can’t find relief. Then I was introduced to a wonderful new product called Miracle Foot Repair. I happened to run across an ad in a publication about the product made from the gel of the aloe plant that has been used for 4,000... Read More »      • Email to a friend • Article Search • Sharing Ownership of Armenia’s Social Issues Landlocked, blockaded, and permanently under threat of attack from hostile neighbors, the Republic of Armenia faces a multitude of national security issues. These issues are further perpetuated by a myriad of social concerns relating to health, education, and poverty, and arising from a government wrought with corruption, a business environment dominated by oligarchs, and a serious emigration problem. But all is not doom and gloom. For the most part, Armenia’s social problems have been tackled by individual- and group-run NGOs, which have done their collective utmost to serve the needs of the country and the people. Coupled with this have been the generous donations of Armenians in Armenia and across the globe who have assisted in funding NGOs in the country. Despite this generosity, however, NGOs face an uphill battle to fund the projects that will help Armenia make the transition from a developing to a developed nation. In the absence of good government and with NGOs constantly... Read More »      • Email to a friend • Article Search • Hajox: Looking Back at Two Years of Environmental Activism in Armenia Special to the Armenian Weekly I was fresh out of a 21-year career teaching high school history and United States government, and was looking for something challenging and new. So, I chose to try my luck in Armenia. I knew next to nothing about Armenian culture, politics, and language; and very little of its history. I was hired by the Armenian Environmental Network (AEN) to continue work on providing information to the Armenian Diaspora, as well as on raising the profile of Armenia’s solid waste management problems, and to come up with some sensible solutions. Needless to say, I came with a different perspective than the typical diasporan, which I shared in numerous blog posts in the last two years. Although the saving of Trchkan Waterfall from complete and utter destruction was their first victory, the activists really proved themselves at Mashtots Park. (Photo by Kirk Wallace) I began work for AEN in June 2011. The organization was founded in 2007 by its current president,... Read More »      • Email to a friend • Article Search •