Day: January 9, 2024

The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) will host an online panel talk by Gregory Aftandilian titled, “Recreating Kharpert in Massachusetts,” on Thursday, January 25, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern / 4:30 p.m. Pacific.  

The webinar will be accessible live on Zoom (registration required) and on NAASR’s YouTube Channel.

There is a special connection between the Armenian Americans of Massachusetts and the Ottoman province of Mamuret ul-Aziz, which the Armenians called Kharpert. Kharpert Armenians began arriving in Massachusetts, particularly in the Worcester area, beginning in the mid-19th century, though the bulk of the immigration resulted from the Hamidian massacres (1894-1896) and later the Armenian Genocide of 1915. The survivors of these calamities faced the fact that there were no homes or homeland to go back to. To ease such dislocations, the survivors settled in Armenian communities in America where their fellow provincial compatriots had already laid down roots. Social life among this generation was largely confined to people from their own province.

Aftandilian will consider how provincial identities from the former Ottoman Empire were so strong and durable for at least two generations in America, despite assimilation trends. Having lost everything in their homeland—family members, homes, farms and businesses—they did their best to recreate Kharpert in Massachusetts as a coping mechanism for the trauma they endured, in addition to helping them adjust to a strange new land and society.

Aftandilian is senior professorial lecturer at American University in Washington, D.C., where he teaches courses on U.S. foreign policy and Middle East politics. He spent over 20 years in U.S. government service where he was a foreign policy advisor to Congressman Chris Van Hollen, professional staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, foreign policy advisor to Senator Paul Sarbanes and foreign policy fellow to Senator Edward Kennedy. Prior to these congressional positions, he served as a Middle East analyst in the State Department.

Aftandilian is the author of the book Armenia – Vision of a Republic: The Independence Lobby in America, 1918-1927 and numerous articles on Armenian-American history. He holds a B.A. in history from Dartmouth College, an M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago and an M.Sc. in International Relations from the London School of Economics. He served on NAASR’s Board of Directors from 2005-2019.

For more information, contact NAASR at hq@naasr.org.

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78 rpm records from the collection of the Armenian Museum of America are being digitized, restored and shared on its website under the Virtual Resources tab (Photo: Jonathan Lizcano)

By Jesse Kenas Collins

WATERTOWN, Mass.—Over the past year, the Armenian Museum of America’s Sound Archive program has taken a giant step forward. Each month, the Museum posts a handful of songs digitized and restored from its collection of 78 rpm records on its website along with a historical writeup about the artists. 

Along with more conventional musical recordings, some of the recordings touch on Armenian cultural, political and educational history, as well as the history of recording technologies. The program is sponsored by a generous grant from the SJS Charitable Trust.

The Museum hosted musicologist Ian Nagoski at its galleries to weave the story of the influential but largely forgotten soprano Zabelle Panosian, who was born in Bardizag and emigrated to Boston in 1907. Nagoski’s talk drew from his recently published book Zabelle Pansoian: I Am Servant of Your Voice, co-authored with Harout Arakelian and Harry Kezelian. 

In November, the Museum welcomed world-renowned composer and musician Ara Dinkjian. Speaking to a packed house, Dinkjian discussed the early history of some of the first recordings of Armenian music through the 1940s. The presentation built on his book and CD compilation Armenians in America on 78 rpm. 

“As we approach our fourth year presenting the Sound Archive at the Armenian Museum of America, we are proud to make this content available to people around the world,” says Executive Director Jason Sohigian. “For half a century now, the Museum’s collection of 78 rpm records has grown thanks to generous donors who have been entrusting us with their personal collections.”

“This music was almost lost to history at least twice in the past 100 years alone,” adds Sohigian. “First as a result of the Armenian Genocide, and then when audio technology has changed from records to other media in the 21st century. The Museum is now at the forefront of preserving and sharing these treasured archives of Armenian history and culture.” 

The Sound Archive explores the Museum’s extensive collection of recordings including some that serve as more than entertainment, anchored by a series of articles about moments of cultural and political history. In one segment, listeners can eavesdrop on a party at the home of the writer Hamasdegh (Hampartzoum Gelenian) on the night of June 10, 1939. The commemorative disc opens with an introduction by none other than William Saroyan. 

A second article covers an NBC San Francisco radio broadcast from June 24, 1945, highlighting the Armenian National Chorus as well as advocacy work about the Armenian Question from celebrity chef George Mardikian and attorney Souren Saroyan of the Armenian National Committee.

Most of the posts focus on the most influential Armenian artists recording during the 78 rpm era. The Museum highlights two post-war music icons, The Gomidas Band, a group at the frontier of kef style, and Guy Chookoorian, an artist and musical comic with a character and approach all his own. 

Writing, research and audio digitization are undertaken by this author along with Harout Arakelian and Harry Kezelian. To explore the archive of digitized recordings and articles dating back to 2021, please visit: www.armenianmuseum.org/sound-archive.

Jesse Kenas Collins is a digitization specialist responsible for the transfer of analog recordings to digital files for the Armenian Museum of America. Collins is a museum professional and music preservationist with more than a decade of experience working in collections care, exhibitions production and audio digitization. Collins’s preservation work and research into the music of the Middle East extends into his work with the restoration of historical musical instruments.

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His Holiness Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II

Dear Faithful in the Homeland and the Diaspora,

On this New Year’s Eve, from the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, we bring our pontifical love and best wishes to you all. The New Year is the borderline of the days that have become history and the hopeful future.

We welcome the dominical year of 2024 with deep concerns, filled with the relentless pain of immense losses in our hearts. We experienced a challenging year, but relying on the Lord, we look to the future of our nation with hope and optimism. In the face of the occupation and depopulation of Artsakh, the severe situation created around Armenia and the existing problems, we must resolutely overcome the difficulties, keeping strong the dedication and love for our homeland and faith in our Almighty Lord.

Dearly beloved, whether in moments of joy or distress, our people have always relied on God, always drawn strength from the Most High, believing that God is with us. Undoubtedly, our people’s spiritual potential and strength of spirit will lead us to the revival and the triumphant resurgence of Armenian life. We are the heirs of a nation that was in pain and suffered but did not surrender, experienced the genocide but was not destroyed, was massacred but did not die.

Certainly, the history of a people whose historical records are marked with beautiful testimonies of godliness and patriotism, with a ceaseless desire to live and create, cannot be interrupted. Trials often happen in peoples’ lives, but those nations that remain resilient in spirit and have faith in God, bravely face hardships and challenges. “The Lord is the hope of all those who trust in Him,” says the Psalmist (17:31).

Now, dear ones, let us renew ourselves in spirit and mind, let us be strengthened with hope, reflect on our progress and deeds with self-examination, correct the shortcomings and slips; let us not allow the division of hatred to be sown in the national life, the destructive adaptation and indifference to take root. Let us live a life adorned with faith, with God-bestowed love for each other, so that we feel God’s gracious presence amongst us. Let us “build ourselves up on our most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep ourselves in the love of God,” as the Apostle urges (Judas 1: 20-21).

Let us be united in Armenia and the Diaspora and use our collective efforts to protect national interests and to create a new dawn in the life of our countrymen and the nation. Let us realize that the motherland is the only sacred place where the prayers and dreams of Armenian generations of all times are stored, where the identity of the Armenians will continue to be formed, and from whose sacred land the Armenian people will continuously gain strength. Let us surround our sisters and brothers forcibly displaced from Artsakh with caring love; let us increase hope in them so that the vision of returning to native Artsakh never fades and faith in God remains strong. Let us support the needy and distressed and seek the help of the Most High for our missing and captured ones and their families.

And following the message of the Holy Scripture, let us not forget charity and sharing the resources we have with each other, because such sacrifices please God (cf. Heb. 13:16), and this is the way to a pious and safe life of our people; this is the way towards the viability and permanence of our nation and state, nurtured with time-tested values.

Let us pray wholeheartedly, so that the Heavenly Lord keeps our homeland and the whole world in peace, so that with His support He spreads the grace of hope and love and the gift of victory to our homeland and to the lives of all Armenians passing through dangers, today and always and forever, amen.

Happy and blessed New Year.

His Holiness Karekin II

Catholicos of All Armenians

December 31, 2023

Holy Etchmiadzin

Armenia

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His Holiness Catholicos Aram I

Soon the year 2023 will be in the past and the New Year will rise in the horizon of our life. Indeed, the past year in the life of our nation was full of terrible hopelessness and profound disappointment. We are living in times full of unpredictable dangers. We are stuck in uncertainty. The past and present bitter experiences of our history clearly show that it is necessary to trust our own strength and act motivated by the superior and overall interests of the nation and the motherland. Therefore, today, more than ever, we urgently need a NEW ALL-ARMENIAN STRATEGY to lead us out of the current uncertain situation, and first of all, in regards to Artsakh.

Artsakh was seized by Azerbaijan, and more than 100,000 Artsakh Armenians were forcibly displaced. The world remained silent. The countries that are guarantors of Artsakh’s security also remained silent. However, we should not remain silent. The page of Artsakh is not closed for us. We must fight as a nation, guaranteeing the return of the Armenians of Artsakh in accordance with international law, ensuring the right to self-determination of the Armenians of Artsakh under an international umbrella, as well as the release of the arrested state officials of Artsakh. To achieve this goal, we must work on a pan-Armenian scale, by way of a special committee consisting of Armenian and foreign specialists.

We welcome the annulment of the decree on the dissolution of the Republic of Artsakh. At the same time, we consider it imperative that the state structures of Artsakh continue to survive and especially that the people of Artsakh do not become a diaspora, but a collective and organized presence in Armenia. Indeed, such important steps will give a legal basis to Artsakh’s struggle, making it an existential issue as well. 

The government of Armenia should develop a new strategy. Armenia has to get out of the trap of making concessions. Realism does not mean resignation. Armenia must not pay the price of establishing a comprehensive peace in the region. We have clarified our views on the mentioned and other related issues in a clear and consistent manner, stressing that the Armenian government should take into account the views of both the native people and the Diaspora regarding issues of decisive importance for the country.   

We lost Artsakh, this important part of the motherland. Let us beware of the possible loss of new territories from Armenia as well. Let’s understand the geopolitical conditions and the correlation of the forces of the region correctly. Knowing full well that neither our close nor distant friends are able to reach us for help, the political orientation of Armenia needs to be balanced between the East and the West, staying clear of unilateral and provocative steps that can turn Armenia into a field of rivalry between powerful states.

The Diaspora should also develop a new strategy. Disillusioned by defeat in successive wars, the occupation of Artsakh and the military-political steps taken by the current government, the Diaspora has no right to remain silent in the face of the current uncertain situation full of unforeseen dangers. Nor does Armenia have the right to ignore the Diaspora with its ample resources and solid potential. The Diaspora is a strategic partner of Armenia. Therefore, it cannot only stay in a reactive role. In addition to what has been said, the Diaspora also has a lot to do by developing an all-Armenian thinking, creating cooperation between Diaspora structures, pushing its experts to work and widely using its experience and international connections.

Dear people, we cannot continue our life with worn-out propaganda, repeated slogans and spent agendas. Let’s look around for a moment. The value system ​​that constitutes the basis of our nation and homeland has started to be violated, and the criteria ​​are being reversed. What is national has started to retreat before what is anti-national. Armenia and the Diaspora have started to move away from each other. The rifts in our communal life have begun to deepen, and a corrupting culture of contempt and neglect has begun to establish its dominance in Armenian life.

Let’s realize now that we are actually on the edge of the abyss and are alone. Therefore, let’s come out of the bubble and put an end to unrealistic expectations and one-sided judgments. Let our discussions be profound and purposeful, patriotic and nation-building. Today, the priority and urgent agenda of our nation is the salvation of the state of Armenia, around which all the forces of Armenia and the Diaspora should be united. This is required from our leaders, clergy and intellectuals—in other words, all of us.

The above-mentioned thoughts, emphasis and concerns arising from realism and foresight should push us to be awake, sensitive and responsible. At the current critical juncture in our history, the nation and the motherland have an immediate need for an all-Armenian agenda fueled by national ideology and paved with a new strategy and tactics, as well as wise and visionary leaders who have the responsibility to bring it to life and unite the polarized daughters and sons of our nation. There is no other way before our life. 

The Son of God came to the world to destroy the old and build the new and to replace the system of corrupt values ​​with humanizing values. This is the New Year’s message. This is the advice of the Epiphany.

For our nation, the New Year must become an invitation to look to the future with renewed hope, faith and determination and to build a bright future for our nation and homeland. We pray to the Most High God, that with His heavenly graces and blessings, the life of our nation will blossom, in Armenia and in the Diaspora, and to keep and protect our homeland from visible and invisible ills and evil.

Catholicos Aram I

 Great House Of Cilicia 

January 1, 2024

Antelias, Lebanon

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Defiant, emotional Menendez says he received ‘absolutely nothing’ from Qatar  The Hill

Video Sen. Bob Menendez speaks on Senate floor about his indictment  ABC News

RAW: DC: SENATE/MENENDEZ TAKES THE FLOOR  The Citizen

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Azerbaijan has discussed with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) the possibility of expanding joint activities in the field of modernizing the renewable energy and information technology ecosystem