500,000 Californians to register to vote

Jan 21, 2008
Los Angeles Daily News, CA
By Patricia Farrell Aidem, Staff Writer

I am encouraged by the determination of the Armenian Americans to bring their issues forward still more forcefully in this campaign. Justice is a strong motivator and patience will be rewarded.

[...]
Last week, the Armenian National Committee's West San Fernando Valley chapter announced a "massive voter registration campaign" aimed at doubling the number of registered Armenian-American voters from Granada Hills to Thousand Oaks. A drive was held Sunday in the West Valley.
[...]

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Park will honor two heroes Rosa Parks and WWII soldier

Sat, Jan. 19, 2008
Sun Herald
By KAT BERGERON

GULFPORT --The mystery of World War II hero Harold A. Bezazian is solved in time for Martin Luther King Day celebrations that include the dedication of a Rosa Parks bench. Bezazian's name is on two 8-foot pillars at 30th Street Park, where the bench will be unveiled Monday.

Bezazian is not black, but a half-century ago his father created the park and two others in less-privileged areas, because he understood discrimination firsthand. With time, the neighborhood forgot the meaning of the Bezazian name, and the odd pillars now stand alone, without fencing.

Bezazian, a first lieutenant, died in March 1945 rescuing his 6th Infantry Division men behind enemy lines in Luzon. The Chicago native who'd received a Bronze Star for bravery died in enemy fire, but his rescue strategy worked.

Identical bronze plaques on the pillars simply state his name, birth and death dates and declare, "In honor of a hero."

Kristal Daniel, who organized the 1 p.m. MLK Day event at the park, saw the pillars but knew no more than what the plaques told her. As a member of AmeriCorps' Gulf Coast Conservation Corps, she felt the sparsely furnished park needed a bench.

"We thought dedicating a bench to Rosa Parks for her refusal to give up a seat and what that meant to the civil rights movement would add meaning to the King observance," said Daniels. "Now, we'll also mention Bezazian."

The Sun Herald contacted Bezazian's family in Chicago to learn why the lieutenant's father, John Bezazian, built parks for underprivileged and minority Gulfport children. The story begins in 1895 when the father immigrated from Armenia.

"Because of his swarthy skin, poor English and accent, my grandfather had a very difficult time his first years in America," said Paulette Bezazian.

He overcame immigrant obstacles and gained wealth from real estate and selling rugs. He had three children.

Harold, the youngest, who was born in 1911, went to good schools (Oberlin College and Columbia University) and pursued a short story-writing career. He was awarded a Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship for Europe, suitable for a man remembered by his family as a free spirit who loved children and didn't care much about material things.

The South Mississippi connection enters when he worked on his father's 520-acre tung oil farm, as an experience to make him a better writer. His father bought the farm near Gulfport as an investment in a subtropical region favored as a winter escape for Chicago's rich.

Unmarried and in his early 30s, Bezazian enlisted after Pearl Harbor. After his war death, the father financed philanthropic projects in his son's memory, including the Harold A. Bezazian Branch of the Chicago Public Library and the three Gulfport parks.


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Greenway park plaque will mention Armenian genocide

November 17, 2007
Boston Globe, United States

Final wording to be determined by city, Turnpike Authority

By Thomas C. Palmer Jr.
Globe Staff

A park being donated for the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway by the nonprofit Armenian Heritage Foundation will include a plaque that refers to all immigrant groups but also makes an explicit reference to the Armenian genocide of the early 20th century.

more stories like thisWording suggesting the park commemorates the 1.5 million deaths of Armenians around 1915 at the hands of Turks contradicts the intentions of planners over the last decade, who insisted the Greenway not be politicized or be a place for statues, plaques, or memorials.

Although the wording for a plaque is not final, officials of the Mayor's Central Artery Completion Task Force, an influential advisory group, acknowledged at a meeting this week that the specific historic event would be mentioned.

Nearly 100 years after it occurred, the Armenian genocide remains an intensely emotional issue. Turkey, an ally of the United States in a part of the world where the United States has few friends, rejects the term genocide. The Turkish government has said a proposed congressional resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide would severely damage US relations.

In Boston, the final say on the plaque will be made by the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and the City of Boston, which both support the proposed wording. The city and the agency are negotiating with the task force and the Armenian Heritage Foundation, a local group that is sponsoring the park, on the project.

The park and plaque are the result of a campaign by the local Armenian community since 2000 to find a Boston location for a commemoration of their ancestors. Because the gift of a park was opposed by some planners and community activists, the plaque's proposed wording has been broadened to refer to the diverse set of immigrant groups that, like the Armenians, sought refuge in the Boston area.

One objection has been that the Armenian Heritage Foundation did not follow the specific public process for Greenway proposals approved by the Federal Highway Administration.

"I would like to go on record that this is not acceptable as a process," Anne Fanton, a member of the task force, said Thursday. "We want to be certain that this never happens again."

The proposed park, with a 60-foot-diameter paved labyrinth, a sculpture, and water jet and reflecting pool, has been hailed as inspired in design and supported by many in the North End community.

The issue of the plaque's wording surfaced several times during a Thursday meeting on the park. North End community leader Nancy Caruso said she understood from previous private meetings that the park would be dedicated to all immigrants but not have a specific reference to the genocide.

But, asked specifically whether there would be mention of the words "Armenian genocide," task force cochairman Rob Tuchmann said, "There will be."

James M. Kalustian, representing the Armenian Heritage Foundation, the group sponsoring the park, agreed. "The current wording as being discussed includes a reference to the Armenian genocide," he said.

Yesterday, Erkut Gomulu, president of the Turkish American Cultural Society of New England, who has opposed placement of the park on the Greenway, said any plaque should not reference a specific group's history.

"It's supposed to be inclusive of all communities, right?" he said. "It's claimed it will not be a memorial. On the other hand it will have 'genocide' in the wording."

The board of the conservancy that will assume responsibility for operating the Greenway once it's completed has called for a moratorium of at least five years on any memorials.

"An awful lot of people have worked hard to try to get to a place that works for everyone," said conservancy chairman Peter Meade. "We want the Greenway to become a noncontroversial place where everybody in our community is welcomed."

But Meade's organization does not have an active role in the discussion.

Tuchmann said he did not consider the park or the plaque a memorial. Genie Beal, a member of the task force and chair of the board of the Boston Natural Areas Fund, yesterday agreed.

"It says 'Armenian genocide' in the last line. I think that's a good solution," said Beal. "It's not a memorial, it's a 'thank you' " to the foundation for the gift of a park.

Thomas C. Palmer Jr. can be reached at tpalmer@globe.com.

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Hitler's Globe Sells for $100,000

Nov 14, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A globe that once belonged to Adolf Hitler has sold at auction for $100,000 — more than five times the expected amount.

{Armenian} American soldier John Barsamian found the globe in the ruins of Hitler's Eagle's Nest retreat in the Bavarian Alps in May 1945.

Barsamian, now 91, of Oakland, recently decided to sell it while he is alive so he can personally tell the story behind it, said his son, Barry Barsamian. Both Barsamians watched the bidding Tuesday at Greg Martin Auctions.

The winning bid came from San Francisco entrepreneur Bob Pritikin.

Experts had estimated the item would only bring $15,000 to $20,000.

Other globes presumed to have been owned by Hitler have been extensively researched for authenticity. But there is no uncertainty about the origins of Barsamian's wartime trophy, since he had all the military paperwork that allowed him to bring it back to the United States, including a certificate that reads "1 Global Map, German, Hitler's Eagle Nest."

"This is probably the most airtight documentation I've run across in some time," Greg Martin, proprietor of the auction house, said before the sale. "We have pictures of the guy there at the time, standing in the ruins holding the globe like a newborn baby."

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Armenian church leader lauds cooperation

13 October 2007
Charlotte Observer, NC
RICHARD MASCHAL
rmaschal@charlotteobserver.com

America has turned a corner by putting principle before political expediency. There are things in this world that should never be compromised. Genocide is one of them. Indeed Turkey will also free itself and be a great country by recognizing the Genocide of Ottoman Armenians. Turkish nationalists had their say for too long. They had covered up past errors for the sake of national pride. They should know by now that the national pride resides in admitting past mistakes. If France, Germany, Belgium, Netherland, Italy, Greece, Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania, USA all tell a fellow NATO ally to recognize the genocide, then Turkey should listen to friends as opposed to give in to nationalist frenzy.

Worldwide head of church says House vote relieves `pain of people'

An issue that has caused rejoicing but also outrage and strained American diplomacy surfaced at a Charlotte luncheon Friday when about 80 religious and civic leaders shared salad, fish and pecan pie and listened to words about brotherhood.

On a U.S. tour, His Holiness Karekin II, the religious leader of Armenians worldwide, was the guest of honor at the Duke Mansion. He spoke of America's tradition of religious diversity and praised Charlotte churches for working together.

After the meal, he touched on an event that has roiled American relations with Turkey: the vote Wednesday by the House Foreign Affairs Committee recognizing the killing of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians during World War I as genocide.

The vote was strongly opposed by Turkey, a key NATO ally that has supported U.S. efforts in Iraq. Turkey rejects the description of genocide and says the deaths were due to war and civil unrest.

Speaking through an interpreter, Karekin said the House vote righted an injustice and helped relieve the "pain (Armenian) people have in their hearts" after more than 90 years when the killings by the Ottoman Turks were often denied.

It brings, he said, "consolation to the souls of the victims and the survivors."

He added that the vote was important not just for Armenians but for all peoples, to ensure such a tragedy never again happens. He mentioned the killings in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Reaction in Turkey, which did not exist as a country in 1915-17, has included angry marches and the recalling of the Turkish ambassador from Washington.

Addressing that reaction, Karekin said he wished the vote on the resolution instead would "free the (Turkish) people from these heavy emotions" and make their lives more abundant.

On a tour of Armenian churches in the United States, Karekin, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians, was scheduled to attend a service Friday night at St. Sarkis Armenian Church on Park Road, serving about 350 people in Charlotte.

The luncheon was sponsored by the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte. Karekin presented an Armenian cross to Catholic Bishop Peter Jugis, putting it around his neck and kissing his cheeks.

Karekin praised America as a nation where people from many traditions live together.

A bouquet of red and white flowers decorated the table where he ate. As he stood at a lectern to speak, Karekin, after apologizing for his English, used the bouquet as a metaphor.

"The different churches are like these flowers," he said, noting the joining of many flowers made the bouquet more beautiful and sweet smelling.

Addressing an audience that included CMS Superintendent Peter Gorman, City Councilwoman Nancy Carter and First United Presbyterian Church pastor Gregory Busby, Karekin praised Thomas Jefferson and his Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, guaranteeing free expression.

Holding a bishop's staff, his gold cross glinting in the light of television cameras, Karekin smiled and said, "I don't know if I am expressing my thoughts understandably to you."

The audience erupted with applause.

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CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS IN BOSTON

08/10/2007
Source: Panorama.am

Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin B is in Boston in the course of his visit to USA. Holy See St. Echmiadzin press services inform that the Catholicos met with children in St. Jacob Church of Watertown, visited Kennedy Library and the Museum of America during the recent three days. His Holiness met with three hundred Armenians from the age of 18 to 45 residing in Boston. A ceremony was organized to the honor of the Armenian religious leader during which young people performed pieces of music and read poems.

''Your enthusiasm has greatly inspired us and has given great happiness to our souls. This is the fruit of your parents and your priests who have tried to educate you as faithful followers of the Mother Church,'' the Catholicos said at the end of the meeting.

According to the same source, the Catholicos of All Armenia will visit the Memorial of Holocaust. He will make a tour in 18 towns of 13 U.S. states in the course of his 30 day visit. The religious head of Armenia left for USA on September 30. This is the second visit of the Catholicos to the Eastern Diocese of USA. The first visit was made in 2001.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.