A Great Step Toward Free Press, Albeit Forced

After almost 6 years of being taken off the air, A1+, who has never been shy about its criticism of the Armenian government, has some relief. On Tuesday, June 17, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Armenia's National Television and Radio Commission had violated Article 10 of the European Convention by improperly denied A1+, arguably one of the few independent media sources in Armenia, a broadcasting license. [here, here, and judgment here] Article 10 guarantees "freedom of expression."

The court stressed that "domestic law must afford a measure of legal protection against arbitrary interferences by public authorities with the rights guaranteed by the Convention." Unhappy with Armenia's licensing procedures, the court held "that a licensing procedure whereby the licensing authority gives no reasons for its decisions does not provide adequate protection against arbitrary interferences by a public authority with the fundamental right to freedom of expression."

This a a great step toward freedom of speech and press that are so desperately lacking in Armenia. Hopefully this strong push from the European Court and Armenia's desire to be more included within European affairs and Europe's political sphere will force it to make the necessary step to ensuring freedom of expression.

Team Armenia Takes the Bronze

It is always refreshing to hear about our people doing amazing things. Here's some great news (though a few days old):

The Armenian National Ice Hockey Team placed 3rd in the 2008 IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) U20 Div III World Championship in Belgrade, Serbia. In a pretty impressive show, the Armenians beat out South Africa and Turkey 13-1, Bulgaria 12-1 and Australia 6-5 placing behind New Zealand and Serbia who received the gold and silver respectively. For stats click here.

Furthermore, Armenia's #24, Petros Zhamkochyan was awarded Best Defenseman and Harutyun Qeshishyan, #7, the third highest scorer in the entire championship.

Hats off to our boys sporting the red, blue and orange.

And for your viewing pleasure, a few photos compliments of nzihf on Flickr (more photos from the tournament can be found here):







^ The game/bronze winning goal against Australia


^Celebrating after the win against Australia

Yelena Geodakyan

I am absolutely intrigued by this artist's work (can be seen at notrated.com). Two of my favorites:



Check out her gallery.

Fisk's Latest Article

I had forgotten how much I thoroughly enjoy Robert Fisk's writing style. His disgust permeates through his writing and I'm not going to lie - I love it. (here)

How are the mighty fallen! President George Bush, the crusader king who would draw the sword against the forces of Darkness and Evil, he who said there was only "them or us", who would carry on, he claimed, an eternal conflict against "world terror" on our behalf; he turns out, well, to be a wimp. A clutch of Turkish generals and a multimillion-dollar public relations campaign on behalf of Turkish Holocaust deniers have transformed the lion into a lamb. No, not even a lamb – for this animal is, by its nature, a symbol of innocence – but into a household mouse, a little diminutive creature which, seen from afar, can even be confused with a rat. Am I going too far? I think not.

Oh and he's a great speaker too.

Utter Disgust and Disappointment

We sit here discussing policy and politics, demanding recognition for the brutal murder of our ancestors, discussing the beauty of our culture and heritage. I sit here demanding more of my people and my country as citizens of the world.

And yet sometimes I wonder if it is all for naught when our own people are killing each other (here). Unfortunately this time, it was too close to home.

Has YSU lost its mind?

On October 22, the Yerevan State University invited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to not only give a speech (who incidentally was at Columbia recently) but also awarded him the Alma Mater gold medal and an honorary doctorate. Mind you this is the man who has also remarked that: "In Iran, we don't have homosexuals, like in your country," considers the Holocaust a "myth" (and not to mention, refuses to acknowledge that the tragedy that befell Armenians was a genocide). And they honor him with a medal?

Not that the ADL was on my top 10 most honorable organizations list (especially after they fired Tarsey, although in their defense they have now officially come to recognize it as Genocide), but they were right in tipping their hats to the critics of such an act. I am sorely disappointed in YSU; but perhaps they are looking for allies anywhere they can find them. Regardless, it is simply poor form.

A Poem

Here's a poem I wrote a while ago, it can be found here

http://groong.com/tlg/tlg-20070825.html

        A SHROUDED SECRET

 by Levon


 If only I was a poet.
 I could portray the earth's entire beauty
 And have my pen draw nature.
 But instead of lilies I find ivy
 That shrouds my potential
 And instead of the wind's soft touch,
 I feel the heat from the fire of my trapped soul

 If only my stroke could show me my love
 And tell her that I miss her gentle touch.
 Yet my heart seems to take me to quiet pastures
 Only to lead me to a cliff and bid me adieu
 For you, my bitter flame, my sanity hangs on the edge
 Begging you to show me my future, so that my soul can rest today

 If only I could create a tower of words
 Whose tip can pierce the sky
 And create a tempest among stars
 My great yet unreachable goal
 Is it possible that my hidden dreams can transform?
 So that my unanswered prayers find me once again?

 If only I had a golden tongue
 Whose words would sprout flowers in the air
 And carry with them the seeds of my soul.
 But No, the wind does not carry my words out
 But brings me the chill of despair

 I wait for fate to create for my heart
 An antidote for life's poisons
 And cure me of my loneliness
 Yet in vain does this ink stir
 My abstractions to concrete,
 My thoughts to words

 And with the pain of unfulfilled expectations
 My thoughts fool me to dwell on the past
 To disavow the present and live unhappily
 And I remain, an abandoned man, with a message to preach
 But without a voice to tell it

House Foreign Affairs Committee Adopts Armenian Genocide Resolution

Earlier this morning, House Resolution 106, aka the Armenian Genocide Resolution, passed with a vote of 27-21. H. Res. 106 called "upon the President to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide..."

Simply put - it is about time. 92 years later, why is the world still debating this? We do not consider the Holocaust as an alleged incident; then why bend to political pressure in Ankara to refuse to recognize the brutal murder and deportation of 1.5 million Armenians as nothing short of genocide?

Worse yet is Turkey's reaction, which is absolutely appalling (though not surprising)-- read threats to the US, including cutting support for the war in Iraq, the danger of our men on their bases and cutting off access to airfields and roads if the resolution passes the Senate (See NY Times and L.A. Times articles). And of course Bush puts morality aside (ironic for one who preaches morals left and right and promises he made back in 2000 when he was first elected), and bends over backwards to appease Turkey and is now "deeply disappointed" in the House Committee; even worse, he claims that "we support a full and fair accounting of the atrocities that befell as many as 1.5m Armenians during World War I, which House Resolution 106 does not do." Historians and the world do not argue over what befell the Armenians; the only people that really have any contentions are Turkish officials and people that rely on their support (surprise, surprise). Even Turkish scholars acknowledge what happened (see Ragip Zarakolu, Orhan Pamuk, Taner Akcam). And as I said earlier - the mass deportation and annihilation of 6 million Jews was properly deemed a genocide, so what's the hold up here? And what pray-tell is a "full and fair" accounting President Bush? Children being torn from their mothers' arms and tossed into the Euphrates and then shot at to ensure that they were dead (like the fate of my namesake) and then proceeding to decapitate the child's mother are not just casualties of war. House Resolution 106 is nothing but full and fair accounting - it just so happens to be something that Turkey does not want to hear or own up to. Lucky for us the majority of our Reps have better consciences than that (as reported int the LA Times article):

But Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.) responded, "I consider myself a friend of Turkey. But friends don't let friends commit crimes against humanity -- genocide -- and then act as witting or unwitting accomplices in their denial."

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) dismissed the threats of reprisals. "We will get a few angry words out of Ankara for a few days, and then it's over," he said. "We cannot provide genocide denial as one of the perks of friendship with the United States."