A recent column from these pages traveled the wide highways of the internet and found a home on another Armenia related website. The notice popped up in my inbox and, curious, I clicked on the link. First I noticed the advertising for a singles website, then, in the process of looking for the text of the column, I scrolled down the page where my attention was captured by a bright orange banner ad for the Anatolian Cultures & Food Festival.

Forty years ago today, with a decision from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Western US Central Committee, Asbarez unveiled its new English edition.

May 1, 1970 was a milestone in Asbarez history. On that day the Asbarez English Section was launched as a new edition to the then 62-year-old publication, which had just moved its operations to Los Angeles from Fresno. Today, as we mark the 40th anniversary of the English Section, Asbarez has grown from its humble [...]

Armenian Americans from throughout the Greater Washington DC area struck a blow to Armenian Genocide denial this week with protests at the White House and Turkish Embassy calling for proper U.S. and Turkish Government recognition of the murder of 1.5 million Armenians from 1915-1923 as ‘genocide,’ reported the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) Washington “Ani” Chapter.

On April 18, 2010 community members from Glendale and surrounding cities came out in support of the Armenian National Committee – Glendale Chapter’s fifth annual blood drive in commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. The event was hosted in the newly-built Krikor and Mariam Karamanoukian Glendale Youth Center and conducted in coordination with the City of Glendale’s Week of Remembrance Committee, Armenian Relief Society – Sepan Chapter and the American Red Cross.

Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism has opened up an investigation into claims from a group of Turkish and Chinese evangelical archeologists who claim they have found the remnants of the Noah’s Ark atop Mount Ararat.

The Turkish National Security Council (MGK) convened on Thursday under the chairmanship of President Abdullah Gul.

Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian arrived in China on Thursday to attend the opening ceremony of the Shanghai World Expo 2010, where Armenia will be participating alongside 190 other countries and 57 organizations, to present its cultural heritage and modern advances.

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday denied media reports of a request from Azerbaijan to give Turkey a co-chair position in the OSCE Minsk Group mediating the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, reported RIA Novosti.

Popular music and controversy are part of the same fabric that fashions the world of entertainment; they seem to go hand-in-hand. Witness the origins of Punk and Madonna’s track record with controversy and uber-consumerism. As the Grunge Rockers did in the 90s and rappers continued over the past ten years, the most recent sensationalism comes courtesy of Lady Gaga. However, one wouldn’t imagine that an Armenian music video of the popular folk song “Zartir Vortyag” would be banned in Lebanon – a country built by and home to the descendants of Armenian Genocide survivors.

There are more than 10 million Armenians scattered throughout the world, including the almost 3 million in the Motherland. Even though we are all Armenian, we are also very different. Of course, this is due to the fact that we have been influenced by those communities in which we have been raised. However, there are several things that make us all the same. For example, wherever we go, we always try to find Armenians and even sometimes we try to claim non-Armenians, Armenian. Several years ago there were rumors in Armenia that renowned American signer Gwen Stephani was Armenian. How? Very simple. Just ad an “an” at the end of her surname and you have a perfect Armenian surname: Stephanian. There are many similar examples, which are sometimes beyond absurd and ridiculous. However, one thing that is proven is that we Armenians have a unique gene-pool and this is, of course, inarguable.

Two developments on Armenian-Turkish issues spilled a lot of ink last week. Neither one was significant, but assumed significance because of extensive international media coverage.
On April 22, exactly a year after the release of the roadmap, ostensibly to normalize Armenia-Turkey relations, and six months after the infamous Protocols were signed by the two countries with great fanfare, Pres. Serzh Sargsyan announced their suspension.

Thursday April 22nd, I was called, literally minutes before it was to start, to be told that Burbank’s Homenetmen was hosting a lecture about Tehlirian by Stephan Simonian, M.D. Feeling a bit lazy, I opted for the four minute drive over the 14 minute one to Glendale, where part of that city’s now-annual commemorative programs included a lecture on ending modern slavery. My choice turned out to be a good one. It was a very interesting presentation, attended by 32 people, because it took the testimony from Soghomon Tehlirian’s trial, both his and the psychologists’, and used it demonstrate that the he was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The down side was that the speaker spent an inordinate amount of time presenting the evolution of the medical community’s understanding of PTSD and, EVERYTHING was done bilingually, i.e. we got to hear the lecture twice in one sitting. I thought those days were gone…

In an unprecedented public apology, the chief of Armenia’s police service admitted on Friday misleading the nation about the recent scandalous death of a young man in police custody.