Voices From The Lake

A documentary on the Genocide, focusing on the tragedy during the last days of Kharpert. 83 min.

Concerto del musicista armeno Djivan Gasparyan

Concerto presso Mater Ecclesiae del musicista armeno Gasparyan tenutosi a Bari il 20 dicembre 2005 What a wonderful concert by Djivan Gasparian(jivan Kasparian) and his Duduk ensemble at a performance in Italy. A rare eclectic treat. You'll hear a sampling of songs collected by father Gomidas. Cultural treasures that would have been forever lost with the people that perished in the genocide. Father Gomidas collected these folk songs from the cities and villages that were ethnically cleansed from its indigenous population, the western Armenians.

Armenian Genocide/System Of a Down

Peter Jennings documentary about the Armenian Genocide.

Govdantsi Bar

Traditional Armenian Folk Dance

Sharing

The advent of the internet has enabled us to share ideas, pictures, videos, etc. that would not have been possible before. Within just a couple months, my perceptions of it's capabilities have increased tenfold.
To counteract the effects of the cultural genocide, the internet could become a great tool to share the rescued remnants of that culture.
Hopefully this blog will encourage people from around the world to start posting what they have in their, or in their friends/relatives, possession; whether that be a practiced art such as dance, crafts, music, or rescued cultural relics such as books, poetry, pictures, stories, or memoirs, etc.
I have posted a dance that I discovered on google videos. A great armenian dance, and will be posting an authenthic village dance as practiced by some old timers somewhere in America at a picknick.
As evidenced from watching the Govdantsi Bar, the dancers are advanced in their age and
there are no youngsters among them to learn and preserve the dance. One can only imagine how much livelier and how many more dances were enjoyed by the people from this village in their own town before they were deported, marched to the desert and massacred by the turks.
We should all make an effort with the present technology in our disposal, be it in Australia or Swaziland, to be witnesses to these bits of cultural treasures. Record and post them on the internet whether through personal blogs or through sending them to others if one can not.
Only then would we be able to pay respect the spirits of the martyrs that perished in the first genocide of the twentieth century.
Enjoy the two videos
Share your videos, pictures, literature, or arts and crafts or stories from the lost villages in Western Armenia.
And, above all.
Learn to dance the govdantsi dance as you watch it, save it, share it(and any others like it) whether you are 5 year old or 105 year old so you can join the old timers if you are lucky or teach them to a few others and keep the spirit of our ancestors alive and those who survived and kept what they could alive in far away places.

Memories of lost cultures

April 24th is the memorial day of the Armenian genocide .Often the cultural loss is not remembered because of the overwhelming physical extinction and extensive effort required by the few survivors to establish, regroup what's left of their families.
Learning different languages, adapting to the new environment and legalities of a foreign country prevented them from rescuing what was left from the oral history, tradition.
April 24th of each year, flowers in hand we walk toward the memorial to remember lost cities, villages and loved ones.
We all walk together to create a human wall around the monuments as to say silently
"NEVER AGAIN as a group we would allow this to happen to us or to others in this world".
Each flower is layed at the monument in memory of a victim of the genocide, a lost song, a forgotten dance, a lost city, a rare book that remained behind, cultural traits that we might never recover, masterworks of architectural monuments that are decaying to extinction in turkey, and we as a group are incapable of doing anything to stop the destruction in front of our eyes.
Are we strong enough now to shake ourselves out of the commatose trauma state that is a natural effect of the horrendous crime,
and start rebuilding our unique culture based on what was left behind?
Are we Strong enough to wear our national costumes at least once a year just as many other cultures do on many occasions throughout the year?
Are we strong enough to devote some resources and money and hire the few who could teach our children the traditional dances in junior high and high school besides all the other dances?
Has the time come yet to move on???

Video Of Destruction Of The Historic Armenian Cemetery And Stone Crosses

Original Video Content From http://www.armenica.org

Is this a Church or a slaughtered cultural relic?
More examples of destruction of Armenian Cultural heritages
that have remained behind in Western Armenia

An Example of Cultural Genocide

The statement that comes to mind everytime I look at this picture is the famous quote by Victor Hugo "The turks must have passed through here"
This church is one of thousands that have been and are still being destroyed by the turks to eliminate every evidence of a differing religion and culture that lived gracefully, peacefully in that country.
Instead of being a house of the lord, standing tall as it's builders intended, and songs of praise emanating from the faithful parishioners, it's awaiting for someone (anyone) who cares to come and rebuild it.
is that not what we are supposed to do?
If a few families a year made the effort to rebuild one of these ruins, pretty soon, instead of the negative image we would be filled with the joy that there are still a few people left on eath that care about stopping the destruction of these wonderfull cultural relics.

INDEPENDENCE FOR A FEW OR ....

for all who aspire for it?

The effort to liberate from oppressive, uncivilized, abusive regimes is a noble cause that should be encouraged by civil societies for the benefit of all humanity.
Had it not been for the valiant effort of our forefathers, democracy would not have blossomed to the extent that it has. And, we are all better off because of the constitutional rights we inherited in the U.S.A. through the effort to reach freedom of thought, expression, assembly, religion...Rights that were denied to the founding fathers previously.
Happy Independence day
Unfortunately, there are still countries in this world that deny those same rights to their citizens.
While everyone is aware of the plight of the kurds under S. Hussein's regime because of their contribution to the war effort in Iraq, not many hear about the horrendous condition that the kurds are living in the neighboring country of Turkey.
Just as they tried to exterminate the Armenians in the early 20th Century through legislation, exhoberant taxation, and forced relocation and assimilation, they are using those same inhumane, uncivilized techniques on their last remaining minority, the Kurds. The imposed legislation that denies them their basic human rights, their cultural and physical existence.

Article 66 of the turkish constitution (as amended on October 17, 2001):

"Everyone bound to the Turkish state through the bond of citizenship is
a Turk. The child of a Turkish father or a Turkish mother is a Turk."

This can be defined as "identity genocide": wiping Kurds from the surface of earth. It is disturbing. No individual can be born from Kurdish parents, even when they are born from Kurdish parents. They immediately become Turkish by the magic of this article. This is a clear denial of the existence of Kurds. Please note this article has been amended to meet EU criteria, or more correctly, to fool naïve EU politicians.(fatah, 2006)

"those who do not study and take lessons from history are bound to repeat it"

This is an old tactic that the Turks used on Armenians whose surnames had been butchered and Turkified. No Armenian could carry their original armenian family name even though they were outstanding citizens of Turkey then and now. A Turkish last name was imposed on them whether they liked it or not.

The Turkish constitution does not mention the Kurdish language at all. Article 3 states:
"The Turkish state, with its territory and nation, is an indivisible
entity. Its language is Turkish."

Article 42 elaborates this further:

"No other language than Turkish shall be taught as a mother tongue to Turkish citizens at any institutions of training or education.
Foreign languages to be taught in institutions of training and education and the rules to be followed by schools conducting training and education in a foreign language shall be determined by law. The provisions of international treaties are reserved."(fatah, 2006)

The Extermination of a culture "Any Culture" from the face of the earth is a crime against civilization and the effort should not be tolerated. Furthermore, no country that has these oppressive rules and practices should be allowed to join the European Union where people are proud to speak different languages, and appreciative of the contribution of various cultures that comprise the E.U.

The Turkish government has not stopped committing genocide as evidenced by its treatment of Kurds today, its invasion and division of Cyprus, and its continued destruction of the cultural remains of the martyred Armenians. The numerous churches built by the Armenians could not be marched to the Arabian desert and slaughtered/massacred, so they converted them to mosques, barns and continue to this day to destroy those churches that could be the pride of European cultural heritage.
So, what is the EU doing to stop the repetition of these atrocities?
How can the EU admit to its membership a country that has practiced physical, cultural and ethnic genocide on its previous citizens (Armenians, Greeks, Kurds, Assyrians) and continues to commit the same hideous crime on it's last remaining minority, the Kurds.
Enough is Enough
The EU should demand from Turky to treat its citizens right, give them the freedom to speak any language they wish, to communicate in their native language, enjoy and preserve their native culture, and be proportianaly represented in government.
Otherwise, it's high time for the Kurds to have their own country and be rulers of their own destiny.

"A partitioned Turky would much better serve the security, stability needs of the EU and USA"

The EU should be the guarantor of human rights, preservation of the cultures that exist and the peaceful cohabitation of all the people within without any discrimination.

"A third of Turkey's population have Kurdish blood. These Kurds speak
Kurdish and occupy vast areas of 'Kurdistan' - what has always been
their homeland but cannot be found in the Turkish Constitution."

KURDISH IDENTITY IS DENIED IN TURKISH CONSTITUTION
By Dr Rebwar Fatah

There was a time, not too long ago, that a third of the population of Turky was Armenian. While the Turkish government organized twentieth century's first ethnic cleansing and massacred 90 % of the Armenians, illegally appropriated their property, and destroyed their cultural heritage; the wold stood idle, ignored the genocide and still is not demanding from Turky to acknowledge its high crime and change its ways.

IS THE SAME FATE AWAITING THE KURDS?

NEVER AGAIN SHOULD THE WORLD STAND IDLE AND IGNORE THE REALITIES .....

May the aspirations of self determination of the Kurds come true.........

Is he my father?
He might not know it, but he has been acting as my surrogate father figure ever since I have been aware of his presence. He might have that same influence on many others most probably.
Most of the time I have been in agreement with his financial moves, specially his position in Chrysler and his takeover of Prim and Mandalay Bay.
His most recent stake in GM is a question that I have not resolved yet.
If he succeeds in shaking up the stale management team, invigorate the stodgy corporate culture, cooperate with the unions to popularize made in USA products that are innovative, at the forefront of technological advances and of high quality than he might be able to turn this old beast around just like the management of Harley Davidson did and help avert the fall of a company that should be an example of American Corporate survival.
I will do my humble analysis of GM's value soon and the probability of returns on investments from this juncture.
So, even though it's a little late, I thank my physical father for bringing me up with the mindset to realize the contribution of all three of the fathers I wrote about recently and the appreciation of their contribution to the society around them and their spiritual guidance for others.
Happy fathers day Dad,
Happy fathers day Kirk Kerkorian,
Happy fathers day Sitting Bull,
Happy fathers day Father Gomidas,
They all serve as my father and their service to me as mentors and spiritual guides is of immeasurable value.
your son

Is he my father?

sitting Bull.
picture from Historical figures of willow bunch museum

Just as father Gomidas, Sitting bull faced the same issues of preserving the culture of the community he served.
He recognized the dangers of the forced relocations and their impact, the legal restrictions and rules for them.
He spared no effort to preserve what was entrusted to him; the way of life, habitat, traditions, religion, culture...
He witnessed the erosion of the habitat, which he tried to stop but couldn't.
To watch what you love and cherish be violently taken away and realize that the rest will be destroyed thereafter is an excruciating experience that none recover from and very few understand.
A devoted father of his entrusted people.
Happy many fathers day

Who is my Father!!!
You see, the statue of father Gomidas below raises this question.
As a father of mine and many others, he worked relentlessly to set a good example to his kids. He was keen enough to realize that the cultural treasure passed through generations to his contemporaries was in danger of disappearing and took upon himself the task of rescuing what he could.
He fell in love with the remnants of a culture and did his best to rescue every bit he could, to preserve and restore to its original glory. The genocide, ordered by the turks, killed the people he served but spared him to see the disappearance of his house, his children within with their traditions, cultures and language.
"Sirdess neman e en platz dner" _~ " My heart is just as those ruined houses"
A sentence that meant much more... A "house" meant the community, it's culture, treasures and traditions.
The genocide not only destroyed the population physically, which in and by itself is a crime to humanity, but it also destroyed the cultural treasures.
His heart could not withstand the pain. Even though they spared him from physical extermination, they could not eliminate the emotional damage that wrecked havoc with his mind. This "cultural genocide" he could not stand, tolerate, or reconcile with the order of the world.
There are three aspects of genocide:

• Genocide as we know it(the physical extermination of a people such as the armenians, the jews, the kurds....)
• Cultural Genocide (Through the physical extinction, forced relocation/ deportation, or restrictive laws a group's culture is made to disappear from the world.)
  
• Economic Genocide (through the same methods mentioned above rob the group of it's wealth and it's means of survival and the preservation of it's culture.)
• Any wonder why my father went mad??? Instead of rescuing the cultural treasures carried through generations, sharing it with others(admired by Claude Debussy and othe illustrious cultural figures of europe), composing music... So much of his work disappeared through his adverse mental health caused by the cultural genocide he observed.
  

Was he not an ultimate example of cultural genocide?
40-50 years of his contributions to armenian music was robbed of him, his people
and the whole world.
What are we doing to counter this trend???
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Is he my father?

Info About Gomidas

Armenia Wins Gold!

Armenia Took The Gold In The Men's Division Of The World Chess Olympiad.
Upon their return to Armenia, they were Welcomed by Thousands of Armenians in Downtown Yerevan's Freedom Square. The Champions are Levon Aronyan, Vladimir Hakobian, Gabriel Sarkisian, Artashes Minasian, Smbat Lputian and Karen Asryan.
Serj Sarkisian, Who Is The President Of The Armenian Chess Federation, Addressed the Crowd and Said "Our chess players have managed to justify our nation's hopes."
The Welcoming Ceremony Was Followed by a Concert and Fireworks.
37th Chess Olympiad was held in Turin.
China Took Silver And U.S.A Took the Bronze Medal.

(picture at chessvista.com)

Djivan Kasparian

Master of Duduk, a double reed instruments carved from apricot wood.
Those who had a chance to hear his playing at the Hollywood bowl a few years ago remember how soulful and meditative it can sound. It was a rare moment to be in an outdoor amphitheatre around 8,000 people who stood still, breathless, to hear every note played.

A very rare concert, just like Dizzy Gillespi's.

Will Angelinos have another chance to hear the master who is busy establishing a music school for the young generation to pass the techniques of playing this wonderful folk instrument.
Check out his records, play them, close your eyes, and dream the impossible........

Pictures

Traditional Music Instruments From Mousa Ler. Duduk, a Double Reed Instrument (heard on soundtracks of Gladiator, and Braveheart, The Last Temptation Of Christ, - Famous player of this instrument is Givan Kasparian). Zurna - Sounds similar to a bag pipe. Dhol, percussion. Kamancha - An Armenian string instrument akin to a violin(played by Sayat Nova) (Western Armenia) www.musaler.com
www.mousaler.com
www.duduk.com

Pomegranates

A start to an informative blog...
The beginings of a healthy life style...
Welcome to my Blog