By Carnie Armenian

The Armenian Weekly

The Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) Tri-Regional Seminar: Most see it as an opportunity to attend a series of lectures and debates, to improve our understanding of current events in Armenia, and to learn the details of our organization’s history. This was exactly what my expectations were. Being from Las Vegas, the “Sosse Mayrig” AYF Chapter sits at a distance from the rest of the Western Region. Hearing of the AYF Tri-Regional Seminar, taking place at Camp Haiastan from June 3-8 in little Franklin, Mass., I could not pass up the opportunity. As a member who loves our organization and is wholly dedicated to the Armenian Cause, I am always eager to learn from ungers of our ranks and to bring this knowledge back to the Las Vegas chapter.

Throughout the week, the 80 attendees from the AYF Western Region, Eastern Region, and Canada participated in a number of educationals. Hovsep Avakian (Eastern Central Committee) and Hayg Oshagan (Bureau) held a discussion regarding the goals and struggles our organization has and will encounter. This lecture opened our eyes to the harsh truth that as Armenians we are a dying race. This is why our generation must choose to stand up and continue fighting for a Free, Independent, and United Armenia. It was during this lecture that I saw the passion in my fellow ungers’ eyes grow stronger as the fight within each one of us continues untouched. It is discussions like these, in our nation and across the globe, where we become “re-motivated” and our enthusiasm for the Armenian Cause grows stronger. And as Hagop Der Khatchadourian (Bureau) reinforced in us, “There is no such thing as a dream that is not realizable.” After all, our previous generation could have never imagined an independent Armenia. With this dream now a reality, we must set our sights towards a new dream.

The attendees also had the privilege to be given a lecture by Antranig Kasbarian (Eastern Central Committee) regarding the ARF, and by Dikran Kaligian (Eastern Central Committee) regarding Turkish-Armenian reparations. Additionally, George Aghjayan (Eastern Central Committee) discussed the assurance of the success of the Armenian Diaspora and Jirair Beujekian (executive director of the ARS) discussed the necessity to work with our sister organizations to aid our country.

The weekend’s youngest lecturer, Raffi Sarkissian (published author and Canada ARS Day School vice principal), proved to us that the time to make a difference is now; our celebrated revolutionaries were our age when they chose to step forward to lead the cause. He instilled in us that it does not matter what we do, as long as we contribute to the Armenian nation. And for us the AYF is our greatest source and outlet to benefit the Armenian communities. Sarkissian’s accomplishments at his young age genuinely inspired and proved to our members that we can find a way to make a difference in our communities doing what we love; for him, it has been literature and education.

The Pyunik Band leads as a great example, as they perform in the U.S. and Canada staying true to their Armenian roots. You may have heard their music and appreciate their passion, but from the members’ interactions at the seminar I felt their enduring dedication to our people, to our nation, and to our cause.

The future of our nation is our choice and is in our hands, the hands of young revolutionaries. We can no longer idly stand around; rather, the time has come to take a stance. On the final day, members participated in a round-table discussion regarding how each region operates, what has proven to work and what does not work, and how to ensure the organization will succeed in the future. On behalf of all the attendees, I can say that we learned greatly from the Tri-Regional Seminar, and have a better understanding of the direction of the AYF as well as our nation.

Clearly, our expectations were met and the goals of the agenda were accomplished. But the critical moments where the Tri-Regional Seminar proudly exceeded any and all expectations was when we were able to relive thehistory of our organization through a tour of the Hairenik Building in Watertown, Mass. We were able to stand in the exact spots where our forefathers established this organization that has added such meaning to our lives. As we laid our eyes on the endless archives and generations of history, we felt the duty we hold to our country, to our fedayis with the same goals in mind, to our ancestors who suffered, and to our lands wrongfully taken from us.

Yes, each of us realized the duties we hold, but seeing that we are not alone in this made the biggest impact on me. As we united in singing revolutionary songs, we guaranteed one another that this is not the end of our path. Our new friendships provided assurance that through each struggle and each fall, we will continue to push each other to always fight for more. We continue to dream of our nation together as one, but for now I am more than satisfied to say that our diaspora has come together, as one.

by William Bairamian

Euphemisms have always played a part in racism. For those disposed toward cowardice, subtle overtures of a perceived enemy have allowed segregationists to convey their message to the like minded without saying what the masses think. This has been happening in Glendale, and throughout the Los Angeles area, for at least a decade, and now it has come to a silent fever pitch.

Last week, Zanku Armenian artfully examined the state of politics in the City of Glendale. This week, his observations were put on public display. In the Crescenta Valley Weekly, John Drayman, who is running for re-election to the Glendale City Council, attests that “On April 5^th some are hoping that you won’t vote”. Wait, I’ve heard that somewhere before.

I wonder, are these the same people that Mr. Drayman’s supporter, Gerri Cragnotti, a popular Glendale real estate agent, was referring to when she sent out an invitation for select Glendalians to come meet Mr. Drayman and Dave Weaver, another council candidate, at her home? That message read, “Maybe certain special interest groups, groups that win by absentee ballots, may not want you to go to the polls to vote on Tuesday April 5?”

Cloaked in ambiguity and doublespeak, the messages don’t arouse suspicion to the casual onlooker but to their constituents, they serve as an effective fear mongering tactic to suggest that there is some Armenian conspiracy that non-Armenians do not vote.

There are few, if any, “special interest groups” that are more engaged in the empowerment of voters in the Glendale area than the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). And, because a part of the ANCA’s voter registration efforts aim to help elderly, incapacitated voters, these individuals are registered, and vote, by absentee ballots, primarily because they cannot go to the polls because of their disabilities. This has been shamefully twisted into an ironic rallying cry that “special interest groups”, like the ANCA, who has registered thousands of new voters, are interested in people not showing up to the polls.

But Ms. Cragnotti was right. There are people in the city that do not want their fellow citizens to vote and their names are John Drayman, Dave Weaver, and Frank Quintero.

In 2008, these three members on the City Council voted for an ordinance that effectively made it more difficult for non-English speaking (which, in Glendale, means Armenian) voters to apply to vote absentee.

The effects of this measure were real. In 2007, the percentage of Armenians in Glendale that voted by absentee ballot was 70%. In 2009, after the measure was passed, that number fell to 62%. The three councilmen who voted for passage of this measure, Messrs. Weaver, Drayman, and Quintero, certainly achieved their objective of temporarily lessening the strength of the most powerful voting group in our fair city.

For all the bemoaning of the complaints against him, Mr. Drayman has curiously taken to projecting his troubles unto others – when he’s not curbing voter access, that is. He has made tacit suggestions, in meetings like the one at Ms. Cragnotti’s home, that Ardy Kassakhian, the City Clerk of Glendale, possibly the most upstanding of all Glendale city officials, has been remiss in his duties, with nary a factoid to support his hyperbolic discharge.

It might come as a surprise, then, that while he’s taking shots at Mr. Kassakhian in both public and private, Mr. Drayman is under investigation for criminal activity. It is he, after all, who was cited in the Los Angeles Times, as having work done on his condo by not one, but six, subcontractors for a firm that defrauded the City of Glendale out of millions of dollars.

This is not even something that Mr. Drayman rejects. He simply says that he did not know. It must have been, then, the merest of coincidences that six different subcontractors, all of whom were associated to a company whose services he had dedicated millions of taxpayer dollars to, were the same six doing renovations on his condominium.

Mr. Drayman is adept at deflecting any exposure of his transgressions. Either by trying to focus the attention on someone else by making baseless claims or by smugly ridiculing allegations against him as though they were incredulous. Well, one can only claim for so long that their character precludes them from such misdemeanors while establishing a steady track record of them.

All this ruckus simply underscores the success of the Armenian-American community in becoming politically engaged and active – they vote in higher numbers than any other group in Glendale. But for some reason, cynical people like John Drayman, Dave Weaver, and Gerri Cragnotti, have a problem with this. They have a problem with (certain) Americans exercising their right to vote. They have some inexplicable problem with the same people whom they underhandedly defame. They have created a false conspiracy to serve their own interests.

April 5 is Election Day. Some people don’t want you to vote – and some of those people are running for re-election to another four year term. It takes five minutes to vote. Should the Armenian-American community have to take another four years of attempts to marginalize and disparage them? You decide.

It is no secret that the year 2010 was one of scandal and controversy surrounding incidents of abuse in the Armenian army. A spate of hazings, assaults, and non-combat violence in both Armenia and Artsakh were reported on heavily in the media.

Such occurrences are cause for concern for any conscientious and patriotic Armenian. Not only is it a national tragedy anytime an Armenian soldier, for any reason, is wounded or killed but these developments have also raised the specter of disillusionment toward the country’s military institutions among segments of the Armenian public.

Unfortunately, an incompetent administration in Yerevan has failed to root out these problems adequately. At the end of the day, it is the state which is responsible for the condition of its soldiers. Rather than a few marginal punishments of officers and a penchant toward military celebrations, the fundamental reforms and atmosphere needed to prevent such misdeeds from ever occurring seem to be lacking.

In this context, it is incumbent upon us, the Armenian people, to stand with the men fortified on the frontlines for the protection and security of our homeland. We must reinforce and strengthen the Republic of Armenia’s army by lending every means of support at our disposal.

Coupled with this is the need to reaffirm our sense of unity in regards to the armed forces, while at the same time calling for a truly democratic, people’s army in Armenia; an army which unites both soldiers and society around the concept of moral virtue and sacrifice for the homeland; an army which holds its figures accountable and does not tolerate any form of abuse; an army which stresses sacrificing for the nation above all other values; and an army which strives to empower its soldiers around a true sense of brotherhood and leading by example, consciously imparting the heroic traditions of our history (such as the liberation struggle of Artsakh) as the guiding light of its character.

It is the obligation of all Armenians to ensure the well-being and high morale of our soldiers. We must internalize the true spirit of solidarity required in those critical junctures of battle and secure it for all seasons.

2011 must be the year of ensuring our nation’s security. The creation of an impenetrable harmony among army and nation is a critical component toward this end.