1979_04 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper April 16-24, 1979

              4U.8 OU-Pd-flMP
The Armenian Movement
Armenian Martyrs' Week,  April 16-241979
Armenocide: Crime
Against Humanity
By MARK MALKASIAN
The Twentieth century has no place
for the Armenian genocide.
A world immersed in suffering no
longer senses human tragedy. The modern age has been saturated by tragedy~
graphic, explicit and vociferous tragedy.
World sympathy exists as a commodity,
a commodity staked and monopolized.
It belongs to Jews, Blacks, Indians and
Palestinians.
The Armenocide cannot compete for
the world's tears. Of course, Armenians
can produce corpses—two million corpses—but the Armenocide remains relegated to history's back burner.
The Armenian Case is not a pressing
international topic. There are no fanatical guerillas, struggling for national
identity in the mountains of Turkish-
occupied Armenia. The Armenians have
no charismatic leader, suitable for 45-
second tirades on  the  evening   news.
The Armenians only  have  the  stark,
numbing reality of the Armenocide.
The facts are simple:
On April 24, 1915 the Turkish government began the systematic annhilation
of the Armenian people - the "final solution" of the Armenian problem. Under
the guise of World War I, two million
Armenians were murdered. The Armenian people were torn from the homeland
they had occupied since the dawn of
civilization. Three thousand years of
Armenian history were abruptly severed
by a single, savage blow of the Turkish
sword.
Of course, there are outcries among
the Western powers. Armenia was a
valuable playing card of international
diplomacy. The 1920 Treaty of Sevres,
promoted by the Western Powers, provided for the establishment of an inde-
Survivors of the Armenocide of  1915!
Many   of   the   orphans    miraculously
the
later
Turkish
to perish from
prepetrated       were
famine and disease.
See Page 3        spared the fate of their parents during
The Armenian Case in the UN
By BRYAN BEDROSIAN
The Armenian Case, embodying the
national aspirations of the world's six
million Armenians, is today expressed
in the form of Paragraph 30.
Paragraph 30 is one section of a large
report being prepared by a Special
Rapporteur for the UN Subcommission
on the Prevention of Discrimination and
Protection of Minorities. This subcommission is part of the larger UN Commission on Human Rights.
Paragraph 30, as quoted from the
Genocide Report, reads: "Passing to the
modern era, one may note the existence
of relatively full documentation dealing
with the massacres of Armenians, which
have been described as the 'first case of
genocide in the twentieth century'."
If accepted, Paragraph 30 would provide at least the legal basis for the return
of Turkish-occupied Armenia. In response to Turkish pressures, Paragraph
30 was omitted from a previous draft of
the Genocide Report, adopted last
September by the UN Subcommission on
the Prevention of Discrimination and the
Protection of Minorities. The 'United
States abstained in the final vote.
The Special Rapporteur cited three
reasons for rejecting Paragraph 30:
1. It is impossible to compile an exhaustive list of historical examples of genocide.
2. It is important to maintain unity within the international community in regard
to genocide.
3. In many cases, delving into the past
might reopen old wounds that are now
healing.
Like the Armenian people, Paragraph
30 has not disappeared. It was reintroduced and approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights. (The Commission
had the power to reject the Genocide
Report, accept it, or send it back to the
Special Rapporteur.)
Despite heated protests by the Turkish
government, the subcommission in its
March meeting in Geneva, reendorsed
insertion and voted to send the
Report back to the Special Kapporteur
for reconsideration. Paragraph 30 today
lies in the hands of the Special Rapporteur.
Paragraph 30 demonstrates the influence  a   united   Armenian   people   can
have. The reconsideration of Paragraph
30 was a major victory in itself, especially considering the strong objections
and strenuous lobbying of the Turkish
government.
The Armenian people, without a
nation, without an army-seemingly
powerless in the international arena-
succeeded in bringing the Armenocide
before the nations of the world. U.S.
Ambassador Set Momjian, the personal
representative of President Carter on the
UN Human Rights Commission, was
instrumental in forcefully presenting the
facts of the Armenocide before the world
body.
Varaz-an
Inspired
Armenian
Artist
. .';.j') ?JJ
By BARLOW DER MUGRDICHIAN
Varaz Samuelian is an artist of international reknown, famous both for his
paintings and sculpture. I have known
Varaz for many years and I interviewed
him while he was at work in his studio.
Varaz, when did you come to Fresno,
California and why?
"After World War II in which I fought
both as a Russian partisan and as a
French partisan I came to San Francisco
to be with my brother in November,
1946. My wife and I had friends in
Fresno so in 1957 we moved to Fresno.
I moved also because I wanted to live in
a community where there were a lot of
Armenians."    - -     .
What inspires you as an artist?
"Everything inspires me. I am against
war of any kind, especially nuclear war,
and the quest tor peace inspires me. The
ocean and the sky and the trees inspire
me. But I find that the struggle for war
and peace is very important to me."
You sculpted the now famous David of
Sassoon sculpture which now stands in
the Fresno Courthouse square. Why did
you make David of Sassoon?
"The legend of David, the heroic story
of a people inspired me. For me, he
embodies the powerful symbol of the
Armenian spirit of freedom. He embodies the spirit and history of Armenia.
But more than that David of Sassoon
stands for all the courageous fighters
against oppression...Man striving for
justice and peace."
Which forms of art do you prefer to
work with?
"All are the same. Sculpture, painting
all are the same to me. If you can do one
you can do them all. It's all in the way
you look at it."
You are influenced by many things
but what keeps you working as an artist?
"Learning, the experience of learning
new things. The love of learning keeps
me working. I'm interested in all things
in the world. Scenery, the ocean...life
itself. The trees, animals, flowers, science, the stars...life itself. All keep me
inspired in my work. The struggle for
justice and peace."