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From Tallahassee to Yerevan: My First Trip to Armenia
Margaret Atayants in traditional Armenian clothing. Photo credit: Photo Atelier Marashlyan.
By Margaret Atayants
FLArmenians Tallahassee Contributor
It took me a while to sit down and write out all of the feelings and thoughts that I had gathered after my first trip to Armenia. I am blessed to be an Armenian that was born and raised in America, a country that allows me to have everything right at arms reach. Growing up, my parents never really talked about Armenia because they were born and raised in Baku, Azerbaijan and the only thing that really connected them to Armenia was the blood that flowed within their veins. As I grew older, the more I began to feel what it meant to be Armenian. I started reading and learning more about my culture. I befriended Armenians who grew up in the homeland and other families who came from Western Armenia, descendants of survivors of the Armenian Genocide. I read more; I watched more; I listened more; but never in my life did I imagine to see what I saw when I arrived in Mother Armenia.
I had been planning my trip for three years, not really knowing how it would all play out. I imagined arriving at the airport, falling to my knees, crying and kissing the ground that my ancestors built. Instead, I arrived at the airport and a spirit that was greater than me took over and held me up stronger than I have ever felt in my life. It was an uplifting emotional experience. I retrieved my bags and as I approached the exit the sliding doors opened, and I smelled the heavy air. It filled my lungs and fed my soul.
The ride from the airport was long and confusing. I thought that I would be riding into a city straight from the airport but I was riding through a ghetto of homes that were left unbuilt from after the fall of the Soviet Union. It’s amazing how after 24 years of independence some parts still look like it happened yesterday. When you arrive to Armenia, you’re stepping into the past. It’s a land that hasn’t been touched by the hands of modern men. Granted there are modernized buildings standing in Yerevan, but I never felt the air change.
I was blessed to travel from the northern edges of Armenia in Alaverdi, down to the south where we rode over the mountains to Tatev Monastery. I had the privilege to smell and feel Lake Sevan. It was cold but delightful because I could hear the sounds of the Armenian duduk in the wind as it blew through my hair.
An Armenian villager in Garni.
I always knew that our people were hospitable and generous, kind with hearts and souls as wide as the ocean. But never did I imagine it to be so pure.
Margaret Atayants eating mulberries.
I will never forget the moment I was in Garni and we walked by a woman sitting down at her stand, selling homemade jam and molasses made from pomegranates; apricots that drip with juices that tasted as sweet as honey. As I bit into the apricot I looked up into the sky to thank God for these people who were filling the emptiness that has been in my soul for so long. As I looked away from the sky, my eyes slowly came down and stopped at the mulberry tree. As I child, I remember laying down a blanket and shaking the tree to collect the berries that I didn’t even understand at such a young age, why they tasted to good. Without thinking, I yelled out, “Tout!” (the Armenian word for mulberry), and the woman turned around and said to me, “Climb up my life, and pick the mulberries and eat them. This is my mulberry tree and I want to share with you.” So I did. I climbed up and as I was picking the berries off of the tree, they were melting into my hands, staining them black. Never in my life had I tasted something so delicious, something so sweet, something so full of life. I had my camera in one hand and the mulberries in the other as I was climbing back down the stairs from the tree. I didn’t know what to do with my dirty hand and this is the moment that I would never forget. The woman who’s tree I was eating from, saw that I was struggling, and told me to wait. She ran into her home to get a cup of water to wash my hands. Then a stranger grabbed my hand and washed it so gently that no matter how deep the stain it would be clean because this is what this woman had wished.
A stranger? They were no strangers. They are my family.
If Mother Armenia is calling you, go. Do not question her calls. She will pave the ground that you walk on. She will show you beauty that you cannot paint or write. She will pull your soul out of your body and with her majestic beauty and land show you what your own soul looks like. The whole country is filled with music and art, love and kindness, purity and faith, joy and sorrow. Go and understand why you love the way you love, why you cry the way you cry, why you care the way you care and why you breath the way you breath. Armenia changed my life like nothing else in this world ever had. Many people are poor; some people have nothing; some people are hungry; some people are waiting and praying, but they are the happiest to see you and love you and offer you all that they have.
Margaret Atayants looking towards Mount Ararat.
Today, when I listen to the duduk, images flash of the family I never knew I had in Armenia. Wait for me, my brothers and sisters. I will be back very soon to give you all that I have and more. Armenia, you have changed me and I will forever fall to my knees and love you.
Armenian Americans Congratulate New House Speaker Paul Ryan
Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) Speaking at the Armenian Assembly of America 2009 National Advocacy Conference and Banquet in Washington, D.C. (Photograph courtesy of Armenian Assembly of America)
By Taniel Koushakjian
FLArmenians Managing Editor
Yesterday, Representative Paul D. Ryan (R-WI) was elected the 54th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. The Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) and Florida Armenians congratulate Speaker Ryan on his new leadership role and look forward to working with him in the months and years to come.
“I am very pleased with what this means for Republican leadership in Washington,” stated Florida Armenians Miami Chair Harout Samra. “Paul Ryan’s elevation to Speaker of the House is a welcome event and turns the page on some of the key challenges the Republican caucus in the House has faced over the last several years. At least in the short term, we should expect a more unified and ideas-driven caucus. Florida Armenians congratulate Speaker Ryan and we look forward to working with him and his leadership team to address issues of mutual concern,” Samra said.
Ryan began his political career as a congressional intern after college, went on to work as an aide for then-U.S. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), and later as a speech writer for 1996 Republican Vice Presidential nominee Jack Kemp. In 1998, Ryan was elected to his first term in the U.S. House of Representatives. Ryan, known as a policy and budget wonk, has ascended through the House Republican leadership, assuming the Chairmanship of the Budget Committee in 2011, and most recently as the Chairman of the powerful House Ways & Means Committee. Ryan received national attention when he was tapped by Governor Mitt Romney to be the Republican Vice Presidential nominee in 2012.
Speaker Ryan has a strong record in support of Armenia, Armenian American issues including genocide affirmation, and the safety and security of the people of Nagorno Karabakh. Paul Ryan represents the 1st district of Wisconsin, which is home to St. Mesrob Armenian Apostolic Church, in Racine.
During his first term in the House, Ryan was a cosponsor of H.Res.398, the Armenian Genocide resolution in the 106th Congress, and cosponsored subsequent Armenian Genocide reaffirmation resolutions, namely: H.Res.316 in the 109th Congress, H.Res.106 in the 110th Congress, H.Res.252 in the 111th Congress, and H.Res.304 in the 112th Congress. In addition to cosponsoring these resolutions, he signed five letters to President George W. Bush urging him to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide in 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006.
“By properly recognizing the atrocities committed against the Armenian people as ‘genocide’ in your statement, you will honor the many Americans who helped launch our first international human rights campaign to end the carnage and protect the survivors. The official U.S. response mirrored the overwhelming reaction by the American public to this crime against humanity, and as such, constitutes a proud, irrefutable and groundbreaking chapter in U.S. diplomatic history,” reads the 2004 letter to President Bush signed by Ryan.
Rev. Fr. Hovsep Karapetyan, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Taniel Koushakjian on Capitol Hill, March 3, 2009.
Having joined the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues in 2003, Ryan’s support of human rights issues extended beyond Armenia. That same year, Ryan cosponsored H.Res.193 in the 108th Congress, which stated U.S. policy “Reaffirming support of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and anticipating the 15th anniversary of the enactment of the Genocide Convention Implementation Act of 1987 (the Proxmire Act) on November 4, 2003.”
Speaker Ryan was also a proponent of a stronger U.S.-Armenia relationship and increased bilateral trade and investment. He cosponsored H.Res.528 in the 108th Congress, “To authorize the extension of nondiscriminatory treatment (normal trade relations treatment) to the products of Armenia,” which extended U.S. Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) to Armenia.
Following the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, Ryan cosponsored the Assembly-backed H.Res.102 in the 110th Congress, “Condemning the assassination of human rights advocate and outspoken defender of freedom of the press, Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink on January 19, 2007.”
Speaker Ryan also signed a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on February 15, 2008 urging the U.S. “to hold the government of Azerbaijan accountable for recent vitriolic comments made by Azeri President Ilham Aliyev in regard to the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh,” and to “condemn these comments that go directly against the United State stated policy in the South Caucus region.”
Given his years of work with the Armenian Assembly of America, and decade-long record in support of Armenian American issues, Ryan agreed to serve as the co-master of ceremonies of the Assembly’s 2009 National Advocacy Conference & Banquet in Washington, D.C.
“At a time when Azerbaijan continues to violate international law, and Turkey’s international campaign of genocide denial continues, we look forward to the opportunity to work with the incoming Speaker to address these and other critically important issues,” stated Armenian Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny.
Reps. Bilirakis, Deutch Sign Letter in Support of Karabakh Peace
By Taniel Koushakjian
Florida Armenians Managing Editor
Florida Representatives Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Ted Deutch (D-FL) have signed a letter that will be sent to U.S. Ambassador James Warlick later this week calling for increased security measures and confidence building mechanisms along the Nagorno Karabakh-Azerbaijan border. Congressman Bilirakis serves as Co-Chair of the Hellenic Caucus, Co-Chair of the Hellenic Israel Alliance Caucus, and Vice-Chair of the Armenian Caucus.
“When violence and aggression become a pattern in a historically turbulent region, we, as American policy leaders, should speak out strongly to dispel further hostilities,” Congressman Bilirakis told FLArmenians.com. “That is why I joined my colleagues in a letter to James Warlick, U.S. Co-Chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group urging a just and peaceful resolution to the conflict. Azerbaijani aggression must stop so that peace and security can return to the region as swiftly as possible,” he said.
Congressman Deutch, whose Palm Beach County district is home to the largest Armenian community in Florida, serves with Bilirakis as the Co-Chair of the Hellenic Israel Alliance Caucus.
“I want to thank our Florida Representatives, Gus Bilirakis and Ted Deutch, for their support in calling for an end to the escalating violence against Armenia and Karabakh,” stated District 21 resident and Florida Armenians Boca Raton Chair George Sarkisian.
As FLArmenians.com previously reported, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) and Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-NY) are circulating a bipartisan letter asking their Congressional colleagues to support renewed U.S. leadership in the South Caucasus.
The two senior legislators are currently collecting signatures on a letter addressed to Ambassador James Warlick, U.S. representative to the OSCE Minsk Group which is responsible for mediating a resolution of the conflict over Nagorno Karabakh. The Royce-Engel letter specifically calls for the U.S. and OSCE to abandon the failed policy of false parity in responding to acts of aggression, noting that: “The longstanding U.S. and OSCE practice of responding to each new attack with generic calls upon all parties to refrain from violence has failed to de-escalate the situation. Instead, this policy of artificial evenhandedness has dangerously increased tensions. There will be no peace absent responsibility.”
The legislators propose three concrete steps that would, “in the short-term, save lives and help to avert war. Over the longer term,” the letter says, “these steps could contribute to a comprehensive and enduring peace for all the citizens of the region:”
Specifically, the letter calls for:
- An agreement from all sides not to deploy snipers along the line of contact;
- The placement of OSCE-monitored, advanced gunfire-locator systems and sound-ranging equipment to determine the source of attacks along the line of contact; and
- The deployment of additional OSCE observers along the line of contact to better monitor cease-fire violations.
According to sources familiar with the negotiations, the governments of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh have both pledged their support for these confidence-building measures, while Azerbaijan has repeatedly opposed them.
CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT GROWS
Over fifty-five members of Congress have signed the Royce-Engel letter to Ambassador Warlick. In addition to the House Foreign Affairs Committee leadership, the letter has the support of House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) and Ranking Member Adam Schiff (D-CA), U.S. Helsinki Commission Chairman Chris Smith (R-NJ), Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Nita Lowey (D-NY), and former Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman Steve Israel (D-NY).
Congressman Schiff wrote a separate letter to Ambassador Warlick earlier this month warning, “unwillingness to speak plainly about the aggressor in this conflict sends the message to Azerbaijan that it can act with impunity.” “I do not believe the cause of peace is served by ignoring Azerbaijan’s increasing belligerence and the suggestion that both parties are equally to blame for violence along the Line of Contact when that is not the case,” Schiff’s letter states.
TEXT OF THE ROYCE-ENGEL LETTER TO AMBASSADOR WARLICK:
The Honorable James Warlick
U.S. Co-Chair
OSCE Minsk Group
Dear Ambassador Warlick:
We are writing out of concern over the escalation of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh, resulting in deaths on both sides of the conflict. It is our hope that the United States, through its role in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Minsk Group, as well as through direct diplomacy with both Armenia and Azerbaijan, will immediately advocate for several steps to promote peace in the region.
We believe that securing the full and public support of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Nagorno-Karabakh for the following steps would, in the short-term, save lives and help to avert war. Over the longer term, these steps could contribute to a comprehensive and enduring peace for all the citizens of the region.
- An agreement from all sides not to deploy snipers along the line of contact.
- The placement of OSCE-monitored, advanced gunfire-locator systems and sound-ranging equipment to determine the source of attacks along the line of contact.
- The deployment of additional OSCE observers along the line of contact to better monitor cease-fire violations.
We also urge you to publicly condemn specific acts of aggression along the line of contact. The longstanding U.S. and OSCE practice of responding to each new attack with generic calls upon all parties to refrain from violence has failed to de-escalate the situation. Instead, this policy of artificial evenhandedness has dangerously increased tensions. There will be no peace absent responsibility.
Thank you for your consideration of these recommendations. We continue to support your efforts to reach a durable and just resolution to this conflict and look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Ed Royce (R-CA); Eliot Engel (D-NY); Gus Bilirakis (R-FL); Mike Bishop (R-MI); Earl Blumenauer (D-OR); Madeleine Bordallo (D-GU); Dave Brat (R-VA); Tony Cárdenas (D-CA); Judy Chu (D-CA); David N. Cicilline (D-RI); Katherine Clark (D-MA); Mike Coffman (R-CO); Jim Costa (D-CA); Suzane DelBene (D-WA); Jeff Denham (R-CA); Ted Deutch (D-FL); Robert Dold (R-IL); Daniel Donovan, Jr. (R-NY); Anna Eshoo (D-CA); Scott Garrett (R-NJ); Richard Hanna (R-NY); Joe Heck (R-NV); Michael Honda (D-CA); Steve Israel (D-NY); Jim Langevin (D-RI); Sandy Levin (D-MI); Ted Lieu (D-CA); Dan Lipinski (D-IL); Zoe Lofgren (D-CA); Nita Lowey (D-NY); Carolyn Maloney (D-NY); Jim McDermott (D-WA); James McGovern (D-MA); Grace Napolitano (D-CA); Devin Nunes (R-CA); Frank Pallone (D-NJ); Mike Quigley (D-IL); Charles Rangel (D-NY); Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA); Peter Roskam (R-IL); Linda Sanchez (D-CA); Loretta Sanchez (D-CA); John Sarbanes (D-MD); Jan Schakowsky (D-IL); Adam Schiff (D-CA); Kurt Schrader (D-OR); Brad Sherman (D-CA); Adam Smith (D-WA); Chris Smith (R-NJ); Jackie Speier (D-CA); Dina Titus (D-NV); Dave Trott (R-MI); Niki Tsongas (D-MA); David Valado (R-CA); Chris Van Hollen (D-MD); Peter Welch (D-VT)
Florida Armenians 