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THE DECEMBER 19, 1948 UN CONVENTION AND THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE – 2011-4

An Analysis and Proposals in connection with the 60th Anniversary of the Document’s Entry into Force

Summary

Armen Ts. Marukyan

The United Nation’s Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide came into force during the Cold war. Thereby it is not accidental that at the time of the convention’s adoption the United States of America and the USSR were, in reality, not trying to create preventative measures and to outline real punishment for the given crime through an internationally binding document, but rather they were trying to turn the convention into a tool to use against their opponent. As a result, many important provisions were left out of the document, and the Convention was turned into a simple document of mutual concession between the U.S. and the USSR. However, notwithstanding all the shortcomings, the adoption of the Convention was a serious step forward for international law. Presently the Republic of Armenia as a signatory to the Convention, and using the provisions in that document as a foundation, can present a proposal for amendments and additions and in doing so try to make it a more productive tool for the eradication of the consequences of the Armenian Genocide.

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF AN INDICTMEN – 2011-4

The Issue Surrounding the Appropriation of State Funds by the Committee for the Salvation of the Fatherland

Summary

Ararat M. Hakobyan

One of the most controversial issues in Armenian historiography is the appropriation of state funds by the Committee for the Salvation of the Fatherland following the defeat of the 1921 February Rebellion. Soviet Armenian historiography in particular, inspired by political objectives, has presented a one-sided version of the appropriated state funds taken from Yerevan by the Committee for the Salvation of the Fatherland.

This incident was presented as looting, squander and appropriation. Meanwhile, due to events and the existing situation, the 10 billion Rubles taken from Yerevan and the remaining valuables were spent with the objective of taking care of the 10,000 outcast refugees, members of the former administrative apparatus, for the protection of intellectuals and military personnel, and those issues pertaining to an educational, cultural and political nature. Simultaneously, a number of facts show that along with this targeted spending, there were funds that we squandered and looted, something which was unavoidable taking into consideration the conditions of the extraordinary situation.

PAUL ROHRBACH AND ARMENIA – 2011-4

In Light of a New Examination

Summary

Ashot. N. Hayruni

The article presents and elucidates in a detailed manner Armenia’s and the Armenian people’s more than half-century mutual relationship with Dr. Paul Rohrbach, a famous German scientist, publicist, social and political figure, traveler, and journalist. Along with the detailed analysis of the viewpoints put forward by Rohrbach regarding Armenia’s present and future and the mission of the Armenian people with regard to the development of the East, the direction and results of his pro-Armenian activities are also closely analyzed. Simultaneously, the rooted misunderstanding of Rohrbach in Armenian historiography is examined and re-evaluated in light of a new examination. In the article, Paul Rohrbach as a prolific publicist and public figure who was preoccupied with Armenian issues is underscored as is necessity for the academic study of his literary heritage.

IRANIAN-ARMENIAN ARTIST, ANDRE SEVRUGIAN – 2011-4

Summary

Yvette N.Tajarian

André Sevrugian , known later as “Darvish,” was the son of photographer AntoineKhan Sevruguine , born on May 1,1894 in Tehran. Vasil, Antoine’s father, studied Oriental languages at the Lazarev School in Moscow, after which he entered the civil service, working as a diplomat at the Russian Embassy in Tehran. Vasil, due to his political position, was obliged to change the surname “de Sevruguine.” Antoine adapted the name slightly, while his son André returned to the Armenian spelling. Antoine Sevruguine left the world of photography an exceptional oeuvre, consisting of photographs of the various regions of Iran and the court of Naser ad-Din Shah of the Qajar Dynasty.

André inherited his father’s artistic predisposition, and was fascinated from a very early age by Persian poetry, which was later to be central to his artistic oeuvre. He was present when his father’s friends visited his home, and would listen in fascination when his father recited verses from the Shahname. Often he would put on an old helmet, jump on a chair and pretend to be Rostam, Afrasyab, Qejqaus or Bijan, the heroes of the epic. He belonged to the generation of artists of the first third of the 20th century who attempted to bring something new into the rich and renowned tradition of Pesian art, which had stagnated since the 19th century.

He proceeded to illustrate his childhood dreams, inspired by evening recitations of the Persian national epic Shahname in his parents’ house. In these pictures he was able to integrate the styles of the early and Safavid masters, such as Behzad and Reza Abbasi with their ornamentalized focus on detail, with modern elements, such as perspective, light and shadow, and spatiality. The result was again a series of illustrations of Omar Khayyam,Hafez and Baba Taher. Paintings on Armenian history and folk life, and particularly the songs of the Armenian bard Sayat-Nova, have a specific place in Darvish’s oeuvre. André Sevrugian let himself be inspired by the centuries-old tradition of Persian book illustrations, and yet his paintings are a unique synthesis of Western and Eastern art.

AVAG TSAGHKOGH’S ICONOGRAPHY AND SYMBOLISM IN THE CANON TABLES OF THE 1329 GOSPEL – 2011-4

Summary

Lusine V. Sargsyan

The examination of the canon tables of the Gospels of 1329 (an index of the four synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John which works like a concordance; usually displayed under decorated arches in vertical columns and placed at the beginning of the Gospel Books) played an important role in the works of Avag Tsaghkogh and are worthy of a separate assessment.

The study of relations with other monuments makes it possible to identify where Avag’s range of ornaments derived from. The decoration of these canon tables employed by Avag takes us to the Cilician traditions of Armenian miniature painting, which have their stable role in the ornamental paintings of Gladzor. In addition to this, the ornament of canon tables by Avag provides us with types, which are derived from the early period of Armenian decorative paintings.

In the art of canon tables of the 1329 Gospel one can also sense the master’s independent and courageous approach to the art form. Whenever he had the possibility to defer from adopted norms, he did so diligently, trying to reflect truthfully plants and surroundings (birds, pomegranate branches, flowers, etc.) as accurately, as possible. In this regard the work of Avag significantly differs from the canon tables painted by Taronetzi in 1323, which glitter with gold and paints, and create the element of surprise with imaginary sceneries and miraculous creatures.

Thus, Avag Tsaghkogh’s miraculously created canon tables with their imaginary and decorative motifs summarize and at the same time continue and develop the decoration techniques of the previous centuries. Each of the canon tables on its own is a complete piece of art.

LER KAMSAR: THE DISSIDENT SATIRIST A PORTRAIT AND AN EVALUATION – 2011-4

Summary

Haroutiun L. Kurkjian (Athens)

The paper examines the work and personality of Ler Kamsar, the satirical author born in 1888 in Van (Western Armenia, present-day Turkey) who lived for most of his life in Soviet Armenia. Because of his unconstrained character and nature of his work, he was subjected to persecution and exile and later condemned to silence until his death in 1965.

Ler Kamsar’s published writings of the 1920s and 1930s were placed under censure; due to his subsequent arrest and exile his unpublished works were partially lost or destroyed. It was only in the 1980s and more prominently at the end of the 1990s that his works were once again published.

The publications of the last decade are from those unpublished “underground” works which were saved and were made possible through the undertaking of his relatives and which reveal a gifted satirist and a brave dissident on a pan-Soviet level, and disclose a powerful moral individuality.

The current work is an attempt to outline a literary analysis and a moral and ethical image; a call for the reevaluation of Ler Kamsar’s universal worth.

THE PROBLEM OF CIVILIZATION HOMEOSTASIS IN GREAT ARMENIA – 2011-4

Summary

The Court Society of the Artaxiads (structure, function semiotics)

Albert A. Stepanyan
The paper looks at one of the crucial aspects of modern historical sociology developed thanks to the pioneering works of N. Elias and his followers in the last decades. It deals with the problem of social networks in various historical ages and environments from antiquity to our days.

The experience of the Achaemenians and Seleucids are of undoubted importance for the purpose of the paper. Therefore, they are examined with scrutiny. Their parallels are useful in establishing the structure, function and ideology of the court society of Hellenistic Great Armenia.

In this light, the inner and outer courts of Artaxiads have been taken as the main focus of discussion. The said concerns particularly the two opposite sections of Armenian nobility; one represented the tribal (dynastic), the other the bureaucratic aristocracy. They had various political ideals. For the dynasts a less centralized state was perspective. And they looked at the Parthian state as an acceptable model. As to the bureaucratic nobility, it was in favor of a centralized state and found its ideal in Rome. Artaxiad kings balanced between these two wings guaranteeing homeostasis of Great Armenia.

Armenian aristocracy and court society accumulated the core values of national identity. And in crucial points of history, it acted unanimously in accordance with the interests of national security.

FALSIFICATION OF THE HISTORY OF THE ARTSAKH MELIQDOMS IN AZERBAIJAN HISTORIOGRAPHY – 2011-3

Summary

Artak V. Maghalyan

The history of the Meliqdoms of Artsakh constitutes an important segment of the history of Armenia. In the absence of an independent Armenian statehood, for centuries the Meliqdoms represented the sole power which could potentially serve as a basis for the resurrection of the Armenian state.

For decades, Azerbaijani historians have been trying to falsify the History of Armenia and to present events related to Armenia and the Armenians through reflections in distorted mirrors of the Azerbaijani state propaganda. In this context, Armenian Artsakh – with its past and present – remains the primary target of Azerbaijani pseudo-historical constructions. One can hardly find a period in the history of Artsakh which would not be purposefully falsified by the Azerbaijani historian-falsifiers. The latters are targeting particular at the remnants of the Armenian statehoods in Artsakh, namely the history of the Meliqdoms of Khamsa (Five Principalities). Azerbaijani “studies” published in Azerbaijan and abroad make all efforts to present the Meliqdoms of Artsakh as “Albanian” (of Caucasian Albania) entities, which fall in sharp contrast and contradiction to accounts of numerous historical sources and original documents of the time. The Azerbaijani state-sponsored propaganda translates these pseudo-scientific “studies” into various languages and disseminates them around the world.

The present article focuses on two such pseudo-scientific publications, namely by O. Efendiev, Corresponding Member of the Azerbaijani National Academy of Sciences, and G. Mamedova, Candidate of Historical Sciences. Their articles were included in a compilation entitled “Garabag: Kurekchay – 200” published by A. Bakikhanov Institute of History of the Azerbaijani Academy of Sciences on the occasion of the 200-th anniversary of the Treaty of Kurakchay.

The present article reveals the falsifications of the above-mentioned Azerbaijani authors regarding the Meliqdoms of Artsakh in the 17–19-th centuries, and on the basis of reliable historical sources, as well as original documents demonstrates the falsehood of the Azerbaijani “historiographical theories”.

ARMENIA: FACING THE CHALLENGE OF MODERNIZATION – 2011-3

Issues of the State Apparatus and Economic Reforms

Summary

Merujan V. Mikaelyan

To this day, there is a false perception among state and political circles in Armenia that the Third Republic of Armenia is still very young and inexperienced. Thereby, the serious shortcomings that exist in the sphere of state building and the economy are conditioned by that reality.

More importantly, inspiring this position further is that more time is required for our statehood to mature and be in a position to confront all the foreign and domestic challenges facing it and to resolve issues related to a sufficient standard of living, the respect for human rights, the protection of social justice, a civilized political culture, free competition and the issue of establishing a state apparatus based on knowledge. Such a fundamental mentality postulates that it could not have been possible in a 20 year time period to reach more qualitative accomplishments, in particular, taking into consideration the Karabakh Issue, the geopolitical position of the country, the limited natural resources and the centuries-long absence of statehood. We are convinced that this is not the position of responsible, capable and honest political leaders regarding the fate of the country, but rather the attempt at hiding their own mistakes and shortcomings. This is dangerous because it condemns the country to severely modest accomplishments, acquiescence and to the disillusionment and weakening of the entire nation. Certainly, a large part of these factors are a limiting influence on a country’s development.

However, this publication highlights the examples of other countries where natural resources or geopolitical location are not decisive factors for development. Proper political structuring and the presence of an efficient state apparatus are decisive. An efficiently structured state apparatus is completely able to compensate the influence of limiting factors as stated above. And when there are rich natural resources and favorable conditions, an inefficient state apparatus cannot save people from poverty, inefficiency and autocracy. It is exactly in this issue that our leaders have failed. An efficient and quality state apparatus has not been formed in Armenia due to an absence of information and placing personal and group interests above pan-national interests. It is formed incorrectly in an institutional sense and as a result, the potential of its personnel is insufficient. As the example of other countries illustrate, there are clear arguments which attest to the fact that 20 years is entirely enough time to create a high quality state apparatus. The examples of those countries that had experienced war and transformations in their social systems, illustrate that working sensibly during that time period is entirely sufficient to create a mature state governing system and is even able to thoroughly cure corruption that is deeply entrenched in those societies, and formulate a new, just and an accomplished culture. As a result of an absence of professionalism and the existence of self-interest, during the past 20 years, political leaders and civil servants, in conditions of a defective, unjust and incomplete state apparatus, have not properly utilized the capacity of the Diaspora, the unity of the pan-national potential, the great chances rendered by its geopolitical position and the high individual ability of our people. Simply put, our political leaders and the state apparatus until today have not had sufficient abilities to understand, evaluate and utilize this great potential.

Twenty years is an extremely long period of time to have undertaken great projects. And we are still in a tumultuous stage – the small and medium-sized businesses, who, subjected to the oppression of monopolies have been pushed out, the all-embracing corruption which has established an interest-pursuing society; has made big business the enemy of society; and transformed the state apparatus into an apparatus of injustice. In terms of democracy, free competition, and social justice and in terms of serving the demands of the empowerment of the nation and the state, Armenia’s state apparatus has completely failed.

Aside from different paths and tools to untie this complex knot, the complete renewal of the state apparatus and an innovative restructuring of the economy will have decisive importance. The present realities require that we approach these issues outside of standard approaches. A whole grouping of solutions is brought forth in this article, whose realization requires extraordinary measures for authorities; and in case of their inability, on behalf of civil society.