Maz Jobrani

Of Cookies and Nukes: An Interview with Comedian Maz Jobrani

BOSTON, Mass. (A.W.)—Comedian Maz Jobrani liked calling Iran “the Paris Hilton of countries” back when Paris Hilton was the Iran of celebrities. “Every time they show us on TV they always show the crazy guy burning the flag going, ‘Death to America!’” he said in one of his more recent stand-up performances. “Just once, I [...]

The author with the tractor driver in Satikoy. (Photo by George Aghjayan)

The Last of the Armenians: A Treasure Hunt in Villages Near Diyarbakir

“Are they looking for treasure?” one of the Kurdish men asks our driver, while the others curiously scan the interior of our car. We are in the village of Kabi (now Bagivar), which had 19 Armenian households before the genocide.

The author with the tractor driver in Satikoy. (Photo by George Aghjayan)

I can hardly see George [...]

(L-R) Aghjayan, Merguerian, Aksin Somel, Kerem Soylu, and Kevorkian.

Groundbreaking Conference Confronts Genocide in Diyarbakir

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (A.W.)—The city that only a few weeks ago hosted several thousand Armenians during the opening of the Surp Giragos Church is squarely confronting its past again this weekend.

(L-R) Aghjayan, Merguerian, Aksin Somel, Kerem Soylu, and Kevorkian. (Photo by Khatchig Mouradian)

From Nov. 11-13, Diyarbakir hosted a groundbreaking workshop on the social and economic history [...]

Condoleezza_Rice

Condi Rice Brags about Killing Genocide Resolution

Condoleezza Rice

In the newly released No Higher Honor: A Memoir of My Years in Washington, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice brags about her efforts to kill the Armenian Genocide Resolution in Congress in 1991 and 2007, dismissing the genocide as “something that had happened almost a hundred years before” and about which “there are [...]

Baris Alen from the Diyarbakir metropolitan municipality, Weekly editor Khatchig Mouradian, mayor Abdullah Demirbas, mayor of Warwick, R.I. Scott Avedisian, and Weekly contributor George Aghjayan.

‘I want for Armenians what I want for Kurds’: An interview with Mayor Abdullah Demirbas

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (A.W.)—Abdullah Demirbas is a man on a mission. The mayor of Diyarbakir’s central district strives to restore some of the city’s multi-cultural and multi-ethnic character through a series of initiatives to renovate places of worship, adopt multi-lingualism, and encourage those with roots in the city to return.

Baris Alen from the Diyarbakir metropolitan municipality, [...]

Hundreds gathered inside Sourp Giragos on Saturday for the consecration of the church. (Photo: The Armenian Weekly)

Mouradian: Armenians, Locals in Diyarbakir Send Powerful Message (Slideshow)

Surp Giragos Opens to the Faithful
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (A.W.)—Armenians from around the world flocked to Surp Giragos Church in Diyarbakir on Oct. 22 to attend both the consecration of the largest Armenian church in the Middle East and the Badarak held the following day.

Hundreds gathered inside Surp Giragos on Saturday for the consecration of the church. (Photo: [...]

A scene from the devastation caused by the tsunami following the 8.9-magnitude earthquake in Japan.

Armenians in Japan Discuss Earthquake, Aftermath

Resilience of Japanese, Importance of Outside Help Highlighted in Armenian Weekly Interviews
Varditer Harutyunyan was on the third floor of a building in southern Tokyo, while Nayiri Arzoumanian and her parents, Hrair and Arpi, were on their way to the subway in northern Tokyo, in Asakusa, when the 8.9-magnitude earthquake hit the country’s northeastern coast on [...]

Mouradian: Turkish Officials to Attend Genocide Commemorations?

When it comes to making grand statements, leave it to the Turkish government.
According to a report by the newspaper Sabah, Ankara announced this week that it will be taking part in April 24th commemorations this year in an effort to overcome psychological barriers between Armenia and Turkey, and engage in dialogue with the Armenian Diaspora.
If [...]

I still have not reconciled myself with the “We are all Hrant Dink” and “We are all Armenian” mantra that thousands in Turkey chanted at Dink’s funeral.

Mouradian: No One Is Hrant Dink: 96 Years of Solitude, and 4 Years of the Same

Four years after Armenian journalist Hrant Dink’s assassination on a street in Istanbul, I still have not reconciled myself with the “We are all Hrant Dink, We are all Armenian” mantra that thousands in Turkey chanted at Dink’s funeral, and hundreds of writers repeated in the months and years that followed.

No one is Hrant Dink. [...]

How much time does it take you to finish something like that, we ask, pointing to the intricately carved ornament in front of him. “Depends on my mood. If I am in good spirits, 3-4 hours.”

Mouradian: Armenia: The Cold Realities

The taxi cuts the cold night in Yerevan like a razor blade as it speeds through silent streets. The driver, Ashot, had begun criticizing the authorities while we were putting my luggage in the trunk, and stop he did not. “Welcome to Armenia! This country is run by people who couldn’t care less about the [...]

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