Monthly Archives: January 2012

Kochari

Kochari is an old folk dance, danced today by Pontic Greeks, Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Assyrians, Turks and Kurds. It is closely related to the “Haleh” or “Yalli”, a dance common to Azerbaijanis, Assyrians, and Kurds. For Armenians, this particular style is considered a national dance.

In Armenian, Kochari literally means “knee-come”: Koch means “knee” and ari means “come”. In Pontic Greek, the ‘kotsi’ refers to the heel of the foot and the Greeks consider the heel to be the main part of the foot which the dancer uses. The Pontic Greek term for limp is ‘kotso’ and the Pontic Greek kochari is considered to contain a number of limps. In many Turkic languages, Kochari means “nomad” (Köçəri (Azeri), Gochar, Goçede).
In Kurdish, the word for nomads is Koçer, thus the name Koçerî makes it “Nomadic” (Nomadic dance).

Job announcement – Election Coordinator‏

Armenian Representative Office of American Bar Association/Rule of Law Initiative
Position: Election Coordinator
Duration: 3 months with possible extension
Location: Yerevan, Armenia
Job Description: The Election Coordinator reports directly to the ABA/ROLI Country Director and assists Staff Attorneys in project implementation.
Job Responsibilities:
1.      Provide notice and advice on the Armenian legal system, laws and regulations, and court procedures, especially election laws and regulations.
2.      Research and write legal memoranda covering relevant points of Armenian laws, procedures and systems.
3.      Provide current project status reports to the Country Director and to ABA/ROLI Staff Attorneys.
4.      Represent ABA/ROLI at meetings, seminars, etc.
5.      Provide oral interpretation at meetings as may from time to time be required
6.      Prepare written translations as may from time to time be required.
7.      Draft documents, letters, etc., as assigned by ABA/ROLI country director and Staff Attorneys.
8.      Attend and report on trials and other legal proceedings.
9.      Assist in organizing seminars on legal topics, including but not limited to, preparation of agenda and materials, logistics and seminar presentations.
10.  Assist drafting reports for ABA/ROLI Washington office.
11.  Such other duties, which are customarily performed by an associate as may be assigned by ABA/ROLI country director or Staff Attorney.
Required Qualifications:
The candidate must have excellent written and oral communications skills in English, must be able to build partnerships with Armenian and International Organizations, must be able to work cooperatively within a team of professionals and must be able to work successfully under pressure. The candidate must possess appropriate training and experience for the job; a legal degree is highly desirable.
Application Procedure: Please, send your CV and a motivation letter indicating the experience related to election processes and administrative law to the following e-mail: z.gasparyan@abaceeli.am
Application Deadline: 17 February, 2012
Source: ARMACAD

The slow death of an ancient language…

Many have asked me time and again what I really hated about Armenia. Even if you love someone or something, there are always points that you utterly despise. For me, more than anything else, it was the decimation of the Armenian language.

Now, I know that those in Armenia for the most part do not seem to understand the grand importance of such a thing. Imagine a young woman from Canada who speaks better Armenian than those born and raised in the motherland! It was absurd! Moreso, because I know extremely well that my expertise in my own language is greatly lacking. Furthermore, imagine this same girl, born and raised in an English speaking community, who cannot understand half the things said in her own ancestral lands. The absurdity of the situation is beyond the point of hilarity and enters into the realm of madness. Why should I have to revert to reading news in English, because that which is written in Armenia would need multiple language dictionaries to decipher? Why should I have to try to figure out if a word used is a butchered English, French, Spanish, Russian, Turkish or Arabic? Armenia was part of the Soviet Union, I understand. Quite a bit of the language has taken on Russian in its everyday vernacular. However, the country was never French, nor English, nor Turkish.

http://loveyou.am/you/?p=2029 - Really? took me a whole 30 sec to understand that the 1st word is actually Interior… Last I checked we have multiple words to explain the interior of nearly anything

http://blog.liberal.am/index.php/ani-smbatyan/891-criminal - For God’s sake, there isn’t a single Armenian word in this title!

Add to this disgusting destruction of a language that has survived for many centuries (Including the change from Krapar to Ashkharapar) the destruction of its spelling! The Soviet Union wanted to rid Armenians of their nationalism, the surest way through cutting ties between those left in the country and the forlorn in the diaspora.  This was achieved through the changing of the entire alphabet! Whereas Mesrob Mashdots had created 36 letters, the o and f to be added later, the current alphabet has 39 letters, having removed the sound equivalent to the French “eu” and having added 2 words as letters, both meaning “and”. Furthermore, the grammar that had so diligently been taught for so long went through a disastrous change, so much so that for an Armenian from the diaspora trying to read something written in Armenia every word is written incorrectly. The rules we were taught don’t exist anymore. There are no “յ” at the end of words that end with a vowel. The “ռ” is used in an obscure manner as opposed to being a must before an “ն”. I may have hated Armenian grammar and spelling classes but I give a thousand thanks to my mother for making sure I studied my language to the best of my abilities. It’s a mess trying to juggle the 2 dialects but with the vocabulary and spelling differences instilled, I believe the shrinking diaspora has a better grasp of our rich culture than those in Armenia. That is possibly the saddest situation any ethnicity can be in.

Armenian Literature- Գէորգ Էմին

Արար աշխարհում,
Որտե՜ղ էլ լինի
Թէ մի մարդ զոհուի-
Հզօր, թէ անկար,
Հանգիստ, թէ յանկարծ,-
Նրա շիրիմն ու շիրիմքարը կա՛յ…

Տէր-Զօրում ո՜չ մի յուշարձան չկայ,-
Եւ ոչ մի կոթո՛ղ
Եւ ոչ մի արձա՛ն,
Նոյնիսկ մի հատիկ… շիրիմքա՜ր չկայ…
Չկա՛յ,
Չի եղել-
Մի միլիոն շիրիմ ո՞վ պիտի փորէր,
Միլիոն շիրիմքար ո՞վ պիտի դնէր…
Քարոտ, քարաշատ Հայաստա՛նն անգամ
Քար չունէ՛ր այնքան
Նահատակներին մեր եղերական.-

Տէր-Զօրում ո՛չ մի յուշարձան չկայ.
Ի՛նչ հսկայ կոթող
Կամ ի՛նչ շիրիմքար կարող էր ծածկել
Անթի՜ւ,
Անհամա՜ր,
Անվերջ զոհերի այս գերեզմա՛նը.-
Տէր-Զօրը ի՛նքն է
Իր միակ կոթողն ու յուշարձանը.-
Հո՛ղն այս՝ արցունքից չոր աղո՜տ դարձած,
Աւազն այս կարմիր արեամբ լերդացա՜ծ,
Փուշն ու տատասկն այս՝
Վրէժի նման հողից դուրս ժայթքա՛ծ,
Այս պաղ աստղերը՝
Նահատակների աչքերն անհամար,
Եւ այս մահիկը՝
Հայերին մորթող կեռ եաթաղա՜նը…

Տէր-Զօրը ի՛նքն է
Իր կոթո՛ղն
Արձա՛նն ու յուշարձա՛նը:

Գէորգ  Էմին