It casts a shadow over the Armenian people to this day, and it influences and educates their politics, even in Glendale. A few settled in Glendale. “No,” my uncle booms. "For two years, every time I heard a loud noise I thought it was an explosion and woke up," he said. Shorter or not, he still brims with intimidating strength. "It's actually refreshing when someone tells you what lies in their heart to your face," he says. I remember my uncle’s self-portrait on the palette, how when he was at his most vulnerable, he painted his own image. That's kind of our nature.". Except for the pale sky, it could be a scene from the surface of Mars.

Fine dust covers the ground. What matters is the conviction my uncle has that one of the greatest artists in history belongs to his tribe. Attention to the past is the result of a supreme confidence in the future. “You don’t speak the language, but you’re here, you’re interested in learning about our people, you have that in you. Why Is The UAE Planning To Sell Its Latest F-16 Fighter Jets To Greece? Armenians - in Glendale and around the world - have laboured for decades to convince other nations to use the "genocide" label and apply international pressure on the Turkish government. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com. Arthur Charchian stands in the middle of this barren wasteland and explains that, but for fate's mercy, his ancestors could have died here. I live in Glendale, CA where the largest population of Armenians live, after Armenia.

“Come,” he says, and leads me to a painting near the entrance of his studio. He’s talking about a different self-portrait, done on an old paint-encrusted palette instead of a canvas. "California is definitely in the eye of a lot of pro-Turkish forces because, as California goes, so goes the rest of the nation," he says. “Yes,” I say, confused, and repeat his name. "On the contrary, it is a widely documented fact supported by overwhelming historical evidence. The head of Magnolia now runs the California Charter Schools Association. The younger generation, they say, will learn English at school and in the world without a problem. "It took a while to get used to.". His story is the Armenian experience on a small scale. Read about our approach to external linking. Armenian television stations, restaurants, churches, … Kassakhian has his own deep-pocketed donors, including the teachers' union and real-estate interests. The wilful attempted eradication of their people at the hands of the Ottoman Turks. The experience of Deir ez-Zor unites them, however. The joy out here is transmittable. Turkey Orders Arrests of 82, Including Kurdish Opposition, Over Kobani Protests, Paris: Several wounded in knife attack near former Charlie Hebdo office, Court resumes hearing on motion to arrest PAP leader Gagik Tsarukyan, Document spread by Azerbaijan on evacuation of Artsakh residents is fake – NSS. His parents grew up in Aleppo, Syria - and he has lost contact with relatives there due to that nation's civil war. Charchian, who works as a lawyer and chairs a business committee with the Southern California Armenian Democrats, says he's considered running for public office but has decided - at least for now - to stay out. There are currently more than 200,000 Armenians living in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area, and the city of Glendale - with a population that is roughly 30% Armenian - … He claims his self-portrait on a palette was the first of its kind. The Jews and the Armenians, he explained, have a lot in common. “See?” he begins in his broken English. The quiet man from my uncle’s hometown looks down and murmurs, “No. presidents of Armenia called on the Armenian people for solidarity and unity, ՊԲ-ն խոցել է հակառակորդի 3 ուղղաթիռ, շուրջ 20 ԱԹՍ, 30 տանկ և ՀՄՄ. Except "here" isn't the desert of Deir ez-Zor, in what is now eastern Syria, the place where hundreds thousands of Armenians perished while fleeing their ancestral homeland a century ago. Still, I know Magic Brush Art Studio belongs to an Armenian artist. “I wanted to say,” he explains, “to hell with having only one genre, to hell with only surrealism or only realism. It may be smaller than his Clinton-era space, but one benefit of the new studio at Moon Mart Corner is the balcony. “Very original,” says my uncle, who tends to dramatize English words of more than two syllables. In Glendale, Armenians can live comfortably and profitably without speaking a word of English. Identifiable, yet adaptive: In a way, I think, there’s nothing more essentially Armenian than the artwork of Eduard Manukyan. The only one at the plaza, the balcony behind Magic Brush Art Studio serves as a kind of community hub.

They founded a church. On the balcony, I’m struck by the idea that the Mediterranean climate in Glendale—hospitable to prolonged outdoor talks like these—must remind Armenians of the old country.

“Very international name. "You end up having this in any community or group that's going through the process of acculturating and finding its footing and its political voice," he says. It's a pattern that has played out time and again in immigrant communities across the US.

The US department of state Escalation of Violence between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Artsakh’s Defense Army captures 11 Azerbaijani armored vehicles, Արցախի նախագահն Ադրբեջանի գործողություններում Ապրիլյան պատերազմի նույն ձեռագիրն է տեսնում, Armenia has no motive to start a war, Azerbaijan was the first to start.