Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte

Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte, 2017

Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte ( Armenian Աննա Աստվածատուրյան Թերքոթ ), originally Anna Norikowna Astwazaturowa ( Russian Анна Нориковна Аствацатурова * on 14. March 1978 in Baku , Azerbaijan SSR , Soviet Union ) is an Armenian - American writer, lecturer, political activist and local politician. Born as an Armenian in Azerbaijan , she campaigns for the rights of Armenians and the recognition of the Artsakh Republic . In 2012 her autobiography Nowhere, a Story of Exile was published .

Life

Anna Astwazaturowa was born in Baku in 1978 as the daughter of two artists Norik Astwazaturow and Irina. However, to make money, her father had to work 12-hour shifts in a wood factory. Although her grandparents spoke Armenian , like many members of the Baku intelligentsia , she grew up alone with Russian as the family language. Her parents, like her brother, were born in Baku, but her grandfather Yegish Astwazaturian fled the Armenian pogrom in Baku in 1918 as a child and returned to the Soviet era. In spite of the official friendship between peoples, memories of the bloody past were kept alive in Anna's family, as was the case with Azeris. To stay out of nationalist disputes, Jegische decided to Russify the family and changed the name Astwazaturian to Astwazaturow. When the anti-Armenian riots began in Baku in 1988 , Azerbaijani nationalist opposition activists attacked Anna's Russian-language school, among others, because they suspected Armenian children to be there. The school principal asked the attackers to leave the children alone, but was beaten down. Soon afterwards she left the city with her parents and her brother, so that she no longer witnessed the pogrom in Baku in January 1990, which was only a high point of the violence that had been going on since 1988.

The family reached the Armenian capital of Yerevan on September 18, 1989 and stayed with relatives in the Kanaker district in an unheated basement apartment, where they lived for almost three years. Anna, who spoke hardly any Armenian, also experienced hostility in Armenia. She attended the Russian school in Yerevan, where she only learned Armenian at a low level and therefore later did not master it fluently.

The family moved to the United States in 1992 , where they were housed in Wahpeton , North Dakota, and became United States citizens in 1997 . Anna graduated from North Dakota University with degrees in English Language and Literature and Philosophy and Religion with a minor in Russian Language and Literature. She then studied at the University of Maine School of Law in Portland , where she received her Juris Doctor in 2003 . With this degree she worked as a judicial clerk at the International Criminal Court in The Hague .

Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte: Nowhere, a Story of Exile

Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte is the author of numerous articles on the subjects of human rights , international law and hostility towards Armenians , some for the United States Congress and the European Parliament . She played an important role in drafting and passing the parliamentary resolution of the state of Maine , with which the latter recognized the independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) Republic in 2013 .

In 2012 Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte published her autobiography Nowhere, a Story of Exile , which she largely compiled from her childhood diaries. At the age of 14 she had started translating her diary entries from Russian into English .

In 2013 Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte was awarded the Mchitar Gosh Medal of Honor of the Republic of Armenia by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in recognition of her achievements . In 2014 Anna traveled with her father Norik to Stepanakert , where they were both received on September 11, 2014 by the President of the Republic of Artsakh , Bako Sahakjan .

On November 3, 2015 Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte won a seat on Westbrook City Council in the local elections with 64% of the vote, replacing Paul Emery.

family

Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte is married with a daughter and a son.

Web links

• Official website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Anna Astvatsaturian-Turcotte: 100 Lives. Auroraprize.com, December 12, 2015.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Ara Nerssessian: An Interview with Baku Pogrom Survivor Anna Turcotte. Asbarez Armenian News, August 7, 2012.
3. ↑ Tom Vartabedian: Norik and Irina Astvatsaturov: From Baku with Art. Armenian Weekly, June 8, 2015.
4. ↑ Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte's mission can simply be referred to as patriotism (Interview by Karine Avagyan with Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte). Hayern Aysor, November 21, 2017.
5. ^ ^{A b} Carrie McDermott: Nowhere: A Story of Exile. Daily News, July 16, 2012.
6. ^ Mainers at White House Summit on Women. Mirror-Spectator, Armenia, New England, Washington, June 9, 2016.
7. ↑ : Emil Sanamyan "Baku Armenian tells the story of exile. , September 28 Reporter.am 2012. Archived from the original.
8. ↑ ^{a b} Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte '03. University of Maine School of Law, undated, accessed January 26, 2018.
9. ^ Members of Congress Celebrate Artsakh Independence on Capitol Hill. Asbarez.com, June 12, 2012.
10. ^ Hairenik: Maine Legislature Supports Artsakh Independence. Armenian Weekly, November 3, 2015.
11. ↑ Hairenik: Hybooksonline Releases 'Nowhere, a Story of Exile' as e-book. Armenian Weekly, June 19, 2012.
12. ^ "Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte Awarded Armenia's 'Mkhitar Gosh' Medal. Asbarez Armenian News, October 2, 2013.
13. ↑ American Armenian public figure Anna Astvatsaturian-Turcotte visited Artsakh. Times on September 12, 2014.
14. ^ Challengers win council, school board seats in Westbrook . Portland Press Herald, Nov. 3, 2015.
15. ^ Newcomers Turcotte, Berry win seats in Westbrook.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.   American Journal, Nov. 3, 2015.
16. ↑ Rupen Janbazian: From Baku pogrom to Elected Office in Maine. Armenian Weekly, November 11, 2015.