At noon on Wednesday, August 11, 2010, Aida Kouyoumjian, author of Between the Two Rivers: A story of the Armenian Genocide, met with Dave Reichert, the Republican Congressional representative of Washington’s 8th congressional district, to urge his support of H.RES.252, which would affirm the United States’ official recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Aida was joined by two other fellow Armenians, one from Bellevue, Washington, and one from Los Angeles, California.“Every nation in the world—except the US—recognizes the horrific Genocide of WWI,” says Kouyoumjian. “We, the Armenians of the Diaspora, especially in the U.S., pursue our Congressional Representatives every year to introduce a bill in Congress to also recognize the Genocide. Every presidential candidate since Nixon has also promised to recognize the Genocide and the Armenians fill their coffers with the hope of the promise. BUT, as soon as he is elected, every President (including Obama) has refused to keep his promise and pressure Turkey to admit the events of WWI.”
The purpose of Wednesday’s meeting with Congressman Reichert was to inform him and his staff about current Armenian issues regarding the Armenian Genocide—the same issues that he has fought for with regard to previous resolutions, but not this current one—yet.
“We had a great dialogue in his office for 45 minutes—a success, in itself, Kouyoumjian says. “My personal coup was when Dave Reichert bought a copy of my book and requested my autograph…. I want to save that $20.00 bill and frame it among with my other memorabilia!”
Between the Two Rivers (342 pp, $19.95, ISBN: 978-1-60381-078-4) is the account of the real-life saga of Kouyoumjian’s mother Mannig, who as a young girl was one of a small minority of Armenians who survived the massacre and deportation from the Ottoman Empire during and after World War I. Historians estimate that 1.5 to 2 million Armenians perished.
Aida Kouyoumjian was born in Felloujah and raised and educated in Baghdad, Iraq. In 1952 she came to Seattle to attend the University of Washington on a Fulbright Scholarship. She married an American and eventually settled in Mercer Island. After her father died in 1965, Kouyoumjian was finally able to bring her mother Mannig to this country. At the age of 69 Mannig was hired by the UW to tutor graduate students in Turkish, Armenian, and Arabic. She retired after seven years, dying at the age of 79. Just before her death in 1985, Mannig was one of 90 survivors who attended the 70th commemoration of the Armenian Genocide in Washington, D.C.
Between the Two Rivers is available in Kindle ($9.95) and print editions on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, and Amazon.fr. It can also be ordered through Coffeetownpress.com and will soon be available through the Baker and Taylor catalog. Other electronic versions can be purchased on Smashwords ($9.95). For more information, visit Kouyoumjian’s blog: Armenianstory.coffeetownpress.com.