Haytoug Talks Haytoug Talks

How many diasporans have repatriated to Artsakh since the war in 2020? The answer is not many, but we intend to share with you the stories of some of the few that have.

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Shant Charshafjian moved with his family to Martuni, Artsakh, building community and working on various development projects; Blue Kalamian documented the aftermath of the war in 2020 in a film called “Dust Never Settled”, prompting his repatriation to the homeland; Hagop Ipdjian help found Artsakh Support Body, and now lives in Stepanakert, Artsakh working for the State Minister Artak Beglaryan as his Humanitarian Aid Advisor; Gev Iskajyan lives in Stepanakert, Artsakh representing the Armenian National Committee of Artsakh office. To check out their work follow the link here: https://HaytougTalks.contactin.bio. If you are interested in connecting with any of them personally, feel free to reach out to Haytoug Talks on social media.

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Music: Legend of the Mountains by Armen Yenovk Ghazarian

Armenian wine played a foundational role in the history of wine. Since ancient days Armenia has been famous for its wine-making traditions which are still kept in practice to this day. The fertile valleys of the Armenian Highlands are believed by many archaeologists to be the source of the world's first cultivated grapevines and neolithic wine production. Greg Nemet, an Armenian-American winemaker at Kareen Wine shares with us the story of Armenia’s winemaking origins, and its journey to the modern age. We discuss the blossoming Armenian wine industry in the Republic of Armenia, and the potential it holds to rival the iconic wines of the world. 

If you speak Western Armenian, you most likely speak the standardized Western Armenian language. This was not the case for the majority of Western Armenian history, as the process for creating a universally spoken and written Western Armenian for all Armenians in the Ottoman Empire only began to develop between the 18-19th centuries. In the final part of our Western Armenia series, we discuss with Jennifer Manoukian, a doctoral student in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at UCLA; who, why, and how Standard Western Armenian was made.

Hampig Sassounian was one of those who participated in a movement of targeted violence towards the Turkish state in the 70s & 80s; whose actions in Los Angeles made his name widely known in our community, and the greater diaspora. Resulting in him facing nearly a 40 year sentence in a California state prison. We wanted to get to know Hampig and to learn about his story and his plans moving forward, who after prison has now moved to Armenia, to start his life anew in the homeland.

We ask 5 Los Angeles based Armenian-American artists what their favorite Armenian song is.

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Tro Krikorian

Lara Sarkissian

Darone Sassounian

Krista Marina

Raffi Semerdjian

While traveling through Anatolia, a travel blogger who goes by Avara, stumbles upon the surviving legacy of the Armenian civilization. His curiosity quickly became fascination, as it led him to return and explore the ruins of Western Armenia a number of times since. Over the past few years, he has been documenting and sharing with the world through social media the remnants of our physical heritage, and the people he met along the way. In Part 3 of our Western Armenia Series, we interview Avara, to learn about his experience, and to hear about our lost homeland through the lens of an “Odar” (Non-Armenian).