Editor-In-Chief of IANYANMAG, as well as full time editor and part time writer living in Los Angeles. I take my chai without sugar, but my dolma with lots of yogurt.

Photographing Turkey’s Cultural Heritage: Aydin Cetinbostanoglu

Born in 1954 in Izmir Turkey, photographer Aydin Cetinbostanoglu has been documenting Turkey’s Gypsy, Alevi, Jewish, Christian Arab and Armenian communities for years, forming relationships, building trust and as a result gaining exclusive access to cultural intricacies that have for the most part remained allusive to outsiders. Hoping to break down cultural barriers, Cetinbostanoglu concentrated [...]

Interview: Suzanne Khardalian on Grandma’s Tattoos and the Forgotten Lives of Armenian Women

Ever since filmmaker Suzanne Khardalian’s documentary, “Grandma’s Tattoos,” was screened across the U.S. and broadcast on Al Jazeera’s English channel, the response has been overwhelming. “I’ve been getting hundreds and hundreds of emails and letters,” says Khardalian, who directed and produced the film that chronicles the forgotten story of the fate of women – including [...]

Armenian Retail Therapy

Inspired by our friends at The Caucasus, who put together a diverse list of gift ideas (which featured the Armenian Unibrow Championships t-shirt by our partners at Ara the Rat), we started poking around the interwebs to  find Armenian-inspired merchandise in popular brick and mortar and online retailers. Take a look at what we found. [...]

The Big Picture: Georgia

“Georgia is not just a European country, but one of the most ancient European countries,” Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili once said. While the country, bordering Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Russia,  sits at the crux of the Caucasus and its membership into Europe or Asia  is debated, its ancient status can be backed up by more [...]

That’s the Spirit: Armenian and Greek Orthodox Monks in Broom Fight

In the spirit of holiday giving, Armenian and Greek Orthodox Monks took it upon themselves to exchange gifts, except they weren’t the kind of presents you would normally expect. Around 100 priests hurled brooms at each other in Bethlehem’s Church of Nativity as they were cleaning the church in preparation for Orthodox Christmas, which both [...]

Swimming to Chicago: Novel Features Gay Armenian-American Teen

Already recognized by the American Library Association as an outstanding novel for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer and Transgendered (LGBQT)  children and teens, author David-Matthew Barnes’ second young adult novel, “Swimming to Chicago,” is making waves. Centering around Armenian-American teen Alex Bainbridge, the novel details his struggles to cope with his mother’s suicide, his own emerging [...]

Armenia’s Suicide Spot: The Kievyan Bridge

The buzz of cars making their way across the Kievyan Bridge never comes to a lull. In fact, the more you hang around,  the louder it gets. Wild herds of Ladas pinch, honk and pull at each other, until the vehicular cacophony adds human voices to its ensemble; angry voices, who leave their cars to [...]

Armenia and Diaspora Relations Spoofed in Music Video

Update 2: The video is back for your viewing pleasure. Click to watch at the end of this post. Update:  As of Friday, 1:30 p.m PST, the video has been taken down. I wanna be a spyurqahay. Or do I? That’s what a just released spoof video from the CivilNet media channel of non-profit and [...]

23 Years Later, Gyumri Struggles to Move On

The train from Yerevan to Gyumri took three hours. It was sturdy, but Soviet. Sturdy but Soviet. I sat on its wooden pews, looked at its safety posters with Cyrillic letters I could recognize, but not understand. I imagined myself in one of those grand train scenes in film – the ones filled with smoke, [...]

iTetr Armenian Keyboard App Releases Update

iTetr, an Armenian keyboard app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch has released an update, fixing minor bugs, while improving general interface design as well as Facebook integration, allowing you to post to the social media network instantly. Previous customers can download the update for free, said a press release from U.S-based app workshop [...]