Fresno State News When Ralph Shabazian learned about the Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State in early 2016, he knew he wanted to be a part of helping students explore their heritage to help share the Armenian story. Mr. Shabazian never learned the Armenian language. However, he had a keen...
Fresno’s Armenians Finally To Have a School Named After One of Their Own
The quest by Fresno's Armenian community to have a Fresno Unified school named for an Armenian ended Wednesday night when trustees voted unanimously to change the name of Forkner Elementary School to H. Roger Tatarian Elementary. The board's vote came after multiple speakers addressed the board on both sides of...
Azerbaijani Leader Hails Handover of Region Ceded by Armenia
AGHDAM, Azerbaijan — Azerbaijani forces entered the war-ravaged ghost town of Aghdam on Friday, regaining a once-beloved city over a quarter of a century after being driven out by Armenian forces. Aghdam and the surrounding region of the same name are the first of several territories adjacent to separatist Nagorno-Karabakh...
'My God, I'm in Iran': A California Woman's Eye-Opening Journey
I could feel the excitement build when the pilot announced we were beginning our descent into Tabriz, but I wasn’t nervous or scared.  It just felt different.  I glanced at the other women on the plane, looking for a signal as to when I should put on my headscarf since...
Former Armenian President Is Jailed for Deadly Crackdown
YEREVAN, Armenia — An Armenian court on Friday put the nation's former president in custody on charges linked to a deadly police crackdown on a 2008 protest over alleged voting fraud. Robert Kocharian, 64, spent two weeks in jail last summer on charges of violating the constitutional order by sending...
Who Was Kirk Kerkorian? Secrets of Rags-to-Riches Life Unveiled.
No one born in Fresno has been as rich, as charitable or as mysterious as Kirk Kerkorian, the intensely private billionaire who died nearly three years ago at age 98. The Las Vegas wheeler-dealer famously avoided the spotlight. Even while building Sin City's biggest and grandest hotels. Or acquiring movie...