"An Engaged Man" - Interview with Ara TORANYAN

The article by Diana Stepanyan and Bella Shahnazaryan is devoted to an interview with Ara Toranian, editor-in-chief of the French Armenian magazine Nouvelles d'Arménie, conducted at the publication's editorial office in the Paris suburb of Issy-les-Moulineaux. The material reveals the history of the founding of the French-Armenian press, the personal path of an engaged diaspora figure, and his testimony about outstanding figures of the Armenian liberation movement.

Introduction and Methodology
The publication is structured as an interview covering several thematic blocks: the history of the magazine, its editorial policy, the biography of Ara Toranian, his personal acquaintance with Monte Melkonian, and his impressions from visits to Armenia and Karabakh.

History and Concept of the Magazine
The interviewee explains that the publication grew out of the milieu of Hay Dat activists and the magazine Hay Baykar, which was close to ASALA. In 1993, the goal was set:
• to introduce French Armenians to post-Soviet Armenia;
• to support the national awakening;
• to take part in the struggle that had begun back in the 1970s and continued during the Karabakh war.
The fundamental independence of the magazine from parties and associations is noted, while it maintains its own conception of the interests of the Armenian people.

Themes and the Public Role of the Publication
Ara Toranian describes the magazine's sections—news, reports from Armenia, Karabakh, and Javakhk, and materials about the life of the diaspora in France. Emphasis is placed on the publication's role in the struggle for France's recognition of the Armenian Genocide (2001) and in the campaign to criminalize its denial. The political weight of the magazine is noted, including an interview with the President of the French Republic.

Personal Path and Activism
The biography of the editor is revealed as that of a third-generation representative of the diaspora, whose ancestors survived the Genocide. His involvement with the political wing of ASALA in the 1970s is noted, as well as his understanding of his own activity as a continuation of the struggle for the people's rights.

In Memory of Monte Melkonian
A significant part of the interview is devoted to personal recollections of one of the leaders of the Armenian armed movement. The interviewee describes him as an extraordinary, multitalented personality, recounts episodes of their acquaintance and his involvement in Melkonian's defense after his arrest in France, and assesses the 1983 split within ASALA as a consequence of Melkonian's principled stance against violence toward civilians.

Impressions of Armenia and Karabakh
The naturalness of national identity in Armenia is noted, along with hopes for the younger generation, but also the insufficient development of "solidarity reflexes" in society, including the neglect of veterans of the Karabakh war.

The article's key conclusion is that the activity of the French Armenian press, represented by the magazine Nouvelles d'Arménie, combines professional journalistic independence with a conscious civic and national engagement, while the editor's personal history demonstrates the unbroken connection between generations of fighters for recognition of the Armenian Genocide and contemporary diaspora identity.