Before writing about Hasmik’s recent concerts in San Francisco with the Kitka Ensemble and other cultural activities in the US, a revealing story Hasmik told about an interview she did with Hayrik Mouradian in the mid-1990s:

As co-host of a show simply named “Roots,” broadcast at the time on National (Public) Radio, Hasmik was interviewing Hayrik about his life in Shatakh and escape to Eastern Armenia during the Genocide when Hayrik stated, “I wonder if all Armenians had resisted, fought back, like the Armenians of Van and other places, would Turkey be Turkey today, or would it be Armenia?” After the show, Hasmik received a call from a higher-up from the radio station saying they “shouldn’t talk about such things.” A week later, the show was cancelled.