Press Release
National Association for Armenian
Studies and Research (NAASR)
395 Concord Ave.
Belmont, MA 02478
Tel.: 617-489-1610
Email: [email protected]
naasr to host illustrated talk on Armenian tiflis by hayk demoyan
The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) host a talk by Dr. Hayk Demoyan, “Tiflis: An Illustrated History of Its Armenian Heritage,” on Thursday, May 28, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. (Eastern)
/ 4:30 p.m. (Pacific), at the NAASR Vartan Gregorian Building, 395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA.
The event is free and open to the public and can also be attended online via Zoom (registration link: or YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/c/ArmenianStudies). Following the program there will be a reception to which all attendees are cordially
invited.
Dr. Demoyan’s talk will draw on his massive publication
п╒п╦я└п╩п╦я│: п≤п╩п╩я▌я│я┌я─п╦я─п╬п╡п╟п╫п╫п╟я▐ п╦я│я┌п╬я─п╦я▐ п░я─п╪я▐п╫я│п╨п╬пЁп╬ п╫п╟я│п╩п╣п╢п╦я▐ (Tiflis: An Illustrated History of Its Armenian Heritage, 2024). This volume presents previously unknown or little-known pages of the history of Tiflis (Tbilisi)—the center of Armenian intellectual,
economic, and cultural activity in the South Caucasus before and after the region’s annexation by the Russian Empire. Historically, the capital of Georgia developed into a unique micro-civilization where the heritages of many peoples and confessions intertwined.
The Armenian presence in old Tiflis is an impressive and valuable legacy of both the Georgian and Armenian peoples, who for centuries endured together the trials and hardships of a shared destiny.
Dr. Hayk Demoyan is an independent researcher who has been a U.S. Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian
Studies, Harvard University (2017-18), where he researched identity transformation processes in the South Caucasus. He served as the Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum and Institute in Yerevan from 2006 to 2017 and as chief editor of the International
Journal of Armenian Genocide Studies. Among his publications are Western Media Coverage of the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict 1988-1990 (2010),
Armenian Sports and Athletics in the Ottoman Empire (2015), Armenian Legacy in America: A 400-Year Heritage (2018), and
Armenian Entrepreneurship: A Visual History (2023).
For more information about this program, contact NAASR at
[email protected].
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Title: Good news about our 2026 summer course!😊Buone notizie riguardo al corso estivo 2026!
| Four levels are back! I quattro livelli sono di nuovo disponibili! |
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Dear Friends,
Over the past few weeks, you have been informed of the critical situation facing the Armenian language and culture summer course, due to a lack of funds. Despite this, we have decided not to give up entirely and to organise a scaled-down version of the course, limited to two levels: beginner and intermediate (see our previous announcement here).
Today, we are delighted to share some good news, namely that an Italian benefactor has decided to support our course, enabling us to reinstate all four levels, from beginner to advanced.
However, the association’s financial situation remains fragile and will require continuous support to ensure the continuity of our activities. This generous gesture nevertheless allows us to continue, once again this year, with our mission: to promote and celebrate the Armenian language and culture.
Padus Araxes
Cultural association for Armenian studies
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Cari Amici,
Nelle scorse settimane vi abbiamo informato della situazione critica in cui versa il corso estivo di lingua e cultura armena, a causa della mancanza di fondi. Nonostante ciò, abbiamo deciso di non rinunciare del tutto e di organizzare una versione ridotta del corso, limitata a due livelli: principiante e intermedio (qui il nostro precedente comunicato).
Siamo ora felici di condividere una bella notizia: un benefattore italiano ha deciso di sostenere il nostro corso, consentendoci di ripristinare i quattro livelli, dal principiante al progredito.
La situazione economica dell’associazione rimane comunque delicata e richiederà un impegno costante per garantire la continuità delle nostre attività. Questo gesto di generosità ci permette comunque di proseguire, anche quest’anno, la nostra missione: diffondere e valorizzare la lingua e la cultura armena.
Padus-Araxes
Associazione Culturale per gli studi armeni
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Associazione culturale Padus-Araxes
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The Armenian Relief Society’s 9th International Cruise embarked from Singapore aboard Royal Caribbean’s “Ovation of the Seas”, with over 410 participants, on April 17. The cruise was honored by the presence of ARS Central Executive Board Chairperson Ungh. Arousyak Melkonian, CEB’s cruise Committee representative, Ungh. Arminee Karabetian, ARS Cruise committee chairperson, ungh. Shakeh Basmajian and seven committee members.
The ARS had organized a two-day tour in Singapore before the voyage began. Participants visited the city’s landmarks and the Armenian Church of Saint Gregory the Illuminator, built in 1835. Everyone gathered beneath the church’s arches, their prayers and hymns bringing new life to a holy place that had not welcomed this many Armenians in so long. Moved by the moment, members of the ARS Central Executive and other participants made donations.
ARS Members at the Saint Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Church in Singapore
During this unforgettable 14-day journey, the ship visited picturesque destinations along the Pacific coast of Asia: Singapore, Hue and Da Nang in Vietnam, Hong Kong and Kowloon in China, Taipei and Keelung in Taiwan, and Nagasaki, Kobe, Mount Fuji, and Tokyo in Japan.
The ARS Central Executive Board’s Cruise Committee did exceptional work turning this cruise into a memorable experience, bringing Armenians together from nine countries: Eastern and Western USA, Canada, France, England, the Netherlands, Cyprus, Lebanon, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Australia, and Hawaii. The committee created a warm atmosphere of joy and friendship through the many activities it organized.
A notable commemoration dedicated to the victims of the Armenian Genocide, marked by a solemn evening through the patriotic performance of renowned singer Elie Berberian and his band. On April 24, while in Keelung, Taiwan, a group of participants gathered in solemn remembrance and released a lantern in honor of the victims of the Armenian Genocide, keeping the memory of our martyrs alive while reaffirming their commitment to dignity and justice.
Throughout the cruise, Elie Berberian and his band brought joy and excitement to the passengers with their rich, diverse music at three Kef nights.
The committee had organized a Belote competition and a tea party. Both events garnered a lot of excitement, especially the tea party, where 200 participants attended wearing unique and beautiful hats. The ARS Day event drew great interest, offering participants direct insight into the scope of ARS’s global humanitarian work and programs. Participants also enjoyed an excursion to Kobe’s scenic and cultural landmarks organized by the committee.
Throughout the cruise, participants expressed heartfelt appreciation to the ARS. Many shared their desire to participate again and were eager to know the location and date of the next cruise. The promotional work carried out throughout the journey, including the daily video updates shared on ARS’s social media pages, was greatly appreciated. Tens of thousands watched the videos, following the group’s excursions and memorable moments. This work was carried out with great dedication by Ungh. Tamar Shahinian from the ARS Public Relations Committee.
In appreciation of this essential fundraising initiative organized by the ARS Central Executive Board, heartfelt donations were made in support of ARS’s humanitarian programs.
The ARS once again succeeded in bringing together old and new friends, relatives, and fellow ARS members, offering Armenians from across the globe a special opportunity to form new friendships. Some with a longing for the warmth of a familiar Armenian environment, others with the desire to build new connections.
The members of this close-knit Armenian community, formed by the ARS, bid each other farewell on May 1, holding onto the hope of reuniting in the future.
Established in 1910, the Armenian Relief Society operates in 26 countries, serving the humanitarian needs of Armenians and non-Armenians alike. Through its avowed mission and numerous philanthropic projects, the organization has empowered women to make an impact on their communities and has promoted education, health, and humanitarian aid.
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· MAY 19, 2026
The Holy See, Vatican
Your Holiness, dear Brother,
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!” (Eph 1:2) With the greeting of the Apostle Paul, I welcome Your Holiness and the distinguished members of your delegation at the start of your visit to the Church of Rome.
Could there be a greater spiritual bond between our Churches than the Apostle Paul of Tarsus, born in Cilicia, the place of your See, and who received the crown of martyrdom here in Rome? To Saint Paul, the Apostle par excellence of communion between the Churches, I entrust your pilgrimage to Rome. But how can I fail to mention also the great saints of the Church who worked for Christian unity? My thoughts turn to Saint Nerses the Gracious, Catholicos of Cilicia, who may be regarded as a pioneer of ecumenism – and whose recent inclusion in the Roman Martyrology is a further example of that “ecumenism of the saints” which already unites our Churches.
Located at the crossroads of different peoples and cultures, the Catholicosate of the Holy See of Cilicia has long been characterized by its ecumenical vocation, particularly with regard to the Church of Rome. This special relationship between our Churches, which was particularly intense in the Middle Ages, saw new developments in the 20th century and especially after the Second Vatican Council.
I am mindful that your venerable predecessor, Catholicos Khoren I, was the first primate of an Oriental Orthodox Church to visit Rome after the Council, as early as May 1967. Yourself, Holiness, stand out for your tireless ecumenical zeal, both locally, as one of the founders of the Middle East Council of Churches, and internationally within the World Council of Churches, where you have held prominent positions.
I am deeply grateful for your efforts to foster relations with the Catholic Church and for your closeness to the Church of Rome, which you visited for the first time as Catholicos during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in January 1997, and which you have honoured with your presence on numerous occasions since then.
I thank you in particular for your personal commitment to promoting theological dialogue between our Churches, which has been taking place since 2003 within the framework of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. This dialogue, which benefits from the valuable contribution of Armenian delegates, has already published three significant documents on the nature and mission of the Church, on communion in the early Church and on the sacraments. I sincerely hope that, despite recent difficulties, this dialogue will continue with renewed vigour, for there can be no restoration of communion between our Churches without unity in faith.
Your presence among us brings to mind the beloved country from which you come and which I had the joy of visiting last December. This land of Lebanon, so dear to my heart, which for so long has shown the whole world that it is possible for people of diverse cultures and religions to live together as one nation, continues to face severe trials. At a time when the unity and integrity of your country are once again under threat, our Churches are called to strengthen the fraternal bonds that unite not only Christians amongst themselves, but also with their brothers and sisters from other communities in their shared homeland. Your Holiness, I assure you of my daily prayers and of the deep concern I feel for the people of Lebanon and for the Churches of the Middle East, to which you will devote a conference during your stay in Rome.
In these days leading up to the Solemnity of Pentecost, as we prepare to relive the mystery the miracle of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the nascent Church, I am grateful to be able to pray after this meeting, together with Your Holiness, to the Spirit, Lord and Giver of life, that He may grant us the gift of unity, bestow upon us enduring peace, and renew the face of the earth.
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· MAY 19, 2026
LA500 2026: Ed Bagdasarian – Los Angeles Business Journal
Chief Executive, Managing Director
Intrepid Investment Bankers
As co-founder and chief executive of Brentwood-based Intrepid Investment Bankers, Ed Bagdasarian has spent more than three decades guiding entrepreneurs through complex middle-market M&A transactions across consumer, health care, technology, manufacturing, industrials and business services. Before co-founding Intrepid, Bagdasarian was a principal partner at Barrington Associates, a respected middle-market M&A advisory firm later acquired by Wells Fargo Securities. He also served as vice president at First Global Securities.
Region Manager, Southern California and Hawaii
Swinerton Builders
Lia Tatevosian was named Swinerton’s senior vice president and regional manager for Southern California and Hawaii in 2024, after joining the firm nearly 30 years ago as a project engineer. In her tenure, her portfolio includes the UCLA Broad Art Center, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Flight Projects Center, and the Los Angeles International Airport’s gateway light pylons and signage. The firm was named ENR West’s 2025 Southern California Contractor of the Year. Tatevosian is a founding member of Women in Construction Operations in Southern California and is also involved in organizations such as the ACE Mentor Program as well as Architecture and Advocacy.
Co-Founder
Skims Body Inc.
Reality star Kim Kardashian first stepped into public life with E! reality television series “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” which aired from 2007 to 2021. She then launched multiple fashion and beauty companies that catapulted her to billionaire status in 2021, including her shapewear company Skims Inc., valued at $5 billion. Her beauty company KKW Beauty Inc. has folded into her other company SKKN, which closed in 2025. Going forward, Kardashian is transitioning her makeup business under the larger Skims umbrella. In 2022, Kardashian launched SKKY Partners, a private equity firm, to focus on high-growth consumer and media companies.
Chief Executive, Managing Partner
Holthouse Carlin & Van Trigt
Vicken Haleblian serves as the chief executive and managing partner of HCVT, becoming the fifth leader in the firm’s history and succeeding its founder, Phil Holthouse. In this role, Haleblian is responsible for shaping and executing the firm’s strategic vision.
Education: Bachelor’s degree, University of Southern California
First job: Staff accountant at Arthur Andersen
Favorite charity or cause: NeuroTalent Works
Favorite pastime or hobby: Collecting watches
Favorite restaurant for fun: Any burger dive
Favorite restaurant for business: Philippe
The Original in downtown L.A.
Favorite quote: “If you think you’re leading and no one is following, then you’re only taking a walk.”
– John Maxwell
Founder, Chief Executive
EisnerAmper
With over 25 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions and equity and debt financing, Paren Knadjian has advised on more than 300 M&A and capital markets transactions totaling over $4.5 billion in value. Before joining the firm, Knadjian was a principal at KROST, where he led the technology market vertical.
Education: Bachelor’s degree, Royal Merchant Naval School, U.K. and University of Bristol, U.K.
First job: A technical consultant at Scicon, a subsidiary of BP
Favorite charity or cause: Hillview Mental Health Center
Favorite book: “History of Western Philosophy” by Bertrand Russell
Favorite pastime or hobby: Pickleball
Favorite restaurant for fun: Bavel
Favorite restaurant for business:
Republique
Head of North American Operations
SmartGate VC, Hero House
Armine Galstyan works at SmartGate VC and Hero House, where she scouts founders working in deep tech sectors like artificial intelligence, robotics and enterprise-grade platforms. SmartGate VC has two headquarters, one in Los Angeles and the other in Armenia, allowing Galstyan to access resources, capital and experts beyond the confines of Southern California. She is a founding member of Hero House, a tech hub based in Glendale that supports immigrant founders of early-stage startups by giving them a space to work and a plethora of networking opportunities. Galstyan operates the GateWay acceleration program in Hero House, which gives startups, universities and local businesses a chance to meet each other, collaborate and develop projects across different sectors..
Co-Founder, President
ServiceTitan Inc.
When Vahe Kuzoyan graduated college, he decided to develop a small-scale software platform to help his father, who worked in the plumbing business, move away from the outdated software he was using. Eighteen years later, ServiceTitan went from a small startup to a unicorn-valued company to a public company. ServiceTitan is a software-as-a-service company that caters to contractors. Through ServiceTitan and its various integrations, contractors and home service businesses can schedule appointments, track inventory, communicate with clients, and even buy materials. The company went public in December 2024, raising $625 million in its initial public offering. In a 2026 trades report, ServiceTitan said that around 75% of contractors that were surveyed view artificial intelligence as a tool to bolster efficiency.
Co-Founder, Chief Executive
ServiceTitan Inc.
Ara Mahdessian co-founded ServiceTitan in 2007. Mahdessian’s father, who worked in electrical, was the type of person ServiceTitan was built for: those in the trades, specifically home and construction services. During quarter earnings, ServiceTitan announced it crossed $1 billion in yearly revenue run rate. The company is exploring ways to utilize artificial intelligence as a way to automate processes that are currently manual at ServiceTitan. Because ServiceTitan is among the first – and by far the largest – software-as-a-service platform for the trades, the company has amassed a treasure trove of proprietary data. ServiceTitan plans on using that data to create more automated processes within the company.
Founder, Chief Executive
Fashion Nova
When Richard Saghian founded Fashion Nova in 2006, the then-Vernon-based company operated out of a handful of brick and mortar stores. Today, the company, now based in Beverly Hills, operates a high-growth e-commerce business that is reportedly worth around $1 billion. The company has been at the forefront of influencer and social media marketing to get the company in front of customers. The company, however successful, has not grown without its controversies. Fast fashion has been admonished for its carbon emissions carryover, which amounts to around 10% of global emissions. The company also settled with the Federal Trade Commission in 2025. The FTC alleged the company was using deceptive review practices that affected what consumers were buying.
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· MAY 19, 2026
Mailings to Christian Clergy Document Cuellar’s Criminal Indictment, Highlight his Complicity in Anti-Christian Persecution
WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) – Texas joined with the ANCA national office in launching a campaign to educate faith leaders across South Texas about local Congressman Henry Cuellar’s criminal corruption and direct complicity in anti-Christian persecution.
ANCA and ANCA Texas are bringing the case against Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus Co-Chair Henry Cuellar directly to the pews of his own district, mailing comprehensive information packets this week, in English and Spanish, to Christian parishes, faith-based institutions, clerical and lay leaders, and religious influencers across Texas’s 28th Congressional District and the broader South Texas region.
The ANCA packets – featuring correspondence in both English and Spanish – document the Federal indictment of Rep. Cuellar and his wife for accepting $600,000 in bribes from Azerbaijani government-controlled entities. A copy of the full 54-page indictment was included in each packet. Also included were materials about Azerbaijan’s genocide of more than 120,000 Christian Armenians from Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), and Baku’s continuing demolition of Armenian churches, monasteries, cross-stones, and sacred sites across the ethnically cleansed lands it now occupies.
“South Texas pastors, priests, and parishioners deserve to know the sins of their Congressman against at-risk Christians, who paid him for this betrayal, and exactly how much he got paid – the modern-day equivalent of his thirty pieces of silver,” said Aram Hamparian, ANCA Executive Director. “Henry Cuellar took hundreds of thousands of dollars from a regime that bulldozes cathedrals, desecrates cemeteries, and drove an entire Christian civilization from its three-thousand-year-old homeland. He took that money, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, to block U.S. support for Armenia, to insert pro-Azerbaijan language into our laws, to deliver speeches written by Baku’s allies on the floor of the House of Representatives. Every Christian leader in his district needs to know these facts – and the right to share them with the faithful in their ministries.”
A Letter to South Texas’s Christian Leaders
The packets, co-signed by Hamparian and ANCA Texas Co-Chair Philip Kanayan, open with a letter written in a spirit of Christian solidarity, framing Cuellar’s bribery not as a distant Washington scandal but as a betrayal of the Body of Christ:
“Truly, Congressman Cuellar’s betrayal strikes at the very heart of the Body of Christ. He was charged with pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars, not thirty pieces of silver, but the sins are the same — treachery and greed. The setting: the U.S. Congress, not the Garden of Gethsemane.”
The letter calls on recipients to “review the enclosed indictment and prayerfully consider what steps you and your congregation might take to ensure that your parishioners and your neighbors fully understand the depth and significance of this betrayal.”
Alongside the letter, recipients receive the full 54-page federal indictment of Henry and Imelda Cuellar, detailing how Azerbaijani diplomats referred to the Congressman as “el Jefe,” tracked his legislative work on Baku’s behalf, and funneled payments through sham consulting contracts and shell companies. Federal prosecutors documented Cuellar’s promises to influence U.S. foreign policy, deliver pro-Azerbaijan floor speeches, insert favorable legislative language, and arrange meetings with U.S. defense officials in exchange for the payments.
The packets pair the indictment with a Christian Post op-ed by communications strategist Stephan Pechdimaldji characterizing Azerbaijan’s demolition of the Stepanakert Cathedral as cultural genocide and a direct violation of the International Court of Justice’s December 2021 provisional measures, a National Catholic Register article documenting the demolition of the Armenian Mother Cathedral in occupied Artsakh, and a May 2024 brief from International Christian Concern documenting Azerbaijan’s siege and ethnic cleansing of Artsakh’s Christian population, the destruction of 89 Armenian churches in Nakhichevan between 1997 and 2006, and the broader pattern of forced displacement of indigenous Christian communities.
Ground Zero for Foreign Interference
“South Texas is ground zero in the fight to hold Azerbaijan accountable for its foreign interference in American democracy, and our Christian community has a particular stake in this fight,” said ANCA Texas Co-Chair Philip Kanayan. “The Azerbaijani regime that bought Henry Cuellar is the same regime bulldozing churches and cathedrals built by Christians a thousand years before Texas was Texas. Pastors, priests, deacons, and lay leaders across this district are going to receive the documentation, read it for themselves, and reach their own conclusions about the man who has represented them in Congress.”
In December 2025, President Trump pardoned Cuellar — a decision the ANCA condemned as a free pass for foreign bribery. Days later, after Cuellar announced he would continue running as a Democrat, Trump publicly rebuked him for “a lack of LOYALTY” — making clear that even the president who pardoned him had concluded Cuellar’s word could not be trusted.
The ANCA has actively targeted Cuellar through its #ExpelCuellar campaign, calling on the House to vote for his expulsion and on voters to reject him at the ballot box. The faith-community outreach announced today represents the next phase of that work, bringing the documentary record of Cuellar’s conduct, and Azerbaijan’s, directly to the religious leaders and institutions that shape civic life across South Texas.
In April, the ANCA endorsed Webb County Judge Tano E. Tijerina in his Republican bid to represent Texas’s 28th Congressional District. Following outreach by the ANCA Texas team, Judge Tijerina, his wife Kimberly, and his campaign team visited ANCA’s national headquarters in the Nation’s Capital on April 22nd, sitting down with the ANCA’s DC staff for a substantive discussion of the full range of priorities advocated by ANCA Texas and Armenian Americans across the Lone Star State, including Azerbaijan’s genocidal ethnic cleansing of Artsakh’s Christian Armenians, the ongoing illegal detention of Armenian hostages in Baku, Azerbaijan’s systematic destruction of Armenian Christian churches, cemeteries, and sacred sites, the right of return for displaced Artsakh Armenians, and justice for the Armenian Genocide.
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· MAY 19, 2026
Harold Takooshian, Fordham University
“How are Armenians involved with the United Nations today?” This question was the focus of an unusual if not overdue forum held on May 15, 2026 at Fordham University in New York City, with 30 Armenians who serve in diverse parts of the United Nations.
In addition to the Armenian Mission to the United Nations (since 1992), over 100 Armenians are now scattered throughout the UN system—its governments, agencies (like UNICEF and WHO) and its 6,657 ECOSOC non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
This four-part forum began with a welcome message by Bryan Ardouny, the Director of the Armenian Assembly of America, spoke of his new leadership role in the UN Conference on Non-Governmental Organizations (CoNGO) at the UN. Bryan introduced Peter Preziosi who described his role as the new President of CoNGO. Zhirayr Ananyan described his years of diplomatic work with the Mission representing the Republic of Armenia in the UN—a small but immensely active team, especially on human rights.
Several others described their diverse roles among the UN NGOs: Emma Arakelyan, Houry Geudelekian, Ani Kalayjian, Souren A. Israelyan, Arpine Korekyan, Talin Daghlian, Harold Takooshian, Anahid Ugurlyan.
These messages segued into an open discussion about Armenians at the UN. Due to limited time, many participants suggested to re-gather soon, for more focused discussion of how Armenians can better network across the UN.
Forum #2 will be held in June of 2026.
During this forum, attorney Bryan Ardouny accepted an Outstanding Achievement Award for his 21 years of leadership at the Armenian Assembly.
Harold Takooshian, who edits a series of books with the UN, invited proposals for a timely volume on any aspect of Armenians working with the United Nations.
This forum was organized by seven community associations: The Armenian Assembly (AAA), Armenian Bar Association (ArmenBar), Armenian Behavioral Science Association (ABSA), Armenian International Women’s Association (AIWA), Armenian Relief Society (ARS), Meaningful World, and Orion Worldwide Innovations. For any details, contact [email protected].
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