WHEN YOU PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS
Mirror Spectator
Editorial 10-25 Nov
By Edmond Y. Azadian
I dedicate this week’s article to Harutune Yessayan, a benefactor
in his early 90s who recently contributed $325,000 towards the
construction of a hospital in Armenia. Mr. Yessayan confronted me
last week in Toronto, Canada, with a copy of my last column in this
newspaper and asked me to focus on some positive developments in
Armenia. I surmise he wanted to be assured that the contributions
from diasporan organizations and individuals are not meant to fill
in sinkholes in Armenia but contribute towards a solid foundation
for Armenia.
It is a historic fact — and no one with a clear conscience can deny
it — that every time Armenia has lost its independence and fallen
under foreign domination, internal conflicts have contributed to its
eventual collapse.
Yes, indeed, Seljuks were barbarians from the Central Asian plains,
who invaded Armenia, but had the Armenians been strong internally,
the medieval city of Ani, with its 1,001 churches would not have
collapsed and been overrun by those barbaric invaders.
The Mamluks were equally ferocious. They came all the way from Egypt to
conquer the Armenian kingdom in Cilicia, taking our last king, Levon
VI, as a prisoner. But had our princes at the time used some vision
to consolidate the kingdom, rather than fighting with each other,
or even worse, colluding with the enemy, most probably Armenians
would have kept their state in Cilicia and Mihran Damadian would
not have resorted to an ill-fated coup d’etat in 1920 and Aram I,
Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia, would not have to appeal to
courts in Turkey or the International Court of Human Rights to claim
our legitimate religious center in historic Sis.
Traditionally, our individual egos are so inflated that we lose the
perspective of the future by failing to act collectively.
Today is no different; we have more naysayers than true believers. We
have more critics than contributors.
Armenia is located at a geostrategic part of the world and has its
external enemies who have rushed to set their operations before
any charitable organization could reach there. A well-financed news
media is already in place to amplify any mistake or defect to move
the population to desperation.
After the last parliamentary elections, part of the USAID’s Millennium
Challenge Account was cancelled, damaging the agricultural sector,
which is already ailing. The excuse was that the elections were not
fair and democratic. While Azerbaijan is the worst violator of human
rights, with the largest number of journalists in jail, every rule
is bent (i.e. Freedom Support Act, Article 907) to continue pumping
economic and military aid to the Aliyev dynasty.
Many foreign agencies foresee variations of orange or rose revolutions
in store for Armenia and they keep fanning the flames of political
unrest in the country. Their activities are complemented by diasporan
do-gooders, who are engaged in introducing democratic reforms in
Armenia by creating a remote-controlled parliament.
Every person, every group, has his or her own prescriptions to save
Armenia, seldom realizing that the only prescription is to lend a
hand to the vital sectors of the economy to keep the country going.
I am thinking of the doctor in Istanbul, listening to Armenia’s
national anthem on her death bed, confronting the finality of life with
a clear conscience that she has contributed her life savings towards
establishing a political science department in a Yerevan university,
to train young diplomats to run their country.
I am thinking of the Diaspora Armenian businessman who built a
million-dollar factory in Karabagh, saying, “If we lose Karabagh,
the hell with my million.”
I am thinking of Levon Kebabjian and his wife, who leave behind their
luxurious apartment in a Paris bedroom community, and spend months
on the Karabagh mountains to donate cows to families living below
subsistence levels.
I am thinking of a Herman Hintiryan, a jeweler with a heart of gold,
in the US, who single-handedly is funding the Terchounian Orphanage
in Gumri.
I am thinking of the Armenia Tree Project which is helping to recover
Armenia’s ecology.
Fortunately, there are so many individuals and groups who contribute
financially and technologically to save the country.
Kirk Kerkorian is one of those who have poured hundreds of millions to
shore up the roads and to renovate venerable cultural institutions,
which had fallen into disrepair, despite the naysayers knocking on
his door.
Architect Osep Sarafian has raised more than a million dollars for
projects sponsored by the Armenian Social Investment Fund (ASIF),
ensuring that the country receives 95 percent of matching funds
from the World Bank. To date, almost $18 million in projects have
been completed benefitting 122 villages in Armenia, including water
projects, irrigation and cultural centers.
Armenia’s major problem is its brain drain. During the Soviet period,
the republic was part of a huge global economic unit with immense
resources and commensurate markets. Scientists gravitated to Armenia
as it was at the vanguard of many scientific achievements. The
Mergelian Institute was the foremost hub of scientific and military
projects. With the collapse of the Soviet empire, many of the prominent
scientists scattered across the globe and landed lucrative jobs. No
matter how patriotic they are, the economics of the situation do not
allow them to return to Armenia, where opportunities as well as high
compensation are rare.
However, the country is resource poor. Some uranium, gold and
molybdenum mines are tapped mostly by foreign firms, sometimes to
the detriment of the environment. Still, the main resource remains
the well-educated and exceptionally bright youth and the initiatives
to counter the brain drain are the most viable avenues for Armenia’s
survival.
Throughout the blockade, Armenian scientists were able to export
their products on line, contributing to the economy and helping the
young talents living and creating in the homeland.
In this particular arena, a visionary project has been the founding
the Tumo Center for Creative Technologies. A 75,000-square-foot
facility sitting on 50 acres of green space in the heart of Yerevan,
it is designed to educate more than 1,000 students daily on computer
technology at no charge. The campus is the creation of Sam and Sylva
Simonian, from Dallas. It is estimated that more than $50 million was
invested in the project, with millions slated for continued upkeep
of the site and salaries for the staff.
Another world-class project is the Cosmic Ray Division on Mount
Aragats. It is part of the Yerevan Physics Institute, founded in
1943 by noted physicist Artem Alikhanian. Despite the loss of the
Soviet central government investments, the division, headed by Ashot
Chilingarian, employs 80 physicists, engineers, technicians and
students, under dire conditions. In the winter, they are stranded
on the mountain for weeks. The CRD has two high-altitude cosmic ray
and solar monitoring stations on Mr. Aragats: the Aragats Station at
3,200 meters and the Nor-Ambert Station at 2,000 meters.
CRD’s two observatories collect data, which is analyzed using
sophisticated mathematical software developed by the CRD itself. Their
research is of both theoretical and practical interest. Solar flares
and mass eruptions, when directed toward each other, adversely affect
power grids on earth and can damage satellites as well as endangering
astronauts. Scientists there are now working on an early warning system
prototype which can alert satellite operators up to 30 minutes before
the damaging effects of solar flares reach the earth. This service
can result in billions in savings.
CRD scientists represent Armenia at a number of international
scientific conferences and have received wide acclaim for their
efforts.
It has been supported by Giragos and Harutune Vaporciyan and their
families from the US, with contributions running more than hundreds of
thousands. Anahid Yeremian, a physicist at Stanford, contributes from
the West Coast with a missionary zeal and promotes the CRD worldwide
in scientific circles. In fact, she and a few others have formed the
group Friends of CRD, whose sole mission is to raise funds so that
CRD can keep employing the same brilliant minds.
Another major initiative is the founding of the Dilijan International
School. Sometimes one can hear complaints that oligarchs in Armenia
and Russia do not help their kin. Rouben Hayrapetian, who is sitting
in a Russian jail, has contributed hundreds of millions to his native
Artsakh. Despite rampant pessimism, Rouben Vardanian and his spouse,
Veronika Zonabend of Russia have invested $115 million in the Dilijan
School, which is the 13th member of the United World Colleges and the
first international boarding school in Armenia. Besides Vardanian,
the founding patrons are Gagik Adibekyan (Russia), Noubar and Anna
Afeyan (US), Vladimir and Anna Avetissian (Russia) and Oleg Lazarian
(Ukraine).
Once you start to detail projects and initiatives, the danger is that
many similar projects are left out. But these salient contributions
will speak about the positive outlook of the rest.
Of course, Armenia Fund, and our traditional organizations have
been continuing their support. The AGBU, ARS, AMAA, Tekeyan Cultural
Association, Knights of Vartan and many, many other groups have made
Armenia’s survival a priority.
There are many unsung heroes who contribute to charities or initiate
businesses to keep Armenia live. The difficulties are tremendous,
some of them artificially created. Corrupt functionaries try to get
their cut, before Armenia benefits from diasporan generosity. Many
well-meaning people are turned off for good — and for good reason. But
others find ways to bypass the hurdles and continue their positive
work.
Armenians have armchair diplomats, pundits and philosophers around
the world with a profusion of ideas and suggestions. Some of them
are well meaning while others are disingenuous and self-serving.
Over and above all ideas and suggestions, Armenia will survive on
positive and material contributions.
Armenia will survive and thrive when we put our money where our
mouth is.