Author: Hovik Karapetian

IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION 
Date: 
Contact: Linda Yepoyan
[email protected]    
www.birthrightarmenia.org    
BIRTHRIGHT ARMENIA AUMNI LEADERSHIP AWARDS ANNOUNCED
Since Birthright Armenia's very first group of sponsored volunteers in 2004, 
we've undergone changes and improvements, shifts and expansions, but our 
philosophy on alums has remained the same-namely the belief that our alumni 
base is our greatest asset. We've had the good fortune to watch our alums grow 
as leaders from the time they were volunteers, following their careers and 
supporting them along their professional paths. With a strong alumni network of 
1,500 from 48 different countries, we find it only fitting to announce our new 
Birthright Armenia Alumni Leadership Award program that recognizes the 
standouts in terms of their level of engagement and achievements. And in so 
doing, we'd like to recognize three individuals who have been singled out as 
best exemplifying the leadership qualities in the categories outlined below:   
*       Professional Achievement Award
*       Mentorship Award
*       Young Philanthropist Award 
*       Civic Participation Award
*       Artistic/Cultural Achievement Award
*       Spirit of Birthright Armenia/Depi Hayk Award
Congratulations go out to our 2018 award nominees Lilly Djaniants, Jamie Kolar 
and Nelli Martirosyan, each of whom can designate a $1,000 contribution to the 
501(c)(3) or registered non-profit organization of their choice. Below are 
short summaries of their impactful achievements to date.         
The Professional Achievement Award goes to Lilly Djaniants, 37, (2009).  
Lilly was born in Baku and fled Azerbaijan with her family in 1988, settling in 
Gyumri three days before the devastating Spitak earthquake. Following that 
disaster her family resettled in a refugee shelter outside of Etchmiadzin until 
moving to the United States in 1992. After completing her architecture 
education in the US and working in New York on redevelopment of the World Trade 
Center site post-9/11, Lilly joined Birthright Armenia for three months in 2009 
as a volunteer at TUMO Center for Creative Technologies, eventually leading her 
to the opportunity to become the construction manager during the building of 
TUMO. She made her first ever visit to Artsakh as a Birthright volunteer, and 
there got inspired to continue investing professionally in Armenia, realizing 
the potential she had to contribute to economic and urban development.  In 2013 
as a Luys Fellow, she earned her MA in Architecture and Urban Design from 
Columbia University, where she received the Kinne Fellowship for her research 
on how urban development can begin to initiate both economic and political 
stability in the post-conflict territory of Artsakh. In 2013 she joined Tim 
Flynn Architects and the IDeA foundation in Yerevan, working on the urban 
renewal master plan of Dilijan and managing the development of Eco-Village in 
Artsakh. She has also advised Gyumri Project Hope on its urban renewal 
initiatives. Lilly's designated non-profit organization for her $1000 award is 
Tufenkian Foundation.    
The Mentorship Award goes to Jamie Kolar, 34, (2013). 
Jamie was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. She received her BA in Psychology 
from UCLA in 2005 and is a firefighter/paramedic for the Los Angeles County 
Fire Department and a clinical instructor at the UCLA David Geffen Medical 
School Paramedic Program. As a Birthright volunteer from May - August 2013 she 
served at the Gyumri Station of Ambulance Service, Ministry of Emergency 
Situations, and World Vision Gyumri Area Development Program (ADP). She also 
spent one month teaching first aid, trauma assessments and victim removal with 
the Yerevan Fire Department and Rescue Team. Although originally committed to 
only six weeks of service, Jamie ended up staying in Armenia for a year to 
train and mentor. 
Through Jamie's service she saw Armenia's needs up close, and envisioned a role 
for herself in continuing to pass on her skills and knowledge to residents all 
over the country to fill the observed gaps. She founded a non-profit 
organization called Aid to Armenia (ATA) in June 2013 to continue and expand 
upon her work with the emergency medical services in Armenia. In 2015 for the 
100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Jamie designed and implemented the 
"100 Villages" project throughout Armenia, serving as a first aid teacher to 
countless Armenians on how to deal with trauma, emergency care, bleeding 
control, splinting for broken bones, and basic first aid, providing life-saving 
strategies and skills. In addition to the distribution of over 1,800 first aid 
kits to the villages and families with the greatest need, she is dedicated to 
continuing aid training village by village, home to home. Her designated 
organization for the $1000 award money is Armenian Engineers and Scientists of 
America (AESA), which will earmark the funds for ATA's summer project work in 
Armenia.       
The Give Back Service Award goes to Nelli Martirosyan, 36, (2007).
Nelli was born in Armenia, leaving as a teenager with her family for a new life 
in Los Angeles, CA. She volunteered at the Ministry of Education and Science 
while a Birthright Armenia volunteer in the summer of 2007, and ever since, 
she's continued on her lifelong path of serving Armenia, specifically in the 
field of education. She received her BA from Berkeley and MA from Columbia, and 
has a PhD dissertation in the works from UCLA. In 2008 Nelli spent two months 
in Karabakh carrying out a "Next Step" Alumni Grant project focused on youth 
development in Tsmakahogh village in Martakert that empowered, inspired and 
assisted the village youth to be engaged in meaningful acts of service in their 
local community. In 2014 Nelli and her husband Stepan co-founded a non-profit 
organization called Hayrenaser Organization, whose mission is to contribute to 
the preservation and development of Armenia's independent statehood by 
identifying and addressing critical challenges. Hayrenaser's first project was 
to completely rebuild and enlarge the school of Lernahovit village in Kashatagh 
region of Artsakh.  The following summer the organization completely 
reconstructed the school of Vurgavan village, also in the Kashatagh region; and 
built a new community administration center along with a health clinic. This 
project transmitted a new hope to the villagers for a better future in their 
town, many of whom up until then were thinking about leaving. Today their 
children are able to study in a modern and comfortable school where their 
health is not endangered. Hayrenaser's latest project is the rebuilding of 
Herik village school in the Moshatagh region, completed and reopened in 2016. 
It is located 45 kilometers north east of Kashatagh's central region of 
Berdzor. To date Hayrenaser has raised over $350,000 for the renovation of all 
three schools and another $50,000 that directly supports the family members of 
our fallen heroes. Nelli's designated non-profit for the $1000 award money is 
Hyrenaser.    
# # # 
JPEG Photo caption:  From left to right, Birthright Armenia alumni leadership 
award winners Lilly Djaniants, Jamie Kolar, and Nelli Martirosyan.  

Armenpress News Agency , Armenia
 Monday
Expert highlights key points of President Sargsyan's Munich speech on
Armenian-Turkish relations
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 19, ARMENPRESS. Expert on Turkish studies Ruben
Safrastyan, commenting on the speech of Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan at the Munich Security Conference, highlights the point that
at the current circumstances the Armenian-Turkish protocols have lost
their significance.
In an interview with ARMENPRESS, Safrastyan said the Armenian
President clearly stated that the Armenian-Turkish protocols, which
were signed by his initiative, reflected the realities of that times,
but in current conditions they have lost their significance. “This was
a very important emphasis since really that protocols have lost their
meaning in current conditions”, the expert said.
Ruben Safrastyan said the President in his speech very clearly noted
that Armenia remains committed to normalizing the bilateral
inter-state relations with Turkey without any preconditions, but the
Turkish leadership, in fact, continues its ancient policy it chose
against Armenia, in other words, that is the policy of preconditions.
“The second key point is that it was stated that the leadership of
Turkey made a decision not to normalize the relations with Armenia,
but quoting Azerbaijan is just an excuse used by the Turkish
leadership who do not have a desire to normalize the relations with
Armenia”, Ruben Safrastyan said.
The expert also attached importance to the fact that the Armenian
President stated that Armenia took a lot of steps to normalize the
relations with Turkey as those who were opposing the protocols
comprised large number especially in the Diaspora. However, the expert
said, the Turkish side refused from these protocols.
The Armenian President in his remarks at the Munich Security
Conference said thirty years have passed since the fall of the Berlin
wall, but Turkey still continues to keep the border with Armenia
closed. He said with confidence that Armenia has taken all the
possible measures in order to overcome that impasse.
“Is Azerbaijan preventing Turkey from establishing relations with
Armenia, as many are trying to convince us? No, it is not the case.
The chief impediment is the lack of political will on the part of the
Turkish leadership. I believe you may be aware that many
representatives of the Armenian diaspora were not too happy about that
decision of ours. It was natural, as they were successors of survivors
of the Genocide and of homeland dispossession. I travelled around the
globe back then, met with our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora,
community after community, and discussed with them this very sensitive
issue.
Have the Turkish leaders displayed such political will? Have they been
faithful to the commitments they had signed up to?
We cannot wait eternally for Turkey's response. The Protocols were
negotiated under the existing circumstances. If Turkey desires to
await other circumstances and only then to ratify the Protocols, then
it is profoundly mistaken. Under potential new circumstances, a new
document is to be negotiated. Armenia does not resort to the language
of preconditions, but equally, Armenia shall never accept
preconditions put forth by anyone”, the President said.