The California Courier Online, October 24, 2019
1 – Trump Surrenders to Erdogan’s Demands:
The Tail Wags the Dog
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2- Trump Advisers: Recognize Armenian Genocide as Tactic to
Pressure Turkey
3 – Ohanian, Tankian to help build Armenia social network
4- Buying Airtime? Artsakh conflict makes it to prime time on
‘Seal Team’
5- U.S. Congressional Delegation Visit Armenian American Wellness Center
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1 – Trump Surrenders to Erdogan’s Demands:
The Tail Wags the Dog
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
Anytime Pres. Trump talks to another head of state on the phone, we
can expect a disastrous outcome. Trump does not realize the
consequences of his decisions on the United States and the world. He
does not ask for proper briefing from his top aides and does not
follow their advice.
Pres. Trump’s telephone conversation with Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan on October 6 was no exception. While the White House
reluctantly released the summary of Pres. Trump’s scandalous phone
call with the President of Ukraine followed by the whistleblower’s
report, Trump’s conversation with Erdogan is not yet made public and
no one knows what exactly transpired during that phone call. All we
know is that Erdogan asked Trump to remove the U.S. troops from
Northern Syria, allowing Turkey to invade Syria, to expel hundreds of
thousands of Kurdish civilians from the 20-mile area inside the Syrian
border, and kill hundreds of Kurds, the U.S. allies on the ground in
the fight against ISIS terrorists. The Turkish troops are committing
War Crimes and Pres. Trump has allowed them to do so.
The whole world immediately realized that this was a grave mistake by
Trump. Even Republican members of Congress who had been blindly
supporting him and ignoring his many illegalities and immoralities,
have loudly criticized their ‘darling’ president. The U.S. Congress
discussed adopting sanctions against Turkey which pressured Trump to
do the same.
On Oct. 9, three days after Erdogan’s phone call with Trump, the
Turkish forces invaded Syria. On that same day, Trump sent Erdogan a
childish letter, threatening to “destroy the Turkish economy—and I
will.” Trump also warned Erdogan that history “will look upon you
forever as the devil if good things don’t happen.” Trump ended his
letter by telling Erdogan “don’t be a tough guy. Don’t be a fool! I
will call you later.” This was a uniquely stupid presidential letter
in the annals of diplomatic correspondence. Pres. Erdogan’s office
stated that he promptly dumped Trump’s letter in the garbage can,
where it belonged.
In the meantime, in response to strong criticism by almost everyone in
the world—except for Turkey, Azerbaijan and Russia—Pres. Trump started
spewing his usual nonsense. First, he called the Kurds U.S. allies. He
then changed his mind and called them “Communists,” “terrorists” and
“no angels.” Trump went so far as blaming the Kurds for not supporting
the U.S. army in Normandy, France, during the Second World War,
forgetting that the Kurds possessed neither a country nor an army.
According to the Washington Post, Pres. Trump has made 13,435 false
and misleading claims in his first 1,000 days in office. That’s on
average 13 lies per day—an unprecedented record for anyone, let alone
the President of the United States.
After undermining the Kurds in his pronouncements, Pres. Trump
dispatched his Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo to Ankara, supposedly to restrain Erdogan’s brutal treatment of
Kurds in Northern Syria.
After several hours of negotiations, the two sides made contradictory
announcements about what they had agreed upon. The American side
called the agreement a “ceasefire,” while the Turkish side called it a
“pause” for five days. Nevertheless, Trump quickly claimed to have
scored a major victory, as he does on all occasions, usually without
any merit. If anything, it was a victory for the Turks who gained
everything they wanted from the United States—the green light to
proceed with their invasion of Northern Syria, mass deportations and
brutal killings of Kurds. What’s worse is the escape of hundreds of
ISIS terrorists from their detention camps during the Turkish attack.
The ceasefire or the pause did not even last 24 hours. The Turkish
forces and their jihadist partners violated it on day one. Only a fool
would trust Erdogan’s promises or agreements. Amazingly, Trump agreed
to remove the U.S. sanctions against Turkey before they were even
implemented.
The removal of the U.S. sanctions was confirmed in a lengthy letter
signed by the Turkish and U.S. delegates at the UN, titled “Joint
Turkish – US Statement on Northeast Syria” which was submitted to the
UN Security Council and the UN Secretary-General on October 17.
In this letter, the United States shamelessly capitulated to all of
Turkey’s demands:
– “…The US understands Turkey’s legitimate security concerns on
Turkey’s southern border.”
– “The Turkish side expressed its commitment to ensure safety and
well-being of residents of all population centers in the safe zone
controlled by the Turkish Forces and reiterated that maximum care will
be exercised in order not to cause harm to civilians and civilian
infrastructures.”
– “The two sides agreed on the continued importance and functionality
of a safe zone in order to address the national security concerns of
Turkey, to include the recollection of YPG heavy weapons and the
disablement of their fortifications and all other fighting positions.”
– “The Turkish side will pause Operation Peace Spring in order to
allow the withdrawal of YPG from the safe zone within 120 hours.
Operation Peace Spring will be halted upon completion of this
withdrawal.”
– “Once Operation Peace Spring is paused, the US agrees not to pursue
further imposition of sanctions under the Executive Order of October
14, 2019, ‘Blocking Property and Suspending Entry of Certain Persons
Contributing to the Situation in Syria,’ and will work and consult
with Congress, as appropriate, to underline the progress being
undertaken to achieve peace and security in Syria, in accordance with
UNSCR 2254. Once Operation Peace Spring is halted as per paragraph 11
the current sanctions under the aforementioned Executive Order shall
be lifted.”
Interestingly, the text of the US – Turkish agreement never once
mentions the Kurds by name, whereas the whole Turkish invasion is
being carried out for the purpose of eliminating Kurds from Northern
Syria.
The U.S. forces were stationed in Syria in violation of international
law, and contrary to the wishes of the Syrian government. The same
applies to the Turkish forces. The departure of the U.S. forces is not
wrong. Their arrival was wrong. And Trump’s claim that he wants the
U.S. forces out of the Middle East is an outrageous lie, since the
same day that he decided to withdraw the American troops from Syria,
it was announced that most of these soldiers would be relocated to
Iraq and he will send 3,000 fresh U.S. troops to Saudi Arabia. This is
yet another one of Trump’s lies which needs to be added to his over
13,000 other lies.
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2- Trump Advisers: Recognize Armenian Genocide as Tactic to
Pressure Turkey
By James LaPorta and Tom O’Connor
Donald Trump’s advisers offered him several options aimed at
fulfilling his desire to pull back U.S. troops in Syria without
allowing Turkey to commence its incursion. One tactic on the table:
threatening to recognize the deaths of millions of Armenians and
members of other ethnic minorities under the Ottoman Empire as a
genocide, a National Security Council official told Newsweek.
Whether or not the deaths of up to a million and a half Armenians and
hundreds of thousands of Greeks and Assyrians in 1915-1923 should be
termed a “genocide” is a controversial topic in international
relations. Turkey, the modern-day successor to the Ottoman Empire,
rejects that these events constituted a systematic campaign to
slaughter ethnic minorities, but more than 30 countries and
governments have gone on the record to say it does.
The United States government has not joined them. While 49 U.S.
states—Mississippi is the sole exception—have officially recognized
the Armenian genocide, no federal legislation to do so has ever
succeeded.
The issue has high-profile supporters. This past April, Senators Bob
Menendez of New Jersey and Ted Cruz of Texas introduced a resolution
“affirming U.S. recognition of Armenian genocide.” Democratic
presidential contenders Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris signed on,
as did Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to the House version.
Just last week, on October 11, Kim Kardashian, who is of Armenian
descent on her father’s side, Instagrammed photos of herself being
baptized with her children Saint, 3, Chicago, 1, and Psalm, 5 months,
in Armenia. (Eldest daughter North was baptized in an Armenian church
in Israel in 2015.)
“Thank you Armenia for such a memorable trip,” she wrote on Twitter,
calling herself “blessed.”
In April 2018 the reality star tweeted a plea for the U.S. to
recognize the genocide.
Two years earlier, in April 2016, she wrote an open letter to genocide
deniers on her app, which the Armenian Education Association reprinted
as a full-page ad in the New York Times that September.
Kurdish forces in Syria now accuse Turkey and its rebel allies of
pursuing genocidal policies against them.
As Newsweek reported Wednesday, the president was presented by his top
officials with a number of plans to realize his desired exit from
war-torn Syria, where a U.S.-led coalition largely defeated the
Islamic State militant group (ISIS) with the help of the Syrian
Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led militia that included separatist
groups seen as terrorists by NATO ally Turkey. These tactics included
economic and political pressure moves, but Trump opted instead for a
hasty departure to avoid an upcoming clash between two forces the U.S.
considered friendly.
The U.S. plan would have come as the Syrian Democratic Forces warned
that Turkey was planning a new campaign of ethnic cleansing against
another ethnic minority in the region, the Kurds. The Kurdish homeland
spans parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey, all of which have
complex relations with this local community that has sought some form
of autonomy in all four countries.
Turkey has battled with a three-decade insurgency against a group
known as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), considered a terrorist
organization both at home and by the U.S. The group once found refuge
in Syria, but the outlawed group’s leader was expelled and ultimately
arrested in Kenya as Damascus looked to improve ties with Ankara. In
the wake of the 2011 uprising across Syria, Kurds have fought both
with and against government forces and, as of last week, ultimately
chose to side with them as the U.S. pulled out of the war-torn
country. The mostly Sunni Muslim Arab rebels and jihadis that make up
the opposition, once a U.S. partner for regime change against Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Russia and Iran, have deeply
opposed efforts for Kurdish autonomy and now comprise the forces
mobilized Turkey to enact a roughly 20-mile “safe zone” across the
Turkish-Syrian border.
“The practices of the Turkish affiliated forces are similar to ISIS,
even though these forces have different names,” the Syrian Democratic
Council, the political wing of the Syrian Democratic Forces, said
Wednesday in a statement sent to Newsweek. “The Turkish State is also
trying to use the refugees’ issue to occupy further Syrian regions and
to implement the demographic change policy, just as it did in Afrin
and other Turkish-held regions in Syria.”
“The Autonomous Administration reaffirms that what Turkey is doing
amounts to genocide and occupation practices,” the statement added.
That same day, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denied reports
of atrocities committed by his forces past or present, telling a
parliamentary meeting of his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party
that “Turkey has never committed any civilian massacre throughout its
history, and it never will, neither our faith nor our culture or moral
values allows that.”
Trump ultimately disagreed, threatening sanctions against Turkish
officials “who may be involved in serious human rights abuses,
obstructing a ceasefire, preventing displaced persons from returning
home, forcibly repatriating refugees, or threatening the peace,
security, or stability in Syria.” He also warned of a steel tariff
hike and the suspension of $100 billion-dollar trade talks, but did
not use the diplomatic cudgel of the Armenian genocide issue.
On Thursday, however, a Trump administration delegation led by Vice
President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo emerged from
talks with Erdogan and his officials with what the U.S. referred to as
a “ceasefire” deal. The agreement appeared to affirm Ankara’s desire
for a “safe zone” and the withdrawal of the People’s Protection Units
(YPG), a Syrian Democratic Forces militia that Turkey linked to the
PKK. The two warring factions themselves appeared to emerge with
different understandings, as Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu
declared “this is not a ceasefire,” but a “pause” and Syrian
Democratic Forces commander Mazloum Kobani argued the deal only
applied to a small border area between Ras al-Ayn and Tel Abyad.
The move was also met with cautious skepticism by those fearing a
repeat of history. In a statement sent to Newsweek, the Armenian
Assembly of America—which calls on Congress to recognize the Armenian
Genocide—said that it “joins the legitimate concerns raised by
Congressional leaders about Turkey’s invasion into Syria leaving
America’s Kurdish allies as well as other ethnic minorities, including
Armenians and Assyrians, in precarious conditions.”
“Turkey’s attack against innocent civilians is all too familiar,” it
added, accusing Erdogan of seeking “the continuation of the Ottoman
Empire” and “openly supporting ISIS” in Syria. “The international
community should not stand by and watch as Turkey once again subjects
ethnic and religious minorities in Syria to horrific atrocities. It is
our legacy to protect those whose lives are at risk and our
responsibility to prevent atrocities from being committed.”
Meanwhile, the agreement came only after Syrian and Russian
troops—whose countries both recognize the Armenian Genocide—joined
Kurdish-led forces at a number of positions once held by U.S. troops,
some of these locations within the planned “safe zone.” Erdogan was
likely to discuss the subject as he headed to Russia to meet with his
counterpart Vladimir Putin in Sochi, the Black Sea city that
previously hosted the two alongside Iranian President Hassan Rouhani
for trilateral peace talk designed to end Syria’s multi-sided war, in
which yet another front has opened.
This article appeared in Newsweek on October 18, 2019.
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3 – Ohanian, Tankian to help build Armenia social network
By Abhimanyu Ghoshal
(TNW)—I spent last week in the Armenian capital of Yerevan, which
played host to this year’s World Congress On Information Technology
(WCIT). The prestigious event brings together government agencies, IT
companies, lobbying groups, investors, and startups as they discuss
the latest developments in information and communications tech. And
this year, it also saw the announcement of a new social network —
HyeConnect.
Derived from Hayastan, the Armenian name for the country, HyeConnect
was described at a press conference as a platform to connect all
Armenians around the globe, as they seek to build partnerships, launch
new businesses, and collaborate on projects to benefit the country and
its people. That includes the country’s population of three million,
as well as its global diaspora of a whopping seven million people.
HyeConnect is currently still a work in progress, which is why I don’t
have any screenshots to show you. However, I can tell you what some of
its chief proponents — Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, musician and
activist Serj Tankian (who you might know from legendary rock band
System of a Down), and Armenia’s minister of high-tech industry, Hakob
Arshakyan — have in mind for the network while it’s being built.
Musician and Activist Serj Tankian speaks at the Technology, Society &
Democracy panel at WCIT 2019
Why does a country need its own social network? Speaking to TNW, Serj
Tankian explained that the idea makes a lot of sense now that the
Armenian diaspora is keen to connect with its homeland, following the
country’s own Velvet Revolution in 2018:
The idea of having some type of digital platform to connect Armenians
came up years ago. When it came up during the rule of the previous
regime, it was a way of connecting the diaspora to each other, so it
can better deal with the ongoing reality in Armenia.
But after the revolution, the concept evolved from being a diaspora
connection thing to a pan-Armenian connection thing, which I think is
more inclusive and more powerful. This is something we as Armenians
desperately need. We’ve got such diverse Armenian communities around
the world doing amazing things.
For example, I’m really dialed into the Armenian reality, but I have
no idea what’s going with the community in Marseilles. I know just a
couple of people there. Now if I’m developing a music project there,
and I need a French-Armenian rapper, there’s no way I can find someone
like that easily on, say, Facebook. You’d need an entire team for that
search.
Hakob Arshakyan, the country’s minister for high-tech industry, is
only 34 and has been in this new ministry and position for just a
year, but is already playing a major role in building out the
country’s tech and startup scene. In an interview with TNW, he
explained that the timing couldn’t be better:
The idea for HyeConnect, as it’s being developed now, came up right
after the revolution last year. Following the revolution and the
ushering in of a progressive new government, every Armenian within our
borders and around the world is feeling connected to the country and
to their fellow countrymen.
Arshakyan noted that this kind of a platform is practically a startup
idea, and needs to develop and evolve over time: We’ll make sure to
keep an open mind about how this can evolve. As we use it and see what
works and what doesn’t, we’ll make the necessary changes to adapt the
platform to suit its users.
The sentiment was echoed by Alexis Ohanian, who co-founded Reddit way
back in 2005 and knows a thing or two about building social networks.
I asked him about how the team behind HyeConnect planned to avoid the
problems of excessive noise and unsolicited messages that plague other
platforms.
Ohanian noted that while it’s still in the early stages, HyeConnect
will draw from learnings gathered from other networks to promote
meaningful connections and conversations. Plus, it’ll be a non-profit
venture. Hopefully, that means it won’t be gamed by publishers and
advertisers striving to attract users’ attention.
Unlike many other countries, the people of Armenia have plenty of good
reasons to feel united right now: a young new government, a
revitalized population, and a nationwide interest in advancing
Armenia’s interests and capabilities.
“The goal is to connect everyone, using their interests, to form
incubative platforms, focus groups, symposiums,” said Tankian. “The
amount of positive things that come out of this will be amazing.”
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4- Buying Airtime? Artsakh conflict makes it to prime time on
‘Seal Team’
By Joshua Kucera
An episode of ‘SEAL Team’ aired on October 16 on CBS about the
conflict between Armenian forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and
the dictatorship of Azerbaijan.
The episode description reads: “Bravo Team is on a mission in
Azerbaijan to help retake a power plant in order to avoid political
instability in the area.”
CBS portrays the Azeri regime as a democratic U.S. ally, whereas the
episode portrays Armenia as the “enemy.”
The show is based on fictitious characters and a fictitious story
line. In an episode of SEAL Team, a military drama on CBS, elite U.S.
forces are sent to protect an Azerbaijani power plant from an
incursion, possibly by an “Armenian militia.” The show kicked off a
firestorm on social media as Armenians accused its makers of bias and
suggested Azerbaijan had paid for it.
An elite team of American special forces airdrops into Azerbaijan to
defend a strategic power plant against “enemy” “Armenian militia” who
have taken it over in an attempt to force concessions over
Nagorno-Karabakh.
That’s the plot of a new product from the U.S. military-entertainment
complex, an episode from the TV drama Seal Team that aired October 16.
The show’s geopolitics caused an immediate controversy among Armenians
and speculation that Azerbaijan may have somehow had a hand in
developing the scenario.
Seal Team – a middle-of-the-rankings show that averages about 5
million viewers per episode – follows a band of Navy Seals around the
globe as they defuse one conflict after another. Given the number of
hot spots the team churns through it is probably inevitable that they
would hit the Caucasus, but their take on the conflict took a
noticeably pro-Azerbaijani framing.
“Twelve hours ago, Armenian forces violated their ceasefire with
Azerbaijan in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region,” the team’s intel
officer says as she briefs the sailors.
“That’s a dangerous game of chicken,” one Seal observes. “Why the hell
do we care about turf wars between countries that I can’t even spell?”
asks another in a good-ol’-boy accent.
The no-nonsense intel officer educates him: “Azerbaijan is our only
ally in the Caspian Sea… With Russia and Iran stirring the pot, we
really don’t want to lose any traction.”
Someone has taken advantage of the ceasefire violation somehow to plan
an attack on a critical power plant in Azerbaijan, and the Seals are
flying across the ocean to prevent the attack. Who are the potential
suspects? “Armenian loyalists, Shiite militia, foreign powers looking
to reduce American influence in the region,” the intel officer
suggests. (It is perhaps noteworthy that the fact that Azerbaijan is
itself majority Shiite is never mentioned.)
Eventually the team settles on the explanation that the attackers are
an “Armenian militia,” seeking to “hold the plant and use it to force
concessions over Nagorno-Karabakh.”
Nearly all of this geopolitical exposition was laid out in a brief
scene, a clip of which was tweeted by Azerbaijan’s consul to Los
Angeles, Nasimi Aghayev, just before the show aired.
Aghayev’s promotion of the series raised suspicions that this was a
new frontier in Azerbaijan’s multifaceted efforts to promote its views
of its conflict on any platform available. Aghayev did not immediately
respond to a query for comment from Eurasianet, nor did PR people for
CBS, the network that aired the show. (This post will be updated if
they respond.)
But the show does seem to have a history of taking “incentives” from
foreign governments for positive coverage. Four episodes of Seal Team
were filmed in Belgrade, and the Serbia Film Commission described its
cooperation with the show in a press release:
“The show is highlighting the city of Belgrade as a modern
international capital, full of culture and beauty, and with Serbian
people playing positive roles,” the commission said. “The show’s
producers were drawn by great locations, the collaboration of the
Serbian Government and the experience of local film professionals. The
film incentive was also a key element in attracting CBS to shoot
here.”
Moreover, the scenario tracks closely to the talking points Azerbaijan
uses in the West: that it is a loyal U.S. ally (though Georgia would
take exception to the notion that it is the “only” one in the region)
stuck between Russia and Iran. The mention of a ceasefire violation
and the notion of concessions over Karabakh suggest that the writers
got some briefings from someone knowledgeable on the conflict, and the
repeated references to Armenians as the “enemy” suggests that the
consultant’s name didn’t end in “-yan.”
There is one line that stood out: “This is a clandestine operation,”
one of the sailors explains. “The Azerbaijani government doesn’t want
to appear weak enough to need help.” This is both true (see these
Wikileaks about U.S. assistance to Azerbaijan in a naval standoff with
Iran) and not something that Baku would like to be advertised. So
whatever influence Azerbaijan had over the script, it wasn’t total.
At the end of the episode, though, there is a twist: we learn that the
enemy is not in fact Armenian militia, but Iranian mercenaries, whose
motives appear to be purely destabilization of the region. We learn
this because in the course of the fight, the shadowy enemy fighters
deploy a small drone. It looks like the kind of thing a child would
play with, but it is apparently too sophisticated for Armenians.
“No way that’s Armenian militia,” one of the American soldiers muses.
“Who the hell are we fighting?” Further digging reveals it to be
Iranians – who in fact do play a role in Azerbaijan’s threat
perception, though not one they like to advertise as much as
Armenians.
It’s not clear what kind of influence a show has like this over
Americans’ perceptions of the conflict, but for the large majority of
those 5 million viewers it’s likely the first time they’ve ever heard
of Azerbaijan or Nagorno-Karabakh. And Armenian-American groups
immediately objected.
“Is #CBS on Aliyev’s Payroll?” tweeted the Armenian National Committee
of America, referring to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev. “That’s
the only explanation for the absurd story-line in tomorrow night’s
@SEALTeamCBS episode where ‘Armenian loyalists’ and ‘Shia Militia’
target an Azerbaijani power plant after an Armenian attack on
Azerbaijan.”
ANCA called on its supporters to object to CBS. The largest
concentration of Armenians in the U.S. is in Southern California, also
the home to the American entertainment industry. Might we look forward
to a makeup episode some time in the future when the Seals head to
Armenia to help that U.S. ally against its “enemy?”
Joshua Kucera is the Turkey/Caucasus editor at Eurasianet.
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5- U.S. Congressional Delegation Visit Armenian American Wellness Center
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Members of U.S. Congress, Frank Pallone, Jackie
Speier, and Judy Chu, arrived in Armenia early October 2019 at the
invitation of Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly Ararat
Mirzoyan to discuss relations between the United States and Armenia.
On Monday, October 7, at 10:30 a.m., Speier and Chu visited the
Armenian American Wellness Center (AAWC or Wellness Center), known for
being an exemplary model of public-private partnership, based on
American values, standards, and best practices. The Wellness Center
was founded in 1997 by the Armenian American Cultural Association,
Inc. (AACA), a non-profit organization based in the Washington, D.C.
Metropolitan Area. Established as a single department to introduce
previously non-existent mammography screening in Armenia, with support
from AACA the Wellness Center has grown to include 10 departments
equipped with cutting-edge medical technology.
“The Clinic is amazing and state-of-the-art. I am so impressed with
the professionalism of the staff, equipment and facility. God bless
Rita Balian!” wrote Speier in the Wellness Center’s guestbook after
taking a tour.
“This Clinic is inspirational! You are doing such important work for
so many women!” wrote Chu.
In 1997, in response to alarming breast cancer crisis in post-Soviet
Armenia, Rita and Vartkess Balian from the United States working
closely with Hranush Hakobyan, then-Minister of Social Welfare of
Armenia, established the first mammography center in the country and
named it the Armenian American Mammography University Center (AAMUC),
later renamed to the Armenian American Wellness Center. Registered as
the first non-profit entity/”Foundation” in Armenia on the campus of
the Yerevan State Medical University, AAMUC was created to provide
mammography screening for early and accurate detection of breast
cancer.
In 2002, through a Special Presidential Decree, the Armenian
Government donated the entire dilapidated five-story building, along
with its land, to the Armenian American Wellness Center, which had
previously occupied only the first floor of the building. With support
from AACA, AACA’s grassroots fundraising, contributions from major
donors from the Armenian Diaspora, and USAID grants, the building has
gone through extensive reconstruction, expansion, seismic
reinforcement, and renovation. The entire process was initiated and
supervised by the late Vartkess M. Balian, an architect-engineer and
real estate developer in the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Area, with
the assistance of architect Hovsep Sarafian from Michigan.
Today, the Wellness Center represents a state-of-the-art medical
facility providing advanced preventive healthcare services to patients
from Armenia and the wider Caucasus region. The mission of the
Wellness Center is to save, prolong, and improve the lives of women
and mothers through the early and accurate detection of their diseases
and provide appropriate treatment.
For the past twenty-two years, the Center has served a wide range of
patients, including vulnerable populations in remote regions of
Armenia during its Outreach Medical Missions provided free of
charge—356 to date.
Since the establishment of a partnership between AACA/AAWC and the
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in the early 2000s,
AAWC has expanded to include the following 10 departments equipped
with advanced medical technology: Breast Screening and Diagnosis;
Gynecology; Pathology Lab (Cytology and Histology); Family Medicine
and Endocrinology; Pharmacy; Urology (includes prostate cancer
screening); Dental Health Clinic; Ambulatory/Outpatient Surgery;
Diagnostic Imaging (CT Scanner, Digital X-Ray, and Osteoporosis
Screening using DEXA units); and Orthopedic Services.
Since April 28, 1997, through July 31, 2019, 626,608 services have
been provided to 496,633 patients. To date, close to 9,600 lives of
Women/Mothers have been saved through accurate diagnosis and
appropriate treatment provided at AAWC. Furthermore, 201 “Miracle
Babies” have been born to couples struggling with infertility from
chronic infections from four to fourteen years. In addition, AACA has
organized and sponsored 80 medical exchanges between AAWC and eight
U.S. medical university centers to provide training both on site in
Armenia and in the United States.
Furthermore, AACA and AAWC have been recipients of numerous
international and national recognitions and awards, including annual
public confidence awards, for being an exemplary medical facility
providing high quality healthcare services as well as promoting
patient care and women’s health.
The Wellness Center continues its life-saving mission, thanks to the
hard work and dedication of its Founders, mainly Rita Balian, who
donates her time as AACA President and CEO/CVO (Chief Volunteer
Officer), AAWC Executive Director Khachanush Hakobyan, and the 128
AAWC Staff Members, of whom 104 are women and 24 are men.
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