Category: 2018

Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger on Tuesday appointed Dr. Alina Dorian to serve as her appointee to the Los Angeles County Public Health Commission.

Dr. Dorian is the principal of the Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School and is the Associate Dean for Practice at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). She is a trainer with various Public Health Departments. She has served as a professor at UCLA and a lecturer for the Loma Linda University. She received a Bachelor’s of Science degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, with an emphasis in Botanical Sciences and her Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health in International Health, Health Systems Management.

“The Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region Board – wholeheartedly congratulates Dr. Dorian on this prestigious appointment, and we are certain that she will continue to bring pride to our community through her public service, dedication and professional expertise,” stated ANCA-WR Chair Nora Hovsepian, Esq.

“We are truly grateful to Supervisor Kathryn Barger for accepting our nomination of Dr. Dorian as an honoree during April’s Armenian History Awareness Month and for identifying her through this introduction as a worthy candidate for this position. We look forward to continuing to work closely with Supervisor Barger on a host of issues which are important to our community, and we thank her for her service and friendship,” added Hovsepian.

The Public Health Commission examines the management of delivery of public health services to all cities and unincorporated areas in Los Angeles County as well as the management and response to emerging public health issues. This provides a necessary level of accountability and oversight for DPH, the Board of Supervisors, and the residents of Los Angeles County. Commission members are active in their respective roles in their communities, lending a voice to DPH’s work that supports the Department’s mission to protect health, prevent disease and promote the health and well-being of all persons in Los Angeles County.

BY VICKEN SOSIKIAN

On Monday July 30 the Los Angeles community had the opportunity to hear from the recently appointed Diaspora Minister during a town hall event in Glendale.

Mkhitar Hayrapetyan is young, charismatic, educated, open minded and was frank in his discourse with the people. Through his remarks and responses to audience questions, he affirmed that the new government is interested in developing a two way relationship with the Diaspora, which it views as a partner. He also made it clear that the ministry has a desire to work with any individual or organization who aims to serve the homeland.

Additionally welcoming and respectable was Hayrapetyan’s repeated calls for feedback and especially criticism.

I would like to take advantage of this invitation by sharing my concern about the minister’s position and response to one particular audience member’s question and comments. As a part of his remarks, the individual explained that he believes that a truly prosperous and powerful Armenian nation can only be achieved if Armenians of the Diaspora can return to their historic lands.

Hayrapetyan, actually began answering the question before the individual completed posing it. He explained that he believes in realistic, measurable and pragmatic approaches and continued by stating that we should first resolve the issues of present day Armenia and make the republic powerful and prosperous before looking to liberate historic lands. Hayrapetyan also explained that there are an estimated 20 million Kurds living in the Western Armenia.

At this point, the audience member clarified that he is referring to “Wilsonian Armenia” and that, according to Turkey’s own scholars and historians, 5-7 million of the local population is not Kurdish but in fact [Islamized] Armenians.

Hayrapetyan continued by posing a hypothetical question back to the audience member – Assuming the region in fact becomes a greater Armenia with 10 million Armenians and 10 million Kurds, he asked who would win elections in such a country.

The minister’s position on the issue and his remarks are concerning for several reasons.

Given that Hayrapetyan is not the Foreign Minister nor the Prime Minister, he could have punted the question to those individuals – like he punted another audience member’s question about education for school age children of repatriates to the Minister of Education. He could have also given a general response such that the issue is not on the government’s agenda at the moment but he welcomes input from others – such as from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, which believes that the borders of United Armenia must include all territories designated as Armenia in the “Wilsonian Armenia” map.

Hayrapetyan, the new government and we all want to secure a prosperous Armenia. However, the approach to first achieve that and then pursue the liberation of Western Armenian lands is flawed for more than one reason.

Armenia cannot be truly prosperous without the crucial access to the Black Sea. President Woodrow Wilson expressed just this in his letter [at the time] justifying the boundaries of “Wilsonian Armenia” to the president of the Supreme Council of the Allied Powers. Furthermore, the exclusion of these lands from a greater Armenia is an exclusion human capital tantamount to the estimated 5-7 million Armenians living on that land [for centuries].

Additionally, the liberation of Western Armenian lands is undeniably a monumental task. Therefore, it is all that more imperative that the issue be addressed internally and long term strategic planning be done accordingly. A step-by-step approach does not work in such situations. Not to mention that such an approach results in delaying action rather than dealing with it head on.

Finally, to simplify the situation with the hypothetical question about who would win elections is also unreasonable. Simple electoral rules can prevent the insinuated concern that non-Armenians could potentially be elected to govern a greater Armenia.

While understanding the sensitivities of the topic, not talking about it does not advance us, but with every passing day relegates the cause to old history as unattainable.

Now is the right time for the Armenian government and we, as a nation, to begin the discussion.

YEREVAN—After eight hours of deliberations on Thursday, the Armenia’s Criminal Court of Appeals went into recess, with the judge announcing that the court will reconvene on Friday to continue hearing appeals from former president Robert Kocharian’s attorneys on a decision to remand him when he was officially charged on July 27 with breaching Armenia’s constitutional order in connection to the March 1, 2008 post-presidential election standoff between protesters and police during which eight civilians and two police officers were killed.

After the hearing, one of Kocharyan’s attorneys, Hail Aloumyan spoke to reporters gathered outside the courthouse, saying that Kocharian appeared at the hearing and also addressed the court.

“[He spoke] brilliantly. I am actually thinking that a tangible portion of his testimony may be publicized because the evidence he presented was well formulated. He spoke about the case and the charges [brought against him],” said Aloumyan.

Another attorney, Aram Orbelyan, seemed upbeat and told reporters that the recess was called so the sides have not had the opportunity to present their cases.

“If we are not done tomorrow, then [the session will be] on Monday,” explained Orbelyan who said that he was optimistic about the outcome of the appeal.

Armenia’s Prosecutor General’s office on Wednesday rejected an appeal to release Kocharian by 46 members of parliament who submitted a petition on Tuesday calling for an end to Kocharian’s pre-trial remand.

The Prosecutor General’s office rejected the appeal and validated concerns expressed by its Special Investigative Service, which said that remanding Kocharian would ensure an impeded investigation into the March 1, 2008 post-election protests, during which eight civilians and two police officers were killed in clashes with the police. Kocharian is charged with breaching Armenia’s Constitutional order by engaging the military in the election process, which is a violation of the current constitution and the one under which Kocharian served as president.

“At the current stage of the preliminary investigation, the grounds to remand Robert Kocharian into custody remains unchanged and the selection of another precautionary measure outside of detention is still unable to guarantee the uninterrupted process of the investigation, due to thethe proper conduct of the defendant,”Arevik Khachatryan, head of Prosecutor General’s public relations department said Wednesday.

Armenia’s chief investigator, Sasun Khachatryan, has said that Kocharian is refusing to cooperate with the investigation and is not answering any questions.

In addition to the brief statement, the Prosecutor General’s office also released the list of parliament members who signed the petition appealing Kocharian’s remand. The list confirms that 42 of the signatories are members of Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia, led by Parliament Speaker Ara Babloyan and deputy speakers Arpine Hovhannisyan and Eduard Sharmazanov; three of the remaining four signatories are members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation bloc and one lawmaker representing businessman Gagik Tsarukyan’s bloce.

Below is the list:
Ara Babloyan
Arpine Hovhannisyan
Eduard Sharmazanov
V. Harutyunyan
Mihran Hakobyan
Karine Achemyan
Jemma Baghdasaryan
Knyaz Hasanov
Arsen Mikhaylov
Armen Ashotyan
Andranik Harutyunyan
Aram Harutyunyan
Harutyun Karapoghosyan
Ashot Arsenyan
Hakob Hakobyan
Karen Avagyan
Arayik Hovhannisyan
Vahram Baghdasaryan
Robert Sargsyan
Shushan Sardaryan
Hermine Naghdalyan
Margarit Yesayan
Artashes Geghamyan
Nairi Sahakyan
Gagik Melikyan
Rustam Makhmudyan
Arayik Grigoryan
Samvel Nikoyan
Shushan Petrosyan
Hayk Babukhanyan
Galust Sahakyan
Samvel Farmanyan
Khosrov Harutyunyan
Mihran Poghosyan
Ishkhan Zakaryan
Karen Bekaryan
Ruzanna Muradyan
Artur Gevorgyan
Koryun Nahapetyan
Tachat Vardapetyan
Karen Karapetyan
Avet Sargsyan
Armenuhi Kyureghyan
Romik Manukyan
Ruzanna Arakelyan

YEREVAN—The heads of Armenia’s National Security Service and Special Investigative Service both said that the role of former prime minister Hovik Abrahamyan in the March 1, 2008 post-presidential election crackdown on protesters is a “theory that needs to be verified.”

NSS Chief Artur Vanetsyan and SIS chief Sasun Khachatryan both agree that Abrahamyan’s role in the March 1, 2008 events should be probed. The NSS on Wednesday arrested Abrahamyan’s brother, Henrik, after raiding an abandoned industrial plant in the village of Mkrtchyan where they found a large cache of weapons, including Kalashnikov assault rifles, machine guns and other fire arms.

Along with Henrik Abrahamyan, the NSS also arrested Ambik Gevorkyan, the registered owner of the property, which the NSS deems is effectively owned by the former prime minister.

The NSS and the SIS are working together to establish the origins of the weapons and determine whether any of them were used during the March 1, 2008 crackdown during which eight civilians and two police officers were killed in clashes between protesters and the police.

The prosecutor general has already filed charges of breaching Armenia’s constitutional order against then president Robert Kocharian, defense minister Mikael Harutiunyan and the chief of staff of the armed forces Yuri Khachaturov. Kocharian and Harutiunyan were remanded into pre-trial custody, while Khachaturov was released on bail and allowed to return to Moscow where he serves as the Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.

The charges stem from claims by prosecutors that the high-ranking leaders at the time of the crackdown engaged the army in the election process—a violation of the current and previous constitutions of Armenia.

Hovik Abrahamyan was Armenia’s prime minister until September 2016 when he stepped down over reported disagreements with then president Serzh Sarkisian. Abrahamyan resigned from Sarkisian’s ruling Republican Party of Armenia in early 2017.

A program that was often mentioned during Armenia’s Diaspora Minister Mkhitar Hayrapetyan’s visit to Los Angeles was officially introduced by the ministry on Tuesday.

Below is the official announcement:

“Neruzh” is initiated and organized by the Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia in close cooperation with the Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST) and with the support of the Initiatives for Development of Armenia (IDeA) foundation, the United World Colleges (UWC) Dilijan, the Impact Hub Yerevan, and the Russian-Armenian University.

What is “Neruzh”?

It is a Diaspora Youth Startup Program for young entrepreneurs of Armenian descent who wish to bring their startup ideas and projects to Armenia.

To apply:

• You should be an Armenian living abroad or an Armenian from the Diaspora residing in Armenia for a period of 6 months maximum before submitting your application.
• At least one (co)founder should be of Armenian descent.
• You should be 18-35 years old.
• You should be ready to reside and build your startup in Armenia or Artsakh.
• Your startup field should fit into one or more of the following target sectors and their subsectors:
• Agriculture
• Tourism
• Innovative Technologies

What happens next?

• The screening committee will choose up to 100 best applications according to the eligibility requirements and selection criteria listed on the programme website.
• The participants will be introduced to Armenia and its business environment.
• 2 members from each selected startup/team will be invited to participate in the startup programme which will take place from 16th to the 21st of December 2018 at the UWC, Dilijan.
• At the end of the startup program a pitching event will be held, where up to 10 best teams will receive Innovation Grants and Ecosystem Awards once they settle in Armenia or Artsakh.

 

Innovation Grants and Ecosystem Awards include the following:

• Each winning team will receive a grant of up to 15 million drams after settling in Armenia or Artsakh.
• At the same time Innovation Grants winners will receive the Ecosystem Awards that cover:
• Free legal and taxation consulting.
• Membership in FAST Startup Studio for 4 months with full coaching program and co-working space.
• 8 month Fellowship program at Impact Hub Yerevan including incubation, mentorship and access to a professional workspace.
• Mentorship and coaching by field experts.
• Support of partner organizations.

Why Armenia?

• Opportunity to come live in the homeland
• Unique opportunities for Diaspora Armenians to do business in Armenia
• Possibility to receive strong support from the Government of Armenia
• Assistance in relocation and settlement in Armenia
• Capacity to create employment opportunities in Armenia
• Support Armenia to enhance its startup ecosystem

If you have a startup and are a Diaspora Armenian, do nоt to miss this opportunity, apply to the “Neruzh” prorgam before September 13, 2018.