Category: 2019

GLENDALE—The Armenian American Museum has announced the selection of design consultants who will be preparing the project for groundbreaking in 2020. The project design team will be led by Alajajian Marcoosi Architects and team members will include Robert P. Goodwin Consulting, IMEG Corp, Rhyton Engineering, Glumac, Courtland Studio LLC, and Applied Earth Sciences.

“We are proud to be working with a team of highly skilled, experienced, and reputable professionals who have pride and passion for the Armenian American Museum project,” stated architect Aram Alajajian of internationally acclaimed Alajajian Marcoosi Architects.

The Armenian American Museum is currently in the pre-construction phase of the project with plans to begin construction in 2020. The City of Glendale has dedicated a premier downtown location for the cultural and educational center with a $1-per-year ground lease agreement. During the pre-construction phase, the design team will be preparing detailed construction plans for submission to the City of Glendale.

Robert Goodwin of Robert P. Goodwin Consulting will be serving as the Construction Manager for the project. Goodwin brings years of construction management experience to the museum, most recently serving as the Construction Manager and Owner’s Representative for The Broad in Los Angeles.

IMEG Corp. will be serving as the Structural Engineer for the project. IMEG is one of the nation’s largest design consulting firms with nearly 1,200 team members across 40 offices providing forward-thinking infrastructure design and engineering. The Pasadena-based team will be led by Principle Edwin Najarian.

Rhyton Engineering will be serving as the Civil Engineer for the project. Rhyton is a reputable firm providing civil engineering and design services to architects and developers. The firm’s major partners and projects include the Staples Center, Kaiser Permanente, USC, and CSUN.

Glumac will be serving as the Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing Engineer for the project. Glumac specializes in sustainable building technologies and creating systems that optimize energy efficiencies and minimize environmental impact.

Courtland Studio LLC will be serving as the Landscape Architect for the project. Paul Lewis and his team of landscape architects bring over 20 years of experience specializing in landscape design, landscape architecture, and site planning.

Applied Earth Sciences will be serving as the Geotechnical Engineer for the project. AES is a leading firm in the engineering geologic and environmental services industry. The Los Angeles-based team will be led by Founder/President Caro Minas and General Manager/Engineering Geologist Shant Minas.

The design team will also be working with a number of advisors including Perry Maljian of Wood Corp, a global leader in project delivery, engineering and technical services.

Alajajian Marcoosi Architects worked with the museum’s Construction Committee to interview, evaluate, and recommend consultants for each of the disciplines to the Board of Trustees. The Construction Committee consists of experienced industry professionals who are providing their expertise and guidance as the project heads for construction.

“We are excited to begin the next phase of the project and look forward to working with the design team to prepare the project for the historic groundbreaking,” stated Construction Committee Chairman Paul Karapetian.

The museum will be announcing additional design team members in the coming weeks.

About the Armenian American Museum

The Armenian American Museum and Cultural Center of California is a developing project in Glendale, CA with a mission to promote understanding and appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Armenian American experience. The Museum will serve as a cultural campus that enriches the community, educates the public on the Armenian American story, and empowers individuals to embrace cultural diversity and speak out against prejudice.

The governance of the Museum is entrusted to ten Armenian American cultural, philanthropic, and religious non-profit institutions including the Armenian Catholic Eparchy, Armenian Cultural Foundation, Armenian Evangelical Union of North America, Armenian General Benevolent Union Western District, Armenian Missionary Association of America, Armenian Relief Society Western USA, Nor Or Charitable Foundation, Nor Serount Cultural Association, Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America, and Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

NICOSIA (Cyprus Mail)—The foreign ministers of Cyprus, Greece and Armenia agreed on Tuesday that their respective heads of state would meet at a trilateral summit in Armenia in January, adding that the purpose for the cooperation is to promote peace, stability and prosperity through enhanced political dialogue.

They also agreed to cooperate in various areas, such as the economy, trade and investments, agriculture, education and science, IT and innovation, healthcare, crisis management, culture and tourism.

“Today’s meeting reflects clearly our joint determination to further expand and deepen our cooperation and to develop synergies that will benefit our countries and peoples,” Foreign Minister Nicos Christodoulides said.

To this effect, they agreed to share information, exchange best practices and expertise, and submit, in the coming months, concrete proposals for possible cooperation in the aforesaid areas, to be discussed in their next trilateral meeting.

Christodoulides also said that he had the opportunity to brief his counterparts on the latest developments regarding the Cyprus problem as well as on Turkey’s escalated activities in the island’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in violation of the Republic’s sovereign rights and international law.

The three ministers, according to Christodoulides, also exchanged views on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and on the implementation of the Prespa Agreement, in addition to discussing relations between the EU and Armenia.

“We have assured Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnastakanyan of our unwavering support for the strengthening of EU-Armenia relations, both within the framework of the Eastern Partnership and the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement of November 2017 and beyond,” he said.

In relation to the Partnership Agreement, he said that it was expected to be ratified by the House of Representatives in the coming weeks. “Its entry into force will set EU-Armenia relations on a new footing,” he said.

For his part Mnatsakanyan said that the launch of the platform was very important and very promising in amplifying the traditional friendship that exists between the three nations. He added that they were translating that historical friendship into cooperation to the benefit of the three nations and people.

He also emphasised that the objectives of the cooperation were peace, cooperation and stability for the three countries and the region.

Referring to the expansion of the trilateral cooperation, he said that Armenia was looking forward to welcome the trilateral summit in the near future.

Greek minister Giorgos Katrougalos said the three were very like-minded, peace loving countries, which believe that international law and respect of multilateralism form the basis of international relations and they also share a long history.

“We envisaged the improvement of both economic and political relations, the next step is going to be the trilateral summit among the leaders of our countries”, he said.

He added that Greece intended to help Armenia in its European perspectives.

They also discussed international issues and topics of common interest and concern.

Azerbaijan, once again, skipped a scheduled OSCE monitoring mission on Tuesday, days after its forces opened fire on Artsakh positions killing a Artsakh soldier.

On June 4, in accordance with the arrangement reached with the authorities of Artsakh, the OSCE Mission conducted a planned monitoring of the ceasefire regime on the Line of Contact between the armed forces of Artsakh and Azerbaijan, in the south-east direction of Martuni town, the Artsakh foreign ministry reported.

From the positions of the Defense Army of the Republic of Artsakh, the monitoring was conducted by Field Assistant to the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office (CiO) Mihail Olaru (Moldova) and staff member of the Office of the CiO Personal Representative Martin Schuster (Germany).

From the opposite side of the Line of Contact, the monitoring was conducted by Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, his Field Assistant Ognjen Jovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Personal Assistant Simon Tiller (Great Britain).

The monitoring passed in accordance with the agreed schedule. However, the Azerbaijani side did not lead the OSCE mission to its frontline positions.

From the Artsakh side, the monitoring mission was accompanied by representatives of the Artsakh foreign and defense ministries.

Sen. Bernie Sanders Latest to Cosponsor Key Human Rights Legislation; Mayor Buttigieg Fields Armenian Genocide Question at Fresno Town Hall

WASHINGTON—Half of the U.S. Senators and three of the four U.S. Representatives running for president have cosponsored legislation to lock in official U.S. recognition and permanent remembrance of the Armenian Genocide.

With Senator Bernie Sanders’ (D-VT) decision this week to cosponsor S.Res.150, the three top U.S. Senate candidates seeking the presidency are current backers of this human rights measure. The others are Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Two of the three sitting U.S. Senators who have not cosponsored S.Res.150 – Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) – have never backed similar measures. The third, Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), is a past supporter of the Armenian Genocide Resolution.

On the House side, Representatives Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), Seth Moulton (D-MA), Tim Ryan (D-OH), are all cosponsors of the Armenian Genocide Resolution, H.Res.296. Rep. Eric Swalwell, a past supporter, has not cosponsored H.Res.296. Neither of the two former Representatives who are running for the White House – Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) and John Delaney (D-MD) – have ever cosponsored the Armenian Genocide legislation.

Former Vice President Joe Biden (D-DE) championed Armenian Genocide recognition during his decades in the Senate, yet was part of an Obama-Biden Administration that broke its pledge to properly commemorate this crime. The Obama-Biden White House also actively opposed Congressional legislation commemorating this atrocity, while its State Department called the Armenian Genocide a matter for “historical debate,” and its Department of Justice filed a Supreme Court brief against the right of Americans to file pursue Armenian Genocide-era insurance claims.

H.Res.296, spearheaded by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and backed by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), currently has 102 cosponsors, while S.Res.150, its Senate counterpart led by Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) has 18 cosponsors. Both aim to establish, as a matter of U.S. policy, 1) the rejection of Armenian Genocide denial, 2) ongoing official U.S. government recognition and remembrance of this crime, and 3) the importance of education about the Armenian Genocide in preventing modern-day atrocities.

Buttigieg: “The United States needs to stand up for human rights”
2020 Presidential candidate and Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg shared his views on U.S. affirmation of the Armenian Genocide responding to a question during a Fresno, California town hall held on June 3.

“To me, the United States needs to stand up for human rights,” stated Mayor Buttigieg, who went on to explain: “And, I think of a historian I studied as a student who said that one of the reasons you need to pay attention to history is that even the dead are not safe from the enemy if he wins. There is a relationship between how we pay attention to history and how we live in the present.”

Buttigieg continued, noting “sometimes something as simple as recognizing the truth – that helps create human rights diplomacy that makes countries want to do the right thing and have to explain themselves if they fail to do the right thing. And that is part of how foreign policy will work on my watch.”

BY RITA HOVAKIMIAN

Arax Sarian was born in New Julfa, Iran on March 8, 1921 to Ashout and Mary Baghdasarian. She comes from a long line of doctors and pharmacists on her father’s side and very successful merchants on her mother’s side. Arax passed away on Monday, May 27 in San Francisco.

From an early age she demonstrated a love for music, theatre, and dance.

She lost her mother at the very young age of 10 and her sister died when she was only 16. These painful experiences shaped her young life and led to her empathy for loss and her unique ability to create and express some of the poetry we have all come to know and appreciate over these many years.

At 18 she married and later had her first of 3 children, her daughter Mary.

When her marriage dissolved, she defied all conventions for those times and left with her daughter, starting up her own entrepreneurial dressmaking business to support them in living independently – a rarity for a formerly married woman in Iran in the 1940’s.

The story goes that one day, while Arax was walking down the street in Tehran with young Mary, she captured the eye of Haik Hovakimian. He turned to his friend and asked: “who is that beautiful woman? I’m going to marry her!”

Haik wooed Arax and lobbied her family, and eventually he convinced her to marry him and let him take her and Mary to America to begin a new life.

In 1949, they moved to San Francisco and Arax quickly found work with the City of Paris department store in San Francisco’s Union Square, as a dressmaker. She very soon became their highest paid seamstress.

She and Haik had 2 children together, Rita and Melvin.

Her independent spirit thrived in the environment of America in the 1950’s.

Arax quickly became a pillar of the Armenian community in the Bay Area. She sponsored many relatives to come to the United States and used her resources to support them.

Eventually she changed careers and expressed her energy and drive to become a real estate agent, as well as a successful investor in Bay Area properties.

Arax brought her energetic participation to community activities. For approximately 20 years, she broadcasted for the Armenian Radio Hour.

In 1973, during the organization of Hamaskayin, the Armenian educational and cultural society in San Francisco, Arax became a founding member and also served as its executive for many years. While a member, her involvement was a great asset to the programs. As a graceful actress, she held leading roles in Levon Shant’s “Ingadz Perti Ishkhanouhin,”, “Gaisreh,” and “Madam X.”

During the same time, for 35 years, Arax was an active member of the Armenian Relief Society, and for 40 years an active member of the Ladies Auxiliary of St. Gregory Armenian Apostolic Church, and served as their Chairwoman for 14 years.

In addition, she created the monthly luncheon for Senior Citizens. For 35 years she hosted and raised funds to support the lunches, always organizing a lively and fun program for each month’s event. In line with her spirit and loves she designed activities including singing, poetry, music and raffles.

Among many awards and honors, in 2004, Arax was named Mother of the Year by the community. She has presented several community lectures, most recently “The History of Iranian/Armenians for the past 400 years.” She participated in virtually every aspect of community life and devoted her life to serving the church and community with passion and an unrelenting drive for excellence.

Arax truly enjoyed life and often remarked that she did everything that she wanted to do, including her loves of travel, the opera, cooking and entertaining, all the while always presenting herself with elegance and class.

I would like to end by sharing a quote from playwright George Bernard Shaw, which I feel truly captures Arax’s spirit and sense of purpose:

“This is the true joy in life: Being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one, being a force of nature. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it what I can. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”