Category: 2020

As both donors and employers, Sevag and Jackie Ajemian’s commitment to Armenia and the American University of Armenia is intertwined with their daily lives. They recognize the high quality of education that AUA provides, thus hiring AUA students to work in their Globanet office in Yerevan. As annual scholarship program supporters, they directly impact the lives of Armenian youth studying at AUA.

Sevag is the President and CEO of the software company Globanet, which he founded in 1996 after graduating from USC. Globanet is a premier provider of email archive migration, compliance, and eDiscovery solutions. He later expanded Globanet’s services to Armenia to provide new job opportunities and spur economic growth in his beloved homeland.

“I realized early on that there was a shortage of software programming talent, and I felt the country could benefit from people who are in the computer science and engineering fields,” Sevag says. “I had noticed in my own team and other teams that females were especially enthusiastic to join software development, and I wanted to further encourage that enthusiasm.”

In December 2018, Sevag and Jackie Ajemian committed to contributing to AUA’s scholarship program in support of a female enrolled in the Zaven & Sonia Akian College of Science and Engineering. The first recipient of their scholarship support was Armine Papikyan, a freshman student from Gyumri studying data science. “I was so impressed by Armine; her story, her background, and her enthusiasm to learn and explore the world,” recalls Sevag, reflecting on meeting the scholarship recipient. “I was treated with such professionalism that I could barely hold back my enthusiasm and emotions.”

The Ajemians have pledged to continue their annual scholarship support which will provide funding for Armine to complete her undergraduate degree and lead her into a promising future for herself. “Sevag and I want to do our best not only to contribute economically to Armenia’s workforce, but also to help the next generation receive the education they need to succeed and lead Armenia to become the next technology cluster in the world,” says Jackie.

Sevag and Jackie named the scholarship in memory of Sevag’s father, Bedros Karnik Ajemian. A scholarship at AUA is a great way to honor a loved one. “In Beirut my father was sponsoring the education of others. When he passed away a couple of years ago, I decided to follow in his footsteps and support students in financial need through scholarships. Naming the scholarship in his honor was very meaningful,” Sevag says. Through this named scholarship sustained by his son and his daughter-in-law, Bedros Karnik Ajemian’s legacy will live on at AUA, empowering many Armenian students through the gift of education.

Petros Mkheyan, who serves as a Software Developer at Globanet’s Yerevan Office, is a sophomore student at AUA from Gyumri studying computer science. He completed his military service in Artsakh in 2018 and is now continuing his education along with working. “The dedication to school and his work that Petros has is just amazing,” says Jackie.

“Seeing that other people care about your education reminds you of how valuable it is. It’s a big motivation for me and for others like me,” says Petros. “I always wanted to develop something innovative, something that will change the world. I don’t know what exactly, but I’m working on figuring it out. My biggest goal is to be able to change one person’s life, at the least.”

The Ajemians are generous contributors in promoting AUA’s mission through scholarship support and creating jobs. With such win-win solutions, employers are counting on AUA graduates to excel in the workplace. The Ajemians continue to promote AUA in preparing future leaders to enter the workforce and contribute to growing the Armenian economy.

BY RAFFI HAMPARIAN

In his day, George C. Parker, an enterprising early 20th Century New York City con man, taught the gullible some pretty painful lessons.

Parker was famous for repeatedly “selling” the Brooklyn Bridge to unsuspecting immigrants who, enticed by the prospect of owning a national landmark, handed over their hard-earned cash for a worthless piece of paper. He made his money banking on the great American showman P.T. Barnum’s dictum: “there’s a sucker born every minute.”

For some historical perspective, a New York Times article from 2005 noted that “The Brooklyn Bridge had several attributes that made it particularly well suited for this sort of endeavor [being sold by con men]. Its proximity to the port made it highly visible to newcomers who might be likely marks and its size provided opportunities to show it off while avoiding the law. But perhaps most critical was its considerable fame.”

Parker eventually came to the attention of the law, was found guilty multiple times, and lived out his last years as a convict in Sing Sing – a prison on the banks of the Hudson River, just north of New York.

It is because of Parker’s fame for repeatedly “selling” the Brooklyn Bridge to unwitting buyers that we have today the memorable American phrase: “and if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you.” This term is basically the textbook definition of the adjective gullible: “one who is easily duped or cheated.”

Today, looking back, it seems unreal that anyone would be gullible enough to “buy” the Brooklyn Bridge.  But as Luc Sante, author of the book “Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York” wrote, “The oddity of the thing today is not that there might have been con artists ready to sell the bridge, but that there would have been suckers both gullible enough and sufficiently well-heeled to fall for it.”

But such cons are not just from some other time, or tricks only played on someone else.

We don’t need to look any further than ongoing attempts to con Armenians out of Artsakh – to take from us what has always been ours, ancient Armenian land defended with blood and guarded today by brave soldiers – often at the cost of their lives.

Today we see the spirit of George C. Parker in the U.S. Department of State’s attempts to “prepare” Armenians for peace by getting us to buy in to the reckless Madrid Principles – a dangerous set of proposals that demand upfront and irrevocable strategic concessions of territory and security from Artsakh, in return for vague and easily reversible paper promises from the war-mongering Aliyev regime.

The set-up starts with gas-lighting Armenians into believing that any other solution is simply impossible. That the movement toward democratic self-determination that drove the number of United Nations member states from less than 50 at its founding in 1948 to more than 190 members today can never apply to Artsakh.

To convince us that a patently pro-Baku deal – one that grants land to Azerbaijan and takes security from Artsakh – is actually good for Armenians, the State Department needs to keep Artsakh out of the equation. This is why the actual people who would bear the real-world risks of a deal are blocked from any formal role in decision-making regarding their own destiny. It’s no good to have doubters around when the mark is being set up. That’s also why the State Department actively discourages Members of Congress from visiting Artsakh, using public and private levers to keep a co-equal legislative branch of government in the dark as un-elected bureaucrats push their plans behind closed doors.

Finally, cut off any outside help to make the mark feel vulnerable. This would explain why the State Department has launched a major attack on a modest $1.5 million dollar a year humanitarian de-mining program in Artsakh, even as the Pentagon pours over $100 million in military aid into the Azerbaijani armed forces. They want Artsakh isolated and alone.

That’s the set-up.

It’s a swindle – start to finish.

A classic bait and switch.

The end game of the State Department’s “long con” is the Armenian nation watching – a worthless piece of paper in hand – as Azerbaijani troops and heavy arms move into territory and fortifications recently ceded by the Artsakh military. High ground from which they will set their sights on Zangezur.

That’s the type of influence that the corrupt, oil-rich Azerbaijani dictatorship of Ilham Aliyev and his wife Merhaba have in Washington, DC. But – thankfully – they don’t have any power over us.

Their con only works if we let it.

If we abandon Artsakh.

Forget our history.

Betray our future.

But we will not.

We will stand with Artsakh, always – as Americans, heirs to our own independence struggle – foursquare behind a peaceful, durable and democratic, self-determination based resolution of status and security issues between Artsakh and Azerbaijan.

That’s why the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) rejects the George C. Parker plan for Artsakh, and why we remain opposed to any recklessly asymmetrical Madrid-style deal that front-loads strategic risks on democratic Artsakh and lavishes generous territorial rewards on oil-rich Azerbaijan.

Raffi Hamparian is the Chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America.