National, International, Armenia, and Community News and Opinion

The Armenian Reporter | February 7, 2009
International
Armenian advocacy efforts get $5 million boost
n Continued from page
Prosperous Armenia Party, and
Ara Abramyan, who heads the
Union of Armenians of Russia.
Acknowledging the diversity
of the participants in the event,
Hrant Markarian, representative
of the ARF’s governing Bureau, said
the Armenian Cause united people
regardless of their political beliefs.
The Armenian Cause “has united
all of us. Practical work, which is
above day-to-day issues and differences,
has united us. Work, which
is geared to empowering Armenia
and Armenians, to accumulating
and organizing our collective
power, to becoming a factor to be
reckoned with in the world,” said
Mr. Markarian.
Offices in Washington, Brussels,
Moscow, Beirut, and Tbilisi “coordinate
and marshal the efforts of
Armenians and our friends toward
elevating Armenia’s political stature
internationally, securing economic
assistance to Armenia, defending
the rights of the people of
Nagorno-Karabakh, bringing about
international recognition and condemnation
of the Armenian Genocide,
and countering Turkish and
Azerbaijani anti-Armenian propaganda,”
he said.
The Armenian Reporter’s Tatul
Hakobyan asked Giro Manoyan,
director of the ARF Bureau’s Central
Hai Tad and Political Office in
Yerevan, for more details.
Tatul Hakobyan: Why did the
event take place in Dubai
Giro Manoyan: The fundraising
in Dubai was the third such event.
The first was held in 2001 in Geneva;
the second in 2005 in Paris.
The goal of these events was and
is to raise funds for the ARF’s Hai
Tad (Armenian Cause) political activities
in Europe (including Russia
and the CIS) and in the Middle East.
The locations of these events have
been chosen taking this fact into
consideration. The last two events
were held in Europe and it was
time to hold one in the Middle East.
Dubai was chosen for practical purposes,
taking into consideration
the fact that a significant number
of the invitees were from Armenia,
the Middle East, and the Russian
Federation, and visa and flight arrangements
for them are easier to
Dubai.
TH: So the event did not take
place outside Armenia so that official
Yerevan could deny being part
of the effort to secure universal affirmation
of the Armenian Genocide.
(Prime Minister Erdogan of
Turkey claimed just last week, “The
Armenian diaspora is plotting,” but
“the current administration in Armenia
doesn’t take part in this.”)
With Armenia and Turkey engaged
in high-level talks, fundraising in
Armenia for the Armenian Cause
could be viewed badly by Turkey.
Was this a consideration in choosing
Dubai
GM: The ARF holds a lot of its
partywide events – world congresses,
youth camps, Hai Tad Committees’
conferences – in Armenia for
obvious reasons. But these fundraising
events, as I said before, are
specifically for Hai Tad–related
political activities in the diaspora,
specifically Europe and the Middle
East, and the ARF Bureau has decided
to hold these events in the
diaspora.
But, to demonstrate to everyone
that these activities are not only
supported by Armenians in the
diaspora, but also by Armenians
from Armenia, since the 2001 fund
raising, businesspeople from Armenia
as well as from Russia and
Ukraine have been invited. The Geneva
event was the first time ever
that businesspeople from Armenia
Catholicos Aram I offers a blessing at the start of the gala fund raiser.
donated to a project being realized
in the diaspora – in this case, to
the establishment of the Hai Tad
office in Brussels. Furthermore,
the former and current presidents
of Armenia, Robert Kocharian
and Serge Sargsian, have supported
these events. In this year’s
case, the president not only sent a
congratulatory message to the participants
in the event, but one of
his brothers, Levon Sargsian, was
seated at the head table. Finally, at
the event in Dubai, Hrant Margarian,
the chairperson of the ARF
Bureau publicly thanked President
Sargsian for his support, “without
which we would not have the success
that we have.”
President Sargsian
told the Armenian
community in Zurich,
“establishment of
relations with Turkey
does not mean
forgoing the Genocide.”
All this was and is done publicly
and if the prime minister of Turkey
is not aware of the role that official
Yerevan plays in Hai Tad activities,
including but not limited to Genocide
recognition, then I think he
either has a poor intelligence-gathering
service (after all, all of this
is public information) or what he
says about Armenia and the diaspora
not working together in their
efforts for Genocide recognition is
wishful thinking. I tend to believe
it is the latter. Technically speaking,
what Erdogan said regarding
Armenia-Turkey negotiations and
his take on the role of the diaspora
came a day or so earlier than the
event in Dubai and the publishing
of President Sargsian’s message,
which, by the way, is dated January
26, that is before the Sargsian-Erdogan
meeting. Anyway, after their
meeting in Davos and our event
in Dubai, President Sargsian addressed
the Armenian community
in Zurich, where he reiterated that
“establishment of relations with
Turkey does not mean forgoing the
Genocide; establishment of relations
with Turkey does not mean
subordination of our national interests
to some other issues.”
What the Turkish prime minister
wants to read from all of this is his
prerogative, but we should at least
be careful not to fall in the traps he
sets for us.
TH: The $5 million raised is an
unprecedented amount. Which
activities and programs will this
finance
GM: I want to stress that the five
million raised will be our budget for
the next four years for Hai Tad political
activities in the Middle East
and Europe, including the Russian
Federation and the CIS. Obviously,
we will try to translate more financial
means into more public relations
and political dividends for
the Armenian people and Armenia,
widening the scope and geography
of our activities.
Pursuing international and Turkish
recognition of the Armenian
Genocide and Armenian rights;
raising the issue of Turkey’s responsibility
in the Genocide; paying
closer attention to the situation of
“Turkish Armenians”; countering
Turkish denial and Azerbaijani anti-
Armenian activity and propaganda;
garnering support for the recognition
of Artsakh’s right to self-determination;
defending the rights
of the Armenians in the Javakhk
(Samtskhe-Javakheti) region of
Georgia; supporting Armenia’s integration
into Europe and its closer
cooperation with Middle Eastern
countries: these are the major
items on our agenda. More direct
and individualized advocacy with
parliamentarians and high-ranking
functionaries in European states
and structures; more relations
with European and Middle Eastern
media, think tanks, and academic
circles are the accents we will be
adding to our existing activities.
I wish to stress that although the
five million is an unprecedented
amount for our activities, it still is
much less than what Turkey and
Azerbaijan spend in these same regions
against Armenian interests.
We have been able to counter their
anti-Armenian policies by spending
much less, because the added
component, the multiplying factor,
to our financial means is the active
support and participation in Hai
Tad activities by our communities,
as organizations and as active citizens
of the countries they reside in.
We will focus more on developing
further this capability of our communities.
TH: What percentage of pledges
were you able to actually collect
from the previous two fund-raising
events in Paris and Geneva
GM: Following the first fundraising
dinner in Geneva, around
78 percent of the pledges were actually
collected (total pledges in U.S.
dollars and euros were $1,017,660);
and following the fund-raising dinner
in Paris, around 75 percent of
the pledges were collected (total
pledges were $1,746,062.50). Since
our budgets are primarily based
on the pledges, the difference was
provided by the ARF Bureau. I
have solid grounds to believe that
this time we will be able to collect
Giro Manoyan.
even a larger proportion, if not all
of the pledges.
TH: Can you tell us the names of
the people who made large contributions
in Dubai
GM: Before giving any names,
let me give you general figures. A
total of 240 donors pledged the
$5 million. The smallest amount
pledged was $5 thousand. Of the
$5 million pledged, almost half
is by benefactors from Armenia,
around 12 percent is from supporters
in the Russian Federation and
the rest, around $2 million, is from
supporters in the Middle East and
Europe.
Almost half the
money pledged is from
Armenia.
The names of the donors will be
published shortly.
TH: It was a little surprising that
people representing other political
powers, like Gagik Tsarukian,
made pledges to the activities of
the ARF Hai Tad. Is it possible to say
that the ARF is no longer the only
political party in Armenia pursuing
Hai Tad
GM: The ARF has never considered
Hai Tad to be its monopoly.
Especially in our Hai Tad activities,
we have always had the financial
and moral support of a large segment
of our communities. A lot of
the members of our Hai Tad committees
(Armenian National Committees
in North America), and
some of the staff of our ANC offices
have been supporters of the
ARF, but not necessarily members
of our party. And especially financially,
a large portion of Hai Tad
donations has come from non-party
members.
Just to give you two examples:
When in 1944 the Armenian National
Committee was formed in
New York, a total of $165,000 was
raised by the community. And the
latest ANC of America telethon in
May 2006 raised $2.7 million, with
the participation of thousands of
community members. The fact that
businesspeople from other political
parties in Armenia and the leader
of another advocacy organization
based in the Russian Federation
have participated in our fundraising
efforts only demonstrates how
widespread the support is for our
goals and trust in our efforts are.
We have always been in favor of
more segments of our society getting
involved in Hai Tad activities,
as long as more does not mean more
bickering, but means more concentrated
and coordinated effort.
TH: Has the time not yet arrived
for funds raised for Hai Tad to be
directed toward the repopulating
of Karabakh’s liberated territories
GM: I am afraid, as a nation we
are even late in raising funds to
support a population increase in all
of Artsakh – and for us NKR and
the “liberated territories” should
all have the same status, all are Artsakh
– but the population increase
is an issue that no single political
party or charitable organization
can handle on its own.
This is an issue that requires state
planning and a pan-national effort.
Several years ago, the ARF Bureau
undertook to bring together all major
religious, charitable, and political
structures and organizations in
Armenia and the diaspora to focus
on this most pressing issue, but unfortunately
at the last moment the
gathering fell apart for obvious political
reasons. Since then we have
tried to cooperate with different
charitable organizations and other
structures to help plan and raise
funds for this issue. We also have
Artsakh Fund committees working
toward this goal. Last but not least,
the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund
is the pan-national structure coordinating
efforts toward developing
Artsakh as well. Furthermore,
in Artsakh, we have tried to have
our party members be in charge of
the implementation of programs in
this sphere to hold them accountable
by the party as well.
In short, this is not just a financial
issue. Primarily it is a national
security issue, which demands political
will, and it is at the center of
our attention. After all, $1.25 million
annually for rehabilitation is
really not that much of a financial
resource for this goal. Finally, our
advocacy efforts all over the world
are also aimed at supporting the Armenian
people’s right to Artsakh.
With all the good intentions we
all have, we should not mix everything
up. Population increase in
Artsakh and the Republic of Armenia
is of utmost urgency and we are
trying our best to make progress.
At the same time, we are the leading
organization pursuing Hai Tad
political activities worldwide, and
enjoy the trust and support of a
large segment of our society, both
in Armenia and the diaspora. All
finances raised by us through public
fundraising will be used for the
stated aim for which they were
raised.
f
Missing credit
An uncredited photograph of the
Armenian Writers’ Union building in
Yerevan that accompanied an article
by Aram Arkun about the union
(Jan 10) was taken by Mr. Arkun.