National, International, Armenia, and Community News and Opinion

The Armenian Reporter | December 6, 2008NationalDecember 7, 198820 years onAn outpouring of support from Californiaby Lory TatoulianLOS ANGELES – Twenty yearsago this month, as the devastatingnews of the Spitak earthquakereached the diaspora, Armeniansthroughout the world respondedto the catastrophe with urgency.In the United States, the WesternDiocese, the Western Prelacy, andthe Armenian Relief Society (ARS)were some of the first communityinstitutions to rush to the aid oftheir brothers and sisters in Armenia.[The work of other organizations,including the AGBU and theEastern Diocese and Prelacy, is coveredelsewhere.]The Western Diocese organizedand sent assistance in the form ofmonetary and medical relief. An immediatepriority was to care for the12,000 children who had becomeorphans as a result of the earthquake.Archbishop Vatche Hovsepian,the Primate at the time, setup an orphan-assistance program,through which local communitymembers were asked to sponsororphans by donating $150 for eachchild. This amount would securethe orphans’ basic needs, from foodand clothes to school supplies.Longtime community benefactorsGeorge and Flora Dunaiansprovided the warehouse of theircompany, Western Medical, as acollection and processing centerfrom which humanitarian aid – includinghospital beds, wheelchairs,clothes, and medicines – wereshipped to Armenia.“Our main concern was to makesure that the victims were receivingadequate medical aid,” Ms. Dunaiansrecalled. “We used a lot of discretionwhen donations were givento us. We just didn’t want to sendused junk to Armenia. We madesure that we sent the best medicalsupplies so that medical personnelwould be able to make use of them.”During those early efforts, theWestern Diocese named Ms. Dunaiansas humanitarian chair of its orphanagefund, entrusting her withthe task of ensuring a seamless reliefoperation. Since 1990, Ms. Dunaianshas been to Armenia over 30times, overseeing assistance effortsfrom an office at St. Sarkis Churchin Yerevan, set up by the Dunaianswith the help of the late CatholicosVazken I.Dikran Dzoolikian, who becamethe main liaison at the Yerevanoffice, has for the past 18 yearsbeen in charge of distributing aidto orphans and economically disadvantagedfamilies alike.“There was complete transparencyin all of our work and I amhappy to say we had a really greatsystem going,” Ms. Dunaians said.“Everyone who has worked with ushas been very honest and accountable– we needed to make sure ourassistance reached those who werein desperate need. It was amazingto see the network of people cometogether and make it happen.”In addition to monetary contributions,a great many members ofthe Western Diocese helped mobilizethe Armenian community inLos Angeles. Setrak Kopoushianremembers going to his friends’homes and making phone calls tocollect as many donations as hecould. He stayed up late into thesmall hours of the night to worka forklift at the Western Medicalwarehouse, stockpiling medicalsupplies and food into shipmentcontainers. He also regularly drovea big truck to the Los Angeles InternationalAirport to deliver reliefsupplies, which were flown to Armeniaon planes provided by theArm & Hammer company.“I was willing to help in any wayI could,” Mr. Kopoushian said. “Itwas hard hearing the tragic newsand not being able to actually bethere to help, so here in my town,I rallied my friends and family andput in muscle work.”Rebuilding livesResponding to a call from CatholicosVazken I, the Western Dioceseand a number of benefactors endeavoredto help rebuild five earthquake-damagedcities and townsin Northern Armenia. As hospitals,schools, and entire blocks ofapartment buildings lay in ruins,the urgent aim was to restore theinfrastructure of the devastatedareas and begin rebuilding out ofthe rubble.Meanwhile, the Western Diocese’sorphanage fund continued togrow. Eventually rechristened theEchmiadzin Children’s Fund, theprogram expanded its mission tofocus not only on sponsoring orphansbut also helping poor families.Accordingly, basic sponsorshipamounts were raised from $150 to$250. Today the Echmiadzin Children’sFund, chaired by GayaneTatoulian, provides assistance tosome 12,000 children, with majorsupport from various Diocesesthroughout the diaspora.In the years following the earthquake,as the needs of Armeniaevolved from emergency relief tolong-term development, it becameapparent to Ms. Dunaians and otherbenefactors in Los Angeles thatmore emphasis had to be placed oneducation and vocational training,specifically in the areas that hadbeen affected by the earthquake.The changing priorities led to theestablishment of DevelopmentalServices for Armenia in 1993. Sincethen, the nonprofit organizationhas built numerous rehabilitationcenters, schools, homes for handicappedchildren, and the VanadzorHome for Abandoned Children.The Western Prelacy, along withthe ARS, has also played a pivotalrole in providing assistance to thousandsof Armenia’s earthquakevictims. The ARS leadership and anarmy of volunteers, including HasmigDerderian, who now serves aschair of the organization’s CentralExecutive Board, carried out the reliefeffort from the ARS headquartersin Glendale. For months followingthe Spitak tragedy, the women ofthe ARS and family members workedday and night at the ARS building onGlenoaks Boulevard, collecting donationsand processing shipmentsof medical equipment, medicines,clothes, and other supplies.“Our children would be therewith us, helping sort out the materialand bringing in money theyhad collected from their school forearthquake victims,” Ms. Derderianrecalled. “Everybody wanted tohelp. We would have people stop bythe headquarters to give what theycould. We even had non-Armeniansmake donations. It was ourresponsibility to make sure everyitem was sent to Armenia.”Furthermore, the ARS spearheadedseveral building and socialserviceprojects in the homeland.The organization helped rebuildthree towns in the earthquakezone and established urgentlyneededeye-care centers in Talin,Vanadzor, and Yerevan. As Derderianexplained, before the availabilityof the ARS’ eye-care centersin Northern Armenia at that time,residents needed to travel to Moscowfor eye exams or to obtaineyeglasses.“It took up to three months forthe eyeglasses to arrive from Moscow,”Ms. Derderian said. “Weknew that building eye-care centerswould greatly help those withsight problems.”The optical centers also organizedoutreach programs, withoptometrists visiting area schools,performing eye exams, and providingfree eyeglasses to studentsfrom economically-disadvantagesfamilies.In Vanadzor, the ARS also helpedrenovate a wing of the VanadzorUniversity and set up psychiatricclinics to treat earthquake survivors.Dr. Armen Goenjian, arenowned psychiatrist from LosAngeles specializing in post-traumaticstress disorder, was instrumentalin helping set up the clinics.He and a staff of psychiatrists fromLos Angeles evaluated and treatedhundreds of children in Armeniaand trained a number of local professionalsto carry out their workinto the future.Orphan assistance has been anotherarea of concentration for theARS. The organization establisheda sponsor-a-child program, with$120 sponsorships used to coverthe basic living needs of beneficiarychildren. In time, the programincluded orphans from Artsakh aswell. Today the ARS provides assistanceto some 7,500 children in Armeniaand Karabakh, meeting notonly their everyday needs but alsofunding their education. fU.S., Russia, France insist on peaceful solution in Karabakhn Continued from page no breakthrough had been expected.Asked by the Armenian Reporterabout Mr. Aliyev’s statement thatthe Moscow declaration does notpreclude a military solution to theKarabakh conflict, Mr. Bryza said,speaking in Russian, “In the nameof the OSCE Minsk Group I say thatthe conflict does not have a militarysolution. Aliyev does not wantwar. That was one interview, but ofcourse Aliyev does not want war.”Mr. Aliyev has repeatedly threatenedthe use of force against Karabakhand his government has beeninvesting heavily in offensive weaponry.Mr. Bryza added that he hopedKarabakh would one day formallyparticipate in the negotiations,“but it is even now part of the negotiationssince we visit Xankendi/Stepanakert and we listen to themembers of parliament and localpolitical operatives.”An Azerbaijani journalist askedwhether the visits and meetingsindicated that the United Statesrecognized Karabakh. “No, no, butin Karabakh there is an organizationthat is called parliament. Wemeet those people. It is necessaryto hear their views. I do not say weformally recognize Karabakh’s parliament.”Mr. Bryza, who has recently beenplaying up the preference of theinternational community for maintainingthe territorial integrity ofstates, and has been playing downthe right of peoples to self-determination,said, “Azerbaijan has itsview, and we say that the Karabakhpeace agreement must begin withterritorial integrity, because thatprinciple operates in the wholeworld. But there can be no agreementif it does not include pointsabout a certain level of self-determinationfor Nagorno-Karabakhand the principle of the nonuse offorce.” Later, in response to an angryprotest from the Armenian foreignminister, Mr. Bryza modifiedhis statement. (See sidebar.)by Tatul HakobyanArmenia’s Foreign Minister, EdwardNalbandian, speaking tojournalists in Helsinki on December4, responded angrily to a statementmade earlier in the day byU.S. Deputy Assistant Secretaryof State Matthew Bryza, the U.S.co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Groupmediating the final resolution ofthe Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.Mr. Bryza had said, speaking inRussian: “We say that the Karabakhpeace agreement must begin withterritorial integrity, because thatprinciple operates in the wholeworld. But there can be no agreementif it does not include pointsabout a certain level of self-determinationfor Nagorno-Karabakh andthe principle of the nonuse of force.”Mr. Nalbandian told journalists:“I want to believe that MatthewBryza has not made such an announcementbecause that is not astatement becoming of a co-chair,but of a person who does not wantthe negotiations to proceed in a correctand normal way. I hope that hehas not made such a statement, butit is necessary to ask him again. Heperhaps wished to say somethingelse, and this is what came out. Or,I’d like to believe, again, that he hasnot made such a statement.”Mr. Bryza spoke to Armenianjournalists again after this commentby Mr. Nalbandian. He deniedsaying that the agreement muststart with the territorial integrityof Azerbaijan. Rather, he said, allthree of the core principles of Helsinkifinal acts, Azerbaijan’s territorialintegrity, Nagorno-Karabakh’sright to self-determination, andthe nonuse of force are important.Mr. Bryza told the Armenian Reporter,in English: “Each PresidentParties to a conflictThe OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Finland’sForeign Minister AlexanderStubb, said yesterday that the MinisterialCouncil would focus on twobig themes: the Caucasus – Georgiain particular – and European security.He added that he expected adeclaration on Nagorno-Karabakh.Mr. Stubb, in a recent statement,spoke of an “urgent need . . . to tackletensions . . . between Armenia andAzerbaijan.” The statement was notablefor its failure to mention Nagorno-Karabakhas a party to thetension over its future. At the OSCE’sBudapest summit in 1994, the organizationrecognized Nagorno-Karabakhas a full party to the conflict.Asked by the Armenian Reportertoday about the role of Karabakhin the peace process, Mr. Stubb said,“Negotiations should be conductedby France, the USA, Russia, Azerbaijan,and Armenia. That is the frameworkin which we discuss, and I amhappy that the process goes on andI think this is the best format, and Isupport Minsk Group process fully.”has their own sense of what themain principle needs to be to reachsettlement of Nagorno-Karabakh.For President Ilham Aliyev, hesupports territorial integrity asthe first principle. For PresidentSerge Sargsian, he supports selfdeterminationas the first principle.For me as a mediator, myopinion doesn’t matter. I am not adecision maker. What I can say iswhat we have been working on, weseek, is an agreement acceptableto both sides. And to be acceptable,the agreement has to includeall three of the core principles ofthe Helsinki final acts, which arenonuse of force, self-determination,and territorial integrity.”The United States had in thepast avoided language thatcould be deemed to prejudgethe outcome of the negotiations.Since the war in Georgia in earlyAugust, however, U.S. officialsThreats not helpfulEarlier on December 3, Mr. Nalbandianmet with Göran Lennmarker,who reports on Nagorno-Karabakhto the Parliamentary Assemblyof the Council of Europe. Theydiscussed the latest developmentsin the negotiations.Mr. Nalbandian said he attachedgreat importance to the November2 declaration. He said the documentis being misinterpreted in Azerbaijan.Misinterpreting and attemptingto ignore the principles agreedto will harm the effectiveness andprogress of the negotiating process,Mr. Nalbandian added.Mr. Nalbandian also met on December3 with OSCE Secretary GeneralMarc Perrin de Brichambaut.They discussed reforms within theOSCE. Mr. Nalbandian said Yerevanattached importance to the role ofthe OSCE in maintaining securityand cooperation in Europe. “The Europeansecurity system needs to beperfected, and the member-statesmust work together to make it moreactive and effective,” he said.The two also discussed the workof the OSCE office in Yerevan. fSenior U.S. official acknowledges importance of self-determination, nonuse of forcehave used language that tendsto gives primacy to territorialintegrity.In Baku on September 3, VicePresident Dick Cheney said theUnited States is “committed toachieving a negotiated solutionto the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict– a solution that starts withthe principle of territorial integrity,and takes into account otherinternational principles.” In ameeting soon afterward with Mr.Cheney, Armenia’s prime ministersaid the approach was “extremelydangerous.”“If territorial integrity is prioritized,the peace process – all ofthe work the mediators have done– becomes meaningless,” PrimeMinister Tigran Sarkisian told theArmenian Reporter’s Emil Sanamyanon October 14. “And thisalso provokes [Azerbaijan] towardwar.”f