Armenian organizations in Western United States have expressed their unequivocal support to the activities of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, calling for an active contribution to the Thanksgiving Day Telethon to air live on Thursday, November 22, Asbarez reports.The Fund’s former executive director, Ara Vardanyan, was sacked and placed under arrest in July over criminal charges of embezzlement and misuse of funds.On September 24, Haykak Arshamyan, an advisor to the Prime Minister of Armenia, took over for the fund’s management.
Below is a joint statement by the organizations appreciating the fund’s generous support to pan-Armenian projects:
—ACTING in the spirit of pan-Armenian unity,EMBRACING the will of the people of Armenia to create a more just and open society,CONSIDERING development of Armenia and Artsakh as an undisputed priority for the Armenian Diaspora,RECOGNIZING the remarkable achievements of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund and its global partners, which, for the past 26 years has united all major Diaspora-based Armenian organizations around the world under the mission of providing large-scale development and humanitarian assistance to the Homeland,
SUPPORTING the determination of the new leadership of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund to drastically enhance organizational transparency and accountability,
WE, THE UNDERSIGNED
REAFFIRM our unequivocal support to the mission and goals of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund and
CALL on each and every Armenian-American to bring his or her generous participation in the upcoming International Thanksgiving Day Telethon to air live on Thursday, November 22, 2018, dedicated to introducing modern agricultural technologies such as deep-water wells and drip irrigation systems as well as installation of solar energy systems, which will contribute greatly to agricultural development, job creation and energy independence of Armenia and Artsakh.
It is up to each and every Armenian to help Armenia and Artsakh develop and prosper.
November 16, 2018
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Archbishop Hovnan Derderian
Primate of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church of North AmericaArchbishop Moushegh Mardirossian
Prelate of the Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
Reverend Berj Jambazian
Minister to the Armenian Evangelical Union of North America
Bishop Mikael Mouradian
Armenian Catholic Eparchy of U.S. and Canada
Avedik Izmirlian
Co-Chair, Armenian Revolutionary Federation Western US Central Committee
Dr Raffi Balian
Chairman, Armenian Democratic Liberal (Ramgavar) Party
Talin Yacoubian
Chair, AGBU Western District Committee
Silva Poladian
Chair, Armenian Relief Society of Western USA
Mihran Toumajan
Western Region Director Armenian Assembly of America