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U.S. AMBASSADOR TOURS ANI EXHIBIT ON YMCA DURING THE FIRST REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

August 27, 2018 By administrator

U.S. Ambassador Richard Mills Jr. looking at the ANI exhibit on the YMCA in Armenia

YEREVAN – The United States Ambassador to the Republic of Armenia, Richard M. Mills, Jr., recently toured the exhibit, sponsored by the Armenian National Institute (ANI) and the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly), depicting the critical humanitarian role played by two courageous American YMCA officials during the first republic of Armenia.

On display at the Naregatsi Art Institute in Yerevan, the exhibit, entitled American Relief in the First Republic of Armenia, was created by ANI to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Republic. The exhibit highlights the role of the YMCA pair of John Elder and James O. Arroll, who rendered exceptional service during the critical early months of the republic in 1918 when a severe humanitarian crisis gripped the newborn country as it struggled with the consequences and violence of World War I.

“This exhibition captures the spirit of the American people’s affinity for Armenia and the Armenian people,” said U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard M. Mills, Jr. “From those first YMCA volunteers to the more than 1,000 Peace Corps volunteers who have followed in their stead, the American people have been working side-by-side with the Armenian people to overcome turmoil and challenge in pursuit of continued peace and friendship between our two nations.”
The exhibit also expressly links the early contributions of the YMCA and other relief workers, who subsequently arrived from the United States in 1919, with the current role of the Peace Corps which has been sending volunteers to Armenia since 1992. Ambassador Mills, whose long association with Armenia began since serving as the State Department’s first Armenia desk officer upon the restoration of Armenian independence in 1991, has been a strong supporter of Peace Corps programs across Armenia.
The exhibit opening and associated events were organized by the Armenian Assembly’s Yerevan office, spearheaded by Regional Director Arpi Vartanian. The exhibit was launched on August 8 with the participation of Armenia’s Minister of Education Arayik Harutyunyan and other officials, as well as representatives of the U.S. Embassy. Upon stirring renditions of the Armenian and American national anthems by New York Lyric Opera soprano Anoush Barclay, U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Rafik Mansour made a compelling statement honoring the memories of John Elder and James O. Arroll for “their American idealism, their connections, and their business savvy.”
Additional remarks were made by Armenian National Institute Chairman Van Z. Krikorian,Naregatsi Art Institute Director Nareg Hartounian, and YMCA Europe Programmes Executive Secretary Vardan Hambardzumyan in the presence of government officials, representatives of local, diasporan, and international NGOs, as well as Armenian media which covered the exhibit extensively. Journalists from Public TV of Armenia, Armenian Second TV Channel, Shant TV, Public Radio of Armenia, Armenpress, Newspress, Orer, Hetq, Gala TV, Panorama, Lragir, Arajin Lradvakan, Mamul, NewsInfo, Shabat, Lraber, Shamshyan, and Lurer services reported on the exhibit in televised newscasts, websites, and print media.

The YMCA in Armenia was represented by a contingent of young members from around the country, as well as YMCA Armenia Acting Director Khoren Papoyan in addition to YMCA Europe Programmes Executive Secretary Vardan Hambardzumyan. Joining them were Peace Corps volunteers, who work with YMCA volunteers in Armenia’s regions, and other aid workers. Former Artsakh Foreign Minister Karen Mirozyan, Knights of Vartan Yerevan Liason Gohar Palyan, Near East Foundation-Armenia Representative Arpine Baghdoyan, ABGU Armenia President Vasken Yacoubian, ArmComedy Live’s Narek Margaryan, Artists’ Union of Armenia Director Karen Aghamyan, Aida Khachikyan from the Hayastan All-Armenia Fund, Shant Hovnanian of Hovnanian International, and Sergei Paradjanov Museum Director Zaven Sargsyan, a professional photographer who has documented historic Ani, visited the exhibit. Armenian Assembly summer interns in Armenia along with their families and supervisors also joined the event. The Vozkevaz Winery, which has been in existence since 1932, donated refreshments for the reception.
The exhibit reconstructs the story of the near superhuman efforts undertaken by John Elder and James O. Arroll to rescue Armenians from the many perils they faced during the 1918-1920 independent Republic of Armenia. The exhibit relies upon John Elder’s own words from his published journal, along with original records that he personally saved from the time of his service, and the photographs that he made and captioned.
Elder and Arroll arrived as two enthusiastic young men dedicated to the purpose of sustaining morale among soldiers enduring long campaigns and treacherous conditions as the Great War kept grinding on, year after year, without end. They departed as two celebrated heroes who stood by the Armenian people at the fateful hour. John Elder wrote on May 26, 1918, as Ottoman Turkish forces advanced to the outskirts of Yerevan: “You never can tell what may happen. Just as the end seems at hand the pendulum swings the other way…After a two-day battle at Sardarabad, the Turks have been completely routed.” With the decisive battle won, two days later, on May 28, 1918, Armenia declared independence.
The only Americans in Yerevan at the time, Elder and Arroll witnessed momentous events and the unfolding of a heart-wrenching humanitarian disaster as the ravages of war were revealed once the fighting stopped. A year elapsed before a new crew of relief workers reached Armenia to lighten the burden that Elder and Arroll shouldered. In the meantime, their efforts and accomplishments had become legend among admiring Armenians and fellow Americans at home.
Addressing the audience, ANI Chairman Krikorian encouraged YMCA members, Peace Corps participants, and others engaged in humanitarian services to see themselves in the eyes of the volunteers from 100 years ago.
Upon the conclusion of the display, the ANI exhibit will travel around Armenia and to Artsakh. ANI and the Armenian Assembly are donating the poster set to YMCA Armenia. The YMCA organizations in cities across the country, such as Gyumri, Spitak, and Vanadzor, will bring the story of the original arrival of the YMCA, and heroic tale of Elder and Arroll, to an even wider public. For Armenian audiences, the 24-panel exhibit was augmented with a two-panel Armenian-language introduction summarizing the key events and personalities highlighted in the story. Along with the support of the YMCA of the USA, preparation of the ANI exhibit was strongly encouraged by the YMCA leadership in Armenia and Europe which previously shared the announcement upon the original release of the digital version of the exhibit in April of this year. YMCA Europe shared the news of the display of the exhibit in Yerevan with its audiences on its website.
The exhibit displays 95 images, 64 from John Elder’s photo collection, 8 contemporaneous records and documents, and 4 maps. With 32 quotations from Elder’s journal authenticating the photographs, along with introductory and explanatory text, the exhibit opens a window into life during the first year of the newly independent Armenian republic in 1918. The exhibit includes the entire set of photographs Elder attributed to his time in Armenia.
Several American relief workers are also mentioned in the exhibit, including Reverend Ernest Yarrow, Gertrude Pearson, F. Tredwell Smith, and Mabel Farrington. Mary Kifer, whose life was cut short after leaving the Caucasus, improbably found romance while conducting relief work in Armenia. Her story parallels “A Farewell to Arms” before Ernest Hemingway wrote his WWI era tragedy.

Other American personalities in the region appearing in the exhibit include F. Willoughby Smith, U.S. Consul in Tiflis, who supported the efforts of the relief workers; Robert McDowell, who was at the front when the Turkish forces broke through and invaded Alexandropol (Gyumri); Dr. John H.T. Main, president of Grinnell College in Iowa, who witnessed the horrific conditions in Armenia firsthand on behalf of the American Committee for Relief in the Near East; missionary Grace Knapp; and John Mott, longtime president of the American YMCA, who, with the encouragement of his friend President Woodrow Wilson, dispatched young Americans wherever they could lend civilian support behind the front to men in combat.
The YMCA digital exhibit is the fifth exhibit developed by ANI. It follows upon other educational material developed for the centennial of the Armenian Genocide, including the four large exhibits displaying hundreds of historic photographs. These exhibits include:
  • Witness to the Armenian Genocide: Photographs by the Perpetrators’ German and Austro-Hungarian Allies 
  • The First Refuge and the Last Defense: The Armenian Church, Etchmiadzin, and the Armenian Genocide
  • The First Deportation: The German Railroad, The American Hospital, and the Armenian Genocide 
  • Iconic Images of the Armenian Genocide (also available as a slideshow)
  • Survivors of the Armenian Genocide
Founded in 1997, the Armenian National Institute (ANI) is a 501(c)(3) educational charity based in Washington, D.C., and is dedicated to the study, research, and affirmation of the Armenian Genocide.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: ANI exhibit, Richard Mills Jr., U.S-Ambassador, YMCA in Armenia

U.S. people, government do not forget 1.5 million Armenians – ambassador

April 24, 2018 By administrator

U.S. ambassador

U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills visited today Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex in capital Yerevan to pay homage to the memory of 1.5 million innocent victims “who lost their lives in the Ottoman Empire”.

“I am here today on behalf of the U.S. people to remember and commemorate all those who lost their lives in one of the great atrocities of the 20th century,” he told reporters at the Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex.

“The U.S. people, the U.S. government remain committed to not forgetting what happened 103 years ago, the 1,5 million Armenians who marched to their deaths at the end of the Ottoman Empire,” the top US official said.

“We also want to remember all those who helped victims, all those who helped rebuild Armenian civilization and culture. And we want to remember all those who came to America as a result of this atrocity, and have contributed so much to the American life and society.”

According to Mr. Mills, the goal of the U.S. remains that there be an “honest and true” reckoning of the facts and acknowledgment of the past.

“And that is what the U.S. government is working for – to try to achieve the acknowledgment of the past. An honest acknowledgment will lead to reconciliation for all,” he concluded.

Filed Under: Articles, Genocide Tagged With: armenian genocide, U.S-Ambassador

U.S. Senator John McCain, calls for removal of Turkey’s U.S. ambassador

May 18, 2017 By administrator

Senator John McCain speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., May 10, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Senator John McCain speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., May 10, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

U.S. Senator John McCain, one of the leading foreign policy voices in Congress, on Thursday urged the expulsion of Turkey’s U.S. ambassador after violence erupted between protesters and Turkish security personnel during President Tayyip Erdogan’s recent visit.

“We should throw their ambassador the hell out of the United States of America … This kind of thing cannot go unresponded to diplomatically,” McCain, the head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told MSNBC in an interview on Thursday, adding that legal action could also be pursued.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Filed Under: News Tagged With: removal, Turkey, U.S-Ambassador, U.S. Senator John McCain

Ambassador Mills: United States wants to see reconciliation between Armenian, Turkish people

January 24, 2017 By administrator

The United States wants to see reconciliation between the Armenian and Turkish people
because that is what the region needs as it will bring peace, stability and prosperity to the Caucasus, the US Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills told journalists at the exhibition entitled “Bridging Stories.”

To note, event organized at the Armenian Center for Contemporary Experimental Art on Tuesday has brought together Armenian and Turkish photojournalists to feature their works.

The Ambassador stressed that as part of the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation is the full frank and the just acknowledgment of the facts – what happened one hundred years ago in 1915.

The US Ambassador, however, pointed that exhibition is something beyond the politics and history but rather shows what the two peoples share at present.

 

Source Panorama.am

Filed Under: Articles, Genocide Tagged With: Armenia, Turkey, U.S-Ambassador

U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Faces Criticism at Glendale Appearance

March 16, 2016 By administrator

BY HARUT SASSOUNIAN

Kansas_Natl_Guard1Richard Mills, U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, spoke at the Western Prelacy in La Crescenta, California, on March 10, during his tour of Armenian communities throughout the United States to brief them on his diplomatic work in Armenia.

In his welcoming remarks, Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate of the Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church, expressed the hope that “the United States, as a champion of justice and human rights, will in due time join the scores of nations that have formally acknowledged the indisputable truth of the Armenian Genocide.”

Amb. Mills spoke about the progress Armenia has made in the last two decades and presented the four priorities being pursued the U.S. Embassy:

1) deepening business and trade relations between Armenia and the United States;

2) countering corruption;

3) strengthening democracy, human rights, and civil society;

4) creating a better understanding of U.S. foreign policy goals.

The Ambassador explained that the United States encourages reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey by continuing to support the Protocols that were signed in 2009, but not ratified. Speaking of the Armenian Genocide Centennial, Amb. Mills remarked that “Armenians were massacred and marched to their deaths by the Ottoman Empire,” carefully avoiding the term ‘Armenian Genocide.’

At the end of the Ambassador’s presentation, I had the privilege of being called upon to ask the first question. I respectfully commented:

“I know that ambassadors don’t decide U.S. foreign policy. You are simply the messenger. I would like to go on record to say that it is deeply offensive to the Armenian community for you to come here and not use the word genocide to describe what happened to Armenians in 1915. I am not blaming you. It is not your fault! You know what happened and the U.S. government knows what happened. American officials have repeatedly recognized the Armenian Genocide since 1951. I have written a book that documents U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide which I will be happy to give you. It is not understandable to Armenians and non-Armenians around the world why the U.S. government is now reluctant to use a word that describes what it acknowledged a long time ago. This reluctance puts the United States at a disadvantage when its officials give lectures to Armenians in Armenia about democracy, morality and justice, and yet they fail to comply with their own principles. The U.S. government should be an example to the rest of the world! I am just using you as a messenger. I see that one of your colleagues from the State Department is here with you. I hope that you would transmit my message to your superiors in Washington.”

Amb. Mills gave the following brief answer: “My only response will be to reiterate Pres. Obama’s goal which he set forth in his statement on April 24th: ‘We want full, frank and just acknowledgment of what happened from the Turkish government and Turkish people.’”

Regrettably, the U.S. Ambassador was simply following Pres. Obama’s deplorable reluctance to utter the words ‘Armenian Genocide,’ despite his repeated promises to do so as a candidate.

Regardless of whether Pres. Obama and his underlings use the term genocide, the fact remains that the United States has repeatedly acknowledged the Armenian Genocide at the Presidential and Congressional levels.

Nevertheless, the Armenian-American community and Armenians worldwide have an obligation to confront and reject every attempt to minimize or distort the proper characterization of the Armenian Genocide. Remaining silent upon hearing such reprehensible terminology is an insult to the memory of the Armenian Martyrs, particularly when unacceptable euphemisms are uttered in Armenian church halls and community centers.

Amb. Mills was probably surprised by the adverse reaction of the audience to his statements not only regarding the Armenian Genocide, but also his faulty claim that Turkey was fighting against ISIS!

Unfortunately, we cannot expect every American Ambassador to sacrifice his/her diplomatic career by telling the truth to power as did John Evans, the former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia. He boldly acknowledged the Armenian Genocide at a great personal cost, during a similar tour of the Armenian communities in the United States.

Amb. Mills should be commended for his efforts to improve U.S.-Armenia relations. However, his superiors in Washington should be made aware that his good work is being undermined by their shameful word games regarding the Armenian Genocide!

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Armenia, Glendale, U.S-Ambassador

Video New US Ambassador Speaks Armenian

February 8, 2015 By administrator

IMG_4928_1280x853_-480x320-480x320Regional peace is one of the immediate issues that is top of U.S. Embassy’s agenda, U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills said during a swearing-in ceremony in Washington on Friday.

“The sharp rise in violence and casualties along the Nagorno-Karabakh line of conflict over the past year is deeply troubling and it is in no nation’s interest. The United States appreciates Armenia’s commitment to resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict” peacefully,” he said.

He reiterated Washington’s commitment to helping the parties reach a peaceful, negotiated settlement through the Minsk Group process.

“In Yerevan, I will make it a priority to coordinate with Ambassador James Warlick, the U.S. Co-Chair of the Minsk Group, on how the Embassy and I can assist his efforts to quell this troubling upsurge in violence and find a peaceful settlement,” Mills emphasized.

Filed Under: Articles, Videos Tagged With: Armenia, speak, U.S-Ambassador

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