WASHINGTON (A.W.)–There is an advantage to being in our nation’s capital for the AYF Olympics. The city is rich in heritage. Many people came early to tour the Smithsonian, visit all the various memorials, see the White House, and so much more.
L to R: Diane Hekimian, Levon Avdoyan, and Araxie Apigian.
Not surprisingly, the Olympic Organizing Committee offered an AYF tour for Friday. A full bus load of AYFers, young and old, signed up for this tour which had a decidedly Armenian twist to it. One might wonder how a tour of DC sites could have a “decidedly Armenian twist to it.” Easy. The tour stopped at four places: The Embassy of the Republic of Armenia to the United States, The Lincoln Memorial, The Library of Congress, and The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) offices. Even at the Library of Congress, the tour was Armenian centric as our host and guide was none other than Dr. Levon Avdoyan, Armenia and Georgia Area Specialist, Near East Section African and Middle Eastern Division.
Our tour guide was Diane Hekimian, mother of the Olympic Organizing Committee co-chair Chris Hekimian, who shared her deep knowledge of the facts, figures, and history of each of the places we visited. She kept us on a tight schedule that made for a very pleasant and most memorable tour.
Our first stop was the Armenian Embassy. We were escorted into the lovely and well-appointed conference room. We were given a few minutes to view the paintings and sculptures of this bit of official Armenian soil in the U.S. Then we took our seats and were joined by Tatoul Markarian, Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the United States; and Andranik Hovhannisyan, Deputy Chief of Mission. Ambassador Markarian welcomed us and suggested an informal question and answer session. People asked about Armenia’s role in world diplomacy, the issue of the Armenians in Syria and the surge of Syrian-Armenian immigration to Armenia, and what an average day was like for the ambassador. On a lighter note, Charlie Parnagian brought a smile to everyone’s face when he asked the Ambassador, “Hayeren guh khosis?”
The ambassador was warm and engaging in answering all of our questions. We learned how Armenia changed their statutes in record time to allow for the fast-tracking of citizenship, driver’s licenses, and such for the Syrian-Armenian refugees. He talked about how his job was to lobby for Armenia’s views and needs.
The next stop was the Lincoln Memorial. We also had time there to visit both the nearby Korean War and Vietnam War Memorials. It was a special stop and the only non-Armenian part of our tour.
After the memorials, we bused over to the Library of Congress. Dr. Levon Avdoyan was a wonderful host giving us an overview of the history of the Library. During the tour of the most beautiful government building in Washington, Dr. Avdoyan told us that the Library was founded in 1800, making it the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. During the War of 1812, British troops burned the Library. A few years later, Congress approved the purchase of Thomas Jefferson’s personal library which became the core of the new library.
There are over 150 million items in the library and over 800 miles of shelving. The Armenian collection is now at 45,000 items, of which about 40% are in Armenian. When Dr. Avdoyan took over this area in 1992, the Armenian collection was at 7,000. There are items in this collection that exist only in the Library of Congress.
Dr. Avdoyan is quite concerned about the future of his position when he retires, “When I started working here the Library had 5,200 employees. Due to sequestering, that has dropped to 3,200. I suspect that no one will replace me when I leave.” That would indeed be sad.
Ambassador Markarian
From the Library of Congress, we made our way to the Armenian National Committee of America offices. There, the ANCA executive director Aram Hamparian warmly greeted each and every one of us. In the conference room of the offices, they provided a lovely lunch for us. After the lunch, the ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian gave an overview of the mission of the ANCA and their nimble grassroots approach to lobbying. He stressed, much like Ambassador Markarian did earlier, that with a much smaller budget they are able to go toe-to-toe and out maneuver both Turkey and Azerbaijan on many fronts. Aram Hamparian then spoke about the very successful Capital Gateway Program that helps young Armenians settle in DC and secure jobs in and around government. Aram talked about the recent strategy to move toward reparations by seeking a return of church properties in Turkey.
All in all the four hour tour was very well coordinated, very informative, and greatly appreciated by everyone who participated.