Glendale News Press
LATimes.com
Jan 11 2005

Event draws heated debate

Armenian Council of America alleges Manoukian biased in giving seats
on Week of Remembrance board.

By Josh Kleinbaum, News-Press and Leader

GLENDALE CITY HALL – Councilman Rafi Manoukian and members of the
Armenian Council of America accused each other of politicizing an
event that was designed to bring the community together in memory of
a tragedy.

As community leaders planned the city’s annual Armenian Genocide
Remembrance activities, including an April 24 ceremony, arguments
broke out over who will serve on the Week of Remembrance Committee
that plans the events.

Vasken Khodanian, chairman of the Armenian Council of America, claims
Manoukian excluded all but one representative of his group from the
committee and filled it with members who have ties to the Armenian
National Committee.

“When the city came out with the Week of Remembrance events, it was a
way to unite the Glendale community,” Khodanian said. “It’s a little
bit disturbing for us when we see they’re trying to isolate certain
organizations or individuals.”

Manoukian, chairman of the committee, dismissed the allegation,
saying he simply put people he trusted on the committee.

“What I did, I invited one individual from each organization, and I
invited people that I’ve worked with in the past,” Manoukian said.
“If they happened to be [Armenian National Committee]-affiliated,
that’s fine. Some of my friends are affiliated with the [Armenian
National Committee], but that’s the way it is. They’re some of the
people I rely on when I’m on committees.”

The Armenian National Committee and the Armenian Council of America
are organizations with ties to competing political parties in
Armenia.

Khodanian and other members of the Armenian Council of America said
the organizations should have equal representation on the committee.

“Once again, Rafi has used the power instilled in him by the people
to pursue the [Armenian National Committee] agenda,” said Garry
Sinanian, a member of the Armenian Council of America and a City
Council candidate. “It’s really disgusting how he’s become a puppet.”

Khodanian called on Manoukian to appoint four Armenian Council of
America members who served on the Week of Remembrance committee in
the past – Sinanian, Peter Darakjian, Mike Khatchadourian and Razmig
Dertavitian. Manoukian refused.

“It’s unfortunate they feel they have to go this route,” Manoukian
said. “I don’t know what they’re trying to do by making it
political.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress