Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918 Fax: 818.246.7353
ancawr@anca.org
PRESS RELEASE
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Contact: Talin Gregorian
Tel: (818) 500-1918
COUNCILMAN ERIC GARCETTI VISITS ARMENIA
Councilmember Visits Armenian Heartland in an Attempt to Create Sister
City Relationship with Yerevan
LOS ANGELES, CA – As a part of an official delegation of the Armenian
National Committee of America – Western Region (ANCA-WR), Los Angeles
City Councilmember Eric Garcetti recently returned after visiting
Armenia for nearly a week and a half where he met Armenian local and
national political leadership. The delegation included Garcetti’s
staff members Baydsar Thomasian and Lynette Amerian with husband Bruce
Bogstad, and ANCA-WR Board members Leonard Manoukian and Vahagn
Thomasian.
Upon their arrival, Councilmember Garcetti and the delegation were
greeted with a warm welcome by the Armenian officials as well as
American expatriates. Local television crews who waited until three in
the morning to interview Councilmember Garcetti were also on hand. The
following day, the delegation met with several Parliamentary leaders
including Levon Lazarian, Armen Rustamyan and the Mayor of Yerevan,
Yervand Zakharyan. During these meetings, Garcetti and the Armenian
officials discussed creating a Sister City relationship between Los
Angeles and Yerevan, and issues that are of concern to both the
diasporan and native Armenian communities.
`The meetings were all very encouraging about establishing a Sister
City agreement with Yerevan and using the Sister City relationship to
promote economic, cultural, and political interaction between the two
municipalities,’ said Councilmember Eric Garcetti. `We looked at
cooperation on the issues of law enforcement and we explored possible
cooperation around seismic standards for buildings, considering we
both live with fault lines in and around our cities.’
Throughout the remainder of their trip, as Garcetti and the delegation
traveled through the highlands of Armenia, they met with US Ambassador
to Armenia, John Marshall Evans, and the Deputy Minister on Foreign
Affairs, Arman Kirakossian. During these meetings, they discussed the
possibilities for development and success of both cities, if a Sister
City relationship were to be established. Ambassador Evans spoke of
his thoughts on creating a program in which the police and fire
departments of the City of Los Angeles and Yerevan would work with one
another in an exchange of knowledge and ideas in order to promote the
capabilities of each.
`I am very hopeful of the outcome Councilmember Garcetti’s trip to
Armenia will have for both the residents of Los Angeles and
Yerevan. It will undoubtedly create a relationship in which both
cities will benefit from one another,’ said delegation member and
ANCA-WR Board member Vahagn Thomasian.
During their visit to the Armenian Genocide Memorial, the
Tzizernakabert, Garcetti and the delegation were joined by Democratic
National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. The two took part in a tree
planting ceremony in which they planted a pine tree in a grove where
elected officials from around the world have done the same in
remembrance of the 1.5 million Armenians who were killed by the
Ottoman Turkish government.
`The truth is that the Armenian genocide took place 90 years ago,’
said DNC Chairman Howard Dean. `Over a million people were
killed. There is no question that the United States should recognize
this.’
Dean’s visit to Armenia was spurred by an invitation by the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (ARF). During his short trip, which lasted a
few days, he stressed his support of the Armenian American community’s
efforts to gain recognition for the Armenian Genocide. He also went on
to express his support for the congressional resolutions that urges
President Bush to `accurately characterize the systematic and
deliberate annihilation of 1,500,000 Armenians as genocide’ in his
annual message to the U.S.-Armenian community.
Garcetti was first elected in 2001, becoming one of the youngest
Councilmembers elected in the city’s history. He represents the 13th
district, which is known as the heart of Los Angeles, and stretches
between Hollywood and Downtown and includes the area known as `Little
Armenia.’
The ANCA is the largest and most influential Armenian American
grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a
network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the United
States and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCA
actively advances the concerns of the Armenian-American community on a
broad range of issues.
Editor’s Note: Photo 1: (Left to right) Chairman of the Defense,
National Security, and Internal Affairs Mher Shahgeldyan, Los Angeles
City Councilman Eric Garcetti, member of the National Democratic Party
Shavarsh Kocharyan, highest ranking Armenian Revolutionary Federation
member of the Parliament Levon Lazarian, Democratic National
Committee (DNC) Chairman Howard Dean, Chairperson of the Standing
Committee on Science, Education, Culture, and Youth Affairs Hranush
Hakobyan, and Secretary of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF)
Hrayr Karapetyan. Photo 2: (Left to right) ANCA-WR Board member
Leonard Manoukian, long-time ANCA activist Michael Mahdesian,
Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Howard Dean, Los Angeles
City Councilman Eric Garcetti, and ANCA-WR Board member Vahagn
Thomasian visit historic Khor Virap, just miles away from the biblical
Mount Ararat.
#####
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress