NEWS RELEASE
Armenian Bar Association
March 12, 2007:
Antranig Baronian, (610) 504-4856
antranig.baronian@gmail.comor
Roger Ashodian, ashodian@camden.rutgers.edu
Executive Director Betty A. Jangotchian
P.O. Box 29111
Los Angeles, CA 90029
Tel: 323-666-6288
Fax: 323-666-6288
E-mail: info@armenianbar.org
Web:

Raffi K. Hovannisian, First Foreign Minister of Armenia to Address
Philadelphia Community on March 21, 2007

PHILADELPHIA, PA – The Armenian Bar Association announced that
Raffi K. Hovannisian, who as an Armenian American became the first
Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia when Armenia achieved
independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, will address the
Philadelphia area Armenian community at Terhanian Hall, St. Gregory
the Illuminator Armenian Church, 8701 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia, PA,
starting at 8:00 p.m. After serving as Foreign Minister,
Mr. Hovannisian founded independent Armenia’s first think tank in
1994, the Armenian Center for National and International Studies,
("ACNIS"; see ), headquartered in Yerevan, Armenia,
where he continues to serve as President. Mr. Hovannisian will
discuss the present activities of ACNIS and the challenges facing
Armenia and the Armenian people at the Terhanian Hall event, his first
public appearance in the Philadelphia area for more than a decade.
The event is free and open to the public, but tax-deductible donations
to ACNIS are welcome.

In founding ACNIS, which currently has a staff of 18 scholars
in a broad range of academic disciplines and support staff, Mr.
Hovannisian sought to provide the scholarly research to support
Armenia’s emergence as an independent nation with a viable economy and
strategic relationships in the community of nations. "Raffi
Hovannisian has been a leading light in Armenia’s struggle to make the
transition from an authoritarian Soviet regime to a truly democratic
society in which the rule of law is paramount," said Roger Ashodian,
one of the event’s organizers who first met Mr. Hovannisian in
graduate school. ACNIS, a leading independent strategic research
center in Yerevan, focuses in its research on a comprehensive agenda
of foreign and public policy issues, which are articulated
analytically in political and academic arenas around the world. The
Center also hosts conferences and other visits by scholars from
leading academic institutions around the world. In its most recent
initiative, on March 9th ACNIS convened the latest in its
international visitors series entitled "Elections and Democratic
Consolidation", a presentation and panel discussion on Armenia’s
upcoming parliamentary elections.

Mr. Hovannisian’s profession is international law. He is a
graduate of UCLA, with a major in history and near eastern studies,
has a masters degree in international relations and Soviet Affairs
from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and
obtained his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

The Armenian Bar Association was also the inspiration of
Raffi Hovannisian. The Armenian Bar Association was formed in 1989 to
provide an arena for lawyers of Armenian heritage and other interested
individuals to come together socially and professionally and to
address the legal concerns of the Armenian community. With the
creation of an independent Republic of Armenia, the Association
undertook the task of helping to build and encourage the growth of
democratic institutions in Armenia.