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ANC: Councilman Eric Garcetti Visits Armenia

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  • ANC: Councilman Eric Garcetti Visits Armenia

    Armenian National Committee of America - Western Region
    104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
    Glendale, California 91206
    Phone: 818.500.1918 Fax: 818.246.7353
    [email protected] www.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
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