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Community Event in DC Focuses on Supporting Syrian Armenians
by Armenian Weekly
August 15, 2012
BETHESDA, Md. (A.W.) - Concerned community leaders, activists, and
members from throughout the Washington, DC area gathered at Soorp
Khatch Armenian Church Arabian Hall on Sunday Aug. 12 for an update on
the challenges facing Syria's Armenian community and to explore ways
to help support the community and the welfare of individual Syrian
Armenians.
ARF Sebouh Gomideh leaders Hovsep Avakian and Vahe Tanashian discuss
the unfolding crisis facing the Syrian Armenian community.
The Washington ARF Sebouh Gomideh organized the event, which featured
remarks by local leaders Hovsep Avakian and Vahe Tanashian, who are in
close touch with the situation on the ground and are coordinating with
international efforts to help the Syrian Armenian community. Avakian
and Tanashian placed special emphasis on the need for assistance for
Syria's Armenian schools, which will, amid the continuing turmoil in
Aleppo, Damascus, and other areas of Syria, face the challenge of
opening their doors to thousands of students in just a few weeks. They
spotlighted recent calls for humanitarian assistance by His Holiness
Aram I, Patriarch of the Great House of Cilicia and efforts by the
Armenian Relief Society (ARS), and the Armenian General Benevolent
Union (AGBU). Many attendees offered immediate financial assistance
for the ARS `Fund for Assistance to Syrian-Armenian Schools,' in the
hopes of alleviating both the financial burden on needy
Syrian-Armenian families, and, at the same time, promoting the
continuity of the educational mission of the schools.
In response to questions about ANCA efforts to address the Syrian
Armenian community challenges, Communications Director Elizabeth
Chouldjian noted the organization's efforts to secure language in the
U.S. House version of the 2013 Foreign Aid Appropriations Nill calling
for funds to be allocated for humanitarian and relocation assistance
for Armenians and other Christian minorities in Syria. The ANCA
continues to lead the grassroots effort to ensure inclusion of that
mandate along with the ongoing foreign aid priorities for Armenia,
Karabakh and Javakhk in a continuing resolution, likely to be acted
upon by Congress in the next two months.
The event was the first of several local updates and fundraising
opportunities planned to address the Syrian Armenian situation.
From: Baghdasarian
by Armenian Weekly
August 15, 2012
BETHESDA, Md. (A.W.) - Concerned community leaders, activists, and
members from throughout the Washington, DC area gathered at Soorp
Khatch Armenian Church Arabian Hall on Sunday Aug. 12 for an update on
the challenges facing Syria's Armenian community and to explore ways
to help support the community and the welfare of individual Syrian
Armenians.
ARF Sebouh Gomideh leaders Hovsep Avakian and Vahe Tanashian discuss
the unfolding crisis facing the Syrian Armenian community.
The Washington ARF Sebouh Gomideh organized the event, which featured
remarks by local leaders Hovsep Avakian and Vahe Tanashian, who are in
close touch with the situation on the ground and are coordinating with
international efforts to help the Syrian Armenian community. Avakian
and Tanashian placed special emphasis on the need for assistance for
Syria's Armenian schools, which will, amid the continuing turmoil in
Aleppo, Damascus, and other areas of Syria, face the challenge of
opening their doors to thousands of students in just a few weeks. They
spotlighted recent calls for humanitarian assistance by His Holiness
Aram I, Patriarch of the Great House of Cilicia and efforts by the
Armenian Relief Society (ARS), and the Armenian General Benevolent
Union (AGBU). Many attendees offered immediate financial assistance
for the ARS `Fund for Assistance to Syrian-Armenian Schools,' in the
hopes of alleviating both the financial burden on needy
Syrian-Armenian families, and, at the same time, promoting the
continuity of the educational mission of the schools.
In response to questions about ANCA efforts to address the Syrian
Armenian community challenges, Communications Director Elizabeth
Chouldjian noted the organization's efforts to secure language in the
U.S. House version of the 2013 Foreign Aid Appropriations Nill calling
for funds to be allocated for humanitarian and relocation assistance
for Armenians and other Christian minorities in Syria. The ANCA
continues to lead the grassroots effort to ensure inclusion of that
mandate along with the ongoing foreign aid priorities for Armenia,
Karabakh and Javakhk in a continuing resolution, likely to be acted
upon by Congress in the next two months.
The event was the first of several local updates and fundraising
opportunities planned to address the Syrian Armenian situation.
From: Baghdasarian