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MASHDOTS LEADER TO LEAD VISIT TO WESTERN ARMENIA
Glendale News-Press (California)
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
February 5, 2014 Wednesday
Kelly Corrigan, Glendale News-Press, Calif.
Feb. 05--Later this year, Mashdots College President Garbis Der
Yeghiayan will take nearly 30 people to visit historic Western Armenia
-- which now lies within Turkey's boarders -- on a pilgrimage that
leads Armenian descendents back to their roots.
He has led people on the pilgrimage for several years, witnessing them
encounter for the first time the home of their parents or grandparents
that they had long heard about.
"It's a dream come true. They always dream about their parents'
and grandparents' cities -- where they were raised, where they were
educated, where they walked," he said.
For Glendale resident Hovsep Fidanian, who traveled with Der Yeghiayan
to the area last year, the pilgrimage was both enlightening and
heartbreaking.
"It was a pilgrimage that evoked a lot of happiness on one hand and
sadness on the other," he said.
Along his travels, he saw old Armenian architecture, and particularly
many churches, in ruins.
"You see all these windows broken and properties abandoned and there's
no way -- if you have any sense of being a human being -- not being
affected by these things," he said.
Der Yeghiayan encountered his own family's ancestral home in Kharpert
and the church where his great-grandfather served as a priest before
he was killed in the Armenian Genocide of 1915.
Der Yeghiayan was born and raised in Beirut, named after his
grandfather, his family's sole survivor of the genocide. His
grandfather had moved to Wisconsin in 1912, working in a factory and
sending money home to more than 40 members of his family in Kharpert.
But by the time his grandfather returned to the village where he grew
up, everyone had been killed.
Der Yeghiayan, who said he carries the legacy of his family, enjoys
bringing others of the Armenian diaspora closer to their ancestral
roots. As a peacemaker, he said he is known to befriend the Los
Angeles counsel generals working for Turkey.
Once in 2004, as a regional district governor for Rotary International,
he prayed at the Martyrs Monument to honor the 1.5 million genocide
victims in Yerevan alongside Erhan ciftciolu, who served then as a
Rotary district governor in Turkey. The next year, he was invited
by ciftciolu to serve as a keynote speaker in Ankara at a peace
conference, and there he urged Turkey political leaders to renovate
old Armenian churches.
"I make no enemies whatsoever -- not as a Rotarian but as a Christian.
It says in the Bible, 'Love your enemies.' That has to be implemented
through my deeds, my actions, my words," he said, adding, "I plant
seeds of love and compassion, not seeds of hatred."
At Mashdots College in Glendale, Der Yeghiayan teaches several
educational courses. The campus also offers certificate programs
spanning from paralegal studies to early childhood education and
career technical classes in computers and medical billing.
He strives to counsel the students, many of whom who are of Armenian
descent and new to Glendale. Even more recently, he serves refugees
from Syria.
"It's not just a college, it's a second home," he said.
For the upcoming 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, Der
Yeghiayan is serving on a committee that plans to honor the centennial
at the Rose Bowl. He also plans to return to Western Armenia in 2015
for another pilgrimage.
Of the year 2015, he said, "This is a great opportunity for Turks to
extend their hand of friendship and tell Armenians, 'This is what we
owe to you,'" he said. "If we don't resolve our differences, the next
generation will have a very hard time resolving the differences."
http://articles.glendalenewspress.com/2014-02-04/news/tn-gnp-mashdots-leader-to-lead-visit-to-western-armenia-20140204_1_armenia-and-turkey-pilgrimage-district-governor
Glendale News-Press (California)
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
February 5, 2014 Wednesday
Kelly Corrigan, Glendale News-Press, Calif.
Feb. 05--Later this year, Mashdots College President Garbis Der
Yeghiayan will take nearly 30 people to visit historic Western Armenia
-- which now lies within Turkey's boarders -- on a pilgrimage that
leads Armenian descendents back to their roots.
He has led people on the pilgrimage for several years, witnessing them
encounter for the first time the home of their parents or grandparents
that they had long heard about.
"It's a dream come true. They always dream about their parents'
and grandparents' cities -- where they were raised, where they were
educated, where they walked," he said.
For Glendale resident Hovsep Fidanian, who traveled with Der Yeghiayan
to the area last year, the pilgrimage was both enlightening and
heartbreaking.
"It was a pilgrimage that evoked a lot of happiness on one hand and
sadness on the other," he said.
Along his travels, he saw old Armenian architecture, and particularly
many churches, in ruins.
"You see all these windows broken and properties abandoned and there's
no way -- if you have any sense of being a human being -- not being
affected by these things," he said.
Der Yeghiayan encountered his own family's ancestral home in Kharpert
and the church where his great-grandfather served as a priest before
he was killed in the Armenian Genocide of 1915.
Der Yeghiayan was born and raised in Beirut, named after his
grandfather, his family's sole survivor of the genocide. His
grandfather had moved to Wisconsin in 1912, working in a factory and
sending money home to more than 40 members of his family in Kharpert.
But by the time his grandfather returned to the village where he grew
up, everyone had been killed.
Der Yeghiayan, who said he carries the legacy of his family, enjoys
bringing others of the Armenian diaspora closer to their ancestral
roots. As a peacemaker, he said he is known to befriend the Los
Angeles counsel generals working for Turkey.
Once in 2004, as a regional district governor for Rotary International,
he prayed at the Martyrs Monument to honor the 1.5 million genocide
victims in Yerevan alongside Erhan ciftciolu, who served then as a
Rotary district governor in Turkey. The next year, he was invited
by ciftciolu to serve as a keynote speaker in Ankara at a peace
conference, and there he urged Turkey political leaders to renovate
old Armenian churches.
"I make no enemies whatsoever -- not as a Rotarian but as a Christian.
It says in the Bible, 'Love your enemies.' That has to be implemented
through my deeds, my actions, my words," he said, adding, "I plant
seeds of love and compassion, not seeds of hatred."
At Mashdots College in Glendale, Der Yeghiayan teaches several
educational courses. The campus also offers certificate programs
spanning from paralegal studies to early childhood education and
career technical classes in computers and medical billing.
He strives to counsel the students, many of whom who are of Armenian
descent and new to Glendale. Even more recently, he serves refugees
from Syria.
"It's not just a college, it's a second home," he said.
For the upcoming 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, Der
Yeghiayan is serving on a committee that plans to honor the centennial
at the Rose Bowl. He also plans to return to Western Armenia in 2015
for another pilgrimage.
Of the year 2015, he said, "This is a great opportunity for Turks to
extend their hand of friendship and tell Armenians, 'This is what we
owe to you,'" he said. "If we don't resolve our differences, the next
generation will have a very hard time resolving the differences."
http://articles.glendalenewspress.com/2014-02-04/news/tn-gnp-mashdots-leader-to-lead-visit-to-western-armenia-20140204_1_armenia-and-turkey-pilgrimage-district-governor