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ANCA-WR Chairwoman Nora Hovsepian's Speech at Annual Banquet

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  • ANCA-WR Chairwoman Nora Hovsepian's Speech at Annual Banquet

    ANCA-WR Chairwoman Nora Hovsepian's Speech at Annual Banquet

    http://asbarez.com/117914/anca-wr-chairwoman-nora-hovsepians-speech-at-annual-banquet/
    Tuesday, December 31st, 2013


    Nora Hovsepian addresses the ANCA-WR Annual Banquet

    `We Remember Our Past; We Remind The World Of Its Consequences; And We
    Demand Justice For Our People,' Says ANCA's Nora Hovsepian

    Below is the text of a speech presented at the Armenian National
    Committee of America-Western Region Annual banquet by the
    organization's chairwoman, Nora Hovsepian, Esq.

    Good evening Your Eminences, Distinguished Guests, Honorees and
    Elected Officials, representatives of Armenian community
    organizations, and fellow Activists:

    On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Armenian National Committee
    of America Western Region, welcome to our 2013 Annual Gala Banquet!
    Seeing a packed house here tonight is so gratifying, as we highlight a
    busy Thanksgiving holiday weekend with our ANCA Grassroots Conference,
    which will end tomorrow with the Hye Tad Global Initiative. Our
    compatriots from Armenia to Europe, Canada to South America, and from
    the Middle East to Australia will participate in a groundbreaking
    interactive online presentation showcasing the activities of Armenian
    National Committees worldwide. We invite all of you who have not
    already registered, to join us tomorrow or, to watch it live-streaming
    on Asbarez.com. I guarantee you will be utterly impressed with the
    magnitude and scope of the dedicated work that is being done globally
    on behalf of the Armenian Cause.

    The topics covered by our Grassroots Conference this year essentially
    highlight the mission of the ANCA. We analyzed the evolving
    inter-relationship between our Homeland and the Diaspora and how to
    meet the challenge of their dual roles in shaping our national
    destiny. We discussed how regional factors in Turkey, Kurdistan, Syria
    and Azerbaijan affect our quest to secure Western Armenia and Artsakh.
    We explored legal avenues to hold Turkey accountable for the Armenian
    Genocide and how to pursue reparations and justice through domestic
    and foreign courts. And we learned the best tools of advocacy through
    Film and the Arts, Hye Votes and Community Organizing, and citizen
    activism through the iZartonk campaign.

    Nearly all of our 31 distinguished Grassroots panelists whose names
    are in your Program Books are here with us tonight. Thank you all for
    participating in our Conference and for sharing your expertise, wisdom
    and insight with us. And a special thank you to the Armenian Bar
    Association for collaborating with us on the Transnational Justice
    panel, and to Bared Maronian for adapting his award winning film
    Orphans of the Genocide in a special DVD which each of you has
    received tonight. So let's all give them a big round of applause as
    they stand to be recognized.

    I want to take a brief moment to explain about iZartonk. This was the
    brainchild of our dear friend and colleague, former ANCA-WR intern,
    community activist and visionary Allen Yekikian who we tragically lost
    along with his equally dedicated newlywed wife Sose Thomassian, in a
    terrible traffic accident on their way from Armenia to Georgia earlier
    this year. Allen and Sose were taken from us much too soon. But in
    their short time here on Earth, they inspired us all to serve our
    Nation, strengthen our Homeland, and activate our Diasporan
    communities based on the iZartonk credo, and ours, to `Speak Up, Speak
    Loud, and Participate in the 21st Century Reawakening of the Armenian
    Soul.'

    So tonight I am very proud to announce that the ANCA Western Region
    will soon partner up with the Sose & Allen's Legacy Foundation in a
    new project of iZartonk to promote activism and volunteerism amongst
    our youth. We extend our love, support and gratitude to the Thomassian
    and Yekikian families for sharing the memory of their beloved children
    with all of us, and even though Allen's parents, Henrik & Asik
    Yekikian, were unable to join us tonight, please give a warm welcome
    to Sose's brother Vache Thomassian and mother Emma Der Mardirossian.
    We are certainly all in this together, and we thank you for being
    here. So stay tuned for more details in the coming months as we embark
    on this exciting new joint venture.

    For the first time, we have prepared and distributed to each of you
    our Annual Report and detailed Program Book, both of which outline the
    breadth and scope of our activities, including our financial resources
    and expenses. I won't go into all the details, but I do want to
    specially highlight our trip to the Homeland, the first of many to
    come, where the ANCA-WR, working closely with our good friends Katcho
    Achadjian and Adrin Nazarian from the California State Assembly,
    organized and led an official California delegation to Armenia and
    Artsakh. I want to thank those members of our delegation who are here
    tonight: CA State Assemblymembers Cheryl Brown and Scott Wilk with his
    beautiful wife Vanessa Safoian Wilk, and of course Assemblymembers
    Achadjian and Nazarian and Councilmember Paul Krekorian and his wife
    Tamar. Please give them all a round of applause.

    Finally, our hard-working Banquet Co-Chairs, Aida Dimejian and Sareen
    Bezdikian, have provided leadership, guidance, and dedication in
    heading our stellar Banquet Committee and helping us assemble all of
    you wonderfully generous sponsors, donors and supporters who sustain
    our work as we come together under one roof to celebrate our
    collective accomplishments. This is truly a team effort in every way,
    so let's all give them a round of applause as well. Thank you!
    ***

    In Armenian, ANCA's name is Hye Tad: literally and simply translated
    as Armenian Cause. In short, these two words define and guide
    everything we do. We remember our past, we remind the world of its
    consequences, and we demand justice for our People. So if you are
    passionate about the Armenian Cause, about Hye Tad, then this is your
    place.

    In every kind of environment, under adversarial circumstances, in the
    face of obstacles placed before us by Turkey, Azerbaijan, and even our
    own US Government, in every setting, we have done our work and
    activated our army of advocates and activists. We have a dual role,
    and we play it well as both the voice of the community and the
    watchdogs who challenge injustice wherever it may be. While some may
    say we are dreamers or idealists as if it is a bad thing, what they
    don't realize is that dreams are for those who will not accept reality
    as it is. WE do not accept reality as it is, so we dream with eyes
    wide open of that which is not yet achieved, and we go out and find
    ways to get it done.

    Whether that means removing Turkey's and Azerbaijan's gag rule over
    our government's foreign policy, or displaying a gift to the White
    House of a beautiful hand-woven rug by orphaned Armenian children of
    the Genocide, we as American citizens seek justice for our Cause. And
    I am happy to announce tonight, with his permission, that our dear
    friend Congressman Adam Schiff, acting on our behalf, has demanded
    that the White House release the rug for a display in the Capitol and
    that he is, in his words, `cautiously optimistic' that his request
    will be granted. So thank you Congressman Schiff for all that you do
    for us.

    And if the elected officials who are here, to whom we are infinitely
    grateful, think we have been too demanding, it is for that reason. And
    we will be even more so as we continue to grow and the century-old
    experience of advocacy that our organization has developed becomes
    even stronger and more sophisticated.

    This is precisely why we must all speak up, stand up and make our
    collective voices heard. We owe it to our parents and grandparents who
    were victims of the Genocide. We owe it to the brave soldiers who lost
    their lives fighting for the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh. We owe
    it to our 4,000-year-old mighty Nation whose history and culture have
    survived and thrived against all odds. And we owe it to our children
    who deserve to live free of this burden of injustice that we all
    continue to carry.

    This is our mission.

    As my friend Maria Titizian says, `Nation-building is not a spectator
    sport,' and she is absolutely right. We haven't survived by being
    passive. We all have a job to do to build and strengthen our Nation
    and our Homeland wherever we may choose to live. We must each ask
    ourselves whether we are fulfilling this obligation, but rest assured
    that simply by being here tonight, we are each doing our own small
    part, and I can prove it.

    Our local ANCA chapters are our true grassroots working on a daily
    basis at the local level from the ground up. Our wonderful dedicated
    staff work very long hours and truly live and breathe the ANCA on a
    daily basis, day and night. Our interns and volunteers take time out
    of their otherwise busy lives to play their part in the advancement of
    our Cause. I want to take a moment to acknowledge them all by asking
    them to please stand up, and if you will indulge me, please remain
    standing.

    Let's take it one step further: Please stand up if you have ever
    volunteered your time for any community organization. And please
    remain standing for a moment.

    If you have ever run for political office, worked on a political
    campaign, cast your vote for an ANCA-endorsed candidate, or responded
    to an ANCA Action Alert by contacting your elected representatives,
    please stand up.

    If you have ever written a letter to an editor, responded in any way
    to negative propaganda, spoken out against injustice, or if you have
    ever donated your hard-earned dollars to support any aspect of our
    Cause, then please, stand up.

    And finally, if you have ever attended any other ANCA event or even if
    this is your first time with us, then stand up, all of you, because
    you are here for a reason.

    Look around you. Here you are: our army of Grassroots activists who
    are committed not to stand on the sidelines but to stand up for
    justice. Rest assured that your enthusiasm inspires us. Your
    generosity sustains us. Your commitment unites us. And your unyielding
    and consistent activism propels us all forward.

    So give yourselves a big round of applause, because you are the ANC.
    You are Hye Tad. We need you, and we rely on you. And it is only with
    you that we will fulfill our dream together of achieving a truly free,
    truly independent, truly democratic, and a truly united Armenian
    Homeland where our Nation can prosper forever.

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