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Fresno Hosts First Armenian Honorary Consul; Ceremony Monday

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  • Fresno Hosts First Armenian Honorary Consul; Ceremony Monday

    FRESNO HOSTS FIRST ARMENIAN HONORARY CONSUL; CEREMONY MONDAY

    Merced Sun-Star, CA
    Oct 20 2014

    By Andrea Castillo

    Fresno is now home to the country's first Honorary Consul of the
    Republic of Armenia.

    Armenian dignitaries and Fresno County representatives are hosting an
    inaugural ceremony for the new consul at 5 p.m. Monday on the eighth
    floor of the Pacific Southwest Building.

    Berj Apkarian, executive director of physician relations at Community
    Medical Centers, was announced as honorary consul during the annual
    State of the County address last month. He immigrated to Fresno from
    Syria in 1979.

    Apkarian said the voluntary appointment is an honor and a privilege.

    For his first big project as consul, Apkarian said he wants to take a
    team of medical and dental professionals to Armenia next October to
    host a medical education conference and provide free care for needy
    people in rural communities.

    "In addition to the project itself, my goal is to establish a closer
    tie between the central San Joaquin Valley and Armenian commerce,
    (culture, medicine) -- all aspects of bringing two nations and
    communities closer," he said.

    Fresno has one other honorary consul -- Ed Fanucchi, of Italy -- and
    one official consul -- Vicente Sanchez Ventura of Mexico. Armenians
    around the country currently get visas, citizenship documents and other
    diplomatic services through the Armenian Consulate in Los Angeles.

    Those services will now be available in Fresno.

    "Given the size of our community, that's just not representative,"
    said Fresno County Board of Supervisors Chairman Andreas Borgeas.

    Borgeas, whose wife is Greek Armenian, had pushed for the honorary
    consul since he helped the city of Fresno establish a sister city
    relationship with the city of Etchmiadzin, Armenia in 2009. While he
    was on the City Council, he sent a letter of request in 2012 to Grigor
    Hovhannissian, then the L.A.-based Armenian Consul General. He said
    the ceremonial position resulted from several years of work with the
    Armenian embassy in Washington, Armenia's foreign ministry in Yerevan
    and the U.S. State Department.

    The appointment is huge from a regional standpoint, Borgeas said,
    considering that Los Angeles and San Francisco have many more
    diplomatic institutions.

    "This is a matter of regional pride," he said. "It shows that Fresno
    is evolving and diversifying its interests that reflect the ethnic
    makeup of our area."

    Armenians first arrived in Fresno in the 1870s and continued through
    the Hamidian Massacres of the late 1800s, the Armenian Genocide from
    1915-1922, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of
    the Republic of Armenia. The community has since established local
    educational institutions, such as Fresno State's Armenian Studies
    Program, religious organizations, two Armenian-American newspapers --
    Asbarez and The California Courier, and a yearly cultural festival.

    Now, between 40,000 and 50,000 Fresno area residents are Armenian,
    Apkarian said.

    The ribbon cutting ceremony will be attended by representatives from
    the Republic of Armenia, the Armenian-American community, members
    of Congress and the California state legislature, as well as county
    and other local officials, including Tigran Sargsyan, Ambassador of
    the Republic of Armenia in the United States and Sergey Sarkisov,
    Consul General for the Republic of Armenia in Los Angeles.

    http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2014/10/19/3910782/fresno-establishes-first-armenian.html

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