ANCA-WR Board Chairwoman Nora Hovsepian presents remarks during the organization’s annual gala last month
Editor’s Note: The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region hosted its annual banquet on October 8 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel with more than 1,000 in attendance. During the banquet, Nora Hovsepian, Esq., the chairwoman of the ANCA-WR board of directors, presented the accomplishments of the organization and its future plans. Below is the complete text of her remarks.
Welcome to the ANCA Western Region’s 2017 Annual Gala Banquet!
On behalf of our Board of Directors, which I am so privileged to lead, I would first like to thank each and every one of the 1000-plus attendees here for supporting our organization and for helping us advance our Cause – a Cause which belongs not just to us, but to every single Armenian across the globe; a Cause which requires passion, activism and participation; a Cause which we pursue as David against Goliath every day; a noble Cause which seeks justice in an often unjust world.
As we all witnessed the horrific act of terror in Las Vegas a week ago today in which countless lives were senselessly lost, or the recent disasters in Puerto Rico, Texas and Florida which will affect those communities forever, or the loss of dozens of Armenian soldiers and civilians falling to Azeri bullets in recent months, we know that mere expressions of concern are not enough, and we must continue to soldier on.
For our People have lived through tragedy and survived many times before. Despite the deep scars that will forever remain in our national psyche as survivors of a mass crime, we have found strength in the Cause which propels us forward. We continue to remain focused like a laser beam on our mission, and we will not be deterred by obstacles placed in our path by anyone.
The ANCA is the most influential and most effective organization pursuing our Cause anywhere in the worldwide Armenian Diaspora. And especially here in the Western Region, the hub of the largest Armenian community anywhere outside of Armenia, we are the only organization fueled by grassroots strength. We organize and mobilize our communities; we advocate in the halls of government; we prepare our youth through our impressive internship programs to become future leaders; we build coalitions; and we make the collective voice of our community heard at every level.
Let me give you just a few examples so you can see what I mean:
Seeking justice for the Armenian Genocide, I am proud to say that our Divest Turkey initiative, originally spearheaded on student campuses statewide by the AYF, has now cleared the California State Assembly and is pending in the State Senate, ensuring that public funds are not used by Turkish government investment vehicles to facilitate Turkey’s ongoing denialist campaign in this country.
I am proud to report also that after decades of persistent advocacy, all 19 States in the Western Region have now officially recognized the Genocide, including Wyoming, and now the most elusive State of Texas, being a stronghold of Turkish and Azeri influence and causing a leader of Turkish denialism in the State to publicly lament that it was a combination of apathy in the Turkish-American community and effective activism led by the ANCA in the Armenian-American community that resulted in this humiliating defeat for Turkey’s interests. We wear this as a badge of honor.
And after our ANCA-Eastern Region — whose chair Steve Mesrobian is with us today – recently secured recognition by Iowa, we are left with only three: Indiana (which Steve says is soon to come), Mississippi and Alabama, where the groundwork is being laid. So stay tuned.
I am proud to report also that we secured tangible and measurable results through the diligent efforts of our ANCA-WR Education Committee and the Genocide Education Project, whose representatives are with us tonight. This year, they started an annual tradition of honoring educators who implement Genocide education in public schools. Building upon last year’s mandates for Armenian Genocide education in the history and social studies curriculum framework, we secured up to $10 million in State funding to implement them. And we are especially grateful to local superintendents and school board members and educators, many of whom are with us tonight individually and through the United Teachers of LA, who have gone to great lengths to ensure that this mandate is implemented in the classroom and not just left on paper.
And I am proud to report that as a result of diligent advocacy by the ANCA-WR, we were able to secure a total of $4 million of State funding for the all-important Armenian American Museum project which will solidify our presence in the cultural fabric of this country for generations to come.
And all of this was accomplished because we mobilized our grassroots through Town Halls, Action Alerts and Rapid Responder initiatives, because we cultivate, maintain, and expand our efforts in the halls of government and because our friends in the State legislature, especially tonight’s Legislator of the Year award recipient Senator Anthony Portantino, recognize our strength and the just Cause we pursue and refuse to bow to pressure by Turkish and Azeri lobbyists working against us.
For Armenia and Artsakh, our ongoing relentless advocacy for federal funding in support of de-mining and economic development has also produced tangible results, as millions of dollars have been allocated with the help of our friends in Congress who hear not only from our DC office, but also from their constituents at a local level.
Our efforts to educate and encourage elected officials to make unambiguous statements of support by traveling to Artsakh despite Azeri government threats to blacklist them from visiting Baku have resulted in three recent visits by Congressmember David Valadao, tonight’s Advocate for Justice award recipient, and Congressmembers Tulsi Gabbard and Frank Pallone. We applaud the courage of their convictions and thank them for their unwavering support.
Recognizing that each elected official who is endorsed by the ANCA has the ability to serve as our voice in government, we have many friends from both sides of the aisle. Joining us tonight are ANCA-endorsed candidates, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate from Nevada, Danny Tarkanian, and Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress from Utah, Dr. Kathie Allen, both with Armenian heritage, and both of whom will undoubtedly champion our Cause in Washington DC once elected. And supporting those candidates and others are the highly effective National Organization of Republican Armenians and the Southern California Armenian Democrats, whose representatives are also with us tonight. We thank you all for being here.
And our local chapters throughout the region, most of which are represented here today, have been active as well. Since you may not be aware of what happens on the ground, here are some examples of true grassroots activism with tangible results:
Our Dallas and Houston chapters were instrumental in activating their communities to secure Armenian Genocide recognition in Texas.
Our Seattle chapter and its leader Vana Tavitian who is with us tonight, succeeded in convincing a Middle Eastern business to change its logo depicting Talaat Pasha.
The former chair of our New Mexico and current co-chair of our Phoenix chapter Angela Heisel who is with us tonight, used her considerable expertise as a public relations strategist to stop the trend of absurd praises of Azerbaijan in the State Senate.
Our ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian, participating with our friends in the Kurdish community in a protest against visiting Turkish President Tayip Erdogan, was quick enough on his feet to videotape the brutal attack by Erdogan’s security forces on peaceful American protesters in Washington DC, providing his footage to news media outlets all over the world and exposing the dictator’s shameless exportation of such tactics onto American soil. This evidence led directly to a unanimous condemnation of these tactics in Congress, 19 federal indictments against the perpetrators, and weapons sanctions against both Turkey and Azerbaijan for their ongoing human rights abuses, complementing the courageous efforts of our Freedom Award recipient and modern-day Armenian hero, founding member of the progressive HDP Party, and current member of the Turkish Parliament, Garo Paylan, as he so bravely fights against a hostile environment within Turkey to end the Turkish regime’s onslaught against Armenians, Kurds, Jews, and other minorities in the country.
Our Glendale chapter’s leadership of a community-wide outcry against the Americana’s denial of an ad for “Architects of Denialâ€
