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Kerkorian and Armenia: Thinking Big

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  • Kerkorian and Armenia: Thinking Big

    Mediamax, Armenia
    March 20 2012

    Kerkorian and Armenia: Thinking Big

    Vartan Oskanian
    Former Armenian Foreign Minister


    It was June 9, 1998. I was in New York attending one of the UN's
    Special Sessions when I received an important telephone call from Los
    Angeles. It was the Lincy Foundation's, Jim Aljian, who was Kirk
    Kerkorian's right hand man and confidant.

    `Mr. Oskanian, Mr. Kerkorian's available to meet with you,' he said.

    I had been expecting this call. Two months earlier, as a newly
    appointed minister of foreign affairs, I had several objectives. One
    was forming more effective diaspora partnerships, the other was
    keeping international economic relations on the foreign ministry's
    agenda. Kirk Kerkorian was crucially important to both those agendas.
    I had specifically wanted to meet with Kirk and invite him to
    strategically engage in Armenia's development.

    I'd never met Kirk. He was a legend whom we admired from afar. But in
    1996, in addition to his other support for Armenian institutions in
    the Diaspora, he had very generously agreed to support Armenian
    International Magazine. I had established that publication, with some
    friends, in 1990, and Salpi Ghazarian was the editor. Salpi had
    established contact with Kirk.

    In May, she took to him a letter, in which I had put forward a very
    specific proposal. Given Armenia's geographic limitations and
    problematic neighborhood, I said I wanted to seek his support for a
    north-south highway stretching from the Armenian-Iranian border to
    Georgia's ports, through Armenia. This modern artery would not only
    turn Armenia into a north-south corridor, but would also solve
    Armenia's own transport problems and offer us unique access to the
    sea.

    Now, that May letter was going to be followed up by a June meeting.

    I was there in two days. I left New York, headed to Washington the
    next day to speak at the Heritage Foundation and at the Carnegie
    Endowment, and to hold several meetings, both with those in and out of
    government. The following evening, June 11, I arrived in Los Angeles.


    Photo from Vartan Oskanian's personal archive.

    Jim Aljian had said to meet them for breakfast at the Beverly Hills
    Hotel, so that's where I stayed.

    The next morning, early, Jivan Tabibian and Salpi came to see me,
    prior to my meeting. We had already begun to plan for Jivan to move to
    Vienna as Armenia's ambassador to the OSCE, where he served from 1998
    to 2008. Salpi would later join me at the Foreign Ministry as my
    advisor. At that time, however, they were both still in Los Angeles.

    I left them to go meet Kirk Kerkorian. I knew this would be a historic
    meeting, but it was also a meeting that meant a lot to me, personally.
    A high school dropout, he'd achieved great things, both in the
    business world and in philanthropy. The 1988 earthquake had been his
    first opportunity to engage directly with Armenia. The immensity of
    the need following the earthquake moved him to create and bankroll the
    United Armenian Fund, which he supported on the condition that the
    Diaspora institutions work collectively. Harut Sassounian has carried
    out that mandate as head of the UAF from the first day, and it
    continues to offer essential support to philanthropists and others
    doing good work in Armenia.

    The UAF is not to be confused with the Armenia Fund, which President
    Levon Ter Petrossian established in 1992 as a visionary way to
    strategically connect the Diaspora to Armenia. In 1993, the Armenia
    Fund met its first major challenge. In the worst days of the war-time
    blockade, Armenia's energy shortage was acute. The Armenia Fund,
    together with the United Armenian Fund, undertook a major
    international fundraising campaign to purchase sufficient heat to get
    Armenians through that winter. Kirk promised to triple the amount
    collected. The million collected became million. That was Kirk's
    second significant engagement with Armenia.

    Now, in 1998, the Armenian leadership would be approaching this very
    wealthy, very patriotic, very sincere man, for a new kind of
    engagement.

    Jim Aljian was with Kirk in that Beverly Hills Hotel meeting room that
    morning. Jim, an accountant by profession and someone with whom I
    would deal once a week, every week for years to come, was more than
    the representative of the Lincy Foundation. He was a trusted friend,
    younger brother, Kirk's most trusted intimate.

    We began with small talk. They asked the question Armenians always
    ask. Where was I from? Syria? No, that wasn't enough. How did my
    family get there? I told them my grandparents were deported from
    Marash.

    Kirk said his parents were from Kharpert, and recounted some of his
    memories of his parents' memories. Jim, too, interceded and referred
    to his own parents' roots, with one side from Kharpert, as well. That
    generation of Armenian-Americans clung to those roots. They had
    brought with them little else.

    Their questions were based on what they knew about Armenia and
    Armenian history and their own eagerness to hear about the newly
    independent Armenia. Each was patriotic in his own way, and I was
    feeling more confident in my mission.

    Kirk was 81 years old in 1998 - healthy, fit, alert, sharp and quick.
    It was immediately obvious that here was a big-picture guy -- to the
    point, with no patience for long stories. Each time I wanted to say
    something that would take longer than a minute to explain, he'd
    interrupt, ask one question, and take the response to move the
    conversation to the next level.

    Kirk had clearly read and fully assimilated the contents of my letter.
    I could also tell he liked it. He kept referring to his father, who
    would frequently say Armenia was a tough place, with no access to the
    sea. It was as if by becoming engaged in doing something about it, he
    would be addressing his father's worry and honoring his memory.

    The discussion got into a lot of detail. Not just being landlocked,
    but also the country's difficult terrain, winters leaving much of
    Syunik unpassable, the implications for economic developing and
    security - we covered it all. Each aspect of transit, access and
    security was discussed in the context of our neighborhood, especially
    Iran, with whom the US was already in the midst of a difficult
    relationship.

    Near the end of a nearly one hour meeting, Kirk left the room for a
    brief time. Jim and I continued to talk. Over the next several years
    of working together, I learned that despite years of working with a
    visionary, he remained an accountant at heart. He was extremely
    careful and conservative when it came to finances. With Kirk out of
    the room, Jim turned to me with a question. What numbers are you
    talking about, he asked. I responded saying $ 100 million, at least.
    Jim visibly stirred in his chair. `Look, he said, `Let me tell you
    something. This is your first meeting with Kirk, don't start with such
    huge numbers.'

    Just then, Kirk walked back in and it was as if he was continuing the
    same line of thought. Before sitting down even, he asked, `Vartan, how
    much money are we talking about?' I didn't hesitate and repeated $
    100 million. His immediate reply was, `You got it.'

    As confident as I had been that this was the right idea with the right
    man at the right time, I was still speechless. The scale and
    significance of the project and the capacity and generosity of the man
    - it was all overwhelming.

    That's how our first meeting ended. We walked to the lobby together
    and talked about his visiting Armenia. He promised it wouldn't be too
    long before it happened.

    It wasn't. Later that month, I received a call from one of his
    assistants. Mr. Kerkorian would like to talk to you, he said. Kirk
    came on the line and said, `I'm in France. Would it be convenient if I
    come to Armenia tomorrow?'

    He arrived mid-day. We had spent the 24 hours between his call and his
    arrival figuring out how to greet him, and how to schedule his visit.

    President Kocharian and I greeted him at the airport. Kirk immediately
    became emotional as he got off his private plane. He remained
    emotional throughout the visit.

    His meetings with the president were frequent, short and contentful.
    Over the couple of days, the immediacy and urgency of the land and the
    people, coupled with what had grown into confidence in our ability and
    our sincerity, the $ 100 million discussion was transformed to a $ 200
    million discussion.

    More than the numbers changed. In addition to the North-South highway,
    major housing construction and renovations in the earthquake zone,
    rehabilitating Yerevan's center and major cultural institutions were
    added to the program. In later discussions about the north-south
    highway, we ran into problems because of the US government's position
    on charitable funds being spent on projects benefitting Iran. So, the
    North-South highway project was transformed to construction of roads
    and bridges throughout Armenia, including a modern more accessible
    road within Syunik.

    In addition to working meetings, Kirk visited various sites. At
    Tsitsernakaberd, at the entrance of the museum, the director was
    explaining and he was listening. I was standing a few feet away when I
    heard him call my name. He was standing before the big carved map of
    Western Armenia, marked by the immensity of the loss. He turned to me
    and very sincerely, asked, `What would it take to buy this place?' I
    responded, wishfully, `It will take more than money, Kirk.'

    The program actually began a year later, while legal and
    organizational preparations were being made. In September of that
    year, the UAF celebrated its 10th anniversary. The president flew to
    Los Angeles after speaking at the UN General Assembly. Prior to the
    beginning of the UAF Banquet at the Century Plaza Hotel in Beverly
    Hills, the President, Kirk and I met. The fourth person in the meeting
    was Alex Yemenidjian, an associate of Kirk's who later headed MGM and
    who enjoyed what seemed to be a genuine son-father relationship with
    Kirk. It was at that meeting that we set up the mechanism to implement
    the many projects. Alex and I were the two responsible for
    coordinating the work going forward. As the project's practical phases
    began, Artashes Tumanyan and Armen Gevorgyan took over for the
    Armenian side, and Harut Sassounian for the Lincy side.

    So began Kirk Kerkorian's participation in Armenia's development.

    Vartan Oskanian was the Armenian Foreign Minister in 1998-2008.
    These views are his own.

    http://www.mediamax.am/en/column/12227/

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