Tweet
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
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