By Appo Jabarian
In a July 26 press release, the Cafesjian Family Foundation (CFF) announced its decision to go ahead with the laudable project of building an Armenian Genocide Museum & Memorial (AGM&M), two blocks from the White House, by April 24, 2015, on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
The project was initially put on hold because of a long-running legal battle between former partners the CFF and the Armenian Assembly. The court case came to a conclusion in January.
In February, Harut Sassounian, Publisher of The California Courier wrote: “The most significant outcome of the protracted litigation is Judge Kollar-Kotelly’s ruling that the reversion clause in the Grant Agreement is ‘valid and enforceable,’ which means that CFF is entitled to a return of the properties earlier donated to the Armenian Assembly. Furthermore, the court ruled that CFF retains the right to appoint one of four trustees to the AGM&M Board.”
To its credit, CFF had renewed its commitment in the court to construct the museum. Judge Kollar-Kotelly’s ruling had finally paved the way for the realization of the original plan. However, this noble plan ran into several new obstacles caused by the Foundation’s former partners, Hirair Hovnanian, Van Krikorian and Anoush Mathevosian who are key leaders of the Armenian Assembly, and former officers of AGM&M.
As per the Judge’s decisoin, effective July, CFF took title to the property assemblage for the future site of the AGM&M.
In order to register the title, CFF was obliged to pay some $2,000,000 in back taxes, penalties and recordation taxes from 2009 to the transfer date of July 1 of this year that the officers of the AGM&M refused to pay. By declining to pay property taxes over this period of time, AGM&M officers Hovnanian, Krikorian and Mathevosian risked the properties being auctioned off and encumbered the project with over $260,000 in interest and penalties, stated the press release issued by CFF.
“Regrettably, securing title to the properties just two blocks from the White House does not pave the way for immediate launch of the project to construct the museum and memorial in time for the centenary date of April 24, 2015,” lamented the CFF. Legal maneuvers initiated by Hovnanian, Krikorian and Mathevosian may hold up the construction of the Armenian Genocide Museum in Washington, DC and may ultimately cause missing the cornerstone deadline of April 24, 2015.
“The appeal process could take up to two years if the losing side (Hovnanian, Krikorian and Mathevosian) stalls at every step. This could have the intended consequence of blocking progress,” pointed out CFF Board Member Ross Vartian.
In making matters even worse, the leadership of the Armenian Assembly reportedly “has refused to vacate one of the buildings on the future site of the Armenian Genocide museum and memorial.” The property partially occupied by the Armenian Assembly, and others owned by CFF are slated for demolition in preparation for the construction of the museum. The said properties are adjacent to the historically designated former “National Bank of Washington” building. CFF has asked Judge Kollar-Kotelly to invalidate the Assembly’s lease so that the project can move forward in time to meet the April 24, 2015 completion deadline. However, the Assembly leadership has opposed CFF’s request, indicating that the organization intends to remain on the premises through 2015.
During four years of legal feud, the Assembly and AGM&M had accused Gerald Cafesjian and John Waters (Vice President of CFF) for having breached their fiduciary duties to AGM&M and the Assembly; that Cafesjian breached his duty of good faith and fair dealing to the Assembly, and that Cafesjian and Waters misappropriated the trade secrets of the Assembly. The Judge found all of these charges to be without merit.
Sassounian noted that for the first time in a federal court verdict, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly began her 190-page ruling with the chilling words of Adolf Hitler: “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?” She went on to explain that Hitler was referring to “the largely successful efforts by the Ottoman Turkish government to eliminate the Armenian population living on its historical homeland during the World War I era, known today as the Armenian Genocide.” The Judge further added: “The Armenian Genocide is widely recognized as the first genocide of the 20th century. Of the estimated 2.1 million Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire on the eve of World War I, approximately 1.5 million were killed, and hundreds of thousands more were deported. During this period, the Armenian people were subjected to deportation, expropriation, forced conversion, abduction, torture, massacre, and starvation.”
I therefore join several members of the Armenian American community in appealing to Hovnanian, Krikorian and Mathevosian, the leaders of the Assembly, to heed to the calling of martyred victims of the Armenian Genocide and set aside their personal differences with Cafesjian; and join the rest of the community in making this lasting accomplishment a reality. The one and one half million martyrs of the Armenian Genocide desperately need to be solemnly memorialized by a museum in the nation’s capital on the 100th anniversary of the 1915-1923 crime against humanity perpetrated by Turkey.
The realization of this noble goal will most definitely be a living memorial to the legacy of Hovnanian, Krikorian and Mathevosian, and the Armenian Assembly along with all others involved in this project. Conversely, their obstinate obstruction of this worthwhile project because of petty personal vendettas against Cafesjian and CFF will come back to haunt them.
Pernaps these people, Hovnanian, Krikorian and Mathevosian, are not pure armenians.
Perhaps here is turkish blood in their veins running. Opening the Armenian Genocide Museum will be against their sole. Many women were raped during Genocide. These people could be heirs from those events, otherwise they would not saborage the construction of such a Holy Memorial. No matter what, if not them, then their children and grandchildren somehow will pay for this, (but not with money as they would hope).