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ARF-WR autocrat Vicken Hovsepian denies he and his wife Nora were involved in “the committee’s scandalous decision” to present Western Diocese’s Hovnan Derderian with ANCA-WR “Khrimian Hayrig Award”

Posted on September. 20. 2019

Posted on Sep. 20, 2019
BY APPO JABARIAN
Managing Editor | Executive Publisher
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Early this week, for the second time in as many months, Armenian Revolutionary Federation Western U.S. (ARF-WR) autocrat Dr. Vicken Hovsepian backtracked in order to ‘manage’ the damage emanating from his and his wife Nora Hovsepian’s missteps that have triggered communitywide uproar.
Barely three weeks after the “Pan-Armenian Council of Western U.S.” fiasco, the Hovsepians came up with another disingenuous idea: ‘Honor’ their widely discredited asset Western Diocese’s Hovnan Derderian, in order to ‘rehabilitate’ the latter’s poor standing in the community. It’s interesting how the Hovsepians chose to blatantly disregard a litany of accusation and facts cataloging all the wrongdoings by Derderian such as lying, stealing, embezzling of funds, defrauding unsuspecting benefactors, forgery of documents and illicit sex breaking his own celibacy vows. The Aug 12 ACR Report was prepared and published by Armenian Church Report.
On Monday, during a conversation with Dr. Hovsepian, a major ANCA-WR supporter and benefactor of Western Diocese strongly criticized Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region (ANCA-WR) Chairperson Nora Hovsepian’s perverse decision to present Western Diocese’s failed primate Hovnan Derderian with ANCA-WR “Khrimian Hayrig Award.” The ANCA-WR supporter urged the Hovsepians to rescind the award. Dr. Hovsepian has backtracked and distanced himself and his wife from that decision claiming that it was not up to him nor his wife Nora Hovsepian, Esq., to rescind such a decision “because that decision was taken by ‘the committee” at ANCA-WR, claimed Dr. Hovsepian.
This latest embarrassment comes on the heels of another auto-damaging decision — the August 16 announcement by 20 organizations when Dr. Hovsepian conspired with three other major autocrats — Western Diocese’s Derderian¸ AGBU oligarch Berge Setrakian’s proxy Sinan Sinanian, and Ararat Home of Los Angeles and Western Diocese Endowment Fund Chairman Joseph Kanimian, Esq to hijack Western U.S. ‘Armenian community leadership’ under a big-sounding banner name – Pan Armenian Council of Western U.S.
Contrary to Hovsepian’s claim, several ANCA-WR insiders asserted that “ANCA-WR board and staff members are no more than figureheads and have no real decision-making powers. The authority is concentrated in the hands of its chairperson.”
While ANCA-WR has many supporters, it doesn’t allow them to hold democratic elections to choose the top leadership within the ANCA-WR hierarchy. They’re all appointed by ARF-WR Central Committee. And the ARF-WR Central Committee has long been monopolized by Dr. Hovsepian and his cronies.
In an act of obvious nepotism, the Hovsepian cronies within the top echelons of ARF-WR have been consistently appointing his wife Nora Hovsepian to the chairmanship of ANCA-WR.
Notable members of the Western U.S. Armenian community have been asking “is Nora Hovsepian the only qualified individual to continuously become the chairperson of ANCA-WR? Aren’t there equally – if not more qualified fine men and women in our community who can serve as leaders of ANCA?”
For several years, it has been a common knowledge that Dr. and Mrs. Hovsepian have converted ARF-WR and ANCA-WR into their personal fiefdom. A modern-day organizational feudalism.
Several ARF members and concerned members of the wider Armenian community are keenly aware of the fact that Dr. Hovsepian has ‘created’ his own pyramid within the ARF-WR which is unheard of, in the party’s 119 year-history.
With several regional ARF central committees around the world including Eastern and Western U.S., Canada, France, Europe, South America, Australia, Armenia, Artsakh, Lebanon and Syria, ARF has never allowed any single individual or a clan to monopolize power but has always ensured collective powers shared by regional and global leadership bodies.
The unilateral decision by ARF/ANCA-WR autocrats Vicken and Nora Hovsepian, to present failed primate Derderian with ANCA-WR “Khrimian Hayrig Award” has ignited a backlash within the Armenian communities in Western U.S. and beyond.
In order to reconfirm or compare my notes on the Hovsepians’ claim that “it’s the committee” that has taken the decision to ‘grant’ the Khrimian Hayrig Award to Derderian, I have attempted to contact a high-ranking member of the ANCA national leadership. But it has been to no avail.
During a Sept. 18 televised conversation with ARTN TV, renowned pubic speaker, writer and investigative journalist Vosgan Mekhitarian criticized the monopolists of power within the Armenian community for attempting to perpetuate hold on power through constant usurpation of ‘community leadership.’
Since it’s not too late, it can be very practical if we jointly liberated ourselves from corrupted, self-centered, harmful, counter-productive and disoriented organizational leaders.
One should reject these organizational monopolists’ attempts for self-justification or claims of innocence. When they are confronted with criticism, panic sets in and they start playing the blame-game, saddling their poor and naive cronies with their own wrongdoings.
If in the past, miracles saved people survive and continue to exist. But in today’s world, miracles can no longer save our people. From now on, it’s imperative that we collectively execute pan-national diagnosis and cure our religious, civic and political structures and organizations. We should begin the process in earnest. Tomorrow may be too late.