The Following Report was delivered verbally by Mr Ara Palamoudian, Chairman of the Armenian Community & Church Council, at a Public Meeting held on 28th March, 2004
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CHAIRMAN'S REPORT - 28th March, 2004
Your grace Bishop Nathan Hovhannisian - President of the Armenian Community & Church Council, fellow members of the Armenian Community of
the United Kingdom.
May I first of all on behalf of the Council of the Community thank you all for coming here today and thus showing your interest in the matters of your Community.
A Community which would be considered a small one if compared with the many other ethnic groups in this country.
In the early fifties, when I first came to England, the Armenian Community numbered
perhaps not more than a thousand, it could easily have been described as a "religious group" since the only activity then was to congregate around its church.
As our community gradually grew
larger and larger and in fact also more and more diverse in character since there was an influx of Armenians from a variety of Countries and cultures, the community naturally evolved from merely a religious
group into a thriving and multi-faceted Community with of course its growing religious needs but now also with its most important secular - social, educational and political - needs that are so essential for
the survival of a racial community in a European Country where the dangers and pressures of assimilation and losing ones ethnic identity are so immense and so attractive to the new generation.
Over the
last forty years your Community's constitution has also evolved together with the Community's needs and character, until today the Community and Church Council not only has responsibility for the maintenance
of the Community's Apostolic Church, but also attends to the numerous other needs and interests which give this Community its most important Ethnic Identity - without which we would be just a religious group
and likened to a sect rather than a proud and self-respecting Ethnic Community of British Armenians.
Your Community's Council, of which I have the honour to be the Chairman in its current term of
office is elected by democratic public ballot every four years and comprises 15 members.
The other members of the Council are:
Zorig Gasparian - Vice Chairman
Zepur Kiledjian - Secretary
Hovnan Hampartsoumian - Financial Controller
Souren Saroukhanoff - Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Council
Arshalous Babayan
Karineh Grigorian
Haig Gulvanessian
Vicken Haladjian
Antranik Jojaghaian
Charle Malas
Matilda Megerdichian
Stepan Tatulian
Rostom Krikorian
Ara Yeghiazarian
In accordance with the Community's current
constitution any Armenian who satisfies certain simple requirements such as age, residence etc is entitled to be elected to the Council and any Armenian over 18, who is registered as a member of the
Community, is entitled to vote.
The current council was elected to office in December 2002 and therefore has about three years left to serve.
The Community's structure of Organisation is as follows:
With regard to the Church - We are extremely privileged to have as our Primate, Bishop Nathan Hovhannisian, who has been our primate for just over two years. Previous to coming toEngland Bishop
Nathan was Primate of the Ukraine where he was personally responsible in the establishment of a Diocesan Structure and for his work there, he was awarded the Ukrainian National Medal of Honour by the
Ukrainian Government. So we are very privileged indeed in having him as our Primate and of course the Community's Churches are under his direction - naturally under the jurisdiction of His
Holiness, the Catholicos of All Armenians of Etchmiadzin.
Whilst the Churches' Ecclesiastic matters are attended to by the Primate, the physical administration of the Community's Church falls
within the responsibilities of the Council, and as such, on behalf of the Community we are responsible for the Stipends and salaries of our clergymen, and all other secular matters of the Church.
The Council appoints its EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE which in turn appoints and assumes responsibility for the proper functioning of its various sub-committees which comprise:
- The Church Committee
- The Ladies Committee
- Youth and Cultural Committee
- Membership and Electoral Register Committee etc .
The total number of persons serving in all the various
Committees which comprise the Community Council's Structure of Organisation is in excess of 53 men and women, who give up their time freely and happily to serve their Community.
I should like to extend my
thanks to every single one of them - too many to name here - , on behalf of the Community and of the Council for all they are doing for their Community. The names of all the Members of the various Committees
are listed in our website - www.accc.org.uk
In a few minutes I shall be asking Souren Saroukhanoff, Chairman of the Executive, to give you a report on the activities of the Executive and of their various
sub committees.
In addition to the Executive and its sub-committees, the Council also has direct responsibility for the appointment of the Trustees of the Community's K.Tahta Armenian
Sunday School, and in this connection, I should like to express the Council's appreciation to the Headmistress of the school, Mrs. Anahid Kazarians for her devoted service for the last 20 years or so, which
has contributed to its success, with about 250 students. The Council of course makes an annual financial contribution to the school and also covers any deficit it may have. The
Chairman of the School Trustees, Doctor Tarverdi will be giving us a report also, this afternoon.
We are directly responsible for the appointment of the Executive Committee of Campaign for the
Recognition of the Armenian Genocide (CRAG) which over the past many years has incessantly taken on the task of campaigning in any way possible to further the national cause of recognition of the
Genocide. CRAG as it is popularly know had for the last ten years or so, been under the most able Chairmanship of Dr Rostom Stepanian who has retired only recently and the Chairmanship has
now in the care his Deputy, Mr. Raffi Sarkissian. Mr Sarkissian will of be speaking to us today also, to give us a report on CRAG's activities. In connection with CRAG and its activities,
over the many years, there have been numerous dedicated ladies and gentlemen who have given so much of their time and energy for this most important national cause, but I would like to mention some names who
I know do not expect thanks, but I feel I must extend our appreciation to dedicated persons such as Mr Bagrad Nazarian who until recently and for over ten years has worked with great devotion and energy for
CRAG and all it stands for. Appreciation also goes to - among many others - Ara Sarafian, Hratch Koundarjian, Andrew Kevorkian, Armine Gasparian, Shiraz Vartanian, Raffi Sarkissian and of course
its current Executive Director, Mr Harry Hagopian.
CRAG carries out a most essential function in keeping alive the interests of the Armenian nation and the continual struggle for the
recognition of the awful and unforgivable Genocide perpetrated against our nation. It operates as an autonomous unit and because of the nature of its activities, it does incur certain expenses.
The Community Council has for many years made an annual allocation of about £4000 to it and since the total expenses of CRAG are far greater than that, we are most grateful to those persons who recognise its
value and well knowing the nature of its expenditure, have contributed to its funds so that CRAG can continue with its mission.
ACTIVITIES
The larger portion of Community activities are
undertaken by our Executive Committee and its Sub-Committees so Mr Saroukhanoff will be including those in his report .
The Council, for the first time as a Community Function, this year celebrated the
12th Anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Armenia. The function was held here to a full house and in the presence of the Armenian Ambassador as well as the British Ambassador to Armenia,
Miss Abbott-Watt (whose name you may have heard, or read about in the last few weeks related to a most unfortunate and inappropriate statement she made recently.)
For those who may not have
heard, - - during an interview with a reporter in Armenia, Miss Abbott-Watt - the British Ambassador - remarked that the atrocities perpetrated upon the Armenians did not qualify to be described as
GENOCIDE as specified by the 1948 United Nation Convention, and went on to say =
"but I do not think recognising it as genocide would be of much use"I.
Such a statement coming from a British Ambassador was most inappropriate and especially since it was stated during an interview in Armenia, her statement created an immense and robust reaction from Armenian
Communities throughout world, some even going as far as to demand that she be declared a persona-non-grata in Armenia.
Our Council gave this matter its most serious consideration and as British
Armenians, we have decided to write to our Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, complaining against the inappropriate statement made by the Ambassador, which not only could be considered insulting and hurtful to
the dignity and memories of the Armenian Nation but also by denying a historical fact in the face of overwhelming evidence, it represented a denial of the human rights of British Armenians whose
parents or greatparents were the very ones who had been subjected to that Genocide
We shall, of course also urge the Prime Minister that the time has now come that our Government should put aside economic
or political considerations and should join other World Power countries such as France, Switzerland, Greece, together with many others, including the European Parliament, and declare that the
atrocities committed upon the Armenian peoples in Ottoman Turkey qualify to be designated as GENOCIDE, and must be condemned as GENOCIDE.
The letter will be delivered and published within the next few days.
Administrative Visit by His Holiness:
In November, last year, we were honoured by the visit of His Holiness Catholicos Karekin II with whom the Council had extended
discussions on various matters with regard to this Community and in particular with regard to his wish that all the Armenian Apostolic Churches in the UK should agree to unite under one Diocesan Structure -
albeit as a loose federation - with each Church still functioning autonomously under the terms of their relevant Constitutions or Trust Deeds. For this purpose His Holiness suggested some changes could
be considered to the Community's Constitution.
We have of course agreed to undertake that responsibility and shall be holding appropriate meetings and consultations with a view to making appropriate
amendments to the Constitution so as to meet the wishes of His Holiness, always respecting of course the principles fundamental to the democratic functioning of the Armenian Community of Great Britain.
I
must add here that all three Churches - Manchester, St Sarkis and the Community's Church functioning from this Church, the St Yeghiche, are on excellent terms with each other and co-exist in harmony. I
therefore do not foresee any impediment to acceeding to the wishes of His Holiness.
Embassy:
I am also very happy to report that your Community Council enjoys an excellent
relationaship with the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia. We feel it is our national duty to support the Embassy in any way possible within our scope and ability and the Council makes an annual
contribution on behalf of the Community towards the funds of the Embassy.
We are doing, and shall continue to do all we can to establish closer ties between Armenia and the British
Armenia Community and shall encourage the furthering of ties, be they Cultural, Social, Sports or any other. We shall also encourage the establishment of business relations between British and Armenian
Companies.
I should like to express my especial thanks and appreciation to Ambassador Gabrielyan for his keen, cooperative and helpful attitude which has created a fresh and friendly atmosphere between the
Community Council and the Embassy, which is greatly appreciated.
Re. CAIA:
We have followed with deep concern the developments at the Centre for Armenian
Information and Advice and noted the continued disagreements and disputes between the various Trustees. As the Council considered the Centre to be of great benefit to the Community, we made attempts at
mediation between the two main differing groups, once in June 2003 and once more very recently - in December/January of this year. Unfortunately in both instances we were unable to secure the
acceptance of all parties concerned for our intervention with a view to brokering some agreement whereby a properly assembled General Meeting could be held and a new, legally and universally accepted Board
of Directors/Trustees could be elected.
I was informed a few days ago that the Charity Commissioners have taken the step of appointing a group of five Trustees and removing all the other
Trustees from office, thus creating a situation whereby the appointed five Trustees will be able to proceed to govern the centre and hold a General Meeting without much delay. The Council
has never at any time shown bias to any group of Trustees, nor to any individual Trustee. Our concern was simply for the future of the Centre and a wish for peaceful co-existance by its
members.
We wish the appointees every success in the responsibilities they have undertaken and the Council will be happy to extend any assistance that it is able to, if requested.
The Community's Church:
For the avoidance of any misunderstandings or misconceptions that might exist within the Community, I should now like to give some details with
regard to our Community's Church. That is to say, the St Yeghiche Church.
No doubt you are all aware that since the mid-1970's, this church previously named St Peters, together with
the adjacent Church Hall and offices building, was leased to the Council for use as our Community's Church. Whereas the Church was on a peppercorn rent of I think £10 per annum, the adjacent building
which the Council was obliged to lease together with the Church was at Market Value and although initially the rent was an affordable figure of some few thousand pounds, the rent demanded by the landlords -
the Church of England - for renewal of the lease in around 1995 was in excess of £35,000 per annum. There was no way such a sum could be raised by the Council every year and therefore they were
forced to decide to give up the Church. Furthermore, the church building was in need of extensive renovation and the Council had no funds to meet these expenses.
At this juncture, Mr
Vatche Manoukian offered to purchase the freehold of the Church with the declared intention of renovating it and returning it for the use of the Community. As you can see, this benefactor has indeed
renovated the Church and having re-consecrated it the St Yeghiche Church, Mr Manoukian has graciously made the Church available for use by the Community for its Ecclesiastic needs, free of any
charges. The Manoukian Foundation undertakes all the physical expenses of the Church building including heating, lighting, cleaning etc.
Mr Manoukian has no wish to become involved
with the functioning of the administration of the Community's Church and the management of our church is our responsibility. The Council appoints the Community's clergymen and is responsible for
all the matters to do with the Church such as payment of salaries to our clergy, etc etc. and for that purpose, our Executive Committee appoints a "Church Committee" which attends to the day to day
matters.
We are most grateful to Mr Manoukian for his generosity in allowing us to use the Church building.
With regard to the Community Council offices, we are also grateful to
Mr. Manoukian for the offer he has made of advancing £200,000 towards the purchase of offices.
Mr. Manoukian has also informed us that he has applied for planning consent to build an annexe to the Church
on the space on its left hand side which would comprise cloakrooms and extensive lobby area where refreshments could be served.
Future and Finances:
Future plans and Finances are very closely inter-related and I should like to talk about them jointly.
We have distributed by post the accounts of the Community for 17 months ending 2003. You will
note that we have again had to draw from very precious reserves to a very large extent.
Up to about three years ago the Community's "Reserves" were NIL and therefore a large portion of the
expenditures incurred would not have been possible.
We were extremely lucky about three to four years ago that the Council received some legacies and donations as follows:
a) From the Will of Miss K Baronian : A bedsitter flat in Wimbledon which produces a rental income of £6000 per annum.
b) From the Will of Miss Sonia Keshishian : The sum £137,305
c) From the Beneficiary of the Will of Mrs Mania Baker: A donation of £10,000.
Hence the Community was fortunate enough to have acquired some capital to fall back on.
However, as we said in our report last year, we must repeat with even greater emphasis that unless our
annual income is significantly increased, this Community can be considered "Bankrupt".
We do not have unlimited capital resources to draw upon, and the Community
must realize that if they wish to enjoy all the Community facilities that they knowingly or un-knowingly enjoy currently, then the Community's funds must break even every year.
In fact that is not at all difficult to achieve. The figures are as follows:
We send out Levy demands every year to approximately 3000 addresses. Assuming an average of 2 adults per
address, we should be receiving levy payments from 6000 persons.
At £20 per person, that amounts to £120,000 per annum which not only would amply pay all the Community's expenses, but would also
provide a tidy sum to be put aside for Capital reserve.
In fact, as you can see from the accounts, instead of £120,000 income, we actually receive about £20,000 which means that out of about
6000 Armenians, only 1000 actually pay their community levy. This is a shameful situation and I appeal to all members of our Community to realize their national responsibility and to contribute
their annual dues. The amount asked for per year, per person, represents the value of less than five packets of cigarettes.
Unless our Community realizes its responsibilities
and decides to come forward with some positive action, I regret in the course of the next year or two the capital fund will have receded to ZERO and it will not be possible to administer this Community and
Church in the way we have become accustomed.
The old custom of one or two wealthy benefactors underwriting the Community have long gone and it should not be expected of such persons.
This Community comprises an immense number of comfortably off families. The potential benefactors know this fact and one would not blame them at all when they show reluctance to
contribute. It should be insulting to the dignity of each member of this Community to allow such a situation to develop, and I personally am not prepared to approach any person with a begging-bowl just
because the Community is not realizing its responsibilities.
I appeal to every Armenian to please send in your levy payment without delay.
I would even venture to suggest that if the family
total is too much to pay in one go, the Treasurer of our Executive will I am certain, be happy to hold one or two post-dated cheques so that effectively payment of the full amount is made in one or two
instalments.
At the beginning of our term just over a year ago we had "plans" for the future - -
- plans for a Community Centre for Social, Cultural and Sport facilities
- plans for a
School building to accommodate our Sunday School as well as provide facility to offer accommodation to the Saturday School ( Both schools have been served notice to vacate within the coming two years as the
school is being closed down and both schools have nowhere to go! )
- Plans for an Old Peoples Home
etc etc
We even established a special Committee with the sole responsibility of going out and finding suitable premises.
They did find suitable properties - all with a price tag of one to two million pounds.
We have no such funds and it has become patently clear to us that this Community which does not even bother to pay its annual levy of 20 pounds, cannot raise one or two million.
Very
regretfully, all those plans have had to become "aspirations" or "hopes" since the financial future of our Community under the present circumstances is extremely bleak and pitiable.
I
suggest to those who neglect to pay that when they ask the all so easily uttered question " What is the Council doing about such and such", then one ought to ask oneself, even if it is a
matter of writing to the Prime Minister -- "Have I contributed towards even the postage stamp of that letter??"
At Church
: "what have I contributed towards the salaries of the clergy, and payments to the choir, the servers etc"
When Commemorating for example the Armenian Independence Day
:
"where is the money coming from to pay all the expenses"
When you receive a mailshot - 3000 addresses - postage, printing - each envelope costs a at least 30 pence including postage. Ask
: " What have I contributed towards all these" "How is it being paid for?" "What right have I to expect anything from my Community".
Nothing comes free...
PONTIFICAL VISIT
I have great pleasure in announcing that for the first time since his enthronement, His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All
Armenians, shall be making an official Pontifical Visit to our Community in June of this year.
The planned dates are the 15th, 16th and 17th of June.
Naturally the Community together with the other
Churches will organize appropriate functions about which notices will be distributed in due course. (Please bear in mind a Dinner Reception is planned for the night of June the 17th. )
News Letter and Website.
Before I close I should also like to inform you that we are currently considering the publication of a Community Newsletter - probably monthly - which will contain comprehensive
information about our Community in England and we are of the hope that it will be informative and helpful to everyone.
I would also like to inform you that the Community Council has established an Internet
Website which is functioning now and where readers will find a large variety of information. There are separate sections allocated for Community News, International Armenian News, Church Mews,
messages and announcements including the Church Calendar, Embassy News and Announcements, Numerous Links to various other Armenian websites and a very useful "Events Diary" where all
events and functions happening in the United Kingdom are listed. This is an excellent reference source both for the Community as well as the various organisations who would like to plan their
activities.
Over the past months that it has been operative, visits to the site have gradually increased and we were very happy indeed to note that in February, the site recorded a total of over 1000
visits.
We are planning to enlarge the website in due course.
We will be very happy to receive any advice and any news items or articles that you may wish to e-mail in.
