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MILLIONS OF DOLLARS MISUSED? MEDIA INQUIRY addressed to Armenian Democratic League-Ramgavar (ADL) and its cultural arm, Tekeyan Cultural Association (TCA) and all the TCA/ADL-owned media outlets

Posted on December. 9. 2023

BY APPO K. JABARIAN
Executive Publisher / Managing Editor
USA Armenian Life Magazine (English-language print edition)
Hye Kiank Armenian Weekly (Armenian-language print edition)
USA Armenian Life E-Newsletter (Electronic Distribution — e-blast)
USA Armenian Life FACEBOOK | www.armenianlife.com
TV Host, USA Armenian Life TV on AMGA

Editor’s Note: Below is a MEDIA INQUIRY sent out on Saturday, December 2, 2023. As of presstime on Dec. 7, 2023 the editorial office had not yet received a response from the leadership of the Ramgavar Armenian Democratic League (RAG) and its cultural wing, the Tekeyan Cultural Association (TCA) nor from the editors of all the media outlets controlled by RAG-TCA. 

MEDIA INQUIRY 

Saturday December 2, 2023 

The Armenian Mirror-Spectator, An ADL Publication 

Baikar Association, Inc. 

755 Mt. Auburn St. 

Watertown, MA 02472-1509 

The Armenian Mirror-Spectator Editor: 

Alin K. Gregorian 

The Armenian Mirror-Spectator Managing Editor: 

Aram Arkun 

Nor Or Weekly, the official organ of Armenian Democratic League -Ramgavar (ADL-Rag) and its cultural arm, Tekeyan Cultural Association (TCA) 

Altadena, California 

Nor Or Weekly Editor: Anahit Koshkarian 

Nor Or Weekly Senior Contributors: 

Khachik Janoyan Hagop Mardirossian, Sarkis Y. Minassian 

Nor Or Weekly Administrative Staff: 

Kevork Krikorian, Ara Kasabian, Garo Kupelian 

MEDIA INQUIRY addressed to Armenian Democratic League-Ramgavar (ADL) and its cultural arm, 

Tekeyan Cultural Association (TCA) and all the 

TCA/ADL-owned media outlets 

Dear TCA- and ADL-owned media outlet Editors: 

Can you kindly present answers to the questions listed in this media inquiry? 

It has been several years when your media outlet-controlling organization Armenian Democratic League -Ramgavar (ADL-Rag) and its cultural arm, Tekeyan Cultural Association (TCA) have unilaterally shut down the TCA Arshag Dikranian Armenian Day School in Hollywood, California and liquidated its real estate assets to the tune of $14.5 million. Can you kindly shed light on this matter? 

Now it turns out that as a premeditated step and in order to justify the unwarranted and unjustifiable shutting down of a well-functioning Armenian educational center – the TCA Arshag Dikranian Armenian Day School in Hollywood, many members of the community insist that “the main culprits intentionally mismanaged the school in order to drive down student population size and to eventually shut the school down under the false pretext that “there are not enough students,” and misappropriate its financial assets.” What’s your response? 

After systematically sabotaging and undermining its day-to-day operations under the cover of ‘poor management,‘ the ADL leadership including you and your colleagues, “shut down a vibrant school under the pretext of opening another day school in another American Armenian prospering community.” Many American Armenians are bewildered and enraged at the fact you have shut down a vibrant Armenian day school under a false pretext and in striking contrast to another prospering day school — Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian Day school in Hollywood which has been experiencing continuous growth over the course of many decades and now they have a waiting list. What’s your response? 

Question: At the time of the unwarranted and unjustified shutting down of the TCA Arshag Dikranian Armenian Day School in Hollywood, other organizations offered to purchase the TCA Arshag Dikranian Armenian Day School in order to continue operating it. Why haven’t you sold it to them but chose to shut down and unilaterally liquidate the real estate assets? 

Question: As you should well know, the school into which American Armenian benefactors and supporters of Armenian Education in the Diaspora, gave millions of hard-earned dollars with the clear understanding that the TCA Arshag Dikranian Armenian Day School was going to serve as a bastion of Armenian identity’s survival throughout the Diaspora’s Armenian community including the one in Hollywood/Los Angeles which continues to thrive as a community till today in contrast to your leadership’s false claims that “the community does not justify such Armenian day school.” Do you agree that your leadership’s claims turned out to be utterly unfounded and false? 

A misguided and/or self-serving decision? It’s been almost a decade since you have shut down the TCA Arshag Dikranian Armenian Day School in Hollywood but still no new school! Why hasn’t your organization kept its promise to open another Armenian day school in another American Armenian community in Los Angeles? Did the TCA-ADL leadership masterminded “opening a new school” in order to solicit new donations and ultimately misuse them? 

ADL owns a network of Armenian media outlets supposedly serving the Armenian Cause and the community. Why have all the ADL-owned and controlled media outlets been maintaining deafening silence about the scandalous shutting down of Armenian day schools and community centers throughout the Diaspora? Are they a part of a scheme along with Catholicos of All Armenians, Karekin II, Western Diocese Primate Archbishop Hovnan Derderian and The Bolshevik-lead Karabakh Mafia under former Armenia Presidents Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan to defraud the Armenian nation? (See article by a longtime ADL member Hagop Vartivarian, titled, “The Liquidation Continues.”) As you may have noticed the article was written in 1997 and obviously the list presented by Mr. Vartivarian does not include the Armenian school in Hollywood and a host of other Diaspora-based Armenian Centers and schools. Are there also other properties bequeathed to and/or owned by your organization that have also been liquidated away from the public eye? Furthermore, can you possibly update the list and send it to various media outlets to bring it to the forefront of Armenian public awareness in the Homeland and Diaspora? 

Question: How many other Armenian Centers and day schools has your organization shut down since 1998 and liquidated their real estate assets and what has been done with the funds? 

Question: As you may well know ADL and TCA are Armenian nonprofit organizations that receive funds from the Armenian nation. Therefore, as such they are accountable to the Armenian nation. Do you agree? 

Best regards, 

Appo Jabarian 

Managing Editor 

CC: Armenian media outlets around the world, activists, community organizers, organizational leaders.