Two Self-Declared Autocrats in Los Angeles Attempt to Hijack Armenian Community Leadership Without Popular Elections

BY APPO JABARIAN
Managing Editor
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Many readers and TV viewers may remember, during the past few months, this writer has been voicing his concern about collusion of various organizational leaders within the community to feign ‘unity’ for serf-serving goals.

Now finally the time has come to publicly identify these corrupted and self-appointed so-called ‘community leaders’ by name, who, in reality, are known within their own organization as “dictators and megalomaniac individuals.”

This writer has nothing negative to say about all the traditional Armenian political parties, faith-based and community-based organizations locally and globally but I am vehemently against those who are abusing their organizational leadership positions for their own personal gains at the expense of the wider community. For example, appointing their spouses and cronies in prominent positions both within Western Prelacy and Western Diocese without necessarily being qualified. Blatant nepotism.

After many years of bad-mouthing Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF-Tashnag Party) to mislead the Western Diocese supporters while secretly currying favor with ARF’s Viken Hovsepian, now Derderian, the current primate of Western Diocese, is found in bed with him. Not necessarily for a genuine unity or any other good reason such as the common good for the people, but to shore up their individual compromised positions within their own organization.

Recently when a prominent member of the community told me that Hovnan Derderian has become a warlord in Western U.S. wanting to control everything, I told him Derderian has become as such only because of the active support and backing by another warlord, power-hungry Viken Hovsepian of ARF Western Region. So, it takes two to tango.

Many of us are now watching the unfolding of a political tango between Hovsepian and Derderian.

This is the early stage of theatrics by Hovsepian and his cronies both within the ARF Western Region and other organizations like the Western Diocese.
A prime crony of Hovsepian, Derderian has joined the Hovsepian ‘choir’ in reciting lofty- and noble-sounding ideas under a big sounding new umbrella name — “Pan-Armenian Coalition of Western U.S.”

Hovsepian and Derderian, the top oligarchs of the newly declared “Pan Armenian Council of Western U.S.,” are joined by the discredited Edmond Azadian’s Armenian Democratic Liberal Party (ADL-Ramgavar party). Azadian is the top leader of ADL’s Tekeyan Cultural Association’s Central Committee that unjustifiably shut down the bustling Arshag Dikranian Armenian day-school in Los Angeles. They liquidated its lucrative real-estate assets valued at around $15.5 million. Nobody knows of the money’s whereabouts.

Like Matthew 7:3 states in the Bible, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?,” Azadian of ADL and TCA now has the moxy to criticize another culprit – Berge Setrakian of AGBU who has illegitimately in 2005 shut down one of the finest educational centers in the Armenian Diaspora, Melkonian Educational Institute in Nicosia, Cyprus.

Azadian wrote about the now-widely discredited Setrakian’s AGBU: “Melkonian’s closure… resulted in two particularly damaging missteps. The European Union had designated Western Armenian as an endangered language; therefore, funds would be forthcoming for its preservation… the closure of Melkonian at that delicate moment served as a stab in the back (to the Armenian Diaspora). So much for the political prudence of the AGBU leadership. … (which) has not come up with a plausible explanation. … If the Patriarch (Moutafyan) were alive, it would be within his right to question the AGBU leadership about the whereabouts of the endowment fund and the use of its income. … But even worse, there is apparently a reversal of the educational mission and philosophy among the AGBU leadership, particularly in the mindset of its current president, my respected friend, Berge Setrakian.”

One illegitimate liquidator of Armenian schools calls another illegitimate liquidator of many other Armenian schools, “my respected friend!” How hilarious!

Hovsepian and Derderian are also joined by Sinan Sinanian, the main building contractor of the $23-million Western Diocese’s St. Leon Cathedral. The construction costs under Derderian mysteriously skyrocketed from $12/$14 million to a whopping $23 million and possibly. As chairman of AGBU Western District, Sinanian is also a protégé of Berge Setrakian, AGBU’s embattled dictator. They are also joined by Derderian’s top crony Joseph Kanimian, chairman of Ararat Home of Los Angeles.

One wonders, Why the Hovsepian-Derderian duo is so desperate to stage self-promotion through a so-called “Pan Armenian Council of Western U.S.?”

The embattled primate of the Western Diocese is not the only party that is currently panicked in the face of mounting criticism from within his own organization over usurpation of power, corruption, nepotism, other wrongdoings and under-performance. He is now joined by the monopolistic and embattled dictatorships of both the Hovsepian clan within the ARF and the Berge Setrakian junta in the AGBU.

Last month I was in Lebanon. I met members of the three traditional political parties – ARF-Tashnag, ADL-Ramgavar, SDHP-Hunchak, including members of clergy of Armenian Church, along with educators and political leaders in the Lebanese Armenian community. The overwhelming majority of my interlocutors despised both Viken Hovsepian and his underling Derderian. They reconfirmed that Derderian had been expelled from the seminary of the Armenian Church of The Great House of Cilicia because he was caught in breaking his own celibacy vows by engaging in sexual acts other seminarians. All those engaged in these acts were expelled at once.

In 2015, I wrote the article titled “Armenia and Karabakh Are more Democratic than the Diaspora,

https://repairfuture.net/index.php/en/identity-standpoint-of-armenian-diaspora/armenia-and-karabakh-are-more-democratic-than-the-diaspora
became the uproar within the ARF rank-and-file members when they started asking questions, “For how long will Viken Hovsepian, the head of his own pyramid within the ARF Western U.S., continue to influence the party elections to perpetuate his grip on power?” His wife Nora Hovsepian has become a virtual dictator at the ANCA Western Region. For the record – even though ANCA is an advocacy group for democratic rights, it is anything but democratic.

Referring to the Pan-Armenian Council of W.U.S., former Deputy Director for policy to California Gov. George Deukmejian and a long-time leading member of the Armenian American community in Western U.S., Helen Haig has stated: “I attended the most recent gathering of the Pan Armenian Council and believe it could be positive for current leaders of existing nonprofit organizations to work together for the benefit of our youth and the community. At the same time, I believe that it’s important to set up a system of democratically elected representation for the implementation of uniquely valuable new initiatives that elected community representatives could develop based on a mandate of their constituency.” Ms. Haig is currently a board member of the World Affairs Council-OC. She has worked with two White House administrations (one involving international economic development). As Soroptimist President, she has participated in developing Soroptimist non-governmental organization (NGO’s) initiatives for the United Nations.

Commenting on the formation of the Pan Armenian Council of Western United States, Cal State University, Long Beach, Political Science Prof. Z. S. Andrew Demirdjian stated: “Self-perpetuating oligarchy is the thing of the past. We live now in the 21st century with the aim of abolishing the old ways of the 17th-18th-century schemes of running social, business and government affairs. We need to be represented by elected members of the community by means of a popular vote so that each citizen would have the power to replace, when the need arises, the deadwood representatives serving on the council. Without democratic elections, the Pan Armenian Council of Western United States leaders would be considered illegitimate representatives of the Armenian community by hijacking the prerogative of every Diaspora Armenian’s unalienable right to vote for their preferred candidate. Those who are guided by strong convictions of democratic principles would abhor the camouflaged usurpation of power by a small group of ego-driven, self-serving individuals.”

In his ground-breaking 2015 book, titled “The Dynamics of Organizing a Diaspora: The Quest for Unity,” Prof. Demirdjian wrote: “To move onward, let us not subject the decisions we make to the same fate as the floats quickly get after the Pasadena Rose Parade is over! Otherwise, our efforts for a unified democratically-elected representative body formation would be again and again elusive or even stillborn. But, if we stand now shoulder to shoulder, no mountain would be high enough to discourage us from moving our ARMENIAN NATION to a higher stratosphere of success! Armenians pride themselves for coming from an ancient country that is becoming known as the cradle of civilization. Yet, compared to most other nations, they have not succeeded in organizing themselves into an umbrella democratically-elected supra structure for the benefit of all. We are an intelligent race, but apparently not a smart one. … Let us reverse the tide of attrition by adhering to the realization of delayed success that a transnational Diaspora structure is the ultimate bridge to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those diasporas that organize for their survival now.”
As an investigative journalist and author of books chronicling the state of affairs within the faith-based and community-based Armenian American organizations, and former celibate priest in Armenian Apostolic Church of The Great House Cilicia, Los Angeles-based Vosgan Mekhiatrian said: “What I have witnessed within the past 50 years in Los Angeles, is the monopoly of the so called ‘leadership’ that has been kept within the same circle, alienating the new educated and responsible generation obstructing their right to be part of the solution. THE MONOPOLIZED LEADERSHIP IS TOTALLY CORRUPTED AND HAS ABSOLUTELY NO RESPECT FOR LAW AND ORDER. If not today, when are we going to unite our genuine efforts to establish a democratically-elected leadership in order to save the diaspora from liquidation?”
Out of the 170 Armenian American faith-based and community-based organizations in Western United States, only a handful — about 20 organizations’ leaders got together and declared the formation of a quasi-privately-controlled umbrella organization under the big-sounding banner name “Pan-Armenian Council of Western United States.”
The 20 organizations of the so-called Pan Armenian Council of Western U.S. in reality represent two, and one-half pyramids. Pyramid no. 1 is ARF’s Viken Hovsepian’s the party itself has around 950 members and satellite organizations — Western Prelacy, Armenian Relief Society of Western USA (ARS-WR), Homenetmen Western USA, Hamazkayin Western USA, Armenian Youth Federation of Western USA (AYF-WR), Armenian National Committee of America Western Region (ANCA-WR) have an additional membership of around 6,500, Pyramid no. 2 is Derderian’s Western Diocese that has an estimated 3,500 members with its satellite or sister organizations — AGBU, ADL-Ramgavar Party, The Armenian Assembly with another 550 members. The one-half Pyramid which boasts a combined membership of about 1,885 is consisted of Armenian Bar Association, Armenian Catholic Eparchy of North America, Armenian Evangelical Union of North America (AEUNA), Armenian Missionary Association of America (AMAA), Unified Young Armenians (UYA), Organization of Istanbul Armenians (OIA), Armenian Youth Association of California (AYAC), Armenian Society of Los Angeles (ASLA), Iraqi Armenian Family Association of Los Angeles.
The total combined membership of all 20 participating organizations is around 1% of the total 1.2 to 1.5 million-strong Armenian American population of Western United States.
The Social Democratic Hunchak Party (SDHP Hunchak Party) and a number of other organizations have refused to join this self-serving body. The total combined membership of the 150 non-participating organizations is over 10,000.
The mission of the Council sounds very lofty (see below press release) but in reality, that’s just a facade to misappropriate the ‘community leaders’ title without securing any democratic elections and popular mandate for the community representation.
The timing for the formation of the so-called ‘Pan-Armenian Council’ is also peculiar in the sense that Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is scheduled to visit Los Angeles on Sept. 22, 2019. The election of two or three Co-Chairpersons by the 20 representatives may be also misconstrued by the masterminds —Hovsepian and Derderian and their cronies as being the sole representatives or leaders of the Armenian American community of Western U.S. during any possible meetings with PM Pashinyan.
As a former member of the ARF Western Region in a leadership position, I had witnessed wrongdoings by party oligarchs and I chose to resign in mid-1980’s. For his outspokenness on wrongdoings, this journalist has been victimized by various organizational oligarchs to discredit my work as a member of the Armenian American free press. As an original founder of Nor Kiank-New Life Armenian Weekly (1978) and founder of USA Armenian Life and Hye Kiank (1985), I have been constantly harassed by both ARF oligarchs and anti-ARF oligarchs. And recently, I was bullied and my life was threatened by Derderian’s clansmen (Dec. 23, 2018).
I have seen many other victims during the course of the past several decades and now the time has come to draw a line in the sand, and say out-loud, “Al Guh Paveh!” (“Enough is Enough!”).
Now I am writing this article even at the cost of being targeted by Viken Hovsepian’s clansmen along with Hovnan Derderian’s own clansmen.
A New Sheriff is in Town. The Armenian Diaspora is stationed across the globe. Parasites from within, watch out! You’re under constant observation both locally and globally.