BY APPO JABARIAN
Executive Publisher / Managing Editor
USA Armenian Life Magazine (English-language print edition)
USA Armenian Life E-Newsletter (Electronic Distribution — e-blast)
Hye Kiank Armenian Weekly (Armenian-language print edition)
USA Armenian LifeFACEBOOK | www.armenianlife.com
Last week, protests were held in Yerevan and elsewhere against Armenia’s rapprochement with Turkey and ‘damaging’ concessions in Artsakh.
Raising a voice of protest is necessary to keep the authorities alert so as to NOT hand over Artsakh and make permanently damaging concessions to Turkey. But it is equally important that these protests are not exploited by former regime kleptocrats, such as Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Robert Kocharyan, Serzh Sargsyan and their cronies, including Catholicos Karekin II, Arch. Hovnan Derderian of the Western Diocese to stage their return to power.
Many Diaspora activists urge their fellow Armenians not to forget that it was the former autocrats who carried out large-scale looting of Armenia’s defense budget and state assets. Armenians are also urged to remember that it was under old regimes’ watch,
A. The unfortunate October 27, 1999 massacre took place inside the National Assembly of Armenia when Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan and NA Speaker Karen Demirjyan and other high-ranking officials were gunned down;
B. The massacre of peaceful demonstrators on March 1, 2008 took place under Pres. Kocharyan, taking the lives of many innocent civilians.
However, the current popular protests should not be exploited by the
criminal old regimes to perpetrate a new October 27 or March 1.
The
main culprits of the 44-day Artsakh catastrophe of 2020, Catholicos
Karekin II (1999-present), Pres. Robert Kocharyan (1998-2008), Serzh
Sargsyan (2008-2018) and their henchmen, may destabilize the country in
broad daylight. The reason Armenia and Diaspora continue to be exposed
to destabilization by the old kleptocrats is because the latter were not
brought to justice and were not held responsible in a timely manner.
Fortunately, the US Department of Justice is now seeking the forfeiture
of former Armenian ‘Super Minister’ Gagik Khachatryan’s $63 million Los
Angeles mansion. Khachatryan is a longtime ally of Pres. Kocharyan and
Pres. Sargsyan (See article titled “Justice Department Seeks Forfeiture
of Los Angeles Mega-Mansion Purchased with Proceeds of Armenian
Corruption Scheme.” page 4)
The current government of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has received a popular vote in the June 2021 parliamentary elections to
A-
Enforce the law on “confiscation of illegally acquired assets” so that
the former autocrats are not able to continue their destructive culture;
B- To clean the judicial system of Armenia from the corrupt judges and prosecutors planted by the corrupted old regimes.
Unfortunately,
the Pashinyan government has not yet fully implemented the law on
“confiscation of illegally acquired assets” and the judiciary has not
been cleansed of corrupt judges and prosecutors. Consequently, the
judiciary remains largely under the control of former regimes.
This
is the reason why the Armenian Nation is once again the target of
provocations and destabilization by Armenia’s internal parasites
“because the snake’s head was not crushed at the right time” underline
many Armenians.
It is now public knowledge that Catholicos
Karekin II, Arch. Derderian, Archbishop of Moscow Yezras continue their
honeymoon with the former presidents Kocharyan and Sargsyan. The vast
majority of Armenians around the world and in the homeland are well
aware that “these fake clergy are thieves and liars and that their hands
are bloody.”
The Los Angeles Times made the general public
aware of the identity of Avedis Avo Margarian. Margarian’s name is
associated with the betrayal of the blood money of the victims of the
Armenian Genocide.
Many Armenians in Pasadena and Los Angeles are
questioning: “Why Arch. Derderian’s ally, Avo Margarian, continues to
hold office within St. Gregory Armenian Church and the diocese?”
Many Armenians insist that he must be fired at warp speed so that “The Apostolic Church does not suffer any more damage.”
Others
are surprised: “What does such a hypocrite have to do with the church?”
It is clear that he is Arch. Derderian’s man and has been complicit in
many shady deals with the primate of Western Diocese.”
Another
member of the Western Diocese has observed and asked: “During his time
at the Pacific West Bank, Avo Margarian illegally cashed fake checks
from New York Life Insurance and AXA French insurance company’s genocide
settlement funds in favor of now disqualified and auto-disbarred
attorney Berj Boyajian. How much did he enable Arch. Derderian to
misappropriate from these funds? “They are so close with Hovnan
Derderian
Could it be that Avo Markarian illegally cashed fake checks made out to priests close to Derderian?”
The
Los Angeles Times reports that one of the attorneys for the victims of
the genocide, Mark Giragos, handed over $450,000 to Arch. Derderian to
transfer to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. However, officials at
Holy Etchmiadzin have confirmed that they have never received the sum of
$450,000. Another question: Are these funds also illegally collected
through Avo Markarian?
In Canada, during his tenure as primate
of Canada Diocese, Arch. Hovnan Derderian looted a fund established to
aid the widows and orphans of the freedom fighters killed in the First
Artsakh War. Derderian was caught distributing the stolen funds to fake
clergy loyal to him and Karekin II.
Such people should not remain in any position within any churches, civic organizations, or political parties.
House-Cleaning
should include old and new regime kleptocrats, Catholicos Karekin II,
Western Diocese Arch. Hovnan Derderian, his ally Avo Margarian along
with other clansmen.
It’s encouraging to see the U.S. and the Republic of Armenia cooperate on eradication of corruption.
Armenia’s
longtime allies Russia, France and the European Union – and for that
matter, the entire international community should also assist Armenia in
recovering the looted state assets.