TRANSCRIPTION — USA ARMENIAN LIFE TV — 02 16 2024
Below is the telecast of USA ARMENIAN LIFE TV of February 16, which was carried out with the participation of investigative journalists Appo Jabarian and Voskan Mekhitarian. The TV program discussing breaking news and urgent issues negatively impacting our collective present and future as a community was widely circulated. During a period of a week, the televised conversation received the attention of more than one hundred thousand TV and Internet channels viewers. It was broadcast via Armenian Media Group of America (AMGA) channel, as well as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, TikTok, Patreon, USA Armenian Life/Facebook, USA Armenian Life Eblast, armenianlife.com, as well as USA Armenian Life English and Armenian print editions.
Dear TV viewers, good evening,
My name is Appo Jabarian. With me in the studio is a wellknown public speaker and an investigative journalist, Vosgan Mekhitarian.
This week, there are multifaceted developments on both the international and domestic levels. As they say, “All politics are local.” In other words, the most important political problems are right under our noses. And why is it important to take the meaning of that word seriously, because if our immediate surroundings are not healthy, if our own house is not clean and stable, we will not be useful; we cannot be effective in assisting others.
“Charity starts at Home” also applies to the Los Angeles Armenians, the American Armenians in general, and in reality, the entire Armenian nation in the Diaspora and Homeland. The strength of the Los Angeles Armenians, the American Armenians, and the Armenians of the Western United States in general is of vital importance to the survival of the Armenian nation. That ‘nation’ consists of the twin republics of Armenia and Artsakh and the integral communities of the vast Armenian Diaspora.
Never-ever, Dear ones! Don’t let any faith-based or community-based organizational leaders deceive you, saying that “oh, the Armenians of Los Angeles don’t have much say in the destiniy of the Armenian nation.” That’s not so.
They know very well that the Los Angeles Armenians are capable in carrying out a providential mission by reestablishing Law and Order in their collective life. And one of the inner citadels that needs our immediate attention is the Los Angeles-based Cilicia Catholicosate’s Western Prelacy.
As one letter writer wrote a few days ago, “Oh, just 2-3 weeks ago, you spoke highly of the Great House of Cilicia Catholicosate’s Western Prelacy.” And, indeed, that letter writer was right.
However, during a course of the past 5-6 days, a troubling news spread with lightning speed.
Please allow me to read a Medi Inquiry that USA Armenian Life’s Hye Kiank weekly editorial staff sent to the Great House of Cilicia Catholicosate’s Western Prelacy Executive Council. (The equivalent of Diocesan Council at the Western Diocese that functions under the jurisdiction of the Catholicosate of All Armenans in Holy Etchmiadzin.)
And then we will continue our conversation with Mr. Mekhitarian and you.
By the way, I should say that I sent this Media Inquiry as the editor-in-chief of USA Armenian Life and Hye Kiank Armenian weekly newspaper, about a week ago on February 14. And as of today Friday, we have not yet received an answer from the relevant bodies of the Western Prelacy.
HAS U.S. WESTERN PRELACY’s PRIMATE BISHOP TORKOM DONOYAN REALLY RESIGNED? IF HE WAS FORCED BY ARF OLIGARCHS?
MEDIA INQUIRY – PRESS INQUIRY
February 14, 2024
THE GREAT HOUSE OF CILICIA U.S. WESTERN
PRELACY’ S NATIONAL ASSEMBLY LEADERSHIP
6252 Honolulu Ave.,La Crescenta, CA 91214
Telephone: (818) 248-7737 | Fax: (818) 248-7745
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen of the Western Prelacy National Assembly leadership,
According to information received from reliable sources, the Primate, His Eminence Bishop Torkom Donoyan has resigned. This disturbing news seems to have spread at lightning speed between February 8 and 10.
However, on February 11, immediately after the news of the resignation broke out, a potentially confusing announcement was circulated by the Western Prelacy leadership. An official announcement on a Feb 13 event relating to the religious celebration of the Holy Day of The Presentation of Jesus Christ and a Holy Liturgy was posted on the official Facebook page of The Great House of Cilicia U.S. Western Prelacy. According to that announcement, the event was presented under the “Patronage of His Eminence Bishop Torkom Donoyan, Primate, U.S. Western Prelacy.”
Is what I heard inaccurate? Or is there an error in this announcement? Or, has His Eminence Donoyan really resigned? If so, why? Or has he recalled his resignation?
Can kindly issue a statement shedding light on this confusing matter?
During the last 96 hours, many troubled and deeply concerned readers of the free Armenian press – non-partisan Hye Kiank Armenian Weekly and USA ARMENIAN LIFE twin publications and viewers of USA ARMENIAN LIFE TV reached out to the editorial staff by phone, E-mail and other means of communication in order to receive accurate information.
They were promised to be kept informed publicly and transparently.
If it pleases the members of the Executive Committee of the Western Prelacy National Assembly, your assistance in helping the readers and viewers receive accurate information is much appreciated.
Respectfully,
Appo Jabarian
Managing Editor:
USA ARMENIAN LIFE Weekly and USA ARMENIAN LIFE Magazine
Host, USA ARMENIAN LIFE TV
(Please see attached Appove referenced announcement on the Feb. 13 event)
P.S. Below, is a letter by a faithful received by the editorial offices.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Dear Editor,
Is it true that Torkom Surpazan will leave his post? Are you going to talk about this in your magazine on Friday? During your TV program in the last weeks, you praised the Cilicia Catholicosate’s U.S. Western Prelacy.
Is this phenomenon something that brings honor?
It would be appreciated if you could cover this issue in your upcoming TV program.
H. Garabedian
via e-mail
March 12, 2024
NOTE: This Media Inquiry is also sent to various media outlets, concerned individuals and other entities in Diaspora and The Homeland.
VOSKAN MEKHITARIAN: Mr. Jabarian, let’s hold the compass a little wider. Apart from this letter, I was contacted personally, I can count several people from Lebanon, Canada, Armenia and even from Moscow to verify the veracity of this news being circulated. Of course, I spoke about it with pain, saying, Yes, it is real.
The positive thing is that there are truly sincere fellow Armenians everywhere in the Diaspora and in the Homeland of Armenia, who closely follow the religious life of the Armenians living in the Western United States.
What’s troubling here, dear viewers, is that there has been a By-Laws violation. First, as Mr. Jabarian noted in his comments, no response was received to this matter, but in such cases, the Executive Council was obliged to publicly talk about it, instead of causing the people, especially those with deep concerns, to give their own individual interpretations relating to this issue.
It is very clear that, on the occasion of the By-Laws violation, we would have expected that Catholicos Aram I would have had his say. Catholicos Aram I is silent today. The people should know about Torgom Surpazan’s removal from his post.
We only heard praises about His Eminence in the last 3 years, about how he organized successful fundraisers, how he was useful to the Lebanese Armenians, how he was useful to the homeless from Karabakh in Armenia. In short, we heard good things about him. What suddenly happened that Torkom Surpazan fell from that height? Now after saying all this, is there any other reason that we have to come with assumptions and give our interpretation? It is clear, right? There is a By-Laws violation.
Why did Torkom Surpazan (“Surpazan” in Armenian, “His Eminence”) resign? He resigned, say friends and close followers, but the main question is this: As the young man wrote in the letter addressed to the editor, was he forced to resign? This word itself creates quite a storm in all of our minds. Why did they force the resignation of someone who was working and working well? Who did not benefit from his good performance? Are there really dark hands that removed Bishop Torkom for different motives in order to carry out their sad and dark deeds?
When will we learn to respect the regulations and not act based on our individual party (or specia-interest-group’s interests? In the end, the church is one of the strongest pillars of our identity. And for our people, its mission will be geared only to the benefit of The People and not special political interest groups. Now, we have no other approach to this matter than to say that the Bishop, who is so respected and appreciated so much, has been forced out.
Can we not say that they forced His Eminence to leave? Undoubtedly. I will also say, the other will also say, a third person will also say the same thing. Because at this moment, the people in position of party leadership did not have the courage to publicly announce that Bishop Torkom resigned for one reason or another. Therefore, the people have the right to say that you demanded the resignation of the Bishop based on your personal and party interests.
When will these sad realities stop in our national church life? In the end, outside the Homeland, in the Diaspora, what unites us, if not the church? What is the force that unites us? The church, dear ones. If we will torpedo our churches and their devoted leaders, what will happen to The People?
Especially in the Diaspora without that stable institution, which is the church. Do not forget, dear ones, you are the church. Therefore, you have the right to demand from the Western Prelacy Executive Council, “Why was this done?” Don’t stay on the sidelines. Go to the main arena and take control of your church. We need individuals who are saddened by such situations and will raise their voice of protest and demand their rights.
Dear friends, this is not the first case. I would wish that this will be the last such case. All of these cases have precedents. A similar incident also happened in Lebanon, when Gegham Surpazan was expelled from there. No one gave an account, neither the Catholicos, nor the Executive Council of the day. The same thing happened 2 years ago in Aleppo. His Eminence was expelled from there. Today, Western Prelacy of America is in an unruly state. We didn’t even hear two defensive words from Catholicos Aram I about why the Bishop Masis was expelled. Whenever we don’t talk about it, this disgrace continues. Torkom Surpazan was expelled today. Do not believe in resignations and other lies. Torkom Surpazan was expelled from his post.
Beloved friends, demand accountability. You are the stakeholders of this church. You are the main actor of this church, with your moral and material support, you are the ones who keep the Prelacy intact along with all the churches belonging to it. Therefore, silence is not golden. Silence is subordination. Demand rectification of By-Laws violations, because a By-Laws violation has been perpetrated here. And from now on, don’t let such a disgrace happen in our national church life. Stand up and demand your right.
APPO JABARIAN: I don’t regret that in the last few weeks, I didn’t miss the opportunity to praise the ambiance of health at the Western Prelacy that really caused many of us, especially in the ranks of the Faithful, to experience joy and contentment. Thanks to a gifted person who, being a person with a real sense of calling and mission; a deserving title holder as Prelate/Primate. I have not personally met him yet. Over the cpurse of the past three- and one-half years, as an editor, I have consulted with with hundreds of from news accounts, and people who expressed deep appreciation of His Eminence Torkom Donoyan’s positive and true spiritual character. I am sure that Mr. Mekhitarian has a similar testimony. According to several reliable sources, literally hundreds of Los Angeles American Armenians note that “Torkom Surpazan clearly shines out of a crowd of clergy with his bright nature, in a stark contrast to the former immoral church leader.” In other words, the contrast between light and darkness is so strong that one would have to be blind not to see it.
About 2-3 weeks ago, His Eminence Prelate Torkom, publicly said that “One of the most outstanding miracles of the Armenian people is the Armenian Apostolic Church.”
And what a good and strong meaning this expression has! In fact, it confirms and reaffirms the notion that many of us have strong roots in the idea that the Apostolic Church of Armenia and Christianity in general, the Armenian Apostolic Church for Armenians in particular, and the Armenian Catholic Church and the Evangelical Church serve in the same breath. I didn’t want to differentiate.
But since the topic concerns the Armenian Apostolic Church, one needs to underline that over the course of several centuries, the Armenian Apostolic Church has served as a bedrock of faith for the Armenian people. However, in the last 25 years, since the October 27, 1999 assassination in the Armenian Parliament, when the Catholicosate of All Armenians was ususrped by widely unpopular Karekin II, many of us started to be concerned about the systematic destruction of the pillar of the Armenian Faith. And many of us were elated when suddenly a sun rose on the horizon.
Many faithful greeted with joy the arrival of Bishop Torkom in Los Angeles and parting ways with the former prelate who has been the most-hated by many. I would not easily use that word, but he is what he is. Many were relieved saying “good riddance of the highly controversial, unpopular and immoral Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian.”
If one asked “Why do you say that about Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian?” The answer comes as no surprise: “Because since that man’s arrival in the Western United States, we have heard nothing but bad news in general.”
One faithful said: “Can you imagine that someone like Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian has consistently enjoyed the support of the oligarch of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation of the Western United States, Vicken Hovsepian, and his wife Nora Hovsepian who is also an oligarch?”
According to reliable sources, one can be shocked to find out, the ARF oligarchs were trying to re-elect widely discredited Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian as the head of the Western Prelacy only three and a half years ago. But miraculously, there was a strong internal opposition who sought the assistance of the members of the free and non-partisan Armenian press, your humble servants, who carried out their fudiciary duty as journalist by informing the public some facts about Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian. Now, let’s watch the image on your TV screen.
Look at the pictures of these two infamous characters, look at their faces. One is a national shame and the other is shameless.
There are celibate priests that ‘love’ boys, and there are clibate priests that are womanizers. Let’s see how they are getting out of this. There are priests that love money, and there are priests that love fulfilling the mission of a spiritual servant.
Like many faithfuls claim, “Moving forward, God forbid that the old devil (Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian) returns to the Western Prelacy again by way of bogus election orchestrated by the ARF oligarchs. If that happens, the community will suffer a severe blow.” These are not just the words of Appo Jabarian or Voskan Mekhitarian. Thare are comments by several hundreds, I shall tell you literally, many hundreds — it is impossible not to say, many thousands of heartbroken Armenian men and women.
What is the duty of the free press? The duty of the free press is to “give voice to do real people” — the large masses who do not have a voice.
Nowadays, charlatans are unfortunately heading a large part of faith-based and community-based Armenian organizations and they are destroying a host of political organizations without discrimination. If they are allowed, they will continue to destroy the Armenian Apostolic Church along with cultural, educational and athletic organizations.
The good news is that to the credit of our people, for the first time in the last thousand years, our people are engaged in the work of house-cleaning of the Armenian Nation, everywhere. The Armenian nation is committed to cleaning its act.
And what do we mean by Armenian Nation? The Homeland and Diaspora Armenian people. All of us together make up the Armenian Nation.
And what institutions and who are integral parts of the Armenian Nation? We all are, along with the twin republics of Armenia and Artsakh; the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Armenia-based Catholicosate of All Armenians with its dioceses, the Lebanon-based Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia with its prelacies, the Armenian General Athletic Union (Homenetmen), the Armenian Athletic Union (Homenmen), the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU); The Social Democratic Hunchakian Party (SDHP), Ramkavar- Armenian Democratic League (ADL), the Armenian Revolutionary Federation -Tashnag (ARF). The line is long. We are rich with such global organizations each with hundreds of chapters worldwide.
One concerned member of the community stated that she would like to say a few words to certain organizational leaders that have become arrogant: “Never misguide yourselves into thinking that you are the sole owner and ruler of the organization you are temporarily assigned to lead — be it religious, social, or political. You are all temporary care takers – you are just trustees.”
Now, referring back to Bishop Torkom Tonoyan’s golden observation that “One of the greatest miracles of the Armenian people is the Armenian Apostolic Church,” I am happy to share with you based on my findings that the issue relating to his involuntary/forced resignation will not end like this.
As you remember, we had previously shown an important image which we must show again on the screen. In the near past, we had broadcasted “Save Western Diocese”+”Save Western Prelacy.” Today we will update that illustration.
Let’s add “Save the Catholicosate of All Armenians” and “Save the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia.” To the credit of His Holiness Catholicos Aram I, he is a complete opposite of Catholicos Karekin II the usurper of the Throne of Holy Etchmiadzin. However, The Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia must be saved from internal leeches, the oligarchic leaders of political parties, who are now experiencing financial crisis due to the bankruptcy of ideology and want to abuse the Armenian Apostolic Church. They want to use the Armenian Church as a milk cow. (In the same vein, former Soviet space is home to the current Soviet/ Ottoman mafia that is also known as ‘Karabakh mafia’ that wants to defraud not just the Catholicosate of All Armenians and its diocese but the entire Armenian nation along with its twin republics of Armenia and Artsakh!)
Let’s look at His Eminence Bishop Torkom Donoyan. I am not the type that would easily recognize and revere a spiritual servant only based on his titles. Because not every religious leader is trulyworthy of his title. For example, many faithfuls believe that “the duo fake spiritual leader of Western Diocese Arch. Hovnan Derderian, and the former prelate of the Western Prelacy Arch. Moushegh Mardirossian are undeserving of their titles. However, Arch. Torkom Donoyan is a breath of fresh air.”
During the next program, we will talk about “The Elephants in The Room”. Why are those elephants being ignore by certain individuals? One of THE ELEPHANTS IN THE ROOM, is the Armenian Revolutionary Federation oligarchs inside The Great House of Cilicia Catholicosate — that national party, which is a party of a really good ideology, but today the oligarchs have turned into a mafia.
As for the Catholicosate of All Armenians, the monopolistic oligarchs together with the ‘Karabakh mafia,’ are trying to devour everything. All about this will be presented in details in future broadcasts.