December 2, 2011
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November 26, 2011
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November 25, 2011
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Ara Manoogian, the creator of The Truth Must Be Told, pledges $1,000 to the “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund 2011 telethon and encourages others to do the same.
“As a donor to the Fund, I will be demanding that my $1,000 is used for bringing drinking water 24/7 to the people of Artsakh, as the Armenia Fund is promising to do, and will encourage other to do the same,” said Ara Manoogian.
A hostess of the All-Armenian Fund telethon 2011 has declared that 88% of all illnesses in Artsakh could be water-related. If this is true, then anyone who does not donate is truly turning their backs on the people of Artsakh. For this reason, Manoogian chose to donate generously.
The Truth Must Be Told strongly encourages everyone to look beyond all the problems that plague the All-Armenian Fund and donate. We are not saying that we should forget or ignore the problems, but instead donate and then demand that the money is properly used.
Ara K. Manoogian is a human rights activist representing the Shahan Natalie Family Foundation in Artsakh and Armenia; a Fellow of the Washington-based Policy Forum Armenia (PFA); creator of www.thetruthmustbetold.com and author of the white paper “To Donate Or Not to Donate”, an in-depth study on the activities of the “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund
November 25, 2011
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November 22, 2011
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A few days ago the cost of the “Stepanakert Elderly House Reconstruction,” an ongoing project of “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund (HAAF), increased by 265%. This dramatic increase from about $400 thousand as of October 2011 to about $1 million as of November 2011 was accompanied by the addition of the Artsakh government as a co-sponsor of the project. Thus, the allegedly cash-strapped Artsakh government has committed to investing $600,000 to an already overvalued project.
Over a month ago I published How to Renovate Already Renovated Retirement Home, an article about the redundancy of certain aspects of that project and the cost exaggeration. I had also pinpointed the indecency of the HAAF for providing false information about the history of the retirement home. At that time they claimed the building in question had not undergone major reconstruction since 1988, whereas it is a fact that Louise Manoogian Simone funded a major makeover in 1999, costing about $400 thousand. Continue reading »
November 18, 2011
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(The French version, հայերեն տարբերակ)
To Donate Or Not to Donate to "Hayastan" All-Armenian Fund
It has been a year since Sarkis Kotanjian, Executive Director of “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund (HAAF) Western U.S. region, gave a TV interview, during which he made so many untrue statements about the Fund that I could no longer put up with the lies. I started working on a detailed report about the true face of the Fund, based on both my personal experience and ample evidence from eyewitness accounts and press. The white paper was titled “To Donate Or Not to Donate?” (Click here for the Armenian version), which covered a wide range of issues related to the HAAF and the Armenian government.
I had a meeting with Sarkis Kotanjian shortly after the interview to understand why he was drawing such an inaccurate picture of the Fund on TV. It became obvious that he was misleading thousands of viewers knowingly.
Oct 212011
October 21, 2011
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A lecture at the Glendale City College, on October 13, 2011
October 8, 2011
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“Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund made an announcement in the summer of 2011 about launching a new project, which appeared controversial to me. The target was the Stepanakert Retirement Home, which was scheduled to undergo an extensive renovation thanks to a generous donation of $400 thousand from Armen Shakhazizyan, a Moscow-based industrialist, as reported by the Fund’s blog. With the Artsakh government co-financing the project, the cost of that proposed major facelift is probably over a half a million dollars.
Nursing Home of Stepanakert
One statement in the press release raised question marks over the Fund’s trustworthiness and the expediency of the project: “The two wings of the Stepanakert Retirement Home were last upgraded in 1988.” This is an outright false statement. The retirement home had been extensively remodeled in 1999 by the AGBU.
The official website of the AGBU lists all the projects implemented by the Union in Armenia; among them is the following: “Renovation of the Stepanakert house for elderly people, with 55 permanent residents and 150 aged people under custody.” The retirement home was remodeled with the remaining funds, initially allocated for the renovation of Alex Manoogian Street in Stepanakert. I have firsthand information from Louise Manoogian Simone that about $400 thousand from the street renovation was reallocated for the reconstruction of the retirement home, thanks to the recommendation of the Artsakh Government to the donor. Continue reading »
Oct 072011
October 7, 2011
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This is a response to a letter of resentment, titled “Correction: About ‘Hayastan’ All-Armenian Fund,” by Bedros Terzian, President of “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund in France and a member of its Board of Trustees. “Correction” was published in issue #200 of Nor Haratch, a Paris-based Armenian language newspaper, on April 5, 2011, as a response to the coverage of “To Donate Or Not to Donate?”, a white paper on “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund in four consecutive issues of Nor Haratch, which published its own response to Mr. Terzian’s letter in the same issue: “Armenian Journalism Targeted: Answer to ‘Correction.’”
