NEW YORK—Armenia Fund USA recently announced the start of the telethon campaign season leading up to the Thanksgiving Day live broadcast. It’s the time of year when donors worldwide show their support for vital initiatives aimed at making Armenia and Nagorno-Karabagh good places to live, work, and raise families.
Last year’s telethon raised more than $22 million to launch the construction of the Vardenis-Mardakert Highway, designed to connect communities on the northern border of both Armenia and Karabagh. Yet, in a departure from previous years, which saw a different project highlighted with each new telethon, the All Armenian Fund and its affiliates will once more make this grand-scale project the campaign’s centerpiece. Given the troubling twists and turns with Azerbaijan this year, the border hostilities and geopolitical complications have put national security back on urgent status. It was decided that a second aggressive push to complete this massive infrastructure project was warranted.
Khoren Bandazian, the chairman of the board of Armenia Fund USA, put it into perspective: “Just as the Goris-Stepanakert Highway and the North-South Highway were indispensable to the national security and economic development of both republics in the early years of independence, the 117-kilometer Vardenis-Mardakert Highway will create access to a now isolated and vulnerable region. By linking these communities with a modern roadway, we will strengthen economic activity in the area and also fortify the defense of the region. That’s why we are asking our Eastern U.S. region constituents to think strategically and act generously.”
Since breaking ground last year, the reconstruction and renovation of this critical route has been well under way. Earthworks are being performed simultaneously across 12 sections of the highway. This entails blasting rocks, leveling surfaces, widening roads, and transposing existing engineering structures. In addition, crews are installing gutters as well as building embankments and crash barriers.
This phase is expected to be completed before the new year, which will allow for passenger cars to cross from the Gegharkunik region in Armenia to the Mardakert region in Karabagh. As a result, travel time will be significantly reduced and community interaction and cooperation will be facilitated as never before.
Still to come are the final phases, including paving roadways and installing traffic signage, painting lane indicators, and building rest stations, due to be implemented with the funds raised from the Telethon 2014 campaign.
Prior to the broadcast, Armenia Fund USA will reach out to Eastern Region communities with a direct mail campaign soliciting “early bird” donations, which can be contributed by phone, online, or regular mail. These funds will be combined with those raised during the broadcast and included in the final tally to be announced at the end of the telethon broadcast.
To support this effort without delay or to see the telethon broadcast schedule and participating TV channels in your area, visit www.armeniafundusa.org or call toll-free 1-866-446-6237.
Guest Contributor
What a “smart” heading!
Karabakh itself is a northern Armenia, so how can it be connected with him/herself.
The Hwy will start/end at Vardenis, which will allow goods from northern Armenia (Tavush and Lori) regions to go to Artsakh through Vardenis, hence “connecting” them together :) They no longer have to travel to Goris to do so.
Cheers,
In the map, move Shahumian to the north of Martakert and instead insert Kelbajar.
The Vardenis-Martakert highway is strategic and deserves support.
Very important project, indeed, but it is embarrassing that the infrastructure is dependent on charity, the government being unable to contribute to the development of the country.
{“… but it is embarrassing that the infrastructure is dependent on charity”}
What is embarrassing is when posters, who are presumably of Armenian descent, know nothing about the purpose and the origins of the All Armenian Fund, have no clue of what goes on in RoA or NKR, and gratuitously insult millions of Armenians by their comments.
The purpose of the fund is for _ALL_ Armenians, all 12 million or so in the world, to _participate_ in the re-building of RoA and NKR.
The purpose is to establish and maintain an emotional investment and connection between all the Armenian diasporas and the Motherland.
Here:
See what you think of this.
[UJIA telethon raises £140,000 for Israeli children caught up in Gaza conflict]
http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/120940/ujia-telethon-raises-%C2%A3140000-israeli-children-caught-gaza-conflict
You don’t think the Government of Israel has more than enough budget to write a cheque for £140,000 ?
You don’t think there are more than enough wealthy Jewish Americans that can write a cheque for £140,000 ?
How about £1.4 million. Or £140 million ?
Why do you think the Jewish community did the public-participation telethon ?
You don’t want to give to the Armenian Fund don’t: nobody is forcing you. But don’t insult the people whose sons are standing guard and being killed at the LOC in RoA and NKR.
As to what the governments of RoA and NKR are doing very ably and magnificently: they are keeping both republics safe from invasion by Azerbaijan (and Turkey).
They have created and are maintaining a combat ready and lethal military force, at a cost of about $400 million @year that strikes paralyzing fear in the hearts of the invadocriminals in Baku, who are spending $3.7 BILLION @year on their military, yet do not dare invade in force, because they know what will happen next.
That is what is truly embarrassing.
But you tagged the wrong government friend.
The next phase of these developments should be the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of indigenous Armenians into the liberated territories depopulated and expelled by Turkish and pseudo-Turkish enemies to neighboring countries in centuries past.
A new army division of repatriated Armenians should be created who will assist the local government, much like the National Guards in the US, as well as used as a defensive and offensive force should the situation demands it.
Create new industries in the restructured and reinforced liberated territories headed by the wealthy Diaspora Armenians with newly-arrived Armenian work force. Export products made in Artsakh, via Armenia, to global markets creating new incentives for more Diaspora Armenian repatriation and immigration back to the homeland.
Recognize and officially join Artsakh to Armenia.
AGAIN!?!?!!!
OK, two QUESTIONS and ANSWERS immediately come to mind:
Q1) Where did the other $20 million promised to complete the road and scammed from diasporan individuals, churches and schools go LAST year? (I know it didn’t go to those poor EIGHT minimum-wage workers in the article’s photo struggling to build a highway with old decrepit soviet equipment.)
A1) “WHAT $20 million??” That might be Armenia Fund’s answer. They could be right, following all we have learned about their donor money laundering, massive procurement corruption and magical disappearing funds.
Q2) Why does Serzh Sargsyan and the other corrupt heads of the government allow Armenia Fund to build such a road while it’s the responsibility of the Armenian government? ( – a government that could afford FORTY of these roads if only the criminals up top paid their own taxes and stopped engaging in procurement fraud.)
A2) OH, right… Serzh Sargsyan and the other corrupt heads of the government actually HEAD Armenia Fund and approve all their projects!
Here is what Mr. Ara Manoogian was advocating _against_.
Take a look at the pictures of children of Artsakh.
And then ask yourself: what sort of ‘Armenian’ would deny clean drinking water to Armenian children.
http://asbarez.com/124064/bringing-the-elixir-of-life-to-karvachar/
Caption under the picture:
[Karvachar, a town that had no running water is where Armenia Fund built a brand new distribution network that now provides the town with safe drinking water 24 hours a day.]
AGAIN (!)
[Karvachar, a town that had no running water is where Armenia Fund built a brand new distribution network that now provides the town with safe drinking water 24 hours a day.]
AGAIN (!)
[Karvachar, a town that had no running water is where Armenia Fund built a brand new distribution network that now provides the town with safe drinking water 24 hours a day.]
More pictures of the beautiful children of Artsakh.
The site is run by a gentleman from England (no Armenian ancestry) who has fallen in love with Artsakh and its indigenous people.
Then there are putative ‘Armenians’ who would deny clean drinking water to our Armenian children: the future of our people.
Ask yourself: who would do such a thing and why ?
CHILDREN OF NAGORNO KARABAGH (by Russell Pollard).
https://russellpollard.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/children-of-nagorno-karabakh-copyright-russell-pollard-v1.pdf
Yes, of course: all the moneys donated to the Fund are ‘stolen’.
Here is more proof:
[Armenia Fund: Achieving True Victory in War]
http://asbarez.com/127352/armenia-fund-achieving-true-victory-in-war/
Avery, read again my comment. I did not comment on the benefactors who are generous enough to give. God bless them. My comment was about the Armenian government that does not what it should.
But you make a good point. Israel is a good comparison. Just check what they do to their villages. They build roads everywhere, not just one or two. They build new schools with toilets for tiny villages. Hospitals etc. This should be the aim of Armenian government, too.