WATERTOWN, Mass.—Adrina (Goshgarian) Kletjian remembers the time when she toured Western Armenia some years back with guide personified Armen Aroyan.
She had purchased a piece of pottery from Avanos, the land of her ancestors, and wanted it shipped back home to Boston. The parcel arrived shattered to bits, breaking Adrina’s heart like the package in her hands.
“I was devastated,” she recalled.
The remorse didn’t last very long. She placed a call to Aroyan explaining the circumstances and on the next trip abroad, Aroyan visited that same outlet and purchased a similar product.
“He had it shipped right to my home and it arrived intact,” recalled the woman. “Leave it to Armen to do something like this. He’s helped so many people like myself discover their roots and connect us to our ancestry.”
Aroyan made his most recent stop to St. Stephen’s Church, appearing here under the auspices of St. Stephen’s through the efforts of Charlie and Sona Aslanian, who have made two trips with the tour facilitator. About 150 people turned out, many of them previous Aroyan adventurers.
“He displays his tenacity when trying to find a remote village for the first time, usually with success,” said Charlie Aslanian. “But not before many stops to ask for directions. Arriving at your destination is the ultimate reward and Armen has been rewarding his fellow travelers for quite some time. He possesses all the required skill, patience, and attention to detail you need to get the mission accomplished.”
On this afternoon, Aroyan’s mind was like a mechanical encyclopedia, working overtime without a hitch.
For two hours, the tour guru went through a vivid travelogue showing one image after another. Not a note in front of him. It was all recall as he pored through towns, villages, experiences, and the names of people who solicited his services from a California-based operation.
Places like Morenig, Shepig, Govdun, and Zak are not exactly household names or places you’ll necessarily find in a Collette Tours guidebook. Nor would they typically appear on a seasoned traveler’s list of places to see.
But to an Armenian living in the diaspora, they are very special places. They are the ancestral homes of family—the old neighborhood you might say.
Some say his farewell tour is imminent. Aroyan agrees.
“Two more years, maybe three,” he admitted. “But, yes, the end is in sight.”
This comes from a man who has made 60 trips to Historic Armenia and Cilicia over these two decades while escorting more than a thousand guests. In all, some 600 villages have been encountered. Two Kurdish drivers (father and son) answer every call.
Among his more recent personalities was clarinet virtuoso Khachig Kazarian, who played his instrument inside churches and on the foothills of Mount Ararat with a dancing entourage exuding its spirit.
What’s his secret? Really no secret at all.
“It’s all a matter of being in the right place at the right time and having faith in God for guiding me,” Aroyan said. “There’s no problem in finding people who will go. The desire becomes a fulfillment of a dream they didn’t think possible. It’s all about passing a heritage from one generation to another.”
Since Aroyan caters every trip to the specific needs of his clients, those who join his Armenian Heritage Tours come away with an exclusive feeling. It’s the personal attention that makes for a more meaningful pilgrimage.
“It’s all custom-planned,” said Aroyan, who recalled his first junket in 1991 with 20 folks aboard. “Even though we may visit the same places, it still becomes a unique adventure every time.”
Ed and Maryann Kazanjian have been with Aroyan twice, in 2009 and 2010, and came away so enamored that they’re now giving presentations of their own throughout the country. They packed ALMA twice and recently filled the Andover Public Library. Both agree Aroyan was the inspiration behind their every move.
“Armen Aroyan is a facilitator,” says Ed. “He has all the contacts. Nobody else can find these villages the way he does. When he retires, I can’t think of anyone who could do a similar job. He’ll put in a 14-hour day to fulfill everyone’s wishes. It’s exhausting but he’s willing to make the sacrifice. He truly believes it’s his calling.”
Kazanjian said he’s put hundreds of hours into creating DVDs of his trips and giving proceeds to worthy charities in Armenia
“Armen Aroyan has helped find cousins, parents, and grandparents,” added Maryann Kazanjian. “He has an infinite capacity for names and places. Speaking multiple languages doesn’t hurt his cause, either. He likes to surprise people on trips with an imaginary hat of tricks. He waits ‘til you get to a certain location before telling you it’s the origin of your family roots.”
Aroyan ended his presentation with several awe-inspiring scenes of Ararat.
“My dream is for all Armenians to see this mountain from the Turkish side,” he said. “Many churches are being restored now and not being used for mosques. It offers us some closure to see this.”
Tom Vartabedian
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I had the opportunity to visit Western Armenia (the Old Country) with Armen back in 2002. What an amazing trip that was – truly life changing for me. There were so many experiences on that trip, from seeing my grandfather’s house in Hussenig (Kharpert province), to eating fish at a restaurant at beautiful Lake Van, to singing old Armenian songs on the hills at Zeitoun. We even got Armen to tell us some Hodja stories.
There were so many great memories really. One in particular sticks in my mind. Our group was leaving Van and Armen told us the story of how an Armenian priest on one of Armen’s trips had asked a local Muslim Imam to watch over an ancient Armenian monastery at Van, that visiting Armenians would greatly appreciate this. The Imam agreed, saying that he and the Priest were both men of God. It was clear to me then that these visits by Armenians to the Old Country continue our presence there, that we Armenians have not been forgotten in the Old Country.
I implore you not to use the word “retire” when writing about Armen. Not until he takes me back to my village at least one more time!
Somebody have the address mail of Armen Aroyan ? I would like to prepare a trip to my grand-parent’s village.
Dear interested pilgrim,
My name is Annie, I became Mr. Armen Aroyan’s assistant director in September 2012, and since then I have been helping him organize and conduct pilgrimages to Cilicia and Western Armenia.
In the past six years I gained the experience of planning and organizing 15 groups/trips, and the same time I have a lot of followers on my Facebook page. My Facebook page is “Historic Armenia,” which I manage and administer since 2014!
If you have a Facebook account just search Historic Armenia, the page has an Apricot for a profile picture and Mount Ararat for it’s cover picture. By visiting the page you can have an overall idea regarding our tours, also all kinds of other information related to Historic Armenia.
If you don’t have a Facebook account you can still visit the page by typing this link in your internet search engine: http://www.facebook.com/historicarmenia
Here is our email address, please email me if you have further question!
armenian.pilgrimages@gmail.com
Sireli Armen,
CONGRATULATIONS!
God bless you, your Dear Family and your mission.
What you did and still doing is very impressive.
With great appreciations.
Bedros Zerdelian
To Robert-
Yes, Armen is an Armenian with a unique talent. He is just like our Bishop Karekin Servantsdyants of the 19th century who traveled through Armenian villages and towns (of today’s Western Armenia which is within the borders of Turkey) and recorded our Armenian traditions , habbits and presented them in a literary fashion. Servantsdzyants wrote about these places. Armen Aroyan photograhed and took Armenians to to see these places.
And just for the record, It was not just a “priest” who asked the Muslim Imam “To watch over an ancient Armenian monastary. ” It was the late Archbishop Mesrob Ashjian, the Prelate of the Armenian Apostolic Church of the Eastern United States who did that. And, by the way, the “Ancient monastary” that you mention is called Varaka Vank, which was severly damaged by the earth quake of the few months ago .
I have been on two trips with Armen and am ready to go on my third. Both trips were fantastic – I have learned a great deal and am now doing a lot of research on my own. Each door opens another and I have discovered what a rich heritage our FORBEARERS (that word is for Armen) have left us.
To walk the land we knew as the ‘yergir’ is to finally come ‘home.’
Laetitia: Yes, I have his email, but I don’t know if he would want me to publish it, but I will send him an email with this page. If he agrees, I will leave it here.
what is the name of your village?
I have taken 4 pilgrimages to Western Armenia with Armen Aroyan (1999, 2000, 2002, 2005). They fulfilled a life-long dream to visit my roots, the Armenian province of Kharpert, Kharpert City, the city of Mezere (now Elazig), and the villages of Khukakugh, Pazmashen, and Veri Khogh. I returned and shared my experiences with my 107 year aunt, a Genocide orphan survivor who lives in Chicago. I pray that if God wills, I may be able to return one more time. There is a longing that draws one back to the land of his ancestors. None of this would have been possible without the efforts, skill and knowledge of my good friend Armen Aroyan. God bless you Armen and enable you to take many more pilgrims to the land of their roots.
Thank you for all you have done and are doing to enrich our lives.
Deacon Charles Hardy (Kherdian)
I am an Armenian from Sydney Australia and wish to know if there is a tour planned by Armen Aroyan in Turkey around September/October this year. I am also interested to see if there is family relationship as my mother’s maiden name is Aroyan. What is Armen’s email address?
Rita Sarafian
Please could you send me informations about the tour to Western Armenian to do my reservation
Thanks
Hagob Mardigian
Hi Mr. AROYAN I want to talk to you and information about your next tour to Westin Turkey my phone number 818-606-3600 thank you in advance
Armen brought my father Anooshavan Kurkjian and I to Historic Armenia in September 1992 as my father, then 80, wanted to see the village (Keghi) Where he had been born. The trip was miraculous, showing me the extraordinary story of our people’s place in history and our survival. Armen filled every day of our two week trip with adventure and historical
Perspective, so rich that I wrote about it for The Boston Globe, a magazine article titled “Roots of Sorrow.” It also gave me an extraordinary appreciation for the miraculous life my father had led, all because of Armen! What a gift to our heritage!
It was 1999, my first trip to Turkey with Armen Aroyan. Researching my family history, I learned from old family letters I had a Great Aunt who married her Moslem neighbor, converted to Islam and raised a family. I was able to meet this Great Aunt and two of her sons (living in a house where possibly my great grandfather lived). We kept in contact by Facebook and in 2016 on another Armen Aroyan trip, I was able to visit this Great Aunt,(recently passed away at 97 yrs),her sons, a daughter, grandddaughter and great-granddaughter. On this same trip Armen squeezed in a quick trip to the village of Merkez Karakala where many of my family lived before immigrating to Los Angeles, and where there is a small Armenian cemetery. I am so grateful how Armen arranged the program so I would experience this important part of our family history.
Since writing the above comment, more accurate informtion showed it was the Grandaughter of my Great Aunt that married her Moslem neighbor.Great Aunt Anna, married a Russian Molokan, had six children, one of whom, Manya, married a Russian Molokan whose daughter Tatsyana married her Moslem neighbor. Though she had converted to Islam, Issa never left her heart!Her Turkish family respected and honored the Armenian/Russian Molokan side of the family.