HELIOPOLIS, Egypt – The concluding centennial ceremonies for the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party (ADL) newspaper Arev took place on April 27 in the Goganian Complex in Heliopolis, a city founded by Nubar Pasha near Cairo.
In addition to the newspaper’s staff and correspondents, Bishop Ashot Mnatsakanyan, Primate of the Armenian Church in Egypt (and responsible also for Sudan, Ethiopia, and the Republic of South Africa), Armen Melkonian, ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, South Africa and Israel, ADL and Armenian General Benevolent Union leaders, and the editors of the Armenian newspapers Husaper and Jahagir were present.
Arev began in 1915 under the editorship of Vahan Tekeyan. Annie Boghossian-Tashjian served as the master of ceremonies. The event began with the reading of an encyclical from Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II and the greetings of Ambassador Melkonian. Congratulatory letters from the Minister of the Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia, the president of the Union of Journalists of Armenia, and former Arev editors Edmond Azadian and Avedis Yapudjian were read.
Boghosian-Tashjian presented episodes from the rich history of the one-hundred-year-old newspaper, which began under the editorship of Vahan Tekeyan. Then the keynote speaker, Hagop Avedikian, spoke about the importance of Arev. Avedikian, editor of the Yerevan newspaper Azg, had been invited from Armenia specifically for this occasion. After his speech, he presented the Havadarim Masnakidutean [Faithful to the Profession] medal from the Union of Journalists of Armenia to Alis Depoyan, who for many years has worked for Arev. Depoyan’s newly published anthology was celebrated by means of a kinetzon ceremony in which the book was anointed with wine.
(Translated from the Armenian)
