Armen Aroyan Library-Museum Inaugurated

Assilian also donated a rare rock from Mount Ararat, brought to him by Harout Der Tavitian, who had led an expedition to the top of the Armenian mountain from Turkey’s side. It will be part of the permanent exhibition in the newly dedicted Armen Aroyan Library-Museum.

Rev. Berdj Djambazian, Minister to the Union of the Armenian Evangelical Union of North America, thanked God for this unique opportunity and praised Armen Aroyan for his years of service to the Armenian Cilicia Evangelical Church.

Next, Rev. Kevork Terian, the former senior pastor of the Armenian Cilicia Evangelical Church, took to the podium and spoke about Armen’s dedication to his clients, whom he took on a pilgrimage to their ancestral lands in Western Armenia.

I could attest to this firsthand, as my wife and I went to Western Armenia with Armen Aroyan in the fall of 2007. We began our tour from Istanbul and one of the sites that we visited was the tomb of the newly assassinated Armenian newspaper editor, Hrant Dink. Aroyan made an extra effort to take the group to each participant’s ancestral home. Thus, we visited the village of Gemerek, the birthplace of my mother-in-law’s parents, in the province of Sivas (Sepasdia).

Among other places that we visited was the village of Peri in the province of Kharpert, where my father-in-law was born. The group was gathered around the fountain in the village’s main square, while I was chatting with some of the local villagers. There, I learned that the valley nearby was called the valley of Dakess, after my father-in-law’s family name, Dakessian.

When I mentioned this to Armen, on the way back, he made an extra effort to go back and visit the same valley. Then my wife recalled that her aunt used to tell her about her father being slain on top of the hill that belonged to him and dragged down to the river Eupհrates: talk about emotions and deeply hurt feelings that surfaced with this sudden revelation. It is hard to put into words, and we have Armen to thank for the experience.