Many Diaspora Armenians always visit the Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia to talk about their activities with the Minister, share their new ideas and consult over their new programs and many issues on cooperation. The Minister of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia recently hosted a compatriot from Alfortville and founding Chairman of the Arshak Tchobanian Institute Varoujan Sirabian (Sirapian), whom I interviewed for Hayern Aysor.

Karine Avagyan: Respectable Mr. Sirabian, welcome to the Homeland! Please, tell us about the activities of your organization.

Varoujan Sirabian: With pleasure! Our organization carries out pro-Armenian activities. We have a publishing house located at the same address and issue a monthly newspaper. There are 30 French writers who are consolidated around our organization. The Arshak Tchobanian Institute carries out its activities in two directions – cultural activities (as Arshak Tchobanian would say “helping Armenian literature reach French-speaking countries and helping French literature and culture reach Armenia) and activities devoted to the history of the Armenian Genocide and the Armenian Cause. We support the Armenian Cause by studying every detail. We conduct studies and analyses related to Europe, Turkey, the Middle East and the Caucasus. Lobbying is the main area of activity of our organization. We work more through the Internet. We have a monthly newspaper called “Europe and the East”, which features those studies and analyses. We collaborate with other organizations that are not affiliated to the Tchobanian Institute such as AGBU Paris and Hamazkayin Paris. We are not financially dependent on any organization or the French or Armenian government. We are self-sufficient.

Karine Avagyan: When did the Arshak Tchobanian Institute establish its ties in Armenia and with which ministry?

Varoujan Sirabian: The first ties were established with the Ministry of Culture when we opened the first comics festival in Armenia along with the French Embassy. In 2007, France was hosting the Year of Armenia. Armenia’s representative, who was coordinating activities with the Armenian community, asked about the events and interesting activities. I said I wanted to translate the Adventures of Tintin into Armenian. I translated them and came to Armenia with those translations. This was the first Armenian version of the Adventures of Tintin in the world. This is when I came up with the idea of holding a comics festival in Armenia.

Karine Avagyan: How many books has the Arshak Tchobanian Institute published?

Varoujan Sirabian: We have published over 120 books. I am more of a publisher. We have published books for sale, as well as cultural books. For instance, we have published the French versions of Tumanyan’s poems, ballads and fairy tales (we presented the book at the House-Museum of Tumanyan in 2012) and the French version of Paruyr Sevak’s book of poems entitled “Unsilenceable Belfry”. I have two books, and for the past five years, I have been working on my book of memories. I start with memories of my father and end with my memories and the memories of my sons’ generation. The book presents the stories of three generations.

Karine Avagyan: Are Armenians or Frenchmen most interested in your Institute’s activities?

Varoujan Sirabian: Both! Frenchmen are more interested. Why? When we established our organization, we wanted to do what Tchobanian had done a century ago. For instance, he introduced the Armenian Cause to many famous and high-profile Frenchmen. When he established close ties with Anatol Frans, Clemanse and other remarkable individuals even before the Armenian Genocide, through those people, he managed to make people acknowledge the Armenian Cause because the delegation of Constantinople had sent him to Paris to present the issue of the Hamidian massacres. Our organization is the only Armenian organization that also has international members. France is a Catholic-Christian country, but today, the picture has changed a lot, and Muslims are slowly growing in number and presenting their demands. There used to be a cross on the statue of John Paul II, but the Muslims demanded that the cross be removed, saying that it concerns the Muslims passing by the statue…It is very ridiculous. We could have removed it and brought it to Armenia, but we appealed to the court, which ruled that the cross had to stay. Another court announced the same verdict, but the Muslims appealed to a higher instance, and that instance ruled that the cross had to be removed…Obviously, it is very important for us to engage notable Frenchmen in our organization. This is an important policy.

Karine Avagyan: Mr. Sirabian, the main direction of your monthly newspaper, the language of publication the number of pages really sparked my interest. Who provides materials from Armenia?

Varoujan Sirabian: The 132-page monthly newspaper was established in 2005 and is published once every six months in French and Armenian. About 95-100 pages are in Armenian and French, and the rest of the pages are in English. The main feature of the monthly is analysis. We are concerned about the current economic state of Armenia and the security of Artsakh. We reveal the lies and falsehood of politicians about Armenia and Artsakh. We also receive materials sent from Armenia. Turkologist Ruben Melkonyan wrote an article once, Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Hayk Demoyan wrote two or three articles, and Armen Ayvazyan wrote an article devoted to Armenia’s security and Arstakh, and General Hayk Kotanjyan wrote two or three times. I am mainly involved in organizational activities and write editorials. The monthly newspaper has its blog on the Internet. We also have about 800 followers on Twitter.

Karine Avagyan: How do you distribute the monthly newspaper?

Varoujan Sirabian: Subscription is free for French MPs, several ministries and a couple of European MPs. In Armenia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs receives the monthly newspaper. The authors of articles published in the monthly also receive it, and now Minister of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia Hranush Hakobyan has expressed the desire to receive the monthly newspaper. We have an agreement with Director of Avetik Isahakyan Library of Yerevan Hasmik Karapetyan, and I recently had a meeting with the Director of the National Library who also expressed the desire to receive all the materials. We have donated about 40 French-language books to Isahakyan Library so that the French corner is enriched. You can find one of the issues of our monthly at Noyan Tapan Bookstore and several other bookstores in Yerevan.

Karine Avagyan: Excuse me, compatriot, what is the purpose of your visit to Armenia?

Varoujan Sirabian: I visit Armenia two to three times a year for one-and-a-half months for publishing purposes. I work at ease here. Nobody disturbs me. For instance, we have published the French version of the comics strips devoted to Soghomon Tehleryan. When we wanted to publish them in Armenian and Russian, we worked with Samvel Gasparyan from Yerevan’s Areg Armenian Publishing House and printed it at Tigran Mets Publishing House, but we rarely publish here. I work in Armenia and publish in France. It is a great pleasure for me to work in Armenia. Paris is not the Paris it used to be. It is noisy and disturbing. So, to be at ease, I leave Paris, Lyon or Marseille and tour small villages and coastal areas. I used to think that my children would be born in Istanbul, but I never forgot the year 1955 when the Greeks, Armenians and Jews were massacred. I was only 10 years old, and we left my paternal ��?building’ (it was not just a house). Later, I realized that it was impossible to live in peace in that country. I haven’t set foot in Istanbul for the past 47 years. My twins – Masis and Sevan – were born in Paris. For your information, I would like to say that I have been visiting Armenia for the past 16 years. I think it is a wonderful country.

Karine Avagyan: I have also heard about your charities. Where have you carried out your patriotic activities?

Varoujan Sirabian: Every time I come to Armenia, I make new acquaintances and meet new people. Our organization has sister ties with Tekeyan Cultural Association in Yerevan. For instance, we held the presentation of the book devoted to Soghomon Tehleryan at Tekeyan Center. The representatives of the Center told me that the Center had renovated a classroom at Tekeyan School #1 of Berdzor and offered me to participate in the opening ceremony and say a couple of words about Arshak Tchobanian because the children knew about the great Armenian and had learned about his works. I agreed with pleasure. That was when I came up with the idea of having our organization renovate another classroom because all the classrooms need to be renovated. When I returned to France, we organized a telethon, raised the funds in a week and created a beautifully renovated and furbished classroom for military classes in that school. That classroom was recently opened. This charity act will continue. The roof of the school is in very poor condition. We talked to Narine Aghabalyan and told her that if the government repairs the roof, we will repair another classroom.

Karine Avagyan: Are your children following your example?

Varoujan Sirabian: Yes, Masis is part of a charitable foundation and is currently in charge of installing solar batteries on the roofs of homes in the Khashtarak village of Ijevan region.

Karine Avagyan: Mr. Sirabian, thank you for your publications, creative and cultural activities and charity acts which you carry out in France for the benefit of the Homeland and for never forgetting about your roots.

Karine Avagyan