Coup d'etat in London

There is an interesting thread over at hyeforum.com about the Centre for Armenian Information and Advice (CAIA) in London, Hayashen.

Apparently there has been a "coup" of sorts, in which four members of the seven member board arrived at the offices of hayashen in west London with a lawyer and policeman to evict the CAIA's founder-director Misak Ohanian and his wife Diana.

Ohanian had run CAIA for 17 years, and his wife was employed there in a support role.

During the 17 years, under the Ohanians' the CAIA had expanded its services to the community and included a Youth Club (for teenagers) which met once a week, an Elders' Group which met twice a week, a Health Advisory Project (self-evident), an Advisory Project (for elders, refugees, the unemployed, the homeless, those with financial problems, etc.), a Play Group (for under-fives), a Carers' Project (to help those who care for family members), and a Library (with more than 1000 books, newspapers, videos, CDs., slides, archival photos, etc.). It even had its own mini-bus to collect the elderly who could not otherwise get out of their Homes.

The CAIA also conducted seminars and educational programs on Armenian history, among other subjects. The CAIA had its own Armenian-English quarterly publication that carried news not only of its own activities but also local and Diaspora news.

But, one of its major achievements was that, from the time of its founding, in 1986, it was the driving force to have the two nearby boroughs - Ealing and Hounslow, with large Armenian populations - to mark "April 24" with Genocide-related programs, such as exhibitions, lectures, and literature. And, when this country inaugurated an annual Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD), in 2001, to be marked each January 26, again at the instigation of the CAIA, the two boroughs also remembered the Armenian Genocide; despite the British Government's active attempts to ignore the Armenian Genocide in its official programs.

As a registered charity, it was supported by more than a dozen annual and multi-year grants ranging from 1000 pounds ($1800) to 250,000 pounds ($450,000). It had embarked on a building expansion when the rump group decided that it could do better. All it seems to have succeeded in doing is spend CAIA's hard-earned money, and may even have misdirected some of the grant money. This last point is now the subject of an official audit by the Charity Commissioners.

CAIA's website (click on 'News Reports') has the verdict of a recent court case, brought by the Ohanian's for unfair dismissal. This verdict says that there were substantive grounds for their dismissal, including violent outbursts and the misuse of their position.

Posted by Matt on July 12, 2004 | TrackBack | Email to a friend