City of Fresno Announces Establishment of Sister City Ties with Etchmiadzin

Evelyn K. Demirchian
Staff Writer

Mayor Ashley Swearingen joined with members of the Fresno-Armenia Sister City Committee and with representatives from the Armenian community at a press conference at Fresno City Hall on October 30, to announce the newly launched Fresno-Etchmiadzin Sister City relationship.

Mayor Swearengin stated, “I am proud of the efforts of the Fresno-Armenia Sister City Committee and I am excited to welcome the City of Etchmiadzin to our sister city family.” Fresno has existing sister city relationships with Kochi, Japan; Müenster, Germany; and Verona, Italy.

Fresno City Councilmember Andreas Borgeas, who founded and chaired the Fresno-Armenia Sister City Committee and incoming Chair of the Committee Vahagn Bznuni, also addressed the press. “Today is a great day of pride as we celebrate our City’s Armenian culture and identity by establishing this long-anticipated sister city relationship with the City of Etchmiadzin,” stated Borgeas.

Etchmiadzin, the fourth largest city in Armenia, is the historic center of the Armenian Church and seat of the Catholicos, the spiritual leader of the Church. The city’s history dates back to the third century, when it was called Vagharshapat and was the capital of Armenia. The city today has many landmarks, including the famous Etchmiadzin Church, which is believed to be one of the oldest churches in the world, if not the oldest. In 2000 the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization listed the cathedral of Etchmiadzin as a World Heritage Site.

The decision to establish a sister-city relationship between Fresno and a city in Armenia was originally brought up by Councilmember Borgeas, and according to incoming Chair Bznuni, “We knew it wasn’t going to be the easiest thing in the world to do. It takes time and dedication and the key was putting together the right people, and we were fortunate to have the right people dedicating their time.”

Among those people is Fresno State’s own Professor Barlow Der Mugrdechian who is part of the twelve-member Committee, and who was involved in the decision-making as to which city Fresno would partner with. Traveling between Armenia and Etchmiadzin this past September to meet with officials, Professor Der Mugrdechian brought the signed copies of the agreement back to Fresno.

Incoming Chair Bznuni was in Etchmiadzin in September for a formal ceremony officiated by Etchmiadzin’s Mayor Karen Grigoryan and attended by Arman Kirakossian, Armenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister.

Picking Etchmiadzin made sense for the Committee due to the size of the city and because it has an economy that relies heavily on agriculture. “The city is in an agriculturally rich province of Armavir. It makes a great match for us. We can take businessmen from here to Etchmiadzin to explore how we export our technologies there to help their farmers become better,” said Bznuni. The new ties will be beneficial to their economy and hopefully helping to promote new interest in those wanting to travel to Armenia.

The Fresno-Armenia Council has put much effort and time the past year, meeting regularly and sending representatives to Armenia to get this project off the ground. The long work put into this endeavor by the Council was formally acknowledged on July 30 of this year, when the Fresno City Council unanimously voted to approve a motion declaring Fresno and Etchmiadzin as sister cities.

This relationship will be beneficial to Fresno and also to Fresno State students, who can get involved by joining the Fresno-Armenia Sister City Committee. There are other fields that may interest students—travel, education, agriculture, culture, and art to name a few.

Professor Der Mugrdechian stated, “Students should be interested in expanding their horizons, in traveling abroad and in working towards common goals. The Armenian Studies Program will get involved in the field of education and work with educational leaders in Armenia on a variety of projects.” The Fresno-Armenia Sister City Committee members are Andreas Borgeas, Anna Borgeas, Vahagn Bznuni, Nshan Derkalousdian, Barlow Der Mugrdechian, Charles Garabedian, Jr., Allan Jendian, Yeghig Keshishian, Mary Alice Kaloostian, Hygo Ohanessian, Sevag Tateosian, and Philip Tavlian. Anybody interested in taking part with this new sister city relationship can contact the Fresno Armenia Sister City Committee at fresnoarmeniasistercity@yahoo.com.