PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 29, 2009

COMMUNITY LEADERS SHARE “PROTOCOL” CONCERNS WITH SWISS AMBASSADOR

Swiss Ambassador to the U.S., His Excellency Urs Ziswiler (third from left) with ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian, and ARF Eastern U.S. Central Committee Members Hovsep Avakian and Hrair Baronian.

WASHINGTON, DC – A delegation of Armenian American leaders met today with Switzerland’s Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency, Urs Ziswiler, to share the community’s concernsregarding the threats that the ongoing, Swiss-brokered Turkey-
Armenia Protocols pose to the rights, security, and dignity of the Armenian nation. The meeting, which took place at the Embassy of
Switzerland in Washington, DC, provided a platform for an open exchange of views on this matter of pressing concern to Armenians
in the United States and around the world.

Ambassador Ziswiler, a highly regarded diplomat with an outstanding record on humanitarian issues, has extensive experience dealing
with a variety of Armenian issues dating back several decades, and possesses a strong understanding of the challenges facing Armenia
and her Diaspora.

Switzerland has a long history of friendship with the Armenian people, dating back to the far-reaching relief efforts during the
Genocide-era and continuing, more recently, in the form of laws both recognizing the Armenian Genocide and criminalizing the denial
of this crime against humanity.

The Armenian American delegation was comprised of Hovsep Avakian and Hrair Baronian, representing the Central Committee of the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation of the Eastern United States, and Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the Armenian National
Committee of America.

Last week, representatives of political parties, associations, and religious denominations visited the Armenian Embassy in Washington
and met with Ambassador Tatoul Markarian to express their concerns on the Turkey-Armenia protocols. The delegation included
representatives from the Eastern and Western Prelacies of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America, the Eparchy of the United
States and Canada of the Armenian Catholic Church, the Mother See of the Armenian Evangelical Union of America, the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (ARF), the Hamazkayin Cultural and Educational Association, the Armenian Relief Society (ARS), the
Armenian Youth Federation (AYF), and Homenetmen.

Earlier this month, the Armenian American community, led by the Armenian Youth Federation, held a peaceful protest regarding the
Protocols at the Swiss Consulate in Los Angeles.

#####