South Florida
Tampa/St. Peterburg
Blog Archives
North Florida Armenians Gather to Watch ‘The Promise’ in Jacksonville
By Margaret Atayants
FLArmenians Tallahassee Chair
On April 21, 2017, the Jacksonville Armenian community gathered together to watch the weekend premiere of the movie, ‘The Promise.’
Together with Elmira Grigoryan, Chairwoman of the Armenian Church of Jacksonville, we organized Armenians across northern Florida to assemble together and watch the movie in one theatre, which we secured for the 7:00pm showing. The theatre was packed!
When Mrs. Grigoryan first contacted me about getting everyone together, we were very concerned that we would not be able to pull it off due to the small number of Armenians in North Florida. However, to our surprise, not only did we fill up the theatre with our committed Armenians, but many non-Armenian friends arrived and supported us, too. People were even sitting on the steps!
The event turned out to be a big success for the small but growing Jacksonville Armenian community. Elmira and I would like to give special thanks to everyone who made this gathering possible.
The next day on Sunday, Rev. Fr. Tateos Abdalian blessed us with his presence by leading the Easter Badarak lead by our wonderful choir and our dedicated altar boys, Alex Shafiyev and Nicholas Yedigarov. Badarak was then followed by a big community dinner with homemade food from all the different Armenian backgrounds. We also celebrated the birthdays of members for the month of April. The afternoon concluded with Armenian children’s songs. After a full weekend of events, the love and warmth of everyone made me, and all those apart or new coming of the Jacksonville Armenian community, truly feel right at home.
Florida Armenians Host Economic Roundtable Discussion on Nagorno Karabakh in Miami
MIAMI, FL – On Thursday, April 13, Florida Armenians hosted Mr. Robert Avetisyan, Representative of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic/Artsakh to the United States, for an economic roundtable discussion on Artsakh. Held in downtown Miami’s Brickell Financial District, Mr. Avetisyan presented the current business climate, economic development, and investment opportunities in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic/Artsakh.
“I was glad to have the opportunity to meet with business owners in South Florida,” stated Avetisyan. “Artsakh becomes increasingly attractive for investors, and we hope that our compatriots from Florida will take an active part in Artsakh’s continued success. I want to thank Florida Armenians for arranging this important meeting, and hope for continued cooperation over a range of issues on our common agenda in the future,” Avetisyan said.
The roundtable was attended by several South Florida business leaders, attorneys, and government relations professionals. Mr. Avetisyan briefed them on the economic growth of Artsakh 25 years after its independence from the Soviet Union. Participants expanded their knowledge of Artsakh’s leading industries such as agriculture, banking, construction, and the emerging hydroelectric energy field. Avetisyan also discussed regional trade mechanisms, their liberal free-market economy, and the high level of political stability in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic/Artsakh. Florida Armenians founder Taniel Koushakjian moderated the discussion.
“It was a pleasure to meet with Mr. Avetisyan and discuss Karabakh’s economic environment and future,” stated Florida Armenians Miami Chairman Harout Samra. “Economic growth is vital to Karabakh’s continued security and the government appears to be working to create a pro-investment environment,” he said.
Florida Armenians 