Vahe Karapetyan is a large American benefactor and industrialist. The
Karabagh highway has been nicely constructed through his efforts and
investments. Mr. Karapetyan and his wife Veronik Monica also support
the Artsakh music school and the students are currently in Yerevan
getting ready for concerts. We met with Mr. and Mrs Karapetyan while
they were watching the rehearsals at the State Song Theatre of Armenia.
Vahe Karapetyan: “We have lent a helping hand to the Stepanakert music
school named after Sayat Nova by buying them some musical instruments.
My wife invited the First Lady of Karabagh to Los Angeles. They
collected a lot of money there and contributed that money to Karabagh.
“168 hours”: “How did you first get acquainted with Karabagh?”
Vahe Karapetyan: In 2001, we came to Karabagh for the blessing of the
church in Lachin. We named this church the Church of Martyrs in memory
of all the young Armenian soldiers that died in the fight for the
liberation of Lachin.”
“168 hours”: “Was the church built with your investments?”
Vahe Karapetyan:A major part of it was. Some people had taken the
initiative and I immediately came to help them. When I was there, I saw
that the highway was slowly destructing and that caused a lot of pain
for me. The newly built highway was splitting apart. I discussed this
with the President and told him that I wanted to preserve the roads.
Remodeling needed to be done because the rain and the snow destroy the
asphalt. Our construction site is in Shushi and we have about fifty
workers who look after the highway continuously. I come here a couple
of times a year and supervise the work so that everything is done
correctly.
“168 hours”: “Is it true that you have adopted a child from Spitak?”
Vahe Karapetyan: “Yes, that is true. That child had escaped from the
Sumgait attacks with his family. They gave his family a home in Spitak.
Three months later the earthquake takes place and kills the child’s
family including her father, mother, brother and grandmother. That 4
year old child was rescued from under the ruins of the kindergarten. I
was helping the victims but at that time I did not know her. When we
came here three years ago, we met with Violeta and decided to adopt her
as an orphan. She lives in Yerevan. She graduated school all on her
own. I was just sending some financial help. Currently she is studying
law at the university. She is a delicate girl. I guess God gave us the
opportunity to come to Karabagh and have a look around.”
“168 hours”: “You have lived in Yerevan a while before going to America, right?”
Vahe Karapetyan: “I was born in Beirut. In 1946, when I was five years
old, my family and I immigrated to Armenia. I have grown up in Yerevan
and studied in the engineering faculty at the Polytechnic Institute. In
1965, I moved to Baku and after a year and a half I moved to America. I
have lived there for more than 30 years.”
“168 hours”: “So, I know that you have a large business in America.
Vahe Karapetyan: “I build cars. I produce cargo vehicles which have
food making machines. We are getting ready to produce vehicles which
will transfer flowers and clothes from the laundry houses. Getting
acquainted with Hrant Tokhatyan when he came to America was very
important for me. I saw the play “Mea Culpa” and was very touched. In
May I started a program which airs on all Armenian channels in Los
Angeles. The program is called “Development of National Conscience”. I
want my message to go out to all the Armenians out there. I want them
to be informed about life in Armenia, the present situation, the
difficulties and the large outlooks for the future because very often
we want to avoid seeing the good sides and only concentrate on the
negative sides. There are many flaws, but they need to be fixed. You
can never rely on the authorities. They may care for a while, but then
they will change. In America, nobody really cares about us. If today
Azerbaijan has oil, then Azerbaijan is important for America. This year
Bush did not give a total amount to Karabagh and gave less to Armenia
than Azerbaijan. The Armenian American organizations had debates and
came to the conclusion that Armenia and Azerbaijan received the same
amounts, but Karabagh got $5,000,000 dollars. So, we can do something
to make some changes. We have to make it so the Diaspora can serve the
Homeland.”