RACINE, WI — The Armenian National Committee (ANC) of Wisconsin recently attended a luncheon of community leaders and a public reception featuring US Ambassador to Armenia John Ordway, and US Agency for International Development (US AID) Mission to Armenia Director Keith Simmons. The luncheon and reception took place on October 4, and was hosted by St. John the Baptist Armenian Church in Greenfield, Wisconsin.
The luncheon of community leaders was held at the Tuckaway Country Club in Franklin, Wisconsin. Also in attendance were representatives and clergy from each of southeastern Wisconsin’s four Armenian Churches — St. Hagop and St. Mesrob in Racine; Holy Resurrection in South Milwaukee; and St. John in Greenfield.
In his presentation, Ambassador Ordway stated that his main objective for the visit was to inform Armenian Americans of the current conditions in Armenia, the different forms of US assistance being provided, as well as how the Armenian American community can continue to help its homeland. The Ambassador further commented on the great strides Armenia has made towards becoming a market-based democracy, despite such hurdles as the devastating earthquake in 1988, the conflict in Nagorno-Karabagh, and the ongoing blockade of its borders by Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Following the luncheon, the Ambassador had a chance to meet with local Wisconsin politicians and officials, including State Senators Richard Grobschimdt (South Milwaukee) and Gwendolynne Moore (Milwaukee), State Representatives Peggy Krusick (Milwaukee) and Bob Turner (Racine). John Broehm, Field Representative from Congressman Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) district office was also in attendance.
An evening reception was also held at St. John’s church. Over 70 Armenian Americans attended the gathering. In addition to Ambassador Ordway’s presentation, a video entitled “Partners for the Future: US Assistance in Armenia” was shown, which detailed various US assistance programs and activities in Armenia. The event closed with the presentation of a plaque by the Wisconsin State Senate and Assembly recognizing Ambassador Ordway’s visit to Wisconsin.
“As Armenians, we are grateful to the United States for its assistance to Armenia, but we are also disappointed that the US government fails to properly recognize the Armenian Genocide and Nagorno Karabagh’s right to self-determination, even putting pressure on the Armenian people — the victims in both cases — to compromise in order to improve conditions” stated ANC of Wisconsin representative Zohrab Khaligian in his comments to the Ambassador. “As Americans, we are greatly troubled by the fact that US foreign policy continues to ignore the facts of history in order to further geo-political and economic goals, thereby creating the monsters that we face in the world today, such as, Turkey, Iraq, and Osama bin Laden,” concluded Khaligian.
Ambassador Ordway made his first official visit to Wisconsin at the invitation of Bill Malkasian, President of the Wisconsin Realtors Association. Malkasian is currently working on establishing a realtor’s association in Armenia.
In addition to his visit to Wisconsin, Ambassador Ordway also had an opportunity to visit the Armenian American communities in Detroit and Chicago.
Ordway was born in California, where he attended public schools and Stanford University. Before graduating in history in 1972, he studied for nine months in Florence, Italy. He is also a 1975 graduate of the University of California's Hastings College of Law, and did a year of advanced graduate work in Soviet and Eastern European studies at the University of California, Berkeley in 1981-1982. He and his wife, Maryjo, have two children, Christopher and Julia.
A career Foreign Service Officer since 1975, Mr. Ordway served abroad at the US Embassies in Prague (1978-1981) and Moscow (1985-1987), and in Brussels at the US Mission to NATO (1993-1995). His most recent overseas position was in Moscow from 1996-2001, serving the last two years as Deputy Chief of Mission. In Washington, Mr. Ordway worked in the State Department's Press Office, and had two assignments in the Office of Soviet Union Affairs. He was assigned to the Office of Southern African Affairs, and served twice as Director of African Affairs for the National Security Council (NSC). At the NSC, he was deeply involved in the decision-making process in 1992-1993 that led to American military participation in efforts to overcome starvation in Somalia. His foreign languages include Russian, French, Italian, and Czech.
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is the largest and most influential Armenian-American grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the United States and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCA actively advances the concerns of the Armenian-American community on a broad range of issues.
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