In a letter sent in response to an inquiry by ARF Supreme Body Representative Aghvan Vardanyan, Armenia’s Minister of Urban Construction Narek Sargsyan says that a building located at 9 Arami Street in Yerevan, where Aram Manoukian once lived, is registered as a historical and cultural monument and will not be torn down.

Sargsyan says that the building will be part of the “Hin Yerevan, constructed in 1910,” (Old Yerevan) complex now under construction by MultiContinental Distrbution Ltd., a company headed by diasporan Armenian Vartan Sirmakes

Aram Manoukian (1879 –1919), was an Armenian statesman, and a lifelong member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun). Born and educated in Russian (Eastern) Armenia, Manoukian devoted most of his life to the liberation of western Armenia. Manoukian was particularly active in the Van region, where he rose to prominence and earned the name Aram of Van. During the First World War, he led the Armenian irregular forces in Van in spring of 1915 that saved the lives of over 150,000 Armenians from being massacred by Ottoman forces.

In the first government of the Republic of Armenia, Aram Manoukian was Minister of the Interior and Minister of Supplies.

Photo: Minister Narek Sargsyan