PRELATE PRESIDES OVER WOMEN’S DAY TRIBUTE AND REMEMBRANCE AT ST. ILLUMINATOR’S

On Sunday, March 8, His Eminence Archbishop Anoushavan, Prelate, presided over the Divine Liturgy at St. Illuminator’s Cathedral in New York. Archpriest Fr. Mesrob Lakissian, Pastor, was the celebrant and delivered the sermon. A requiem service was held in memory of the victims of the pogroms of Sumgait and Kirovabad in 1988 and Baku in 1990.  

The Cathedral hosted a special presentation after the Divine Liturgy entitled “Survival, Resilience and Paying It Forward” by their guest speaker, Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte,  a Baku pogrom survivor, author, attorney and philanthropist. The program began with a special surprise, namely a birthday gift from His Holiness Aram I, whose birthday coincides with International Women’s Day, in the form of a rose for each woman and girl distributed by Archpriest Fr. Mesrob Lakissian and Yn. OjeenLakissian.    

Armen Morian, Esq., Chairman of the Board of Trustees, provided welcoming remarks and emphasized the importance of remembering the tragedies that have shaken our communities. Anahid Ugurlayan, Esq., who had organized the program, introduced the speaker.    

Ms. Astvatsaturian Turcotte spoke of the harrowing experience she and her family faced in Baku during which time she kept diaries of her experience upon which her first book, “Nowhere, A Story of Exile,” was based. She spoke candidly about her life in Armenia for three years after fleeing Baku and how, despite feeling unwelcome, she later resolved to help Armenia as best she could.  

Ms. Astvatsaturian Turcotte and her family settled in North Dakota, where she later received Bachelor of Arts degrees in English and Literature and Philosophy and Religion, a minor in Russian Language and Literature from the University of North Dakota, and later her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Maine School of Law. Ms. Astvatsaturian Turcotte later married and settled in Westbrook, Maine. She explained how her small projects to help Armenia, with help from family and friends, turned into the Anna Astvatsaturian Foundation.  

Prior to and during the Artsakh War, and the ethnic cleansing that followed, Ms. Astvatsaturian Turcotte’s projects through her foundation included Ser Artsakh, a gift box for mothers and their newborn babies with all items purchased in Armenia. Over 3,000 boxes were delivered during this time. Her foundation funded numerous other projects, from renovations of schools, building bomb shelters, planting a forest, and financial assistance to Artsakh refugees. Ms. Astvatsaturian Turcotte spoke of current initiatives including professional sewing classes for women, assisting beekeepers and the newest initiative to launch on June 1, 2026—Ser Syunik, which will deliver boxes to mothers and their newborn babies in Syunik, which is also Ms. Astvatsaturian Turcotte’s ancestral home.    

Fr. Mesrob thanked Ms. Astvatsaturian Turcotte for her presentation and her service to Armenia and Artsakh and invited Archbishop Anoushavan to deliver the closing remarks. The Prelate stressed the importance of not only remembering the Baku, Kirovabad and Sumgait pogroms, but to be remain resilient and give back to our communities as does Ms. Astvatsaturian Turcotte. A book signing followed. Special wooden bird ornaments built by an Artsakhtsi artisan from Artsakh wood were also available for sale, and all proceeds from the event benefited the Anna Astvatsaturian Foundation.