Anush

“I came from Moscow. I won’t be able to attend the Aurora Prize ceremony, but the atmosphere in the city is really exciting. The Aurora Prize billboards are everywhere. People are coming from all over the world to be a part of it. This event is really expertly organized.

We are the nation of survivors and we need to express our gratitude to the people who helped us survive. Now we also need to thank those who are helping others to survive today. My grandfather’s family survived the Armenian Genocide. His mother and little sister couldn’t escape and were killed right in front of the children. The neighbors helped his older sister and him get from Trabzon to Sochi, that’s how they survived.”

Rosa

“I heard about the Aurora Prize on the radio, it supports kindness and spirituality. The finalists are great, they are doing the right thing. My father perished in World War II and my stepfather was a very good person. He was bedridden and my mother and I took care of him for seven years. We all need to help each other, we have to stick together.”

Mikael and Arpine

Mikael: "I think this prize will let people see Armenia in a new and positive way. This will give Armenians a chance to shine. We have many good qualities, but they seem to have been forgotten lately. You have to do good, but you have to be discreet about it."

Arpine: "Our people might get a reason to be more optimistic."

 

Marina

“I know that the Aurora Prize was named after the actress Aurora Mardiganian and that Charles Aznavour has come to Yerevan to be part of the ceremony. I also know that Hasmik Papyan will be the one hosting it. I think helping others is charitable. 

My great grandfather escaped from Van. His father was murdered in front of him. His mother and her children were saved by Kurdish neighbors, who sheltered them until sunrise. The next day the family ran, but another tragedy struck them on their way: the youngest son drowned in a swamp. The children ended up growing up at the Etchmiadzin Orphanage. 

 

I think there are still people today who are willing to help others, and I’m sure they’ll always be around. I see a lot of kindness in the young generation of Armenians.”

“The whole world sees us, first of all, as a people that survived the Genocide. It’s good that the Aurora Prize will give people a chance to know a different side of Armenia, the one they hardly ever see. I want everyone to stop thinking of us as a ‘tragic’ nation.”

“Armenia's experience serves as a cautionary tale for other countries, so we can make sure tragedies like that don’t happen anymore. I support the Aurora Prize project wholeheartedly. Today, we need to help ourselves, not sit around and wait for somebody to come and save us.

 

My grandmother’s mother-in-law was a Genocide survivor. She managed to find her brother, who was living with an Arab family, in terrible conditions. French missionaries helped them and they were able to get back to Armenia.

 

I want the world to understand that we don’t want to be pitied or helped anymore. We want to be understood and we want the Genocide to be recognized.”

Anna

“I think that the Aurora Prize, just like any other step toward kindness, will definitely have an impact. We might not feel it now, but it’s definitely going to happen in the future.”

Tadevos

“Anything one does to help other people, especially on a global scale, has to have positive consequences. I find the campaign on the billboards, dedicated to the lives saved by the Aurora Prize finalists, to be very inspiring and motivating.  

Some of my ancestors had to escape from Western Armenia, and as their descendant I feel a connection with the Aurora Prize. I also did some work for this project, so I had a chance to learn more about the finalists, which only made my connection stronger.”

Elmira

“The Aurora Prize is all about humanity. My ancestors lived in the Gukasyan area in the Shirak Region, which is close to the Turkish border. It was a miracle that my father survived; he had to hide among dead bodies. The Turks tried to abduct him, but he was saved by the Kurds and got back to Armenia. My parents always told me about this so that I can tell my family’s survival story to the future generations and explain to them the tragedy we had to live through.”

Gareth Evans, President Emeritus of the International Crisis Group

“I think this is a very special prize because it honors not only people who've made a contribution to humanitarian causes - there are many of those around the world - but it honors those who've taken great personal risks in order to do that. And, it also awards the organizations that stand behind them, which no other prize anywhere does, and I think that's a very important form of recognition."

Ted Koppel, journalist, senior contributor to the CBS Sunday Morning News

“I love it that people keep trying to make an effort to draw attention to worldwide suffering, but I also know that there is so much suffering that goes on, all the time. We are here talking about Armenia in particular, but there has been a war going on in Congo, in Africa, for more than 10 years now, and more than five million people have died. And most people are not even aware of that. So I tend to be a little bit skeptical, but I admire the fact that the effort is being made.” 

Hina Jilani, advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and a human rights activist

“There may be many more whom we don’t see, but those that we do see, we must honor, and we must make them an example for others so that everybody is willing to take action when they know it is right to do something and not just be silent.”

Harut Sassounian, publisher of The California Courier

"The Aurora Prize is a creative idea; it's a novelty. When someone thinks in a new way and with a new approach, it excites not just others, but also Armenians. You have to give back - it's a two-way street."

Serge Avedikian, French Armenian film and theatre actor, director and producer

"This step [Aurora Prize] is not only interesting, but also symbolically significant. Why? Because when a people which has suffered is able to revive itself and is itself able to give back to other suffering people as a way of signifying its revival, it becomes an important message to the new generations that we don't just build on losses, we also build on victories."

Charles Aznavour, French Armenian singer, songwriter, actor, public activist and diplomat

"It is a boon to Armenia to support the Aurora Prize."