*GEVORG CHICHYAN*
The motive behind the creation of the Gibrahayer (Cypriot-Armenians) website in Cyprus was the establishment of a new village in Artsakh. After visiting Armenia to assist in the establishment of the village, the website’s editor-in-chief Simon Aynedjian and his partisans decided to organize a fundraiser.
In the beginning, they sent 50 e-mails to different people, and the number grew. The funds helped them take part in the establishment of the Ditsmayri village in the Kashatagh region in 1999. Afterwards, they sent groups of volunteers who helped build the village for a year. They organized another fundraiser to solve the problem with water supply in the village.
Later, they decided to create a website in order to carry out large-scale activities, and in 1999, they launched the Gibrahayer website.
“When we were creating the website, we couldn’t decide on the language. We didn’t want to post news only in Armenian since our goal was to provide foreigners with information about Armenia and the Armenian people. We decided to post articles only in English, even though we also post articles in Armenian,” Simon Aynedjian said in an interview with Hayern Aysor.
The editorial staff consists of six employees who, as the editor-in-chief says, perform their duties with pleasure and with a sense of responsibility. The website features news about the Armenian community of Cyprus and the events taking place in Armenia and Artsakh. The website also collaborates with Artsakank Weekly, which was established by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun in 1981.
Simon Aynedjian believes that the mission of an Armenian journalist in Armenia and abroad must be to not only address the major issues of the Armenians, but also carry out journalistic activities abroad and establish close relations that will help Armenians meet the political objectives that are set forth.
Simon Aynedjian attaches importance to the pan-Armenian forums of journalists organized by the RA Ministry of Diaspora since they provide Diaspora Armenian editors and journalists with the great opportunity to meet each other and seek paths for future cooperation. The first time Aynedjian participated in the forum was during the 5th Pan-Armenian Forum of Journalists held in Stepanakert.
Summing up the 8th Pan-Armenian Forum of Journalists that was held on 20-24 October under the title “Armenian Statehood: Axis of Unity”, Simon Aynedjian emphasized the fact that there were more participants from different countries and that he established close ties with the people whom he had only known on the Internet. Hayern Aysor’s interlocutor also voiced hope that the constructive proposals made during the forum would be implemented.
