"I am committed to protecting the rights of each and every one of my constituents. Whether it's senior citizen housing, equal opportunity for higher education, maternity care, or tax incentives for corporate investments in our community, it is through a Unified Voice that we will prevail."
Biography
Ara Khachig Manoogian is a human rights activist, an investigative journalist, Artsakh representative for the Shahan Natalie Family Foundation and a member of Policy Forum Armenia. Human trafficking, illegal adoption practices, army abuse, and government corruption in Armenia and Artsakh are among his primary concerns. His activism has been widely covered by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Hetq, Keghart, Hraparak and other media outlets. Ara K. Manoogian is the co-author of Desert Nights (2006), a book and documentary uncovering a large international human trafficking network in Dubai that involves representatives of the Armenian and UAE law-enforcement agencies.
Ara Khachig Manoogian was born in 1965 in Pasadena, California, to Khachig Evan and Sylva Natalie Manoogian. His maternal grandmother was a direct descendant of the Bagratuni Dynasty, who ruled over the Armenian Nation from the 9th to 11th century.
Ara’s maternal grandfather is Shahan Natalie, one of the masterminds behind the executions of the Young Turk leaders responsible for the Armenian Genocide of 1915, and those that conspired with them. He is also the nephew of His Beatitude Archbishop Torkom Manoogian, Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem.
Ara Manoogian is a determined and dynamic human rights activist and investigative journalist. With direct experience in aiding human trafficking, army abuse, government corruption, and many other socio-political concerns in Armenia, Manoogian has initiated multiple aid resolutions and helped citizens fight for their civil rights.
In 1995, Manoogian was president of the Monte Melkonian Fund, which he proudly served two years. He became the Artsakh representative of the Shahan Natalie Family Foundation in 2000 which became the third NGO to be registered in Armenia, behind The Red Cross and Hayastan All-Armenian Fund. He dealt with and alleviated the current social, cultural, economic, and educational issues Armenia and Artsakh were experiencing. Three years later, he uncovered an entire illegal adoption business scheme which ignited the Armenian National Assembly’s stricter laws and monitoring strategies.
His early activism greatly influenced his current political stance towards democratic awareness and citizen involvement. On March 17, 2013, Manoogian’s hunger strike protested President Obama’s congratulatory re-election message to the then-President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan. Manoogian fought to invalidate Sargsyan’s fraudulent and corrupt practice and continued his strike until April 9, 2013, when Sargsyan was sworn in for a second 5-year term as Armenia’s president.