ANCA-WR PARTNERS WITH VIZA, BROADCAUSE TO CALL FOR RETURN OF CHURCHES

December 16, 2011

Glendale, CA – The Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region has joined forces with international rock band VIZA to call for the return of church properties confiscated by the Turkish government after the Armenian Genocide. Broadcause, a project designed to bring together concerned parties to promote a certain issue through social media, is providing the platform for the issue of stolen church properties to be featured on their website. The current project was launched on December 5 and will continue indefinitely. The move highlights the concerted utilization of new technologies by the ANCA-WR to bring the Armenian-American community’s issues to the fore, thus building upon its use of Facebook, Twitter, and blogging. The web address for the ANCA-WR Broadcause page is www.broadcause.com/Armenian-National-Committee-of-America and www.broadcause.com/Viza for VIZA. “There is no doubt that the ANCA-WR is among the first to use new technologies at its disposal as it works to further the Armenian Cause – this is another example of that forward thinking,” said ANCA-WR Chairman and VIZA member Andrew Kzirian. He continued, “This isn’t the first time VIZA has collaborated with the ANCA-WR to advance human rights issues and that speaks to the band’s commitment to being a socially conscious voice in the music community.” The creation of the partnership is timely as it comes on the heels of a United States House of Representatives vote on Tuesday calling upon the Republic of Turkey to respect its religious minorities and to return Christian properties stolen by the government. BroadCause, a product of Experience Project, Inc. is a social good platform designed to activate, accelerate and aggregate passionate communities around cause-based initiatives. Born from Experience Project’s five years of fostering passionate communities based on one person helping another, BroadCause’s aim is to work with causes to quickly accelerate their message to help tens of thousands. BroadCause offers a complete set of tools for non-profit organizations, like the ANCA-WR, causes and charities to rally their supporters online, and empowers everyday people to change the world. Experience Project (www.experienceproject.com) is the world’s largest community of shared life experiences online. Experience Project is focused squarely on connecting people around life experiences and passions. The site now features some nine million life experiences shared by more than five million people. Experience Project started as a single online support group, and has grown to include more than 300,000 groups and communities ranging from health-related experiences and parenting to baking and fly-fishing. The ANCA-WR can be followed on: Facebook at facebook.com/ancagrassroots. Twitter at twitter.com/anca_wr. Word Press at ancawr.wordpress.com. The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues. ### viza-2

For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Elen Asatryan
Email / Tel: (818) 500-1918
Armenian National Committee of America
Western Region
104 N. Belmont, Suite 200, Glendale, CA 91206 * Tel. (818) 500-1918