In September 2012, I became Armen Aroyan's assistant director, helping him to organize and conduct pilgrimages to Cilicia and Western Armenia (modern-day Turkey).
In January 2014, I created this page "Historic Armenia," and I manage all aspects of the page as its administrator. I dedicate this page to the people who are interested in knowing more about their fragmented past and those who yearn to see a glimpse of their ancestral homelands.
I'm humbled by my role as assistant director to Mr. Aroyan, and also as the administrator of this page, and I'm grateful to have the opportunity to play a role in helping to preserve our history and keep it alive in the minds of Armenians in the Diaspora.
Mr. Aroyan’s last tour to Historic Armenia was in September of 2017, regretfully he had to retire for personal reasons. After his last tour, the baton of guiding the tours was handed down to me. With his blessings, I led my first pilgrimage in May of 2018. I took over one more responsibility besides all other aspects of organizing and executing the pilgrimages. I’m very honored to continue to carry on what Mr. Aroyan started in 1991, and will keep on taking pilgrims on a once in a lifetime journey to see their own ancestral lands.
Annie K. K.
How it all started!
Armen Aroyan first began giving tours into the lands of historical Armenia in the early 1990s, after having completed in the 1980s a business trip-turned-pilgrimage that uncovered his own roots.
“My grandmother always talked about what it was like living in Aintab,” he shared fondly. “She would say that life was so good over there and she would say how [Aintab] had the best fruits and food, and was so beautiful. So this place was in**ed in me and I always had a curiosity to see it, a kind of draw to Aintab. And so, when I had the chance when I got older, I went to visit it.”
After fulfilling what can be described as an emotional expedition to the villages of his own past, Aroyan dedicated the following decades to taking willing participants on similar journeys of their own.
With first-class treatment served with a side of exciting and unique experiences, Aroyan soon had people seeking him out with vigor. After his first official trip as a tour guide, back in October 1991, 20 people were waiting and ready to go on his return trip.
Aroyan caters each trip to the specific wishes of those who accompany him, participants of his Armenian Heritage Tours walk away feeling a sense of exclusivity and personal attention that is virtually unmatched by any other tour of its kind.
“It’s all custom-planned,” Aroyan said. “You tell me where your grandmother is from and I’ll incorporate all these villages on top of the major attractions like Ani and Lake Van and Mount Ararat. So every trip has been different. It completely depends on the participants.”
In 2012, Annie became Mr. Aroyan’s assistant director, charged with helping to organize and conduct his tours to historic Armenia. When she assumed her role, she realized how important it was to learn the Turkish language—and so she did. Now, her fluency in the language makes a decisive difference in all aspects of the tours, including every individual pilgrim’s experience. Tour participants attest that having a personal translator present with them at all times makes them feel less anxious and more in control in any given situation.
“I get very hopeful every time we have young people join our pilgrimages. It is so gratifying to see those young adults who are ready to carry on the legacy of their ancestors.” she shared.
In January of 2014, she created the Historic Armenia page to share the information and photos related to the pilgrimages, also to share any other news and events related to Historic Armenia.
“This page is dedicated to all diaspora Armenians who are very eager to see their ancestral lands, but don't have the opportunity to make the pilgrimage!” shared affectionately.
Tour takers can attest to Mr. Aroyan and Mrs. K’s fierce commitment to providing a meaningful experience for all, as well as to the dedication this team possesses to helping preserve an important legacy for the future.
In 2017, Mr. Aroyan retired from his calling to lead pilgrims to Historic Armenia, and passed the baton of executing the pilgrimages to his assistant director Annie K. K.
