Violet Grigorian, Armenian poetess

“From ‘Wings of Tatev’, the International School and ‘Aurora’ to the hotel complex in Dilijan, which, while preserving the local traditional look, has breathed modern tourist life into the town — all of Ruben Vardanyan’s initiatives have been of high quality, worthy and useful for Armenia.

This man invested his millions, convinced others to invest, attracted the best specialists, and now he gave his life for Armenia, for Armenians, for development, for dignity. And Armenia and Armenians today are not doing even a tenth of what it takes to save him from Turkish torture and humiliation.

Such things do not pass without a trace. They condemn future generations to an inferiority complex. For the children of today, being Armenian and having a connection to Armenia will be shameful — no matter what alibis their parents come up with to justify their inaction while they were waiting for the “rescue bus” at the “peace” bus stop instead of demanding that the authorities act to release the captives.”