By now most of us have already heard about the taking down of the Armenian Tri-Colors 
from its perch over the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia.  And perhaps many 
of us are also aware of the fact that this flag has since been re-instated and is proudly 
flying from its usual place.   Though many accounts have bee written about this incident, 
few of us really know how it all came about and how it was resolved.  


It all started when Rider College in Lawrenceville, New Jersey scheduled a symposium 
on the Armenian Genocide.  Mark Momjian, a young Philadelphia lawyer and an active 
participant in Philadelphia Armenian affairs, was asked to assist in programming this 
event.    While he was visiting Rider to help set up the format, he was told that the college 
had received a packet of information from the President of the North Central Region of 
the Assembly of Turkish American Associations.  It characterized the Armenian 
Genocide as a myth.   It was an attempt to stop the symposium from taking place.  This 
symposium, which is scheduled for October 23, 1988, will be attended by 500 
non-Armenian teachers and students.  


Upon reviewing the material, Mark took special notice to the officers listed on the cover 
letter.   He took notice to one name in particular because he had run across this name in 
the course of his practice while dealing with the City of Philadelphia.   The name Mark 
took notice to was Birtan Aka Collier.  She was listed as the Vice-president of this 
Turkish lobby group, but as Mark remembered, she also held a position in the City of 
Philadelphia as Deputy Director of  Commerce for international and economic 
development.  She was appointed to this position by the Mayor of Philadelphia, W. 
Wilson Goode.   


Sometime later while Mark was attending an exhibit in Philadelphia entitled, "Armenian 
Rugs: Fabric of a Culture" hosted by the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies,  he also found 
out that Birtan Aka Collier was a board member of the Institute and that she had 
attempted to, aside from other things, strike the word "Genocide" from the exhibit.   At 
this same exhibit, Mark also found out that Birtan Aka Collier was the prime influence 
behind removing the Armenian flag as well as many other ethnic flags that flew over the 
Benjamin Franklin Parkway.  As one can readily see, she was quite a busy girl.  


At this point it should be noted that long before Mark Momjian got involved in this
matter, that Armenians and non-Armenians alike had been calling their city
representatives over the absence of their flag.  They were told that the flags were being 
cleaned, being repaired, or that the matter would be looked into and that was as far as it 
had gone.   


With the Rider College and Balch Institute experience in hand, Mark Momjian started
probing the matter with more intensity.  He found out that Birtan’s objective had not only 
been to defame Armenians, but other ethnics as well.  As a member of the International 
Trade Task Force, Mrs. Collier’s biases against Armenians, Ukrainians, Greeks, Puerto 
Ricans, as well as many other ethnics, stood out against her supposed international and 
non-political position.  Aside from bringing down flags on the Parkway, she had been 
involved in many things beyond her scope of responsibility.  


The picture was now in focus.  Birtan Aka Collier was not only the influence behind the 
taking down of the flags on the Parkway, but she was also lobbying, on behalf of the 
Turkish government, against claims that the Ottoman Turks had committed Genocide 
upon the Armenian people.  


Mark immediately commandeered the help of Richard Maloumian to approach Mayor
Goode and City Council.  Richard is an international dealer in rugs and, like Mark, he is a 
very conscientious and active participant in Armenian affairs.   As for Mark, he got in 
touch with all of the ethnic groups that were affected by this issue.  He told them why 
their flags were taken down, his findings relating to Birtan Collier and her activities 
relating to the Philadelphia Ethnic communities, and the advantage of approaching the 
problem collectively rather than on an individual basis.  Everyone was in full accord and 
four individuals were immediately designated to sit down with Mrs. Collier to see if the 
flag issue could be resolved.  She did not respond.   Commerce Director, Mr. William 
Hankowsky (Birtan Aka Collier’s boss), in an article that appeared in the September 9, 
1988 Philadelphia Daily News, stated that he was aware that Collier is of Turkish descent 
-- that he recalled that she was asked for her opinion on flag policy for the Benjamin 
Franklin Parkway about 18 months ago.  He went on to say, "She said they could use 
flags from countries that have diplomatic relations with the United States -- I don’t think 
it was a personal thing that had any ethnic agenda."   


Well, to make a long story short, the overall response from the ethnic communities was 
mounting -- Armenians, Ukranians, Lithuanians, Greeks, Albanians, Puerto-Ricans and 
many more -- the response was too  much for the city fathers to ignore -- the flag issue on 
the Parkway had to be resolved and definite guidelines had to be legislated. 


Mayor Wilson Goode, being personally made aware of the situation at a meeting with
several leaders of the Philadelphia ethnic community, said that Philadelphia has always 
been, and will remain, an international city.  He said that Philadelphia has been a haven 
and refuge for the oppressed, and that the flags appointed to fly over the Benjamin 
Franklin Parkway in 1976 were representative of the internal mix of people that had made 
Philadelphia the great city that it was.  He immediately ordered the flags to be restored to 
their rightful places.  


In passing, I should also point out that the placing of the Tri-Colored Armenian Flag over 
the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and the Meher Statue which the Knights of Vartan 
commissioned  as a Bi-Centennial gift to the American people and placed outside of the 
Philadelphia Art Museum during that Bi-Centennial year, was largely made possible by 
Colonel John Tokmajian who was involved in city government during that time.  


Today, because of the unselfish efforts of two young and conscientious Armenian
Americans, along with the help of many dedicated ethnic organizations and individuals, 
all of the designated flags including the Tri-Colors, are flying over the Benjamin Franklin 
Parkway again.  And it should also be noted that the involvement of Mark and Richard 
was not motivated because of any one-sided political ideology but, more simply because 
of their individual sense of love and respect for their Armenian identity. 


Someday, I hope that Britan Aka Collier and the Turkish government will own up to the 
shame of their Ottoman predecessors.  If today’s Turkish nation and her people value 
respect, they must do as the Germans did after W.W.II; they must bear the burden of their 
guilt.  The more they try to suppress the truth of the Armenian Genocide, the stronger it 
will get. 


And thanks to Mark Momjian, if there is anything Armenians can learn from this, it is in 
fact that while we remain divided, we remain vulnerable -- and as for the broader
spectrum among all people, there is something everyone can learn from this.  It is in the 
fact that we all need each other.  


Joseph Vosbikian