After 15 Years, Son Returns to Him From Soviet Union : At an Airport Gate, a Father Finally Believes

When Avedis Madjarian of Hollywood learned last May that his 34-year-old son, Kevork, had been granted an exit visa from the Soviet Union to join him in the United States, the old man had mixed feelings.

There was joy, with a sudden surge of long-held hope.

But there was skepticism too:

“I will believe,” he said in his gravelly, Armenian-accented voice, “when I see him come in the door.”

He Believes

Wednesday night, Madjarian finally believed.

Waiting at United Airlines Gate 73B at Los Angeles International Airport, the 62-year-old Madjarian finally saw his son come through the door--and it was magic.

Wordlessly, they embraced--blocking other debarking passengers--hugged each other fiercely . . . and forthwith burst into tears.

“Before today,” Avedis Madjarian said, “each minute feel like hours. Now dream is real. Victory ours. We win! I know one thing--you must fight. Fight! You don’t fight, you can’t win the game!”

Apart 15 Years

It was the first time the two had seen each other since the elder Madjarian emigrated to the United States 15 years ago and settled in Southern California.

But, as earlier this year, the joy was not unmixed. The younger Madjarian had come without his wife, Ludmilla, and their 11-year-old daughter, Agnessa. Richard Chavez, spokesman for the nonprofit Caring Hands Program, which sponsored Kevork Madjarian’s emigration, said the young mother decided to stay behind with her daughter.

With his father acting as interpreter, Kevork said he did not know exactly what had caused his wife to change her mind. But his father said he knew what to do about it.

“Today,” he said, “we start all over again fighting--for them to come.”

Lost Right Leg

Avedis Madjarian was born in Lebanon, but his family moved to the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic after World War II. Fifteen years ago, he was granted permission to leave the Soviet Union, after he had lost his right leg in a truck accident. He went first to the East Coast, where he had relatives, then settled in Hollywood--and began 2003792491Union.

Kevork filed his first application for an exit visa a decade ago--and filed another each year. Each time, the application was rejected . . . until last spring.

That application--the 10th--was accepted, apparently as a result of the “divided families” pact worked out after the Geneva Summit meeting of President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev last November.

San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein, who had written to Gorbachev independently along with Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and six other big city mayors urging prompt action on reuniting such families, spoke personally to the Soviet leader about the families during her visit to Moscow last December. She left with him a list of 50 families, including the Madjarians, who had been struggling for years to win permission for the exit visas that would allow them to reunite.

Two Other Reunions

Two other families from Soviet Armenia were also reunited at the airport Wednesday night.

On the jetliner with Kevork Madjarian were Aida Ekmekchyan and Adriane Haroutounian who were finally given permission two months ago to join their niece, Sona Derbederian--after seven years of waiting.

Also aboard were Haroutyoun Vartabedian, his wife, his mother, his daughter and his son--all anxiously awaited by Haroutyoun’s sister, Shake Avunjian, who said it had taken them 12 years to obtain exit visas.

A spokesman for the U.S. State Department in Washington said Wednesday that 117 families have applied for visas in the “divided families” category--but to date only four have been granted the needed documents.

‘Make Big Party’

But Wednesday night, Avedis Madjarian had eyes only for his son. Earlier this year, he had said that he would “make big party” when--and if--his son really arrived in the United States.

Now he reaffirmed his pledge.

“Got to have party,” he said. “Big party--why not? Special day, today. My son comes to America. And today his birthday, too!”