Nare Kupelian, is a practicing attorney in Southern California, who comes from a family that were often labeled as “Aghpar” while they lived in Soviet Armenia. “Aghpar”, which is a play on the Western Armenian pronunciation for brother, “Yeghpayr”, was used as a type of sarcastic slur for many Western Armenians who repatriated to Eastern Armenia in the mid 20th century. Nare’s family, along with thousands of other Armenians who had returned to Soviet Armenia at the invitation of Stalin, were optimistic about starting their new life in the homeland after decades of living in exile. Unfortunately, the expectations did not match the reality, scars of which can be seen until this day, in the Republic of Armenia, and perhaps among our friends in our communities in the diaspora, who may have a story to tell similar to the one you will hear today.