Representatives from five prominent Bay Area Armenian-American organizations met with the Armenian Prime Minister, Tigran Sargsyan, on the occasion of his visit to the Bay Area, November 5-8. The Prime Minister was attending the ArmTech Congress '09 in San Jose, a conference sponsored by the Armenian government, on Armenia's high-tech industry.

The leadership of the Bay Area Armenian National Committee, Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Hamazkayin Armenian Cultural and Educational Society, HMEM Armenian Athletic organization, KZV Armenian School, and St. Gregory Armenian church, familiarized the Prime Minister, Consul General and Armenian Ambassador to the U.S., with the Bay Area Armenian-American community, its history, institutions, achievements and challenges.  They also expressed the grave concern and disappointment of the majority of community members regarding the "Protocols" recently signed by the foreign ministers of Armenia and Turkey, for the establishment of diplomatic relations. The Bay Area delegation strongly urged the Armenian government representatives to do everything in their power to prevent ratification of the Protocols. They explained that although they are in favor of normalizing relations between Armenia and Turkey, the conditions written into the Protocols (including the formation of an "historical commission" and points relating to existing boundaries), seriously undermine Armenia's legal rights and the viability of the Armenian state in the future, and that they cannot lead to true reconciliation, nor a stable relationship between the two states.