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Copyright © 2021 | The Armenian Weekly
The above interview is a breath of fresh air.
The Armenian Cause is going to die a sure death, and very soon, if these Protocols are passed. And it appears that they WILL be passed. I am not sure if even the Diaspora and its political partes truly realize that.
The Armenian president and his parliament were all elected under circumstances of fraudulent elections, banned candidates, and media repression and intimidation.
This means that the leadership of Armenia is illegtimate and does not have the legal or moralauthority to negotiate the Protocols or ratify them.
It is not acceptable to say “But this is the only government we have.” If the government is illegitimate, it must go, and its decisions must be declared null and void.
It is incumbent upon Armenian political parties and the Armenian people to state clearly that the Protocols are unacceptable and that any attempt by the Armenian authorities to ratify them is null and void. I refer especially to the ARF. If this is done, the major powers and Turkey will have good reason to realize that passage of the Protocols is useless.
The fact that a “law” or bill is passed, no matter where or under what circumstances, does not mean that the law is legitimate and must be obeyed. The Ottoman parliament in the 1915 era passed all sorts of laws that took property and life away from Ottoman Armenian citizens. Do we now look at those laws and say “Oh, yes, Armenians had to obey the law and be death-marched into the desert because it was illegal to escape.” ? Of course we don’t.
Am I saying that the present Armenian government is like the Ottoman government of 1915 and that Armenian “laws” do not have to be obeyed? Yes, that is exactly what I am saying.
Lots of countries pass repressive and illegitimate laws that people are clearly not going to obey, nor should they. Did George Washington obey the laws and edicts of King George of England? Of course not.
The illegitimacy of “president” Sargsian and his phony “parliament” must be stated now, and it must be stated clearly. Opposition parties must declare the Protocols to be traitorous, null, and void.
The Protocols are as illegtimate as any repressive laws passed by the Ottoman Parliament. Indeed, the Ottoman parliament may have been more “democratic” then the present Armenian government.
The Armenian opposition must state that the Protocols will be declared null and void by future governments. They must also state that there will be severe criminal sanctions imposed at a later date on anyone who tries to legitimize the Protocols.
If not, then the Armenian Cause is dead. And don’t think that the Armenian authorities will not sell out Artsakh too. Anyone that will sell out the Armenian Cause would sell out Artsakh.
The people in Armenia need to be as galvanized by this as much as the Diaspora seems to be. The Armenian government is not going to listen to the Diaspora. There is a better chance its going to listen to the will of the people who it actually represents.
The Diaspora I think is realizing what a marginal voice they have in terms of what the Armenian state decides to do. For past several years and especially during the kocharian era we thought that Yerevan actually represented our interests. That has proven to be false. (The ARF for all its opposition, went along with most recent election results, which were a fraud, until it had no choice but resign).
The Karabagh War was not started or won because people in Watertown, LA or Paris were outraged. So one has to wonder why Opera Square in Yerevan is not filled with protesters ? Does the Diaspora care about this topic more then the people living there ?
We spend all our efforts hear to get the US government to formally recognize the Genocide and the Armenian government undermines it all with these protocols. What Yerevan says and does is infinitely more important then anything that happens in Washington.
The ARF is partly to blame. They needed to address the daily concerns of the Armenian public more, and build a stronger and broader following rather then just making public stands regarding genocide recognition and territorial integrity. Had they done that they would have more of a following , more power, more influence. All that time, 10 + years wasted… now someone else is running the show and making the decisions. The Window of opportunity is closing and the ARF which prides itself in being “grass roots” has shown what little headway they have achieved with the people who matter most.
These protocols, if ratified, are going to ruin decades of work. The Diaspora is not the role of George Washington, but more like Robert E. Lee. The problem is the people in Armenia don’t seem to see the need to be outraged.
It is time for political action that sends a loud and clear message to the President of Armenia and its Parliament. Starting in Armenia and all over the world where there are Armenian communities, Armenians should hold demonstrations in massive numbers on an ongoing basis until the world hears us very clearly and the Armenian Government heeds to the demands of the Majority of Armenians worldwide, that our legitimate rights cannot be trampled on and forgotten.
Here in the United States we should show up in front of the Armenian Republic’s embassy in Washington DC as well as all and every Armenian Consulate in American cities coast to coast.
Shame on us if we don’t make our voices and determination heard loud and clear.
I would thank firstly to Antranik,I met him lastg June for a few brief moments on Toumanyan str.knew him from N.J. long ago.A very honourable pleasant youngman.So is David B. and all others who stand up and defend our ONLY and mian Cause/Case.No doubt about that.Few , however come up with other alternatives.We all know how wily-cunning Ottoman inherited turkish Diplomacy is.We all also know at heart that they are -have been -supported for over 50 yrs by the Anglo-Am clan,so to speak.Latter´s interests are there in that region,no,not now but from near acentury ago…when -to begin with- after Ottoman Empire capitulated in the West frontgs-Balkans in 1918´s they very cleverly concentrated all their forces-directed by a leader come to power Mustafa Ataturk(Kemal) WHO MUSTERED UP ALL they had left plus some ammunitions arms gifted to them by the Brits(see Prof. R.G.Hovanissian 4 volume Republic of Armenia) wherein he describdes of a huge cache of armament was turnewd over to Kemal-Turky,their just a few months old enemy-instead of to their faithful allies the Armenians -who fought along General Allenby and many other European -American allies against the German-Ottoman axis.This is BETRAYAL AT ITS BEST,even worse than having an enemy that you see-know…these people are after theri interests .@Our battleships cannot climb mount Ararat,one English Lord hs been known to say…Oh yeah? how come then that at the same time-same period-see prof. R.G.H book stipulated with photos of Brfitish commanding officers in Baku , their headquarters, how did they get there then? for the smell of something? indeed.They did make it though-if not then now by entgering from window.a saying they get thrown out by the oncoming red armies then..then lately after collpase of latter through window..
Best advice we have had.I was present April 9th at 17 Rue Bleu,Armenian centre in Paris prof Yves Ternon, a supporter of our cause in France …ended his discourse saying”Parlement a Parlement”.In short we should seek our allies elsewhere in small, middle states and never rely on aforementioned who have betrayed us sevral times over. Do not be ashamed to utter your voices.After all even in diplomacy there is a limit to how much people can lie…
Go find another(s) partners supporters elsewhere.Getting back to present situation of the Protocols and Armenia Armenians on the verge of an abyss…I think we must act similar to the turks and co.that is to say .While we reinforce our forces-power economy et all inwardly…we must show to the great Turkey and Co. that we are complient thus:By the by I wrote an article in Hay Gyank weekl,L.A. in 1997 entitled”Nagornyi Karabagh after Lisbon” Then as now all except us voted agaisnt us 49 strong voes vis a vis our one single LTP´s…
WE can begin with appeasingb great Turkey yes I always dub them so, both cynically but also righteously they are the strongest in the region thanks to allies.mainly the U.S. of course.Get the NK issue resolved by declaring NK as FREE TRADE ZONE and change stance from Independent republic to PRINCIPALITY OF NAGORNYI KARABAGH” SIMILAR TO Andorra..in ARmenian,(Gharabaghi Melikutyun) Let 3/4 azeri delegates into present Nk Parliament and allow refugees from Only Jabrail and Fizouli to return ,as agisnt our refugees to Shahumian.Andorra was a bone of contentgion for two centuries -you read corectly 200 yrs between France and Spain,even a war.Then they agreed to run the small area jointly, declaring it as FREE Trade Zone and as a Principlaity. Its president is prfes. of France and vice is Archbishop from Seu Dúrgel (cataluña)Spain.People there mainly catalans-pretty much like in NK, (Armenians) and some French.It has prosepred , levying very small import export customs duties ..Free business and tourism has loomed and no war ….peace is prevailing there …
This might very well suit the situation .Great Turkey will not loose face-most important for the REgional Gendarm..the allies will be delighted that peace have come upon the area lertting the piplines function orderly without fear of war there and most important gvreat Turkey will tghen be pressured by these SAME ALLIES…see the Armenians complied Nk is not Independent.Do not worry that they will claim more lands ..
We have b een famed as patient people.fact is we are over-patient we CAN WAIT SOME MORE,when other factors pop up for great Turkey….Kurdish (ex mountain turks? eh? Mr. Turkey) you finally gave in stopped callinmg them so..gunned own a thousand villages of their but you could not throw 16 million of them into sea? time will come when these poor people will also at the very lest get some Autonomy ,then only our cause can COME UP AGAIN AND BY THEN HOPEFULLY THE CRAZY SITUATION OF OIL HUNGER,plus Armenian Diaspora mustering up its own National Investment trust fund-pleasde visit my site …www.ARMENIDAD-worldwide.org REST IS THERE.THANKS FOR READING ME
HAMA HAIGAGANIN SIRO
gaytzag palandjian
RootArmo, you make important points. Let’s remember how the press is controlled in Armenia and that those outside major cities are less informed of what is going on under their noses. Many protesters have been maimed and killed for being vocal. Add to that the notion that natives who are employed by Soros and other Western-based initiatives all parrot the same NATO-friendly tune. He who pays the piper gets to call the tune. These voices we hear from do not represent the Armenian sentiment of Armenia!
RootArmo’s comment is not quite right. In fact, there is a large outrage in Armenia and Arzakh population. But why we don’t see any such uprising? because the authority has done a good job in controlling the media. See the following article by Dr. Armen Ayvazyan (showing the statistics):
http://blog.ararat-center.org/?p=283
The reason for this successful media control was implemented as a result of March 2008 election upheavals. The reason that ARF was less active in the last 2 years is again attributed to this “fake” opposition party staging of the election drama. They were planned by Der Petrosyan and Kojaryan-Sargsyan elite groups (hand in hand) in order to kill all other grass-root true opposition movements in Armenia.
So, as you can see the West has done a good job in controlling the masses in Armenia via their own governments (Der Petrosyan, Kojaryan and now Sargsyan).
Moreover, we Armenians usually think that ARF is the oldest Armenian party, but we fail to realize that ARF leaders were not mature enough to be able to govern any city let alone a country. Yes, they are good fighters and military leaders, and they have a wellformed National agenda, but they did not have enough experience in governing. To my memory, ARF has just learned how to stand for the Armenian people in just the last couple of years, which to me is a good news (perhaps a desperate voice from Heaven).
But blaming the Armenian intellectuals and especially the people in Armenia is not quite right. Look at the last 20 years of history. In 1988, during the Karabakh movement, which was organized by a few true-intellectuals in Yerevan, as soon as it gained an enormous populous, here comes a Levon Der Petrosyan from nowhere and takes the helm. In the following few years, we heard a propaganda machine of HHSh discriminating the true Armenian intellectuals, followed by controlling and maneuvering the people, in effect killing our “azgayin hokin”. This propaganda machine has its effects until these days, after 20 years now.
I believe that currently ARF is the only party that can move Armenian towards the right direction, if only they put more of their resources in improving the “Armenian mshagute” (i.e. pure-Armenian intellectuals, Armenian scientists, Armenian teachers, etc.) and the economy of the people in Armenia. And believe me, they have all the resources, because they form a majority in Diaspora, as well as inside Armenia (i.e. if we include Arzakh).
It is also important to modify the ARF intergovernmental infrastructure. ARF organizational structure does not have a good election mechanism. For example, we the people do not elect who the district ARF representative will be, it is elected behind closed doors. Such mechanisms must be changed to introduce more control by the people. It is a shame that in 1988, we did not even know who Mr. Hrair Maroukhian was until we heard that he was claimed a persona-non-grata by Levon Der Petrosyan. It is a shame that ARF organizational structure has not changed even after 20 years. Otherwise, it would have been the most efficient ruling party for Armenia (and Armenians). Another good idea is for ARF to form a coalition government with grass root parties in Armenia. We have seen such advances only this year, for example with Henchaks and Ramgavars, but they need to be more active in this direction. There are a dozen more grass-root parties in Armenia (excluding Republican and HHSh major parties).
If anything, The United States, Switzerland, Germany and The United Kingdom have done more harm to the nation of Armenia in the last 10 years than the entire Turkish nation. Oh! Did I forget to mention Israel?
Kasbarian does an excellent job outlining and explaining the pitfalls and dangers in the unacceptable protocols, as well as the dismal state of Armenian foreign policy. But, in doing so, he tries his best to excuse the ARF of having any role and responsibility in formulating and implementing the disastrous, undemocratic policies of various (unelected) Armenian administrations in the past 11 years. Notice his choice of words: “our own government…our authorities…The authorities, not the ARF, should be the ones worried about proprieties at this stage.”
I, therefore, strongly agree with the conclusions reached in today’s “Chorrord Ishkhanutyun”:“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” wonders why the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) is persisting with its street protests after the authorities made clear that the Turkish-Armenian protocols can not be amended before being signed. “This is not the only oddity,” says the paper. “The thing is that Dashnaktsutyun is now busy not so much dealing with those protocols as promoting its own opposition posture … The impression is such that Dashnaktsutyun is simply using the Turkish-Armenian protocols to make people forget its decade-long proximity to the government trough.”
I am sorry to disagree with you Tim Nolan, but your arguments are flat wrong. You are assuming that the Khaytarag Protocols are not so much dangerous that the political parties can use it for a game. If this is your assumption, then obviously you may jump to your conclusion, but I am afraid the Protocols are more dangerous than most people assume. Moreover, given this fact, no Armenian will care about ARF advertising their image, in fact, such heroism is what Armenians need right now.
I am not an ARF member, and I confess that I indeed disliked them during the Cold War period, because back then they acted like KGP puppets, but after 1988 Karabakh movement and the declaration of Independence, they entirely changed their face. Maybe not enough, but they did change their face.
What I believe is that they have not done so much so fast, partly because of the rigidity of their governing infrastructure on one hand, and some historic scandals on the other hand, and as a result of these, their extreme caution with regard to responsibility to the last bastion of the Armenian land.
But I agree with you, Tim, that ARF needs to integrate with true grass-root organizations inside Armenia, as well as, outside, be it Չորորդ Իշխանութիւն or Հինգերորդ Իշխանութիւն, but certainly not as Իշխանութիւն, rather popular organizations. We don’t want any more Իշխանութիւն-s than what we already have now.
Open Letter To: Armenian Foreign Minister Mr. Edvard Nalbandyan
My fellow Armeniabns,
All of us have real future prpoperty interest in Western Armenia which has been confirmed by Wilsonian Arbitration Award. The current Armenian Goverment is not the asignee of these, real estate, future intersets in Western Armenia. We have a leagal basis to open a case against Armenian Government in US Federal Courts and demand for permanent injunction against those who are willing to sign so called prorocals or ratify them. I am not clear what are these so called protocals? Whether they have been signed or not? if signed exactly by whom and under what capacity? If they are really protocals then they cannot be subject to ratification by parliment. If they are already signed then threr is treaty already betwen Turkey and Armenia.
Armenian in diaspora must take actions rather than just talking.
papkenhartunian@gmail.com
Hye, just a point of information… as I recall it was the first (mistake) of a president, Der Petrossian, who was so anti ARF that he disallowed ARF from
Armenia. Dedicated Armenian intellectuals formed themselves to become ARFD, which is, I believe, their symbol in the Armenian state. In my book, this first president was ill equipped to be first leader of our fledgling Armenian nation. A Lemon, who took, more than he gave. Sarkisyan et al are mentally limited to the destructive soviet/communist approach to leadership – in their treatment of the citizens of Armenia – but Armenia is now a democracy…
I believe, today, there shall be true patriots from within our Armenian nation, such as we had in 1918-1920, and more, to lead our fledgling Armenia forward from the morass… Manooshag