By Henry D. Astarjian
Throwing shoes at presidents is not a civilized way of expressing anger, desperation, or helplessness, but there are times when such actions translated into words are justifiable. Now is such a time! The entire Armenian nation should do just that to express its anger, disdain, and frustration, and in a polite way its fierce opposition to Serge Sarkisian’s commitment to implementing, then selling, the “Armeno-Turkish protocols” to us.
This infamous document, which was recently initialed in Switzerland, could justly be called the “Protocol of Surrender,” as it is a document that allows Turkey to export goods and services to Armenia, and Armenia to export culturally talented, and not so talented, ladies to enliven the nightlife of Istanbul and Kars. Of course, there is nothing wrong with that; after all, the moneys earned will help the Armenian economy.
Why would Serge Sarkisian put his stinking signature on a protocol that his corrupt foreign minister, Edward Nalbandian, had negotiated secretly?
Who authorized them to negotiate away Armenian rights to Armenian territories? Did they have a mandate from the Armenian electorate, indeed the Armenians in general?
Who gave them the right to make unprecedented concessions to Turkish demands of looking into the validity of the genocide?
Who gave them the authority to accept the Turkish demand that Armenia must “…defend the integrity of its neighboring nation’s territorial claims”—a condition that will jeopardize the self-determination rights of the people of Nagorno-Karabagh?
Given Nalbandian’s history as Armenia’s ambassador to Egypt, one cannot help but question the honesty with which he has conducted his official duties, including the formulation of the Armeno-Turkish protocols.
All the bonds of his and Serge’s protocols are rotten, but the one most laughable is the item that deals with “territorial claims.” That clause addresses the “Agreement that Armenia will defend the integrity of its neighboring nations’ territorial claims,” thereby torpedoing the self-determination rights of the people of Karabagh, and our rights to the six vilayets that constitute Western Armenia, in accordance with the Sevres Treaty of 1920.
Not only that! This agreement permanently seals the ill-fated Kars Treaty which was struck between Soviet Armenia and Ataturk’s General Kiazim Kara Bekir in October 1921. This treaty mandated Turkey to concede Batumi to Georgia, a Soviet Republic, and in turn the Soviets conceded Kars and Ardahan, a part of Armenia, to Turkey. Armenia had no free will in this; they ratified the treaty, under duress, in September 1922. Karabagh had the same fate; Stalin annexed it to Azerbaijan.
Now Serge and Edward are affixing their signature to a protocol that mandates Armenia’s commitment to defend the integrity of Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Oh, what a joke.
Cow-towing to Turkey, like his predecessor Levon Der-Petrosian, who went to Ankara at the head of his ministerial delegation to attend the funeral of Turgut Ozel on April 24, 1993, Serge Sarkisian is embarking on a roadmap that will only lead the nation to the abyss. Like his predecessor, Serge is defying our sensibilities and logic, and desecrating the memories of 1.5 million Armenian martyrs who perished by the hands of Turkey’s Ittihad ve Terakki, who were supposed to be our allies and personal friends in the fight against the Ottoman Sultan’s regime. Serge has not learned from history.
Maybe Serge, and those in power in Armenia, do not understand nationhood the way we diasporans do. Maybe they don’t understand that Armenia is home to all ethnic Armenians, and that Armenia is not some state like, say India, where the color of the country as a whole is not ethnic, or racial, or religious. Like Israel, which the Jews claim to be the Jewish state, Armenia is the Armenian state. It is not a state compromised of multiple nationalities; it is an Armenian and a Christian state. Armenia belongs to any and every Armenian, whether he or she lives in Armenia, the diaspora, or Katmandu. Thus, our inherent right to have a say in matters that affect the interests of Armenia our nationhood is at stake.
Serge and his cronies fail to understand that Armenia, with its Ararat and Etchmiadzin, are the diaspora’s lifeline. It will be foolish of him to sever that relationship in lieu of Turkish “friendship.” Yes, Armenia must have good relationship with her neighbors, including Turkey, but not at the expense of sacrificing its vital interests.
We understand the pressure that he is under. We understand the power struggle between the United States and Russia over Armenia, each aspiring to have a controlling position. But the Armenian nation, or Armenia, must not be the sacrificial lamb, which they are positioned to be.
Then the question arises again: Does this protocol agreement benefit Armenia? If it is implemented, for one, the illusive Turkish hegemony will become a reality on the ground. And that is the American strategy. The big powers’ strategy in that part of the world might be to control oil and gas resources, but for the United States, controlling Iran and its nuclear program is much more important. Iran, which is about ready to become a nuclear power, is America’s nightmare, and one of the rational strategies is to cut off its supply line from Russia. That line does not pass through Georgia or Azerbaijan, it passes through a five-mile Armeno-Iranian border—the weakest link in the Caucasian containment chain of Russia.
Iran is also the lifeline of Armenia. The Armenia-Iran alliance is age-old. There is also a century-old Iranian Shiite mosque in Yerevan. In the early 1990’s, when Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s blockade of Armenia was so severe that the country could not breathe, it was Iran that came to the rescue.
Turkey’s hegemony over Armenia would exert pressure over Iran, this time from the north, thus reviving the centuries-old Iran-Turkey struggle for control of the region. It is a complex political and strategic situation. It needs political savvy and expertise to maneuver through all these landmines, but not at the expense of giving the shop away.
Serge Sarkisian, this week the ARF met with you on this blunder, and came out empty handed. If you insist on signing the protocols, then you are a tavajan, I have two words for you: Get lost!
Dr. Henry Astarjian is the author of The Struggle for Kirkuk. He has written several articles on the Armenian and Kurdish issues. On three occasions, he has spoken to the Kurdish Parliament in Exile (in Brussels), asserting Armenian rights according to the Sevres Treaty.
Guest Contributor
Your so-called “Armenia” was a multiethnic state. Untill 1988, when 250,000 Azeris were ethnically cleansed. This was the real Genocide. One day Zangezur and Irevan Khanates will return to their rightfull owners.
Dr. Astarjian, welcome back, I have missed your articles and comments. You spoke against Armenia’s first president, rightfully so, and now again, against the current president and again, rightfully so.
The Armenians in Armenia & the diaspora must rise up against Pres. Serz Sarkisian & its supporters on these illegal protocols. He must be forced to resign or removed by the people. If these protocols surrenders our territorial rights in Turkey then this will be the end of the Armenian Nation. In the future Armenians will not be supporting the homeland for fear of a takeover by Turkey. Imagine losing 15,000 people in the war with the Azeri’s and now to give up those territories. Shame on this illegal Armenian President.
Ayse, the pathological level of denial of wrongdoing and the justification to maintain a blood-thirsty murderer’s personality by you people never cease to amaze.
“This infamous document, which was recently initialed in Switzerland, could justly be called the “Protocol of Surrender,” as it is a document that allows Turkey to export goods and services to Armenia, and Armenia to export culturally talented, and not so talented, ladies to enliven the nightlife of Istanbul and Kars. Of course, there is nothing wrong with that; after all, the moneys earned will help the Armenian economy.”
I seldom enjoy resorting to personal attacks when criticizing a writer’s ideas, but did this author just suggest that the only thing Armenia has to offer the Turkish market is prostitutes? — and did so by exploiting, in order to make a cheap dirty point, what is arguably a horrid situation for many women in the post-Soviet space who have found themselves to be in this situation? Watch Dessert Nights by Hetq Mr. Astarjian, I don’t think there’s anything funny about that.
Dear Editor,
This is the 2nd time I’ve noticed this type of rhetoric in the Weekly. I have also heard it been repeated in off hand discussions with people and on the internet. Please do a better job of screening articles before publication. I know a family who’s mother was tricked into going to Greece for work and ended up in Dubai pleasuring 10-20 men a night. It is deeply disturbing and offensive. If you can, ask the writer to remove that paragraph, or pull the article out completely. Thank you.
Dr. Astarjian’s this article shows the real face and ambitions of Armenian Diaspora, which fuels the poor Armenians that suffer in Armenia. There is one saying “How full can understand the hungry person”. You sit in some (I don’t know in which) foreign country, overpaid by Diaspora money, and talk about illusions, hysteria which are products of your hatred to Turks.
In this globalizing world – 21st Century, these illusions are not acceptable. Soon, you will see South Caucasus region flourishing, prospering in peace, with close economic ties of three real independent countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, having good relations with Russia, Turkey and Iran.
Chauvinism won’t bring any good to any nation in the world.
To Ayse Senay, Please read your history books. Stalin under the Soviet Union in 1921 took three parcels of Armenian Territory and gave one parcel which was the Javakh Region to Georgia, two other parcels which are Nakhichevan and Karabagh (Artsakh) was given to the Azeri’s. These territories have been populated by Armenians for over three thousand years. Also, the Kars Treaty, gave Kars & Ardahan to Turkey under that agreement. Those territories were never agreed to by any free Armenian Government, therefore was illegal & must be returned to the Armenian Nation. The Sevres Treaty is also a valid treaty since Turkey & Armenia along with 16 other nations signed that treaty in August of 1920, but Kemalist Turkey & Lenin whom Sovietized Russia both destroyed and split Armenia up by the two illegal nations while the Allies stood idly by. Armenians lost 2 million Armenians by the Turks and another million removed from their ancestrial homeland. Millions of Armenians have been moslemized by the Turks over the centuries. You, Ayse should look back to see what your original ancestry is. Their is no such thing as a pure Mongol, Seljuk, Ottoman Turk today, you are all mixed with the blood of the people the Turks conquered. Wake up my brother.