Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians…?
–Adolf Hitler
As the whole world knows, on April 24,1915, the murderous process of Armenocide that had started almost 50 years earlier culminated into the horrendous bloodletting of the very first genocide of the 20th century.
Cloaked behind the dust and smoke of the Great War, after the Ottoman Turks completed the slaughter of one and a half million Armenians, Kemalist Turks, side-stepping the 1918 Armistice, defying and ignoring international peace treaties and protocols, with the assistance of several great powers devised and followed their own murderous roadmap.
Over the following three chaotic years, they succeeded to decimate surviving Armenian communities from Smyrna to Adana, from Shushi to Baku, and to reduce a fairly large, fledgling Armenian independent state into a diminutive province of the Soviet Empire.
To this very day, succeeding governments of the Turkish Republic—true heirs of that now defunct ”Sick Man of Europe,” the Ottoman Empire—continue, unabated, the same policies of persecution against Armenians, bordering on the genocidal within their own ill-gained boundaries through institutionalized harassment and forced assimilation.
Thus, along with a cynical denial of the Armenian Genocide, Turkey, has chosen to perpetuate that same genocidal process which, come next April, will complete its 95th year.
With these undeniable facts as a backdrop, the Turkish-Armenian negotiations for the “normalization” of relations between the two countries and the opening of borders were carried on behind a thick veil of secrecy and misrepresentation.
Orchestrated by Switzerland—with the active participation and enormous pressure exerted by Turkish oriented special interests in the United States and the European Union—the Armenian side was sure to end up with the short end of the stick. And sure enough, the resulting protocols, drafted without the representational participation of the Armenian people, paved the way for a “roadmap” that can lead only to the demise of the Armenian Cause in its major aspects—namely, the recognition of the Armenian Medz Yeghern as genocide with proper restitution, and the rejection of the shameful and untenable terms of the Kars Treaty, which imposes on Armenia her present boundaries with Turkey.
The political aims of the opponents of our nationhood and sovereignty are clear and relentless. They are articulated with an ambitious slogan: “The 21st century will be known as the Turkish Century!” This may sound like wishful thinking, but no one can accuse it of lacking in vision, direction, and national purpose.
Against this gauntlet, hurled at the face of our national existence, at this critical juncture of our history, both homeland and diaspora—lacking in unity and common purpose—are being offered, by our own government, a policy that suggests nothing more than “survival at whatever cost”—a call to mere existence. The truth is that our nation, engaged in a life and death struggle against powerful opponents needs, above all, the unity of homeland and diaspora, gathered around a common national struggle based on immutable historical rights. The present stance of the government in Yerevan, alienated from its own people, now following foreign-conceived roadmaps, has simply nowhere to go—for a call to mere existence based on denial of history offers no direction, and no vision of any kind; it merely perpetuates a status quo that threatens our very existence as a viable nation.
At this juncture, now that we stand on the crossroads of history once more, being led to the slippery road of accommodating our avowed enemy who is knocking on the doors of Europe, begging to be admitted in the European Union, in need of our cooperation to succeed, we must not lay down our weapons in abject defeat. On the contrary, we must reassess our own stance, and the true intentions of our opponents. We must objectively evaluate the methods of reactivation of our national cause pursued relentlessly over the last 34 eventful years, starting with the global commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the genocide, whose veracity is now being put to the test by protocols signed by a misguided government of oligarchs who have, in truth, ceased to represent the Armenian people.
Let this be a wakeup call to all Armenians around the world, to step back from the precipice and rally around the banner of our national struggle for justice too long denied, for a future with honor that befits a nation that has crossed the millennia with its unique culture and civilization.
Tatul Sonentz-Papazian
Latest posts by Tatul Sonentz-Papazian (see all)
- Battle Everlasting - October 6, 2021
- Beyond Genocide - April 15, 2021
- On the Threshold of the 106th Commemoration of the Genocide - March 31, 2021
Our incongruity has been our weak link, and the one thing that our enemies have used consistently to break our backs. Of course, Turkey wants to separate us further. Our complete unification is the only threat to Turkey. Our unity is our only power and salvation. How would Turkey like an announcement that the Armenian Diaspora has now dual citizenship and will vote on all foreign policies… (hypothetical, considering the long road to Democracy in Armenia, but where there is a will there should be a way)
Legal and Civic ties between the Diaspora and Armenia, such as dual citizenship, SHOULD BECOME THE NAME OF THE GAME FROM THIS POINT ON. All Armenians should partake in Armenia’s international and foreign affairs and have the right to vote on them. Not a penny should go to the campaigns of ANY U.S. presidential candidate. The stance of the American State Department vis a vis our cause is loud and clear. Guess what, it has been the same for the last 94 years. Instead, regular income should go to Armenia in the form of a “national tax” that every Armenian should pay yearly to our homeland. That way, we can all claim a legal stake in the political health of our homeland.
Our unity is now our only chance to survive as a people.
These protocols are aimed to take care of the obvious, but also serve to demoralize the Diaspora because they serve to take away the only glue, Hye Tadh, that kept us together. It is high time that we all take upon ourselves the responsibility of being dully engaged in our homeland.. To be politically viable, we all have to be on the same page. How do we expect anyone to take us seriously if one hand does not know what the other is up to?
The first and most important politicians that we should LOBBY should be the politicians in Armenia. All others have made ping pong balls out of us, while they cut deals with Turkey. We will always take their “promises “with a grain of salt. Regular conferences and talks should be organized between the Diapsora and Armenia. WE BELONG TO ARMENIA AND TO ARMENIA ALONE.
A nationalist government that looks after Armenia’s interests first must replace the current government. The present Armenian government is concerned mainly with the interests of itself, its cronies, and with accommodating the major powers (NATO and Russia). We must find a new way. Total unity is impossible but enough unity around common goals must be found. If we do not act, we will lose Artsakh too.
Um, Dave, if you didn’t realize the Hanrabedagans are staunch nationalists. And what does ‘total unity’ mean? Diaspora and Armenia (and if that’s the case, where was unity with the people on 1 March 2008? Oh, that’s right, the whole Diaspora just shut up! Just like they did when the Karabakh movement started!)? Just a hunch but the people here have a very different idea of what it means to be Armenian, what Armenian policy (domestic and foreign), etc should be. Drop the pan-nationalist rhetoric and take IR 101. Relations with Turkey improves Armenia economically and weakens Azerbaijan’s position at the negotiating table. It has been a policy of successive Armenian governments for a simple, clear reason that any college freshman would understand.
And, any small, weak state must operate within the power structures put forth by stronger neighbors and institutions. What you see as ‘accommodation’ is called ‘politics’ in most circles. But, if you’re just a Diaspora Armenia for whom Armenia is nothing more than abstract, you’ll never appreciate that.
Everyone wants Armenia to have normal relations with Turkey. A normal country however would accept the wrongs its ancestors have done to the neighbor in question and embark on a truly well intentionned partnership. Ricardo, what you are saying would be true about politics with stonger neighbors if the neighbor in question did not have such a flaud history of deceipts, Genocide,dessecration of churches and historical monuments and a horrible track record in human rights that continues till today. The Diaspora exists because of them and the Genocide they perpertrated. The Diaspora knows Turkey all too well and wants to warn Armenia of the PanTurkic dream. Armenia should impose strict rules of land ownership when the borders open. Ricardo, the Diaspora is not a country with a government. It’s main objective unfortunately is staying Armenian and fighting for their crushed faternal legacies with Turkey. It takes a lot of sacrifice for us to constantly raise monetary and otherwise help for Armenia, which we do religiously every year. You said we were not there for Armenia but the same thing can be asked of Armenia. Was there any time where Armenia was there for Diaspora? However the Diaspora had sent some fighters to Karabagh and how can you dismiss all the investments we make there, and all the political work the Diaspora does to procure Armenia monetary help from the countries we are in as well as protection from not so beneficial policies. The main message to Armenia dealing with Turkey is: Beware!