Mensoian: The Armenian Revolutionary Federation: What Revolution?

‘What revolution?’

That comment was made by a 40-something year old well-informed Armenian professional when the position of the ARF was mentioned with respect to the Armenian Genocide Resolution, which was in the House Foreign Relations Committee at the time. Hearing “revolutionary” as in Armenian Revolutionary Federation, his quizzical response was, “What revolution?”

Revolutionary antecedents

For openers, exploitation of the worker and his family has always represented the struggle between those who must labor and those within a society who have power. This is the segment of society, based on birth, official status, or a predilection for corrupt behavior, that does not hesitate to manipulate the system for personal gain. The worker, consumed by the need to provide for himself and family, rationalizes his situation as an inevitability because he lacks the wherewithal to effectively confront the source of his exploitation. In this context, “revolutionary” identifies the man or woman who is prepared to confront this injustice. All that need be done is to return to Ottoman Turkey during the several decades that predated 1915. During that period, the Armenian minority was forced to endure economic exploitation by their Turkish and Kurdish overlords. The only relief that these oppressed villagers had came from men and women who braved the consequences of insurrection to protect their countrymen. It was these men and women committed to revolutionary action who gave birth to the Armenian Revolutionary Federation in 1890, the name it proudly carries to this day. Now in his own Armenia, generations removed from his forebears, the worker continues to labor under a system that provides neither an equitable access to opportunity nor an equitable distribution of the “wealth” that his labor produces. This is the revolution that seeks to create a system based on fairness and justice.

The preoccupation of the media in reporting terrorists acts, coups d’etat, and other forms of violence predisposes much of the public to equate revolutionary when identifying a political party as an anachronism. To say that 85-90 percent of the estimated 6-7 million Armenians have no meaningful understanding of the antecedents that gave birth to the Armenian Revolutionary Federation or the contributions it has made during the more than 120 years of its existence is not an exaggeration.

The early years

During the decades that bridged either side of 1900, pogroms were a fact of life that were utilized whenever the Ottoman Turkish government felt the need to keep the Armenian population submissive, or to curry favor with surrogates, or to seek a scapegoat for its shortcomings. Especially in the rural areas of eastern Anatolia (historic western Armenia), the Armenian villagers lived an insecure existence. Their persons and the wealth that they produced were easy prey to the rapaciousness of their Turkish and Kurdish overlords. Their only protection came from the men and women who were prepared to sacrifice their lives in their defense. In this context, the men and women were following a revolutionary path against a government that was the enemy of the Armenian minority. Could there have been a more noble cause that could have given birth to a political party?

From 1908-14, when the ARF was officially recognized as a political party within the Ottoman-Turkish parliamentary system, it sought to ameliorate these injustices through constitutional reforms in alliance with the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP). Unfortunately, reactionary forces both outside and later within the CUP to meaningful constitutional reform as initially envisioned by the ARF and CUP was not possible. By the time the Great War intervened in 1914, it became apparent to the ARF that the hoped for constitutional changes were no longer feasible. During these early decades, international support for the Christian minorities waxed and waned. Always their self-interests allowed the Ottoman-Turkish government to evade its responsibility.

It was apparent that as long as the Armenians continued to occupy their historic lands in Anatolia, they would always represent a serious internal political problem to Ottoman Turkish rule. Russia’s historic interests in the Caucasus and eastern Anatolia only exacerbated conditions for the Armenians living under Ottoman rule. The Ottoman-Turkish leadership concluded that an answer to what euphemistically had become identified as the Armenian Question was necessary. Their solution was to empty Anatolia of its Armenian inhabitants. With the Great War as cover to their murderous intent, the government undertook its final solution. From 1915 through 1918, their answer to the “Armenian Question” resulted in the planned murder through mass deportations of some 1.5 million innocent Armenian men, women, and children. Again, the men and women of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation fought wherever and however they could against the Turkish military and their Kurdish mercenaries. Finally in the epic Battle of Sardarabad in 1918, the ARF played a significant role in defeating a larger Turkish force that sought to complete the annihilation of the Armenian nation and occupy what little remained of Armenia. On the basis of that victory the first Armenian Republic was formed under the leadership of the ARF. Faced with insuperable problems created by the genocide, the nascent government of Armenia was easily and quickly subverted by the Russian Bolsheviks as they consolidated their control in the south Caucasus.

The history of the ARF during this early period is replete with the exploits of men and women whose lives were dedicated to the cause of the Armenian nation. Their achievements and sacrifices, their victories and defeats, both on the battlefield and in the political and diplomatic arenas, and the plots and counterplots they endured defined the meaning of courage, sacrifice, loyalty, and duty.

The pseudo-Republic of Armenia and the diaspora

With the fall of the first free Armenian Republic in 1920, there followed 70 years of captivity as a soviet “republic.” During this period, the ARF became the principal voice of the Armenian people in the diaspora for a united and independent Armenia and the principal advocate of Hai Tahd (Armenian Cause). During these years it became the caretaker of the tricolor, which was always proudly displayed, and Mer Hairenik, which became known to each new diasporan generation. When the second free Armenian Republic was established in 1991 upon the demise of the Soviet Union, the tricolor and Mer Hairenik returned to their rightful place as symbols of a free and independent country.

During these same dark years throughout the diaspora, those who had survived the genocide were rebuilding their shattered lives wherever good fortune or misfortune had taken them. The ARF began the Herculean task of creating an Armenian cultural and political environment that would allow succeeding generations born in the diaspora to have a meaningful connection to their heritage as well as preparing for the day when Armenian would again be free. The ARF became the conduit through their publications and sponsored activities that effectively linked the various diasporan communities politically and culturally.

Various entities were supported to create this vital connection to their heritage. The Homenetmen, initially organized in 1918 in Constantinople, was short lived, but it was resurrected in 1924 when a chapter was formed in Beirut, Lebanon. Other chapters soon followed. Here young Armenians could participate in scouting and athletic programs, but always with the purpose of knowing their heritage and the opportunity to develop friendships that would last a lifetime. The Armenian Youth Federation (AYF), founded in Cairo, Egypt in 1933, provided yet another opportunity for young Armenians to learn the history of their people and foster friendships. Hamazkayin, also formed in Cairo in 1928, catered to the educational and cultural interests of the developing communities. Earlier in 1910, the Armenian Relief Society (ARS) was founded in New York as a non-partisan entity to provide aid to displaced Armenians. In 1910, the ARS celebrated a century of dedicated service providing humanitarian and educational aid to all Armenians. The Society is accredited as a non-governmental organization (NGO) on the roster of the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

Karabagh

Members of the ARF were part of the Karabagh government when the decision was made to declare independence from Azerbaijan in 1991. When the Karabaghtsis were forced to defend their decision against military action by Azerbaijan, Dashnak volunteers from throughout the diaspora, in the spirit of their revolutionary ancestors, joined to defend Karabagh’s independence. The Battle for Shushi in 1992 that liberated that historic Armenian bastion from Azeri control was led by a Dashnak unit and marked the turning point in the war. This modern-day revolution was for the freedom and independence of the Artsakh Armenians.

The post-independence period

In 2011 the second free Armenian Republic will celebrate its 20^th anniversary. During this post-independence period, Armenia has been challenged to transform a moribund political-economic system that was a product of its Soviet captivity. The political collapse of the Soviet Union ended this ill-conceived experiment in social and economic planning. For Armenia, it resulted in double-digit unemployment as factories that were never meant to compete on an open market became obsolete. The agents of the change required to bring Armenia into a market-oriented economy; to invigorate society by providing equality of opportunity and meaningful participation in government were the aparacheks of the old system. These individuals either lacked the commitment to create the necessary changes or failed to understand the importance of equality of opportunity and the principles of social justice as the basis for creating a dynamic society. More than a century earlier, the ARF waged a revolution with guns and bullets; today the revolution for change is waged with ideas that seek to create a system based on justice and equality.

The exploitation that the worker faces today compared to the exploitation endured by the Armenian villagers ruled by Ottoman Turkey differs only in the manner by which it occurs. Then, it was at the whim of the Turkish and Kurdish overlords. Today, it occurs because the government has failed to provide an operative system that would prevent exploitation in all its insidious economic and political permutations. The long-term viability of a state can never be based on a system that empowers or benefits special interests at the expense of the worker. The sine qua non of any system that seeks to harness the full potential of its citizens must be based on the principle of equality of opportunity. They must be protected from the arbitrary and capricious actions of government. And they must be guaranteed a meaningful role in their government through participation in a democratic political process. Every worker must have fair access to employment, wages, housing, education, medical services, leisure time, technology, etc. This is the “wealth” that his labor has created. This in no way implies that a classless society should be the ultimate objective. Absent individual initiative, creativity, and “risk taking” with its compensatory rewards, society will be ruled by mediocrity and complacency. In the long term, the vitality of society and the viability of the state can only be sustained by a system that is predicated on the principles of social justice and equality of opportunity. This is the revolution that the ARF continues to wage.

An effective system will not only encourage the worker to aspire to a better life for himself and his family, but the opportunity will be available by which this better life can be achieved. Any system that dispossesses the worker the value his labor has produced is exploitation. And economic exploitation is akin to slavery, however that condition may be euphemized. How can this differ from what existed a century earlier when Turkish and Kurdish overlords routinely dispossessed the Armenian villager of his hard earned “wealth”?

Rapprochement and an open border

The “roadmap to regime change” published months earlier was prompted by legitimate concerns that the ARF had with respect to the adverse impact that the protocols would have on Armenia. To date no position papers have been presented by proponents of rapprochement as presently envisioned to alleviate these concerns. No one questions the desirability of friendly relations with the Turkish government; after all, it is a neighbor. That objective has never been an issue. The ARF can be rightly viewed as the gnkahayr (godfather) of Hai Tahd and Karabagh’s de facto independence. The revolution that is presently being waged is against any attempt, misguided or intentional, that would allow Hai Tahd and Karabagh’s de jure right to independence to be subverted as the price for rapprochement.

Having said that, it is unfortunate to acknowledge that the ARF can be properly criticized for having accepted the status quo when it was part of the government. An opportunity was missed and they must accept some share of the blame for problems that currently exist. However, that in no way diminishes the contributions that the ARF has made to the Armenian nation. No organization that has been as fully engaged for over 120 years can be free of mistakes. When measured against any comparable Armenian organization, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation is without a peer in its service, sacrifices, and devotion to the Armenian people and mer Hayasdan.

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Michael Mensoian

Michael Mensoian, J.D./Ph.D, is professor emeritus in Middle East and political geography at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and a retired major in the U.S. army. He writes regularly for the Armenian Weekly.

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