ARF representative participates in Socialist International meetings in Istanbul
The representative of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun (ARF) to the Socialist International (SI), SI Vice-President Mario Nalpatian, participated in meetings of the SI Presidency, the Finance and Administration Committee (SIFAC) and the Council, held in Istanbul from May 23 to 25, 2025. These meetings addressed issues concerning the organization, which includes 132 parties from over 100 countries. The host of the meetings was Turkey’s Republican People’s Party (CHP). The Presidency and Council meetings were chaired by SI President and Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez.
At the Council meeting on May 24—the organization’s highest-level body between SI Congresses—Nalpatian participated in the discussion of the second agenda item: “Overcoming Violence and Conflicts, Protecting Civilians.”
He began his speech by noting that the most frequently spoken words during this assembly were peace, democracy, rights and human rights—terms that, among others, reflect the current global experiences of humanity.
“Experience and widespread fears [show us that] the powerful of the world are attempting to establish the supremacy of force over the rule of law,” said Nalpatian. “I refer to this era as the ‘post-legality’ period—when within countries, laws are ignored in favor of the ruling power of the day, and in international relations, force disregards international law, international humanitarian law and the multilateral structure of the international system, seeking a return to a new era of empires and vassal states.”
Referring to a December 2023 statement by U.N. Special Adviser on the prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, Naplatian recalled her warning that, 75 years after the adoption of the Genocide Convention, several groups—including the Rohingya in Myanmar, the Tigrayans in Ethiopia, the Masalit in Sudan, Palestinians in Gaza under Israeli occupation and Armenians in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh)—remain under threat of genocide. He emphasized that the international community has failed to respond adequately to these threats.
“The case of Artsakh is a continuing crime,” he said. “Armenians have been displaced from their millennia-old homeland by Azerbaijan, which is ignoring the ruling of the International Court of Justice to ensure the rights of the indigenous people and their safe, dignified and collective return. Furthermore, in violation of international law, Azerbaijan continues to imprison Armenian captives and is ‘trying’ them under fabricated charges, including the leaders of Artsakh—among them our comrade and your acquaintance, Davit Ishkhanyan, whom you met and heard at this organization’s 2022 Congress. Azerbaijan is systematically destroying the religious and cultural heritage and monuments of the Armenian people.”
Nalpatian noted that names like Netanyahu, Lukashenko and Aliyev were raised repeatedly during the assembly. “That is not accidental,” he explained. “Because their complementary, reinforcing and destructive actions represent the grim face of our current era.”
He also addressed the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process, which was mentioned by various speakers, along with Armenia-Turkey relations. “We have disagreements and questions [about this process],” he stated. “Nevertheless, we seriously believe in the idea of peace. Turkey is closely following this process and is conditioning its relations with Armenia on the signing of that agreement, thereby exerting additional pressure on Armenia. However, it is worth remembering that since regaining its independence in 1991, Armenia has always pursued the establishment of diplomatic relations with Turkey without preconditions, but Turkey has refused.”
“If Turkey genuinely wishes to contribute to the establishment of peace in the region—a peace that must be just, lasting and stable—it must re-examine its history and acknowledge its responsibility for the Armenian Genocide committed between 1915 and 1923. Imposed peace is neither just, nor stable, nor lasting,” concluded the ARF representative.
ARF Bureau International Secretariat
