“More than athletics”
The following speech was delivered at the opening ceremonies of the 91st annual AYF Olympics, held on Sunday, August 31 in Waltham, Mass.
His Eminence Bishop Anoushavan Tanielian, Primate of the Eastern Prelacy,
Honorable unger Khajag Mgrdichian, representative of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Bureau,
Distinguished guests and dear attendees,
On behalf of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Eastern Region Central Committee, I congratulate the AYF-YOARF and this year’s host, the Greater Boston “Nejdeh” Chapter, for organizing the 2025 AYF Olympics.
This weekend is about far more than athletics. For 92 years, the AYF has been a movement—founded here in Boston by Karekin Njdeh—not only to bring Armenian youth together, but to prepare them for service to our nation. Today, that mission is more urgent than ever.
As we gather to compete, our homeland is fighting for survival. The so-called peace agreement signed in Washington is nothing but a surrender, placing Armenia’s future and justice for Artsakh at risk. Nikol Pashinyan may abandon our people to the Pan-Turkic agenda of our genocidal neighbors—but we will never betray our homeland. The AYF and the ARF will remain what they were created to be: a shield against assimilation and a force for national survival.
Athletics are just one part of what binds us. What truly defines us is our activism—our voice in the halls of Congress, our service at Camp Haiastan and Camp Javakhk, our work in our local communities and above all, our unwavering stand for a free, independent and united Armenia.
Now, more than ever, we must stand united in our common cause and unwavering in our fight to protect our homeland. Each of us has a role to play: to ensure national resilience, to fight for justice and to secure a future worthy of the sacrifices of those who came before us.
