Armen Rustamyan: We own our 135 years; you must answer for your eight

The following is the speech delivered in the National Assembly by ARF Bureau representative and “Hayastan” faction parliamentarian Armen Rustamyan. The remarks were made during the discussion on a draft resolution authored by the “Hayastan” faction regarding the termination of the powers of Hakob Hakobyan, a member of the Television and Radio Commission.

First and foremost, I’m glad this discussion is about the Dashnaktsutyun. We’ve lived this for 135 years — it’s nothing new for us. For 135 years, they’ve been denouncing us, and for 135 years, we’re still here. This phenomenon is, of course, primarily distasteful to the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem. They’ve fought so hard against us that you couldn’t catch up even if you ran.

On this point, I want to address Mr. Hakob Hakobyan: What I have to say to Hakob Movses is one thing — I’ve debated these topics with him when he was a free intellectual. But what I have to say to Hakob Hakobyan is something else entirely, because now, thanks to the CP [Civil Contract Party], he’s been weaponized against the Dashnaktsutyun. In other words, you’ve become the prosecutor in the case against the Dashnaktsutyun.

Do you know what’s happened to those who’ve prosecuted the Dashnaktsutyun? Today, they’ve been relegated to the dustbin of history. Empires have prosecuted the Dashnaktsutyun, and today those empires no longer exist; they’re in the dustbin of history. The Dashnaktsutyun has giants within it; it’s a party with a pantheon. [Hovhannes] Tumanyan, Avetik Isahakyan: these names alone are enough that even Hakob Movses wouldn’t dare prosecute the Dashnaktsutyun, because there’s no comparison to such giants. Let alone, that the CP would try to prosecute a party with such a pantheon. Think about it: what names from your party will remain in history?

And most importantly, if there were no Dashnaktsutyun, if there were no organization like the Dashnaktsutyun, would we — would you — have a state? You talk so much about the state. Would that state even exist? Would we have these territories on which we have a state today? Can a generation really be so ungrateful to its ancestors? Don’t you understand that without that organization — yes, the organization that says “Death or Freedom” — how would this nation with such a bitter fate, persecuted for centuries, have ever gotten a state? It’s precisely that organization that has bequeathed all of this to you.

Haven’t you been to Paris and entered the Panthéon? What’s written there? Who are gathered there — by whose deaths did France become a state? What’s the motto of the American state of New Hampshire? “Live Free or Die.” Are they backward? That’s how they created what they have today.

We, yes, have sworn and will continue to swear to serve with all our strength — even at the cost of our lives — the cause of liberty for Armenia and the Armenian nation. And it’s those who have rendered this service who have bequeathed this state to us. How can anyone deny that reality?

The Dashnaktsutyun is based on this principle: accept what shouldn’t be changed, and change what cannot be accepted. This is the essence of the Dashnaktsutyun, and this spirit must be planted in every Armenian.

Who are you trying to fool with talk of peace and security? Security for whom? For mere physical survival, or for Armenian identity? You’ve stripped security of its meaning; you talk about security, but who needs that kind of security? Haven’t our people fought for centuries for identity? The Dashnaktsutyun entered that struggle — yes, to preserve the people’s identity.

If Azerbaijan has no problem with our identity, then why did they ethnically cleanse Artsakh? Why are they destroying our heritage? Why are they demolishing the churches? Why did they massacre Armenians in 1915? Because they said you are gavurs [infidels]; you are not our type. Do Armenians live in Turkey? Yes, people of Armenian origin live there, but only as long as they don’t contradict their constitution. There’s no such thing as a minority in Turkey — there’s only a person bearing Turkish identity, and if someone speaks against that identity, they’ll meet the fate of Hrant Dink.

Should we renounce our identity? Consider Turkish identity good? Live by saying kartaş-yoldaş [brother-comrade]? They’ll say, sure, go ahead and live — who’s stopping you? Gas will come, everything will come, we’ll give you whatever you want. Just don’t say you’re descendants of Hayk; don’t say you’re followers of the Armenian Apostolic Church. That’s why they’ve begun a struggle against the Dashnaktsutyun: because it is the bearer and guardian of our identity. They’ve begun a struggle against the Armenian Church: because it is the bearer and guardian of our identity. And now, you’re presenting a ceasefire with the side that seeks to destroy our identity, and calling it “peace.”

Don’t call a ceasefire with evil “peace.” Peace doesn’t exist if its fundamental components aren’t there. It must be established by respecting the rights of both sides and resolving the issues. There must be a balance of power, but neither exists; there’s only a victor and a vanquished.

Wake up! We own our 135 years. You must answer for your eight — what you gained and what you surrendered.

This speech was originally published in Armenian on the Armenian Revolutionary Federation’s official website.