As the grandson of Nishan Paparian of Kharpert, who stepped onto Ellis Island a century ago carrying the unfinished business of survival, I have watched with growing concern the recent exchange in Armenia’s National Assembly. Civil Contract lawmaker Arman Yeghoyan’s remarks questioning whether a stronger diaspora strengthens Armenia, along with his challenge to the legitimacy of long-serving diaspora advocates, deepen a rift that serves no one except those who prefer a divided Armenian nation.
This debate is not abstract for my family. Three of my nephews were born in Pasadena and repatriated to Armenia as youngsters. Two later married in Yerevan and are raising their children there. My first-born son spent years working at the Tumo Center for Creative Technologies and owned a home in Yerevan. My father-in-law, born in Aleppo, Syria, served as a soldier in the Free French Army during World War II. He fought in the campaigns of North Africa and Sicily and took part in the liberation of Paris from Nazi occupation. He is buried in Armenia, and at his memorial service the French ambassador to Armenia sent a large floral wreath. These are living proof that the bond between diaspora and homeland is personal, enduring, and freely chosen — not something that can be managed or diminished by decree.
Calling the idea that a stronger diaspora strengthens Armenia a “myth” confuses organizational form with national substance. The diaspora is not a parallel state with a single telephone number. It is a network of communities, institutions and individuals forged by genocide, exile and resilience. Its decentralization is not a weakness; it is a multiplier of influence across more than 20 countries and democratic systems. Influence does not require a single headquarters; it grows because it operates in many places at once. That is why adversaries in Baku and Ankara have long targeted organized Armenian advocacy. When Yerevan echoes the impulse to diminish those same networks, the practical result aligns with external agendas that seek a quieter, less effective Armenian voice abroad.
Legitimacy in the diaspora does not flow solely from an electoral mandate in Yerevan. It is earned through decades of service: preserving Western Armenian language and culture, securing international recognition of the Genocide, mobilizing after the 1988 earthquake, supporting Artsakh, pressing for the release of prisoners still held in Baku, and opening doors in foreign capitals for Armenian interests that the Republic alone could not always reach. Governments are temporary. The Armenian state endures. The Armenian nation is broader still.
Repatriation is a worthy goal. Encouraging more Armenians to live, work and create value in the republic strengthens the homeland. My own family’s experience shows it can succeed when people choose it freely. But it succeeds when Armenia becomes more attractive — not when pathways for ethnic Armenians are narrowed or when diaspora voices are treated as problems to be managed. Armenia and the diaspora are not communicating vessels; they are two dimensions of one people. A secure, prosperous Republic and a confident, organized diaspora reinforce each other. Policies that tighten citizenship pathways for ethnic Armenians or restrict voting rights for citizens living abroad risk sending the opposite signal at a moment when trust is already strained.
I do not speak for every Armenian abroad, nor does any single organization. Diaspora voices are diverse. That diversity is a strength when channeled toward shared national interests — security, justice for the displaced of Artsakh, the return of hostages and the long-term viability of the Armenian state. Honest disagreement with the foreign policy choices of any government is not disloyalty. At times it is the highest form of service to the nation.
Yerevan has every right to define the policies of the Republic of Armenia. It does not have the authority to define who may advocate for Armenian rights outside its borders or decide which historical obligations the nation may set aside. The diaspora will continue to act from conviction, history, and mutual obligation. We will not leave our prisoners behind. We will not forget Artsakh. And we will not accept the premise that a weaker diaspora somehow benefits Armenia.
The choice before us is not complicated, and it is not optional: Either we treat the global Armenian community as a full and equal partner whose diversity multiplies our strength, or we hand our adversaries the very division they have sought for generations.
A nation that turns against its own scattered sons and daughters weakens itself. A nation that stands together — homeland and diaspora, one people across continents — remains unbreakable.
Our history demands more of us. Our future depends on it. Our homeland and its diaspora deserve nothing less than unity, dignity and resolve.
