By Vahe Sargsyan
Analyst with the Mitq Analysis Center
Photos by Tamar Baboujian

In anticipation of the 2010 Census, a large effort is being made in the U.S. to reach out to the Armenian population and make sure they mark themselves as Armenians. According to U.S. federal law, if there is a large enough number of an ethnic group in a region, than that ethnic group is entitled to a certain level of representation within its locality. The U.S. Census counts all citizens—including illegal aliens—who pay their taxes and, thus, deserve basic rights in local issues. The government is also mandated to accommodate to the linguistic needs of large ethnic groups, through things such as bilingual education and translation.

In the Republic of Georgia, a population count in 2002 estimated that there were 207,598 people living in the region of Javakhk. Of these, 55% were Armenians, while Georgians made up 43% of the population. In addition, the count held in the historically Armenian region of Dsalga estimated that there were 11,484 Armenians, 2,510 Georgians, 4,589 Greeks, 1,992 Azeri’s, and 313 other ethnicities residing there.

With this background on the U.S. process, as well as the numbers from the Georgian census, in mind, let us take a more in-depth look at the situation confronting Armenians living in Javakhk.

First of all, in the sphere of education, language classes in Armenian schools in Javakhk have to be taught according to the program of the Georgian government and the teachers are directly paid by the state. In theory, the Georgian government is responsible for ensuring that the population’s mother tongue (Armenian) is taught, but this responsibility is neglected and policies are carried out with the exact opposite effect. For example, Georgia’s Ministry of Science and Education has made numerous attempts to convert the teachings in Armenian schools into strictly Georgian instruction.

This continues today, as the state seeks to change all textbook materials from Armenian to Georgian. At the same time, Armenian school textbooks are being sold at extremely high prices which are often times too expensive for the people of Javakhk to afford. On top of all of this, the quality of the material in these books is very poor.

The Georgian Education Ministry proceeds to deflect criticism of this severe textbook shortage for Armenians in Javakhk as an issue facing Georgian society as a whole. However, when we are talking about the critical maintenance of a native people (Armenians) living in their motherland (Javakhk), these feeble excuses are simply unacceptable.

Georgia has a friendly neighbor, the Republic of Armenia, who has consistently been prepared to provide such Armenian textbooks for schools in Javakhk and the rest of Georgia, and has done so for over the past 1-2 years. Rather than facilitate this assistance, however, the Georgian authorities have forbidden Armenia from continuing to send schoolbooks to Javakhk (presently, Armenia is permitted to only send language textbooks, with literature and other subjects being strictly forbidden from entering Georgia). It is due to such destructive policies that the spate of supposedly “unsolvable” problems facing schools in Javakhk has surfaced.

Another urgent problem facing Javakhk is the official requirement that all public writings be in the Georgian language, putting the Armenians in the region in extreme isolation. Through these steps, Georgia is seeking to continue — in contradiction to its responsibilities under international law—its ethnic-based policies of withering away the Armenian demographic in exchange for sprouting up Georgian populated areas.

However, this policy of attempting to do away with the Armenian population from the region is bound to fail. This is because there is an unwritten rule that the Georgian government has yet to realize: the Armenian people cannot be destroyed on their historical lands and mountainous regions.  Even when force and brutal means are used, the Armenian people will never disappear. The Hamshen and ‘hidden’ Armenians still living in Western Armenia today provide the perfect example of this.

On the other hand, the pursuit of such a coercive process can produce an opposite effect, which is the reaction of a people subject to such harsh policies of destruction. Currently, due to Javakhk’s circumstances, this reaction is, in fact, occuring. The steps Georgia is taking are deepening the opposition between the Armenians in Javakhk and the authorities. For Javakhk, it is impossible to repeat what has happened in Gakhet and other regions of Georgia.

In such tense circumstances, different foreign powers with varying interests can manipulate the internal situation, which Georgia never ceases to make noise about. However, neutralizing such powers would be considerably simple if steps were taken by Georgia to decrease the concerns of the Armenians in Javakhk, similar to what is occurring in Iran with their Azeri minority.

The Azeris are connected in countless ways to Iran’s government and are invested in the common life of that society. As such, it is very difficult to use the Azeris against Iran as is desired by the U.S. and its allies. The Azeris, like the Armenians in Javakhk, are not a cultural minority. The Azeris in Iran are natives there, who have participated in the formation of the Iranian state and culture.

However, unlike the Azeris in Iran, Armenians in Javakhk do not have any relation to the lineage of the Georgian people. Nevertheless, they have played a significant role in the formation of the post-Soviet, independent Georgian state. Suffice it to point out just one example: when on March 17, 1991, Georgia boycotted the referendum on whether to maintain the USSR intact, Abkhazia and Southern Ossetia did not support Georgia. The latter two regions voted to protect the USSR and to maintain their assistance from Russia. At the same time, Javakhk’s Armenians supported Georgia’s position, coming forward with a special pronouncement along such lines.

1Unfortunately, the continuation of this “tradition” of reliability on behalf of Javakhk’s Armenians—as happened again during the days of the 2008 Russia-Georgia War—has been completely ignored by Georgia’s governing leaders. Similarly, the Georgian media also chooses to forget this record of loyalty and, instead, everywhere hurls lies and insults against the activists and common people of Javakhk.

Turning back to the obstacles placed before the people of Javakhk, we must draw our attention to the imbalance in Armenian representation in the local civic bodies. When it comes to political representation, the country’s laws of local self-government have subtly and slyly reduced the quantity of Armenians elected or appointed to municipal bodies. For example, in the cities of Dsalga or Asbintsa (Asbnchag) it is impossible to find an appointed Armenian official, even as these two municipalities are made up of approximately 60% and 20% Armenians, respectively. Taking into account that 37% of the Akhaltskha municipality is Armenian and 62% is Georgian, we again see a strict imbalance in executive official distribution. Similarly, in the municipalities of Akhalkalak and Ninodzminta, there is a daily increase in Georgians running executive positions. Added to all of this is the fact that within Samtskhe-Javakhk’s state administration there are virtually no Armenians, even though Armenians make up 55% of the population while Georgians only 43%. This proportional makeup of the population should have resulted in the governor of Samtskhe-Javakhk, as well as 55% of the worker’s in the administration, being Armenian. However, instead, the current governor, L. Jkadua, is Georgian.

In a recent interview, Jkadua exposes himself to be a naïve youngster whose dream is to see one day see a beautiful Akhaltskha. In Jkadua’s worldview, there is generally no place for Javakhk’s volatile issues. Again, besides the beautification of the city of Akhaltskha, he does not see any problems in Javakhk. The reason for this is simple: he either does not know or is avoiding the deep-rooted causes of Javakhk’s problems.

This detachment from reality of the governor is reminiscent of Communist-era officials in Armenia at the end of 1920 and the beginning of 1921, when the country’s Education Minister was brought in from Siberia and the person responsible for Agriculture was “invited” from the Chukotka Peninsula. Of course, we all remember that the result of this was the famed and historic February Rebellion of 1921.

Comparing these conditions in Georgia and Javakhk with the more sound policies of then the U.S., mentioned in the beginning of the article, puts this sad state of affairs into even clearer perspective. And this specific comparison was not done out of mere coincidence.

It is clear to all observers that there is a heavy influence of American thinking on the authorities in Georgia. Government leaders constantly praise the U.S. for its way of life and rule of law in their public pronouncements. You could say that, for many of them, the US has become an idol of worship.

At the same time, as a junior ally of the US in the region, many Americans work in the high offices of the Georgian state, helping direct the nation’s course. Sadly however, in the case of the Armenians of Javakhk, the Americans deal with their Georgian counterparts by following the famous saying, “My child, don’t live in the way that I am living, but rather in the way that I’m teaching.”

* * *

Եւ բարձրացնում էր դահիճը կացինն ահարկու` աներեր ձեռքով
Սեւ քողն էր ծածկել երեսը նրա` աչքերի փայլը թաքցնելու համար
Բարձրացնում էր կացինն ու մեկ-մեկ խլում մեկ ու կես միլիոն կյանք
Եւ նրանց արյունը  սնում էր հողը, նրանց մարմինը սնում էր երկրին…
Զոհերից մեկը փրկվեց մազապուրծ եւ պատմեց ողջ աշխարհին
Իր տեսածները դժոխային այդ անապատում,
Մինչ դահիճը նրան դատապարտել էր սովի, սնվում էր նա իր բախտակիցների մարմնի մսով
Եւ հագեցնում ծարավը նրանց արյան անծայրածիր ծովից:
Ու չկարողացավ ընդունել դահճի որդին, որ իր հայրը արյունռուշտ էր եղել
Եւ ստախոս պիտակեց զոհին, ով մինչեւ կյանքի վերջին իսկ օրը
Վեր էր ցատկում իր խորը քնից եւ շնչակտուր սկսում աղոթել,
Որ իր զավակը երբեք այդքան անգութ չդառնա
Եւ որ այնքան ապրի այս պատմությունը եւ այնքան հոլովեն դահճի անունը,
Որ նրա հոգին հանգիստ չգտնի մինչեւ այն օրը,
Երբ նա վերջապես դադարի հերքել եւ բարձրաձայն ներում աղերսի…

–Հեղինար Մելքոմ Մելքոմյան

By Hovig Keushkerian

This struggle…It keeps me awake at nights. It courses through my veins; it kicks at my beating heart ruthlessly. It lights an inferno in my soul and my body smolders under it. It wracks my mind and my emotions, for what is the place of an Armenian-American living in America?

We struggle and fight from seas abroad so that our homeland off in the horizon will remain untouched and prosperous, without any hindrance. Yet when have we asked ourselves the question, “Will I ever live in my homeland again?”

I fear we become victims of pseudo-patriotism. A sense of urgency that arises when our cause is in check, yet quickly creeps away when we have shown our surroundings that we cared enough to take the initiative to act. Yet we look down upon our brothers and sisters living in our homeland, relics of a lost cold war and a fallen soviet empire, wondering when they will ever become as educated as us. We are blind to the fact that they are the true patriots. They live with the land. Every morning they wake with the sun on their shoulders that rises from the east, and stands guard above our national symbol of Mt. Ararat. They culture and harness the land; they give it life and nurture it. They tame both the mountainous terrain and the riches she keeps hidden in her bosom. They are the true descendants of our fedayis and true patriots who saved our fragile people from the clutches of an empire whose only legacy was an insatiable lust for power and domination.

We are the scattered children of our motherland. When the genocide occurred, we fled to the middle-east. When Syria restricted our growth and endangered our way of life, we fled to Lebanon. When the civil war broke out, we fled to the United States. We never returned. Our love for our homeland bled and dried up into an affection and obsession with the abstract idea of what our motherland had been.

We never stopped once and held our ground. We always fled. We protected our people, but we never fought for the land on which we lived. We took the lands we lived in for granted and abused our right to live there. We never repaid  our freedom. We bled for survival, but we didn’t bleed for the land, because it wasn’t ours, nor did we want it to be.

So we came to The United States, land of the free and home of the brave. We sang songs, read books, and published newspapers by the hundreds. We created organization and opened schools so that our communities and future generations will always remember our identity and out story. And here we stayed, for the sake of our offspring, for a future, and most importantly, a promise which few realized was a warning in disguise.

The life expectancy for our identity was only as long as our willingness to master it. Yet in a society where Capitalism is king, where you are responsible for your own share of the pie, where morality and justice are but fantastic ideas on a piece of parchment drying up in a box in Washington D.C., it became apparent that our survival in such a society would come at the slowly increasing cost of our identity.

Such is the burden of the patriotic Armenian-American youth today. We struggle on all fronts. We fight for our homeland abroad, we fight for our survival in our environment, and we constantly grapple with the idea of dropping our way of life to move back to the homeland because it is the right thing to do. America and a globalized military-industrial complex have diminished our sense of nationality and patriotism, by dangling the myth of the American Dream in front of us, while keeping us in fear that it is unobtainable anywhere else in the world. We fight our gut feelings that call us traitors every time we decide to remain here so secure a better way of life for our diasporas and generations to come, for why shouldn’t those people have the chance to live and grow in their own country?

We have the burden of fighting for our existence and the preservation of our identity in an unprecedented context, under the guise of assimilated Armenians.

Yeraz Im Yergir, Hayreni. That is what you have been for us, for the Diaspora Armenians from Western Armenia.

A dream. The dream of our motherland.

In her words, “this project is another reminder, another call for justice.” In the hands of the survivors are pictures from their past, serving as one end of a string tying them to their past. And on the other end of the string, they are tied to one another, to the destiny of their people–to each of us.

Armenakyan is currently working on a photo book of these survivor photos she has taken and is looking for curators interested in bringing these images to galleries throughout the Diaspora. If you would like to contact Mrs. Armenakyan or find out how you can help bring her “Survivors” exhibit to a gallery near you, please reach out to her at nazik_arm@yahoo.com.

Ավոյան Մարիամ ծնվել է 1901թ. Սասուն: Մարիամի ընտանիքին, ինչպես «մյուս հայերին թուրքերը մի մեծ դաշտ են տարել այնուհետե» բենզին են լցրել վրաները: Ողջ է մնացել Մարիամն ու իր հորեղբոր կինը: Գաղթի ճանապարհին արաբներ են օգնել:

Բալյան Սմբատ ծնվել է 1914թ.-ին Շապին-Քարահիսար:1915թ.-ին գաղթել են Բուլղարիա,1946թ.-ին հայրենադարձվել Հայաստան

Բեյազյան Նոյեմ ծնվել է 1907թ.-ին Պարտիզպակ գյուղում :Հայրը մեղվաբույծ էր ,ընտանիքից միայն Նոյեմին է կարողացել մեղվի փեթակի մեջ պահելով փախցնել Հունաստան:

Ֆարաջյան Տիգրան ծնվել է 1907թ.-ին Կիլիկիայում:Գաղթի ժամանակ Տիգարանին աղջկա շոր են հագցրել ,ականջները ծակել ,իսկ զգեստի փեշերի մեջ ոսկի են կարել :Խորթ մոր հետ գաղթել են Սիրիա Հալեպ ճանապարհին թողնելով 5 եղբորն ու քրոջը:

Էմլիկյան Ռեմելլա ծնվել է 1905թ.- ին Մուսալեռ:

Հարությունյան Ավագ ծնվել է 1911թ.-ին Բիթլիսի Կեղիս գյուղ:

Կարապետյան Արեգնազ ծնվել է 1904թ.ին Ալաշկերտ: Ցավոք նա ոչինչ չէր հիշում:

Լագիսյան Վարսենիկ ծնվել է 1908թ.-ին Մուսալեռ :1915թ.-ին փրկվել է Ֆրանսիացիների միջոցով մինչր 1918թ.-ը ապրել են վրանների տակ Պորտ-Սայդում :Այնուհետե¨ գաղթել Լիբանան:

Փանանյան Երանուհի ծնվել է 1915թ. ին Մուշ:Գաղթի ժամանակ կրծքի երեխա է եղել :Փրկվել են ֆրանսիացիների շնորհիվ :

Սուքիասյան Վասիլ ծնվել է 1912թ.-ին Հառին գյուղում Սիփան սարի տակ : 1915թ. -ին գաղթել են Էջմիածին,այնուհետ¨ գաղթել են Կրասնոդար : 1930 թ.-ին հայրենադաձվել է Հայաստան:

Very few people can be said to have had as large an impact on the liberation movement of Artsakh as Arthur Mgrditchyan. He was a model Tashnaktsagan who internalized his ideological oath and served his people with integrity and conviction.

Born in the Etilou village of Hatrout on February 16, 1959, Mgrditchyan was a humble activist and sterling intellectual. He received his PhD in history from Yerevan State University in 1980 and went on to be appointed as principle of the Hatrout National Museum.

Mgrditchyan later joined the ARF and became a central figure in the defense and organization of his native region of Hatrout. He went on to be elected as the local representative of Hatrout to the newly formed Artsakh National Assembly. Following the official proclamation of the Artsakh Republic, the National Assembly voted overwhelmingly for Mgrditchyan to become the first President of the country on January 8, 1992.

During his term as President, Artsakh faced one of the most difficult periods in the liberation struggle. It was blockaded on all sides, prices for basic goods were sky high, Stepanakert was being bombed daily, and the government of Armenia exhibited a neglectful stance toward their struggle. Nevertheless, Mgrditchyan succeeded in unifying the people and leading Artsakh to various military victories. It was also during his term that the world’s attention began to focus more intently on the war for survival being waged by Armenians.

On the evening of April 14, 1992—only 97 days into his presidency—Mgrditchyan tragically passed away in Stepanakert. His central role in the formation of the Republic of Artsakh and his unwavering dedication to its victorious struggle made him a national hero for Armenians worldwide.

Mher Choulhajian (1967-1993)

Born in Beirut in 1967, Choulhajian was steeped in ARF community life at a very young age. During the Lebanese Civil War, he took part in the self-defense of the Armenian community as a member of the Lebanese Armenian Youth Association (LEM). Serving on executive and leadership positions, he took on various responsibilities and helped create a spirit of unity among all of his fellow ungers.

In 1989, Choulhajian earned a Bachelor’s degree in science from the American University in Beirut. His goal was to continue his studies and utilize his talents for the betterment of his homeland. Soon after joining the ARF in 1990, he went to Armenia to further his education at Yerevan State University.

However, the struggle of his people in Artsakh kept calling him. As a firm believer in the ideology of Tebi Yergir, he felt that the first step in the process of rebuilding his homeland was the liberation of Artsakh. On August 23, 1993, while surveying the recently recaptured border regions of the Marzili village in Marduni, his vehicle exploded from a land mine.

Choulhajian is one of the many Diasporan volunteers that went to fight in Artsakh. He personified the pan-Armenian ideology of the ARF which does not recognize the differences created by geography among Armenians.  He reconnected the links between Armenians that had been broken for over 70 years and sacrificed his young life for the just cause of his people.

Ashod “Pegor” Ghoulyan (1959-1992)

There are some names which, when uttered, conjure up emotions of pride, patriotism and undying heroism. One of those names is Ashod Ghoulyan.

Born in Baku in 1959, he soon moved to his native village of Khentsrisdan (Asgerani region). He became involved in the Artsakh struggle from the very beginning, starting in 1987 with the gathering of signatures and petitions. By the time the mass protests started, he was already questioning the effectiveness of demonstrations and contemplating the necessity of armed struggle.

He joined the ARF in 1990 and went on to become a legendary commander who took part in most of Artsakh’s major heroic battles: Askeran, Shahoumian, Lachin, Mardagerd, Grgjan, Arkhavend, and Malibeili to name a few. It was also the first Artsakh battalion, under Pegor’s command, which was the first to enter Shoushi on the morning of May 8, 1992, during the city’s decisive recapturing.

Ghoulyan received his nickname “Pegor” (meaning fragment) due to the fact that he was wounded 11 times, with the shrapnel of mines, bullets and rockets lodged within his body. On August 24, 1992, he received his final fatal bullet while fighting to liberate the Trmpon village in Mardagerd.

Pegor is remembered as saying, “Patriotism is nothing else than the wholehearted fulfillment of the responsibilities which have been put on our shoulders.” It was with this faith that he took on the many responsibilities of his nation and helped ensure the liberation of Artsakh.

Shahen Megherian (1952-1993)

He was born in the Gyulistan area of the Shahoumian region in Artsakh on January 2, 1952. Shahen received his primary education in the region and continued his studies at Yerevan State University, where he majored in economics. After graduation, Shahen returned to Gyulistan and became the Chief Economist of Manufacturing and Production in the Shahoumian region and later a food provider for his village. He also became the President of Agricultural and Production Management.

In 1991, Shahen was elected as acting president of the Shahoumian Committee and took on command of the Mardagerd regiment. He was also a proud member of the ARF and attended the organization’s 25th General Assembly.

In the early stages of the liberation struggle, Megherian and his band of guerilla fighters would penetrate enemy lines, carrying out irregular warfare in an attempt to liberate Armenian lands from Azeri occupation. Two weeks before his death, Megherian’s home village, Gyulistan, was liberated as a first step towards the liberation of the Shahoumian region.

On April 17, 1993, under the fire of Azerbaijani air attacks, Shahen Megherian was killed.

Megherian embodied the spirit of the Armenian volunteer organizer, the skilled soldier and fearless leader.

Tatoul Grbeyan (1965-1991)

Tatoul Grbeyan was a popular local school teacher in the village of Kedashen who emerged as one of the early heroic martyrs of the Artsakh liberation struggle.

With his stated determination to “stay and defend the homeland and its people forever,” Grbeyan served as an inspiration to those around him. He would always be seen with a natural smile on his face—full of hope, faith, and an iron will.

By 1988, he was already an active member of the Miastum (Unification) Movement and was fully devoted to seeing his homeland liberated from foreign oppression. In 1990, he joined the ranks of the ARF and took part in the self-defense battles of Kedashen and Martunashen.

On April 30, 1991, the Soviet government attempted to extinguish the heart of the Artsakh movement through terror and ethnic cleansing. With the enlistment of the notorious Azeri “black beret” forces, the Soviet army surrounded Grbeyan’s village of Kedashen and subjected the local population to violence and forced evacuation. The men were arrested while the village was bombarded by artillery fire.

Although the population was unable to mount an organized resistance, Grbeyan bravely stood against the odds to defend his home against the military onslaught. He was able to alone capture a Soviet armored car with twelve of its Russian officers and commander, but ultimately fell victim to the sinister operation.

Grbeyan’s deeds remain one of the bravest episodes in the history of the Artsakh struggle. His sacrifice for his people will continue to serve as an inspiration for countless generations of Armenians.

Viken Zakarian (1969-1992)

Born on March 15, 1969 in Beirut, Viken Zakarian was the embodiment of the ARF’s celebrated angeghdz zinvor (“sincere soldier”). He worked tirelessly for his community without seeking praise and journeyed to his homeland to take part in its historic struggle for liberation.

As a youth, Zakarian was a member of the ARF Lebanese Youth Association (LEM), in which he took on countless responsibilities and leadership positions. During the Lebanese Civil War, he helped defend the Armenian community and served on the frontlines during the most critical periods of the war.

After graduating from Melankton and Haig Arslanian College in 1988, he attended Haigazian University where he studied business administration. But the cry for freedom in Artsakh was one he could not ignore. On April 17, 1992, he left Lebanon for Armenia and soon crossed over to Artsakh.

Upon arrival, he joined forces with the ARF battalion and took part in the important battles that liberated Shoushi. He was martyred on May 8, 1992, while capturing the village of Lisagor. He was only 23 years old.

Zakarian represented the true spirit of a committed Armenian youth. He was determined to be everywhere at once; doing anything and everything that was needed to see the dream of a free, independent, and united Armenia turn into reality.

He was buried in the Yeraplour Martyrs’ Pantheon in Yerevan.

Most Armenians from the United States who visit return with a laundry list of complaints concerning the poverty displayed on street corners, the lack of modernization in the underdeveloped villages of Nagorno-Karabakh, the lawlessness of the people, the unpaved roads,…etc. All these negative aspects have happened to be almost a nuisance to the visiting Armenian-Americans who have grown accustomed to the comfortable and effortless lifestyle, and find it unbearable to ever live in a country such as Armenia. It pains me to say that the land that had fathered our ancestors has become a foreign land to its faraway youth.

Instead of incessantly listing grievances about all the features that Armenia lacks, let us learn to accept those faults as that of our own and develop a way to amend all its inadequacies. It is the duty of the Armenian-American youth to acknowledge their responsibility of rebuilding Armenia and guiding its transformation to a thriving site of culture, history, prosperity, education, beauty, and fiscal stability. It is evident that we know that Armenia has its share of shortcomings, but what we fail to realize is that with that knowledge comes power. We hold the future of our country’s fate in our hands. Armenia’s current state is fairly grave and that is understandable, but we cannot lose faith in the idea that one day, if every Armenian-American fulfills their moral obligation, over time it will undergo a complete metamorphosis.

The city of Yerevan, Armenia’s capitol, has greatly altered over the years and in moderation has become somewhat modern and urbanized, but what of the outlying regions of Yerevan? What of Gymuri? What of Lori? What of Artsakh? They are also in desperate need of transformation, so that all of Armenia (every region, every village) will rise to its feet. To some of us Armenian-Americans, Armenia is only defined by Mount Ararat, by the Geghard monastery, by the Ejmiatsin Cathedral, or any other historical landmark. Armenia is so much more than a beautiful painting hanging from a wall. It is a healthcare system that needs repair, an economy that needs guidance, an education system that needs improvement, a government that needs direction, and so much more. We have many brilliant Armenian-American economists, doctors, lawyers, benefactors, and other substantial leaders that can provide aid to every weak element of Armenia that is found necessary. A prosperous Armenia is not an unreachable goal or even a beautiful pipe-dream; we have the power to make it a reality.

Let us live according to the words of the talented and legendary Armenian poet Hovhannes Shiraz and ask ourselves the same question that Shiraz addresses to those who are far from their motherland.

«Այս ո՞ւր եք փախչում, խելագար ջրեր,
Մեր բուռ հողն էլ ծով ծարավ թողած, -
Դարձեք, ետ վազեք, որ դարձնենք անմեռ
Թեկուզ հայրենի մի խեղճ ջրաղաց:»

Թէ ինչո՞ւ այդպէս է՝ պարզ է. թէեւ պատերազմով կարելի է ոեւէ հարց իր լուծումին յանգեցնել սակայն այդ միջոցը յաւելեալ թշնամութիւն կը ստեղծէ ինչ որ մնայուն խաղաղութիւն հաստատելու ճիգերը ատելութեամբ կը թունաւորէ: Այս գլխաւոր պատճառին կողքին կան նաեւ աւելի անմիջական մտահոգութիւններ ինչպէս՝ պատերազմի բերումով տնտեսութեան տկարացումը, տեղացի ժողովուրդին վերաբերմունքը եւ անոնցմէ նուազ ազդեցութեամբ միջազգային կարծիքը եւլն: Պատմութիւնը բազմաթիւ օրինակներով կու գայ փաստելու որ լոկ լայնածաւալ զինուորական գործողոթիւններով կերտուած խաղաղութիւնը խորքին մէջ մակերեսային եւ ժամանակաւոր է:

Աշխարհին շուրջ կը տեսնենք անբարեացակամ պետութիւններու միջեւ խորունկ հակասութիւնները՝ ըլլան անոնք սառած կամ այժմէական հարցեր, դիւանագիտութեան բովով նախ մեղմացնել ու ապա լուծել: Հնդկաստանը հրաժարեցաւ Փաքիստանին մարտական ուժով պատասխանել 2008ին Մումպայի մէջ տեղի ունեցած ոճիրներէն ետք: ՆԱԹՕ-ի գերպետութիւնները կ’աճապարեն Հիւսիսային Քորիային ետ բանակցութեան սեղանին շուրջ բերել: Աֆղանիստանի մէջ զօրավարներուն չափ զբաղուած են դիւանագետները: Անշուշտ բացառութիւններ կան՝ Սրի Լանքայի կառավարութիւնը պարտութեան մատնեց եւ գրեթէ ոչնչացուց Թամիլ Վագրերը որ կղզիին հիւսիսային տարածքին մէջ տարիներով պայքար մղեցին կառավարութեան ընդդէմ: Կը թուի որ պատերազմով հարց մը վերջնականապէս լուծելը կը նշանակէ հակառակորդը բնաջնջել: Բարեբախտաբար այնպիսի օրինակները քիչ են: Ամենայնդէպս աշխարհին մէկ ծայրէն միւս ծայրը պետութիւնները սկսած են իրենք զիրենք հարց տալ թէ՝ ե՞րբ բանակցիլ թշնամիին հետ:

Շատ դժուար է յաջող բանակցութիւն տանելու պատեհ պայմանները նախապես ճշդել: Ան հազար ու մէկ խանգարումներու ենթակայ է: Եզերքին վրայ անվնաս երեւցող մանրամասնութիւն մը կրնայ սուր հակասութիւն մէջտեղ բերել, ինչպէս որ եղաւ Հոկտեմբերի առաջին շաբթուայ ընթացքին Հայ-Թուրք յարաբերութիւններու բնականոնացման նախապայմաններուն նկատմամբ Հայկական սփիւռքի ունեցած դրսեւորումով: Շատ անգամ անզուսպ եւ ծայրայեղ տարրերու անկարգապահութիւնը պատճառ կը դառնայ կարավարութիւնները զիրար անտեսելու եւ կռիւներու շարունակութեան, ինչպէս որ յաճախ կը պատահի Պաղեստինցիներուն եւ Հրեաներուն միջեւ: Թերեւս զինեալ բախումներու կասեցումը ամէնէն հասարակ նախապայմանն է որմով կառավարութիւնները կ’արժեւորեն դիւանագիտութեան տարողութիւնը անհամաձայնութիւնը վերացնելու գործին մէջ. բայց միակը չէ:

Այս տարուայ սկիզբին Իսրայելը յայտարարեց որ պատրաստ էր Պաղեստինեան իշխանութեան հետ բանակցիլ միայն երբ ան պաշտօնապէս ճանչնայ Իսրայելը որպէսզ Հրեական պետութիւն: Միացեալ Նահանգները Պարսկաստանէն կը պահանջէ ադոմական ուժի ստեղծման գործընթացին սառեցումը նախքան խօսակցութեան վերսկսումը: Երբեմն ալ կառավարութիւններ անգիտակցաբար նախապայմաններ կը պարտադրէն իրենք իրենց վրայ, օրինակի համար երբ կ’որոշեն որ իրենց հասկացողութեամբ «ահաբեկչական» կազմակերպութիւններու հետ ոեւէ կապ հաստատելու չեն ինչպէս եղաւ 2006ին երբ Համասը մեծ յաջողութիւն նուաճեց Պաղեստինեան խորհրդարանական ընտրութիւններուն բայց Իսրայելը եւ ԱՄՆը մերժեցին անոր հետ գործակցիլ թէպէտեւ քուէարկութիւնը ընդունուեցաւ որպէսզ ազատ եւ առանց բացայայտ խախտումներու: Թէ այս հարցերը ինչպէ՞ս կ’որոշուին շատ կարեւոր է: Մէկ կողմէն շահեկան նախապայմաններու արհամարհումը կրնայ բանակցութեան ազդեցութիւնը նուազեցնել իսկ միւս կողմէն անփութութեամբ ձեռնարկուած նախապայմաններ կրնան դիւանագիտութեան հնարաւորութիւնը բոլորովին վերացնել:

ՆԱԽԱՊԱՅՄԱՆՆԵՐՈՒ ՊԱՅՄԱՆՆԵՐԸ

Դիւանագիտութեան միջոցավ հաշտութեան հող մշակելու համար բանակցային կողմերը պէտք է իրենց համակ ուշադրութիւնը դարձնեն երկու հարցերու՝

ա) ենթակայ կառավարութեան կարողութիւնը իրմէ պահանջուած նախապայմանները լրացնելու
բ) տուեալ նախապայմաններու գոհացումով ենթակայ կառավարութեան ապագայ ռազմավարական դիրքը բանակցութեան ծիրէն ներս

Նախապայմաններ ընդունելի են այնքան ատեն որ այս սկզբունքները կը բաւարարեցնեն: Հակառակ պարագային նախապայմանները փուճ խեղկատակութիւն ըլլալէ զատ կը ծառայեն անհանդուրժողութեան եւ անվստահութեան մթնոլորտ ստեղծելու: Առաջին կէտը պարզ է, նոյնիսկ բացայայտ, բայց զարմանալի է որ միշտ չգործադրուիր: Օրինակի համար Իսրայելը Պաղեստինցիներէն, մասնաւորապէս Մահմուտ Ապպասի Ֆաթահ կուսակցութիւնէն, կը պահանջէ հրթիռաձգութեան դադրեցումը: Ապպաս Կազայէն Իսրայել ուղղուած հրթիռներու տարափը արգիլելու ուժը ունի՞. եթէ ունենար՝ Կազան փաստօրէն Ֆաթահի իշխանութեան տակ կ’ըլլար եւ ոչ Համասին: Նախապայմանը տրամաբանական է բայց սխալ հասցէին ուղղուած է, Ապպասը կարողութիւնը չ’ունի այդ կատարելու: Վիճաբանութեան սիրոյն երեւակայենք որ ունի այդ ուժը: Արդեօ՞ք այս նախապայմանը ընդունելի է: Ուրեմն մեզ կը մնայ ստուգել անոր համաձայնութիւնը երկրորդ սկզբունքին հետ: Երկրորդ կէտը կը թելադրէ արժեւորել նախապայմանին կիրարկման հետեւանքով դիրքերու փոփոխութիւնը: Ուրիշ խօսքով սակարկելու ազատութիւնն ու ազդեցութիւնը պէտք է զերծ մնայ նախապայմաններու կաշկանդիչ սովորութիւններէն: Եթէ կողմ մը որոշ քայլի մը պիտի համաձայնի եւ անոր դիմաց ձեռքէն շատ բան պիտի տայ հասկնալի է որ այդ քայլերը չ’ուզէ առնել: Այս պարագային ռմբարձակութիւնը կասեցնելով Պաղեստինցիները ոչինչ զիջած կ’ըլլան որովհետեւ այդ գործողութիւնները անմիջապէս շարունակելու կարողութիւնը տակաւին կ’ունենան:

Այն դիւանագէտները որ նախապայմաններ դնելու նախասիրութիւն ունին բայց ժողովուրդին վերաբերմունքով մտահոգուած են, զանոնք կը դնեն որպէսզի ժողովուրդին առջեւ պահպանողական երեւին եւ հակառակորդին հաւանութիւնը ապահովելու պարագային փոքր նուաճումով ներկայանան որպէսզ ազգային շահերու երաշխաւորներ: Այն դիւանագէտները որ անձնապէս դէմ են նախապայմաններու, զանոնք չափազանց անընդունելի բանաձեւումով կ’առաջարկեն որպէսզի անհամաձայնութեան պատրուակով բանակցութիւնները լքեն: Դժբախտաբար նախապայման դնելու ախորժակը աւելի մեծ է քան առողջ վերլուծութեան ջանքերը: Այս իրականութիւնը բանակցողներուն կը մղէ դէպի շատ աժան քաղաքական նպատակայարմարութեան: Այս մօտեցումը այնքան վնասակար է որ շատ անգամ նախապայմաններէ ազատ կապերու ստեղծումը աւելի նպաստաւոր կ’ըլլայ:

ՖՈՒԹՊՈԼ ԽԱՂԱԼԸ ՆԱԽԱՊԱՅՄԱՆ Չ’ՈՒԶԵՐ

Հայ-Թուրք յարաբերութեանց բնականոնացման գործընթացը իր պաշտօնական ծնունդը առաւ Հոկտեմբեր 1Օին Զուրիխի մէջ, բայց անոր պատրաստութիւնը աւելի քան մէկ տարի տեւեց եւ պահանջեց գերպետութիւններու հետեւողականութիւնը եւ անխախտ աջակցութիւնը: Դժուար է հերքել այն կարծիքը որ Հայաստանն ու Թուրքիան առանց արտաքին միջամտութեան կը կարենային իրար հետ լեզու գտնել: Թուրքիան իր սահմանը բանալով չնչին տնտեսական շահ պիտի արձանագրեր, բայց գտած շահը բացումին ընկերակցող դիւանագիտական գլխացաւը՝ այսինքն Ատրպէյճանի զայրոյթը, պիտի չ’արդարացներ: Իսկ Հայաստանը ապացուցած էր որ նոյնիսկ փակ սահմանով կրնայ տնտեսական աճ արձանագրել առանց ոչ մէկ զիջում ընելով Արձախէն: Բայց Ռուսաստան-Վրաստան պատերազմը մէջտեղ բերաւ Հայաստանի վտանգաւոր առեւտրական վիճակը՝ որ երբեք գաղտնիք չեր բայց ոչ ալ բոլորովին ըմբռնուած որպէսզ ապահովութեան խնդիր, եւ չ’ուզելով վերյիշեցինք անոր տարածաշրջանային մեկուսացումը: Իսկ Թուրքիոյ նկատմամբ այդ պատերազմը արթնցուց «Պաղ Պատերազմ»ի զգացումները եւ վախը որ Ռուսերը Թրքական սահման վերադառնալով պիտի վտանգեն իր ուժանիւթերու փոխադրամիջոցի նախանցելի դիրքը: Յիշենք որ այստեղէն պիտի անցնին Եւրոպային ուժանիւթի պահանջքները բաւարարեցնող քարիւղի եւ բնակազի խողովակները: Քանի որ խողովակներուն կառուցումը հսկայական ծախսերու նայեցաւ անոնց անխափան գործելը եւ ապահովութիւնը երաշխաւորելը Եւրապային եւ որոշ չափով ԱՄՆին հիմնական մտահոգութիւնն է: Եւրոպային՝ որովհետեւ իրենք պիտի սպառեն այդ ուժանիւթերը եւ ԱՄՆին՝ որովհետեւ այս բոլորը կը համընկնի տարածաշրջանին վերաբերեալ իր ունեցած հեռատես ծրագիրները, որոնք են Հայաստանը Ռուսաստանին գիրկէն հանել, որուն հետեւանքով Ռուսաստանին ազդեցութեան գօտին նահանջի կ’ենթարկուի եւ Պարսկաստանի հետ ցամաքային կապը կը կորսնցնէ որը աւելի կ’առանձնացնէ Պարսկաստանը:

Այս պայմաններուն տակ եւ երրորդ դէմքերու մղումներով Հայաստանն ու Թուրքիան բանակցութեան սեղանին մուրջ նստեցան յարաբերութեանց բնոյթ ճշդելու: Թէ ո՞վ աւելի կշիռք ունի պարզ է: Արդէն զօրաւորը միշտ պատրաստ է բանակցութեան նստելու որովհետեւ քաջ գիտէ որ թշնամին չի կրնար իրեն զիջումի տանիլ այլ ինք պիտի փորձէ առաւելագոյն զիջումներու մատնել թշնամիին: Եթէ զօրաւոր եղած ատեն չես բանակցիր, ե՞րբ պիտի բանակցիս: Ամեն պարագային, տուեալ նախապայմանները հաշտութիւն քաջալերելու տեղ աւելորդ փորձանքներու դուռը կը բանան, մանաւանդ մեզի համար, եւ ընդհանուր գործընթացը ձախողութեան կը տանին: Այս երկիրներուն մերձեցումը պէտք է ըլլայ առանց նախապայմաններով եւ չափազանց դանդաղ աշխատելակերպով, որովհետեւ փոքրագոյն անհամաձայնութիւնը կրնայ ընթացքը խափանել: Ի՞նչ կը նշանակէ ներկայ սահմաններու ճանաչումը կամ անբարեացակամ քարոզչութեան դադրեցումը. անկախ երկիրներու միջեւ կապեր ստեղծելու տարրական քայլերն են ասոնք: Յարաբերութեանց բնականոնացումը կը փորձեն այսպէս ներկայացնել՝ երկու պետութիւններու պաշտօնական կապերու հաստատման գործընթաց եւ ոչ աւելին, որպէսզի այս բոլորը անվնաս երեւի եւ անհամաձայն գտնուողները անտրամաբանական ու ծայրայեղ երեւին: Իրականութեան մէջ այս բոլորը պատմութեան ընթացքին Թուրքիոյ նուաճած շահերը՝ հակառակ որ անոնք անիրաւ միջոցներով ձեռք բերուած են, կու գան վերջնականապէս վաւերացնելու:

ՖՈՒԹՊՈԼԻ ՀԱՇԻՒ 0-2 ԻՍԿ ԴԻՒԱՆԱԳԻՏԱԿԱՆ ՀԱՇԻՒ…

Արտգործնախարարի ստորագրութեամբ համաձայնագիրը այժմ մտաւ երկրորդ հանգրուան: Յոյսով ենք որ այստեղ իսկական քննարկումներ կը կատարուին եւ այդ քննարկումներուն եզրակացութիւնները կը հասնին հանրութեան ի տարբերութիւն անցեալին, ուր իշխանութիւնը մակերեսային ակնարկներով թիւրիմացութիւն տարածեց: Իշխանութիւնը հարցումներու պատասխանելու ատեն միշտ կ’ըսէ թէ ամեն ինչ մեր ուզածին պէս պիտի չ’ըլլայ եւ ինչպէս Թուրքերը կրնան որոշ հարցեր մեկնաբանել մենք ալ կրնանք տարբեր մեկնաբանութիւն ունենալ: Քաղաքականութեան մէջ ընդհանրապէս մեր ուզածը տեղի չ’ունենար, ուրեմն զարմանալի չէ որ այս անգամ ալ մեր ուզածը տեղի չ’ունեցաւ: Բայց այս նախապայմաններուն շուրջ մենք ի՞նչ նպաստաւոր մեկնաբանութիւն կրնանք ունենալ տակաւին յայտնի չէ: Սահմաններու ճանաչումը ինչպէ՞ս մեկնաբանենք որպէսզի հողային իրաւական պահանջքները չթաղենք: Անբարեացակամ քարոզչութիւնը ինչպէ՞ս մեկնաբանենք որպէսզի Մեծ Եղեռնի ճանաչման գործընթացը բարի դրացնութեան չխանգարէ: Պատմական հարցեր ուսումնասիրելու միջ-կառավարական յանձնախումբը ինչպէ՞ս մեկնաբանենք որպէսզի մեր պատմութիւնը չխեղաթիւրեն: Մեկնաբանութիւն առանց հասկացողութեան իրականութիւնէ կտրուած վիճակագրութիւն է:

Վերջին երկու ամիսները ցոյց տուին որ թէեւ Հայաստանի արտաքին քաղաքականութիւնը ինքզինք յառաջադէմ կը ներկայացնէ, իրականութեան մէջ իր ուղղութիւնը յետադիմական հոսանքներու ենթակայ է: Սկսած գաղտնի բանակցութիւնները հրապարակացնելու որոշումէն եւ վերջացած Թրքական քարոզչութեան առջեւ լռութիւնով, արտագին գործոց նախարարութեան պաշտօնեաները կ’աշխուժանան միայն երբ քննադատութիւններու ելեւէջը իր գագաթնակէտին հասնի եւ այն ատեն, կարծես թէ ակամայ, տակաւին անբաւարար բացատրութիւններ կու տան եւ շատ անգամ նոյնիսկ հարցերուն հարցումով կը պատասխանեն: Նման ասուլիսներու ընթացքին տարակուսութեան զգացումը անխուսափելի է:

ԼՈՒՌ ՎՏԱՆՔՆԵՐ

Սահմանի բացումով կան երկու վտանքներ, որոնց մասին ցարդ պէտք եղած զրոյցները տեղի չեն ունենար: Առաջինը գաղթի օրէնքներու եւ համակարգի բնորոշումն է: Մտահոգութիւնս Թուրքերու ներխուժումը չէ այլ Հայաստանի հայաթափումն է: Անձիք իրենց տնտեսական իրավիճակը բարելաւելու համար կը վերաբնակուին ապրուստ խօստացող երկիրներ: Ներկայիս Թուրքիոյ մէջ արդէն յիսուն հազար հայեր կը բնակին անօրէն, այս թիւը ՀՀ բնակչութեան մօտաւորապէս երկու տոկոսը կը ներկայացնէ : Այնպէս չէ որ Թրքական մշակոյթին հանդէպ խոր համակրանք ունին որ Պոլիս գացին, բայց որովհետեւ Թուրքիոյ ուռճացող միջին դասակարգը աշխատանքի լայն հօրիզոն բացած է: Իսկ Հայաստանի մէջ դասակարգներու միջեւ եկամուտի անհաւասարութիւնը նօսրացած միջին դասակարգ ստեղծեց եւ այդպէս կը շարունակէ պահել: Յոյսով ենք որ իշխանութիւնը ծրագիրներ մշակած է, որոնք սահմանի բացումը դրդապատճառ օգտագործելով անգործութեան դէմ պիտի պայքարին: Հակառակ պարագային աժան ապրանքներու ներմուծումը կրնայ որոշ ասպարէզներներու վրայ ահագին ճնշում բանեցնել, որը ի վերջոյ անգործութեան կը տանի:

Երկրորդ վտանքը տնտեսական եւ ընկերային փորձանքներով յղի է: Թուրքիան ծանօթ է որպէսզ թմրեցուցիչներու արտադրող եւ փոխադրամիջոց ընծայող պետութիւն: Սահմանի բացումէն ետք այս շուկան ի՞նչ ազդեցութիւն պիտի ունենայ Հայաստանի տնտեսութեան եւ ընկերային կեանքին վրայ: Վստահ եմ որ «սեւ շուկայ»ի մենաշնորհները պիտի ուզեն իրենց կործանիչ սպասարկութիւնները երկնցնել դէպի Հայաստան եւ չարաշահել զայն իրենց ապրանքը անոր ցամաքին վրայէն փոխադրելով:

Վտանքներուն զուգահեր կան նաեւ սահմանի բացման հետեւանքով առաւելութիւններ, որոնց մասին կը լսենք նախապայմաններուն ջատագովներէն: Սակայն մինչեւ այսօր բոլոր այն առաւելութիւններուն մասին որ լսած ենք տնտեսական ոլորտին մէջ սահմանուած են իսկ վտանգները կը թափանցեն առնուազն տնտեսական, ընկերային, իրաւական, պատմական եւ ապահովական ոլորտները: Հայաստանի ապագայ դիրքը յաջորդող բանակցութիւններուն հաւանաբար տկարացած ըլլայ, որովհետեւ սահմանուած պիտի ըլլայ միայն տնտեսականով: Ըստ վերոնշեալ երկրորդ կէտին այս նախապայմաններու շարանը պէտք էր անընդունելի ըլլար Հայկական կողմին:

This mansion belongs to just one of many millionaire oligarchs in Armenia

BY SEROUJ APRAHAMIAN and ALLEN YEKIKAN

The Turkey-Armenia Protocols ushered in an unprecedented wave of international outcry against the policies of the Armenian government.

Massive demonstrations took place in almost every major city of the Diaspora; 60,000 protestors took to the streets in Yerevan; leading Armenian academics and Genocide scholars forcefully spoke out against the Protocols; two former Foreign Ministers of Armenia came out against the measure; 14 political parties and dozens of organizations within Armenia signed a statement against ratification of the documents; and the sole opinion poll taken on the issue showed that 52.4%[1] of the population in Yerevan was against the signing.

Nevertheless, the Foreign Minister of Armenia traveled to Zurich on October 10 and signed the Protocols with his Turkish counterpart. Today, the Armenian government vehemently calls on Turkey to ratify the agreement, after which it promises to immediately follow suit.

Given the widespread opposition and detrimental effects the Protocols are deemed to have on such pan-Armenian interests as Genocide recognition, legal claims to the Armenian homeland, and the liberation of Artsakh, many people have been left to wonder why Yerevan has pushed forward with this controversial policy with such vigor.

Why would the Armenian government risk going against the will of the majority of its people and give up so much in return for mere Turkish promises of normal relations?

Who Gains, Who Loses

To find answers to this question, it’s essential to look beyond just technical issues about what the Protocols entail and the arguments of both its proponents and opponents. We must look, instead, at the core interests of those in Armenia who hold the levers of power. To put it more simply, in order to understand how policy is formed, it is important to understand those who form policy.

By now, it should be common knowledge that decision-making in Armenia is controlled by a small circle of elites, who dominate the country’s political and economic landscape. Whether we look at the President’s administration, the makeup of the National Assembly, or the heads and support-base of political parties in the coalition government, we find an easily distinguishable lineup of oligarchs that have woven their noose around Armenia’s institutions and its society. What’s unique about this social class is the magnitude of power they command, far surpassing the influence of any other segment of the general population. These oligarchs also share a common set of economic interests, living standards, values, and norms of behavior. They are, in fact, a distinct social class with tight links to one another, who operate on a political plane detached from the general public.

When looking into the business interests of this group of people, we find that a large number of them have made their wealth by dominating key commodity imports (e.g. gas, wheat, oil, butter, sugar, and so on). These business interests of the oligarchic class reflect the makeup of Armenia’s skewed economic landscape as a whole, with imports making up 40% of GDP, while exports only account for 10%. Meanwhile, 70% of exports are comprised of raw materials, minerals, and stones. A large fraction of this class became rich through controlling the mining and exporting of Armenia’s diamonds, copper, and gold, to name a few. That virtually all of these individuals have also acquired large tracts of land and property throughout the country is no coincidence either, as 40% of Armenia’s annual growth is accredited to construction and real-estate. [2]
As such, a considerable level of power is in the hands of these oligarchs whose monopoly over key sectors of the economy has significantly stymied the country’s economic development.

The lifting of the Turkish blockade is anticipated to further enrich these dominant figures by allowing them to directly bring in products over the Turkish border, rather than the more costly route currently used through Georgia. In turn, opening the border is anticipated to provide new opportunities for those seeking to sell Armenia’s natural minerals in the international market. Property values and foreign investments are also expected to rise once relations are normalized with Turkey, placing many of those in Armenia’s oligarchic class who possess major real-estate and retail interests in a privileged position to reap profits.

The majority of Armenians, on the other hand, who struggle to make ends meet as farmers, wage laborers, or small businessmen are not likely to see much of the gains from opening the border. On the contrary, agricultural workers and local producers stand to suffer greatly under the weight of cheaper imports flooding in from Turkey, while laborers are likely to witness declining or stagnating wages under the pressure of foreign capital. Furthermore, rampant corruption and tax evasion ensure that whatever financial gains do accrue at the top will not be distributed down to the majority of the population.

The chairman of the Union of Domestic Manufacturers of Armenia, Vazgen Safarian, recently explained, “On the one hand, our consumers [and importers] will benefit from the cheap goods, but on the other hand, this will doom our local producers to having to shut down or to suspend operations.” Another Yerevan businessman, who actually imports fabrics from Turkey, stated “Then, many people will start importing goods, maybe the prices will go down. [T]his will hit everyone, [but] I think my business will suffer.”[3]

Vardan Ayvazyan, the head of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Economic Issues has exploited his position to secure mining licenses for himself and his family.

Edgar Helgelyan, an expert with the Mitk Analytical Center, also weighed in on the issue. “We are seriously concerned that the opening of the border will considerably damage the Armenian economy. Imports from Turkey to Armenia account for about $178 million, while exports from Armenia to Turkey do not surpass $1.8 million,” he said during a press conference releasing a report submitted to the Armenian government on the subject.[4]

In other words, the much-touted “growth in GDP” or “improvement of the Armenian economy” that IMF technocrats and government apologists alike parrot as the silver bullet behind supporting the Protocols, is likely to provide a boom for the oligarchic elite but a bust for nearly everyone else. This might help to explain why many average citizens in Armenia are opposed to the Protocols on economic, in addition to national, grounds; they fear having to bare the economic costs of the agreement while the elite reap the benefits.

This reality also helps to explain why Armenia’s leading class has lent its unflinching support to the Protocols, with many being vocally in favor of the move, both in parliament and in business circles.

To give one of many examples, a leading proponent of the agreements in Armenia is Vardan Ayvazyan, the current head of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Economic Issues. Throughout his years in government, Mr. Ayvazyan has secured various mining licenses for himself and his family, including an ironstone mine in Hrazdan and two mines for his brother in Syunik and Lori provinces. It therefore comes as no surprise that he repeatedly boasts about the benefits of the protocols, claiming that, “Opening of the border can lead to 4 percent growth of GDP” or that the Protocols will “ensure a new economic path for our country.”

For individuals such as Ayvazyan, who have used Armenia’s legislative process towards their economic gains, opening the border provides new opportunities to capitalize on the exploitation of Armenia’s natural resources. [5] The mere fact that the agreement has advanced this far is itself a testimony to the backing the government—many of who themselves make up the oligarchic class—has received from Armenia’s wealthy elite.

Indeed, in a recent interview to an Armenian newspaper, President Serzh Sargsyan smugly stated, “I have not heard from any serious businessperson in Armenia that has doubts of the economic benefit of opening the border.”

Capitalism Over Nationalism

Significant profits are surely anticipated to be made in the upper echelons of Armenian society once the borders are opened. But at what cost are Armenia’s oligarchs willing to pursue their pocket books? Would they be willing to give in to Turkish conditions and renounce Armenia’s national rights for the sake of lifting the blockade? Unfortunately, for many of the Armenian elite, national interests such as Karabakh’s self determination, justice for the Armenian Genocide or legal claims to historic lands do not seem to be as much of a concern as they are for the general population.[6]

This was perhaps most famously demonstrated by the head of the Armenian Football Federation (AFF), well-known oligarch Ruben Hairapetyan.[7] In the run-up to the Turkish president’s visit to Armenia for the much-touted soccer match between the two nations, Hairapetyan suddenly removed the image of Ararat from the AFF’s official logo, sparking a major outcry within Armenia. Although he was later forced to reinstate the original logo with Ararat as the centerpiece, the inherent disregard for Armenia’s national rights and dignity was blatantly exposed by the scandal.

It should be pointed out that such a dismissive attitude towards pan-national interests is not a new phenomenon among the ruling class in Armenia. We saw similar sentiments expressed during the tenure of Armenia’s first president, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who was the chief architect of the system of autocracy and oligopoly we presently see in Armenia.[8] It was, thus, not surprising to see Ter-Petrosyan’s newly formed opposition immediately suspend their protest actions against the government in September 2008, when they learned that the Turkish president would be coming to town for a soccer match.[9] More recently, despite his earlier bitter denunciations of the government, Ter-Petrosyan has praised the Sargsyan regime’s policy on Turkish-Armenian relations and has even expressed his desire to establish cooperation with the ruling regime.[10]

Russia’s Backyard

In addition to the economic incentives and tendency to compromise national rights, there is an equally powerful factor to be considered when examining the ruling elite’s support for the Protocols: alignment with Russia.

Most of the prominent business and political elites in Armenia have direct personal ties to business and political interests in their former Soviet patron. We find that they either have major business ventures in Russia or serve as the overseers of Russian capital investments in Armenia. As one member of the ARF Western US Central Committee recently put it, “If Armenia is Russia’s backyard, then they [oligarchs] are the gardeners.”[11]

Indeed, Russia itself has a controlling stake in many of Armenia’s most strategic assets—gas, oil, nuclear power, electricity, telecommunications, rail, and finance, to name a few. It is estimated that Russia has over $2.5 billion of economic interests in the country. Given Armenia’s vulnerability to any instability Russia could potentially cause in these strategically important sectors, no major decision on the magnitude of the Protocols could be made without the blessing of the “Big Uncle.” The ruling elite in Armenia must pay special heed to the wishes of Moscow if they want to avoid any unwanted disruptions to the state and economy. Thus, it was no accident that President Sargsyan, during a state visit to Moscow in June 2008, extended an invitation to his Turkish counterpart to come to Armenia for the first soccer match.

For its part, Russia has openly expressed its support for the Protocols, with many analysts pointing out that it would be the main beneficiary of potential energy and transportation projects between Armenia and Turkey. Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Grigori Karasin, was recently quoted as saying, “The Russian Inter RAO EES Company, which has energy facilities in Armenia, is exporting electricity to Turkey and the Russian Railway CJSC is ready to ensure uninterrupted rail communication between the two countries through the Dogukapy-Akhuryan checkpoint.”[12] Interestingly enough, two of the main initial projects expected to develop following the implementation of the Protocols are the sale of Armenian electricity to Turkey and the opening of joint railroad transportation–both of which are Armenian industries dominated by Russia.

The Path Forward

Of course, the West is also keen to see rapprochement between Armenia and Turkey. The heavy dependence Armenia has on Western loans and the desire to deflect attention away from the state’s crackdowns of March 1 is surely another motivation for Armenia’s pursuit of the Protocols.

Yet, blame for the Protocols cannot be laid at the door of foreign pressure (whether from Russia, Turkey, or the West). As Armenia’s Foreign Minister himself explained, “All states except for one or two supported the process and did not pressure us. It was Armenia’s initiative. We reached the agreement jointly with Turkey.”[13]

The responsibility, thus, lies with the ruling elite in Armenia. These elite hold the reigns of power in the country and have obvious motivations for seeing the Turkish blockade lifted despite its costs. In the end, the Protocols and the ensuing establishment of relations between Armenia and Turkey are a direct reflection of the interests of this tiny set of powerbrokers within Armenia.

The question, then, becomes how can the people act to prevent the ruling class from negotiating away Armenian national rights? The answer to this question lies partly in the international public opposition against the Protocols witnessed in recent months.

The unprecedented wave of mass demonstrations organized against the Armenian government pointed to a potential constraint on government decision-making. Hence, the public awareness raised against the Protocols, the delay by Nalbandian during the signing ceremony in Zurich, and President Sargsyan’s televised public address hours before the signing were a direct consequence of people taking to the streets in Yerevan and capitals throughout the world.
To date, these demonstrations have been the most serious disruption to the Armenian government’s plans for pushing through the Protocols. Indeed, the constant secrecy, media control, and deceptive statements issued by the government indicate their concern over the Armenian public’s negative reaction to their policies.

By putting into question the reality of the Armenian Genocide through a so-called historical commission, recognizing the existing illegitimate border that forfeits legal claims to the Armenian homeland, and compromising Armenia’s ability to defend the freedom of Artsakh, the Protocols pose a grave threat to the Armenian Cause–a cause considered to be paramount in the hearts and minds of Armenians around the world.

However, protests and negative opinion alone are likely not to be enough to stop the regime from ratifying the agreements. Public opposition must be translated into serious organization and concerted action in order to raise the costs high enough to be heeded by the administration in Yerevan. The system of centralized, elite power in Armenia must be checked by a vigilant and organized populace in order to restrain the wreckage of the self-interested schemes of the oligarchic elite.

The Diaspora has a special role to play in this battle. Through its relative freedom and more abundant resources, it has an important obligation to stand in support of those in Armenia who are genuinely struggling to create a more just and equitable future in the Homeland. As in the past, only by coming together collectively and reaching beyond artificial divisions will the Armenian people succeed in defending their pan-national interests.

Editor’s Note: This article is featured in the Winter 2010 issue of Haytoug, a quarterly publication by the Armenian Youth Federation. The upcoming issue is set for release in late January. It will be available, free, at community centers, schools and local Armenian book stores. You can also download it in PDF or sign up to receive a free copy in the mail at http://www.haytoug.org/subscribe/

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[1] “Yerevan Survey Finds Majority Opposed to Protocols,” ArmInfo, September 29, 2009.
[2] Ara Nranyan, “Neoliberalism and Armenia: 18 Years of Integration with Capitalism,” presentation delivered at the 2009 Armenians and Progressive Politics conference in Glendale, CA
[3] Marianna Grigoryan, “Is Yerevan Caught in a Trade Trap?” Eurasianet, October 5, 2009. See also Hasmik Hambardzumian, “Armenians Wary of Turkish Trade,” Asia Times, September 29, 2009.
[4] “Opening of Border with Turkey Will Devastate Armenian Businesses,” PanArmenian.net, September 25, 2009. See also the thorough, 192-page study commissioned by the ARF Bureau on the economic impact of opening the border: Mher Dzadourian, Pavel Hovhannisan, and Albert Babayan, “Economic-Trade Issues Surrounding the Opening of the Armenia-Turkey Border,” June 2009, Yerevan.
[5] Gayane Abrahamyan, “Parliament Debates Diplomatic Normalization with Turkey,” Eurasianet, October 1, 2009. For a background on Ayvazyan’s interests in the mining industry, see Edik Baghdasaryan, “Vardan Ayvazyan’s Business Project,” Hetq, April 2, 2007.
[6] Despite the constant propaganda meted out to the contrary, people within Armenia consistently express their support for the cause of Genocide recognition and reparations from Turkey. See Serouj Aprahamian, “Armenia vs. Diaspora: The Myth of Diverging Interests Over the Genocide,” Haytoug, Spring 2009, 6-9. In the most recent opinion poll taken after the announcement of the Protocols, 52.4% of Yerevan residents rejected the terms of the agreements and 41% insisted that they want the Turkish-Armenian border to remain closed. “Poll Finds Turkey Deal Unpopular in Yerevan,” Asbarez, October 19, 2009.
[7] Hayrapetyan owns several businesses and is the Chairman of the Armtobacco Company. Most recently, he took ownership of the Bjni Mineral Water Factory in a controversial deal following the original owner’s (oligarch Khachatur Sukiasyan) fall out with the government over his support of Levon Ter-Petrosyan and his alleged role in the March 1st events. See Gayane Mkrtchyan, “The Politics of Table Water: ‘National Treasure’ Bjni Changes hands in Disputed Sale,” Armenia Now, September 2, 2009.
[8] See Ian Bremmer and Cory Welt, “Armenia’s New Autocrats,” Journal of Democracy, Vol. 8, 3, July 1997, 77-91.
[9] Marianna Grigoryan, “Armenia, Turkey Put Differences Aside for Soccer,” Eurasianet, September 5, 2008.
[10] “Armenian Opposition Leader Backs President on Turkey,” RFE/RL, November 12, 2009.
[11] Town Hall Meeting on Pan-Armenian Challenges. November 19, 2009. Encino, CA. Personal notes.
For a more historical perspective of this same phenomenon, we are reminded of the following quote from Armenian revolutionary hero, Aram Manukian: “That [exploitative] class is the capitalist class, which by descent is Armenian but in fact serves as the defender of foreign and Russian interests. They pretend to pose as the leaders of our people, but they consider Armenians to be only a pedestal under Russian tutelage for them to use to advance a more vibrant life. This class has turned into a threat to the Armenian people’s unity. They have become bait for our neighbors to use against us. They have become a ‘fishing hook’ in the hands of the Russians with which to ‘catch’ Armenians. Although they may possess Armenian names, this class is, in fact, our enemy.” Roupen Der-Minassian, Memoirs of an Armenian Revolutionary, Vol. 2.
[12] “Russia to Support Armenia-Turkey Ties With Economic Projects,” Asbarez, November 4, 2009.
[13] “Nalbandyan Does Not Feel ‘Embarrassed and Insulted’”, News.am, October 30, 2009.

BY ALLEN YEKIKAN

HOLLYWOOD–With its majestic architecture and storied past, the city of Gyumri is a living museum to Armenia’s greatest catastrophe following the Genocide. The devastating earthquake in 1988 killed some 20 thousand and nearly leveled Armenia’s second largest city. Yet, the people of Gyumri are an inspiring example of how Armenians have the unique ability to look beyond disaster and despair, to come together, regroup, and work toward a better and brighter future.

Although Gyumri’s pre-Soviet structures still stand, many parts of the city still remain in ruin. It’s hard not to feel the pain this city has endured when walking through its dilapidated streets. Little economic development has occurred here since the earthquake, and Gyumri’s people continue to struggle to survive. They live much more modest lives than their counterparts in Yerevan and lack many of the amenities capital city residents have enjoyed during the last few years. Employment opportunities in Gyumri are limited and sometimes the prospects for change seem bleak. Only recently has the Armenian government become serious about rebuilding what was once the industrial center of the Caucasus.

Despite the adversities they face, the people of this storied town posses an uncanny sense of humor. They turn despair into laughter and sorrow into cheer. This becomes all the more apparent when looking at its energetic youth. Their future may seem gloomy and their material possessions may be as meager as the third-hand clothes they wear, but these children and teens find joy and excitement in the most modest of things.

This summer nine young diasporans from California traveled to Gyumri to set up a day-camp for the city’s youth—to live among them, share in their experiences, and make a small but positive impact on their lives. They were not surprised that dozens of boys and girls flocked to the camp, excited that Armenians from abroad had come to their hometown to spend the summer with them.

A mission for the youth

Youth Corps began in 1994 as AYF’s response to the desperate needs to rebuild war-torn villages in Artsakh. The program sent groups of young Armenians from the Diaspora to the Homeland every summer to help in reconstruction efforts throughout the region. In 2008, the program changed its focus from rebuilding shattered buildings to reviving broken spirits.

Gyumri was therefore chosen as the pilot location for what is becoming an entirely new archetype for Diaspora-Homeland relations.

“It’s easy to blindly send money, but the impact and real value in rebuilding our people’s confidence in the Armenian nation is priceless,” explains Sose Thomassian, the Director of the Youth Corps program. “The Youth Corps camp has given us an opportunity to interact with the children and youth of Gyumri, to build bonds with them, to teach them and learn from them, and show them that people outside Armenia have a vested interest in their future.”

Youth Corps Volunteer Serop Chalian with campers

Fifteen-year-old Arax Manoukian was among the 150 children who attended the camp this summer. Seeing first-hand how much her Diasporan brothers and sisters really care about her existence and future was inspiring, she says, describing her feeling about the group in her winning entry in the camp’s essay competition.

“The Youth Corps group is really inspiring the kids here,” says Arax. “Their love of nation is motivating because they show us how supreme the fatherland is for them, even from thousands of miles away.”

That love of nation, and the invisible bond connecting young Armenians in the United States with their peers in the Homeland is evident in the effort Youth Corps volunteers make year-round to make their projects in Armenia a reality.

AYF members worked tirelessly, year-round, to raise the money needed to execute their visions for the Youth Corps program. Their work enabled them to connect Armenians regardless of distance, borders, and financial obstacles.

“Fundraising for the program began early in the year,” explains Sose. “AYF chapters worked with the Youth Corps committee to organize events in their communities, and they raised money for the program. Chapters worked with the Youth Corps committee to sell merchandise. They organized car washes, breakfasts, dinners, and bowling nights.”

Alongside the fundraising was a thorough effort to plan the camp’s day-to-day activities. Camp Gyumri’s curriculum, schedule, and mode of operation were adapted from the program used by AYF Camp Big Pines for the past 32 years. The schedule consisted of morning exercises, breakfast, English lessons, song and dance practice, Karate lessons, lunch, art & crafts, and group activities.

Touching down in Armenia

After months of hard work and preparation Serop Chalian, Levon Abrahamian, Berj Parseghian, Kevork Babayan, Kevork Kebabjian, Sanan Haroun, Arianna Deleon, and Nora Injeyan arrived at Yerevan’s Zvartnotz airport on July 11 to begin their mission in the Homeland. They were joined in Yerevan by Manuk Gerbinyan, a local AYF member who volunteered to work with the group during their stay in Gyumri. A few weeks later, an anxious and jet-lagged Alex DerAlexanian landed in Yerevan, hopped on the first bus to Gyumri and also joined the group.

In the days leading up to the flight, Asbarez Newspaper established a blog page for Youth Corps to let the participants chronicle their adventure and share it with the community back home. It was through this blog that Youth Corps volunteers shared their experience of being in Armenia, many for the first time.

“As we arrived to Zvartnots it hit me like a bag of bricks,” says Levon Abrahamian. “I was in my Motherland for the first time. The only thing I wanted to do at this point was step out of the plane and say ‘Parev’ to everyone that I saw. I didn’t know what to expect of Armenia once I got there, but I had a feeling this would all be worth it.”

The group spent its first week in Armenia touring the sites they had read about growing up.

“We wanted to experience it all,” says Levon. “From the hectic trek across Yerevan’s streets to find a 24 hour grocery store, to the exalting feeling of standing at the foot of the Sardarabad monument.”

Along the tour through Armenia, the group made stops at the National History Museum, where the 4000-year history of the Armenian people resides. A visit to the Holy Sea of Echmiadzin left the group breathless. The volunteer were in awe at the vast sea of Armenians gathered from across the world at the soul of Armenian Christianity.

“The designs and details and size of each of the buildings are truly unbelievable, especially after you find out that the churches were built around 600 AD,” says Serop Chalian, vividly recalling the red and blue colors and unique imagery of the religious icons. “I know I might sound generic when I use words like ‘amazing’ and ‘unbelievable’ but it’s impossible to find words in any language that can describe the places we’ve seen. They really are places that you need to see for yourself.”

At Yerablur – the final resting place of Armenia’s heroes – Serop laid flowers for fallen soldiers who had died for home and country. The cemetery is nestled a top one of three hills located immediately outside Yerevan. With its name meaning three mountains, Yerablur is a shrine for family, friends and strangers, who make regular pilgrimages to remember and pay their respects for men and women who put their lives on the line to fight for freedom and justice.

“You walk around and you read each tombstone,” Serop says. “Some names you recognize from songs and stories, and some you don’t recognize. Some died when they were only 19-years-old. But, you realize that each made the ultimate sacrifice for our people.”

The weight of that sacrifice was all the more amplified for the group as they trekked across the mountains of Artsakh and visited the proud city of Shushi. The fog shrouding the fortress city – once the cradle of Armenian culture in this isolated region – was a breathtaking sight for most who had only seen this ancient place through photographs.”Be it a statue, a symbol, or a grave, nearly every corner of this mountainous republic serves as a testament to the soldiers who fell while fighting for freedom,” says Berj Parseghian. He is at an internet cafe in Karabakh’s capital, Stepanakert, ready to update his blog and write about his many encounters during the trip.

Here, amid the lush forests of Artsakh, Youth Corps volunteers spoke with locals and witnessed first-hand the limitless strength of the Armenian people, their determination to struggle against the odds, and their embrace of life and freedom.

After the volunteers’ visit to Stepanakert, the group began its journey to Gyumri to start a project that many in group say has changed their lives forever.

Camp Gyumri

The Youth Corps 2009 Camp t-shirt, designed by campers last summer, was given to every one attending camp.

“Imagine your summer filled with breath-taking landscape, food that entices your senses, monumental structures, endless laughter, meeting locals that will offer everything in their household to you, and taking on the responsibility of being a mentor to a group of children thousands of miles away,” says Sanan Haroun, describing her first few days in Gyumri. “Reality transcends imagination when you find yourself in Gyumri.”

Camp Gyumri opened its doors on July 22 at 10:30 AM. By 11:00 AM, the the run-down Armenian Relief Society (ARS) center used for the camp site had been flooded with more than 80 kids. “They were overwhelmed with excitement,” says Sanan, recalling how the campers couldn’t sit still in their seats. “The smiles on their faces and eagerness to start the camp session was absolutely priceless.”

The first few days of camp were difficult for the group. Though most had served as counselors at AYF Camp, nothing could have prepared them for the kids of Gyumri. The campers were unrestrained and full of limitless energy.

“The kids in Gyumri are like AYF Camp kids, but on steroids,” says Alex DerAlexanian. “They are constantly moving at 100-miles-an-hour, and they have no brakes or any intention of slowing down. However, they are the most humble and the sweetest kids I have ever worked with. They joke with us, they pick us flowers, and they never complain.”

Camp counselor Kevork Babayan teaching English

Alex, who participated in Youth Corps through the Birthright Armenia Program, landed in Armenia a few days after the camp began its operations. He says recuperation from jet lag would’ve been a waste of time, so he set out to immediately experience Armenia.

“It took us all a few days to get the hang of the whole thing,” recalls Kevork Babayan. It’s past midnight, and he hovers over an authentic wooden backgammon board at the Youth Corps house. In this moment of meditation and reflection, he says, “the hardest part of it all was coming up with daily agendas and work for the kids. But we eventually grew into our jobs, and it became sort of natural.”

The next morning Kevork holds up flash cards of images for the children to identify during English class, while Sanan Haroun and Nora Injeyan write down the words on a giant piece of paper for the kids to copy down in their notebooks.

“We check their notebooks at the end of every class, and whoever has it all right gets a sticker. They really loved this,” says Sanan. “We have review sessions at the beginning of every day and have a quiz mid week on the words they have learned.”

In a white-walled classroom furnished with school desks, the campers looked toward the future, working on essays about the Homeland. The essays will be entered in a composition competition at the end of the session.

The campers also help design the logo for next year’s camp t-shirt during arts and crafts. Between these activities, campers spend half-an-hour every day learning Karate with Berj, who holds a third degree black-belt. Berj says his goal for the trip was to instill discipline into the kids.

Youth Corps Volunteer Berg Parseghian teaches karatee to his eager students.

Donning their white AYF camp t-shirts, the eager students form lines in the center’s courtyard. Behind them is the picturesque ravine with an ancient church on the other side. In the patio, the campers stand firm in a defensive position taught to by their sensei. They wait for Berj to shout commands, orders, and names of moves they should perform during their martial arts lessons.

“Everyone needs to know how to defend themselves, so they don’t get taken advantage of or hurt,” explains Hovo, a 10-year-old camper. Hovo says Karate lessons were his favorite activity and that “those people who know how to defend themselves need to take care of the weak, who don’t.”

“You could really see how much they loved the Karate lessons,” says Berj. “It’s as if they have a natural inclination for learning how to defend. Maybe this comes natural to Armenians.”

Campers jump with joy after winning the quizbowl.

To keep the campers organized and involved, they were divided into tri-color groups–red, blue, and orange–with each group working together to prepare for a final song competition at the close of each of the two sessions.

The blue team twice took first place in the song competition with enthusiastic performances that incorporated music and fast-paced dance compilations, explains Kevork Kebabjian. The groups also squared-off every day competing in short quizbowls on Armenian history and trivia.

After jumping up with joy for answering the winning question for the blue team in a quizbowl competition, 14-year-old Rouben Abrahamian darts toward Kevork, his group leader, and thanks him. “I would be sitting at home, bored, and doing nothing if it weren’t for you,” Rouben says. But because of camp, Rouben was able to learn new things, meet new friends, and spend his time “in a much more enjoyable way than at home.”

“Our schools don’t teach us the things they teach us here,” Rouben explains. “They don’t go deep into Armenian history, about the Fedayees or their victories and struggles. But here, we have fun learning about our heroes and their stories inspire us and make us proud.”

Early on, it was apparent to the entire group that these kids never experienced a summer like this before.

“Every game, every song, every activity we do, the kids genuinely enjoy,” says Serop. “Seeing their looks of amazement when they watch Sensei Berj do some karate moves and the giant smiles on their faces when they do the chicken dance during morning exercises are all we need to let us know that the kids are loving the camp.”

The beneficiaries of this summer of fun, however, weren’t just the kids of Gyumri. On any given evening, one would find the Youth Corps crew reminiscing about memorable moments throughout the day as they walked down Gyumri’s brick-laden streets to their home-away-from-home in the Turki Mayla neighborhood.

“I have been a counselor at AYF Camp for quite some time now, but it is different here,” says Sanan. “It is very hard to explain with words, but there is this self-satisfaction you feel here. Because you realize that you are truly making a difference in these kids’ lives.”

Late one night, Sanan jots down notes into her journal, so that she will know what to post in her next blog entry. “Needless to say, this is worth more than anything in the world, because you know that it will shape your own life, and you will carry it on with you for the rest of your life.”

A group becomes a family

Strangers and acquaintances who participated in Camp Gyumri this summer quickly became a family. Two weeks into the trip, they had come to see this city – with its genuine people and picturesque surroundings – as their newfound home and the campers as a regular part of their lives.

“The nine of us have gotten very close,” Serop says. He’s sitting at the patio table of the Youth Corps house, slowly sipping a muddy brown mug with dark Armenian coffee. “We spend a lot of time in our living room just hanging out. We do a lot of talking. We play backgammon, chess, and different card games. And we joke around a lot.”

The home they stayed in was atypical of Gyumri–a pre-Soviet two-story structure of mismatched rooms, with old rusty pipes and walls lined with pealing wallpaper and chipped paint. The house belongs to a family of five, who survived the earthquake of 1988 thanks to its 19th century Armenian-built home. The Youth Corps group rented out the top level of the house, sharing the kitchen and only bathroom with the family below.

“Deegeen Lillig, our host, was incredible,” says Serop. “Everytime we saw her, she greeted us with a huge smile and always asked if we needed anything. He remembers ventured into Deegen Lillig’s garage to discover a mini bread factory, complete with an Armenian tonir and a crew of bakers. “She cared for us like we were her own, working nonstop in the kitchen, taking care of the house, her husband, her three kids, and our group, all while smiling and giggling at every little funny or interesting occurrence.”

Deegen Lillig would make regular phone calls to Youth Corps volunteers’ parents, ranting and raving about how sweet they were and listing, in colorful detail, every single positive quality she noticed in each member.

Having become a family over the course of the 6-week program, the participants often spoke regretfully of the day they would have to part from Gyumri to return to their lives in the States.

The group skaling the mountains of Ijevan

During late night conversations, Arianna Deleon recounts the “awesome times” she’s had with her co-counselors, about the jokes, the laughter and the adventures she shared with her new family.

The defining moment for the group, however, came on a rainy day deep in the mountains of Ijevan, at a mysterious site by the river known by the locals as Lastiver.

“On that day we all began what would become a treacherous hour and a half hike in the mountains, through extremely muddy terrain, over slippery rocks, and underneath the constant downpour of a heavy rain,” Nora recalls.

The group was guided on the high-altitude trail by a man Nora describes as a “lumberjack-esque man,” dressed head-to-toe in camouflage. “He was carrying a multitude of seemingly unnecessary weaponry, and would effortlessly sprint through the narrow passes on the cliff-side”

“The hike really took a lot of teamwork, with each of us rotating turns carrying boxes of food and supplies down the slippery slopes of the mountains,” she says. “The experience did wonders for our bonding as a group, especially at night when we had to huddle together under a tarp to keep warm under the rain.”

Laying the foundations

For these young Diasporans, Youth Corps was more than just summer fun; they were in Armenia for a specific purpose, and each of them knew exactly what that was.

“The AYF sent us to Armenia to set the foundation for a new generation that will take ownership of its homeland and look forward to a future living on the land of their forefathers,” explains Berj.

The Youth Corps program, from its inception, has sought to close the artificial gap created by the Genocide and widened by decades of isolation during the Cold War. The program exists to encourage Diasporans to take on a more direct role in the nation building process in Armenia.

“The homeland is very distant, and you can’t fully comprehend what the situation is like here from watching it on television,” says Artak Avedisian, the Chairman of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation’s Central Committee in Shirak. He is also a volunteer counselor at the camp, and he says it’s hard for Diasporans to understand how people live in Armenia, what their needs are, and what are things that are to be cherished and preserved without Diasporans seeing them and experiencing them first-hand.

Sitting at a table at Camp Gyumri, Artak talks about his experience with the campers. He talks about working as a teacher and principal at a local school, and he sifts through a bucket of colorful beads, assembling tri-color bracelets for his campers.

Youth Corps counselors and campers take a picture at Gyumri's ARF center

“Through Youth Corps, the AYF volunteers experienced first hand what it is that Armenians here struggle with,” says Artak. The volunteers also saw the country and met the people they work to promote, protect and empower through their unique position in the United States. Armenia became real for them here. It became more than something they read about or talk about or a dream they work toward. I believe this experience will inspire them to work much harder for their ideals.”

Artak is 35-years-old, and he is a veteran of the Karabakh liberation struggle. He has been working for years with his fellow ARF members in Gyumri to establish regular Sunday schools and day camps for youth in the area. There’s a desperate need for it, he says, referring back to his own experience in the school system.

“Quite frankly, the schools here don’t instill love of country in the kids early on,” he says with an air of concern while preparing supplies for his Arts & Crafts class at the camp. “There is no school here that starts off the day with the singing of the Armenian national anthem, and no book that animates for them the achievements of our people throughout history.”

Camp Gyumri is a welcomed change for Artak and may parents who sent their children and teenagers to the Youth Corps program. It gave dozens of kids in Gyumri a completely different experience.

“Here the children sing the national anthem with pride every morning,” says Artak. “They learn national and patriotic songs, and about our greatest moments like the establishment of the first Republic of Armenia, the Battle of Sardarapat, and the liberation of Arstakh. These are historic moments they can be proud of.”

He flips through the pages of an elementary school history book that only allocated two paragraphs to the liberation war in Artsakh. “These are things they learn very little about in their schoolbooks.”

For Artak, and the families touched by the camp, these nine Diasporans who came to Gyumri from California had more of an impact than they may ever truly realize.

“Youth corps has laid the foundation for the ARF in Armenia to set up Sunday schools and regular day camps not just in Gyumri, but throughout the entire country,” Artak proudly states. “At the end of the camp we had over 30 children sign up for the local ARF youth club. This would have taken us years of difficult work to do that without Camp Gyumri and the Youth Corps project.”

AYF Youth Corps volunteers promise that extending this impact will be the mission of the program in the coming years. Upon their return home, volunteers quickly began planning for a second camp in another one of Armenia’s less developed regions.

Interested? Apply to Youth Corps today!

The Youth Corps team on a stroll through the magestic streets of Gyumri

Editor’s Note: This article is featured in the Winter 2010 issue of Haytoug, a quarterly publication by the Armenian Youth Federation. The upcoming issue is set for release in late January. It will be available, free, at community centers, schools and local Armenian book stores. You can also download it in PDF or sign up to receive a free copy in the mail at http://www.haytoug.org/subscribe/

The current de facto western border between Turkey and Gyumri, Armenia

Today we live in an age where there is an expanding sense of global awareness; consequently there has been a rise in the legal demands to repair what has been damaged in the past and to press nations to come to terms with their oft brutal histories. This relates to the idea that law is an instrument of the entire society not simply one nation or group. Nowadays, if a people are injured there is a burden on the international community not only to stop the injury and prevent future harm, but also to assist the healing process, by holding the guilty accountable for their crimes, in order to restore a balance of justice. This relatively newfound understanding for victim’s rights has led to the spawning of reparations politics; in order to confront historical injustices and properly address them.

Reparations: Theoretical Foundations and Goals

The value in compensating historic injustices lies with its ability to reinstate a sense of dignity to the victim group and descendants of the victims, while simultaneously compelling the perpetrator or beneficiary group to recognize the harm caused. It is important to make a distinction here between the notion of restitution and reparations. Restitution attempts to make whole the physical losses of a crime, while reparations seek to make up for lost opportunities as well as address the psychological impact of the harm committed. It can be said that reparations are both backward-looking and forward-looking because they seek to assess and compensate past injustice, while attempting to better the future lives of the victim group.

Theoretical foundations for reparations can be seen in many classical writings. In his Second Treatise of Government, John Locke states that man has a “particular right to seek reparation from him that has done it [committed an injury]: and any other person, who finds it just, may also join with him that is injured, and assist him in recovering from the offender so much as may make satisfaction for the harm he has suffered.” This shows the idea of the community joining to repair damage by making the responsible party accountable.

The goal or aim of a system of reparations must be broader than simply punishing the perpetrators of a crime. A system of reparations must serve to first identify an injustice that has occurred. Next, it must objectively bring the issue out to the open to be discussed without any deception or concealment. Consequently it must seek redress for the victim-group in a just manner. These steps must be taken in order for there to be a chance of proper reconciliation down the road.

Comparative Instances of Reparations: The German-Japanese Pendulum

Business records kept by an influential Armenian wool and cloth merchant in Ankara; signifying the vast amounts of wealth and property that was robbed of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.

The varying spectrum of outcomes possible from reparations movements can be described as the German-Japanese Pendulum. On one end of the pendulum there is a model for reparations provided by the aftermath of the Jewish Holocaust. This has “emerged as a kind of ‘gold standard’ against which to judge other cases of injustice”. Even before the end of World War II, Jewish organizations began discussing means of assistance to victims of Nazism as well as the fate of the Genocide-victims’ assets. The War Emergency Conference of 1944, held by the World Jewish Congress, demanded “restitution of individual assets, the payment of compensatory indemnification and collective reparations to the Jewish people”.

After the war, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany (Claims Conference) was convened to compensate the Jewish victims and to redress stolen or destroyed property. As a result of this Conference the West German Federal Indemnification Law was passed in 1952. This led to payments of over DM 100 billion (over $65 billion) along with countless community building and assistance programs to aid victims of Nazi oppression. In this case, the post-war German government accepted their wrongdoing and instituted reparations and programs to make amends.

On the opposite side of the pendulum there is an instance of strong reluctance to address past inequities; the case of the, euphemistically described, “Comfort women” who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during the Second World War. These women, mostly of Korean decent, have struggled unsuccessfully for years to get a formal apology from the Japanese government. So far, the government’s way of dealing with this historic injustice has been to avoid direct governmental acknowledgment; using nongovernmental means to “purchase” atonement for the crime . This impersonal method of approaching the issue has caused many of the victims to reject the “blood money”; demanding the reparations be paid directly from the government as a symbolic gesture. Other historical instances which are now being revisited include, New Zealand, which expropriated the land of the native Maori tribe and the United States which is confronted with the task of addressing the Genocide of the Native Americans as well as the ramifications of over 200 years of African enslavement. Unfortunately, history has shown that it is usually political interests and conveniences that judge which side of the German-Japanese pendulum a reparations demand ends up, rather than it’s foundations in justice.

Overcoming Complexities: Reparations for the Armenian Genocide

Genocide is not an ordinary crime subject to periods of statutory limitation for purposes of prosecution. Pursuant to the United Nations Convention on the Non-applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity, no statute of limitations applies to the crime of genocide. Moreover, the International Criminal Court defines genocide as an offense erga omnes, an offense which is subject to prosecution, even if the victims are a State’s own population. Furthermore, among international lawyers there is consensus that the punishment of genocide must have a retroactive effect.

Turning to discussion of the Armenian Genocide, it can be said that initially hopes were high that the crimes against the Armenians would be met with prosecution, condemnation and punishment. These aspirations, however, soon evaporated as the post-World War I political climate shifted.

Nevertheless, the burden for recompensing Turkey’s national wrongdoings still rests with the government and population of the Republic; not simply due to the benefit individuals may or may not have received from the deportation and murder of the Armenians, but due to the fact that they (as a nation) are the successor to a genocidal regime. More than the tragic loss of over 1.5 million victims, the destruction of the Armenian homeland in Eastern Anatolia, the survivors had to emigrate and their children and grandchildren gradually and irreparably lost part of their culture and language–i.e. their identity. There is also the aspect of cultural genocide—monasteries, churches and other monuments attesting to the cultural heritage of the Armenians of Anatolia have been destroyed or purposefully allowed to decay. In the case of the hundreds of Armenian monasteries and thousands Armenian churches in Anatolia, the Turkish government should be persuaded by the European Union and NATO to return as many as were not destroyed and still exist, transformed into mosques, museums, prisons, sport centers, etc. to the Armenian Patriarch at Istanbul.

The Distribution of the Armenian Population in Caucasus, 1914

The Turkish government should also be persuaded to finance the reconstruction of other Armenian historical buildings. From a corrective justice perspective it can be argued that the aim should be to put people back into the state they would have been in, had the injustice not taken place; in the Armenian case this would mean arguing that the benefits conferred to Turkey, as a result of the Genocide, alone justify the need for reparation.

The Treaty of Sèvres, of 1920, was the first treaty signed between the Allied powers and the Ottoman Empire. This landmark peace treaty aimed to, among other goals, correct the wrongs done to the Armenian people. It formally recognized Armenia as a sovereign, independent state, including the provinces of Erzerum, Bitlis, Van and Trebizond . Unfortunately, for varying reasons the Treaty of Sèvres was not ratified by its signatories. The Treaty of Lausanne, which makes no reference to the Treaty of Sèvres or Armenia, was signed in 1923. It can be argued by historians and international law scholars whether the Treaty of Lausanne replaced or was an addendum to the Treaty of Sèvres, but the moral responsibility remains unchanged.

The homeland of Armenians for over 3000 years was expropriated with no remorse or regard. This loss to the Armenian people has resulted in a loss of identity, culture and heritage; one that no monetary figure could replace. Every Armenian has Genocide-era stories and family accounts that describe the family home, beautiful land, churches, fruits that could grow like-nowhere-else and of course Mount Ararat, the national symbol of all Armenians since the time of Noah; along with the memories, there is a genuine desire to return home.

The Distribution of the Armenian Population in Caucasus, 1926

As long as the descendants of Genocide perpetrators continue to control lands that were acquired through Genocide, there is a certain sense of inferred consent to the acts which took the lands in the first place. As scholar Henry Theriault stated, “While it has become fashionable for the progeny of perpetrators to express their regrets over past abuses, the engagement with the past ends there”. For the current Turkish population and government to ignore the fact that part of their Republic was built on historically Armenian land, and to ignore their claims for justice is tantamount to acquiescence to the ideologies of the Young Turks.

Looking at the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide—which both Turkey and Armenia are signatories to—one can apply the general principle pacta sunt servanda which would require Turkey not only to refrain from committing genocide in the future but also implies that the victims of earlier genocides should be granted adequate reparations.

Conclusion

There is abundant historical and archival evidence available worldwide to prove that Genocide was committed purposefully planned and executed by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenian people in 1915. This event lead to the deaths of over 1.5 million people, the deportation of the remaining Armenian population of Eastern Anatolia and the expropriation of land, property and assets. The original intent of these machinations continues to this day with the incessant campaign of Genocide denial set forth by the current Turkish government.

The righteous efforts of the international community to address the crimes through the Treaty of Sèvres were frustrated by political bargaining, but the desire for justice remains. Since the Turkish government, both past and present, has made no effort to ameliorate the injustices caused to the Armenian Nation, evidenced by its continual denial of the Armenian Genocide and the persistent maltreatment of the ethnically Armenian minority of Turkey today, the humanity of the Armenian people has been and continues to be violated. The proper way in which this injustice must be resolved is through first acknowledging the crimes of the past and subsequently pressing for national affirmation of the need for reparations.

There is an international moral obligation to make amends for crimes such as genocide, and a political imperative for the international community to remove sources of tension, in order to create equal footing for a lasting reconciliation.

Although the Armenians can legitimately invoke many treaties and general provisions of international law to support their claims, political reality is such that progress often cannot be achieved by legal means alone. Even a judgment of the International Court of Justice is of limited value as long as it is not enforced.

Enforcement of international law, including international case law, depends on political will. Therefore, emphasis must be placed in creating the conditions that will reinforce a political will to do justice to the Armenian people.