Massis Weekly Online
VOLUME 27, ISSUE 40 (1340)
SATURDAY, November 10, 2007
———–
– 120th Anniversary Of The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party Celebrated
– Gaidz Youth Organization Message
– Armenian Genocide Monument Consecrated In Wales
– Speech By The Presiding Officer Of The National Assembly Of Wales
– Prominent Businessman Links ‘Recent Tax Raids’ With His Opposition Stance
– Revisiting Political Ideology and Strategy
———–
– 120th Anniversary Of The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party Celebrated
GLENDALE, CA – More than thousand people gathered at the Glendale High
School Auditorium on November 4 to celebrate the 120th anniversary of
the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party and its crucial contribution to
the Armenian Cause in the Armenian communities worldwide.
The program featured artistic performances and several speakers
including keynote speaker Mrs. Lyudmila Sarksyan, Chairwoman of the
SDHP Armenia, specially invited to the U.S. for this occasion and Mr.
Setrag Ajemian, Chairman of the Central Committee of SDHP. Mrs.
Sarksyan conveyed the importance of the Hunchakian ideology of
democracy with social and civil rights for the welfare of the Armenian
nation. Stressing the importance of a democratic system with social
and economic responsibility of the Armenian government, Sarksyan
expressed her dismay with the current unjust system of oligarchy which
has abused Armenia?s social, civil and economic systems.
Mr. Ajemian conveyed the powerful message of the significance of the
organization historically in relation to the Armenian people and the
Hunchakian party?s role in the future of Armenia relating it to the
current state of affairs of the Armenian nation. Both articulated the
SDHP?s stance for the upcoming presidential election for the Republic
of Armenia is a crucial step in regaining the civil and economic
rights of the Armenian people, underlying the decision of the SDHP to
support the presidential candidacy of former Armenian president Levon
Der Bedrosian.
Master of Ceremonies Dr. Rupen Yaghszian reminded the audience of the
many struggles the Hunchakian party has had to overcome throughout the
centuries and the triumphs they have achieved through sacrifice and
hard work. He emphasized the longstanding belief system of the
Hunchakian party stating the principle of a single, united Armenian
people, motherland and church. Dr. Yaghszian emphasized the SDHP?s
belief in the importance of having a united Armenian Apostolic church,
free of political association headed by the See of Etchmiatzin.
?Rest assured that the future is in good hands,? said Chris
Garsevanian of the Gaidz Youth Organization. He delivered a strong
message stating that the new generation of Armenian-Americans will
lead the Armenian people to victory by preserving the Armenian culture
and ensuring that the Armenian Genocide gains the recognition it
rightfully deserves. He added that the progress of the Gaidz and
Dkhrouni youth organizations are monumental to the future of the
Armenian Cause.
Dr. Hamparsum Sarafian, Vice-Chairman of the SDHP Western Region
Executive Committee, praised the Hunchakian party and its
accomplishments throughout the years around the world quoting the
first editorial in the ?Hunchak? newspaper written in 1887. Assuring
the audience the importance of the editorial did not erode over time
and still holds true today; that in order for the Armenian people to
prosper the struggle must come from within. As that struggle continues
the SDHP has been a leading advocate that came about from the people,
with the people, for the people.
Adis Harmandian, Gagik Badalian and Samvel Vartanyan elated the
audience with patriotic and nationalistic folk songs accompanied by
film montages of the history of the SDHP narrated by Harout Der
Tavitian.Ani Yepremian recited various poems to astounding applause as
the Vartan and Siranush Gevorkian International Dance Academy dazzled
the audience with vibrant dance performances reflecting the history
of the Armenian people. The celebration ended with a standing ovation
and jubilation for the 120th anniversary of the SDHP.
– Gaidz Youth Organization Message
By Chris Garsevanian
We are gathered here today to celebrate the Social Democrat Hunchakian
Party?s 120th year anniversary. But what you may not know, is that the
Hunchakian party?s youth organization will be celebrating their first
centennial in a mere 3 years.
This youth organization first started off as a student union created
by Arsen Gidour in 1910. This union was established to elevate
awareness within the Armenian people of their rights, their rights as
citizens and their rights as human beings. They prepared them to rid
their people of the tyranny of the Ottoman Empire that for the past
500 years had enslaved the minorities, especially the Armenians. The
Armenians who were unfairly taxed, suppressed, oppressed, abused, and
humiliated.
This association of Armenian University students across Europe
collaborated in starting a newspaper with scientific, literary, and
social content. This newspaper was called Gaidz, which the
organization later adopted as their name. The Gaidz youth, visited
villages and towns in Armenia organizing lectures energizing the
youth, playing a significant role in instilling ideals of democracy,
freedom, and equality, and that gaidz, that spark, to stand up and
defend themselves.
The Gaidz youth organization has come a long way since those strenuous
times, but we still face challenges today in the 21st century. Living
in almost every country around the world, the youth of our diaspora
faces the threat of assimilation. Which is why our mission has evolved
to maintaining and promoting our Armenian identity, history, culture
and heritage; fostering a harmonious and productive relationship among
Armenian youth; and to spread awareness and tolerance of Armenian and
non-Armenian communities by way of encouraging active involvement in
community affairs, but the most important task and challenge that was
bestowed our generation is being passed the torch as the bearers of
the Armenian Cause.
It has become our duty to ensure that we, the Armenian people finally
prevail in our seemingly endless struggle for unequivocal recognition
of the Armenian Genocide. But we will not accept a mere ?unbinding
resolution? because that will not even come close to reciprocating
what they ripped away from generations of Armenians. We will demand
restitution and compensation to pay for physical and emotional pain,
grief, and suffering.
Aside from the Armenian cause, you may all rest assured that this new
generation of Armenians, my generation, will lead the Armenian people
into prosperity for many generations which that follow. We will stand
as the new advocates for our motherland and our people. So, don?t
worry about the future, it is in good hands.
– Armenian Genocide Monument Consecrated In Wales
CARDIFF, WALES — The unveiling and consecration of the Welsh National
Monument to the Armenian Genocide went ahead successfully last week
despite attempts by screaming Turks to disrupt the Requiem, which was
led by Bishop Nathan Hovhannissian and the St Sarkis Church Choir,
London. The monument, the first on public land in the UK, was unveiled
by Lord Dafydd Elis- Thomas, Presiding Officer of the National
Assembly of Wales and His Excellency Dr Vahe Gabrielyan, Ambassador of
the Republic of Armenia to the UK. Wreaths were laid in memory of the
Armenian and Assyrian victims of the 1915 Genocide.
The event was followed by an afternoon of speeches and Welsh and
Armenian music, poetry and dancing. Permission to erect the beautiful
Stone Cross monument, a veritable Armenian Khatchkar, was granted by
the United Nations Association Wales on land owned by the National
Assembly of Wales. The small Welsh-Armenian community, under the
leadership of John Torosyan (Wales-Armenia Solidarity chairman), were
responsible for all the arrangements to achieve the realisation of
this project. The event organising team comprised of members of the
ever-growing lobbying coalition initiated by Armenia Solidarity,
British-Armenian All-Party Parliamentary Group and Nor Serount
Cultural Association.
The Assyrian Bishop, Khoshaba Guorges from the Ancient Churches of the
East, also prayed and addressed the meeting. His participation was in
recognition by Armenians of the hundreds of thousands of Assyrians
also killed in the 1915 Genocide.
Speeches were delivered by His Excellency Ambassador Gabrielyan, as
well as Canon Patrick Thomas and Mike Joseph. Music was provided by
the Welsh choirs Côr Aelwyd Hamdden and Côr Cochion. The Akhtamar
Dance group provided Armenian folk dancing, directed by Arsen
Zakaryan, and a solo dance performance by Dalila Heath. This was
followed by a Duduk performance of ?Dleyaman?, performed by Karapet
Baljian and Ara Petrossian. Finally, Armenian poetry was recited by
Teni Nersessian. At the end of the afternoon the plight of the
Armenians of Iraq was highlighted by Isobel Manook. An appeal was made
for Iraqi and other interested Armenians to contact Armenia Solidarity
([email protected]) to coordinate lobbying efforts on their
behalf.
The Presiding Officer?s speech was read by the MC, The director of the
Welsh Centre for International Affairs, Stephen Thomas (please see
the transcript of the speech below).
– Speech By The Presiding Officer Of The National Assembly Of Wales
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas
It is a great honour to be here today at the invitation of
?Wales-Armenia Solidarity? to receive this stone cross, the khatchkar,
on behalf of the people of Wales, and to see the cross being
consecrated in memory of the Armenians who were killed during one of
the worst Genocides ever seen in the world; the genocide of a million
and a half of the people of Armenia by the Turkish State in 1915.
It is a great pleasure also to welcome to Wales the Ambassador of
Armenia to the UK, Dr Vahe Gabrielyan, as well as Bishop Nathan
Hovhannissian, the Primate of the Armenian Apostolic Church in the UK.
It is a reflection of the consuming interest in Wales in the history
of Armenia that the finance for this beautiful monument was raised
wholly by Welsh Armenians. It is a symbol of the special sympathy of
the people of Wales for the people of Armenia that here, in the
building raised in order to promote peace throughout the world after
the horrors of the First World War, that the cross is placed.
This building is a symbol of the wish and the ambition of Wales to
have a voice in international affairs and I am pleased to say that
Wales has recognized the right of Armenia to her freedom and has
called on the rest of the world to recognise the suffering of her
people. It is not just a matter of sentiment that Wales identifies
with a small country with a unique language, a religious character
which derives from the world?s oldest Christian Church; and experience
of living next to a rabid and imperialistic neighbour.
The relationship of Wales with one of the world?s oldest countries and
the world?s oldest Christian Church back to the end of the nineteenth
century and the massacre of the people of Armenia in 1894 in Sasoon.
Llewelyn Williams, the Liberal MP from Wales, wrote a book ?Armenia
Past and Present? on the shame of the massacre.
Protest meetings were held, poems were written, and money was
collected to ease the suffering, and a ?Wales- Armenia Society? was
formed. When the terrible Genocide happened, of course, we were in the
middle of the Great War, and to our shame, not the same attention was
paid to the sufferings of Armenia in 1915 as was the case in 1894-96.
In the wake of Turkey?s victory over the allies in Galipoli in 1915,
the Turkish state began the work of trying to exterminate the whole
Armenian population of the country. On the 24th April 1915, the
intellectuals were arrested and murdered and the wider Armenian
population then suffered the same fate.
As Robert Fisk noted in his powerful book, ?The Great War for
Civilization?, this was the first ever genocide and it is significant
that it was the silence of the rest of the world in the face of such a
tragedy that led the Nazis to consider the Genocide of the Jews.
Hitler was quoted in August 1939, when ordering his generals to attack
Poland, ?who today remembers the destruction of the Armenians??
I am glad that people are not turning their back on Armenia today as
they did a century ago.
The National Assembly has given true support to the campaign to
recognize the reality of the Genocide. In October 2002, the majority
of National Assembly Members supported a motion by Rhodri Glyn Thomas
A.M. (the present Transport minister) to this effect: – – Recognising
the truth of the Genocide that occurred under the government of Turkey
in 1915 – Calling on Turkey to end her economic blockade on Armenia –
Call on The UK Parliament not to support Turkey?s application for EU
membership until she recognises the Genocide of 1915 as well as ending
her economic blockade of Armenia. The majority of Welsh MPs have also
signed similar motions in the House of Commons in 2006 and 2007. In
2001, the First Minister of Wales laid a wreath of flowers to remember
the victims of the Genocide and in the National Holocaust Day ceremony
this year in Cardiff.
– Prominent Businessman Links ‘Recent Tax Raids’ With His Opposition Stance
YEREVAN — Armenia?s prominent millionaire businessman and parliament
deputy on Monday defied what he called retribution from the state for
his pro-opposition political views and said he would remain ?next to
[expresident] Levon Ter-Petrosian? with whom he shares ?a common
ideological ground.?
Khachatur Sukiasian, who is also known for his criticism of corrupt
practices in Armenia?s customs, linked the recent inspections by tax
officials of his businesses with his being ?the bearer of the ideas
conceived by Ter-Petrosian? and a person who is among ?the supporters
and participants? of the rising opposition movement in support of the
ex-president?s election bid.
More than 40 representatives of Armenia?s State Taxation Body launched
inspection of the Bjni Company belonging to the Sukiasian family.
Sukiasian says these tax inspections are an excuse to disguise the
political persecution that was launched by the state after he was seen
next to the ex-president.
Sukiasian accompanied Ter-Petrosian to a police station late last
month to negotiate the release of a dozen loyalists who were arrested
while urging citizens to take part in an upcoming opposition rally.
?I have chosen this direction realizing that well. I realize well that
all hints, all conversations, the whole information that reaches me
>From different bodies is connected with this process.
But that will not change anything. I will always be next to him
[Ter-Petrosian], because I share the concerns that he raises,?
Sukiasian told RFE/RL.
?I think this is something that the government doesn?t like. But I
have my own approaches, because I want what is [good] for the future
of my country, for the future of our children,? he added.
Sukiasian, who is one of the largest taxpayers in Armenia, says
entrepreneurs work in unequal conditions today. He says the government
lacks political will to bring them all into ?an equal field? of
taxation.
According to Sukiasian, through affiliation with the government ?a
person defends himself and his business and not an idea or a political
decision that this system has advanced.? Sukiasian hinted that some
overtures once were made to try to ?recruit? him, but he declined to
disclose any details.
In an interview with RFE/RL, Sukiasian accused authorities of exerting
pressure on companies where they don?t have a share.
?We are not against inspections, but it should not be done for the
purpose of destroying,? he said. ?But it is impossible to destroy
business in our case. Our companies will struggle to the end, up to
the European Court, and we will defend our rights.? Representatives of
the State Taxation Body refuse to give interviews or provide
explanations.
– ?In Memory of Heros Marie Tchilingirian?
Revisiting Political Ideology and Strategy
By Hratch Tchilingirian
The immediate reaction of a casual observer of Armenian life in the
Diaspora to the 120th anniversary of the first Armenian political
party is, arguably, of irrelevance. While the majority of diasporans
are familiar with the ?three traditional political parties?, they are
hardly familiar with the program and history of these national
institutions that have preserved Armenian political and cultural life
in dispersion for over one hundred years. True, like all other
institutions that have been around for a long time, Armenian political
parties in general and the Social Democratic Hnchakian Party (SDHP)
in particular have a host of challenges confronting them at this
juncture of their history. Asking the right questions in
organizational life sometimes is more important than listing new ideas
that lead to nowhere. But before contemplating some key questions that
need to be asked, it is worth highlighting the foundational ideas that
shaped the thoughts of the founders of SDHP back in 1887 and defined
the activities of subsequent generations of members.
Social democracy and the liberation of the Armenian people ? from
?injustice, brute power and slavery, economic, political, social and
material inequalities?? were the founding ideological and strategic
pillars of SDHP (See Hnchak, Nos. 11-12, October- November 1888).
While over the last 120 years the world in general and the Armenian
people in particular have seen enormous changes, the fundamental
principles of social democracy and freedom in the legacy of SDHP have
relevancy to the present. The challenge to the party leadership today
is to articulate that link and relevancy to Armenians living in the
21st century.
It should also be noted that long before the term was invented,
globalization was at the heart of the foundation of the Social
Democratic Hnchakian Party. The party was founded in Geneva by seven
Armenian intellectuals from the Transcaucasus with the immediate aim
of liberating Ottoman Armenians. Ideologies developed in Europe were
articulated for audiences in the ?Orient?. Soon after the formation of
the party, all the founding members started to learn the technology of
the time ? typesetting ? as an essential tool of their work. (The
metal types for the party paper came from Venice, prepared by the
Mekhitarist Monks.) SDHP had branches not only in the Armenian
heartland, but also in Europe, the US and the Middle East.
SDHP was founded to struggle against, as its founders stated in their
program, injustice and inequalities. They believed that ?the complex
and unjust state of things can be reformed only by the socialist
organization, by the direct means of people?s constitution, by giving
each person in society real capacity of participation in the
administration of all public affairs?. They argued that it is only
through such approach that ?the natural and undeniable human rights
are preserved? (See Patmutiun S. T. Hnchakyan Gusaktsutyan. Vol. 1,
Beirut: Shirak Press, 1962: 32-37).
The wider historical and sociopolitical context of the founding of
SDHP was the modern socialist movement of the late 19th century, which
was rooted in the working class movement in Europe, where the founders
studied and lived. The two influential ideas were the democratic
liberal ideology and socialism, which were dominant in the political
discourse of the time. Naturally, liberal democratic ideas were not
confined to Western Europe. For instance, the democratic structure of
the Armenian National Constitution established in the Ottoman Empire
in 1863 is attributed to the prevalence of the idea among Armenian
intellectual circles in Constantinople and the provinces. On the other
hand, the socialist ideology as subscribed by the SDHP founding
members was essentially Marxist, but shaped through the prism of the
Russian revolution.
In general, the socialist movement adopted by SDHP founders envisaged
a socio-economic system ? including socialized ownership of the means
of production ? in which the community has control over property and
distribution of wealth in order to achieve social and economic
equality in society. The control of the ?community? was to be directly
exercised by the workers? councils or indirectly by the state. Karl
Marx (1818-1883), the ?father? of modern socialist philosophy,
suggested that socialism would become a reality after the proletarian
(workers) revolution, whereby the means of production would be owned
collectively. Society would then progress into communism ? that is, a
classless, stateless social organization based on ?common ownership of
the means of productions, wherein the state would be nothing else but
the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat.?
Even as socialism provided the founding ideology of SDHP, this wider
human liberation agenda gradually changed into a narrower ?national
liberation? movement of the Armenian people. For instance, while the
concepts of ?historic materialism? and class struggle were not
applicable to the conditions in Western Armenia ? where religion and
racial variables were more dominant ? a significant segment of
Armenian intellectuals in the Caucasus subscribed to ?classical
socialism?, infused with nationalism, a new national consciousness. In
the short term, the main concern of SDHP was ?the economic and
political conditions of the Armenian people in Turkish Armenia?. As
described in their short term objectives, politically the Armenians in
the Ottoman Empire were ?completely without rights, condemned to
slavish silence, and [expected to be] extremely loyal.
They are ?unmerited as witnesses in court; guilty when killing for
self defense; [considered] offensive when complain and cry about their
miserable condition; [are] persecuted for religion; do not have
security of life and abode; [and are] subject to destructive and
indignant attacks by brutal tribes?.
For all of these, the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire have ?reached a
state of political and physical destruction and material poverty?
(ibid).
The Party believed that this untenable situation would be resolved
only by ?overthrowing the supreme
authority of Turkey over the Armenian people? and through
?workers-ruled [ramkapetakan] political liberty and national
independence.? Indeed, the idea of revolution as a means of radical
change was a prevalent political goal and strategy in the late 19th
century, not just for Armenian political parties,
but to a host of other peoples living under the yoke of empires. Once
Turkish Armenians were liberated, the longer term objective of SDHP
was to liberate the Armenians living in the Russian and Persian
empires as well. The three liberated entities of the Armenian nation
would then form a ?Federal Workers-ruled Republic? [dashnaktsayin
ramkapetakan hanrapetutiun]. What was unclear in
the party program was where this new independent, free Armenian
Republic would be created ? which parts of Western Armenia,
Transcaucasus and northern Persian were to be included in it? This was
an essential question that was not articulated by the founders and
eventually caused divisions in the party.
What is extremely relevant today on this 120th anniversary is the fact
that insecurity, indignation, discrimination, and injustice continue
to define the situation of the Armenian community in Turkey today.
Although not on the scale of the 19th century, the lives of some
70-80,000 Armenians living in
Turkey are as perilous and concerning. Similarly, the conflicts in the
Caucasus have not been resolved and national security concerns are high.
On the ideological level, SDHP?s ?socialist values? are hardly
mentioned or discussed in the current discourse of the Party and its
activities. ?Injustice, brute power, economic, political, social and
material inequalities? ? as articulated 120 years ago by the founding
members of the party ? are burning issues today as well. While
socialism as practiced in the USSR failed miserably, it is still alive
in various forms of intensity in Europe (e.g., Britain under Labour
Party, Spain under the Socialist Workers? Party, France under Lionel
Jospin?s Socialist Party, etc.) and is more visible in South America.
Indeed, in recent years, especially after the end of the Soviet Union,
globalization ? the integration of economic, political, and cultural
systems the globe over? and the political economy of ?transition? have
become hot topics in regional and international relations. While
strong economic growth as a result of globalization has improved the
lives of people around the world in absolute terms, the process of
globalization ? especially technological changes ? has often been
blamed for the widening gap between rich and poor. As a result of the
current world economic system ? shaped by a global capitalist market
(the ?New World Order?) ? there is growing social polarization around
the
world. For instance, the wealth of the 475 billionaires in the world
is equivalent to the combined incomes of more than 50 percent of the
world?s population, that?s about three billion people.
Another staggering example of inequalities in wealth distribution is
the fact that the assets of the three richest people in the world
exceed the combined GDP of 47 least developed countries.
Today SDHP needs to address not only contemporary Armenian national
issues, but also global concerns. Without engagement with the wider
society and the world, the party ? and any political party in the
Diaspora for that matter ? would become marginal, static and
parochial. It is not a secret that the membership in Armenian
political parties is dwindling. Serious questions need to be asked by
the party leaders. What does SDHP ? and Armenian political parties in
general ? need to do in the coming years to remain relevant to
Armenians in the Diaspora and Armenia? What is the main ideology or
philosophy that defines SDHP today? Which elements of the founding
principles of SDHP are still relevant today? What kind of human and
material resources are needed to articulate and disseminate those
principles and values? How should political, cultural and social goals
be implemented in various parts of the world where Armenian
communities are spread?
In our Diaspora reality today we could either look at our historic
national institutions as precious museum like antiquities to be
celebrated and cherished (such as the church and parties) or make them
vibrant organizations that shape and enrich our communal life. Today
it is not enough for choices to be attractive, they need to be
convincing and add value. There is much to be learned from the past
and there is much to think and do in the present.
Hratch Tchilingirian is a scholar at the University of Cambridge.
—
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