HOW LONG?
By Assadour Derderian
Asbarez
Jan 19th, 2010
On Oct 10, 2009, the foreign ministers of Armenia and Turkey signed
an agreement on a negotiated set of protocols to establish diplomatic
relations. The protocols were the fruit of a year plus, secret but
relatively overt series of meetings. A week or so before the agreements
were signed, there was a poorly orchestrated drama, starring President
Serzh Sarkissian, when he visited important points of the Diaspora
under the pretense of presumably listening to alternative views
to his plan. But the alternate voices were never truly heard and
their protests were ignored. I was in Armenia at the time and the
only related news I got from the media was from the ARF TV channel,
Yerkir Media. There was a telling silence from the rest of the media,
except for several interviews with people who were broadly in agreement
with the president.
The international community asserted that there were no set
preconditions in the negotiations. But it was clear that Turkey
had numerous preconditions, and the two most disturbing of these
"nonexistent" preconditions were:
1. Armenia should accept the current boarders, and in so doing, all
lands outside the current borders would forever remain outside. That
meant the lands delineated by the Treaty of Sevres.
2. Responsibility for the Genocide should be lifted from the Turkish
government’s shoulders and placed in the hands of a committee that
will argue the applicability of the definition of genocide to the
case at hand.
This was the end result of the protocols, and whether we like it or
not, it is also the unfortunate truth for all Armenians. It is a sad
parallel to the days of Vartan Mamigonian, when Vasag, in similar vein,
literally betrayed the will and path of his nation.
Our president’s excuse is that it’s a necessity to open Armenia’s
borders to ensure its economic survival. The sad part is that Armenia’s
economic problems are not due to the closure of its borders-Armenia
has open borders with Georgia and Iran-but rather, it is the result
of a handful of people raping their own people, building castles,
when the roads in front of them are full of potholes and broken
pavement and are deteriorating exponentially year after year.
The churches and our historic cultural symbols are on the same path,
heading for extinction. Most of the population is looking for bread and
overcoats for their kids, yet any ray of hope for a better future is
dimmed. In the end, Armenia’s domestic policy parallels George Bush’s
foreign policy. The latter wanted to destroy anything belonging to
others and replacing it with its own. Armenia’s leadership differs
only in that they destroy their own and line their pockets.
Sarkissian doesn’t seem to realize that the majority of Armenians live
in the Diaspora-a place where our parents reside, not by choice, but
as a consequence of deportation of their elders and Genocide. It was a
virtue for them to educate their children to learn and respect their
origin, hoping that they would one day see their unknown land, and
the mysterious mountain, whose picture hung on their wall. It wasn’t
just a picture on the wall, but an intangible dream, an inspiration,
a portrait of identity… Equal to and perhaps more important than
any other outlet that told us what we are and where we are from…
Ararat and four-fifths of the land we know as Armenia is under the
control of our presumed "good neighbor," Turkey, and any effort to
recapture what is ours is on the verge of being signed away.
My friend and I were sitting in a coffee shop, drinking Armenian coffee
(without sugar, of course), and having an honest conversation.
In the flurry of the hot discussion and coinciding arguments, he
bluntly asked: "Everything we fought for and spilled a huge amount
of blood is being taken away. Why is the Tashnagtsutiune (the ARF)
not doing something about it? And, why is it [the ARF] still part of
the government?"
"The Tashnagtsutiune is not part of the government," I said, "It
resigned in April when the news broke out."
"Doesn’t the Tashnagtsutiune have representatives in the parliament?
Some people say that the parliament is not part of the government;
but in the end, isn’t the agreement supposed to be ratified by the
parliament? "
I began to stutter, but he held my hand and looked me straight in
the eye. "I understand that we are a chess piece in the never-ending
political game, but we should have some kind of say on issues that
decide our destiny; because in the end, no one gives a damn about
anything, other than those that include their interests. In 1918,
amid the Genocide, after suffering defeat after a defeat on the war
front; when our population was hungry, naked, and had no escape route,
we still had the will to win, to rise from death and be born again."
"We had the courage and the mindset to create an independent state
and what we created was not the end, it was the beginning… We
still have to pursue Van, Moush, Sassoon… We may not see it, our
kids may not see it, but someday our nation will. Our motive is to
create an attainable future, where all of the land that belongs to
us is returned to us," my friend said.
I sat there confused. I didn’t know what to say.
And now I ask you?
How long are we going to protest and complain and basically do
nothing else?
How long will we stand idly and watch the end of our existence?
How long will it take for the Tashnagtsutiune to lead our Nation?