The Unifying force behind Hai Dat
Yerkir/arm
11 March 05
A fundraising dinner devoted to the foreign policy activities of the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Bureau and more generally to
the activities of Hai Dat was held in Paris on February 26. This was
not the first dinner of this kind. The dinner was a successful
initiative and became a promising precedent for similar events in the
future.
The first such dinner was organized by the ARF Bureau in Geneva four
years ago. One million dollars raised during the dinner in 2001 served
to establish and finance ARF’s Hai Dat European office in Brussels.
1.8 million dollars raised during the second fundraising dinner held
in Paris this year came to prove that the activities of ARF’s Hai Dat
that have recently gained new momentum in Europe have greatly inspired
the people whobelieve in ARF’s political mission. The funds raised at
the dinner show these people’ s commitment and willingness to help
achieve ARF Bureau’s task of reaching new horizons for Hai Dat
activities.
The success of the fundraising event in Paris fills all of us with
pride and self-confidence since not only a significant amount of money
was raised but also the social, political and geographic distribution
of people who contributed to the fundraising has expanded in three
directions thus expanding the limits of Hai Dat activities.
The first direction is no doubt the contribution of Armenians from
Armenia to the Paris fundraising event. The participation of Armenians
from Armenia was very inspiring both in terms of the number of
participants and the amount of the contributions they made.
In other words, the practice of donating funds for Hai Dat activities
that used to be more of a Diaspora tradition has now started to
establish itselfin Armenia as well thus unifying and strengthening the
national-political potential of Hai Dat activities.
This development is especially inspiring since the Armenian
participants of the fundraising effort, National Assembly deputies and
businessmen, included not only ARF members but also representatives of
various political forces in Armenia.
The second accomplishment of the Paris fundraising dinner was the
impressive effort of national unification to support the Hai Dat
activities. Catholicos of the Great Cilicia Diocese Aram I was
sponsoring the fundraising dinners both in Geneva and in Paris.
He attended the dinner and blessed the event devoted to the Hai Dat
activities. The Paris fundraising became a precedent for attracting
Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II’s support – a high level
delegation representing the Catholicos attended the dinner.
In a speech delivered on behalf of the delegation, Archbishop Vache
Hovsepian welcomed ARF’s Hai Dat activities and conveyed the blessings
of the Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II.
The official Armenian authorities were represented at the dinner at
the level of ambassadors. The Armenian foreign minister could not
attend the event because of health problems. The chief of AGBU’s
Central Board sent a note of support and appreciation of Hai Dat
activities. Deputy Levon Chamakhchian presented an official note on
the part of the Russian State Duma.
The Armenians of Russia were represented at the dinner by Armenian
businessmen supporting the mission of Hai Dat and ARF. President of
Armenian Global Congress Ara Abrahamian contributed $200,000. This
contribution is sufficient to show the national unification that has
emerged around the Hai Dat activities.
Finally, the third significant improvement of the Paris fundraising
dinner was the inspiringly large number of people who contributed
money. The fundraising effort in Geneva was marked by a significant
number of people who contributed large amounts of money.
Meanwhile, the Paris event was marked by a large number of
participants which proves that the scope and popularity of the circles
supporting Hai Dat activities have increased. The challenges ARF’s
political activities are facing make both types of contributions very
valuable and important. The most important thing is that our Hai Dat
struggle enjoys the support of all Armenian circles.
The contribution of the Armenians from Lebanon was very significant in
this respect. Despite the severe political crisis that has occurred in
Lebanon, the Lebanon Armenians once again restated their commitment to
unconditional support of Hai Dat activities and ARF’s mission. The
relatively increased participation of Armenians from Iran, Kuwait and
United Arab Emirates was equally encouraging and inspiring.
February 26, 2005 became an unforgettable day of success for Hai Dat
struggle and ARF’s foreign policy activities. The fundraising dinner
organized by ARF’ s Bureau in Paris came to prove that struggle for
restoration of the Armenian nation’s national-political rights can
unify different segments of the nation thus laying the ground for
national unification.
Droshak, March 2005