Armenian National Committee of America
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Washington, DC 20036
Tel. (202) 775-1918
Fax. (202) 775-5648
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Internet
PRESS RELEASE
November 11, 2009
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
ANCA CHAIRMAN DEFINES THE STAKES: SURVIVAL OR SURRENDER
"We must keep our aspirations burning bright, our moral compass
aligned toward justice, and our nation moving forward. We must
choose survival, not surrender." – Ken Hachikian
WASHINGTON, DC – Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)
Chairman Ken Hachikian called on Armenians worldwide to choose
survival over surrender, in his remarks before federal, state, and
local public officials, a broad array of coalition partners, and
hundreds of community leaders gathered on November 8th at the
Pasadena Convention Center for the ANC-Western Region’s annual
banquet.
The full text of Hachikian’s remarks, At the Crossroads, is
provided below.
#####
At the Crossroads
Remarks by Kenneth V. Hachikian
Chairman, Armenian National Committee of America
Presented at the ANC Western Region Banquet
November 8, 2009 | Pasadena, CA
As Armenians, we have reached a crossroads.
Two paths – two very different paths – lay before us.
Two starkly different roads for our nation. For our cause. And
for our future
Standing here today at this cross road, we must make a choice.
One that will define our nation for decades, even centuries, to
come.
— A choice that begins in our hearts. And calls upon all our
collective wisdom.
— A choice of vision, born of long years of hard struggle
— A choice of courage, inspired by our enduring commitment to our
nation’s future.
A choice to move forward. A choice, very simply, between survival
and surrender.
Survival and surrender
For let there be no mistake, these are the true stakes.
The choice before us stands as a great burden.
But also as a sacred blessing. A chance to get it right
for future generations.
A choice for all those gathered here inside these walls –
and for all the sons and daughters of our nation, in
Armenia and across the far reaches of our world-wide
diaspora.
At this fateful moment, I am reminded of the words of the American
revolutionary, Thomas Paine.
In his great work, The American Crisis, he offered powerful words
that offer us keen insight and inspiration.
In the early days of the Revolution, he came across a well-known
man who ran a tavern.
Standing in its doorway, with his young son by his side, this
tavern-keeper argued against seeking independence, ending with the
words:
"Give me peace in my day."
"Give me peace in my day."
A more generous parent, Paine wrote, should have said:
"If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my
child may have peace."
Consider carefully his words from more than two hundred years ago,
on a continent far from Armenia, for they ring just a true today as
when they were first written.
Just as compelling for Armenians as for Americans or for any free
people.
"If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my
child may have peace."
"This single reflection," Paine added, "is sufficient to awaken
every man to duty."
He understood that the true choice facing the American colonists
was not peace or war, but rather where the burdens of the coming
conflict – the inevitable oppression and aggression – visited upon
them by the British would rest.
Whether upon the shoulders of his generation or upon those of
generations to come.
These truly are "the times that try men’s souls."
The tavernkeepers of our day argue that the path they advocate will
lead to peace and prosperity, when, in reality, it only defers the
day when our nation will pay the full price for their surrender.
— They would have us accept – under foreign pressure – the
"Protocols" being forced upon the Armenian nation, even though they
clearly threaten Armenia’s security, abandon the rights of all
Armenians, and cast doubt on the Armenian Genocide.
— They would have us adopt the Madrid Principles, which trade the
surrender of vast Armenian lands, today, in return for a vague
promise that Azerbaijan may someday allow a decision on Artsakh’s
future status.
— They would have us reduce the Armenian Genocide from a crime
against all humanity – one that must be recognized by the American
government and resolved truthfully and justly by the international
community and, of course by Turkey, – to a simple bilateral dispute
to be negotiated between states, states of vastly unequal power.
This is clearly the road to an unconditional surrender my friends,
the path to appeasement, and the slippery slope of accomodation.
On this path, we would allow others to speak in our name.
We would let them set our aims to suit their interests, not our
own. To put us in our place.
It is on this road that we would see the Armenian Diaspora, long
the loyal watchdog of Armenian interests, reduced to a lapdog for
the foreign powers that pursue their own advantage at the expense
of the rights, the security, and the very future of the Armenian
nation and people.
Let me be clear: It is on this road that we will witness the death
of the Armenian Cause and, with it, the viability of the Armenian
nation.
The choice, for us, for every single one of us, is clear.
We must reject retreat.
We must dispense with the illusions of easy answers.
We must reject the temptation that there is some quick shortcut to
Armenia’s security, Artsakh’s freedom, or the realization of our
national aspirations.
We must reject surrender – on the Protocols, the Madrid Principles,
justice for our nation, and freedom for our people – and choose
instead a path forward based on hope and wisdom, not fear.
We must, in our homeland and here in America, reclaim the right to
our voice and our values.
And back all this up with our activism, our political power, our
energy, and our resources.
Just as you are doing tonight, and as we must all do in days and
weeks ahead.
We must keep our national aspirations burning bright, our moral
compass aligned toward justice, and our nation moving forward.
We must choose survival, not surrender.
Survival, not surrender.
There is no other choice.
I call upon you to join us in that struggle.
We will persevere.