Hachikian Stresses Imperative for Unity Against Protocols at ARF Day
Celebration
Asbarez
Dec 11th, 2009
ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian
GLENDALE-The Armenian Revolutionary Federation marked its 119th
anniversary during a celebration event organized by the Central
Committee of the ARF-Western USA. More than 1,500 community members
flocked to the Glendale High School auditorium to witness a resurgence
of the ARF’s commitment to fight for justice and the rights of the
Armenian nation.
The event’s keynote speaker, Armenian National Committee of America
Chairman Ken Hachikian, outlined the threats facing the Armenian
nation as a result of the Armenia-Turkey protocols and the imperative
for Armenian unity in opposition of these dangerous documents.
Below are his remarks:
Friends,
A few weeks ago, I spoke in Pasadena, at our Hai Tahd (Armenian Cause)
banquet, about the stakes facing our nation.
Today, once again, gathered among friends to mark a milestone in the
proud history of a great organization, I would like for us to take a
moment to step back.
– To speak less in general terms, and more about concrete challenges.
– To pause for a moment to review the truly dramatic developments of
the past year.
– To understand the dynamics that have brought us to this dangerous crossroads.
– And to draw intelligent lessons from this experience and, inspired
by our principles and our enduring faith in our cause, to chart
together the best path forward for our community and nation.
The need for a sober review – and thoughtful community dialogue – on
the issues facing our nation is certainly in keeping with the best
traditions of our organizational legacy, and reflects, in powerful
ways, the remarkable spirit of service and sacrifice embodied by all
of you.
And, so, let us turn to this examination:
Last year, toward the end of summer, Turkey’s leaders saw two
potentially game-changing developments on the horizon.
First, they saw that decades of Armenian American investments in
advocacy, elections, and education would, very likely, bear fruit in
the election of Barack Obama – a new U.S. Senator with a strong record
of support for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
They saw, as well, that he would – in his cabinet and in the
leadership of Congress – very likely be joined by others who support
our aims.
This was, it must be stressed, not due to good fortune, but rather a
generation of planned, concerted, and coordinated Hai Tahd work on
Capitol Hill, along hundreds of campaign trails, and in the political
trenches across the United States.
These friendships were forged from hard work by our activists across
the country.
Turkey and its allies here in America, seeing this, feared that
President Obama would alter – at Ankara’s expense – the sensitive
balancing act known as U.S.-Turkey relations.
They were nervous that an outside-the-beltway Chief Executive –
someone who had not been worked over or bullied for years by the
Turkish lobby – might have the audacity to reject the gag-rule they
had long imposed on American leaders.
This fear, of course, was less about one candidate – or even one
president – and more about Turkey’s concern that the Armenian American
community would finally succeed in tipping the scales in Washington in
favor of a truthful and just stand on the Armenian Genocide.
All the signs pointed in this direction: Senator Obama’s attacks on
the Bush Administration’s denials, his ardent defense of Ambassador
Evans, and his repeated campaign pledges – from before the California
primary and leading right up until days before the general election.
As was reported widely in the American and Turkish media at the time,
Turkey’s leaders were deeply worried that they might be unable to
prevent an Obama White House from recognizing the Armenian Genocide –
their #1 priority with the U.S. government.
And on this point, let there be no mistake. This is their #1 priority
in Washington, as measured by any meaningful standard:
– Their allocation of lobbying dollars and political capital
– Their meetings, public statements, publications, websites, and
diplomatic activity
By any measure, preventing the international isolation that would
start with U.S. recognition represents Turkey’s raw nerve.
This is not my view, but rather the perception of Turkey’s governing
elite – as demonstrated and reflected by its own conduct.
Why?
Why, some still ask – some even within our own community – would
Turkey, a major NATO power, care so much about Armenia – a small
republic – or, more importantly, fear her dispersed Diaspora?
Too often, these questions are posed by those among our community –
who, for lack of confidence or vision – fail to appreciate our own
power – the power of truth, the strength of our moral stand, and the
influence of our organized advocacy.
The answer, very simply, is because Turkey’s leaders know that a
truthful and just resolution of the Armenian Genocide threatens their
grip on power and the very foundations of the Turkish Republic.
Truth and justice – and our energetic and sophisticated advocacy of
these values – represent a clear and present danger for Turkey’s
leaders:
– They threaten their perceived prerogative to remain perpetually
belligerent toward Armenia and repressive toward their citizens of
Armenian heritage.
– They threaten their ability to keep what they have stolen, to
consolidate their crime, and erase forever even the memory of the
genocide.
As we all saw at the time, the threat posed by the Armenian American
community’s role in the 2008 elections came into increasingly sharp
focus for Turkey’s leaders as the prospect grew stronger of an Obama
victory.
They were faced with the possibility of a new President, who – along
with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
– could loosen or even break Turkey’s choke hold on U.S. policy on the
Armenian Genocide.
Now, let’s turn to the second danger on the horizon.
A very different kind of threat. One, in fact, of Turkey’s own making.
Over the past several years it became increasingly clear to leaders in
Ankara that their new foreign policy direction – on Iraq, Iran, Israel
and a host of other issues – would seriously limit their ability to
employ their traditional methods – basically threats and blackmail –
of coercing U.S. policymakers into silence on the Armenian Genocide.
We all have watched this pattern as it has developed:
– Warmer Turkish ties with regional U.S. rivals: Iran, Russia, and Syria.
– Increasing Turkish friction with Israel and the Jewish American community.
– Turkey’s refusal to cooperate on U.S. energy and other regional priorities.
All of these on top of the legacy of Turkey’s refusal, in 2003, to
allow the U.S. to open a northern front in the Iraq war.
Tension in each of these areas limited Ankara’s ability to rely solely
on bullying, its tactic of choice for the past several decades, in
managing the U.S. position on the Armenian Genocide.
As we approached the 2008 elections, Turkey’s leaders saw the need to
shift tactics. Not strategy and clearly not intentions, but rather
tactics.
More than ever, Turkey’s interests remain in blocking recognition of
the Armenian Genocide and preventing a truthful and just resolution of
this still unpunished crime.
Calling on their diplomatic tradition, Turkey’s leaders adapted to
changing times and responded intelligently (although certainly not
morally) to these new circumstances.
They feared that, unless they took dramatic steps, the new terms of
U.S.-Turkey ties under a President Obama might no longer allow them to
exercise a veto on their #1 Washington, DC priority: Preventing U.S.
recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
They saw that these two approaching dangers created a major window of
vulnerability for its campaign of denial in the United States.
The window would open on Inauguration day, continue through the
President’s first April 24th in office, and most likely close by April
24, 2010.
To compensate for this weakness, Turkey shifted, in late 2008, away
from a strategy of outright threats toward one that relied upon
creating the pretense of Turkish dialogue with Armenia.
– One that did not pressure the U.S. to avoid recognition with threats
– But rather one that counseled non-recognition in the name of `peace’
Which brings us to the key moment in this process.
The turning point that defines both the challenges we face and the
opportunities we have missed.
Very simply, Turkey could not make this shift on its own.
Our advocacy and Turkey’s own actions had sufficiently undermined
Ankara’s credibility on Armenian issues such that a unilateral
declaration of dialogue on its part would appear like another cynical
ploy.
To create their illusion, Turkey needed Armenia’s cooperation.
More specifically: In order to dodge the greatest threat of U.S.
recognition in more than a generation in the months following
President Obama’s inauguration, Ankara needed the public buy-in of
Yerevan.
Yerevan’s assent represented a necessary ingredient of the illusion
Turkey needed to create for the U.S., Europe, and the rest of the
international community.
They needed Armenia essentially as little more than a `prop’ in their play.
And this, sadly, is exactly what they got.
The Armenian government – on Turkey’s timeline and in accord with
Ankara’s interests – went right along.
Rather than standing strong and, in so doing, standing to harvest the
fruits of Diasporan efforts spanning generations, Armenia simply took
Turkey’s bait.
They bought into soccer diplomacy, into the Roadmap signed in the dark
of night, and the one-sided Turkey-Armenia Protocols, that are today
before the Armenian and Turkish parliaments.
They jumped at Turkey’s first offer
An offer with the obvious aim of ensuring the continued success of
Turkey’s campaign of Armenian Genocide denial in Washington, despite
the serious vulnerabilities presented by the election of Barack Obama
and Ankara’s increasing tension with the U.S. over foreign policy
priorities.
This was – as we warned at the time and as is painfully obvious today
– a major error by Armenia.
The results are as clear as they are dangerous:
Ankara is using the Protocols’ `process’ to manage the new Obama
Administration and the growing tensions caused by its increasing
independence from Washington in a way that both preserves its
prerogatives to act against U.S. interests on Iran, Israel, Russia,
and other issues while, at the same time, preventing the U.S. from
recognizing the Armenian Genocide.
Turkey emerges as a clear winner.
It’s a win-win for Ankara and a lose-lose proposition for all Armenians.
Turkey dodges U.S. recognition, secures commitments from Armenia for a
commission of historians and the confirmation of false borders, and,
at the same time, generates new and powerful pressure on Armenia and
Nagorno Karabakh for a pro-Azerbaijani settlement that threatens the
security of all the Armenians of the region.
Armenia – a year into Soccer Diplomacy – has truly received nothing in return.
Nothing except a set of Protocols and a proposed Madrid settlement that would:
– Surrender the rights of the Armenian nation
– Silence the voice of Armenians worldwide
– Sacrifice the security of the Armenian state
– Cede vast areas of Nagorno Karabakh for empty Azeri promises
The lessons of this experience are twofold.
The first is that Armenia must develop a foreign policy that, rather
then advancing the interests of elites and oligarchs, reflects the
true interests of Armenia and embraces the national democratic
aspirations of the Armenian people. Sadly, the current Foreign
Ministry of Armenia has not demonstrated the ability to do so.
The second is that – in the international arena – the force of our
advocacy has been the single greatest driver of the rights, interests,
security, and future of the Armenian people.
Our advocacy effort – built over the course of generations – today
empowers us to stand strong on the world stage.
– To stand up for truth and justice, and against Turkey’s `historical
commission.’
– To stand up for freedom and liberty, and against the surrender of
Nagorno Karabakh.
– To stand up for real peace, and against surrender to foreign pressure.
Our Hai Tahd movement engages and unifies our community around these
shared values and the commonly held goals of the Armenian nation:
– A just resolution of the Armenian Genocide
– A strong, secure, democratic, and prosperous Armenia
– A free and independent Nagorno Karabakh
We are devoted to broadening our consensus around each of these issues
and remain deeply devoted – as we have always been – to the cause of
unity in the pursuit of our aims.
We recall – with a profound awareness of our generation’s historical
mission – the powerful words of our great poet Yegishe Charents, who
wrote that the true salvation of the Armenian people lies in our
collective power – in our collective unity.
Charents wrote these words – at the cost of his own freedom – more
than seven decades ago, but they ring just as true today as ever. His
wisdom is reconfirmed by each trial and every challenge we face as a
nation.
We must, in the weeks and months ahead, grow larger and stronger –
bringing an ever-increasing circle of Armenians into our work and the
sacred cause of our proud and ancient nation.
In our unity we will find strength.
We’ve seen this in our community’s broad rejection of the Protocols.
Just as we have, for so many years, seen the value of unity in our
work in defense of Armenia’s rights and Nagorno Karabakh’s freedom.
For, let there be no mistake, we are, as a community and a nation,
unified on the core issues facing our nation.
We have – despite the manipulations of foreign powers, or even the
obstructionism that sadly still persists among a handful of misguided
self-seekers within our community – a powerful consensus on our main
challenges.
We seen this time and again – our community united behind a common
purpose, yet still subject to foreign attacks – typically through
proxies – aimed at undermining our unity and playing divide and
conquer games at our expense.
We saw this in:
– Our defense of Section 907
– Our attack on the Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Commission
– Our opposition to the Hoagland nomination
And, once again, today on the Protocols and the Madrid Principles.
It is our nation’s true unity that we must both strengthen and serve.
We must, with our full resolve, reject the forces that would divide us
and – with equal vigor – resist the temptation to endlessly chase the
false unity that would require us to seek the consent of every
opportunist or that would provide the lapdogs of foreign interests
veto power over Armenian interests.
We must, rather, seek the true unity of common purpose, of collective
values, and of a common vision of our Armenian future.
It is into this unified effort that I invite you.
To join in our work – our struggle – as a unified nation. Only by
working together, will we persevere and prevail. And make no mistake,
we will do so.
Thank you.