MEDDLING BY ARMENIAN NON-POLITICAL ORGANISATIONS IN POLITICAL AFFAIRS BENEFITS TURKEY, NOT ARMENIA
Gibrahayer
Armenian Life Magazine – Archalus Tcheknavorian-Asenbauer of Vienna,
a former Managing Director of United Nations Industrial Development
Organisation, and a long-time member of the Armenian Assembly, had
sent two consecutive letters respectively dated January 10 and 13
to the Armenian Assembly, raising several important issues regarding
the Armenia-Turkey Protocols and Armenian political hierarchy.
This article is a follow-up to last week’s commentary titled
"Armenian-Americans Deserve Fair Political Representation", which
discussed how the Turkish-imposed Protocols brought to the surface
the awkward situation where Armenian-Americans were denied the basic
right for fair political representation.
In her letters, she questioned the wisdom of dra gging the
non-political institutions, namely religious, philanthropic, cultural,
and educational organisations into the political arena.
Speaking of the mission of the Armenian religious institutions,
she wrote: "The church has no political mandate, nor a basis for
participating in a political debate, especially when we have an
independent country, with its political institutions".
As for the Armenian General Benevolent Union, a philanthropic
organisation, she pointed out that organisations like AGBU, which have
a specific mission to provide education and other humanitarian services
to post-Genocide Armenians, enjoy the support of financial contributors
that come from different segmen ts of the Armenian population with
differing political views. These supporters have chosen to give their
wealth or contribution to AGBU not for their political positions,
but to help the poor and disadvantaged Armenians around the world".
The AGBU has neither the background nor the experienced personnel to
deal with political affairs. It should not participate in political
debates because this is not its mandate. The AGBU’s official
participation in any political debate can only have a negative
reflection on its own organisation and is disastrous for the Armenians,
Ms.Tcheknavorian-Asenbauer wrote.
Armenians must respect the very basic rules of separating the political
entities from non-political ones. The lack of understanding of these
fundamental issues can set our nation back, she asserted.
Duri ng her tenure for nearly forty years as a U.N. official with
political assignments, she noticed the progress of various countries
that have followed the above unwritten rule. She noted that countries
that do not respect their own institutions, and their peoples’ destiny,
never progress.
Focusing on political mistakes committed by the AAA, she elaborated:
"I became a member of the Armenian Assembly of America because I had
the view that it is a) Neutral; b) Professional; c) Working in the
interest of Armenia and our Nation. The support the Armenian Assembly
gave to the Armenian President for signing the light-weight Protocols
that are based on double-standard, made me very SAD…
Supporting the Protocols as an automatic reaction to other parties
that were against them, for sure was not the best contribution made by
the AAA. … Some decisions that do not pro duce the foreseen results
must be stopped in order to avoid making further harm. Therefore,
the most effective reaction on the part of AAA would be to advise the
President of Armenia to cancel the Protocols, because Turkey did not
respect the terms".
Speaking of the oil lady at the State Dept., she wrote: "It is not
in our interest to speak with Secretary Hillary Clinton in a begging
tone. We should not put our Nation so down in front of her. She should
be informed that the game is over, because they could not make Turkey
follow the four-party (Turkey, USA, Europe, Armenia) agreement. In
fact, Turkey disrespected the negotiating parties along with their
efforts and good will", indicated Tcheknavorian-Asenbauer.
The anti-Protocols movement in Armenia and the Diaspora has
proven that the politically mature major organisations such as
the ARF-Dashnaktsoutiun, Social Democratic Hunchakian Party and
ADL-Ramgavar Party have empowered Armenia to reject Turkey’s demand
for capitulation. They have also effectively amplified the necessity of
defending the security and national interests of Armenia and Armenians.
The leadership of the three major Armenian political parties has
accurately reflected the anti-Protocols views of the overwhelming
majority of their respective party members.
Conversely, the leadership of the non-political organisations failed
to reflect their members’ collective position, because of the simple
fact that neither they carry political responsibility nor do they have
the political will or maturity. Sadly, that situation plays well into
the hands of Turkey.
Many community members have expressed deep concerns that certain
Armenian-American organisations have unwittingly become anti-Armenian
Trojan horses by needlessly meddling in political affairs, thus
benefiting Turkey and harming Armenia and Armenians. This dire
situation needs to be remedied sooner rather than later.