AMAA Executive Director Zavan Khanjian
BY ZAVEN KHANJIAN
AMAA Executive Director
Motivated by my most recent visit to the homeland, I find it necessary to share a few thoughts with you and our people. I am certain that, as always, you will accept them as words from the heart and echoes from the mind of one faithful to the homeland, wrapped in patriotism and a spirit of service, and urged by a concern for the homeland’s safety.
A – The Armenian Diaspora is a multifaceted, diverse, variegated and highly dispersed reality. A high percentage of it is unaware and unconcerned about its heritage and roots. However, there is a portion, not insignificant in numbers and influence, a portion which is self-aware, caring and concerned, and they receive their life and strength from the homeland, and they live and breathe through this sacred remainder of the soil of the Armenian people’s historic homeland, and consider its existence and progress the guarantee of their existence.
An indivisible part of that remaining sliver of land is the homeland of Artsakh and its native people who have lived there for millennia. If today there exists one unifying statement that unbreakably binds the self-aware Diaspora, it is their stance of solidarity regarding the justifiable right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination. I believe that the overwhelming majority of the citizens of the Republic of Armenia stand in agreement with this unifying view, holding fast to the right of self-determination of the people of Artsakh.
We also believe that without peace in the region it is not possible for our people to enjoy a lasting and safe presence on this fragment of the historic homeland. And so that this safety be placed on strong foundations, it is a necessity to hold to these basic rights.
Following the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, the first, extremely important decision of the United Nations Organization’s Security Council, Resolution 242, was taken on November 22, 1967, demanding that Israel withdraw to the pre-June 6 borders. Today, 55 years later, that demand is yet unfulfilled. Our unwavering determination, clear reasoning and willingness to sacrifice are the only guarantees of the preservation of rights. As long as the OSCE Minsk Group is still occupied with the work of resolving the basic issues of Mountainous Karabakh, the solution is unresolved and should not be rushed.
Our people’s collective conviction is that so long as the process of guaranteeing peace is delayed, it is necessary in this regard that our international diplomatic efforts fight unflinchingly to refuse the granting of concessions.
B – The bilateral stance between Church and State has been one of mutual reservation toward each other for a while now. Over the centuries of the history of the Armenian people the church has fulfilled the role of leader and protector, maintaining our faith, national existence, and identity in the absence of a state. And now the state is the basis of our collective identity, and all who comprise the Armenian people must wholeheartedly support and demonstrate cooperation towards it. I am unreservedly certain that the true expectation of the overwhelming majority of our people is to see a harmonious connection between Church and State. In that case all of us will gain strength.
C – Today our people have the need for heroism, for a legendary testimony. As the rightful holders of this land, continually faced by violations of agreements, our longing is to see unreserved, courageous actions to defend our true rights.
This expectation is not evidence of enmity, but rather the pure _expression_ of self-defense, whose actualization will grant moral power to reassert our people’s morale, blend our will, unify our strength, and gather our potential. In these days of urgent crisis, we need a courageous act realized by our own effort, one of which we can be proud.
Now, at the completion of my assignment I depart from the homeland’s soil, leaving my heart and soul behind, and pledging to redouble our collective efforts for the strengthening of the faith of the Armenian people, at the shrine of the continued existence of the Armenian nation.
With unreserved love and respect,
July 1, 2023
Yerevan, Armenia
Zaven Khanjian is the Executive Director of the Armenian Missionary Association of America.