The Pan-Armenian Declaration on the Genocide, the new guideline for Armenia and the Diaspora.

• 
• 
Tweet

Details

Created on Monday, 20 April 2015 04:55

Armenian genocide : recognition and reparations Standpoint of Armenia The Pan-Armenian Declaration on the Genocide, the new guideline for Armenia and the Diaspora. Hrant Melik-Chahnazarian

Hrant Melik-Chahnazarian Political analyst, editor-in-chief of Times.am website

Looking back on the day of January 29, 2015 date of the ceremony related to the publication of the Pan-Armenian Declaration of the centenary of the Armenian Genocide, Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan explains why the publication of this statement is an important factor for the restoration of historical justice. Noting that "the Declaration is accompanied by "a highly professional level, disclosing all cause-and-effect links of the problems, present in the Armenian-Turkish relations".

On 29 January 2015 promulgation ceremony of pan-Armenian Declaration on the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide was held at Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex. President Serzh Sargsyan read the document and, pursuant to the resolution of the State Commission on Coordination of the events for the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, entrusted the original document with the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute. President of the Republic of Armenia also noted that one copy of the Declaration will be sent to the United Nations Secretary-General and one will be entrusted with the National Archives of the Republic of Armenia.

People who track political developments of the region have definitely noticed that the Declaration has been promulgated solemnly. Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex was decorated with the Armenian tricolored flag. One could watch the Honor Guard Battalion of RA Armed Forces and distinguished guests from every corner of the world being present here. All of this, of course, was not organized by a mere chance. Drafting and promulgation of the Declaration can be definitely considered the most significant among the events dedicated to the Centenary of the Armenian Genocide. As often mentioned by high ranking Armenian officials, the document stipulates the united will of the Armenian people and “reiterates the commitment of Armenia and the Armenian people to continuing the international struggle for the prevention of genocides, restoration of the rights and establishment of historical justice for the nations subjected to genocide” (1). It is directed towards future and, basically, henceforth will be the main guideline of the Armenian people’ struggle for restoration of the historical justice.  

However, before proceeding to the content of pan-Armenian Declaration, of course, some questions of “technical nature” need to be answered. First of all we speak about the legitimacy of the document.  To what extent does it reflect the stance of all Armenians? This is the question frequently raised by people who criticize the document. It is not a secret that absolute majority of the Armenians live beyond the borders of the Republic of Armenia. To coordinate the activities with the Armenians spread all over the world, the Ministry of Diaspora was established by the Armenian Government in 2008. Over the past years relations between the communities of Diaspora and Armenian state became intense due to the activities carried out by this state body. Systems for rapid exchange of information as well as local and pan-Armenian institutions for joint decision-making were established. The very experience gained in the past formed the basis of the State Commission on Coordination of the events for the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

The commission set up for the purposes to foster the process of international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide and to coordinate the events dedicated to the Centenary of the Armenian Genocide represents officials of the Republic of Armenia and Republic of Artsakh, spiritual leaders (representatives of the apostolic, evangelical and catholic churches) of the Armenian people, leaders of the political parties with great influence both in Armenia and Diaspora, cultural workers, scientists, media representatives, heads of the institutions of pan-Armenian importance. In addition, representatives of centennial regional committees from the communities all over the world support the commission. In a word, everything was done for the Commission to represent the Armenians residing in different countries of the world in full and in this sense the problem can be indeed considered resolved.

The second question of “technical nature” relates to the importance and political significance of the Declaration for Armenia and Diaspora. Strange as it may seem, majority of the Armenians had much greater expectations from the events dedicated to the Centenary of the Armenian Genocide than the ones currently held by the Armenian state within the country and beyond its borders. Moreover, it should be mentioned that these expectations were not clearly defined. That is, nobody could say clearly what kind of expectations they had with regard to the Centenary. The only expectation is probably to see as many heads of the states and high-ranking delegations as possible in Yerevan on April 24. However, in this case as well the answer to the question “What then?” remains vague. This might be the reason that the adoption of pan-Armenian Declaration has not presented significance for the considerable part of the society.  Everybody was looking forward to something more – at least strict condemnation and censure of Turkey, and possibly restitution as well, on the international level. 

But this, as I have said, were public expectations and the way the issue was perceived. Declaration is more than important among officials, politicians, scientists and experts for the future process of the Armenian claim and struggle against Turkey’s rejection. It is a peculiar document which includes political claims and stance of the Armenian people. And the most importantly, the Declaration has indeed become pan-Armenian and, in fact, has been implicitly recognized as a cornerstone of the further joint activities of Armenia and Diaspora. Though public expectations have been directed towards other results, it should be noted, however, that it is difficult to overestimate the significance of the Declaration both from the point of view of importance of the processes taken place in the past and from the point of view of future political developments. 

There are also other Declaration-related questions, which, I think, have been excluded from the contextual scopes of the problem discussion.  For instance, the first president of the Republic of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan thinks that with such document we cannot “please” the civilized world. Levon Ter-Petrosyan does not expand on why Armenia would try to please the world. The version of the pan-Armenian Declaration offered by the first president does not have any relation to the methods and approaches of the centuries-old struggle of the Armenian people directed towards restoration of justice. Moreover, the approaches of the first president of Armenia also contradict the main direction of the foreign policy of official Yerevan. Perhaps, this is the reason why many people in Armenia and Diaspora perceived Ter-Petrosyan’s offers as a little attempt of political intrigue, which lasted half a day. In order to save time and because of the absence of a real topic of discussion I suggest not focusing on the discussion of secondary topics and insignificant “technical issues” and proceed to analyzing the content and political significance of the document.

If you look through the Declaration, you will see that the document is the integrity of political assessments and requirements based on legal grounds (2). In fact, the document consists of four main parts: The first part emphasizes and bolsters the legal base of the Armenian people’s struggle directed towards the international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide. Besides referring to the Armenia’s Declaration of Independence and Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, the Declaration of the Centenary of the Armenian Genocide is based on a number of significant and crucial points of the international law. I am referring to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 10 December 1948, United Nations General Assembly Resolution 96(1) of 11 December 1946, the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 9 December 1948, the United Nations Convention on the Non Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity of 26 November 1968, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 16 December 1966 as well as all the other international documents on human rights.

The file of legal claims necessary for the international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide has always been the center of attention of relevant state departments, experts and international law specialists of Armenia. It was always grounded with supplementary arguments, examples and comments, over time turning into one of the main barriers of Turkey’s anti-Armenian activity. Therefore, it is not accidental at all that highlighting one of the most important points of Declaration, which states the “united will of the Armenian people”, representatives of the State commission immediately ground on the above-stated points of the international law. Thereafter, a reference is made to a number of significant documents as well, which are the examples of support of international condemnation of the Armenian Genocide and Armenian claim on the one hand and vital grounds for the restoration of historical justice on the other. This is the reason why the joint declaration of the Allied Powers on May 24, 1915, for the first time in history defining the most heinous crime perpetrated against the Armenian people as a “crime against humanity and civilization” and emphasizing the necessity of holding Ottoman authorities responsible, is particularly valued in the Declaration. In the Declaration a reference is also made to the Sevres Peace Treaty of 10 August 1920 and US President Woodrow Wilson’s Arbitral Award of 22 November 1920, highlighting the role and significance of these documents in overcoming the aftermaths of the Armenian Genocide.

The second part of pan-Armenian Declaration on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide is the commemoration of one-and-a-half million innocent victims. It also expresses gratitude to those states and international, religious and non-governmental organizations that had “political courage to recognize and condemn the Armenian Genocide as a heinous crime against humanity”. The document published by the state committee expresses gratitude to those nations, institutions and individuals, who “often endangering their lives, provided multifaceted humanitarian assistance and rescued many Armenians facing the threat of total annihilation, created safe and peaceful conditions for the survivors of the Armenian Genocide”.

It should be noted that in the process of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide the Armenian side has always paid a special attention to those nations and states, which condemned that dreadful action, trying to make their behavior as a model for others as well. Among the events dedicated to the Centenary of the Armenian Genocide, a special attention is paid to the works carried out with the states and international organizations having recognized the crime perpetrated at the turn of the previous century and joint initiatives thereof. It is no mere chance that this approach has been stipulated by pan-Armenian Declaration as well.

The third part of the promulgated document stipulates political events and clear-cut wording of the Armenian claim. It is a complete package of condemnations, calls and political plans, which will be the basis for joint activities of Armenia, Artsakh and Diaspora on the international platform.    

Moreover, it should be mentioned that this part of the Declaration does not merely refer to condemnation of historical events. It is also important for today’s developments. Thus, Clause 7 of the Declaration condemns “the illegal blockade of the Republic of Armenia imposed by the Republic of Turkey, its anti-Armenian stance in international fora and the imposition of preconditions in the normalization of interstate relations, considering this a consequence of the continued impunity of the Armenian Genocide, Mets Yeghern.” Clause 6 touches upon the actions taken to overcome the aftermaths of the Genocide, particularly upon creating a file of legal claims. 

In general, it should be noted that the processes at the turn of the previous century and those of modern ones are combined in the pan-Armenian Declaration on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on a highly professional level, disclosing all cause-and-effect links of the problems, present in the Armenian-Turkish relations. Apparently, the authors of the texts did their best to focus the content of the Declaration more on the future than past. And as a guarantee of secure future they see elimination of the consequences of the Armenian Genocide. 

It is also important to note that the so-called political part of the Declaration mainly highlights the necessity to prevent such crimes perpetrated against humanity in general in future rather than recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide. That is, the significance of restoration of the historical justice is viewed as a necessary condition to exclude such crimes in future. In this sense the Armenian claim is raised to a new, international level. On the other hand, it also solves the very problem of the safety of the Armenian nation - a peculiar barrier against possible further expansion policy of Turkey. 

Eventually, the final fourth part of the Declaration calls upon the coming generations of Armenians to resolutely struggle and serve for a stronger Homeland, free and democratic Republic of Armenia, the progress and strengthening of independent Artsakh, the efficient unity of Armenians worldwide, as well as realization of the centuries-old sacrosanct goals of all Armenians. Thus, a bridge is thrown between the past, present and future, casting strategic nature over today’s political projects.

Such “fragmentation” of pan-Armenian Declaration on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, of course, is highly conditional. The document should be considered in its entirety. As I have already mentioned at the beginning of the article, it is a peculiar guideline for the future political struggle for all Armenians. Moreover, such struggle does not pursue an aim to punish Turkey, as often argued by international critics. No doubt, ensuring further security of the Armenian states lies in the basis of the struggle for the restoration of the Armenian justice. Unfortunately, today as well, when the whole civilized world commemorates one and a half million innocent victims of the Armenian Genocide, Armenia and Artsakh continue to live under the conditions of Turkish-Azeri constant threat and menace. Those who read the Declaration carefully will easily notice that the main message of the Declaration is the necessity to neutralize the very threat. 

Official Yerevan realizes quite well the political potential of the Armenian Cause in restraining Turkey. Ankara, demonstrating neo-Ottomanism ambitions, is also well aware of this fact. That is why Turkey has been trying to get rid of the Armenian Cause for years, neutralizing the impact thereof on relations with other countries and on the regional development in general. However, Turkey has not succeeded in it so far. There are many reasons for failure, but the key one among them is the activity carried out by Diaspora, which is still fragmented. Despite this, however, the Turks started speaking about the “Armenian tsunami” 10 years ago (3). Today, the pan-Armenian struggle towards restraining Turkey has a consolidated concept in the person of Declaration. This is the reason why I mentioned at the beginning of the article that adoption of the Declaration can be definitely considered the most significant among the events dedicated to the Centenary of the Armenian Genocide.

In fact, the Declaration has already turned into one of the most important components of the security system of the Armenian states. The political assembly of the European People’s Party adopted a resolution on “Armenian Genocide and European Values” on 3 March 2015 (4). A few days later a similar resolution was adopted by the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly (5). These two documents, having vital importance for the international recognition and condemnation process of the Armenian Genocide, are based on the pan-Armenian Declaration, which means that it is already an important factor in the restoration of historical justice. And this is the most important thing. 

—————————————

1. Address by President Serzh Sargsyan at the 5th media forum “At the Foot of Mount Ararat”: http://www.president.am/hy/statements-and-messages/item/2015/03/18/President-Serzh-Sargsyan-speech-Media-forum-speech/

2. Pan-Armenian Declaration on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide: http://www.mfa.am/en/interviews/item/2015/01/29/pan_arm_dec_armgen/

3. Be ready for the Armenian tsunami: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=be-ready-for-the-armenian-tsunami-2005-01-04

4. EPP adopted Armenian Genocide centennial resolution: http://news.am/arm/news/255195.html

5. Euronest Parliamentary Assembly adopted Armenian Genocide centennial resolution: http://www.aravot.am/2015/03/17/552023/