AAA (Armenian Assembly of America), a Diaspora organization supported by wealthy Armenians and which generally has close ties with US governments or tries not to enter into conflict with them, has declared rather unwillingly that they support the protocols. AGBU (Armenian General Benevolent Union) which is known as the Diaspora’s most wealthy organization (its property holdings are above 200 million dollars) has followed a similar attitude.

Although such organizations are important, they do not have close contacts on an individual level within Diaspora. On this matter, Dashnak Party which is influential over middle and low class Diaspora Armenians, have the leading role with its branches and dependent organizations in different countries. The most important of these organizations are ANCA (Armenian National Committee of America) in the U.S., ANCC (The Armenian National Committee of Canada) in Canada, CCAF (Le Conseil de Coordination des Armenians de France) in France, ASA (L’Association Suisse-Arménie) in Switzerland, and “Russian-Armenian Cooperation Union” and “Russia Armenian Union” in Russia. EAFJD (European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy) which pretends that they represent all the Armenian organizations in Europe also has a tendency to be extreme nationalist.

When Diaspora is at hand, it is worth mentioning the Armenian churches outside of Armenia. There are two main Armenian Catholicosates: One is the Echmiadzin Catholicosate near Erivan to which the whole of Armenia Armenians and most of the Diaspora Armenians have obedience to. The other is the Cilicia Catholicosate near Beirut which is considered to be the spiritual leader of some of the Diaspora Armenians. It can be concluded that Karekin II, the Catholicos of the Echmiadzin who met with President Sarkisyan to discuss the protocols, is not against them. However, the Western Armenian Church in the U.S. which depends on Echmiadzin, it’s participation in the organization of activities in opposition of the protocols which shows that the Echmiadzin Church can have different attitudes in Armenia and Diaspora. On the other hand, Aram II, the Catholicos of Cilicia who is known for being extreme nationalist and having an anti-Turkey attitude, clearly showed his opposition to the protocols in a letter sent to President Sarkisyan.

The criticisms directed to the protocols by these organizations can be summarized under three points: the first is that the protocols recognized the existing Turkish-Armenian border, the second is the commission to be established from the “historical dimension” would result in discussing the “genocide reality”, and the third is that the Karabakh issue and “self-determination” principle are not mentioned in the protocols.

The Diaspora media is almost entirely against the protocols. Moreover, especially in the U.S., several demonstrations have been held. Among these, one can draw attention to that held in New York on 19 September with 800 participants and the demonstration in Glendale near Los Angeles with 10.000 participants. It seems that demonstrations will be held in France in the beginning of October.

At the demonstration in Glendale in which Dashnak Party participated with the Hunchakian and Ramkavar parties, two resolutions were adopted.

The first resolution heavily criticized the sub-commission on a historical dimension by putting forth that the work of this body would not only irrevocably halt the process of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, but also diminish achievements resulting from decades of immense efforts in the recognition of the genocide by numerous countries. Moreover, it has been expressed that the official recognition of Turkey’s current borders by Armenia is a concession of its people’s historic, moral, legal and territorial rights. Furthermore, the absence of the right to self-determination in the settlement of the Karabakh dispute has also been criticized.

One of the interesting points about this resolution is the allegation that the Armenian authorities do not have the legal right to bargain with Turkey, the just right of the Armenian people, especially on the issues of occupied Armenian territories (means Eastern Anatolia) and reparations. Taking these matters into account, it has been expressed that the protocols are unacceptable and dangerous and the signing of them by the Armenian government is fraught with irreversible and heavy consequences. Thus, it has been demanded from the Armenian government to immediately end all efforts for the signing and approval of both protocols. Otherwise, it has been expressed that the President of Armenia will bare sole responsibility for future events and will be treated accordingly by the Armenian people and history.

Hereby, it should be noted that Diaspora rarely (and using a restrained language) opposes the Armenian Government and especially refrains from criticizing the President. Therefore, the resolution at hand shows that a deep fault already exists between Diaspora and Armenia.

In the second resolution, Howard Berman, the US chairman of the House Committee of Foreign Relations, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Representatives Adam Schiff and George Radanovich who protect the interests of Armenians and Armenia within the House, were called upon to immediately schedule a vote on H. Res. 252, the Armenian Genocide Resolution pending in Congress. Taking into consideration the importance President Obama and its government puts on the signing and implementation of the protocols, it can be said that there is no chance that this draft resolution will be adopted.

In Armenia also, reactions exist against the protocols. However, besides the well known attitudes of Dashnaks, it can be observed that reactions of the other parties arise from domestic policy considerations and aims at damaging the Government and President. In fact, the three parties forming the government (Republican Party, Prosperous Armenia Party and Rule of Law Party) are in favor of the protocols. Those opposing the protocols are the main opposition parties such as the Armenian National Congress headed by former President Levon Ter Petrosyan and Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaks), along with the Heritage Party and several other small parties. Since the parties forming the government have a majority in the Parliament, it can be seen that the approval of the protocols will not create any problems in principle.

As mentioned above, the challenge on the issue of the protocols is Diaspora. Taking into consideration the increasing relations with Diaspora in all fields and especially the aid given to Armenia by the Diaspora, it is not possible for the Armenian Government to overlook the Armenians living in other countries. In fact, President Sarkisyan, staring from today (1 October) will be travelling to France (Paris), USA (New York and Los Angeles), Lebanon (Beirut) and Russia (Rostov) to meet with Diaspora representatives to explain to them the attitudes of his government concerning the protocols.

AVIM
October 1, 2009