ARF Armenian National Committee Conference
On December 2, 2021, in the conference hall of the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh, a conference of the Armenian National Committee of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun was held, organized by the Central Office of the Armenian Cause of the ARF. The official opening of the conference took place on November 29 in Yerevan, from November 30, the work continued in Goris, and the final stage took place in Artsakh. The agenda of the conference covered all spheres of activity of the Armenian national committees and offices, from achieving a solution to the Artsakh problem in the current situation to the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
The meeting was attended by the representative of the ARF Bureau and the chairman of the conference Hakob Ter - Khachatryan, Primate of the National Assembly of the Artsakh Republic Artur Tovmasyan, Primate of the Artsakh Diocese His Grace Bishop Vrtanes Abrahamyan, members of the ARF Bureau “Armenian Cause”.
At the beginning of the conference, His Holiness conveyed his blessing to everyone present:
"Dear Mr. Chairman Hakob Ter - Khachatryan, President of the National Assembly Artur Tovmasyan, honorary members of the ARF Bureau and the "Armenian Cause" Committee, dear present!
We sincerely welcome all efforts aimed at identifying and solving the problems of the Armenian people, in particular the Armenians of Artsakh, in these difficult times. Therefore, we bring our fatherly blessings to the participants of this conference, initiated by the "Armenian Cause" commission of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, and wish them fruitful success in their work.
Looking back, we can take into account the fact that the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun was formed in a historical period (1890), which is in many ways similar to the current situation. And it seems that the time has come to re-engage in the work with the same determination and vision that Zoryan, Zavaryan and Mikaelyan had when creating this worthy institute.
Since 1944, this structure has become the first in the diaspora to promote the thesis that the Armenian people have the right to a free life in their historical homeland and is still voicing this on various international platforms. The "Armenian Cause" structure, to this day, plays the role of a lawyer for the Armenian people through its regional, state and city commissions operating in about thirty countries.
- Artsakh question
- The process of recognition, condemnation and retribution for the Armenian Genocide.
- Assistance to the Republic of Armenia in international interstate relations and on the platforms of parliamentary diplomacy.
- Restoration of the territorial integrity of the Republic of Artsakh.
These are the most important goals that the Armenian National Committee has long set for itself. And it is not at all an accident that we have gathered together in Artsakh today, because the political and tactical priorities of the ARF "Armenian Cause" begin and end in Artsakh.
Today we are happy to state that significant progress has been achieved in all of the above points. Thanks to the tireless work of the organizations of the Armenian cause all over the world, the Artsakh issue gained an even greater impetus. Artsakh established numerous decentralized friendly relations with more than 25 cities of the world, the "Pro Artsakh" platform was created, uniting for international friends of Artsakh. In the USA, in Europe, a large-scale work was carried out to protect the interests of Artsakh and to provide humanitarian aid.
The role of the Armenian National Committee in the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide is invaluable, as a result of which more than 30 states have officially recognized the crime against the Armenian people as genocide.
Dear participants, since the commission of the "Armenian Cause" has a worldwide specificity, as the head of the Artsakh diocese, we appeal to you with our request to more actively raise the "Artsakh Spiritual Cause" in the international arena.
In this regard, it is necessary to emphasize the large-scale assimilation of Christian values of Armenian origin by Turkey and Azerbaijan, on the one hand, declaring them "privatized" or "Udi", on the other hand, the destruction of obviously historical monuments, which has a clear legal formulation of cultural genocide.
The atrocities that are still being committed in Shushi, the ancient Armenian cultural center of Artsakh, under the direct initiative and leadership of the Azerbaijani authorities, are clearly aimed at eliminating the Armenian trace and destroying the phenomenon of the Armenian fortress city.
As a result of the 44-day war on the side of Azerbaijan, 161 monasteries and churches, 591 khachkars, 345 tombstones, 108 cemeteries and shrines, 43 fortresses, castles, palaces and 208 other monuments of the Artsakh diocese were threatened. The evidence that they are in danger is the attack on the Ghazanchetsots church in Shushi, the bombing of the Kanach Zham church in Shushi, the complete destruction of the Holy Mother of God church in Mekhakavan, the removal of the inscription of the Holy Mother of God church in the Tsakuri village of the Hadrut region by the hands of the President of Azerbaijan, the fact of the presentation of Dadivank and Gandzasar Albanian and many other unsolved cases.
In our opinion, it is necessary to develop a jointly agreed program, submit it to the relevant structures, with the expectation of practical steps, in this the "Armenian Cause" national committee can play a great role.
Today, Armenian identity, faith and culture are under threat again, and the enemy is the same as then. Unfortunately, Nzhdeh's words that “the history of Armenia teaches us that Armenians do not learn anything from their history” has become a reality. Our longtime enemy constantly tries to suppress our will to live free in various ways in order to make us an unviable and unstable unit that can be easily used for our own benefit. It is not easy to bring the Armenian people to their knees, so they chose the slow version of the struggle. “Divide and conquer” - this teaching of the ancient world began to be applied in relation to us. If we look around, we can see divisions in all areas, from faith to family.
Wide paths of salvation with beautiful packaging, perversions covered with a democratic and humanitarian veil, systematic propaganda against the pillars of the state - family, school, church. We are convinced that in the final victory of the Armenian cause it is necessary to create a strong homeland and state, therefore, in addition to raising our voice in the international arena, we must work to strengthen the national Armenian statehood by spreading love and fidelity in the family, educating polite and patriotic people in school and uniting people under the auspices of the church and God. The Great Motherland is the best defender of the Armenian Cause.
But it would be naive to think that only the Turks are the enemies of our nation and that we should only focus on fighting them. Our greatest enemy is evil, with its different faces, because we chose the path of light and Christ thousands of years before the birth of Christ, through Hayk Nahapet and these attacks on our nation are natural.
But as clear as this reality is, it is also clear that if a person or a nation does not want to submit to evil, they can win because God is their helper. Therefore, today, more than ever, we need to cast aside all our differences and work to restore the shattered unity of the nation. Only unconditional unity will allow us to save Artsakh from final loss and, on this basis, to advance our just cause.
Dear participants, in conclusion, I would like to end my speech with the words of a prominent national church figure, the Armenian Catholicos St. Nerses Shnorkhali, which should be a reference point in all our national initiatives:
"Freedom in the secondary, unity in the important, love in everything."
