Sargsyan Diaspora tour over Turkey deal wins both praise and skepticism at home
President Serzh Sargsyan’s planned trips to Diaspora communities (beginning Thursday) to talk about the latest developments in his yearlong rapprochement with Turkey have elicited mixed reactions among political and public circles of Armenia ranging from complete and utter praise and approval to skeptical views and dismissal as irrelevant.
Sargsyan announced his weeklong tour to meet with Diaspora in Russia (post-Soviet countries), the Middle East, Europe and America during his meeting with Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II last week. He said this was a necessary and important part of the six-week “internal political discussions” in Armenia around the draft protocols on establishing diplomatic ties and developing bilateral relations unveiled by Yerevan and Ankara on August 31. (The initialed protocols, according to some reports, may be signed by the two countries’ foreign ministers as early as October 10, several days before Sargsyan’s expected visit to Turkey to attend a soccer game involving the two countries’ national teams).
Some Diaspora leaders have expressed serious concern about key points of the protocols. They are particularly critical of the planned establishment of a Turkish-Armenian intergovernmental sub-commission to study historical discrepancies that primarily include the 1915-1918 genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. Diaspora groups also oppose another key clause that commits Armenia to recognizing its existing border with Turkey. They argue that it would preclude future claims to territories in modern Turkey that were historical Armenian lands and were populated by Armenians until their mass killings and deportations during World War I.
Hakob Avetikyan, editor-in-chief of the leading Armenian daily Azg, welcomes Sargsyan’s initiative as “a new quality” in Armenia’s political culture.
“A new quality is entering our political culture when the republic’s president visits four countries and holds meetings not with their government circles but with representatives of the [Armenian] Diaspora. This, I think, will become a tradition and will be practiced on other important occasions,”
Avetikyan says, adding that the visits only emphasize the importance of the Diaspora for Armenia.
“The circumstance of the Diaspora emphasizes the importance of the Genocide [recognition]. And it is a serious message sent to the Diaspora, the international community and Turkey,” he says.
Earlier this month, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Armenia to free itself from the influence of its Diaspora, which he said was “of no use” to Armenia. The remarks that apparently reflected Turkey’s dismay at the longstanding efforts of the Armenian Diaspora to convince the world governments to recognize the Ottoman-era killings and deportations of more than 1.5 million Armenians as genocide prompted a rare reaction from the Armenian foreign minister who urged Turkey “to respect the survivors of the Armenian Genocide and their descendants.”
Avetikyan further argues that it is under the Sargsyan administration that the Armenian Diaspora has been given prominent attention, in particular with the establishment of the Ministry of the Diaspora in Armenia and enforcement of the law on dual citizenship.
Caucasus Institute Director Alexander Iskandaryan also hails Sargsyan’s move as appropriate and even “a little belated”.
“The Diaspora is very diverse, it is not united. Genocide is a component of identity for all Armenians. However, it is the basic component for many Diaspora Armenians. Generally, Diasporas are always much more extremist [in their views] that peoples living in their homelands,” says Iskandaryan.
Meanwhile, Sargsyan’s planned visits to Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Beirut and Rostov-on-Don to meet representatives of local and relatively close Diasporas have been called irrelevant by a number of opposition political groups in Armenia. Others view the move as ineffective and fear it is aimed at creating an ‘illusion’ of Diaspora support for the Sargsyan policy.
Also, concerns have been expressed that the Diaspora will not provide a friendly reception to the Armenian president on his tour following reported recent protests in different Armenian communities, including in Los Angeles, and strong reactions and concerns in regards to the protocols voiced by a number of leading groups.
Speaking in Yerevan earlier this week, Hampig Sarafian, Chairman of the U.S. Western Region of the oldest Armenian Diaspora-based party, Social-Democratic Hunchakian Party, expressed the opinion that the Armenia-Turkey protocols “will alienate Armenia from its Diaspora, creating a wall of distrust between the two.”
He expressed concerns that Sargsyan’s meetings in the Diaspora could prove ineffective.
“We are concerned that they may find and meet with a couple of circles that will express a positive attitude and then show it on the H1 channel (Armenian Public Television), and say that the Diaspora mainly agrees. This indeed will be greatly disappointing,” Sarafian said.
Source: ArmeniaNow – Original Article
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