ANCA Chairman Remarks to President Serge Sargsyan in New York (Oct 3)

Armenian National Committee of Canada
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Kenneth V. Hachikian
ANCA Chairman Remarks to President Serge Sargsyan in New York (Oct 3)

Mr. President:

The Armenian National Committee of America stands with the
overwhelming majority of the Armenian American community in opposition
to the intense pressure by Turkey and its allies to force Armenia into
accepting a flawed and dangerous set of Protocols that threaten the
security of Armenia, surrender the rights of the Armenian nation, and
insult the dignity of the Armenian people.

Among the ANCA’s primary concerns, in keeping with the basic American
principles of fairness and the enduring values of the Armenian nation,
is that Armenia, illegally blockaded by Turkey and under intense
economic and diplomatic pressure, is being forced into accepting terms
that threaten her interests, rights, safety, and future – very notably
in the form of a proposed “historical commission’, whatever its
composition turns out to be. This provision, a tactic long pursued by
Ankara to cast doubt on the historical record of the Armenian
Genocide, is clearly intended to serve Turkey’s drive to roll back the
growing tide of international recognition of this crime against
humanity.  There can be, as a matter of basic morality and political
reality, no enduring relationship between Armenia and Turkey that is
not built upon the foundation of Turkey’s acceptance of a true and
just resolution with respect to the Armenian Genocide.

Further, these Protocols outrageously surrender the historical rights
of the Armenian nation to a just resolution of the Armenian
Genocide. They also dangerously undermine the right to freedom and
self-determination for the Nagorno Karabagh Republic.

Mr. President, your actions in pursuing these protocols are
naïve. They are reckless. And they are simply irresponsible. Your
assertion that they do not contain any preconditions insults our
intelligence. The requirement for a commission of historians, which I
might point out has been soundly rejected by the International
Association of Genocide Scholars, the formal recognition of borders,
and the acknowledgement of territorial integrity without any mention
of self-determination are all preconditions imposed and insisted upon
by Turkey, which you have unwisely accepted at the point of their
blackmail of the closed borders. These preconditions were and are
requirements of Turkey: they are the price you are willing to pay to
the Turkish blackmailers. Many countries readily normalize relations
without such one-sided preconditions.

How dare you accede to Turkish blackmail when our forbearers
sacrificed so much and suffered at the hands of the Turks, who to this
very day deny the Genocide which the rest of the world acknowledges?

How dare you attempt to squander the political capital that so many
have, at great sacrifice, built up over the decades in capitals around
the world? And make no mistake, signing the Protocols would put at
risk that very capital. You have no moral right to do so. You have no
power to do so. And we will not allow you to do so.

You cannot take away the rights of our nation and our people simply
because you view yourself as the savior of our country. You are not
saving our country: you are relegating us to a subservient position
to Turkey while simply abandoning our rights to justice. Your efforts
are doomed to failure.

You will be remembered as the president who led our country to a path
of dependency, who foolishly bargained away our lands, whose
misjudgments led us to a weakened status. If you go forward with these
Protocols, your legacy will be deeply flawed.

Do not attempt to hide behind the support of the minority who blindly
offer support for your initiatives. They are not the true grassroots
of the Diaspora. They simply do not represent the majority of the
community. In the face of our vigilance in confronting successive US
administrations over their blind and unwavering support for Turkey,
their default position is to support these policies of the US State
Department. They are the same people who surrendered Section 907 of
the Freedom Support Act, who supported the disastrous Turkish Armenian
Reconciliation Commission, and who supported the nomination of Richard
Hoagland, a morally reprehensible genocide denier, to be ambassador to
Armenia. They no longer have political relevance in our
community. Don’t be seduced by their meaningless support.

Mr. President, you are making a grave mistake here. I hope you have
the wisdom to listen to your countrymen and to back away from this
disastrous agreement, before you bring great harm to our country, to
our people, and to your presidency.