RAFFI K. HOVANNISIAN SENDS LETTER TO U.S. PRESIDENT

Raffi K. Hovannisian, independent Armenia's first minister of foreign affairs and leader of Heritage opposition sent an open letter to U.S. President Barack Obama. The letter reads: “It is often easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them. In another time but at the same place, presidential contender Adlai Stevenson was setting the scene generations later for President Obama and his administration. As unfair as it is to be held up as everyone's lighthouse of liberty and justice, Barack Obama was elected president on his self-projection as that very beacon. He and his world-power colleagues, for both principle and posterity, must not allow themselves the comfort, however transient, to play feel-good god in mockery of historical tragedy and in defiance of contemporary imperatives to right the wrongs of the past. Earlier this month, G8 leaders Obama, Sarkozy, and Medvedev issued a joint declaration softly pre-imposing a superpower solution on Armenia and the freedom-loving people of Artsakh, otherwise known as Mountainous Karabagh. Years before recognition of Kosovo and Abkhazia became current fashion and counter-fashion, Karabagh was the first autonomous territory of the old USSR to challenge Stalin's divide-and-conquer legacy and to raise the standard of decolonization and liberation from its Soviet Azerbaijani yoke by means of a constitutional referendum on independence in December 1991. Azerbaijan responded to this legitimate quest for self-determination with a failed war of aggression, resulting as it did in tens of thousands of casualties, more than a million refugees, countless lost birthrights, collaterally damaged cultural heritage, and a new strategic balance on both sides of the bitter divide, and so sued for ceasefire in May 1994. Barack and company now wish for the Armenians, having suffered both an unrequited genocide and the greatest ever of national dispossessions at the hands of Ottoman Turkey nearly a century ago, to cede even more of their ancestral patrimony and their newly-achieved sovereignty by calling on them to withdraw unilaterally from «occupied» areas belonging to the Republic of Mountainous Karabagh in exchange for some foggy-bottomed diplomatic formulation about a future plebiscite. Armenia says no, thank you. If President Barack Obama and his distinguished new-age colleagues want to demonstrate that the conscience of humanity has survived the second millennium, that equity can still obtain in international affairs, and that an even and comprehensive application of the law, not self-serving parochial politics, rules this century, then they might wake up to a new mirror and proclaim the following. *Should Mountainous Karabagh or any of its constituent parts be considered by anybody as occupied, then clearly the historical Armenian heartlands of Shahumian, Getashen, Gardmank, and Nakhichevan must immediately be acknowledged to be under Azerbaijani occupation. Worse yet, official Baku is demolishing, with malice aforethought, the last vestiges of Armenian Christian heritage in its jurisdiction, the most recent documented crime of dastardly proportions having taken place in December 2005 upon the no-longer-existent medieval chapels, cross-stones, and divine offerings at Jugha, Nakhichevan. Had the perpetrator been the Taliban—or the victim a sacred Semitic cemetery—America, Europe, Russia, and all of world civilization would have been rightfully outraged and demanded remedial action forthwith. * If the rule of law is not a hoax or a decoy or an instrument of whim and duress, then the Mighty Three must together—and simultaneously—recognize Kosovo, Abkhazia, and Mountainous Karabagh as independent states fitting the definitional requirements of the Montevideo Convention. All must be recognized by all, or else none by none. The sui generis argument is distinction without difference. * The government of republican Turkey—the successor regime bearing the rights and obligations of its genocidal predecessor—can no longer play dog-and-tail tag with the United States, the European Union, and the Russian Federation. Ankara's normally astute diplomacy has forgone the 18-year opportunity since Armenia's declaration of sovereignty to establish official relations with it without the positing by either side of any political preconditions. It has, most unfortunately, done so from the very beginning first by presenting preconditions of its own (including those turning on Karabagh and «occupied» territories), then holding Armenia in an unlawful blockade tantamount to an act of war, and finally speaking the language of blackmail and double-down intrigue with Washington, Brussels, and Moscow. * Of course, the trinity of power all have talked the walk pursuant to their own petty interests of the day. President Obama's double-speak on genocide and its shameful denial, at Ankara in April followed by Buchenwald* in June, is a classic in point. But if Obama and friends are serious about the new global order, then they might find the fortitude to remind Turkey, as key partner and good neighbor, that it stands in occupation of the ancient Armenian homeland and owes a debt of atonement and redemption to the Armenian nation. And no crowning Bolshevik-Kemalist compact from 1921, a full generation before Molotov-Ribbentrop, can serve to rationalize the great genocide, nor purport to regulate the relations and frontiers between the modern Republics of Turkey and Armenia. That is their sovereign duty mutually to resolve, but if anyone in Washington or elsewhere requires guidance on crimes against humanity, ways and means of restitution, and definitions of occupation, «the memory hole» of expedient forgetting can be duly overcome in the US National Archives, its records on the Armenian genocide, and most poignantly the provisions of President Woodrow Wilson's arbitral award, issued under his seal in November 1920 and legally controlling to this day, to Armenia and its people. Now, who was taking that pledge to liberty and justice for all? It was us, and Obama: “We must be ever-vigilant about the spread of evil in our own time, that we must reject the false comfort that others' suffering is not our problem, and commit ourselves to resisting those who would subjugate others to serve their own interests.”

<< | Home | >>

Translate

RSS © Panarmenian

Headlines for August 01, 2009

WEEKLY DIGEST OF FOREIGN CURRENCY DEALS
USD 60,033,675 was bought at average price of AMD 367.71 /USD 1 and USD 52,598,626 was sold at average price of AMD 369.47 / USD 1 at Armenian foreign currency market on July 27 -31. Deals amounting ...
ANCIENT CROSS DESTROYED BY VANDALS RESTORED IN KIEV’S ARMENIAN CATHEDRAL
An ancient wooden 17th century cross, destroyed by vandals, was restored in Kiev’s Armenian Cathedral. Restoration was conducted under the guidance of Lvov restorer Yuri Ostrovskiy. An interesting detail ...
ARMECONOMBANK CONTINUES ATM CHAIN EXPANSION
, Armeconombank Press Service reported. 3 more automatic cash terminals were put into operation in Yerevan. 50 Armeconombank ATMs are currently operating in Yerevan and RA regions. Armeconombank ...
GURGEN NARIMANYAN: IT’S NECESSARY TO ADAPT TO NEW REALITY
Economic crisis offers new opportunities for a large number of companies, Financial director of Star supermarket chain Gurgen Narimanyan said in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. According ...
NABUCCO PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION POSSIBLE UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS
“The implementation of Nabucco project is possible under certain conditions. There are some issues, which required hard working. For example, volume of the gas the consumers need. The project can be implemented ...
UN LAUNCHES COMPETITION FOR BEST SHORT FILM ON NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT
On Saturday the United Nations is launching a competition for the best short film on the issue of nuclear disarmament and/or non-proliferation. This is part of the ongoing “We must disarm campaign “and ...
CSTO INFORMATION SECURITY CENTER TO BE SET UP IN RUSSIA
At an informal summit CSTO member states had a frank and constructive discussion on issues of information security, struggle against religious extremism and terrorism in OSTE zone, Head of the Summit, ...
PROGRESSION POSSIBLE WITHOUT PRECONDITIONS ONLY
The problem of the Turkish-Armenian border is pressing, said Bahaeddin Güngör, head of Deutsche Welle’s Turkish department. “On the one hand, Ankara is unwilling to open the border unless Azeri refugees ...
IRAN OPPOSITION RIOT PARTICIPANTS PUT ON TRIAL
The trial to prosecute a group of 100 'rioters' who opposed the election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has begun in a revolutionary court in Tehran, Fars news agency reported.. Iranian news networks ...
ARMENIAN CONSUMERS WILL BENEFIT FROM SUMMER PRICE DECREASE
Within recent months a tendency towards price slump is registered at Armenian consumer market, connected with seasonal price fluctuations on some consumer goods. According to National Statistic Service ...
RUSSIA WILL CONTINUE WITH TECHNICAL CSTO CHAIRMANSHIP
until Byelorussia is ready to assume its functions in full, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov told a news conference in Russia. According to him Byelorussia President stated at the summit ...
MARIAM MATOSSIAN TO PERFORM AT WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN CLUB
Canadian vocalist of Armenian heritage Mariam Matossian will be performing with Free Planet Radio at White Horse Black Mountain club on Saturday, Aug. 1. Mariam Matossian is passionate about her culture, ...
AAC CONSTANTINOPLE PATRIARCHATE TO MARK 550TH ANNIVERSARY IN 2011
Constantinople Patriarchate of the Armenian Apostolic Church will mark its 550th anniversary in 2011. The clergy met in the Patriarch’s residence on July 28 to discuss festivities to be held on the occasion, ...
CSTO MEMBER SATES TO STRENGTHEN COOPERATION
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan took part in an informal summit of CSTO leaders, who gathered in Kyrgyzstan to exchange views on responsibility zones and international security issues. “We had an open ...
RAFFI K. HOVANNISIAN SENDS LETTER TO U.S. PRESIDENT
2
Raffi K. Hovannisian, independent Armenia's first minister of foreign affairs and leader of Heritage opposition sent an open letter to U.S. President Barack Obama. The letter reads: “It is often easier ...
ATP TO PLANT 15 MILLION TREES TILL 2015
The Armenia Tree Project (ATP), a non-profit organization based in the US and Armenia, has shot “Each Tree…” 15-minute documentary about the organization’s activities in the republic. “We screened the ...
PAN-ARMENIAN GAMES BASKETBALL AND FOOTBALL DRAW HELD IN YEREVAN
The Armenian Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs held today a draw for basketball and football tournaments of Pan-Armenian games to be held from August 9 to 16. 16 teams from Armenia, Georgia, Nagorno ...
LUBOV KAZARNOVSKAYA TO PERFORM IN YEREVAN
Prominent opera singer Lyubov Kazarnovskaya will give a concert in the Armenian government’s Reception House on August 2. The concert is dated to the Day of Railwayman and is initiated by the South Caucasus ...
ARMENIA’S BROWSER MARKET SEES TOUGH COMPETITION
According to statcounter.com statistic resource, three browsers are most popular in Armenia. 35,1% of Armenian internet-users prefer Firefox. It’s followed by Internet Explorer (32,45%) and Opera (25,77%). ...
ANIMATORS FROM 13 COUNTRIES TO PARTICIPATE IN REANIMANIA ANIMATED FILM FESTIVAL
Animators from 13 countries will participate in ReAnimania animated film festival to be held in Yerevan from October 3 to 6. Then, best animation films will be screened in Shushi, Nagorno Karabakh Republic. ...