Two Documents from a Crucial Era

Vahe H. Apelian

I consider the decade spanning from December 7, 1988, when an earthquake that happened at 11:41 a.m. local time that devasted a part of Armenia to February 3, 1998, when the first nationally elected president of the nascent Republic of Armenia, resigned, the most crucial decade that would shape the course the Armenian history and the shadow of the first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan would remain looming larger than the rest of his contemporaries during those crucial 10 years.

Naturally many historians will study that period and its impact on the course of the nascent Republic of Armenia. But I will simply refer to two documents from that period that are mentioned, along with the Constitution, in promoting the “Hayakve” initiative that is expected to continue until August 19, (2023). The statement the citizens of Armenia are called upon to sign in support of the “Hayakve” initiative, IS GENERAL AND UNSPECIFIC. Those who sign attest to an “A statement of Confirmation” (Havasdakir), to the following: "Today you take control of the constitution and the laws of your state, the fate of your generations". In Armenian, the statement reads as follows: Հավաստագիր` «Այսօրդուն տէր կանգնիր քո պետութեան սահմանադրութեան ու օրէնքներին, քուսերունդների ճակատագրին»  

The chronology of these three documents that are being referenced to bolster the “Hayakve” initiative are as follows: The Declaration of Independence on 23 August 1990; the July 8, 1992 declaration by the Supreme Council of the Republic of Armenia. The Constitution was adopted in 1995. I will refer to the 23 August 1990 and to the July 8, 1992 declarations. 

The 23 August 1990 Declaration is signed by Levon Ter-Petrosyan as the President of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Armenia and Ara Sahakian as the Secretary of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Armenia and is dated: Yerevan, August 23, 1990. The declaration reads: The full document may be read at this link:  https://www.gov.am/en/independence/

The referendum for the independent Republic of Armenia on September 21, 1991, affirmed the first article in the Declaration of Independence that reads: “1. The Armenian SSR is renamed the Republic of Armenia (Armenia). The Republic of Armenia shall have its flag, coat of arms, and anthem.”

But, I simply could not track down the other referenced document, that is to say the July 8, 1992 declaration in the internet. I do not know who signed that document and where was it initiated, whether in Yerevan itor in Stepanakerk. The only reference to that July 8, 1992 declaration I came across is the following that my friend Ara Mekhsian who quoted the following in a message to me. “With regard to the July 8, 1992 Supreme Council declaration, this is all I could find: "Any international or domestic document, in which the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh is mentioned as part of Azerbaijan, is considered unacceptable for the Republic of Armenia." The quote is referenced in  “THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY STATEMENT”, dated May 22, 2023. The link from an insecure site:  http://www.nankr.am/en/5212

I let the more informed minds to give substance and credence to that generalized statement of the “Hayakve” initiative aiming the constitutional criminalization of the Armenians who deny the Armenian Genocide and/or deny the right of the Artsakh Armenians for self-determination, by quoting these two documents to bolster their argument for criminalizing at the constitutional level.

 p.s. After posting my blog, Agop Aintablian, M.D., posted the attached writeup, dated July 8, 1992 (see below). I am not sure if I can qualify it as a document as the write up is not signed and alleges that it is from the SUPREME COUNCIL OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA but the source is not listed. I think the “Hayakve” initiative should not have been undertaken relying on an unsigned document. I. also wonder if readers find justifiable to use th June 8, 1992 statement whose source remains obscure.