The Naiveté and Betrayal of an Armenian Nationalist

 I have attached my abridged translation of the naive introduction to the “The Armenian’s Songbook" (Hayoun Yergaran), Hmayag Aramiants compiled in 1911 in Constantinople. He was a staunch believer of the socialism, the Social Democrat Hnchakian Party espoused. He was similarly  enamored by the promise of the Ottoman Constitution and ardently believed in its slogans of Freedom, Equality, Justice and Fraternity. He must have been so upset  when he learned that Hnchakian's party not only saw a virulent racism behind the slogans of comradeship the new Turkish order proclaimed but also determined to assassinate its principles, Hmayag Aramiants betrayed his own party, to salvage the promise of socialism of the new order, albeit Turkish. The apparent mindset in his introuduction appears to be endemic of the Armenian denizens in the Ottoman Empire just before the genocide. They bared themselves to the Constitutional Ottoman authorities, a Turkish order nonetheless. Such was the compilation of this song book that  he praised those who raised arms against the Hamidian oppressive regime, but a Turkish regime none the less, believing that the new Turkish order will not only understand, but appreciate. 

His betrayal of his party led to public hanging of twenty Hnchakian leaders, decimating the Hnchakian party.  Arshak Yeztanian, a member of thje Armenian Revolutionay Federation, sanctioned by the Nemesis Operation, assassinated Hmayag Aramiants in Constantinople.

Those interested by read the tale of the songbook he compiled, and about his betrayal,  may check the two links listed below. Vahe H. Apelian

Celebrating Ottoman Constitution. The Banners on the right and on the left read are 
inscribed in Armenian

“Only recently, when I decided to give the Armenian public the  historical summary of the Social Democrat Hnchakian Party from 1887-1911, I noticed that it would be more beneficial to highlight the many songs written about  Armenian Revolutionary Heroes of that period in a separate publication.

In addition, when I had in front of me a number of newly published songbooks, both in Dajikistant (Turkey) and abroad, I saw that not only our latest revolutionary epic was not properly presented in them, but also many songs were distorted, corrupted, and some of them were outright degutted of their true message. This was true in particularly for the Hnchakian's songs. They have been subjected to ugly manipulations.

Therefore, I considered it necessary to collect, do a light proofreading remaining, as much as possible, faithful to their true meaning and spirit of the songs; transcribe and publish them in the present "THE ARMENIAN’S SONGBOOK”. I like to believe that it will, more or less, satisfy the legitimate demand of the lovers of Armenian songs.

I have no illusion, of course, to present this as a complete work, because in addition to the difficulties of the work, some external obstacles were also created.  Foolish efforts and non-benevolent sentiments were directed against the lofty goals of the Armenian Revolutionary songs in the pretext that it pitted them against the collective motherland (note: Turkey) and its constituents. Such sentiments are not only sad, but outright ugly.

I tried to push all such sentiments away considering that the patriotism of the nations is their highest mission to cast it under any doubt. In my opinion, a nation like ours living under the Hamidian regime and waging a struggle of existence against it, could not have a different outlook, and  could not have charted a different political path than what the well-known history of the Armenian Revolution shows.

Armenians facing forced assimilation and Armenocide, conditioned their right to a decent living by adhering to a separate fate for Armenia than the one imposed by the state policies of Sultan Hamid. Those sentiments are clearly expressed in the folk songs that not only do not betray true patriotism, but also are living proof of Armenians’ political maturity. and to its  noble political courage, until the state organization was subjected to a radical reform, and with the introduction of the constitutional egalitarian system that forced all the subjects of the vast Ottoman Empire to unite around a nationwide constructive work, under the noble banner of Freedom, Equality, Justice and Fraternity, putting an end to all kinds of discrimination and instilling in its constituent nationalities a soul-stirring love, respect and self-sacrifice towards the Motherland and its future. Thus, the living sentiments of righteous Anger and National Self-Determination against the dictatorial regime can never disturb the peace of mind and the tranquility of the souls of its free citizens in a free country, whether they are public officials, whether they are servants of the law or ordinary citizens.

For me, the songs of a nation are inviolable sanctities, as much as history itself is with its various manifestations. There should never be an obstacle to their pristine preservation, just as it should not occur to anyone in the preservation of this or that episode historical history, even if it is not in line with current understandings.

That was the reason why I made every effort to compile in the "The Armenian’sSongbook”. Some of the songs have appeared in various editions while some other songs have remained obscure. The reader will form an opinion about the compilation when he or she peruses the songbook.

Notes:

The Armenian's Hymnal: http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2017/04/tale-of-armenian-hymnal.html

Hmayag Aramiants: http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2020/04/tale-of-armenian-hymnal-22-betrayal-and.html

Tale of an Armenian Hymnal (2/2) – Betrayal and Revenge

Vahe H. Apelian

I concluded the previous part of a “Tale of an Armenian Hymnal” (1/2) article,  as follows: Did he survive?  I do not know of any other hymnal from Hmayag Aramiants.” The question pertained to the compiler of the Armenian song book, Hmayag Aramiants. (https://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2017/04/tale-of-armenian-hymnal.html).

A few readers, including the well-informed Zaven Zakarian, wondered if the author of the songbook was no other than the infamous Hmayag Aramiants who betrayed the Social-Democrat Hunchakian party causing the well-known tragic event in the recent Armenian history  known as “ The 20 Hunchakian Gallows”. The revelation was news for me. I had come to learn about Hmayag Aramiants' name by association with the hymnal he compiled.

In retrospect I believe that the author of the hymnal and the betrayer of the Hunchakian party is one and the same person Zaven Zakarian suspected. That is to say Hmayag Aramiants. I base my affirmation on the following premises.

The songbook Hmayag Aramiants published in 1911 is a collection of the songs that leaned towards  socialism, including international brotherhood, the cornerstone of socialism. In his preface he comes across as a true believer in the promise of  socialistic order that is meant to transcend race and unite the different races of the Ottoman Empire as a common class in the pursuit of their well-being. He thus comes across as  an ardent believer in the new order in the Ottoman Empire trusting in the promise of the Justice, Equality and Liberty the new order was supposed to bring. He had the march of Ittihad included in the hymnal.

Then there is his uncommon personal and family names. It is not likely that the author had his namesake during the same time in Constantinople who turned out to be a traitor. A search in the internet indicated that Hmayag Aramiants had authored at least another book (booklet?) titled “Political and Economic Liberty” which, the front cover indicates, is the lecture he gave during a meeting  that took place between Sepember 19-23, 1908, in the Geyeg Pasha neighborhood of Constantinople.  He had the book published the same year. It is not likely that there were two persons named Hmayag Aramiants who harbored  such political and economic interests. (Note: “Ազատութիւն Քաղաքկան եւՏնտեսական”. Ատենախօսութիւն (Արատասանուծ Կ.Պոլսոյ Կէտիկ Փաշա Թաղը գումարուածմիթինկին մէջ 19/23 Սեպտմեմբեր 1908)

Hmayag Aramiants was a member of the Hunchak Party. In the songbook, he had a full-page picture of a poster of two freedom fighters displaying a flag that reads  “Freedom or Death” (Mah gam Azadoutiun). The poster header read: ‘kharperti “Kharbeti Hunchak Martyrs” (Hunchagian Voghpatsial Nahadagner).

Finally, what transpired to the Hunchakian Party at the time could have  come about only by a well-placed member of the party who was privy of the inner deliberations of the party at the highest level.

The Committee of Union and Progress, that is to say the Ittihad ve Terakki Cemiyeli party, which appeared to be generally referred to as the Itthihad party, was a movement that led the Young Turk revolution take over the Empire in 1908 and ushered the Empire into a constitutional order with elected representatives giving way to the Armenian Ottoman parliamentarians in the person of Krikor Zohrab and others. The Armenians in general accepted the promise of the new order with enthusiasm. However, the Hunchak party harbored serious reservations about the true intent of the Young Turk movement suspecting that it was racist in its core and that the Young Turks would be detrimental to the Armenians, as the Adana massacre made  plainly evident for them. Hence the party positioned itself against the Young Turk leaders, including naturally Talaat Pasha, and intended to assassinate them. 

I quote below Wikipedia to note what transpired between the publication of the Hmayag Aramiants collection of songs in 1911 and the fruition of the inner working of the Social Democrat Hnchakian Party, two years later, that is to say in 1913.

The 7th General Convention of the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party which was held in Constanta, Romania, in 1913, and adjourned with two main objectives:  "As stated in its original program, the party was to move from licit to illicit activities, thus becoming once again a covert organization. II - To plan and assassinate the leaders of the Ittihad (Young Turk) party, the same leaders that carried out the Adana massacres of 1909, and thus the same leaders who at that moment were planning the annihilation of the Armenian people. 

However, these secret objectives were passed on to the Ottomans by an agent; consequently, as soon as the delegates arrived in Constantinople, they were arrested. By the end of the year a total of one hundred and forty Hunchak leaders were arrested.

After spending two years in terrible conditions in Ottoman prisons, and undergoing lengthy mock trials, twenty prominent figures  were sentenced to death by hanging. A few weeks after the beginning of the Armenian Genocide  on June 15, 1915, all twenty men were hanged in the central square of Constantinople, known as Sultan Bayazid Square.”

That agent who passed on those secret party objectives to the Ottoman authorities surely was Hmayag Aramiants, the person who compiled the songbook; the Hnchakian party member and the ardent socialist who was naive enough to claim in the preface of his songbook that the armed resistance of the Armenians waged against the Hamidian regime, a Turkish regime nonetheless, would be understood and even appreciated by the Turkish bearers of the new slogan ostensibly for "Justice, Liberty, and Equality." It is likely that a rift had developed between Hmayag and his Hunchakian Party comrades-in-arms whom he viewed setting themselves in secret against the bearers of the "new" Turkish regime, the purported bearers of the very same ideology the Hunchak Party advocated, socialism and fraternity among the races.  

What happened to Hmayag Aramiants ?

Hmayag Aramiants was gunned down in Constantinople in 1920. His assassination was part of the Operation Nemesis that was conceived and carried out by the members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. Operation Nemesis brought to justice not only the Turk perpetrators of the Armenian genocide but also  treasonous Armenians. Hmayag Aramiants was one of them. His assassin was Arshag Yeztanian (Արշակ Եզդանյան) who, like the rest of avengers, was a member of the ARF. Nothing else appears to be known about Arshag.

Note:

Tale of an Armenian Hymnal (1/2):

http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2017/04/tale-of-armenian-hymnal.html

  

 

Tale of an Armenian Hymnal (1/2) - Compiling a Songbook.

Vahe H. Apelian

The article is reproduced from Keghart.com when I first posted it on June 1, 2011.

Several years ago, I purchased an Armenian hymnal on eBay from a bookseller in Turkey. It is titled ‘Hayoun Yerkaraneh’ (The Armenian’s Hymnal) by Hmayag Aramiants. The hard-cover hymnal was printed in Istanbul in 1911. Its 318 pages are very well preserved. There is a signature on the inner page that is hard to decipher to ascertain the name of the person who, in all probability, owned the hymnal at one time.

The hymnal is dedicated to the legendary Armenian woman named Shake’ who hurled herself down a precipice in Sassoon lest she be abducted by a Turk or a Kurd. There is a drawing of her with a rifle on her shoulder and a child in her lap looking down the precipice. The following is inscribed as the bottom legend of the picture: “Shake’, The Immortal Heroine of Sassoon”.

The dedication reads in part as follows: “Adorable Shake’, you illuminated a page of our modern day history with your heroism and you elevated the honor of the Armenian Woman and of the Armenian Race. Forgive me to dedicate this modest work in your memory as a token of my deep admiration towards you and to your innocent child”.

Recently, I gifted the book to Bedros Alahaidoyan, the eminent musicologist, whose life-long passion has been and continues to be the preservation of Armenian folk songs. He has single handedly salvaged the folk songs of Palou and preserved them by publishing the words and the musical notes of the songs in an exhaustive study titled Balui (yev Taratsashrjani) Yerazhshtakan Azgagrakan Havakatso (An Ethno-Musicological Collection of Palou and its Neighboring Areas). Upon receipt of the book, Bedros published an article in Armenian in this year’s April 24 special issue of Asbarez Daily. However, it’s the naïveté in the introduction that has caught my attention.

The hymnal definitely leans toward the Social Democratic Hnchak Party, as Bedros also assesses and claims that 90% of the songs and the majority of the pictures relate to that Party. However, the hymnal also carries the pictures of two prominent Tashnag freedom fighters – fedayens-, Kevork Chavoush and Hrair Tjoghk. There are also pictures of armed fedayen groups. Few of the songs of the hymnal have survived the test of time and are sung to this day.

The hymnal leans as well towards international brotherhood, the cornerstone of socialism. There is a picture of Karl Max along an Armenian song titled ‘Heghapokhoutiun’ (Revolution). There are Armenian songs dedicated to the social brotherhood, such as titled ‘Proletariat’ (in Armenian characters), ‘Enger Panvor’ (Comrade Laborer), ‘International’ (in Latin characters). The hymnal also contains at least one Turkish song tiled ‘Ittihad Marshe’ (The March of the Ittihad) in Armenian characters reading Turkish. Bedros Alahaidoyan claims that the few pictures of the non-Armenians in the hymnal are that of noted European socialists.

In the introduction, Hmayag Aramiants, trusting the “new order” of “Liberty, Equality, Justice”, naively notes that the Armenians living under the Hamidian regime could not have possibly chosen any other path towards social justice and could not have adopted political alignment other than manifested in the Armenian revolutionary movement. Furthermore, he notes, the self-preservation efforts of the Armenians under Hamid’s Armenocidal policies are in fact manifestations of noble and obedient citizenship that were eventually manifested “on the flag dedicated to Liberty, Equality and Justice”. Therefore, Hmayag concludes that "the just manifest of rightful Anger and Racial Self-Determination against the oppressive regime, cannot disturb the spiritual tranquility of free citizens, be they government employees, be they servants of laws, or just citizens”.

I do not think I need to elaborate on the sinister plans that were being laid down as Hmayag was writing the introductory notes of the hymnal he published. The naïveté of Hmayag and the majority of the Armenians in opening themselves to their inner most humane needs, I believe, played in the hands of those who were planning the “final solution” and served to justify the “righteousness” of their cause. That is not to say that the absence of such overt humane outbursts by the Armenian subjects would have changed the hearts and the minds of the new masters of the Ottoman Empire to set aside their policy of “cleansing” the Empire’s “heartland “.

With regard to the Armenians, including the flamboyant intellect and lawyer Krikor Zohrab, I believe, it would have been humanly impossible to imagine that extermination of such a magnitude, we have come to term as Genocide since 1943, could have possibly be fathomed and planned for execution by other human beings, be it Turks.

Over the years I have perused the hymnal many a time and wondered what happened to Hmayag Aramiants four years after publishing his hymnal, that is to say in 1915, as the planned genocide of the Armenians started being implemented. In his introduction he promised, if circumstances permit he wrote, to publish a second volume of the hymnal to complete the compiling of the Armenian revolutionary and nationalistic songs that were not included in this volume. 

Did he survive? I do not know of any other hymnal from Hmayag Aramiants.  

Note: Read the attached to find out who Hmayag Aramiants was and what happened to him.

http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/search?q=the+Betrayal

 

  

Kulüp (The Club) (No.1)

Vahe H. Apelian 

Kulüp is a six episodes long Turkish television miniseries that is being aired on Netflix in English as The Club. According to the Wikipedia the mini-series was released for viewing on November 5, 2021. The first season is currently being aired. I was drawn to watch the miniseries after I stumbled upon a review about the mini-series in Al Monitor, an online journal that claims to be the pulse of the Middle East.

According to the journal, the six-episode series are “about Turkey’s ever-shrinking Jewish minority, and that the mini-series have been both accused of waking the ghosts of the country’s turbulent past with its non-Muslim minorities and praised for breaking the code of silence among the Jews often called Turkey's "model minority” on the past injustices that deprived them of their wealth, language and in some cases, life.” 

Furthermore Al-Monitor claimed that “The series’ first season takes place before the infamous Sept. 6-7,1955, Istanbul riots in which Greek businesses were attacked by Turks after a newspaper fabricated a report of a bomb attack on the house where Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was born in the Greek city of Thessaloniki.”

It appears that the current six-episodes airing on the Neflix is the first season of the mini-series and that it will continue with subsequent seasons as the drama unfolds.

The current six-episodes, Al Monitor claims “revolves around Matilda Aseos, a Jewish woman in a once affluent family who has shot her Muslim Turkish lover Mumtaz for wrongly accusing her family of evading the wealth tax in 1942, when the government slapped enormous tariffs on the non-Muslim population, particularly Jews. Matilda’s family is ruined, and her father and brother are sent to Askale, a chilly northeastern border town to do forced labor, like so many other minorities.”  

The mini-series indeed is about that Jewish woman who hails from Sephardic Jews who came to Turkey in 1492 and who still maintain their distinct dialect  called Ladino, according to the Al-Monitor. She was pardoned and returned to her community and plays the central character of the mini-series along with her unruly grown-up daughter she had conceived from an out of wedlock relationship with a Muslim Turk. Matilda attempts to establish relationship with her daughter she never raised being incarcerated.  The drama of the six-episodes long season is thus aired.

The club, with its closeted gay singer star, is where and around the operators of the club that the drama unfolds. The club portrays the “ microcosm of the ethnic variety in Istanbul”, Al Monitor claims.

Other than the human relations drama, the following caught my attention.

- The mini-series amply present the Jewish Ladino community with their songs and in their distinct dialect without any rancor.

- The drama portrays the animosity against the Greek Turks over the Cyprus issue. 

- The club captures the drive for Turkification portrayed by the Greek owner of the club who has created a Muslim existence and promotes Turkification by firing his non-Turkish employees.

- The Armenian stage light director named Agop, who is a benign presence

- Greek dancing girls who are taken advantage of. 

- Cheap labor from the interior of the country who ar enslaved and work for room and board.

- Matilda, the Jewish woman center character, who had killed her Turk lover, came from a wealthy family that lost all its possession and her parents and brother were exiled and she never saw them again. The historical context of those tragic events that happened is not even glanced. But when she wanted to move to Israel after her pardon, her Jewish community leader wondered why leave Turkey where her ancestors had lived there for four hundred years.

The historical context within which the drama is supposed to unfold would have eluded me had I not read the review beforehand. I am sure for the general audience the unfolding of the drama will not tell much, if anything within a historical context. However, Al Monitor claims that the mini-series broke a taboo in Turkey. It claims that that the series whisper, rather than shout, about what Turkish society have gone through in their recent history and emphatically adds that  “sometimes a clear, eloquent whisper can be more effective than a shout.” Maybe it does to the Turkish audience. 

As I noted earlier, it’s the review I read in the Al-Monitor that led me to watch the mini-series. I cannot discount Al-Monitors assertion that the mini-series although is not a historical  documentation or anything close to it to capture what happened to Turkish minorities, in this case the Jews. But it may indeed be also indicative of a wider and a more profound mindset that is being permitted to permeate in the Turkish society as a whole and at large.

Let us be mindful that a decade ago the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan insulting Israel President Simon Peres, who was a longtime friend of Turkey, has long been swept by the history’s dustpan. One cannot discount that the sudden eminence of Turkey in the unmanned aerial combat technology– the Bayratar drones – is Israeli technology and their manning is Israli knowhow and that the Bayraktar venture is a  marriage between the Turkish huge military complex and Israel.

Al Monitor noted that “The second season is expected to pick up with the riots in which clearly pre-organized Turkish mobs took to the streets, attacking and plundering homes and shops owned by non-Muslims, mainly Greeks.” One cannot discount that there may be a dramatic shift in educating the Turkish public and softening their ingrained hostile perceptions of the Jews if not fostering an amicable relation at the grass root between the Turks and Israelis.

This series ended up when Matilda’s daughter, in turn, became pregnant out of wedlock from her relationship with a Turk taxi driver lover. But her prospective Jewish groom forgave her betrayal and accepted her pregnant fiancée and both moved to Israel to raise her child in Israel. 

The episode ended with both are captured looking longingly from the airplane over the Turkey as they moved to Israel to settle there. There is not a hint of animosity but a general unspoken perception of an apparent understanding of the two communities, Turkish and Jewish, that had grown with each other, as her Jewish mother remains in Turkey while her  pregnant daughter by a Turk, will raise her child in Israel.

 

 

From Kars to Shushi, a 100-year-old myth

The attached is my translation of Tatul Hakobyan’s recent thought provoking posting on Ani Armenian Research Center today, January 25, 2021. The original is attached. Vahe H. Apelian

 

It is a customary in the Armenian political reality to look for culprits elsewhere for our own defeats. The first Prime Minister of Armenia Hovhannes Kajaznuni, 100 years ago and after the fall of Kars, said: "To complain bitterly of bad luck and to look outside of us for the cause of our misfortunes is one of the characteristic features of our national psychology."

A century ago, when the Republic of Armenia lost its 30,000-square-kilometer homeland and became Soviet, the main political and ruling force of the day, the ARF, blamed their defeat on Bolshevik Russia, Kemalist Turkey for forming an alliance and drowning the 1000 days old infant republic in blood.

Yes, it is a historical fact that Lenin and Ataturk were allies over their common interst in Armenia. But was that the only cause for our defeat and loss of land? Was abandoning Kars almost without a fight only due to Bolshevik-Kemalist cooperation? Weren't we Armenians or the military-political leadership of those days not to blame? After the loss of Kars, Ani, Surmalu, Nakhichevan and other territories, not only ARF operators but others as well, left a lot of political literature where everyone else is blamed such as the Russians, the Turks, the British, but not themselves, that is to say, we the Armenians. 

The Russians were culprits for their decietful policy; the Turks for their genocidal mania; the Azeris for rendering our lives miserable. The Americans were at fault for drawing Wilson Armenia on paper only. The British were guilty for their bastardly conduct by walking away from the Caucasus

One hundred years later, we lost the 44-day war. We lost what we had liberated during the two and a half years long First Artsakh War, at the cost of 6,000 martyrs. In six weeks, leaving behind more than 4,000 martyrs and up to 10,000 wounded, we lost more than 8,000 square kilometers of land with the roads, schools, churches and buildings built on that land during the past three decades, including many architectural monuments.

Instead of understanding the root causes of this shocking defeat, we found two culprits: the betrayal of Nikol Pashinyan, which is propagated by representatives of the former governments; and the Russian-Turkish conspiracy propagated by the anti-Russian elements in Armenia, tacitly endorsed by the current authorities.

Undoubtedly, Nikol Pashinyan is the number one culprit and responsible for the loss of Shushi and the total defeat, just as the ARF was the number one culprit and responsible for the total loss of Kars in 1920. Why? Because, first and foremost, the ruling power of the day is the culprit and the responsible for victory as well as defeat.

Nowadays, a myth is slowly crystallizing that the Russians did not help us, did not give us weapons, and brokered peace only after Shushi fell, because that was what the Russians and the Turks had agreed upon. It is paradoxical that the current government had nothing to do with the liberation of Shushi in 1992 and that it was by the grace of the opposition and the military-political leadership of Artsakh. It's a woeful, but that myth-fiction was agressively propagated from 1992 to September 2020.

Of course, by carrying out a peacekeeping mission in Artsakh, Russia, first of all, pursues its great interests. The same is true for the 102nd military base it maintains in Gyumri or for its its deployment mission guarding along the Armenian-Turkish / Iranian border. But, which country - the United States, France, is not guided by own interst?

Now that we are pointing our fingers at the Russians, do we not want to ask what he Americans, the French and our other friends did? What did we do to have made the defeat less humiliating? What is our fault, the fault of each and everyone of us?

Myths can be thought of as folklore for moving forward. But the problem is that these myths are opening the doors to new defeats for Armenia and for the Armenian people. They are disassociating the Armenian political thought from reality, and from political common sense and deliberation.

It is like the story of a permanent friend and a permanent enemy; in this case, a permanent culprit. That is to say there are enduring culprits for the fall of Kars and Shushi - the Russians, the Turks - the Russian-Turkish conspiracy.

If the Turks and the Russians are to blame, it means that we have been naive, short-sighted, politically ignorant, that we could not plan, attempt to find common ground with the Russians, Turks, and other immediate neighbors; and that we could not know the potential of our forces to move forward taking into account our resources and not build a policy on dreams and longings.

Yes, Nikol Pashinyan is guilty and responsible. What about Arayik Harutyunyan and the military-political leadership of Artsakh? What about Armenia's fiery foreign minister and ostentatious / populist defense minister? What about the peoples of Armenia and Artsakh who did not fight bravely enough for their homeland? What about the author of these lines, who was afraid to write about the possibility of peace every day, because the neo-Nazis would accuse him of pacifism, defeatism, even betrayal and Turkism?

What about the Diaspora, which did not want to hear about a compromise solution? But we did not see them sending battalions during the war. I am not saying that you should have come and give your lives for Armenia and Artsakh instead of my son and me. But you, too, were the proponents of childish having it all.

Defeat is always an orphan, but to this extend….I could not have imagined.

*****

Հայ քաղաքական իրականության մեջ ընդունված սովորություն է սեփական պարտությունների համար դրսում մեղավորներ փնտրելը: Հայաստանի առաջին վարչապետ Հովհաննես Քաջազնունին 100 տարի առաջ, Կարսի անկումից հետո, այսպես է ձևակերպել. «Գանգատվել դառնորեն չար բախտից ու մեզանից դուրս որոնել մեր դժբախտությունների պատճառը՝ սա մեր ազգային հոգեբանության բնորոշ գծերից է»:

Մեկ դար առաջ, երբ Հայաստանի Հանրապետությունը կորցրեց 30 հազար քառակուսի կիլոմետր հայրենիք ու նաև խորհրդայնացվեց, օրվա հիմնական քաղաքական ու իշխող ուժը՝ ՀՅԴ-ն, մեր պարտության մեջ մեղավոր համարեց բոլշևիկյան Ռուսաստանին և քեմալական Թուրքիային, որոնք դաշինք կազմած ոտնատակ տվեցին ու արյան մեջ խեղդեցին մանուկ հանրապետությունը, որն ունեցավ միայն 1000 օրվա կյանք:

Այն, որ Լենինն ու Աթաթուրքը դաշնակիցներ էին ու նաև Հայաստանի վրայով կապվեցին իրար, պատմական իրողություն է: Բայց արդյոք միայն դա՞ էր մեր պարտության և հողերի կորստի պատճառը: Կարսը գրեթե առանց կռվի թողնելը արդյոք միայն բոլշևիկ-քեմալական գործակցության պատճառո՞վ էր: 

Իսկ մենք հայերս կամ այն օրերի ռազմաքաղաքական ղեկավարությունը մեղք չունե՞ր: Կարսի, Անիի, Սուրմալուի, Նախիջևանի և մյուս տարածքների կորստից հետո ծով քաղաքական գրականություն են թողել ՀՅԴ-ական և ոչ միայն ՀՅԴ-ական գործիչները, որտեղ բոլորը մեղք ունեն՝ ռուսները, թուրքերը, բրիտանացիները, բայց ոչ իրենց, այսինքն մենք՝ հայերս:

Մեղավոր էին ռուսները իրենց նենգ քաղաքականությամբ, մեղավոր էին թուրքերը իրենց ցեղասպանական մոլուցքով, մեղավոր էին ադրբեջանցիները, որ թունավորում էին մեր կյանքը, մեղավոր էին ամերիկացիները, որ մեզ համար միայն թղթի վրա գծեցին Վիլսոնյան Հայաստան, մեղավոր էին բրիտանացիները, որոնք սրիկայաբար 1919-ի վերջերին հեռացան Կովկասից:

100 տարի անց մենք պարտություն կրեցինք 44-օրյա պատերազմում: Արցախյան առաջին պատերազմում երկուսուկես տարիների ընթացքում և 6000 զոհերի գնով ձեռք բերածը կորցրինք վեց շաբաթների ընթացքում՝ տալով 4000-ից ավելի զոհ, մինչև 10 հազար վիրավոր, 8 հազար քառակուսի կիլոմետրից ավելի հողից զրկվեցինք ու այդ հողի վրա երեք տասնամյակ կառուցածից՝ ճանապարհներ, դպրոցներ, եկեղեցական ու ճարտարապետական կոթողներ:

Այս շշմեցուցիչ պարտության խորքային պատճառները հասկանալու փոխարեն երկու մեղավոր ենք գտել՝ Նիկոլ Փաշինյանի դավաճանությունը, որ զարգացնում է նախկին իշխանությունը, և ռուս-թուրքական դավադրությունը, որ քարոզում են Հայաստանի ռուսատյացները, ինչն արժանանում է գործող իշխանությունների լուռ հավանությանը:

Անկասկած, Նիկոլ Փաշինյանը թիվ մեկ պատասխանատուն և մեղավորն է Շուշիի կորստի և ընդհանուր պարտության համար, ինչպես 1920 թվականին Կարսի կորստի ու ընդհանուր պարտության համար թիվ մեկ մեղավորն ու պատասխանատում ՀՅԴ-ն էր: Ինչո՞ւ: Որովհետև և՛ հաղթանակի, և՛ պարտության առաջին մեղավորն ու պատասխանատուն օրվա իշխանական ուժն է:

Այսօր կամաց-կամաց բյուրեղանում է առասպել այն մասին, թե իբր ռուսները չօգնեցին մեզ, զենք-զինամթերք չտվեցին և խաղաղություն հաստատեցին միայն այն ժամանակ, երբ Շուշին ընկել էր, քանի որ այդպես էին պայմանավորվել ռուսներն ու թուրքերը: Պարադոքսալ է, որ 1992-ի Շուշիի ազատագրման մեջ օրվա իշխանությունը կապ չուներ, դա ընդդիմության և Արցախի ռազմաքաղաքական ղեկավարության շնորհքն էր: Ցավալի է, բայց այդ առասպել-կեղծիքն է ագրեսիվ կերպով քարոզվել 1992-ից մինչև 2020-ի սեպտեմբեր:

Անշուշտ, Արցախում խաղաղապահ առաքելություն իրականացնելով՝ Ռուսաստանը նախ և առաջ իր մեծապետական շահերն է հետապնդում: Նույնը Գյումրիի 102-րդ բազայի դեպքում է կամ հայ-թուրք/իրանական սահմանի երկայնքով սահմանապահ առաքելության ծավալման դեպքում: Բայց ո՞ր պետությունը չէ, որ առաջնորդվում է ի՛ր շահերով՝ Միացյալ Նահանգնե՞րը, Ֆրանսիա՞ն, ո՞ր մեկը:

Հիմա, որ մատներս տնկում ենք ռուսների վրա, չե՞նք ուզում հարցնել, թե ինչ արեցին ամերիկացիները, ֆրանսիացիները, մեր մյուս բարեկամները: Ինչ արեցինք մենք, որ պարտությունը այսքան ստորացուցիչ չլինի: Ո՞րն է մեր մեղքը, ամեն մեկիս մեղքը:

Առասպելներին կարելի է վերաբերվել որպես ֆոլկլորի և առաջ շարժվել: Բայց խնդիրն այն է, որ այդ առասպելները Հայաստանի և հայ ժողովրդի համար նոր պարտությունների դուռ են բացում և հայ քաղաքական միտքը կտրում իրականությունից և քաղաքական ողջախոհությունից ու հաշվարկներից:

Դա նման է մշտական բարեկամ և մշտական թշնամի պատումին, այս դեպքում՝ մշտական մեղավոր, այն է՝ Կարսի ու Շուշիի անկման համար կան մշտական մեղավորներ՝ ռուսները, թուրքերը և ռուս-թուրքական դավադրությունը:

Եթե անգամ թուրքերն ու ռուսները ունեն մեղք, ապա դա նշանակում է, որ մենք եղել ենք միամիտ, անհեռատես, քաղաքականապես տգետ, որ չենք կարողացել հաշվարկներ կատարել, պլանավորել, փորձել լեզու գտնել ռուսի, թուրքի, անմիջական մյուս հարևանների հետ, չենք կարողացել մեր ուժերի չափը իմանալ, առաջ շարժվել՝ հաշվելով մեր ռեսուրսները և ոչ թե քաղաքականություն կառուցել երազանքի ու ցանկությունների վրա:

Այո՛, Նիկոլ Փաշինյանը մեղավոր է ու պատասխանատու: Իսկ Արայիկ Հարությունյանն ու Արցախի ռազմաքաղաքական ղեկավարությո՞ւնը: Իսկ Հայաստանի հրձիգ արտգործնախարարն ու ցուցամոլ/պոպուլիստ պաշտպանության նախարա՞րը: Իսկ Հայաստանի/Արցախի ժողովո՞ւրդը, որ բավարար քաջությամբ չկռվեց հայրենի հողի համար: Իսկ այս տողերի հեղինա՞կը, որ վախեցավ ամեն օր գրել խաղաղության կարևորության մասին, քանի որ ոչմիթիզականները նրան կմեղադրեին պացիֆիզմի, պարտվողականության, անգամ դավաճանության ու թրքասիրության մեջ:

Իսկ Սփյո՞ւռքը, որ չէր ուզում լսել փոխզիջումներով լուծում գտնելու մասին, սակայն պատերազմի օրերին չտեսանք նրանց ուղարկած գումարտակները: Ես չեմ ասում, որ դուք պետք է գայիք իմ ու իմ որդու փոխարեն ձեր կյանքը տայիք Հայաստանի ու Արցախի համար: Բայց նաև դուք էիք մանկամիտ առավելապաշտության ջատագովները:

Պարտությունը միշտ է որբ լինում: Բայց այս աստիճա՜ն որբ․․․ չէի կարող պատկերացնել:

Թաթուլ Հակոբյան

Սիվիլնեթ

 

 

 

 

The Naiveté and Betrayal of an Armenian Socialist

 I have attached my  introduction to the “The Armenian’s Songbook" (Hayoun Yergaran), Hmayag Aramiants compiled in 1911 in Constantinople. He was a staunch believer of the socialism, the Social Democrat Hnchakian Party espoused. He was similarly  enamored by the promise of the Ottoman Constitution and ardently believed in its slogans of Freedom, Equality, Justice and Fraternity. He must have been so upset  when he learned that Hnchakian's party not only saw a virulent racism behind the slogans of  the new Turkish order  but also determined to assassinate its principles. Hmayag Aramiants betrayed his own party, to salvage the promise of socialism of the new order, albeit Turkish. The apparent mindset in the introduction of the hymnal he compiled, appears to be endemic of the Armenian denizens in the Ottoman Empire just before the genocide. They bared themselves to the Constitutional Ottoman authorities, a Turkish order nonetheless. Such was the compilation of this song book that  he praised those who raised arms against the Hamidian oppressive regime, but a Turkish regime none the less, believing that the new Turkish order will not only understand, but appreciate. 

His betrayal of his party led to public hanging of twenty Hnchakian leaders, decimating the Hnchakian party.  Arshak Yeztanian, a member of thje Armenian Revolutionay Federation, sanctioned by the Nemesis Operation, assassinated Hmayag Aramiants in Constantinople.

Those interested by read my take of the songbook he compiled, and about his betrayal,  may check the two links listed below. Vahe H. Apelian

Celebrating Ottoman Constitution. The Banners on the right and on the left read are 
inscribed in Armenian

Read:

The Armenian's Hymnal: http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2017/04/tale-of-armenian-hymnal.html

Hmayag Aramiants: http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2020/04/tale-of-armenian-hymnal-22-betrayal-and.html

Echoes of an election

Vahe H. Apelian

The shameful defeat of the Pashinyan-minded "United Alliance" and the victory of "Stable Community”.

 

The election pertains to an inter Iranian Armenian community recent election. Echoes refer to the voices heard about the election from outside of Iran. What is being echoed is the following. The Iranian Armenian community was divided into two camps. “Myasnagan Tashink” which means “United Alliance” that allegedly supported Nikol Pachinyan. The other “Gayoun Hamaynk”, camp which means “Stable Community” that allegedly opposed Nikol Pachinyan and was the faction that carried the election. The ARF seem to have been affiliated with the winning faction. The headline in Yerkir.am read: “The shameful defeat of the Pashinyan-minded "United Alliance" and the victory of "Stable Community”. What is odd is the centrality of Nikol Pachinyan in the Iranian Armenian community election, when, much like any other community, surely faces many challenges.

I would have dismissed the comments, had Ara Nazarian not echoed the same but more forcefully.  He commented the following, per google translate: “Long live the Armenian community of Persia (Iran) that rejected Nikol's betrayal and "future" lies - let's focus on nicholizing   Armenia (deprived of Nikol).» Those in parenthesis are my interjection in the google translation. 

I do not know Ara in person. I have read his articles in the Armenian Weekly. He comes across commendably very active in his community in Boston. In the course of my reading his articles I have learned that he is a very educated and accomplished person. From his Armenian diction I had surmised that he has Iranian Armenian heritage, which makes his comment on the Iranian Armenian community the more reflective. From personal correspondence I knew that he is a member of the ARF and staunchly opposes Nikol Pachinyan. But his comment endorsed by a few, including the  chairwoman of the ARF Central Committee, is a concerning because it portrays a mindset in the hub of the Eastern U.S. Armenian community that seems to espouse pitting a diaspora community against the government of the Republic of Armenia.

Let me add the following note as well. I was born and raised in Lebanon and have roots in Kessab, Syria. But I doubt that anyone of my generation has dealt with Iranian Armenians and have taken a youthful personal fascination of the Iranian Armenian community as I have. I owe my sentimental ties to the Iranian Armenian community to my father who ran Hotel Lux in down town Beirut. It was not a hotel as we perceive a hotel nowadays. Most of our guests were Armenians and many from Iran. In my youth, my parent’s Iranian friends had me subscribed to "Alik" Badanegan – the youth forum of Iranian Armenian’s legendary newspaper "Alik", published in Tehran since 1931. Thanks to their correspondences, I have a collection of Iranian stamps. I have remained fascinated by the oldest Armenian diaspora community whose members are very much in tune with the larger Iranian society but have not only retained their Armenian heritage but also enriched it. The ARF has played a prominent role in the structuring of the of Iranian Armenian community. It also has played a role in the modern Iranian history. 

 My and my parent's association with Iranian Armenian community came to an abrupt halt because of the civil war in Lebanon that catapulted me to the U.S. where I landed on its hospitable shores on July 9, 1976, to give a glimpse of time.

Recently the president of Turkey, accused Iran opposing “Zangezur corridor” project. In singling out Iran what the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in fact, actually meant to say is the following.  Armenia is an insignificant power in the region to factor in the grand equation in the region to mention it, even though the corridor is going to slice a part of its sovereign state. Russia has given, if not its tacit agreement, but its understanding that it is between two sovereign nations, Armenia and Azerbaijan to sort. Consequently Russia presents no threat to the opening of Zankezur corridor. It is only Iran that is the stumbling block to the successful implementation of the Zankezur corridor project. Erdogan's blunt statement is not something that Iran can afford to dismiss, especially that there is an overt Turkey-Azerbaijan-Israel alliance against Iran.

Iranian Armenians, more than any other Armenian in the diaspora, are organically tied to the citizens of Armenia due to their proximity. They also share Eastern Armenian diction. More than any other country where we have an Armenian community, Iran plays an existential role for the security of Armenia.  Although it is not likely that the Iranian Government will take into account its Armenian community’s sentiments in shaping its interests vis a vis the powers of the region, Turkey/Azerbaijan and Russia. But none the less having the Iranian Armenian community factionalized and a faction opposing and hence not supporting the government of Republic of Armenia from Iran is concerning.

 

 

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