When we state the obvious

Vahe H Apelian

 

Monument dedicated to the Armenian Genocice, in Bikjaya, Lebanon, i.e. Diaspora

I read Vahan Zanoyan’s latest article titled, “It is time to end the 30-year holiday of the Armenian Diaspora”. Much like his other articles, it is insightful article coming from one of the brightest and most exemplary Diaspora born, educated first or second generation matured Armenian man, Vahan Zanoyan is.

What made me reflective is the statement he made that read, “An independent Armenian state is an absolute value which should be protected at all cost. It has, nonetheless, exposed the nation to new vulnerabilities and challenges.”

I became reflective because when statements are made to the obvious, they are made because of a prevailing apathy or are made to a public that is indifferent. If I were to make a statement to the obvious that a clean air is necessary for healthy living, it would be because of a public that neglects contributing to what it knows is the obvious, having a clean is necessary for healthy living.

 At a glance, Vahan Zanoyan’s first sentence of the quoted statement, may seem paradoxical to a segment of Diaspora, that may very well be the vocal segment of the Diaspora. It may sound paradoxical because it forewarns Diaspora that an independent Armenian state has an absolute value or is an absolute necessity, when that very vocal Diaspora can counter saying that for the past thirty years, all they have done or lived for, has in fact been for assuring the independence and the viability of the indispensable Armenia. But obviously the title of the article negates that.

The second sentence of the statement - " It has, nonetheless, exposed the nation to new vulnerabilities and challenges." -  is equally paradoxical, in the context of the concern of the article that started stating that “The cataclysmic events of the past four years have transformed the fate and prospects of both the Armenian nation and the Armenian state”.  The matter of fact is that, the past four years did not transform the fate and the prospects of both the Armenian nation and the Armenian state, nor exposed the nation to new vulnerabilities. The last four years, revealed how vulnerable the nation and the Armenian state had been all along, since September 21, 1991. The transitory and non-durable successes were made to look lasting for a variety of reasons notably because of the endemic corruption and the hegemony of the corrupt officials occupying the highest reins of the state.

I agree with Vahan Zanoyan that the past thirty years Diaspora has been in a holiday of sorts or at best in a chic nationalism that does not entail the rudimentary responsibilities the citizens of Armenia shoulder. Not only that, Diaspora has abdicated its own, almost everywhere in the Diaspora, whose challenges are far different than those of Armenia. I am reminded of Hrant Dink who repeatedly drew the distinction between the state and the nation and would emphatically make a point that Armenia is a state and its officials have understandable constraints and are acting within those constrains and will continue to act within those constraints. Diaspora’s constraints are different. It is an illusion that Diaspora addressing the constraints of Armenia, Diaspora addresses or remedies its own constraints.

If Diaspora is to implement the five points Vahan Zanoyan proposes, in order “to establish global political leverage on par with the challenges facing the Armenian state”, it will have to act in harmony with Armenia and that will have to be in an unconditional harmony and in no way confrontational. 

 Let us be mindful that “the aggressive and well-funded Turkish and Azerbaijani lobbies in Western capitals” are in unconditional harmony with Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s. If we expect that Diaspora’s response should be as robust in this political confrontation and on par to it, it's obvious that its response should be in harmony with the state of Armenia’s and never ever confrontational by word, let alone deed.

Note: Much like Armenia, I opted to spell Diaspora with capital D.