CCAF Co-Chair: For Nikol Pashinyan`s regime, weakening the Diaspora  means weakening Armenia

ArmInfo.For Nikol Pashinyan's regime, weakening the Diaspora means weakening Armenia. Franck Mourad Papazian, Co-Chair of the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations in France (CCAF), made this statement in response to remarks by Arman Yeghoyan, a member of the Armenian  Parliament from the ruling Civil Contract faction, who asked from the legislative rostrum who Aram Hambaryan (Executive Director of the  Armenian National Committee of America), Gaspar Karampetian (Director of the Office of Armenian Affairs in Brussels), and himself were. 

"During his speech, the aforementioned member of parliament  deliberately tried to devalue the Diaspora, underestimate its  usefulness, and ultimately defend the absurd thesis that a stronger  Diaspora means a weaker Armenia. Our personal factor is not the main  issue here. The real problem lies in their perception of the Armenian  nation, its history, and its future. We have never claimed to speak  on behalf of all Armenians.  We speak on behalf of our convictions,  the responsibility entrusted to us, and decades of public activity  dedicated to serving Armenia, Artsakh, and the Armenian cause,"  Papazyan stated.

He emphasized that legitimacy is not limited to an electoral mandate  alone: it also stems from service, consistency, the ability to unite,  and the results achieved. The Dashnaktsiakan added that the  government is temporary, the state is permanent. And the Armenian  nation is even more inclusive. He also noted that the modern Armenian  diaspora did not arise by choice and is largely a consequence of the  genocide, expulsion, deportation, and destruction of Armenian  communities in the Ottoman Empire. "After 1915, the survivors,  dispossessed of land, property, and often their families, rebuilt  collective life in Lebanon, Syria, France, the United States, Canada,  Argentina, Uruguay, Greece, Cyprus, Iran, Egypt, Australia, and  dozens of other countries. They built churches, schools, cultural  centers, youth centers; they founded newspapers, social and  charitable organizations. They transmitted the Armenian language,  especially the now endangered Western Armenian, our faith, culture,  memory, and sense of belonging to one nation. The Armenian Apostolic,  Armenian Catholic, and Armenian Evangelical Churches, the Mother See  of Holy Etchmiadzin and the Catholicosate of the Great House of  Cilicia, the Armenian General Benevolent Union, the Armenian  Revolutionary Federation "Dashnaktsutyun", "Hamazgayin", the General  Armenian Physical Culture Union "Homenetmen", the Armenian "The Blue  Cross and the Armenian Relief Society, as well as thousands of  educational, cultural, sports, and charitable organizations,  prevented the diaspora from disappearing," Papazian recalled.

He added that these structures are not perfect, as no human  institution is. At the same time, the Dashnaktsakan believes that  denying their historical role would mean erasing an entire century of  cultural and national resistance. He is convinced that without these  structures, most of the diaspora would have disappeared through  assimilation, and millions of descendants of those who survived would  have retained neither the language, nor memory, nor a living  connection to Armenia.

Papazyan noted that during the Soviet years, the Armenian Soviet  Socialist Republic lacked sovereign diplomacy capable of freely  defending the national rights of the Armenian people. He stated that  under these conditions, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and the  global network of "Hay Dat" committees assumed the role of unofficial  diplomacy. "In Washington, Paris, Brussels, Ottawa, London, Buenos  Aires, Beirut, Tehran, and many other capitals, they kept the memory  of the Armenian Genocide, the rights of the Armenian people, and  Armenia's very existence on the international public and political  agenda. This work did not cease after the declaration of independence  in 1991. It served the Republic of Armenia, its security,  development, and international reputation. The diaspora rallied after  the 1988 earthquake, during the blockade, and during the difficult  period of war to defend Artsakh, support refugees, fund humanitarian  programs, attract investment, and open the doors of foreign political  institutions to Armenian representatives. Opposition to any state  policy in Armenia has never meant opposition to the Armenian state.  Sometimes, opposing the government itself is the best way to serve  the state in the long term," the Dashnaktsakan added.

Papazian also noted that international recognition of the Armenian  Genocide was no accident; This is the result of decades of work by  survivors, their descendants, historians, churches, and diaspora  organizations, among which the Hay Dat committees played a decisive  role. According to him, an organized diaspora transforms endangered  memory into an internationally recognized truth.

"We also fought against Turkey's accession to the European Union as  long as Ankara continued to deny the Armenian Genocide, blockade  Armenia, occupy Cyprus, and violate the fundamental principles of the  European project. This struggle was not directed against the Turkish  people; it was aimed at defending Europe's authority and the values  of truth, justice, democracy, and respect for peoples. In 2005, the  European Parliament itself established that recognition of the  Armenian Genocide must be a precondition for Turkey's accession. This  position would never have been adopted without the years of  consistent work of European Armenian organizations," the  Dashnaktsakan noted. He then drew attention to the role of the  Armenian diaspora in strengthening the exceptional relations between  Armenia and France, emphasizing that everything that exists today is  the result of decades of painstaking work by the Armenian community.

Armenian authorities' goals

"Nikol Pashinyan's government is currently attempting to circumvent  the historical structures of the Diaspora and replace them with its  own chosen interlocutors and 'commissars.' The Armenian government  certainly has the right to organize its relations with the Diaspora,  but it has no right to decide who represents free citizens living in  democratic countries. The Diaspora is neither Nikol Pashinyan's  constituency nor an administrative appendage of the Yerevan  government. It does not engage in dialogue with the Diaspora,  electing only those who approve of the government and expelling those  who criticize it.  This is not a dialogue; it is an attempt at  subjugation. This attempt will fail. The core institutions of the  Diaspora existed before the current government and will exist after  it. Their legitimacy stems from their history, members, and  activities, not from the approval of any cabinet," Papazyan added. He  further recalled that Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev publicly called  the global "Armenian lobby" Azerbaijan's number one enemy, while  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the Armenian diaspora  in France and the United States of hindering his vision of  normalizing relations, calling on the Armenian government to  neutralize their influence. "When the Armenian authorities attack the  Diaspora's historical organizations, attempt to discredit Hay Dat  activists, and replace pluralism with submissiveness, they are  objectively realizing what Ankara and Baku have been pursuing for  decades. There's no need to imagine a secret chain of command to  recognize this coincidence. The political outcome is before our eyes.  The attempt to weaken the memory of the Genocide, the rights of  Artsakh, and the structures that protect Armenia's interests directly  serves the strategies of Erdogan and Aliyev. The pan-Turkic project  fears not a silent, fragmented, and disorganized Diaspora, but a  Diaspora that is conscious, organized, influential, and capable of  operating in large democratic countries," the Dashnaktsakan asserts. 

"The Pashinyan regime's logic is based on a fundamental error: it  confuses demographic power with political power. The Diaspora doesn't  become stronger simply because Armenians leave Armenia. It becomes  stronger when it organizes existing communities, passes on its  language to new generations, trains politicians, scientists,  journalists, lawyers, and entrepreneurs, creates expert networks, and  strengthens its economic and diplomatic potential. None of these  actions displaces a single person from Armenia. Armenia and the  Diaspora are not two communicating vessels, one of which must be  emptied to fill the other. They are two dimensions of the same  nation. Armenia is a sovereign state for its citizens, but it is also  the homeland of the entire Armenian nation," Papazyan said.  He added  that this nation will never forget Artsakh, the 120,000 Armenians  forcibly displaced in 2023, their right to live in security on their  land, and the Armenian cultural and religious heritage that is now  under threat; the former leaders of Artsakh, military personnel,  civilians, and other Armenian prisoners still held hostage in Baku  prisons.

"Their immediate and unconditional release must be the central,  public, and non-negotiable demand of any negotiations with  Azerbaijan. It is unacceptable that Nikol Pashinyan's government does  not place this issue at the center of negotiations. A peace built on  abandoning prisoners, erasing Artsakh, and silencing the Diaspora  will be neither just nor sustainable," he continued. "Mr. Yeghoyan,  your mandate and that of your colleagues is temporary, but the  Armenian people are eternal. You ask, 'Who is Murad Papazyan?' I am  one of millions of Armenians, the heir to a history that no one can  erase, and I serve a homeland that no one can take from me. I am not  asking Nikol Pashinyan's government for permission to be Armenian,  and I am certainly not asking for permission to defend Armenia,  Artsakh, the Armenians held in Baku prisons, or the historical truth  about the Armenian Genocide," the Dashnaktsakan emphasized.

He then declared his intention to continue fighting for the  independence, sovereignty, and security of the Republic of Armenia.  "We will continue to defend the Armenian people, their heritage, and  their interests in all countries where we are present. A strong  diaspora poses no threat to Armenia. It is strategic depth, an  indispensable diplomatic, cultural, economic, and political force.  Weakening the diaspora means weakening Armenia. Pitting them against  each other serves the interests of those who seek to silence the  Armenian people. We will resist this agenda, relying on our memory,  our unity, and our resolve.  Governments come and go, but Armenia and  the Armenian people remain," Papazian concluded.