TCA Vice-Chairman Edmond Azadian's Speech

The third Armenia-Diaspora Conference is geared to break new ground toward uniting the two segments of the Armenian people, because without cooperation and interaction between the two, the rejuvenation of our historic homeland will be nearly impossible.

Some people who entertain unrealistic expectations from these convocations return with a degree of skepticism, displeased with finding no instant results, with the exception of making new acquaintances. But that very acquaintance is the first step towards the anticipated progress, because, even after 15 years of independence, the diaspora does not fully recognize Armenia - and vice-versa.

Moving a step further, Armenia and the diaspora have yet to come together to assess the full significance of the challenges we face as a nation.

The main theme of this conference is the development of rural areas in Armenia. The bright and bustling Yerevan does not provide an accurate overall gauge of the economic development of the country. There is a stark contrast between Yerevan's construction boom and the desolation of rural Armenia.

We should also be mindful that commerce and tourism alone are not enough to build a country's future. A healthy and comprehensive economy can only be based on the proper harnessing of the natural resources as well as increasing the educational level of the country, both of which will eventually yield increases in exports.

Political factors play a role in resolving our problems, yet some of those factors are beyond our control. What remains within our reach is achieving unity between different segments of our people so that we may put their potentials into prudent use.

These conferences are significant in achieving precisely that sort of coming together. Early in the 20th century, our first independent republic barely survived for 2-2.5 years. Admittedly, political and historical conditions were very challenging and we could not expect more under the circumstances. Having said that, the current regional and political conditions are no less challenging, yet our current republic already has a 15-year history. Therefore, somewhere, something has worked properly. Not only that, but our thousand-year-old losing streak seems to have been reversed and a piece of our historic homeland in Karabagh has been liberated from Azeri tyranny.

These developments merit historic evaluations.

The Armenian people won - through independence - the freedom of speech, conscience and thought. But we need to question how wisely we use these freedoms. Freedom of conscience is being abused by foreign quarters who unleash there religious sects which undermine the foundations of our Armenian Apostolic Church, one of the essential components of our national identity.

The area of freedom of the press is nothing to cheer about. Yellow journalism there has reaped more success than the variety practiced by responsible journalists seeking news and offering constructive criticism.

The onslaught of irresponsible, unwarranted and libelous attacks is upon us, trampling and distorting the truth. The fallout from that onslaught also reaches the diasporan shores to cover the pages of some of the traditional press. This distractive campaign robs people of any future hope, forcing the depopulation of the homeland. And on the diaspora front, that press misguides people, thereby denying their support to - and their investments – in Armenia.

Does this mean that we should not criticize the authorities in Armenia for their abuses, plundering and general deficiencies? We certainly are duty bound to criticize. But the boundaries of freedom of speech should not be the law, but morality; because the law is the last refuge of the rascal. On the other hand, the news media, which exercises objective and conscientious criteria, can bring forth positive results. It is not surprising, therefore, that annual fundraising telethons, whose purpose is to unite our people and direct their resources toward Armenia, fail, to a degree, to achieve their purported goals, despite the fact that All Armenia Fund, which organizes those events, is one of the few transparent and accountable entities that can be proud of its achievements.

Indeed, a single diaspora benefactor alone can donate the total amount of funds raise every year. This lackluster result may be attributed mainly to the negative campaign conducted by the yellow journalists, perhaps as well as some organizational failures.

We are at a stage where we need a distinct departure from the traditional ways of supporting the homeland. Yesterday's orphan funds and charitable deeds are not enough for nation building. Today, we need a different - and more comprehensive - level of thinking to build a state.

Many diaspora organizations continue operating in the same old way, often demanding accountability but not delivering much support in return. However, it is heartwarming to see a new trend developing, especially among individual benefactors, who rise above the negative drumbeat of the press and positively focus on the needs of the country.

Indeed, the Lincy Foundation, the Cafesjian Family Foundation, the Tufenkjians, Louise Manoogian Simone, Ara Abrahamian and Charles Aznavour, among others, sometimes individually, contribute more than diaspora organizations collectively. They do not attach strings to their munificence, as do some organizations and members of the press, and they operate independently, certainly having confirmed reliability on the side of the recipient, namely the government of Armenia.

Many Armenian organizations lend their support to the republic inspired by patriotism and sometimes by ulterior motives, working at cross purposes, but seldom in a coordinated fashion. I would even include the organization I represent, the Tekeyan Cultural Association, which sponsors schools, orphans education funds and many cultural and literary projects in Armenia.

The division of our church plays a disheartening role too in our endeavors to unite Armenians. Some people, who believe that ignorance is bliss, dismiss the issue as if the problem could fade away simply by being ignored. There have been instances in our history where, due to political circumstances, one of the religious centers has grown stronger than the Holy See at Etchmiadzin, but the center and the symbol of unity have always resided at the Mother See in Vagharshabad. Any attempt to degrade Etchmiadzin or compete with it is tantamount to weakening our church and dividing our people. Similarly, the uncanny games of substituting the idea of cooperation with the principle of unity are neither constructive, nor will they lead to church unity. Cooperation between our religious centers can restore the unity of our church only if they are based on the ultimate principle of unity. It is as unnatural to have a church body with two heads as it is ridiculous to entertain ideas of having four heads, which may render our church into a square wheel leading us nowhere.

Also, it was incompatible with the historic role of the Holy See of Etchmiadzin for it to be excluded from the last draft of Armenia's constitution, through sheer short-term political expediency.

Another dividing factor, which some people would have loved to forget, is the issue of a common orthography for the Armenian language, which hopefully one fortunate day may also lead to the unity of the two dialects. There are people who have been using this issue to pit the diaspora against Armenia, without realizing that they may be adding a new dimension to an already sad state of affairs.

On one hand, dodging the issue, and on the other hand, naively believing that reversing the 1922 decree that changed the rules of spelling in Armenia may solve the issue by a miracle, are not conducive to a solution. The only reasonable way to tackle the issue is to tame the emotions and to refer the problem to a panel of scholars who will decide that a change is necessary in principle, leaving the rest to the future and to the conditions, which may evolve to help resolve the dispute.

In addition to the challenges of unified orthography and language, we still face the challenge of a unified culture; Western Armenian literature has an uneven and spare representation in Armenia’s schools. Also we have yet to find the names of Tekeyan, Zohrab and other classics in Yerevan streets or their likeness on the Armenian dram, along Eastern Armenian classical icons.

The challenge of the republic's economic development has led the diaspora and Armenia to render patriotism into financial capital and vice versa. Although these may sound as very positive wishes, unfortunately they do not work in the real world and have no prospects. Suffice it only to adopt laws based on international norms and especially bring those laws out of the books and enforce them rigorously to create an even playing field, allowing everyone to invest - Armenian and non-Armenian business people alike.

There is residual resistance - a legacy of the Soviet mentality - to close the gap which exists between the laws as they exist on the books and their application. This environment, already not conducive to healthy investment, is further marred by the periodic unexplained political and factional assassinations. When such crimes go unpunished, the outside world is left to deduce collusion or impotence; labels which are not complimentary to any self-respecting country.

We are already at the threshold of a hot pre-election political atmosphere. We are faced with the elections of the National Assembly first, followed by the presidential election. Previous elections did not meet international standards. The world has been changing and 15 years after independence, if we cannot hold transparent elections, Armenia may compromise the resolution of its international problems.

With very rare exceptions, the political parties have an unstable image. Switching principles and positions, changing political labels at a whim, show political immaturity. Therefore, we should not be surprised that the general public is apathetic and does not take part in those maneuvers. Without the participation of the people we cannot build a genuine democracy and keep pace with the rest of the world.

Dear friends. All these problems are the legacies of the past and they are ripe for resolution. This conference is attempting to address those issues, so that together we -Armenians within and without the republic - may face new issues, which unfortunately challenge Armenia and the Armenian people every day.

We cannot tackle all our problems with divided forces. If we have to expect any results today, this conference has to afford us the opportunity to rise above our selfish personal inhibitions and factional interests, which have atrophied, so that we may face the future with real and complete unity.