HIS HOLINESS CALLS FOR A NEW APPROACH TO DIASPORA-ARMENIA RELATIONS

His Holiness Catholicos Aram I highlighted the challenges facing relations between the Diaspora and Armenia in welcoming remarks he delivered by videoconference to a gathering held in Paris on April 11-12. More than 150 figures from Armenia, Artsakh, and 26 communities took part in the Diaspora Mobilization Conference.

Below, we provide the translation of His Holiness’ message to the conference participants:

We are living in times of crisis. We consider the present initiative, dedicated to realistic and comprehensive discussions of the crises and challenges confronting Armenia, the Diaspora, and our people in general, to be timely and imperative.

We would like to begin our message with a question that must become the point of departure and the driving force of the conference’s approaches and assessments: Where is the Diaspora today in relation to itself, to Armenia, and to the broader crises and ideals of our nation? Realistic self-reflection and objective self-examination, removed from emotional and lopsided judgments, are essential for the correct diagnosis of the problems and challenges we face and to determine an appropriate course.

It is undeniable that the Church, the political parties, and the community associations have played a key role in transforming the scattered and homeless sons and daughters of our nation into organized communities and in preserving our identity and pursuing our just demands through the Church, schools, clubs, and culture.

The Diaspora presents a different picture today. It faces different challenges in a globalized world, in which values are receding, and national identities are subject to extinction. Hence, we consider urgent the self-critical assessment of the Diaspora, and the reevaluation, revitalization, and renewal of purpose and activity of our institutions. We can no longer organize our collective life, keep the youth around us, transmit a national spirit to the new generations, and imbue them with national ideals through stereotypes, worn out thinking, and outdated modalities of action, when our approaches are not aligned with present conditions and demands. With this concern in mind, we proclaimed the years 2023 and 2024 as Years of the Reorganization of the Diaspora. This process must continue on the one hand remaining attached to our roots and, on the other, opening our life to new worldviews and horizons.

The Diaspora has never had its distinct agenda, apart from the collective consultations and joint statements made on April 24 and at critical moments among community leaders. We consider necessary the shaping of a global diasporan agenda and the development of a matching thinking, while preserving their distinctiveness, which must become an inseparable and complementary part of a nationwide, global Armenian agenda and outlook. 

After the restoration of Armenia’s independence, the Armenia-Diaspora relationship never became oriented to a goal. It lacked firm depth and foundation, a clear method, and goals. Indeed, it remained within the philanthropic, business, and tourist spheres, and did not become, particularly in the cultural, political, and economic realms, an initiative creating planned and comprehensive cooperation. Armenia did not succeed in properly utilizing the Diaspora’s potential and its reality as an important political factor. On the other hand, the Diaspora made a tremendous contribution to Artsakh and Armenia. Yet its active participation in nation-building did not receive the appreciation it deserved from the state.

In recent years, however, the Armenia-Diaspora relationship has been in alarming decline. The reason is the policy adopted by the authorities of Armenia on both the internal and external fronts, which can without hesitation be characterized as anti-national, short-sighted, and perilous. Today, indeed, the value system of the Armenian people has begun to be undermined by the very state called upon to defend it. Indeed, how can one remain silent and indifferent when a systematic effort is being made by the authorities to bury the Genocide beneath the dust of the past, to replace the Ararat with the Arakadz, to confine Artsakh to the past, and to regard the Church merely as a state institution, while, in the name of the so called “Real Armenia,” the policy of ignoring and even scorning national and religious symbols and values continues? Faced with this reality, fraught with multiple dangers, disappointment, and indifference in the Diaspora have begun to become dominant.

The current authorities also disregard the Diaspora. The examples are many and varied. More than that, they seek to create dividing lines and provoke polarization within the Diaspora, recalling the days of the Soviet Union. Such a nation-destroying policy is unacceptable to us, as we have often emphasized.

In concluding our message, we wish to underscore with particular emphasis the following points:

The harmonization of the diasporas that emerged after the Genocide and then after Armenia’s independence is a priority. The renewal of the Diaspora’s national identity, subject to rapid erosion, through the modernization of community structures and the revitalization of spiritual, cultural, and national values, is more than urgent. In this respect, the role of the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia is crucial. 

The end of a self-centered and self-serving Diaspora may not be long in coming. The life of the Diaspora must become oriented towards Armenia but not centered on Armenia. The Diaspora must have its own free and distinct way of thinking. Neither Armenia nor the Diaspora should try to interfere in the other’s internal life.

The nationwide, state, and diasporan agendas of the Armenian nation must not be confused with one another, nor should they be set against one another. We have to preserve the distinctiveness of each other. They must differ in their priorities and emphases, yet in a profound and ultimate sense they must complement one another, especially around nationwide issues.

The formulation of a diasporan agenda, at least at this stage, may encounter difficulties, given the differing positions held by diasporan structures regarding the political direction adopted by the authorities of Armenia. Yet we think it is necessary to overcome the difficulties of a temporary nature and lay the foundation of a global diasporan agenda. Fruitful efforts of this kind have been undertaken in recent years by Antelias.

Regarding nationwide issues for Armenians, the Diaspora must have both a voice and a role. The building of a strong Armenia, with a strong state, a strong army, and a strong economy, as well as the firm preservation of the unity and integrity of our nation, bears profound strategic significance and therefore constitutes an essential part of the nationwide agenda.

In light of new geopolitical developments, we must subject our strategic and tactical approaches and emphases regarding national demands, including Artsakh, to reassessment. In this regard, the role of the Diaspora is essential, and it is advisable to coordinate with Armenia’s foreign policy.
 
We wish success in the work of the conference.

ARAM I, CATHOLICOS
 OF THE GREAT HOUSE OF CILICIA