European Forum

Massive protests in Armenian Diaspora against Armenia-Turkey protocols

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan today wrapped up his tour of major Armenian Diaspora communities of the world, meant for diffusing the tension in the Diaspora concerning the Armenia-Turkey protocols on the normalisation of relations between them.

As the Armenian Diaspora has watched the rapprochement of the two estranged neighbours with mounting concern, President Sargsyan decided to address major Armenian communities around the world in an attempt to convince them of his good intentions and get them aboard.
However, in all the communities he was met with mass protests that in some cases turned violent.

Diaspora world tour
The intercontinental trip included stops in Paris, LA, Beirut and Rostov-on-Don (Russia), marking the hubbubs of Armenian Diaspora communities. In Paris, approximately 200 protesters gathered to express their concern in a rally that turned violent with police clashes. In Beirut thousands of protesters marched to the hotel where the President was staying to express their discontent, also briefly clashing with the police. In Los Angeles over 10.000 protesters demonstrated against the protocols while President Sargsyan cancelled his scheduled persona meeting with the press at the last moment.

Especially in the US, home to the biggest Armenian Diaspora community, many pro-Armenian public organisations and prominent politicians commented on the proceedings. The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) published press-releases and public addresses to Sargsyan and US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, urging the first to seize his ‘naïve’, ‘reckless’ and ‘irresponsible’ actions pursuing the protocols and stop from ‘making a grave mistake’, and the second - to stop pressuring Armenia into signing them. US Senator and Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Bob Menendez spoke out against some of the moves envisaged in the protocols, calling it ‘absurd’ to create a historic committee tasked to look into the massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman empire, saying that ‘the Armenian Genocide is an irrefutable fact of history’. US President Barrack Obama reportedly reiterated the US position of normalisation of relations between Turkey and Armenia without any preconditions in a telephone conversation with the Armenian President.

The President’s impressions
Upon return to Armenia, President Sargsyan seemed unrepentant concerning his plans to sign the protocols. He blasted the organisers of the Paris protest, saying the wreath-laying ceremony was meant to underline the importance of genocide recognition for Turkish-Armenian reconciliation: ‘I expected that we will put on display our unity and position on this issue with a massive demonstration, rather than a provocation by 100 persons’. Hrant Markaryan, a top leader of one of the organisers – Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktutiun (ARF-D) – stated that ‘people became unmanageable and unrestrained,’ and it was a reaction of ‘a raw nerve’. The Diaspora-born politician added that the Armenian authorities must ‘respect and reckon with that opinion,’ as ‘the Diaspora is facing the danger of losing its raison d’être’.

President Sargsyan downplayed the reaction of the Diaspora, saying he did not expect a 180-turn from it anyway. He added that he nevertheless found the trip useful, saying that he received ‘very important messages’ and ‘had a chance to once again feel just how different we are depending on our birthplace, community of residence, organizational affiliation and at the same time just how similar we are with our collective Armenian identity’. He also pledged to fulfil the obligation of reaching genocide recognition and brushed aside allegations that the protocols ensure greater Armenian concessions in the currently frozen Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan.

In the meantime, the Armenian National Security Committee unanimously approved the protocols earlier today, marking another step towards the actual signing.

Sources: Radio Liberty Armenia, Armenian National Committee of America, Asbarez News, Aysor News; Source photo: News.am