The Appeal of Montebello Saves the Dashnagtsutiun

To be a Dashnaktsagan is to know when to say “No”, as Christapor said “No” to an alliance with Young Turks. It is to say “No” as Aram Manoukian said “No” to the Bolsheviks in 1917-1918. It is to say “No” as Hrair Maroukhian and Sarkis Zeitlian said “No” to an engagement of the Armenians in the war in Lebanon (1975-1991).

Gaidz Minassian

They came, and are all there: from the Christapor-Rostom-Zavarian troika to the Maroukhian-Zeitlian-Dasnabedian trio ….  all were gathered in Montebello, on October 9 & 10, 2021, to launch an appeal, …. the appeal of Reason, Common Sense and the Call of History.

You did not have to be in Montebello, Los Angeles County California, to understand the magnitude of this appeal: Wake up comrades, the Dashnaktsagan ship hasn’t sunk yet, there is hope. Because Montebello’s call says:

• No to fate,
• No to impotence,
• No to immobility, and
• No to resignation.

The appeal of Montebello is a Manifesto which echoes the Manifesto of the Armenian Revolutionaries Federation (ARF) published in 1890. It links the history of Dashnagtsutiun from its origins to today, bypassing the last thirty years. These three decades when the identity of the ARF was hijacked by a handful of individuals who led the Dashnagtsutiun to where it is now: at the bottom of a hole, without ideas, nor inspiration, without leadership nor backbone, without project nor action.

The appeal of Montebello is a call to the soul:

• The Ethics of Christapor, Rostom, and Zavarian.
• The Sovereignty of Aram Manukian.
• The ‘Anticipation strategy’ of Douman and Dro.
• The Reflections of Yervant Frangulian, Nikol Aghbalian and Mikael Varandian.
• The Reinvention of the ARF, from 1924 to 1925.

Reinvent yourself, find inspiration, go back to basics instead of throwing yourself into the arms of Robert Kocharian, Serge Sarkissian, or anyone else. The Dashnagtsutiun rebirth is a long road because the damages are numerous. That road is a pile of ashes because the Dashnaktsagan house has burned down. Nowadays, it is easy to join the ARF, instead of going through a long journey of initiation. However, it is difficult to remain in the ranks, when everything forces you to be indignant, to revolt since everything is going up in smoke.

The best way or remaining a Dashnagtsagan is to:

• Put an end to the gravediggers and other imposters.
• Think about updating ideas with a single mission: to build the state (not a regime, but the state).
• Rediscover the fundamentals, which means understanding the meaning of ‘the sword, the pen and the shovel’….. The sword traces the path of thought, the shovel digs into reflection and the pen materializes ideas.
• As for the slogan “freedom or death”, it is not the weapons or sacrifice, but freedom to think, to free oneself from the logic of domination (including weapons and arms), otherwise it is submission to the established order, to chaos and “historical misfortune” as Christapor wrote.

We must break this nihilism to return to history and return to reality.

• To be a Dashnaktsagan is to renounce mediocrity, it is to return to the professionalism of Christapor and the excellence of Nemesis: from Armen Garo and Shahan Natali via Hratch Papazian and the Armenian genocide vigilantes.
• To be a Dashnaktsagan is to know when to say “No”, as Christapor said “No” to an alliance with Young Turks. It is to say “No” as Aram Manoukian said “No” to the Bolsheviks in 1917-1918. It is to say “No” as Hrair Maroukhian and Sarkis Zeitlian said “No” to an engagement of the Armenians in the war in Lebanon (1975-1991).
• And what did we get instead of this refusal? A “Yes” to Robert Kocharian, a “Yes” to Serge Sarkissian, and a “yes” to the Yerevan Cartel, and therefore a “Yes” to all compromises.
  • One does not sell the emblem (Zinaneshan) of the ARF for an election.
  • One does not sell his soul for a few ministerial portfolios.

No, the ARF is not that!

The ARF is an idea (Christapor), it is ethics (Zavarian-Zeitlian), it is a technique (Rostom-Maroukhian), it is a rigor (Douman), it is a culture (Varandian).

The ARF is not a show (Kegham Manoukian), nor a megaphone (Ishkhan Saghatelian), nor a wallet (David Lokian) nor a tyranny (Hrand Markarian), nor a choir (Hagop Der Khatchadourian).

As much as history has been grateful to Christapor, it will be ruthless with those who claim to be his ‘heirs’ for three decades in post-Soviet Armenia, strutting the alleys of Yerevan or the bays of the Armenian Parliament. As the cries of pain of these “Kotcharist” deputies dig the grave of the ARF in the National Assembly, Montebello’s appeal saves the Dashnagtsutiun from the shipwreck of history.