AT THE YEAR 2000 ANNUAL MEETING
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It is a great honor and a privilege for me to join you here today, at this important convention of leaders, supporters and activists of the Armenian Assembly of America. I am also delighted for having been given the opportunity to speak before you tonight. There are a number of reasons why I should feel extremely clear about living aside the traditional diplomatic talk and approach things from a different perspective - one that is maximum accurate, and mission oriented. Times are changing, and so are the ways and means through which Armenians around the world can now interact among each other - both individually and through a number of established forms of collective engagement. A look at the scope, speed and types of communication that exist today between Armenia and our Community here in the United States is the best example of it. Most of you have already been in Armenia for a number of times, and I believe more among you would like to travel there as often as we hope you to go. I recognize here people who have already established or plan to establish a longer-term presence in Armenia – be it in the form of business and investment, or purchase of property, or building a house, or assuming any other commitments. Most probably, many of you are also following the daily news on Armenia that nowadays is widely available on a variety of communication servers – including electronic media. In general, what I believe seems to have come to so wonderfully alter the ways we interact, is the greater mutual access and awareness, and hence – greater engagement and interdependence at and across all possible levels – individual, collective, and governmental. I will therefore assume that times when an Armenian Government Representative would sell to his or her fellow Diasporans the carefully retouched idyllic image of the Motherland are gone for good or for bad. I am happy today to represent a country whose leadership clearly acknowledges all of its strengths and weaknesses, is willing to seriously address the challenges our society is facing today, and is ready to engage – together with all who share its concerns about the state of the Nation - in a consistent effort to bring about a critical change that is needed today for getting ready to take off tomorrow. I have to make a special acknowledgement here of the unique role and position that the Armenian Assembly of America rightfully enjoys in this respect, and the outstanding job it is doing in all areas where its efforts are involved. Consistent with what exactly we believe our criteria of operation should be in the immediate future, this organization has been able to define, prioritize and successfully promote a set of critical policy matters in such a way that has earned it a reputation of a principled broker of balance among all three legs of its strategic triangle – Armenia, the United States and the Armenian-American Community. We know the Assembly for its strong leadership, professional focus and political competence. We also understand that its skillful management of resource-related tasks, its impressive grassroots network of committed activists, and the hard work of its central bureau in Washington, as well as of its field stations in Los Angeles, Yerevan and Stepanakert have been critical in ensuring the institutional integrity of the organization and its successful role of a universally accepted partner even well beyond the scope of its strategic triangle. As I said above, these are exactly the criteria that we believe we would need to instill in our own way of running the affairs of the State, in terms of how do we define our strategy, deliver our vision, deploy our resources and run our operations. You certainly have as much interest as myself in the progress Armenia is trying to make in its historic transition - from being a province of a communist superpower to emerging as a strong, stable, and secure nation at peace with itself, and at peace with its neighbors - A Nation that anchors its future in its ability to institute sound traditions of legitimate election, competent governance, and democratic behavior at all levels of society and across the entire spectrum of its domestic life. In the past, we have experienced more than our share of human hardship, crisis and instability. We therefore do not wish to take the blessing of independence for granted. We know we are small in size, landlocked in the Mountains of the South Caucasus, and surrounded by a beltway of instability, ethnic strife, and economic hardship. We also know that our region continues to remain at the crossroads of overlapping interface of cultures, civilizations and power coalitions - both economic and political. And finally, we know how fiercely do nations compete among themselves, and how brutally they may be punished for not displaying the prowess and competence in the way they define their priorities, and pursue their objectives – both strategic and operational. We therefore believe that our society can achieve its strategic goals only if it works in broader partnerships, including with the Diaspora. We can become secure and prosperous only we get our country actively involved in broader regional and international contexts that shape our environment today, and only if we do it in a consolidated way, mobilizing all of our internal and external resource and willpower to properly face our challenges and fully embrace our opportunities. The tragic events of the past October, and their aftershock just a couple days ago are but another manifestation of how unexpectedly asymmetric and domestically resonated these challenges can be. As we get ourselves engaged in a long search for inner social harmony with and broader national consensus over our strategic course, world may, once again, wish to put to test our readiness to face the challenge of Statehood. Either we embrace this historic opportunity and bend our Destiny to our will, or we choose to surrender to the mercy of modern-day Babylons and Egypts. We believe that the new generation of Armenians will never again have to look back only to confess that “independence was knocking at our door, yet we were not ready to seize it.” Consistent with this vision, we believe that Armenia’s future, while firmly grounded in its independent ability to develop and deploy its own resources when and where appropriate, should intensively count on such broader partnerships as necessary to prepare for a future that requires from us even higher competitiveness in coalition-building for greater access, larger resources, and wider markets. Seeking to negotiate a secure peace and accredited political status for Nagorno Karabagh will continue to remains a critical element in our effort to achieve such preparedness. Second key element in this strategy is the maintenance of our national interest vis-a-vis Turkey – our immediate neighbor to the West. Third is our ability to develop such broader international partnerships in the region as necessary to maximize our ability of combined action. We will encourage policies that help all interested nations remain constructively involved, while at the same time we will seek to prevent any form of emerging hierarchy among them. We will continue to favor their mutually reinforcing and complementary existence and will oppose any antagonization among them along the Cold War dividing lines. In conjunction with our national security and economic development goals, we consider the advancement of rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms to be an integral component of our national interest. We acknowledge the need to consistently work towards expanding the standards of democracy in our country. Armenia can and should become a leading promoter of democratic values in the region. As such, we will increase our capacity to exert influence on international relations that affect our interest, and enhance the regional stability and security in our neighborhood. Democracies are less likely to resort to violence, and their institutions are better prepared to deter any threat or use of force. To build a stable democracy, we will first need to bring our laws into compliance with international standards, and we will also need to institute mechanisms that support the implementation of these laws. I am here today addressing an exceptionally well educated, influential and intelligent audience of dedicated people that are proud to be Armenian. You are the descendants of those who - in mass exodus – were forced to escape the first genocide of the modern times, and find a refuge in this country. As a result of eighty years of Diaspora’s dedication, hard work and perseverance, your generation can boast of both individual success stories and strong institutions, such as the Armenian Assembly of America. You can serve as a good example for Armenia proper as well, which still has a long way to go to materialize the vision of Armenia I described earlier. We count on your involvement, both on individual and institutional levels, in Armenia’s national effort to create a free, secure, and prosperous Homeland, a source of pride and inspiration for all Armenians throughout the world. I plan to approach the leadership of the Assembly with a package of projects standing high on Armenia’s agenda, where joint action together with the Embassy would be more than necessary. I hope for your interest in these areas, and your readiness to commit time and knowledge to help us better serve our national interest in Washington. I wish you success in your endeavors and look forward to further strengthening our strategic partnership with you at these difficult and challenging times for our Statehood that are also times of hope and inspiration. Thank you. |