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Diaspora threatens to stop financing Armenia
The Turkish and Armenian parliaments must now approve the Swiss-mediated deal, signed by Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and his Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoğlu, in the face of opposition from nationalists on both sides and an Armenian diaspora, which insists that Turkey acknowledge the killings of Anatolian Armenians during World War I as genocide. The boldest reaction among the Armenian diaspora came from the Union of Armenian Associations in Sweden, with spokesperson Vahagn Avedian saying the signing brought discord into Armenia-diaspora relations. The first step the diaspora will undertake after the protocols' conclusion will be to stop financing Armenia, Avedian told news portal PanArmenian over the weekend. Money from Armenians living abroad, which according to estimates amounts to $1 billion a year, is a significant source of income for landlocked Armenia.
In Jerusalem, Georgette Avagian, historian and representative of Hay Dat, an organization related with the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), told PanArmenian that the diaspora would not be silent and would take certain steps in regards to the protocols.
“Now April 24 and Oct. 10 become days of mourning for us because today we have lost our historical lands, and the issue of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide has turned to dust,” Avagian said. In the United States, an influential diaspora organization, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), suggested that “the success of Turkey in pressuring Armenia into accepting these humiliating, one-sided protocols proves, sadly, that genocide pays.”
ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian pledged that “the ANCA and all Armenian Americans will continue our efforts to restore morality to our nation's response to the Armenian Genocide, and, more broadly, to the cause of genocide prevention.”
Alongside the diaspora's harsh reactions, the international community has praised the protocols. Bulgaria, Israel, Spain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were among those to welcome the deal, as well as the US based-Armenian Jewish Committee (AJC).
Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry said they were convinced that the signing of the protocols “eliminates all impediments for the future development of bilateral relations and contributes to the peace and stability in the region of the South Caucasus and the Black Sea,” while the UAE Foreign Ministry stated that the protocols would provide an important stabilizing factor in the region, in general, and south of the Caucasus, in particular, and would contribute to enhancing regional cooperation in various areas of development for the interest of the Turkish and Armenian peoples.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said, “The agreement proves yet again that open and fearless negotiation is the only way to overcome differences and past events.”
The Spanish Foreign Ministry expressed pleasure over the signing, adding that this move would strengthen stability in the Caucasus.
AJC Executive Director David Harris, meanwhile, “saluted the courage of” the two governments “in choosing the path of reconciliation over that of continued conflict.”
Expressing hope that the accord would have a positive impact on peace efforts in the wider region, Harris said: “There is a painful history here, but Turkey and Armenia have wisely decided that the dividing issues of both past and present must be addressed through dialogue. In signing this accord, they have reminded us that no conflict, however intractable, need be eternal.”
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