Ուրբաթ, 29. 03. 2024

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Revival

HOVEL CHENORHOKIAN

Desire and speeches are not enough to drive the Nation from devastation to REVIVAL. The preconditions of such an occurrence are to have vision, to rise, to see far and have a larger overview of the Nation as a whole, secure the resources and before all, setting the national interest above partisan, combine all our resources and capabilities, from material to human, and employ them to serve the Nation, TOGETHER.

While Ethiopia was facing dangerous political destabilization in 1991, Israel and World Jewish organizations, such as the American Association for Ethiopian Jews (AAEJ), planned the Operation Solomon to airlift the Ethiopian Jews to Israel. In a covert Israeli military operation, which took place on May 24 to 25 1991, 35 Israeli aircrafts transported 14,325 Ethiopian Jews to Israel in 36 hours of non-stop flights.

Vis a Vis the economic crisis in Lebanon accentuated by the August 4 2020 explosion, Armenia announced 200 job offers for qualified Lebanese Armenians.

Shouldn’t we have a “big picture” plan? Could we take only the skilled, the healthy and leave behind the disabled?

What about the schools which shaped generations of Elite; the AEC, Hovagimian, Djemaran?

What about the other institutions, Antelias, Bzemmar and the Haigazian University? Shall we let them fade?

I know; you all want to tackle the Syunik issue, the security of Armenia, the border crisis… We had 30 years to empower the Armenian state. Yet we didn’t. We are late. Shouldn’t we rise, to see far and plan where we want to be in twenty or thirty years?

The exodus of the Baku Armenians took place a year before the Operation Solomon, which unlike in the Ethiopian Jews case happened in a chaotic way, ending up with the migration of most of the community to Russia. Well, to our defense, we did not have a state at the time; but even if we did…

We were not and still are not at the stage the Jews were in 1991. We are on the eve of the First Zionist Congress on their calendar, organized in Basel from August 29 to 31 1897, gathering 208 delegates, 26 press correspondents, who put the foundations of the State of Israel.

Shouldn’t we too, as Simon Simonian suggested in The Medication, have a “competent and fully responsible Pan-Armenian Supreme Body, to undertake pivotal initiatives and make fateful decisions – well studied and planned”?

During thirty years, we accepted the unacceptable, we got our pictures taken and toasted with those who looted our homeland. Had we such a Body, we would not have lost the war….

Let us rise to see far and have a larger overview, of the Nation as a whole!

Armenians have so far received two Noble Prizes. How many Jews have had Noble prizes, and how many WE would like to have in the next twenty years?

Do we want to strive for excellence and give ourselves the means?

We have four deputies of Armenian origin in the French parliament. How many are there of other cultures? What influence do WE want to have in Washington, Paris, Brussels, and Moscow in 20 years? Should we target having in twenty years an international support as strong as Israel enjoys?

Many border villages of Artsakh & Armenia are half abandoned due to a well-planned Azeri strategy.

In the Gegharkunik region, Azeri drones fly daily over the 10 Armenian villages, cattle gets stolen by Azeri soldiers. The heavily armed azeri military posted just 600m from the Sotk village (Armenia) shoot daily in the air to scare villagers. The water supply comes and goes. These are azeri bullying tricks to get Armenians leave their ancestral lands. Villagers are moving to Yerevan…

We have to take ownership (Տէր կանգնինք) of every single menaced border village, as COAF has done in the village Debet. Can organizations such as the AGBU, AMAA, COAF, Future Armenian, Tashir Foundation, Tufenkian etc… get together to “undertake pivotal initiatives and make fateful decisions – well studied and planned”.

Can we pool our resources hire a professional agency to prepare dossiers and work on getting financial support from the EU, US, UN, World Bank?

Could we project for example, covering the Aragats with rain forests, get the project financed by the EU environment life program or other leading global institutions?  

Can we pool our resources and cooperate?

The support of the government of the ROA is primordial for the efficiency of such actions; dialog is essential to make the Diaspora resources available and functional for tackling issues inherent to the ROA administration. Unfortunately, such a dialog has not existed for the past three decades. Wouldn’t it make sense for a group of respected, influential, capable independent thinkers from the Diasporas to get to meet the government of Armenia, TOGETHER?

We have common concerns and objectives that we have to take beyond being “good wishes”,

Going forward steadily, step by step,

Getting together humble, likeminded independent thinkers,

Gathering a critical mass so as no one will want to “miss the train”.

Setting achievable common goals for the nation that will unite all.

Let’s move on!


As the human brain, our Nation has two hemispheres, the Homeland and the Diaspora.

While our Homeland has a government, no matter who is in power, the being of the Diaspora as a “Thinking Entity” is essential for its own continuity, as well as that of the Nation.

DiasporArm’s mission is bridging among Diaspora communities, organizations, groups and individuals, with the objective of creating synergies among those sharing values and goals.

The objectives are primarily economic, educational, cultural and social. It refrains from political or religious orientations.

Below are some propositions, the primary of them being the constitution of a Task Force, which will independently suggest an agenda and the hierarchy of its items.

A.  Structure

1. Leadership

DiasporArm has invited successful entrepreneurs, economists, political scientists, educators and intellectuals, all independent thinkers, people with vision and strategy, to form a round table group, representing a critical mass to be audible in the Diaspora and the Homeland. The round table will set an agenda and tackle the imminent issues of the Nation.  See below the structure.

2. Building up and Bridging Communities

DiasporArm supports and bridges among non-partisan Armenian community councils in the Diaspora, to create synergies by pooling experiences, methodologies and acquire leverage by going Global.  DiasporArm also contributes to the establishment of such councils in countries where there is a gap.

DiasporArm has the goal to federate the different autonomous community councils. See below.

3. Bridging Armenian organisations

DiasporArm invites Armenian organizations and media having social, educational and cultural objectives, such as the AGBU, AMAA, COAF, Eurnekian, Future Armenian, Tashir Foundation, Tufenkian well as the various media means to pool their resources, experiences and cooperate whenever useful or necessary.  See below.

B. The Networks

1. Armenian Students’ Network (ASN)

Initiated by DiasporArm, the Armenian Students’ Network (ASN) bridges Armenian students across the globe, acting on three networking stratums; Students, Educators and Entrepreneurs.  Educators mentor, give students orientation and introduce to various grants, scholarships, fellowships, etc.  Entrepreneurs offer guidance in terms of professional orientation, offer part-time jobs, internships, sponsor projects and hunt talents for their enterprises (see here).

2. Trade and professional Networks

DiasporArm bridges among existing trade associations (Doctors, Lawyers, Jewellers….) in different countries and encourages the establishment of such associations wherever they are missing.

C. The Workgroups

DiasporArm foresees the forming of the following independent Diaspora Global Workgroups/Commissions and their respective mission statements:

1. Economic

Contribute to the economic interests and development of Armenians and Armenia.

2. Education Commission-committee

  • Bringing up a generation of elite, successful and influential members of society,
  • Undertaking communication, education and inspiration, to make our heritage and homeland a subject of pride,
  • Reaching the vast majority of the Diasporan school-age children who do not have access to Armenian schools,
  • Backing the Armenian schools of the Diaspora

3. Legal Counsel

Offer support to the ROA in international court cases and Armenian institutions of the Diasporas.

4. Diplomatic and strategic initiatives

a. Lobbying

Mobilize the resources, expertise and lobbying power of the Diaspora to have an impact on foreign governments and Global Institutions, to support the Republic of Armenia.

b. Strategic initiatives

Undertake strategic studies and plan the future of problematic Diaspora communities, secure their well-being and consolidation of our institutions.

5. Social Support

Offer social support to communities and families in the Homeland and the Diaspora.

D. Supporting the government of the ROA

With the concern of consolidating the state of Armenia, make the Diaspora competencies in different domains available.

The formation of a competent Diaspora Council is essential to make the Diaspora-Homeland communication more fruitful (see here).

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