Khatchig Dedeian: “The book “The Armenian Diaspora in the Changing World” is a major documental source devoted to the Diaspora”

The 650-page book “The Armenian Diaspora in the Changing World”, which was recently released by Minister of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia Hranush Hakobyan, is more than an encyclopedia; it is a study of the issues of the Armenian Diaspora, a documental source that presents the development of the Armenian identity and Armenian political thought and serves as a tremendous database of data and statistics. It is the book by a skillful expert who is well aware of the changing and multi-layered Diaspora, its history, evolution, struggle, intricate issues and inner nuances up close. It is a book in which the complete and documented data are the fruit of unwavering efforts for compilation and a book that shows that the Minister of Diaspora knows “her flock” up close.

Hakobyan fairly puts her finger on the wound when she states that the Armenian Diaspora is gradually losing its identity and is rapidly assimilating amid globalization and the changing world, and so the key objective and the major challenge of the Diaspora is preservation of the Armenian identity. The author goes on to say that there is a need for radical review and reorganization of community life in the Diaspora. The main focus of the Minister is the major role that the Diaspora plays in the empowerment of the Republics of Armenia and Artsakh, as well as the survival and eternity of the Diaspora.

The author presents a tremendous field of partnership with Diaspora Armenian organizations, pinpointing the fields in which Armenia’s relevant organizations can make their contributions, including Armenology, journalism, media, museums, higher education, Genocide studies and more.

Amid the numerous difficulties facing the Diaspora, Armenian organizations can and are obliged to support and benefit from the great experience of Armenian communities, community organizations and individuals in the Diaspora and their tremendous potential with the perspective of empowering Armenia and collaborating with other countries and international structures and organizations.

The need for development of the multilateral relations with the Armenian Diaspora (enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia), the policy on preservation of the Armenian identity and partnership in the cultural, education, linguistic and other sectors is not only commendable, but also a requirement that implies commitment. Based on the needs of the Diaspora, the serious strategy developed for achievement of that goal can strengthen and raise the level of confidence between Armenia and the Diaspora. The support needs to be in two directions.

The Minister’s position is clear when she touches upon the difficulties and shortcomings of Armenian communities in the Diaspora. She pinpoints phenomena and makes recommendations, but does not go deep into the reasons and does not seek those who are responsible.

The author rightfully pinpoints the bitter and dire consequences that the Armenian Genocide left for the Diaspora Armenians having been deprived of their rights and having experienced the Genocide. The author also considers the importance of keeping the past and collective memory alive as a precondition for the system of national values for the new generations to preserve their Armenian identity. The struggle for claims, which Armenia’s state officials avoid and use the word-combination “elimination of consequences” instead, is one of the major impulses for the unity of the Armenian people, yet not the only one. “The Centennial of the Armenian Genocide served as the best opportunity to keep the collective and historical memory alive and transmit it to the new generations as a covenant and a contribution,” Mrs. Hakobyan affirms.

The book “The Armenian Diaspora in the Changing World” comprehensively considers the historical and cultural values of the Diaspora, the issues of property and heritage of Armenian organizations and individuals, suggests becoming more involved in those issues and being zealous in order to make sure the wills of individuals and others are not appropriated by foreigners. Mrs. Hakobyan asks the following question: Who are the rightful owners of these wills? Who is the nation-successor, if not the national government – the Republic of Armenia? She also suggests recording national heritage and even the return of that heritage to the native land. This issue and the proposed approach are in need of serious consideration, taking into account their nuances.

Mrs. Hakobyan thoroughly considers the key components of the identity of an Armenian (the mother language, Armenian culture and scholastics, the church, family, morals and customs and historical memory) and stresses the relationship with the homeland and the power of the land for protection and preservation of the identity of Diaspora Armenians. The author is right when she draws parallels between the decline of the Western Armenian language and the risk of losing Eastern Armenian or the distortion of the language in the homeland – a phenomenon that binds the government of Armenia to mobilize all of its levers for the salvation of the two ramifications of the mother language. Unfortunately, the author has not pinpointed the issue of a unified orthography and the need to undertake that initiative that is so vital and can strengthen the unity of the two sectors of the Armenian nation.

At the same time, the author conducts an in-depth analysis on the place and role of the Armenian family, the major commitment of Armenian culture to preservation of the Armenian identity as a bridge between the past, present and future and the need to give Armenian names to Armenian children in order to help the child preserve his or her Armenian identity. She touches upon the decline in the number of Armenian-speaking Armenians, mixed marriages, the growth of the number of Armenian students attending foreign schools, the risk of that and the ineffective operation of national organizations in certain places. She stresses the cooperation of the three Armenian ecclesiastical structures in the spheres of culture, education, language and other spheres for preservation of the national image within the communities of the Diaspora.

The issues and considered topics are multilayered and feature the author’s emphases, as well as scientific, methodological and analytical approaches-something that makes the book more than complete and saturated. I have to admit that any attempt to analyze or present the book will be doomed to failure. Yours truly realized the difficulty of that attempt in advance.

Mrs. Hakobyan pinpoints the various spheres in which the potential of the Armenian Diaspora can be used to empower the homeland, the importance of that, the resources, the diverse layers of partnership between Armenia and the Diaspora, the necessity of that and compares the Greek, Jewish and Irish Diasporas, showing the experience they have, the use of lobby of the Diaspora for the empowerment of Armenia and Artsakh, and she sounds the alarm for the Armenian identity and gives a healthy diagnosis for reinforcement of the guarantees of the survival of Armenians.

Based on rich experience, her indications serve as a summary of the past and present of the Diaspora, including proposals for solutions that can be considered and also taken advantage of within the Armenian communities abroad. She has successfully classified the key issues and put the resources for the survival of the Diaspora into the spotlight.

In a special section, the author presents the tremendous financial investments and contributions that the Armenian Diaspora has made for the strengthening and prosperity of Armenia and Artsakh and the unforgettable role that that same Diaspora has played in the development of the homeland. The book recaps the picture of tremendous amount of investments made by Diaspora Armenian structures and individual – an effort that best expresses the size and volume of the assistance that has been provided over the past decades. The Armenian Diaspora plays a major role in nation-building. This book also affirms this truth, with its vast amount of data.

In the book, the author conducts an in-depth discussion on the issues of Armenian identity, the working style and activities of the Ministry of Diaspora,  the perspectives and future actions, the programs and fields promoting partnership with the Diaspora, the establishment of dual citizenship, the issue of forcefully Islamized Armenians, Turkey’s policy of denial and distortion of the Armenian Genocide, the blockade against Armenia, the inimical and offensive ambitions of Azerbaijan, the rising level of emigration, foreign and domestic challenges, the Armenia-Diaspora conferences and their important role from the perspective of the establishment of bridges and mutual understanding and the importance of the use of the entire potential of Armenians within communities and for the empowerment of Armenia and Artsakh as a key factor.

The book contains various statistics and the studies conducted by different individuals and organizations that make this book academically valuable and reliable. All the proposals and programs are the deep awareness of the issues and difficulties of Diaspora Armenians, as well as the experience. They are a combination of all the academic and scientific reports, analyses of lectures and conclusions that can be feasible in both the Diaspora and in any sphere of life of the Armenians.

The book “The Armenian Diaspora in the Changing World” is a great contribution to Diaspora studies, especially from the perspective of critical thinking. All this goes to show that, thanks to RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan, we are dealing with a strong individual who has turned the Ministry into an institution with experience and a state mindset, and this book is the result of the past nine years of efforts and the vision. It deserves to be seriously studied in the Diaspora and especially in the homeland.

In closing, I would like for this weighty book to also be released in classical Armenian orthography and, why not, in Western Armenian.

KHATCHIG DEDEIAN

Head of Divan of Antelias

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