(На русском — https://miaban.ru/info/russia/ks-rao_19-7-2019/

in Facebook — here)

Members of the Coordination Council of the Russian-Armenian organizations on July 19, 2019 attended the meeting with chief commissioner for Diaspora affairs Mr. Zareh Sinanyan at the Armenian Embassy in Russia. Each of the participants of the meeting shared with his views. Below are theses of Vahan Babakhanyan’s speech. Photos are from the page of the Armenian Embassy in Facebook.

1. I agree with the comparison done by Norat Grigorievich Ter-Grigoryants that the Union of Armenians of Russia is a large, known for its resources, but it is only cultural and educational organization. In addition, Russia needs organizations close to politics that promptly and effectively raise thorny issues, including also ones related to the counteraction to the subversive actions of radical Pan-Turkism. Such issues are dealt with by the members of the Coordination Council of the Russian-Armenian organizations (CC RAO) and by the Council as a whole. As a matter of fact, no one among the Armenian associations in Russia performs such activities so many years in a row on a regular basis. At the same time, there is no support for the activities of the CC RAO from any organization in Armenia, from government and business structures, etc. This is purely volunteer work against a well-equipped and armed enemy with their huge state support on the fronts of the ongoing information war.
2. In this sense, in the sense of hot and thorny topics, Armenian communities and organizations in Russia are not enough civil active. And there are no objective criteria and evaluation of communities and organizations. Under the old authorities, just the number of concerts and cultural events was primitively used for such a criterion. But in our hot wartime this is unacceptable. Therefore, communities and organizations are doing what a small group of executives will have in their heads, avoiding thorny issues so that it does not harm their personal business.
3. I voiced this question at the beginning of July at the All-Armenian media forum in Beirut.

I offered to formulate the main priorities that all Armenian communities, organizations and the media should have as a must. But such formulation was not done. By the way, and you, Mr. Sinanyan, had answered yesterday (July 18) in a strange manner on Ara Abramyan’s just question about the absence of a state (national) ideology. You said that the development and strengthening of the Republic of Armenia is a national ideology. But what about Hai Dat? What about Western Armenia?

Zareh Sinanyan: “I spoke in Yerevan about Hai Dat”.

Vahan: “Talking about Hai Dat in Yerevan or in America is one thing. And to speak in Russia is quite another. I believe that we must speak directly and to the camera. This is what we have been doing by the Coordination Council for years and regularly. Although we are with Norat Grigorievich Ter-Grigoryants in different structures for Western Armenia, and the Dashnaktsutyun party has its own approaches, but being different we are all one in prioritizing the theme of Western Armenia.”

Sinanyan: “When I say “Republic of Armenia”, I mean both Artsakh and Western Armenia.”

Vahan: “None of the listeners, especially in Russian, will understand this. We must speak directly, without hints. The word “Western Armenia” is excluded from the lexicon of the top officials of Armenia, from lexicon of its official representatives in Russia, from the Union of Armenians lexicon, of the majority of Armenian communities and organizations in Russia. If leaders do not speak directly, what can be expected from ordinary people? At the same time, our enemies speak directly about their goals on “Irevan” without any hints, realizing their aggressive policy of radical Pan-Turkism.”

4. Among the questions raised by me in Beirut were: the theme of the of UNESCO congress in Baku (see an article in The Guardian) in early July that was a pure mockery of common sense, the theme of the Armenian Genocide in Azerbaijan. On the latter topic, we held a conference in Yerevan and Stepanakert in 2018. The priority theme is also the Talysh national liberation movement, which information our CC RAO Council covers in its resources on a regular basis for years (dozens articles in Russian). I wrote a 3-page article on this topic in English and sent to a dozen of Armenian media in Spyurq. I give you a copy of it along with the text of my speeches in Beirut, along with the article about the Republic of Western Armenia (in Armenian) and a number of other materials. So, in Spyurq, they do not know about Talysh at all. In general, Armenians in Russia and in the “Western” Spyurq are in different spaces. It’s time to break these 30 year old Berlin walls. It would be good if you also participated in this process.
5. As for a suggestion of a colleague about events for the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, I consider important not a discrete approach with episodic actions, but a systematic one — it is necessary to create a Victory Committee in Armenia by analogy with one that has existed in Russia for 40 years under the president of the Russian Federation. Only this systematical way is correct – instead of a way with occasional “patches” in the form of one-time actions.