Unfortunately, it is not surprising that the Diasporan Armenian organizations have once again not only given a late opinion, but have expressed an opinion which perceives the people of Armenia not as an end of any means, but as a means to their own ends.  For the people of Armenia, living in and being Armenian is not a question to be asked, an identity to be pondered, or a path to be chosen.  Being Armenian,  just is.  

There are many kinds of Diasporan Armenians.  There are those who self-identify as Armenian, though their families have lived outside of Armenia for many generations, such as many of the members of the community in Fresno, California.  There are those who have permanently moved to Armenia since its independence; those who maintain their Armenian identity through the Armenian church; those who don’t speak a word of Armenian but give financial gifts to Armenian organizations; those who identity is centered around their chosen Armenian political party; those only recently have emigrated from Armenia.

I should point out that I was born and raised in the Diaspora.  I have, at different points in my life, been involved peripherally with these organizations.  For a young Armenian growing up in the US, with a strong Armenian background, there is absolutely no doubt that many of the organizations allowed not only a welcomed social structure but an easily accepted identity - organizations that would allow me to embrace both my American and Armenian identities, without making me explain myself.  It was at an AGBU school that I learned the Armenian alphabet: at an AYF camp that I first studied the Armenian Genocide.  For these reasons, and many more, I applaud many of these organizations, be they political or religious – they have played a pivotal role in maintaining and facilitating the Armenian identity for so many in the Diaspora.  As a greater community, we rely on these organizations to help us maintain our identity, to help unify us and inform us.

Any organization which helps maintain an identity is at risk of providing an identity: instead of helping develop thought and ideas, it may direct or even replace the process.  In a world where time is limited, the facets of life and its goals are many, these organizations, sometimes dangerously so, replace individual thinking and true debate with Party thoughts.  This isn’t necessarily always bad, but it must have its checks and balances system, like any other.  And when that is lost, through sensationalism, guilt, or diversion, the tendency of ambition and power to overtake organizations can run unabated. 

Time and time again, over the past 20 years, starting from the Kharabagh movement in 1988, the independence of Armenia in 1991, the different regimes of the past 17 years, and now the events of the past two months, those in the Diaspora not directly intertwined with any organization have seen what we thought were the fundaments of these organizations not only be debated, but traded, in effect, sold. 

In effect, despite a plethora of beneficial programs, many of these organizations have lost sight of their goals – maybe it is my misunderstanding. I thought the Armenian Nation, including the people of Armenia, were an end for which there were many different means.  It seems these organizations have become, or  think themselves, the end for which they are the means.

What is more basic, and less political, than the following truths: a government opening fire on its own people, repressing media, denying the right to protest, implementing a policy of random imprisonment and beating.

Why is there even a question whether such actions should be condemned?

Have these organizations strayed so far from the dreams of their founding fathers that they cannot stand up for the rights of the citizens in Armenia?