See the Protocols Through the Eyes of the Future

Compiled by Niyiri Manougian
Niyirianaghchig@aim.com

The next few months will be momentous for our people. The ratification process seems to have slowed down, which shines a ray of hope for the future of our Nation—yes our; I claim it as my own even though I have never set foot on Armenian soil, Historic or otherwise. All we can do is wait for updates on the news, hoping that the actions of a few will not annihilate the sacrifices of the past, for the future.

So the protocols passed. Ratification is the next step. Here is what some of the Armenian youth from SoCal had to say about them.

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“Time and time again, through the last five to six thousand years, our ancestors proved themselves repeatedly and defended the Armenian nation and its national rights when tyranny and blood-thirsty regimes attempted to rid away the world of Armenians. Here, today, we have the resources and the ability to read about the heroics such as 451 "Vartanants" battle, the self-defense of the Genocide era (1890-1915), the battles of 1918 (Sardarabad, Gharakilise, Pash-Abaran), the most recent Armenian independence of 1991, and Artsakh (Nagorno-Kharabakh) war of 1994. I do not want my children and the future Armenian generations to remotely come close to reading about October 10, 2009, the date where the Republic of Armenia sold its land, its people, its traditions and customs, its history, its culture, and its Identity. To say the least, these “Protocols” are the continuation of the Genocide that started before the 1900’s and its denial sadly continues.”

~Saro Haroun, 21, UCLA~



“We must understand that even though we have opinions, Armenia isn’t entitled to consider them. It is wrong to go out of our way and politicize these opinions by telling Armenia what it can or cannot do. In order to influence a nation about political issues, we must first be participants of that political process, or else we will create more problems than solutions. Aren’t we in enough disagreement with the Republic of Armenia due to the fact that we chose to be part of the Diaspora rather than a citizen of Armenia itself? I hear my friends complain about the faults of giving up our historical rights towards Western Armenia with the signature of the protocols, but haven’t we as a Diaspora given up those rights already just by living here? We are too busy embellished in that old idea of creating a “New Armenia” here. We must never forget that we already have an independent Armenia. If we fail to participate in the political processes there, Armenia might as well proceed with choices that would fall contrary to our interests.”

~Garen Kazanc, 20, Cal Poly Pomona~



“As active as I am in the Armenian community, I have always disagreed to the idea of members of the Diaspora being involved with issues concerning the government in Armenia; but the issue with Serzh Sarkisyan and the Armenia-Turkey protocols is something that I cannot allow myself to be silenced on. I am all for bettering Armenia, but I strongly feel that making relations with Turkey and re-opening the border is not the way to do it. Are we going to allow Turkey to officially refuse the Genocide and make it impossible for ourselves to lay any future territorial claims on land that belongs to Armenia? If so, we are handing our history, existence, and future to people who have already taken what is ours.”

~Angela Amirkhanian, 22, CSUN~



“I was fortunate to have a copy of the protocols given to me BEFORE I knew what the ‘Armenian People’ thought about it, so I was able to form my own opinion. I read it and thought that it was revolutionary and could bring forth a lot of good changes made in our country, including economic and social growth. Yet, I couldn’t help feeling a bit uneasy. It was like the mental scar of the genocide was reminding me not to trust the Turks. I saw how the protocols were dangerous, though I would like to say that some of what was said at the protest was a bit too biased, too hateful. We needed to voice our side of the topic, and we did. As far as Serj Sarkissian goes, we didn’t vote for him (by we, I mean both the residents of Armenia and the Diaspora). I didn’t expect anything less.”

~Patrick Bidkhanian, 17, UCI~



“Having been to protests every year, for over ten years now, I've sort of developed a sense of what emotions Armenians collectively exude during these events. But this time the air was different; the emotion and the attitude of the crowd was definitely more gutsy, hopeful, and aggressive in the most proactive sense. For the first time the sense of despair did not seem to overcome the crowd, although still present. I was genuinely left with a feeling that there is a fight to be had; a fight to be won.”

~Ani Khodaverdian, 20, UCLA~