President Sargsyan met ARF Eastern US Central Committee members

April 14, 2010 - 14:25 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - On the sidelines of President Obama’s international nuclear summit, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan met with a delegation of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Bureau.

ARF Bureau members Dr. Viken Hovsepian, Hagop Der-Khachadourian and Haig Oshagan, accompanied by ARF Eastern US Central Committee chairman Antranig Kasbarian met with Sargsyan.

During the meeting the two sides discussed Armenia-Diaspora relations, Armenia’s foreign policy, specifically Armenia-Turkey relations and the Nagorno Karabakh peace process, Diaspora efforts on behalf of Armenia and Karabakh, as well as efforts to garner international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, ARF Bureau office reported.

After a commemoration event at President Woodrow Wilson’s tomb, where Sargsyan laid a wreath and later made a statement, in an interview with the Armenian Weekly, the Bureau’s Hovsepian urged Sargsyan to rescind Armenia’s signature from the protocols.

During the face-to-face meeting with Sargsyan, the Bureau said that the party’s concerns completely would dissipate if Sargsyan rescinded Armenia’s signature from the documents.

The ARF Dashnaktsutyun

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun is an Armenian political party founded in Tiflis (Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia) in 1890 by Christapor Mikaelian, Stepan Zorian, and Simon Zavarian The ARF has the largest number of members from the political parties present in the Armenian Diaspora, having established affiliates in more than 200 countries.

The ARF Dashnaktsutyun led the effort toward the establishment of the first Armenian Republic in 1918 and was the party in power for the duration of its existence. Following the Sovietization of Armenia in 1920, the ARF-Dashnaktsutyun was banned by the Communists and its leadership exiled.

In the Diaspora, the ARF Dashnaktsutyun fought Soviet rule over Armenia and championed the cause of Armenian rights and independence; it played a leading role in organizing a social and cultural framework aimed at preserving the Armenian identity.

The ARF Dashnaktsutyun officially re-emerged in Armenia during the dissolution of the USSR, in 1990.

On December 28, 1994, the activities of the ARF-Dashnaktsutyun were "temporarily suspended" by the Armenian authorities. In view of the political nature of the anti-ARF interdictions by the Armenian authorities, the ARF continued to operate in Armenia. On February 9, 1998, less than a week after the resignation of the then president Ter-Petrossian, the Justice Ministry lifted the ban on the ARF Dashnaktsutyun.

Prior to Serzh Sargsyan's election as president of Armenia and for a short time thereafter, the ARF was a member of the governing coalition, even though it nominated its own candidate in the presidential elections.