ARFD rally scheduled for Jan. 11 on Shahumyan Square

January 5, 2010 - 14:25 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - By the proposal of Yerevan Municipality, ARF Dashnaktsutyun will hold its January 11 rally near Shahumyan square vs, cinema Moscow.

Demonstrators will march from the square to Armenia's Constitutional Court (CC) to show their protest against RA-Turkish Protocols which are to be reviewed by the court on January 12.

Gathering near the CC building, the protesters will address their statements to Chairman of Constitutional Court Gagik Harutyunyan. As reported by ARFD, the meeting and the march will bring together representatives from 14 parties which are against the ratification of the Protocols.

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.