Why do collaborationists want to change the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution?
Independence Day is the most crucial binding element for citizens in any independent country. On this day, people feel proud of the opportunity to live and create in their own state; they tell their children about those who fought for this opportunity and how important it is to remember this. One of the most important functions of any government, regardless of its narrow party-ideological orientation, is to protect and create conditions for reproducing these feelings. Independence is no longer about politics, but about national dignity, which cannot be traded. The principles defining this dignity are stated in the Declaration of Independence. To understand this, it is enough to read the preamble of the Armenian Declaration, which begins with the words “realizing our responsibility for the fate of the Armenian people in the aspirations of all Armenians and restoring historical justice.” We are talking about the soul and conscience of the state, and as long as the principles forming them are protected by the authorities, the country has a chance to survive even in the most critical conditions.
In February this year, the leader of the collaborationist government in Yerevan said that the Declaration of Independence, referring to the reunificiation of Armenia and Artsakh, was an obstacle to “peace.”
Moreover, he repeated a threat from Baku and Ankara that if the Miatsum concept is preserved in the Declaration, the Armenians will face a new war. Artsakh was surrendered; the army was disbanded; the local population was completely expelled from their homes; the traces of the Armenian civilization are being consistenly destroyed.
The international community at the same time showed a demonstrative disregard. It would seem to be a total triumph with the only thing to do is signing a what is called by the collaborators a “peace treaty”. However, in reality it is an act of unconditional surrender and colonization. But why is the Turkish world not satisfied with it? They realize that they gained their “achievements” by pursuing anti-national and amateurish policies of certain Armenian political groups, which have not devoted a single day to the issues of nation and state building.
Turkey and Azerbaijan are aware of the Armenian potential, and they do not want to face an organized and structured version of it in the future. Hence, their mission is to destroy the foundations and meanings of the Armenian world, whose identity is based on two elements: the historical memory of the Genocide of 1915 and the liberation of Artsakh. The latter is of critical importance since the concept of Miatsum is the meaningful alpha and omega of independent Armenia, which, in turn, protects the historical memory of the Genocide. The Armenian communities will be completely disoriented without these. Their Armenian identity will begin to fade, as the meaning of being Armenian and the need to feel like an Armenian have been destroyed. To complete this mission, specific tasks are being solved, in particular amending the Declaration of Independence. If Ankara, Baku and collaborators in Yerevan manage to solve it, Armenia will become the first country in history to make amendments to its own Declaration of Independence.
Such a step is not only a shameful act, but an open statement to the whole world that the Armenians have moved to the last stage – the surrender of binding meanings around which a sovereign Armenian statehood can be built.
The thousand-year history of the Armenian people will be reset. A new history of colonized Armenia will be created on its fragments. The planned Genocide of 1915 will be called a common tragedy which Armenian nationalists are guilty of. There will be no memories of Operation Nemesis. The Artsakh Armenians will be declared accomplices of the third countries and perpetrators of the war with peace-loving Azerbaijan. The heroes of Artsakh liberation Vazgen Sargsyan, Monte Melkonyan, Leonid Azgaldyan and others will be declared barbarians and terrorists. New generations will receive higher education in Istanbul and Ankara at the expense of Turkish government. The Azerbaijani oil company SOCAR will provide higher scholarships for the most talented children who are to replenish the personnel reserve of the new Armenia. Over time, the religious and demographic map of the country will change. As a result, a new narrow Armenian identity will be formed, which will follow in the footsteps of the Turkish imperial identity.
In addition to the Declaration itself, the collaborators are to change the Constitution, which was once tailored to the personal needs of President Serzh Sargsyan in order to prolong his rule in the role of the prime minister. After the 2015 referendum, Armenia made a formal and dramatic transition from a presidential form of government to a parliamentary one. The process of forming a parliamentary Republic was launched, with no hint of parliamentarism (independent parties, a political competition, a system of checks and balances). The government’s personalistic content remained the same as did the oligarchic feudal system.
In 2018, Nikol Pashinyan, who had previously criticized the Constitution, became the sole ruler of the country. The former “oppositionist of principle” liked the “power suit” made for Sargsyan so much that he forgot about the importance of vital amendments, limiting the absolute power of one person.
In his interviews and speeches, then President Armen Sarkissian often spoke about the need to change the Constitution as a condition for fundamental reforms and transformations in politics, economics, education and other spheres. Even after the defeat in the 2020 war, which plunged the country and the Armenians into an acute political, moral and psychological crisis, Pashinyan continued to ignore the need for systemic change. The same Sarkisian came out with a program article “On the way to the Fourth Republic”, which proposed to form an interim government of world-class technocrat professionals (communal Armenians not interested in power). In response, Sarkisian was subject to harassment depriving him of the opportunity to take the initiative and making his signature of symbolic and formal meaning.
Thus, the current collaborationists, unwilling to share power, rejected all the proposals aimed at transforming and strengthening the country.
Now they have started talking about the concept of the “Fourth Republic” and changing the basic law of the country. But the change of position is by no means the result of comprehensive correction work or political wisdom. This is one of the demands of the metropolis – the Turkish world. The current Constitution, referring to the Declaration of Independence as the source of Armenian statehood, contains a number of statements unacceptable to Ankara and Baku. Thus, article 18 states that “The Republic of Armenia recognizes the exclusive mission of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church as a national church in the spiritual life of the Armenian people, in the development of their national culture and the preservation of their national identity.” Despite all its structural and functional shortcomings, the Church is the only pan-Armenian spiritual institution and an important guardian of the historical memory of the Armenian people. Article 19 emphasizes the role of the State in preserving the Armenian identity (language, history and culture). Now these points must be abolished by the hands of collaborators.
As a cover, they want to sell the concept of the “Fourth Republic” once invented by Sarkisian to the population, hoping thus to provide themselves with an alibi for historical national and state treason and turn the former president into an accomplice of Turkish colonization. The blame game is on; and the process of waiving responsibility for the coming disaster is underway.
