An historic reference
1. The Motherland of the Armenians – Armenia including
the Armenian Highland and adjacent territories is located between Asia Minor, the
Black Sea, the basin of the Kur River, the Iranian plateau and Mesopotamia,
covering a total area of 400 000 square kilometers.
2. In spiritual perceptions of a number of peoples of
Ancient World the Armenian Highland was perceived as a sacred land. According
to the Bible, Sumerian, Babylonian and other sources it was the cradle of
mankind and, after the creation, the symbols of wisdom and immortality were
kept there. After the flood, this highland became the country of the renewal of
mankind where God established Eternal covenant with humankind.
3. The traces of human settlements here date back to the
early period of the Paleolithic epoch. A number of very important achievements
in human history were registered in the Armenian Highland. Particularly, for
the first time in the world, transition from wild and merely consumer way of
life to agriculture and cattle-breeding (civilized and productive economy) took
place in the 10th millennium B.C. in the south (the archeological site of
Shanidar) of the Armenian Highland.
4. First temples were built in the Armenian Highland (the
9th millennium B.C.), as well as the earliest metallurgy originated and for the
first time horses were domesticated here...
5. The Armenian people has Indo-European origins and
until the end of the 4th millennium B.C., it is still constituted a part of the
main body of the Indo-European community which lived in the IndoEuropean proto-homeland
– in eastern regions of Asia Minor, the Armenian Highland, Northern Mesopotamia
and north-western part of the Iranian plateau.
6. The first historical information about the Armenian
Highland dates back to the 28th century B.C. Sumerian inscriptions mention the
early state formation of Aratta which is identical with Ararad according to the
Bible. In the Sumerian and Biblical histories about the world flood, Aratta and
Ararad, respectively, are presented as the land of salvation. The god-protector
of Aratta was Hayk (who is mentioned in the Sumerian sources under the name of
“Dumuzi” – “the truthful son”) – the son of the creator god Haya. Later Aramazd
became a successor of Haik.
7. King Naram-Sin
of Akkad (the 23rd century B.C.) in his inscriptions repeatedly mentions the
country of Arman which “no one had chance to conquer”.
8. Naram-Sin’s
domination was crushed by the 17 countries’ confederation (Gutian) which united
under its power the whole Mesopotamia and some neighboring regions and had been
formed the first empire known in the history of Armenia. The Gutian empire has
existed 100 years, until the end of the 22nd century B.C.
9. The cuneiform inscriptions of the 20th-18th centuries
B.C. are evidence of the economic and political development of the Armenian
Highland. According to these inscriptions, there were nearly 40 production and
trading centers in the Armenian Highland.
10. In the 16th century B.C. Mitanni was formed in the
south-west of the Armenian Highland (to the south of the Eastern or Armenian
Taurus) and the northern part of Mesopotamia. Mitanni was ruled by an
Indo-European dynasty and until the 13th century B.C. was one of the strongest
states in Western Asia. The kings of this state, which were formed in southern
part of Armenia, were classified among the Armenian patriarchs and the first
kings by the Armenian medieval written sources. At its mightiest period
Mitanni’s power reached the territories of northern Mesopotamia,
Cilicia and present-day Syria, sharing with Egypt the
eastern coastal regions of the Mediterranean Sea.
11. In the 15th-13th centuries B.C. the regions lying to
the north of the Armenian Taurus mountains and to the east of the Euphrates
were mentioned as the Kingdom of Hayasa [in Hittite –a(sa) was a suffix forming
a place-name: Hayasa means “the country of the Armenians”] according to the Hittite
sources.
12. At the end of the 12th century B.C. the Haykids
proclaiming Armavir as the capital undertook the process of the statehood’s
reestablishment. Aram was the mightiest of the rulers of Armavir who had been
mentioned under the name of “Aramu the Urartian” in the Assyrian inscriptions
(860-840 B.C.). Owing to his activities, the name of “Ararat” (Urartu is the
Assyrian-Babylonian version) spread all over the Highland and became identical
with the name of “Armenia” in the Bible and
other written sources of Mesopotamia, Achaemenid Persia
and etc. For the last time Armenia had been mentioned under the name of
“Urartu” in the inscription of the Achaemenid empire written in the 4th century
B.C. in Babylonian.
13. From the middle of the 9th century the Kingdom of Van
(Biaina) with the capital of Tushpa (later Van) strengthened within the
Armenian Highland. The Kingdom of Van is called Ararad/Urartu as a general name
of Armenia in the Assyrian sources and the Bible. In the first half of the 8th
century the Araradian Kingdom (particularly at the period of the reign of
Argishti I) became the mightiest state in Western Asia owing to the successful
activities of the sovereigns of Van.
14. At the end of the 7th century-the beginning of the
6th century the Eruandakan (Orontid) branch of the Haikid dynasty established
its rules and reigned in Armenia until 201 B.C. In 521-331 B.C. Armenia was
under the rule of Achaemenid Persia becoming one of its satrapies, but in 331
B.C. after the 3 battle of Gaugamela the Eruandakans restored independence of
two Armenian kingdoms – Great
Armenia and Armenia Minor.
15. At the end of the 3rd century the Seleucids succeeded
to take under their control the Armenian kingdoms. But a little shortly after,
in 189 B.C. Armenians again restored their independence. In Great Armenia
Artashes, proclaiming himself “Eruandakan,” founded a kingdom (189 B.C. -1
A.D.) which in historiography is called after his name.
16. The Artashesid dynasty reached a zenith of its might
at the time of the King of Great Armenia Tigran II the Great (95-55 B.C.). His
domination spread over Atropatene, Media, Northern Mesopotamia,
the former Seleucid kingdom, Phoenicia, Palestine and
Cilicia (in 66 B.C. these conquered territories
were yielded to Rome). His domination went beyond these
limits covering the territory of almost 3
million sq. km.
17. After the fall of the Artashesid dynasty (1 A.D.)
Great Armenia preserved the status of the kingdom, but at that time a period of
temporary destabilization had started which finished in 66 A.D. when the Armenian
branch of the Arshakid dynasty established on the throne of Great Armenia.
18. Before conversion to Christianity (301 A.D.) in
Armenia the polytheistic pantheon was headed by the supreme trinity (which is a
typical Indo-European phenomenon). The supreme trinity comprised the creator
father god Aramazd, saint goddess Anahid and the god of courage Vahagn. There
were worshipedalso the goddess of the family hearth Nane, solar Mihr, the god
of literary culture Tir, the goddess of the celestial light and beauty Astghik,
the god of hospitality Vanatur and other gods.
19. In 301 A.D. Armenia, the first country in the world
recognized Christianity as the state religion. Unfortunately, during the
adoption of Christianity as state religion the great part of the pre-Christian Armenian
culture (including the pre-Christian writing culture) was destroyed.
20. In 387 A.D. Armenia was divided between the Roman
Empire and Sassanid Persia, and two years later the Western Armenian kingdom
was abolished in the Roman part, the Arshakid kingdom existed until 428 in
Eastern Armenia.
21. In 405 A.D. Mesrop Mashtots created the alphabet
consisting of 36 letters which resulted in the renaissance of the Armenian
literary culture.
22. In the 7th century a new power appeared in Western
Asia, the Arab Caliphate and in 640 A.D. took place the first raid of its
troops into Armenia. In 701 A.D. the Arab Caliphate conquered Armenia.
23. In 885 A.D. Armenia’s independence was restored under
the leadership of the Bagratid dynasty (the Bagratids were an ancient priestly
family, the coronant knights of the Armenian kings). The Bagratid centralized
kingdom existed until 1045.
24. During centuries Armenians settled in Cilicia and in
1080 A.D. they established a princedom headed by the Rubenid family. On January
6 1198 A.D. Levon II the Rubenid was crowned as King. Thus the Cilician
princedom was proclaimed as the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia which existed until
1375 A.D.
4
25. From the end of the 14th century Armenians lost last
fragments of their statehood. In the 16th and 17th centuries Armenia was
divided between Persia and and the Ottoman Empire, constituting a Eastern Armenia
and Western Armenia.
26. In 1801-1829 the north-eastern territories of Eastern
Armenia passed under the domination of the Russian empire. It was a new stage
in the life of the Armenianhood, when Armenia was divided between three states.
27. For the Armenianhood and Armenian culture the
Genocide (1894-1923) committed by Turks' government had catastrophic
consequences in the Western Armenia. Two million Armenians in their native
cradle fell a victim to the Genocide, many monuments of the Armenian culture
(having world significance) were demolished. As a result of the Genocide, they
deported from their homeland and
dispersed all over the world, Armenians and their
generations which formed communities – in different countries.
28. December 29th, 1917 (January 11, 1918), the decree of
Russia recognizing the independence of Western Armenia. The Council of people’s
commissioners promulgated the “Decree on Turkish Armenia” and it was published
in the n° 227 of the Pravda, December 31, 1917 (January 13, 1918).
29. In 1918-1920 the Armenian people of Western Armenia
succeeded in reconstruction of its independent statehood, which, however, had a
short life, under a delegation led the chairmanship of Boghos Nubar Pasha. On August 10, 1920 Great Powers signed the
Treaty of Sèvres, which provided that the provinces of
historic Armenia – Van, Erzerum (Garin), Bitlis (Baghesh)
and Trebizond had to be passed to State of Armenia (Western Armenia) (the
borders were drawn by the President of the USA Woodrow Wilson, the November 22,
1920).
We recall the
important dates of this fact. The conference of San Remo 1920, the signature of
the Treaty of Sèvres by the western powers the 24 April 1920, the remittance to
signature to the 2 Turkish state of the Treaty of Sèvres the 11 May 1920, and
finally the signing of the Treaty by Turkey the 10 August 1920.
30. December 17th, 2004, the National Council of
Armenians from Western Armenia in Shushi (Artsakh, Karabagh) declared of the
right to self-determination of the Armenians from Western Armenia.
31. According to the statement of the United Nation’s
General Assembly on the rights of indigenous peoples on September 13th, 2007,
the Armenians of Western Armenia as an indigenous people, assert their right to
self determination. “Indigenous peoples have the right to self determination.
By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely
pursue their economic, social and cultural development”. (Art. 3)
32. February 4, 2011 Paris (France), the National Council
of the Armenians of Western Armenia, expressing the will of the Armenians of
Western Armenia and conscious of its responsibility for the destiny of his
people committed to achieving its aspiration and the restoration of a historical
justice, manifests to transmit the present resolution. Taking into account the
international provisions 5 following, a) The principles of Universal human
rights of the UN, b) The standards recognized by
the international law, c) The right to self-determination
of the Armenians of Western Armenia, applied by the National Council according
to the official statement of December 17, 2004. Declare the creation of a real
institution of State within the Armenians scattered around the world, namely, the
realization of the formation of a government in exile.
33. May 24, 2013 Paris (France), the National Council of
Western Armenia, the Government-in-Exile of Western Armenia and Special
Commission on the formation of the National Assembly (Parliament) of Western
Armenia, taking responsibility for the development and establishment of Public Institutions
of Western Armenia, preservation of the existence and identity of the Armenian
people, the restoration and reconstruction of the economy of Western Armenia,
Declare the decision to form
the National Assembly (Parliament) of Western Armenia to
consolidate the forces of the Armenian people; The decision to adopt the
fundamental requirements of the Armenian people to the ''Armenian issue'',
considering the basis of the principles of national unity and immutable law;
The decision to adopt a single resolution to the ''Armenian issue'', that is
the Armenian people must live in one self-sufficient and, in the future, in the
United and Independent Armenian State.
34. February 23, 2014 - On the historical and legal basis
that confirmed the ("de facto") recognition of the Armenia on the
19th january 1920 and by rigth ("de jure") on the 11th may 1920 by
the main Allied powers, the State of the Western Armenia is definitly the
continuity of the State of Armenia recognized in 1920. The origin of the flag
of Western Armenia Republic (Dikranagert) 6 Occupation of Turkish Armenia
transferred to a civilian rule under Hakob Zavriev in 1917 by Ozakom of Russian
Provisional Government, which Zavriev began to oversight
of districts Trebizond Vilayet, Erzurum Vilayet, Bitlis Vilayet, and Van
Vilayet 7 Armenia refers to the boundary configuration of the State of Armenia
in the Treaty of Sèvres, as drawn by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's Department
of State, the November 22, 1920
01.09.2015
By Armenag APRAHAMIAN
President of Western Armenia National Council
stat.gov.wa@haybachdban.org
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