Arnold Reisman: On an Armenian Manifesto Circa 1923, II
[Arnold Reisman is an engineer and a retired professor of operations research at Case Western Reserve University. Born in Lodz in 1934, he came to the United States after World War II and is the author of numerous books about Holocaust refugees in Turkey, including Turkey's Modernization: Refugees from Nazism and Ataturk's Vision (New Academia, 2006).]
On December 6, 2010, in its Roundup: Talking About Historysection,HNN posted the article “Arnold Reisman: On an Armenian Manifesto Circa 1923.” In the article I wrote about a booklet which I found to be “a most interesting and incisive account of what had been happening among, and to, the Armenian people up to 1923.” As indicated in the earlier article “the original, was written by a most knowledgeable Armenian activist of the time, Hovhannes Katchaznouni who … knew every Party secret before, during, and after the founding of the ill-fated [Armenian] Republic.” “Few were in a position to know more, nor to express themselves with greater clarity, logic, and foresight than Hovhannes Katchaznouni.”
Incorporated after I validated the two available translations of the Manifesto juxtaposing one with the other, my next step was to validate some of the salient points involving the Turko-Armenian conflict with events that took place on the ground.
For this stage I used three disparate types of sources: One type was extracted from the New York Times archives; another source came from books by current historians (mostly ethnic Armenians) and published in the west; the third set was taken from books by two noted Armenian historians and published in the Soviet Union.
The conclusion reached is that Hovhannes Katchaznouni was well justified, by events on the ground that were undisputedly known and reported by each of these three quite disparate sets of sources, in making all of his assertions regarding the Turko-Armanian conflict in his Manifesto, and that he had more than adequate basis to say that the Dashnagtzoutiun should dissolve and cease all activities. That was back in 1923. How many lives were lost on both the Turkish and the Armenian side since then? And, the Armenians are no closer today in reaching their stated aspirations, than they were then.
Arnold Reisman: On an Armenian Manifesto Circa 1923, Source: Special to HNN (12-6-10) http://hnn.us/roundup/11.html#134237
http://www.djavakhk.com/galerie/disp_img.php?id_img=1329
http://www.jdemirdjian.com/page2008/Democratic_Republic_of_Armenia.htm
Katchaznouni, Hovhannes and Akalın, Lale, The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnagtzoutiun) has nothing to do anymore: (report submitted to the 1923 party convention) (Istanbul: Kaynak Yayinlari, 2006) and
Katchaznouni, Hovhannes; Carlson, John Roy, The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnagtzoutiun) has nothing to do anymore: the manifesto of Hovhannes Katchaznouni. (New York: Armenian Information Service, 1955)
The full review can be downloaded from SSRN as: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1712564
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Anonymous, “ARMENIANS ORGANIZE TO RESIST THE TURKS: Swear to Fight to the Death for Defense of their Cause and Country” TheNew York Times, May 15, 1918.
Anonymous “MORE BRITISH IN RUSSIA: Armenians Are Defending Section of Railroad from the Oil Port of Baku” TheNew York Times, August 17, 1918
Vahan Cardashian, “The Loss of Baku: Armenians will remain loyal to the cause of the Alllies” The New York Times September 23, 1918
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Balakian, Peter, The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response. (New York: HarperCollins, 2003)
Cardashian, Vahan “The Loss of Baku: Armenians will remain loyal to the cause of the Alllies” The New York Times September 23, 1918
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Both were members of the USSR Academy of Sciences
Lalaian A.A. “The Counter-Revolutionary role of the Dashnagzoutiun Party (1914-1923)” Revolutsionniy Vostok, (The Revolutionary East) Organ of the Scientific Research Institute for Studying National and colonial Questions, Vol. 36-37, No 2-3, Moscow 1936, Also appearing in English as The Counter-Revolutionary role of the Dashnagzoutiun Party (1914-1923)” (Istanbul: Kaynak Yainlari, 2007)
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