GLENDALE–The Armenian Revolutionary Federation marked its 119th anniversary during a celebration event organized by the Central Committee of the ARF-Western USA. More than 1,500 community members flocked to the Glendale High School auditorium to witness a resurgence of the ARF’s commitment to fight for justice and the rights of the Armenian nation.  No where was that better articulated than during remarks delivered by Armenian Youth Federation Western US Central Executive Chairman Arek Santikian, who spoke of the critical role the youth should play in the pursuit of the Armenian Cause.

“Speaking on behalf of the youth today, I am here to reassure you that we realize the duty bestowed upon on us and we welcome the challenges put forth. Being mindful of the sacrifices of our ancestors throughout our rich history has instilled the passion that allows each of us to work tirelessly and willingly, for something far greater than any individual,” said Santikian, reassuring the community of the youth’s willingness and determination to be the vital force of change in the community, to hold true to the core values of the ARF, and to struggle for the Armenian nation.

Below are his remarks:

Sireli hayrenagitsner, I stand before you tonight, humbled to be able to speak during a day of celebration, for an organization that has lived for over a century, an organization, that throughout its existence, has been the defender of justice and the protector of truth.

I stand before you today, honored to be a part of this organization, to represent its youth, and to pay homage to its founders and leaders throughout history.

As a member of the Armenian Youth Federation, I am thankful for a leader that had the foresight to entrust the youth with the future of not only our organization, but our entire people.

Had it not been for Karekin Njdeh’s wisdom, our Diasporan youth would be non-existent, apathetic, and disconnected from our nation. And for that, I am thankful.

Speaking on behalf of the youth today, i am here to reassure you that we realize the duty bestowed upon on us and we welcome the challenges put forth.

Being mindful of the sacrifices of our ancestors throughout our rich history has instilled the passion that allows each of us to work tirelessly and willingly, for something far greater than any individual.

The core values of selflessness and dedication upon which our organization was founded, coupled with being technologically advanced and globalized, have made the AYF into a powerful combination and has left us better situated to battle in today’s world, where things are so fast and so complex.

Take the “hunger for justice” as an example. The drive and passion of our youth spilled out onto the streets in front of the whole community as over 30 individuals starved themselves for an entire week.

Videos, articles, & pictures went up every day, highlighting the event as the news reached across America, into Canada, England, France, Syria, Lebanon, Australia, and Armenia.

And this is just one example of many.

However, one thing that we cannot forget as members of this organization is who we are fighting for and that no matter what, we can always do more for them.

Socrates once said: “there is nothing we can do better than seeking to become still better than we are.”

For as long as i can remember, there has been only one piece of the puzzle that we are still yet to find, and that piece, is unity.

Unity, not only among Armenians within the Diaspora, but among the Diaspora and our brothers and sisters within Armenia.

Our manifesto states that we fight for a “free, independent, and united Armenia.” So let us complete this mission and meet all its goals.

In order for us to succeed any further than we have throughout the years, we need to be the leaders that break down any wall that divides us as a people.

We need to reach out to our fellow brothers and sisters in Armenia, and fight for their rights, just as much as much as we fight for ours.

We need to expose the fact that 95 percent of our country’s wealth is held by five percent of its people, and end this corruption.

We need to focus on the social issues that plague our country to this day

We need be the leaders that put an end to the poverty and hunger within our country because no Armenian man woman or child should go hungry on the streets.

We need to do these things because that is what a true socialist organization must do.

And I can promise you that the youth today can be and will be the leaders that complete this mission in the future to come.

Finally, I want to speak about the unique characteristics of a member of this organization; the unger.

The unger is humble, dedicated, and a person of integrity.

The unger does not seek power, fame, nor recognition as these things go against the socialist ideals that distinguish our organization from any other.

The unger is an organizational person, one who provides continuous input, and at times, questions the reasoning, but at the end of the day, does not deviate from their duty and responsibility.

And lastly, the unger is one that believes in our ideology, and holds the goals of the manifesto as their own.

Even though we have survived for over a century, we must make a conscious effort to uphold these simple characteristics that make up the true unger.

So let us celebrate the 119th anniversary of our beloved organization by honoring our forefathers, and upholding the core values and principles upon which our organization was built upon.

Thank you.

SAN DIEGO—Nearly 150 members from the Armenian Youth Federation’s Western Region turned-out on Thanksgiving weekend to compete in the AYF’s 36th annual Olympic Games, hosted by the AYF’s Glendale ‘Roupen’ chapter, at the majestic seaside Paradise Point Resort in San Diego.

AYF chapters from all over the Golden State and Las Vegas attended the weekend tournament to compete in soccer, basketball and volleyball.

“The AYF Olympics is a long-standing tradition that brings together Armenian-American youth from across the Western United States for a weekend of sports competitions and good times,” said ‘Roupen’ chapter chairperson David Arakelyan. “This event is very important in fostering ties between AYF members from different corners of the country, and it represents one of the many pillars on which our organization is founded.”

The weekend kicked off Friday evening with a bonfire by the beach. Games began the next morning, pitting chapter against chapter for the gold. After a heated day of activity, Olympics goers enjoyed a night of dancing and music at the hotel before they hit the pavement again for semi-finals.

Chapter pride always runs high at Olympics. Every year, every team comes to the games, with unique t-shirts, complete with graphics and catchy slogans.  Each comes with the intent on taking home the championship in their niche sport.

“Olympics has always been my favorite time of the year,” said Levon Abrahamian, the chairperson of the Crescenta Valley ‘Zartonk’ Chapter. “It’s not just the games we enjoy, but the lead up to the weekend; the weeks of practice, the long nights behind Photoshop designing chapter shirts and the hours of debate at meetings trying to agree on the perfect slogan to display on the shirts.”

At the end of the tournament, the Fresno ‘Kevork Chavoush’ chapter came out on top in Soccer, winning the gold and taking the glory. The Burbank ‘Varak’ chapter came in first for Volleyball and the Hollywood ‘Musa Dagh’ chapter took the winning position in basketball.

“We had more than 150 AYF members competing in this year’s Olympics; the energy was great,” Arakelyan exclaimed, adding how much he appreciated the ability to connect and reconnect with members. “The Olympics committee worked very hard all year, mobilizing our chapter, to make this event a success and I think we were able to achieve that.”

Next year, the Olympic games are set to be hosted by the San Fernando Valley ‘Sardarabad’ Chapter, which has already begun planning and preparation to ensure nothing short success for the 2010 games. On Thursday, December 4, the chapter held their first fundraiser for the games. Themed as a “Post Olympics Reunion,” it was a resounding success, attracting many to an event that has set the tone for a year of fundraising.

For many in the AYF, the Olympics have never been just about the games and competition. “There’s a lot more to it than meets the eye,” says ‘Sardarabad’ member Patil Aslanian.

“From start to finish, the Olympics represent every fabric of AYF life, from the organization’s democratic culture and adherence to team-work and social-unity, to the appreciation for the long, hard work that goes into making any endeavour a success,” explains Aslanian. “At the end of every year, we vote on which chapter gets to host the Olympics; then the chapter honored with the responsibility unites around the goal and spends the entire year working together to bring the chapters together for another weekend of fun and competition.”

ENCINO, CA–Town hall meetings have begun throughout the Western United States to inform Armenian communities of the current state of negotiations between Armenia and Turkey and the steps being taken to prevent the ratification of dangerous agreements between the two countries, the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) reported on Saturday.

The community briefings, which began this week with two meetings in the San Fernando Valley and Orange County, will be updating Armenian Americans on the ongoing developments in the anti-protocols initiative and providing avenues for activism on the issue.

The first town-hall, organized by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation’s Western Region (ARF-WR), was held at Ferrahian Highschool in Encino on November 19. More than 200 people attended the discussion, lead by ARF-WR Central Committee Members Steven Dadayan and John Kossakian.

Kossakian presented a brief history of Armenian-Turkish relations since the independence of Armenia, discussing Turkey’s decades long blockade of Armenia and its efforts at pressuring the young Armenian republic into making the difficult choice between the Armenian people’s historical rights or the country’s economic prosperity.

On April 22, Armenia and Turkey announced they had agreed to a roadmap to normalize their relations and open the closed border. The announcement came on the eve of the 94th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, allowing US President Obama to backtrack on promises to recognize the Armenian Genocide. Amid intense opposition and protests by Armenians around the world,  Armenia’s foreign minister signed agreements with his Turkish counterpart on October 10 to establish ties between the two countries.

The signature came despite Turkey’s strong preconditions that Armenia must relinquish legal rights to historic territories in Turkey, agree to the establishment of a historical commission to debate the Genocide, and concede the independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to Azerbaijan.

“Now that the protocols have been signed, everyone’s main concern is which parliament is going to ratify it first,” Kossakian said, adding that Armenia is currently playing a waiting game with the document. “Instead of worrying about this, we should start working on our next step–to confront the Armenian government about the protocol issues.”

In his remarks Kossakian underscored the anti-protocols campaign’s latest initiative of channeling public sentiment against the protocols to pressure the Armenian parliament not to ratify the devastating documents.

Dissecting the actual provisions in the protocols, Dadayan discussed the legal implications of the documents and the heavy burdens Armenia will be required to uphold if it’s ratified.

Through these protocols, Dadayan explained, Turkey is seeking to legalize its current de-facto border with Armenia. The current boundaries are illegal and based on the illegitimate treaties of Moscow and Kars, signed in the 1920s by the rogue Bolshevik and Kemalist regimes. If the protocols are ratified, Armenia will once and for all relinquish its rights to US President Woodrow Wilson’s arbitral award of historic territories now under Turkish occupation.

Dadayan also discussed provisions in the protocols that will constrain Armenia’s relations with Karabakh and prevent Yerevan from from serving as the guarantor of its independence and security. He explained that if Karabakh is one day attacked or overrun by Azerbaijan and Armenia wants to take action or send medical or military assistance, it is legally prevented from doing so.

In underscoring the unequal bargaining position Armenia has been placed in throughout the negotiations process, Dadayan recalled his encounter with Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian during his visit to Los Angeles in September to meet with Armenian Community leaders.

Dadayan said he had asked Sarkisian what international lawyers and experts of international law were consulted by the Armenian government about the legal implications of the protocols, which were drafted in English. “The president said he was not good in English nor was he a lawyer” Dadayan recalled, noting that Sarkisian said he trusted his diplomats enough not to seek professional advice.

The same points were raised at the Armenian Center in Santa Anna, CA on Saturday, November 20 by Vache Thomassian from the ARF Shant Student Association. Thomassian spoke to some 50 people at a briefing, hosted by the AYF’s Orange County ‘Ashod Yergat’ chapter. In his remarks, he reiterated community concerns over the forced choices being presented to the Armenian people by the protocols and discussed the unprecedented level of activism around the issue.

Presenting a photo-montage of global anti-protocols activities spanning the last two months, Thomassian stressed the resound impact of the Diaspora’s actions in Armenia. “Anywhere you had an Armenian community around the world, you saw people express their disapproval,” he said. “Our voices were heard and shared all the way to Yerevan, where 60,000 people demonstrated against the signing of the protocols.”

That there is widespread opposition to the documents is not surprising. “There’s a lot to be lost here and very little to be gained,” said Thomassian, explaining the many preconditions Armenia is faced with if it wants to normalize relations with its neighbor. “The protocols could very well evolve into a package deal that includes a quick resolution to the Karabakh conflict.”

Thomassian discussed the current strategies and tactics being employed by the “Stop the Protocols” Campaign, from educating and mobilizing Armenian communities across the US to work within the American political system to advance the Armenian Genocide resolution to a vote in Congress.

He also discussed many of the ARF’s recent initiatives in Armenia. The party has been working around the clock in parliament and at the grassroots level to not only prevent ratification but also to address the underlying problem of corruption, he explained. ARF activists have been visiting villages, organizing communities to oppose the documents. Meanwhile, the ARF has been meeting with other parties opposed to the protocols in Armenia to strategize future joint actions against ratification.

But neither Sarkisian, nor the protocols are the “end all problem here,” Thomassian said, explaining that the present situation is largely due to corruption and a lack of democracy in Armenia. “The protocols didn’t pop out of nowhere; they are the result of oligarchs selling out the interests of the people for their own self interest.”

Thomassian discussed the ARF’s call for a serious overhaul of the corruption and oligarchic rule in Armenia, talking about the party’s initiative to build the groundwork for radical changes in Armenia.”The long-term objective of the ARF is social reforms, government reforms and democratic reforms,” Thomassian said. “In the last few weeks the ARF has been introducing dozens of pieces of legislation in parliament on issues concerning the national debt, women’s’ rights, poverty, and social security.”

“The protocols are in limbo right now, but that doesn’t mean we are meaningless; we need to dig in further and do more work, be more active and get our voices heard that much louder,” Thomassian exclaimed. “everything we have done to this point has had an impact and if we can increase the pressure and create enough obstacles, this thing might completely collapse.”

PASADENA, CA–On November 4th, over 100 members of the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) and ARF Shant Student Association (SSA) packed the halls of the Pasadena Armenian Center for a special discussion regarding the Armenia-Turkey protocols. The meeting was called by the AYF Central Executive in order to evaluate recent developments and outline the next steps in the campaign to stop the protocols.

“As youth, we feel it is our obligation to be on the forefront of this struggle which affects all Armenians, no matter where they are,” said AYF CE Chairman Arek Santikian. “We called this briefing together to inform our membership of what is going on and engage them in the next phase of our campaign.”

The event opened up with AYF Central Executive member Allen Yekikian speaking about the work carried out by the AYF over the last two months—from the 10,000 person rally at Pelanconi Park, to the demonstration against President Serzh Sargsyan at the Beverly Hilton, to the protests at the Montebello Genocide monument, to the hunger strike in front of the Armenian Consulate, and so on. Yekikian highlighted the fact that these efforts had a huge impact on not only the local community, but people all around the world. Through the use of technology, the AYF was able to spread the message of what was going on to Armenians as far away as Toronto, Beirut, and Yerevan and helped to motivate others to take similar actions to have their voice heard.

Following Yekikian’s recap of the campaign’s impact, ARF Central Committee member Aram Kaloustian took to the floor to offer his remarks about where we stand today with the protocols. After presenting the stance of the ARF and its call for a serious overhaul of the corruption and oligarchic rule in Armenia, Kaloustian posed the question to the individuals present whether it is better to affect change from inside of the government as a minority or from the outside as an opposition. Continuing in his lecture he stressed that the Armenian and Turkish Parliament still have to both ratify the protocols for it to go into effect.

The ‘Stop the Protocols’ Task Force was next to address the audience, delivering a power point presentation of what the next steps would be in its action plan. Members of the Task Force made clear that the scope of their work would be greatly expanded and called on attendees to volunteer for the more than half-a-dozen subcommittees created for this new phase in the campaign.

“In the coming weeks and months, the Task Force plans on taking the issue directly to the people and utilizing the full range of its manpower to reinforce the campaign to stop the protocols,” said Task Force member Levon Abrahamian. “By seeing the turnout here today, our determination only grows stronger.”

A healthy discussion ensued after the presentations during which SSA and AYF members posed various questions and gave suggestions on the action plan. Some of the things proposed included exploring ways of directly reaching out to the youth in Armenia and publicizing the wide-ranging opposition that exists to the protocols in both the Diaspora and the homeland.

The event concluded with clipboards being passed around and over a third of the attendees signing up for sub-committees.

For more information about campaign against the Turkey-Armenia protocols, visit www.stoptheprotocols.com.