{"id":2660,"date":"2021-03-04T10:51:47","date_gmt":"2021-03-04T10:51:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ancnews-new.hhd.am\/?p=2660"},"modified":"2021-03-04T10:51:50","modified_gmt":"2021-03-04T10:51:50","slug":"the-paternalism-of-preparing-armenians-for-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ancnews.info\/?p=2660","title":{"rendered":"The Paternalism of \u2018Preparing\u2019 Armenians for Peace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BY ARAM HAMPARIAN
Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armenians don\u2019t need to be \u201cprepared\u201d for Artsakh peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unbridled arrogance of those who say we do is stunning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As if we were children, unaware of our own best interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that those \u201cpreparing\u201d us had our best interests at heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spare us the paternalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know our history \u2013 its trials, tragedies, and triumphs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we know the long history \u2013 the lies and betrayals \u2013 of the global interests who, today, once again, claim for themselves the right to \u201cprepare\u201d us for our own future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To ever engage on such condescending terms would be to disrespect ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To accept such paternalism would represent an existential surrender of the worst sort, a shameful self-identification of Armenians \u2013 by Armenians \u2013 as the objects of Armenian history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That we will never do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are the rightful subjects \u2013 the determined drivers \u2013 of our destiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That being said, we remain open to reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are arguments to be made for particular Artsakh proposals, they should be presented and debated respectfully, on their merits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supporters of the Madrid Principles, for example, should make their case \u2013 citing relevant precedents, offering fact-based analyses, and modeling likely long-term outcomes \u2013 not using ad hominem attacks or seeking to infantilize the other side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For our part, the ANCA has presented a detailed case against the Madrid Principles as a deeply flawed and ultimately counter-productive plan that sets back the cause of peace and raises the risks of renewed war. We hold that they are \u201cprofoundly asymmetrical, demanding upfront, strategic, and irrevocable concessions of land and security from Artsakh in return for only vague, deferred, and reversible promises regarding status from Azerbaijan.\u201d As an alternative, we propose that the OSCE Minsk Group help develop \u201ca new, democracy and self-determination driven approach that addresses \u2013 on a horizontal basis and in a package-based format \u2013 outstanding status and security issues between the republics of Artsakh and Azerbaijan,\u201d and that Artsakh be restored as a direct stakeholder and full participant in all talks regarding its future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here in Washington, it\u2019s painfully clear, in the context of all that has transpired, that Azerbaijan\u2019s allies see the phrase \u201cpreparing populations for peace\u201d as a clever way to advance an anti-Artsakh agenda without coming across as too overtly pro-Baku.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In practice, here\u2019s what their \u201cpreparations\u201d will really amount to, in terms of actual U.S. policy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n