ANSWER TO HAYRIKYAN

Support A1+!

I read with resentment your article “PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION CAMPAIGNING GROWING HOT“ about the new spin on an old quarrel between the Republican Party (Andranik Margarian) and the UNS (Paruir Hayrikian), today.

Without enthusiasm, I would like to make few comments so that to put things in proper perspective.

According to your material, Paruir Hairikyan claims: “I testify with full responsibility that the Republican Party has never had anything in common with the NUO. What about Andranik Margaryan, he has been its member only from 1973 to 1974 and then condemned by the NUO for being negligent of the organization principles. And later, today’s premier being a member of Armenian National Committee has been struggling against the idea of independence. “

Regrettably, Paruir’s selective memory is playing tricks on him, since his statement is not entirely accurate.

The majority of the early Republican Party members, especially those who have found it, were former members of UNS. They left UNS immediately after the first Yeraskhavan Battle, due to Hayrikyan’s irrational behavior and his inability to live up to the requirements of the new realities that had been shaped in and around the Republic, then, and due to his inability to separate the straggle for Independence of Armenia from his persona - as much as Hairikyan was a symbol of the Independence Movement of Armenia for many younger people for a short period of time.

As far as Paruir’s statement that “Republicans” have had nothing to do with the “NUO" (in Armenian – Azgaiin Miatsial Kusaktsutiun), is concerned, it is very unfortunate and testifies again to his short and selective memory.

The establishment of the Republican Party, which is attributable to the early 1990 as political arm of the once “Independence Army,” has been inspired by Ashot Navasardyan and the other founders of the “Army of Independence.” Ashot has been one of the most respectable members of NUO, who has always remained true to the ideals of the Independence of Armenia and the reestablishment of the Armenian Statehood. There have also been other members of NUO in the ranks of the Republican Party at the time of its establishment.

Andranik Margaryan has joined the Republican Party at a later stage. However, Andranik has maintained relationship with the early Republicans, in particular with the late Ashot Navasardyan, from the early stages and has maintained a dialog.

Today, all of the founding members of the Republican Party are inactive with the Party. Some of them are out of the country or have been found dead in mysterious circumstances. Those who are alive are extremely unhappy with the late usurpation of the Republican Party and the corruption of its founding principles and ideals.

No one should be allowed to manipulate the truth, or to tailor the historic developments and evolution of the Armenian Independence Movement for the purpose of the satisfaction of their overly inflated ego or their electoral needs.

Sincerely,
Martin Jermakyan
Founding Member of the Republican Party of Armenia
New York, USA