Avetis Aharonian

[Zartonk]

Armenian politician, writer and public figure Avetis Aharonian (b. Igdir 1866, d. Marseilles 1948 ) was the chairman of the Armenian National Council, which proclaimed the independence of Armenia on May 28, 1918. As a member of parliament, he headed the Armenian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, where he signed the Treaty of Sevres. Educated at Gevorgian seminary at Echmiadzin, he began teaching in 1886 and continued for ten years, working mainly in Igdir. He became an active member of Dashnak party in the following years. After completing four years of higher education in 1901 in Lausanne and Paris, he returned to Transcaucasia to pursue journalistic and literary labours. In 1906 he was appointed to the board of Droshak ('Flag'), the official journal of the Dashnak Party. He served as the headmaster of the Nersesian Academy of Tiflis between 1907 and 1909. Aharonian was arrested and jailed successively in Metekh, Baku, Rostov and Novo Cherkask, where he developed a lung condition. Bribing his way out of jail in 1911, he escaped to Europe via Constantinople and settled in Switzerland. From Switzerland, he maintained continuous links with the press of the Caucasus. Returning to Transcaucasia in 1916, he became one of the organizers of the Armenian National Congress (established in September 1917) which elected the National Council of Armenian. He was elected President (speaker) of the Parliament of the Republic of Armenia and Delegated in June of 1918 to sign the Treaty of Batum with the Ittihadist leaders of the Ottoman Empire in Constantinople. His permanent appointment as the delegate at the Paris peace conference came in 1919. He then signed the treaty of Sevres on behalf of the Republic of Armenia in August 1920. He stayed for negotiations leading to the Treaty of Lausanne (July 1923), at which he protested on behalf of his nation. After settling in Marseilles, Aharonian was tragically paralyzed by a stroke while giving a speech in February of 1934. He died in Paris in 1948.

 

http://www.acam-france.org/bibliographie/auteurs/aharonian-avetis.jpg

Edited January 19, 2008 by Zartonk

[Zartonk]

Video of Avedis Aharonian's New Year wish to the Armenian-American community, Paris, 1930's

[Zartonk]

Copy of letter from Avetis Aharonian, president of the delegation of the Republic of Armenia, addressed to the presidents of the delegations of Italy, France, England, and the U.S.

15 May 1919

 

Paris, 15 May 1919

 

Dear Mr. President,

 

Certain regions of Caucasian Armenia are also claimed by our neighbors, the Georgians and the Tatars [Azerbaijan]. While the government of the Republic of Armenia awaits with patience and confidence the decision of The Peace Conference, our neighbor, the Republic of Azerbaijan, is seeking to create a fait accompli.

 

In conformity with the decision of the British High Command, the Armenian government has, since the month of December, ceased all movements of its army. By contrast, the government of Azerbaijan has begun marching its troops toward Armenian Karabagh and has occupied regions which are, without question, part of our territory. In conjunction with this occupation, the government of Azerbaijan has, by an official act, proclaimed the annexation of these occupied regions and has sent to it a Governor-General, Mr. Sultanov.

 

The General Assembly of the Armenians of Karabagh, meeting in Shushi on February 19, has rejected with legitimate indignation all pretense of Azerbaijan with regard to Armenian Karabagh, which said Assembly has declared an integral part of Armenia in virtue of the principle of nationality itself, proclaimed so many times by the powers of the Entente.

 

We have noted with deep regret that the Allied High Command in the Caucasus has given consent to the nomination of this Governor-General while declaring that this is only a temporary arrangement and that the final determination of the frontiers depends entirely upon the decision of the Peace Conference.

 

It is infinitely painful for us to know that a territory which has always belonged to Armenia and which encompasses an absolute Armenian majority may be delivered, even temporarily, to an alien administration profoundly hostile to the Armenian element.

 

[...]

 

In fact, Armenian Karabagh, the mountainous districts of Elizavetpol, Kazakh, and Zangezur, have a total population of 494,000 inhabitants; of these numbers 358,000 are Armenians, 24,000 other Christians, and only 112,000 are Muslims, Tatars, Kurds, etc. In addition to these ethnographic considerations, it is to be noted that this strip of land constitutes an indivisible part of Armenia, being the immediate prolongation of the Armenian plateau, with the same physical and geological formation, the same culture and the same history, and forming, in addition, the naturally defensive ramparts of Armenia against Turanic invasions.

 

All these questions are minutely exposed in the attached memorandum which the Delegation of the Republic of Armenia has the honor to submit to your Excellency. This memorandum proves in concrete fashion that the province of Karabagh and the adjacent districts as well as the valley of the Arax to Zangezur can, under no circumstance, be incorporated in another state.

 

[...]

 

The Armenian people which, during the terrible years of the war and at the cost of major sacrifices, has resisted the direct and indirect attacks of Tatars, Turks, and Germans, and has fought on the side of the Great Allies for the cause of justice and for the defense of its native soil, continues today the same struggle under extremely difficult conditions with the firm conviction that the Peace Conference will do justice to its undeniable rights.

 

In the name of our much oppressed populations, we have the responsibility to warn respectfully the Peace Conference that all arbitrary solutions that would sacrifice the legitimate aspirations of Armenians are bound to become in the future the source of new and perpetual conflicts.

 

The Delegation of the Republic of Armenia requests to be heard before a decision is taken concerning the future destiny of the Armenian people and the frontiers of its territory.

 

Please accept, Mr. President, the assurance of my highest regards.

 

Signed,

 

A.Aharonian

President of the Delegation of

Republic of Armenia to the

Peace Conference

 

[Republic of Armenia Archives, File No. 105]

 

http://www.armeniaforeignministry.com/fr/n...article/11.html