Artyusha Shahbazyan: February 18 must be a national holiday

February 18, 2010 - 14:07 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net -
On the anniversary of the Rebel Against the Soviet Rule of 1921 in Armenia led by ARF Dashnaktsutyun, members of the ARFD laid wreaths to the khachkar (cross stone) in commemorating the Dashnaks (members of Dashnaktsutyun party ) martyred by Bolsheviks in 1921 in Yerevan's prisons.

Secretary of the ARFD parliamentary group Artyusha Shahbazyan addressed a speech during the solemn ceremony. “The real purpose of Bolsheviks was the destruction of national thinking. What happened with the former leadership of ARFD was directed not just against Dashnaktsutyun party, but against the entire nation,” Shahbazyan said.

Armenia was released from the Bolshevik power for 42 days: the ARF controlled Yerevan and the surrounding regions for before being defeated by the numerically superior Red Army troops later in April 1921.

“February 18 must be a national holiday,” Shahbazyan said. According to him, Armenia is facing numerous challenges and the future of the country is under threat. “The processes of Armenian-Turkish reconciliation and Karabakh conflict settlement testify it,” he said.

The ARF Dashnaktsutyun

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun is an Armenian political party founded in Tiflis (Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia) in 1890 by Christapor Mikaelian, Stepan Zorian, and Simon Zavarian The ARF has the largest number of members from the political parties present in the Armenian Diaspora, having established affiliates in more than 200 countries.

The ARF Dashnaktsutyun led the effort toward the establishment of the first Armenian Republic in 1918 and was the party in power for the duration of its existence. Following the Sovietization of Armenia in 1920, the ARF-Dashnaktsutyun was banned by the Communists and its leadership exiled.

In the Diaspora, the ARF Dashnaktsutyun fought Soviet rule over Armenia and championed the cause of Armenian rights and independence; it played a leading role in organizing a social and cultural framework aimed at preserving the Armenian identity.

The ARF Dashnaktsutyun officially re-emerged in Armenia during the dissolution of the USSR, in 1990.

On December 28, 1994, the activities of the ARF-Dashnaktsutyun were "temporarily suspended" by the Armenian authorities. In view of the political nature of the anti-ARF interdictions by the Armenian authorities, the ARF continued to operate in Armenia. On February 9, 1998, less than a week after the resignation of the then president Ter-Petrossian, the Justice Ministry lifted the ban on the ARF Dashnaktsutyun.

Prior to Serzh Sargsyan's election as president of Armenia and for a short time thereafter, the ARF was a member of the governing coalition, even though it nominated its own candidate in the presidential elections.

February 18, 1921 rebellion

On February 18,1921, Dashnaks led an anti-Soviet rebellion in Yerevan and seized power. The ARF controlled Yerevan and the surrounding regions for almost 42 days before being defeated by the numerically superior Red Army troops later in April 1921. The leaders of the rebellion then retreated into the Syunik region. On 26 April 1921, the 2nd Pan-Zangezurian congress, held in Tatev, announced the independence of the self-governing regions of Daralakyaz (Vayots Dzor), Zangezur, and Mountainous Artsakh, renaming them the Republic of Mountainous Armenia (Lernahaystani Hanrapetutyun).