“Personal ambitions are secondary”

Ex-UNSD-ians (the Union for National Self-Determination) respond to Hayrikyan’s statement

The article called “Unsent open letter to Republicans” in “Aravot” newspaper issued on 23.02.2011 was severely criticized by the ex-members of the UNSD. I just want to remind you that in the article the UNSD-ians who support the UNSD leader Paruyr Hayrikyan criticized the Republicans, because they did not invite Hayrikyan to the 20-th anniversary ceremonial session of the RPA (the Republican Party of Armenia) and “distorted the history” by crowning with laurels only Ashot Navasardyan who prematurely passed away. “Aravot” got a letter signed “ex-UNSD-ians” in which all of this was assessed as “a murmur of a person who has got a problem with asserting himself” or “an attempt to take away the Republican Party’s political capital”.

Ashot Navasardyan’s daughter Anush Navasardyan, also responded to the article by asking Paruyr Hayrikyan a few question-observations. “Dear Paruyr Hayrikyan, why don’t you say that while you were calling on my father to organize a referendum and to demand your return from the USA by organizing sitting protests, furious battles were taking place in the border regions, and the Independence army was more of use there, than on the Opera yard. Instead of giving importance to the powerful idea and to the organized activities, that the NUP (the National United Party) did and you yourself did during the Soviet times of despotism being only 17-20 years of age, and presenting your personal sacrifices for the nation’s freedom to the youngsters as a national value, today you blabber that you are the very person who admitted Ashot Navasardyan to the NUP, which my father never rejected and always talked about in his speeches. You were not his boss, you were not  the person who allowed him to make an oath to devote himself entirely to the Fatherland and lastly you were not the person who gave him a permission to establish a political party called the Republican Party, were you? I think my father’s sincere devotion is much more important than that who involved whom, you involved my father or Haykaz Khachatryan or Stepan Zatikyan involved you. Instead of blaming Ashot or the Republican Party for all your misfortunes and troubles you should look back and find out why none of  the guys who undoubtedly believed you and were ready  to sacrifice not only themselves, but also their families for the good of the Fatherland and you, did not stand by you after coming back from prison. Shall I give you a hint? Take your printed articles and videos and count how many times you say “I” there, Anush Navasardyan says in her letter, one of the most active ideologists and leaders of the national movement of the 60-ies to increase his own value in public and most importantly in his own eyes “has to” – as he says – publish “the truth” about his closest fellow-fighter and friend, my father Ashot Navasardyan”.

Hayrikyan shared his thoughts about my father and the Republican Party in a number of times. Firstly he says he dismissed Ashot from commanding the Independence Army, because he didn’t obey his order to take part in the sitting protest, then he states as if the RPA loots as a marauding gang and as the God’s punishment it lost three of its leaders and so on”.

Mrs. Navasardyan added that she had been surprised when she had learned from “Aravot” that her father was released from prison earlier during his last imprisonment thanks to the committee formed by Hayrikyan, “So far I have been convinced that all the political prisoners were released from the Soviet prisons thanks to Gorbachev’s perestroika”. By the way, Ashot Navasardyan was the last Armenian political prisoner to come home. “I also want you to know that my kids call me saying “they show grandpa’s friend” every time they see you on TV”. Unfortunately, they have not seen the grandpa. Nevertheless I will allow my kids to think you are their grandpa’s friend, because your struggle for the nation’s freedom should be sacred and should be an example for them, where personal ambitions are secondary”, ended Anush Navasardyan.