Ever since the end of the armed struggle that came to the fore in the mid 1970s, the overall battle for a just resolution of the Armenian Question appears to have entered a dormant stage.

That’s to say, the armed struggle set in motion by the actions of Gourgen Yanikian, which lasted till the late 1980s and beyond, with all its sacrifices, has come to a halt.

The personal acts of courage, of talking to the Turks in a language they understand, of demanding an eye for an eye, slowly faded away. Our guns fell silent.

There were many reasons for that silence, and perhaps the most important was the need to transfer the struggle to a new phase. That period gave rise to a generation for whom the battle for Artsakh was of primary importance. And, in retrospect, this was correct.

There was a new battle to be fought, and those who had proved their mettle in past battles wound up in Artsakh. And they came from all corners of the world. New pages of valor were written.

An entire experience of struggle was transferred to Artsakh.  And, despite the fact that the numbers of Diaspora young people who participated was insignificant, those who went endeavored to prolong the umbilical cord of the national liberation struggle. And in this they succeeded.

What is taking place today in the Diaspora?

 Today, in any real sense, there are not even any perceptible signs that the Diaspora will suddenly rise as one body and usher in a new stage of the armed struggle. Even if there are some who speak and write about such things, their actions give lie to their pronouncements.

I would say that what has been happening in the Diaspora in the last ten years has been a process to squander the mental and emotional energy of the recent past and to confine the Armenian Cause to offices and hotels.

The annual banquets, oratory, vain exercises of speech and thought… Instead, what should have derived from all of this was some force to comprehend the overall situation and to impart a renewed vigor to the backbone of the struggle being carried out by segments of western Armenians.

Hrant forged a new path

But it wasn’t the Diaspora that opened the doors to this new road. While prominent figures of the Diaspora, who had assumed positions of leadership, were busy collecting money in the various capitals of Europe and America, Hrant Dink was planting new seeds in the belly of Bolis. And this was a process not in words alone but at the cost of his life…

We all know the details. Hrant Dink was martyred. The spirit of continuing down the path he opened, of seeing a new horizon of struggle, and of carrying the torch he lit, entered into each of us.

Today, this is the path. For those who understand the weight of what happened, it is clear that the path of the struggle for the Armenian Cause now runs through Bolis.

And, doubtlessly, if the key segments of the Diaspora could get beyond their theatrical adventurism and think, just for a moment, about that sacred Cause, they must see that the continuation of the struggle begins in Bolis.

Today, going to Bolis is no longer the taboo it once was. And it is evident that, on various occasions, we are hearing the voice of Diaspora young people emanating from Bolis and Diyarbekir.

The time has passed for observations and opinions voiced from afar, for lamentation and tears.

Conversing with Turks doesn’t mean agreeing with them. Mentioning the name Turk doesn’t mean that one agrees with the Turkish political “grand scheme” or is duped by it.

In the current phase, it is only natural that certain work needs to be coordinated with those Turks for whom the word ‘genocide’ and historical truth are no longer taboo. This is a fundamental premise when the two sides, western Armenians and Turks ready to talk, start to cooperate. And all this must happen without prejudice. In addition to the Turks, we must also not forget the Kurds, with whom I am certain positive movement can result from coordinated action.

Today, and this should not sound pie in the sky, it is clear that the real ‘battlefield’ is Bolis; Turkish Armenia. It is enough to only see one side of the dream to believe that the account of the first step, the first candle and the first flame, must become the new path for us, the real path.

The fundraising will continue in the Diaspora, and no one is against collecting money or having meetings under the lights of posh hotels.  All of it is necessary and vital for our existence. But what’s also important is for those in positions of leadership in the Diaspora (and my article is mainly directed to them), to understand that our struggle today has entered a new phase entitled - return to western Armenia.

As of today, there is much to do in Turkey.  Sitting comfortably in the Diaspora and merely making demands every April 24 will not move us one inch closer to the lands we once inhabited.

Burning the Turkish flag has become a senseless act, for it is not accompanied by serious work. It resembles the yearly toasts, now routine, that we drink while waxing poetically about Moush and Van.

Ideological differences should not lead to clashes or tension within our ranks.

Let us not forget that Hrant Dink was neither Hntchak, Dashnak, nor Ramkavar.

Hrant explained that our differences are actually an asset. He paved a new path for us; all on his own.

All that remains is for us to embrace this path. I repeat, the struggle of our people will commence from Bolis – not Brussels, Paris, or Geneva.

These capitals are important. But I am convinced that if the flame of hope still flickers in the hearts and minds of some, they too will see this roadmap, the one laid out by Hrant, as the only viable and real path of return to western Armenia.

There is nothing more to say. Otherwise, the profound and powerful words of Gersam Aharonian, “Next Year in Van”, will have become mere rhetoric, long buried under the dust of history.

Today, the only path leading to western Armenia starts from Bolis.