THE TASHNAGS TURN TO SOVIET RUSSIA

Created: 7/31/1944

OCR scan of the original document, errors are possible

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. annual convert'onJuly tha nat lonaIRavel bt ionary Fade rexlajij approved tht long-brultad reversal ofrad'tlona" All Tashnag nfereneose USSR from noware toendSy. empalgn to enlist public support for Russian annexation of Turkish Armenia, for0 hasbeen raised. Is to begin The Tnahnag volt* /oca has failed to elicit th* a'-.ghtest response froa soviet officialdom and has been greeted by liberal Armenian-Americans with derisive charges o' Insincerity, teaming ths nationalists feeiing - -so'ated than

THE ONCE unorxniiromislngly anti-Sov'et Armenian Revolutionary(aRF} has officially changed its siK)ts, end the swing lower] support of the Soviet Union, wtilch has been growing gradually more oerceptlble du'ing the last fewas culminated in the adootionolicy at thennua1 convention, he'dioston the flrut iMetf in July, This final reversal is branded as hypocrisy by antl-Twshnag Armenia-Americans, who regard lhe move as the

An earlier nlnt of the Taaheag volte fact was given at the tine of USSR'stut 'otie' grant o* autonomyeonetltuemt nnb1 ?C"

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latestorg ser'esn*>neuvers iiat'anediaad tha public anent Tashnag's true

Tas^nsgs have never actuallyirenmree andrmenia, inc'urlino theh!-ji has kept the" a*ince Amrsiia was cstab^snerjoviet cnmnentC. But tne apparent Impract'cabiUty ofopes andettlingiation from ali other Armenian groups probably combined with Russian mi?!tary successes to bring about this-decision to make the best of the existing situation*

W;th the vision of inoependeoce fading, the no* Soviet-friendly Tashnaos are turning their attention to the acquisition of the Turkish provinces of Armenia by the Soviet Annenian Repub):c. The carl for Russian annexation of Turkish Armenia was raised by the AW some months ago. and was acccrcoaniedampaign toropaganda fund for that purpose, now said to be oversubscribed. Only gradually, however, did crltlcisni o' the Soviet Onion in the Armenian-American Tashnag press abate. Now the Tashnap leaders are oreparing to bring Armenian problems before the public eye, and anelement, they believe, is mollIflcatlon of the Soviets.

The decisions of the Tashnag convention's closed sessionsember- of this 8ranch by James'Wandal Ian, editor of the week'y Sttntrtntk and spokesman for Simoiv Vratzian, executive secretary of the ART and prime minister of the Independent Armenian Republic. Vratzian had outlined to the Boston Gathering hSs'prooosalsro-SoviM oo'icy;odd delegates were at first undecided, but after "eloquent and in>-oressive arotawsflt" by the speaker they had come around at last toapproval. The nol Icy, according tondnlian, is *to use honey

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fort:>eri vinegar." All Tashnag references lo Uie ISSR fron now on are to bey. The fawlllar caustic. sVw'Jcal or cynical barbs heretofore hooked Into all rcferencja to the Soviets are to be put aside. "The Russians ere extremely sensitive people, and they watcha.-cjiian aodad,,

At present the ARF feels Itself to be wholly Isolated, according to Manualian. Tne only response from Ambassador Gromyko to an appeal for Soviet-Armenian and USSR press releases has been the forwarding of the Embassy Bulletin. Previous coomuni cat Ions to iftscorr and Erlvan remain This awkward situation. It Is hoped, will be corrected when Moscow recognizes the new policy of friendliness. "The Russians nesd plenty of publicity, and we'rn the biggest Armenian publishers in the

A spokesman for the tradltonally anti-Tashnag Armenian

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theLibera^ Union {Ramgavar) was skeptical of the

sincerity of the Tashnag conversion. is opinion, pressure from the Tashnaa mrwherattle had forced the leaders to putro-Soviet mask; It remains howeverask, and when convenient It can be ta!<en off. Tashnag fund-raising MM propaganda schemes were described as elaborate raMay-Mhing racketse Insiders, which did nothing forffort or for Armenian relief.

Undeterred by the criticism of the anti-Tashnags and their refusal to cooperate In tneipaign, tha APT 's proceeding with Its Dians. and hopes to enlist the stpnort ofunaffiliated Armenians of prominence as mIIew friendly Americans.' If, as ths Tashnags believe and hope, Turkey remains neutral,ighly vulnerable position, and OM

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item of oayment for her neutrality, according to Mr. ManSallan. would be the cession of Turkish Armenia to Soviet Armenia. Perhaps another Item, he added, would be the letting of considerable Turkish blood; after ail. the Armenians "would rtther kill Turks than live.*

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Original document.

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