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136-498: The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( Armenian : Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն , romanized :  Hay Heghapokhakan Dashnaktsutyun , abbr. ARF (ՀՅԴ) or ARF-D ), also known as Dashnaktsutyun ( Armenian : Դաշնակցություն, lit. "Federation"), is an Armenian nationalist and socialist political party founded in 1890 in Tiflis , Russian Empire by Christapor Mikaelian , Stepan Zorian , and Simon Zavarian . As of 2023,

272-740: A new Lebanese government was formed where ARF party members were appointed to two ministerial positions, including Ministry of Industry, as part of the March 8 alliance . The ARF Lebanon branch is headquartered in Bourj Hammoud in the Shaghzoian Centre, along with the ARF Lebanon Central Committee's Aztag Daily newspaper and "Voice Of Van" 24-hour radio station. During the French Mandate and under

408-613: A " state within a state ". The "Second congress of the Ottoman opposition" took place in Paris, France , in 1907. Opposition leaders including Ahmed Riza (liberal), Sabahheddin Bey , and ARF member Khachatur Maloumian attended. During the meeting, an alliance between the two parties was officially declared. The ARF decided to cooperate with the Committee of Union and Progress, hoping that if

544-810: A German victory over the Soviet Union. During the 1950s, tensions arose between the ARF and the Armenian SSR. The death of Catholicos Garegin of the Holy See of Cilicia prompted a struggle for succession. The National Ecclesiastic Assembly, which was largely influenced by the ARF, elected Zareh of Aleppo . This decision was rejected by the Echmiadzin-based Catholicos of All Armenians , the anti-ARF coalition, and Soviet Armenian authorities. Zareh extended his administrative authority over

680-520: A collaborationist body directed against the Soviet Union whose vice-president was ARF member Abraham Gyulkhandanyan and whose members included ARF member Vahan Papazian and former ARF member Garegin Nzhdeh . The main motivation for this collaboration was likely a desire to protect Armenians living in the German-occupied areas and to protect Armenia from a potential Turkish invasion in the event of

816-520: A consistent Proto-Indo-European pattern distinct from Iranian, and that the inflectional morphology was different from that of Iranian languages. The hypothesis that Greek is Armenian's closest living relative originates with Holger Pedersen (1924), who noted that the number of Greek-Armenian lexical cognates is greater than that of agreements between Armenian and any other Indo-European language. Antoine Meillet (1925, 1927) further investigated morphological and phonological agreement and postulated that

952-501: A large part of the Armenian diaspora, furthering the rift that had already been created by his election. This event split the large Armenian community of Lebanon , creating sporadic clashes between the supporters of Zareh and those who opposed his election. Religious conflict was part of a greater conflict that raged between the two "camps" of the Armenian diaspora. The ARF still resented the fact that they were ousted from Armenia after

1088-468: A loan from Armenian (compare to Armenian եւ yev , ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi ). Other loans from Armenian into Urartian includes personal names, toponyms, and names of deities. Loan words from Iranian languages , along with the other ancient accounts such as that of Xenophon above, initially led some linguists to erroneously classify Armenian as an Iranian language. Scholars such as Paul de Lagarde and F. Müller believed that

1224-610: A major role in the Second Sasun Uprising . The ARF sent arms and fedayi to defend the region for the second time. Among the 500 fedayees participating in the resistance were famed figures such as Kevork Chavush , Sepasdatsi Murad and Hrayr Djoghk . Although they managed to hold off the Ottoman army for several months, despite their lack of fighters and firepower, Ottoman forces captured Sasun and massacred thousands of Armenians. In 1904, during an annual congress bringing together Armenian and Bulgarian representatives,

1360-626: A meeting on 26 April 1907, dubbed the Fourth General Congress, at which ARF leaders such as Aram Manukian , Hamo Ohanjanyan and Stepan Stepanian discussed their engagement in the Iranian Constitutional Revolution . They established that the movement was one that had political, ideological and economic components and was thus aimed at establishing law and order, human rights and the interests of all working people. They also felt that it would work for

1496-639: A mostly starving population. The ARF, led by General Andranik , tried several times to seize Shusha (known as Shushi by Armenians), a city in Karabakh. Just before the Armistice of Mudros was signed, Andranik was on the way from Zangezur to Shusha, to control the main city of Karabakh. Andranik's forces got within 42 km (26 mi) of the city when the First World War ended, and Turkey, along with Germany and Austria-Hungary , surrendered to

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1632-425: A network of schools where modern Armenian was taught, dramatically increased the rate of literacy (in spite of the obstacles by the colonial administrators), even in remote rural areas. The emergence of literary works entirely written in the modern versions increasingly legitimized the language's existence. By the turn of the 20th century both varieties of the one modern Armenian language prevailed over Grabar and opened

1768-508: A pro-Ter-Petrosyan newspaper, Haykakan Zhamanak , insinuated that Baghdasarian was a "sexual deviant." Aside from his own Republican Party, Sargysan was endorsed by Prosperous Armenia . It was considered very likely that Sargsyan would finish in the first place in the first round, with either former president Ter-Petrosyan or Baghdasarian, who ran on a pro- EU and pro- NATO platform, in second place. First results and reports from OSCE election observers were expected on 20 February 2008, and

1904-510: A purge by Ottoman officials against the leaders of the empire's Armenian communities. The ARF, maintaining its ideological commitment to a "Free, Independent, and United Armenia", led the defense of the Armenian people during the Armenian genocide, becoming leaders of the successful Van Resistance . Jevdet Bey , the Ottoman administrator of Van, tried to suppress the resistance by killing two Armenian leaders (Ishkhan and Vramian) and trying to imprison Aram Manukian, who had risen to fame and gained

2040-550: A purported secret terrorist cell within the ARF known as the "Dro Group" (named after the Dro Committee, the group that was allegedly behind the plot), which was allegedly led by ARF member Hrant Markarian . Another group of thirty-one ARF members, including ARF Bureau member Vahan Hovhannisyan , were also arrested and charged with attempting to stage an armed coup, among other crimes. Gerard Libaridian , an historian and close adviser of Ter-Petrosyan, collected and presented

2176-629: A result, the ARF leadership decided to defend Armenian churches by dispatching militiamen who acted as guards and by holding mass demonstrations. In 1904, the party broke with its old policy of non-struggle against the Tsarist authorities, engaging in acts of terrorism against the imperial bureaucracy and establishing separate schools, courts, and prisons in Russian Armenia. In 1905–06, the Armenian-Tatar massacres broke out during which

2312-552: Is an independent branch of the Indo-European languages . It is of interest to linguists for its distinctive phonological changes within that family. Armenian exhibits more satemization than centumization , although it is not classified as belonging to either of these subgroups. Some linguists tentatively conclude that Armenian, Greek (and Phrygian ), Albanian and Indo-Iranian were dialectally close to each other; within this hypothetical dialect group, Proto-Armenian

2448-561: Is clearly the dialect to be most closely related to Armenian. Eric P. Hamp (1976, 91) supports the Graeco-Armenian thesis and even anticipates a time "when we should speak of Helleno-Armenian" (meaning the postulate of a Graeco-Armenian proto-language). Armenian shares the augment and a negator derived from the set phrase in the Proto-Indo-European language * ne h₂oyu kʷid ("never anything" or "always nothing"),

2584-474: Is derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂r̥ǵipyós , with cognates in Sanskrit (ऋजिप्य, ṛjipyá ), Avestan ( ərəzifiia ), and Greek (αἰγίπιος, aigípios ). Hrach Martirosyan and Armen Petrosyan propose additional borrowed words of Armenian origin loaned into Urartian and vice versa, including grammatical words and parts of speech, such as Urartian eue ("and"), attested in the earliest Urartian texts and likely

2720-415: Is not considered conclusive evidence of a period of common isolated development. There are words used in Armenian that are generally believed to have been borrowed from Anatolian languages, particularly from Luwian , although some researchers have identified possible Hittite loanwords as well. One notable loanword from Anatolian is Armenian xalam , "skull", cognate to Hittite ḫalanta , "head". In 1985,

2856-686: Is the working language. Armenian (without reference to a specific variety) is officially recognized as a minority language in Cyprus , Hungary , Iraq , Poland , Romania , and Ukraine . It is recognized as a minority language and protected in Turkey by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne . 2008 Armenian presidential election Robert Kocharyan Independent Serzh Sargsyan Republican Presidential elections were held in Armenia on 19 February 2008. Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan

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2992-686: The ARF History Museum was inaugurated in Yerevan, displaying the history of the party and of its notable members. Armenian language Pontic Steppe Caucasus East Asia Eastern Europe Northern Europe Pontic Steppe Northern/Eastern Steppe Europe South Asia Steppe Europe Caucasus India Indo-Aryans Iranians East Asia Europe East Asia Europe Indo-Aryan Iranian Indo-Aryan Iranian Others European Armenian

3128-678: The Administration for Western Armenia and worked to ease the sufferings of Armenians. At the end of World War I , members of the Young Turks movement, considered executors of the Armenian genocide by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, were assassinated during Operation Nemesis . As a result of the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917, the Armenian, Georgian, and Azerbaijani leaders of

3264-727: The Allies . British forces ordered Andranik to stop all military advances, assuring him that the conflict would be solved with the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 . Andranik, not wanting to antagonize the British, retreated to Goris, Zangezur . The Armenian Revolutionary Federation had a strong presence in the DRA government. Most of the important government posts, such as prime minister, defence minister and interior minister were controlled by its members. The DRA wanted to recover

3400-466: The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (11–14th centuries) resulted in the addition of two more characters to the alphabet (" օ " and " ֆ "), bringing the total number to 38. The Book of Lamentations by Gregory of Narek (951–1003) is an example of the development of a literature and writing style of Old Armenian by the 10th century. In addition to elevating the literary style and vocabulary of

3536-563: The Armenian genocide , mostly in the diaspora ). The differences between them are considerable but they are mutually intelligible after significant exposure. Some subdialects such as Homshetsi are not mutually intelligible with other varieties. Although Armenians were known to history much earlier (for example, they were mentioned in the 6th-century BC Behistun Inscription and in Xenophon 's 4th century BC history, The Anabasis ),

3672-641: The Greek language , the Armenian language, and the Indo-Iranian languages . Graeco-Aryan unity would have become divided into Proto-Greek and Proto-Indo-Iranian by the mid-3rd millennium BC. Conceivably, Proto-Armenian would have been located between Proto-Greek and Proto-Indo-Iranian, consistent with the fact that Armenian shares certain features only with Indo-Iranian (the satem change) but others only with Greek ( s > h ). Graeco-Aryan has comparatively wide support among Indo-Europeanists who believe

3808-643: The Indo-European homeland to be located in the Armenian Highlands , the " Armenian hypothesis ". Early and strong evidence was given by Euler's 1979 examination on shared features in Greek and Sanskrit nominal flection. Used in tandem with the Graeco-Armenian hypothesis, the Armenian language would also be included under the label Aryano-Greco-Armenic , splitting into Proto-Greek/Phrygian and "Armeno-Aryan" (ancestor of Armenian and Indo-Iranian ). Classical Armenian (Arm: grabar ), attested from

3944-542: The Mekhitarists . The first Armenian periodical, Azdarar , was published in grabar in 1794. The classical form borrowed numerous words from Middle Iranian languages , primarily Parthian , and contains smaller inventories of loanwords from Greek, Syriac, Aramaic, Arabic, Mongol, Persian, and indigenous languages such as Urartian . An effort to modernize the language in Bagratid Armenia and

4080-449: The Metn district, which includes the predominantly Armenian area of Bourj Hammoud, ARF decided to support Camille Khoury , the candidate backed by opposition leader Michel Aoun 's Free Patriotic Movement against Phalangist leader Amine Gemayel and subsequently won the seat. In the 2009 Lebanese general elections , the ARF won 2 seats in parliament which it holds presently. In June 2011,

4216-688: The National Assembly . During the 2020–2021 Armenian protests , the party confirmed it would participate in the 2021 Armenian parliamentary election as part of a political alliance - the Armenia Alliance - with Reborn Armenia . In the 2021 election, the Armenia Alliance, led by the second President of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan , won 21% of the popular vote and gained 29 seats in the National Assembly. In

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4352-655: The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the European Union have commended the conduct of the election and stated that they regard the result as broadly democratic. The European Commission said: "The European Union congratulates the Armenian people for the conduct of a competitive presidential election in Armenia. The European Union notes the statement of preliminary findings and conclusions of

4488-491: The Pan-Armenian National Movement . Subsequently, on 28 December 1994, President Levon Ter-Petrosyan in a famous television speech banned the ARF, which was the nation's leading opposition party, along with Yerkir , the country's largest daily newspaper. The party's leader, Hrayr Maroukhian , was expelled from Armenia. Ter-Petrosyan introduced evidence that supposedly detailed a plot hatched by

4624-469: The Red Army took control, and the ARF leaders supported the creation of a "Free, Independent, and United Armenia", free from both Soviet and Turkish hegemony. The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party and Ramgavar Party , the main rivals of the ARF, supported the newly established Soviet rule in Armenia. From 1923 to 1958, conflicts erupted among Armenian political parties struggling to dominate and organize

4760-594: The Soviet communists in 1920. After the communists exiled its leadership, the ARF established itself within Armenian-diaspora communities, where it helped Armenians to preserve their cultural identity. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the ARF reestablished its presence in Armenia. Prior to Serzh Sargsyan 's election as President of Armenia in February 2008 and for a short time thereafter,

4896-655: The Van Rebellion in the province of Van . The Armenakans, assisted by members of the Hunchakian and ARF parties, supplied all able-bodied men of Van with weapons. They rose to defend the civilians from the attack and subsequent massacre. To raise awareness of the massacres of 1895–96 , members of the Dashnaktsutiun led by Papken Siuni , occupied the Ottoman Bank on 26 August 1896. The purpose of

5032-574: The Velvet Revolution . By the evening of 25 April 2018, ARF-Dashnaktsutyun had withdrawn from the coalition. Following the Velvet Revolution, the party lost support from the general public in Armenia and is now being polled at 1–2%. The party lost political representation in the 2018 Armenian parliamentary election after receiving only 3.89% of the votes, which is lower than the 5% minimum threshold required for representation in

5168-576: The "Armenian Revolutionary Federation" or "Dashnaktsutiun" in 1890. The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party , an existing Armenian socialist and revolutionary party, initially agreed to join the "Federation of Armenian Revolutionaries." However, the Hunchaks soon withdrew due to disputes over ideological and organizational questions, such as the role of socialism in the party's program. Another faction of non-socialists led by Konstantin Khatisian split from

5304-540: The 10 year certificates of residency in Armenia by the Armenian Police Department. Prosperous Armenia 's Gagik Tsarukian , a business oligarch , whose party had the second largest faction in parliament endorsed Serzh Sargsyan. Ter-Petrosyan officially announced his candidacy in a speech in Yerevan on 26 October 2007. He accused Kocharyan of running "an institutionalized mafia-style regime" that

5440-673: The 1890s the party used terrorism against the Ottoman Empire and Russia with the goal of gaining an independent nation, more well known attacks occurred against Bedros Kapamajian , the mayor of Van who was assassinated in December 1912, and the assassination of archbishop Leon Tourian in New York City on December 24, 1933. Together with the Committee of Union and Progress , a group of mostly European-educated Turks,

5576-408: The 5th century to the 19th century as the literary standard (up to the 11th century also as a spoken language with different varieties), was partially superseded by Middle Armenian , attested from the 12th century to the 18th century. Specialized literature prefers "Old Armenian" for grabar as a whole, and designates as "Classical" the language used in the 5th century literature, "Post-Classical" from

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5712-651: The ARF became involved in armed activities. Some sources claim that the Russian government incited the massacres in order to reinforce its authority during the revolutionary turmoil of 1905. The first outbreak of violence occurred in Baku , in February 1905. The ARF held the Russian authorities responsible for inaction and instigation of massacres that were part of a larger anti-Armenian policy. On 11 May 1905, Dashnak revolutionary Drastamat Kanayan assassinated Russian governor general Mikhail Nakashidze  [ ru ] , who

5848-548: The ARF ceded power to the Communist Red Army troops invading from the north, which culminated with a Soviet takeover. The ARF was banned, its leaders exiled, and many of its members dispersed to other parts of the world. After the communists took over the short-lived First Republic of Armenia and ARF leaders were exiled, the Dashnaks moved their base of operations to where the Armenian diaspora had settled. With

5984-435: The ARF could not operate in the Armenian SSR and the political party remained banned until 1991. In the leadup to the reestablishment of independent Armenia, the ARF was opposed to Armenia's immediate independence from the Soviet Union, considering the threat of neighboring Turkey to be too great. When independence was achieved in 1991, the ARF soon became one of the major and most active political parties , rivaled mainly by

6120-772: The ARF cut relations with the Young Turks in 1912. Between December 1912 and 1914 ARF politicians held negotiations with the CUP about political reforms in the eastern provinces. The Armenians had the support of the Russians and the CUP accused the Armenians that their actions caused further division between Turks and Armenians. The CUP and ARF continued a close cooperation throughout the Second Constitutional Era up until 1914. In 1915, Dashnak leaders were deported and killed alongside other Armenian intellectuals during

6256-530: The ARF had been one of the largest revolutionary groups trying to overthrow Sultan Abdul Hamid II. In a general assembly meeting in 1907, the ARF acknowledged that the Armenian and Turkish revolutionaries had the same goals. Although the Tanzimat reforms had given Armenians more rights and seats in the parliament, the ARF hoped to gain autonomy to govern Armenian populated areas of the Ottoman Empire as

6392-488: The ARF to engage in terrorism against his administration, endanger Armenia's national security and overthrow the government. Throughout the evening, government security forces arrested leading ARF figures, and police seized computers, fax machines, files and printing equipment from ARF offices. In addition to Yerkir , government forces also closed several literary, women's, cultural, and youth publications. A group of eleven ARF members were arrested and accused of being members of

6528-673: The ARF was a member of the governing coalition, even though it nominated its own candidate in the 2008 presidential elections . ARF reentered Sargsyan's cabinet in February 2016 in what was defined as a "long-term political cooperation" agreement with the Republican Party by means of which the ARF would share responsibility for all government policies. The ARF then approved of Sargsyan's nomination in April 2018 as Prime Minister , from which post he resigned six days later (23 April 2018) amid large-scale protests in what came to be known as

6664-591: The ARF's social relations. When they weren't educating their youth and preparing the new generation for revolution, they themselves were taking part in revolutionary activities. For example, in 1894, the ARF took part in the Sasun Resistance , supplying arms to the local population to help the people of Sasun defend themselves against the Hamidian purges. In June 1896, the Armenakan Party organized

6800-504: The ARF, along with most Armenian groups, to play an active role in the civil war, however, soured relations between the two parties, and the Lebanese Forces (a militia dominated by Phalangists and commanded by Bachir Gemayel , Pierre Gemayel's son), responded by attacking the Armenian quarters of many Lebanese towns, including Bourj Hammoud. Many Armenians affiliated with the ARF took up arms voluntarily to defend their quarters. In

6936-483: The ARF. The ARF was legally exonerated of any direct involvement in the assassination, but the incident weakened the party in the United States and led to its members being ostracized by the other Armenian political parties. During World War II , some ARF members, specifically those living in areas under German occupation, collaborated with Nazi Germany. However, this was not the position of the entire party, and

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7072-459: The Armenian Revolutionary Federation decided to assassinate Sultan Abdul Hamid II in response to the Hamidian massacres . Pierre Quillard , a French anarchist linked with the ARF attended and reported to his anarchist colleagues that the Armenians intended to use "extreme methods." One of Dashnaksutiun's founders Kristapor Mikaelian was killed by an accidental explosion during the planning of

7208-459: The Armenian Revolutionary Federation. The largest opposition party, Orinats Yerkir (Rule of Law), nominated former parliamentary speaker Artur Baghdasarian as its candidate. [REDACTED] CIS Member State [REDACTED] CoE Member State By the registration deadline of 6 December 2007, nine candidates had registered: Raffi Hovannisian from Heritage and Aram Karapetyan from New Times also tried to register, but were refused

7344-469: The Armenian community of Lebanon. As a result, in the context of the Lebanese civil strife of 1958 , an armed conflict erupted between supporters (the ARF) and opponents (Hunchakians, Ramgavars) of Zareh. Prior to the Lebanese Civil War of 1975–90, the party was closely allied to the Phalangist Party of Pierre Gemayel and generally ran joint tickets with the Phalangists, especially in Beirut constituencies with large Armenian populations. The refusal of

7480-415: The Armenian diaspora, having established affiliates in more than 20 countries. Compared to other diasporan Armenian parties which tend to primarily focus on educational or humanitarian projects, the ARF is the most politically oriented of the organizations and traditionally has been one of the staunchest supporters of Armenian nationalism . The party campaigns for the recognition of the Armenian genocide and

7616-481: The Armenian language by adding well above a thousand new words, through his other hymns and poems Gregory paved the way for his successors to include secular themes and vernacular language in their writings. The thematic shift from mainly religious texts to writings with secular outlooks further enhanced and enriched the vocabulary. "A Word of Wisdom", a poem by Hovhannes Sargavak devoted to a starling, legitimizes poetry devoted to nature, love, or female beauty. Gradually,

7752-433: The Armenian vote and won most of the ethnic Armenian seats in the National Assembly. A major change occurred in the parliamentary election of 2000. With a rift between ARF and the Mustaqbal (Future) party of Rafik Hariri and the ARF was left with only one parliamentary seat, its worst result in many decades. The ARF called for a boycott of the 2005 Beirut elections. Relations soured further when on 5 August 2007 by-election in

7888-409: The Caucasus united to create the Transcaucasian Federation in the winter of 1918. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk had drastic consequences for the Armenians: Turkish forces reoccupied Western Armenia. The federation lasted for only three months, eventually leading to the proclamation of the Republics of Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. The negotiators for Armenia were from the ARF. With the collapse of

8024-478: The Dashnaks and Khan. The ARF became a major political force in Armenian life. It was especially active in the Ottoman Empire, where it organized or participated in many revolutionary activities. The ARF was especially influential due to their ability to educate the population through a system of "educating, explaining,and encouraging". This was a tactic used to disseminate information to gain support in terms of political elections, campaigns, or alliances to strengthen

8160-403: The Hurro-Urartian and Northeast Caucasian origins for these words and instead suggest native Armenian etymologies, leaving the possibility that these words may have been loaned into Hurro-Urartian and Caucasian languages from Armenian, and not vice versa. A notable example is arciv , meaning "eagle", believed to have been the origin of Urartian Arṣibi and Northeast Caucasian arzu . This word

8296-423: The International Election Observation Mission which concluded that the presidential election in Armenia, an important test for democracy in this country, was conducted mostly in line with OSCE and Council of Europe commitments and standards. The European Union welcomes the genuine efforts that were made to address the shortcomings in previous elections. However, the EU also notes that the report raised concerns about

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8432-416: The Ottoman Empire, the party enjoyed the support of the central Russian administration, as tsarist and ARF foreign policy had the same alignment until 1903. On 12 June 1903, the tsarist authorities passed an edict to bring all Armenian Church property under imperial control. This was faced by strong ARF opposition, because the ARF perceived the tsarist edict as a threat to the Armenian national existence. As

8568-546: The Russian Empire), removed almost all of their Turkish lexical influences in the 20th century, primarily following the Armenian genocide . In addition to Armenia and Turkey, where it is indigenous , Armenian is spoken among the diaspora . According to Ethnologue , globally there are 1.6 million Western Armenian speakers and 3.7 million Eastern Armenian speakers, totalling 5.3 million Armenian speakers. In Georgia, Armenian speakers are concentrated in Ninotsminda and Akhalkalaki districts where they represent over 90% of

8704-404: The Russian and Ottoman empires led to creation of two separate and different environments under which Armenians lived. Halfway through the 19th century, two important concentrations of Armenian communities were further consolidated. Because of persecutions or the search for better economic opportunities, many Armenians living under Ottoman rule gradually moved to Istanbul , whereas Tbilisi became

8840-443: The Russian press, which was forbidden to attend the trials, and this in turn greatly embarrassed the senators. The Senate eventually opened an inquiry against the chief magistrate who had brought the charges against the Dashnak members and concluded that he was insane. Ninety-four of the accused were acquitted, while the rest were either imprisoned or exiled for varying periods, the most severe being six years. The Dashnaktsutiun held

8976-654: The Soviet linguist Igor M. Diakonoff noted the presence in Classical Armenian of what he calls a "Caucasian substratum" identified by earlier scholars, consisting of loans from the Kartvelian and Northeast Caucasian languages . Noting that Hurro-Urartian-speaking peoples inhabited the Armenian homeland in the second millennium BC, Diakonoff identifies in Armenian a Hurro-Urartian substratum of social, cultural, and animal and plant terms such as ałaxin "slave girl" ( ← Hurr. al(l)a(e)ḫḫenne ), cov "sea" ( ← Urart. ṣûǝ "(inland) sea"), ułt "camel" ( ← Hurr. uḷtu ), and xnjor "apple (tree)" ( ← Hurr. ḫinzuri ). Some of

9112-475: The Transcaucasian Federation, the Armenians were left to fend for themselves as the Turkish army approached the capital of Yerevan . At first, fearing a major military defeat and massacre of the population of Armenia, the Dashnaks wanted to evacuate the city of Yerevan. Instead, the Military Council headed by Colonel Pirumian decided that they would not surrender and would confront the Turkish army. The opposing armies met on 28 May 1918, near Sardarapat . The battle

9248-487: The Young Turks came to power, autonomy would be granted to the Armenians. In 1908, Abdul Hamid II was overthrown during the Young Turk Revolution , which launched the Second Constitutional Era of the Ottoman Empire . Dashnaktsutiun became a legal political party and Armenians gained more seats in the 1908 parliament, but the reforms fell short of the greater autonomy that the ARF had hoped for. The Adana massacre in 1909 also created antipathy between Armenians and Turks, and

9384-403: The benefit and interest of Armenian-Iranians . The final vote was 25 votes in favour and one absentia. From 1907 to 1908, during the time when the Young Turks came to power in the Ottoman Empire, Armenians from the Caucasus , Western Armenia , and Iran started to collaborate with Iranian constitutionalists and revolutionaries. Political parties, notably the Dashnaktsutiun, wanted to influence

9520-427: The borders of Armenia recognized by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and outlined in the Treaty of Sèvres . After Armenia fell under Soviet control in 1920, the ARF within the Armenian diaspora opposed Soviet rule over Armenia and rallied in support of Armenian independence. It contributed to organizing a social and cultural framework aimed at preserving the Armenian identity. However, because of tight communist control,

9656-434: The center of Armenians living under Russian rule. These two cosmopolitan cities very soon became the primary poles of Armenian intellectual and cultural life. The introduction of new literary forms and styles, as well as many new ideas sweeping Europe, reached Armenians living in both regions. This created an ever-growing need to elevate the vernacular, Ashkharhabar, to the dignity of a modern literary language, in contrast to

9792-422: The chapters in different countries were allowed to plan and implement policies in tune with their local political atmosphere. The party set its goal of a society based on the democratic principles of freedom of assembly , freedom of speech , freedom of religion and agrarian reform . The ARF gradually acquired significant strength and sympathy among Russian Armenians . Mainly because of the ARF's stance towards

9928-493: The country's economy, and create new rules and regulations, but the situation required it to focus on overcoming widespread hunger in the country. The situation was complicated externally, provoked by Turkish and Azerbaijani Muslim riots. In 1920 the situation in the country became worse, with apparent rapprochement between Soviet Russia and Kemal's Turkey. When the Turkish-Armenian war started in autumn 1920, Armenia

10064-712: The country. Yeprem Khan was highly instrumental in the Constitutional revolution of Iran. After the Persian national parliament was shelled by the Russian Colonel Vladimir Liakhov , Yeprem Khan rallied with Sattar Khan and other revolutionary leaders in the Constitutional Revolution of Iran against Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar . Relations between Sattar Khan and the ARF oscillated between amity and resentment. Sometimes he

10200-464: The decision of the Russian authorities to confiscate Armenian Church property in 1903. Initially restricting its demands to the establishment of autonomy and democratic rights for Armenians in the two empires, the party adopted an independent and united Armenia as part of its program in 1919. In 1918, the party was instrumental in the formation of the First Republic of Armenia , which fell to

10336-482: The defence provided to the Armenian bourgeoisie was essential to the safekeeping of employment opportunities for Armenian laborers. The Russian Tsar's envoy in the Caucasus , Vorontsov-Dashkov, reported that the ARF bore a major portion of responsibilities for perpetrating the massacres. The ARF, however, argued that it helped to organize the defence of the Armenian population against Muslim attacks. The blows suffered at

10472-576: The diaspora. The ARF and Hunchakian parties struggled in 1926 for control of the newly established shanty-town of Bourj Hammoud in Lebanon; ARF member Vahan Vartabedian was assassinated. The assassination of Hunchakian members Mihran Aghazarian and S. Dekhrouhi followed in 1929 and 1931 respectively. In 1956, when Bishop Zareh was consecrated Catholicos of Cilicia, the Catholicos of Echmiadzin refused to recognize his authority. This controversy polarized

10608-451: The direction of the revolution towards greater democracy and to safeguard gains already achieved. The Dashnak contribution to the fight was mostly military, as it sent some of its well-known fedayees to Iran after the guerrilla campaign in the Ottoman Empire ended with the rise of the Young Turks. A notable ARF member already in Iran was Yeprem Khan , who had established a branch of the party in

10744-664: The election was "mostly in line with OSCE and Council of Europe commitments and standards for democratic elections. At the same time, we also note that international monitors identified significant problems with electoral procedures. Armenian election authorities have responded with the positive step of recounts in a number of jurisdictions. We urge the Government of Armenia to ensure these recounts are conducted comprehensively and transparently, investigate all allegations of irregularities, and implement steps to improve future elections. We also urge all political forces to continue observing

10880-469: The election was the most democratic ever held in Armenia; while he acknowledged flaws in the election, he said that they did not affect the outcome. The opposition requested dozens of recounts. In one of them, on 21 February, in a central Yerevan precinct showed that Sargsyan had won 395 votes there, rather than the 709 with which he had been credited in the initial count; votes had been taken from other candidates and added to Sargsyan's score. A criminal case

11016-501: The elections, most of the men were found not guilty with the exception of several defendants charged for engaging in corrupt business practices. Three men from the "Dro Group" case (Arsen Artsruni, Armenak Mnjoyan, Armen Grigoryan) and one man from the group of 31 (Tigran Avetisyan) were sentenced to death for murder. Their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment in 2003. Mnjoyan died while in prison in early 2019, while Artsruni and Avetisyan continue to serve their sentences. The ban on

11152-437: The electoral process and that further improvements are necessary to address the remaining challenges. It notes in particular that, according to ODIHR, improvements and additional political will are necessary to tackle concerns such as the lack of public confidence in the electoral process, the absence of clear separation between state and party functions and ensuring equal treatment of candidates. The European Union looks forward to

11288-493: The evidence against the defendants. He later stated in an interview that he was unsure if the evidence was true, inviting the notion that the party was banned because of its increasing chances of winning seats in the July 1995 parliamentary elections. The trials were marked by accusations of misconduct, including forced confessions, and were regarded as politically motivated by the opposition and human rights groups. Several months after

11424-580: The existence of the two modern versions of the same language was sanctioned even more clearly. The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (1920–1990) used Eastern Armenian as its official language, whereas the diaspora created after the Armenian genocide preserved the Western Armenian dialect. The two modern literary dialects, Western (originally associated with writers in the Ottoman Empire) and Eastern (originally associated with writers in

11560-564: The federation early on. Despite this, the party began to organize itself in the Ottoman Empire and convened its First General Congress in 1892, where a program containing socialist principles was adopted. The original aim of the ARF was to gain autonomy for the Armenian-populated areas in the Ottoman Empire by means of armed rebellion. At the First Congress, the party adopted a decentralized modus operandi according to which

11696-419: The final result was to be announced within seven days. According to exit polls, Sargsyan won the election in the first round with 57%, with Ter-Petrosyan coming in second with 17%. The opposition parties have stated that they consider the election result fraudulent. Ter-Petrosyan, claiming victory, accused the government of rigging the election and called for a rally in Yerevan on 20 February that would protest

11832-612: The final results of the presidential election and calls on the competent authorities to ensure that complaints are adequately investigated and shortcomings addressed." A spokesman for the United States Department of State said: "We congratulate the people of Armenia on the active and competitive presidential election of 19 February and note the preliminary assessment of the OSCE’s Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and Parliamentary Assembly that

11968-704: The government coalition , the Republican Party and Prosperous Armenia Party. The Country of Law party was also a member of the governing coalition until it pulled out in May 2006. With 16 of the 131 seats in the National Assembly of Armenia , the Armenian Revolutionary Federation became the third-largest party in parliament. In addition to its parliamentary seats, the following governmental ministries were also headed by ARF members: Ministry of Agriculture, Davit Lokian; Ministry of Education and Science, Levon Mkrtchian; Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Aghvan Vardanian ; Ministry of Healthcare, Norair Davidian. On 13 July 2007,

12104-577: The hands of the Dashnakist fighting squads proved a catalyst for the consolidation of the Muslim community of the Caucasus. During that period, the ARF regarded armed activity, including terror , as necessary for the achievement of political goals. In January 1912, 159 ARF members, being lawyers, bankers, merchants and other intellectuals, were tried before the Russian senate for their participation in

12240-656: The head, whose seat was in Echmiadzin , Armenian SSR . Some Armenians in the US thought Moscow tried to use the Armenian Church to promote Communists' ideas outside the country. The Armenian Church thus separated into two branches, Echmiadzin and Cilician, and started to operate separately. In the US, Echmiadzin branch churches of the Armenian Apostolic Church would not admit members of the ARF. This

12376-425: The hypothetical Mushki language may have been a (now extinct) Armenic language. W. M. Austin (1942) concluded that there was early contact between Armenian and Anatolian languages , based on what he considered common archaisms, such as the lack of a feminine gender and the absence of inherited long vowels. Unlike shared innovations (or synapomorphies ), the common retention of archaisms (or symplesiomorphy )

12512-470: The interests of the population at large were reflected in other literary works as well. Konsdantin Yerzinkatsi and several others took the unusual step of criticizing the ecclesiastic establishment and addressing the social issues of the Armenian homeland. These changes represented the nature of the literary style and syntax, but they did not constitute immense changes to the fundamentals of the grammar or

12648-603: The large influx of Armenian refugees in the Levant , the ARF established a strong political structure in Lebanon and to a lesser extent, Syria . From 1921 to 1990, the Dashnaktsutiun established political structures in more than 200 states, including the USA , where a large number of Armenians had settled. With political and geographic division came religious division. One part of the Armenian Church claimed it wanted to be separate from

12784-545: The late 19th century, the Russian Empire became the hub of small groups advocating reform in Armenian-populated areas in the Ottoman Empire . In 1890, recognizing the need to unify these groups in order to be more efficient, Christapor Mikaelian , Simon Zavarian and Stepan Zorian created a new political party called the "Federation of Armenian Revolutionaries" ( Հայ Յեղափոխականների Դաշնակցութիւն , Hay Heghapokhakanneri Dashnaktsutyun), which would eventually be called

12920-434: The late 5th to 8th centuries, and "Late Grabar" that of the period covering the 8th to 11th centuries. Later, it was used mainly in religious and specialized literature, with the exception of a revival during the early modern period, when attempts were made to establish it as the language of a literary renaissance, with neoclassical inclinations, through the creation and dissemination of literature in varied genres, especially by

13056-501: The leader of the resistance, and lasted for two months. In May, the Armenian battalions and Russian regulars entered the city and successfully drove the Ottoman army out of Van. The Dashnaktsutiun was also involved in other less-successful resistance movements in Zeitun , Shabin-Karahisar , Urfa , and Musa Dagh . After the end of the Van resistance, ARF leader Aram Manukian became governor of

13192-609: The living standards of the people". Hovhannisyan, meanwhile, was a candidate despite the participation of his party, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation , in the governing coalition; his campaign promises included the break-up of monopolies, the promotion of economic development, and anti-corruption measures. Geghamyan, the National Unity Party's candidate, devoted the opening of his campaign to denouncing Ter-Petrosyan and accused others in

13328-526: The midst of the Lebanese civil war, the shadowy guerrilla organization Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide emerged and carried out assassinations from 1975 to 1983. The guerrilla organization has sometimes been linked to the Dashnaks. Ethnic Armenians are allocated six seats in Lebanon's 128-member National Assembly . The Lebanese branch of the ARF has usually controlled a majority of

13464-504: The morphology of the language. Often, when writers codify a spoken dialect, other language users are then encouraged to imitate that structure through the literary device known as parallelism . In the 19th century, the traditional Armenian homeland was once again divided. This time Eastern Armenia was conquered from Qajar Iran by the Russian Empire , while Western Armenia , containing two thirds of historical Armenia, remained under Ottoman control. The antagonistic relationship between

13600-467: The nickname "Aram of Van". Moreover, on 19 April, he issued an order to exterminate all Armenians, and threatened to kill all Muslims who helped them. About 185,000 Armenians lived in Vaspurakan . In the city of Van itself, there were around 30,000 Armenians, but more Armenians from surrounding villages joined them during the Ottoman offensive. The battle started on 20 April 1915, with Aram Manukian as

13736-403: The now-anachronistic Grabar. Numerous dialects existed in the traditional Armenian regions, which, different as they were, had certain morphological and phonetic features in common. On the basis of these features two major standards emerged: Both centers vigorously pursued the promotion of Ashkharhabar. The proliferation of newspapers in both versions (Eastern & Western) and the development of

13872-606: The official results and celebrate his claimed victory. OSCE and Western monitors said that the election was largely free and fair. However, the report from the OSCE-led observers also described vote counting as "bad or very bad" in 15% of the observed polling stations, and Edgar Vazquez of the United States Department of State said that the U.S. was "concerned" about this. On 20 February, results from all 1,923 polling stations showed Sargsyan with 52.86% of

14008-541: The official status of the Armenian language. Eastern Armenian is the official variant used, making it the prestige variety while other variants have been excluded from national institutions. Indeed, Western Armenian is perceived by some as a mere dialect. Armenian was also official in the Republic of Artsakh . It is recognized as an official language of the Eurasian Economic Union although Russian

14144-639: The oldest surviving Armenian-language writing is etched in stone on Armenian temples and is called Mehenagir . The Armenian alphabet was created by Mesrop Mashtots in 405, at which time it had 36 letters. He is also credited by some with the creation of the Georgian alphabet and the Caucasian Albanian alphabet . While Armenian constitutes the sole member of the Armenian branch of the Indo-European family, Aram Kossian has suggested that

14280-604: The operation. In 1905, members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation organized the failed Yıldız Attempt , an assassination plot on Sultan Abdul Hamid II in the capital of the Ottoman Empire, Constantinople (modern day Istanbul ); the explosion missed its target by a few minutes and was helped by Belgian anarchist Edward Joris . He was arrested and sentenced to death, prompting Pierre Quillard to use his journal, Pro Armenia , to advocate for his release—a stance shared by his colleague Jean Grave in Les Temps nouveaux . In

14416-419: The opposition of smearing him. Some members of the opposition suggested that Geghamyan was working for the government in an effort to undermine Ter-Petrosyan. Ter-Petrosyan criticized Baghdasarian for running his own campaign instead of rallying behind Ter-Petrosyan's candidacy, calling him a "traitor" and saying that he was effectively supporting Sargsyan. After Baghdasarian rebuffed Ter-Petrosyan's ultimatum,

14552-483: The parent languages of Greek and Armenian were dialects in immediate geographical proximity during the Proto-Indo-European period. Meillet's hypothesis became popular in the wake of his book Esquisse d'une histoire de la langue latine (1936). Georg Renatus Solta (1960) does not go as far as postulating a Proto-Graeco-Armenian stage, but he concludes that considering both the lexicon and morphology, Greek

14688-494: The parliamentary régime in Syria , there were reserved seats for the various religious communities, like in Lebanon, including for Armenians. This system is unofficially still living. Even when they didn't take part as such in elections, Armenian parties such as Dashnak exerted an influence on them. The ARF has always maintained its ideological commitment to "a Free, Independent, and United Armenia". The term United Armenia refers to

14824-887: The party bureau in Cairo declared its loyalty to the Allies. The Armenian Legion , composed largely of former Soviet Red Army POWs, was led by Drastamat Kanayan. It participated in the occupation of the Crimean Peninsula and the North Caucasus. but was later based in the Netherlands and France a result of Adolf Hitler's distrust of their loyalty. In 1942, the Nazi government recognized the Armenian National Council ( Armenisches Nationales Gremium ),

14960-573: The party operates in Armenia , Lebanon , Iran and in countries where the Armenian diaspora is present. The party was also active in Artsakh until the Azerbaijani offensive in September 2023. Although it has long been the most influential political party in the Armenian diaspora, it has a comparatively smaller proportional presence in modern-day Armenia . As of October 2023, the party

15096-444: The party was lifted less than a week after Ter-Petrosyan fell from power in February 1998 and was replaced by Robert Kocharyan , who was backed by the Dashnaks. Most of the ARF members convicted in relation to the "Dro Group" and "Group of 31" cases were released after the relegalization of the party. In 2007, the ARF was not part of but had a cooperation agreement in place with the governing coalition, which consisted of two parties in

15232-422: The party. They were defended by then-lawyer Alexander Kerensky , who challenged much of the evidence used against them as the "original investigators had been encouraged by the local administration to use any available means" to convict the men. Kerensky succeeded in having the evidence reexamined for one of the defendants. He and several other lawyers "made openly contemptuous declarations" about this discrepancy to

15368-407: The path to a new and simplified grammatical structure of the language in the two different cultural spheres. Apart from several morphological, phonetic, and grammatical differences, the largely common vocabulary and generally analogous rules of grammatical fundamentals allows users of one variant to understand the other as long as they are fluent in one of the literary standards. After World War I ,

15504-570: The population. The short-lived First Republic of Armenia declared Armenian its official language. Eastern Armenian was then dominating in institutions and among the population. When Armenia was incorporated into the USSR, the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic made Eastern Armenian the language of the courts, government institutions and schools. Armenia was also russified . The current Republic of Armenia upholds

15640-753: The raid was to dictate the ARF's demands of reform in the Armenian populated areas of the Ottoman Empire and to attract European attention to their cause since the Europeans had many assets in the bank. The operation caught European attention but at the cost of more massacres by Sultan Abdul Hamid II . During this period, many famous intellectuals joined the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, including Harutiun Shahrigian , Avetik Isahakyan , Hakob Zavriev , Levon Shant , Karekin Khajag , Vartkes Serengülian , Abraham Gyulkhandanyan , Vahan Papazian , Siamanto , Nikol Aghbalian and many others. The Khanasor Expedition

15776-436: The representation of word-initial laryngeals by prothetic vowels, and other phonological and morphological peculiarities with Greek. Nevertheless, as Fortson (2004) comments, "by the time we reach our earliest Armenian records in the 5th century AD, the evidence of any such early kinship has been reduced to a few tantalizing pieces". Graeco-(Armeno)-Aryan is a hypothetical clade within the Indo-European family , ancestral to

15912-455: The right to reparations . It also advocates the establishment of United Armenia , partially based on the Treaty of Sèvres of 1920. The ARF originated as a merger of various Armenian political groups, mainly from the Russian Empire , with the declared goal of achieving "the political and economic freedom of Turkish Armenia " by means of armed rebellion. In the 1890s, the party sought to unify

16048-513: The rule of law and to work peacefully and responsibly for a democratic Armenia." Following the election result, opposition protests began in Yerevan 's Freedom Square, in front of the Opera House. On 1 March the demonstrators were violently dispersed by police and military forces, killing at least 10 people and President Robert Kocharyan declared a 20-day state of emergency. This was followed by mass arrests and purges of prominent members of

16184-468: The similarities between the two languages meant that Armenian belonged to the Iranian language family . The distinctness of Armenian was recognized when philologist Heinrich Hübschmann (1875) used the comparative method to distinguish two layers of Iranian words from the older Armenian vocabulary . He showed that Armenian often had two morphemes for one concept, that the non-Iranian components yielded

16320-519: The terms he gives admittedly have an Akkadian or Sumerian provenance, but he suggests they were borrowed through Hurrian or Urartian. Given that these borrowings do not undergo sound changes characteristic of the development of Armenian from Proto-Indo-European , he dates their borrowing to a time before the written record but after the Proto-Armenian language stage. Contemporary linguists, such as Hrach Martirosyan , have rejected many of

16456-537: The time. The electoral campaign began on 21 January 2008. At the opening of campaigning, Ter-Petrosyan fiercely denounced Sargsyan and Kocharyan, accusing them of "thieving and anti-popular" rule, and said that he was certain of victory, while acknowledging "disappointments" and "harsh criticisms" regarding his earlier presidency during the 1990s. For his part, Baghdasarian released a 32-page manifesto for his campaign, vowing to "eliminate corruption and embezzlement" and to provide "equality before law" and "a drastic rise in

16592-403: The various small groups in the Ottoman Empire that were advocating reform and defending Armenian villages from the massacres and banditry that were widespread in some of the Armenian-populated areas of the empire. ARF members formed groups of partisans ( fedayi ) that defended Armenian civilians through armed resistance. The party refrained from revolutionary activity in the Russian Empire until

16728-633: The vote (862,369 votes); Ter-Petrosyan received 21.5% (351,222 votes) and Baghdasarian was said to have won 17.7% (272,427 votes). A post-election poll conducted by the British Populus Opinion Polling Center between 21 and 24 February confirmed the Central Electoral Commission's results giving Sargsyan 53%, Ter-Petrosyan 20%, and Baghdasaryan 13% of the vote. Sargysan was inaugurated as the third President of Armenia on 9 April 2008. Both

16864-507: The vote (863,544 votes). Ter-Petrosyan was placed second with 21.5% (351,306 votes ) and Baghdassaryan was placed third with 16.67% (272,256 votes). Hovannisyan placed fourth with 6.2% and Manukyan placed fifth with 1.5%; the other candidates received less than 1% of the vote. Voter turnout was placed at about 70%. Sargysan thanked the people for giving him "overwhelming support" and said that he would be "the president of all Armenians". A spokesman for Sargysan's Republican Party claimed that

17000-564: Was a major military success for the Armenian army as it was able to halt the invading Turkish forces. The Armenians also stood their ground at the Battle of Kara Killisse and at the Battle of Bash Abaran . The creation of the First Republic of Armenia was proclaimed on the same day of the Battle of Sardarapat, and the ARF became the ruling party. However, the new state was devastated, with a dislocated economy, hundreds of thousands of refugees, and

17136-536: Was considered by the Armenian population as the main instigator of hate and confrontation between the Armenians and the Tatars. Unable to rely on the state for protection, the Armenian bourgeoisie turned to the ARF. Against the criticisms of their rivals to the left (the Hunchaks, Bolsheviks and Specifists ), the Dashnak leaders argued that, given employment discrimination against Armenian workers in non-Armenian concerns,

17272-487: Was elected in the first round according to official results, but this was disputed by former President Levon Ter-Petrosyan , who was officially placed second. The candidacy of Sargsyan was backed by incumbent President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan , who was ineligible to stand for a third consecutive term. Other candidates included Vahan Hovhannisyan , the Vice President of the National Assembly , representing

17408-490: Was isolated and abandoned by Western allies. The newly formed League of Nations did not provide any help. Soviet Russia intensified its pressure on Armenia. Losing the war, Armenia signed the Treaty of Alexandropol on 2 December 1920, which resulted in the recognition of large territorial losses to Turkey. The Armenia military-revolutionary committee formed in Soviet Azerbaijan . Despite their tight grip on power,

17544-588: Was one of the reasons why the ARF discouraged people from attending these churches and brought the representatives from a different wing of the church, the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia , from Lebanon to the US. In 1933, members of ARF were convicted in the assassination of Armenian archbishop Levon Tourian with large butcher knives in New York City. Prior to his murder, the archbishop had been accused of being exclusively pro-Soviet by

17680-506: Was opened by state prosecutors regarding this possible fraud, and the chairman of the precinct commission was arrested. Recounts in over 30 other precincts showed results similar to the initial counts. Sargysan told police to investigate alleged electoral violations on 22 February. Final results, released by the Central Electoral Commission on 24 February, confirmed Sargysan's victory, crediting him with 52.82% of

17816-572: Was performed by the Armenian militia against the Kurdish Mazrik tribe on 25 July 1897. During the Defense of Van, the Mazrik tribe had ambushed a squad of Armenian defenders and massacred them. The Khanasor Expedition was the ARF's retaliation. Some Armenians consider this their first victory over the Ottoman Empire and celebrate each year in its remembrance. On 30 March 1904, the ARF played

17952-627: Was represented in two national parliaments, with ten seats in the National Assembly of Armenia and three seats in the Parliament of Lebanon as part of the March 8 Alliance . The ARF has traditionally advocated socialist democracy and has been a full member of the Socialist International since 2003; it joined the Second International in 1907. It has the largest membership of the political parties present in

18088-507: Was responsible for massive corruption involving the theft of "at least three to four billion dollars" over the previous five years. He was also critical of the government's claims of strong economic growth and argued that Kocharyan and Sargsyan had come to accept a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that was effectively the same solution that he had proposed ten years earlier, although they had strongly opposed that proposal at

18224-405: Was situated between Proto-Greek ( centum subgroup) and Proto-Indo-Iranian ( satem subgroup). Ronald I. Kim has noted unique morphological developments connecting Armenian to Balto-Slavic languages . The Armenian language has a long literary history, with a 5th-century Bible translation as its oldest surviving text. Another text translated into Armenian early on, and also in the 5th-century,

18360-682: Was the Armenian Alexander Romance . The vocabulary of the language has historically been influenced by Western Middle Iranian languages , particularly Parthian ; its derivational morphology and syntax were also affected by language contact with Parthian, but to a lesser extent. Contact with Greek, Persian , and Syriac also resulted in a number of loanwords. There are two standardized modern literary forms, Eastern Armenian (spoken mainly in Armenia) and Western Armenian (spoken originally mainly in modern-day Turkey and, since

18496-630: Was viewed as being ignorant, while at other times he was dubbed a great hero. Nonetheless, the ARF came to collaborate with him and alongside Yeprem Khan posted many victories including the capture of Rasht in February 1909. At the end of June 1909, the fighters arrived in Tehran and after several battles, took over the Majles building and the Sepahsalar Mosque . Yeprem Khan was then appointed chief of Tehran police. This caused tensions between

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