InternationalOskanian’s Speaking to be Heard or An Unfinished Decade
Published: Saturday April 18, 2009
Speaking to Be Heard
Yerevan - This book cannot simply be considered a collection of speeches, although with the exception of the introduction, which can be read in one breath, the other 450 pages do contain only speeches. These speeches represent in the best possible way the concerns, challenges, directions and general evolution of Armenia's foreign policy between 1998 and 2008, and have been heard in several dozen capital cities and at dozens of international and academic conferences. The author of these speeches is former foreign minister of Armenia, Vartan Oskanian.
"As the representative of an ancient people, new at statehood, I viewed each appearance as our opportunity to move from being witnesses or mere subjects of history to a new place on the world stage where we would participate in the making of history. This collection of speeches reflects that emergence and documents the evolution of Armenia's foreign policy," Mr. Oskanian wrote in his introduction.
This book, which was edited by Salpi Ghazarian, is also attractive and creative because of the order and selection of the speeches. The first speech in the book is Oskanian's farewell address, which he delivered to the staff of the Foreign Ministry on April 10, 2008.
"We are not recording contemporary history. This book is a reflection of one part of that history," said Ms. Ghazarian, who is the director of Civilitas, the foundation created by Vartan Oskanian.
He was the longest-serving foreign minister and the longest serving minister in Armenia's modern history, having occupied his position continuously for 10 years.
Without a doubt, Mr. Oskanian was the most available minister for the media and for journalists. His vast knowledge of the Middle East and of the east in general, his university years in Soviet Armenia, the years he lived and studied in the United States, his many tours of Europe, his knowledge of several languages, and his exceptional ability to deliver a speech gave Mr. Oskanian the ability to represent Armenia to the outside world in the most vibrant of colors, even though for most of us, it was definitely not the Armenia of our dreams.
"As the international community was observing and analyzing the new world order and trying to prescribe guidelines for moving forward, I believed it was essential that we present our own perspective.... I knew I was addressing people who would influence the opinions and make the policies that would have a bearing on our development and our future. I was speaking to be heard. I was also speaking to be heard by Armenians worldwide," Mr. Oskanian writes in the introduction.
Mr. Oskanian himself was part of that diaspora when independence came in September 1991. By March 2, 1992, when he witnessed the raising of independent Armenia's tricolor at the United Nations, he already knew that his future lay in Armenia.
"We are all citizens of Armenia - you by birth, I by choice. For me, the decision to pack up and return to Armenia after independence was a default decision, a non-decision, an obvious choice. Having come, I'm not now preparing to go," he said in his farewell speech to the staff of the Foreign Ministry.
After Armenia's first president, Levon Ter-Petrossian, Mr. Oskanian is the only former high-ranking official who shortly after leaving office has presented a collection of his speeches.
"My objective was to bring together all these speeches for the coming generation. I believe that officials who have accumulated information in their mind, at some point must put those thoughts to paper, to share that information with historians and the next generation. I have already begun working on a second book, which will be more of a descriptive-analytical memoir," Mr. Oskanian told the Armenian Reporter.
The book launch for the book in its English and Armenian versions took place on April 17 in Yerevan. Similar launches are planned for April 21 in Aleppo and April 26 in Beirut. Not all the same speeches are included in the two versions. The title of the versions are also different. In English it is Speaking to be Heard while the Armenian version is An Unfinished Decade.
The evolution not just of the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiation process or Armenian-Turkish relations, but of the whole of Armenia's foreign policy is reflected in these statements and speeches. One can follow the flow of global events even through the international shorthand that is used. In 1999 "Kosovo" and "East Timor" referred to war and violence. In 2002 East Timor came to mean a self-determination movement that had succeeded. In 2007 Kosovo meant a double-edged sword: a successful self-determination effort, executed as an imposed solution by the international community.
"These speeches were addressed to the rest of the world, but of course, they were of great interest to our people. Although talking to our own population - through interviews, talk shows, in speeches at universities and press clubs - was also part of my work, and I used and enjoyed those opportunities often, it was important that the international speeches also resonate at home," said Mr. Oskanian.
Reading Mr. Oskanian's speeches is an enjoyable task because aside from being a skillful diplomat he is a diaspora Armenian by origin and has some sentiments typical of a diaspora Armenian. These speeches illustrate that since the declaration of independence, Armenia's foreign policy has not gone through any fundamental changes. But on the other hand, in addition to the foreign policy of 1991-1997, new models were introduced.
"There were six policies which were either new or which varied in some significant way from what had come before: the policy of complementarity; the focus on multilateralism; a vigorous promotion of European integration; a more inclusive approach to Armenia-diaspora relations; a new approach to Armenia-Turkey relations; and, most visibly, a different strategy for the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," said Mr. Oskanian.
