Armenian National Congress Issues Statement

On October 15, we bid farewell to the distinguished statesman, prominent writer, member of the Artsakh Committee, founding member of the Armenian National Movement, and member of the Armenian National Congress leadership, Vano Siradeghyan—our beloved Vano.

The value and true place of writer Vano in Armenian literature are best captured in the following lines by the great Hrant Matevosyan: “Armenian literature needed Vano; his place was indicated and empty. We filled hundreds, thousands of pages with the name of prose. Sometimes very successfully—Stepan Zoryan, Axel Bakunts, Hakob Manandyan, Aghasi Ayvazyan. The thirsty reader of great prose wanted to hear the ringing of his own world of Armenian prose, his language, his culture; that honorable reader sought from his writer those pages that would reveal the capacity of his language to relate to the grand art of narrative in the world. Vano was filling that emptiness and continues to do so.”

Vano’s role in organizing the Artsakh movement, achieving Armenia’s independence, shaping statehood, and the victory of the Armenian people in the Artsakh war is undeniable. It was Interior Minister Vano Siradeghyan who, in a short period, uprooted crime and waged an unyielding struggle against the world of crime, also preventing its participation in political processes (a policy that was completely overturned during the Kocharian administration). The victory in the bloody two-and-a-half-year war would have been impossible without the internal security and order ensured by the ministry led by Vano and without the organization of the defense of the Lachin Corridor at a critical moment.

Later, after the state coup in 1998, the administration of Robert Kocharian denied Vano Siradeghyan’s enormous contribution to the establishment of Armenian statehood, thus initiating harassment against him with fabricated and vile accusations, resulting in Vano becoming a political exile. Unfortunately, the current authorities of Armenia have done nothing to put an end to the illegality committed by the Kocharian regime.

It is time to restore historical justice. Considering Vano Siradeghyan’s significant contributions to the fields of literature and public administration, we call upon the Government of Armenia to bury Vano Siradeghyan in the Pantheon named after Komitas.

Armenian National Congress