The First Congress of Western Armenians
Even though the Ozakom's activities – or, more accurately, lack of activities – were criticised by nearly every stratum of society, the air of freedom in Transcaucasia after March, 1917, contrasted sharply with the restrictive atmosphere of Grand Duke Nicholas' administration. Nearly three hundred thousand Turkish Armenian refugees also experienced the difference. Having found shelter in the Caucasus, the had, nonetheless, been abused and disarmed by tsarist officials, allowed no corporate societies, and usually prevented from returning to their Russian-occupied native districts unless they possessed property deeds, a requirement few could satisfy. Their primary concerns following the Revolution, unlike those of the Eastern (Russian) Armenians, remained repartition and defence of the front. Taking advantage of the easing of the restrictions, an inter-party council summoned the First Congress of Western Armenians to meet at Yerevan in May, 1917. Of the eighty delegates, fifteen came from occupied Western (Turkish) Armenia, twenty-seven from the refugee communities in the Caucasus, fourteen from various societies, eight from political parties, and three from the press. The remainder were invited national leaders. 52 Critical of the uncoordinated relief efforts, the Congress called for the immediate creation of a single executive body to supervise these activities. To secure the physical existence of the Western Armenians, revive their disputed economy, rebuild their homeland, and provide a progressive academic and civic education for their maturing generation, a network of auxiliary societies was to be organised both in the Caucasus and in the native provinces and the cooperation of the Eastern Armenian was to be solicited. 53 The Congress entrusted the program to the Western Armenian Council, eight of whose members were Dashnakist, three Ramkavar, 54 two Hntchakist, and one Social Democrat. The body's Executive Bureau included Vahan Papazian, Chairman, and Garo Sasouni (Dashnakists); Artak Darbinian, Hakob Ter Zakarian, and Avetis Terzipashian (Ramkavars); and Hrand Galikian (Hntchakist). 55 By autumn, considerable success was evidenced as scores of local branches were activated. The relief efforts of the Caucasian Armenian Benevolent Society, the Armenian Agrarian Society, the Brotherly Aid Committee, the Moscow Committee, and other groups were unified. A number of elementary schools were opened in Western Armenia to serve the refugee population that streamed homeward. At winter's end, twenty-five primary schools were in operation in the Van area alone. 56 By that time, approximately a hundred and fifty thousand natives of Van, Bitlis, Erzurum, and Trabizond vilayets had repatriated. 57 This apparent Armenian resurgence had been sanctioned and supported by the Petrograd Provisional Government.
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