short name for Hay Yełapʿoxakan Dašnakcʿutʿiwn (Armenian revolutionary federation [A.R.F.]) or its members.
DAŠNAK (Pers. Dāšn
short name for Hay Yełapʿoxakan Dašnakcʿutʿiwn (Armenian revolutionary federation [A.R.F.]) or its members.
DAŠNAK (Pers. Dāšnāk), short name for Hay Yełapʿoxakan Dašnakcʿutʿiwn (Armenian revolutionary federation [A.R.F.]) or its members. The A.R.F. was founded in Tiflis in 1890 by Russian Armenian intellectuals, including Kʿristapʿor Mikʿayēlean (1859-1905) and Simon Zawarean (1866-1913), soon joined by Stepʿan Zōrean (Ṙostom; 1867-1919). By 1905 it had become the most powerful of all Armenian political parties, with branches in Persia, the Russian and Ottoman empires, Europe, and America. The early focus of its activities was the struggle for the political and economic freedom of Ottoman Armenia, but in 1907 it also officially declared itself in favor of an independent, socialist Russian Armenia. It dominated the short-lived Armenian Republic (1918-20), and after the fall of the latter to the Soviets it became the leading anti-Soviet force among Armenians. Throughout this century it has led the struggle for an independent Armenian state comprised of Armenian territory from the former Soviet Union and Turkey, but it has never asserted claims to the small portion of historical Armenia that is under Persian rule.
Although the party is decentralized geographically, its organization is hierarchical. The lowest level consists of groups of five to fifteen members, which are organized into subcommittees. Each regional chapter is governed by a central committee elected by the two lower levels (Hay Yełapʿoxakan Dašnak-cʿutʿiwn, Amerikayi Kedronakan Kōmitē [H.Y.D., A.K.K.], II, p. 248; Tasnapetean, 1989, pp. 162-63). The regional central committee is responsible to the central committee, or bureau, of the party, though until 1919 there were often two or three bureaus, each responsible for a different global region. Members of the bureau are appointed by the general assembly, or world congress, which is composed of delegates from the central committees and other important party bodies (Tasnapetean, 1989, pp. 58, 141, 163). At periodic meetings the general assembly defines overall party principles and strategy; it also has the power to amend the A.R.F. charter and bylaws. In 1898 a “body representing the will of the Dašnakcʿutʿiwn” was established to conduct the external relations of the party and to act in place of the general assembly between meetings. In 1904 it was renamed the A.R.F. council, and in 1907 it was assigned the role of supreme judiciary for internal party matters. In 1919 the council was abolished; a supreme judicial body was established, and the remaining responsibilities of the council were exercised by conferences of members of various high-level party units until 1947, when they were reassigned to the bureau (Tasnapetean, 1989, pp. 58, 72, 141; idem, 1985a, pp. 111, 153).
Shortly after its foundation the A.R.F. began sending representatives to recruit Armenian members in Persia. Among the earliest A.R.F. leaders in Persia were Yonan Dawtʿean, Ishkhan Yovsēpʿ Arłutʿean, Nikol Duman (Nikołayos Tēr Yovhannisean), Ṙostom, Vardan (Sargis Mehrabean), Farhat (Sargis Ōhan-ǰanean), Karō (Aristakēs Zōrean), Stepʿan Stepʿanean (Balajan), Zakʿkʿi (Bagrat Vardapet Tʿawakʿalean), Tsaghik (Satʿenik Matinean), Yovsēpʿ Mirzayean, Vrtʿanēs Pʿapʿazean, Yarutʿiwn Martirosean, Arsēn Mikʿayēlean, and Yovhannēs Khan Masehean. The main A.R.F. center in Persia was in Azerbaijan, and it was the Tabrīz A.R.F. bureau that first published, in 1309/1892, the call for a world congress to define more clearly the objectives, methods, and structure of the party (H.Y.D., A.K.K., I, p. 95). In 1313/1895 the Tabrīz bureau was replaced by the central committee of the Tabrīz branch, responsible for most of Persia. As the Armenian community in Tehran grew in size and importance, a second central committee was established there, in 1329/1911 (Tasnapetean, 1989, p. 34; idem, 1982, p. 226; Alikʿ [Tehran], 20 December 1990, p. 51). For similar reasons, at some time between 1312 Š./1933 and 1317 Š./1938 two mekusi committees (independent local committees) were established for Persia, in Nor Juła (New Jolfā) at Isfahan and at Ābādān in Ḵūzestān (Tasnapetean, 1985a, p. 149), but, owing to declining membership, the Nor Juła branch was annexed to the Ḵūzestān commettee in 1326 Š./1947 (Alikʿ, 20 December 1990, p. 40). After World War II, owing to Soviet occupation and emigration to Soviet Armenia, the Tabrīz central committee was downgraded to a committee (personal interview with a member of the Persian A.R.F.). The central and mekusi committees in Persia coordinate the management of their internal affairs, as well as maintaining contact with the bureau, which makes all important general political and ideological decisions.
In the early years the Tabrīz A.R.F. remained particularly important, owing to the strategic location of Azerbaijan and its native Armenian population, which provided a base for activities across the Ottoman and Russian borders. Arms were assembled or repaired in the Xarisx