Tashnagtsakan

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The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF or ՀՅԴ) (Armenian: Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն Hay Heghapokhakan Dashnaktsutiun, Dashnaktsutiun). Armenian political party founded in Tiflis (Tbilisi in modern day Georgia) in 1890 by Christapor Mikaelian, Stepan Zorian, and Simon Zavarian.

The party operates in Armenia and in countries where the Armenian diaspora is present, notably in Lebanon and the ethnically Armenian-dominated de facto Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The ARF advocates socialism and is a member of the Socialist International. It possesses the largest number of members from the political parties present in the Armenian diaspora, having established affiliates in over 200 countries. Compared to other Armenian parties which tend to primarily focus on educational or humanitarian projects, the Dashnaktsutiun is the most politically oriented of the organizations and traditionally has been one of the staunchest supporters of Armenian nationalism.

A member of the ARF is called Դաշնակցական - Dashnaktsakan or Tashnagtsagan. Other than by calling each other by name, members would formally address one another as "Comrade" (Ընկեր - "Unger" for boys and men, Ընկերուհի - "Ungerouhi" for girls and women).

The ARF first appeared in the Ottoman Empire in the early 1890s. It was created to unify the various small groups in the empire that were advocating for reform and to defend Armenian villages from Ottoman massacres that were widely present in Armenian-populated areas of the empire. ARF members would arm themselves into fedayee groups which would defend Armenian civilians through the use of armed resistance.

The Dashnaks also worked to create a "free, independent and unified" Armenia, although they sometimes subsided this goal in favor of a more realistic approach such as fighting for autonomy. The party was instrumental in the creation of the short-lived Democratic Republic of Armenia which fell to the Soviet communists in 1920. After its leadership was exiled by the communists, the ARF established itself in the Armenian diaspora where it helped Armenians preserve their cultural identity.

After the fall of the USSR it returned to Armenia where it is now part of the ruling government coalition.