The following letter by Dr. Armen Ayvazyan was originally sent on March 09, 2008 and later published in various sources, including in The California Courier, where an abridged version appeared on March 13, 2008. Excerpts from the subsequent discussion about the letter constitute our inaugural entry in the Ararat Center’s blog.

The California Courier Online Edition, March 13, 2008

Commentary

A Sober and Sobering Account of Recent

Developments in Armenia by an Eyewitness

By Armen Ayvazian
Yerevan, Armenia

I have been criticizing this government and predicting such an outcome during recent years. And, by the way, where was Levon Ter Petrossian all this time and why didn’t he raise his voice against any injustice during these long 10 years?!

I’ve been warning about the imminent breakup of the seeming stability again and again in my books, articles and interviews published in Armenian, Russian and English for the last decade. Moreover, they’ve been read by some of the highest representatives of the current establishment. I had a couple of chances to even personally discuss with some of them the criticality of the situation. They did not agree that the situation is as bad as I depicted it and were disturbed and irritated. All of my efforts to bring them back to reality have just resulted not only in my further isolation from the centers of decision-making, but also in attempts to silence and marginalize me. Though they’ve not succeeded, I’m extremely frustrated that all my work has been almost in vain. On February 19, Armenia entered into a completely new and unfavorable phase; the day “X” I was talking about in my “Strategic Gaps” has already arrived.

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