A Sober Account of Recent Developments in Armenia
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
Commentary
A Sober and Sobering Account of Recent
Developments in
By Armen Ayvazian
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,
However, Ter Petrossian and his team did not come “to right the wrongs,” but just to exacerbate the situation to the edge. I’m a first-hand eyewitness of these recent events. The major clashes happened just 300 feet from my home and I’ve been hearing and watching everything from the beginning to the end. That day, Ter Petrossian and his team brought
Please look at the bigger picture, look at the world powers waging Cold War IN ARMENIA, look at the map again and follow the news about the
My street was under the occupation of “revolutionaries” for about 7 hours. They were shouting at us: “come down, join us — this is an uprising!” They were calling the Armenian soldiers to join them and fire on other Armenian soldiers. Now who can tell me about the facts better? Do you understand what was in stake? And what if just one battalion, or even a platoon joined this uprising? We would have ended up in a real bloody civil war with hundreds killed and mutilated and perhaps Artsakh and Syunik overrun by the enemy! What was Ter Petrossian’s sick mind thinking at that time? I need neither to watch Armenian TV for the official version of events nor to read and listen about the ridiculous false versions now being circulated in the web by Ter Petrossian’s supporters.
Please remember that
The situation is extremely difficult and there is no easy way out of it. The solution that is most often being offered — the resignation of Serj Sargsyan and new elections — is not a solution. We simply cannot afford months and years of additional turmoil.
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Կայքի մոդերատորներն իրավունք ունեն հեռացնելու այն գրառումները, որոնք պարունակում են անձնական վիրավորանքներ, բռնության կոչեր, թեմայից դուրս գրառումներ, գովազդային նյութեր։ Նաև չի խրախուսվում շատախոսությունը (flood):
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«Արարատ» կենտրոնն
Ո՛չ օտարալեզու դպրոցներին
There is nothing wrong in agitating his supporters. I believe
Ter-Petrossian’s only mistake was that he did not figure out that he is
dealing with murderers who will shoot on people for the sake of remaining in
power.
Mr. N***:
I will venture to say that the concerns for the “national security and stability” (in the context of what took place) are elements of a strategy aimed at keeping hold on power. Please do not dismiss this just because you are hearing it from someone, who happens to think differently. This is not a new trick (and neither is the perfectly-timed event on the NRK border a couple of days ago—just remember Clinton’s bombing of Sudan the night before his impeachment hearing, or Reagan’s invasion of Grenada in the midst of Iran-constras hearing. The complete list, undoubtedly, is much longer). Stability is not a factor that by itself always generates well-being and results in country’s military/geopolitical strength. I venture to say that in our context stability may actually mean the exact opposite. If stability means corruption and mismanagement on the grand scale, it also means:
(1) more talent/educated labor force leaving the country;
(2) more capital flight and less investments;
(3) bad economic and social policies;
(4) more disenfranchised population and weaker support for any reform effort;
(5) demoralized army, war veterans, and general population that may at some point face the Azeris.
All of these factors in my book mean underdeveloped and geopolitically weaker Armenia down the road. Wouldn’t you agree?
And if you wonder what any of this has anything to do with LTP, my response would be “very little, if anything, at this point”. So let’s not use his personality (or any issues you may have with it—which many of us may share) as an excuse for not supporting the people’s right for a structural change. Just think of him as someone who was able to gather the masses and make this change at least theoretically possible. And if he decides to screw up down the road, people who were empowered by their free vote/choice and ability to see it through would rise one more time and make sure he—or anybody else for that matter—doesn’t go too far. The alternative is painfully predictable and I am sure unacceptable for many of us on this mailing list.
For those of us who study/work on economic development and structural change it is clear that sadly the evolutionary (i.e., endogenous) change is not in the cards for Armenia, or any other developing country in its shape. So let’s stop fooling ourselves (please excuse my choice of words here) with this myth and instead see what can be done to make the change possible without having the blood of our brothers and sisters be sacrificed for that.
I thank you for your attention and for giving this the benefit of your doubt.
Sincerely Yours,
Some more eye witness account.
Angela is right, but it seems she is ignoring the government’s “Soviet or Bush mentality that you are with us or against us,” and the fact that we Armenians can not even “act in a united way,” let alone be united. To date we haven’t learned from our past, including the genocide, and as a result all we have is small fraction of our territory and we are in this deplorable situation.
The intelligensia is powerless because they have no support. The few who dare say or write against the governement are not heard or at best have the tacit support of their families and friends. And if those people raise their voice more than “it is acceptable to the government” they are or will be silenced one way or the other. (because of lack of support)
Armen is one of the well informed intelligensia. He has been writing for a while but thse who matter don’t listen, pay attention or act. When LTP was in power for a while Armen was an advisor (If I don’t mistake Senior) Did LTP listen or act on what he said? Of course not. Now LTP has even mentioned that he wishes a team of international investigators to examine the killings etc. As Armen put it in his writing. How come LTP did not ask for such an intenational team to examine the killings of Armenians in Sumgait, Baku, kirovapat etc. in Azerbajan when hundreds of thousands of Armenians within a couple of days had to leave everything they had and get out of Azerbaijan.
Some of you may not like it, but I believe and agree with Armen Ayvazyan.
It is the responsiblility of each and every one of us to correct the situation. We should all chip in to thew best of our ability. I also blame the voters. They should have voted to some other person. I am concluding my remarks by a quote.
“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because
of those who look on and do nothing.” – Albert Einstein
Looking at LTP’s choice of words and demeanor, simply by the way he carried his personality, I sensed the presence of a hypocritical provocateur. He did not at any moment advocate peace, reform, but instead his verbalization was that of a man bent on exploiting the existing grievances and agitating the frustrated masses. The outside forces bore many fruits from this enterprise, and only someone from the inside with a keener political sense (such as written below), deserves auidence. All the contextually infantile nonsense at this point of “égalité, fraternité, liberté” need to be put in the back burner and this situation needs to be judged calmly and objectively. I think that we averted civil war and did get a better deal in the short-term, but our “chess playing” former president knows that the long term socio-political effects have been merely set for a worse and disastrous turn.
Սիրելի Արմէն,
Շնորհակալութիւն՝ քու այս յամառ ճիգերուն համար պարզելու համար մեր այս օրերու այնքան կնճռոտ հարցերը, ու պայծառ լուսաբանութիւններուդ համար, որպէսզի հասկնանք ճակատագրական իրադարձութիւնները:
Շարունակէ գրել, պայքարիլ, առանց կարեւորութիւն տալու քեզ պարսաւողներուն: Դաւաճանը քեզ դաւաճան նկատողը կրնայ ըլլալ, ոչ դուն: Դուն անշեղ կերպով նոյն ահազանգն է, որ կը հնչեցնես ահա արդէն քանի տարիէ իվեր:
Մի յուսահատիր:
H***,
Long time, no see. How’ve you been?
Political struggle has its rules. Put your personal preferences aside and look at a bigger picture. Haylur, Armenia, Shant, and other TV stations were blackmailing Ter-Petrossian 24 hours a day for few months in front of the whole audience without giving him a chance to respond, and Ter-Petrossian was doing his campaign in front of his supporters only in the Liberty square. One-sided approach is subjective.
And what peace, reform, etc. you are talking about? To allow election rigging one more time and declaring finally Kocharian-Sargsian couple’s dynasty as Armenia’s king? It is well known that next president after Sarkissian is going to be Kocharian’s son, then perhaps Serj’s son in law……… To allow Armenia being ruled by dod, mod, lfik, muk, caramel, nemec, sashik, chorni, etc. whose intellectual level summed up all together is not even 1% of YOURS personally?
Why you are forgetting that until the morning of March 1, Ter-Petrossian was doing his campaign according to Armenia’s legislation strictly, and everything started when special force brought from Karabagh attacked and bit out all demonstrators who remained in Liberty square that night, and started to bit out any citizen who was even passing by? Put Ter-Petrossian under house arrest and left his supporters headless?
Morning of March 1 was a fascist operation carried out on the Liberty square, that is when everything started. The rest are consequences.
A***
The “big picture” does not consist of using as benchmark the petty domestic
media who by default would be controlled by the government. They rigged
the elections, and LTP agitated the crowds. In any case, both were working
against the interests of the people and were working against any semblance
of national security or stability. The picture bigger consists of
understanding that LTP is as much at fault as the Sargsyan camp in power.
Armen Jan;
Every time I read something from you, such as this powerful document titled: “Strategic Gaps in Armenian Political Consciousness”, of course this is not the first time I have seen this excellent document, in one form or another, and reading it again, makes me mad, that so long ago you raised red flags and warnings, that went unnoticed!!!!
Of course, you see nothing wrong with Civil War. Neither does LTP. I think
that LTP did not make any mistakes. That is the result his sponsors wanted,
and that is what he got.
I, however, don’t see that civil war is a good option for Armenians,
especially when surrounded by de facto belligerent neighbors.
Oh, wait. I forgot. LTP, said that we don’t have belligerent neighbors.
He said something to the effect that “we are followers of a bankrupt
political mentality that pretends that Turks have designs to damage Armenian
statehood, to weaken and isolate Armenians.” In effect, LTP is of the same
song and dance chorus member of the pro-Turkish faction in the West that
tell Armenians they are “imagining things” such as Turkish aggression.
I will be providing the world, in detail, his anti-nationalist rhetoric that
would soon drive Armenia into a suicidal path.
Granted, the powers of today in Yerevan are common criminals. Yet we know
from recent history that LTP’s administration and entourage consisted also
of common criminals at a worse scale. I see little difference between the
two factions that Armenians are making themselves total fools of themselves
over.
There is one important difference, however: The current faction, consisting
of Kocharian, Sargsyan, et al, is strongly pro-Russian, which has shown to
be much more pragmatic than LTP’s “policy” of making Armenia the slave of
the US banking system through the IMF/WTO/WB.
I have no preferences. You, however, are a long-time LTP supporter.
Everyone knows that, Armen. I also don’t like a bitterly divided nation
over what is in reality a contest of one crooked gang against another. LTP
is, however, worse indeed, when things are weighed carefully.
LTP also intentionally used the “Kharabakhtsi” card as an brute and vulgar
agitation method. He did not label his opponent an “Avazak,” or
“Kasharraker” or any other conrete descriptive pejorative. He intentionally
used a regional bigotry and intentionally used the opportunity to exacerbate
the interregional and artificial divisions our “dearest friends” in the west
are trying to cultivate in Armenians.
The biggest Joke is that Sargsyan is not even Kharabakhtsi! He was born in
Zangezur.
Dear D***,
If comparisons must be made, the LTP’s presidency, if looked at not from a propagandist’s view but from a realistic view, has a much worse record than Kocharian’s.
1) Judging merely from a cross-section of institutions, much more talent left during LTPs presidency than in the last 10 years. The greatest brain-drain occurred during LTP’s presidency
2) More capital has gone into Armenia after LTP’s departure. More capital flight occurred during LTP’s presidence at a much larger scale than did during Kocharian’s presidency. Around 200 wealthy families now reside in Armenia. During LTPs presidence a handful controlled all of the economy.
3) LTP’s tenure resulted in the greatest drain in resource Armenia has ever seen. The last 10 years have seen much more gain and stability.
4) LTP’s actively alienated the diaspora. Kocharian did no such thing.
5) The Army is in a much better state than it was during LTP’s tenure.
Yes, You are correct, however corrupt the current administration is, LTP should not even be considered as a candidate. You are wrong, it has much to do with LTP.
You are perhaps also under LTP’s spell through his anti-nationalist rhetoric that excludes Turkey from Armenia’s security threats.
I support the efforts for change, but I don’t support those who seek to divide under bitter conditions the Armenian nation and plunge into a fratricidal nightmare. That is what I see LTP as doing.
Show me an instance where I claim that today’s regime is Godsend.
Contrary to the musings of naïve Utopians, Turks have their own independent
agenda, which is to annihilate or at least weaken Armenians to the level of
“reservation Indians.” This was best described by Levon Marashlian at a
symposium a short while back. We met there, if you recall. That is indeed
Turkey’s goal, and LTP’s “diplomacy” will help to advance both agendas. It
ahs been documented that Yasar Buyukanit is Azerbaijan’s acting Chief of
Staff. Baku’s Army is Ankara’s Army. There is no more political divide
between those two, and their “union” is sponsored by, of course, Zionism.
I have no “personal relations” with the man to have any “personal hatred”.
I don’t care about his personality, his taste in cuisine, or otherwise. My
total distrust of this man as a political figure is there, yes. I see him
to be an agent of powers in the west, the same powers that are in Iraq now,
the same powers that vehemently support Turkey and its ascendancy as a
“great power” (great useful puppet and henchman) in the region.
I am by no means indirectly supporting the current regime. I am against
those who work to achieve what our enemies very much wish for: A divided and
fragmented nation where regional bigotry will cause for a society that has
fratricide as the order of the day based on regionalism. Why the game in
keeping Artsakh a “separate de facto (dangle the carrot) state”? The
Constitutional referendum called for Reunification under legal grounds. So
why the charade of keeping them “separate states?” Why do you think they
support Georgia, a meaningless and impotent entity, as much as they do?
They have been working to Georganize Armenia in that respect for a long time
now. Their first attempts were to encourage the call for “a Yezidi
enclave,” which the US Embassy fully funded and supported for years.
H***,
Where did you see me saying that civil war is ok? Please do not use your
wrong conclusions to blame me in something I did not say or claim.
Yes, as you said you are supporter of NONE, nicely said. As long as that
NONE is unti-Ter-Petrossian.
Yes, I do believe, that as an independent country resolving issues directly
with your enemies is much effective policy in a long run, compared to
becoming a colony of one of the superpowers and trying to bring the enemy on
their knees using that superpower. Examples are many, Losing Kars and
Ardahan, Sevr Treaty, ineffective “struggle” of Genocide recognition which
goes on for decades now, and which brought dividends to everybody who
exploited Armenian Cause in their relations with turkey, but Armenia. And I
do believe that Armenia’s future is strong economy and independent
democratic country, and not third world colony with criminal governors in
exchange of pseudo-security provided by Russia. And yes, I agree with you
Kocharian-Sargsian couple is highly pro-Russian. I would add also that they
are highly pro-Russian to the extent that endangers Armenia’s independence
and national security.
And let me not to agree with you on your last remark about avazaks and
Karabaghcis. I believe Ter-Petrossian was using term “Avazakapetutyun” and
not “Karabaghapetutyun”, or maybe I am wrong?
A***,
You will keep on typing propaganda, but you are following a bankrupt line,
my friend, as much as I like you. LTP is gone. He will be remembered by
the majority as an agitator and servant of foreign interests to the
detriment of Armenia’s interests. In other words, he will be tried over
and again for treason in the minds of Armenians in the future. I will be
one of those Armenians who will pass that torch.
You are alluding again to the genocide recognition drive as some act of
frivolity. As to the genocide and so-called “normalization” of whatever
imaginary “relations” that exist between Armenia and Turkey, this is where
you and I disagree: The hypocrisy of the manner with which Genocide
recognition drive has been exploited pales in comparison to how LTP and his
“entourage” absolutely destroyed Armenia’s socio-economic system. As much
as I am not an ardent admirer of the ARF, the Dashnak rhetoric also is much
more civil, less harmful, and in fact sometimes haphazardly beneficial
compared to LTP’s blatantly anti-nationalist, suicidal form of “complacent
diplomacy” where all of Turkey’s conditions are accepted at face value “with
the hope of a better future.” LTP’s blatantly anti-diasporan stance is also
on record as, among other things, a major cause for the near total
alienation of Armenians abroad and the total lack of investment.
It’s both amusing and ironic (to say the least) to read how A*** is labeling decent people as propagandistic tools, when he’s the one claiming that special forces from Karabakh were brought in to restore order. A vivid imagination!!! Another attempt at deepening the wedge between Hayastantsi and Karabakhtsi Armenians with a lie.
Dear Armen, A***’s insults are unacceptable and uncalled for. Usually, those who insult people don’t have much else to say (typical of the bankrupt HHSh ideology). Perhaps, that is the perspective with which A***’s comments should be considered.
S***,
I myself don’t find anything ironic or amusing about your message since one of my former bodyguards who is now a member of Artsakh’s special forces was in Yerevan before and after March 1st. In addition to this, a very close friend of mine who is an officer in the Artsakh army and in the last 5 years gone to Armenia twice since he does not care for Yerevan, was also there. I will also add that these are people who follow orders, but probably feel very bad about how things turned out since killing fellow Armenians is not an option for them (not to say that they personally killed anyone, but they were a part of the force that did).
I’m not sure S**** if you have lived in Armenia, but I have for 10 years and have personally witnessed special forces, NSS and army personal moved into Armenia from Artsakh, many times dressed in Armenian police uniforms to stand up to the citizens of Armenia when they decide to demand their rights. Again, I have with my own eyes seen this and know this has been a very common practice of the Kocharian government.
The only common ground and what we all seem to agree on is that something very bad happened on March 1st. It makes no difference if it was Levon that instigated it, if there were outside forces or if it was an unjustified act by the government against a peaceful group of people.
In any of the above possible cases, many people were injured, killed or are unaccounted for. And this happened by an action of the government, who have to answer for what happened. This is also an action that I have seen many times before, the first time I saw in 1996 by orders of Levon when he used the army to stop and justified protest.
Since talking about this is not going to change things and all of us have limited time to spin our wheels, our time should be spent right now on clearly documenting what has happened on and around March 1st and to push for punishments to those responsible.
I believe that without a doubt, it was never the intention of the government to kill anyone, though I will say that the Kocharian government was ready if need be to do whatever they had to do in order to stay in power and if that meant people being killed, then that was a price they were willing to pay.
You all can continue to “debate” this issue and call each other names, but at the end of the day, it’s a waste of time for everyone since nothing will change and we will only end up with the usual fighting among us, which only those who have to be held accountable for what happened will benefit from since we will be diverted from the real work that needs to be done.
For those of you who are interested in action and to make sure we don’t once again revisit our unpleasant history a couple years from now (as we already have a few time in the last 13 years), then stop the bickering and take some concrete steps in making sure no stone is left unturned and what happened before and after March 1st is not forgotten and this should be done by a united force (us).
Dear Diasporan brothers and sisters,
I was following this Group communication for a while, and made one simple conclusion: lack of tolerance and due respect for pluralism. Some dialogues are getting into the dead end of mutual insults and personal labeling…
If that’s the case, then how you can appeal to citizens of Armenia (often referred to as “rabble”) for tolerance and solidarity?
What’s going on now in the country? Merely the Society has woken up from its decade-long “hibernation” and trying to reveal its chronic sores for healing, and time will tell how and who…
As a live witness of the pre- and post election events in the country, I’m pleadingly asking you not to get from one extreme to another, and remember that none of us is the “Messiah” who came to save the Nation today!
Please take it easy, and don’t accept the above said as an appeal or preaching!
With love and respect
There are Gyumretsi who also don’t care for Yerevan. There are also Gorisetsi that don’t care for what they consider a “Babylonian urban center.” The man likes his own backwoods. There are also Northern Californians who hate, absolutely hate, Los Angeles, California.
So it is established that Russian border guards and Artsakhtsi army troops and special forces were deployed. Were they the only ones deployed? What is A*** intended message? Is it an attempt to support the regional prejudices that are being cultivated? Are the “Artsakhtsi” foreigners in Levon’s eyes?
The problem of this sort of “accusation of bringing (so-called) external forces” went beyond the ridiculous when a group of senile ones here, and this is no exaggeration, actually were spreading the rumor that “Serge had brought in the Azeri military through Artsakh to clamp down on us Armenians in Yerevan. Serge, that Kharabakhtsi Turk!” I have seen an increase in the phrasing that “Kharabakhtsi are Turks. All their mothers are Turks.” For the most part, this is the sort that went out in droves and chanted “Levon!, Levon!” I encounter this everyday.
Police states are a dangerous and ultimately self-destructive, and no one denies this. The problem is that no such issue will be resolved as such. No rights are given, ever. That is also true in the “land of the free” here in the US. Rights are fought for at the civic level, not on the streets, not by transforming an otherwise perfectly good citizenry into irate rabble by injecting bigotry, interregional (mendacious and exaggerated) bigotry.
It is especially not achieved by pitting “Kharabakhtsi” against “Yerevantsi,” and that is the problem that is being discussed from the beginning. I will repeat time and again: Protests are fruitless if they are led by men with impure intentions and under false pretenses. This was bound to be a dark chapter the moment the Charlatan in Chief made his “electoral debut.” This is the only way to interpret a “protest rally” that had its leader, Ter Petrosyan, evoke regional bigotry as the platform of so-called “protest.”
If there was a majority among the protestors on the streets with legitimate concerns and legitimate demands, which is a given due to the de facto anti-nationalist and oppressive status quo, they were misled, and animated, only to be ironically overshadowed by belligerent and mindless regional bigotry and degradation into a mob. Whatever percentage of whom did what is irrelevant.
The tactics used are evident: A large enough mass was animated as such to create an explosive environment pregnant not with “reform minded force”, but instead with fratricidal momentum. Armen Ayvazyan below is an eyewitness, a resident in the eye of the storm. The exploitation of the government’s reaction by the external interests in the form of exaggeration and explosion of the picture beyond its actual resultant scope is also there as a part of the overall game played.
In most instances such form of “one day per five years civic minded activist” protest has failed anyhow. I consider them rabble at this point. They are Lenin’s rabble. The mentality is well understood by Lenin emulators, where the populace is now treated like a mindless sponge with a short memory. Lenin labeled what he preferred to call the “rabble” as a sponge. Squeeze them, and then release them a bit. If you time it right, they shall always forget the original squeeze and praise you for the release.
For this reason, the only salvation is to give each and every person the ability to think, first of all, think in the civic mode, something I saw well implemented in Switzerland, Denmark, and so on. Give people longer memories and the possibility of effecting change through actual participation and support of working structures. That is your primary duty as a civic minded leader. This is not a high expectation. We are talking about an intelligent population, for crying out loud.
I consider this lack of fortitude, that of weaving an argument by fishing out terms instead of reading the thoughts.
The usage of the term rabble, if one decides to read with care, refers to a specific political phenomenon whereby people in mass are deceived by very skillfully crafted political environments. “Lenin’s Rabble” is not meant as a pejorative to the individuals involved, but what they as a group actually are transformed into when they are pushed into unconscious acts. It is a sad truth that isopraxis is a leading Pavolian element. In this instance, we had rabble with no memory of who and what they were following in terms of their chosen (a loaded word in this case) leadership. It was an unconscious condition of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” in the domestic political scene, and known weak points and basic prejudices were fully verbalized and wielded onto what was nothing but rabble.
There are no messiahs. No one is making such claims, but one thing is clear, human beings, the majority, always want the easy path. They became “active citizens” on this one day of the five year term, and they rushed to the “aid” of a charlatan and thief whom their rabble memory insisted on being a hero. They further amplified his hero status by letting themselves turn to their basest feelings of regional bigotry.
All I say is that this can bee learned from and avoided in the future. Patient and persistent education, civic education, support of good NGOs and good bureaucrats, support and amplification of the impact of working structures, this is what is skeleton, backbone of democracy, if any working system.
There has been hibernation perhaps, but they certainly did not wake up. They just got another shot of Crack or Cocaine, only to seek Marijuana or some other barbiturate again and resume watching their favorite Brazilian soap opera until the next elections.
In the end, Mr. Ar***, you are asking to stop discussion in any form, but at the same time you claim to be an advocate for democracy and wish to “leave no stone unturned”. I see a contradiction. I also see carelessness in reading and bold and incorrect characterizations of what has been written and discussed so far.
I have strong feelings against LTP and his sellout heritage, and I will never refrain from expressing them. I trust him less, much less, than Sargsyan due to the former’s (to me) obvious attempt at inciting civil strife of some sort.
I disagree again on another point. Yes. It does make a difference who instigated it. If the source is not identified properly, if a blind eye is turned as to the causes and sources, then no lesson is learned, and no prevention mechanisms, no forms of social, psychological, logistical, or overall strategic immunity will be implemented.
Let me rephrase it more completely: It matters greatly who 1) instigated violence, and who 2) stopped it “at any cost,” which was not much compared to what I was fearing. The casualties are 46 or so arrests and 8 fatalities, 8 Armenian individuals killed due to a meaningless and intentionally fruitless “oppositional challenge” who seek to exploit the situation on behalf of its sponsors abroad. What if, asked Ayvazyan correctly (which virtually all of you choose to ignore – which is a curious phenomenon in itself), just what if a battalion did “cross the lines” and decided to side with the so-called “opposition”? What would have been the number of casualties then? Would there be a state by now? Would Artsakh surely have been lost and occupied by what were in fact Azeri forces on the perimeter?
Dear Ar***, I have not only lived in Armenia for 10 years, but I was also born there and lived there most of my life, including through the cold and dark years of the 90’s. As I have written to Armen Martirossyan before, Yerevan is the capital of all Armenians, whether they speak Karabakhi dialect, Gyumri accent or Western Armenian. Just because someone heard an officer (or two) use Karabakhi dialect, it does not prove that Karabakhi troops were transported to Yerevan and the demonstration was disperses exclusively by this troops. All Armenians can serve in Armenian law enforcement bodies, including those of Karabakhi origin. And if someone had heard Russian speech, which many of our top Armenian army officers use as a result of their past Soviet Army heritage, would everybody claim that Russian special forces flown in from Moscow killed Armenians? I am not even talking about the reliability of these “eye-witnesses”, who had also seen a mysterious pregnant woman and a child killed by the law enforcement officers, yet never found. The protester (in this case rioter) cannot be considered a reliable eye-witness because he/she is one of the opposing parties, thus has an interest in misrepresenting events. The presence of your former bodyguard and the close friend of yours in the Artsakh army in Yerevan does not substantiate those claims either. No one knows the circumstances of your friends’ presence at the location. Individuals or small detachments may have been deployed from here and there to support the operation conducted with RA Interior ministry forces, but this does not amount to “Karabakhi special forces were brought in to quell a riot”, it would be a gross misrepresentation or an outright lie. After all, Armenian troops (both Gharabaghtsi and Hayastantsi) serve throughout Armenia (RA and NKR) and whenever there is need for them, they must be moved around the country irrespective of their origin. In addition, the army leadership repeatedly stated that no units have been brought from Artsakh or any frontlines. While it can be claimed that official statements cannot be trusted, the same can be said about those “eye-witness” accounts. Yet no one from the LTP camp has been able to provide any concrete evidence of the deployment of Artsakhi troops (which unit, from where, what transportation), other than rumors. Don’t you think these facts would be immediately trumpeted to the whole world by the LTP camp? Without any facts, anyone can claim that he/she was a witness and saw/heard/felt that Artsakhtsi, Gyumretsi, Aparantsi units were used. However, we can all use our own judgment: the officer who was killed during the riots was from Ervard (Ervard is in Armenia, not NKR) and his unit belonged to the RA Interior Ministry ( http://www.azg.am/AM/2008031214). What does this tell you?
Yet, all of the above mentioned is secondary in importance. The most despicable here is that this artificial divide between Gharabaghtsi and Hayastantsi is being exploited to the detriment of the nation and no one seems to ask why is there a problem even if there were troops of Artsakhi origin. Would the death of the 8 Armenians be less heart-wrenching if the troops were, say, from Vanadzor? Aren’t we all Armenians? Is there a special privilege reserved specifically for Yerevantsi troops to disperse riots? Does this not appear to be another form of nepotism (Gharabaghtsis did it, only Yerevantsis should be allowed to do that!!!), the same thing this government is accused of? If we’re all Armenians with the same privileges and responsibilities, then restoring order in the heart of the Armenian world, Yerevan, preventing looting and burning should be the duty of a Gharabaghtsi as much as it is the duty of the Yerevantsi. WE ARE ONE NATION. Yet, since the beginning of the LTP campaign we have been bombarded by this contrast between Haystantsi and Gharabaghtsi: We and They, we’re the good and they’re the bad, they’re the oppressors and we’re the oppressed. I am not even sure what to make of your last sentence:
“…[I] have personally witnessed special forces, NSS and army personal moved into Armenia from Artsakh, many times dressed in Armenian police uniforms to stand up to the citizens of Armenia when they decide to demand their rights.”
So what? Aren’t the men serving in Artsakh Armenian and part of Armenia? Aren’t RA and NKR troops part of the same security structure and intended to defend the same country and people? Again, Armenian troops (Gharabaghtsi, Hayastantsi, Gyumretsi, Ashtaraktsi) serve throughout Armenia (RA and NKR) and whenever there is need for them, they must be moved around the country irrespective of their origin. The bottom line is this: LTP’s exploitation of this unnatural contrast between Gharabaghtsi and Hayastantsi is meant to appeal to the subconsciousness of the Hayastantsi residents by presenting this divide as the oppression of the local (Hayastantsi, Yerevantsi) element by a foreign, non-local (Gharabaghtsi) element (they came and took over us, they’re ruling over us). which will compel people to resist the foreign, invading element, in this case the Karabaghtsi leaders. However, this is being done at the expense of creating disdain and enmity among Hayastantsis toward all Karabakhi Armenians, not just a few of its representatives. In essence, LTP has created a weak link (nevertheless a link) between Karabaghi Armenians and Turks, who are synonymous in Armenian minds with enmity, invasion, massacres. The evidence of this is abundant in Armenia as well as in the Diasporan circles. As i have noted in earlier emails, people call the talks shows in Los Angeles and use “Gharabaghtsi Turqer”. In one of the unedited clips from the Miyasnikyan square, one of the “protesters” is yelling (threatening) at a newly arrived ambulance doctor: “vordeghatsi es, ara!”, implying that if he is from Karabakh, he is a dead man. Those who exacerbated this divide and turned two parts of one nation against each other in order to serve their exclusively personal political ambitions either do not understand its implications or are doing it intentionally. The former is elementary ignorance, the latter is malfeasance, which in the geopolitical reality of Armenia amounts to a crime.
All those lies [the anonymous comments] make me sick!
S…, H…, V…, A…, D…, B…,
why are you hiding?
I apologize, my above comment was exclusively addressed to A…
I agree with the basic ideas expressed in most of the other comments.