E-channel has posted an analyses of March 1 events. There are a couple of key points in the analyses, which I want to draw your attention to:
- Actually, in the silent, uncompromising psychological struggle conducted between the authorities and fundamental opposition on February 20-29, the nerves of the authorities were the first to give out, on which the whole strategy of the opposition had been built.
- The authorities did not notice [] the appeal of Ter-Petrossian towards the international public, according to which he was giving a ten-day period to Western democracies in order to define the future of Armenia. [] Therefore, he had already defined a ten-day period for the movement led by him, which could be hardly interpreted as anything but a confession of actual failure.
- Actually, no facts or irrefutable proofs have been presented to date, confirming the statement or justification of the authorities that on March 1 the opposition was going to start wide-scope actions of protest, full of provocations. To date, the only justification has been the statement of law enforcement bodies, claiming that the disorders near the embassy of France after the noon were those very provocations, planned in advance. If it was really like that, it turns out that the measures of cleaning the Freedom Square were completely useless. Moreover, it was a most serious tactical blunder because with that the law enforcement bodies have instilled the opposition with new charges and pretexts, contributing further to heating up the atmosphere.
- Actually, if the blunder of the authorities were related to the measures taken at the Freedom square, the serious mistake of the opposition was not predicting the consequences of the spontaneous (according to them) gathering near the embassy to France. Taking into account the fact that a part of the members of Yerkrapah Volunteers union and almost the whole Trial of Spirit organization were with them, in case of demonstrating sufficient organizational skills, it would, perhaps, be possible and necessary to suppress or isolate the active participants of disorders, with the help of the above-mentioned resources. It did not happen, and it allowed the authorities to develop and, with the help of the further preliminary investigation, to support the approach that the disorders had been organized by one center. And it became a basis for presenting it as a coup d’Etat – that is, a danger immediately threatening the constitutional order.
The author of the analyses also suggests a very valid topic for discussion:
did the regime of state of emergency really serve its purpose – “toning down the emotions”, as phrased by the incumbent president Robert Kocharyan? It would be possible exclusively in case of creating an environment of negotiations between the authorities and the real opposition, and the real, two-sided willingness to solve the profound contradictions inside the society that have already reached intolerance.
At any rate, make sure to read the full article at E-channel, before attempting to comment. Discussions have already started there. Onnik Krikoryan has also posted an entry on the same analyses, in fact that’s how it caught my attention.
Any analisys of September 2007 – March 2008 events (wouldn’t call that an election) that excludes “the outside factor” does not stand criticism. And it is even more naive to analise March 1 incident in isolation or with the period leading to it (20-29 February). “The elections” must be analised starting from September 21 up to now. And they must include the foreign involvement, which was and is clearly there.
And it totally doens’t matter who hit whome first on March 1st.
Armen – that’s a fair point. Really it doesn’t matter who hit whom first. Moreover – it doesn’t even matter who was on top: Levon or Serzh or someone else. And I’ll tell you why. As Mark Grigorian has rightly pointed out in this post, back in August 2007, way before anybody could suppose that Levon Ter-Petrossian would appear on the political arena, the Armenian Sociological Association had conducted a pall using Gallop methodology. The poll had revealed, that 60% of those surveyed, didn’t expect the upcoming presidential elections to be free and fair. Mark Grigorian concludes, that this reveals deep problems in the society.
I have to agree, that the authorities had done everything over the past several years, to create a mindset in the society, which undermined all meaning of the electoral process. Kocharyan, being a person of very limited mindset, thought, that the repressive mechanisms he is putting in place, can function without problems, because he is the “only man” in this country. Idiot! In response – he got what he got. People stood up.
It is another issue, that opposition leaders could have managed everything in a way as to avoid deaths. But all in all – I’m more and more coming to the conclusion, that all blame of the situation lies with the authorities for creating the preconditions, where the developments could happen the way they did.
Still – Ter-Petrossian chose to campaign with hate-speech – and this is what I blame him for. And the blame for deaths lies on him, more then on the authorities.
Observer, that’s a twisted logic and I can’t fathom a way to blame the victims. But it’s a common propaganda tool…
Well – I’m still trying to understand, why exactly Ter-Petrossian chose to use the Anti-Karabakhci sentiment as the main tool for his campaign? Is it because he had nothing else to offer in terms of economy? Don’t you think this was a rather low trick?
I think Levon resorted to this end, because he was trying revive the feelings of early 90’s, when the whole nation was fighting against the external foe – the Soviet empire, the outsiders. I think in terms of political perceptions, Levon has stayed in the early 90’s. He wanted to create this external enemy, against which the ‘pan-national’ movement would stand. And I think that wasn’t just a wrong move, and outdated move… it was also a very dangerous move, because it showed our many enemies, that we are a divided society, and that a vast amount of people in this country are ready to give up Karabakh. And although this might well be true (I can’t be sure), it is one of the dangerous things, that he simply shouldn’t touch.
Observer, i mostly agree with your first post. But here is the thing i thought useful to mention: March 1 events was a proper following of a strategy of an “only man” in this country. This was effectively used before against any opposition: political or business. So i dont understand why you blame LTP for this in your second post.
Other point: Talking about spreading hate by LTP, pro gov media and coalition supporters spend more time, energy and resources than any opposition can afford, which effectively does same. Correct me if i am wrong (i was digging internet to find the info), LTP’s hate speech was sometime around Feb.17 regarding A.Baghdassarian, while pro gov media starts their hate campaign since Sept.21. Also can you tell me when was his speech regarding “takanqs”? I am trying to get a timeline for events, was it in content A.Baghdassarian or general public or government.
It seems fair to claim that the government is guilty for the situation in Armenian and the opposition is guilty for the actual tragic events of March 1st.
But what do we do with this knowledge?
Opposition will probably get its punishment but that won’t solve any problems, as the government has to change its ways. This won’t happen unless a large portion of independent media attacks them with specific accusations that lead to the current situation in Armenia.
I would add to Armen’s point that any analysis of the events of March 1st that circumvents the fact that so many people who disagreed with the views of Levon but nevertheless bothered to attend his rallies is a weak one and ultimately not useful. Armenia belongs to the people and it is far more important to understand what people want or don’t want than to have some kind of understanding of what this or that politician wants or did wrong or did right.
Oh i thought that LTP covered a lot of economy topics in his pre-Feb.19 speeches pretty thoroughly. And also he used “karabaxci” in context of RQ becoming the president of RA and consequences it had for Karabagh (high migration to Yerevan, having Karabagh out of negotiation process). Is this what is considered as a hate speech or there was something else?
The hate speech from LTP was rampant throughout the campaign: from Mongol-Tatar analogies to Karabakhtsi-local division creation/exploitation…this was classic bolshevik tactics of “us against them.” It is immoral, and even criminal according to the Armenian election code, civil code and even Constitution.
As far as what to learn from this, I guess a few things: the country needs to have a constructive opposition movement. Now that the hijacking of the movement has come to an end, I look forward to healthy forces who have a vision FOR something to come forward and promote a vision. Anti-government is ok with me; anti-state is not. This is one lesson I hope we all learn from the last few months.
Grigor Sargsyan – this knowledge helps me personally, to understand how to build my relations towards todays authorities and opposition. For example: I have been going to the “political walks” in the Nornern Avenue for 5-6 days already. This is because of my ‘knowledge’, that the Government is guilty for the overall situation in the country, and it must realise, that the protests and demonstrations will never stop, unless they take steps to improve things. I see the “political walks” as a small and act of protest – small enough to make the voices heard, without giving a serious blow to the statehood.
The second part of knowledge – the part, that Levon is a horrible character, and that he is to blame for the deaths on March 1, helps me understand, that I don’t want Levon to be the President of this country, and that I won’t support any action that might result in this, and I will most actively work against this. So, I’m not joining any announcement, or disseminating any information, which I think will undermine the statehood of this country or hurt its national interests.
The reason why I’m discussing these issues on the blog, is because I want to hear the opinions of people, who are more experienced then me, or have more information, or have different opinion then mine. I realize, that everyone is subjective in their views, so am I – very subjective. So I want to think collectively – before defining such subjective terms, as are: “statehood”, “national interest”, “opposition”, “government”, “authorities”, “public opinion”.
I see my country falling apart – and I want to understand where do we go from here. And in order to do this, I want to be sure, where are we coming from, and what are the perspectives.
To help us all – let me offer my step-by-step vision of what will happen next to the country.
1) Serzh will try to behave as a liberal, give freedoms, let everyone out of prison, adopt a couple of populist laws, perhaps put a couple of policemen to jail for March 1 issues, along with some maradeurs and rioters.
2) LTP will stay in proud loneliness and keep inciting anti-state moods. The promotion of liberties by Serzh will be interpreted as a sign of weakness, and within a couple of months, major protests will resume.
3) Serzh will ‘tighten the bolts’ in response, and turn into a real dictator.
4) Opposition will be severely crushed.
5) Problems with the real estate market – which have already started, will become more visible by the end of August. This will be further strengthened as a result of growing immigration by disappointed Levon supporters as well as independent people, who will see growing repressions as a sure sign, that this country leads nowhere. Everybody will be selling houses, nobody willing to buy. The real estate market will crash. The construction sector in the country will severely suffer.
6) The economic growth, which today is driven by construction/real estate sector/tourism will halt. Unable to manage the budget and promised raises in pensions/budget salaries, Serzh will start ripping off oligarchs, to collect the needed sums. In response, the oligarchs will further raise the prices of imported goods.
7) Within one year the country will be on the verge of major economic/political crises. The fact – that the whole world is going through a great economic depression, and that US is stuck with a multi-billion war in Iraq won’t help much. Russian’s will try to help – buying most of the remaining companies in Armenia.
8)…sorry, this is where my fantasy ends… why don’t you add your points?
I agree with your views on why we need to know all of these things. My question was more of a rhetoric nature.
My point was more in the lines of the following. Unless we start treating the people of Armenia as a factor in all of this we will not get anywhere. The analysis of the original post still treats people as something that got on the way of the two clans. But at least from this vantage point (which I admit might be wrong because I am so far away from all of whats happening there), the people actually formed a third front. They failed because they were leaderless, as Levon didn’t really represent what people wanted.
For me this particular observation suggests that Armenia is moving towards the right direction and it is the time for a non-political movement. All that seems to be missing is the right leader.
Grigor – I agree, and will only add that I think that various segments in Armenia have different views on this: from the risk-averse conservatives who do not want to jeopardize the modest gains they have made through recent stability over the past decade, to those more idealistic who envision a fundamental change of orientation, to those who see the problem as more cultural/educational.
Not that you are stating so, but I think too often the term “people” has been misused, as sides are always claiming that they are with the people. In reality, I think that (in addition to the members of the clans who support any given individual) there are many other segments in society.
Regardless, I agree with your suggestion above.
Ditord, thank you for your analysis. Everything Serzh so far has done as a “liberal” like starting his “blog” (last entry at March 26; answering 700 questions stopped before 100) has been half-a**ed and only for show. So I’d expect if Point #1 of yours comes to pass its execution will be pretty haphazard and clueless, but hopefully some people will at least get out of jail.
Also, Point #6, better add in all those other campaign promises, like the “cars and medicine for all”. (http://armenianow.com/?action=viewArticle&AID=2741) Some poor voters might actually have believed him and will be wondering when they are getting all that stuff. Not getting the goodies promised is going to sink his approval level pretty low pretty fast.
Observer, from over here things don’t look as bad as you have described. From what the media is telling us, the boom in economy is mainly because of constructions and the foreign help in the form of people outside the country sending money back home. But I do have a lot of friends who got a degree in Armenia and then found a job in their field in Armenia. I know many working in computer industry. Is the blooming of this industry a consequence of the other two? What is even more surprising to me is that the ordinary people I talk to (NOT the media people) claim that if you don’t set the bar too high then you will find a decent job in Yerevan (maybe not in other parts of the country). (One instance of this is that I have a friend who looked for a job and eventually end up working as a hairdresser). How do you explain this situation? Is this too mainly because of construction industry and foreign help?
The war in Iraq might take drastic turns soon. No one in America is particularly happy with that lousy war, so we will have to see what happens. I agree it might get worse and have pretty bad consequence on the stability of the region. But it might also end up going in the right direction and stabilize the region.
What I don’t understand is why do we think that what happened in Armenia is so special? What happened in Armenia has been happening everywhere and most countries out there, especially western countries that set the high standard today, have gone through all that one time or another. Look France of 50s and 60s with the Algerian problem and Vietnam War, look at US with African Americans marching on the streets, hippies doing what hippies do, Watergate scandal, Vietnam and etc and the list goes on and on. In fact, US today might actually be in a worse situation than Armenia. You may not believe this, but with all the problems ordinary Americans face today (high interest rates, extremely high debt and so on) makes me feel like I would be more financially secure in Armenia than here. Here we feel as if the 30s are around the corner.
However, there is always a way out. What we have is just another problem that people equipped with the appropriate knowledge and devotion can solve. So I wouldn’t add more pessimism to your point 8 but rather more optimism that those problems you mentioned will be solved.
Well-stated, Grigor. Thx for the insights.
Observer – Interesting if rather scary vision. Although looks pretty realistic.
AH- why do you think that LTP hijacked the movement? I thought he created it out of nothing, else if not his return, opposition will get something closer to what they got in parliamentary elections in 2007, and it looks like nobody were going to fight for votes.
Regarding tatars and mongols, looks LTP made an attempt to describe current political/economical system, one can agree and disagree with it, but it hardly can be considered as a hate-speech. About “karabaxci/local” division, again LTP pointed on RK being a karabaxci, which created problems for NKR being represented at the negotiations, creating immigration to Armenia, but that was it. What standards do you use considering that as a hate speech?
Grigor – take a look at the following document (official data): http://docs.armstat.am/nsdp/
You will instantly see, that the consturction sector was by the largest in 2007. Needless to state, that other sectors – services or financial for example, also carry a certain percent of construction. So – I think, I am not overestimating its importance. Add to that the recent statements from MCA – to halt this multimillion dollar program which mainly deals with construction, and we’re stuck…
Add to that the fact, that other large sectors – like agriculture, dimond processing and software manufacturing are suffering serious problems because of growing AMD exchange rate… yes, I have reasons to be concerned.
The only thing that helps me not to go nuts is the fact, that I’m not an economist, and I can’t imagine all the real disaster, that will be coming.
by the way – I have a solution 😀
government should do two things:
a) put strong protectionist measures against imports of food, alcahol, chemical products (of everything, that we have domestic producers of)
b) develop a system of providing low-cost government credit to strategically important industries – like sugar/wheat production, software manufacturing, etc.
c) take steps to devaluate the AMD and allow for bigger inflation, instead of blindly following the IMF demands of keeping it in check.
Again – I’m not an econmist – so these are just things I read in clever books – without fully understanding their meaning and significance 😉
obsever –
te most funny thing is that you blame LTP for victims and in the meantime say that serz will punish some police responsible for march 1st. so you agree that the responsibility for victims is fully on authorities in particular serz and rob and they will try to put it on police.
very amusing…..
and all you clever advices for coming out of crisis will not ever work..noone will be motivated to do so….why do that..there is not such an interest driving authorities to do so….they would rather think how to manage to control the sicoety and suppress any protests and continue stealing national money till the end ….which would be the loss of not only karabax but the independnca of armenia itself….
Observer – Good points. One thing really helps in Romania, was making IT sector tax-free:) That really adds a huge step to make them one of the biggest outsourcing markets in Europe.
one question to observer-
are you originally from akrabax?
Yervand – I am originally an Armenian. I hope this helps.
Observer,
Wow, what a change in attitude. Now you have solutions to the very problems that you pointed out. That is great. See there are ways out, we just need to think about the problems. I am not an economist either, so I cannot agree or not agree with your proposed solutions but on the surface they all look reasonable to me. By the way according to you the government needs to do three things not two, check your solution post. If you don’t correct the number Serj might only do the first two, and then it will be your fault that c never happened. 🙂
Jokes aside, I think that kind of attitude, treating those problems that we face at analytical level without driving ourselves crazy, will eventually solve all the problems.
I am impatiently waiting for your promised analysis that you said might even appear on Monday. Where is it?
Yervand,
It is ridiculous that you thought asking Observer about his origins. Of course we are all Armenians. And what exactly does Armenian mean?
This business of being an Armenia has got to stop. It is ridiculous that in the 21st century our perception of national identity is no more sophisticated than what it was in the early 1920s or even before that.
Lord Byron did more for Armenians than most people of Armenian ethnicity you know including you and me together. He is probably more Armenian than we all are. I only feel disgust when people bring up the ethnicity question so often.
i’m really stuck with my analyses. as a witness of the events, as someone who was among the protesters, i feel deeply sympathetic with the people who were in front of the french embassy that day, so i feel that my half finished analyses is biased. and my internal ethics doesn’t let me publish something i’m not sure about…
good luck with your vurtual solutions of virtual problems!!!!
what you are doing here is called selfcheating!!!
HAVE fun!
Yervand – I am a Gyumretsi. Among my origins there are Loretsi, Karsetsi, Mshetsi and Greek. However, I’m ready to say that I am as much from Karabach or Yerevan or whatever. I quite sincerely don’t care. Why is it important – tell me?
just as a matter of curiousity. thats all.
ALL you guys are saying here is:
Stop the national movement! because it is led by levon.
and serz will solve the problems due to advices of smart peole like you!
GOOD LUCK AGAIN!
And thanks God that there are still freedom loving people left in Armneia to fight for that freedom regradless of circumstances.
In fact I am having fun, and I have learned a lot about Armenia from these blogs.
maybe we are not solving any problems but we are definitely becoming more aware of them. One of the most important thing that such discussions contribute to is changes in attitudes towards various phenomenas. Since March 1st my attitude has changed a lot and it is mainly due to the blogs.
You could have so much more productive time out here if you gave up your biased attitude.
Grigor – do take your time and try searching Levon on my blog – and start reading all the posts I’ve written about Levon since September 21, 2007. I’m sure you’ll find a lot of interesting stuff.
I don’t think my attitude is biased – I think I’m just reasonable. In the retrospect – here’s what I’ve written about Ter-Petrossian during the past several months, and I’m ready to answer for every single word I’ve ever written:
http://ditord.wordpress.com/2007/09/24/after-10-years-of-silence-levon-ter-petrossian-spoke-only-to-say-nothing/
http://ditord.wordpress.com/2007/11/16/levon-ter-petrossian-not-really-sorry-but-quite-inspiring-2/
http://ditord.wordpress.com/2007/09/25/reactions-to-levon-ter-petrossians-speec
http://ditord.wordpress.com/2007/11/16/armenian-opposition-promoting-racism/
http://ditord.wordpress.com/2007/09/25/reactions-to-levon-ter-petrossians-speech/
now , observer, tell me that you and your blog is not a part of anti-levon campaign of authorities and part of anti-national campaign. please also cite the post where you critisized the current regime.
I don’t have time at this very moment but I will. Thanks.
Yervand – don’t read my blog if you don’t like it. It’s that simple!
Yervand I have arcakhian roots ,do you mind? If Yes,it is clear that you have any mental health problem visit the nearist psychiatrist,it will realy help you.
By Vahan Ishkhanyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Published: 28 March, 2008
Article tools printable version email to friend comments (95) share the article “For the first time in my life I did not say I am Karabakhtsi [Karabakh Armenian]. They asked me where I am from, I told from Abovyan,” ArmeniaNow photographer Anahit Hayrapetyan tells about how every photographer and journalist in the neighborhood of the Myaskinyan monument on March 1 was asked about their descent in a fierce search for Karabakhtsis.
Disinformation was spread that the troops that dispersed the sitting strike in the Liberty Square spoke the Karabakh dialect.
But it was not an occasional matter: it was the expression of xenophobia generated by LTP’s movement, whose number one enemy turned to be the Karabakhtsis.
The next day, March 2 a taxi driver crossing the damaged Mashtots avenue was showing me the shops explaining which belongs to whom, trying to justify the looting: ‘this is Lfik’s, this one belongs to a Karabakhtsi.’ Lfik is oligarch Samvel Alexanyan who is from Aparan [town in the North-West to Yerevan]. But what do the Karabakhtsis have to do with this? The driver continued – the Karabakhtsis have to be driven out.
On March 2 morning near the site of the fighting a man surveying the rubble saw soldiers on guard and said to no one in particular, but in their direction: “Karabakhi dogs”.
This is not a single case as it has become a common point of view during the last commotion.
The negative attitude toward the Karabakh Armenians appeared when the politicians from Karabakh who were brought by Ter-Petrosyan to solidify his power against the oppositional forces, overtook it and began using the fruits of the clan system Ter-Petrosyan had created. If the system is based on clans people protest against the clan in power. In former times the target of protests was the All-Armenian Movement and its leader, then those who forced Ter-Petrosyan’s resignation. The system remains the same; if tomorrow the Akhakalaktsi Armenians [Akhalkalak is the provincial center of the Javakhq region in Georgia, populated predominantly with Armenians] overtake the power they will get the use of it.
LTP turned the negative attitude toward the Karabakh Armenians into hatred, declaring the authorities Tatar-Mongols and saying: “Because of these two, 15,000 people have moved from Karabakh to Armenia, mainly Yerevan, within the last ten years. Each of them has been given a position. It did not suffice, and now it’s the sphere of business given to them (it’s unclear who has checked the figures).”
Enmity was the main weapon of the leader for five months, when he stated the only mistake of the years of his rule was bringing the two politicians from Karabakh, the only thing he apologized for (he even defended the clan system he created by saying the 1995 Constitution was better than the amendments adopted in 2005); he declared all the deficiencies in Armenia originated in 1998, he refuted there were election frauds and state robbery before that, presenting the years of his rule as ideal times. For a protesting crowd the words of the charismatic leader were unquestionable and undisputed truth.
Explaining the problems of the state with persons alone and blaming those persons in deadly sins (perpetrating the October 27 assassinations to cede Meghri), he inspired faith in the mass. They believed ‘go till the end’, and also made keeping power a matter of personal security for Sargsyan and Kocharyan.
LTP and his supporters increased the number of their voters by growing the hostile rhetoric of the campaign. LTP stated Serzh and Robert have served the Turks with servility for a long time. On the other side he called traitors and scum all those who did not join him and instead of opening cracks among the authorities, as he said, created deep breach of enmity in the society: if the leader calls somebody a traitor the mass is ready to destroy. (In the newspaper “168 Hours” singer Shushan Petrosyan told with horror she received letters that called her a traitor for supporting Serzh Sargsyan and threatened to kill her children; she said she did not take her son to school for two weeks because in fear of the threats. And the post-election demonstrations that passed by Vazgen Manukyan’s office scanned ‘Vazgen – a traitor!’, because their leader had stated so.)
However, a primary target remained the Karabakis, in a way that drew comparison ethnic fascism in the 20s-30s in Weimar Germany, where corruption, oligarchy, depreciation, monopolization of economy were blamed on the Jews. (The Constitution adopted in the Weimar Republic in 1919 resembled much the 1995 Constitution adopted in Armenia, where the strong centralized presidential system did not allow for society’s participation in decision-making and facilitated to the oligarchy and the monopolized economy that brought the Nazis to power as a solution to the crisis).
The anti-Karabakhi prejudice reached its climax during the post-voting rallies in February, when a professor in Opera Square [the Liberty Square, the Theater Square] underlining their Karabakhi descent publicized the names of those rectors of universities who have to be punished amid the ardent shouts of the mass. And another speaker stated: “The Armenians in this square are thrice more in number that the Karabakh citizens. Long live the Armenians!”
Armenians of non-Karabakhi descent began writing in blogs as a means of protest calling themselves Karabakhis as Turks called themselves Armenians after Dink’s assassination.
The 5 month-long political trainings resulted on March 1 taking the form of the Molotov cocktails and metal bars. The mass attacked the police shouting: ‘Turks, Karabakhis go away!’ They say the spirit of the Armenian people was broken that day; but if something was broken then maybe that was the spirit of xenophobia.
Unlike Germany, where xenophobia was targeted against an external element, the ‘other’ for Levon is his native – xenophobia aimed against part of a mono-ethnic nation. Just like nationalism searches for enemies for crises among other ethnicities, similarly the ‘pragmatists’ radically denying national projects, search for an enemy to blame the crisis on, inside the nation. A poet woman, renowned intellectual inspired by the hatred of hundreds of thousands says Karabakhis are unable to run a state (LTP openly hinted on giving back Karabakh stating Karabakh is not a Kosovo and is unable to reach independence; he told in an interview Armenia has to restitute the damage caused to Azerbaijan). Thus, LTP supporters appearing in the name of liberalism became enemies of self-determination simply because those self-determined belong to their own ethnic group and because helping them ‘makes the country’s conditions hard.’
Unlike in Germany, where the one who created a non-democratic system and the one who appropriated it were different people, LTP was both the creator of the system and the betrayer of those who get use of it; that is, he is two in one, he wants to oust a clan to replace it with another, but never change the system he has authored.
Those who want to take the power are in the list of detained, 80 percent of them belong either to the All-Armenian Movement or are former officials from Republic party. And a wanted businessman Khachik Sukiasyan used to be the favorite oligarch in times of Levon’s rule, who, despite not being deprived of his incomes, had partially ceded his position to Gagik Tsarukyan. Many of the detained and other supporters of Levon have accumulated millions while in power and have not been punished, because they were replaced by people who equally get use of the system.
LTP was a version of the acting authorities ambushed behind the status of opposition, who having stated he is a tool to change the power turned the mob filled with hatred into a tool to provide the comeback of the old clans to power. Having cited the ‘Let there be no other sacrifice but me’, he sacrificed others, safe in his castle himself, with the coming threat hanging in the air ordered the demonstrators to stay and called for arms and resistance through his comrade-in-arms Pashinyan to hang another deadly sin to the authorities – shooting on people.
The system in ambush manifested itself not in words, but in deeds as it distributed bribes to voters and commissions and resorted to violence on election day equally with the authorities (a week ago head of LTP’s Ani headquarters was sentenced to 7 years in prison for beating Serzh’s representative). And LTP who declared himself a president elect in the first run even before the ballot boxes were opened, revealed the fight to follow would not be for justice, confusing the growing mass.
Experiencing the barbarism in history is not the most secure way to understand it, but is more efficient than the history textbooks, when you understand how the image of the enemy is created because of crises and injustice.
The times of slaughtering one’s own people have passed, but the possibility of persecutions and losses still remains and it is predictable, LTP would begin a hunt for ‘traitors’ and thousands of Karabakis would become deprived of homeland and would wonder to the country that would not accept them with pleasure if the region is returned.
And the danger remains: two days ago a neighbor to an acquaintance of mine refused to allow a nurse to give her an injection because the nurse appeared to be of Karabakh descent.
As long as Armenia of the 1995 Constitution (as the Weimar one) has not been reformed, as long as the clan, corrupt and oligarchic system persists, the energy of hatred and zeal to destroy the ‘enemy’ still threatens the country and the threat of war with Azerbaijan grows in parallel.
there was similar situation in armenia in 30ies when karabax klan was on power in soviet goverment of armenia and was participating in stalin repressions against nation and it took a big effort to get rid of them!
this particular piece of history is new to me. Can you elaborate?
there has been a tv story a while ago too about this story and i have heard about it long time ago as well. i reccomend you doing some research on this if you would like to know more details. but the fact is that history tends to be repeated and tends to get forgotten very often!