Arsinée Khanjian, the Lebanese-born Armenian actress based in Canada who has appeared in most of the films made by her husband Atom Egoyan, spoke before the press on July 21 about her recent impressions of Armenia. She was present at the ARF-sponsored conference in Nagorno-Karabagh held from July 9-10 about the current state of affairs regarding the peace process. And she served on the jury of this year’s Golden Apricot Film Festival, which ended last weekend. Here’s some of what she had to say:
“During my days here I saw a plate with an interesting design and I thought that it was definitely German. Then I turned it over and saw that ‘Made In Turkey’ was written on the bottom. Armenians are traveling to Antalya [Turkey] by a direct route, Armenian businessmen are doing business in Turkey, and Armenian girls are being trafficked to Turkey. All this while the border is closed? What will happen when it opens?”
Then she added that the recent warming of relations between the Armenian and Turkish leaderships, along with the lack of participation on the part of Nagorno-Karabagh’s authorities in the peace negotiations, were worrisome.
She also went on to make some other interesting points about Armenian culture and society, regarding how Diasporan Armenians are striving to protect their identities. She also expressed her dissatisfaction with the Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia, the exact undertakings of which are still totally unclear to me and I bet thousands of other diasporan Armenians as well, including Arsinée.
“The Ministry of Diaspora is discussing the issue of intermarriage. Is that the primary concern of the diaspora? No, the diaspora has been speaking out about intermarriages for 100 years. We [diasporan Armenians] are struggling against that. I knew that I had to definitely marry an Armenian, and I have to conduct my own real undertakings in Armenian.”
In other words, who is the ministry to dictate to whom Armenians in the diaspora should marry? That’s the problem of Armenians in the diaspora to deal with, clearly not that of the ministry. In America it’s not uncommon for Armenians to marry non-Armenians–that’s the reality of the situation there. I can only assume that the same issue exists in any country where Armenians communities thrive. Nevertheless, I would argue that most of us prefer to marry Armenians, yet whether we, in fact, will is our business and should not by any means reflect negatively on our “Armenianess.”
Arsinée then stated, “I came back to Armenia after a three-year absence and I didn’t recognize it. New buildings everywhere, none of which look alike, in different colors… Does Armenia have to present itself to the world with those buildings? Do you know how the arts—particularly film—can help countries of small nations to promote their culture and show they are alive and kicking in the world? But here all that’s ignored.”
She brought up the example that films about the Armenian Genocide should be made in Armenia, that the medium of film should be used to make Armenia known under the world spotlight and later, to make demands for justice, just as Israel has been doing.
Naturally I agree with all of her points. I think the warming up in relations with Turkey and the seemingly eager willingness on Armenia’s part to appease the West by agreeing to make concessions for peace with Azerbaijan are unwise unless Armenian demands are met first and foremost. Also, I can’t imagine the Ministry of Diaspora serving any kind of tangible purpose other than actively pursuing and persuading Armenians to return or else move to Armenia for the first time from their countries of origin. And as a strong advocate of the arts, I concur that the Armenian film industry should be drastically developed in order to help promote Armenians and their cause on the world map. Dozens of grotesque, monolithic newly constructed buildings are not signs of societal development in my opinion. Armenia certainly still has a long way to go to make its place in the world.
The original article which was written in Armenian can be found here.
Please don’t get me started on the Ministry of the Diaspora which is about as flawed a concept as possible in Armenia. (and that’s saying alot)
From experience I can say that the staff hasn’t a clue of what it should be doing or the reasons why.
Once, I applied for a temp job there as a media expert of the North American community and knew rigt away from the level of conversation that the ministry was nothing more than a holdover of the Soviet-era “Kapi Kommiteh”, a show piece to wine and dine and flatter visitors from abroad. When I turned up the level of the interview and raised some real issues the ministry staff started to squirm in their seats. Naturally, I never heard back from them
The nest time was when I went to the ministry for information re:dual citizenship. I couldn’t get a straight answer from anyone there.They even appeared irritated that I demanded some guidance. I walked out cursing under my breath.
So rather than doing some productive and practical work, say publishing a basic guidebook for visiting diaspora-Armenians with tips and addresses and such, the ministry wants to solve the myriad complex issues of the worldwide diaspora. With its lame staff and lamer minister, not to mention a shoestring budget, I wish them good luck.
It’s funny Arsineh mentioned the “inter-marriage” issue as a pet project of the Ministry. I remember Minister Hranoush Hakobyan directing a group of diaspora students in Armenia to have “large families” when they return home.
Maybe the Ministry can offer these kids some “pregnancy boosters” when they graduate.