Here’s an excerpt from one of his responses:

Raffi Hovannisian at Liberty Square, March 17, 2011. Karen Minasyan photo.

If we postpone to the [...]]]> My interview with Heritage leader Raffi Hovannisian was published on the Armenian Weekly web site yesterday. I recorded the interview while he was on his hunger strike in Yerevan’s Liberty Square on Saturday.

Here’s an excerpt from one of his responses:

Raffi Hovannisian at Liberty Square, March 17, 2011. Karen Minasyan photo.

If we postpone to the next cycle of elections the resolution of the issues that face us today, we’ll find ourselves in front of a predetermined election, in other words the people will become more fatalistic than they are today. We talk about what is real in Armenia, which means do nothing or there’s a great danger of renewed violence because there’s a lot of pent-up frustration based on the injustice, inequality, and unlawfulness that reigns in the country today. So my one expectation is from the authorities, and the second expectation is from civil society, from the Armenian public, to find itself the master of the public agenda and not to wait for anybody, whether it’s the incumbent president or opposition parties, to tell it from rostrums and podiums and elsewhere what to do, to empower the Armenian public with the message that their rights are in their hands, that this square, the symbol of liberty, democracy, and liberation for Artsakh, belongs to all Armenians, and there’s no reason for Armenians to be displaced from this square, from their expression of their free will and different views. And I’m happy to report that thousands of people entered the square for the rally on Thursday [March 17] to express solidarity, to take back the square, and to exercise their constitutional rights to be the masters of the square. The important thing now is for the Armenian people to be the master of their own destiny and their own political agenda.

You can read the interview in its entirety on the Armenian Weekly’s web site.

A convincing, compassionate leader is needed in the opposition camp, a person [...]]]> The Armenian Weekly just published an opinion piece that I wrote in which I discuss whether “revolution” is bound to happen in Armenia, given the opposition’s alleged encouragement by the events unravelling now in Libya and Egypt not too long ago. Here’s some excerpts:

A convincing, compassionate leader is needed in the opposition camp, a person who would be able to negotiate with the oligarchs from the start of a “revolution” to ensure that a somewhat smooth transition can be effective without much obvious turbulence. The oligarchic structure in place is deep-rooted in the economy, with certain families enjoying monopolistic control of staple foodstuffs or basic consumer goods; any abrupt rupture could feasibly cause the entire Armenian economy to collapse within a day.

…

Nevertheless, for change in the form of “revolution” to happen, it will mean massive upheaval as an indignant public attempts to transform an institution known to be undemocratic, corrupt, and unjust into one that satisfies their interests of proper government. As we’re seeing in North Africa now, change will also bring about violence, death, and more importantly, wild uncertainty. And no one who is living a relatively decent life today, especially those comprising the nouveau riche of Armenian society, is willing to take such a gamble—to risk their own lives and those of their loved ones without promises of a better future.

You can read the entire article here.

What do you think? Please leave comments here or on the Weekly’s site (or even better, on both sites).

Video taken by the police apparently shows Ani knocking off the hat of [...]]]> The police released Ani Gevorgian along with her brother Sarkis on Thursday afternoon on the grounds that they don’t leave Yerevan until a “final decision on the case” has been made. Apparently they are still potentially looking at jail time–up to five years.

Video taken by the police apparently shows Ani knocking off the hat of a police officer, thus the accusation of assault. Again, no one can say what he exactly said to her, but it’s obvious it was harmful enough to make her irate.

Armenians get emotional fairly quickly and can start arguing 10 seconds into a conversation without a second thought. They can also be antagonistic and downright rude in their verbal approach to situations, which judging from what I saw in the posted video was certainly the case in these forced evictions from Liberty Square and the arrests made by the police. Now, assuming protesters and even innocent bystanders refrained from arguing with the cops and simply walked away, would anything have changed, in other words would some people have been detained regardless? According to an account told by a woman that was cited in a previous post, the answer is no. That is, unless the police knew who her son was and was believed to have had some kind of role to play in the oppositional protests. There has to be a good (not necessarily justifiable) reason why he was beaten and taken away, according to the woman’s description of the events.

No one can say because the police haven’t made any public statements regarding the specific reasons for the arrest of each person there. And even if they do speak up, their reasons will most likely be inaccurate or totally fabricated, since this is a common practice.

I still think that more protesters need to get arrested in order to wake up the general public from its apathetic slumber. Simultaneously, the opposition parties have to get their act together and start figuring out what they want to do next, aside from calling early elections. Right now, there seems to be only malcontent and disorganization among the opposition, and until they put their houses in order, nothing can change. Assuming, of course, the majority of Armenian citizens really want “change”…

Activists started protesting there [...]]]> I just read a report on RFE/RL that twelve protesters and three journalists were arrested in Liberty Square, which is where the Opera House is situated. The square only reopened a week ago after the area was dug up to build a parking garage, the construction of which took nearly two years.

Activists started protesting there last Friday, peaceful as always, by sitting on the asphalt and holding placards with messages about protecting human rights and reopening the pro-opposition A1 Plus TV station, which was closed by the government in April 2002. A video also posted by RFE/RL showed these people being forcefully removed, although they weren’t creating any sort of mass disturbance with broadcasted anti-governmental messages. They were just sitting.

Seems that the police were harassing ordinary pedestrians that they believed to be protesters as well. That was also the case on Monday.

Things became more hectic yesterday when the crowds clashed with the police. I didn’t read anything about police offers being injured in the struggles.

According to one woman who was interviewed in the video that supplemented the article, she was walking home with her son on the sidewalk nearby the Opera (on which particular street wasn’t made clear) when they were essentially attacked by the police and roughed up. They never entered or were about to enter Liberty Square. Her son was taken away in a police vehicle, with his dress shirt ripped off him.

Of the dozens of police offers shown in the video, there were many others who seemed to have been undercover cops, one of whom had a slim cigarette hanging out of his mouth as he pulled some young guy towards a police van and pushed him inside.

If the opposition wants to get anywhere and continue attracting Armenian citizens to its cause, these types of protests have to continue on a daily basis. As more people get detained, the more likely momentum will pick up in favor of the opposition. If the majority of people are indeed opposed to the authorities as many people who I have spoken to claim, this is the way to activate people to get off their rear ends and enact change–whatever that means for them. People should have taken to the streets on March 2, 2008 in defiance to the state of emergency and infamous brutal crackdown of the day before, but people stayed home afraid, with the opposition’s leader Levon Ter-Petrossian suddenly quiet.

I think what needs to happen is for the Armenian National Congress–which hasn’t demonstrated its courage lately–to elect a new leader that would replace Ter-Petrossian, preferably someone who previously held office in government, like Former Foreign Minister Alexander Arzoumanyan. The movement needs fresh faces to the fore and new calls for action if it wants to rally the masses like it did before. I really believe that people have become complacent lately because they are bored with the aloof former president and his apparent erratic leadership.

If the opposition is indeed serious and is determined to struggle for the protection of human rights, justice to prevail and so forth, the peaceful protests that have restarted need to repeat, and the Congress needs to pick a new leader. This will in turn reactivate the other opposition forces like the Heritage party, which has also been relatively dormant.

People moving about in Liberty Square, whether they are pedestrians or peaceful protesters, cannot be permitted to be brutalized by the police. Citizens of Yerevan must pressure the authorities to make this unwarranted harassment stop.

Photo credit: RFE/RL

The decision to [...]]]> Today Nikol Pashinian, editor of the daily newspaper Haykakan Zhamanak and the firebrand spokesman for the opposition movement in Armenia, who went underground after the turbulent events of March 1, 2008 but came out of hiding last summer, was sentenced today to seven years in prison for his role in “organizing mass riots.”

The decision to prosecute Pashinian instead of letting him off under general amnesty (had he been sentenced to five years in prison) was regarded as being politically motivated, and it certainly will be so by the international community in the coming days.

People have told me that the authorities are afraid of Pashinian and his ability to mobilize the masses to stand up for what they believe in–namely installing a democratically elected Armenian leadership. This sentencing proves that I think.

RFE/RL reports the following:

The ruling, strongly condemned by the main opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK), disqualified Pashinian from a general amnesty declared by the Armenian authorities in June. The amnesty led to the release of dozens of other opposition members arrested following the deadly clashes between security forces and opposition protesters demanding a re-run of the February 2008 presidential election.

A Yerevan court found Pashinian guilty of organizing the “mass riots” but cleared him of assaulting a police officer during another opposition demonstration staged in October 2007.

State prosecutors demanded last month prison sentences of six and two years respectively for these alleged crimes. The court ruling means that the outspoken editor of the “Haykakan Zhamanak” daily received an even tougher punishment for the riot charge.

***
The HAK swiftly denounced the ruling as illegal and politically motivated and said Armenia’s current leaders will eventually be held accountable for it. “Judges, investigators and prosecutors must realize that they too will not be forgiven because they are butchers executing orders,” said Levon Zurabian, a leader of the opposition alliance. “We know that Serzh Sarkisian personally decided this verdict.”

“The court carried out an explicit order,” charged Stepan Demirchian, another HAK leader. “That is, they want to keep Nikol Pashinian in prison at any cost.”

The opposition leaders spoke to RFE/RL outside the court building where about a hundred opposition supporters gathered in a show of solidarity with Pashinian. They greeted the verdict with “Shame!” and “Serzhik murderer!” chants. They traded insults and briefly scuffled with riot police guarding the court building.

I was in the vicinity where the demonstrations were held on March 1 adjacent to Yerevan City Hall, arriving around 2:30 pm, shortly after the afternoon clash with police had ended. Pashinian, Aram Sargsyan, Stepan Demirchian and others appeared afterward to address the crowd but separately, closer to 3:00 pm if I am not mistaken. I personally witnessed Pashinian being carried on the shoulders of two guys towards the Miasnikyan statue where people had assembled. None of the leaders there, needless to say, advocated violence during the mass protest. I should also add that people collected in that square (now called Russia Square) via word of mouth after what had happened that morning at Liberty Square where hundreds of peaceful sit-in protesters were uprooted before dawn by force. No opposition leader told people to assemble at Miasnikyan Square, the people just went there on their own. It’s safe to say that Pashinian had nothing to do with the violence that unfolded that evening. He didn’t lead a cry for battle there, he only advocated that people hold their ground peacefully to demand change, that was all.

Indeed, shame on the Armenian judicial system and the Armenian authorities for this hasty, unwarranted sentencing. Pashinian is just a spokesman for citizens who are against a system of governance that they believe to be undemocratic, unjust and corrupt in Armenia. He’s only a threat to the country’s leaders who think that he could possibly organize another movement to topple their command. And he’s just a newspaper editor!

Today’s ruling is the end of another sad chapter in the lack of democracy and justice of the Armenian republic. And I think more than ever, people are either too scared or apathetic to do anything about it.

First and foremost are statements made by the president of Nagorno-Karabagh (Artsakh), Bako Sahakyan. He was in Moscow where he made an appearance in a telethon held there to collect money for reconstructing/rebuilding Shushi. President Sahakyan said that “the development of Shushi [...]]]> I’m just catching up with some headlines printed on Hetq Online that stood out.

First and foremost are statements made by the president of Nagorno-Karabagh (Artsakh), Bako Sahakyan. He was in Moscow where he made an appearance in a telethon held there to collect money for reconstructing/rebuilding Shushi. President Sahakyan said that “the development of Shushi is a matter of national honor.”

Shushi has been under Armenian control for 17 years now, since the town was secured by Armenian troops. But during these 17 years very little has changed there. A modern hotel was built catering to Armenian tourists from the diaspora, and the church that was standing there was completely restored and is in working condition. The streets in town have been repaved and new curbstones as well as sidewalks were installed, back in 2005 when I was there to attend a wedding. But bombed-out buildings stand, and a scant 5,000 residents (at that time, who can say what the population is now) remain, with no opportunities for work. I remember speaking with someone who told me that he was obliged to travel to Stepanakert every day. It’s only a 20-minute drive there by car, but he shouldn’t have to go there at all. Not when so many Armenians take pride in the town as a beacon of Armenian cultural heritage and a symbol for the change in tide that lead to Armenia’s ultimate victory in the war.

So what I want to know is–why hasn’t Shushi already seen development during these 17 years? Why are there no job opportunities there? How is that the NK government, or Armenian society for that matter, left it ignored all these years? I haven’t been back there since 2006, but I am fairly certain that the town is stagnating and people are still leaving. The fact that Armenians seem to be uninterested in the town’s prosperity doesn’t make any sense, especially when thousands of people died to secure Artsakh’s independence.

Here’s another oddity–Nikol Pashinian, the editor of the newspaper Haykakan Zhamanak and firebrand spokesman of the “Aylentrank” oppositional movement which backed former president Levon Ter-Petrossian in the 2008 presidential race is on trial for apparently no reason. He was on the run for well over a year, wanted by the authorities for his presumed role in the March 1, 2008 attacks, but there is no real evidence to show that he had anything to do with the violence waged by protesters/agitators on scene. He came out of hiding a few months ago and was promptly arrested. Yet how can he be held on trial if there are no solid charges against him?

One more headline to discuss. Turkey’s Ambassador to the US, Nabi Sensoy, recently made a critical public statement in response to the introduction of a resolution in the US Congress that calls for President Barrack Obama to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. He called the bill’s introduction “wrong and sad” and went on to say, “I am hopeful that [the resolution] will not reach the [Senate] floor.”

told Al Jazeera in a recent interview that the subcommision would eventually accept the Turkish line (of denial). The agreement to form such a subcommision was portrayed as an act of goodwill, brotherly love and whatever other nonsense by the Armenian side. Now these bastards are shoving genocide denial in Armenia’s face before the entire world, and President Serge Sarkisian has shamelessly refused to comment about these remarks.

With each passing day, Armenia is looking more idiotic before the entire world for agreeing to sign the protocols. The Turks continue to laugh on a diplomatic level at Armenian (and American!) calls for genocide recognition, even in the act of good faith and trust-building that these absurd protocols were supposedly all about. Yerevan in the meantime is mute. I can’t wait to hear what President Sarkisian will eventually tell the press, if he even dares to.

Presidents Sarkisian, left, and Gul

What the presidents are thinking in this photo (AFP):

Serge—“See, I’m a fun loving, congenial guy who only wants peace along with new opportunities to make more money for myself and my buddies. What’s so wrong about that? Everyone will benefit. Honest (not!).”

Abdullah—“In 50 years there won’t be an Armenian republic once the border opens with our preconditions. Keep laughing, pal.”

In the press conference he was critical of Armenia’s oppositional parties which has been voicing [...]]]> Matthew Bryza, the US envoy on the Minsk Group sponsored by the OSCE, met with the press on Friday, August 8 in Yerevan to discuss recent developments in the Nagorno-Karabagh peace process. It was most likely his last visit to Armenia.

In the press conference he was critical of Armenia’s oppositional parties which has been voicing its concerns that the agreed upon Madrid principles of 2007  would in no way serve Armenia’s interests. He called such sentiments “empty” in ridicule. He said that, “Certainly those who are claiming that the update of the Madrid document, based on what we did in Krakow, somehow disadvantages Armenia … are operating out of sheer ignorance.” The Madrid principles were outlined in a previous post on this blog.

The article I read quotes Bryza explaining what the Minsk Group has in mind by revising the Madrid principles:

Bryza maintained that the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders agree on the “fundamental concept” behind the compromise settlement favored by the United States, Russia and France. “But it’s a long distance from agreeing on the basic concept to actually agreeing or to having a finalized document,” he cautioned.

“An analogy would be that they have agreed on the menu for a meal,” he said. “They know what dishes they want to cook, maybe they’ve even started cooking some of them, but none of those dishes are prepared yet. They’re still cooking. We don’t know what they will finally look like until the cooking process is finished.”

I just wanted to add here that I enjoy roasting a whole chicken from time to time. Usually I coat the skin with some oil and then apply fresh tarragon and even some basil. I also insert garlic cloves into the breast by first cutting small holes in the flesh. After an hour in the oven I know that the chicken will have a crispy skin and appear light golden brown in color. The meat will be very tender and infused with a subtle garlicky flavor. I know it will be delicious. But the three cooks of the revised Madrid principles seem to be ruining their dish with too many spices, although I am certain that it will be cooked to perfection for their main customer, Azerbaijan. Armenia will be served the leftovers–some skin and cartilage with a little meat hanging from the bones.

Soon Bryza will be off to Baku as the US ambassador to Azerbaijan. During his tenure as part of the Minsk Group he obviously failed to get the two sides to agree on a definite peace proposal, despite the “agreements” the two sides have made over the years that he has time and time again presented to the public with his pretentious smiles and aloof comments. His role in the peace settlement process will seemingly end unless he plays a behind-the-scenes role to appease his buddies in Baku.

A good friend of mine told me a couple of weeks ago, when I conveyed to him my concerns about the peace process and how the conditions seem to be wholly in Azerbaijan’s favor, that if a peace deal was indeed vitally important for stability in the region Moscow would have insisted that Yerevan sign the proposal a long time ago. Russia’s only safe outlet for maintaining its influence in the Caucasus has been Armenia, and the bond of friendship as well as trust has been fostered for hundreds of years. Georgia in its various incarnations has proven time and time again to be totally untrustworthy, and the Russians were historically always weary of the Tartars. A century ago Baku was prospering due to the influence of Armenian businessmen who were making a fortune there, and Russian interests were in that way safeguarded. Thus any interests Armenia currently has need to be protected as they are also those of Russia.

Russia is not about to lose access to its interests in the South Caucasus–it simply needs Armenia to allow that influence to continue. Therefore it will not allow Armenia to lose out in any peace deal, despite its perceived active role in the Minsk Group. These opinions of his make sense, and they provided some comfort, they put my mind somewhat at ease. After all, not one Armenian I have spoken to believes such a peace agreement will ever be signed. My friend believes that even President Sarkisian’s closest allies will never allow it to happen. Perhaps he’s right.