A REPATRIATE’S PLEA: THE FORMATION OF CIVIL SOCIETY IS KEY
Inga Martinyan
yan/
2010/05/17 | 15:14
Feature Stories society
"Armenians must stop the self-delusion and get to work"
In 2001, Armineh Arakelyan and her mother left Sweden and moved to
Armenia. Armineh says it was a conscious move and that they were
motivated by a sense of belonging and responsibility rather than
pure emotionalism.
"I have tasted what it’s like yo be on the outside; one isn’t a full
person. There are people for whom material possessions are primary;
you must own a house, a car, a good job and food to eat. You only
go around once in life. If you are going to lead half a life, then
what good is it? I feel a responsibility to share what I have learned
with Armenia. I will stay in Armenia until the time when I feel that
I am no longer of use or when I am prevented from doing what needs to
be done. If a repressive regime comes to power, then I will probably
leave," says Armineh.
Prior to her leaving Amenia in 1999, she had set up the Institute for
Democracy and Human Rights (IDHR), an NGO. The name implies what the
organizations aims were.
Armineh was born in Tehran and spent the first twenty years of her life
in Iran. She then studi9es in London. She has worked as an attorney
and in the political arena in Europe, Africa and Asia for eighteen
years. She is a citizen of France. After arriving in Armenia, Armineh
first lived in Yerevan. She now resides in the village of Mughni,
some twenty kilometers outside the capital. She comes to Yerevan
about twice a week.
"You decide your citizenship. I have an Armenian upbringing. Armenia
had just gained its independence at the time and we had to assist in
its establishment. I need everything to hold my head high and retain
my dignity when I cam to Armenia, to teach the young generation and to
help shape a civil society. I didn’t want to get into commerce. It’s
not my thing. There is no real society in Armenia. Rather, there
is a system of entrenched egoism and serfdom. You either have to
subordinate yourself to the powers that be and hang your head low or
else mimic them," says Armineh.
She turned over the reins of IHDR to the young generation in 2008,
but she still assists as an advisor.
"At least we have made some success on a micro-level. It’s tough
for the new generation to live her in Armenia. I always tell them to
go overseas, get an education and experience, and then come back,"
she says.
With her professional skills, Armineh has also sought to help out
in community matters. She tells me about the two year struggle they
waged to stop an electrical sub-station from being built next to the
Cascade. "They said ‘we will shoot you. WE have three pistols’.
Residents in the building never returned to their homes at night to
sleep. They were that frightened. The guy who organized the terror
campaign was the former police chief. My dignity was wounded." Now,
she is trying to resolve community issues in Mughni and, as Armineh
puts it, to pull it out of the 15th century.
"I have always loved to live in the bosom of nature. I looked around
at some places outside Yerevan and fell in love with Mughni. I bought
a house in the "Sumgait" neighborhood. The area is quite depressed.
But I fixed up the house in a modest way. There are trees in the yard.
I have my animals to tend and I work in the garden. I walk through
the village and dispense free legal advice," she says.
She also provides advisory services on the internet. Recently, she
was offered a top job in Geneva, but she turned it down.
"I am a person who dreams and my primary desire is to be able to
lead a dignified life here in my homeland. Humanity has moved far
from nature. Nature imparts strength and spiritual calm.. Otherwise
you go nuts. I lead a full and rich life here. I experience both pain
and joy , and struggle."
She says that if you want to change something, you have to come,
enjoy and get to work. You can’t change things from afar, in a sort
of virtual reality. "There are some who are what I call ‘passport’
Armenians. Wherever one lives, they must live to the fullest. If
one lives in France, at least immerse yourself in the country, get
to know it and the people. Don’t just go to make ‘kebab’. And what
about those who have gone to the United States and have formed their
little ghetto, Los Armenos. When a singer visits from Armenia, the
people get emotional and weep. Why weep? These people want the best
of both worlds. You get these diaspora Armenians who come to Armenia
and complain, ‘they have littered here and there". Well them, come
here and fix things. It’s better not to come at all if you are just
a casual observer passing through. They have gone off to make money.
Well then, I say go and make your money already. Why do you continue
to pine about Armenia. What do you miss, the ‘kebab’?
"The prime challenge facing Armenians is nation building"
"Time is working against the diaspora. One cannot maintain their
identity overseas. Generations are being lost. Being Armenian
must be maintained differently. The first thing one must do is to
establish a self-identity, to understand what one has inherited from
the past. But we just engage in feasting on ‘kebab and khorovadz" and
making speeches regarding Genocide recognition. It’s not enough. What
does this offer to a young Armenians living in Paris. He or she is
doing the very same things as their grandparents, from the impetus
based on tradition." This, in Armineh’s opinion, results from the
fact that just as Armenia isn’t following the path of nation building,
so too isn’t the diaspora.
"The main issue for Armenians is the establishment of a state polity.
We have all the formal trappings, a flag and emblem but the essence
is missing. The base for any state is the citizenry, not the
passport. We must be able to educate citizens, from the kids to the
state bureaucrats. They all must understand that this public space
belongs to them. They must feel its pain and be motivated to improve
conditions, rather than to steal and pilfer for personal gain." In
her opinion, if we are incapable of establishing our state, then
we will disappear like the Assyrians or wind up being colonized by
another nation.
"Just as we are, to a certain extent, the colony of Russia today. What
do we have that is ours? The public services? The political forces? If
you are not a legitimate government ten you will be forced to listen
to what others dictate. You will have to listen to the Russians. To
some degree, we are also a colony of the World Bank and the West. We
have a massive external debt. No wonder we are not progressing.
Armineh believes that in order to gauge the rate of development of
any country, one must look to see how the very young and seniors on
pensions are making out. "One day we will also retire. You can’t live
on 20,000 AMD per month."
It is the nature of Armenia that has amazed Armineh the most. She says
we have the luxury of enjoying all four seasons and the possibility
of experiencing a variety of climatic landscapes.
While comparing Armenia with her former places of residence, Armineh
notes that what infuriates her the most here is the extreme degree
of self bravado and boasting. "We do not accept the reality of what
we are. Hey, accept what you are in order to change for the better.
Otherwise, keep repeating the mantra that ‘I am so great, I am 4,000
years old, I am this and that’. But in reality, you live a pretty
primitive life. We boast that others were hopping around in the forest
while we had Tigran the Great. But today, they are no longer in the
forest, we are. In Africa, they are conscious of their poverty."
Armineh believes what is lacking in Armenia is "public consciousness".
She cotes examples fro Sweden, where local city officials can be
sacked just for not seeing that the garbage is collected on time.
"We are very akin to the Middle East. We are similar in character,
lifestyle and customs. In Latin America and Africa there was a
protracted process to obtain independence. They struggled to obtain it
while it was granted to us. The Soviet Union collapsed and we became
independent. That’s why we do not savor it. In Africa, people may lead
a more rural, agriculture-based existence without the luxury of TV’s
and other conveniences, but at least they preserve their traditions.
Here in Armenia, it’s an anti-culture, starting with the TV and ending
with what you eat."