A DISTORTED MEDIA MIRROR
Mirror Spactator
Editorial 8-23
By Edmond Y. Azadian
When Armenian attained independence, many Diasporan-Armenian
organizations and experienced journalists moved to Yerevan to
“liberate” the bland Soviet-style news media and restore its
original mission. The newspapers, radio and TV broadcasting
improved dramatically, in terms of formatting design, news gathering,
reporting and above all, commenting freely. This much was a patriotic
contribution, which Diaspora Armenians brought to Armenia.
But in a parallel rush, major powers introduced their own outlets, of
course, to serve their own political interests. While the newspapers
owned and operated by Armenian organizations have encountered funding
challenges — consequently suffering in quality — foreign-funded
news outlets flourish and are run professionally.
George Orwell’s Big Brother is omnipresent globally, tending its
business and has not spared Armenia.
Open Society Foundation, Radio Liberty and other agencies operate
freely in Armenia and common sense will dictate that they don’t care
about the well being of the Armenian people nor the problems facing
Armenia. They have recruited professional journalists, writers and
commentators to toot their own horn.
For example, the Open Society Forum could feign to promote democracy
in Europe and in Third World countries but in the end, it serves a
greater political design.
The Open Society Forum is the brainchild of billionaire George Soros,
who escaped tyranny in Hungary and made a fortune in the US. During
the Bush-Cheney Administration, he demonstrably confronted the US
administration in its foreign policy objectives. But in the meantime,
his organization trained some youth and sent them to Ukraine and
Georgia — and certainly to other parts of the world — to organize
the Orange Revolution and the Rose Revolution, a feat that the US
military power could not have achieved so easily.
Mr. Soros is entitled to use his money to spread his ideas around
the world but he is not entitled to play with the destiny of the
Armenian people who have suffered so much from major power rivalries,
in their history.
The writers and commentators of these agencies may be sitting in
Yerevan and Karabagh, but the brain may be on the remote control in
Prague or in Washington.
The controlled news media does not operate in isolation — and no
matter what lofty ideal it claims to pursue — it is part and parcel
of the overall strategy of a major power.
We can easily make the connection with all the well-oiled religious
sects, which penetrate like rodents in the fabric of the society in
Armenia to decimate and to disorient the population. One treacherous
act is to brainwash the youth to refuse to bear arms under the guise
of conscientious objection, when Armenia is at war with its neighbors
— not of its own choosing.
To cite a salient example, trading Armenia’s security against NATO’s
objectives in the Caucasus we may refer to an article in lragir.am,
an outlet funded by Open Society Forum. The article is entitled
“Serious Geopolitical Prospect for Javakhk,” under the byline of
Hakob Badalyan, a prominent political commentator.
Javakhk is an Armenian-populated region of Georgia. Historically
it has changed hands between Georgia and Armenia. Currently more
than half of the region is populated by Armenians; in cities like
Akhatsikhe and Ninotsminda, Armenians account for 94.3 percent and 95.8
percent, respectively. The region was deliberately mismanaged and left
economically depressed by Tbilisi authorities to force Armenians out
of the area, fearful that Armenians would one day ask for autonomy
or independence.
Until 2007, the city of Akhalkalak was home to a Russian military base,
which provided jobs and security for Armenians in the region.
Moscow precipitously moved out the base, before even its deadline in
the treaty, leaving the Armenians to the mercy of the hostile Georgian
government. Tbilisi’s harassment and Russia’s reckless move satisfied,
to a certain measure, the Georgian goal of the government, as many
destitute Armenians migrated to Russia for jobs and for security.
Russia went to war with Georgia to give independence to South Ossetia
and Abkhazia while the destinies of Javakhk and Ajaria were left in
the hands of the Tbilisi government. President Saakashvili jailed
human rights activist Vahakn Chakhalian and implemented policies to
force the people out or to assimilate them under the guise of teaching
them the Georgian language.
Despite a punishing war with Russia and despite a regime change,
the new government in Tbilisi is looking for NATO presence on its
territory, if not outright membership.
Armenians have enjoyed the “benefits” of having a NATO member in the
Turkish border and now this writer is hailing a NATO move into the
heartland of Armenians in Javakhk, as he writes: “NATO may empower
itself with new tools of cooperation with non-member countries like
Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova. And it may mean that the North Atlantic
Alliance will receive a possibility or prospect for being present
in Georgia, though the latter is not a member. In this respect,
Georgian military base in Akhalkalak has strategic importance because
it is close to the Russian base in Armenia, is located in a place
where Russian provocation against Georgia are probable, close to
the conflict area of Artsakh which is one of the potential places of
destabilization of the region.”
First NATO’s interference on the Southern Russian underbelly is the
most flagrant provocation, and also, the writer should know better
that even Washington blamed Saakashvili for the provocation, which
triggered the 2008 war.
In a shortsighted conclusion, the writer jubilantly welcomes NATO’s
extension in the region as a “stabilizing factor,” exactly at the
moment when the defense ministers of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey
had been meeting in Nakhichevan to plan war games and tighten the
noose around Armenia at NATO’s behest.
The conclusion is more ludicrous than the article itself as it states,
“It would be interesting to observe the reactions of Russia, Javakhk
and Armenia to the Georgian military base, who will torpedo the process
full of prospects for regional balance for the sake of security of
Armenia, Artsakh and Javakhk and what the force will be.”
This concept fits in and complements the recent proposal by Ambassador
James Warlick to introduce US Peacekeeping forces in Karabagh.
Adding insult to injury, the Open Society Forum has a hypocritical
disclaimed at the bottom of the article, which reads, “The opinions
and analyses expressed in these sections are those of the authors
and are not approved by OSF-Armenia or its Board.”
When Open Society Forum cuts the payroll check of the writer, at
least it is disingenuous to make such claims.
Hagop Badalian is a better-qualified writer. He deserves a more
dignified job than peddling NATO wares in Armenia through a distorted
media mirror.