THE DEVELOPMENT OF GRASSROOTS ACTIVISM IN YEREVAN AND THE ROLE OF POLITICAL PARTIES
By Maro Matosian
hetq
22:03, March 29, 2012
In 2009, while doing postgraduate work in Canada, Gayane
Melkom-Melkomian began a civic initiative called “The City Belongs
to Us” (Menk enk mer kaghaki dere). Interestingly, the initiative
was based not in Canada, but in Armenia.
Gayane is the daughter of Diasporan Armenians who moved to Armenia
in1991, when Gayane was only four years old. A lawyer by profession,
she completed her studies in Yerevan in 2009 and moved to Canada for
further training. But even while in Canada, she stayed in touch with
developments in her homeland… by phone, by email, and increasingly
via social media like Facebook. One day while in Canada, she became
enraged at the Yerevan municipality’s disrespect toward the city’s
inhabitants – especially their health, safety, and quality of life.
>From Canada, she got in touch with other activists in Armenia,
primarily Vahram Soghomonian, a PhD in political science, and became
among the first to openly defend public spaces in Yerevan with the
support of citizens.[1]
The goal of “The City Belongs to Us” is to utilize legal means and
public activism to secure and protect parks, and to make accountable
those who endanger public green spaces throughout the city.
The group’s first initiative took place in 2010, with the spontaneous
defense of Students’ Park, adjacent to the national library. In a
matter of three days, over 4000 people joined their group on Facebook
and over 100 people physically joined the nascent protests on a
daily basis. In the end, even though construction in the park was
not halted, more than 20,000 people signed a petition protesting the
city’s actions. This was an early sign that people are not indifferent
to the destruction of green spaces, nor are they indifferent to the
larger forces that seek to take over public spaces – often illegally.
Even though the initiative failed, it bolstered a process of civic
activism that has gained real momentum in recent years. For 10-15
years following independence, there was little development of civil
society, as we know it here in the West. People continued to look up
at the State, as they had during the Soviet years, as the source of
all good and the source of all evil in their lives. The notion that
people could organize themselves – around neighborhoods, consumer
rights, environment, women’s rights, and more – was slow to take hold.
But take hold it did, and now we find small but growing sparks of
would-be social movements dotting the Armenian political landscape.
This has been furthered by the advent of social media; indeed, through
Facebook and other means, young people started to get connected
and share their concerns with one another. Although still a small
percentage of the population, there is a growing mass of activists who
engage in ongoing activities that reject the domination of Armenia’s
economy and society by oligarchs who reduce all human good to making
piles of money.
“The City Belongs to Us” also spearheaded the defense of Dragon’s park
(Vishapi Bourag) in 2011. In this case, the city of Yerevan handed
over a lush, forested park to an individual who sought to build a
ten-story building amidst the park’s 3000-year-old dragon stones.
Leaving aside that such a development would destroy much green space
and ruin the park aesthetically, the larger issue is that this is
illegal: The dragon sculptures are found in the Armenian Monuments
preservation list, and thus according to law cannot be disturbed.
Within a few months, activists won the right to preserve the park.
The most recent confrontation is taking place before our eyes, on
Yerevan’s Mashtots Boulevard. While many activists have been busy
defending Teghut forest from illegal mining, the city took advantage
of the relative quiet inside Yerevan, and swiftly moved in on one of
Yerevan’s centrally located parks, adjacent to the maternity hospital.
Boutiques on nearby Abovian Street were quietly dismantled and without
any announcement or formal decision were reassembled at Mashtots Park.
Immediately, a group of concerned citizens reacted by staging
sit-ins and other protest actions. For over 19 days, the defense of
Mashtots Park became a very hot topic in the city and the numbers of
supporters began to increase. To this day, protesters hold continuous
sit-ins in the snow, blocking cement trucks from entering the park,
giving interviews and press conferences as well as petitioning the
government and appealing to the courts, pointing out the illegality
of this project. (To this day, the municipality has not shown any
proof of the legality of building shops in the green space. Instead
Mayor Daron Margarian has sent policemen who now encircle the shops
so the work can continue undisturbed. As of this writing, activists
have been able to halt construction.)
As might be surmised, this construction project does not comply with
the main urban plan of the city or with the city’s central zoning
ordinances. Nor did City Hall inform the population of its plans
through public hearings – again required by law. Even the required
photo with the planned project has not been displayed at the site. But
none of this matters: With the government utterly incapable of policing
itself, the only counterbalance comes from concerned citizens willing
to take a stand.
Vardan Geravetyan stated during a press conference on February 27:
“This is not a struggle against anyone, but only the struggle of
citizens in defense of their human rights, their right to public
green spaces.” Activist Gor Hakobyan added: “Let’s not legalize an
illegal act by naming these temporary boutiques. This is our right
according to the RA constitution that we ask to be implemented.”
Geravetyan added that Mashtots Park today symbolizes the plight of
all public spaces which are threatened by rampant overdevelopment:
“The procedure is the same for all these illegal constructions:
No public hearing, stealing space from courtyards, parks, sidewalks
without taking into consideration public opinion – as is the case
with Mashtots Park. We view this pattern as an institutionalized
approach for illegal activity: Oligarchs are not solely to blame for
this situation, as it has become standard operating procedure for
government officials directed against Yerevan’s citizens.”
Today, the sit-ins continue at Mashtots Park, attracting more and
more supporters and finding extensive coverage in the media. The
public attention has had its effects, to be sure: During the peak of
activity, several political parties did not lose the opportunity to
use this cause for their own propaganda purposes. For example, after
the sit-ins were in full swing, Dashnaktsutiun (ARF) representatives
sent letters to the President and the Mayor of Yerevan requesting ”
a public discussion to raise awareness of the municipality’s projects
….and to listen to the interests of individuals…”[2] This is
fine, but it would have been so much more useful if the ARF had been
concerned with public spaces and environmental issues through the
years, rather than simply reacting when there is public outrage. At
best, their stance could be viewed as reactive or palliative. At worst,
it is pure opportunism. Indeed, the more skeptical activists believe
that the ARF raises such issues only to be put on record as having
been on the right side. This seems to be borne out by their recent
behavior: During the past week, on several days Dashnak youth –
maybe 6-7 individuals – have made loud, impromptu appearances at
the sit-ins, singing 19th century revolutionary songs, and then
promptly leaving. One wonders what happened to the Dashnak tradition
of grassroots activism (at least in Armenia).
I mention the Dashnaks first only because of the stark difference
between what they say and what they do. Certainly other political
forces are not far behind. For example, there is the Armenian National
Congress led by Levon Ter Petrosian, which also has behaved quite
opportunistically: Its leadership jumped in with a general statement
of support for the young activists, but then promptly presented their
political platform on environmental issues, asking all to join them,
in an effort to co-opt the specific activities underway. What happened
to those ANC supporters who once filled Opera Square in anti-government
demonstrations? The presence of more people in the park would have
undoubtedly had a greater impact, but these reinforcements were not
forthcoming. The sad truth is that today, in a city of one million,
many people are still disinclined to join such actions. True, things
are beginning to change, but slowly…
Perhaps the one political party that has played a real part –
supportive, impactful, ongoing – is the Heritage Party. Its members –
both leaders and followers – are almost always in the streets together
with the protesters.
I should quickly add that I understand the political situation
today: With parliamentary elections only 2 months away, Armenia is
in pre-election mode and therefore political parties, as everywhere,
are set to score popularity points in order to garner quick political
gains. But it is also time that these parties become accountable and
deliver on their promises. Political parties in Armenia should be
more in tune with the country’s young activists and social movements.
As was the case for “SaveTeghut”, “Real Army” and now “The City Belongs
to Us,” we see civic initiatives that feature increased participation
of youth. These initiatives are steadily growing into proto-social
movements demanding change, the rule of law and accountability. Thus
far, these are largely spontaneous groups that are formed through
Facebook and other means, and are adamant not to be affiliated with
any political party. They also refuse money from any organizations,
in order to maintain their independence. (In general, young people in
Armenia don’t like to be associated with discredited political parties
and don’t want to become pawns of politicians.) This also represents a
change from previous years, when NGOs often followed the money around,
even if that meant watering down their mission or social vision.
Environmental activist Ruzanna Grigoryan points out: “Today we see
support from many citizens joining us in the cold and on the ice for
long hours and days — coming from Vanadzor, Gyumri, Echmiadzin, and
from different socio-economic, educational backgrounds… citizens
of all ages. This proves that our struggle is growing and citizens
are starting to demand that their rights be protected”.
Gayane Melkom-Melkomian concludes: “Even though we can’t win all
the cases, I am encouraged and energized by the growing numbers of
young Armenians, and also intellectuals, who take a stand on various
social issues. I would also like to see Diasporan Armenians become
more involved and supportive of our actions. They can write letters
of protest to government officials and take a more proactive stance
towards democracy-building in our country. We need to join forces
and become numerous.”
——————————————————————————–
[1] The drive to protect Yerevan’s public/green spaces has emerged over
the last 6-7 years. One early effort that garnered much publicity was
SOS Armenia, an NGO-driven initiative in 2005-06 that (successfully)
protested the opening of cafes in the parks adjacent to the Komitas
Chamber Music hall.
[2] See 2/20/2012
www.tert.am