REGIMES SUPPORT EACH OTHER BY SHOTS
Interview with publicist Zaruhi Hovhannisyan
You have recently received “Young Women in the Caucasus” award for
active civil activities at the “For Peace in the South Caucasus”
conference. Are you engaged in peacemaking?
The appeal not to resort to violence is an appeal to peace. Any
major project starts from something small, from your house. The job
of human rights defender has a peacekeeping nature because it is
aimed at solving conflicts. If the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict is
seen in this recourse, we should state that the regimes support each
other by shots. The change of the atmosphere in one of the regional
countries will lead to total changes. The region really needs to
liberalize totally. Let’s recall the recent events in Azerbaijan,
peaceful victims in the army and the civil war in this connection. The
activities of our civil initiative “Army in reality” is aimed at this
too. Only a progressive society can fight for the sake of legal state
without violence. We can draw parallels between the attempt to hold
a festival of Azerbaijani movies in Vanadzor and the publication of
Akram Ailisli’s book in Azerbaijan entitled “Stone dreams”. In both
countries calls for violence were issued, which is a continuation
of the escalation of conflict and rejection of peace as a living
condition. Attempts to get to know each other meet the conservative
resistance of anti-communities. All this looks like a war in the
criminal world, which is held for the preservation of the levers of
power and usurpation of public resources. The interest of the public
is peace.
Calls not to resort to violence have been voiced on Freedom Square
this time.
Sure, there have been some calls, but parallel to this, the
nationalistic rhetoric was also used. Legal emphasis diminished. I
noted that there is the task to change the quality of opposition
but not the authorities and our task is to make the authorities to
transform. We again failed to form the authorities.
You mean the aim of the movement has never been voiced?
I see this process in a wider, regional context. Now, the task is
to change the foreign political emphasis, in particular between
the EU Association and Eurasian Union. In this context, the home
political field carries out certain work on the relevant foreign
policy requirements, and the transformation of the opposition sector
takes place in this space.
The idea on the alternative power is heard more often. After April 9,
the power will either be divided or the new government will be formed.
Which version is better for Armenia?
No shadow process can be healthy. We struggle just against shadow
processes that society becomes opener to discuss all the pressing
issues, but now a double process is applied. On the one hand, the
society is called to form an alternative government, on the other
hand the epistolary genre of negotiations is chosen. This is a
closed format.
What should the civil society do?
The emphasis changed because the issue on the individuals again rose:
whether we support Raffi Hovannisian or not. The civil sector should
put forward tasks instead of consolidating around someone. It should
form tasks, try to influence political players. But, during the last
elections serious work to create a zone of influence on the civil
sector was carried out with the aim to neutralize and control.
Now we can see in Armenia a serious shortage of resources, both in
power, in opposition, and the task is to attract new resources, because
the parties are exhausted to some extent, the civilian sector shows
some activeness, and can make claims. They try to build something,
to get leverages on this resource. And the best way to make the civil
sector controllable is to offer participation in the control system
to its subjects.
However I think that this movement will not dry up, because its claims
have not been met. And after a regular disappointment in regard
to a person, changes will be forced from the bottom, regardless of
elections and political parties.
Siranuysh Papyan 14:58 02/04/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:
http://www.lragir.am/index.php/eng/0/interview/view/29483