‘THIS IS ARMENIA’
JAMES HAKOBYAN
Lragir.am
29/08/2011
By a weird coincidence, along with the production of another colorful
and at the same time state-building video to the song “You are
Armenia”, WikiLeaks sent out another consignment of U.S. diplomatic
cables, including information on Armenia which was as colorful as
the video.
And while the author of the video says “You are Armenia”, WikiLeaks
as if says “this is Armenia”. While the video depicts Armenia in
optimistic colors, WikiLeaks presents Armenia in real color, which
prompts that optimistic colors will not be available outside the video
unless the problem of real color is coped with. Meanwhile, videos
can’t make a state. In Armenia the state is in videos whereas videos
must be in the state, as anything else. The state must be in citizens.
Certainly, it is not worthwhile to draw philosophical conclusions from
WikiLeaks. At best, there is space for political conclusions. The
Americans seem to have left blank space for such conclusions by the
opposition or oppositions, Mr. Robert Kocharyan, Mr. Serzh Sargsyan,
the Heritage Party, the ARF Dashnaktsutyun, the oligarchs, even Mr.
Vano Siradeghyan, referring to him as a corrupt minister.
In fact, this time WikiLeaks remembered everyone in a package.
Meanwhile, it seemed that the Congress and Serzh Sargsyan have emerged
in the so-called actual political sphere of Armenia as two leading
forces, leaving others far behind by their dialogue. But apparently
having gone too far, these two forces set to think they can already
exchange “scores”, secretly exchange assurances and make arrangements.
Was this what the former U.S. ambassador, Ms. Marie Yovanovitch,
had made efforts for, as the nominee for next U.S. ambassador John
Heffern said a few weeks ago?
Yovanovitch or the United States hardly care about what Ter-Petrosyan
and Serzh Sargsyan will do. America perhaps expects specific outcome
oriented at genuine transformation in Armenia which would allow
building a state with a modern economic and political system to ensure
balance in the complex Caucasian region.
In this case, not only the citizens of Armenia but also the United
States which makes a big geopolitical bet on Armenia are sorry to see
that Republican Galust Sahakyan with his description of the process as
a childish game turns out to be right rather than the U.S. ambassador.
Perhaps, this is the reason for the interest in this dose of WikiLeaks
on Armenia which involves a large economic and political specter,
including personality overviews. Perhaps, the participants of the
dialogue are reminded that they should not lose their sense of reality
and think they are alone in Armenia and can do whatever they want.
Apparently, WikiLeaks reminds that Armenia should stop thinking the
Americans can be “had” unlike the Russians, getting money and support
and afterwards say “sorry but they lack will for dialogue”. The rule
of chess fits the best here, once you touch, you have to move.
There is a choice but time is up. “This is you with the whole caboodle,
go ahead, choose,” WikiLeaks seems to say, making the economic,
political, oligarchic system face early choice even before September
arrives. Go ahead, choose what to do, how to go on when everyone is
pictured almost naked, and in this situation it is actually impossible
to imagine any secret agreement, knowing that WikiLeaks can open up
just anything…
It is time the more or less important, meaningful and even meaningless
personalities of the political class of Armenia were a little more
serious and bold regarding politics, and afterwards go on to develop
surface seriousness into the visible depth of politics. Nobody is
going to make a decision for Armenia. Everyone can use the decisions
of Armenia, made or unmade, but decisions will be made in Armenia
anyway. However, they will be used outside or serve outside as long
as expectations or fear in making these decisions are from the outside.
Meanwhile, fear and expectation must be from the society, what the
society will say and do. Therefore, even if the society is indifferent
toward politics and state, every force which has a serious attitude
towards the state policy must set a goal to mobilize if not the
physical action, at least the attention of a possibly larger part of
the society.
Meanwhile, in Armenia, the opposite process is underway, and the
participants of the phenomenon called politics seem to be doing
everything to cause the society to grow disappointed with politics
and indifferent in processes, when a person cannot see anything
interesting in the current process, anything that is related to the
material and spiritual problems of his life.
The chain of WikiLeaks shows that this situation in Armenia occurred at
the beginning of independence, the whole movement led to the situation
and fossilized mindset. Nevertheless, the citizens of Armenian had
known everything before WikiLeaks. Simply it seems that the political
forces of Armenia are forgetting that the citizens know everything,
and the citizens have witnessed and experienced the entire movement
since independence.