Category: 2020

BY GAREN YEGPARIAN

On May 28th, Independence day (the OG one, of course, not the September 21 re-independence of 1991), I finished Houri Berberian’s latest book “Roving Revolutionaries” (well worth reading if you can make the time). Some of the issues she describes in the book that occupied our national leadership’s collective mind at the turn of the previous century are also timely today, and little discussed. Inspired by the day and the book, I thought a quick look at three concepts relevant to our new, Yerevan centered, state-building effort would be worthwhile.

Let’s first dispense with the negative one of the concepts, that which no one should want guiding or informing how our state institutions evolve and solidify, chauvinism. In English, this term is relatively little heard in recent times, and perhaps most often only in the phrase “male chauvinism”. Chauvinism is an attitude of superiority held by a person about the group s/he belongs to relative to some other group. Unfortunately, we see it among our compatriots more often than I care to admit. The sense that Armenians are better than (fill in a group) must go. It can only breed the same mentality in response, leading inevitably to conflict. It must be whittled out of our national consciousness. It should be enough that chauvinism is the same diseased mindset which led to the Young Turks organizing the Genocide. Happily, Paruyr Sevak’s oft-recited poem’s first, second, and final lines say it all and must serve as our beacon in this respect:

“We are few, but they call us Armenians.
We do not prefer ourselves to anyone else…
We are. We should be. And still – let’s multiply!”
“We are few, but are called Armenians.
We don’t consider ourselves superior to anyone…
We exist. We shall continue. And we will grow.”

The next concept I want to address is nationalism. This one is fraught with negative connotations in today’s world, thanks to a number of historical and ideological phenomena. It is very unfortunate that such is the case. The Nazis and their Holocaust, the wars fought in Europe over the past two-three centuries, the ongoing conflicts in other parts of the world have led to a stigmatization of a very noble idea. Please see the accompanying table with definitions of the concept from the same dictionary’s editions of 1940, 1973, and currently online. Stunning, isn’t it how the term has gone from something describing a collective awareness or policy bent to something negative, to the point where the definition has effectively equated to chauvinism.

It gets worse. Have you heard “white nationalism” and “Islamic nationalism”? Ridiculous terms! Since when have “whites” constituted a “nation”? Armenians, Cherokees, French, Japanese, and Zulus are nations. But whites? Equally, since when has it been rational to equate adherents of a religion to a nation? Islam has its notion of a community, “umma”, not nation. It’s fashionable now to attach “nationalism” to any human grouping’s name when someone wants to vilify it. Enough! Remember, nationalism helped break up the chokehold of empires and grotesque emperors over human beings. Nationalism helped democracy take hold in many places. People, humans, have a basic need to belong. It’s one of the major avenues by which we manifest our caring for others. The most natural group to associate with once we get past family/clan is the nation. Sure, anything taken to an extreme is bad. But nationalism is not inherently bad, any more than faith/belief systems or commitment to some cause (environment, human freedoms, etc.). I urge all those who denigrate the is noble and natural sentiment to stop their misguided crusade. Nationalism is what will help us rebuild Armenian statehood.

Finally, socialism. This very word rankles and terrifies many people. It has been abused by those who allegedly implemented it. Think Soviet Union, which, when it became a dictatorship, by definition forever removed itself from the universe of socialism. Socialism cannot exist in the absence of democracy. Conversely, democracy cannot long endure in the absence of socialism. Democracy addresses people’s political liberation/freedom, while socialism sees to their economic and social liberation/freedom. The term socialism has equally been abused by those who feel threatened by its egalitarianism and the hope it inspires among the largest number of people who use its guiding precepts to struggle against the tyranny of big money, corporatism, or “the 1%” – a recently fashionable term. And, they have been quite successful after decades of propaganda. Socialism is a dirty word for many people.

Here’s the rub. Many of the societal, legal, benefits we enjoy are the product of socialist thought, advocacy, and struggle. Here are some examples, from the U.S. experience since that is the setting with which I am most familiar. The 8-hour-workday/40-hour-workweek, Social Security, unemployment insurance, Medicare, holidays, farmer support programs, universal public education, the right to unionize, and more. You probably can’t even imagine life where workers would not be allowed to take bathroom breaks, be locked inside factories, and even burn to death as happened to 146 people on March 25, 1911 in the Triangle Shirtwaist fire in New York City and a century later in the Tazreen textile factory (Dhaka, Bangladesh) on November 25, 2012. Even the environmental and consumer protections we take for granted in most western countries rise from the same ideological source. But if we continue on the route selected since the Reagan administration, all of the public goods we take for granted will be whittled away to nothing. That’s why some of these universally popular programs have been the targets of the political right wing… Didn’t you ever wonder why U.S. public schools have been underfunded for the past four decades or so?

This is why socialist precepts must guide the policies implemented by our twin Armenian republics and why we must all support such development in our homeland.

Turkish authorities on Thursday said that a suspect has been detained in connection with another attack on an Armenian church in Istanbul—the second this month.

The assailant was caught on security video dismantling the cross of the St. Gregory the Illuminator Church and throwing it on the ground in Istanbul’s historical Kuzguncuk neighborhood.

On Tuesday evening, the head of the local district informed Edvard Ayvazyan, chairman of the church board of trustees, who, according to Agos newspaper, after examining the security footage informed the police, which launched an investigation.

[SEE VIDEO]

The news of a suspect’s arrest was reporter by the Hurriyet Daily Newspaper.

Security footage delivered to the police showed the attack occurred on May 23 with church officials placing the cross back after alerting police.

This was the second attack on an Armenian church this month. On May 9, a person attempted to set fire to the door of the St. Mary’s Church in Istanbul. That suspect was detained.

Garo Paylan, an Armenian member of the Turkish parliament representing the People’s Democratic Party (HDP), condemned the incident this week, saying inaction by authorities encourage this type of hate speech.

“Attacks continue on our churches. The cross of our Surp Krikor Lusaroviç Armenian Church was removed and thrown away. Hate speech made by the ruling power normalizes hate crimes,” Paylan said in a Tweet.

Paylan visited the St. Gregory the Illuminator Church, the site of the latest attack, on Friday and posted photos on Twitter of him meeting with church officials and clergy. He condemned inaction by the Turkish government calling on the country’s leaders to, at the very least, condemn the attacks.

“President Regep Tayyip Erdogan and Minister of Interior Suleyman Soylu have not yet condemned the attack on our church. There is a mosque right next to our church. Aren’t they both places of worship?” Paylan said in a Twitter post.

Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan on Friday appointed his political rivals Samvel Babayan and Masis Mayilyan to key posts in his government, with Mayilyan staying on as Artsakh’s Foreign Minister, while Babayan being named as secretary of Artsakh’s security council.

Mayilyan came in second in the recent presidential elections, during which he and Harutyunyan traded barbs and accusations. In announcing Mayilyan’s re-appointment as foreign minister, Harutyunyan said that the two agreed to shoulder “responsibility for our country’s future” as it faces serious “challenges and dangers.”

Babayan’s United Homeland party won the second largest majority in parliament during the March 31 elections. On Monday, he and Harutyunyan signed a memorandum of understanding between their respective parties, effectively giving Harutyunyan, who bloc won 16 of the 33 seats in parliament, a majority.

However, in announcing Babayan’s appointment as a key security leader in Artsakh, Harutyunyan said that Babayan, who was the commander of the Artsakh Liberation Army from 1991 to 1994, never asked for a government post.

“We made the final decision yesterday in Yerevan,” Harutyunyan said in a Facebook Live broadcast on Friday. “Before that Samvel Babayan had never hinted at holding any position, he is always ready for cooperation for the sake of the future of the country and its people.”

“Yesterday I proposed him the position of the Secretary of the Security Council of Artsakh,” Harutyunyan said. “I want to thank Samvel Babayan for assuming this important responsible duty at this difficult period.”

Having been once considered the most powerful person in Artsakh, Babayan has not held political office there for more than two decades. In 2000, he was arrested and charged with allegedly attempting to assassinate Artsakh’s then president Arkady Ghukasyan. He was released from prison in 2004, after which he went to Moscow.

In 2016, Babayan returned to Armenia, only to be charged during the Serzh Sarkisian administration, for money laundering and weapons trafficking. He was sentenced to six years in prison, but in June, 2018 he was released from prison.

Babayan wanted to run for Artsakh president during the 2020 elections. However, the fact that he had not lived in Artsakh for ten years, disqualified him for that contest. He formed the United Homeland party, which won nine seats in the parliamentary elections.

Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan on Friday warned Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to “never speak in terms of using force,” when referencing Artsakh, saying that if Azerbaijan is threatening use of military force, Artsakh is ready.

Harutyunyan was responding to comments made by Aliyev on Thursday during a ceremony for the opening of apartment buildings for the so-called displaced people from the Karabakh war. During that speech, Aliyev, once again, threatened to use military force to “liberate” Karabakh and reiterated his claim that Yerevan was an ancient Azerbaijani city, which, under his leadership, also will be “liberated.” Aliyev told the crowd on Thursday that the current negotiations were being held over a “stage-by-stage” approach, which envisions Artsakh “returning occupied territories.” Official Yerevan has denied that the negotiations are being under such an agenda.

During a Facebook Live presentation on Friday, President Harutyunyan referenced Aliyev’s remarks about the use of force becoming a priority, asking: “In other words, did you choose the path to solve the issue through force, Mr. Aliyev?”

“We are ready,” Harutyunyan said. “I want to assure that the results are clear to us: what you got in 1994, you will also get today,” referring to the victory of the Artsakh Armed Forces in the war.

“Never try to speak to us in the language of force!” warned Harutyunyan.

He also challenged Aliyev on the “stage-by-stage” approach, saying that he envisioned the first step of that scenario to be the recognition of the Artsakh’s people right to self-determination.

“Of course, [the conflict] can be solved through stages, but there is only option: firs, the recognition of the right to self-determination; second, the acceptance of our security guarantees after which we can hold negotiations. There will be no other option,” said Harutyunyan,

President Harutyunyan, who was inaugurated on May 21 after winning the runoff elections on April 14, met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Thursday in Yerevan, where he was attending official events marking the 102nd anniversary of Armenian Independence and the establishment of the first Republic of Armenia.

“Armenia and Artsakh are a common security zone, and from this perspective our activities and challenges are obvious, and I am confident that we will be able to manage the challenges in collaboration with each other, leading our homeland to a path of strategic and sustainable development,” Pashinyan said at the meeting.

YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—The daily number of coronavirus cases registered in Armenia reached a new record high on Friday, with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan saying that his country now has a higher infection rate than neighboring Iran hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The situation with the coronavirus epidemic in the country is continuing to deteriorate,” he said.

Even so, Pashinyan made clear that his government is still not planning to re-impose a nationwide lockdown. He said it will continue instead to promote and enforce social distancing and hygiene rules set by the health authorities.

The Ministry of Health said in the morning that 460 people tested positive for coronavirus in the past 24 hours, up from the previous daily high of 452 cases reported on May 24. It said a total of 1,100 of coronavirus tests were carried out on Thursday.

The total number of COVID-19 cases registered in the country of about 3 million thus reached 8,676. The ministry also reported 7 new fatalities which raised the official death toll from the epidemic to 120.

“I want to stress that in terms of the number of cases per 1 million people we have already surpassed Iran and France and are practically on a par with Russia,” Pashinyan told a daily news briefing in Yerevan. “At this pace, we will reach Italy’s indicator.”

“The reason for this situation is widespread non-compliance with anti-epidemic rules and our citizens’ failure to take epidemiological alarms seriously enough,” he said, again calling on people to wear face masks, practice social distancing and disinfect their hands.

Armenians are obliged to wear masks in shops, buses, taxis and all other enclosed public spaces. They must also possess masks when walking in the streets or parks.

The Armenian police claim to have fined or reprimanded in recent days hundreds of people not abiding by this requirement. For their part, sanitary authorities have ordered one-day closures of many restaurants, shops and other businesses flouting other safety rules.

Critics of the Armenian government are skeptical about the effectiveness of this strategy of containing the virus. They say that only a renewed lockdown can slow and ultimately stop the spread of the disease.

Pashinyan again spoke out against re-imposing lockdown restrictions now, however. “I hope that there will be such changes in our social behavior that we won’t have to revert to a strict lockdown,” he said. “None of us wants such a scenario.”

“I want to again assure that … if Armenia’s citizens follow the proposed rules — namely, wear masks, practice social distancing and periodically disinfect hands and don’t touch their faces with unwashed hands — we will very quickly have a drop in new coronavirus cases and reduce them to zero. We will follow this path as long as possible,” added the prime minister.

The government had issued stay-at-home orders and shut down most nonessential businesses in late March. But it began relaxing those restrictions already in mid-April. The daily numbers of new COVID-19 infections and deaths have increased significantly since then.

Pashinyan dismissed arguments that his government has ignored World Health Organization warnings against a quick lifting of lockdowns. “The World Health Organization is guided by health standards, while Armenia, like many other countries, also has socioeconomic, financial and security needs,” he said. “Many countries of the world are lifting lockdowns despite not meeting those standards.”

The crisis is putting a growing strain on Armenia’s underfunded healthcare system. Faced with the rising number of coronavirus cases, the health authorities stopped late last week hospitalizing or isolating infected people who show mild symptoms of the disease or none at all.

Officials have also warned that intensive care units of the Armenian hospitals treating COVID-19 patients are running out of vacant hospital beds. Arman Hovakimian, the director of the largest of those hospitals, said on Friday that 95 percent of intensive care beds at the Surp Grigor Lusavorich Medical Center are already occupied.

Health Minister Arsen Torosyan said on Thursday that the authorities will set up 100 more such beds at Surp Grigor Lusavorich and another Yerevan hospital over the next month.

Torosian also signaled a shortage of medical personnel, urging more Armenian doctors to join their colleagues fighting against the virus.

“This is especially true for anesthesiologists and resuscitation specialists,” he wrote on Facebook. “We need them the most because there are now more than 350 patients in a severe or critical condition and in need of their care.”

Armenians of Colorado “devastated.” Said “If necessary, we will rebuild our sacred monument again and again, while defending human rights and equality for all.”

The Colorado State Capitol in Denver was vandalized during protests that are gripping the nation over the death of George Floyd. The Armenian Genocide Khatchkar memorial, which is at the State Capitol was also not spared.

In as statement issued Saturday, the Board of Directors of Armenians of Colorado condemned “the ongoing injustices against our African American community and we join them in calling for justice for George Floyd.” The organization, however, was puzzled that a monument honoring victims of injustice was vandalized.

“Protest leaders have repeatedly denounced violence and vandalism. We do not hold the peaceful protesters responsible for the behavior of violent individuals,” said the Armenian of Colorado statement.

“As Armenian Americans, a community that has survived genocide and centuries of oppression, we recognize and condemn the ongoing injustices against our African American community and we join them in calling for justice for George Floyd,” added the statement.

“Since the Khachkar commemorates the victims of all crimes against humanity, including slavery and state-sponsored racism, it is ironic that individuals who claim to seek justice have vandalized the very monument that honors the victims of injustice,” said the statement.

“Any vandalism against the Capitol khachkar is particularly painful given that it is a replica of one of the 3,000 medieval cross-stones of the legendary Djulfa cemetery destroyed by Azerbaijan’s government in 2005 as part of their plan of erasing the Armenian history in Nakhichevan,” said the Armenians of Colorado Board.

“We will continue to monitor the ongoing protests and consider short-term and long-term solutions for the protection of the Colorado State Capitol memorial to the victims of all crimes against humanity. If necessary, we will rebuild our sacred monument again and again, while defending human rights and equality for all,” said the Armenians of Colorado Board of Directors.