The Cup Runneth Over: A New Era of Oligarchic Competition

Serouj Aprahamian

 

Civic activist Artak Khachatryan was kidnapped by three masked men in front of a shopping center in Yerevan, on Sat., Feb. 7. Hours later, he was found unconscious on the side of a street near his home.

Khachatryan has played a leading role in protests against the government’s controversial Turnover Tax Law affecting small- and medium-sized businesses. He is also a prominent member of the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), the second largest political party in Armenia’s parliament, headed by well-known oligarch Gagik Tsarukyan.

Armenia's Membership in the EEU Raises More Questions than It Answers

Babken Dergrigorian

 

Upon reading Harut Sassounian’s latest article “The West Must Offer Armenia Incentives Rather than Decry its Ties with Russia,” I have been compelled to write a response addressing its shortcomings and inaccuracies, increasingly common also within the broader narratives regarding Armenia’s accession into the EEU in the Armenian community.

The West Must Offer Armenia Incentives Rather Than Decry Its Ties with Russia

Harut Sassounian

On October 10, after lengthy heated debates, Armenia signed a treaty to join the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), composed of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia. The agreement goes into effect on January 1, 2015, subject to ratification by parliaments of the four countries. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have also expressed an interest in joining the Union.

Yerevan Considering Recall of Turkey-Armenian Protocols, Says Serzh Sarkisian at the UN

Speaking at the UN General Assembly on September 24, 2014, President Serzh Sarkisian hinted that official Yerevan is considering the recall of the Turkey-Armenia Protocols since Turkey continues to insist on the resolution of the Karabagh conflict in favor of Azerbaijan as a precondition for ratifying the documents.

Youth Group Vows More Protests Against Armenian Entry Into Russian Bloc

Hovannes Movsisian

 

Youth activists who organized a demonstration in Yerevan against Russia’s visiting President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that they will stage more street protests against Armenia’s accession to the Russian-led customs union.
They also vowed to campaign for President Serzh Sarkisian’s resignation, accusing him of sacrificing their country’s independence and sovereignty.

Unwelcome Guest, Undesired Host: A Street Perspective of Putin’s Armenia Visit

Samson Martirosyan

 

On Dec. 2, 1920, Armenian Prime Minister Alexandre Khatisian signed the Alexandropol Treaty between the First Republic of Armenia and Turkey. Pro-Soviet forces took control of Armenia’s government, and the country was declared a Soviet state. Exactly 93 years later, on Dec. 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Armenia to welcome President Serge Sarkisian’s decision to join the Russian-led Custom’s Union, which many argue is an incarnation of the Russian imperialistic appetite and an attempt to create a Soviet Union 2.0.

A Wake-Up Call for Armenia and the Diaspora

Houri Mayissian

Two weeks ago a few hundred Armenian citizens and activists heeded to Shant Harutyunyan’s call for revolution. Armed with homemade explosives, batons, and rocks they started marching toward the Presidential Palace, clashing with police on the way. Harutyunyan and several of his followers were arrested and remain in jail.

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Harutyunyan had justified his call for revolution by the need to “protect dignified life.” However, in the barrage of information that has since emerged, two alarming facts stand out: Harutyunyan is the leader of a party by the name of Tseghagron and, as he has said himself in an interview, Hitler has been one of the figures who have played a formative role in the development of his ideas.

Democracy, Sovereignty and Armenia’s Eurasian Path

Houry Mayissian

 



As Armenia turns 22 this month, our country finds itself at a crossroads—perhaps the most defining one in its independent existence. After four years of negotiations with the European Union (EU) on the terms of an Association Agreement as part of the Eastern Partnership program, President Serge Sarkisian last week announced Armenia would join the Russian-led Customs Union.

The Customs Union of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and now Armenia will be the foundation of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) with its own executive body and a single currency. To be launched in January 2015, the EEU is largely seen as Russia’s alternative to the EU.

An Urgent Problem Whose Urgency is Fading

Edmond Y. Azadian

 

An A.R.F. political thinker named E. Agnouni has encapsulated the Armenian people’s propensity to emigrate away from their native land by a perfectly rhyming sentence in Armenian: «Հայը ամէն տեղ է փնտռում ապաստան, բացի այն տեղից որը կոչւում է Հայաստան» (“Hayeh Amen tegh eh penderoom apastan, batsi ayn teghits voreh kochvoom eh Hayastan,” The Armenian is seeking a haven in all places but the place called Armenia.)

The "Exact Translation": How "Medz Yeghern" Means Genocide

Vartan Matiossian

Yes, until World War II, the Medz Yeghern of 1915 was unprecedented not only in the history of our people, but in the entirety of humankind. An entire people, an entire nation coming from the depths of millennia was killed, was dying.

We condemn genocide [genotsid] or zhoghovrtasbanutiun with all our heart and soul.

There is and there cannot be either juridical justification or any motion of prescription for genocide.

Genocide, be it the horrifying slaughter of Armenians in Der or in the banks of the Euphrates in 1915, or the torturing death by massacre of the other peoples during World War II in Majdanek and Büchenwald, must always be condemned without reservations, and its perpetrators must be condemned by all of humankind.

Nagush Harutiunian (1965)¹

 

The president of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic proclaimed these words at the official commemoration of the genocide on April 24, 1965 in Yerevan. Harutiunian did not hesitate to pair “genocide” (he used the Russian loanword genotsid and the Armenian translation zhoghovrtasbanutiun, literally “democide”; tseghasbanutiun was not yet commonly used in Eastern Armenian) and “Medz Yeghern.”

Do Not Insult Our Intelligence Anymore

Vartan Matiossian

It has been a constant since the mid-1990s to expect an election marred by fraud in Armenia. If the fraud has not been visible (ballot stuffing and all), it has just been of the invisible type (I pay you this amount of money and you go and vote for me). The claims of fraud, justified or not, have ended sometimes in violent ways; one may remember the storming of the National Assembly building and the beating of its speaker in 1996 or, even more unjustified, the death of 10 people (eight demonstrators and two policemen) on March 1, 2008 in the repression after ten days of peaceful demonstrations.

We will not comment on the events in Armenia after the presidential election of February 18, 2013, as they are still evolving. Suffice it to say that they showed a very strong performance by the main opposition candidate, Raffi Hovannisian, who officially obtained 36.75 percent of the votes, against 58.64 of the incumbent, President Serge Sargsian. Denunciations of fraud have been made—we assume that, justified or not, there may be some grounds for them--and heavily crowded meetings at Freedom Square have followed, including the support of some opposition forces that had neither participated in the election not thrown their support behind Hovannisian, namely the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and the Armenian National Congress.

People have started to fill mailboxes with their conspiracy-theory rants, as the one who had sent the following morning-after pill:

Armenia Suspends Relations With Hungary Following Extradition and Pardon of Azeri Criminal

The official reaction of Armenia to the extradition by Hungary of an Azerbaijani criminal condemned to life prison and subsequent pardon of the President of Azerbaijan is the unavoidable follow-up to a diplomatic defeat against the double standards showed by the international community in the interplay between material interests and moral responsibilities. Similar actions to repeal criminal attitudes are also needed to prevent intolerable legal charades within the frontiers of Armenia.

Armenia: Backhanded Victory for Environmental Activists

Liana Aghajanian

After almost three months of continuous protests and sit-ins staged by activists in a battle to save Mashtots Park,  batthe Armenian President, Serzh Sargsyan, ordered the removal of structures already constructed on the basis that they weren't aesthetically appealing, a reason that wasn't on the agenda of those fighting against illegal construction in one of Yerevan's last remaining green spaces.

In addition to their demands to preserve the park for health and environmental reasons, protesters objected to the 'boutique' kiosks because no public hearings were held on the matter and no environmental impact assessment was conducted on the area, both of which are required by law. Voice of the Nightingale voiced its concerns [AM] with the government's disregard for rule of law.

«Պարզուեց, որ նախագահն օրէնքի մասին պատրաստ է մոռանալ, երբ խնդրի օբիեկտն է դառնում… էսթետիկան: Նախագահը տեղում յայտարարեց, որ շինարարութեան առումով ամէն ինչ ճիշդ է, քաղաքապետն ամէն ինչ լաւ է արել, բայց կրպակներն աչք չեն շոյում, ու լաւ չի լինի, եթէ երկու-երեք տարի աչք մազոլեն»: ("It was made clear that the President has forgotten about the law when the issue has to do with the aesthetics of objects. The president announced that the construction of the kiosks were perfectly legal, the mayor had done everything correctly, but the kiosks weren't so pleasing to look out and it wouldn't be a good idea to have them as eye sores for the next few years.")

¿Dónde está la F.R.A. de nuestros padres?

Michael Mensoián
Traducción de Vartán Matiossián

La primera parte de este artículo ["The Armenian Weekly", 8 de diciembre de 2011, no traducida al castellano] ofreció un breve resumen del servicio ejemplar de la Federación Revolucionaria Armenia (F.R.A.) al pueblo armenio y a los intereses de la nación armenia durante sus primeros cien años. “Período I: 1890-1923” cubrió los años desde la fundación de la F.R.A. hasta el catastrófico año 1923. “Período II; 1923-1991” coincidió con los efectos residuales desastrosos del genocidio y la existencia de la república armenia bolchevique hasta la fundación de la segunda república armenia libre. La segunda parte evaluará el rol de la F.R.A. durante los años que siguieron al establecimiento de la República de Armenia en 1991, cuando su operatoria pasó de la Diáspora a la Madre Patria.

M.M.

La segunda república armenia independiente fue declarada en 1991. Este acontecimiento debió haber anunciado una nueva era para la F.R.A. El partido era ahora capaz de volver a una Armenia libre, un día que los líderes en exilio habían alimentado durante los pasados 70 años. El notable éxito que la F.R.A. había alcanzado en las comunidades diaspóricas fue conseguido bajo circunstancias muy diferentes de las que habían enfrentado los armenios del Mairení Yerguir (Madre Patria). Cada grupo era un gran subcomponente de armenios bien distinguido, con antecedentes emocionales y psicológicos diferentes que respondían a los entornos socio-económicos y políticos diferentes en los que habían tenido que adaptarse. En vez de establecer firmemente las bases para su participación efectiva en la vida política de Armenia, el partido entró inmediatamente en el mundo de la política maquiavélica post-soviética.

Corruption by the Numbers

 Garen Yegparian

We hear a lot about corruption, and see various forms of it in our daily lives. Sadly, in some places, such as Armenia, it is present at a disturbing, probably economically disruptive, scale.

For the last two decades, Transparency International and Goettingen University have compiled a “Corruption Perception Index” which is a “poll of polls” as they describe it. They amass others’ studies of corruption in countries throughout the world and produce an annual tabulation of countries with a rating, on a scale of 0-10, where 10 means corruption free and 0 totally corrupt. They require that a minimum of three (formerly four) surveys/studies include a country for that to be included in their index. They have used at least twelve surveys/studies since 1999 (earlier years had fewer). Polling done over the preceding three years is considered valid for inclusion in any year’s compilation. For these reasons, they caution that year-to-year comparisons should not be made easily. But take a look at the accompanying table, and you’ll note the trends in our homeland and its neighbors are pretty consistent.

"Let's say that Adam and Eve were Armenian too. So what?"

H.A. Translated by Vartan Matiossian   How do we present ourselves to the world when whatever or whoever we want to be recognized for is laying in the past or belongs to another culture? Do we have an "Armenian brand"? What phenomenon does make Armenia presentable to the world today? On September 15, 2011, Vazrik Bazil, German-Armenian expert in public relations and doctor in philosophy, answered to these questions in a public discussion in Yerevan. "Armenians appear to the world today not as creators, but as a nation that uses what has been created by other and, at the same time, has taken the way of 'self-museification,''' he said. According to Bazil, Armenians are users, but not creators, since "we use what others have created, but where is our creation that makes a difference? It does not mean that the old goes to waste and the new becomes sacred. We should be able to present the old in a new approach, a new ideology. For example, it is possible to present the odes of Gregory of Narek and his Book of Tragedy through jazz."

F.R.A.: reflexiones y refracciones, 1988-2010

Kourkén Sarkissián

Traducción y notas de Vartán Matiossián

En noviembre de 2010, el Comité Central de la Costa Este de los Estados Unidos de la Federación Revolucionaria Armenia (F.R.A.) organizó en Nueva York un foro público titulado “La F.R.A. a los 120 años: una apreciación crítica”, con la participación de los historiadores Dennis Papazián y Ará Sanjián, el economista David Grigorián y el presidente del Instituto Zoryán, K. M. Kourkén (“Greg”) Sarkissián. Los textos de los cuatro panelistas y los comentarios de Antranig Kasbarián, presidente del Comité Central, aparecieron publicados en el número del 19 de marzo de 2011 de “The Armenian Weekly”. Ofrecemos a continuación la traducción de la presentación de Sarkissián e insertamos, en bastardilla, los comentarios de Kasbarián.

Raffí Hovannisián: “Los armenios en nuestro propio país tienen que ser liberados”

Es el quinto día de la huelga de hambre de Raffí Hovannisián en la Plaza de la Libertad. Armenio nacido en los Estados Unidos, es ex ministro de Relaciones Exteriores de la República de Armenia y líder del partido “Herencia”, a la vez que uno de sus diputados en la Asamblea Nacional. Sus típicos bigotes han desaparecido y se nota que ha bajado considerablemente de peso, pero aparece en forma y sereno, como si practicara meditación. Hay unas 50 personas deambulando en los alrededores, charlando entre ellas acerca de política u otros temas, echándole una mirada de tanto en tanto para ver cómo se mantiene. Encaramado sobre su banco de parque, con una manta tejida tricolor que sostiene su espalda, toma agua embotellada, mientras sus seguidores, famosos músicos folklóricos entre ellos, se acercan para expresar su admiración. Es cordial para todos quienes lo saludan y se levanta de su asiento para abrazarse con quienes conoce de cerca. Algunos de ellos le dicen que no querrían verlo recurrir a su forma de protesta. Responde, sonriente, que la voluntad del pueblo armenio debe escucharse. Para quienes viven en Armenia, sus convicciones y aspiraciones para el estado armenio son conocidas y respetadas. Pero su mensaje aún no ha resonado con la fuerza necesaria para que los armenios de la Diáspora lo perciban.

La siguiente entrevista con “The Armenian Weekly” se realizó en el sitio de protesta de la Plaza de la Libertad, en las primeras horas de la tarde del 20 de marzo de 2011. 
[La huelga de hambre culminó el 30 de marzo. V.M.].

Of Protocols and Lack of Protocol

The process that ended on October 10, 2009 with the signature of the Armenia-Turkey protocols triggered an avalanche of opinions, both in Armenia and the Diaspora, perhaps unseen since the time of the Gharabagh Movement (1988-1991). First of all, let's be honest and state that nobody has the crystal ball, not even those who are sure of having it. Therefore, whatever may happen from now on is open-ended.