Published since 07.2002
Published on March 21, 2008
BIRTH RIOT: STATE OF EMERGENCY REVEALED THE ARMENIAN MOCKOCRACY
- How many times can a man turn his head Pretending he just doesn’t see . . . Bob Dylan – Blowin’ in the Wind This was worse than 1996 when Levon Ter-Petrosyan put Armenia under military shutdown in the aftermath of his disputed re-election. Worse than in 2004 when Robert Kocharyan used severe force against citizens attempting some version of a “colored” revolution. Worse, even, than 1999 when madmen strewed bullets and death in parliament. Those acted as terrorists. March 1 was collective anger. This was mass unrest that deserved recognition for reasons other than the violence dissent led to. In these 20 days since March 1 the ambitions of a government have suppressed the will of a people. These Armenians deserve better than the Mockocracy that has been stunningly and arrogantly imposed upon them and that will not end just because a State of Emergency has been lifted. They deserve better than the leadership of Robert Kocharyan-Serzh Sargsyan. Better leadership than might be possible had Levon Ter-Petrosyan realized his dream to reinvent his legacy. These Armenians deserve a leader who has not yet risen. Let us pray that he/she does before 2013. Eight people are dead. Hundreds have wounds. Thousands have been morally shot down. More than 100 are jailed. Some are on the run. For what? Why did March 1 happen? It is a mistake to reduce this crisis to a conflict of personalities. This was not Serzh Sargsyan vs. Levon Ter-Petrosyan. This was institutionalized corruption vs. the frustration of perpetual alienation. These protestors were not, indiscriminately, ne’r do wells fancying a fight. These were people fed up with every election season having to choose whether to have their votes bought or have them stolen. These were people sickened by hearing international do-gooders call elections “in line” with democracy, when these oppressed voters know better. The OSCE, the CIS, the US State Department safely and shamefully did not intervene while it might still have mattered. While it might have saved lives and not led to the derailing of an already wobbly attempted democracy. Why did March 1 happen? Because people who thought they could trust the democratic process had a brutal slap of truth that confirmed the reality of Soviet Armenia, these 17 years after the country has dropped the first half of its truer name. Since March 1: • Government censors have been placed in printing houses, shutting down newspapers. • Television has been controlled more than ever by government persuasion. • Radio broadcasts not authorized by government have been taken off the air. • International television broadcasts – CNN and EuroNews – have been interrupted when they began reports about Armenia. • Citizens were arrested for sending text messages. • Distribution of any literature inconsistent with government ideology is punishable by imprisonment. • Internet sites have been blocked. • Citizens have been detained because of political persuasion and abused while being illegally held. • By order of the National Assembly, a new law prohibits any public gathering that is (arbitrarily) expected of encouraging dissent. Read the news out of Tibet this week and ask yourself if this government of Armenia holds up any better than China in its treatment of citizens, abuse of power, and failure to implement common principles rightly assumed by calling itself a democracy. A defining moment occurred a couple weeks ago when Armenia’s Ombudsman, also known as its Human Rights Defender – appointed according to Council of Europe requirement to provide an avenue of citizen complaint -- criticized the government’s decision to use force on March 1. When Ombudsman Armen Harutyunyan sympathized with the families of the dead, saying that they died needlessly, President Robert Kocharyan retorted by saying that he’d made a mistake in putting Harutyunyan in that post and that the advocate shouldn’t confuse Yerevan with Strasbourg, home of the European court of human rights. In other words: “This is Armenia. We have our own rules here.” It appears that, again, Armenia has revealed her true colors, and they are the red, white and blue the West wishes – without the white and blue. Sadly, individuals and organizations in Diaspora who by their influence might pressure this leadership into reassessing its iron-fisted choke on inherently good people have not stepped up to exert the influence that money wields when politics fail. Instead, respected individuals have been publicly silent while powerful organizations have promised “cooperation”. Why? Why not draw a line when “enough is enough” has become way too much? Why not simply say that the dollars and pounds and euros stop until decency starts? Why? Because the West no longer (if it ever did) holds the trump card that will decide whether Armenia comes up aces, or craps out on democracy. Leverage belongs to Mother Russia. (Kocharyan in fact said on Thursday that if the US should withdraw its $236 million Millennium Challenge aide, Armenia would “no doubt” find other avenues of funding.) After western aid built up Armenia’s crumbled infrastructure, authorities here used the new foundation to exploit their personal connections with Russian comrades that has brought astounding wealth to a few, often at the expense of social welfare. While the US was busy funding seminars on civil society, Russian investors represented by Armenian foot servants were eyeing development of property and acquisition of resources that would scavenge a country while enhancing personal portfolios. That’s the way capitalism should work, isn’t it? Having money and power guarantees the ability to create more money and power. Fine. Let’s just not call Armenia a democracy. These terrible days prove that it is far from it.
- John Hughes
Headlines for March 21, 2008
WILL THE ARMENIA ELECTIONS CRISIS AFFECT LOBBYING IN WASHINGTON?
The short answer is yes. The violence of March 1 and serious charges of electoral manipulations are certainly causing discomfort among our friends in Congress and is being exploited by Turkish and Azerbaijan-funded ...HERITAGE PARTY DECLARATION ON ARMENIA'S PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
Now more than ever, as the schism between the Armenian people and its government continues to expand, the Heritage Party calls for a national rehabilitation process. Such a process, if it is to be meaningful ...MEMORIES OF STEPANAKERT: KARABAKHI REPORTER COMPARES TO NIGHTS IN THE NKR CAPITAL
Gayane Mkrtchyan
On March 2, opposition daily newspaper reporter Kristine Khanumyan opened her article with the following sentences: “On the first day of spring the authorities congratulated people with truncheons and ...“WHAT HATRED THEY FELT”: A POLICEMAN’S ACCOUNT
Vahan Ishkhanyan
“Soldiers with truncheons and shields blocked the whole street and began to go forward to press the people against the embassy [building] believing they will disperse learning the soldiers have come. ...PERSPECTIVE: ENFORCEMENTS TALK FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF VIOLENCE
Arpi Harutyunyan
“Our soldiers and policemen, I swear, were not prepared for such an assault by the armed, drunk and uncontrollable mob. Of course, we were ordered to resist, but the troops were not prepared like the ...FROM “TRAITOR” TO SECRETARY: THE CURIOUS UPS AND DOWNS OF ARTUR BAGHDASARYAN
Aris Ghazinyan
A coalition agreement between three political parties – the Republican Party of Armenia led by current Prime Minister and President-elect Serzh Sargsyan, tycoon Gagik Tsarukyan-led Prosperous Armenia ...WHY?: THE DEAD LEFT NO ANSWERS
Gayane Abrahamyan
The first day of spring became the last for Zakar Hovhannisyan, 31, who went to the center of the city in the evening of that day to bring his neighbor home from the rally and did not come home; neither ...A SHATTERED FAMILY: NO CONSOLATION IN HOME OF VICTIM GOR KLOYAN
Marianna Grigoryan
His teeth had fallen out into his palm, he tried to put them back somehow one by one, but they wouldn’t stay. They would fall out again. “Mum, I saw a dream,” 28-year-old Gor Kloyan was telling his dream ...NIGHTMARE ON PARONYAN: DEMONSTRATOR TELLS OF HORROR AND RESOLVE
Gayane Mkrtchyan
The head of Grizelda Ghazaryan, 57, is all wrapped in bandage. Eight stitches had been put on the cut resulting from a police truncheon hit. “Then I don’t remember well, I only felt that something hot ...TOUGH LESSONS: TEACHERS FACE CHALLENGE OF EXPLAINING EVENTS TO CHILDREN
Gayane Mkrtchyan
Teacher Anahit Margaryan, 34, says that the next day after the March 1 bloody events in Yerevan her 15-year-old daughter Sona said while returning home from school that together with her classmates they ...THE SUCCESSOR: SARGSYAN TAKEOVER FACES EXTRAORDINARY CONDITIONS. WILL KOCHARYAN PLAY A ROLE?
Suren Musayelyan
April 9 – the day when Serzh Sargsyan is due to be inaugurated as President of Armenia – will signify a new development in the history of post-Soviet Armenia as for the first time the incumbent will pass ...DEAD INNOCENT: NON-ACTIVIST IN WRONG PLACE AT WRONG TIME ON MARCH 1
Marianna Grigoryan
At seven o’clock in the evening Grigor called his wife, Varduhi, and told her to warm up the dinner since he was coming home and was very hungry. “I said, Grigor, my darling, I have cooked your favorite ...BLOODY SATURDAY: A BREAKDOWN OF THE DAY THAT BROKE A NATION
John Hughes
The cloak of darkness and repression that fell on Yerevan late on March 1 began as a beaming promise to voters under drizzly October skies. Armenia’s opposition, silenced in 2003 by a show of political ...BIRTH RIOT: STATE OF EMERGENCY REVEALED THE ARMENIAN MOCKOCRACY
John HughesHow many times can a man turn his head Pretending he just doesn’t see . . . Bob Dylan – Blowin’ in the Wind This was worse than 1996 when Levon Ter-Petrosyan put Armenia under military ...WALKING DISORDERS: THOUSANDS STAGE “SILENT PROTEST” ON FIRST DAY AFTER STATE OF EMERGENCY
John HughesIn a mass display of defiant quiet, several thousands walked on Yerevan city center sidewalks today, shouting a message by saying nothing. A ban on public demonstration that has existed since March 1, ...DETENTION AND DISTRUST: TER-PETROYSAN RELATIVE/MFA EMPLOYEE AMONG LATEST DETAINEES
Marianna GrigoryanA fired diplomat who is a relative of opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan claims political persecution after police workers arrested him and held him in custody for hours without providing any reasoning. ...
Most read news (last 7 days)
“WHAT HATRED THEY FELT”: A POLICEMAN’S ACCOUNT
Vahan IshkhanyanWALKING DISORDERS: THOUSANDS STAGE “SILENT PROTEST” ON FIRST DAY AFTER STATE OF EMERGENCY
John HughesWILL THE ARMENIA ELECTIONS CRISIS AFFECT LOBBYING IN WASHINGTON?
HERITAGE PARTY DECLARATION ON ARMENIA'S PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
NIGHTMARE ON PARONYAN: DEMONSTRATOR TELLS OF HORROR AND RESOLVE
Gayane MkrtchyanA SHATTERED FAMILY: NO CONSOLATION IN HOME OF VICTIM GOR KLOYAN
Marianna GrigoryanBLOODY SATURDAY: A BREAKDOWN OF THE DAY THAT BROKE A NATION
John HughesFROM “TRAITOR” TO SECRETARY: THE CURIOUS UPS AND DOWNS OF ARTUR BAGHDASARYAN
Aris GhazinyanDEAD INNOCENT: NON-ACTIVIST IN WRONG PLACE AT WRONG TIME ON MARCH 1
Marianna GrigoryanBIRTH RIOT: STATE OF EMERGENCY REVEALED THE ARMENIAN MOCKOCRACY
John Hughes
© AUA
Today in Armenian history- 0 Our ancestors celebrated the New Year in this day as the reawakening of nature and the work of the farmer.
- 1615 According to a proclamation by the Polish King Sigismund the Third, Armenians were allowed to live and work in Dubrovitsa. This Armenian colony was obliterated in 1672 in the course of Turkish attacks.
- 1747 The Dutch award the Armenians of Indonesia the same civil rights as European free citizens.
- 1758 Birth of Ghookas Eencheechyan (armenologist and geographer). He died in 1833.
- 1763 Death of Catholicos Hakob the Fifth --Shamakhetsee. He was an important figure in the liberation movement of the 18th century. His birthdate is unknown.
- 1828 Tsar Nicholas the First defines the status of the Armenian Province. Major-General Tchavchevadze is appointed Governor of the Province.
- 1879 Birth of Anooshavan Vardanian, playwright, representative of proletarian literature. He was head of the Copyright Protection Department.
- 1888 Birth of Marietta Shahinyan (Bolshevik propaganda writer) in Moscow.
- 1942 Vahan Mirakyan (poet) dies in Yerevan. He was born in 1866.
- 1981 Inauguration of the Arpa-Sevan tunnel.
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