Written for an interview for "Azad Magazine" on May 4, 2018
My ancestry is
from Kars and Sebastia, which at the time were part of Armenia. Because of the
Armenian genocide, my families had to flee: my father’s side of family came to
Yerevan; my mother’s side of family first fled to Russia, then Georgia, then
finally in the 60’s – to Yerevan. I have lived in Moscow for 5 years and in Los
Angeles for 17. And every time we (both my family and I) came back to
Armenia – we absolutely loved that decision. Armenia has a Call. “Հայաստանը Կանչ ունի”: And if you have at least one drop of Armenian blood in
your veins – you will hear that Call, and you can do nothing but oblige it. I
do not know of any other country, where the population is almost 100% natives,
and I don’t know of any other nation, where people who have lived abroad for
centuries, or didn’t even know they were Armenians for a long time - call Armenia
“Homeland”. That was one of the many reasons why the Velvet Revolution worked.
1. Through your
look, your testimony, what explanation for this crisis?
The crisis was a long
time coming. As with everything, it wasn’t just one big issue, but a
compilation of many smaller disappointments (there is a Russian phrase “devil
is in the details”). The most prominent being: the rise to power and money of
people with no moral, human or spiritual values, of those who betrayed the
human in them; blatant lies by the government and their cronies; nepotism; their
impudent abuse of our country and human resources; injustice followed by impunity
for those select few; the hatred towards their own people. The chilling thing
was that these non-humans were in fashion for a long time; it was en vogue to not care, to be aggressive,
to use, abuse and disregard; and recently, seeing how difficult it was to live
if you were out of this “fashion” – even spiritually advanced people started
questioning their own values, thinking that God abandoned them, and they should
start behaving like criminals. Armenia and its Diaspora are very small, we all
know each other, we know in which casino our budget money was spent and how
much, we know who killed who, who said and did what and with whom… It incensed people
to know that they were governed by fiends, who do not even care enough to hide
their atrocities. I have been noticing a trend for the past 2 years: people are
tired of being lied to and, more importantly, people are tired of telling lies. They
were shown the “fashion of being a beast”, they tried it on and finally came to
a conclusion that they don’t like it. They want to be Human. Simple as that.
2. Is this a
political and/or social crisis?
I believe, at the
core, regular folk only care about social stability and a beautiful, peaceful
country, where they can raise generations of content people, who would dance,
sing, learn, create, eat, enjoy each other’s company, tell jokes and have deep,
profound conversations. But since that was impossible, what with Armenia being ripped
apart by gluttons most of whom occupied government seats, the crisis became
political. Armenians like justice. We have been denied justice for centuries. But
when the justice is denied from within – that is unacceptable.
3. What is your
point of view on Nikol Pachinyan, Leader of the Opposition?
Mr. Pashinyan is a
today’s man: it is an important thing to walk in step with time. From his
speeches and strategies I recognize him as a very talented, smart, well-read, educated,
caring, gentle and reflective leader. And he is a leader, no doubt about it! He
showed our people that we were right to stay faithful to ourselves, to care
like we care, to think like we think, to want what we want. He is, simply put,
a good person. There is talk as to Mr. Pashinyan’s qualifications as a prime
minister; these accusations seem feeble, petty and comical to me. What do they
expect? Perfection? Can they show me one perfect individual? No, they cannot.
As I see it, Mr. Pashinyan has been publically fighting for justice since the
80’s and cares about making this country just and fair. As for the doubts, I
will say it with Maya Angelou’s words: “I did then what I knew best, when I
knew better, I did better.” Mr. Pashinyan, like we Armenians say, is my kind of
person. During the entire Revolution, there was not a single thing on which I
disagreed with him or a moment I doubted his motives. He does what he says, he
says what he thinks and he, definitely, thinks what he says.
4. Seen from here (France),
there is still a concern about Russia's reaction. Do you think Moscow will
react? If yes, how?
It is very
important to listen to our senses and not rely too much on the opinions of
political players or those journalists, who get paid to scare and confuse the
public. In my opinion - Russia has already reacted as much as it would. The age
of the money-men has ended; this is the era of spiritual (հոգևոր) beings. And Russia,
being spiritual (contrary to what other countries may be lead to believe), is also
growing; it is already learning from Armenia’s example, and I do not mean the
revolution, but the moral lessons. Not one normal human being can watch our
Love and Peace Revolution and not be affected by its light. So, I say it again
– Russia has already reacted as much as it would.
5. How do you see
the end of the crisis? What new day for Armenian youth?
Good! I see the
end and the beginning - good! There is a lot of work to do: clean out the trash
left by the previous “tenants”, decide, make, create, change, protect… Mr.
Pashinyan is on the right path – he knows that changes must come gradually; he
doesn’t rush things that will take time and doesn’t postpone what needs to be
done immediately. And he has the young minds to help him.
The amusing thing in all of this was that few people knew
that we had such smart, advanced, fearless, loving and kind youth. That is why in the beginning, the ruling “elite” was
at their ease, they did not anticipate the demonstrations would go in such new,
unexpected, inventive, funny and merry key, or that these “children” would not
be afraid of them, like the older generations used to be. These bandits do not
know the language of love, tolerance, compassion – they heard about it
somewhere once, but thought it was a joke; they don’t believe in its existence
- they only know the language of thugs. And that is what they were anticipating:
offensive language, negotiations, accusations, blame, rage, fights, threats…
They thought, “we will scare them (their “own” people - doesn’t that sound preposterous?)
with police, with fictitious threats from the border, we will take away their
leader and all will return to the distorted, twisted world we enjoyed...” But the youth
were like “Why are you sawing off the branch on which you are sitting? Oh,
well, do what you do, that’s your choice. But you will not take us with you.
Nope. We don’t even want to listen to what you have to say – just leave and be
forgotten”. And when the parents saw that their children are on the streets demanding
a change for their future – they rose up and followed their kids, feeling proud
of the citizens they raised. And when the grandparents saw their families and
friends on the streets of Armenia, which they thought was lost, – they awoke and recognized the chance
cannot be missed, and they, in turn, followed their families to advise and
protect them.
So, how come all went peacefully? Many-many reasons, but I
will list a few. One: because we are one nation, one language, one religion,
and every Armenian across the world joined this Velvet Evolution, as I call it. Two: this is the 21st century,
the era of a conscious human being (no matter an activist or a policeman). Plus
many participants of the movement were born or raised in the 21st century – they
have different mindset, values, beliefs, ethics, and unlimited access to the
internet, which recorded every single action on both sides, and made the event
as public as possible.
When you speak from your soul – you have nothing to hide,
even if you are wrong; and on the contrary – you have everything to hide if you
sold your soul to the “devil”. It is very interesting to me that even when one
has betrayed every human aspect in them – they still KNOW they are wrong
(although, they hide it even from themselves); indeed, that tiny and vast spark
of God inside us knows right from wrong.
Three: most of the police (I’m not talking about the
criminals in their midst, whom you can recognize by the unhealthy shine in their eyes)
were with the protesters at heart, plus, they knew - this is Armenia, it’s
small, the crowd is comprised of their neighbors, friends, coworkers, their wife’s
cousin’s father-in-law’s sister-in-law. So, if you want to live a decent life, have
a good family (one of the most important things for an Armenian) and be able to
look people in the eyes – you must be wholly conscious of your actions.
This is a true spiritual awakening for Armenia, and already
for the entire world.
I am grateful.
