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    The Armenian Velvet Revolution
    The Armenian Velvet Revolution
    The Armenian Velvet Revolution
    Ebook195 pages2 hours

    The Armenian Velvet Revolution

    By STEPAN GRIGORYAN

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    About this ebook

    The book discusses the political situation in Armenia in recent years and presents a chronology and analysis of the political processes in the country from March 31, 2018, when opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan and his allies started a march from Vardanants, the central square in Gyumri, to Yerevan, until May 8, 2018, when the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia elected Nikol Pashinyan prime minister of the country in a special session
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherEdit Print
    Release dateMar 16, 2019
    ISBN9788832541229
    The Armenian Velvet Revolution

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      Book preview

      The Armenian Velvet Revolution - STEPAN GRIGORYAN

      I

      MEETING OF OPPOSITION LEADER NIKOL PASHINYAN AND PRIME MINISTER SERZH SARGSYAN

      The fateful meeting for Serzh Sargsyan (in the presence of mass media) opened the doors for Armenia to prosper.

      "I am glad that you have responded to my numerous calls for a dialogue. However, frankly speaking, I can’t really understand what we can discuss in the presence of dozens of journalists,’’ Serzh Sargsyan mused at the beginning of his meeting with Nikol Pashinyan.

      In response, Nikol Pashinyan noted that apparently some misunderstanding’’ had occurred: When we talked with Mr. Sarkissian (president of Armenia), I clearly stated our position that we are not talking about the dialogue that you propose but about the agenda we have brought forward. I have come here to discuss the terms of your resignation and a peaceful and smooth transition of power. Therefore, I call on you not to use the term "dialogue,’’ he said.

      Serzh Sargsyan stated that it was neither a dialogue nor a negotiation but simply an ultimatum, an attempt to blackmail the state and legitimate authorities. "You don’t realize the extent of your responsibility. You did not learn anything from the March 1 events [10 people died on that date in 2008 in protests against the presidential election]. If you continue talking in such a manner, then all that I can do is advise you to act within the law and within the bounds of reason.

      Otherwise, all responsibility lies with you. Choose,’’ the prime minister of Armenia said.

      "No one has dared to or can dare to speak to us in the language of threats. You do not realize the situation in the country. It’s not what it was 10 or 15 days ago. The situation has changed. You no longer have the authority to make your people obey you. The rule of the Republic of Armenia has passed into the hands of the people,’’ Nikol Pashinyan replied.

       Sargsyan countered that the faction that had won only roughly 8% of votes had no right to speak on behalf of the nation and that he no longer had any wish to continue the conversation. If you do not want to comply with legitimate demands of the state… goodbye, Serzh Sargsyan declared before leaving.

      Clearly, by ending the meeting, Serzh Sargsyan lost in the eyes of the citizens of the country. And it was already obvious even from this short exchange just how deluded Sargsyan was. It seemed that he had no idea that he was going to a meeting where terms of his resignation were to be discussed in the presence of the mass media. Moreover, the manner in which he spoke with Nikol Pashinyan showed that he didn’t even know that more citizens – far more – than the 8% he cited participated in the opposition demonstrations in April. Only a man untethered to reality could say such a thing.

      By April 22, Armenia was seething, a veritable cauldron of protest – demonstrations, rallies, marches, and roadblocks involving men, women, and children went on in almost every village, town, and city in the country. Protest actions by the Armenian Diaspora in support of the Armenian opposition also took place in many countries (the USA, Russia, France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Georgia, Argentina, and others).

      After such a failed meeting, any resistance naturally became senseless, and on the afternoon of April 23, Serzh Sargsyan, having held the position of prime minister of Armenia for only one week, resigned. In his last message to the Armenian people, he stated: "Nikol Pashinyan was right. I was wrong. There are a number of solutions to the current situation, but I will not resort to any of them. That is not my style. I am resigning as prime minister. The movement in the streets is against me. The people do not want me as their leader. I comply with their demand.’’

      Actually, Nikol Pashinyan helped Serzh Sargsyan come back to reality – a reality where nobody was waiting for him anymore!

      On March 1, 2008, which Serzh Sargsyan mentioned at the meeting, 8 demonstrators and 2 officers of the internal security forces of the republic died in the center of Yerevan as a result of the government-opposition conflict. And until now no one has been punished for the deaths of these people. I think an investigation of the March 1, 2008 crimes is one of the most important tasks. This page of our history shall be opened, Nikol Pashinyan stated at a meeting April 30 with journalists in the Parliament of Armenia.

      CHAPTER 1

      ANCIENT HISTORY AND A MODERN ARMENIAN STATE

      Armenians love to boast of their history. Let’s explore a few key facts that define our identity and are the source of our pride.

      • Greater Armenia during the reign of Tigran the Great in the first century BCE occupied a vast territory in Western Asia and was a serious rival to Rome and Parthia.

      • We were the first to adopt Christianity as state religion in 301 CE.

      • Our script is one of the oldest and dates back to the late fourth and early fifth century CE. As early as the fifth century, the Bible had been translated into Armenian.

      • We went through horrible trials and suffered genocide in Ottoman Turkey in 1915 in part because we kept loyal to Christianity. (Incidentally, the universal recognition of this horrendous crime that Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora are struggling for is also a prime factor in preserving the identity of Armenians throughout the world.)

      • Armenians have made a major contribution to the development of their neighbors. The rich Armenian heritage that has remained in Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Iran is well known. One can see Armenian churches and other structures throughout the vast territory of Western Asia and Asia Minor. Especially magnificent are the khachkars (cross-stones), which so distinctly illustrate our unique religious identity.

      • We proudly state that the Byzantine Empire had royal dynasties

      of Armenian origin.

      • We were able to build the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia outside the Armenian Highlands. That Armenian polity existed from 1080 to 1375.

      • To the USSR we gave five marshals and hundreds of generals who made an immense contribution to the victory over fascism, though Armenians constituted less than one percent of the Soviet population.

      We can continue this list. Yet, despite the proud heritage of the Armenian people, the process of establishing Armenia as a democratic state has progressed slowly. Extreme poverty, corruption, mass emigration, the absence of a realistic economic development program, and many other problems have eviscerated the state and stifled progress.

      What else is preventing us from building a democratic state? Is it difficult to understand that the economy of a modern state cannot develop without free competition, respect for property rights, and an independent judiciary? Do we not understand that monopolies and corruption are destroying state institutions? Can we not see that it is time to conduct free and democratic elections that will attract energetic and talented people to public service?

      As the events of April 2018 showed, the Armenian nation has a magnificent creative potential that will allow it to answer many of these questions. The Velvet Revolution – still going on – also promises solutions to many political, economic, and social problems. The coalescence of the society around the opposition and its leader, Nikol Pashinyan, presents an opportunity to reform both the political system and the entire state apparatus of the country.

      CHAPTER 2

      ARMENIA - A COUNTRY OF PARADOXES AND CITIZEN ACTIVISTS

      The Armenian people are not just hard-working and talented but also modern: We want to keep pace with the world.

      By the way, we’ve got a keen sense of humor and a unique way of thinking.

      For one, our people have a wonderful quality of valuing the world’s clever people, regardless of their nationality. But, at the same time, we usually like to identify our ancestry in those clever people. I meet this phenomenon often when I host experts in Armenia. After their interesting and attention-grabbing lectures, often such a question is heard: "Could it be that your grandmother was Armenian?’’

      And if a person really is talented, it is quite possible that this person has Armenian roots – that’s how we think!

      But that’s not the end of the story, as in response to the answer that the speaker doesn’t have Armenian origins, the remark follows:

      Perhaps you just don’t know about it! These innocent and candid questions show the uniqueness of our thinking and our desire to connect with the world community.

      During the April-May period, an incident occurred in Yerevan that was in no way related to the happenings but illustrative in reflecting the essence of Armenian civic activism. On May 3, an attack was made on a bank in Yerevan. A man with a grenade broke into the bank. Respecting the efforts of the police to neutralize the intruder, ordinary citizens assisted the police in defusing the situation and arresting the individual. The paradox was that the perpetrator was a colonel in the Armenian police force. So it turns out policemen break the law and ordinary citizens help catch them!

      Many such paradoxes can be encountered in our life. Corruption in the education system in Armenia is a widespread phenomenon. But one of its manifestations is particularly bizarre: Some students pay their lecturers to skip the classes and not study. Throughout the world students pay for education to gain knowledge in universities, whereas in Armenia the situation is quite the opposite – students pay to skip classes and not study!

      The Velvet Revolution was in part triggered by their frustration with the high levels of corruption in the education system. The students seek to get high-quality knowledge of the sort given in the world’s leading universities, and they do not want to contend with a degenerate system.

      During the protest actions in April our traditions, distinct way of thinking, and keen sense of humor revealed themselves in an interesting way and offered a lesson – a tool kit – to the world about how to pursue civil rights. Let me cite a few examples.

      On the most active days of protest actions in Yerevan, people put the photos of the most infamous person in the country on the crosswalks (the zebras) so that everybody could walk on him!

      On April 25 and 26, the main slogan of the protesters across Armenia was RPA, leave! So, thousands of drivers placed posters with the slogan RPA, leave! on the windshields of their cars. I know of no other example in the annals of dissent that has had such a great influence on the mood of the people.

      From April 15 to April 22 – at the highest point of repression against the protesters, when mass arrests started and the police didn’t have enough vehicles to take the arrested people to police stations – law enforcement officers decided to

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