Film director Tigran Khzmlyan, representative of the Armenian opposition ‘Sardarapat’ activist group, told VK about the relations between the Armenian government and the Armenian diaspora, as well as about the upcoming parliamentary elections.
- Last year the Armenian authorities spoke a lot about boosting the country’s relations with diaspora representatives. They called on successful emigrants to invest in Armenia. However, the action against Narek Arutynyan shows quite an opposite trend…
- Those who usurped power in Armenia and manipulate the judicial system made another show-trial out of Narek Arutynyan’s process. They themselves ravage the country’s national wealth, but suddenly the regime decided to fight a corrupt businessmen. They started, however, with a well-known art patron, Narek Arutynyan, who returned to Armenia from abroad and who has carried out dozens of charity projects to support our art and culture. Ironically, Arutynyan’s arrest came right after the President’s inspired speech in Marseille, when he called on all Armenian emigrants to return to their Motherland. Arutynyan’s case was totally falsified. It is obvious that it was no isolated incident; it is in the very logic of the oligarchic-criminal system’s interaction with the diaspora representatives. The whole inquiry looked more like an act of political vengeance than an economic prosecution. Narek Arutynyan always avoided politics, but he acted in an independent manner, so the Armenian authorities tried to teach him a lesson and to discourage all other ‘independent’ figures who try to defy the rules of the oligarchic regime.
- However, the diaspora didn’t react in any way to Arutynyan’s prosecution…
- It only seems like that. In fact, this case helped the diaspora come to some important conclusions. First of all, they finally understood that the existing regime would use their economic possibilities only to fuel itself.
Moreover, the Armenian diaspora understood that it should get rid of its image as a ‘cash cow’. Diaspora representatives, such as Charles Aznavour, Catholicos Aram I and businessman Levon Ayrapetyan, started to actively criticize the Armenian authorities and get involved in politics. Narek Arutynyan’s case was the last straw that broke the back of the diaspora’s patience.
- What are the latest political trends in Armenia on the eve of the parliamentary elections? Could one expect significant changes?
- It is impossible to examine the political situation in Armenia outwith global developments. The Arab revolutions demonstrated yet another social division point: those who watch TV and those who use the Internet. Television in authoritarian states (such as Armenia) is totally controlled by the government, while the Internet is relatively independent, so it is not surprising that the number of Internet users in Armenia grew considerably last year – people try to avoid the brainwashing from Yerevan. And this is an important achievement of 2011. It is now obvious that young people – who form the majority of Internet users – are disappointed with the authorities and are ready to make the rest of the society more politically aware. This is what they call pre-revolutionary situation. I don’t think we can talk about any elections in Armenia, as we have nothing to choose from. The authorities are capable of drawing any results they want from the polls, but this time the nation will be fully aware of the deception.
- Nevertheless, what do you think, what will the new parliament look like? They say that the Armenian National Congress will replace the ‘Heritage’ party?
- The results of the elections are totally irrelevant to the civic life in Armenia. Neither ‘Heritage’ nor the ANC can change anything in the parliament. The ANC is playing by the rules offered by the President, so they will definitely get 10 or 15 seats. However, due to the efforts of the US State Department and other western forces that actually control Serge Sarkisyan, ‘Heritage’ won’t lose its parliamentary seats to the ANC.
I think the turnout at the upcoming elections will be extremely low, but it will be covered up by 300,000 state officials, policemen and soldiers who will be forced to come. There will be no surprises. The ‘Prosperous Armenia’ party will keep its coalition allies, as they are always ready to get back together in case of crisis, despite all their internal conflicts. It is a common misconception that the political strife in Armenia can be reduced to conflict between a pro-western and a pro-Russian elite. But in fact it is a conflict of common people against the oligarchs, and there are partisans of both a Western course of development and of a Russian orientation on both sides.
Interview by David Stepanyan, exclusively to VK
