tzitzernak

Trial Delayed 3rd Time - Ashot Manukyan

2008-07-31T07:07:00.000-07:00

"Ashot Manukyan was charged for saving the life of a fellow. He was arrested when he made a phone call to emergency services to save his friend on March the 1st. Instead of medics the ambulance car was full of special forces who arrested both of them. The 'upgrade' of the sentence is due to blackmail where people where forced to give wrong statements. Ironically one of them was the person whose life he save in the morning of March 1st. One thing for sure he will not spend much time in jail. Instead his cell will be occupied by the serpents of justice. The time will come, and it will come soon."

from July 29
Trial Delayed 3rd Time - Charges increased despite the State still having no evidence
The press was in attendance as well as a few dozen relatives and friends. Mr. Manukyan appeared heartened by having so many supporters in the audience who were standing and cheering for him.

Unfortunately the prosecutor sought an adjournment in order to raise the charges pending against Mr. Manukyan.

He was originally charged during the investigation phase with "organizing public events in violation of the law" (punishable by up to 2 months of imprisonment) and "violence against authorities, endangering their life or health" (punishable by 5 to 10 years imprisonment) (a high felony).

Before the trial the felony charge were downgraded to "simple violence against authorities" (punishable by up to 5 years in jail). Even under this charge there have been no witnesses or testimony against him, despite bribes, threats and beatings.

Today, at the opening of his trial, the prosecutor sought an adjournment to upgrade the charges back to the more serious felony, punishable by 5 to 10 years imprisonment. At the prosecutor's request the court adjourned the case for four weeks. It will now be transferred to the court that handles the higher felonies.
[written by a US Official in Armenia]
---------------------------------
Where is the Diaspora as another group of Armenians are killed off? Mr. Manukyan gave his whole life to his country: played by the rules, never raised his voice or took a dime, sacrificed everything instead of bowing down to corruption or apathy and is now facing death in prison.

Where are the Armenian voices for that? Ask them:

AAA: info@aaainc.org; bardouny@aaainc.org
ANCA: anca@anca.org; anca-dc@ix.netcom.com

Note: the above segments were authored by various individuals-I have compiled them. The bold in the last segment is mine, as I have asked this very question - Where are these so called, self-proclaimed, great protectors of the Armenian Nation?
It is easy to rally any group for earthquakes, for protection against wartime aggression, for recognition of the Genocide.
It takes true strength to maintain your principles, identity, and ideals, to turn away from the easy route, and take the route leading to Northern Boulevard.

#44 Pashinyan - The Other Side of the World

2008-07-31T07:04:00.000-07:00

44. արեւմտյան կիսագնդում

Ինձ այլեւս ոչինչ չէր պահում Փարիզում եւ մտովի արդեն Հավանայում էի` Կուբայի մայրաքաղաքում:

44. In the Western Hemisphere

There was nothing keeping me here in Paris anymore, and mentally I was already in Havana, Cuba’s capital. I counted of how much cash I had left and realized that I didn’t have enough for my future travels. I asked Fred if I could borrow from him, and explained that when I was no longer in France, an equal amount would be credited to his credit card, that is, my debt would be paid off. Fred, of course, gave me the sum I needed, but inquired about who would pay off my debt:

“Soros,” I comforted him. Fred still didn’t get it.

We had some problems reserving a hotel room in Havana. It turned out that the hotels in Cuba don’t have internet connection. We got in touch with the company from which we had gotten the plane tickets; they told us they could give foreigners the telephone numbers of two hotels.

One of the hotels was called “Havana Librè”, the other “Havana Riviera.” We returned to the hotel and I called the number for “Havana Riviera.” What happened is what I had expected, but was hoping I would be wrong:

“Havana Riviera Hotel; Can I help you?” It was the same guy; and this, in Fidel’s Cuba, whose goal was to wipe out imperialism and capitalism from the face of the earth.

There was no point in hoping to get a ticket through the internet auction to Cuba because only one airline went to Cuba. So we had no choice but to pay full price.

Fred said he was planning to stay in Paris for the time being and would try to occupy himself with his business. He later came to the airport with me where we said goodbye, promising to stay in touch. I didn’t say goodbye to Quentin and Isabelle; there was no need to bother them one more time. And now, I’m in the plane. I found my seat, placed my carry-on in the compartment above and sat down by the window. There weren’t too many travelers. They were looking for, and finding their seats and waiting for the flight.

My seat was near the window. I sat down and through the small window I began to follow the activities in the airport. A voice, clearly directed at me, interrupted my work:

“Excuse me, is this 15B?” a young woman of 20-22 years, with short dark hair, a dress that reached above her knees, was pointing to the seat immediately next to me. Her eyes were shaped like almonds and dark, and near her mouth, on the left side, she had a small beauty spot.

“Yes, yes,” I said, hiding my curiosity as much as possible.
She took off her jeans jacket, put it in the overhead compartment and got ready to sit down:

“Would you like to exchange seats?” I asked, thinking she might prefer to sit by the window.

She made a negative gesture, shaking her head and tightening her lips a little bit. In that split second we were looking into each other’s eyes, and, lo and behold, it seemed to me that I read her mind, it seemed to me that I heard what she was thinking: Look, he’s already trying to push me against the wall.” It’s a very strange feeling and I was confused: is this really possible? Maybe her gesture and the expression in her eyes were vibrant. But maybe I’m mistaken. But no, I was sure that she thought exactly that. But how is that possible? No, it’s not possible to leave it at that; I have to make sure:

“I didn’t have anything bad in mind,” I said.

“Excuse me?” she asked, as she was getting ready to put the CD-player’s ear phones in her ears:

“What I mean is, when I offered you my seat, I had no ulterior motives.”

“Of course not,” she said calmly, taking her ear phones to her ears.

“But you thought I meant something else,” I said.

“What?” said she, obviously not getting my meaning.

“When I offered you the seat by the window, you thought I had something else in mind, that I meant something else by that offer,” I explained to her calmly.

Her pupils dilated, as if she had forgotten what she had thought at that moment and just remembered. The girl visibly blushed and I realized that I was right. She was looking at me with an expression of fear and her eyes were darting right and left, as if afraid to think of anything:

“Do you read people’s minds?” she asked, afraid of thinking anything.

“No, what are you talking about? It’s just that your gesture was very suggestive,” I said, which caused her to blush even more.

“Can you swear that you can’t read people’s minds?” she said again, confused.

“Yes, of course. Just think, this is not a fantasy film,” I said, smiling.

Distrust persisted in her expression, but after looking at me for a split second, after thinking of something and figuring out my reaction, she extended her hand to me and said:

“Cecile.”

“Boyan,” I said, taking her soft hand in my palm

“Happy Landing,” she said and, smiling, she pushed her ear phones into her ears.

Once she sat down, her short dress became even shorter. She was wearing light sky blue stockings, which underscored her thighs even more. I, of course, did not look at her thighs. It’s just that sometimes when I looked around, as if I was looking for something, I would cast a glance at her pretty legs. But Cecile sensed what I was looking for. She pulled out the magazine from the pocket in front of her, extended the little table, placed the magazine on it and pretended to look at it. The extended table covered her feet, and now I could only see a small part of her right thigh, and even that, with some difficulty. Of course, I wouldn’t allow indecency and again I started to look out the window. Then I started thinking that when it got dark, I could look at her thighs to my heart’s content through the reflection in the window. But to tell you the truth, I soon was ashamed of these thoughts. They were doing the right thing in Iran by not allowing women to wear such dresses.

The plane took off. Ear phones were distributed to all the travelers, through which it was possible to hear music or follow the movie being shown on the screen. In this way, we were flying over the Atlantic Ocean with the ear phones in our ears. For a long time we didn’t exchange any words. Soon, however, food was served. I took off the ear phones, as did Cecile. They were offering an excellent red wine in little bottles and we each took one.

The French like to talk around the dinner table. Cecile was no exception to this. It turned out that she was going to Havana with her brother, his girlfriend and his friend. Cecile’s three traveling companions were sitting a few seats ahead of us.

The main traveler to Havana in their group was her father, Raymond. The latter was involved in advertising. The new head of Cuba, Raul Castro, had finally allowed cellular phones and Cecile’s father was on his way to Cuba to study the prospects of advertising in the new market. He had combined business with pleasure and had taken his girlfriend, Elise, with him, and his daughter. Cecil was graduating from University, and the trip to Cuba was a good time to practice her Spanish. And Charles, Raymond’s friend, a lost millionaire, as Cecile called him, was going to Havana to search for new and exotic love adventures. I said I was a writer, traveling to find themes to write about.

It turned out that we were staying in the same hotel in Havana. Knowing this, Cecile advised me to study Charles carefully because he could be a good theme for Felidone:

“He thinks he’s Don Juan, but in reality he is like a hunting dog who just keeps looking for bitches,” she said with obvious disgust.

I remembered how I constantly wanted to look at Cecile’s thighs and was ashamed again. The journey was long; we slept some, woke up, exchanged a few words, and listened to music. After the meal had been served, Cecile had instinctively turned up the table and I could freely look at her legs, especially when she was asleep. But I stopped myself from doing that; it was an unpleasant obstacle.

Once the voice of the captain woke us up, when he was announcing that we were in the western hemisphere.

Finally, the plane started its descent. I was trying to guess who Havana’s international airport would be named after. I had two theories: Fidel Castro or Ernesto Che Guevara. I was wrong. The airport was named after Jose Marti.

(to be continued)

#43 Pashinyan - The Other Side of the World

2008-07-31T07:03:00.000-07:00

43. ժողովրդի առաջնորդ Ազատությունը

Իզաբելի ճառը ինձ ցնցեց` առաջին հերթին համոզչականությամբ: Մի պահ Ֆրեդն ու Իզաբելը սկսեցին քննարկել` լեդի Դիի եւ Դոդի Ալֆայեդի վթարը սպանությո՞ւն էր, թե՞ դժբախտ պատահար. նրանք հարցաքննում էին Քվենտինին` իմանալու համար նրա կարծիքը` վստահ լինելով թերեւս, որ Ֆրանսիայի ղեկավարի թիկնազորի ծառայողը կիմանա ճշմարտությունը այս մասին:

43. Liberty Leading the People

Isabelle’s speech moved me a great deal, primarily because it was so convincing. For a while Fred and Isabelle discussed whether the accident of Lady Di and Dodi Fayed was an unfortunate incident or murder. They were asking Quentin, to see what he thought; maybe they thought the bodyguard of France’s leader would know the truth. Taking advantage of the situation, I distanced myself from the general discussion and began to go over what Isabelle had said. Damn it, she was right!

I, who had always been against stressing the women’s side of an issue, arrived at a conclusion that surprised me, all because of what this beautiful woman of the podium had said. Months ago I wouldn’t even have wanted to hear about it, but now I feel that a new argument has taken shape in my mind: there can not be real Freedom, without the real freedom of the Woman.

Again, in my mind, I returned to the Louvre. I had thought Delacroix’s “Liberty Leading the People” had been ridiculous. On that canvas, a very beautiful, attractive and desirable woman led armed men, laborers, intellectuals, and the young, amid smoke, ruins, corpses and barricades. In one hand she held a gun, in the other, a flag. Her face was focused, her hair flowing; her shoulders, erotic and exciting; her breasts, attractive and firm, were bare.

At the Louvre, I was looking at that woman’s breasts and was sexually aroused…Maybe that’s what kept me from seeing what I see now. The symbol of Liberty is the Free Woman, not only the symbol of freedom for women but in general, for men, and the freedom of all…

“What are you thinking?” asked Isabelle, realizing that I was lost in thought.

“About the things you said.”

“Really? And what conclusion did you reach?” she asked.

“You were very convincing.”

“Olé; let’s drink a toast to me,” she became naïve again.

“To the great philosopher Isabelle,” said Quentin, and we drank.

“But won’t you give us more details about your thoughts on what I said?” continued Isabelle.

“Why not, but if my thoughts are a little raw, please don’t be offended.”

Everyone was attentively looking at me. I continued:

“I began to think that if, for the sake of argument, we were to divide people into men and women, the males can’t be free if in reality the females are not free.”

“How so?” Fred was surprised.

“My conclusion is based on an actual impression I formed when I was in Iran. As you know, over there they go by Islamic traditions; you can’t consume alcohol, you can’t wear shorts. And year round, the women wear the kind of clothing, in black or gray, through which you can see only their faces and hands. If the woman’s hair shows, it’s a serious problem. In public transportation, like buses, men and women are segregated. You may say women are repressed in Iran, and there probably is repression. If Isabelle appears there the way she looks now, they’ll sentence her at least to long years in prison. Now, let’s look into the predicament of women with the Iranians themselves. They say that Iran is a matriarchy…

“That’s ridiculous,” Isabelle couldn’t resist. I continued:

“But they’re not really so wrong. When you show them the segregated buses, they say that it is the men who are forbidden to enter the women’s section; the women can enter the men’s section. But the thing is that no woman will do that; that’s just some regulation.”

“But that doesn’t mean that the woman is free,” said Quentin.

“Of course it doesn’t, but the whole point is that women’s lack of freedom is more a testimony to the lack of freedom for men.”

“Do you mean because men don’t have the right to enter the women’s sections on buses?” said Isabelle with some misgiving.

“That’s just one example, somewhat superficial, but there is a deeper problem,” I said, and continued, “observations show that in many countries in the East, where the woman is not free and her opportunities for self-expression are limited, the woman’s influence is expressed in the shadows. If you like, in many cases women compensate for their humiliation and lack of freedom by exerting a shadowy influence on men, by de facto limiting men’s freedom...”

“That’s an interesting theory,” murmured Quentin.

“I said earlier that my thoughts are still a little raw, but there are examples when the woman is subjected to humiliation, even brutality, but all that is just the tip of the problem. In many cases it’s obvious that all the resources to make decisions is in the hands of the same woman—in the hands of that abused, even raped, woman.”
“But in the free West, also, the woman participates in, and has serious influence in the decision making process,” said Fred in answer to my statement.

“Of course she does. But if, if you’ll forgive taking your example, Quentin and Isabelle have the same rights and liberties in the family and in general, and if Isabelle fully participates in the decision making process, she is exercising her rights, recognized by everyone. There’s nothing strange here; everything is done in the open. But openness is the most important aspect of freedom. In the East, the repressed, unfree woman is forced to work in the shadows, sometimes even hide her authority, other times to take more than she can. And she does it as a compensation for her lack of freedom and deprivations. To compensate for the fact that she has no right to raise her voice and say: I want to live not with this crude animal who beats me day and night, but with the one who loves, or will love me. And so, she quenches her thirst for self-expression in a shadowy manner, by betrayals, by becoming a de facto victimizer and a victim, simultaneously. I thought this was why the woman, the Free Woman is a symbol of Freedom,” I summarized.

This part of my talk seemed more convincing to the others around the table, and to me. And now, remembering that talk in retrospect, I am convinced that it really is true. If the public really wants to be free, first and foremost it must tend to the woman’s freedom. May be this formulation is wrong, too. It’s better to say, the Woman is the symbol of freedom and its leader. Delacroix had it right when he painted and called his canvas “Liberty Leading the People.”

**********

Our dinner was lively, which was a pleasant surprise for Fred and me, as well as for Quentin. We were constantly talking, joking, and discussing serious themes. The themes followed one after the other. Isabelle got all the possible information about us from Fred and me. But the central theme of our conversation was Freedom, Lady Di, the right to be happy, and we kept coming back to that theme any chance we had, to revisit the theme yet another time. It was during one of those times that Isabelle announced:

“It took a lot of courage for Meme and Nikolya to announce their right to be happy and to exercise that right.”

Isabelle was referring to the President of France and his wife, who, as is well known, got married after Nikolya, as Isabelle called him, divorced his first wife after he was elected president. I immediately said I didn’t agree with Isabelle. This surprised them all. I said that of course I accepted the right for the President and Meme to be happy, but I didn’t agree that the step they had taken had been such a courageous one.

“Just between us, that was a dishonest step,” I announced, which terrified Isabelle.

“How so?” she protested. I explained my position:

“If Nikolya had separated from his first wife and remarried before the elections, I would have considered it a daring decision. But the possibility was great that separating from his wife and remarrying before the elections, he would have lost the elections.”

“So they were crazy,” said Isabelle.

“Maybe that’s crazy, but they lied to the French who had the right to know that the presidential candidate would change his family situation. If you want to know, dear Isabelle, our dear Meme is not the legitimate First Lady. What I mean is that she may be the President’s wife, but she is not the First Lady because the French had not chosen her as the First Lady,” I summed up.

Fred and Quentin began to laugh, but Isabelle was getting nervous, she tried to counter argue but couldn’t find the arguments, which amused us more.

“Regardless, they are a very beautiful couple and deserve to represent France,” Isabelle said finally.

“I give up,” I added, which made Isabelle very happy.

“Then let’s drink a toast to me,” she said.

“To Isabelle, defender of the weak,” Fred said, mimicking Quentin. We drank.

Isabelle loved Meme and Nikolya very much and would get upset when the conversation didn’t go in their favor. When the conversation moved to the events of March 1 in Yerevan and to the victims, Quentin mentioned the clashes in the Parisian suburb in 2006 and that despite the fact that they lasted over a week, there were no guns used against people and one man had died from electric shock. Isabelle, too, remembered with pride, that at that time people were very satisfied with Nikolya who was the Minister of the Interior then, and who was able to calm things down without victims. We had already had a lot of wine, and seizing the opportunity, I lifted my fist in the air, and said:

“Nikolya, Nikolya! Had I been in Paris in 2006, I would have shown him what mass unrests would be like…”

Quentin and Fred somehow held back their laughter and maintained their serious expressions. I, too, somehow maintained a serious and threatening expression. Isabelle was confused, and seeing our grim expressions, turned to Quentin, pleadingly:

“He’s joking, isn’t he?”

We couldn’t resist anymore, and started laughing. Isabelle was happy again, and very attractive.

Fred and I stayed at Quentin’s and Isabelle’s home almost till dawn. At about midnight we tried to say goodbye, but they said they didn’t have to work the next day and that we could continue our pleasant conversations. When we had exhausted all the themes, we got up. When we were saying goodbye, Isabelle confessed that she really like us a lot, then, turning to me, she said:

“Give me your passport; I’ll try to take care of your visa problems.”

I tried to resist and signaled to Quentin to help me out. But he said that what Isabelle did wasn’t his business. I finally gave in, and handed Boyan’s passport to Isabelle. She said she didn’t promise anything, she would just try to solve the problem, and thought she could. Two days later I was asked for two photographs. Later, I received my passport in a sealed envelope at the hotel, with visas for Cuba and Japan. There were also two invitations to a high fashion show in the envelope. Fred and I went to the show. Isabelle was truly admirable on the podium. But she was not the Isabelle we knew. Her gait was forceful, her face, predatory, and her gaze, feline.

(to be continued)

#42 The Other Side of the World- Pashinyan

2008-07-31T07:02:00.000-07:00

42. երջանիկ լինելու իրավունք

Քվենտինենց մոտ գնալուց առաջ մենք հագանք մեր վարձած գեղեցիկ կոստյումները` գեղեցիկ վերնաշապիկներով ու կոշիկներով. որոշեցինք փողկապ չկապել, եւ դա ճիշտ էր, որովհետեւ, ինչպես արդեն ասացի, Քվենտինն ու Իզաբելը մեզ դիմավորեցին սովորական տանու շորերով:

42. The Right to be Happy

Before going to Quentin’s we wore our handsome, rented suits with nice shirts and shoes. But we decided not to wear ties. This was the right decision, because as I mentioned earlier, Quentin and Isabelle met us in their everyday clothes. On the way over we also stopped at a florist’s and each got a small bouquet for Quentin’s girlfriend, Isabelle.

If you’re interested in my opinion of the bouquet, I can tell you that I was most impressed by the bouquet in Eldar Ryazanov’s film “Office Romance” where the hero, Novoseltsev comes to work early every morning and tries to place a bouquet on his director-lover’s desk, Ludmilla Prokovenya.

I’m sure some of the readers of these lines will look for sarcasm, but I say this in all seriousness. If you remember, in the film Novosetzev spills the flowers, the red and white carnations, a couple of times. But in the end, he finally gets a vase and puts it on Ludimilla Prokovenya’s desk, Oh, how beautiful those flowers looked.

I’ve given such bouquets my loved one a few times. They were beautiful of course, but the original remains original. Even though, in fact, a similar romance has started in my life as well, from afar, but…

But let’s get back to Paris. At Quentin’s home we had some very good champagne before dinner. It looked muddy, not transparent. It was the first time I was having champagne before dinner. In our tradition, you drink champagne only after you’ve eaten enough to explode and have had vodka and beer. It turns out, however, that champagne can stimulate your appetite; I used to think that it stimulated vomiting. Frankly, the idea of having champagne before dinner seemed a little uncivilized for me, but like they say, when you go to a village you wear the shirt they wear. And now we’re in the village called Paris.

When the maid invited us to the table, Isabelle was happy:

“I seldom eat normally,” she said, explaining that through her professional activities. If your physique changes, you can’t get on the podium.

For starters, they served us a large dish of green salad doused with olive oil. Then, we had goose pâté, which as is well known, is highly valued in Europe and especially in France. We had the pâté, which was really delicious, with red wine and some side dishes. Then we took a long break, after which we were served red fish with white wine and other side dishes. During this whole time there was a lot of discussion and conversation around the table, the moving force behind it all being Isabelle, of course.

“What have you seen in Paris; what has pleased you; what don’t you like; tell us everything,” she would try to make us talk with the naughtiness of a little child, although neither Fred nor I were resisting much. Quentin was quiet, and was basically contributing through gestures and exclamations.

Fred and I talked about the Louvre (of course, we left out the part about the lady with the little penis), about the Mona Lisa, Van Gogh, as well as about Venus de Milo and Claude. Here, we also have something to tell the reader. The day before the Van Gogh exhibit, we had gone to the Louvre for a second time. After we left the museum, we saw Claude in a nearby park, sitting alone on a bench. Fred said he really needed to know who the old man was swearing at and why. Claude was willing to tell his secret to Fred. He was insisting that the Venus de Milo was not a second century BC statue, but dated from 1899 and that the sculptor was his grandmother, who was, according to Claude, a great, though unrecognized sculptor. From what he said, in 1900 an American had bought the statue from his grandfather, then had cut off one hand, then the other hand, had damaged the statue with a hammer and buried it in on the island of Crete. Eight years later the statue was discovered, supposedly by accident, and that a study had shown that it was an antique Greek statue, and the forger of art works had received millions from the Louvre. The leadership of the Louvre, according to Claude, had been involved in this scam, which had falsified many evidence about the discovery and acquisition of the statue, had altered the facts, and so on and so forth. Claude insisted that the spies at the Louvre had also stolen from their home and destroyed all the sketches and documents that testified to the real origins of the Venus de Milo.

“Thieves, knaves, liars,” would say Claude, interrupting his narrative.

With his frequent trips to the Louvre Claude wanted to solve the problem most important for him, that is, to have the name of the real sculptor, his grandfather’s, on the plaque. He also showed us papers which consisted of petitions, resolutions, official answers which, however, were in French and we couldn’t understand all the details. Claude also said that he had gone to court, but the court dismissed his case due to lack of evidence.

“How can there be any proof when those knaves have stolen and destroyed everything,” he said angrily and insisted that at one time they had negotiated with him, had offered him money so that he would stop ascribing the statue to his grandfather. According to Claude, the main argument they had was that if it came out that the statue didn’t date from the second century BC but from the end of the 19th century, it would lose all meaning and would be moved from the exhibition hall in the Louvre to the trashcan. Claude didn’t agree with this viewpoint and said that his grandfather had been a genius and that humanity should acknowledge and appreciate him.

While Fred was telling the story, Isabelle, Quentin and I were listening. But by contrast to us, Isabelle was listening in rapture and with a solemn face. When Fred finished the story, Isabelle said with all seriousness:

“I believe the old man.”

This was much unexpected. Quentin, Fred and I started laughing. But while Fred and I were trying to control ourselves, Quentin couldn’t stop laughing.

At that moment, Isabelle was charming beyond words. Later, I began to wonder if she was trying to amuse us with her comment. Sometimes women use naiveté as a way to charm and it’s sometimes hard to say whether they’re really naïve or if it’s just a front. At any rate, naiveté doesn’t stop a woman from being intelligent and women without naiveté are really boring. The same, of course, applies to women who are devoid of intelligence. Isabelle was able to offer us a balance between intelligence and naiveté; that she was intelligent, very intelligent, I was convinced when the conversation moved to Lady Di.

I started telling about our trip to the site in Paris where the Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed had been in an accident. The site is an underground tunnel with an arched entrance one meter and a half above ground, and where people come to place flowers. There were fresh flowers when we visited the site, and a few bouquets. Fred said that there were always fresh flowers there.

“I gather that here, as in all of Europe, people adore Lady Di,” I said.

“It’s pretty much the same in the US,” said Fred.

“Things like that don’t happen in the US?” asked Quentin. “Frankly, I haven’t noticed the special respect towards Lady Diana where I come from. People criticize her because even though she was a princess, she was with an Arab multimillionaire.”

I felt that Isabelle’s face become solemn:

“She just wanted to be with the man she loved,” she said.

“But wasn’t she married, after all?” I asked.

“She was already separated,” added Quentin to clarify the situation.

“Even if she were married,” said Isabelle with a solemn tone of voice, “she had married with the hope of being happy. She loved her husband and hoped that she would be loved by him. But not only her husband did not love her, but he was with Camilla Parker.”

There was unanticipated depth in Isabelle’s glance. She continued:

“The story of Charles and Diana is very similar to an ordinary life story. But there are some nuances here, in the sense that it relates to a prince and a princess and to the parents of princes. Lady Diana was unhappy, but she was a princess, the wife of a the future king, the mother of a future king and would need to be consoled by that. She also had responsibilities before history, traditions, and public opinion. And according to the accepted norms and traditions, she should have learned to live with her unhappiness. But she behaved differently. She said, she declared loudly, that as a woman she had the right to be happy and did not allow anyone to interfere with her right for happiness. She showed that any woman, whether a princess or a laborer, had the right to be happy, to be free, to make her own choices, to be loved. Every woman is the queen of her home, the princess, yet many women have reconciled with the pressures of tradition and have lived with their unhappiness and humiliation. But she, Lady Diana, said to the women of the world, you all have the right to be happy, the right to be loved, and the right to be free. That is why women the world over adore her even if they don’t say so out loud. This is the whole secret, and for this reason everyday a few dozen women feel that they owe it to the princess to place fresh flowers at the site you have visited.”

(to be continued)

About tradeoffs...

2008-07-30T12:01:00.000-07:00

a1plus reported that there will be two issues relevant to armenia brought up in the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly - here's the link to the actual agenda:
UN General Assembly Agenda - 63rd session.
DePuig recently spoke of "catastrophic" consequences, including potentially having PACE readdress the situation in the Fall Meetings instead of waiting until early 2009. His terminology, including but not limited to the "catastrophic" consquences, left me wondering what their leverage was... why the change, and what would the mechanism be? I wonder if the issues that are going to be brought up at the UN, including one titled "The Situation in the Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan," are part of that pressure, or is it true, true, and unrelated?

Armenian Unrest Shooters ‘Identified’ - I think we heard this before. They're not revealing who - which is understandable. But they're also not revealing, according to the article, what security forces these individuals are from. There were initially reports that some of the forces involved in March 1 were not from Armenia - maybe Abkhaz (some rumors), Russian, Kharabaghtsi.
Now, I have heard from two completely unrelated individuals who were present on March1 and the days just before and after that the language they heard from the forces present were NOT armenian (from the first source), and definitely spoke in the Kharabaghtsi dialect (second source). I hope this isn't true, but it sure does seem to be turning out that way. Speaking of sources - two other sources who were in Yerevan at the time heard, again - this is word of mouth - that the police officers of Armenia were told to hand in their handguns just before March 1... this lends itself to a number of interpretations, including but not limited to a knowledge of events that were to come, and possibly a lack of trust in what the police of Armenia would have done had they been armed - would they have supported the people...?
Regardless of the source of the forces, while clearly those who are responsible for the deaths should be brought to justice, I hope that it doesn't end with those individual officers - that is, there needs to be an investigation of what orders were given, by whom... Individual officers are a means to an end, and should not be scapegoated, and used as a way to try to sweep the larger issues under the rug... which is exactly what the RK/SS regime has done so far

Financial support for the political prisoners and families...

2008-07-28T17:06:00.000-07:00

An account has been created to help out the political prisoners and their families. What I think is the original source is" qh.do.am - a site created with a subtitle "against political persecution." The HIMA group website also referenced them.
http://www.qh.do.am/index/0-10
The website also has a list of donors published - I'm not sure if they'll keep that up or not.
a1plus has an article on the topic as well.

News source...

2008-07-28T16:36:00.001-07:00

Probably many of you know about this, but I thought I'd put it out there... The US Embassy in Yerevan publishes (online) daily events Armenia... I think its interesting to see what they are looking at, what they think is worth posting, how they post it, etc.... Here is the link.

What's all the business about bananas...?

2008-07-28T14:36:00.001-07:00

Recently, there has been a hum in the Armenian news about Armenian banana imports and exports. Sounds funny, since bananas are a tropical food, and Armenia is far from any tropical areas. A YouTube User put together this video about the issue...

Here is the link to the original hetq article

Video from Norther Boulevard

2008-07-26T07:18:00.001-07:00

YouTube

#41:ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD-Pashinyan

2008-07-26T07:05:00.000-07:00

41. գնացքից` պարահանդես

Մենք երկար մնացինք Օվերում. այնտեղ էլ ճաշեցինք ու Փարիզ վերադարձանք բավականին ուշ: Այդ փոքրիկ քաղաքը շատ անուշ տպավորություն գործեց, ու ես հասկացա, որ եթե տվյալ երկրի մասին ուզում ես պատկերացում կազմել, պետք է դիտարկես ոչ թե նրա պսպղան մայրաքաղաքը, այլ գավառը, այսպիսի փոքրիկ քաղաքները, գյուղերը. դրանք խոսուն են, չափազանց խոսուն:

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD

41. From the Train to a Dance

We stayed in Auvers for a long time. We had dinner there and returned to Paris pretty late. That little town impressed me a lot; I realized that if you want to form an idea about a country, you should look not at the glittering capital but at the provinces, little towns like this one, and villages; they are very, very telling. In Auvers, you forget you’re in a town. It seemed to us that we had come to visit a family, that we had entered a hearth. And in fact there are such places; that’s what the term ‘community’ means. There’s such dignity and trust on the faces of people here. If you see an unsure or confused person in a group of people, you can be sure it’s the mayor who feels, or maybe doesn’t feel that what people are saying is that they’re not going to vote for him anymore.

We heard in Auvers that years ago the auditors, which as I understood, consist of townspeople, had found out that the then mayor had taken 100 thousand euros from the town treasury for personal needs and had promised the treasurer that he would return it in three months. When this came out, the mayor had to leave Auvers because people stopped greeting him even though he had returned the money on his own volition: “how can we not have contempt towards a man who gained our trust, and got into our pockets?” explained the owner of the little restaurant, who was proud of his town.

To imagine the city of Auvers, let the reader imagine a warm, comfortable, modest and attractive home, where people live in harmony, knowing in their hearts that they have the responsibility and ownership.

But one must earn that…

After we returned from Auvers, we discussed a few details about the dinner the next evening. Fred said that Quentin’s girlfriend would be joining us for dinner.

During dinner, it became clear that it was that young beauty who had planned the whole thing. She had come up with the idea once she heard the message I had left for Quentin.

“I don’t like it when people are upset at each other,” said Isabelle. It followed that Quentin hadn’t really been too excited about the prospect of seeing me. But my message had been enough reason for Isabelle, and Quentin had ceded. Of course, before the decision to invite us Isabelle had dragged everything he knew about us out of Quentin, and, realizing who I was, who Fred was, the circumstances under which we were in Paris, she decided to invite us.

“I like surprise acquaintances,” said Isabelle with a smile. There was a type of sweet vivacity in her.

I tried to find some hint of sarcasm in her statement about surprise acquaintances, but was convinced that this girl was completely honest; I was glad I had sworn at Quentin because without that, this dinner and acquaintance would not have happened.

Isabelle was a real beauty, a top model by profession, and the rising star of French fashion. The large house where they received us had a huge window and a huge balcony from where you could see the Eiffel Tower and the River Seine.

There were a lot of magazines at the house. Isabelle’s photographs were printed either on the covers or the pages of the magazines. In these photos she was focused, had a feline expression, tense face and wore unusual clothing. In real life her expression was simple, her face vivacious; she wore a pair of jeans and a tight-fitting shirt, under which her tight, beautiful breast were imprinted. But it wasn’t vulgar, just beautiful, and just conducive to an interesting, delicious dinner, in sincere friendship.

In a large photograph hanging from one of the walls, Isabelle and her friends stood on a podium, during a show. I was pouring over the large photo and found one of the faces very familiar:

“Is that the new First Lady of France standing next to you?” I couldn’t resist asking her.

Isabelle was surprised that I recognized her even with make-up.

“Yes, it is; it’s Meme,” she used the tender nickname for France’s sitting president’s sitting wife.

Isabelle admitted that she and Meme were friends. She considered Meme an older and trustworthy friend, and said they liked each other a lot and were very close. It also turned out that the meeting of Isabelle and Quentin had taken place in that context. Quentin had often been among one of Meme’s bodyguards, and Isabelle and Meme used to meet often. That’s where their love story had begun, and because of which Quentin almost lost his job; he was not allowed to look at or appreciate the beauty and femininity of those he protected during working hours. Quentin had explained, of course, that he was not protecting Isabelle, and finally the story had a good ending.

Quentin and Isabelle hoped that their relationship was serious, and everything was moving along in that direction. But they were in no hurry to come to a decision and said that the right thing to do was to be completely and totally sure about everything. In any case, they had been living together for a long time although they said living together was really a relative thing because there were times when they didn’t see each other for days, because of their respective professions:

“It doesn’t make sense to get married under these circumstances,” said Isabelle, laughing, and admitted that she wouldn’t get married until she was ‘too old’ for the podium.

“Will you wait for me, my guardian angel?” she asked Quentin.

Meeting her was an unexpected pleasure. I would never have thought that the girls walking on the podium could be so openhearted, so frank, have regular human qualities, and be so natural and simple.

Quentin, of course, was polite with us, although he was a little cold at the beginning. I said a couple words to him to iron out the misunderstanding between us, and during dinner it seemed to me that he got rid of his unpleasant feelings. Anyway, his aloofness disappeared very quickly.

Meeting Isabelle was very pleasant for Fred as well; a very happy and pleasant evening awaited us. Frankly speaking, it was obvious that Quentin and Isabelle also had the need for human contact and it seemed that our visit allowed a breath of fresh air in their house. Moving forward let me say that we became friends, and my acquaintance with Isabelle lit green lights for my future journey.

(to be continued)

DECLARATION BY THE POLITICAL PRISONERS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

2008-07-24T17:03:00.001-07:00

[translation of the document posted earlier]

DECLARATION
BY
THE POLITICAL PRISONERS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

We, Armenia’s political prisoners, welcome the unyielding will of our compatriots who struggle in the name of freedom and prosperity for our county. We are convinced that the struggle has entered a decisive stage.

The regime of criminal oligarchs in Armenia, who have illegally controlled the resources of the state, is in its final throes and discloses its true visage to the world. In the last four months the Chief Prosecutor of Armenia was not able to charge any of the activists of the Popular Movement for crimes committed on March 1. On the contrary, the work conducted by the Prosecutor has unwittingly shown that all announcements made by the authorities about the use of firearms against the police are lies and a fiction of their imagination. Our declarations that the crime committed on March 1 was planned beforehand by the ruling regime against the people and state of Armenia has been proven right beyond any doubt.

Everyone in Armenia and throughout the world now realizes that the slaughter on March 1, the ensuing arrests of hundreds of the Popular Movement’s activists and the trumped up charged brought against them are, in fact, measures to terrorize the entire population. The intent of these measures was to cover up the ultimate crime committed by the authorities. We declare that that which occurred on March 1 was the crime of the forcible usurpation of power on the level of the state. In the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia such a crime is singled out, and is punishable by law. That crime was committed by Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan, as a consequence of which the latter has illegally been declared the President of the Republic of Armenia.

From the start, we had no doubt that the operations of the authorities during the post-election days were motivated by the plan, designed beforehand, to forcefully usurp power. The criminally born oligarchic administration, which had lost its authority during the presidential elections, had planned to use force and massive repression. The basis of that monstrous plan was the February 24, 2008 National Security Service inspired criminal case regarding the “violent overthrow of the government.”

This illegal, fabricated operation was conducted in order to legalize a total repression of protests generated, all future operations of the authorities and secure Serzh Sargsyan’s presidency at any cost. It is on this that the subsequent plans of the authorities were based: the shooting of citizens and policemen on March 1, the establishment of the State of Emergency, the adoption of unconstitutional changes in the law on public gatherings and demonstrations by the Parliament, the arrest of the Movement’s activists, police brutality against thousands of citizens, etc.

During this time, television stations, monopolies of the authorities, were busy day and night disseminating false information to the public and to the world. They tried to show that what was taking place in Armenia was an attempt to destroy the state, and that the authorities were striking back at those who threatened the Constitutional order. It took a while for the whole population of Armenia and the international community to come to the final conclusion on what was in fact taking place in Armenia. We therefore think the time has come to call things by their name, and declare:

All those who are guilty of usurping power, of planning the slaughter of March 1, of legalized terror in Armenia, will stand before the courts. Robert Kocharyan should be tried as the author of crimes against humanity. The authors of terrorism and unconstitutional acts and those who implemented them—the Special Investigation Service, the Parliament, the Chief Prosecutor’s Office—must answer before Justice. Serjh Sargsyan, who usurped the offices of the president, should be removed from his position and tried.

We are convinced that the people of Armenia will attain freedom and justice. We are happy to, and willingly offer our prison cells to the real criminals. From now on, no one in Armenia should doubt that it is impossible to usurp or keep power through war against the people.

We shall win!

Gagik Jhangiryan
Smbat Ayvazyan
Christapor Elazyan
Gurgen Yeghiazaryan
Ashot Zakaryan
Gevorg Ghazaryan
Alik Arzoumanyan
Ararat Zurabyan
Hovik Harutyunyan
Husik Baghdasaryan
Vardan Ghavalbabuntz
Suren Sirounyan
Davit Matevosyan
Sos Gevorgyan
Vahe Ghazaryan
Mkrtitch Abrahamyan
Grigor Voskerchyan
Aghasi Mkrtchyan
Petros Makeyan
Vardan Malkhasyan
Arman Babajanyan
Mkrditch Sapeyan
Jora Sapeyan

Հայտարարություն: «Հայ մանկավարժների շարժում»

2008-07-24T10:49:00.000-07:00

«Հայ մանկավարժների շարժում»
նախաձեռնության համակարգող խորհրդի

Տաս տարի շարունակ Հայաստանի Հանրապետության նախագահի աթոռը բռնազավթած Ռ.Քոչարյանը և նրա վարչախումբը իրենց ապօրինի իշխանությունը պահպանելու և վերարտադրելու մոլուցքով տարված այլասերեցին ու բարոյազրկեցին հասարակությունը:
Բռնապետությունը հատուկ մեթոդներով ժողովրդին պահեցին մշտական վախի մեջ, խրախուսվեց և հովանավորվեց միջակը, ստրկամիտը, որկրամոլը, շողոքորթը, ստորաքարշն ու կեղծարարը: Մսուր-մանկապարտեզից սկսած՝ խեղաթյուրվեց, այլասերվեց կրթական համակարգը: Որպես աղետալի հետևանք՝ Հայաստանում ձևավորվեց մարդու նոր տեսակ՝ հոգեզուրկ, մուտանտ:
Ծանր հարվածը ստացավ հասարակության ամենաանպաշտպան շերտերից մեկը՝մանկավարժները՝ դաստիարակը, ուսուցիչը, դասախոսը:
Վայրի օպտիմալացման հետևանքով իրենց աշխատանքը կորցրեցին հազարավոր մանկավարժներ: Օտարվեցին ու վաճառվեցին բազմաթիվ ուսումնական հիմնարկների շենքեր:
Վախը մտավ նաև ուսումնադաստիարակչական օջախներ, աշխատանք կորցնելու վախը, որի արդյունքում մանկավարժներին դարձրին իրենց հանցավոր մտահղացումների մասնակիցն ու կատարողը, նրանց ներքաշեցին կեղտոտ քաղաքական խաղերի մեջ, ստիպողաբար անդամագրեցին իշխանական կուսակցություններին, օգտագործեցին քարոզարշավի ժամանակ, ընտրությունների ընթացքում. նրանցից շատերը կեղծիքներ կատարեցին:
Այսօր, նույնպես, մանկավարժների ճնշող մեծամասնությունը վախենում է ազատ մտածել, գալ Ազատության հրապարակ, լսել իր առաջին նախագահի ոսկեղենիկ հայերենով իմաստուն խոսքը, լինել հարյուր հազարավոր հայրենակիցների կողքին, ըմբոշխնել ազատությունը, արդարությունը, հպարտությունը:
Երկրում սահմանադրական կարգը վերականգնելու, ազատ ապրելու ու ստեղծագործելու, մեր երեխաների արժանապատիվ ապագան կերտելու պայքարի դուրս եկած, հանրապետության մանկավարժներին՝ աշխատող, թե չաշխատող համախմբելու նպատակով, մենք՝ Համաժողովրդական շարժման ակտիվիստ մանկավարժներս ստեղծում ենք «Հայ մանկավարժների շարժում» նախաձեռնությունը:
Կոչ ենք անում մեր հայրենիքի ապագայի համար նախանձախնդիրներին՝ անդամակցել շարժմանը: Մենք իրավունք չունենք կողքի կանգնել, մենք պետք է լինենք հարյուր հազարավորների հետ, մենք մեր ձայնը պետք է միացնենք նրանց ձայնին:

«Հայ մանկավարժների շարժում»
նախաձեռնության համակարգող խորհուրդ

ՔԱՂԲԱՆՏԱՐԿՅԱԼՆԵՐԻ ՀԱՅՏԱՐԱՐՈՒԹՅՈՒՆԸ

2008-07-24T10:48:00.001-07:00

[Update: english translation is above]

Մենք, Հայաստանի քաղբանտարկյալներս, ողջունում ենք հանուն ազատության եւ երկրի բարգավաճման մեր հայրենակիցների պայքարի աննկուն կամքը եւ համոզված ենք, որ պայքարը մտնում է վճռական փուլ:

Պետական իշխանության լծակներն ապօրինաբար իր ձեռքում պահող Հայաստանի քրեածին-օլիգարխիկ ռեժիմը հոգեվարքի մեջ է եւ ամբողջ աշխարհին ցուցադրում է իր իրական դեմքը: Չորս ամսվա ընթացքում Հայաստանի Գլխավոր դատախազությունը Համաժողովրդական շարժման որեւէ ակտիվիստի չկարողացավ հիմնավոր որեւէ մեղադրանք ներկայացնել մարտի 1-ի հետ կապված հանցագործության մեջ: Դատախազության աշխատանքն, ընդհակառակն, ակամա ցույց տվեց, որ իշխանության բոլոր հայտարաությունները ցուցարարների կողմից ոստիկանության դեմ հրազեն օգտագործելու մասին սուտ են եւ մտացածին հերյուրանք: Մինչդեռ անհերքելիորեն հաստատվեցին մեր հայտարարություններն այն մասին, որ մարտի 1-ին գործող ռեժիմի կողմից ժողովրդի եւ պետության դեմ կատարվել է նախապես ծրագրված ոճրագործություն:

Հայաստանում եւ աշխարհում բոլորը հասկացան, որ մարտի 1-ի սպանդը, Շարժման ակտիվիստների՝ դրան հետեւած հարյուրավոր ձերբակալություններն ու նրանց շինծու քրեական մեղադրանքներ ներկայացնելը իրականում բռնաճնշումներ են ամբողջ ժողովրդի դեմ՝ նպատակ ունենալով դրանով պարտակել վարչախմբի ծանրագույն հանցանքը: Մենք հայտարարում ենք, որ մարտի 1-ին տեղի է ունեցել պետական մասշտաբի հանցագործություն՝ իշխանության բռնազավթում, որը ՀՀ Սահմանադրության մեջ առանձնացված է որպես քրեորեն պատժելի արարք: Այդ հանցանքը գործել են Ռ. Քոչարյանը եւ Սերժ Սարգսյանը, ինչի հետեւանքով վերջինս ապօրինաբար հռչակվել է ՀՀ նախագահ:

Ի սկզբանե մենք համոզված էինք, որ հետընտրական օրերին վարչախմբի գործողությունները բխում էին իշխանության բռնազավթման նախապես կազմված ծրագրից: Նախագահական ընտրություններում իշխանությունը կորցրած քրեածին-օլիգարխիկ վարչախումբը ծրագրել էր իրականացնել ուժային ակցիաներ ու զանգվածային բռնաճնշումներ: Հրեշավոր այդ ծրագրի հիմք դեռ 2008թ. փետրվարի 24-ին Ազգային անվտանգության ծառայության կողմից «Իշխանության բռնազավթման փաստով» հարուցված քրեական գործն էր: Այս հակաօրինական հորինածո գործը կոչված էր օրինականացնել համընդհանուր բողոքի ճնշման՝ իշխանության բոլոր հետագա գործողությունները եւ ցանկացած գնով ապահովել Սերժ Սարգսյանին Նախագահ հռչակելը: Դրա վրա են հենվել վարչախմբի բոլոր հետագա գործողությունները. քաղաքացիների եւ ոստիկանների գնդակահարությունները մարտի 1-ին, Արտակարգ դրության ռեժիմի հաստատումը, Ազգային ժողովի կողմից Հանրահավաքների եւ ցույցերի մասին օրենքում կատարված հակասահմանադրական փոփոխությունները, Շարժման ակտիվիստների ձերբակալությունները, տասնյակ հազարավոր քաղաքացիների դեմ ոստիկանական ահաբեկչությունը եւ այլն:

Այս ամբողջ ընթացքում վարչախմբի մենաշնորհը հանդիսացող հեռուստաալիքները գիշերուզօր լծված էին հասարակությանը եւ աշխարհին ապատեղեկատվություն հաղորդելու գործին: Ջանում էին ներկայացնել, իբր Հայաստանում տեղի է ունենում պետականության քանդելու գործընթաց, իսկ իշխանությունը հակահարված է տալիս սահմանադրական կարգին սպառնացողներին: Որոշակի ժամանակ պահանջվեց, որպեսզի Հայաստանի ողջ բնակչությունը եւ համաշխարհային հանրությունը վերջնական համոզման գան Հայաստանում իրականում տեղի ունեցածի մասին: Ուստիեւ հենց հիմա մենք ճիշտ ժամանակն ենք համարում իրերը կոչել իրենց անուններով եւ հայտարարել.

Հայաստանում իշխանության բռնազավթման, մարտի 1-ի սպանդի կազմակերպման, հետագա «օրինականացված բռնաճնշումների» բոլոր մեղավորները կանգնելու են դատարանի առջեւ: Ռ. Քոչարյանը պետք է դատվի որպես մարդկության դեմ գործած հանցագործության հեղինակ: Արդարադատության առջեւ պատասխան պետք է տան ահաբեկչության ու հակասահմանադրական ակտերի հեղինակները եւ իրականացնողները՝ Հատուկ քննչական ծառայությունը, Ազգային ժողովը, Գլխավոր դատախազությունը: Նախագահի պաշտոնը բռնազավթած Սերժ Սարգսյանը պետք է հեռացվի պաշտոնից ու դատվի:

Մենք համոզված ենք, որ Հայաստանի ժողովուրդը հասնելու է ազատության եւ արդարության: Մեր կալանատեղերը մենք հաճույքով եւ պատրաստակամությամբ կտրամադրենք իրական հանցագործներին: Այսուհետ Հայաստանում ոչ մեկը պետք է կասկած չունենա, որ անհնար է ժողովրդի դեմ պատերազմի միջոցով իշխանություն բռնազավթել կամ պահել այն:

Հաղթելո՛ւ ենք:

Գագիկ Ջհանգիրյան
Սմբատ Այվազյան
Քրիստափոր Էլազյան
Գուրգեն Եղիազարյան
Աշոտ Զաքարյան
Գևորգ Ղազարյան
Ալիկ Արզումանյան
Արարատ Զուրաբյան
Հովիկ Հարությունյան
Հուսիկ Բաղդասարյան
Վարդան Ղավալբաբունց
Սուրեն Սիրունյան
Դավիթ Մաթևոսյան
Սոս Գևորգյան
Վահե Ղազարյան
Մկրտիչ Աբրահամյան
Գրիգոր Ոսկերչյան
Աղասի Մկրտչյան
Պետրոս Մաքեյան
Վարդան Մալխասյան
Արման Բաբաջանյան
Մկրտիչ Սափեյան
Ժորա Սափեյան

# 40: ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ. ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/Pashinyan- The Other Side of the World

2008-07-24T05:31:00.000-07:00

40. ապրելու հետեւանքները

Ճաշից հետո սենյակումս թերթում էի վան Գոգի նկարների կատալոգը, որ գնել էի ցուցահանդեսում: Ֆրեդը եկավ` ինձ համար անսպասելի.
- Մի միտք եմ հղացել,- ասացի:

40. The Consequences of Living

After lunch I was in my room leafing through the Van Gogh’s catalogue I had bought at the exhibit, when Fred came in, unexpectedly.

“I have an idea,” I said.

“Quentin had an idea, too,” he said, solemnly.

“What idea?”

“To invite us to dinner.”

“Are you serious? When?”

“Day after tomorrow; if, of course, we accept his invitation. I’m supposed to call him back.”

“This is a strange show of affection.”

“Do we accept his invitation?”

“Don’t you think it would be too much to offend the guy twice in one week, and for no reason?” I observed.

“Okay, then I’ll go tell him,” said Fred, and stood up.

“You didn’t ask me what my idea was,” I was hurt.

“Oh, I’m sorry…”

“It turns out that Van Gogh is buried here, not far from Paris. Let’s go visit his grave.”

For a minute this idea seemed a little strange for Fred, but he agreed after a little thought.

“Sure, we have nothing else to do,” he agreed and went to call Quentin.

I left after him. A couple of streets away I had seen a small shop that said “Plants and Seeds.” I had to go there. I was back very soon and asked the manager to find out how I could go to the town of Auvers-sur-Oise. She thought it would be by train, but that she’ll find out and let me know. She called a little later and said you could go to Auvers by trolley.
We had an early breakfast in the morning and went to the station where we could catch the Auvers train. This train consisted of wagons painted in white and green, obviously a product of the 1960’s, with uncomfortable seats. But it went as fast as your heart would desire. The passengers of the train were very interesting. There were peasants with baskets who had probably sold their goods in Paris and were returning home.

Auvers was a small provincial town along the shores of the Oise River. This small town of small houses, narrow streets, and ample trees protected Van Gogh’s memory as if he were a saint. Van Gogh attracts many tourists here and the huge, crouching buses in the narrow streets are testimony to that fact. We had gotten a cab at the station, which took us to the municipal cemetery where in a modest corner of the modest cemetery were buried Vincent Van Gogh and his brother Theo. While we were there, a group of tourists were leaving the area and by the time we got there, there was no one near the grave. I looked around; no one could be seen. I looked for and found a small piece of wood and began to dig little holes in the ground around Vincent’s grave:

“What are you doing?” asked Fred, surprised.

“I’m planting sunflowers,” I said. I had gone to the “Plants and Seeds” store to get these seeds. I planted eight sunflowers around Van Gogh’s grave. Then we sat on a bench near Van Gogh’s grave. We were not talking.

“Fred, so what do you think, was Van Gogh a genius or not?” I asked, finally.

“Why are you looking for qualifiers? Don’t you see those are all words, just words? The important thing is that you live your life as you should, without thinking of the consequences.”

I was shocked that Fred said ‘consequences’ and not ‘results.’

“Did you say that intentionally?” I asked.

Fred didn’t answer right away:

“I wasn’t really thinking but I think I said the right thing. A person should live according to his mission on earth, to dream of results and not think about the consequences. If Van Gogh had thought about the consequences of his life, he should have quickly abandoned painting and chosen the kind of occupation that would at least have provided him enough income to eat. But he didn’t think about the consequences; he dreamt about results. That result came a bit late, but now, with the zeal of a fanatic, you’re planting sunflowers on his grave, you paid three times the regular ticket price to see his exhibit, and his paintings cost millions of dollars. This proves that our Vincent remained true to his earthly mission and lived his short life the right way. I won’t exclude the possibility, though, that a large number of idiots have starved to death hoping that their names, too, will mean something in the future, but have been wrong.”

“That’s where the problem is: to understand your earthly mission. As Coelho says, one should find the thread of one’s life and remain true to it. You know, maybe there really is a treasure buried for each person and one can find it by staying true to one’s life’s path and mission. Except that, people often, I mean almost always, understand that treasure to be treasure in the literal sense. Imagine what it would have been like if Van Gogh had understood it in the literal sense. And picture how those people who lived in the same town with Van Gogh—officials, the well-to-do, the nobility—would have felt, had they known that they were nothing but specks of dust by comparison to the starving, ailing man in rags who had cut off his own ear, whom the children harassed, threw stones at, spit on him and cussed him out. The horrible thing is that none of his contemporaries, or almost none of them, understood that Van Gogh was the way he was to show the nothingness of the world.”

“Have you found your life’s path?” asked Fred.

“Frankly, I don’t think you need to search for your life’s path; you’re born with it. The challenge is to remain true to it, not to deny it.”

“How is that done?”

“Very simply: you just live by what your heart tells you. Of course, sometimes you’re tempted, you make mistakes, and your conscious bothers you. That means that you shouldn’t do those things again. At that point you stand before a choice: to do that which is easy or to do that which is right. This is an extremely easy choice. At times it’s hard, but in fact it couldn’t be simpler. And the most important thing is that you should be aware of what you do and why you do it.”

The tourists began to arrive and we got up to leave. Spring was blooming; the earth was warm and moist. The sunflowers will definitely bud.

(to be continued)

"A New President in Armenia?/ՆՈՐ ՆԱԽԱԳԱՀ ՀԱՅԱՍՏԱՆՈՒ՞Մ"

2008-07-23T04:22:00.000-07:00

A NEW PRESIDENT IN ARMENIA?
BY GRIGORY KHARKIEV, MOSCOW

Every time I have written in the past, I have thought it was the last. The magic would disappear, I thought, and we would witness a more civilized discourse, despite the abnormalities in Armenia. Besides, one must enjoy the summer days in Moscow because there are not many of them.

What Kocharian has spewed out in a recent interview is a hard act to absorb. It seems the magic is still there, at least in Kocharian’s limited mind.

So, now let’s see what we have here so far?

• A “former” president called Robert Kocharian, who complains that he does not have enough power to put Ter-Petrossian, the first president and main opponent of Kocharian’s successor, behind bars.

• Ter-Petrossian, a citizen, dared to challenge Serzh Sargsyan in the presidential elections last February. Serzh Sargsyan is installed as the new president, and damned be the actual vote counting.
Damned be the law; full torpedoes ahead.

• By some accounts, Kocharian refuses to leave the presidential residence in the presidential compound in Yerevan. He does not think anyone else could govern Armenia, not even his appointee. So, he must stay close to those who are still in power and reside in the compound, to add another dimension to the overwhelming feeling he must be cherishing, that of being president forever.

• The damage he did to his successor was not enough. Now he needs to make sure his successor does not stray or, in a fit of reasonable governance, show any softening; in the past Serzh Sargsyan had on occasion manifested symptoms of being reasonable—that means being weak—compared to Kocharian’s projected “I am a real man” image.

• Maybe Serzh Sargsyan was for too long number 4, 3 or 2 to really be effective as Number 1 and chart his own way. In this respect I hope I am wrong. For that to happen, Serzh Sargsyan must first rid himself of Kocharian’s shadow and protection. And de-claw Kocharian by making Kocharian’s goons harmless within and outside the government.

• May be this is wishful thinking.

• Continuing interrogations and the spreading of fear. Keeping opposition figures in prison without trial, although Kocharian was so sure they were involved in a plot to overthrow the government by force. Kocharian stated many times that they had “credible evidence” for such a plot and for possession of arms. It has now been more than four months.

• An expansion of repressive mechanisms: is the Soviet system returning?

• A refusal to deal adequately with the events of March 1—that is, the killing of citizens who were demonstrating peacefully. And blaming Ter-Petrossian for it. Isn’t that what the Young Turks said and their heirs are saying now to justify the Genocide? The victims are the guilty party: the demonstrators and their leaders are responsible for the behavior of the atrocities committed by the authorities.

• A total disregard for the people and for promises made during the elections.

• A foreign policy that can be characterized at best as “Soviet Lite,” and at worst as opportunistic, devoid of Soviet power or of a long term strategy. Squandering opportunities created a long time ago at great cost for the benefit of earning “stars,” as children in a kindergarten, from Washington, Moscow, and Brussels.

Maybe what is happening is the only way the sitting president knows how to “pacify” the population. Very close to American “pacification” policies in Vietnam and elsewhere since, as if the people of Armenia were a foreign entity to be conquered.

Sargsyan did not have to emulate Kocharian.

Who is the president of Armenia? Kocharian? Or Sargsyan as defined by Kocharian?

Well, back to the cafes on Arbat Street.

I need a break.

ՆՈՐ ՆԱԽԱԳԱՀ ՀԱՅԱՍՏԱՆՈՒ՞Մ

Գրիգորի Խարկիև
Մոսկվա

Վերջերս ամեն անգամ գրելիս կարծել եմ՝ վերջին անգամն է: Կարծել եմ՝ կախարդանքն անհետանալու է, և մենք, չնայած Հայաստանում տիրող արտառոց երևույթներին, ականատես ենք լինելու ավելի քաղաքակիրթ քննարկման: Դե, բացի այդ, մարդ մի քիչ էլ պետք է վայելի Մոսկվայի ամառային օրերը, քանի որ դրանք այնքան էլ շատ չեն:

Վերջին հարցազրույցի ընթացքում Քոչարյանի դուրս տվածները դժվարամարս ակտ էին: Կախարդանքը կարծես դեռ մնում է, առնվազն՝ Քոչարյանի սահմանափակ մտքի մեջ:

Հիմա եկեք տեսնենք, թե այսօրվա դրությամբ ինչ ունենք:

· Ռոբերտ Քոչարյան անվամբ մի նախկին նախագահ, ով բողոքում է, թե բավարար իշխանություն չունի՝ առաջին նախագահ և իր հաջորդի հիմնական ընդդիմախոս Տեր-Պետրոսյանին բանտարկելու համար:

· Տեր-Պետրոսյան քաղաքացի, որ հանդգնել է վերջին՝ փետրվարյան ընտրություններին մարտահրավեր նետելու Սերժ Սարգսյանին: Սերժ Սարգսյանը պաշտոնավարում է իբրև նոր նախագահ, և գրողի ծոցը կորչի քվեների հաշվումը, գրողի ծոցը օրենքը. սվիններով հառա~ջ:

· Ըստ որոշ լուրերի, Քոչարյանը մերժում է դուրս գալ Երևանի նախագահական համալիրի նախագահական կացարանից: Նա չի կարծում, թե ուրիշ որևէ մեկը կարող է ղեկավարել Հայաստանը, ոչ նույնիսկ իր կողմից նշանակված մարդը: Եվ ուրեմն՝ ինքը պետք է մոտ մնա նրանց, ովքեր դեռ իշխանության են, և բնակվի նախագահական կացարանում՝ հավերժ նախագահ լինելու իր փայփայած անդիմադրելի զգացմանը մեկ այլ ծավալ հաղորդելու համար:

· Իր հաջորդին պատճառած նրա վնասը բավարար չէ: Հիմա նա ուզում է վստահանալ, որ իր հաջորդը չի շեղվելու կամ, տրամաբանական կառավարում իրականացնելու նպատակով, մեղմացում չի ցուցաբերելու: Նախկինում Սերժ Սարգսյանը տրամաբանական լինելու ախտանիշ է դրսևորել, ինչը, Քոչարյանի տարփողած "միակ տղամարդու" իր կարծեցյալ կերպարի համեմատ ըստ իրեն նշանակում է թույլ լինել:

· Թերևս Սերժ Սարգսյանը չափազանց երկար է եղել երկրի 4-րդ, 3-րդ, 2-րդ դեմք՝ իբրև 1-ին դեմք իսկապես արդյունավետ լինելու և իր ուղին հարթելու համար: Հուսամ՝ սխալ եմ: Որպեսզի դա պատահի, Սերժ Սարգսյանը պետք է ինքն իրեն ձերբազատի Քոչարյանի ուրվականից ու հովանավորչությունից: Եվ պետք է մագիլազրկի Քոչարյանին՝ վնասազերծելով նրա վարձկաններին կառավարության կազմում և կառավարությունից դուրս:

Գուցե և սա երազային մտածողություն է:

· Հարցաքննությունների և վախի մթնոլորտի տարածման շարունակություն: Ընդդիմադիր գործիչներին բանտերում պահել՝ առանց դատավարության, չնայած Քոչարյանն այնքա'ն վստահ էր, որ նրանք ընդգրված էին իշխանությունը բռնի յուրացնելու դավադրության մեջ: Քոչարյանը բազմիցս հայտարարել է, որ իրենք այդ դավադրության, ինչպես և զենքի առկայության "հավաստի ապացույցներ" ունեն: Արդեն չորս ամսից ավելի է անցել:

· Ռեպրեսիվ մեխանիզմների ընդլայնում. խորհրդային համակա՞րգն է արդյոք վերադառնում:

· Մարտի 1-ի դեպքերի՝ խաղաղ ցույց անող քաղաքացիների սպանությունների իրավաչափ քննության մերժում: Եվ դրա համար Տեր-Պետրոսյանին են մեղադրում: Սա այն չէ՞, ինչ երիտթուրքերն էին ասում, և այսօր էլ նրանց ժառանգներն են ասում՝ իրենց իրականացրած ցեղասպանությունն արդարացնելու համար: Զոհերն են մեղավոր կողմը. ցուցարարներն ու նրանց ղեկավարներն են պատասխանատու իշխանությունների կատարած գազանաբարո վայրագությունների համար:

· Ընտրությունների ընթացքում տված խոստումների և ժողովրդի լիակատար անտեսում:

· Արտաքին քաղաքականություն, որ լավագույն դեպքում կարող է բնութագրվել իբրև "Սովետ Լայթ"՝ թույլ խորհրդային, իսկ վատագույն դեպքում՝ իբրև պատեհապաշտական՝ սակայն լիովին զուրկ խորհրդային հզորությունից կամ հեռահար ռազմավարությունից: Երկար ժամանակ առաջ ծանր գնով ձեռք բերված հնարավորությունների վատնում՝ հանուն Վաշինգտոնից, Մոսկվայից, Բրյուսելից "միավորներ վաստակելու"` մանկապարտեզի երեխաների նման:

Կատարվածը թերևս գործող նախագահի իմացած միակ ձևն է ազգաբնակչությանը հանդարտեցնելու: Շատ նման Վիետնամում և այլուր ամերիկյան "հանդարտեցման" քաղաքականությանը, կարծես Հայաստանի ժողովուրդն արտաքին թշնամի է, որին անհրաժեշտ է պարտության մատնել:

Սարգսյանը կարիք չուներ Քոչարյանին կապկելու:

Ո՞վ է Հայաստանի նախագահը: Քոչարյա՞նը: Թե՞ Քոչարյանի բնութագրած Սարգսյանը:

Լավ, ես գնացի Արբատի սրճարանները:

Ընդմիջման կարիք ունեմ:

# 39 ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ. ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/Pashinyan -THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD

2008-07-23T04:20:00.000-07:00

39. սեւ խավիարը

Երբ մոտեցանք Իմպրեսիոնիստների թանգարանի մուտքին, տոմս գտնելու հույսով ահագին մարդ էր հավաքվել, հիմնականում` երիտասարդներ:

39. The Black Caviar

When we got to the entrance of the Impressionists’ museum, we saw a lot of people, mainly young, who had gathered there with the hope of finding tickets. They were asking each other if they had any extra tickets. They approached us, too. They were clearly painters themselves, probably students. Of course there were also other people selling tickets in the area, but the students couldn’t afford their prices. They were waiting for the wealthy clients who were ready to pay 100-150 Euros per ticket.

We went in and soon found ourselves in an exhibit hall which was filled with the buzz of human voices. I tried to find the “Sunflowers,” but that proved to be impossible because my view was blocked by human heads and I had no choice but to mingle in the art loving crowd. It quickly occurred to me that this was not the only exhibit hall and that the “Sunflowers” would be not in this, but in the last hall. Fred and I decided to split up, so that we each could look at the paintings on our own. I realized that my viewing would be complete only if I began, and not ended with, the “Sunflowers.”

I walked by each canvas, though, just to convince myself that the “Sunflowers” were not here, and looked for the entrance to the next hall. I had guessed right. In the third, and last hall, a group of people larger than usual, were standing around. They were looking at the “Sunflowers.” The canvas was larger than I had imagined, but in every other aspect it corresponded to my mental image.

When I first saw a reproduction of the “Sunflowers,” I remembered my grandmother’s soup. Now, when I stand before the authentic thing, I remember, I feel the taste of that soup. At that time I didn’t dare think that there could be a relationship between Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” and my grandmother’s “Rice soup.” But I see it clearly now.

If I were to say that they are both artistic creations I guess the reader wouldn’t understand my meaning, especially since I know the contempt with which the Armenian public holds soup, especially soup made of ordinary rice. But these colors, these colors which I see in Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers”, are the colors of my childhood, I’ve been nurtured by these colors; I’ve grown up with these colors; I have seen these colors in my grandmother’s rice soup, which, of all the foods in the world, was my favorite.

This yellow (I don’t even know if it’s yellow) used to float on the surface of my bowl of soup, the drawn fat, like little lakes in constant motion. This unusual hue was probably fed by the little pieces of carrots that gave depth to the strange yellow. And the parsley my grandmother used to grow in her backyard and would choose only the youngest for meals; that parsley used to give a light green hue to the soup. It’s the same green, the same green hue. And haven’t you noticed that there’s a very fine, almost unnoticeable green in potatoes? And the rice, the rice is that pure canvas on which this image is painted, the image of my childhood, the nourishment of my childhood.

I really liked getting sick. Not so much to avoid school, but because only when I got sick I could force my grandmother to make me rice soup everyday. I would refuse to eat anything except rice soup. Once, my illness lasted a little longer than usual. My father thought that rice soup didn’t have enough nourishment for me to get well. My grandmother said she would make the same soup with chicken or beef. But I revolted. I wanted rice soup only, the rice soup that only had rice, potatoes, carrots, parsley, oil and salt, and nothing else. My father, on the other hand, had seriously thought that the reason my illness lasted as long was because I wasn’t getting enough nutrition. In the evening, he brought some black caviar. I don’t even know how he got his hands on it. People in our class, meaning everyday soviet citizens usually wouldn’t buy black caviar, or would buy it very seldom. Not only because it was so expensive, but because you couldn’t find it in the stores. Anyway, I saw caviar for the first time on that day in our house.

They served me black caviar with rice soup, and bread and butter. I ate my soup with dignity, and then assumed such a face that meant that I was full. My father, my grandmother, my brothers were all pleading with me to eat the black caviar.

I had never eaten black caviar in my life. Once, during a feast at the house of one of our high-ranking friends my mother prepared a bite-sized sandwich and said, eat this, it’s delicious. I opened my mouth, she put the bite-sized sandwich in my mouth. But when the black caviar touched my palate, I spit it out, receiving the contemptuous looks of the children of the high ranking communists there. For me, black caviar was a disgusting thing. Not even the pleas, entreaties and threats of my father, my grandmother and my brothers yielded any results. Every day, four or five times a day, I used to eat rice soup and was really happy. But four or five times a day my poor grandmother would bring me the black caviar, from which not a single kernel would be missing at the end of my meal, and take it right back.

My father and grandmother soon stopped pleading with me to eat the black caviar. But my brothers, especially the middle one, spent half the day on the topic. I used to feel that he wouldn’t have minded eating the caviar himself and I would constantly tell him that I wasn’t going to eat it, and that he should. But that was the portion allotted to the person who was ill, and no one dared get close to it. I was supposed to eat at least some of it and open the door for others. But, I mean it, I just couldn’t; I would have died if I had to taste that disgusting thing again. So the ritual of taking the black caviar back and forth lasted a few days. I was better but didn’t get up not because I didn’t want to go to school but because I wanted to continue my feast. Six or seven times a day I was eating rice soup and was really happy. And the black caviar, which participated in all the séances of my feast, remained a virgin, without a single kernel missing from it.

No one was pleading with me to eat it anymore. They had realized it was futile to do so. By now, it was I who was asking them to do the same but then I realized that that, too, was meaningless. No one dared eat the portion allotted to the ill person. A few more days passed, and then the door to the big room where I lay, and where my father, grandmother and my eldest brother were, suddenly opened with a crash. For a few minutes no one came in. We were all looking in that direction. Finally, my middle brother walked in. There was terror in his face. He was looking at the caviar in his hand with that terrified look. There was some kind of foamy liquid oozing from the bottom of the caviar container. A lot of that liquid had spilled into my brother’s hand and was dripping down to the floor:

“It’s spoiled,” said my brother, terrified.

The next day, I went to school. Habitually, when I got out of school I would go to the kitchen, then to a cellar-like room which we called ‘the back kitchen,’ to find something to eat. The ‘back kitchen’ had drawers where they put full and empty containers. The clean, empty caviar container was sitting on top a three liter container.

******

“You’re lost in thought,” said Fred, putting his hand on my shoulder.

“No, I’m not, I’m looking for the “Potato Eaters”….

(to be continued)

փաստաթուղթը...

2008-07-22T15:22:00.000-07:00

Ստորև զետեղված է Ռ. Քոչարյանին Հաագայի միջազգային դատարանում դատելու վերջերս շրջանառության մեջ դրված հայցը: Խնդրեմ տպեք և տարածեք: Կարծում եմ՝ միայն ՀՀ քաղաքացիներն իրավունք ունեն ստորագրելու այդ փաստաթուղթը, որն այնուհետև ներկայացվելու է Հաագայի դատարան: Մանրամասները կճշտեմ և կտեղադրեմ: Հայցի պատճենի համար խնդրեմ սեղմեք վար ;ի տողին:

փաստաթուղթ

...Հայտարարություն...

Մարդկության դեմ հանցագործության հատկանիշներով Ռոբերտ Քոչարյանի դեմ Հաագայի միջազգային Քրեական Դատարան գործ հարուցելու համար ստորագրահավաքի հետ կապված հարցերով ՀՀ քաղաքացիները կարող են զանգահարել հետևյալ հեռախոսահամարով` 520974, ժամը 11:00-17:00:

# 38 -ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ. ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/Pashinyan- The Other Side of the World

2008-07-22T15:01:00.000-07:00

38. ինձ տոմս տվեք

Այն միտքը, որ տեսնելու եմ վան Գոգի «Արեւածաղիկները», ենթադրաբար` նաեւ «Կարտոֆիլ ուտողները», հանեց օրվա երկրորդ կեսից իմ մեջ կուտակված լարվածությունը:

38. Give me a Ticket

The idea that I would be seeing Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers,” presumably including the “Potato Eaters”, eased the tension built up in me in the second half of the day. I watched the second airing of “Le Mag” to make sure I got everything right. I was right: in three days Van Gogh’s exhibit would open at the museum of Impressionists in Paris, where the “Sunflowers” would also be exhibited, as well as canvases collected from different parts of the world. The exhibit would last one month. On my way to breakfast the next morning I asked the hotel manager to get me two tickets for the exhibit. We had breakfast with Fred, returned to the foyer and according to our custom, had another coffee there. The manager, whom I had asked to get the tickets, appeared:

“I’m sorry, but there are no more tickets for the exhibit.”

I was stunned.

“How can there be no more tickets?” I couldn’t hide my surprise and noticed that my reaction caused the same kind of surprise on the beautiful face of the manager. “Anyway, I’m grateful to you; forgive me,” I tried to put things right, and turned to Fred:

“Fred, there’s something wrong here; let’s go to that museum.”

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong here, but let’s go anyway,” said Fred.

“But how can there be no tickets?” I repeated rhetorically.

Fred looked at me in surprise:

“The same way theaters, movies and football games are sold out.”

But still, this was surprising for me; it was the first time that I was hearing about an exhibition being sold out. Fred explained it to me:

“The paintings are not the property of the museum, but the property of different people and museums. The museum of the Impressionists borrows them on a temporary loan, in this case, for one month, and pays a fee the owners of those paintings. There are certain criteria for viewing the paintings. In any given space, there can’t be more than 10 people at the same time. And, in many cases when the interest in an exhibit is overwhelming, viewing hours are assigned on the tickets. It looks like a maximum number of people wanting to see those paintings during the scheduled one month, as a result of which there are no more tickets.”

It’s really wonderful that people here go to exhibits with the same enthusiasm as I went to a ‘Khash’, I thought to myself.

Fred was right. The registry at the Impressionists’ museum told us that there were no more tickets for sale:

“They’re saying that the deadline for the exhibit might be extended by one week. So you can reserve tickets for the extended period. But let me tell you in advance that this is not certain and the deadline may not be extended,” the person selling the tickets consoled us.

“But aren’t there people who will sell their tickets?” I asked.

“Sure, there may be. But we don’t get involved in that. Come around when the exhibit has opened and you might find some people in the area selling tickets. Or, you can try finding tickets through the internet,” he advised us.

“Can you give me a hint as to what website these tickets are auctioned on the internet? I’m not familiar with the sites here,” asked Fred.

The person selling tickets wrote the website address, and we left. Van Gogh’s exhibit had already made a created great interest, through the absence of tickets. How happy the poor guy would have been had he known that 110 years later people would make an effort to get tickets for his exhibit and be afraid of being denied the pleasure of seeing his paintings.

“What do you say, Fred, is this an adoration of the arts or PR?” I asked.

“PR to worship the arts,” he answered and continued: “people want to see what this man, who cut off his own ear, has painted.”

“Fred, you’ll find the tickets, won’t you?” I asked him, pleading.

“I hope so. But we should do it fast, otherwise the prices will soar,” he said, smiling.

There was lightness on Fred’s face. In general Fred had changed a lot in the last few days; very little remained from the days of Lausanne. His interest in life, in daily routine, had returned, if not completely, at least noticeably. The seal of hopelessness had gone from his face; he walked with more confidence and a kind of energy was present in his movements and gestures. I was happy for that, and happy that during the difficult times of our respective lives we had been together and through our friendship we were able to dispel the pain and longing we each felt, and in which we each suffered.

We went in the first internet café we saw, ordered some coffee, and sat down by the computer. Fred went into the site the ticket seller at the museum had given, he surfed a little and said:

“There’s nothing here; it looks like we should try in the evening.”

We left the place, walked around a bit, went into a couple of shops and then sat at a café till it was time for lunch. We ate at a restaurant which had tables on the sidewalk. We went to the hotel after lunch and went directly into the internet. Fred got to work, but I didn’t stay with him; I went to the foyer to read the paper. In about half an hour or forty minutes Fred came back and announced victoriously:

“I bought them; for four times the original price.”

The next morning the distributor brought two tickets to Fred’s room, for which Fred paid 240 Euros. Of course, I reimbursed Fred for the cost of my ticket. The tickets were for the second day of the exhibit, from 12noon-3:00 in the afternoon.

(to be continued)

# 37: ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ. ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/Pashinyan- The Other Side of the World

2008-07-22T05:06:00.000-07:00

37. անկեղծութիւն անկեղծութեանց

Երբ հասանք Մադելեն տաճարի մոտ գտնվող այդ սրճարան, Քվենտինը արդեն եկել էր: Ես միանգամից նկատեցի նրա հայացքի սառնությունը. զգալի էր, որ նա այստեղ է եկել «թոկը վիզն ընկնելով»: Ինքս կնախընտրեի ետ դառնալ առանց նրա հետ հանդիպելու, առանց բարեւելու, բայց չէր ստացվի: Մենք մոտեցանք, նա շատ սառը բարեւեց, Ֆրեդը սիրալիր էր, բայց ես նույնպիսի դեմք էի ընդունել, ինչպիսին Քվենտինը:

37. Frankness of All Frankness

Quentin was already there when we reached the café near the Chapel of La Madeleine. I immediately noticed the frost in his expression. You could sense that he had not come here because he wished to. I would have preferred to leave without meeting him, without greeting him, but it just wouldn’t have worked. He greeted us coldly. Fred was affectionate, but I had assumed the same expression as Quentin:

“So, how can I help you?” he asked, just to have said something, in a very official tone and, it seemed to me, with some contempt.

“Nothing, really,” I answered curtly. Fred was surprised, as was Quentin.

“Meaning?” asked Quentin.

“If a person already knows how he can be helpful but asks how he can be helpful, that just means that he can’t be helpful. He can be harmful,” I continued in the same tone.

“I’m not getting ready to harm you,” said Quentin.

“Why not? Haven’t I told you everything? I told you the whole thing. So call one of the policemen you know. Maybe he’ll get a reward. How much is the reward here, 300 Euros?”

Fred was silent, but his face had tensed up.

“But why do you talk in that tone. I highly appreciate your frankness, but…”

“You highly appreciate my frankness? In that case, I’ll be even more frank and tell you more,” I interrupted Quentin. He was confused and maybe was waiting for me to say that I was in reality a dangerous, multiple offender or that I was a terrorist.

“What are you trying to tell me?” he asked, on edge.

“My opinion about your boss, the one you protect. He’s an ass,” I said and got up from the table.

Quentin was contented with my frankness, because, as I said, he had been waiting for an extraordinary exposure. Yet, his cold expression changed to regret, regret that he had even met me. I was leaving the table:

“Where are you going?” asked Fred.

“I’m going to the hotel, to piss,” I said sarcastically.

“You can piss at the restroom here,” said Fred, confused, perhaps not wishing to be left alone with Quentin.

“I can’t stand public restrooms,” I disappointed him.

I arrived at the hotel, spread out on my bed. Ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door. It was Fred:

“You acted like an idiot,” he said.

“It’s possible.”

“You should apologize to Quentin.”

“It’s possible.”

“It’s possible? You should call him and ask his forgiveness.”

“Fine, I’ll call him,” I said, feeling dejected.

“Call him now.”

“I said I would,” I was getting irritated. But Fred was furious with me. I had really done a stupid thing; Quentin didn’t deserve that. And why should he have used his position, endanger his career and security for a stranger from a foreign country? But then again, I have to get to Armenia from the other end of the world; only and only from the other end of the world, because to turn back from your charted path is a bad omen. But that doesn’t mean I had the right to offend Quentin.

Fred and I were sitting in my room in silence.

“Let’s go, I’ll call from your room,” I said.

“Why from my room, let’s call from here,” he sensed evasiveness in my attitude.

“If everything comes into the open, dear Fred, that I’ve had a connection with Quentin, it wouldn’t look so good. You, on the other hand, can explain that connection.”

My logic calmed Fred down a lot. He was consoled by the idea that I, too, concerned about Quentin. We went to Fred’s room. We had two numbers for Quentin, home and cellular. I called his home number, the voice message came on:

“Quentin, it’s Boyan calling. I want to apologize for today. Forgive me; I’m a little stressed out right now. I hope I’ll be able to prove to you some time that I’m not the person I was today,” was the message I left.

“Was his phone turned off?” asked Fred, realizing that I was talking to the voice message.

“I called his home.”

“Knowing that he’s not at home. You should have called his cell phone,” he said.

“And don’t you need a crocodile?” I said, thinking of a Russian expression.

Fred didn’t say anything. He was sitting on his bed. I sat down, too. For a while we were silent. Then I suggested we go down for coffee. We went down to the foyer. We were still quiet; and we drank our coffee in silence.

“You should understand Quentin,” Fred said finally.

“Believe me, I understand. I have no reservations about him. It’s just that my nerves gave in,” I explained.

“But why not go to the embassy directly, let’s say, and get a visa? You have a passport, don’t you?”

“Fred, you have to fill out a form for a visa, you write who you are, where you work, and information about members of your family. It’s not possible to fabricate that much stuff. Even if you do, they can check up any one of the information you put down and expose the forgery. I can’t get a visa with a blank form, can I?”

“How many countries do you need visas for?”

“A country in Latin America, and Japan. Latin America is easy. It’s possible to go to French Guinea from here without a visa, or even to one of the French islands of the Caribbean. Or the Cayman islands; they’re French or British territory, and I can enter them with the visa I have. But continuing on East is complex. I need either a Japanese or Chinese visa so that I’ll be able to enter Russia.”

“But isn’t it possible to fly to Russia from French Guinea?”

“No, there are no flights to Russia from there. And in general, I think the flights from the American mainland don’t fly to Russia from the direction I need…”

“I don’t understand, what’s this idée fix about journeying around the world with a fake passport, and an investigation on your tail no less,” said Fred after a pause, dismayed.

“It’s not an idée fix, Fred, it’s a problem I have to solve, even if the world breaks into two.”

Fred said nothing; maybe he was being considerate. After finishing our coffee, we went up to our rooms. I turned on the Euronews on TV. The “Le Mag” program was on. I called Fred right away:

“You won’t believe it; they just said it on Euronews. The Van Gogh exhibit will open at the Museum of Impressionists in three days. The “Sunflowers” will be in the exhibit.

(to be continued)

"They didn't beat you enough..."

2008-07-22T04:57:00.000-07:00

This is a video from HIMA youth movement... a discussion which evolves into a mild argument between young protesters and police. The police are trying to stop them from protesting, but can't seem to name a single logical reason that the protesters should stop. The topic moves to March 1st, and one of the protesters says she was there and was beaten by 5 police officers. The response of the police officer is, "They didn't beat you good enough."

ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ. ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/Pashinyan - The Other Side of the World

2008-07-21T18:49:00.000-07:00

36. ամեն ինչ լավ է լինելու

Երկար ժամանակ լուռ նստած էինք Լուվրին մերձակա այդ սրճարանում. լուռ էինք, որովհետեւ էնքան էինք հոգնել, որ խոսելու ուժ էլ չունեինք. հազիվ գարեջուր պատվիրեցինք, հազիվ խմում էինք: Մինչեւ Քվենտինի հետ հանդիպման գնալը մի չորս ժամ ունեինք ու որոշեցինք այդ սրճարանում անցկացնել այդ ժամերը:

36. Everything will be all right.

We sat quietly for a long time at the café near The Louvre. We were quiet because we were both so tired that neither of us had the energy to talk. We barely managed to order the beer, and were barely able to drink it. We had about four hours before we went to meet Quentin and decided to spend those hours at the same café. In the meantime, we each had a sandwich, regained our strength a little, and started sharing our impressions of The Louvre. It was evident from our conversation that we had formed three impressions: the Lady with the Little Penis, remembering which Fred still smiled because he didn’t have the strength to laugh; Mona Lisa La Gioconda and the Venus of Milo, because of Claude. Our attempts to talk about anything else were futile because we hadn’t seen anything else at The Louvre, as we had the other three.

“In your opinion, what’s the secret of La Gioconda? Is it the PR?” I asked Fred.

“It does have something to do with PR, but look, they do PR for other paintings also, but they haven’t turned into La Giocondas. Did you sense that one moment she smiles, the next moment she doesn’t. It could be that La Gioconda looks very alive, more than the other paintings. So it’s natural that people want to see it with their own eyes, and some others can’t resist her glance.”

“But there’s obviously some direction is suggested in all this, and it’s because of that direction that people pass by Raphael’s, Dürer’s, Giotto’s and Giorgioni’s paintings, or stand before them for just a few minutes and seem to say, “Hey, guys, excuse us, but we have a date with La Gioconda.” The fact that the Giaconda receives special recognition by The Louvre is also PR.”

“Is Raphael a good painter?” asked Fred unexpectedly.

“I don’t understand what you’re asking,” I sensed a trap in his question.

“I’m asking your opinion about Raphael.”

I felt that I was being wedged, but whether I liked it or not, I answered:

“He is a great painter, one of the titans of the Renaissance.”

I was prepared to accept defeat, but continued:

“I’ve read that.”

“You mean you’ve formed an opinion about Raphael through PR?”

“You’re right, Fred. I saw the original canvas of Raphael for the first time today.”

“But there’s no need to be ashamed of that; the PR you were subjected to did not really deceive you. And one should accept that the same PR that had convinced you that Raphael was a great painter also says that Gioconda is the ultimate, that there is none better. It’s just that Gioconda is on another level; great painters and painting, are on another.”

“What do you mean?” I was surprised.

“Do you realize that there are many really great painters, geniuses? Yet it’s one thing to be a great painter, to create canvases that are praised with the name of their authors, and something entirely different to create that unique canvas whose name or title is more praised than the name of its creator. Leonardo Da Vinci is a genius, but today the name La Gioconda rings more loudly than Leonardo Da Vinci’s name. Had there not been the Mona Lisa, the section of the Louvre would have been empty because no other painting would have had the right to be on that stand, even one of Leonardo’s other works. Can you name another painting whose title rings higher than the name of its author?”

“Maybe Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’.”

“You just said Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers.’ No one says ‘Leonardo Da Vinci’s Giaconda. They say, La Giaconda. Maybe that, too, is a result of PR. But anyone who is good at PR, and in this case we’re dealing with a good PR person, knows what can be promoted through PR and how.”

“I accept what you’re saying; you’re right. For example, I really like Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ and now I admit that the PR did have an impact on me because I’ve never seen the original of that painting. But I really want to,” I said.

“I think it’s in Munich, in the collection of some pig collector. But you know, a lot of people insist that Van Gogh is a weak painter, that he has no connection with fine art, and that his presence is sheer PR, only PR. And that if he hadn’t cut off his ear, his name wouldn’t even have reached the 20th century, even though he committed suicide on the threshold of the 20th century.”

“I’m familiar with that viewpoint.”

“You know, I don’t know much about painting, you can even say, I understand nothing of it. For me, Van Gogh is not an artistic phenomenon but a human phenomenon. By that I mean, I can not and don’t want to assess his canvases from the point of view of the visual arts, especially since I’ve never seen any of his originals. But his life, his tragic life comes to show in many hues how defenseless the human being is in this world. The human being is defenseless not only in physical terms but in the spiritual and moral sense as well.”

“That is clear even without Van Gogh,” observed Fred.

“Dear Fred, other things are understandable without that, too. But the example, the well- known example doesn’t allow us to circumvent or pretend that we don’t see the obvious proof. When I read about Van Gogh, it became obvious to me that even today there are people who live near us, such as in my country, who have no chance of feeling contentment or self-expression. And in those circumstances, when people living next to you are hungry, unemployed and defenseless, you feel guilty about not being hungry, about having a job and a home and about being safe. Do you understand what I mean? And the man who scratched Van Gogh’s painting to put the canvas to “better use”; the man who had plugged a hole in his chicken coop with Van Gogh’s canvas, lives today, in the form of injustice, ignorance, rudeness and unlawfulness.”

“So?”

“So, either everything should be done so that a man is safe, physically, morally and spiritually, but if that doesn’t work, then we should be as defenseless, as unfortunate, and as scorned, as Van Gogh.”

“And La Giaconda?” asked Fred with a smile.

“You know, La Giaconda is about everything being okay. I’m not arguing against it. In Europe, in the United States, in Japan and in many countries if not everything, but at least many things are okay. But if I were to organize an exhibit in my country, I would place Van Gogh’s ‘Potato Eaters’ and “Sunflowers” on individual stands, all by themselves.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that everything will be okay.”

My answer made Fred very happy. I was happy, too.

The time for our meeting with Quentin was drawing near; we got up to leave.

(to be continued)

ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ. ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/Pashinyan - The Other Side of the World

2008-07-20T12:27:00.000-07:00

35. պուպուլիկով տիկինը

Ճաշից հետո հենց ռեստորանից Ֆրեդը զանգեց Քվենտինին: Վերջինս ասել էր, թե մեզ հետ կարող է հանդիպել միայն հաջորդ օրը երեկոյան: Նրանք պայմանավորվել էին Մադելեն տաճարի մոտ գտնվող ինչ-որ սրճարանում:

35. The Lady with the Little Penis

Fred called Quentin from the restaurant, after we finished lunch. The latter had told Fred that he could meet with us only the next evening. They had agreed to meet at some café by the chapel of La Madeleine.

We left the restaurant, walked a little more but soon realized that we were both really tired and decided to go back to the hotel. I had already taken a bath and lay down, and was watching television when Fred called.

“Listen, shouldn’t we go to the Louvre tomorrow?”

“Let’s go.”

“Are we resting this evening?”

“Yes, my feet are throbbing. I’ll tell you what. Let’s have tea downstairs in a couple of hours and call it a day,” I suggested.

Fred agreed, and that’s what we ended up doing. The next morning, after breakfast, we arrived at the Louvre by cab. We waited in line for a long time to get tickets. Fred suggested we get tickets for two visits because we couldn’t see much in one day and may come again. I wasn’t opposed to the idea.

We were soon in the hall of antique Greek sculpture. It’s hard to believe that there was such technology in the ancient world to work in stone.

Then, all of a sudden I notice Fred examining the statue of a beauty in perfection. By that I mean an ancient Greek statue. That beautiful nude was reclining toward me. She was on her side, but a little turned over her belly, her legs bent halfway. I got closer. It was just fantastic. Her body silhouette was astounding and perfect, her behind, round and exciting, her feet were dainty, her hair was flowing. When I got closer, her breasts became visible, in perfect proportions, the nipples were erect and supple. It seemed the statue was saying “Take me.”

“She’s a real babe, isn’t she?” I said to Fred. The latter was looking at the ‘babe’ from the front, and when I began to admire her, a sly smile appeared on Fred’s face. He beckoned me with his finger, underlining the wry smile even more. Without a clue as to what was going on, I circled the beauty and stood by Fred’s side. I saw that which I never expected to see. The ‘babe,” that beauty, had a little penis, a regular little penis; the inscription on the pedestal read “Hermaphrodite.” Fred couldn’t control himself and started giggling in a low voice. I was in a complete panic. Okay, I’ll admit it. When I had said “What a ‘babe’, isn’t she?” I had also touched the hermaphrodite’s round bottom.

Fred brought down the black side of The Louvre on me. Let’s say, we’re standing before Titian’s canvas. All at once he would make a………..motion and say “what a ………., no?”, and would start to giggle a little. I was laughing with him and wasn’t offended. I was seeing him happy for the first time, and that was really a pleasure.

In this way, with some breaks, we were looking at different classical canvases, when I noticed that a huge crowd of people had gathered in one of the halls. The museum workers were trying to get the visitors to stand in line.

“What’s the line for? I asked Fred.

“La Gioconda,” he said.

It was clear that we too would wait in line.

By contrast to the other canvases that hung along the walls side by side, La Gioconda stood alone. It didn’t hang on any wall but from an enormous stand made especially for it, in the center of the exhibit hall. On each side permanently stood a heavy set male with the words “Security” inscribed on their arm bands. La Gioconda differed from all other paintings, as it appeared behind a pane of glass. One of the supervisors explained that the picture ha been put behind the glass after some fanatic had tried to throw acid on it. Hence the special measures for security. Visitors were not allowed to get closer than three meters to La Gioconda, although no such limitations were de facto enforced in the case of other canvases. Signs around La Gioconda issued the warnings that no videotaping or photographing was allowed, but despite that everybody was trying to videotape or photograph it, trying to be photographed with La Gioconda, and inviting the insults of the supervisor of the Louvre. When it was my turn, I couldn’t look at it long, because La Gioconda’s bodyguards were looking at me in such a way, as if I had done something wrong. In the same way that the bald headed bodyguards of the Armenian oligarchs eyed the young men who dared glance at the daughter of their bosses. In brief, Fred and I quickly left the area.

“Leonardo should be taken to court for this,” I said when we were some distance away.

“Why, what has he done?” Fred was surprised.

“That’s a dangerous crime. In Armenian it’s called pushing people to a psychological break-down; in English, I guess it would be psychosis.”

Fred didn’t understand what I was saying. We were talking, looking at paintings and statues. We saw one of Michelangelo’s works, the winged but headless Nike. Then we found ourselves in a hall where Venus de Milo was exhibited, where we noticed a 60 year old man. He was standing before Venus, and, with a visibly unhappy expression was mumbling something under his nose. Our knowledge of French allowed us to conclude that that he was swearing.

“Thieves, knaves, liars,” he was saying, keeping his eyes on Venus.

The superintendent clearly knew the old man, because he approached him calmly, took his arm and said in a low voice: “Okay now, Claude, that’s enough for today.” The old man, however surprising it may sound, obeyed the superintendent, turned around and walked toward the exit, but didn’t stop swearing:

“Thieves, knaves, liars…”

We didn’t understand what was going on, but I told Fred that it was enough for us as well:

“My feet are killing me,” I said

“Mine, too,” said Fred. We left The Louvre and threw ourselves into a nearby café.

What we both wanted was a cold beer.

(to be continued)

ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/Pashinyan - The Other Side of the World (#34)

2008-07-20T12:25:00.000-07:00

34. ծեծկռտուք Միլանում

Ֆրեդը հետաքրքիր անձնավորություն էր: Նա զբաղվում էր հին գրքերի առքուվաճառքով. բոլոր այն գրքերը, որ տպագրվել են 1950 թվականից առաջ, գտնվում էին նրա հետաքրքրության ոլորտում:

34. Scuffle in Milan

Fred was an interesting character. He was a dealer in old books. Books printed before 1950 were in his area of interest. And so it had been the search for valuable books that had brought him to Europe, obviously not for the first time. The company Fred owned was in the United States, it functioned primarily in internet auctions and brought him a good income. He had entrusted others with the management of his company, while he himself preferred to go around the world buying antique books. During the last two months he had not attended to business, for reasons the reader is by now aware of.

I’ve already mentioned that Fred had met Catherine in Italy. More specifically, that had happened in Milan, where the Benevolent Society which Catherine represented was involved in fund raising for starving children in Darfur. Fred and Catherine had met at a fund-raising auction.

And then, during the eighth month of Catherine’s pregnancy, Fred had gotten involved in a scuffle with Italians, in a bar-restaurant. And since he’d trained as a boxer in the past, he had broken the noses of two of the Italians. The next day, his acquaintances had told Fred that the Italian police were looking to arrest him.

At that news Fred had decided to leave Italy:

“If they had arrested me, Catherine would have been helpless,” he had said.

The reader already knows the rest, but the most interesting thing is that there was a political subtext in Fred’s scuffle and departure from Italy:

“You may have heard the story about an American soldier who killed a member of the Italian special services in Iraq. That was a year and a half ago, but the topic surfaces on the front pages of Italian newspapers from time to time. The Italians are demanding that the United States hand over that soldier so that they can judge him by Italian laws. But our people say that first of all, they won’t surrender their soldier, and second, that he has not committed a crime because he acted within the law,” explained Fred and continued to tell the story. “On that day, the newspapers and the television stations had brought up the topic again. A few young men in the bar started to harass me, and then went over the limit. The Carabinieri (Italian Police), according to my acquaintances, were pleased that the American had hit the Italians and brought harm to them. What’s going on? Everyone is disgusted with Americans.”

“I can’t deny it,” I said in answer to Fred’s question.

“Are you disgusted, too?” asked Fred.
“Look, not with Americans, but with their political games. But actually, I have the same attitude toward the Europeans, the Russians, and the Iranians. But, if I were to be even more frank with you, I’d say that all this is simple emotional reaction and that I know well that the problem is not so much with the United States, Europe, Russia or Iran, but with us, I mean with Armenia.”

“But Bush really turned America into a subject of ridicule,” observed Fred.

“The image of the United States doesn’t worry me that much. What I’m thinking of are Serbia, Iraq and other countries that are experiencing tragedies. Who’s guilty for the condition in which these countries are? In the first place, it is the citizens and political figures of those countries who have lived by the principle “As long as I have my acorn, eat it, and get fat,” I cited the quote in Armenian.

“What does that mean?” asked Fred.

“It’s a line from a poem that tells about the stupid pig,” I said and explained its meaning.

“So, we too are responsible for Bush’s actions?” asked Fred.

“Of course you’re responsible.”

“So the loathing hurled at us is not exactly unfair.”

“That’s what it comes down to.”

We were leaning against the handrail by the shores of the Seine and watching the passersby.

“Fred, have you noticed that there is not a single fat person? They all have admirable physiques.”

“Guess so, but the French know how to eat,” said Fred. “Shouldn’t we go somewhere to eat?”

“Let’s go. Let’s walk until we find a restaurant we like.”

“There are more restaurants and cafes in Paris than anything else; and you can always have a regular meal, at any time of the day.”

“And are there restaurants that have specific hours of business?”

“In Spain, for instance, if you miss the siesta time, your only hope are the “bread-and-butter” folks. After the siesta, the cooks goes off to sleep.”

“And when is siesta time?”

“I think from two to four. I can’t remember for sure.”

“Fred, shouldn’t we call Quentin?”

“Let’s call.”

“Please, you call him.”

“I’ll call him; but when?”

“Whenever you want to.”

“Okay; after lunch.”

“OK.”

“Listen, aren’t the Italians looking for you?”

“Hardly; they’re not yet so impudent as to search all over the world for an American citizen, for two broken noses.”

(to be continued)

ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ. ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/Pashinyan- The Other Side of the World (#33)

2008-07-20T12:24:00.000-07:00

33. Շառլն ու Վինսթոնը

Ի՞նչ տեսարան է բացվում փարիզյան հյուրանոցի իմ սենյակի միակ պատուհանից. շատ պարզ տեսարան է` դիմացի շենքը, որ հեռու է ընդամենը 6-7 մետր: Այս երկու շենքերի արանքով նեղ փողոց է անցնում` նեղ մայթերով: Դեպի մայթ են բացվում զանազան խանութների, ռեստորանների դռներ:

33. Charles and Winston

What do I see from the only window of my hotel in Paris? It’s actually a very simple view: the building just across, set about 6 or 7 meters away. Below is a narrow street with narrow sidewalks that runs between these two buildings. There are various restaurants and stores along the sidewalks. But neither car nor foot traffic is possible here; it is desolate here. There’s no one to disturb the old homeless man wrapped in newspapers, who sleeps on the sidewalk without a care. Who are these shops and restaurants for? “For permanent customers” explains Kareem the porter, who is a Kurd by nationality. After breakfast Fred and I will be to take a stroll; we had decided to walk around as much as we could.

If you’ve been in different European cities, it’s not that hard to understand why some people call Paris the capital of Europe, and still some others call it the capital of the world. All the best features of all the best cities are concentrated in Paris. It’s hard to say if the French have imported or exported the best. Perhaps both; sometimes they’ve even plundered.

Their Louvre (Museum) is full of the treasures ancient Greek, ancient Egyptian cultures, along with the treasures of other nations, but no one blames France for having appropriated them. They’ve also placed a plundered Egyptian column in granite, I don’t know how many millennia old, in the center of Paris and called the square where the column stands “Concordance.” That means dialogue. That means: you agree that we can rob you, but don’t you dare do it yourselves, because you’re accountable before the law on crime. I think the reader can guess what Marko would have said about all that.

Frankly, I really wished that I didn’t like Paris. It’s not at all unique and reassuring that you like something that everybody else likes. But, I am ashamed to admit that Paris became very dear to me. As for Fred he had been a great admirer of Paris from the very start.

So, as we’re walking on the streets of Paris and I notice a familiar face:

“Fred, that’s our Winston” I say.

“What Winston…”

“Churchill…”

In fact, it’s Winston Churchill’s statue. Of course, the French have honored him with the statue, but have secretly stated something else. They’ve placed Churchill on a low pedestal, barely one meter high, and in such a location that if the nearby bushes were ‘accidentally’ not trimmed for a year, Winston would lost behind the bushes and his existence lost in oblivion.

Charles de Gaulle, whose tall, erect statue is located not too far from Winston’s, is, I think, satisfied with this arrangement. Churchill, somewhat bent over in general, seems to be more so in this statue, as he holds a cane in his hand. And Charles, okay, De Gaulle, is walking, with his head held high…

Alas, France, what would you have been now had there not been this unusually tall man? And how was he able to get what he wanted, or more precisely, to pluck it from the hands of those men who used to scorn him by calling him the ‘bride to be?’

And how was this unusual man, Charles, okay, De Gaulle, make a niche for this non-existing state among the ranks of the victorious superpowers, to turn it into a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and to get a French occupation zone in Germany ( mea culpa, mea culpa). Before de Gaulle, the French hadn’t really done that much during the war, except for running away and handing their capital over to Hitler on a silver platter. And now they’re among the conquerors.

The naïve Armenian peasant would have said “May your *******, diplomacy…”

And ‘Fund’ would have said: “De Gaulle? Oh, he was all brains; all brains and not just thick muscles.

But how was he able to do all that? Of course, France is a country with a long tradition of statehood, a one-time empire. But it didn’t take long for the leaders and generals of that empire to kneel before Hitler.

De Gaulle, to whom they had even denied the title of ‘general’ but had thrown it at him only as France stood on the threshold of destruction, did not follow their example. In the first place, because he was convinced that he had a mission; that he had been chosen by God to save France, to elevate it. It was the sense of having a mission that had given him strength, had kept him on his feet during the worst and most desperate times.

He had sensed his mission to save France much earlier, at a time when it seemed that the country had no need to be saved; when it seemed that everything was moving toward eternal peace.

And he saved France, and twice, at that…

And who are the ones who lead France now? Who are the rulers of Europe? Take a close look at their faces, study their facial expressions. They’re truly caricatures. They go to work everyday, like the managers of small appliances; do you see any sense of mission in their eyes?

Okay, let’s imagine Charles De Gaulle, Winston Churchill, François Mitterrand, Margaret Thatcher, Helmut Kohl, Václav Havel, Lech Walensa, Alexander ……

And now imagine Nicolas Sarkozy, Jacques Chirac, The Kachinsky Brotherhood, Gerhardt Schroeder, the audacious lad, Gordon Brown, oh, the eyebrows, the eyebrows. And hey, Silvio Berlusconi. And what can you say Angela Merkel, that unfortunate girl. And Sabadero, Sabadero. Hey, can it be that you’re Mister Pin’s cousin?

And their new neighbors: Rob and Serj…

Fred saw a men’s clothing store. We went in. We looked around a little bit and then a guy approached us:

“Bonjour, can I help you?”

(to be continued)

We will not forget the political prisoners...

2008-07-18T18:46:00.001-07:00

Karine Yeghiazaryan is the sister of political prisoner Gourgen Yeghiazaryan... BeautySavesWorld from YouTube has mixed the words with pictures of the People's Movement, and put it to music that is amongst the favorite of Gourgen Yeghiazaryan. The link to the Armenian, published on zhamanak, is below...

Մարտի 1-ի սպանդից հետո, երբ ձերբակալվեց եղբայրս` Գուրգեն Եղիազարյանը, կարծես թե աշխարհը շրջվեց ինձ եւ իմ հարազատների համար:

Live broadcasting stopped... Say hello to Machiavelli

2008-07-16T15:50:00.000-07:00

Zhamanak reports:
Խայտառակություն
Երկու օր առաջ «Ոսկե ծիրան» հինգերորդ միջազգային փառատոնը ուղիղ եթերով հեռարձակելու ընթացքում, երբ Ռոման Բալայանը հայտարարել է` մեկ րոպե լռությամբ հարգենք մարտի 1-ի զոհերի հիշատակը, ուղիղ եթերն ընդհատվել է:

Roughly translated-
Two days ago, the live broadcasting of the Golden Apricot fifth international film festival, Roman Balayan announced a one minute moment of silence in memoriam of the victims of March 1 - live broadcasting was interrupted at that time.

I would sure need a lot of proof to begin to believe that this was just a coincidence. I wonder what the chain of command on that Order was, how high did it go? Who had to flip the switch to interrupt the broadcast?
Imagine if they showed something like that on TV... Or if the Opposition had had their right to appropriate representation before, after, and even now, on television... Imagine if the political prisoners were set free...

Not only would it signal the beginning of the return of basic human rights and freedoms that have been taken away, but in returning those liberties, the SS/RK regime would be empowering everyone but themselves - and that's exactly what its afraid of- an ever-empowered populace.

They must know that those people who participated day after day in demonstrations in the winter will never respect the present regime. So, the regime hopes to subdue, to quell, in essence to beat the hope out of people.

In fact, the regime seems to have settled for Machiavelli's approach (fear of authority, not love/respect). That's something similar to having such a horrid relationship with your child that you'll be satisfied when the child stops telling you s/he hates you and wishes your neighbor was his parent, and will just follow your orders because you've beat him so much.

How sad.

ADDENDUM: Thanks to Unzipped for pointing out (see comment #1) that it seems the reported interruption of live coverage wasn't exactly as it was reported in zhamanak - see http://narjan.livejournal.com/303243.html for more details.
I'm glad that people were able to view the moment of silence on television. Admitting that something is worthy of a moment of silence, of mourning, and then allowing that to be expressed on television, is the minimum first step necessary in moving forward.

A logical approach...

2008-07-16T09:32:00.000-07:00

Policy Forum Armenia has published a report on the most recent situation in Armenia, related to the February 19 2008 presidential elections. In addition to identifying many of the irregularites surrounding the election, They have done multiple statistical analyses to try to further understand the impact of certain voting irregularities on the outcome of the elections. Here is the link:

Armenia's 2008 Presidential Election: Select Issues and Analysis

The best video so far...

2008-07-14T19:19:00.000-07:00

Kocharyan should be tried...

2008-07-14T18:21:00.000-07:00

ՔՈՉԱՐՅԱՆԻՆ ՊԱՏՐԱՍՏՎՈՒՄ ԵՆ ՀԱՆՁՆԵԼ ՀԱԱԳԱՅԻ ԴԱՏԱՐԱՆ
ACTION TO BE BROUGHT AGAINST KOCHARIAN

Petition

ՌՈԲԵՐՏ ՔՈՉԱՐՅԱՆԸ ՀԱՅԱՍՏԱՆԻ ՊԵՏԱԿԱՆՈՒԹՅԱՆ ԵՒ ՀԱՅ ԺՈՂՈՎՐԴԻ ՆԿԱՏՄԱՄԲ ԳՈՐԾԵԼ Է ԾԱՆՐ ՀԱՆՑԱՆՔՆԵՐ։ ՆԱ ԵՐԿՈՒ ԱՆԳԱՄ ՆԱԽԱԳԱՀԱԿԱՆ ԻՇԽԱՆՈՒԹՅԱՆ Է ՏԻՐԱՑԵԼ ԿԵՂԾ ՓԱՍՏԱԹՂԹԵՐԻ ՀԻՄԱՆ ՎՐԱ՝ ԿԱՏԱՐԵԼՈՎ ԻՇԽԱՆՈՒԹՅԱՆ ՅՈՒՐԱՑՄԱՆ ԾԱՆՐ ՀԱՆՑԱԳՈՐԾՈՒԹՅՈՒՆ։ ԻՐ ՄԻԱՆՁՆՅԱ ԵՒ ԲՌՆԱՏԻՐԱԿԱՆ ԻՇԽԱՆՈՒԹՅՈՒՆԸ ՆԱ ԱՄՐԱՊՆԴԵՑ ԱՐՅՈՒՆՈՎ՝ 1999 Թ. ՀՈԿՏԵՄԲԵՐԻ 27-Ի ՈՃՐԱԳՈՐԾՈՒԹՅԱՄԲ ԵՒ ՀԱՅԱՍՏԱՆՈՒՄ ՀԱՍՏԱՏԵՑ ԻՐԱԿԱՆ ԱՎԱԶԱԿԱՊԵՏԱԿԱՆ ՌԵԺԻՄ։ ՆԱ ԻՇԽԱՆՈՒԹՅՈՒՆՆ ԱՎԱՐՏԵՑ ԿՐԿԻՆ ԱՐՅՈՒՆՈՎ՝ 2008 Թ. ՄԱՐՏԻ 1-Ի ԴԱԺԱՆ ՍՊԱՆԴՈՎ, ՈՐ ԻՐ ԲՈԼՈՐ ՀԱՏԿԱՆԻՇՆԵՐՈՎ ՀԱՆՑԱԳՈՐԾՈՒԹՅՈՒՆ Է ՄԱՐԴԿՈՒԹՅԱՆ ԴԵՄ։ ՈՒՍՏԻԵՒ ՄԵՆՔ՝ ՀԱՅԱՍՏԱՆԻ ՀԱՆՐԱՊԵՏՈՒԹՅԱՆ ՆԵՐՔՈՍՏՈՐԱԳՐՅԱԼ ՔԱՂԱՔԱՑԻՆԵՐՍ, ՊԱՀԱՆՋՈՒՄ ԵՆՔ ՄԱՐՏԻ 1-Ի ՈՃՐԱԳՈՐԾՈՒԹՅԱՆ ՄԻՋԱԶԳԱՅԻՆ ԱՆԿԱԽ ՀԵՏԱՔՆՆՈՒԹՅՈՒՆ, ԻՍԿ ՌՈԲԵՐՏ ՔՈՉԱՐՅԱՆԻ ԳՈՐԾԸ ՀԱՆՁՆԵԼ ՀԱԱԳԱՅԻ ՄԻՋԱԶԳԱՅԻՆ ՔՐԵԱԿԱՆ ԴԱՏԱՐԱՆ։

Ազգանուն անուն	հասցե	ստորագրություն

Ստորագրությունները նախատեսված են միմիայն ՀԱԱԳԱՅԻ միջազգային քրեական դատարան ներկայացնելու համար։

So, what does this mean?

2008-07-14T08:17:00.000-07:00

excerpt from panarmenian.net

Asked whether Turkish President will arrive in Armenia, the ARFD Bureau member [Aghvan Vardanyan] said, “I don’t understand how a man, who imposed blockade and set conditions to Armenia, can visit our country. Our party has exact position on the issue and we will never negotiate with him,” IA Regnum reports.

I haven't heard any more about whether the invitation to watch the Soccer/Football game was accepted. But I wonder what will happen, especially within the coalition, if Mr. Gul does show up for the game.

ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ:ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD - Pashinyan

2008-07-14T08:14:00.000-07:00

32. խոնավ է Էդինբուրգը

Նոր Կտակարանի մեր փնտրտուքը երկար չտեւեց. ծեր գրավաճառը ուրախությամբ եւ հանդիսավորությամբ մեզ տվեց մի-մի գրպանի Կտակարան: Նա ափսոսանքով էր ասում, որ հիմա երիտասարդությունը քիչ է կարդում, իսկ Աստվածաշունչ կամ Նոր Կտակարան` առավել եւս: Վիկտորը խոստովանեց, որ վերջին անգամ այս գիրքը ձեռքն է վերցրել 10 կամ 15 տարի առաջ, բայց մինչեւ վերջ չի էլ կարդացել:

31. Edinburgh is Humid

Our search for the New Testament didn’t take long. The old bookseller happily and ceremoniously gave us each a pocket-size Testament. Nowadays the young don’t reach much, and they read the Bible or the New Testament even less, he said with some regret. Victor admitted that the last time he took the Testament in his hand had been 10 or 15 years ago, but even then he hadn’t read the whole thing.

While we were standing in the bookstore, I searched for and found, and then read aloud: “Blessed are they who hunger for they shall be filled.” Victor turned around abruptly, looked to see the page I was quoting from, turned to that page, and he, too, began to read aloud: “ If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘uproot yourself and be replanted in the sea’ it will obey you.”

“Hey, guys, did you know that serial killers love to quote from the Bible, too?” asked Fred mockingly.

“God doesn’t forbid anyone from praying to him; each human being has the opportunity to be reborn,” said the old bookseller in response to Fred.

“You’re right, of course, my friend,” said Fred to the bookseller and exited the bookstore.

I paid for the books, and we followed Fred. We soon found ourselves in a big square, delineated by old, moss covered walls and structures with towers along which cafes were lined. We took a table at one of them and ordered some coffee. Victor suggested that I sign his New Testament and indicate that it was my gift to him on such and such date. I declined; I just couldn’t sign the Holy Bible with my fictitious name. But to disclose who I was to Victor would have been silly, as inappropriate in principle as the saying “secret, but for the whole world.”

“When are you going to Paris?” Fred asked me.

“I don’t know. Maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day,” I answered.

“Would you mind if we saw you off?”

“Of course not,” I said, happily.

“So, let’s leave tomorrow night” suggested Fred and added his reason “Edinburgh is humid.”

“It’s a date,” I said, and turned to Victor, “Are you coming with us?”

“No, sirs. Sorry, But me… New York, New York,” he sang like Sinatra.

I welcomed Fred’s decision to come to Paris with me. We had gotten to be very close and traveling together meant that at least the journey would not be tedious. He volunteered to arrange for the air tickets and the hotels. We decided to lay some flowers on Catherine’s grave and then visit her parents.

Flights from Edinburgh to Paris leave every few hours so that buying a ticket was not so difficult. More, you could buy a ticket a few hours before the flight via the internet, and at a really cheap price, especially if it’s a night flight. Fred knew how to do it. He said that if we were lucky we could find a ticket, let’s say, for 5 Euros. Well, moving forward, let me say that he reserved a ticket for 30 Euros for the flight leaving that night at 3:45. But that happened 5 hours before the flight, when we had returned from Catherine’s house.

First we went to the cemetery. Fred placed a big bouquet of roses on Catherine’s grave. We were standing quietly by the grave when Fred said:

“You know, I can’t believe this is real…”

I didn’t say anything. But I, too, couldn’t believe it, that this was true, that away from my fatherland, my family, my friends, my struggle, I was paying my respects with a stranger for another stranger, for the memory of a stranger.

Catherine’s parents received us with affection and courteously. Alan arrived after us, and realizing that we were leaving for Paris, promised to call Quentin to ask him to help me. I thanked him. We ate at Catherine’s house, said goodbye to her family and returned to the hotel. We met Victor in the foyer. He said he had been waiting for us to say good bye. We sat for a while, had some tea, then Fred said he was going to get our tickets through the internet. Then I said I wanted to dig through the internet myself. Victor wished us a good journey, as we did to him.

It took Fred an hour to get the tickets. If we had waited a little longer it may have been possible to buy the tickets for a lesser price; but we could live with the price he got.

After we got the tickets Fred went to his hotel and I went up to my room. Since Fred’s hotel was on the way to the airport, we decided that I’d get a cab and meet him at 2:00. And that’s what we did.

At the airport, we went through passport check and the other checks successfully and got on the plane. About an hour later our plane began its descent into the Paris airport named after Charles De Gaulle.

Who else whom would the airport in Paris be named for, if not after Charles De Gaulle? Had there not been a De Gaulle, the airport in Paris would not have been called by any other name, much like the airports in Vienna or Edinburgh, which are not named after anyone.

We got a cab and went to the hotel where Fred had reserved rooms for us. The hotel was in the center of Paris, on a quiet street. We went in and approached the desk.

“Can I help you?” Was the answer of a plumb young woman with absolutely innocent blue eyes, in response to our “Bonjour.”

(to be continued)

ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ. ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/Pashinyan - The Other Side of the World

2008-07-13T05:34:00.000-07:00

[from payqar.org]
31. ի՞նչ են զգում հայրերը

Զանգողը Վիկտորն էր. ասացի, որ ես ու Ֆրեդը ճաշում ենք միասին եւ իրեն էլ առաջարկում ենք միանալ: Վիկտորը հաճույքով ընդունեց առաջարկը: Երեքով հանդիպեցինք մեր հյուրանոցի նախասրահում: Ես Վիկտորին ներկայացրի Ֆրեդին, Ֆրեդին ներկայացրի Վիկտորին: Վերջինս ցավակցության խոսքեր ասաց, ապա նրանք իրար ամերիկյան տարբերակով մի երկու հարց տվեցին` «ուրդու տղա ե՞ս որ» տարբերակով: Գիտեք արդեն, որ Վիկտորը Նյու Յորքից էր, բայց չեմ ասել, որ Ֆրեդը Նեբրասկա նահանգի տղա էր` Լինքոլն քաղաքից: Ես ուշադիր հետեւում էի իմ երկու ամերիկացի բարեկամների զրույցին. արդյո՞ք նրանք ընդհանուր ծանոթներ կգտնեն, ինչպես տեղի է ունենում ցանկացած երկու հայաստանցիների առաջին հանդիպման ընթացքում:

31. What Do Fathers Feel?

It was Victor calling me on the phone. I told him Fred and I were going out to eat and invited him to join us. He accepted with pleasure. The three of us met in the foyer of our hotel and I made the introductions. Victor expressed his condolences to Fred, then the two of them exchanged some questions much in the same way that Armenians do when they first meet, such as “whose son are you? Etc.” I’ve already mentioned that Victor was from New York, but I haven’t mentioned the fact that Fred was from Lincoln, Nebraska. I was closely following the conversation between my two American friends: would they be able to find mutual friends, like any two Armenians do when meet for the first time.

Disappointment awaited me, because their only mutual friend was George Bush, against whom they had both voted in the American presidential elections.

Fred suggested we eat at the hotel restaurant; we agreed. He said he wanted to have some Kiev Omelet; we agreed. Fred said he wanted to have it with red wine; again, we agreed.

When we had already sat down and tasted the wine, I asked Victor if he had any news about his son. Before asking such a question, I should have explained to Victor about everything that had happened to Fred and why he was now in Edinburgh. But I somehow forgot to. Victor began talking with enthusiasm that he would be home in a week and would hug and hug, his son. I didn’t notice for quite a while that Fred was lost in his thoughts. When I did notice it, I decided to change the topic but Fred wouldn’t let me:

“How does it feel to be a father?” he asked unexpectedly and continued, “And please don’t say the things you read in books.”

Victor and I looked at each other. What a question! A question that was being asked by someone who, by his own characterization, had not become a father but had already lost his son. But it was a question that needed to be answered.

After a moment’s confusion, I sensed from the look in Victor’s eyes, that he had found the answer to the unexpected question:

“Being a father means to feel guilty, to feel terribly guilty in the presence of your child,” he said, as if reading my mind.

There was a moment of silence. Victor started thinking about his own statement.

“To feel guilty or to be guilty?” Fred tried to clarify.

“Is one possible without the other?” I answered for victor, and continued, “It is not possible not to be guilty.”

“But it is possible not to feel guilty,” observed Fred.

“You’re now talking about someone with diminished mental capacity. Only such a person can be free of guilt. In fact, a person with diminished mental capacity is not guilty because he is not capable of feeling guilt,” I explained.

Fred accepted. Victor, who had been listening quietly, continued his earlier train of thought with a vivid expression on his face:

“I have a brilliant formulation. When you look at any other child, you have a normal, happy feeling. When you look at your own child, whether you’re sad or happy, your heart necessarily sinks, in a way you feel guilty…”

“What for?” asked Fred.

“For everything. But perhaps especially because you can’t love the child as much as you do. That is what a father feels—guilt, and the hopeless efforts to atone for his sins. There, that’s fatherly love also. And sometimes, that love has a bad ending.”

“What do you mean?” I asked Victor. He was surprised:

“Weren’t you talking earlier about child-clones, about tyrannical parents? And I said that the reverse of that was also evident in the USA; a huge segment of the youth perishing in chaos and addiction. Don’t you think that hidden under it all is a knot of parental, or more specifically, paternal feelings? And do you know what the problem is? The problem is that you’re never sure if you’re helping your child or harming him. You don’t know if punishment is right or wrong because that may be the right approach for one child, but not for another. But, the most terrifying thing is that you’ll never know if you’ve given your child the right upbringing or not.”

“How so?” I was surprised. “Can’t you tell if your child is good?”

“Let’s say that your child is good. Does that prove that the upbringing you gave your child was the right one? And do you wonder if you’ve destroyed the talent to be an artist, or a musician, or a writer in him? Can you be sure that you haven’t? By forcing him to play the violin, you may be denying him of his calling to be an artist. Or, by not forcing him to play the violin, you’re not helping him find his calling as a violinist. You can’t tell. Doubts will always haunt you and you’ll always feel guilty. And what if he needs heroine to create masterpieces in art? Do you want your child to be a great artist? And who are you to want this or that for your child? In this whirlpool of questions, you can’t help but feel guilty.”

Fred continued to be pensive:

“So are you saying that the very feeling of being a father is the same as feeling guilty in the presence of your child? If that’s the case, I can consider myself a father, too,” he said bitterly.

“You know what, it seems to me that this philology also explains other relationships; I mean, it is characteristic of other situations as well. For instance, what does it mean to be a son? It means to feel guilty with regard to your parents. To be a brother—to feel guilty with regard to your brother and sister; to be a spouse—to feel guilty with regard to your wife. And finally, what does it mean to be a human being—to be guilty in the presence God. At the end, life is the futile effort to overcome that feeling of guilt, to atone for one’s sins. And sometimes, propelled by the need to atone for the original sin, people are forced to commit bigger sins,” I generalized.

Victor clearly agreed with me.

“Yes; only cows are free of any guilt feelings,” he said.

Fred continued to defend his point of view:

“There was a time when man lived for 800 years. Later, or rather, now, the life-span is 60-70 years. The time will come when people will be dead at birth. For me, that time has already come,” he said, sighing yet again.

I wanted to comfort him, but couldn’t find the words.

“Fred, do you have The New Testament?” I asked, after a short pause.

“You mean here, with me? No, I don’t.”

“I’ll tell you what; let’s go to a bookstore or a church. I want to buy each of us The New Testament.”

We rose. We paid for the meal in Deutschmarks.

(to be continued)

Ah, the choices we all have to make...

2008-07-13T05:17:00.000-07:00

A video from youtube...

...from ArmenianWhiteKnight

Ombudsman comments on instructions to intimidate...

2008-07-11T18:32:00.000-07:00

Ombudsman Cries Foul Over Armenian Unrest Probe [from rferl.org]
OMBUDSMAN STUDIED DOCUMENT THOROUGHLY [from a1plus.am]

I've already commented on my take on this whole matter, and now the Ombudsman (whom i agree should not have to justify why he wants protection for himself and his family) seems pretty concerned by it too. In addition to the illegal detainments/imprisonments, beatings, and oppressions, now we've now had a drunken, armed, individual seeking out "levonakans" on Northern Boulevard (ONE MORE STEP TOWARDS PUBLIC CONFIDENCE).

Here is the english translation of that original document, that same document we saw, in pictures, in the hands of LTP:

HEAD OF THE SPECIAL INVESTIGATION SERVICE

OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

Mr. H. S. Palyan

Prosecutor of Vayots Dzor Marz,

State Counselor of Justice of the Third Rank

March 5, 2008

Investigation assignment

In accordance with Article 191 of the Criminal Procedure Code

of the Republic of Armenia

On March 2, 2008, the Special Investigation Service initiated criminal case # 62202608 in accordance with Article 225, Part 3 and Article 235, Part 2 of the Criminal Code of Armenia to the effect that self-nominated presidential candidate in the presidential elections of February 19, 2008 Levon Ter-Petrossian and his supporters and allies – Members of the National Assembly of Armenia Khachatur Sukiassyan and Sasun Mikaelyan, Editor-in-chief of Haykakan Zhamanak Daily Nikol Pashinyan and others, refusing to admit defeat in the election and in order to cast doubt on the results, to raise uncertainty regarding the results of the election among the public, to create the illusion of mass discontent and resentment, and to discredit the authorities and the election incited mass disorders in the immediate vicinity of the Yerevan Mayor’s Office and central streets, accompanied by killings, violence, carnage, arson and destruction of property by means of fire-arms, explosives and other improvised objects, and displayed armed resistance towards the representatives of the authorities.

Since there is a necessity within the framework of the current criminal case, I request that you commission the discovery, through operative investigation, of new participants of rallies and mass disorders and to interrogate them all, as well as other witnesses – participants in demonstrations on other days and the heads of Levon Ter-Petrossian’s Vayots Dzor regional campaign office – as soon as possible regarding the following issues:

What was said at the demonstrations with regard to foreign assistance, in particular, which countries were mentioned?

- Were the participants of the demonstrations aware that the instability was advantageous to neighboring countries, as well as other agencies?

- Weren’t the participants of the demonstrations speaking in favor of eliminating the presence of Russia in Armenia?

Interrogate the participants of the demonstrations, as well as the neighbors of the

heads of Levon Ter-Petrossian’s regional campaign offices regarding the following issues:

- The whereabouts of the participants of the demonstrations and the heads of Levon Ter-Petrossian’s regional campaign office within the period of 20/02/2008 – 02/03/2008, as well as whether the participants of the demonstrations advocated participation in the demonstrations among their neighbors and how they are characterized by their neighbors, whom they contacted, and what actions they committed within the abovementioned period.

- To gather personal information and reports from the neighborhood and local authorities on the participants of the demonstrations and the heads of Levon Ter-Petrossian’s regional campaign offices and their family members.

- To verify whether the participants of the demonstrations and the heads of Levon Ter-Petrossian’s regional campaign offices were subjects of prior convictions.

3. To find the phone-numbers of the heads of Levon Ter-Petrossian’s regional campaign offices in order to submit a petition before the court to get legal permission regarding monitoring incoming and outgoing telephone calls.

4. To discover the property owned by the participants of the demonstrations and the heads of Levon Ter-Petrossian’s regional campaign offices.

5. To receive from the Passport Departments of the Police copies of Form 1 of the passports of the participants of the demonstrations and the heads of Levon Ter‑Petrossian’s regional campaign offices as well as to find out, through operative investigation, the names of the drivers of the mini-buses and taxis from Vayots Dzor to Yerevan who brought people to Yerevan to participate in the rallies within the period of 20/02/2008 – 02/03/2008, as well as whom those drivers were with, who paid the drivers and where, and what people were saying about the rallies.

The results of the investigation should be presented to the Special Investigation Service.

A. G. Mirzoyan

State Counselor of Justice of Second Rank

Pashinyan - On the Occasion of August 1

2008-07-11T17:34:00.000-07:00

"On the occasion of August 1st:
Let's forget about our homes,
Let's forget about our beds;
Our home, our bed
is Liberty Square
Because the rule of the people,
the rule of law, has not yet been established in Armenia..."
Nikol Pashinyan

Pashinyan regarding Northern Boulevard

2008-07-10T18:31:00.000-07:00

ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ. ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/The Other Side of the World - Pashinyan

2008-07-10T12:25:00.000-07:00

30. can I help you?

Մահճակալիս փռված մտածում էի Մարկոյի հետ ունեցած խոսակցության մասին: Ավելի ճիշտ` չէի մտածում: Լինում է, չէ՞, որ ինչ-որ բանի մասին ես մտածում, գիտես, թե ինչի մասին ես մտածում, բայց չես կարող ասել` ինչ ես մտածում: Ես գիտեի, գիտակցում էի, որ մտածում եմ իմ ու Մարկոյի խոսակցության մասին, բայց ոչ մի կոնկրետ բան չէի մտածում. ուղղակի նայում էի առաստաղին, իմ ու Մարկոյի խոսակցության առիթով:

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD

30. Can I help you?

Sprawled on my bed, I was thinking about the conversation I had just had with Marko. I wasn’t thinking of anything specific. It happens, doesn’t it, that you’re thinking about something in general, you know what it is, but you can’t say what it is exactly that you are focusing on. I knew, I was aware, that I was thinking about my conversation with Marko, but not any specific aspect of it. I was just looking at the ceiling, on the occasion of my conversation with Marko. Obviously, this is hard to explain, but I’m convinced that all of you have at one point or another, looked at the ceiling. We have also looked at the ceiling for no particular reason. But it’s one thing to look at the ceiling for some reason, but something altogether different to do so without any particular reason…

The meanderings of my mind were interrupted by the telephone and diverted my thoughts into a totally different direction. In the space of a few seconds, while the phone rang alerting me to the necessity of lifting the receiver, I realized, palpably, what globalization was. In hotels around the world, telephones ring in the same tones; the same ring is heard from all the telephones placed in hotel rooms around the world. From all telephones in all those hotels rings have the same tonalities, ring in the same pitch; an almost erotic energy: lou-lou, lou-lou.

Even in Tehran, where they serve fish without wine and without beer, where the fight against globalization is elevated to the level of the state, even in the hotels at Tehran, the telephones ring in the same tone, with the same erotic energy, even though the erotic is forbidden in Iran: lou-lou, lou-lou.

You can pick up the telephone and call any hotel in the world, in any region of the globe. The same woman, or man, will answer your call, with the same voice, with the same care, with the same erotic energy, and will say the same thing:

“Can I help you?”

They recite that sentence in such a way as if they expect only a single answer, and only that answer:

“Yes, would you like to give me a blow job…?

“Can I help you?”

If you call any hotel in Tehran, they’ll probably answer you in Farsi, but regardless, they’ll say the same thing:

“Can I help you?”

Anyone in my situation would just go crazy. If you go to a hotel a few times a year, you may not notice the all pervasive claws of “CanIhelpyouism.” But me, a fugitive, who sometimes changes hotels and cities three times a week, I’m just at the edge of my sanity. At every hotel I am met with the same faces, the same smiles and the same voices who ask me the same thing:

“Can I help you?”

Once, I answered by replacing the international terminology with Armenian, perhaps not with an equally pleasant-sounding one, and recited the whole sentence in Armenian:

“Sorry?” was the answer. Then I said that I wanted a room and became the globalized citizen of a globalized world.

Of course, there are some exceptions to this world-wide hotel mannerism, but those hotels have no stars and are for bums. I had seen such a hotel in Russia’s Vladivostok, or, what the guys running the TV show “Decent Programs” call, Vlativasdovsk.

One pane of the aluminum double doors of this hotel, blackened by the burden of years, opened and closed to the creaking noise of rusty hinges. The door handle hung limp from the opening designated for it. On the large glass aperture of the door was glued, from the inside, a faded, plastic sign that read “Open.” Under the sign were the hours of the lunch break: “Break 13:00-14:00.” There was a similar door behind this one, where the left pane was always shut and with an equally rusty hinge. The creaking of this hinge, by contrast to “Can I help you?” inspired the fear of sexual assault. On this door, however, there was no sign.

Behind this door was what the CanIhelpyous call a foyer. But when we enter through this door, we don’t see a large hall. Only a narrow passageway extending from left to right. By the left side wall there is a faded stand with Lenin’s profile in styrofoam, and under it Lenin’s slogan in plaster: Proletarians of the world, unite! On the right is the elevator, and to the right of the elevator the stairs leading up. A sign hangs on the elevator: “Out of Order.”

Facing you, where you would find the front desk in the CanIhelpyous, is a half wall, one and a half meters in height. Over this rises an enclosure made of a large pane of glass framed in aluminum. The glasses are painted in a color reminiscent of white. On this glass wall, directly facing the entrance, there is a small open window about the size of a knob on a Saz (Saz in an ancient Armenian stringed instrument used by many troubadours.)

Oh, that’s right, you don’t know what that expression refers to. It comes from a story told in Ichevan, which goes like this. The husband, a pathetic man, goes to the barber. He gets a haircut and comes home. The wife asks him how much he paid the barber. The husband says 50 kopeks (the incident takes place during the Soviet period). This makes the wife really angry, and she starts yelling at the man saying that they robbed him in broad daylight, and he wasn’t even aware of it. So the woman –in Ichevan they call her type “gyapyur,” takes the man by the hand and goes to the barber to chew him out. The terrified barber, who was busy cutting somebody else’s hair, explains to the screeching woman that he charges the same amount, 50 kopeks, for all haircuts. At that moment, the woman first points to the customer who is having his hair cut and then to her husband, saying: “Why, that gigantic head costs the same 50 kopeks, as this little Saz knob?”

So the little window was open the size of a knob on the Saz, over a large, opaque wall of glass, in the foyer of Vladivostok’s 10th hotel.

When I went in, a young man in a policeman’s uniform, a rubber cudgel hanging by his side, had stuck his head through the little window. There was nobody else around. Nor was there any reaction on the occasion of my entrance. The only thing that moved there from time to time was the policeman’s protruding behind. From the cracks of the little window a woman’s uncontrollable laughter flowed out once in a while; and the policeman’s ass would shake in harmony with the rhythm of the woman’s laughter.

I realized that I would have to wait until the intimate conversation ended. That happened half an hour later. The head with red ears and light complexion pulled out of the little window and looked at me with a searching expression.

I approached calmly, saying “pardon me,” at which point the policeman moved a little to the side and made room by the little window.

A woman of about 100-120 kilos was sitting on the other side of the little window. She had rested her large breasts on the table, causing the table to sag under their weight. The woman’s hair was close cut and the color of chestnuts. But at the top, her hair was long and blond. She was looking at me with blue eyes without saying anything, which was as confusing as it was welcomed, especially after the CanIhelpyous. Finally, I said I wanted a room.

The woman told me that there was only one room available, for such and such price. I agreed. But before I got the room I needed to complete a lot of paperwork. Once that was done, I received a bronze key. When I entered the room, I realized that no one could help me with anything. The name of the hotel, inscribed in the black stamp on the sheet hanging from the corner of the cast iron bed, was staring at me.

But that was in Vladivostok. To get there, I still have a long journey ahead of me. Now I am in Edinburgh, in the comfortable room of the hotel, and the phone is ringing: lou-lou, lou-lou.

(to be continued)

Oh the tangled web....

2008-07-09T08:27:00.000-07:00

First SS had to reword the purpose of the Turkish-Armenian commission after the ARF (and others) were upset by the implications of his statement (see prior postings). Then SS invited Gul over for the Soccer game (still no comment on that). Now SS is offering a fresh start to relations with Turkey -

Sarkisian noted that Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul was one of the first foreign leaders to congratulate him on his victory in Armenia’s recent presidential election. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ali Babacan sent similar messages to their newly appointed Armenian counterparts in April. They both said Ankara wants to engage in dialogue with Yerevan to address problems hampering the normalization of Turkish-Armenian ties...

It remains unclear, however, whether Turkey is ready to drop its preconditions for establishing diplomatic relations and opening its border with Armenia. One of those preconditions is an end to the Armenian campaign for international recognition of the 1915 massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide...

In a statement on Tuesday, Dashnaktsutyun’s leadership reaffirmed its strong opposition to the idea of a Turkish-Armenian commission of historians. Vartanian insisted that it was not a warning addressed to Sarkisian.

It seems SS is still trying to play nice with the ARF, sort of. RK, however, has stated clearly that, if he were "still pulling government strings..."

“of course, Turkey’s president would definitely not be invited to watch football in Yerevan,” he added in a jibe at Sarkisian.

oh, and by the way, he also mentioned...

Kocharian also said he made a mistake by not imprisoning Ter-Petrosian after forcing Armenia’s first president to resign in 1998.

I wonder if this is a preemptive strike from RK? Does he worry he will one day be held accountable for his actions in October, 1999?

[quotes from armenialiberty
Kocharian Admits Differences With Sarkisian
Armenia Offers ‘Fresh Start’ To Turkey
lragir.am republished the Wall Street Journal letter by SS]

ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ. ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ /The Other Side of the World -Pashinyan

2008-07-09T08:14:00.000-07:00

[from payqar.org]
29. հայացք առաստաղին

Իմ ով լինելու գաղտնիքը Քվենտինին բացելուց առաջ ես չէի հասցրել մի կարգին կշռադատել` արժե՞ արդյոք դա անել: Եւ հիմա, երբ Քվենտինը վերադարձել էր Փարիզ` պահպանելու համար Ֆրանսիայի նախագահին, ես չգիտեի` կպահպանի՞ արդյոք նա իմ գաղտնիքը:

29. Looking up at the Ceiling

Before I had disclosed my identity to Quentin I hadn’t had a chance to thoroughly think through the pros and cons of doing so. And now that Quentin was in Paris to protect the French President, I wasn’t sure if he would indeed guard my secret.

And so, doubts about whether I had done the right thing continued to haunt me. When I had heard that Quentin was among the bodyguards of the French leader, it had become clear to me that he would not have ignored the appearance of a stranger like me at his side. He would have started digging and I would soon have found myself in a ridiculous situation. We had drunk together; we had gotten to know each other; and from Fred’s expression and remarks I understood that he, too, agreed with my decision to disclose my identity.

Yet even if Quentin didn’t appreciate my candidness, there was no serious threat in that: at best a few months’ imprisonment for a forged passport, and possibly turning me over to the authorities in the Republic of Armenia. This wouldn’t have been a tragedy. The tragedy would have been if I had had to return to Armenia not from the other side of the world but via that stupid Paris-Yerevan flight.

On the other hand, if Quentin, despite it all, helped me get visas for Cuba and Japan, I would really be able to complete my journey around the world. I already had a visa for Russia but decided that I needed to continue my journey in the opposite direction via Cuba and Japan. It wasn’t even worth trying to get a visa for the United States, now obsessed with its fight against terrorism, especially with a Serbian passport. It would be equally futile to consider China, now involved in preparations for the Olympic Games. So I decided to return to Armenia by way of Cuba-Japan-Russia-Georgia. But if Quentin didn’t help me, it would be hard to actualize that plan. So my disclosure came out to be more sensible although it was from the beginning like an emotionally charged decision. Maybe it was Quentin’s wholesomeness that had inspired confidence in me; and maybe my discomfort now has nothing to do with any potential threat from him. After looking at it from different angles I realized that Quentin wouldn’t harm me. But will he help? After all, wouldn’t he be subjecting himself to some risk by helping me?

The realization that Quentin didn’t pose any threat to me made me feel better. I lay down for a while in my hotel room, and then called Fred. He, too, was in the hotel. We decided to have something to eat together. I suggested that we also ask Victor to join us. Fred agreed. I dialed Victor’s telephone number at the hotel. No one answered; I left a message. Then I lay down again on my bed and turned the TV on, this time, the BBC channel. I listened to the news for a while, then I decided to call Marko. I looked for, and found his numbers, which I had jotted down on a postcard with a scene of Belgrade on it.

“Hello, my wandering brother,” said Marko, recognizing me from the tone of my voice. “How many cruises around the world have you done so far?”

“For now, I’m trying to overcome the barriers of Europe,” I said.

“Your Europe be damned,” Marko blew up at hearing the name of Europe. “Why don’t you cleanse yourself of that w********”

There was a new agitation in his voice.

“If everything goes well, I’ll be cleansed of it in a week. How are things with you? You sound a little tense,” I asked.

“Those ‘peters’ found the Gorilla not guilty; those b*****”

“Marko, what Gorilla? Who found whom not guilty?”

“Who else, your f**** court at The Hague.”

“And who is the Gorilla?”

“The Albanian field commander, a terrorist and a murderer; and he is an officer in Kosovo.”

“Is it possible that he’s innocent, especially if he was found not guilty…?”

“What are you talking about? If he’s not guilty, then I’m John Paul II.”

Marko could barely control his rage. He told me that he and the man nicknamed Gorilla had met many times on the battle field. But the important thing was that the same Gorilla had settled accounts with the peaceful Serbs, as with the Albanians. It would have seemed that Marko would have appreciated the fact that someone like him was found not guilty. It’s true, that man was an enemy. But from the purely theoretical viewpoint, that would have paved the way for a similar sentence for Marko. The latter, however, did not agree with my viewpoint and considered it a meaningless interpretation.

“Are you naïve, or what? Gorilla was prime minister in Kosovo. Because those Gringos and ‘Europeters’ had decided to give independence to Kosovo, they thought it wouldn’t be a good idea to give independence to those who had terrorist prime ministers. On the other hand, they needed gorilla. They thought about it, and then sealed a deal with him. They took Gorilla to court at The Hague, as a terrorist (or, more accurately, they didn’t take him; he himself went because he knew why he was going). He was then released as an angel. His justification and the din over Kosovo’s independence coincided. What you’re saying is fiction,” Marko scolded me.

Marko’s analysis stunned me. It’s true that I looked at the process of Kosovo’s independence with fondness, hoping that it would positively impact the prospects of independence for Nagorno Karabagh. But my conversations with Marko led me to conclude that the principles of international politics being announced and recited by those people whom Marko calls ‘Europeters’ and whore Gringos, in reality play the role of cigarette wrappers and are used to cover up the real game.

To play these games well, all that nations need to do is to play the game well, to understand the meaning of the game and its content. That which concerns the Albanians of Kosovo, it’s not onlu that they played the game well, but that the leader of their opponent, Milosevic, was such a bad player, such a primitive being that he didn’t leave any chance for the opponents of Serbia to lose.

The conversation with Marko weighed heavy on me. We wished each other well and I promised to call him again in the future. But he said that the telephone numbers he had given me would not be accesible for a month. After some time, I heard the news that some unknown assailants had tried to enter the private residence of the prime minister of Kosovo. But that nocturnal operation had failed. The assailants had left quietly and empty-handed.

(to be continued)

An interesting situation for the ARF...

2008-07-08T12:35:00.000-07:00

When SS first made his comment about a Turkish-Armenian Genocide commission, I seem to remember that there was some immediate criticism from the ARF side, with the later response saying that there must have been a misunderstanding, or that SS was misrepresented. I do remember seeing at least one pro-ARF blog and at least one or two articles with the later response (here's another one, and another).
Now RFE/RL is reporting that criticism is out there again (Dashnaks Warn Sarkisian Over Armenian Genocide Study), and I haven't heard any response from the ARF regarding (specifically) the news that Sarkisian Invited Turkey’s Gul To Football Match. The response to the latter is especially interesting. Is the ARF for or against an Armenian politicial and a Turkish politician sitting together, and watching a soccer game?
Regardless, its a tough spot for the ARF (see the Armenian Weekly Article from july 5).

Intimidation tactics continue...

2008-07-07T10:45:00.000-07:00

A protester was kidnapped today at about 3:15 pm (ԱՌԵՎԱՆԳՎԵԼ Է ԱԿՏԻՎԻՍՏ ԱՐՍԵՆ ՆԵՐՍԻՍՅԱՆԸ; SIT-DOWN STRIKER KIDNAPPED). He had been part of a protest in support of Sasun Mikaelyan. Lragir also reports that there was an unsuccessful attempt to kidnap two sit-down protesters as well.
Sit-ins seemed to me the logical step when even elderly protesters were being beaten, with no recourse (remember that the names, addresses and license plates of those responsible for the Northern Boulevard attacks were made public- I haven't heard or read of any recourse from that). Unfortunately, the powers that be have found ways of retaliating against the most non-violent form of protest that there is (except maybe for hunger-strikers who are sitting).
Given all of this, its not surprising that the Ombudsman has asked for protection for himself and his family.

Today is July 4

2008-07-04T11:58:00.000-07:00

Second video from July 4- I dont know how many people that is, an I've heard a huge range...looks like a ton more than just a couple thousand that some were reporting..

Today's protest from a1plus -
A sit-in has been announced/28-ՕՐՅԱ ՆՍՏԱՑՈՒՅՑ

Roads into town were blocked prior to the demonstration today
Arzumanyan's dention has been extended, as has Voskerchyan's.

A1plus also has a video of Beglaryan at Northern Boulevard, trying to explain those weren't his people who attacked the protesters the other day. Looks like he's basically boo-ed out of there. You have to go to the article, then click on video (its not available on youtube).

ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱ. ՆԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/The OTher Side of the World- Pashinyan

2008-07-04T03:47:00.000-07:00

[from payqar.org]
28. ուզում եմ իմանաք

Վերջին մեկ ժամը ես ու Ֆրեդը լուռ նստած էինք սրճարանային սեղանի շուրջ. այս ընթացքում մի-մի սենդվիչ կերանք, որովհետեւ չէինք դիմանա մինչեւ ընթրիքը: Սենդվիչը կերանք լուռ, հետո նստած էինք լուռ: Ֆրեդը մեկ-մեկ վերցնում էր թերթը, մի քիչ կարդում ու մի կողմ դնում: Ես ամփոփել էի հայաստանյան գերեզմանների մասին մտածումներս եւ միայն այդ ժամանակ նկատեցի, որ Ֆրեդը նույնպես մտատանջությունների մեջ է: Ես նրան մի երկու հարց տվի` հասկանալու համար, թե ինչն է նրան տանջում.

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD

28. I want you to know

During the last hour Fred and I sat quietly around the table at the café. We each had a sandwich because we were too hungry to wait for the dinner. We ate the sandwich in silence, and then sat in silence. From time to time Fred would pick up the newspaper, read it for a while then put it aside. I had summed up my thoughts on the graves of Armenia and only then noticed that Fred, too, was troubled. I asked him a few questions to see what was bothering him:

“Should I have delivered a eulogy? But you know, no one suggested that I do,” he sighed.

It really bothered Fred that there were still some unexplained issues between him and Kate’s family. He felt the need to explain things, but didn’t know how to do it. We talked about that for a while and I suggested that he may do it during the dinner that evening, as part of the toast. At first, Fred didn’t like the idea very much. But then I explained the advantages of such a plan: first, he wouldn’t have to discuss it with anyone beforehand, and second, that way he wouldn’t have to engage his audience in a lengthy discourse. You just raise your glass, stand up and say what you want to say. Fred agreed.

The dinner took place in the hall of a restaurant, in a familial environment. There were 20-25 people present. We all sat around a square table. I sat between Fred and one of Kate’s distant cousins, Quentin. We were introduced and exchanged a few words. The Elder said a prayer and the dinner began. People around the table were talking about all sorts of things. I found out that Quentin lived and worked in Paris; I mentioned to him that I was thinking of going to Paris after Edinburgh. So, Quentin and I had a topic of conversation in common. He asked if I had known Fred for a long time. I told him I had met Fred on the day Kate had died and briefly recounted how that had happened. Quentin found the story interesting and found my presence at Kate’s funeral very moving.

“Everyone thinks you and Fred are old friends,” he said.

That was natural, because Fred had introduced me as his friend. Quentin seemed like a serious guy. He was of medium height, with moderately long, fair hair and blue eyes. You could tell he had a strong physique. I even thought that he was an athlete. But it turned out that he had an important job: he was a bodyguard for the French president. Quentin disclosed this sensational piece of news to Fred and me later in the evening, when he and Kate’s brother Alan invited Fred and me to whiskey. I couldn’t even have guessed this during dinner.

Anyway, I spoke constantly with Quentin on purpose during the dinner, giving Fred a chance to decide what he was going to do and collect his thoughts. And then, at a heated point in my conversation with Quentin I sensed a purposeful movement on my right side: Fred stood up and asked to speak. Naturally, no one objected:

“I want you to know that I loved Catherine very much. We lived together for a little over a year and a half. That was the happiest time of my life. Allow me to add that it was also a happy time for Catherine. We lived as if we were in a dream. All my future plans were tied in with Kate and the baby. We had hopes that it would be a girl and we would call her Catherine. Kate told me a lot about you; she loved you all very much. I feel responsible before you and would like to apologize. I’m also grateful to you for the positive behavior you have shown toward me, and, for Catherine’s being.”

These were Fred’s words. During the toast, his voice sometimes broke, and his eyes were tearful. Catherine’s parents’ eyes were tearful as well. Silence fell at the table when Fred finished. A little while later, however, Catherine’s father, Mr. Samuel, spoke:

“You know, Fred,” he began, with a heavy heart, “we were telling ourselves that this is the 21st century, and Kate, as well as you, was in a position to be in full control your life and live according to your own decisions and feelings. I want you to know that we don’t blame you for anything, nor do we blame Kate. We are simply in mourning.”

It seemed to me that after these words a big rock fell off Fred’s heart, and I heard the crash of that rock. Nothing of much significance was said during the dinner except that Quentin and I spoke at some length. After dinner, as I mentioned earlier, Alan and Quentin invited Fred and I to go somewhere and have some whiskey. We agreed.

Around the whiskey table Quentin asked me what my occupation was. I told him I did a little bit of journalism, a little bit of politics and now I was on a trip around the world, to get new material for future writing. At that point, Alan said that Quentin was also involved in politics. This surprised Fred and me quite a bit. We started questioning Quentin, and he, probably feeling that Alan might say it anyway, admitted that he served in the French president’s security service. Quentin’s family had been living in France for a few generations, but had not lost its ties with Scotland. Having learned the nature of Quentin’s occupation, I realized that I should either tell him my full story, or have nothing more to do with him. At the end, I decided to tell my story, and Fred helped me come to that decision (I had already told him everything in Lausanne.) I wrote my real name and surname on a piece of paper and gave it to Quentin and suggested that he get all the information he needed from the internet. Quentin’s reaction was reserved. He was, obviously, worried. We parted at a very late hour and agreed to continue our conversation the next day at Catherine’s house where were to have lunch.

After lunch Quentin said he had the necessary information about me; it was of some consolation that Interpol was not looking for me. He said he would be leaving for Paris after lunch, and when I got to Paris, I could call him. I told him that I needed a favor from him—visas for Cuba and Japan. Quentin promised nothing.

(to be continued)

Posting by Unzipped

2008-07-03T16:27:00.000-07:00

Unzipped has posted a collection of news excerpts, and a short commentary, on the present state of Foreign Affairs in Armenia - take a look.

More words from the Other side of the world...

2008-07-03T16:24:00.001-07:00

ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ. ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/The Other Side of the World- Pashinyan

2008-07-03T06:23:00.000-07:00

27. գերեզմաններ-գերեզմաններ
Վիկտորի հետ հյուրանոց վերադարձանք շատ ուշ, մեզ հուզող բոլոր հարցերը քննարկելուց հետո: Չնայած ուշ ժամին, ես Ֆրեդի համար հաղորդագրություն թողեցի իր հյուրանոցում: Հաջորդ օրը կեսօրին նա զանգեց, երեկոյան հանդիպեցինք:

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD

27. Graves, Graves

It was very late when Victor and I returned to the hotel, having discussed all the problems that troubled us. Despite the late hour, I left Fred a message at his hotel. He called at noon the next day and we met that evening.

Fred was in a difficult position since Kate’s family belonged to the Presbyterian Church, an arm of the Puritan Church. However, Kate’s family allowed him to sit with them in the first row during the requiem planned for tomorrow and to receive condolences. This consoled him a great deal.

At the requiem, I sat in the second row, right behind Fred. On the first row were Kate’s father, Mr. Samuel; her mother, Mrs. Rita; her brother, Alan; Fred, and a few relatives. The requiem took place in the meeting hall of the Presbyterian Church; there were about 200 people. First the Elder prayed, then he read a eulogy; Alan read a eulogy on behalf of the family. Following that, those present approached the mourners in the front row, expressed their condolences and left.

Only close relatives attended the funeral, and Fred and I, through obvious circumstances. Fred told me that there was a requiem dinner that night. After the funeral Fred and I went to return the special mourning clothes we had rented earlier. We picked up suits for the dinner and then walked around Edinburgh for a while, drank coffee and dark Scottish beer. We spoke of the requiem, about Kate’s parents, and about the events in Lausanne.

But I couldn’t stop thinking about the cemetery where we had buried Kate’s remains. The cemetery was amazingly beautiful; it was soothing to the soul through its humility and self-possession. There were small tombstones, pre-designed rows, paths, greens and flowers—and that was all. The setting radiated respect for the dead. Yet this was also a sign of respect for the living.

I remembered the cemeteries of Armenia and was horrified. Once, I was walking with the administrator of one of the cemeteries along graves adorned with marble, granite and gold, as he was telling me about the deceased interred in those graves. The best of the dead, of course, were buried in the “best places,” and over their corpses were erected statues, statues, and more statues. Passing by these statues you felt like saying ‘Hello, there.’ The administrator of the cemetery was telling me who was who in the graves:

“This was a drug addict, he died of overdose; this one was a hired killer, then they killed him; this one was a traffic cop, I got the money for the grave in 500 Dram bills; this one was a minister’s brother. In short, the more sumptuous a cemetery, the greater the number of sumptuous stories under it,” concluded the manager, drawing on his experiences, and who was also frankly admitting how much money he had received for which spot.

After hearing his stories I realized that many cemeteries are built not out of respect for the dead, but to impress the public, the neighbors and relatives. People passing by those cemeteries should feel insulted. Yet we don’t feel insulted because we know that if we had the chance, we would build such graves for our own dearly departed, and others, after seeing those unbelievably vulgar masterpieces would respect us to no end. You may go and stand at the head of Armenia’s poorest grave and if you were to pay attention, you will notice the irresistible urge for ostentation, for granite and marble idols, for the glimmer of gold, for funeral banquets—all concealed under it. There is nothing, nothing else for which we would spend money more happily, than on graves; and there is more tacit meaning in this than common ostentation and vulgarity. But let’s not call this an expression of our national mentality because this has nothing to do with our national, our true national character. Anyone who has been at the Noradus cemetery at least once—the old cemetery—will agree with this.

The cemetery at Noradus is simply testimony to the fact that we have indeed had a national, Christian culture; and that we have denied that culture. And now, that culture has as much to do with us as the aborigines of New Zealand. Otherwise, why would our contemporary graves be unlike those of Noradus? You may enter any village where there is a pre-Soviet cemetery and you’ll see that we, too, have known how to respect our dead, our dearly departed. But now, we can’t respect them without insulting others, without insulting the dead themselves.

Recently, the grave of a young man caught my attention. It was obvious that those who had built the grave had done everything possible to prove that in that cemetery, nay, in the entire world, there was no other dead as important as the one buried in that grave. I asked around to see who he was and found out that the he was killed by his brother because of something to do with their sister. Then, the sister had hired a killer and had the other brother killed. I couldn’t believe this story, but was told that it was absolutely true. The important thing is not whether the story is true or not. The important point is that anyone passing by the grave is expected to be amazed by its appearance and inquire about the deceased. That story, either fictional or real, will be told over and over again, disturbing the peace of the dead. And the deceased—victim of a sister’s love and a brother’s rage—will not be able to rest in peace so long as the granite temple built on his grave has not been destroyed by oblivion…

Once, somewhere, I was getting ready to organize mass disobedience in the center of Yerevan. A huge traffic jam had come about at one of the busiest intersections, and had stopped all traffic. When I was convinced that we were at a total standstill, I decided to get out of the car and see what was taking place. Young men with black bands on their arms were boldly standing at the entrance to the intersection and stopping the traffic. I approached one of them and asked what was going on. It was a funeral. Who is the deceased? An official, an intellectual, a public figure? Of course not, because I would have heard about it. It turned out that the deceased was a Srapion “uncle.” The deceased, however, was in no hurry to depart from his apartments and was probably giving his last commands to the young people of the neighborhood. In about 40 minutes, they brought the casket out, once the last respects had been paid. Thousands of citizens sent him on his journey while swearing in their minds.

Two days before that we had been planning a protest walk for A1+. The entire law enforcement body was in an uproar: those obstructing traffic in the city were responsible before the law. Another time I saw with my own eyes how the road out of Yerevan was closed down for two hours. The police insisted that no such thing had happened, just as they had insisted in the case of Srapion “uncle.” But the whole city knew. That had happened because of Tzitzak’s funeral. “It was a sumptuous funeral,” people were saying. The authorities suffered a heavy loss; Tzitzak was a well know forger in elections, like Srapion “uncle.”

Fred, bored with my silence, was reading the paper. But I was remembering those provincial women sitting at the head of their husbands’ caskets, howling, clawing their faces. And when they had the largest number of people around, they pretended to lose consciousness, all the while thrashing their feet in all directions…

(to be continued)

A timeless message...

2008-07-02T18:43:00.001-07:00

The plan seems to be to intimidate and violate...

2008-07-02T15:50:00.000-07:00

The next big demonstration is planned for July 4.
On July 1st, a protest march was blocked (see below for a translation from aravot.am).
On July 2nd, protesters on Northern Boulevard were beaten (including a 77 year old woman), in what is obviously an attempt to intimidate people from not going to the demonstration on July 4th. The SS/RK regime seems to hoping that if they just keep beating people, eventually they'll give up and submit. PACE sure as heck isn't helping, at least, not the people of Armenia. They may be helping to solve what they consider to be their own problem - the problem of Kharabagh. I guess we'll see over the next six months, after Azerbaijan has had their own elections, and the international community has had more time to pressure RK/SS into finding a "solution" to the problem of "occupied territories." We'll see whats up for bargaining then - what ideals, what principles, and what lands. But I digress...
Official Statement on events of July 2nd on Payqar (armenian)
a1plus article on events of july 2 (armenian) - my translation is here:

THE ASSAILANTS WERE THE HENCHMEN OF TOKHMAKHI MHER AND BEGLARYAN

A group of women and youths shattered on Northern Boulevard the peace today, by attaching the participants of a political stroll—including elderly participants—on Northern Boulevard, and beating them up relentlessly,. The participants of the stroll on Northern Boulevard informed A1+ that the group of young people, whose physical appearance they described, looked like athletes, got together with some high-ranking police on the road from Northern Avenue to Abovyan Street at 7pm.

"Police representative Kirakosyan Aghas and his retinue went up Northern Boulevard, and then behind them followed this guilty group who started to beat people up," reported an eyewitness to A1+, but who did not want to give his name, saying, "Aghas knows me very well; and I told him what I needed to."

The other eyewitnesses did not withhold their names.

"The Lieutenant Commander told me that they did not take sides. But we saw how those scoundrels got together with the police and went up Northern Boulevard," eyewitness Mushegh Poghosyan told A1+. Some of those who were beaten up personally recognized their assailants: “Those who attacked us were the henchmen of District Mayor of Erebuni Mher Sedrakyan and District Mayor of the Central District, Mushegh Poghosyan. They moved into the crowd, and started a scuffle. There were also women with them, who were saying, "You make us sick with you Levon and your meetings." After beating people up, the police escorted those hooligans away to safety," said Knkush Melikyan.

Some recounted that their attackers became especially active when the number of police on Northern Boulevard increased: "They became more active, when the police appeared on the Boulevard."

One of those beaten noted that it was a person by the name of Edgar, an inhabitant of Apt. 26-27, Building 30, of the 16th District of the Yerevan who had beaten him: "It was obvious looking at them that they were physically strong. They approached the guys standing next to me and swore at them. I told them that they were provoking, and tried to keep the guys back. At that moment it seemed to me that there was a knife in their hands. I got up, scared, and stood between our guys and those hooligans. It was then that one of them struck me in the back with something blunt," reported Elia Chiloyan, who was breathing with difficulty.

The unexpected "guests" of Northern Boulevard did not spare even 77 year old Lucik Harutyunyan, who told us, crying, "they threw a man down to the ground right in front of my eyes and were striking him on the head. I tried to protect him, but that scoundrel raised me and threw me to the ground with all his might. Now I can't breathe. And this is a country?"
Rima Kachatryan was also beaten: "I have been coming to Northern Boulevard every day for the last four months. I haven't hurt anyone. I was attacked by 5 or 6 youths my grandson's age and they started to strike my back, my abdomen – and they swore at me up and down. This insolence has no limits."

Martin Poghosyan, a member of the People's movement, told us that a woman had provoked the argument:

"That woman was from the group of hooligans, older and short, she was shouting very vulgar swears and degrading the leaders of the opposition. We advised her to leave, but that woman continued to curse loudly and to manhandle, until some 40-50 young people, in civilian clothes, appeared at the center of Northern Boulevard, and approached us looking for a pretext to start an argument. When they didn't get an answer, they began to curse and attack people who were just standing there peacefully. The entire time the police were standing there calmly, watching the incident. They bloodied some of the faces of our guys, right now they aren't here, they took them home. And the police, rather than calming things down, were agitating things more."

Nerses Poghosyan, one of those beaten, said: "Karen Karapetyan was the one who beat me, from the Republic Party, born in 1979; we studied together. His nickname is Watermelon. It was Watermelon, and it will stay Watermelon, but today he raised his fist against me."
Those present at Northern boulevard today informed A1+ that when the group of women and youths attacked them and were beating them relentlessly, during that time a police "Vilis" car, license place 268 SL01 was parked on Northern Boulevard. There were individuals in civilian clothing in that car, sitting there calmly watching, not interfering.

The participants of the political stroll also noted that 15 minutes before the incident, under order of the police, inside the chairs to the cafes of Northern boulevard were .collected and taken inside.

"They were the bodyguards of Tokhmakh Mher and Beglaryan. I personally know the name of one of Mher's bodyguards—it's Vahan. I also recognize the faces of all of Beglaryan's bodyguards," said one of the participants of the political stroll at Northern Boulevard.

A1+ also tried to obtain clarification from the Deputy Police Chief of the Arabkir region, Valeri Osipyan, who told us: "We couldn't tell what was happening. We were separating people. It seems to us that the people of Northern Boulevard were beating each other up. I personally have no other information." Regarding the information that the participants of the political stroll on Northern Boulevard reported, that the police ordered them to be attacked, Mr Osipyan said: "I do not agree with that opinion.” “ Many of those beaten know their assailants and are naming names. What do you say about that?” A1+ asked Mr. Osipyan, who responded, "I don't have that information, let them present the names and the appropriate people will address it."

---And this is the english summary of what happened July 1 from aravot.am -

Police Obstruct Protest March
July 1, 2208 (From Aravot.am July 2, 2008)

Although in its Resolution 1620 PACE reconfirms the demand for freedom of assembly in Armenia, yesterday police armed with electroshocks and rubber cudgels obstructed the protest march of citizens moving toward the Presidential building.
The protesters were members of HIMA and other youth organizations, as well as individual citizens, and were demanding that Arman Papajanyan, Chief Editor of Jamanak Yerevan, and other political prisoners be set free.
The march was planned to extend from Northern Avenue to the Presidential building. As the march was about to begin, near Old Yerevan Restaurant, police armed with electroshocks and rubber cudgels, together with Red Berets formed a chain and surrounded the protestors in a pincer movement. In the course of preventing the protest march, the law keepers committed violence against protesters.
The march was not able to reach the presidential building since approximately 200 policemen had closed the road.
According to the information received by Aravot Daily, at that time Serjh Sargsyan and members of his government were at the Opera, attending a concert by Nune Yesayan and Sushan Petrosyan. According to the information received by Aravot Daily, police had warned that the protestors could suddenly rush into the Opera house and disrupt the concert.
The protest march took place but via a different path—Tumanyan, Saryan, Amiryan streets to Republic Square and ended at Northern Avenue. On the way, a 5-7 minute mini demonstration took place in front of the administration of the national Security Service of Yerevan. Here, the protestors chanted: “A-mot.”
As of yesterday evening there was no information about detentions and arrests of protesters.

Translation of ASSESSMENT OF PACE RESOLUTION 1620

2008-07-02T09:44:00.000-07:00

ԳՆԱՀԱՏԱԿԱՆ ԵԽԽՎ 1620 ԲԱՆԱՁԵՒԻՆ

[UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATION]

ASSESSMENT OF PACE RESOLUTION 1620
BY
THE CENTER FOR POPULAR MOVEMENT OF ARMENIA

Our assessment of PACE Resolution 1620 and of developments related to its acceptance is mixed. There are both positive and negative elements in these developments.

The positive developments are the following:

 The juggling act of the authorities in Armenia and their report about the implementation of Resolution 1609 has in fact collapsed; the implementation of the demands in that resolution was deemed insufficient, as a result of which the issue was voted into the agenda of the PACE meeting.

 Thanks to the new Resolution 1620, the actions of the authorities in Armenia continue to remain under the supervision of PACE; and the possibility of measures has been maintained.

 While the demands for the implementation of Resolution 1609 remain in force, Resolution 1620 has presented additional demands on the authorities in Armenia that are helpful to the popular struggle for the reinstatement of democratic freedoms.

 We especially welcome the inclusion in the new Resolution of the demand to conduct a transparent, fair and public contest for A1+.

 We also welcome the new, more explicit and all inclusive, demands for the release of our political prisoners. Also welcome is the charge given to the Commissioner of Human Rights of the Council of Europe to report to the Monitors’ Committee in September on progress made regarding the investigation of the March 1 events and the liberation of political prisoners.

 We welcome the Resolution’s insistence that the authorities will not impose unnecessary limitations with respect to public demonstrations by the opposition, especially with regard to the choice for the location of demonstrations.

Negative Developments

 The European Council proved its inability to impose on the authorities in Armenia the implementation of the demands of Resolution 1609 by its prescribed deadline. This is the result of the indecisiveness and unprincipled behavior of the Council of Europe regarding this issue. Geopolitical and extraneous interests were given a higher value than their commitment to democratic principles. The individuals immediately responsible for such a development are co-Rapporteurs Prescott and Colombier. Each new day political prisoners remain in prison falls on their conscience.

 The reference in PACE Resolution 1620 to the fulfillment of the demand for the reinstatement of freedom of assembly raises doubts, especially its welcome of a last minute permission given by the police for the June 20 assembly when, in fact, that assembly was officially not permitted, and when the police violated the right of people to free movement and it illegally obstructed the assembly until the last minute.

 Furthermore, the Resolution’s assessment of the course of implementation of the demand for a commission to investigate the events of March 1 can not withstand any criticism. We do not accept PACE’s refusal to assess the independence, credibility and transparency of that impartiality of that commission, a refusal based on the argument that the commission was created in the last minute. We reject that argument because, first, the authorities in Armenia are themselves responsible for the intentional delay in the creation of the commission; second, because no commission can inspire confidence if the second party to the conflict does not have equal representation on the commission. This issue should have received a very thorough and harsh assessment by PACE, and that was not done.

LTP in Gyumri, June 28

2008-07-01T13:28:00.001-07:00

via youtube

Part I

Part II

Orders were given to investigate Opposition supporters...

2008-07-01T12:03:00.000-07:00

In a press conference today, LTP revealed the contents of a document from Mirzoyan (head of the investigative arm of Office of the Prosecutor-General) to the Chief Prosecutor of Vayotz Dzor on March 5, ordering investigations of supporters of the Opposition - see the excerpts below.
Even if (hypothetically, solely for the sake of argument) there really had been a concern for some type of violent coup, these actions, at least to me, do not seem in line with what any democratic nation considers legal. The depth and breadth, (including but not limited to the numbers of people to be interviewed, the order to investigate even those of minimal involvement, the types of people who would be contacted, and the method of information gathering) is a form of intimidation and persecution, and may even be illegal (though maybe the rules on that were "ammended" too), but I haven't seen anything on that yet.

[excerpt from rferl.org]
The prosecutor was specifically told to find out with whom the opposition supporters communicated from February 20 through March 2, whether they urged their neighbors to join the rallies and “how they are described by the neighbors.” He also had to collect written descriptions of the opposition supporters’ closest relatives and other personal data, including “what property they own.”

The letter also ordered local law-enforcement officials to seek court permissions for obtaining the transcripts of phone conversations of not only the heads of Ter-Petrosian’s election campaign offices in Vayots Dzor but also ordinary supporters of Armenia’s first president. What is more, they had to track down taxi and bus drivers who transported demonstrators to Yerevan and to find out “who paid for the transportation and where and what they said about the rallies.”

[from a1plus.am]
Երկրորդ հարցադրումով Անդրանիկ Միրզոյանը պահանջում է հարցաքննել հանրահավաքներին մասնակցած անձանց, ինչպես նաեւ Լեւոն Տեր-Պետրոսյանի` Վայոց Ձորի մարզի նախընտրական շտաբի պետերի հարեւաններին` կրկին նշելով հարցերը. ՚20.02.2008թ.-ից 02.03.2008թ ընկած ժամանակահատվածում հանրահավաքներին մասնակցած անձանց, ինչպես նաեւ Տեր-Պտրոսյանի` Վայոց Ձորի մարզի պետերի գտնվելու վայրի, հանրահավաքներին մասնակցած անձանց կողմից հարեւանների շրջանում միտինգներին ներգրավելու նպատակով քարոզչություն կատարելու մասին, ինչպես նաեւ ինչպես են նրանք բնութագրվում հարեւանների կողմից, ում հետ են առնչվել նշված ժամանակահատվածում, ինչ գործողություններ են կատարելՙ: Միրզոյանը պահանջել է նաեւ վերցնել հանրահավաքի մասնակիցների եւ Տեր-Պետրոսյանի շտաբի պետերի եւ նրանց ընտանիքի անդամների վերաբերյալ տեղեկանքներ եւ բնութագրեր, ստուգել նրանք նախկինում դատված են եղել, թե ոչ, պազել, թե ինչ գույք ունեն:...
...Միրզոյանը դատախազից պահանջում է պարզել Տեր-Պետրոսյանի շտաբերի պետերի հեռախոսահամարները, դրանց մուտքային եւ ելքային զանգերը վերծանելու թույլտվություն ստանալու համար համապատասխան միջնորդությամբ դիմել դատարան: Միրզոյանի հանձնարարականից դուրս չեն մնացել նաեւ այն վարորդները, որոնքն մարդկանց մարզերից տեղափոխել են մայրաքաղաք` ընդդիմության հանրահավաքներին մասնակցելու համար. ՚Պարզել Վայոց Ձորից Երեւան տանող երթուղային եի տաքսի ավտոմեքենաների այն վարորդներին, ովքեր հանրահավաքներին մասնակցած անձանց իրենց ավտոմեքենաներով տեղափոխել են Երեւան, նրանք ում հետ են եղել, ովքեր են վճարել տեղափոխման վարձը եւ որտեղ, ինչ են խոսել հանրահավաքների վերաբերյալՙ:

ԲԱՑ ՆԱՄԱԿ ՊՐ. ՌՈԲԵՐՏ ՔՈՉԱՐՅԱՆԻՆ/Open Letter to Mr. Robert Kocharian

2008-07-01T03:36:00.000-07:00

ԲԱՑ ՆԱՄԱԿ ՊՐ. ՌՈԲԵՐՏ ՔՈՉԱՐՅԱՆԻՆ [ENGLISH BELOW]

Մեծարգո պր. Քոչարյան,

Երբ հունիսի 20-ին Հայաստանի քաղաքացիները մեկ անգամ ևս փողոց ելան, դժվար էր չմտածել, թե տեսնես քո մտքով ինչ էր անցնում: Դու "նրանց" տեսա՞ր, պր. Քոչարյան: Մատենադարանի մոտ, Մաշտոցի առջև: Հայաստանի... ավելի ճիշտ՝ աշխարհիս ազատ կապույտ երկնքի ներքո ծնված լինելու արժանիքի շնորհիվ իրեն հասանելիքի համար ոտքի ելնելու նման վճռականություն 1980-ականների վերջերից ի վեր չենք տեսել մեր ժողովրդի մեջ: Լսու՞մ էիք "Պայքար, պայքար մինչև վերջ" նրանց վանկարկումները: Եվ պայքարելու են մինչև վերջ, պր. Քոչարյան:

Իսկ ի՞նչ ենք սովորեցնելու մեր զավակներին: Պատմությունը մարդկանց կողմից է գրվում, այնպես չէ՞, պր. Քոչարյան: Եվ, եթե այդպես է, ապա դու աներկբայորեն վաստակել ես քո տեղը գալիք սերունդների դասագրքերում: Դու կլինես այն նախագահը, ում գործողությունները խթանեցին մեր ժողովրդի արժանապատվության և սեփական արժեքի զգացումների վերագտնումը: Դրա համար, պր. Քոչարյան, մենք թերևս պետք է խիստ երախտապարտ լինենք քեզ:

Հիշիր՝ ինչ է ասել Գանդին ժամանակին. "Նախ՝ նրանք ձեզ արհամարհում են, հետո ծիծաղում են ձեզ վրա, հետո պայքարում են ձեր դեմ, իսկ հետո դուք հաղթում եք": ճիշտ է, չէ՞, պր. Քոչարյան: Դե, դու նախ արհամարհեցիր Իմփիչմենթ դաշինքը և Սկսելա-ն և նույնիսկ անտեսեցիր Լևոն Տեր-Պետրոսյանի վերադարձը՝ իբրև աննշան մի մանրուք: Երբ կեղծված ընտրություններից հետո մարդիկ փողոց ելան, դու ծիծաղեցիր՝ ասելով, թե մոլորված են և ճիշտ ուղու վրա դրվելու կարիք ունեն: Մարտի 1-ին դու իջեցրիր քո երկաթե բռունցքը՝ ջանալով նրանց լռեցնել: Հաջորդ փուլում, պր. Քոչարյան, "նրանք"՝ Հայաստանի ժողովուրդը, հաղթում է:

Սակայն վստահ եղիր. վաղվա դասագրքերում քեզ ու պր. Սարգսյանին համապատասխան պարբերություններ են հատկացվելու:

Անկեղծորեն՝

ՍԱԱԳ

------------------------

Open Letter to Mr. Robert Kocharian

June 30, 2008

Dear Mr. Kocharian,

While the citizens of Armenia took to the streets once again on the 20th of June, one could not help but ponder about what must have been going through your mind. Did you see "them", Mr. Kocharian? At the Matenadaran, in front of Mashtots! Not since the late 1980's have we witnessed such resolve in our people to stand up for that which they are entitled to by virtue of having been born under the free blue sky of Armenia...of the world, for that matter. Did you hear their chants: "struggle, struggle, till the end"? They will, Mr. Kocharian.

But what will we teach our children? History is made by men, is it not, Mr. Kocharian? And if so, you have most definitely earned your place in the textbooks of generations to come. You will be the president whose actions spurred the rediscovery of our peoples sense of dignity and self-worth. For that, Mr. Kocharian, we should perhaps be most indebted to you.

Remember what Gandhi once said: "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." He was right, was he not, Mr. Kocharian? Well, first you ignored the "Impeachment Coalition" and "Sksel a", and even dismissed Levon Ter-Petrossian's return as inconsequential. When the people took to the streets after the fabricated elections, you laughed, saying they were confused and in need of guidance. On March 1st, you brought down your iron fist attempting to silence them. Next, Mr. Kocharian, "they," the people of the Armenia, win.

But rest assured; you and Mr. Sargsian will have your respective paragraphs in the textbooks of tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Save Armenia Action Group [SAAG]

From Aziz- part #6

2008-06-30T14:27:00.000-07:00

The next installment from an eye-witness to the recent events of Armenia...

From March 1 to March 21 life was put on hold in Armenia. Time had frozen.
Some people were in denial of what had occurred on March 1 and some others were
talking of leaving the country while others were angry and frustrated vowing
never to forget what had happened and still others were trying to grasp what had
happened. Somehow the residents in Yerevan and all of Armenia from official
sources to street information were faced with dealing with the State of
Emergency imposed by the outgoing Kocharyan in the last days of presidency.
The atmosphere was full of fear and intimidation. All roads leading to Yerevan
had army checkpoints with mixed ar my units, automatic weapons and civilian
personnel with automatic assault rifles. Even regular policemen were issued
automatic assault weapons.
Many cars leading to Yerevan from the Marzes, especially if the passengers were
young people were turned back for no reason. For those few people who ventured
out to go to the city were questioned and their cars searched for weapons,
pocket knives and wooden or metal sticks and bars which if measured more than
fifty-five centimeters, were confiscated and the carriers were arrested because
they represented to be allegedly illegal weapons and posed a danger to society
(what this really meant was posing danger to Robig and Serjik)
Yet, people went on with their daily lives. During these 21 days they avoided
eye contact. These same talkative and animated people had become unusually
withdrawn, silent and solemn.
It was illegal to congregate more than 2or 3 at a time. Armed policeman would
d isperse any group that had 3 or more people. You could even see the paranoia of
the Kocharyan/Sargisyan government during the sad funereal processions where
policemen were dispatched to make sure that these kinds of procession would not
become revolutionary gatherings.
In the marketplace or on street corner, whenever you tried to approach a group
of 2 or 3 people congregating, they would go silent fearing the â€œIron Fistâ€ .
The army was deployed in the Capital, guarding 24/7, the Opera, Matenadaran,
Azgayin zhoghov building, presidential palace, the government buildings in the
Kentron, Dzidzernagapert, Zvartnots Airport, the TV stations, the universities,
and the bridges in Yerevan---covering all the proud national monuments of
Armenia.
It got to be known that the Army units were moved from their barracks in the
Eastern borders two days before the March 1 events and stationed just outside
Yerevan in the Araratyan Tasht and ready to be deployed in the Capital. The
regular soldiers were issued their combat assault weapons without any bullets
whatsoever. The only soldiers who were issued bullets were the high ranking
officers. The Kocharyan/Sargisyan government did not trust the common soldier
who, they knew , would never shoot at his own brother, sister, father, mother,
uncle, aunt but could turn against them (Robik/Serjik).
There was concrete evidence within the regular army that if ordered to shoot
they were not going to follow orders. There were soldiers who refused to get
involved in the dirty internal affairs of Robik and Serjik.
By imposing the Emergency Rule, Kocharyan had forced the Armenian people to
swallow his dictatorship and very conveniently passed it on to Serjik after
lifting the 21 Day Emergency rule. Serjik himself is imposing his
anti-democratic policy on the Armenian people to this day.
Till we meet again.
Aziz 55.5 signing off
Payqar, payqar mincev verc.

ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ: ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD - Pashinyan

2008-06-29T17:36:00.000-07:00

26. ռեւոլյուցիոն էվոլյուցիա

Ինչի՞ համար է Աստված մարդկությանը տվել ոգելից խմիչքը. թերեւս միայն մեկ բանի` նրանց, այսինքն` մարդկանց շփումը, հաղորդակցությունը, փոխըմբռնումը խթանելու համար: Ինչպես շատ այլ դեպքերում, ոգելից խմիչքի իմաստը նույնպես մարդը կարողացել է նենգափոխել, բայց իմ պատկերացմամբ` ոգելից խմիչքը մեզ օգնում է ընդհանուր բաներ գտնել ուրիշների հետ, մտերմանալ, բարեկամանալ: Վիկտորի եւ իմ զրույցը սրա ամենավառ ապացույցը դարձավ: Շատ շուտով մենք սկսեցինք խոսել այնպիսի բաներից, որ վիսկիի բացակայության պայմաններում թերեւս անհրաժեշտ կամ պատեհ չհամարեինք:

26. Revolutionary Evolution

Why has God given alcohol to the human race? Perhaps for one reason only: to stimulate their interaction, communication and mutual understanding. As in many other things, man has been able to falsify the meaning of alcohol, although the way I see it, alcoholic beverages help us find common ground with others, to get close to them and to befriend them. My conversation with Victor became the most dazzling example of this. Very soon we began to speak about such things which in the absence of whiskey we may not have considered necessary or appropriate.

The whiskey unlocked our souls. It turned out that the same longing for country and family had started in both of us. It turned out that Victor has not yet seen his first-born, who was born a year ago. He had had to leave for the army a month before the birth of his son.

“I’ve seen him in photographs, through the internet, but I can’t picture how he’ll be in real life,” Victor said, and continued “I feel guilty that I wasn’t with him in the first year of his life; I feel guilty that I am soldier and may very well have to leave him again; I feel guilty that I may also be killed.”

“My guess is you’ll be discharged after your return,” I observed.

Victor was a little hurt:

“No, what do you mean? My feeling of guilt doesn’t have to do with the concerns of everyday life, but is a philosophical question. I could have been a bank employee and that still would not have reduced the chances that I could be killed. Or, I could have been at home during this past year and change nothing in my son’s life, essentially nothing. That happens a lot.”

“You’re right, but it’s even worse when you’re not conscious of what’s going. I live in that fear, right now, because a scary truth became apparent to me by sheer chance,” I said.

Victor was interested; I continued:

“I was watching a movie recently, just a meaningless, pointless film. The main heroine was a little girl—and she was the reason I was shaken. In the film, it became clear that she was 11 years old. You see, I have an 11 year old daughter but somehow, I didn’t notice that she has grown up. The heroine in the film was a grown up girl. She held serious discussions with her parents, made her own decisions…

“But isn’t it just a film? It’s also very possible that the actress wasn’t even 11 years old,” Victor pointed out to me.

“But don’t you see that that’s not the problem? The problem is that the film compelled me to admit that I haven’t even noticed that my children have grown up. The problem isn’t only that they have grown under my own unobserving, absent gaze, but that I’ve dealt with them as if they were 2-3 years old. And now, I’m haunted by the thought that I have unwittingly hurt their feelings.”

“Come on, now, I think you’re exaggerating,” Victor tried to console me.

“But you see, Victor, there’s more. I could have come to this realization at a time when my daughter or son was 17-18 years old; the consequences could have been unpredictable. That child of 2-3—well, okay—11, is no more, and you’re just not ready to deal with a mature, conscious individual who has the right for freedom. To me, it’s crystal clear that the potential for a tragedy hides beneath all that.

“That problem exits in many place, including in America. Children often quarrel with their parents, run away from home; suicides are committed because of that. It’s a very serious problem,” pointed out Victor.

“You know, in my country that problem is not so sharply prevalent. But there’s another problem which worries me even more.”

“And what’s that?”

“Sometimes, actually, very often, the family sometimes represses the child’s individuality, and in some ways, turns them into clones. We very often don’t see an individual in the young person beginning his life but a clone of his parents, their replica, whose existence and entry in the larger community in no way enriches that community nor does it contribute to its diversity. In our society, children are a lot like their parents. Not in terms of their physical appearance or traditions, but through their world view. Too often they see the world through the eyes of their parents, much like their parents when they were their age. In my country, education isn’t a form of guiding a child but a way of making the child dependent and keeping him or her as dependent for ever. This stagnation further causes spiritual, moral, as well as global stagnation.”

“Evidently, you’re talking about something like a clan where the chief of the clan decides everything, and everyone else in the clan has to go to the clan chief for any decisions. That’s also how the Italian Mafia “families” are run.”

“More or less. My friend’s father has a story, an anecdote, which expresses the situation even better. This is how the story goes. A group of friends are debating whether it’s better to have a daughter or a son. One of the friends insists that it’s better to have a daughter. The others are surprised and ask him to prove his point: “Isn’t it obvious? You keep the daughter for about 18-20 years, and then you marry her off to someone. But the son, you’re obliged to keep for about 60 years, until he starts collection pesion.”

Victor forces a smile.

“Yes, that’s an old fashioned system, to put it mildly,” he said

“It’s really true. But neither the parents nor the children are to blame here, but it’s imperative to somehow change the situation. This realization brings us face to face with our family traditions. You see, there are so many good, positive and human elements in those traditions that it’s not desirable, even possible to touch them.”

“Then you should learn from the experiments in Great Britain or Spain. I’m referring to what they did with the structure of their states. You can do the same with your family structures,” suggested Victor to my surprise.

At first I didn’t get what he said, so he continued:

“In the past, almost everything was decided by their monarchs. Then the time came when it was obvious that the system was antiquated and got in the way of progress. But the Spaniards, the British and many others did not remove their monarchs, meaning, traditions, but reconsidered their relationships. And now, in those countries, the monarch is at the head of the state, is the most awe-inspiring element, but does not decide for others. As they say, the wolves are not hungry, and the sheep are still alive.

Victor’s analogy stunned me. It is true that the family is the nucleus, the miniature version of the larger community, and more to the point, of the state.

(to be continued)

ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ: ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD - Pashinyan

2008-06-29T17:33:00.000-07:00

25. ինչի՞ց են պատրաստում վիսկին

Ծովի ափին ռեստորաններ էին շարված, եւ դրանցից մեկում էլ որոշեցինք ճաշել: Ի՞նչ կարելի է ուտել ծովափնյա այս ռեստորաններում. ծովամթերք: Է՞լ ինչ. էլի ծովամթերք: Ուրի՞շ. երիցս ծովամթերք: Սա Վիկտորի սրտովն էր. ես գոհ էի առավել եւս եւ հայտնվել էի հայտնի մուլտֆիլմի հերոս Ռոկկիի վիճակում, որ ի վերջո հնարավորություն ուներ պանիր ուտել պանրի հետ:

25. What is Whiskey made of?

There were restaurants lined up along the sea shore: I decided to eat at one of them. What’s there to eat in these restaurants by the shore? Seafood. What else? More Seafood. Anything else? Again seafood. Victor liked that. I was even more content, and found myself in the position of Rock, the well-known cartoon hero who had the chance to eat cheese with cheese.

The enormous display cases in the restaurant, whence, protected by bits of ice, fish of many colors, sizes and facial expressions looked at the visitors, stimulated our appetites. Sometimes visitors got close to the display, pointed to their selection and asked to have it served on a tray. The cooks would complete the orders behind panes of large, transparent glass. With their skilled and amusing movements, they inspired the thought in the minds of the visitors:

“You were born to eat; you live so that you may eat.”

The contented faces of the visitors only expressed complete agreement with that thought:

“We were born to eat; we live so that we may eat.”

My own face expressed the same thing; and should my order be delayed, I was ready to organize massive unrest in this restaurant. But can you massive unrest without plunder? I would smash the arrogant glass of the display case, sling the meter and a half long fish over my shoulder, run to the street, and on the bonfire of burning cars I would grill that fish. I would smash the stupid window display of a nearby shop (the shop would be open for business, but I would enter through the smashed window because only weaklings enter the shop through the door). And under the horrified gaze of the saleswomen, I would take the most expensive white wine. Then, under the glow of the flames of a city on fire, I would eat that meter and a half long fish.

That’s how much I love fish and seafood…And the wrath of March 1 was not directed at the authorities, not at the police, but at Yerevan’s fish store, which has nothing to offer the citizens tired of the pitiful list of fish for sale.

*******

Although Victor knew all about seafood, we decided to use my method to order. Since the waiter’s face didn’t inspire confidence in us, we asked him to just pass our order on to the cook. A little later the waiter came and showed Victor the price listed in the menu. So, the order had been delivered and accepted. In about 10 minutes they served us a large tray of oysters, crabs and some western style delectables. We ate with pleasure. But it soon became evident that this wasn’t all; in fact, it was just the beginning. Again, on a large tray they served us two 25 centimeter pieces of the meter and a half long fish. It is in reference to this type of event that they say: eat, drink and be merry; the earth is but a rug under your feet.

Salt water fish tastes different from fresh water fish. I found it strange at first, but soon got used to it:

“So, Victor, with this little glass but with a big heart, allow me to drink a toast to you; to wish you success in your work and in your personal life,” I said in Armenian and began to translate. Victor was surprised by the expression “with this little glass:”

“But the glass in your hand holds a liter,” he said.

“So then you can imagine how big my heart is,” I added.

After such a meal I couldn’t help but invite Victor for whiskey. Scottish whiskey, in the heart of Scotland. But because we had drunk a lot of beer at the restaurant, we decided to go back to the hotel and rest a while. Before I went up to my room I asked the manager to recommend a place where we could have original, local whiskey and listen to soft Scottish music, played by a live band. In an hour and a half, Victor and I met in the front hall; the place had been located and the taxi had been ordered.

In this old fashioned bar, I had hoped to hear bagpipe music. Instead, we heard the Fleyda, the old style, wooden, Scottish Fleyda, which was familiar to me: it is the music of the mountains. The waiter suggested that we drink the whiskey in the old-fashioned way, meaning that we shouldn’t put ice in the whiskey because it will be served directly from the cellar and is as chilled as it should be. Second, he suggested that we drink in small glasses and portions to prevent the whiskey from getting warm, and to drink only with regular water from the cellar. We agreed to at first drink without adding anything, and later, if we felt that we were getting drunk, we would add mountain water.

They served us the whiskey with pickled corn, which is delicious. But I just had to find out in this bar the answer to the questions every Armenian has: What is whiskey made of, and how do they prepare it? I’ve heard every imaginable hypothesis in Armenia. One person, for example, was one hundred percent sure that whiskey was prepared from red onions. He insisted that he had seen this with his own eyes at the light industry in Parakar.

But the most widespread hypothesis in Armenia is that whiskey is prepared from roasted barley. So the moment of truth is here; truth, which I must hear in the fatherland of whiskey. And now, disappointment awaits all the authors of the Armenian hypotheses. It turns out, that whiskey is prepared from beer. That means that they prepare beer from barley, rye or wheat, brew alcohol from the beer, keep that alcohol for 3-10 years in oak barrels seared from the inside, then they dilute it with distilled water, after which they pour the whiskey in bottles and keep those bottles in completely dark cellars for 5-8 months, after which it is considered ready for drinking. It is not excluded that in Parakar whiskey is prepared from red onion, but the Scots have not yet reached that level.

(to be continued)

ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ. ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ 24. էլի տասը այրի /Pashinyan - The Other Side of the World

2008-06-28T05:16:00.000-07:00

ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ. ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ
24. էլի տասը այրի

Առաջին գործը, որ արեցի առավոտյան` էլեկտրոնային փոստս ստուգելն էր` մի բաժակ սուրճ խմելով: Ֆրեդը ուղարկել էր այն հյուրանոցի հասցեն եւ հեռախոսի համարը, որտեղ ինքը ապրելու էր Էդինբուրգում գտնվելիս: Զանգեցի. ասացին, որ պատվիրատուն դեռ չի ժամանել եւ ըստ իրենց մոտ եղած արձանագրության ժամանելու է վաղը առավոտյան: Գնացի նախաճաշի. ռեստորանի մուտքի մոտ հանդիպեցի Վիկտորին. նա ասաց, որ գնում էր ինձ համար հաղորդագրություն թողելու: Ասելն այն էր, որ մինչեւ ժամը 5-ը զբաղված է լինելու եւ առաջարկում էր 17.30-ին հանդիպել եւ մի տեղ գնալ միասին ճաշելու...

24. Yet Ten More Widows

The first thing I did in the morning was to check my e-mail over a cup of coffee. Fred had sent me the address and telephone number of the hotel where he would be staying while I was in Edinburgh. I called the hotel and was told that the person holding the reservation had not yet arrived and that according to their notes, would arrive tomorrow morning. I went to have breakfast and ran into Victor at the entrance to the restaurant, who told me that he was on his way to leave me a message. He was going to let me know that he would be busy till 5pm and was going to suggest that we meet at 5:30pm for dinner.

“We’ll order something the waiter suggests,” he said, smiling, and added, “I’m treating this time around.”

I had settled the bill on the boat, as any normal Armenian would have done. As a matter of fact,, I had snatched the bill from Walter’s hand and treated him, under the astonished look of Victor and the waiter. Later, I had actually been a little embarrassed by what I had done, because there was something crude, impolite, even something uncultured. At any rate, I agreed to accept Victor’s suggestion.

This meant that I had time to kill till 5pm. I decided to go to the sea shore after breakfast. I got into a cab and asked the driver to take me to a shore where the sea would be calm and where it would be possible to have a clear view of the sea without any obstructions. The cab driver realized what I was asking for and took me to a sandy shore where there were a series of benches. That was just what I had hoped for. I sat on one of the benches which was, incidentally, surprisingly clean, and started gazing at the sea.

Edinburgh is located not by an open sea but by a bay. More specifically, when looking at the Firth of Forth, you see the shores lining the bay. But if you were to look straight ahead, you can see the boundless horizon. Incidentally, the Scots sometimes refer to the bays as Lochs, especially when the sea is more like a lake; that is to say, it’s only minimally connected to the sea.

So, I searched for and found the horizon; and I remembered Frau Elizabeth, the widowed teenager, Frau Elizabeth. Is her fate eternal and why is my mind sated by her? I knew the answer to that question but up to now I didn’t want to admit it. The answer to that question is very simple, very ordinary; but yet, very beautiful, very romantic. actually, a very romantic date of the past: March 1.

Ten more widows; yet ten more widows; another ten widows. Women dressed in black, orphaned children, and me, while I make a speech by the pedestal of Myasnikyan’s statue. With each one of my speeches, a brother is martyred, a sister becomes a widow, a child is orphaned, a mother is bruised, and a father falls silent with a mournful silence.

Could I have done anything to avoid the tragedy? Could I have done anything so that Gor Gloyan, Tikran Khatchatryan, Tavit Petrosyan, Grigor Gevorgyan, Armen Farmanyan, Hovanness Hovannessyan, Zagar Hovannessyan, Tikran Abgaryan, Hamlet Datevosyan, Samuel Haroutyounyan would not have been killed, that they would still be alive? This question surfaces in me every day; a few times a day; and it is constantly within me. But I don’t make haste to answer that question. I want that question to be part of me, to become an inseparable part of my being. The answer will be born by itself.

I could also not have been, let’s say I wasn’t by the pedestal of Myasnikyan’s statue, let’s suppose I wasn’t at Freedom Square; let’s suppose I was at home…

I was sitting at home, I had never called a public demonstration in my life, nor had I made an appearance at a public demonstration in my life. I was sitting at home when they killed Boghos Boghosyan. I was having coffee at home while the television was saying that in the men’s room of Aragazd restaurant, a man died of a heart attack. Nobody dared say that Boghosyan did not die of a heart attack, that he was in fact killed by the tyrant’s henchmen. That happened right under the nation’s nose, before the eyes of those whores who sing of Armenian eyes and who did not notice the plea for help surging from the Armenian eyes of one by the name of Boghos Boghosyan. They killed him on the day I was having a peaceful cup of coffee at home; they killed him in my nation’s bohemian whorehouse; before the eyes of my nation’s “leaders.” But no witness was to be found who could tell in court what had taken place. None. Nor was a temporary parliamentary committee created to look into the circumstances of the death of Boghos Boghosyan. There was benefit in that.

Could I have done anything to prevent it all? Could I have done something to prevent Boghos Boghosyan from being killed, so that he would still be alive?

I didn’t hasten to answer this question. I wanted the question to be one with me, to become part of my being.

I was drinking coffee at home when in the same way, they killed Artyom Sargsyan. He was leading the candidates’ movement. They purposefully drafted him into the army, and purposefully beat him to death…

“The eyes of the Armenian, a pond of light…”

They dried up yet another pond, and I was drinking coffee at home, watching television. The television said nothing. It was singing about the miracle of eyes, eyes that had Artyom killed.

And could I have done something to avoid the tragedy? Was there anything I could have done to prevent them from killing Artyom, so that he would live so that he would be alive? I didn’t hasten to answer that question; I wanted it to be one with me, to be part of my being.

I was home having coffee, playing with my children, when they killed Karine Sargsyan. They killed her at the intersection by the bank of Malatya; they killed her when she was buying dark bread and cabbage for her family’s dinner. They killed her in broad daylight. When she was killed I was playing with my children; my children had cabbage salad for dinner that night, with dark bread. And was there anything I could have done to avoid the tragedy? Was there anything I could have done so they wouldn’t kill Karine Sargsyan, so that Karine Sargsyan would still be alive, so that she would be next to her husband, her children?

I didn’t hasten to answer that question. I wanted the question to be one with me, to become part of my being.

Then they killed Levon Gulyan. They beat him. He lost consciousness. They thought he would die. They threw him down the window so they would say he committed suicide. And could I have done anything to stop the tragedy from happening? To stop them from killing Levon Gulyan, so that he would still be alive?

When did they kill Levon Gulyan? The official communiqué says May 12, 2007.

No, I say. It was on March 1, 2008. On May 12, 2007, they killed Gor Gloyan in the police building.

They beat Tigran Khatchatryan to death in the men’s room of Aragazd Restaurant, and Boghos Boghosyan was killed on March 1, near Myasnikyan’s statue.

Was there anything I could have done? Is there anything I can do now?

Yes. I can do everything in my power, in the name of the creation of an Armenia who loves her children, who doesn’t kill her children. If need be, I will lay down my life for that Armenia. And why didn’t I lay down my life? Ah, that’s not for me to decide. Destiny decides that. I don’t flee from my destiny; I will remain fateful to my destiny.

(to be continued)

Some excerpts and links from PACE - JUNE 25...

2008-06-26T08:33:00.000-07:00

link to verbatim discussion
link to final document produced June 25 [for this issue start at "Debate under urgent procedure: implementation by Armenia of Assembly Resolution 1609," which is near the bottom of the document]

The final Resolution passed, all 24 in favor - no abstentions, no nays.
Only one of the amendments that was proposed had more than one vote against it - the voting results for every amendment and resolution are available on the PACE site. The amendment that had the most issues, but was denied anyway, was rejected - basically it suggested a 3 month (fall 2008), not a 6 month(january 2009), extension:

[start section - taken directly from verbatim records on PACE website - emphasis mine]
"We come to Amendment No. 1, tabled by Ms Marietta de Pourbaix-Lundin, Mr Egidijus Vareikis, Mrs Danuta Jazłowiecka, Ms Anna Lilliehöök, Mr Göran Lindblad, Mrs Corien W.A. Jonker, which is in the draft resolution, paragraph 8, second and third sentence, to replace the words “January 2009” with the following words: “Autumn 2008”. I call Ms de Pourbaix-Lundin to support Amendment No. 1.
Ms de POURBAIX-LUNDIN (Sweden). – Mr President and dear colleagues, if you consider nothing else, please consider those political prisoners who have already been in prison for four months. Should they stay in prison for another six months? Support Amendment No. 1, and do not give the Armenian authorities until January 2009. Instead, the deadline should be autumn 2008, as we suggest.
THE PRESIDENT. – Does anyone wish to speak against the amendment? I call Mr Prescott.
Mr PRESCOTT (United Kingdom). – I think that the honourable lady knows that, given the circumstances in Armenia, we have set two timetables. One is for 2009, when all the legal changes will be made. We are waiting for the Venice Commission to act; we have to allow time for that. As for the timetable relating to the prisoners, we will ask the Human Rights Committee to visit, have a look and assess the situation. We have visited two or three times, and it is not easy to get to the truth. I oppose the amendments and I suggest that you adopt our recommendations.
THE PRESIDENT. – I understand that the committee is against.
The vote is open.
Amendment No. 1 is rejected.
[end section]

Here is what I found in the voting records for this amendment:
In favor: Ms Åse Gunhild Woie DUESUND, Mr Albrecht KONEČNÝ, Mr Hryhoriy OMELCHENKO, Ms Marietta de POURBAIX-LUNDIN,
Abstained: M. Claudio AZZOLINI

Maybe they thought a total of 9 months would make a big difference over a total of 6 months. I'm sure they have a lot of information that I don't. Maybe there's something to finishing the year without suspending Armenia. It definitely makes me wonder.

On another note: Its in the news that Hovanissian removed himself from the meetings - here is his statement, taken directly from the verbatim report:

Mr HOVANNISIAN (Armenia). – There is no shame in accepting the truth. For Azerbaijan, it is the right of mountainous Karabakh to live in liberty on its ancestral lands, owning up to the barbaric attack on the Armenian, thus European, heritage at Djulfa, Nakhichevan. The Council of Europe stands by in geopolitical silence, even offering special concessions to select, well-caressed members.
There is no shame for Turkey in facing the truth. Hopefully, in tomorrow’s debate and beyond, someone will see the imperative and have the political courage and moral fortitude to analyse the issues in a broader context. The philosophy of the state, as well as the exclusivist legacy of the Armenian genocide and the great Armenian dispossession of 1915, demonstrate the importance of community rights, human rights, Article 301 and the freedom of speech.
This is a truly European opportunity for our Turkish colleagues – not a problem or a threat or a challenge. It is in their interests for the future, and we wish them well. The same could be said of our friends in Georgia, who could do a better job in respecting Armenian, Azerbaijani and other minority rights, and taking care of the properties that belong to the communities. None of the aforementioned should ever be used to excuse Armenia’s democratic shortcomings. It is clear – Armenian civil society demands that we address this – that Armenia has not passed democracy’s test on all counts. Scores of prisoners of a political character remain detained and incarcerated, and they must be released forthwith, not in January.
Several politically active citizens continue to be harassed for their political point of view. The 1 March government crackdown on peaceful demonstrators and the fatal opening of fire that killed eight civilians and two policemen have not led to the opening of individual criminal cases. To date, there are no suspects: no-one is alleged to have ordered the firing or to have executed them. That is a travesty of the judicial process. We all know the famous quote by the Polish author: if you want to see a county’s true face look at how it tries its citizens. Even private hotels have been pressured not to allow meetings of civil groups and opposition parties.
Finally, the right to assembly, free association and free speech remains at the discretion of security agencies and, later, a judiciary that is far from independent. To date, there has been no meaningful dialogue on the Armenian scene.
It has been merely window dressing. Each and every initiative of the Heritage Party to launch a dialogue, in process and in substance, has been refused.
I do not know about the Assembly and its criteria, but it is evident that for the time being the Republic of Armenia and the Council of Europe do not deserve each other. Hence, I wish you success in your future deliberations, your voting and your future monitoring, but I hereby suspend my participation in the affairs of the Assembly until such time as Armenia meets standards – its own and Europe’s – and Europe rises to the realisation of its own values, rights and benchmarks.

There's a little more to it in that he then responds (or interrupts) to Mr Huseynov (Azer), though it doesn't look like he speaks again. His self-suspension is mentioned and frowned upon later by Mr. Prescott (see the original document).

Mixed messages...

2008-06-25T17:09:00.000-07:00

PACE gave the government of Armenia an extension, though still maintaining that the changes are insufficient...
But take a look below at the pressure mounting from different sides...
During two days of the PACE deliberations, look at what else has happened:

1.Transparency International blasts Armenia's elections, democracy, etc.--today [reported by RFE in a broadcast - I think they are referring to the 2008 Global Corruption Report that came out today - you can download the section on armenia]
2.Freedom House revisits Armenia's failures in Democracy--yesterday
3.Minsk Group Chairmen decide to visit the S. Caucasus to push 'negotiations'
forward-- beginning yesterday
4.Terry Davis, in an exclusive and unabashed interview calls for the arrest of those who 'pulled the trigger' on March 1 and the release of political prisoners--yesterday [direct quote is from a RFE broadcast 6/25]
5.David Kramer, head of human rights at the US State Department decides to visit
Armenia and openly declares he doesn't trust reports from the Prosecutor General's
Office or from the Parliamentary Commission to investigate the March 1 events, and,
questions why almost 100% of the prisoners are from the opposition and doesn't this undermine the RA government claim that they are not political prisoners--yesterday and today.
6.Last, but by far not the least, PACE yesterday announces that

"the Assembly considers that sustainable democratic development will be extremely difficult in Azerbaijan as long as the country’s territorial integrity has not been restored."

So, what we've got here is a range of responses, but overall, maybe some increased international pressure on Armenia regarding the current situation, just over the past 2 days, all of which coincides with the extension given at the PACE meetings... are these mixed messages?

The timing of the extension and pressure also coincides with Bryza's recent comment that the principles fundamental to the Kharabagh issue must be resolved by the end of this year (and the apparent recent push for a solution to the NK issue), and the statement regarding sustained democracy in Azerbaijan (see above)... and now Bryza is visiting Armenia, looking into the NK issue with the Armenian domestic situation as it is...

What if the RA government could assure its own domestic future by appeasing the international entities in a non-domestic way? What, or what, could they trade...?

Another member of HIMA is beaten...

2008-06-25T09:25:00.001-07:00

Just hours before the PACE hearing on the situation in Armenia, another member of HIMA was beaten and has been hospitalized...
a1plus report
Radio Free Europe report

The Council is Meeting...and???

2008-06-25T03:08:00.000-07:00

Here is the link to Terry Davis' statement during the debate on Democracy in Europe... it's short and worth the read
Here are some choice excerpts:

Often we say that all this can be attributed to the lack of a democratic culture which takes years, if not decades, to take hold. This claim may be true, but it does not justify half-hearted attempts at democracy, designed more to satisfy international observers than to allow voters to make their choice...
In fact, very often, the problem is not so much the lack of democratic culture. It is the lack of democratic will...
If we want to improve the state of democracy in Europe, we must call a spade a spade...

And this is the link to the document produced june 24th, The Implementation by Armenia of Assembly Resolution 1609 (2008) - which it seems will be discussed and debated today.

Here are some choice paragraphs... (there are many... but I just picked a few)

31. During a meeting with Mr Ter-Petrossian, we were provided with a list of 63 persons who, according to him, remain in detention. Of these persons, 24 have already been convicted to prison terms8. We have provided this list to the authorities with the request to provide us information on each of the cases mentioned in this list. However, due to the short time available, the authorities were not able to provide us with this information, nor was it possible for us to cross-check each of the cases with other information provided to us. It seems that a number of persons on this list have since been released.

35. We were informed that a significant number of persons who were arrested under these provisions had additional criminal charges brought against them at a later stage. This could indicate an attempt to circumvent the demand of the Assembly to release persons charged with seemingly artificial and politically motivated charges by accusing them of having “personally committed violent acts or serious offences”.

26. We welcome that an official enquiry has now been initiated, as was demanded by the Assembly. However, the Assembly required that this inquiry should be independent, transparent and credible. At this stage, it is not possible for us to assess if these key requirements are met, taking into account that, as a result of its late establishment, the committee has not yet started its investigations and that its format and composition do not per se guarantee its independence and impartiality and therefore its credibility in the eyes of the Armenian public.

There seems to be a moderate amount of insight into how a minimum, if that, is being done by the SS regime to meet the prior set requirements (and the regime's efforts to manipulate and stall). And yet, overall, this document sounds alot like the original output after the elections- with conclusions and consequences almost completely unrelated to the body of the document.

Let's see what they decide today. I've said before that I'm not sure how much of a difference it would even make, but if there is a suspension of privileges, it may have some effect. If not for that, at least it would be nice to know that at least one international organization (of this type) is actually internally consistent...

The money behind the scenes...

2008-06-23T15:12:00.001-07:00

Armenaker has posted a number of very important articles regarding the finances behind the scenes, the most recent of which is his most recent post:
The scam...

And, in a new web portal for information sharing KHOSQ.COM (reportedly conceived after the March 1 crackdown, in english, russian, and armenian), Bruce Tasker has published an article that is very revealing...
Stealing Armenia- How he did it

Aziz #5

2008-06-23T15:07:00.000-07:00

This is the 5th in a series by someone who calls him/herself Aziz - who was witness to the events around the Feb 19th elections, including the events of March 1 and after. I have not changed anything from what was sent to me.

Morning of March 1, 2008
As usual, Yerevan was slowly waking up. For some people without realizing their
lives had changed. By mid morning, almost everyone knew one way or the other,
that the government had violently dispersed the peaceful gathering at Liberty
Square. People still went on to their daily routines. Markets were filled with
shoppers, meat markets in Down Town Yerevan, the Vernisage was buzzing and life
was supposedly â€œnormalâ€ as if nothing had happened. By noon, eventually, we
found out that the same people who had escaped the night before or were
dispersed the night before had started gathering spontaneously in front of the
French Embassy and the Kaghakabedaran. By one oâ€™clock, the read leading to the
French Embassy and Kaghakabedaran were blocked by thousands of people. Police
again tried to disperse them. Clashes erupted as a result. Finally, the police
retreated. By three oâ€™clock, the Mnatsaganyan Square (facing the French
Embassy and the City Hall,
was packed with citizens to hear LTP. However, the announcer said that LTP will
not be able to come because he was under house arrest. We were asked to stay
put, and be calm till we hear from LTP.
Before darkness fell, because of what happened the night before, it was obvious
that to be able to stay there, we had to protect ourselves in self-defense. You
could see disabled buses barricade the street corners leading to Mnatsaganyan
Square to defend us from sudden and horrific attacks like the night before.
Mostly, the gatherers were quiet and contemplating the situation. The atmosphere
wa s very heavy in anticipation of the governmentâ€™s next move. The silence was
broken at around 9 pm with steady automatic gun fire that we heard coming from
Mashdots Ave and Leo Street. Again and again, we were told to stay calm. There
was no way the police were going to fire on us, we thought. The gunfire shots
went on for over an hour and we could hear and see explosions and car fires at a
distance. Then it went quiet.
We learnt that Kocharyan appeared on National TV, H1,TV Armenia, Epigetron,etc ,
and declared a State of Emergency.
From 10pm to1am it was very quiet. At that time, the quiet was shattered again
by the roaring noise of the military tanks moving from all directions into the
center of Yerevan. Some people realized at that moment that the
Kocharyan/Sarkissyan government had no problem on spilling blood of their own
citizens. They were cold blooded murders. Gradually, people dispersed from the
Center.
Levon Ter-Pe trosyan was not allowed to address us. The State of Emergency with
all its restrictions was imposed for the next 21 days (and it is still on even
thought officially it is over, it was never over.)
The events that occurred on March 1 and March 2 and following the 21 days of the
State of Emergency, the government of Kocharyan/Sarkissyan had broken the path
of democracy with the Armenian People. A new page in the history of Armenia and
the Armenian People had been written down on March 1 and March 2.
We bow our heads to the martyrs of March 1 and March 2.
Till next time.
Aziz 55.5 signing off.
Payqar , Payqar, mincev verc.

The Other Side of the World-Pashinyan

2008-06-21T08:44:00.000-07:00

ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ. ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ
23. Noah’s route...

Մեր նավը ի վերջո դուրս եկավ մառախուղի միջից, եւ ես շտապեցի հագեցնել ծովին նայելու իմ ծարավը: Ամեն անգամ, երբ ծովը մատչելի է դառնում, ես շտապում եմ նրա հեռուներում պարպել հայացքս:

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD

23. Noah’s Route

Our boat finally emerged from the fog and I made haste to satisfy my need to enjoy the seascape. Every time the sea is visible I hurry to cast my eyes on its vast expanse. As I look at the North Sea, a genetically predetermined thought comes to my mind: it would have been so good if Armenia had a sea. It seems this idea is the lynchpin in my relationship with the sea. It always pops up when I’m looking at any sea. It’s happened when I’ve been at the Black Sea, at the Sea of Marmora and the Aegean Sea…

I felt disgust in the presence of the North Sea—just disgust. It would have been so good if we had had a sea; it would have been so good; it would have been so, so good; it would have been fantastic.

This idea seems to be the answer to all our dilemmas and problems. We say—see, we don’t have a sea, and this is the source of all our problems. If only we had a sea…things would have been different. If we only had a sea, what a country we would have had....

“Hello, Rob…”

“Take him away and kill that…”

Where was I? Oh, I was saying: we don’t have a sea—sea. We won’t be a real country until we have a sea…

“Chief, Nairi is here, she says…”

“Take her to Alik.”

And, we don’t have oil. What good is the sea to us if we don’t have oil…?”

“Chief, Jhikyar is here. He wants to know if it’s okay for him to liquidate Kachal…He’s pleading, chief…”

“Make sure he gets it done in time for the 5pm broadcast hour on Hyelour.”

No, really, we can’t become a real country without oil and sea. Never mind gas; the sea and oil are imperative. Without a sea and oil the State is like man without bodyguards…

“Chief, Sirun is here, she wants to know if it’s okay for her to bring a train load of Benzene, too. It seems her father isn’t doing well and she needs money for his cure. She’s really pleading, chief…”

“Oil, tell her to bring oil…”

Without sea, without oil, without beaches…

“Chief, Sirun wants to know what kind of oil she should bring—diesel or kerosene…”

“Kerosene.”

No, we need a sea, a sea. But one isn’t enough; two would be good.

“Chief, Sirun is asking if you’ll tell Airport to take it from her, or should she tell him in your name.”

“Let her talk to him. No, I’ll tell him…well, no, you tell him in my name.”

Man, they won’t give you any time to contemplate the country…Sea and Oil: that is the question…

“Chief, Hovig is here. He wants to know what we should give Moska…”

“Life Sentence.”

Sea, only sea. Or better yet—from sea to sea…

“Chief, It’s Kachal’s wake; we should go. I got you a new suit for the wake, Chief; go ahead, put it on.”

“What kind of suit is it?”

“Zili.” We paid 15,000…”

“Dollars?”

“Euros.”

………..

We arrived in Edinburgh twice as fast as I had expected. I hadn’t reserved a room in Edinburgh. Victor suggested that I stay at the hotel where he would be staying. This was a good solution and luckily a room was available for me. I ordered some fruits and settled down before the television to watch Euronews. There was still nothing about Armenia. Rather, there was an advertisement on Armenia, meant to attract tourists to our country. I had seen that clip in Serbia and in Switzerland. I had felt warm and felt my heart beat faster. But after that conversation with Ervin I was guarded about the advertisement. At first, I didn’t understand what it was that I didn’t like about the clip, but when I tried to see it through Ervin’s eyes, things became clearer.

“Armenia. Noah’s route. Your route.” The segment announces. This will seem very amusing to Ervin, and I wouldn’t exclude the possibility that he would go to Armenia to repeat Noah’s route. Isn’t that exactly what the segment offers, after all?” I tried to picture Ervin’s second trip to Armenia…

I can see the tour guide pointing out Mount Ararat to the group, explaining that Norah’s ark landed on the peak of that mountain, and thence humanity’s life after the flood came forth. Ervin, of course, interrupts the guide with a question:

“Excuse me, but can we replicate Noah’s route?’

The travel guide senses the danger but is not baffled:

“You understand that it happened a long time ago; it’s very difficult to decide exactly what route Noah took,” says the guide with a smile and tries to end the conversation. But Ervin is not a simple tourist. He is a shrewd and pedantic German, and he knows how to reach his objective:

“But isn’t it established that Noah was on the peak of Ararat? Can we go to the peak and there decide the route Noah took? It would be a good experiment.”

The tour guide is getting scared:

“But that would be a very difficult journey. It’s cold there, at that high altitude,” the tour guide says.

“Oh, that’s all right. I want to feel Noah’s route, to feel it under my feet. That’s why I came to Armenia. Let’s go there, if not today, then at least tomorrow. It would be very easy by plane. Organize a flight for us, why don’t you,” Ervin addresses the tour guide.

Others in the group voice the same request. The tour guide has no choice but to surrender:

“I’m sorry we can’t fly you to the top of Mount Ararat …”

“Why…? Why…? Why…?” people ask from different directions.

“Ararat is not in Armenian territory,” confesses the tour guide, telling the tourists all about the sad history of our country.

“And was it in Armenian territory in the time of Noah?” asks Ervin. And the tour guide gets the urge, as I once had, to punch out Ervin’s snout. But that pig’s snout doesn’t relent.

“And what do you think? Did Noah descend from Ararat on this side?” Ervin continues.

“That’s how it’s presented in Aivazovsky’s painting,” says the tour guide with a stupid smile.

Ervin pretends not to notice the absurd.

“The river Arax must have been high after the Flood, and it’s unlikely that Noah would have crossed over to this side through the river. It would have been stupid to be saved from the Flood only to drown in the river,” Ervin would have added victoriously, and with a grimace on his face would have added: “Armenia. Noah’s Route. Your Route.”

I lay down to go to sleep. But for a long time sleep escaped me…

“Ervin, f**k your mother..."

(to be continued)

Ծիծեռնակի հարցազրույցը Մելիսա Բրաունի հետ

2008-06-21T08:40:00.000-07:00

Ծիծեռնակի հարցազրույցը Մելիսա Բրաունի հետ [the english was posted several days ago]

- Ինչպիսի՞ն է Հայաստանի ներկայիս մթնլորոտը:

- Մեծ սպասելիքներ կան հունիսի 20-ից: Հսկա հույսեր: Ոչ միայն Շարժման ակտիվ անդամների, այլ ողջ հասարակության կողմից: Մարդիկ ամբողջ ժամանակ մոտս են գալիս և ինձ հարցնում դրա մասին. այնպիսի մարդիկ, որոնք մինչ այդ զանազան պատճառներով օժանդակություն չեն հայտնել, մարդիկ, որոնք գուցեև Սերժ Սարգսյանի օգտին են քվեարկել: Բոլորը դրական փոփոխության հույս ունեն: Փոփոխությունն, անշուշտ, մեկ գիշերվա մեջ տեղի չի ունենա, հունիսի 20-ը կլինի ճիշտ ուղղությամբ ևս մեկ քայլ, ոչ վերջնական լուծում: Եվ, ես կարծում եմ, մարդիկ դա հասկանում են: Մեր շարժումը շարունակելու է լինել օրինական, խաղաղ, կենսախինդ, ինչպես եղել է ամբողջ ժամանակ: Եվ այդ իսկ պատճառով մեր հաղթանակը, գալուց հետո, տևական է լինելու: Կառավարությունն, իհարկե, մինչ այժմ մերժել է հանրահավաքի արտոնումը՝ թերևս այն հույսով, թե դա տեղի չի ունենա, կամ թերևս հույս ունենալով մեզ սադրելու այնպիսի քայլերի, որոնք, իրենց կարծիքով, կարդարացնեն մի նոր բախում: Սակայն դրանցից ոչ մեկը տեղի չի ունենալու: Մենք շարունակելու ենք պայքարել ժողովրդավարության համար խաղաղ ու օրինական կերպով, իսկ ռեժիմը շարունակելու է քայքայվել: Այնպես որ, դա սոսկ ժամանակի խնդիր է:

- Ձեր կարծիքով, որո՞նք էին մարտի 1-ի և հաջորդած իրադարձություններին նպաստած հիմնական գործոնները:

- Հիմնական գործոնը ապօրինի կերպով իշխանությանը կառչած մնալու ռեժիմի վճռականությունն էր, վճռականությունը թույլ չտալու, որ ժողովրդի ձայնը լսելի դառա:

- Ո՞րն է քաղբանտարկյալների կանանց, մայրերի, քույրերի ու եղբայրների դերը Հայաստանի այսօրվա անցուդարձի մեջ:

- Մենք կանգնած ենք ժողովրդի կողքին, և ժողովուրդն էլ կանգնած է մեր կողքին; Ես մեծ տարբերություն չեմ տեսնում մեզնից նրանց մեջ, որոնք փաստացի ընտանիքի անդամներ ունեն բանտերում, և նրանց, ովքեր պարզապես չեն կարող հանդուրժել Հայաստանում քաղբանտարկյանլների գոյության փաստը: Այս հարցում մենք բոլորս մեկ ընտանիք ենք:

- Քաղբանտարկյալների կանանց ու մայրերի կազմակերպությունը նոր հեռանկար կամ հարց հրապարակ հանու՞մ է:

- Կարծում եմ՝ այո՝ այն իմաստով, որ մենք ներկայացնում ենք մարդկային դեմքն այն ամենի, ինչ ոմանք կկամենային անտեսել որպես սոսկ քաղաքական պայքար:

- Ինչպիսի՞ն են քաղբանտարկյալների բանտային պայմանները:

- Որքանով ինձ է հայտնի, նրանք շատ փոքր խցերում են, որոնք ունեն երուսից մինչև տասական մահճակալ և մեկական զուգարան: Փոքրիկ տարածություն շարժվելու համար, քիչ ժամանակ հատկացնելով կամ բոլորովին չհատկացնելով վարժությունների համար: Իմ ամուսինը նախկին ՊԱԿ-ում է, և ասում են՝ այնտեղ ավելի մարդկային են վարվում բանտարկյալների հետ: Ենթադրում եմ, որ Նուբարաշենում ու Սովետաշենում շատ ավելի վատ է: Սակայն իրականում դա մի հարց է, որ պետք է ուղղել հենց իրենց՝ բանտարկյալներին:

- Ինչպիսի՞ն է քաղբանտարկյալների ընտանիքների վիճակը:

- Շատերն իսկապես մարտնչում են մի կերպ ապրելու համար, քանի որ իրենց ընտանիքների միակ հաց վաստակողները՝ իրենց հայրերն ու որդիները, բանտում են: Բանտարկյալներից ոմանք առողջական լուրջ մտահոգություններ ունեն, որոնց մեծ մասն՝ իբրև կալանավայրերում նրանց ծեծելու և նրանց հետ վատ վարվելու ուղղակի հետևանք: Շատ ընտանիքների անդամներ հալածվել և հարցաքննվել են իշխանությունների կողմից, հեռացվել են իրենց աշխատանքներից և նույնիսկ ձերբակալվել: Դրականն այն է, որ մենք ամբողջ ժամանակ տեսնում ենք միմյանց և զրուցում իրար հետ զանազան դատավարությունների ընթացքում, Հյուսիսային պողոտայում, և դա սփոփանքի ու սատարման հսկայական աղբյուր է:

- Ինչպիսի՞ պատասխաններ/արձագանքներ եք ստացել Հայաստանի ժողովրդից, Հայաստանի Հանրապետության կառավարությունից և միջազգային հանրությունից:

- Ժողովրդից ստացած պատասխանն ապշեցուցիչ էր: Մարդիկ դուրս են գալիս տաս տարվա վախից ու անտարբերությունից, իսկ դա հրաշալի բան է: Կառավարությունը, առնվազն՝ վերևներում, անբեկանելիորեն համառ է: Ենթադրում եմ, որ նրանք միմյանցից վախենալու ավելի շատ բան ունեն, քան Հայաստանի ժողովրդից կամ միջազգային հանրությունից: Կամ դա է, կամ էլ պարզապես մոլագար են. Ես նախընտրում եմ առաջին բացատրությունը: Մեր հույսն այն է, որ նրանց ծառայող պարկեշտ մարդիկ, ներառյալ ոստիկաններն ու անվտանգության այլ ծառայողներ, որոնց հետ մենք ամեն օր կապի մեջ ենք, կհոգնեն բանդիտների ու օլիգարխների փոքր խմբի շահերին ծառայելու համար գործածվելուց: Ինձ պատմել են, որ անցյալ օրը մի դատավոր, ակնհայտորեն անմեղ մարդու երեք տարվա բանտարկության դատապարտելուց հետո, լաց է եղել դատարանում: Դա լավ նշան է, և այլ դեպքեր էլ կան:

Ինչ վերաբերում է միջազգային հանրությանը, մենք հանդիպել ենք այստեղ ժամանած զանազան միջազգային պատվիրակությունների հետ, և, կարծում եմ, մեր տեսակետները նրանց բավական պատկերացում են տվել այն մասին, թե իրականում ինչ է կատարվում, և դա այսկամայն չափով ազդեցություն է թողել վերադարձից հետո նրանց գործողությունների վրա:

- Ձեր կարիքով, ո՞րն է Սերժ Սարգսյանի ռազմավարությունը: Որևէ նպատակակետ ունի՞:

- Պատկերացնել իսկ չեմ կարող: Ենթադրում եմ, որ հույս է տածում, թե այս ամենը ցրվելու է: Սակայն դա չի լինելու: Չի լինելու, մինչև Հայաստանում չվերականգնվեն ժողովրդավարությունը և մարդու հիմնարար իրավունքներն ու ազատությունները:

- Ի՞նչ լուծումներ կառաջարկեիք ներկա իրադրության համար: Կա՞ն վիճակից դուրս գալու համար այնպիսի քայլեր, որ Սերժ Սարգսյանն ու կոալիցիոն կառավարությունը կարող են նախաձեռնել այս իրավիճակում և պարզերես դուրս գալ:

- Պարզերես դուրս գալ չեն կարող: Ես ներողամտությունը կամ հատուցումը չեմ բացառում, սակայն պարզերես դուրս գալու մասին նրանք պետք է մոռանան: Լուծումը պարզապես այն է, որ թողնեն, որ ժողովրդավարությունն ու քաղաքացիական հասարկությունը գոյություն ունենան, և ամեն բան իր տեղն ընկնի: Դադարեցնեն անմեղ մարդկանց ձերբակալությունները: Դադարեցնեն ընտրություններ կեղծելը: Դադարեցնեն անկախ մամուլը փակելը: Դադարեցնեն հանրահավաքների իրավունքը խախտելը: Այս վերջինը վերաբերում է ոչ միայն հանրային հանրահավաքներին, այլ նաև ավելի փոքր հավաքներին ու սեմինարներին: Երեկ Կանանց Քաղաքացիական Նախաձեռնության կազմակերպած սեմինարը չկայացավ, որովհետև վերջին պահին Կոնգրես հյուրանոցը որոշեց նրանց չտրամադրել այն դահլիճը, որ նրանք վարձել էին շաբաթներ առաջ: Իսկ այսօր էլ երիտասարդների կոնգրեսը կասեցվեց: Նրանց բազմաթիվ հյուրանոցներ ու այլ շենքեր մերժել էին, բայց ի վերջո Աշոտ Բլեյանի դպրոցում նրանց սրահ էր տրամադրվել: Սակայն երբ տեղ են հասել, նրանց դիմավորել է ոստիկանությունը՝ բացատրելով, որ կրթության նախարարը մերժել է արտոնելու ժողովը: Երբ որոշել են իրենց ժողովն անել դպրոցից դուրս բաց տարածության մեջ, նրանց ասել են, որ չարտոնված հանրահավաք են անում, և ցրել են: Ահավոր է, չէ՞:

- Ի՞նչ կարող են անել Հայաստանի և դրսի հայերը:

- Ես դա թողնում եմ իրենց սեփական խղճին:

Some good sources...

2008-06-21T06:58:00.001-07:00

Zhamanak.com has put up what I think is LTP's entire speech in armenian:

They have also put up a good, short, summary of what happened yesterday in the capital, in english. Lragir has a slightly more detailed article in english.

June 20th is today...

2008-06-20T07:49:00.001-07:00

For those who are trying to follow outside of Armenia - a1plus seems to be updating their english and armenian news very frequently, as is lragir... and has already posted 2 videos (see their youtube channel) from today - one of them a basically empty Liberty Square. The second one is a video showing one of the inroads into the city and is entitled: Regular Transport between the Marz's [Regions] and Yerevan is not working today

A written interview...

2008-06-20T04:46:00.000-07:00

A while back I asked Melissa Brown if she would answer some questions that I could publish -

Q)What is the current atmosphere in Armenia?
A)There is a huge sense of anticipation regarding June 20. Huge hopes. Not just on the part of active members of the movement, but throughout society. People come up to me all the time and ask about it- people who never expressed support before, for different reasons, people who may have even voted for SS. Everybody is hoping for positive change. Of course, change won’t happen over night; June 20 will be another step in the right direction, not a final resolution. And I think people understand that. Our movement will continue to be lawful, peaceful, joyful, as it has been all along. And because of this, our victory, when it happens, will be lasting. Of course the government has till now refused permission for the rally, perhaps in the hopes that it won’t take place, or perhaps hoping to provoke us to steps that would justify, in their minds, a renewed crackdown. But neither of those things will take place. We’ll continue to fight for democracy in a peaceful, lawful manner, and the regime will continue to crumble. So it’s just a matter of time…

Q)What do you think were the key factors which allowed the development of events of March 1, and the events after?
A)The overriding factor was the regime’s determination to cling to power by unlawful means, not to let the voice of the people be heard.

Q)What is the role of the wives, mothers, sisters and daughters of the political prisoners in what is going on today in Armenia?
A)We stand with the people, and the people stand with us. I don’t see a big difference between those of us who actually have family members who are in jail and those of us who simply cannot tolerate the presence of political prisoners in Armenia. We’re all family, at this point.

Q)Does the organization of wives and mothers of political prisoners bring another perspective or focus to the table?
A)I think it does, in the sense that we represent the human face of what some would like to dismiss as a purely political struggle.

Q)What are the prison conditions of the political prisoners?
A)As far as I know, they are in very small cells, with two to ten beds and a toilet. Little room to move about, little if any time allotted for exercise. My husband is in the former KGB, and the treatment there is said to be relatively humane. I gather it is less so in places like Nubarashen and Sovietashen. But that’s really a question you’ll have to ask the prisoners themselves.

Q)What is the situation of the families of the political prisoners?
A)Many are really struggling to get by, with their fathers and sons, often the only breadwinners in the family, in jail. Some of the prisoners have serious health worries, in many cases as a direct result of beating and ill-treatment in custody. Many family members have been harassed and intimidated by the authorities, fired from their jobs and even arrested. On the positive side, the fact that we see and talk to each other all the time, at different trials, on Northern Avenue, is a tremendous source of solace and support.

Q)What kind of responses/reactions have you gotten from the people of Armenia, the government of RoA, and from the international community?
A)The response from the people has been amazing. The people are emerging from ten years of fear and indifference, and that’s a wonderful thing to be part of. The government, at the top at least, is utterly recalcitrant. I suppose they have more to fear from each other than they do from the Armenian people or the international community. Either that or they are just plain wicked. I prefer the former explanation. Our hope is that the decent people who serve them, including the police and other security services that we are in contact with every day, will get tired of being used to serve the interests a small gang of criminals and oligarchs. I’m told that a judge wept in court the other day as she sentenced an obviously innocent man to three years in prison. That’s a good sign, and there have been many others…
Regarding the international community, we’ve met with the various international delegations that have been here, and I think our perspective has given them some insight into what is really going on, and that has been reflected in their actions back home, to a greater or lesser degree.

Q)What do you think SSʼs strategy is? Does he have an endpoint?
A)I can’t imagine what it is. I suppose he keeps hoping against hope that this will all blow over. But it won’t. Not until democracy and fundamental rights and freedoms are restored in Armenia.

Q)What solutions would you offer to the present situation? Are there any exit strategies that SS and the coalition government can take at this point, and still save face?
A)They can’t possibly save face. I don’t rule out forgiveness, or redemption, but they’ll have to forget about face. The solution is simply to let democracy and civil society exist, and let the chips fall where they may. Stop arresting innocent people. Stop falsifying elections. Stop closing down free media. Stop violating the right to assembly. This last pertains not just to public rallies, but to smaller meetings and seminars. Yesterday, a seminar organized by the Women’s Civil Initiative was cancelled, because at the last minute the Congress Hotel decided to not give them the hall they had rented weeks ago. And today, a youth congress was shut down. They had been turned down by a number of hotels and other venues, and in the end been given a hall at Ashot Bleyan’s school. But when they got there, they were met by the police, who explained that the minister of education had refused to permit the meeting. When they decided to hold their meeting outside on the school grounds, they were told that that constituted an unsanctioned rally, and were dispersed. It’s mind-boggling, isn’t it?

Q)What can Armenians, both inside of Armenia and abroad, do to help?
A)I’ll leave that to their own consciences.

The PACE debate WILL take place...

2008-06-20T04:30:00.000-07:00

A while back I posted the link to the schedule of the PACE meetings coming up - I had originally (way back when) assumed that the situation in Armenia was definitely going to be re-evaluated in their June 23-26 meetings - but the schedule confirmed what I had read in other places - whether or not the reevaluation even took place at all depended partly on the impressions of Colombier and Prescott during this most recent visit. On the schedule - the debate on Armenia was one of two possibilities for that time/session. Well, now its definitely going to be debated...
I'm not sure what the best outcome is. Nor am I sure that the (RK)/SS regime even cares what happens. Block Armenia completely at PACE and you lose your bartering chip (if its worth anything), don't block them and then nothing you say has ANY meaning. Maybe the best outcome would be a short term suspension with another reevaluation soon...?
ARMENIA: "INSUFFICIENT PROGRESS" ON PACE DEMANDS

Շարժման երիտասարդների 1-ին կոնգրեսի Հայտարարություն

2008-06-19T06:11:00.000-07:00

Շարժման երիտասարդների 1-ին կոնգրեսի Հայտարարություն [qbhima.blogspot.com][english is below]

Մենք` համաժողովրդական շարժման շուրջ համախմբված երիտասարդներս հայտարարում ենք.
Հավատարիմ մնալով Համաժողովրդական շարժման ոգուն և 1-ին ու 2-րդ կոնգրեսներում արտահայտված դիրքորոշմանը` ամբողջապես սատարում ենք Շարժմանը և պատրաստ ենք պայքարի մինչև հաղթանակը:
Լինելով Հայաստանի Հանրապետության անկախության առաջին սերունդը և անկախության գաղափարի կրողը` համարում ենք, որ մենք ենք մեր երկրի տերը և պնդում ենք, որ մեր երկրի իշխանությունը պետք է ձևավորվի բացառապես ժողովրդավարական ճանապարհով, և միայն ու միայն ՀՀ քաղաքացին է, որ պետք է իր որոշիչ դերն ունենա այդ գործընթացում:
Փաստելով, որ 2008թ. փետրվարի 19-ի նախագահական ընտրություններում և հետագա գործընթացներում ամբողջապես անտեսվել է ՀՀ քաղաքացու դերը և ընտրությունների ելքը որոշվել է ներկայիս ապօրինի վարչախմբի անմիջական միջամտությամբ, պահանջում ենք արտահերթ նախագահական և խորհրդարանական ընտրություններ:
Մարտի 1-ին ՀՀ իշխանությունների անմիջական պատասխանատվությամբ տեղի ունեցած ոճրագործությունից հետո ստեղծված իրավիճակը, 100-ից ավելի քաղաքական բանտարկյալների և քաղաքական դրդապատճառներով հետապնդվողների առկայությունը, խոսքի ազատության սահմանափակումը, “ՀՀ երթեր, ցույցեր, հանրահավաքներ անցկացնելու մասին” օրենքում կատարված խայտառակ բռնապետական փոփոխությունները բացառում են Հայաստանի` որպես իրավական և ժողովրդավարական պետություն զարգացման, օրենքի գերակայության և սահմանադրական կարգի վերականգնման համար:
Հայաստանի Հանրապետության շահերից ելնող և ՀՀ քաղաքացիների պահանջներին համապատասխանող ԵԽԽՎ 2008թ. 1609 բանաձևի պահանջները մինչև օրս մնում են անկատար և կրում են զուտ իմիտացիոն բնույթ:
ՀՀ իշխանությունների կամայականությունները, մասնավորապես` հունիսի 20-ին կայանալիք հանրահավաքի ապօրինի չարտոնելը, ևս մեկ անգամ ապացուցում են, որ ոչ մի քայլ չի կատարվում ստեղծված լարվածությունը թուլացնելու համար և ժողովրդին` խաղաղ հանրահավաքների միջոցով սեփական կարծիքն արտահայտելու հնարավորություն տալու ուղղությամբ:
Ուստի, հիմք ընդունելով այս ամենը` պահանջում ենք իրական քայլեր կատարել վերը թվարկված խնդիրների շուտափույթ լուծման համար:

Զգուշացնում ենք, որ զարգացումների ոչ ժողովրդավարական ընթացքը հղի է անկանխատեսելի հետևանքներով, որոնց ամբողջ պատասխանատվությունն ընկնելու է ՀՀ ներկա իշխանությունների, մասնավորապես` Սերժ Սարգսյանի և նրա կամակատարների վրա:

Կոչ ենք անում Հայաստանի Հանրապետության բոլոր քաղաքացիներին իրենց ոգում կոտրել վախի զգացումը, վերագտնել ազատության շունչը և հետևողական պայքար մղել իրենց իրավունքների համար:

Ուստի, պայքար, պայքար մինչև վերջ:

Հայաստանի ժողովրդական կուսակցության երիտասարդական կառույց
“Հանրապետություն” կուսակցության երիտասարդական կառույց
“Ժառանգություն” կուսակցության երիտասարդական կառույց
“Նոր ժամանակներ” կուսակցության երիտասարդական կառույց
“Երիտասարդ պահպանողականներ” ՀԿ
“Այլընտրանք” հասարակական-քաղաքական նախաձեռնություն
“Արտ լաբորատորիա” մշակութային կազմակերպություն
“Հատուկ գունդ” երիտասարդական նախաձեռնություն
“ՍԿՍԵԼ Ա…” երիտասարդական նախաձեռնություն
“Մի խումբ ուսանողներ” երիտասարդական շարժում
“Ազգայնական ուսանողների խորհուրդ” ուսանողական շարժում
“ՀԻՄԱ” երիտասարդական նախաձեռնություն
Աննա Հակոբյան, ՀԺ գլխավոր խմբագիր Նիկոլ Փաշինյանի կին
Հրանտ Տեր-Աբրահամյան, հրապարակախոս
Թևոս Մաթևոսյան, քաղբանտարկյալ Դավիթ Մաթևոսյանի որդի
Դավիթ Մաթևոսյան, “Հրանտ Մաթևոսյան” հիմնադրամի տնօրեն, ռեժիսոր

THE STATEMENT OF THE FIRST YOUTH CONGRESS OF THE MOVEMENT [from lragir.am]
The young people who have come together for the Popular Movement are faithful to the stance voiced in both the first and second congresses and endorse the movement and are ready to fight until victory.

As the first generation of independence of the Republic of Armenia and the carriers of the idea of independence, we consider ourselves as the lords of the country and we insist that government in our country should be shaped through democratic processes, and it is only the citizen of RoA that must have a deciding role in this process.

However, since in the presidential election of February 19, 2008 the role of the citizen of RoA was neglected, and the outcome of the election was determined by the direct interference of the current illegitimate regime, we demand early presidential and parliamentary elections.

The situation that emerged after the crime perpetrated on March 1 for which the government of RoA is directly responsible, the political prisoners and political persecution, constraints on freedom of expression, outrageous despotic amendments to the RoA law on marches, demonstrations, rallies rule out the development of Armenia as a lawful and democratic state, the restoration of the rule of law and constitutional order.

The requirements of the PACE resolution 1609 of 2008 which are in the interests of the Republic of Armenia and meet the demands of the citizens of RoA have not been implemented, and their implementation is clear imitation.

The arbitrariness of the RoA government, namely the illegal rejection of notification of the rally on June 20 is more evidence that no steps are taken to relieve tension and enable people to express their opinion through peaceful assemblies.

Therefore, proceeding from this, we demand real steps towards the solution of all the abovementioned problems.

We warn that a non-democratic course of events poses unpredictable consequences, responsibility for which will be on the present government of RoA, namely Serge Sargsyan and his servants.

We call all the citizens of the Republic of Armenia to overcome fear, regain freedom and stand up to their rights.

So, go all the way to struggle.

Youth wing of the People’s Party of Armenia
Youth wing of the Republic Party
Youth wing of the Heritage Party
Youth wing of the Nor Jamanakner Party
Young Conservatives NGO
Alternative Social and Political Initiative
Art Laboratory Cultural Organization
Special Regiment Youth Initiative
Sksela Youth Initiative
A Group of Students Youth Movement
Council of Nationalist Students, Students Movement
HIMA Youth Initiative
Anna Hakobyan, wife of Nicol Pashinyan, Editor-in-Chief of the Haykakan Zhamanak
Hrant Ter-Abrahamyan, publicist
Tevos Matevosyan, son of the political prisoner Davit Matevosyan
Davit Matevosyan, director of Hrant Matevosyan Foundation, film director

From payqar.org...

2008-06-18T20:00:00.000-07:00

ՀԱՅՐԵՆԱԿԻՑՆԵՐ
Եվ այսպես, Հայաստանի իշխանությունները հերթական անգամ մերժեցին Հայաստանի քաղաքացիների հանրահավաքի հայտը, պատճառաբանելով բանտարկված Ազատության Հրապարակում մանկական մշակութային միջոցառում անցկացնելու անհրաժեշտությամբ:

Ցավալի է տեսնել հոգեվարք ապրող հանցախմբի ողորմելիության աստիճանը, երբ չբավարարվելով շարժման առաջամարտիկներին պատանդ վերցնելու ամոթալի պրակտիկայից, Հայաստանի ազատ քաղաքացիներին պատկանող Ազատության Հրապարակը նույն այդ քաղաքացիներից պատնեշում է մեր մանուկների միջոցով:

ԱԶԱՏ ՀԱՅԵՐԸ Մարտի 1-ի ողբերգական իրադարձություններից հետո հանդես եկան Քաղաքացիական Անհնազանդության կոչով: Կոչը լայն արձագանք գտավ քաղաքացիների շրջանում, իր համեստ նպաստը բերելով շարժման անկոտրում ոգու պահպանմանը: Սակայն ելնելով վարչախմբի շարունակվող ամբարտավան պահվածքից, ինչպես նաև Ազատության Հրապարակը վարչախմբի ելուզակներից օր առաջ ազատագրելու հրամայականից, կոչ ենք անում Հայաստանի բոլոր ազատ քաղաքացիներին՝

• ողջունել քաղաքապետարանի կազմակերպած մանկական մշակութային միջոցառումը

• Հունիսի 20-ին իրենց մանուկների հետ միասին անպայմանորեն ներկայանալ Ազատության Հրապարակ և մասնակցել այդ միջոցառմանը

• միջոցառման ավարտից հետո անցնել անժամկետ նստացույցի:

Հունիսի 20-ին մեր մանուկները կազատագրեն Ազատության Հրապարակը բռնագրավումից : Հունիսի 20-ին մեր մանուկները սկիզբ կդնեն Հայաստանի ապագաղութացման գործնթացին: Մեր մանուկների ազատ ոգու առաջ կընկրկի ցանկացած ելուզակ:

ԱԶԱՏ ՀԱՅԵՐ

tzitzernak

Trial Delayed 3rd Time - Ashot Manukyan

#44 Pashinyan - The Other Side of the World

#43 Pashinyan - The Other Side of the World

#42 The Other Side of the World- Pashinyan

About tradeoffs...

Financial support for the political prisoners and families...

News source...

What's all the business about bananas...?

Video from Norther Boulevard

#41:ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD-Pashinyan

DECLARATION BY THE POLITICAL PRISONERS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

Հայտարարություն: «Հայ մանկավարժների շարժում»

ՔԱՂԲԱՆՏԱՐԿՅԱԼՆԵՐԻ ՀԱՅՏԱՐԱՐՈՒԹՅՈՒՆԸ

# 40: ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ. ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/Pashinyan- The Other Side of the World

"A New President in Armenia?/ՆՈՐ ՆԱԽԱԳԱՀ ՀԱՅԱՍՏԱՆՈՒ՞Մ"

# 39 ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ. ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/Pashinyan -THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD

փաստաթուղթը...

# 38 -ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ. ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/Pashinyan- The Other Side of the World

# 37: ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ. ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/Pashinyan- The Other Side of the World

"They didn't beat you enough..."

ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ. ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/Pashinyan - The Other Side of the World

ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ. ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/Pashinyan - The Other Side of the World

ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/Pashinyan - The Other Side of the World (#34)

ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ. ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/Pashinyan- The Other Side of the World (#33)

We will not forget the political prisoners...

Live broadcasting stopped... Say hello to Machiavelli

A logical approach...

The best video so far...

Kocharyan should be tried...

So, what does this mean?

ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ:ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD - Pashinyan

ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ. ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/Pashinyan - The Other Side of the World

Ah, the choices we all have to make...

Ombudsman comments on instructions to intimidate...

Pashinyan - On the Occasion of August 1

Pashinyan regarding Northern Boulevard

ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ. ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/The Other Side of the World - Pashinyan

Oh the tangled web....

ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ. ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ /The Other Side of the World -Pashinyan

An interesting situation for the ARF...

Intimidation tactics continue...

Today is July 4

ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱ. ՆԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/The OTher Side of the World- Pashinyan

Posting by Unzipped

More words from the Other side of the world...

ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ. ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/The Other Side of the World- Pashinyan

A timeless message...

The plan seems to be to intimidate and violate...

Translation of ASSESSMENT OF PACE RESOLUTION 1620

LTP in Gyumri, June 28

Orders were given to investigate Opposition supporters...

ԲԱՑ ՆԱՄԱԿ ՊՐ. ՌՈԲԵՐՏ ՔՈՉԱՐՅԱՆԻՆ/Open Letter to Mr. Robert Kocharian

From Aziz- part #6

ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ: ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD - Pashinyan

ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ: ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ/THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD - Pashinyan

ՆԻԿՈԼ ՓԱՇԻՆՅԱՆ. ԵՐԿՐԻ ՀԱԿԱՌԱԿ ԿՈՂՄԸ 24. էլի տասը այրի /Pashinyan - The Other Side of the World

Some excerpts and links from PACE - JUNE 25...

Mixed messages...

Another member of HIMA is beaten...

The Council is Meeting...and???

More videos from June 20...

The money behind the scenes...

Aziz #5

The Other Side of the World-Pashinyan

Ծիծեռնակի հարցազրույցը Մելիսա Բրաունի հետ

Some good sources...

June 20th is today...

A written interview...

The PACE debate WILL take place...

Շարժման երիտասարդների 1-ին կոնգրեսի Հայտարարություն

From payqar.org...