The Armenian Velvet Revolution E-Book

STEPAN GRIGORYAN

• Herausgeber: Edit Print
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

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

Leseprobe

STEPAN GRIGORYAN

THE ARMENIAN VELVET REVOLUTION

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

Nikol Pashinyan:

"We've got the main mandate – the mandate of the Armenian people"

Table of Contents

Author's note. Step-by-Step to Victory

Part I: Meeting of Opposition Leader Nikol Pashinyan and Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan

Chapter 1. Ancient History and a Modern Armenian State

Chapter 2. Armenia - A Country of Paradoxes and Citizen Activists

Chapter 3. The Armenian Velvet Revolution of April

Chapter 4. Why the Armenian People Despised their Government

Chapter 5. Political Processes in Armenia

Chapter 6. What Happened in Armenia?

Chapter 7. Armenian Civil Society and Mass Media in the Armenian Velvet Revolution

Part II: Chronology and Analysis of Events

Chapter 1. Nikol Pashinyan's "Cross Procession" and Smoke Bombs at the National Assembly

Chapter 2. Opposition Protests in Yerevan

Chapter 3. Intensification and Spread of Protests Across Armenia. Election of Serzh Sargsyan

Chapter 4. Nationwide Protests and Large-Scale Repressions. Resignation of Serzh Sargsyan.

Chapter 5. Implosion of the Republican Party and Nationwide Strike. Election of Nikol Pashinyan.

Conclusion: The Inspiring Effect of Victory

AUTHOR'S NOTE

STEP-BY-STEP TO VICTORY

The book discusses the political situation in Armenia in recent years and presents a chronology and analysis of the political processes in the country from March 31, 2018, when opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan and his allies started a march from Vardanants, the central square in Gyumri, to Yerevan, until May 8, 2018, when the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia elected Nikol Pashinyan prime minister of the country in an extraordinary session. 

That Nikol Pashinyan achieved power in Armenia despite the harsh and authoritarian regime established in the country by Serzh Sargsyan and the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) is truly astounding. This regime censored the Armenian mass media, blacklisted politicians and experts, and used violence to gain and retain power.

Nikol Pashinyan – together with his team and the citizen activists of Armenia – was able to effectuate the Velvet Revolution, destroying the despised authoritarian system.

During the years of its rule, the RPA attempted to instill the notion that “nothing is more important in life than power and money’’ in the Armenian people. Adherence to such a credo corrupted those in power. One example is especially vivid and consequential: The RPA tried to strengthen the role of money and the privileges of the wealthy by rigging the Electoral Code of Armenia.

Specifically, before the April 2, 2017 parliamentary elections, the RPA made amendments to the Electoral Code of Armenia that included the “rating system of voting.” The essence of the rating system is a majority-based voting system rigidly bound to party lists.  Though the convoluted mechanism contrived by the RPA defies easy description, the way it benefits the ruling party does not. The RPA would listen neither to the criticism of opposition parties nor to the opinion of citizen activists who warned of the danger the rating system posed to the political system in Armenia. Obviously, in an impoverished country this electoral system eliminates any meaningful political debate in the election process and results in simple vote buying.

The ramifications of this policy were apparent in the April 2, 2017 elections for the National Assembly, when administrative instruments and financial resources proved decisive. Party programs and debates between the political actors receded into irrelevance.

What kind of Armenia did the RPA leaders want to build – a country where money would be sacred? where the economy is monopolized? where the political system is close to one-party? where criminal elements play a central role in the life of the country? If this was their dream, it has almost come true, as almost 60% of the seats in the Parliament are under their control. And the same is true with the economy: The RPA and its coterie of oligarchs control most of the Armenian economy.

The Armenian people have had a glorious but hard history. Over the past seven centuries, we have suffered enormous human and territorial losses. Yet, there have been victories. The Armenian people, gaining independence in 1991, stood for the rights of their compatriots in Artsakh. They simultaneously prevented a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Artsakh and began to build an independent and democratic Armenia.

And how did the Armenian government, headed by the RPA, respond to these successes? Under pretext of enforcing the law, it put Artsakh war heroes Samvel Babayan and Zhirayr Sefilyan in prison. It’s shameful when corrupt officials and oligarchs walk freely in the streets of the country they rob while heroes are kept in prisons; it’s shameful when Serzh Sargsyan is travelling around an impoverished country in a convoy of no fewer than fifteen cars with a retinue of personal security guards and traffic police.

Yet, today the people of Armenia have political power and a leader, Nikol Pashinyan, who has inspired hope that everything will improve in the country. And the actions of this Nikol Pashinyan and his supporters led to the collapse of the authoritarian regime in the country. There appeared the Citizen who believed that his every step laid the groundwork for the construction of a strong civil society.

But how was this possible? It turned out that we did exactly what the Ancient Greeks did! For a time, we withdrew from representative democracy and elected the leader of our country on the main square of Armenia, Republic Square. The Ancient Greeks did the same 2,500 years ago.

And then, on May 8, 2018, this fact was ratified at a National Assembly session in which Nikol Pashinyan was elected prime minister of the country. This will go down in the annals of history as a superlative example of political transformation – an example illustrating the wisdom and determination of the Armenian citizen activists who overcame the political crisis in their country by using the experience of the Ancient Greeks.

Thanks to the Velvet Revolution, Armenians began smiling. They began greeting and hugging each other after so many years of suffocation and fear. The Armenian people are a kind and hard-working people. And nobody can underestimate them ever again. 

The book consists of two parts:

The first part includes seven chapters on the author’s analysis of the main events that happened in Armenia from March 31, 2018, to May 8, 2018. The context surrounding developments in Armenia in recent years and their impact on the revolution in the country are considered.

The five chapters of the second part present a chronology of the main actions of the opposition and the government. They are of great importance and must be kept for the future generations of citizens. Many actions of public officials and the opposition are discussed and analyzed by the author.

I extend my thanks to my friends Mkrtich Karapetyan and Shavarsh Karapetyan and my wife, Maria Amaryan, for their valuable observations related to my work on this book.

Stepan Grigoryan,

Political Analyst, Head of Analytical Center on

Globalization and Regional Cooperation (Armenia)

PART I

MEETING OF OPPOSITION LEADER NIKOL PASHINYAN AND PRIME MINISTER SERZH SARGSYAN

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CHAPTER 1

ANCIENT HISTORY AND A MODERN ARMENIAN STATE

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

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

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

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

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

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

• We proudly state that the Byzantine Empire had royal dynasties

of Armenian origin.

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

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

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

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

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

CHAPTER 2

ARMENIA - A COUNTRY OF PARADOXES AND CITIZEN ACTIVISTS

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

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

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

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

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

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