BY HARUT SASSOUNIAN
Another appropriate title would have been, “Lawmakers fiddle while Armenia burns,” which is my version of the well-known phrase, “Nero fiddles while Rome burns,” referring to Emperor Nero’s inaction during a massive fire in Rome.
This is the tragic situation in Armenia nowadays. After losing a major portion of Artsakh and the lives of thousands of young Armenians in last September’s war, one would think that Armenians both in and out of Armenia would rally together to lick their wounds, strengthen the military and repulse the enemy’s further advances.
Unfortunately, the exact opposite is happening. The culprit is not Azerbaijan, Turkey, Russia or anyone else, but us. We are unable to unify even in the aftermath of a massive disaster. Before we blame anyone else, we need to hold the mirror to our faces.
Ever since Armenia’s independence, we have been boasting that Armenia has the most powerful military in the region, Azerbaijan would not dare to attack us, and if it did, we would march into Baku. Before last year’s war, Armenia’s Defense Minister David Tonoyan arrogantly announced: “New War, New Territories,” meaning that if Azerbaijan attacked Artsakh, Armenia would conquer even more Azeri territories.
The previous and current leaders of Armenia and Artsakh refused to make any concessions regarding the territories surrounding Artsakh, unless Azerbaijan first agreed to recognize Artsakh’s independence. Even though the rest of the world was urging that Armenia’s leaders make compromises and return most of the territories around Artsakh, we dismissed all such suggestions self-confidently. That is the reason why no other country was willing to recognize the Republic of Artsakh. Even Armenia itself refused to do so, expecting that others would defend Artsakh’s interests before us.
As a result, we squandered our unique chance to force Azerbaijan to recognize Artsakh’s independence in the 1990’s, while the enemy was defeated and weak.
Without getting into the meaningless debate of whether the former leaders or the current one was responsible for our defeat in 2020, I would say, we are all responsible for that disaster.
Since the end of the last war, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan rejected repeated suggestions that he resign and allow others to take the helm of the devastated state. He insisted that he is the only one who can remedy the country’s massive problems. How could the one who was in charge when the country suffered such a defeat be able to fix anything? But, he stubbornly dismissed all such suggestions and insisted on staying in his seat of power. Using the state resources at his disposal, he managed to convince a little over half of those who participated in the election to support him and his political party. In reality, many of those who voted for Pashinyan actually voted against the former leaders. As expected, almost a year after the war, not only Armenia’s problems have not been resolved, but in many respects, they have become much worse.
While the previous leaders were not well-liked during their reign, the degree of antagonism and hatred that we see today in Armenia is unprecedented. Regrettably, the current Prime Minister made matters worse by constantly issuing threats and warnings against not just the former leaders, but anyone who disagreed with him. He started his rule by preaching democracy and tolerance, but quickly became a dictator, dividing the public into “blacks” and “whites, and shockingly, during his recent electoral campaign, held a hammer on the stage threatening to smash the heads of his opponents!
In such a toxic atmosphere, uniting the nation against the common enemy is impossible, when it is much easier to fight against the opponent inside the country. Neither the government nor the opposition is willing to make any compromises trying to solve the problems and defend the homeland against further hostile incursions.
Not surprisingly, last week, when Pashinyan came to the Parliament to present his government’s five-year plan, several fistfights erupted as a result of which the Chairman of the
Parliament Alen Simonyan ordered the security guards inside the chamber to forcefully drag some of the opposition members out. The Parliament looked more like a military garrison than a legislative assembly hall. Simonyan frequently violated the right of free speech of opposition members if they dared to refer to the Prime Minister in a critical manner. He ordered that the speaker’s microphone be turned off and the cameras broadcasting the meetings shut off.
These draconian measures are unbecoming of any country. The ugly scenes of the fistfights were aired by TV stations around the world, embarrassing all Armenians.
As a result, the government’s proposed five-year plan was hardly mentioned. Instead, there were repeated attacks by the Parliamentarians, both physical and verbal, on each other.
In the meantime, Azerbaijan and Turkey, emboldened by their recent victory, and seeing the deep divisions inside Armenia, are encroaching on Armenia’s borders and demanding more and more concessions. Armenia’s weakened leader is unable to resist the overbearing demands of Azerbaijan, while Armenia’s military ally, Russia, is pursuing its own interests in coordination with Turkey and Azerbaijan.
In conclusion, I would like to make two points that are often debated on social media.
- At the slightest criticism of Prime Minister Pashinyan, his supporters are quick to admonish the critics by saying that Armenians in the Diaspora have no right to criticize the Armenian government. I reject such objections because Armenia is the homeland of all Armenians regardless of where they live. Criticism or praise is a sign that the individual cares deeply about his or her homeland rather than take the posture of a disinterested spectator. Why is it that we have the right to express an opinion about developments on any other country in the world, for example Afghanistan, but when it comes to Armenia, our homeland, we have no such right? It is also interesting to note that those who object to criticisms of Armenia by Diasporans have no objection when they praise Armenia. So the issue is not one of having the right to criticize Armenia, but one of not wanting to hear criticism of the Prime Minister.
- In my opinion, criticism, if it is constructive, is much more valuable than blind support. Which is more patriotic? To see something wrong and keep our mouths shut or try to correct it and improve it? In my opinion, taking corrective action is much more patriotic than remaining silent.
I hope we stop fiddling, or in our case, feuding, and unite to create a strong Armenia that can withstand the incessant assaults of the barbarians at our gates.
Great article!
Mr. Sassounian, please tell your friends (dashnaks) to put down the buckets of gasoline and pickup the fire extinguishers!
Harut Sassounian, I hope you realize that most Armenian do believe that you are a journalist but rather a “leftie” activist. As such neither you not your articles have any credibility. Most Armenians are intelligent enough and have memory to remember that you never supported the Armenian Revolution and have no respect for democracy and you never criticized murderer and corrupt Kocharyan or Sarkissian.
Razmik,
You are completely wrong. You have no idea what you are talking about, but it’s OK, because you are a nobody. First know the facts before you expose your ignorance to the public. Here is one example: Did you know that in my weekly column I highly praised Pashinyan for his remarks at the European Council? And, Pashinyan posted my column on his Facebook page, saying that these appreciative words were written by one of the most prominent Armenian journalists in America. There you are. I try to help the people of Armenia, and work with all leaders to achieve that purpose. Leaders come and go, but the people and homeland remain forever!
Sassounian, as I said before it is Mr. Pashinyan or more correctly Prime Minister Nicole Pashinyan, You said I am nobody. If you think you are somebody I rather be nobody. You said I expose my ignorance to the public. Have you read Silva Kaputikyan’s and Kirk Krikorian’s letters to your favorite Robert Kocharyan? Maybe you think they too exposed their ignorance to the public. If you praised Mr. Pashinyan, in one article, for his remarks at the European Council and as a gentleman he spoke highly about you does not give you the right to call him “ապիկար” and ask for his resignation again and again. As I said before you do not understand and do not respect democracy. Let me remind you one more time you are not a journalist, you are a leftist activist that borrows articles from the most leftist “Salon” journal and you do not care for California nor for America.
Razmik, you continue to spew fake news. As I have written several times, the alleged letter of Kirk Krekorian to Pres. Kocharyan is a falsehood, a fake letter with a forged signature. I know that for sure as I drafted Mr. Kerkorian’s letters for his signature to Pres. Kocharyan. But I am not surprised that you were duped by this forgery as you seem to believe many other fake news and lies. That’s what nobodies like you do. Furthermore, I did not ask for Pashinyan’s resignation. I said he should have resigned on his own without anyone asking him to do so. How can he continue to govern a country that he led to destruction? That’s the best sign of incompetence and arrogance. You do not know me. You keep calling me names just because you are brainwashed by a fake leader. I am a democrat and not a leftist. Far from it. I suggest that you stick to arguments, if you have any, and not engage in cheap name calling. I have done million times more things for Armenia than you can ever imagine or have ever done. You are nothing but a big mouth punk.
Sassounian, it is not Pashinyan it is Mr. Pashinyan or Prime Minister Nicole Pashinyan
Are you so abscessed with Sasounian’s fake articles that you are repeating or you running out of material?
You don’t even know how to spell obsessed. Learn English before you dare to match wits with me.
Well written Mr. Sassounian. You somehow take the ideas the thinking Armenian majority has and put it on paper. I am utterly embarrassed to hear the comments countering you. While duly critical of the current government, which has handed our over to the Turks, the central idea of your article is to call for unity. Even for that you get insane and inane responses. One calls you a Dashnak, while another calls you a “Leftie.” These have been the opposite end of the political spectrum; I suggest the two get together and at least form a unified opinion. The “Thinking Armenian Majority” did indeed support the Revolution and Mr. Pashinyan until November 9, 2020. But on that date he made a grave singlehanded decision, which has embarrassed us all and yes deprived him of any worthy title. If you want a title: Sycophantic Nicol, Misinforming Nicol, Unthinking Nicol, Refusing Responsibility Nicol, and Armenian Fund dissolving Nicol are appropriate titles. I agree that the previous leaders put more money in their own pockets and compromised the military. But it wasn’t under their terms that Aliyev had the audacity to attack. Those guys, like Aliyev, were Soviet left overs. Somehow they were similar enough to Aliyev to keep each other in check. Their system was corrupt and stole money from the middle class but kept a land for the people. This guy lost it all.
For those that support Pashinyan, there are 3 main reasons. 1. They refuse to admit they were wrong. I supported him and I was wrong. People have to own up to errors. That responsibility is lacking these days. From the inadequate Little Leaguer who wants a trophy to my esteemed President Joe Biden, who refuses to admit that the pullout from Afghanistan was ill planned. 2. They are incentivized by Nicol. He’s provided them jobs, salary raises, charm, housing, etc. 3. They are brainwashed by him yelling at the microphone or brandishing a hammer or showing photo op of an Azeri soldier being treated by our doctors.
Even though I strongly believe Prime Minister Pashinyan is unfit to run a country that is and has been at war for the last thirty years I think there is plenty of blame to go around for what happened last year. It is unrealistic to pin on a single person all the blames but at the same time whoever is running the country at the time is responsible for the lion’s share of the tragic events occurring in the country. One can argue that the root cause of the current situation in Armenia, and what happened in September of 2020, is as a result of the direct consequence of the short-sightedness of our victorious leaders thirty years ago in the sense that they brought the enemy to its knees and won the war in 1994 but that they failed to bring the war to its intended conclusion. That is to say to force the enemy into an official and binding peace treaty recognizing the post-war Armenia-Azerbaijan borders and Artsakh as liberated Armenian territory. They failed to do so. Instead, they agreed to a ceasefire which allowed the cunning enemy to save what it had left to fight another day.
The armed forces of the enemy was practically wiped out, over 50% I believe, and with very little enemy resistance, if any, we could have advanced further and liberated remaining Armenian territories under the occupation of artificial Azerbaijani. As usual, at the request of the enemy and realizing the end of Azerbaijan was near, the Russians interfered and stopped us. There is a reason for this and that is due to the fact that a strong Armenia is a liability for Russia. The leadership of Russia feels the need to keep Armenian dependent on Russia so as to justify Russia’s presence on the Armenian soil and in its backyard in the South Caucasus. If Armenia could exist on its own, which at least for now it is unrealistic given the fact that it is sandwiched between two racist and terrorist states, Russia would have no role to play in the region. Russian military bases were closed down and they were kicked out of artificial Azerbaijan and Turkified Georgia, they had two disastrous wars in the Northern Caucasus region in Chechnya and the only stable and reliable place they had to keep their presence was Armenia and for obvious reasons. If Russia had lost its foothold in Armenia, as it did in the other former Soviet republics, it would have ceased to exist as a superpower because it would have lost the entire Caucasus region. I believe one of the reasons for Russia turning a blind eye on the unequal and terroristic war imposed on the Armenians preplanned jointly by NATO member terrorist Turkey and criminal Azerbaijan, dictated and executed by Turkey using Azerbaijani armed forces in addition to many others, was for Russia to return back to where it was kicked out of thirty years ago and at Armenia’s demise and expense.
I believe that so-called the “seven regions” that Armenia was negotiating with the enemy as part of a peace deal were actually part of Artsakh territory before Artsakh was declared autonomous. Soviet Azerbaijan had plucked these regions piece by piece from Artsakh and had integrated them into Azerbaijan which means what we call Artsakh today is only a portion of the Artsakh of 1921 illegally handed over to Azerbaijan by Soviet criminals. In other words, Armenia not only was not, as the enemy loves to say, in occupation of any Azerbaijani territory but that the enemy was still in occupation of several other Armenian regions including the ancient Armenian province of Nakhijrvan which was depopulated from native Armenians, comprising over half the population, and through racist anti-Armenian policies long before the Artsakh Liberation Movement began. Their last criminal act in this region being the desecration and the final and complete destruction of the 1,300 year old ancient Armenian cemetery in Julfa right across the border from Iran on the banks of the Araks River in the year 2005 and the construction of a military training camp in its place.
Rest-assured no amount of concessions, short of giving up all liberated territories, including Artsakh itself, would have satisfied the enemy. I think Azerbaijani double-talking and duplicitous leaders were attending these so-called meetings for negotiations for peaceful resolution of this conflict in disguise in order to buy time to get ready for war. Meaning that they never believed in peace by compromise because it went against all common logic to claim to want a peaceful resolution to this conflict while boasting about spending over the entire Armenia’s annual state budget in deadly arms purchases and not to mention all the anti-Armenian racist rants. Azerbaijan was not ready for war while these fictitious negotiations were taking place and that as soon as they felt ready, and this time with terrorist Turkey on their side as evidenced by joint military exercises only a mere 50 kilometres from the Armenia capital in Nakhijevan, they were going to scrap everything and start the war. This had always been their plan. You had to be deaf not to hear and not know what Aliyev’s intentions were when he openly falsified history and claimed he will not allow Armenians to establish a second state in Azerbaijan when Azerbaijan itself was artificially invented only 102 years ago on occupied ancient Armenian homeland. One truly has to be mentally-handicapped not to realize what this LIAR was up to.
Finally, while our incompetent leaders put their trust on the declarations of the Russians, the Americans and the French that there can only be a peaceful resolution to this conflict and instead of strengthening and modernizing the army to counter and nullify the enemy and to dictate peace onto the enemy by force in the event of a war instead they plundered the resources of the country as a result of which they created this disastrous situation in which the Armenian nation has found itself today. One corrupt leader after another perpetuated this irresponsible, unpatriotic and selfish act and the current leader, who came into power by means of a regime change and not revolution as many like to believe, and made into reality what most of us had long feared. What does a former journalist with no military and foreign policy experience know about running a country in a constant state of war for the last three decades? None! He is at best suited for a community leader or even as an interior minister. Nothing more!
The following poem “Waiting For The Barbarians” by renowned Greek poet C.P.Cavafy (1863-1933) popped up in my mind when I saw the headline of Harout Sassounian`s article this week. Certain parallelisms and also dissimilarities are obvious between the Barbarians at the gates of Rome and the Barbarians attacking and occupying Armenian borders and lands… Here is the English translation of the poem, and I earnestly wish that one day some of our men will return from the border and say “There are no Barbarians any longer”.
_____WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS_____
-What are we waiting for, assembled in the forum?
The barbarians are due here today.
-Why isn’t anything going on in the senate?
Why are the senators sitting there without legislating?
Because the barbarians are coming today.
What’s the point of senators making laws now?
Once the barbarians are here, they’ll do the legislating.
-Why did our emperor get up so early,
and why is he sitting enthroned at the city’s main gate,
in state, wearing the crown?
Because the barbarians are coming today
and the emperor’s waiting to receive their leader.
He’s even got a scroll to give him,
loaded with titles, with imposing names.
-Why have our two consuls and praetors come out today
wearing their embroidered, their scarlet togas?
Why have they put on bracelets with so many amethysts,
rings sparkling with magnificent emeralds?
Why are they carrying elegant canes
beautifully worked in silver and gold?
Because the barbarians are coming today
and things like that dazzle the barbarians.
-Why don’t our distinguished orators turn up as usual
to make their speeches, say what they have to say?
Because the barbarians are coming today
and they’re bored by rhetoric and public speaking.
-Why this sudden bewilderment, this confusion?
(How serious people’s faces have become.)
Why are the streets and squares emptying so rapidly,
everyone going home lost in thought?
Because night has fallen and the barbarians haven’t come.
And some of our men who have just returned from the border say
there are no barbarians any longer.
Now what’s going to happen to us without barbarians?
Those people were a kind of solution.
Constantine P. Cavafy