BY GAREN YEGPARIAN
The only thing missing was a single tear running down his cheek… or more likely a flood of crocodile tears as “Nemetz Roubo” (Rouben Hayrapetyan) announced his resignation from the Republic of Armenia’s parliament.
Unless you’ve been living under the rock of Gibraltar (a regular rock just wouldn’t do in this case), by now you know that Maj. Dr. Vahe Avetyan, a Defense Ministry employee, was beaten in that parliamentarian/oligarch/thug’s employees in his restaurant, Harsnakar (Bridestone), evidently a hangout for notables. Avetyan died two weeks later of his injuries. Protests have been organized throughout the Armenian world. These have ranged from quietly laying wreaths and lighting candles to the most recent nighttime rally in front of the Harsnakar was rousted by various law-enforcement agencies. In fact, before you read this, another gathering will have taken place in front of the Armenia’s Consulate General in Glendale.
Clearly, every decent Armenian human being has had it. The protests are calls for an end to the lawlessness and impunity enjoyed by Armenia’s economic elites.
As it is, law enforcement has reported that Hayrapetyan was not in the restaurant at the time of the incident. I don’t know how believable that is. The actual beaters are being investigated. Given the history of such situations (you might remember when a presidential protocol employee was severely beaten for asking former Yerevan Mayor Gagik Beglaryan to conform to the seating arrangements required; Beglaryan is now back in power as Minister of Transport and Communication and in a leadership position in Armenia’s ruling Republican Party of Armenia.
The cynicism driving Roubo’s actions becomes evident when we consider his refusal to heed the public calls to step down as President of Armenia’s Football Federation. Who knows what ill-gotten gains he’s accruing thanks to that post.
Further insight into this man comes from the obvious sanction he gives to the continued use of the moniker “nemetz.” I have gotten varied explanations as to what this word means. But, it’s clear that it is derogatory, and a way of saying “German” and/or “foreigner,” with a hint of being a disciplinarian, or even a Nazi. Watch some videos of this guy, and you’ll see his arrogance and threat-laden interaction.
It’s the same kind of presumptuous, unchecked, and societally destructive behavior that led Siunik’s regional governor Sooren Khachatryan to threaten eco-activist Mariam Sookhoodian last December.
Let your indignation show! Participate in the protests. Contact Armenia’s authorities and give them an earful.
This mess is the exact reason why we need to concept of a dasnak republic of Armenia. That could be theoretically accomplished by Western Armenians getting together , raising funds and buying one of the larger Greek Islands. Greece is in a huge economic mess that it may take 50 years to recover from . The poor Greeks need cold hard cash.Many Greeks have been laid off from government jobs.They are very desparate to raise funds and buying an island to establish the Dashnak republic of Armenia could possibly work. The landlocked geography of Armenia will always prevent economic development and the corrupt cancer of communism still effects the mentality of our Hayastansi brethren. Establishing peace with Georgia is one of the few avenues to improve the country but we c
Dear compatriots, how I wish that the problem Armenian society was facing was only in its corrupt leadership. If that was the case then those leaders would be easily disposed of by deterioration of their constituency. As we are witnessing this is not the case, the corrupt stay in power by securing a base of people who have similar mentality as them. This mentality is the legacy of the broken Soviet system where breaking the law, doing things under the table was privilege and a necessity in order to have a somewhat of a comfortable life. This mentality is what decent Armenians need to combat and eradicate. I happen to live in a LA community that enjoys majority of Armenians and I can tell you that even when we leave our homeland it takes a very long time before we can get past the “de l@va eli” way of thinking when rules and bylaws of the community are broken. This needs to stop! Man created laws in order for people to coexist. As soon as we become more civilized and respect the Law, the problem of Armenian emigration from the Motherland will be solved.
It is funny that the two oligarchs Nemetz Roubo and Dodi Gago both look very similar to the Russian oligarch Boris Beresovsky. They all have this big round head and gorilla body.
Our indignation will be very simple : not a single vote for Sarkisian in the next presidential election in February 2013. He is the one who bears the full responsibility for the state of decay in which Armenia has plunged.
Anyone but Sarkisian !
The adoption of capitalism in the republics of the former Soviet Union destroyed their economies and promoted the development of oligarchies. What we have in Armenia and many of the FSU countries are oligarchies. If Armenia had adopted a mixed economy system using elements of both socialism and capitalism such as in Finland, Sweden or Norway, the country would not be ruled by oligarchs. Pure capitalism is toxic and we have seen that even the United States is ruled by a Wall Street, oil industry and military-industrial complex oligarchies.
The Armenian government needs to learn to be united and patriotic like the Israelis. The power of the Jews is their unitedness and their patriotism. Their leadership may have corrupt officials also but they still do a good job of running Israel’s economy. Israel does not have any natural resources but it depends on it’s scientific and engineering talent and it rewards intelligence. The corrupt Sarkissian administration drive out Armenia’s intelligent people and prevent intelligent and educated Armenians from the diaspora from going to Armenia.It makes me laugh that a clown like Dodi Gago who has a degree in physical education gets elected to Armenia’s national security council.