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- Dented memory: the government and the opposition in Armenia quarreled over the anniversary of the genocide
Dented memory: the government and the opposition in Armenia quarreled over the anniversary of the genocide
At the end of April, Armenia celebrates the 110th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. This sad date has become another reason to clarify the relations between the government and the opposition. Opponents of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a torchlight procession in Yerevan, during which they burned the flags of Azerbaijan and Turkey. The head of government replied that such actions would not bring peace closer. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
War and massacre
In Armenia, the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire is traditionally celebrated in the last days of April. At the beginning of the 20th century, as is known, up to 2 million people died on the territory of modern Turkey. Many of them were shot, some died from torture (for example, crucifixion was used), some were deported to a desert area, where they died of hunger and disease.
There is a lot of evidence of those events, including from Russian eyewitnesses. For example, war correspondent Vladimir Gordlevsky described the mountains of corpses in the city of Bitlis in the east of modern Turkey. Kuban Cossack Fyodor Eliseev recalled that in one of the mountain gorges, the dead Armenian women and children "littered the whole way." "All the adults had their throats slit, and all the corpses were set on fire," he said of what he saw.
Shortly after the incident, a tribunal was held in Turkey, during which some of the organizers of the massacre were convicted in absentia. Modern Ankara, however, denies all charges. The official position is that many people did die, but not as a result of the targeted extermination of an ethnic group. It is claimed that Turks were among the dead, and the whole tragedy is considered an episode of the First World War.
In Armenia, the memory of the incident has become a national idea. Yerevan and the Diaspora have been seeking international recognition of the genocide for decades. As a result, about 30 countries, including Russia, France, the United States and others, actually condemned those events in one form or another. Yerevan also demanded that Ankara pay monetary compensation to the victims of the tragedy.
Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide in the USA
Recently, however, the priorities of the Armenian authorities have changed. After the loss of Karabakh, officials started talking about the time to make peace with Turkey. "Our main tasks are to settle relations with Ankara, sign a peace treaty with Baku, delimit the border and unblock regional communications. The issue of international recognition of the genocide is not among the priorities," Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan explained.
In the process of defeat
In such circumstances, the anniversary of the tragedy becomes an important domestic political event in modern Armenia. This year marks the 110th anniversary of the massacre, which adds even more importance to what is happening. Back on April 22, members of the opposition factions tried to initiate a law in parliament that would criminalize genocide denial — the case ended in a scuffle with pro-government colleagues.
On the night of April 24, a large-scale torchlight march of the opposition took place in Yerevan. Judging by the photos and video footage, several thousand people participated in the event. The participants first burned the flags of Azerbaijan and Turkey, then marched from the center of the capital to the Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex. Many carried flags of the abolished Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, as well as plaques with the names of former Armenian settlements in Karabakh and Turkey.
Participants of the torchlight procession on the occasion of the 110th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in the Republic Square of Armenia
The country's authorities criticized this event. The burning of flags caused particular displeasure. "Prime Minister Pashinyan condemns this practice, considering it irresponsible and unacceptable. The burning of flags of an internationally recognized State, especially neighboring States, cannot be considered otherwise. This is a provocative and inflammatory practice," Nazeli Baghdasaryan, the Prime minister's press secretary, told reporters.
In turn, Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan stressed that the authorities are rethinking the events of 110 years ago. According to him, the ruling team tries not to forget the past, but strives for it "not to be a source of pain." "Our commitment is to build a united, strong and peaceful Armenia based on the lessons of the past and looking towards a stable future. Memory should make us more far—sighted in our next steps," he said.
In response, the opposition accuses the country's leadership of betraying national interests. "The state has pushed the issue of genocide to the background. They have not completely denied it yet, but they are already on this path," said former President Serzh Sargsyan. Another former head of state, Robert Kocharyan, complains that Armenia is going through difficult times. According to him, the country has been "in the process of defeat" for four years. "Against this background, the oblivion of the genocide is very difficult for many to perceive," he says.
Pashinyan's opponents also believe that his policy has led to a reduction in pressure on Turkey in the international arena. The statement of the EU mission to Armenia was characteristic in this sense. At first, an entry was published on her behalf in social networks, where the events of 1915-1923 were explicitly called genocide, but later the text was edited, and only the mention of numerous victims remained.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (second from right) at the memorial ceremony on the occasion of the 110th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex
Many also noticed that Donald Trump did not say anything about the genocide either. "Today we honor the memory of those wonderful people who suffered during one of the worst disasters of the 20th century. On this day, we once again join the large Armenian community in America and around the world in mourning the many dead," his message reads. At the same time, the previous president Joe Biden traditionally spoke about ethnic cleansing.
What the experts say
Armenian political scientist Hrant Mikaelian believes that this anniversary has become an important political event.
— Actually, these events are traditionally far from politics, they are usually attended by people of very different views. Now, however, the situation has developed in such a way that any mention of the genocide becomes, in a certain sense, an oppositional gesture. It should be noted that this year there were more participants in the funeral procession than in previous years, and it was as noticeable as possible inside and outside the country. This is the second painful blow to the positions of Pashinyan's team over the past month, before that, the protest candidate won the Gyumri mayoral election. The trend is becoming stable," he argues.
People at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial complex on the day of the 110th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
Vadim Mukhanov, Head of the Caucasus Sector at the IMEMO of the Russian Academy of Sciences, says that the Armenian society reacts negatively to attempts to relegate the issue of genocide to the background.
— Any mass events show that the Armenian people do not want to forget about this terrible tragedy. But the key question is how the situation will change in the medium term. Quite recently, it was difficult to imagine the Armenian political agenda without the Karabakh issue, but now everything is different — there has been a certain "decarbonization" of consciousness. It cannot be ruled out that the passions on the topic of genocide will gradually decrease," he emphasizes.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
