Vernisage, Yerevan
Vernisage, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2007
Over two weeks ago I posted some photographs taken of racist, fascist and anti-semitic graffiti on Yerevan’s Vernisage. A day later, Tirami Su posted some more and so one would hope that something might have been done about this eyesore by now. This is especially the case given that the main government buildings are situated close by as well as the fact that most tourists will also get to see the slogans and emblems when they shop for souvenirs on the weekend.
However, there has been no action by the Kentron district or the Yerevan Mayor’s Office to clean off the graffiti as this photo taken with my mobile phone earlier this evening shows. The sooner we have an elected Mayor in this city, as well as a municipality that actually does its job, the better. On the other hand, maybe such feelings truly represent the mood of a country which is hardly ready for closer integration with Europe even if there was such an inclination among the population.
Haik, do you really think that the Hanrapetakans or the Dashnaks care about ideology? The only ideology that these two have is to be in power. Otherwise, how could the seemingly left wing ARF be in the same government as the seemingly right wing Republicans and Bargavaj (I don’t really know what their ideology is). The only thing they share is devotion to Russia and anti-Turkish bias.
Comment by nazarian — August 29, 2007 @ 6:53 pm
The people who are currently in charge of these parties might not follow the party ideology but those parties themeslves are based on ideologies as I mentioned above. Never the less I believe that the majority in Armenia and in Diaspora are very Armenia are nationalistic which to my understanding is very different from patriotism. Patriots think about the well being of the country and its population which share similar history and destiny. On the other hand nationalists think that how to create a supirior race which most certanly is an illusion as such a thing doesnt exist. The nationalism can go back mostly to French Revolution on the other hand humanity has a longer history before that. What I am saying might be theoretical but what is not? The history is written by people who percieved the things the way that they wanted to. for example most of the Armenian history is written by clergymen.
Comment by Haik — August 30, 2007 @ 2:43 am
I agree with you about nationalism. At the most basic level is the question of how one defines an ethnicity or race. These most definitely are false categories and have brought nothing but suffering to people. Defining patriotism is tricky as well. As an American Armenian , how does one balance American patriotism and feeling towards Armenia as one’s homeland?
To me the most acceptable form of coexistence and personal philosophy is cosmopolitanism. Borders are just lines on maps and fences enforcing the fiefdom of powerful elites. To normal people these things should not matter.
Comment by nazarian — August 31, 2007 @ 7:44 pm