In recent days, the protests against Hungary have reached the climax. Even the Hungarian flag was burned, which was treated negatively even by Serzh Sargsyan, the President of the Republic of Armenia. Representatives of almost all walks of life in the Republic of Armenia break off their relations with Hungary being indignant at Hungary’s handing over murderer Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan. www.aravot.am tried to find out during a conversation with a set of socio-political figures famous in the Republic of Armenia whether we didn’t go to extremes, while organizing protests.
Expert Anahit Bakhshyan, the deputy director of the National Institute of Education, noted during a conversation with us, “I am not for those extreme steps. However, radical and strong statements were needed; consistent steps had to be taken. I am not against breaking off diplomatic relations, since it was needed. However, I am absolutely against burning the Hungarian flag. As for the academy, breaking off its relations with the Hungarian academy, I don’t know what cooperation, what useful thing there has been between them so far to be broken off now. I don’t know whether it was a step to show more clearly our scientists’ attitude toward that phenomenon or a step that everyone takes, so we should take it too. However, it is not like breaking off relations should have had such significance for Hungary that it would leap out of its chair, because Armenian scientists wouldn’t cooperate with them. I share the opinion that we should use this fact to show the public how incompatible the self-determination of the Artsakh people is with the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and what dangerous elements the Madrid Principles contain.”
Artsrun Avagyan, the dean of the Faculty of Philology, Yerevan State University, said in regard to the same issue, “The state should take a tough stance, but certainly, looking back, one should always do something. Burning a flag is common around the world. As for
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Hungary, what it has done is as inhumane as what Azerbaijan has done. Therefore, we shouldn’t have declared a war, should we? Or the other way around, we couldn’t have said OK, let bygones be bygones. This phenomenon is a trump card in our hands, which shows that an Armenian cannot sleep in peace inside Azerbaijan, since every one of them can become such a Safarov. Azerbaijan has taken a step politically unfavorable.” Ethnographer Hranush Kharatyan said in regard to burning the Hungarian flag, “Burning a flag is ambiguous. It is a state symbol. In recent years, burning a flag has been a way of protest against the government of a certain state, if there is no possibility to directly express that protest to it. Burning a flag is not a good thing, but it should have been perceived as a protest against the government of the country. I wrote on my Facebook wall that if Hungarians claimed that Armenians should apologize to them, I am one of those who apologize.”
Concerning the break-off of relations between the academies, the ethnographer said, “If the relations between countries are broken off, the break-off of relations between academies is a very weak step against that background and weakens the diplomatic and political step taken by the state to a certain extent.”
Coming back to the issue of benefitting from the situation, Ms. Kharatyan noted, “One should not consider the deal between Hungary and Azerbaijan as an individual case, but the obviously passive and compromising position of all institutions engaged in the discussions on the Karabakh conflict. That is the reason why one could notice an obvious disregard for racist actions taken for the past 24 years. One should strengthen this point.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
