As we know, when Putin came to power in 2000, one of the first steps he took was to reinstate the music of the Soviet anthem and Sergey Mikhalkov changed the words for the second time – in 1977, he replaced Stalin with Lenin and in 2000, he replaced Lenin with God; by the way, he and Gabriel Urekyan whose nom de plume was El Regista co-authored the Stalin version of the anthem. Reinstating the Soviet anthem was certainly a symbolic step for Putin, which implied in what direction the country would move in the next few years. The residents of Russia who adhered to democratic views opposed to the reinstatement of that Communist symbol and legitimately found that even after all changes, that anthem “smelled like Stalin.” However, the threat they made was just ridiculous – we will not stand up when that anthem is played. In reality, regardless of whether you like that anthem or not, whether it evokes bad or good memories, whether you are a civilized country or an underdeveloped one, disrespecting a state symbol, you disrespect all states, consequently, your own country, consequently, also yourself.
The Hungarian government has done a mean and unforgiveable thing doing it “for money” or for free – it doesn’t matter in this case. Their explanation that the Azerbaijanis have let them down is certainly mere play. And what? Should we burn the flag of that country? Certainly, no, and the President of the Republic of Armenia is right about it. Tomorrow there will be another government in Hungary, which will have a different approach – the state symbol has nothing to do with that. The Turkish government committed terrible crimes against our people and their current successors have shouldered all those crimes by denying them. However, burning the Turkish flag every year on April 23 doesn’t give us anything. Yesterday Hrant Margaryan, a representative of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Bureau, confirmed this opinion in an interview given to me during the P.S. show of A1+, although youths of the Nikol Aghbalyan Union of that very party burn the Turkish flag. This is what he said word-by-word, “I think that we are a state and don’t need to do that. Perhaps, 20 years ago, it was understandable and acceptable, but it is not appropriate under the current circumstances.” Admittedly, youths in Beirut or Glendale can do that, but here Armenians have established a state; no matter whether it is good or bad, it is a higher form of organizing a nation than a community. And a nation organized that way should have respect for a similar organization of the others, regardless of whether it is a friendly one or a hostile one.
Burning a flag seems to me a desperate move, which is characteristic of the weak – a group of people who cannot prove their rightness in the given state otherwise. It is like rites and magic used in prehistoric times.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
