He reminds that Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix would write songs against the Vietnam War at the time and wouldn’t congratulate the president
Famous painter Vahram Harutyunyan, aka Cook, condemns Charles Aznavour’s step. He thinks that the chansonnier shouldn’t have congratulated Serzh Sargsyan. “I condemn Charles Aznavour’s step; how could he congratulate a man who hadn’t been elected? People have taken to the streets, and students are on a strike these days. How could he congratulate, while the events of March 1 and October 27 are not revealed; people leave Armenia by the thousands? Never in the history of Armenia, even in the Soviet period, has the government shot at its own people and killed 10 men. And after all this, Charles congratulates; by the way, those are not ordinary congratulations. Firstly, he is a diplomat at the moment; in 2008, many diplomats left the government, in order not to take part in the killings and the slaughter. Charles became a diplomat after that, and now he congratulates, whereas the people are still protesting at the moment. Many people who listen to Charles Aznavour’s songs may be discouraged because of his congratulations, may they not? Why does he do a service to the president who was not elected by the people?” the painter says. Then he adds: “Today members of the Cabinet, the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) members, say that if there were violations, they will catch and punish the perpetrators. How are they going to do that when the punisher, the court, is theirs? Even if they punish a hundred men, basically nothing will change. The only way to change is to declare the election with massive fraud null. The government hasn’t wished to solve the simple issue of stamps for a few years already; as a result, people can vote twice. The issue of stamps is an action taken by the very government, for which this election could be declared null. By the way, when it is in its interests this government invites observers from abroad, i.e. calls an outsider to soothe the people, and if someone from the opposition says in Europe that something is not right in our country, the government immediately makes a fuss through its information agencies, ‘Ugh, they are washing our dirty linen abroad.’ However, when they find themselves in an awkward position they call observers who draw a conclusion drawn up in advance to soothe the people. And they state before the final opinion of the Constitutional Court that the election was a step forward.” Talking about the letters written by Serj Tankian to Serzh Sargsyan, the artist stated: “When Serj Tankian asks the unelected president questions opinions are expressed that he should mind his own business, but how can a singer sing, if he
is not informed about the failures and successes of his fatherland? There are a lot of singers in Armenia who do services. If a singer, a painter or an intellectual doesn’t live the life of his country, he is not a good citizen, a good singer, painter or intellectual. It is like some students who refuse to strike, learn their lessons, as some people would learn by heart the history of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in Soviet times, but are not good citizens. By the way, as for singers, Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix would write songs against the Vietnam War and wouldn’t congratulate the president.”
Gohar HAKOBYAN
