On January 9, first president of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan celebrated his 70th anniversary. As far as it comes to a big public and political figure, I would try to refrain from blind “adepts’” delight, on the one hand, and on the other hand, from obloquy of numerous “ill-wishers” and the “offended”. No matter what the latter say, it is an undeniable fact that during Ter-Petrosyan’s tenure, Armenians managed to liberate a part of their historic homeland, a thing that we have not been able to do over the centuries. On the contrary, we were always losing. This is the major task implemented by the first president and his team, which will constantly prevail in the historical “balance” over the other circumstances.
This mission could be implemented by the intellectual incurred from the academic circles and has nothing to do with the communist nomenclature, an intellectual who together with its friends enjoyed the confidence of the people in 1988-90, and who by absolute majority of the people’s voting assumed the office of the first president of independent Armenia in 1991. It could be done by a figure endowed by extensive historical and political knowledge, void of demagogy during the years of his tenure, and with balanced and cool-headed character, who in the ardent and stormy period of 90’s was able to make the statehood ship reach relatively peaceful harbor. He, I believe, would also establish a stable peace if the “well-known forces” striving for the power would not prevent.
Indeed, Levon Ter-Petrosyan has made a lot of mistakes, like all the presidents in the world and generally, all mortals. His biggest mistakes, in my opinion, were the running for the president for the second time in 1996, and return to the politics on September 2007. He made the two mistakes by pursuing absolutely no personal interest and guided only by his concerns and his notion about the challenges facing the country. But the fact remains, today, Levon Ter-Petrosyan is an “ordinary opposition” and operates by the spirit of traditions of the “opposition fight” developed in the course of more than 20 years. I am strongly convinced that the ex-presidents of Armenia and the first president in particular should not participate in daily politics, it makes the weight of the presidential institute less stronger.
But historically they are, of course, details that will quickly be forgotten. Americans, today, are less interested in what George Washington or Thomas Jefferson were doing after their resignation. 3-4 decades later, streets, squares and schools will be named after Ter-Petrosyan, to which the first president of the second Republic of Armenia absolutely is worthy.
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ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
