The politics in the life of Avet Adonts, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to the Kingdom of Spain has been episodic
Armenian agenda on the Spanish-Armenian community, according to Avet Adonts
In August 2014, by the decree of the President of the Republic of Armenia, Avet Adonts was appointed the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to the Kingdom of Spain, earlier, he was the Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the Kingdom of Belgium. Since Mr. Adonts took his office in Spain for a year, we decided to take an interview to find out his impressions, the scope of implemented work, and the challenges facing the Armenian community.
“Aravot” asked the Ambassador why the Armenian community in Spain is special unlike the Armenians in Belgian. Avet Adonts noted that there are more than 35 000 Armenians living in Spain who are mainly centralized in Valencia (about 14,000 people), Barcelona (about 12,000 people), Alicante (2000 people), La Rioja (1500 people), San Sebastian and Bilbao (300 people), Seville (300 people), Malaga (200 people). As for the capital Madrid, the number of Armenians living here amounts to 8000 people, and there is still a growing tendency. The Armenian community in Spain is formed on the account of Armenian migrated from Armenia in the past 10-15 years. The Ambassador notes that he has seen Armenians even in very small towns. “For example, there is a very small town called Figueres where you can find the Salvador Dali Museum. One day, when I was leaving the museum to drink a cup of coffee, I met an Armenian woman in the cafe who offered to show the sights of the city. I would never occur my mind that there could be Armenians in this small town,” tells our interlocutor. Also adding that the Spanish-Armenian community is not old because Armenians traditionally tend to settle not in Spain but northern European countries where the living standards is higher.
“Since the 97% of the Armenian community in Spain make the Armenians from Armenia who have spent their entire life on living and working in Armenia, naturally, they do not have the experience of preserving an Armenian agenda in a foreign country. In their case, the priority is a little different: to be integrated and strengthened … As of today, a situation has been created that they are ready to carry out the first steps to having a common community agenda and to implement this agenda,” says Mr. Adonts. He states that some Armenian artists and painters are notable by their high status and reputation in Spain, while in Madrid and Barcelona, the Armenian businessmen are notable by their activities. The Ambassador stated that there is no Armenian church operating in Spain, and there is a need for building an Armenian church in the Armenian-populated areas of Spain, even though they have two pastors in Madrid and Barcelona. He added that the embassy is working in this direction and in the near future, an Armenian church will be in the south of Spain.
The economic component in the Armenian-Spanish relations does not comply with the opportunities
We asked the Ambassador to estimate the diplomatic relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Kingdom of Spain that were established since 1992. The Ambassador described the Armenian-Spanish relations satisfactory, saying that it is worth adding the activity. He expressed hope that after the upcoming elections in November in Spain, there would be more exchanges of high-level delegations. He regrets that the economic component in the Armenian-Spanish relations so far does not comply with the available opportunities due to objective and subjective reasons. One of the reasons is that all the countries were not apart from the economic crisis, including the EU member countries, on the other hand, the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia to Spain was opened in 2011, and earlier, the Ambassador to Italy was the Ambassador to Spain at a time. Mr. Adonts hopes that there will also be exchanges in the business sector, which will activate the commodity turnover.
During our conversation, there was also a reference to the Armenian genocide recognition and condemnation process. The Ambassador noted that he has commenced his full job since November and is keeping this issue in the focus of direct attention of the Embassy. He says that there was a deficit of information in Spain, both abut Armenia and the Genocide, and they have tried first of all to fill this gap with the help of events, meetings at various levels, scientific conferences and so no. The finale was the liturgy at the Madrid royal “Almudena” cathedral dedicated to the memory of Armenian Genocide victims. The liturgy was recited by Archbishop Carlos Osoro Sierra, with the participation of representatives of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Spain. Still another liturgy was held in Madrid. Avet Adonts said that until recently, the Spanish press was constantly writing about these two events. He is sure that time and more dynamic work is necessary for the Genocide recognition process to obtain more meaningful development.
The Ambassador should be decent
We asked Avet Adonts what qualities the ambassador should have not to fail because people say that the diplomat’s mistake is similar to snapper’s mistake and as an “old-timer” in diplomatic sphere, what advice he will give to the newly appointed diplomats.
“The ambassador is a diplomat, the ambassador is the head of this-or-that representation, mostly diplomats are working in the embassy. The diplomat, first of all, like any other man, is a creature, he should be decent, secondly, he should have personal and working discipline, on the other hand, to be creative. Otherwise, it happens that decent and disciplined people have a lack of creativity, and vice versa, creative people have a lack of discipline. The diplomatic work requires the combination of these two, but the decency remains in the first place. To be decent, first of all, to you, your country and your people, love the country and respect people. You should serve your country and the people without any conventions,” replied the ambassador.
Naturally, we asked about how he spends his free time in Spain. Avet Adonts noted that the workload is so great that there is almost no free time left, though he would love to travel and fully learn about Spain. “Going to Dali Museum was an exception, I was on vacations, Spain has a strong cultural heritage, but it is such a big country that it is impossible to see all and everything. Often, we combine it with our working agenda. In general, my favorite place that I visit often is the city of Toledo located some 60-70 kilometers away from Madrid, with its magnificent architecture.”
We also asked whether he will not wish to return to the internal political sphere of Armenia and be a hero as a political figure, especially, since it is very easy nowadays. “No, because I consider myself a diplomat by career, I am in diplomacy since December 1991, while my work in the political field was just an episodic, and it was my decision to go back to the working field, which is the dearest to me,” said our interlocutor.
We asked to tell any impressive episode describing the Armenian community in Spain that has happened during his diplomatic mission. The Ambassador recalled a small and tiny town, where it was found out that there are 50 Armenian families, approximately 150 Armenian people. Each of them has donated 50 euros per month for erecting an Armenian cross-stone, two months ago, it was the opening of the cross stone, which he also attended. “It was a big surprise for us to see Armenians in that city, the second surprise was how they erected the cross stone, and how they have solved the financial problems as a result of local unity. On the one side, we were pleasantly surprised, on the other side, excited,” recalled Mr. Adonts.
Back to the cultural events, Mr. Adonts informed that on September 26, the Royal Palace in Madrid, Teatro Real, will host the joint concert of Armenia’s National Youth Orchestra and the Spanish-Armenian violinist, Ara Malikyan, who is a superstar in this country, and in mid-October – the State Dance Ensemble of Armenia. To the point, all of this is conducted under the program events of the centenary of the Armenian Genocide.
Gohar HAKOBYAN,
“Aravot” daily
