We do not have oil but we have a culture, moreover, quite prominent culture. Khachatryan, Aznavour, Saryan, Saroyan and many others. Starting from Shnorhali, Narekatsi and Kuchak and ending with many other talented people. Incidentally, we are not only a culture creating but also other created culture valuing and evaluating nation.
The recent Russia-based Armenian rich Ruben Vardanyan noted and emphasized that we should contrast our mind, intellect and our culture to our rival’s oil. The good news is that Ruben Vardanyan not only says this but also conducts serious and significant steps in this direction and implements notable projects. Recently, under his notable projects, Ruben Vardanyan among other eminent invited Hollywood movie star George Clooney to Armenia who also was the co-chair of the jury of “Aurora” humanitarian award initiated by Vardanyan. The interests and exclusive respect of Armenians towards Clooney and other eminent of global culture have never been reduced and the eminent of global culture who were not indifferent to our nation, our history and our culture have just turned into a cult by us. Incidentally, not only the people of culture but also eminent scholars, intellectuals and great humanists. “Aurora” award ceremony was the next and quite successful prove of it, as well as an instructive example of how to spend the money in a dignified and purposeful way. I assume, to be more exact, I am sure that Aliyev and Azerbaijanis have spent excessively large amounts of money to have the word “Azerbaijan” written on the T-shirts of “Atletico” Madrid football players. This is their “Aurora.” Irrespective of how much oil and oil-dollars they have, hardly they would be able to organize an award ceremony at the level of our “Aurora” award, because you should first be endowed with humanitarian ideas and qualities to see and evaluate the great philanthropists, to appraise the foreign intellectuals, you must first appraise your intellectuals rather than expel your best intellectual and writer Aylisli from the country. I would not like you to assume from my words that everything is perfect in terms of culture and cultural figures in our country. It’s true that we appraise the foreign cultural figures the best and treat them highly, but we do not always treat and care about our cultural eminent. It is true that we do not expel our cultural eminent from the country, but we do not create the best conditions for them so that they will live and create in their country free, quietly, and safely. As far as I know, the world-class filmmaker Artavazd Peleshyan had housing problems for a long time, and only recently he became the owner of a normal apartment in his hometown Yerevan. Recently, the world-class opera singer Gegham Grigoryan departed this life. In the last days of his life, he had become a target for some journalists and musicians because of his employment and position while his death mourners in foreign countries were more than in his hometown Yerevan. In some countries, maestro’s song was on TV for hours in honor of his memory.
I have heard from many colleagues and friends of Gegham Grigoryan that he was careless to his talent. If he was careless, it does not mean that we should be careless too. We could devote at least one day in the year to Gegham Grigoryan and his songs, and it is not mandatory for Ruben Vardanyan to do it too. We have other rich who are also capable. In the last years of Hrant Matevosyan’s life, many journalists, media and insignificant officials gave a hardship to the writer. Now, of course, we pay tribute to the great writer. Nationwide. We love to say and repeat the appropriate and inappropriate that our culture is our weapon. Let us use our weapon, make the use of it, my fellow citizens.
Voskan YEREVANTSY,
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