Interview with Avet Adonts, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to the Kingdom of Spain
– Recently, several cities in the Kingdom of Spain officially recognized the Armenian Genocide. Was it the result of good lobbying, motivation to restore the historical justice, or something else?
– Yes, as you mentioned, in the last one-two years, several cities in the Kingdom of Spain, administrative units and regional parliaments have officially recognized and condemned the Armenian Genocide. You also know that Madrid officially continues to be silent on this issue. They have traditionally close ties and numerous joint projects with Turkey. But we are deeply convinced that the relatives should be the first to speak out, trying to raise the problems requiring solutions that will help Turkey to become more tolerant towards its own past. Nevertheless, this process has kicked off in Spain, and I am convinced that this will keep going and will gain momentum over the time. Often, Spanish mass media as me during the interviews whether Spain will recognize the Armenian Genocide. My answer is one: we do not think whether Spain will recognize it or not, we are only thinking when it is going to do it. Opportune, I would like to mention the decisive role of the newly formed Armenian community of Spain on this matter. Also, the selfless activity of our compatriots makes us be sure that sooner or later the justice will pave its way.
– Please talk about the work implemented by the Embassy with the Spanish media. Is it easy to “dialogue” and have Armenophile publications? If I am not mistaken, there were around 300 articles in the Spanish press only in 2015, referring to the Armenian Genocide.
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– I think that the work with mass media is one of the immediate and most important functions of any government agency, including the embassies. Hence, like our partners, we also give a significant place to the work with the media in our daily activities. The importance of this industry in Spain, of course, is multiplied in the light of the lack of previously available information about Armenia, its history and the concerning problems. The Spaniards, so to say, have just started to discover Armenia for them. Accordingly, our main goal is to help them do it from an objective viewpoint. Yes, only last year, more than three hundred articles about genocide were published in the Spanish press. In addition to the quantity, I would like to highlight their qualitative growth. It was also thanks to timely and coordinated work of the Embassy that they become more objective, more comprehensive and in-depth. Let me give you an example. If in early 2015, the Spanish press, referring to the Armenian Genocide, was mainly using terms like “massacres,” the so-called, genocide,” “murders,” “genocide as claimed by Armenians,” today, we can surely say that no self-respecting Spaniard author of an article refrains from the term “genocide.”
– They say that culture is also a diplomacy. Is this kind of diplomatic “outcome” possible this year?
– I fully agree. Culture is a business card. Especially in our case, not to use the centuries-old arsenal of our national culture is at least wrong. I must note that the Embassy is carrying out tremendous work in this direction. Last year was an extremely busy year with cultural events. With joint efforts of the Embassy and the Armenian community, a few dozens of cultural events were organized, of which the most distinguished were the performances of Armenia’s State Dance Ensemble and the State Youth Orchestra of Armenia in Madrid, Barcelona and Zaragoza. This year too, we are trying to keep the cultural diplomacy active. Throughout the year, Sergei Parajanov’s film “The Color of Pomegranate” was screened in nearly two dozen cities of Spain. The film was restored with the help of Martin Scorsese’s cinema fund. At the same time, Alicante-based Aratta Vocal Dance Ensemble consisting of Spanish musicians continues its activities. The Ensemble introduces the Spanish audience to the Armenian culture with the help of live performances of the Armenian folk song music and Armenian dances. Perhaps the most famous violinist of Spain, our compatriot Ara Malikyan, continues his concerts, where he also plays works of Armenian authors as well as his own work “1915” dedicated to the Armenian Genocide. Apart from professional artists, the Armenian community of Spain, particularly the young people, is very active in this sphere. By their own initiative and involvement, quite high-level cultural events and concerts are organized. The first steps are being taken to have a dance group. The plans are many so as the to-does. Importantly, I think, we are moving in the right direction. In April, the Ambassador adopted a special resolution with the Basque Parliament Speaker Bakartxo Tejeria Otermin on Karabakh conflict.
– In 2015, famous writer, journalist, author of a number of books, articles and TV programs, Xavier Moret, published a book entitled, “The Memory of Ararat: the 100 years of the most forgotten genocide”. How the Spaniards reacted and what other similar initiatives are being implemented?
– The author is known in Spain, and we can say that the book received a quite extensive response. The presentation of the book took place in several cities in Spain and was repeatedly covered by the local media. I would like to note that Xavier Moret’s “The Memory of Ararat” is not the only one. Only in the last one year, four more Spanish-language books were published in Spain on the Armenian Genocide. They are: Virginia Mendoza’s “The Wind’s Wounds” and Francesk Hidalgo’s “The Daughter of Diaspora” as well as Varujan Vosganian’s “The Book of Whispers” and Franz Werfel’s “The Forty Days of Musa Dagh” books in Spanish translations.
– The opinion of the Spaniards (of various circles) on the Karabakh conflict is interesting. Your impressions and observations on this. The opportunities used by the Embassy in terms of covering this topic.
– The opinions and positions are different. I think I will not disclose a secret if I say that the official Madrid tries to have one universal prescription for the conflict solution. Nevertheless, Spanish officials have repeatedly stated that they unreservedly support the Minsk Group activities aimed at the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. At the same time, some territorial units in Spain (the parliament of the Basque Country, San Sebastian) associated with the April events, made statements condemning Azerbaijan’s aggression. It is worth mentioning that there is a clear approach on this matter with the representatives of academic, university and mass media circles who have deeply studied the problem. They all are familiar with the history of the conflict, the aggressive racist policy carried out by the Azerbaijani authorities and are concordant that the people of Artsakh have the right to and must live in peace, secure and build their own future.
– Please, recall any telling episode carried out in the course of Your mission.
– The most telling episode in recent days was perhaps the attitude of the Armenian community in Spain during the April events to all that was taking place in the homeland. It was indeed impressive to see the number of calls and visits to the embassy and the curiosity of our compatriots about the latest news, trying to be helpful to the extent of their potential and ready to leave everything behind and go to Artsakh.
Interviewer: Gohar HAKOBYAN
Main photo: Avet Adonts with José Antonio Gurriarán, a Spanish famous journalist, publicist, author of the books “The Bomb” and “The Armenians” telling about the Armenian Genocide
“Aravot” daily
