Designer Aram Nikolyan’s action, during which he burned the flag of Azerbaijan during the opening ceremony of the European Weightlifting Championship and took it out of the hall, was widely discussed. I will not repeat the arguments of “liberals” and “nationalists”; those who wanted to have ample opportunity to get acquainted with them last weekend. The State should give it a clear assessment: its organized events should not be disrupted by political demonstrations.
I don’t want to welcome or, even more, condemn the perpetrator of that action. I do not reserve the right to blame anyone. Although I once expressed my negative attitude to the tradition of representing the protest by burning a flag, I have not changed my opinion on that issue.
I want to understand, in this case, what Aram Nikolyan was protesting against. I don’t think that the addressee of his complaint was Azerbaijan. It is pointless to protest in Yerevan against the barbaric and disrespectful behavior of the neighboring country and its citizens. There is the Armenian State, and there are non-governmental organizations that should raise these issues on international platforms and influence the international audience with propaganda, which, in my opinion, is being done very poorly.
As far as I understand, the action was addressed to the Armenian audience, to our society, in which, let’s agree, the sense of dignity has significantly decreased. Our fellow citizens quite coldly accepted the humiliating defeat in the war, the thousands of victims, the loss of territories, the blockade of Artsakh, the occupation of the sovereign territory of Armenia by the same Azerbaijan, etc.
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What shows this indifference? From many things, also, of course, from the results of the 2021 elections. But first of all, because the process of losing, losing, and giving in continues every day and every hour, and our society, according to everything, is satisfied with the authorities’ explanations and excuses.
Saturday’s action, I suppose, was intended to wake up and sober up our society. Can this be done by burning a flag? I highly doubt it. Healing people’s souls from the disease of cynicism, nihilism, and consumerism is a long-term process. I am sure that “doctors” should be people with no political interests, no personal ambitions, and ready to make sacrifices and the healing is possible without breaking the law and harming the State’s international credit.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
