1988

Contrary to the widespread hypothesis, I consider neither the blockade nor the collapse of the Soviet infrastructure to be the primary reasons behind the collapse of the industry and economy in Armenia. It was rather the people’s disappointment in their previous lives, the loss of trust, the readiness to leave work and come stand at the square for days, weeks, even months waiting for news or instructions, for new values, hoping for a new meaning of life. Or picking up arms and heading to war, even if they had not yet been told that that is what they must do… Many were glad to have such a convincing excuse not to work – the destiny of the nation…

It appeared I felt the same way as those rare few who were “against” the rallies. Few would dare vocalize criticism of the Movement. I certainly did not want to be associated with them, because the overall opinion was that only hidden or open KGB operatives, Soviet authorities, traitors and provocateurs could be against the rallies. How rapidly, in an historical instant, one oppressive but eroding ideology (socialism) was substituted with another, a young and vibrant and equally oppressive one – not in terms of force but purely through moral pressure of the “Pro Movement” ideology, which later turned into that which was called “National.” It was a unique feeling to witness this change. Perhaps it wasn’t even a change, because self-oppression or at least self-suppression was quite typical for this Soviet/post-Soviet southern nation, no matter which opportunity they used to suppress, as long as they suppressed. The text changed, not the behavior.

The majority of those in my circle were mesmerized with the rallies and the Karabakh Committee. The “boys.” To a certain extent I too was favorably inclined, nevertheless I could not help but feel that something was wrong when hundreds of thousands were stepping on the grass around Swan Lake, destroying it while from the platform above, a dozen people, one after the other, were relaying the latest news or explaining what needed to be done; all the while the masses listened intently and were reliant on them only.

And I, from a bit of a distance, would watch those dozen boys, who had decided and were able to find the strength in themselves to get on that platform with sincere amazement. Soon I got to know some of them in person, later I learned the stories behind how some of the others came to be on the platform – one or two dozen men and a couple of women, who would rarely be seen on the platform but were instrumental (women leaders were few, the “black pantyhose” fans of Vano and Levon were many), had decided that they should be there because there was no one else. And why had they made that decision? .From a genuine sense of responsibility? Because they were the fighting type (deprived of the chance of having a career within the nomenclatura system), potential politicians taking advantage of an opportunity that presented itself? Or was it both of these reasons together? They dared to disclose themselves, declare themselves as the new political leaders of Armenians and despite what they said or did or how experienced they were, they were indeed different. They were not the typical komsomols striving to make a career through the known, outdated Soviet arrangements. They were definitely novel and different from the previous ones and also from the new ones who wanted to follow the old path. Also because of the boundless difference in responsibility: a “normal” career versus declaring oneself a leader of this incomprehensible political movement in circumstances that were leading to a war. We did not know that they were very close to “political suicide.” One has to be made of a certain cloth to agree to being cursed for years when the easily excitable crowd, sooner or later, becomes disappointed in you.

They were undoubtedly much more fearless than their predecessors, because they were operating in uncharted “waters,” in a historically unfamiliar situation. That which was happening, that which they were doing, that which was being done and would be done, historically did not have its antecedent in the world; there were no known technologies/tools. Analogies with Armenian history were more harmful than useful, especially since no one knew Armenian history substantially, and whoever did, knew only fragments, most of the rest were myths.

Fearless? Later, many who were eventually disappointed with them “bluntly” asked, “If you didn’t understand what was to be done, why did you throw yourself out in the front?”

Sometimes they would say wise things over the megaphone, at other times, not so much. Sometimes they would say true and important things, at other times, they would descend into previously exhausted, tiresome tales. Though much of this did not come from them, it was either their predecessors or the others who were also given the loudspeaker. Sometimes they would propose the right thing (when done, it resulted in a positive outcome), sometimes, they were wrong.

I did not dare articulate my skepticism in that initial phase. I did not have the words, the thoughts, the knowledge to articulate them. I could not say that in my opinion, although nothing can be done against the progression of history, nevertheless, it was wrong to be standing at the square for weeks on end doing nothing; that it was peculiar as to why those particular boys were up there on the platform and why they got to decide who could be up there with them and who couldn’t.

Levon Abrahamyan’s theory discusses the 1988 protests from a sociological and anthropological praxis of carnival connecting it to Bakhtin and his interpretation of human thinking that a revolution is also a feast and a ritual; it is semiotics, to be able to understand, you have to know how to read the symbols. This work was first published quite early on in those days, the first attempt to provide a framework of understanding about the Movement. I was enthralled by his theory, I appreciated his truth and thought how unlucky is the person who does not want to disintegrate into the noisy mob and wants to preserve an independant train of thought …woe to him who does not love rituals in that situation when history is a ritual and ritualistic…Meanwhile, rituals were born, strengthened and overestimated by the crowd, celebrated by the people and the platform as their victory: the collective assistance to the person who felt ill because people were too cramped together; chanting  “Mi-a-tsum” – “U-ni-ty” when it was timely; the playing of the trumpet – the hymn of the protest; thieves who didn’t steal; the lectures read at the square during student strikes; the flowers Armenian girls would present to Russian soldiers, etc. All this and more was so accurately described by Levon Abrahamyan and the group of researchers he led, and still far from enough was illustrated and collected.

These rituals became the foundation for a new ideology. The people, self-centered, in love with themselves began to say, “See how good we are? We are the best.” But what about if even a hollow consolation becomes needed? In that precarious situation, if we did not praise ourselves, who would do so? If we did not encourage ourselves, no one would have. We had to convince ourselves that we were capable of something but we really didn’t comprehend what we were or were not capable of doing.

And those, who did not share this enthusiasm because they were corrupt or because of experience; or because of their critical, skeptical countenance, were mainly silent. It seemed that they did not exist. And if they ever tried to speak, they would usually be cast out under whistles and labeled “Communist spy.”

I could not endure the long and fruitless, self-righteous lingering and soon stopped standing at the square. I was not “square material” and secretly pitied those who were “square material.” In my opinion, it was manipulation. Standing at the square soon became as boring and as much a waste of time as komsomol meetings.

We had no plans, despite the existence of the Diaspora. The Baltic countries seemed to have more plans. Their Diaspora had designed the institutions of independent statehood and kept them. They knew that sooner or later they were going to become an independent state and knew what they wanted it to be like. They had independence for about 20 years, (1918-1940), and that was enough for them to preserve the idea of an independent statehood. At least that is what I thought. We, on the other hand, like the Georgians or Ukrainians did not have that… the people did not believe in the reinstatement of statehood, almost no one, save a couple of “fools” who were romantics rather than realists… We were so dejected after the Genocide, had held onto the Soviet lifeline so firmly, and on top of that, had suffered so much under Stalinism, and then we were able to somewhat recover and then became so immoral, submitting to the corrupted psychology of tsekhavism that we had no impending plan.

My priorities coincided only in part with the priorities of 1988, the rallies of subsequent years, the people and the Movement. The Movement was constantly split between the need to respond to the Karabakh crisis and the need to establish a new system of governance, a new structure, which later became the task of establishing an independent state. As someone with a humanistic upbringing, a part of me did not want to acknowledge the issues of the Karabakh crisis. Was it possible that two decent, beautiful nations, distorted because of the Soviet Union, yes, but in general kind and well predisposed to one another, could not find a common language? Why exile? Why kill? Why not be generous and find a common denominator?

On the other hand, people, including people very close to me, would say that this was an impossibility. If they were exiling Armenians, then we too should use the opportunity to “clear” our land of them, that only Karabakh’s separation would resolve the issue. Being someone who was distant from suggesting to dare and use force, I had no excuse, energy or even the direction to object and argue the opposite either. Having deeply rooted paternal lineage from Karabakh, having family in Baku and close Azerbaijani friends in Yerevan, I did not want a confrontation nor did I have a counter-argument, because the situation was escalating faster than I or anyone else could grasp.

I was torn. I wished that the problem did not exist. I wanted to bury my head in the sand and not hear that at the end of the 20th century, when it seemed that all major wars and massacres had ended, when people had finally recovered, barely come to their senses, when everyone had understood that war and massacre are folly – and suddenly once again, there are two nations ruthlessly slaughtering each other. A backward issue, a disgusting issue. And this was bearing down on the fate of my homeland and myself and not in some distant place like Afghanistan although that too is disturbing and heartbreaking.

During those months, even years, as it lasted a couple of years, people were subject to manipulation, capable of doing that which they might not have done in a sober state of mind. The pressure of the crowd, the people, their circles were guiding and swinging the situation this way and that… For example, I was asked to become the proxy of a young candidate wishing to run in the Supreme Council elections. And my young self, without thinking much about it, agreed. That was the lesser of the evils, I responded to someone’s request and also thought, “This is an experience, I can allow myself to get involved in some thing that I don’t know much about – this is how I’ll gain experience.”

Because I was a skeptic and tried to keep my distance, afterwards I was not as deeply disappointed as those who had fully immersed themselves in the current, who later felt cheated, used…

However, today, I can say the following – what happened happened, it was the process of history, we were not ready to take on the situation more thoughtfully. At the time, the boys did what they could. We learned much. But my old feelings persist and today I’m deeply convinced in them and able to articulate them in my contemporary terminology.

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I have presented my impressions from the first few months of the Movement, what I remember as impressions, of course with new words because my words back then were different and certainly, sometimes mixing up memories from different times. Much happened later that was interesting and sad and I understood that I was living in a “bubble,” because I had no idea about what was happening in the villages. I actively started writing for the new, free, multidimensional media, to some extent sharing the concerns I had at the time. I found my place in the Movement when I started helping out in matters I was to some extent familiar with. But this was already participation in the building of a state. I have written fragments about those five years here and there, have contemplated certain generalizations here and there, these are available in text or video recordings. I have tried, although in a limited scope, to collect other people’s views, but those are merely drops. What is a shame is that to date there is no comprehensive story describing those years, whatever is available is closely tied to the Karabakh issue and the rest remains obscure and uncharted. For example, how did Independent Armenia start adopting new laws? Who wrote these texts? Why were those texts chosen? The history of the formation of new statehood is virtually non-existent or if it exists, it is virtually unknown in the public domain. Hopefully, this series of publications will to some extent fill in those gaps, at least by formulating the right questions.

EVN Report wishes to thank the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) for their cooperation and support.  

1-The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union.
2-The early 1990s are usually referred to as the cold and dark years in Armenia during an energy crisis that left the population without natural gas or electricity for heating.
3-In 1965, on the 50th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, thousands in Soviet Armenia demonstrated demanding that the Soviet Union officially recognize the Genocide perpetrated by Ottoman Turkey.
4-On March 1, 2008, after weeks of protests following a contested presidential election, clashes ensued between security forces and protesters leaving 10 people dead in the country.
5-An underground entrepreneur in the USSR; usually has a negative connotation.
6-Karen Demirchyan was the last leader of Soviet Armenia and later President of independent Armenia’s National Assembly until 1999 when he was killed during a shooting in parliament.