Here’s a question, and you know the rules… you can’t Google it… or Wikipedia it.
What do you know about Armenia?
What do you know about this remote country located in the Caucasus region?
And watch out, because Armenia has some very interesting traits: for example, it was the
first Christian country in history, it’s a chess world power and it even has its own
Alphabet.
And here’s another fact you might not know about Armenia…
Inside of the country is…
I’m not sure how to say this… there’s another country.
The self-constituted Republic of Artsakh, formerly known as Nagorno Karabakh.
You heard that right.
We’re talking about a republic that isn’t recognized by any other country in the world,
but which proclaimed its independence in 1991, and has its own government, parliament, constitution
and even its own armed forces.
See, except for a passport with which to travel the world...
they have everything.
Of course, this curious republic’s citizens aren’t at all isolated...
they all have an Armenian passport... because this “country” is a close ally of Armenia.
See, during the Soviet period this territory was an oblast, an autonomous province of the
Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic.
But...
when the Soviet Union collapsed...
its government decided that it wanted to belong to Armenia... which led to a long 4-year war
that caused thousands of deaths.
By the way, have you noticed how many conflicts start over small pieces of land?
But... let's not stray.
Most would agree that Armenia has absolutely everything required to dazzle a politics addict…
and of course, everything required for us to talk about it here on VISUALPOLITIK:
One country inside another one, a recent war in 2016, a huge diaspora, a democratic revolution,
and even the potential to be a headache for Vladimir Putin himself...
Listen up
With no sea access, a location surrounded by huge mountains, and less than 3 million
inhabitants, I believe, my friends, that we can call Armenia a… remote place.
If we had to briefly describe this country, we would say it’s not far off from the typical
Hollywood portrayal of the former Soviet republic...
Of course, without the rebel military or the desire to return to communism.... but with
all its oligarchs and corruption in every corner…
But the truth is that this country has many, many problems.
See, Armenia gained its independence in September 1991, and today, 27 years later, unemployment
surpasses 20%, 1 in every 3 citizens lives in poverty, public debt has multiplied by
4 in the last decade, infrastructures are falling apart and, on top of all of that,
they have a serious emigration problem...
Yes, you heard that right, emigration.
See, it is estimated that there are about 12 million Armenians around the world, but
only 3 million live in Armenia.
Therefore, we’re talking about one of the largest diasporas in the entire world.
And only 1 out of every 5 Armenians lives in Armenia itself…
And if that wasn’t astonishing enough, every year, on average, 40,000 more Armenians leave
the country... in many cases to never return.
Except for vacations, of course.
Worst of all, things don’t seem to be improving.
Check out, for example, the evolution of foreign investment in recent years.
But at this point... you may be wondering, why the hell are things going so badly?
Well, my friends, one of the reasons is corruption, and the huge amount of power that the oligarchs
possess.
See, in the last 20 years, the Republican Armenian Party, a theoretically center-right
and pro-market party that’s really a huge club of oligarchs, has turned the country’s
politics into a network of interests and privileges.
Let's put it another way: for 2 decades, if you wanted to do business in Armenia, joining
this party was an almost mandatory step… and if you were a foreigner, dropping by wasn’t
a bad idea either.
However...
just a moment, because in April 2018...
Armenians said enough, and... what do you think they did?
Well... they held a revolution in the streets.
Listen up.
(THE REVOLUTION)
After 10 disastrous years in power and after exhausting his maximum number of mandates,
President Serzh Sargsyan... tried to copy Putin's strategy and get re-elected as Prime
Minister…
To do this, he proposed a reform that basically passed the President’s main powers to the
Prime Minister...
So, what do you think happened?
Are we talking about a smart maneuver to stay in power or... a blatant mockery to all Armenians?
Well... my friends, it was very, very clear to the people of this country: the president
was laughing at them.
He could rig the elections, use his power at will and let big oligarchs use the government
to get rich...
But this was too much...
after 10 years of President Serzh’s terrible management, this was a joke.
And Armenians wouldn't accept it.
On April 13, Nikol Pashinyan, a journalist and opposition deputy in the Armenian parliament,
led a protest mobilization.
See, at the beginning very few people joined this protest... but in a matter of days things
changed, a lot!
On April 16, large groups of students joined the protest and 4 days later on Friday, April
20, the movement had already concentrated in Yerevan, the country’s capital, with
tens of thousands of people…
At that moment...
the government, which until then had seen the demonstrations as a small nuisance, began
to get nervous...
And what do you think they did?
Well... what all tyrants do... they arrested the main leaders of these completely peaceful
demonstrations, including their leader, Nikolas Pashinyan.
They also announced that the police would disperse the protest rallies by force and
without considerations.
So, the movement would have to come to an end, right?
Well, no, just the opposite...
it was the point of no return.
From that moment more than 200,000, two hundred thousand people in a country of fewer than
3 million inhabitants took to the capital’s streets…
the country was paralyzed: work centers, schools and universities closed.
And the police, faced with such a massive concentration of people... well, they decided
to do absolutely nothing.
So, all this all encouraged more and more people to join in a completely peaceful and,
really, quite happy manner.
Throw out a slandered tyrant?
They were at least curious.
Finally, Armenia’s citizens had stood up to say enough.
The Velvet Revolution was underway.
The result?
At 4 pm on Monday, April 23, just 10 days – ten days!
- After Nikol Pashinyan began the protests, Serzh Sargsyan, was announcing his resignation.
A few weeks later, Pashinyan himself, the protest leader, a journalist who in recent
years had suffered an attempted attack and had been imprisoned for confronting the government,
had now been appointed Prime Minister.
Yes, you heard that right.
What a ride!
From opponent... to prisoner, and from prisoner, to the government... all in just a few days
The thing is… my friends, when a society stands up to demand freedom, democracy and
justice...
it’s hard to stop them.
Armenia now has a chance to change its course, to face the oligarchs and end the widespread
corruption that’s been consuming the country.
(“We have a new Armenia now, where each investment will be protected, and no investment
will be threatened any longer.”
Nikol Pashinyan.)
(“ Carrefour Group is one of the largest companies in the sugar trade.
But this company is forbidden to import sugar to Armenia.
We need to allow them to do this as well as allow other companies, and we will definitely
do it.
There should be no monopolies in Armenia.”
Nikol Pashinyan, Armenian Prime Minister.)
Of course...
hold on just a moment, because it won’t be easy.
For one because the Republican Party still controls Congress and its representatives
have already stated that they won’t resign or make it easy for the new Prime Minister.
And that’s not all… as if that weren’t enough, apart from their own internal problems,
Armenia has two other important challenges.
One of them being Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
(RUSSIA AND THE AZERÍ THREAT)
Moscow has such a huge amount of control over Armenia's economy, defense and foreign policy
that many analysts speak openly about a kind of de facto “occupation”.
Without going any further, in the Armenian city of Gyumri, the Russian army has, right
next to the Turkish border, an important military base, with more than 5000 soldiers, Mig-29
aircrafts and S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems.
But it isn’t just a military issue... to a large extent, the country also depends on
the remittances sent by the more than 2 million Armenians currently living in Russia...
And, in addition, the Russian giant is its main commercial partner and completely controls
their energy supply.
Check it out.
(“What has occurred in Armenia is something “unnatural”.
It is next to Iran, a major exporter of gas, but it imports its gas from Siberia, as the
result of agreements that do little more than “legalize [Armenia’s] occupation.”
Indeed, under the terms of those accords, Yerevan can’t make a deal with Tehran unless
Moscow agrees.
Ruben Mergrabyan the editor of the Russian Service of the 1in.am)
The fact is that so far, Vladimir Putin has had very good relations with the government...
and you all know that these kind of revolutions…
don’t precisely thrill Putin.
So there’s a warning on the table: don’t pay too much attention to the seductive calls
of the European Union or the United States.
Of course, the more than 5,000 soldiers deployed in Armenia would make this task much easier
for Moscow, don’t you think?
But my friends… that’s not all, there’s another huge threat...
Do you remember the Republic of Artsakh?
Well, it’s a sort of protectorate of Armenia... in such a way... that Azerbaijan considers
it to be an occupied territory... and it has no qualms about expressing its intention to
reconquer this territory.
And it must be said that here, confrontations aren’t unusual and are even relatively recent.
In 2016, hard confrontations took place there for 4 days… until Vladimir Putin demanded
a ceasefire.
But obviously...
the risk exists... especially because Azerbaijan has oil and gas... and that, my friends, means...
money.
To give you an idea, Azerbaijan’s military budget is as big as the Armenian government’s
entire budget.
So if one day Russia decides to wash its hands...
Armenia could get into a lot of trouble...
Anyway, that's the way things are.
But...
now it's your turn.
Have you heard of the Republic of Artsakh?
Leave your answer in the comments as well as in the survey.
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Also, don’t forget to check out our friends at the Reconsider Media Podcast - they provided
the vocals in this episode that were not mine!
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