By “dialogue” we mean a process during which two sides express their opinions, the first listens to the other, then both try to come to terms without any debates and threats. If the dialogue is dedicated to a certain topic, a solution is made which will favor both sides. Even if the sides don’t share the same opinions, they do that in a civilized manner, without threats and offensive remarks. They go their separate ways with the hope of conducting a more effective debate in the future. If the two sides don’t follow these rules, then the dialogue turns into a “bazaar”.
Almost everyone in Armenia is familiar with the word “bazaar” and sometimes this is the only way of solving certain issues. However, it’s not right to do that during prestigious meetings. We can’t say that the international conference held at the “Armenia-Marriot” hotel was a “bazaar”, but we can’t call it a “dialogue” either.
The conference entitled “The Caucasus without conflicts-dialogue of cultures” was organized through the combined efforts of the Armenian World Congress (president Ara Abrahamyan) and Armenia’s “Dialogue of Cultures” national center. Ara Abrahamyan and National Assembly MP Aram G. Sargsyan, who are the heads of these two organizations respectively, are known for their pro-Russian orientations.
Perhaps that was the reason why the conference was one-sided. During his speech, Ara Abrahamyan “slightly” criticized the U.S., stating that it’s not right when one culture dictates its value system to the other.
“Let’s not forget that we are all on the same boat and there is no need to rock it because in that case, there will be neither winners nor losers,” said A. Abrahamyan.
The next speaker was MP of the Russian State Duma Constantine Zatulin was more frank and strictly criticized U.S. and Georgian politics.
“Russia is much closer to the Caucasus than the U.S. and Russia is the most interested in keeping the peace in the region even for unrecognized states,” said C. Zatulin and added that Russia doesn’t want any country to start military actions in the Southern Caucasus, just like in Iraq. According to the Russian MP, Armenia and Karabagh are the two countries of the region that want to keep the peace the most. Meanwhile, we can’t say the same for Georgia and Azerbaijan. They are not in favor of the status-quo because both want to get back their territorial integrity.
“The authorities of the countries are criticizing Soviet authorities, but they take from them what is beneficial. In particular, Georgia and Azerbaijan like the borders that they had during the Soviet regime,” said Mr. Zatulin and was certain that the Russian authorities won’t make way for pressures the Russian peacekeeping forces will remain stationed in the region. Otherwise, the status-quo will change and Georgia will solve issues concerning Abkhazia and Osetia through war. Constantine Zatulin was against taking out the Russian military troops out of Akhalkalak-“Great Russia ceded small Georgia”.
Andranik Mihranyan’s anti-Georgian speech was no surprise. He stated that if one country takes care of the expenses of the other, then something is not right. Doctor of the Schiller Institute Carl-Mike Vitti also went against America in his speech.
This was not at all similar to a dialogue. According to the president of the “New Eurasia” fund Andrey Kortunov, “We like to hear ourselves more rather than listening to other people’s opinions.” Kortunov doubted the fact that the previous dialogues had been effective, considering them old models. But he also made some “negative comments”.
“Whoever has control does whatever he wants. Mihranyan already talked about Georgia, but we are not only talking about that country,” said Mr. Kortunov.
It was clear that Georgian MP Van Bayburt wouldn’t stay quiet after hearing all this.
“Unfortunately, Georgian experts couldn’t make it to the conference, but they sent me. Although I’m not an expert, however I do believe that everyone living in the region, including Armenians and Georgians, are much better experts than those who come to the region once in a while and allow themselves to express philosophical opinions and make judgments. But unfortunately, the judgments are wrong,” said Van Bayburt to the guests from Russia.
It appears that Van Bayburt was most offended by the criticism and hinting threats made by Constantine Zatulin. In order to make his point clear, Van Bayburt told a joke about a woman who is happy to see her son-in-law make coffee for her daughter and do the laundry, but at the same time complains that her son is making coffee for her daughter-in-law.
“Until we don’t stop playing the role of that woman, in other words, leading double-standard politics, we won’t get anywhere. I would like to see Vladimir Kazimirov at this conference, someone who doesn’t offend the dignities of other countries…These kinds of offensive remarks during a conference like this won’t start a dialogue. It is necessary to come up with solutions and not make the situation more tense.”
Aram G. Sargsyan didn’t like this scenario and called on everyone to be more tolerant. But everyone had said what they had to say to each other.
The problem is not who’s right-the Russians or the Americans. There are different opinions about this. However, you got the impression that the Russian and pro-Russian debaters took advantage of the conference to criticize the U.S. and Georgia. It is naïve to think that the U.S. moves forward with strictly democratic values and Georgia flourishes with democracy. Let’s not forget that Russia is moving forward based on its national interests. We don’t see the benefits of “Strategic Alliance”. As for the relations with Georgia, it seems as though there are tries to balance the country with Azerbaijan by bringing up the issues concerning Armenians of Javakhk. But before making patriotic speeches, we mustn’t forget that Georgia is the only road that Armenia can take towards its “elder brother”. Perhaps the Russians want to see poor Armenian-Georgian relations and they are not shy to express their opinions, but we have more reasons to stay silent.