“We have to wait and see what the European Union or America or the rest of the countries have to offer. If there is an environment where Armenia has to separate from Russia, we have to consider: is it based on our interests or not?….I’m not just saying that, it’s a fact. There are contracts,” says president of the Armenians’ Union of Russia Ara Abrahamyan.
According to Abrahamyan, if the Russian-Georgian relations have an influence on Armenia’s economic policy, then Armenia must criticize Georgia. However, Armenia must have a role on Georgia and Russia beforehand. Armenian authorities must clarify their politics for Georgia. Armenia also has to know what kind of role it’s going to have or what it will do if a war suddenly breaks out between Georgia and Russia.
“But I know one thing: the events going on in Georgia are hurting Armenia. If I fly by plane for 3.5 hours instead of 2.5, if I spend more money, if prices are going up, then that’s bad for Armenia. The Armenian authorities, the Armenian Foreign Affairs Ministry must take care of these issues. If something bad happens in another country, Armenia shouldn’t suffer the consequences,” says Abrahamyan.
Russia is angry that Armenia has a neutral role on the Russian-Georgian relations. No matter how correct Armenia is, Russia still doesn’t like it. Russia tries to persuade Armenia directly or indirectly through the means of its officials to have a negative role on Georgia, claiming that it’s doing that because Russia and Georgia aren’t doing too well. Let’s recall the announcements made by vice-speaker of the Russian Duma Vladimir Zhirinovski or the announcement made by Armenian deputy Constantine Zatulin when he said that Armenia has to clarify its role as to whose side it’s on-Russia or Georgia. If the reader remembers, according to Zatulin, Armenia has taken on the role of a pacifier, keeping good relations with all countries and he thinks that it’s right. It’s quite possible that Russia is insisting through the means of Ara Abrahamyan because the head of the Armenian Union of Russia said the same things a couple of times and in a strict tone during his meeting with journalists at the Writers’ Union of Armenia. A. Abrahamyan called on Armenian authorities to have a strict role on the situation. “Armenia has to discuss its issues with Russia beforehand and say that if Russia blockades Georgia, then it should make room for Armenia to pass and not claim that they didn’t know what to do when something happens. Today, I am solving many issues dealing with cars accumulated on the roads and I like doing that,” says A. Abrahamyan.
Russian politician Andranik Mihranyan, who is always with A. Abrahamyan and gives advice, is also known for his strict roles on Georgia. In Georgia, Georgians consider him more as a representative of Armenia. A. Mihranyan is not of that opinion and his interpretation is more than eloquent. This is what he had to say:
“First of all, I am one of the well-known political activists and politicians of Russia and I am the head of the committee on strategy of the Russian government’s social chamber. That’s why my opinions have something to do with the politics of that strong and powerful country. Those opinions can refer to my ethnicity after a while. In Washington, they accept me as one of the best representatives of Russia.” In addition to saying that nobody has asked him why he is expressing those kinds of opinions about the U.S. and if that doesn’t bring up problems connected to his ethnicity in the U.S., Mihranyan called that provinciality and called on Armenian intellectuals and the press to “differentiate between political approach and ethnicity.” “I’m probably the only interpreter in high demand by the Georgian press in Moscow,” this is how A. Mihranyan presented himself in the end.
After commenting on Armenian-Georgian relations and calling on the Armenian authorities, the guests from Moscow also touched upon the several murders of Armenians in Russia. They think that the murders are not only against Armenians and they’re not even ordered by serious forces. They just kill the blacks. According to them, Russian President Putin wants to put an end to the killings. “I spend a lot of time on that issue; they really do murder. Russia is a big country and they not only kill Armenians, but also people with different skin colors. There is no murder committed on purpose that is Armenian. If we compare with Azerbaijan and Georgia, Armenians are the last ones on the list of victims. Of course, that doesn’t serve as a justification. But since our association is the most organized association, I find out about the murder five minutes after it’s committed. Our lawyers start to work on the case immediately, I contact the corresponding bodies and take control of the situation. We organize events, go to the universities, read lectures about the Armenians, when they came to Russia and what role they play.”
Of course, today Russian authorities and the racist groups don’t care who the Armenians are, when they came to Russia and what role they play in the social, political and cultural life of Russia, otherwise they wouldn’t change the article of murder to careless pushing/shoving, as they did to the murderers of 15-year old Narek Kocharyan on November 11. According to A. Abrahamyan, he can’t do anything against the law while protecting the interests of the Armenians of Russia. But he’s amazed to see howo passive the Armenian authorities are. But what is the Armenian embassy of Russia doing about this? Recently, director of the regional structure of the Armenian Union of Russia Arthur Harutyunyan was killed in Murmansk. According to Ara Abrahamyan, Harutyunyan was a big businessman and was making huge investments in stabilizing the union. The head of the Armenian Union of Russia says that that murder wasn’t committed based on ethnicity; there was simply a clash of interests. A. Abrahamyan said that he is following up on the legal proceedings of that murder, meets with public prosecutors who inform him about the details of the case and it’s too early to talk about it.