Tigran Paskevichyan believes he is an ordinary citizen, who wants to live in a normal country, where from time to time elections take place. Often he is introduced as a writer and publicist, but he finds that the best way of self-expression is journalism and he attaches importance to this profession. These times he is busy with making films, which is another way of journalistic self-expression. His last film is a part of a large project and is entitled “Be back where you belong” and is dedicated to the great stream back of Armenians to their home country in 1946-49s. The first movie of the series, which has been screened several times already, is called “My strange fatherland”. The film evolves the geopolitical processes that followed the war in 1945-49, which was also one of the reasons Armenians returned to their land. The next part will be about the exiles in 1949 and the adaptation of those that returned to their lands. The third part of the film will be dedicated to the emigration that started in the end of the 1950s, continued till the collapse of the Soviet Union and still continues.
– Why did you decide to cover this topic?
– There are several reasons, but the most important one is the rolling snowball of emigration that is growing. People are mistaken to connect this stream with the social and economic situation, and lack of jobs. I think that this project will enable us to find other reasons that are far in the roots of this issue. These are mostly issues that concern the relations with people and the state, people and their societal order, which will be finalized and formulated when the third and last part of the movie is done.
– What do you think the reasons of emigration are?
– In one word, I would connect it with the stuffy that does not allow people to breathe. People that are leaving from the country are not necessarily the ones that have problems with earning bread. Most of the people that are leaving have problems with the state, relations with their representatives and justice. It has been like that and it still continues to be the same problem and I think discussing the issue of returning to homeland will help us discover core issue. Do you know that for the people that were returning to Armenia this country was imagined to be like a paradise, and as we know in paradise usually there are not many problems. However, as soon as they got their foot in this country, they understood that this was not the dream land, and even there were a lot of problems that were difficult to solve and people did not care about. I think that now the most important problem out of that group of problems is the difficulty of self-expression. I mean this about the coming generations because the time and conditions have forced us to express ourselves in our times. In a word, we had no choice but to express ourselves. I don’t know what the opportunities of 18 years old young people could be in this swamp. It would be very interesting to know (sociologists should do a survey about this) where the young people that have graduated from universities are going to, and what is the continuation of a 20 years old man’s way.
– What was the impact of the events during the past month on the situation?
– If you mean the elections, those were shameful. As for the noise around the DIY club, I think the scandal was generated by the special services after the elections. I am sorry to see that there are people in our society who give a place to those manipulations. They would be better to lock the doors of that club for a while and simply leave, but not become the PR tool of the president or the object of manipulations of special services. The representatives of the civic groups had to go back at some point and refrain from being a part of that noise. They would be better to let the cowards that are calling themselves nationalists do that noise for themselves. The foes should have not been there as they had nothing to do there. Both diversity and tolerance to sexual and religious minority have been approved values everywhere in the world for a long time, and there is no sense to make it a toy in the hands of the government and play with it.
– What is the level of the society’s self-expression?
– I think that civic processes had to be more careful. The resolution of the problem of Mashtots park was a good example of that. I have great respect to all those groups but I must say that they are under delusion and the authorities were effectively using that delusion for their own goals.
– What would you say about the situation around the issue of the Close Market?
– Those that are struggling for the Close Market will win; I mean there will be mutual understanding. That will be not because there are people who really are about that construction as a monument, but due to the fact that unfortunately the old Yerevan is a philistine’s value. Philistines are ruling in our society. When people were fighting for the open-air hall of Moscow cinema, my friends were among those activists and were asking me why I was not joining them. I refused to join that campaign and other events of activists because I do not like processes, the outcomes of which are known and we know what will happen next. Certainly there should be civic groups. Civic movements must always be active, but those should not be governed by amateur mind. Such movements should result in civic conclusions; otherwise the fight may be senseless. For example, they took the boutiques out of Mashtots park. Would that group still fight against those boutiques if those were replaced for example to the area adjacent to the children’s railways? This should be changed from the bottom, I mean from the core. What I mean is that the government that is against the society should be replaced. I am surprised to see that many people do not want to struggle only because of the fact that they do not like the Armenian national Congress or its leader. If you don’t like the, you’d be better to make a change yourself instead of hiding your head in the ground and refusing to be a part of that process.
– Have you observed any change as a result of your work?
– In these conditions I have got used to the idea that I must work for one person. If it affects one person, I think that it is a victory. If we have powerful tools such as television, we will be able to influence many people, but we don’t have that opportunity. On the other hand, we don’t have the other formats of communication and networking in the society so that one link that receives information could share that information with another link and continue this chain. There is lack of civic forum. Many people are trying to create one, but they should think about creating the necessary conditions so that people join such forums voluntarily. For example, the Internet does not have too many users in Armenia, but compared to the past years there are more users and more clicks. Maybe this is an issue of surviving. I don’t know. Such forum should exist in the Internet, streets and universities. Young people came to that park from different universities, but what did they do to discuss the issue and make it a topic of discussions in their environments? I know that university environments are very sterile and those who gather in groups share common interests and thoughts, and it’s more like religious sects. Discussions should be available to many groups of people. The only thing that helps this government exist is not the army, ministry of internal affairs, nor the money; it is the TV that helps them stay on power. And this TV is close to third parties. Television is the most available source for the society. In the world the TV has started losing its significance. However, in Armenia television continues to be very actual and I think for the coming 10-15 years it will continue being the most available legal source of information. During the Soviet times, when there was only one channel, there was an understanding such as “a man of television and a man of newspaper”. And that person was the most legitimate and reliable person. It is like that now too, but this “man of Internet” does not exist yet. The newspapers have made their circles so narrow that this “man of newspaper” has lost the value. The only valuable man is the “man of television”. If the government gives one channel to the society, it will stop existing in one year. They can give everything, but the TV will be the last thing they may compromise. Robert Kocharyan was not stupid that closed the A1+ and other sources. His main achievement was the creation of a society, which seems to be democratic from the external world as it has all the necessary attributes such as the parliament, Constitutional court, TV channels with owners, but when you look from inside, there is no freedom…
– Have you ever thought about leaving from Armenia?
– I am sorry but I don’t understand that question. I don’t understand why the thoughts about leaving from the country have become a part of the routine. I think that question sounds offensive for every citizen.