WHO ELSE IS LEFT IN RUSSIA?
HAKOB BADALYAN
Story from Lragir.am News:
http://www.lragir.am/index.php/eng/0/society/view/28320
15:25 06/12/2012
Yerkir Media TV, which is very sensitive toward national and state
issues, showed a report from Russia the hero of which was the Russian
TV host Mikhail Leontief. This is the same Leontief who posted on
his blog several weeks ago his opinion that Armenia owes Russia for
its existence and if Russia didn't help, Armenia would not exist today.
It seems that after this statement, Leontief would be a persona
non grata among the public and especially the media. A society
with a state and national dignity should be very sensitive to such
encroachments because the chain reaction is typical of the media of
imperialist societies and if no reply is given to the first statement,
it will continue.
In fact, Leontief is not a persona non grata but a celebrity. Yerkir
Media televised Leontief saying that Russia is coming to the Caucasus
for the security of Georgia and Armenia, and Armenia should choose
Russia's help or the Turkish trap.
Is there no one else in Russia who could say something more reasonable
on the Armenian-Russian relations instead of repeating what has been
said for decades? Isn't there anyone else in Russia to go beyond the
notions of good and bad relating to Russia's policies in the Caucasus,
references to Turkish danger and stay tuned with time?
Isn't there anyone in Russia who will try to view the Armenian-Russian
relations as a mutually useful relation? Isn't there anyone ready
to say that Russia comes to the Caucasus not to save Georgians and
Armenians, as Leontief says, but to save itself? Isn't there anyone
in Russia who could refrain from saying something about Armenia and
Armenians from the height of ambitious agony of the empire but would
speak instead on behalf of the state's pragmatic positions viewing
Armenia as an important partner and ally?
Probably, there are. There must be a lot of such people in huge
Russia. The issue is not the lack of such people in Russia but the
psychology and dignity of nations that have lived as slaves for long
years. Decades of slavery do not result in free and creative partners.
There are such people in Russia, they just need to be sought for
and found and generated not only for Armenia but also for Russia to
render mutual relations a partnership between two sovereign states
where no one's dignity will be violated.
Does Armenia need either Zhirinovsky or Leontief, like the carrot
and stick, to get pleasure from one and get sober and "pull ourselves
together" from the other?
HAKOB BADALYAN
Story from Lragir.am News:
http://www.lragir.am/index.php/eng/0/society/view/28320
15:25 06/12/2012
Yerkir Media TV, which is very sensitive toward national and state
issues, showed a report from Russia the hero of which was the Russian
TV host Mikhail Leontief. This is the same Leontief who posted on
his blog several weeks ago his opinion that Armenia owes Russia for
its existence and if Russia didn't help, Armenia would not exist today.
It seems that after this statement, Leontief would be a persona
non grata among the public and especially the media. A society
with a state and national dignity should be very sensitive to such
encroachments because the chain reaction is typical of the media of
imperialist societies and if no reply is given to the first statement,
it will continue.
In fact, Leontief is not a persona non grata but a celebrity. Yerkir
Media televised Leontief saying that Russia is coming to the Caucasus
for the security of Georgia and Armenia, and Armenia should choose
Russia's help or the Turkish trap.
Is there no one else in Russia who could say something more reasonable
on the Armenian-Russian relations instead of repeating what has been
said for decades? Isn't there anyone else in Russia to go beyond the
notions of good and bad relating to Russia's policies in the Caucasus,
references to Turkish danger and stay tuned with time?
Isn't there anyone in Russia who will try to view the Armenian-Russian
relations as a mutually useful relation? Isn't there anyone ready
to say that Russia comes to the Caucasus not to save Georgians and
Armenians, as Leontief says, but to save itself? Isn't there anyone
in Russia who could refrain from saying something about Armenia and
Armenians from the height of ambitious agony of the empire but would
speak instead on behalf of the state's pragmatic positions viewing
Armenia as an important partner and ally?
Probably, there are. There must be a lot of such people in huge
Russia. The issue is not the lack of such people in Russia but the
psychology and dignity of nations that have lived as slaves for long
years. Decades of slavery do not result in free and creative partners.
There are such people in Russia, they just need to be sought for
and found and generated not only for Armenia but also for Russia to
render mutual relations a partnership between two sovereign states
where no one's dignity will be violated.
Does Armenia need either Zhirinovsky or Leontief, like the carrot
and stick, to get pleasure from one and get sober and "pull ourselves
together" from the other?