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ISHKHAN FROM VOSKEHAT - "THIS SMALL COUNTRY COULD FLOURISH IF GIVEN THE CHANCE"
Grisha Balasanyan
hetq
16:07, May 16, 2012
Ishkhan Mouradyan and his wife live in the Voskehat village of Armavir
Marz. They are Yezidis.
Yezidis are known for raising livestock. Iskhan can only take care
of two cows. The joke going round in the village is that if a Yezidi
isn't engaged in raising livestock, he's turned into an Armenian.
For twenty years Iskhan worked as a movie projectionist in the village
and in Yerevan's Hayrenik, Moscow and Sevan cinemas. He's an outspoken
individual and says he'd work again in the village if the conditions
were there.
He also keenly follows political developments and says that he really
supported no one party in the run-up to the recent parliamentary
elections. He didn't trust any of them; even Prosperous Armenia despite
the party's many charitable works and the large following it attracted.
Iskhan believes that the situation in the country wouldn't change for
the better even if the Republican and Prosperous Armenia parties won
an equal number of votes.
"The Republican, Prosperous Armenia and Rule of Law parties created
a coalition, no? But nothing came out of it. I have no head for
politics. It's all a game and I don't know what to make out of it all.
We don't know where to go or what to do," Iskhan told me.
He's against the Republican Party entering into a coalition with
anyone else. He wants them to shoulder the burden alone and govern
the country.
Iskhan is convinced that our small country can be preserved like a
rose and that all it needs is some goodwill.
"The country has possibilities. Our nature is good, the water, and the
light and warmth given by God. What's missing? We're a people who like
to work. They just have to create some incentives for us. I really
don't see the difficulty of governing this country," Iskhan said.
Azniv, Ishkhan's wife, wasn't embarrassed to say that their son had
gone off to Russia because it was impossible to live in Armenia.
"My son would leave Russia today to go to a better country if he
could," said Azniv.
Iskhan complains that the government isn't paying enough attention
to the villages. He says that Armenia shouldn't have problems with
irrigation water but that rural residents have to pay through the
nose for it.
He joked and told me to film his clothes.
"Look at the holes in my shoes and the patches on my pants. It's a
frightening sight. I only get a monthly pension of 27,500 AMD. How can
we survive? We're both sick. The drug store has turned into our home.
I kid you not."
He told me that life in the village was dead. There's nothing to do
even though the cultural center was renovated two years ago.
"It's just a building. Nobody goes there for activities, discussions,
nothing."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Grisha Balasanyan
hetq
16:07, May 16, 2012
Ishkhan Mouradyan and his wife live in the Voskehat village of Armavir
Marz. They are Yezidis.
Yezidis are known for raising livestock. Iskhan can only take care
of two cows. The joke going round in the village is that if a Yezidi
isn't engaged in raising livestock, he's turned into an Armenian.
For twenty years Iskhan worked as a movie projectionist in the village
and in Yerevan's Hayrenik, Moscow and Sevan cinemas. He's an outspoken
individual and says he'd work again in the village if the conditions
were there.
He also keenly follows political developments and says that he really
supported no one party in the run-up to the recent parliamentary
elections. He didn't trust any of them; even Prosperous Armenia despite
the party's many charitable works and the large following it attracted.
Iskhan believes that the situation in the country wouldn't change for
the better even if the Republican and Prosperous Armenia parties won
an equal number of votes.
"The Republican, Prosperous Armenia and Rule of Law parties created
a coalition, no? But nothing came out of it. I have no head for
politics. It's all a game and I don't know what to make out of it all.
We don't know where to go or what to do," Iskhan told me.
He's against the Republican Party entering into a coalition with
anyone else. He wants them to shoulder the burden alone and govern
the country.
Iskhan is convinced that our small country can be preserved like a
rose and that all it needs is some goodwill.
"The country has possibilities. Our nature is good, the water, and the
light and warmth given by God. What's missing? We're a people who like
to work. They just have to create some incentives for us. I really
don't see the difficulty of governing this country," Iskhan said.
Azniv, Ishkhan's wife, wasn't embarrassed to say that their son had
gone off to Russia because it was impossible to live in Armenia.
"My son would leave Russia today to go to a better country if he
could," said Azniv.
Iskhan complains that the government isn't paying enough attention
to the villages. He says that Armenia shouldn't have problems with
irrigation water but that rural residents have to pay through the
nose for it.
He joked and told me to film his clothes.
"Look at the holes in my shoes and the patches on my pants. It's a
frightening sight. I only get a monthly pension of 27,500 AMD. How can
we survive? We're both sick. The drug store has turned into our home.
I kid you not."
He told me that life in the village was dead. There's nothing to do
even though the cultural center was renovated two years ago.
"It's just a building. Nobody goes there for activities, discussions,
nothing."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress