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The Problem of the `Regions'
March 2 2013
My grandmother had studied at the Shushi Gymnasium until 1918 and she
had studied French in those adolescent years so well that she could
express her thoughts in that language all her life. My grandfather
studied at the Shushi Realschule roughly in the same period, and that
education was absolutely sufficient for him to work as an accountant
for a long time. Although born in Nukhi, my paternal grandfather's
ancestors, the Ter-Abrahamyans, performed religious duties in Artsakh
as ordinary priests. Those three relatives of mine don't perceive
Artsakh as a region of Azerbaijan, moreover the `Azerbaijan'
stereotype was never in the mind of any of them, and they would call
`Tartars' the Muslims living in their neighborhood at the time, as it
was common in the Russian Empire. Artsakh was a region of that very
empire in the same way as Yerevan or, say, the region of Alexandropol
with roughly the same level of development. The Bolsheviks' project
called `Azerbaijan' had a rather short history, and there is no full
conception of it in the genetic memory of us, the Armenians. I am
writing this not to humiliate the neighboring people; brilliant
people, well-bred intellectuals are as many in Azerbaijan as in
Armenia. I am talking about the psychological perceptions of our
people, particularly the residents of Artsakh. In the Soviet period,
the Baltic peoples would not accept that they were a part of the
Soviet Union; it was not a political position, it was a mentality.
When one would speak to an Estonian, for example, he would say, `Your
composers, your football team,' meaning the Soviet country and the
Soviet culture. No decision of the Central Committee `Against
Nationalism,' no KGB, no repression could change that conviction of
the Estonians, because it was basically not nationalism, it was rather
a lifestyle. And after 1985 when an opportunity was offered that
lifestyle gained political content. The same thing applies to Artsakh.
The conception of being a part of Azerbaijan has never been and is
still not in the mentality of the people who have been living there. A
communist leader or a villager, a labor or a teacher, those people
wouldn't accept Azerbaijan's dominance psychologically, and when there
was a need for fighting and shedding blood to prove it they took that
step without hesitation. The term `Azeri region' has never existed in
the minds of the people who have been living in Artsakh, particularly
those people who led the struggle of that region for independence. I
have known our beloved singer Ruben Hakhverdyan for almost 30 years,
and I am convinced that he is very far from regional or any other
chauvinism. He speaks of the real vices of our country, which,
nonetheless, have nothing to do with the origins of the leaders of
this country. Aram Abrahamyan
Read more at: http://en.aravot.am/2013/03/02/152690/
© 1998 - 2013 Aravot - News from Armenia
March 2 2013
My grandmother had studied at the Shushi Gymnasium until 1918 and she
had studied French in those adolescent years so well that she could
express her thoughts in that language all her life. My grandfather
studied at the Shushi Realschule roughly in the same period, and that
education was absolutely sufficient for him to work as an accountant
for a long time. Although born in Nukhi, my paternal grandfather's
ancestors, the Ter-Abrahamyans, performed religious duties in Artsakh
as ordinary priests. Those three relatives of mine don't perceive
Artsakh as a region of Azerbaijan, moreover the `Azerbaijan'
stereotype was never in the mind of any of them, and they would call
`Tartars' the Muslims living in their neighborhood at the time, as it
was common in the Russian Empire. Artsakh was a region of that very
empire in the same way as Yerevan or, say, the region of Alexandropol
with roughly the same level of development. The Bolsheviks' project
called `Azerbaijan' had a rather short history, and there is no full
conception of it in the genetic memory of us, the Armenians. I am
writing this not to humiliate the neighboring people; brilliant
people, well-bred intellectuals are as many in Azerbaijan as in
Armenia. I am talking about the psychological perceptions of our
people, particularly the residents of Artsakh. In the Soviet period,
the Baltic peoples would not accept that they were a part of the
Soviet Union; it was not a political position, it was a mentality.
When one would speak to an Estonian, for example, he would say, `Your
composers, your football team,' meaning the Soviet country and the
Soviet culture. No decision of the Central Committee `Against
Nationalism,' no KGB, no repression could change that conviction of
the Estonians, because it was basically not nationalism, it was rather
a lifestyle. And after 1985 when an opportunity was offered that
lifestyle gained political content. The same thing applies to Artsakh.
The conception of being a part of Azerbaijan has never been and is
still not in the mentality of the people who have been living there. A
communist leader or a villager, a labor or a teacher, those people
wouldn't accept Azerbaijan's dominance psychologically, and when there
was a need for fighting and shedding blood to prove it they took that
step without hesitation. The term `Azeri region' has never existed in
the minds of the people who have been living in Artsakh, particularly
those people who led the struggle of that region for independence. I
have known our beloved singer Ruben Hakhverdyan for almost 30 years,
and I am convinced that he is very far from regional or any other
chauvinism. He speaks of the real vices of our country, which,
nonetheless, have nothing to do with the origins of the leaders of
this country. Aram Abrahamyan
Read more at: http://en.aravot.am/2013/03/02/152690/
© 1998 - 2013 Aravot - News from Armenia