The Armenian Man of the Year

 Vahe H Apelian

Every year around this time of the year, the famed Time magazine nominates its man of Year. It features “a person, group, idea, or object that “for better or for worse” has done the most to influence the events of the year”. This year it nominated president elect Donald Trump. Naturally as expected, the nomination ruffled feathers. 

I have been keeping my own blog since 2017. Before blogging, I used to, in some regularity, post articles in Keghart.com, which is far more established on-line journal than my blog, although my blog has a good number of readers.  I will forward this blog to the founding editor of Keghart.com Dikran Abrahamian and its illustrious contributor Jirair Tutuanjian to read. With some regularity I do that too.  Reading it, they will find out that I suggest them to nominate Nikol Pashinyan the man of the year. That is why I refrain from heading this blog as “Nikol Pashinyan, the Armenian an mof the year”. I am hoping that that headline will come from Keghart. com.

I came across Nikol Pashinyan’s name for the very first time on Keghart.com. It must have been on November 27, 2010. If not that date, then its whereabouts. It was an appeal that I had not seen in any other Armenian journal, printed or online. The appeal read:

“We, Armenians living in the Diaspora and our non-Armenian friends, are deeply concerned in the imprisonment of Nikol Pashinyan, editor-in-chief of Haykakan Zhamanak (“Armenian Time”) daily in Armenia, and his treatment in jail. While Mr. Pashinyan’s voluntary surrender to law enforcement agencies should have been duly noted by the Armenian authorities, the veteran journalist has experienced coercion behind bars. We attest that these reprehensible acts of the authorities–aimed at silencing Mr. Pashinyan and punishing him for his political views–will have the opposite outcome, making the editor’s voice heard more forcefully in Armenia and in the Diaspora. Deeply concerned with the treatment of the journalist, we are following the “judicial process” with vigilance, hoping that he will be released soon. Meanwhile, we demand that the Armenian authorities put an end to the unlawful acts against him and ensure his security.”

Nikol Pashinyan was born in 1975. There was a good reason that the Keghart.com editorial board called the 35 years old editor-in-chief of Haykakan Zhamanak (“Armenian Time”), a veteran journalist. He was a 17 years old young student who was studying journalism when he started contributing to local journals and a year later in 1993, he founded his first journal “oragir” that became Haykakan Zhamanak (“Armenian Time”). The rest is a remarkable Armenian story.

Courtesy Keghart.com, November 27, 2010

As I blog - yes blog is also a verb - this blog, and yes, blog is a noun as well, I am reminded of the history that was made in Syria starting November 27, 2024, when rebel forces launched their first large scale attack on Assad’s forces in western Aleppo. By November 30, the rebels had taken control of Aleppo, for all practical purposes, the cradle of the Armenian Diaspora. In a stunningly fast advance, on December 5, the rebels took control of Hama, the city that Assad regime had once brutally crushed causing untold number of deaths. On December 6, the rebels took control of Daraa, the birthplace of the 2011 uprising against the Assad regime. On December 7, Homs fell and the next day, on December 8, 2025 Damascus and Assad’s rule fell to the rebels.

The world, and especially the Syrians, naturally the Syrian Armenians as well, followed this rapid advance of the rebels with apprehension having experienced the horrors of the 2011 uprising.

But at this moment a remarkable calm, orderliness, and jubilance that followed the fall of the Assad regime, prevail in Syria contrary to the dire warning emanating from almost every other quarter.  Syrian Armenian reports attest to that, as well. The Syrian Armenian schools are open, the Armenian Embassy and consulate have resumed their daily schedule. The rebel command continues on meeting Syrian Christian leaders and assuring them the  safety and the security of the Syrian Christian minorities 

I have a hunch that Keghart.com  lent a timid support of the Velvet  Revolution, and continues to remain timid towards the one time journalist in whose defense it came once, as the only journal to do so in the Diaspora. 

A few days ago, on December 18, David Davidian posted a piece in Keghart.come titling it  “The Syrian Game of Go Can Extend to the Southern Caucasus” with implied apprehension.  Well, it turns out his concern may very well end up being a welcome for the Southern Caucasus. Surely the Turks are prevailing in Syria. There is no Arab country that offers the better alternative for Syrians to emulate. Russia’s prospect is also dimming by the day in South Caucasus.  

It appears that the former journalist, Nikol Pashinyan has shown that he has a remarkable political intuition and is also daring to come with and pursue the crossroad for peace initiative he formulated and spearheads.

Nikol Pashinyan surely deserves to be nominated  the Armenian man of year, more so by Keghart.com than any other journal.