Vahe H Apelian
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| MP Mher Sahakyan, car accidents in Armenia posted on social media. |
On January 13, 2025, the PM Nikol Pashinyan wrote on his Facebook page that he “was saddened to learn of the tragic death of MP Mher Sahakyan.” He offered his “condolences to Mr. Sahakyan's family members, relatives, and colleagues” Mr. Sahakyan was killed in a car accident.
National Assembly of Armenia reports the following about MP Mher Sahakyan on its parliemant.am website. Mher Sahakyan was born on January 30, 1988 in Yerevan.In 2008, he graduated from the Faculty of Law of Yerevan State University and worked as a lawyer. He had been a member of the ARF since 2016. On December 10, 2022, he was elected as one of the deputies representating the "Armenia" coalition faction in the National Assembly. He was married and had four children.
The tragic news reminded me of an article Lucy Deukmejian posted on Keghart.com online journal some seven weeks ago, on December 1, 2024. She titled her article “We do not need senseless deaths – Մեզի անիմաստ ահեր պետք չեն». Lucy Deukmejian is a Diaspora Armenian from Lebanon. She repatriated to Armenia a few years ago. Presently she is the editor of Keghart.com online journal.
I attached my abridged translation of Lucy Deukmejian's article. The. original is linked below. Բնագիրը կցուած է ներքեւը։
“Armenian news websites, in addition to political news, always report on two sad events that happen almost daily. Not a day goes by without us encountering two types of deaths that are not only senseless, but may be considered “suicidal” for a country with a population of only three million. These deaths also remind us of serious socio-psychological problems.
One of these two senseless deaths are the car accidents, which happen at an alarming frequency. If we reflect on the causes of these road accidents that take the lives of several souls every day, we find underlying factors that contribute to these senseless acts we do not need.
As far as car accidents are concerned, putting aside the possibilities of poor roads and insufficient lighting, some of the car accidents happen because the driver is under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or is a minor and/or does not have a driver’s license. There is also the issue of driving too fast, competing with other drivers.
There is also the issue of ignoring fastening seat belt. In the latter’s case, I would like to cite the following example. For many people, including myself, wearing a seat belt in a car is a must. Once, when I barely got into a taxi in Yerevan and fastened my seat belt, the driver immediately snapped and said: “You are definitely from the Diaspora.” Why this notion that fastening seat belts are only for foreigners? Despite the frequent reminders on taxi services’ cell phones to “fasten your seatbelts even when sitting in the back seat,” that call is almost always completely ignored.
As the Arabic proverb says, the reasons are many, but the outcome is the same, senseless deaths.
Studying the growing phenomenon of road tragedies, we will most likely see a problem in stereotyping, ignorance, and negligence. Many men are convinced that men have an innate ability to drive fast, that women are always bad drivers and a reason for having the men slow down the car they drive. Others do not realize that driving has mandatory rules to follow, and are negligent for themselves and for the passengers, or towards the lives of the other persons on the road. This is an issue that, like many other issues, is rooted in the collective mentality of the Armenian society, which requires vigilance and counceling.
The second kind of senseless deaths in Armenia is much more dangerous. Almost every day, arguments occur that end in fatal stabbings or murders.
Բնագիրը՝ Link to Lucy Deukmejian’s article
https://keghart.org/lucy-deukmejiandeukmejian-meaningless-deaths/
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