Diaspora was at it this week

Vaհe H Apelian

In fact, I was going to title this blog post of mine, “Diaspora was at it with full force this past week”. But that more expressive title would have made the title too long to accommodate. Surely, there is no entity called Diaspora that acts as a single body. I imagine interested readers have long concluded that the term diaspora is used as a single term for convenience. The “at it”, is made in reference to, at the state of Armenia.

For visual presentation I posted the Weekly’s front as it appears on line. The headlines of the five  prominently displayed articles are all about Armenia and at Armenia. You do not see an article presented to readers with such prominence to invite  readers’ attention about the state of the Armenian community in the United States of America, or in Lebanon, or in Syria, and for that matter in Jordan, or in Iraq and in the Arabian Gulf region, especially nowadays.

As to the clause “with full force this week” in the headline; it’s about the enlarged front of “assault” at Armenia this past week. Along with articles customarily posted about politics in Armenia, and more often than not, at Armenia, two other alarms were sounded this past week.  One pertained to “academic freedom” in Armenia. The other pertained to “judicial independence” in Armenia.

The alleged threat to the academic freedom pertained to the article by Hayk Martirosyan on "The Vance Syndrome and the Uncertain Future of the Armenian Genocide Museum & Institute.”

What is an academic freedom? A definition reads that “Academic freedom is the freedom of a teacher or researcher in higher education to investigate and discuss the issues in their academic field, and to teach and publish findings without interference from administrators, boards of trustees, political figures, donors, or other entities.” 

Surely J.D. Vance’s visit to Dzidzernagapert pertained to none of what is said to constitute academic freedom. I understand his visit is part of state protocol for visiting dignitaries to visit Dzidzernagapert.

Surely, from what is said about her, Dr. Edita Gzoyan is fine scholar. Pictures depicted Dr. Gzoyan accompanying J.D. Vance and his wife engaged in conversation with them. Let us admit that the Armenian Genocide Monument at Dzidzernagapert is for Medz Yeghern. In fact, the monument erected in 1967, is named so to uphold the memory of the Armenian Genocide. In Armenian, Medz Yeghern as coined by the survivors themselves. It is not a generic genocide monument. It surely has nothing to do with Artsakh issue where even academicians have not agreed whether whatever transpired in Artsakh is a genocide, or ethnic cleansing. I feel sorry for her. She became an inadvertent victim of protocol, and mismanagement.

As to the academicians in the Diaspora; hold your guns. Armenia is a fledgling democratic Republic. Help it learn and mature instead of jumping at her at her lapses, surely done not out of malice, but for the sake of their country Armenia, Diaspora Armenians'  homeland. 

The other burning issue of the week was the alleged threat to legal independence in Armenia. The article was put forth by the Armenian Bar Association and is titled “A threat to lawyers’ independence: Upholding free expression and judicial accountability in Armenia.”

Courtesy Armenian Weekly

The Armenian Bar Association has taken issue with the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) of Armenia, which according to Wikipedia, “ is a 10-member independent state body tasked with overseeing the judiciary, safeguarding judicial independence, and appointing or disciplining judges of the Republic of Armenia," because, according to Armenian Bar Association, “Judicial Council (SJC), a 10-member body whose membership is dominated by appointments from the current ruling party. In its statement, the SJC broadly admonishes lawyers to cease any commentaries deemed critical of judges.” I do not know how the 10 justices are appointed and for how long they serve and what is its make-up, to assert or negate Armenian Bar Association's assertion that its justices are dominated by the current ruling party, that came to power in 2018.

I am not a lawyer, but I have been in courts as a jurist, and for issues I had to sort at court. I also have viewed proceeding in the U.S. courts. From what I have seen on the news, I find the general conduct and atmosphere in courts in Armenia appaling. In the communities I have lived in the U.S., I have not read in the local newspapers, lawyers criticizing judges harshly. Out of desperation, our lawyer told me once that “the judge is not a happy camper.”  

To expect that the court system in Armenia to be on par with that of the United States is unfair. Armenian Bar Association will render much more valuable services if it helps the legal system of Armenia improve itself. Also, not to neglect the courts in Lebanon, Syria or elsewhere in Middle East that rule on the legal state of their citizens including those of Armenian descent.