YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—Families of Armenian soldiers killed in last year’s war with Azerbaijan have expressed outrage at a “large-scale and colorful” celebration of Armenia’s upcoming Independence Day promised by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Pashinyan announced on Wednesday that such festivities will be held in Yerevan’s central Republic Square on September 21 to mark the 30th anniversary of the country’s declaration of independence from the disintegrating Soviet Union.
“That will be first and foremost dedicated to our martyrs who sacrificed their lives for Armenia’s independence, security and sovereignty,” he said during a cabinet meeting.
The announcement appears to have angered many relatives of the Armenian victims of the six-week war in Nagorno-Karabakh that broke out almost one year ago.
Some of them took to social media to condemn it and even threaten to disrupt the planned event. They said that any pompous celebrations would be highly inappropriate in a country which is still mourning the war dead and has not yet found, identified and buried all of its fallen soldiers.
According to official figures, about 3,800 Armenian soldiers were killed and more than 200 others went missing or were taken prisoner during the hostilities stopped by a Russian-brokered ceasefire last November. Karabakh Armenian search teams still recover, on a virtually daily basis, soldiers’ remains from former battlefields now controlled by Azerbaijani forces.
Some opposition politicians and public figures added their voice to the uproar, demanding that the government scale down the Independence Day events.
Most people randomly interviewed by RFE/RL’s Armenian Service in the streets of Yerevan also favored a muted celebration of the key national holiday.
“The independence holiday must be marked but not ‘colorfully,’” said one man. “What does marking it ‘colorfully’ in memory of the dead mean? What is it?”
“It should be marked but not in the way presented [by Pashinyan,]” said a woman.
“I think that in these circumstances we have no right to celebrate any holiday,” opined another Yerevan resident.
The government has not yet reacted to the criticism. It has already contracted a private company to stage the festivities at Republic Square.
The company’s founder, Ashot Arakelyan, gave few details of the planned event when he spoke with RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Thursday. He said only that it will feature classical music.
Celebrating Independence Day is very important. This celebration is the duty of all Armenians. We finally have an independent country after 600 years of slavery in the Ottoman Empire, with the exception of a short lived independence in 1918. The ARF and many Armenians have religiously celebrated this short lived Independence of Armenia on May 18 for more than the last 103 years. That shows devotion and love for the country once we had, only for 3 years. If this is the spirit of our Armenian compatriots, then, why should we not celebrate our present independence and rejoice. If some of us are not supporters of Pashinyan’s Government, we should realize one thing… Leaders come and go, but a country always stays. Realizing this reality, we should warmly celebrate our freedom. The 5000 soldiers that were killed in the 44 day war will rejoice to see a free and independent Armenia. That is the reason they martyred their lives. Rest assure, they have not sacrifice their lives in vain. Turkey and Azerbaijan, eat your heart out. Armenia is a proud and Independent country. Happy Independence Day, Armenia!
You are right. Independence Day celebration is very important and it is a patriotic act. This day for our Armenian nation, with its tumultuous and tragic past, should have much more meaning than any other. It is also a day celebrating the resurrection of the Armenian nation and the Armenian statehood. It is a day to proudly celebrate the Armenian strong character and resilience despite all odds. Many ancient nations in the region with which we either fought or made alliances no longer exist but Armenia does.
Stateless nations dispersed across the Globe living in self-made enclaves and communities will sooner or later cease to exist as a nation but those in spite of their tragic past but with a state, a place to call home, will persevere and flourish once again. I really think the Armenian nation is unique in many ways in the sense that it refuses to give up, like many in the same situation would, and has the zeal to live despite losing a major part of its population and 90% of its homeland to devil worshipping non-native terrorist nomads from Central Asia. All these things make this day even more important for our Armenian nation to mark and to celebrate. It is a day of pride, devotion and renewal to our strong ideals and ancient nationhood.
I would not characterize Armenians as slaves to the genocidal Ottomans. In fact, I believe the opposite is true. These Central Asian nomads had no civilization, no culture, no nothing other than a vast expansionist army of killers under the banner of Islam and Turkish fascism. What little civility they may display today, they learned over the centuries from the native Armenians and other nationalities and ethnicities under their occupation. Their culture and music have roots in ours and others. Many of their famous architectures and landmarks were designed and built by our people. They are living the life they took from us. That makes them slaves to us and not the other way around!