ARMENIA IN INFORMATION AMBUSH
Anahit Yesayan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on July 11, 2008
Armenia

We continue to introduce to your attention our interview with the
Director of the Museum-Institute of Armenian Genocide Hayk Demoyan.

"If Armenian party accepts the proposal made by Turkey about setting
up a committee of historians than we must ask them whether or not they
are planning to include those Turkish historians who are persecuted
by article 301 only for recognizing the Genocide of the beginning of
the 20th century?

We can also propose to set up a trilateral committee. There should
be a neutral side represented in the committee, in the person of
international scientists and scholars specialized in Genocides,
not to judge but to control the objectiveness of the discussion.

If Turkish party made this proposal to confirm their denial policy,
then it is evidently a waste of time for both Armenian and the
neutral parties. We don’t have time to spend on similar senseless
discussions. If Turkey really intends to get additional information
about their own history (because the Genocide of Armenians by the
Turks is not only the history of Armenians but also the Turks), then
we are ready for similar discussions; we are ready to allocate various
testimonies that, for well known reasons, have not been accessible
for Turkish historians and Turkish society."

"Recently during his meeting with the employees of the National
Security when Serge Sargsyan touched upon the role of our structures in
the information warfare with our neighbor countries, he underscored
that the National Security has lots of work especially in this
sphere. In fact the President attached great importance to this
sphere."

"It is a really important issue, because it is under the support of
the state in our neighbor countries. In Turkey for example, staging
information warfare is a school, with special persons trained in NATO,
who have skills in having psychological influence. These people are
in Azerbaijan for exchange of experience.

My observations of 5-6 years brought to a conclusion that the same
school is being formed in Azerbaijan. We are really wasting time. There
is a really serious counter-action for Armenia and I’m stating that
counter-action is equal to war."

"What must we do?"

"We must deprive Azerbaijan of at least one chance. Today 50%
of Heydar Aliev’s fund (headed by the latter’s wife) is intended
for anti-Armenian advocacy. But we can’t even use the abilities of
Diaspora in this information warfare.

There is another dangerous tendency: we are not trying to compare
our resources, energy and capabilities. Everyone wants to achieve
something separately, it is not right. We must be able to compare our
forces, to allocate money to rouse intere st for the working group
to work effectively.

But this process must be continuous, and not one-off, for example to
allocate money from the budget but only for one year. We must have
serious resources: a library, computer centers, the resources attached
to the information analytical centers must work jointly otherwise we
will not record any success.

Information-advocacy works should not be limited in announcements
only. We need serious resources, beginning from the schoolbooks up
to satellite TV.

There are amateurs but we don’t have specialists in this field. We
need grants to have at least 50 people working in this sphere;
otherwise we will be in complete blockade."

"We still raise the issue of opening the borders, but we can’t help
speaking about religious-cultural aggression. If in the conditions of
the closed borders Armenian’s are the prisoners of "mugham" (Turkish
music), what will happen if the borders open? Won’t we suffer more
losses, than gain something (for example Turkish goods)?"

"I understand the objectiveness of your panic, especially because
lots of Armenians go to Antalia for holidays. Of course it is their
right and I will not judge them. But each country has got a basic
document aimed at providing the security of that country. Last year we
adopted the document of Armenia’s Security Strategy and RA Military
doctrine. So it is high time to pass the documents stimulated from
the before mentioned comprehensive document: such as information,
psychology, and cultural security.

They should not remain only documents, the activity of all the
administrations must derive from those documents."