WHY THE STATE DID NOT SUCCEED

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12:47:55 – 24/02/2010

Stepan Danielyan: head of "Cooperation for Democracy" center NGO

Mr. Danielyan, what is your assessment to the situation in Armenia?

I think, the situation in Zimbabwe is preferable because there a
young nation is forming, their stereotypes do not have a history of
thousand years consequently they will perceive new ideas easier. They
have another privilege- they do not suffer from national swaggering
and institutions based on it.

The main question is what kind of country we want to build. And the
second main issue is what to do to build it. The rest is to serve
this idea. In order to be able to answer these questions, we need to
study our history and to see what hindered us to form a country. We
need to realize that we are a failed nation and have to seek for the
reasons in ourselves.

In my opinion, there are three main causes for our historical failures
– feudal system which eliminated the central government, our clerical
institute which eliminated the temporal power and the contradiction
between high human ideas and those declared "national". Only relying
on high values, a state can be formed. Today the history is repeating.

We need to know our real history to be able to correct the situation.

What are we doing now? Are we making reforms or an operation? Or we
are not doing anything in general.

Now in Armenia, restoration of the feudal system is taking place. We
have territorial feudal lords, feudal lords of different state
institutions, as well as those of various goods and services. The
state reform must eliminate the feudal system. Paying attention we
will see that the influence of central government is little by little
limiting. Replacing feudal lords became a hard task. We see the other
institution inherited from the history, the church, reviving and now it
is even forbidden to be criticized. The third historical enemy of the
state is the refuse of human values which are proclaimed anti-national.

In each country, the most rational structure is the government. Here,
it is just the opposite- the prime minister is propagating some absurd
and irrational ideas which he calls "Armenian world".

The Armenian TV air does not dwell on being a modern and vivid
nation, but a regressed and old nation having traditions. This is a
self-eliminating world vision. From this point, a new political force
in Armenia has to do what once Ataturk did in Turkey. I do not see
a political force in Armenia which would propose new discourses, new
world vision, new thinking, state and public terms, new interpretation.

Is the need for a new political force mature within people?

For me, people are a false category. People form society, nation,
state which are already political categories. When people are based
on system of values, a vital and developing governmental system is
formed which gives birth to culture and nation. Those, who bear ideas,
can force. We have to be a modern country with modern thinking and
innovations. Finland has a population of about 4-5 million, but it
is one of the most developed countries of the world from the point
of technology. Innovation centers in Finland are in villages. Armenia
is a country which has potential for it. Merely, there are spiritual
and mental chains which we are forced through text-books and TV. We
need to get rid of them.

There seem to be tries to form ideas.

There are tries but we are short of time. We are lucky that the
Armenian government does not decide the fate of Armenia otherwise
Armenia would have stopped existing long ago. Armenia is needed
geopolitically.

Are our villages possible to become centers of innovations like those
of Finland?

There are many dictatorial countries, where scientific centers,
universities and other centers of ideas are independent. Entering
any university of Armenia, you find a cemetery of thought. Here,
universities became the most conservative places. This means we do
not have future. Lately, the Education Minister visited a Yerevan
university and said student councils are to serve the church, as if
it was not enough to serve the Republicans only. The minister broke
the law.

Everyone wants to become modern. But how?

It is impossible in clerical system. The solution is easy: the system
is to be changed.

Interview by SIRNUYSH PAPYAN
From: Baghdasarian