ARMEN HAROUTIUNIAN: THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY OUT OF THIS SITUATION: TOGETHER HAND IN HAND
Noyan Tapan
Feb 27, 2008
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 27, NOYAN TAPAN. "Being a post-totalitarian,
post-Soviet country I regret to say that we have not completely got
rid of totalitarian values yet and for a long time are not ready
either for tolerance or dialogue or cooperation," Armen Haroutiunian,
the RA Ombudsperson, stated during his February 27 meeting with
journalists at the Urbat club. He noted that sometimes everybody
considers that they are bearers of absolute truth, everybody speaks
about democracy, but democracy itself is based on the very tolerance,
dialogue, and cooperation.
The Ombudsperson said that today some citizens go to rallies in
the country, some citizens do not go: "All they are members of our
society, the rights and freedoms of all of them should be equally
protected and secured." He gave assurance that one must not take
a way, in consequence of which one of society’s parts feels alien
and defeated. "Today I have a deep conviction that we all have one
enemy, that is intolerance and polarization," the Ombudsperson said
emphasizing that these phenomena should be removed from political
culture, should be eradicated. A. Haroutiunian said that no one is
interested today in the circumstance who was right at the beginning
of the 20th century, whether ARFD or Bolsheviks, but we all understand
that the army and the statehood were disorganized as a result of it. A
political will should be by all means shown to the real reasons of
today’s phenomena and their solutions," he said.
The Ombudsperson welcomed newly elected President Serge Sargsian’s
speech made the day before, which was "based on the very tolerance and
readiness for a dialogue." He called everybody, media, politicians,
for being guided by a similar system of values, as "sometimes I form
an impression that today in society we as if have forgotten that
there are such categories as love, wisdom, mutual belief." He called
all political figures, all citizens for stopping for a moment and
listening to each other: the statehood, society and the country we
wish to built should be started from the smallest thing, "we should
have an ability to listen to those, to whom we do not agree." The
Ombudsperson gave assurance that there is no politician, political
force, citizen, who is the bearer of the absolute truth and who should
introduce a culture of listening to another. "There is only one way
of coming out of this situation with dignity, together hand in hand,
I do not see any other way. No one will help us, we should give this
solution together," Armen Haroutiunian said.