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Interview with Vladimir
Chadoyev OK: We shall talk more on this later, but with regards to the Union of National Minorities, to what extent does the Armenian Government listen what you have to say? VC: Since our foundation, the union have been received by senior figures, by the Catholicos, by the Prime Minister, by the President, and by the Speaker of the Parliament. When he was Prime Minister, this is what Robert Kocharian wrote [in a letter] after I had a meeting with him:
Of course, while I speak of all this, it does not mean that we do not have problems. We have numerous problems that we report to government officials on all levels.
OK: An example? VC: When we brought up the problems that minorities have to Levon Ter-Petrossian, he agreed that the government had not done its best to solve all these problems, but the reason for this was not a reluctance to solve the problems but that Armenia was in a transitionary period, and facing many hardships. There are communities of minorities in Armenia that have statehood, and these minorities receive regular assistance from those statehoods. Kurds and Assyrians lived in vey unfavourable conditions because they did not have a country of their own to help them. First we should ask what minorities can contribute to a country, and then have some expectations as to what govenrment can give us, and look what Armenia is doing. Unlike the Baltic republics, minorities that did not speak Armenian received citizenship. I welcome this approach, it is very democratic. My personal opinion is that it is should be compulsory for a citizen of the republic to speak the national language. We don't insist that a citizen should know the national language very well, but they should at least have some literacy in order to write their name, or to fill in an application form. In the Soviet times the official language was Russian, and all the citizens of Armenia could speak Russian. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the tendancy was to use only Armenian. This was an extreme approach, and many of those who did not speak Armenian left Armenia for other Russian speaking countries. Many lost their jobs, and this is still a problem for us. We should assist minorities in learning Armenian, and we are pressing the government to assist us in this.
OK: If the union had existed at the beginning of the Karabagh conflict, would it have also been concerned with the expulsion and migration of the indigenous Azerbaijani and Moslem Kurdish population? VC: I am the son-in-law of a Karabaghi family. My wife's parents are from Karabagh, and they have their home there. When I went to Karabagh for the first time I was suprised to find that the area in which they lived had no drinking water. I am speaking of the time during the Soviet years when my wife's family in Karabagh would ask us to bring matches, salt, sugar, and lamps.
OK: Whatever the situation in Karabagh, the Azerbaijanis and Moslem Kurds in Armenia were not responsible. VC: It was the policy of Azerbaijan to ethnically cleanse Karabagh.
OK: The Azerbaijanis and Moslem Kurds were national minorities in the Republic of Armenia, and surely the Union of National Minorities would have had to be concerned by the expulsion of Azerbaijani and Moslem Kurds had it existed at that time. VC: That was a political game. Do you know about Sumgait? After Sumgait the Azerbaijani population left Armenia, and in this political game there were some who instigated propoganda among the Kurdish community warning that there was danger for all Moslems in Armenia. Many Moslem Kurds did not go to Azerbaijan, they went to Central Asia. As for what the union might have done had it existed in those days, I think we would have had real difficulties. Everyone was trying to save their own skin, and people would ask me why, as a Kurd, I had not left this country. I refused to leave. Armenia is my motherland. I grew up here and I saw no danger. I tried to persuade people that the Armenian nation would never persecute anyone or create problems for minorities on the basis of national identity. Time has shown that I was right. During that period I went to Moscow, and I saw many Azerbaijani activists involved in activities against Armenia. I was alone, but I had the courage to make a stand against this propoganda. In those days it was the same for everyone. Now I want to talk about the problem my union will raise with the government. Our legal rights are protected by the constitution of Armenia. Minority rights are also protected by international documents that the government has adopted. Armenia is on the brink of becoming a member of the European Union, and when european representatives visited Armenia to examine many issues, including the position of minorities, they found that there was no law concerning national minorities. Another problem is that minorities have no representation in Parliament although people contradict me by pointing to a female Georgian in the Parliament. However, she does not represent a minority because she has been elected as a representative of the women's movement. We think that the new law on elections should have the provision for two or three seats in the Parliament for representatives of minority groups. At present, different articles in the constitution are being revised and it is our view that the new constitution should address this issue of minority representation. We feel that there has been a change in the governmental mentality, and that minority issues will be examined more closely. In my opinion this is because we have new forces represented in government that are more democratic. In particular, I of course mean Mr. Robert Kocharian, a president who stated in his inaugural address that together with the Armenian nation, the national minorities should be happy and free. I want to quote his words: "Armenia should be a dear home, close to the heart, for all the minorities living here." This has been the case here, but we realise that this should be given a official status, and that in the government there should be a committee concerned with the issue of minorities. This commission has been established, and Paruir Hairikian is the head of this committee. I had a meeting with Hairikian this week and I made him aware that whilst there are no real problems with minorities there should be official representation under the auspices of the government, and the head of any committee dealing with minorities should be a representative from a minority. Whilst it may not sound modest, that head should be the President of the Union of National Minorities because we know what our problems are. We have a comprehensive knowledge of minority issues, and we want to take some of the burden off the shoulders of the government. In other words, we do not want to sit and wait, we want to do it ourselves. At the same time we also do not agree with the fact that there are no minority representatives in any governmental body. We feel that it is our duty to have an active participation in the establishment of democracy in this country - minorities should have a part in this. There is an earthquake zone in Armenia - minorities live in the earthquake zone. Last year representatives of my union went to the earthquake zone and had a meeting with the regional community. In that meeting the Ambassadors of Russia and the Ukraine were present, and my union raised the issue of international assistance in the redevelopemnt of the earthquake region in terms of unifying their efforts with the Armenian government for the reconstruction of the residential areas inhabited by Russian and Ukranian minorities. Presently, the branch of the union in the earthquake region is unable fulfil its role because we have no financial assistance from the government. For smaller activities like cultural events there is money because the sums are not large. For example, Levon Ter Petrossian granted the union five million dram for one festival. However, there is no well-designed, programmed, continuous and effcient assistance programe. Of course, financial assstance is not our first priority because we know the econonmic situation of the Republic of Armenia is very bad, and the living standard is very low. However, when a legal framework is created in the country for minorities in terms of a presidential decree, laws and parliamentary representation we will have more power and prestige, and we will be able to get financial assistance not only from the Armenian Government but also from other countries which have minorities living within the republic. We would be able to invest in enterprises, and to provide employment for minorities. As time proceeds we can see better what we should do. There is a charity among the minorities, named after Mother Theresa. Fifteen women driven by charity in their hearts have taken the responsibility of nursing mentally and terminally ill patients. The total number of these patients is 350. There are other charities focusing on this layer of society in Armenia such as the Red Cross but our union feels that it is our duty to also have a contribution in this. We appealed to the Minister of Health and on Friday I will visit him to thank him for providing medicines to distribute to the 350 patients. Penicililin costs 1000 dram, but we paid only 15 dram covering the delivery costs.The same is true for other medicines and vitamins. We realise that the Minister of Health does not give this money from his own pocket, and that it is from the grants given by international organisations, but what is important is that the Minister acknowledged the importance of our union by helping us. There are no laws or presidential decrees, but whenever our union has various proposals the government has always tried to assist in order to help us. Last year the Kurdish Community in Talin raised the problem of having no water for our cattle and sheep. They approached the union and Amarik Sardarian for help, and this problem was solved by the Government, and I see my position as a mediator between the minorities and the government. I have no offfice, and I have no car, and it is financially difficult to enlarge and widen my activities, and I work from early morning to late at night. I had a meeting with Vahan Hovanessian, an advisor to the President, for two hours a face to face meeting like the conversation I am having with you. After this meeting Vahan Hovanessian accepted the heads - all the leaders - of the minority communities. I can see a change in the attitudes of officials towards the problems facing national minorities, Thre are more than a thousand NGOs in Armenia, and the Union of Natrional Minorities is one of the most active. We have had this success due to our hard work
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