30 03 2008 - Dikran Abrahamian

Dear Reader,
Since the Presidential Election in Armenia and its aftermath the press, organisations and the public at large have been busy in anlyzing and reanalyzing what happened and why. Very few have proposed pragmatic solutions based on principles of democratic governance. Regrettably some are engaged in throwing more oil on a fire. The number of emails back and forth have exponentially increased, and the various on line forums in which a sizeable number of people both in Armenia and Diaspora participate are occupied more than ever. Keghart.com has received more than 2500 emails since the election. Unfortunately the vast majority was not transmitted through the <b>Comments</b> section and legally the messages cannot be made public without authors' consent. Some were thought provoking, but the majority were simply written in superfluous manner in pure partisan spirit adding nothing to the "national" discourse that's ongoing.

It helps nobody demonizing the various players, nor it serves any constructive purpose by uttering adjectives to describe people who organized and participated in the demonstrations. Name calling is the lowest kind of puposeful character assassination and deplorable. I would invite readers to have a look at the partial <b>List of Detainees</b> compiled by the Helsinki Association in Armenia. Check the dates, names, occupations, alleged criminality, place of being taken into custody and ask yourselves whether these people could have been "morons" or "hooligans".

In this issue of Keghat.com in <b>Armenia at the Crossroads</b> Avedis Kevorkian, based on a recent study, points out "If Armenia really wants to put the election behind it and get on with repairing its international reputation, it is time for the National Assembly to use its authority and change what has to be changed, challenge what has to be challenged, and resist what has to be resisted."

On the other hand the Armenian Council of America in <b>An Open Letter to the Armenian Americans</b> argues whether it is possible to cooperate with the present regime in Armenia and concludes, "An Armenia where the authorities capriciously infract the law, trample justice, and usurp the rights and freedom of its population can NOT be an inspiration neither to its citizens nor to Armenians worldwide."

Viken L. Attarian's <b>Why? Why? Why?</b> originally appeared on the 19th of February 2008 in 24 April discussion forum which is widely used by Canadian Armenians of all political persuasions and "independents". It was in response to a heated discussion related to multiple issues that concern Armenians in general. It was written prior to the recent events in Armenia and the pointed questions are worthy to be part of the present discourse. The piece is posted in Keghart.com with the author's permission. He states, "From a purely evolutionary perspective, we shall only survive if we deserve to. The shocks that would cause our elimination were and will continue to be external. However, the reasons that we shall survive or disappear are and will be internal only to us."

On the international scene the attention of Human Rights activists and supporters of democratic values and practices is on Tibet. <b>In Solidarity With Tibetans</b>I have tried to show some similarities between Tibetans' plight and what Armenians went through almost a century ago. I am not naive to realize that the global forces today are aligned in such an economic and political balance that a fair solution is far from being reached, and hence I strongly feel that "It is incumbent on civil society to hold authorities accountable wherever they are, because Human Rights and Liberties are almost always relegated to the back burner by states despite lofty pronouncements."

Views expressed in the above articles are those of the respective authors. You may read other items by clicking at www.keghart.com If you would like to submit an article please feel free to contact dikran@keghart.com and provide full name, city and phone number.

A friendly reminder: Please visit Open Letter of Protest/Article 301 and express your voice if you agree with the content.

Respectfully,

Dikran Abrahamian BA, MD
Ontario, Canada
<b>Riferimenti agli scritti in grassetto</b>
http://www.keghart.com/yourturn.htm
http://www.keghart.com/op56.htm
http://www.keghart.com/op57.htm
http://www.keghart.com/op58.htm
http://www.keghart.com/op60.htm
http://www.keghart.com/op59.htm
http://www.keghart.com/
http://www.keghart.com/protest.html

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