«SINGER'S DIPLOMACY» TRANSLATED IN ARMENIAN

In Yerevan, against the background of the post-election conflict, a new scandal is flaring up that could rightfully be called Turkish. No, this is not about canceling the Yerevan-Van and Yerevan-Istanbul flights, all the more so that this event very soon, for obvious reasons, was overshadowed by the bankruptcy of the Armenian national carrier, Armavia. Much more serious is the political dispute provoked by famous French singer Charles Aznavour, who also happens to be the Ambassador of Armenia in Switzerland to the United Nations and UNESCO.

In an interview with the French-language Swiss newspaper La Liberte he said: “My dream is to visit Turkey!... If Turks agree to open the border with Armenia, then I will go, even if the 'genocide' issue is not resolved. Opening the border will calm many souls. Oh, what a trip that would be!..”.

The singer admitted that he only performed in Istanbul at the dawn of his career.

However, it turns out that not only the laments of the singer were voiced in the conversation with journalists: "...It is necessary that the borders be opened. But it is also necessary that Armenians become stronger in the face of those grabbers who compel people to sell cheaply what little they have and to work like slaves". The singer today finds himself under a hail of accusations of "insufficient patriotism". The Swiss-Armenian parliamentary group reacted very strongly and emotionally, if not scandalously, to Charles Aznavour's remarks made in an interview with Switzerland's RTS that he "does not give a damn about the word genocide" when it comes to Turkish admission of the 1915 events.

It is not the first time that Charles Aznavour calls on his compatriots to give up on the word "genocide" if the interests of reconciling with Turkey require this. Back in the autumn of 2011 in an interview with the Nouvelles d’Arménie magazine the singer shared his opinion about the "Armenian genocide", migration and also relations between Armenia and Turkey. The website Armenia Today reported then that in response to a question concerning his remarks on the Vivement Dimanche TV programme about the term "genocide", the French singer said: "This is beginning to tire me. This way we will not be able to and will never reach success. What countries are protecting us despite the damage they take? Not one. France admitted what it had to admit and is not moving in this direction. Not one country will help us in this matter. Never". The famous singer said that Armenia will not be able to move forward if it remains fixated on the term "genocide": "Armenia is facing a greater threat, but everybody is obsessed with the term "genocide". I fail to understand how can Armenia move forward under these circumstances. What will this logic lead us to? Where are those people who criticize me for such views? What are they doing to help Armenia? Are they sending money to Armenia? They will not be able to teach me, it is me who should teach them".

To recap, back then the singer was subjected to an even more impressive harassment. There were reports in the mass media alleging that these statements were ascribed to Aznavour . but soon the video emerged which confirmed that he actually urged giving up on the controversial term. Let us remind that in the politicized circles of the Armenian diaspora the word "genocide" is considered key. In fact, the events of 1915 can be called the "Armenian tragedy", "massacre", "big massacre" or "Mets Yeghern", as Barack Obama recently did, but all of these neologisms will not have legal consequences. But it is different with the "genocide" term. Only immediate participants of the events can be put in the dock for "ordinary massacre". However, when it comes to "genocide", the Armenian political circles are convinced that they can demand punishment for Turkey as a state. Especially given that their claims are very broad, up to giving Armenia six eastern Anatolia provinces. It is for this reason that such extraordinary debates rage around the term "genocide". In a nutshell, Charles Aznavour's statements were regarded in Armenia as betrayal. More importantly, the discussions were immediately directed against the incumbent Armenian authorities. As Nouvelles d'Armеnie reports, the statement released by the Swiss-Armenian parliamentary grouppointed out that the remarks made during the interview of Charles Aznavour, the Ambassador of Armenia in Switzerland to the United Nations and UNESCO, were negligent and unsuccessful. "Mr Aznavour said that "does not give a damn about the word genocide", while forgetting that Switizerland has always been in the vanguard when it comes to protecting the peoples who suffered from this crime. What is more, Aznavour completely forgot that several days after his interview the Armenian delegation to the Council for Human Rights in Geneva had to pass an important resolution on preventing genocide," the statement reads.

Theoretically, of course, it is possible to assume that the Armenian diaspora has yet to forgive Serzh Sargsyan for that attempt to reach agreement with Turkey, even though as the subsequent events showed Yerevan was not ready for real concessions.

However, now even the pro-government Voice of Armenia contemplates: «The delicacy of this topic is obvious: we are talking about Charles Aznavour, a great artist and great man, the love of the Armenians the world over for him is timeless and cannot be revised. We are also talking about a diplomat who represents Armenia and who has lately made remarks that go against not only the position of the Armenians on Ay Data ("Armenian trial over Turkey" - editorial note), but also the official policy of the state of Armenia». In the opinion of the newspaper, "this begs the question: on whose behalf is Charles Aznavour voicing this position - on behalf of himself or the Armenian Republic? It is one thing if singer and public figure Aznavour holds the opinion that we have to "not give a damn about the word 'genocide', but it is quite different if stated publicly by the plenipotentiary ambassador of Armenia in the Swiss Confederation - this is a completely different, state level. Should we assume that the official who has the powers to represent Armenia in a foreign country in this case speaks on behalf of the country that he represents?” In addition, the newspaper has no doubts that "position of Aznavour-diplomat no longer suits the state policy of the Armenian Republic. Therefore, there can be only one decision. Otherwise, the Armenian public will soon repeat the question of the Swiss MPs: what are the true motives of not just Charles Aznavour, but - and this is much more important - of the Armenian government?".

Certainly, it is possible that this is no more than a coincidence. But what happened is that Charles Aznavour's remarks were made at a very inconvenient moment. Armenia started preparations for the centennial anniversary of the "Armenian genocide" in 2015. Almost no time is left until 24 April 2013 when the same Barack Obama will be expected and asked to call the 1915 events a "genocide". Or attempts will be made to push through the US Congress the new "Armenian resolution". And Armenia realizes that this time they will have to deal with a less than favourable situation. Just before the April «review» Barack Obama achieved during his visit to the Middle East what seemed impossible - the Israeli prime minister offered official apologies to Turkey over the attack on the Mavi Marmara vessel. This development brought about a lot of "food for thought". First, the USA demonstrated that for them Ankara is too valuable an ally to "twist their arms" even for the sake of Israel. Second, Turkey has substantially more chances to ensure the support of the Jewish lobby. Third, given the events in Syria and the Iranian crisis the influence and role of Turkey became too strong. We can also cite a fourth, tenth or twentieth reason, but the conclusions will be the same: Washington is not about to risk relations with Ankara over "Armenian priorities". And suddenly such a blow, especially coming from «the most famous Armenian on the planet» as Aznavour was called quite recently!

And remarkably this took place at the point when the behind-the-scenes struggle in Yerevan has strengthened. The rallies of Raffi Ovanesyan are gradually waning, but Serzh Sargsyan hardly feels too comfortable in the presidential seat. In addition, he cannot fail to realize that the protest sentiments did not disappear. Given the accumulation of social and economic problems, they will only grow. And if even foreign policy successes are nowhere to be seen, then it is certainly not the best time to report a victory.

yJudging from many signs, an under-the-carpet struggle has begun in the team of Serzh Sargsyan and most of all it reminds a search for a scapegoat. This role, to all appearances, has been reserved for… Armenian Foreign Minister Edvard Nalbandyan. At any rate, this is the theory put forward by the Yerevan newspaper Avangard, which even named the successor, Vigen Sargsyan, currently the head of Serzh Sargsyan's administration. The scandal concerning Charles Aznavour fits perfectly into this scheme.

Yet, something much more important remains behind the scenes in all of this. Judging from the events, there is an increasing number of Armenians who begin to ask pointed questions: is not the cult of mythic "1915 genocide" proving too costly?

However, unfortunately, it is not them who determine the political climate among Armenians.