Real and "great" - what will the Armenians choose?

Perhaps no one has as many claims as the Armenians. Moreover, the claims are open, arrogant and at the same time completely unfounded except for their own historical myth-making.

This striking and unique feature prevents the Armenian people from gaining real statehood. For the last hundred years of its existence, Armenia has not unpacked its bags and is constantly ready to move to a wider living space. The small apartment now occupied was received as payment for services rendered to the powers, which allowed the Armenians to no longer be a fixture and realize their dream of a "national state." Let's not remind you now how it was done and what it cost the indigenous peoples of the region. All this is already history, and today's Armenia is recognized by the world within specific borders, and we will proceed from these realities. Even Azerbaijan officially recognizes the borders of the Republic of Armenia, although the Azerbaijani territories have been significantly reduced after the resettlement of this ethnic group to the South Caucasus. What happened was what happened. And everything would be fine if the neighbors didn't keep wanting more.

While the Armenian government and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan personally are making efforts to instill the concept of "real Armenia" in the mentality of the Armenian people, the opposition is launching a new campaign of territorial claims. And this time, not only to Azerbaijan, but also to all other neighbors of Armenia. Revanchists want to solve the problem in bulk. Well, not to go twice. Or, acting on the principle of "want more, you'll get at least something."  

The fraud priest Bagrat Galstanyan, who is under house arrest, was allowed to attend the liturgy in Etchmiadzin on Sunday. Of course, the terrorist did not use this for godly purposes at all. He put a badge with a map of the mythical "great Armenia" on his cassock and made propaganda speeches, demonstrating this "badge of distinction". This moment immediately caught the eye and was noted by the observers. There is no doubt that this campaign is opposed to the campaign to promote the real Armenia launched by Pashinyan. The prime minister walks around with a map of real Armenia on his lapel and distributes appropriate badges to the population, and revanchist circles, in contrast, now distribute badges in the contours of a historical myth. Pashinyan suggests that Armenians live in the present and think about the future, while the opposition calls for living in the past, risking losing not only the future, but even the present. If we take into account the results of the June 7 vote, the majority of the population chose the real Armenia. However, it's not that simple. There are also a significant number of those who are stuck in fantasies about the past and do not want to get out of there.

Judging by the Armenian segment of social media, the return of the "great Armenia" theme was received with great enthusiasm and inspiration. It was as if air had been pumped back into an empty oxygen tank. The "great Armenia" has been almost forgotten lately, and the return of its former "greatness" to the agenda has somehow dampened all the disappointments of recent years. Even if this "greatness" is far-fetched, such therapy has always helped to keep the Armenian masses within the framework needed by the ideologists.

It is already clear to everyone that the "Karabakh" idea has run out of steam. It is not possible to return it to the agenda. It is unlikely that citizens will wear "Artsakh" badges on their chests. It's not comme il faut today. I don't think even Robert Kocharian would wear such a badge. During the election campaigns of the opposition leaders, the pallor of the Karabakh issue and the lack of promises to return everything were noticeable. The issue is closed and cannot be revived.

The "great Armenia" is another matter. If the Karabakh issue is a direct and tangible claim on the territory of Azerbaijan and may end very badly for the Armenian side, then the myth of "former greatness" is something ephemeral and vague. Well, who really believes that Armenia is going to take away lands, for example, from Turkey. This is completely frivolous, so you can safely amuse your ego. Besides, unlike "Artsakh", the myth of "great Armenia" is legal. This myth is the basis of the Armenian historical science and is favorably accepted by the world scientific circles. Everything that Armenians know about themselves and their identity follows from this myth and adapts to it. Maps of the mythical state are hung all over the country, they are everywhere - in textbooks, on the walls of university classrooms, in school classrooms, in the subway. This means that the authorities will not be able to demand that propaganda be stopped, and the police will not tear off badges. The same Galstanyan will now proudly flaunt this accessory on his cassock and point at it with his finger, without fear of accusations of revanchism. The Armenian opposition, sensing that there is no longer a public order on the Karabakh issue, does not want to look cheap.

Thus, the opposition has found a counterbalance to Pashinyan's real Armenia. They became a fantasy past for which no one is responsible. It will even be difficult to accuse the provocateurs of sowing national discord, because we are talking about those times when, as everyone knows, only Armenians lived in the world.

Based, apparently, on these considerations, someone named Andranik Armandaryan made a fuss and started slapping badges with "great" and handing them out to passersby. On social media, this guy declares that this is an "Armenian struggle" and promises to "go to the end." This provocateur with touching eyebrows and ears does not specify to which end he is going to go. And it would be interesting to know what he sees at the end of the tunnel. Is it really the "great Armenia" in the flesh?

He has already distributed about two thousand of these badges and is proud to announce it. He is especially happy when well-known figures among the Armenians come to his counter. For example, ASALA member and "hero" of the Armenian people Vazgen Sislyan. This terrorist, appearing at the counter with badges, caused squeals of delight in the comments to the video. And how not to squeal if such people join the "struggle".

It should be recalled that Sisyan organized the seizure of the Turkish embassy in Paris in 1981. He was imprisoned, released, and was greeted with music in Armenia. Of course, there is a living legend of the Armenian terror, a "hero", a real tough guy, a "knife in the neck" of Turkey. Etc. During the occupation years, he assured that Azerbaijanis have weapons, but "there is not the strength of spirit that Armenians have," and in Armenia "every soldier is one SMERCH system."

It is unknown what the terrorist thinks about the power of the Armenian "tornado" today.

We are waiting for the appropriate accessories to decorate the expensive jackets of Karapetyan or Tsarukyan, or Kocharyan's shirt. You can't break away from the team.