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Sona Avagyan

Samvel Karapetyan – "We face a crisis of national consciousness, not an economic one"

Dear Readers: Samvel Karapetyan Responds to Your Questions

Many of you have responded to our request to ask questions of Samvel Karapetyan, who heads the Yerevan branch of the Research on Armenian Architecture NGO. Due to the large number of questions received and the fact that the answers graciously supplied by Mr. Karapetyan are detailed and extensive, we will be publishing them in installments, in the order received.

So if you don’t see your question here this week rest assured it, along with Mr. Karapetyan’s response, will appear in “Hetq’s” October 12 and 19 editions.

Dear Mr. Karapetyan, which historical monuments located in the RoA are in the worst condition and most in need of repair?

It depends on what standards one uses to evaluate the situation. One can point to 2 or 3 monuments or give a list of tens of sites. Sometimes, given the resources at hand, certain monuments cannot be renovated even though there is the need. For example, all the pieces exist on site and there are no questions as to how work should proceed and complete restoration can occur. However, due to a lack of resources, the best one can hope for is that the site be reinforced so that further erosion doesn’t take place. There are many such monuments in the RoA that can be noted – Bardzraqash Saint Grigor at Dsegh, Qarasnits Mankants Church close to Dsegh village, Aghtchots Monastery in the Khosrov Preserve, Havouts Tari Monastery.

First, I would like to thank “Hetq” for this wonderful opportunity to ask questions of Mr. Karapetyan. He and his team of dedicated researchers are carrying out important work. How can one make a donation to his organization?
 
I would like to first thank this individual who appreciated our work and would like to donate. Those who wish to assist us can get in touch with the organization. We have all the contacts –a telephone number and 2 websites.
Our organization has been registered in Armenia since 1998 but we’ve been around since Armen Hakhnazaryan founded the organization 35 years ago. To date, we have received no assistance from the government but are working to rectify the situation.

To date, we have relied solely on personal resources and random donations. I feel embarrassed to admit this since our organization carries out important work that has direct strategic importance (it could be any other organization as well). When we travel to western Armenia and look for fragments of what is left of the monuments of forefathers built, when we photograph, record and map this evidence, of course it first assists Armenian studies and other sectors, but it also has inherent significance regarding certain political matters; in particular compensation demands, the Armenian Cause, etc. I especially find it puzzling that those political parties or groups who purport to pursue the Armenian Cause aren’t interested in this work that we do. Individuals have shown an interest. Even certain church officials have taken an interest and I have good contact with some. But again, it’s on a personal level. The Armenian Church, as an institution, seems uninterested in our work. What I find incomprehensible is how such vital work, the collection of our forbearers’’ remaining memories, can be entrusted to the capabilities of a mere NGO? It’s as if we are being told to “just do what you can”. Every April 24 we go to lay flowers in memory of our innocent martyrs but never realize that the collection and preservation of their inheritance is surely the most fitting of memorials we can offer them. An entire government with all its personnel and others go to lay flowers, while at the same time they don’t even take the time to respond to our petitions.

Can interested individuals volunteer their time and efforts to help your organization here in Yerevan?

Of course you can volunteer. For example, every year 1 or 2 individuals from the “Depi Hayk” organization assist the work of our organization for a couple of months. Our experience has shown that these young people from the diaspora who have come to the office to help us out have not only become permanent staffers but have also resettled in Armenia and become citizens.

Do you receive any assistance from the RoA Ministry of Culture or the Diaspora Ministry?

We’re on speaking terms but we haven’t received any assistance from the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs to date. I actually would prefer not to receive assistance but rather to collaborate. I’ve never missed a chance to tell employees at the Ministry about the irreplaceable documents and information we possess and the potential we have at our fingertips to prepare projects for our diplomats, our foreign affairs and defense ministries. In some of our military units there are propaganda posters still hanging on the walls from the Soviet period. We could prepare really good posters that actually instil a sense of healthy patriotism in the ranks. I believe that our organization has any inexhaustible wealth of material that can be used to prepare material for five of our ministries – foreign affairs, defense, diaspora, education and culture. We are like a weapons depot and can supply these ministries with the weapons needed for each to more effectively carry out the responsibilities they have assumed; for the benefit of the nation It would appear that they have no comprehension of the potential weapons at our command. None of these ministries have ever approached us in this regard. It is quite an abnormal situation.

In your estimation, does the Armenian government pay adequate attention to the issue of monument research and does it understand the importance of such work from the perspective of national interests?

Just recently, in the Ministry of Culture, on a deputy ministerial level, a meeting took place that for the first time placed importance on documenting monuments still standing in the territories of historical Armenia. They also called me and it appears that such work will begin next year. I must confess such a proposal was unprecedented for me. Most likely the project will start off small but it’s a historic start. It’s like a dream come true for me. I always found it more than insulting that such work, with such governmental significance, be left to individuals and their personal resources. For example, on the left bank of the Kur River some 3,000 Armenian monuments located in about 300 Armenian villages in 12 administrative districts have been documented, photographed and measured. We will soon be publishing the results. We cannot say how long it will be when an Armenian once again can set foot on those lands; the other half of Azerbaijan. These are exceptional materials. Much of these structures probably no longer exist; like in Nakhijevan. But as Armen Hakhnazaryan would say; at least they are saved on paper. I have done all this for years at my own expense and always found it insulting that no one in government was able to grasp the pan-national significance of this work. It’s good that they are now coming around to the fact that we must recognize and document these monuments since we have lost our homeland and have only come to know a small part of it. The first generation of our researchers, Marr and Toromanyan had just gotten started and were too late. 1915 had already happened. Toromanyan conducted work out of his own pocket. We had a government in 1918-1920 and had it been possible to work in western Armenia I’m sure that the government would have assisted Toromanyan. But we lost the homeland first and only later had a government. We missed the opportunity to get to know it. Today, 90 years later, all we have are fragments, bits and pieces. But a people that respects its national legacy must also stand watch over and assume mastery of these fragments. These fragments are disappearing before our eyes, not with each passing year but with each passing month and day. In essence, we are in a race with time. Will we reach there first with our measuring equipment and cameras or will the Turks, who use the army to wipe out any remaining traces of our cultural legacy. As long as there are fragments to document attesting to our presence and culture on those lands our work will continue. The question remains will we complete the task before the Turkish army or Kurds seeking treasure. Thus, I can only smile when faced with the inaction of our political parties, whether traditional or current, who claim to be more patriotic than the others. (To be continued) P.S. For more information on the activities of Mr. Karapetyan and his team, go to: Research on Armenian Architecture.

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