The Mayor’s Relatives Hurl Stones at Journalists Setting Foot on Their “Private” Farm

On June 22 the election for the position of mayor in the village of Geghambak in the Gegharkunik Marz was held. Gagik Barseghyan, who has held the post for nine years, was reelected. The election results however started a new wave of protest. The struggle for dominance in Geghambak has grown tenser and has pitted permanent residents against the “foreigners” and the “dacha” residents who have been legally registered in the village.

They add that he uses their votes to assure his victory come election time and whenever else there is a need for support. A group of angry women stated, “They have control over the village lands and are now electing a mayor for us locals as well.” These locals claim that those who vote against the standing mayor inevitably must answer to him and his family; in a word the Community Council, given that they comprise the local  council. 

Three of the four member Geghambak community council are relatives of the mayor - his father, Vikendi Barseghyan; his mother, Lyuba and his wife Anahit. The fourth member is his friend, Hovik Tovmasyan who is registered in Geghambak but permanently resides in Vardenis. Mayor Barseghyan claims that the fifth seat on the council is vacant due to a lack of willing candidates. Resident Goharik Sargsyan stated that, “When I heard about the elections for the council seats I wanted to present myself as a candidate but the mayor told me that the seats had been filled. He didn’t take my papers.”

The mayor’s father and wife also work in the village school, one of the few places where jobs are available. Both the club and the library, the other two institutions that fall under the purview of the community, aren’t functioning at present. Local residents claim that the mayor razed the village club and sold it as building material to a person named Manvel, who is in the construction business. Village resident Aram Afyan claims that, “I was present when the cultural house was torn down and the proceeds sold off.”

The residents of Geghambak are people forcibly evicted from Azerbaijan in 1989. Even though they have taken control of the homes and pieces of land that have come their way, for the past 19 years they still haven’t been granted the possibility of becoming  legal owners of the property. The way the villagers describe the situation, this is method employed by the Mayor to get back at those who don’t vote for him and to register their property as communal chattel, to sell and utilize in whatever way the Mayor sees fit.

We attempted to find out from the mayor who the community is kept informed of issues debated at council sessions. The answer, “We paste notices up on the walls of the mayor’s building so that people can read what’s going on.” A list of names and surnames pasted on the wall caught my attention. I assumed it was a list of people who owed taxes but the mayor corrected me stating that it was a list of villagers belonging to the Republican Party (Hanrapetakan).

The mayor stated that they have a three-year development program in the works. He declared, “It’s always the same story. In our ideal three-year plan, if it’s spring we envisage a bountiful crop band a solution to the potable water problem. The same points always appear. Out eight year-old school needs repairing and we have a problem with water for irrigation. Most of our water is piped in from 17 kilometers away and the system is in need of major renovation. With resources from the Regional Governor the village now receives irrigation water by way of a pumping station. Drinking water remains a serious problem. There’s only one tap in the entire village out of which water flows from some 22 kilometers away. We’ve applied to several international aid organizations but it’s an expensive proposition. They don’t want to invest because we’re a small community.”

Water is the number one problem making life for the villagers quite difficult. They are forced to haul in drinking water from the neighboring village of Shatdjrek, one kilometer distant.

As to our query, “What is the contribution of the Mayor’s Office in the life of the community and what are you able to do for the villagers?” the mayor responded that ‘programs’ are being implemented. “The World Vision organization will be solidifying the substructures of houses and they have allotted animals to the villagers, sheep for example. Families with many kids have been given three beehives. We have allocated the last 20 hectares of community land to an organization in order to plant alfalfa for the villagers.”

The question to be asked in this regard is whether it makes sense to pay several million drams in wages for any of this? Should the mayor be compensated for travel expenses back and forth to his “private farm”, for cell phone fees, etc?

According to Mayor Barseghyan, the village has a population of 150 divided into 28 households. This number has remained stable for the past five years. There has been neither outward migration nor growth. The population is mostly elderly, except for two families. The young people have long since moved away. Those who remain have come to terms with their situation. However, the mayor contradicted himself when he quoted figures from the official registry showing 50-55 individuals registered as being in the prime working age group.

The actual residents of Geghambak don’t agree with these demographics of the community. “They are just the summertime “dacha” residents. What ties do they have with the village? The Mayor has registered the names of his relatives as residing in dilapidated houses. These people arrive in April to make butter and cheese and they leave come October. People from Vardenis enjoy more privileges here than we do. They only come to vote in the elections and then they return. The Mayor declares - it’s my farm, my grant. Even while walking along the road, the Mayor points to it and says - this belongs to me. We are in the same straits as the servant Isaura in the TV soap opera. The village is divided into them and us. Who ever votes for the mayor gets on the “inside track”, the rest are considered “outsiders”. He hasn’t done one good thing in 9 straight years”, complains Hermineh Manukyan.

In a letter sent to the Chief Prosecutor in Armenia, residents complained that the Mayor’s mother had been slandering the good name and honor of young women and girls in the village. They also dispatched a petition to the President of Armenia informing him about residential homes being torn down and the materials sold off.

Given that these people don’t enjoy the possibility of leaving the village they have decided to take matters into their hands, free themselves from the servitude hanging like a weight from their necks and live normal lives. Viewing the mayoral election as a prime opportunity to initiate change the residents nominated their own candidate, Vardan Saghatelyan. “He lives in the village, shares in all our burdens and lends a helping hand in all matters. When the roads become impassable in the winter he plows them. When a child’s appendix starts acting up he drives the patient to the hospital”, exclaims Hermineh Manukyan.

Magda Davitova quickly added, “We were waiting for one certain certificate to arrive but we didn’t see the Mayor for months. Even if it does come it will probably be too wait and invalid. We are in the dark about most everything, beginning with the humanitarian assistance that is received and ending with the elections.”

“The Mayor’s father gets the pitchfork and chases the women and children around. The Mayor doesn’t deem to speak to us after the elections because we didn’t vote for him. His father once threatened me by saying, I’ll snuff you out”, states Aram Afyan.

We wished to hear what the Mayor had to say about the claims of threats and persecution made by the villagers. We didn’t have to wait long for an answer, for we too became the subject of those same threats.

Upon concluding our conversations with the villagers we got back in the car. Looking outside we could see a group of people off in the distance, shuffling about with apparent unease, waiting for us to approach. As we drew closer a stout woman and the Mayor’s father broke from the group and stood right in front of our car, blocking our exit. Before we even had a chance to ask what was happening, the Mayor’s father stepped closer to the car and started to shove our cameraman sitting in the front. We tried to pull his hand away but he grabbed at our arm and pulled away as the car was in motion. Seeing the enraged expression on the face of the father and the others we were forced to dispense with our work and leave the village. As\\our car sped away the assembled crowd began throwing stones in our wake.

A short time after this incident Mayor Gegham Barseghyan telephoned the “Hetq” editorial office and claimed that after the elections the village had split into two camps and that the “Hetq” reporter had left the village after only hearing from one side.

The situation in Geghambak is similar to that of neighboring villages populated by refugees from Azerbaijan. The village heads in some 8 rural communities in the administrative district of Vardenis actually reside somewhere else, mostly in Vardenis itself. Life for residents of these villagers becomes especially difficult in the winter months when snowfall completely blocks the roads. The village heads do not see or experience this because they don’t live there. They relocate to the villages in the summertime when, according to residents, they engage in raising livestock, in dairy production, etc, because they own grazing lands there.

Most importantly, these village heads are employed and receive salaries. They make the most from the perks of their official positions. In the end, these officials live a lifestyle that the average resident in the area can only dream about.