Preserving identity cornerstone of independence- Armenian politician

At a news conference devoted to the anniversary of the 1990 Declaration of Independence, the politician, who was at the roots of the pan-national campaign for liberation and revival, said he considers the period between 1988 and 1990 the most independent years in Armenia’s modern history.

“The country’s name was then Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic; what we have today is Republic of Armenia. With that declaration, we yielded to the trends of time, belittling independence. Armenia is the name of a geographic location, while Armenian implies responsibility for preserving the Armenian origins and traditions. That doesn’t absolutely mean a foreign national cannot live here with us, but the supreme interest has to be the Armenian,” he added.

Describing independence as the cornerstone of a nation’s identity, Manucharyan said he thinks that the states which manage to preserve their sovereignty enjoy a real independence by relying on their own history and the independence of their own people. In his words, major states take seriously only that kind of nations.

“We, as a country, never needed laws, as moral values were of a greater significance to us. We used to be named a ‘country of divine laws’, yet we kind of discarded thouse foundations, yielding to others’ [demand]. It isn’t certainly bad to allow foreign culture and traditions to develop, but that’s alien, not our own. So we need to create our [values], mutually enriching everything,” he added.

Ani Ohanyan