Your trusted source

“Just demanding the release of Jirair Sefilian, would be understoond as a friendly or military ambition. But also demanding [the President’s] resignation and creation of a democratic system through new elections, makes it a classic rebellion,” sociologist Aharon Adibekyan said during a press conference speaking about the actions of “Daredevils of Sassoun” armed group who have occupied the Police HQ.
This operation could be considered a terrorist act, as they’ve targeted secondary parties, who have no connection with the problem.

Mr. Adibekyan doesn’t think that the people will rise as a result of the group’s actions.

“Surveys have shown that Armenians aren’t revolutionary people. Answering the question of what they would do when their rights are violated, 17% said that they would go out on the streets and protect their rights by force, 25% would hold rallies. The rest would just watch. So it’s impossible for the people to rise up against the government, as it’s not in our nature. The only way is terrorism,” Aharon Adibekyan said.

The sociologist doesn’t consider terrorism necessarily a negative phenomenon. According to him, terror is the strength of the weak to fight against the strong. “When the strong is immoral, bad and not humane, terror is justified. Otherwise terror is never justfied, because those who suffer have no direct connection with the problem”.

Chairman of Yerevan Press Club, Boris Navasardyan noted that any nation can become revolutionary in certain situations. First of all the people need to know that they have a strong leader, whom they will trust.

According to him, the lack of trust and faith in leaders kept the people away from riots. “In this particular case, there was great scepticism, even though there was some sympathy for the “Daredevils of Sassoun”. This sympathy was rather weak three days ago. Whatever began yesterday was the outcome of the actions of the authorities. If three days ago there was the topic of Sefilian’s release, since yesterday another on mass violations of human rights by the police added up. The number of active and interested parties grew dramatically”.

According to him, today the authorities are facing a more serious problem. Today they should understand how to supress the public, which doesn’t trust the authorities and demands a regime change. Even though they don’t have a certain plan or leaders, they are more dangerous for the authorities.

“I think the authorities will use their traditional method of making them weary, and without a leader and plans, they’ll eventually go home,” Mr. Navasardyan said.

Psychologist Samvel Khudoyan noted that the authorities fear taking extreme measures, as in that case people will rise. According to him, the situation will be resolved through negotiations. “I think the negotiations won’t be publicized. The authorities will make promises, and reaching an agreement, they will surrender. They won’t attack the guys”.

In his turn, Boris Navasardyan added that the negotiations will be effective. “They’re doing their best for the negotiations to succeed. I don’t see any alternative to the negotiations, which I think will last long. But that’s the price the authorities should pay”.

However, Aharon Adibekyan thinks that concessions won’t involve both sides.
“If the authorities make concessions, it would mean that anyone can affect their decisions. If concessions are made by the guys, they’ll cease being heroes,” Mr. Adibekyan said.

Concerning the psychology of members of the “Daredevils of Sassoun” group, Mr. Khudoyan noted that he sees an unjustified euphoria in their actions. “I consider this a self-sacrifice. Yet it’s not the right time for this”.