ABC Interview’s guest was TV host Erik Antaranyan. We talked with Erik about topics that were supposed to worry Armenian society most of all today: lost Artsakh, untold stories from self-defense battles, the issue of the return of captives… We also talked about media resources and their importance in the modern world.
– Erik, what are the “powers” of the fourth power today, and what can be done with them?
– Recently, we have started dealing with that term from a different perspective and with a different wording. One of the Defense Ministry’s spokespersons liked to talk about it a lot. He said it was a hybrid war, and it really was. During hybrid wars, the media fires along with weapons. We understood that the so-called fourth power, i.e., journalism and media, can also become a weapon, and if it really is a weapon and does its job, it has unlimited power. We achieve painful losses or desired results without a shot, just by following the propaganda, following the media; if the media does its job correctly, it means it has a certain power. Yes, it is a powerful weapon today. Fighting in the information field may be more important if diplomats fail and a war breaks out. Do you remember they say that weapons fire when diplomats are powerless? And another circle has appeared in this regard: The media does not produce results, the diplomats fail, then they resort to the use of weapons.
– You were working with Ruben Vardanyan in Artsakh. Didn’t Mr. Vardanyan foresee such a turn of events?
– Even if he knew about it, he would not disappoint us at all. On the contrary, he would cheer us, he would say that we were there to build a free, independent and happy Artsakh. When we said free, independent, sovereign, he said. “Add happy! Artsakh should be happy.” Even when Ruben was removed from the post of state minister, he preferred to stay in Artsakh and created the We Are Our Mountains organization, sincerely believing that something good could be achieved. We also believed that something could still be done. Months later, we can analyze the situation more dispassionately, but this was not what we had planned.
– Recently, I have heard from many people that we seem to be in free fall, that the bottom can already be seen, and once we reach the bottom, there is either destruction or rise.
– I wouldn’t like to appear pessimistic during this interview, but first about free fall. No, we haven’t reached the bottom yet; there is still a lot to go to reach the bottom. There is a silly thesis that in 1991 the situation was worse than it is today. Look, now we have electricity, gas for 24 hours, but back in 1991, we had neither of them, but look at what the situation is like today. I think we are suffering a rather serious moral decline now. We need a new spiritual awakening… We are facing a problem with the decline of educational levels now; that decline worries me a lot, because if we don’t put the brakes now, or at least we don’t pass on what we have today, there will be a real decline; we will fall to the bottom, and it will cause a lot of pain.
– During interviews, I often hear that we don’t know ourselves well. What does self-knowledge mean and what is an Armenian person like today?
There was a Russian philosopher who asked that question a lot. By the way, that question can be asked with regard to everyone: Who are Russians, Turks, Georgians? First of all, we must overcome the “Tigran the Great” complex; we are not Tigran the Great. Looking back at our past, let’s really recognize who Armenians are. What were they fighting for? Let’s not go far. Gen. Vazgen Sargsyan was utterly devoted to his homeland, but if we start talking about him, some will say bad things, others will say good things, but the result is one: That man did his best to build a powerful army.
– How would you describe Armenia to a foreigner in three sentences?
I would start from Jrakan to Polis… That’s how I would tell them about Armenia… I would introduce ourselves: we are people, and we are like this… Seeing a foreigner who has even the least interest in my country, I would tell him about human stories… When talking about Artsakh, I would like to be sitting near Gandzasar monastery and show the ornaments of the Gandzasar vestibule…
Interview by Lena Gevorgyan
