I Can't Stay Silent and Not Speak About This: Edmon Marukyan

Special envoy Edmon Marukyan writes on his Facebook page, "Since returning from Artsakh, one thought has been tormenting me, and I can't stay silent and not speak about this issue. I have interacted with around a hundred residents of Artsakh and answered their pressing questions. As a result of these interactions, I realized that a range of state-disintegrating statements are firmly circulating in Artsakh: 'Armenia has washed its hands of Artsakh,' 'You have decided to hand over Artsakh to Azerbaijan,' 'They don't want us to unite and be one homeland,' and so on.

As I began to refute these theses with specific examples of actions taken, people were surprised. I mentioned that only this year we are providing around 144 billion in support; last year we provided even more, not counting other types of assistance. So how can it be said that Armenia has washed its hands of us? What are you talking about?

Then I started to inquire where these rumors were coming from and taking root. Everyone unanimously insisted that they heard it on television. I asked, which channel, which media outlet? During the conversation, many insisted they were watching the 5th channel and also reading news from various websites.

Now I want to understand: if a media outlet occupying public multiplex is convincing the residents of Artsakh that Armenia has abandoned them, washed its hands, betrayed them, and does not want to provide support, who benefits from the rooting of such narratives in Artsakh? Who benefits from spreading divisive narratives among different segments of our population? I thought I would say stop, don’t do such things, and so on. Then I realized it was in vain; nothing would stop until we understand how our enemies treat us and what methods they employ against our people. In other words, the public multiplex, owned by the state or the people, is being used to conduct propaganda that divides the people and turns them against each other."