Recently, many of our readers (like-minded people) have been asking an interesting and extremely important question: do we, the Armenians, mean something to humanity and what can we give it as a future nation?
The initial, quite predictable, reaction to such a question is accusations of unleashing senseless and useless philosophical debates. In fact, this is a critically important matter.
Why did we emerge as an distinct civilisation in the first place and what is the purpose of our collective existence?
The answer to this question goes far beyond theoretical philosophy, defining our value and functional practicality. However, before formulating it, we need to be clear about the fundamental principle: everything that is born has essential quality, and it dies because of inability to recognise, accept, and use that essential quality effectively, i.e. to survive and prosper.
We have repeatedly noted that the mission of any nation is to preserve, protect and enhance its heritage. Heritage as a construct consists of two key building blocks: culture (language, religion, customs and traditions) and history (victories and triumphs, defeats and tragedies). As an ancient people with a colossal collective life experience, we have reached the 21st century with our unique heritage that has left its mark all over the planet.
What is the uniqueness of this heritage? Firstly, it is of constructive nature. In other words, we, as a people, formed as a result of creative (constructive) rather than disruptive (destructive) activities. Our epic narratives and history are about creation, integration and vitality. We are neither invaders, nor enslavers, nor punishers. Despite all the allure of it, we did not create analogues of pan-Arabism, Pan-Osmanism, pan-Turkism, pan-Romanism, pan-Slavism or Pax Romana.
So, Armenians are an important constructive part of the universe, which is valuable in itself. And our existence in this world is necessary, at least, to maintain a balance between the worldviews (concepts) of creation and destruction. Around Mount Ararat, where our ethnic group originated and formed, there was a resurrection of life which created a new world after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Ararat as a constructive concept). Our ancestor, the rebellious Hayk, defeated Bel, who sought to enslave and destroy. The younger Mher (the son of David of Sassoun) is locked in a cave and will remain there until rebirth and the formation of a new just world.
The Young Janissaries, who systematically undermined our identity and belief in our own strength, will say that all these are myths and legends. This is probably because the Turkish world has been trying, over two centuries now, to sweep us aside and do everything to prevent Mher from getting out of the cave: first in Western Armenia, where he has remained imprisoned, then in Artsakh, and even in the imitative and delusional ‘Real Armenia’. However, something else is more important: epic narratives and mythology are products of reality, and their conception and continued presence in human imagination is a sign of advanced development and complexity of society, and not every ethnic group has it. The myth is perceived as an exclusively negative phenomenon only by uneducated pathological liars.
No matter how hard the latter try, ‘Real Armenia’ will never become part of an epic, since an epic is a story that is composed by many generations over centuries. An epic is always about its origin and its meaning – and not about abandoning it and denying its mission. An epic is a reflection of a nation’s wishes, values and aspirations, a vision of their own place and role in this world. An epic cannot be dictated through controlled yellow media and state television. Finally, our epic is a story with an eye to the future, which the Turkish colony does not have. The Armenian civilisation completed the narrative of its epic before the 10th century, long before the Turks appeared in our birthplace, in Armenian Highlands, and there is no room for an alternative conclusion.
Secondly, we represent the restraining core, a sort of Katechon of this world, designed to prevent the triumph of destruction and chaos. In our previous article, we wrote that the civilisational arteries of all mankind converge in the Greater Middle East. The biblical paradise was also located there, where man first sinned, unable to resist the destructive force. Our civilisational centre, the Armenian Highlands, serves in every sense as a natural barrier protecting this region from external destruction.
The fact that the total reshaping of the Greater Middle East in particular and of the global order in general has once again begun with us does not at all mean that we are doomed to be a pawn in this confrontation among the centres of power. On the contrary – this proves that we are not performing our mission to contain and repel destructive forces.
The weakening of the Armenian factor is costly for the countries of the region – and so too for the world, since there is not a single country that has not been affected by the escalation of the Iranian-Israeli conflict. We can continue to deny reality and give away territories and influence, hoping that someone will defend for us the skies riddled with shells, bombs and missiles. However, the laws of physics are adamant against illusions: it is impossible to resist the increasing pressure by reducing the area of own foothold.
The minimum task is to gain foothold before the sky falls on us. There is no equivalent of Atlas in Armenian mythology – only through our own efforts, we can put ourselves in order, and then – the fragile world. Otherwise, there would indeed be no point in our existence as a collective social unit. Creative constructing will require strength, discipline, and an ability to mobilise quickly. Finally, it requires honesty with oneself: we can no longer afford naive activity and false orientations. The just world that we are destined to aspire for, and for which the Younger Mher will return to us, can only be established by protecting our own legacy. In a falling plane, people first put a mask on themselves, and only then on their beloved child.
We are, however, voluntarily sacrificing our own destiny for the prosperity of not just someone else, but for the mortal the enemy. We are told that we are a small people, doomed to live under the heel of other forces, eternal bearers of anti-values of destruction and subjugation. And the more they try to convince and conquer us, the more obvious it becomes how desperately they need us to believe them. It is high time to get out of this artificially imposed narrative and return to what we do best: building the eternal. This time we have to build a nation and a state. Only with such priorities we will retain the right and the opportunity to continue creating.
