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| Great way to sum up today...with Paul Vartan. |
9 April 2013. The date of the Presidential inauguration of
Armenia. Far from honorable or majestic, Mr. Serzh Sargsyan toasted to a
continuation of his glorious 5 years as Armenia’s demon lord Voldemort. Not
sure how many goons attended his façade, but the number couldn’t compare to the
amount of people gathered at Liberty Square to inaugurate the President that
they elected, Raffi Hovannisian.
I’ll try to give a play by play, as I was present for a lot
of the chaos that proceeded. At 11 am, the people gathered at Liberty Square to
begin the celebration and welcoming of President Hovannisian. Hovannisian
delivered a somewhat lengthy speech, accompanied by a ‘people’s oath’, where he
was sworn in as the elected official. He announced at the end of his speech
that he would continue the demonstration at 6pm, where the people would march
to the presidential palace at Baghramyan 26 to confront the usurper demon lord.
The energy level at the meeting was very high, and the people were disappointed
that there wasn’t anything for them to do ‘hima’ (now). I stood there –
confused and trying to figure out what was going on. Raffi told the people to
go home, eat something, take care of their kids, and then return at 6pm. The
decision to postpone the continuation until 6 pm was highly controversial, and
in my opinion, not well planned. Somehow a march started, where Raffi led the
troops all around the city.
This city tour started at about 2 pm. We marched through
Northern Avenue, down to the Republic Square and stopped at the Stepan
Shahumian statue. I couldn’t get a handle on how many people joined the march,
but the crowd increased as we walked up Mashdots at around 2:30. The road was
closed off, presumably for Serzh and his army (actually Armenia’s army). The tourist
police held their line to prohibit citizens from walking on the street. Team
Raffi was encouraging onlookers to join the march, to end their self driven despair.
I think sometimes being young and a woman can be just the right combination to
get people moving. Yelling ‘yegek, miatsek!’ (come together) while making eye
contact with a person really puts the pressure on them to make the next move.
They’ll either close the door to their apartment, or nod their head and come
down and join the movement. Getting people to take matters into their own hands
is a new concept in Armenia so progress is slow.
The walk continued to Proshyan street, where the crowd got rained
on. We were stopped at the Demirchyan/Proshyan intersection by police and
special forces, prohibiting Raffi from continuing up to Baghramyan. One of the most memorable quotes from this spot is "We are the Armenians and they [police] are the Turks!"
The
rent-a-cops encroached on Raffi and the people as I made obnoxious comments to
police officers. The rain, thunder, and lightning only added suspense to this
bleak outlook. I stood with a friend, Vartan, determined to see this thing
through. Eventually we continued down Demirchyan, another street that leads to
Baghramyan. I thought to myself, ‘great, I can run upstairs and get some water
and a sweatshirt’. Coming around the curve, we found ourselves once again
blocked off by police – this time with metal riot shields. I don’t know if
anyone found them intimidating, but I couldn’t control the troll in me and took
a picture in front of them. So far the march was peaceful – the police didn’t
do much except watch and tell people to follow arbitrary rules that probably
don’t exist.
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| Round one - the star locates where we were blockaded by police. |
We made it back to Liberty Square, where I split off with
some of Raffi’s family and friends to grab a bite to eat. Amongst such kind and
loving people, I allowed myself to inhale a gyro. It’s incredible that we even
made it to 4 pm without food or water. At least for me…I tend to get grumpy when
I’m hungry. At around 5:30, we reconnected with Raffi and some of his friends
who happen to be my mutual friends of my dad from like 30 years ago (Hi Raffi
Sarafian!). We walked together, arm in arm, to Liberty Square, where Raffi
would address the people again as planned.
I had the pleasure of being somewhat of a security force
around the podium and stage area where Raffi speaks. It is incredible how many
people don’t respect boundaries. Old ladies and drunk guys were constantly
encroaching on our border, each one thinking they have some sort of right to
stand wherever the heck they want. There was one old guy in particular – he was
not listening to our demands for him to step back and shut up. I could feel my
arms tightening up in anger. I looked at him with my infamous death glare and
told him to walk back. With Raffi S. and Larisa, friends of the family, we held
our ground. While the crowd seemed somewhat weaker than before, Raffi announced
something about continuing our demands on Friday, when the crowd booed
demanding that something be done now. He then announced that we would be
walking to the palace then and now.
The mass was just as crazy as you would picture at a music
festival. We originally wanted to stay close to Raffi and Armenouhi but couldn’t
get through because of the uncontrollable crowd. Larisa and I grabbed arms and
tried not to get trampled. We ran past the cars on Sayat Nova to get in front
of the crowd. Upon doing so, we got closer and closer to Baghramyan 26, where a
riot shield force 4 layers deep was waiting for us. Since I am a Call of Duty aficionado,
I know just what to do – a sticky grenade and claymore should do the trick!
(Just kidding of course…but really)
We were on the left side of the mass, while Raffi, Garin,
Alec, and Armenouhi were in the middle. Some people began throwing rocks and
things at the riot squad to provoke them. The mob pushed their way into the
squad, trying to breach. We got shoved around and decided to not get trampled
just yet. The riot squad warned us and told us to move back. I was astonished
frankly, that they would threaten two women who weren’t doing anything. Someone
even asked the guards – “Would you hit this old man? Would you hit these women?”
Without hesitation, they answered ‘yes’. The shields slammed into our bodies.
Larisa and I held our ground and used our weight and muscle as leverage to push
back and not fall. I bet those guards were surprised – and hopefully afraid –
of two skinny women!
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| Riot Shield squad vs. CITIZENS |
Thankfully we didn’t get hurt. At this point, we hadn’t seen
or heard from Garin or Alec in a while. Larisa’s phone battery died, so we used
my phone to best keep in touch with what was going on. Somehow in all the
chaos, Alec got arrested, one of the opposition’s highest leaders had his nose
broken, and several others were injured. Raffi and several others were led back
down towards Opera, when we later found out that they had walked to the
Genocide Memorial, some 4 miles away. Half of the crowd joined them, while a
couple thousand stayed with the riot wall, attempting a sit in. Several hours
pass. At 10pm, we were rejoined by Raffi and Garin – even though we were told
only 5 minutes previously to go back to Opera, where they would be. Dodging
massive cameras and media clowns, we got close enough to show that we are okay
and ready for more!
Eventually the guards ‘let’ us walk up Baghramyan – although
not on the side of the palace, and we were supposed to stay on the sidewalk for
‘our own safety’. I presume safety doesn’t apply to riot shields. See, I always
liked using the riot shield on Call of Duty because it annoyed people. I guess
I kinda know what it is like now. +100…wait for it…fucking riot shielder!
The walk proceeded again past my house, which was so
tempting, but alas I continued with team Raffi down to the square. Armenouhi
embraced me and gave me a very thankful hug. The team exchanged hugs and
goodnights and we parted ways, waiting what the next days would bring.
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| Star is where the 4 layer riot shields were. We doubled back down past the palace on the way back. |
The day’s decisions are up for debate and complains, but
that’s none of my business. Questions from today:
Where did these police come from? I’ve never seen this many
in Yerevan before.
Why did they prohibit us from walking by the Presidential
Palace? It’s not like we’d be able to hop the fence or anything. Unless we’re
playing Plants vs. Zombies…
What does banging on a riot shield mean? We aren’t dogs. I
don’t respond to noise.
Where is your honor, Armenia? Do you think hurting civilians
is the way to make reparations with the people you lied to?
Serzh – go jump off a bridge. Or get run over by a marshrutka. That’s not a question, it’s a
demand.
Yes family/friends who were checking up on me: I couldn’t
control getting into the action, and no I’m not hurt. In other news BORUSSIA
DORTMUND halbfinale in a stunning win over Malaga!
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| What would you do? |
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