Mediamax/Diaspora/Oct 26
"Real Armenia." Who needs a reformulation of the idea of the homeland?
The first section of the Real Armenia Ideology is devoted to the reformulation of the Armenian people's perceptions of the homeland. This ideology identifies the homeland with the internationally recognized territory of Armenia, and patriotism with the interests of the state. However, such claims raise a number of questions for the reader, including whether these claims are true, and why is it necessary to reformulate the idea of the homeland to the Armenian people, who have a five-thousand-year-old history? The identification of the homeland with the territory of the Republic of Armenia implies that a citizen of the Republic of Armenia cannot have a homeland outside that territory. However, a significant part of the population of Armenia is either a descendant of deprived emigrants or is a migrant himself. These people's perceptions of the homeland, regardless of their will, are related to settlements outside the borders of Armenia. It is not just a result of a choice or a decision, but a memory. Therefore, in order to change the perception of the homeland, first and foremost, it is necessary to deprive the individual of that memory, which is essentially impossible. As for the identification of patriotism and the interests of the state, the veracity of this also raises questions. Patriotism, first and foremost, is a system of emotion and moral obligations. It can have various manifestations: from care for the mother tongue and culture to participation in the defense of the homeland. However, when patriotism is identified with the interests of the state, this system of love and responsibility is distorted. How should the interest of the state be evaluated, who defines it? What happens when the stated state interest contradicts the views of the citizen, and so on? When patriotism begins to be interpreted in terms of the interests of the state, it turns from a conscious attitude toward one's own homeland into a requirement of political loyalty. The discussion about the veracity of the claims can go on for a long time. However, there is a more fundamental