I began writing this article at 11.15 a.m. GMT/3.15 p.m Yerevan time on 19th December 2020.
The time is significant because at this precise moment Nikol Pashinyan is making his way to the military Pantheon at Yerablur, the resting place of Monte Melkonian amongst other heroes, to mourn the memory of fallen soldiers. The Pantheon is a beautiful and meditative memorial site situated high up on a hill to the west of Yerevan and contains the final resting places of many military heroes including General Andranik, Vazgen Sargsyan, Garo Kahkejian as well as the subject of this article Monte Melkonian. When I have visited in the past, the location of Yerablur serves well the process of contemplation on the sacrifices of so many to the cause of preserving this proud nation of ours. Today however it is the scene of unseemly scuffles and chants, and a degree of internal strife that must make those aforementioned heroes sleep fitfully and wonder if any of their sacrifices were actually worth it.
As with Yerablur, the location and design of memorial sites are the result of great thought and are chosen to represent the subject of their memory. For instance, how many of you know that the split in the obelisk at Dzidzernagapert represents both the twin peaks of Ararat and the two populations of Armenia, those who live there and the diaspora? How many might have recognised that the steep steps required to enter the museum at the Armenian Genocide Memorial site are representative of the descent into hell that was the Armenian genocide? Memorials can be metaphorical as well as literal so for every concrete representation of Komitas, Sayat Nova and Sevak, there is an abstract memorial that exists within the imagination of individuals and the nation.
Monte Melkonian, hero of the Armenian nation for so many reasons more than just his role as Commander during the conflict in Artsakh in the early 1990s has been memorialised in stone in a number of locations. There is a bust of Monte in full 'Commander Avo' mode in Yerevan and similarly there stands a defiant and full length representation of him in Dilijian. In Martuni Monte rises out of the ground fierce and belligerent whilst Hrazdan has a bust of him surveying the country he dedicated his life too. Whilst these statues are 3D representations of the physical attributes of the man, in the popular imagination of Armenia there tends to be a very one dimensional and erroneous understanding and appraisal of what he stood for. Monte is rightfully seen as a national hero, a man that became a legend such was his selfless sacrifice to the cause of Armenia but in some minds there is fascistic tendency attached to the memory that could not be further from the truth. This is a very simplistic view of the man that has served only to see his memory used and abused by unscrupulous types within the media and the political class for their own benefit; often working in tandem and therefore one and the same, people that most likely would have been targets of Melkonian's ire.
Monte and the Homeland
Monte Melkonian's vision of the lands that constitute Armenia are far removed from the views of many who simplistically assume he sought to restore Tigran's Armenia or indeed Wilsonian Armenia. The former there is no need to examine in great detail because it is a fanciful idea based on a very small segment of historical time. Meanwhile Wilson's map and the ensuing but aborted Treaty of Sevres were very much founded on an imperialist imagination based on their acquisitive desires in the area rather than being founded on any traditional and historical truth. Melkonian described the map as "grotesque", pointing out that it included coastal areas on the Black Sea that Tigran's vast empire did not even accommodate. Monte went on to suggest it was the incumbent duty of progressive Armenians to "study the historical, cultural, national and demographic situation up until 1915" so as to define the approximate frontiers of our historic homeland. The always anti-imperialist and internationalist Melkonian suggested that we don't need US Presidents to define the borders of our homeland, but there is still an assumption of many within the current homeland and the diaspora that credence from the United States or the United Kingdom gives any plan some degree of authoritative definition. Monte's required accuracy was founded in the desire that we do not "promote an unjust notion of our homeland". He consequently drew up the map below, which is rarely seen, presumably because those who revel in a politically motivated alliance with Monte's image, have not read his thoughts on matters that they themselves claim to have knowledge in.
Notice how different it is from the map's presented by those social media commentators who ally themselves with the popular memory of Monte?
More often than not they present the very maps that Melkonian discredited in his writing yet profess predominantly through images, to be allied with Monte's position on issues and worse still ASALA's, an organisation Monte spent a lot of time disassociating himself from in his writing. Melkonian was eager to expose the excesses of Hagop Hagopian, the autocratic and increasingly despotic leader of ASALA who he held responsible for the number of civilian deaths carried out in ASALA's name. It should be noted also that Monte's map of the homeland has some differences from that promoted in ASALA's logo.
So when those within the Armenian community pray for the return of ASALA and imagine themselves to be an ally of Monte's they are betraying their own ignorance.
Before we move on, it is interesting to note similarities between Melkonian's analysis of the borders of the historic homeland of Armenia, and the recent loss of some of the borders that he was instrumental in stretching in the early 1990s. He rightfully asserts that following the Armenian genocide the protection of the newly drawn boundaries (also a result of expansionist policies under Ataturk) by the League of Nations, the United Nations, NATO and Turkey do not demand respect, especially where there is still demographic dominance of Armenians. Stalin's meddling in the Caucasus that are responsible for some of these boundaries still reverberates today and in tragic fashion for the Armenian majority still living there and so it is to Monte's observations on Artsakh that this article will now turn.
Monte and Karabagh
The first thing to assert is that as far as the position of Karabagh (from now on referred to as Artsakh) was concerned, Melkonian believed in Lenin's insistence on the rights of self determination and as such that the initiative for their destiny belonged to the people of Artsakh themselves. As the USSR crumbled in the late 1980s and Artsakh began to assert its right to that determination, Pravda saw fit to criticise such mobilisation as nationalistic which was perhaps illustrative of just how far removed the Soviet Union had become from Lenin's early principles.
The history of the region is far simpler than some might think. Artsakh was given to Islamic Azerbaijan as part of a deal with Turkey in a bid to persuade them to turn communist and court favour with Ataturk. Artsakh, Gazakh and Nakhichevan were ceded to the Azerbaijani SSR which caused them to lose their Armenian majority in Nakhichevan. Monte cites Nariman Narimanov, the Azerbaijani communist leader who with the Caucasian Bureau of the Communist Party on June 12, 1921 proclaimed: “Based on the declaration of the Revolutionary Committee of the Socialist Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan and the agreement between the Socialist Soviet Republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan, it is hereby declared that Mountainous Karabagh is henceforth an integral part of the Socialist Soviet Republic of Armenia.”
However, the fate of Artsakh was determined at two contradictory later meetings. At first, it was decided that Artsakh would be transferred to Soviet Armenia at the Caucasian Bureau a meeting at which Narimanov was present on July 4, 1921, but the next day, this decision was overturned due to pressure from above (thought to be Stalin).
As a result of the eventual decision in Artsakh, the Armenian majority population (over 90%) was pushed out to the fringes of the borders until they eventually chose the path of self determination through the passage of a referendum that declared their independence from the Soviet Union on the 2nd of September, 1991. The ensuing war in which Monte Melkonian played a pivotal, and lest we forget, humane role (more of which shortly) addressed this ludicrous situation and was successful in returning the land to its rightful owners.
Melkonian's position on Artsakh was unequivocally clear. He had carried out research on the region, supported the peoples' right to self determination and acted on their behalf in Shahumian and then as a commander in Martuni. He also took part in the Battle for Kalbajar. Some might see this as being contradictory to his beliefs vis a vis demographics and homeland since Kalbajar was overwhelmingly populated by Azeris. However, incursions and shelling from Kalbajar into the Armenian controlled and neighbouring Martuni district meant it had to be subdued. It is quite likely that had he lived Monte would have sought to use this area and some of the other districts captured during the first war as bargaining tools in pushing for the return of more traditionally Armenian areas to Armenia. Sadly we will never truly know of his intentions, but we know him and he always tried to do what he considered to be morally and ethically correct . Which brings me to the matter I alluded to earlier, Monte's humane role in the conflict.
Melkonian was a non-smoking, tee-total man who led by example. He forbade the use of drink and drugs, seldom swore and demanded a degree of discipline amongst the men under his command, a discipline that appeared to be sorely missing from the recent conflict. Furthermore he insisted that POWs were treated well and that barbaric actions such as beheadings (a common practice amongst Azeri troops in 2020) did not take place under his command. This forward looking approach saw Monte make enemies, not least amongst those who cannabis crops he burned. But the thing with Melkonian was; he walked it like he talked it. Unfortunately some of those who seek to utilise his image today cannot say the same.
In a 2006 article published in Ararat magazine, Markar Melkonian relates Monte's arrival in Khojaly (the scene of an infamous massacre of Azeris by Armenians) and his fury at what had taken place. "He went to the killing ground. He walked across that killing field in Khojalu (sic), and was enraged. I guess you could say the word enraged, but it is not strong enough. He was disgusted [...]. All he could say was "Discipline problems", "Lack of discipline, lack of discipline". He saw atrocities that Armenians committed against Azeri citizens"
Melkonian had nothing against Azeris and described them as "neighbours" because he appreciated that after war these people would have to live together. He certainly wouldn't refer to them as I have seen Armenians refer to each other (let alone Azeris) in the fallout from Artsakh 2020.
A Memory Trashed?
This article has attempted to give a flavour of the man that Monte Melkonian was in order to examine how his image has been utilised contrary to Melkonian's own views and being.
Had Monte been alive in 2018, I am sure he would have been fascinated by the act of self- determination that was the 'Velvet Revolution' (an incongruous moniker) taking place. This was the people of Armenia expressing that they had had enough of the old guard, of the corruption, of the status quo and they wanted change, and they wanted it now. The fact that it was bloodless was pretty remarkable as Nikol Pashinyan became a champion of the people, marching under a banner of anti-corruption. I was cautiously excited myself believing that maybe this was the change the country had been needing since independence. However, I was a little disconcerted by Pashinyan's seeming adoption of the persona of Monte Melkonian. Firstly their was the military fatigues which were adopted despite Pashinyan never (to my knowledge) having seen service. Then the bandaged hand surfaced (a barbed wire injury by all accounts) and the assumption of the trappings of the classic Monte image was complete and the Armenian public bought into it.
Two years down the line and Pashinyan's position and reputation could not be more stark by way of contrast. It is sad because the hope upon which he gained power has dissipated for a number of reasons, some within his control, some without. There is little doubt that the war campaign in Artsakh was an unmitigated disaster and Pashinyan was the victim of political naivety. More experienced politicians were nowhere to be found and from the start Armenia seemed ill prepared for the fight and amateurish in comparison to the Turkish sponsored invaders from Azerbaijan. For much of the conflict little was seen of the Prime Minister and there was a sense that the response to the invasion was rudderless. A negotiated settlement early on would have been preferable to the senseless deaths of young men ill prepared and ill equipped for such battles. For that Pashinyan is at fault. However, the blame for the manner in which the Armed forces have been run down over the years, the lack of equipment and armaments, the lack of discipline, all lies with the regimes before him. Whilst previous Prime Ministers sought their own enrichment, by contrast the army became impoverished. In returning areas of Artsakh that were previously Azerbaijani demographically and culturally he has been forced to do something his predecessors should have done a long time ago (not in the manner it has been accomplished though) and for that he has been branded Talaat Pashinyan and a traitor.
In the unseemly scramble to denigrate Pashinyan certain players have taken on a high profile and have used Monte Melkonian's image to further their agenda. They also seem unabashed in bandying about the type of anti-intellectual language that has created the kind of atmosphere that might see someone get killed. Not for nothing were the Prime Minister's retinue carrying umbrellas on a clear day for the visit to Yerablur.
High on the list of those creating this atmosphere are the Bairamians. I first became aware of the male of the species when he was implying that an Armenian soldier in an online video had not been near battle because his uniform was too clean. This sort of accusation is a cowardly way to go about proving a point and the more I looked into William Bairamian, the more I saw of this style of attack.
For someone who thrives on delving into others backgrounds in order to attack them, it is understandable that he should have little detail about himself online, but if he is a citizen of Armenia one might question why he was nowhere near battle either?
It turns out that William Bairamian currently lives in the U.S. and writes for a living, but notice I didn't suggest he was a 'writer'. 'Troll' would be a more suitable description as he seems to be quite an unpleasant character and his writing is equally distasteful especially when attached to some of the things he is ill qualified to write on. His way of going about matters is to attack the person and not the substance, so he shouldn't object to this approach being applied to himself, and yet on social media he is quick to block anyone who seeks to criticise him or indeed his underhand manner. When he is attacked he hides behind his wife who is sent out to do his bidding for him (along with a small army of accounts with very few followers...) and she seems equally and arrogantly odious.
His nasty rhetoric which has become even more vitriolic following recent events in Armenia has two aims; self aggrandisement and dividing the Armenian population, when now more than ever they should be coming together.
Oh...and he's a racist.
An article he wrote earlier in the year entitled "Democrats Have Controlled Cities Where Most Blacks are Killed by Police for Over 50 Years" (that's right, "Blacks" not "Black people" or "African-Americans") talked of the officer "who was apparently responsible for (George) Floyd’s death" (that's right, Derek Chauvin was only "apparently responsible" for the murder you witnessed on social media from every conceivable angle) and he suggests the police force is only "allegedly" institutionally racist. He then produces a lot of statistical information that he claims is from a source "unfavourable to the police"(so why use it) and his dispassionate references to the murder of "blacks" (again) killed by the police means he could equally be talking about roadkill. The quite obviously Republican Bairamian sees little tragedy in the murder of so many African-Americans by the police, but instead uses it as an opportunity to bash the Democrats. Bairamian seems to have a problem with race here, which makes one wonder how he might square that with Monte Melkonian's physical appearance that as a child often saw him mistaken for a Mexican...or might that be an acceptable hue to Bairamian?
The above article is relevant because it establishes Bairamian's modus operandi which we are now seeing applied to the events in Artsakh. In a 2018 piece published in The Armenite (one of the vehicles for his nasty invective with one of the few editors who see fit to publish his work...himself) Robert Kocharyan was lauded in Heroes and Villains of Armenia to a degree that would make Goebbels blush such was the unashamed manner in which this was a vehicle to denigrate Pashinyan and push his own man. I say "his" because the authorship of the article is simply The Armenite, so Bairamian shouldn't be too concerned that the authorship of this article is Mountain People. The author of the replies to the article, one Stepan Nazaretyan does not seem to have authored anything elsewhere on the worldwide web. Strange. It is a bit like when I visited the old city of Van and was told by museum curators that Armenians massacred the Turkish inhabitants of the city. When I asked where these victorious Armenians were now, I was told "They have gone away". It appears Stepan Nazaretyan has gone away too.
Like the memorials and statues I mentioned at the beginning of this piece, the picture at the top of the article Heroes and Villains of Armenia was chosen to serve a purpose.
It was this one:
Nowhere in the article was reference made to Monte Melkonian and yet The Armenite (editor presumably) chose this photograph to begin his article; the implication being a simple one - Monte Melkonian is a hero of Armenia, and here, sharing a joke with him is Bairamian's man Robert Kocharyan who must therefore be a hero too. I once saw an anti-Semitic photograph with the caption underneath reading Lenin speaking Yiddish, which naturally proved nothing of the sort but didn't stop Russians believing that Lenin was Jewish.
Others Bairamian has recently chosen to attack are Serj Tankian, Atom Egoyan and Arsinee Khanjian, who he claims helped bring the "traitor" Pashinyan to power and yet all three have done far more for Armenia's profile and for the country artistically, financially and intellectually (it is ironic that Bairamian calls them "useful idiots") than an editor composing nasty invective for a grubby online periodical. Meanwhile he happily brushes over the financial impropriety of Manvel Grigorian (foreign funded activists defamed him apparently) to laud his undoubted previous hero status.
I am sure Bairamian would have gleefully watched as rioters, able bodied men who should have been at the front protecting their country, tore into their own Parliamentary building and broke into their own Prime Minister's home whilst men barely in their teens were giving up their lives in a bid to save Artsakh's future. Non Armenians (I have never liked the term odar/otar) must wonder what has become become of Armenia when they read Bairamian's vile invective and watch the violent and backward behaviour of a cowardly few.
Regardless of these dark and destructive forces there is still hope for the future and Monte Melkonian would no doubt be thrilled to find it is to be found not in politicians nor in the journalists serving them, but in the people of Artsakh, Armenia and the diaspora. Melkonian is a hero in Armenia for uniting the homeland and the Diaspora in a common cause and because he showed undoubted bravery and commitment to his country and its people. During the past few months they have returned the favour and stepped up to the plate. Those who physically fought for Artsakh in the latter quarter of 2020 have been brave beyond the call of duty. Similarly, there have been those who have worked tirelessly online to raise funds for Armenia; individuals such as @theillestnanaG and @tiffanytoldyou's kooyrigs, companies such as @aratherat and tatik.ca, the band System of A Down who released music for the first time in fifteen years to raise awareness, and I am thinking too of non Armenians such as the wonderful @gotMariee whose dedication to the language, culture and cause has been staggering. New heroes are emerging, like @AvetisianM whose filmed vignettes about the people of Artsakh contain a beautiful melancholy therein and alert the world to the human stories behind the violence and politics. Kim Kardashian made a very generous donation that brought the invasion to the world's attention and Eric Hacopian has been a voice of calm reason throughout the conflict. There have been many others too and Armenia has so much to be proud of and so many wonderful individuals who care so much about our homeland and people. Monte Melkonian would undoubtedly approve of these Armenians and would have nothing but disdain for the destructive elements who claim to speak his language whilst hiding behind a keyboard.
If nothing else I hope this article has illustrated that those invoking the name of Monte Melkonian to criticise the actions of others are doing his memory a dis-service. Monte was all about progressive elements and that is why the positivity of the actions of those mentioned above would have been of far more interest to him. Monte was a forward thinking man who despised racism, misogyny and homophobia. It is a shame he is not still here to set the example.
For those asking What would Monte say? I hope you now have a better idea, as it probably isn't what you thought in the first place.
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