"Gasoline" Revolution in Yerevan?

Violence erupted on Mashtots Avenue in Yerevan on Nov. 5 as dozens of protesters clashed with police. The demonstration was sparked by a call for revolution by activist Shant Harutyunyan.

As over a hundred protesters gathered to embark on what police say was an “unauthorized” march to the Presidential Palace, they encountered resistance by law enforcement officials. Some of the activists hurled small gas-filled bottles that exploded upon impact. Others swung wooden batons at officers. Reportedly, up to 200 law-enforcement officials—including Special Forces and SWAT teams—were deployed to the scene. Some 20 activists were arrested, including Harutyunyan, while around ten police officers suffered injuries.

Just before clashes with the police, Harutyunyan told journalists that he and his supporters were prepared to fight until the last man.  He said they were armed with homemade explosives, batons, and rocks, among other things.

Harutyunyan began a sit-in at Liberty Square on Oct. 31, next to a propped up sign that read, “I Am Starting a Revolution.”

Many among the protesters wore Guy Fawkes masks, a symbol of resistance, as well as the face of activists who identify themselves as Anonymous. The group Anonymous has no leader, and is made up of activists and hacktivists who work collectively towards a certain goal while maintaining anonymity. In recent years, activists around the world have designated Nov. 5—the anniversary of the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605 and an attempt to assassinate King James I of England—as a day of protest against repression and injustice. This year, activists worldwide called for a Million Mask March through social networking sites. The “Heghapokhoutyun” (Revolution) Facebook page was set up in mid-September, posting content aimed at inspiring revolution, and quotes from Harutyunyan.

Earlier in the week, in an interview with CivilNet, Harutyunyan said, “Are there those in this population of three million who are prepared to take risks, to make sacrifices, and to endanger their own lives in order to protect a dignified life and a dignified death? I don’t know whether there are such people… but I imagine that if I am one such man, there must be others. And if there are such people, they will come and join me and pick up a bottle of gasoline. I have two hands and the most I can lift are two bottles of gasoline, and that I will do. But if I had 200 hands, I’d lift 200 bottles of gasoline…”

In an interview with Kentron TV in August, Harutyunyan talked about a “Revolution of Values” that the country needed, and said that among those who had played a formative role in the development of his ideas were Njdeh, Napoleon, Hitler, and Nietzsche. On multiple occasions he has invoked the French Revolution as inspiration, as well as the principles of “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity.” He has been outspoken in his criticism of the Armenian government, which he considers a “slave” of the Kremlin. (*)

"The Armenian Weekly," November 5, 2013

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(*) "Armeniaca": A rabid anti-Western, anti-democratic, as well as racist and Russophilliac (to put it mildly) violence advocate and conspiracy theorist -- to mention only a few of his dubious "qualifications" -- who signs as Arevagal while enjoying life in the Big Apple and demeaning the population of Armenia as "sheeple," sent his latest piece of logorrhea last night, attached to the above quoted news piece, in the following terms:

"A deranged nutjob and a few dozen of his brain-dead followers attempted to incite a revolution in Armenia today. Needless to say, this revolution was stillborn. In my opinion, this was just another measure to punish Sargsyan's administration due to Yerevan's recent decision to join the Russian-led Customs Union. Ever since Yerevan's historic announcement on September 3, Armenia's Western-led opposition freaks have been very active. And with Russian President Vladimir Putin's long overdue visit looming in Armenia, we can  expect more mischief by them.

Nevertheless, I have been warning about situations like this for a long time.

Enough of this "complimentary politics" bullshit. Armenian officials need to stop giving Western-led NGOs and propaganda outlets the freedom to destabilize Armenia. We as a people need to stop tolerating Armenia's Western-led political opposition freaks. There is too much political freedom in Armenia. The Armenian government is too lenient when it comes to domestic political matters. This freedom and leniency is being looked upon as weakness by Western powers and their operatives inside Armenia.

A good way to stop these freaks is to break up their support groups and stop their funding. And if that does not work, spill some blood. Kill a few of their ringleaders and jail the rest and we'll have the sociopolitical peace and stability needed to help the Armenian state continue its evolutionary course.

Had these people tried to pull-off something like this in the US for instance, they would have been shot dead or at the very least beaten, pepper-sprayed, tased, beaten some more, arrested, interrogated as terrorists, beaten some more and thrown into jail."

It occurs to us that this gentleman, who happens to be an enthusiast proponent of Garegin Njdeh's anachronistic ideology (perhaps understandable in the Diaspora of the 1930s, but hardly in the Armenia of 2013),  should speak of yesterday's incident with more respect, before talking of "a deranged nutjob" and "brain-dead followers," and look himself in the mirror. Shant Harutyunyan has been known for more than 20 years as the president of a "pocket party" called "Tseghakron" (Ցեղակրօն) -- the name of Njdeh's ideology, roughly translated as "racialism" -- which, for example, published a newspaper of the same name with a cover featuring a gigantic swastika in the first issue of March 1991 (and it was not a cover story about the history of the Nazi movement). Mr. Arevagal may want to check his facts -- as well as the spelling of «կոմպլեմենտար քաղաքականութիւն» ("complementary politics") -- before speaking nonsense about "Western-led political opposition freaks." He should also look into history books to learn something about a "revolutionary" incident known as the "Munich putsch," headed by a failed artist and former WWI veteran called Adolf Hitler, who was hardly a "Western-led political opposition freak," but perhaps is one of his own political idols. . .