The Right Thing To Do

GYUMRI, ARMENIA, October 9, 2000, It is a sleepy Saturday afternoon in this northwestern Armenian city, but Peace Square is full of commotion. Café patrons raise their voices, children shriek, and impatient drivers lay on their horns as a funeral procession makes its way into the city center. In Gyumri, public expressions of grief are decidedly intemperate events. Aging Soviet-made limousines, adorned with flowers and photographs, drive around and around the square. Even those who chauffeur the grieving family are joining in the cacophony.

Death is celebrated, here in Armenia, even if life is not. In this city of poor schools, empty storefronts and dilapidated housing, the cemetery is elaborate and breathtakingly vast. Oversized marble monuments honoring the dead are purchased by the sale of precious heirlooms and depletion of family savings. Heating may not be afforded this winter and children may not be fed, but the deceased will be properly laid to rest. As preposterous as this sounds, it is not surprising that people here are so interested in posterity. In their minds, a tombstone may be the only link to better days.

History has been harsh for the Armenian nation, located in a place where Europe, Asia and the Middle East intersect. Dominated by their neighbors for centuries, Armenians have endured an onslaught of slicing and dicing, as their borders have moved farther and farther inward. Even their national symbol, Mount Ararat, lies within neighboring Turkey and many here feel that the world has all but forgotten them.

Now comes a U.S. House resolution, passed last week by the International Relations committee, stating that the Ottoman Empire committed genocide against the Armenian people during World War I. Accepted as a given here (and by virtually every major historian, worldwide), the statement of genocide is anathema to the Turks. They insist that thousands of their own were also lost during the conflict. This is an issue that has been a source of enmity for these two countries for almost a century. With the resolution now stalled due to pressure from Ankara, Armenians must cautiously await justice once again, suffering for the lost honor of their ancestors.

Among Gyumri natives-who live in a city just ten kilometers from Turkey's eastern border-there is a prevailing sense that life will not soon be better. Many remember the Soviet era fondly, when Armenia attracted tourists from all over the Caucasus region. In those days, large industries flourished as rubles flowed into the country from nearby Soviet states. Armenians were never wealthy, but they had steady work and a decent way of life.

Then, in 1988, tragedy struck as an earthquake took some 30,000 lives. Though much of the nation's predicament is a result of Soviet collapse, Gyumri natives blame this disaster for their current suffering. Indeed, many buildings here were no match for the 6.9 magnitude shock, which killed hundreds of schoolchildren and left thousands more homeless. In the three years that followed, Moscow scrambled to provide housing for the displaced Armenians. However, relief efforts were poorly organized. Temporary windowless dwellings, or domeeks, were brought in and dumped into the middle of the city as construction began on new high rises to replace those that were destroyed.

The new buildings would never see completion. In 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed, as did the economy. A lingering war in Nagorno-Karabaugh led to blockades by Turkey and neighboring Azerbaijan. Years of central planning had made Armenia highly dependent upon trade with Soviet states; now that these routes were closed, the country became isolated from the rest of the world. Two particularly harsh winters, exacerbated by a lack of heating fuels, left the country in dire straits as more deaths ensued.

Despite a long-awaited independence, employment in Armenia dropped 60% virtually overnight. Those who could afford to leave-generally the country's most talented and able-bodied males-flocked to Russia seeking refuge and work. The remaining Armenians fell into two categories: those who siphoned dollars from foreign aid for personal gain, and those who now live with extended family in the same tiny abodes, which no longer seem so temporary.

The road to Armenian recovery is a long and winding one. For sure, the nation has many deep-seated problems that can only be solved from within. Leaders in Yerevan must show the resolve to reform corrupt government institutions and to take steps that will instill confidence in the rule-of-law. And, a prudent settlement must be made concerning the Nagorno-Karabaugh region. But influential world powers, such as the United States, should help in restoring dignity to the Armenian people, especially when the needed measures are so easily within their grasps.

For eighty-five years, Turkey has maintained a revisionist stance on history that humiliates this proud nation. Still, the western world kowtows to Ankara in the name of strategic defense. Turkish authorities claim to possess Ottoman archives that tell the true story. If so, the Clinton Administration should insist that these documents be produced. Otherwise, insolence will win the day and Armenians will continue to suffer for it.