“Citizen of a community or a citizen of a state”, at first glance, they are both the same concepts, both have the status of a citizen, have rights and responsibilities. Theoretically, each of us can be a citizen of any country in the world, recently the concept of a citizen of the world has been widely circulated, which seeks to lead the world to globalization, to the formation of a common culture, to the formation of common legal and other systems.
But can a citizen of a state or a world, a resident of a community, be generalized, are they the same or are they different concepts? Being a resident of a community is not just the status of a citizen of the community, it is not just a status that the state or the constitution has given us by defining the responsibilities of rights. Our community is our home, our corner, our homeland, the legacy left by our grandparents, our parents, our pride, our childhood, our youth, our youth և the future. Every stone, every tree in our community is dear to us and irreplaceable. Every success achieved is our personal success, and failure is our personal tragedy. The preservation of each monument is our sacred duty, our development and construction is our mission. With every lighted chandelier we illuminate the future of our children, with every asphalt road we pave the way for our children to a bright future. Every planted sapling is the dense deciduous tree of our children, every stone corner is the pillar for their house. Every positive thing we can do for our community, it will not be lost, but on the contrary, it is preserved like an internal energy, it creates a common positive energy, it can not but have its positive effect.
Our community is our home, our cozy corner, our unique and inimitable settlement, where every stone, rock, river, forest is the eloquent witnesses of our history, they tell and demand that we continue that history. A resident of a community does not have the right to be an ordinary citizen, he simply does not have the right to watch from the sidelines how his community is badly managed, budget money or other means are squandered.
Today the protection of the churches, khachkars and other historical and cultural monuments of our communities has become an urgent issue. At the same time, an opportunity must be created for the young generation to become the creator of new historical and cultural values in general.
The resident of the best community will be the one who will not look at everything that is happening in the community from the side, but on the contrary will participate in all possible ways in the management, development, improvement of the conditions of progress. Establishment and promotion of schools, kindergartens, art schools, trade unions, museums, studios, agricultural cooperatives.
Participation can be provided in a variety of ways: by participating in mayoral elections, by participating in council meetings, by making suggestions, by planting trees or sabbaticals, by implementing educational programs, and by organizing first aid courses. We each choose the means, the key is effective participation.
So let us be patriotic, honest and responsible citizens of the community, so that we too can leave a legacy to our generations.
The problem of teaching the Armenian Genocide at school
Genocide is one of the most cruel and shameful phenomena in human history, and the utterance of this word causes anger and is accompanied by moral assessments thousands of lives. Any scientific work in which this topic will be examined can contribute to the selection and application of more effective means.
The term “genocide” was coined in 1944 by Raphael Lemkin, a specialist in international law. Lemkin’s family was one of the victims of the Holocaust. The massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
1948 On December 9, 1945, the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which defines “genocide” as an international crime, and the signatory states have an obligation to prevent and punish perpetrators of genocide.
According to the Convention, “genocide” is any act carried out for the purpose of the partial or complete annihilation of any national, ethnic, racial or religious group.
Since the adoption of the Convention, some scholars have proposed more comprehensive definitions. Lawyer Peter Drost defined genocide as “the deliberate deprivation of life of a person belonging to any group.”
The theory of genocide as a specific historical phenomenon, which would be acceptable to most experts, has not been formulated yet, there is no final legal formulation.
Meanwhile, before our eyes, the massacres of civilians in different parts of the world continue. The security systems created after the end of World War II are unable to protect not only the rights of individuals, but also the right to life of large groups of people. Approximate calculations show that in 1945-1987 the number of massacres carried out by the states increased from 1․05 to 2․5 times in 1945-1980 the number of victims of all the wars that took place.
The massacres and forcible conversion of Armenians to the Ottoman Empire and its environs in 1915-1923 are called the Armenian Genocide. In Baku and elsewhere. In the modern-day Artsakh war unleashed by Azerbaijan in the fall of 2020, sponsored by Turkey, the threat of genocide hung over the Armenians of Artsakh, an attempt was made to deport the ethnic people of Artsakh, to deprive them of their homeland, a specific threat to their physical existence.
Nowadays, the teaching of the Armenian Genocide in schools is more than relevant, because history has a tendency to repeat itself, which was an obstacle for the progress and development of the nation. Therefore, it is time to review the materials and methods of teaching the genocide, the children should not form the image of a genocide, a slaughtered nation, but on the contrary should form a demanding citizen who is able to recognize these bitter pages of history, to demand its condemnation.
The topic of the Armenian Genocide is not taught in schools as a separate topic, while there is a need for it, the purpose of which should be:
- Contribute to the thorough mastering of national issues
- Deepen students’ perceptions and knowledge about the Armenian Genocide
- Help overcome existing negative stereotypes
- To form a common understanding of the Armenian Genocide in a common approach to the struggle
- Educate more knowledgeable, open-minded, responsible citizens towards the state
- To form the consciousness of the restoration of historical justice, the struggle of the Armenian people for the right to live and develop safely in their historical homeland
It is possible that the students of the secondary schools, the future adult citizens of the Republic of Armenia, will acquire some abilities to oppose the policy of denial or falsification of the Turkish state. The prevention and condemnation of all genocides is a problem facing not only the Armenians, but also the whole humanity, because without it we can not achieve universal solidarity and international peace.
The article was written by Zaruhi Kirakosyan, a participant in the second round of the “Article Contest” organized by the “Restart Gyumri” Initiative Center NGO
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