Human rights activist accuses Public TV of Armenia of infringement on Armenian national identity

ArmInfo. Human rights activist Arman Tatoyan has accused the Public TV of Armenia of infringement on Armenian national identity.

The human rights activist recalled that from the moment of the creation of the Republic of Armenia, starting from His Eminence Vazgen, New Year's messages of all Catholicoses were broadcast on Public Television until midnight, which has always been a unique spiritual symbol for Armenians around the world.

"Even after this shameful decision, the media owned by the family of the head of government disseminated slanderous and discreditable information about the Mother See and the Catholicos. This information is an absolute lie.

So, the Mother See of Etchmiadzin made the right decision and did not deliberately accept the humiliating proposal of H1. And now they make manipulative comments about the Mother See without shame.

This is an attack on the values of the Armenian people and our national identity, the moral foundations of Armenian statehood. This is an insult to our history. Thus, a political attempt is being made to downplay the exceptional role and historical significance of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church in the life of the Armenian people. The public television company once again confirmed its shameful "mission" of propaganda for the authorities," Tatoyan emphasized.

On December 31, an hour before the new year, it became known that for the first time in the history of independent Armenia, PTA would not broadcast the New Year's address to the nation by Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II. This became known from a statement by the Mother See of Etchmiadzin.

"Throughout the history of independence, since the time of His Holiness Vazgen I, the address of His Holiness the Patriarch was traditionally broadcast on Public Television immediately before the address of the head of the country on New Year's Eve.

This year, at the last minute, Public Television, without any reason, announced that the New Year's address of His Holiness the Patriarch would not be broadcast before the New Year, as was traditionally customary.  Instead, in the evening edition of Vesti, it was proposed to voice the appeal of the Patriarch of all Armenians, which was not properly noticed by the Mother See and was rejected," the Mother See reported.

Priest Nerses Hananya, commenting on this decision of the authorities, suggested that the Catholicos' speech was canceled due to its content.  "I started the first day of 2024 by watching congratulatory addresses from the leadership of Armenia. The First Channel in RA showed three speeches to Armenians around the world.

The addresses of the Speaker of the RA Parliament Alen Simonyan and the President of the RA Vahagn Khachatryan lasted approximately 7-8 minutes. Pashinyan spoke the rest of the time.

All three speeches are connected by one message, which is conveyed to the citizens of Armenia in different formats: "we must achieve peace and establish normal relations with all our neighbors."

Pashinyan spoke for about three minutes about the importance of paying taxes and summed up: "If you love your Motherland, pay taxes: Thanks to your taxes, we were able to provide assistance to displaced people from Artsakh."

Then the Prime Minister says that all state employees' salaries have been raised and will continue to be raised.

And suddenly, with a sad expression on his face, he begins to ask for forgiveness from everyone, and even from displaced people from Nagorno-Karabakh. But don't rejoice. As a true master of verbiage, when he asks for forgiveness, he does not actually ask for forgiveness.

"I apologize to the displaced people not because I committed any crime against them or forgot about my obligations to you, but because I know your pain and also experience it," Pashinyan said.

The speech of the Catholicos of All Armenians was not broadcast on air for the first time in more than 30 years of modern independent Armenia.

Yesterday our brother Avetik Harutyunyan already pointed out the obvious reason for this incident and I completely agree with him. The Patriarch's speech was the only one that said that the topic of Artsakh is not closed to us.

I was not lazy and also watched the speech of the president of those very neighbors with whom we should have peace. Aliyev spoke for 16 minutes, 14 of which were about Artsakh, military successes, the acquisition of new modern weapons, and large-scale construction in Eastern Zangezur.

"Brought to their knees", "thrown into the dustbin of history", "terrorists", "separatists" - these are some of the statements addressed to the Armenians displaced from Artsakh.

"The Armenian leadership must behave in such a way as not to arouse our anger," the neighbor concluded," the priest wrote.