Kristeligt Dagblad

Vahram Tokmajyan

About two months ago Ulla Paulsel, a journalist for Kristeligt Dagblad, visited the Educomplex. She was collecting materials for her article about Armenia in connection with the centennial anniversary of Armenian genocide. Mr. Bleyan introduced me to the journalist from Denmark for the interview. The interview took place in three-dimensional format: Ulla Paulsen, Yura Ganjalyan and Vahram Tokmajyan. The article was published on April 24 issue of Kristeligt Dagblad. Here is an extract from that article.  

 Translation from Danish into English by David King, President of the Association of History Teachers of Denmark

Vahram Tokmajyan teaches history, social studies and philosophy in High School Mkhitar Sebastatsi in the outskirts of the capital, Yerevan. There is nothing flashy about the down worn concrete buildings housing both high school, primary school, kindergarten and adult education. Moreover, there is nothing flashy about the 30-year-old teacher in  jeans and sweater. However, he speaks loudly about something that many Armenians otherwise are content to discuss at the kitchen table. Vahram Tokmajyan believes that the government is wrong in its policy towards Turkey. "We should not base our relationship with Turkey solely on the question of recognition of the genocide. There is too much emphasize on the genocide in the present. Armenia still exists. Our nation has not disappeared. We have to take care of those who are living now and of our country. People who want to create change, do not live in the past”, he says. In contrast to the country's first president after independence from the Soviet Union, Levon Ter-Petrossian, who did not believe that recognition of the genocide should be a precondition for diplomatic relations with Turkey, later presidents and governments made the issue of recognition a cornerstone of Armenian foreign policy. This is not in harmony with the interests of the population, claims Vahram Tokmajyan. He refers among other things to a study which four years ago showed that 75 percent of people felt that the country's most urgent challenge is poverty. "Armenia should not - and cannot - force other countries to recognize the genocide. We do not have the potential to do it, and it hurts our country that we try. Our border to Turkey is closed, and that is a burden to our trade and economy. We are vulnerable, the Russians utilize this, and they know that we depend upon them. We lose our freedom of action in that way, "he says. Vahram Tokmajyan’s great-grandparents had to flee from the persecution during World War I and abandon their previous lives and property in the Ottoman Empire. However, he believes that one must try to separate the sorrow of the past from the bitterness that is poisonous for the future. "We Armenians do not need to be reminded of the genocide. We'll remember it, without the government reminds us of it", he says. The high school teacher would very much like that Turkey would recognize the genocide - it would also be good for the Turks, he said. However, it is something, which, in his view, should be "spoken", not "forced" through. According to Vahram Tokmajyan, it is largely the Armenians living abroad as descendants of Armenian refugees, who are behind the strong focus on recognition. However, in his opinion they can also better afford the luxury of this political line. "The diaspora can easily afford to give very high priority to recognition. They live comfortably in their new home countries. They do not have to face our daily problems ", he says.

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