EcoLur
The parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on 6 May. Though the final results haven't been submitted yet, it is already clear, that most places in the National Assembly will be occupied by the representatives of the Republican Party of Armenia. Whether this means there will be no changes? In our viewpoint, these changes have already occurred, and not only because of Armenian National Congress's appearance in the National Assembly. The changes are in our society's intention not to put up with the authorities' policy. Over a period of recent years, the society has had victories when it acted consequently and persistently.
2008-2009 – S.O.S Sevan information campaign aimed against transfer of gold extracting factory from Ararat to the drainage basin of Sevan in Sotq. The campaign united hundreds of people, public figures, artists and cinematographers, writers and politicians, fishermen and farmers. The residents of various regions supported Sevan such as Tavush, Lori and Syunik. Public activists from, almost all over the world put their signatures as a sign of protest, besides Antarctica. As a result, the plant remained in Ararat.
2010 - S.O.S. Argitchi: Because of the construction project of a small HPP on the Argitchi River, 5 communities were left without any water. NGOs and politicians joined to the concerns of the residents. The fight continued 6-7 months under the hard conditions of pressure exercised on people by law enforcement bodies and prosecutor’s office. Eventually this construction was recognized as illegal and was stopped.
2011- the campaign against the construction of a small HPP on the waterfall of Trchkan. For two weeks the activists stayed in the tents near the waterfall and didn’t allow the heavy machinery to work. The public initiative attracted not only public stakeholders, but also diplomatic departments. At present Trchkan is in the process of recovery as a ecosystem and specially protected territory.
2012 – Mashtots Park: You could see everybody in Mashtots Park, even the representatives our show business, who, as a rule, are not so interested in public initiatives. Nevertheless, young activists continuously stayed in Mashtots Park despite the weather, cold and snow, wind and rain, together with the police. Thus Mashtots Park became a forum of opposition for the defenders of public interests and defenders of authorities. Immediately before the elections the authorities gave this park to the public, who didn’t accept this paltry dole and demanded to give the legal assessment of this situation.
Our new authorities are not actually so new. Whatever they take from us don’t give back easily. We have to face experiences and new oppositions. Especially when the matters refer to huge amount of money, soil, gold, molybdenum, copper and uranium. The fight for Qajaran Village enters into the new stage from which Zangezour copper and molybdenum combine seized land areas (and from other five villages.)
S.O.S. Sevan campaign is still in progress; where without any permits Geopromining Gold built the first production plant, a crushing and sorting complex in Sotq. S.O.S Teghout campaign aimed at the project of developing a project of developing Teghout copper and molybdenum mine not only in Teghout, but also in the public forums of Yerevan and Diaspora. “Jermuk Won’t Become a Mine” initiative makes efforts on preventing risks for Jermuk Resort from opencast development of Amoulsar gold mine. Hrazdan residents keep their hands on the pulse of Hrazdan iron mine project and are ready to give repulse to the actions, which threatens to the entire region. “Green Kapan” Campaign aims at opencast development of Shahumyan gold mine. S.O.S uranium campaign is under the sight of all the country. These issues will be raised before the new authorities and replies will be demanded. Countdown started.
May 08, 2012 at 15:30