Roughly three months remain till the Armenian Genocide Centennial. Beyond a shadow of doubt, this topic will be dominating in the Armenian public and political life after April 24 as well. Various programs will be carried out and various events will take place during the year - some will be deemed as successful, while others will be criticized, as always.

However, I believe few people perceive the Armenian Genocide Centennial as a reason to ponder over our past, present and future. Can the Armenian Genocide Centennial serve as a symbolic “New Beginning” for us? Can the Centennial be viewed as a new haven from where the “Second Chance” of our nation will set about? Do we know who we are and where we head to in this world full of challenges?

There are yet no discussions over this and other issues. The disputes are over-the-top personified and those engaged in them tend to sort out personal differences instead of discussing visions for Armenia’s development.

As to Genocide itself, there are a number of open issues in this regard as well. Recently, the opinion that the issue of reparation should also be raised along with the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide has been overtly driven to the forefront. But do we comprehend what reparation we are demanding?

Another question is whether we have assessed all risks related to inviting Erdogan to Yerevan on April 24. What if Erdogan does come to Yerevan and starts to develop his concept of “common pain”? What will we do? The mainstream media will write that “peace-loving” Erdogan arrived in Yerevan to find a “common language” with Armenians and will blame us for clinging to “G word”.

However, I am more than sure there are intellectuals in both Armenia and the Diaspora who can speak about our past, present and future. We do need collision of ideas that will enable to analyze the errors of the past, come up with ways to overcome current situation and to make the notions of the future cut and dried. 

Mediamax starts a series of interviews with the intellectuals of Armenia and the Diaspora, and I hope they will be useful for our society and political forces. The first interview is already published.

Ara Tadevosyan is the Director of Mediamax.