Georgi Vanyan, Tekali, Georgia © Onnik James Krikorian 2012

It is with great sadness that I write this post. Georgi Vanyan, human rights and peace activist, has died. Upon hearing that he had been moved on to a ventilator after being diagnosed and hospitalised in Tbilisi with COVID-19 I think we knew that this was how it was going to end, but that doesn’t make the loss any less painful. Following last year’s war, Georgi was needed now more than ever.

Arguably the most genuine peace builder in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, Georgi was admittedly a controversial figure at home. In 2007 he held a Days of Azerbaijan cultural event at an experimental Yerevan school that was interrupted by nationalist bloggers and many who received grants for peacebuilding, perhaps feeling threatened by someone more genuine than they were, cynically attempted to ostracise him as well. Armenian mass media also launched a coordinated campaign to discredit his work.

In 2009, therefore, I had to meet him. I also had to interview him.

[…] Vanyan argues […]  there needs to be new approaches taken to prepare society for peace. Indeed, he says, the desire to end the conflict needs to be there in the first place.  “Armenians and Azerbaijanis are human beings first of all and have a basic desire for peace. What we need to do is to make this basic desire public and to initiate some kind of open public discussion. Instead of organizing seminars and talking to NGOs, we talk to people in the markets, or in local cultural centers.”

Perhaps Georgi’s greatest legacy will be his Tekali Process, the regular gathering of activists, academics, and residents of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia in the small ethnic Azerbaijani village of Tekali located close to where the borders of all three countries intersect. I traveled with Georgi at the end of January 2011 to review the potential location for the first meeting held in March the same year. 

The roads have seen better days and probably so too have the villagers, but if events continue to be held in a small ethnic Azeri village in Georgia that might all change. Situated just 10 kilometers from the Georgian border with Azerbaijan, and 29 kilometers from the crossing with Armenia, those attempting to establish Tekali as a regional peacebuilding center certainly hope so. One of them, Armenian theatrical director turned activist Georgi Vanyan has already called on other NGOs to relocate some of their existing and future regional and cross-border projects there. If that were to happen, much needed investment could be attracted to Tekali as well as the surrounding area and involve wider society in dialogue, discussion and debate.

Sadly, I could not rejoin Georgi for another visit to Tekali at the beginning of this month, over 10 years later. He had rung me up saying that he might have COVID-19 and so didn’t want to put me in harms way. Once his situation was clear, he said, he will take me there again. Two days later, this was our last communication via FB messenger.

Georgi, you are already missed.

With Armenia and Azerbaijan seemingly close to normalising relations after three decades of animosity there are many of us so sorry that you are now no longer here to see it. You will always be in our memories, however, and despite the efforts of all those who ganged up against you, we will make sure that you are never forgotten.

Georgi, you are a tremendous inspiration and will forever remain so.

Rest in Peace.

An ethnic Azerbaijani child in Tekali, Georgia © Onnik James Krikorian 2011

It was a pleasant surprise to receive a phone call from perhaps Armenia’s main peacebuilder, theatrical director turned activist Georgi Vanyan. All going well we’ll meet up again in a few days. I had first interviewed him in 2009 and he isn’t just one of the main advocates for peace and regional integration, but one of the few genuine ones. His approach has always been refreshing.

“Many individuals involved in these peace-making initiatives don’t have any interest in seeing the conflict resolved because they have a certain ‘visibility’ and also financially gain from the situation,” he explains. “Churchill said that in order for corruption to flourish there is the need for an external aggressor. Everything is calculated, including the nationalist rhetoric injected into society. The mass media is part of this too. “ 

 

[…]

 

Instead, Vanyan argues, there needs to be new approaches taken to prepare society for peace. Indeed, he says, the desire to end the conflict needs to be there in the first place.  “Armenians and Azerbaijanis are human beings first of all and have a basic desire for peace. What we need to do is to make this basic desire public and to initiate some kind of open public discussion. Instead of organizing seminars and talking to NGOs, we talk to people in the markets, or in local cultural centers.”

Tekali, Georgia © Onnik James Krikorian 2011

In addition to holding the Days of Azerbaijan at the Mkhitar Sebastatsi Educational Complex in Yerevan, Vanyan is perhaps best known for his Tekali process, a series of regional meetings held in the ethnic Azerbaijani village of the same name in Georgia close to both the Armenian and Azerbaijani borders.

In 2011, I also wrote my first article about it.

What makes Vanyan different, perhaps, is that rather than be content with holding his activities at holiday resorts or five star hotels on neutral ground in third countries such as Georgia, Vanyan targets the general population. “The approach of keeping everything closed carries with it some very grave consequences,” he explains. “Armenians and Azerbaijanis are human beings first of all and have a basic desire for peace. What we need to do is to make this basic desire public and to initiate some kind of open discussion. Instead of organizing seminars, we talk to people in the markets, or in local cultural centers. It’s why we hope events such as our film festival will start some kind of discussion in society.”

 

[…]

 

“The establishment of a peacemaking center in Tekalo will be the first step for the creation of a free communication zone for citizens of the three countries,” a press release declared. “This proposal is based on our firm belief that Armenian-Azeri dialogue may take place only under the conditions of the revival of the South Caucasus region, of regional thinking, and regional integration and safety. Georgia is a part of this region, its central player,” it continued, while also calling for other civil society organizations to relocate their cross-border activities there. As part of the project, the local infrastructure including schools, cultural centers and roads, for example, would be renovated.

 

[…] 

 

With the involvement of participants from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, it will likely result in more criticism for Vanyan, and especially inside Armenia, but he remains undaunted. “Communication is not betrayal,” he told an Azerbaijan newspaper in 2009. “It is a natural human need.”

And communication did indeed happen. Moreover, rather than just be confined to largely English-speaking elites in the capitals of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Tekali allowed for people from the regions of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia to attend.  And by not holding the events in a fancy resort hotel, they not only cost less than most other peacebuilding events, but they also benefitted local communities. Ethnic Azerbaijani residents of Tekali, for example, prepared the food for participants.

Ethnic Azerbaijani residents of Tekali, Georgia © Onnik James Krikorian 2012

 Following last year’s war, the importance of projects such as Tekali are glaringly obvious as focus inevitably shifts from those elites in Yerevan and Baku to communities in close proximity with each other. There are also sustainable development and community empowerment elements too. Revisiting my second article written about Tekali it will be good to hopefully return there with Vanyan in a few days.

The roads have seen better days and probably so too have the villagers, but if events continue to be held in a small ethnic Azeri village in Georgia that might all change. Situated just 10 kilometers from the Georgian border with Azerbaijan, and 29 kilometers from the crossing with Armenia, those attempting to establish Tekali as a regional peacebuilding center certainly hope so. One of them, Armenian theatrical director turned activist Georgi Vanyan has already called on other NGOs to relocate some of their existing and future regional and cross-border projects there. If that were to happen, much needed investment could be attracted to Tekali as well as the surrounding area and involve wider society in dialogue, discussion and debate.

 

[…]

 

What happens next in Tekali remains to be seen, but Vanyan hopes to establish a print and online newspaper dealing with the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict in Armenian, Azerbaijani, Russian and English. A radio station based in the village, which will broadcast to audiences in the regions of all three countries, is also planned along with a cinema, library and Internet café. Cultural activities would also be included. One idea, for example, is to stage a localized version of Romeo and Juliet with an Armenian and Azerbaijani playing the lead roles. Even if unrelated to Tekali, others such as Azerbaijani film director Rustam Ibragimbekov are already hoping to secure funding to film the famous fictional love story in the context of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

 

“I want to show the tragedy of two lovers whose lives were tragically changed by the conflict,” Ibragimbekov told EurasiaNet in early March. “When shooting stops, people-to-people contacts get back onto a peaceful path, as they understand that the conflicts are started by governments and radical groups, not by ordinary people.”

Tekali, Georgia © Onnik James Krikorian 2012

Will try to write an update on his future plans in the nearest future. Until then, you can follow Georgi Vanyan on Facebook here.

Ethnic Azerbaijani kids in Tekali, Georgia © Onnik James Krikorian 2011-12