Arin Karapet: A Swedish Politician, An Armenian Soul

Do Swedish Armenians see you as their representative?

You have to ask them. I have to be very humble. First of all, we have eight different political parties, so I am the voice of one of them. Of course, I became a voice of Swedish Armenian community, when it is about the questions regarding Armenia. My dad was a leftist, I am a liberal conservative, so he voted for me because I am his son, but I do not expect that the Armenians should vote for me as I share the same ethnicity with them. They should vote for me because I have the right policy. The majority of the voters are Swedes or other ethnic peoples; there are also plenty of Iranians who support me. And I always should be Armenian, even if no Armenian will vote for me.

What are the activities of the Armenian-Swedish parliamentary friendship group?

I was the chairman of that group, now I am the vice-chairman. We are trying to strengthen ties between our two countries, how Sweden can with its knowledge educate the Armenian court, reform the police, help them with legislation when it comes to domestic violence. Unfortunately we don’t discuss that issue much in Armenia. If there is a problem, we have to raise it and build a mutual trust between judicial system and the society, that the women (but also men, who are being beaten by their wives) should know there is a place they can go, there is legislation that will protect them. It can be also the environmental issues that Armenia has, but now the most urgent one is the humanitarian situation in Artsakh, where ethnic cleansing happens. Can Sweden play a role of a peacemaker? Even if we in Armenia have lost the trust of diplomatic tools, you cannot just though it out. Right now we are writing a statement to the Swedish foreign minister and government about humanitarian crisis in Artsakh. In this modern world, we are witnessing how 120,000 people might lose their lives in front of mankind.

Armenia is a small dot on the map. Artsakh is even a smaller one, so it has no interest for the West, and this so-called civilized world does not care about it. Although the same world a while ago really did care about another small drops – Kosovo and Eritrea. So again, viva double standards!

For more than seven months I have been raising the alarm about the blockade of Artsakh, from the very beginning, that the Azeris are not going to open the borders. In the West they do not realize what is happening. For decades they were thinking that after the fall of Berlin war no more wars would happen in Europe. That is why Europe was shocked after Russia’s attack on Ukraine. As for Artsakh, I do not know what kind of dialogue the Armenian government is engaging in right now with its partners, but in politics sometimes everything is very cynical. It is very hard for many people to understand the situation. Every politician does not have bad intentions; we are in the middle of a regime that is very sensitive. To be honest, we are only democracy in this region right now — unfortunately, Georgia is going on wrong direction – so we have to try to find a way to survive. We have survived, but the history is repeating again, and I have no idea what is now happening in the closed rooms. The dictatorship in Azerbaijan is trying to proclaim the rest of the world that they are a multicultural ethnic society, but their actions toward the Artsakh people, the elderly men, women, children, all civilians, show the opposite.

Unfortunately, I think we Armenians have not thought about this scenario. This is very critical situation, but I am very sure we will survive this in one way or another, I do not know on what price, but I am sure we will. We have to stop to have this mentality that we know everything. We never listen to each other. We are a very small country, and we have to stop being egoistical. What I like is the new generation in Armenia, the youth, especially the young girls, who are more self-confident, than their mothers. I wish my mother, who is a very strong woman, who has many dreams and visions, grew up in an environment where a “no” was a “yes” and she could have reached her goals. I still cannot understand why every general in the army must be a man. It works very well in Sweden; 23 percent of our army is composed of women. If we go back to our history, we always have had women warriors. One issue we had during the last war was that the majority of women could not drive cars. That shows a little bit of ignorance. You think you will win the war, but what will happen if you need to retreat? How will the women leave if they cannot drive? I think every woman in this country should know how to drive a car – it is a matter of security. They always speak about the diaspora, which I am part of, but we are far away. When something crucial happens, you should put your hopes on those who are on the ground, not somewhere in Los Angeles, Buenos Aires or Australia.

Please, tell us a little bit about your family.

My last name Karapet was chosen by my grandfather. His and my grandmother’s families were Genocide survivors from Western Armenia. But my grandparents have said almost nothing about it to my dad. My mother’s side you can track back almost 700 years. My mother’s family lived nearby Urmia lake, old provinces of Gharadagh, Nakhichevan, Salmast, Khoy. My mom speaks Armenian, Assyrian, Farsi, Azeri. Because of my mother I speak Armenian fluently. She set a rule: we will not have dinner, if I do not learn my lessons or do not speak Armenian at home. So, I am very happy, because for me coming back to Armenia is not a problem, I do not need to call anyone for help unless there is need to understand written on the physical paper. And one of good things in Armenia is that everybody is ready to help. Unfortunately, I cannot read and write in Armenian, so people here willingly do it for me. But one day I will learn to read Armenian, that is for sure! I set a goal that the day I have my own family, when my children start to read and write in Armenian, it will also be my duty to learn with them!