The most peaceful revolution

by Silviya Ivanova (Bulgaria)

A leap into the unknown Armenia

As an active volunteer in a non-governmental organisation in Bulgaria, I was rewarded with a participation in a very important long-term project with leading partner country Armenia. The opening conference on topic “Non-formal youth work and formal youth studies” was placed in Yerevan. At this time, I was twenty years old, working a full time job in a Call Centre for a budget airline company and in the meantime studying my bachelor degree in the Medical University of Sofia. Having an amazing adventure arriving to Yerevan in 4 a.m. and sharing a room with nine more girls from six different countries were just the appetisers for my experience there. A couple of days before my flight I received an email from the hosting organisation that I should not be scared and there is nothing going on. Just assuring me that whatever I heard on the news was exaggerated, without any further context. However, living in a Balkan country sometimes means that you are not provided with all the world news on daily bases, so I have not heard anything about the situation in Armenia. Having my adventure started, the first time I realised that something is wrong was on the day of the opening conference when in the lunch break a small central restaurant was surrounded by literary 300 police officers. Occasionally I let myself enjoy tobacco, which is incredibly cheap in Armenia. My new colleague who is a journalist in Istanbul but is originally from Yerevan accompanied me, explaining why I received many bad looks from all the uniform men while smoking a regular cigarette. In the country most famous with it’s cognac, it is widely considered not acceptable for women to smoke as the only ones who does it are named with horrible names and are being judged because of this action of theirs. The following day, the program included a visit in a typical Armenian tavern with traditional dancers. However this evening arriving in the centre of Yerevan was a mission impossible, the bus I was in took a long alternative way and while going out of the bus I saw hundreds of people on the street walking in a calm manner shouting something in their native language. I asked the organisers what was happening and they explained that there was an ongoing protest against the president. Later on, all the participants in the conference received a ban to leave the hostel, as it is illegal to join a manifest in a foreign country. When the sun goes down the city acquires a different appearance. I was able to hear all the honking of the cars all over Yerevan until early morning. The protest was getting more intense and people from all over Armenia were joining the movement showing their rights, blocking the main roads and fluttering their flag. One time I remember we were in the bus heading to the suburbs and the bus itself was blocked by all the protestants who were shouting and chanting against the ongoing regime. As a person with enochlophobia, this was one of the most horrifying moments of my life, even though the people seemed very calm. On 24th of April, I had an organised visit with the local colleagues in the centre of Yerevan. Travelling to the venue in the worst traffic jam I have ever seen, my friend suggested that we should go out of the car and walk. The car was in the middle of a huge highway surrounded by hundreds of other cars honking and playing music extremely loud, some of the people had climbed the cars up to the rooftop dancing and shouting, holding the Armenian flags. It turned out that the most peaceful protest in the history was successful and the president resigned. The joy that you could see on the faces of hundreds of thousands Armenian citizens and the way they celebrated their freedom from the old regime was priceless. It was more than national holiday, it was an example for all the world that in a uncommon and not that famous country as Armenia the unity of people can lift up mountains even as big as Ararat.