Civic Activism as a Novel Component of Armenian Civil Society

Despite concerns both within and outside Armenia, the project moved forward without
any changes. The Diaspora’s involvement gradually weakened and never returned to the levels of
2006. However, the activities described paved the way for the emergence of the civic initiative.
Stage 2: Active Involvement (2008-2011). Starting in 2008, the Teghut initiative made
informing the general public about the issue their main strategy; their goal was for the Teghut
issue to acquire a constant presence on the country’s political and social agenda. In spring 2009,
the activists picketed in front of the Ministry of Nature Protection and the government building
every day for nearly a month. This created serious public pressure on government, resulting in
two public hearings organised by the Prime Minister of Armenia. A petition was signed by 5,000
citizens and addressed to the President, Prime Minister and the Speaker of the Parliament.
Interestingly, the signatories were joined by the two first ladies (the wives of Armenia’s second
and third presidents), which however, had no influence on the future decision-making over the
mine.
In 2009, several NGOs appealed to the Administrative Court of Armenia. They accused
the government, the Ministry of Nature Protection, and the Ministry of Energy and Natural
Resources of illegal approval of the exploitation of the Teghut mine. The Court rejected the
appeal on the grounds that neither a group of people nor an NGO is eligible to defend the rights
of other citizens or communities in court. The NGOs involved in the process appealed to the
Cassation Court, which started a long chain of judicial decisions, ultimately leading nowhere.
Having achieved no success in domestic courts, the activists started to attract
international attention to the issue. In September 2009, the Teghut group appealed to the Aarhus
Convention Committee of the UN Economic Commission for Europe. The applicants claimed
that Armenia had violated the Convention’s two main principles: public participation in decisionmaking
and access to justice in environmental issues. 23 The Committee responded by admitting
that the government of Armenia failed to make its citizens aware of its project or to involve the
parties affected in the decision-making process (Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee
2010). The activists interpreted this response as a partial success: the Aarhus Committee’s
decision favoured the position of the activists.
In 2011, the project was placed on hold because of the global economic crisis. The
mining company started to seek funding, mainly from banks, hoping to secure a substantial loan
from the Russian Vneshtorgbank (VTB) bank. Activist movement continued, now with a new
focus, namely protesting outside banks and particularly VTB bank Armenia and the Yerevan
office of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Two most visible
protest events were in May and July 2011.
In September-October of 2011, the attention of both the activists and the general public
was diverted to another case of environmental activism: a brief, intense and successful struggle
to preserve a scenic Trchkan waterfall from disappearing under a hydropower plant dam. The
23 Armenia has signed (in 1998) and ratified the Aarhus Convention (in 2001).
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