Civic Activism as a Novel Component of Armenian Civil Society

the environment and people living in the vicinity of the factory. The latest large-scale event
organised by the activists was on 5 April 5 2014, the so-called alter-conference “Irresponsible
Mining in Armenia.” In terms of outcome, the initiative is clearly a failure. It failed to achieve its
main goal: preventing the mine’s construction.
• Leaders
Teghut is one of the oldest on-going civic activism campaigns; the core leadership underwent
some changes over time, including an attempt at enlarging the coordinating group. The
enlargement led to the formation of sub-groups with different visions; the sub-group in favour of
more radical actions and closer cooperation with political actors eventually formed a spin-off
Pan-Armenian Environmental Front. 24 The core team numbers stayed at approximately 5-7
people, with some dropouts and replacements over the years (A. Hakobyan 2016). It is also an
interesting case of continuation despite fatigue and a search for alternatives when initial
strategies do not seem effective. The shift in strategy described in this chronology is one
example. Another example is that the activists admitted to have become “tired of being on the
street” and looking for new, creative approaches to continue the struggle.
• Gender dimension
The issue of environmental preservation has no explicit gender dimension. Both female and male
activists are involved as core leadership and as rank-and-file members. Young female activists
are very visible and play a prominent role in the initiative. At some point, Mariam Sukhudyan (a
young woman) was one of the key faces identified with the Teghut struggle. Her involvement
and leadership is a dramatic story
On 13 August 2009, the Police of the RA initiated a criminal case against Mariam
Sukhudyan that envisaged severe punishment in the form of imprisonment for up to five years.
The case began when Mariam publicised allegations of sexual abuse made by the students
against a teacher of Nubarashen School No 11, which is a special boarding school for disabled
children (Armenian Weekly News Agency, 26 March 2010).
The activists believed that the reason for persecution was her participation in Teghut
campaign (Panarmenian.Net News Agency, 19 August 2009). The move against Mariam
Sukhudyan provoked outrage among activists and broader society. People involved considered
the charges against the activist groundless. A group of art historians wrote an open letter,
demanding a thorough investigation of the case. The press releases of some prominent NGOs,
including Helsinki Association, Helsinki Citizen Assembly, PINK Armenia, Women Resource
Center and others strongly condemned the criminal case and demanded that it cease
immediately. 25
24 Available at: http://www.armecofront.net/en/about-us-2/
25 Ecolur: New Informational Policy In Ecology (01 September 2009), “Movement in Support of Mariam
Sukhudyan Increases”, Retrieved from http://www.ecolur.org/en/news/sos/movement-in-support-of-mariamsukhudyan-increases/423/
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