Sona Ayvazyan, Deputy Director of Transparency International Anticorruption Center was the guest of CivilNet on September 21, 2014. She addressed the significance of Armenia’s independence and its 23 years. With the establishment of the third republic in 1991 the Armenian people who were responsible to build the country’s future were filled with some hopes and expectations for building a new society. Sona Ayvazyan spoke about the challenges the Armenian people had to face during those years, the economic and social problems that they failed to envisage then, as well as the latest shift in its foreign policy, autocratic, one-man decision-making and losing its sovereignty in the customs and energy policies.

Sona Ayvazyan noted that the steps which the Armenian government is taking today are diverging from the interdependence concept. We underestimated the concept and did not cherish it the way we should have done properly. Therefore it is the responsibility of today’s generation to bring things back to the extent possible and to reestablish the sovereignty that we had had at least a few years ago. In order to build a better nation, the mindset of the people must change. A lot of people and organizations are engaged in changing the people’s mindset step by step, though it is difficult to regain the values which we had lost in the course of many years.

The most important step to bring change should be holding free and fair elections. If we are really able to elect a government, demand from the government and make it accountable, things will change very quickly. The good thing about Armenia is that it might be possible to reestablish values, structures, institutions and finally the trust of the people in the government since the country is very small. The first task for the citizens who are active and caring for this country is to get rid of the authority, since it is impossible to expect changes with a government that has usurped the power and captured the state.

Sona Ayvazyan also wished CivilNet happy 3rd year anniversary. During its three year activity Civilnet has gained a niche in media environment in making public a lot of processes and ideas that would otherwise be hidden.