My great-grandfathers survived the Armenian Genocide even before 1915 — Vrej-Armen Artinian

According to a theory put forth by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, either the nation opposes the people, or the people prevail over the nation, and only those who hold an Armenian passport are considered part of the nation. On this topic, Alpha News spoke with Canadian-Armenian architect Vrej-Armen Artinian.

“To us, Armenians of Canada, such an approach is completely alien. We are outside of Armenia regardless of our will. My parents, myself, my children and grandchildren were born abroad, yet all our lives we have been raised to be part of the Armenian nation. However, the position of the current government shows something that we cannot accept. We openly express our disagreement on this issue, which is evident both through our initiatives and in the press,” Artinian said.

Speaking about the origin of his name, the architect noted:

“One of my parents wanted to name me Armen, and the other wanted to give me the name Vrej (from Armenian – revenge, ed.). As a result, I was given the name Vrej-Armen, which I also use as a pen name. However, many people tend to forget about the name Armen and simply call me Vrej. Speaking about my ancestors, I should mention that my great-grandfathers survived the Armenian Genocide back in 1915, and this is an integral part of my history. Armenians were subjected to pogroms both before and after 1915, with the Artsakh War being vivid proof of that. Genocide is not just physical extermination. The Armenians of Artsakh were forcibly displaced from their homeland, and this is also genocide.”