The environmental start of the National Movement
Before the Karabakh movement ignited, several environmental demonstrations and rallies took place in Yerevan. In essence, people came out against the system for the first time with ecological demands and slogans. With no political speeches at those gatherings, those actions were also considered a manifestation of dissent in the USSR. The issues raised were mainly related to the "Nairit" factory, the Metsamor nuclear power plant, and the radioactive waste cemetery to be built in the Ararat Valley.
Hakob Sanasaryan, the president of the Union of Greens, says that during the Soviet years, the word "ecology" was not acceptable, it was a word for "dissident". Academician Araxi Babayan, one of the first to raise environmental issues, published an article in the 1970s about "Nairit" in "Communist" newspaper, implying that the factory’s existence is incompatible with the life of the city.
Sanasaryan notes that the main precondition was to only raise environmental issues during those meetings, without discussing politics. During the first meetings, they particularly talked about Yerevan's air pollution.
In 1987, a march was organized with the slogan "Fresh Air for Yerevan," which started near the Pedagogical Institute and ended at the rally in Freedom Square, where poetess Silva Kaputikyan and academician Rafael Ghazaryan gave speeches without a political context.
Hakob Sanasaryan, the president of the Union of Greens, says that during the Soviet years, the word "ecology" was not acceptable, it was a word for "dissident". Academician Araxi Babayan, one of the first to raise environmental issues, published an article in the 1970s about "Nairit" in "Communist" newspaper, implying that the factory’s existence is incompatible with the life of the city.
Sanasaryan notes that the main precondition was to only raise environmental issues during those meetings, without discussing politics. During the first meetings, they particularly talked about Yerevan's air pollution.
In 1987, a march was organized with the slogan "Fresh Air for Yerevan," which started near the Pedagogical Institute and ended at the rally in Freedom Square, where poetess Silva Kaputikyan and academician Rafael Ghazaryan gave speeches without a political context.
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