Photos: "Oh No, How Is It Possible?" Anna Hakobyan Publishes New Images and Responds to Criticism

There are true aesthetes among us who are offended by ordinary phenomena—by our usual towns, our usual streets, our usual snacks, our usual corn, our usual restaurants, and our usual omelets. This was stated by Anna Hakobyan, the wife of the Prime Minister of Armenia, on her Facebook page.

“Oh No. How is it possible? What connection do they have with all this? It’s not theirs. What belongs to them is high taste, oysters, classical music. Indeed! After all, the umbilical cord of our forefathers was cut in European capitals, and over the centuries, our blood has turned blue. And here are beautiful, aesthetic, eye-pleasing photographs, corresponding to our origins.

By the way, a mediocre Armenian intellectual who has been to a couple of countries, read a couple of books, listened to opera a couple of times, and eaten a couple of oysters not only does not like, but is also ashamed of the average Armenian person, their home, their shop, their food, their experiences, and everything outside the small center of Yerevan.

This is why what we define as love for the homeland is merely a whimpering of the arrogant, the self-praising, ashamed of their rich homeland, rich cities, and compatriots, ashamed of their everyday life—of snacks, corn, and restaurant music—all those who do not love any of it and seek to distance themselves from it. Because if you don’t love all this, then what do you love? I’ll tell you what: the ruined churches, because someone else has destroyed them; the lost cities, because others live there; the Memorial of the Massacre, because someone else has perpetrated the massacre; Mount Ararat, because it is beyond the border. In short, everything that loving does not imply a sense of responsibility, care, effort, sweat, or work. Just whining.”