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ERMENİSTAN KOMÜNİST PARTİSİ’NİN İKTİDARINDA ERMENİSTAN’DA SEÇİM PROPAGANDASI

Year 2021, Issue: 44, 53 - 81, 06.12.2021

Abstract

Ermenistan Sovyet Sosyalist Cumhuriyeti’nde (ESSC) Ermeni halkının vatandaşlık hakları Sovyet anayasaları çerçevesinde belirlenmiştir. Sovyetler Birliği’nde yürürlükte olan anayasa temelinde Ermeni halkının seçim hakkını kullanması da Komünist Parti’nin gölgesinde gerçekleşmiştir. ESSC’de Sovyetler Birliği Komünist Partisi’nin (SBKP) bir kolu olan Ermenistan Komünist Partisi’nin (EKP) öncülüğünde seçimlere gidilmiş ve bu dönemde hazırlanan propaganda posterleri üzerinden Ermeni halkının seçimlere katılması teşvik edilmiştir. Çalışma; ESSC’de seçim konulu propaganda posterlerini inceleyerek, EKP’nin iktidarı altında seçim propagandasında verilen mesajların ortaya koymayı amaçlamıştır. Bu amaçla çalışma kapsamında EKP’nin iktidarı altında seçim propagandasında kullanılan posterler, ABD’li göstergebilimci Charles William Morris’in göstergebilim kavramları üzerinden analiz edilmiştir. Çalışmada elde edilen bulgularda, seçim posterlerinde Komünizm ideolojisini benimseyen ve Vladimir Lenin düşünceleri doğrultusunda oy kullanan Ermenilerin, idealize edilen Ermeni vatandaşları olarak sunulduğu ortaya çıkarılmıştır. Posterler üzerinden Sovyet anayasasının verdiği sınırlı yetki çerçevesinde Ermeni halkının seçimlere katıldığı belirlenmiştir. Diğer yandan seçim konulu propaganda posterleri üzerinden Ermeni kamuoyunda komünist ideolojinin ve rejimin yüceltilmeye çalışıldığı sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Sonuç olarak çalışmada EKP iktidarındaki seçim propagandasının Ermeni halkının seçimlerde komünist rejim tarafından onaylanan adayları desteklemesi sağlanarak, Ermeni kamuoyunda rejimin meşrulaştırılmasına çalışıldığı ortaya çıkarılmıştır.

References

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  • “The First Election Poster.” University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)-International Digital Ephemera Project, accessed November 5, 2021, https://idep.library.ucla.edu/search#!/document/armeniaposters:243
  • “The Second Election Poster.” University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)-International Digital Ephemera Project, accessed November 5, 2021, https://idep.library.ucla.edu/search#!/document/armeniaposters:120
  • “The Third Election Poster.” University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)-International Digital Ephemera Project, accessed November 5, 2021, https://idep.library.ucla.edu/search#!/document/armeniaposters:242
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  • “The Seventh Election Poster.” University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)-International Digital Ephemera Project, accessed November 5, 2021, https://idep.library.ucla.edu/search#!/document/armeniaposters:105
  • “The Eighth Election Poster.” University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)-International Digital Ephemera Project, accessed November 5, 2021, https://idep.library.ucla.edu/search#!/document/armeniaposters:385
  • Asker, Ali. “Ermenistan’da Anayasal Dönüşüm Süreci ve Anayasa’nın Temel Özellikleri.” Ermeni Araştırmaları, no. 36 (2010): 191-218.
  • Baytimur, Tuğba, Caner Çakı, and Ferit Arda Arıca. "The Propaganda in Armenia of The Five-Year Development Plans Implemented in The Soviet Union." Review of Armenian Studies, no. 42 (2020): 81-102.
  • Bozdemir, Osman. “Organ Ticaretinin Önlenmesine Yönelik Kampanyalar: ABD Ulusal İnsan Kaçakçılığı Kaynak Merkezinin Kamu Spotlarının Göstergebilimsel İncelemesi.” Göç Araştırmaları Dergisi 6, no. 2 (2020): 368-389.
  • Bolsover, George H. “Soviet Ideology and Propaganda.” International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944) 24, no. 2 (1948): 170-180.
  • Brady, Anne-Marie. “Guiding Hand: The Role of the CCP Central Propaganda Department in the Current Era.” In Critical Readings on the Communist Party of China (4 Vols. Set), ed. Kjeld Erik Brodsgaard, 752-772. Holland: Brill, 2017.
  • Cabbarlı, Hatem. "Ermenistan Cumhuriyeti’nin Siyasal Dönüşüm Süreci." Uluslararası Kriz ve Siyaset Araştırmaları Dergisi 4, no. 1 (2020): 118-158.
  • Chen, Tina Mai. “Propagating the Propaganda Film: The Meaning of Film in Chinese Communist Party Writings, 1949-1965.” Modern Chinese Literature and Culture 15, no. 2 (2003): 154-193.
  • Çalışkan, Sadık & Mehmet Barış Yılmaz. “Ermenistan Sovyet Sosyalist Cumhuriyeti'nde Basında Yer Alan Propaganda Posterleri Üzerinden Vladimir Lenin'in Kült Liderlik İnşası.” Ermeni Araştırmaları, no. 65 (2020): 75-100.
  • Getty, J. Arch. “State and Society under Stalin: Constitutions and Elections in the 1930s.” Slavic Review 50, no. 1 (1991): 18-35.
  • Hachigian, Nina. “The Internet and Power in One‐Party East Asian States”. Washington Quarterly 25, no. 3 (2002): 41-58.
  • Hill, Ronald J. “Continuity and Change in USSR Supreme Soviet Elections.” British Journal of Political Science 2, no. 1 (1972): 47-67.
  • Hill, Ronald J. “The CPSU in a Soviet Election Campaign.” Soviet Studies 28, no. 4 (1976): 590-598.
  • Kavass, I.I., & G.I. Christian. “The 1977 Soviet Constitution: Historical Comparison.” Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law 12, no. 3 (1979): 533-662.
  • Magaloni, Beatriz & Ruth Kricheli. “Political Order and One-Party Rule.” Annual Review of Political Science 13, (2010): 123-143.
  • Mickiewicz, Ellen. “The Modernization of Party Propaganda in the USSR.” Slavic Review 30, no. 2 (1971): 257-276. Morris, Charles William. “The Nature of Mind.” Rice Institute Pamphlet-Rice University Studies 16, no. 4 (1929): 153-182.
  • Morris, Charles William. Symbolism and Reality: A Study in the Nature of Mind (Vol. 15). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing, 1993.
  • Osakwe, Christopher. “Soviet Human Rights Law under the USSR Constitution of 1977: Theories, Realities and Trends.” Tulane Law Review 56, no. 1 (1981-1982): 249-293.
  • Paşayeva, Gülşen, İrada Bağirova, Kamal Makili-Aliyev ve Ferhad Mehdiyev. “SSCB’de Yarı-Özerkliğin Hukuki Durumu: Dağlık Karabağ Özerk Bölgesi Örneği.” Uluslararası Suçlar ve Tarih, no.14 (2013): 69-104.
  • Pateman, Joe. “VI Lenin on Democracy.” International Critical Thought 10, no. 4 (2020): 535-558.
  • Pretorius, Deirdre, Grietjie Verhoef, and Marian Sauthoff. “The Printed Propaganda of the Communist Party of South Africa during World War II.” Image & Text: a Journal for Design 20, no. 1 (2012): 30-48.
  • Saratovskikh, L. “New Features in Legislation on Elections to the USSR Supreme Soviet.” Soviet Law and Government 18, no. 2 (1979): 20-26.
  • Swearer, Howard R. “The Functions of Soviet Local Elections.” Midwest Journal of Political Science 5, no. 2 (1961): 129-149.
  • Tedin, Kent L. “Popular Support for Competitive Elections in the Soviet Union.” Comparative Political Studies 27, no. 2 (1994): 241-271.
  • Terrell, Robert L. “The First 25 Years of the Beijing Review, An Official: Propaganda Organ of the Communist Party of the People's Republic of China.” Gazette (Leiden, Netherlands) 37, no. 3 (1986): 191-219.
  • Tsai, Wen-Hsuan. “Enabling China’s Voice to be Heard by the World: Ideas and Operations of the Chinese Communist Party’s External Propaganda System.” Problems of Post-Communism 64, no. 3-4 (2017): 203-213.
  • White, Stephen. “Non-Competitive Elections and National Politics: The USSR Supreme Soviet Elections of 1984.” Electoral Studies 4, no. 3 (1985): 215-229.
  • White, Stephen & Gordon Wightman. “Gorbachev's Reforms: the Soviet Elections of 1989.” Parliamentary Affairs 42, no. 4 (1989): 560-581.
  • Zaslavsky, Victor & Robert J Brym. “The Functions of Elections in the USSR.” Soviet Studies 30, no. 3 (1978): 362-371.

THE ELECTION PROPAGANDA IN ARMENIA UNDER THE RULE OF THE ARMENIAN COMMUNIST PARTY

Year 2021, Issue: 44, 53 - 81, 06.12.2021

Abstract

In the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR), the citizenship rights of the Armenian people were determined within the framework of the Soviet constitutions. The use of the right to vote by the Armenian people on the basis of the constitution in force in the Soviet Union was also realized in the shadow of the Communist Party. Elections were held in the ASSR under the leadership of the Communist Party of Armenia (CPA), a branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), and the Armenian people were encouraged to participate in the elections through propaganda posters prepared during this period. This study aimed to reveal the messages given in the election propaganda under the power of the CPA by examining the election-themed propaganda posters in the ASSR. For this purpose, within the scope of the study, the posters used in election propaganda under the power of the CPA were analyzed through the semiotic concepts of the US semiotician Charles William Morris. In the findings obtained in the study, it was revealed that the Armenians, who adopted the communist ideology and voted in line with the ideas of Vladimir Lenin, were presented as idealized Armenian citizens in the election posters. On the basis of the posters, it was determined that the Armenian people participated in the elections within the framework of the limited authority given by the Soviet constitutions. On the other hand, it was concluded that the communist ideology and regime were tried to be glorified in the Armenian public opinion through the election-themed propaganda posters. As a result, it was revealed in the study that the election propaganda under the CPA government tried to legitimize the communist regime in the Armenian public opinion by ensuring that the Armenian people supported the candidates approved by the regime.

References

  • “About.” University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)-International Digital Ephemera Project, accessed November 26, 2021, https://idep.library.ucla.edu/about
  • “About the National Library of Armenia.” University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)-International Digital Ephemera Project, accessed November 26, 2021, https://idep.library.ucla.edu/national-library-armenia
  • “Конституции.” Конституции СССР и РСФСР (1918-1978), accessed November 30, 2021, http://constitution.garant.ru/history/ussr-rsfsr/
  • "Конституция 1936.” Статья 135, accessed November 30, 2021, http://constitution.garant.ru/history/ussr-rsfsr/1936/red_1936/3958676/chapter/531f31fc05e8518095d555dedbf7915c/
  • "Конституция 1937.” Статья 140, accessed November 30, 2021, http://constitution.garant.ru/history/ussr-rsfsr/1937/red_1937/3959896/chapter/39508de81c29ab8e2f1ebbd63918d25c/
  • "Конституция 1937.” Статья 141, accessed November 30, 2021, http://constitution.garant.ru/history/ussr-rsfsr/1937/red_1937/3959896/chapter/4409e3d130a818a2b5323978ad10f4c3/
  • "Конституция 1937.” Статья 143, accessed November 30, 2021, http://constitution.garant.ru/history/ussr-rsfsr/1937/red_1937/3959896/chapter/45c7159d1431fa030f3a50def1cdf355/
  • "Конституция 1977.” Статья 97, accessed November 30, 2021, http://constitution.garant.ru/history/ussr-rsfsr/1977/red_1977/5478732/
  • “Soviet Armenian Posters on Elections.” University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)-International Digital Ephemera Project, accessed November 5, 2021, https://idep.library.ucla.edu/search#!/subject=Elections&collection=Soviet+Armenian+Posters
  • “The First Election Poster.” University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)-International Digital Ephemera Project, accessed November 5, 2021, https://idep.library.ucla.edu/search#!/document/armeniaposters:243
  • “The Second Election Poster.” University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)-International Digital Ephemera Project, accessed November 5, 2021, https://idep.library.ucla.edu/search#!/document/armeniaposters:120
  • “The Third Election Poster.” University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)-International Digital Ephemera Project, accessed November 5, 2021, https://idep.library.ucla.edu/search#!/document/armeniaposters:242
  • “The Fourth Election Poster.” University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)-International Digital Ephemera Project, accessed November 5, 2021, https://idep.library.ucla.edu/search#!/document/armeniaposters:244
  • “The Fifth Election Poster.” University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)-International Digital Ephemera Project, accessed November 5, 2021, https://idep.library.ucla.edu/search#!/document/armeniaposters:229
  • “The Sixth Election Poster.” University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)-International Digital Ephemera Project, accessed November 5, 2021, https://idep.library.ucla.edu/search#!/document/armeniaposters:230
  • “The Seventh Election Poster.” University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)-International Digital Ephemera Project, accessed November 5, 2021, https://idep.library.ucla.edu/search#!/document/armeniaposters:105
  • “The Eighth Election Poster.” University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)-International Digital Ephemera Project, accessed November 5, 2021, https://idep.library.ucla.edu/search#!/document/armeniaposters:385
  • Asker, Ali. “Ermenistan’da Anayasal Dönüşüm Süreci ve Anayasa’nın Temel Özellikleri.” Ermeni Araştırmaları, no. 36 (2010): 191-218.
  • Baytimur, Tuğba, Caner Çakı, and Ferit Arda Arıca. "The Propaganda in Armenia of The Five-Year Development Plans Implemented in The Soviet Union." Review of Armenian Studies, no. 42 (2020): 81-102.
  • Bozdemir, Osman. “Organ Ticaretinin Önlenmesine Yönelik Kampanyalar: ABD Ulusal İnsan Kaçakçılığı Kaynak Merkezinin Kamu Spotlarının Göstergebilimsel İncelemesi.” Göç Araştırmaları Dergisi 6, no. 2 (2020): 368-389.
  • Bolsover, George H. “Soviet Ideology and Propaganda.” International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944) 24, no. 2 (1948): 170-180.
  • Brady, Anne-Marie. “Guiding Hand: The Role of the CCP Central Propaganda Department in the Current Era.” In Critical Readings on the Communist Party of China (4 Vols. Set), ed. Kjeld Erik Brodsgaard, 752-772. Holland: Brill, 2017.
  • Cabbarlı, Hatem. "Ermenistan Cumhuriyeti’nin Siyasal Dönüşüm Süreci." Uluslararası Kriz ve Siyaset Araştırmaları Dergisi 4, no. 1 (2020): 118-158.
  • Chen, Tina Mai. “Propagating the Propaganda Film: The Meaning of Film in Chinese Communist Party Writings, 1949-1965.” Modern Chinese Literature and Culture 15, no. 2 (2003): 154-193.
  • Çalışkan, Sadık & Mehmet Barış Yılmaz. “Ermenistan Sovyet Sosyalist Cumhuriyeti'nde Basında Yer Alan Propaganda Posterleri Üzerinden Vladimir Lenin'in Kült Liderlik İnşası.” Ermeni Araştırmaları, no. 65 (2020): 75-100.
  • Getty, J. Arch. “State and Society under Stalin: Constitutions and Elections in the 1930s.” Slavic Review 50, no. 1 (1991): 18-35.
  • Hachigian, Nina. “The Internet and Power in One‐Party East Asian States”. Washington Quarterly 25, no. 3 (2002): 41-58.
  • Hill, Ronald J. “Continuity and Change in USSR Supreme Soviet Elections.” British Journal of Political Science 2, no. 1 (1972): 47-67.
  • Hill, Ronald J. “The CPSU in a Soviet Election Campaign.” Soviet Studies 28, no. 4 (1976): 590-598.
  • Kavass, I.I., & G.I. Christian. “The 1977 Soviet Constitution: Historical Comparison.” Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law 12, no. 3 (1979): 533-662.
  • Magaloni, Beatriz & Ruth Kricheli. “Political Order and One-Party Rule.” Annual Review of Political Science 13, (2010): 123-143.
  • Mickiewicz, Ellen. “The Modernization of Party Propaganda in the USSR.” Slavic Review 30, no. 2 (1971): 257-276. Morris, Charles William. “The Nature of Mind.” Rice Institute Pamphlet-Rice University Studies 16, no. 4 (1929): 153-182.
  • Morris, Charles William. Symbolism and Reality: A Study in the Nature of Mind (Vol. 15). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing, 1993.
  • Osakwe, Christopher. “Soviet Human Rights Law under the USSR Constitution of 1977: Theories, Realities and Trends.” Tulane Law Review 56, no. 1 (1981-1982): 249-293.
  • Paşayeva, Gülşen, İrada Bağirova, Kamal Makili-Aliyev ve Ferhad Mehdiyev. “SSCB’de Yarı-Özerkliğin Hukuki Durumu: Dağlık Karabağ Özerk Bölgesi Örneği.” Uluslararası Suçlar ve Tarih, no.14 (2013): 69-104.
  • Pateman, Joe. “VI Lenin on Democracy.” International Critical Thought 10, no. 4 (2020): 535-558.
  • Pretorius, Deirdre, Grietjie Verhoef, and Marian Sauthoff. “The Printed Propaganda of the Communist Party of South Africa during World War II.” Image & Text: a Journal for Design 20, no. 1 (2012): 30-48.
  • Saratovskikh, L. “New Features in Legislation on Elections to the USSR Supreme Soviet.” Soviet Law and Government 18, no. 2 (1979): 20-26.
  • Swearer, Howard R. “The Functions of Soviet Local Elections.” Midwest Journal of Political Science 5, no. 2 (1961): 129-149.
  • Tedin, Kent L. “Popular Support for Competitive Elections in the Soviet Union.” Comparative Political Studies 27, no. 2 (1994): 241-271.
  • Terrell, Robert L. “The First 25 Years of the Beijing Review, An Official: Propaganda Organ of the Communist Party of the People's Republic of China.” Gazette (Leiden, Netherlands) 37, no. 3 (1986): 191-219.
  • Tsai, Wen-Hsuan. “Enabling China’s Voice to be Heard by the World: Ideas and Operations of the Chinese Communist Party’s External Propaganda System.” Problems of Post-Communism 64, no. 3-4 (2017): 203-213.
  • White, Stephen. “Non-Competitive Elections and National Politics: The USSR Supreme Soviet Elections of 1984.” Electoral Studies 4, no. 3 (1985): 215-229.
  • White, Stephen & Gordon Wightman. “Gorbachev's Reforms: the Soviet Elections of 1989.” Parliamentary Affairs 42, no. 4 (1989): 560-581.
  • Zaslavsky, Victor & Robert J Brym. “The Functions of Elections in the USSR.” Soviet Studies 30, no. 3 (1978): 362-371.
There are 45 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Political Science
Journal Section Research Article
Authors

Metin Işık 0000-0001-5984-0328

Mustafa Karaca 0000-0002-8204-6154

Caner Çakı 0000-0002-1523-4649

Publication Date December 6, 2021
Published in Issue Year 2021 Issue: 44

Cite

Chicago Işık, Metin, Mustafa Karaca, and Caner Çakı. “THE ELECTION PROPAGANDA IN ARMENIA UNDER THE RULE OF THE ARMENIAN COMMUNIST PARTY”. Review of Armenian Studies, no. 44 (December 2021): 53-81.