Councilor urges Vance to speak out against political repression in Armenia

Ruben Mkhitaryan, a member of the Gyumri City Council and a prominent Armenian producer, on Monday shared an open letter addressed to visiting U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, urging him not to remain silent in the face of political repression in Armenia.

In the Facebook post, Mkhitaryan framed his message around the Oscar-winning film Mephisto, drawing parallels between art, power and moral compromise. “Silence is also a choice, but one without alternatives and very concrete consequences,” he wrote, addressing Vance.

Referring to the film’s portrayal of a successful German actor who claims that “art is outside politics” as the Nazi regime rises to power, Mkhitaryan described how the character’s decision to stay silent allows him to prosper professionally while becoming complicit in the system. The film ends with the actor isolated and morally hollow, having become “a small and manageable cog” in that system, Mkhitaryan said.

“The question remains open,” he said. “At what point does silence become a choice?”

In a postscript, Mkhitaryan added that Armenia currently has political prisoners “because they refused to remain silent.”