Ideological Tendencies of Dissent in Soviet Armenia in the 1960s and 1980s

There were three primary ideological paths followed by the dissident movements in Soviet Armenia that originated in the USSR in the 1960s of the 20th century. In Soviet Armenia, dissent was primarily organized around national issues such as the mention of the Armenian Genocide, the demands for the reunification of Karabakh and Nakhichevan to the motherland, preservation of the Armenian language, restoration of Armenia's independence, and defense of human rights. Objectives and plans of covert groups established in Soviet Armenia bore the ideological imprint of these movements. The fight to restore Armenia's independence was of utmost significance in Soviet Armenia. The purpose of this article is to present the ideological directions of Armenian dissent and their manifestations. In order to realize the goal, the task was set to research and discuss the dissident organizations founded in Soviet Armenia and the individual approaches that integrated all the ideological directions of the Armenian dissident in their programs and activities. Historical and comparative methods were used. Content analysis of state and personal archival materials, interviews, and memoirs was carried out. It has been established that the dissident manifestations in Soviet Armenia had three key ideological directions, which had different priorities in different periods.