«Հավատա ինքդ քեզ՝ հակառակ Տիեզերքին» (շարունակություն) - հարցազրույց Արթուր ԻՇԽԱՆՅԱՆԻ հետ

The article, dedicated to the continuation of an interview with corresponding member of the NAS RA Artur Ishkhanyan, reveals the history and internal logic of the protest movement of Armenian young scientists who sought fair funding for science.

Introduction and Methodology
The material is structured as a direct continuation of the dialogue with the scientist, who was one of the initiators of the Facebook campaign in defense of science. The interlocutor reconstructs in detail the chronology of the confrontation with the authorities, citing specific arguments from both sides and the results of their verification.

Chronology and Essence of the Conflict
Ishkhanyan describes a three-year period of struggle:

initial consultations within the scientific community on ways to reform science funding;
the creation of the Facebook initiative, the publication of hundreds of analytical articles;
numerous meetings with representatives of parliament, political parties, the President, and the Prime Minister;
the systematic refutation of the authorities' false arguments by the scientific community.

The Government's Arguments and Their Analysis
Special attention is given to the evolution of the authorities' rhetoric — from moralizing reproaches ("a true scientist should not talk about money") to attempts to blame the problem on the "inefficiency" of science, staff reductions, the merging of institutes in Yerevan, and the liquidation of the Academy of Sciences. Ishkhanyan analyzes each thesis in detail:

the efficiency of Armenian science is confirmed by UNESCO reports;
further staff reductions would destroy laboratories;
the "optimization" of institutes would in fact mean the sale of buildings and territories;
the myth that money is "eaten up" by the Academy is not confirmed by calculations based on the number of academicians.

Achievements of the Movement
The scientist emphasizes the concrete results of the campaign: the adoption in first reading of the law on external expertise of scientific proposals, the creation of a government commission for the implementation of the "Strategy for the Development of Armenian Science until 2020," and the support of the movement's demands by parliamentary factions.

The Phenomenon of the "Young Scientist's Rostrum"
A special section of the interview is devoted to a series of public presentations by about 140 young researchers, among them laureates of prizes, including one established in honor of Giacomo Luigi Ciamician. It is emphasized that the participants of the movement are the most promising representatives of Armenian science, many of whom had experience working in the West.

The Organizational Principle of the Movement
Ishkhanyan reveals the conscious strategy of refusing formalization: the absence of a leading group, the rotation of participants at meetings with officials, the absence of signed documents despite the campaign's considerable budget. This "formlessness" is described as a defense mechanism against the authorities' typical methods of pressuring organized structures.

Conclusion
The key conclusion of the article is that the decentralized, non-formalized model of civic protest proved to be an effective tool for defending the scientific community: the movement managed to repel attempts to destroy the Academy of Sciences, achieve legislative changes and institutional shifts, while preserving complete independence from political and administrative levers of control.