“Aravot” editorializes that Armenian society is in need of a “political struggle based on ideological principles.” However, the current trend in Armenian politics is in the opposite direction. Diverse opposition forces are now consolidating simply out of their hatred of the ruling regime. Other parties are rallying behind the president just because they are fed by the regime. Alliances based on political expediency are not long-standing.
“Hayots Ashkhar” is alarmed at “new attempts to draw the Yerkrapah Union into political games and intrigues.” Their purpose is clear to the paper: to drive a wedge between Yerkrapah leaders and rank-and-file war veterans.
According to “Yerkir,” the main figure behind the perceived attempts to again turn Yerkrapah against the authorities, Vahan Shirkhanian, is using the name of the late Vazgen Sarkisian to advance his political agenda. “It is Shirkhanian who is discrediting Vazgen Sarkisian.” No wonder that Vazgen’s brother Aram Sarkisian and former Yerevan mayor Albert Bazeyan refused to admit him into their opposition Hanrapetutyun party.
But in an interview with “Iravunk,” Bazeyan contends that the pro-government media are “unleashing a counter-propaganda against the memory of Vazgen Sarkisian and Karen Demirchian.” He says the chief task of Hanrapetutyun and other opposition parties is to make the people realize that “under such authorities the country can not enjoy sustained development.” Government agencies, especially the so-called power ministries, are not doing their job, engaging instead in lucrative business activities and trying to muzzle the opposition, the ex-mayor says.
Bazeyan goes on to claim that bribery is an integral part of all key government appointments in Armenia. “People are dependent on each other, have compromising material against each other, and in order to solve their personal problems foist various officials and bureaucrats on the people. It is allowed from above to steal from the state, waste public funds and do other mercenary things. Such practices are widespread in the highest echelons of power.”
“Aravot” says the Armenian authorities not only acquiesced the creation of the Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission but seem to be directly involved in its work. But Yerevan will not publicize what appears to be a behind-the-scene dialogue with Ankara for some time to come.
For “Haykakan Zhamanak” the make-up of the commission suggests that its members could not have launched the initiative on their own. The paper believes this is an “unprecedented opportunity to normalize relations with our immediate neighbor, Turkey.”
“Yerkir” again blasts the creation of the commission, attacking the former ruling HHSh and the Armenian Assembly of America for “daring to act on behalf of all Armenians at the expense of an issue of pan-Armenian significance: the genocide.” “Who are you, gentlemen? Where did you get that representative right from? Who bestowed that high level on you?” The Dashnak paper accuses the Armenian members of the commission of furthering their political and business interests.
Another highly negative commentary on the subject appears in “Azg” which sees a danger of “unilateral concessions” to Turkey. All that is part of US efforts to “impose” Turkish view on the 1915 genocide and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict upon the Armenian people, the paper says.
(Vache Sarkisian)
“Hayots Ashkhar” is alarmed at “new attempts to draw the Yerkrapah Union into political games and intrigues.” Their purpose is clear to the paper: to drive a wedge between Yerkrapah leaders and rank-and-file war veterans.
According to “Yerkir,” the main figure behind the perceived attempts to again turn Yerkrapah against the authorities, Vahan Shirkhanian, is using the name of the late Vazgen Sarkisian to advance his political agenda. “It is Shirkhanian who is discrediting Vazgen Sarkisian.” No wonder that Vazgen’s brother Aram Sarkisian and former Yerevan mayor Albert Bazeyan refused to admit him into their opposition Hanrapetutyun party.
But in an interview with “Iravunk,” Bazeyan contends that the pro-government media are “unleashing a counter-propaganda against the memory of Vazgen Sarkisian and Karen Demirchian.” He says the chief task of Hanrapetutyun and other opposition parties is to make the people realize that “under such authorities the country can not enjoy sustained development.” Government agencies, especially the so-called power ministries, are not doing their job, engaging instead in lucrative business activities and trying to muzzle the opposition, the ex-mayor says.
Bazeyan goes on to claim that bribery is an integral part of all key government appointments in Armenia. “People are dependent on each other, have compromising material against each other, and in order to solve their personal problems foist various officials and bureaucrats on the people. It is allowed from above to steal from the state, waste public funds and do other mercenary things. Such practices are widespread in the highest echelons of power.”
“Aravot” says the Armenian authorities not only acquiesced the creation of the Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission but seem to be directly involved in its work. But Yerevan will not publicize what appears to be a behind-the-scene dialogue with Ankara for some time to come.
For “Haykakan Zhamanak” the make-up of the commission suggests that its members could not have launched the initiative on their own. The paper believes this is an “unprecedented opportunity to normalize relations with our immediate neighbor, Turkey.”
“Yerkir” again blasts the creation of the commission, attacking the former ruling HHSh and the Armenian Assembly of America for “daring to act on behalf of all Armenians at the expense of an issue of pan-Armenian significance: the genocide.” “Who are you, gentlemen? Where did you get that representative right from? Who bestowed that high level on you?” The Dashnak paper accuses the Armenian members of the commission of furthering their political and business interests.
Another highly negative commentary on the subject appears in “Azg” which sees a danger of “unilateral concessions” to Turkey. All that is part of US efforts to “impose” Turkish view on the 1915 genocide and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict upon the Armenian people, the paper says.
(Vache Sarkisian)