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Press Review


"Haykakan Zhamanak" says that the failure of the opposition attempt to bring impeachment proceedings against Robert Kocharian could be expected. The opposition forces did not coordinate their actions and proved unprepared for the challenge. "The opposition's posture can not fail to raise at least two questions. First: wasn't the opposition familiar with the real face of this parliament, and was it worth undertaking something which they were to abandon the next day? The second question: how long will this opposition disappoint the people?" The paper says the opposition should not complain about lack of supporters at Freedom Square on Wednesday because Armenians are already getting bored of the uniform speeches delivered by opposition speakers. It adds that the opposition leaders "have now decided to analyze what happened and hold a big demonstration on May 24th."

"Aravot" discusses persisting reports that every opposition rally is followed by brief detentions of opposition activists in various parts of the country. The paper quotes an opposition leader as saying that the opposition is putting together "all facts of those illegalities" and "will appeal to relevant bodies."

In a separate editorial titled "The authorities are calling on the opposition to stage a revolt," "Aravot" accuses law-enforcement agencies of abusing citizens' constitutional right to hold rallies and freely express their views. The purpose of that, the paper claims, is to "terrify the people." The authorities are cracking down on ordinary participants of the street protests, not their organizers, to try to avoid a political furor.

"Azg" describes last week's shooting of parliament deputy Aramayis Aloyan by a local government official as yet another example of "government hooliganism." The paper recalls the 1999 armed clash between two pro-government candidates during local elections in Yerevan's Ajapnyak district. "Some people find all, even the dirtiest, methods of political struggle acceptable." They must be dealt with severely especially given the approaching local, presidential and parliamentary elections.

"Hayots Ashkhar" says the trilateral meeting in Reykjavik of the foreign ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey marked "the beginning of totally new processes in both Armenian-Turkish relations and the entire Transcaucasian region." The ongoing rapprochement between Russia and NATO "forces both Armenia and Turkey to start a serious inter-state dialogue which has nothing to do with recent propaganda shows staged within the framework of the Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission." "But the parties' expectations from the dialogue still remain diametrically opposite," the paper cautions. Yerevan and Ankara are now discussing issues on which they continue to be far apart. The Armenian diplomats therefore need domestic and external support to "cope with Turkish pressure." The upcoming Armenia-Diaspora conference in Yerevan should serve that purpose as well.

(Vache Sarkisian)
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