“For the Turkish side, the main thing is not the result [of negotiations with Armenia] but the process itself, which allows Turkey to maneuver and avoid undesirable developments,” political commentator Suren Zolian tells “Hayots Ashkhar.” “In this sense, Turkey has certainly taken a wait-and-see approach and further developments [in the Turkish-Armenian rapprochement] will depend on the attitude of the international community: the United States, Russia and the European Union.”
In an interview with “Iravunk,” Artur Baghdasarian, the leader of the pro-government Orinats Yerkir Party, says he does not regret not backing Levon Ter-Petrosian in the February 2008 presidential election and teaming up with President Serzh Sarkisian instead. Baghdasarian says had he joined Ter-Petrosian’s opposition movement he would have “contributed to the outbreak of a civil war in Armenia.” “I am sure that the right choice of our team reduced the number of people killed on March 1 [2008,]” says the secretary of Sarkisian’s National Security Council. He admits that “some did not understand me” and he suffered “a certain fall in approval ratings” at the time. But he claims that those people now realize that time has proved the Orinats Yerkir leader right.
“Hraparak” says the Turkish parliament’s reluctance to ratify the agreements with Armenia and the “disproportionate activity” of the OSCE Minsk Group’s co-chairs prove that the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations is not without preconditions. “Why are the co-chairs in a hurry?” asks the paper. “Maybe they know more than we do. Maybe they are convinced that the ratification of the [Turkish-Armenian] protocols will not take place until the Karabakh conflict is settled and the territories adjacent to Karabakh are freed. Maybe they have a concrete mission.”
Speaking to “Iravunk de facto,” opposition politician Hmayak Hovannisian claims that parliament speaker Hovik Abrahamian has set his sights on the post of president of the republic. He also claims that the West will soon press President Serzh Sarkisian to get rid of Abrahamian and other “representatives of Armenia’s criminal plutocracy.” “I’m sure Serzh Sarkisian will have to make his chess-style calculation and arrive at the conclusion that he would benefit not from sitting and waiting for coercion but to succumb to a ripe necessity at his own initiative,” says Hovannisian.
(Aghasi Yenokian)
In an interview with “Iravunk,” Artur Baghdasarian, the leader of the pro-government Orinats Yerkir Party, says he does not regret not backing Levon Ter-Petrosian in the February 2008 presidential election and teaming up with President Serzh Sarkisian instead. Baghdasarian says had he joined Ter-Petrosian’s opposition movement he would have “contributed to the outbreak of a civil war in Armenia.” “I am sure that the right choice of our team reduced the number of people killed on March 1 [2008,]” says the secretary of Sarkisian’s National Security Council. He admits that “some did not understand me” and he suffered “a certain fall in approval ratings” at the time. But he claims that those people now realize that time has proved the Orinats Yerkir leader right.
“Hraparak” says the Turkish parliament’s reluctance to ratify the agreements with Armenia and the “disproportionate activity” of the OSCE Minsk Group’s co-chairs prove that the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations is not without preconditions. “Why are the co-chairs in a hurry?” asks the paper. “Maybe they know more than we do. Maybe they are convinced that the ratification of the [Turkish-Armenian] protocols will not take place until the Karabakh conflict is settled and the territories adjacent to Karabakh are freed. Maybe they have a concrete mission.”
Speaking to “Iravunk de facto,” opposition politician Hmayak Hovannisian claims that parliament speaker Hovik Abrahamian has set his sights on the post of president of the republic. He also claims that the West will soon press President Serzh Sarkisian to get rid of Abrahamian and other “representatives of Armenia’s criminal plutocracy.” “I’m sure Serzh Sarkisian will have to make his chess-style calculation and arrive at the conclusion that he would benefit not from sitting and waiting for coercion but to succumb to a ripe necessity at his own initiative,” says Hovannisian.
(Aghasi Yenokian)