“Hraparak” compares leaked U.S. diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks to KGB-style files on government opponents. “When all this was happening in an Armenia with the Soviet and KGB past, one could understand it,” writes the paper. “But when the same methods start working all over the world, when it emerges that U.S. diplomatic documents are not different from KGB materials, you start realizing that the person has found himself on public display.”
“Aravot” picks a Russian newspaper claim that the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will monitor and even try to control online social websites. The Moscow daily “Izvestia” quoted on Tuesday an unnamed Russian source as saying that Moscow is worried that networks such as Facebook could destabilize CSTO member states. The Armenian paper wonders just how that monitoring will be done and what its consequences could be. It recalls that many Armenian websites were blocked by the government during a state of emergency declared in Yerevan after the 2008 presidential election.
“Yerkir” says that the resignation of Karen Karapetian, the chief of President Serzh Sarkisian’s staff, was a “serious warning to Armenia’s oligarchs, who are losing a second influential figure, after [Yerevan Mayor] Gagik Beglarian, in the highest echelons of government.” The paper claims that the authorities launched a similar attack on another tycoon, Gagik Tsarukian, earlier this year but it did not work in full. “Tsarukian remains a relatively independent figure,” it says. “That is prodding the authorities to neutralize the oligarchs one by one.”
“In the run-up to the elections, we are likely to increasingly witness serious regroupings within the government camp,” writes “Zhamanak.” “It would be wrong to consider that mere pre-election imitations because apart from that Serzh Sarkisian has totally different strategic objectives. In essence, the years 2012 and 2013 will be Serzh Sarkisian’s first electoral period because the previous elections were [Robert] Kocharian’s elections.”
(Aghasi Yenokian)
“Aravot” picks a Russian newspaper claim that the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will monitor and even try to control online social websites. The Moscow daily “Izvestia” quoted on Tuesday an unnamed Russian source as saying that Moscow is worried that networks such as Facebook could destabilize CSTO member states. The Armenian paper wonders just how that monitoring will be done and what its consequences could be. It recalls that many Armenian websites were blocked by the government during a state of emergency declared in Yerevan after the 2008 presidential election.
“Yerkir” says that the resignation of Karen Karapetian, the chief of President Serzh Sarkisian’s staff, was a “serious warning to Armenia’s oligarchs, who are losing a second influential figure, after [Yerevan Mayor] Gagik Beglarian, in the highest echelons of government.” The paper claims that the authorities launched a similar attack on another tycoon, Gagik Tsarukian, earlier this year but it did not work in full. “Tsarukian remains a relatively independent figure,” it says. “That is prodding the authorities to neutralize the oligarchs one by one.”
“In the run-up to the elections, we are likely to increasingly witness serious regroupings within the government camp,” writes “Zhamanak.” “It would be wrong to consider that mere pre-election imitations because apart from that Serzh Sarkisian has totally different strategic objectives. In essence, the years 2012 and 2013 will be Serzh Sarkisian’s first electoral period because the previous elections were [Robert] Kocharian’s elections.”
(Aghasi Yenokian)