“Haykakan Zhamanak” comments on the latest article by former president Levon Ter-Petrosian in which the current leader of the opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) appeals for “moral support” to his embattled ally Gagik Tsarukian: “With this article Ter-Petrosian appears to be saying that Tsarukian should ‘long stay in our memory’ and no one can say bad things about him. This is the main message of the article. The HAK leader speaks about the latest internal political developments as an observer and the impression is that he had nothing to do with all this but simply followed the process as a historian and political analyst. Ter-Petrosian defends Tsarukian because he knows all too well that after emotions subside he himself will become the main target for criticism as the key figure who started all this mess.”
“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” takes a different view on Ter-Petrosian’s article. It writes: “Those who criticized Ter-Petrosian over his ‘political analysis’ [on the BHK becoming an opposition party] have gone into ecstasies today. They say that their view that an ‘oligarch’ cannot go against the government has proved correct. But in reality one has to be honest and put it this way: resources do not matter. If the regime feels a real danger it will send riot police and tanks against people without hesitation, if it needs, it will shoot a hundred or a thousand people dead.”
The editor of “Aravot” writes: “The BHK’s February 18 decision was right and those who intended to provoke clashes between the public and police should at least delay their “honest” intention. I also consider the letter of the first president and his offer to meet with President Serzh Sarkisian to be a right step regardless of the subject and motives of the meeting… I think the current president should accept this offer. To be honest, I don’t know how it is possible to re-edit the already published declaration [on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide], but what is important is good will.”
“Zhoghovurd” says there has been “no lack of clowns” in Armenia’s political theater in recent days. “In this parade of widespread insanity and immorality young members and ‘spokesmen’ of the opposed political parties from time to time would find themselves in particularly pitiful situations. What’s tragicomic is that they have such arrogant and vainglorious posturing that the impression is that anything depends on them either now or ever. And in the meantime their political fathers make regular immoral decisions as a result of which their arrogant statements appear to be even more ludicrous,” the paper says.
(Tigran Avetisian)