(Saturday, June 4)
“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” criticizes the Armenian authorities for claiming credit for the German parliament’s resolution recognizing the 1915 Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey. The paper claims they want to thereby deflect public attention from their “shameful diplomatic failures of recent years.”
“Zhamanak” reports that the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents have reaffirmed their intention to meet again later this month. The paper says it is not clear whether both Serzh Sarkisian and Ilham Aliyev will honor other understandings reached their May 16 meeting in Vienna. What is clear is that the Vienna summit helped to ease tensions on the Armenian-Azerbaijani frontlines for the time being. “Will this situation persist until their June meeting? The answer to this question is not obvious given the fact that Aliyev-Sarkisian meetings are usually preceded by increased tensions [in the conflict zone,]” it says.
“168 Zham” expresses concern over a Russian-Armenian treaty on the creation of a new joint air-defense system which is expected to be debated and ratified by Armenia’s parliament this month.The paper claims that Armenia is going to cede its “air sovereignty” to Russia.
“Hraparak” speculates that the corruption case against three senior Armenian Defense Ministry officials arrested last week is only the tip of the iceberg. The paper says that their superiors must have been at least aware of their allegedly corrupt practices and yet they do not seem to be risking prosecution.
(Tigran Avetisian)