“Zhamanak” believes that former Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian was appointed as Armenia’s ambassador to the United States on Thursday thanks to his “services” provided to President Serzh Sarkisian, rather than the nation. “The nation has long been handed over to Russia and that is why Serzh Sarkisian is sending him to the U.S.: in order to be able to extend U.S. sympathy for Tigran Sarkisian to Serzh Sarkisian and tell people in Washington that Serzh Sarkisian is forced to do what he does and should therefore be understood and forgiven.”
“Zhoghovurd” reacts to Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian’s acknowledgement that Armenia’s accession to the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union is taking longer than was expected by the Armenian leadership. The paper believes that Russia is primarily responsible for this delay. It says that it is still known whether Moscow has agreed to sweeping trade preferences sought by Yerevan in the accession talks. It notes Russian Deputy Minister Igor Shuvalov’s remark that membership in the EEU would put Armenia at loggerheads with the World Trade Organization. All this, concludes the paper, proves that Serzh Sarkisian acted in an arbitrary and incompetent fashion when he decided overnight that Armenia must join the Russian-dominated bloc.
“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” mocks Abrahamian for demanding punishment for anti-government activists who threw coins at ministers and pro-government lawmakers outside the parliament building in Yerevan last week. “The demonstrators are only allowed to throw banknotes at ministers and that money must be worth more than the minimum national wage or the cost of the minimum food basket in Armenia,” writes the paper. “That would not only improve the socioeconomic plight of the ministers but also force the government to raise the minimum wage once a month.”
“Hayots Ashkhar” complains that the Armenian Foreign Ministry has not responded to the latest Azerbaijani ceasefire violations in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone and bellicose statements made by Azerbaijani leaders. The paper says that the international community is not impressed by this silence.
“Aravot” comments on plans by the leadership of the Armenian parliament to toughen accreditation rules for journalists and restrict their freedom of movements inside the National Assembly. “We do understand that at least half of our lawmakers are uneducated and avoid contacts with journalists for this reason,” editorializes the paper.
(Tigran Avetisian)