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Press Review


“Hraparak” reacts angrily to a public celebration of Russia’s annexation of Crimea that was organized by Karabakh Armenian authorities in Stepanakert on Tuesday. “Have we really fought and suffered for 20 years for the sake of this, for Karabakh’s return to the pre-1988 status?” the paper asks in an editorial. “Even if the Karabakhis now mean the supremacy of the view of people living on their land, rather than Crimea’s decision to become part of Russia, they must keep in mind that the entire world does not recognize that self-determination and that we risk ending up in the minority camp of those justifying foreign aggression and being rejected by the world.”

“What they celebrated in Karabakh was not Crimea but the avoidance of the fate of Crimea or, more precisely, Ukraine,” writes “Zhamanak.” The paper speculates that Russia might have annexed Karabakh had President Serzh Sarkisian refused to ditch last year an Association Agreement with the European Union and seek membership of the Russian-led Customs Union. Even so, it says, the Stepanakert concert was a “disgrace.”

“Zhoghovurd” similarly hits out at Karabakh Armenian leaders for welcoming Crimea’s annexation and drawing parallels with the Karabakh conflict. The paper is worried that their stance could cause an international backlash against the Armenian side in the Karabakh peace process. It also wonders if the authorities in Yerevan had a hand in the high-profile event in Stepanakert.

“Haykakan Zhamanak” says Crimea’s seizure may well prove a Pyrrhic victory for Russian President Vladimir Putin. “After all, Putin was fighting for Ukraine but he is now getting only Crimea,” writes the paper. “Can this really be considered a victory? What is happening in Crimea is the Russian president’s consolation prize to the Russian elite for dissipating frustration with [Moscow’s] crushing defeat suffered in Kiev and getting a chance for further struggle. So it has to be concluded that the war in Ukraine is only now beginning.”

(Tigran Avetisian)
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