Samvel Nikoyan, chairman of a parliamentary commission investigating the March 2008 clashes in Yerevan, tells “Aravot” that he has had virtually no contacts with the independent Fact-Finding Group conducting a separate inquiry. “I have received nothing from them,” he says. “There have been no proposals of cooperation. I invited them to our meetings, but they didn’t come.” Nikoyan says that if the opposition had not boycotted the work of his commission, the parliamentary inquiry would have already been over.
Naira Zohrabian, a parliament deputy from the pro-government Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), assures Lragir.am that the Armenian authorities have met the key demand of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) by amending the country’s Criminal Code. “The National Assembly has done its job by making changes in the Criminal Code,” says Zohrabian. “The ball is now in the law-enforcement system’s court. The law-enforcement system should be able to prove the re-defined charges [against arrested opposition figures.] If they possess facts and evidence, let them present that to court.”
“Kapital” criticizes the Armenian government for providing more than 1 billion drams ($2.7 million) in additional funding to the Yerevan municipality. The business daily links the decision with the May 31 elections which the government hopes will be won by the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) and its top candidate, incumbent Mayor Gagik Beglarian. It says the money should have been spent on anti-crisis measures instead.
“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” claims that President Serzh Sarkisian lacks the popular mandate to negotiate with Azerbaijan on the basic principles of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement proposed by the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. “And generally speaking, does the public agree with a document that envisages the withdrawal of Armenian forces from at least vice liberated districts?” says the paper. It claims at the same time that most Armenians are now “absolutely indifferent” to Karabakh talks and their possible outcomes. “The authorities are ecstatic about that indifference. The opposite should have been the case.”
“A lot will depend on Russia in the coming months,” Vahram Atanesian, a senior member of the Karabakh parliament, tells “Hayots Ashkhar.” “Turkey’s neutrality on the Georgia issue last year should not be rewarded with a transformation of Russia’s position on the Karabakh conflict,” he says. Such a policy change would create “complications” in the Karabakh peace process, according to Atanesian.
(Aghasi Yenokian)
Naira Zohrabian, a parliament deputy from the pro-government Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), assures Lragir.am that the Armenian authorities have met the key demand of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) by amending the country’s Criminal Code. “The National Assembly has done its job by making changes in the Criminal Code,” says Zohrabian. “The ball is now in the law-enforcement system’s court. The law-enforcement system should be able to prove the re-defined charges [against arrested opposition figures.] If they possess facts and evidence, let them present that to court.”
“Kapital” criticizes the Armenian government for providing more than 1 billion drams ($2.7 million) in additional funding to the Yerevan municipality. The business daily links the decision with the May 31 elections which the government hopes will be won by the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) and its top candidate, incumbent Mayor Gagik Beglarian. It says the money should have been spent on anti-crisis measures instead.
“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” claims that President Serzh Sarkisian lacks the popular mandate to negotiate with Azerbaijan on the basic principles of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement proposed by the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. “And generally speaking, does the public agree with a document that envisages the withdrawal of Armenian forces from at least vice liberated districts?” says the paper. It claims at the same time that most Armenians are now “absolutely indifferent” to Karabakh talks and their possible outcomes. “The authorities are ecstatic about that indifference. The opposite should have been the case.”
“A lot will depend on Russia in the coming months,” Vahram Atanesian, a senior member of the Karabakh parliament, tells “Hayots Ashkhar.” “Turkey’s neutrality on the Georgia issue last year should not be rewarded with a transformation of Russia’s position on the Karabakh conflict,” he says. Such a policy change would create “complications” in the Karabakh peace process, according to Atanesian.
(Aghasi Yenokian)