Մատչելիության հղումներ

Press Review


(Saturday, October 24)

Citing an Azerbaijani news website, “Azg” reports that Azerbaijan is revising provisions of its draft military doctrine related to Turkey because of the Turkish-Armenian rapprochement. The paper says Baku could delay the passage of the document and stop referring to Turkey as a “strategic partner.” It says Azerbaijan already made changes in the draft doctrine after last year’s Russian-Georgian war.

“Haykakan Zhamanak” dismisses President Serzh Sarkisian’s claims that the international community would react very negatively to Turkey’s possible failure to ratify the Turkish-Armenian agreements. The paper recalls in that regard the fate of the 1920 Treaty of Sevres that gave Armenia large swathes of land in what is now eastern Turkey but was subsequently denunciated by Western powers. It also claims that the Turkish-Armenian protocols will result in “unfortunate for us changes” in the Nagorno-Karabakh status quo.

Interviewed by “Hayots Ashkhar,” Arsen Ghazarian, a prominent businessman heading the Armenian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, stands by his view that Armenia would significantly benefit from the reopening of its border with Turkey. “First of all, it would radically change the nature of economic ties in the region,” he says. “Not only in terms of Turkish-Armenian relations. It may sound strange but the atmosphere in economic relations in this whole geopolitical region from Georgia to the Persian Gulf, from Syria to Central would change because it would open a very important crossroads that has until now been closed because of Turkey’s short-sighted policy.”

“Aravot” tries to understand what critics mean whey say that the Armenian opposition is “not active.” “What does being active mean?” the paper asks in an editorial. “An assault on the presidential palace? But that would be an adventure, rather activity, to which we hope no opposition force in Armenia will resort. If they mean being active within the bounds of law and common sense, then that activity can not come out of thin air. As long as the opposition masses in Armenia grumble but do not seethe, any talk of opposition activity will be purely theoretical.”

“The lack of legitimacy has deprive the Armenian authorities of their ability to confront external challenges in any way,” opposition leader David Shahnazarian tells “168 Zham.” “Turkish-Armenian relations don’t need to have intermediaries chosen by these authorities. Now they are saying that they will put pressure on Turkey through mediators. But I think the situation is such that it is Turkey which is putting pressure on the mediators to accelerate the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”

(Aghasi Yenokian)
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