In an interview with “Aravot,” Former Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian says Armenia has seen its positions weaken and suffered other losses in the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiating process under President Serzh Sarkisian. He says reversing those losses is all but impossible now because “the Armenian side has shown the Turks and the world that it is ready make concessions on key issues.”
“Any further negotiation will proceed from this premise,” claims Oskanian. “And I also think that the authorities have failed to even present their concessions in a correct manner and gain the opening of the [Turkish-Armenian] border in return for that. When they say for domestic political purposes that they have made no concessions, the international community and Turkey seize upon on, saying that the Armenians have not made any concessions and that maybe they should give up something in the Karabakh conflict so that the border can be opened.”
“Undoubtedly, it is nice for all of us to hear the president of Armenia talk about the genocide, the interests of the Armenians, historical memory and so on,” Artyusha Shahbazian, a parliament deputy from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), tells “Hayots Ashkhar.” But he says the Turkish-Armenian protocols do not make all this clear and that is why they are criticized by his party.
“Hraparak” reports that a group of Turkish intellectuals have urged fellow citizens to join them in marking the 95th anniversary of the Armenian genocide in Istanbul’s central Taksim square on April 24. “If we were told several months or, let alone, years ago that such a thing is going to happen in Turkey, we would be extremely skeptical,” comments the paper. “This is a reality today. It means recognition of the Armenian genocide by the Turkish state and people is not a long way off.”
“Zhamanak” comments on speculation that President Sarkisian has gained greater international support and strengthened his hand against the Armenian opposition after his recent trip to Washington. The paper says this is raising the question of what the opposition is going to do now and whether it has a “Plan B.”
“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” draws parallels between the dramatic uprising in Kyrgyzstan and what happened in Armenia in the aftermath of the February 2008 presidential election. The pro-opposition paper claims that in both cases “criminals won” and plunged the country into “anarchy.”
(Aghasi Yenokian)
“Any further negotiation will proceed from this premise,” claims Oskanian. “And I also think that the authorities have failed to even present their concessions in a correct manner and gain the opening of the [Turkish-Armenian] border in return for that. When they say for domestic political purposes that they have made no concessions, the international community and Turkey seize upon on, saying that the Armenians have not made any concessions and that maybe they should give up something in the Karabakh conflict so that the border can be opened.”
“Undoubtedly, it is nice for all of us to hear the president of Armenia talk about the genocide, the interests of the Armenians, historical memory and so on,” Artyusha Shahbazian, a parliament deputy from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), tells “Hayots Ashkhar.” But he says the Turkish-Armenian protocols do not make all this clear and that is why they are criticized by his party.
“Hraparak” reports that a group of Turkish intellectuals have urged fellow citizens to join them in marking the 95th anniversary of the Armenian genocide in Istanbul’s central Taksim square on April 24. “If we were told several months or, let alone, years ago that such a thing is going to happen in Turkey, we would be extremely skeptical,” comments the paper. “This is a reality today. It means recognition of the Armenian genocide by the Turkish state and people is not a long way off.”
“Zhamanak” comments on speculation that President Sarkisian has gained greater international support and strengthened his hand against the Armenian opposition after his recent trip to Washington. The paper says this is raising the question of what the opposition is going to do now and whether it has a “Plan B.”
“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” draws parallels between the dramatic uprising in Kyrgyzstan and what happened in Armenia in the aftermath of the February 2008 presidential election. The pro-opposition paper claims that in both cases “criminals won” and plunged the country into “anarchy.”
(Aghasi Yenokian)