“Hayots Ashkhar” sees “deep and unstoppable progress” in international recognition of the Armenian genocide. “That is why in the few days remaining before April 24 Armenia and the Armenians must act in a united and consolidated manner, while the Armenian diplomacy must display restraint and foresight” editorializes the paper. It also says Armenia will not retreat from its “principled position” on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
“Azg” says Thursday marks the first anniversary of the start of the Turkish-Armenian “football diplomacy.” The paper says it is evident that the Turkish-Armenian protocols will not be ratified anytime soon “regardless of what word [President] Obama will use on April 24.” It says the protocols will carry risks for Armenia even after they become a “dead document,” speculating that Turkey’s behavior will be unpredictable if Obama again refrains from describing the events of 1915 as genocide.
“Armenia’s political elite must be primarily guided by the interests of Armenians living in Armenia, rather than the Diaspora,” “Aravot” quotes a Russian political expert, Vladimir Zharikhin, as saying on Wednesday. Zharikhin said that in raising the genocide issue with various governments and parliaments, the Armenian Diaspora often ignores Armenia’s problems and interests. The Diaspora, he complained, places “historical memory” above the need to make peace with Turkey.
“Chorrord Inknishkhanutyun” says the past year has demonstrated that a “roadmap” to normalizing Turkish-Armenian agreements announced in April 2009 was useless. “And the signed protocols were a priori scrap,” writes the pro-opposition paper. “The only result of that adventure was that Turkey began directly and publicly participating in the Karabakh settlement process, holding negotiations on that issue with big powers. Of course, Armenia is officially against that, but Armenia can not influence the agendas of, say, Erdogan-Obama or Erdogan-Medvedev meetings. They discuss what they want and, by the way, don’t check with us.”
In an editorial, “Haykakan Zhamanak” comments on Saturday’s clash in Yerevan between two groups of armed men. “There is nothing surprising about the fact that participants of modern-day criminal disputes have starting wearing party lapel pins,” says the paper. “This is the reason why pro-government parties in Armenia increasingly resemble criminal gangs. This is not an exaggeration. If we look at the parliament factions of pro-government parties we will see one or two educated faces on the surface, who in fact act as covers. The party cores are made up of criminal figures of different caliber, on whom the party bosses rely.”
(Tigran Avetisian)