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Press Review


“Hraparak” says that the political situation in Armenia is about to heat up, pointing to upcoming rallies planned by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) and the Armenian National Congress (HAK) and talk of new political parties to be set up this fall. The paper wonders if any of those parties would be able to act like a “third force,” an alternative to the country’s leadership and mainstream opposition. It suggests that their main mission will be to “mislead people in the forthcoming parliamentary elections and steal a particular number of votes from pro-government and opposition parties.”

Interviewed by “168 Zham,” former Deputy Defense Minister Manvel Grigorian dismisses suggestions that the new defense accord with Russia will compromise Armenia’s sovereignty. Grigorian argues that Armenia has given so many economic assets to the Russians that the accord “doesn’t matter.” “If everything depends on your neighbor or uncle, then the uncle is the master,” he says. “I don’t think any clever and patriotic person would say [the Russian-Armenian agreement] is good. But we don’t have any other option anymore.”

“If somebody expects Russia to punish Azerbaijan, they are badly mistaken,” Vahram Atanesian, the chairman of the Nagorno-Karabakh parliament’s committee on foreign relations, tells “Hayots Ashkhar.” “This is not that case. The aftermath of the events of August 2008 also saw some parallels drawn between Armenia and Azerbaijan. But it is evident that Azerbaijan is no Georgia and that Russia’s attitude toward Azerbaijan is different from that toward Georgia.”

“We had what is now called a strategic alliance [with Russia] in the early 1990s,” Ashot Manucharian, a veteran politician, tells “Kapital.” “But it subsequently lost its qualities as a consequence of materialistic activities of both countries’ ruling elites. Therefore, we have what we have. A real and strong strategic partnership between the two states can exist only if there is trust. Yet what Russia has been doing in Armenia -- first in the economic, then the political and now the military spheres -- is a consequence of deepening mistrust. Seeing no stable thing in Armenia and being convinced that its rival states will tomorrow try to take over Armenia, Russia is strengthening its positions.”

“Aravot” warns Armenians against “underestimating” Azerbaijan and Turkey. “Take the saga of the Turkish-Armenian protocols,” editorializes the paper. “It is obvious now that right from the beginning Turkish diplomacy planned to sign but not ratify them. Concessions which the Armenian side made in those protocols would have been totally justified had the actions envisaged by that document been realized. But that didn’t happen. And now we can’t take back our concessions. So who is stupid in this case?”

(Aghasi Yenokian)
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