“Aravot” laments “the mindset of a miraculous survivor” which it says persists in Armenia. “The probable explanation for this is that apart from the army and its victories, we don’t have much to be proud of,” editorializes the paper. “We haven’t built a country where law rules, where people are free to express themselves. Without that, it’s impossible to have dignified citizens. But on the other hand, nothing is possible without having a state and an army. Those, it can be said, are necessary but not sufficient conditions for having a country we had dreamed about.”
“Our party is the army,” Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Gasparian tells “Zhamanak.” “Our platform is the [army] statutes. We are a huge party that has a big, serious program: to protect Armenia against enemy attacks.” Gasparian assures the pro-opposition daily that the Armenian army was not involved in the suppression of the March 2008 opposition protests in Yerevan. He downplays the fact that army units began moving towards Yerevan before the official declaration of a state of emergency in the capital.
Gurgen Yeghiazarian, an opposition politician, tells “Irates de facto” that Tigran Karapetian, the owner of the closed ALM television, is not emerging as a new influential opposition force that can compete with Levon Ter-Petrosian’s Armenian National Congress (HAK). Yeghiazarian, who is affiliated with the HAK, says Karapetian is “not yet” a government agent. “But I think that if processes continue like this, he will automatically become an agent,” he claims. “The people know who is the opposition. Our representatives are in prison today, whereas the opposition created by the [ruling] clan is in opposition in the morning and demagogic in the evening,” concludes Yeghiazarian.
“Chorrord Inknishkhanutyun” reacts scathingly to President Serzh Sarkisian’s interview with Russia’s Ekho Moskvy radio. The paper sympathetic to the HAK slams Sarkisian for saying that the Armenian-controlled territories around Nagorno-Karabakh are Azerbaijani ones and expressing readiness to eventually give them back to Azerbaijan. “Why should he have not made such statements? The answer is obvious: because those territories are, at least officially, under the control of Karabakh’s army,” it argues, adding that Sarkisian should have instead said that Baku should negotiate with the Karabakh Armenians if it wants to get them back.
(Aghasi Yenokian)
“Our party is the army,” Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Gasparian tells “Zhamanak.” “Our platform is the [army] statutes. We are a huge party that has a big, serious program: to protect Armenia against enemy attacks.” Gasparian assures the pro-opposition daily that the Armenian army was not involved in the suppression of the March 2008 opposition protests in Yerevan. He downplays the fact that army units began moving towards Yerevan before the official declaration of a state of emergency in the capital.
Gurgen Yeghiazarian, an opposition politician, tells “Irates de facto” that Tigran Karapetian, the owner of the closed ALM television, is not emerging as a new influential opposition force that can compete with Levon Ter-Petrosian’s Armenian National Congress (HAK). Yeghiazarian, who is affiliated with the HAK, says Karapetian is “not yet” a government agent. “But I think that if processes continue like this, he will automatically become an agent,” he claims. “The people know who is the opposition. Our representatives are in prison today, whereas the opposition created by the [ruling] clan is in opposition in the morning and demagogic in the evening,” concludes Yeghiazarian.
“Chorrord Inknishkhanutyun” reacts scathingly to President Serzh Sarkisian’s interview with Russia’s Ekho Moskvy radio. The paper sympathetic to the HAK slams Sarkisian for saying that the Armenian-controlled territories around Nagorno-Karabakh are Azerbaijani ones and expressing readiness to eventually give them back to Azerbaijan. “Why should he have not made such statements? The answer is obvious: because those territories are, at least officially, under the control of Karabakh’s army,” it argues, adding that Sarkisian should have instead said that Baku should negotiate with the Karabakh Armenians if it wants to get them back.
(Aghasi Yenokian)