“Zhamanak” says U.S. President Barack Obama’s decision to cancel planned talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin heralds a deterioration of U.S.-Russian relations which could have ramifications for the South Caucasus. The paper says this will put Armenia in a more awkward position vis-à-vis Moscow and Washington. It says the Armenian authorities are hardly capable of “courageous decisions and positions” that are required in such circumstances. One can only hope that U.S.-Russian tensions will not degenerate into another “cold war,” it says.
“Aravot” says the Kremlin is playing “the Karabakh card” to influence Armenia’s foreign policy. The paper says the fate of Karabakh is the main argument made by Russian pundits and their pro-Russian colleagues in Armenia against the planned Association Agreement with the European Union. It says a hardly a day goes by without a Russian political analyst warning that European integration would end Armenian control over Karabakh. “In effect, the Karabakh card has become the Kremlin’s only weapon for making Armenia abandon the Association Agreement with the EU,” writes the paper.
Emergency Situations Minister Armen Yeritsian assures “Zhoghovurd” that the pro-government Orinats Yerkir Party, of which he is the deputy chairman, has not become a moribund structure. Yeritsian insists that party leaders have made no public statements lately only because of summer holidays. “But I am in town, and as emergency situations minister and Orinats Yerkir deputy chairman, I am doing everything to stop emigration,” he says. “Emigration results from a lack of jobs. Right now, for example, I am hiring people with disabilities for the Ministry of Emergency Situations … So we must make sure that people see that there are jobs in Armenia.”
(Tigran Avetisian)
“Aravot” says the Kremlin is playing “the Karabakh card” to influence Armenia’s foreign policy. The paper says the fate of Karabakh is the main argument made by Russian pundits and their pro-Russian colleagues in Armenia against the planned Association Agreement with the European Union. It says a hardly a day goes by without a Russian political analyst warning that European integration would end Armenian control over Karabakh. “In effect, the Karabakh card has become the Kremlin’s only weapon for making Armenia abandon the Association Agreement with the EU,” writes the paper.
Emergency Situations Minister Armen Yeritsian assures “Zhoghovurd” that the pro-government Orinats Yerkir Party, of which he is the deputy chairman, has not become a moribund structure. Yeritsian insists that party leaders have made no public statements lately only because of summer holidays. “But I am in town, and as emergency situations minister and Orinats Yerkir deputy chairman, I am doing everything to stop emigration,” he says. “Emigration results from a lack of jobs. Right now, for example, I am hiring people with disabilities for the Ministry of Emergency Situations … So we must make sure that people see that there are jobs in Armenia.”
(Tigran Avetisian)