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Press Review


“Hraparak” says the announcement of Armenia’s decision to join the Russian-led customs union had an immediate impact on the news coverage of Armenian TV stations loyal to the government. “Reports about Vladimir Putin’s statements and actions began exceeding even local news … The pro-Russianness, which has somewhat decreased in recent years, is now on the rise. The problem is that the carriers of such ideas forget that Russia is not what it used to be and must not be confused with the Soviet Union; the world has changed and nobody will allow the restoration of the evil empire … And finally it’s impossible to again colonize a generation that has seen and lived under independence,” writes the paper.

“Zhamanak” comments on the forthcoming resignation of Aghvan Hovsepian, Armenia’s longtime prosecutor-general, saying that the pro-Russian tilt in Armenian foreign policy could influence the choice of his successor. The paper claims that Russia could handpick the new prosecutor-general in an effort to hold President Serzh Sarkisian in check.

Gurgen Yeghiazarian, an opposition politician, tells “Aravot” that the European Union has only itself to blame for Sarkisian’s controversial move that precluded the signing of the Association Agreement between Armenia and the EU. “When they see tomorrow just how badly they were fooled they will recall everything,” he speculates. “They will also recall our elections … They still hope that things will be reversed. But when they realize that there is no going back you will see what they are doing.” Yeghiazarian believes that membership in the customs union will block the development of Armenia’s economic ties with Europe.

“Hayots Ashkhar” blasts Armenia’s “prominent pro-Westerners” angered by the country’s imminent accession to the Russian-led customs union. “They keep surprising citizens with judgments full of huge intellectual contents,” writes the pro-presidential paper. “The most striking thing is that the pro-Western opposition is absolutely ignoring arguments made by their opponents.”

Citing information provided by the Armenian Foreign Ministry, “Haykakan Zhamanak” reports that President Serzh Sarkisian has visited Moscow for 32 times since taking office in April 2008. “If we add up his trips to European countries, the USA, China and neighboring Georgia and Iran carried out in the same period they will not make up even half of his visits to Moscow,” writes the paper. “Clearly, for Serzh Sarkisian visiting Moscow has been like going to work during his rule. Even Russian governors do not visit Russia’s capital so frequently.”

(Tigran Avetisian)
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