“Aravot” asks Alexander Arzumanian, an opposition lawmaker and a former foreign minister, to comment on anti-government activist Shant Harutiunian’s declared attempt to bring down the government, which landed him and two dozen other people in prison. “Every person chooses their path and style,” Arzumanian replies. “Discontent in Armenia is widespread. There is a number of [opposition] movements, so civic activism runs high. Everyone choose their path by themselves. It’s hard to make evaluations. I’m not a judge on this issue.”
Garnik Isagulian, a former adviser of President Serzh Sarkisian, tells “Hayots Ashkhar” that Tuesday’s clashes between riot police and Harutiunian’s supporters were down to solely internal factors. “I don’t want to link any process taking place in Armenia with external forces or [political] orientations towards the west, east, north or south,” says Isagulian. “If we managed to solve social and economic problems and form solidarity on political issues and if the law worked for everybody there would have been no such incidents. We are now dealing with the consequences of all that.”
“The society is looking for solutions,” continues Isagulian. “I have said before that there must be a revolution from top down. If not, it will happen from bottom up. Shant [Harutiunian’s protest] was just one of the manifestations. He is a very emotional and sensitive person and he took such a step. We can’t prelude such phenomena with tough actions.”
“Zhoghovurd” says the Turkish authorities seem intent on imitating a fresh normalization process with Armenia ahead of the 100th anniversary of the 1915 Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey. The paper points to Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s latest remark that Ankara prepares to open the Turkish-Armenian border because it sees a real possibility of a breakthrough in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. It suspects that the Turks have no desire to stop linking the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations to the Karabakh conflict resolution.
(Hovannes Shoghikian)
Garnik Isagulian, a former adviser of President Serzh Sarkisian, tells “Hayots Ashkhar” that Tuesday’s clashes between riot police and Harutiunian’s supporters were down to solely internal factors. “I don’t want to link any process taking place in Armenia with external forces or [political] orientations towards the west, east, north or south,” says Isagulian. “If we managed to solve social and economic problems and form solidarity on political issues and if the law worked for everybody there would have been no such incidents. We are now dealing with the consequences of all that.”
“The society is looking for solutions,” continues Isagulian. “I have said before that there must be a revolution from top down. If not, it will happen from bottom up. Shant [Harutiunian’s protest] was just one of the manifestations. He is a very emotional and sensitive person and he took such a step. We can’t prelude such phenomena with tough actions.”
“Zhoghovurd” says the Turkish authorities seem intent on imitating a fresh normalization process with Armenia ahead of the 100th anniversary of the 1915 Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey. The paper points to Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s latest remark that Ankara prepares to open the Turkish-Armenian border because it sees a real possibility of a breakthrough in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. It suspects that the Turks have no desire to stop linking the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations to the Karabakh conflict resolution.
(Hovannes Shoghikian)