“Zhamanak” blames the governments of both Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia for Saturday’s police attack on dozens of Armenian opposition activists attempting to enter Karabakh. The paper considers the violence to be the result of “two decades of squandering the Armenian victory in the Karabakh war.” A victory which it says has been “privatized” by the ruling elites in Stepanakert and Yerevan. “A line has been drawn between Armenia and Karabakh. Its continued existence would mark the beginning of Armenia’s and Karabakh’s end,” it claims.
“Aravot” similarly accuses the Karabakh authorities of violating Armenia citizens’ rights. The paper says that it is not clear whether the oppositionists from Yerevan can seek redress for their harsh treatment at the Karabakh border. “Relevant bodies in Armenia and the NKR probably have a document that regulates such instances,” it says.
“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” says that the incident demonstrated that “we have not managed to create a genuine [democratic] state in Armenia and Karabakh after all.” “There is no need to differentiate between the two entities,” writes the paper. “First of all, because Armenia and Karabakh are a single territory. Secondly, the punitive actions could not have been taken without the Armenian authorities’ orders or at least consent.”
“What happened was unprecedented violence,” writes “168 Zham.” “Simply condemning it would mean saying nothing.” The paper at the same time wonders why the Founding Parliament, an Armenian opposition group campaigning for regime change, tried to take the campaign to Karabakh, especially after the latest upsurge in fighting with Azerbaijani forces. “While the organizers and perpetrators of this attack must be identified as soon as possible in the legal sense, many questions arising from that must be answered in the political sense,” it says.
“Zhoghovurd” questions the Armenian government’s decision to again postpone the enforcement of a controversial tax law that has sparked angry protests by hundreds of owners of shop and other small businesses. The paper says that contrary to its promises, the government has failed to come up with compromise solutions since the first delay announced in October. It says the government apparently hoped that the traders “will accept something which was unacceptable to them until now.”
(Tigran Avetisian)