“Zhamanak” reacts to the announcement of James Warlick’s impending resignation as U.S. co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group. The paper says that the development is “noteworthy” because it comes in the wake of Donald Trump’s surprise victory in the November 8 U.S. presidential election. “It may certainly be wrong to link these two events,” it writes. “But it is also wrong to ignore that. This might mean that we will very soon see some new emphases and a new work style in the Karabakh peace process.” The paper also describes as “quite unexpected” the fact that Warlick will work for a Russian law firm in Washington after his resignation. “Is this switch politically motivated?” it asks.
“Any security structure in Armenia … will obediently execute what is needed by Russia,” “168 Zham” claims in a commentary on Yerevan’s and Moscow’s plans to reinforce a joint Russian-Armenian military unit. The paper says that the Armenian military does not make secret of its being “pro-Russian.”
“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” reports that Prime Minister Karen Karapetian met with a group of well-known Armenian bloggers last week to discuss his economic and other priorities. One of those bloggers wrote afterwards that Karapetian has “great knowledge of the economy” and makes “honest assessments of the laziness and sloppiness of the Armenian society.” “If Karen Karapetian did make such comments, then it means that [in his view] one of the main causes of the existing situation is that our society is sloppy and lazy,” comments the pro-opposition paper. “It’s actually good that they speak of the people’s sloppiness only in closed meetings.”
“Haykakan Zhamanak” comments on economic challenges acknowledged by Karapetian in an interview with the Bloomberg news agency published on Monday. It scoffs at Karapetian’s promises to address them with swift policy measures.
“Hraparak” is highly skeptical about a possible consolidation of Armenia’s fragmented opposition in advance of the April 2017 parliamentary elections. The paper says that the major and minor opposition parties may well contest the votes on their own.
(Tigran Avetisian)
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