Press Review

“Aravot” slams parliament deputy Ruben Hakobian for reportedly assaulting a journalist inside the parliament building in Yerevan on Wednesday. The paper notes with sarcasm that the Armenian authorities could now reward the former senior member of the Zharangutyun (Heritage) for his behavior.

“168 Zham” says that the authorities have already started making the point that the Armenian opposition stands no chance of winning next year’s parliamentary elections and should be happy to preserve its modest presence in the National Assembly. “These are not just propaganda statements,” explains the paper. “They reflect the self-confidence and mood of the authorities.” It says the authorities thus show just how detached from reality they are.

“Zhamanak” quotes Prime Minister Karen Karapetian as insisting on Wednesday that there are no business monopolies in Armenia. The paper is unconvinced by these assurances, saying that most ordinary people also do not believe in them because they see that government-linked individuals attacking opposition activists continue to enjoy impunity.

In an interview with “Hraparak,” Matthew Bryza, a former U.S. co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, asserts that both President Sarkisian his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev have “realistic approaches” to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. “Both leaders realize that their maximum goals are not achievable, and they have demonstrated the will to look for mutual compromise long before their citizens will be ready to accept mutual compromise,” he says.

(Tigran Avetisian)