“Hraparak” says that in “normal countries” bonuses paid to government officials and other public sector employees would not be as controversial as they are in Armenia. “But in a country where there is a lot poverty, unemployment and daily fight for survival such an outcry is natural,” writes the paper. “And if we recall that the ruling political force paved its way to power with the help of these poor and unemployed people it will be even more understandable why people [in Armenia] are outraged by those bonuses.” It says that Armenia’s current rulers must be prepared for public scrutiny of their questionable decisions because they had spent many years accusing their predecessors of plundering the country.
“For any reasonable person it is obvious that there is no alternative to negotiations in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” “Zhoghovurd” writes in a commentary on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s latest meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. “More precisely, the alternative is war. Any meeting or contact with Aliyev can only be beneficial for the negotiation process no matter how informal those meetings are.” The paper argues that ceasefire violations in the conflict zone have decreased significantly since Pashinian’s first meeting with Aliyev held in September.
“The latest Pashinian-Aliyev meeting held in Davos lasted for one and a half hours,” writes “Aravot.” “Of course it is only right that the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan do not shun each other while attending the same international events. But the time is now ripe for people to have a general idea of what the two leaders and their foreign ministers talk about. At any rate, it is better to meet and talk, even fruitlessly, than to shoot. One can assume that the leaders and foreign ministers of the two countries talk about … some [settlement] variants.” In this regard, the paper wonders whether confidence-building agreements reached by Baku and Yerevan in 2016 are still in force and whether the parties are now discussing a phased or a “package” peace deal.
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Facebook Forum