“Hraparak” notes that former Defense Minister Vigen Sargsian and former Karabakh army commander Levon Mnatsakanian were among the dignitaries attending a government reception held on Monday on the occasion of Armenia’s Army Day. Also invited were former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian and his former deputy Yuri Khachaturov, who were indicted over the 2008 post-election violence in Yerevan. The paper welcomes their presence at the event. It also praises Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian for meeting with the new leadership of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun). “These are first attempts at national solidarity and a peaceful coexistence of individuals having different views and ideologies,” editorializes the paper.
Lragir.am says that other current and former military officials invited to the reception publicly challenged on Monday law-enforcement authorities’ claims that the Armenian army was illegally used against opposition protesters in 2008.The online publication suggests that the Special Investigative Service (SIS) lacks factual evidence to substantiate those claims. Besides, it says, the SIS chief, Sasun Khachatrian, has faced resignation calls since the scandalous publication of his secretly recorded phone calls with another top security official.
“Zhamanak” comments on Pashinian’s weekend meeting with the head and three other members of Dashnaktsutyun’s newly elected Bureau. The paper agrees with those who think that Dashnaktsutyun fared poorly in the December 9 parliamentary elections because it had grown too connected to Armenia’s former governments, sacrificing its principles and ideology. “You may or may not agree with that ideology but you can’t deny that Dashnaktsutyun has played a huge role in a number of key issues,” it says, wondering whether the party is now reforming itself and learning lessons from its mistakes of the last two decades.
(Lilit Harutiunian)
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