“In Armenia, political parties have long been set up at the authorities’ initiative or with their approval,” writes Lragir.am. “Why do the authorities need new parties when they have already have many of them? The authorities probably think that what they have is not theirs. Who would have not thought so if they were the authorities and, say, Serzh Sarkisian? Nobody knows better than Serzh Sarkisian how to acquire those parties … at the right moment. And he knows better than anyone else that their degree of liquidity is fairly high and that somebody else can steal them under his nose. Therefore, he has to think about creating his own parties that would not sell out and will be his.”
“Aravot” comments on a remark by Galust Sahakian, a leading member of Sarkisian’s Republican Party (HHK), that Kocharian was a “prolific president” who “did not abandon his post.” “He always managed to stay in his post and I think he achieved all the objectives that he set for himself,” Sahakian told a news conference on Wednesday. “Thus the two main characteristics of a prolific president are: a) not abandoning their post and b) achieving their objectives,” the paper reacts scathingly. “History knows many leaders who did not give up their posts and achieved their goals. Hitler, Mao, Franco, Turkmenbashi, Heydar Aliyev. [Nursultan] Nazarbayev, [Islam] Karimov, [Aleksandr] Lukashenko, Ilham Aliyev are also likely to reign until their death.”
“Against such a backdrop, independent Armenia’s second president is not quite a creator,” continues “Aravot.” “To his credit, he willingly refused to be a president for life. True, by putting another burden on the state in the form of March 1 [2008.]”
“Hayots Ashkhar” claims that Turkey is eager to create “another illusion” of normalizing its relations with Armenia. The paper says that a one-off liturgy at an 10th century Armenian church in eastern Turkey scheduled for September 19 is supposed to serve that purpose and slams those Armenians who plan to attend the ceremony. “The church of Surp Khach (Saint Cross) on Akhtamar island is a temple held in captivity,” it says. “A hostage that criminal Turkey is using to distract international public opinion from the issue of Armenian genocide recognition. And we are contributing to that with our blindness. Are we going there to thank the criminal for preserving one in thousand temples to use it as a hostage later on? Or we are going there to pray for the souls of the Mets Yeghern victims who were never buried? But is this what they expect from us?” No Armenian official or private individual should therefore attend the September 19 “farce,” concludes the paper.
In an interview with “Azg,” the head of Georgia’s Ajaria autonomous republic, Levan Varshalomidze, blames Armenian travel agencies and the Armavia airline for the increased cost of summer vacation in the Black Sea region for Armenian tourists. He says a local airline to carry out Yerevan-Batumi flights at much lower prices.
(Aghasi Yenokian)
“Aravot” comments on a remark by Galust Sahakian, a leading member of Sarkisian’s Republican Party (HHK), that Kocharian was a “prolific president” who “did not abandon his post.” “He always managed to stay in his post and I think he achieved all the objectives that he set for himself,” Sahakian told a news conference on Wednesday. “Thus the two main characteristics of a prolific president are: a) not abandoning their post and b) achieving their objectives,” the paper reacts scathingly. “History knows many leaders who did not give up their posts and achieved their goals. Hitler, Mao, Franco, Turkmenbashi, Heydar Aliyev. [Nursultan] Nazarbayev, [Islam] Karimov, [Aleksandr] Lukashenko, Ilham Aliyev are also likely to reign until their death.”
“Against such a backdrop, independent Armenia’s second president is not quite a creator,” continues “Aravot.” “To his credit, he willingly refused to be a president for life. True, by putting another burden on the state in the form of March 1 [2008.]”
“Hayots Ashkhar” claims that Turkey is eager to create “another illusion” of normalizing its relations with Armenia. The paper says that a one-off liturgy at an 10th century Armenian church in eastern Turkey scheduled for September 19 is supposed to serve that purpose and slams those Armenians who plan to attend the ceremony. “The church of Surp Khach (Saint Cross) on Akhtamar island is a temple held in captivity,” it says. “A hostage that criminal Turkey is using to distract international public opinion from the issue of Armenian genocide recognition. And we are contributing to that with our blindness. Are we going there to thank the criminal for preserving one in thousand temples to use it as a hostage later on? Or we are going there to pray for the souls of the Mets Yeghern victims who were never buried? But is this what they expect from us?” No Armenian official or private individual should therefore attend the September 19 “farce,” concludes the paper.
In an interview with “Azg,” the head of Georgia’s Ajaria autonomous republic, Levan Varshalomidze, blames Armenian travel agencies and the Armavia airline for the increased cost of summer vacation in the Black Sea region for Armenian tourists. He says a local airline to carry out Yerevan-Batumi flights at much lower prices.
(Aghasi Yenokian)