“Hraparak” comments on yet another violent incident in Syunik that was reportedly provoked on May 2 by a son of Suren Khachatrian, the region’s controversial governor. The paper says that impunity enjoyed by Khachatrian and his relatives “has already become a serious issue of public security.” It wonders why they get away with more violence than any other government-linked clan in Armenia.
“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” notes that law-enforcement authorities moved to track down and interrogate the 22-year-old Tigran Khachatrian only ten days after the violent incident. The paper suggests that they might have waited for the young man to flee Armenia and thus avoid prosecution. “In any case, Tigran Khachatrian has the status of a witness for the moment,” it says. “So his father still has time to budge.”
“Haykakan Zhamanak” criticizes President Serzh Sarkisian, parliament speaker Galust Sahakian and Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian for helping their close relatives get senior government posts. Sarkisian’s son-in-law Mikael Minasian is Armenia’s ambassador to the Vactican; Sahakian’s son Arman runs the Armenian government’s privatization agency, while Abrahamian’s son Argam is set to become the mayor of the town of Artashat. The paper is highly critical of this fact, saying that none of these young men would have gotten these jobs without patronage. It also gives the example of Yerevan Mayor Taron Markarian, who got his first local government post when his late father Andranik was Armenia’s prime minister.
“Zhamanak” reports that Gagik Tsarukian, the founder of the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), has held high-profile meetings with grape farmers in southern Armenia. Tsarukian’s Kentron TV station aired detailed reports on those meetings. “Tsarukian’s comeback and reappearance before the people can have only one explanation: he is taking on a new political role,” speculates the paper . “The question is whether that was the result of his own decision or was agreed with Serzh Sarkisian. Sarkisian may not be against Tsarukian’s rehabilitation provided that this rehabilitation takes place under his control.”
(Heghine Buniatian)