(Saturday, August 9)
“Hraparak” criticizes Armenia’s government for failing to criticize Russia’s military actions in Georgia. “As always, we stand by our big brother, Russia, and play the role of its outpost,” claims the paper. “This dangerous and short-sighted stance manifested itself through an evasive statement issued by the Foreign Ministry. Such policy is fraught with unpredictable consequences.”
“Hayots Ashkhar” is unhappy with the Armenian government’s renewed calls for Turkey to unconditionally open its border with Armenia, saying that its closure actually helps, rather than hurts, the latter. “Why is the Turkish stance beneficial for the Armenians? Because the Turks consistently prevent us from forgetting who we are,” explains the paper. “Even if all of us become utterly stupid and start to believe that the Turks are our not enemies, the Turks themselves won’t let us forget that we are their enemy.” The Turks, it says in an editorial, are “forcing us to remain Armenian.”
Writing in “Haykakan Zhamanak,” Vladimir Karapetian, a former Foreign Ministry spokesman now affiliated with opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian’s movement, tries to foresee what will happen if the Armenian authorities fail to release all political prisoners and meet other Council of Europe demands by October. “It can be asserted for certain that the proposals and recommendations which will be made by PACE President Lluis Maria de Puig and [Council of Europe] Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg in their September reports will be adopted by the [PACE’s Monitoring] Commission and submitted, in the form of a resolution, to the PACE session scheduled to start on September 29,” says Karapetian. “The reports will be more influential than the previous ones and will have adequate consequences. If the authorities stubbornly resist the fulfillment of the [Council of Europe] demands no PACE official or deputy will doubt that the Armenian authorities simply want to win time by holding arrested opposition members hostage.”
(Karine Kalantarian)
“Hraparak” criticizes Armenia’s government for failing to criticize Russia’s military actions in Georgia. “As always, we stand by our big brother, Russia, and play the role of its outpost,” claims the paper. “This dangerous and short-sighted stance manifested itself through an evasive statement issued by the Foreign Ministry. Such policy is fraught with unpredictable consequences.”
“Hayots Ashkhar” is unhappy with the Armenian government’s renewed calls for Turkey to unconditionally open its border with Armenia, saying that its closure actually helps, rather than hurts, the latter. “Why is the Turkish stance beneficial for the Armenians? Because the Turks consistently prevent us from forgetting who we are,” explains the paper. “Even if all of us become utterly stupid and start to believe that the Turks are our not enemies, the Turks themselves won’t let us forget that we are their enemy.” The Turks, it says in an editorial, are “forcing us to remain Armenian.”
Writing in “Haykakan Zhamanak,” Vladimir Karapetian, a former Foreign Ministry spokesman now affiliated with opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian’s movement, tries to foresee what will happen if the Armenian authorities fail to release all political prisoners and meet other Council of Europe demands by October. “It can be asserted for certain that the proposals and recommendations which will be made by PACE President Lluis Maria de Puig and [Council of Europe] Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg in their September reports will be adopted by the [PACE’s Monitoring] Commission and submitted, in the form of a resolution, to the PACE session scheduled to start on September 29,” says Karapetian. “The reports will be more influential than the previous ones and will have adequate consequences. If the authorities stubbornly resist the fulfillment of the [Council of Europe] demands no PACE official or deputy will doubt that the Armenian authorities simply want to win time by holding arrested opposition members hostage.”
(Karine Kalantarian)