Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

ARMENIA, TURKEY CLASHING OVER APRIL 24

Carnegie Moscow Center
March 11 2015

Posted by: Thomas de Waal Wednesday, March 11, 2015

In six weeks’ time, on April 24, Armenia and Turkey will hold competing
centennial commemorations, each studying the international guest list
to see who did and did not come.

It is a political row that could easily have been avoided if the
Turkish government had moved its ceremony honoring the Battle of
Gallipoli only one day later, to April 25. It has been obvious for many
years that on April 24 Armenians will commemorate the centenary of the
tragedy of 1915 they now know as the Armenian Genocide. They first
marked that day in 1919 in British-administered Istanbul. In 1915,
April 24 was the day that 200 Armenian leaders and intellectuals
were arrested by the Ottoman authorities as a prelude to the mass
deportation and partial destruction of the entire Armenian population
of the empire.

The following day, April 25, 1915, British imperial forces, along
with men from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps or ANZAC in
the forefront, landed at Gallipoli to try and capture Istanbul and
defeat the Ottoman empire. Thousands of soldiers died. Very soon
April 25 was known as ANZAC day.

April 25 was therefore the obvious day to hold international
commemorations for the Gallipoli battles. Another possible date
would have been March 18, the day in 1915 when the Allied force first
sailed up the Straits and began the campaign. On that day in 1934,
a moving and famous speech written by Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal
(soon to be renamed Ataturk) was delivered. In it the mothers of his
former adversaries were told to “wipe away their tears,” and that
“there is no difference between the Johnnies and Mehmets to us,
where they lie side by side here in this country of ours.”

However, current Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan chose to hold the
Gallipoli centennial ceremonies on April 24, precipitating a direct
clash with the commemorations in Yerevan. The obvious conclusion is
that this was a direct attempt to divert attention and guests from
the Armenian commemorations.

By doing this, Erdogan undid some of the good work he had done
last year by issuing the first ever statement of condolences to the
Armenians by a Turkish leader.

And it was also a political miscalculation. The Today Zaman newspaper
reported on February 21 that preparations for the Gallipoli ceremonies
had been suspended because “only five countries have accepted the
invitation and they will not be represented by high-level officials.”

Official sources then dismissed the report, noting that Today Zaman
is affiliated with Turkey’s new opposition, the Gulenist movement.

Even if it does go ahead, the Gallipoli ceremony lacks international
resonance. It is fundamentally a story for six nations: Turkey,
Australia, France, Great Britain, India, and New Zealand. Prince
Charles will be coming from Britain, but there will be no high-level
American guest for example.

Gallipoli and the Armenian deportations already had unfortunate
connections that were best kept separate. The paranoid Young Turks
may well have arrested the Armenian leaders as a kind of pre-emptive
strike against presumed “fifth columnists” ahead of the anticipated
Allied landings. The moving 1934 speech at Gallipoli was delivered
on behalf of Ataturk by Interior Minister Ã…~^ukru Kaya, one of the
Ottoman officials directly in charge of the Armenian deportations.

More recently, the Turkish government suggested it might not invite
officials from New South Wales to the ceremony, after that Australian
state parliament passed an Armenian genocide resolution.

For the government of Armenia, having a big turnout in Yerevan on
April 24 is probably the main priority for 2015. (Although they would
not say it out loud, it is probably a bigger priority than getting
a genocide recognition resolution in the U.S. Congress.)

The Armenians have already secured the presence of French President
Francois Hollande in Yerevan. And it is likely that a senior U.S.

official, perhaps Secretary of State John Kerry, will attend as well.

Turkey has changed so much in the last few years that there will also
be an Armenian remembrance ceremony on Taksim Square in the heart of
Istanbul that same evening.

Fortunately, those who want to attend the ceremonies in both in
Yerevan and in Istanbul–where the fateful events of April 24,
1915 actually occurred–may be able to do both. The travel company
that runs the air link between Istanbul and Yerevan is planning to
organize a special charter flight so that people can be part of the
commemorations in both cities on the same day.

From: Baghdasarian

IS ARMENIA AMERICA’S ALLY OR IRAN’S?

Daily Caller
March 12 2015

by Dan Burton, Former Congressman

Even as events in the Ukraine unfold so tumultuously, a subtler but
comparably disturbing situation elsewhere in the former USSR threatens
to undermine Western interests there and throughout the Middle East.

Although widely assumed to be a solid ally, Armenia has by all
indications quietly moved toward a strategic rapprochement with Iran –
and, by extension, Russia – that for starters will help U.S.

adversaries circumvent the critical provisions of the Iran Sanctions
Act (ISA) and sanctions against Russia.

As a matter of sheer realpolitik, it’s not hard to understand the
motives at play in Yereva, the Armenian capital city. Flash back to
the efforts of both the Clinton and the second Bush administrations
to use ISA sanctions as a way to interdict oil pipeline routes that
would have enriched Iran. What emerged as a result was an alternative
U.S.-approved route from Azerbaijan to Turkey.

But Azerbaijan is Armenia’s direct economic and geopolitical antagonist
while there hasn’t been much love lost between Armenia and Turkey
since the tragic events of 1915 under the Ottoman Empire, however
shrouded in time those events may be. In global politics, as in life,
my enemies’ enemy often has certain charms. For Armenia, those charms
now entail stronger, more extensive economic relations with Iran. It
is certainly no secret that, for one, Armenia is Iran’s biggest direct
gas customer, especially since May 2009 when Iran and Armenia launched
a trans-national gas pipeline built by Gazprom, the world’s largest
extractor of natural gas based in and owned by – yes – Russia.

Further evidence of Armenian/Iranian friendship is plentiful. Both
Tehran and Yerevan have pushed hard for progress on the construction
of the Southern Armenia Railway, which will more closely link the
two countries. Meanwhile, in May 2014, Iran and Armenia increased
weekly flights between the two countries from three to 50. That’s
not tourism. That’s business.

The situation is yet more perilous. Armenia has reassured the West
that its banking controls are strong and that Iran cannot launder
money through its banks. According to U.S. officials, however, Iran
has easy access to Armenian banks operating in the Armenia-occupied
Nagorno-Karabakh territory whence Iran can draw on funds to expand
its nuclear and missile programs or, for that matter, continue to
subsidize terrorist organizations.

Even as events in the Ukraine unfold so tumultuously, a subtler but
comparably disturbing situation elsewhere in the former USSR threatens
to undermine Western interests there and throughout the Middle East.

Although widely assumed to be a solid ally, Armenia has by all
indications quietly moved toward a strategic rapprochement with Iran –
and, by extension, Russia – that for starters will help U.S.

adversaries circumvent the critical provisions of the Iran Sanctions
Act (ISA) and sanctions against Russia.

As a matter of sheer realpolitik, it’s not hard to understand the
motives at play in Yereva, the Armenian capital city. Flash back to
the efforts of both the Clinton and the second Bush administrations
to use ISA sanctions as a way to interdict oil pipeline routes that
would have enriched Iran. What emerged as a result was an alternative
U.S.-approved route from Azerbaijan to Turkey.

But Azerbaijan is Armenia’s direct economic and geopolitical antagonist
while there hasn’t been much love lost between Armenia and Turkey
since the tragic events of 1915 under the Ottoman Empire, however
shrouded in time those events may be. In global politics, as in life,
my enemies’ enemy often has certain charms. For Armenia, those charms
now entail stronger, more extensive economic relations with Iran. It
is certainly no secret that, for one, Armenia is Iran’s biggest direct
gas customer, especially since May 2009 when Iran and Armenia launched
a trans-national gas pipeline built by Gazprom, the world’s largest
extractor of natural gas based in and owned by – yes – Russia.

Further evidence of Armenian/Iranian friendship is plentiful. Both
Tehran and Yerevan have pushed hard for progress on the construction
of the Southern Armenia Railway, which will more closely link the
two countries. Meanwhile, in May 2014, Iran and Armenia increased
weekly flights between the two countries from three to 50. That’s
not tourism. That’s business.

The situation is yet more perilous. Armenia has reassured the West
that its banking controls are strong and that Iran cannot launder
money through its banks. According to U.S. officials, however, Iran
has easy access to Armenian banks operating in the Armenia-occupied
Nagorno-Karabakh territory whence Iran can draw on funds to expand
its nuclear and missile programs or, for that matter, continue to
subsidize terrorist organizations.

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In 2013, one Western UN diplomat identified Armenia’s ACBA as “a bank
that has come up in connection with Iran.” The former Soviet Republic
is a real plum for Tehran in any event since Armenia is a listed U.S.

ally and, as a former Soviet republic, purportedly wary of the Russian
bear. For America, that is very reassuring. For Iran, it’s a ready-made
fifth column.

“The Iranian relationship with Armenia is driven by a shared sense of
isolation,” says Richard Giragosian, director of the Yerevan-based
Regional Studies Center. “For Armenia, Iran offers an important
alternative to closed borders [with Turkey and Azerbaijan] and
unresolved conflict [of Nagorno-Karabakh with Azerbaijan] and tension
with its other neighbors, and offers an opportunity to overcome
Armenia’s geographic isolation as a small landlocked state.”

Then, of course, there’s the Putin factor. When in January 2015,
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif visited Armenia (with scant
media fanfare), he lauded Armenia’s accession to the Russia-dominated
Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), citing the EEU as a platform for
“broader cooperation options to Iran, Armenia, and Russia.” Earlier,
Iran’s ambassador to Moscow, Mehdi Sanai, said that Tehran will
seriously look at signing a memorandum of understanding on trade with
the EEU. In fact, Sanai has publicly envisioned Iranian-Russian trade
jumping from the present annual $3-5 billion to $70 billion.

The geopolitical ramifications are obviously significant, especially as
Russia will now have more alternatives to soften the blow of Western
sanctions. But Russia has even more to gain than that.

To better assess the ominous signals that Zarif and Sanai are sending,
we need to look more closely at Russia’s role in the region. Since
Armenian independence in 1991, Russia has served Yerevan – not as a
sword-rattling aggressor-in-waiting – but as a geopolitical protector.

When we combine that traditional role with the impact of the EEU and
the economic assets that it’s already secured in Armenia, what’s clear
is that Russia stands to be the key economic force in Armenia. Putin
thus has everything to gain by helping to buttress the burgeoning
Armenian/Iranian partnership. And we have everything to lose.

Happily, we need not underestimate current levels of concern
in the U.S. Congress. Recently, the Subcommittee on Terrorism,
Nonproliferation, and Trade of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs
held a hearing dubbed “State Sponsor of Terror: The Global Threat of
Iran.” At that hearing, Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) nailed it
when he raised “questions about Russia’s involvement through Armenia in
the backdoor circumvention of the sanctions that are in place today,”
and that “Russia’s involvement is making it clear [that] all they are
really doing is guaranteeing a slow march toward a nuclear Iran … We
would be remiss if we did not … recognize that all the way back in
the early 80s…President Ronald Reagan referred to an evil empire,
at that time the Soviet Union.”

The placards of Politburo chieftains may be gone but the same
imperialist agenda remains. Today, Iran’s partnership with Russia,
a fundamentally destabilizing force in world affairs, is aided and
abetted by Armenia’s partnership with both members of that unholy
alliance.

Perhaps our “ally” in Yerevan needs to be reminded of the price that
small countries must ultimately pay for helping enemies of the US
circumvent sanctions.

Dan Burton is a former Member of Congress representing Indiana’s
5th Congressional District. He served in Congress from 1983 until
2013 notably serving on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

From: Baghdasarian

CLOONEY: ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ‘HASN’T BEEN ACKNOWLEDGED’

CNN
March 11 2015

Source: CNN

George Clooney talks with CNN’s Richard Roth about his efforts to stop
genocide and other human rights abuses through his group Not on Our
Watch, at an event in New York where Not on Our Watch joined forces
with 100 Lives to announce the new Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity,
for those who have overcome adversity and gone on to help others. 100
Lives was founded to show the impact of the Armenian genocide.

From: Baghdasarian

JAMES WARLICK: WE ARE WORKING TO PREPARE A SUBSTANTIVE AGENDA FOR PRESIDENTS NEXT MEETING – “WE HOPE TO BRING THE TWO FOREIGN MINISTERS TOGETHER AT THE APPROPRIATE TIME”

Azeri-Press news agency (APA)
March 12, 2015 Thursday

U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, James Warlicks interview with APA

How do you characterize the situation on the line of contact after
you last visit to the region?

The situation along the Line of Contact remains tense, but has
stabilized since the end of January. We urge the sides to strictly
adhere to the ceasefire to create a more conducive atmosphere for
peace negotiations. Also, with religious holidays, commemorations,
and other events in the region, it is in the interest of the parties
to maintain a period of quiet.

You stated that the main purpose of the visit was to call on the
sides of the conflict to keep ceasefire? Did you sound any specific
proposals during the visit?

The Presidents confirmed their commitment to the peaceful resolution
of the conflict, and they agreed to consider proposals to strengthen
the ceasefire. Our proposals would reduce the likelihood of incidents
that could lead to an escalation of tensions. We are hopeful that
the sides can agree to these and other measures.

During your last visit to the region you met with Red Cross
representatives. Before that Assistant Secretary Victoria Nuland
called on Armenia to make humanitarian gesture and release Azerbaijani
hostages. Are there any progress?

The two Azerbaijani citizens remain imprisoned. We reiterate our
conviction that the release of all prisoners held by the sides is an
important humanitarian gesture.

Armenia demands de-facto NK regimes (authorities) participation in the
negotiation process. How negatively it may influence on the process?

The interests of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh will have to be taken
into account in a negotiation process. This is why the Co-Chairs
travel to Nagorno-Karabakh and meet with the de facto authorities
and other members of the community.

Do you have any plans related with the two countries foreign ministers
meeting?

We hope to bring the two Foreign Ministers together at the appropriate
time, and are in close contact with them. While we believe such
dialogue is useful, it is ultimately their decision whether to meet.

In your statement you mentioned on your plans regarding the two
countries presidents meeting. Could you please tell about preparation
to this meeting and when it may take place? During your last interview
you stated that you do not want meeting for show. What are you planning
to do in order to avoid meetings for show?

At the Paris Summit in October 2014, the Presidents committed to
intensify their dialogue this year. They reaffirmed their readiness
to meet later this year during the Co-Chairs recent trip to the region.

We are working with the Foreign Ministers to prepare a substantive
agenda for the Presidents next meeting in order to narrow differences
between the sides on the key issues of a settlement.

From: Baghdasarian

TALAAT PASHA WAS ASSASSINATED IN BERLIN ON MARCH 15, 1921

March 13, 2015

Soghomon Tehlirian

Soghomon Tehlirian was an Armenian Genocide survivor who assassinated
the former Ottoman Interior Minister Talaat Pasha in the presence of
many witnesses on March 15, 1921 in Berlin as revenge for his role
in orchestrating the Armenian Genocide during World War I. It was a
part of the Operation Nemesis by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.

Talaat Pasha had been convicted and sentenced to death in absentia in
the Turkish Courts-Martial of 1919-1920 for his crimes against the
Armenians of the Empire (among other things). After a two-day trial
Tehlirian was found not guilty by the German court and freed.

Tehlirian is considered a national hero by Armenians.

He was born in Erzurum, Western Armenia. He went to the Getronagan
Armenian High School in Istanbul and later went to Germany to study
engineering, but had to return to his town when World War One started.

His mother, three sisters, two brothers, his sister s husband and
their two year old child were forced to march for several hours.

Tehlirian remembers hearing gunfire and seeing his mother shot dead.

His sisters were dragged away and raped. His brother was beheaded in
front of him. Soghomon got hit in the head knocking him unconscious.

Later waking up on piles of corpses.

He made his way to Tbilisi where he joined the ARF (Armenian
Revolutionary Federation) and later participated in General Andraniks
military detachments.

In 1921 Tehlirian was back in Germany continuing his studies when one
day he spotted Talaat Pasha outside of his home, the main perpetrator
of the Armenian Genocide.

On March 15, 1921 Soghomon assasinated Tallat., A single bullet to
the head killed Talaat Pasha. The assassination took place in broad
daylight and led to Tehlirian’s immediate arrest by German police

Tehlirian was tried for murder, but was eventually acquitted by the
German court.

The trial examined not only Tehlirian’s actions but also Tehlirian’s
conviction that Talaat Pasha was the main author of the Armenian
deportation and mass killings. The defense attorneys made no attempt
to deny the fact that Tehlirian had killed a man, and instead focused
on the influence of the Armenian Genocide on Tehlirian’s mental state.

When asked by the judge if he felt any sort of guilt, Tehlirian
remarked, “I do not consider myself guilty because my conscience is
clear…I have killed a man. But I am not a murderer”.

It took the jury slightly over an hour to render a verdict of
“not guilty.

From: Baghdasarian

THE UNPARALLELED SITES OF THE ARAGATS REGION OF CENTRAL ARMENIA

Daily Mail, UK
March 13 2015

See the unparalleled sites of the Aragats region of central Armenia as
never before. The Aragats Foundation are working with their partners
to conserve the region’s archaeological heritage, open these lost
sites for…

Watch the video at

From: Baghdasarian

AZERBAIJAN THREATENS ARMENIA OVER KILLED SOLDIER

Press TV, Iran
March 13 2015

Fri Mar 13, 2015 7:9PM

Azerbaijan has threatened to give a “severe” response to Armenian
troops who have killed a second Azeri soldier this week in the latest
conflict in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh border region.

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said in a statement, “On March 13, the
Armenian armed forces violated the ceasefire. An Azerbaijani soldier
was shot dead…. We will take revenge for our soldier and deal a great
blow on the enemy… [and] Azerbaijan’s counter-strike will be severe.”

The incident comes two days after another soldier was killed in an
attack on the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh on March 11.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have had a long-standing conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh since a deadly war in the early 1990s.

Clashes between Baku and Yerevan troops mounted again in January
following an unprecedented spiral of violence last year.

At least 18 people have reportedly been killed from both sides and
18 wounded in a new round of violence in sporadic flare-ups on the
Armenian-Azerbaijani border since early January.

The decade-long conflict over the disputed region has yet to see a
permanent settlement. The area which is inhabited by ethnic Armenians
is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

The deadly war in the 1990s which killed 30,000 people from both
sides saw the ethnic Armenian troops capture the entire area.

In 1994, Russia brokered a ceasefire although the Armenians remain
in control of most of the enclave.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have since been engaged in peace talks which are
mediated by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The two warring sides have not signed a final peace deal, despite
years of negotiations.

Baku, whose military spending is much higher than Yerevan,
has threatened to recapture the region by force upon failure of
negotiations.

However, Armenia’s military, backed by Russia, has downplayed the
threats, saying it can appropriately respond to any offensive.

MIS/HSN/SS

From: Baghdasarian

Serzh Sargsyan Did Not Give Time

Hakob Badalyan, Political Commentator
Comments – 14 March 2015, 17:31

Serzh Sargsyan’s meeting with the political forces has caused a
backlash, often with tough accents. The focus is on the bare fact of
the meeting, not the content. As is known, Sargsyan has met with the
PAP, ARF, Armenian Pan-National Movement, Rule of Law, Free Democrats,
Heritage, United Labor Party.

The Armenian National Congress was not invited though when Serzh
Sargsyan was pushing Gagik Tsarukyan to the ground, Levon
Ter-Petrosyan suggested that they meet.

The purpose of the meetings was to discuss the amendments to the
Constitution. No other details are available.

However, the society does not care for the purpose. The fact itself is
criticized in the general domestic political context.

The point is that the political forces have actually opted for
negotiating with Serzh Sargsyan. Because if their purpose was not
negotiations but expression of their standpoint, the 21stcentury
allows one to express themselves without sitting in front of Serzh
Sargsyan. For example, it is possible to type a text and post in the
social media or circulate via the press, expressing a stance on Serzh
Sargsyan’s concept.

Instead, they opt for meeting with Serzh Sargsyan, which means that
the conscious goals and objectives are different, and at least the
option of not rejecting Serzh Sargsyan was chosen. In other words, the
negotiations have kicked off.

Was it necessary to reach 26 Baghramyan Avenue to express a standpoint?

If they have reached, it means they have either appeared in Serzh
Sargsyan’s trap or they opted for talking to Serzh Sargsyan and
adjusting their destiny in the upcoming political developments rather
than expressing their stance.

The meeting itself should not be taken as a criterion. It is too
ingenuous to think that Serzh Sargsyan’s criterion of the game is
meeting or not meeting him, and a force that did not meet with him is
more opposition than a force that met with him.

Of course, this is not a criterion of being or not being opposition.
At the same time, a meeting with Serzh Sargsyan under the topic of
constitutional amendments is a bar itself, if not a bar of honesty, at
least a bar of political maturity or lack of such maturity.

The negotiation is a political category, it is not something bad but
it must have a subject that is comprehensible to the public. What was
the subject of the meeting of the political forces and Serzh Sargsyan?
I repeat that if the purpose was to express their stance, there were
tens of other means of expressing a stance without meeting Sargsyan in
his office, which are more political and substantial, by the way.

Besides, was there another subject? Where is it? For example, Serzh
Sargsyan had the subject on his part: he invited the political forces
to discuss an issue with him and they went, accepting his rule of the
game at least for this part. Because Serzh Sargsyan has picked the
means of expressing their stance for them. And since they did not
contribute any context for their part, at least they did not do so
publicly, the public rightly assesses the meetings as a concession to
Serzh Sargsyan.

After all, nobody has been threatened to be dispelled from politics,
to have their businesses, their tax liabilities or criminal records
checked if they did not go.

After the action against Gagik Tsarukyan, expressing a standpoint in
front of Serzh Sargsyan is equal to leaving politics. Because after
Tsarukyan anyone else in politics should start writing “open letters”
or express a stance to the public, not to Serzh Sargsyan.

Serzh Sargsyan does not need the stance of the political forces. At
best, he may want to know the standpoint of a force but he will make
the final decision. Serzh Sargsyan used what happened to Gagik
Tsarukyan to demonstrate this to the entire field.

This is both the problem and the public backlash to this fact. Such an
assessment is an indicator of political maturity, unlike the political
forces. Hence, there is no need to duck from the public backlash, it
is necessary to learn lessons.

After all, most forces may have been confused and did not make the
right decision; little time has passed since the shock therapy. There
is still a chance to return to politics but not in the way they
usually return in Armenia but after admitting to their own mistakes
and apologizing to the public.

What can we do? It happened so that politics in Armenia starts with an
apology, and there is no need to be afraid of this.

From: Baghdasarian

“Nairit” employees to meet Serzh Sargsyan (video)

12:55 | March 14,2015 | Economy

“Nairit” employees, who had been holding an action near the
Presidential residence for more than an hour, discussed and decided to
gather near the Government building or Baghramyan 26 every Tuesday,
Thursday and Saturday so that the authorities don’t forget about them.

Yesterday Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Yervand Zakharyan
promised them that after negotiations with the World Bank they would
be paid their salaries.

On Monday at 09:00 “Nairit” employees will gather on the intersection
of Baghramyan-Demirchyan streets and will meet Serzh Sargsyan with
posters: they hope that Serzh Sargsyan won’t remain indifferent.
Currently they are near the Presidential and they are chanting
“repayment”.

From: Baghdasarian

5 Most Ridiculous Theories About the Whereabouts of Vladimir Putin

(c) Sputnik/ Alexei Druzhinin
POLITICS
21:25 14.03.2015(updated 21:36 14.03.2015)

It’s been nine days since Putin made a public appearance, and media
speculation about his location and state has (possibly) reached its
peak. We look at the five most ridiculous media theories.

In the past week, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s lack of public
appearances in the past week has led to a flurry of theories in the
media about his whereabouts. While the President’s press secretary
Dmitry Peskov has had a tough week of battling bizarre questions about
his whereabouts. We decided to rank the top five.

5. He’s Dead

Somehow, such an audacious idea is not even at the top of the list of
most ridiculous theories. Simply reading the news about President
Putin’s acts and statements can show that he is indeed working, having
proposed the creation of a new federal agency on nationalities,
planned a meeting with the President of Kyrgyzstan, signed two laws,
four executive orders and had a phone conversation with Armenia’s
President. Prime Minister Medvedev doing his best Putin impression
notwithstanding, an international conspiracy to conceal Putin’s death
would be a little over-the-top.

4. He Has Cancer, No, He Hurt His Back, No, No, I Know, He Had a
Stroke (The Flu Maybe?)

(c) SPUTNIK/ ALEXEI DRUZHININ
Could Putin have gotten hurt doing judo?

Rumors about President Putin’s health seem to be reaching the level of
those once “enjoyed” by Fidel Castro. After the 638 or so CIA plots to
physically eliminate the Cuban leader failed, the only way left was to
speculate on the rumors of his health in the media.

A Washington Post article on Saturday announced that Putin’s illness
would no doubt be hidden because “manly men don’t get sick.” Of
course, Putin’s image as a “manly man,” as the Post has it, is one
that only appears in the Western media. In Russia, Putin has used his
image as a policy tool, but it has been to promote slightly different
values, such as exercise and abstaining from smoking and drinking for
Russia’s men.

3. He is Witnessing the Birth of His Love Child

(c) SPUTNIK/ ALEKSEY NIKOLSKYI
Has Putin fathered a child?

Apparently, Putin is in Switzerland, witnessing the birth of his
child. It’s not clear why Putin would need to travel to Switzerland to
witness the birth of his child. Considering the security precautions
that his office would need to take to ensure Putin’s secret journey to
Switzerland stays unknown, it would probably be cheaper to simply buy
a Swiss clinic and transport all of its workers and equipment to
Russia.

It’s also not clear why, if Putin allegedly disappeared on March 5, he
would take such a long time to be gone to simply witness the birth of
his alleged child.

Of course, the fact that no Russian Presidency planes have gone to
Switzerland in the past week, and that the woman who media outlets
allege to be Putin’s girlfriend, gymnast and Russian State Duma Deputy
Alina Kabaeva, has not given birth seem to be of no concern to the
many people circulating yet another unfounded rumour.

2. He Was Overthrown in a Coup

(c) SPUTNIK/ EKATERINA SHTUKINA
Is Medvedev aiming for the top seat?

This is one of the less popular theories, although it does show that
theories of Putin’s “absence” do say more about the people who are
spouting the theories than what Putin is really doing. According to
Forbes, either Chief of Staff Sergei Ivanov or President of Chechnya,
Ramzan Kadyrov could actually be in power right now.

How exactly this would happen is unclear, as he has made television
appearances on March 5th, 8th, 11th, 12th and 13th. However, this is
still not enough for some media outlets.

1. He’s Binge Watching House of Cards

(c) SPUTNIK/ ALEXEI DRUZHININ
Petrov’s got it. Yeah, that’s right.

A Washington Post cartoonist suggested this one, and, well, there
isn’t much to really contradict it. Although press secretary Peskov
has not commented if Putin roots for Kevin Spacey’s character or
Viktor Petrov, the fictionalized Russian President in the series, one
thing is clear, Netflix’ policy of release of all 13 episodes in one
day is not good for anyone’s productivity.

This may also be one of those times when the most ridiculous solution
is probably the least impossible. The other option would be that he
pre-recorded a bunch of meetings for TV, turned off his answering
machine and went fishing, but that would mean being out of the office
for things like talking to the Armenian President or signing several
laws.

Overall, if there is one thing this media furor over Putin’s absence
from the public has shown, it’s that Putin has achieved a celebrity
status surpassing that of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian put together.
It’s up for debate if US President Barack Obama would receive the same
amount of media coverage if he decided to stay at Camp David for a
week and not make any public appearances, but #PutinChallenge, anyone?

From: Baghdasarian