540 PEOPLE RELEASED UNDER AMNESTY IN ARMENIA
October 17, 2013 | 18:13
YEREVAN. – As of Wednesday, 540 people have been released under the
amnesty proposed by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and declared
by the National Assembly.
The amnesty was declared on the occasion of the 22nd anniversary of
Armenia’s independence.
News from Armenia – NEWS.am
5 CANDIDATES WIN UN SECURITY COUNCIL SEATS, AZERBAIJAN TO BE REPLACED
October 18, 2013 – 09:42 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net – Saudi Arabia and Chad easily won coveted seats on
the UN Security Council on Thursday, October 17 despite criticism
from human rights groups that their rights records are abysmal,
RIA Novosti said.
Nigeria, Lithuania and Chile also won seats.
The five candidates endorsed by regional groups faced no opposition
because there were no contested races for the first time in several
years.
In the first round of voting by the 193-member General Assembly,
Lithuania was the top vote-getter with 187 votes followed by Nigeria
and Chile with 186 votes, Chad with 184 votes and Saudi Arabia with
176 votes.
A two-thirds majority of those voting was needed to win.
Security Council seats are highly coveted because they give countries a
strong voice in matters dealing with international peace and security,
in places like Syria, Iran and North Korea, as well as the UN’s
far-flung peacekeeping operations.
The 15-member council includes five permanent members with veto
power – the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France – and
10 nonpermanent members elected for two-year terms.
The five countries elected Thursday will assume their posts on Jan. 1
and serve through the end of 2015.
They will replace Azerbaijan, Guatemala, Morocco, Pakistan and Togo.
PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Chris Zakian
Tel: (212) 686-0710; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
October 18, 2013
___________________
Holy Translators Church Marks 10 Years
The Church of the Holy Translators of Framingham, Mass., marked its 10th
anniversary on October 5 and 6. Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), visited the parish on
this occasion and presided over the celebration.
On Saturday, October 5, the parish hosted a dinner-dance at the Crowne Plaza
Hotel in Natick, Mass. The evening opened with a youth performance by the
Zangakner Ensemble of Boston. Remarks were made by parish council chair
Robin Palombo, parish pastor the Rev. Fr. Krikor Sabounjian, and Archbishop
Barsamian.
“I fondly recall consecrating Holy Translators, and it is hard to believe
that glorious day took place a decade ago,” Archbishop Barsamian said. “But
you can be proud that for the past 10 years and more, the spirit of living
the Gospel has been exemplified by the people of this parish. In the most
basic sense, to live the Gospel is to recognize that there is a role for
each of us to play in Christ’s mission. We take up his mission as believers
who have accepted Christ into our hearts, and having done so, we become
aware that Christ strengthens and nourishes us from within.”
The Church of the Holy Translators began as a mission parish in April 1998.
Parishioners purchased the present building in 2001, and the church was
consecrated in October 2003.
Guests enjoyed a slideshow highlighting the church’s decade of
accomplishments and an evening of Armenian music by the Richie Berberian
Ensemble.
On Sunday, October 6, Fr. Sabounjian celebrated the Divine Liturgy, with
Archbishop Barsamian presiding. The Primate ordained parishioners Raffi
Barsamian, Lucas Ferraro, Neil Ferraro, Sevan Hacopian, Noah
Toumayan-Miller, Cole Semonian, and Lincoln Zaleski to the rank of acolyte.
Neil Ferraro and Lincoln Zaleski were then elevated to the sub-diaconate.
The congregation then took part in a special service of veneration of the
St. Vartan the Brave relic-a piece of stone encrusted with the blood of
Armenia’s 5th-century warrior saint, and encased in a beautiful silver
cross. The Primate brought the relic to Framingham from St. Vartan Cathedral
in New York City, where it was first unveiled on the occasion of the
cathedral’s 45th anniversary in September. The relic is a gift of His
Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.
Also that afternoon, Archbishop Barsamian blessed the parish’s new altar
vessel, which was donated by Anoush Balian in memory of her late husband. A
fellowship hour followed services.
“We often hear about other churches in our Diocese marking their 50th or
75th anniversaries. How humbling it is that our church is only 10 years old,
but that in these 10 years we have been able to accomplish so much,” Fr.
Sabounjian said. “It is thanks to the vision and dedication of a small group
of people that we were able to establish a permanent house of worship in
Framingham, and we look forward to seeing our community grow in faith in the
coming decades.”
###
Photos attached.
Photo 1: Archbishop Khajag Barsamian ordains altar servers.
Photo 2: Archbishop Khajag Barsamian and Rev. Fr. Krikor Sabounjian with
altar servers.
ARMENIAN LIFE RETURNS TO DIYARBAKIR
13:21, October 18, 2013
By Vicken Sheterian
The following article was originally published in Arabic in the
London-based Al-Hayat newspaper. It was then translated into English
and reprinted in the news website Al-Monitor on October 16, 2013.
It was on a hot Sunday in the summer when I visited St. Giragos
Church, located within the historic walls of the city of Diyarbakir. A
small crowd gathered inside the building, which had recently been
renovated. That morning, I not only got the chance to meet new people,
but was also acquainted with new ways of self-identifying.
I met Ramzi Demir, a construction-equipment vendor and Kurdish Muslim
who is well aware of his Armenian roots. I also met Chetin Yilmaz,
an ethnic Turk from the city of Gallipoli. Yilmaz was sent to the
southeast of the country to teach Turkish “to help Kurds be good
Turkish citizens. However, they opted for the Christian religion
instead,” as he put it.
A group of young people visiting the church included Nisreen and Habon,
who decided to come after they discovered their Armenian origins. I
also met Armin Demerjian, the deacon of the Church of St.
Giragos. He was once called Abdur Rahim Zorusselan, before he returned
to his original religion. Armin welcomed me with a joyful grin and
told me in Armenian, “Welcome, my little brother!”
Demerjian is in his mid 50s. He was born in the town of Liga, north of
Diyarbakir, from where his ancestors hail. His family was exterminated
during the massacres of 1915, but a five-year-old child named Hocep
survived, saved by influential Turkish tribal leader in the region,
Haji Zubair.
When Hocep grew up, his name was changed to Abdullah. He converted
to Islam and married the daughter of Haji Zubair. He became a famous
baker in the town of Liga. Everyone saw him as a good Armenian man.
I walked with Armin around the church. The building, which was
meticulously built seven centuries ago, has been renovated, adding
a touch of beauty to the impoverished neighborhood. We went to a
hall where the walls were decorated with photographs of the Armenian
way of life in Diyarbakir before the great massacre. There hung a
photo of two Armenian schools, one for boys and one for girls, and a
photo of the newspaper Independent Tigris with pictures of craftsmen,
coppersmiths, jewelry makers, weavers and a brass band. There was also
an old postcard in French portraying the Armenian neighborhood and the
high church bell towers. The black-and-white photographs created a sad
memorial, not only because they brought back memories of the past, but
because they remind us that an entire way of life has been wiped away.
There was once a large Armenian community in Diyarbakir. Most of its
members were craftsmen and traders. In 1915, when the Committee of
Union and Progress, the powerful party that pushed the Ottoman Empire
to fight in the First World War, decided to get rid of the Armenians
living in the empire. Approximately 120,000 Armenians in the province
were sent outside the city walls and massacred. The survivors, mostly
women and orphans, went to camps in the Syrian Desert. In the 1920s
and 1930s, the Armenians living in villages and towns in the province
moved to Diyarbakir to form a new, small community. More left the
villages after the war broke out in the southeast of the country
between the Kurdistan Workers Party and the Turkish army. Today,
a descendant of the survivors is forming a new Armenian community in
this historic city.
When I started to take pictures, Armin grabbed an Armenian-language
instruction book and held it to his chest in front of the camera.
Armin’s son, Hassan Zor Aslan, recently finished his university
education and wants to become a teacher. He is fluent in English and
Turkish, and his mother tongue is Kurdish. When coffee was served,
Hassan did not take a cup. It was Ramadan, and Hassan was fasting.
While his father was forced to rediscover his Armenian past and deep
Christian roots, Hassan, 21, found his path through Islam.
“We are Muslims, but we know that we are Armenians,” he told me. In
2006, when the students of Diyarbakir revolted against the Turkish
police and the army there, Hassan was sent to his uncle’s house in
the town of Bursa in western Turkey to continue his education away
from the trouble.
Hassan continued, “I faced an identity crisis there. There,
I decided to be a Muslim.” It was there that he also decided to
become a professor. When asked how he sees his father, who returned
to the Armenian Apostolic Church, he said, “I am happy to see my
father getting back in touch with his Armenian identity. However,
I am afraid not only of the state but also of militant groups.”
Gafur Torqay is the one who pushed for the renovation of the church.
His story is no different from those of the others. His father is
called Ba Ohanian, and he hails from the mountainous area of Sason,
northeast of Diyarbakir. During the genocide, everyone there was
killed, and only three children survived: a girl and two boys. The
girl became a refugee in Syria and emigrated from there to Armenia,
while the boys remained in Turkey and converted to Islam.
He proudly stated, “Thanks to the two boys, the number of our family
members reached 500. These boys spoke Kurdish at home, but when they
were sent to school they were prohibited from speaking the Kurdish
and Armenian languages and forced to communicate in Turkish.” Gafur
criticized Turkish naturalization policies, saying, “After being
forced to become a Kurd, we were taught how to become Turks.”
Furthermore, with the emergence of the Kurdish national identity in
the past decade, Armenian descendants who had changed their religion
claimed their right to the Armenian identity regardless of religious
affiliation.
Gafur recalls the first time he visited St. Giragos Church in the
1980s. Back then, there were 30 families living in the vicinity
of the Armenian church in the Sur District of Diyarbakir, known as
the Infidels District. This is also the title of a novel written by
Mgrdich Margossian, who wrote about the life of the Armenian community.
In this city, Gafur met his wife and his family. He believes that the
renovation of the church – which was destroyed after the departure
of the last Armenian family – is the most important step yet. The
church has been renovated thanks to the efforts of a small group
of people who exerted tremendous efforts to collect the necessary
funds. The municipality of Diyarbakir, controlled by the Kurdish Peace
and Democracy Party, paid a third of the renovation costs. The church
was reopened in October 2011, with thousands of Armenians coming from
all over the world to participate in the event.
Today, the Diyarbakir municipality has begun organizing classes to
teach the Armenian language. In 2012, 35 students were registered in
language classes and in the following year this number rose to 65.
Gafur pointed out that 80% of the students are Muslim Armenians,
while there is a Christian or Kurdish Armenian minority.
Gafur recalled how his neighbors found out he was of Armenian descent
and how they thought that he and his family had converted to another
religion. Families with Armenian roots try to arrange marriages
among themselves, he added, stressing, “We are the third generation
after the genocide. The second generation knew nothing about Armenian
heritage. They were afraid. If we do not act to revive the Armenian
identity here, we will lose it.” He hopes that the young people of
Armenian descent rediscover their original identity and Armenian
culture without questioning their Islamic religious identity.
>From there, Gafur took me to St. Sarkis Church. At the entrance, we
could see that a Kurdish family had taken residence in the few rooms
that remained undestroyed. The architectural style is reminiscent of
St. Giragos with its beautiful domes, though wrecked. Projects are
in the works for the renovation of this church, too.
At the altar, Gafur pointed to a hole and angrily said, “They are
trying to find gold. I was here two weeks ago; this hole was not
there.” Similar holes can be found in Armenian churches across eastern
Turkey as residents still search for old Armenian gold after 98 years.
Then we headed to the Armenian cemetery. Years ago, the famous musician
Aram Dikran wanted to be buried there after his death, but the Turkish
state did not allow it. Today, two stones are placed as a sign for
the chosen cemetery of Aram Dikran.
PRESSE ARMENIENNE : REVUE DU 17 OCTOBRE 2013
Publie le : 18-10-2013
Info Collectif VAN – – Le Collectif VAN vous
presente cette Revue de Presse parue sur le site de l’Ambassade de
France en Armenie le 17 octobre 2013.
Ambassade de France en Armenie
le 17 octobre 2013
Revue de la presse armenienne du 17 octobre 2013
I. Relations exterieures
1. Les responsables des services speciaux et des organes de securite
de la CEI reunis en Armenie/Les quotidiens rendent compte de la
35ème session a Tsaghkadzor des directeurs des agences de securite
et services speciaux de la CEI. L’ensemble des services de la CEI
a l’exception de l’Azerbaïdjan ont pris part aux travaux, auxquels
etaient convies en tant qu’observateurs les representants des services
homologues de France, d’Allemagne, d’Italie et d’Espagne. L’Armenie
accueillait pour la quatrième fois ce format de rencontres, dont
l’agenda portait cette annee sur la lutte contre le terrorisme
international, le crime organise, la contrebande, le trafic de drogues,
la cybercriminalite, ainsi que la cooperation entre les services de
renseignement de la CEI. Dans un message adresse aux participants, le
President Sarkissian a condamne la rhetorique de haine et la course
aux armements qui, dans cette region fragilisee par les conflits
non-regles, menacent directement la securite commune au sein de la
zone CEI. /Hayastani Hanrapetoutioun, Hayots Achkhar
2. Polemique autour du sommet de Vilnius/Alors que les autorites
armeniennes reaffirment leur disponibilite a signer un document en
marge du sommet, RFE/RL souligne qu’un diplomate tchèque en exclut
la possibilite, lors d’une conference sur le Partenariat oriental
a Erevan. Selon Petr Mares, envoye special du Ministère tchèque des
Affaires etrangères, c’est après le sommet de Vilnius que d’effectifs
travaux sont envisageables : ” La situation est complexe. Nous n’avons
de precedent permettant de determiner une conduite a tenir vis-a-vis
d’un pays decidant de rejoindre l’Union douanière tout en etant pret
a signer l’Accord d’association…en tout etat de cause, il est très
significatif que le President Sarkissian manifeste l’intention de
participer au sommet de Vilnius “.
II. Politique interieure
1. Deux policiers condamnes pour torture beneficient de l’amnistie,
provoquant l’ire des defenseurs des droits de l’Homme/RFE/RL rapporte
que les mouvements associatifs de defense des droits de l’Homme
contestent la remise en liberte de deux agents du Departement de Police
de Erevan, reconnus coupables de mauvais traitements et condamnes a
ce titre a trois ans de prison ferme la semaine dernière.
Les militants des droits de l’Homme denoncent un danger eux signal
d’impunite adresse aux policiers ainsi qu’une violation manifeste
des conventions internationales souscrites par l’Armenie.
2. Protestations contre la loi sur l’egalite des droits des hommes
et des femmes/Hayots Achkhar, Haykakan Jamanak, 168 Jam et Jamanak
rendent compte d’une action de protestation d’environ 300 personnes,
dont des representants d’associations traditionnalistes et de
l’eglise apostolique armenienne contre la loi anti-discrimination
adoptee en mai 2013, bien qu’elle ait deja ete amendee depuis. En
effet malgre la suppression de toute reference au terme ” genre
“, vivement conteste cet ete, les opposants a la loi persistent a
denoncer une atteinte a ” l’identite armenienne et aux fondements de
la famille “. A l’issue d’une marche jusqu’au siège du Gouvernement,
ils ont remis a l’intention du PM, une petition de 3500 signatures
en faveur de l’annulation pure et simple de la loi.
3. Mauvaise ambiance de travail au sein du Parquet general ?/
Les quotidiens relèvent que le President Sarkissian a demis de ses
fonctions l’adjoint au Procureur general, Armen Danielian. Après le
remplacement du Procureur general par Guevorg Kostanian, il s’agit
de la troisième demission au sein de cette structure, où règnerait
d’après les medias, une ambiance particulièrement ” malsaine “.
4. Incident sur un point frontalier au nord-est de l’Armenie/ RFE/RL
signale l’explosion d’une mine, le 16 octobre, qui a tue un officier
et blesse trois soldats. Une enquete est en cours.
III. Divers
1. Forbes en Armenie/ Le fameux magazine Forbes sera bientôt edite
en Armenie sous les labels ” Forbes Armenia ” et ” Forbes Life “.
/Haykakan Jamanak
Redaction : Meri Hakobian
Retour a la rubrique
Source/Lien : Ambassade de France en Armenie
LE MINISTERE DE L’AGRICULTURE A DE GRANDS ESPOIRS SUR SA COOPERATION AVEC ROSTSELMASH
ARMENIE
Le Ministère armenien de l’agriculture a des attentes elevees de sa
cooperation avec la societe russe Rostselmash a annonce le ministre
Sergo Karapetian lors de sa rencontre avec l’ambassadeur de Russie
en Armenie Ivan Volinkin.
” Nous attendons beaucoup de la cooperation avec Rostselmash en
termes de reamenagement de notre equipement agricole “, a declare
Sergo Karapetian, cite par le service de presse du ministère.
Le ministre a egalement declare que les deux pays ont des liens
historiques dans le secteur agricole.
L’Ambassadeur Volinkin, a son tour, a declare que la partie russe
est prete a contribuer a la mise en place d’une assurance agricole
en Armenie.
À la date du 1er Janvier 2013, il y avait 14 683 tracteurs et 1362
moissonneuses-batteuses en Armenie.
Au cours des 25 dernières annees Rostelmash a fourni environ 1000
batteuses classiques de type Niva et prevoit de fournir 40 a 50
batteuses et autres machines agricoles en Armenie chaque annee.
vendredi 18 octobre 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com
LE PRESIDENT DE LA BANQUE CENTRALE ARMENIENNE PRET A AIDER LA BERD
ARMENIE
Le president de la Banque centrale d’Armenie, Arthur Javadyan,
a declare qu’il etait pret a assister la Banque europeenne pour la
reconstruction et le developpement (BERD) a poursuivre ses projets
en Armenie.
Lors d’une rencontre avec le chef sortant du bureau d’Erevan de la
BERD, Valeriu Razlog, Arthur Javadyan a felicite M. Razlog pour la
mise en ~uvre reussie des programmes de la Banque en Armenie.
Arthur Javadian a distingue le rôle important de la BERD dans le
developpement economique stable de l’Armenie, en disant qu’elle
a finance de nombreux programmes efficaces en matière d’energie,
d’agro-industrie et de la finance.
Valeriu Razlog a ete remplace a la tete du bureau d’Erevan de la
BERD par Mark Davis. Valeriu Razlog a ete nomme Senior Banker dans
l’equipe des ressources naturelles au siège de la BERD a Londres.
vendredi 18 octobre 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com
FAMOUS ITALIAN THEATRE OF LECCE CANTIERI TEATRALI KOREJA PERFORMED IN STEPANAKERT
21:15, 17 October, 2013
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 17, ARMENPRESS: The oldest theatre of Lecce
Cantieri Teatrali Koreja presented the performance “Plastic Gardens”
in Stepanakert on October 14, 2013. As Armenpress was informed from
the Ministry of Culture and Youth Affairs of NKR, the troope arrived
in Artsakh within the framework of the International Performing Arts
Festival Highfest, held in Yerevan, October 1-12.
The performance was first staged in 1996. During the 17 years of
its existence the play was shown in different countries of the world
and was awarded the audience’s praise everywhere. Since 2004 it has
been presented in more than 10 festivals and has won several prizes
among which Grand-Prix of Isfahan Theater Festival for Children &
Young Adults in 2012.
Franco Ungaro, the artistic director of the theatre, noted that
performing in conflict zones had always been regarded as a peculair
challenge by the troupe for it is in such places that the audience’s
true expectations from the theatre can be revealed. He also mentioned
the warm attitude of the people of Artsakh and the enthusiastic
atmosphere in the hall. The actress Alessandra Crocco added that she
felt the positive energy coming from the spectators and the applause
at the end of the play testifies to the fact that the performance
was truly appreciated by the audience.
ANALYSIS: ARMENIA COMBINES COOPERATION WITH FORMER SOVIET ALLIES AND NATO TO BOOST ITS SECURITY
ANALYSIS | 18.10.13 | 10:08
By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN
ArmeniaNow correspondent
On October 17 Tsahkadzor hosted the 35th meeting of the Council of
heads of security and intelligence services of the CIS countries. The
same day, perhaps not as a coincidence, Yerevan saw a gathering of
heads of information and resource centers of NATO in post-Soviet
countries.
President Serzh Sargsyan met with both the heads of the delegations
attending the meeting of the CIS countries, and the special
representative of the NATO Secretary General for the South Caucasus
and Central Asia, James Appathurai. Sargsyan spoke with them about
common security threats, noting that the main challenges for Armenia
are the “escalation of confrontation, the rhetoric of hatred and an
arms race in conditions of prolonged unresolved conflicts.”
The issue of security is becoming a dominant theme in the foreign
relations of Armenia. It is for security reasons that Armenia made
its decision to join the Russia-led Customs Union (even though it
is already a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization
– CSTO).
If the main problem of Armenia’s security is the arms race in the
region, then Armenia’s security partners should be, in theory, the
countries and the alliances that contain this arms race. Meanwhile,
every day brings new information on military contracts between Russia
and Azerbaijan. In August, Azeri President Ilham Aliyev revealed that
the sum of these contacts has reached $4 billion.
With the beginning of the military conflict in the region in 1988
the United States adopted Section 907 to the Freedom Support Act,
banning the sale of arms to Azerbaijan. For 25 years now Baku has
failed to achieve the repealing of this section: its effect is only
partially suspended, and the weapons sold to Azerbaijan can only be
used for the protection of the Caspian Sea.
Meanwhile, Armenia continues to be in one and the same
military-political bloc with Russia, while its cooperation with NATO
is limited to Individual Partnership. Though, Armenian armed forces
have limited participation in peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan
and Kosovo and Yerevan plans to continue promoting peacekeeping in
Afghanistan beyond 2014. However, Yerevan on every occasion declares
that it has no long-term goal of joining NATO. Though, while receiving
the NATO official in Yerevan, President Sargsyan said that close
cooperation with the Alliance significantly helps Armenia to improve
its system of defense and security.
It is noteworthy that the forums related to security take place
in Armenia in the period when there is a public discourse on the
likelihood of CSTO peacekeepers entering Karabakh and the transition
of Karabakh to the “zone of influence” of Russia. At the meeting
with Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian NATO’s Appathurai
confirmed the Alliance’s support for efforts being made by the OSCE
Minsk Group to resolve the problem.
Meanwhile, Iranian Ambassador to Armenia Mohammad Reis wished to meet
with Armenia’s National Security Council Secretary Artur Baghdasaryan
the same day. Analysts believe that Iran is concerned about the rumored
intention to change the status quo in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and
the possible stationing of foreign troops there. The Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic borders on Iran and Tehran will have to reckon with any
foreign troops in Nagorno-Karabakh.
EPISTOLARY STYLE AS A TRIAL BALLOON
by Ashot Safaryan
Friday, October 18, 02:06
With the passions over Armenia’s decision to join the Customs Union
still being high, a new thing has happened in the country to cause a
new wave of anti-Russian hysteria (sometime quote reckless): publicist
and one of the ideologists of the Karabakh Movement Zoriy Balayan
wrote a 17-page letter to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, where
he told the history of Nagorno-Karabakh starting from the Treaty of
Gulistan of 1813 and gave facts disproving Azerbaijan’s claims to that
region. In the end, Balayan invited Putin to visit Nagorno-Karabakh
so as to see that what he said was true and that the decisions passed
by the Soviet authorities in 1921 were illegal.
The letter was followed by flood of charges in the press and the
Internet. People were accusing Balayan of treason, Russophilia,
intention to cede Nagorno-Karabakh to Russia. Deputy Chairman
of Heritage Party Armen Martirosyan believes that the letter was
the order of the ruling regime, otherwise, the RPA would have also
condemned Balayan for his collaborationism.
Balayan parried by asking the accusers to show any line in his letter
saying that he wants to cede Nagorno-Karabakh.
The logical question here is – Who was this whole fuss for?
Political scientist Sergey Shakaryants sees no sense in accusing
Balayan. “He just wanted to draw the attention of his Russian
colleagues, who are planning to mark the 200thanniversary of the Treaty
of Gulistan without him. Besides, epistolary style is not by far the
best way to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh problem,” Shakaryants said.
Some people from the ruling Republican Party also tried to defend
Balayan. The party’s Spokesman Eduard Sharmazanov said that Balayan’s
letter presented the firm historical foundations of the struggle
for Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence. “In his letter he proved that
historical Artsakh is much bigger than the territory of the former
Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous District,” Sharmazanov said.
All this has shown that there are lots of political forces, mass
media and public figures in Armenia who defy the regime’s curtseys
to Russia. And the decision to join the Customs Union was a kind of
last drop for them.
Paradoxical as this may sound, the growing negation of Russia in
Armenia comes mostly from the situational, mostly senseless and not
always politically pragmatic behavior of the Armenian authorities,
who are ready to do anything just to show their love and loyalty to
the Kremlin and to thereby earn own welfare and reproduction.
Just remember the words of Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, who said
some two years ago that unless allowed to emigrate (mostly to Russia),
protesters might cause a revolution in Armenia. He later said it was
some kind of English humor.
Whatever the case, if we also take into account the multimillion
transfers sent by Armenians from Russia, as well as the exchange
fluctuations that line the pockets of oligarch-monopolists and their
patrons (government officials), we will see that Russia is really
a strategic partner, but it is a partner of the incumbent power and
maintains the latter’s strength. As a result, all the arrows of the
angry “patriots” are directed against Moscow and their rageful articles
and publications disclose the “imperial moves” of the Russian bear.
Such a situation plays into the hands of the authorities. If there
is a vengeful crowd of “patriots” with anti-Russian sentiments, it is
somewhat easier for the power to negotiate with Moscow and strengthen
its own positions. The logic of the authorities is ” we want to be
friends with Russia, but our society objects to our friendship, and it
is only our devotion that helps maintain these relations”. It should
be noted that once David Hakobyan, the chief Marxist of Armenia,
said that President Serzh Sargsyan complained how hard it was to
hold a dialogue with Vladimir Putin himself. Apparently, to make
the dialogue easier, a “projectile is lobbed” into the society: the
Armenian President congratulates the re-elected mayor of Moscow and
the well-known publicist writes “letters to the Russian czar”. Both
go beyond the international protocol.
Some experts think that the authorities have given Balayan a carte
blanche to launch “separate talks” with Moscow in the epistolary
style. Nevertheless, Balayan has said nothing new. The Armenian
newspapers of the early 1990s contain an immense number of serious,
scientifically grounded publications about the origins of the Artsakh
problem and the danger of dissemination of pan-Turkism ideas, first
of all, for Russia itself.
Balayan’s letter to Putin might be aimed at solving two problems. On
the one hand, it demonstrates Armenia’s loyalty and devotion
to Russia; on the other hand, it introduces some tension in the
Armenian-Russian relations as a trial balloon, which has turned out
to be very successful, since only the laziest political force in
Armenia would fail to play the ball into the political rivals’ pocket.