Published since 07.2002
Published on July 11, 2008
SELF-WILLED SUCCESSOR?: EX-LEADER HIGHLIGHTS DIFFERENCES WITH SARGSYAN OVER LTP, “FOOTBALL DIPLOMACY”
- Armenia’s retired president this week has indicated disagreement with his successor over at least two issues in a move clearly aimed at disproving the lingering claims of some opposition critics that he has continued to “govern the country” even after resigning from office in April. In an interview with Mediamax News Agency Wednesday Robert Kocharyan described such assertions as “absolute nonsense” and said: “If that was the case, [former president and opposition leader Levon] Ter-Petrosyan would most probably be in prison now for his criminal activities.” He added that “thereby I would redress the mistake I made in 1998.” Kocharyan, who imposed a 20-day state of emergency after the March 1 disturbances to end the snowballing protests of the Ter-Petrosyan-led opposition against Serzh Sargsyan’s officially declared win in the February presidential vote, also revealed a different approach to some aspects of relations with neighboring Turkey. The former head of state, in particular, said that if he continued “to pull the government strings” as claimed by the opposition, “the president of Turkey surely would not have been invited to Yerevan…” Kocharyan’s comments came in response to Sargsyan’s formal invitation of his Turkish counterpart to visit Yerevan in September to “enjoy together” a World Cup qualifier between the two countries’ football teams. Sargsyan repeated his invitation to Abdullah Gul in his July 9 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal in which he also proposed a “fresh start” in Armenian-Turkish relations. Armenia’s incumbent leader has thus delivered on his election promise to seek normalized relations with the western neighbor, with which Armenia has no diplomatic relations. “…We will be willing to establish diplomatic relations and have open borders with Turkey, considering that it will not be based on the necessity of giving up the Armenian Genocide recognition, nor other preconditions, including those connected with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” Sargsyan wrote in his election manifesto in January. “As president of Armenia, I take this opportunity to propose a fresh start – a new phase of dialogue with the government and people of Turkey, with the goal of normalizing relations and opening our common border,” Sargsyan wrote in the world’s leading publication six months later. “Just as the people of China and the United States shared enthusiasm for ping pong before their governments fully normalized relations, the people of Armenia and Turkey are united in their love for football,” Sargsyan explained, adding that by watching the September 6 football match together President Gul and he will “announce a new symbolic start in our relations.” “Whatever our differences, there are certain cultural, humanitarian and sports links that our peoples share, even with a closed border. This is why I sincerely believe that the ordinary people of Armenia and Turkey will welcome such a gesture and will cheer the day that our borders open.” Armenia’s leading specialist in Turkish studies Ruben Safrastyan describes Sargsyan’s step as “quite courageous”. “Any initiative aimed at settling Armenian-Turkish relations contains risks and even the invitation to a football match is not an exception,” Safrastyan, who heads the Institute of Oriental Studies of Armenia’s National Academy of Sciences, told ArmeniaNow. According to Safrastyan, the invitation to the Turkish president to Yerevan is an attempt to overcome the crisis in Armenian-Turkish relations. He thinks that there is a good chance that Abdullah Gul will accept Sargsyan’s invitation. “If the Turkish president accepts the invitation, it will be a good start to a certain stabilization of relations between the two countries,” the expert added. Radical opposition politician and political analyst Suren Surenyants also positively evaluates Sargsyan’s move, but says he has reservations as to the sincerity of the initiative. “I have always pronounced in favor of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations and if Gul arrives in Yerevan, it will mean that things will start moving,” Surenyants told ArmeniaNow. “However, I think that with this step Sargsyan first of all wants to show to the [Armenian] public and the world that he has gotten rid of the old system.”
- Marianna Grigoryan
Headlines for July 11, 2008
WEEKEND TRIP: GOVERNMENT MEMBERS VISIT KARABAKH TO STUDY SITUATION ON THE GROUND
Naira Hayrumyan
A delegation of Armenian government members led by Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan was in Nagorno-Karabakh last weekend to hold meetings with their local counterparts and discuss further cooperation. ...REQUEST FOR SECURITY: OMBUDSMAN INVOKES LAW TO APPLY FOR STATE PROTECTION
Marianna Grigoryan
Armenia’s Ombudsman Armen Harutyunyan, who became a target of scathing criticism after his late-April ad hoc report on the post-election violence, recently made a formal request to National Security Service ...FRESH START?: SARGSYAN MAKES MORE OVERTURES TO TURKEY RISKING DOMESTIC BACKLASH
Marianna Grigoryan 1
President Serzh Sargsyan risked renewed criticism from hardliners at home as he proposed a “fresh start” in Armenian-Turkish relations Wednesday. In an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal (“We ...REEL SUCCESS: GOLDEN APRICOT GROWS TO FIFTH YEAR FOR FILM FANS
Gayane Abrahamyan
Passionate political activities will be replaced with hot cultural events in Yerevan between July 13 and 20. The cinema screening and discussion week of the Golden Apricot International Film Festival ...KARABAKH REFUGEES: 20 YEARS LATER THE PROBLEM STILL UNRESOLVED
Naira Hayrumyan
Twenty years after their deportation from Azerbaijan, Karabakh refugees say that their issues remain open, the solution to problems lying in the political field. Armenian refugees and those who have ...TOURISM 2008: AS PRICES GROW, BETTER SERVICE A NECESSITY FOR ESTABLISHING SUCCESSFUL INDUSTRY
Arpi Harutyunyan 1
The numbers of Armenians choosing the Georgian Black Sea coast of Kobuleti, Ureki and Batumi as holiday locations for the past few years continues to have an effect on Armenian tourism. The number of ...BUMPER TO BUMPER: YEREVAN STREET TRAFFIC INCREASES BY 9-10,000 ANNUALLY
Sara Khojoyan
If the current rate of growth of automobile imports continues, soon moving in downtown Yerevan will become a challenge and finding a parking place will amount to a feat. More than 80,000 motorcars were ...HERITAGE PRESERVATION: BUILDING OF ARCHITECTURAL VALUES ARE DOCUMENTED IN GYUMRI
Ani Hakobyan
The international club of architects and volunteers from the US-based environmental charity institute are going to document the exceptional architectural value of residential houses in the historic district ...GONE WITH THE RAIN: ARMENIAN VILLAGE OF POMEGRANATES SUFFERS DAMAGE FROM RAINS
Armine Avagyan
The unprecedented heavy rains of June caused damage reaching millions of drams to Nrnadzor community, the remotest borderline village of Syunik province and the village made popular because of its pomegranates. ...HERO REMEMBERED: NON-MILITARY PARTICIPANT OF KARABAKH WAR GETS AWARD
Naira Bulghadaryan
Fifteen years after the liberation of Mardakert, a doctor from Vanadzor was honored with the Medal of Gratitude by the authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh for the help provided to the people of Artsakh during ...LOOKING TO AUTUMN: OPPOSITION HAS FAVORABLE CONDITIONS FOR STAGING UPRISING
Three months after leaving office, Armenia’s second president continues to remain a major target for his predecessor’s criticism. In his three speeches since May (when he first delivered a public speech ...SPORT: ‘HERO’ HRAZDAN TO WELCOME NATIONAL TEAM AGAIN
Suren MusayelyanFootball The Football Federation of Armenia has confirmed that the U-21 2009 European Championship qualifier between Armenia and Turkey in Yerevan will be held in Hrazdan Stadium, the city’s largest ...SEATED TO TAKE A STAND: OPPOSITION SAYS IT WILL CONTINUE SIT-IN TILL AUGUST 1
Gayane Mkrtchyan 3
Armenia’s political opposition is continuing a sit-in launched last Friday on Northern Avenue – the scene of daily political strolls of the opposition. The ‘strolls’ in Northern Avenue began after the ...SELF-WILLED SUCCESSOR?: EX-LEADER HIGHLIGHTS DIFFERENCES WITH SARGSYAN OVER LTP, “FOOTBALL DIPLOMACY”
Marianna GrigoryanArmenia’s retired president this week has indicated disagreement with his successor over at least two issues in a move clearly aimed at disproving the lingering claims of some opposition critics that ...
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Today in Armenian history- 1706 First publication of the "Harsmavoork" periodical in Grigor Marzovantsi's publishing house (Constantinople).
- 1886 Birth of Missak Metsarents (poet). He died in 1908.
- 1904 The Mossoon and Zor battles took place under the leadership of Gayl Vahan and Mihran.
- 1905 After the defeat of Russian forces in the Russo - Japanese War, the Tsar proclaimed an edict on the confiscation of the Etshmiadsin church estates.
- 1906 Death of Heinrich Geltser, German armenologist. He was born in 1847.
- 1906 Death of the German armenologist Heinrich Helzer. He was born in 1847.
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