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TER-PETROSIAN RAGES AT 'KARABAKH CLAN'
By Emil Danielyan
Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
Feb 4 2008
Former President Levon Ter-Petrosian kept harsh anti-government
rhetoric at the heart of his election campaign Sunday, accusing
Armenia's leadership of pocketing billions of dollars in public funds
and depopulating Nagorno-Karabakh to cling to power.
Campaigning in the eastern Gegharkunik region, Ter-Petrosian also
insisted on his allegations that outgoing President Robert Kocharian
and Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian were "responsible" for the 1999
terrorist attack on the Armenian parliament. He implied that he will
prosecute the two men on relevant charges if he wins the February 19
presidential election.
"They deserve not the throne of president of the Republic of Armenia
but the defendant's bench," Ter-Petrosian told a campaign rally in
the town of Sevan. "And let them not doubt that they are already
assured of that bench."
"Over the past ten years these authorities led by Robert Kocharian and
Serzh Sarkisian have plundered, pocketed and stolen from you more than
half of Armenia's national wealth," he charged. "They need another
ten years to pocket the rest of it and to pawn Armenia in the Monte
Carlo casino."
Ter-Petrosian specifically alleged that in the past six years that
the ruling "gang" has smuggled 3 million metric tons of petrol and
illegally avoided paying at least $1 billion in taxes. The figures are
apparently based on official statistics showing that fuel imports to
Armenia, effectively monopolized by a handful of government-connected
tycoons, have shrunk dramatically over the past decade despite a
sharp increase in the number of cars.
The authorities attribute the drop to the fact that a significant
proportion of vehicles owned by Armenians now run on liquefied gas.
Opposition politicians and economists critical of the government
dismiss this explanation, saying that the real volume of fuel imports
should be at least the same as it was in 1997.
Ter-Petrosian's statements highlighted an intensifying war of words
between Armenia's current and former leaders which is becoming the
defining feature of the presidential race. Sarkisian renewed his
verbal attacks on Ter-Petrosian as he held more government-organized
campaign rallies in Yerevan on Saturday.
"A tired leader can not deal with the people's problems," Sarkisian
told thousands of people in the city's Zeytun district. "A tired
person won't bother to deal with state affairs. He is only capable
of trying to retain power by doing intrigues, turning people against
each other, dividing the nation."
Kocharian, for his part, again went on national television Friday
to condemn his predecessor's perceived pro-Azerbaijani stance on
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He said Ter-Petrosian's conciliatory
statements on the issue will make Azerbaijan more intransigent in
the ongoing peace talks.
Ter-Petrosian countered that Armenia's two Karabakh-born leaders have
themselves put continued Armenian control over the territory at risk by
resettling thousands of their relatives and other Karabakh Armenians in
Yerevan. "Because of these two persons, 15,000 people have moved from
Karabakh to Armenia, mainly Yerevan, in the past ten years. Each of
them has been given a position," he claimed at a rally in Tsovagyugh,
a big village on the western coast of Lake Sevan. "As if that wasn't
enough, now the business sphere is also being given to them."
The former Armenian leader cited the example of Aleksandr "Sashik"
Sarkisian, the prime minister's controversial brother who is thought
to have made a big fortune in recent years. Reports in the Armenian
press have said that the former bus driver has spent millions of
dollars buying real estate in Europe and the United States.
"There were about 5,000 PAZ (a Soviet-made bus) drivers in Armenia,"
Ter-Petrosian told some 200 Tsovagyugh residents attending the rally.
"Somehow one PAZ driver from Abovian became one of Armenia's richest
men in a matter of two or three years and was able to make 30,
40 or 50 million dollars worth of investments in the US economy,
in Los Angeles. He must be worth ten times that sum in order to be
able to make such investments."
"With 30 million dollars he could have rebuilt 30-40 villages in
Karabakh," he said. "If those people care about Karabakh, why are
they investing money, illegally earned in Armenia, in America but
not in Karabakh?"
Ter-Petrosian, who himself had appointed Sarkisian and Kocharian
to top government positions in Yerevan in the 1990s, blasted the
"Karabakh clan" in Sevan as well later in the day. "They are the most
reliable power base of these authorities," he claimed, referring
to government-linked Karabakh Armenians. "In the event of Serzh
Sarkisian's victory, the Karabakh clan will grow bigger."
The remarks may well strike a chord with those Armenians who feel
that natives of Karabakh have gained disproportionate political and
economic influence in Yerevan under Kocharian. Sarkisian sought to
dispel this belief during campaign rallies in Yerevan last week,
repeatedly assuring voters that he and Kocharian have never given
privileged treatment to fellow Karabakh Armenians. Sarkisian argued
that none of his ministers was born in Karabakh.
While warning that a handover of power from Kocharian to Sarkisian
"would mean the end of Armenia," Ter-Petrosian claimed that the
two men are loathed by voters and can not win the election without
falsifying its results. "I have already toured many regions and had
dozens of such big and small meetings," he said in Tsovagyugh. "As we
criticized Serzh Sarkisian or Robert Kocharian during those meetings,
I didn't see a single face which didn't enjoy that criticism or a
face which expressed discontent."
"Serzh won't get any votes here," one middle-aged local resident
present at the rally told RFE/RL. "What Levon just said is true."
Another, younger villager, who identified himself as Arsen, said
he will vote for Ter-Petrosian because "he is the right man for the
job." "He is right to say that we were at war at the time and those
years of cold and darkness were inevitable," he said, referring
to severe hardship that marked the first years of Ter-Petrosian's
presidency.
"It will probably take a Levon Ter-Petrosian comeback for things to
get better," said an elderly man in Lichashen, a big village near
Sevan also visited by the ex-president.
But one young man, who also listened to Ter-Petrosian's speech was
more skeptical, even if he said he will likely vote for the opposition
candidate. "All candidates promise a bright future, but little changes
after elections," he said.
Addressing Lichashen residents, Ter-Petrosian reaffirmed his campaign
pledge to help double Armenia's GDP and triple its state budget within
five years, if elected president. In another pledge which will hardly
please Western lending institutions, he committed himself to putting
in place an ambitious scheme to compensate hundreds of thousands of
Armenians who had effectively lost their lifetime bank savings in
the hyperinflation of the early 1990s. He said the government should
assume an internal debt of at least $3 billion, or more than Armenia's
entire state budget for this year, in order to gradually compensate
those citizens.
The loss of Soviet-era savings was one of the most painful
consequences of the country's transition to the free market. It hit
particularly hard elderly Armenians who were left to live on meager
state pensions. Many of them still blame the ex-president for their
rapid impoverishment.
"It was a good speech, I liked it," one such pensioner residing in
Sevan told RFE/RL after attending the Ter-Petrosian rally there. "But
he gave the same promises back in 1990 but cut old people's bank
savings and electricity. I don't want more of the same." He said he
still does not know who he will vote for on February 19.
By Emil Danielyan
Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
Feb 4 2008
Former President Levon Ter-Petrosian kept harsh anti-government
rhetoric at the heart of his election campaign Sunday, accusing
Armenia's leadership of pocketing billions of dollars in public funds
and depopulating Nagorno-Karabakh to cling to power.
Campaigning in the eastern Gegharkunik region, Ter-Petrosian also
insisted on his allegations that outgoing President Robert Kocharian
and Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian were "responsible" for the 1999
terrorist attack on the Armenian parliament. He implied that he will
prosecute the two men on relevant charges if he wins the February 19
presidential election.
"They deserve not the throne of president of the Republic of Armenia
but the defendant's bench," Ter-Petrosian told a campaign rally in
the town of Sevan. "And let them not doubt that they are already
assured of that bench."
"Over the past ten years these authorities led by Robert Kocharian and
Serzh Sarkisian have plundered, pocketed and stolen from you more than
half of Armenia's national wealth," he charged. "They need another
ten years to pocket the rest of it and to pawn Armenia in the Monte
Carlo casino."
Ter-Petrosian specifically alleged that in the past six years that
the ruling "gang" has smuggled 3 million metric tons of petrol and
illegally avoided paying at least $1 billion in taxes. The figures are
apparently based on official statistics showing that fuel imports to
Armenia, effectively monopolized by a handful of government-connected
tycoons, have shrunk dramatically over the past decade despite a
sharp increase in the number of cars.
The authorities attribute the drop to the fact that a significant
proportion of vehicles owned by Armenians now run on liquefied gas.
Opposition politicians and economists critical of the government
dismiss this explanation, saying that the real volume of fuel imports
should be at least the same as it was in 1997.
Ter-Petrosian's statements highlighted an intensifying war of words
between Armenia's current and former leaders which is becoming the
defining feature of the presidential race. Sarkisian renewed his
verbal attacks on Ter-Petrosian as he held more government-organized
campaign rallies in Yerevan on Saturday.
"A tired leader can not deal with the people's problems," Sarkisian
told thousands of people in the city's Zeytun district. "A tired
person won't bother to deal with state affairs. He is only capable
of trying to retain power by doing intrigues, turning people against
each other, dividing the nation."
Kocharian, for his part, again went on national television Friday
to condemn his predecessor's perceived pro-Azerbaijani stance on
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He said Ter-Petrosian's conciliatory
statements on the issue will make Azerbaijan more intransigent in
the ongoing peace talks.
Ter-Petrosian countered that Armenia's two Karabakh-born leaders have
themselves put continued Armenian control over the territory at risk by
resettling thousands of their relatives and other Karabakh Armenians in
Yerevan. "Because of these two persons, 15,000 people have moved from
Karabakh to Armenia, mainly Yerevan, in the past ten years. Each of
them has been given a position," he claimed at a rally in Tsovagyugh,
a big village on the western coast of Lake Sevan. "As if that wasn't
enough, now the business sphere is also being given to them."
The former Armenian leader cited the example of Aleksandr "Sashik"
Sarkisian, the prime minister's controversial brother who is thought
to have made a big fortune in recent years. Reports in the Armenian
press have said that the former bus driver has spent millions of
dollars buying real estate in Europe and the United States.
"There were about 5,000 PAZ (a Soviet-made bus) drivers in Armenia,"
Ter-Petrosian told some 200 Tsovagyugh residents attending the rally.
"Somehow one PAZ driver from Abovian became one of Armenia's richest
men in a matter of two or three years and was able to make 30,
40 or 50 million dollars worth of investments in the US economy,
in Los Angeles. He must be worth ten times that sum in order to be
able to make such investments."
"With 30 million dollars he could have rebuilt 30-40 villages in
Karabakh," he said. "If those people care about Karabakh, why are
they investing money, illegally earned in Armenia, in America but
not in Karabakh?"
Ter-Petrosian, who himself had appointed Sarkisian and Kocharian
to top government positions in Yerevan in the 1990s, blasted the
"Karabakh clan" in Sevan as well later in the day. "They are the most
reliable power base of these authorities," he claimed, referring
to government-linked Karabakh Armenians. "In the event of Serzh
Sarkisian's victory, the Karabakh clan will grow bigger."
The remarks may well strike a chord with those Armenians who feel
that natives of Karabakh have gained disproportionate political and
economic influence in Yerevan under Kocharian. Sarkisian sought to
dispel this belief during campaign rallies in Yerevan last week,
repeatedly assuring voters that he and Kocharian have never given
privileged treatment to fellow Karabakh Armenians. Sarkisian argued
that none of his ministers was born in Karabakh.
While warning that a handover of power from Kocharian to Sarkisian
"would mean the end of Armenia," Ter-Petrosian claimed that the
two men are loathed by voters and can not win the election without
falsifying its results. "I have already toured many regions and had
dozens of such big and small meetings," he said in Tsovagyugh. "As we
criticized Serzh Sarkisian or Robert Kocharian during those meetings,
I didn't see a single face which didn't enjoy that criticism or a
face which expressed discontent."
"Serzh won't get any votes here," one middle-aged local resident
present at the rally told RFE/RL. "What Levon just said is true."
Another, younger villager, who identified himself as Arsen, said
he will vote for Ter-Petrosian because "he is the right man for the
job." "He is right to say that we were at war at the time and those
years of cold and darkness were inevitable," he said, referring
to severe hardship that marked the first years of Ter-Petrosian's
presidency.
"It will probably take a Levon Ter-Petrosian comeback for things to
get better," said an elderly man in Lichashen, a big village near
Sevan also visited by the ex-president.
But one young man, who also listened to Ter-Petrosian's speech was
more skeptical, even if he said he will likely vote for the opposition
candidate. "All candidates promise a bright future, but little changes
after elections," he said.
Addressing Lichashen residents, Ter-Petrosian reaffirmed his campaign
pledge to help double Armenia's GDP and triple its state budget within
five years, if elected president. In another pledge which will hardly
please Western lending institutions, he committed himself to putting
in place an ambitious scheme to compensate hundreds of thousands of
Armenians who had effectively lost their lifetime bank savings in
the hyperinflation of the early 1990s. He said the government should
assume an internal debt of at least $3 billion, or more than Armenia's
entire state budget for this year, in order to gradually compensate
those citizens.
The loss of Soviet-era savings was one of the most painful
consequences of the country's transition to the free market. It hit
particularly hard elderly Armenians who were left to live on meager
state pensions. Many of them still blame the ex-president for their
rapid impoverishment.
"It was a good speech, I liked it," one such pensioner residing in
Sevan told RFE/RL after attending the Ter-Petrosian rally there. "But
he gave the same promises back in 1990 but cut old people's bank
savings and electricity. I don't want more of the same." He said he
still does not know who he will vote for on February 19.