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ARMENIA: TOP CHALLENGE NOW IS REPAIRING THE RIFT
EurasiaNet
March 3 2008
NY
During a memorial service for victims of the March 1 events, Karekin
II, the spiritual leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church, touched
upon the dilemma that now confronts Armenia: Stability in the country
may come at the cost of much-needed unity.
"There is no greater goal in our national life than the solidarity
of our people, the tranquility of their lives, the stability of our
country and the security of our homeland," the official Armenpress
news agency quoted Karekin II as saying March 2. "It pains us that
we were unable to successfully transmit this awareness to our people,
and to restrain them from unwise actions."
Karekin II did not specifically assign blame for the March 1 events in
Yerevan, in which efforts by security troops to disperse opposition
protesters escalated into an armed clash that left at least eight
dead. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
Experts outside of Armenia, where state of emergency regulations
are limiting the flow of information, believe that President Robert
Kocharian's administration and opposition backers of presidential
candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian share responsibility for letting what
was, at its core, a political squabble get out of hand. The permanent
rally in central Yerevan that sparked the tragic chain of events
was convened to protest vote-rigging in the February 19 presidential
election. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
The challenge facing the country's political establishment now is
trying to repair the damage done to national cohesion. A unified
sense of purpose in the post-Soviet era has enabled Armenia to
withstand adverse geopolitical conditions, namely the presence of
two antagonistic states on its borders, Turkey and Azerbaijan. The
strong sense of cohesion has also helped Armenia deal with the economic
isolation arising out of its tense relations with its neighbors. [For
background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
The extent to which Armenia's social unity has been damaged by the
March 1 events cannot yet be fully determined. But initial indicators
suggest that the gulf that opened on March 1 cannot be quickly bridged.
Recognizing the potential danger of prolonged domestic instability
in Armenia, European and American diplomats have quickly descended
upon Yerevan, all of them repeating essentially the same message:
political dialogue is needed to bring about a return of lasting
domestic stability. Armenian authorities, however, seem more interested
in punishing their political adversaries than in reconciling with
them. While administration officials voice a desire for political
talks, their actions indicate that they are in no mood for a
compromise. Ter-Petrosian, meanwhile, is similarly in no mood for
cooperation.
Following talks with the European Union's South Caucasus envoy Peter
Semneby, Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian, the officially declared
winner of the February 19 presidential vote, said the administration
was prepared for an "open, straightforward and honest discussion."
According to a report by the Russian Itar-Tass news agency, Sarkisian
added that authorities were "ready to cooperate with all those who
want Armenia to develop."
It would seem, however, that the Kocharian-Sarkisian team does
not believe Ter-Petrosian and his supporters meet the criteria for
dialogue. During discussions with the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe's diplomatic troubleshooter, Heikki Talvitie,
President Kocharian denied that the March 1 events had any connection
to politics, but instead was a purely criminal matter. He thus
indicated that he did not feel a need to discuss ways to overcome
the March 1 tragedy with Ter-Petrosian.
"Legal issues must be solved within the legal framework, and all
masterminds of the unrest and unlawful actions will be called to
account," Kocharian told Talvitie, according to a report distributed
by Armenpress.
To reinforce Kocharian's apparent determination to deflect any
blame over his administration's handling of events, as of March 4
police had arrested at least 30 opposition activists on charges of
inciting the violence, the Prosecutor-General's office announced in
a statement. In addition, Armenpress reported, parliament, acting
on a request issued by the prosecutor-general, moved to strip four
MPs of their legislative immunity. The MPs - Hakob Hakobian, Myasnik
Malkhasian, Sasoon Mikaelian and Khachatur Sukiasian - are all accused
of helping to stoke the March 1 violence.
Prosecutor General Agvan Ovsepian alleged at a March 4 news conference
that Ter-Petrosian and his supporters conspired to overthrow the
government by force. "In their speeches, the protest organizers said
one thing, but internally, they gave different instructions: to have
clubs, iron sticks, firearms," Ovsepian alleged.
Opposition activists and witnesses assert that authorities initially
tried to plant evidence, especially weapons, on protesters, in order to
justify the initial, pre-dawn attempt to disperse the permanent rally
in central Yerevan. In addition, witnesses reported, before the March
1 restrictions on the dissemination of information went into effect,
that security forces opened fire on opposition protesters.
Ter-Petrosian, like his political opponents, shows little interest in
listening to the international drumbeat for dialogue. He has insisted
that, as soon as state-of-emergency limitations are lifted, he will
organize fresh protests against the administration's actions and the
election results. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
"Even if Serzh Sarkisian miraculously becomes president, I can't
imagine how that president will rule these people," Ter-Petrosian
said March 2. "We will come out. Let them beat us again. Let them
arrest us again."
Given the mutual animosity between administration and opposition,
Talvitie, the OSCE diplomat, could only lament that substantive
discussions between "Ter-Petrosian and the government at the moment
is not possible."
"But let's not exclude it from the future," Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty quoted an optimistic Talvitie as saying.
While many US and European leaders have been cautious in their
assessment of Armenian developments, Terry Davis, the secretary
general of the Council of Europe, has offered pointed criticism
of the Kocharian administration's tactics. "I hope that the state
of emergency will be lifted very soon," Davis said in a March
3 statement. "Meanwhile, I call on the authorities to review
the justification for the restrictions imposed - especially on
media, political parties and non-governmental organizations. These
restrictions are an obstacle to political dialogue, which is the only
way to find a political solution to the present situation."
EurasiaNet
March 3 2008
NY
During a memorial service for victims of the March 1 events, Karekin
II, the spiritual leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church, touched
upon the dilemma that now confronts Armenia: Stability in the country
may come at the cost of much-needed unity.
"There is no greater goal in our national life than the solidarity
of our people, the tranquility of their lives, the stability of our
country and the security of our homeland," the official Armenpress
news agency quoted Karekin II as saying March 2. "It pains us that
we were unable to successfully transmit this awareness to our people,
and to restrain them from unwise actions."
Karekin II did not specifically assign blame for the March 1 events in
Yerevan, in which efforts by security troops to disperse opposition
protesters escalated into an armed clash that left at least eight
dead. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
Experts outside of Armenia, where state of emergency regulations
are limiting the flow of information, believe that President Robert
Kocharian's administration and opposition backers of presidential
candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian share responsibility for letting what
was, at its core, a political squabble get out of hand. The permanent
rally in central Yerevan that sparked the tragic chain of events
was convened to protest vote-rigging in the February 19 presidential
election. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
The challenge facing the country's political establishment now is
trying to repair the damage done to national cohesion. A unified
sense of purpose in the post-Soviet era has enabled Armenia to
withstand adverse geopolitical conditions, namely the presence of
two antagonistic states on its borders, Turkey and Azerbaijan. The
strong sense of cohesion has also helped Armenia deal with the economic
isolation arising out of its tense relations with its neighbors. [For
background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
The extent to which Armenia's social unity has been damaged by the
March 1 events cannot yet be fully determined. But initial indicators
suggest that the gulf that opened on March 1 cannot be quickly bridged.
Recognizing the potential danger of prolonged domestic instability
in Armenia, European and American diplomats have quickly descended
upon Yerevan, all of them repeating essentially the same message:
political dialogue is needed to bring about a return of lasting
domestic stability. Armenian authorities, however, seem more interested
in punishing their political adversaries than in reconciling with
them. While administration officials voice a desire for political
talks, their actions indicate that they are in no mood for a
compromise. Ter-Petrosian, meanwhile, is similarly in no mood for
cooperation.
Following talks with the European Union's South Caucasus envoy Peter
Semneby, Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian, the officially declared
winner of the February 19 presidential vote, said the administration
was prepared for an "open, straightforward and honest discussion."
According to a report by the Russian Itar-Tass news agency, Sarkisian
added that authorities were "ready to cooperate with all those who
want Armenia to develop."
It would seem, however, that the Kocharian-Sarkisian team does
not believe Ter-Petrosian and his supporters meet the criteria for
dialogue. During discussions with the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe's diplomatic troubleshooter, Heikki Talvitie,
President Kocharian denied that the March 1 events had any connection
to politics, but instead was a purely criminal matter. He thus
indicated that he did not feel a need to discuss ways to overcome
the March 1 tragedy with Ter-Petrosian.
"Legal issues must be solved within the legal framework, and all
masterminds of the unrest and unlawful actions will be called to
account," Kocharian told Talvitie, according to a report distributed
by Armenpress.
To reinforce Kocharian's apparent determination to deflect any
blame over his administration's handling of events, as of March 4
police had arrested at least 30 opposition activists on charges of
inciting the violence, the Prosecutor-General's office announced in
a statement. In addition, Armenpress reported, parliament, acting
on a request issued by the prosecutor-general, moved to strip four
MPs of their legislative immunity. The MPs - Hakob Hakobian, Myasnik
Malkhasian, Sasoon Mikaelian and Khachatur Sukiasian - are all accused
of helping to stoke the March 1 violence.
Prosecutor General Agvan Ovsepian alleged at a March 4 news conference
that Ter-Petrosian and his supporters conspired to overthrow the
government by force. "In their speeches, the protest organizers said
one thing, but internally, they gave different instructions: to have
clubs, iron sticks, firearms," Ovsepian alleged.
Opposition activists and witnesses assert that authorities initially
tried to plant evidence, especially weapons, on protesters, in order to
justify the initial, pre-dawn attempt to disperse the permanent rally
in central Yerevan. In addition, witnesses reported, before the March
1 restrictions on the dissemination of information went into effect,
that security forces opened fire on opposition protesters.
Ter-Petrosian, like his political opponents, shows little interest in
listening to the international drumbeat for dialogue. He has insisted
that, as soon as state-of-emergency limitations are lifted, he will
organize fresh protests against the administration's actions and the
election results. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
"Even if Serzh Sarkisian miraculously becomes president, I can't
imagine how that president will rule these people," Ter-Petrosian
said March 2. "We will come out. Let them beat us again. Let them
arrest us again."
Given the mutual animosity between administration and opposition,
Talvitie, the OSCE diplomat, could only lament that substantive
discussions between "Ter-Petrosian and the government at the moment
is not possible."
"But let's not exclude it from the future," Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty quoted an optimistic Talvitie as saying.
While many US and European leaders have been cautious in their
assessment of Armenian developments, Terry Davis, the secretary
general of the Council of Europe, has offered pointed criticism
of the Kocharian administration's tactics. "I hope that the state
of emergency will be lifted very soon," Davis said in a March
3 statement. "Meanwhile, I call on the authorities to review
the justification for the restrictions imposed - especially on
media, political parties and non-governmental organizations. These
restrictions are an obstacle to political dialogue, which is the only
way to find a political solution to the present situation."