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FAIRYTALE OR SERIOUS MESSAGE?: ARMENIAN POLITICAL CIRCLES ASSESS PRESIDENT SARGSYAN'S PACE SPEECH
Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow
23.06.11
Some opposition political circles in Armenia describe President Serzh
Sargsyan's Wednesday speech at the Council of Europe Parliamentary
Assembly (PACE) as a "beautiful fairy-tale that has little to do with
the country's reality." But the main opposition alliance has been in
no rush to provide its assessment.
Representatives of the ruling coalition parties have welcomed
Sargsyan's speech, in which the president addressed Armenia's
democratic processes and the country's stance on foreign affairs.
(Read the president's full speech here:
www.armenianow.com/news/30556/serzh_sargsyan).
They stress that it constituted a serious message to the international
community that Armenia is a state "moving along the path of democracy,
trying to overcome its internal difficulties and showing a constructive
approach in solving major external problems."
Meanwhile, for some parts and separate figures on the opposition
side of the political fence the speech seemed to be "about nothing,
unconvincing and of a declarative nature."
"A speech that seems smart, but says nothing and solves nothing,"
commented ex-prime minister Hrant Bagratyan, who currently is a key
member of the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC).
"On the other hand, such a speech became possible due to the ANC,
which, meeting the government half-way, so to say extending it a loan
at the expense of its own rating, is still awaiting a proper answer,"
the oppositionist told ArmeniaNow.
The ANC as a whole, however, still keeps silent and avoids any
assessments of Sargsyan's speech.
"We still do not want to say anything, nor do I want to explain the
reasons for refusing to comment," ANC coordinator Levon Zurabyan
told ArmeniaNow.
Meanwhile, Giro Manoyan, Director of the International Secretariat
of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Bureau in Yerevan, thinks
that the main emphases of the president's speech in Strasbourg were
adequate to the particular audience.
"The president's explanations regarding the Armenia-Turkey negotiations
were appropriate, but still it would have been more correct if the
president had taken advantage of the opportunity and stated that
in response to Turkey's improper attitude the Republic of Armenia
recalls its signature from the Armenia-Turkey protocols," Manoyan
told ArmeniaNow.
However, President Sargsyan's speech has angered some of the parents
of those who were killed in the 2008 post-election clashes.
In response to a question from the Strasbourg body's member as to
why three and a half years after the events, the investigation into
those deaths has not been finished yet, Sargsyan, in particular, said:
"The investigation has not been finished for the simple reason that
not all of those responsible have been found."
Sargis Kloyan, the father of 29-year-old Gor Kloyan who was killed
on March 1, 2008, told ArmeniaNow that the president's answer was an
"outrageous lie".
"Why did he go to the PACE and was making false statements from the
tribune there? If he doesn't know who is responsible, let him invite
me to his residence and I will name all - both those who killed and
those who ordered the killings. They know very well who the murderers
are," claimed Kloyan.
Investigators conducting the probe, meanwhile, have repeatedly
suggested that for the time being they lack clear evidence that would
lead to the identification of those responsible for the killings or
prove there had been clear orders to shoot.
Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow
23.06.11
Some opposition political circles in Armenia describe President Serzh
Sargsyan's Wednesday speech at the Council of Europe Parliamentary
Assembly (PACE) as a "beautiful fairy-tale that has little to do with
the country's reality." But the main opposition alliance has been in
no rush to provide its assessment.
Representatives of the ruling coalition parties have welcomed
Sargsyan's speech, in which the president addressed Armenia's
democratic processes and the country's stance on foreign affairs.
(Read the president's full speech here:
www.armenianow.com/news/30556/serzh_sargsyan).
They stress that it constituted a serious message to the international
community that Armenia is a state "moving along the path of democracy,
trying to overcome its internal difficulties and showing a constructive
approach in solving major external problems."
Meanwhile, for some parts and separate figures on the opposition
side of the political fence the speech seemed to be "about nothing,
unconvincing and of a declarative nature."
"A speech that seems smart, but says nothing and solves nothing,"
commented ex-prime minister Hrant Bagratyan, who currently is a key
member of the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC).
"On the other hand, such a speech became possible due to the ANC,
which, meeting the government half-way, so to say extending it a loan
at the expense of its own rating, is still awaiting a proper answer,"
the oppositionist told ArmeniaNow.
The ANC as a whole, however, still keeps silent and avoids any
assessments of Sargsyan's speech.
"We still do not want to say anything, nor do I want to explain the
reasons for refusing to comment," ANC coordinator Levon Zurabyan
told ArmeniaNow.
Meanwhile, Giro Manoyan, Director of the International Secretariat
of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Bureau in Yerevan, thinks
that the main emphases of the president's speech in Strasbourg were
adequate to the particular audience.
"The president's explanations regarding the Armenia-Turkey negotiations
were appropriate, but still it would have been more correct if the
president had taken advantage of the opportunity and stated that
in response to Turkey's improper attitude the Republic of Armenia
recalls its signature from the Armenia-Turkey protocols," Manoyan
told ArmeniaNow.
However, President Sargsyan's speech has angered some of the parents
of those who were killed in the 2008 post-election clashes.
In response to a question from the Strasbourg body's member as to
why three and a half years after the events, the investigation into
those deaths has not been finished yet, Sargsyan, in particular, said:
"The investigation has not been finished for the simple reason that
not all of those responsible have been found."
Sargis Kloyan, the father of 29-year-old Gor Kloyan who was killed
on March 1, 2008, told ArmeniaNow that the president's answer was an
"outrageous lie".
"Why did he go to the PACE and was making false statements from the
tribune there? If he doesn't know who is responsible, let him invite
me to his residence and I will name all - both those who killed and
those who ordered the killings. They know very well who the murderers
are," claimed Kloyan.
Investigators conducting the probe, meanwhile, have repeatedly
suggested that for the time being they lack clear evidence that would
lead to the identification of those responsible for the killings or
prove there had been clear orders to shoot.