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US AMBASSADOR SUSPECTED VARTAN OSKANIAN OF WORKING POLITICALLY WITH KOCHARIAN
epress.am
09.05.2011 13:11
At a Nov. 14, 2008 meeting with then US Ambassador to Armenia Marie
L. Yovanovitch, former foreign minister Vartan Oskanian criticized the
downward trends in democracy and human rights, according to a Nov. 18,
2008 confidential cable written by Yovanovitch and recently published
by WikiLeaks.
Yovanovitch notes that Oskaninan "observed that former President
[Robert] Kocharian 'did the same thing,' but that the situation
is worse now. Oskanian said he did not know whether Sargsyan would
cobble together a political solution to resolve the issue of the Mar. 1
detainees, such as an amnesty. He noted, however, that he was familiar
with Sargsyan's thinking in Mar. when they were in meetings together,
and at that time, Sargsyan wanted 'to do something about this'."
According to Oskanian, Kocharian is interested in entering politics
and working towards the 2012 parliamentary elections "at which time
he might start his own party," but the timing of his political debut
depends on developments in Armenia, and "if there is an opening,
he will seize it":
"He is talking to party leaders and others and says there is interest
in working with him. Oskanian refuted the rumors circulating that
former President Kocharian wants to stage a political comeback in the
near future and that Oskanian is helping him. He said that he can't
imagine Kocharian as Prime Minister, since he would then be number
two. He added Kocharian is doing a lot of traveling abroad now,
and has not mentioned any such plans."
Yovanovitch notes that Oskanian offered the "rare view in Armenia that
Armenia's economic development depends on democratic improvements,
including an independent and professional court system, freedom of
speech, and freedom of the press." He noted that without improving
good governance and raising the human capacity in Armenia, the country
will never be able to really progress.
In her concluding comments, Yovanovitch notes that the US embassy
suspects rumors of Oskanian working politically with Kocharian to
be true:
"Notwithstanding Oskanian's rebuttal, the Armenian political
class remains convinced that Oskanian is working politically with
Kocharian, and we strongly suspect that to be correct. Oskanian is a
brilliant, experienced, and wily diplomat, and probably not above a
bit of dissimulation in the service of his goals. On Turkey and NK,
his public and private comments over recent months have often been
quite skeptical and had a tinge of sour grapes. There may well be an
element of professional jealousy and resentment that after Oskanian's
long years of hard work (representing the uncompromising President
Kocharian), his successor, Nalbandian, may get to be the one in the
Foreign Minister's seat at the moment of breakthroughs on Turkey and NK
[Nagorno-Karabakh]."
epress.am
09.05.2011 13:11
At a Nov. 14, 2008 meeting with then US Ambassador to Armenia Marie
L. Yovanovitch, former foreign minister Vartan Oskanian criticized the
downward trends in democracy and human rights, according to a Nov. 18,
2008 confidential cable written by Yovanovitch and recently published
by WikiLeaks.
Yovanovitch notes that Oskaninan "observed that former President
[Robert] Kocharian 'did the same thing,' but that the situation
is worse now. Oskanian said he did not know whether Sargsyan would
cobble together a political solution to resolve the issue of the Mar. 1
detainees, such as an amnesty. He noted, however, that he was familiar
with Sargsyan's thinking in Mar. when they were in meetings together,
and at that time, Sargsyan wanted 'to do something about this'."
According to Oskanian, Kocharian is interested in entering politics
and working towards the 2012 parliamentary elections "at which time
he might start his own party," but the timing of his political debut
depends on developments in Armenia, and "if there is an opening,
he will seize it":
"He is talking to party leaders and others and says there is interest
in working with him. Oskanian refuted the rumors circulating that
former President Kocharian wants to stage a political comeback in the
near future and that Oskanian is helping him. He said that he can't
imagine Kocharian as Prime Minister, since he would then be number
two. He added Kocharian is doing a lot of traveling abroad now,
and has not mentioned any such plans."
Yovanovitch notes that Oskanian offered the "rare view in Armenia that
Armenia's economic development depends on democratic improvements,
including an independent and professional court system, freedom of
speech, and freedom of the press." He noted that without improving
good governance and raising the human capacity in Armenia, the country
will never be able to really progress.
In her concluding comments, Yovanovitch notes that the US embassy
suspects rumors of Oskanian working politically with Kocharian to
be true:
"Notwithstanding Oskanian's rebuttal, the Armenian political
class remains convinced that Oskanian is working politically with
Kocharian, and we strongly suspect that to be correct. Oskanian is a
brilliant, experienced, and wily diplomat, and probably not above a
bit of dissimulation in the service of his goals. On Turkey and NK,
his public and private comments over recent months have often been
quite skeptical and had a tinge of sour grapes. There may well be an
element of professional jealousy and resentment that after Oskanian's
long years of hard work (representing the uncompromising President
Kocharian), his successor, Nalbandian, may get to be the one in the
Foreign Minister's seat at the moment of breakthroughs on Turkey and NK
[Nagorno-Karabakh]."