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MEDVEDEV/PUTIN, PUTIN/KOCHARYAN?: RUSSIA'S STRATEGY LEADS TO SPECULATION FOR ARMENIA
By Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow
27.09.11 | 12:32
After late last week's official announcement of the Putin for
Medvedev replacement plan for Russia, a question has naturally risen
among Armenian political circles: would Putin's return also mean
Kocharyan's comeback, since Russia's ex-president Vladimir Putin is
known to be favouring his then-Armenian counterpart and loyal partner
Robert Kocharyan?
Members of the ruling coalition do not believe it's possible, and
make a reference to the memorandum signed early this year according
to which the coalition has committed to support Armenia's current
president Serzh Sargsyan's run for a second term in 2013.
However, Kocharyan's recently activated presence in the political field
as well as "the Putin factor" have lead many to a different assumption.
It is noteworthy that lately Vartan Oskanian, who was foreign minister
during Kocharyan's presidency, did not exclude such a possibility,
either. Cautious and diplomatically evasive Oskanian, who usually
refrains from speaking about Kocharyan, said in his interview to
"168 hours" local daily newspaper:
"My presumption is that Kocharyan would, after all, have political
involvement. For the start, parliamentary elections: I think there
will be some kind of involvement there."
(The Armenian Constitution stipulates that a president can serve two
successive terms - as did Kocharyan, but may return to power after
the next election cycle.)
It is worth noting, too, that Prosperous Armenia party leader Gagik
Tsarukyan was present at the September 23-24 summit of Yedinaya Russia
(United Russia) party, during which the decision on supporting Putin's
candidacy for the office was announced.
It is common knowledge that Prosperous Armenia party was founded by
Kocharyan and is his political fulcrum, and Tsarukyan's participation
in that summit gives grounds for speculation.
"Of course, Tsarukyan has participated in Yedinaya Russia's summits
since 2008, however, that very year is significant, as it (marked
the end of Kocharyan's presidency) and these meetings were laying
the groundwork in anticipation of Kocharyan's return," political
analyst Narine Lazarian, Yerevan's Slavonic University professor,
told ArmeniaNow. "We don't even have an idea how many times Kocharyan
personally went to meet Putin, we only know that Putin favors Kocharyan
much more than Serzh Sargsyan,".
People's Party leader Tigran Karapetyan believes that "Kocharyan will
definitely come back".
"If Levon Ter-Pterosyan [Armenia's first president] returned, why
wouldn't Robert Kocharyan?" he says.
Heritage party member, MP Armen Martirosyan thinks, nonetheless,
that the current president Serzh Sargsyan has more possibilities
for maneuvering now than Medvedev who never really managed to leave
Putin's shadow and that he [Sargsyan] can prevent Kocharyan's return.
"Despite the fact that Kocharyan has solid financial and human
resources, at the moment he is not powerful enough to fight against
Serzh Sargsyan," he says.
Whispers on Kocharyan's possible return started spreading somewhere
around mid-year when he increased his presence in the media and gave
lengthy interviews, however , whispers turned into full-sound voices
the fourth book about him got published.
A 500-page book titled "Robert Kocharyan in the fate of the Armenian
cause" tells about Kocharyan's "heroic deeds".
In the prologue the author, Marc Amatouni, writes introducing
Kocharyan:
"A powerful public, political leader of modern Armenian history,
infallible military theorist, the carrier and creator of the victorious
arms of the Artsakh heroic battle... the organizer and leader of
modern-day battles of Avarayr in the Great Patriotic war of the
Armenian nation, the reviver of the distorted heroic profile of an
Armenian, and the re-creator and carrier of the authentic image of
the Armenian national, state, and political figure."
By Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow
27.09.11 | 12:32
After late last week's official announcement of the Putin for
Medvedev replacement plan for Russia, a question has naturally risen
among Armenian political circles: would Putin's return also mean
Kocharyan's comeback, since Russia's ex-president Vladimir Putin is
known to be favouring his then-Armenian counterpart and loyal partner
Robert Kocharyan?
Members of the ruling coalition do not believe it's possible, and
make a reference to the memorandum signed early this year according
to which the coalition has committed to support Armenia's current
president Serzh Sargsyan's run for a second term in 2013.
However, Kocharyan's recently activated presence in the political field
as well as "the Putin factor" have lead many to a different assumption.
It is noteworthy that lately Vartan Oskanian, who was foreign minister
during Kocharyan's presidency, did not exclude such a possibility,
either. Cautious and diplomatically evasive Oskanian, who usually
refrains from speaking about Kocharyan, said in his interview to
"168 hours" local daily newspaper:
"My presumption is that Kocharyan would, after all, have political
involvement. For the start, parliamentary elections: I think there
will be some kind of involvement there."
(The Armenian Constitution stipulates that a president can serve two
successive terms - as did Kocharyan, but may return to power after
the next election cycle.)
It is worth noting, too, that Prosperous Armenia party leader Gagik
Tsarukyan was present at the September 23-24 summit of Yedinaya Russia
(United Russia) party, during which the decision on supporting Putin's
candidacy for the office was announced.
It is common knowledge that Prosperous Armenia party was founded by
Kocharyan and is his political fulcrum, and Tsarukyan's participation
in that summit gives grounds for speculation.
"Of course, Tsarukyan has participated in Yedinaya Russia's summits
since 2008, however, that very year is significant, as it (marked
the end of Kocharyan's presidency) and these meetings were laying
the groundwork in anticipation of Kocharyan's return," political
analyst Narine Lazarian, Yerevan's Slavonic University professor,
told ArmeniaNow. "We don't even have an idea how many times Kocharyan
personally went to meet Putin, we only know that Putin favors Kocharyan
much more than Serzh Sargsyan,".
People's Party leader Tigran Karapetyan believes that "Kocharyan will
definitely come back".
"If Levon Ter-Pterosyan [Armenia's first president] returned, why
wouldn't Robert Kocharyan?" he says.
Heritage party member, MP Armen Martirosyan thinks, nonetheless,
that the current president Serzh Sargsyan has more possibilities
for maneuvering now than Medvedev who never really managed to leave
Putin's shadow and that he [Sargsyan] can prevent Kocharyan's return.
"Despite the fact that Kocharyan has solid financial and human
resources, at the moment he is not powerful enough to fight against
Serzh Sargsyan," he says.
Whispers on Kocharyan's possible return started spreading somewhere
around mid-year when he increased his presence in the media and gave
lengthy interviews, however , whispers turned into full-sound voices
the fourth book about him got published.
A 500-page book titled "Robert Kocharyan in the fate of the Armenian
cause" tells about Kocharyan's "heroic deeds".
In the prologue the author, Marc Amatouni, writes introducing
Kocharyan:
"A powerful public, political leader of modern Armenian history,
infallible military theorist, the carrier and creator of the victorious
arms of the Artsakh heroic battle... the organizer and leader of
modern-day battles of Avarayr in the Great Patriotic war of the
Armenian nation, the reviver of the distorted heroic profile of an
Armenian, and the re-creator and carrier of the authentic image of
the Armenian national, state, and political figure."