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THE JAMESTOWN FOUNDATION: "SARGSYAN APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN MORE FLEXIBLE IN NK ISSUE THAN HIS PREDECESSOR"
http://times.am/?l=en&p=3911
19.01.12
The Jamestown foundation has published an article about Armenian
coming Parliamentarian elections and the regional issues.
"Senior US officials have sounded remarkably optimistic about the
conduct of Armenia's forthcoming parliamentary elections, which
President Serzh Sargsyan will try to use as a launch pad for winning
a second term in office in 2013. Highlighting Washington's overall
satisfaction with the current authorities in Yerevan, they have
also played up government concessions to the Armenian opposition",
the article writes.
According to the article the election, which will take place on May
2012, will be the biggest test of Sargsyan's democratic credentials
since the turbulent start to his presidency in April 2008. "His
administration has made an ambitious pledge to break with the country's
troubled electoral past, and ensure that the 2012 election is the
most democratic in its post-Soviet history", the source writes.
Referring to the announcements by Armenian opposition politicians,
says that they dismiss these assurances, saying that Sargsyan's
Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) will seek to retain control over
parliament at any cost. That control is essential for the success of
the president's re-election plans.
At the same the announcement by US Deputy Assistant Secretary of
State US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Eric Rubin is quoted,
which was made during a conference in Washington on the South
Caucasus on November 28-29, 2011. He suggested that the Armenian
government is genuinely interested in the freedom and fairness of the
polls. "Going into this election, we are encouraged by what we see,"
Rubin said, adding, "we think the government is not just saying all
the right things, but we believe it is committed to an open, free
and fair process and to a real contest in the elections." The United
States will be "doing everything we can to offer support to both the
government and to civil society" in the election preparation, he said.
The same assistance was offered by the US Ambassador to Armenia
John Heffern.
Sargsyan's standing in Washington improved considerably in the
following months as he embarked on an unprecedented rapprochement with
Turkey that was strongly welcomed and backed by the West. The process
culminated in the signing in October 2009 of the Turkish-Armenian
protocols to normalize bilateral relations. US President Barack Obama
praised Sargsyan's "courageous efforts" when the two met in Washington
in April 2010 (Statement by the White House, April 12, 2010).
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton likewise described Sargsyan's
policy on Turkey as "very statesmanlike," during her July 2010 visit to
Yerevan. Like the Armenian leaders, Clinton said Turkey should ratify
the protocols without preconditions (Armenian Public TV, July 5, 2010).
Sargsyan appears to have been also more flexible than his predecessor,
Robert Kocharian, in the resolution of the Karabakh conflict, another
key US goal in the region. He was clearly ready to accept the most
recent version of the basic principles of a Karabakh settlement put
forward by the US, Russia and France and discussed at the June 2011
Armenian-Azerbaijani summit in Kazan. The summit reportedly failed
because of last-minute changes in the framework peace accord demanded
by Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev.
While sticking to Armenia's military and political alliance with
Russia, during his presidency, Sargsyan has also deepened US-Armenian
defense cooperation, within both the bilateral and NATO frameworks.
The deployment of around 130 Armenian troops in Afghanistan was one
manifestation of that cooperation. In a letter to President Obama on
August 4, 2011, Sargsyan boasted that US-Armenian relations are now
"stronger than ever before." He pledged to expand them further during
later talks in Yerevan in October 2011, with US Deputy Secretary of
State William Burns (Statements by the Armenian presidential press
service).
http://times.am/?l=en&p=3911
19.01.12
The Jamestown foundation has published an article about Armenian
coming Parliamentarian elections and the regional issues.
"Senior US officials have sounded remarkably optimistic about the
conduct of Armenia's forthcoming parliamentary elections, which
President Serzh Sargsyan will try to use as a launch pad for winning
a second term in office in 2013. Highlighting Washington's overall
satisfaction with the current authorities in Yerevan, they have
also played up government concessions to the Armenian opposition",
the article writes.
According to the article the election, which will take place on May
2012, will be the biggest test of Sargsyan's democratic credentials
since the turbulent start to his presidency in April 2008. "His
administration has made an ambitious pledge to break with the country's
troubled electoral past, and ensure that the 2012 election is the
most democratic in its post-Soviet history", the source writes.
Referring to the announcements by Armenian opposition politicians,
says that they dismiss these assurances, saying that Sargsyan's
Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) will seek to retain control over
parliament at any cost. That control is essential for the success of
the president's re-election plans.
At the same the announcement by US Deputy Assistant Secretary of
State US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Eric Rubin is quoted,
which was made during a conference in Washington on the South
Caucasus on November 28-29, 2011. He suggested that the Armenian
government is genuinely interested in the freedom and fairness of the
polls. "Going into this election, we are encouraged by what we see,"
Rubin said, adding, "we think the government is not just saying all
the right things, but we believe it is committed to an open, free
and fair process and to a real contest in the elections." The United
States will be "doing everything we can to offer support to both the
government and to civil society" in the election preparation, he said.
The same assistance was offered by the US Ambassador to Armenia
John Heffern.
Sargsyan's standing in Washington improved considerably in the
following months as he embarked on an unprecedented rapprochement with
Turkey that was strongly welcomed and backed by the West. The process
culminated in the signing in October 2009 of the Turkish-Armenian
protocols to normalize bilateral relations. US President Barack Obama
praised Sargsyan's "courageous efforts" when the two met in Washington
in April 2010 (Statement by the White House, April 12, 2010).
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton likewise described Sargsyan's
policy on Turkey as "very statesmanlike," during her July 2010 visit to
Yerevan. Like the Armenian leaders, Clinton said Turkey should ratify
the protocols without preconditions (Armenian Public TV, July 5, 2010).
Sargsyan appears to have been also more flexible than his predecessor,
Robert Kocharian, in the resolution of the Karabakh conflict, another
key US goal in the region. He was clearly ready to accept the most
recent version of the basic principles of a Karabakh settlement put
forward by the US, Russia and France and discussed at the June 2011
Armenian-Azerbaijani summit in Kazan. The summit reportedly failed
because of last-minute changes in the framework peace accord demanded
by Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev.
While sticking to Armenia's military and political alliance with
Russia, during his presidency, Sargsyan has also deepened US-Armenian
defense cooperation, within both the bilateral and NATO frameworks.
The deployment of around 130 Armenian troops in Afghanistan was one
manifestation of that cooperation. In a letter to President Obama on
August 4, 2011, Sargsyan boasted that US-Armenian relations are now
"stronger than ever before." He pledged to expand them further during
later talks in Yerevan in October 2011, with US Deputy Secretary of
State William Burns (Statements by the Armenian presidential press
service).