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"EU OR EU?"-THE PHONY QUESTION
http://www.keghart.com/Editorial-EU-Russia
Editorial, 30 July 2013
A few weeks ago forty-six-year-old Hrachya Harutyunyan was involved
in a traffic accident in Russia when his truck and a bus carrying
68 passengers collided. As a result of the crash, 18 passengers were
killed and 50 injured. Harutyunyan was beaten by a mob and dragged to
the psychiatric ward of the local prison. When he appeared in court,
he was dressed in a woman's multicolored flannel gown and sneakers.
Unshaven, and with marks of beating on his face, he looked like
a gargoyle dressed up for carnival. Throughout the court hearing
state-owned Russian TV mocked him and invariably identified him not
as Armenian but as a "citizen of Armenia." The degrading treatment
of the truck driver and the racial slurs piled upon him inflamed
anti-Russian feelings across Armenia. To stifle Armenian anger, the
same Russian TV eventually blocked access to Armenia viewers of the
scandalous video clip of Harutyunyan in court.
The friction was the latest between Yerevan and Moscow. It was
preceded by the Russian price hike of the gas it sold to Armenia and
the sale of $1 billion worth of sophisticated weapons to Azerbaijan,
including the offensive C300 and SMERCH (Tornado), a heavy, multiple
rocket launcher. The latter is a weapon of mass destruction and can
destroy targets within an area of over 67 hectares in a second.
Armenians in Armenia called the weapons' sale "treachery" and a
"betrayal of Russia's sole regional ally." Arkady Karapetyan, first
commander of the Karapagh Self-Defense Forces (1990-91), accused Russia
of preparing a "new genocide of Karapagh Armenians." Artur Aghabekyan,
Karapagh's vice-prime minister, said: "...this is a very serious issue
for us and this treacherous deal of our strategic partner should have
become the number one topic of discussion." A Yerevan columnist advised
Armenia to develop ASAP nuclear bomb capacity, while another provided
five reasons why Armenia should attack Azerbaijan ASAP. Karen Ghazaryan
of Radiolur posed the question most Armenians were thinking: "Why is
Russia supplying weapons to the enemy of its strategic partner?"
Why indeed?
Senior Russian officials said that the sale was just business. It
sounded like what a B-movie hired killer would say to his victim:
"You see it's not personal...it's just business."
Other senior Russian officials said Moscow needed the $1-billion. Yes,
Moscow was willing to stab in the back its long-time ally for
$1-billion pieces of silver. But why does a country with $2 trillion
annual GDP need $1-billion so badly that it would betray a friendly
state and people who have done so much for Russia? Why would Russia
need the $1-billion so desperately when, so far, it has spent a measly
$52-billion for next year's Sochi Winter Olympics?
Why all the heat and acrimony?
The general consensus in Armenia is that Moscow was angry with
Yerevan's plans to embrace the European Union rather than accept
Russia's invitation to join Moscow's own Eurasian Union. There was
lots of talk-in Armenia, in Russia and in Western Europe-about whether
Armenia was facing an "either or" scenario or whether Yerevan could
be member to both groups. A leading European Union executive said
there would be conflict if Armenia joined both groups, meanwhile the
president of Poland, presumably speaking on behalf of the European
Union, advised President Serge Sarkissian that Armenia should make up
its mind on its choice of membership. The contradictory statements
and signals about the two options confused observers as to where
the truth lies-pun intended. Sarkissian's government has refused to
make public the terms of the European Union agreement. Is Sarkissian
hiding the rumored report that European Union membership is dependent
on Armenia handing Artsakh to Azerbaijan?
But more and more it seems that the root of the Moscow/Yerevan friction
is not Armenia's decision to join the European Union. Armenia is a
small market; it would have little economic impact in either of the
EUs. It is not hard to believe that Russia, which already owns most
of Armenia's infrastructure, wants to turn Armenia into a colony and
treat Armenian politicians as if they are tsarist mujiks.
President Vladimir Putin--judging by his drastic and hostile acts-wants
to transform Armenia into a joke state: a state without sovereign
powers. A Russian oblast.
Since its armies pushed south and drove out the Persians from Armenia
in the 1829s, Russians-tsarist, Communist or post-Soviet-have treated
Armenians like second-class citizens. There have been "court Armenians"
who have been rewarded, but the majority of Armenians have been treated
like inferiors or suspect. Witness the number of Armenians of Russia
who have russified their names in the past 250 years. Even during
the so-called racially universalist Soviet Union, many Armenians felt
wise to add "ski" and "ov" to their last names.
Others, like composer Aram Khachaturian inserted "Ilych" (Ivan, etc.)
as their middle name.
While providing a shield against traditional Turkbeijan expansionism,
Moscow has controlled Armenia's foreign policy since Armenia became
independent. Khachatur Kobobelyan, leader of the opposition Free
Democrats, said recently: "Armenia's foreign policy has for many years
been an integral part of Russia's foreign policies, but our interests
do not always coincide."According to some sources, Armenia's Foreign
Minister, Dikran Nalbandyan, uses Russian passport when he travels.
Armenians also haven't forgotten the number of times "Big Brother"
Russia has betrayed over the past two centuries.
Unhappy that Armenia is behaving like an independent country should,
Putin has decided not only to humiliate Yerevan but also threaten it
through the belligerent and armament-laden Azerbaijan. Armenia is
useful to Russia, but "troublesome" Armenians perhaps aren't. More
than one Russian official, in the past two centuries, has said that
Armenia without Armenians would be fine and dandy with Russia.
The current crisis is rampant with punditry. Does Russia want Baku
to attack Armenia and then for Moscow come down, like the cavalry,
to Armenia's rescue... for the obvious price? Would Russia pull
the strings of such a war by controlling the fuel supplies of the
Armenian army?
Does Russia hope to occupy (or place its forces) in Artsakh at
the end of the war? Is this drama the old Russian strategy of
divide-and-conquer while Moscow extends its reach further south? Would
Karapagh become a Russian bridge to Iran? Is petro-state Russia
getting married to petro-state Azerbaijan?
These and scores of political, economic, and military questions,
suppositions and theories continue to bubble while the Moscow/Yerevan
tension continues. A great deal will take place between now and
Armenia's scheduled mid-November signing of the European Union
Association Agreement.
But no matter how the crisis is resolved, it's clear that if Moscow
wants Armenia as an ally, it has to learn to respect Armenia and
Armenians. It's not 1830, 1921, 1992... Armenians will not be taken
for granted or be pushed around by Moscow bullies.
http://www.keghart.com/Editorial-EU-Russia
Editorial, 30 July 2013
A few weeks ago forty-six-year-old Hrachya Harutyunyan was involved
in a traffic accident in Russia when his truck and a bus carrying
68 passengers collided. As a result of the crash, 18 passengers were
killed and 50 injured. Harutyunyan was beaten by a mob and dragged to
the psychiatric ward of the local prison. When he appeared in court,
he was dressed in a woman's multicolored flannel gown and sneakers.
Unshaven, and with marks of beating on his face, he looked like
a gargoyle dressed up for carnival. Throughout the court hearing
state-owned Russian TV mocked him and invariably identified him not
as Armenian but as a "citizen of Armenia." The degrading treatment
of the truck driver and the racial slurs piled upon him inflamed
anti-Russian feelings across Armenia. To stifle Armenian anger, the
same Russian TV eventually blocked access to Armenia viewers of the
scandalous video clip of Harutyunyan in court.
The friction was the latest between Yerevan and Moscow. It was
preceded by the Russian price hike of the gas it sold to Armenia and
the sale of $1 billion worth of sophisticated weapons to Azerbaijan,
including the offensive C300 and SMERCH (Tornado), a heavy, multiple
rocket launcher. The latter is a weapon of mass destruction and can
destroy targets within an area of over 67 hectares in a second.
Armenians in Armenia called the weapons' sale "treachery" and a
"betrayal of Russia's sole regional ally." Arkady Karapetyan, first
commander of the Karapagh Self-Defense Forces (1990-91), accused Russia
of preparing a "new genocide of Karapagh Armenians." Artur Aghabekyan,
Karapagh's vice-prime minister, said: "...this is a very serious issue
for us and this treacherous deal of our strategic partner should have
become the number one topic of discussion." A Yerevan columnist advised
Armenia to develop ASAP nuclear bomb capacity, while another provided
five reasons why Armenia should attack Azerbaijan ASAP. Karen Ghazaryan
of Radiolur posed the question most Armenians were thinking: "Why is
Russia supplying weapons to the enemy of its strategic partner?"
Why indeed?
Senior Russian officials said that the sale was just business. It
sounded like what a B-movie hired killer would say to his victim:
"You see it's not personal...it's just business."
Other senior Russian officials said Moscow needed the $1-billion. Yes,
Moscow was willing to stab in the back its long-time ally for
$1-billion pieces of silver. But why does a country with $2 trillion
annual GDP need $1-billion so badly that it would betray a friendly
state and people who have done so much for Russia? Why would Russia
need the $1-billion so desperately when, so far, it has spent a measly
$52-billion for next year's Sochi Winter Olympics?
Why all the heat and acrimony?
The general consensus in Armenia is that Moscow was angry with
Yerevan's plans to embrace the European Union rather than accept
Russia's invitation to join Moscow's own Eurasian Union. There was
lots of talk-in Armenia, in Russia and in Western Europe-about whether
Armenia was facing an "either or" scenario or whether Yerevan could
be member to both groups. A leading European Union executive said
there would be conflict if Armenia joined both groups, meanwhile the
president of Poland, presumably speaking on behalf of the European
Union, advised President Serge Sarkissian that Armenia should make up
its mind on its choice of membership. The contradictory statements
and signals about the two options confused observers as to where
the truth lies-pun intended. Sarkissian's government has refused to
make public the terms of the European Union agreement. Is Sarkissian
hiding the rumored report that European Union membership is dependent
on Armenia handing Artsakh to Azerbaijan?
But more and more it seems that the root of the Moscow/Yerevan friction
is not Armenia's decision to join the European Union. Armenia is a
small market; it would have little economic impact in either of the
EUs. It is not hard to believe that Russia, which already owns most
of Armenia's infrastructure, wants to turn Armenia into a colony and
treat Armenian politicians as if they are tsarist mujiks.
President Vladimir Putin--judging by his drastic and hostile acts-wants
to transform Armenia into a joke state: a state without sovereign
powers. A Russian oblast.
Since its armies pushed south and drove out the Persians from Armenia
in the 1829s, Russians-tsarist, Communist or post-Soviet-have treated
Armenians like second-class citizens. There have been "court Armenians"
who have been rewarded, but the majority of Armenians have been treated
like inferiors or suspect. Witness the number of Armenians of Russia
who have russified their names in the past 250 years. Even during
the so-called racially universalist Soviet Union, many Armenians felt
wise to add "ski" and "ov" to their last names.
Others, like composer Aram Khachaturian inserted "Ilych" (Ivan, etc.)
as their middle name.
While providing a shield against traditional Turkbeijan expansionism,
Moscow has controlled Armenia's foreign policy since Armenia became
independent. Khachatur Kobobelyan, leader of the opposition Free
Democrats, said recently: "Armenia's foreign policy has for many years
been an integral part of Russia's foreign policies, but our interests
do not always coincide."According to some sources, Armenia's Foreign
Minister, Dikran Nalbandyan, uses Russian passport when he travels.
Armenians also haven't forgotten the number of times "Big Brother"
Russia has betrayed over the past two centuries.
Unhappy that Armenia is behaving like an independent country should,
Putin has decided not only to humiliate Yerevan but also threaten it
through the belligerent and armament-laden Azerbaijan. Armenia is
useful to Russia, but "troublesome" Armenians perhaps aren't. More
than one Russian official, in the past two centuries, has said that
Armenia without Armenians would be fine and dandy with Russia.
The current crisis is rampant with punditry. Does Russia want Baku
to attack Armenia and then for Moscow come down, like the cavalry,
to Armenia's rescue... for the obvious price? Would Russia pull
the strings of such a war by controlling the fuel supplies of the
Armenian army?
Does Russia hope to occupy (or place its forces) in Artsakh at
the end of the war? Is this drama the old Russian strategy of
divide-and-conquer while Moscow extends its reach further south? Would
Karapagh become a Russian bridge to Iran? Is petro-state Russia
getting married to petro-state Azerbaijan?
These and scores of political, economic, and military questions,
suppositions and theories continue to bubble while the Moscow/Yerevan
tension continues. A great deal will take place between now and
Armenia's scheduled mid-November signing of the European Union
Association Agreement.
But no matter how the crisis is resolved, it's clear that if Moscow
wants Armenia as an ally, it has to learn to respect Armenia and
Armenians. It's not 1830, 1921, 1992... Armenians will not be taken
for granted or be pushed around by Moscow bullies.