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MOSCOW AND YEREVAN AT ODDS OVER ARMS SALES AND A BATHROBE
Transitions Online, Czech Republic
July 29 2013
Russia sends weapons to Armenia's arch foe just as an Armenian truck
driver faces a court in inappropriate dress. From EurasiaNet.org.
by Gayane Abrahamyan29 July 2013
At first glance, the connection between a fatal 13 July traffic
accident outside Moscow and Armenia's strategic partnership with
Russia may not be obvious. But, to many Armenians, a link exists, and
it comes in the form of a woman's yellow-and-pink flowered bathrobe.
The robe, worn in court by 46-year-old Armenian truck driver Hrachya
Harutiunian, who is charged with causing the crash that killed 18
people and injured 30, has sparked a massive outpouring of anger
in Armenia at what is seen as a deliberate humiliation by Russia,
long touted as the country's "closest friend."
Russian officials claimed that Harutiunian was dressed in the robe
(and bedroom slippers) only because his own clothes had been ruined
in the crash. But the explanation fell on largely deaf ears.
With his head buried in his hands, the weeping Harutiunian, a veteran
of the Nagorno-Karabakh war with Azerbaijan, quickly became a symbol
of other alleged recent affronts by Russia - in particular, Moscow's
$1 billion arms deal with diehard Armenian foe, Azerbaijan. Photos of
the bedraggled Harutiunian and a video report by Russia's state-run
RTR TV that described him as a "mooing Armenian murderer" fueled
protests on 16 and 17 July outside the Russian Embassy in Yerevan
and consulate in the northwestern town of Gyumri.
In Armenia, as elsewhere in the South Caucasus, perceived public
affronts to a man's dignity can quickly spell trouble. A response to
defend that dignity is considered obligatory. In this case, though,
protesters and others saw the "humiliating, belittling" insult
as directed not only toward the Armenian defendant, but Armenians
in general.
Resentment has been growing for months against Russia for supposedly
not treating Armenia as an equal, and, in this macho, conservative
society, the sight of an Armenian veteran dressed in a woman's robe
proved the last straw for many.
The anger with Moscow began brewing in Armenian political circles last
month, when it became known that Russia, which holds a 49-year lease
on an army base in Gyumri, had sold $1 billion worth of armaments
to Azerbaijan, including 18 powerful BM-30 Smerch multiple-rocket
launchers.
Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev characterized
the deal as "purely commercial," but some Armenian analysts call it
purely treacherous. "This is an important expression of Russia's
cynical policy, demonstrating ... that the complementary policy
[of building close ties with both Russia and the West] is no longer
acceptable" to the Kremlin, commented Stepan Grigorian, director of
Yerevan's Analytical Center of Globalization and Regional Cooperation.
Armenian-Russian relations undergo periodic strains, but the publicity
about the arms deal with Azerbaijan appeared "a deliberate calculation
to let Armenia know that it should no longer rely on them," argued
political analyst Aghasi Yenokian, director of the Armenian Center
for National and International Studies.
Analysts link that alleged shift in attitude to Armenia's pending
Association Agreement with the European Union, scheduled for signature
this fall. Yerevan has dodged joining the Russia-led Eurasian Customs
Union, a sort of post-Soviet alternative to the EU, and Moscow has
not hidden its irritation. On 11 July, Konstantin Zatulin, director
of the Commonwealth of Independent States Institute, warned that
"Yerevan should not forget that Russia is Armenia's security guarantee,
not the European Union."
But many Armenians would like to forget just that. Russia's hold on
Armenia's economy - via energy, railways, and telecommunications,
and as a market for Armenian labor migrants - doubles as a noose,
some say. The recent increase in prices for Russian gas, on which
Armenia depends, and subsequent protests over higher transportation
fares in Yerevan, only underlined that dependence.
Against that backdrop, Russia's behavior toward Harutiunian and
offhand attitude toward arms sales to Azerbaijan have delivered
the message that "'I own you and will do whatever I want to," argued
parliamentarian Lyudmila Sarksian, a member of the opposition Armenian
National Congress faction.
Opposition leader Raffi Hovhannisian, the former presidential
candidate, agrees. "If Russia, our strategic partner, is supplying
a billion dollars' worth of weaponry to a country that wants to
erase Armenia and Karabakh from the world map, what kind of strategic
partnership is that?" he asked reporters on 17 July. The treatment of
truck driver Harutiunian should serve as a further "alert," he added.
Sociologist Aharon Adibekian, head of the Sociometer Research Center,
believes, though, that ultimately the truck-driver scandal will have
only a "temporary" impact on ties between Armenia and Russia.
"There have been similar cases when passions flared up, but public
revolts such as this do not have a tangible impact on global politics,"
Adibekian said. "This is a merely emotional upheaval, and public
memory is short."
Hovhannes Sahakian, secretary of the ruling Republican Party
of Armenia's parliamentary faction, concurs. The outcry over
Haruitiunian's court appearance "has such a resonance just because
its timing coincided with the arms deal with Azerbaijan, but they
shouldn't be connected to each other"
Nonetheless, sensing themselves on the defensive for Armenia's policies
toward Russia, pro-government politicians such as Parliamentary
Speaker Hovik Abrahamian have condemned the treatment of Harutiunian
as "unacceptable and inhumane" and called for those responsible to
be held accountable.
Statements by the Russian Embassy in Yerevan and Foreign Ministry
indicate, however, that Moscow sees Armenians' anger more as an attempt
"by certain people" to try and "manipulate the tragedy" of the traffic
accident and "ignite anti-Russian passions."
Some Armenian observers have echoed those allegations, claiming that
either "certain Western elements" or Russia itself, in a supposed
bid "to get rid of their commitments to Armenia," stand behind the
protests and criticism.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin has stressed that
investigation of the accident will be fair. Harutiunian, who faces
seven years in prison, is undergoing psychiatric treatment in Moscow.
Gayane Abrahamyan is a freelance reporter and editor in Yerevan. This
article originally appeared on EurasiaNet.org.
http://www.tol.org/client/article/23878-moscow-and-yerevan-at-odds-over-arms-sales-and-a-bathrobe.html
Transitions Online, Czech Republic
July 29 2013
Russia sends weapons to Armenia's arch foe just as an Armenian truck
driver faces a court in inappropriate dress. From EurasiaNet.org.
by Gayane Abrahamyan29 July 2013
At first glance, the connection between a fatal 13 July traffic
accident outside Moscow and Armenia's strategic partnership with
Russia may not be obvious. But, to many Armenians, a link exists, and
it comes in the form of a woman's yellow-and-pink flowered bathrobe.
The robe, worn in court by 46-year-old Armenian truck driver Hrachya
Harutiunian, who is charged with causing the crash that killed 18
people and injured 30, has sparked a massive outpouring of anger
in Armenia at what is seen as a deliberate humiliation by Russia,
long touted as the country's "closest friend."
Russian officials claimed that Harutiunian was dressed in the robe
(and bedroom slippers) only because his own clothes had been ruined
in the crash. But the explanation fell on largely deaf ears.
With his head buried in his hands, the weeping Harutiunian, a veteran
of the Nagorno-Karabakh war with Azerbaijan, quickly became a symbol
of other alleged recent affronts by Russia - in particular, Moscow's
$1 billion arms deal with diehard Armenian foe, Azerbaijan. Photos of
the bedraggled Harutiunian and a video report by Russia's state-run
RTR TV that described him as a "mooing Armenian murderer" fueled
protests on 16 and 17 July outside the Russian Embassy in Yerevan
and consulate in the northwestern town of Gyumri.
In Armenia, as elsewhere in the South Caucasus, perceived public
affronts to a man's dignity can quickly spell trouble. A response to
defend that dignity is considered obligatory. In this case, though,
protesters and others saw the "humiliating, belittling" insult
as directed not only toward the Armenian defendant, but Armenians
in general.
Resentment has been growing for months against Russia for supposedly
not treating Armenia as an equal, and, in this macho, conservative
society, the sight of an Armenian veteran dressed in a woman's robe
proved the last straw for many.
The anger with Moscow began brewing in Armenian political circles last
month, when it became known that Russia, which holds a 49-year lease
on an army base in Gyumri, had sold $1 billion worth of armaments
to Azerbaijan, including 18 powerful BM-30 Smerch multiple-rocket
launchers.
Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev characterized
the deal as "purely commercial," but some Armenian analysts call it
purely treacherous. "This is an important expression of Russia's
cynical policy, demonstrating ... that the complementary policy
[of building close ties with both Russia and the West] is no longer
acceptable" to the Kremlin, commented Stepan Grigorian, director of
Yerevan's Analytical Center of Globalization and Regional Cooperation.
Armenian-Russian relations undergo periodic strains, but the publicity
about the arms deal with Azerbaijan appeared "a deliberate calculation
to let Armenia know that it should no longer rely on them," argued
political analyst Aghasi Yenokian, director of the Armenian Center
for National and International Studies.
Analysts link that alleged shift in attitude to Armenia's pending
Association Agreement with the European Union, scheduled for signature
this fall. Yerevan has dodged joining the Russia-led Eurasian Customs
Union, a sort of post-Soviet alternative to the EU, and Moscow has
not hidden its irritation. On 11 July, Konstantin Zatulin, director
of the Commonwealth of Independent States Institute, warned that
"Yerevan should not forget that Russia is Armenia's security guarantee,
not the European Union."
But many Armenians would like to forget just that. Russia's hold on
Armenia's economy - via energy, railways, and telecommunications,
and as a market for Armenian labor migrants - doubles as a noose,
some say. The recent increase in prices for Russian gas, on which
Armenia depends, and subsequent protests over higher transportation
fares in Yerevan, only underlined that dependence.
Against that backdrop, Russia's behavior toward Harutiunian and
offhand attitude toward arms sales to Azerbaijan have delivered
the message that "'I own you and will do whatever I want to," argued
parliamentarian Lyudmila Sarksian, a member of the opposition Armenian
National Congress faction.
Opposition leader Raffi Hovhannisian, the former presidential
candidate, agrees. "If Russia, our strategic partner, is supplying
a billion dollars' worth of weaponry to a country that wants to
erase Armenia and Karabakh from the world map, what kind of strategic
partnership is that?" he asked reporters on 17 July. The treatment of
truck driver Harutiunian should serve as a further "alert," he added.
Sociologist Aharon Adibekian, head of the Sociometer Research Center,
believes, though, that ultimately the truck-driver scandal will have
only a "temporary" impact on ties between Armenia and Russia.
"There have been similar cases when passions flared up, but public
revolts such as this do not have a tangible impact on global politics,"
Adibekian said. "This is a merely emotional upheaval, and public
memory is short."
Hovhannes Sahakian, secretary of the ruling Republican Party
of Armenia's parliamentary faction, concurs. The outcry over
Haruitiunian's court appearance "has such a resonance just because
its timing coincided with the arms deal with Azerbaijan, but they
shouldn't be connected to each other"
Nonetheless, sensing themselves on the defensive for Armenia's policies
toward Russia, pro-government politicians such as Parliamentary
Speaker Hovik Abrahamian have condemned the treatment of Harutiunian
as "unacceptable and inhumane" and called for those responsible to
be held accountable.
Statements by the Russian Embassy in Yerevan and Foreign Ministry
indicate, however, that Moscow sees Armenians' anger more as an attempt
"by certain people" to try and "manipulate the tragedy" of the traffic
accident and "ignite anti-Russian passions."
Some Armenian observers have echoed those allegations, claiming that
either "certain Western elements" or Russia itself, in a supposed
bid "to get rid of their commitments to Armenia," stand behind the
protests and criticism.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin has stressed that
investigation of the accident will be fair. Harutiunian, who faces
seven years in prison, is undergoing psychiatric treatment in Moscow.
Gayane Abrahamyan is a freelance reporter and editor in Yerevan. This
article originally appeared on EurasiaNet.org.
http://www.tol.org/client/article/23878-moscow-and-yerevan-at-odds-over-arms-sales-and-a-bathrobe.html