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05 Mar 08 - 04:25 PM (#2280535) Subject: BS: Ignoring Armenia- again From: beardedbruce Washington Post Silence on Armenia Opposition protesters Saturday in Yerevan, Armenia. (By Mkhitar Khachatryan -- Associated Press) By Levon Ter-Petrossian Wednesday, March 5, 2008; Page A21 YEREVAN, Armenia -- In Armenia's presidential election last month, I stood as the main opposition candidate against incumbent Prime Minister Serzh Sarkissian. The election followed a sadly familiar script: The regime harassed the opposition's representatives, bribed and intimidated voters, stuffed ballot boxes, and systematically miscounted votes. Indeed, the rigging of the outcome did not begin on Feb. 19. For the duration of the campaign the country's main medium of communication, television, which is tightly controlled by the regime, churned out propaganda that would have made Brezhnev-era Soviet propagandists blush in shame. We in the opposition were angered by all of this but not surprised. What surprised and dismayed us was the deafening silence from the West. What dismayed us even more was the technical report of the observer mission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which rubber-stamped Sarkissian's farcical claim of victory. The people of Armenia, unlike the OSCE monitors, chose to see what happened at the polling stations. Naturally, they discounted Sarkissian's claim and gathered to demand annulment of the results. They staged a continuous protest at Opera Square that became the most wonderful celebration of freedom and one that should be studied as an example of nonviolent, lawful resistance against illegitimate rule. Deeply concerned that the ranks of protesters were swelling by the day, the regime decided early Saturday to resort to force. Riot police were ordered to disperse the crowd, detain the opposition leaders and put me under house arrest. After several hours, citizens reassembled at another site, demanding to see their leaders, but instead they encountered more riot police, later reinforced by units of the Armenian army, which was ordered to crush the protest. At least eight people were killed this weekend, and emergency rule has been declared. How did we come to this? Why did the regime headed by outgoing President Robert Kocharian and "president-elect" Sarkissian think it could get away with using force against its own people? Surely the two men had their reasons, but the West's signal, even if unintentional, that they did not have to worry about a strong international reaction was the most important one. We in Armenia have been trying to understand the roots of such indifference to the rape of our democracy by the Kocharian-Sarkissian regime. The available evidence suggests two explanations: First, some influential organizations and actors in the West, and in Europe in particular, are naively wedded to the notion of positive reinforcement. They seem to think that praising small improvements, instead of criticizing major flaws, creates an incentive for good behavior. Anyone who has studied this regime closely, however, understands the absurdity of such an approach. Second, and perhaps more important, is the oft-stated claim that the only people able to settle Armenia's long-standing conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region will be leaders who are themselves from Nagorno-Karabakh -- as Kocharian and Sarkissian are -- and who are perceived domestically as hard-liners. This is analogous to the "only Nixon could go to China" logic. The problem is that despite being in power for the past 10 years, Kocharian and Sarkissian have done little to move the negotiating process forward. More important, any leader who must make consequential and difficult choices must have the trust of his people. Sarkissian does not have that trust. After what he and Kocharian did on March 1, he will not be able to govern here, let alone make difficult choices. So what should be done? What do the people of Armenia expect from the West, and the United States in particular? At the very least, we expect a strong and unequivocal condemnation of the violence that occurred March 1 and a recognition that the government, not the opposition, bears responsibility. This condemnation should accompany a stern warning against continued persecution of the opposition and its leaders -- mistreatment that is reaching unprecedented levels -- as well as a demand to lift the restrictions on the media and restore the people's rights to free assembly and unbiased information. We also expect a reassessment of the conduct of the election. Any serious reassessment will inevitably lead to the conclusion that a new election must be held. If these steps are not taken, Armenians will draw two very undesirable conclusions: that peaceful and lawful means of political struggle are ineffective and pointless, and that the West cares about democracy only when it is politically expedient to do so. The West must do everything possible to dissuade Armenia's citizens from reaching those conclusions. The writer was president of Armenia from 1991 to 1998 and was the main opposition candidate for president this year. He is under house arrest. |
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05 Mar 08 - 05:13 PM (#2280580) Subject: RE: BS: Ignoring Armenia- again From: pdq "What surprised and dismayed us was the deafening silence from the West." The US has 4.6% of the world's population. As time goes on, fewer and fewer of them are willing to fight anything, muchless wage a war. We will not be able to fix everything wrong with the world. Get used to it. |
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06 Mar 08 - 05:47 PM (#2281595) Subject: RE: BS: Ignoring Armenia- again From: Jack Campin The US has been interfering in Armenia's internal affairs ever since it got independent and will doubtless continue to do so. They don't want Russia getting to control Azerbaijan's oil, so having a much more heavily armed neighbour ruled by an American-owned bunch of biddable corrupt thugs makes perfect geopolitical sense. (As well as having Azerbaijan run by a mirror-image mafia too, of course). And if the mass of Armenians aren't actually very enthusiastic about the prospect of having their country turned into the Israel of the Caucasus, tough. The US's response will probably be to offer Sarkissian a loan deal to stock up on armoured cars and police helicopters. |
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06 Mar 08 - 06:01 PM (#2281613) Subject: RE: BS: Ignoring Armenia- again From: Peace " . . . that the West cares about democracy only when it is politically expedient to do so." 'US diplomats have provided no indication that they will press either Kocharian or the president-elect Serzh Sarkisian for an honest accounting of the March 1 events, or for adjustments that could promote reconciliation and the stabilization of the domestic political environment. Bryza, the deputy assistant secretary of state, arrived in Yerevan on March 6 and appeared to offer a strong endorsement for incumbent authorities. "You are a special leader," the official Armenpress news agency quoted Bryza as telling Sarkisian during a meeting. "You have the vision and approaches which we want to see for the implementation of joint programs. We want you and Armenia to succeed." In sharp contrast to the US diplomatic stance, Canada on March 5 issued a broad critique of the Kocharian administration's practices. "It is a democratic right of people everywhere to gather and express their views, as long as it is done in a peaceful manner," Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier said in a statement, referring to the Yerevan election protest. "We urge the government of Armenia to respect these fundamental freedoms by lifting the state of emergency as soon as possible."' from http://www.eurasianet.org/armenia08/news/030608.shtml |
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06 Mar 08 - 07:20 PM (#2281671) Subject: RE: BS: Ignoring Armenia- again From: McGrath of Harlow I see they've sent John Prescott out there, to sort things out. Prescott leads Armenia peace trip That'll learn 'em. |
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17 Mar 08 - 07:36 AM (#2290418) Subject: RE: BS: Ignoring Armenia- again From: beardedbruce Washington Post: Moving Forward In Armenia By Serzh Sargsyan and Arthur Baghdasaryan Monday, March 17, 2008; Page A17 Armenia's reputation as a stable, democratic country in a troubled region has taken a battering recently. Although international observers gave an overall positive rating to the conduct of last month's presidential election, opposition forces took to the streets, seeking to overturn the people's will. Riots and armed demonstrations left more than 100 injured. Tragically, seven protesters and one police officer died. Public faith in our economy and political institutions has been undermined. Simply put, we had a competitive election. Dragging this crisis on, literally through the streets, only hurts Armenia. For almost a decade -- since then-President Levon Ter-Petrosyan resigned -- our country has avoided civil uproars and armed violence, allowing for a period of internationally recognized democratic and socioeconomic progress. But after he lost his bid to reclaim the presidency in February, Ter-Petrosyan resorted to a dangerous and profoundly undemocratic form of populism. He radicalized a part of the opposition and guided it into a standoff with the state, which led to the March 1 riots in which armed demonstrators confronted police. It was clear to all moderate political forces -- pro-government or supporters of the opposition -- that declaring a state of emergency was the only possible option to protect our citizens. We have until Thursday, when the state of emergency is lifted, to find political solutions and ensure that Armenia does not slide back into chaos. The two of us were competitors in the presidential election. But we are united in our desire to end the current crisis and put Armenia back on track. Cooperation is the way forward. The political alliance we have created, between the president-elect and the Rule of Law Party, is an effort to do things democratically and through compromise. Between us, we represent 70 percent of the votes of the Armenian people. This is a serious and solid mandate. On this basis, we will pursue ambitious but realistic reforms that will strengthen our democracy and our nation's socioeconomic progress. In this moment of crisis, we have agreed to assume responsibility for joint governance. This form of government has not been imposed upon Armenia; we have chosen it as the best way forward. This new, grand coalition will guarantee that the people's will is reflected. We insist, however, that continued progress is possible only through dialogue and reform. Violence has no place in democracy. Therefore, we ask those who are still promoting instability on the streets to join us in political dialogue and to help us guide our country toward prosperity. Armenia faces a series of external challenges that we hope to address. First among them is the long-standing conflict over who should control the Nagorno-Karabakh region between our country and Azerbaijan; second is the normalization of relations with Turkey. Only a government with wide popular support, not one created through street violence, can successfully resolve these problems. We will also continue to ask the international community to recognize the Armenian genocide, though this issue should not prevent us from moving forward. We do not assume that all of our country's ills will be solved through a coalition government. And we will certainly address the expectations of the several thousands of voters who are dissatisfied; we must do so to build consensus. But we must also recognize the expectations of the many more thousands of voters who chose the government that is in power. We will do our utmost to restore public trust in the electoral process and to unite the nation again. Our priority is to run a transparent government and have a clear agenda, which we will announce. We will fight corruption head-on. We are confident that with the world's help, reason and responsibility will regain the upper hand in Armenia. We have no time to waste -- there is a lot of work to do. Despite recent events, our country is still moving forward. The international community has everything to gain through supporting a stable, transparent and elected government in Armenia. Serzh Sargsyan, prime minister of Armenia, is chairman of the Republican Party. He is the country's president-elect. Arthur Baghdasaryan, a former speaker of Armenia's parliament, represented the opposition Orinats Yekir (Rule of Law) Party in the February election; he placed third. |
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17 Mar 08 - 02:28 PM (#2290763) Subject: RE: BS: Ignoring Armenia- again From: Jack Campin How do Armenian relations with Iran fit into all this? Is the US hoping to station nukes in Armenia, targeted on Iran? |
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17 Mar 08 - 02:35 PM (#2290768) Subject: RE: BS: Ignoring Armenia- again From: beardedbruce You are the only one bringing up Iran, I believe. Could you be trying to hijack this thread???? |