PROBLEMS FOREVER

The Armenian political expert says, analyzing further developments.

Prominent political expert Vyacheslav Nikonov has expressed his opinion in the interview in “Rosiskaya gazeta” newspaper that Armenian-Russian relations will depend on the new authority in Yerevan: “Those political forces, which try to alienate Yerevan from Russia, may cause a certain instability in the region. At the same time it is obvious that Serge Sargsyan\’s victory in the presidential elections may stimulate Armenian-Russian relations and reciprocal prospects will be opened.” It is also told in the interview that the political force, which will win in the parliamentary elections, will have a good opportunity to win in the presidential elections, too. “At the same time I think that businessman Gagik Tsarukyan, who is a new figure in the policy, will hardly become the president, I\’m inclined to think that the successor will be from Republican Party. The polling results show that the society considers Serge Sargsyan as the successor. He is a person who has received philological education but has become one of the commanders of Karabakh war, as fate willed.” Vyacheslav Nikonov also says that Serge Sargsyan “derives support” from Moscow and “the West has no allergic effect against him”.
The Russian analyst\’s standpoints aren\’t adopted in the Armenian reality. We made polling from the common citizens, politicians and political businessmen. There were different standpoints. In particularly the common citizens think that they won\’t decide who will be the next president. 65 year old Tigran Harutiunyan, learning about the Russian expert\’s analyze, told us: “Why are you surprised, who else will be but the Russians, haven\’t you read Khachatur Abovyan?” Then he added: “Why Serge shouldn\’t become the president?” A woman next to him who was interested in Armenian-Russian relations, as her two sons were working in Russia, told us: “Calm down, let it be what will be, our sons don\’t come back from Russia, will it be bad?” We were talking to them on Kasyan street, and a man who was selling lemons told that he was satisfied with Russia and other countries, too: “Isn\’t it enough to devote you to Russia, don\’t you understand that just the Russians took all we had”.
Deputy leader of Liberal Progressive Party of Armenia Eduard Antinyan thinks that our authorities have succeeded in carrying out complementary policy before not only for being diplomats but also” because the interests of Russia and U.S. hasn\’t opposed each other so sharply. And when the interests oppose, the small country can\’t carry out complementary policy. If anybody thinks that there will be any president in Armenia who will express the interests of both Russia and U.S.A., then he must find the rational policy, which he must carry out towards both countries. While today Baku-Tbilisi-Jeihan and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzrum obviously show that economic channels have become political, that Europe connects its energetic diversification with gas and oil of Baku, which is a transit coming from Middle Asia, and everybody welcomes it, Azerbaijan becomes a factor, it is a strategic partner with Turkey, Georgia is obliged to be a partner but it also demonstrates its interests for alienation from Russia. This means that Armenia can\’t appear in Iran-Armenia-Russia core, we should simply look at the map and understand that it will pass either through Russia or Azerbaijan.” He said that it wasn\’t important who would be the president of the country: “The problem is more global. It is obvious that countries, which have clear western interests, surround us. That means that the supporters of those countries are stronger than our partner is.”
Hrant Vardanyan, the owner of “Grand Holding” was acquainted with the Russian expert\’s analyzes and told: “In my opinion if Serge Sargsyan becomes the president, not only Armenian-Russian relations but the relations with all our neighbors will be developed, a profound person must be the president of Armenia in the coming 15-20 years, who understands the NK problem very well as our people\’s primary problem is the settlement of NK conflict, and Serge Sargsyan will be the best selection”. We noticed whether the West doesn\’t play any role in Armenia, especially today, when our neighbors access NATO. In Hrant Vardanyan\’s opinion the West has already played its role: “Khachik Sukiasyan told a right thing about our national brand, he told that our brand was genocide. The rest of our brands, our cultural values are demolished by the West, “Jermuk” is a good example for you. I\’ll speak about it later, and it is shameful for all of us, the authorities and people that we didn\’t reply to the blackmail of transnational American leaders, the blackmail of American powerful state against our small country.”