Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, who has come to the region on a working visit met with President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan yesterday. A rather long while had passed after the meeting had ended, when the president’s press office made a statement. According to the one-and-a-half-page official statement, Serzh Sargsyan and Ms. Clinton only praised each other. As the saying goes, “they got on like a house on fire.”
www.aravot.am tried to understand during a conversation with Aram Karapetyan, the leader of the New Times Party (NTP), whether it had become clear for the politician from that statement why Ms. Clinton had come to our country. Our interlocutor is under the impression that theUS Secretary of State talked with Serzh Sargsyan with much respect, “I am happy that Ms. Clinton appreciates Serzh Sargsyan so highly, but it would be better, if that assessment was made also by the Armenian people. However, I think that unfortunately, we will deal with a worse situation now.” Aram Karapetyan explains this last thought of his in the following manner, “I remember how everyone welcomed Eduard Nalbandyan inZurich in regard to the protocols. If leaders of the great powers praise someone like that, I am proud, on one hand, but on the other hand, I am always under the impression that they will demand something in return. Therefore, one shouldn’t expect anything good for us, Armenians, from those praises and we have a history of suffering.”
In the context of the regional developments and regardless of the texts written by the Armenian President’s PR men, the NTP leader thinks that theRepublicofArmeniafaces three problems – the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, opening the Armenian-Turkish border and the explosive situation aroundSyriaandIran. These praises should be considered in the context of one of them.Armenia’s joining the EU, NATO or the Eurasian Union, economic aid etc. derive from them.
Aram Karapetyan reminds our state figures about Yulia Tymoshenko’s example, “If I am not mistaken, it was on July 2-3, 2010, whenClintonpaid a visit toUkraineand had a private meeting with then already former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. She called her the pioneer of democracy; she said that they should do everything in order that the democracy might win in Ukraine etc… As an adherent of the Armenian Apostolic Church who doesn’t wish evil even to his enemies, I would like our state figures to always consider this example. I would advise them to restrain that feeling of admiration. I am for the state figures to be praised by their own peoples.”
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Nelly GRIGORYAN
