The swan, the crab and the shark or why they rejected Levitin

21/07/2006 Karapet TOMIKYAN

The “Armavia” A-320 plane crash still remains a mystery. A couple of days ago, it seemed as though we were close to finding out the truth, but alas, nothing. This time they say we will know until the end of July. What’s the reason for postponing? Perhaps it’s the disagreement between the “interested” sides, which the public doesn’t know about.

On July 7, the Intergovernmental Aviation Committee (IAC) spread a message claiming that the modeling of the A-320 plane crash is over and “there are new important facts”. On July 10, the professional discussions between members of the UN sub-committees on the research of the crash ended. After that, it seemed as though the UN would state its conclusion. But things didn’t go as planned. On July 12, Minister of Transportation of Russia Igor Levitin and head of the UN CIS Tatyana Anodina paid a visit to Yerevan. Can we really consider it by chance that the President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan officially welcomed Minister of Transportation of Russia as the co-chairman of the Armenian-Russian intergovernmental committee on economic issues and not as the president of the intergovernmental committee investigating the reasons for the plane crash?

It was clear that the public wouldn’t know anything about the reasons for the crash and that’s exactly what happened. They only officially announced that Levitin and Adonina had informed the president of Armenia about the results of the plane crash investigation. Afterwards, the officials went on to discuss Russian-Armenian economic cooperation, including Higher Lars, “Mars”, etc. Apparently, that’s the way it should have been.

Perhaps these “active” economic discussions were just a way to “throw dust in people’s eyes”? There were three sides taking part in the plane crash investigation-Armenians, Russians and the French. The UN presents the conclusion and the sides sign.

Let’s try and imagine the following scenario: The UN and Levitin present the signed conclusion to Armenia. Armenia is no “fool” to easily agree with and confirm something, which doesn’t benefit the country. The sides come to terms, leave the office and announce that they are currently “formulating the documents” and that they will be ready by the end of July. This is the most possible version. Otherwise, why is the UN delaying to read the conclusion when it told the public to wait a couple of days in the beginning of July? If the Armenian side has really refused to sign under the document, then it’s not that hard to predict what’s written in that document.

During an interview with “Haykakan Zhamanak” (Armenian Times) newspaper, owner of “Armavia” airlines Mikhail Baghdasarov said once again that there was no shortage of fuel in the A-320 plane, the plane was well-equipped and the pilots were professionals. So, according to Baghdasarov, Armenia was not to blame for the crash. But based on what Baghdasarov is saying, it’s easy to see that the French and the Russians tend to differ in opinion. Baghdasarov claims that each of the sides that participated in the investigation is trying to protect its interests.

“Of course, Armenia isn’t really in a good situation, but in any case, our professionals are well-prepared and actively participate in the investigation,” says Baghdasarov.

The statement “Armenia really isn’t in a good situation” hints that as long as the UN and Levitin haven’t made any changes to the conclusion, Armenia won’t sign. It’s difficult to see any signs of cooperation. In the end, will they claim that it was the pilots’ fault? But didn’t they say that there are “new facts”? This means that they have to add one more factor having to do with the people who stayed alive. As to which factor that is, only time and the “actions” of the sides will show. It’s quite possible that the end of July will be postponed to the end of August, or September…Unfortunately, the truth behind the A-320 tragic plane crash will be revealed only after the ones responsible are long gone.