Leader of the “New Times” party Aram Karapetyan is of the opinion that the Armenian authorities’ “puppet show” is over.
During a press conference held on October 25, Karapetyan touched upon two issues, one of which concerned the issue of Javakhk. The political figure mainly talked about member of the “United Javakhk” party Vahagn Chakhalyan, who had been arrested for illegally crossing the border of Armenia and Georgia. The leader of “New Times” said that the “juvenile” was recognized as a persona non grata with the order of the prime minister of Armenia Andranik Markaryan and he was forbidden to enter Armenia. “What kinds of problems did he have with national security officers and did his passport really state that he wasn’t allowed to enter? If he isn’t allowed, why did they let him enter and then beat and arrest him?” asked A. Karapetyan and answered that with another question: “Did the Armenian authorities really do what Sahakashvili and the Georgian special services order to do?” Karapetyan gave the answer to this last question in the answer to his third question-where are Sahakashvili’s orders going to lead us? Perhaps it’s amazing to hear that the Armenian authorities are doing just what Georgian special services are requesting, but according to the debater, they have gone down the “plank” so much that it’s quite possible. “Perhaps soon they will become a marionette for Sahakashvili’s adviser.”
But for the sake of what may the Armenian authorities turn into the commissioner for Georgia? Even A. Karapetyan doesn’t have the answer to this and can only predict. “Are they doing that so Sahakashvili can lobby in the U.S. for Armenia? It doesn’t matter; Georgia won’t take that step. It’s still a question as to whether or not Sahakashvili will stay…do the Armenian authorities really think that they can keep good relations with the U.S. This is not state policy”.
Karapetyan says that it’s possible to sit and discuss plans with the Georgians, discuss issues at the state level and not “beg Sahakashvili to organize a meeting with Robert Kocharyan and Berezovski…what kind of “brotherhood” is there between Georgia and Armenia to have Armenia cede 6,000 kilometers of land and Georgia not let a transit pass to Armenia through Russia?”
In response to the question as to how can the Armenian authorities change that fast when they are being accused of being pro-Russian, Karapetyan said: “Our authorities are pro-Russian for the first ten days, then the next ten days they are pro-American and it’s not clear what they are the last ten days of the month.”
According to him, this can be explained by the following: the authorities’ obsession of keeping power; they are not only obsessed with Russia and America, but also with money.
As for the visit of Robert Kocharyan to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Karapetyan believes that the two presidents will discuss the Javakhk issue among the issues concerning the situation of Iran and the gas supply because “the Russians don’t understand why Armenia is being passive.”
It turns out that the Russians think more about Armenia than us Armenians. However, this has nothing to do with the closing of the Higher Lars passing point, which serves as a means for Russia to subject its strategic ally to a blockade. Karapetyan says that Armenia needs to talk seriously with Russia, especially since Russians are also interested in clearing up things. “Russians realize that the people are not passive, rather the authorities. Russia sees that Armenia is not a strategic ally,” says A. Karapetyan and adds that in the end, the meeting can be with Kocharyan, Sahakashvili and Putin.
The next issue that A. Karapetyan talked about was the A-320 plane that crashed. According to the speaker, the Armenian authorities are trying to do everything they can to forget about the minor details of this accident. “When they were discussing Hakob Hakobyan’s case, everyone was gathered at the National Assembly. But the plane fell, 113 people died and the National Assembly didn’t pay any attention to that.” A. Karapetyan informed that according to their party’s sources, right after the plane crash Armenia received a telegram with the following message: “hOVTspTS tRTtOs r FSROVO” (the plane is not on the radar screen). Karapetyan stated that he has talked with experts and can say that this message means one thing: the plane has exploded. The “New Times” leader gave a couple of questions: Have criminals attempted to make the plane go down? Have they transferred money or diamonds? Have the VIP officers checked passengers for explosives or weapons before they got on the plane? Finally, does the plane crash have anything to do with the burning of the plane in Brussels, which followed right after? Aram Karapetyan said that based on the information of his sources, the burnt plane had documents of technical significance referring to the A-320 plane. He also knows that the plane used to transport gold and drugs to Sochi three times a month before the day of the crash. The political figure has no hope that the public prosecutors will respond to these questions. In response to the journalists’ question as to what’s the point of asking questions and from whom does he expect to hear answers, the speaker said: “It’ s important to have those questions always be in the center of attention.” It is quite possible that Aram Karapetyan, with his pro-Russian views and eccentric announcements and behavior, is not really worried over these issues; rather, he has the desire to be in the center of everybody’s attention with the purpose of becoming a better political figure and raise his “price”. However, the “New Times” leader has sent his questions to the Prosecution and promises that when he gets the final conclusion of the investigation, he will also state his own conclusion.