There was a recent publication about one of the meetings of leader of the “Country of Law” party, Arthur Baghdasaryan, in the “Golos Armeni” paper.
The article printed in the press was about the meeting of Baghdasaryan and a top-ranking official of the British Embassy [which had taken place in the “Marco Polo” café in Yerevan]. The press had mentioned that the sound recording of the conversation was at their editorial office, but they are not publishing the name of the top-ranking British official. As to how and which bodies may be permitted to have such a recording is a different story, however their conversation is rather interesting.
Based on the press recording, Baghdasaryan, leader of “Country of Law”, was trying to convince the top-ranking British official to have the international community interfere in the Armenian National Assembly elections with its harsh announcements and give negative evaluations. It is understandable what the consequences of the evaluations of the international community will be for Armenia. But Baghdasaryan only cares about himself. With regards to this publication, the “Country of Law” office correspondents told “168 Hours” that “Arthur Baghdasaryan has numerous meetings during which, obviously, many issues concerning the upcoming elections are discussed. What’s more, in his public speeches, A. Baghdasaryan has talked about the need for making the elections correspond to international norms several times, and has announced that the international community is not indifferent towards these phenomena because Armenia has taken on international obligations.”
The “Country of Law” office considers the above-mentioned recording “well-prepared black propaganda”. As far as the conclusion of “Golos Armeni” is concerned, claiming that Arthur Baghdasaryan and his interlocutor are interested in tearing down Armenia’s reputation during the upcoming elections, “Country of Law” said:
“The people falsifying the elections are the ones ruining Armenia’s reputation, not the political parties and activists making public speeches about that. It is clear and out in the open as to who benefits from implementing black propaganda at a heated point of the campaign.”
Of course, as PR experts say, there is no such thing as “black propaganda or black PR”. Whenever real facts come up, very often Armenian politicians refer to these facts as black propaganda or technologies. However, the citizen/voter must know everything about the candidate, the politician.
If you recall, months ago “168 Hours” published articles with the title “The Turkish trace in Armenia’s political field” according to which the leader of “Country of Law” had told well-known foreign mass media the following with regards to Armenian-Turkish relations:
“The majority of the elite of Armenia are absorbed in the past. However, spending too much time on remembering the sad times creates obstacles for our relations with neighbors, mainly with Turkey and Azerbaijan. This can not benefit peace, stability and long-term prosperity. Taking into consideration the enormous amount of benefit that a supply of Azerbaijani energy (oil, natural gas, etc.) and Turkish investments may provide for the Armenian economy, the establishment of normal ties with those countries, with whom we don’t have diplomatic relations, will be decisive for us and the entire region.”
So, Baghdasaryan will do everything just to have the outside forces “place a bet on him”. Recently, leader of the National Democratic Party, Shavarsh Kocharyan, told “168 Hours” that the leader of “Country of Law”, Arthur Baghdasaryan, may take any step just to get on the good side of the U.S. or Russia.
“You can’t bring a bill to the National Assembly in order to please Russia (as Baghdasaryan did-T.KH.) by which the Russian language, in essence, receives the status of a second language, and then make the West understand that if you come to power, you will be ready to cede Karabagh, just to get on the good side of the West.”
Mikayel Hayrapetyan, Leader of the “Conservative” Party, noted correctly during a recent meeting held by the “Impeachment” NGO/initiative that when Arthur Baghdasaryan was chairman of the National Assembly, in the late hours of April 12, 2004, red capped officers “gathered on the grounds of the institution he was running” and then, from there, attacked the peaceful demonstrators, while Baghdasaryan did not do anything about that, and just silently watched. That is why the current oppositional political parties don’t trust the timed activities of the “Country of Law” leader. And now Arthur Baghdasaryan is protesting against raising the issue of impeachment of Robert Kocharyan.
“What, he took hold of France, is looking for a “daddy” and that “daddy” happens to be Robert Kocharyan?” asks Hayrapetyan. This is not the first time that Artur Baghdasaryan subordinates the most important issues for Armenia for his own good in the name of coming to power. So, everything is unpredictable.