Armenian Communist leader appeals to Russia to open Georgian border
checkpoint
Arminfo
6 Oct 04
YEREVAN
First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of
Armenia Ruben Tovmasyan has sent a letter to the leader of the Russian
Communists, Gennadiy Zyuganov, in which he asks him to raise the issue
of the situation on the Russian-Georgian border with the leaders of
Russia.
Armenian Communists have asked their Russian colleagues to use every
opportunity available to the Communist Party of the Russian Federation
for this purpose, including the platform of the State Duma. “The
situation in Armenia has begun to deteriorate sharply, the
socioeconomic crisis is deepening and prices for basic goods are
growing. All this is giving rise to justified dissatisfaction among
broad sections of society,” says Ruben Tovmasyan’s letter to Gennadiy
Zyuganov.
The letter also spells out concern about the further development of
Armenian-Russian strategic cooperation. “Pro-western political forces
who are whipping up anti-Russian hysteria are trying to exploit the
current difficulties. Despite requests by the Armenian side at all
levels, the Russian leadership is still not doing anything to try to
resolve the situation and this is giving rise to increasing
incomprehension among Armenian society about such an attitude to its
sole strategic ally in the Caucasus,” the letter says.
We should note that after the tragic events in the North Ossetian town
of Beslan Russia closed the Verkhniy Lars checkpoint on the
Russian-Georgian border. As a result a large number of passenger and
other vehicles heading for Armenia has piled up at this section. The
Transcaucasus highway is the sole road linking Russia with the
Transcaucasus.