Corruption takes place everywhere

The Messenger, Georgia
Dec 17 2004

The Armenian newspaper Aravot writes that corruption takes place in
all the countries of the world, but in the West it is a bit different,
a little more subtle, than the corruption in Armenia. The paper writes
that the corruption in Armenia is simple and unpretentious: “even
the Armenian authorities feel shy to call it corruption.” Minister
of Defense Serzh Sarkisyan in a recent interview stated that there
is no corruption in his ministry. “He stressed that there is no
corruption in the ministry and no bribery, because as he thinks,
many people mix these two words,” the paper notes.

The UN thinks that corruption is the abuse of state power for the
promotion of self-interested benefits. However, an interdisciplinary
group from the Council of Europe considers that corruption is bribery
and any other conduct of an official or private person that causes a
violation of their obligations and that aims to receive any illegal
benefits for themselves and others.

“So, proceeding from this, our state figures appease themselves in
vain with the idea that primitive bribery is not corruption,” the paper
ironically states, “Maybe some think that there is no need to conceal
themselves because their activity is not considered corruption. We
have no corruption in our country at all: this is just legal bribery.”