Armenian group stages demo over editorial on US official’s remarks

Noyan Tapan news agency
21 Jan 05

YEREVAN

The Stability public movement staged a protest outside the editorial
office of Armenia’s Aravot newspaper in the Press House on 21
January. They demanded that either the newspaper publish a denial of
an editorial in its latest issue or the editor-in-chief of the
newspaper leave the country as a “traitor”.

The editorial said the following: “In the opinion of some observers,
the statement of US Assistant State Secretary for European and
Eurasian Affairs Elizabeth Jones that the Nagornyy Karabakh
authorities are ‘corrupt’ and ‘criminal’ is absolutely slanderous, for
the ‘corrupt’ and ‘criminal’ elements of Karabakh have long moved to
Armenia.”

Burning the 20 January issue of Aravot, members of the movement said
that the protest is directed against the bias of the newspaper, not
against freedom of conscience or democracy. In their view, the article
was “reprinted from the Turkish press and is in line with the way of
thinking of the Turkish rabble”. The protesters carried slogans
“Aravot is a traitor”.

The newspaper has no intention of refuting its opinion and does not
take seriously the opinion of these “young people”, the
editor-in-chief of Aravot, Aram Abramyan, told Noyan Tapan news
agency. He said that the protesters may express their indignation on
the pages of Aravot.