NO MATTER HOW UNNATURAL IT SEEMS
By Ruben Hayrapetian in Moscow

AZG Armenian Daily
23/05/2006

The coverage of the Armenia A320 crash in Russian media is viewed in
Armenia as an expression of sympathy from the Russians. In general,
it is so. Yet, no matter how indiscreet raising this issue may seem,
it turns out that even the coverage of such a tragic accident cannot
avoid being politicized. Media reports that followed the crash reveal
underlying themes.

So, what are the Russian papers writing? The crash of A320 early
this month and the fire at the Brussels airport are viewed as a
manifestation of rivalry between Boeing of the USA and European
Airbus. The Russian printed press writes that in this rivalry the
US monopolistic interests coincide with Washington’s foreign policy
in the region where “pro-Russian” Armenia upsets its plans regarding
monopoly in Caspian basin.

In terms of time the crash coincided with the Vilnius get-together of
anti-Russian forces where US vice-president Dick Cheney’s speech caused
panic in Kremlin. Russian FM Sergei Lavrov’s toothless response that
Cheney’s assistants misinterpreted “our democracy” reduced Russian
leadership’s comeback to minimum. It’s clear that a scandal with
world leaders at the threshold of hyped up G8 summit in Petersburg
was not playing into president Putin’s hands.

Reportedly, the Kremlin “warned” mass media to overlook the American’s
ultimatum-like speech. But on the other hand, how to mitigate the
fact of humiliation before a public challenge? It is here that the
mass media resorts to full-scale broadcast of Armenian jet crash. A
very human, distracting and respectful way towards the “strategic
partner”…