KOCHARIAN TO ATTEND RUSSIAN EX-PRESIDENT’S FUNERAL
By Ruzanna Khachatrian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
April 24 2007

President Robert Kocharian will fly to Moscow to attend the state
funeral of Russia’s former President Boris Yeltsin scheduled for
Wednesday, his office said on Tuesday.

Yeltsin, who died of heart failure on Monday aged 76, had presided
over the 1991 break-up of the Soviet Union and governed Russia until
handing over power to his handpicked successor, Vladimir Putin, in late
1999. He had also played a key role in close political and militaries
relations forged by Armenia and Russia following the Soviet collapse.

Kocharian sent a message of condolences to Putin late Monday, paying
tribute to Yeltsin’s contribution to democratic change in Russia
and Russian-Armenian ties. "Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin is an era,
a reference point in the history of relations between our fraternal
peoples," he said.

Former President Levon Ter-Petrosian, who had closely dealt with
the Yeltsin administration throughout his eight-year presidency,
sent a separate message of condolences to the Russian ex-president’s
wife Naina. "I have lost a sincere and faithful friend who combined
unwavering moral principles, kindness, humanity with the wisdom of
a distinguished statesman," wrote Ter-Petrosian.

"I would particularly like to emphasize the Boris Nikolayevich’s
contribution to the establishment and deepening of allied relations
between Russia and Armenia in the interests of peace and stability
in our region," he said.

A spokesman for Ter-Petrosian told RFE/RL that the Armenian
ex-president will not attend Yeltsin’s funeral. Yeltsin met both
Ter-Petrosian and Kocharian during his last, private visit to Armenia
in October 2002.

Yeltsin’s political legacy was also praised on Tuesday by two Armenian
opposition leaders who held senior government positions in the early
1990s. Former Prime Minister Vazgen Manukian and former Foreign
Minister Raffi Hovannisian said the Russian-Armenian relationship
was based on an equal footing at the time.

"Yeltsin’s Russia had no imperial designs on Armenia, and Armenia’s
[former] leadership behaved more independently," Manukian told
RFE/RL. "Relations with Russia were based on political, economic
and military interests, rather than [the current Armenian leaders’]
desire to retain power."

"The Boris Yeltsin era was a time of real partnership, mutual respect,
and friendship of equals," agreed Hovannisian.