Armenians To Vote for President

Monday, February 18, 2008
The Associated Press

YEREVAN, Armenia — Armenians vote for a new president Tuesday amid
fears that Kosovo’s declaration of independence could increase tensions
in breakaway regions across the former Soviet Union.

The election pits Armenia’s powerful prime minister, Serge Sarkisian,
53, against former President Levon Ter-Petrosian, 63, who led the
country through the first painful years of independence from the Soviet
Union and the devastating war over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The stern Sarkisian, groomed by outgoing President Robert Kocharian as
his preferred successor, is expected to win, benefiting from the
country’s relatively strong economy. Many voters here associate
Ter-Petrosian with the economic collapse of the 1990s.

The two candidates differ sharply in their approach to Nagorno-Karabakh.

Sarkisian, a native of the region and a decorated war hero, is unlikely
to yield. Ter-Petrosian, who was forced to resign in 1998 after
advocating concessions, has hinted that he could seek a compromise.

The election could determine how far Armenia is willing to go to avoid
renewed conflict with Azerbaijan — which has been beefing up its
military in recent years with its oil wealth — over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The struggle over the breakaway region of Azerbaijan is one of several
so-called frozen conflicts that could heat up after the declaration of
independence by Serbia’s breakaway province of Kosovo.

Nagorno-Karabakh and several surrounding areas in Azerbaijan have been
controlled by ethnic Armenian separatists since a 1994 cease-fire ended
six years of full-scale war.

Some 30,000 people were killed and more than 1 million driven from
their homes in the fighting. There are still sporadic clashes along
Nagorno-Karabakh’s borders.

The Armenian government says Nagorno-Karabakh should be recognized as a
sovereign state, while Azerbaijan says it will never cede its territory.

Armenia’s location between the energy-rich Caspian Sea region and
southern Europe, and its proximity to Iran, make it of strategic
importance for the West and Russia.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress