ARMENIAN PRO-GOVERNMENT DAILY DENIES ALLEGATIONS OF ANTI-SEMITISM

Hayots Ashkharh
July 3 2008
Armenia

Hayots Ashkharh referred to the recent statement of US Assistant
Secretary of State David Kramer, who said there was an instance
of anti-Semitism in the Armenian media, as well as the OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly’s 1 July resolution "On fighting anti-Semitism
and especially its expressions in the media and academic sphere"
which focused on the commitments of the OSCE member states in the
sphere of anti-Semitism. "It is more than senseless" to search for
signs of anti-Semitism in Armenia and the US Department of State and
the OSCE are aware of this, Hayots Ashkharh said.

The paper explained the "attempts to search for anti-Semitism"
in Armenia with the activity of opposition leader and former
presidential candidate Levon Ter-Petrosyan. It said that part of
the Armenian public were seriously concerned that the Jewish factor
was highly visible during the Armenian presidential election last
February. Hayots Ashkharh recalled that there were reports in the media
that Jewish organizations had allocated tens of millions of dollars
for Ter-Petrosyan’s presidential campaign and that Ter-Petrosyan’s
team had never denied those reports.

The paper also pointed at the presence of the Israeli flag at the
post-election rallies of Ter-Petrosyan’s supporters. Hayots Ashkharh
said this could have aimed to provoke the government to raise an
objection and then prompt the US Department of State and the OSCE to
list Armenia among anti-Semitic countries.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress