ARMENIANS GETTING BIASED COVERAGE OF GEORGIAN EVENTS – OPPOSITION MP
ArmInfo News Agency (in Russian)
Sept 2 2008
Armenia
The Armenian public does not get comprehensive and fair information
from the local media on the events in Georgia, an opposition MP
has said.
Speaking to Armenian news agency Arminfo, Stepan Safaryan, the
secretary of the opposition Heritage party faction in parliament, said
that the public would be informed better about the positions of the
sides in the conflict if the "state propaganda media, and especially
the Public TV, provided full information" about the events in Georgia
and the international community’s position on the conflict. He said
that that simple comparison of the Armenian media to their Western
counterparts shows that the Armenian media is in a dire situation,
Arminfo reported.
Armenian viewers do not know that there is no unity on the issue among
the Western countries, and the Russian channels aired in Armenia
"air biased information, they do not report about Georgia’s losses
and sufferings," Safaryan said according to Arminfo.
Safaryan also said that destabilization of the situation in Georgia
is very undesirable for Armenia, Arminfo reported. He added that
Armenia should work with the Georgian leadership to get serious
security guarantees for the Armenian population in Georgia. He said
that there is a serious threat of pushing Armenians towards a conflict
with Georgia in terms of the "Javkahk" card played by third parties.
"After gaining full control over Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Russia
has lost its leverage over Georgia. Javakhk [Javakheti region of
Georgia] and territories populated by Azerbaijanis have remained the
only cards for Russia," Arminfo quoted Safaryan as saying.