ARMENIAN OPPOSITION ACTIVIST DENIES BEING INSTRUCTED BY BRITISH OFFICIAL
by Kristine Khanumyan

Haykakan Zhamanak
Dec 9 2008
Armenia

"An ordinary visit – with extraordinary consequences"

The deputy head of the British embassy in Armenia visited Zhirayr
Seyfilyan, a Karabakh war veteran and a member of the Miatsum national
initiative, at the end of November, and talked to him tete-a-tete
for about an hour.

It is unknown what the Seyfilyan and deputy ambassador talked about
during the meeting. Seyfilyan said only that this was a regular meeting
with a person who carries out a diplomatic mission in Armenia and that
from time to time he receives staff members of other embassies. In
general, Seyfilyan said the British deputy ambassador asked about the
general situation and about the existing problems, which he believes
is a regular practice. Another member of the Miatsum initiative,
Zaruhi Postanjyan [MP of the opposition Heritage Party] also told
us that similar meetings between staff members of various embassies
and Armenian public figures are held often, and this one can also be
considered a regular meeting.

It is noteworthy that the visit of the British deputy ambassador, his
entrance to the building and his departure were photographed minute
after minute and published as a sensation peppered with comments in
a pro-[President] Serzh Sargsyan] newspaper [the Hayots Ashkharh
pro-government daily]. Moreover, it was implied that the British
official tries to destabilize Armenia’s political life with Seyfilyan’s
help. The fact that after the meeting Seyfilyan went directly to the
Yerablur Pantheon [in central Yerevan] and went on a hunger strike
there – demanding not to cede a piece of land [to Azerbaijan], is
described as an attempt "to destabilize the country". Seyfilyan said
this does not correspond to reality. "What can I say? Do embassy
employees have a right to contact people who deal with politics in
Armenia or not?" Seyfilyan asked us about this yesterday [8 December],
adding that he believes there is a direct link between the denial of
his recent application for citizenship and this story.

On the day when the picture of the British deputy ambassador entering
the building of the Miatsum was published, the government once again
turned down Seyfilyan’s application for Armenian citizenship. "It
is not accidental that the report was published on the same day – I
believe that they are preparing grounds (for not granting citizenship
– author). I do not know to what extent they will succeed in this,
I do not know, but this is my impression," Seyfilyan said, adding
that he is going to call a news conference regarding the issue and
introduce all the details.

P.S. We applied to the British embassy in Armenia yesterday [8
December] to get clarifications about what happened and comments
regarding it. They told us that the ambassador is out of the city,
and they will most probably provide comments today.