MONITORING CONDUCTED IN ARMENIA AND TURKEY SIMULTANEOUSLY
ARMEN TSATOURYAN
Hayots Ashkharh Daily
19 Dec 2008
Armenia
The decision on suspending the Armenian delegation’s right to vote,
adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on
December 17, is the beginning of the process of subordinating the
democracy issues to the European Union and the entire West.
At first sight associated with course of the implementation of PACE
Resolutions # 1609 and 1620 on the March 1 developments in Armenia,
the "yellow card" shown to our country is not going to turn into a
"red" one in the PACE winter session to be held on January 26.
Moreover, we believe that the authors of this warning do not simply
pursue a goal of controlling the course of the implementation of the
two PACE resolutions.
The "yellow card" shown to our country certainly has different
political motives. And from the point of view of such motives, it is
becoming clear why the European officials so suddenly remembered about
the investigation of the March 1 developments, an issue they kept in a
"half-frozen" state for several months continuously.
If we view the issue against the background of the developments in our
country, we will immediately see where the heart of the matter lies.
Moreover, the serious developments expected in the Karabakh peace
process have become a matter of20concern not only for the Armenian but
also for the Azerbaijani authorities, which are facing more serious
problems in comparison with us.
The "yellow card" shown to the Armenian authorities on December 17
is one of the loops of the long chain of steps aimed at integrating
our country to the Euro-Atlantic area. Following the Russian-Georgian
war and the subsequent developments, the EU member states and the US
have made the issue of unknotting the century-old Armenian-Turkish
entangled string their primary task in the South Caucasus.
And the current plans of conducting monitoring in Armenia and Turkey
simultaneously lie behind such calculations. Along with raffling the
"perestroyka" that started in Turkey by a shake of the "magic stick",
the principal issues which will enable Armenia to quickly integrate to
the Euro-Atlantic area through the formation of a new balance between
the authorities and the opposition are being speedily brought out
from the archives of our country.
The pro-opposition camp and its leader who formed a united block in
Armenia prior to the 2008 presidential elections are the only real
political force whose political revival can create a favorable internal
balance to the authorities and the political forces supporting it,
so as to adopt a more moderate and neutral stance on the regulation
of the Armenian-Turkish relations.
Therefore, it is not accidental that along with the unprecedentedly
acute campaign starring in Turkey, its neighboring state Armenia is
also being subjected to a monitoring regime.
The coordinated nature of the international and internal political
responses accompanying the process of collecting signatures below
the petition "Armenians Forgive Us" testifies to the pro-Armenian
orientation of the "perestroyka". The representatives of the
pro-Western Turkish intelligentsia, the political circles of a number
of European countries, the western press and even the moderately
Islamic authorities are making haste for taking their part in
the Turkish "perestroyka". However, the process cannot be full
if Armenia, the country on the other side of the border, does not
start the "re-evaluation of values" with the purpose of undermining
the authorities by way of threatening with sanctions and making the
pro-opposition camp (which adheres to Western values) active.
That first of all concerns the force structures and the judicial system
which laid obstacles on the path of achieving a shift of Government
through the planned operations of March 1.
Prior to the PACE winter session scheduled for January 26, Armenia is
becoming faced with the compulsion of concealing the results of the
inquests and the proceedings and ignoring the crimes committed. As
a result, the state government system and first of the judiciary may
lose their value in the eyes of the people.
Moreover, this may also lead the above-mentioned systems to lose
their trust in the higher bodies of government, because during
the past months they were doing a job whose products are now being
"thrown into water".
Strengthening the positions of this pro-opposition force (whose leader
immediately sends the crowd home after making his "prophecy"), it is
possible to create relevant conditions and atmosphere for doing the
same with regard to the Armenian-Turkish relations.
Thus, the task of strengthening its "fifth column" in Armenia required
that the country be involved in developments similar to the "March 1",
supporting the opposition not only in organizing but also concealing
such acts. Hereafter, it will be quite easy to involve the country in
a new "March 1" and adopt Resolutions # 1609 and 1620 and this will
continue till the moment when the country "democratized" through such
methods becomes fully "receptive".