ISKANDARYAN: THE OPPOSITION OF TER-PETROSYAN IS IN RUINS

Aysor
Dec 24 2009
Armenia

Aleksander Iskandaryan, politician and the head of the Caucasus
Institute, in the interview given to "Caucasus Vestnik" has summed
up the internal political and external political important events of
2009 in Armenia.

According to him the regulation process of the Armenian – Turkish
relations has left its influence on the inter-political processes
of the country, especially because it is a process initiated by the
authorities. He also thinks that the influence of Levon Ter-Petrosyan
is decreasing little by little.

"I think that institution has turned into ruins already", – the
expert said.

He reminded that the Armenian National Congress as a political
institution has been formed in 2008 in March, when the opposition
was too active, but after 2008 that process started to die out,
Iskandarian mentioned.

"It can be an intellectual opposition, but now it’s not as dangerous
for the authorities as it used to be last year", – A. Iskandaryan
thinks.

According to him the ARF is not a serious opposition for the
authorities too, it supports the process of refusal of the Armenian
– Turkish protocols, and this when the society is disappointed from
the political processes.

"I have never seen any sociological enquiries which I can trust, but
there are political indexes which prove that it’s not 300 thousand
people that participate in the public meetings. It’s a problem that
exists in the country and is not connected with political processes",
– the speaker said.

"The authorities have no clearly expressed ideology, that is why it
is difficult to speak about the public supporting the authorities
seriously", -the speaker thinks.

Speaking about the achievements in the external policy of the passing
year he has mentioned Armenia’s inclusion into the European Union’s
project called "Eastern Partnership", as well as the Armenian –
Turkish processes.

"The Armenian – Turkish protocols are the first documents signed by
the Turkish official where the Armenian – Azerbaijani relations are
separated from the Armenian – Turkish relations", – he noted.

"The physical borders are not open yet, but the mental borders are.

And this fact sharply changes all the political perspectives", –
mentioned the politician.

According to A. Iskandaryan no significant event took place except the
statements in the frameworks of the regulation of the Karabakh issue.