Today, Azerbaijan
Feb 12 2010

Serzh Sargsyan acts like preschooler in London fog

12 February 2010 [12:12] – Today.Az

People behave somewhat strangely in a foreign environment. Jeb Stuart
Magruder, who held the second most important post in a committee to
reelect Richard Nixon and a major figure in the famous "Watergate"
scandal, recalled how the whole entourage of power had had a toxic
impact on the junior staff of the presidential administration ` black
government limousines, VIP planes and infantrymen extending their
hands to help a "very important person…"

It seems a cruel joke was played on Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan
during his visit to the United Kingdom.

What really happened to Serzh Azatovich in the London fog is not known
for certain. Maybe, after Azerbaijan was represented at Davos, and in
Munich, while Armenia was not invited, Sargsyan, being at the center
of politicians’ attention in London, clearly felt like a preschooler
and climbed on a stool in the center of a crowded room.

Maybe, prior to the speech, he had drunk too much Armenian cognac or
Scotch whisky, but during a speech at the Chatham House Serzh
Azatovich got totally carried away.

So, he decided to read a lecture on history to London analysts and
tell them how wrongly the borders were formed in the 1920s and
attempted to prove that Nakhchivan ostensibly is also "the Armenian
autonomy,’ tearfully recounting how Azerbaijanis "tortured" and
"oppressed" long-suffering Armenians and as a result "Karabakh
Armenians" were forced to take up arms in order to stay Armenians…

The apotheosis, however, came when Sargsyan began to talk about the
Armenian-Turkish talks. Promising as the leader of the parliamentary
majority that there will be no problems with the ratification of the
Zurich protocols, he expressed his surprise why Gul and Erdogan cannot
push the ratification of the protocols in parliament! What to do if
the idea of the legislature and its independence from Sargsyan is
somewhat unusual.

They are based on the experience of March 1-2, 2008, when people
protesting election fraud were shot in Yerevan and "hearings" in the
Armenian parliament, where more than half of MPs have rogue nicknames
such as "Leva with flour mills" or "Shmays." Deputies holding such
names understand that quarrel with the government would mean an end of
their "business" or a prison..

Addressing the audience from the podium at the Chatham House, the
president pounced upon the principle of territorial integrity in the
style of the first Karabakh rallies and exclaimed: Why could Karabakh
not secede from Azerbaijan while Azerbaijan could secede from the
Soviet Union? In short, he said not what those in London expected him
to say. Of course, we can assume that Sargsyan simply chose not the
right audience. In London he said what was intended for Yerevan and
Gyumri, where zealous `Armenian patriots’ accuse President of almost a
"betrayal of national interests.’ Probably, he had the Armenian
audience in mind so that they will find proper degree "of loyalty to
the Armenian cause" in his speech.

The president received an invitation to speak from Lord Robertson, one
of the architects of the Kosovo process. This was enough for him to
make parody in the worst traditions: if you repeat the statements that
Hashim Thaci made aloud from the podium to defend Kosovo’s
independence, the next morning London will prepare documents for
recognition of Karabakh’s independence, and even send troops to ensure
security guarantees.

But the reality is simpler. Because Sargsyan’s speech in the worst
traditions of the first Karabakh rallies once again showed that it is
not always possible to "reformat" "warlords,’ adept at ethnic
cleansing and looting, to respectable politicians.

What a mockery of fate! Sargsyan, who once said in a conversation with
British journalist Thomas de Waal that in Khojaly the Armenian army
proved that Armenians can raise their hands on the civilian population
without hesitation, wants to be a bona fide politician.

However, delivering his speech before the London audience, he acted
not as President Sargsyan, but as "field commander" Serjik who arrived
in London from Karabakh with pockets full of stolen earrings torn from
ears. Intoxicated over being the focus of attention, he began saying
how he was right and what preaching the historical reasons for
shooting women and kids n Khojaly.

He did not care how refined the London audience would accept it: They
helped us during the First World War, and they will help now, too!

But the London audience will unlikely accept the verbal escapades
Sargsyan wants them to.

Nurani
Day.Az writer

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