RUSSIAN EXPERT DETECTS ANTI-RUSSIAN PROVOCATIONS IN ARMENIA

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Feb 9 2015

9 February 2015 – 6:01pm

Sergey Mikheyev, deputy head of the Editorial Council of Vestnik
Kavkaza, the director general of the Institute for Caspian Cooperation,
said on the program “Nachalo”, broadcast on Vesti FM, that Armenia
abstaining from votes against Russia at the PACE in January was an
incitement to anti-Russian sentiment in Armenia.

Giorgi Saralidze, the broadcast’s host, reminded that Armenia’s
behaviour contradicted its status as a strategic ally of Russia. The
host added that Armenia had always been backing Russia, even during
the UN votes on Crimea and Ukraine, until recently. Mikheyev associates
such sentiment with the murder of a family of six by a Russian soldier
in Gyumri. He noted that all Armenian ministers had studied in the
U.S. and Europe and were aligned with the West.

The expert admitted that President Serzh Sargsyan had agreed to
integrate into the Eurasian Union, but the majority of the country’s
elite was aligned with the West. Mikheyev believes that Armenia has
a very strong anti-Russian lobby.

Despite Valery Permyakov admitting his guilt in murdering the family,
Mikheyev considers the case exceptionally mysterious, stating that
there were no motives for the murder. Permyakov, according to Mikheyev,
refuses to testify. The expert reiterated that the incident was used
to stoke anti-Russian tensions.