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    Categories: 2018

Moscow warns Armenia against ‘political’ crackdown on old elite

Agence France Presse
 Tuesday 7:10 PM GMT


Moscow warns Armenia against 'political' crackdown on old elite

Moscow, 

Russia's foreign minister on Tuesday warned Armenia's new leadership
not to make "political" moves against pro-Moscow former elites who are
currently being targeted in an anti-corruption crackdown.

The remarks came after former president Robert Kocharyan was charged
with tipping a 2008 election in favour of his pro-Moscow successor.

"The events of the last few days...contradict the recent declarations
of the new Armenian leadership that it was not planning to pursue its
predecessors on political grounds," Sergei Lavrov said in comments
carried by Russian news agencies.

"Moscow, as an ally of Yerevan, has always had an interest in the
stability of the Armenian state and therefore what is happening there
must be of concern to us," he said, adding he was hoping for
"constructive" developments.

Lavrov's declaration is the first outward sign of tension between
Russia and Armenia since opposition campaigner Nikol Pashinyan swept
to power in the ex-Soviet nation in May on the back of popular
protests.

He launched a campaign to stamp out graft, which has already seen the
arrest of a number of top officials.

Unlike the leaders of earlier popular movements in ex-Soviet Georgia
and Ukraine, Pashinyan has tried to maintain good ties with Moscow.

Yuri Khachaturov, the Armenian secretary general of the Collective
Security Treaty Organization -- a military alliance led by Moscow --
has also been charged in the case that saw the arrest of Kocharyan.

gmo-tm/nla

Emil Lazarian: “I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS