U.S. OFFICIAL DISCUSSES POST-ELECTION UNREST IN YEREVAN
Radio Liberty
March 6 2008
Czech Republic
A senior U.S. official was reported to heap praise on Prime Minister
Serzh Sarkisian as he discussed with the latter Armenia’s bloody
post-election unrest during a visit to Yerevan on Thursday.
A statement by the Armenian government cited Deputy Assistant Secretary
of State Matthew Bryza as commending Sarkisian for his stated readiness
to engage in a dialogue with Armenians critical of the ruling regime.
"You are a special leader," Bryza told Sarkisian, according to the
statement. "In principle, we support you. I and the U.S. charge
d’affaires in Armenia believe that you have the kind of vision
and approaches that we want to see in the implementation of joint
programs."
"We want you to succeed and we want Armenia to succeed," he said.
Speaking to the Associated Press news agency on his way to Yerevan from
Baku, Bryza said the United States "deplores" Saturday’s deadly clashes
in Yerevan but stopped of criticizing the use of lethal force against
thousands of supporters of Sarkisian’s main election challenger,
Levon Ter-Petrosian. He said he will press the Armenian authorities
to scrap the 20-day state of emergency imposed in the capital by
outgoing President Robert Kocharian. Its lifting has already been
demanded by the European Union and some Western governments.
However, the government statement quoted Bryza as only telling
Sarkisian that the emergency rule "can not continue endlessly."
"Matthew Bryza agreed with the prime minister in that the state of
emergency is really an instrument that allows to ease tensions and
direct processes towards a natural course," it said. "He stressed that
it is impossible to move along the path of democracy unless there is
law and order in the country."
The state of emergency has meant, among other things, serious
government restrictions on independent news reporting in Armenia. As
part of those restrictions, Armenian-language radio programs of
the U.S.-funded RFE/RL are no longer being broadcast through local
affiliated stations. There were indications late Thursday that the
authorities have also blocked local Internet users’ access to the
bilingual news websites of RFE/RL’s Armenian service.
"We also are concerned about the limitations and restrictions that
have been placed on the media, including Radio Liberty/Radio Free
Europe there and we’d like to see those lifted," a spokesman for the
U.S. State Department said on Wednesday.
It is not clear if Bryza raised the matter with Sarkisian. The U.S.
official is scheduled to meet Kocharian and Ter-Petrosian on Friday.
Also high on the agenda of his talks with Armenian leaders is the
latest upsurge in deadly fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani
forces in Nagorno-Karabakh. The warring sides have accused each other
of breaching the ceasefire and made conflicting casualty claims.
Bryza, who is also Washington’s chief Karabakh negotiator, told the
Associated Press that Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders assured him
that they are committed to maintaining the shaky truce. "Based on
everyone I have talked to it is clear that the shooting has stopped
and the level of tension is decreasing," he said.
The Armenian side says the clashes broke out after Azerbaijani troops
attacked Karabakh Armenian positions north-east of the disputed
territory in the hope of capitalizing on the political crisis in
Armenia. Official Baku claims the opposite, saying that Sarkisian
and Kocharian are keen to distract the international community and
the domestic public from their controversial handling of the recent
presidential election.
Colonel-General Seyran Ohanian, chief of the Armenian army staff,
dismissed those claims on Thursday. "We could not have resorted to
actions with an uncertain outcome and without knowing what losses
we could incur," he told journalists. "Had we really attacked them
we would not have had only two wounded soldiers and they would not
have had numerous casualties."
Ohanian also denied opposition claims that Sarkisian and Kocharian
have retained power thanks to the Armenian military. "The reality
in Armenia is that Serzh Sarkisian has won," he said. "These are not
empty words. There were elections and there are results accepted not
only by us but by many foreign countries."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
