JOKING TIME OR SERIOUS JOKES
Hakob Badalyan
mments&pid=15028
11:48:12 – 01/09/2009
When Robert Kocharyan, after leaving his office, was speaking about
politics in his interviews, a statement of his remained known: he
said that in case he was the president, Abdullah Gul would not come
to Armenia. This statement is worth remembering because it was made
on the days when Serge Sargsyan had just invited Gul to watch football
and everyone was waiting to see what Gul was going to answer.
On August 31, 2009, Robert Kocharyan celebrated the 55 anniversary of
his birthday. Serge Sargsyan has even called him. He did not visit
him but only called, the reason of which became known later. The
point is that the present, which Serge Sargsyan had prepared for
Robert Kocharyan, was not ready yet. The "present" was ready later
and appeared on the web site of the Armenian Foreign Ministry later in
the night on august 31. Those were two protocols on the Armenian and
Turkish relations; one was on the development of bilateral relations
and the second one on the establishment of diplomatic relations.
Are these two protocols, which are going to be fulfilled after six
weeks, not a present for Robert Kocharyan, who was against Gul’s visit
to Armenia? It is a present, and if Robert Kocharyan does not "thank"
for it now, later it will be impossible for him to say anything in
this connection. The point is that Robert Kocharyan’s phrase that
in case of his tenure, Gul’s visit to Armenia would be impossible is
won by Serge Sargsyan’s "work", who not only invited Gul, but now he
shows with the help of the very protocols that he managed to force
to open the border and to establish diplomatic relations.
Who is more right from the point of the country’s interests? Of
course, Serge Sargsyan, who invited Gul, or maybe Robert Kocharyan
who is against these events foreseeing some conspiracy? The far
quarrel of the second and the third presidents assumes an interesting
intrigue. But we should not forget about the first president, who is
the leader of the opposition. The point is that with the help of his
steps and speeches he is able to attach some legitimacy to the second
or the third presidents. What the first president is going to do is
difficult to say. His birthday is in January. Much will change by
that time. So, we do not have to expect the first president to hurry,
because the "present" was not given to him. His present had been given
before, when Serge Sargsyan appropriated the approaches of the first
president in the foreign policy. Interestingly, a particular situation
is shaped in the Armenian political field thanks to the developments
in the Armenian and Turkish relations. This is the first time, when
Robert Kocharyan and Serge Sargsyan do not need each other’s help
in struggling against Levon Ter-Petrosyan, but each of them would
be glad for the other to struggle against him alone. This situation
changes the whole logic of the home political developments, forcing
the participants to change their behavior as well.
>>From this point of view, one of Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s press
conferences a couple of months ago is interesting, when I asked him,
whether he considers Robert Kocharyan a political rival for him. Levon
Ter-Petrosyan answered that until Robert Kocharyan is not in politics
and no one knows where he is, he cannot be a rival for him. This was
Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s answer which he continued saying that when he
is in politics they may be not rivals but colleagues, as everything
is possible in politics. A political figure of his range would hardly
joke during press conferences without thinking. Moreover, the political
figures often joke about the ideas, which are hard to be perceived
at that certain moment. Time will show. And in the present situation
it is very difficult to say whether the time is joking or rendering
the others’ jokes serious.
In any case, the situation forces the politics in Armenia to be
realistic and not mythological. And this is a essential process.