It Ended up in Outrageous Defeat in Gyumri
Igor Muradyan, Political Analyst
Comments – 19 January 2015, 20:35
Following the tragedy in Gyumri the Armenian political parties,
different NGOs, pro-Russian and pro-government press claimed that
there is no need to politicize the incidents, the murderer has no
nationality and other similar stupid things.
Several thousands of young people of Gyumri did not get support for
their standpoint. This traditionally pro-KGB city actually betrayed
them, referring to certain things which was false and mean. Why didn’t
the entire city come together, and why did the representatives of the
local authorities and local rich men call people to stay in a
convenient place, i.e. the building of the Prosecutor General’s
Office? Initiatives were heard from the crowd, such as forming groups
to attack the Russians and people working for them, as well as form
units of combatants.
However, this is the surface because the Armenian press mainly belongs
to the government or those made of money. An important development
took place in Armenia, and the arena was Gyumri, i.e. a stage of
anti-Russian moods, as well as anti-Russian policy has set on.
In addition, the rotten intelligentsia of Yerevan, as well as the
famous Russian agents demonstrated their meanness and did not dare to
express their opinion. The incident was too outrageous, and they
hardly hoped for a Geschäft. They have already received what they were
supposed to, now they have a money shortage, so do the Russians, and
the Armenian blood must be justified free of charge. The next letter
to Putin is somehow being late.
And what should be done with the Armenian military command? Over many
years, including the ongoing stage of national absurdity, the Armenian
military circles have behaved with dignity, trying to save crumbs of
the policy that anyhow linked Armenia to the Western society.
Relations with NATO are maintained though are often inconsistent.
The factor of the Armenian army is an important factor of expectations
and justifications for providing assistance to Armenia in this period
of complete economic bankruptcy. And bankruptcy is determined by the
developments in Russia.
Now a situation has occurred when the tail of big politics has hit
Armenia but the Armenians are not capable of understanding the most
important thing: in which corridors and political organizations the
destiny of Armenia is discussed.
Prior to the developments in Gyumri the military circles of the
Western community were quite attentive to such meaningless steps as
the participants of the Russians in the military parade in Yerevan,
certain statements on the developments in Ukraine, and most
importantly the expansion of the Russian base in Gyumri.
However, there happened something which they will not get away with
and the Armenian military have already realized this because at the
very last moment they received rather titular assessments of their
participation in cooperation with NATO. Although a lot of things could
have been different. What have the Armenian servicemen received from
Russia in return for this?
It was necessary to silence the developments in Gyumri and it would be
advisable not to get into this mess. One can understand that while
aspiring to a political role one must have an opportunity to speak
more freely or not to speak at all. There is no need to doubt that the
developments in Gyumri were closely followed by the embassies of
Western countries in Armenia, and they are sending to their
governments clear dispatches on anti-Russian demonstrations in
Armenia.
Usually, whatever is expected is being considered, and expectations in
the West are obvious – end of Russian influence on Armenia. All the
previous wording is outdated, i.e. meaningless. Armenia or those who
express the interests of Armenia are facing the issue of putting forth
an issue to the West.
In case the Western community wants to end Russian influence on the
South Caucasus, it must give Armenia guarantees of security. And on
the contrary, if the West fails to do this, it is willing to cede to
Russia not only Armenia but also the entire South Caucasus.
The capital cities of Western countries find that Russia puts strong
pressure on Armenia the target of which is the Armenia armed forces.
Russia is interested in thwarting the international recognition of the
genocide, aiming to deprive the Armenian people of hopes for
recognition of their interests. In this respect, Russia has already
selected its allies and interested parties.
Armenia has been taken under custody. It is consistently taken farther
from Russia, and nobody is already asking the opinion of the Armenian
political leadership which has stopped being political and become
administrative-police. This will happen in the future as well. In
addition, the issue of the Russian military base will be very
important because this base is linked to Russia’s claims not only in
the South Caucasus but also the entire Near East.
If new elite is formed in Armenia, it must realize what style it
needs. In the case of Gyumri everything ended up in outrageous defeat.
There was no renewal of the elite though there was a rather successful
precedent.