WHITES BEGIN AND CONTINUE WITH BLACKS
Hakob Badalyan
Lragir.am
01 June 06
Hence, it turned out that only Robert Kocharyan considers the OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairs and the Day of the Republic important. He was
alone to explain his staying here with the visit of co-chairs and
the Day of the Republic. While the Minister of Defense of Armenia
went to Torino for a holiday to watch the World Chess Olympiad on the
days of the visit of the co-chairs. In fact, as a defense minister,
Serge Sargsyan has nothing to do with the co-chairs; they mostly
meet with the president and foreign minister. The recent visit of the
co-chairs was unprecedented by its format, however, and surprisingly,
the secretary of the Council of National Security of Armenia, the
defense minister of Armenia was not in Armenia, he was watching chess.
Whereas, the Karabakh issue, is one of the prime issues of national
security, if not the key one.
Hence, supposedly, the World Chess Olympiad is of more importance
to the minister of defense from the point of view of national
security and defense than the unprecedented meeting of the OSCE Minsk
Group co-chairs. Serge Sargsyan is also the president of the Chess
Federation of Armenia, and he is in Torino as a president. However,
as the president of the Chess Federation of Armenia he had never
participated in the World Chess Olympiad and other international
tournaments before. Hence, in fact, not only the visit of the Minsk
Group was unprecedented, but also the step of the defense minister
of Armenia. It is possible, of course, that the success of the chess
team is more important than the recurrent visit of the Karabakh
conflict mediators. And our chess team is really good. Who knows,
it might not be that good if Serge Sargsyan were not in Torino?
Moreover, nobody knows whether the defense minister would have gone
to Torino if his plans had not been thwarted, which he confessed
on May 15, the day of election of the new rector of Yerevan State
University. This is highly probable in the context of the recent
home political developments in Armenia. Coalitions collapse and are
created, new ministers are appointed, new parliament posts are taken
up, attention-grabbing details of restaurant parties are published,
journalists undergo abuse, the state of aviation is discussed,
the black boxes of the plane are found. The minister of defense is
in Torino, watching the Chess Olympiad, to show that the minister
of defense would not waste time and effort on political shows, and
prefers the important job of upholding the country’s reputation.
On the other hands, there are the plans. Aren’t these developments
anyhow related to these plans? Have these plans been thwarted to a
degree that everything needs to be started from the zero point, the
Olympic gold of Torino or some other medal? However, on the other hand,
it would be useful to follow the games of our chess players and the
course of events in Armenia. In this case, much may be understood,
and the Olympic logic of many home political developments may become
clear. Or the degree of thwarted plans may become known.
“You may lose the battle, but you may find your love,” sang the
customs officer in the film “The White Sun of the Desert”, who did
not take bribe but “worried about the homeland.” And no doubt much
has been thwarted in our country, to a degree than one has to go as
far as the Alps to see better from afar. The game is almost over. I
wonder who is going to start with the whites next.