Вашингтон Пост 1 Окт.1996 года

[ichbinslon]

ARMENIA GETS more U.S. aid per capita than any other country but Israel. It earned this distinction not only through the fervent interest of so many Armenian Americans but also by portraying itself -- and for a time living up to the image of being -- a true democracy in the post-Soviet world. Sadly, reality has moved far from that image, as incumbent president Levon Ter-Petrossian has claimed reelection after a vote marred by fraud and has arrested or sent into exile or underground much of his political opposition. Almost as sadly, the U.S. government has reserved its strongest condemnation thus far for the opposition, even as Armenia slides toward authoritarian rule.

Armenia embarked on its post-Soviet independence with great and legitimate hopes five years ago. Unlike so many other republics in the region where former Communist bosses simply repainted themselves as democrats, it chose as its leader a scholar and former dissident in Mr. Ter-Petrossian. But more than a year ago, the president started down the slope toward rule by Diktat, banning a major opposition party and gagging much of the press. Parliamentary elections last year were widely condemned for violations of fairness.

In the just-completed presidential election, Mr. Ter-Petrossian enjoyed 1,050 minutes of coverage on state television, compared with 65 minutes for his leading opponent -- a former prime minister and onetime ally named Vazgen Manoukian. According to international observers, the vote itself was marred by "significant and serious breaches in the law." The observers' preliminary report suggested that such breaches were not enough to sway the election, but now that Mr. Ter-Petrossian has claimed just shy of 52 percent of the vote -- he needed 50 percent to avoid a runoff -- the legitimacy of his victory is in strong doubt.

Opposition rallies in the capital of Yerevan were huge and largely peaceful, but fighting broke out on one occasion when the election commission refused to order a recount. Now the incumbent has sent troops and tanks into the capital, imposing a virtual state of emergency. Opposition deputies have been beaten and kicked out of parliament. Troops have stormed into opposition party headquarters and shut them down.

In the face of this, the State Department has mustered nothing more than to say it is following events "with great interest" while finding "regrettable and unfortunate" the opposition violence. What is truly regrettable is not just this mealy-mouthed American response but the sight of a small nation with a sad but courageous history watching its chance at self-rule being stolen

Armenian Debacle

The Washington Post

Date: Oct 1, 1996

Start Page: A.18

Section: EDITORIAL

[ichbinslon]

Эх Лева,Лева,как же ты забыл-написанное топором не вырубишь..

[eRuben]

хорошая работа

[Sari Galin]

Анцан таринер ©

Silence on Armenia

By Levon Ter-Petrossian

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

YEREVAN, Armenia -- In Armenia's presidential election last month, I stood as the main opposition candidate against incumbent Prime Minister Serzh Sarkissian. The election followed a sadly familiar script: The regime harassed the opposition's representatives, bribed and intimidated voters, stuffed ballot boxes, and systematically miscounted votes. Indeed, the rigging of the outcome did not begin on Feb. 19. For the duration of the campaign the country's main medium of communication, television, which is tightly controlled by the regime, churned out propaganda that would have made Brezhnev-era Soviet propagandists blush in shame.

We in the opposition were angered by all of this but not surprised. What surprised and dismayed us was the deafening silence from the West. What dismayed us even more was the technical report of the observer mission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which rubber-stamped Sarkissian's farcical claim of victory.

The people of Armenia, unlike the OSCE monitors, chose to see what happened at the polling stations. Naturally, they discounted Sarkissian's claim and gathered to demand annulment of the results. They staged a continuous protest at Opera Square that became the most wonderful celebration of freedom and one that should be studied as an example of nonviolent, lawful resistance against illegitimate rule.

Deeply concerned that the ranks of protesters were swelling by the day, the regime decided early Saturday to resort to force. Riot police were ordered to disperse the crowd, detain the opposition leaders and put me under house arrest. After several hours, citizens reassembled at another site, demanding to see their leaders, but instead they encountered more riot police, later reinforced by units of the Armenian army, which was ordered to crush the protest. At least eight people were killed this weekend, and emergency rule has been declared.

How did we come to this? Why did the regime headed by outgoing President Robert Kocharian and "president-elect" Sarkissian think it could get away with using force against its own people? Surely the two men had their reasons, but the West's signal, even if unintentional, that they did not have to worry about a strong international reaction was the most important one.

We in Armenia have been trying to understand the roots of such indifference to the rape of our democracy by the Kocharian-Sarkissian regime. The available evidence suggests two explanations: First, some influential organizations and actors in the West, and in Europe in particular, are naively wedded to the notion of positive reinforcement. They seem to think that praising small improvements, instead of criticizing major flaws, creates an incentive for good behavior. Anyone who has studied this regime closely, however, understands the absurdity of such an approach.

Second, and perhaps more important, is the oft-stated claim that the only people able to settle Armenia's long-standing conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region will be leaders who are themselves from Nagorno-Karabakh -- as Kocharian and Sarkissian are -- and who are perceived domestically as hard-liners. This is analogous to the "only Nixon could go to China" logic. The problem is that despite being in power for the past 10 years, Kocharian and Sarkissian have done little to move the negotiating process forward. More important, any leader who must make consequential and difficult choices must have the trust of his people. Sarkissian does not have that trust. After what he and Kocharian did on March 1, he will not be able to govern here, let alone make difficult choices.

So what should be done? What do the people of Armenia expect from the West, and the United States in particular? At the very least, we expect a strong and unequivocal condemnation of the violence that occurred March 1 and a recognition that the government, not the opposition, bears responsibility. This condemnation should accompany a stern warning against continued persecution of the opposition and its leaders -- mistreatment that is reaching unprecedented levels -- as well as a demand to lift the restrictions on the media and restore the people's rights to free assembly and unbiased information. We also expect a reassessment of the conduct of the election. Any serious reassessment will inevitably lead to the conclusion that a new election must be held.

If these steps are not taken, Armenians will draw two very undesirable conclusions: that peaceful and lawful means of political struggle are ineffective and pointless, and that the West cares about democracy only when it is politically expedient to do so. The West must do everything possible to dissuade Armenia's citizens from reaching those conclusions.

The writer was president of Armenia from 1991 to 1998 and was the main opposition candidate for president this year. He is under house arrest.

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/04/AR2008030402329.html>

[thepunisher]

Poor Levon can't wait to receive the $ from USA for the job well done, too bad the dollar is becoming worthless as we speak. Should have worked for Russians, but again Levon chose the wrong side.

[Гость Funky]

Russian side was toughly engaged, so he had no other choice than selling his stinky ass somewhere else.

There is a version, not too improbable that his mission is Kosovo recognition.

[Sari Galin]

Did you people get a load of "his" English prose ? ))))

Ain't too shabby, huh ?

[ichbinslon]

It would be nice if we spread this article everywhere