Hraparak: Pashinyan flirts with West and foments anti-Russian sentiments in Armenia

REGION  18 August 2022 - 14:11

The Armenian-Russian relations became the central focus of the Armenian media after yesterday's statement of the Russian Embassy in Armenia on the explosion in the Yerevan shopping centre.

Yerevan-based Hraparak newspaper published an article on Russian-Armenian relations today which says that relations between Armenia and Russia split and that Moscow through its embassy in Yerevan hints at the latter to be careful in its statements and at the same time insists on making a final choice between Russia and the West, Caliber.Az reports.

"Yesterday the Russian Embassy in Armenia took an unprecedented step and sent a note of protest to the Armenian Foreign Ministry. The embassy posted the corresponding statement on its Facebook page. It expresses outrage over the comments accusing the Russian agencies of the tragedy that took place on August 14 on the territory of Surmalu shopping centre (Surmali - Ed.) "We are outraged by the cynical materials published in the local media containing blasphemous and false accusations against Russian structures regarding their involvement in the tragedy that occurred in the Surmalu shopping centre on August 14 this year. We regard this as a direct provocation of the political forces behind such slander, whose goal is to disrupt Russian-Armenian allied relations. We expect the Armenian authorities to take measures to curb such unfriendly manifestations, including the necessary public comments," the statement issued by the Russian Embassy in Armenia reads.

It was stressed that the note is addressed to the Armenian Foreign Ministry. It is also noted that "the Russian side represented by the Russian-Armenian humanitarian response staff was involved in the elimination of the consequences of the tragedy from the first minutes."

It should be noted that Sunday's incident was immediately followed by anti-Russian posts and statements by representatives of Soros circles and especially the "Sasna Tsrer" group, claiming that the explosion in the shopping center was the work of the Russian special services. "When a Russian leaves, he leaves behind either genocide (1915), or earthquake and Sumgayit (1988), or Surmalu (2022). Is this a coincidence? Materials with indirect hints were published in pro-government Telegram channels, in particular on Baghramyan 26. Representatives of NGOs and pro-governmental party sector said that they were dealing with geopolitical confrontation, hybrid warfare, etc.," the Hraparak article says.

The newspaper notes that there has been no response to the harsh accusations against the ally on the state level for a few days and the Armenian government-controlled media remains silent.

"It looks like the authorities, unless, of course, they personally led the process, agreed to the Soros version put into circulation. After all, this is also the manner of these authorities - artificially shifting public discontent at other individuals in order to avoid responsibility. Nikol Pashinyan has been typical since he came to power, blaming his predecessors, the people, Europe, and Russia, but not himself and his team. Pashinyan treated Russia according to the same principle, engaged in political equilibrium, considering Russia an ally, while flirting with the West and fomenting anti-Russian sentiments at critical moments for Armenia.

A former high-ranking Foreign Ministry official, who wished to remain unnamed, told us yesterday that the Surmalu story was just a pretext through which Moscow was sending a signal that it did not consider the Armenian government a reliable partner, with Russia demanding a public statement on the matter: are you with us or with the West? 'The knife had to get to the bone one day, maybe late, but we can prove it happened,' our interlocutor continued. 'Usually, such matters between allied states are handled in a much more deliberative manner. As a rule, they always avoid making public statements, but this statement has a rather harsh language, and the Russians are now waiting for a public explanation. I do not remember such a case when statements contained harsh language,' he said," the article says.

The newspaper wonders if this is not a gross interference in Armenia's internal affairs, interference with freedom of speech.

"Yesterday some people were outraged by this note, they said people have the right to express their opinions and hypotheses. A former high-ranking diplomat said that in such cases, the state should confront the various agencies, to show that it is not the position of the state, that is, it is about the country, otherwise silence implies consent. 'It would be interference in internal affairs if the government stood up and admitted that this is our state policy. For four years they've been manipulating that it's not public policy, it's different media, obscure telegram channels, and private individuals, but when you get into the details you realize that the government has a direct hand in all of this. In the end, one day the patience will be exhausted and this is the first serious warning,' said our interlocutor.

We were not able to hear the position of the Foreign Ministry on this issue, Mirzoyan's press secretary Vahan Hunanyan either lies low or answers questions from the media at his discretion," the Hraparak article says.

Caliber.Az