Armenia's political environment: all vs all Kocharyan-Sargsyan confrontation

As you know, there are no permanent enemies or permanent allies in big politics – priorities are constantly changing here. The Kocharyan-Sargsyan tandem has been perceived in Armenia for several decades as an alliance of two, if not friends, then certainly close partners. And indeed, this duo first led the separatist movement in the then NKAO, and during the First Karabakh War, Sargsyan, as a faithful squire, was always at Kocharyan's side.

The cooperation of the two war criminals did not stop even after the then president of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan dragged first Sargsyan and then Kocharyan to Yerevan. He made this to his own harm since it was Kocharyan the Prime Minister and Sargsyan the Minister of Internal Affairs and National Security of Armenia who played the main role in overthrowing the legitimate president of the country. Incidentally, there is still talk that after Ter-Petrosyan's forced resignation, Sargsyan was considered by certain forces as a presidential candidate. However, the more cunning Kocharyan managed to push his squire aside, including by securing Yeltsin's support.

However, Kocharyan kept Sargsyan under his wing for as long as he was president, moving him from one chair to another. Sargsyan was Minister of Internal Affairs, Minister of National Security, the head of the presidential staff, and finally the Prime Minister. When the issue of Kocharyan's successor was raised in 2008, Sargsyan was chosen by the latter. This is how the outgoing president secured himself from criminal prosecution, which probably would not have happened had he won the 2008 Ter-Petrosyan elections (by that time, Kocharyan's most dangerous rivals Karen Demirchyan, the former longtime boss of the Armenian party, and Vazgen Sargsyan, who had a great influence in the army and the country, had already been killed following a terrorist attack in the Armenian parliament, which was traced back to Kocharyan). There would be dozens of volumes of accusations against Kocharyan, ranging from large-scale corruption in the top echelons of power to the same terrorist attack in the National Assembly.

Then the events of March 1, 2008, Sargsyan's assumption of office, and 10 long years of Kocharyan and Sargsyan's comfortable, carefree, and safe life, when the plundering of the country reached unprecedented proportions - it is no accident that Kocharyan, Sargsyan and his brothers were considered almost the richest Armenians in the world. This was until the "velvet revolution" broke out. Even then, the fault lines between Kocharyan and Sargsyan were widening, which emerged after the third president initiated amendments to the Armenian Constitution in 2015 and his flirting with the West - Kocharyan was known to be entirely Russian-oriented and disapproved of his successor-protégé's attempts to diversify Yerevan's foreign policy. Kocharyan used to say to his comrades-in-arms that if he had been president, there would have been no revolution in Armenia. This is certainly not far from the truth, given how he massacred his own people in February and March 2008, flooding the streets of Yerevan with rivers of blood, with the help of, among other things, militia units loyal to him called from Karabakh.

The new government, represented by Pashinyan, strongly pressed the leaders of the Karabakh clan, and the second president of Armenia was charged with overthrowing the constitutional order. Moscow tried to save its "milk son", but at first Pashinyan was adamant. Eventually, in June 2020, the former president of Armenia was released from custody on bail of two billion drams, that's more than four million one hundred thousand dollars.

It would seem that the hatred of ordinary Armenians towards Kocharyan and Sargsyan was so strong that the door to big politics was closed to them forever. It would have been so had it not been for the shameful defeat of Armenia during the 44-day war when the seat of the incumbent Armenian government seriously began to shake. And that's when the leaders of the Karabakh clan had a chance to "rehabilitate" themselves. Kocharyan and Sargsyan went to the early parliamentary elections in different blocs - "Hayastan" and "I have the honor", which obviously indicated the essential discord between them. Although they tried to play the role of "old cronies" in public, inquisitive minds already came to the conclusion that their discord had become irreversible.

We will not bore our readers with a long story about the tent and square confrontation between the Armenian authorities and the opposition, but we will only say that at this stage, Pashinyan's opponents, torn apart by internal contradictions and offering the Armenian society nothing but the myth of revenge, which is fatal for the Armenian statehood, were defeated. However, now that it has become clear that Pashinyan has survived and that there has been no consolidation of the opposition, tough differences between Kocharyan and Sargsyan have resurfaced. Neither of them is hiding it anymore.

Thus, today, a number of media outlets controlled by Sargsyan published a statement by the deputy chairman of the Republican Party (the chairman is the third president of Armenia) Armen Ashotyan, in which he complained that "during the ongoing collapse of the Armenian statehood and the total apathy of the Armenian society, some circles that position themselves as anti-Pashinyan, launched a dirty campaign to discredit the allies in the opposition camp, in particular, the Republican Party of Armenia."

"What I have said refers to forces and individuals both within the country and diaspora. A particularly unhealthy attraction to the figure of Armenia's third president, Serzh Sargsyan, and to the Republican Party of Armenia has lately been characterized by the media figure Aram Gabrelyanov, known in narrow and obscure circles, who in his self-loving anti-Serzh ecstasy is not shy about descending into media manipulations that stink of Nikol's rotten garbage.

The last such piece was published yesterday on the TG channel 'Aram Speaks', where an excerpt from Serzh Sargsyan's interview with Dmitry Kiselev was edited to create an illusion of "anti-Russianism" for the unsophisticated reader. As for the technology of cheap editing, there is a great objective temptation to publicize those standing behind such cheap clumsy work. I will refrain. For now," Ashotyan said.

With this statement, Sargsyan's right hand actually unmasked and openly hinted that he knows who finances the Russian propagandist's anti-Sargsyan attacks. It is no secret that Gabrelyanov has long been an active supporter of Kocharyan. Gabrelyanov himself said: "When you look at the Armenian political field, there are very few really smart politicians. I would even say catastrophically few. The cunning, arrogant, cackling, pot-bellied, unshaven, vibrant, duplicitous - they are in abundance. Intelligent, brave, patriotic, daring in thought - almost none. Almost none at all. From those whom I see, and who I like more or less, is Kocharyan. In fact, the leader has been defined - Robert Kocharyan. Nobody else has the slightest chance of pulling the country out of the pit in the next two years. The masses are waiting for a clear-cut plan of action from Kocharyan. A clear understanding of where the country should go and how to get out.

It is clear that Kocharyan and Sargsyan ceased to be allies, turning into opponents in a hurry to cook a hare before catching him. Each of them considers himself a worthy candidate to replace Pashinyan. However, they do not take into account the most important thing: the Armenian society, despite its dislike of Pashinyan, is aware of the fact that Nikol Vovayevich is the best of the worst, which are the second and third president of Armenia. Armenians see the root of all problems and misfortunes in them. And the return of any of them to power would inevitably lead to a new war with Azerbaijan, and, accordingly, to an increase in the area of the "Yerablur" war cemetery. Is Armenian society ready for this? Hardly, otherwise, the results of last year's early elections and the rally would have been very different. Robert Sedrakovich and Serzh Azatovitch could only resign themselves to their defeat and pray to be near their idol of youth Silva Kaputikyan before Azerbaijan's justice gets hold of them.