Today we live in a society, which can not imagine life without expressing views on social media. Probably it does have certain advantages. Nevertheless, many participants of active discussions have already forgotten or do not even know about the developments, which unfolded in Armenia 5, 10 or 15 years ago.
To fill the gap Mediamax presents 5/10/15 project, which introduce developments in Armenia 5, 10 and 15 years ago.
• 15 YEARS AGO: FEBRUARY 4-10, 2004
“Rebirth of the United Armenia”
On February 6, ARF Bureau representative Hrant Margaryan said that “we will continue to struggle and exert pressure on Turkey until the final victory, until the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, until the rebirth of the United Armenia.”
He added: “The demands to recognize the Genocide and liberate Western Armenia are the guarantees of our country’s present and future.”
On the following day official representative of Armenian Foreign Ministry Hamlet Gasparyan said that the ministry did not agree with many of the positions expressed by Hrant Margaryan.
“This is not the first time the party publicly declares its views. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs disagrees with many of them and states that they do not reflect Armenia's foreign policy,” read Hamlet Gasparyan’s statement.
“Russia will not impose a solution”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was satisfied with Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders’ readiness to resume the dialogue about Karabakh peace talks.
Vladimir Putin said this at a press conference in Moscow summing up the results of the talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev.
Putin and Aliyev in 2004Photo: REUTERS
“Russia is ready to seek for a settlement to the conflict, but it will not impose any solution either on Azerbaijani or Armenian people,” Putin said.
The example of East Timor
In an interview published on the same day First Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair Vyacheslav Trubnikov urged to consider the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement from “new, original” points of view and brought up the example of East Timor.
Vyacheslav Trubnikov (on the right)
“I don’t want to set this as an example, but you all know about East Timor, which struggled and struggled for its independence and at last became independent. And, by the way, this independence is internationally recognized. That is why the 21st century is the century of globalization, the century of new reviews for many problems that seemed inviolable 100 years ago but have cast doubts on the approach which was true 100 years ago. That is why I think that we should view the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict from original, new positions without limiting ourselves to what we have become accustomed to ages ago,” he said.
“The young President of Azerbaijan was right not to hurry”
On February 10, Armenian Defense Minister Serzh Sargsyan said that “the young President of Azerbaijan was right not to hurry with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict”.
“The young President of Azerbaijan was right not to hurry with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and we should support him in every possible way,” he noted.
• 10 YEARS AGO: FEBRUARY 4-10, 2009
USD 500 million
Russia will provide a USD 500m stabilization loan to Armenia to overcome the consequences of the global crisis, Russian Minister of Finance Aleksey Kudrin said on February 5, 2009.
On January 22, Armenian Minister of Finance Tigran Davtyan confirmed that Armenia was negotiating a stabilization loan with Russia. According to Davtyan, the loan would be used to support the Armenian economy, especially small and medium enterprises.
An “adequate” response
On February 5, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan held a meeting dedicated to the murder of Deputy Police Chief Gevorg Mheryan.
According to the president, “the bullet targeted not just a specific person, but the entire law enforcement system”.
“In recent months, Gevorg Mheryan was working on the fight against corruption mechanisms. We must take that into account and give an adequate response,” said Sargsyan.
33-year-old Mheryan was shot dead on the stair landing of his own apartment in Yerevan on February 3. He was appointed Deputy Chief of the Armenian Police in July 2008. Previously, he served as the assistant to the President of Armenia, and head of the anti-corruption strategies monitoring group.
“In the right direction”
“Armenian-Turkish dialogue is proceeding in the right direction,” Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Ali Babacan remarked during the Managing Instability: Transcaucasian Region and Eastern Balkans panel at Munich Security Conference on February 6. The panel was also attended by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, Prime Minister of Macedonia, Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Romania, Serbia and Slovakia.
Ali Babacan in Davos in 2009 ( (REUTERS) Photo: REUTERS
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said in his turn that “the Armenian-Turkish dialogue proceeds by the right course and if it carries on the same way, I believe that in the second half of the year we will be able to talk about a different level of relations between Armenia and Turkey”.
Ali Babacan also remarked that normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations would “fully change the geopolitical situation in the region”. He also stressed the importance of holding talks behind closed doors, which would allow the sides to avoid unnecessary speculations. “Sometimes in negotiations, it may seem to one of the sides that it has yielded too much, but we try to focus on the whole picture, not individual nuances,” he said.
“Exceptional conditions”
On February 7, Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said that the government was ready to establish “exceptional conditions” for investments aimed at developing local production.
At the meeting with large importers and suppliers, Tigran Sargsyan noted that the Armenian government was prepared to render maximum assistance to development of local production in conditions of the global financial crisis.
“We should take crisis prevention measures: attract investments, make decisions contributing to creation of new jobs, and stimulate development of the processing industry,” said Tigran Sargsyan.
Tigran Sargsyan Photo: Government of Armenia
“Certain officials are not interested”
Three days later Sargsyan claimed that “certain officials and ministries are not interested in facilitating routine business procedures out of fear of losing influence levers”.
As we realize the existence of such pressure, we should all the more implement the changes required for facilitation of business routine in the country,” said the Prime Minister, who was unhappy with the fact that the discussion of measures on facilitating business routine had been underway for 2 years and did not lead to any practical steps.
• 5 YEARS AGO: FEBRUARY 4-10, 2014
Khodorkovsky and Armenia
On February 10, 2014 Russian newspaper Vedomosti published an article telling that Mikhail Khodorkovsky's company Yukos “managed a complex offshore structure which channeled the money flow of the holding” through Armenia-based Yukos CIS Investments LLC.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky in 2014Photo: REUTERS
It was not the first time the subject of Khodorkovsky’s “Armenian assets” came to light. Back in November 2003, Mediamax brought to notice “A victim of his own short-term ambitions” article on Mikhail Khodorkovsky by The Financial Times.
“One specialist who has studied Yukos says the company has one of the most complex legal structures he has ever seen, with more than 600 subsidiaries. Some are in Russia, others abroad, including Armenia,” The Financial Times reported.
Ara Tadevosyan
Comments
Dear visitors, You can place your opinion on the material using your Facebook account. Please, be polite and follow our simple rules: you are not allowed to make off - topic comments, place advertisements, use abusive and filthy language. The editorial staff reserves the right to moderate and delete comments in case of breach of the rules.