Exclusive interview of the Head of Robert Kocharian’s Office to Mediamax Agency

- Robert Kocharian’s unofficial website was launched on June 1. Whose project is it and how does the office of the Ex-President participate in it?

- The idea of the project and the website itself belong to an initiative group, which had worked over its creation for about a year. These are people (mainly youth), who not only share the political views of the second President of Armenia, but also are real professionals in the sphere of internet technologies. This website became a result and product of combination of these qualities.

The Ex-President’s office, naturally, will support this project by any means and will contribute to its development. We have already prepared a large volume of materials on President Kocharian’s activity in 1998-2008 and we are going to pass those materials to people, who organized the website, in the nearest future. At the same time, we are not going to interfere with creation of the content: it is the prerogative of the project authors.

Using the occasion, on behalf of Robert Kocharian and his office, I would like to sincerely thank the founders of the website for the wonderfully completed work, for the principle attitude and patriotism.

- Last week, information appeared about the meeting between Robert Kocharian and Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin in Moscow. After you confirmed the fact of this meeting, numerous negative publications appeared in some media, and then one of the Russian news websites, referring to an anonymous source, issued information, according to which there was no meeting in reality. The same resource, a few days later, already referring to another competent source, confirmed the fact of the meeting. After that Artashes Geghamyan wrote an article concerning that. He criticized the “sponsored article” in one of the local websites and, in fact, accused the office of the Ex-President of giving that “order”. In short, a stir occurred, and that stir still continues. How will you comment on this?

- Honestly, I have gotten used to such reaction to Robert Kocharian’s meetings with Russian Prime Minister long ago. I was not even surprised when the “canard” you mentioned appeared, although there was a serious reason to be surprised as on May 24, I personally accompanied President Kocharian to Novo-Ogarevo and was present at the beginning and the end of that meeting.

I can only express regret concerning this hysteria. I cannot call it anything else. It always seemed to me that the fact of preservation of friendly relations between former Presidents of two friendly states (especially since the matter concerns Armenia and Russia), as well as the information on their regular meetings, should only become grounds for pride and optimism. But, it turned out that here it is perceived in a different way.

I believe that the authors of those propagandistic tricks and “canards” should try to come down from their “own standpoint” and look at some events from the point of view of national interests and not selfish considerations and intrigues. I am sure that then they would not have to order a public hysteria and spend excessive money for articles made to order.

What concerns Mr. Geghamyan’s article, apparently, he is guided by the so-called “theory of conspiracy”, trying to disentangle some global and shadowed secrets of political games, basing on one article of one website. I have to disappoint Mr. Geghamyan: manipulation with the use of articles made to order is not our style, you have obviously confused the address.  

- A few days ago, Armenian parliament announced amnesty by the suggestion of the President. As a result, convicts under the case of “March 1” also were released. What is your assessment of this event? Will this amnesty help mitigate internal political tension?

- Granting amnesty is of course a humane step. Since people, who are directly responsible for organizing mass unrest of “March 1” and for the death of 10 people, were not the only ones to be released. What concerns one of the underlying goals of the amnesty, that is mitigation of internal political tension, I can say that today it is difficult to make forecasts concerning this, especially against the background of known statements of the released oppositionists. I would like to hope that the tension will really decline. Time will show.

I was a bit concerned by another fact: a whole range of politicians and media presented this amnesty as an “unprecedented event”, and the release of political prisoners as “another step to overcome Kocharian’s heritage”. These statements amaze me. First of all, from the moment of gaining independence, our state has announced amnesty a few times already (if I am not mistaken, this is the seventh amnesty). Three amnesties were granted during Robert Kocharian’s presidency – in 1998, in 2001 and in 2006. So, of course, there is nothing unprecedented here.

And what concerns “another step to overcome…”, I have to remind that in 1998-2007, not a single political prisoner was there in the Republic of Armenia. This is a commonly known fact. The politicians, who were released recently, had been convicted to various terms of imprisonment already after April, 2008. So, any “heritage”, and especially “overcoming it”, is out of the question.

- Yesterday, at a meeting with journalists, representatives of RPA and ANC Artak Davtyan and Suren Abrahamyan commented on Robert Kocharian’s attitude towards the dialogue between the authorities and ANC. Artak Davtyan, instead of answering, recommended to familiarize with Ter-Petrosian’s speech at the recent rally, and Suren Abrahamyan stated that Robert Kocharian “is not jealous, but afraid of that dialogue”.

- First of all, I should note that Robert Kocharian has clearly expressed his opinion concerning this dialogue in the recent interview to your agency and here I, and especially others, have nothing to prove.

Secondly, I cannot recall RPA members ever referring to Ter-Petrosian’s speech in order to express their own stance. This, most likely, is a “modern-dialogic” step, which, to put it mildly, does not add to RPA representative’s credit. What concerns Abrahamyan’s statements, I believe that it has been long clear for people who is “afraid” of who and what. The best evidence of that is the hysterical reaction of ANM members to the activity of President Kocharian’s unofficial website and to his meetings with Russian Prime Minister, and I have already said that.