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: APRIL 15-21, 2004
Pryakhin’s calls and Kocharyan’s assessment
In the interview to “Golos Armenii” [Armenia’s Voice] newspaper, published on April 15, OSCE Ambassador to Armenia Vladimir Pryakhin called on the opposition forces “to show more restraint, more moderateness and more readiness for constructive talks with the opposite side”.
“All we can tell the opposition now, being guided by our talks with the representatives of Armenian society, is to suggest entering into a dialogue. Without such a dialogue the state of a political stalemate will continue. By the way, the boycott of the National Assembly meetings by opposition parties is not the best approach, in our opinion,” noted Pryakhin.
He pointed out that the OSCE, which monitored the elections in Armenia and shared notes over their shortcomings, “did not cast doubt on the legitimacy of the elected authorities”.
Vladimir Pryakhin and Armenian FM Vardan Oskanyan Photo: Photolure
“That’s why the conclusions of certain individuals, who stage demonstrations and explain their position by the fact that the OSCE does not accept the legitimacy of the incumbent authorities, seem rather dubious. It is not so,” said Pryakhin.
On April 20 President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan described as “unacceptable and incomprehensible” the opposition’s tactics, which he said “put pre-conditions before the President in order to begin fulfilling their own obligations, in particular, resume the work in the Parliament”.
Kocharyan compared the opposition’s actions with the behavior of a hurt child “who refuses to eat because the parents didn’t buy the toy the child asked for”.
One of Armenian Parliament attackers dies by suicide
On April 16 Vram Galstyan, one of the executors of the terrorist act in Armenian Parliament on 27 October 1999, died by suicide in Nubarashen detention center.
Vram Galstyan was the uncle of the terrorists’ leader Nairi Hunanyan.
• 10 YEARS AGO: APRIL 15-21, 2009
“Karabakh cannot be gifted to Azerbaijan”
On April 14 Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan stated that Armenia’s stance on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement was unchanged: “Karabakh cannot be gifted to Azerbaijan on any conditions.”
“Nagorno-Karabakh cannot be a part of Azerbaijan: in this regard Azerbaijan has lost all reserves of trust long ago,” Sargsyan said at the meeting with the Armenian community of Iran.
Aliyev on Lachin and “a breakthrough”
On April 20 President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev stated that “the issues related to Lachin Corridor can be solved efficiently”.
Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev in 2009Photo: REUTERS
“We understand how important it is for the Armenian side to have land communication between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. In this case, we see no problems. The issues related to Lachin Corridor can be solved efficiently, in a way as to not cause concern among people living in Nagorno-Karabakh today and the Azerbaijani population which will return there after the settlement of the conflict. At the same time, we understand that in order to settle the conflict, people who live there should feel secure, have opportunities for self-government, and just live their lives. We have no intention to establish dictatorship or interfere into their lives. That is to say, I think that the combination of these factors may lead to a breakthrough in the settlement,” said Aliyev.
• 5 YEARS AGO: APRIL 15-21, 2014
“We knew who we were dealing with”
On April 18, 2014 Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan remarked that the process of normalization of the Armenian-Turkish process reached a deadlock because the Turkish side tried to put forward pre-conditions and “interpret some processes in a specific way”.
Serzh Sargsyan on April 18, 2014 Photo: Armenian President’s press service
“We started the Armenian-Turkish process and made it public with the noble purpose of bringing regional cooperation and security up to a new level. If anyone assumed we didn’t realize the difficulties, they are very much mistaken. We knew very well who we were dealing with and what a tough issue we were trying to solve,” said Sargsyan.
“Many people said that the Armenia-Turkey protocols were in Turkey’s interests. In that case, why haven’t the Turks ratified the document?” asked Serzh Sargsyan.
Ara Tadevosyan
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