Vardan Arutyunyan: "No one in Armenia, including Serzh Sarkissyan, can be sure that he would retain powers for too long, not speaking of five years. Only wonder could help him"

-How do you assess the sociopolitical situation in Armenia? Is it possible to speak about stabilization?

-No, it is not. The situation is both tense and quite clear. On the one side there is a small group of people, who captured the powers and try to retain them by use of force and on the other side there are people, who do not accept this group and violence they use. Though numerous representatives and opposition leaders are in jail and despite the everyday arrests and illegal persecutions, the struggle in the country does not stop.

It can be stated that in the result of the recent election process, the civilian society in Armenia, which is not afraid of violence and which will never give up its struggle for democracy, has formed in Armenia. And sooner or later it will win.

-Why did the world society, in particular the fighters for democracy-the United States and the West-close eyes on the anti-democratic elections in Armenia, in particular, on the brutal dispersing of protests, which caused death to several people?

-I think it would be incorrect to state that the world society closed eyes on the elections in Armenia. European structures and world society are quite different things. Most international and human rights organizations continue to give fair assessment to the Armenian elections and events, including the United States. This country has always voiced its clear position.

Your issues refers to the European structures. One think can be said for sure that the pre-election situation and the process of elections were distorted in thereports of the European observed on purpose.

I have said "on purpose" that in their reports on the elections they listed all the rudest violations, which occurred during the elections and stated that on the whole, the elections met the European standards, which to some extend promoted further escalation of violence in Armenia. By this only statement the European structures encouraged the Armenian authorities for violence and murder. European observers arrive in our post-Soviet countries as in second-grade states, listen to complaints of the opposition, assurance of powers, see the rudest violations before and on the day of elections and listing all violences, state illogically that the elections meet the European standards and go away.

Now conclusions can be made that either these people are unscrupulous or they do not have any idea of European standards. They, modern Europeans, are treating democracy and democratic processes in the sense of bureaucracy. For them observation of election and democratic processes in the post-Soviet countries is a wll-paid job and nothing else. They do not assess the democracy as a value, for which one may sacrifice his life, perhaps, because they have inherited democracy from their ancestors and for them it is a natural and unemotional thing? I am sure that their ancestors would assess our elections correctly and consider our freedom their own freedom.

On the other hand, it should be noted that the post-election situation in Armenia made the Europeans assess things more reasonable and evaluate them more correctly. Time will show which steps they will further undertake.

-What is the destiny of the Armenian people and Armenian state in the coming five years of Serzh Sarkissyan's presidency?

-No one in Armenia, including Serzh Sarkissyan, can be sure that he would retain powers for too long, not speaking of five years. Only wonder would help him, but it is not the subject of this interview.

-We hear nothing about ex-candidate for president Levon Ter-Petrosyan. Why? And on the whole, is the resumption of the fight of Armenian people against authorities possible?

-The ex-candidate for President Levon Ter-Petrosyan still takes an active part in the political processes. If exactly, he leads these processes. Today, everything in Armenian depends on him. If you trace the Armenian events, it will be easy for you to see it.

-So, is it true that Armenian people do not want to be ruled by "natives from Karabakh"? What is a reason for such a hatred to "the Karabakh clan"?

-Karabakh clan and Karabakhi are two different concepts, like Russian maphia and Russianin the United States. No one is prejudiced towards Karabakhis.

While clan is a criminal community and Armenian people, I think, like any other people, do not want to be ruled by any clans, no matter how they are called. Therefore, we feel hatred for the "Karabakh clan" today.

/Day.Az/