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NEWSPAPERS THAT USED ANTI-SEMITISM TO VILIFY TER-PETROSSIAN WERE SPONSORED BY SARGSYAN: US CABLE
epress.am
08.29.2011
Beginning in mid-May, pro-government print media and state-run
Public Television have made outlandish anti-Semitic and anti-Masonic
accusations against former president and current opposition leader
Levon Ter-Petrossian (LTP). Most of the accusations appear to be
harsher versions of previous allegations that surfaced right before and
after Armenia's disputed February presidential election. The small,
pro-government Armenian Jewish community has expressed deep concern
over the attacks, given the fact that anti-Semitic rhetoric has not
been an issue in Armenia before, wrote then US Embassy in Armenia
Charge d'Affaires Joseph Pennington in a US cable dated Jun.
18, 2008, but released by Wikileaks on Aug. 26, 2011. Pennington
notes that he intends to raise this issue with Armenian officials at
the upcoming visit of then head of Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights
and Labor Assistant Secretary David Kramer.
The US cable notes that "the first accusations appeared in late May in
the pro-government Russian-language Golos Armenii (Voice of Armenia)
and Armenian-language Hayots Ashkhar (Armenian World) dailies, both
with circulations under 3,500. [Armenian] President [Serzh] Sargsyan
reportedly sponsors both outlets, and in the past the two have had ties
with the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutuun) political
party," which was then part of the four-party ruling coalition.
"The accusations that appeared in several scathing articles portray
LTP as a traitor to Armenia, claiming his true allegiance lies to
the West - particularly to Israel and the Freemasons. In an identical
article published in both papers entitled 'Levon Hakob Ter-Petrosan
or Levon Frayim Pliskovsky - Armenian National Congress or Jewish
Congress?' the author questions LTP's loyalty by speculating on
his alleged conspiratorial meeting with a wealthy Russian Jewish
businessman in January where he presumably got the businessman to
give him USD 100-200 million for his presidential campaign. The author
then alleges that 'the Jewish-Masonic lobby spent USD 65-70 million'
on the same campaign.
"On June 12 Hayots Ashkhar published an interview with Samvel
Karapetyan, a noted Armenian historian and architecture critic, who
asserted that LTP is not an opposition leader but a traitor, since
he made speeches under the Israeli flag. He asserted that people
don't call LTP a traitor because they are afraid of his masters -
Washington and Tel Aviv."
The cable also includes an opinion from Armenia's Jewish community,
noting that the community is seriously concerned particularly as such
anti-Semitism might have "the backing of the people in power":
"Rimma Varzhapetyan, head of Armenia's Jewish community, told Emboffs
that she is distressed about the articles, calling them 'a provocation
and a kindling of anti-Semitism' in a country with no such record of
similar attacks. She added that 'I am afraid to think that this has
the backing of the people in power.' Varzhapetyan said that she has no
plans for a public response, though she believes it is incumbent upon
the GOAM [Government of Armenia] to condemn the hateful rhetoric. She
noted with concern that people are starting to believe these malicious
lies, including some of her acquaintances."
At the end of the cable, Pennington makes the following observation:
"The emergence of anti-Semitism as a crude political tool appears to
be new in Armenia's political arena. Its use by pro-government print
media, and its airing on Public Television, suggests it is being
condoned and even orchestrated by the current authorities, who are
employing it to weaken the opposition leader challenging their rule.
Introducing such a phenomenon in a country without an anti-Semitic
history, even for politically expedient reasons, is dangerous and
irresponsible."
epress.am
08.29.2011
Beginning in mid-May, pro-government print media and state-run
Public Television have made outlandish anti-Semitic and anti-Masonic
accusations against former president and current opposition leader
Levon Ter-Petrossian (LTP). Most of the accusations appear to be
harsher versions of previous allegations that surfaced right before and
after Armenia's disputed February presidential election. The small,
pro-government Armenian Jewish community has expressed deep concern
over the attacks, given the fact that anti-Semitic rhetoric has not
been an issue in Armenia before, wrote then US Embassy in Armenia
Charge d'Affaires Joseph Pennington in a US cable dated Jun.
18, 2008, but released by Wikileaks on Aug. 26, 2011. Pennington
notes that he intends to raise this issue with Armenian officials at
the upcoming visit of then head of Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights
and Labor Assistant Secretary David Kramer.
The US cable notes that "the first accusations appeared in late May in
the pro-government Russian-language Golos Armenii (Voice of Armenia)
and Armenian-language Hayots Ashkhar (Armenian World) dailies, both
with circulations under 3,500. [Armenian] President [Serzh] Sargsyan
reportedly sponsors both outlets, and in the past the two have had ties
with the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutuun) political
party," which was then part of the four-party ruling coalition.
"The accusations that appeared in several scathing articles portray
LTP as a traitor to Armenia, claiming his true allegiance lies to
the West - particularly to Israel and the Freemasons. In an identical
article published in both papers entitled 'Levon Hakob Ter-Petrosan
or Levon Frayim Pliskovsky - Armenian National Congress or Jewish
Congress?' the author questions LTP's loyalty by speculating on
his alleged conspiratorial meeting with a wealthy Russian Jewish
businessman in January where he presumably got the businessman to
give him USD 100-200 million for his presidential campaign. The author
then alleges that 'the Jewish-Masonic lobby spent USD 65-70 million'
on the same campaign.
"On June 12 Hayots Ashkhar published an interview with Samvel
Karapetyan, a noted Armenian historian and architecture critic, who
asserted that LTP is not an opposition leader but a traitor, since
he made speeches under the Israeli flag. He asserted that people
don't call LTP a traitor because they are afraid of his masters -
Washington and Tel Aviv."
The cable also includes an opinion from Armenia's Jewish community,
noting that the community is seriously concerned particularly as such
anti-Semitism might have "the backing of the people in power":
"Rimma Varzhapetyan, head of Armenia's Jewish community, told Emboffs
that she is distressed about the articles, calling them 'a provocation
and a kindling of anti-Semitism' in a country with no such record of
similar attacks. She added that 'I am afraid to think that this has
the backing of the people in power.' Varzhapetyan said that she has no
plans for a public response, though she believes it is incumbent upon
the GOAM [Government of Armenia] to condemn the hateful rhetoric. She
noted with concern that people are starting to believe these malicious
lies, including some of her acquaintances."
At the end of the cable, Pennington makes the following observation:
"The emergence of anti-Semitism as a crude political tool appears to
be new in Armenia's political arena. Its use by pro-government print
media, and its airing on Public Television, suggests it is being
condoned and even orchestrated by the current authorities, who are
employing it to weaken the opposition leader challenging their rule.
Introducing such a phenomenon in a country without an anti-Semitic
history, even for politically expedient reasons, is dangerous and
irresponsible."