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Political Tradition: Armenian Community In Russia Says Will Vote For

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  • Political Tradition: Armenian Community In Russia Says Will Vote For

    POLITICAL TRADITION: ARMENIAN COMMUNITY IN RUSSIA SAYS WILL VOTE FOR PRO-GOVERNMENT CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT
    By Naira Hayrumyan

    ArmeniaNow
    29.02.12 | 14:33

    The Union of Armenians of Russia (UAR) has stated its support for
    Russia's powerful Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is currently a
    candidate in the March 4 presidential election.

    The statement was delivered during a February 26 event held at one of
    Moscow's largest concert halls. The UAR-organized event was attended
    by invited guests from the Armenian Diaspora, as well as other ethnic
    and youth organizations from Moscow and regions of Russia.

    UAR Chairman Ara Abrahamyan, who is a Putin proxy in the upcoming
    vote, stated that the current prime minister has made an "invaluable
    contribution to the development of friendly relations and strategic
    partnership between Russia and Armenia."

    "It is thanks to Putin that we have a great progress in
    Armenian-Russian relations, including in terms of military cooperation,
    due to which there is no war in Armenia, and the president of Armenia
    visited Russia 17 times," said Abrahamyan.

    Another prominent figure among Moscow Armenians, Artur Chilingarov,
    said: "Russia can count on the Russian Armenians, who understand that
    there must be stability and progress in the country that can only be
    ensured by Putin."

    "Putin has a very attentive and respectful attitude towards Armenia and
    us, the Armenians living and working in this country. I have known the
    prime minister personally for 25 years, and during all this time he
    has never spoke to me like to a 'person of Caucasian nationality',"
    Chilingarov, a prominent polar explorer, Hero of Russia, and member
    of the State Duma said in one of his interviews.

    (A person of Caucasian nationality is a diminutive collective term
    used by many in Russia to refer to the natives of the North and South
    Caucasus, which reflects a general anti-Caucasian mood in the country).

    Other presidential candidates, such as leader of the Liberal
    Democratic Party of Russia Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Communist leader
    Gennady Zyuganov also met with representatives of the Armenian
    community. Both made statements about a peaceful settlement of the
    Karabakh problem. Zhirinovsky even said that if elected he would
    recognize Karabakh's unification with Armenia or the independence
    of Nagorno-Karabakh.

    But Chilingarov says: "We do not even think about voting for another
    candidate [other than Putin]."

    The Armenian community in Russia, as a rule, votes for the government
    candidates. While in the United States or France, where people will
    also elect their presidents this year, representatives of the Armenian
    community try to figure out who of the candidates can better defend
    their interests, there is no such question raised in Russia.

    The Armenian communities in the U.S., France and other countries
    sometimes feel their choice is not justified or is justified. In some
    other countries, for instance, in Iran or Syria, the large Armenian
    communities prefer to remain neutral - they do not interfere in
    internal political rumblings, realizing that they can become their
    victim. In Russia, Armenians understand that even their neutrality
    would not be enough for Putin and they need to say out loud that
    the influential prime minister and would-be president is the only
    guarantor of friendship between Armenians and Russians.

    Remarkably, one of the leaders of the radical opposition movement in
    Russia is also an ethnic Armenian - ex-chess champion Garry Kasparov.

    It is not known whether ethnic Armenians were among those attending
    protests in Moscow against election fraud, at least nothing has been
    said about it officially.

    It is also interesting that in Armenia, representatives of several
    political forces, including Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan called
    on Russian citizens to vote for Putin on March 4, stating that
    "Armenian-Russian strategic cooperation has strengthened in recent
    years."

    The most remarkable thing, however, is that no one has even bothered
    to note that it is Dmitry Medvedev, and not Putin, who has led Russia
    as president in recent years.



    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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