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  • Protesters And All, A Home Away From Home For Putin

    ARMENIA: PROTESTERS AND ALL, A HOME AWAY FROM HOME FOR PUTIN

    EurasiaNet.org
    Dec 3 2013

    December 3, 2013 - 5:41am, by Marianna Grigoryan

    For Russian President Vladimir Putin, Armenia, in many ways, must
    offer a welcome contrast to Ukraine and its building protests against
    economic integration with Russia and its proposed trade bloc, the
    Customs Union.

    The South Caucasus country, where Putin popped in for a visit on
    December 2, depends on Russia for energy, migrants' jobs, border guards
    and security, among other needs, and opted out of closer ties with
    the European Union in favor of eventual economic merger with Russia,
    Kazakhstan and Belarus.

    It also knows how to put on a Soviet-style show of homage for a leader
    openly nostalgic for the Soviet past.

    It all adds up to a place where Russia would like to stay. In
    comments in Gyumri, the northern Armenian city which hosts the Russian
    military's 102nd army base, Putin stressed that Russia "never intended
    to leave the Transcaucasus" following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet
    Union, and sees no reason to do so now.

    "Just the opposite, we are going to reinforce our positions in the
    Transcaucasus, based on the very best that we inherited from our
    ancestors, and based on good relations with all countries of the
    region, including Armenia," he declared, without elaboration.

    To smooth over any hesitations, Putin came bearing (as for Ukraine) the
    gift of gas. Rather than the 156,000 drams (about $374) per 1,000 cubic
    meters announced earlier this year, Moscow now will charge Armenia
    lower, domestic prices for exported gas. Details were not available.

    In turn, Armenia has handed over complete control of the country's gas
    distribution company, ArmRusGazprom, to Russia's mammoth, state-run
    gas exporter, GazProm.

    But not all Armenians, cost-conscious though they may be, are happy
    about this gigantic guest extending its stay indefinitely.

    In the largest recent demonstration against closer economic ties
    with Russia, hundreds of protesters, some carrying Ukrainian flags
    and posters supporting Ukrainian demonstrators, poured into central
    Yerevan in the afternoon of December 2 to tell Putin to "go home"
    and to remonstrate with the government that "Armenia is not an object
    for trade."

    At least 110 people were detained during the protest, according to
    the interior ministry; two journalists were among them, according
    to reports. Some parliamentarians claimed that individual activists
    had been hauled into police stations for warnings against protesting
    Putin's visit; others alleged that state employees were ferried out
    to wave flags at the visiting Russian leader.

    Ahead of Putin's arrival, roads and streets in both the capital,
    Yerevan, and the northern city of Gyumri, which hosts Russia's 102nd
    army base, were hastily repaired, artificial turf was laid, a love
    song from a Soviet-era film piped through loudspeakers in Yerevan,
    and thousands of Russian flags distributed. Pro-government national
    TV channels endlessly praised the centuries of friendship between
    Armenia and Russia; a monument to commemorate that friendship was
    erected in downtown Yerevan.

    "The 'king' has arrived," drily commented one Gyumri resident, who
    asked not to be named. "They even banned funerals in Gyumri today,
    and people are not allowed to approach the places [Putin] is supposed
    to visit. Every spot is under strict control."

    "Seeing the events unfolding in Ukraine, the Armenian authorities
    undertake such unprecedented preventive measures," claimed independent
    political analyst Yervand Bozoian. "The Ukrainian developments can
    move to Armenia as well, so they try their best to prevent Putin's
    visit from inciting similar actions."

    Some may question that prediction - a series of national protests
    against the Armenian government faltered this spring for lack of
    momentum - but irritation with President Serzh Sargsyan's government
    for high unemployment, rampant corruption and a perceived lack of
    attention to social-welfare runs strong.

    For many Armenians, Yerevan's September decision to opt for closer
    ties with the Customs Union over the European Union seems destined
    to isolate the blockaded, poverty-stricken country still further.

    On November 29, during a discussion about neighbor Georgia initialing
    an accord for closer ties with the European Union, a talk-show host
    for the online TV station Civilnet.am, a government critic, lamented
    that now Georgia and Armenia "will be living in two different worlds."

    That prospect does not seem to concern President Sargsyan, however.

    "We live in a rapidly changing world," he said in Gyumri. "New
    approaches are needed constantly, and these are easier to find
    through joint efforts, within the framework of integration unions
    and processes. This is the reason stipulating Armenia's choice to
    join the Customs Union and enter the united economic area of Russia,
    Kazakhstan and Belarus."

    Some local analysts and opposition politicians have charged that
    pressure by Russia, which controls Armenia's energy supplies as well
    as other strategic industries, led to the about-face.

    Standing amidst a police cordon in Yerevan, human-rights activist
    Arthur Sakunts, an outspoken opponent of Armenia's membership in the
    Customs Union, declared the protest "only the beginning of the fight."

    "We will continue struggling" to force a reversal of the government's
    decision, he pledged, without elaboration.

    But for many Armenians, closer ties with Russia, the destination for
    most of the country's labor migrants, carry no downsides. "Putin has
    come, and now everything will be fixed in this country," commented
    41-year-old Karen Alumian, an unemployed Yerevan mechanic who added
    that his "relatives prosper in Russia."

    "In any case, Putin can manage this country better than Serzh
    [Sargsyan]," he concluded.

    http://www.eurasianet.org/node/67825


    From: Baghdasarian
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