‘Zhamanak’. Vanezyan Attempts to Douse the Flames

‘Zhamanak’ newspaper reports: “The case of the persecution of supporters of Samvel Babayan is fully clarified,” declared NSS head Artur Vanetsyan during a conversation with reporters, in connection with the already well-known message disseminated by Babayan’s office on May 30.

Artur Vanetsyan stated that there is no political aspect, and the issue at hand is purely financial matters between the parties.

The NSS head’s statement effectively attempts to douse the flames that were ignited by the announcement from the former Minister of Defense of Artsakh, Samvel Babayan’s office. It is recalled that there were allegations about blocking the path of Babayan’s supporters and firing at them, blaming individuals considered to be supporters of the former Prime Minister of Artsakh, Araik Harutyunyan.

All of this evidently fits into the context of the presidential election process in Artsakh. Araik Harutyunyan has announced his intention to run, whereas Samvel Babayan has expressed his intent as well, although he seems to face legal challenges in his candidacy. He has repeatedly claimed that these issues are being created to prevent him from running.

One thing is indisputable: the presidential election in Artsakh will take place amidst a truly heated competition for the first time. A candidate will also be the current secretary of the Security Council, Vitaly Balasanyan, and other nominations are possible as well. The intensity is undoubtedly influenced by the fact that Yerevan has adopted the approach of not allowing direct intervention for the first time since the Velvet Revolution.

At the same time, there is no doubt that the Armenian authorities will have their preferred option. Currently, that option appears to be Araik Harutyunyan, who has been quite loyal to the changes that occurred in Armenia since the Velvet Revolution. Whether the situation will change before the election is likely dependent on any changes in the circle of candidates.

Alongside this, it is certainly evident that the former ruling system of Armenia, or more accurately, at least two factions of that system, Serzh Sargsyan and Robert Kocharyan, have their preferred options as well. Most likely, they have different preferred scenarios. Of course, their competition will not carry the same nature as the individual competition with the preferred candidates of Armenia’s new government.”

For more details, see today’s issue of the newspaper.