Deepening isolation

The International Herald Tribune has this follow-on article about Armenia by Susan Sachs, who wrote the previous piece about Armenia's youth.

It talks about the "deepening isolation" of Armenia, and lists the closure of the Georgia-Russia border, the successful completion of part of the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline, and the move to start accession talks for Turkey to join the EU.

"If nothing changes, Armenia will be left as an island," said Levon Barseghyan, a political activist in Gyumri, a rundown town on the railroad line that was closed by Turkey in 1992. "Everyone will forget about Armenia.

It goes on to talk about Oskanyan and the government's position both Turkey and the Karabagh conflict.

Such dire circumstances might be expected to provoke political unrest. But they have not noticeably weakened President Robert Kocharian, a Karabakh native and former commander of the separatist forces who was reelected to a second term last year.

"Every day the government tells us our economy can flourish without opening the Turkish border and without solving the Karabakh problem," said Aram Abrahamyan, editor of the Aravot daily newspaper. "And the government propaganda succeeds with the common people."

Posted by Matt on December 15, 2004 | TrackBack | Email to a friend