Tuesday, 24 June 2008
RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received U.S. Deputy Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Employment David Kramer.
At the meeting with the head of the Armenian government, he said the purpose of his current visit was to convey the message of the U.S. Embassy and other partners reaffirming that the United States is Armenia
's partner and supporter.According to Mr. Kramer, Armenia-United States relations may improve considerably if our country abides by the path of democracy and accepts those recommendations meant for the country
's government. These recommendations bear on the respect of the civic right of holding rallies and the freedom of the press. Also, there was stressed the need for conducting a serious and trustworthy investigation into the March 1 events, setting free those detained for their political views, initiating an earnestly open dialog with the opposition and the civil society.David Kramer voiced concern about the pursuit of anti-Semite propaganda on the part of some Armenian newspapers and TV channels and went on to stress that the Armenian-Jewish relations have so far been free from such troublesome phenomena.
The Prime Minister said that any anti-Semite statement voiced through mass media is unacceptable and must be condemned. He agreed with his guest in that Armenia has to date been free from manifestations of anti-Semitism. Tigran Sargsyan assured that the government has specific plans for developing Armenian-Israeli relations and, among many other steps, is going to support the initiative of building an Armenian-Israeli alleyway in Armenia dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel. To this end, sixty young trees will be imported from Israel.
Concerning those detained in the wake of the post-electoral developments, the Prime Minister pointed out that no charges connected with their political views or political activity have so far been brought under any judicial case. Over two dozens of court rulings have already been issued, with the courts holding that all charges brought against the detainees by prosecutors are well-grounded. According to Tigran Sargsyan, democratic traditions rule out the practice of interfering with court proceedings, therefore it seems to be still early and somewhat biased to make statements about the availability of political prisoners.
In the opinion of the Prime Minister, ensuring equal conditions for economic operators, combating corruption, improving tax and customs administration are crucial in terms of strengthening democracy in Armenia and will promote the creation of a democratic society inside the country. He said that the government
's efforts will be focused upon these goals for the time being.The parties also touched upon the activities of the NA ad hoc commission on the study of the underlying causes behind the last March 1-2 events in Yerevan. David Kramer noted that the composition and the coverage of the commission have given rise to much controversy while to his mind what matters most is that the society itself comes to place trust in the work of said commission.
