Both negative and positive articles were published on Zohrab Mnatsakanyan

From 1 to 10 September, 2020, the “Media Advocate” initiative followed online media reports on the RA Minister of Foreign Affairs, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan’s personality and activities.

35 leading Armenian news agencies have been monitored.

In the specified period, 161 articles were declared, 15 of which were negative, 4 were positive and 142 were neutral.

Both negative and positive articles were published on the RA Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan․

Taron Haroyan, a citizen wishing to leave for Russia, referring to the remark whether the meetings of the protesters with Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and NA Vice Speaker Alen Simonyan had results, noted: “No results at all. They took the names of the protesters, but did not call anyone.”

The press notes that it has been a long time that citizens who wanting to leave for Russia are protesting.

It is mentioned that the last remarkable episode recorded during the actions was the reprimand of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and the NA Vice Speaker Alen Simonyan addressed to the protesters: the idea of it is as follows: “What do you want from us? The Russians do not open the border, go and present your demands to the Russians.”

The chairman of the council of the “National Agenda” party Ara Hakobyan, referring to the Artsakh issue, noted: “Arayik Harutyunyan speaks directly about the territories, but neither Nikol Pashinyan nor Zohrab Mnatsakanyan has said anything about the territories, it is not clear what the so-called security is in the context of the words of the RA officials either.”

Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan had earlier clarified to Armenians wishing to leave for Russia that Armenia can not have impact on Russia’s internal decisions, and that country had decided to ban citizens from other countries from entering its territory due to the epidemic situation. Speaking to the press, lawyer, constitutional law specialist Artashes Khalatyan, referring to this topic, noted: “It is not right to demand from the Armenian authorities to interfere in the internal affairs of Russia from a legal point of view, just as Russia cannot interfere in the internal affairs of Armenia. The principle of not interfering in the internal affairs of another state, is an internationally known principle.”

Anna Karapetyan, referring to Zohrab Mnatsakanyan’s interview, noted: “In Zohrab Mnatsakanyan’s interview with Interfax, there was such a misuse of diplomacy and diplomatic vocabulary that even what should have been said very harshly and clearly was lost between beautiful and soft words.”

 

The publication was prepared with the support of “Hayrenik” Development Foundation